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Texas Longhorns QUESTIONS Are ANSWERED before Season Kicks OFF! | SEC · College Football Addiction: A Show About All Things College Football

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to College Football Addiction. We are presented by PrizePix.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm TJ Pittenger. I've got Will Thomas. You can follow
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: him on social media at WillThomasCFB. You can check out
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Tailgate Talk SEC, and you can check out a peek
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: inside SEC football where he is as well with Allie
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  Speaker 1: Peek and myself. Will, thank you for joining us. Let's
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  Speaker 1: talk a little Longhorns today. The consensus is they've got
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  Speaker 1: a whole bunch of talent, and a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: are picking them to go to the playoff. A lot
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  Speaker 1: of people are picking them to even maybe be in
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  Speaker 1: that Final Four round. where is this Texas team going
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  Speaker 1: to beat people this year? I mean, is it just
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  Speaker 1: truly the amassed weapons that they have? Like what, what
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  Speaker 1: is the good news for Texas right now?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's a lot, it's kind of hard to
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  Speaker 2: pick one thing, right? I mean, you brought up the
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  Speaker 2: mass amount of weapons portaling in cam Coleman at receiver already.
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  Speaker 1: To Ryan Wingo, Emmett Mosley, Jermaine Bishop jr.
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  Speaker 2: Is a true freshman. He was a five-star kid. He
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  Speaker 2: is blowing up camp to that pair of running backs,
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  Speaker 2: obviously really Brown and Hollywood smothers. And at least offensively
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  Speaker 2: for me, We talk about Arch Manning and all the expectations,
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  Speaker 2: all the hype. How can he realize it this year?
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  Speaker 2: There's a part of me that wonders if he doesn't
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  Speaker 2: even have to do that. You're just going to have
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  Speaker 2: to go do your job because there are so many
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  Speaker 2: good skill players. The offensive line, which is probably Texas'
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  Speaker 2: biggest overall question at this point, was really addressing the portal.
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  Speaker 2: Melvin Cianic comes over from Wake Forest, I believe it was.
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  Speaker 2: He's that right tackle. You obviously have Trevor Goosby. You
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  Speaker 2: have Lawrence Seymour inside a guard. They really went after
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  Speaker 2: the offensive line in the portal. It should be way stronger.
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  Speaker 2: So offensively, you know, your biggest hole is O-line. We'll
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  Speaker 2: see how that pans out with Goosby's injury. But everything
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  Speaker 2: else seems pretty strong. And then defensively, I mean, this
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  Speaker 2: defense might be the best in the country, right? Colin
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  Speaker 2: Simmons might be the best edge rusher. Rasheem Biles could
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  Speaker 2: maybe be one of the best linebackers, at least maybe
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  Speaker 2: in the SEC. He portals over from Pitt. And then
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  Speaker 2: that second year has got a bunch of ball hawks, man. So,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the biggest hole on defense was Ty Anthony
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  Speaker 2: Smith getting dismissed. That is a hit, but the depth
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  Speaker 2: they portaled in with some true freshmen like Tyler Atkinson,
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  Speaker 2: a linebacker. It's really hard for me to look at
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  Speaker 2: Texas' two deep and, like, circle a group and say, man,
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  Speaker 2: they might get beat there because, I mean, really, every
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  Speaker 2: single group is really solid.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you talk about offensive line. When I talk to
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  Speaker 1: folks around there, that has been the big question mark
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  Speaker 1: is can that group– it's tough to know that that
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  Speaker 1: group or think that that group could ever be as
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  Speaker 1: good as the weapons, right? But that's almost an unfair
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  Speaker 1: measuring stick. Like, yeah, nobody's as good as Cam Coleman.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody's as good as Archman. Nobody's as good as Hollywood
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  Speaker 1: Smothers and the guys on the ground. But– Do you, like,
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  Speaker 1: how would you grade their offensive line compared to, and
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  Speaker 1: I know we'll find out, right, in a week, kickoff
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  Speaker 1: will happen, we'll actually find out, but how would you
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  Speaker 1: grade their offensive line, maybe compared to the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the conference?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, when it's fully healthy, it's probably up
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  Speaker 2: in the top five because of star power, right? I
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  Speaker 2: mentioned the tackles, Goosby, Melvin, Siani, they can both be
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  Speaker 2: really high draft picks. I think Lawrence Seymour can too.
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  Speaker 2: And just another piece of this, Brandon Baker, he was
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  Speaker 2: their right tackle last year on that O-line that was
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  Speaker 2: kind of Swiss cheesy, right? And you saw him be struggling.
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  Speaker 2: So he's still there, but he's moving into right guard
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  Speaker 2: where he is much more comfortable. So I think in
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  Speaker 2: terms of the portal ads and just moving guys around,
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  Speaker 2: it's a lot stronger. But in terms of the best
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  Speaker 2: O-lines in the conference, I mean, Georgia's up there. I
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  Speaker 2: think Missouri's up there. Kentucky's sleepy. Really, really good offensive line.
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  Speaker 2: So I do think it's up there at top five
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  Speaker 2: when you have those five starters all healthy. But the
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  Speaker 2: depth is very good behind them. They don't have any
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  Speaker 2: real questions about who's going to sub in for Goosby
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  Speaker 2: for just one or two games if they need it,
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  Speaker 2: or Lawrence Seymour. So I think it's probably right on
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  Speaker 2: that top five mark. It's probably not the best in
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  Speaker 2: the conference, but as long as it's good enough to
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  Speaker 2: just give Arch two or three seconds of snap or
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  Speaker 2: just make one little hole for Hollywood's mothers, they'll be
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  Speaker 2: able to do their job.
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  Speaker 1: The Arch regression talk that you hear coming out of camp,
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  Speaker 1: how much does that bother you or worry you with Texas?
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't not bother me a little bit, but all
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  Speaker 2: practices and all scrimmages are zero-sum activities. So if Arch
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  Speaker 2: Manning threw a pick, oh, Grayson Littleton got an interception
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  Speaker 2: in practice. So you can look at it that way too.
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  Speaker 2: At least in my opinion, I mentioned earlier, I think
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  Speaker 2: that the best defense Arch is going to play all
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  Speaker 2: year is the one he's playing every day in practice.
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  Speaker 2: So I really do think that when you get into
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  Speaker 2: the season, obviously, Buckeyes are going to have a really
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  Speaker 2: good defense. You're going to have in the SEC a
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  Speaker 2: bunch of really solid defenses, but by and large, I
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  Speaker 2: think he's going up against the best competition really in
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  Speaker 2: practice outside of maybe two or three games, so it
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  Speaker 2: doesn't really worry me. I prefer these lumps now than
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  Speaker 2: we did, you know, than we saw them last year
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  Speaker 2: when it was at Ohio State and in the swap
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  Speaker 2: against Florida, so... Getting those lumps out now against what
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  Speaker 2: is a really high-caliber defense, now live at Will Muschamp,
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  Speaker 2: it's definitely a thing that I take note of, but
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  Speaker 2: it doesn't make me necessarily think like, oh, we're in
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  Speaker 2: for another year of a disappointing Arch Manning season. I'm
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  Speaker 2: not quite that drastic on it, but it's definitely worth
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  Speaker 2: noting like, okay, he has not just immediately turned into
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  Speaker 2: this Heisman contender. He is still a human being who's
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  Speaker 2: a junior in college, and he's working through some lumps.
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  Speaker 1: I will get right back to chatting with Will, but
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  Speaker 1: first I want to give some love to our friends
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: over at Price Picks. Right now, all new users who
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: play $ 5 and win that first lineup get $ 150 in
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: lineups instantly if they use code HMA. We have actual
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: real-life football happening today and then until the end of January.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: So make sure you are on the Price Picks app. Listen,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: based on when you saw this video, these games might
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: have already happened, so you can just grade me at
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: this point. But I've been telling you all week, I
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  Speaker 1: like the Ashton Daniels rushing total. Go get that. It's 38.5 yards.
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  Speaker 1: I think Florida State runs him a few times. I'll
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  Speaker 1: be there at the game, hopefully not to see a
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  Speaker 1: meltdown by my knolls, but I like that rushing total
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  Speaker 1: a lot. Jaden Maiava's passing yards is a free play
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  Speaker 1: right now. I know it's his touchdowns that you can
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  Speaker 1: kind of see in some places, but it's not on
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  Speaker 1: the screenshot. Jaden Maiava's passing yards is set at. 5.
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  Speaker 1: You pick that, you're going to win it. I don't
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  Speaker 1: foresee him having a game with negative passing yards or
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: zero passing yards against San Jose State. Pair something together
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: like that, You've got yourself a lineup. Again, appreciate PrizePix
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  Speaker 1: for their support. Go check them out. How much of
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  Speaker 1: that Ohio State game is a must-win for Texas? Now, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: for the conference, it isn't, but I want to look
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  Speaker 1: at the rest of their SEC slate in just a moment.
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  Speaker 1: But you are defending home turf, and you were close
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  Speaker 1: last year up in the shoe. Is it a must-win?
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  Speaker 1: Am I overrating that game? Obviously, they can make up ground,
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  Speaker 1: but what are your thoughts around that game specifically?
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  Speaker 2: It's pretty close to a must-win because, you know, we'll
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  Speaker 2: go through their games in a second, but nine SEC games,
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  Speaker 2: if you drop that game to Ohio State, you probably
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  Speaker 2: only have one buffer game for the rest of the year.
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  Speaker 2: And this schedule is brutal. It's one of the hardest
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  Speaker 2: in the entire country. So, you know, we had talks
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  Speaker 2: about 9-3 Texas last year making the playoff, so I
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  Speaker 2: guess you could maybe make the case based on their
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  Speaker 2: wins and losses that maybe with three losses they can
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  Speaker 2: squeak in. I don't really want to rely on that
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  Speaker 2: logic because I don't really believe that that should be
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  Speaker 2: how it works. So that game against the Buckeyes, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: having at least you know, a conference loss in your
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  Speaker 2: back pocket to be able to just bear is incredibly important.
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  Speaker 2: Because also one quirk about their schedule, three of their
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  Speaker 2: last four games are on the road and their bye
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  Speaker 2: weeks in week five. So they finished the year playing
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  Speaker 2: eight straight games. So when they go to College Station,
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  Speaker 2: that's their eighth straight game. When they go to Death
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  Speaker 2: Valley to play LSU, that's their sixth straight game. So
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be a lot of attrition. They're going
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  Speaker 2: to be beat up. You kind of need that insurance
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  Speaker 2: almost of saying we can lose two SEC games and
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  Speaker 2: still slide in as the eighth seed or the ninth
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  Speaker 2: seed if we need it. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: You talk about that SEC slate. There is a bye
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  Speaker 1: week after Tennessee. But think about this stretch. This is ridiculous.
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  Speaker 1: And I know there are other teams that have tough
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  Speaker 1: stretches all over. I know there's one week where a
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  Speaker 1: Big Ten team plays like Indiana, Ohio State, USC. It's tough, right?
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  Speaker 1: Everybody gets the bad draw at times. But to go
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  Speaker 1: to Knoxville and then to play in the Red River,
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  Speaker 1: And then to play Florida. I know that's at home.
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  Speaker 1: I know Florida's rebuilding. But that's a team that beat
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  Speaker 1: you last year. And then to play Ole Miss, the
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  Speaker 1: best quarterback in the conference. To have four straight games
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  Speaker 1: of Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, and Ole Miss, and not to
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  Speaker 1: throw any shots at Missouri or Mississippi State. Obviously, you
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  Speaker 1: would like Texas in those games. When you look at talent,
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  Speaker 1: Kamaru Taylor, and what Missouri can put out there with
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  Speaker 1: Ahmad Hardy if he's back 100%. Those first four games.
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  Speaker 1: If you can get through that 3-1, you probably feel
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  Speaker 1: pretty good based on how that Ohio State goes. If
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  Speaker 1: you get through that 4-0, you feel really, really good.
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  Speaker 1: But it is a tough four-game stretch where there really
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  Speaker 1: are no breaks. I don't even want to hear that
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  Speaker 1: Florida's a break. Because, again, that's a team that beat
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  Speaker 1: you last year and beat you soundly. I think the
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  Speaker 1: way we focus so much on that Ohio State game,
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  Speaker 1: and deservedly so. That could be a natty preview. Who knows?
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  Speaker 1: But that four-game stretch in the SEC is just killer.
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  Speaker 2: It's so brutal because, I mean, the caliber of quarterback
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  Speaker 2: they're playing against, right? Maybe not Aaron Filo, but Faison Brandon,
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  Speaker 2: five-star true freshman. That will must have might be looking
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  Speaker 2: as chops there, but that's his first big game does
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  Speaker 2: he live up to the moment. And that is Texas'
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  Speaker 2: first road game. Neyland in a spot where they're going
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  Speaker 2: to be up for that, that's going to be really loud.
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  Speaker 2: But the quirk of this schedule, right, they play one
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  Speaker 2: true road game before week 10. And it's that game
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  Speaker 2: at Tennessee because it's Tennessee, Oklahoma's neutral, everything else is
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  Speaker 2: at home. So that's a good thing, but then like
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  Speaker 2: I brought up before, Three of your last four are
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  Speaker 2: on the road. So if you are beat up, you're
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  Speaker 2: just coming out of that gauntlet of, you know, both
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  Speaker 2: in Mississippi schools, on the road to Missouri, and then, oh, good,
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  Speaker 2: now we get to go back to play in Death
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  Speaker 2: Valley against LSU. The back half of this schedule is
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  Speaker 2: going to be a really tough, you know, just physically
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  Speaker 2: and also mentally. Like, can they keep pushing and finish strong,
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  Speaker 2: especially if, like, you know, let's say they have a
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  Speaker 2: loss in their back pocket. Do we just kind of
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  Speaker 2: watch them roll out and, like, drop that game to
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  Speaker 2: Arkansas for no reason, just because they're out of gas?
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  Speaker 2: It's a really tough back half of that schedule.
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  Speaker 1: We've talked about this too. Texas's aspirations are, there are
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  Speaker 1: two seasons. Let me back up a little bit. There
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  Speaker 1: are two seasons. You have your 12 game schedule, and
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  Speaker 1: then you've got to survive a three to four game
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  Speaker 1: gauntlet in the playoffs against great teams. Now, maybe if
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  Speaker 1: you get the five seed, you get an easy one.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe if you get a one through four, you get
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  Speaker 1: a bi-week, right? Like, so there is a little bit
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  Speaker 1: of a reprieve if you finish high enough with the
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  Speaker 1: nine game SEC schedule and the fact you play the
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  Speaker 1: number one team in the country, you know, to start
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  Speaker 1: this thing off. Um, Man, I wonder what kind of
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  Speaker 1: depth Texas has, and we'll find out, right? We can
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  Speaker 1: conjecture about it and talk about it. But I wonder
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  Speaker 1: what kind of depth they have to not get to
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  Speaker 1: the playoff just absolutely worn out. down. And we talked
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  Speaker 1: about that on another show, just how the sec adding
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  Speaker 1: the ninth game is going to make it even tougher
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  Speaker 1: on them. But let's say they do survive that gauntlet.
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  Speaker 1: You certainly could play the angle of like, man, we're
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  Speaker 1: battle tested, but you've got to think, man, we're worn
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  Speaker 1: out from all these trips to college station and death
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  Speaker 1: Valley and Knoxville and, Red River and Ohio State, it's
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  Speaker 1: a pretty brutal road for Texas this year. So if
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  Speaker 1: they get there and they are a top six seed,
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  Speaker 1: they'll certainly have earned it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think best case for Texas, they go 10-2
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  Speaker 2: and they don't play in the SEC title game. Because
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  Speaker 2: if you have to add a 13th game against a
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  Speaker 2: Georgia who hasn't physically played you for the past two
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  Speaker 2: or three years, that would just be a disaster. I
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  Speaker 2: think the best case for the Hornets, like I said,
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  Speaker 2: because of that gauntlet, like, let's just not have to
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  Speaker 2: go play in Atlanta. You know, you're never going to
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  Speaker 2: say that to your team, but maybe deep down it's like,
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  Speaker 2: that'd be nice to not have to go play Georgia
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  Speaker 2: real quick. And then, yeah, maybe you just, obviously the
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  Speaker 2: playoff is the playoff, but at that point, right, everybody's
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: on game 13, 14, 15. So at that point, it
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  Speaker 2: even died a little bit. But it's hard, man. And
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  Speaker 2: I really think that having that week five bye week
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  Speaker 2: makes it worse because then you don't have it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: by around like Halloween or whatever towards the end where
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  Speaker 2: you can regroup and then make a final push. Your
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: final push begins before Halloween, like in the middle of October.
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  Speaker 2: So that makes it way harder, too.
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  Speaker 1: What's your record for Texas this year, regular season?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that win total is sitting at 9.5. I
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  Speaker 2: think it's about right. I think they're just really too
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  Speaker 2: talented to miss the playoff. Now that I said it
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  Speaker 2: out loud, they're going to go 8-4. I think I'll
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  Speaker 2: say 10-2. I think they're probably the most talented team
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  Speaker 2: in the country, and I probably like their roster the
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  Speaker 2: most of anybody. This schedule is just so– I can't
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  Speaker 2: imagine anybody going 12-0 against this schedule.
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  Speaker 1: 11-1 is feasible. It's there.
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to probably sit 10-2 just because of how
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: many tough games they have in a row on the road,
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  Speaker 2: although we've already talked about it. So I'll go 10-2 there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I like 10-2 as well. I think they are
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: talented enough to go 11-1, but that schedule is one
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: of the more brutal schedules I've ever seen in college football. Yeah. conversely,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Ohio State's is pretty similar. They play Oregon, they play Indiana,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: they play Michigan, they play Texas, obviously, on the road. So,
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  Speaker 1: you know, both these teams, whoever gets the win there,
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  Speaker 1: whoever survives week two, will set themselves up well. So,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Will Thomas, you can check him out, Tailgate Talk SEC,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: a peek inside SEC football. Go check him out. We
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: appreciate you hanging out, Will.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, happy to be here. I mean, we got football tomorrow,
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  Speaker 2: so I'm going to just keep talking about it until January.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, yeah, it's 8 p.m.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: on Friday night when we recorded this. I don't know
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: when people will catch it, but... Yeah, we'll talk until
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: 8 a.m. if you want to. So we're just hanging out, man.