7-24-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 2: Is Penn State a playoff team?; Ian Fitzsimmons & Cale Gundy talk Big Ten & SEC; unfortunate Heisman streak
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McElroy and Kubelik in the morning starts now. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Just wild to think about those numbers around Ryan Day that we mentioned earlier. Again, 56-8 at Ohio State. 1-3 versus Michigan. 55-5 versus teams not named Michigan. Four of those losses coming in bowl games. Three of those came in the college football playoff. 40-0 against Big Ten teams not named Michigan.

But that points per game differential is one that is a little bit staggering. The Alabama heat and humidity can also be staggering. Don't let it affect your home and family. Keep them comfortable with an affordable train cooling system. Train is our official partner here at JOX. They've been recognized as America's most trusted brand 10 consecutive years. Find a comfort specialist near you at train.com. On the flip side of that, Greg, you think about James Franklin. He suffers from a little bit of the same problem. Obviously not as big of a rival as Ohio State and Michigan, but...

80-18 versus teams not named Michigan and Ohio State. 4-16 versus Michigan and Ohio State during his time in Happy Valley. 3-17 all-time versus the AP Top 10. That was one that really got going last year. I don't know how it makes me feel any different about James Franklin. I've always felt like he's a very good coach, but not an elite coach. And there's going to be those letdown moments with him, but the numbers start to back it up.

Here's the thing. He went out and hired two good coordinators. I think he's missed a few times on his OC hire. And that, I think, is a huge issue. With all due respect to Yurcich and a couple other guys, I do think the OC has been a problem for them. But I am optimistic that Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas is doing a really nice job there.

Okay, let's go to Ian Fitzsimmons, who is live at Big Ten Media Days and woke up with the giant inflatable duck outside of his hotel window. I had never seen that before. Do we have confirmation that they ordered this thing just for Big Ten Media Days? Cole, Greg, good to be with you guys. I'm assuming so, yeah, because I woke up and I hadn't looked at Twitter. I hadn't even turned the TV on yet. I just opened up the blinds and I'm like, is this?

Is that a damn Oregon inflatable duck on that river pinned against that bridge? I mean, that damn thing was like two stories high. I swear to God. And it couldn't go under the bridge. I guess they had to come over and deflate it. But, yeah, I don't know. Look, I don't know who did it. I'm assuming that's some Phil Knight Nike money. You know, they have the biggest marketing tool known to mankind out there with, you know, bottomless pockets. Yeah.

So they could pay for that damn inflatable two-story inflatable duck with the money in their glove compartment. But, yeah, it was interesting to wake up, boys, and go, huh, first day of Big Ten media day. These cats aren't even here until Thursday, and they're announcing their presence with a two-story duck on a river. Yeah, people worried about Texas coming in and imposing their will at SEC. Right, right.

Hold my beer. Looking at just how it feels. We've already heard from some folks that have talked with people in California, like, man, I can't believe we've got to go all the way to the Midwest to do media days. SC is upset about it. UCLA is upset about it. And it's like, dude, what did you expect? Get ready. I mean, you're about to have some unique trips. So culturally, the...

I guess I would say that the league just feels strange. Excited about some of the matchups that we get, but I do think it drops off quickly after the top four or five. And I do feel like culturally it's very odd. So what's the feel like as you've been there for a couple days now?

I talked to five to six head coaches about that very thing yesterday, Greg, and they all kind of said that's more of the Olympic sports that really have more concern with travel. Shiano told me that he's going to use some experience that he had with Belichick and the Patriots, and Bielema said this also to me. Brett Bielema, head coach of Illinois, where if they're going all the way out west, and I think –

Illinois only has to make that trip once, and Rutgers only has to make that trip once. But just to use their plan as an example, when they have to go east coast to west coast, they're going to go out on Thursday, not Friday, just to get acclimated, play on Saturday, and may not even fly back on Saturday night after the game. B-Limit told me they'll probably just wait, sleep at the hotel, and fly back on Sunday so they're not getting back at 6 o'clock in the morning. But they only have to do it once a week, so it's more for –

you know, the non-money generating sports, you know, like, you know, men's soccer or women's soccer or whatever, where they're going to have more travel issues than anything else. When it comes to football, you know, and look, a lot of the coaches I talked to yesterday, East Coast guys, you know, a lot of the West Coast guys, UCLA and Deshaun Foster come in today, Lincoln Riley's here today,

It may be different for them, but going east to west, I mean, they all seem to have a common plan. Go out a day early, fly back a day late. You mentioned only having to do it certain amounts of times. There's another little bit of a schedule quirk with the Big Ten this year. While six schools are going to play two times on Fridays, there's another six that will not play on Fridays. You can probably guess which category Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State are in there.

The beneficial one? Yeah. They're not going to get any Friday games. Tony Petitti kind of defended that yesterday, and I was wondering was there any conversation just around how and why that actually took place. And that was kind of a murmur, Cole, to be honest. But it was one of those like, hey, man, schedule's out. We've got to play. There's nothing you can do about it.

which I like that attitude personally. But, yeah, I mean, sometimes the haves get it and the have-nots don't. And those teams that have to play on a Friday, you know, you've got to deal with it. So that's the bottom line. But I'll also say this, Cole, going on a different note. The big theme from yesterday, I have a feeling it's going to be very similar today.

it is literally national championship game or it has been a failure of a season for Ohio State. And the players know it. You know, talking to EZE, you know, who could be one of the best wide receivers in college football got banged up last year, but he could have gone to the league, you know, even after coming off an injury. He's back. Jack Sawyer's back. I mean, they got a mission, man. And Ryan Day told me, he goes, look, we know what it is. You know, you lose one game at Ohio State. Oh.

The expectation is to win every game. They know it's natty or nothing. Today, I think with Lincoln Riley and USC coming in, there's not national championship expectations, but there better be some serious improvement, meaning a minimum of double-digit wins. You're doing it with a quarterback who's only started one game in Miller Moss. So,

You know, going back to that schedule part, yeah. I mean, the Habs got in the upper part of the league. Did they get a benefit? Absolutely. But you still got, I mean, look, there's nothing to do about it now. You got to go play the schedule. And you look at the talent Ohio State has and a prove-it season for USC. Those have been easily the top two stories so far coming into day two. What do you think, looking at Michigan, Michigan,

I can't recall a time in which a group, I felt better about a team last year and then compared to where they're at this year and some of the unknowns where I kind of dropped off. Some of? I mean, I honestly, I mean, I've been hot on them, Ian, for years. Like, I've loved Michigan. I know. I mean, three years ago, I'm like, they're going to win the Big Ten. People said I was nuts. And we said it during the season. I remember Cole and I taking a lot of heat. Like, there's no way Michigan beats them. It's going to be a laugher. And sure enough.

And now it's like I don't feel good about him at all. I think everything that they did well outside of play great defense in the front seven, I think could go back to kind of the starting line. So how should we be evaluating them? And based on some of the conversations that you've had with people around that league, how do they feel about Michigan?

They've got to replace a ton, man. They had, what, 15 guys drafted, Greg. I'm with you on this one. And then you have another eight that are in NFL camps. You've got more than your 22 starters that are in NFL camps off last year's national championship team.

And they were, by far, bar none, the most talented team in college football last year. They had the most draftable guys. Which, by the way, Jim Nagy at SEC Media Days, and then I called two NFL GMs that I trust immensely that always hit up before the NFL draft. All three, independent of one another, said the most talented team in college football this year. I'll let you guys take a guess. Who do you think it is? The most draftable grades on one team in college football. Take a guess. I wouldn't have gotten it. Matter of fact, I didn't.

Draftable grades in college football. So it's got to be veterans. Florida State. Notre Dame.

Ole Miss. It's not super surprising. I guess if you're talking about draftable guys. I never would have gotten that, Cole. In a million years, I never would have gotten that. But when you really think about it. Your quarterback is. You might have one or two running backs that are. Your tight end is. You picked up an offensive lineman that is. You got a couple D linemen that are. All your receivers, I guess, are.

It's not super surprising, but I feel like there'd be a Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State that might have a few more. I was thinking the older kids that Florida State got out of the border. When you start to think about it, okay, yeah, it makes a little sense. Michigan?

Eight guys right now. Eight. They went from 21 draftable grades last year, 15 did get drafted, 23 are in camps, to eight. Now, look, Mason Graham, nose tackle, 55 can play for me any day of the week, man. Will Johnson at quarter. I mean, I was your defensive MVP of the national championship game. Yeah, they have some talent, absolutely. But I don't know about quarterback. I mean, we know Donovan Edwards is back, but you've got to have more than one.

So we'll know a lot about Michigan week two when Texas comes to town. And right now, I don't know what the spread is on that game, but up to, I'd say, probably seven, eight, I'd lay it on Texas because Texas is deep and Michigan is a complete unknown. All right, so here's an interesting thought because you were at SEC Media Days also. And most people who...

who carry some common sense around college football, so maybe outside of Texas or Oklahoma fans, like diehard fans. So I think even some of the fans realize there will be complications with the grind, so to speak. It's not that Texas isn't ready to handle the trenches. It's just that they haven't had to do it against this many other teams that are also that in the trenches, so to speak. Same with Oklahoma. Is that a real part of the discussion around Oregon, USC, UCLA heading into the Big Ten?

Two of those three, absolutely, Cole. You're spot on, man. That would be SC and UCLA. Again, going back to SC, replacing a Heisman winner ain't easy, right? And Caleb Williams. But Miller Moss, their quarterback, has got talent. We had him late in the year last year.

And Cliff Kingsbury, now the OC for the Washington Commanders. You always ask about a backup quarterback. Sorry, Greg. But you always got to, you know, just in case, right? I know that hurts, right? Just in case a guy goes down. What do you got over here? And, man, it was this dude can spin it.

and Kate Cliff was just, he wouldn't shut up about the young man. So they've got talented quarterback, but to your point, Cole, ain't a lot of depth there, man. UCLA ain't a lot of depth there. And you lose Lynn going across the street from UCLA to USC to try and finally fix a Lincoln Riley defense as his defensive coordinator. Oregon, though?

Dude, they're naughty. I mean, they are filthy, and they are deep. And you get Dylan Gabriel coming in at quarterback in that system. I love the Ducks, dude. I know the D-line was a little more last year across the Pac-12, but still, it's doing it every week. There's no Cal on the schedule, translation. Titan. Titan.

You do get Idaho, I think, week one, right? Goodness, you do get Idaho. I think it's Idaho, Boise, and then two Oregon State. If you're only a 3-0 going into your first bye, you've got problems. But still, if we're talking about just withstanding being beat up,

Boise and Oregon State, weeks two and three. That will add to that. You've got Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin, back to back to back to back to back. I'm just referencing the physicality portion of that. I know that they are one of the most physical teams where they've been playing.

But just it's going to be a little bit different. I totally understand. But I think you've got, what, eight, nine guys back from that defensive front led by Jordan Burch, another guy who can play for me any time, you know? I mean...

That dude coming off the edge wearing one is a beast, buddy. You're going to the depth. And, look, that's something that we're going to have to – we're going to find out. You know, I'll ask Landy about it. You know, he gets here, as a matter of fact, this afternoon. So, you know, we'll – and he's not scheduled to talk until tomorrow, but we'll try and sneak a peek with him.

But, man, that's one of the questions that I will definitely ask. I mean, do you have the depth? Because he's been in the SEC as a GA at PAMA, as a DC at Georgia, right? He knows what it takes to go through a monster grind. So that's one question that I will definitely be asking Coach Lanning. But on the surface, the Ducks are one of the teams right now with that big-ass inflatable one floating around in this river outside my hotel that I would say right now pencil them into the college football playoff. They will be in. Are you penciling in Penn State?

Hell no. Wow. Give me a big game that James Franklin has won. Rutgers. By the way, that's a sleeper little team right there now. Don't you laugh. Here you are laughing. Schedule. Sleepy schedule. Schedule will put you to sleep, but they'll win. Rutgers. Rutgers. I don't know what they're winning. Rutgers wins seven. They'll win seven this year. I was going to say, man, if it's seven and a half, take the over because they're

That is an older team, right? Yeah, they can pound it too. They added a quarterback that's got some game. Dude, he's a beast at running back. Their quarterback last year, they won seven last year, and their quarterback completed 47% of his passes. You know how hard it is to complete 47% of your passes in college football? You should do that.

You should do that against like... You should complete 47% of your deep balls. I'm not talking like screens and stuff. Those are extended handoffs. The average in college football now is like 67%. Back in our day, it was like if you're over 60, that's incredible. Yeah, it's changed a lot, but 47 right now is really bad. Yeah, but they got the... What's his nickname? The Greek rifle from Minnesota. Yeah, I can't pronounce his last name.

That guy right there. Good job with the pronunciation. That's one of those where if you're not sure, just say it with authority and people will believe you got it right. It's easier than you think. Kaliak Manis. It's like Kaliak Manis. I did his first game.

He's got some game. He can throw it. I just think he's a little streaky, but we'll see. Honestly, Penn State, though, if Penn State doesn't get to the playoff, that would be a remarkable failure. I mean, I'm not trying to like... You look at their roster, dude. There's no reason why they shouldn't be a top 12 team. They also have a very favorable schedule.

By Penn State standards, usually it's, hey, Big Ten East, you got to run through a gauntlet. Everybody understands. Nobody has benefited more from the shift in the college football landscape to Penn State. While the Big Ten's gotten deeper, their schedule that they have to play has not. Same can be said for Ole Miss. They were stuck in the SEC West. Now, no more divisions. Things can ease up for them a little bit. So if Penn State doesn't make it, that's a legitimate failure.

Well, I think they can make the playoff, right? But I don't know about getting to a surviving and advancing. You look at last season. I mean, as a 10-win team, they would have been in the college football playoff if it was a 12-team playoff. But moving on in the playoff, I don't know. So my reaction is, when I hear Penn State, it's always the same thing. Give me a big win that they've had in the last four or five years.

You know, I mean, and he damn sure ain't having multiple of those in the same season. And they've had to coming out of that, as you mentioned, out of the East. Well, now we've gone divisionless. And, you know, look, again, they have to prove it to me, man. I mean...

Quarterback plays obviously better. You've got Singleton back and running back, but again, they have to prove that they can go and win a big game, especially on the road, man. Ohio State is at home. Washington is down this year. They've got to go to USC.

So that Ohio State game in early November, I can't remember if it's week one or week two, but I know it's early November. That'll be a wide-out game. November the 2nd. There you go. Thank you, Cole. So that's one where we'll know a lot more about Penn State because week one in the guinea, by the way, at West Virginia. No, it's fair. They should win that game, but.

Be careful. It's probably a little better. Be careful. Yep, thank you. I'm right there with you. See, we went from talking about Penn State and how they should be, right? We're talking about be careful at West Virginia. No, but West Virginia, I think, is a sneaky, sleeper, Big 12 title contender. No one wants to talk about them.

You know, people are still hung up on, you know, Neil Brown, is he a good fit and all this stuff. First of all, they won a bunch of games last year. Secondly, they can win at the line of scrimmage. Thirdly, they have a returning quarterback that got better as the season went along and played half the season with a broken ankle. So, like, I mean, West Virginia is sneaky, sneaky. Don't tell anybody. That's the sleeper.

You know what? I used to laugh at you every now and then, but after your Kansas State pick a few years ago to go to the Big 12 championship game, no more. What about Louisville last year? I had Louisville in the ACC title game last year. Ask Cole about his Big 10 West title pick of Illinois last year. I think it went 3-9.

Cole, this is like vinegar on my palate complimenting GMAC right now. I've been good with the predictions the last couple of years. I've gotten better, for sure. Definitely a lot better. Patch yourself. There you go. Get your own horn. Appreciate you. That's it. Ian, great stuff, man. Really appreciate the time. Always good catching up with you, seeing you in Dallas. We'll do it again soon. St. Elmo's overrated in Indianapolis as a steakhouse, by the way. The shrimp cocktail, phenomenal. Good to hear it is next door.

Shrimp cocktail is really good. It's got good spice, and they pour a good drink. I don't really care about the steak. The steak's average. Give me the cocktail on two levels. There you go. I got you. Thank you. Appreciate it.

All right, so as Ian stated, here's the thing. We're talking about Penn State getting to the playoff, though. Yeah. And there is a piece of what James Franklin has done as the head coach for the Nittany Lions that would lead you to believe that that is not just possible but probable. So I'll tell you why that is on the other side, even with some of the concerns. First, tell our listeners about B-Dry. Well, B-Dry has been serving Alabama for 60 years.

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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 Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Interesting conversation around the Big Ten there with Ian Fitzsimmons. We'll continue that in just a moment. 824 a.m. Wednesday, July 24th, right here on Jock's 94.5.

Penn State to the playoff. Probable? Doubtful? Do we think it happens? There are some reasons that it could happen. There are some reasons that it might not happen. The big games that Ian Fitzsimmons brought up, it's fair. But it's not the only part of it. One part of your summer could be a new ride and Royal wants to get you in one.

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They'll help you get the best deal available. Royal Buick GMC, Royal Volkswagen, Royal Automart, and Volvo Cars of Vestavia. Hills right there at the corner of I-65 and Highway 31 of Vestavia. Visit them online at royalautomotive.net. The big games, Greg, you can't argue with it. 4-16 against Michigan and Ohio State. It's not good. Not what you want. AP top 10 teams, 3-17. It's not great. Not what you want. Not great.

And his roster has been pretty good. Has been really good. That's part of the issue is I think no one expects you to have a winning record against ranked teams or top ten teams when you don't have a top ten roster. But I think most of the time his roster has probably been top ten. The problem that I have with those stats is how often has his roster been superior to that of the teams that he was playing against? How many times has he had better players across the board than Ohio State? Zero. Zero.

That'd be a goose egg. How many times has he had better players than Michigan? I don't know. Maybe once or twice in the early years. Not a lot. Not many. Not recently. Not many. I mean, so it's been pretty rare. So I'm not saying that he doesn't need to start winning those games. All I'm saying is that he's about where you would expect him to be.

based on the ranked opponents he's had to face. Yeah. All right, so let's go down the schedule because the AP top 10 record, like we said, 3-17. You tell me if at any point in time this year, Greg, you believe this team will be ranked in the AP top 10. West Virginia? No. Bowling Green? No. Kent State? No. Illinois? No. UCLA? No.

USC. No. Wisconsin. No. Ohio State. Yes. Washington. No. Purdue. No. Minnesota. No. Maryland. No. James Franklin has finished in the top 12 six of his eight years at Penn State, which guess what that means now, folks? Playoffs. Probably in the playoffs. Playoffs? So we can talk about not beating really good teams in college football. We can talk about not beating in Michigan and Ohio State.

Michigan ain't on the schedule. No. And there's not, outside of Ohio State, what appears to be a lot of other AP top 10 caliber teams on the schedule. They also are out of the jail that is the Big Ten East. Yeah. That was a jail cell. They're a giant benefactor of divisions going away. Massive. They're out of the jail cell. Look at that schedule that they're playing this year. I just read it to you. Well, I'm just telling the people to look at it. Look at that schedule. If you're driving right now.

Pull out your phone while you're driving. That's how bad the schedule is, relatively speaking. I would suggest you pull over first.

He's both hands. You're drunk with your knee. Pull into a ditch and look this up. I don't care if you damage your car. It's worth looking at. You need to see it to believe it. If you're up there in West Virginia mountains on the way to Pittsburgh, pull over in one of those gravel pits for the bike trucks. Go on the runaway truck lots. Just go and pull into that thing. Can we come back to Wu-Tang Gravel Pit next break, by the way? Wow. Not with all the bleeps.

Yeah. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Just the intro is good enough for me. Sounds good. The instrumental. We'll make the one guy happy and listen to more than two seconds of the song. Perfect. Point being, Greg, everything seems to – it's easy to focus on some of the negatives with James Franklin. But more of the positives seem to be in front of them this upcoming season than the negatives. You know who James Franklin is?

And this will make people mad or people will get like this. James Franklin is Bo Pelini for Nebraska. Bo Pelini won nine games a year in Nebraska and was rock solid for a really long time. And while he rubbed people the wrong way, believe me, there are a lot of people that support Penn State that are not fans of James Franklin a lot. I think you got to be careful what you wish for is all I'm saying. Like when you want to run a guy.

and tell him to go kick rocks, you better be sure that the guy that's coming in is improvement over the guy that you just ran. You better be sure. And I think James Franklin's solid. If I had the option between hiring Nick Saban or James Franklin, I would lean towards Nick Saban. Yes, that is confirmed.

But of the others that have been around for a while, like Ohio State. Can we put that terrible out, James Franklin or Nick Saban? I think we'll have heavy lean in one direction there. Put the other coaches in the Big Ten out there. You want James Franklin or Ryan Day? Probably want Ryan Day. Full disclosure, probably want Ryan Day. But of the others, Mike Loxley, Greg Sciano, Jonathan Smith, Luke Fickle, Sharon Moore, Brett Bielema, Kurt Cignetti,

Keep going, Jed Fish. There's some good, not greats, and there's some unknowns. Yeah. Is what it feels like. I think James Franklin's solid. Would I be really pumped if he was the coach of my alma mater? I don't know, because I'd like my alma mater to get to the mountaintop. But I think when you average 9, 10 wins a year, it's pretty dang sporty, too. I also think, and if we're just going to look at both sides of this,

Some of it has been self-inflicted, the criticism that comes towards James Franklin. There have been times in which he's opened his mouth and said things that were unnecessary that I feel like have invited a little bit more of the what in the world is happening here. But I would lean more towards the positive with James Franklin of what he's accomplished, what he's done. And in this dawn of a new era of college football that we are entering,

There seem to be more things that potentially could go his way now that that door has been opened. And like you said, the cage of that division that he had been in for quite some time is now gone. He has been released. We'll see how that works. But we know how Crocker Moving Services work. They're a local company owned by an Iraq war veteran, Eric Crocker. Crocker believes in hiring moving services to complete full background checks,

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crockermovieservices.com. Support your veterans by choosing Crocker Moving Services for your next move. Schedule's going to be tricky in the Big Ten this year. We mentioned Penn State, maybe a little bit of a lighter lift. Rutgers, maybe the lightest lift.

of anybody in the conference. One team that could end up in the playoff has a heavier lift than a lot of people are discussing. We'll talk about them next right here on McIlroy 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. McIlroy and Kubelik in the morning. Big Ten Media Day is continuing today.

Talking about a couple of teams that will be in attendance today. Lincoln Riley just on SportsCenter answering, what's the biggest adjustment his team has to make heading into the Big Ten this year? Continuing practice when guys are banged up. Wow. I'm throwing that out there. I'm throwing it out there as my suggestion. But, hey, it's his team. He can run however he wants. Guys banged up, I would suggest you keep practicing. But that's just me.

That's just my thoughts. That sends the right message to just keep working? I would say just because a couple guys on offense dinged up, you don't just cancel practice for a few weeks. But, hey, what do I know? I don't.

I don't know. That to me seems like a strange concept. Maybe Cale Gundy, he's been in coaching for a while or wasn't coaching for a while. He might have an answer for that. On our sister station there in Oklahoma City, joining us now on the Buyer's Right Hotline. Coach, when you look at all this realignment and you think about teams like Texas, Oklahoma coming to the SEC, a little bit more of a grind physically. You think about USC, UCLA, Oregon heading to the Big Ten, a little bit more of a grind physically. Will it be that different?

through, I guess, late October, most of November for these teams, in your opinion?

Yeah, I think so. First of all, you know, my man Lincoln, which I'm close with, obviously coach here at OU with him and we remain good friends, but they better get used to some cold weather and they better get used to some travel, some miles and getting home late at night when you're traveling from the East Coast all the way back to the West Coast or vice versa, you know. So, but it's exciting times. It's great for college football and excited to see the future moving forward.

What do you make of that transition? I mean, you were obviously a person that spent a ton of time in the Big 12, but you've played Big Ten teams. You know what that league's all about. You've seen SC up close and personal. How challenging of a transition is that for a team like SC that's high-flying and wants to pour it on from a point standpoint to a league that kind of wants to grind you out at the line of scrimmage?

Well, it's going to be a big transition, obviously. I mean, you know, if you look at USC and what they've been doing the last few years here, they've been struggling tremendously defensively. I mean, everybody knows that. You're about to go into a new conference where they're going to, you know, a lot of them like to put two tight ends and just grind you to death and just pound you and wear you out. But on the flip side of that,

the Big Ten Conference has to be prepared. The one thing Lincoln Riley can do is he can score. He has great quarterbacks. He's got great skill players. He's extremely creative. The most creative offense of mine I've ever been around when it comes to plays usually has about, you know, give or take about six new offensive plays every game that he goes into. And typically four to five out of those six are always successful. So,

It's a learning curve. I mean, they're going to have to adapt. There's no doubt about it. And it'll be challenging. You know, it's just a little bit kind of the same here from, you know, OU moving, going down to the SEC. You know, being down at the media days last week in Dallas with you guys,

You know, when we talk to SEC coaches or SEC players and we said, okay, you've got an opportunity to go to the team room of OU or Texas and stand in front of the team and tell them what's the biggest thing, the most important thing you're going to have to adapt to. And everybody says the princess. I mean, that comes from the coaches and the players. You guys know that because both of y'all played there in a conference.

Kale Gundy, former Oklahoma player coach, joining us on the Buyers Right Hotline, now Dust Radio in Oklahoma City, talking transition into some of these Power 5 conferences, specifically for Oklahoma this year. We've talked about it on our show. Bill Biedenboe is one of the best, but you've got to replace everybody. Even if you're bringing in transfers, it's going to be a massive concern. What's the ceiling, I guess, for Oklahoma up front on offense this year, just based on what you've seen and what you know? Well,

Well, you brought up Coach Beaton Bowes, a great friend of mine, one of my best friends. I coached with him for a long time, spent a lot of time with him. We have lake houses at the same place. I believe he is one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. So his players are going to know what to do. His players are going to be in the right positions. The question is, do they have the right bodies to do what they need to do? And that's my question, Mark. When I went and saw them in the spring season,

I had a chance to go down and watch them in individual and some one-on-ones and some inside drill. And my biggest concern is just the body types itself. Obviously, need to have those offensive linemen that are 330s and 340s and 350s on a consistent basis that can move people down in the trenches. So I just – that's the one question.

I still have is do they have those type of bodies? I didn't really see much of them out there. I've heard here recently these guys have been putting on 6 pounds, 10 pounds, 12 pounds. I just didn't see the type of lower part of the bodies, the legs, the hips that you need in the SEC and the trenches. When you look at some of the other bodies like you referenced, I am curious kind of getting it back to a Big 12 perspective just for a moment.

How do you think, like I grew up in that league, that was the league I followed growing up as a Dallas kid. OU Texas was the backbone of my college fandom, for sure, for a very long time. And I'm kind of amazed at the transition the league has made in recent years. I mean, it was high-flying, race to 50, and now I feel like it's really a ground-and-pound league where you have a lot of ball-control teams and

Well...

When you talk about those type of offenses, when you practice like that offensively, it's hard to have a defense on the flip side that is a physical defense because you're spending time going against the offense all spring long and you're dropping eight guys in coverage and you're trying to cover guys from sideline to sideline, a lot of skilled guys in space.

And then when you have to face those teams that like to run the ball, sometimes that hurts the defense. So here in the Big 12, you've got to look at teams. Obviously, the new teams that have came in, especially Utah, number one, I mean, they're going to be a top two or three team. You know what Kyle Whittingham wants to do. You know what Utah football wants to be. They want to be physical. They want to be tough. They want to hit you in the mouth on both sides of the ball. I mean, they have no problem telling everybody that.

and giving them their blueprint or maybe their game script before the game and saying, here is what we are going to do, and you're not going to be able to stop us. So that's going to be a challenge a little bit for this conference. Obviously, K-State's always been a great offensive football team that finds ways to outnumber you offensively

you know, sometimes gets the numbers on the perimeter and now having a quarterback like an Avery Johnson who is a young man who's extremely fast, they're going to probably create some run schemes for him to get numbers against the defense, which is going to be tough to stop. So, you know, you look at in the Big 12, you look at Utah, you look at Kansas State, and you look at my brother's team, Oklahoma State, which, you know, returns

21 starters, one of the most schools in the country that returns the most starters. So it should be a great year this year in the Big 12 Conference. Cale Gundy, you can hear him on our sister station in Oklahoma City, the Sports Animal 98.1 WWLS from 11 to 2 weekdays. I wanted to ask you about Oklahoma State. We had a few conversations about them last week.

we think that they should be ahead of the class in the Big 12. What could potentially hold them back? And maybe what are some areas of strength that not enough people are talking about with the Oklahoma State football team this upcoming season?

Well, they've got a quarterback in Alan Bowman who's going to be in his seventh season, guys. Can you just imagine being in college for seven years? So he's going into his seventh season. He's been around a lot. He's a perfect quarterback in that system. Will he spend a lot of days playing in the NFL? Probably not. But is he the type of quarterback on your college football team you would love to have?

because of his leadership skills and his experience 100%. So obviously Ollie Gordon, one of the great running backs in all of college football. They have tremendous wide receivers in Rashad Owens and Brennan Presley, and then they return all five starters in the offensive line. So they've got a lot of depth and going to be loaded on that side. To me, the question is the defensive side.

Now, they returned 10 defensive starters, but this return from a defense last year that was 122nd in total defense, was 86th in scoring, was 96th in rushing, and 123rd in passing. So returning 10 guys, is that what you want to hear? I don't know. Hopefully the defensive coordinator, second-year guy Brian Nardo, is going to get these guys in a better position, and if they can increase –

If they can increase defensively, you know, 30 spots or so in these categories, it's going to help them tremendously. Hey, they finished 10-4 last year. But if they can continue to do that and do the things offensively with the talent they got, they got a chance to be pretty good.

I wanted to ask you one more question, Coach, before we let you run, and that is you spent some time here at UAB as an assistant coach. Actually recruited me a little bit in high school with Pat Donahoe and Coach Brown. When you see kind of where it's gone, I know you're now a little bit removed, but you and I talked about Protective Stadium and kind of the new facility and whatnot. How do you view UAB with what they've added and kind of where it's going from a little bit of a distance compared to what you knew one day way back when?

Well, you know, we were in the beginning stages. That was a young program down there when I was there from '95 through '98. Watson Brown was the head coach. We had some very good assistant coaches on the staff, guys that worked with him at Mississippi State and some other guys, Larry Vanderhagen, offensive line, Pat Donahoe, Rick Christoffel, John Neal, who was at Oregon, George Pugh, a lot of really good coaches.

We kind of started that program and started building that program. I can remember the first or second year, especially the first year, we took some licks, but we turned that thing around really, really quick and had some success and went and played some teams very, very tough down there.

Alabama and that part of the country, there's so many good football players down there. I just believe there's enough players to go around. UAB has done a tremendous job. They built a great stadium there that fits them perfect. You're in the hotbed of college football, in my opinion. Like I told you, between that and NASCAR, it doesn't get any better. Coach, we appreciate you taking some time to join us. Always good catching up. You bring a lot of insight in a lot of different ways. We'll have to do it again soon.

All right. Thank you, guys. Thank you. There we go. Cale Gundy, former Oklahoma quarterback, brother, obviously head coach at Oklahoma State. They are now on the sports animal in Oklahoma City, 11 to 2 weekdays in Oklahoma City. Was an assistant coach here at UAB for a while. So he's been around college football. He knows it. And he doesn't feel like that transition physically for these teams coming into the Big Ten or the SEC, Greg, should be understated.

I think it's going to be really interesting. And I think it's going to be tough to kind of assess what is progress, what is a quality year, because the transition is so significant, I think. It's going to be fun to watch. I think it's going to be hard. I'm excited about it. But I also think that they can be real dangerous.

And they'll be ready to roll. It's going to be dangerous. It's just I feel like people are on one side or the other with this. They either think, hey, it's not going to be an issue. It's Texas or it's Oklahoma or it's Oregon. They've been used to that. And then or they or they think it's something that's definitely going to get in the way and definitely going to slow them down. So we'll see exactly how it plays out. You know how things play out at your CBD store. I've told you before, if you need better night's sleep, if you suffer from arthritis or anxiety, actually you or your pets, your CBD store has helped multiple pets in my home.

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It is a lengthy streak that I'm going to ask Greg and John, do they think it ends this year? Right after this on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. 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 Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. We got to let it go if we're going to run it. Well, you asked for it.

Bring it in. 8.53 a.m. Wednesday, July 24th, right here on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Appreciate you guys tuning in. I want to ask you a question about the Big Ten and does a streak inside the Big Ten end this season? Ox Foundation Solutions, they got a streak going. Over 25 years of experience and an A-plus BBB rating. Foundation repair, crawl space encapsulation, crawl space structural repair, and floor support. Serving over 350 of Alabama's cities.

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Yeah, we're not counting this. Caleb Williams, easy. That doesn't count. Yeah, that was easy. Since a player won it who played a Big Ten schedule. Oh. So it would be Troy Smith, 2007. Anybody else want to take a shot? No one wasn't Ron Dane back in 99 or 2000. It would be Troy Smith, 2007. I'm just trying to think if since then there's been another one.

2012 wouldn't have been. 13 wouldn't have been. 14 was Mariota. 15, Derrick Henry. 16, Lamar. 17, Baker? Or maybe those are switched. Lamar was 17. Baker was 16. Neither Big Ten. Either way. Burrow, Kyler,

No, I'm going to say 2007, Troy Smith. Yeah, it's been 17 years since the Big Ten won a Heisman Trophy. Golly, I'm so money. I don't even realize how money I am. 17 years. That's a piece of mall money right there. 17 years since the Big Ten won a Heisman Trophy. Does that streak end this year? By the way, just to hear 17 is staggering. Look how big. Especially when you think about there was a run of...

When I felt like the Big Ten dominated the Heisman Trophy. Well, here's the thing. Nick Saban prevented all this. Yes, it's Nick Saban's fault. Look how big. I mean, look how big the alumni are. Like, yeah, they get big ratings and stuff, but they seldom have super exciting players. And the problem with the Heisman, whether you like it or not, the Heisman's become a highlight reel award.

And you don't see as many highlight reel plays in the Big Ten as you do the ACC, the Pac-12, the SEC, and others. Like, it's just the reality. If the Big Ten does not win a Heisman Trophy this year, it will tie the longest streak in conference history without winning a Heisman. That was 18 years from 1956 to 1973. Archer Griffin would snap that, and then he would win one the next year as well.

currently sitting on the second longest streak in conference history without bringing home a Heisman Trophy. Do you have a favorite out of the Big Ten? Is it Dylan Gabriel? He'd have to be the favorite. As of this moment, he's the odds-on favorite overall, but I don't think he's going to get it. How often are you the first...

the favorite in the preseason to win it. We'll see. All right, we'll be back with more media coverage next on jocks. 94. Five. This is McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Passion, drive and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superstition.

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