NHL Tonight #5000, UCF Football

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So, see what I'm trying to do right here. Ta, hockey. Little earlier than we normally do it. We always talk hockey on this program, right?

So we start our number two and the Jim Rome show. I'm Jim Rome. Brought to you by FanDuel. Of course, my thanks to our pals at FanDuel, and I'm gonna try and talk hockey with one of my favorite guys to talk hockey with, Mike Rupp. He's a Stanley Cup champ and played 11 years in the league.

He's an NHL Network analyst, and they've got a milestone program ahead today, so I'm going to try and run him down. We will effort him. He's already on the books, so we'll find the rubber. Amber is in. Romy, someone tell John in Portland he is wrong.

He should be worried about an eight-time Pro Bowler coming to the Seahawks. He's no rental. Plus, they didn't overpay for him. Am I right, Trey Lance? Bang bang, Niner douche.

Amber's so good. War lady clone. I cannot stress this enough. One of the best participants on this show is a lady clone. She brings straight fire every single time.

Bang bang niner douche. That's Amber's words, not mine. All right, as promised, we're gonna do one of my favorite things to do on this show, and that's talk hockey. We are joined by a Stanley Cup champion, a former NHL center who played eleven years in the league. He is an NHL Network analyst.

Check this: NHL Network is going to celebrate the five thousandth. Episode of NHL Tonight with a four-hour special beginning at seven p.m. Eastern. It features Jamison Coyle, Mike Johnson, Kevin Weeks, Tony Luftman, and our next guest, Mike Rob. Mike, always good to talk to you, dude.

How you feeling? What's up, Jim? How are you, buddy? I'm good. Good, Rupper.

All right.

So you're going to be part of the 5,000th episode of an NHL tonight. That is an enormous number. Given that you were part of the original cast when that show launched in 2015, I'm guessing this has been a pretty amazing ride. Can you share how much pride you have in being a part of that show since its inception, and maybe kind of break down what it's been like? Yeah, no, it's it's been crazy.

It's been that long. You go back to 2015. That was my first year retired.

So just like a lot of athletes, you're kind of like, what's next? I kind of just wanted to try it, and a bunch of great people at NHL Network, MLB Network, that you know brought me in, and it just kind of fell in love with the job. Like I didn't know I wanted to do this for a living post post playing career, but you know once you get into it, you go, you cover the Stanley Cup Finals each year, and you. See that beautiful cup get delivered to whatever team wins it. It just kind of keeps those emotions going, and that's what we try to capture for the fans: the emotions, the storytelling of the National Hockey League.

I mean, t here is been some great people involved over the years.

Some that are still there, some that have moved on behind the scenes. It's it's been remarkable. It's fun because you know what? At the end of the day. It's you get players together.

We get a hot stove over what's you know what our opinions are. Kind of breaking down games, and really that's that void that you miss as a professional athlete once you're done. And you stay close to it that way. Plus, the guys when the fellows get together, that's so great. Let me ask you this: When you get ready for a milestone show like that, I'm like, what do you remember about the very first broadcast?

To your point, man, it's been 11 years, and you never know what's going to happen the first time you debut a show and it goes live on TV. What do you remember about the very first show? Ah, well, I think the first thing was I just kept always wanting to treat it like you're doing live television, right? You don't want to you don't want to sit there. The guys, when you get the guys around, you start joking around, right?

And then you got to sit there, be like, "Hey, we our mics are on all the time, so let's let let's not sit there and and give our exact opinion on on maybe a team and how they're playing." So I think that's the biggest thing: always live and just have some fun, man. Like that—that's the thing we want to get across. Like this isn't—we're not curing cancer. This is this is a sport, like. This is in the grand scheme of things.

It's fun. We want to make it fun, and yeah, I remember back at that time. I mean, I had hair. That was the first thing I saw.

Some videos, so I'm sure they're going to bring up some from the archives. But it's it's just you know a lot of us guys that have done it. We kind of grew up together. We know each other's families, so it's it's kind of our own little family. And you know that that that's been the best part about it.

It's hockey, man. That's what hockey is. And I'm glad you learned that lesson early on that. Every mic is hot, and just assume even if it's not, it is assume just so, just in case. Mike Rub joining us.

So, Mike, let me ask you: Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, of course, is off to an amazing start. He became just the fourth player to have thirty or more points in his first ten games of the year. He joins the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy. Let me ask you this: Is he the best player you've covered since being on NHL tonight? Despite the fact he does have that Stanley Cup on his resume.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're talking about talent and what he's doing. It's even these records, and we saw what he did. I mean, the the one he kind of set this year was the first first player to twenty assists. He did it in nine games this year, and that that surpasses Mario Wayne.

Like these types of guys.

So there's many times where Connor McDavid has been in the realm of conversation when he's doing something spectacular. Hey, it's the first time this happened since Mario in this year Wayne. In that year, and and obviously Wayne's probably done some of these things, you know, six, seven, eight, nine times. But this was like we're starting to get into that with Connor now, where it's not just he's in the neighborhood first time; it's been done since then. He's setting records now, and it's not supposed to happen like this, right?

Like the evolution of the game of hockey, the evolution of goaltenders, the the war rooms, the analytics, all these things that we're supposed to to have in place. That we always want more scoring, but the fact of the nature is. It's probably never going to go back to what it was unless you're in Connor McDavid's world. I mean, he is outrageous right now. What he's doing, appointment television, he's been for years.

But what he's doing right now, it's just simply not supposed to happen anymore. No, Mike Rob joining us. Mike, speaking of goaltenders, the season is only a month old, but already a major trade. Three-time Vesna Trophy winner Connor Hellebuck dealt to the Devils on Friday. What was your reaction to that deal?

And then, how much of an impact do you think that the 33-year-old? Always gonna have on your former team. Oh yeah, I mean, I was shocked. I I didn't think that this was. I the best GMs are the ones that you don't really know what's going on.

The rumors that are out there, they just kind of swoop in. And one of the greatest of all time, Lou Lamoriello in New Jersey, it was always any rumors you were hearing out there, you can you bet your butt that those one those aren't the ones that are going to go down. It's going to be something that you don't see happen, and that's what Sunny Meta did in New Jersey, where he kind of made it sound. Like he wasn't going to be in the market for a big time goalie, and he certainly swooped in there and grabbed him. This this is a game changer for the Devils.

I mean, this is a team that has had this window open. They've been pretty disappointing as far as staying healthy and kind of getting over that hump for a number of years now. But they've got like this three four year window where I thought that they could compete and go deep into the playoffs.

Now you add a three time Vesna winner, MVP type guy, Olympic gold medal. Goaltender.

Now all of a sudden you're like, all right, man, this is this is a real window. Like this is a possibility here.

So they have a couple things that I still need to see. They're not really battle tested in the playoffs. There's certain elements of their game that Sheldon Keith, their head coach, is trying to get through to them. But I'll tell you what, they got kind of a human eraser back there in Connor Hellebuck.

So this is massive. They should be a contender in the East. Mike Rowe up joining us. Speaking of the East, Mike, you got the defending champion Hurricanes. And they were reportedly interested in Helbuck as well.

What do you make of how well Rod Brenermore's team has played so far as they get ready to host the Bruins tonight in a matchup of the teams with the best records in the East? Yeah, I mean it's it's so impressive what they're doing in Carolina. They just have they have a very business like approach, and they have a very repeatable game, and it's all based off of the way they support each other. I mean, it's hard work. They have a ton of skill in that team.

Don't get me wrong, but the foundation of their game it doesn't fluctuate.

So they may not have some of the peaks that other teams have, although they they won the Stanley Cup. I mean, like their game is at a high. Level and it stays there; doesn't fluctuate very high, much higher than that, and it definitely doesn't dip.

So they just give themselves a chance to win every single night, and that's what's impressive.

So them to do that and for year in year out, been questioned along the way. Win the cup, kind of started off a little bumpy the first couple games, but man, they got going, and they're the chalk in the in the East. I mean, it. I don't always sit there and say, "Well, I mean, they're my favorite because they won the championship last year, the Stanley Cup." Year and whatever sport we're talking about, but that's the case with them. Like until you have been battle tested, like Carolina.

I mean, they play playoff hockey in October, November, December, and that serves them well. Yes, their standard. It's Rod the bod. It's the system. Mike Rob joining me for a few more moments.

Big night for the network. Hey, Mike, what about? Ovi Alexander Ovechkin is returning for his twenty second and final year. He is the NHL's all time leading goal scorer. We know this.

Does he have enough talent around him for the Caps to make a legitimate run at the Cup this season? Can they make it really interesting? Absolutely, and and here's the thing: it's is kind of a it's is a weird spot here. I think for his viewers watching Ovi right now, I mean Ovi could still catch fire and score 30 goals. Like that's just who he is, and you're not you don't become the greatest goal scorer in history just by chance, right?

Like he he could still go on runs, but it's kind of his minutes are down a little bit. He's taken more of a complementary role. He's more of a a secondary scorer on this team. They make some big moves in the off season, add some talent with Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuck. Up front, and I'll tell you what.

To go back even to New Jersey, talking about them contending in the East, the the question marks I have for them are teams like Washington. I mean, they are gigantic. They have massive human beings. They are a monstrous team, and they're fast. We always talk about speed kills.

Well, in sports, if speed and size is on your on your side, you've got a ton of advantage.

So that that's kind of where that team's at. Like Ove's going to be on the power play. They'll probably get. Be around fourteen minutes a night, but this is the first time in twenty plus years that. He does not have to carry them for them to have be successful.

He could be that jolt in the arm this year. They have a really, really well built hockey club. They are one of those teams with Carolina that I think is is probably the favorite in the Eastern Conference. Hey, Mike, one last thought. We covered a lot of ground.

I really appreciate you. What about the Kachuk brothers being back together? They were reunited in the off season. Brady was traded from the Sens to Florida. We know this.

What's your outlook for the Panthers? They're just a year removed from winning back to back Stanley Cups. How do they look to you so far? Yeah, I mean they've they've had some ups and down, up and down moments. They kind of called each other out the other day, which I love.

But they're just a bunch of junkyard dogs, man. Like, they're just one of those teams that you talk about in sports, like. I don't know where they finish. They have injuries again this year. That they they had a massive bunch, just a killer amount of injuries last year.

They have some important pieces out right now, but all they got to do is get in. Like they are that animal that you don't want to play in the playoffs. They will rip your limbs off and score goals with your arm like that. That's how they play. And so they they are just one of those teams that they just have that dog factor we talk about in sports.

So they they are still for me the the. Bar in the National Hockey League, as far as what an organization looks like, is as far as being very comfortable with who they are, their DNA, what their identity is, and they execute it.

So you got Carolina who does it really well. They made it through the playoffs, win the Stanley Cup. A lot of people think, well, that's because Florida didn't make the playoffs last year.

So Florida gets in. Look out because them and Carolina could could have a big head to head clash. Absolutely love talking hockey. He's a Stanley Cup champion and a big night for the NHL Network. Once again, they're.

Celebrate their five thousandth episode of NHL tonight. It's a four-hour special. Gets underway at seven p.m. Eastern. Mike Rupp and the fellas will all be there.

Mike, really appreciate it. Congrats on that amazing run that you're having still there. And I look forward to watching that show tonight. Thanks so much. Awesome.

Thanks, Jim.

Okay, Mike Rupp joining us, and good to talk some October hockey, right? I love when you talk hockey. Welcome, Bella. You are most welcome, Bella. Great job, Roper.

All right, so your reaction to any of that, if you want, one eight hundred six three six eight six eight six. What I still want to get to last night's game. Normally on a Tuesday, we lead with a recap of MNF. We're in hour number two, and I haven't even gotten there yet, but I will. Cowboys, Eagles.

Where does that leave them? There was one big trade in the NFL that we touched on last hour. We can talk some more about that. Also, college ball. Scott Frost, the head football coach at UCF, coming off an enormous win over.

UyU, we will talk to him in the middle of hour number two. All that still coming up. Use the telephone line one eight hundred six three six eight six eight six. Give me a good reason to take a telephone call. Raise fans.

We there last night, or did you sell your tickets? We there last night, or were all those northerners who lived there? Did they take over the joint?

Well, they did, except that they don't live there. I know they traveled there. We know for a fact that they traveled there. We saw the stats. We saw where the tickets were purchased from, and in that big inning, man, it seemed like they were in Milwaukee.

It sounded like they were in Milwaukee. They took over. And played like it was their house, even for the Brewers. That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. All with two outs, and the Rays nearly got out of that inning.

And if the Rays do get out of that inning, and that call is not overturned, if they get out of that inning, are we having this conversation right now? Who knows? Maybe, maybe not. I still go back to. Big game, James Shields though, bouncing that ball from the grass.

I just think it was such a bad, not only a bad omen. I think it was just bad karma. I think it set the wrong tone completely. How in the world were they going to go through a juggernaut or even deal with a juggernaut after having an all-time great come out there from the grass and miss home plate by ten feet? Should have known right then and there.

One more time, in case you missed it. Oh, so close, Mike. My guy, how how do you miss the batter's box and have mascots running for cover? Like he nearly dotted the mascot. The mascot nearly got one in the ear.

A former major leaguer, this radio scrub painted the black back in the day. I just don't understand. I can't wrap my head around it. All right, stay with us when we come back. Let's talk about the Cowboys.

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You're listening to the Jim Rome Show. My thoughts on the Cowboys and Eagles in one minute. But first, clones. Quick question: Why is Old Trapper Beef Jerky so good? Where do I start?

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That way you can get one of each. If you already know what you want, get the eighteen ounce bag. If you don't see it, ask for Old Trapper by name because no other jerky compares. Old Trapper, what is your beef? Such an amazing partnership and product, and I want to thank them for it.

All right, so Cowboys, your turn. Normally, I would have led with you on this Tuesday because you did win last night.

So why don't we talk about your big win over the JV team, the severely depleted Eagles? Great, you beat the Eagles who were without half their roster and who saw their best player that they still had available. Tweak his hammy on his first carry. All right, so you sunk a ship that already smashed into an iceberg, cracked in two, and was already sinking to the very bottom of the ocean. Congrats, Cowboys!

Good for you, great win. See, this is why I'm a little confused. Why cowboy fan, and cowboy player, and cowboy head coach are out here looking for so much credit for that win? A win in a game that they were favored to win, road favorites, by the way, and a win in a game that they had to win. It would have been a complete catastrophe if Dallas lost that game last night.

It would have been pretty much a fireable offense for almost everybody involved if they lost that game last night. Can you imagine the highest-paid player in the sport losing a game to Tanner McKee? No offense, Tanner. Shout out Corona and the second string Eagles. Can you imagine that?

Actually, yes, I could. Actually, I'm a little bit surprised that Whack and the Gotti—that's Whack—actually did their jobs last night. I mean, not that surprised, given how decimated Philadelphia was. And Gotti is still one of the lamest nicknames ever. And they're not the greatest offense there is.

That's a bit much. But I'll give them this: their playmakers did show out last night against a really decimated Eagles team. But CeeDee, Pick, Javante Williams—they all played great. Wack got it done too, especially in the red zone. The Gotti actually looked pretty good.

I mean, definitely not the Gotti, but I'll give them that much. They got it done last night. It would have been more impressive if it wasn't against the Philadelphia backups, but you can only play those in front of you, right? Fine.

So you beat your rivals in prime time in a game that you had to have in a game that you were favored to win on the road for obvious reasons. But let's not act like you suddenly have the inside track on winning the NFC East, or that that means anything anyway, because it really doesn't. That division's become ass, all right.

So let's not act like all right. We're back on the inside track. We have pole position. By the way, despite that enormous win last night, you're still looking up at the Giants. You are.

So don't act like you have the inside track to a totally US division, or that you're suddenly suddenly back on a path for the Super Bowl, or that your defense suddenly is not horrible anymore. Because believing any of these things really is delusional.

Now that said, I'm not sure I've ever seen a more delusional crew than these Cowboys, even more so than normal. And it starts with their incredibly delusional head coach, Shoddy, Brian Schottenheimer, who seemed a little confused after the game last night. I know I was confused, seeing how confused he was. It's confusing because it's confusing because based on Shoddy's attitude after that game last night, you would have thought that he had just brought the first Lombardi back to Dallas in three decades. Based on his attitude last night, you would think that this guy was Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson rolled into one.

This guy finally has something positive to talk about at the podium, and then what does he decide to do? Be weird, be short and terse with it. Have an attitude. Be curt. Have the ass.

The red ass for four minutes, and then act like everything's actually fine. When the journalists finally say, "Hey, you good, dude? What's up with you, man? What's up with you, man?" Usually, you're all beat and positive. You good, yite?

You giving us nothing but attitude and ass, yite?

So it was a little confusing for everybody until Whack got up to the podium. And clarified. Oh, oh yeah, Coach. Yeah, think about Coach. He's just really butthurt, y'all.

Definitely hungry, pissed off. Version of Shotty. It's not like he's naive. It's not like he hadn't heard some noise about him, and you know whether it's the calling the games or whatever doubt that's been out there. But we've got his back.

He knows that. He's a guy that takes a lot of pride in his job, a lot of pride in his team, and yeah, I mean everybody handles everything different, and so I don't blame him to an extent. And yeah, we've got his back. More importantly, it's just about us going out there and executing on Sundays. You don't blame him to an extent, so do you blame him a little bit?

Because I do. You and I are finally on the same page. Whack! I blame him to an extent. He's upset because of the noise.

Shoddy. Shoddy doesn't appreciate the noise. The shoddy noise.

So the explanation is the head coach of the Cowboys was in a bad mood and had the ass after a road win in the division on Monday night because he was butt hurt because people have been saying mean things about him. Not only, I mean, come on! Not only, it is so hard for me to believe. Not only does that come with the territory of being the head coach of the Cowboys, obviously, Shotty, my dude. That, but you do know why people were saying mean things about you last week, right?

It's because of what you said about yourself. Because last week, Shotty said, and I quote, "This is a quote. These words came out of Shotty's mouth." Quote. I know how great of a coach I am. End of quote.

He then chased that by calling himself, and again, I quote, an elite play caller. End of quote on one hundred five point three. And yes, of course, he got pushback on both those statements because both of those statements are bullcrap, and nobody not named him believes it. Your, I know I'm a great coach. I know I'm an elite play caller.

Of course, people were coming for you, Shotty. You said those things when you were two and four, a two and four head coach. Of course, Dallas fan heard there are two and four head coach calling himself great and elite, and we're like, what the hell? Why is this guy talking? Why is this guy calling himself great?

Why is this guy calling himself elite? We're two and four in a horrible division. And who said he was great or elite at anything? Besides him, shoddy bro. Those are self-inflicted wounds.

But you're gonna walk around with the ass pissed off, like somehow you've been done wrong. But clearly, that's why he showed up to the victory podium with such an attitude, man. That's why Shoddy showed up after the game with the biggest "Tell me how my ass tastes" energy of all time. Even though all he did was beat a bunch of backups to get to three and four. And and improve to ten, thirteen, and one for his career, bro.

You cannot show up to the podium with the greatest. Tell me how my ass tastes energy ever when you improved to ten, thirteen, and one for your career, yo, Tom Landry. Chill the hell out. Shoddy's up there trying to spike the ball in everyone's face. In the meantime, the Cowboys made yet another horrendous clock management error at the end of the first half.

Remember how Shoddy said that he was better than those last twenty-eight seconds in Brazil, which were a debacle. Remember that. That's not who I am. I'm better than that, and I will be better than that going forward. Remember that?

The hell you aren't that guy. You are exactly those last 28 seconds in Brazil. Those 28 seconds in Brazil might be the perfect distillation of who Shotty is as a head coach. Because look what happened again last night. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman called it out in real time.

First down, warning, protection again. This one is a strike. The CD line, and now a timeout is taken. Believe, no, they're going to let it run for the moment for 130 seconds. They're inside Aubrey's field goal range.

That was 15 yards. I would have probably used a timeout there. All right, so you might have had trouble making sense of that audio, but the timeout was so obvious that Joe Buck actually said, "And now a timeout has been taken." Oh, wait, no, it hasn't. Like he anticipated the very obvious timeout, and then Troy Aikman backs it up with, "Oh, I would have taken a timeout there." Yeah, I would have too, Troy. And at this point, it's pretty obvious that Joe Buck has better clock management skills than the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

But but but we're also not allowed to criticize the coach because he's such a great coach, but and an elite play caller. Going back to what I said at the very top, man, delusional as hell. Of course, the Cowboys ran out of time after that debacle, and they had to kick a field goal on third and goal. And of course, they took a timeout into halftime. And if they weren't playing a JV squad, that moronic sequence probably would have come back to bite them in the ass, maybe even cost them the game.

But go ahead, Shotty, stunt on us. Taunt us like the Lions taunted the Packers after they jumped offsides on Sunday. Spike it in our face. Tell us how great and elite you are, and how you aren't those twenty-eight seconds in Brazil, even though that's exactly what you are. Brag now, while you still can, Shotty.

Do it now, while your key cards still get you in the building, bro. I mean, these guys, the attitude. Never seen so much attitude of a three and four team from their head coach. Oh, one more thing, jungle legend Quinnen Williams, and that is not a compliment. But jungle legend Quinnen Williams had a take about last night's game as well.

Quinnen said, "Quote: We didn't put together a perfect game. We've got to learn from it, but it's amazing to get a win." End quote. It probably is if you're a cowboy. Q. You know what else is amazing, Quinnan?

You know what's amazing, Quinnan? When you agree to do an interview. It comes with a conditional pitch, and you actually answer questions about things other than your conditional pitch, because for the one hundredth time, Quinnan, why would I book an interview with you just so you could come on and talk about some product that you're pimping that nobody gives a damn about? But not your team, not your career, not your season. The hell do I look like, Quinnen?

Your own personal infomercial.

So actually, what's amazing is not that you beat a completely beat up Eagles team that you were favored to beat, but rather you actually showing up and actually doing an interview after committing to that interview and talking about something other than the pitch. That would be amazing, Quinnen. Ooh, sorry about that, Albie. Let's get out. Got an interview coming up next.

Stay tuned, Scott Frost on the other side. You're listening to the Jim Rome Show. All right, so my bad. I'm a couple of minutes late. Let me get right back to it.

We're joined right now, and I'm fired up for this by the head football coach at UCF. He is in his second season, in his second stint at that school. He went 13 and 0 at UCF in 2017. The Golden Knights finished sixth in the AP poll that year. He was the 2017 AP National Coach of the Year.

He also was the head coach at Nebraska from 2018 to 2022. UCF beat second. Ranked BYU thirty nine thirty one in a wild double OT game this past weekend. They're four and three. They're two and two in Big Twelve play.

They host Baylor on Friday. Of course, I'm talking about Scott Frost. Scott, my man, always good to run you down. How you doing, Bud? Doing good, man.

How you been? Good, dude. Good. Hey, shoot me straight. You've got Baylor Friday night.

You had a super late night Saturday, so you have a short week.

So you have all this normal work to do, and you have one less day to do it in.

So, is talking to me a welcome break from the grind, or you looking to get rid of me as quickly as possible so you can get back to your prep? No man, if if we do enough good things to have the opportunity to be on a show like this, it's worth it for us and and for the university to to get that recognition. It it is it's short week for us. It's a short week for them too. And you have to manage that well and make some of the right decisions to to get the players ready.

But I'm glad we're at home. We don't have to travel and do that.

So we always got time for you, man. Good man. I appreciate you, Scott Frost, joining us, Scott. We can we can do an entire podcast on everything. That happened in that crazy double overtime win over BYU.

I mean, you've seen pretty much everything there is to see, both as a player and a coach. But have you ever been part of a game as wild as that, especially the ending? No, I haven't. And you see, you think you've seen everything until you see the next new thing you haven't seen. There, there is just interesting plays and unusual plays and.

You know, we got a field goal blocked, and our kicker picked it up and took off, and and that he got facemasked, and they threw it, and didn't didn't leave the flag on the ground, and then there was a ten second runoff. You know, I think with another chance to kick the field goal right there, we might have spared ourselves some drama in overtime. But our kids kept finding ways to make plays, and ended up coming out the right way for us, and in some way. That's good because our kids kind of proved themselves that they can make those plays when they needed to. UCF head coach Scott Frost joining us.

Scott, how far does that go? Like your point that our kids proved to themselves that they can make those plays when they need to. You can't simulate that. You can't necessarily coach that. I mean, you can't even hope.

You can't even assume that you'll ever be in that position, right?

So, what does that do for a team and a player? You know, it does everything for us until this Friday night, and then everything else is going to depend on this week. There's been seven teams this year, I think, that have beaten ranked teams that were unranked, and they all lost the next week. That's been the message to players. We we can't dwell on that one.

We got to get ready for the next one. The the Big Twelve so level and even that a player two here and there is going to win or lose it. Every team you play can beat you, and and you got a chance every week.

So we got to come with our best Friday, and and we can't be dwelling on last week. I feel like that's a point you've probably made to your team numerous times already this week. Scott Frost is joining us. It's got like it's not about you, but what that was was UCF's first win over a top five. Team ever, the biggest win in school history.

I would say, given what you're trying to build there once again, what's a win like that mean to the program? And and just do this for me. What's it mean to you personally in your second stint there? Ah, personally, it was just fun. And you know, you're still a mentor as a coach, and you're trying to teach the young men the right way to do things and the right way to respond to the situations they're in.

And our kids did, so I was really happy for them. You know, personally, I I don't really think too much about that. But you know, we have to validate that win. We were close against some other really good teams this year and and had our chance. And we just got to keep playing well enough to put ourselves in a situation where we have a chance at the end.

And then, to be honest with you, Romeo, like coaching matters less at the end than people think because you can call of the wrong play or the right play, and if you got the right players out there, they're Going to make it happen in those situations, and and I give all the credit to the young men we have on our team. You know, they they earn the right to be in that game at the end, and and in the pressure situation, they found a way to make plays. UCF head coach Scott Frost joining us. You know, I can't mention all the guys that made plays, but let me ask about your quarterback Keyone Jenkins. He became the starting quarterback last month because of injuries.

You know, it is next man up. Opportunities come up. He came up huge Saturday. He had four touchdowns. He was named the Big Twelve offense Player of the Week, Scott.

We're talking about a player who seems to me like he's improving every single time he steps on the field. Specifically, what has he brought to the offense since becoming your QB one? He's brought energy, and he just he plays the game like a point guard. He's going to make the right decision and distribute the ball where he needs to. You're right; he's he's gotten better every single week.

He's gotten a chance to play. We're sticking with him. We're going to stay with the hot hand there. Football's been crazy this year. You see a lot of quarterbacks at every level that are hurt right now, and it really matters how good your backup is.

And and I said this publicly; he's earned the right not to be called the backup anymore. We're lucky to have him. We kind of took him as an insurance policy, and and now he's earned the right to be out there. You know, for those who don't know the story, it's because star transfer Alonzo Barnett the third had won that job, and he got hurt.

So you're right; he's not a backup, but but he did get his bell rung in that second OT. What I know you don't like hypotheticals, but what if you had to go to a third OT? Who would have played quarterback then? What would he have? Alonzo.

Alonso would have come back in all the other crazy things that happened in that game. Right as BYU had the ball in the second overtime, the trainer came up to me and said that he's getting evaluated. Luckily, he didn't have a concussion, so he he'll be ready this week. But told me he wouldn't be available for the. Two point shootout.

You know, Alonzo's healthy enough right now to go out and throw the ball around. I don't know if he's quite a hundred percent. We've been cautious with him so he didn't hurt his hamstring again. But that's what we had to do, and it just added more drama to the end of that game for us. Right, exactly.

Scott Frost joining us for a few more moments.

So, Scott, you got Baylor coming up, and they had an emotional weekend themselves, but in a very different way. They had a one point loss at Kansas and a coaching change. Let me. Let me ask you this first: What was your reaction to Baylor firing Dave Aranda when they did? Coaching is tough business, man.

You're in a tough business too. There's a lot of critics out there, praise and blames all the same. It's all temporary, and it's usually not always grounded in reality. You know, it's tough for me. We've had a great week around here, and everybody's so supportive.

We have the exact same record and conference record as Baylor, and their coach got fired. I think the world that Dave Aranda, I think, is a great coach and even better person, and they've got a really good football team.

So we got to be. Ready to play just as hard and hope the breaks go our way this week. Yeah, you wonder how that goes, right? I mean, who knows what's going on inside their walls. What are you expecting from a four and three Bears team?

I've been watching the tape. They don't have their coach. You know, they're probably going to come out with a certain kind of energy. What are you expecting from them? You know it's hard to tell how they'll react to the change, but I know they've got really good coaches there.

You know, Joe, the DC is now the head coach. He's been at Kansas State a long time, done a great job. Spavodol has done a great job as an offensive coordinator. Lagway, when it gets hot, is as good as anybody that you can play against.

So they got they got a really good defensive line. I think they're active. It's another really quality Big Twelve opponent, and we're lucky to have them at home. But we got to come with everything we got. It's got leave me with this thought.

You mentioned the Big Twelve a couple of times. I love the conference. You know, it's always always about seemingly the Big Twelve, the SEC, Big Twelve, man, or Big Ten, I should say. The Big Twelve is competitive. It's competitive and it's exciting.

It's a great product, top to bottom. I mean, how much difference is there from the very top to the very bottom of that conference in your mind? You know, I think all of college football is leveling out a little bit. You know, everybody can afford to get some of the good players, and then it, you know, it really comes down to do you have a couple difference makers and a good quarterback. But this league has been like that for a long time.

There's a lot of parity in this league. I think you can make an argument year in and year out that anybody in the league could win this, the Big Twelve, if you put it together right and get some momentum.

So that makes it fun, man. It makes a fun product for our kids to play in a fun product. For our fans, because they're going to see a lot of close games, a lot of four-quarter battles.

Well, Scott, you're not going to take credit for it, so I'm just going to give it to you. What a great win for, for you, for the program, for the kids, for everybody involved. You and I go way back. I appreciate you making time. I know it's a short week, so congrats.

I know you got a big one coming up. The next one's always a big one coming off a game like that. Scott, great to have you on the show, dude. Thanks so much, brother. Dude, I appreciate the invitation.

We'll see you again. You got it, Scott. Thank you. You're always welcome here, Scott Frost. Always welcome here.

Go way back with Scott Frost. I'm glad he made some time. What a great, great win for them! All right.

So when we come back, hour number three, not done yet. Take your reaction to it. I'm going to say that was the biggest win in school history. And if you go back to that year, that magical year he had in 2017, when they won a number of big games, they went 13 and 0. They were number six in the final AP poll, UCF, and then he went back to Nebraska.

But as many big games as he won that year, as they won that year, nothing as big as that win over BYU. What a wild, wild game that was in double OT. All right, third hour coming up. How about some phone calls? We could talk World Series.

We could talk NFL. We could talk college ball. We already talked hockey. If you want to talk NBA, that works for me. One eight hundred six three six eight six eight six.

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