Week 6 SEC Recap: Kentucky & Mizzou Playoff-Bound?

Hello, welcome in the latest episode of That SEC Podcast. I'm your host, Michael Bratton. Go by SEC Mike, and back again with the biggest smile this side of the Mississippi. Nick Roush, Kentucky Sports Radio. Nick, what is it like? I mean, this is not even a troll. This may be the first time ever that I can recall that you cover an elite SEC Nationally Relevant Football program. What is that like? It's pretty fun. You know what else is fun too, Mike, is that I know there's some people out there right now watching like, oh, this Roush, he's going to be insufferable today. We did college football a favor. We gave Lane Kiffin his second loss before halfway point of the season. I mean, this guy got a $50 million roster. You think they're handling that well down in Baton Rouge? I don't believe they are, Nick. I don't know if you've seen the latest. I can't confirm this because I don't get invited to these Lane Kiffin calls. I wouldn't go if they invited me anyway. But apparently, they do a Sunday night. I think it's just a Zoom call with the media. He did do that at Ole Miss, so maybe it's just a tradition he wants to carry on. But he allegedly claims that the refs told him, and he's not going to stop. Yeah, I mean, Mitch, you didn't score on that tush push, but we couldn't stop it. I mean, do you believe that? Or is this just more Lane Kiffin excuses? It was cute. I thought it was really cute. You get a loss and you just want to blame it on somebody else. They didn't stop the play because they were moving forward the whole time. This thing is called forward progress. When you're moving forward, the play is still on. So you know what? We'll talk about the refs a lot, I'm sure, in this show, but you can't talk about the refs in this Kentucky game. Kentucky just beat LSU. Kentucky was the better team for the most part, and that is why the miss kicks late were so crushing, because it felt like maybe not the better team, but LSU had to run trick plays to score touchdowns. They ran a double reverse flea flicker, then they have the double pass, which by the way, what's four's name? Harris? Dude, what a dime, my gosh, how many quarterbacks is Lane guy? He's got a receipt. I thought it was Lane and Clark that they put out there. It was such a perfect pass. So LSU had to get cute to score. Kentucky kept moving the ball, getting it into the red zone, had 400 yards against one of the best defenses in the country, but they just couldn't punch it in. They couldn't make field goals. Dude, that last one, Mike, I tried to stay level headed during these games, but that 28 yard miss field goal, I was like, that's how they're gonna lose this game, is a chip shot, which actually I think was the year before Lane got there. Kentucky's lost on a missed PAT in overtime before. And when that happens, that's all you could talk about the game. It would have been brutal because Kentucky, I mean, they did everything right. They took care of the ball, only had two penalties. They forced turnovers, but you get a pick, you get no points out of it. Turnover on downs on fourth and two. That would have been a backbreaker. Menchie had Willie Rodriguez open and just missed him, didn't throw it to him. And then, wait, so you missed one field goal and then your big boy chops. I mean, you gotta love a guy named Porkchop, Lexington native, chops heartless, gets the strip sack, Kentucky gets the ball back. You're knocking on the door, just punch it in, go in. They can't get it in, they settle for the field goal, and Zwaugie just pushes it. I was in a very bad place there for a while, but I wasn't for long because Lane, he left the door open for Kentucky to troll him. He left the door wide open for Kentucky to troll him. I mean, I can't, were you shocked that he decided to pun it on that fourth and one? Yes, because that is anti-Lane Kiffin. He's the aggressive coach. He's, you know, if he gets overly conservative, you know, that goes against his identity. It goes against the identity he's trying to establish in Baton Rouge. He's already said that this season, Nick, it was the A&M game, they went for it on a fourth down, and they scored like a 53-yard touchdown. He said, hey, I almost punted there, but it would go against what we're trying to build here, and then he does it again. He went against it, and it was Big Ball Steine that got aggressive, again, with the tush push. If they don't get that, there's no field goal. Hell, they probably would have missed the field goal. But if they don't get the tush push, they score nothing. I mean, that was gutsy. The two-point back-to-back weeks was gutsy, and I didn't think the line was gonna part like the Red Sea, but it sure as hell did, because I still believe LSU's got an elite defense, but sure as hell didn't look at elite on that play, did they? No, no, they didn't. And the thing that I love, too, about that play is like, it felt like Stein got in Lane's head with all this stuff. There was multiple times where they're trading timeouts and they're trying to get looks. It felt like Stein got in Lane's head, because why else would he punt it away? Because the reason you punt it away is because you say, well, I trust our defense to go get a stop. They've been good all game. And what are they going to do? Kick another long field goal? Like, you really trust that guy to make it? The same reason you punt it away are the same reasons you go for it. Because if you don't get it, you trust your defense to hold right there, or at least force a long field goal, they might miss. So that was, I couldn't believe it. You know, it's the wrong decision when it's the one that the other team wants you to make. So thanks for putting it back, Lane. Appreciate it. In the other part, there was a, so on third down, they were seven of 13, but there was a time, particularly in that first quarter, where anytime it was a down, they had to have it. They got it on fourth down as well. It felt like Leavitt was just going to make that play with his legs. He was incredible. You know, he threw the one interception, but you know, Kentucky got the pressure, forced him to sail it. I thought he played great. They really struggled to get him down. And that's the other part that's so satisfying from this, Mike. When Kentucky took Lane out of the playoff in 24, you remember that, right? Of course. Well, that's because Ole Miss just gave it to them, right? Like that was Ole Miss just messing around. LSU, they played well. You got, I know they're down, you know, no, no wits, no trade as green, but you got their best shot and you just flat out beat them. That was incredible. And I think it was the wise Bunky Perkins who said that you don't have Lane Kiffin, the full Lane Kiffin experience until you lose to Kentucky. So LSU fans, welcome to the Lane Kiffin experience. Get used to it. They got to be used to it because they ain't won in Lexington since 2002. My favorite part about playing LSU is I just get to celebrate with Garth Brooks. We're calling Baton Rouge all night. It's a blast. It's so much fun. I come over here every Saturday, LSU. It's the best. We get to eat Cajun food. We get to sing Garth Brooks. It's a great time. I had a great time Saturday. I'm sure they had a great time as well. Well, speaking of eating, Nick, I apologize to Omaha Steaks presenting sponsor. I forgot to mention, we're just so happy that Kentucky won, that LSU lost, that I forgot to say this show is brought to you by Omaha Steaks. So don't forget to check out Omaha Steaks and promo code SEC for 50% off select items early Black Friday. Wait, 50% off? That can't, no. Really? What did you do to get that deal for that SEC podcast listeners? Well, they said that we want to be more like Kentucky, where we spend half as much, but we get twice the product unlike old LSU. But hey, I'm glad you said that, Nick, because that was literally what I said last night. And I'm just curious if you agree with this. It's fun to dunk on lane and troll LSU. I still think LSU is a really good team. And when you beat someone, you want to point at them and laugh and say, haha, they suck. But I think what this really is is Kentucky is a damn good team. They didn't even play their best game, but they beat a really, really good team. I mean, both things can be true at the same time, right? This was not a fluke by Kentucky. No, no. And LSU is still a really good team. And all that does is elevate the win that Kentucky got that they beat a really good team. Yeah, they got the explosive plays when they needed to. It helps when you have a 77 yard run on your first play. It helps to get a punt return touchdown from Brock Kaufman. Shout out to Brock. I didn't know he had that stiff arm in him. That was awesome. I mean, Kentucky had to do some extraordinary things in that game, but they're capable of them. They are. I mean, Nick Anderson, he was playing well, he gets hurt and they've got to turn to Jocayden Ferguson. Jocayden Ferguson hadn't played a lot. The dude just came in and started mossing. We talk a lot about the spending in the off season, the roster, all this stuff. A lot of it comes in to like, do you have everybody believing where if my number gets called, I'm confident enough I can go make that play and they got guys stepping up all over the field. I mentioned Kaufman, Ferguson, Chops. These are guys that we at Kentucky Sports Radio are not talking about on a regular basis, but when their number was called, they stepped up and they made winning plays to deliver an unforgettable all time win in Lexington. Hey, shout out, Bodie. I'm happy for CJ Baxter, but I'm like Mike. I prefer sad Roush. Misery loves company. Hooko. So I think that's a good segue to switch to Red River. Arguably the game of the year so far in the SEC. Oklahoma finally gets over that Texas hurdle 27-24 in a sloppy game, a defensive game. Nick, I don't know if you see the drive charts, but this is like a comedy of air. I mean, this is the winning drive chart here. The losing one was not much better. A lot of three-and-outs, a lot of turnovers. Arch made a handful of really big plays that could have won the game for Texas, and then he made a few cataclysmic mistakes that gave Oklahoma the opportunity to steal it away and steal it away. They did, and that's obviously the next opponent for Kentucky. But before we preview the week ahead, what was your thoughts on Red River going down to the wire and Oklahoma getting over the hump here? Wasn't that the most arch manning game ever? I mean, you just, you got good arch, you got bad arch, and they happen in basically consecutive plays. At least it feels like where the first pick he threw, where he's falling down, it's like, what are you doing, man? What are you, you're just gonna float it out there for them to go pick? You just, I don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense. Like where, ah, arch. And then what does Texas do? They say, hey, we gotta go fast, arch, just go lead us down the field real quick. And they do, which this, this gets me to take, I think I baked up here last year about Sark. See, does he know how to coach quarterbacks? See how to coach offense? What? Did you see, I don't know if you saw this. Did you see Brooks Austin yesterday? He ran a little experiment on Twitter. He said, who's, name the last quarterback that Sarkisian has developed that will honor that as a big development. And I said, Mack Jones. That's about the only one I can really think of. And everybody says, well, hell, he had a husband running back and receive, or not running, or candidates. I mean, he was surrounded, and it was COVID year. I mean, that was a wonky year, but I think that's a fair question. Who the hell has he developed? Yeah, and that's the key word, is developed. And then the other part is seemingly a lack of recognition to just what you do well. And I know you need to be balanced in modern college football. You don't want to completely abandon the run. You got a couple of good backs. But they are at their best when they just don't make Arch think, right? Like, we're just going to go fast. You just stand back there, rip it, get it to all these million dollar receivers downfield. We finally got the big place from Cam Coleman that we've been waiting to see in this game. I just don't know how they can flip the switch and look so good at sometimes and then so bad at others. You do have to credit Oklahoma. Don't get me wrong, you have to credit Oklahoma. They did everything right. They got their defensive touchdown, they got their special teams touchdown. A lot of work from everybody but that offense. But you know what? I was sharp. Mike, I'm watching the game and our shows that pick. I'm like, okay, we got overtime. Let me switch over real quick and tune back in to overtime. And Ole Miss kicking a field goal. So like I, you know, Mattir is who he is and he got the big throw to Setenia there. Setenia is awesome. You know, like it helps when you've got guys like that to throw it to. But credit to Oklahoma, man. What an awesome win. I'm really happy for them. Although selfishly wish that they had their hearts ripped out going into this game next week. But at the same time, I'm just, for Texas to lose in that fashion, it just, it validates what I think most people thought about Texas going into this is that, all right, they've earned the right to be the number one team in the country, but are they the best team in the country? No, they haven't put it together, and it all falls on that coach, and it just, it feels like Sark doesn't have, just, it's just not, it's not there. And it even goes back to the Colin Simmons whippin his dong out at Tennessee, and him just like actin like, oh, this is no big deal, no problem. I feel the free agent culture in Texas. I just, it just, nothing feels like all the cogs are turning at the right spot. Just something's off, and that is on the head coach. That's on the head coach, that's on Sark. He's gotta wear this loss. They've got plenty of time to make up for it, but you know, this was a seemingly a national championship or BUS year, Mike. I mean, what more can you give a guy? And it looks more like BUS than national championship. Well, certainly today, but I don't know where this is gonna go for both these teams, Nick. Let's focus on Oklahoma first. I mean, they're three and two. They got a lot of games that they could win, a lot that they could lose. I mean, I could probably make the case that every single one of these is a toss-up, given their defense and whether John Metier will give the ball away for Oklahoma. Did this save the season? Here's what I said last night, too. I said, perhaps, but if they lose to Kentucky, which is certainly feasible, given what we know Kentucky is now, I think they're gonna have a really bad year. If they beat Kentucky, I think they're gonna have a good year. And I don't wanna put so much importance on one game, but I think that's fair, because this was their Super Bowl. This was their one they had to get over, and everybody was telling them how bad they sucked, and they were not gonna have a shot. But now that they've won it, I still am not convinced they're gonna have a really good year. I think I'll be convinced if they could beat Kentucky. Is that fair? No, that's fair. I got some loser talk for you Oklahoma fans. This is loser talk, so just buckle up. Oklahoma is one of the many programs in the SEC that you can't go to the playoff, you can't be great every year. I know that particularly in the Stoops era, which is what I grew up with, but like going back to Switzer, you just expected 10 wins every year and then once every four years a shot at going on a run and winning a national championship. You're not doing that in the modern SEC. So, there's great, there's good, and there's just bad, okay? I think this Texas win opens the door for them to have a good year, because what's a good year? A good year is beating your rival and winning seven or eight games. That is the expectation moving forward for most SEC teams. The problem is that Oklahoma doesn't like, they're not going to be able to like understand that, rationalize that. This is Oklahoma frickin football. We've got Hausmann winners, we've got national championships, we've got conference championships. But the reality is, is you can't do that every year, and you're not going to do that this year. You're just not. I know you went to the playoff last year, you got in by the skin of your teeth, went in a lot of close games. Maybe there's a chance, but like of the next seven, you're three and two, you're what? Three and four out of that? Four and three? Like, who knows? Like, if Elnora Sells and Camario Taylor are playing the way that they're playing, you can't score with those guys. I know your defense is awesome, but like, I just, I think you have to just consider this. Enjoy this week, Oklahoma. You are in a very bad spot. I don't know if you're going to go immediately back to that spot after playing Kentucky this week, but you're going to have some more rough patches this year. You just are because your offense isn't good enough. You rely too much on an average quarterback and that's it, right? Your defense is awesome, but you're not going to go back to the playoff. You're not reliable week to week. Week to week, it is too tough in this SEC to get there. But you know what? You didn't win seven, eight games and you beat Texas when they were number one in the country. That's a pretty good year in my book. Right. Now, for Texas, again, I could see this being a one-off. I mean, hell, they just lost the game, Nick, by three points, where they had two turnovers that resulted in nine points for Oklahoma. And that doesn't include the block punt touchdown. So really, we're talking 16 points that they gave. I don't want to say gave, but surrendered to Oklahoma in a three-point loss. I don't think it's the end of the world, but I could see the pressure. I could see Arch Manning, maybe he's rattled, maybe he has a couple more performances, I guess. And if they lose another one, then it's like, oh, buddy, they start getting puckered over there in Austin. And there's multiple games they could lose here. So point being, I could see them going on and having a really good season. I could see them derailing and having a horrible season. Is that accurate for the Longhorns, you think? The variance is pretty wild of what it could be. But generally speaking, this defense is going to make sure that they have a puncher's chance in all these games. And the other good news is, is that a lot of those tough games are at home. You get to come back home this week. And then the one that I would be kind of worried about is Trinidad. Like, what can he do to you? You know, it doesn't matter how good your defense is, he's going to find a way. I know that they both lost, man. LSU's won in that game in BR, right? Can we go ahead and pencil that one in as another loss? I feel pretty good about, because I just... That's really going to help Kentucky's playoff resume, by the way. Exactly, yeah. But there is just a lack of trust, where Texas fans, I'm sure they're feeling it, and even just from afar, I can't trust the offense to be what it needs to be. I can't trust Arch to just take his game, because that's the hardest part about the Arch experience, is gosh, you see the throws. They are there, but it's just so all over the place that it's going to bite him again. It's going to bite him again. I don't know where, I don't know when, and I don't know how many times, but can you see yourself? I can envision this scenario where they go beat the crap out of A&M, and they're sitting at nine and three, and once again, we've got SORC petitioning to the committee to put them in. Just up there whining about how hard their schedule was, and we've got the best win of the year coming back and beating Ohio State. It's like, well, do you? Yeah, like that is, I'm already pre-annoyed at SORC in his complaints to the selection committee in November, because that's coming. One of the cousins, funniest comment I heard exiting this game, Nick, they said, I can see it now. Texas is going to go nine and three, and that loss to another four win team is going to cost them the playoff, and he's talking about Oklahoma. I mean, that very well could be, don't you think? Yeah. The part that I think just looking at the SEC big picture is, who is going to be that four win team? I hate to just come on here and make everybody think of the worst possible outcomes, but there's going to be an unexpected four or five win team, or is it going to be just a lump of six and six? Is it just going to be a mess of them? Because who in the hell are the Florida Gators? Who are you? I mean, my God. Getting booed at home. I mean, up and down arch like Florida, who are you? What is this? I don't know if you saw it, Nick. I shared some role this morning. He was asked about getting booed at home by the Gator fans, of course. And he took the exact opposite approach by Keoko, which is good. We haven't even got to that yet. But instead of calling his fans a cesspool, he said, hey, they they have the right to boo. Yeah. I love passionate fans and I love that they care enough to boo. So that's exactly the right answer you got to you got to have when you're losing. It's also, you know, I grew up in a day and age when you booed your own team as professional sports fans, but you didn't boo college kids because they're just kids. They ain't kids no more. They're getting paid a lot of money, a lot more than you and I. We have the right to boo if things are looking bad and things, they looked real bad against South Carolina. I was, I've never been more wrong about a game in my life. My account, my bank account is reflecting that. I mean, I thought Florida was going to run up the score. I had Florida 40 plus points, Florida minus 13 and a half. Hell, we're going to go 16. They're going to beat the crap out of them. And maybe, just maybe, maybe Lenora Sellers figured something out. Just maybe. I mean, yeah, they started slow, but holy crap, they were just kind of doing whatever they wanted to offensively. And if Lenora Sellers is seeing things, did he put his goggles back on? Like what's going on? Even Nick Harbor is catching touchdown passes. Like what? I, you know what? I'm just happy for South Carolina fans. You know what? Keep winning, Shane Beamer. You need to stick around. I loved his interview afterwards. You know, he never faltered. He's got strong support there. He's not going anywhere. He's going to be the coach there for the next 20 years. And you know what? I'm really happy for you guys. Did you see the funniest stat coming out of the SEC this weekend? And again, I have not seen anyone verify this, but I just run with it because it is hilarious. Beamer allegedly has more ranked wins than Lane Kiffin in his career. Was it ranked road? I think it was ranked road. Yeah. Which doesn't surprise me because it's what I mentioned last week going to the Kentucky South Carolina game. He, you know, for his, for all of his faults as a head coach and he has some, he is really good at getting his team up for big games. I mean, going back to the Spencer Rattler versus Tennessee game, that was one of my favorites. But he, he got his team up for that game. He got his team up for the Texas A&M game. I will say though, South Carolina fans in the chat, I know you're out there. When you went up 13, were you, did you get a little worried? Because in my mind, I was like, this is, Florida's got them right where they want them. This is where South Carolina blows it. Oh, I was live, live texting with Marler Gamecock guy. And he was just, he was beside himself. He did not want to hear it, but yeah. Again, that this is why we said, don't run him off just yet. They're still fighting hard and they, they proved it. And, and you can win your next four games. Yeah. I, you know, you see that next one. Yeah. Serious. I mean, there's a world where the team that started two and three could, you know, end up what eight, nine wins. Yeah. Like it's crazy, but it's the week to week nature of it. And it's also, we do have to remember that Mike Shula almost completely ruined Lenora Selvers forever. And it, it takes more than beating up on Towson and Kent State for him to get that confidence back and you're seeing it. You're just going in that Kentucky game, watching Selvers, just even the way he ran the ball, it just wasn't, there was something that just wasn't there. He wasn't all the way there, but man, he's back, man. He's running like a mad man. He's, he's making confident throws and South Carolina is rolling. Now you get to enjoy a bye week and brother, I got, I got some bad news for you, Michael. Are your vols, are they going to, are they going to win another game? I mean, I think they're going to win them all. Come on. What are we talking about? We're just lulling people to sleep here with his elite defense and rushing attack. That's the way SEC football is meant to be played. Rushing attack won very elite. I mean, you got it when you needed it late, but God, that is, oh, what? Man, it just, it breaks your heart to just see how bad they are offensively. I mean, Josh Hyple, did he just forget what offensive football is? That was the guy that he, he was the next Steve Spurrier. He was revolutionizing college football. The SEC didn't know what to do with Josh Hyple. And now look at him. Look at that offense. It just, well, this is a quality Arkansas team. They're going up against. You can't even say that with a straight face. They listen. I ranked right now. Yeah, I mean, your only loss was to the number one team in the country. And there is something to be said about finding ways to win. But you play with fire long enough, you're going to get burnt and you're going to be like that, that person that's in the ER at 3 a.m. after drinking too many beers and lighting the fireworks off in the fire pit. Like it's just, it's going to happen, right? It's going to blow up in your face. I know Alabama is not going to have Ryan Coleman Williams next week. It don't matter. Keon Russell is just going to fill the quarterback situation there. You got these receivers too and you just can't get them the ball. It. Gosh, it's just it's so heartbreaking, Michael. I just can't. Oh, you know, what's funny is all these all this joy you're having. I mean, Tennessee is that they do have a better record than Kentucky, don't they? Or same record. Same record. I mean, to me, that's better. They've beaten better teams. I've had the I've had the thought, the idiot thought like this is this is how good I was feeling this weekend is I'm already like, I had the thought Kentucky's going to kneel on and what Tennessee's ass. OK, I had that thought. That is the dumbest thought that this Kentucky fan could ever have. But I'm there, man. That's that's how crazy I am right now. Can we just beat this team Roush on the Monday after YouTube? Oh, I know it. I know what I'm walking into. I'm stepping into the bear trap. But OK, putting all that aside, it really is just shocking. And I thought they were going to just run all over Arkansas. Credit to Arkansas for getting a bear knuckle brawl. And I do think some of it is y'all just suck at that stadium for whatever reason. I don't, I don't, did you, did you do something? Did you, did you like kill a pig down there? And now you're, you can't, I'm like, what? It's weird. Well, I don't know if you saw it, but end of game. Arkansas down seven, fourth and 10, less than two minutes. Silverfield punted the football. His logic was, hey, well, we'll get, we got the timeouts, we'll stop them. Even though they had just allowed a 94 yard touchdown drive. We'll get the ball back with the tired defense. And it was two plays. Tennessee got a first and, and kneeled out and won the game. I mean, without, without gutless coaching from Arkansas, Tennessee probably does lose this game. Guttless is a good word to use. Also just dumbass. I mean, dude, your fans like wanted you fired after two weeks and you're just giving them this ammunition. There was, do you say less than, cause I saw it's one of those things where sometimes you think your score bug on your app is just messed up. It was like 148 when he punted it, right? Yeah. I mean, it was, now in fairness to him, fourth and 10, but. Who cares? You, you, you have to, you, you have to go. I watched Mark Supes punt the ball against the number one team in the country down one, but there were four or five minutes to play then. Fourth and 10, the game is on, run, what? And that's, you just hit on the most critical thing. And again, coaches maybe shouldn't be thinking this 4D chess at times, but everybody's out on them. They hate, they hate what they've seen. If you go for it on fourth and you come up short, they're gonna be like, well, shit, at least he tried. Also, who in there actually thought, like the percentage of people in that stands, 90% just probably assumed like, oh yeah, we got to go for it here. I mean, you have, like, there's no, there's no way. He's probably the only person who thought we should punt it here. Seriously, like, what, man, if, remember, just, I know there was some Arkansas fans that thought I was an idiot after saying, I think it was before the season. Yeah, it was before week one when I said, hey, Charles Huff might be your guy next year. Silverfield's, I mean, that's one, that's the makings of a one and done coach. His ass, another coaching search, fire it up. It's happening. There were literally hundreds of people, including Arkansas Media, that jumped on your ass for saying that. Yeah, I bet if I reached out to them now, I'd be like, would you trade your coach for Charles Huff? Every single one of them would be like, hell yeah. Where was I? They would just take any coach. Like they would do the weekend at Bernie's. Because even the weekend at Bernie's guy, you just, if you gave the, if you put it in the quarter box hands and said, what are we doing here? You gotta go for it. Because here's the other part. If you don't get it, you have your three timeouts right there to stop them. Like, Jesus Christ Silverfield. Gross, disgusting. You know what's not disgusting? Our friends over at Omaha, shout out Omaha Steaks. Maybe you're a Razorback fan and you're tired of eating this bullshit that your coach is feeding you. 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So their ass needs to go to Men, go to mars.com. 50% off for life, Nick, and three free gifts. 90 day money back guarantee over at Mars Men. Boost your T levels. And if you're not happy, in 89 days, cancel. You get your money back. What do you have to miss? Get Silverfield's ass on the phone right now with Men, go to mars.com. Gotta get this T levels up. Oh my, my gosh, Silverfield. That just is pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Oh, got a chance to be the top 25. Get your T right, brother. Hey, you know who? I never had seen this kind of T from him, was the guy in T-Town, Kaelan DeBoer, showing a little emotion on the sideline. I didn't know we had that in them. It was justified. I mean, my gosh, what a just calamity of errors at the end of the game. Some of it was on Dijon Lee. What are you doing, dude? Stupid. They still would have had to stop him there on third down, but so stupid. The other, so stupid. How this game had such, the Haymakers just going back and forth. It was such a great game, well played. I thought Georgia, they were lucky with some of their bounces when the ball was on the turf. But it was such a well-played game for the most part. But to have a ref decide it with just a terrible call, it wasn't as terrible as Ryan Silverfield's call. But it was almost as bad. That's a great question. Worst call, punting on fourth down with two minutes to go in a one score game or that PI that didn't get called. Because that was bad. You know it's bad when Chris Fowler is expecting the flag and it doesn't show up. They even put the flag thing on the screen. That was terrible. How did, and usually the thing that I like, you know, in basketball, you got to have the right angle. There's only three of them on the court. But in football, usually there's a second guy there to where if one guy is dumb enough to miss it, he comes over and is like, all right, buddy, I got you here. I got you. Nobody like he was face guarding and tackle Rico Scott as the ball is hitting him. They're at least tying it there. In the way that Keele and Russell was moving around, hell, he probably goes in and scores, go ahead, touchdown. I just, I couldn't. How can you be on that stage officiating at that level and miss that call? It's just, it's beyond me. It's as bad and it's as egregious as the NFC Championship game between the Saints and the Rams. I mean, that was brutal. That was terrible, terrible miscall. And it seems like it may be not as bad as this every week, but every year, there's a couple of these a year where it's like, my God, they need to fix these officiating and they just, they seemingly have no answers to do it, do they? I know. And I like that we're doing the quick replay in the NFL for some of these things. But it's not for flags, obviously. It's for spotting the ball or pick or no pick or whatever it may be. But that, I just, I can't, it just, it blows my mind that something like that can be made. But the part that doesn't surprise me is that Kirby and Glenn Schumann were like, okay, well, we got a gift, so let's go take advantage of it. Let's send Bolden here and man, Russell never saw the blitz. That was outstanding play, teed off, perfectly executed, got him down and that guy, he ain't easy to get down. Yeah, I don't know if you're like this, Mike. Do you do notes during the games to try to remember stuff? I do, but it gets difficult when there's four games on, but when there's one or two, that's when I can really get good notes in. Well, in this one, I had to stop because there were just so many awesome plays. All right, well, I'm just reading off the play chart now. But the, Kevon Russell is so damn good. He just, the throw before that, because I believe they said on the broadcast, it was the first throw he completed under pressure. But I mean, Georgia gets free on, I believe it was a corner blitz. He somehow dips away from that. And then he's got like two guys barreling down on him, and gets away long enough to throw it to the big tight end down the field. That was just, he made it, like Kevon Russell just makes a couple of those, holy shit, like kind of plays a game that are just wow. Whereas like Gunnar Stocktons, his are like the like bootstrap hard nose, like damn, that guy is just a dog. Whereas Russell is like, holy God, like they don't, this is some Walmart Jackson kind of stuff over here. That was incredible game by both quarterbacks. It's just in Russell's case, that last play where he didn't see the blitz, that's the I've only started in six games show. Kentucky got lucky that they got him so early. Oh, yeah. Yeah, seriously. I mean, is there any doubt exiting this game that these are the two? I mean, things can change, right? But is there any doubt that these are the two best teams in the SEC? No, no. I thought you were going to ask about in the country, because really it feels like it's Georgia, Bayamah and then what do you do with Miami and Notre Dame who haven't played anybody? That's the kind of, I'm not really sure. But those four teams feel like they're in a class of their own. Whereas the second tier, and that's the hard part about Texas, figuring them out, because I like to think of things in tiers. I know that Kentucky is not in the elite of the elite tiers, but they are definitely in that second tier of like, this is a really good football team. LSU is in that tier, Ole Miss is in that tier. It's really good, but flawed football teams. Texas shouldn't be in there, but they are flawed because they're just not, there's not, the cohesion isn't there. So, in my mind, only, probably only two of those teams in the SEC are gonna make the playoff. So, who's it gonna be from that group, like? Hey, I just thought of something. I meant to ask you when we were talking about Red River, but what do you do with Arch Manning if he wants to return next year? Because I can't imagine, no, again, maybe he goes on a great run, but how good of an NFL prospect is he? You know, and does Texas want him back? I would think they do, but the fact that I'm asking you that is I honestly don't know the answer. I, on three came to be during Arch Manning's high school recruitment. It was a circus. I would love to see an Arch Manning transfer portal circus. I would. I could see that if Sark 2 is gone, for whatever reason. Well, I think he would be more like, like, this is just, you know, we're getting way ahead of ourselves and it's going to piss off a lot of people. But if things go the way they just feel like they're going, like, if this just kind of continues all year, where they're good, not great and inconsistent, it feels like one of them won't be there. And I would think it would be more likely that he would stay if Sark was gone. Now, I don't know, RJ is different, you know, his family background. He doesn't seem like the portal type that wants to deal with all of that. But, you know, he might look over and be like, hey, you know, who's an awesome quarterbacks coach? Josh Hyple, Will Stein. How? All right. Let me ask you, what would be funnier, though? What would be the funniest destination? Because I'm thinking Oklahoma or A&M. Like, because I hate him, right? Yeah. Just because he's a Texas, not personally. But then all of a sudden they'd be like, you know what? I see it. I see it. It would be really funny if he went to USC with Stink and Raleigh and just did the same thing where he was like, just good enough, but like also bad and not, you know, it was just like, yeah. I, Oh man. I know we, we just gloss over for, but can we, can we talk about Elko for a second? Of course. The cesspool down there. Some, I mean, that's a word. It's almost as he just pulled a silver field. He punted on 4th and 10 with less than two minutes ago. Wait, you can't go and play that poorly and then start spouting off at your fans. And also not only did you hate on your most loyal fans, you gave them banger branding. I mean, Billy Sesspool, that's going to be a point of pride for the folks over at Tex X. And I know that it's kind of more war that they're the reason why he's got that job. But they're a big reason he got that job. And now he's coming after him. It's like, dude, you have, I mean, he has a scapegoat. He can just say, I made the wrong hiring office coordinator, right? Like that because that's what it is. That's our issue. And that, I mean, that falls on his shoulders. He made a dumb hire. I don't know why he wouldn't go out and hire somebody who has play calling experience. That was a dumb hire and it's costing him. But then to go out and to go at Tex Ags, what are you doing? I just, ah, man, like that is Elko was not on the hot seat and he just kind of is asking for fans to want him gone. Like I, baffling, befuddling, so, so stupid. He just, he gave him the shovel and asked him to bury him. And do you know who has Marcel Reed on the show weekly and pays him and has always defended him? Tex Ags. I mean, what the hell are we doing here? You know what? I just, I don't, I, oh man, it's bad there. They can't score at all. Now, is that a credit to Missouri, though, who's looking better and better each week? And let me, now again, you're biased, right? And you'd admit that, but who do you think is better? Missouri or Kentucky? Because I think they're legitimate. They're both legitimate. They're top four in my power rankings. And I'm not saying they're going to the playoff, but that is not even like a crazy thing to even suggest that one or both could go to the playoff. No, it's not. And they're actually kind of doing it in somewhat similar ways, but just particularly from the quarterback position. I think Missouri's playmakers a little bit better cadently, and I can't say, I still can't say. Donovan, Aluga Badee. Aluga Badee, it's fun to say when I finally get it right. But the way they're taking care of the ball, it's just like it's, I mean, Simmons did finally throw a pick. But when your defense is forcing turnovers, like they were on Saturday, and then you just let your offense go. Another thing too, that I was wrong about with this Missouri team, I'm sorry, folks in Como, I was very wrong about your team many times this year. But Roberts is as good as they were. I still think he's better than Ahmad Hardy, but the way that they said, hey, it's not going to be this huge drop off without Ahmad Hardy, but that guy's been legit, and he's giving them the explosiveness that you actually didn't really see a ton of from Hardy. Hardy is more down to down, right? Like that sort of just grinds you out, get you a bunch of 10 yard runs, but maybe not the 50 yard homerun hitters. Roberts is hitting those homeruns, and that is just like, when you're doing that and you're being efficient in the passing game, it's really, really, really difficult to match up against defensively. So shout out to Missouri. I mean, we're going to see him face off against one another. What, what if, I mean, you know, what, what if we look around and that is, that's a game where both teams only got, what, one loss at the time, maybe? Yeah. Like what, what if we have 10 in one? I mean, game days in Como, right? Yeah. Between two 10 in one teams. Now that's crazy and it's probably not going to happen. But like, hey, we can dream big. Why the hell not? It's a preview of the SEC Championship round one. To hell with Georgia, Bama, it's Mizzou, Kentucky back to back. You know what? That would just how disgusted would traditional SEC fans be? They think Kentucky is just the basketball school that they let play football. Missouri, hey, they're a big 12 school. Get the hell out of here. You ain't in the south. It would just drive them nuts if both of those teams were 10 win teams this fall. I'd protest it. No, maybe the Roush and Cousin Shane Bowl. Shout out, Mizzou, I was thinking about this this week. What if Eli and Mizzou just break teams so bad that good teams end up with losing records? It honestly kind of makes sense. Florida, good example. He's Missouri just breaking people. When I think of breaking people, I think of just giving somebody a back breaker. But I don't think you're going to break Ole Miss this weekend. It turns out getting Kawhi Lacey back helps a lot. Also, Jared Curtis, that play near the end zone, that was ugly. But Missouri, Ole Miss is this is a fun learning lesson for all of us who are trying to figure out who these teams are. Because Ole Miss, you know the Trinidad factor is there. But defensively, they're giving up a lot of points. And how good are they running the ball? All right, here's your test, Ole Miss defense. But Missouri, they're going to make you earn it. It's going to be... I just... I know that Drink got... He was getting beat over the head with the top 25 stats. But like, this is a game that we... I mean, have we... We haven't seen him go on the road and win a big one, have we? I can't... I'm trying to... You have Missouri winning on the road. In a big football game? Like I just... I'm trying to visualize it. And I can't... They have played... Again, moral victories, right? They've played Georgia tight, but they've not obviously beaten them, but hardly anybody beats Georgia. That's the closest I could think. It's not like they've ever gone in to New England or... The Swamp, right? But that was when Florida was... I mean, Sunbelt Billy. This is one where I just visualizing Missouri winning at Ole Miss is just... It's not happening for me. No, that doesn't mean that it can't be done. Man, that's going to be a great football game. The fans has drinks two and 15 against top 25 road games. Okay. Yikes. Yeah, and I'm sure maybe one of those was like a Michael H. Mississippi State team or something like that. Or a Red Hot Stoops team. Hardy. I like the chat. Hardy only seemed less explosive because he was being run ragged by the only weapon next to Perbullins. Hey, you are right though. One of those ranked games was at Kentucky. It was the fake punt where the punter threw that ball down the sideline. Apparently, Kentucky has one more guaranteed loss. Oh, Tennessee fan, just get out of here. Buzz off. It's overfilled. Punt the game to you. I don't think you answered the question, though, Nick, that I asked. Kentucky or Missouri? Better team or most likely playoff team? They've got... Missouri has Texas and Georgia still on their schedule. Kentucky has really gotten through the best. I like the path better for Kentucky. Yeah. It's crazy that you're saying you're on your way to Oklahoma and you say, well, they've gotten through the toughest part of their schedule, but yeah, it's kind of the case, you know? But I do... I think I like Missouri better, but... Well, because Missouri is just one more convincingly. I mean, Kentucky has won back to back games by one point over time. So, like, I totally get it, but having Texas and Georgia back to back weeks, that's why I actually really love the spot for Kentucky. You know, what shape are you going to be in if you play those two teams? But a huge game this week, like this. I wonder if Missouri fans are still... I don't want to say imposter syndrome, but if, like... This is one of those where if you win this game, you know you're legit. I'm the same way after the LSU game for Kentucky. I didn't know how legit they were until they beat this LSU team. Because LSU is like... It ain't A&M's $50 million roster that's followed. They got some dudes. So you just beat them, right? If they just beat a legit football team. So I got confidence in the world in Will Stein and the Cats. I know Drake, Missouri fans will have all the confidence that he can do something special this year if they can go beat Ole Miss this weekend. How motivated is Kentucky and Big Ball Stein to see that line with the Oklahoma favorite this week in Norman? It didn't surprise me, honestly. The line didn't surprise me. I'm proud. I've never been in Norman, be there this weekend and it's nice. It's great. A lot of Kentucky fans too. There's a ton of them already playing at preseason. After this one, I think some more have decided that they need to make a last-minute trip to Norman. It's going to be a big one. It's going to be a lot of fun down there in Norman. Mississippi State had two weeks to prepare. They're big underdogs at LSU. But it wouldn't be the craziest thing, if Mississippi State regains their form after getting some rest and puts a dagger in the heart of Lane Kiffin and Company. Wouldn't it be fun? It would be a lot of fun. Jeff Levy hates Kiffin. I mean, there's some real animosity there. Yeah. And I felt like LSU's offense played well, but still only 27 points. And we mentioned the two trick plays having to get there. Like, man, figuring out this game. The spot dictates that LSU goes back home and takes care of business. But, Camario... It's a rare early game for them too. Kiffin, he has struggled a lot of those Kentucky games. He has struggles to get his team up in early games for some reason. Even last year at Ole Miss, that team that was so great. They, Washington State, pushed him quite literally to the fourth quarter and had an opportunity to win it. Yeah. Man, that's going to be a great football game. It is one though where LSU is starting to figure some things out. I know Trey Dez Green, he is out of his whatever cast thing. I highly doubt he is playing this weekend. But it feels like LSU is getting closer and closer to being a finished product. I ultimately just trust them to figure it out at home and bounce back. But it is going to be one of those games where a late turnover could just, you think the game is going one way and then all of a sudden, I don't know if that's Taylor having the back breaking turnover or if it's Leavitt, who now have eight picks on the year and hell, they fumbled it like 10 times, I think. That's not winning football. Any thoughts on Missouri at Ole Miss? Again, that's probably the best game of the weekend in the conference. Yeah. I saw a mock draft with Austin Simmons at 20th, which I just, I don't think anybody going in this season was talking about Austin Simmons as an NFL draft stock, but if he goes and balls out, that's the stage, right, where everybody's talking about Trinidad, and they're like, the casual, Johnny Casual College football fan shows up and says, who's this lefty from Missouri? You know, if they go win this game, that it'll be because of Austin Simmons going back home, homecoming. Oh, man. They chose that guy over me. I mean, he's going to be motivated, right? I love it. I love it. Maybe. Yeah, let's do it, right? Mizzou beat that big ass drum. And I don't even know if you remember this, because they I don't even recall him playing on. He may not saw the field. Do you know where Kiwan Lacey started his career? He was he was a Missouri backup, wasn't he? So again, I don't know if that's personal, but if I'm Drake, I think it would be personal, you know? Yeah, yeah, I. That front line for Ole Miss. Let's let's see what they do against Missouri, because I think that's been the low key. Biggest part of their success story so far is that Missouri has been legit in the trenches on both sides. Can the Ole Miss pass rush get after Simmons a little bit? You know, that that ultimately, I think, is where Ole Miss could have something besides just playing the Trinidad card. It's a great card to play, but you can't, you can't just keep hitting it every single time. How bad does Tennessee whoop Alabama's ass? Brother, I just. I love this spot for Tennessee. Everybody like you, they're going to get their doors blown off. They're going to get their face suck ass home game. Bama's elite. They got the quarterback. Tennessee, they can't get a quarterback to save their life. Oh man, they got no shot. These are the weekend, week out. I don't know. I don't know what it is, Nick, but these are the spots last week. Oklahoma this season when one team's getting built up and the other one's getting shot on. It seems like it's a perfect storm, but Kentucky last week, they got no shot against LSU. You know what? I like what you're doing. You know what? Tennessee, you're right. You're going to win this game. Let's get all your hopes up. Get them all the way up. Then they're just going to come crashing down. It's phase on Brandon. This is his boo boo going to get better? Or is this like, oh no, it's hard for the season. We're just not going to be able to play him again. What the hell is Hypal doing with this? I almost feel like you get you. I don't know if you go back right to phase on, but at least he can run. You got that. You know, that McIntyre can't even do that. And if he's going to be careless with the football, he had multiple turnovers. That's what really, if not for the, he had an interception with the five minutes left. Game was tied. Arkansas should have won it right there, but they suck. So they couldn't do anything with it. And Tennessee was about to score again. And he fumbled by the Sean Bishop, hit his elbow and he dropped it. And Arkansas nearly scoop and scored it, but they missed a field goal. I mean, if they just take advantage of those situations. That missed field goal was brutal too. Guys, that was such a dumb swing there at the end of the half. I forgot about that. That was insane. So if neither one's going to protect the football, I play the guy that can run. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the right call. But do you do it against this Bama defense? One for them, Devin Tompkins. That guy is a freaking monster. And he might be eating on Saturday. I don't think it's going to be the 10 sacks that we saw against Texas, but I think Bama's going to get after him. What was that line, Mike? For Bama? Yeah. Six and a half. Perfect. It's under a 10. I mean, they're begging people to take Alabama. They're going to whup her ass. Oh, they're begging me. They're begging me. All right. And then I'll probably be the only one to ask you this, Nick, the whole week. What do you think about the game I'm referring it to as the iGouge Bowl, Arkansas, Vanderbilt in Nashville? Oh, you need to go to that game. Give a golden toilet to whoever wins the toilet bowl. Vandy, I want Jared Curtis to ball out. Just really make it miserable for Arkansas fans. If you're going to be bad, just be the worst bad. Let's see Curtis ball out. Oh, I forgot, Mike, there's something I needed to bring up to you. Very important. The Big Ten does one thing much better than the SEC. They got trophies for all their rivalry games. They got too many trophies, but I love them. This is a silly sport. We need trophies for rivalry games. What we need is a trophy for the Spurrier Bowl. Florida, South Carolina, South Carolina, you win it this time. You get to take home the golden visor, right? We need to have a bronze visor or something for the Spurrier Bowl. It can be two visors laying on top of one another. South Carolina won a four to one. We need to make this rivalry trophy happen. Sports are better with dumb trophies. Shane Beamer, it could be like the Cowboy Hat and Red River. You just put it on and it crushes your skull. Let's get the bronze Spurrier visor in the South Carolina-Florida rivalry game. I 100 percent agree with you and we need to certainly bring back the beer barrel for Kentucky. I saw a sticker that said bring back the beer barrel on a white pole near Kroger Field. So the movement started. I know you've been a big proponent behind it. I am. The wheels are in motion. I'm going to do my best. Missouri fan, let's be real here. Our defense is legit. Corey Betune done an amazing job, 11 new starters. Do you think he gets a head coaching job somewhere after this? That's an interesting question, a fascinating one. But in today's modern age, I mean, college football, I love it, but it's a little screwy, right? Where like Blake Baker, he could be the Tulane coach right now. But he said, you know what, I probably get paid more to be LSU defensive coordinator. For a guy like Corey Baton, I mean, I don't know what his options would be, but if it's not like a ACC job that's good or an SEC job that's good, I'd almost rather be the Missouri defensive coordinator and probably make more than being the South Alabama head coach. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's kind of where we are. And the other part too is, you know, Kentucky got Will Stein because nobody wanted to hire somebody to be a head coach in the experience. So, you know, you got that working on your side when it comes to retention. A lot of people don't want to hire coordinators to be head coaches right away because you could end up, you know, holding Chad Morris. Sorry, Arkansas fans, I'm sorry. We've been mean to you today. I'm sorry. Well, we're not going to be mean anymore, Nick. Before you go, tell the cousins where to follow you and where to find all your work. Yeah, come hang out with us on the Kentucky Sports Radio YouTube channel. We're live every day at 6 p.m. So subscribe, hang out with us, and see me on Twitter at RoushKSR. And I'll see you next week, maybe after another win. For Tennessee, definitely. For Kentucky, I don't think so. Hey buddy, this beer's for you, Mike, and Cousin Shane. That SEC Podcast loves the Pirate, and the Pirate loves that SEC Podcast.