Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Bama Bob previews college football, Tom Kakert talks Hawkeyes & Football Friday Picks presented by Circa Sports

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Bama Bob previews college football, Tom Kakert talks Hawkeyes & Football Friday Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Let's talk college football with our buddy Bama.
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Bob, you heard the music, Bama. Before we get into college
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football, Trent and I entered the show that yesterday.
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I asked Trent, you know what high school game you covering
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tonight? He's covering Valley and Anthony
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Centennial and I talked about Pozzetti and Swenson.
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Bama. You could do you realize that
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when you were parole patrolling a sideline in high school
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football back at the turn of the century, I'm guessing you
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covered Pozetti games and Swenson games and these two guys
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are still going at each other. And we'll do so again here
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tonight. And it's 2025.
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How about that? How cool is that?
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Yeah, it was great that Ankeny was the first game I ever
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covered. They played Mason City and
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probably went up there and just with a cell phone and calling
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back to the studio after the, you know, for the updates and
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everything. It was kind of, I guess really
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sort of the beginning of like, you know, live high school
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football, I guess, and Iowa. I don't, I don't know that be a
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fact. Certainly the in the early
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stages, no question. Yeah, I know that.
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We had a great time doing it and it ended up with me somehow,
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somehow getting to call the state championship game that
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year between Dowling and Bettendorf.
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OK. And and the unidome, so that was
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that was kind of a the highlight of my broadcasting career, but.
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Man, I had a good time. No, this is this is this is the.
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Well, that's true. All right, let my my my color
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analyst career. OK, there you go.
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Good stuff. Yeah.
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All right, Bam. About Trent night.
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What do you think overall of the slate, Trent of games?
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I I mean we're stacking up against last week is not fair.
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It's not, but we have these weeks.
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I know you're right. And you too, bitch about it.
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And I'm, I'm always baffled. It's football and why you whine
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and complaining. It's just these are the weeks
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that we get the weird stuff, the special, the things that make
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college football what it is. These are the weeks that we get
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it. It's not the monster matchups.
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And it's certainly in today's environment when all these
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teams, likely most of them are going to be in the College
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Football Playoff. No, these are the weeks that are
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going to decide when you get upset out of nowhere, when you
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lay that egg. These are the ones that and
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that's why I love weeks like this.
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Yeah, I'm with you. I'm not really bitching about
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that. I'm bitching about tonight
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because there's not. How could baseball take tonight
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off? There's five games.
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I know, but they're freaking. Who are they?
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Delaware, Western Kentucky. All right, maybe that one 930
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games, that's the that's the. Take a nap, well instead of
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complaining and then you can watch the late games.
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Yeah, listen to what I'm complaining about watching
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sports, right? I got it pretty good.
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Texas Tech in Houston. Trent Condon.
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Let's get into. It you know, I've told you from
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the beginning of this week, this has been one of my favorites, a
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circled game with Houston. You know, the deeper we get into
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the week, I'm not liking it nearly as really.
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I think I still will have the a bet on Houston, but it's
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definitely not going to be a full 5 unit bet or anything like
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that. The Cougars last week, they
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survived, but they're really banged up too.
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And and I think that was the biggest thing when I saw that
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injury report. They're still really injured
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coming back for Corvallis. I think they can hang around.
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And as I told you, coming off that Utah game for Texas Tech,
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they played great for 1/4. Yeah, I need to see well.
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Utah played pretty good for 3/4 too.
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Texas Tech went toe to toe. I, I just, I need to see more
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out of Texas Tech. So I'm going to be grabbing the
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points here and I just, I'm still trying to reserve
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judgement on Texas Tech. I'm not ready to dive into the
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pool head first that the Red Raiders are far and away the
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best team in the big what? Time is that game.
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Does anybody know exactly? It's 6:00 ESPN.
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Good stuff. Yeah, ESPN 6.
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How do you see it, Bama? Yeah, this is a tricky 1.
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I think Texas Tech coming off the buy as they haven't played
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since the Utah game. That trip for Houston, man, it
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was just a weird trip, right? I mean, non conference game,
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whatever to to Corvallis OR they were down 14.
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It was late at night, nobody was watching.
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They're down 14, they somehow rally back to to tie it and win
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it in overtime. But you're right.
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Look, I think Texas Tech is one of the two or three best teams
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clearly in the Big 12. I think Utah is still right
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there with him. I think this is more of a test
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of attrition for Houston. How are they going to how are
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they going to respond? You fit mission.
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They have some injuries. Texas Tech is rested up.
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I'm sure they were watching the game last week and probably took
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some notes or Oregon State, you know, what worked for them And
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basically what works is if you get pressure on on Wegman.
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I mean, he's he tends to, you know, maybe not make great
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decisions. I don't know really how good
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their defense played really well at Utah.
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I don't know how much of that was, you know, oh, sorry,
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something beeping here, but my fire alarm going off.
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Look, Alabama. Yeah, we're good.
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Sorry about that. Live ready.
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You got to love it anyway. I think.
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I think that I think I like Texas Tech.
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I'm not going to grab the points I would lay in just because
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they're coming off the bye week. Morton's been so good.
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I think their defense is good enough.
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I just think Houston, that's just again, just a really,
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really weird spot coming off that that Oregon State game last
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week that that I don't know why they played at the middle of the
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year or kind of, you know, you know, third into the year,
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whatever it was. So Long story short, I will take
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Texas Tech. I will lay the points.
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I think I think the real game for them is going to be in two
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weeks when they go to Tempe. I think that's going to be just
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a light them up game for and maybe an elimination game for
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one or both of them. But I'll take Tech tomorrow just
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coming off the bye week. I just think Houston's got too
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many questions. Sparty Huskers, Trent.
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Hard to get a decision. A real read on this one.
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Nebraska. 11 1/2 the number right?
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Weird number. Feels a touch high.
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Are they looking, you know, 2716?
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It's Aidan Childs and we talked about this with SIP yesterday in
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the same game. You can watch him and think this
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this guy might be the number one pick of the NFL draft.
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And then you watch him later and say he shouldn't be playing in
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the Ankeny Centennial Valley game tonight.
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I mean, that's what you get with him when he is out there.
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The highest of highs. And can you get this Nebraska
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defensive backfield? They play great against
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Cincinnati. They did it against Michigan.
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Are they actually at this level? If they are, Michigan State's in
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big trouble. Your thoughts, Bama?
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Yeah, both teams coming off a bye, I think, you know, having
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lost. They are, Yep.
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You know, the the marquee programs, if you will, Michigan
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State had that, that game out in LA, Nebraska, the home game
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against Michigan, they both dropped them.
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And I get Childs and I've watched, you know, I've watched
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more Michigan State football this year than I have probably
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the last 10 combined. For all for all his faults, and
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he has some right, he's only turned, he's only thrown one
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interception. I think if he can, if he can
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limit that, I think they'll hang around because you're right, he
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makes plays. He does sometimes he makes, you
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know, more bad ones and good ones.
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But I think both teams come off a by, you know, getting kind of
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back into it. I do like Rayola.
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I like the Huskers at home, but I will probably take the points.
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I don't know that Nebraska is really two touchdowns better
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than Michigan State. I'd like to think they are, but
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they haven't shown it yet this week.
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They're so far this year. But I think they do bounce back.
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I think Nebraska wins comfortably 10.
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You know, I can see 3120, something like that, which is
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still gets Michigan State inside the number.
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I think Charles is going to make enough plays that I'm not
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willing to weigh the 12 1/2. Nebraska has to win this game.
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If they got any hope at all of the Big 10, it may already be
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gone for them. I don't think so necessarily.
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But look, they've got enough big games left and if somehow they
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can grab this on, which they should at home, I'll take the
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Huskers. But I will also take the 12 1/2
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is what I'm looking at right now on ESPN.
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Trent, this is an anomaly. Or maybe not.
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It's just weird to look at it. I mean, Vanderbilt is on the
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road at Alabama and they're only getting 10 1/2 points.
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I mean wasn't this game always 3 touchdowns north of that?
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Over more 4040 sometimes. And it's down to 10.
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Pavi is unbelievable. He truly is.
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This game Open to 13 1/2. It's now down to 10 1/2.
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Your thoughts TC? Normally you're the underdog.
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You pulled an upset last year. Don't poke the bear.
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That's what he's doing all week long.
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Yeah, with Diego Pavia, that's make that that's who he is.
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Yes. The guy's 59.
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He's playing in the SEC, playing quarterback.
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He's a former wrestler. This is who he is.
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Anybody else, I'd say don't do it for him.
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Do your thing, young man. I don't think it's going to go
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well. I believe Alabama blows them
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out. However, this is not because
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Diego Pavia was running his mouth.
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It might be a storyline afterwards.
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This is who he is. I'm not going to, you know, talk
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down to him for doing and being him.
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Bama, this game, if this game, normal years, if Alabama would
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have gone into enrolled, I would have been asking you about the
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let down after they just beat Georgia in the fashion that they
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did. Here comes Vanderbilt.
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Any chance they trip up? I don't think there's any chance
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they trip up. Bama, especially with last year
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in mind and the fact that Pavi is still continuing to talk your
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thoughts. What's kind of the chatter down
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there? Yeah, well, I'll tell you,
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there's a lot of chatter down here and the Alabama, one of the
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Alabama beat writers and he's absolutely right.
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His headline this week was is Alabama man enough to stop
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Vanderbilt and Pavia? Have you, I mean, have ever in
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your life? I'm 60 years old, been watching
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this team for 50 years. Is Alabama man enough to stop
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Vanderbilt? But you know what, he's right
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because they Vanderbilt is they just bully you on the ground.
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They're averaging almost, almost 250 yards a game on the ground
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and Alabama has struggled stopping the run.
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Vanderbilt does it 5 yards, 4 yards, 4 yards first down, 6
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yards, 3 yards, 2 yards first. They just it's 1000 cuts, right?
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I think. That said, I think the crowd is
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going to be into this a coming off the big the win in Athens
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last week. And also had they lost that
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game, I think you would have kind of a dead stadium.
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I give Alabama, I give Vanderbilt a little bit more of
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a chance. I think the crowd's going to be
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fired up. I think they're tired of this
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guy. Not only did he beat them last
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year, he beat Auburn last year in Auburn, right?
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You know, you've seen the whole welcome to Alabama, you know,
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Diego Pavia, governor signs, you know, on the interstates and
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everything. But I'll tell you what, this guy
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reminds me that he reminds me so much of Johnny Manziel when he
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was in the SEC, about 10-12 years, unscripted, rash,
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unscripted. And if you get him out of the
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pocket, he is dangerous. I don't know.
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I don't know that he could beat you from the pocket.
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But the problem is you're going to push past him and he's going
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to roll out. He's going to make these crazy
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plays. But Alabama should win the game.
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I don't know about the 10 1/2. I would probably lay them if you
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made me, OK, because I do think they're going to have something
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for him and they are really going to want to shut him up.
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But the longer this game hangs around and stays close, Alabama,
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Ty Simpson is playing at a Heisman level.
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OK, Yep, probably is running his mouth at a Heisman level.
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But if he comes in and wins tomorrow, he's going to be in
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that conversation. And that is crazy to think.
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I think Alabama wins, but this is this, this game, by far, this
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is the most attention Vanderbilt has ever gotten down here in
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this state when they played anybody.
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And it is deserved game and it is.
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It is well deserved because this kid, you're right.
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Do your thing, young man, run your mouth all you want.
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That's what makes him tick. If he went in and was humble
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about it, here's one comment and I'll just leave it at this.
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He said if they play up to their standard, this game will not be
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close. That's what he said this week.
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So yeah, we'll see what happens. But you're right, that's how he
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has to play. He has to do it that way.
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And you know, more power to him. I thought that I'd get some
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blowback when I included Mississippi State of all teams.
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No, I love this. I was.
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It's nine and one. They're combined 9:00 and 1:00.
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And I was nervous that you were going to skip over this because
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we're of course going to run out of time.
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And be careful, be careful. Flip, fluff.
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They're they're fat running back.
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He is good. They got one of the fastest guys
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in the nation. Many transfers it.
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Is it 50 something or something? This is a crazy number.
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Watching the Tennessee game last week, make sure to beat them.
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They got dudes. Be careful.
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You know the one thing about Texas A&M, they've been
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excellent defensively on 3rd down.
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Now, is it that they're really good on 3rd down or is it just
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kind of a little that early season luck going their way?
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If they can't get off the field, they're going to be in trouble
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here. I like them getting north of two
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touchdowns. Give me the Bulldogs plus 50.
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How about you, Bama? Totally agree.
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I mean, listen, they should have beaten Tennessee last they had
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them had them Now again, this is not maybe this is kind of
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learning how to win Mississippi State and you get a you get a
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blue blood, quote, UN quote, coming to your place and you
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have them down. Can you finish it?
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And they couldn't. I think they'll bounce right
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back. A&M may be a little
13:00
overconfident. Auburn is terrible on offense.
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Do not read a whole lot into that defense last week because
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we saw what happened up at Notre Dame, right?
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I mean that yes, they won the game, but boy, they gave them a
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lot of points in the process. The defense is good.
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Elco I think has them. You know better.
13:20
You know he's got them ahead of schedule if you want to look at
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it that way. From where they were is Year 2.
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They're number six. I don't think they're true
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number six, but we'll get to that.
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You know, they can prove me wrong.
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They've got bigger games to play.
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Obviously they've got Florida at home next week.
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They go to LSU, they got Missouri, they obviously got
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Texas at the end of the year. Is this another look pass game
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because of the name on the jersey?
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It better not be because I'm telling you, right, Marcel Reed
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is playing at an outstanding level as well.
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He's playing the all SEC level. But this is a very dangerous
13:50
game in my opinion. I am jumping all over the points
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in this. I don't know.
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Again, can state finish it? I don't know on the road against
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the against the, you know, powerhouse.
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But yeah, give me the points all day in this one.
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This is going to be a this is going to be a physical football
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game as well. 16 1/2 of them in this game, Miami and Florida
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State. Trent Toy.
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Here's a here's a throwback. This is a classic.
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Miami is a four and a half .4 points somewhere and they're
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open at 5:00. It's still 4/4 and 1/2.
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I don't see any fives out there. What's going on?
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Help me out with this one. Miami is favored by 4 everywhere
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except at Caesar's where you get 4.
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That that must just be a misprint.
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It has to be right? That would be, yeah, that would
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be gobbled up in the market and certainly a place like Caesars
14:34
really quickly. I think wager talk just has that
14:36
went a little bit off in their numbering system.
14:38
But I like Florida State and the points and had it the comeback
14:44
against Virginia. I told you a week ago that was a
14:46
scary spot for them and I was all over the Hoos a week ago.
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I think they bounced back and I got to see that Cristobal show
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me in a moment like this. He screwed up so many times in
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his career in big moments. close game comes down to the wire.
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Maybe we won't have wide right this time.
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Maybe it'll be knocked through and Miami goes down.
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But I certainly like the Seminoles and the points.
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I think this is going to be a great game.
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Remember, Doke, they have renovated this thing.
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All those big Bunny donors that were there, they're going to be
15:13
there and they expect a return on their investment.
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I like the Seminoles. Maybe some of those ghosts
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reappear at Doke and that's Fowler Herb St. too I'm pretty
15:22
sure. Bammy your thoughts on this
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throwback? Yeah, this is a great one.
15:26
This is the old back in the day, right?
15:28
And you know, whoever, Jimmy Johnson, whoever it was, man, I
15:32
mean, just dudes all over the field.
15:34
I think you've got it again. I know probably half a dozen
15:39
people that I know personally that went to that game of the
15:42
Alabama opener. And they said that place, that
15:44
renovation is legit. It is louder than it's ever
15:47
been. It is packed.
15:48
They are right on top. I think that will be a factor.
15:51
We know Miami has about a half a dozen fans that travel with
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them. So it's going to be, you know,
15:56
90% garnet and gold in there tomorrow.
16:00
I don't know where Florida State is.
16:02
Guys, let me be honest with you. I think it's a huge game for
16:05
them all of a sudden, right? If they drop this, they're O and
16:07
two in the ACC and I think it's goodbye.
16:10
If they had if they somehow figured out how to win last
16:13
week, this would be a top five matchup and I still think it has
16:16
just as much juice. Both these quarterbacks have
16:19
thrown 3 interceptions. I think whoever, whichever one
16:23
this is, you know Carson Beck's really first Rd. game, right?
16:27
I mean, as as a Miami Hurricane, you go look at their schedule,
16:31
you know, they, they, they won't they beat Notre Dame, they beat
16:34
Florida at home, they beat USF at home.
16:36
First time he's gone on the road as a, as a Miami hurricane
16:39
Castellanos and he plays much better at home.
16:42
I don't really have a betting angle for this.
16:44
I just think I am so glad that this game is back and
16:47
meaningful. I don't really like either team,
16:50
I'll be honest with you personally.
16:52
But man, again, back in the day, the state of Florida, this was
16:55
it, brother, and it's back finally, finally again.
16:58
I think this is a top 10 matchup.
17:00
I know Florida State's 18 coming off the loss, they dropped eight
17:03
points. I think they're better than
17:04
that. This is a top ten team.
17:06
Both these teams could be in the playoff Florida State, but
17:10
Florida State has to win to get there.
17:11
Boise State, Can they keep a close trend?
17:13
Notre Dame. I think they can score against
17:15
them, I just don't see them getting maybe any stops at this
17:17
time. I'm really impressed with car
17:19
I'll be. 5228, something like that.
17:22
They're going to see points. Is it close, Bama?
17:25
No, I don't think so. I think cars, cars too good and
17:29
it listens. Desperation time for Notre Dame,
17:31
right? I don't know that they're going
17:32
to get in the playoffs. Even if they do win with the two
17:34
losses. I don't think they should.
17:36
And I think it's crazy because I think, I think the more they
17:40
blow this team out, maybe the worse it looks because Boise
17:43
just hasn't had a good. They haven't had a good season.
17:46
They haven't been up to what they were last year.
17:48
All right, let's throw this one in real quick just because the
17:51
brand Texas, Florida, Trent. Two of the most disappointing
17:54
quarterbacks in all college football.
17:55
Yeah. Arching lightweight I mean
17:58
they're they're definitely in your top five whatever you want
18:00
to put up there. I do think Florida hangs around
18:03
because of their defense. I think it's going to be an
18:05
ugly, ugly game and if it wasn't for the uniforms of the brands
18:08
yuck, I would not want to watch. I totally.
18:09
Agree, it's a brand brand game, no doubt about that.
18:13
Bama, your thoughts on this one? I think Trent nailed it.
18:15
I mean the disappointing QB's. 100%, Lagway's been awful.
18:20
How about the line on this? The total 42 1/2 for Texas,
18:24
Florida. I mean, this, this game, you
18:26
know, back in the day, would have been 60s in the 60s easily.
18:30
Florida has a habit of hanging around.
18:32
Their defense keeps them in the game.
18:33
And then DJ Lagway does something stupid.
18:36
I don't know what the crowd's going to be like.
18:38
This can be a very intimidating place to play Florida coming off
18:41
the bye week. I think Manning and company get
18:43
it done. I just don't, I don't know about
18:45
how much I haven't been impressed with him either, as
18:47
you say, but just I think this is just a continuation of a
18:51
spiral for Florida. I hope not.
18:53
I like Billy Napier. I don't think he's going to
18:55
survive the year or certainly see next year on the sidelines.
18:59
But you know, Florida can keep it close and pinch it at the
19:02
end. I think that's about their only
19:03
way to do it. But they haven't played four
19:04
quarters yet this year. Sneaky good game, Trent.
19:07
Big tent just like we think of the big.
19:10
Washington, MD. Bama sounds like he was going
19:15
there. Is what, 6 1/2?
19:19
Yeah, OK. Big 10 matchup with Washington.
19:22
What a stupid sport it really. Is it really is all right, Bama
19:26
Plan B? That was it.
19:28
That's well, I don't really have a Plan B.
19:31
My notes right here are just Trent took him, you know, just
19:33
one of these stupid Big 10 realignment games.
19:35
You know, they get to fly five hours, 3000 miles across three
19:39
time zones to play a conference game against Maryland.
19:42
I mean, how just how dumb and ridiculous is that?
19:45
I don't really have that. That's the one.
19:47
He usually goes, you know, Sand, Houston State or something like
19:51
that. Hawaii and someone.
19:53
Goes big, right? Whatever the late night game is.
19:55
So he he pinched it for me this week.
19:57
Well, I'll take the late game then.
19:58
Could it be Sagapolatelli and Cal hosting Duke?
20:02
Good stuff. Bam, we'll talk to you on Monday
20:04
brother. Enjoy the games.
20:05
Thank you bud. Yep.
20:06
Thanks a lot. Take care guys.
20:07
Good to talk to you. Bam Bob Trenton I going around
20:09
college football. Time to head kicks. no.com.
20:13
Time for another chance to win $1000.
20:16
The keyword this hour is Bills. Bills at KX dot com Bills at KX
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and o.com Your chance to win $1000 Tom Cakert next.
20:26
Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network just past
20:31
130. Miller and Condon with you on
20:33
the Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent and I will be here until
20:36
just before 2. Our picks of the week in
20:39
football still to come. Circus sports sponsor those top
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of the hour. Sean and Lucas come off the
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20:47
Let's get Tom Cacard in here. hawkeyereport.com Hawks on a by
20:51
as we know, but still plenty of news and we'll get to that with
20:54
Tom right now. Tom Trenton, Ken, thank you for
20:56
coming on as always. Appreciate it.
20:59
So I guess we should start back to Tuesday with the coordinator
21:02
press conferences. I don't think anybody expected
21:05
to find anything out on Granowski.
21:07
Just I think when Tim Lester was asked about his QB, he used the
21:12
term it's kind of cloudy right now or somewhere along those
21:15
lines. What did you make of that, Tom?
21:17
I'm not sure you've been able to.
21:19
You don't speak, Lester, Speak yet, potentially.
21:22
But what was your take away when you heard that?
21:26
My take away was that the head coach is going to speak about
21:31
this next week, so I'm going to just be really vague and say I'm
21:35
not really sure how long he's going to be out.
21:38
And that's basically what he did.
21:41
So my take on Gronowski is if they're playing this weekend,
21:46
zero chance he was playing because, I mean, Tim even said
21:50
he's really happy this week. So I mean, it's, you know, he's
21:55
not healthy. And I think it's not as bad as
22:00
it could have been. And so it leaves open the
22:04
possibility that, yeah, maybe he could be ready for next week to
22:09
follow, you know, against Wisconsin.
22:11
But I'm not sure that even that's realistic.
22:14
We'll see. But I think it probably also
22:18
tells us he's going to be wearing a bulky brace probably
22:22
the rest of the year. I think.
22:24
That's what it's telling. Us.
22:25
That's a good point. And you know him as a runner
22:27
that that would be to be seen. A lot of questions there,
22:31
frustrations from last week. The game was there to be had.
22:34
And you let that slip away. And now you look what's in front
22:37
of them and just how daunting this schedule is going forward.
22:40
The easiest game might be the next one, that road trip to
22:43
Wisconsin. And after that, just what a bear
22:45
it absolutely is. Five games in, how would you
22:49
grade this Iowa football team? It just it feels certainly
22:52
incomplete. I mean, if you were able to give
22:53
that, but if you had to give a letter grade to the 2025
22:57
Hawkeyes at this point, what would it be?
23:00
That's a good question. Probably like AB minus yeah, C
23:03
plus, yeah, yeah, that two losses that were there for for
23:07
the that were there for the both games there for the taking,
23:10
especially the last one. And and they couldn't get it
23:14
done. And now I think the most
23:17
interesting thing will be if Gransky cannot be a mobile
23:23
quarterback or a running quarterback, how does that
23:27
impact the Iowa offense now that you've got to you got to kind of
23:31
almost recalibrate your offense and some in some ways you're
23:34
going to get Reese Anderson back it seems like after the bye
23:38
week. But the other thing is, you
23:41
know, the two of the next three are gettable for Iowa.
23:45
Wisconsin is just a shell of itself right now.
23:49
And you're going to get Minnesota at home.
23:52
And that's those are two winnable games, two games that I
23:55
will will be favored in. I think, you know, the Wisconsin
23:59
game will be close. I think from the point spread,
24:02
Penn State will be probably Penn State, maybe double figures.
24:06
I don't know. We'll see just in terms of point
24:09
spread. But there, you know, you'd need
24:13
two of the three because then you're going to come down the
24:16
stretch after that bye week and you got Oregon, USC, Michigan
24:20
State and Nebraska. I mean, you got to, you're
24:23
looking at getting the six wins that you got to start looking at
24:27
that. No, I, I couldn't agree with you
24:29
more. How many times do you think Hank
24:32
Brown's replayed that screen pass in his head?
24:34
I, I hope it doesn't linger. It has to, right?
24:37
I mean, that just has to haunt you two offensive lineman, but
24:42
to get in front of, I mean, they were there, the path was there.
24:45
Tom. It's just really unfortunate
24:47
because as you both said, I like the way you put it, This was a
24:50
winnable game. This was an absolutely winnable
24:52
game. And it might have come down to
24:53
that play. I hate to say it, but boy, that
24:55
was a huge play in the in the scheme of things.
24:58
Well, and Tim, Tim said on Tuesday that was a touchdown.
25:01
It was going to be a touchdown. And I believe him, he's probably
25:05
looked at the all 22, but based, you know, if he throws that to
25:10
the other shoulder, to the right shoulder instead of back to the
25:13
left and into the ground, if he makes that just a natural
25:17
completion, he may have just ran right into the end zone and
25:22
scored. And then, boy, everything looks
25:25
different, doesn't it? Four and one.
25:30
Yeah. B + A minus.
25:32
Absolutely. I think that's a good spot that
25:34
we would be. They're not.
25:36
They're three and two. We also saw during the game the
25:40
entry to Kurdowski got the headline, but Jayden Harrell
25:42
also left that game. We saw a little bit of
25:44
Montgomery, but with the bye week and also hearing from Phil
25:47
Parker and he didn't exactly close the door on those young
25:51
linebackers. Preston Reese's got kind of the
25:53
most pub because he was on the freaks list and just seeing him
25:56
look like a just to crazy man on the special teams.
25:58
What he's running around out there.
26:00
But him, Buffington that that troika of red shirt freshman, a
26:04
chance that we see 1-2, maybe three of those guys get a little
26:08
bit more reps defensively. Yeah, potentially Carson Shark's
26:12
playing really well. I think Harold's playing pretty
26:15
well too, but he may be dinged up.
26:17
You know, he came in or he came out of the game with the knee
26:21
issue and then went back in and then kind of, I guess, came back
26:25
out again. So hard to say what his status
26:28
is going to be. They feel really good about
26:30
Jayden Montgomery. But by Preston Reese is super
26:33
intriguing. I think Seth Wallace termed it
26:36
like he's like throwing live electricity in a bathtub kind of
26:41
thing. You know, he's just kind of all
26:43
over the place and just, you know, he's kind of bouncing all
26:46
over the place. You don't know what you're going
26:48
to get. But yeah, he's he.
26:51
He's got the potential to be really, really good.
26:54
But you might have to live with. If you do that, you might also
26:57
have to live with some mistakes too, yeah.
27:00
No doubt, with the exception of maybe a missed tackle or two, I
27:04
thought far and away Enteringer's best game as a
27:06
Hawk. He's had some good ones, but
27:08
man, I thought he was terrific for the most part last week.
27:11
Tom. Yeah, and he was really good
27:16
there. They're coming.
27:17
Along Lutmer was good. But Lutmer was really good.
27:20
They've still got issues with just kind of dropping guys, you
27:25
know, instead of instead of giving up four or five more
27:29
yards, they've they've just continued.
27:32
That's been a whole season long thing.
27:34
And that's that then happened with Nick Jackson.
27:37
That didn't happen with Jay Higgins and that's got to be one
27:42
of the things that's kind of driving Phil Batty is that.
27:45
And you can't really, I asked Phil on Tuesday, I'm like, how
27:48
do you improve that during season?
27:49
Because it's not like you can practice tackling a whole lot.
27:52
You can do some drills, but you can't live tackle during the
27:56
season. It's just not going to happen.
27:57
So he talked about maybe doing some things differently in the
28:02
spring where you do more of that perhaps.
28:04
So we'll see if they make those that adjustment in the spring.
28:07
But they've got to address their tackling issues because it's
28:13
it's a lot easier to operate when you're in second nine and
28:17
2nd and five and that's where I was been living a lot
28:21
defensively. Tom, it's a perfect time with it
28:24
being the bye week to get a monster recruit in basketball,
28:27
and the Iowa women's team did just that.
28:30
An awful loss on top. Yes, that that was a very good
28:33
elixir and and definitely could tell by the tone of the message
28:35
boards at Hawkeye Report that helped things out.
28:37
McKenna Will let's go from San Jose.
28:40
No prior connections to the state of Iowa had an AU teammate
28:44
said you know, maybe you should take a little closer look at
28:46
Iowa. Tell us Phyllis in you followed
28:49
the recruiting game a lot more and obviously know what a
28:51
Hawkeye report, what this means for Jan Jensen and company.
28:55
This is a huge deal, you know, last year, no pun intended, with
28:59
that ideal coming. And now you back that up again
29:04
with another five star and then potentially more four or five
29:08
star players with Addison Bjorn still considering Iowa, Jennica
29:12
Lewis from Johnston still considering Iowa.
29:17
And that's, you know, you all. You wondered, could Jan and her
29:22
staff capitalize on the phenomenon that was Caitlin
29:28
Clark and Iowa women's basketball?
29:30
And I think this firmly tells us, yeah, they have because
29:36
you're pulling somebody who has like no prior ties to to Iowa
29:40
and to the University of Iowa. And you recruited her and you
29:44
sold her on the the culture and and what this program could do.
29:50
And I think it's just it's a huge boost.
29:53
Now, if they can get Test and Bjorn and get Jennica Lewis,
29:56
then what you're talking about down the road, you're going to
30:02
be talking about this team potentially, you know, if it
30:05
lives up to expectations, that's a that's a roster that can take
30:10
you a long way into March, you know, so we'll we'll see if they
30:14
can get all those young ladies on the team, but they're going
30:18
to have a lot of good pieces. I mean, Leila Hayes, they really
30:20
like the the other freshman that's come in.
30:23
You've got Ava Haydn. You've got a lot of talent
30:27
that's on this roster now. Tom has, and I ask you this, no,
30:32
you're way closer to it than I am.
30:34
But when I watch what Ben McCollum has done this
30:36
offseason, I'm not sure there's been a men's coach like Steve
30:39
Alford got by on his name when he was named the, you know, the
30:43
the next men's head basketball coach and, and Lick was kind of,
30:47
I mean, I, I'm not sure how he played, you know, out on the
30:49
circuit, etcetera. McCaffrey was, you know, not not
30:53
the warmest of of coaches seemingly out there, but but but
30:57
Ben McCollum seemingly has pushed every right button this
31:01
offseason. Am I reading that wrong, or is
31:04
that kind of the way it's been? No, I think you're absolutely
31:07
right that he is. He knew that they needed to have
31:10
somebody who was going to be front facing on the program and
31:14
not, you know, Fran was would do the stuff that he needs to do.
31:18
But he was he was a basketball coach.
31:20
He wanted to coach basketball. He didn't want to be a PR guy.
31:24
Ben McCollum spent I mean, I'm sure he's been on your show.
31:26
He's been on my podcast. He's been everywhere.
31:29
I mean, he anybody who wants to talk to him and he's willing to
31:31
talk to him for 1/2 hour and, and sell the program.
31:35
Fran didn't want to do that a lot.
31:38
He just didn't. It wasn't like his thing to do.
31:41
And he just liked coaching basketball and that's fine.
31:45
That's what he's hired to do. But you also got to shake hands
31:49
and kiss babies too. You got to be a politician in
31:52
this job and you got to put butts and seats and and help to
31:56
do that and help to sell your program.
31:58
And and Ben has done that. And I think now they got to go
32:03
out and win basketball games and we'll find out if they can do
32:07
that November 4th. Now they're going to have two
32:10
secret exhibition games. So you know, the the one that
32:14
slew coming up next Saturday. And then you know, Texas Tech,
32:19
they were really close to having like a game where we could go
32:24
see him play Texas Tech. It was really close, was really
32:28
close to happening, but just the the logistics did not work out
32:34
for it, which stinks, but that would have been a lot of fun at
32:37
Carver Hawkeye to. See that that's.
32:39
Going to be really good. That's top ten team, top ten
32:43
team this year. So.
32:45
But that'll give him a good test in the in the Secret scrimmage,
32:48
too. CJ Moore of The Athletic has
32:51
Iowa the 4th best team in the Big 10 with his preseason
32:53
predictions. Oh.
32:54
Yeah, that's what I thought too. Hope.
32:57
He's right. But if you have an all American
32:59
point guard, the pieces that are right there against Texas Tech a
33:03
year ago in the NCAA tournament, plus the additions that they
33:06
have, what is what's the top level?
33:09
Is it? Is that it, you know, fourth in
33:11
the Big 10? And dare I say, could this team
33:14
with the right break or maybe a bracket opening up, could this
33:17
be a Sweet 16 team? Could be.
33:22
I'm not ruling that out. I've got it.
33:24
It's such a blank canvas, though.
33:27
I mean, we know what they did at Drake, but it's a lot of
33:29
different pieces. And I can't just kind of, you
33:34
can't ignore what they did at Drake, but you also can't like
33:37
project it a lot because Big 10 is a very different animal than
33:40
the Mill Valley. So you got to just, I want to
33:44
see what this thing looks like, but you know, Purdue's going to
33:48
be the class of the Big 10. And then and then and then
33:52
Michigan, I mean, those two are the 1 and 1A.
33:56
And after that, who knows? I mean, Illinois has got a whole
34:00
new roster and everybody's got them in the top five.
34:02
And you know, they've got the every Serbian, every Serbian
34:08
player in the country is and the country of Serbia is coming over
34:11
for playing for the Illini, every everyone in the player.
34:15
And the last name ends in IC. Yeah, yeah, fascinating team.
34:20
I mean, I I think I grabbed them at 90 to 1 to win it all.
34:22
Just what the hell maybe Underwood can make can do it
34:25
because we just don't know how they're going to come together.
34:27
Hey, Tom, listen, we're out of time, brother.
34:29
We'll grab you next week. As always, you have a good week,
34:31
Tom Caker. Thank you.
34:32
OK, thanks, guys. Good to talk to you.
34:34
Tom Caker, hawkeyereport.com As we check in the Hawks Sweet 16.
34:39
High watermark. Yeah, that's not what I said.
34:41
Baseline, baseline. Expectation Tournament team.
34:44
You know what? 5 star point guard, five star
34:48
senior point guard, yes right. He's been there.
34:51
He's been to those battles time and time again.
34:53
I can't wait to see how it plays out.
34:55
Our picks are coming up next. We've got some work to do.
34:58
We are in a flat footed tie with those knuckleheads in the
35:02
afternoon. Well, I had a winning week last
35:03
week. I let you down again, Trent
35:05
Condon. It's back-to-back weeks.
35:07
Let's go, Miller. With our picks of the weeks, our
35:10
next circus sports sponsor those Miller and Condon on the Iowa
35:14
Sports Radio Network. Off the bench, who knows
35:17
football better? The war wages on.
35:21
It's time for the afternoon pickup sponsored by Circus
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Sports on One O 6.3, KX&O and the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
35:30
All right. It's essentially a tie, Trent,
35:33
to lean in on you to have another big week.
35:35
You are up first. I have the T box and we will RIP
35:38
through these very quickly. Let's kick it off.
35:39
In the college game, we go first, gaining A-Team off a big
35:43
win. I love to do it.
35:43
Virginia, one of the bigger wins of the year.
35:46
I'm taking Louisville -6 1/2. It took a comeback to get it
35:49
done against Pitt last week. A weird game in that one.
35:52
Will lay the 6 1/2 at home with the Cardinal pick #2 in the
35:56
college game. It's a service Academy a game,
35:59
and I'm getting 12 1/2. Air Force can score.
36:01
Another defense stinks, but in what should be a game where both
36:05
teams hold the ball, 10/12/14 possessions, I love the points.
36:10
12 1/2 with Air Force to the NFL we go.
36:12
Give me the 8 1/2 Sunday night with the Patriots against that
36:15
awful Buffalo defense. I think they can score and keep
36:18
up though, not win. And the Giants are bad.
36:21
New Orleans plucky. I'll lay the 1 1/2 with the
36:24
Saints. My best bet.
36:25
The only thing I've been good at all year is Friday night games
36:27
is making my best bet. Give me Charlotte, the 49ers
36:30
plus 28 1/2 tonight against South Florida. 28 1/2 best bet
36:34
of the day. All right, I'm going to start in
36:36
the in the NFLI like a team that has not trailed, trailed in the
36:42
fourth quarter all season long. They're two and two.
36:46
They're the Denver Broncos and I'll take the 4 1/2 over the
36:48
Phillies. It's a put up or shot up for the
36:50
squad. Let's go Broncos plus the four
36:52
and a half. Let's stay in that division.
36:54
I think the Chargers are going to get back on the winning side
36:56
of things. I will lay the 2 1/2.
36:58
They beat the Commanders. Chargers pick #2 to the college
37:02
game, Sagapulatelli and my Cal Golden Bears.
37:06
Let's go give me the Cal +3. And Dylan Edwards is back after
37:11
he got hurt on the opening kickoff over in Dublin.
37:14
K State circled the drain. He's back.
37:17
They're getting just what they're getting, 6 at Baylor.
37:20
I'll take K State pick #2 my best bet of the week.
37:24
And I'm going to lay some big number, a big number here.
37:27
How in the hell is Cincinnati going to keep this game close?
37:31
Detroit laying 10. The Lions my best bet of the
37:35
week as they will clobber the Bengals.
37:38
Broncos -4 1/2. Chargers are Denver plus 4 1/2.
37:41
Chargers -2 1/2. Then a couple of dogs in
37:43
college, Cal and K State, Ankeny, Centennial Valley on the
37:48
bull. Joe Stacy and company tonight
37:50
with football. Friday night they get underway
37:52
at six. Plenty of high school football
37:54
right here on your radio. Trent, you have a good weekend
37:58
to our audience. You do the same off the benches.
38:01
Coming up next, Trent and I are with you every Monday through
38:04
Friday. We talk sports with you from
38:06
noon to two on Des Moines sports station One O 6.3 K or Snow and
38:11
statewide on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.