[Music] how we doing IB Nation Sports Talk up rolling on a Thursday afternoon along with Jesse Styers I'm Sean sty driving the ship getting us a little bit closer to Northern Illinois on Saturday the home opener for the Fighting Irish Jess I was saying yesterday like to Vince I can't believe now it's late in week two yesterday was the middle of week two of the Season it took forever just to get to week one and now we're almost to the second game already this week has just flown by I think maybe not for you since you've been car shopping and doing other crazy things yeah it has been I'm glad it first of all I had Monday off so like that always help day off I didn't yeah and so I but after that I've been dealing with the insurance test driving cars car dealerships negotiations all that good stuff I would say the only positive out of all that is I've been in and out of work so it's like I've just I haven't had to work physically as much this week because they understand that I'm going through you know the whole uh car business so I can't complain but I I do agree with you back to the root of the question it game week always comes really quick like when Saturday happens I feel like by the time you get to Tuesday you've kind of come down the roller coaster of the of the win and you're like oh wait these guys are now preparing for Northern Illinois this week right so it I like the cycle that we are go getting into especially with the NFL Football starting this evening we just get into a nice cycle of football football football and it seems like game week comes quicker and quicker and quicker I don't doubt that yeah I mean that's that's what happens the season gets rolling and we get on the hamster wheel rabid n Chihuahua says built-in Cowboys noted aim link um he actually went to he he said we play the school Tony Romo graduated from he went to Eastern Illinois not Northern Illinois they actually have a big remember when we went to Eastern illino say I did a baseball uh Camp there they had a uh Shawn Payton went to the same school and on the outside of the basketball Arena next to I guess the football field they had this these huge Romo and Shawn Payton jerseys painted up on the uh on the wall outside of of the building there Browns Cowboys do kick off their seasons on Sunday and after I take in Notre Dame Northern Illinois on Sunday uh Jesse and I will be there in Cleveland for the Cowboys Browns game so uh busy football weekend for us coming up this weekend looking forward to it though yeah and like I was telling you before the show that the temperatures are going to be optimal this weekend in Cleveland it's G be like 65 degrees 430 kick um and it sounds like there's a couple you know Browns fans in the chat if anyone wants to stop by I'm sure we'll be you know kind of downtown hanging out before the game in our Cowboys gear yeah I have no idea are we taking the train down there is that is that what we're doing taking the train home but down to like kind of like the tailgate area we'll probably just take a Uber or just maybe have someone okay drop us drop us off we got to talk about the legistics of that too after the show there's a lot of logistics going on here yeah I have no idea like you're you're handling all the you're my UPS you're handling Logistics this weekend You're just showing up and going along for the ride pretty much pretty much fortunately it's a 430 kickoff so it gives us a little bit of time on Sunday to recuperate and whatever else after a busy day of Notre Dame Football Saturday at Notre Dame speak uh Stadium speaking of which we're gonna get into uh some uh we'll have we've got some comments from Marcus Freeman from his Zoom today of course again you know like the Zoom is never like streamed live to the public and any of that different kind of stuff so um we've got some comments for Marcus Freeman from the zoom this afternoon then we've got some we in we out questions from subscribers and then we've got rapid fire so we've got a lot of great Notre Dame content coming your way so hit that like button as you come into the show tonight on YouTube and of course if you're listening on your good old podcast platform just uh subscribe that's that's the best I can tell you subscribe don't just listen to the podcast subscribe to it and of course rate US and review us as well so the opponent this weekend is Northern Illinois and there I said in my my press conference on Monday they listen they are going to be a confident group um that has history of being really competitive in beating um Power four schools and so uh we're looking forward to to a team to come in here and and be confident be ready to roll they offensively they do so many different things that are going to present a great challenge to our defense in terms of personels and motions and and all the different things that they've done offensively it's really uh been a challenge our defense to prepare for and defensively they they the last year I think there was number one um pass defense and maybe the group of five in top five or six in in all FBS defenses and so um they do some some really good things um third down they are exotic uh on their defense and so our team is understands the challenge and is really putting the work in terms of of the physical preparation uh we have to continue to now make sure our bodies get healed up and we we we don't stop though with the mental preparation of of what this opponent um really the challenges it will bring so looking forward to it uh a great opportunity versus a really good football team and uh our first chance to be in Notre Dame stadium with a a great crowd a great atmosphere I think the defense is what intrigues me I guess the most he talked about they have a history against Power five you know now power four schools previously power five they they've got 18 wins over current power four teams Boston College to open up last year of course Boston College has a new head coach I guess what intrigues me the most is what he was talking about with the pass defense they were number six in the nation allowed a little over 170 passing yards per game not great against the rush though they ranked number 62 and that's kind of like it seems especially with these directional schools like this a ma level School Jess you know I don't know you know number six nationally is is nothing to sneeze at but obviously the bulk of what they did last year was against teams of the same level of competition what do you think yeah I'm going to take that with a grain of salt uh because they're not playing what I would consider you know top end opponents but um I do appreciate Marcus Freeman's mentality because you don't want you have to still treat it like they have you know that that right that sort of prepare your team for that yeah right and I I like the way he's speaking about it I I like the way he's approaching as a head coach because the last thing that that we want is a let down after you know the great performance that we saw against Texas A&M so what do you do you get your guys mentally engaged and you kind of pump into him that rhetoric that he just said you know when he answered that question and just kind of remind them like you know this team is still very solid even though they're not a power for school essentially I mean you got to do the Lou Holtz trick right you know like you gotta you got to you got to build this opponent up make him feel like hey it says Northern Illinois but here's what they do really well they're not going to be a pushover and he talked about the Exotic defense and stuff like that that they play on third down and and I'm sure they will I just have to think that what they saw last week against Mike Elko is probably prepared and that was gonna be you know something that stuck out to me was the Exotic defense comment but like we talked about did a whole whiteboard on last week with that that 505 alignment um the the cold medium and hot pressures depending on how many guys they want to bring and drop into you know Zone coverage essentially I I think you're going to see you know similar if not less kind of from I I can't imagine that Northern Illinois is bringing quite the heat that Texas A&M was bringing right so and that's a good thing to me because I think you're now battle tested at the end of the day right you have the experience against what you would probably consider the best defensive line that you're going to go against this year at the very least maybe a another good good test for the offensive line pass protection part of of what Notre Dame does you know that that kind of stuff still challenging even though not the same level as Texas A&M but its own kind of challenge basically yeah and I think too like another part that plays into this if you're Marcus Freeman is this is still your home opener right like and you're coming off of that Texas A&M when your fans and following are now even more hyped up to see you because of what you did last week and now you get to bring the the show I guess you could say to your own home turf right so I think that is also something that Marcus Freeman is probably emphasizing this week is our fans deserve a good performance right you need to continue and build off of what you did last week I mean look interest is is even higher this week than it was going into last week I think I think that there were probably a faction of fans who are kind of Wai and see in terms of what they were going to do against Texas A&M and if they had lost to Texas C&M they weren't going to be nearly as engaged in this program but I mean just like when I look at just a a basic metric the kind of Interest our shows have had this week on on the the various platforms there have been a lot more people listening to what we're talking about and watching what we're talking about this week even compared to last week after that big win so hopefully you see some carryover from that going into noted am Stadium what do we think should we we make DK a coach out there so DK says my speech if I was Freeman this is their Super Bowl they're going to give you their best it would be utterly disrespectful not to give them your best on the field if you can't your backup will I feel like DK might have gone to uh little chat GPT to concoct that speech I don't know I did that recently um my my the new the new place I'm transferring over to they they asked me to do like this bio about me and I always don't like those things it's like what's sharing too much what's like what are they looking for and so I Naomi was like you should go to chat GPT and just like type in you know like plug in a couple things about you yeah and they put something together nice for me and I just hit copy paste and put it in my Bio Section and called it a day I like it I mean you know it's a bio what what more do you need it's not like you're really cheating by doing that right they just you know I I gave them my interest and they put it in a nice orderly fashion for me Nick said he had a co-writer who used AI to write his self evaluation I like it I mean you're gonna get a glowing review there right right all right so I mean it is still you're you are still going from Texas A&M to Northern Illinois so how do you guard against the let down you it's there's no lack of motivation because all you got to do is watch the game and evaluate the plays and we as a group see the work we have to put in we got a lot of work to do um you know as you look at the outcome of the Texas A&M game that's what you know that's what we want right obviously you want to win the game but when you evaluate you evaluate every play and there's a lot of of different areas and and play specifically that we have to make sure we're improving at and that's as a as a unit on each side of the ball but that's also as individuals and so um we pushed them we had really good Tuesday and Wednesday practice long physical tough um you know I think sometimes getting back here at 4 in the morning and uh you know lack of sleep at times can can have a trickle effect but we couldn't let up and uh we pushed them hard and and I told the coaches we can't pull off the gas pedal and so um they probably were were wondering you know hey are we going to pull back because you know we we had a big win they knew right away that uh we doubled down so it was two really good weeks of uh I mean two really good days of practice and uh now we have to fine-tune some things before we get to Saturday what you think about that pushing them hard I I thought that was really like a an interesting way you know to to basically sort of keep them engaged keep them motivated just push them harder in practice I hadn't really thought about that as a motivational tool but like it did make me think back to my high school days of like probably the best coach that I ever had that was kind of his mentality it's like it's the day before the tournament you know like can we can we you know can we can we back off a little bit of the conditioning at the end of practice no we are not backing off the conditioning at the end of practice we are still going just as hard if it was early in the week or or whatever and it it it definitely keeps you engaged keeps you motivated kind of keeps you grinding a little bit what do you think Jess yeah I like that because when you demand more out of your players all you have as a response is to answer the call right and so if they're demanding more out of them and saying hey you know what we it's not enough to beat Texas A&M and Coast we are going to demand more off of you because we need to continue to build and get better because it's not about again like like I was saying I think on Tuesday you have to drop the names and the faces of who you're playing and the goal has to be you know we need to get better every week if we want to end up at our ultimate goal right because you're against yourself yeah yeah you're not helping yourself if you don't get better this week because you know obviously Marcus Freeman isn't going to say it but the end goal is the is the playoffs right so you want to be at your best top tier topnotch by the time the playoffs come and what do you do you have to continue to grow more every single week and so if Marcus s wants to to demand more out of them I you know I I like that aspect and again when you as a head coach create that culture of we're going to demand more um it doesn't allow the mindset to creep into the players mind that this game doesn't mean as much right because that's naturally what happens when you don't demand as much or you say hey oh it's Northern Illinois this week we don't need to prac that creates a natural mindset for the players and so I think I think overall what I get out of this is I love the evolution of Marcus Freeman as head coach because I don't think he approached these type of games the same way in year one or maybe year two maybe I'm wrong but I still feel like Marcus Freeman has grown as a head coach as well he's a more confident head coach in year three and I think that's led to his team to to trust him more and buy in more um and we saw that confidence when he was coming out of the tunnel right against Texas A&M and I think that's why the players responded so well because he is so confident in who he is as a head coach this season I me he's had great self-awareness all the way along and you know like we've said he's learned in the moment from his mistakes and he hasn't just he hasn't just said well it's early if if we keep doing this it'll get better as time goes on and you know and just keep doing things the same way he's he's been willing to to look in the mirror and and look at the way they've done things week in week out and make changes as necessary as it's gone along I think you're absolutely right about that and usma 87 says Freeman is more the executive leader I would say he is he's he is definitely an overseer but at the same time interacting with everyone you know just like when when the questions about you know all the emotion and stuff last week come up the players this week have have talked about how he's always engaged with them at practice like he comes up and we've watched it as it's happened at the beginning of practice he goes through the stretch lines and he's dapping up and talking to everybody on the entire team as he works his way through every line that's every practice it's not just once in a while and I would say that that is I'm not saying Brian Kelly never talked to anybody but he he doesn't definitely doesn't talk to people in the same way doesn't engage with them in the same way and like just in that very specific instance he never worked his way through the line and was talking to every single person on the team at the start of every practice I mean to me Marcus streaman treats his players like family like they are his sons his brothers you know that sort of situation Brian Kelly treated it like he like these guys are just business associates right like ah I'm talking to you because I have to talk to you like we're here at practice you know like you you do good for me I'll do good for you type situation right he didn't actually buy into them as the player it was more transactional yeah exactly exactly yep exactly that's exactly what it was and there's there's just so much more engagement and buyin with the Marcus Freeman away I like this though from salty you should tell them that if they want a rest post a 30-point lead by halftime it's like yeah I me that's you want a rest get up big and we'll pull you out you know third and fourth quarter and let some of these you know backups get some more playing time yep the starters starters earn the backups the playing time for sure salty wants to know about your new job I mean it's basically the same as the current job it's just at a different place right yeah uh more money technically getting a you know like a a promotion and title as well I right now I'm considered a different responsibilities to an ex yeah senior staff engineer right now but I'll be going on to be a project engineer at this new company so um I'll do I'm going to start getting into the more management of people uh kind of overseeing a group of entrylevel Engineers um kind of do more highlevel design work uh come in kind of when needed and stuff and still have an ult you know ultimately report to my project manager but he's kind of leaning on me to take care of more of like the day-to-day stuff so um really looking forward to it coming soon all right onto a couple players or you know a handful a couple players and one of the position groups before we get to we in and we out Mitchell Evans um little bit of an update on Mitchell Evans 10 snapsy played last week and uh like what is the plan for Mitchell Evans now and going forward well I think you know I think Mitch played around 10 plays um versus A&M and and um he's increased uh the practice uh really the the amount of practice plays that he's been able to do and um he's not a finished product yet uh he he will continue to increase the volume uh that we're asking him um to to be able to do for us on Saturdays um I expect to see a a greater amount of plays in 10 but also um again understanding that he is he's on a progression um to truly becoming uh the best version of Mitch and so um I'm really pleased with with where he's at now where he's progressed to um but also we have to be smart in terms of what our expectations um with a guy that missed a lot of fall Camp um without being able to do everything he practicing fall camp but he wasn't able to do everything so um I don't know uh how many plays he'll play he'll play uh he'll play a good amount but at the same point of view we have to continue to just be on a process to to increase load every single week I do have to say Jess I am a little surprised like I I don't think any of us were really aware that like we knew Evans wasn't at 100% but I don't think any of us knew coming out of camp that he was sort of this going to be this limited early on even if he is still 10 months removed from having the ACL surgery I mean it just feels like take it easy as possible for for the you know at least for for the short term right now what do you think yeah I I like the more cautious approach considering his you know injury background right um and I think when you look at their overall plan and and what's left like Northern Illinois Purdue Miami of Ohio I like that idea of easing him or you know progressing him into the season that way because then you kind of open up you know into the Louisville Georgia Tech like some of your again offer opponents right and so I think this is a good period if you are going to transition and find kind of a progression plan this is the three opponents that I'd want him to do it against right and so I think that also had to be taken into consideration is you know let's let's take a step back and see ultimately who we're facing can we get by with a cocktail of you know Mitchell Evans Eli ran and and Cooper fnn again rather than saying we need to put you know Mitchell Evans out there for 75 80% of the snaps I I think they can still get you know they can they can accomplish what they want by having a a breakdown or an even split between those three guys um and ultimately what that's going to do too is just strengthen the depth of those tight ends for those later games in the season so I think it's a a great plan and I don't think it's something overly to be concerned with I think they're just trying to look longterm and Mitchell Evans health and like what's going to be best for him right and it just I think we were talking earlier this week we were talking a little bit about EV like back to Patrick Mahomes a few years back when he tried that quarterback sneep and he injured his knee you know like that's like you don't need Mitchell Evans doing the heavy lifting the blocking and and stuff like that if that's not 100% healthy right now and he's and he's still kind of working his way back through some of the soreness and I'm sure from his perspective you know sort of getting comfortable with with what exactly he can do with that thing and you do have the younger guys out there it is still a talented room and like DK says it's fine because it gives younger guys gives the younger guys the Reps and speaking of which um I'm really pleased with the tight ends group as a whole um coach denrock has done a great job with really developing some of those other guys like as Cooper Flanigan and Eli Rens and and they they played really well right and and what we were asked to do um obviously they they have some mistakes as as everybody does but I was really pleased with um how they played on Saturday and pleased with the their progression as football players like um as in blocking and and even in the past game but uh they're really owning the technique and and the the part of playing a tied end that includes blocking and uh I'm excited to see uh what they do on Saturday he did mention you have Davis Sherwood who's more a pure straight up blocking you know like eight back type guy or whatever but you do have another body for that for that purpose if you need the extra blocking body well again I like the idea of stripping these guys down to their fundamentals and giving them the the you know the time to kind of mature as a tight end because you know the NFL has spoiled a lot of guys you see Travis Kelce you see you know Ken Cade leaport um you know mayor all these guys want to split out and be you know detached from from the line and basically be a bigger bodied little bit slower wide receiver out there but I I like what Marcus streaman is saying in order in my opinion I think it's 5050 you have to block as well as you catch the ball as a tight end so I I really like the idea and that's what these guys need the most work on Redan um and and Flanigan they can't just be guys that that are going out there to catch passes um especially when you're trying to run these power schemes with you know Riley Leonard you have great running backs like Jeremiah Lovin Darian price you need those tight ends to be able to block and also get up to the second level and seal off linebackers and space so I I I really think this is a good time for them to to kind of like he was saying strip down get to the fundamentals of being a good blocking tight end I think that you know like DJ says the tight ends need to block better I think that how we evaluate really everybody across the board because of the drop in the level of competition that they're playing like everything should look better this week whether it's blocking you know off by the tight ends the offensive line the passing game you know all these different things everything should just look a few degrees better than what it looked against bigger and better athletes last week against Texas A&M and if it doesn't then I think we can have start to have a a much more critical conversation about some of these things whatever deficiencies might pop pop up out of a game against a team like Northern Illinois agreed another good point by usma says can you imagine when Louisville comes to down in Evans is 100% because there's Limited film of him in Den Brock's offense and things get fun at that point yeah I mean hopefully he is 100% at that point because then that just becomes another weapon you can deploy in a lot of different ways if he's healthy by that well I'm just curious because I I've said it and I think it's been confirmed to some degree nerame nerd Dame's offense was tailored to what they were trying to accomplish at Texas A&M now you have right you have Miami Purdue or sorry Northern Illinois Purdue and Miami of Ohio right I don't think Mike denrock still is going to really open up the Playbook right there's still going to be a progression to when they get to the Louisville the Georgia Techs the USC's the Florida states of the season I think you're going to see a natural progression into the Playbook kind of opening up and then to kind of go back to what usma was saying by the time we get to you know those kind of bigger power four type games I think that's when you'll truly see you know a Playbook that's opened up because what what what use is there to you know put on film what what you're doing against Northern Illinois right I still think there's there's value to kind of keeping some secrets in the bag essentially exactly but Northern Illinois same same deal they they beat up on Western Illinois last week so I'm sure that there's there are some things that they're going to try to throw at Notre Dame early on that that Notre Dame didn't get a chance to see last week but yeah you're you're exactly right like there's there's probably a pretty small percentage that we would expect to see these next three weeks before they play Louisville at the end of the month DJ wants to know how you politely tell the person near him to shut up because he's listening to IB and I think someone already made the comment about the wife uh headphones do make a nice option though if you got a you know a decent pair of headphones that you don't have to worry about any of that kind of stuff there's nothing worse than the guy that constantly wants or or gal that constantly wants to talk to you in the office when you got the headphones on it's like I have headphones on for a reason please leave me alone yep that's Brian in the Press Box basically he puts the headphones on just to uh avoid some of that DK wants to know if you're going to use whiteboard in your new work meetings so I've um I think the biggest thing that I want to do since I'm going to be like kind of like I said stepping into that mentoring managing role is you know find ways to be relatable before we get into like the nitty-gritty of like you know this is what we need to do in terms of work and so maybe a fun idea is you know take everyone to the conference room and say hey you're a football fan let me see you draw up uh let me see you draw up a little play here on the board for me and see what you got yeah little challenge a little daily challenge DJ says he has earbuds in then at that point you need to get the uh the airpods I think because they have like the noise cancellation you got to get the sign that says like on air do not disturb yeah at that point you might just need to always at a restaurant you might just need to you know like put on a cone of silence around your head or something one final thought from Marcus Freeman on the continued development of Viper defensive end Jordan Batello good god-given ability he has a lot of natural Talent um what I've seen him be able to do in my four years here is is turn Talent into actual skill set and that that is because of preparation and the work he's put into it um and I think obviously being in year three of of coach Golden system and and understand exactly what is expected out of him um and and what's expected out of him in in each defense that we call um really it shows into the game and so yes Tyler he has great talent man he is a talented football player but he talent and skill are two different things and that's what you've seen Jordan be able to do is develop his talent into true skill that is now becoming production uh for this defense I mean skill versus talent I I still need to see it on a consistent basis we've seen it for one game albe it against a good opponent do you think that he's actually caught all the way up to the skill or do you need to see more as well no I need to see more I'm a man of consistency um not a lot of variability I don't want to see you detract from the mean right in in terms of having good games um but I I agree that I think we're seeing a more focused and committed Jordan batell someone who is you know committed to developing his his skill his his overall kind of tool set it's not it's not just Raw Talent anymore and a body that's kind of slightly out of shape like he is taking it seriously um he is in like Marcus Freeman said year three of a defense that is you know sophisticated to a degree um so I think all those things are are boating well for him and I think you know he had good examples in front of him throughout those three years of what it takes to be good right and so I I think kind of finally maybe getting humbled a little bit once he gotten the opportunity and and realizing you know this is what I need to do to refine my skill and not just you know Talent refining Talent into skill um has done him wonders but these are the type of games that are really going to show it because it's easy to get up for Texas A&M but can you do the same and and be locked in against the opponents like Northern Illinois Miami Ohio Etc yeah and I mean this kind of piggybacks get to DJ's question first like what percentage do you think he's improved I mean if I'm just going to last year again it's one game you know 10 15% if I'm going to just I think it's hard to put really an exact number on it if I'm going off two years ago I'd probably say 30 40% but again we're basing it on one game need to see some consistency to you know to really I think get the answer to that question and thanks for the Super Chat by the way I still like I don't know I'm just gonna say Relic Relic is that what it is yeah so thanks for the Super Chat he says I'm curious what's one aspect of the team SL program or a player you two disagree on to me this weekend is really important to see what they look like against lesser talent I definitely agree with that and that's kind of what we've been saying I think I mean I don't know what we necessarily disagree on I mean we haven't gone down the list and checked off the boxes like this is my take on this and you know do you agree you know I don't know like what so I go what what do you think about what he said yeah I to start I I have to kind of echo what you're saying how they play against lesser Talent is huge and it it's been something that has you know slowed down or hindered Marcus Freeman early on in his coaching career um but if he's you know overall matured as a player or sorry as a coach you would hope that in year three we we no longer see those sort of issues right um well and I had kind of like Blended I think when I've thought about it Blended the first two years together in terms of how you know they did against teams of lesser competition but when you look back the struggles were really year one because then I went back and when you look at how the games played out last year I mean they pretty much dominated every team that they were supposed to dominate and then they lost to Louisville and Clemson and you know and obviously they lost to Ohio State as well and uh so you know I think that skewed things a bit but they did take care and you know not just beat but beat handily all the other teams that they were supposed to beat last year so now you have to make sure that continues you can't just say well that's taken care of but again like the way they approached practice this week by turning up the heat and going intense on Tuesday and Wednesday and then kind of giving them Thursday and Friday to recover a little bit going into game weekend but the way they approach those things you know let's stay competitive we you know we've got to hit this hard for a couple days to make sure that we still have your attention and you're going to be focused on this opponent I think that that is a u you know a really good thing to hear that that's the approach that they took this week yeah and to just kind of go to the first part of the question I don't really see playerwise like when you look at the depth chart I don't look at it and say ah this guy should be you know maybe playing instead of this guy I think they've done a good job offensively and defensively of constructing that roster of you know guys who ultimately should be playing and I think the only position that you could potentially question is the offensive line but to me that's out the window because they performed well against the Texas A&M team right and so in terms of the offensive line you just want to see continuous growth you know against against Northern Illinois I thought it was great that they ended up not giving up any sacks I know it helps when you have Ry Leonard as your quarterback but still no sacks were given up there was no freebies no you know quick shots and and it's not like Texas A&M wasn't bring in heat right like they were they were dialing up a lot of different blitzes so you know but again I think that the I think that we get a lot more answers about this group this week if that's the case you know because of the unique game plan that they talked about if you're if you're approaching it where you're going to take some some shots downfield what you know what does the pass protection look like when you're essentially act to asked to block twice as long as you were last week against Texas A&M like how does Anthony knp look at there and and you know and again like gotta remember Anthony knp to an extent that was a decision but it was also a decision that was forced on them because of the injury to jagas saww so it's not like they went out of their way to start Anthony nap they were they were put in that position because the guy who was going to start was injured a week into camp yeah and I would I would say too I'd like some of the run run blocking to be cleaned up there was a couple times where it felt like you know some like Texas A&M guys were in the back field and there were definitely you know some runs for loss at at some point in the game right like the running backs had kind of nowhere to go mean naturally that stuff's going to be you know cleaned up but didn't you think that there were also times when the the running back could have hit a hole a little bit quicker and not move laterally in the back field you know like they they they let some of that Texas A&M get to them because they were a little indecisive on where they were going to go just getting out of the back field and through a hole I do I I do agree I think sometimes you just got to hit the hole hard and and not you know be so much worried about they being the perfect hole right like we saw that these guys can hit creases and that's really all that they need and I'll even kind of go a little bit further I thought there were a couple times where ND Dame set up some really good screens on the perimeter um and rather than kind of trusting the blocking and cutting inside um they they chose to kind of go towards the sideline and that's that's just never a no no because you're going to run out of room at some point and and again I think there were multiple screens where had they just kind of waited that Split Second and got inside rather than getting kind of you know horizontally and going to the sideline that it was uh uh a better decision yeah I don't know exactly what the uh conversation is here some people are someone claimed that Texas andm ended up with a sack and and someone else is saying no sack and then you know I don't know which one it is but I thought I thought there was no sacks given up by no there were definitely on the uh yeah I'm I'm still looking I I just went and looked at the season stats because the game stats said that there were no sacks um I'm looking at the season stats that Notre D has posted on its website and the only sack in the game was the sack that was credited to Howard cross Texas A&M not credited with a sack according to Notre Ames official season stats up on the website but I don't remember where there ever would have been like the only thing close was like Riley Leonard was like Leonard was tackled for a one-yard loss but the one that I remember he was he was running F you know like he was close to the line of scrimmage you know obviously he was within a yard of the line of scrimmage because he lost only a yard but it was a run play I believe it was credited as a tackle for loss and not a sack that's the only one that I remember but but is what it is at this point Thank You Paulo 27 uh he said the Whiteboard was so good he had to watch it twice from the other day much appreciated let's go to we in we out we got some good questions here tonight Jess from our subscribers on the new Champions Lounge so that's where you put in the questions for we in we out Leon fart says we in we out gerby Lambert makes his way into the starting lineup before the end of the year not due to injury in or out on that Jesse uh I'm going to say out I don't think he's going to pass up nap and I unless Amil Wagner does something catastrophic I think I think they're pretty set and I think if there were any question like the only way that this could be a possibility in my opinion is if they had a complete utter you know bad performance against Texas A&M but I think everyone was very pleased um obviously there's still stuff to work on but I think they're set with the group that they have I think so as well I know Marcus Freeman has said what's Best in game one is not necessarily what's going to be the best for the middle of the season but I am out on this as well just because they never would have started a true freshman and a red shirt freshman on the left side of the line together in that road environment if they didn't think that they're more than just a one game answer I think like if a one game answer is like you stick with the veterans you stick with either cougan or Spindler and you put TSH Baker out there and then you make changes after that so I don't like that that doesn't mean that gerby Lambert is not going to develop but if this is not due to injury I'm G to be out and say that the guys who were starting there Wagner on the right and nap on the left will remain the starters but again you know we are going to find out more about these guys over the next three weeks and exactly exactly how good they are or aren't from man we got some really creative handles tonight Michigan can suck it we in we out if Notre Dame starting offensive line is healthy this year there'll be a Joe Moore award finalist in out on that so is is finalist like the final five yeah that is like you make it to the end before the winner is crowned they were a semifinalist last year I'll just say we in for the fun of it because I think that you know they they did well against Texas A&M if they if they protect R Leonard and continue not to give up that many sacks um if they're able to you you know have the kind of Run game that they did also you know they nerame rushed for a lot of yards in that game against Texas S&M so if they can can continue to combine you know that sort of power Run game not a lot of pressure sacks given up then then yeah I I would have to because again that's the best defensive line that they're going to face this this season and so you know there's going to be other good ones but nowhere near as good as Texas A&M and they're gonna have some good opportunities against the Miami of Ohio's Northern Illinois Purdue Navy like there's going to be a lot out there to to kind of put some meat on the resume so again I to me it's like a tossup but for the fun of it I'll go we in I'm going to go out I just think that like when you look at last year's line which again had two NFL tackles starting on it won a top five pick if all they did was get to the semifinals on a on a team that scored the kind of points that it did and did everything last year if that's as far as they could you know now some of it is relative because it's you know it's like this year's line is not competing against the competition of last year's line it's you know a different season and everything but I'm just going to go out I think that they have a chance to be really good some of the competition they fac could skew things be you know because of the numbers and things like that between rushing yards and potential lack of sacks but I'm gonna go out I'm gonna say semifinalist like in that range again as a as a ceiling for this group um I'm not even gonna beat the just a lot of letters there in the handle BC from BV yeah if okay BC from okay BC from BV if Notre Dame can start stretching defenses vertically these two running backs will have monster years and the tight ends will become dominant in out on that BC from BV I love this question because this is a big in for me I mean look what they did against Texas A&M with those loaded boxes like Texas A&M was asking Notre Dame to to throw the ball downfield and beat them so the more you open up that passing game I mean look what love and jadarian price did to these linebackers against Texas A&M right like at the second level against loaded boxes it's only going to get better as as the passing game uh opens up and I do agree too the tight ends will become more dominant because you're going to hit them on those seam seam routes uh those Corner routes like that that Playa did on the Whiteboard the other day where Flanigan got open that's going to be a big Staple in their in their playbook it's just their whole offense the more they can stretch the ball down field the better it's going to be in every aspect and that's basically Next Level it's what we want to see this weekend and if if we see anything short of that I think there's going to be some frustration next week but I'm definitely in on this it it just the more vertical they can get the more it opens everything up from Riley Leonard's running to the running backs running and like you said the tight ends as well and you know again like we haven't even seen a completely healthy Mitchel Evans yet so rule 34 artist says we got a bunch of downhill run block blockers on the offensive line I do agree they are better run blockers than they are pass blockers but this isn't a problem in my opinion because look at how much they wore on Texas A&M by the time the fourth quarter come by the time the fourth quarter came they they won that game in the fourth quarter because they were dominating in the Run blocking and allowing their running backs to you know to hit some holes so I I'm I'm all for that and I know that's the identity Marcus Freeman wants too he wants them to move the line and be able to run the ball I had a sneeze coming on and and I'm trying to hold it off right now and I think they're again I think because of who they're going to play they're going to have a chance to to sort of organically get better as pass blockers as well because they're just not going to sit like Louisville is the next time they could see anything close to what they saw against Texas A&M in terms of the kind of pressure they're going to get and that kind of stuff DJ a simp handle says we in and we out and jelly enters the game in the last four minutes of the third quarter going to say we out I think the starters will be in the the entire third quarter I think I think Marcus reeman is still you know based on his comments this week I still think he wants to see a lot out of his team um and I think you naturally you know to me I'm this early in the season I'm I would more so lean lean on we need to get our starters that good game value valuable experience even if you're kind of dominating um so I I see it more as a fourth quarter thing I'm gonna say in I think that if they're up by four plus touchdowns or maybe north of four touchdowns by late in the third quarter I think they will make that switch and you know Leonard's history also plays into this as well so I I think how long do you want to keep that guy in there you know you don't want him in there any longer than POS possible yep yep yep yep so I'm gonna go in on that Billy Napier doesn't last the season at Florida in or out um is his contract up this season no he signed through 2028 I was gonna say I thought it was longer that's a lot of that's a lot of years to pay yeah let me look at let me look at Florida's schedule again four more years to pay if you're G to get rid of Billy Napier it's not a cheap clip either but that's their fault you know for for giving him that kind of contract and Andrew says 25 million is his buyout I'm gonna say I'm gonna say out I think he does last through this season I think he's got this season and next season to get it turned I I think that he is at best a seven this turns into some total disaster this year if he starts losing to Samford and UCF and you know Florida State at the end of the season I don't I see this team as you know probably uh a seven and five type team right like eight and four is probably the best that they're going to do um and with that buyout I just I don't think that they're going to can him this soon but if he has another mediocre season next year um then definitely I if if he doesn't make a bll game this season then I think there that that he could probably be done at the end of this season but right I don't see a mid-season boot quite yet I don't either Antoine says he's in with Angeli being in in the third quarter with six minutes left so DJ says four minutes anine says six so do we need to set an over under on the minute Mark that sound like we need to jelly will be in sounds like it in or out both love and price have a thousand yards from scrimmage this season this is an easy in for me because between receiving and rushing I definitely think they both get a thousand yards from scrimmage that obviously doesn't mean rushing but rushing receiving combined I'm I'm in on that for sure um I'm one second I'm gonna say definitely on Jeremiah Love ah jadarian price jadarian price going to be close I don't think he's gonna be a thousand yard rusher I I don't so I'm gonna have to say he's gonna catch some passes as well he'll get some here and there but I mean that that means he's got probably you know like what's let me pull out a calculator real quick on my computer I think we need to we probably should revisit this next week because I think they're both going to have really big days Saturday so he only needs that's only 80 yards from scrimmage every game between in pass or receiving I just don't know if both those guys are going to be close to 100 yard rushers every game I know that they're going to get split carries I know Jeremiah Love gets help because he gets receiving yards but I it's gonna be really close I I think iian price is gonna bust runs all year again against this schedule look at the look at the look at the run that he had against Texas A&M for the so my question BEC gonna be common you're GNA see a lot of those runs from both of those guys this year my question becomes though when they get into blowout situations do they do they do they is that mean it's you know Devin Ford and anas Williams time or does jarian price still get some of that mop-up Duty with the second string offense that's the only thing I'm worried about is when they start blowing some of these teams out are they both coming out or is just love coming out like who's if jarian price is saying on the field for you know the whole game and all these games I definitely think so but if he gets pulled out with love I have a harder time believing so I don't think he will stay in for the whole game but I could see him getting an extra series or two maybe after love is done as they're working in anias Williams and maybe kedrin young and and that kind of thing so I'm going in you can stay out if you want I'm I'm going in on the because again like don't just jadarian price as a pass catcher either I mean he's not going to have massive receiving numbers but I could see him having around 150 or so yards at the end of the year which means all he has to do is get to 850 in rushing and then like you said you know like what's that what's the simple math on that he's gonna have a couple hundred yard rushing games this year at least book it book it these are one of those things that we need to we need to go to like the the TNT the Charles Barkley guarantees where uh Ernie Johnson writes him down on sticky notes you need a sticky note board come on fool you need a sticky note sticky note board for all of these these predictions especially for Vince maybe you should get the sticky note board okay Domer Grizz the defense not allowing by the way your dogs are mad at you for having the wrong answer on that question the defense not allowing any explosive plays of 20 plus yards is a bigger deal than the offensive line not giving up sacks that's what was against I'm I'm assuming he means last week against Texas A&M in or out on that so I I think these have equal weight but I'm going to have to say out because we know how good the defense is we don't we didn't know how good the offensive line was and how they would respond at Kyo fields and I to be honest with you I wasn't sold on wigman either you know like he got all this hype I I I needed to be bought in right I I expected more of what Notre Dame did and would have been more surprised if they would have had the 20 plus yard play so I'm just gonna have to say we out and I I'm gonna say I'm I think it's a bigger deal what the offensive line did I'm out because I said going in again if you listen to the IB countdown to kickoff show explosive plays and the team that was going to be able to make explosive plays I felt like was going to be a big factor in this game so now if you just say was it a factor that A&M didn't hit explosive play sure it was a factor but I I felt like Notre Dame between the two teams was going to have the much better chance because of the kind of players they have I I felt like they were going to have the much better chance to hit the explosive play so I think that again in a close game ultimately the offensive line that young offensive line not giving up sacks was uh was a was a bigger deal last week what was that I missed that the sticky notes board is already full from stuff with Vince yeah all of Vince's absolutes are up on the sticky note he needs to be held accountable to his his success rate on those on those those type of situations Joe Allen with multiples in or out Northern Illinois will have fewer total yards than Texas A&M and I believe A&M had um what did they have 240 some yards last week 246 yards is what they had last week so well Northern Illinois have fewer than 246 this week and they had over 700 yards against Western Illinois last week but Western Illinois is not Al Golden's defense so I am in on this as well I think that they'll be right around 200 total yards in that ballp Riley Leonard will left 225 passing yards and 75 rushing yards with three total TDS between passing and rushing in or out on that I'm out I'll take the 225 passing I will not take the the over or the 75 and over rushing uh he had 12 carries for 63 yards last week I think that the goal this week would to not be to run him as as much I think you're going to allow him to kind of recover in a sense I still think you might see a couple here and there um and then the total touchdowns I I would set the line at two and a half I think that's a tough number um I think we're GNA see some touchdowns in the air this week I I think it's a matter of you know does he get a rushing touchdown or not or maybe he gets three passing touchdowns you know what they're gonna put up a lot of points I'm gonna say in on this one oh you tucked yourself into it after the only one I'm not gonna buy is the 75 rushing yards I mean that's the one for me because I think that like the only way that he gets the 75 rushing yards is if there's some pressure and or just a big one yeah that's what what I was in the process of saying he takes off and there's a big long run and that gets him either 75 you know all at once or you know a majority of the 75 because I just don't think we're going to see I don't think they want him running as much this week I think they want him kind of working on that passing game and doing that so I do think the passing yards will be up I like the touchdown number I agree with what you said like two and a half is the perfect over under number on that I just don't like the rushing yards because because I I just don't think that that's what they I don't think that's the game plan this week I don't think they want him running as much and uh finally in out two and a half is a good over under set for interceptions for this game and say in I mean they created two off of wigman last week um I I think we're starting to get spoiled right we're just assuming interceptions um but maybe maybe you could say one and a half but I have a good idea you know they if they do what they're supposed to they're gonna have to Northern Illinois is gonna have to start passing the ball Notre Dame's gonna really get into some nice coverages on the back end um and I think torment him so I I think two interceptions is almost a lock and three is a a definitely a good you know maybe so yeah I agree two and a half yeah so if you're setting the number two and a half is the perfect number to set it at I think they've got a really good shot of getting at least two then the question will be can they get the third so see stack fumble oh I would be in on that I love a good strip sack fumble return for a touchdown there's nothing better there is nothing better yeah I would like to see more pressures this week out of the defensive line I do agree with that yes another one from DJ in or out the Irish set the this is Powerhouse tone with a 33 plus Point win this gets into kind of final score predictions but I will I'm gonna say we in because the line right now I saw was 28 and a half I think of most recent um I think they're going to cover that and again that means that they're probably going to be up you know between the the 30 35 Point maybe even 40 Point range so and I think angelli still can lead a really good potent offense if he's getting in there I mean we saw it in the bll game Victory so I'm gonna say we in I think this is definitely a 30 point plus win I'm in as well I'm trying to remember exactly what my prediction was where I put notd Ames points but it is right around this ball part so I will go for it I will say in on this I think it's it's gonna end up being pretty lopsided oh man I always love everyone's bold predictions for scores against these type of opponents well you just allow yourself to get let down in some regards especially if if if you know theme and and common trends of the past are are going to kind of continue to hold true you know it's it is important to remember there were a lot of people predicting a lopsided win for Notre Dame last week right as well so take the rosecolor glasses off take the Shamrock colored glasses off and you know but uh I mean this week obviously a lot more reason for that kind of optimism bracketed cover three in or out Riley Leonard is invited to New York at the end of the season that would be for the Heisman Trophy ceremony how many guys get invited five it depends on the voting you can have like it's it depends on how the voting the voting sort of clumps up like if you have four guys who are close together you could have four I think that I think that four is the limit I don't know if they've ever had five you know or it could be as few as three like if there's a big drop off between the third vote getter and the fourth vote getter I'll say in because I think Notre Dame is gonna you know knock on wood they're they're going to have an undefeated season they're going to host a playoff game that's largely going to you know the quarterback is what gets you the national attention and I think is Riley Leonard as long as he keeps up some passing numbers and they start to open up the the you know the passing game I think that'll ultimately get him you know the Heisman bit if he can be that true dual threat quarterback guy who can give you you know 50 plus yards on the ground a game at minimum over 200 passing yards a game at minimum um and they have the success that we think they do I think it's hard to turn down someone like him especially when you're the quarterback at Notre Dame I am in kind of for DJ's reasoning 12-0 Notre Dame quarterback is getting votes you're right you know it didn't help Ian book out that much but at the same I think he's better than book yeah I exactly I think you're G to see more highlight plays of him actually doing things that that are going to help him out I do think that it helps a little bit anyway that there was a lot of national Spotlight on the Texas A&M and people were watching that game a lot of the ESPN people were obviously there I am a little concerned just you know in terms of you always talk about that Heisman moment basically his best chance for that based on the schedule is not going to come until the very end out at USC Thanksgiving weekend like that will be kind of it because again you know like there aren't those there aren't those big kind of hurdles to clear in this schedule you know but I I'm I will say in because I do still think he's going to have a big season and he plays for Notre Dame and there'll be a lot of attention that comes with it in or out defensive end Bryce young I think that's who he meant he said Bryant because you know Bryant's son Bryce um defensive end Bryce Young's reps increase in every game making him an impact player at some point during the season I think his reps might increase naturally because of the kind of opponents that they're going to play but as of right now RJ Obin and Josh Burnham are onew for a reason like Burnham was seeing considerable playing time last week and he looked play well too yeah now like RJ Obin kind of flew beneath the radar a little bit javante John Baptist didn't you know like the world on fire the minute he came in last year either I think Obin was solid last week and he'll he'll continue to play you're going to see more of young because he's part of the rotation and because he's going to have late opportunities in some of these games over the next month or so yeah I say I I'm in on rep's increase but I'm out on kind of impact I don't think he's goingon to be an impact player quite yet right you know again like Andrew says if if Obin continues with the disappearing act remember it's one game it's one game it was Texas A&M he's going to have some opportunities to you know to to continue to play so don't don't don't write him off after one game in or out the Northern Illinois quarterback is a greater threat throwing and running than wigman of Texas A&M I'll have to go out because Hampton the Northern Illinois quarterback had a nice 300 yard passing game and five touchdowns last week but he doesn't run much so I'm gonna go out on that I think I think the running will actually be less than wigman and they tried to run wigman a little bit last week Tommy okay we in or we out College power five only fantasy football but instead of drafting individual players you draft different or the same teams whole position group starters and all backups on both sides of the ball what do you think about that I'm out I I think NFL fantasy drafts is enough for me um to keep up with and I think it's that's just something that the pros should I can't even bet on college player props right now in the state of Ohio so the last thing I'm concerned about is a college fantasy football team yeah I'm going to go out on that as well drafting the entire position group you know he says example Notre Dame's quarterbacks Ohio State's safety Southern Cals receivers that might get a little bit complicated at that point in or out the bo show will once again shine even brighter and Notre Dame's top as Notre Dame's top pass catcher this week I'll say out on this week because I think you're going to see more you know like Faison's going to be out so I think you're naturally going to see I think you're GNA see more of that younger coure and I I think Riley Leonard really leaned on Bo in those big moment High leverage situations because he's experienced wide receiver um in the room but I will say I I I might be in on this of him being top pass pass Catcher by the end of the season not not maybe for this game but I think end of the season it's going to be between him and great house I do too I think that like when you look at how the snap counts came out last week I think those two are going to have the most production this season and I'll just I'll just say yeah to Bo Collins because I think that he will be he looks like he's option number one right now and I think that his experience his Savvy his route running all those different things like what uh connection Riley Leonard has with any of these guys I think that that maybe he's got a little bit more with Collins because of Collins experience and that's part of why you saw him go to Collins there late in the game I mean he went to great house as well for a big catch they obviously scheme that sucker up though so I I'll say yeah I I think that I think that that ultimately Bo Collins is going to be the leader of the pack again one game gonna be a concerted effort to get great house more into the mix this game okay all right we shall see that salty salty getting a little salty getting a little defensive there that we lurking in my window somewhere what's going on right now in or out the following scores by quarter this Saturday 17 nothing 27-3 44-3 54-10 not Point scored each quarter but that'll be the score at the end of each quarter I mean I have to say out because that's statist like if this happens that's like a one in you know like the the odds of predicting the exact score every quarter is kind of nuts but I like the progression I'm seeing here um I don't agree I don't think I don't think Northern Illinois is gonna score a touchdown to be honest with you really okay no I don't think so I mean I have them scoring a touchdown but I did kind of like go back on myself and like do I really think that they're going to score a touchdown will they even get a field goal you know like I don't think that they're going to score a touchdown they might get a couple field goals uh so I do see it touchdown in there so I'm going to say out and I don't know if no Dame puts up to 50 Burger either so I I I I I don't know I see like a 40 to 40 something to six type score yeah like I I'm out as well because I think that they score in the 40s but I don't have them getting to 50 either like you're maybe a touchdown touchdown and a half they I'll tell you this the only way they get to 50 is if the defense creates some like pick sixes or like fumbles that go for a touchdown like there's going to have to be more than just the offense scoring in points if they if they get to 50 JG young JG ytown maybe Youngtown I don't know Youngstown in or out Notre Dame will leag college football and takeaways this season uh they'll be up there um I'll say outs I think it's hard like that's it's hard to be the best it's probably gonna be some let me see if I can find it real quick I've got like the uh the national stat page pulled up here oh let me see passes interceptions I don't see total takeaways on this what I was going to say it's like it it feels like it's like a smaller school you know that would end up with that I'm gonna go out I'm just going to say out I'm in on top five I think yeah I I think that they can be up there in terms of the high national leaders but I think they could be one of the leaders in thep in the power four as well sure I would agree with that as well also in or out the running back room will rush for over 3,000 yards I'll say out you think if you included Riley Leonard maybe this question does include Riley Leonard you might get closer to 3,000 that's a big number I just looked at last year they had 2400 and that was between everyone wide rece anyone who had a rush they only had 2400 last year I know jadarian price will have a better year um but I mean that's I think that's assuming those guys are both over a thousand and Riley Leonard's pushing 7800 himself so I just think that's a big number and I was looking okay so Liberty led the nation in interceptions last year bowling green was fourth Fresno State four you know so like you get a lot of these smaller schools in there and then in terms of fumbles recovered Navy is number two Syracuse three Troy four you know it's just it's very random it seems like but um in terms of the running backs I I've got to go out on that that's a little bit too hot you know again I think that like like what were we the question before was do they both get a thousand yards from scrimmage and you were out on that I was in on that but I mean that's only 2,000 plus yards right there I think that running for 3,000 well I mean I guess when you throw the entire room in there I I just I don't I don't see it because Riley Leonard's going to take away some of that I think that that's the numberers just too big Played Like A Champion today in or out Adon Schuler was profoundly underrated by most noted aim fans when he signed IB had him the second to last ranked defensive recruit for noted aame in his class for example so you in or out on that I don't think he was I don't think anyone at nerame is profoundly underrated um I don't know I it's hard for me to say in say he was underrated but profoundly underrated maybe a little bit too far I would agree with that again I the the recruiting stuff I I'm more so like once the guys are here and playing right like I maybe if you you could say that you didn't expect him to have you know be a starter this early and have this kind of success sure uh but I mean if you're coming to play at Notre Dame I think you're doing something right so I agree with that I agree with that I think that they saw you know the level of skill that he had they and you know like we were talking about him earlier this week and Marcus freem was talking about him earlier this week with like just what you know what they saw from him you know in terms of the uh you know his his ability and you know both ability in a high school and you know like just to be around the ball both both his Instinct his skill level the whole thing I I think that they felt like you know was he rated as high as he should be maybe not but he's developed since he got here and that's what you're looking for too in or out the Notre Dame offense offense and de he he basically said the same question for both the offense and defense so I'll just read it once you can answer you know both of them under Dame offense and defense will play focused and perform well this week avoiding a post A&M letdown so are you are you confident that both sides of the ball are going to play well and avoid that let down yeah I'm in on that I'm in on it as well I'm especially in on the defense I think the defense is going to Feast I you know I do still I have some question s about the offense just in terms of you know what that's going to look like Riley Leonard as the passer and the offensive line pass protection and stuff like that I still think they'll perform pretty well but I've got enough you know I do have like little kind of nitpicking maybe questions but I will go in on this he also says Notre Dame will play well enough this week to look good receive positive National media attention and for the second team to play the entire fourth quarter in or out on that I'm in on that I think they're going to do a lot of good things I don't know about National media attention you only get media attention when you do bad playing the big boys yeah exactly you only get you only get media attention in in games like this for a bad reason that's just the way that it is in out the college football playoffs seedings are fundamentally flawed by gifting not only a bye-week to the top four Conference Championship game winners but also gifting them the top four seeds while it usually makes sense for the top four seeds to get the buy the committee rer ranks teams after the conference championships a number one overall Notre Dame team which stays number one overall even after Conference Championship weekend should play the extra playoff but still be AE of a conference Champion which is four or five in or out on that I'm just gonna go I know what you're saying but I'm G to go out because Jack swarbrick helped draft he helped create this format and the reason that this format works is because Notre Dame gets to remain independent you know that's what it comes down to you're giving up a first round playoff buy for the sake of remaining independent and getting you know like that means a lot to noted aame and you get to you know that's the track that you you know get to continue down for the foreseeable future so I've got to be out on that because that was the trade-off you give up a a first round buy and you get to be independent as long as you want to stay independent as long as those other factors that that you talk about the TV contract in a place for the other sports are in play yeah I'm out for the same reasons DK in or out Notre Dame minus 28 I am in on that I'm in on that I've got a lot of points being scored in this game over under 45 I am over now I have Northern Illinois scoring a little bit more than you it sounds like so it sounds like you're probably right on this number 45 yeah I'll go over but just barely yeah I'm I'm definitely over Riley Leonard 300 passing yards I've got to be out on that I don't know I don't know I think I'm seeing 250 as a ceiling for this game might even be a little lower again like just depending on how this game plays out because I think the running backs are both going to have big games and I think he'll get his passing yards but I don't think that he'll get to 300 out I think that it's around 275 okay so you see 275 I see 250 is the ceiling in or out 11 price 250 combined rushing yards out going under yes going under I'm going to be out as well I think it's a little too high like 200 is probably where I would be right around 200 for my combined total for those two over under three plus turnovers uh I'll be in I'm in as well Jaden Grouse over under 20 yards under under 20 yards for Jaden great house really I'm going over I think that that great house has himself a pretty solid looking day I I'm gonna over I'm just giving salty a hard time were you surprised like they really didn't for you know like for what they were trying to do in the passing game last week they really didn't use the middle of the field that much did that surprise you at all yeah but I think some route the over the-middle routes kind of take a little bit more time to develop in my opinion so yeah I'm not surprised by that I mean a lot of teams have given up using the middle of the field but I just think that like with a body also middle of the Field's a lot of traffic as well and I think they wanted to limit you know turnovers in a in a in a game that possessions were critical big hit from I am tenzen I am the son of Ang I Am The Last Hope for the air nation in or out someone from the IB team will say my full handle instead of shortening it or saying my username instead I'm in on that as as as we would have it uh oh Salty's here salty checking in together the B show and the great one accounted especially if you add the great one's Pi yards half or more of the teams passing receptions in yardage and were the one-w punch on the game-winning drive this combo will do the same in the majority of games this season we were kind of just talking about this I am in I think that these two guys are going to be the go-to guys in the passing game I think that they are going to be the primaries in the passing game this season yep I'm in on that maybe that changes a little bit when Mitchell Evans is at 100% but in terms of receivers definitely in on those two in or out if Notre Dame blows out Northern Illinois all the linebackers should stay in the game to get reps with maybe the exception of Jack Kaiser um I would say I mean it's hard to say because like their whole like linebacker core is playing regardless like who are you going to put in that that you know like I don't even know who their third string linebackers technically are I I think when you're playing well they're playing technically the third string linebackers all yeah that's what I mean so I I I'm just gonna have to say outs I think this core of linebackers is consistently like there's really no one else behind them you know like I don't know I I I think that when when you're rotating as much them this is the main group you're going to see most of the time I think so as well like maybe you see like KVA out there and Jaden Osberry is next to him for a majority of snaps at the end just because those are the two you know least experienced in ter you know like KVA obviously being a true freshman and Osberry even though Drake Bowen doesn't have much more experience just the fact that Drake Bowen is a little bit higher in the pecking order it seems like in terms of you know his position and the snaps that he got and stuff last week they're just aren't that many other linebackers that they have so somebody's got to stay out there Jesse are you ready for Rapid Fire let's bring this thing home all right so here we go Riley Leonard had 12 carries against Texas A&M last week over under 15 carries for him in the next two games combined I'd have to go under and I think we kind of talked about this in and out a little bit ago um I I think when you're playing teams like this there's no real reason to run Riley Leonard I think you the reason why he ran against Texas A&M is because he needed to run against Texas A&M there were times where schematically it just made sense I mean I just think love and price can handle the the rushing these next few games and I think that the more you can save up those runs for when you need them for Riley lard the better so I think you're going to see maybe even more of a conservative effort to get him to run the ball yes I'm going to go under as well it it is curious that like if you look back at his 2022 stats at Duke if you took any two games backto back there's only one part of the schedule and that is at the end of the season where he had back-to-back games that it didn't add up to at least 15 he had back-to-back games the last two of the regular season that added up to 14 but I think for like this is a completely different situation for him now a much better offensive line a much better running game much better overall skill Talent around him and this game is really the next couple of games but like this one starting with is much more about the passing game and getting that going than it is about him running Andrew says over because he's going to take off against Purdue that head coach has a good defensive mind even if so I mean that's probably 10 to 12 runs like I really don't see is he gonna run less than three then this week if that's I do think so I don't think there's going to be hardly any designed runs for him this week I think it's in his nature though that he's gonna take off a few times that's true I don't know I've seen nothing from Purdue though that convinces me that that like you oh that that head coach is a defensive Mastermind or you know like any of that kind of stuff like he might be but their best player plays for Texas A&M now so you know on the defensive side of the ball so I just I'm not going to buy into that right now now we'll do a obviously deeper dive on Purdue next week and we can talk about that but for now I'm saying don't Notre Dame's chances to go unbeaten this season went from 15.8% to 22.4% after the win over Texas A&M they have the best chance of any team in the nation to go unbeaten so scale of one to 10 how confident are you that they will I'm gonna go nine out of 10 um I don't think I mean I think it's always hard no matter what you know the you know schedule or not um but I think what has me leaning more so more so towards the undefeated is just hearing the way Marcus Freeman is talking and approaching you know the team with these games coming up and I think if he continues that throughout the season and they keep everyone healthy um then I'm I'm at around uh you know eight and a half nine out of 10 I'm at a nine as well I I think that just the way the schedule shapes up and you hit it with the way Marcus Freeman is approaching these weeks I don't think that he is going to let this team let up so I think that they are going to stay on point and sharp realizes the opportunity this season you know yeah like it's a massive opportunity to host a playoff to not just be in the playoff but host a playoff game that to have a chance to win a home playoff game and and you know to move on in the college football playoff and all that kind of stuff this is this is a it's a it's a really big chance for him in year three and again it goes back to why do you go out and get a guy like Riley Leonard from the trans for portal because I do think that they could they they would have at least been in the running for a college football playoff spot even if a guy like Steve angelli is the quarterback this season but I don't think that you're you know you're you're winning playoff games and beating these really good teams without a guy Andrew if I believed in jinxes I would agree with what you're saying he said cut the under defeated talk I swear we're jinxing Notre Dame after only one week I don't believe in announcer jinxes of any kind so sorry sorry Rabin Al says we should pick one or two of these and follow up and see if we got them right we talk about this from time to time like but we never do we always talk about oh we should write these down and see who gets them right but we never do so I am gonna bring the sticky notes I'm convinced I'm gonna order a pad of sticky notes off of Amazon okay you do that you do that Notre Dame has plus 430 odds to get a shutout against Northern Illinois that is actually down from 490 yesterday what is your max wager on plus 430 to get a shut out against Northern Illinois my wages are maybe a little bit higher than most but i' I'd be comfortable with like a $25 bet on that I think I'm 10 you know like 10 10 wins you what 43 bucks or something3 like that I you know because I it's it's so hard to get a shut out like you don't believe that that Northern Illinois is going to get a touchdown but I think they might get a field goal or two I don't know I might have a shut out on on the horizon all you got to do is hit a couple of plays get into field goal range sloppy Joe says a thousand JN says a buck quite the difference sty says the farm you know so we've got quite a range right there in the confident in in the confidence level I mean it's great odds if you're really confident and you've got the cash to throw at it plus 430 would win you something if you throw some big money at it but 10 I think is my limit on that over under 13 and a half points a game that the Notre Dame defense will allow this season do you know what they did last season it was 14 something oh I'm taking the under I am as well just because of the I think the schedule is more favorable this season I think they had some tougher oppon as last season um I I think they have a better offense which I think tends to a better well well-rested defense as well so uh I'm gonna go I'm gonna go under I think they're going to be challenging to be the top scoring defense in the nation this year I mean just look at what they did last week I'm gonna be really curious to see what Texas A&M becomes offensively because after one game a lot of people want to write off completely write off Connor wigman and A&M and and the whole thing it's like oh how good you know it's the typical stuff well how good was that A&M defense or you know that A&M offense though I mean look statistically at Conor Wickman he's had some solid numbers but I just didn't think that he was going to Faire that well against Al Golden's defense and he didn't and if he's not going to that's festar guy out of high school I don't see I I see maybe one other quarterback on the entire schedule fairing that well against al golden in Notre Dame this season so I'm G to go under as well I think they're going to be like I said I think they're going to challenge to be the the top scoring defense in the nation this season this is interesting drock Irish says from on3 nil Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was set to sign with Dick Sporting Goods instead he's bringing his entire offensive line to the appearance on Friday and giving the nil dollars to his teammates that's pretty didn't know that nice very nice I mean he's already got at least a couple pretty nice nil deals set up so but that's I mean hey it's it's the equivalent I guess of of uh buying the offensive line Rolexes or cars or whatever after you win an MVP or the Super Bowl or or whatever the quarterback's got to take care of his offensive line that's the way to go man that's the way to go that's what a leader does right so on the Pat McAfee show the other day they got into a mini debate over whether Notre Dame or Iowa should be considered tight end you Gill said he would like us to refer to them as tight end University a little bit more and they're not though who who is Iowa is period go ahead he said not start listing them off he goes list them off yeah Anthony Fano uh you know Kyle Rudolph I mean I was got I and then I guess there's a guy now that they got uh some Mitchell Evans Evans Mitchell Evans who got hurt last year he goes best T in the country dude last year gets hurt everybody forgets he exist May are we talking about guys being good in college or are we talking about guys who go on to be like all Pros in the NFL cuz I think that's you know they're developed at college so Shane was taking a direct shot at Iowa I sounds like it okay all right uh anyways Notre Dame tight end University that was McAfee and one of his uh co-host producer type guys there kind of going back and forth about that so my question Jess should that distinction if you're going to call it tight end youu or offensive line U or quarterback U whatever it happens to be should that be decided by how good they are when they're in college or how good they are when they you know once they get to the NFL um this is a tough question because I think both like it's really comparable to me um because I think Notre Dame had a better run there for a little bit between you know like Rudolph Carlson Tyler eer Troy Nicholas you know and now you know Michael Mayor recent but then you know recent Iowa has Co K and Iowa's had of more recent George KD TJ haw Noah fence Sam Le pora right like they each have had these kind of runs I I don't know it's hard to say because you know being a good tight end in the NFL can also depend on where you land right like so I think that also plays a part in it I don't know I I I I don't know like I don't know which one is more important because I think I think if you're going to call him tight you know like tight like I said whatever position group it happens to be it's about about how well the school produces the talent to get to the NFL once they get to the NFL that's a different thing you know like what they go on to be in the NFL I think it should be about how the you know how the college how the university de you know recruits develops and produces these guys and becomes the pipeline to get them to the NFL I think that that is the most important thing like the volume numbers that you're sending guys to the NFL at these positions I think that's more important because you know like who knew George KD when he was in college did anybody know his name like WR when he was in college I like this argument because it again it's called tight end you so University right the university is responsible for cranking out you know recruiting developing and getting these guys to the NFL what they do at the NFL is you know kind of on them and the team at that point so I would have to agree I think it's more about the college getting them drafted and getting them to the NFL and if that's the case I believe Notre Dame is tied end you over Iowa yeah I do too I do too like you know again like leapor and KD two big stars but okay that's still just a couple of guys you mentioned hackinson I think that if you look at the last 20 years and look at the consistency that Notre Dame has sent these tight ends to the NFL like Tyler eer didn't have injuries he'd probably still be one of the best tight ends in pro football right now but instead unfortunately his career is over because of U you know the injuries I mean there's still al mack Tommy tremble Durham SMI like Ben koak um all over the NFL these I remember I literally think I counted one year Notre Dame had like at least six guys six tight ends in the NFL at one point you know like and I don't think you could say the same about Iowa I don't I I think Notre Dame had a better stronger period than what Iowa did yep sty says was it Fano that spent a decade or so with the dolphins it was he was drafted by the Cowboys played for Parcels for a couple of years there and then played for a long time with the Miami Dolphins after that Andrew says have the Raiders given up on mayor already bizar they no picked Bowers no they're actually from what I saw they're they're basically just going to go to a lot of 12 Personnel yeah year they're both they're going to use both of them so it was strategic to draft both of them yeah they have not given up on them by any stretch so uh I you know I think Bowers is probably still going to be the receiving you know more the the receiving tight end but they're gonna play mayor out there as well so Peter strager from the NFL network has picked the last three Super Bowl matchups and winners this morning he picked the Packers to face the chiefs with Green Bay going in as the wild card to win the NFC and the Chiefs pulling off the historic three repeat by winning it all in New Orleans you buying or selling that I mean I gotta buy it if he's two for two why what what is there to three for three for three yeah I mean if three if he's three for three who's like I I should probably place my BET right now because there's a good chance that you get good odds if you pick the exact Super Bowl matchup right right so your sneezes have me sneezing now um no but I mean seriously like if you if a guy is batting three for three on something like this why would I disagree and not you know basically say he's gonna go four for four but as soon as I bet on it then it's probably not GNA happen anymore so it's pretty hard to pick against it but at the same time I just I feel like a lot of people have really bought in on the Green Bay Packers and all they've really shown us is one playoff win you know one season with with Jordan love they still don't have a a true wide receiver I'm not completely bought in on their defense being Elite I I like I think my Super Bowl prediction since we're on the Eve here of NFL starting I like the Lions and the Chiefs I think that's more of my matchup than than the Chiefs and that's what I would pick as well because like on the other side the Chiefs as as much as they have dominated and the way the Chiefs got to the Super Bowl and then won it last year I think it's very hard to pick against momes until somebody knocks them off the pedestal I don't think the Chiefs defense will be as good but I think their offense will be better this year I think that Xavier Worthy is going to grow into a Tyreek Hill type role offensively Father David likes the Lions and the Bengals not sure about Joe burrow and the health like he just hasn't been the same the last couple years you were a big Joe burrow guy what happened the injuries he hasn't been healthy yeah I like Joe burough too so Tom Brady makes his NFL broadcasting debut this weekend when the NFL starts there's a lot of talk about whether or not Brady is going to be critical enough since he's played with and against a majority of the current players so my question is is that the number one thing that you need from an analyst for him to be critical of the players or is there anything else that you think is more important I think that uh first of all there's g i Tom Brady will be critical I I think he's done I've seen a lot anything I think he'll be too critical yeah I think that he's been you know on a lot of shows I've seen him on a lot of Clips where he's just talking about the current state of football right and how he kind of disagrees with certain things and how you know a lot of quarterbacks are lazy and they you know they lead their wide receivers into bad situations and you know like that that it quarterbacks they dumb down the NFL right because they want these quarterbacks to play year one rather than learn the system and all that stuff so yeah I think he if anything he'd be over over critical but to me the number one thing as a as a you know listening to the game just be authentic you know be authentic to the moment be authentic to the to yourself to the situation like I don't like anything that feels forced I don't like the you know the over the overdoing it or you know to me and and I don't think this will happen with Brady but I've told you before my number one pet peeve is is the Homer type stuff or like the bias type stuff like I don't want to see a guy who's like you know basically kind of clearly you know rooting for maybe one side or the other just be as authentic and on that middle line as much as possible if you give praise to one team give praise to another team I know you can't find you know a lot of bright spots and maybe a you know a New England and Chiefs matchup right because one team's probably going to blow out the other but just find ways to highlight both teams and be as authentic as possible yeah my thing like being critical of the players is not what I want like the I think the the the first job of the analyst is to as concisely and as accurately as possible boil down the play that just happened like why the play did or didn't work as concisely and accurately as possible that's the biggest thing and now in that they're there's probably going to be some you know critique that comes with it but tell me why the play did or didn't work I mean I I think play in and play out that's the number one thing that you're looking for why it did or didn't work and you know just do it like I said as concisely as you can that's the big thing Andrew says Troy Aman strikes a a good balance I agree with that though he has been more critical in recent years he's become angry Troy sometimes was so I think he just gets disgusted kind of what you were talking about he just gets disgusted with bad quarterback play and I think that you're probably going to see some of that from Tom Brady as well as as an Elita level as he played at I think that you're going to see you know Tom Tom Brady at times maybe just want to throw his hands up in the air and go what the heck is going on here but I think he's going to be really good with his ability to diagnose and tell you you know why things are or are not working well well that's going to do it for tonight Jess we're going to wrap it up with that this evening we've got countdown to kickoff IB countdown to kickoff coming your way tomorrow night the uh the video and the podcast will drop tomorrow evening hopefully quicker than it did last week if uh we can keep Vince in check and you know not make us go back and and you know have to do extra work on the show after the fact so uh tomorrow night look for it appreciate you being here great show um a great questions rather on the we in we out from the new Champions Lounge remember that's where you can uh uh submit them each and every week and we bring them right here thank you very much for the reminder Joe and rabid Nile Chihuahua hit that like button before you leave we appreciate it as always we will talk to you me MX tomorrow IB countdown to kickoff and we'll of course have the postgame show this weekend and IB Nation Sports Talk Back live in full Monday we will talk to you then have a great weekend IB ation Sports Talk boom