8-1-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 2: Why Utah will (not) make the Playoff; Jason Caldwell talks Auburn; Top-3 CFB players since 2000
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McElroy and Kublik in the morning starts now. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kublik in the morning, Thursday, August 1st, 8 a.m., JOX 94.5. Hall of Fame game tonight, Texans-Bears, 7 o'clock ESPN and ABC. You'll get a light lift with Major League Baseball tonight. Only five games. Last night you had...

The Yankees take out the Phillies 6-5. Yankees now 1-5 straight, 65-45 on the season. Phillies go to 65-43. Daniel LeMahieu goes 2-4, hits a grand slam, drives in six for the Yankees last night. Braves take down the Brewers. They're at 58-49 on the season.

Olsen and DeArnon, back-to-back home runs. Tenth time this year, Braves have gone back-to-back home runs in a game that's the most in Major League Baseball. They've now won four or five after dropping six straight. Another good performance from Chris Sale. Ninth straight start that he's allowed two earned runs or less for the Atlanta Braves. Brewers 61-47. And the Padres take out the Dodgers 8-1. Kershaw, a little bit of a struggle. D-Mac, three and two-thirds, six hits, seven runs, three earned. Did not strike anybody out.

It's going to take him a while to get back going, but not the best that we've seen from Clayton. You hate him now? He's back to being a terrible pitcher? Not a generationally good player? Just not the best that we've seen. Wow. Three and two-thirds, six hits, seven runs. Did not strike anybody out. I feel like we've seen a better performance from him there. Well, it was not his best performance yesterday. No, not his best. You're still a hater. You hate him. You don't think he's as good as Verlander. You don't think he's as good as...

Scherzer, but Scherzer, I believe, was on the DL earlier, or the IL, whatever they call it now, the IL earlier this year. Is Verlander even going this year? Like, I don't even know what's going on. So maybe someday you'll put some respect on Clayton's name, but not at this point. I mentioned Texans Bears tonight. So Texans 10-7 a year ago, AFC South champions, got the wild card win against the Browns 45-14.

Interesting with Caleb Williams not going tonight, Greg, for Chicago. It's their 105th season of football. Did you realize that they are the only franchise in the NFL that has never had a 4,000-yard passer?

I did not know that. No, I didn't know that. Also, I know that they have never really had like a game changing franchise guy, though. I just would have thought maybe Cutler got there. Yeah. Also have not had a quarterback with a 30 or more touchdown pass season as well. So just kind of me think about a lot of other franchise that have been anywhere near as successful as Chicago has that have been able to put up those milestones and they have not. It's a little bit odd there.

But is there any interest from you in this one tonight? You said earlier in the week you can't handle the preseason football. Are you changing your mind just to get some live tackle? I'd be lying if I didn't dabble tonight. I'll probably dabble. But I'll also acknowledge the fact that I'm not super, not super excited about, like, oh, I better get home. Game starts at 7, boys. Let's get home. Like, I don't know if I'm going to be quite that excited.

But to see live tackle football on television, I'm not going to pretend like I'm not somewhat entertained by the possibility. Yeah, we'll have it going a little bit. Some other NFL news. Patriots defensive tackle Davin Gottschall, two-year, $21 million extension. And you kind of asked this question earlier in the week. Where's the tackle money? Tampa Bay offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, five-year, $140 million extension.

he'll get 158.869 over the next six years. That is the largest deal in franchise history for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So there's at least one tackle getting paid for you. Yeah, and I don't know if he – is he that good? I haven't watched him that closely since they made that Super Bowl run. No, he's really good. I know he's good, but is he the best tackle in the league? I don't know. I really don't know.

Possibly. I think Trent probably still there, but he's getting older, so he's kind of losing a little bit of momentum. Yeah, he's 35. But, I mean, Worfs is in that discussion 100%. I don't think there's any doubt. So money well worth it. And he's been fantastic since he's been in the NFL. All right, our team of the day in reference to –

Will they make the college football playoff? And you can be a part of the segment, 800-239-9569. You can text into the show, 205-834-9450. Tweet in at Mac and Cube. Utah, our team of the day, you just heard from Kyle Whittingham. Before we dive into Utah, I will tell you about another place that you should feel pretty good about. That's Game Day Men's Health. If you want to feel better, if you lack energy, if you're getting poor sleep, feeling on edge, could be the effects of low testosterone.

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Just go to GameDayMensHealth.com and see what they can do for you. No charge consult, free testosterone PSA test, and minimal upfront cost for the programs that they offer. That's what's going to be different than some of the other folks around town. GameDayMensHealth.com. All right, Utah, a team that we had high expectations for last year. The injury bug sort of prevented them from getting to that spot.

But now you get a couple guys back that didn't play last year. You have some other veterans that are going to be back on this football team, GMAC, and you head to a new conference. We talked to Kyle Whittingham about Cam Rising. What is your realistic expectation for a quarterback we've seen a lot of? We've seen him play some good football. It's just been a while since we've seen him do it. I think he's going to be fine. I know that it's been, gosh, tough.

a long time since we've seen him, but there were a lot of, there was a lot of buzz about his availability last year. I still don't know if there was enough trust, uh, in the knee and, and obviously with the doctors seeing it maybe a little differently, like all those things kind of adjusted, but I don't know about you. I, I don't feel like knees take that long. I'm not suggesting that they're not, um, challenging to come back from because I do think they are, but,

It just has been surprising to me it's taken as long as it has. Start there. Secondly, I think his supporting cast is as good as it's ever been. I think Dorian Singer's addition from SC, even though he didn't have a big year last year, he was great over 1,100 yards in Arizona two years ago.

So that is a massive addition. Micah Pittman was a really big addition going into last year and was banged up pretty much all season. Brent Keithy's back. They still have Yasmin at tight end as well. So two tight ends that can be really impactful in the passing game, plus Landon King, who came on a little as the season went along. Now he's finally made the transition to tight end. So I think there's a lot of reason for optimism and a lot of reason for momentum. I'm kind of of the belief that

They're going to be in a position to, I'm not saying if you get in a shootout, they win it comfortably, but I think this is a team that can go shootout with you now. And that would not have been something I would have told you a couple years ago.

Yeah, and Andy Ludwig's done a nice job of sort of varying the offense of when maybe they do need to go a little bit faster, try to become just a bit more dynamic, hurry up. They're able to do that. But most of the time, I mean, you think about that Utah defense, along with the pretty stout running game, what they do offensively is going to lean even more into being able to protect that. But as you said, now you've got some legitimate weapons, and you don't have to be as shabby

shift, trade, motion heavy all the time, like Ludwig normally is. But I love that about him. I mean, how many guys are we seeing now that are changing up the presentation of their offense and

The knock on Ludwig eight, nine years ago was always so boring and people didn't like watching it and couldn't handle it. But now everybody's doing that kind of stuff to be able to gain certain advantages, be it being outnumbered on one side, getting different angles, finding guys misaligned. And he's been doing that for a while. So with a quarterback that knows how to manage that part of it and can maybe pick up that pace just a little bit more and have some explosive playmakers, that's

It's going to be interesting to watch this offense. Running back doesn't feel like it's as solidified maybe as it was in previous years. We know what they had last year. Going to see them at Arkansas this year to Quinn Jackson, almost 800 yards rushing. It was an absolute hammer. And is it that important that they have that type of a back to be as successful as they've been in the past offensively?

I think it would be nice, but no, because I think if Cam Rising is at 100% and he's bulked up to 225, he can handle a lot of the short yard stuff. I think you just need some twitch at running back. I mean, it really, really, I think is really dependent on whether or not the passing attack and the short catch and run situations that they might use moving forward, plus quarterback run game. Like, he might be the guy that has 100 carries for him. I mean, I...

You think Cam Rising at 225 can handle 100 carries? You would like to think so, but he's been dinged up before, so I don't know if I'd want to risk it. And you don't, I mean, we found out last year just how important he is. And in the event in which he is dinged up for an extended period and misses a game or two, how much that position is dropped off. So I get what you're saying about the concerns there.

But I think you've got to do it. I mean, I think they have some scatty backs, but they're not going to have that big body hammer like Jaquan and Jackson like they had last year. But he was a little banged up last year, too. I mean, he played on a bad ankle pretty much the whole season. So maybe they have some depth they feel pretty good about. But I don't know enough about the running back situation beyond Jaquan and Jackson to know exactly what they have. As we heard Coach Whittingham say earlier on the show, it could be kind of running back by committee, do it with different guys, right?

All right, so 8-5 last year, 5-4 in conference. Head to a new conference now. Lost to Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl. First year in the Big 12. Utah all-time first year in new conferences. 40-17-4.

So a lot of times it's been pretty good when they've made their first trip into a new conference. And this is one that, you know, we've talked about that grind, Greg, of other teams going into different leagues. That's not going to be a problem with Utah this year because physically they are built to withstand a little bit of a longer haul. And then, I mean, going and being somewhat physically dominant in the Pac-12 the last couple of years, I don't know about you, but that part of this, the newness of the new conference, not a real concern for me at all. No. I think if anything, it –

The new conference has kind of morphed into the style that will really benefit Utah. And I think the Big 12 is a ground-and-pound front seven league. And the Pac-12, you're going to run into some teams that can win on the perimeter. And Utah has not been in the past equipped to win on the perimeter. So I think that's changed drastically. But at the same time, I just am a little bit concerned about

about Utah's variety that they're going to face. And I do get a little, I know they've always been good defensively, but they lost some really big difference makers off last year's team. Like both safeties were game changers. You had a game changer up front defensively in Jonah Ellis. Like they lost some really good pieces defensively. So I just don't know if they're going to be quite as good on defense as some people anticipate. All right. This is the seventh conference that Utah has won.

Played football in. Seven? Do you feel good about their defense? I mean, I know traditionally it's hard to bet against them, but I just don't know. I really don't know if they're going to be quite the same as they've been the last couple years. I feel pretty good about their front. I know that. So I don't think they take a big step back at all. The only thing that may be able to provide that would be if the offense is not one that is as ball controlled. It doesn't protect them quite as much. But with everything that we stated, you would think that they should be able to.

How many of the seven conferences that they've played in do you think you can name? Oh, gosh. Well, Big 12, Pac-12, the Mountain West, the WAC. SoCon. Were they ever in the Big East? That's a good guess. Did they ever go in the Big East with TCU? No Big East. All right, no Big East. Because TCU went in the Big East, and I was like, that's weird. You've named four. You have three more.

So now you're going from 1910 to 1948. Oh, so we're like way back. Yeah, no, I'm not going to be able to get those. The RMC, the MSAC, and the Skyline Conference. Oh, I think I did pretty good. You did great.

So they've been great, though, in their first years in conferences. It includes a 7-1-2, an 8-1-1, a 9-3. First year in new leagues. And I feel pretty good about this group. You mentioned Brant Keithy. He's a guy that I just don't think a lot of people are talking about. When he was healthy, he was fantastic. If he's close to that... He was a takeover-the-game guy. With a couple of other tight ends that you can now lean on. You bring Dorian Singer in from USC. I...

I feel pretty good about the group that they're going to have catching the football. And if Cam Rising's healthy, I just think that they're going to be able to line up a lot of different ways. Love the Carson Ryan kid from UCLA. Not dynamic, but just a solid all-around tight end. And outside of just that known commodity at running back, there's not a lot not to like about the offense. The offensive line will have some work to do, but it's usually not a liability for this group.

I like this team, and a lot of it's obviously going to come down to health and who they have available, but I think they're going to make a playoff push regardless. Are they actually in? I think there's one, two games that it comes down to. That's why I wanted to ask Coach Whittingham about the Holy War and just how much that game means, what it is. I think it's weird that we're only going to get it November the 9th. Why not last game of the year? That feels a little bit odd. But as we dive into the schedule...

How many hurdles, obstacles do you see, G-Max? Southern Utah, Baylor at home. By the way, it will not be a conference game. Baylor's game is going to be a non-conference game. Utah all-time in conference, 445, 266, and 19. At Utah State, at Oklahoma State, Arizona, at Arizona State, TCU, at Houston, BYU, at Colorado on November the 16th. Iowa State at UCF. There's a game that I think is overly critical, and there's a game on here that I think nobody's talking about.

The critical game, obviously, is going to be Oklahoma State on the road. We know what that is. A lot of people are going to think the favorite to win this league. And I think after you play Colorado, before you finish the season at UCF, which will be a pretty big road trip, Greg. Also, it's a Friday night game, so a short week. But that Iowa State game, sandwiched into that. Nobody talking about Iowa State this year. Matt Campbell's group flying way under the radar.

A lot of production back. Yeah, that's a little bit of a dangerous game there in that spot with Rocco Beck back at quarterback. And even though you get them at home, sandwiched between two road games, won a short week that late in the season, that feels like a dangerous ball game right there. Be careful. That's all I'd say about that one. I think they need to be really, really careful with Iowa State. I still think Oklahoma State's the biggie. And looking at it, I mean, I'm not expecting a lot from Arizona.

I'm not expecting a lot. I mean, if you look at their schedule, I was going through this yesterday. Their schedule, and this is not really their fault as much as it is just a reflection of the Big 12. They have the 72nd most difficult schedule. Utah does. 72, which is crazy. At Oklahoma State, like you said, that's the biggie. And I think that one could very well determine whether or not they get a

to the Big 12 title game. But Iowa State at home, if that game were played in Ames at that point of the year, I'd be concerned. I also think, too, look, Utah is coming from cold weather. They're tough as nails. We know that. I'm never going to question a Kyle Whittingham team's toughness.

But I can just tell you as a guy that played his final college game in January in Florida against a Big Ten team that hadn't seen 80-plus degree weather in months, that was a massive advantage in our favor. So that road trip to UCF at the end of November, knowing that the weather could be 90 degrees in Orlando on that day. It could be. Yeah.

That might be tricky for a team that's coming from a cold weather climate. So that's just something to be mindful of as well. All right. So finally, we get to Utah college football playoff. Do they get in? I'm going to say yes, because I think they win the Big 12. They're my pick to win the Big 12. We'll get to Jason Caldwell, talk some Auburn football opening camp today on the other side of the break. But before that, Greg, Utah, do they get in? Yes, I think they're going to win the Big 12. The more I dive into it, I think they're definitely the team to beat.

John, Utah in the college football playoff this year. I concur. The only way is to be the Big 12 champs, but I think they get it. Greg, will the Big 12 have an at-large bid? No. There you go. All right, Utah, college football playoff. Keep your feedback coming there at Mac and Cube. You can text into the show 205-834-9450.

Auburn on the practice field today. Jason Caldwell gets a set for it next right here on jocks. 94, five. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubelik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like rate and download the show from the jock app or wherever you get your podcast. All right. Welcome back in McElroy and Kubelik in the morning, August 1st. All right.

Right here on JOX 94.5 Thursday. Appreciate you tuning in at 822 a.m. Going to talk some Auburn football as they hit the practice field today in just a moment with Jason Caldwell. By the way, the Bill Smith Buick GMC JOX kickoff party is Wednesday, August 14th at Regents Field. And the only way to win tickets...

is by texting in the keyword jocks and your full name to 205-834-9450 that's the keyword jocks and your full name to 205-834-9450 for your chance to win those tickets winners are drawn daily and for more information log on to jocksfm.com all right jason caldwell of inside the auburn tigers joining us now on the buyer's right hotline uh talk auburn opening camp today and jason

Obviously been covering the team for a while, knows the team well. You can follow him on Twitter at ITATJason, AuburnUndercover.com is the website. As we head into this camp, what is your confidence level of Peyton Thorne actually taking a big step and proving a lot of the naysayers wrong as to him being a successful SEC, maybe more successful SEC quarterback this year?

Yeah, I think it's a lot more because of the pieces around him. He's already done it at Michigan State when he had some pretty high-level pieces around him. I think Auburn has significantly upgraded a wide receiver. Obviously, the running back room should be strong again. I think the offensive line piece

is in as good a shape as Auburn's been probably since 2017 in terms of, you know, front-line guys and depth, and that factors in, too. So I think the surrounding pieces and year two, that should make him, I believe, a much better quarterback heading into the season. What about the upgraded personnel around him? I know it's so early, but based on the returns of the summer, has there been a decent rapport created between him and the new-looking wide receivers?

Yeah, I think the good thing was it started some in the spring when you had Robert Lewis and obviously Cam Coleman already in. Sam Jackson, those guys played high school football together and he threw to him as a wide receiver before he was quarterback. They've added in Keiondre Lambert from Penn State and we've heard good things about him. So those

Those guys, see which the true freshman Perry Thompson, Malcolm Simmons can make an impact. But I think it started in the spring, and I think they've had some really good workouts this summer from what I've been told. So you know how important those things are for a quarterback, wide receiver, from a timing standpoint, all those things. So I think it's gone pretty well. And now can you find guys that are consistent playmakers? And, heck, just –

The first step is catch the football. If they catch the football consistently last year, he's probably a 65%, 67% completion percentage and a few more numbers even as the struggles they had. So I think if they do those things just consistently, then they'll be playmakers there with obviously Cam Coleman jumping out. There are a lot of folks, Jason, including me, that thinks this offensive line can take a step. I'm just...

I'm not sold that it can take the massive step that I think some other people are. How do you view that group heading into fall camp? Yeah, like I said, I don't know that you're ready to go out and become an offensive line that looks like Nebraska in 1994. But I think you can be a group that is significantly better. And

I think it starts in the middle with Connor Lue coming back as a second-year guy, a guy that has kind of earned his stripes at the end of the year last year as a true freshman and now steps into the role of being a guy that they feel like can take on a leadership role. So I think it starts there. But Jeremiah Wright is probably a guy that –

This thing may hinge on him as much as anyone. There's never been a doubt about his physical skills, but I think you look at him now. He's really taken on a leadership role this summer in recruiting and doing a bunch of things. You have him and Dylan Wade sliding inside the guard. I think the interior line can be really good. How well can Percy Lewis step in and play as a left tackle?

Tyler Johnson's a guy that's registered last year that they think is really talented, just hasn't played much. And then you've got too tall Miller that's out there, too. So I think they have the pieces. You're right. Can you and do you have to be that dominant or you just have to be improved and give yourself a chance? And I think that's where it starts.

When you look at that group and their improvements, you've got to assume they're still going to lean heavily on the run game. I just can't imagine a scenario in which they...

They aren't a 60-40 run-pass team unless situationally the game kind of determines that they've got to be more aggressive through the year. So when you look at balance at the end of the year, now that Hugh Freeze is taking back over the play-calling duties, I know they haven't said that, but it sounds like that's the direction they're heading. What do you think the balance is going to look like for this offense?

I think it all hinges on Peyton Thorne's decision-making because it's going to be RPO. And if you can run the football, then obviously it opens up a little more of the passing game and that RPO stuff with Rivaldo Fairweather and the tight ends. So I think that success running the football will

will then allow him to dictate based on what the defense does. And that's where the decision-making comes in. And so, yeah, they're still going to run it, and you have to run it to be able to be an RPO team. But I think it'll be, you know, you're right. There'll be some teams that go, look, we're not going to let you run it, and you're going to have to throw a little bit more. And can this team be more successful in doing those types of things? That's how you take the next step, and we'll find that out.

Jason Caldwell joining us on the Buyers Rite Hotline at ITAT. Jason, you can follow him. Greg and I have shared our concerns about the defense, specifically the defensive line. The numbers have been bolstered, but is there a player that you feel like could sort of break out and become dominant, could be a legitimate force to be reckoned with week in, week out inside this group?

Yeah. I mean, you have to start with Keldrick Falk. Second year, can he take the next step and become that guy that is a playmaker? There's no secret when you start talking about it, how quickly and how much can you create penetration in the middle of a defense? And that impacts quarterback as much as anything. And can you find those types of guys? I think Isaiah Rakes is a

He's a guy that can do those things coming from Texas A&M. Kelly Fox is a guy that you look at at almost 290 pounds now. We'll still play defensive end, but I think we'll slide inside and play some three and give them a different look. The other one I'm kind of waiting on a little bit because it happens sometimes with junior colleges is Quintrell Jameson Travis. Bobby Jameson Travis came from junior college last year, only got on campus two days before they started the fall.

Now you've had a year. How quickly can he come out and make an impact? He's really talented. He's physical, athletic. You're right. They've got numbers, but can you find a legit playmaker or two out of the group? If not, it's just going to be a rotation. They're going to play a lot more guys than they've played really probably since 2019, 2020 on that defensive line. They'll keep guys fresh, but do you have somebody that can take over a game and

But I would say Keogh-Folk is probably the guy to watch first. I feel decent about the front seven. I think they've added some good pieces this offseason. I'm not going to sit here and suggest that they're a top group in the league, but I don't think they're going to be in the bottom tier. I think they're probably middle of the pack until proven otherwise. But the back end, I do have a couple of questions there, knowing some of the offenses that they'll face. Look at their schedule. They're going to face a lot of teams that can throw it all over the yard. So I have to anticipate their defense.

Being able to hold up against some of the wide receiver crews that they'll see.

Yeah, I think they're more talented than they've been, but they just lack experience, and that's a big deal. Obviously, you look and, you know, Keontae Scott's back. That's a big one. You add Jaron Thompson at safety from Texas. He's played a ton of football. So you've got two guys that have played a whole lot. Kaylee started some games last year, played as a true freshman. So you've got some pieces there. Caleb Wooden at safety is another one. They've got some talented young guys.

You know, Sylvester Smith, red chartered last year, I think is a good player. Caleb Harris from Thompson High School is going to play as a true freshman at safety. But it's the corner nickel spot. You're just going to have to stay healthy because there's not a ton of experience. J.C. Hart, really talented, Jamel Dean type of guy, 6'2 1⁄2", 210 pounds, and probably in the low 4'4", and he is really athletic. Antonio Kite, really athletic. But, you know, how quickly can those guys –

get ready to play in this league and, you know, can you stay healthy? I think that's the case for a lot of teams, but I think it is for that Auburn secondary.

Hey, Jason, I'm just interested in what you want to see. What are you watching day one? What do you want to try to learn? What sort of has your interest peaked the most for day one of fall practice? Yeah, I think the thing about it now is it's so different than it used to be. When you guys were playing, Cole, when you played, the day one, day two was the first time we'd really seen or talked to anybody in months. And now there's so much information. We get so much information at times that you kind of have an idea. The thing will be,

is what do those summer guys look like? Keandre Lambert-Smith, Isaiah Rakes, Phillip Leedy, the new linebacker that comes in. What do those guys look like physically? That's probably the first thing because there's not a whole lot to be learned on day one. You'll see a few rotations, but

Every coach will say there's no depth chart on day one, but you'll get an idea of who they think might be some guys that will be up there coming out of the spring and summer. So that's probably it. There's not a whole lot to take from Hiss until probably get four or five days in, start to put on some pads, and then you start to see maybe a few guys start to separate some. Jason, appreciate the time. Always good catching up. Enjoy the start of practice today. We'll get you back soon.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Jason Caldwell covers the Auburn Tigers. Joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline for all your insurance needs. Look to Buyer's Right Insurance, member of the WRM group where relationships matter. Mention you can follow Jason on Twitter at ITATJason. And go find his work, everything Auburn related, auburnundercover.com. A little bit more follow-up what Jason said on Auburn when we come back.

Give you our Olympic update as well. Next, right here on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. The capital of the sports talk nation. This is Jux 94.5 and Jux FM.com. Hurry and... All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Appreciate you tuning in.

8.36 a.m. Thursday, August 1st, right here on Jocks 94.5. Get to our top three on the other side of the break. Anything Jason Caldwell went with from an Auburn perspective, Greg, that sort of caught your attention or changed your opinion as they opened up camp today? Yeah, just that he thinks that the secondary is actually more talented. I'm really surprised by that. I obviously am familiar with Guiante and what he's done, but to assume that that group's going to be more talented has got to be a really nice assumption, right?

for those that would follow the Auburn Tigers. I mean, that's been a group that's had me a little concerned, I would be, just because there is a decent amount of guys that have not played significant minutes. So,

The fact that he's not worried about it has me feeling pretty optimistic. Yeah, I had a chance to hang out with Wesley McGriff earlier this summer, and he was raving about his group, excited about his group for a lot of different reasons. So the overall talent, we'll see when they take the field this fall. And, of course, things defensively are going to be a little bit different with DJ Durkin and see how he operates and where he has different guys going. Your Olympic update from yesterday.

You have a chance to watch the Olympics yesterday? Watched too much Olympics yesterday. Caught up and finished some of the swimming from two days ago that we had recorded and then watched all three hours last night. So, yeah, we got it in last night.

United States men's basketball team, they knock off South Sudan yesterday, 103-86. Now 2-0, they're into the quarters. Durant, 14 points, 472 points now, ninth all-time for all Olympic basketball players. The bench scoring was, it favored the U.S., I'll just say that. Outscored South Sudan 66-14. That's it?

That's all they got. They get Puerto Rico Saturday. LeBron becomes the third Olympic player with 300 or more points in his career of the American players. So that was solid. United States women's soccer, 2-1 over Australia. I feel like the United States is getting a lot of wins against Australia in this Olympics. That's the way it's happening. Australia is off to a tough start. So they are now into the knockout stage.

As the U.S. women advance. Djokovic advances to the quarterfinals for Serbia. He'll get Stevens. Stistopsis. He's 11-2 against Stevens in his career. So I feel pretty decent about Novak moving on. Do you feel great about that pronunciation? No, not at all. I actually don't even feel halfway decent about it. Stistopsis? Well, there's a...

There's a mispronunciation that could happen at the beginning with T-S-I-T-S. Yes. So I'm just going to – I went with what I went with, and I'm not going to try to get to it again for FCC reasons. Katie Ledecky picks up gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle. You'll probably hear about that a little bit later in the show again. And –

She is on her way to becoming the most decorated female Olympian ever, and she's going to have multiple opportunities to do that. So a big day yesterday for the Americans, again, in the Olympics. Your gold medal count, China with nine, France with eight, as well as Japan, Australia seven. Your overall medal count, United States with 30, France with 26, China 19, Australia

And Great Britain, 17. 17 of those 30 for the United States have come in the pool, by the way. Really? Yeah. So it was a fun day at the Olympics yesterday. A lot of cool stuff. I'm still mind blown. By the way, did you watch any of the men's gymnastics last night? Not last night, no. The individual all around. I didn't see a ton last night of the Olympics. I watched Ledecky after we went to a movie last night. Yeah. And when we got back, watched Katie Ledecky and then had to shut it down.

Yeah, I just didn't know if you got to see some highlights or whatever maybe this morning. I mean, first of all, I've never seen so many people screw up the pommel horse. I didn't even know the pommel horse was a crazy difficult event. They had multiple guys fall off. Everyone kept falling.

It was insane. Have you ever seen someone fall off the pommel horse, Saber, or cube? Yeah, yesterday when everyone did. That was the first time ever. And four straight world-class gymnasts fell off. I'm thinking there was somebody that was tinkering with that trinket known as the pommel horse and made it off balance or something. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I've only seen like two or three people ever compete on it, so I don't really know about the chances of falling off or not falling off. I don't know. I mean, it's got handles. It's hard to fall off, but they found ways yesterday. I don't want to say funny because I feel kind of bad, but it's almost like watching Mahomes and Burrow and Josh Allen miss wide-open screens. Okay.

Didn't think we'd get the Josh Allen men's gymnastics comp on the show today, but we squeezed it in. Got that one. The Mahomes to pommel horse riders comp. But we got it. We fit it in today. We're flexible as a show. Some other medals for the United States yesterday. BMX freestyle women. Paris Bonnegas picks up the silver in your canoe slalom.

The what? The Leibforth picks up your bronze. And in the 100-meter free, Torrey Hawk picks up the silver for the United States. So some other golds that the United States picked up – metals, excuse me, that the United States picked up yesterday. Well, I was pretty amazed by the BMX setup, like around that fountain. And I didn't realize that's where a lot of the urban events are with the skateboarding, the –

you know, BMX biking. Did you see the setup? That is vast and it is pretty freaking sweet. Like I was pretty fired up about it. I want to go check that. I want them to just leave that there around that giant, like historically significant fountain. You're going to take your diamond back out there and get going. Yeah. Diamond back, maybe a mosh with like a couple of pegs. Get your mongoose out there. Pegs.

Yeah. Doing around the world. You got the brake thing where you can do the 360, spin your front wheel around, and it doesn't get caught in your brake wires? Sure. Yeah. Why not? You got front pegs and back pegs? Duh. Do you go with the mag wheels or no? I'm not here. I play for keeps. I don't know what that is. Now you're getting too aggressive for me. Like the plastic mag wheels, or do you go with the spokes? Spokes. Traditionalist. You put the baseball card in there to make the noise.

We know what you're doing. Yeah, traditionalist. You know what? The baseball card in there is pretty fire. But what is the other thing that you could put in there? There's like a clip, like the wooden clip. You could put that in there, too, to make an interesting noise. I just wanted to think I'm going really fast, like having an exhaust pipe on my bike. You put those little plastic ditties that go up and down. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, I forgot about those. Is that still a thing? I don't know.

Y'all may find out in a few years. I'm sure y'all kids will be right. I was about to say, I think Cole, were you like one of those guys that would be like, no hands, and like ride down the street with no hands? I get the sense that you'd be like, what are you doing? By the way, on our way to the movie theater yesterday, going up the big hill, Green Springs Avenue, towards Vestavia. Right.

We passed a guy in a motorcycle coming down that hill, and from the moment we saw him to the moment he passed us, had his arms like iron cross straightened out. That was bold. I'll say. Like you talk about a lack of respect for life right there. Yeah. But hey, that was his Olympic moment, I guess. Super Olympic moment. I hope he was the king of the world because that could have gone the wrong way. Yes, I agree.

It's one thing to wipe out, but wipe out off the mountainside would be rough. Going downhill also. Good luck. Hope you made it. Yeah. Hope so. Definitely pulling for him. What is the event that's coming up today that they were talking about yesterday that I had literally never heard of? I'm going to have to pull up Olympics.com because I was trying to look it up on my phone and I couldn't find it. It was the what? Decathlon.

No, I've heard of that. I have no idea. Maybe it's under team sports instead of regular sports. Oh, maybe it's under athletics. Yeah. Three-on-three basketball? Artistic gymnastics. No. Well, first of all, I was watching the – it showed some highlights of the marathon yesterday. Or not the marathon, the triathlon. That was pretty aggressive. Badminton. Swimming in that river. Dude, badminton is no joke. Boxing today. No joke.

Oh, you know what it was? We'll have the same sexes against each other. It was the men's dinghy. The men's dinghy. It's a variation of sailing. Okay. And I was like, what the heck is that? I thought a dinghy was a type of boat. That's an event now? Like, what are we doing? You got rowing today, sailing today, shooting today, table tennis going today. I haven't heard of dinghy. I don't know what that is. I've never heard of dinghy before. Dinghy or dinghy, either one.

Well, that's what I was thinking. Are they ding-dong ditching folks? Are they going and pressing the doorbell and running? What is the play here? Wasn't that Microsoft's version of Google? Ah, that's a good idea. I forgot about that. Do you have some judo today? Are you going to get into that? May, may not. We'll see.

Trying to see if I can get some updates on dinghy and exactly what that is. Yeah, I didn't know what it was. I have no idea. Still don't know what it is, but they said that was coming up today. They also have canoe slalom. Yeah, we picked up a medal in that yesterday. Whoa, spoiler alert. Today is the men's kayak single final in canoe slalom. Yeah, yesterday was women's. E.V. Liberforth picked up the bronze. Right. Still don't know what canoe slalom is, though. The Olympic sailing competition at Paris will feature events in windsurfing, kite, dinghy, and skiff.

Yes. Today is dinghy. Once again, don't know the... Anytime I hear Mike Tirico at 11 local say dinghy's coming up tomorrow, I just didn't... My antenna went up. I just wasn't sure what he was talking about. I didn't know what was going on. Okay.

Yes, I was very intrigued because I didn't know what it was. I mean, it's rare when you work in this industry and you have literally not heard of a sport or an event. Well, it's not a sport, first off. It's an event. I'm not even going to pretend. I apologize. For newcomers, Dinghy, by the way, with an H.

Sailing offers an accessible and exciting introduction to the sport of sailing, which that's incorrect. Dinghies are smaller, single-masted sailboats that are normally built for two to four persons as opposed to bigger sailboats. Oh, okay. So basically it's like a compact car NASCAR race is what it is.

So Priuses were out here? Yes. In NASCAR? Okay. Is it like Funny Car? Yeah. Gotcha. Like the Geo Metro of Talladega is what it is.

Love that. We'll get to our top three next right here on Mac and Cube in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kublik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kublik in the morning, 8.51 a.m. Thursday, August 5th, right here on Jocks 94.5. Take it back, Gusty Goulds and the Gusty Goulds Group, quickly.

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Well, as we know, our buddy Bill Connolly, he had a list of the top 25 college football players of the 21st century. He had Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska as his number one guy. So I'll ask y'all, who are your top three players in college football of the 21st century? So this is since 2000, right? Yes. Who else did Connolly have after Ndamukong Suh? He had Baker Mayfield. Suh was number one. Baker Mayfield was number two.

Okay. Cam Newton was third. I got to go back and think early 2000s of exactly where I'm going to go with this. He did have Ed Reed at number five, though. Which is a good choice. Is Quentin Nelson going to be on that list? Should be. He's going to be somewhere towards the top. I mean, I'm imagining there's not an offensive lineman on his list. Brian McKinney. This is a good one. I would take Nelson over him. Brian McKinney was pretty dominant, though. I'm just going to go ahead and say Cam's going to be number one on my list.

Because if you're in the discussion of the best all time that I've seen, you're probably going to be number one since 2000. Probably not going to be in Dama consume my top three. Understandable. Think about some of these guys, what they had around them to what they were able to do. Joe Thomas. I think Joe Thomas was actually better than the NFL. He wasn't college. I'm going to go with Cam Newton one. I'm going to go every two. I'm going to go Tim Tebow three. Gregory. Okay. Uh,

Pound for pound players. Reggie Bush, and really, I don't know if it would be in no particular order, but Reggie Bush, Lamar Jackson are probably the two best, and I'd probably have Cam in there as number three. He was just so dang dominant. Understandable. John Cyber. Number three is Reggie Bush. Number two, by a slight margin, is Cam Newton, but number one is Michael Vick. He's dynamic. That was a, I didn't think about that one.

Number three for me would be Lamar Jackson. I think of what he did at Louisville and just the fact that he put them squarely on the map. You go back and watch that game against Florida State. It's like, OK, now this this brother right here is built completely different. Number two for me is Reggie Bush. I remember being young and just watching him and he made the position of running back look so doggone easy.

And the fact that him, Lindell White, Thunder and Lightning, it just didn't make any sense. USC was so dominant. But he made the game of football just completely different for the running back position. And number one is Cam Newton, what he did for that Auburn team. The one season he was there, sweet Jesus, like...

Again, we talk about just one player doesn't make that big of a difference. Or if you know how coaches say, we don't need you. Nah, Cam Newton's not on that roster for Auburn. There's no telling how that season could have been. And to just put a team on his back and do what he did.

It's still just remarkable. Sorry, Greg. I just want to go to a couple where I believe all the guys that we said I wouldn't have an issue being at one, two, or three. I think a lot of those are interchangeable in a lot of different ways. But a couple that I just found egregious. McCaffrey and Keekly, the first 10 out. I'm not okay with that. I'm sorry. Tyron Matthew at 23.

Right. I think if you're talking football players, you can make an argument that he's up there with any of the guys that we mentioned. Devonta Smith at 19? Heisman Trophy winner now. That doesn't do a lot for me, personally. I do feel like he did a good job respecting a few that most people probably would not normally name. Like Pollock at 15, not a lot of people would do that. Fitzgerald at 10, I feel like was proper respect for him.

But, man, there's a couple that you just look at and say, nah, how? I don't know. Interesting list, though, either way. Last one, Samson. Who do you think should be on that list? Ask him about camp opening up and maybe some Olympic basketball. When we come back next right here on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning, listen always online, joxfm.com. The app is in your app store, iPhone, Android. You can download that for free. The coach is next. This is McElroy and Kubelik in the morning.

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