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Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Amex Business. And the NFL, as we all know, there is no margin for error. One single mistake can change the outcome of a game or even, yeah, a career. Science proves quality sleep can help boost reaction time, recovery time, and overall athletic performance. Putting it all together, the official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL is Sleep Number, whose mission is to provide players with data and insights to optimize their sleep for the ultimate competitive edge. And you can have it, too.
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Visit the ABC store or sleepnumber.com for details. And now it's Rich Eisen. That's right. Happy New Year. First Rich Eisen show of 2025 is on the air. I'm still sitting here in Utah on a family vacation as soon as this show's over. I'm coming home and doing shows from Los Angeles, the Friday Rich Eisen show and then the Sunday game day morning. And then the NFL playoffs hit. We're in the middle of the college football playoffs. Happy New Year to one and all taking in this show on the Roku Sports Channel or this Rich Eisen show.
Terrestrial Radio affiliates smart enough to have a serious XM, Odyssey and more. Even though I'm not in studio, the boys are. And you can be on the phone talking to all of us.
844-204 Rich is the number to dial. Happy New Year to the guys back in studio. Good to see you, Chris Brockman and DJ Mikey Diaz and Deez Nuts. Happy New Year to you, gents. Happy New Year. You got it. And Happy New Year and congratulations to Penn State Nittany Lion fan.
TJ Jefferson had a very nice New Year's Eve watching. Survive Boise State and take on now the winner of Notre Dame and Georgia, which now plays tonight because of the insanity in our world. And I'm sending all of my best to anybody out there that could be possibly taking in this show from New Orleans, whether you're watching it or listening to us, sending all of our best wishes to you and obviously to all those who fell victim to yet another awful, heinous act of terrorism.
It appears on our streets and in New Orleans. And I'm just sending all of my best and hopefully you can spend the next three hours taking your mind off of things. That's what we're here to do.
844-204 Rich is the number to dial. Now, then, you know, I talk about things on this program that sometimes I've made my bed. I got a lie in it. Sometimes it's it's it's something that I've already stated into a microphone. It's not something I want to see. And that said, I will always tell the truth.
Gents, I will spit some truth right here. The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is playing like national champions, and they're just two games away from actually being exactly that because this team is on point. And clearly the best team remaining in the college football playoffs, with all due respect to the aforementioned Penn State Nittany Lions and with all due respect to the Texas Longhorns, who have every chance to make what I just said completely moot because they are the ones who survived a game. Ohio, Arizona State Big 12 champion in a remarkable and the best college football playoff game that we have seen.
Yes, by far since, you know, it was close. And, you know, we'll see what Notre Dame and Georgia look like tonight. And I know Penn State did to Boise State what we all thought Penn State should do or could do. But when a team like the Ohio State is coming out in the Rose Bowl and taking on an Oregon team that had beaten it earlier this year, and the Oregon team just watched Ohio State due to Tennessee, what a lot of people in Columbus thought it would do to Oregon had they actually faced them in the Big Ten championship game. And with Oregon, the top seed sitting at home on their bye week, watching again Ohio State eviscerate Tennessee, for them to come out and basically make their remarkable start against Tennessee in the first round game, hold the beer of what they did to Oregon to start the Rose Bowl is truly something else.
And it's basically this nugget, this statistical nugget says it all. So the field goal that Jaden Fielding of the Ohio State kicked with 10 seconds into the second quarter to make it 17-0. The 46-yard field goal was one, three and four yards longer than the touchdown passes Will Howard made to Jeremiah Smith twice and Emeka Ibuka once.
That's amazing. The 46-yard field goal is one yard more than the 45-yard touchdown pass Will Howard connected to Jeremiah Smith on, just one minute into the game to make it 7-0. And then the Ibuka touchdown pass that happened just seven minutes, six and a half minutes later after that was 42 yards. And then the second Jeremiah Smith touchdown of the half that came, let me make this right, three and a half minutes after the 46-yard field goal made it 17-0. That was 43 yards and it made the game 24-0. And at the time we were thinking this game's a wrap. And sure enough, the fact that if Ohio State had not scored another point after that, the Buckeyes would have advanced from the Rose Bowl three-point victors instead of 20-point winners.
It was truly something else. Defensively, they came out and smothered Dylan Gabriel. They smothered that Oregon offense. It was over from jump.
They jumped Oregon off the bus in beautiful Pasadena, California on a Chamber of Commerce day. And Ryan Day deserves to lift that trophy and have every single piece of praise heaped upon him. And you could see Caleb Downs behind him and Will Howard holding the trophy with a Rose in his mouth, even though he was not allowed, or was that Jack Sawyer?
You know, it was funny. Will Howard wasn't even on the stage, I think, to start this whole thing. I don't know if you guys saw that video where somebody was from, I guess, the Rose Committee or whatever was keeping him off the stage because there were too many Buckeyes that were concerned about weight issues. But long story short is Will Howard deserves all the kudos.
This team deserves all the kudos, and I'll send it to you guys in the studio to chime in here. Certainly, Chris, since you're a Georgia Bulldog fan through your relationship with the rest of your family, it's tough to see this team being beaten when the defense smothers an opponent and the offense just lights the entire building on fire five minutes into the game. It's unbelievable. It was crazy what we saw at the Rose Bowl.
It was 34-0, right? I mean, that's the Ohio State team that we saw kind of all season and the way we expected Will Howard to play throughout most of the season and the second half of the year. I fully expect them to win the national championship now. They're massive betting favorites in Las Vegas, Rich. They are, huh? They're basically even money now to win the championship.
Everyone else is 4-1 or higher. They look like an absolute juggernaut. It's why they spent all that money on that team, right?
To look like this and to do that. So I was shocked. Man, Oregon had looked great all year. They looked great in the previous matchup. They had dismantled everyone, Dylan Gabriel and all their weapons right down the list.
And for them to come out so flat like that, I mean, I guess the whole having a week off or having the extra time off, the rest to buy, man, that really didn't work out for them. And it feels like the teams that did play the opening game, they look kind of like the better teams here in the quarterfinals. Are you concerned for your Penn State Nittany Nines?
What do you think? Well, I mean, that's not the next matchup. So right now I know that now. I'm not concerned about them. But it's someone like you who doesn't really like Ohio State watching that dismantling last night. That kind of put a little bit of fear into you. Like the receivers who didn't show up against Michigan all of a sudden. I mean, that Jeremiah Smith is unbelievable. Two years could be the number one draft pick if you ask me, depending on who's got it.
That kid comes out. He's like a Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson kind of like mashup. Well, nothing I guess nothing can steal your soul more than quick strike, big play touchdowns.
Yeah. And when you're giving up a 45 yard touchdown pass a minute into the game and then you go three and out. And then the next drive, a 42 yard touchdown pass or two drives later, a two drives later, a 42 yard touchdown pass makes it a two score game. And then a 43 yard touchdown pass makes it a 24 point lead. And then you give up a 66 yard run to Trevion Henderson after that.
It'll just steal it'll it takes your breath away and it makes you feel like you are not only going to get beaten, but the fact that you even thought to show up in your uniform was a silly thought, you know, and they look terrific. And they are halfway to a national championship in the first ever 12 team college football playoff. And we'll talk about all this with Dan Wetzel when he joins us. The Yahoo sports columnist extraordinaire at the top of that, you know, who's got a special bench for college football when he joins us at the top of the second hour of this program. You know, and we'll talk about Texas's win later on in Penn State's win later on and trying our best to preview tonight's game.
But real quick, I just want to share that scoring the way the scoring went down. It kind of bodes the question we always ask. Chris, would you rather get blown out early and know it's over?
Or do you really want to go in this direction? It's like you have to wonder what Oregon fans are feeling right now. I would rather be in it. They were never in the game, though. You know, let's put it let's put a pin in this because obviously Arizona State fans might want to chime in on that front because they could have gotten blown out by Texas. Instead, they went all the way and out of fourth and 13 to defend in overtime. That's how close they were to actually winning it. And we'll talk about that play with Quinn Ewers later on. 844-204 Rich, number to dial for anybody out there in Arizona State country that wants to chime in on what TJ just brought up.
Which is, again, would you rather have gotten blown out like Oregon or would you rather have been gutted at the very end and shown your true medal? And I'll stop trying to put my thumb on the scale and setting that up. Just give us a call at 844-204 Rich. And Chris, you want to pop that on our Twitter feed? Go ahead. Go ahead and do that. Whenever we talk about this, Rich, you always leave out the key detail of knowing you're going to lose. I got it.
That is the key part of this conversation. How about this? Since you've got the keys to the X account anyway, you pop it in the manner in which you want to, you know, phrase it, word it, and then we'll chime in on it. Fantastic. 844-204 Rich, number to dial on this very subject matter because these two results, as you just pointed out, TJ, just crystallized. The January 1st Games crystallized this conversation. How would you rather have gone out knowing that you were going to go out?
844-204 Rich is the number to dial. But I do want to bring up here, you know, in relation to the Ohio State blowout win of Oregon, the one text that I received more than any other text on Wednesday, January 1st, was not Happy New Year. I got a few of those. I appreciated that from people. But the text I received more often than any other text was a variation of how in the world did Michigan beat Ohio State?
Like as Ohio State was beating down Oregon, my phone was buzzing from people saying, how in the heck did Ohio State lose to your team? And as a matter of fact, Chris, I believe you were one of the first. That was me. And we blurred out one of the words. Oh, did I curse in that?
Oh, man. Yes. How the eff did you beat these guys? I think that's a fair question. Well, you know, I think it is just remarkable because three minutes into this game, OK, after we saw Jeremiah Smith do what he's doing and then, you know, you could see how Oregon was struggling and you could see how Ohio State was not. And it was obvious as they were beginning to put the beat down on him. Chris Fowler even mentioned the Michigan loss there and Tennessee's evisceration in Columbus didn't apparently cause people to turn the page just yet. And I don't know how the hell that happened on November 30th.
And, you know, it's kind of wild to me and I'm not bringing this off to puffed puffed my chest out here. It's just crazy to me that we're still talking about it and I'm not the one bringing it up because in the postgame press conference, Ryan Day was asked about this because it went from Michigan embarrassing Ohio State putting Ryan Day's job on the line. Then it put the Ohio State or not, they I mean, Kirk Herb Street and others on the worldwide leader in sports placed the Ohio State fan base right in the middle of everything as a conversation based on the reaction to the Michigan loss. There was a lot of, you know, leopard-like face eating in the Ohio State world. Everything has been seen through the Michigan prism, the Michigan loss prism to the point where even after this, it's now morphed into did Michigan do Ohio State a favor by winning the game?
Check this out. Sometimes a defeat is the best thing that happens to a team. I know it's hard to say that when you lose to your rival, but are there some aspects of that loss that may have in the end when you're where you're at right now may have been the best thing for your team?
I see you shaking your head no already. Yeah, I mean, it's hard for me to say something like that, but I know that you know, you're some of your experiences and this team has had great wins this season. It's had some tough losses and you know, we have learned from those and you got to grow and you got to build and you got to make sure you're, you know, focusing on your strengths and making sure that you know, you understand what your weaknesses are and I think that's a big part of it.
I think that's an outstanding answer because you know, that's a third rail, right? If Ryan Day is like, yeah, it didn't matter. We lost to that team, you know, then all of a sudden there's a lot of leopard-like face eating that comes in his direction. And you know, the only way that Michigan did, by the way, it's not just Ryan Day. This was brought up to Dan Lanning too.
Did you hear this guys? Dan Lanning just loses 20 points in the Rose Bowl to Ohio State and he was asked the question, Chris, you texted to me, but in a much less profane manner. And then I got texted in my direction multiple times by at least a half dozen people that how the hell did your team beat this Ohio State team? Dan Lanning was asked for answers to that question.
Check this out. Do you think Ohio State struggled the way they did against Michigan and do you see any significant adjustments they've made since then to get things turned around the way they have? You know, sometimes it's not your day and I think that was us today, right? It wasn't our day today and it wasn't their day, you know, against Michigan. But you know, what's unique about college football right now and this dynamic is you got to be playing your best ball at the end.
And I think anybody that's watching Ohio State recognizes they're playing really good football. Now, I will admit that I first saw that soundbite on the multitude of Michigan angled and Michigan themed social media sites that I follow. And every single one of them cut off the question asked of Lanning, making it sound like Lanning himself was the one who brought up the Michigan loss for Ohio State in a way to kind of troll them and then bring up Michigan and a lot of Wolverine fans are pumping their chest out and everything like that.
But Lanning's answer was like, sometimes it's not your day. And I kind of think that's what it was. And if, if, if, two things about this. If the Michigan beating of the Ohio State is now going to continue to resonate while Ohio State comes up with monster, highly impressive national champion type wins and page turns. If people keep bringing up the Michigan thing, okay, that's number one. I'm happy for that because yes, it may have been not Ohio State's day. But if it is in fact a favor that Michigan did, the only way that it was is if Ohio State's coaching staff took stock or Jeremiah Smith knocked on the coaching staff's door and say, hey, do you remember who I am here? Because I'm taking 50-50 balls and making them 90-10 balls in my favor. And I am taking any football thrown to me and I'm taking it to the frigging house.
So maybe you should start throwing to me a little bit more and that'll open stuff up for Trevion. I don't know if some light bulb went over Chip Kelly's head or they just said, what the hell did we do in the loss to Michigan? Because this team is not the same one that Michigan won on Michigan beat on November 30th.
That's for sure. And if they had start throwing it to Jeremiah Smith, like they did in that final two minute drill first half, I don't believe it would have been 13-10 final. That said, if Michigan did wind up doing Ohio State a favor, well then the fact that Michigan gets to say you're welcome and congrats on winning your national championship. Let's just don't remember the last team to beat you. And you want to be the team that beat the eventual champions anyway. Wouldn't you have rather lost though and have them not win the championship? No, no.
I love beating Ohio State. It's the greatest thing ever. Are you kidding me? Absolutely not.
Great question. Not at all. Let them go ahead and go on and win it. Do you really believe that the Michigan loss helped them? Do you really think so? Yeah, 100%.
Okay. Like what? Like lighting a fire under the kids or the coaching staff just saying what the hell game plan was that? Well, I got to think in a weird way Albert was kind of onto something when he said like, look, I think Ohio State and Michigan fans are going to have to kind of come to the slow realization and it's not going to feel good that that game doesn't matter as much as it did kind of in the past. And that it's really with the tournament and the way it's all set up is that it's really kind of the long game of winning the national championship. So Michigan was probably more hype for that game because it mattered more to them because they weren't going to make the tournament and you know, and in Ohio State it was like this game is fine, but we ultimately have a national championship to win because we can win it and it just didn't matter as much to them. I think it's okay to admit that too.
I don't think no, I'll push back on the last one. It mattered a hell of a lot to a lot of those kids big time because they measure in the Ohio State world, their world against Michigan in a way that quite frankly Michigan does not on Ohio State. It's that it's that true. I mean you walk in a week one games in the horseshoe and they're chanting Michigan sucks you walk through a week one game in the in the big house. They're not chanting the Ohio State sucks.
It's just not it's it is a different. It's different in in in that regard, but I will tell you this you are right in the fact that the big game rivalry does not matter as much anymore about how who eventually can go on to win it all. And the years upon years upon years with that game did in fact eliminate somebody from competition, you know that those days are over and it just goes to show you that. Yes, what we saw on November 30th was a big game at the time. I like talking about it for obvious reasons for straight games in a row and Michigan did win the last three under which the construct of yeah, the loser has less of a chance to go on to win it that game is over. The next big Michigan, Ohio State game will come when not if they face each other in the college football playoffs.
Yeah, that will happen. And that will be off the absolute charts and whoever wins that game will have bragging rights no matter how many wins in a row. They've had in the regular season matchup and that's the what that's the new way of the world and the way of the world that we're also seeing of this college football playoffs, you know, it's going to be interesting to see how all the pieces land. And that's one of the things I want to talk about with Dan Wetzel when he joins us at the top of the second hour is, you know, how all of this is landing on the college football playoff committee because we have seen only one close game and you know, you're already hearing it from Oregon Duck fans saying hey, we won the Big Ten championship. So we get to space Ohio State in our first game. Is that what's going on while Penn State takes on Boise State? We beat Penn State. They take on Boise State. We've got to take on the Ohio State and the pushback to that is you got to play him eventually in order to win it. But I'm just wondering to see how all these pieces land with the college football playoffs. Let's take our first break here on this busy first show of 2025. I've got my power rankings later on.
The Pro Bowl rosters are out. I've got a top five in relation to that. We've got Damian Woody, former Jet and Patriot joining us as Drake May is going to start. Christopher, we're going to talk about that's it. One's going to sit. That's next.
This is the Rich Eisen Show in 2025. As a business owner, you're always going that extra mile to pursue your passions. So you deserve partners who can help you go further with premium benefits and rewards. The American Express Business Platinum card offers world class business and travel benefits so you can get more for your business wherever it takes you. The Amex Business Platinum card. You can earn one point five times membership rewards points on select business purchases and you can get complimentary access to more than fourteen hundred airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion Lounge. So you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex Business Platinum card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Terms and points can't apply.
Learn more at American Express dot com slash Amex Business. And the NFL, as we all know, there is no margin for error. One single mistake can change the outcome of a game or even, yeah, a career. Science proves quality sleep can help boost reaction time, recovery time and overall athletic performance. Putting it all together, the official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL is Sleep Number, whose mission is to provide players with data and insights to optimize their sleep for the ultimate competitive edge. And you can have it, too.
I know all about it. I've been around Sleep Number since twenty fifteen. My sleep number setting is sixty. My wife's is seventy, just ten numbers apart.
But it is the world of difference. We can set the mattress firmness on each side of the bed to the way that we want and get a great night's sleep. So why choose a Sleep Number smart bed so you can choose again your ideal comfort on either side. And now it's the lowest price of the season on the top selling I-8 smart bed. Your best savings plus special financing, limited time shop, a Sleep Number store near you. Sleep Number, official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL.
See store or sleep number dot com for details. You met Lala Kent on Vanderpump Rules. Now, Lala and her friends share everything on Give Them Lala. Bagel.
Everybody says I say that weird. It is ruined by a proposal story. How Jason proposed. And she was like, he brought in a bunch of bagels.
I was like, I have to stop. I will punch you in the throat. If you ever tell this story again and call it a bagel.
But he'll tell you. Now, when I tell the story, I go, he went and got breakfast. There you go. Bagels. Yeah.
Watch what Lala is talking about on YouTube or search for Give Them Lala wherever you listen. And another thing. The fact that the Michigan Wolverines finished their season. With wins at Ohio State and then in a bowl game against a fully equipped Alabama Crimson Tide. Pretty crazy wrap up a calendar year in which the first day of the year they beat Alabama in the Rose Bowl. And then on the last day of the year, they beat Alabama in the Reliaquest Bowl. Eclipsing the number of times that Georgia has beaten Alabama in the last few years by at least one is something I did not see coming. I didn't have it on the bingo card when they were losing five games during the regular season.
It is true. And by the way, signing a five star quarterback and Bryce Underwood as well. What a year. Oh, by the way, in a national championship in the same calendar year, one of the wildest Michigan football seasons I've ever seen in the year of twenty twenty three into twenty twenty four calendar year. I can't believe it.
What a what a dynamite. The way you finish the year, it's almost like you underachieved. Hey, you know what? I'll take it. I'll take it.
I'll take it. You know, I'm just kidding. I think I can tell you that I'm just kidding because other people out there don't realize when we're doing shtick and kidding. No, I know that. I appreciate. Well, are you talking to folks in Kansas City right now, Christopher? No, no, no, no, never, never. They're they're level headed individuals there. OK, got it.
But no, truly is it's just an incredible way for the season to finish. I didn't see crazy stroll down that field in in in Columbus on November 30th. Rich, you could have told us we could have made some money. We could have doubled down on the money line in both games. We'd be sitting on a boat with TJ right now. I didn't. Well, yeah, we wouldn't need Mike Del Tufo to take us out.
So we wouldn't need to go blue, essentially. What I'm saying back on the Rich Eyes and Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eyes and Show desks furnished by Grainger, which supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by. So I got to tell you, man, I, I, I fully endorse Nick Sirianni sitting Saquon Barkley on Sunday against the Giants. I fully endorse it 100 percent. You got to make sure that twenty six is as healthy as an ox fact going into these playoffs fact and of story. Now, then it became official, I believe, because, you know, until I see him show up on the sidelines on Sunday against the Giants in his pajamas, which is what Steve very mariachi refers to as, you know, the comfortable street clothes that players who are inactive where until I see it, who the heck knows? But this was Nick Sirianni talking about resting his players who need the rest starters who need the rest or starters.
He needs to remain healthy going into the playoffs against the Giants this week with the two seed already wrapped up and they can't get any better and they can't get any worse. Yeah, we're going to we're going to arrest some guys. No, no, we're locked into that that number two seed. So we're going to we're going to arrest some guys. There can be some guys that are resting. There are going to be some guys that are in reserve roles. You can't rest. You can't obviously rest everybody with the with the schedule. You're with me with the roster.
And so, yeah, that's that's our plan moving in here forward. Yeah, he'll probably be somebody that rests. Now, I didn't say he's going to be, did he?
Did you hear that conditional phrasing? Did you hear like, yeah, he's not playing. Yeah.
Yeah. You're going to see him next in the super wildcard round. That's where you see him next. He didn't say that because, you know, and this is kind of powerful. Saquon said he slept on it and that when he woke, he wanted to go for it. And the it being, again, the record for most rushing yards in a single season set by Eric Dickerson.
He only needs a bit over a hundred yards to do that. And this is what Saquon had to say about it. My reaction was kind of like I told my family, I see my family, you know, probably wanted a little bit more than me.
But at the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games and we're in the playoffs. So I got a big goal in mind anyway. I mean, he asked me if I want to play, if I want to go for it. I said on Sunday, you know, I probably didn't care too much for it.
When I slept on it, it was like this opportunity to implant my, you know, my name in football history may never get another opportunity like that again. So I'm down. But at the end of the day, I don't care for putting the team at risk. He's the head coach for a reason. He makes the decisions and whatever decision he wanted to make. I'll let him know if you want me to play. I'm going to go out there and make sure I get it. And if we don't, I'm OK with that, too. Man, I love that guy. I love that guy. And it really stinks that he's not going to be MVP because all thing considered, Christian McCaffrey should have won MVP last year and Saquon Barkley should have won MVP this year.
I mean, what's the difference between the Eagles last year and this year and where they are and how their season finished up? It's literally one guy. Yep. Jason Kelsey retires at first ballot Hall of Famer.
I know that. And he comes in there better. And by the way, shout out Cam Juergens. He made the Pro Bowl at center for Philly, you know, in his first year playing that position. Man, Saquon is unbelievable.
He should be the MVP this year, but he's not he's not going to win it. I am completely with you because, as I said, coming into the season, the storyline about Saquon is can he plus up the Eagles offense in the same way that Christian McCaffrey did? Yeah, the offense was a Super Bowl offense.
They didn't win it. But they did make it without McCaffrey. Can he plus him up to the point where he puts him over the finish line? And he came down close last year. And we'll see how close he can come in future years. And Saquon, we will see what he can do in these playoffs.
And the good news is that he is healthy. But, TJ, I'm wondering if having heard that, you feel any differently about the subject matter? Because I know you think he should go for it. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks other than really Saquon, right? If he wanted to go for it and they told him he couldn't, that would be kind of like I get the bigger scheme.
I get the bigger picture. You want him healthy. You want to make this playoff Super Bowl run. But, you know, we all watch sports because why, Chris? We like stats. We started watching sports because the kids, we had our little notebook and we're adding up home runs and yards and, you know, stuff that you could actually calculate, not like today's stats that you need a computer for. So that 21-05, man, 1984, you know how much different the world was in 1984?
That's when this record was established and set. So I think just as sports fans, we all want to see history. We all want to see the greatest do great things. So, yeah, personally, I would have loved to have seen it, but I get it in the big scheme of things. I do understand.
Of course. But it would have been nice just to see, you know, that record stood for seemingly forever. Yeah, I just think, again, we're still too soon into the 17 regular season game era where the conversation would be, well, he did it and he did it in 16 games and Saquon had a 17th and the carries are different. He's got fewer carries and things of that nature. And all of that would have gone completely out the window if Saquon comes limping off and he's now rehabbing a high or a low ankle sprain or this bruise or that, this or the other thing. And the last part I want to play for you was Saquon was asked about the Giants thing, because, again, it's the Giants that they're going against. And we all know because we're seeing it every single week that Saquon stars and does something. Invariably coming across your timeline is poor general manager of the Giants, Joe Shane from the offseason hard knock saying we're not going to our offense isn't going to be handing it off to 12 million dollar running back.
And you see what this 15 million dollar running backs doing for the Philadelphia Eagles right now. And the conversation we're having about does he need to play in a meaningless game so he can break Eric Dickerson's friggin record. But he was asked about the Giants aspect of this thing.
And his answer just shows you who is hit it. I think it's pretty cool that, you know, as bad as I won the record, the lineman won it too. So that kind of what made me change my mindset on Monday, too, because I know that, like I said, my name would be the one in there in history books, but they would be the old line that would have done it for me. Is there a part of you or maybe for your family that would have wanted it a little bit extra because it would have come against the Giants?
Yeah, it would have been special to do against the Giants, but not for the reasons why, you know, how you guys probably perceive it to be. At the end of the day, like I always say, I got nothing but love and respect for those guys over there. There's a lot of trainers and coaches and strength guys over there that I put through help.
They helped me out with my ACL, helped me out with my injuries, and I wouldn't be able to be the player I am today without those guys over there, too. So kind of like a full circle moment. It's an answer like that that just brings up the same question again. How the hell do I let this guy walk? Yeah, it's insane. I let him walk, and I understand that the roster got just completely, you know, screwed up to the point where, you know, paying the running back makes no sense because you need so much more than just a running back, and you pay the running back so you can win now, and you see how the Eagles are doing exactly that. I get it.
I understand. But you hear an answer like that, and I keep thinking, hearing those sound bites again, guys, the number of times you heard Saquon say, didn't think very much about it Sunday, but my family wants it more than me. My teammates really want it. I woke up Monday, and I thought I really wanted it.
And the coach asked me if I wanted it, and I told him, you know, I'll follow your lead on this thing. I'm just wondering if there's going to be a change of heart. Oh, interesting. I don't know.
Rich, come on. We can't prove this. It's 2,105. It's a mythical number in this football world, man. What if we just give him a half? That's what I'm saying. Like Cam Ward.
See where he's at. Yeah, you got the first half to get it. If he's got ten yards after five touches, then, you know, forget it. All he needs is a hundo. All you need is friendly fire in that one first half and rolling into your ankle.
And then this whole thing becomes just stupid. How dumb would you feel if this guy gets helped off the field? And now he's spending the week leading up to taking on the Packers or the commanders for a third time rehabbing. He's in the trainer's room, not walking around and leading and, you know, best he can because he's in everybody's locker because he can't be. He's not he's not in everybody's, you know, circle because he's in the trainer's room.
He's constantly stemming and icing and all that. That would be just a total complete. And I understand you can't live life that way. Right.
I get it. But that's why Sirianni makes the box. And if he shows up in pajamas on Sunday and he doesn't play, then you've really got to hand it to Sirianni.
That is some serious stones, man, to do that. And it's also you've got to hand it to Saquon for being the guy who's not blowing up a a a Super Bowl run, you know, taking up all the oxygen about his record possibility. Well, we saw this throughout the year when he wasn't complaining about not getting the touchdowns that he brought to the one yard line. Right.
And right. And Susie, I mean, what the football I did with Susie Schuster and Amy Trask after we were done on Tuesday. Amy brought up that point when I think he was what was it against the Giants when he was running like crazy or was it against the Rams when he was running like crazy? No, I think it's the Giants where he they asked him if he wanted to go back in the game and get 200 yards. Is that what it was? Yeah.
Hold on a second. I forget what it was, but she she Amy Trask brought up the fact he was no let let let let the other guys get their run in their Giants. It was against the Giants. He had 176 Giants. Yeah.
Against the Giants. And he's sitting there saying, no, I'm good. And so he's shown it before. He's shown it again. He's such one to root for.
He is awesome in every way, shape and form. But the best version of Saquon Barkley is a healthy one. And if he doesn't take a snap on Sunday, he will be exactly that going into the practice week of the most important week of the season to date. Let's take a break. Talk about the play of the week.
And I think you can guess what that might be based on what we saw on New Year's Day. That's next before Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports joins us. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Welcome to the Jungle Clones.
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This is where we implement a big set of ovaries and then we obsess. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Back here on our program. Chris, how did you spend New Year's Eve? What did you do? What did you do?
What did I do? Actually, one of our Syracuse friends who lives out of town was in town. And so a few of us got together.
That's right. You were solo. I was solo and we watched the football game, the Boise-Penn State.
And then I was in bed by 930. Wow. So you did see the ball drop. You saw a ball drop. I saw Drew Auer drop dimes. Does that count? Dude. He's going to be the first pick in the draft next year, right? 44 is a beast.
44 is an absolute beast. How about you, TJ? What time did you go to sleep on New Year's Eve? Well, you know, I told you Club Couch was in full effect. I did my usual if I don't go out New Year's thing, which is, you know, I hang out at home.
I put something in the air. I watch Trading Places. Oh, nice. Oh, man.
Really? Yeah. So that's kind of like a New Year's tradition. Is that a New Year's movie?
Are we calling it a New Year's movie? It's what I do if I don't go out on New Year's. I just sit in and watch that. So I watch football and then watch Trading Places. Like that.
Mikey? I told you. I did nothing. I know, but you went to Pasadena to set up for the Rose Bowl.
Yeah, I went to my Rose Bowl stuff, came back, went to sleep, woke up early, went, boom. When did you feed the squirrel? I actually haven't seen a squirrel in like four days. Four things probably hungry. Oh, no.
I haven't seen it this afternoon. Mike, here's what you should do. He buries nuts, though. He's got a big supply. No, this is what you need to do, Mike. Mike, you need to you need to print out a photograph of you feeding the squirrel. And you should you should post it all over your neighborhood.
All over Redondo. Have you seen this squirrel? Right. Or have you seen the squirrel? Right. And the squirrel is Mike.
Right. Have you seen my squirrel? Just walk around town and see how that works.
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Don't let the unexpected leave your family without the financial security they need. Get your free quota. Try Ethos dot com. That's T-R-Y-E-T-H-O-S dot com today. Let's talk now, gents. Let's take a break from the rest of the pro football conversation. And let's talk about that Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl finish, guys. Well, baby, let's talk about let's go how this game went into overtime.
And let's talk about the game saver in overtime in this game, because that is our sleep number play of the week, a new feature here on the Rich Eisen Show. We're talking about overtime in this Peach Bowl that Penn State, pardon me, that Texas led seventeen to three and twenty four to eight in this game and that Cam Scatterboot of Arizona State. Right. Am I wrong or am I right? No, you're right. You're right. There's some guys in these college football playoffs where you don't need to say anything but their name. Right.
And all you got to do is just say their name and everybody goes. Right. Right. Yeah. Jeremiah Smith.
Jeremiah Smith's one of them. Yeah. That forty four on Penn State, Tyler Warren. Tyler Warren's the man. Yeah.
Oh, my God. He's Abdul Carter when he's healthy. That's another one. You know, and we'll see who comes to the fore in Notre Dame and who comes to the fore in Georgia in that game. But this Cam Scatterboot is another one of those guys. You know, he reminds he reminds me of Blake Coram of Michigan, where he's not that big in stature. But from the you know, those those legs can churn and you get him in in scoring position and he's just going to break your heart.
And he's going to get in that end zone. He's he's really stupendous. Oh, his season reminded me of Toby Gerhardt. No matter how awesome he was back in the day.
That's a great one. I was calling him Peyton Hillis earlier. I mean, but it was Peyton Hillis. Peyton Hillis is a bigger dude than this guy.
Right. I mean, I mean, you know, and you could had Arizona State won. I think the Cam Scatterboot passing play might be our sleep number play of the week. But when this went into overtime, when this game went into overtime with Cam Scatterboot's two yard run and then two point conversion run to tie it up. And then it goes in overtime because Texas's kicker stop making kicks. And I thought to myself, I think I texted it to you guys in the group that the best player on the field for a game that's from the 30 yard line in was on Arizona State was Cam Scatterboot. Like that's the that's what you want.
You want somebody that can get it once you're inside the 20, once you're inside the 10. Honestly, that's how Michigan scored in overtime in their Rose Bowl win against Alabama is Blake Coram just went right in the end zone and took the pressure off. And then Alabama couldn't counter. And then when Scatterboot scored a three yard touchdown run in overtime to go up seven and then hand it off, hand the ball off to Texas. I thought this thing could be a wrap, certainly when it was fourth and 13.
Right. And you could see the the field and you know, I mean, you could see in the crowd in the stands and all the Texas fans just sitting there stoic and all of the Arizona State fans, you know, just like the sideline jumping up and down saying this is going to happen. And then Quinn Ewers throws an absolute dime to Matthew Golden for 28 yards on fourth and 13 over two defenders. Crazy.
Unbelievable. And that right there is our first ever sleep number play of the week here on the Rich Eisen Show. This was coach Steve Sarkeesian about his quarterback Quinn Ewers after again Ewers threw the the game winner to Gunnar Helm for 25 yards with a two point conversion to Matthew Golden after this all went Scatterboot scored.
It's 31-24 and then Texas scored the remaining 15 unanswered to win with two touchdown passes from Ewers and a two point conversion to boot. Quinn's a G, man. He is like like I know he doesn't always exude that, like in his body language and his demeanor, because I say it about him about this all the time. It's like he's a steady C. He never gets really high. There's flashes of that emotion.
He never gets too low. Sure, there's moments of frustration that we all have, but the guy recalibrates so quickly and he's so calm that it allows me to lean on him. You know, in the most critical moments, especially tonight, man, the run game was tough and we didn't want to get behind the sticks and we went into overtime thinking we got to throw it to win. You know, and as much as I wanted to run to win as these guys, I tell you, I was telling them last night, I felt like in that moment we had to throw it to win and we had to get the ball in the end zone. You know, I just didn't want to settle for another field.
We had to go score. And playing out behind the scenes of all those guys is truly a fascinating thing because Arch Manning is standing right there on the sideline. And, you know, and when the Texas Georgia SEC Championship game went into overtime, first snap Texas had, Arch Manning was on the field to take it. And playing out behind the scenes is the NFL draft and playing out behind those scenes is a conversation I'm hearing in the NFL is a lot of NFL evaluators are telling Quinn Ewers stay in college. And as we all know, if he stays in college another year, it's not going to be a Texas because that's Arch Manning's gig next year. And that's all playing out behind the scenes anytime Arch Manning does come on the field for the coach for that quarterback because Quinn Ewers behind these scenes not on the field. He's hearing from a bunch of people saying stay in college and go make a killing in the transfer portal for one more year. And Bruce Feldman, our friend from Fox Sports and the Athletic had this to say on that very subject matter on Tuesday. By the end of this month, January coming up, Quinn Ewers will be either in A, the portal or B, getting ready for the scouting combine.
Which one? My guess is he will be in the portal. He's in a similar situation to Cam Ward and some other guys last year where I think the NFL doesn't look at him as a top 50 pick. They look at him as, you know, maybe a second, third, fourth round quarterback. The concern you hear from scouts and definitely from SEC coaches who respect him and think he's got good arm talent, think he's a really good college quarterback. It's when he has to ad lib and improvise is when the mistakes really happen. And he has been inconsistent. He's not been able to make it through a full season without missing some games. For all we know, he could lead Texas to a national title and maybe gets hot in those games and has people feeling like he could be a first rounder.
But if you ask me right now, my hunch is that he may be in the portal for a big price tag. And the fourth and thirteenth throw to Golden, that might be in the back of his head while he's playing here. Obviously he's in the moment and you could see Dan Orlovsky had a great breakdown on ESPN Thursday morning about exactly what Ewers did in reading the defense and making that play happen.
But maybe that's in the back of his head here. He makes these throws, goes on a run, becomes a first round pick and doesn't look back. And next up for him is Ohio State. And as we all know, that's where he was before he left the quarterback room there. And Kyle McCord got the job there after C.J. Stroud. He left it because C.J. Stroud was there and then Kyle McCord gets the gig.
He was in Texas at that point in time. And we all know he's got a history with the Ohio State. For him to now take a step forward by ending what looks like to be an inevitable Buckeye run here is truly some great theater. And it's also just the plays behind the play of the week sponsored by Sleep Number. Choose your ideal comfort on either side with the Sleep Number bed now with the lowest price of the season on the top selling i8 smart bed, your best savings plus special financing limited time.
See store or sleep number dot com for details. See, we're not just talking about a play. There's stuff that's going on behind the scenes, guys.
It really just adds to the drama. You know, Rich, I was thinking if you only watch 15, Chris, 16 minutes of football this whole season and those 15 minutes were the last half. And that Peach Bowl game last night, you firmly believe, and I don't think anyone can tell you otherwise, that Cam Scatterboo is not the best player in football. If that's all you saw here, this kid monster, I don't know what his professional I don't know. I'm assuming a guy like that will find a role in NFL. But if he doesn't, I could tell you right now, Triple H and Shawn Michaels will take him in NXT.
WWE. But like this, this guy's something else. And for whatever reason, I've watched their last three games against Arizona, against Iowa State in this one. And that dude is a baller, bro. He is a player. I'll tell you what, I will be seeking him out at the combine. I'm assuming he will be there and I will be seeking him out. And I was shaking his hand and I'll be saying, let's let's let's talk, man, because this guy is really great at the football. We'll talk about all of it with Yahoo Sports Dan Wetzel next hour. Also, my power rankings still to come.
Don't go anywhere. Also, Rich, what you mentioned earlier. I love watching him play. I love watching him play, TJ.
I love watching him play. What you mentioned earlier, too, Rich, about taking the big blows and not going away. Arizona State did that. They could have really rolled over in this game.
Ohio, Texas hit. I mean, they scored their two touchdowns in three plays and they could have really rolled over. And Arizona State didn't. All the credit to them for coming back and nearly winning this game. Well, they ran up the yards, total yards. They ran up the point total from being down 24 to 8. They had Texas dead to rights on a fourth and 13 in overtime. And Ewers didn't just get the first down.
He got the touchdown. And then Texas came up with the game winning pick, the game ceiling pick in overtime. But, you know, when it's 24 to 8, the conversation that, you know, this college football playoff system needs to be retooled was 100 percent the national conversation online. There's no question about that. It still can be. Oh, I know that. I know. I'm aware. And that's what I want to talk about with Dan Wetzel. I'm like, you know, how does this all sit with the college football playoff committee here?
And what do you do? Because if you're Oregon, you'd be like, OK, we win the Big Ten championship. We do get a week off, but Ohio State gets a home game and then we have to get Ohio State next in a neutral site. You know, why don't they go ahead and just tell some of these bowl games, you know, not the Rose Bowl, obviously. Sorry. You know, you're just not going to get a college football playoff game because we're going to give the bi-week team the home game, too.
Would have been a different result, I would imagine, from yesterday's Rose Bowl. Dan Wetzel coming up. Hour two. Hey, it's Rich Eisen here. Join me and my compadre, Chris Brockman, every Monday on the Overreaction Monday podcast. You're also saying the record's going to go down. I'm saying the record's going down anyway. I don't think you're off on this at all.
Like, you're spot on. I don't think this is an overreaction because we have no idea what we're reacting to. Come react or overreact with us. Overreaction Monday. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. It's game over. Over, man.
