Hour: Phil Kornblut (Sports Talk Media Network) | NFL Weekend picks | Daily Wires

Cole Bryson (0:11)

Well, a big weekend in State, in the Palmetto State.

We normally talk to Smitty of Sports Talk Media Network every Friday at 4 p.m., but we're going to keep it with the Sports Talk Media Network crew, as we're joined by Phil Kornblut of Sports Talk Media Network, good friend of the show. You hear him on here quite often. Phil, I've got to know off the rip here, Smitty has a great nickname with, obviously, Matt Smith being Smitty. What was your nickname growing up? I mean, what people call you Korn, is that the most common nickname for Phil Kornblut these days?

Phil Kornblut (0:50)

Well, growing up, it was more like, Hey you. Hey you, get out of here. Hey you, go take your spot on the bench. That sort of thing. That's sort of my nickname. That's rough. No, Korn is probably what it's been shortened to, you know, and that's fine. But I answer the most anything, you know.

Cole Bryson (1:12)

You know, I'm not picky.

SPEAKER_3 (1:14)

Cole also asked the question, what do we think Smitty is up to in France?

Is he getting fit for Braves? Is he eating crepes? What do you think Smitty is up to right now?

Phil Kornblut (1:25)

I think he's investigating the history of French fries and where that came from.

Why France was given that name? Why France was given the reputation for that delicious food that we eat so often here with our hamburgers and our hot dogs? You know, why did they French fry? So I'm sure that's one thing that Smitty, knowing Smitty, that's one thing he'll be looking into while he's over there.

Cole Bryson (1:50)

That's great. That's great. Well, thanks for joining us for a few minutes, man. Let's talk Clemson, South Carolina.

I want to ask you a question that Diesel asked me back in the first segment of the show. You know, Arkansas, not a great team. Georgia Tech this weekend, the Tigers opponent, not a great team. Their defense is really bad. The threat level is higher for who to be upset, South Carolina or Clemson in your mind?

Phil Kornblut (2:15)

Oh, definitely South Carolina. I mean, first of all, they're on the road and I'm actually in Arkansas or actually Oklahoma are going to be in Arkansas tomorrow.

Definitely South Carolina because, I mean, Arkansas has got a pulse. They went into Auburn and led that game and played them close.

I know there are three wins or nothing to write home about this year. You know, they beat Vanderbilt. They beat a couple of other lower level teams for their three wins. But the showing at Auburn was pretty good for them and they had a chance to beat Auburn. So Arkansas is a proud football program, as you know, and their fans support that program. It's the only game in the state, really. Now, what kind of crowd we'll have tomorrow night, you know, remains to be seen when your team is struggling like that and the weather is going to be kind of chilly. It's a night game. Then again, their fans might turn out in, you know, 65, 70,000. So this is a place where South Carolina, this state, South Carolina is not one in but three times, two times at the Razorback Stadium and one time in Little Rock. So they haven't had a whole lot of success over the years here in Arkansas, generally because Arkansas has good teams historically. This is just a bad team that they put together in this first year with their new coach. So I would put South Carolina more on the concern leader than I would with Clemson because I mean, Georgia, Texas, a complete wreck, excuse me.

But I mean, when you fire half your staff, or that's an exaggeration, but I mean, when you fire, members of your staff, early in the week of a game week, I mean, what does that tell you? And you mentioned the defenses, their offense hasn't been very good either. This just goes to show you guys, you know, people might snicker at the 7.5 million, reportedly that Mississippi State is willing to pay their quarterback. But I mean, if you don't have a quarterback in today's world, you're in a world of trouble. And I think Clemson has seen that. I think Georgia Tech was great last year. Why? They had an NFL level quarterback. They don't have that now. Just look around the landscape of college football. Look who's winning and look who's struggling.

SPEAKER_3 (4:34)

Talking to Phil Kornblut, Sports Talk Media Network. Let's talk about South Carolina's quarterback here for just a second. Let's assume that the ankle is still in rough shape.