Stories Inside the Man Cave

The Golden Hat Trophy remains in Austin: The Pass Rush with Stevie Lee, Clynch, & Mike Adams

Shawn Clynch Season 1 Episode 487

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Texas beats OU 23–6 and resets the season with defense, third‑down execution, and a special teams spark while we lay out what travels into a tough SEC stretch
We break down trench play, Arch’s pocket movement, receiver depth, and the mindset shift after Florida with an honest look at noise, NIL, and coaching volatility

• third‑down efficiency at 10/17 and low penalties as culture metrics
• five sacks and 48 rushing yards allowed as the defensive fulcrum
• special teams return as momentum and three‑phase identity
• Arch’s rollouts and defined reads to blunt pressure and stunts
• receiver room depth now versus midseason readiness
• flush the win and prep for Kentucky’s physical defense
• OU’s brutal schedule ahead and QB health concerns
• evolving Golden Hat tradition and rivalry context
• Penn State’s midseason firing as donor‑era reality
• who’s best in Texas debate and Tech/A&M form
• big man packages, elite linemen, and matchup anecdotes
• power rankings, Indiana’s rise, and upset alerts
• State Fair rituals, fanbase ribbing, and sign‑offs

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SPEAKER_06:

Oh, how sweet it is on this side of the Red River whenever that happens in Dallas. Hey, your boy Huffy, Michael Huff, you played with him. How does he get the privilege to hold the golden hat trophy and bring it front and center with that trademark smile that he always has?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, he's on staff over there, so he can do that.

SPEAKER_06:

Is that listed on his uh resume job title?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Yes. Yeah. 23 to 6. Texas now defeated Oklahoma three of the past four years. And Stevie, we're going to be diving into this. Uh, I'd like to ask uh your initial thoughts, but there's been some progress, and we're going to get a lot from our guy Mike Adams, the playmaker, and his Playmaker 83 analysis. Uh, exciting episode. I mean, they all are, but uh as far as moving forward in the season, do you feel a little better being a former Longhorn about this team as they enter the second half of the season? Texas four and two in the first six games of the season. What will happen now in the last six games of the season?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I feel a little better. Let's just say that.

SPEAKER_06:

A little better.

SPEAKER_02:

It feels good to be, it always feels good to be uh OU, but um there's still some things that we got to work on.

SPEAKER_06:

Always, yeah. Even the top one, two, three, change the country. You always have to improve, and that applies to us too. In all of our each of our professions, hey, before we get it going, man, hey, follow us on each of our social media platforms. Thank you to everyone. If you're listening or you started following us from TikTok, thank you. I put a lot of effort, I'm not very good at it, but I'm putting out things to entertain and draw you guys in. So if you bit the hook, I appreciate you. We appreciate you. Facebook IGX, YouTube, and TikTok follow along. And Stevie, we're 13 away from celebrating half of a thousand episodes. Wow. Let's go. You ready? Let's run it. Let's ride, baby.

SPEAKER_02:

That's exactly what that was.

SPEAKER_06:

Oh my goodness, man. Uh I've seen plenty of these games in person and a lot more uh professionally speaking from field level. And it's the same with the AM game. There's usually there's been his historical or in history of both of those games, there's a lot of trash talk before the game. Did that surprise you at all? I enjoyed seeing it, although my seats were up on the way up on the upper deck.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, no, it doesn't surprise me, man. When you put these two teams up against each other um and put us in the same tunnel, locker rooms uh probably what, 20 feet away from each other. That's exactly what happens. When they need to leave the field, we need to leave the field. We're leaving the field together, right? So uh it always happens. Um, usually up in the tunnel more uh when it happens, but it was out on the field, and it's fine. You can jaw all you want to, but when the whistle is blown, it's where you're supposed to win.

SPEAKER_06:

That's right. Hey, I don't mind it at all. I actually do love it. It's part of the game. It's part of the if there was no trash talk, then I'd be I'd be worried. I'd be worried. Texas handled themselves very well. And give it to OU, man. They they were ready, but they were not ready for the adjustments that Texas had made. And we're gonna get into that. And the defense really took this game personal. Um, before we get going, man, on episode 487, got to give a shout-out to all of our beautiful sponsors, in particular for this series, Hardgrove Roofing. Man, they are a tremendous partner, tremendous sponsor. They support us uh through everything. And guys, man, they started in Louisiana, they have migrated west and have grown. And you cannot grow unless you do quality work, hardgrove roofing. And I'll leave the little tagline for the Stevie Lee.

SPEAKER_02:

Hardgrow Roofing, know who's on your roof.

SPEAKER_06:

And log on. Hardgrow roofing, find it on the web. You can find on we post a lot about them on all of our social media platforms, and they are good people, they do quality work. My late mother's roof was done after uh there was discovery there was damage, and they did a very efficiently and a great job, and it helped when we sold that house because it was a selling point on the reset of it. Alright, Texas Vito U, as I mentioned for the third time in four years, and you know there's a lot that comes with it, including wearing a certain hat while you're doing an interview. Alright, Stevie, let's talk about all of the unbelievers, as he mentioned. I love Sark. He does have a great way with words. I mean, hey, a lot of people, including us, there were some doubts after that Florida game. That was a long stretch from Saturday night the week before until game time at 2.30 in Dallas on Saturday. You can you say you were one of the unbelievers or you had your doubts? As a player, when you lose a game that maybe you thought you were going to win, and then you know how the fan base is for programs like Texas. Describe what that's like and having to sit on that and and and try to keep the noise out.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, um, I think I told you guys last week it's hard to beat a Texas team twice. So uh two two times in a row. We lost against um Florida, which we should have won that game, and then coming back out. Um, I knew they were gonna come out uh fired up, but you know, OU was ranked number six and um and also doing pretty well. For me, it was who the quarterback was gonna be. And uh I was uh uh taken aback that uh Mantey, is it Mantee? Manteer. Mateer. Mateir actually um played, but when he when he trotted out on the field to play and warmed up to play and everything like that, I was like, this may be a little bit tougher game. But now at the end of the game, hindsight's 2020. Looks like he probably shouldn't have played that game. Um uh so uh but you know that he played and we still contained him. I think we were we probably were ready for both quarterbacks, but I I did have my doubts depending on what quarterback was gonna be in there, but uh I knew they were gonna we the University of Texas are gonna come out fired up just because we lost that game the week before.

SPEAKER_06:

True. And you know, you gotta sit on it, man. It's angry. You you that's a long time. That's uh almost a that's a full week to sit on something like that. Well, as for from one former player to the current players, uh Contravius Weisner and Arch Manning told us how they were able to do it, how or how they were able to make the switch to having that mindset, you've got a rebound.

SPEAKER_01:

Coming into the uh SEC play, we just knew what it was gonna take being like being in number with us. We knew like coming into practice, you just gotta have that hard hat on, come out and do our jobs.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, just had to uh stay together, and um you know it's gonna be a tough game come out here and compete and and really just stay together. Stay together, stay together, and having that connectivity, and that is key because you, as you know, real quick from you, Stevie, a locker room can fracture pretty quick, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it can fracture real quick. Look at Penn State.

SPEAKER_06:

Woo! We're gonna talk about that three consecutive losses, and they're longtime head coach no longer. Hey, before we bring in our guy, the playmaker, we have to give a shout out to our guy Dave Ramirez. He's got all that you need to stay hydrated on game days or game day ease. Northwest Hills Liquor, and they do deliver. They're small, they're not the big ones that everyone goes to, but they have everything, and he has a great wealth of knowledge of all beverages you're looking for, cigars, and one thing he loves to take pride in, you're not a customer, you're a guest at Northwest Hills Liquor. Man, let's bring our guy in Mike Adams, man. Welcome. Last time I saw you a couple days ago or yesterday at Bucky's in in Hillsborough, man. Did you did you happen to make a purchase from Bucky's? And what was it if you did?

SPEAKER_05:

What's up, fellas? So so the uh the gas tank was like on on six miles to empty. So so that that was the only uh purchase going on at that time, and and obviously had to take care of some man business. So yeah, we were trying to hear him beat the rush back to Austin, man.

SPEAKER_06:

That's what we did. The funny thing is, I walked into that that large cavernous restroom, and I saw Mike at the end, and I wasn't gonna bother him while he was standing at the urinal. And then when he was turned around, washed his hands, we dapped it up, and it man, we were I couldn't, I was like a little eight-year-old kid laughing. That I saw him in the bunnies restroom. Um, but we weren't the only ones there. We were there were plenty of people.

SPEAKER_05:

You know, I was gonna change clothes because that's that's pretty much what I wore to the game, and uh just woke up with a sense of pride on Sunday morning and felt like before I left Dallas, I'm like, you know what, man, I'm gonna ride back in the burn orange, I'm gonna ride back in the jersey, man. And it was definitely a good feeling, man.

SPEAKER_06:

Beating those guys. It was, it's always good to go back home with the win. And so uh, Mike, we we told we can talk about a lot of things about this OU game, but I created a graphic for you guys. Um what we learned about the Longhorns versus OU. Broke it down a little bit offensively, defensively. You gotta like both sides, and and and and Mike, what which one would you like to hit up first and and and expand on?

SPEAKER_05:

Man, I I think the third down convergence. I mean, I mean, I heard we were somewhere near 57-58 on the day. And anytime you're in the high 50s, anytime you're 50, I mean, I mean, I played for a guy, you know, John McIvic, who you know, coached under Tom Landry, and that was one of our keys to the game. We wanted to be uh, you know, 48 to 55 percent on third downs. We felt like if we could be in that range on third down conversions, we were gonna win the ball game. And uh I don't think it's a coincidence that I mean 10 to 17, man, that's awesome. You don't you don't see that happening too much. Uh and when you do, uh you're gonna win that game. And then, you know, obviously the the run, the rushing yards, uh, you know, there's there's a crazy stat in this game, the team that rushes for over 100 yards in this game. They they've won the last so many football games, and uh, you gotta establish a run game and uh uh winning on third down, getting those tough you know, yardage and and dominating up front. I mean, that's pretty much what that points points to. And I think our offensive line did a great job, you know, sustaining drives and the line wiser, man, to get loose. Good to see him back, good to see him healthy, and uh he was the bell cow on Saturday. And the penalties, man. That was huge. That was my bad. We we finally played uh, you know, it wasn't a complete 100% clean game, but uh only four penalties, 10 to 17 on third downs, 100 yards rushing, W.

SPEAKER_06:

That's what that's what that equates to. That the stat that uh Mike was talking about before this past game, before the 121st Red River showdown, um, the team who had the most rushing yards won 22 of the previous 25. And that's you you run the ball, you run the ball, move the chains, you're gonna win. Stevie, you're the defensive guy. Uh, these are for you. I mean, you this was not the case at Florida.

SPEAKER_02:

Not at all, man. So uh I think this D-line heard me talking about them because they they stepped it up. They stepped it up, man. Uh, five sacks, five sacks, dude. Um, I was really impressed with that, but only holding them the 48 yards rushing. Um, when you asked the question, what stands out to you? I knew Mike was gonna go offensively. We just knew that. So um, but I was looking directly at the 48 yards rushing, man. This D-line stepped it up, and I love the way they played. Um if you really, and we may get to it, uh, if you really want to put the keys to the game in here, it's the defense and special teams. They really won this game. I mean, we we're happy that the offense did well. We got good rushing yards, and um, and Arch uh had a good um uh completion percentage and and all that stuff, but um we we still only scored one offensive touchdown. Yeah, we we so um that's why I said I feel a little bit better, but we still got things to work on, right? Um but defensively, that's the bell cow right there this game.

SPEAKER_06:

That is the bell cow, you know, and I I did think Arch made some more progress on the rollout, uh staying free. I thought their stunts were negated in some ways because of him the moving the pocket, moving out. He felt more freedom, he felt more comfortable with that. He had two elite passes that won, uh I think the Livingston on the sideline, shipping there, and then that touchdown pass, even though there was a little bit of delay into the end zone over the through the heart of the defense, he was already looking free. Um I love this. And this was Sark's soundbite that it kind of is kind of relative to what Steve and I talked at the top, and and I love this. I love when any head coach comes out and acknowledges, even though, because we hear all the time, we don't pay attention to outside noise.

SPEAKER_00:

It's easy to succumb to the outside noise, and there was a lot of shit getting talked about our team and about these guys, and I think they responded that they did.

SPEAKER_06:

Uh hey, hey, there's less and less filters nowadays, and I love it. I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_08:

Love it.

SPEAKER_06:

Well duh. Mike, when you when you hear that, I mean you've been in inside the walls as a player before social media. You've coached players now before you change careers where social media has been dominant. It's all around you. You've seen it from both sides. I mean, it's hard regardless of when social media was present, but how do you turn out the noise? Is it true that you can truly do it, or how do you handle it? Or how did you handle it as a player and a coach?

SPEAKER_05:

This day and age, man, I think it's virtually impossible to tune out all the noise. We have so many different uh, you know, avenues and ways in which to get information. I mean, we are in the the information age and you know, with with different types of social media uh platforms and uh uh 24-7 news channels. I mean, you're you're gonna you're gonna come across something that someone said about it. And uh, I I appreciate Shark, you know, keeping it real. You know, um I I think that you know, if I'm a recruit and I'm hearing that, I'm like, man, that's a coach I want to play for. He's gonna keep it real with me, he's gonna keep it real with us. He he he's gonna be upfront and honest. And I as a player, man, and you you can't do anything but but respect that. I mean, back 30 years ago when I was playing in UT, uh, you know, we had the local media, the newspaper, and and obviously playing in Austin, man. You're you're you're basically a professional football player, and um news was a little slow to get out, although some things did get out, which kind of amazed me. And a lot of times a lot of wrong things got out when it comes to information. But so I think this day and age, man, information can really be validated as opposed to back in the day when we played and things like that. But I I I appreciate the realness of start, man. I mean, and and like you said, less filters. I mean, let these guys relax a little bit and speak their minds, speak their truth. And and he's right. I mean, uh I was a little skeptical going into the game last week. I mean, I felt like we could win. My heart was telling me we could win, but my head, on the other hand, was man, we haven't really put up a lot of points offensively. Man, we didn't look very good against Florida. So Stark probably heard us, and I overheated, and and you know, it looks like you know he's heard our last two telecasts. You know, getting Arch on the run a little bit, sprinting him out the pocket, play with a little bit more tempo. I think all those things were a recipe for a great day on Saturday.

SPEAKER_06:

So for Stevie, you mentioned it, we might as well go to it. Here's that special teams touchdown that you were talking about, and I like it because you're getting another player involved who truly hasn't seen many snaps or balls. Carefully feels this one as the minimum line, nibbling. All right, I like him because I can see eye to eye with him as far as I love that. That you know, I love that special teams that kind of resembled a little bit of Mike Adams because he played special teams, kick, punt, return, uh, Stevie Oklahoma fans, some of them are saying, you know, there was a block in the back. I saw it, but there's blocks in the back on every special team's return. Stevie, how important is this? Because I'm just gonna go off of another OU game from the past, 2008. I remember that momentum was in OU's favor big time early. Then Jordan Shipley happened on that kickoff return. This sealed it up. I don't think, even if Texas didn't score this, I think they had the game wrapped up. But for you, from your perspective, your knowledge, what did this do for you? What did this tell you for them to be able to convert something like that on special teams?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it for me, it's we actually needed that because we before in Florida, we uh had a punt block. So I was looking at uh banks like um we gotta earn this two million dollars or whatever we're paying you, man. So um, you know, we didn't have a good outing special teams-wise last week uh against Florida. So we needed this one. Um it said at the University of Texas, man, we make explosive plays on special teams. And so um we uh I don't want to say that yeah, uh that I knew it was gonna happen, but something something good was gonna break through on special teams, and this was it. Now, what it does for the team is the team can win together in all three phases. That's what that's what you build off of. You in all three phases, we can win defensively, we can win offensively, and we can win in the special teams, right? And so uh when one is not doing as well, then we pick it up somewhere else. So that's what you build off of on this on um a big special teams play like that.

SPEAKER_06:

I mean, I feel like it really opens up everything, and you're the the confidence is permeating in that locker room because more people are getting involved. And Sark today on his press conference, he puts he was asked what what about the younger receivers, Mike? This or Stephen, were you about to say something? Because he was he had I was go ahead.

SPEAKER_02:

It's all good. I was man. I um golly, I forgot what I was gonna say now.

SPEAKER_06:

I'm sorry, man.

SPEAKER_02:

It's all good.

SPEAKER_06:

Sark was asked today about the young receivers. There's a lot of them up and coming and full of talent. He he mentioned they're coming along, Mike. You were a young, young receiver, and when that receiving room that Texas has now, when when the coaches and like Sark mentioning that they are developing, they just haven't been receiving the the snaps. What does that tell you? Where what's your gut feel on this receiving room right now? Will there be more used? Or do you think they're set on the ones that we've seen today?

SPEAKER_05:

I I would say halfway through the season, at least for now, they're pretty set. I mean, we haven't seen a young guy really break through. Usually, man, when guys are ready, you know when guys are ready. The coaches know. And I mean, those guys are gonna be out there pretty early on in the season, especially when you're playing against teams like Sam Houston State, you know, San Jose State. I mean, those are the games in which you you you should get a lot of reps in, especially if you're ready. We didn't see too many of those young guys get a lot of snaps during those games. So if you're not ready, those games, and don't get me wrong, you can definitely get better as the weeks go on and possibly be ready for an OU to have a breakout week and show up in practice. But more than likely, man, if you haven't shown up in those first three or four games, yeah, why would I throw you in to the Red River shootout? Biggest game you know that you're probably gonna play in in your career. Um, different kind of stage, faster game. Um, yeah, man, a lot of guys have crapped their pants lining up for this particular game. But if I haven't throwing you out there the first week or two, I'm definitely not gonna all of a sudden throw you out there against OU knowing that you may not be ready. You know, we may see these guys you know get better, you know, as the year progresses, and and actually somebody we're gonna need some for some guys to step up because we're we're thin right now, man. And we need for wingo to continue to grow, need for Livingston to stay healthy and continue to grow. Um, it's a deep room, but it but it's not deep in terms of guys being ready to play right now. That's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Mike, you're aging yourself when you say Red River shootout, man.

SPEAKER_05:

I guess uh marketing and different advertising things like that. They they kind of changed the name. Money talks these days.

SPEAKER_06:

100% it does. So Texas goes to Kentucky next, and they close out, I think, October uh at Mississippi State. But Kentucky, you know, Mark Stoops teams always have great defenses. Uh something with Stoops family. They they go they have great defenses. Uh Stevie, what's your thought on you know Texas not back till November 1st against Vanderbilt? But we knew this month was going to be a challenge, and people can say, well, that's an easier schedule. No, it's there's a level of uh difficulty when you're that you're on the road for that long and the the Red River game. Yeah. Hey, I got a thumbs up. I have no idea where those come from.

SPEAKER_02:

Um when you put your thumb up, is I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_06:

Stream yard. There you go. Stream yard, someone's fall. Oh your thoughts at Kentucky. I mean, what does this team have to do to get move past Oklahoma, but at the same time play at or even better than they did against Oklahoma?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, one thing that you got to do is you got to put this win away. And they should have put it away yesterday and go ahead and start um preparing for Kentucky this week. You don't you don't want a big win to beat you the next week. So um, and I get that from Coach Brown. He he always talked about that. You know, and you don't want a lot one loss to turn into two losses, too. Uh so you you put everything behind you and you prepare um uh for this week like like just leaving that game back. So hopefully they they're they're not celebrating anymore. Uh the the hard part is going to class today and everybody patting you on the head still, but you still gotta get prepared for Kentucky because that week is gone. The Texas OU Red River rivalry is gone now, and you gotta move forward.

SPEAKER_06:

That's Kentucky two and three in the year. It's gonna be an evening game, so seven o'clock Eastern, six o'clock here. Um just to wrap this up for this week, what do you think is happening? What's gonna happen to OU, Mike? Where where do they go from here? Because their schedule is ridiculous coming up.

SPEAKER_05:

Man, pretty pretty similar to what Stevie just said. Uh, they gotta put it behind them, man. They got a big game this week against South Carolina. You know, uh those guys are gonna be ready to play, you know. Shane Beamer and you know, uh Janori Sellers and all those guys tough to win at in South Carolina. Um, that's a big game right there for all you man. You know, you don't want one loss to turn into two losses, like Stevie said. That very well could happen this week. And with us if we're called sleeping. Dangerous game in Kentucky, man. But but all you um they gotta get on track. And Mattar, you know, probably wasn't 100% healthy if we're being honest. Uh, you know, he's probably still banged up, but uh but I think there's a silver line in him playing in that game. They probably felt like they were in it, which they were in the game. I mean, they still had a chance, he missed on some throws, really just made some bone head decisions, to be honest. I mean, he threw a couple picks that were like, hey man, what where are you throwing the ball? I mean, but I I think uh you know it'll be tough for him this weekend. You know, I I I'm not gonna put a prediction on it today, but uh Sach Carolina's a different team when they play in their stadium. It's gonna be rocking. I think that's a 1245 kickoff time day game, man. It's gonna be packed out. A lot of those fans are gonna be rowdy. So um, oh you oh you better not get caught with your pants down.

SPEAKER_06:

They can't listen to this schedule, guys. So at South Carolina, who they're gonna, they're desperate right now. They're three and three. Oklahoma comes back home back-to-back weeks to face Ole Miss and Tennessee, then go on the road to Alabama back home for Missouri and LSU.

SPEAKER_05:

Probably the toughest schedule down the stretch in the country. That's what I'm saying. We've talked a lot about Florida's schedule, but but man, what you just read off, that's dangerous.

SPEAKER_06:

Very dangerous. So to give everybody a little treat, man, the Golden Hat. The Golden Hat trophy is pretty phenomenal, but this is kind of how that celebration works. It is not a one-size-fits on the hat, by the way. Steven, how many given this to you, brother? You never had a chance to put it on the mummy. Did it did it fit to your head, Snug, or did you did you put it on?

SPEAKER_05:

Man again, another one of these uh modern day media ploys because Yeah, I didn't even see the golden hat on the field whenever we played.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05:

Didn't even didn't even see it. Didn't didn't even know it was a reward after the game. Um, I I guess if I break it down with my record, I mean I I would have worn it twice, lost it twice, and we actually tied once. So uh you know, so so I did have the experience of of splitting with those guys, but but man, where was the goal that had when we played?

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, that's a good point. When did they start? I mean, somebody you do that, there's a better, higher chance of that thing being dropped. Oh, yeah, so it's it's got fingerprints all over it.

SPEAKER_02:

I do remember, I remember uh my freshman year, it was on display in our equipment room, right? Right, right.

SPEAKER_05:

That's the only time we saw it. I mean, yeah, it didn't even we never saw it after the game. I like it.

SPEAKER_02:

It's I I do remember uh uh when we were leaving out, they were taking it on the bus with them, the equipment managers. That's what I do remember, and then I never saw it again in our building.

SPEAKER_06:

That's hilarious, man. Things have changed. I like how they're doing it now. Man, it should be on display for everybody. Let's pass that thing around. Let's celebrate. All right, on our on our IG live, we we got into it on this. Uh I have never seen so many in-season coaching changes, but one of the big names, James Franklin, Penn State, three-game losing skid. They started out top three in the country, um, and they lose their starting quarterback Alert over the weekend, and they lose at home to Northwestern. And Penn State fired James Franklin, and he's making$913 an hour, uh, allegedly with his buyout. Um, we'll start with you, Mike. Your your thoughts on this because I know Stevie, man, he he did a great job. He did some homework on this, and because there's there's a lot of things behind this. And what what's your take? Because I I I'm just not a real big fan of changing coaches mid-season unless there's something egregious, right?

SPEAKER_05:

And I I do feel like a guy like James Franklin, everything that he's bought brought to the program in the last 12 years or so. I mean, if we remember, man, Penn State was in the dumps. I mean, they went from a respectable program with Joe Pa and everything he built up, which you know, the things that happened on Joe Pa's watch, a lot of people lost respect for him. Yeah, and they go hired James Franklin from Vanderbilt, he was hot, he was up and coming. And man, he he brought Penn State within a game of playing for the national championship last year. And they've been a consistently top 10 ranked football team. They just couldn't get past Michigan and Ohio State. And man, you know, attending the University of Texas and growing up in this state, I'm very well aware of if you don't beat AM in Oklahoma, I've seen coaches get fired. I've heard about these things growing up and catching it on the evening news and things like that. So, and I'm not I'm not sure that, well, those are rivals, but and not in the same sense as AM and OU, but man, you gotta win those big games. And when you just lose those games consistently over the years, and uh, you know, I I think I alluded to it earlier, you know, with all the nil money and the the NCAA money that these teams are getting every year, you know, that's that's considered department money, but you also have booster money, which is not a part of that bottom line. And man, when those boosters are ready to write that check and say it's time for a change, A Ds and Presidents, they're gonna make changes. Or they're gonna be next. So I just think that's where this whole situation is. And you just can't lose to U C LA and Northwestern. You just cannot. UCLA, maybe story program, I mean, Jackie Robinson and different people like that. I mean, I mean, you know, you know, uh Rick New Highs. I mean, you got some guys from UCLA. Northwestern, um, one of the media schools to get a great education. You can't lose those guys, man. You just cannot lose to Northwestern unless they're having a magical year like in '95. You know what I'm saying? They happen sometimes, but man, not this year, not this time. Guys are ranked number one in the country almost, Penn State. And to be on a three-game loser slide and one of those losses beat the Northwestern, yeah, we it's time for a change. I think that's what the brass pretty much said.

SPEAKER_06:

Stevie, we we know reportedly the buyout 49 to 56 million dollars. Um, I mean, regardless, if you're given that money, I know all of us would be happy to see it, but you're being booted out of doing something you love, and you have no idea what your future may hold. I mean, I know money can provide a great future. But Steven, what's your thoughts on it? Did you and what maybe did you find out that maybe we're not aware of?

SPEAKER_02:

No, so yesterday on the um the Instagram live, I was kind of pushing back on y'all on uh on why they fired him or if they should have fired him. I did my homework, did some more research, and um I think it was time to part ways. I can admit when I'm wrong, guys.

SPEAKER_06:

Um I do it all the time.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so um thank y'all for keeping me honest. But uh I don't know, man. He's gonna be perfectly fine, man. He got 49 or 56, whatever those numbers are. You can give me either one of them, I'll be fine. Um he he's he's gonna he's gonna be okay. Um, and there his coaching staff will find other jobs around the country. So everybody's gonna be fine, but it's it's tough to if you lose to you're right, um uh MA, if you lose to um uh Northwestern at home in Happy Valley, you're gonna lose a lot of the you know he it looks like he's already lost, he already lost the uh locker room, then he lost uh staff, uh, or he lost the um AD, and then he lost the boosters. Everyone was lost and ready for him them to move on. So if they would have kept him, it would have just been a hostile situation anyway.

SPEAKER_06:

Right, that's bad. You know, that's an awful situation. So that's a that's gonna be a great job that opens up Happy Valley and Pennsylvania and Western PA. And you know, they have they draw their passionate fans, 110,000 plus, and those whiteouts at Penn State are something amazing. All right, as we trickle down, you know, Penn State lost three. They're out through straight, they're out of the rankings entirely. Um, now there's a debate which team is the best in the Little Star State? Is it the Aggies or Texas Tech as of right now? Well, their backup quarterback for the Red Raiders, Will Hammond from Huddle, Texas. Did y'all see what he did to this defensive back at Kansas over the weekend? Check this out. And it looked like uh the KUDB was airborne. I are y'all buying into this Red Raider hype. Oh nah.

SPEAKER_05:

Nah. I I saw the game. I I think the problem they have, man. I mean, Baron got hurt again. Yep. That's why Hammond came into the game and they they actually were struggling a little bit when it when he came in. I mean, he was missing on some throws. Um, I I did catch the part he ran and got over. I mean, he great, great running quarterback. But if if if you know there was concern about uh him not being that good of a passer in this particular game, and I know Will Wilcom passed the ball actually was was at huddle with him for you know a slight semester. He might have just had an off game, but um not not sure what to think about tech yet. Defense seems to be uh amazing, much better. Defense seems to be pretty quick, you know, athletic flying around, and uh Barron, I think every time he misses a game or misses time, uh they see just how important he is to him. Because had that been another opponent, you know, a better opponent, they might have been in trouble on Saturday because they struggled a little bit, man. And the defense kind of got them through some things. And uh, you know, the ground attack was was definitely working that game. Another kid from Austin, Cameron Dickey. Oh yeah, like 60. And uh, you know, tech tech tech's a formidable opponent for sure. Can't really say they're the best team in the state right now. I mean, I don't care if they're undefeated or or AM is I'm not gonna ever put those guys in front of us. So we can just end that conversation right there. But but but to be fair, both of those guys, both teams are doing well, they're doing great. Um, I'm pretty sure if we lined up against them, we'll see who the best is. But those teams are doing good.

SPEAKER_06:

That that will deep truck him. He definitely trucked the guy from Kansas. That'd be fun to see that in a bowl or a college football playoff game. Hey, I'm glad you said it. Cameron Dickey from Crockett High School AISD product. If I remember right, he had 144 yards rushing against Kansas. Cameron Dickey. Hey, you can still get there. People have you know down about AISD. You can get there from AISD for sure. All right, Alabama's back, and they're using our guy Cameron Proctor uh a lot. They put his big self in as a Wildcat quarterback. I don't know if you guys saw this.

SPEAKER_07:

366, you do it, big man!

SPEAKER_06:

Caden Proctor, not Cameron, Caden. I mean, he was stopped shy of the goal for against Missouri. Missouri was a good team, they now have a loss, but is that the weapon that's gonna probably push Alabama? He's gonna win a game, right? Because of Proctor.

SPEAKER_02:

I like what they're doing, man, just because I like big man running the ball. Big one touchdown, you know. So I like what they're doing. It's fun, it's fun for him. And I'm hearing it that they're rewarding him because you know he got his weight down and got in the weight room and uh and actually really worked hard on his body to be able to play better. And they're just rewarding him by giving him the ball. And I but I like it, man. It's it's fun, it's entertaining. We're talking about it. Um, but get in the end zone, kid. Stay on your feet and just drive your feet, man. Get in the end zone.

SPEAKER_06:

Real quick, we'll start with uh my MA. What big man was as athletic like that when you played at Texas?

SPEAKER_05:

I think uh I'm gonna go Blake Brockham. You know what? Dan Neil was pretty athletic too. Yeah, yeah, but Blake Blake was everybody 6'5 man, 305, 315, just did not look like it at all. And Proctor makes him look small, actually. And Brake Blake was a pretty huge uh individual, but he could run. I remember him having always having some of the the fastest times during conditioning tests for our lineman. Dan Neil, same thing, and Dan was considered kind of an undersized guy, but but Dan was just a stump. Dan Dan was six, two man, 280, 290, could run, very agile. I remember that guy doing the splits one time. Like, hey, hold on, bro. I think you should be doing all that, but but that that's just how much of an athlete he was. Stoney Clark could move. Yeah, he could move for you know his size and everything like that. But he wasn't on like like Dan was pretty quick. Dan was it's no surprise he played 19 years of the league. He was liberal. I mean, I mean, those guys were considered you know pretty agile, good foot. I mean, they they definitely played some basketball at some point in their career. They they had good feet, man.

SPEAKER_06:

Hey, hey Stevie, you had guys had quite a few, and I may be off a few years.

SPEAKER_02:

Loki, uh Loki, uh Loki was a freshman when I was a senior. Um, but I was gonna say somebody that big that had good feet was Sean Rogers. Oh, yeah, oh yeah, yeah. Sean Rogers, and then I hear that um back in high school, big Leonard Davis was a basketball player.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, yeah, baller.

SPEAKER_02:

Leonard was an athlete himself, and and Leonard Leonard was Leonard. I'm not gonna lie, y'all. Whenever I was being recruited and they introduced me to Leonard, I said that's the biggest human I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I think he still is to be honest.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then and very little body fat. Yeah, he's lean. Like he we will be working out in the summertime, so over off of 35, smelling diesel fumes. Um he he uh would get to a point to where he he's so lean, he his he would have a full body cramp. And one time during uh workouts, they had to lay him down in the truck of the bed to go get an IV. Oh my god. In a in a bed, uh what the the back bed of a truck laid him down because he had a full-body cramp so he can go get IVs. That dude was just lean, big, and strong. And if he got his hands on you, you ain't going nowhere.

SPEAKER_06:

No, Leonard Davis from Little Old Wortham, Texas, by Waco. I saw him play in their regional tournament when they went to state. They may have won state that year. All right. Yeah, he was god, he was a massive human. Here it is. Post week seven, power twelve, and and the four on the outside. Hey, Indiana going to Oregon, knocking them off. Uh, number two, are they a real threat to Ohio State?

SPEAKER_05:

I think so. Because I I thought maybe they would struggle traveling out west like some teams did, you know, flying across the country. That seemed to be a problem for some teams.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Indiana, man, they strapped it up and went out there and beat Oregon. Man, you just don't win in Oregon. You don't win at Allison Stadium like they did. They seem to have dominated a little bit, you know, frustrated Dante Moore, the quarterback who people were no protecting. Oh, he might be the best quarterback in in the country right now. Shut him down. I mean, I I think Indiana's a real deal, man. I don't even want to admit that because I know Indiana from back in the day and they were terrible. But Signeti is doing a great job. I mean, that that's that's probably the the the best story in college football the last two years. Yep, he's got the oozers rolling, man.

SPEAKER_06:

I I like what he's doing, Stevie. Anything you you differ with? Anything? Nope. Nope, it's good.

SPEAKER_02:

I agree.

SPEAKER_06:

We rarely agree on this power 12 on our side. Hey, uh, week up, we're gonna hit these real quick. Uh, the upset alert, we did not do very well last week. I did pick Texas Southern upsetting Grambling, and they did it, uh, right here. So there's a lot of a lot of SEC man and look who made it again: the Louisville Cardinals. Can they do that in Miami?

SPEAKER_05:

MA man, it's gonna take it's gonna take an active guy for sure to win that game, bro. You know, it definitely capable. I mean, Jeff Brown is kind of known as a big game coach. He he's beat some some top 10 ranked teams before, so we we know he can call a game. It's gonna come down to belief, bro, in this game right here. It's gonna come down if guys have a great week of practice and and really believe that they can win this game. All right. I mean, if you get that, and I heard him on his radio podcast this morning. So you got to go into these types of games playing very aggressive, all three phases of the ball game, and uh, you know, you know, let the tips fall where they may. So it's gonna start with belief, but they got to have a good week of practice. I think they will coming off a bye week and got a little bit of anger setting in for losing to Virginia and missing chance to be ranked. And um, yeah, got a chance to do something special. Everybody's gonna see. So you definitely don't want to be on the opposite end of that on national TV, but Miami's looking like the real deal right now. Um, it's gonna be a it's a tough ask. Let's just put it that way. But but I think the cars can get it done.

SPEAKER_06:

I uh what it's gonna work. Anything jump out for you, Stevie. I I I'm gonna go ahead and say, I can't believe I'm saying this. I think Lincoln Riley has got something going on finally at USC. Can they win in South Bend?

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know, but what I was looking at was this Auburn and Mizzou game. I know Auburn, what are they, what one and three or something like that? One something like that, I don't know. Three and four, yeah, one and four.

SPEAKER_06:

Something like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, something like that. Well, um Mizzou, they had a tough loss, right? And I think Auburn can come up on them.

SPEAKER_06:

I think they have to. They what they have to win this, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh but uh that that's a tough one. I I don't know, man. I all these matchups are kind of tough real quick for for me right now. Um Baylor TCU. I don't know.

SPEAKER_05:

SC's putting that victory out. I'm calling that right now. Well, you're gonna call that one. I'm going SC right now. They pulling that one out. That's I'm going for it. And George. Lincoln's Lincoln's due. He's due right now. Last week was big, you know, but it was at home, and uh you know, Michigan's not Michigan like the last two years. This right here could put the the doorknob uh in Notre Dame in terms of the playoffs.

SPEAKER_06:

This could do it. Wow, wow, and that's why I I think they have a chance. Look out for Duke against Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech's rolling.

SPEAKER_05:

That's a good one, too. It's hard to bet against Haynes King, though. Yes, that dude is just tough, man. He he just tough Texas quarterback, man. Long view, East Texas. I'm I'm riding with Haynes. I'm riding with Haynes on that one. I like the coat, I like Brent Key, he's tough. Nah, I think Georgia Tech gets that one.

SPEAKER_06:

That's what I'm feeling. I got something that's uh y'all gonna probably think, what in the hell is Clint showing us? Let's capture this pick right here. Texas State Fair. Don't tell me you ate some of those. I did not. His name is Boris, he's four years old, and I know it's in Dallas, I know Fort Worth is just to the west, and I know they call it Cowtown, but all I can think of is that what was that song, Big Balls in Cowtown?

SPEAKER_02:

There you go, big balls in Cowtown.

SPEAKER_05:

Much love, brother. Yes, sir, man. Appreciate you guys. Much love for sure. Thank you, man.

SPEAKER_06:

It's always fun, man. So until next week, when MA returns, he may make a random appearance on on Twitter or something. I don't know. He's everywhere, he's got all these responsibilities. But on the other side of this break, man, we're gonna hear a lawyer talk about how his uh he doesn't quite appreciate Aggie fans when they're winning. We'll see another side. The bully is a cozy Austin original bar and grill that feels like home. Boulevard Bar and Grill nestled into this Northwest Hill strip mall recently celebrated two decades. The drink prices are like going back to 2004. It's where familiar faces gather and everyone knows your name. The bully family are also friends of the stories inside the Man Cape Podcast. Boulevard Barn Grill on Far West Boulevard in Northwest Austin. Stevie Lee, we're we're we're we're little. Little. There we go. Hey Mason Shipley, he's a natural front of the camera. Had a couple of big kicks against OU up in Dallas. That's the hard grove roofing NIL partner, fine American from Liberty Hill, Texas. And speaking of Liberty Hill, they were the they had a big win recently, but we I've been looking over at my ATX high school football teams of the week. I thought I they won it one week, but they haven't. I have yet to decide which high school football program in the Austin area will be the team of the week. Um for week seven, it's it's difficult, but we'll have that out either probably tomorrow morning, being Tuesday morning. All right, so TikTok in the man cave, uh, attorney Dan Cogdell, uh veteran lawyer. Go visit their their Instagram uh uh page or on social media. He he talks about cases and is use some humor, but he used some humor about dealing with Aggie fans, basically saying they're insufferable when they're winning as they have been here recently. This is absolutely hilarious.

SPEAKER_03:

But there is nothing more insufferable than an Aggie team on a win streak. I mean, I went to eat Mexican food, they they beat Notre Dame, which was a good win for them the other night. You would have thought they won the fucking national championship. I mean, every other person in there was whoop, whoop, uh maroon, and uh my god. Uh you know, I I if they're not playing UT, I generally wish them well, but my God, they're obnoxious when they win.

SPEAKER_02:

Listen, he's a hundred percent correct, man. And the same goes for those Sooner fans, too. Obnoxious, mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06:

Yep, yeah. Every fan base has their obnoxious uh fans, but I will agree that when the Aggies are winning, and they're good. Hey, they're don't take anything away.

SPEAKER_02:

They are good.

SPEAKER_06:

Like Yelko's Aggies are legit. I mean, who knows? They could be playing for the national title this year. We don't know, but they're that good. I think Elko's doing a great job, but we're only a little bit halfway through the season, but uh that was hilarious, insufferable. That's one of my favorite words to describe certain people after certain things happen.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey Ben, tell me something good, Stevie Liz.

SPEAKER_06:

We wrap up this episode.

SPEAKER_02:

Short and sweet. Short and sweet. Yes, we beat OU. Okay, good night. Okay, bye. We beat OU, man. Um it was um we needed something to get our season back on track, and uh we we went up and had a disappointing loss against uh Florida, but we came out and played very, very well, and I was really proud of the defense. We beat OU. That's something good, man.

SPEAKER_06:

Uh much love for that, bro. That's that's perfect. And I I will say something good, man. It's uh one of those weekends or one of those days of the year. You go to the Texas State Fair, oh my god, the food. I mean, and and ironically, or coincidentally, I didn't bring my 10 milligram uh uh cholesterol pill with me uh to Dallas. I did, and I was eating all that food in Dallas. But I the beauty is you ever you're reunited with all your people in Dallas. You you have a certain routine. I was with Brian Mays and David Bowers. First thing we did when we got in, we had an Amish donut.

SPEAKER_02:

Amish donut.

SPEAKER_06:

Freshly fried. It's just dripping. Got it on my pants or my shorts, my short pants, uh all over my fingers. Uh, but I will say, then the corny dog, you know, wax cup beer at 10 o'clock in the morning. It's the breakfast of champions for everybody. And we gotta settle the debate, man. I I no offense to you catch up eaters. I love ketchup on other things, but a corn dog.

SPEAKER_02:

Mustard.

SPEAKER_06:

It's gotta be mustard.

SPEAKER_02:

It's gotta be mustard.

SPEAKER_06:

I mean, check out this picture. You know, it's oozy. I put a little too much. It looks a bit exaggerated, but that's I did I got a little carried away with it. And there was also a yellow stain on my shirt from it. It's beautiful. Corn dogs, Fletcher's corn dogs with a lot of mustard. Much love to Danny Davis. He loves ketchup. I'm not judging him, he loves it. Everybody has their thing, and some people do both. You can do it at the Texas State Fair, but don't let me see you eating fried mayo maze. Yep. Hey, for the city of Shreeport, Louisiana, yeah, Stevie Lee's hometown and the hometown where Hardgrove Roofing is based out of, and to my beautiful college town of Macadoches, Texas, my hometown, and to each of you watching and listening, much love to you, and to everybody who's a part of the stories inside the man cave. And to the OG Man Cave boys, that means Harbow Heart, Big Mike, and Nico Small. What do we tell him, Stevie Lee?

SPEAKER_02:

We have