00:00with the host of the Locked On Canes podcast on the Toyota of Hollywood Guest Line Shop.
00:03We're with 2,000 toys on sale at one location at Toyota of Hollywood on 441 between Hollywood
00:08and Sheridan, ToyotaofHollywood.com. We love this guy. Alex Dono does a fantastic job covering the
00:13Canes day in and day out. This has got to be like Christmas for you, dude. How are you feeling?
00:18Yeah, it feels like Christmas Eve. We just have one more day to go. You know how this is going
00:24to be, Tobin? The hours are going to start moving slower and slower as we build up to 9 p
00:30.m.
00:30tomorrow night, but I've got all the goosies for Friday. Is there a newcomer that you're,
00:37I guess, aside from Mensa and Barcade, but is there a newcomer you're most excited to see?
00:42Either you've been hearing buzz from practice or reading reports or whatever, that you're just
00:47excited to see what they can do finally on a football field? Yeah, I mean, I'll give you a
00:52veteran transfer and a freshman. Like you said, I'll play by your rules. I won't say Mensa or
00:58Barcade, but I'll say Damon Wilson on the defensive line. He is a top-end pass rusher. We saw that
01:06last
01:07year at Mizzou. He was at Georgia. Prior to that, he had nine sacks last year, and he had a
01:12great
01:13training camp at Miami. So he's an absolute weapon. And I think what I'm looking forward to seeing
01:18from Wilson is, I know part of, I think part of the reason why he wanted to transfer to Miami
01:23and
01:23seeing, you know, the guys who came before him playing on the ends was the opportunity for him
01:28to sharpen his skills as a run defender and an edge setter. Cause he like, he doesn't have that
01:34reputation coming out of Mizzou, more of a pass rush specialist. So I think that part of his game
01:38is a work in progress. But he's a monster when it comes to sacking QBs. And then, you know,
01:44there's Tobin, there's some really exciting freshmen. And I could go, you know, with an
01:49obvious one on the offensive line in Jackson Cantwell, but JJ Dunnigan, a freshman safety
01:56who, and based on the latest injury report, which he's not on, by the way, I think he might get
02:02even
02:02more PT tomorrow, you know, behind, I think the starting safeties are going to be Zachariah
02:07Poiser and Bryce Fitzgerald. And we found out late last night that Dylan Day, who I think was going to
02:14be that four man rotation is unfortunately listed out for this game with injury. And so like the other
02:20guy that I had, like in my top four at safety was the true freshman Dunnigan, 6'4", 215, freakish
02:27athlete. And so I think there's a good chance we see a good amount of Dunnigan tomorrow.
02:33Dunno, I'm just curious, like when you look at this team, do you look more at, okay, who's going to
02:41be
02:41at wide receiver? Who's going to run the ball? Who's going to be in the secondary? Because
02:45you know, I'm not going to have to worry about the offense and defensive lines because that's
02:49what Mario does. He starts there. And do you then start looking at all the other guys and how
02:55they're going to compliment what the bread and butter of this team is, which is offense and
03:00defensive line? You know, that's an interesting way to frame it. And normally if I, if I default to,
03:06like you said, Mario line of scrimmage teams, like that's always the spine of the team. But I think
03:13there's a little bit of a different wrinkle this year, Leroy, because they have so many new starters
03:17on the offensive line. So it's like, I will, like, like last year, it was virtually the same five from
03:25the year before on the O-line. This year you lost, you know, four starters. And so I will say
03:30that for
03:31tomorrow night, I'm probably going to be watching the trenches, like before I start watching the ball.
03:36And I've been saying this all week. And a lot of times, you know, I make plans and Shannon Dawson
03:41laughs at my plans. So he might go out there and have Mensah throwing bombs, like from the opening
03:46play. But I kind of feel like, I strongly feel like establishing the run, which is probably what
03:53Mario wants to do early and often in the game. Because to me, and you would know better than me,
03:58Leroy, being, being a pro running back, but I feel like getting that offensive line, the opportunity
04:04to open up running lanes early and build chemistry. Look, I think that they and I want to see this
04:10team actually establish the run first tomorrow night before they start throwing bombs through
04:15the air. I think I think Mario is going to enter this game with probably an attitude of I not
04:22only
04:23have to show other teams what we're about up front, but I have to let the guys that are playing
04:30up front
04:30that this is going to be a priority. And if you go out and start slinging it around and have
04:36those
04:36big linemen on their heels for most of a game, you're not setting the proper tone for how the
04:43season is going to play out. And so I just think coaches, when you look at teams that run the
04:48ball,
04:49I don't care, at any level, who no matter who your quarterback is, right, they want to set the tone
04:55that this is the way we're going to do business. You go look at Detroit, regardless of how great
05:00they've been throwing the football. When you hear Dan Campbell talk, the only thing he really talks
05:07about is how dominant they want to be on the offense and defensive line, because regardless
05:12of what's going wrong in football, if you can do those two things, you're going to always have a
05:18chance to win games. And I think this is the way Mario thinks this is this is like it's almost
05:23like
05:23football 101 that a lot of coaches have gotten away from it. But he's been consistent with that
05:28throughout his entire career. You think of a school like Oregon, who was like, we're going to throw it
05:34all over the place. We're going to be fat. Mario got there. What did they do? So I think they're
05:40going
05:40to pound the ball. I think they're going to run the ball. And I'm torn because I want to see
05:45what
05:46Mensa could do. Right? Yeah. Well, and the funny thing about what you're saying, Leroy, is Mensa
05:51Mensa agrees because he said that in, I think it was Tuesday when he was available to the media,
05:56he's like, yeah, I know the identity of this offense is to run the football. And like, he's
06:02the quarterback. He's a guy who's, you know, top five on pretty much everybody's Heisman list for
06:07this year. Like he's going to get his, but he knows the foundation of this offense is pounding
06:11the rock. So what about for him? Like, what are you most excited about, you know, Mensa getting
06:17introduced to Kane's fans? Cause you know, Carson Beck kind of came in to polish things
06:22up for himself last year. Cam Ward, obviously an incredible year. I mean, they've had a nice
06:27run here with the QBs, but Mensa, what's different about it? What are you excited about that? He's
06:32going to bring to the table and, and, and what are you excited to see from him?
06:35I mean, I think like everyone, I'm, I'm really excited for that. Like the first connection with
06:40Malachi Tony in a game. I mean, that's gonna, yeah, I, I, I, I know it's, they're playing in
06:44Stanford and it's a long trip for Miami people, but I know a lot of Miami fans that are going
06:49out there for the game. And so I'm, I'm hoping you hear a pretty good pop from the Stanford
06:54stadium when Tony gets his first catch. And I think with Mensa this year, I, I, I would
07:00like to think based on what we've seen in practice and what he did at Duke and Tulane, that you're
07:05going to see someone who has the capabilities of combining some of the best Cam Ward attributes
07:14with some of the best Carson Beck attributes. And it's not to say he's necessarily better
07:19than either of those guys. I hope he is. But I think you're going to see someone who
07:24can extend plays. And a lot of his receivers have talked about that this year or this camp
07:29Tobin, that he's really dangerous week when he can extend plays and find the deep man down
07:34field. I think he's going to do that at a higher level than Carson Beck did maybe kind
07:38of similar to Ward, but then, you know, I've also seen Mensa very, very intelligent and
07:43patient. The way he scans, the field goes through his progressions and he's not, he's
07:47not afraid of taking check downs. You know, Cam Ward was kind of allergic to the check
07:51down, uh, which, you know, worked for him at Miami. But, uh, I, I think Mensa can bring
07:56a little bit more of the, the Carson Beck part of that game into it.
08:00It's only, it's only a check down. If it's like, it was Cam Ward, like falling away and
08:04it was like over his shoulder, right? That's right.
08:06Yeah. No, then I'll, then I'll take it, you know, but other than that, no, if it's too
08:10easy, uh, I want to, uh, our boy Dade South has a question. So we were, we were going over
08:15some props yesterday. We want to know how much you like this one. So hard rock has a, a fun
08:21bet for the Canes, two rushing touchdowns, every single regular season game, the season
08:28plus 7,500. Do you like that bet?
08:31I mean, yeah, I, I think I like that a lot. It's tough, but what about those, like those
08:37games? You either have a shootout or like it's, it's a great bet from the mentality of
08:44what this team is going to be, but sometimes, so if Mensa gets going, you might not get that
08:51opportunity.
08:52Well, I got to know what's, what's the odds on that though? That'll be how I
08:557,500 plus. Okay. Yeah. I would take that at plus 7,500.
08:59Yeah. Cause it's like, if you lose, if you lose, you probably lose by like one
09:04game. Wait, why did your, his eyes just lit up 7,500? Well, that was one. And then I
09:13was, I was talking about this. Uh, I've been talking about this for the last couple
09:16of, uh, weeks, but like, I know Darian Mensa's got all the Heisman buzz and I
09:20understand why it's quarterback. This is a stacked quarterback year. Everybody's talking
09:24about, but Malachi Tony is like plus 4,000. And I just think that he's the type of player.
09:31Like we see how many different ways he can score touchdowns. Do you think there's any
09:36way he could outshine on a year like this and be like, even as a sophomore, maybe get
09:42himself into the race?
09:43Yeah. So I think, um, the first half of the season is going to decide that, uh, it
09:48all explained because I, I, I kind of, I'm starting to figure out the way like the hurricanes
09:54marketing department works. Cause you like, you remember two years ago, I know Cam Ward
09:59obviously didn't win the Heisman, but you know, Miami's promotional arm did like a really
10:04good job hyping up his campaign. They would put out the social media, they would produce these
10:09videos and stuff. So, and I, I just feel we all remember what happened. Um, you know,
10:16what was it? Oh, two when Dorsey and McGahey were both finalists and they clearly took votes
10:21away from each other. Cause they finished fourth and fifth last and second to last in Heisman
10:26voting. So I, I feel like the strategy from Miami's marketing department is going to be about
10:32the first half of the season. You kind of figure out who's got more Heisman juice. Like, is
10:36it, is it Mensa who has the clearer path? Cause he's a quarterback and quarterbacks usually
10:42win that award or is Malachi Tony scoring so many like unconventional touchdowns? Like
10:49he's got maybe a punt return touchdown. He's got rushing and passing touchdowns and they'll
10:54kind of decide who's got more juice. Cause I think they're going to pick one of those guys
10:58and put all of their marketing muscle behind one, because I don't think they want to be in
11:03a situation where, you know, where one guy's taken votes or consideration away from the
11:09other.
11:09I also think that a guy in Malachi's position that would win the Heisman, it's one of two
11:16ways. It's the quarterbacks were terrible that year. And that's what happened when, um, uh,
11:25kid from Alabama, um, won it that the quarterbacks were just not that good that year. And the,
11:32the other thing is, is that a lot of guys that do a Malachi does play defense also. So when
11:39you look at the last couple of guys that, you know, it was more of like, he might've been
11:45on par with the athletic abilities of those guys, but every week watching, Oh, this guy
11:5220 plays on defense, punt returner, do it. So many different things that we didn't even
11:58know what the numbers were. When you think of, um, who's kid from, uh, Colorado, uh, Travis
12:04Hunter and he was great, but it was like the snap count was like the biggest talking point
12:09for him. What was it? Where were his numbers? You have no idea, right? Yeah. His numbers
12:14didn't separate him, but the fact that he was playing, he got two picks or he had five
12:18picks. He had this, he had returned. Like it was, um, if you don't remember back in the
12:24day, I think the guy's name is Gordy lock bomb. That sounds like an old name. He know
12:29it's not that old. It was, it was kind of in the eighties or nineties. He played for Holy
12:34Cross college and he played both ways and he was a Heisman hopeful. So like, yeah, that's
12:42the thing that I think hurts Malachi. Um, but it could get to a point where like the numbers
12:50are so gaudy and what he's doing on a week to week basis is so crazy that Mensa could
12:57be the number one pick and he could win the Heisman. Like, but just think of the kind of
13:01season you're going to have to, to have that play out that way. It'd be insane. Uh, speaking
13:08of, by the way, what's it, do they have like a new Travis Hunter coming in next year with
13:11this Amir Sears? Like what's going on? Oh my gosh. Yeah. Uh, Amir Sears. So, so he, uh,
13:16this past weekend, he, he was the story of high school football. Like he might've just
13:20been the story of football period. So he plays for Miami Columbus, which is a Mario
13:24Cristobal alma mater. And they were going up against, you know, Bishop Gorman from
13:28Vegas who at the, was the no longer, but they were the number one team in the, in
13:33the country at that time. And this Amir Sears told, but he gets three interceptions
13:38and two receiving touchdowns. He plays both ways for them. And it's like from
13:42everything that I've heard, like Miami and he's a commit to Miami. Uh, so he's, you
13:47know, he's about as locked in as you can be before signing day. Let's hope. Uh,
13:51but Miami apparently has been recruiting him to play two ways. And I, I was kind
13:56of a maybe on that before I saw what he did to Gorman, which is like as close as
14:01you can get to power for competition in high school. I think he can do it here.
14:06That's crazy, dude. And before we get you out of here, is there anything that, uh,
14:10with Stanford, like that you're worried about or anything that you just don't want
14:14to get tripped up on? Like, is there anything that they bring to the fold? I know that they
14:17kind of escaped from Hawaii last week with mistakes. Uh, but, but is there anything that
14:22you think the Canes just have to be on the lookout for, uh, in this matchup?
14:25Yeah. I mean, I, I would mostly just be worried about Miami. I mean, if Miami shows up close
14:30to their best, I don't think there's anything Stanford can do talent for talent. They do have
14:34a couple of South Florida kids though. Uh, they got a good tight end Benji Blackburn who
14:39played at Miami Columbus. So he's probably going to be like evil lying Mario. Like, why
14:44didn't you recruit me? He's going to have extra motivation and same thing with, uh, with Cedric
14:48Irvin. He, uh, it's another Columbus guy who plays, uh, who plays for Stanford. So you figure
14:53that the two of them are going to have, uh, extra motivation to have the game of their lives.
14:58But yeah, I think, uh, you know, Davis Warren, the new Stanford quarterback, uh, who I know
15:02Leroy knows he was a Michigan guy. Um, you know, he, he played pretty well, uh, against
15:07Hawaii, but it's like, I would hope Miami's pass rush is like 300% more effective than Hawaii's.
15:14And he's not going to be throwing for 310 yards. Again, go follow Alex Donald's work. He's one
15:19of the best doing it when it comes to the Canes locked on Canes podcast. Thank you,
15:22buddy. Appreciate the time, man. Thanks guys.
