Latest / The Craig Way Show / Steve Sarkisian on loss to Georgia in SEC Championship, hosting Clemson in CFP

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Steve Sarkisian on loss to Georgia in SEC Championship, hosting Clemson in CFP · The Craig Way Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It's the Craig Way Show with a voice of the
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame broadcast.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: There, Craig Way, here we are on a Monday.
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  Speaker 3: And as always happy to have you with us as well,
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  Speaker 3: here on a Monday edition of the program and getting
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  Speaker 3: you ready for a big football week. Clearly there's that
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: there's some basketball to discuss. Long Worn men did fall
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  Speaker 3: yesterday to a really good two time defending national champion
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  Speaker 3: Yukon team, but I don't think that hurts them in
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  Speaker 3: the grand scheme. What they've got to do is figure
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  Speaker 3: out some other things to get ready, So we'll see
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  Speaker 3: where it goes from there. Again, if you have something
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: you want to text us, you know, feel free to
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: do that.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: You can do that on the text line.
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  Speaker 3: You text the word Texas followed by your question or
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  Speaker 3: comment to eight one five three zero. Standard messaging and
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  Speaker 3: data rates may apply. All right, let's hear from Long
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  Speaker 3: Worn's head coach Steve Sarkisian. This is from his zoom
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  Speaker 3: yesterday following the announcement that Texas would be the number
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  Speaker 3: five seed would have a home playoff game with host
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  Speaker 3: of Clemson Tigers on Saturday, the twenty first, at three o'clock,
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  Speaker 3: as well as a recap of the loss in overtime
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  Speaker 3: to Georgia An the SEC Championship.
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  Speaker 1: Alrighty, just to recap a little bit from the ball
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  Speaker 1: game yesterday, very hard fought game. You know, you turn
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  Speaker 1: on the tape and you realize the physicality of which
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  Speaker 1: that game was played by both teams, and that was
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  Speaker 1: SEC football at its finest on that front. Just to
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  Speaker 1: kind of echo some of the things I touched on yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: some of my initial thoughts I think hold true today.
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  Speaker 1: Just some real missed opportunities, especially in the first half
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  Speaker 1: of thatut ballgame, to think I think we had two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and sixty first half yards to sixty.
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  Speaker 2: One for them.
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  Speaker 1: But naturally, you know, we had eight penalties in the
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  Speaker 1: first half. Eight of our eleven penalties were in the
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  Speaker 1: first half of that game, which again some of those
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  Speaker 1: occurred as we were across the fifty. That put us
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  Speaker 1: in some second, long, third, and long type scenarios that
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  Speaker 1: we just couldn't quite overcome. And you walk in the
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  Speaker 1: locker room with a sixty three lead when you really
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  Speaker 1: felt like you were playing better football than that, and
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  Speaker 1: then to come out of the locker room at halftime,
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  Speaker 1: you know, they make the change at quarterback and we're
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  Speaker 1: trying to adjust on the fly, and that first series
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  Speaker 1: of the second half of how to defend a different
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  Speaker 1: style of quarterback, and they put together a nice drive
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  Speaker 1: there to start the second half. I think they went
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  Speaker 1: like ten plays for seventy five yards or so for
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  Speaker 1: the touchdown. I thought we responded with a pretty good
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  Speaker 1: drive coming back out. We missed the field goal, and
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  Speaker 1: then it turned into the way the game went. You
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  Speaker 1: were just fighting to have an opportunity, and then the
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  Speaker 1: ending of the game to me, as I touched on yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: was really kind of uh, you know, the micro CAUs
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  Speaker 1: of how the game went. You know, we drive down
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  Speaker 1: at the end of the ball game, with plenty of time,
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  Speaker 1: with an opportunity to score a touchdown to potentially win it.
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  Speaker 1: We couldn't get in the end zone. We kick a
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  Speaker 1: field goal to go to overtime. We get in overtime,
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  Speaker 1: we don't score a touchdown, we have to kick a
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  Speaker 1: field goal, and then they scored and and so, you know,
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot of other things to talk about obviously
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  Speaker 1: that we could that could get addressed coming out of
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  Speaker 1: the game, but at the end of the day. We
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  Speaker 1: had some opportunities to extend that lead early, we had
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  Speaker 1: some opportunities to take leads late. Uh, and we just
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  Speaker 1: are inability to do that, you know, I think ultimately
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  Speaker 1: cost us the ball game.
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  Speaker 3: I think that put it in its proper context. There
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  Speaker 3: opportunities unrecognized, certainly there they had. They had chances and
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  Speaker 3: couldn't capitalize there on that. All right, So with that,
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  Speaker 3: the Longhorns missed out on a chance to win the
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  Speaker 3: Big Twelve, the Big Twelve. It's the first time I've
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  Speaker 3: said that in a while. I've been saying SEC for
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  Speaker 3: a while. That guy was kind of proud of myself.
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  Speaker 3: Had been on a nice roll. I had said Big
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  Speaker 3: twelve with regard to Texas at all. You know, with
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  Speaker 3: all these basketball challenges SEC, ACC, Big twelve, Big East, Man,
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  Speaker 3: I've been cutting it close with almost saying Big twelve
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  Speaker 3: every time.
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  Speaker 2: It's like what conference are we in now? Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: So, anyway, not winning the SEC championship, but being the
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  Speaker 3: number five overall seed, the top seed that isn't receiving
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  Speaker 3: a first round by Texas will get the host the
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  Speaker 3: playoff game against Clemson on Saturday, the twenty first at
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  Speaker 3: three o'clock in the afternoon and the selections overall. So
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  Speaker 3: Sark was asked about his thoughts and reaction to the
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  Speaker 3: long warns selected where they.
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  Speaker 2: Were, this is an exciting time for college football. You know.
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  Speaker 1: The the twelve team playoff is definitely you know that
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  Speaker 1: we all know is a new format, but I think
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  Speaker 1: it's an exciting format and I think we're all of
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  Speaker 1: going through.
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  Speaker 2: It together of what this looks like.
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  Speaker 1: But the fact that you know, we're the five seed
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  Speaker 1: and we get to play a twelve seed and a
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  Speaker 1: team like Texas, a team like Clemson, a team who
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  Speaker 1: has been a perennial college football playoff team. I think
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  Speaker 1: coach Sweeney has done a fantastic job at Clemson. You
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  Speaker 1: don't win two national titles over a seventeen year period,
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  Speaker 1: multiple appearances in the CFP, numerous acc conference championships, so
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  Speaker 1: they've got a championship program. And the fact that we've
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  Speaker 1: never played them, that Texas has never played Clemson in football.
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  Speaker 1: The first time will be in the inaugural twelve team
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  Speaker 1: college Football Playoff right here at dk R, I think
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  Speaker 1: is very exciting. And you look at some of the
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  Speaker 1: other matchups that are going to take place and what
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  Speaker 1: the you know, kind of what the brackets could look
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  Speaker 1: like down the road.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's this exciting time for college football.
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  Speaker 1: And so we're fortunate that, you know, we've earned the
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  Speaker 1: right to be in the in the playoffs and looking
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  Speaker 1: forward to the opportunity to compete with with Clemson and
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  Speaker 1: uh in the CFP in general.
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  Speaker 3: So we're here to be the first time ever for
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  Speaker 3: Texas to play Clemson in football. And Sark was asked
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  Speaker 3: about how well he knows Dabosmenium. What are some of
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  Speaker 3: his coaching philosophies that he admires.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I know dabbled pretty well. You know,
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  Speaker 1: we go way way back. You know, we originally met
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  Speaker 1: at a high school basketball game in Alabama when we
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  Speaker 1: were both assistants. I was an assistant at USC and
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  Speaker 1: he was actually an assistant at that time at Clemson.
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  Speaker 1: And uh that seems like an eternity ago. But uh uh,
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  Speaker 1: he's done a great job.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 1: I think that he modernized a lot of the coaching
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  Speaker 1: philosophies that a lot of us use today. You know,
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  Speaker 1: the old school model of coaching was, you know, basically
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  Speaker 1: coach out of fear. Yeah, I think I think Dabbo
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  Speaker 1: has been one of the guys that that changed that
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  Speaker 1: philosophy early on, and he created an environment there and
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  Speaker 1: a culture there at Clemson was one that was, my opinion,
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  Speaker 1: full of love and support and it's okay to have fun.
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  Speaker 1: And he's got a slide in the middle of there,
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of their facility, and he's got you know,
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  Speaker 1: I think there's just it was a different approach, and
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  Speaker 1: I think part of that is both of us, you know,
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  Speaker 1: really believe and are good friends with John Gordon. For
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  Speaker 1: any of those that are that are familiar with him,
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  Speaker 1: author who does a lot of you know, culture building,
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  Speaker 1: motivational speaking and things, and and so I do admire
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  Speaker 1: what he's done and how he's built that culture at Clemson,
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  Speaker 1: and it's withstood the test of time. You're not at
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  Speaker 1: one place for seventeen years without doing some things right.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not only what they're doing off the field,
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  Speaker 1: it's what they've been doing on the field. And so again,
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  Speaker 1: you know, just definitely kind of admire him for a
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  Speaker 1: lot of the things that he does there.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 3: Back in January twenty seventeen, when Alabama played Clemson in
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  Speaker 3: the National Championship, sark was I believe in Anna list
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  Speaker 3: for Nick Sabans his first go through for he came
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  Speaker 3: back around, I believe, as the quarterbacks coaching offensive coordinator
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  Speaker 3: of course Dabo coaching Clemson, and he was asked for
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  Speaker 3: what he remembered about that game, as well as how
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  Speaker 3: much of his staff's preparation for this contest include clemson
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  Speaker 3: season opening loss to Georgia and their late season lost
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  Speaker 3: to South Carolina.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Big fan of Kaid. We recruited him hard, you know,
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  Speaker 1: obviously a local kid. I thought Neo really possesses a
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  Speaker 1: great deal of competitive spirit and you could see that
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  Speaker 1: when he was at high school at Westlake.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, that was my bad. I gave the wrong cue, Toca.
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  Speaker 3: That was the deal about Kate Klubnick. So let's hear that.
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  Speaker 3: Well's let's go back to what I was saying earlier
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  Speaker 3: about what does he remember about that twenty to seventeen
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  Speaker 3: National championship game against Clemson and would he be looking
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  Speaker 3: carefully at that the Clemsons lost to Georgia and they're
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  Speaker 3: lost to South Carolina as he and his staff put
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  Speaker 3: together their preparation for this contest.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that was it was a long time ago.
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  Speaker 1: You know, that was Deshaun Watson was the trigger man
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  Speaker 1: and Brent Vinables was calling defense for Clemson. So, uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know a lot of different faces. You know, what
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  Speaker 1: I remember is that they they fought to the end.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we had scored late in that game, and
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  Speaker 1: they got the ball and converted a few four downs
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  Speaker 1: and scored, you know, right there at the end of
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  Speaker 1: the ball game. So you know, I know they'll be
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  Speaker 1: ready to play. You know, we're we got to look
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  Speaker 1: at a lot of stuff. You know, we got to
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  Speaker 1: we have to assess their season and see what there's
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  Speaker 1: some opponents there that that kind of play like us
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  Speaker 1: and formationally and different things.
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  Speaker 3: And.
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  Speaker 1: Find areas where they do things really well and why
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  Speaker 1: they're successful there, and maybe try to find some some cracks,
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  Speaker 1: you know, of where they're not not quite so good.
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  Speaker 1: And so yeah, that's looking at SEC opponents, that's looking
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  Speaker 1: at ACC opponents, that's looking at everybody.
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  Speaker 3: So now about Kate Clubnik. Now Kate does many of
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  Speaker 3: us know in these parts is former Westlake quarterback led
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  Speaker 3: them to state championship when Todd Dodge was coaching and
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  Speaker 3: uh and has been at Clemson throughout his collegiate career
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  Speaker 3: and uh and at the time, I remember Tom Herman
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  Speaker 3: staff recruited Kate clubnit pretty hard. But he locked in
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  Speaker 3: on Clemson pretty early, and uh and stayed true to that.
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  Speaker 3: So Sart, who was not here during that recruitment time. Then,
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  Speaker 3: of course King later was asked, how much does he
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  Speaker 3: know about Kate Clubninck.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, A big fan of Kate. We recruited him hard,
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  Speaker 1: you know, obviously, you know local kid. I thought you
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  Speaker 1: really possesses a great deal of competitive spirit and you
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  Speaker 1: could see that when he was at high school at Westlake. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: he's a winner. He's gonna do what it takes. He'll
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  Speaker 1: throw it, he'll run it, he'll block. I mean, that
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  Speaker 1: guy will do whatever it takes to try to put
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  Speaker 1: his team in position to be successful. That was obviously
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: a heck of a team with Michael taff And and
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  Speaker 1: a lot a lot of really good players on that team.
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  Speaker 1: So you know, he made the decision to go to Clemson. Honestly,
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  Speaker 1: I was surprised. You know, both his parents went to
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  Speaker 1: A and M, and we were thought we were the
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  Speaker 1: hometown team, and he had always had a dream of
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  Speaker 1: going to Clemson. And for him, I think what a
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  Speaker 1: cool story of, you know, getting into the college football
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  Speaker 1: Playoff and in the first round game is right here
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  Speaker 1: in Austin, back home for him. So a lot of
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  Speaker 1: a lot of really cool storylines to this ball game,
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  Speaker 1: and that's definitely one.
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  Speaker 2: Of them, all right.
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  Speaker 3: He was also asked what the mood has been like
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  Speaker 3: around the locker room, what was it like following the
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: laws to Georgia, and what will be the mental as
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  Speaker 3: well as the physical preparation over the next couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 2: I think our guys are really excited, you know.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we we were all together here watching the
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  Speaker 1: selection show, and I think when our name first popped
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  Speaker 1: up with the five seed, everybody was excited about that.
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  Speaker 1: And then when it came back around and we were
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  Speaker 1: going to be playing Clemson, I think the guys were
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  Speaker 1: excited about that.
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  Speaker 2: You know, they started screaming it's the Macuba Bowl.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously for Andrew mccubo's been at Clemson some time and
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  Speaker 1: transferred here. But again, that's one of the storylines. There's
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  Speaker 1: many in this game. But what we're gonna do with
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  Speaker 1: these guys is we're really gonna kind of we didn't
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  Speaker 1: do anything physical with them today. We'll do no football
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  Speaker 1: with them on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. We really want
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  Speaker 1: to get them a chance to kind of recharge their batteries,
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  Speaker 1: not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.
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  Speaker 2: This was a long month.
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  Speaker 1: This five game stretch was a lot on them, not
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  Speaker 1: only physically but mentally. You know, we played two of
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  Speaker 1: our rivals on the road, we played in an SEC
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  Speaker 1: championship game. It was really physical football this last month.
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  Speaker 1: So we're going to try to get as healthy as
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: we can, like I said, mentally and physically. We'll get
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  Speaker 1: back to work with the players on Thursday, you know,
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  Speaker 1: for a couple of days there, give another day or
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: two off, and then we'll get back into our normal
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  Speaker 1: work week next week.
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  Speaker 2: But as a staff, you know, our preparation.
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  Speaker 1: Is underway, and you know we'll spend the next few
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: days as a staff putting together a game plan in
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  Speaker 1: all three phases and then start implementing that on Thursday.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Now, speaking of health, a couple of updates.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: First of all, an update on Isaiah Bond, who of
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: course had the ankle injury in the game on Saturday IV.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: He's getting an MRI on that ankle. I think pretty clear.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Everybody saw him get rolled up. I don't have anything
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  Speaker 1: further on that from a severity standpoint.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, So there's that. And then how close was Calvin
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: Banks to playing? He got out there and tried to
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: go through some warm ups, wasn't able to play on Saturday,
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  Speaker 3: And what might his status be for the Clemson game.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know yet. He was he wasn't ready to play.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: We'll see, Okay, all right, So that means Trevor Goosby
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: who had to come on and play. And how did
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: he feel that Goosby as well the rest of the
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: offensive line performed against Georgia.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Trevor is going to be a good
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: player for us.
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  Speaker 1: You know, there was moments yesterday he felt like a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: red shirt freshman, you know, playing against Georgia in Mercedes Benz,
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  Speaker 1: you know, on in a road game, and there was
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  Speaker 1: moments when he did some really good things, you know.
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  Speaker 1: And so I think as a whole, as an offensive line,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: I didn't I wish we could have played with a
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: little bit more consistency, not only in the run game,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: but also in pass protection. But I felt that way
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: in general about the offense you know, I thought, I
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: actually thought the guy probably one of the best games
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: on offense was Quinn. You know, he really he stood
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: in there and we didn't block some things very well,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: took some hits, he made plays outside the pocket. I
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: thought he was really accurate with the ball. We had
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: a season high of drops in a game last yesterday,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: which which was uncharacteristic for us. And so we've got
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: to play together better collectively. The run game's got to
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: go better against these elite defensive fronts. We got to
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: make our plays in the passing game when opportunities present themselves,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and so but all of that, whatever we want to do,
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: it all starts up front. So we got to push
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: that group to another level as we get into the CFP,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: knowing that these all the opponents will be playing our
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: quality opponents.
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  Speaker 3: All right, So there it is. We'll hear some more
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: from Sart coming up next hour. But up next inconceivable
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: for a Monday, which does have an NFL note in it.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: Here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone of
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  Speaker 3: the iHeartRadio app