Coop's Corner: The Real No. 1? | Ducks Down Bad

Cooper Petagna: Week two of the college football season is officially in the books. And although it may be September, starting to feel a lot like Arch Madness. Meanwhile, out west, things take a turn for the worst. As Dan Lanning and the Ducks suffer a huge loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater. What's up, guys? I'm Cooper Patagna. Welcome into Coop's Corner. We've got a great show for you today and a lot to get to. So let's take a look at that menu. I mentioned Texas with a huge victory at home over number one Ohio State behind 21 unanswered points in the second half. Texas, you have to wonder, are they now the best team in the country? We will also take a look at the most embarrassing loss in Dan Lanning's tenure as Oklahoma State knocks off the 24-point favorite Oregon Ducks in Stillwater. What went wrong for the Ducks? We'll examine it here. And we'll also take your questions as Camario Taylor and the Mississippi State Bulldogs are flying high. We'll talk about them. We'll also talk about Washington, their offensive woes, and then we'll jump into my mind, my intrusive thoughts, college football intrusive thoughts, I shall say, in our news segment to end the show. But before we do that, guys, just reminder, you are locked into Coop's Corner. You can find us every Monday, seven o'clock Eastern Time on YouTube. And X. Also, wherever you find your podcast, guys, do me a favor. If you are listening to the show right now, make sure to leave a rating in a review. If you're on YouTube, make sure to hit that subscribe button. It helps us out tremendously. All right. Enough with the buildup. We set it. Top five matchup in Austin, Texas. And there were no shortage of fireworks, especially for Ohio State to begin the game up 20 to 3 at halftime. And like I said at the top of the show, 21 unanswered points. For Arch Manning in Texas. And you think about everything that went into this game in the prior two matchups, 2024 in the college football playoff, where Ohio State got the best of Texas the following year. Arch Manning, his first career road start in the horseshoe, didn't go as planned, kind of set the tone for a very uneven half of play for him in 2025. Now Ohio State on the road in Austin. And quite honestly, it had the same feel. That it had over the last couple of years, where Ohio State had the one up on Texas, 20 to 3 at the half, like I mentioned, but something clicked in that second half, late in the second half, really kind of starting with ⁓ defensive pass interference late in the third quarter for Texas. They got it rolling, hit a fourth and nine, fourth down conversion. Arch Manning made a great play, took advantage of that, hit Ryan Wingo ⁓ in the end zone for Texas's first touchdown in the game. And then from there, it was really what Texas. did on the ground. You look at Texas's rushing total in the first half of this game, nine yards. Think about what they did in the second half, Hollywood Smothers and Relique Brown, 132 yards on the ground. And that's really kind of when I look at this game, a lot of different ways you can look at this. Both teams really had their opportunities throughout. You can look at the shot play early in the game for Texas to Cam Coleman that ends up being an interception. You can look at the fumble on the first play of the game. But really for me, when you're trying to sort it out and kind of how you evaluate these teams going forward, it was the line of scrimmage really for Texas. You look ⁓ setting the tone with Trevor Goosby at left tackle, Melvin Ciani at right tackle, Brandon Baker kicks in from right tackle to right guard. I thought he played a lot better, obviously, in this game and a lot bigger matchup. ⁓ but their ability to establish the line of scrimmage and keep Arch Manning clean, Lyndon Tainwall, ⁓ who does a phenomenal job on his film breakdowns. You want to learn more about the game, ⁓ that's a guy to go follow. But he brought up the point. Arch Manning had three point seven seconds to throw against Ohio State. That is a very, very, very long time. And he was comfortable all night just in terms of his ability to stay clean. He took two sacks. I put both those sacks on Arch Manning. ⁓ but Texas's offensive line did a phenomenal job. And I'll say this. I'm I'm the first guy to critique Kyle Flood, Texas's offensive line coach. They spent a lot of money there. Those guys came out, performed. They were the big reason Texas offensively showed up in a big way. Texas nine of sixteen on third down, two of three on fourth down. Set Klutch dean. I mean, Steve Sarkeesian multiple times in this game, if they don't pick up those critical downs, this game is over. You also have, you know, the ball as much as it didn't bounce your way on the Cam Coleman interception ⁓ for Emmett Mosley. on the first touchdown drive for Texas to fumble inside the 20 yard line. Three Ohio State defenders right there, Cam Coleman, Johnny on the spot, jumps on it. A lot of that ⁓ in this game, Texas favored by a point and a half. They win by one. Vegas knows what they're doing. And that to me, offensively, is kind of what stood out. I would say the other thing is Kirk Herbstreet kind of mentioned this. When you're talking about Arch Manning and you think about what he did in the first half, he was five at Five of ten ⁓ for twenty-six yards in the first half of that game, came to life in the second half. But when his team needed him to step up and make those plays and and and and show life and inject it into that Texas offense, he did that. It still feels to me like there's just this disconnect in terms of who Arch Manning is, which at this point. We have enough data to say, all right, this guy really likes to create outside of the pocket. He's a half-field read guy. He's he's one to two. Don't make him go any further than that. And maybe most of us are confused because a lot of people already have him penciled in as a number one pick. And he's been around football since he's been very, very, very young in the Manning family. So it's a little bit of you kind of run into a little bit of a wall where you're like, This guy's a little bit limited in terms of the processing ability, but yes, that's what it is. Kirk Kirbstreet brought it up. I mean, this guy, just in terms of reading and feeling the game, I I've gotten to the point where it's like, all right, maybe it's a rep thing. And you see the first half of the season, then you see the second half of the season. He starts to play faster, but he's a show hands thrower. What I mean by that is that ball is typically not coming out until the receiver shows his hands. I said this on last episode. A lot of what I like to do is watch the guys that do it at a high level. And you can go back and you can look at Mendoza, you can look at ⁓ Mensa this year, you can look at Trinidad Shameless this year. You look at the timing, the comfort, the poise, the connectedness from the feed up to the processing ability. There's a stark difference. and and I'm typically talking about one second. difference with Arch Manning, which in football time is a is is a long time in terms of Sky's really not the guy throwing receivers open. The ball placement can be a little bit checkered. It's something that's really interesting to me and I bring it up. I don't want to I ⁓ like this is let's highlight his level of play and the way that he had to play twenty twenty three at thirty seven, one ninety five with the tutty to bring his team back. But this is something when you think about it, and we're going to talk about it from an NFL standpoint a little bit later on. It hasn't really gotten cleaned up to the way that I thought. And it's at the point now where I'm like, I'm not so sure it's a it it's like an inexperienced thing. I don't think it's that. I think this is just kind of who he is. So when I talk about that disconnect maybe between Steve Sarkeesian and Arch Manning winning from the pocket versus leaning into the athleticism a little bit, that's kind of what I run into. So offensively, Texas gritty on the way back, took advantage of every drive, super efficient in the second half, ⁓ rode their run game, Arch Manning timely, ⁓ with a couple big plays. Defensively, where I think this game changed for me for Texas is a couple things. I thought Will Mushamp did a really good job with his front, just letting the big boys get after it. It was Alex January, ⁓ it was Brabard in the middle, ⁓ it was Maraud Watson. Those three guys Just in terms of what they were able to do to generate a pass rush. And once you move Julian Sayon off his spot. That that's how you start really kind of chipping away at Ohio State offensively. ⁓ Saiyan's a guy, you give him time in the pocket, he can dice you up. Everything that I said about Arch just in terms of the processing ability and the quickness and being able to get the ball out. This is kind of what this kid does. ⁓ and we saw that. We saw that in the first half. We saw him being able to link up with Jeremiah Smith, total unicorn by the way, eight eight receptions, a hundred and sixty-four yards, a touchdown. ⁓ They were able to make him uncomfortable. And Justin Cryer, the linebacker for Texas, played his tail off as well. So Texas big plays when they needed it. They didn't have an answer for Jeremiah Smith most of the night. Bo Masco, the corner ⁓ that transferred from Rutgers, you gotta give him a ton of credit for the job that he was able to do and make a couple big plays down the field on Jeremiah Smith. Outside of that, Ohio State had some missed opportunities, a couple drop passes that they would have liked to obviously reel in and then a missed field goal to give Texas the ball back, Archman the ball back for them to go down the field and milk it all the way to twenty five seconds ⁓ with a one point game. So, you know, the question that I let into at the top of the show is Texas the best team in the country? And the answer that I can give you right now is like the the more I watch of college football through two weeks of this season, the more apparent is that I I don't know anything. I thought I knew a lot about Oregon. I don't. You know, there's times in the first half of that game, two and a half quarters, I feel really good about Ohio State. And then the questions start to come up about the offensive line. Questions in other areas as well. There's times around Texas, yeah, I feel good for two quarters, and the other two quarters is say, that's not good enough. And I get it. That's this game of kind of uneven play that we have with a lot of these guys. But I've seen this with a lot of these teams. And it's a first time really, maybe in my life I'm looking at the top eight to ten teams in the country and it's anybody's game. It really is. And to me, the formula is being able to run the football, which is a really good omen for Texas, being able to stop the run. And then the in in terms of In terms of what we s have seen in terms of the coaching value as well is more propped up. Like that talent gap that used to exist pre NIL, it's more like any given s ⁓ any given Sunday now. And it's about being healthy, controlling the line of scrimmage, being able to have players like Colin Simmons that can get to the quarterback in Ohio State, didn't have that guy. And Kenyatta Jackson, I thought, played fairly passer, it wasn't there. So for me to come out of this game and be like in years past where it'd be like, Yeah, that's the unquestioned best team in the country. No, I don't have that feeling. I think we'd live in a world where it's like I feel good about these guys one week, the next week, I don't know. And we've seen that all across college football. So Texas, a huge win, monumental win for Steve Sarkeesian. It's a monkey off his back. Can they keep it rolling? And I'll say this, like Arch did what he had to do when his number was called. He's got to be a lot better if they're going to win a national championship. And I know there are a lot of people out there that are pumping this guy up. I'm just telling you. Seeing that first half and the passing game and the and the timing and the missed opportunities, I know it sounds like I'm I'm overly critical, but I don't know if I've ever seen a guy more nitpicked and criticized than Arch Manning, yet still given so much grace with regard to his projection. It's pretty interesting. All right. I said we're gonna break down Ohio State, Texas. Also said we're gonna break down Oregon and Oklahoma State. You gotta love college football, right? I mean, this is why you play the games. Eleven a.m. game in Stillwater. Oregon favored by 24 and a half, uneven performance against Boise. But we saw that two years ago as well in 2024. Almost lost that game. Ash and Genty at home in Eugene. They end up running the table and winning, I think, their next 12 games and being the one seed in the college football playoff. This was like they I've never seen a Dan Lanning team so unprepared. Energy, body language, execution. You know, I talked to my good buddy Andrew Ivins about it, and we kind of both kind of eventually got to the same spot where it's like you look at Oregon and it's like ⁓ Dante Moore projected top five pick. But like who's the guy? You know, where where's where's the juice? Who's the guy? Who's the guy in the coaching staff outside of Dan Laney? You got two new coordinators and Drew Maringer and Chris Hampton. Like who's the guy? And Dante Moore didn't have the feel of that guy. There's a lot of other reasons outside of Dante Moore. That was like it's an eleven AM game. There's a rain delay. I can feel it. I can sense it. I gotta be the take it over. I didn't feel that at all from Dante Moore. And I thought the body language was poor, quite honestly. And I I tweeted it during the game. Like Drew Mestemaker put a spotlight on Dante Moore. And NFL scouts are going to bookmark that game. They're going to come back to that game. They're going to ask them about it in the predraft process. And in the head to heads with a team that has immensely more talent than Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State just lost to Tulsa by two touchdowns. I thought Dante Moore, his play was an epitome of what we saw from Oregon overall. Now offensively People have asked are like, hey, what's what's the issue? The issue is the offensive line. Without a doubt. Three new starters on the offensive line with six combined starts. Your left tackle, your left guard, and your right tackle. Think about that last year. Last year that was Isaiah World, Manuel Pregnon, and Alex Harkey. All those guys are in the NFL. All transfer portal guys, all expensive guys. Now you backfill them with guys that you like, but they haven't played. And I talked about this before, but like It's all about timelines. And this is where the financial piece is really interesting. Can you afford to go back to the bank and say, all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna bring in three new offensive linemen from the transfer portal, like I did last year. And can we hit lightning in a bottle like we did last year? Those guys, Addison, Crater. Utu really, really struggle now. I want to start with the right tackle. I mean, think a think about this performance for Oregon's offensive line. Four sacks, nine hurries, fifteen pressures. Two sacks given up, both by Zaire Addison and Fox Crater. They looked underdeveloped at times physically. I thought reactionary athleticism, quickness, feet looked heavy. I mean the whole team, especially offensively, looked two steps slow. And the way the offensive line play, like Oklahoma State Didn't do a a whole lot that was, I would say, super creative or exotic defensively. Ran a couple stunts. Oregon had a hard time handling that. I would say the eyes, the communication, build ⁓ j everything was just a total mess. And that's an issue. I mean, we we came coming into the season looking at this. We thought Bennett was going to be the guy from Yale. I had major question marks about that. You're gonna take a guy from the Ivy or start him at tackle or guard. You know, when we started hearing about Tommy Tofi earlier in the season or Ian Nacho. So it's early, but as of right now, this seems like a major miscalculation and a r or a rare miscalculation by Oregon on their offensive line. I think Zayer Addison's gonna end up being a good player, but Left guard, right tackle. You know, craters got traits. But we're not even in Big Ten play yet. And I'm I'm waiting to find out like is this game a one off? What what what What was this? It looked like the Boise game directly carried into the Oregon game. And typically teams listen to people when people tell ⁓ Hey, you're great. You're the best thing since sliced bread. I don't think anybody was telling them that after Boise State. They might have believed, Hey, we can walk out onto this field. We saw a team that lost to Tulsa by two touchdowns and we're gonna show up with this logo and we're gonna be a lot better. I'll also say Oregon offensively, and like this is not my realm. in terms of the scheme, but I can say this. I there were no answers throughout this entire game from Drew Maringer and his offensive staff. I was kinda dumbfounded. I wrote down it felt like you're trying to be a ⁓ You try ⁓ you lacked a true identity. You tried to you tried to play to who you tried to play to who you want to be instead of who you are. Sorry that took so long to come out. And what I mean by that is like you don't have pregnant, you don't have Harky, you don't have Isaiah World. You got a very inexperienced group that's drinking water through a fire hose that's trying to figure it out. And they look like it. They look completely overmatched. From a game plan standpoint, completely on their heels throughout the entire game. No Jamari Johnson hurt, not having cons Kenyon Sadiq hurts. They don't have a true X body type verticality from Malik Benson, that's gone. He averaged over sixteen yards per reception. There's a lack of operational urgency. I thought the receivers, in terms of being assignment sound, even on a completion, I think on a touchdown, to Evan Stewart, DeCore and Moore within a couple yards of each other, risk overlap, miss blocked by DeCore and Moore, Jeremiah McClellan on the perimeter, like simple day one textbook cultural stuff. Uncommon for a Dan Lanning team. Weird. And Will Stein's not there. Tosh Lupoy's not there. Some of these playmakers I talked about, they're not there. So like it who's gonna step up and be the guy? And I know the coach is gonna jump down their throat. So he's he's gonna be on them. There's no excuses here. Body clock, rain delay, all that stuff. Oregon gets off on being the team that doesn't make excuses. And quite honestly, there's no other way to say it. They look like a team that absolutely wanted nothing to do with being there. Defensively, they gave up five hundred and fifty four yards, three hundred and fourteen passing to Drew Mestermaker, two hundred and thirty seven rushing. First play of the game. Gave up a huge run to Drew Mestermaker. When they went zone, I thought Messen Maker had the pre-snap answers, pre-snap, not post-snap. When they went man, I thought they struggled with eye control in the secondary. And I really thought Oklahoma State's receivers, all different, by the way. Wyatt Young, Bowick, ⁓ Chris Barnes, all have different things. Bowick with the size and the strength. Wyatt Young, super well polished, ⁓ Barnes. Excellent change of direction, separation ability, all gave them problems. Obadegu targeted early often, got to Finley a couple times. You know, one thing I wrote down, like they missed Koi Perrish, Swiss Army knife, guy you could play in the box, you can play him in the nickel, you could play him in the D-Pash. I said Cory Perrich, I meant Dylan Theneman. Corey Perrich is not Dylan Theneman. You know, he's a great athlete, but instinctually he's far off. Defensively, on the defensive line, you let Terrence Greenwalk, you let walk I understand why you did it. You brought back Amari Washington and Bear Alexander. DeAndre Robinson was your best guy. Bears showed some flashes. I thought he played well, but ⁓ where is Amari Washington? I mean, that's a guy that a lot of people had as a first round pick. He disappears at times. They need him to show up. They need Mateo to finish. Tatum to Yote. thought Mixon played well at linebacker, Devon Jackson actually, you know, had some had some nice plays, that's an area where you wonder, like, can they get better? Disappointing all all the way around. And, you know, a lot of people are going to be, ⁓ personnel. It's like, yeah, man, like this is it. This is what everybody's dealing with. You know? Felt for the first time. This is what Georgia's been dealing with. Yeah, you lose your fourth, fifth defensive lineman because somebody wants to pay him. You know, they go to Notre Dame and Alabama and they go start. There's enough there. You know, Matthew Johnson, Aiden Breland, there's enough there. There's absolutely no excuses. For the way that this team played. And I have all the belief in in Dan Lanning, but I will say this like and I'll I'll tie it into another team. I'm always a little weary when you promote from within at the coordinator spots. Like you you're you're driving a Lambo up there in Eugene. And a big part of it is is because you put that machine together. But when you gotta replace I don't know a lot about cars, but let's call it a spark plug and a transmission. Yeah, you bet you better hope you you have the right pieces and the continuity, and he's been in the room, and you know, they earned it, and I get it. You're gonna have agencies pushing, and we're all in the same world, and hey, he's ready for his opportunity. It's like, dude, do you know where I am? I'm at Oregon. Do you know what our standard is to win a championship? Do you know how close I've been? You have all the resources in the world to go out there and get the best guy. I'm not saying Drew Meringer or Chris Hampton can't be good coordinators. When's the last time you ever saw a performance like this under Dan Lanning? And part of it is having the juice. Will Stein's a head coach in the SEC. Tosh Lupo is one in the ACC. Maybe Hampton and Maringer get there one day. But there's a lot of people be lining up to go work for Dan Lannon for a lot of different reasons. In Oregon, the exposure. Those are decisions that I think sometimes are just made a little bit too casually, in my opinion. And I'll get to Oregon more in a bit here, but Yeah, super disappointed. I mean I watched the team on the sidelines on the all twenty two. I went back, I watched the way they celebrated big plays, I watched the way they celebrated a ninety nine yard pick six from You know, it's like, Where are these guys? Where are their heads? They never came out the locker room. Dan Lanning didn't get the Danimal nickname for that. Can tell you that. All right, let's put in the mailbag. First one from my brother, literal brother, Jansen Patek. He says there's a lot of buzz regarding Camario Taylor. What is Mississippi State ceiling in 2026 with him? You saw him at MPA, Manning Passing Academy. What present past NFL quarterback does he remind you of? All right, so Camario Taylor was the talk of the town this past weekend. And, you know, we knew he had a big matchup against Minnesota. I he delivered 16 of 22, 227 yards, three touchdowns, 13 carries, 86 yards. Minnesota, credit to Jeff Levy, credit to Camario Taylor. They had no answers. And what's cool about Camario Taylor, if you haven't watched him, I mean, he's a super freak. He's awesome. He was was he he never completed more than 60% of his passes as a starter in high school. In this kid, you can see the game starting to slow down for him and it's kinda I was kind of intrigued by what the marriage would look like in this offensive system for Jeff Levy, but so far so good. This kid can make every throw on the field. His arm is prolific, dynamic, outstanding. I've said it. He's has the most God given talent of any quarterback in the country. And I don't think it's really even close. And I don't think we've even scratched the surface of his athleticism and mobility. Like that's a big part of his game that through two games has really been, you know, it's been showcased, but it hasn't been highlighted. And I've been so impressed with the arm, and there's a couple bunnies that he'll miss. Here and there. There was a mistake. He fumbled in the end zone, gives up a touchdown in the second half. What I loved about Kamario Taylor looks straight in the eyes of Jenny Dell interviewing him and says, you know, there's a lot of room to get better. I got a lot of room to get better. It's a guy who's got, I think, his third start. And, you know, versus a Minnesota team who just wins eight games a year, goes up there. And jumped on him from the beginning. Super explosive, dynamic, can roll him out, can beat you from the pocket. His feet are a little bit flat at times. Step up in competition. He's on the road at South Carolina. That place is going to be buzzing. After that, you got Mizzou. Jan, the win total there is four and a half for Mississippi State. I've been bullish and and this game was kind of a this game was a big big game for ⁓ in terms of the win total. On the road at Carolina, you got Missouri at home. And then you have Alabama at home and then you're on the road at LSU. I mean a a br brutal schedule here. But yeah, I I I like I like Mississippi State for bowl eligibility. Zach Garnett, defensive coordinator, doing a really, really good job. I can't say enough about Jeff Levy and the job that he's done. And they've, you know, they've started this way a couple of times, but I think this one feels a little bit different. This kid is different. ⁓ I joked, but Nick Saban called him the truth in the light. I was chuckling at that. But, you know, the way that this kid's been spinning, the way that he's been playing and the and the the way that you see him progressing, I think there's gonna be some adversity here over the next couple of weeks, but I think this is gonna be a bull eligible team. In terms of past present NFL quarterbacks, Jansen texted me and he said, I think Joe Milton, he's you know, I had Joe Milton at Michigan from an on talent standpoint for sure. I think Joe probably is a great. Comp just in terms of the the explosive dynamic arm. This kid, I can tell you, probably already more accurate. ⁓ the athleticism is different. ⁓ and like I said, I I I can't wait for that to show up. Terrell Pryor, really more as an athlete, kind of showed up ⁓ as well. Great question, Janet. Appreciate that. All right, drama calf is back for more. DramaCalf, appreciate the question. Said Oregon obviously has a lot of talent, but they seem to lack passion in the way they play. Is that something you can find as an evaluator? Yeah, that's definitely something you can find. ⁓ I think a lot of what we've seen through the first two weeks have has just been psychological for the ducks. And I'm not really sure why that is. ⁓ they've had a couple opening games where things have been a little bit closer than they should have been. I think the Idaho game ⁓ maybe two years ago ⁓ two years ago ⁓ was similar to that. ⁓ yeah, I don't know. I you know, I can't really put my finger on it. But as an evaluator, yeah, I mean you're always looking for that competitive temperament, that drive, that intangible aspect of it. And now with the financial piece, I think sometimes that Becomes a little bit more difficult. ⁓ especially in this day and age, like you know, I had a lot of my family text me during the LSU Louisiana tech game this past week and it's ten, seven at halftime. They're like, What's going on? It's like, yeah, obviously LSU's not executing at the clip they want, but it's like the emotional highs and lows of these kids who are now professionals coming off and playing a four quarter game with Boise. Is that a negative or a positive or How are you able to get back in that competitive mindset? What does that look like? Do we grow and develop? Or is this, hey, maybe, maybe there's a little bit more of a negative outlook on this? We should have beat this team by 21 points. We beat them by seven. What's going on here? And do you let that affect you, impact you? Is the message, and I'm not saying this or insinu insinuating this, but is the message getting stale? You know, like what is what does that look like? And then the variables. of the personnel as well, not only in the coaching staff, but what you miss. Like Jamari Johnson's a huge piece. You know, a lot of people think he's a a future first round draft pick. Missing him in the middle of the field for Dante ⁓ Moore and that guy being a safety valve, that's a huge piece to miss. So yeah, the competitive nature part of this, yeah, obviously. I mean, ⁓ I don't think Oregon's overlooking that at all. I think that's ⁓ honestly been one of Oregon's greatest abilities has been able to tap in on that, especially guys like Bear Alexander and get them to play at a high level or attract a guy like a Dylan Riola. That's that's culture. ⁓ and certainly that didn't show up in this game. ⁓ but yeah, you're you're always looking for that. ⁓ all right at dog's best he asks why is UW football offense a disaster? All right Three hundred and fifty six total yards, two hundred and forty nine passing, one hundred and seven on the ground, sixteen fourteen win over Utah State. There were certainly times in this game where Jed Fish got bested by by Bronco Man and all staff. ⁓ I thought Utah State had a great game plan. If I was watching that objectively, a lot of that would be I gotta tip my hat to Utah State, team that lost to Idaho State the week before, right? So this is kind of what I talk about with the emotional balance. But it's not like Jed Fish, you know, forgot how to scheme. I ⁓ like I said, I thought he did a really good job of second level pressures, changing up their looks. And then on top of that, you got a freshman starting at left tackle, and then the protection and the run blocking, I think really the trio of the two guards in the center with Colt Dietrich ⁓ coming over from San Houston State, who played tackle last year, playing center, ⁓ Garren Hatchet at guard. ⁓ and then John Mills as well. I thought I thought all three of those guys struggled at times. And really I thought Hatchet was the biggest issue, ⁓ not only in the run game, ⁓ but in pass protection as well. That was a guy who really, really struggled, struggled to redirect. ⁓ same thing with Oregon. There were couple of times where second level pressures or stunts, lack of communication. We saw it on both both sides with as a party. ⁓ we saw with Cody Green as well. That's gonna happen. ⁓ but also you're banged up at running back too. I mean, there were a couple of times where the scheme allows you get the first three to four yards. Running backs got a chance to turn that into a a ten to twelve yard gain, ⁓ whether it's breaking an arm tackle, whether it's having the vision to find the cutback, and it wasn't there. So I think Damond at times feeling that kind took matters into his own hands a little bit, started forcing things down the field. TheMise has got to be the cool customer. He's got to play within himself, understand there are a lot of new faces on the offensive line. Let the game come to him. Receivers didn't help him out either. I I think there are maybe five or six drops in this game. ⁓ so yeah, I mean, it's focus, it's execution. It's you know, I I said this when I talked about Texas, Ohio State. I said it when I've said it every game. These are guys that are now getting paid money, but they're not profess you know, they're professional athletes, but they're not the guys that are playing on Sunday. a little bit different, you know. There's like a like the hood of the NFL versus the you know, ⁓ I I'm I'm kinda on this wave of hey, I'm getting compensated as a college football player and I'm also a college student. Wow, how cool is this? Like, you know, if you don't go out there and make plays on Sunday, you don't get fed. Your family don't get fed. That ain't the same here. ⁓ so was it Somewhat of a disappointing offensive performance for sure. Do I think they have some issues on the interior? Absolutely. ⁓ do I think there's a unit that can get better and then I thought the production was obviously better than what they showed? Absolutely. ⁓ but quite honestly, it felt more about personnel and lack of execution than it did skiing. I I don't think Jed Fish coached a poor game. I don't. I I think it was from a personnel standpoint and execution standpoint, it wasn't there for Washington offensively. All right, guys. Appreciate you guys turn ⁓ tuning in. Like I said, find us every Monday, seven o'clock Eastern time. Wherever you find your podcast, YouTube X included in that as well. Now it's time for a news segment. Intrusive thoughts during the weekend. as I'm watching college football games. All right, my first one, I go back to the beginning. I wrote down, am I losing my grip on Arch Manning as a pro prospect? Followed by could Jeremiah Smith be selected number one? Absolutely, Jeremiah Smith could be selected number one because of the ability, but I thought walking out of this weekend for NFL evaluators, how good do you feel about Dante Moore? How good do you feel about Arch Manning? So we have above average to good quarterbacks at this point, in terms of the projection between Manning and Moore versus a guy that I don't throw this around lightly, has all the physical makeup of Julio Jones and the wiring of Larry Fitzgerald. Pretty hard combination. But that's about Jeremiah Smith. My point is on Arch Manning, and I talked about it the beginning of the show. I I've now gotten the point where I'm like I told my wife, I'm like, I I I'm at the point with him where it's not about I you like it's it's it's not about the experience anymore. At this point we should know. You know, I've been watching this guy since he was a freshman in high school. And I thought what I wrote in my evaluation, I went back and I and I read it. Struggled in the short to intermediate, can rushed, can rush throws when feels pressure, can flush the pocket early. These aren't things that are new. These are things that have been happening for a really, really long time. And the more I watch this game, the more I study this game, the more I come to the realization that's a pretty simple one. But when evaluating quarterbacks and projecting them to the next level, it's really less about the traits and it's more about who's got the stuff between the ears, who can play the game on time and who can play the position with command. Accuracy, poise, all those intangibles that we talk about. And sure, the traits gotta be good enough, you know, like Rock Purdy has to have a certain skill set to go out there and operate every week. There are a handful of guys in the NFL that are that way, but they overcompensate because of the way that they play the game and dictate the game. Arch does not have that. Everything feels reactionary. things don't feel proactive. You know, and I talked about excelling in terms of when things are within a limited window, your first or your second progression, versus being able to go through a full field, read, be comfortable. It's gotten better at hitting his outlet out of the backfield, but it's not as quick. It's not as succinct. It's not as instinctual. Feels like a bone that's can a muscle that's continued to get worked out and worked out and worked out and worked out. And it's like the realization that I had last night is like I don't think this is a I don't think this is a rep thing anymore. You know, he's a full time starter. He's played a lot of ball. He's going into his second year as a full time starter. But like I just don't think that part of his game and yes, he has great pocket awareness It almost f with them as a teacher when things have pressure and he has to s step up and he's just gotta play ball versus him having to go out there and think and process and go through it. Cause I think he's doing a lot of that. I think he's doing a lot of thinking and not a lot of playing. Arch Manning needs to play. He doesn't need to think. But we can have our debate about what that looks like at the collegiate level, but is that a translatable skill set or lack of skill set at the next level? And the answer for me is no, it's not. Like you have to have that part of your game. I I remember something when J.J. McCarthy got drafted, hearing Daniel Jeremiah talk about how he loved him on third down. And I thought, wow, that's really interesting. I mean, everybody studies third down. But I remember like that was one of the first things that was said about J.J. McCarthy. And it felt like J.J. McCarthy was this guy that just kind of kept being. pushed up the board. And sure, he won a national championship. He had a lot of success. He had a great defense. He had a good offensive line. Sound familiar? You know, Arch is in this environment where he's surrounded by a future top twelve pick and and Cam Coleman. maybe the first offensive tackle to hear his name called than Trevor Goosby. Melvin Ciani, who's working up draft boards very quickly. Ryan Wingo, who, yes, still has a lot to work to do, but is a very good talent and a top one hundred talent in the NFL. The ACC's leading rusher and one of the most dynamic running backs in the country in Relique Brown. Like he is not short on talent. He is surrounded by everything that you could possibly imagine. We'll say, well, look at what he did in the second half of last season. He didn't have that offensive line. I'll give it to you. And he's tough and he's gotten better and he's played through adversity, all this type of stuff. I'm just skeptical for a guy that has not been that skeptical over the course of Arch Manning's career that We're starting to get the full picture here and I'm not sure if that full picture translates. And I wouldn't be shocked if he goes back to school. I know we've heard it, we've heard it from McShay, we've heard it from his grandfather, all that type of stuff. Like if you fully believe that this can get repped out, then rep it out. Jeremiah Smith right now. I don't know if I've seen enough from the other two guys not to take this dude. And I've seen too much from him. Quarterback, premium, all that type of stuff. I don't know. I mean, I know that guy. I know what he's done for three years. I know the way he's wired. It's different. All right. Last intrusive thought, really not an intrusive thought. Coaching matters more than ever. And I'll say this like back to the topic of who's the best team in the country. I keep going back to Kurt Signetti. Like combination of good enough talent, combination of continuity of coordinate coordinator spots. Salty veterans, know how to play the game. Culturally strong. Run the ball, defend the run. I'm not saying that's where they are now. I'm saying that's a hard team to bet against. All right, guys, I appreciate you listening to the show. If I sound a little tired, I apologize. I have had technical difficulties all night. Been working on a solution. I think I found one, but it's almost 1 a.m. on Monday now. So if you're listening to this at 4 a.m., No, we've been grinding for you guys. I appreciate you guys listening as always. Like I said, you can find us Monday, 7 o'clock Eastern time. Make sure to like and subscribe. For all you cronies out there, I always appreciate you hanging out with me. Have a great rest of your week. See you next time.