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00:00Fabulous to see our buddy, the legendary Coach Terry Bowden back on with us from the Bowden Blitz on Coast to Coast.
00:07Coach, Happy New Year. Great to see you. Health and happiness to you and yours in 2025.
00:13We were just talking about tight ends, Coach, and I just want to get your reaction first to this kid, Warren.
00:20I know they didn't win the game, but when I was watching him play, you know, in the games with SMU, the games with Boise,
00:28I mean, this guy, he's got a future at the next level. The way this guy plays and how big he is, sturdy.
00:36He's involved in so many different aspects of their offense plays. He can do it all. He can run the ball.
00:42He can catch the ball. He's dependable in a fourth down and one. You can draw him a slant and he gets the yard because he's such a monster.
00:50What did you think of watching that guy turn into a superstar?
00:54When my life was at Bowers for Georgia last year, he's a difference maker. You know what?
00:58When you've got a great tight end, your offense can be balanced. He can block, but more likely he can catch it. He can run with it.
01:05When you're a great, great, great quarter, a great tight end is going to be a short yardage or a guy closer to the quarterback.
01:11It's going to be your high percentage throws. And when you get a great one like that, you can hit him on the deep flag.
01:16Just, I see it coming back now, the teams that know how to utilize that tight end.
01:21Where's Penn State? You remember Ted Kowalik? You that old?
01:24Sure.
01:25That's way back, but the tight end has always been pretty important. Warren's a special player and he'll be a special player in the next level.
01:33What did you think of Bowers going to the NFL and being an all pro in his first year?
01:38Well, it's kind of like Warren. When you watch him in college and they just are so much better than everybody else.
01:46You know that just this guy's going to be something special. Bowers, I didn't realize he was going to make that much of an impact so fast.
01:52But with the way Warren plays, he's at least as athletic or more athletic. And so you've got to think that he has a great future after college.
02:00So I'm sitting here watching this game last night and Riley Leonard goes down and the kid Angeli comes in.
02:06And he played up here in North Jersey at Bergen Catholic. And I had seen him play high school football.
02:12I've seen him play Bosco. I've seen him play St. Joe's. I've seen him in big Thanksgiving games.
02:18And there he was coming into that game and knocking six of seven with immediacy and getting him into field goal position to get that three before the half.
02:28What a difference that kid meant to that win last night. It wasn't all about Freeman. It wasn't all about Leonard.
02:36It wasn't all about this. That kid had a couple of paragraphs in the story. He deserved them.
02:42Well, you know, and think about it now. I mean, that the all the momentum was on the other team.
02:48They were down 10 to nothing and they didn't look very good. Notre Dame, Penn State was had everything going for him.
02:55He comes in great drive, leads him to a field goal to get out of that dead gum zero.
03:00They come back the next half, come with a score. All of a sudden, it's 10 to 10, 17 to 10.
03:05Now, I know the other quarterback, Riley, got back in the game and did a great job of finishing,
03:10but they couldn't have done it without that backup quarterback and how he kept them in the game and even moving toward a victory.
03:16What do you think this guy, Marcus Freeman, what he's accomplished in three years in South Bend?
03:22I mean, he's done a great job. You listen to him on the side, watch him on the sideline.
03:27It's almost like he's young enough where he's carefree. He's relaxed.
03:31I remember when I was at Auburn, 36-year-old head coach. You don't even know all the bad things that can happen.
03:37You just get your motivation. I think he's been a great inspiration to this team.
03:41I think they feed off of him. There's a great relationship. I think it's a special.
03:47I think this team right here, Notre Dame, I was never picking them in the finals.
03:51The two teams playing tonight were two of my top four, but Notre Dame has something special.
03:56They've got a quarterback that has it. My dad used to say, I don't know what it is about him, but he's got it.
04:01I think their quarterback has it. He makes the right play at the right time to give them something.
04:07Then their team has great chemistry this year.
04:10Don't know how the other two teams tonight are going to be the ones with the most talent,
04:14but Notre Dame now has got themselves in a position where I say, you know what, this team finds a way to win.
04:20Coach, you're a guy that's been in a million big games.
04:25What's it like having that stress in your life that they put you under?
04:33The media, the fans, everything that piles on a guy through the years.
04:39How did you deal with the stress of it all? Because I would have keeled over.
04:43I would have been tucked in a ball like I was in my mother's womb with a bottle of scotch.
04:49How did you deal with it?
04:51Nothing worse than a Saturday night game where you're in that hotel room all day.
04:55That's where the distress comes.
04:58Now, once the ball's kicked off, you're working too hard to have any of it.
05:02There's no stress during the game. It's just there's too much to do.
05:05Of course, I call plays, and some of these guys are involved with their scheme.
05:09It's all before the game and preparation of the game.
05:12You know who the pressure's on right now? Ryan Day.
05:16At Ohio State, there's only two goals.
05:18You win the conference, you beat Michigan, or you win the national championship.
05:22He's like 0-4 right now versus Michigan, and there shouldn't be.
05:25I'm not sure it's legitimate, but they've been riding him pretty hard.
05:29He needs a win probably more than anybody out there just because of how much they've lost
05:33to Michigan the last four seasons.
05:36They beat Oregon's ass in the Rose Bowl and look fantastic,
05:40and that isn't enough for those fans.
05:43He either gets it done tonight and on the 20th, or they want to ride him out of town.
05:48You know what? I think somewhere along the line, he's going to have to make a decision.
05:53I can probably make a lot of money in a lot of places,
05:56and if he goes 0-5 next year, they will ride him out of town.
05:59I just think he's done a great job as a coach.
06:03They've won a ton of football games, but he's got that John Cooper kind of thing
06:07going on up there where no matter what you do, you better beat Michigan.
06:11So the national championship is next.
06:13I think he's got the most talent in the country along with Texas,
06:16but this game is awful big for him.
06:19Have you ever seen anything like this kid, Smith, and Ibuka?
06:23You know, Ibuka's finding all this glory because of I think Smith's the problem,
06:28and I think that it's leading to Ibuka's even more success for him
06:33because of the doubles and the safeties having to cover Smith.
06:37They're not worried about Ibuka. They're worried about Smith.
06:40How great is that offense and those receivers?
06:43Well, that's why I don't think – this is an over game to me.
06:45I don't care how good the other players are.
06:49A wide receiver that's great, that's a one-on-one situation.
06:52You only got to beat one guy, and there's good receivers on both teams.
06:57It's going to be an over, I think, because of big plays,
06:59and these are two top-five defenses, but Jeremiah Smith, I mean,
07:04I think back to Peter Warrick when my dad had Peter Warrick.
07:07We got Ryan Williams at Alabama, but he's kind of taken it to another level
07:11for a freshman, you know, and so he's something special.
07:14Ibuka is a great one too, Ibuka, because of the way he plays.
07:19They've got two great wide receivers that are going to be big-time NFL players.
07:23That's why you've got to pick the over because I don't care how good you play
07:27defensively, you've got to stop those wide receivers from making one-on-one plays.
07:31Remember, to run the ball big and have explosive runs,
07:34you need two great blocks and about five good ones.
07:37You've got to be one-on-one to have a great receiver play.
07:40You just need good one-on-one, get rid of the ball quick, throw it high,
07:43and that's kind of what you can do with those two receivers.
07:45If you had to face an offense like this, my theory earlier on the show was
07:50you've got to keep the ball.
07:52You have got to control the ball in time of possession.
07:55You keep letting them come out and have four plays every five minutes,
07:58they're going to beat you.
08:00You've got to keep them off the field.
08:02That's why a key to this game is Texas being able to run the football.
08:06Texas has had two losses to Georgia, both games.
08:09I don't think they ran over 50 yards.
08:11Then last game against Arizona State, it took overtime, two overtimes,
08:16and they had like 58.
08:17They didn't have 100 yards rushing against them.
08:19If Texas cannot run the football, they have no way to win this game
08:23as a one-dimensional team.
08:25Coach, always remember you're the man.
08:27That was great.
08:28I always love talking football with you.
08:30Enjoy the game tonight in Arlington at Jerry's World.
08:34Texas getting up to 6.5 now against Ohio State.
08:37Always good to see you again, Coach.
08:39Happy New Year.
08:40All the best to you and your family, buddy.