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Inside Texas Football
IT Live (11/21): Major Recruiting Visits Against Kentucky, Bold Fan Takes, SEC Slate
welcome everybody to your Wednesday morning live. I've got my cup of ambition. I've got Justin Wells. I've got Ian Boyd. I've got James Hayden is going to be joining us here today. Thank you for being here. This is Inside Texas's YouTube channel, powered by InsideTexas.com. We invite you to join us over there. There's a lot of great stuff going on. In fact, we had some really surprising news last night, some very good news in the detail room. We are getting a visit on the last home game of the season with Kentucky from a prospect that is currently committed to LSU. Would you want to tell us a little bit about that Justin? Yeah, we reported last night that Zion Williams is expected on campus. He actually, we reported it after he called LSU to tell them he was coming on the visit. He talked to coach Bow last night. After the report, he had another handful of LSU coaches call him and reach out. Another full of handful of high school coaches call him and reach out. He put out an innocuous tweet. But from what I can gather this morning, there's still an expectation that he's going to be there and LSU on their side, they think he's still going to be there. They understand that it's going to be a battle. But ultimately, we won't know a lot of these guys until Saturday morning. I mean, this is worth this time of the year where you're going to hear a lot of back and forth. A lot of these schools are going to, they don't want their commits to visit. So they're going to do everything they can. But LSU still has an expectation that Zion will be coming. He told me last night that he's still coming. Well, just hang on tight because it's going to be a roller coaster fellas. Enjoy the ride. We are playing our final regular season home game this weekend against Kentucky. I know Ian, you have been all over this in terms of just breakdowns and predictions a little bit without actually getting into a score prediction. But if you could give the fans at home, the listeners, the people here today, kind of the 30,000 foot view, what do you expect? I guess let me phrase it this way. What do you want to see from Texas? And what do you expect to see from Texas? It'd be nice to see them solve all their problems. I don't care, though. You just, you just win this week and solve your problems for A&M. Like if there's a, if there are plays that sarcasm the bag that would make beating Kentucky really easy, but would also help against A&M, just try to save them. I would actively flirt with danger in this game. And just see if you can get by. I kind of wonder if that's Sarks mentality, because when a coach says something like this is the most important, this is the biggest game of the year about a game that's obviously not the biggest game of the year. You can tell he wants his guys to play with a certain level of passion and intent that he knows is not going to be easy and that he knows is not going to be aided. You know, I don't, Quinn could be the worst Quinn we've seen all year, as long as he doesn't commit turnovers and lose against Kentucky. And I don't care and it doesn't matter. Just win and get by and get right for Texas A&M. And even if you lose, even if they lose to Kentucky, I still don't know if that ruins the season. I think a 10 and two Texas with a win over A&M is actually in pretty decent shape for the playoffs, because they eliminate A&M. Right. And so the field of teams that they have to get by on the resume is lower. And I think a win over A&M actually looked down the road actually looks better than the reverse, which would be, you know, a win at home against crappy Kentucky and then a loss of A&M. So, so all that to say I have like very low expectations. And if it's not, I may be a little bit alarmed if it's not a bit of a struggle. I see. And do you equate that that struggle to our play or the defensive play of Kentucky? Well, they're pretty good. Their defense isn't bad. Is circuit noted accurately Kentucky tends to play up or down to their competition. So if Texas is a little bit sluggish or a little bit sloppy, I just, that's fine. I don't care. Ideally when other than that, whatever. Where do you, where do you land on that, James? Because even though he does it in a very calming, subdued way, Ian just brought a pretty vicious hot take, which is essentially we could lose to one of the worst, worst teams in the SEC. And still, still make it to the playoffs and scaring the biggest knock against Texas is our strength of schedule. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think to his point, you could just look to Ole Miss. They basically did exactly that. They lost against Kentucky at home. Horrible loss. That was Kentucky's last FBS win, actually, since then they've only beaten Murray State. But their next best game was at Tennessee, right? They covered the spread on that one, only lost by 10. But yeah, I mean, obviously, if you had to pick between the two, if you're taking a 10 and 2 Texas, ideally, you would rather have that winning insane. And as embarrassing as that when it lost at home would be to Kentucky. But yeah, Kentucky's got some guys out. That spread is 20 and a half for a reason. I would hope we'd see a similar game that we saw against Florida, but you never know what Kentucky like, you know, like we just alluded to that game against Tennessee, that game against Georgia, and that game against Ole Miss, obviously. So being the, probably the only Kentucky fan you'll ever talk to that's covering Texas sports, it's a down year for Kentucky to say the least, but they still have NFL bodies. You know, they've got guys like Dion Walker, Dumas Johnson. They've got a solid secondary, and then on offense, you got to look out for weapons like Dan Key and Barry O'Brown. I mean, they can break some, but again, what I just said 30 seconds ago, they haven't won an FBS game since September. You know, they're only win is Murray State. So I don't see it in the cards personally. But yeah, I would like to see Texas run the ball, you know, get Quinn in rhythm and ideally have him, you know, break that 300 yard mark like he did against Florida. And just get back into the swing of things, ideally, since Arkansas kind of threw a wrench in their tires there for a second. This is the game before the game, some people are saying, and as such, there might be some surprises. What Ian wants is just a win, which I think is totally reasonable. But if you disagree, or think you want to put your money where your mouth is, we invite you to go over to the Game Time app. So especially if you are looking to get some tickets to this thing. It's the last definitive home game of the season is on Saturday. That is the regular season game. So use the Game Time app to secure your tickets to Texas versus Kentucky. Download the Game Time app or go to gametime.co. That's really important. Gametime.co and see all the ticket options. Game Time makes it easy to find the best deals at Game Time's transparent, all in pricing feature. It gets rid of those annoying hidden fees. And if you're a fan of pro sports, you can find seats to the NFL, the NBA and the NHL to just use the promo code on three for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. But with game time, your tickets are guaranteed to be on time and authentic. And on top of that, if you find a lower price anywhere else, game time will make up 110% of the difference. Get the Game Time app or visit gametime.co today and use the promo code on three for $20 off your first purchase terms. Do apply. Alright, James, you are here for a very special reason. You are our conduit to the fan base. And something that you've been doing recently, which I think is a lot of fun, is you've been asking the fans for their bold takes. And what I would love to do is let's just go over a couple of those right now. And I'd love to get, I've not seen these. I know Ian and Justin has not seen these. So, what I would love for you guys to do is, I want you guys to just rate these. One, this is not a bold take at all. It's pretty obvious, right? Five, this is the craziest thing you've ever heard in your life. So, let's start with the first one here and I'll let you read this one off, James. So, the first one, this is obviously coming from a Georgia fan. Personally, I think this is why a lot of people do not like them. They already beat us, but now they have to prey on our downfall and hope that we lose out and the dogs win it all. So, I think I'm going to go ahead and just start us out with a scorching five. I think that is extremely bold because that would include Texas, not only losing to Kentucky, who I mentioned has only eaten Murray State in the last two months. Then they would have to lose at A&M, which I just doubt they're going to drop both of those. And the dogs winning it all. Carson Beck had one good game this past weekend against Tennessee, but aside from that, he's thrown. The most interceptions in the last five games and FBS. So, I give this a fiery five. The odds of this, I do not think, are very likely in my opinion. The N478 haze is asking or saying that Texas loses out and the dogs win it all. Where do you land on that? Is that make a lot of sense to you or the craziest thing you've ever heard? Can I get an explanation of the scale? Absolutely. So, one is, you know what? That's actually a pretty decent take. Five is, that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. Yeah, it's like boldness. Like one is like saying, you know, if my hot take was Texas is going to be Kentucky, that's not really a hot take. Five is like, that's not going to happen. You're insane. I'm going to go four. Okay. I think Texas losing to both A&M and Kentucky is not that great. If they do lose both of those games, they'll play in a bowl game, which I assume is included in this. And then you get arched trying to put on a show in a bowl game and Sark trying to put on a show in the arch. To recoup fan enthusiasm after the season. So, I don't think those are likely the dogs winning it all is. Possible, pretty possible. Also, you know, not a sure thing. Justin, we're going to get to you and our very own Texas Homer has helped us with this scale. Stating that three is oddly, I'm okay with it right now. But if you say it again, I'll fight you. So you do have some options here. One, obviously being that's a pretty good take. Five being, it's insane. Three is, you know what, that may make a little bit of sense, but I'll punch you in the face if you repeat it. I'm going to go with six. Sweet. Sweet. I think that's enough said we can move on to the next element here. So let's look at this next one here. Oh, calling out straight out the gate. This is a super hot one. We'll go with you with first, Justin. Is this, is this, I mean, this is what the goal was at the beginning of the season. The take here is national champions. What are your thoughts on that, Justin? Two. Two. All right. It's a good take, but don't you start. It's a good take, but I wouldn't give it a one necessarily, but I mean, that's the expectation. And knowing the season this year, that is, uh, I'm going to go with a two there. I don't think that's too off the charts, but at the same time, there's a little boldness to that just because we don't know what's going to happen in the next month and a half. Where do you land on that, Ian? Two and a half. Okay. Great. Three, but I don't know if it's a two. He's going across. Where are you landing on the three? If you asked me, you know, four or five weeks ago, I would give that, you know, a one. But with the way Texas has been kind of iffy and the inconsistency of Quinn and wondering if he could make that big play. I mean, I think you worry about stuff like if they say, drop a game at A&M, which is, you know, the trapiest of trap games on the road. That is the scary one before, you know, they're at the top of the SEC standings before what would be an SEC championship game. That's going to be a really hard game. And then if they lose that one, they'll probably have a road playoff game. But I think just what we saw against Georgia and the fact that Michigan and Oklahoma ended up being a lot worse than we expected. And that one like kind of in the middle, this team obviously has the jimmies and Joe's to win a national championship. It just depends on if they can put it together and how that execution is going to be running game stuff. You know, before the season, that was obviously expectation. When you lose a guy like CJ Baxter, we're seeing that as the weeks go on has affected the team more than we might have thought. It's just, it's just a little tweak here and there, but I give that a three. I think it's like right in the middle. Very well happened. They could very well lose in the second round. We'll see. Some of you are throwing some pretty hot takes in the chat and I want to give us an opportunity to respond to those. So let's give this one more. So this is from Gerald Hopkins and he says, if Quinn plays inconsistent along with the injuries to the running back room. It will eventually be too much weight on the defense's shoulders and they get bounced in the first round of the playoff. Now there's a lot of, there's a lot of caveats there Ian outlining what needs to happen in order for them to lose that first round of the playoff. Where do you land on this is this is this a reasonable take or is this completely insane. It's it's a two or a three. I don't like the part where they lose in the first round. There's a lot of variables there, like for one, they have to make the playoffs. I think they will. But then they, I mean the first round Quinn, Quinn could be his worst Quinn and they could still just smother like a BYU or a team like that. I will say right now, they would get that by and it's projected they'd play their Indiana Ole Miss is what it says. No, they'd have to win the SEC Championship for that. Oh yeah, yeah. Switch. So, yeah, I'm going to say a three just because there's too many, too many, too many variables that go into that to draw a first round matchup that they lose. Maybe a two. Where do you land on this one, Justin? There are a lot of caveats in this take. Yeah, I mean, this is the injuries to the running back room. If that was going to be an issue, we would have seen it in September, not November. That's the the injuries to the room are no longer a relevant take. We've seen what Jaden Blue, Trey Wozner and Jared Gibson can become. If if Quinn keeps playing and consistent is pretty spot on that, we don't know what you're going to get. You really don't. But I don't think the defense. I don't think anything the offense does at this point is too much for the defense. I think this squad is really, really solid. Maybe the best in the country, top to bottom playing at a very high level. So I'm going to go with a two and a half three on this one. Like you said, there's a lot of different variables in this statement, but this assumes they get to the playoff, which, hey, that's the good. That's the good news. James, where do you land on this one before we go to the chat? I'll give this one a two, just because there are so many factors to that. Like say, you know, if Texas wins the SEC, which I was assuming in the current projections, which is also a big if in this 2024 season. I think if honestly, if let's say they drop one, whether it be the SEC or an A&M game and they're a five seed or something like that, I don't expect them to lose in the first round. And like Justin said, this defense has shown particularly against Georgia. They really only gave up one drive. They were given the worst lot of cards in that game. And they still played a heck of a game. They've given up 300 yards over 300 yards once in the season. So I think the defense knows its role and is not really too affected by the offense at this point. The running back room, you know, we'd like to see a little more elite play from there, but we're, you know, we're going to have a guy at least at or around 100 yards a game. So I give this one a two because there's just so many variables. And I also think that the defense can at the very least carry them to the semis. From the chat here, Ian, we've got, and I want to throw this one at you and see what you think. And this is, this is really fun for me. We've got a senior day. So Kentucky, the last home game of the regular season is our senior day. And AR is throwing out there that Jade is going to have a pick six on senior day. You buying that one or selling that one, Ian. I mean, I'll buy, Baron has been such a good Longhorn, dutifully played nickel, when that did not help his draft status, moved to corner to help his draft status and has been just absolute stud out there. Major reason for Texas is season and number one ranked defense to specifically get a pick six in a given game is, you know, this kind of long odds, but it's a prop man. But let's, let's give, let's give Baron. Let's, let's just have faith and Baron is as a reward. Oh, that's nice. I like, I like the reward aspect of it. So let me, let me move on to another one here, Justin. This is for you. And this is from Mr. Gaddis here. My hot take is that Quinn shreds it from here on out and leads us to the natty. Where, how are you feeling about that. Over to James. James. What do you take on this is like, I actually like this one. I'll give it a two and a half like right in the middle because I, I think we could just as well get the Quinn from Ann Arbor that we saw earlier than you're manipulating the pocket moving around. Well, because we've seen over the past two years, we kind of know where he's at. He's kind of inconsistent is particularly off injuries and gets a little bit rattled. I think he's just in one of those spots. Where if he puts together two good games, you could see Quinn get hot again and be, you know, throwing passes like he was in Tuscaloosa last year and earlier in the year against Michigan. What do you think, Justin? Well, why didn't the Florida game reverse that? Yeah. Well, I think that just because it was a one off game, right? And then he immediately goes into Fayetteville and didn't, you know, didn't quite have the flashiest game. You know, missed a couple shots on the deep ball, but, you know, he, he was just kind of, again, inconsistent would be the word iffy, but against Florida, he would, you know, he played probably a B plus game. And that was the best game he had played, I'd say, since coming off the injury. I think if, like, let's say he goes and shows out against Kentucky, he just needs to get his confidence back in my opinion. He needs to feel like he's that when he started the season, he thought, "Oh, I'm QB one in this class." And now I think, you know, fan noise, injuries, whatever it may be. He's also just looks shaky out there. I know his footwork hasn't been great. His pocket presence hasn't been great, but I don't think there's any reason we couldn't see Quinn, you know, be a guy who could put up 303 touchdowns on offense, you know, in a playoff game. Like, he's done in the past, right? I mean, I don't think he's going to feel like 303 touchdowns would be a record of some kind. He's done that three times for it. Three hundred yards. Oh, right, right, right. No, that makes Quinn worth it. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Here's the hot take for Quinn to summarize all this. He is who he is. This is who Quinn yours is. Sometimes he's on, sometimes he's off. Sometimes he's hurt. Sometimes he's healthy. That's the consistency is the inconsistency. Yeah. He Quinn is what he is. You set him up in an ideal situation, Texas will thrive. Not everything is going to be ideal. That's what scares you about Quinn, because when things do turn sideways, Quinn turns sideways. I'll say all that with the Florida game was almost spotless. The Arkansas game was exactly what Arkansas wanted. You're going to see a lot of the three high safety. They are daring teams to run the ball, do shell across a lot of curls, a lot of stuff underneath. Quinn is who he is. It's all going to be dependent on the game in the moment. If it's ideal, like Kentucky should be, I think he'll shred. If it's hostile and troublesome, like what college station's probably going to be, you're going to see the Quinn that you see there. This guy's in his third year, fellas. He is who he is. We see good stuff. We see bad stuff. If you're a Texas fan, just go to mass and understand, hey, you need the good stuff for about four more games, four or five more games. Well, to that I'd say it also depends very much on Sarp's game plan. He walked into Tuscaloosa and I'll be honest, I was the one who did not see that when coming. I can't remember what the point spread on that game was, but that was just a perfectly crafted up game plan that silenced the crowd on a hostile road environment. It just depends, yeah, like you're saying, I think he probably needs a good game against Kentucky just to get the mental there. And then Sarp, obviously doing what Sarp does would set him up perfectly to T off against A&M if they have the right game plan. Casey has a point here, LC. Go ahead. Can you see it with Casey here on the comments? Oh, sorry, let me bring that down. Okay, so Casey's saying that this is a myth. Sarp does not believe it's a myth. Matthew Golden does not believe it's a myth. And Quinn, yours does not believe it's a myth. Wait, I can't see. I know I'm waiting for him to pull. That's not it. Go back. I hate this man. There we go. Yeah. If it's a myth, then it's, it's, it's not a myth to Quinn. It's not a myth to Sarp and it's not a myth to Matthew Golden. It's not a myth to Trey Weisner. We've asked, we asked these players about this defense. And that's why I think team see why Sarp and Texas sees it so much because it does hinder what Texas wants to do. Now, does it force them to do other things that they're really good at? Yeah, Texas is, is, is, is very versatile in that regard, but there's, there's no myth. Sure, you can throw a deep on three high. You're also going to jump up your interception percentages as well. So do you want to take those chances or do you want to do what Texas does? Don't turn the ball over. Nickel and Diamond, get your touchdowns when you can. Play good defense and come out with a W. For those of you in your car on your way to your patrol meeting, parole meeting, I hate this myth that you can't throw deep on the high three look. There is constantly open guys there, but we just don't see them or can't hit them. That's what Justin is referring to as we go through this. And I know Ian has a thought on this. I kind of both right. Justin's right that that defense is designed to hinder those deep shots, especially the way teams played against Texas. That said, Texas has gotten open looks against it. Pretty consistently. And then miss them. Yes, not, not a lot. No, maybe two or three a game. Yes, exactly. Yeah. And they, and they miss them. So that's that word is still ours. Probably doesn't miss those, but then again, arch those bombs. So. All right, we are going to move over into our. We're going to look at the schedule. We're going to look at the SEC games coming up. But before we do that, I want to hear from our, our final sponsor of the day. For those of you that, that might need any help, let's say you've been in an accident or you maybe had a little slip and fall, this is the person we want you to call. This video is brought to you by Andre the lawyer. If you're injured, trust the team that secured millions for their clients and help thousands of Texans with their injury case. Car wrecks, slip and falls, 18 wheeler accidents on the job injuries and wrongful deaths. Don't let insurance tell you what your claim is worth. Hire Andre the lawyer to fight for you. Principal offices in Dallas, but they serve Texans throughout the state. So don't wait and call Andre the lawyer today at 214-444-8808. That's 214-444-8808. The contact information is in the description. Hey guys, we're good. Yes sir. I don't think I've ever heard wrongful deaths in such that tone before. Yeah. It's, it's, it's dulce it in all of these ways. But I got to tell you like, like, it makes it almost soothing. For some of us, it might be Justin. Some of us, it might be. Let's look at the schedule and we're going to go in, obviously, we're going to go in chronological order. Again, leaning into the East Coast Sports bias. All these times are listed in Eastern. We are going to start off with Old Miss at Florida. Now Florida, you'll remember recently played Texas. They are not having the best of seasons. Florida has, let's put it this way. Old Miss is one and two when it doesn't throw for 285 yards. But the good news is, is Florida has allowed that many yards in three or more times against George's, Carson Beck, Miami's, Cam Ward, and our very own Quinn Ewers. The other thing to know is Jackson. His name has an X in it. Dart has hit, it was hitting about 71% of his passes for over 3,400 yards and 22 touchdowns and four picks. So they are flying at the moment. I'd love to get your thoughts on this one Ian. I, you know, actually didn't realize that Ole Miss had to finish in the swap. Or I guess it's not to finish the year, but, um, boy, that's, that's maybe trouble. Uh, DJ Lagway has been outstanding. As you guys see, he came back the week after Texas on that. Hammy. And was dropping dialed in. Dialed in. I was, uh, really impressive. I probably, probably it catches up to them this week though. Ole Miss has a very good, very consistent defense. And, uh, I just don't. Yeah, I'm with Blake. I think, I think Florida might give him a scare. I'll tell you what, if, if Ole Miss loses that game, then the Texas can lose dark. And so I just don't lose to A&M take. It goes up another level. Justin, what are your thoughts on this one? Yeah. I'm with Ian in the fact that honestly, I mean, Ole Miss's defense of front is just, it's, it's really good this year. And I think that's what's actually the most consistent part of that team. They almost mirror Texas in a way. Their offense can be inconsistent, but their defense has been solid. Their defense has been sturdy. And so, um, obviously at a different level, Florida's playing with a lot of confidence right now. Uh, they, DJ Lagway's playing with confidence. This is a trap game to me for Ole Miss. Because they're already envisioning the playoff and possibly getting into the SEC championship, if possible. I know that's still a little bit far out, but they're playing really good right now, but so is Florida. I think this is actually going to be a pretty good game. Uh, but I think Ole Miss's defense is just, it's, Ole Miss's defense is going to do the same thing. The Florida that I think Texas did. Obviously, they didn't face Lagway. That's going to be a little bit different, but I like Ole Miss here just because I think their defense is, uh, the most consistent part of their team, which is funny because it's an offensive-minded coach. Right. But they're leaning on their defense this year. James, anything to add to this one? Yeah, I mean, you would think on paper, this would be a trap game, but Florida's in the hundreds on, uh, big play. Play is giving up, you know, plays of 20 plus yards, and Ole Miss is second in the country in big plays. So it's a morning game. You don't have to worry about that swamp nighttime atmosphere like scary, um, thing that you typically have to deal with. I think this could mirror similarly when they walked into Arkansas. Not nearly as much of a beat down because they've got DJ Lagway back. When we played them, there was no lagway, so that significantly affected the point spread. Um, but Ole Miss, let's see here, Ole Miss is favored by 10. Yeah, the line is tied over under is 55 and a half. I would say they win by two touchdowns. I mean, I just don't think it's going to catch them off guard. You know, they had, um, they've had time off. And Florida, Florida in the morning is not as scary. Florida's coming off a big win. The odds that they go back to back. You know, Florida's been competitive, but Ole Miss is really firing them all cylinders and probably aside from South Carolina, the hottest team in the SEC right now. So I like Ole Miss to win and cover that one. And they're often just finally clicking and that, yeah, that defensive front, as you guys were talking about, is the best of the country. The, uh, the next noon game is going to be UMass at Georgia. You can watch this one on the SEC Network. Georgia is, of course, very famously eight and two. And UMass is their bookend at two and eight. The one solitary bright spot for UMass is they are currently fifth in the nation in past defense. Ah, that's great. Uh, Georgia also has Georgia Tech next. So this could be an overlooked game for UMass for Georgia rather. And it probably won't matter. The line on this one is 42 and a half with an overunder of 55. So if you do that math, they're suggesting that most of the points are going to be on the Georgia side there. Anything of consequence you were thinking about with this game, Ian? If the English had brought their Bulldogs, the Minutemen wouldn't have done nothing back in 1775. Am I right, Justin? Amen. This is a game where if Marcus Canby is healthy, I think it could be closer. But if he's out, man, this is going to be a blowout. I feel like some people are not going to know who Marcus Canby is. Well, that's what Google's for. Okay. First NBA player. I will say on Georgia, watch for whether or not they keep throwing to their tight ends. Oh, yeah. It's loss and lucky and delk, finally. And I restarted throwing to their tight ends last week. And they are. The potential championship team. No, the Minutemen would have actually shot. It would have been fine. I could love those bullets fast enough when the English Bulldog just comes over you. I'm telling you, it's a swabbery, disgusting mess. Yeah. I think if you were to reread the transcript of that sentence, you might blush a little bit, Justin. Let's move on to UTEP at Tennessee. We are Tennessee is coming in at eight and two. UTEP again, two and eight. The game time is at noon ESPN plus, so UTEP is coming in with a relatively well rounded offense. Their past game is hit and miss, but their running game is also terrible. So they're very consistent all the way around. They do have a defensive line that is pretty decent and they'll be playing hell bent for glory. So my guess is here, you're probably going to get at least a couple of sacks, maybe on third down, if there are any third downs for Tennessee in this game. But what are your thoughts straight out of the gate here, James? What's next? Yep, no fair enough. My buddy played at UTEP actually. He transferred there from TCU. So I'm aware of how bad UTEP is. I don't think this one will be worth watching. They're two and eight in the conference USA. Don't doubt the fighting Scotty Wallens. Don't doubt those guys. Tennessee just puts up balloon stats like they always do against bad opponents this year. And then, you know, how real is that offensive success? We'll probably find out next week when they hit at Vanderbilt. That's an in-state rivalry and more competitive than it's been in years. You can make an argument that UTEP is the worst job in college football. In terms of location relative to recruiting. Because it's so far away from the actual talent hubs of Texas that everybody else has a better shot. And then the local area is just not. Not a lot of elite schools in El Paso. Hey, that didn't stop Don Haskins in Texas Western. From Beaten Kentucky. I think he had some other advantages that are. Yeah, athletes, you can bring them to the past so it's not a willingness to integrate before everyone else. If UTEP are the first to employ the Elon Musk's robots. Then they might have some upset wins until everybody else also starts fielding robots. But other than that, I don't think so. Robot recruits are coming. If they start doing neural link in the UTEP players, they might take the next jump. That can do it. It's good to know the show has stayed on track and not taken a turn. We're now going to skip the Texas Kentucky game because we've got a whole show dedicated to that tomorrow in our round table. So let's look at Wofford and South Carolina. These are some very high powered games going on this week in the SEC. So South Carolina is coming in at seven and three. Wofford is five and six. Now, Wofford, the good thing about South Carolina is they've been starting very slow. So if Wofford can come out of this tunnel like a musical theater kid going to Wicked this weekend, they have a chance at it. So Wofford has outscored teams 50 to 34 in the first quarter. So that first quarter could be a little bit fun and maybe fill some hope for Wofford, but I don't see much going on there. You got anything for this one, Ian? Are you going to see Wicked this weekend? My tickets are purchased. I'll be going at 638 tomorrow night. You see it's Wofford. They've been in the tournament basketball before. I know, but I've never heard it pronounced before. So I was in my head, it was Wofford, which makes sense. Actually, I think it is Wofford. I thought it was Wofford. I've only ever heard of it in basketball. Wofford sounds better to me. If we need to change the enunciation, I'm off for that. It's not like many people are saying the name in general. Wow. All right. Oh, shots fired. Okay. Well, it's only ESPN. That's all you need to know. Let's move over. So we've got Louisiana Tech at Arkansas. This is a Razorback stadium. Arkansas again, five and five Louisiana Tech is four and six. Now, Arkansas is 0 and 4 when they rush less than 130 yards. And Louisiana Tech has allowed more than 130 yards rushing four times. So similar, similar records here in some ways or another. What do you see this being, Justin? Yeah, this is a game. Sonny Combe needs to get bowl eligible. There's some whispers around there that, you know, that he may not be the guy. And we're big, we're big Combe fans. He's a tremendous coach and person. And so this right now, this is another one where Arkansas is just going to beat him just because of the size of the O line and the D line and in the method that they use just ground and pound, hold the ball, da, da, da, da. But LaTeX got some motivation. You know, one more win is the bowl win that helps Sonny keep his job and also to watch out for John Simon Jr. He's a freshman wide receiver whose little brother James Simon is committed to Texas class of 2025. We've got a super chat in here that I want to get to. Thank you, AR for the super chat. Again, these $5 go toward the Toyota CNF fund for Ian Boyd and his brood of children. The question here is honest question. Some SEC teams play lower tier schools late in the season, while Texas stays in conference play once they begin. My answer to this is that schedules are made years and years and years in advance. And I'd be curious to see if this trend holds as Texas stays in the SEC for a longer period of time you're shaking your head Ian hit me with it. Well, I do not think it will hold because the SEC is going to impose a nine game schedule conference schedule on their own members. A lot of the teams don't want it for obvious reasons, like Arkansas you'd rather play LaTeX and get bowl eligible and I think they're bowl eligible anyway but you know what another year. Another play a lot that can get bowl eligible and then your coach can say hey we went six and six we went seven and five pay no attention to that SEC record behind the curtain right. But the way football is going is just not going to work to allow them to do that. The expanded playoffs means that these protected schedules and SEC buys where you play a nobody before you play your rival at the end of the year. It's going. It's gone. Yeah, I mean the big 10s already had nine conference games. And what he was saying is Texas we got ours when we played what UTSA, UM on road Colorado state. So it's just their schedules different it's not that we're playing any less cupcakes. But this yeah the SEC famously always has that November waffered game or woe floor game. Now Ian the working man here is suggesting that maybe Texas should play Miller welding school or Jacksonville now. They also run a three high defense. How do you think Texas would do against Miller welding school of Jacksonville. Is that actually a place. I don't think so. I think they probably do pretty well. Well, blue car guys, it might be tough. You know, that's going to be it. They're going to be three high of linebackers. The school of mines and they never jump off sides. They said coming in at 415 we've got Missouri at Mississippi state Mississippi state to an eight Missouri seven and three Mississippi state will do everything to win this one. And Missouri will probably keep it conservative and run it 40 times. The line on this is pretty close actually it's seven and a half with an over under of 57.5. What are we, what are we thinking here Justin. Yeah, so Missouri is probably the worst seven and 30 team in college football and Mississippi state is the type of team that's going to hang with you. They're going to do, they'll do a few things to keep it close. This is going to be a rock fight. I feel like I feel like this is not going to be that much fun of a game to watch. We're going to be in the middle of covering Texas and Kentucky so my level of care is very low. But anytime you can see Missouri continue to get knocked down that also hurts Texas A&M strength to schedule because that's their biggest quality win as of this point. And so that's that's my that's my take Mississippi state's good enough to fight and stay in that especially at home and it's the SEC for know what's going to happen but man this is this is going to be a giant rock fight. I want to this is Ryan Nelson brings up an interesting point here about Shane Beemer someone I'm a fan of. He's building a high level program and can't wait to see UT play in Columbia for a night game. That will be electric. I mean, what are your thoughts just in general here on the trajectory of South Carolina and what Beemer's been able to do James. I mean, they're only ascending I doubted them because, you know, following Kentucky it seemed like Kentucky had taken a step ahead of South Carolina and then all of a sudden they popped off an eight and five season a couple years ago upsetting Clemson and that was really what started it for Beemer. Now he's, you know, he'll get us five star here and there. That freshman DN this year has been insane Nick Harbor was a high recruit Mars sellers was a four star and they really believed in that kid like, you know, they thought they had their guide he proved it last week was probably his best game of the season. So I just think players love him. He's recruiting the state well as Dabo is kind of plateaued and lost that elite status. It helps him and in state recruiting. And they've got heavy investment in the program so they're doing the NIO well they're recruiting well. And he's only a sitting like, you know, assuming they'd be waffered or waff forward wherever you're from. They'll be eight and three going into Clemson right and they can pull another upset like they did a couple years ago they're nine and 13 they're probably they're served right as a program as a team this season. I do not want to play there and Bryce William stadium that's probably the most underrated night atmosphere in the country that is a tough place to play. But yeah, I was doing great on all fronts like good good for them good for Beemer he's a likeable guys really fun to watch their teams cool. I've had multiple SEC coaches tell me they have the best defense line in the SEC. That else else either there's a fun parallel here. Tangent we can go on, which is that I believe I may be mistaken, but I believe that Oklahoma chose Brent Venables over Shane Beemer to replace Lincoln Riley when he betrayed them. And it looked like when South Carolina went into Oklahoma in Norman earlier this year, it looked like Shane Beemer. He called that game and approached that game as though he had been turned down and he wanted to show them the mistake, the level of mistake they had made. Also, if people didn't know, if Brent Venables had said no to Oklahoma, do you know who else was on their list. Kirk Signetty. No, Dan Lanning. Oh man, all right. Well, we were there on the list in Brent Venables. Dan Lanning was already at Oregon. No, this was when Dan Lanning was at Georgia waiting for the big job. They absolutely, he absolutely might have taken that Oklahoma gig if they'd offered it to him, but they went with Brent Venables instead, which is a shame. It is weird that South Carolina is not a consistently good program. I mean, I don't know, they just don't have the same investment as the rest of the SEC for whatever reason, but it's still like, I mean, that's like the birthplace of the deep south. They have the geographic advantages that are there for all the deep South SEC schools should be there for South Carolina. It's why they routinely have like amazing monsters, athletes on their team, like a Lenora Sellers, or these defensive lineman, many of whom were like low four star high three star kids out of high school. It's weird that they can't be consistent as a program. We're just moving into the later games here. We've got a game that I'm sure Ian might want to talk about. This is at, whoops, there we go. This is Alabama at Oklahoma, seven PM start. The tide are two and two when they're kept under 400 yards. Oklahoma, Oklahoma should maybe make things a little bit uncomfortable for Milro, but OU's offense remains as effective as an ashtray on a motorcycle. So the line here is 13 and a half for Alabama, the over under being 47 and a half. Ian, any any thoughts on Oklahoma? I know you don't follow them much. I, you know, I wonder how invested they are for this game. Seriously, prayers and thoughts for the Venables family, Brent Venables wife had surgery recently for cancer, like in the last couple of weeks. My God, he's also having to, he's about to, he's dealing with that. Probably very small prospects of being fired and otherwise having to totally overhaul that team in the portal and hire an offensive coordinator on the next month. So this is always a lot. Pretty crappy, pretty crappy situation. I do feel bad for Venables, not for Oklahoma so much. And they could probably catch Alabama by surprise if they came in and really inspired, but you wonder how much like fight and focus there still is for Oklahoma after they lost their good chance at a bowl game in the Missouri loss. So we'll see. Any thoughts here, Justin? Yeah, take the points. Yeah, take the points. That was my thought as well. James, anything to add before we move on to the A&M Auburn game? Yeah, I mean, I just think Alabama's found their identity. Oklahoma doesn't have one. That was a huge win for Alabama running all over LSU. I just think it's a bad spot for Oklahoma. You know, they're only win shoots since the Auburn game is Maine. So I just think Oklahoma is trending in all the wrong directions and Alabama seems to be one of the hotter teams aside from Ole Miss. Alabama's really found their footing. Moving on, we've got the Texas A&M and the Auburn game. Now, the Tigers are 4-0 when they rush for over 150 yards and 0-6 when they're held under that. So, but they have run for 177 yards or more in all of their wins. Texas A&M is 0-2 when allowing 198 yards or more and 8-0 when allowing fewer. Now, one thing that we need to understand is that A&M has given up 7 turnovers in the last four games and Auburn plays a little bit cleaner than certainly A&M does. The line on this one is only 2-1/2 with the over under being 46-1/2. Now, I know that you posited earlier, Ian, that A&M could lose this game potentially, and that would add even more pressure to the A&M game that Texas plays at the end of the season. What are your thoughts? Was it adding more pressure? I guess it does in some ways. To me, there's two ways that this could go for the Aggies historically. If they beat Auburn on the road, then they are for sure going to blow it against Texas because the Aggies can't have nice things. And if they blow it against Auburn, look out because those are the circumstances where they would absolutely be a spoiler for Texas. Does that make sense? It does. You're rooting for A&M in this game from a psychological point of view, essentially. I think so. Well, I mean... If A&M wins, it looks better if Texas beats him in two weeks as well. I don't think you have a root for the Aggies necessarily, but these spiritual energies are something to be aware of. The odds of A&M winning both of these games in a row are not good, so if they win this one, then you can feel more confident that they will blow it in college station. Ian, you got some crystals back there or something talking about spiritual energies? Our very own Texas homer says, "The best thing that we can hope for is a dominant Auburn win because they struggle to handle success." And I think that's basically what you're saying. Is that right, Ian? A dominant A&M win, right? No. I always said dominant Auburn, probably A&M win Auburn. He clarified it with a later comment. A dominant A&M win. Yeah. Great. I think me and Homer are some particular on this issue, but we do use the same spiritual advisor. Is it Andre the lawyer? Yeah. Okay, great. Justin, any thoughts on this A&M Auburn game before we move on to the final game of the night? Going to Auburn in late November, I don't care how bad they are. Man, crazy things will happen to Jordan here. You keep those guys in the game. You talked about how A&M's turned the ball over in the last four games. Auburn turns the ball over a lot, but they're just a team that seems to creep up, play to their competition. I think if A&M wins, that makes the Texas winning college station that much better, especially from a strength to schedule standpoint. So, but it's a field goal on the road, which means it's a push, which means Vegas doesn't know who's going to win. And if Vegas doesn't know, we dang sure don't. Yeah. Final game of. Sorry, before we move off A&M, can you pull up this recent Gaddis comment? Yes, but you get goaded so easily. All right, here we go. For the people driving to the grandmother's house, I tend to disagree with the end. If they, if they will have, oh wait, sorry, if they win. Well, if they, sorry, if yeah, so there we go. If they win, they will have everything to play for, including the including beating big brother. There will be a short lived demolition. If they lose to Auburn, I got to get these fonts bigger, whatever you. Okay, go for it in. He, I don't think see Gaddis understands the psyche of the Aggie. Which is that they always long. They're like the dog chasing the car. They always long for that big. Come up moment where they're vindicated and their whole ethos is finally revealed to the rest of the world to not be a cult, but to in fact be our proper overlords and oligarchs. Right. But then in the back of their minds, they know it can't be. Right. And so they just, it's, that's not how it works for them. They're them getting that up for a game means that the, what's the, what's the SEC shorts that battered Aggie syndrome shirt, you know. Battered Aggie syndrome will tell them it's all about to come crashing down. And you will never hear Kyle field quieter. Then if that game starts to get away from them, the pressure will just let the air out of them so fast, because it's the thing that they're dreading all the time. And it just becomes this self fulfilling prophecy. If they go into that Texas game with a little bit less at stake, it helps them. To that point, yeah, I mean, they would have a lot less pressure, but I saw this stat last month when they were seven and one. And every single time since the 21st century that they started seven and one, they have not finished with 10 wins. So ever since then, I'm fully on the and will go nine and four train. So I'm just going to ride that one, whether that means they beat Auburn lose to Texas, then lose the bowl game. I just think like to Ian's point, like the one time they had a great season in recent history with Jimbo when they went nine and one. They couldn't get that 10th win, right, because of COVID. So I just think a and M is what they are. They'll always be kind of there, then they collapse. I mean, Jimbo is seven and two in 2021. They finished eight and four. It's just I will lose one of these games. Let's just hope it's the Texas. The final game of the SEC schedule for the evening is Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt at LSU starts at 745 again Eastern. You can watch that on the SEC network. Both teams are six and four. Vanderbilt is bowl eligible and coming off a massive rest week, almost two weeks. And the question really here is, and I'm curious your thoughts on this Justin is can Kelly, can Kelly keep LSU engaged? I mean, they were, they were definitely in the hunt there for a little bit and now not at all. So do you think he can keep the locker room. Oh, that's a good question, because there's there's some animosity in that place right now. The offense isn't clicking. The defense isn't stopping anybody. And that's just not LSU ball that we've been used to for the last 15 20 years. You know, and it's almost surprising that Brian Kelly's teams aren't more physically imposing. But I was actually talking to an LSU source yesterday who said that there's the last two years of recruiting classes on defense. None of them have panned out or developed. And goes, that's why you're kind of seeing the problems they're having now and that they're going to have to go really portal heavy, especially on the defensive line in the off season. And so, Vanderbilt sneaky. I mean, you got Pavia like that dude is that dude is competitive. They're going to come with their a game like Vanderbilt still in their mind has stuff to play for and LSU if they underestimate Vandy at all, it could make it interesting. But it's in Death Valley, and it's at night. And I just as much as Diego wears that Superman cape. Kelly's got a bar of Kryptonite in the stall and that's that's not going to change. I think LSU wins. I don't think it'll be handed. I think it would be close, but LSU's probably going to pull that one out. The line is seven and a half with an over under a 53.5 any any contrarian opinions there Ian. No, but I am hoping that Pavia saves his last big effort for the Tennessee game. Isn't that the concluding? You know, you know, he will. If he can beat Tennessee, then once again, Texas can lose to Kentucky. But if they beat Texas A&M, that's one other team in the SEC that gets a third loss. And if Tennessee loses to Pavia, that's another team with a third loss. And then Texas is assured of a playoff spot. Anything there James? Yeah, I mean, I just I think LSU's got to win, right? Just based off their last home performance. But we thought LSU would have some juice in the building two weeks ago and then Bama just absolutely took the soul out of him. I just Vanderbilt is such a enigma. I really don't know what to think about him this season. You know, they beat Alabama biggest win in program history, but they might still finish six and six. Not if Diego Pavia has something to say about it. Again, as Ian says, let's hope they bring their a game against Tennessee, but LSU. Yeah, I mean, the thing is they suck against quarterback run. That's something to think about that option defense has been terrible. So it's one of those games where it'll be like, who has more to play for? Probably the Vanderbilt. But LSU's got better athletes and you think they kind of have to win. I would not bet that game. I'm not going to touch it with the 10 football, but it should be interesting to see what happens with DK out there. We left Notre Dame for that and now Notre Dame's actually doing better similar to linking rallies situation. We are going to see you tomorrow morning for the round table. That's going to give you all of our predictions of the Texas Kentucky game. We really appreciate you being here today. It's a pleasure to join us at inside Texas.com. There's, I mean, so much coverage of all of this. And as recruiting is heating up, I know our staff over there with Justin with coach with Eric and with Joe is just kind of on fire. You guys are absolutely killing it. So we want to thank you guys so much for being here and we will see you tomorrow for our round table.
Things are happening! The last regular season home game looms large in the recruiting home stretch. We grade your bold takes and look ahead to this weekend's SEC Slate.