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What Everyone Is MISSING About Georgia Tech vs Deion Sanders | Yellow Jackets | Colorado Football · ACC Football Addiction (Atlantic Coast Conference)

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  Speaker 2: What's up, Jackets?
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us today on ACC Football Addiction presented
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  Speaker 1: by PrizePix. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football is stepping straight
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  Speaker 1: into a massive primetime spotlight to kick off the new campaign.
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  Speaker 1: There is a different kind of buzz in the air
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  Speaker 1: whenever a season opener doubles as a showcase event.
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  Speaker 2: Between the national.
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  Speaker 1: Television window and the sheer volume of talent watching from
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  Speaker 1: the sideline, this matchup carries implications that reach far beyond
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  Speaker 1: week one. Both sides of the ball are walking into
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  Speaker 1: this game with plenty of fresh faces and serious questions
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  Speaker 1: to answer. Everything this program has preached all offseason about
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  Speaker 1: identity and physical toughness gets put to the test the
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  Speaker 1: second the ball is kicked. If you have been waiting
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  Speaker 1: all summer to see how this rebuilt roster responds when
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  Speaker 1: the lights come on, this is the moment of truth.
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  Speaker 2: The stage is set, the expectations are real, and there
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  Speaker 2: is zero room to ease.
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  Speaker 1: Into the schedule. We have got plenty to break down today,
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  Speaker 1: so let's get into it. Georgia Tech opens the 2026
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  Speaker 1: season under the lights at Bobby Dodd Stadium this Thursday
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  Speaker 1: night with kickoff set for 8 p.m.
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  Speaker 2: Eastern on ESPN.
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  Speaker 1: The matchup closes out a home and home series with
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  Speaker 1: Colorado that began with a 27-20 Georgia Tech victory in
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  Speaker 1: Boulder last season. Along the way, the series picked up
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  Speaker 1: an unusual nickname branded by fans as the 1990 National
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  Speaker 1: Championship since Georgia Tech and Colorado were crowned co-champions that
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  Speaker 1: year without ever playing each other. Now, Deion Sanders returns
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  Speaker 1: to the city where he became a legend. Yet this
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  Speaker 1: is hardly the blockbuster homecoming most people pictured when.
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  Speaker 2: The contract was signed.
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  Speaker 1: After going 9-4 in 2024, Colorado tumbled to 3-9 in
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  Speaker 1: 2025 with just one win over a Power 4 opponent,
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  Speaker 1: all while Sanders was fighting bladder cancer. He is cancer-free now,
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  Speaker 1: and his full attention is back on football. Even so,
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  Speaker 1: the roster he brings to Atlanta has essentially been built
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  Speaker 1: from scratch. Colorado lost 36 players to the transfer portal,
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  Speaker 1: including elite tackle Jordan Seaton to LSU, receiver Omarion Miller
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  Speaker 1: to Arizona State, and cornerback DJ McKinney. In response, the
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  Speaker 1: Buffaloes reloaded by adding 43 incoming transfers. That leaves them
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  Speaker 1: returning only four starters on offense and zero returning starters
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  Speaker 1: on defense. Carrollton, Georgia native Julian Lewis gets his own
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  Speaker 1: homecoming at quarterback, playing behind five brand-new offensive linemen. New
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  Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who rose through the ranks at
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  Speaker 1: UNLV and Sacramento State, must fix a ground attack that
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  Speaker 1: averaged just 125.6 yards per game in 2025 and 65.2
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  Speaker 1: in 2024. Georgia Tech counters with new defensive coordinator Jason Seymour.
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  Speaker 1: His Marshall defense is ranked 19th nationally in sacks in
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  Speaker 1: 2023 and 9th in 2024. while his Southern Miss unit
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  Speaker 1: led the entire country with 23 interceptions last season. Tech's
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  Speaker 1: rebuilt defensive line has been the buzz of fall camp,
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  Speaker 1: headlined by Alabama transfer Noah Carter, Rutgers edge Jordan Walker, and, fittingly,
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  Speaker 1: former Colorado tackle Tawfik Thomas. That front against four brand-new
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  Speaker 1: Colorado blockers is the pivotal matchup that should decide this game. Still,
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  Speaker 1: Tech carries real questions of its own. Alberto Mendoza makes
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  Speaker 1: his first career start with only 25 career pass attempts.
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  Speaker 1: George Godsey steps in as a first-time college offensive coordinator.
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  Speaker 1: Three new starters anchor the offensive line, and the receiver
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  Speaker 1: room is wildly inexperienced. The counterbalance is a loaded, tight-end group.
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  Speaker 1: Chris Corbo, Spencer Mermans, Gavin Harris, and Kevin Roche Jr.,
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  Speaker 1: alongside the best running back stable of the Brent Key era.
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  Speaker 1: Both teams have new coordinators, new quarterbacks, and portal-heavy rosters,
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  Speaker 1: but only one of them has an established identity built
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  Speaker 1: on physicality and discipline. Because of that foundation, the projection
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  Speaker 1: lands on Georgia Tech 31-20. Yet the final score represents
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  Speaker 1: only half of what is actually at stake Thursday night.
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  Speaker 1: While the game is being played on the field, Georgia
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  Speaker 1: Tech's staff is running an entirely different operation just a
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  Speaker 1: few feet behind its own bench. Tech staff is treating
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  Speaker 1: this opener as one of the premier recruiting nights on
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  Speaker 1: the entire calendar, and the visitor list backs that up.
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  Speaker 1: A standalone national television window, a primetime kickoff in downtown Atlanta,
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  Speaker 1: and Coach Prime as the visiting attraction give Brent Key's
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  Speaker 1: staff an atmosphere it simply cannot manufacture on an ordinary
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  Speaker 1: Saturday afternoon. Several of the program's highest priority targets in
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  Speaker 1: the 2027 class are expected on campus. The primary emphasis
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  Speaker 1: centers on in-state prospects from the Metro Atlanta talent pool.
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  Speaker 1: That is the exact group Tech has to win to
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  Speaker 1: keep climbing in the ACC. Recruiting the trenches remains the
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  Speaker 1: staff's signature calling card. The offensive and defensive lines have
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  Speaker 1: defined the key era, and both position groups sit near
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  Speaker 1: the top of Tech's board again. Current commitments are also
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  Speaker 1: expected to be in the building. That presence is an
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  Speaker 1: underrated part of these unofficial visit nights because the staff
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  Speaker 1: leans on committed players to help sell the vision to
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  Speaker 1: uncommitted guests. The timing makes the showcase even bigger. Tech
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  Speaker 1: is coming off a season in which its class recruiting
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  Speaker 1: ranking climbed, meaning a week one primetime win in front
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  Speaker 1: of a packed house would be the single best closing
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  Speaker 1: argument the staff could make.
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  Speaker 2: Key's pitch has stayed consistent.
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  Speaker 1: Player development, Atlanta's business and NIL infrastructure, and the identity
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  Speaker 1: of being the toughest, most physical team on the field.
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  Speaker 1: Recruits will also get an up-close look at the exact
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  Speaker 1: new pieces the staff has been selling all offseason. That
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  Speaker 1: means first-time starting quarterback Alberto Mendoza, the revamped defensive front,
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  Speaker 1: and a tight end room the staff believes is the
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  Speaker 1: most talented of the key era. For fans, the game
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  Speaker 1: itself is only half the story because the sideline behind
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  Speaker 1: the Jackets bench may end up shaping this roster for years. However,
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  Speaker 1: there is an inherent risk in that pitch, and every
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  Speaker 1: visitor on the sideline is going to notice it. The
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  Speaker 1: players Tech is showcasing are the same players who have
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  Speaker 1: barely taken a snap at this level, and a night
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  Speaker 1: like this will either sell the vision or completely expose it.
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  Speaker 1: That reality is why the last thing Brent Key said
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  Speaker 1: before kickoff matters more than usual. Key wrapped up his
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  Speaker 1: final media session before the Colorado opener with the same
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  Speaker 1: message he has carried all camp. This team will be
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  Speaker 1: defined by toughness and physicality, no matter how many new
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  Speaker 1: names are in the lineup. He did not dodge the
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  Speaker 1: volume of inexperience on offense either. Mendoza is making his
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  Speaker 1: first career start after just 25 career attempts. There are
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  Speaker 1: three new starters on the offensive line. The tight end
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  Speaker 1: group has no power for game experience and Godsey is
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  Speaker 1: calling plays as a first time college coordinator. He has
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  Speaker 1: been consistently complimentary of Mendoza's processing, his football intelligence, and
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  Speaker 1: the way he carries himself like a veteran despite never
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  Speaker 1: starting a game. That poise is a big reason the
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  Speaker 1: starting job was effectively locked up back in the spring.
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  Speaker 1: He also touched on the roster management realities of the
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  Speaker 1: modern game, including adapting to the 5-to-play-5 model and settling
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  Speaker 1: depth along the offensive line where the backups were still
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  Speaker 1: being sorted out late in camp. Defensively, he pointed back
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  Speaker 1: to the offseason emphasis fans have heard all summer. Added
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  Speaker 1: size and depth up front, sounder tackling, and an improved
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  Speaker 1: turnover margin under Seymour, who arrives with a resume of
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  Speaker 1: elite sack and interception production. Key stressed that the defensive
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  Speaker 1: line bolstered by Noah Carter, Jordan Walker, and Tawfik Thomas
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  Speaker 1: has been the standout unit of fall camp and that
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  Speaker 1: it must finally deliver consistent quarterback pressure. He embraced the environment, too,
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  Speaker 1: calling a Thursday night primetime home opener with Deion Sanders'
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  Speaker 1: Colorado in town exactly the kind of stage his program wanted.
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  Speaker 2: His framing of the opener was classic key.
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  Speaker 1: Treat every game as a target, take the schedule one
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  Speaker 1: week at a time, and never look past a Buffalo's
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  Speaker 1: team that returns almost nothing from last season while adding
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  Speaker 1: 43 transfers. Availability and final injury clarity were the last
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  Speaker 1: housekeeping items before the Jackets closed the book on camp.
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  Speaker 1: The theme never changed. Georgia Tech knows who it is,
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  Speaker 1: even if most of the country does not yet know
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  Speaker 1: these players' names. Now, the stage is set, the pitch
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  Speaker 1: is made, and the message is delivered. What is left
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  Speaker 1: is the part nobody can script, and it starts on
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  Speaker 1: the very first snap.
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  Speaker 2: Because the moment Mendoza takes.
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  Speaker 1: That first career start in front of a national audience,
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  Speaker 1: a packed Bobby Dodd Stadium and a sideline full of recruits,
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  Speaker 1: every question gets answered in real time. And that opening
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  Speaker 1: drive will tell more than the entire offseason did.