Yogi Roth, Pac-12 Network Analyst

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Get six times longer lasting freshness plus odor protection with Downy Unstoppables in wash scent beads. Yogi, thank you for taking the time to hop on. Appreciate it. Yeah, perfect timing. I just literally walked into the hotel in Houston that is decked out. It's CFP posters and imagery.

All your key card is a CFP logo. It's awesome, man. It's exciting.

And it's kind of surreal that there's only one more game. There's not like, what happens next week? It's just Monday and then it's next year. It's Monday and it's next year.

Well, let me ask you this. Being on the ground, Yogi, what's the vibe like already? I've been to the championship games, Super Bowls, Final Fours, etc. There's always that vibe and that energy. Do you feel it in Houston already?

Yeah, oh yeah. I mean, you feel it on the West Coast. You feel it on the plane. You feel it at the airport. Whether it's people rocking their Michigan swag or Washington gear, you can just sense it. So yeah, when I landed, to your point, if you've been to events, as you referenced, there's signage everywhere. The buses are wrapped. There's this great shot of a building downtown that has the CFP trophy that has the windows of it.

So at night, it just illuminated, just driving into the hotel here in Houston. So yeah, man, you can feel it. And I think there's a real cool excitement around this one because it's a little different. We felt that last year when TCU made it to the finale. But Georgia was still there, of course, a friendly face in terms of being a defending national champion at the time. I think having two first-timers in the title game for the first time since the first year of the CFP is really cool. And I think that the fan base is, I think college football, everybody's kind of embracing that. And there's, of course, tremendous storylines for both programs positively, I'm sure critically, that everybody's going to be getting into over the course of the next couple of days.

And Pac-12 analyst Yogi Roth is joining us here at the JR Sportbreeze Show on CBS Sports Radio. You talk about the newness of what we have here between Washington and Michigan. The majority of the country, very familiar with Michigan, the Wolverines, Harbaugh, all of the storylines. People are finding out now nationwide more about Michael Penix Jr. and what the Huskies bring to the table, the aerial attack and what have you. What would you say is the best overview of what people are going to find out about more so when they watch on Monday night from Washington?

Yeah, you know, I'll be honest. Like part of that is, I think, frustrating for all of us on the West Coast. The guy led the nation in passing a year ago.

The guy votes to win the Heisman Trophy. It's not like he came out of nowhere and had this miraculous season. Same thing for Washington and Michael Penix Jr. and their program, Kayla DeBoer. But just to remind you, like there is a bias. And that's not me calling out people. That's just reality, right?

If you're saying that and your listeners are saying that and viewers are clearly saying that, then it exists. And I think it's important to note that for the media companies moving forward that have the rights of these teams that are not in the backyard of Alabama or Georgia or whatever it might be or Michigan or Ohio State that are constantly seemingly well known. But to answer your question, you're going to see the most dynamic offense in the country, point blank. You're going to see a quarterback play the position of quarterback versus playing catch.

By that, I mean he's going to have to set and reset protections. And he was in touch last week against Texas, which got two first round draft picks on the defensive line. No sacks, no QB hits. It's all because of the style and scheme in which they play. You're going to see the best receiving corps in America. And I was trying to rack my mind, like there's a lot of duos that are really talented. Trios, it's hard to think about.

This is my 23rd year in major college football. I can't think of many that would rival this. Maybe when LSU and Joe Burr were going. But these three are special. And there's other weapons. They've got tight ends, H-backs, running back out of the backfield. And they deploy them in a way that's going to attack you. They're built from a philosophy of we want 20% of our plays to be chunk plays.

Well, to do that, you've got to take shots. You know, they are throwing the ball 20 plus yards. It's not just catching and making guys miss tackles and things of that nature. So this is an explosive offense. Best offensive line in the country, according to the Joe Moore Award, which is a bunch of offensive linemen who evaluate the position. Michigan won that award the previous two seasons.

So you're going to see a really physical game. A defense that, I don't know if they've got a boatload of first or second round picks, but Braylon Trexler, edge rusher, is their best player on that side of the ball. And then they've got a bunch of experience. And I think that needs to be noted. They have nine six-year seniors, nine.

Think about that. Of course, the COVID year is why they're still playing. But that's of note because it's been a mature team from game one, and they've won now 10 games in a row by 10 points or less. And if you're not mature, you don't have a chance to finish games like that and the style and the consistency in which they have.

Yogi Roth is here with CBS Sports Radio, the JR Sport Brief show. You talk about that dynamic offense, and we know Michigan. Ain't nobody going to look at them and say the offense is dynamic. They're going to try to possess the ball and run with the rock and try to grind things out. When the rubber meets the road and we actually are on that field, what do you think this game is ultimately going to look like on Monday night?

I think it's a great game. I think we got the two best teams in America. I thought that Washington should have been ranked number one. Not that it matters anymore because they're both here, but it does impact the fan bases in terms of travel and the amount of money you have to spend. And I still think this game is about the fans and the players versus media and money.

So I got empathy for what people in Seattle had to do in terms of getting to Vegas, getting to New Orleans and now getting here. But with that said, what are we going to get? I think we got the two best teams. And they are different styles.

There are different personalities. They're extremely well coached. You look at Michigan, they don't hurt themselves. I think the lowest amount of penalties and penalty yards in the country.

Washington, they did that in their last game against Texas. I mean, it was very impressive in terms of not a lot of self-inflicted penalties or unforced errors. So I think you'll see a well-coached game. I think you'll see two groups of leaders in terms of Blake Coram and JJ McCarthy that they can handle the stage.

And I think the same thing for Michael Pennix Jr. and company that I just talked about a bunch. So I think it'll come down to a turnover. You know, there's a tip ball last week against Texas and Jalen Polk caught it for a touchdown. That tip pass become an interception? Does it become a touchdown?

Does it become a knockdown? Like, I think that's what this game will be. I think if you're a fan of Washington, you want them to jump out early because to your point, Michigan isn't built dynamically.

They've proven that they can come back. They did that against Alabama. But if this becomes a two-score game, look out. Because UW can chew up some clock. And on the flip side for Michigan, I would imagine they're going to run the football a ton. Something that has gotten minimal dialogue, I think, is the amount of times both of these teams will shift in motion.

They're two of the most teams percentage-wise in the country. I say that because you want to shift motion, trade your tight ends, et cetera, to force defenses to communicate, especially when you can run the football a lot. Same thing defensively for Washington. They're going to want to stem their front, move different players around to force the offensive line of Michigan to communicate.

And that'll be, to me, if I was broadcasting this game, I'd be all over that element. Because you're right, it's a physical attack for Michigan. They want to run the football. If they can run it 50 times, they will. And UW is not going to stand static and say, okay, run it at us.

So how does Washington combat that? That'll be really, really fun to watch from an analytical standpoint. But I think we got a great game Monday night. I don't know if it'll come down to the last snap of the game, like the first semifinal weekend did, but how lucky would we all be as fans of this game and this craft if that's what we had on Monday night? Hey, if we go down to the wire, that'd be great. I'm actually going to go ahead and pick Washington here on the edge. I think you said it with the offense.

If Michigan goes behind, I think they're going to be hard pressed to get back into it. Yogi Roth is joining us from the Pac-12 Network as he works as an analyst. And we're going to get into some of the other things that you do as well.

I got to mention this. Right before you joined us the prior break, we had a caller who reached out and started to talk about some of the quarterback prospects in the upcoming draft. And we know Michael Penix Jr., people have heard and learned about his story from the Hoosiers up until now, the injuries that he's overcome. How big of a showcase is this for him to also go out there and improve his draft stock despite the age and despite the injuries? I think anytime you have an opportunity to play against a talented defense as a quarterback, it's a great opportunity to get evaluated, right? I mean, most quarterbacks aren't getting evaluated off of what they did in FCS non-conference group of five games.

But I think Michael Penix Jr.'s body of work really over two years in terms of being healthy for the last two years is dramatically documented. And then this year he'd gone up against multiple defenses that have been top 10 in the country. Utah, Oregon, Oregon State at the time of when they played. And he'd do Oregon twice.

And then, of course, Texas, who I referenced earlier in the defensive front. So I think, yes, it's another opportunity. I don't think he's gonna throw three picks and play the worst game of his career. I don't think he needs to complete 90% of his passes. I just think he needs to be who he is, which is an NFL quarterback playing in college. I've been using that line for him really since the beginning of the season. And that's, I think, who he is, how he studies, how he prepares, how he goes about his work, what his teammates say about him, what people say about him off the field, how he's in the community. And then, of course, how he is on game day. And you watch his subtle movements in the pocket, different arm angles that he has in the pocket. The location of the deep ball is so under discussed, right? Anybody can chuck it down the field 42 and a half yards for a perfect go route, but can you put it over the outside shoulder and make that split decision based on how you saw the defensive backs leverage and make it six inches one way or the other? Like, that's what he does. And he, to me, completed more throws than a lot of quarterbacks would even attempt in college football.

So he can hit the tight windows. He can anticipate, it'll get the buzz on social media chatter. It'll get the Mel Kiper juniors that chatter. But to me, like, none of that matters. NFL scouts have seen it.

They'll see it again. And I anticipate him being a very high draft pick come NFL draft time. Yeah, well, Yogi, I think if he puts on a t-shirt or a hoodie what you just said, a NFL QB playing in college, I think that'll improve his draft stock by itself. Well, I think, you know, Caleb Williams was that.

I think Bo Nix was that. I mean, you know, we've been, you know, really gifted this opportunity due to what happened in the pandemic to see guys play for another year. I think what I love most about he and Bo both is that they've never had more fun.

And not because they're, like, ripping it on a college campus. It's because they're really comfortable in who they are. You know, I did an interview with Michael Penix Jr. that has gotten a lot of play over the course of the last couple months.

We did it in May. And what I've always admired about him and still do, even interviewing in postgame after the Sugar Bowl, is he's really vulnerable. Like, he's really confident and comfortable in who he is. And I say that because I've been around the best quarterbacks in America. I mean, I wrote the book Five Star QB around what is it like to be a huge recruit. And most of the time they're not comfortable on the skin because everybody's telling them who they are. They're reminding them what the expectations for them are.

And I think for Mike, for Bo, those two guys in particular who've been around college football for a long time now, they're just like, this is me. Like, I love the game. I love the craft. I'm a hell of a teammate. I'll throw down in any game against any coverage. I'll lead my team. Like, I'm a grown man.

And I get to play college football a couple extra years. But let's roll versus, oh my God, I'm not living up to somebody's standards, somebody's expectation, whether it be a broadcaster, whether it be somebody DMing them on social. All these things really happen to elite quarterbacks.

I mean, they're human too. And I think you have to go through some adverse times in your life, like Bo had at Auburn, like Michael had with his injuries in Indiana, to basically get to be the best version of yourself. And that's where I think Michael Penix Jr. is right now. And that maturity is, I mean, he just had more experience than Caleb or Drake May or some of these other guys. And I think that is evident, just based on the amount of time he spent in college.

I mean, literally double the amount of time than the other two guys in this reference. So Yogi, you certainly know a good story when you see one. You have had a breath of life experiences. You talk about your book, Five Star Quarterback. I know that you've done production work and documentaries via ESPN.

You do a lot of storytelling. That doesn't even go into your career as a football player and then also a coach. When you look forward here for both programs, once we get past this game, what can we look forward to, especially as the football landscape on a college side continues to change? The Pac-12 is changing.

We got teams moving conferences. What are your thoughts there on what the landscape is gonna look like next year? Yeah, that's a great question. I think it's, I don't know. I think it's hard to predict.

I'll say this. I think with these two teams, I'll answer that first. Like, the brand of Michigan's not going anywhere. I know there's a ton of dialogue around Jim Harbaugh, and I have no idea what he will or will not do. If he stays, they'll keep rolling.

If he leaves, I'd imagine that he's rolling. That's Michigan. It's a Blue Blood, right? Every Blue Blood has a moment where they're down a little bit. Washington had a win over Michigan. They had a window where they were 4-8 a couple years ago. Michigan had their COVID season that was down. Like, there's been moments, but those big brands, and I think Washington and Michigan are two of them, like, they can have sustained success.

I think being in the Big Ten for Michigan is gonna be really interesting. They've been in the Pac-12, obviously, for a long time. It's a league that's been around for 108 years. It's ludicrous to me that we are where we are, especially when you look at what that league did past calendar year.

Again, I go back to the game as about, I think, the players and the fans, and it's become about media rights and the money, which is sad, but it's a reality. Now, I will say this around the CFP. Next year, I don't know if we're gonna be talking about which leagues got in or which leagues got left out. I think we'll be talking about which teams and which brands got in, and I think we're gonna see, yeah, I think, I don't know how you say it, but the juice of a conference, I think when you add more teams and they really don't play each other in the regular season, I'd be curious to see what that feels like in a couple years, right? Does it feel more like the NFL?

Like, we don't ever reference the NFC West unless they're really down, right? Like they were a decade ago, and then all of a sudden Coach Carroll came in and Sean McVay came in and the Niners came in and Shanahan, and now it's one of the better divisions in the league. I don't think that in college football we're gonna be talking about respective conferences as much as we do now, because A, there's less of them, and then B, there's just so much air time. Think about the games.

The games are gonna be great, right? Penn State and Washington, Penn State going out to SC, and that'll just kind of take, I think, a lot of the focus away from just being the conference. So that'll be kind of interesting to see how that shakes out, but overall I'm trying to just ride with it, man, to be honest with you. Like, it's frustrating for a guy who's lived in the West Coast for over 20 years now. My heart as a human goes out to the 200 people within our league that aren't gonna have a job, and that's why I'm trying to promote and push them as much as possible, because we have some really talented people that they're gonna be looking for work come the next couple months. So I kind of empathize with it, but it'll be exciting again. I mean, the fans, they want games, and they're gonna have them, and I think we'll all kind of find this new reality to be whatever it nets out at, and then it'll probably change again in a couple years whenever somebody's media rights contracts are up.

Yeah, college football's certainly at an inflection point. Yogi, I want to thank you for taking the time to hop on. Where can people follow you, your work? Grab your book, fill us in. Yeah, yeah, well, I appreciate that. I think five-star QB is a really cool, insightful look into over 50 quarterbacks that if you're a fan of college football, one of them probably signed at your school that you forgot about, whether it's Ryan Perlew at LSU or J.J. McCarthy at Michigan. They're both in the book, for instance.

So you can check that out on Amazon. It's an easy get. And then for me, especially the next couple days, we'll be all in here at the CFP, so my YouTube channel's easy, or on any social platform, it's just at Yogi Roth. We'll be interviewing a bunch of Michigan guys tomorrow, and of course, Washington at Media Day is covering practice. It's really fun, because it's really a celebration, and I know it's easy to pick sides and fan bases. Of course, you want your win, and I'd love to see Washington get this one for the West Coast.

But what a cool opportunity to be in a championship environment with really talented players and coaches that want to bring out the best in themselves and one another. So I'm going to celebrate over the next four days or so, man. I can't wait for the sun to come up tomorrow morning and get to the stadium and see what this thing's all about. Hey, and enjoy it.

Houston is a wonderful city. Enjoy the atmosphere. Enjoy the game. Yogi, thank you again for taking the time to hop on and talk about the championship game. Yeah, any time. Any time. Thanks for the time and the conversation.

I enjoyed it. I chatted with my Blinds.com design consultant on my time, got free samples, and it was all super high quality at a great price. Plus, they make it easy to DIY or add installation like I did. Blinds.com sounds way better.

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