Tag: Matt Barrie

Prominent ESPN host leaves Irish out of college football playoff

Is he off his rocker for picking those teams over the Irish?

Not every pundit and analyst has Notre Dame as a shoo-in for the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag].

ESPN’s Matt Barrie unveiled his predicted 12 playoff teams, and the Irish are notably absent.

His list seems pretty uncontroversial until the final three: Missouri, Utah and Memphis. While Missouri is a popular pick for the back end of the field, Memphis over Notre Dame raises some eyebrows, even if Memphis could get in as a conference champion while Notre Dame’s independence limits it.

It’s not that Memphis will not necessarily be good enough to qualify — I expect the Tigers to be in the hunt. It’s that I think the Irish should be improved over last season, and they have a slightly easier than usual schedule. The combination should result in an easier path to the playoff. Especially now that head coach Marcus Freeman is entering Year 3 and has had a chance to work out some of his issues.

That’s not to say a Notre Dame playoff appearance is a given. It never is for any team: Injuries and bad luck happen. The Irish have also had seasonlong letdowns more than a few times during my fandom.

Still, if the Irish are healthy and play up to expectations, they should be in the playoff, even if they do have a loss or two at regular season’s end. At the very least, it seems unlikely they will not be in while Ole Miss, Missouri, Utah, and Memphis are ALL in the playoff.

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Dan Mullen and Matt Barrie kept eating mayonnaise during the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and it was so gross

That is A LOT of mayonnaise.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Wednesday’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl game featured a lot of mayonnaise. Honestly, we’d be disappointed if that wasn’t the case, but it’s still pretty gross.

As North Carolina and West Virginia faced off in one of the most popular bowl games, ESPN broadcasters Matt Barrie and Dan Mullen were having their own version of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in the booth. Specifically, they were taste-testing different items with mayonnaise, like habanero garlic flavor mayo.

They both actually seemed to enjoy the habanero-garlic edition — though Barrie acknowledged that maybe downing a little spice before calling a play was the wrong move for him.

But they kept going with their taste-testing, despite the profound grossness of consuming so much mayo.

But eventually, Barrie and Mullen brought out mayo nachos, which is quite an escalation from the previous options. It looked kind of like elote but with chips and skewed proportions.

It’s not totally clear if it was nacho-flavored mayo on nachos, just nachos with mayo on top of them or both. But either way, it was too much for Barrie to handle – and understandably.

“Oh my god… no,” Barrie said when Mullen offered him a taste. But Mullen loved them.

So yeah, there was a lot of mayonnaise at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and it was so gross.

UPDATE: More mayo.

ESPN analysts discuss Uiagalelei, Clemson’s win over FSU

On ESPN’s College Football Final, show host Matt Barrie and analysts Joey Galloway and Sam Acho discussed DJ Uiagalelei and Clemson’s 34-28 victory over Florida State on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. On Clemson’s second …

On ESPN’s College Football Final, show host Matt Barrie and analysts Joey Galloway and Sam Acho discussed DJ Uiagalelei and Clemson’s 34-28 victory over Florida State on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

On Clemson’s second possession, Uiagalelei avoided a sack, stepped up in the pocket and threw a 59-yard dime to Antonio Williams for the Tigers’ first touchdown of the night that tied the score at 7 apiece with 6:52 left in the first quarter.

“Florida State sends the blitz. Man-to-man coverage on the back end,” Galloway said. “DJ U just steps up, nice calmly goes down the field.”

Uiagalelei led Clemson on six consecutive scoring drives as the Tigers (7-0, 5-0 ACC) won their 13th consecutive game, and seventh in a row in the series against the Seminoles (4-3, 2-3 ACC).

“The biggest thing about DJ U is that he’s just playing so much better — calm in the pocket, making great decisions, better protecting it,” Acho said.

Uiagalelei accounted for four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), was 15-of-23 through the air for 203 yards and picked up a 5-yard rushing touchdown.

“Every game, though, he’s got the one play, like how did he miss that guy,” Barrie said. “But then he does something brilliant, and then you just rely on this defense.”

Defensively, Clemson allowed touchdowns on two of the first three drives before settling in and holding the Seminoles scoreless for its next six drives, which included three fourth-down stops.

The Tigers tallied nine tackles for loss and a key strip-sack just before halftime that led to another score.

“This is where Florida State starts to fall apart, on that turnover,” Galloway said.

After two games on the road, Clemson will return to Memorial Stadium for its annual homecoming game when the Tigers face Syracuse this Saturday. The game is scheduled for noon on ABC.

“They have Syracuse next week at home in Death Valley. Should be fun,” Barrie said.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

ESPN analysts weigh in on Uiagalelei’s performance against Boston College

Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei helped lead the Tigers to a 31-3 win at Boston College on Saturday night, throwing for 220 yards and three touchdowns while pacing the Tigers in rushing for a second consecutive game with 69 yards on 12 carries. On …

Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei helped lead the Tigers to a 31-3 win at Boston College on Saturday night, throwing for 220 yards and three touchdowns while pacing the Tigers in rushing for a second consecutive game with 69 yards on 12 carries.

On ESPN’s College Football Final, host Matt Barrie and analysts Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer weighed in on Uiagalelei and his performance against the Eagles.

The junior signal-caller hit three different receivers on the scores.

“He’s got some receivers that are starting to win one-on-one now,” Palmer said, “and they’re making plays for their quarterback.”

With Clemson up 10-3 coming out of halftime, the Tigers came up with a quick stop and then Uiagalelei led his offense 73 yards on five plays, hitting Joseph Ngata in stride for a 38-yard score with 11:50 to play in the third quarter.

“For every head-scratcher DJ does, then he throws a dart like this to Ngata,” Barrie said.

“He looks great at times like he did on this throw, and then at times, you wonder what is he thinking?” Galloway added.

Clemson wide receiver Beaux Collins (80) celebrates with tight end Davis Allen (84) and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) after scoring against Boston College during the third quarter at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider

Clemson (6-0, 4-0 ACC) extended its lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, as Uiagalelei found Beaux Collins alone in the end zone on third-and-8 from the 10-yard line.

Another highlight for Collins – Uiagalelei’s high school teammate at California prep powerhouse St. John Bosco – was his reception from Uiagalelei early in the third quarter that preceded Ngata’s touchdown catch one play later.

“Tremendous chemistry with his high school teammate against double coverage,” Palmer said of the Uiagalelei-Collins 21-yard connection.

Uiagalelei later hit Brannon Spector for a 13-yard touchdown with 4:22 left in the game, his third touchdown pass of the day to his third different receiver.

“He had a chance to stand in the pocket,” Galloway said. “If you give him that kind of time, he’s going to find somebody.”

Uiagalelei finished 18-of-32 passing with the three touchdowns and one interception. The pick on his eighth pass attempt of the game ended a streak of having thrown 110 consecutive passes without an interception.

“I mean we’ll sit there and watch games, and we’re like guys, what is he looking at?” Barrie said, alluding to Uiagalelei’s decision-making on some throws. “But then he finds a way to get in rhythm.”

In six games this season, Uiagalelei has completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,462 yards and 14 passing touchdowns with two interceptions, to go with 311 rushing yards and three rushing scores on 67 carries (4.6 yards per carry).

Uiagalelei and the Tigers will return to action this Saturday at Florida State (4-2, 2-2 ACC). Kickoff at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee is set for 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

ESPN host: ‘We still don’t know about Clemson’ entering Wake Forest game

Fifth-ranked Clemson (3-0, 1-0 ACC) is set to square off against No. 21 Wake Forest (3-0, 0-0) on Saturday in Winston-Salem. Ahead of the matchup at the Demon Deacons’ Truist Field, ESPN college football studio host Matt Barrie weighed in on the …

Fifth-ranked Clemson (3-0, 1-0 ACC) is set to square off against No. 21 Wake Forest (3-0, 0-0) on Saturday in Winston-Salem.

Ahead of the matchup at the Demon Deacons’ Truist Field, ESPN college football studio host Matt Barrie weighed in on the top-25 showdown, pointing out that this is only the first time since 1950 that both teams have been ranked in the AP Poll when they’ve played.

“It’s a good matchup in that Wake Forest, kind of a darling team a year ago – Sam Hartman, A.T. Perry, that whole class was a fun team because no one really expected it,” Barrie said. “Sam Hartman comes back, he missed all of camp with a blood clot issue, he’s playing really good football, against big bad Clemson who comes in ranked fifth.”

As for the Tigers, Barrie said, “We still don’t know about Clemson” heading into Saturday’s game.

“We still don’t know what they are,” he said. “We know they’ve got a great defense. We know that. We know they’ve got Will Shipley, a really good running back. Joseph Ngata’s played pretty well over the first couple of weeks. We just still don’t know about the quarterback yet. DJ Uiagalelei has done enough to be good, but is he doing enough, has he grown enough to make Clemson hang around that top four College Football Playoff conversation? At least for now, they’re undefeated, they’re ranked fifth.”

Saturday’s game will kick off at noon ET and be televised on ABC. Wake Forest, Barrie noted, is 1-64 all-time against top-10 opponents.

“Can Sam Hartman, can he continue that magic?” Barrie said. “Can Dave Clawson, can they go in and can they get a win against Clemson and kind of let us understand who the Tigers really are?”

Come out to support Clemson baseball at Dear Old Clemson’s event on September 30 at the Madren Conference Center.  New head coach Erik Bakich will speak and most of next year’s team will be on hand.  Get your tickets today or sign up for the Orange level or higher of the Tiger Club to get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events. Dear Old Clemson.

ESPN’s Sage Steele returns to work after being hit by a Jon Rahm errant tee shot at PGA Championship

“I feel like the luckiest person in the world to still be here.”

ESPN’s Sage Steele returned to work on Wednesday for the first time since being struck in the face by a Jon Rahm tee shot on May 19 during the second round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Steele, 49, who had just finished her live reports from the course, was following the action with her SportsCenter co-host Matt Barrie when she was hit in the face by the errant drive.

During Wednesday’s Noon episode of SportsCenter, Steele said her “entire life passed through her eyes.”

Once she went to the ground, Steele said she didn’t know what happened to her and she was scared. “I just looked at Matt and said, ‘Please don’t leave me.’ I grabbed his ankle with my bloody hand. He said, ‘You’re going to be good. You’ll be fine.’ I don’t know if you believed it but you said it. It meant the world to me,” she said.

Barrie helped her on a stretcher and then escorted her to the hospital.

“I’ve been to a golf course my entire life,” he said. “I told a couple of people it was a 1 in 50 million. I’ll say this and I’ve said this before, you took that like a champ. Most people would’ve passed out.”

Steele received medical care at a local hospital before returning to her Connecticut home to consult with her doctor and dentist, who she thanked on air and called out for being her new best friend.

“I’ve never seen anything like that and I don’t want to see anything like that again but here’s what I want to see is you back at work,” Barrie said.

“I feel like the luckiest person in the world to still be here,” she said.

An emotional Steele held back tears and asked her co-host to provide some levity and he didn’t disappoint.

“Will you go as that next year for Halloween, by the way?” Barrie wondered. “What are you? Oh, I’m Sage at the PGA.”

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LSU needs to hire a coach that can compete annually according to Matt Barrie

LSU needs to hire someone who can bring consistency to the program.

LSU is looking to hire someone that can bring the football program back into form.

Someone that can stand the test of two or three years and bring consistency back to the team.

ESPN Studio Host and college football play-by-play announcer Matt Barrie joined the Paul Finebaum Show to talk about the LSU vacancy.

Here is what Barrie had to say about whoever LSU chooses to hire.

This needs to be the time LSU grabs themselves a coach who can be there for a decade and compete for a National Championship on an annual basis. If you put yourself in position with the right coach now you can dominate the SEC West for years to come.

This has been a thought of mine for quite some time now. I’ve been looking at all of these candidates for the LSU job, and I’ve been asking myself one important question- If LSU gets the ‘splash’ hire that they want, can he outlast Saban?

Recall what Nick Saban said the other day.

Saban’s contract runs through the end of the 2028 season, seven years from now. Earlier this year Saban said the contract should take him to his retirement. Regardless, Nick Saban is here to stay for as long as he can hold out over the next decade.

Can the man LSU hire to replace Orgeron win enough to still be here when Saban leaves? Like Matt Barrie said, if they can, LSU could be the first to get a grip on the SEC West once Saban leaves.

ESPN analysts react to Clemson’s loss to NC State

A few ESPN analysts gave their reactions to Clemson’s 27-21 loss to NC State in double-overtime on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. During College Football Final, Matt Barrie, Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer discussed the Tigers’ upset …

A few ESPN analysts gave their reactions to Clemson’s 27-21 loss to NC State in double-overtime on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

During College Football Final, Matt Barrie, Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer discussed the Tigers’ upset loss – which snapped their 36-game winning streak against unranked opponents – and talked about what’s gone wrong for quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and company through the first four games of this season.

“This has been building up with this Clemson team,” Galloway said. “We don’t really know what they are and why they’ve struggled, especially on the offensive side. Defense has been pretty good until (Saturday).

“But if you look at Clemson, against Georgia, great defense. It was like OK, that’s Georgia. Then it’s been South Carolina State, then it’s been Georgia Tech and NC State in this game. Clemson is last in the ACC in (total) yards per game (295.5), they’re last in the ACC in points per game (21.8). D.J. U doesn’t have a 200-yard passing game. (Will) Shipley doesn’t have a hundred-yard rushing game and Justyn Ross doesn’t have a hundred-yard receiving game.”

This marks the first time that Clemson (2-2, 1-1 ACC) has suffered two losses in September since 2014, when the Tigers fell to Georgia and Florida State.

After Saturday’s action around college football, the Tigers currently rank 105th among FBS programs in scoring offense (21.8 points per game), 99th nationally in rushing offense (126.25 rushing yards per game), 115th nationally in passing offense (169.3 passing yards per game) and 121st nationally in total offense (295.5 total yards per game).

“They literally look like they don’t understand at times,” Galloway said of Clemson’s offense. “We talked about Oklahoma being off schedule. That’s the way Clemson has looked early in this season where it looks like they’re just not clicking on all cylinders, as if they don’t understand the defensive looks they’re getting or something. It is completely off. That’s how you get two losses in September. But it is amazing what Clemson has looked like through four games with the amount of talent they have. To not have anybody have a big game in that schedule, four games, is amazing.”

Through four games, Uiagalelei is averaging 146.5 passing yards per game and has thrown for three touchdowns with three interceptions.

Not only was Saturday’s loss painful for the Tigers on the scoreboard, but it was painful from an injury standpoint as well.

“The scary part, too, they’ve got a lot of their impact players injured,” Palmer said. “In this loss against NC State, we saw Bryan Bresee up front, a D-tackle, go down. James Skalski went down again, a linebacker, a leader on that defense. And Will Shipley, he’s been one of the few bright spots for this offense early this year. He went down as well. I think D.J. U is just missing guys. He’s got guys open, he’s just missing them.”

Following the loss to NC State, Clemson now just has an eight-percent chance of making the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN’s FPI.

“I think Clemson now at this point, you can put them aside for the year in terms of the playoff, then see what they do towards the end of the season,” Barrie said.

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ESPN analysts react to Clemson’s narrow win over Georgia Tech

On ESPN’s College Football Final show, host Matt Barrie and analysts Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer talked about sixth-ranked Clemson’s narrow 14-8 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday at Death Valley. The Tigers improved to 2-1 and 1-0 in the ACC …

On ESPN’s College Football Final show, host Matt Barrie and analysts Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer talked about sixth-ranked Clemson’s narrow 14-8 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday at Death Valley.

The Tigers improved to 2-1 and 1-0 in the ACC despite a modest performance from quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who went 18-of-25 passing for 126 yards with no touchdowns through the air or on the ground, though he did rush eight times for 46 yards.

“He has really been struggling throwing the ball early this year, missing a lot of open receivers,” Palmer said. “Only 126 passing yards in this game.”

The Tigers, though, benefited from a strong rushing performance by freshman running back Will Shipley.

The former five-star prospect from Weddington (N.C.) High School recorded career highs in rushing attempts (21) and rushing yards (88) and tied his career high with two rushing touchdowns — Clemson’s only two scores of the game against Georgia Tech.

After recording his first two career touchdowns against South Carolina State on Sept. 11, Shipley became the first Clemson player to rush for multiple touchdowns in multiple games as a true freshman since Travis Etienne (three) in 2017.

“One of the best running backs in the country coming out of high school,” Galloway said. “They need everything they get on the ground because they have not been throwing the ball well.”

While Clemson’s offense continued to struggle on Saturday against the Yellow Jackets, the Tigers’ defense remained stout.

Clemson has now held three consecutive offenses without a touchdown for the first time since 1990 (Appalachian State, Duke and Georgia).

Per data available through Sports Reference, Clemson joined 2007 Iowa, 2008 Iowa and 2012 Florida State as the fourth team since 2000 to open the first three games of a season without allowing an offensive touchdown.

“Even though the offense is struggling, this is still one of the best defenses in the country,” Palmer said. “They’ve not allowed a touchdown yet this year.”

After surviving a test from Georgia Tech, Clemson will return to action this coming Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. road game against NC State in Raleigh, N.C.

“A win is a win is a win, I guess,” Barrie said.

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ESPN analysts react to Clemson’s win over SC State

On ESPN’s College Football Final, analysts Jesse Palmer and Joey Galloway, as well as show host Matt Barrie, reacted to Clemson’s 49-3 victory over South Carolina State on Saturday at Death Valley. After being held to just a field goal in the …

On ESPN’s College Football Final, analysts Jesse Palmer and Joey Galloway, as well as show host Matt Barrie, reacted to Clemson’s 49-3 victory over South Carolina State on Saturday at Death Valley.

After being held to just a field goal in the season-opening 10-3 loss to Georgia on Sept. 4, the Tigers marched right down the field on their opening possession against SC State.

Clemson (1-1) scored its first touchdown of the season on a 4-yard run by quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei to take a 7-0 lead and never looked back.

“It was important for this offense to get going,” Palmer said, “and on their very first drive, they go nine plays, 72 yards.”

Freshman running back Will Shipley made the score 14-0 with a 7-yard rushing touchdown at the 7:20 mark of the first quarter and later added 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

It marked the first two collegiate touchdowns for Shipley, who finished with a team-high 80 yards on eight carries.

“You know what I say about Clemson — when in doubt, give it to Will Shipley,” Barrie said.

Clemson rushed for five touchdowns against SC State, its most in a game since 2019 at NC State (five), and totaled 242 yards on the ground while averaging 6.7 yards per carry.

“They ran the ball well in this game,” Galloway said. “Seven guys had multiple carries in this game. They spread it around.”

Clemson star wide receiver Justyn Ross got in on the fun late in the first quarter when he caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Uiagalelei.

Ross racked up a team-best 52 yards receiving and a touchdown on three catches.

“You like seeing this,” Palmer said. “Justyn Ross missed last year with a spine injury. It’s good to see Tony Elliott and this offense getting him going.”

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