Down but not out

When unfortunate situations arise, they either break players down or build champions! With all the news surrounding MSU football and some unexpected injuries in the NFL, hopefully the players will be able to prove that although they're down, they're not done yet. 

What is Sports Round Table from The State News?

The State News sports reporters discuss all MSU sports.

(Anthony) Take a seat at the table with us. My name is Anthony Brinson.

(DeShawn) I'm the DeShawn Johnson,

(Thomas) Thomas Cobb.

(Anthony) And welcome to the sports roundtable. There have been some breaking news. And just to get it out the way Mel Tucker was officially released from MSU staff, and I'll just use that literally as a transition to talk about the weekend that we just had against Washington wasn't a good outing. I just asked Thomas, how did he get the exact number of 41 for Washington, and I'll let him explain how he had a feeling that this was a no go.

(Thomas) Yeah, well, for anybody who didn't listen, last week, I predict that Michigan State would fall 41 to 17 to Washington. And I think he all his predictions were from a much closer game. But yes, and then ended up being 41 to seven. And my thought process behind that was that Washington was going to move the ball out of will. And I knew that coming into the game. A lot of people I think had faith that Ms. US defense would stand tall. There's a lot of young, promising talent on that team. But this is a completely proven Washington offense. After watching that game, I think it might be the best coach quarterback receiver combination in the entire country. What they're able to do X's and O's as well as on that offense is insane. I had watched their games against Boise State, and I was like, I'm just gonna say, isn't going to be able to stop them. And I knew that they weren't going to weren't going to be able to compete in a shootout. Yeah. And that kind of was my thought process behind the lopsided prediction, which ended up bringing true Washington didn't move the ball at well, Michigan State couldn't get a stop for the life of them. Until the backup for put in essentially, yep. And offensively. It was a disaster. Yes. I think that the defense is under a lot less scrutiny than the offense because that was a chance for the offense to prove that they can play and that they belong, and they didn't do that.

(DeShawn) I totally agree. I start off by like, obviously, you talked about the predictions on you mentioned faith. I definitely you know, I chose wrong last week, I just say that I'm not one on one on the prediction. So no longer on the high cloud. But I mean, I you know, I mentioned just like you said, tongues, I chose my heart. And maybe that was definitely a mistake. And now that I'm really probably, I mean, we just it was it was a rough one. And we also mentioned last week that this is going to be a showcase of whether MSU was really going to be able to stand with the competition this year. I think we kind of just mentioned that, like no disrespect to Central Michigan or Richmond, but they just exactly. They weren't exactly what we were looking for as far as what's going to be the real comp and if MSU is really going to be a super competitive team this year. So I think we kind of got a realistic taste of that. And you know, there's there's just there's levels to this, and Washington was able to prove that to us. We can just start with Penix I mean, the guy's amazing. You you mentioned it, dude. Like I mean, what? What, 12 touchdowns, and just these last three games, he's only got one interception. He got four against us just this past game. I think he took through for a total of 400 plus yards. I mean, we lit up and misuse defense you mentioned I mean, they struggled the entire game led up a total of 713 yards. That's a school record made history. Yep. The last time we lit up that many are even close to that we had it for 666 yards. I know. Freaky. But and that was back in 95 against Nebraska. So we have not seen anything like that. We just we got absolutely destroyed by the tight end. I think his name's Jack Westover. Like, I mean, like just overall the defense struggling the entire game, it just seemed like we were in a fight that we were not prepared for whatsoever. And I just think that if you were at that game, or if you seen anything the stands or show, I mean, like it was there, it was completely packed by the beginning of the game. And I'll tell you about halftime it was it was it was empty. The only seats that were actually filled was the top row and that was all Washington fans. So there was a lot of purples. So I mean, just you know, in all seriousness, I think we got a huge reality check this last Saturday. And I don't want to say that it's the end of the world, but I think it shows this is what we're gonna have to do for the rest of the year. I mean, this that Washington show, we're gonna have to be like that. You mentioned Thomas, the Washington is a really good team. I think I seriously think Penix actually has a shot of like being a serious Heisman potential, like player this year, that he's been phenomenal. And so I just, we're gonna have to really figure it out. There's gonna be a lot of eyes on the team. And I Harlan Burnett, obviously, it's homecoming weekend. So this is going to be just as big as last week. and Maryland coming up as a really good team. So overall, we just, we got reality check on Saturday, and we got to figure it out.

(Thomas) Yeah, just touching on a few things that you just talked about. For one Harlan Barnett. I don't put any of this on the coaching staff. No, this was an Harlan Barnett himself even admitted it this past week there was it was just super disorganized. He essentially spent all week meeting with his players and instead of being on the practice field, which is understandable because you As a coach in that situation, you want to be able to sit down with each and every player. And that's what he did. I think that this could end up becoming a really big problem for MSU. Yes, on the on the grid iron, this is headed in a very bad direction. He currently have no no head coach. But I don't put any of this blame on the coaching staff outside of the offensive indecent defensive coordinators, because those players were clearly not put in a position to win. No, not on Saturday. And I just, I I'll never forget just the air getting sucked out of that place. I mean, there was a Rose Bowl team Coach D on the Jumbotron team runs out to the thunderstruck, which was kind of, you know, the staple of that of those years when they won 31 out of 34. And all of a sudden, we get the ball, Michigan State get stopped, and Washington comes down and scores and like four plays. Yeah. And I remember thinking this game is over. Yeah, we were gonna have to come out and punch him in the mouth in order to stand a chance. And we did not do that. After we went three and out. Actually, I think we got a first down and then punted. Yeah, they come down. First play, I think it was he hit someone off the scene, and there was not a defender within 15 yards of him on all four sides. And that's when I just thought this is this is the same old sparring. So we watched last year where you can't really put a ton of the blame on the players. I mean, they there's nobody in a position to make this play. Yeah, that's on the defensive coordinator that's on the scheme. And that's just sort of my my, my overall point, this is not headed in the right direction. I think Michigan State realistically could finish this year two and 10. And that's a big problem when it comes to the future. This we're looking at, you know, anywhere from a year to five to 10 years of setback. But like you said Washington is I think the real deal. I don't think Michael Penix needs to be playing college football. No, I mean, his first half statline 375 yards, four touchdowns. I think he was 27 for 35. You have to go through the air. So they threw the ball 35 times. And we Michigan State just did not stand a chance to the entire get go.

(DeShawn) Yeah, I mean, I mean, in throwing the ball over the field. I mean, you can you mentioned by the by the end of the first half, we had the ball for almost a minute total more than them and they had already had 200 Plus more yards than us in the air. Nearly almost 250 plus yards total, just in general. It was it was a crazy first half. And it just seemed I don't know if you had a chance because the quarters seem very long. That's a whole nother issue with what's going on with the referees, but it was even longer for MSU fans because there's every play, it just seemed like we were getting dominated on both fronts. So like you mentioned, we were just in bad positioning for both those plays. I don't understand how like, like Pendency is really good, but it seems like we had no answer for this guy. And the scouting report would tell you that this is what he does. Like he literally does this. The guy's got one interception and I mean like, otherwise he's been great. Phenomenal. He's number one in QB rating right now. It's the guy's insane. So And just to mention, I don't know how much we're going to talk about Maryland. But we're literally coming up to face another quarterback and jungler by law that moves perfectly in the pocket. And we had no answer for that this week. So you mentioned things like going in the right direction for these next couple of years. They may not be going in the right direction for this next game depending on how we play it out.

(Thomas) Yeah, Washington or sorry, Maryland, I think is a mini Washington, Washington Jr. They're not the same team when it comes to upfront on the edges but there's very similar in the pocket. Yeah. With Thalia tuck below to his brother. He's given Michigan State some problems in his career, and I think he's actually a very underrated player when it comes to, you know, in the big 10 you think about all these big names and past few years, Justin field, CJ Stroud, JJ McCarthy, you sort of lose sight of Thalia. Yeah. And he's a really, really good player. And I think that he poses a lot a lot of problems for Michigan State when it comes to his pocket presents, but also his ability to get out. But like I said, Watch zero first down, yeah, there's your third down conversions for Washington in the first half, meaning they never reached Yeah, third down, and never did they, they couldn't get it. Right. And so the fact that they had 0/3 down conversions in the first half and put up 35 points, I think says a lot about not just the way of the game and the talent gap, but it says a lot about the coaching. And those players I'll say it again, we're nowhere near in the right position to make plays

(Anthony) And it's just unfortunate to see the mismatch because like y'all mentioned like it was from LA mistaking like the anniversary of the Rose Bowl like everybody had came forth to bring the energy up after all the news about Mel Tucker, and then it just goes downhill from the blowout to him officially being fired. You guys mentioned the staff and I meant started the XR Is there any way that they'll be able to bounce back because coincidentally enough, I'm going to my first football game this weekend, this will be the Maryland game that I'll be attending. And I would rather not see another loss, especially a blowout. So y'all mentioned to his brother, which I forgot he was over there, it makes me even more concerned. So just how do you guys think Michigan State can come back because if they go to CNN, I mean, they lose out the rest of the year, right?

(Thomas) I can, I can kind of play play good cop here. Michigan State, I think will have a much better showing next week, not just because of, they realize what they work on. But because there's going to be a little more continuity with just everyday practice, they're going to have Harlan Barnett, new head coach in the building every day, they're going to sort of find they're going to be closer to finding a blueprint of success. Whereas Washington, it was kind of unknown test for them. And I think even the players knew that you don't win in college football on game day, you wouldn't college football during the week. That's, that's a fact. At this point, like these players, I'm sure as excited they are as they are about game day, you win during the week. And I think they're going to put a lot more emphasis on that. So in terms of the on the field product, and I think you'll be You'll be much happier with going into this one as opposed to going into the one last week. And who knows maybe Michigan State pulls one out that maybe the they rally behind the home crowd, we might see Caden house or the freshman QB get some snaps and meaningful minutes. And if he ends up succeeding, I think Michigan State fans will. And winning will leave the game, you know, ecstatic about not just that game, but the future. Yeah. It would be a big win once. If that if that were to happen. I think we can start to talk about going bowling.

(DeShawn) Yeah. Okay. I mean, like, I like to once again, trying to add on to things you said, Thomas, like, I mean, one way, I think that we really have a chance to bounce back, obviously, like, you're right, Barnett is going to have a whole nother week to be able to really get in sync with his team. Like you said, as being a head coach, I understand what his methods were last week, you know, trying to just get in reasoning with this team and trying to figure things out, get everyone's heads tie back on straight, but this week, it's back to the grid ironers Back to really trying to figure it out. I'm sure you know, Harlem is really tied to our Harland is really tied in with community, I'm sure he understands how much his game means to the Spartans. It's, it's a, it's homecoming. So you know, we had we had the Rose Bowl team there last week, we're gonna have just more alumni there this week, everyone's going to be there. Everyone's going to be expecting big for them. And I, obviously Washington, like I said, they gave us a chance to see what we're going to have to start facing against this year. And although Maryland may not be as good, they're an undefeated team. And they have a really good quarterback out there. So I just think that we have to get our offense and defense both prepared, much better than we were against Washington. The only I mentioned a little like a little bonus that like this last week, Maryland has not played against any big 10 teams yet so that we know Michigan State Michigan State will be the first team they see in the big 10. There has Michigan State. True, but I'm hoping at Michigan State has played this the most the most toughest game on schedule. So far, I know that Maryland's had some tougher games, but I think that this will hopefully be a better showing for MSU because there'll be much more prepared this week, I think that we'll just have a better opportunity to go out there and really try and show for ourselves because this is going to be kind of one of our last ones like you mentioned. And I think that another big loss. I'm not saying that it's going to be like the absolute killer, but it's going to put us in a really tough position as far as trying to see any type of playoffs or anything like that later, like any good standings for the playoffs or anything like that. Trying to win anything for the big 10 So I just I before we get too far ahead, you know, like I think you'll have a lot of fun regardless of the fact Anthony it's gonna be a homecoming game, so definitely enjoy that. But I wouldn't have I wouldn't base the entire experience off an MSU win. Let's put it that way.

(Anthony) Definitely understandable. And I appreciate Thomas for playing devil's advocate but I'm interested in the actual predictions like what do you guys think and not a we've got the niceness out the way the thing he was actually going to pull it off or am I in for a rude awakening?

(Thomas) I haven't necessarily thought about it score wise. I do think that Michigan State will continue to struggle on both sides of the ball. It and like the first two games of the year. We're nowhere near pretty. I'm in Michigan State fans were booing during those first two games at some point. And so it just to me. Talia presents too much of a threat. He reminds me a lot of Kleenex in the way that he gets the ball that was guys and makes plays. And I think Michigan State's offense is not not necessarily going to go anywhere until there's change in coaching staff. Yeah. This this is an offense under Jay Johnson that has only succeeded with the likes of Kenneth Walker, Jaden Reed and Jalen Naylor, all of which are NFL guys. Some of them are all pros and offensive Rookie of the years doesn't matter. Henry gets in touch at the next level. And I think that look kind of in retrospect right now, I wouldn't say they're dead men walking at this point, but they are absolutely playing every single Saturday for their jobs. And it just doesn't make sense to me that Kenneth Walker, Jaden Reed and Jalen Naylor. One in spite of this coaching staff like that just sort of blows my mind that they weren't 11 And two, with the kind of under preparedness that we've seen on the field outside of that 2021 season.

(DeShawn) Yeah, I mean, I just if I'm being totally honest, I just think that I agree with your Thomas, I think that tug of war is too much of a threat, I just seem that we we struggled very much it gets a quarterback that's able to bounce around in that pocket and escape when he has to, neither of them really rushing quarterbacks, but we never even forced them to have to really bounce out of the pocket. So I'm not sure what we're going to see if we're going to try and force them. I think a chunk of my low is actually like, I think he's only had one game where he's had more than one carrier from positive yards. So hopefully, we can try and do something with that and maybe try and force them out and make them run a little bit. But Maryland's has a pretty good game. So like, I mean, another game, I think in to the back to back games, they came from a 14 hour deficit. So I mean that they know how to stay strong. They want to keep their poise. And I just think that may be kind of the opposite of what's been happening with MSU. I think that I think that we've been able to find our poise. But unfortunately, it doesn't happen too late in the game. Like I think that our very first game against CMU, it started off very rocky offense and defense weren't able to figure it out. And we luckily were able to pull out in the second half of that game. Richmond is a little bit of a different case. But then we said we go back over to Washington. And it seems like we kind of got certain things figured out a second half. Burying the fact that you mentioned that obviously Washington did definitely throw in some secondary players there. So but I just I if we do that, again, I don't think that we'll be able to really succeed in the Maryland game. So I mean, I'm thinking that like, it's, I want to go I like, once again, like and this is more just head talking. I think that maybe like I think our defense has been somewhat impressive in certain games. So I would like to say that we're gonna be able to show. I definitely won't be 720 yards is gonna be something more reasonable. And I think that maybe we're getting on the board, but I'm not seeing the offense struggled last week, I'm looking at like a 1428 game here, Maryland.

(Thomas) I'm personally looking for Caden Houser to get some reps first half and not against the backups. Like I think, and I share that with a lot of Michigan Staters, we want to see the kid work against a big 10 first ring defense. And if he can do that, give him the reins. There's absolutely no harm in doing that at this point. Now that we've established, you know, we're not competing for the big 10. Right. And I think that the best thing would to do would be to look at this kid and say, if you're going to prove it now, it's yours.

(DeShawn) I think he certainly had some momentum. The last game I mean, there he obviously got a stone with touchdown we had it was a great diving touchdown, I would say like, I mean, like, that just shows that just shows attitude. I mean, that shows one, especially in the game, when we're at that point, we're down and out, you know what I mean? And they serve Houser and, and he goes out there and he tries the ball that shows that he's ready to play. He's ready to show that he can do this. Losing winning starting the game coming off the bench, it doesn't matter. So I agree with you. I I definitely think that like No, Kim was very exciting. You know, he wanted a one big 10 Offensive Player of the Week, but it just seems like he it's hard for him to get it going early. And we keep having these late starts.

(Thomas) I'm not necessarily crediting as much that touchdown against Washington. I mean, he went to 99 yards. As a quarterback. There's something to be said for that. It was against the backups. Yes. But I think it definitely provokes the thought and the idea that this is a guy that could be next up and it would be a disservice to him into the program to have them waste away on the sidelines for this entire year when we know him outside of that game against Richmond FCS team. Yeah, he hasn't proven really much at all. Made some really nice throws in those first two games. He found he'd never found a rhythm against Washington. And I think that with him at the helm, the ceiling is much lower. So for this game, I'm gonna predict a 33 to 14 ballgames. Right,

(Anthony) Hopefully Yeah, hopefully. And you swim in 33 Maryland Correct. 33 To 14 Maryland. So I hope you're wrong for but like the shamans earlier in the day, just the experience of being there and the MSU community and getting to see a football game live because I don't if I'm not mistaken, I think I've only went to like one like my high school football game and completely I can't remember if I've ever been to like a Lions game. So this is one of my like, new new experiences. So

(Thomas) what's your plans? Are you going with anybody until Yeah, you

(Anthony) know, luckily I will be going with my girlfriend is going to be in celebration of our anniversary, which is this Thursday, September 21. adulation, thank you. I appreciate it and it's gonna be her first football game as well. So I'm excited. And we've been talking about coaching staff and the unfortunate mishaps of our coaching staff. But down there in Colorado, it's a guy down there coach prime doing a phenomenal job. And I've forgot actually, I was thinking that Thomas is actually a Denver fan. So I'll let him take the floor about prime he actually thought about when we were talking in the group chat before we recorded it to bring this up. So I'll let him take the floor.

(Thomas) Right. And I would say right now, Colorado, university Colorado is my best football team at the moment. That's great. Yeah. And the funny thing is, they're not even like my number one team anywhere. Yeah, I'm a Michigan State guy first. Yep. I'm a I'm a Alabama Crimson Tide guy second, okay. Have a lot of family went there. And then I'm Colorado because my dad went there for for taking his MBA. Okay. But it was my second choice for schooling of either going to come East Lansing, I go to Boulder. And I'm very glad I chose this Lansing. But, you know, there's something to be said about being down in Boulder right now. That would be that would be something that would be a heck of a time I go imagine. But I wanted to talk less about their their game, because I actually think that that game against Colorado State as well as the first half against Nebraska kind of show their true colors. They have shortcomings. They're not I guess I wouldn't say they're there yet in terms of competing for a title or even the PAC 12 PAC 12 stacked up to be the best division in college football. That's right. And so our best conference in college football this year. And so that's I didn't necessarily want to harp on that. They're playing as much as much as how surprised I've been seeing Dion take on this good guy Class Act role, because he was as flashy and as cocky a player as there maybe has ever been. Yes. And so entering this, and I always kind of had those vibes from him at Jackson State. And it's because he wasn't in the limelight like he is now. I always kind of saw him coach wise as that same guy are arrogant, cocky. But when it comes to when it comes to the X's and O's when it comes to being on the field, I have been blown away by his demeanor, by his humility. And that is the exact opposite of what I expected. With him coming in, especially taking this power five job and especially with them seeing success. I would have, I would have guessed the complete complete opposite that he would, you know, be fuel on fire and running his mouth. But in fact, it's it's the exact opposite. I mean, he's commending players from the other team. Yeah, I remember we can get into the the hit on Travis Hunter right now, if you want to. He today in a press conference said, you know, that man does not deserve what he's getting, because the player has been receiving some threats on social media. Yeah, no place that football. Just want to say that no place for that in football or really anywhere. Right? And Dion acknowledged that. And he echoed that. And, you know, that's not something that I would really see out of Dion. Until now. We haven't seen that kind of class act. humble guy. You know, we've only seen this sort of brash, outspoken, flashy football player. And so I've just been really blown away. And really, honestly excited to see what he can do as a leader of young man. I mean, these guys all look up to Dion as a father figure. And that's evident in all the videos. They see him as the guy and I think that's the most important thing when it comes to college. Sports is do you believe in your leader? I mean, this is, this is a sport, but it's also coming of age. You gotta you gotta raise young men.

(DeShawn) Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, I think that I think that prime has been quite the the icon for college football that he was for the NFL at one point in time. I mean, there was a couple of different guys and like, I'm not even gonna go into a tangent, but I mean, just like to name one other guy that I can think of like to go difference for when LeBron James like, you know, like, no matter whether you ever love them or hate them, I'm sure that when he's done with basketball, he will be able to be iconic, whatever he decides to go into, it could be coaching, it could be entertainment, and like, I'm just sure that he will be able to succeed. He just seems like one of those personalities. That is exactly what Prime does. He is one of these personalities where I feel like this guy can do anything. Like I wouldn't doubt prime in anything. And I will say there was definitely some skepticism coming into this year, but I don't think that it was really to do with prime I think it had to do with him trying to build a completely new program in an offseason which is unheard of. I mean, what an 11 Last year been. They go they're out there and Boulder, Colorado, so 111 That's that seems like an impossible feat to come back and to be ranked in the AP top 25 Like I mean, like you're taking down TCU you're taking down Nebraska those are some crazy feats. And you mentioned just like looking at the hospitality part of it like the father figure that this guy is being he you know, he's mentioned especially for some of these young black players, you know, obviously, he's coming from Jackson State and like doing HBCUs. He knows that like, I mean, like, there's a lot, there's a lot of unfortunately, young black kids that are left without father figures in their lives. And the only venue that they have is sports and coaches that are the closest thing that they ever end up having. And Dion has fully accepted that role. You can see I mean, like, after the first after the very first game he had, of course, he's gonna sit there and like, speak confidently of his sonship door and then try this. But he's putting their names out there, like he's mentioned, like, he's already mentioning, like things like Heisman and stuff like that. And of course, it's, it's, it's funny, it's still the flashy beyond. But then you start talking about how he's been able to be humble in so many different situations and talk about the process that it's finished. That hasn't just been all about the outcome. I would also like I wouldn't, I would agree that there's definitely still a road to come. Obviously, you mentioned the hit, it seemed that Travis is going to be out for at least a few weeks. And they do have two pretty big games coming up one against Oregon. And then they have another one at Kansas, Kayla Williams and UFC. So right, so you know, they're definitely going to have some big hills to climb in front of them. However, regardless of the fact I just I think that what he's done for that program is absolutely amazing. Year, right? Like, obviously, he does have an actual son on that team. But you wouldn't even know you would literally think that besides the fact that his last name Sanders, you would think that every single one of those boys on that team or his kids, so I'm super excited for Colorado and I definitely think that the program will really start to kick in more and more over the next couple of years because it's the one thing that you're kind of able to see that they don't have is climbing on both sides and to be able to win in college football you need linemen like it's gonna be impossible like you gotta have all the skilled players in the world which they evidently have they got some great kids on that tour Sure. However, you're going to need a line to be able to say that keeps your door protected to be able to create more time and you know because you should or is showing us a pocket passer he's not he's not a he's not one of these Russian guys. I mean, like he's a clean pocket passer but he's definitely going to need some more time out there. But big things I think coming out of there in Boulder, Colorado, Colorado

(Thomas) And they did struggle with the pressure on Colorado say that was kind of kind of our state's mo for the first like for basically the entire game except for the last drive and overtime. They were bringing the pressure he was working. And for some reason they got out of it. Yes, they they've started to play prevent defense. They got passive Yeah, Colorado comes down scores. Just not just the touchdown. The two one conversion conversion. Are you going into overtime, come away with the win. And after the game because Dion son Shiloh will play safety for the for the buffaloes got to pick six in the game. And he said after the game that there's a certain moments as a coach where he he's a dad. Yeah. And he said running down that sidelines watching his son take into the house. That was one of those moments for him. And I just thought that was super cool to see that human side of him. Yeah. And I was waiting for him to start high step in it. If that defender that defender had or technically he was on offense, but if he had hadn't caught up to him, I really think we would have seen number 21 Sanders on the back of the jersey high into the endzone. That would just be poetry, man. I'll just be poetry but I don't see how like if you're Nick Saban, are you one of these old like successful coaches with a wit with a great pedigree? I don't see how you can look at Dion and this Colorado team and think to yourself, I'm moving in the right direction. Yeah, you know, like it has to be kind of intimidating for these older guys to see this kind of swagger in this young talent takeover in this new age of the transfer portal name image likeness. I mean, John is dominating that stuff.

(DeShawn) Dion is the coolest guy in the room and everybody wants to be like that guy

(Thomas) He is dominating the transfer portal in terms of you know, they want to one game and they feel that an entire team of three and four stars I'm sure at least and Travis 100 Being at will hurt them. I don't like their chances against either of those teams. Yes, I would say I like a little bit of heartache. I like their chances against USC better than against Oregon. Wow, I think they can move the ball against USC I think that that could potentially be a really really fun to watch game shoot out. But against Oregon I don't I think they get humbled that Oregon's defense so stout and killing they're gonna come after them defensively harder than anybody will probably all year yeah, that's they reached the casual playoff. And then Oregon's offense is is it's probably a step down from USC but it Holmes I mean bone Nick's back. He's got an arm. Yeah, he's a he's a great quarterback. And I think that Oregon poses more problems both sides of the ball than then USC does. But just overall Dion is he's that guy right now in college football and he's he's him. And I think he's here to stay. I think he's gonna stay at Colorado for a long time.

(DeShawn) Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. And just one little one more thing like added on to like his humidity and like you Is the humbleness of him. I think I've seen another thing today that Deanna was just talking about your daughter and Shiloh and he was just he's not he was talking about how he's not even ready for them to move on to the next stage. Like he wants to be their coach. He wants to be that dad coach. And it's just, it's amazing. Like you mentioned dominance just to see him not only that Greg Roach figure, but he's a great father figure. Absolutely.

(Anthony) And just seeing the star power that he brought from himself to Colorado was amazing. Like, I don't know if y'all saw this clip, he had the rock in the locker room recently, and everybody there just the impact that he's had and a good way to build these guys up and build up the program. I mean, I saw a tweet that said, it's like his plan. He's playing my career, like Dion had his Hall of Fame career one of if not the greatest quarterback of all time, and now a coach and now Colorado at the moment is undefeated. And he has his boys on the team, they're probably going to go to the NFL just like their dad and some magical story. And speaking of the NFL, unfortunately, on that side of football, it's been it's been rough. We got a lot of injuries, quarterback struggles, and it's just been unfortunate to tackle the injury injuries part first, it's been unfortunate to see like, the Nick Chubb, the Austin Eckler is Aaron Jones, Aaron Rodgers, just the constant injuries. I mean, they're gonna happen because I mean, it's football and it's a contact sport and everything but it's just unfortunate to see and Deshawn literally showed me that Nick Chubb injury and if you if you got a weak stomach, like don't look at it, like it's just very unfortunate to see his career go the way it has at this point, because if I'm not mistaken to shine, you said he's already had surgery on that knee. Yes, it's a second knee reconstruction. And I wish the best for everybody that got injured, but specifically Nick Chubb, because if you're re injuring something, especially to the magnitude of how he did it, that's that's not a good look. And yeah, anything when I had

(Thomas) yeah, it was really scary injury. I mean, there's a reason that I didn't show it on. They didn't replay on the broadcast, which I think we I saw a lot of people online saying that they wish they cut out the sound because you know, him on the ground on the field, there was this channeling pretty brutal. Yeah, pretty brutal. And as someone who's been, you know, 20 yards away on the sideline from a guy who blew out his knee completely. It doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel good. It completely deflates you regardless of whatever's happening in the game, it probably deflate you takes all the air out of you. I just I just hate the fact that I mean, obviously, like you said, and injuries happen they're part of the game. I hate the fact that there's so many prominent injuries early on here. The Rodgers one was a huge stain, you know, that that Judge team have the potential to win the Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers back there. And now that that's just not going to happen. I mean, they're they're headed straight for the dump this year. Unfortunately, unless they have a miracle turnaround I quarterback. But like you said, Aaron Jones. And this next one was just the icing on the cake. I mean, a guy who's as solid as they come, I think he's third all time for most yards per carry for anybody with over 500 carries in their career and he's third most all time behind both Jackson and Jamaal Charles. So I think that just speaks a lot for the kind of player he is. But it just it just it's really heartbreaking to see and like you said and it's it's part of the game but the the prominence of the injuries are it's not drawing anybody in it's it's pushing people away.

(Anthony) Yeah. And to take a little bit of a more lighthearted perspective of I mean, fantasy football. Ironically, I was playing Nick Chubb, and the guy who had Nick Chubb, you sent me a message like a great game but it's over and then on one end, it's just like okay, it's good that like, especially fantasy football, if that's something you're into that you move on to the next matchup, but end of the day we're football fans first and to see these type of injuries happen to these type of players. It's just It's unfortunate and it's struggling to watch and speaking of struggles, there's been Cincinnati Bengals certain Cincinnati quarterback who most paid player in the NFL right now going through this it's been a pretty interesting struggle to have seen. It's been one of the more confused and struggles I've seen in recent history. And like if I'm not mistaken, I was talking to my dad like Jamal Jamar Chase is also has been struggling and do y'all got any like? explanation?

(Thomas) Can you fill me in on the bangles? I haven't watched the snap for the first two games for them. And obviously, they're going through like what's going on?

(DeShawn) Yeah, so I mean, so first of all, we can just start off by saying this this exact thing happened with the Bengals last year. burrow had some incidents that that happened that that made him miss a lot of training camp and the Bengals started off really rocky, but you know, we ended up seeing what they turned out to be last year. However, I don't think that that's going to be the case this year. I think that there's a lot of weird things going on with the Bengals and if we bring it back to just a couple weeks ago, Joe burrow had still not been paid. And we've seen all these quarterbacks getting different contracts including Justin Herbert who were became the highest paid quarterback in the league. So there's some skepticism going on there what's going on with this contract and now maybe you think that Cincinnati was maybe worried about the injury that's going on with bro because he finally gets the contract and what happens? He tweaks his calf again. And I just think that overall it's it's a it's we're not like if the panic button is sitting right here on this desk. I'm not hitting it yet know if I'm Cincinnati, but it's right there though. I like I mean, I like it's close because Joe burrow. I don't know if it was his decision. I don't know his coaching staff decision, but he got rushed back and rushing him back was obviously a terrible decision. This guy's tweaked his calf again, you guys are all in tune. And you may lose him for a couple of weeks now it's looking like, like I like I heard that the line was incredibly at Cincinnati's favor of into I want to say just what, like maybe Sunday. Now it's a lot closer. And there's skepticism that Joe burrow will not be playing this next game. And not only will he not be playing this next game, this potential that he's going to be out for a couple of weeks, which isn't good, because I mean, they got games against the Rams, Titans, the Cardinals and the 40 Niners for the next four games. And besides the Cardinals, I don't see them pulling any of those games out without Joe burrow, because and you mentioned Jamar Chase is struggling to and it's nothing on Jamar Chase. I'm not condemning him. I mean, he's a great player. And I'm not saying he's not the lead receiver that he was last year. But he can't do it without Joe burrow, none there. They're not going to be able to succeed whatsoever without that guy. And I just think that rushing him back was the wrong decision. And he needs to get shut down not for the season, but until he's ready to go again. Because without him your whole franchise is in shambles. And you just gave the guy all the money in the world. And we have no idea what's coming now. And like I'm not ready to write the Bengals off yet. I'm not hitting the panic button. But this is not the only two that happened last year. This is nothing the same.

(Thomas) I might hit it if they lose next week. Yeah, honestly, or if they refuse to show that they're playing better football. Yeah. Like I said, I haven't been paying attention to them at all this year. But it doesn't look good on the stat sheet. Not like it looks very very gruesome T Higgins not getting a catch in week one. No. They follow the Ravens at home, that's a game they have to win if they want to. If they want to be in the spot that they've been in the past two years. They need to be to be a division rival like that. Yeah. At home against, quite honestly an inferior team. Yeah. Across the board. Is it is it their defensive struggles? It's

(DeShawn) it's a combination of them not being able to figure things out on offense. And obviously, we know the main reasoning of that and they're, they're very high powered offense that last year, I don't know exactly what the numbers are. But I know I mean, there was multiple games where they had shoot outs and they were a team that although they're gonna get scored on, they're just going to score they're going to get more and without being able to outscore any team because right now it's just it's been a struggle for them like overall and that you mentioned they lost to the Ravens their first game their first loss this happened last year as well. They seem to lose to the Browns a lot but it was to the Cleveland Browns their own two individual games right now. Yes, the Browns are playing great football and they seem to always have Cincinnati's number. I cannot explain the reasoning by that. If I was a big betting guy would have literally said I would have bet on the Browns to win to win game one because it just seems like they can constantly whether Joe burrow is good, whether he's not were injured or not like I mean, like they've had their number, but it's just it's it's it's honestly like stunning to see what's happening with the band was because like, people have kind of started to look at the bangles just like the bills, the bills were constantly on the tails of the chiefs, you know, seeing them in the AFC Championship games, but they just weren't able to overcome. Then you got the you got the Bengals that are you know, they got more wins against the Chiefs than any other team in the league. They now they're looking like they're because I think everyone's kind of selling their stock a little bit on the bills, and it might be time for people to start selling their stock on the Bengals as well.

(Thomas) Well, I think that either of those teams still have a chance this year. I mean, it's way too early to be making like that kind of decision that like they're falling out of that team falling out of that spot as the team that's chasing the chiefs, but I think the Chiefs have some shortcomings. Oh, yes, they do. Obviously they're still working some guys back Travis Kelce. Chris Jones gonna be back. Yeah, but it just, it feels like this is maybe the most parry we've had in a long time and NFL and that feels it feels the same way college football. Yeah, like who's the best team in college football right now. There's there's a lot of different people that you can make an argument that it's it's Washington or Texas, or any of these, like top five teams that have played out of their minds right on but you really just have no idea until we get into the meat of the season. Someone's going to lose the game. Someone's gonna get upset. Yeah. And that's where it gets fun. But I think the most one thing is that we don't have a team that is just going to dominate every game like Georgia is not looking nearly like they did in the past two years. And they got some they got some work to do on the offensive side of the ball. Yeah. And it's just, I honestly really like it because because both of my teams are, let's just say struggling. Michigan State and the Denver Broncos. Now that I don't have to worry about those two teams making any noise I can worry about the league and I think that the league right now is in a really good spot with just the parity and were able to witness basically in a free for all when it comes to the to total deployment in February.

(Anthony) Yeah, from an entertainment standpoint, it's been incredible. I was watching the Giants game because I had say Quan Barkley, unfortunately another wonderful year got injured and seeing the Giants come back from that deficit was incredible. And then from the college standpoint, I was looking at Michigan State schedule just to see like to make sure like the Maryland game is this weekend, everything. And you mentioned you mentioned the best teams in college football. Is it true that Michigan is number two in the country like that they're currently ranked number two is ironic from Michigan State perspective, but just from a sports fan perspective, and being in Michigan, like that's incredible. I haven't seen them ranked that high in a minute. So like you guys mentioned, just the variety we got right now in sports is incredible. And I couldn't pick anybody on the college end to win it all right now, and I couldn't pay him by on NFL especially with all these injuries. And teams are trying to formulate everything. But it's just been good to watch. And I don't know if you guys got anything else to mention before we ended off here. But I just wanted to give you guys credit as host because I wanted to use this platform as far as roundtable to take a seat and take a back seat to you guys especially we're going to talk about college football and give you all a platform and just to give you a memorial flowers. I mean, we got Thomas who came after class, make sure that he got here at a certain time and we got the Shawn, who's been very busy. You know, give yourself some credit work for peacock this last weekend, the weekend coming up. And being new to state news having the impact you already have. I mean, I'm just happy that I can give you guys's platform and see your shot wouldn't be possible without you, man. No 100% Yeah, like I said, bro, you have to give yourself a huge pat on the back as well. Man, this is you. I mean, you're running everything over here. You just invited us to come and do this with you. And I think me and Thomas both are just super appreciative of that. So like really do we appreciate everything. And he's the new diversity around Yeah, congratulations. I've seen that message. Come through the slack the other day around applause to yourself, Man I resent. I appreciate that. And sometimes I struggled giving myself the pat on the back. But I look back and realize like, wow, like I'm in like a lot of stuff and I'm trying to help this newsroom the best way I can. And y'all see y'all couldn't do it on me, but I really couldn't do it without you or like the host of all shades of chocolate or there isn't hopefully if things go as planned. Another podcast is going to be a part of state news. I'm just trying to bring it all together. So with that being said, I appreciate anyone who took a seat with us today. I'm Anthony Brinson,

(DeShawn) DeShawn Johnson,

(Thomas) Thomas Cobb,

(Anthony) and this has been the sports roundtable. Thank you guys for listening.