The Craig Way Show

Texas A&M tough start, Texas Tech's near disaster, and High School Football with Greg Tepper

Greg Tepper, the managing editor of Dave Campbells Texas Football Magazine, joins the program for his weekly segment to discuss Week 1 of the college football season. Craig and Tepper talk about A&M's loss to Notre Dame, Texas Tech's near upset loss to Abilene Christian, Week 2 games, and more CFB. They close out with Texas High School Football.

Duration:: 26m
Broadcast on:: 03 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Breaking news from this one is almost unbelievable. Yeah, it's all about new customers at Bet365 because they get $200 in bonus bets when they bet $5. And even better, bonus bets can be used on the spread, totals, and player props. There you have it. Bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets. And see why. It's never ordinary. A BetV6 5. The gambling problem? Color text 1 and 100 gambler. 21+ only. Must be physically located in Colorado. Chums and conditions apply. Owning a rental property sounds like a dream until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. Determine a competitive rent price, market the property, schedule the showing screen tenants, draft the lease at a rent collection, handle maintenance request, maintain communication. Whew! Sound complicated? Renters' warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to-do list. Qualify tenants? Check. Rent collection? Check. Maintenance coordination? You got it. Go to Runnerswarehouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Runnerswarehouse. Ready to break barriers and rewrite your sales story? The 7th annual Sisters in Sales Summit is where it all happens. From September 19th to 21st, join us at the Dugal Greenhouse in Brooklyn, New York for three powerful days of learning, networking, and growth. Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned pro, this is your opportunity to elevate your career. Don't wait. Visit systemsandsales.com/summit and register today. Join the movement of 12,000 women strong and let's own our future. Together. Is Greg Tepper, the managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine. Tap "I" have often been referred to as a highwayman simply because I'm up and down the highway so much. But you got to go see Frost and Winners, kick off the season last Thursday. How was that experience? It was joyful. It was as pleasant a high school football experience as I've had in a long time. Hamilton is a gorgeous little town, a good hamburger at storms, and then we made our way over to Cook and Field, where we watched what ended up being one of the games of the weekend. I mean, look, there were 750 Texas high school football games last weekend. And I would ask you how many came down to a potential game-winning field goal attempt as time expired? I mean, probably only a handful of them. And we got one of them as winners comes away with a 28-27 win over Frost to win the inaugural ice bowl. I got a shirt. They made shirts for it. And I will also say that for two towns that are, you know, small towns, I mean, tell people this is two-way schools. Small towns and winters in Frost that were each between an hour and a half and two hours away from Hamilton, really nice little crowd out there at Cook and Field. They were excited about football and it was a real joy to be out there. Did you get milkshake at storms? I did not. I didn't have the courage. But what I did get was I think they make their own cherry syrup because I got a Dr. Pepper with some cherry syrup in it. Oh, that's, I'm not entirely sure that should be legal or available over the counter. I mean, it was really good. Closest one where I live is in lamb passes and I get the cherry shake every time. And it's also, of course, the one in Hamilton always recalls to me something that happened 30 years ago, 1994 state championship. I was on the sidelines. Last year was on the sidelines before I moved into the play-by-play booth. I was on the sidelines for Plano and Katie at Kyle Field. Plano wins the game and then I leap in the car to race to Abilene to call the six man state championship. They're Amherst and Milford for radio and I stopped at that storms in Hamilton and got a burger and a shake. And then I was in such a hurry. I got a ticket for doing about 85 and a 55 on them. And it was one of two tickets I got on the way to that deal. Yeah, that's worth it. That's worth it, though. I'll be somebody who's now been to that storms. We were also in there. This is a microphone that we're in there with a winter's ban. They were eating at the same time. And I believe it was a trombone player turned to me and Matt step and asked, Hey, hey, do we have a chance in this game? And I said, you know what? I think you guys got a chance. I thought they were underdogs, but I think you guys got a chance and this trombone player in classic fashion kind of says, well, are you sure we're not very good? It's like, Hey, you're you're one and all this week, you know, the winter's bloopers undefeated. There you go. There you go. That's that's great. Before we get back into high school, let's let's go to college. I asked you last week how important the game was for Texas A&M against Notre Dame and I'm not picking on or piling on or something that A&M. I guess my question is more to the realm of does anybody in college station or fans need to be pushing panic button yet because it is only one game against the at the time seven, the ranked team in the country. Yeah, I don't know if panic is the right word. I do think that it exposed a couple of concerns that may end up lingering along with this. I mean, here's the good news. The good news is the defense looks like it's going to be pretty good. And overall, I thought that they played pretty well in some places that we had concerns, especially maybe in the secondary. They looked pretty good. And overall, that's that's fairly strong for them. The concerns, I think, have to be twofold on the offensive side. One of them is going to be offensive line, which is now going to be without their starting center. Mark Naboo is out for the year with an injury. That is a huge blow to them. They're going to be and they are now. The way we talked about it around here, Dave Campbell's is they were already pretty thin on the offensive line. They are probably one injury away from really staring into the abyss as far as the offensive line is concerned. That's one. The other thing is just and I know I'm not the first to bring this up, but boy, that's a performance that Tanner Wigman would like to forget. I mean, that was he didn't play well. I don't think there's really any doubt about it. I said he was out there a lot of press conference yesterday and said as much and respect him for owning up to it. But he just was not good enough to win that ball game. I think that he is better than that, but I think that that kind of gel process between him and new offensive coordinator Colin Klein is just going to take a little bit longer than we thought. The good thing for them is that they've got McNeese state this week that they should be they should cruise to a victory there and work on a few things. But I think if you're if you're A&M, unfortunately, there's kind of the same song different verse to this to this level in the sense of you're saying here is an opportunity to make a statement on national television against a brand name helmet program and you couldn't get it done at home. And that's got to be this point. Those opportunities don't come around every all the time. And you and I we followed Connor Wigman all throughout his high school career, Bridgeland. And I'm going to agree with you. I think he's better than that. I think he will be better than that, but it was it was a difficult night for him. And like you said, kudos to him for owning up to it yesterday coming out in the press conference saying, I got to be better. Yeah, I mean, and that's like, you know, in my area, you know, in my interactions with him. That's not surprising. Just just in kind of the guy that he is. And I think in a bad game, and that happens to everybody. I hate to tell effective fans that there's this, but there's a chance to quit yours in a bad game at some point. And you hope that, you know, you know, he will probably own up to it in the same way that that happens. But but the difference may be that for Texas, they may have the surrounding cast, the supporting cast to get up and over a potential clunker from their from their QB one. And then just couldn't do it. They couldn't get things going in the running game. And I thought the offensive line really struggled. And then when you when you compound that with a quarterback who is who is not playing well at the moment, that that's just a recipe for for a disappointing performance. Several of the other division one FBS programs in Texas, you know, lived up to their building. Obviously, Texas was one of those Baylor handle. Tarleton. There wasn't any issue with that. North Texas was able to do well and spoil head coaching debut for Major Apple white. Those kinds of things happen. But the ones I wanted to ask you about were Texas tech would survive dabbling Christian. And what in the world happened in Houston to UNLV? Those are the ones that really just kind of stuck out to me. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're exactly right. Those are the surprising performances. I think everything else going through each other. But congratulations to Sam Houston, which was very clearly their best FBS performance today with a big win over Rice. Questions for Rice, though. On Texas Tech, it is a it was a baffling performance in a lot of ways in the sense that, you know, the offense, it looked like it really did look like early in the first kind of couple, you know, quarter and a half. It looked like it was going to be your classic FBS versus FCS game. Basically what Baylor did start with them, right, which is going to run up to a big lead and get to get your backup quarterback in and get your get all your backups in and get some time and stuff like that. And, and, and unfortunately, the defense just was not able to live up to their end of the bill. Give a lot of credit, by the way, to Keith Patterson, who was a former Texas Tech assistant and also their entire offense, which is basically like Texas Tech, like, you know, cast offs in a lot of ways. Maverick MacGyver, their quarterback, a former Texas Tech quarterback, the St. Angelo Central product, a lot of their guys were at Texas Tech and they played with a lot of heart and a lot of passion. I think, you know, this is, this is, you know, I'm not going to make Texas Tech Man's Shield any better, but I think Abilene Grish has got to be feeling really good coming out of this. I have an opportunity to go off and get a good win for tech. Obviously, there's big concerns. I think in the secondary, that is a big, big concern moving forward. Tim DeRuder's got to figure something out. And in a hurry, by the way, they go on the road to Wazoo this week. So I think for tech, it is possible that you could just kind of put this in the clunker category and you just want to win your clunkers. But there are certainly some, some areas of concern, especially in the secondary that are going to linger for Texas Tech. I think, and then as for Houston, we thought it was going to be bad. What Willie Fritz was walking into. We did not necessarily think it was going to be this bad. And, and it is, this is going to be a full on tear down and rebuild. The good thing for Houston is that that's what Willie Fritz does. That's, that's, that's his whole thing. It's tearing down and building from the, you know, from the studs. But, but I will tell you that, that the roster right now, plain and simple, like Houston, is, it's not a power five roster right now. I just don't think it is. And, and that's, that's one of the things that's going to hold them back and they have them fighting to get out of the cellar in the big 12 this year. Talking football in the state of Texas with the Greg Pepper managing editor at Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine. All right. Let's move to the high school. Is it safe to say that maybe, at least in terms of the top 10, the easiest poll for you and your staff to put together with six a. Yeah, for the most part, especially the very top, you know, this was a six a that was very chalky at the, at the top of the rankings. Top 15, I believe, were entirely unchanged. And so, yeah, that, that, you know, and the teams that we thought were going to take care of business, took care of business in big ways where you had some turn was at the bottom client. Collins drops out. Shadow Creek got, got bludgeoned by Summer Creek in a big way. And I thought that was really impressive from the state finalists from a year ago. And then Houston Lamar got, got, got drilled by a task, but it also offered a game as an opportunity to put a couple of teams that really impressed us in week one into the rankings, including Ben Geyer, who got a win over Alito. Cedar Hill, who looked really good in their opener against Middle Otheum. And then St. Antonio Reagan, who was really, really strong in their win over San Antonio Brennan. And they have a huge test this week against civil steel. But yeah, overall, as far as the rankings were concerned, partially because it was chalky at the top. And also, partially because there was a lot of chaos elsewhere in the rankings, Cite was relatively easy to see. I completely understand why when we were previewing some of the big match outs last Friday night on the show, Tapp and Aaron Hartigan and I do the high school scoreboard live show in Valley Sports Southwest. And we were previewing the big games that we said next week, this coming Friday night. And, and DeSoto and North Crowley, it makes sense. And it's number one in the state, number five in the state. That said, I think one of the better ones might be Rockwall Lake Travis this week down here at Lake Travis. That's an fabulous game. And again, that I think is really kind of flying under the radar. I thought Rockwall looked pretty good in their win over Berkter. And then for, for, you know, for Lake Travis, what they did last week against Arlington Martin, I thought was really impressive, especially you saw that offense really get going in that defense really stood on his head. And that defense is going to carry over from what we saw last year, right? When they were holding Vandegrift to 10 points. I mean, in a playoff game, that is, I think, really promising. And so this is a real kind of strength on strength match up here in that Rockwall offense going up against Lake Travis defense, which the early returns have been very, very positive. I think this is a really, really great game that might get overshadowed in the six-day ranked simply because there's a couple of other really big games, especially in the DFW area. But for Rockwall and Lake Travis, that is box office stuff. Well, when I asked you, when I asked you about the number one ranking in 5A Division 1 with the lead-off following to Denton Garg, you kind of gave me an answer like SARC did when somebody asked SARC if Arch Manning was going to play. Asked him last week, Warren Martin, he goes, "Mm, we'll see." And so I asked you, I said, "Is Ryan going to be number one?" He said, "Maybe." And there they are, number one. Yeah, we bump Ryan up. And overall, when you take a look at our rankings, we tried to be relatively humble in this instance of saying like, "We don't know, we don't know." And you try to measure up against what's really going to be non-district games is to measure up like, "Okay, what is not only the quality of the opponent they're playing, but also the size of the opponent that they're playing?" And so, for a team like Alito, they were playing a team from 6A, but then we did have outside the top 25. And so, for me, that was, and for the day of Campbell Tech's football staff, and us talking about it, we said, "You know what? Ryan Denton's 6A program in Eden was good enough, we thought, and then what Highland Park did against Ruffle, he was good enough to maybe leapfrog Alito." Now, Alito's one win away from the right back up there at number one. That's why we kept them kind of within striking distance of the rankings, because we know that they're not going away, and I'm very comfortable saying they're one of the three best teams in 5A Division 1. But for now, you know, the resume is what it is. And if Alito can bounce back and get a win this week, then they're going to have an opportunity to rise back up those rankings. But for now, Ryan feels like they've done enough to kind of vault up to number one. That can change, certainly, with any week, because these resumes are fluid. But one of the things that, again, we kind of talked about is we don't want to overreact to results, but you also don't want to underreact. And so, it's striking that balance, especially with what is one week of data, and honestly, in a lot of ways, the bad set of data, just because a lot of weird things happen in week one. There's a lot of upsets, a lot of weirdo results that are going to look very strange in Arlington in 16 weeks. So we want to make sure we're being a little bit diligent as far as making sure we consider all of the elements when you're talking about moving teams up and down in the rank. Well, no better example of that, the fact that it's not often someone can say, "Hey, a team got beat 38 to nothing and did not drop in the poll." Then you consider, well, at South Oak Cliff playing a team that has a real legitimate shot to win the 6A Division 1 state championship in the Leena Park North Shore. Breaking news coming in from Bet365, where every nail biting overtime win, break away, pick six, three-point shot, underdog win, buzzer beater, shoot out, walk off, and absolutely every play in between is amazing. From football to basketball and hockey to baseball, whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet365. Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-Gambler. 21+ only must be physically located in Colorado. Owning a rental property sounds like a dream. Collect a rent and relax. That is, until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. First, you need to conduct market research to understand local rental trends and determine a competitive rent price. Then there's cleaning, staging, repairs, and hiring a professional photographer. Next, develop a marketing strategy. List the property on rental sites and schedule countless earnings. Oh, no free time for information, drop the lease on collection, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page, turn the page. Whew! Sound complicated? Runners Warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to do West. Our job is complicated because it should be. We handle everything from marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease. Our best-in-class property management professionals take care of your property as if it were our own, from rent collection to maintenance coordination, all for one flat monthly fee. Go to Runners Warehouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444 to speak with a rent estate advisor today. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Runners Warehouse. Ready to take charge of your career? The seventh annual Sisters in Sales Summit is the place where women of color and sales come together to own their future. Join us from September 19 to 21 at the stunning Dugal Greenhouse in Brooklyn, New York. This isn't just another conference. This is the largest sales conference in the world for women of color, designed to empower you with the tools, strategies, and the networks you need to succeed. Over three days, you'll gain access to cutting-edge sales strategies, connect with top industry leaders, endurance certifications that will set you apart in your field. Whether you're just starting out or are seasoned pro, this summit is your chance to elevate your career, build your network, and step confidently into your future. Don't wait. Your future is now. Visit SistersInSales.com/Summit to register today. Let's break barriers, shatter ceilings, and make history together at the seventh annual Sisters in Sales Summit. See you there. [MUSIC PLAYING] Taking it lonely, climbing Mount McKinley, so to entertain myself, I go to ChumbaCasino.com. At ChumbaCasino, I give lay hundreds of online casino-style games for free, like online slots, bingo, slingo, and more. Plus, I get a daily login bonus. It's just too bad that up here, I don't have anyone to share my excitement with. [MUSIC PLAYING] Hi, Drew and Jonathan Scott here, reminding you that American family insurance agents can help build a customized renter's policy, so you can protect stuff like this, or this, or even this. Nope. Well, case in point. Life's better when you're under American family's roof. Ensure carefully, dream fearlessly. Get a quote and find an agent at amfam.com. Products not available in every state. American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I., and it's operating company 6,000 American Parkway, Madison, Wisconsin. It's a perfect example. Perfect example. And we had a lot of conversation about this, because on one hand, South Oakland did lose by five touchdowns. That's a lot. And I think on its face, you look at that and say, "Boy, they should certainly be punished for that." But then you consider a couple of things. One, they're playing a team three times their size. Two, they were on the road going all the way down to Galena Parks play this game. And three, when you take a look at the context of the game, this game was hard to say. I think that was 38. Nothing was actually closer than it appeared. But North Shore ran out to basically a 35-nothing lead in the first quarter. They absolutely blitzkrieged South Oakland from the beginning. And then the final three quarters were basically a three-nothing game. And what, say what you want about South North, North Shore, they're putting in their twos or they're playing vanilla offense and stuff like that, certainly. But I think that in a lot of ways, the context of this game is more kind to South Oakland. And that's one of the things we wanted to reflect here. Furthermore, I just don't think, this is just the point that I would make. Name a 5A division two team that could go to North Shore and stay within 38 points of them. I'm just not sure one of those exists. Even the number one, even the state, poor nature grows. I'm not sure, you know, our thought is they might do a little bit better. We have them above South Oakland. But I'm expecting them to go down there and win against a North Shore team like that. I don't think it's especially the North Shore team that showed up on Friday because goodness gracious. I just don't think that's reasonable. And so we decided to keep South Oakland number one. And by the way, I hate to tell people, but if you hate that, I got bad news. It's like Duncanville this week, which is also a team that's three times their size. But at least it's more local. And so we'll be able to have a better data set and remove that particular variable. Final thing, the old cruel thing. You can go to one of these games. Would it be? The Southern North Crowley in 6A. Would it be Alito Lancaster? As you talk about Alito trying to punch up there, although Lancaster just moved up off of that one. And then the third one I was going to throw at you. I believe it was a four a D one. Oh, yeah, Salina, Lavega is the other one. Salina is really interesting because Salina coming up a really nice win over Bellville. They now get another opportunity to big physicals team in Lavega and can put together their best opportunity yet. But the answer is to Soto North Crowley top five matchup in 6A. Our first real look at this Soto last week, they played a team from Georgia that just, I mean, all due respect to them. They just did not belong in the same field with them. They launched them into the sun. It will be a real look at Kilda Ryan, their new quarterback, who of course has tons of weapons around him. They own Singleton, Booby-Feaster, you tie your right and it goes on and on. And then for North Crowley, an opportunity to really go out there and put a skin on the wall. I mean, an opportunity to really measure up against a true 6A Division one, 6A Division two rather, state title contender. For Ray Gates, the program has been on a meteoric trajectory. This would be the biggest win for the program since they won the state championship back in 2003. If they can pull this off, I think they're underdogs from this one, especially to Soto. But from a playmaker perspective, this game is going to be fun. The other one, and I know this was on the third of the three gaming, but Gunner and Anna, it's the weirdest game of the week. It's the weirdest game of the week. It's 5A versus 3A, okay? So think about the difference in enrollment between North Shore and Soto Cliff, and oh my gosh, they're three times. How about Anna is four times the size of Gunner? Four times the size of Gunner, and they're going to play each other. Imagine with defending state champs, it is a truly bizarre match up here. This will be the 20th time in the last five years, the enrollment 5A versus a 3A. 20 times more than 25,000 Texas high school football games. It's a nuts proposition, and I'm really excited to see how much Gunner can hang. Yeah, that does sound pretty interesting when you think about that, how it might ultimately shake down, because they're just neighbors, although the population thing has certainly made a prediction. And the computer likes Anna by nine. When's the last time Gunner was a nine-point computerized underdog to anybody? To anybody? Oh, that's a thing. It's been a minute, I think, that they were underdogs at any time, which is going to make us all the more remarkable. And by the way, I think it speaks to how much the computer thinks of them, that a 3A Division 2 team, four divisions smaller than the team they're playing, is within 10 points of them. That's respect from the computer. No doubt. Knowing what we know about high school football in this state, should I even bother to go see a Michigan high school football game Friday night? It might be worth it just for the, just for the... Novel business sake. Yeah, you should just be, like be the real tech of high school football jerk. I always do this whenever I go up to Missouri with my wife's family. For example, one of the big schools in St. Louis is Kirkwood High School, and they're coached by former Mizzou Gray, Jeremy Macklin, right now. I think they won something pretty significant last year, but every time we drive by the stadium, I always just make a point to tell my wife, I'm like, "Oh, that's cute. Look at that." I didn't know they played here. That's good for them. You can be a real elitist if you want. Yeah, there you go. He's Greg Tepper, managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine. Follow him on X at Tepper, and of course on Friday nights, where he and Aaron Hartigan will sail without me this Friday night. And so we'll just look forward to it next week, Tepper. Yeah, well, Missy Dussel in my front. All right, thanks. Take care. That's Greg Tepper from Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine. We're coming up on Sports Radio AM 13 under the zone. Breaking news, and this one is almost unbelievable. Yeah, it's all about new customers at Bet365, because they get $200 in bonus bets when they bet $5. And even better, bonus bets can be used on the spread, totals, and player props. There you have it. Bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets. And see why it's never ordinary at Bet Vegas 5. Gambling problem, collar text 1 and 100 gambler. 21 plus only. Must be physically located in Colorado. Chums and conditions apply. Owning a rental property sounds like a dream until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. Determine a competitive rent price, market the property, schedule the showing screen tenants, draft the lease at a rent collection, handle maintenance request, maintain dedication. Whew, sound complicated? Runners' warehouse is here to take the hard work off your Rental to-do list. Qualify tenants, check. Rent collection, check. Maintenance coordination, you got it. Go to runnerswherehouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call runners' warehouse. Are you ready to own your future? The 7th Annual Sisters in Sale Summit is calling your name. From September 19th to 21st, join thousands of women of color in sales at the Duke All Greenhouse in Brooklyn, New York. This is the largest sales conference in the world for women like you. Gain cutting-edge strategies, connect with industry leaders, and elevate your career to new heights. Don't miss out on this life-changing event. Register now at systemsandsales.com/summit. Let's rewrite our sales story together.