S6E48: Eagles the NFL's Best Team? Travis Hunter's Historic Heisman, and Belichick’s Shocking Move to CFB

Welcome to the Pint Glass Football Podcast.
0:14
I'm your host, Brad Fowler. What's up, PGF Nation? The Eagles dominate the Steelers. Are they the best team in the NFL? Josh Allen proves once again he is unstoppable. Bill Belichick shocks the football world, but will he succeed in college football? And Travis Hunter wins the Heisman win. Where does he rank among the all-time greats?
0:40
We've got a lot to get to today, but first, joining me as always, my co-host, Alex Higdon. Alex, what is going on?
0:48
Nailed about it tonight. Got scared by my Raiders from them trying to win, but everything is all good. We lost to the Falcons, and first overall pick is still intact.
0:58
Really kind of a dud doubleheader. And these games were both pretty lackluster. So let's jump into it here. Eagles destroy the Steelers. The Steelers are a good team, but they were never a real contender. And I think this game really solidified that. George Pickens out of the game. Passing game falls apart.
1:18
I'm going to take a quick victory lap here on Pat Fryermuth. Because on the YouTube episode last week, I picked him to have a big game. But look, the Steelers defense, in this matchup, it was clear. The goal was to stop Saquon Barkley. And they did a pretty good job of that.
1:33
They really limited Saquon in this offense. But then Jalen Hurts, I think, had maybe the best game I've ever seen him play throwing the football.
1:41
Whatever has been going on between he and his, I would say just A.J. Brown, but I'll say his wide receivers got apparently worked out because A.J. Brown ate for 110 in a touch and then Devonta Smith 11 for 109 in a touch.
1:54
And then, you know, Jalen Hurts did have a key run in this game, too, that I thought was very key. Now, I won't say that they blew out the Steelers. This game was pretty tight. There was that mishap that they had where it was basically a 10-point swing with
2:09
the fumble by Najee Harris when they were driving down to basically make it a three-point game, and that was a 10-point swing. So I won't say that they blew them out or whatever. I did not come away impressed with Philly at all. I mean, I respect the fact that their defense made a play,
2:27
but I came away saying, you know what, a healthy Steelers, you know, injuries happen, so that's not an excuse. They'll take it away from their victory, but a healthy Steelers team, the Eagles are in trouble.
2:39
Yeah, I don't agree with you on this one. I think this was clearly a huge mismatch. I think Pittsburgh's a good football team, don't get me wrong, but Philly had their way. And anything, when you're talking a double-digit win in the NFL, it's a blowout because the average margin of victory is really only three, three-and-a-half points.
2:56
So anytime you're in that double-digit or more, to me that is a blowout. This game was never really that close. You're right. The Najee Harris fumble was big because if they're able to score there – Maybe they hang around in this game, but they really never put anything together in this game.
3:12
It never really felt like they had any chance to win this game. I mean, they never once felt like, okay, Pittsburgh can make something happen here. They were playing from behind the entire game. I think Philly really flexed in this game. Look, Russ... Russ is good, but he's not great.
3:30
And I think the Steelers are in a real predicament here because they're probably going to have to re-sign him because they're not going to have a shot at any of these real quarterback prospects in April unless they're going to take a flyer on a guy. But any one of those guys is probably not ready to start.
3:45
So you're probably bringing Russ back. But where does that leave you? I think it kind of leaves you right where you are. You're a good team. You're not a great team. And let's face it, Pittsburgh... doesn't hang AFC North banners. They hang Super Bowl banners.
4:01
This is a franchise that has a different level of standard for what they expect their teams to do. They expect their teams to be a contender, and I don't think this team is. Even though they're good, I don't think Russ puts them over the top. Now, he's clearly made them better.
4:14
There's no doubt about that because the quarterback situation has been a mess the last two years. But he's clearly not good enough to get over these elite teams like Philadelphia, these tier one teams, as I would call it, that are true contenders. And look, after this game, it really had me thinking.
4:31
So the Lions are kind of beat up now. And I'm starting to wonder, as good as they are, I think they might have peaked because they've just had too many injuries, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But it's really got me questioning, is Philly the best team in the NFC right now?
4:47
Because this roster is loaded and they're playing some great football.
4:51
Yeah, and we'll get to that Detroit game later on. But yeah, I would have to say that Philly, as of right now, I guess followed by Minnesota, right? For the most part, in terms of the top two teams in the NFC, just because of the injuries and everything that happened to Detroit in this most recent game,
5:10
I'd have to look at Philly as number one. And then if I was ranking them, in terms of opportunity goes who i would say philly and then minnesota and then i would actually probably even go tampa bay before i get to detroit wow yeah we're
5:22
gonna have to talk about all these teams for a little bit here and let's jump into this bill's lines game this was a huge huge matchup definitely the game to circle last week we previewed this game made our picks for this game on the youtube podcast of course
5:37
Bill's offense, I mean, my goodness, Alex, they were absolutely unstoppable in this game versus Detroit. Josh Allen continues to pull away from everyone else at the quarterback position. He's become the toughest player to stop in this league, hands down. The dual threat ability of this guy, not a single turnover-worthy play In that game, 23 for 34,
6:00
362 yards, two touchdowns, 68 yards rushing, and two more touchdowns on the ground. He has really developed into a player that knows exactly when to use his legs, when to air it out. I mean, he went 9 of 15 on passes of 10 or more yards for 270 yards. So he's not just making the plays.
6:21
He's making those big strikes down the field that really kill defenses. I think what's even more impressive about this, look at this guy's wide receivers. Not a single one of them is a legit top 20 wide receiver. Now they're a decent group. They're not bad, but you don't have any legit top 20 guys.
6:41
He doesn't have a Justin Jefferson. He doesn't have a Jamar Chase and a T. Higgins. He doesn't have A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. Look, he has two good tight ends, but they're not Kelsey. They're not Kittle. I mean, it's simply incredible the level of play we've seen from this guy this season and
7:00
where he's taken his game to.
7:02
I'm going to push back on that because he does have Amari Cooper. He's 1,000% a top 20 receiver, even though I'm not a fan of him. And I get that Josh Allen's doing everything that he did. And we'll have to save it for another conversation because what Lamar Jackson's doing is far exceeding what Josh Allen is doing.
7:19
That's the first thing. But the second thing is the Bills won this game. Josh Allen was on display doing Josh Allen type things. Nothing that we can't take any of that. Nice play by James Cook, too. I think there was a nice in this game.
7:31
That was a nice compliment to what Josh Allen was doing through the air and with his legs as well. But I will say what I've always said is Bill's defense is Swiss cheese. And when you get in the playoffs, you are not going to be able to play like this against the better teams.
7:46
It's not going to work. So I'm happy for Josh Allen. He's probably on track for this MVP. But Bills, no, sorry, don't believe in you. With the Bills, like I said, it's not that – this is not a Josh Allen thing. This is a team thing. And when I look at what they're allowing on defense,
8:02
they're just not – they're not going to be good enough. And they're not going to be good enough in the playoffs to get past teams by trying to outscore them when you don't even have a bend or don't break defense. You just have a broken defense. And it's just Josh Allen up to Josh Allen to outscore everybody.
8:15
And I just don't think he's going to be able to do that in the playoffs. On the other side of this, though, I mean, Jared Goff, I mean – This was basically the battle. This was basically a shootout, to be fair, across on both teams. You know, there was no defense in this game.
8:29
I mean, Jared Goff was out of control. He basically threw for 500 yards and five touchdowns. But the story of this game is really David Montgomery in terms of David Montgomery. And then on the defensive side, Aleem McNeil, who. really was coming along this season are now out for the season.
8:46
There's been a narrative that I've had around Jameer Gibbs. He is Tony Pollard. I know he's fast, but he's an east-west runner and not a north and south runner, which is that was the job of David Montgomery for when they got in tough games to
8:59
go out there and get tough yards and have a fight in the phone booth. Huge, huge loss, but they're going to be facing some tough games coming up, some tough matchups coming up. So we're going to see how this defense moves going forward.
9:11
some more advanced analytics on Amari Cooper. Not a chance he's a top 20 wide receiver. Right now, PFF has him 58th in the NFL. His stats are not very impressive. He's only 481 yards on the season. He's a bigger name than he is an actual playmaker at this point.
9:31
I don't think they're a great defense by any means. I'm with you there. That's definitely the biggest question mark for them. But when you've got a quarterback that nobody can stop and this guy can win in a shootout, They're still going to be a really, really tough out.
9:43
And look, a lot has been made about the Dan Campbell decision for the onside kick in the fourth. Look, do I agree with that decision? No, I wouldn't have done it. I think it was a big risk and it clearly backfired on him. But look, he was watching the same game we were.
9:59
And I think he was starting to realize their only chance to win this game was to steal a possession late.
10:04
I get what he was trying to do. He knew that he recognized this was a back and forth game. Defense was just completely out of it.
10:11
Don't get me wrong. I'm with you. I don't think the defense is great by any means. I just don't think it has to be. It's kind of similar to the Kansas City Chiefs. Their offense is terrible.
10:20
Mm-hmm. It's terrible.
10:22
And I don't think anybody wants to mention how bad it is because everyone has so much respect for Reed and Mahomes and everything.
10:28
Oh, no, we've mentioned it for sure. We're going to mention that.
10:31
Yeah, they're horrendous. I mean, but yet, you know, they keep winning because their defense and because they make just enough plays.
10:39
Right, and that's the key thing. It's like, okay, the bend-don't-break defense means that your defense comes to your aid and they make a play. So, for instance, Pittsburgh is a good defense, but just for argument's sake, let's just say they were around 18th. However, you have that one guy in T.J. Watt that can make a play.
10:57
The Bills don't have that guy. It ain't Von Millis, not Ed Oliver, overrated Ed Oliver. And Greg Rousseau doesn't seem to be the guy that he was last year. So they don't, that's the thing. To be a bend, don't break, you have to be making those key plays, which is conversely with the offense, with Kansas City,
11:14
the defense has been really good. But when they need Patrick Mahomes, who will throw an interception, who will make bad plays, when they need that third down play, that critical play in the fourth quarter, he makes that play. So as for all, how bad that offense is looking, the 1,000% has looked bad.
11:31
Patrick Mahomes is the X factor. When you need to put that cape on and you need to play, he's going to deliver that play, even though they've been terrible on offense.
11:40
I feel like... the Chiefs and the Bills are almost polar opposites in that way.
11:46
Yeah, they are.
11:46
Because, like, Josh Allen has been – Josh Allen on the offense has been so good. I mean, unbelievably good that when the defense gives up points, for the most part, he's kept them in those games and won most of them. Whereas with the Chiefs, it's the exact opposite. We're like, the offense has been so bad,
12:03
the defense keeps them in them, and then Mahomes and Reed dials something up late. Tampa Bay Bucs absolutely destroy the Chargers. This was a shocking outcome here because I think looking at this game, most people thought this would be close. Vegas had this line pretty close. Thought this should be a good game on paper.
12:20
But look, LA, look, they've been easily one of the most improved teams this year. I don't think there's any doubt about that. From where they were last couple years with Staley, Harbaugh has this team moving in the right direction. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I think maybe two...
12:34
I would say good, maybe one more great draft class, and I think this team could be really good. But when you look at Tampa Bay in this matchup, it was kind of obvious that Tampa Bay, when they're healthy, they're just sneaky good. I mean, they just won this game on both lines of scrimmage.
12:52
They had the better weapons. It was clear that they just could not slow down the weapons for this Tampa Bay's offense. And look, the Bucs are playing some good football now. They've won four straight. I don't think they're in the same class as Philly or even Detroit, who we both have admitted is really good.
13:07
But I think those injuries are catching up to them a little bit. But even with that, I wouldn't put them in that tier. But I do think they're good enough come playoff time. They might shock somebody in the playoffs and knock off one of these good teams.
13:20
Yeah, I agree with you. I think they're a team that you don't want to play. I mean, I wasn't too shocked with this loss because the Chargers are a running team that plays defense. They no longer have running. So now you're focused on Justin Herbert to throw, and Justin Herbert doesn't have weapons,
13:39
with the exception of Lab McConkie, right, who looks like an emerging weapon. Quinton Johnson was probably really a number two. They only ran for 32 yards. And this is what I kept saying about the charges and J.K. Dobbins is not about wishing anybody get hurt. I said, when this running game stops and I said, J.K.
13:54
Dobbins, I'm sorry, he has not played a full season over three years. Right. And he missed the whole season last year. So I said, coming back to put that type of load on this kid is not going to work. and he's eventually going to get run down,
14:06
and then that's when we're going to find out what this team is. So I wasn't surprised. They were due for a loss like this simply because they can't run the game and control the clock and play defense. So now you get into a shootout.
14:17
Now I want to unleash Justin Herbert to throw 33 passes, but 33 passes to who? Stone Smart? Anybody? Anybody start him on their fantasy team? Oh, okay. I'm just checking. So this was they were due for a loss like there's no different than how Detroit was due for a loss or at some point in time,
14:33
Philly's going to be due for a loss before the end of the season. But they were just due for this type of loss because of how their team is set up. But they don't have the horses, meaning the running backs, to complete the task against other teams like this.
14:45
When you have a Mike Evans and, you know, apparently a Bucky Irvin and Rashard and Rashad White. who were able to, you know, really, they ran for 223 yards on six yards per carry. And they were playing catch up the whole, the entire game.
14:58
So, I mean, I get it, but they were going to run out of gas. As soon as the running game ran out, they were going to run out of gas, but still a playoff team though. I think they still have enough to make the playoffs.
15:06
Like I said, I think they're clearly moving in the right direction. They just don't have the talent of this Tampa Bay team. And that was what really stood out to me in this game. Like I said, on the line of scrimmage especially, it was glaring. Herbert was under pressure constantly.
15:21
They were able to run the ball down their throat. They were winning on both sides. And like you said, The Chargers being a run-first team, you can't run on Tampa Bay. This run defense for Tampa Bay is so good. They just take away the running game.
15:35
And when you're a run-first team like the Chargers who are limited on the outside, it really puts a lot of pressure on you. And when your offensive line isn't giving your quarterback time, it's just a recipe for disaster. Kansas City gets a blowout win. But I'm still concerned with this offense.
15:51
And really, we've talked about this a lot on the show. The defense is winning these games for them. Only 21 points for this Kansas City offense. What has happened to Patrick Mahomes? Because, look, we know this guy is great. But 50% completions? 159 yards?
16:09
Two touchdowns is good, but look, he's played this year and really going all the way back to last year. He's really been like a borderline top 10 quarterback, top 10-ish quarterback. What happened to the guy that everybody put in the top three quarterback all-time list?
16:26
What happened to the guy that people were trying to push Brady aside for? Because I don't see that guy anymore. I mean, look, he makes plays when they matter. And I'll give him that. But this offense is not any good. And we're way too far into the season. And like I said, even going back into last year,
16:43
this is a big enough sample size now to realize this offense has some real issues. Now, they're lucky the defense is elite. They're lucky Spagnuolo is one of the greatest defensive coordinators of all time. Otherwise, I think this team would be in serious trouble.
16:57
Yep, I agree with you, and I'm going to continue to say something I said a few weeks ago, and it seems small to everybody. I'm telling you, the piece that's missing from this offense, and this is not to say that the offense is going to go back to Patrick Mahomes scoring 50 touchdowns.
17:10
I'm saying that the piece that's missing from this offense is that little outlet of a Jerick McKinnon, which will cause a line, which now causes your defense. You have to pay attention to him with one of those linebackers, and that opened up the middle a little bit more for Travis Kelsey. That's a piece.
17:27
They have a lot of hammers. They have Kareem Hunt, hammer. Isaiah Pacheco, hammer. Samaji Pirine, hammer. They're missing that James White, a la Jerick McKinnon, That little wrinkle kind of eases up for Patrick Mahomes because he doesn't have that check down. Who's the check down when he calls Hike? Doubling over on Worthy and they're bracketing Kelsey.
17:47
I know there's the 50-50 guy in terms of DeAndre Hopkins, but I think DeAndre Hopkins is not necessarily a good fit. He is a 50-50 guy, something that we talked about before, Brett. Him in Baltimore makes way more sense than Deontay Johnson in Baltimore. And then actually,
18:08
Deontay Johnson might actually fit Kansas City a little bit more because he's an intermediate guy. He's a slot guy. The things that they lost with Juju, Deontay Johnson can do. Now, his attitude is a whole other story, but we're just simply talking about fit. And that's not to diminish DeAndre Hopkins.
18:23
But I do want to thank Jameis Winston for continually giving us the Jameis Winston show, three interceptions. He made it very exciting for us and pregame speech. Thank you, Jameis Winston. You are a treasure in the NFL.
18:39
Yeah, I just I look at this offense and you're right. I don't know. Like on paper, D-Hop, we know that he's a guy that's really probably a borderline Hall of Fame player. He's had a great career. You would think they'd find a way to make it work. It hasn't really. And I'm with you.
18:54
It's not really the ideal fit for this type of offense. If Mahomes is really in the GOAT conversation, he has to find a way to elevate these guys. Because to the point I made earlier about Josh Allen, we've seen Josh Allen take a mediocre group of wide receivers and elevate them and
19:10
play like one of the best offenses in the NFL. We've got Mahomes, and we have the greatest play caller and the greatest offensive mind in the history of the game. And this is all they can do? I mean, a couple weeks ago, Derek Carr... shredded this Browns defense. The Broncos lit them up for 41 points.
19:26
Herbert passed for almost 300 yards on them. Jaden Daniels gave them all kinds of problems. Lamar Jackson carved them up. This isn't the Browns defense from last year. They can be had, and yet this is all we see from them. I know it was a convincing 21-7 win, and they haven't had many of those.
19:45
But I'm going to continue to say I have real concerns about Mahomes and this offense because unless that defense continues to play at a completely elite level, I don't know if they can win in a shootout. I don't know if they have that kind of firepower and that kind of offense nowadays.
20:01
And that's pretty hard to believe considering what we've seen from these two guys. Did you know that Pint Glass Football is more than just this podcast? We have an exclusive newsletter. Sign up for free at pintglassfootball.com to receive articles and insights delivered straight to your inbox. But wait, there's more.
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22:11
Download the SeatGeek app and remember to enter the code PGFPOD to grab your $20 discount. This is old news, but we haven't had a chance to discuss it. So I can't wait to get your thoughts here. Bill Belichick takes the UNC job. Absolutely shocking news.
22:30
I mean, this created a ripple effect throughout college football and the NFL, of course. Before we dive into this, I'm just going to ask you, do you think this hire works in North Carolina with Bill Belichick?
22:44
Well, according to the gunshots I heard, which happens after everything between the UNC and Duke game, I think they love it here because I am in the North Carolina area, and that is a thing. Whenever UNC beats Duke or vice versa, they let off a few rounds, legally, let off a few rounds.
23:01
But it was 4th of July over here when it was official that Bill Belichick took the job. We know we're going to hear a lot of... The comparisons to Deion, they're polar opposites in terms of their attitude. I mean, I can imagine it was even uncomfortable for Bill to be out there at UNC during the
23:18
basketball game and announcing that Bryce is going to still come to UNC and kind of rally up and rally the troops and things that we've seen Deion do. I can imagine it was very uncomfortable for him. for him to do that, the four-star recruit. That's actually about maybe 20 miles from me in Bryce Baker, East Forsyth,
23:37
and that's in North Carolina, and to still commit to North Carolina. So I think that's a big thing. But as I've said before, Brad, the number one thing I need to know is who are his recruiters, And who's going to be his staff?
23:50
I've seen everything from Josh McDaniels, but I think that's just people saying that's his guy. He's not working. But I've seen the most recent thing I've seen from Ian Rappaport is him poaching our, meaning the Raiders or current offensive coordinator, Scott Turner, to come to UNC. So I'm interested to see.
24:06
I'm not worried about the defensive side because he's got that. But I'm interested to see what he does on the offensive side to get this team together.
24:14
Yeah, I've been giving this a lot of thought the last few days, and I think college football, I think, has never really moved closer to what the NFL is than it currently is right now. We've seen this shift, and the two sports are more similar than they've ever been.
24:31
With the NIL, which, look, that's basically your salary cap, but with less restrictions. The transfer portal, which is basically free agency, but it's easier to navigate. So I think there's some things working in his favor here with his NFL background. Can he recruit? That's the big question mark. I don't know. And maybe, but will he want to?
24:56
Is he built to recruit? Because we've heard recently a lot of his former players and guys that know him have said in the media that this is really shocking. A lot of them have come out and said, look, I can't see him being a recruiter.
25:09
it's just going to be fascinating to see if he's really going to be the guy in living rooms of these high-profile players coming out of high school and trying to sell them on him and his program. But I think it's kind of an easy sell.
25:25
If you're talking to a kid and say, look, I know the NFL better than anybody. I know what it takes to get there. And my program is going to be closer to an NFL program than any other program in college football because I think it will be.
25:39
Now, is he going to lean into the transfer portal more than recruiting? I think most likely that'll be the case because I think about his history in New England. He was never great in the draft. We know that. A lot of swings and misses in the draft.
25:55
But the one thing he was always really good at is he could always evaluate talent once they've already played at the level that he's coaching at. So he was always great at finding guys that other teams cut or they didn't want, guys that he saw potential, guys that he coached against and would say, you know what,
26:14
let's bring this guy in because he could fit our system or he could find ways to utilize that player and to what they do well. And with all that being said, do I think it will work? I No, I don't think it'll work.
26:30
I think this is a big reach as far as what he's done in going into this college football world. I think it's very, very different. But this guy knows X's and O's, and we know that. He's one of the greatest football minds of all time.
26:45
It feels to me, Alex, like he wanted a new challenge, and maybe that's what this is about. And when you look at the ACC, this conference isn't very good. Alex, I don't know. I'm not saying it won't work. I'm saying if I had to bet, I would bet against it. But who knows?
27:01
In that conference and with his reputation, they might be in the mix quickly for a college football playoff because there's not a whole lot of big powerhouse teams that they really have to get through.
27:14
So I'll say this. I think the whole thing, which is why I mentioned specifically his recruiters, because Bill is going to he's in a position similar to Deion. Not that they're the same person because that's been a big mix up.
27:26
But similar to Deion is the type of person that he sends his recruiters out and then he closes the deal. I look at this as similar to Pat Riley. When it's like, okay, you want to go here, you want to go there, but look what I have.
27:38
And he throws his seven rings on the table, five rings, excuse me, his five rings on the table. And that's something that Bill Belichick can do is say, this is what I do. But North Carolina has a wealth of talent and they consistently lose it every single year to either to Florida, somewhere in Georgia, South Carolina,
27:59
or Clemson. They consistently lose those guys right now. Currently, right now, the 2020's number one quarterback in 2026 is playing at a high school in Grimbley, and he's committed to Tennessee, soft commit to Tennessee. You know what I'm saying? And I'm not saying anything about Bryce Baker,
28:14
but I'm just saying that there's a level of talent in North Carolina that consistently gets poached because this is a basketball area in terms of UNC, North Carolina, Duke, as well as NC State. It's a basketball. It's known as a basketball area. But if you're telling me now you're putting the money into football,
28:31
as we saw that they're now up to 20 million in terms of the NIL conglomerate or whatever you want to call it, and you're saying you're bringing in Bill Belichick and they're going to give him whatever coaching staff that he needs in three years, because I don't think he's here for the long haul.
28:44
I think he's gone in two to three years because I think the NFL is going to come calling again. But I think he can flip this university, which in the state, has a lot of talent alone because all he has to do is win the state. And excuse me, let me mention App State as well as ECU,
28:59
which poached a lot of people from the Raleigh and the Greensboro area where there are a lot of players that come out of this area.
29:06
The most fascinating story so far in the offseason. We're not even really in the offseason. We still got games being played, obviously. We got the college football playoff right around the corner. We've got the NFL heating up and headed towards the playoffs. And here we are talking about Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest...
29:23
NFL coach of all time, taking a college football job. The ratings for those Tar Heel games are going to be bigger than they've ever seen because people are going to be tuning in to see what this guy can do. I know I'm going to be watching closely. It's going to be so much fun this offseason to see,
29:39
like you said, what kind of staff does he put together? How does he do on the recruiting trail? What are his transfer portal rankings going to look like? It's going to be so fun to follow as we get closer to next year. I want to wrap it up with this, though, Alex. Travis Hunter wins the Heisman.
29:55
And look, it might be one of my better picks here. I take victory laps on this show. Alex, I know you like to take your victory laps as well. And look, we take L's all the time. That's part of the business. But I've been talking this guy up on this show for... quite a while now.
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And really since I made him one of my dark horse Heisman picks when I wrote the article back in July, before we jump into it, I just want your thoughts on Travis Hunter winning this award because look, the Heisman is special every year. Absolutely. But this was a unique Heisman year for a guy that plays both ways.
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We really haven't seen anything like this in really ever in the modern era.
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Yeah, I mean, I think, well, I'll say this, we know that there's been a huge back and forth in our spaces, Brad, and probably through, I've seen a couple of podcasts on it as well, really with Gentie and Travis Hunter, like the debate, because Travis Hunter, I believe, I'm not sure,
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you can probably tell me if he was a unanimous winner or not. But I think that I didn't have a problem with Travis Hunter winning. I thought the feat that he had was incredible. I think also what Jente is doing is incredible as well. But I wasn't dead set against one.
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I mean, if you Jente to get it over Travis Hunter, I think he did some incredible things this year. I know that he wasn't the number one wide receiver. However, he was top three in every category. Most well, the important categories, catches, yards and touchdowns. He was top three.
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In each one of those, he was third, I believe, third or fourth. There were a lot of people that had three interceptions. There were a lot of people that, you know, so there were a few people. So he's third, you know, amongst like maybe about,
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I think I saw about 10 people that had three interceptions in all of college as well. And then there's, of course, the wonderful argument of who played the best talent and so on and so forth. You can play who you play. Colorado is not a powerhouse team.
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where they're going to be able to get whoever you deem should be this team they should have played. And then Boise State, another team they got, they ended up playing Oregon. So I don't know about the talent level for each one of them, but each one of them did their job when it came to doing their job.
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Of course, maybe Jinty got, you know, had a low yards per carry average and maybe Travis Hunter got scored on or he only had maybe 50 yards receiving or whatever it was. But I think overall, these were the two guys that should have been talked about. And Travis Hunter, excuse me, Travis Hunter,
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ultimately won although there were bigger stories going off that stage than there
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were on that stage if you know you know yeah Alex I think you know where I stand on this because I've been talking up Travis Hunter really this whole offseason and really during the entire season I've been talking about how special this guy was I
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was saying he deserves this award he should win this award and I'm happy to see him win this award and you mentioned wondering how close it was actually look the vote was very close Very, very close. It was separated. Him and Gentry were only a couple hundred votes apart,
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which is one of the closest races we've seen in a really long time. And look, I don't want to take anything away from Gentry because Ashton Gentry was a guy, if you guys remember, on week one, of college football I said circle this guy's name because he's going to be a good
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one deserves all the recognition that he's gotten and I think he'll be a good pro by the way as well but we'll get into that more in April but here's my big takeaways we've seen what Alex at least a dozen guys in college football run for 2,000 yards and really if you go down that list we're
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most of those guys did it in better conferences, by the way, too. And look, I'm not trying to take a shot at Mountain West and all that. I know people get upset about that stuff, but look, it is what it is. This is a conference that's only produced a small,
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small number of NFL draft picks in the last couple of years. Now, you can say whatever you want about the Big 12. Are they the SEC? No. Are they the Big 10? No. But they are a heck of a lot better. Thank you. in the country, a guy who also plays special teams, returns kicks.
34:03
Look, Alex, I thought about this for a while, and I really racked my brain around this. I think he is the best college football player I've ever seen, period. And I'm saying that because, yeah, I know. I'm not trying to be a prisoner of the moment here,
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but this guy played both sides of the ball and not only did it, but basically was a full-time starter on both sides of the ball and did it at this level to be one of the best in the country at both of his positions. It's completely unheard of, and it's unheard of for a reason.
34:42
And I think it deserves the kind of recognition that he got with this award because it's nothing short of absolutely incredible.
34:50
Yeah, that's big talk from Brad. I'm not sure if I was, I don't know if I would go there. That's something I would actually have to think about because I'm sure there's somebody I'm forgetting that I saw at some point in time. But he's definitely on the top. I would definitely say he's on the top.
35:07
He's on the top 10. But that's something I have to think about. But he would definitely be in the top 10. Hey, and before we close out of here, I know we're not talking about tonight's games, but there was, I think, an important moment and something that we don't really need to talk about. But, you know,
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we just want to send out some prayers to Randy Morris, the one of the greatest, and to some of you, the greatest wide receiver of all time. We know he's battling liver cancer at this point in time. There was a nice tribute before tonight's Minnesota game.
35:32
Yeah, really sad news. Really, really sad news. I had heard that story recently too. So big prayers and our thoughts, of course. Not just one of the greatest players. I think he's one of the most fun analysts on ESPN. He's been so fun to watch these last several years since his playing days.
35:49
I miss seeing him on ESPN with the crew and all the things they do over there. Just a very, very likable guy. And so... Very, very sad news, of course. And we are all hoping and praying that this guy makes a recovery and can beat this. If you enjoy the podcast, do us a favor.
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Subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and of course, YouTube. Once again, I'm Brad Fowler. He's Alex Higdon. This is Pine Glass Football, and we'll catch you next time.
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Thanks for listening to the Pint Glass Football Podcast. Be sure to subscribe and follow us on Twitter at PGF Podcast.
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