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Alabama Football Preview with Chris Stewart · The Craig Way Show

0:00
Speaker 1: You got stop, you got stop, you got stop.
0:12
Speaker 2: This is a Texan Tuesday here on thirteen hundred the Zone,
0:17
Speaker 2: and in the four o'clock hour, we do have amongst
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Speaker 2: our return cuts, the King George Trady joins us thing,
0:23
Speaker 2: but our own star joining us right now as we
0:26
Speaker 2: continue our sec football previews is our good friend Chris
0:31
Speaker 2: Tower at the play by play voice of the Alabama
0:33
Speaker 2: Crimson Ties. We take a look at the Tide for
0:36
Speaker 2: twenty to twenty six. I appreciate that. How's your summer going, Krin.
0:40
Speaker 3: Man, It's great, but I gotta make sure did I
0:42
Speaker 3: understand you correctly?
0:44
Speaker 4: I'm all on the same show that George Strait will.
0:46
Speaker 2: Appear on every Tuesday. We bump back in the two
0:52
Speaker 2: o'clock hour with the immortal Stevie ray Vaughn, in the
0:56
Speaker 2: three o'clock hour with the iconic Willie Nelson, and in
0:59
Speaker 2: the four o'clock hour with the King George straight little
1:01
Speaker 2: Texan Tuesday.
1:03
Speaker 4: I got you.
1:04
Speaker 3: I misunderstood the assignment, but I'm still honored. Nonetheless, I
1:08
Speaker 3: get to that I get to appear at least in
1:11
Speaker 3: that manner.
1:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, with him, but he's too good.
1:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, So summer's gone. Well for you getting ready, I know, yeah,
1:18
Speaker 2: have a little vacation time, get ready.
1:19
Speaker 1: For the start of this season.
1:21
Speaker 4: It's been nice. I've been.
1:25
Speaker 3: Following my retirement plans progress. I've got a fifteen year
1:28
Speaker 3: old son that plays golf and he's the only shot
1:30
Speaker 3: I've got it ever being able to say I'm done
1:35
Speaker 3: and I will say four oh one k as I've
1:37
Speaker 3: dubbed him, is progressing nicely, So there you go.
1:40
Speaker 4: No, it's been fun. It's been fun.
1:42
Speaker 3: That's been great to be able to spend time chasing
1:44
Speaker 3: him around and watch his success, but also play with
1:48
Speaker 3: him a good bit and you know, kind of enjoy
1:51
Speaker 3: some normal stuff. So it's that's been nice. But I
1:53
Speaker 3: am like everybody else, I'm ready to get going here
1:56
Speaker 3: within the month and see what our teams are all about.
2:00
Speaker 2: Well, you know, interested in in getting your thoughts on
2:06
Speaker 2: Caitlyn de Bor getting ready to crank things up on
2:08
Speaker 2: a third season last year definitely a step forward getting
2:12
Speaker 2: into the playoff as well, and winning eleven ball games
2:16
Speaker 2: as well. And trust me, as you know, uh, the
2:20
Speaker 2: expectation they're in the Ellahammer State very much like the
2:24
Speaker 2: expectations here in this town and in a lot of
2:28
Speaker 2: other places as well. So is there a lot of uh,
2:32
Speaker 2: you might say ramped up optimism causes optimism, excited optimistic.
2:37
Speaker 2: How would you describe what what the atmosphere has been like?
2:41
Speaker 2: And I know they're two different things. The fan base,
2:44
Speaker 2: the program itself, right, And that's what I was going
2:46
Speaker 2: to say. It depends on who you're talking to. If
2:49
Speaker 2: you're talking to the.
2:50
Speaker 5: The the internet, you know, fake name, you know people
2:59
Speaker 5: that are that are named, some faceless in terms of
3:01
Speaker 5: true identity.
3:03
Speaker 4: You would think that we.
3:06
Speaker 3: Didn't win a game last year, not that our season
3:09
Speaker 3: ended in the Rose Bowl.
3:10
Speaker 4: Okay, and let me be real clear on that. I'm
3:15
Speaker 4: saying this and jest.
3:17
Speaker 3: Alabama was man handled in a way that Alabama's not
3:20
Speaker 3: supposed to be man handled, albeit in the Rose Bowl,
3:25
Speaker 3: albeit at the place that you know, it's it's not
3:28
Speaker 3: a it's never good to have your season fall short
3:31
Speaker 3: of a national championship, especially at Alabama. But you know,
3:36
Speaker 3: there are a lot of teams that would have loved
3:38
Speaker 3: to have been in the spot Alabama was in sure, Okay,
3:41
Speaker 3: but that being said, we fell what we fell short
3:45
Speaker 3: of what the standard is for Alabama. However, it's easier
3:49
Speaker 3: to get where you want to be from our spot
3:51
Speaker 3: than it is from a lot of others. So there
3:54
Speaker 3: are those that are going, Holy cal you know, I
3:57
Speaker 3: don't know if we're going. I don't know if we
3:59
Speaker 3: could even have a winning record this year. Those are
4:01
Speaker 3: the doom, those of the doomsday people. I think, you know, uh,
4:09
Speaker 3: you've got some weight and sees in that building though
4:13
Speaker 3: they know who they are, they know who they're capable
4:16
Speaker 3: of being, and it's a team that fully believes they're
4:20
Speaker 3: capable of exceeding what they did last year. There was
4:24
Speaker 3: a Nick Saban factor that men Alabama was going to
4:27
Speaker 3: start in the top five regardless they could have had
4:31
Speaker 3: you and me starting at different spots, and probably still
4:34
Speaker 3: would have had us A slipped us down to six
4:37
Speaker 3: if Nick Saban was the coach.
4:39
Speaker 4: And he'd earned that and it was it was a
4:42
Speaker 4: safe vet. Why would you not.
4:43
Speaker 3: Put put your money on Bama being where they almost
4:47
Speaker 3: always seem to be under the best coach of this era.
4:52
Speaker 3: That being said, this is a team that's still in
4:55
Speaker 3: a program, that's still in a very good position, and
4:59
Speaker 3: I think they've got a chance to be a national
5:01
Speaker 3: championship contender. An SEC content. Well, if you're an SEC contender,
5:06
Speaker 3: you're a national championship.
5:07
Speaker 4: Sure you know this.
5:08
Speaker 3: Team was the number one seed in the SEC last
5:11
Speaker 3: year by the time it was over. You don't lose
5:13
Speaker 3: it home to Oklahoma late in the regular season, this
5:20
Speaker 3: team would have been clearly number one, and no conversation.
5:24
Speaker 4: About whether they would have been enter out.
5:26
Speaker 3: In terms of the playoffs once they lost to George
5:29
Speaker 3: in the championship game.
5:31
Speaker 4: So look, we're not far at all in my opinion.
5:35
Speaker 3: And if we can avoid we could avoid injury stuff
5:39
Speaker 3: and everybody deals with it, but more so I think
5:41
Speaker 3: than ever right now, Craig, with the numbers being as
5:44
Speaker 3: they are, I'm talking blue chip numbers. You know, used
5:47
Speaker 3: to have blue chips that your red shirt. That doesn't
5:50
Speaker 3: happen anymore. And if you could avoid those and we
5:53
Speaker 3: lost the running back for a few weeks anyway in
5:56
Speaker 3: akder in Saturdays or Thursday scrimmage, I should say last week.
6:00
Speaker 4: But it can could avoid those type of things. This
6:02
Speaker 4: squad's going to.
6:03
Speaker 1: Be just fine.
6:05
Speaker 2: Here's a question I have asked of me quite often
6:08
Speaker 2: when it comes to Sark, but I think it's every
6:11
Speaker 2: bit as applicable with Kaylyn de boor has he gotten
6:14
Speaker 2: a fair shake? I mean, at least from the fan
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Speaker 2: perspective anyway, Is he his his the respect that would
6:23
Speaker 2: accord a guy who's won twenty ball games.
6:25
Speaker 4: In a couple of years.
6:27
Speaker 3: No, And to me, it's it's about not just what
6:30
Speaker 3: he's done since he's been in Tuscaloosa, but looking at
6:33
Speaker 3: what the overall track record is. And it's kind of threefold.
6:36
Speaker 3: It's those two things, and then it's another I'll i'll,
6:42
Speaker 3: you know, we'll go to the panic button people and say, okay,
6:46
Speaker 3: let's make a change of coach.
6:47
Speaker 4: Who are you going to hire? Who are you going
6:51
Speaker 4: to hire that you can.
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Speaker 3: Guarantee we'll have the higher level, the more consistent level
6:58
Speaker 3: of success.
7:00
Speaker 4: You know, the easy answer may be a Kirby Smart.
7:03
Speaker 3: Well, you think you're gonna pull Kirby from Georgia, right,
7:07
Speaker 3: you know, Alabama's Alabama, But a you're gonna pull Sark
7:10
Speaker 3: from Texas. I mean, just like you said, there are
7:14
Speaker 3: people there at Texas that are questioning Sark. Sure right now,
7:18
Speaker 3: but it's the nature of people were questioning Nick Saban.
7:22
Speaker 4: It's amazing. So that's that's the type stuff that you
7:27
Speaker 4: were into.
7:27
Speaker 3: If you listen to those people, eventually you will be
7:30
Speaker 3: sitting beside them. And so again, the passion is what
7:34
Speaker 3: part of what makes all of our programs so great.
7:38
Speaker 3: But you've got to you've got to make sure you
7:41
Speaker 3: respect that passion.
7:42
Speaker 4: But you can't.
7:43
Speaker 3: Let passion and a rational rule of the day. And
7:50
Speaker 3: this guy, I think is fantastic and I think has
7:55
Speaker 3: been a great combination of adapting where he needs to
7:59
Speaker 3: and yet stay true to who he is. And so
8:02
Speaker 3: that's a that's that's what I'm excited about seeing this
8:06
Speaker 3: year because I think we're terrific defensively, and I think
8:10
Speaker 3: we're going to be very very, very explosive and balanced
8:13
Speaker 3: on offense. We're going to run the ball better, We're
8:16
Speaker 3: going to be better on the offensive line.
8:18
Speaker 4: But you got to go show it. You got to
8:19
Speaker 4: go prove it.
8:20
Speaker 2: Visiting with Chris toher play by play voice of the
8:23
Speaker 2: Alabama Crimson Tide here on thirteen hundreds, Hey all, veer
8:26
Speaker 2: off course just for a moment and then get back
8:28
Speaker 2: and we'll talk about this team, just as an update,
8:31
Speaker 2: since it has been since January twenty ten, So what's
8:36
Speaker 2: going on seventeen years since I've been in the broadcast
8:42
Speaker 2: booth at the Rose Bowl to call a game. Are
8:47
Speaker 2: the two radio networks all the way down at the end?
8:49
Speaker 2: Still they put them all the way down at the
8:52
Speaker 2: left end of the booth as you face the field.
8:54
Speaker 4: I'm trying to remember. I think we were. I think
8:56
Speaker 4: we're pretty close to midfield.
8:57
Speaker 1: Could hopefully it made that change.
9:00
Speaker 4: Were pretty close. I think we're pretty close.
9:01
Speaker 3: To me phil as I recall, you know, there ain't
9:06
Speaker 3: nothing new that's been done to it other than that.
9:10
Speaker 3: You know, it's Pasadena, and you know, the only investment
9:15
Speaker 3: that's been made in that place, I think is God himself,
9:18
Speaker 3: and you don't need to change what he's done with
9:20
Speaker 3: the outside and in the view.
9:25
Speaker 4: But you know, the stadium itself is it says the
9:31
Speaker 4: Rose Ball on.
9:32
Speaker 3: It and beyond that, I don't think that there's a
9:35
Speaker 3: ton of a ton of excitement.
9:37
Speaker 4: It's a good thing that well, I'll put this way there.
9:40
Speaker 3: There was not a whole lot to be excited about
9:42
Speaker 3: watching on the field for Alabama fans last year. But
9:45
Speaker 3: also we had rain and cloud cover and it wasn't
9:48
Speaker 3: until the fourth quarter that the clouds finally lived in
9:51
Speaker 3: when you could see seaning Gabriel Mountains, which is what
9:55
Speaker 3: makes that whole experience of being there. So there was
9:59
Speaker 3: absolutely nothing pleasant until the fourth quarter prow Alabama, and
10:02
Speaker 3: by the end of game was was so bad that
10:05
Speaker 3: a lot of AAMA fans were heading for the exits.
10:07
Speaker 2: Anyway, Yeah, you're right, the San Gabriel Mountains and the
10:10
Speaker 2: Arroyo Seiko take care of everything else.
10:12
Speaker 1: Uh and exactly.
10:14
Speaker 2: And and you know, I've been asked often about that
10:16
Speaker 2: the Vince Young run for the touchdown and win the
10:18
Speaker 2: five National championship, and I said, you know what I
10:20
Speaker 2: call that, I'm leaning out the window, leaning way out
10:24
Speaker 2: because we were all the way down at the other
10:26
Speaker 2: same thing the prior year when Texas beat Michigan, leaning out,
10:29
Speaker 2: looking way down at the other end of the opposite
10:32
Speaker 2: end of the field where he scored that touchdown. So
10:33
Speaker 2: that's why it's still in my mind wondering, you know,
10:36
Speaker 2: if if you're if the radios were well, that that's
10:38
Speaker 2: that's hopeful the future, if either of us weren't.
10:40
Speaker 3: There again, and just a broadcaster thing, it's it's one
10:43
Speaker 3: thing if you're in that position, like when you're at
10:47
Speaker 3: you're at the beautiful stadium in Dallas for the Cowboys.
10:52
Speaker 3: We're even in the when you're you're fortunate enough to
10:55
Speaker 3: draw the home booth for a game, you're you're well
10:59
Speaker 3: into the end zone. But the video board is so
11:02
Speaker 3: massive and you can see everything so clearly for the
11:05
Speaker 3: most part.
11:05
Speaker 4: We're calling it off that anyway, So.
11:07
Speaker 3: So you you know, vision is not an issue because
11:13
Speaker 3: of that. But man, when you're when you're in an
11:15
Speaker 3: older place technology wise, uh, and you've got that kind
11:19
Speaker 3: of spot, it is tough to It is tough to
11:22
Speaker 3: share clearly with your audience exactly what's going on when
11:26
Speaker 3: you're not so sure you can see it yourself.
11:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I had no doubt about that. And you're right.
11:31
Speaker 2: Once he actually moves beyond midfield, you're you're kind of
11:33
Speaker 2: looking at the big board.
11:34
Speaker 1: Uh from that, Yeah, absolutely.
11:39
Speaker 2: Let's let's let me start with the quarterback because because
11:42
Speaker 2: I called his state championship game when he was playing
11:45
Speaker 2: at Duncanville. When when when his teammate was Colin Simmons,
11:49
Speaker 2: the Texas edge rushier when they want to stay Tyle.
11:51
Speaker 2: I can imagine those guys on the same football team,
11:54
Speaker 2: and Alex January as well. Uh, they were all on
11:56
Speaker 2: that same Duncanville team that won. How about Keelan Russell
11:59
Speaker 2: and and the things that.
12:01
Speaker 4: He has.
12:03
Speaker 2: You know, had thrust upon him, uh to be able
12:06
Speaker 2: to jump in there and uh and be in firm
12:09
Speaker 2: command of this Crimson Tide offense this season.
12:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, he is, obviously and you saw it before we did,
12:15
Speaker 3: just ultra talented. Has handled himself incredibly well, had the tragedy.
12:23
Speaker 4: Losing his sister when he was first basically gotten.
12:27
Speaker 3: On campus, and you know, there are a lot of
12:31
Speaker 3: people that thought, looking they want to transfer back home,
12:35
Speaker 3: but the reality was, I think that that football building
12:39
Speaker 3: had become family to him and that's where he felt
12:42
Speaker 3: like he needed to be and and I think it
12:46
Speaker 3: was therapeutic for him to be in that environment. But
12:51
Speaker 3: moving on from that piece of it, he's just developed
12:54
Speaker 3: and gotten better and better. And to me, it speaks
12:57
Speaker 3: volumes to who Austin Mack is that he is. You
13:03
Speaker 3: know that it's not an obvious that Keelan Russell is
13:06
Speaker 3: the guy right now. The flip to that as well
13:09
Speaker 3: as to tell you how good Austin Mack is, or
13:13
Speaker 3: it tells you, excuse me, how good that Keelan is.
13:16
Speaker 3: That Austin isn't the runaway guy, because this is somebody
13:21
Speaker 3: who's got four years now in Kaitlyn devorce system. He
13:25
Speaker 3: was signed by him at Washington, was a red shirt
13:28
Speaker 3: for a year there, now has had.
13:33
Speaker 4: In essence, two years in the system.
13:37
Speaker 3: He was the primary backup last year in addition to
13:42
Speaker 3: getting reps the previous year. So playing behind Ty Simpson
13:49
Speaker 3: a season ago and now it's still a battle.
13:52
Speaker 4: I mean, they haven't named a starter.
13:54
Speaker 3: If I had to, if I had to place your
13:56
Speaker 3: money on it, Craig, I would say that Austin will
13:59
Speaker 3: probably to get the first snaps.
14:02
Speaker 4: But I don't think this is going to be.
14:04
Speaker 3: You know, just because you're the guy going into the
14:06
Speaker 3: East Carolina game doesn't mean that you will to be
14:09
Speaker 3: one for the Auburn win. So Keelan's Keelan's upside is
14:14
Speaker 3: so incredibly high that I think there's phenomenal excitement about
14:20
Speaker 3: where this team can be under him. But for Week
14:24
Speaker 3: one and for the early part of the season, it
14:28
Speaker 3: may be that Bostin's experience and ability to avoid the
14:33
Speaker 3: mistakes and give.
14:35
Speaker 4: Him a little bit of an edge out of the gate.
14:37
Speaker 3: But again, as those Thoroughbreds run, there's no doubt that
14:41
Speaker 3: Keeland is a Triple Crown quality horse.
14:45
Speaker 4: If you will, and I'll be.
14:47
Speaker 3: Really surprised if he doesn't have a prominent role in
14:51
Speaker 3: this offense as the season goes on.
14:53
Speaker 2: If there was, in your estimation a at this point
14:58
Speaker 2: here in August, a question mark that if this goes
15:03
Speaker 2: the way folks think it will, this is going to
15:06
Speaker 2: be really really good. If there was a part of
15:08
Speaker 2: the offense and that, what would it be. It's got
15:10
Speaker 2: to be upfront. You're going to replace. Now again, the offense.
15:14
Speaker 2: The offensive line had some talent in some periods of success,
15:19
Speaker 2: certainly in a passing game with Ty Simpson as a quarterback,
15:22
Speaker 2: but they they couldn't run it last year, not consistently.
15:28
Speaker 2: It was well off of what Alabama was oppustomed to
15:30
Speaker 2: in a run game. Part of that's with running backs
15:33
Speaker 2: being injured.
15:34
Speaker 3: Part of that was with lineman trying to get some
15:37
Speaker 3: things figured out and battling injuries and a lot of
15:39
Speaker 3: shuffling and trying to piece it together. A new offensive
15:43
Speaker 3: line coach and a new approach in Adrian Clem, who
15:46
Speaker 3: they're really excited about, but also the pieces they put
15:50
Speaker 3: in tackle to tackle they feel really good about and
15:54
Speaker 3: feel like they're going to be a more effective rush
15:56
Speaker 3: team and give whoever the starting quarterback is or wherever
16:00
Speaker 3: it's at quarterback period time to find an incredibly gifted
16:06
Speaker 3: group of receivers in a deep receiving corps as well.
16:10
Speaker 3: So they're really excited about that. But the offensive line
16:13
Speaker 3: has got to be what they think it can be,
16:16
Speaker 3: and they are excited about that, but it's how quick
16:19
Speaker 3: can those guys gel?
16:21
Speaker 4: And the same thing can be said on defense.
16:23
Speaker 3: You know, the back half of that defense, especially the secondary,
16:25
Speaker 3: probably as good as any in the country, but the
16:29
Speaker 3: defensive front has got to be.
16:33
Speaker 4: I think consistent this year.
16:36
Speaker 3: And when you lose a guy like Tim Peenan in
16:38
Speaker 3: the middle, which is where everything started, you've got huge.
16:42
Speaker 4: Shoes to fill in that regard.
16:44
Speaker 3: So you know, does Bama get the job done up
16:48
Speaker 3: front on both sides? Full determine exactly how deep this
16:50
Speaker 3: season goes, no.
16:51
Speaker 1: Doubt about it.
16:52
Speaker 2: Chris Doher, played by play voice of the Crimson Time
16:54
Speaker 2: joining us for a few more minutes. I look at
16:57
Speaker 2: your schedule and what I've asked all of my sec
17:01
Speaker 2: play by plate brethren, I'll put to you as well.
17:04
Speaker 2: And that's obviously the most talked about thing with regardless
17:07
Speaker 2: scheduling the nine game conference schedule. I ask this as
17:11
Speaker 2: I look at your schedule and you have the unique
17:14
Speaker 2: scheduled anyway with the late season non conference game like
17:18
Speaker 2: you have against Chattanooga. So it and then and then
17:21
Speaker 2: there's some other ones, you know, like Florida has Florida State, Lake,
17:25
Speaker 2: Georgia has Georgia Tech late, Kentucky has Louisville late, that
17:28
Speaker 2: kind of thing. And so my question to those guys
17:31
Speaker 2: has been, hey, you only got two weeks to ramp up,
17:33
Speaker 2: but you only have one with East Carolina with the
17:36
Speaker 2: Florida State game on the back side of that Kentucky
17:39
Speaker 2: conference opener on the road.
17:41
Speaker 4: So that's that's that's a little bit unusual with thet Yeah,
17:44
Speaker 4: it is. And I know He's Carolina.
17:46
Speaker 3: Probably didn't get our league, and I know it didn't
17:48
Speaker 3: get our fans fired up, But you know, it's a
17:51
Speaker 3: reputable program.
17:53
Speaker 4: It's to be determined how how good they are.
17:55
Speaker 3: Yes, it's when Alabama should win and should win comfortably,
18:00
Speaker 3: depending on what your definition of comfortable is. But I
18:03
Speaker 3: think one of the biggest challenges for Alabama is locking
18:06
Speaker 3: in on East Carolina and locking in on the trip
18:09
Speaker 3: to Lexington and not looking ahead to Florida State where
18:12
Speaker 3: they feel like they've got so much to pay back
18:15
Speaker 3: from what had that season teetering on the brink after
18:19
Speaker 3: Week one because of the way you lost and there
18:23
Speaker 3: was a high expectation of Alabama winning that game and
18:26
Speaker 3: simply didn't get it done and they had to really
18:29
Speaker 3: rally the troops. What until they beat Georgia in week
18:32
Speaker 3: four that they felt like things were stabilized for the year.
18:38
Speaker 3: But you go those first three ball games and there's
18:42
Speaker 3: a challenge before you have South Carolina at home. October
18:47
Speaker 3: is a road trip to start ball, which I know
18:49
Speaker 3: again is one of those that doesn't outside of Alabama,
18:52
Speaker 3: doesn't get a lot of attention, but state is historically
18:56
Speaker 3: it's physical a game that Alabama plays. That is that
19:00
Speaker 3: is one where you think of Georgia nationally, you think
19:04
Speaker 3: of Auburn regionally and Nashley as the close rivals, but
19:08
Speaker 3: Albuma Mississippi State are the two closest schools geographically.
19:12
Speaker 4: A lot of folks don't know that, Yeah, exactly, they are.
19:15
Speaker 3: It's closer to start Well than it is to Auburn
19:18
Speaker 3: for Alabama, they're from Tuscaloosa, so that's an intense one
19:23
Speaker 3: before you have Georgia Tennessee on the road, Texas A
19:27
Speaker 3: and M at home to end the month of October,
19:30
Speaker 3: and then you flip it. It's at LSU, It's at Vandy,
19:34
Speaker 3: which is no longer taken for granted, chattanoogle like you said,
19:39
Speaker 3: and then Auburn at home to wrap up the regular season.
19:42
Speaker 3: And so there's yes, there's a bye week, and yes
19:46
Speaker 3: there's Chattanooga late.
19:48
Speaker 4: But like everybody else.
19:50
Speaker 3: There's not a ton of room to catch your brat
19:52
Speaker 3: in this league because weekend and week out it is
19:55
Speaker 3: a battle, and you're either you're either in another team
19:58
Speaker 3: that's against Signoviaty it is comparable, or you're playing somebody
20:02
Speaker 3: perceived lower than you that is going to give you
20:05
Speaker 3: probably their best game of the year to try to
20:07
Speaker 3: knock you all.
20:08
Speaker 4: Sounds like it steals the same thing, Yeah, I sort
20:11
Speaker 4: of say.
20:11
Speaker 2: It sounds like your answer to the question about how
20:15
Speaker 2: do you feel about a nine game a nine game
20:18
Speaker 2: conference schedule is similar to mine in that the fans
20:22
Speaker 2: love it. The media probably enjoys it as well, because
20:25
Speaker 2: a lot of those that ninth conference opponent's going to
20:28
Speaker 2: be better than most of the other ones you might
20:30
Speaker 2: see in non conference, unless it's a nationally renowned program
20:33
Speaker 2: like in Florida State or Ohio State coming here, that
20:35
Speaker 2: sort of thing. But it's there's a reason why the
20:38
Speaker 2: coaches weren't in favor of it.
20:41
Speaker 3: Look, it is one of the challenges for everybody, but
20:45
Speaker 3: especially perennial national championship contenders like Alabama and Texas. There
20:54
Speaker 3: are so many fans that remember the history and remember
20:58
Speaker 3: the perfect seasons and that is the standard. But the
21:03
Speaker 3: reality is that you will have fewer and fewer perfect
21:08
Speaker 3: seasons where they're hoisting the national championship trophy at the
21:12
Speaker 3: end of the year. This is much more like professional
21:15
Speaker 3: football in so many ways, but especially as it relates
21:19
Speaker 3: to the Super Bowl itself, where nobody knows what the
21:22
Speaker 3: regular season record is. You know, in the NFL they
21:26
Speaker 3: had that perfect season since the Miami Dolphins.
21:28
Speaker 4: Of Don shul and it may or may not ever
21:31
Speaker 4: happen again.
21:34
Speaker 3: It's very I think we're rapidly approaching that with if
21:37
Speaker 3: we have it already gotten there with college football, with
21:41
Speaker 3: the playoffs, the number of games you have, the conference
21:45
Speaker 3: championship game two and the week after week Brian and
21:48
Speaker 3: the attrition that can take place now because of guys
21:52
Speaker 3: you probably faced it.
21:53
Speaker 4: You guys have some of our starters, former starters.
21:57
Speaker 3: South Carolina had two guys starting on defense and it's
22:00
Speaker 3: last year that would have started for us. That And
22:03
Speaker 3: I don't say this as a knocker, as a printis
22:06
Speaker 3: and it's just the reality of the game. They're guys
22:07
Speaker 3: that would have started for us, but took money a
22:09
Speaker 3: year early so that they can get on the field
22:12
Speaker 3: and make money, so they didn't wake their time like
22:16
Speaker 3: you like that would be the case in the past.
22:19
Speaker 3: So those are all things that factor in to make
22:22
Speaker 3: them it's so different. It was already tough to be perfect,
22:26
Speaker 3: and now it's virtually impossible. And I think that's where
22:30
Speaker 3: the mindset adjustment will have to take place. Where do
22:33
Speaker 3: you finish? That's what it's going to matter. Don't look
22:36
Speaker 3: at the path, don't look at how the sausage is made.
22:39
Speaker 3: Just enjoy it when it lands on your plate. Hopefully
22:41
Speaker 3: that's a delicious bite.
22:43
Speaker 1: All right.
22:43
Speaker 2: And for those who said, well what about Indiana they
22:45
Speaker 2: went um bean last year, Well you got to see
22:47
Speaker 2: it firsthand how good that was. But you know, sure
22:51
Speaker 2: it's going to be incredibly difficult for anyone to duplicate.
22:53
Speaker 3: That it's the reason Indiana. But Indiana didn't have to
22:57
Speaker 3: play weekend and week out. Well, Alabama Texas did, no doubt,
23:01
Speaker 3: they destroyed us WO when they played us I'm not
23:03
Speaker 3: diminishing who they were, but that attrition that can take
23:07
Speaker 3: place over the course of the year. Alabama wasn't better
23:10
Speaker 3: against Indiana, part of it because of getting beat up
23:12
Speaker 3: throughout the course of the year in the SEC. I
23:15
Speaker 3: know the Big Ten is great, it is on the
23:17
Speaker 3: top half, but give me some of the teams Indiana
23:21
Speaker 3: had got a chance to face during the year in
23:25
Speaker 3: league play, not counting there.
23:27
Speaker 4: Go just compare the schedules.
23:28
Speaker 3: Okay, and again I'm not talking about what happened in
23:31
Speaker 3: the head to head because Indiana was clearly superior, but
23:36
Speaker 3: also Indiana was a lot closer to full strength than
23:39
Speaker 3: Alabama and probably Oregon as well, even though that's the
23:45
Speaker 3: same league.
23:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about it.
23:47
Speaker 2: Hey, I appreciate you taking the time to do this anytime, bro,
23:52
Speaker 2: and listen, if I'm seeing you before basketball, it means
23:55
Speaker 2: we're both in Atlanta for the SEC championship game, so
23:57
Speaker 2: that'd be okay.
23:58
Speaker 4: Right word out that way.
24:00
Speaker 3: I got no problem seeing you multiple times in the
24:02
Speaker 3: course of your buddy.
24:03
Speaker 4: That works for me, all right.
24:05
Speaker 2: He's Chris Stewart, play by play voice of the Alabama
24:07
Speaker 2: Crimson Tide here in our sec previews.
24:10
Speaker 1: Thank you, my friend.
24:10
Speaker 4: I appreciate that. All right.
24:13
Speaker 1: That's Chris Stewart. We have more coming up when we
24:15
Speaker 1: continue on