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Sark and Company prepare for Saturday · The Craig Way Show

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone Andrew Zimmel filling in
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: for Craig Way and Cameron Parker as they are in
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas, Nevada. That is right as the Texas men's
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: basketball season opens up tonight against the Ohio State buck Guys.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: That game tips off nine pm, eight to thirty pre
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  Speaker 1: game right here on AM thirteen hundred Zone and on
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: KVET FM ninety eight one FM in Austin. You also
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  Speaker 1: can listen on the free iHeartRadio app as well. So
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  Speaker 1: updates across the league, updates across college football. We will
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: start with an update from college station. Texas A and
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: M head coach Mike Elko announced running back Levon Moss
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  Speaker 1: is out for the season. Moss was having a great
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  Speaker 1: year for the Aggies, rushed for seven hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 1: five yards at about six yards per carry and ten
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  Speaker 1: touchdowns before his injury against South Carolina changed the outcome
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  Speaker 1: of that game.
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  Speaker 3: As a game.
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  Speaker 1: Cox got the win at home against number ten Texas
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  Speaker 1: A and M. Huge win for the game Cocks and
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  Speaker 1: changes a lot in the sec A logjam at the
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  Speaker 1: top of the conference. We will start this hour or correction,
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  Speaker 1: we will start hour at number three of the Craigways
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  Speaker 1: Show with more from a head coach Steve Sarkejian. I
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: want to reset and play his opening statement again because
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  Speaker 1: I think there's a lot that we can take away
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  Speaker 1: from what coach Starks said at the beginning of this thing.
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  Speaker 2: You know, buys are always nice to get to get healthy,
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  Speaker 2: get refreshed, get recharged to kind of yourself analysis.
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  Speaker 3: But it's also nice to get back to work.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we are a you know, routine oriented operation,
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  Speaker 2: so to get back to work. We know the month
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  Speaker 2: of November for us is one that's going to be challenging.
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  Speaker 2: But as we say around here, the games in November
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  Speaker 2: of the ones you remember. So we got to put
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  Speaker 2: in a lot of work. And it starts this Saturday
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  Speaker 2: against the University of Florida, a team that it's very talented,
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  Speaker 2: really well coached. I know a lot of people are
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  Speaker 2: gonna lolick at the record and so on and so forth,
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  Speaker 2: but you can just look at their last three games.
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  Speaker 2: You know, they lose an overtime to Tennessee, they win,
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  Speaker 2: and they're beating Georgia. They got a chance to kick
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  Speaker 2: a field goal to go up late in that ball
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  Speaker 2: game with a kind of muff a snap.
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  Speaker 3: So they've been playing good football. It's gonna be a
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  Speaker 3: heck of a challenge.
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  Speaker 2: And so you know, I think we got off to
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  Speaker 2: a good start today from a preparation standpoint, but we're
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  Speaker 2: gonna need a good week of work to get ourselves
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  Speaker 2: ready to.
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  Speaker 3: Go big things.
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  Speaker 1: Leading this press conference off for coach start talking about
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  Speaker 1: the month of November for Texas. Now two home games,
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  Speaker 1: two road games at home against Florida, at home against
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  Speaker 1: Kentucky on the road against Arkansas on the road against
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  Speaker 1: number fifteen Texas A and M to end the season.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if they'll be fifteen at that point,
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  Speaker 1: they might be higher. I want to go through two
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  Speaker 1: other teams. The top three teams in the S currently
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  Speaker 1: according to the AP, pole must get the College Football
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Playoff Committee's poll tomorrow evening. For the top three teams
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  Speaker 1: in the SEC now, according to the AP, it's number
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  Speaker 1: two Georgia, it's number five Texas, it's number seven Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't think Georgia or Tennessee's final four games
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  Speaker 1: compare to what the long runs are going to be
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  Speaker 1: dealing with. Georgia travels to Oxford to take on Old
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  Speaker 1: miss the Revs. That's going to be a tough game.
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  Speaker 1: Then at home against Tennessee, but then you get the Minutemen. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: UMass shows up and then Georgia Tech. Those two teams
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  Speaker 1: don't really excite me. And outside of traveling to Oxford,
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  Speaker 1: the Tennessee game is going to be interesting. But let's
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  Speaker 1: go through Tennessee schedule. Mississippi State, a team that has
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  Speaker 1: struggled so far this season, at home against Georgia UTEP
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  Speaker 1: and then going to Nashville against Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is a
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  Speaker 1: solid team, a top twenty five team, but I go
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  Speaker 1: through that Texas schedule, those final four games might be
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  Speaker 1: the hardest four games in the SEC for a team
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  Speaker 1: that is contending for a title.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 1: News also came out today from Florida, as head coach
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  Speaker 1: Billy Napier explained that DJ Langway's injury prognosis was better
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  Speaker 1: than expected. In fact, it was so good you might
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  Speaker 1: see Langue against the Longhorns this Saturday. There's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of game time leading up to that, which means you
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  Speaker 1: don't really know what the quarterback situation will be. If
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  Speaker 1: you're head coach Steve Starkeesian, so he was asked a question,
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  Speaker 1: how do you prepare for a multiple quarterback game plan?
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  Speaker 1: Especially when you consider that aiden Ware played pretty solid
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  Speaker 1: for the Gators seven of twenty two sixty six yards
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  Speaker 1: an interception, but again against the Georgia defense, it's not
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  Speaker 1: too bad. Here's the coach, Stark's response, how do you
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  Speaker 1: prepare for the Florida quarterback situation?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think you prepare for the scheme. You know,
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  Speaker 2: coach Napier has been doing it quite a while, you know,
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  Speaker 2: time at Lafayette and what he's done at Florida. So
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  Speaker 2: they've got a very intricate scheme, a lot of shifts,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of motions, a lot of formation adjustments that
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  Speaker 2: they that's they tax you with, you know.
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  Speaker 3: So I think that's the first part.
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  Speaker 2: You know, again, they're they're a little bit of limbo
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  Speaker 2: from a quarterback perspective, But in the end of the day,
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  Speaker 2: I think, you know, they're going to run their offense
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  Speaker 2: and that's what we got to prepare for.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 1: The offense is one thing, but that defense for Florida
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  Speaker 1: is another. The Florida defense did a good job against
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  Speaker 1: Carson Beck. They played very well against the Georgia offense.
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  Speaker 1: And if their quarterback doesn't go down and Langway doesn't
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  Speaker 1: go down, we might have a different outcome in that ballgame.
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  Speaker 1: Georgia struggled and then in the second half they really
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  Speaker 1: put their foot on the gas. But that defense for
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  Speaker 1: Florida is no joke. What is the plan for the
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  Speaker 1: Longhorns this Saturday against that UF defense.
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  Speaker 2: I'll say this for you guys that will come down
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  Speaker 2: on the field in pregame. This would be arguably one of,
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  Speaker 2: if not the best looking team in our conference.
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  Speaker 3: They're big, they're long, they're athletic.
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  Speaker 2: I think they played fourteen guys in their front seven
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  Speaker 2: this this weekend against Georgia, so they've got a great rotation.
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  Speaker 2: Their depth got challenged in the secondary this weekend with
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  Speaker 2: a couple of corners getting nicked up, but they've they've
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  Speaker 2: got versatile guys there. So you know, Billy's done a
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  Speaker 2: great job recruiting that team. They continue to play really
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  Speaker 2: hard for him, which is which is a credit to him.
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  Speaker 2: But they're a good looking football team, and so it's
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  Speaker 2: gonna be challenging because they're physical at the point of attack.
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  Speaker 2: They've got good length, they can they play a multitude
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  Speaker 2: of coverages, and so that's but that's the life in
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  Speaker 2: the Southeastern Conference.
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  Speaker 3: That's the way it goes.
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  Speaker 1: That is the way it goes. Head coach Steve Sarkasian
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  Speaker 1: talking during his press conference today about the Florida defense
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  Speaker 1: as the Longhorns play the Gators this Saturday at home
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  Speaker 1: eleven am. Kickoff Long Horn game. They begins eight am.
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  Speaker 1: Gonna have to drink cup of coffee for that one. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the Longhorns through the last three games, quinn Ewers has
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  Speaker 1: played in a huge win against ou at thirty four
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  Speaker 1: three win where he weers look like a Heisman contender
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  Speaker 1: twenty of twenty nine one hundred and ninety nine yards
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  Speaker 1: a touchdown, but also one of those nasty picks. And
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  Speaker 1: then against Georgia, things kind of came off the rails
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  Speaker 1: a little bit, twenty five or forty three to eleven
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  Speaker 1: a touchdown and again one of those pesty interceptions. Then
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  Speaker 1: against Vanderbilt he looked like he was back under control
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven and thirty seven to eighty eight, three touchdowns,
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  Speaker 1: but again two of those interceptions. So the question was
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  Speaker 1: then asked, uh, how does how does quinn look coming
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  Speaker 1: in or coming out of this bye week and how
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  Speaker 1: much confidence do you have with Quinn and this game plan.
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  Speaker 3: I thought Quinn had a good week.
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  Speaker 2: He looks fresh, he looks healthy, he's really you know,
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  Speaker 2: he's really delivering the ball well at like his base
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  Speaker 2: that he's operating with. I thought he was really intentional,
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  Speaker 2: you know, with his feet, with his base against Vanderbilt,
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  Speaker 2: and that showed as far as the script, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I want to call stuff that A gives us the
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  Speaker 2: best chance to have some success. B. Maybe gathers a
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  Speaker 2: little bit of information on the opponent on how they're
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  Speaker 2: gonna play us, and see, you know, get some burning
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  Speaker 2: a little bit of chalk on their sidelines too, you know.
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  Speaker 2: So but at the end of the day, I'm always
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  Speaker 2: trying to put our guys in a really good position
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  Speaker 2: to be successful and and I think our offensive staff
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  Speaker 2: and our staff in general tries.
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  Speaker 3: To do that. And so this week won't be any different.
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  Speaker 2: We're just gonna try to, you know, put together something
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  Speaker 2: that they believe in, that they have confidence in, that
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  Speaker 2: they show us in practice they know how to operate
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  Speaker 2: at a high level regardless of what defense we get.
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  Speaker 1: Against Vanderbilt, the Longhorns rushed the ball thirty four times,
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  Speaker 1: now is that enough? Is that something that coach Sarkisian
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  Speaker 1: likes to see? And how has that offensive game plan?
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  Speaker 1: How has the offense looked? And is he is he
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  Speaker 1: happy with the way that the team has run the
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  Speaker 1: ball so far this season. He was asked about overextending
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  Speaker 1: the offense and what he doesn't want them to do.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I mean, it's like anything. It's like
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  Speaker 3: any of us.
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  Speaker 2: It's I use the basketball shooter reference or the baseball
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  Speaker 2: you know, home run hitter reference, you know, And I
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  Speaker 2: just don't want our guys to press.
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  Speaker 3: We're plenty good enough.
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  Speaker 2: And we've we've got good enough players, we have good
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  Speaker 2: enough schemes, we've got enough balance to be a really
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  Speaker 2: electric offensive football team.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah we didn't have a couple of great weeks.
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  Speaker 3: That's okay.
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  Speaker 2: We're gonna be all right, you know, and and make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we've got confidence to go do those things.
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  Speaker 2: And so I don't overdo it with them because I
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  Speaker 2: just want them to know I believe in them. And
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  Speaker 2: and here's why I believe in them, And here's what
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  Speaker 2: we're gonna do to ensure opportunities for them to go
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  Speaker 2: make some plays.
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  Speaker 1: Ensuring the team has opportunities to set them so up
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  Speaker 1: for success. And it's going to be difficult because there
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  Speaker 1: is a log jam at the top of the SEC
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  Speaker 1: with teams like Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, A and M and
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: now Texas all having a loss. It's going to be
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  Speaker 1: important not to have multiple losses. In that column he
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  Speaker 1: was at coach Sarkisian was asked about the log jam
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  Speaker 1: at the top of the SEC.
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  Speaker 2: You know, there is a lot of football to be
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  Speaker 2: played here in the month of November, you know, and
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  Speaker 2: how critical all these games are over the next four
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  Speaker 2: weeks for a lot of different teams. The one thing
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  Speaker 2: that I took away from is all we can control
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: is us and what we're going to do and how
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  Speaker 2: we can try to go.
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  Speaker 3: Handle our business to the best of our ability.
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  Speaker 2: I think one thing you learn, not necessarily from A
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  Speaker 2: and M or from it was a bunch of teams
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  Speaker 2: that you know, had had games and tough games, and
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  Speaker 2: some swung in different directions. It's like that mental intensity
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  Speaker 2: I talked about of how challenging that is week to
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  Speaker 2: week in this conference, right, you want to get up
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: for each week and you just got to fight that
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  Speaker 2: drop off because you got to stay up again and
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  Speaker 2: again and again. And that's what makes our conference very,
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  Speaker 2: very difficult. You have to stay mentally locked in as
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  Speaker 2: well as you have to be physically prepared to play
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  Speaker 2: mentally prepared to play. And I think there's there was
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  Speaker 2: a lot of good teachable lessons from this weekend of
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: anybody can go play anybody at any time in this
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  Speaker 2: league and it's it's gonna be a heck of a game.
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  Speaker 2: And so you saw it with Vanderbilt their ability to
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: rebound and get a big win this weekend. We saw
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: it with Florida playing Georgia the way that they did
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: even after losing their second string quarterback. We saw it
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  Speaker 2: with South Carolina and their ability to step up and
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  Speaker 2: do what they did. So it's a challenging league, and
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: that's why we talk about the kind of metal fortitude
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: you have to have in this league as much as
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: it is the physical ability.
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  Speaker 1: Now the SEC has multiple teams in the top ten,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: they have multiple teams in the top twenty five. The
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: question then becomes because there is an expanded playoff, because
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: the College Football Playoff Comittee puts out their first ratings
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: tomorrow rankings tomorrow, does winning the SEC matter less because
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: you potentially could be a one lost team plays in
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the SEC title game and then loses, and could you
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: lose some points in the playoff committee's mind.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: We talked to h a Playoff committee member last week
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: on The Craig Ways Show, and and Starkejian had a
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: good answer to this, Uh, does it matter winning the SEC?
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  Speaker 3: Still? Not around here?
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  Speaker 2: Our goal, our first goal is to go win an
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  Speaker 2: SEC championship, and that's what we're striving for. When that
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: day comes and goes, then we'll recalibrate and get ourselves
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  Speaker 2: prepared for what the next the next part of the
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: season could be if we're fortunate enough to get in there.
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  Speaker 2: But it's it's an honor if you're a team that
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: can hoist that trophy in this conference, knowing the rigors
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: of the opponents and and how difficult it can be.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I think that's a heck of an honor for our
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: players and for our staff if we're we're able to
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: do something like that. And I think you could probably
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: ask you know, Kirby or or Mike Elko or you know,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: you know, now all the guys, all the coaches, all
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  Speaker 2: the teams in our league, like that's a heck of
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  Speaker 2: a challenge, and that's a heck of an honor if
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: you can achieve it. So I don't think in the
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Southeastern Conference it's minimized at all, And everybody knows that's
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  Speaker 2: a heck of an honor if you can if.
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  Speaker 3: You can do that.
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  Speaker 1: So it is the most important thing I think for
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  Speaker 1: Longhorned fans to realize that you do not lose any
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: standing in the playoff Committee's mind by losing your conference
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: championship game. If you are a top seven team, your
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: goal is to win your conference, so you get that
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: home by game, you get a buye. If you're a
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: top four team, in the top four teams will be
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: the four highest ranked champions conference champions. That's how it's
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: going to roll out here. Now. The SEC is cracking
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: down on fake injuries. The Longhorns haven't dealt with this
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: a ton, But Sarakisian was asked about what his thoughts
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: were on the SEC trying to uphold the integrity of
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: the game.
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  Speaker 3: No, I haven't.
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  Speaker 2: We haven't felt it as much as may be some
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: other teams have. You know, naturally, I think the integrity
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: of the game of football is vitally important to to.
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  Speaker 3: To hold in a high regard.
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  Speaker 2: But again i'd be I'm probably not the best one
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: to comment on it because we haven't felt the effects
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  Speaker 2: of it.
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  Speaker 3: You know, it's not something that we can done here.
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  Speaker 2: But again, I haven't felt it as much from opponents
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  Speaker 2: against us, so it's kind of tough for me to.
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  Speaker 3: Call on that one.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: And finally, Sarkesian was asked about this game on Saturday
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: against Florida eleven am kickoff. You can listen to the
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: pregame show Longhorn Game Day starting at eight am right
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: here on thirteen hundred of the Zone. He was asked
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: about it being a veteran's celebration day at the stadium
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: and what that means for this team, What does that
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: mean for this program?
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: What does that mean for him?
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: No, I think I think this is a great opportunity.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: You think about this Saturday to eleven am kick First
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: of all, so Longhorn Nation, we need you, We need
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: you to get up and and and be up and
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: at him. It's gonna be a heck a ball game.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: But you know, attribute to the veterans is a great
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: opportunity for us. You know, we're really fortunate for the
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: opportunities we get to live in this country and to
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: coach college football, to play college football, and none of
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: that would be possible without them, and so we always
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: try to honor them in the best way that we can.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: And this Saturday we get another opportunity to do that.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Coach Tarkisian feels confident. His team feels confident as they
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: go into a SEC matchup against a Florida team that
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: may or may not have their starting quarterback, who may
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: or may not be the best defense that they face
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: this year. Either way, is an important game, every game
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: from here on out for Texas as well as the SEC.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: It is the most important to get the job done
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: if the goal is, of course, to win a national
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: championship and hoist a SEC championship as well. All Right,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the APE pole came out. The College Football Playoff Committee
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: puts there polling out tomorrow. We will preview that up next.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Andrew Zimmile filling in for Craig Way on The Craigways
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Show on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: The Zone