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Cabinda: Penn State-Notre Dame Will Be Decided By THIS

JR Sports Brief / JR
The Truth Network Radio
January 7, 2025 9:10 pm

Cabinda: Penn State-Notre Dame Will Be Decided By THIS

JR Sports Brief / JR

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January 7, 2025 9:10 pm

Former Penn State and Detroit Lions linebacker Jason Cabinda joined JR to preview Penn State's matchup against Notre Dame, the legacy James Franklin is building, what makes Dan Campbell a good coach and if Saquon Barkley should have chased Eric Dickerson's rushing record.

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Jason, thank you for taking the time to join us. Thank you for having me, guys. Appreciate you having me on.

Absolutely. Let's talk about things on the college side first before we get into the Lions. You were right there when James Franklin took over for Penn State. What makes him such a standout guy to have this program where it is right now? I think the thing with Coach Franklin, I make him so special, man. He's just such a good leader of an organization. He's such like a he runs the organization like a CEO. I mean, he really always has his finger on the temperature and the heartbeat of the team, keeping the guys even keeled, the right mindset. He's all about process. He's all about the little things. He's all about one day at a time when practice, taking what you learn from the meeting rooms off to the field. And I just think he does such a good job of managing that on a daily basis and throughout the year. And you can just tell, by the way, this team has prepared time and time again.

He's gone through a lot of challenges and adversities this year, and they just keep on coming back better and better. So I'm excited for this team. It's awesome to see them get those two big wins these past couple of weeks, and hopefully we'll be able to string together another win against a really good Notre Dame team. When you think about the wins, you're referring to SMU and Boise State. People can debate with the expanded playoff or the quality of the opponent. What do you expect from this team on Thursday when they take on Notre Dame? Both coaches have said that with similar programs. Yeah, I think to me, I think what makes this matchup so interesting, like you said, it's such similar programs, even all the way down to the type of kids they recruit.

You know, you look at Notre Dame, you look at Penn State, always high character guys, you know, high academic guys, high guys on the field in terms of the talent, what they do on the field. So I think it's going to be a great matchup. And I think to me, the X factor is going to come out to the quarterback play. Drew Allen and Riley Leonard, both guys who can make plays with their legs. Riley, a little bit more dangerous with his legs, especially in the run game.

But I think that's going to be the X factor. You've got two great defenses. Both teams have two great backs. Jeremiah Love and Price. We've got Nick Singleton and Katron Allen, both tough physical teams. I mean, it's going to be one hell of a classic.

No names on the back of the jersey. They'll be going to have so much more than this. And Jason Combendes joining us here on the JR Sport Reshow Coast to Coast. You won a Big Ten championship with this school back in 2016. Forget a Big Ten championship. A lot of people look at Penn State and go, well, are you out there beating Michigan?

Are you out there beating Ohio State? What are your thoughts about them actually winning it all? I mean, I think to me, obviously, everybody's talked about the path that we've had and all, but at the end of the day, it's the top 12 best teams in the country. And, you know, everybody can talk about the quality of the wins, but at the end of the day, the stakes were as high as they could possibly be these last two weeks.

And that's go win or go home. And, you know, Coach Franklin's been able to go and win two games in a row onto a third with the possibility of, you know, going to a national championship. So I think this is huge for Penn State.

It's huge for Coach Franklin's legacy and really just putting Penn State on the map of the upper echelon and college football, really where they belong. I think we've really got a good shot at it. And at the end of the day, I think we have a run game that travels, you know, every single week. And I think that's one of the things that can take you deep into the season when you got great tight ends, a great o-line, two running backs that can really run the rock, man.

You can go and do that anywhere. So I got a lot of confidence in this team, what they're going to be able to do down the stretch here. Jason, you talk about legacy. It's crazy to think it's already been 10 years since you first played. It's been 10 years since Coach Franklin was there. Legacy, how easy is it, if at all, to maintain any type or build a legacy in the current landscape of college sports?

It's like every year things change, transfer portal this, NIL that. I think that's what's making this run so special for Penn State. I mean, you look at even the quarterbacks and all the teams remaining, all transfer guys, you know. Drew Aller's a homegrown guy from PA and Coach Franklin's just done such a good job of really just keeping this team even killed and really in this landscape of college football, just keeping the main thing the main thing. I mean, these guys care about each other.

You don't see any opt-outs. You don't see guys sitting out not being able to play. You know, we saw Bo Prabula transfer out and that was really more because of the transfer portal and the academic calendar. But man, these guys love each other. They love Coach Franklin and you could see it in the way that they play for each other. Jason, before you joined us, we talked about Ryan Day and what things might look like if either game, and I assume they're going to move on, I'm going to take them over Texas, but if things get ugly, a lot of fans already got his head on a stake in Columbus. What do you think about the job that he's done so far leading the Ohio State University? Well, I mean, at the end of the day, if you look at all the games outside of the Michigan games, I mean, he's done extremely well. I think what makes it really tough for Ohio State fans and that fan base is the fact that even in that locker room, that organization, they go around every single year saying their game is the Michigan game.

That's the game that they care about. Yeah, they want to, you know, win our division and things of that nature, but to them, being successful starts with beating Michigan and the fact that they haven't been able to do that the past three or four years, I think is really what's making Coach Daisy super hot. But at the end of the day, if you look at all his games outside of that, what he's been able to do in that transition from Urban Meyer, I think he deserves a ton of praise. Jason Cabinda joining us here, played for Penn State, also played for the Detroit Lions.

You talk about coaches, whether it's James Franklin building up a system. Dan Campbell has taken the Lions just with his personality from the doldrums potentially to another Super Bowl. What makes Dan Campbell so special to be in a room with? I think the special thing about Dan, man, is the way he's able to relate to his players, man. When you look at Dan and the way he structures everything, you can just tell that he's been in our shoes. And I think that really resonates with a lot of guys when you have a head coach who's truly been in your shoes and done it at a high level, successful 10-year career.

He's played on multiple teams. He knows the ins and outs. He knows when to slow down. He knows when to get going, when to work, when to pull back. And I think the fact that he cares so much, man. He cares so much and he believes so hard and it flares, man.

I think his energy is just super, super infectious. And I was super blessed to be able to play for a coach like Dan Campbell. Well, Jason, we see with so many openings in the NFL right now, we got other former players, whether it's Sherrod Mayo, Antonio Pierce, they don't get that benefit. They get the boot after one year and we get coordinators who haven't necessarily played at the same level or at the highest level. They get the chance over and over and over again.

Did Dan luck out in that regard? Why don't some of the other X players get a chance? Well, I think part of it, honestly, is just society. Where we're at right now, we're in such an instant gratification society and we expect things to just turn around in one year, you know? And we have outliers like CJ Stroud is coming to Houston, Texas and them immediately having a great turnaround season and people are trying to emulate that, which is just so, so rare and it's hard to do. And I think what makes Coach Campbell and Brad Holmes run so special, they've really built it from the ground up. I mean, if you look at this team, this roster, if you look at their four or five first draft picks coming out of these last three years, I mean, these are guys that are starters, guys who are now pro bowlers. I mean, they've really, really hit in the draft and built this thing the right way to be able to overcome injuries, to be able to overcome playing on the road and all these things that we've seen them do this year.

So, well, the way I look at it, I mean, I'm not surprised at this team and what they're doing at all because Dan and Brad have been rebuilding this machine from this exact same way from the first day that they walked into those doors, man. And they don't sacrifice any level of our culture for talent. If you're not about the culture, if you're not about the work, if you're not about caring and putting it all out there for your teammates, you're not going to be part of this team.

And they don't care how talented you are. And you could tell by the types of guys that are bringing the locker room that they were not about to sacrifice their culture for anybody. I think that's the reason why we're seeing this team play the way they're playing right now.

Hey, Jason, you were in that locker room. Do you favor them to win the Super Bowl in a month's time? Oh, I'm going my boys all the way, man. Detroit won pride, baby.

I can dig it. Now to talk about another team, probably their stiffest competition. You think about the Eagles. We all know that Jalen has been dealing with the concussion, trying to get out of the protocol. But a former teammate of yours at Penn State, Saquon Barkley, had an opportunity to chase history.

They let him rest. It had been great to see him try to go out there and get it. Do you think that was the right move? That's a tough thing.

So it's a pretty much balance. It's hard to say whether it's the right move or the wrong move. You go out there and then he gets hurt and everybody gets mad that you're playing.

I mean, it goes either way. I think to me, I wish you would have played and I especially wish you would have played because of the fact that he would have been able to do it against his former team that let him go. That didn't see the value in him that the Eagles were able to see. So I think it would have been quite the storybook ending for him to be able to break that rushing record. But I mean, I just love the selflessness of Saquon and the fact that you see him in press conferences saying, hey, at the end of the day, I didn't come here to break a record. I came here to do special things. When I say special things, I mean special things with this team.

And, you know, that's going to be able to win a Super Bowl. So kudos to him for having the maturity, you know, to be okay with the head coach's decision and not playing. Why not embarrass the New York Giants some more?

They embarrass themselves. Hey, Jason, thank you so much for your insight, not just with Penn State where you played also with the Lions. Where can people follow you today? You got to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, on YouTube at Jason Cabenda. I also host a Penn State pregame football show and wrap up show.

So tune in on GO PSU TV on YouTube if you're looking to see some content on Penn State football. Hey, Jason, I appreciate it. Good luck.

I know you're going to be all locked in on Thursday. Thank you for the time. Appreciate you. Thank you.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-07 23:05:54 / 2025-01-07 23:11:18 / 5

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