
NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock, The Anatomy of an Upset, Is Texas Back, and Week 3 Picks
The Triple Option- 275 views
- 11 Sep 2024
Northern Illinois shocked the college football world and “The Triple Option” is at the epicenter of it all.
Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone break down the upset of Notre Dame by the Huskies and the emotion that comes with a monumental win. The Texas Longhorns took care of business in Ann Arbor, something Mark saw coming a mile away. What’s next for the Irish and the Wolverines? (5:30)
Then, the architect of the upset of the season, NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock joined the guys. Coach took us into the moment that beating the fifth ranked team in the country became a reality, how to build team culture in the era of NIL, and the transfer portal, and the emotion of leading his alma mater into the AP Top 25. (32:15)
An impressive performance in a loss of an Auburn recruit led to a trip down memory lane of the most dominant high school performances Coach Meyer has ever seen (calling Percy Harvin). The guys made their Week Three Pick Six including a pair of rivalry games out west in Oregon and Washington and the hottest team in the country you will never guess. #BearDown. (50:00)
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They hurt my feelings because they was my dog of the week last week, but I'm still scope Buffy.
You're still scope Buffy?
I'm still scope Buffy, man.
But it sounds like a puppy scope Buffy. Just a little baby Buffalo.
Just because they was my dog of the week. They were my dog of the week, and they made me look incredible.
You're not feeling that.
They made me look incredible. Not credible.
Welcome.
It is episode 4 of The Triple Option, presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new Saucy Nugs today. We remind you, we encourage you every week to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Outfall Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, as well as across social media. You can find us at 3xoptions. Show. New episodes drop every Wednesday, and the episodes are working, guys. This week, we hit number three, number three on the Apple podcast chart, so make sure to rate and review Mark only Takes 5 Star reviews because he's a five-star.
Anything less, you got to come see me. I'm about that.
You know what I'm going to do? Face to face to face.
Now we have to get to number two.
Now we got to get to double... Hey, it's just a steady climb. That's what it's like working with Coach Meyer.
One day at a time. Three is good. You know it's better than three? Two. It's the best one. We're coming for you, number one.
We own a way.
We appreciate everybody out there listening, watching on YouTube. Amazing. Just a couple of weeks into this, we're already up at number three. But let's talk about episode number four. Coming up, joining us this week, this is going to be a really cool conversation. The architect of the biggest upset this season, Northern Illinois head coach, Thomas Hanek, is going to join us. Man, the emotion he had in that big win at Notre Dame. Mark Ingram broke Charles Woodson this week, guys. He broke him. You're going to hear how he did it. We're going to say, How must Texas try to handle their success? Someone, Mark, ran for 400 yards and ton of touch downs, and it still wasn't enough for a win. But we begin with Coach Meyer stepping into the belly of the beast and teaching a class at the University of Michigan with you, Mark. Coach, how in the world did that happen?
Who would have ever thought? But Mark and I were at Cabo at a business event in the summer, and we met Barry, a professor, a junk professor at the Wolverains. We started talking. He said, Why don't you come to our I looked at Mark, I said, Wait, what? But I said, This might be a great TV. It's a sport management class. We went. Mark Ingram gets cheered everywhere he goes except the Auburn, Alabama, and I get booed a lot of places. My gosh, I'm I was hiding and I saw Mark walking in my chair.
Coach, when you walk around spanking people, you're not going to have a warm welcome when you come back.
Then, of course, our producers here said, Hey, wear their shirt. What was the shirt?
What was the shirt? Because Coach?
B, Michigan. Yeah.
And some numbers on it.
Yeah, 7-0, I think. But I think that ship was sale from now on.
I'm just going to wear it. I think, right, Mark? Oh, I think it was 7-0. I went against Michigan. I'm not sure. I can't remember.
Hey, I felt bad for my dog on the show, man. They wouldn't let him work. They wouldn't let him work. Anytime he talk, it's just the booze.
It's old news, man. It's old news now.
They wouldn't let my guy work. We're like, Hey, man, let my man work. He has a J-O-B, a job to do. Let my man work.
Time to move onward.
I loved it, man. Every time Coach opened his mouth on big noon kickoff, the booze would rain in.
And you were instigating it, too.
You bet I was. It's my inner wrestling nerd I'm coming on now. Coach was a full on heel, and I was there to be his manager. I loved it. So that was a cool reaction. Another moment was the reality of what a lot of people think and are now getting confirmed what Michigan is this season. And Charles Woodson, right, Mark, he's the ultimate Wolverine hype man. He comes in, he's jumping, he's hitting the banner, and he's hyping it up. He's got the Michigan askot on, and he's got the ring, and he's got the national trophy. Everything is going his way. Then we get on the field and we talk about the game. What did you say, and how did it come about how you just broke the Heisman winner?
I just told him. Everyone was talking about what's Michigan's realistic expectations? I said, I got them losing four games on the schedule. As of right now, I got them losing four games. He was like, So you don't think we're going to make the play? I said, You're lucky to be ranked at the end of the year. He was like, damn, you just broke me down. Broke me down in my socks.
He had no rebuttal. He just froze and looked at you. I've never seen Charles quiet.
He was offended.
Yeah, it was like a stunned silence.
He was like, damn, Mark, you just broke me down in my socks. I said, well, you all could do it. I hope you all proved me wrong. But from my vantage point- I'll tell you, harsh reality just marched right in the big house.
We all witnessed it. We saw it. We saw the They didn't look. You lose 18 starters. You lose 13 players in the NFL draft. One of the top pro teams. That last year's team was one of the last great teams.
An entire offensive line. Yeah.
You just wonder what in the world. They didn't look the part. They didn't play the part. This could be, unless they get things figured out real fast, this could be, I think Mark hit it on the spot or maybe even one more.
Yeah. We're going to get into that one a little a bit later, but we begin any given Saturday with a day that had a lot of upsets, had some close calls. But the biggest upset we've seen, and this is one of the reasons we love college football, unless you're a Notre Dame fan, Northern Illinois University. Anybody named where Northern Illinois University is located?
You got to get to it. Northern Illinois.
Dekal, beautiful DeKal. I've actually been there.
You've bused there, I bet. That's my guess.
We certainly did eight-hour bus ride from Bowling Creek.
You're not going to give me, Rob.
Where's Northern Illinois? I know you've not been in DeKalb, but maybe someday. I'd love to take the show to NIU. Notre Dame coughed up $1.4 million to choke on that '16 to '14 loss. One of the cool things about Northern Illinois, we're going to talk to their head coach in a moment. Third-most seniors that played their entire career at the same institution. That is an early saucy nug of the week. Try some at your nearest whennies. I think that's an amazing number. We'll talk to the coach about that. But the other numbers out there are Marcus Freeman, coach, and Some of these odd outlier-type defeats, they were a 28 and a half point favorite. They've had issues over the last couple of years. That Marshall loss, Stanford team that finished with just three wins, they lost. Not really sure what's going on at Notre Dame. When you saw that upset, what started going through your head coach?
Well, a couple of thoughts. I was there in 1996. Lou Holtz hired me, and I remember our scheduling was... I used to look at that schedule and say, What in the hell? I mean, The scheduling philosophy was, because I remember asking, why are we playing these teams? And they break the country in four quadrants. This is what I was told by an assistant athletic director, and you pick the best teams in those four quadrants because there's Something called Subway Alumni at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a small school, Mark, like only 6,000, 7,000 students. But there's Subway Alumni, which means they're not actually graduates, but there's Notre Dame fans everywhere. And Notre Dame feels an obligation to go to the four quadrants of our country and go play. And so when you think about Notre Dame schedule of old, they'd play, obviously, USA, Stanford, Washington, Arizona State, and the best teams in the West. Then you go in the Southwest, you'd play Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and the great teams there. Then you go to the Southeast, you're playing Miami and Florida State. Then you go to the East, you're playing Penn State. Back when Syracuse, it looks like Syracuse is coming back on, and Boston College.
I remember asking, Can we play a max score? Every once in a while, get a breath. And they said, We don't do that. And you look at their history, they never did. And I believe Brian Kelly changed that scheduling philosophy a little bit, which has made sense because the BCS era, now the playoff era, the objective is to get into the BCS or the playoff or now the 12-team playoff. So it's interesting. I really like Marcus Freeman. He's a friend. He's a young coach. That's a tough first job, man. But when you look at Marshall, that Stanford loss, and Northern Illinois, I've been on the backside of some. We were picked to win by a lot, and we lost, and it's devastating, man. It's devastating.
Yeah, Coach, but much credit to Northern Illinois. I mean, those guys were out there playing with tremendous effort on defense. They were running to the ball, all 11 people gang tackling. Even when they completed passes, it was tight coverage. They were tackling, and they were able to get the job done. The back over there, north of Illinois, Ontario Ground. He had 200 scrimmage yards above 26 receiving. I mean, the quarterback, he just did what he was supposed to do, good decision making, didn't turn the ball over, and they just capitalized on their opportunities, man. They were opportunistic. And at the end of the game, what you say, Coach, what's your defining moment?
Or what you call it? Checkmate.
The checkmate. The checkmate moment of the game. I got a checkmate moment of the game for you. About six minutes to go in the They get the ball in the quarter. Notre Dame's driving, throw the interception. They get the ball at midfield. Five minutes and 55 seconds left. They run the clock down. Wow. They chew it up. They chew it up. They get down to the 35-yard line, fourth and two. They don't kick the field goal They don't like to kick the field goal and go for it. They don't like to kick the field goal and go up by one point and give the ball back to Notre Dame with a minute and 20 left. No, they go for it. Convert to fourth and two. Until you run the clock down, kick the field goal. Notre Dame gets the ball back with 24 seconds left. They lose the game. Checkmate moment.
I want to talk about that for a minute, Rob, is that the psychology piece of it is something that I love. Mark, you've never been a prohibitive underdog. I have. When I first went to Bowling Green, we took over program was one in 10 or two in nine. A lot of kids quit. Our first game was at Missouri in front of a big crowd opening game. We only had 50 some players to be able to make it. We had open seats on the plane. I didn't have enough guys on the team. But the whole theme was this. To tell a person to do something that is really insurmountable in their mind, they said, We can't really do this. They tend to shut it down. And so we never, and I told our coaches, I told our leaders, We're We're going to talk about beating Missouri. That's not going to happen because realistically, we can't. They have better players. They have a better budget, et cetera. But you know what we can do, Mark? We can get four yards. Every meeting I have with a team, I would stand there, measure off four yards, and say, This is on offense.
All you have to do is take care of the ball and get four yards. Yes, sir. If you get four yards consistently, consistently, consistently, then you go over the defense and say, They have great athletes. They had Brad Smith back then. They had some really good players back then. And I said, Once again, we're not asking you to go beat Missouri. We're going to ask you to tackle. Get them on the ground, line up, and get in a huddle and go again. If we do that on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter, just take a peek at the scoring at the scoreboard, you're going to be within reach. And then we got to find a way to score one more. And I mean, it happened exactly like that where our players did not worry about beating Missouri. Get four yards, get four yards. I cannot wait to talk to Coach and ask him. Because the mindset is, you're not going to go beat Notre Dame. What are you talking about? But they did. They did. I can't wait to hear the mentality that that players had going in that state.
And that emotion he showed after the game is the emotion and the energy that that team played with throughout the whole game. They didn't slow down. They didn't fade away. They stayed the course. They stayed the course. They kept doing the four yards, like you said, Coach. They was getting first downs, moving the chains. They kept tackling, even if they caught the ball. There wasn't no yards after contact. They stayed the course. They did what they were supposed to do. They had themselves in a position to win, and they did it.
The other thing I'm going to bring up, Mark, and I used to get so pissed off when I was at Utah, when the reporters or the media people would say, Well, you're a non-BCS school. Remember the BCS? Right, BCS. I keep seeing that they're a non-power conference school. That made me so mad because we had great players at Utah. I'd come out public and say, enough with the non... We can beat most BCS schools. I'm sure Coach and his players at Northern Illinois get pissed off when they see non-power, whatever that means. They're really good players there. Obviously, they just went in the South Bend and beat the Irish.
It's power four now, right? It's not even five.
Yes, Power Four. You're right. Thank you, PAC 12. Yeah, down to Power Four right now.
We got to adapt and adjust, Coach.
Coach Hammock is going to join us coming up next. We talked about the emotion, the energy around this program. Our friends at NBC, this is the postgame interview from Coach Hammock, and it's a great listening and a great watch.
I'm so proud of our kids, the coaches, just everybody. They believed. They believed. And we came here and got it done.
You told your guys this week that you didn't need anyone to be a superhero or superhuman. They just needed to be their best.
What performances did you see out there? They listened to what I said. I told them all week, We don't need luck. We just got to be our best. And they were their best today, and we were able to get it done.
Wow. I appreciate the raw energy and emotion. I think the old-school days would be like, What are you doing crying on the field? But that hit home for me. I bet there's a lot of moms and a lot of dads out there in their living room watching that saying, Son, I'll be just fine if you go to DeKalb and play for that coach at Northern Illinois.
People who have the nerve to say, You shouldn't be crying in a moment like that when you're putting blood, sweat, and tears in the hours.
We've never been in the moment.
You've never understood what it's like to win a game of that magnitude, especially from Northern Illinois, coming to South Bend and winning. Real men cry, and real men definitely cry when it's something that they have put their blood, sweat, heart, and tears, and soul into. You know what I mean? And their kids go out there and perform and get it done. That's emotional.
Now, let's flip to the other side, Mark, real quick, because you've been there. I don't know if you ever had a loss like that, but before you got to Alabama, I remember they lost a game that they never should have lost.
Louisiana, Monroe.
And the one thing, when I was coaching at Notre Dame, a guy named David Gibbons, a great player, played in the NFL for a long time. After a game, he had tears rolling down. We lost the game. And he says, You don't understand. I said, I know it's a tough loss. Come on, we'll get this thing back. I had my arm around him. And he said, You don't understand, D. And I said, What? And he said, I got to go to class every day. I got to answer to friends, family. That's my whole life is Notre Dame football. It's like Alabama. It's like Ohio State. It's like Florida. That's your whole identity right now. And those players in South Bend, I have to get up and go to class. People look at them like they got six heads as they walk around.
They look at you sideways. You didn't give your all. But that's the part of it. That's what we sign up for, unfortunately.
And on the flip side, the NIU guys are definitely wearing their football jackets around campus this week. It chest is out a little bit.
Big man on campus. I think the C just became a B, the B became an A.
Right? Oh, so good. So What a great story. Again, Coach Hammock is going to join us. Tears of joy for Northern Illinois. Opposite story, if you're a University of Michigan fan, they got pounded at home by Texas. Yeah, a ton of streaks were snapped by this one for Michigan. Big 10 record, 29 consecutive regular season games. That winning streak over. 23 straight home games over. National best 16 games in a row since losing two TCU Horned Frogs in the 2022 College Football Playoffs. A lot of directions we can go here. Let's start with the good, Mark, and what Texas is. Quin Ewers, 246, three touch downs. Texas ran 32 times, 143 yards, four and a half yards per carry. We were walking around Ann Arbor the day or two before this game, and then day of a lot of burnt orange in town. I felt that the Texas fan base and probably the Texas mentality as a whole was very much what Michigan had been the last couple of years. Hey, this is our time. This could be our team. The old Texas is back. We're back, back. I think it's the same way Michigan was feeling for the last couple of years.
We're really in contention. We've got a good team. We can do it. At the same time, I was feeling that by the Texas contingent on the road, I also felt some resignation already by the Michigan fans that it was almost like going to a wake, going to this game. He lived a good life. He lived it to his fullest. He got a national title. Things were great. He's moved on. It's a different time right now. We're going to do a little morning. We're going to do a little celebration. But there was almost this resignation, I felt in Ann Arbor that we're just not going to be as good as we've been the last couple of years. Let's start with the Texas side. Anything you saw that makes you say, This is not a national title contending team, Mark?
Not at all. This team, from offensively, defensively, coaching, and just the belief they have from the year prior, we talked about they were in the semifinal last year. They were one game away, one play away from being in the national title last season. So when you have a team that feels that and tastes what that is, they're hungry to get back there again. They have seven returning stars on offense. They got their quarterback coming back. I mean, seven returning stars on defense. I apologize. They got their starting quarterback coming back. They added some great wide receivers in the transfer porter. Their backs were amazing in both the run game and the pass game. Their line was dominant. Their D-line was dominant. This is a team who believes that they can get back to that level because they were just there a year prior with one play to get to the national title. So like I said in It's a show, Coach. It reminded me of much of my Alabama team in '08. We lost to you guys. We were one game away from the national Championship. You guys went on to win it. The next year, we were motivated because we tasted what it was like to get to that moment.
If we had did a little bit more, we would have attained it and got to that moment. I feel like This Texas team is right in that sweet spot the same way. They have the team, they have the quarterback, they have the offensive defense, the coaching, and they believe. When you have that belief from a whole team, from a whole program, that's special. That's what Texas has going on right now.
Let me add something, Mark, is that when I see Texas, Ohio State, and Georgia right now, I thought Alabama, but I think they still got ways to go.
They got some work to do.
These teams, these power teams, the top three or four teams in the country, Rob, they have no weaknesses. I was I'm talking to Charlie Strong, my former defense coordinator at Florida and a former head coach of Texas and Louisville, and there's no weaknesses. Because when you were coaching back in the day, Mark, in '08, '09, and when you played, if your right guard was not very good after spring practice, guess what happened in training camp? He was still not very good. Coach him up. Or if you had a punter. Yeah, you had to coach him up. You had to develop him.
You had to develop him.
Now you know what you do? You go out.
You hit the portal.
And Texas took... They got... Think of that great team they had last year. Their recruiting staff went out and got six starters from the transfer portal. We watched them. They're all hell of a player. Ohio State did the same thing. You wonder about the Wolverine because they lost 18 starters. We talked about this. They only got two starters and a couple of them. I don't know how you got to really evaluate. That's what you have to do as the head coach. Jerome Moore has got to say, Okay, why did this happen? Was it a schematic? I don't think it was. We were right there. They just got a... Texas has a better team. If they played 10 times, Rob- It's 10 more wins for Texas.
Yeah. That was a thorough, convincing win. I don't think there was at any moment where even the most Michigan optimistic human being out there was like, Hey, we got a shot. We're in this one after, I don't know, halfway through the first quarter. It just felt like this is Texas.
I have to say that when you stood on the field, you could see the... I could see it. You just look at their the players.
The players is a big part of it. This is not to knock the players that are currently on the Michigan roster, but they definitely did not do their work in the portal. Nine transfers, two of them are starters. One's a three-star from Northwestern, one's a four-star from Maryland. On the flip side, Texas, we did the work. Twelve transfers brought in, and impactful transfers. Azeja Bond from Bama, 1-12, and a countdown. Matthew Golden, four starters on defense. Georgia, they brought in 11 starters. Stars. Ohio State, they brought in seven stars. It's maybe not much of a question about what... To the Clemson level, like Dabo Sweeney refusing to go in the portal and changing things. But I know Maze and Blue fans are sitting there, and for the last couple of months, they've been looking at this roster saying, Well, there's a hole there, there, there. I don't know what our quarterback depth chart looks like. How much do we really believe in Orgie beyond his legs? These seemed, to me, to be pretty obvious questions that really maybe weren't- So Mark and Rob, here's- Yeah, they weren't answered.
Here's what happened a couple of years ago in this transfer portal thing. I still obviously have friends in this profession, and they created their own office for nothing but transfers. You have your recruiting staff, which is high school, and then you have your another recruiting staff. They're not watching high school film, Mark. You know what they're watching?They're watching a college tape.They're watching the Mac Schools. They're watching all the schools in the country, and they say, they look down the road, Okay, we have a issue at Will Linebacker. So guess what they do?
They watch all this-Who's the best Will Linebacker out here?
In the country, and then they go to their collective and say, Cha-ching, and they go get them, which when you still think about it, blows my mind. But that's what is happening at the top schools in the country.
They're also staring at the computer, right? And they're right there on whatever it is, www. Transferportal. Com, and they are seeing the names as they come in, almost in real-time, and reaching out. The other Another thing I find fascinating, Coach, is these constant battles for recruits between other universities. Let's say player A is a stud wide receiver and ends up going to, I don't know, Alabama. Maybe his numbers were just so-so. I'm always curious the relationship that these programs that lost out initially have maintained through the course of things. They're like, Hey, if things don't work out, come on back. You've already done a lot of your obvious research on this player. We've seen a lot of that. Guys who He ended up going to another school but end up changing back to a school that they initially had a lot of interest in.
That happened with Kaden Proctor. Actually, Alabama's left tackle. He was their starting tackle. Coach Saban retires. He leaves and goes to Iowa for spring.
He leaves after- Spring. For spring.
He's back with Alabama in the summer.
Stop it. I didn't know that.
Yes. He's our starting left tackle.
You're allowed to do that?
He did. Apparently. So apparently, but he left. I think he got bag from Kirk in Iowa.
Said, You know what? I'm so glad I'm at Big Dune.
Wait, then did he get a bag from Alabama? He double bagged, man.
He got a double bag. He double-dip.
Did he double bag?
I don't know what he did, but I'm assuming.
That one's tough. That one's dirty.
You got to check the bag, Mark.
Coach- Hey, man. I need back pay, coach. I'm sending them an invoice for back pay, man.
That'd be a big number, too. It is.
That would be.
I'm just taking a couple of M's up off your I want to talk about an upset and how you handle it in a locker room as a player and as a coach.
I'm sure there's a lot of different ways you can go, a lot of different reactions you could have. It could be a trash the water-cooler and the whiteboard. It could be just walking away from the team. It could be not watching the tape. It could be throwing yourself in the coaches room and doing nothing but watching the tape, assembling your coaches. When a big upset hit you, coach, and we're talking upsets, how How do you handle them, typically?
We've had a couple of bad ones. We had Purdue and Iowa. They're fine teams, but the Iowa one came after a big come from behind win at Penn State, and it rushed the field. I was concerned because I have respect for Iowa. They weren't having necessarily a great year, but they're tough. That's a tough place to play in a night game up there. I could tell that we couldn't get off the Penn State win. Then the Purdue one, that's when nick Bosa was supposed to come back. We had him and Chase Young Chase Young had two high ankle sprains, and nick was hurt and decided to go get ready for the NFL. So our team was a little bit... We went 13 to one, I think 13 to one that year, and that was a one loss, and it was a bad one. How I handled it? It depends on your team. I don't handle things well. So that was a sleeping pill to try to get four hours of sleep. And then I was at work at 5:00, 6:00 in the morning. At some point, you got to let it go. And I think the best thing that you do is bury that film and just say, move on.
We got to... Your players don't... I, in the past, got after the team and the coaching staff, but you got to let it go and move on because the next one's on you fast, Mark. You know that as a player and a coach, that thing's got to be done by Sunday. It has to. Because all focus has got to be get your body, your mind right for the next one. You're going to get losing one, but don't lose two.
Right. That next game gets on you quick, and you to get to that next game as soon as possible so you can get that bad taste out of your mouth. You know what I mean?
But Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman and his staff, I would always go like this. That's when you're in your leadership stripes. It's not when you beat a team 50 to 7. You're a bully. When you get smacked, and I mentioned this on Big New Mark- You get hit in the mouth. You get hit in the jaw. We're going to find out about Sheryl Mohr's coaching staff. It's an inflection point, which all of us have been there. This is not a direct shot at anybody. But Notre Dame and the Wolverines right now, their coaching staff is on call. And the leadership in the lockerer, Mark, they're on call. You have to... There's a lot of this. All you got to do is pick up a social media. You want to get blasted and point fingers, just get on social media. We're not doing that. No. Close ranks, tighten that thing up, and if you got a tight team, they'll come back together and find a way to win some games.
Got to band together.
Don't let one loss become two losses. Those two games, there is a converging point already. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian saying in his Monday press conference, We have to be aware of what just happened to Notre Dame. Reading the press clippings after getting the win at Texas A&M. Everybody's saying there's a soft schedule, and Everybody's saying that they're on their way to the playoffs, and then this happens to them. Sark, very aware of it, and he has already been preaching that to his Texas team because got to make sure you don't get stung by an NIU. Yeah, the NIU head coach, Thomas Hammack, joins us next to talk about the anatomy of an upset, the emotions that went through him, and how it impacts his football program going forward. Can't wait for this. This will be great. One of the many things we love about College football are those unpredictable moments, those upsets. The man who designed one of them joins us right now, Thomas Hammock, the head coach at Northern Illinois University. Coach, I'm going to bark out some numbers for you. I'm sure you've heard some of these. Niu, 0-14 versus top 10 teams prior to Saturday.
You are the first MAAC team ever to beat an AP top five team. Sixth win against a ranked team since 2000, and for the first time since 2013. This week, Northern Illinois is in the AP poll checking in at number 25. Let's go back to Saturday. As this upset was developing, at what point in the game did you say to yourself, Hey, I think we can actually get out of South Bend with a W here.
Well, I think after we made the field goal, that's when I felt some relief. It was into the wind, as Coach Meyer understands, that win can go in a bunch of different directions in that stadium.
And so the direction- Touchdown Jesus. Touchdown Jesus sometimes blows it a little bit. Yes.
I was very concerned going in that direction. But when that field goal went in, I said, Hey, we have a chance. And then we was going to sky kick on the next kickoff, and then they put number 4 in the game. And I said, There's no way that we're going to kick to that guy. So I called the timeout, and then we middle-squibbed and was able to get them down, and then obviously played some good defense to get out of there with a win.
Jeremiah Love. That's a good player back there for Notre Dame.
Listen, I saw him out there and I said, That's not the guy that was out there before. And normally, you don't call a time out on the kickoff. But I said, I can't imagine giving Giving up a kickoff return for a test down to lose a game.
I ain't going to lose by kicking the Today cat right there.
No. No. Anybody else.
What's all this attention been like over the last couple of days for you and for your program?
I'm just proud for the NIU and the university and our program. Me, I'm an old-school ball coach. I'm not really into the hype and the self-promotion. I'm just going to do my job to the best of my ability. But it's good for our program. It's good to gain interest. Hopefully, it gains financial support in this new age of college football, which is important to try to find a path forward.
Coach, I know you're the head coach now, but I know you was the running best coach of Baltimore back in the day. I've seen some of that offensive twist you got in there, some of the gives, some of the slaps, the gap schemes, the inside zones, the outside zone. How much time do you spend with the bats? Because them boys was on point in the game.
When When you're the head coach-Picking up pass pro and everything, them boys was on it. When you're a head coach and you coach the position, and you've seen it at various levels, Coach Meyer with wide receivers, Coach Saban with DBs, you're just going to have a natural eye for that position. And so normally when you at practice, your eyes tend to go to that position that you previously coached. And for me, it's no different. And we got a tremendous backfield of guys that play their butt off. And really, those guys gave us a chance to win the game in that type of environment.
Ontario Brown, Gavin Williams, them boys. Tell them I got big love for them because I watch the game and I watch how they set the tone in the game. So I just had to show love to them boys. I had to show love to you because I know you was on them because you were running back coaching. How they play? I'm like, Oh, yeah, the head coach be on their butt.
We had Mike Turner on the sideline, and I told him before the game, I need a Mike Turner performance in this game. And that's what he did. Alabama, sorry. We beat Alabama in 2003. But I said we need that type of performance.
Coach, it's good to see you again. Rob, a little trivia. Coach and I go back to 2002. He had a heart issue and didn't play, and he was a starting tailback. And then some cat named Michael Berner-Terner got in and got a little piece of Bowling Green when we were ranked for the first time ever. And that was a great game. When I see this question, a non-power conference school. It used to be Power Five, now it's Power When I was at Utah, Coach, that would make me so angry when we get labeled and our players get labeled non-power. When Northern Illinois got as good a player as a lot of so-called power, I'm sure you use that a little bit in your motivation for you. I used it all the time. You tell me Alex Smith isn't what a BCS player? Of course he is. So the era has changed. When we won at Mac Schools, I knew I had my guys coming back. Do you worry about people coming to poach your guys? Because I We are from... I still have friends at the Mac and all that, and they're like, It's awful.
People, if you have a good year, they're gone.
No, all the time. In December, I had a bunch of guys come to my office and had different opportunities to explore. We wind up losing a couple. We lost one to Florida and we lost one to Louisville, but two didn't become 12. But the thing that's hard nowadays is there's so many extra coaches on the sidelines. So you got guys looking at your roster. We played West Illinois the first week of the season, and then they played Indiana. And I got a coach from Indiana asking me about a couple of guys on my team. And I'm thinking to myself, Those questions are almost like the NFL personnel Department. How did you get this kid? So that makes you feel very uncomfortable from that standpoint. But you just try to build as best relationships as possible with the kids and the families. My thing now is take care of the families of our players that we think can have a chance to do some different things. So that's all you can do. Hope for the best, but show them you love them as much as possible, and hopefully that still matters to the people in your program.
Last question I have for you is, okay, it's over. I'm sure you got you stood in front. I can imagine you stand in front of the team saying, It's done. Get on to the next game. I know that's coach speak, but with social media and you just freaking beat the Irish, how do you get them back down in the real world?
Well, Coach, I can tell you I'm happy we have a buy week. And so with the buy week, we're going to go back to training camp style practices. It's going to be physical, it's going to be hard. You better show up. I said, Listen, if you guys don't practice the way I want it to look, we're going to condition after every practice. And so the players understand that. And then I also told them, If you don't go to class or get your study tables in, you're not going to play because now- That's a ball coach right there, boys.
That's old school right there.
You have their attention. That's the only time in their life I'm going to have their full attention. And we're going to use that for the good of trying to keep our culture, because culture is hard to build and easy to tear down. And I think those things matter.
Let me throw this out in the last thing. Lou Holtz used to always remind me, would call me after a big win, and he'd say, Coaches make the error of coaching your team hard after you lose. After you lose, it's fragile. After you win is when you get after their butt and fix issues because they're listening. You'll get their attention much easier. When you lose, everybody's devastated. So I think that's excellent. And that's a ball coach right there, Mark.
It is. I like old school. That's old school right there. I'm mad you left Baltimore before I got there, man. No, but I want to talk to you about the emotions that you showed after the game. The most pivotal, successful moments of my life, I cried. I wanted to hide it when I cried. I see my mom crying. My father was not there with me. When I got drafted, I cried. Those were just some of those moments. I overcame so much adversity. I was able to make my family proud. I was able to accomplish some goals that I always had set out to be. So crying in those moments, I feel like is the sign of a real man. And I was emotional in some of the most best moments of my life. So you were emotional after that game, a huge win. I know you put your blood, sweat, tears, your soul into coaching these kids and to try to provide a culture for that program. What was going through your mind in that moment? What made you so emotional during the interview?
Well, I think nowadays, there's so many distractions for young people, and to try to get them to all pull in the same direction, you got to be very strategic with what you say and how you do things. And so all week, I told them, We don't need luck to win this game. And for them to believe, to stay committed to the process. We did some different things in practice. We wound up practicing in full pads on Labor Day because they didn't have school. So I said, What a great opportunity to go full pads on Monday, full baths on Tuesday. And then we did a walk through on Wednesday to get them back. And so all those little tricks that you try, and they just did what we asked. And then After the game, I said it worked. It worked, and they believed. And you're so happy for them. I really didn't know how to respond. It wasn't about me. It was about, listen, these guys believed in the message. They believed in the plan. And I'm so happy they were able to get the reward.
How long did you let them celebrate for, Coach?
Well, I'm from the NFL. In the NFL, if you have a win before buy week, you give them a couple of days off. So the plan was to watch the film on Sunday and then bring them back on Wednesday and then grind them on Wednesday and Thursday. So when we won the game, I said, Hey, man, I'll see you on Wednesday. Oh, that's an old Andy Reid, John Harbor type thing. I'll see you on Wednesday.
See you Wednesday. Ain't nothing like hearing that.
They understand Wednesday is game on. But guys have been up here watching the film, lifting, doing the little things that they tried I wasn't afraid that they would just leave the building. But in their mind, they feel like you're taking care of us, you're getting our bodies back. And obviously on Wednesday, it's going to be game on, so I can't wait.
We talked about the emotion that you had post-game. Obviously, the emotion that your players went through. But it's also your alumni, and it's your former players. And there's this great clip that we want to show you right now about a former NIU player watching it. And I believe it's his daughter secretly currently recording him. I'm curious. I'm sure you've seen it, but if you haven't, take us in and what goes through you when you're seeing this type of reaction.
It's gone freaking crazy.
Yes, yes. Wow.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Get the money. Get out of here. Yeah. Who is that?
Oh, I know who that is. Yeah. He's a big time supporter.
That's what it's all about, man.
Oh, yeah. That's how you celebrate now. That's how you let the party continue.
I haven't seen that video. Wow. That's what it's all about. That's amazing. And that's why you coach. I mean, to bring back that pride, obviously, this is my alma mater. So when I lose, I lose twice. You lose as the head coach and you lose as an alumni. I think people think I sit in the chair and I'm not affected. I'm certainly affected because it's a tremendous amount of pride and respect that I have for this position and what it means to me.
What are some of the other reaction, text, phone calls, emails that you've been getting the last couple of days?
Yeah, no, obviously, it's been crazy from that aspect. But one thing I appreciate is a lot of the MAAC head coaches reached out to me, and I think that's big because we're all competing for a MAAC Championship. And for those guys to reach out and acknowledge what happened and just the pride in the conference. Coach Meyer knows when you're in this conference, we all have similar resources We all go through similar recruiting things, but we cheer for one another to win those type of games.
I was going to say, just to add to your comment, is that the one thing about the MAAC Coach, and not many people know this, it's the best coach conference It's in America. You know why, Rob? Everybody's the same. When every team in the MAAC comes jogging out on the field, where in the big tenets, it's not. You have some teams that just have. But for the most part, Mark, every team in the MAAC looks the same. Now you got to outcoach that other team. I think that's great for you.
Coach, have you thought about how much of a monumental win this is? Like with the expansion of the 12-team playoff, you guys handle your business in the MAAC. Like Coach said, this could put you all in position make the payoff. That was a monumental victory. Have you thought about the significance of that?
No. I mean, it's so early in the season, right? And as Coach understands, the MAAC is a very competitive league, a lot of one possession games. We just got to fight each and every single week to find a way to try to win. We know what this conference is about. It's a lot of great teams. Toledo, Miami, Ohio, Bowling Green, Ohio. So we got a tremendous We're on this journey, but all we're trying to do is continue to get better, improve fundamentally, and then give ourselves a chance to go play our best football.
That's a ball coach, huh?
That's a ball coach.
That's a ball coach right there.
Coach Hamek, we've been peppering you with questions. I know you've been bombarded since that upset win in South Bend on Saturday. We're going to reverse things right now. You have the microphone, you have the podium. You get to ask a question of one of us.
Wow. I'm going to ask Coach Meyer.
You bet you are. That's the right decision already.
I thought you was going to ask me.
No way.
Coach, obviously, I followed your career a long time. You being a Midwest guy, coaching wide receivers at Notre Dame, and your competitive greatness that you displayed. I've read everything about you, from how your offseason workouts at Bowling Green to Utah to Florida, all those things. If you were coaching today, how could you still get some of those same attributes out of players as you did back in the day?
I've actually asked some people that because I think old-school coaching, people tell the story, if they had the transfer portal when I was around, mark 85 guys at transfer. But that was the... I grew up in the military-type family. I grew up in Navy SEAL training, and the idea was to If you don't want to be here, ring the bell. The problem is 85 guys would ring the bell. So now there's a fine line between... I think Kirby's smart, from what I hear, I've never watched his practice, but they say he's rugged. Nick Saban is rugged. I can understand you're rugged. Because no matter what happens, the game of football is a tough man's game. It is. You can spread it out, you can throw it. It's a tough man game, and you better be tough and in shape. So I don't know. That's one of the reasons I'm not coaching is I think that's a tough task right now for you guys because you got to keep your players.
The real one is going to stay. You might have some weak ones that tap out, but the real ones, the ones that's about their life, they're going to stay, especially when they got a coach who cares for them, loves on them, and wants the best for them, and coaches them hard. All those things, a real player is going to want that and gravitate towards that and know that he'll be a better player from going through that. So you'll have some softies that tap out, ring the bell like Coach said. But the real ones, they're going to fight I'm a fan, Coach.
I look forward to watching you.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Big NIO fans over here now. I need some gear. Three of them.
Hey, big trust.
Big in the flesh.
Yes, sir.
You know I follow Baltimore.
Hey, you know what?
Let's get big noon there. We got to get big noon there.
Let's go. Road trip to a maximum. I would love it.
I'm down to go see Coach. I want to spend time in a facility, man.
Hey, Coach, how are you starting Wednesday's practice?
Inside Our players understand that we start good on good right after stretch. Big on big. It's all good on good these next two days, and we're going to put the ball down.
We got to get there, Mark.
And run it.
We got to get there, boys.
Full pass. Oh, full pass, yeah. Inside running all.
Yes. They know what it's going to be like.
Yes, sir.
Tell Berner Turner, I said hello.
I will do.
He's your good luck charm. You're going to have to have him in Raleigh with you when you guys take on NC State in a couple of weekends, looking for another big upset win.
Yeah, I got to get some N-I-L money out of him.
There we go, baby.
Hey, man, congratulations, Coach.
We appreciate you. We'll bleed him, man. We'll bleed him. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Fantastic. Yeah, thanks for your time. Congratulations on the success Saturday, the continued success and everything that's going forward with your program. Thank you for taking the time to join us, Coach Hammack. Really appreciate it.
Thank you. And go Huskies.
The triple option rolls on. Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, Rob Stone. We are joined this week by a high school running back and his exploits. Elba high school running back, Alvin Henderson, four-star guy heading to Auburn. Sorry, Mark, I know. I apologize.
Hey, everyone makes poor decisions. It's okay.
I got to feel that one ain't over, boys. Right.
I was on the name. Especially somebody might...
My guess is his phone was ringing the last couple of days because he had 40 carries for 435 yards, 10 touch downs in an 80-78 L. He took the L to McKenzie high school.80 to 78.80 to 78. Talk about defense being optional.
80 to 78 is crazy. What's crazy is my dog going for.
That's a basketball What's the football number?
Foudy carries?
Foudy carries.Fourty.
Carries.fourty.
Carries 435.
I'll tell you what, though, Mark, I can imagine what's going on in recruiting after that one. I'm not coaching, and I'm going to call him.
Right?
I know Bellman is going to let him slide that easy. You know what I mean? I had about 407 tutties in a game with only about 23 carries. You know what I mean? I ain't trying to rain on this parade, but if I have 40 carries, I probably would have went for 600 on me.
That's a big, big number. Young buddy balling, though. Apparently, a limited playbook as well. I got an idea. Maybe we-Out of right, out of left. Maybe we hand it to Henderson again. Maybe Maybe one more to Henderson. Coach, all the time you've been out on the recruiting trail, was there a dude, a stud that you saw that just froze you with what he did on the field that day?
I've been lucky to be somewhere around, Are He could be some of the greatest players that ever played the game. But nick Bosa and Joe Bosa were two guys that I remember like, my God, because you better have defensive players to help you win. I remember Zeke Elliott, and he was a high hurdler. And then Carlos Dunlap, Mark, was a kick returner at 6'6, 260 pounds. Loews was kick returning? He was a kick returner for a countdown. 6'6? Yeah. One of the biggest he has ever been in the story. But the one guy, the one guy, and I've said it before, and people share this thought. I know Pete Carroll feels the same way as... Percy Harvin was a guy. I went watching him in Virginia Beach, and I have never quite seen anybody do what he can do with a football field. And that's no disrespect. That's opponents or For the players I had. I think most everyone, I know everybody would agree with me on that. If he didn't get hurt, he'd be NFL Hall of Famer. He was the best player I've ever seen put on a helmet.
Yeah, he was different. Personally, He was different.
Reckless player that never got hit, and he was ridiculous skillset.
Strength, speed, agility, burst.
He benched over 400 pounds, Mark. Yeah, he was a cock-strung dude, man. He was actually brilliant football player. Vaned up, skinny-ankled catch, yeah.
Skinny ankles. I'm curious, how many basketball games did you go to that sealed the deal for you, Coach?
Especially big dudes that I almost mandated it because I mentioned this on big noon, and that's why the Wolverines, they lost five offensive linemen. The hardest... Skilled athletes are not that hard to identify and discover, and you can put the checkers together once you watch them play. But offensive and defensive linemen, the average... We did this study one time, the average gain, weight gain is 40 some pounds from their junior year in high school, and you really start recruiting them until they play. Sometimes it's 60, 80 pounds. So you just don't know how that's going to react. I think I even said every big man should play basketball because it teaches them lateral movement, teaches them how to bend, it teaches them... Because linemen get into all their movements this way, but you got to move. So I went to, I think I'm in my 60. I've probably been hundreds and hundreds of basketball games, but I loved going to high school basketball games.
Did you go to any track meets, Coach?
All the time, yeah. But that was more for the skill.
Yeah, the skill positions.
But I'll tell you what, a big man-I got offered at a track meet. What did you run 100?
I ran 1069.
That's nice.
Yes, sir. It was moving. It was moving.
Mercy was a 1045. You know what? Jeff Demps ran a 992.
You had some speed demons over there, Coach. New boys are running low tens. But that was back when I bought 190, Coach. I'm about 230 now. You know what I mean?
Coach, how many soccer games did you go to to recruit players?
Nathan.
None?
Not even a kicker, a punter? No. Tennis, soccer, bowling.
Nathan. You got my bowling in. You got my bowling in. Good man. You're a teammate, Coach. You're a good teammate. Great. Okay. All right, let's pivot here to Pick 6 brought to you by Bet MGM. Place your money line prop parlay and same game parlay bets at Bet MGM. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly. Each week, we're going to pick six games against the spread. Mark has got his Deuce Deuce dog of the week. I can't hear it. It's just wimpering. The Deuce Deuce dog is not in full bite mode. That's all right. We'll get to that a little bit later. We remind everybody listening I've been watching these lines are current as of Tuesday and can't change. All right, guys, I'm going to start with a trivia question for the two of you. Michigan fell over the weekend, so who now has the longest current winning streak in FBS?
Ohio. No, they don't because they lost. Missouri?
No.
I played the fifth.
Who is it? Okay, no problem. Arizona. Arizona? At number nine, yeah. And Friday night in primetime on on Fox. It is one of two ranked matchups this weekend. Arizona.
What's the number?
Arizona is at number 20, and they've won nine straight. They're on the road at Kansas State.
Is Big New going there?
K-state is favored by seven points. This one is a Big 12 meeting, but it's not a Big 12 conference game. It was scheduled. One of those deals where it was scheduled back in 2016 before Arizona joined the Big 12. So this is just a game. Arizona, interesting here. Heavy favorites in their first two games. They They won them, but they failed to cover both. When you've got a lot of eyeballs, Mark Ingram, you know you need to make a splash, right? Yes, sir. Arizona football is doing that. Friday night on Fox, they're going to debut their red cats in cursive helmets for this game, and they look spanking. You're going to dig that look. Their offense, impressive in week one, really went down in week two last Saturday. As for K-State, Coach, I know you love Chris Climan and what he's been able to You know who I love on Kansas State? Who's that?
Avery Johnson. Oh, yeah. Quarterback. He is the man.
They say he can fly.
He's fast, fast, Coach.
Fast, fast. Coach Climen spent Monday. All he could do, Coach, was find all the places the teams can improve, and that happens after two weeks. They are one of the favorites to win the Big 12. They had troubles winning in New Orleans against Tulane on Saturday.
Tulane is a good team, though.
Yeah, it is. I agree. According to Bet MGM, 61% of the bets have come in for Arizona. Their home, though, is K-State. They're under the lights. They got that national audience on Fox Friday night. K-state wins and covers. There you go. Big new kickoff, guys. Really excited about this trip. We are off to Madison, Wisconsin, this Saturday, Alabama, a 15.5 point favorite on the road against the Badgers. 91% of the handle or 91% of the total money is on your roll, tied roll, Mark.
People smart. That's all I got to say. The folks are smart, man. Put the money on the tie. Just had a unfortunate week, but that was a good week to have for them, I think. To grow, to learn from mistakes, lots of penalties, about three touch downs called back because of penalties, a lot of different exotic pressure they had to handle, playing behind the chains. There's a lot of things that they need to improve on and continue to Excel at. So they're going to go back to the office They're going to come ready to roll. They're going to go up to Wisconsin, and they're going to cover. They're going to handle it. So the 91% of the people, you all are smart, and you all are going to make you all money this week.
Alabama, 13 penalties for 120 yards against USF. Also had three turnovers. Really balanced, though. Jalen Millrow, they passed for 199 yards. They rushed for 94 yards. We're going to stay, Mark, with you and in the SEC. Lsu, favored by seven at South Carolina I just want to remind you, we have not had your Double Deuce dog, whatever it is, of the week. I heard very low barking from you. I need some more barking. Trap game.
I'm going to go.
You're dog of the week just wants to be pet behind the ears, right? It's not ferocious today.
I'm not doing good on the dog of the week, so I'm... No. So LSU minus seven, you said, right?
Minus seven.
Favorite. On the road, going to South Carolina. I was number one in the country, went to South Carolina, and we got ambushed. So I'm going with South Carolina as my dog of the week. They got Lenora Sellers. They're 6'3, 240 pound quarterback. Then they got Rahem Sanders, 6'0, 230 pounds at the running back. That's a lot of weight back there, Coach. That's a lot of weight.
That's a tough place to play, Mark. That is a real tough place.
I know personal hand because we don't went there. We were number one ranked in the country. We went there to South Carolina, and they ambushed us. So Unless you had a big week after bouncing back from the USA game, we'll see if they can continue that. But I like the points. I'm taking the points. I'm taking South Carolina. I'm taking them for my dog.
I want to hear the dog.
I don't know. But South Carolina proved me right, so I could get back there. There it is.
The other ranked game this week, and it's not one many certainly would have expected coming into the season. How What about Boston College at number 24 on the road at sixth ranked Mizzou? The tigers of Missouri, 16.5 point favorite. This week, guys, the SEC, six of the top seven teams in the AP rankings, SEC schools. That's the first time it's happened in the 88 years. Six of the top seven? Of the rankings. The only one is Ohio State, sneak in there. Even the buckles fell down a little bit. All right, so so far, 60% of the bets are on the Eagles, Coach. Bc at Mizzou. Mizzou, favored by 16 and a half.
Yeah, Bill O'Brien, the new coach, is a guy I know fairly well, coached against him when he was at Penn State. I liked the guy because he's tough, he's rugged, he's a perfect fit for Boston-type players. When I was at Notre Dame, we played Boston College every year, and back in the day, they were rugged. Steve Adasia was a coach here. They went to six or seven bowl games, and then they fell off. But I think they're obviously a bowl team. They are number one to rush team in the ACC. How about this, Mark? 282 yards on the ground per game. And this against Florida. They beat Florida State. They're 2-0, but Missouri's played Buffalo and Murray State, so it's soft schedule. At first, I was going to go with Missouri to cover. It's at Missouri. But I think Austin College is going to slow the game down with the run game. I bet they snap the ball with 2-3 seconds left on the clock each. Shorten a game, and they'll find a way to be close. I don't think BC wins, but I think they cover it.
All right. Week three, by the way, is apparently the new Rivalry Week Out West. We start. It's the 116th edition of the Apple Cup. I don't think it's apple picking season yet, although it felt like it in Michigan this week. Washington favored by four and a half against Washington State, this one in downtown Seattle. The The Line has done some movement. It's moved four points since it opened at eight and a half. Let's talk about Washington at first. Guys, this is a cool little rink. I'm curious to your reaction to this. New Huskies head coach, Chad Fish, preaching discipline in a rivalry game. We all know that one. But He's been disciplined and well thought out with his checkbook as well. He and his wife, Amber, made a million dollar donation to Udub's Go Big Ten fundraising campaign. He's doing his financial part to keep his team equipped in the great arms race of college football. It feels a lot like me donating $300 to the Rob Stone grocery shopping fundraising campaign. But put your money where your mouth is and donate, Coach, to help It's their own cause.
I didn't know that. That's a big move. Washington to me is the unknown. They've lost everybody. And Jed Fish obviously had a great couple of years at Arizona. But you asked me about Washington, I said, I have no idea. I think the world doesn't know yet.
Yeah, we're going to find out more in Seattle. They take on their rival team, Washington State, the Cougars. They dropped Texas Tech. It was a home win, and they won by 21. They were led, guys, by my new favorite player, Coach and Mark. I want to make sure we get this player in Mark's Heisman. What is it? Club Hyzman or whatever we call him. Club Hyzman. All right, so here we go. They were led by my new favorite player, the dual threat quarterback John Crazy Legs Mateer. Week one, the Texas native. What does he do? He throws for 352, five touch downs. Last Saturday, let the kid run the rock. A quarterback school record, 197 rushing yards and a score. His defense showed up big time in the win as well. Forced four takeaways. Crazy legs. Crazy legs. Crazy legs. He starts press conferences by saying, Sup. And he's got that- Sup. That Minchou type headband. He's got that perfect swaggerer. My man, Crazy legs, dances his way into Seattle, the Emerald City, and it's the Cougars. Getting the out and out win. Crazy legs. Crazy legs. John, Crazy legs, Mateer.
Let's go crazy legs.
Back me up, John. Back me up, Mateer. All right, let's stay out West, Coach. Oregon on the road, a 16.5 point favorite at Oregon State. Remember, the Ducks had that walk-off field goal at home to beat Boise State last Saturday night. They are a team, as their new quarterback, Dylan Gabriel, said, that is still trying to find their identity. This game, Coach opened up at 20.5, has moved four points down. So again, it's the Ducks favored by 16.5 and on the road.
Yeah, they have some issues in Eugene. They don't look like they finished last year. They had some transition. Hey, Mark, how about this? They had a punt return and a kick return for touch downs against Boise. If not, without those, they were one and one. They lost the game.
Ashton Genti, Boise State.
Boise, right? Yeah, he's a Monster.
He's a club hiesman for sure, Rob.
Dylan Gabriel is completing over 80% of his balls, but they're not throwing the ball downfield. There's a lot of stuff. They're just unsure. And they better get right because the Buckeye is rolling the talent, and whoever wins that one will be the front runner, will win the Big Ten. Oregon State lost everyone. Lossed their coach, lost their quarterback, running back, a bunch of several others. There's a surprising 2-0 start. I've always respected Oregon State because they've had good coaches He's a good players. I'm going to say I'll keep going back and forth on this, but I think Oregon is going to start to get everything in order because I like that staff. I think they cover the 16 and a half.
Dan Lanning saying, After the win, there's a sense of relief because of that result. They keep sliding down. What's that?
I'd add there better be some urgency because it's about to get real.
I agree. Maybe they got caught with the stars in their eyes with those lofty preseason rankings starting at number three. Second straight week, they slide down. They're now just inside the top 10, Oregon, sitting there at number nine.
I need some momentum on my side, Stone. I need the dog of the week to come through.
You even look sad. You're pouting over there in South Florida. Come on, man. That's not how you roll Mark Ingram.
I'm sad.
You're sad?
I need my scobust to get right. I need my dog of the week to get right. Come on, you all.
Rough, rough. All right, everybody, please pick up Mark Ingram this week. He's having a rough week. Here's how you can pick them up. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple podcast, where we're number three or Spotify or wherever. Get your podcast as well as across social media at 3XOptionShow. Again, new episodes coming your way every Wednesday. We, as always, want to thank our sponsors, Wendy's Bet MGM, Zip Recruiter. Most of all, we want to thank you for listening, for watching, for subscribing. We really do appreciate how much headway you've been able to allow us to create after just a couple of weeks in this gig. Where are you going, Mark? Oh, yes, those guys. There she is. There that is. Wendy's football in the triple option day.
Great week, boys. Number three, keep moving up to charts.
Let's go.
Best thing about number three, a chance to be number two.
Hey, it's a process, coach. One day at a time, one episode at a time. Coach Talk. We need you.
Coach Talk. Like, subscribe, follow. That's it. That's how you end it. Coach Talk..