I Hated This College Football Weekend Because the Kids Don't Matter | Ep 1234

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

There is so much NFL on ESPN right now.

Monday Night Football, plus pregame and postgame. NFL Live, NFL Primetime. Everything you need to stay on top of every game, every week.

SPEAKER_2 (0:14)

Unbelievable.

SPEAKER_1 (0:16)

And now, NFL Network is on the ESPN app. More football, more coverage, more ways to watch. Football's on, all season long, on ESPN and streaming on the ESPN app.

Jason Whitlock (0:31)

I'm sorry for being late with this. Sorry, we had to take the holiday off, but I'm back now. And man, that one second, that one second that they put back on the clock, that's what the Big Ten did to me and college football after an incomplete Hail Mary pass. One second for Bryce Underwood, one second for JJ Buchanan. And Michigan wins 13 to 12 over Western Michigan.

And in Kalamazoo, or the people in Kalamazoo visiting Ann Arbor, they called it acceptance.

I absolutely hated the start of the college football season, not because my bracket broke, not because a blue blood survived a scare, not even because Ohio State covered a 50-point spread against my Ball State Cardinals. I hated it because this weekend didn't feel like sports, didn't feel like football. It felt like a board meeting with pads on. Week one disappointed me, and the disappointment has a structure. College football showed me who it serves, and it's not the players.

SPEAKER_5 (1:44)

There's that fire. Grab your popcorn.

Jason Whitlock (1:47)

Let's start in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Western Michigan didn't sneak in to the Big House in Ann Arbor with portal mercenaries and a rented identity.

Those kids on that roster stayed. They stayed in a mid-major while the sports screamed that loyalty is for suckers. They stayed to chase a dream in a place the blue checks treat like a layover. Beating Michigan would have been a memory those young men carried for the rest of their lives. The kind of night that outlives NIL deals and coaching tours. They earned that night, then the officials stole the ending. A replay decision turned an incomplete prayer into a Michigan walk-off.

One second reappeared like a gift certificate for the brand. Underwood hit Buchanan, the Big Ten kept its hierarchy tidy, Western Michigan's miracle got reclassified as a nice try.

That part is bad, but that's not the part that disappointed me. Here's what disappointed me. It was what was said afterwards by the people that should be as outraged at more outrage than I am right now. Listen to Western Michigan head football coach, Lance Taylor.

Lance Taylor (3:08)

We came up one play short at the end. And I think that that shows you, you got to play until, you know, the final whistle until no matter what happens there at the end, we were able to defend one Hail Mary and they get the chance at two Hail Marys. No matter who deserves to win, you got to finish no matter what the circumstances are there at the end. And we had multiple chances to win the game on offense and defense. We didn't do it. So it'll be great lessons for our team that we'll grow and build on. At the end of the day, you don't always control, you know, those situations or is there a second left on the clock? We talk a lot about, you know, just respond regardless of what the circumstances are. We can't control whether there's a second left on the clock or not. It's the second attempt. He threw it towards the front of the goal line.

And, you know, the receiver went up, made a nice play, and was able to get it into the end zone. And, you know, I think that's a good lesson for our defense. We can't just box out.

Jason Whitlock (4:08)

That's Lance Taylor, the head football coach at Western Michigan, and that's a very timid response. The program that convinced those players that went 10 and 4 last year. Hey, stick around. You can chase your dreams here.

Fight for what we believe here at Western Michigan.

But Lance Taylor is not willing to fight for what they actually accomplished, a lifetime accomplishment stolen from them.

And this guy is acting like, oh, well, we'll get him next time. Are you kidding me? I've lived long enough. To see when a coach is really irritated and pissed off and disappointed and fighting for his kid's accomplishments. You know what he does? He stirs trouble. He makes sure he says something that could be played on ESPN and every media network in the land to let him know, hey man, we just got robbed and we're mad as hell. It's what was that broadcast news or whatever the famous movie? I love it. I don't know why I can't think of the name of it. But I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. I've lived long enough. I was in the room when Mark Mangino let everybody know, hey man, Texas and this BCS system just screwed over the Kansas Jayhawks. Play the clip.