00:00We're going to do Prouder in this Funky Buddha Happy Hour.
00:05We're going to turn headlines into a conversation with Joe Zagacki,
00:08and it's got to be rapid fire because we're running so far behind
00:11because we had the most idiotic conversation that's ever been had on sports radio.
00:16Yet Solana refuses to back off his position, which I admire in some weird way.
00:22It's weird.
00:24Some weird way.
00:24I actually find it sexy.
00:27Take it to the thread.
00:30So 5 o'clock hours, the Funky Buddha Happy Hour,
00:33and headlines are brought to you by Darrell Hyundai,
00:37the number one Hyundai store in the nation, just went full beast mode.
00:40Darrell Hyundai, where the deals are monstrous and the prices don't survive.
00:43No one sells for less.
00:45No one.
00:45It is final, by the way.
00:46Liverpool beats Newcastle 3-2.
00:50Our headlines for the 5 o'clock Funky Buddha Happy Hour will be Joe Zagacki
00:54talking about the Miami Hurricanes because they play Notre Dame on Sunday,
00:57and he's on the Toyota of Hollywood Hotline.
01:00Before we talk football, I remind you,
01:01the best place to get geared up with Canes merch for the season is Caneswear
01:05in Davie or online at caneswear.com.
01:09Joe, I'm guessing, Joe, the voice of the Miami Hurricanes,
01:12will be on the call Sunday night right here on 104.3 FM, WQAM.
01:17Canes in Notre Dame from Hard Rock Stadium.
01:19You didn't hear the conversation that we had in the 4 o'clock hour
01:22when you were supposed to be on with us, did you?
01:25I heard enough that I need a funky Buddha Floridian, please.
01:30Pop him one.
01:31Do you remember the hurricane season a few seasons ago
01:34where they had a bad field goal kicker?
01:36It was the worst season ever because of that.
01:38Yeah, I couldn't make a field goal.
01:39I mean, I almost went out there and tried to kick for them.
01:43One year they couldn't make a field goal.
01:44One year they couldn't punt.
01:48Well, Solano would suggest that you could actually replace
01:51Jason Sanders on the Dolphins because they're a dime a dozen.
01:54How's your leg, Joe?
01:56Not if it's advanced age.
01:58I'm sorry.
01:58I'm afraid that I put a groin muscle.
02:00I like that.
02:01You thought maybe at an earlier age you could have, Joe?
02:05I love the phrase advanced age.
02:09I love that.
02:10That's pretty nice.
02:11Sounds sexy.
02:11So, tell us, Joe, because we're going to go rapid fire here.
02:16How does UM beat Notre Dame Sunday night, in your opinion?
02:21Yeah, it's going to be a great challenge.
02:22They beat them.
02:23Number one, Notre Dame is not going to go away from a pretty simple game plan
02:27running the football.
02:28I do believe Notre Dame will play both quarterbacks
02:31because their quarterback run game was so effective a year ago.
02:36I just can't imagine they're going to get away from that.
02:38So, Miami has to hold up physically against the Notre Dame run game,
02:43two great running backs.
02:45They've got to protect Carson Beck.
02:46He's got to be a great player, probably the best player on the field.
02:50He's got to play a tremendous game.
02:53Notre Dame has very, very good edge rushers.
02:57Miami has to block those guys so Beck can work the ball down the field.
03:01And, Joe, the game plan, like you said, I'm with you.
03:03Notre Dame's going to run the hell out of the ball.
03:05What about the Canes because you bring up Carson Beck, Notre Dame runs it 40 times.
03:09Do the Canes, like, match that physicality offensively,
03:13or do they open it up and let Carson Beck win the game?
03:17Well, I think they've got to be able to run the ball against the Irish
03:20and match that physicality.
03:22Notre Dame has put a lot of their assets into their defensive line recruiting,
03:27so I think Notre Dame feels like they can wear Miami down,
03:31wear Miami's offensive line down.
03:32But Fletcher, you know, he's a junior.
03:35I thought this year perhaps the offense would revolve around him.
03:38He's going to have to have a big game.
03:40And then, you know, Beck's got to hit those plays down the field.
03:43But they've got two great corners.
03:46Moore and Gray are outstanding cornerbacks.
03:49Under Al Golden, they were very sophisticated with their coverage.
03:54Beck, one of his strengths is reading defenses.
03:57So he's got to get the ball down the field, Channing, but Miami has to have a run again.
04:02It can't just be a drop back, throw the ball 45 times a game, or 45 times in that game.
04:09He's going to have to make some connections to his tight end and to his wide receivers,
04:13and that's a whole new crew going against two really, really, well, maybe more than two.
04:19Their entire secondary is experienced and very good.
04:22Speaking of that crew, Joe, we talked to you about a month ago, and you had mentioned it would have to be by committee.
04:29And I'm speaking specifically about these wide receivers.
04:32I know, you know, C.J. Daniels, Tony Johnson, and obviously Joe Trader are big-time guys.
04:39Like, who are you expecting to play a big role with Carson Beck?
04:43Because, as you mentioned, it's a new crew.
04:44But, man, there's a ton of different playmakers that the Canes brought in and already had on their roster.
04:49I think the top three or four targets will be C.J. Daniels, Keelan Marion transferring from BYU, Malachi Tony, and the tight end Lofton.
05:05I think he's going to work those four guys.
05:08If they get something from the receiver position after that, it will be Gravy.
05:13The kid, Moore, is 6'4".
05:16I don't know if he's ready for this game or not, considering he's a true freshman.
05:21But I believe in this game, Beck is going to work to his most experienced players, and that's going to be Marion, Daniels, Lofton, and then the guy that's had a really good training camp.
05:35I think he's going to make plays.
05:37I believe he'll be able to make plays against Notre Dame.
05:39It will be Malachi Tony.
05:41And, Joe, is this team we're going to see, you know, the first time, and, you know, we know the name.
05:46We've seen some players.
05:47But is this going to look like the most Mario Cristobal team, if you know what I'm saying, the big, the strong?
05:53You know, I heard their linebackers have got some height across the board.
05:56I talk to Vic Munez a lot.
05:57Is this going to look like the team that Mario's been trying to put together?
06:01Yeah, Channing, I would say this.
06:03A couple years ago, I told you this before, Miami played Alabama.
06:07I think Alabama probably looked at Miami and said, there's nobody on that team that can play for us.
06:12Notre Dame's going to look at Miami and say, we would have room for Miami players on our team.
06:17Conversely, Miami can look at Notre Dame and say, out of their top 22, there's probably nobody that we're not taking.
06:23But, yes, this is the most, probably the most Mario team, no, without question, the most Mario team that he's had in his four years.
06:32They are big on the offensive line.
06:35They are big at linebacker.
06:37They've got length and speed in the secondary.
06:43They've got physicality of running back.
06:45Hell, the quarterback is 6'5".
06:47So I think wherever you look at Miami, they are way improved over what they were five years ago.
06:54And to directly answer your question, yes, this is the kind of team that he wants to put on the field.
07:00Joe, you sound high on this team.
07:02I always read between the lines with you.
07:05And sometimes I can tell when you're high on a team, high on a quarterback, not so much.
07:10And it sounds to me like you think this team is legit.
07:15Yeah, I do.
07:15I think they've got a chance.
07:17You know, you always have to factor in injuries and all that stuff.
07:22Close games and, you know, the bounce of the ball.
07:25But this is probably the most complete roster they've had in a long time.
07:30And again, I think if you compare Miami to Notre Dame, this Irish team played for the national championship last year, there's not a tremendous drop-off from the team they put out there against Ohio State to what they're putting out against Miami.
07:45They've done a great job of recruiting.
07:48I mean, they look like they went to the football catalog.
07:51Every player looks like he's supposed to look.
07:54That being said, if I say I give the Notre Dame roster a slight edge over Miami, I don't think Miami's that far behind.
08:02Notre Dame's picked to win the game, but two to five points might be accurate.
08:08Doesn't mean they're going to win the game, but it does mean that Miami has closed the gap with their roster, I think, against the rest of the country.
08:17Joe, last year's basketball season was hilarious when we brought you on.
08:21Were they 7-20-something?
08:24They just need to stay in front of – defensively, they need to stay in front of the offense.
08:29And I know what you're talking about, Hawk.
08:32But back to the game Sunday, Joe.
08:36Should you put too much on this game?
08:39Like, now we're back.
08:40You know, y'all say the we're back thing, or now we can compete because they –
08:43you know, Notre Dame, speaking to them, they went to the national championship last year.
08:46Is there any – is there putting too much on the outcome of the game on Sunday?
08:53Probably not.
08:54I mean, look, it's the University of Miami.
08:56Everybody's going to – everybody's going to measure this game, see where this program is.
09:03And if they win the game, you know, people are going to be delirious.
09:08And they'll probably – I think, you know, I think if Miami wins, it'll be typical.
09:14They will – the following weekend, the ratings probably be a little bit overrated.
09:19They'll probably move in to the top five.
09:21And if they lose, they'll probably drop out of the top 20.
09:26Miami seems to have more swings than any team in the country.
09:32So, when the game is over, how do they get judged?
09:38People will probably put too much into it.
09:40Yeah, I'll probably talk myself into that.
09:42And I think if they don't win, they will still have an opportunity to have a great season.
09:48And if they do win, then they have to revert back to the cliche of, well, it's only one game.
09:53Because we've been down that path before where they have won big games,
09:57and then it didn't hold up the rest of the year, didn't become quite as meaningful
10:02because they didn't play as well the rest of the year.
10:05So, I guess the answer would be they have to have some perspective when the game is over, win or lose.
10:11Yeah, let me tell you who's not going to have some perspective if they win.
10:15It's this guy right here.
10:16I'm not – I don't care about just one game.
10:18You've got to do it the rest of the season.
10:20Oh, give me the opportunity to celebrate a win over Notre Dame opening game.
10:25You are going to see – I mean, if you thought the 4 o'clock hour annoyed you,
10:30wait until you hear from me a week from today.
10:33Hey, holy mackerel, I'm going all out.
10:36I'd like to be in that position to be able to celebrate like a wild man after Notre Dame, yeah.
10:41It would be great, man.
10:43You going to give DBJ free reign to do all our crazy lines this season?
10:47Yeah, I just decided that I'm getting out of the way.
10:52Sometimes you try to cajole him a little bit.
10:55No, I've tried everything imaginable.
10:57It's best when I'm just out of the way.
10:59All right.
10:59We are going to load him up on Thursday.
11:02I mean, we are going to give him some crazy-ass bleep.
11:07We're going to make him talk like a leprechaun or –
11:10We're thinking about having him sing old Danny Boy.
11:12Do you think if he sings old Danny Boy, is that disrespectful?
11:17Well, if Miami's winning and it's late in the game, isn't that like a funeral song?
11:22Yeah.
11:22Yeah, so it would be appropriate, right?
11:25That would be fine.
11:26Might you join in with them?
11:27Uh-oh.
11:28Oh, Danny Boy.
11:29Those are the marching orders.
11:32I follow the marching orders from you two guys.
11:35Those are the marching orders.
11:35If you say I need to join in, I join in.
11:38Yes.
11:39All right.
11:39Fair enough.
11:40Joe Zagacki will be on the call Sunday night here on 104.3 FM, WQAM.
11:47You know how good your broadcast is going to sound in FM, Joe?
11:49Yeah, I think it's going to be – you know, the sound is going to be – I don't know
11:53how we're going to sound, but I know the sound is good.
11:56Hopefully, we can match that.
11:57I will say, Vic has put a ton of work into our pregame, and we've got a lot of production.
12:03I've heard most of it.
12:05Listen to it all.
12:06It sounds fantastic.
12:07I cannot wait to listen on Sunday.
12:10All right.
12:10Well, 3 o'clock, we kick it all off, so I hope everybody joins us.
12:14By the way, if you want a traffic report, I'm going to tell you right now, very congested
12:19on the Palmetto.
12:20Oh, all right.
12:21We appreciate that.
12:22You're coming back from campus?
12:24I am.
12:25On my way back.
12:26All right.
12:27Safe travels, Joe.
12:28We appreciate your time.
12:29Have a good call on Sunday night.
12:31All right, fellas.
12:32Take care.
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