00:00So let's talk about it, John.
00:03What are the chances when you lose the most offensive, I don't know,
00:09the most exciting offensive player you've had in a minute,
00:12when you lose Malachi Tony,
00:15does it dramatically change what's going to be the outcome tomorrow night?
00:19Dramatically? No.
00:22Do you not know who we are?
00:24We're the mother bleeping you.
00:26We're Miami.
00:27We're coming in here to take your kids,
00:29maybe take your wife,
00:30although maybe some of the women in South Bend, not so much.
00:33We don't want them.
00:35We're coming here to win this game.
00:36I get it.
00:37Look, I joke when I say that Malachi Tony is the best player Miami's had,
00:40maybe in the history of the program.
00:42He's definitely the best player they've had in 20 plus years.
00:46But you also have recruited and transfer portaled at such a high level.
00:51You have other guys that are here to make plays.
00:53Cooper Parkate was an 1,100-yard receiver a year ago at Duke.
00:57You have Dre Jacobs, who put up big numbers at South Carolina as a transfer portal kid.
01:03Dalen Upshaw, a big-time recruit that you bring in there.
01:07Elijah Lofton, a five-star.
01:08You've got running backs.
01:09Do people forget what Mark Fletcher did in the postseason last year when he literally put the program on his
01:15back and said,
01:15follow me, dude, we're coming here to win this game, period.
01:19It sucks not having Malachi Tony.
01:21I'll say this.
01:22I don't think we can win a national title without Malachi Tony.
01:25The good thing, it looks like he'll be back for the postseason.
01:28But, John, to that point, you're winning 38-35 games.
01:33And that's – what is it?
01:35In Miami, they have the best-scoring offense in college football or something, 40-40 a game.
01:40It can't be that anymore, right?
01:42I'm with you.
01:42They have Lofton.
01:43We were talking about earlier.
01:44They have Lofton.
01:44They have Fletcher, you know, Barkade out there.
01:46It can't be a 40-point race without Malachi.
01:49It's going to be more in them 20 range, isn't it?
01:52It's got to be, Channing.
01:53And this is where, you know, guys are going to have to take accountability for everything.
01:57Look, I saw Corey Heatherman's press conference on Wednesday.
02:00He was pissed.
02:01He basically called out everybody without calling out everybody, saying,
02:05we're not taking the right angles.
02:06We're not setting edges.
02:07We're not being physical enough.
02:08We've got guys on the back end that aren't getting guys to the ground.
02:11You have to step up.
02:13And, Channing, you played the game for a long time.
02:15You knew what it was all about.
02:16There are times when a superstar goes out that other folks rally and elevate their game.
02:22Let's see if Miami's got the guys that we think they have.
02:25If the whole mantra of who they're supposed to be can be, let's elevate our game.
02:30Marquise Lightfoot, go out and keep doing what you're doing.
02:32Damon Wilson, you were paid a bunch of money to get here.
02:34I need you to put CJ Carr's ass on the ground.
02:37Ahmad Mote and Justin Scott, you guys are supposed to be first-round talent at D-Tackle.
02:41I need those guys to step up.
02:43And I do think you're going to see a little change in philosophy with Shannon Dawson.
02:47Slow things down a little bit.
02:49Lean a little more on the run.
02:50Time of possession the game.
02:52We don't need it to be 49-45.
02:54Let's get the games back into the 20s and play them the way we did last year.
02:57Yeah, and that's what I was going to ask you, John, because we've been talking about it.
03:00Clearly, they're going to lean on the run.
03:02I've been drawing similarities to the college football playoff.
03:04Ohio State, Texas A&M, those two games where it was basically don't make any mistakes.
03:09Let's go beat them up front and just hand the ball off to your bell cow and let them go
03:13win you football games.
03:14But does it concern you a little bit that we've seen Shannon Dawson and Cristobal be a little bit more
03:20aggressive this year?
03:21We've seen them maybe not be as conservative as they were last year at times, which drove us crazy.
03:28Does it concern you that they're going to approach it this Saturday or tomorrow like that as well,
03:33which could become a bit controversial if you're the number one team in the nation
03:39and you're supposed to be going for it no matter what?
03:42As we saw this week in the country, conservative doesn't really win anymore, does it?
03:45So you want to be a little more liberal with your play calling and let this thing fly.
03:52Solana, to your point, we got on Shannon Dawson a lot last year when you went A-gap for life,
03:57is what everybody liked to call it, when you were just running the ball up the middle
04:01and you're going, what the hell's going on?
04:02The difference between this year and last year, and I do agree with a lot,
04:05I think they're going to change the game plan some.
04:08The difference in this year and last year is Darian Mensah and Carson Beck.
04:11I think we all know there were times last year Carson Beck probably wasn't 100%.
04:15The arm strength wasn't always there.
04:17He turned it over four times against Louisville.
04:19He had a couple of bad interceptions against SMU.
04:22We've only turned the ball over four times all year.
04:25One of them was a garbage time interception when Luke Nickel was in
04:29and got hit kind of late in the game.
04:31We had the other one that was a fumble return for a touchdown against FAMU.
04:34So we've really only had two real-time turnovers, and I knock on wood when I say that.
04:39So while I think they'll get a little more conservative,
04:43I think they will still allow their playmakers to make plays.
04:46It's just a matter of now who steps up and does that.
04:49Samorian Wingo, we've heard about him a ton.
04:51I know he's a freshman.
04:52Guess what?
04:53Malachi Tony was a freshman last year.
04:55We keep hearing about JV and Mallory.
04:57Where's Gerard Pringle been?
04:59Can we find a package for him this weekend where,
05:01hey, instead of the three-by-one looks where it was Malley catching the screen,
05:05how about being number zero on Gerard Pringle, who's got breakaway speed as well?
05:09So I think they'll dumb it down a little bit, but I do think Shannon Dawson's still going to be
05:13aggressive as well.
05:14Here's the only pushback that I would give you guys.
05:17You can come in thinking, yeah, we'll be more conservative.
05:19What happens if you're down 14-0, 17-0 quickly?
05:23Because Crowder and I talked about it yesterday.
05:25You know, Malachi Tony, he's your bailout guy.
05:28When you are losing, if there's a deficit, it's just get the ball in his hands.
05:32He's going to make something happen.
05:34You don't have a bailout guy right now.
05:36You have good offensive weapons.
05:37There's no question, you don't have a Malachi Tony.
05:40So what happens if you go down two touchdowns early?
05:43You got to trust the guy back there wearing number 10.
05:46There might be a top 10 pick of the NFL draft.
05:48You just have to trust him.
05:50The only time this year that I've seen him go into a shell was at Wake Forest.
05:54And that's when Malley got hurt.
05:56He was out.
05:56But remember, you had the terrible injury to Marty Brown.
05:59Mark Fletcher was out of the game.
06:01The offensive line was not playing well.
06:03And I think that when they were like, dude, we just need to get like 12 more minutes of football
06:06and get the hell out of Dodge.
06:08I think if you were to get down 14-0, they just go back and continue to do what they're
06:13doing.
06:14We've had people open all over the field.
06:16Cooper Barkate's been open all over the field.
06:18Dalen Upshaw's been open.
06:20But to your point, Hawk, with the bailout, it's not just being down, getting the ball to Malachi Tony.
06:25I mean, what happens when it's third and four?
06:27And you know he's going to win on a whip route or he's going to win on an option route.
06:31And him and Darian are in such good accord.
06:34Who is going to be that guy?
06:36Somebody on the outside.
06:37And I think it's got to be Cooper Barkate because you go back.
06:41They had that connection last year at Duke.
06:43He threw the ball to Cooper anytime he needed to when he was at Duke.
06:47So I think it's got to be him.
06:48You brought him with him.
06:50Let's do it.
06:51He did it against Clemson when Malachi got clamped up a little bit.
06:53Let's see him do it again against these little Irish dorks that are running around.
06:58Talk about the Irish dorks.
07:00I haven't watched much Irish dorks this year, but I did watch the second half of that BYU game.
07:05And C.J. Carr's numbers aren't gaudy, but he throws some BBs now.
07:11Should we be concerned?
07:12You see, it's still we, John, because we're still number one in the nation.
07:16Should we be concerned with C.J. Carr?
07:17Because I think Darian Mensah is the bigger name, and I think he's the better quarterback.
07:21But I don't want people to overlook C.J. Carr.
07:24Until our defensive backfield steps up in play, yeah, we should be concerned about C.J. Carr.
07:28Now, I don't think they have great weaponry on the outside.
07:32Jordan Faison is okay.
07:34Great house is okay.
07:36They've got some big play capability, but they're not exactly –
07:39like I think the kids for North Carolina, their tight end and the receiver,
07:42were better than what we'll see this week.
07:44But Carr is a guy that's going to be a top 15 pick.
07:46I mean, he's big, he's strong, he can throw the football.
07:49The one indictment chanting against C.J. Carr, look at his numbers against good competition.
07:55Every time they've played a ranked team, he's pretty average.
07:58He's 210 yards, two touchdowns, one interception.
08:02I've never seen it.
08:03I hope I don't see it tomorrow at 730.
08:05C.J. Carr put a team on his back and say, I got you.
08:08I'm going to carry it.
08:09They want to run the football.
08:10They want to play play-action pass.
08:12They want to take their shots when they are there.
08:14And I think that kind of plays into our hands.
08:17I want somebody that's going to hand the ball off 35 times.
08:20Our run defense is fine.
08:21He does scare me, though, a little bit because Carr, again, he's a guy that's going to be in the
08:25NFL.
08:26And Lord knows we've made a couple of really, really average quarterbacks look like Heisman winners here in the last
08:31couple of weeks.
08:32Hey, John, did you feel any way about Marcus Freeman yesterday?
08:34I forget what show he was on, but essentially following the news that Malachi is going to get surgery, still
08:41saying, yeah, we'll prepare for him either way.
08:44Like, we'll have a game plan set up if he plays or if he doesn't play.
08:47I would imagine that pissed you off.
08:48But it's so idiotic.
08:51And I've seen more of their podcasters saying stuff like that.
08:54I wouldn't put it past Miami.
08:56Okay, look, if you would have had him on the injury report is questionable with an ankle injury.
09:01Yeah, you're going to prepare for Malachi.
09:03The kid had surgery.
09:06He had a knife cut into his leg.
09:08And I guess he did the tightrope surgery where they wrapped something around his leg to help it heal.
09:14Miami, as dirty as we have been perceived for 50 years, has never faked an injury.
09:21I've never seen them say, this guy's out.
09:23And then he has his Willis Reed moment where he comes limping onto the floor and he's going to play.
09:28It's idiotic anybody that says Malachi Tony may play.
09:30Because trust me, if there was any chance that the kid could play, they would have had to keep him
09:36out of the game for detriment to himself.
09:38He's the type of kid that would have been out there and been like, I'll miss Duke and I'll miss
09:41Boston College, but I'm going to play against Notre Dame.
09:44Like, dude, Marcus, go get another haircut.
09:46Get some more Beijing lined up on that line up front.
09:49I mean, good Lord, does he use like straight up spray paint?
09:52Like, come on, bro.
09:54That's his hair color, John.
09:55Leave it alone.
09:56Those booze are working.
09:58He's got the Carlos Boozer.
09:59But I would not put something like that past Nick Saban or Bill Belichick in their prime.
10:06That's not Mario's style.
10:09Mario's like, hey, I'll beat you in the trenches.
10:11I don't need the nonsense and the hoo-ha.
10:14Like, I'll beat you in the trenches and we'll do this like men.
10:18We all know Mario.
10:19The last thing Mario is trying to do on a week like this is play gimmick games.
10:24He's not trying, hey, my guy, let's fake an injury.
10:27Like, come on, man.
10:28It's not April Fool's.
10:29And even if it was, Mario ain't doing that.
10:32Mario runs the ball when he should be kneeling on it.
10:34Like, he's just a football guy.
10:36I will say, though, against North Carolina, our fans got really mad.
10:39He played the clock perfectly.
10:41If he takes a knee, we would have had to punt the ball.
10:44Like, he played that absolute, like, I can't believe his math is that good now, but he's
10:48got that Miami degree working.
10:49Hawk, you know all about that.
10:51It was the, he actually out-mathed us.
10:54He was like Matt Damon in Goodwill Hunting when you don't think the janitor is going to be
10:58able to solve the equation.
10:59And we're like, no, that can't be right.
11:01And Mario actually nailed that.
11:03Real quick, we're out of time, John.
11:04And I want you to enjoy everything that South Bend has to offer.
11:08I'm in Chicago right now, so I'm not in South Bend, thank God.
11:12Much better.
11:13Nothing to offer.
11:14But real quick, there's been a percolating conversation down here about the Dolphins
11:19going after Lamar Jackson next season.
11:21And I'm curious where you would stand on that.
11:23Yes.
11:24I mean, Lamar Jackson, when healthy, and that's obviously the big caveat, is still a top three
11:29or four quarterback in the NFL.
11:31They should have gone after him years ago when him and his mom were negotiating a deal with
11:35Baltimore.
11:36And I would have tried to figure out a way to get him.
11:38The only concern is what is the money that he's going to want?
11:41Because remember, he's got like 80 million against the cap next year, which obviously I
11:47think 50 of it is in salary.
11:49They're going to have to move that around.
11:51And how long can you afford to pay him?
11:54Because Lamar Jackson is 60 plus million dollars a year.
11:57He's 29 years old.
11:59He's for a second year in a row going to miss a good portion of the season.
12:03Can you afford to give him two or four for 240 or five for 300?
12:08Because that's the kind of money he's going to want.
12:10And then can you make that work all the way to 34, 35 years old?
12:14But I'd still go get him because Malik Willis or whoever the hell you draft at the top.
12:18No, thanks.
12:19John Michaels, follow him on social media.
12:21John Michaels, you go enjoy the game tomorrow night.
12:24Bring back a victory.
12:25I'm going to do my best.
12:26If they need my damn ankle, they could have it.
12:28There you go.
12:29John Michaels.
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