The "Playoff Projections" Edition

As we approach the first round of playoff projections, Swanny examines a projection from one of ESPN's predictors. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time or Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan Swanny. Finally,

(00:44):
Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time. Hell everybody,
Swan back in the saddle once again. It is the
show that shakes the South, playing Clemson Sports Talk for
you each and every afternoon as you make your way
around the great state of South Carolina and beyond, listening
to us on incredible radio stations like Fox Sports Radio

(01:07):
fourteen hundred the Midlands, run around the world on the
iHeartRadio application. Download it today, It's free the website. Put
the dot com on it, dogg one at that's Clemson
Sports Sall dot com and coming to you on TikTok
as well. Don't forget. If you're here with us on TikTok,
please give us a follow because we can't use the

(01:27):
good mic that everybody's hearing on iHeartRadio until we have
ten thousand followers. I don't know why that's the rule,
but hey, that's where it's at right now with TikTok.
But we can get there. Yesterday we had people follow us.
Today we'll get some people to follow us and then
before you know it, I mean, we went from less

(01:49):
than one thousand to twenty four one hundred pretty quickly. Now,
if I had to give myself a little smack on
the wrist, what I haven't done is I haven't made
sure to tweet out that we are live on TikTok,
and I gotta do. I gotta do better than that.
Thirty plus thousand people over on TikTok. If we could

(02:11):
just get some of them, excuse me, thirty plus thousand
of them on Twitter. If we can just get some
of them to roll over here and hang out with
us live on TikTok, it would be one of the
ways that we could quickly get this thing to ten thousand,
A three four five zero zero eighty six. That is

(02:31):
the text line. If you want to text the program,
you can. I've also got the chat rolling over on TikTok,
and so it's a great way for people to be
able to hang out with us during the live show.
And hopefully we could get more people from Twitter over

(02:54):
here and I could do this thing live on Twitter.
I understand that a much bigger audience. But I believe
in the way TikTok that I think the aggregation or
whatever you call it, so that when you get on
and it lets you know, I'm here. I think it's
better than what I see on Twitter, even though Twitter

(03:16):
has gotten better. Hopefully we'll get some people to come
be a part of what we do, all right. The
college football playoff rankings are less than a week away,
and I know a lot of people are anticipating what
those rankings look like. And you can go through different

(03:40):
sites and sort of program in like win results for
teams moving forward and where you think a team will land.
And I'm not here to be dismissive of any projection,
right Like, if we were projecting a four team playoff,
there would be some debate amongst the people. But now

(04:04):
that we're talking about a twelve team playoff, we're talking
about a huge amount of debate of who are those
top twelve teams. And one of the things that has
continually rolled out nationally is that Miami is the winner

(04:31):
of the Atlantic Coast Conference. And so look, I don't
know if the Hurricanes will be the Atlantic Coast Conference
champions anymore than you do. But I do think about
at times the fact that Clemsons played more games in

(04:53):
the league and has less hurdles in front of them
than the Hurricanes and Clemson citing on top of the
Atlantic Coast Conference right now, in certain we've talked about
the disaster scenarios that are out there, potentially for a
three way tie in the ACC, potentially for a three
way tie in the Big Ten. And I don't want
to travel too far down that old Dusty road with

(05:13):
you here on the program. Did you say Dusty Roads
the American dream? If you will? Yeah, anytime we can
work in a little wrestling reference and I'm saying, whoa
right here, we'll do it. But if you were projecting
it out at this point, and you know, we drop

(05:34):
graphics all the time over on our social media account,
and if you're thinking, man, who's in the graphics department, Swayne?
Can you bring them on the screen? Hold up, I'll
get them. Hey, how are y'all? But thinking through like
who's gonna be in those projections? When I ran it

(05:55):
out for Clemson and on ESPN, you can choose what
you want to do, and I said, Okay, let's see
what it looks like if Clemson wins out and wins
the ACC. So the Tigers are the definitive Atlantic Coast
Conference champions, And I said, match it up, tell me,
tell me what I'm working with here. When I ran
that scenario on ESPN, here's what it gave me. The

(06:24):
number one team in the land in that scenario, and
the only thing I chose was Clemson wins out. All right,
They've got the Tigers sitting there as the number two seed.
The top seed according to ESPN in that scenario would
be the Oregon Ducks, believing that in their debut season,

(06:45):
they run the table, they win the league. And again,
we are less than a week away from these rankings
coming out in the first set of rankings on you know,
November the fifth. Not significant in the sense of what
it's going to look like at the end, Okay, But

(07:07):
in that scenario, they had Oregon one, they had Clemson two.
They have Texas number three winning the SEC, and they've
got Iowa State number four winning the Big Twelve. Now,
what I think people casual observers of the sport think

(07:33):
is that it's going to be the top four teams.
Meaning if we looked at the college football rankings right now, Georgia,
excuse me, Oregon, Georgia, Penn State, Ohio State. But those
four coveted spots go to the winners of the conferences,

(07:58):
the conference championship games, and right now because of the
way things are shaping up in the Big Ten, because
of the way things are shaping up in the ACC,
and granted, a little bit of a log jam, so
to speak, under A and M right now in the SEC.

(08:21):
But we're kind of beginning to get a little idea
of who some of these teams are gonna be. I
think the Big twelve still maybe the one that's most
difficult to put your finger on. Hey, this team is
probably going to be there, because I don't know who's
gonna win that league, honestly, and I don't know anything
about any any of these leagues at this point. But

(08:45):
when I say Iowa State four, most of you go
Iowa Who. And I understand that other people would think,
b why you might win that league? But Iowa State's
a top ten team right now to the AP and
the coaches polls, and as such, with their record in

(09:06):
their league, they would be projected right now, at least
by ESPN, to be the number four seed. So how
do the other matchups line up? So let's start with
number one Oregon. The two teams in the scenario in
which I ran on ESPN The two teams that would

(09:28):
be facing off would be eighth seeded Notre Dame out
of South Bend, Indiana and wait for it, number nine
seated Indiana. The Hoosiers out of Bloomington would be traveling

(09:49):
to Notre Dame in the first round of the College
Football Playoff.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
I guess that's your theory.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
No, that's ESPN's theory. I just I just punched in that.
You know, they said, who do you like? You had
to pick one team, and I picked Clemson for the
sake of my argument, I said, Clemson is gonna win out.
Tell me what the rest of it looks like. Notre
Dame hosting Indiana in the postseason. A little in state

(10:19):
brew haha for the upstart Hoosiers against one of the
all time, you know, the most storied programs in college football,
home of touchdown, Touchdown, Jesus and Rudy, the Fighting Irish,
and the Hoosiers in the eight nine game winner goes

(10:44):
to face Oregon in the second round, the top seed
staying on that side of the bracket. Okay, we've got
the fourth seed, Iowa State getting to play the win
and I don't know what bowl games is the you know,

(11:04):
the Oregon whoever, Notre Dame or Indiana. Like, I don't
know what that. I can't remember what those matchups are
or who's going to be where. Quite frankly, I don't
care not for this argument. In this scenario that I
produced Iowa State with a wait, the winner of fifth

(11:25):
seeded Penn State and twelfth seeded Georgia. I know what
you're thinking. You thought for sure that the twelfth seed
would be a if a non power five school, right,

(11:52):
a group of five member, But in this scenario, the
non power or five member finishes tenth. I'll get to
who that is in a minute. So the winner of
Penn State hosting Georgia to ah these matchups. That's what
I'm gonna love about it. That's what you're gonna love

(12:13):
about it. You get your grubby little hands on the
game that you've never seen before or rarely. Penn State
hosting Georgia winner takes on number four Iowa State. And
I gotta admit, if I'm the Georgia Bulldogs and I
get slide in as the twelfth seed, I probably like

(12:35):
that because then that matches me up with the four seed.
If I can beat the five, you know, what hold up,
I'm wrong, No, swatty, it's not Georgia. I don't know.

(12:55):
I don't know what happened. I wrote something down wrong.
Georgia is actually the seventh seed. I apologize, scratch that
and reverse it. I don't know who that twelve seed did.
It's not a group of five member dag nabbit swanee.
Might be Texas A and M. Might be Texas A
and M. Looking at it, yeah, I think it's Texas A.

(13:15):
I think that's what I did. I think that one
was A and M. That makes a little more sense.
I was kind of shocked, but anyway, so A and
M would be there all right. Back to the other side.
I apologize this to be Penn State in Texas A
and M in the five to twelve the winner facing
Iowa State, and I think Penn State in Texas A

(13:36):
and M would love that. Okay, now I get to
the Bulldogs. Clemson is the two seed. In this scenario,
Georgia would come in as the seven. Boise State would
check in as the ten from the group of five.
Boise State a ten seed versus Georgia. Georgia would get
that game at home, and then they would face Clemson

(13:58):
in a neutral site. I think the Dogs, given the
thirty four to three victory over Clemson earlier this season,
would absolutely take that in a blink. Then the three
seed Texas Texas on that same side with Clemson, the
two seeds, they match up with the winner of six

(14:20):
seeded Miami and eleventh seated Alabama, the Hurricanes hosting the
Crimson Top. I think we're gonna love this, guys, I
really really do. I mean the fact that you've got

(14:44):
Notre Dame hosting Indiana, which again doesn't necessarily jump off
the page because you like, if Notre Dame was hosting
A and M, right who Penn State's hosting in this scenario,
that's a little more exciting for you. But there's some
in state blood to that matchup. Georgia hosting Boise. That's
not ideal, and you're gonna have that pop up for

(15:07):
a lot of people, because when you have that group
of five team coming in, it's not gonna be your
traditional named power program per se. But Miami getting a
chance to host Alabama, and again mentioning that Penn State,
Texas A and M setting up four, you know a

(15:28):
game you could have Oregon Notre Dame in the second round,
Iowa State, Penn State, Texas and Miami, or Texas and Alabama,
Clemson and Georgia. To play it down to where you
could get Clemson, Texas or Georgia, Texas or Georgia and Alabama,

(15:55):
Oregon and Penn State. I mean, like it's limitless. What
will be interesting to see is how many rematches, like occasionally,
right like you would get a rematch in a conference
championship game back in the day, you'd have a team

(16:16):
two teams that faced off earlier in the year and
then they connect in the conference title game. And heck,
we've even had Georgia in Alabama connect a couple of
times in the conference title game and then in a
college football playoff game. I don't remember how many years
they did both, but it's happened. I think only once

(16:37):
did that happen in that regard, maybe twice at the most.
But there are plenty of scenarios out there with this
system where you could see maybe a couple of rematches
of games that just happened a few weeks ago. And
I would beg the question to the listeners on TikTok
if you're watching tap the screen, give us some likes,
follow us if you're hanging out? Does that take away

(17:05):
a little bit from the College Football Playoff? Like, think
about it. If Oregon and Penn State were to play
in the Big Ten Championship, and Clemson and Miami were
playing the ACC Championship, and Texas and Georgia We're to
play in the SEC Championship and then in the second

(17:27):
round or so of the College Football Playoff because of
some way at all shook out. And I'm sure the
committee will try to avoid that to a degree, but
you can't, in my opinion, you can't shift those matchups

(17:49):
so much that it would favor another team, you know,
in a consequential way. I think you have to keep it. Hey,
these are the numbers. This is where we've got it.
George's got a chance to win a game and play
Texas in the next round, even though Texas just beat
them last weekend. And what if you had like two
of those or dare I say, in some kind of

(18:13):
dumb luck scenario three? And maybe even if you carry
it down to the final couple of games, you might
get four rematches. That might be a bit of a reach.
I understand that, and I get it. It might be
a bit of a reach to say that that's going
to happen, but it's a possibility. It's kind of like

(18:37):
the scenario where we're talking about, you know, can clemsonesim,
you and Miami all go undefeated and in Indiana and
Penn State and Oregon all go undefeated and cause a
nightmare tiebreaker scenario. Probably not, if I'm being fair in
all of these situations. Probably not. But I can't say

(19:01):
that number is zero. I can't say that number is
zero at this point. All right, coming up, we heard
from Dabosweeney yesterday. Briefly, we'll hear more from coach Sweeney
as the Tigers get ready to take on pretty powerful
Louisville offense. If you want to read about that Louisville

(19:24):
offense right now, you can head over to our website,
Clemson sports Talk dot com and on the front page
an article that I wrote on this Louisville matchup, Primetime
and death Valley Sweeney and the Tigers brace for Louisville's offense.

(19:45):
As Sweeney gave his thoughts on the Cardinals yesterday during
his time with the media. Speaking of that session, we'll
jump into a couple of segments with some updates from
Sweeney right after this on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred.
Back at it on a Wednesday, Mike, you have a
Gamecockcentral dot Com joins the program in our number two

(20:05):
South Carolina and Texas A and M facing off Williams.
Brice Stadium on ABC, Clemson will take on Louisville, a
team the Tigers have never lost to. We mentioned that
to you yesterday on the program. Clemson All Time versus

(20:27):
the Louisville Cardinals eight to zero, looking to win their
ninth game against the Cardinals since they joined the league
back in two thousand and fourteen. And I don't think
there's any mistake in the fact, and I said this
yesterday that when the Cardinals came into the league, they

(20:49):
sort of stepped into being in my estimation, they kind
of became one of the rivals, so to speak. For Clemson,
they kind of fit the billing of being a rival.
And I'm okay with that. Well, Dabo Sweeney met with

(21:11):
the media yesterday to talk about this matchup, and again
it's a team you heard here on the program that
he called the best offensive team the Clemson his face
since that Georgia team. In the opener, here's what Sweeney
said about his familiarity with Jeff Brahm, head coach at Louisville,

(21:34):
who is a key part of that offense up in
the Derby City.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Just met him a few times. I don't know him well.
We've crossed pass obviously, we've been in meetings together, and
then I first met him when he was at Purdue,
crossing paths on the recruit trail. I think I saw
him in I think I saw him in Georgia one day,
maybe in Alabama one day sound the recruit trail, and

(22:01):
then obviously just getting to know him once he's come
in and become the coach at u L.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
Daboswinging was also asked to give some insight into the
strength of Louisville's running backs and also the weapons that
they have. A tight end.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Did a. I mean he's really really good. I mean
they use the running backs in the passing game a lot.
I mean, you know they do. You have to cover
him all the time. They'll show fake it and boot
and they'll throw it back to him out the back door,
you know. I mean you have to be very disciplined,
you know, because they they involved their backs, the screen, games,
swing passes, you know, in all aspects. And I think

(22:42):
he's a complete player. I mean he can catch the ball,
he can run through the trash, he's physical, uh you know,
in the line of scrimmage, and then he can get
on the edge and he's got the speed and run
away from you. So but he's he's not afraid to protect,
you know, any of that stuff. I mean, he's just
a He's just a I mean, he's a He doesn't
take you long to notice him. You would never think

(23:02):
he's a freshman when you watch the tape and especially
some of the big plays that he's made in some
critical situations. Again, a couple of big ones late in
the game, you know, Friday Night. So really really good player,
A really good player. You know, zero is a good player.
Twenty four is good player. One kid came from Alabama.
He's he's electric, good finisher on the ball. I mean,

(23:23):
they got good weapons involved their tight ends. They use
them a lot, you know, within what they do, especially
in their play action game dabosweety.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
They're talking about this Louisville offense. And remember, you know,
one of the impacts that this offense. Face is the
fact that Colin Lacey, who is a transferred from South
Alabama electric playmaker for him in the offense when he's healthy.
He played four games, had one hundred yard kick return
versus Miami, but decided he's going to put it on

(23:54):
the shelf for the rest of the season, somewhat to
the dismay of the head coach. But they are still
hopeful to get him back. Speaking of getting guys back,
dab was when he was asked about a couple of wideouts,
Brian Westco and his recovery right now and also Tyler Brown.
Here's Swingey. First on the freshman Westco, who I know

(24:15):
a lot of Tiger fans are excited about seeing back
out there on the field.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
You know, gave him time and and it is helping him,
you know, just have more time to get ready to play.
So I thought, he, you know, got off to a
good start last week. But big day today and tomorrow,
big day, you know, to to really strenuous physical days,
you know, getting these guys ready to go play again

(24:40):
on Saturday night. So hopefully he'll he'll have a good
week and be ready to go. But he's definitely made
a lot of progress.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
Sweeney was also, as I mentioned, ask about Tyler Brown
and his recovery. Here's what coach when he had to
say about another one of Clemson's key offensive pieces.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, he won't be ready this week. Uh he's still
weak to week, but not ready to make him day
to day yet.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
But you know he's he's he's weak to weak and
and same thing, He's made a lot of progress. You know,
he had the tightrope surgery, and so he's I've seen him.
I've seen him with his stroke, his scooter, and I've
seen him with crutches, and I've seen him with a
cane and now he's got none of that. So uh,
he's he's he's getting better, getting better.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Final thiat from Dabo Sweeny here in this segment. Then
we'll hear some of his thoughts on Sammy Watkins, a
TAJ boyd, who will both be put into Clemson's Hall
of Fame this coming weekend. But Sweeney was asked about
the advantage of the second open date and how they've
used that extra time to sort of self scout as well.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
And so you know we and we use our staff,
you know, very efficiently. Uh And crossover study. You know,
we break each other down as if we're playing each other.
I think you get a good lens from the defense
to side and and you know offense study and their
defense and uh. But certainly, and we do the self
scout about every three game. We do it. We do
one offensive every week, but we do a crossover about

(26:11):
every three games, just so kind of catching up and
adding to that from the previous three games. Uh, was
good for us. But certainly some things that are obvious
that everybody here and go, well, we got to do
that better.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
But then there's some other things that are are a
little more subtle or some maybe it's some tendencies or
some tails that you know, we we did. We we
c we might miss on one side of the ball
that we were able to maybe expose. So yeah, absolutely,
you know there there's a lot of time and then
and then obviously get a little head start on on

(26:44):
the next opponent. But we took a lot of time
with our younger guys this open day too, with with
a bunch of competitive work with those guys, the low
low rep guys, low snap guys that really need to
to get better. You know, in some in some areas,
so we spent some time with them. I think that
was good for us. And then guys just getting healthy.

(27:05):
I think Kev's a big, big part of it.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
So there you go. Dabo Sweeney talking about this second
bye week for the Tigers as they get ready to
face off with the Louisville Cardinals in de Valley this weekend.
All right, quick break, we'll come back. I mentioned TODJ.
Boyd Sammy Watkins. Hard to believe enough years of gone
by for those guys to enter into the Clemson Hall
of Fame, but that is the case, and those two

(27:28):
guys were electric when they were in Tigertown. Quick break,
we'll hear what Sweeny had to say about Boyd and
Watkins after this Clemson Sports Tall the show that shakes
the south Land. Lawton Swan hanging out with you on
a Wednesday afternoon. Don't forget if you're going to be
up in Tigertown this weekend, bring your best on game day.
Hop over to Alumni Hall to get the best tail
getting accessories, apparel, hats, jerseys, yeddy, hey, whatever you want,

(27:53):
They've got it. Shot for the best and newest collection
of officially licensed Clemson gear to cheer on your Tigers
in style. Don't forge get if you spend one hundred
and fifty bucks in the store, which is easy easy
to do because of this sweatshirt season, you get ten
dollars in Alumni Hall Rewards pass rewards. What does that mean?

(28:14):
You could save ten dollars off off your visit or
you can roll those over and save them up and
use them when you want to shop in Alumni Hall
downtown Clemson on the corner of campus on College Avenue
across from the subway, or shop online at Alumni Hall
dot com. Head over to our website. In most of

(28:35):
the stories we have posted, like right now, if you
go read the story about Trey Williams down at the bottom,
there's a link. Click that link. It takes you to
an Alumni Hall's website, and then if you purchase while you're
there or any other time you go back, we'll get
credit for it. That'll support this show again. Check them out.
Alumni Hall the best Clemson shopping experience around. And I'll

(28:57):
tell you a couple of guys who will be bringing
some fans to Death Valley this weekend. Sammy Watkins and
Taj Boyd Obviously, Taj Boyd has been a part of
this Clemson Tiger staff for several years. Sammy Watkins doing
his stint in the NFL Daboosuny was asked about those guys,
and more specifically about the memories that he has about

(29:21):
Watkins and TAJH Boyd playing up in Tiger Town.

Speaker 2 (29:27):
I mean, they've they've just I mean, it's I can't
don't have enough words for what they've meant to the program, honestly.
I mean, Taj was my first quarterback. He was a
part of the Dandy dozen, and you know, just just
helped us build a great foundation and helped us two
things that had never been done and things that we

(29:48):
hadn't done in forever around here, you know, you know,
winning ten games for the first time in twenty years.
You know, went in the ACC for the first time
in twenty years. You know, these are things now that
you think about that. I mean, you go twenty years now,
we don't win one in two years, and it's you know,
we don't go to playoff in three years and final four,

(30:09):
it's like, what's wrong with everybody? So he did some
things that were pretty special from a program standpoint. Great leader.
He's a Clemson man. I mean, he really has just
done an awesome job. And it's been fun now to
be able to do life with him on this side

(30:29):
of things and watch him grow as a coach. I mean,
he's really really talented, He's really gifted. He's very smart,
very smart, understands the game. He's great, you know with
the kids, he connects very well. Obviously, he loves Clemson
and really believes in who we are as a program.
So you know, it's just it's just been awesome. And

(30:51):
again to watch what he did through his program and
watch how I handle some adversity and some success. But
to see him walk off that field and lead to
our first BCS win against Ohio State there in that
Orange Bowl, you know was was was a pretty special moment.
To see him as a father now and it is

(31:11):
really special. Uh. And then Sammy Watkins, you know, he
came here. He's always say he's the most low maintenance
superstar I've ever recruited. You know, I would probably say
he and Trevor Lawrence just I mean, zero drama, zero anything.
I mean, just showed up ready to go and and

(31:33):
just a great worker and truly one of the He's
just a beautiful football player. I mean, just amazing to watch,
Amazing to watch him practice. I mean, just just different
from the time he got here, and every single week
that he was on the field, he created problems for people,

(31:54):
you know. I think about the kick return he had
up and in Maryland to help you bring us back
up there. It was unbelievable. Then we were down eighteen
maybe twice in that game, and I think about his
first catch. He just ran a hitch and he took
it to the house. I think about the r PO
it kind of when RPOs were just kind of coming

(32:16):
about that we hit on Georgia on the bang eight.
And just so many great plays from Sammy Watkins. Obviously,
the way he finished his career with the record in
the Orange Bowl, all the catches that he had, I mean,
he was just amazing. I remember on the headsets vividly.
We ran. We ran a little play early in the game.
I've been the first series or second series. Taj boyd

(32:38):
rips off like a forty yard run and they couldn't
catch him. And I remember this is early. I'm on
the headsets. I was like, boys, if they ain't catching
Taj they're in trouble. They ain't catching none of the
rest of these dudes. And Sammy was Sammy was a problem.
Uh so, just a just a great human being, one

(32:59):
of my favorite guys. And the same thing with him.
I got a chance to be back in that same
stadium and watch him make two of the biggest plays
in the game in the Super Bowl to win the
Super Bowl. Got a chance to see that live. Just
you know, he's a great father, he's a great husband.
I mean, he's just a he's a great just a great,
great spirit. Love talking to him and certainly incredibly deserving

(33:24):
of this. But he he was one of those guys
that helped change us. You know, he came in. He
and Nuke and and that whole group of receivers, you know,
Mar Tavis and Adam Humphries and Sharon Jeron Brown, that
whole little group that we had back in two thousand
and eleven, which was Sammy's freshman year, just kind of

(33:46):
help help put us on another level. With Taj's boy
back there running the show, it was it was something
to behold.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
Great stuff there for Dabosweety. I love the part about
the headset. I say, man if they can't run down
Tuj Boyd. They're in trouble, and you know what, He's
right Like you go back and watch that play. I
remember vividly that moment in going, Holy Molly, how did

(34:17):
Taj boy just outrun all those dudes? Because I thought
for sure, for sure that Ohio State had the horses
to keep up with the Tigers that night. But they
did not. They did not. It was a great game.
Taj boy nearly gave it away. Dabbo didn't go into
some of those mistakes he made. That was the thing

(34:40):
about Boy, like all the great all the numbers, but
then there was the boneheaded plays he would make and
you just go, goy, what are you doing, Taj? But
they were also the spectacular throws. I might still argue
the best downfield passer Clemson's ever had deep ball BEAUTI God,

(35:01):
could he spin the magic bean? Quick Brant. We'll put
a bow on our number one right after this, and
Mike you had joined us around the ben stay with us.
Clemson Sports thought the show this shakes to South Lane
AIGHTO three four five zero zero eighty six talking about
Taj Boyd Before the break, Taj and Sammy Watkins is
going to be put in the Clemson Hall of Fame.

(35:24):
On Twitter, I saw Josh from War Eagle Weekly. I'm
assuming that's a publication of some sort. Josh joining the show.
Could be a student at Auburn, could just be a
gentleman of the planes hanging out with us here on
the program today. But I know this. I was asked

(35:47):
yesterday about Brent Vintables at Oklahoma, and I was asked
about my thoughts on you know, Oklahoma, and what they
should do. Should they hold on the Venables? And I said,
hold on tight in this in this era, hold on
type for a multitude of reasons, most notably being the

(36:13):
transfer portal and its impact on rosters and how incredibly
difficult it is to replenish the cupboard, so to speak. Now,
we've seen some coaches look at Kirk Signetti and all
the guys that he brought over from James Madison to
bring them to Indiana, and you see people talking about
how that culture and and and everything that he had

(36:35):
there is kind of spilled into Indiana's startling beginning to
the season. And I know Auburn fans when they when
they hired Hugh Freeze, they were they were thinking home run.
They were thinking this, and and and and when you
think home run and you're in the SEC, you expect results.

Speaker 3 (37:00):
Quickly.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
This season Auburn currently three and five overall, one in
four in the SEC. The only teams behind the Tigers
Entucky at one in five in Mississippi State at zero
and five. Now, because of the nature of this job,

(37:22):
I have always found myself to be in the pump
to break fan base side of things. When you sit
on this side of the microphone as long as I have,
and you've talked about these teams and coaches and players
and programs from coast to coast, you start to kind
of pick up on trends. And one of the trends

(37:44):
that I believe truly exists is that the impatient fan base,
it's kind of like a watched pot never boils. The
impatient fan base rarely gets the payoff. And so what

(38:04):
I would say to Auburn fans Hugh Freeze year one,
six and seven, three and five in the SEC, year two,
now three and five, one and four. In two seasons,
he's nine and twelve, four and nine, And there's a contingent,
albeit probably not a large one, but there's a contingent

(38:25):
of Auburn faithful who would say we I don't know now. Now,
look now, if you were saying that before they hired
Hugh Freeze because of some of the baggage that he had,
and you've seen this in your nine and twelve since
he's been there, and you're like, I told you, guys,
that group, Okay, that group I'm not. I'm not talking
to you, but I am talking to this other, you know,

(38:46):
vocal minority of Auburn fans who are saying, man, I
don't know if it's gonna work, we gotta make a change.
It's the same group of people who have been critical
in the past of Shane Beemer South Carolina, and I've
preached patients, and I think, regardless of your record, the
Gamecock fans are starting to see that swannee even though
the naming lights and blazing with the orange and purple

(39:09):
a Clemson Tiger nation. I told you, guys, just be patient.
And I think Auburn fans, much like Oklahoma fans, have
to have that same mindset because the the Brian Harriston thing,
you know, here was a guy that was nine and
twelve and they gave him the heave ho you know
whatn't a fit? I think was the big conversation around

(39:31):
his tenure. Now, there was certainly success under Gus Malzion.
There was success a national championship under Gene Chiswick. But
what I find is when you know, when you when
you pull the situation like they did in just two
seasons with your previous coach, and then you start clamoring
about another change. Dude, I don't even know if that

(39:52):
was sustainable well before the transfer portal, and I don't
know how often team changed their coaches every you know,
two three years. I'll give you an example of one
where I felt like, and this hits a little closer
to home for me, was with Chad Morris at SMU.

(40:15):
All right, now, what some people will say, and this
was a kind of a kind of a similar situation
to what we're I guess looking at in terms of
Oklahoma right now and Auburn and those fans that want
to change out their coaches. Let me see if I
can get the full history on SMU football coaches. Because

(40:39):
you have a situation where Chad Morris comes in, they
give him, I think three seasons. If I remember three
years twenty fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, Morris is fired. Teams

(41:00):
weren't great when he was there. Sonny Dykes comes in
and they start winning, and some people say, yeah, yeah,
it's Sunny Dikes. It's Sonny Dikes. But I could argue
that that SMU team in twenty nineteen that went ten
and three, the core group of those players were kids

(41:25):
who arrived when Chad Morris got there. And then you
saw the same kind of situation happened at Arkansas. Unfortunately
for Chad Morris. You know, he parlays SMU into Arkansas
and then he's there, he has to change over the
culture from Beelima, and then you start to see improvement

(41:48):
the year or two after he's fired. You get into
this changing your head coaches, whether it's a guy leaves
or whatever, you get into that that scenario. In this
world of college football, you will ride the struggle bus
for a while. Patience if you can keep your coach

(42:10):
from leaving, Patience is the way to go, regardless of
the outcome of season one, two, or three. Give these
guys some time. Let them cook our two. Mike Yuva
joins us. Stay with us each time for Clipson Sports
Talk with Lawton Swan. It is our number two. That's

(43:10):
drivetime writer on the show that shakes the south Land
Clemson Sports Talt Lord Swan. Hey, no with you, Mike,
You've a Gamecoxcentral dot Com joins us A big weekend
coming up in Williams Brice Stadium seven point thirty on ABC,
the game Cocks and the Texas A and m Aggie's
facing off. Mike, Welcome in, Buddy. What's going on?

Speaker 3 (43:30):
Man? I'm doing? Swan? How you doing?

Speaker 1 (43:32):
I'm good man. Look uh this week it's funny. I
said this yesterday on the program. You know when when
South Carolina walked into this kind of gauntlet of old
Miss Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas A and m at the
beginning of the season, if you had said to me, Hey, Swanye,
which game do you think you know the game Cocks

(43:53):
have the best chance of winning? I probably would have
looked at you and said, Mike, you know what, I
think it's probably an m in Williams. I don't really
know too much about what the Aggies are gonna look like,
and yet here we are with the Aggi's the only
undefeated team in SEC play and maybe one of the
hottest teams in the country coming in the way is
Brice Stadium. I tell you, there's that old phrase, you know,
you can't win for losing. I'm like, man, the game

(44:15):
cocks every time, you know, you think. And I'm not
saying they won't win this ballgame, but it's like, my goodness,
could they have worse luck in terms of catching the
team at the wrong time?

Speaker 3 (44:25):
Oh, you know, you're not wrong. I mean, at the
beginning of the year, I only I only picked two
games that I felt like South Carolina could pull upsets on. Now, obviously,
when you're doing at the beginning of the season, we
have no idea how any team's going to be, right,
we think we do. The two games that I felt
like South Carolina could pull the upsets on were LSU
and Oklahoma. Of course, South Carolina took LSU to the wire,

(44:46):
and then just two weeks ago they were able to
beat Oklahoma. Having said that, if there was a third
game that I would have had, it would have been
this A and M game, simply because of just how
much the unknowns right, the unknowns give credit. And I'll
be now that we're heading into the month of November,
we know a lot more about all these teams. But
I mean, Mike Elco, I mean he deserves to be

(45:09):
on every ballot when it comes to Coach of the
Year with the job that he's been able to do,
because it's like putting a friggin chef in a kitchen
and saying, hey, I know you don't know what you're
startist Saraly, but make us make us an unbelievable dinner.
Because we all know the pressure that comes with coaching
at Texas and them, even if there were gonna be

(45:29):
there was gonna be a grace period. So look A
and m it's incredible to think that as we head
into this final month the regular season, they sit atop
the SEC. What they did last week against LSU was
just phenomenal. But having said that, I mean, shoot, it's
the SEC. It's a gauntlet of a schedule. I know

(45:49):
Clemson fans don't like hearing that, Okay, SEC, but it's
the truth. And for South Carolina, they're coming off of
bye week, and even though they didn't show up offensively
the last time they came off of bye, we played
that old Miss game. If they can figure it out
just a little bit, just a little bit offensively. With
what we've seen with this defense, it's hard to imagine
that this game isn't cloaked, especially being at Williams Brice Stadium.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
Last weekend. Both Clemson and South Carolina were on a
bye week. This week, they both kick off at seven
point thirty. The Tigers will be on ESPN taking on Louisville.
The game Cocks again taken on Texas A and m
over at Williams Brice Stadium. And Mike, look, when you
look at the standings in the SEC, I know Gamecock
fans as excited as they are. I went on the

(46:33):
record last week and said, hey, look, this team is
going to make a bowl game. I have no doubt
in my mind about that. At this point, they're still
two and three, And when you look at the standings
in the bigger league, they're hovering right down there, you know,
in that bottom group. How important is this game just
to kind of the morale of the fan base, because
three wins in this league, Mike puts you in third place.

(46:56):
You know, you still be behind the teams that have
less losses. But that's what the third place team right now,
Texas and Tennessee and LSU have in conference play just
three wins.

Speaker 3 (47:06):
So why I'm gonna say something that's probably gonna just
get Gamecock fans all pissed off at me. But you know,
let's just call for what it is. I don't have kids,
but this Gamecock fan base, it's like having like a
teenage daughter. You know, something good happens, they're on top
of the mountain. The week after though, something bad happens,
I'll you know, i'll x break. So I say that
because look, you look at this, You look at this game,

(47:28):
and you say, hey man, there's a great opportunity for
South Carolina to go out there and get the respect
that they deserve. An XYZ because even though we can play,
and we've said this multiple times in your show over
the last couple of weeks, the should have could have
would a game. Yeah, the fact that they do top
ten teams down to the wire between LSU and Alabama
and they've lost by a combined score of five points. Yes,
we understand how close South Carolina has been. But having

(47:51):
said that, because of just the offensive woes, because of
where they rank in the country when it comes to
the number of sacks allowed, the number of fumbles that
they've given up the number of penalties that they've had
a lot of it hass to do with the offensive
side of the ball. Because of those things, that South
Carolina defense is one of the top fifteen, top ten
defenses at all of college football. And I'm not talking

(48:13):
about just points a lot. I'm talking just you're a
football guy, you watch, you know what they can bring
to the table, especially with that they're doing disrupting for
with that front six and they play that either that
three three five or that food Fortune five. So I
think more than anything, Swanny, it would just give this
fan base something to say, hey, you know what, We've
done a lot of good things this year. The defense

(48:34):
has done a lot of good things. The special teams
is doing great Kay Kroger, he's number two in the
country and punting right now. They want to say they
went into the bye week and they were able to
make corrections. I think that's the biggest thing because if
you look at one position out of any spot on
the coaching staff, I think this fan base still has
question marks with dal Logins, and rightfully so.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
Again, he is on Twitter at Mike Underscore, UVA game
cock Central dot Com, part of the all three network
hanging out with us here on a Wednesday, moved him
back a day, glad he could work with us to
be flexible to get him in, especially given the you know,
the the expectations and the excitement around South Carolina and
Texas A and M this past weekend. Mike I said

(49:17):
yesterday on the program that I really thought that, you know,
with the emergence of Marcel Red at quarterback for Texas
A and M, and I know we've seen Wigman throughout
the year, I really feel like that you're gonna see
both of these guys on Saturday. Because if I'm Mike
alkohen he's a great coach. We can already tell that
I'm not gonna tip my cap in favor of either
of these guys because they're quite frankly, just two completely

(49:40):
different quarterbacks. And that really makes the game Cocks preparation,
I would say, sort of double end scope.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
Well, we know, historically in racing years, I mean even
going back into the last ten to fifteen years, South
Carolina has struggled when it comes to going up against
quarterbacks who are capable of scrambling. Having said that, I
feel like, when we look at this year's defense for
South Carolina. I think of Old miss I think of
the adjustments LSU made in the second half. I know

(50:08):
Old Dominion tried or excuse me, Akron tried to get
the ball out quick. Joe Moore head for he Missippi
State head football coach, he tried his best, but just
from a personnel standpoint, they weren't going to be able
to match up the way the way you are able
to move to football in South Carolina's defense, it comes

(50:28):
with getting the ball out quickly and essentially eliminating that
pass Russia. It doesn't disrupt your offense and forcing South
Carolina's defensive backs to number one come off blocks quickly,
but number two to tackle you in space. There's more
open field tackles in South Carolina against LSU, especially in
the second half, they struggle, I mean shoots South Carolina.

(50:50):
I believe they had sixteen miss tackles that game alone.
In the three previous games they had eighteen miss tackles combined.
So I say those things because it's so much obviously
easier said than done. But you look at Oklahoma and
their game plan. I mean, shoot, Swanny, it was and
I said this, I think on your earwaves. Not too

(51:11):
long ago, it was disrespectful that they had their freaking
tight ends trying to block Kyle Canard and Dylan's stored
off the edge. It's like, what are you doing thinking that, hey,
all right, that'll give us some more time to throw
the football. It's like, no, Look, South Carolina's got some
good pass rushers, not just with their edge, but there
are tackles too. So I think if you're A and

(51:33):
M the way you beat South Carolina this week, at
least if you're looking at it from one phase to another,
A and F has to get the ball quickly out
of the quarterback's hand and just challenge South Carolina's secondary
to make tackles in open fields again.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Mike is on Twitter at Mike Underscore UVA. Spectacular follow
for South Carolina fans Tiger fans alike is they'll keep
you in the know on what's going on over at
Williams Brice Stadium. The other thing that you know, I
can't help but think about the momentum for South Carolina.
I know this is going to be a big recruiting
weekend for them. They'll have a ton of players in

(52:09):
there because of the atmosphere, the night game, you know,
just all of that. You've covered recruiting for a long time.
Just is there any indication in your mind of how
big of a weekend this could be for South Carolina
on the recruiting front if they were to pull off
the upset.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
Oh, it's massive. I mean, certainly if you win a game.
I think back to a couple of years ago, I said,
a couple of years ago, now it's almost been ten years.
I was covering Old miss and it was the Egg
Bowl and Hugh Freeze talked about it heading into that
game against Mississippi State, and he was asked a question,
how much can a game, you know, in that game,

(52:49):
obviously it's a rivalry game, but how much can a
game determine where a player goes? And what he said?
And I still think it's the truth to this day.
You know, obviously it can move the needle for a
little bit, but ultimately, one game isn't going to decide
where a young man's going. And I truly believe that.
Still having said that, it's a tremendous opportunity for a

(53:10):
lot of those scouts that haven't seen what Williams Brice
is like. Under the lights, I mean, is it is spectacular.
I don't know if I shared this story with Yuswani.
So I'm working obviously up in Rhode Island, and the
head basketball coach and athletic director at the school called
Bishop Pendrick and in Rhode Island, that's the same school
that Celtics head coach Joe Missoula attended. Well, the athletic

(53:32):
director slash basketball coach. His daughter goes to South Carolina.
So a couple of weeks back, he went to a
football game at South Carolina, I think it was against
Akron and it was a night game, and he came
back and he said, Mike, that was unbelievable. That was
And this is a guy that is coached some you
know NBA players. Of course, I mentioned Joe Missoula coaching
with Celtics, like he's seen a lot of things. Yeah,

(53:54):
he said that for a lot of these kids that
are seventeen eighteen years old, going into an environment like
that for the first time, it can be a big difference.
And certainly if you can win a game, that can help.
But I've talked to many recruits over the year saying hey,
you know what, Yeah, we've seen sometimes of South Carolina.
They're not playing well, and what happens, well, maybe the
student section leaves early. And some of them have told me, Hey,

(54:17):
we look at that as a challenge that we want
to be the group that changes things so that they
do want to stick around, that they do want to stay.
So I'd also add that in there, because not to
say South Carolina is going to lose this weekend, but
there's also a possibility of that happened.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Mike, you'vill with us here on a Wednesday afternoon. So, Mike,
one of the other things and I kind of broke
this subject with you before we got on the air,
and it was about the fact that this is a
national game on ABC, and I did some digging to see,
like if South Carolina's, you know, a host of the

(54:50):
game on ABC in Williams Brice Stadium in the past decade. Now,
obviously they've been on CBS for many years with the SEC,
but looking at they're the games that they've played, whether
that's you know, matchups with Clemson, maybe it's an opening
season game against North Carolina or whatever that's up in
Charlotte on a neutral site, and South Carolina I think

(55:13):
has only had about one primetime nationally televised game on
ABC in the past decade that I could find. They
played Miami on ABC back in a bowl game in
the Independence Bowl many years ago. But in terms of
seven thirty kickoff, Mike, the only thing I could come
up with was a seven thirty start against North Carolina

(55:35):
last season. I believe it was that the Duke's Mayo
Bowl that was on ABC, but it was a neutral
site game. Mike, I'm not sure, and I don't know
that you would even know this. And I'll dig back
as far as I can. I think ESPN will take
us back to like three. I don't know that South
Carolina's ever hosted a primetime game on ABC. That might
be something worth digging into this week.

Speaker 3 (55:55):
So and I'm gonna do Swanny. I'm gonna do my
research for you, and when I find out, I'm gonna
shoot you that message, and whether it's going to be
on the air today or if it's going to be tomorrow,
I will get that to you. I know exactly who
I can reach out to to find out about because
I don't know that the answer out the top of
my head, but I mean feeling I know someone that
he does. So I think, look, in this era, you
know one thing that the SEC really has going for them.

(56:17):
And again, I know Clemson fans hate it, but let's
just call spade a spade. With how the conferences are
breaking up right now, one thing that you can really
sell and that's not to say Clemson's not playing nationally
televised games. They are, but obviously when you have that
contract deal with ESPN, with what the SEC is doing
right now, the SEC is really benefiting it more than

(56:39):
a lot of other conferences. I mean, it's just called
for what it is. Yes, the Big Ten they also
have their deal. We know the ACC has a deal
going on, but when it comes to ESPN, ABC, the
SEC is really being the ones that are benefiting the most.
So you know, if you're a school in the SEC,
and when we're talking about recruiting and obviously the there's

(57:00):
so many different layers to look at recruiting now with
the transfer portal and NIL and all that other stuff, right,
but one thing that I feel like you can really
push now is hey, look you have an opportunity to
play some nationally televised games. Now that was the case
certainly with CBS there's no question, but there's just something
to be said about those games being played at night.
I don't know what it is.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
Yeahney, Well, correct me if I'm wrong. But CBS only
had a couple of they only had a couple of
weeks in the season where they had two games on
so most of those were that three thirty kickoff and
now that.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
Was their spot.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
Yeah, the SEC. That was a thing that the SEC
this weekend's going back to back to back on ABC.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
Yeah, I mean, and that's the thing. I mean, those
night games and I've seen some of the ratings over
the last couple of weeks. I mean they're breaking record
after record, it feels like for the station, and I'm
not surprised by it. I mean, you look back a
couple of weeks ago. I think it was Alabama versus
Tennessee and we've seen you know, Texas play Georgia. It's like,
are we surprised. I mean, obviously, again the conference itself

(58:06):
because of adding Oklahoma and Texas into it, and obviously
Oklahoma is having a down year, but it's still a name.
I mean, the matchups they've been they've been incredible. So
I think it's just again it's another it's another tool
that coaches can use in this conference to sell. Hey,
you want to come to the SEC, you know, you
can go somewhere else. You can go play, you know,

(58:28):
a nationally televised game. But look at the number of
eyeballs that are watching because they're playing on a national
televised station and they're playing in prime time.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
I'll tell you another thing too that I think is
really cool and it doesn't have to really do with
the SEC. But you know the fact that now when
Notre Dame plays a road game, NBC is taking advantage
of I guess their contract. I believe it's with Fox
right now, and they're playing excuse me, NBC is taking

(58:58):
advantage of their contract with Big Ten and they're playing
a Big Ten game on those night windows when they,
you know, don't have a Notre Dame all which, Hey,
I'm all about more football on television. That's really good.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
Oh me too. And you know, as someone that is
working those Saturday night shifts now being back in TV,
I can tell you that over the last couple of weeks,
I mean, I'm constantly paying attention to what's going on
with night games, and there's just been and you don't
even have to be working at night to know this.
But I'm paying attention to what those night games are

(59:31):
and I'm just like, man, like this, this is really good.
You know. It's tough for me to actually pay attention
to what I have to do because there's a good
football game on every frigging week. It feels like in
that primetime spot, whether it be on ABC, whether it
be on NBC. And that's another thing, Swanny, I mean,
think back about I don't know, let's say twenty years right,
and then obviously you can go back further. That was

(59:52):
one of the things that was really appealing with Notre Dame,
outside of obviously the prestige, the history, the academics, all
that stuff. Yeah, when you went to Notre Dame, you
are gonna be playing on NBC, You're gonna be playing
on nationally television. You're gonna play a national televised game
every week. Well, guess what the times have turned. You're
not the only one that's doing that anymore. And I think,

(01:00:13):
you know, if we want to go down the rabbit hole,
that's one of the issues that they're going up against
because they're not the only school that's playing across the
country anymore in comparison to what it used to be
for them two decades ago.

Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
Mike, you've again Game Concentral dot Com. Mike, I'm not
gonna lie to you. When I saw South Carolina was
playing an exhibition game tonight at seven o'clock against Woosta,
I thought for sure it would be what's the mass
what's thea? Ohio, my man, give us real quick. We
got about a minute expectations for Lamont Paris's squad coming

(01:00:46):
into this season.

Speaker 3 (01:00:48):
Well, how about this. You know who went to Worcester.

Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
Lamont Paris is a WORSTA grad.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
You go there, you go. Yeah, So that's the way
that a lot of people expect to spell Worcester Assumption
hold across a lot of the colleges out there in Massachusetts. Look,
I think this fan base is upset where a lot
of people are projecting South Carolina to be this year
because they view this team as a team that's certainly overachieved.
Last year, they tied the most wins that they've ever

(01:01:14):
had in program history. You go back to that final
four year and what Frank Larensteam was able to do
in sixteen and seventeen, and they've added some key pieces.
But again, I think a lot of people that are
on the outside looking in there, they're saying, Okay, you
have new pieces, how are they going to gel? Was
last year an indication of what we can expect from
South Carolina moving forward? Or was that just simply a

(01:01:35):
program that overachieved it? Will this be a consistent thing?
And I think it's fair to say, as much as
Gamecock fans don't want to hear that, why should they
be given the benefit of the doubt? Why should they?
I mean, I get it that Lamon hasn't been here
that long, but until you can prove that you can
do it consistently, why should anyone believe that you should
be able to do that? And I think that's all right.
If you're the game Cars, you should be okay with

(01:01:56):
being under the very dark because guess what, all of
last season that's where you even when you were winning
game and certainly they got blown out a couple of times.
I think of the Auburn games in particular, But I
think this is a team that has to go out
there and improve it, and they certainly have to do
it early on, because if not, all the people that
are saying Oh see, you guys told you so will
be coming out and they'll be even louder than they
are right now.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
On Twitter app, Mike underscore. Uva, Mike, have a great.

Speaker 3 (01:02:17):
Week man, all right, appreciate it twenty.

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
There go Mike, you've a Gamecock Central dot Com quick break,
stay with us rolling along the show the shakes to
south Land. That was Mike. You'va hanging out with us
before the break? Always great catching up with him. All right.
So I was talking earlier for those of you just
joining the show in hour number two. For those of
you on TikTok, you'll say you were talking about it
two minutes ago, Bubba. Not for the rest of the world,

(01:02:42):
the people listening on iHeart. It's been a while. But
I was talking about Chad Morris at SMU, and I
should have been a little a little more fair on
this because he partlay the SMU job into the Arkansas job.
It was the Arkansas job, and this may be why
SMU is on a little bit better stability right now

(01:03:06):
and where they are than Arkansas. Morris got the Arkansas
got the coach like twenty two games two seasons, and
they fired him. This is after turning over. So Brett
Bielaman was there for five years. John L. Smith I think,
took over for a season and then Morris takes over.
He doesn't even get two full years and they fire him.

(01:03:28):
If you think about going from Brett Beelama, that big ten,
old school Wisconsin, now what you see it Illinois type
offense to what Chad Morris likes to run, that hurry up,
no huddle, spreading you out, throwing the ball. What was

(01:03:51):
the other thing? What was what did he call the
the dirt raid? Is that? What knows that? Or was
that dirt raid?

Speaker 4 (01:03:58):
Is?

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
Does Garrett Riley coin dirt raid? What was the one
that Chad Morris used to have.

Speaker 2 (01:04:08):
Was that?

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
I can't remember what the phrase was they used. I
know it's hurry up, no huddle. But then there was
a it was another aspect of the running game, uh
that they brought up anyway, I can't remember off the
top of my head. But so he goes in there
to Arkansas and it has to rebuild that program and

(01:04:38):
they get rid of him in less than two years.
I think ten games into a second season they fired him.
They bring in Sam Pittman, and I like Sam Pittman.
I think Sam Pittman's a neat identifiable individual as a coach.
I think there's a human quality to him that would

(01:05:02):
make me want to gravitate if I was a kid
to go play for him compared to some other individuals.
But if I think about the timing of the success
of Arkansas when Sam Pittman got there, I think it

(01:05:28):
was his second season. The Razorbacks were nine to four.
They were a team that people were excited about, and
people were saying, man, Sam Pittman, what a job, Incredible,
what he's done to turn around? And all I could think,

(01:05:52):
in fairness, was that the dudes he had on that
team were guys that were brought in by Chad Morris.
And so what type of offense did they run? Anybody

(01:06:16):
remember hurry Up, no huddle. Kendall Briles was the offensive coordinator,
and so they ran the same scheme that would have
been run by Chad Morris. Some people might have labeled

(01:06:42):
Morris as more of it, maybe a power spread. That
might be the word I was looking for earlier. But nonetheless,
patients Oklahoma fans, patients Auburn fans, and I think too,
and for all the game Cocks hanging out with us
peeking over the fence on a Wednesday afternoon, and we

(01:07:05):
love the game cocks that hang out with us, believe you.

Speaker 3 (01:07:08):
Me, so you could continue to peek over the fence
at the best radio show in the nation.

Speaker 1 (01:07:14):
I think there's also something to be said for the
expanded league, and I think everybody in some respects this
includes the Alabamas, the Texas's, the Georgia's of the SEC.

(01:07:34):
I think because of the size of the league, everybody's
gonna have to, in some way, shape or form, get
accustomed to the fact that you are occasionally gonna end
up in the bottom half of the conference. The bottom
half of the conference for years was reserved for three

(01:07:56):
or four teams on either side of the the the divisions, right,
like you kind of knew in the old SEC East
back then it's probably gonna be Florida, probably gonna be Georgia, Tennessee, right,

(01:08:16):
and then you worked your way down. Then you'd get
into you know, South Carolina and Vanderbilt in Kentucky. Most
of the time they were going to be at that bottom.
But now with it a stacked league, do get used
to it. I mean, if you finished twelfth consistently you

(01:08:39):
might not be a bad team. You might not be
a bad team. And that's all across these leagues, really
fan base expectations, because in the old days, you know,
you'd feel like for most of the year, oh man,
we're in it to make a make a run to

(01:09:00):
the to the top of our division. Now you can
pretty quickly be put in a rearview mirror by the
other teams in your you know, in your conference, with
as many games as or as many teams as there
are in there competing. I mean, if you got two
losses right now, you're looking up at oh, I don't
think we have a shot. Do you know what would

(01:09:21):
have to happen for those other teams to play their
way back to us. You'd have to have like a
guy who was the guy that had to melt down
at the British Open that time. I gotta look this
up during the break, I mean, this was an unbelievable meltdown.
Good news. I got fifteen seconds to the break, so

(01:09:42):
we'll hit the brake, we'll come back. I'll tell you
about that meltdown that took place across the pond and
golf many years ago. That was just, uh, it felt
like it felt like the movie ten Cup. I'll tell
you about when we return. Stay with us, rolling along
on a Wednesday, the show The Shakes of south Land.
Thanking to everybody on TikTok. Appreciate the follow from little Giant.

(01:10:08):
You know I know a guy, he's a he's a
big giant.

Speaker 4 (01:10:10):
Sexy Dexy Clemson.

Speaker 1 (01:10:14):
Sexy Dexi Clemson. But I was talking before the break
about the meltdown at the British Open that took place.
It was twenty five years ago. That's why the old
that's why the old brain wasn't picking it up anymore.
I'm not as sharp as I used to be. Jean
van Dervelt nineteen ninety nine, British Open. Dude enters the

(01:10:37):
final hole at Carnoustie, three strokes up. I mean this,
this thing is in the bag. Baby, You're about to win.
I still think they called it the British Open back then.
You're about to win the Open championship and dude just

(01:11:03):
melts it down. Now he claims it never haunted him.
Vanderbilt collapsed after his approach shot struck a grand stand
and ricocheted into deep fescue. His attempted recovery flew into

(01:11:24):
the berry burn, from which he was forced to take
a shoeless, sockless drop, consequently hitting into the front greenside bunker.
He got up and down for triple bogie, falling into
a three way tie with Justin Leonard and Paul Lowry.
Lowry would go on to win. It was worse in

(01:11:49):
person than it is on paper. Well, watching it, I
wasn't across the pond cause You're like looking at it,
going and no way this is happening to this guy.
You cannot melt this down, Cameron with the followers, well
on TikTok. Thank you Cameron. You guys are pushing us,
pushing us towards ten thousand subscribers. Thank you for that. Nonetheless,

(01:12:19):
belt downs do occur. That's one of the that's one
of the biggest ones I've ever seen. A zero three
four five zero zero eighty six. I talk about expanded conferences,
expanded leagues. We even talked a little bit about kind
of a projected college football playoff, which is wide open

(01:12:39):
to this point. But the Atlantic Coast Conference yesterday unveiled
their new ACC Championship Trophy. It's the first time the
league has updated the championship trophy since the conference expanded
back in twenty fourteen and twenty fifteen, Commissioner Jim Phillips saying,
with a new era of the ACC and are now

(01:13:01):
eighteen member schools, this trophy represents an evolution to the sleeker,
more modern design while paying respects who are previous trophy.
The new trophy comes as the conference prepares for its
first championship of the twenty twenty four to twenty twenty

(01:13:21):
five school year on Friday, November the first as the
league's men's and women's cross country programs compete. So this
will not just be the championship trophy for football, but
it is mimicked by the championships of or mimic for
the championships of the other sports. The ACC says it

(01:13:45):
aligns with the new era of the ACC. It says
the trophy continues to highlight the ACC's primary brand, representing
the membership and sponsored sports a sleeker and more modern feel.
Sharing a similar color scheme, it introduces the quote accomplished

(01:14:05):
Greatness displayed on both sides of the trophy. Weighed twenty
two and a half pounds, all eighteen schools listed on
the trophy They call it an innovative design to enhance hoisting.
You remember in Christmas Vacation the crunch enhancer rk W

(01:14:29):
Griswold Junior SIMP, you know, semiprimeable membrane coats and seals
the flake. Well, hey, you can't have crunch enhancement if
you don't have hoisting enhancement. All the hoisters out there
hoisting trophies, it can't. Can't be hoisted in a trophy

(01:14:52):
that's uncomfortable. Look at the College Football Playoff National Championship
in which Clemson is hoisted twice the Golden Scepter. It's
it's can you not tell? Could you guys not tell?
The Golden Scepter had hoist enhancement?

Speaker 2 (01:15:13):
Get it up.

Speaker 1 (01:15:14):
There can't ride the struggle bus when you're trying to
hoist that championship. Trophy also has front panels that will
display the year, the sport, and the winning institutions on it.
And speaking of Clemson sports, other than that's the name

(01:15:35):
of the show and the Twitter account, how cool is
what's gonna be taking place? We talked about the Savannah bananas.
I don't know what's going on with the Savannah bananas
and Clemson. You know they're gonna go play a game
in Death Valley, right, They're gonna play a baseball game

(01:15:55):
in Death Valley, Banana Ball in the Valley. But the
Savannah Bananas will also play an exhibition game against Clemson
at Doug Kingsmore Stadium November, the seventh Banana Ball at
the Doug. Now, when I was a kid, I got

(01:16:17):
into the Harlem Globe Trotters, and I've watched some of
the banana ball stuff on TV. They've got some wild
and crazy rules and all that. But these events to
me are more intriguing than the basketball is. At this point.
The Harlem Globe Trotters basketball games are no better than

(01:16:40):
being at the NBA All Star Game. But I mean
maybe actually they are better than being at the NBA
All Star Game. The NBA All Star Games are atrocious.
But the owner of the Savannah Bananas, if you didn't
know this, is a graduate of Walford Jesse Cole, the

(01:17:04):
founder and owner and man, these guys have made minor
league baseball whatever you want to call it, you know,
the entertainment factor for baseball. I criticize baseball a lot
here on the program, but the Savannah bananas have it

(01:17:25):
going on? Speaking of baseball. Final segment, The Yankees survive
another day. We'll talk about it next. Stay with us.

Speaker 4 (01:17:35):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 2 (01:17:53):
And what have you done?

Speaker 4 (01:17:54):
Always are the same.

Speaker 2 (01:18:01):
We win.

Speaker 4 (01:18:37):
Sometime.

Speaker 1 (01:18:48):
Final segment on a Wednesday afternoon the show The Shakes
the South wayan Clemson sports talk eight O three four
five oh zero zero eighty six. Well, last night, the

(01:19:09):
Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance to put down the
New York Yankees for good. The Dodgers had a chance
to win the World Series in the Bronx. Because I'll

(01:19:30):
be honest with you, I started thinking about this, given
this the twentieth anniversary of the Red Sox going down
three to zero and coming back and winning against the
Yankees to get to the World Series and then to
go on to win their first World Series since nineteen

(01:19:50):
What was it, three to eight? I think that was
the three one. Either way, I started thinking the irony
of the Yankees having little to no offense in the
first three games of this series. And what if what

(01:20:13):
if the bats came alive and the Yankees, who are
certainly talented enough and certainly have enough firepower in the lineup,
what if they ripped off four straight wins to bring
home the World Series. You talk about spreading the news,

(01:20:45):
that would do it. Eleven to four last night. The
Yankees' bats come alive. Two Yankee fans though in the
first inning. You know, my brother in law is a Yankee,
not like a like the place like. I don't mean

(01:21:06):
it like that. I mean like a it's a fan
of the Yankees, And so I don't I don't really
use that terminology to describe people from the North. That
seems like so old and archaic. Now, if you're from
the North and you want to describe yourself as a Yankee,
to me, all well and good. But my brother in law,
who is from the North, but he's a Yankee fan.

(01:21:27):
But I would say he's a Yankee, just like I
would say he's a Dodger or whatever. I did tweet
that question out during Game three about who scored the
least amount of runs in the World Series, being the
Dodgers in hopes to help my brother in law out
and not the twenty seven World Series Championships needs a
whole lot of help. But I thought I'd do the

(01:21:50):
right thing right, do the right thing by my brother
in law. So I tweeted it in hopes that reverse
psychology would come into play. It didn't the Dodgers one
four to two, but Game four seem like it sort
of started to go with the other direction. But did
you see these two yahoo's that not only got fan

(01:22:15):
interference in the game from Mookie Betts, but literally these
two guys look like one of the guy on the
left when you watch the video. I don't know if
you guys remember the Brooklyn Brawler in WWE. That's what
he looks at. He looks like he's the Brooklyn Brawler.
And Mooki Bets goes to catch a foul ball and
it's not one where oh the the fan snagged it

(01:22:39):
before the player Betts catches it, and these two guys
look like the WWE tag team trying to rip the
ball out of Mookie Betts's glove. They call him out,
they get kicked out. They've now been banned from attending
Game five. Those fans will not be permitted to attend

(01:23:02):
a Night's game in any capacity, and added that the
incident Tuesday night with Bets was egregious and unacceptable. A
source told ESPN's Jesse Rodgers early Wednesday. Then it was
not immediately clear whether the band against Austin Kappa, Bancio

(01:23:23):
or Boncio, a season ticket holder, and John Peter would
apply to any Yankee stadium games next season. Dudes got
great seats. World Series, could have been there, could have
been there for a win, and instead they were escorted

(01:23:45):
out of the stadium after fighting with Bets for the ball.
Strange times, man, I mean, these guys, they look so
we talked about the Savannah Banana US. Okay, in the
Savannah Banana games, if the Savannah Banana fans catch the

(01:24:05):
foul ball, the opposing team is out there. They are
like fielders, these guys. I'm not sure. I'm not. It
was like they were trying to repossess that baseball. Like
these guys are cars. These guys repossessed cars for a living.
Give us that ball anyway, a OA tonight on Fox?

(01:24:28):
Can the Yankees send things back to Los Angeles? I
didn't think it was possible, but maybe the bats have
woken up in the Bronx. All right, we gotta get
out of here. We will be back tomorrow. Until then,
as always, y'all take care now and go Tigers.