Overreaction or Proper Reaction (Hour 4)

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. Another NFL week is complete, which means it's another week to freak out about your favorite team. Which takes are truly crazy.

And which are so crazy, they might be right. Let you know in this week's edition of overreaction or proper reaction. Last night, Monday Night Football was the worst case scenario for the Cleveland Browns.

Here's why I'm going to say that's actually a proper reaction. Sure, the schedule is not impossible and the Browns have a lot of talent, but I'm looking back at that game last night and when I'm watching it unfold, I used to think Deshaun Watson was a great quarterback. And I know with everything that happened off the field, you can't really believe in the person and you shouldn't believe in the person Deshaun Watson.

But the Browns looked past all the allegations and they said, he's cleared to play football, serve a suspension, we're going to pay him $230 million. And so far, with him now coming back, all right, six games last year, how could you really judge? But these first two games, he's been horrible.

I know they're one-on-one, but he's been flat out horrible. And now you take away arguably their most valuable player, their best offensive player, Nick Chubb, who's done for the season with this horrible leg injury, which was so scary last night to see what happened. I just don't trust and believe that Deshaun Watson is going to be great the rest of the season. And I believe that it's going to take too long for Deshaun Watson to get going and it may be already too late for the success of the Cleveland Browns this year. So I'm not optimistic about the Browns the rest of the way.

In the other Monday night game, a real snooze fest, Panthers lose to the Saints. And the offense for Carolina did not look very good. Bryce Young struggled again. Now three turnovers in his first two games.

Not pushing the ball down the field whatsoever. It's been bad enough for Frank Reich after the game yesterday, basically had to say this is not Bryce Young's fault or all at least Bryce Young's fault. So it's still early. We'll ask you this, Zach. Through two games, overreaction or proper reaction, you're starting to think Bryce Young is a bust. Are we really asking that right now? It's never too early for a little overreaction.

Well, it is an overreaction. Because I said this going into the year, I had no expectations for the Panthers outside of just being a bad football team. Because yes, I like Bryce Young. I think Bryce Young can be a really good player in this league and is worthy of the number one overall pick. But you're surrounding him with a crap offensive line and you are surrounding him with no number one wide receiver or no offensive weapons that intimidate you.

What else do you expect when you're going up against grown men on the defensive side of the ball? There's going to be a lot of ugliness this year and I just hope Bryce Young doesn't get hurt and I hope the Panthers don't ruin Bryce Young. But you look at it so far, he has nothing to work with.

Absolutely nothing to work with. So this is going to be just a bad season for the Panthers. And there's a reason why we all thought it was obvious that they were going to be fourth place in the NFC South, the dreadful division this year. Micah Parsons to start the season has been a man possessed. Through two games, he has three sacks, four tackles for loss, and one forced fumble. So just early on in this two-game sample size, overreaction or proper reaction, Micah Parsons has been the best player in the NFL this season. So if you were asking me if I'm starting a team tomorrow, would Micah Parsons be my first pick?

No. He'd definitely be top 10, but he wouldn't be my first pick because you got to go quarterback. But the way that you asked that is through two games, has he been the best player in the league?

And I think that's a proper reaction. He has three sacks, four tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. He's been absolutely dynamite for the Dallas Cowboys. And when you look at the Cowboys, it is rare in this league for a non-quarterback to be the reason why you're winning games and why you're dominating. You know, I'm not taking anything away from Dak Prescott, but when you watch the first two games against the Giants and the Jets, it's Micah Parsons. And he's been the most dominant player on the field in both of those matchups.

So yeah, he's not the best player in the league, but through the first two games of the season, there's no doubt about it, he's been the best player in the league. The Bengals are now 0-2 for the second straight season since the playoffs expanded to seven teams in each conference back in 2020. One team that has started off 0-2 has been the playoffs. It was last year's Bengals team. Overreaction or proper reaction, the Bengals will miss the playoffs this year. That's an overreaction right now, but I am monitoring the Cincinnati Bengals, because here's what scares me, it's their hubris.

They're doing a lot of talking at the end of last year, they didn't back it up, going to Burrowhead. Then this year they start off the season 0-2, they did a bunch of talking before the Cleveland game, they did a bunch of talking before the Ravens game, and they didn't back it up. They should get to 3-2 going to Seattle. You should beat the Rams, you should beat the Tennessee Titans, you should beat the Arizona Cardinals. But you look at this team, what scares me is they may be resting on, oh we got out of it last year from 0-2 to the AFC Championship game, so maybe they'll do it again. So I think it's an overreaction to say they'll miss the playoffs, they're too talented, but with that being said, you are monitoring them to see is it going to be that easy to do what you did last year under similar circumstances again this season. Speaking of talent, and speaking of win lists, the Chargers also in that category as well.

They are 0-2 and things are not looking great right now. Brandon Staley, again testy with some reporters after Sunday's loss to the Titans, he seems to maybe feel the pressure caving in on him. I should say we had Sean Merriman about... I thought you were about to say Caveon Thibodeau there for a second.

No, no, sorry, I just mixed my words. Caving in like a hole. Do not want, definitely do not want. Sean Merriman, Chargers legend two hours ago, said he could see a situation where Brandon Staley is fired before the end of the season. So I'll ask you, Zach, overreaction or proper reaction, Brandon Staley will be fired before this season ends.

Yeah, I'm going to lean more overreaction here. I think he's a dead man walking that he'll be dismissed at the end of the season. I know they have a new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator. I don't think Dean Spanos is going to make the move in season. I think it will happen at the end of the season where they made their bed, they're lying it, okay, choked in the playoffs.

You bring Staley back when you could add Sean Payton as your coach. And now, Brandon, let's see if you can go sink or if you're going to be able to find a way to swim. So far, it looks like they're going to sink. They have too much talent. I just don't think the Chargers are going to have the cajones or as Ross Tucker would say, the cajones to do it in season.

They should, but I don't think they will. Of the 0-2 teams right now in the NFL, the Chicago Bears have the worst point differential than any of them. They are right now through two games at minus 28. Overreaction or proper reaction? The Bears are the worst team in the NFL.

It's a proper reaction. They may not, like they could finish with the worst record in the league, but they've shown no life. Like, look at a team in Arizona. They stink, they don't have any talent and they're 0-2, but they've been in control of some of those games. They've at least shown a pulse. The Bears have not displayed a pulse and I still can't believe they ran the same play three times in a row and thought anything was going to work with Justin Fields backed up in his own end. And Fields is looking like he just is never going to get it right in Chicago.

It's just him. That organization is a mess, but he's not even looking competent and his vision on the field and awareness on the field is just god-awful right now. The Tennessee Titans scored a big week 2 win over the Chargers and overtime they now sit at 1-1 tied for first place in the AFC South with the Jaguars and also the Colts.

Overreaction though or proper reaction? The Titans are a threat to win the AFC South. Why do you have to throw in the Colts here like you whisper it?

It's technically true. All three teams are 1-1 through two weeks. I would go overreaction there. I didn't like what I saw from the Jaguars offensively up against the Chiefs. Tennessee is always going to be a tough team.

You know, Hickey could have his parade for the Colts being 1-1 beating up on the Texans. We know that they're not going to be a threat to win that division. But Jacksonville just showed you on Sunday that they'll be good enough, but when they go up against an elite team, that's when they're going to be a step or two behind. Tennessee is not an elite team. I know Tennessee is a tough team and they're a hard-nosed football team. You've got to give them credit for taking care of the Chargers, but I think that's more on the Chargers than it is Tennessee. I just don't believe that Tennessee is going to win more games here than Jacksonville for this year. So for now, I'll still say it's an overreaction.

When Ryan Tannehill is your quarterback, I just can't trust him. The two best teams so far in the league after two weeks, the 49ers and the Cowboys. The Cowboys have throttled both New York teams by the tune of 70-10, while the 49ers smoked the Steelers week one on the road, then came back and beat the Rams in their house by seven points to go sit at 2-0.

Overreaction or proper reaction. The 49ers are the best team in the NFL. Did I hear you correctly? You just said the 49ers and Cowboys to you are the two best teams in the NFL? Yes.

Right now, would you add a third team to that? No. You just forget about the Eagles? Well, they played like it? No. But they're 2-0. It's more negativity with Philly. Did they look good against the Patriots?

No. Did they look good against Minnesota? They didn't look bad. They were big. They did not look good.

You want to clue the point? Eagles are 2-0. It's a giant overreaction that people are freaking out about the Eagles when they're 2-0. Give me a break. The team is just in the Super Bowl. Wake me up when the Cowboys actually win something in a playoff game that's actually important, not up against some 8-9 football team. Give me a break. But to answer your question, right now the 49ers think they're the best team in the NFL.

That's a proper reaction. The defense is phenomenal. Brock Purdy has the belief of that locker room. Debo got into the end zone this past weekend.

Christian McCaffrey is going to be the offensive player of the year. They are just a team that's a force. I kind of hope that we see Eagles-49ers or 49ers, maybe Cowboys in the divisional round again. Maybe even Cowboys and Eagles in the NFC title game. But right now, through two games, the 49ers look like a force.

Proper reaction. Break up the Washington commanders 2-0, scoring a nice comeback win over the Broncos. Down 21-3 in the first half.

They do win that game 35-3. Quarterbackers looking good, especially in week number two. Sam Howell really starting to get his confidence back now and again. Helps help the commanders score their highest point total, 35 points since 2020.

Overreaction or proper reaction? Sam Howell is the answer for the commanders. I think it's something you're monitoring. I've been impressed by Sam Howell. We've seen a lot of other quarterbacks look worse than Sam Howell so far.

But I got to see more. I like what Sam Howell's doing, but I'm not ready to say that he's definitely the answer. He could be, but he's not definitely the answer, so I'll go overreaction right now. The Patriots are 0-2 for the first time since 2001.

Their offense has been up and down, looking good sometimes, looking bad sometimes. So I'll ask you, overreaction or proper reaction? Mac Jones isn't the answer for New England. Isn't the answer for what? To win a Super Bowl? Yeah, the team going franchise quarterback. You need a franchise quarterback. Is he the answer for that question?

So the way that I'll answer this is that what you said is a proper reaction. Mac Jones isn't the answer. I think Mac Jones could be a good quarterback. I would love to see Mac Jones with Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. Would love to see that, but I think the bigger problem here for New England is Bill Belichick, who I love, has done a horrible job the last two seasons in sabotaging Mac Jones. Last year, with the Jackassery, with Joe Judge and Matt Patricia, call-and-plays made zero sense. And then this year, you did a half fix, where you bring in an actual offensive line, and Billy O'Brien, great thumbs up, phenomenal move, obvious move.

But you didn't get him a number one wide receiver. Jackson Smith in Jigba gets drafted by the Seahawks. Quentin Johnson gets drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers. Addison gets drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.

Where were the Patriots? You know, Zay Flowers gets drafted by the Ravens. Go draft a wide receiver in the first round. I know Bill's track record isn't great with drafting wide receivers, but geez Louise, you got to go get some talent around him. They could have got DeAndre Hopkins.

Nope, didn't get the deal done. So you look around the league, and you see when young quarterbacks take off. Josh Allen when he got Safon Diggs. Two when he got Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. The Eagles with Jalen Hurts when you got Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown. Who did the Patriots have? Kendrick Bourne, Juju Smith, Schuster.

Like, what are we doing here? So Belichick's more of the issue than Mack, because he hasn't put Mack in a position to succeed in my opinion. And finally right now, the quarterback with the highest, or I guess really the lowest MVP odds through two weeks. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tungava'iloa sitting right now in most sportsbooks at plus 500. Yeah, he's got the best odds.

Overreaction or proper reaction? Tua will win MVP. So I picked the Dolphins to win the AFC East before the start of the season. I think they're still going to win the AFC East. I've been impressed with the Dolphins. But to win the MVP when a player always gets injured right now, I got to see them get healthy through the season.

So I will go overreaction. And I know that Tyreek Hill didn't have a monster game. But I do believe that more people when you praise the Dolphins offense will praise Tyreek Hill before they praise Tua Tungava'iloa. So I'm not taking anything away from Tua. Tua's great. He's been sensational the first two games of the season. But I'm not ready to say that Tua Tungava'iloa is going to win the MVP after two weeks. Alrighty, Zach Gelb Show CBS Sports Radio will come on back with a closing bell.

And also DJ Uwe Young-Galilei, the quarterback at Oregon State, will join us coming up at 9.40 p.m. Eastern, 6.40 p.m. Pacific. Walk the dogs, school drop-off, meetings from 10 to 3, take kids to soccer, then no time left for a jog. When everyone else is relying on you, it's easy to put your needs last. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online, so you can show up for yourself the way you do for others. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

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Learn more at navyfederal.org. I'm going to give co-Defensive Players of the Week here. So, T.J. Watt had an incredible performance last night. He had a sack, two tackles for a loss and the game-winning touchdown in Pittsburgh's 26-22 win over the Browns. The second quarter sack made Watt the Steelers' all-time leader with 81.5 through 7 years. I'm also going to shout out Alex Highsmith who just got a monster contract this offseason with the Steelers.

He's going to join us coming up on Friday. He, in the game, had seven tackles. He had a sack, also in the game had an interception and a touchdown, and he forced the fumble that led to the T.J. Watt touchdown. So, Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt, have yourself an evening.

Give them both a stock up. We played this audio earlier. We'll play it again. Here is Deion Sanders, Coach Prime, saying the Colorado State defensive back, Henry Blackburn, doesn't deserve to receive death threats for his hit on star Travis Hunter. Henry Blackburn is a good player who played a phenomenal game. He made a tremendous hit on trappers on the sideline.

You could call it dirty. You could call it he was just playing the game of football. But whatever it was, it does not constitute that he should be receiving death threats.

This is still a young man trying to make it in life, a guy that's trying to live his dream and hopefully graduate with honors or degree, committed to excellence and go to the NFL. He does not deserve a death threat over a game. At the end of the day, this is a game. Someone must win. Someone must lose.

Everybody continues their life the next day. Very unfortunate. I'm saddened if there's any of our fans that's on the other side of those threats.

I would hope and pray not. But that kid was just playing the best of his ability and he made a mistake. So I forgive him.

See you. My team forgive him. Travis is he's forgiven him. Let's move on. But that kid does not deserve that.

I love the answer from Coach Prime, and he's 100 percent right. You are the biggest moron on the planet if you're sending a college kid death threats because you think he put a dirty hit on Travis Hunter. Like, don't get me wrong, the hit was dirty. I'm not excusing the hit.

But to take it to the step where you're going to send someone death threats is just disgusting. And Hickey brought up a great point as well. You know, it's not the first time we've seen it outside of college football. Like, look at the NFL. You had people sending racist messages to Alexander Madison after the Vikings game up against the Eagles on Thursday night.

I get it. It's sports. We're all passionate.

We all want to see our team win. But if you're going after people and sending them death threats or racist messages, that's why they say a player sucks or player needs to be better or a player did something dirty. That's okay.

When you take it to a level where you're threatening to kill someone or you're going to send them racist messages, there's just no place for that. And I thought Coach Prime did a wonderful job. It's not his player, Henry Blackburn. He doesn't have to talk about it and say that you should stop. But he did the right thing, and we all know how valuable Coach Prime's voice is right now in college football.

So hopefully that this starts to put an end to all the backlash that Henry Blackburn is receiving. Give a stock up to Coach Prime. How about the NFC South outside of teams named the Carolina Panthers? Saints, 2-0.

Bucks, 2-0. Atlanta Falcons, 2-0. Give the NFC South teams outside of the Carolina Panthers a stock up.

Now to the stock down. The Carolina Panthers, they're going to get Bryce Young killed. The offensive line stinks. You have no number one wide receiver. It's going to be a long season for Bryce Young.

And Hickey, I don't know about you. I don't usually advocate for this. But you wonder if at some point this year, maybe Carolina says, maybe we hold Bryce Young off the field, let him get a different angle, even though it's not him and it's not his fault. But if we maintain it at this rate, I wonder if he's going to make it through the season. I hate to say that.

I know that sounds like a loser mentality. And I do think it's important to make sure that he gets the reps in. But you just wonder when is too much of the beating that he's going to take on the football field.

Going to come back to really bite the Panthers moving forward. You know me, big Bryce Young supporter, I'll say this through two games. It's on him. Read the field better. Hold on to the ball too long. It's not all on him.

He's not the reason. But I'm saying, I would play him still because part of the reason why he's getting hit a lot is he's not seen the field. Missing open receivers, not disguising or recognizing coverages. He looks lost.

He does. Don't get me wrong. He has not played great with what he could control. But when you have no offensive line, you have no run game. And Miles Sanders is overrated. He got paid because of how great that offensive line was in front of him last year in Philadelphia. And your wide receivers are Jonathan Mingo, DJ Chark and Adam Thielen in the year of 2023.

Yeah, I would be scared to tell the football too, is kind of what I'm saying. So I'm giving a stock down to the Carolina Panthers. Let's hear Brian Ferentz. He's the offensive coordinator of the Iowa football team. Iowa football fans can't stand him. His father is the longtime head coach at Iowa.

There's a clause in his contract this year that if Iowa doesn't average over 25 points per game at the end of the season, that he's going to be out as the offensive coordinator. Now just total points for the team this year so far against Utah State. They put up 24 against Iowa State. They put up 20. And that's a factor the defense scored or not. And then Western Michigan, there was 41 total points in the game. So after Western Michigan, this is what Brian Ferentz said to the media. You all have had fun with this 25 point obsession and I get it. I do.

But if I'm not mistaken, we just dropped 41 on Saturday. So maybe it's time to grab a hold of your little step ladders and go ahead and climb out of my ass for a while. So here's the thing, Hickey. When you hear that from Brian Ferentz, does that annoy you?

Just wondering? I'm annoyed that I may have gotten played. You did.

What do you mean? This is fake. That's not actual audio? Nope.

So Hickey played this for me today? That's not real? It's a deep fake, yes. A lot of people got faked out with it, so sorry. Is that AI?

Yep, it's AI. Man didn't say it. I was about to say, you can't be this stupid every one game.

He's not. It's a deep fake. Sorry, Hickey, you got played like a lot of people did. But I looked this up today and I saw it. It's a deep fake. It's all over the place.

A lot of people caught into it yesterday and today. It's not real. It's AI. It's the problem with AI.

People are going to fall for stuff because it looks fake. It's damn good. It sounds real. It's not.

Wow. So I knew something was going on because I'm listening to it and I hear Marco saying something to Hickey. And I'm like, what the heck are they talking about? And I go to Hickey to get his reaction on because I know he was fired up about it. I was hoping that you were setting it up.

And then Hickey looked like a lost puppy dog. I was hoping you were setting it up and saying that this was going around, but it's not real. Oh, you know what? That's a great point. Once you were setting it up and I realized that the punchline was a comment, I wanted to make sure Hickey knew.

Man. Well, you know what Marco? How did you know I wasn't doing that? Shame on the people that created AI. They're duping sports fans left and right.

AI, stock down. I'm not talking about Allen Iverson. I wish people could see Hickey's face right now. Hickey looks shocked.

Dude, it's all right. We all get screwed. I'm looking at this.

Yeah, it looks great. Everything. So like the. Yes, that's AI. Yep.

It's meant to deceive you. People want, like, why do people want more of this? The gotcha moment. AI is going to kill us all. I hope everyone knows that.

So have your laughs at making whoever made fun made this. We're all going to die. I mean, we've all done this right. Skynet's real.

You know, Terminator. This is this is the beginning. We're heading down that road. That's the thing. Sorry, dude. I thought it was funny though. It is because now it is. You got to.

Yes, you got us. That's so stupid. Because you know what's funny?

I'd love to know who made that. I would fight him right now. I am upset. I saw that video and I go, is this the dumbest guy on the planet?

Like after one game? Look, and this is unfortunate, but this is now what we have to do with everything. Once we see it, when you look at it and you go, would you really do this? Now you've got to look further and really actually question it. Would this really happen? Would somebody be this dumb? In this situation, there are many situations where the answer is yes.

In this one, the answer is no. He's not this dumb. How about that? So you know what? I'm giving a stock down to Hot Take Kiki and a stock down to myself as well for trusting Hot Take Kiki to give me the good audio there. See, here's the thing with Kiki. He knows he's been got here, but he can't like process that that was actually not real. I'm telling you, folks, Kiki right now is like scrolling as fast as he could be on that cell phone as seeing if this was actually not real.

Well, of course, now look at the quote tweet to this original tweet of like, oh, how many people were faked? The second one is, oh, shout out. This is great. No, this is not great.

There's no props here for making this. I just googled Brian Ferentz and the first article is fake AI video. Brian Ferentz got everybody. So we got cut. Anyway, Deshaun Watson. He played Browns fans, too. They thought they got a great quarterback. The first two games this year, he's been horrible. Deshaun Watson. Now you don't have Nick Chubb. Horrible injury. I'm expecting you to be great the rest of the season.

Nope, not me. Maybe they AI Deshaun Watson. They can recreate him from the Texans for like four years. You can actually have a great quarterback.

Stockdown, Deshaun Watson. And then finally, NFL running backs. Saquon Barkley doesn't get paid, then gets hurt. Owners are going to say, oh, we shouldn't pay him. Then Nick Chubb, they did pay him. He gets hurt. Now people are going to say, see, this is why we shouldn't pay running backs.

NFL running backs can't win. Give them a stockdown. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break when we come on back. We'll be right back.

We'll be right back. It didn't get much. Oh, it gets smoother. It's getting delivered tomorrow.

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This is the Zach Gelb Show. Oh, my God, we're back again. Alrighty, we continue to the Zach Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. What a monster weekend for college football. We're getting set to preview all the matchups. And coming up on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific, is a matchup of two Pac-12 teams inside the top 25, both 3 and 0. And that is Oregon State going to Pullman to do battle with Washington State. And now joining us is the quarterback of the Oregon State Beavers. And that, of course, is DJ Uyengul Allae.

DJ, it's Zach Gelb here in New York City. Appreciate the time. How are you? Man, I'm doing good, brother, man.

Appreciate you having me on the show, man. Well, thanks so much for joining us. So, new team, new start for you after coming over from Clemson. You get off to a 3 and 0 start. Just what do you take away from the last three weeks? You know, I feel like we started off good. I feel like our offense has been clicking really good. I feel like our defense has done an unbelievable job giving us the ball back. I feel like we're doing a good spot right now at 3 and 0.

Doesn't got work to do. I feel like we got more stuff in the tank we can get better at. But that's every team, man. So, we're excited coming in to be able to play against Washington State. Great team, great defense, great offense. Should be an exciting game, man.

I'm excited for it. It looks like it's been a seamless transition so far. I know you got to earn the trust of your teammates. They got to trust you as well.

It goes both ways. Just how comfortable are you so far in this new setting, even though you said there's still work to do? Yeah, no, man. I'm comfortable. I'm excited, man. I feel like we have a great team around me. I got great receivers, great offensive lines, great side ends, great running backs. And I have a really good coaching staff behind me. And I feel like we do a really good job all gelling and working together. So, I'm real comfortable right now, man. I feel like I'm in a good spot. Definitely want to continue to keep getting better.

I feel like there's stuff I can get better at. So, each and every week, man, just want to continue to keep getting better each and every week. How would you describe this offseason? You know, going to a new school, trying to redefine yourself as a quarterback. What would you describe what this offseason was like for you? For me, man, it was exciting. And it was fun, man. Getting to come here to a new offense, a new system, a new place. Getting to be here in a new city. It was exciting, man.

It was fun for me, man. You know, first start. Got to learn a new offense. Got to learn a lot from the coaches here. And it's been exciting, man.

The whole process. It's been great, man. Oregon State is a wonderful place to be here, man. Excited. I'm happy to be a Beaver. Man, I love Fort Alice, man. It's a dope spot. What has impressed you the most or maybe surprised you a little bit about Oregon State?

Um, shoot. I would probably say it's how chill it is, man. The coaching staff is real cool, chill. Coaching staff is similar to how I kind of am. I mean, the guys here, man, they let us play. They do a really good job of playing the offense, going over the p's and q's, and making sure we're all on the right same page. And they just let us go out there and just play and have fun, man. So it's a great offense to play in. It's a great coaching staff to be around, man. A great group of guys to be around, man. I love the teammates here, man. Boot collar mentality here, I mean, that's probably my favorite part. Talking to D.J.

Ungolay right now. So there's always a gamble. There's always an unknown when you get into the transfer portal and go to a new school. What made you think that Oregon State was going to be a good fit for you?

Yeah, no. Like you said, man, it was definitely an unknown. But yeah, I feel like Coach Smith is a great head coach, a great guy, a great coach. And I was real comfortable with him talking around the phone. Before I started talking to him on the phone, I felt like this was one of the places I wanted to be at.

It's my top spot. I wanted to be at Oregon State. Love what they did on offense.

Love the guys for turning. I feel like we had a good coaching staff. So it's been everything I've hoped for and more, man. It's been a smooth, great transition being here. You take a look at Coach Smith, clearly it's his school. He's the head coach, but he also played quarterback there.

When you look back at your relationship so far, how would you describe it with what you've been able to really learn from one another the last few months? For me, man, he's a good guy, man. Super cool dude. Hella chill, man. Let the quarterbacks go out there and play and make our own decisions. This week is here and there, man, but he doesn't know if we're coached. He just gives us some words here and there, man. But he's a smart coach, man. When he needs a coach, he steps in and tells us what we need to do. But he's a good guy, man. I appreciate him for being super chill and being an open coach. He's super open with the quarterbacks and especially me, man.

He's a dope guy, man. I'm happy to play for him. I saw something that you said, DJ Ungale, over the summer to Bruce Feldman, that you didn't think Clemson played to your strengths and that you were looking to go somewhere that plays to your strengths. I'm just wondering, how does Oregon State play to the strengths of one DJ Ungale? Oh, man, I feel like it starts with the coaching staff, man.

They do a really good job, man. Coach Linger does an unbelievable job explaining offense, explaining the game plan and game planning really well. I feel like he does a really good job explaining getting my thoughts and needs, what I want, and game planning for the whole offense. I think he does a really good job game planning around our skill positions, our running backs, our receivers, and just helping the offense be able to play the best of our abilities, man.

So it's been really good, super fun to play for him. What kind of QB do you still think you could be? Man, I think for me, man, I feel like I'm just scratching a circle. I think the sky's the limit still. For me, man, I'm trying not to see where I don't know where I could be at, but for me, man, I'm just trying to put my head down and just trying to get better each and every day, man.

God willing, who knows what he has for my career and my future, but I just want to be able to trust him each and every step of the way, man, and put my head down and work for him. You were supposed to be a star at Clemson. We all remember the Notre Dame game. Obviously, for both parties, it didn't go the way that you guys envisioned it. What did you learn from being at Clemson that maybe makes you a better quarterback today?

Yeah, no, man. I feel like at Clemson, man, it was a true blessing and an honor to be able to be a Clemson Tiger, a place I graduated from, a place I love. A lot of those teammates, man, I'm still keeping contact with. For me, man, it was a great spot, and I loved it there.

I love swinging all the coaches. This is a good place for me, man. I made a lot of friends, learned a lot of stuff.

Time didn't – I guess things didn't go out like what I planned for or what I hoped for, but I'm at a great spot here at Oregon State. I'm going to be able to play with some great teammates, some great coaches, and I just want to be able to keep getting better each and every game here. People are going to doubt you. That's just part of the game. What do you say to people that are writing off D.J.

Ongolile as a college football player and a quarterback? I mean, I ain't got too much to say to them. For me, man, I can't control what people say about me.

I don't really control my actions and how I play. So, I mean, for me, man, I don't really listen to what people say too much. I'm not really focused on what other people's opinions they have on me, man. I'm just trying to focus on myself and the people in this facility, man. That's all you can do. That's all you can do in life, man. You can't really just dwell on what other people have to say. I mean, a lot of people are going to say what they want to say, and that's totally fine, man.

That's their opinion, but you've got to be able to know yourself and know what you're worth, man, and just continue to keep getting better each and every day. Yeah, I'm just wondering, was a story like Jalen Hurts inspirational to you, someone that was at Alabama and then had to go to Oklahoma and then wrote a new story for him as the Heisman Trophy Finals? Do you look at stories like that for inspiration?

No, man, I think definitely, man. I think Jalen Hurts' story and his testimony to who he is as a person and where he's been at in his career, man. You look at him now, man, he's unbelievable.

He's a starter. The Eagles just played in the Super Bowl last year, man, and from where he was in college to now, man, you can see the type of growth. He's been as a person and as a player, man, so hopefully one day I can be able to be damn near close to that as well. Yeah, who are some of the quarterbacks that you kind of look up to that are in the pros right now?

I feel like, man, honestly, all of them. I mean, they're in the pros for a reason, to be able to watch those guys and see that, but a couple guys that I look up to and see that for me, I like Aaron Rodgers a lot. I mean, I'm tough that he just, man, just hurt himself this year. I was super excited to see him play with the Jets, Patrick Holmes, Josh Allen. I feel like all three of those guys do a really good job, man. I mean, I can name countless numbers of quarterbacks in the NFL that do great jobs, like Kirk Cousins. I'm a big fan of Brock Purdy, man, what he's doing with the Niners.

I'd probably say those guys right now, man, I love what they're doing. What do you like so much about Brock Purdy, just wondering? I love the offense he plays in, man.

I love the Niners offense. I feel like similar to what we do here, man, he's a gamer, man. I feel like he's done an unbelievable job in there, just embracing the system and going out there and making smart decisions and making some hella some plays out there, man. So it's been good to see him do that.

I'm excited for him in the future. You've played in a lot of tough environments. Pullman is crazy. That's where you're going this weekend to go up against Washington State. How do you kind of prepare for an environment like that? Man, honestly, man, you've got to be able to know your game plan, action, game plan through and through. You're able to make sure you're on your cues going into the stadium. Obviously, you know it's going to be loud. It's going to be a rowdy environment. But I'm excited, man, playing in those places, man.

That's what you wished for as a kid. You should be able to play in cool places like Pullman and Washington State, man. So I'm excited to be able to play there, man. It should be a great atmosphere.

And, man, both of your offenses are really humming. This should be a high-scoring game. Yes, sir, man. Hopefully, man. Hopefully we'll see, man. Hopefully going into the game, man. It'll be an exciting game, man. They've got a great quarterback on their side and a great offense. So it should be a great game to watch, man.

Wrap it up with D.J. Ungolay, the quarterback at Oregon State, the Beavers 3-0, ranked 14th in the country, going to Pullman this weekend to do battle up against an undefeated Washington State team who's ranked 21st. You look at the Pac-12. Holy smokes.

I know it's the final year of it as we know it. But these quarterbacks are really something. Who's jumped out to you so far in the Pac-12, maybe, after you get home from your games and you check up on the conference? Yeah, no, I feel like, man, overall, man, I think top to bottom, man, there's some really good quarterbacks in the Pac-12. I was out to say to me from all 12 teams, it's a really good quarterback.

Every quarter, every team has a really good quarterback. I think Cameron Ward at Washington State, I think he's done an unbelievable job. Like Michael Tennick, he's done an unbelievable job.

Kato Williams, Shadera Sanders, man. I'm excited for Colorado, man. I'm excited to see what they're doing over there. Coach Diem has done a great job turning that place around, man.

D and 3 and 0, man, they're an exciting team to watch, man. All the people on the sideline, I feel like it looks crazy. I feel like there's been a lot of quarterbacks, I can name a lot of people. DeLaure, I feel like he's done a good job. I feel like Donte Moore has done a pretty good job being a freshman at UCLA. I mean, I think it's quarterbacks all around the fact that they've done an unbelievable job.

I'll just name it a few. What type of team do you think you have this year at Oregon State? I think we have a good team, man, but only time will tell, man. You know, I think going into conference play, we're about to find out who we are as a team.

We're about to define who we are as a team, so it's going to be exciting, man, to see how this team is going through the future. Well, I've enjoyed the time today. I really do appreciate it.

I'll let you get back to preparing for Washington State. Thanks so much for doing this, and we'll talk again soon. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it.