1-2-25 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4
42:42 Share

Oh, it's such a clutch off-season pickup, Dave. I know, right? I was worried we'd bring back the same team. Oh, no, I meant those blackout motorized shades. MVP of the room. Blinds.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. Even you could do it. Nice. I installed these and then got some for my mom, too. You fly across the country to do the install? Nope. Blinds.com can do it all. All she had to do was pick what she wanted.

She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install. Look at you, a Hall of Fame son. Oh, I just picked the winning team. They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Oh, Blinds.com is the GOAT. The GOAT.

Shop Blinds.com right now and get up to 40% off select styles, plus a free professional measure and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Save up to 40% at Blinds.com. Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. ♪

Ah, can't you see it? A glistening 100 megawatt solar field begging to be built. It's photovoltaic modules and balance of system powering a renewable energy tomorrow that's squeaky clean. We know that unless you have the right supplier, that world might just be a fantasy. But here at Graybar, with years of renewables experience, we live in that world. Get in touch to see for yourself. We are now ready to depart. Book your visit at graybar.com.

Yep, Graybar does that. The national sales event is on at your Toyota dealer, making now the perfect time to get a great deal on a dependable new SUV, like an adventure-ready RAV4. Available with all-wheel drive, your new RAV4 is built for performance on any terrain, from the road to the trails.

And with plenty of passenger and cargo space, plus available tech like wireless charging, you and your entire crew can stay connected. Or check out a stylish and comfortable Highlander with three spacious rows of seating for up to eight passengers. And with available features like the panoramic moonroof, you can sit back and enjoy the wide open views with your whole family. Plus, both RAV4s and Highlanders are available in hybrid models, so no matter your style, you can drive efficiently and save on gas.

So visit your local Toyota dealer and check out amazing national sales event deals on Ravs, Highlanders, and more when you visit buyatoyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. It is January 2nd, 2025. Not sure how we got here.

And then we are packing up Princess Leia and hitting the road on Thursday afternoon. We will have...

to keep us company all the way back to our home in New Jersey. We'll get there on Saturday afternoon. And the AFC North and its battle for the division title will be underway by that point, thank goodness for radio, as well as the ability to get back

I would say mid-afternoon, so we'll be able to watch some football and go back and catch the game that I missed that I have to listen to on the radio. You can watch that courtesy of NFL Plus. Thank you. Thank you for that. So it's getting hot and heavy now. We're deep into college football playoff already. We've got the NFL postseason on the horizon, and it kind of dawned on me as I was looking at the dates for the college football playoff semifinals. So they'll be down to four games.

Of course, by the time we get through this week and you've got the semifinals taking place next Thursday and Friday, then you've got the wildcard weekend, Saturday, Sunday, wrapping up on Monday with the solo game. So it is five days and nights that are all inclusive. If you're a football fan, you are in the club. You can immerse yourself in football. Although I don't know how much that will happen.

For people who don't have to follow it for work, because it almost feels like coming out of the holidays, we have to get back to business, right? Back to routine, back to being serious about whether it's exercise or eating healthy. Both of those things for me. I started off my new year with our training run just to try to run off some of the desserts I've been eating. But then

people back into their regular work routines too, right? So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, there's something for everyone. I'll be really impressed if you watch all the games.

We've got one hour left here before we'll pack up the equipment. Producer Pete and I back to working together for the first time, gosh, since I think the night of December 19th into the morning of the 20th when we began our trek from New Jersey to Houston, those 1,700 miles. And actually, by the time we got to my mother-in-law's home, we had driven nearly 2,000 miles. So it was a long trek, but we're going to do it.

I know my husband's dreading the drive back. I actually don't mind. I love road trips. We will have a second dog with us, though, on the way back. So it'll be a little bit different. We're putting a car carrier, a baggage carrier, I should say, on top of our luggage rack to give the dogs a little more room. And it'll be...

An adventure. That's something that I can guarantee. And we just have to keep track of Flower because she's a flight risk. We figured that part out. At ALawRadio is where you can find me online. Also, our show Twix at Amy After Hours. If you haven't yet chosen your NFL MVP, we won't see Saquon Barkley this weekend. We'll see limited number of snaps for Josh Allen.

Lamar Jackson will play Saturday, of course, because the Ravens are still competing for the AFC North title. It's the Ravens and Browns, Steelers and Bengals. And so, yeah, it's all in there for those two teams with not just the division title, but seating on the line, the ability to host a game.

And on our Facebook page too, we've had links up for our podcast. It's an evergreen link. So once you find that link on either of our social media sites, you can go back to it, bookmark it, make sure that you favor it and like it, or even subscribe to our podcast so it comes directly to you whenever we post, which is every weekday morning. All right, with the

business out of the way. Thanks so much for all of your kind words about the new year and the holidays and of course, flower. It's good to hear from so many of you. And like many of you, I woke up on January 1st after marking the new year with family just to quiet. We played some games and had a great meal and heard, saw the news about the terror attack in Bourbon Street. And of course, its impact on college football.

We were scheduled this evening to have a CFP quarterfinal played in the Superdome at 7:45. We have been in consultation with ESPN, with the college football playoff, with the Southeastern Conference, with the University of Georgia, with Notre Dame. All parties and all agree that it's in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours.

Work is fast about to set up a safe and efficient and fun environment for tomorrow night. There'll be more details on that in the coming hours, but for now, that's the plan.

That is the Sugar Bowl CEO, Jeff Hundley. And this was a bit of a delayed decision, probably because they wanted to make sure that they had all of the details taken care of before they addressed the media, addressed the public. And he said in a later statement that they were trying to take care of the details to make sure the Sugar Bowl is still fun and safe the way that it's been for 90 years.

He is going to the Super Bowl as a show of support for the work that's done to enhance the safety protocols and, of course, the measures that have to be taken in the wake of this terror attack on Bourbon Street. Over the past couple of hours have been combing the Internet for more identities of the victims. We now know that there are 15 people who have died because of this truck and the driver who is responsible

put an ISIS flag on the side of the truck as he...

careened around a safety barrier on Bourbon Street and went down the street as fast as he could with the express purpose of killing people. That's sick. It's a senseless tragedy. It's something that most of us cannot relate to, cannot identify with, and yet real world impacts. And according to the FBI, and this was part of the public safety briefing, a briefing, excuse me, part of their joint press conference,

On Wednesday, Alethea Duncan was giving the FBI's perspective and kind of an update on maybe the motives, but also the scope of their investigation. We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates. That's why we need the public's help.

We are asking if anybody has any interactions with Samsud Dimjavar in the last 72 hours that you contact us. The FBI is asking the public's help. We're asking anyone who has information, video, or pictures to provide it to the FBI.

And that's happening. In fact, there are videos online. Sometimes they're leaked. Sometimes they're posted by private citizens on social media. But Shamsu Din Jabbar, there are more recent photos of him. The FBI late on Wednesday put a newer photo out of him. He's 42 years old. He's a U.S. citizen. He was born in the United States. And he's an Army veteran. He served for quite a while in the Army. Actually,

What I read, too, is that he tried to enlist in the Navy, but never made it to basic training. I'm not sure what happened. Discharged for some reason or another. I didn't see those details, but only that he tried to also enlist in the Navy. And so briefly, he was part of the Navy, but...

As part of their delayed entry program, he got discharged a month later. So that didn't happen. But he was in the Army after that. So he tried enlisting in the Navy in 2004. Ended up, I'm going to see if I can find the dates, but he was in the Army for over a decade.

which is blows my mind as well. Um, but a convert to ISIS. And according to new Orleans police chief and Kirk Patrick, he was hell bent. This is her quote, hell bent on creating the carnage and damage that he did. And so it's,

It's hard to imagine moving forward and playing a football game in 12 hours, but I know it's so important for the community. And of course it matters to the people that are there who showed up for that express purpose. Not all of the revelers on Bourbon street were there because of the sugar bowl, but we know most recent history and even going back now, a couple of decades in new Orleans, um,

important football can be and how important sports can be when it comes to healing and helping people move forward. And we heard that from both the police chief as well as the New Orleans or the Louisiana governor. We recognize we've got a problem right here, right? We're going to fix it. It is going to be a top priority as we go into the Super Bowl in Mardi Gras. And the solution that we're going to come up with is going to be a permanent one.

is going to be placed into the standard operating procedure of having major events and securing that quarter. We are going to get these people. There is a path forward. Very pleased that we will be back to having a wonderful game tomorrow night. New Orleans police have proven their ability to make the city safer. So you hear from both the governor and the mayor there, and...

Of course, it's important to them that they put out a message of we can keep you safe. We want you to be here. What I've read is, and this, I don't think it's all because of the safety questions, though, probably somewhat considering that this was not just a one man attack. Uh,

We now know from the FBI that they found some bombs, some crude bomb materials and bomb making materials at the Airbnb where he was staying. And also the FBI has indicated they're looking for three more men and another woman. So with these other people out there with potentially other ways that they were planning on hurting people and making their presence felt other attacks that may have been planned along with this one.

There got to be people who don't feel safe going to the Superdome and working the Sugar Bowl or attending the Sugar Bowl as a fan or

But what I did see is that it's also travel plans. A lot of people intended to fly in, spend time in New Orleans on New Year's Eve, go to the game and then leave on Thursday. And they couldn't get their flights changed or they don't have the ability to stay longer. And so the ticket prices were available as cheap as 25 bucks to attend the game if you were looking for tickets online. But I do wonder the impact and not just the Super Bowl.

I immediately started thinking about the Super Bowl, which will be there in not even six weeks. And Radio Row and the week leading up to the Super Bowl, where you have hundreds of thousands of people, fans, media members, people who work the game itself. Of course, security. You've got athletes. You've got agents. You've got their PR people. You've got corporate partners. You've got...

companies that want to be available or believe that this is an opportunity for them to connect. It's a huge networking event. I remember and I mentioned this earlier in the show over the course of my time working Radio Rose, we've talked to Thunderbird pilots and engineers. I've talked to astronauts. I've talked to Sarah Thomas, an NFL official who wasn't working the Super Bowl at the time but was there representing a

a corporate partner of her own. And so there's a lot of people that will appear on radio row or appear in new Orleans scheduled to make appearances or go to parties. Think about the huge events that are thrown for one company or another hundreds of thousands of people descend on the Superbowl site the week leading up to it. And that's just barely over a month out. So the NFL, of course, we're,

which would already be on high alert with their safety protocols. Now, even more so the safety measures and the security protocols that they will take in advance of the Super Bowl with this terror attack coming so close to their premier event.

I mean, man, you want to talk about scrambling behind the scenes in the front office. And of course, the Saints, who are part of that as kind of the host team. So many of the Saints employees or people who work at the Superdome would also be scheduled to work that game at the Super Bowl come February 9th. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Darren Rizzi giving his personal perspective as he heard the news of this New Year's Eve attack on Bourbon Street.

On a personal side, you know, it's close to home with me. Number one, I was, you know, close to New York in the 9-11 attacks. I lost some personal friends, lost some high school teammates, some close family friends. And so that always, anytime anything like this happens, that always resonates and brings back some memories of any type of terrorist attack that happens in our country.

You know, I want to say that it hits home with me personally because, you know, I have five children between the ages of 17 and 26. And I could tell you early this morning, the first thing I thought of was my own son was out last night for New Year's Eve in this community. My daughter was home just last week and was down in the French Quarter. You know, this hits home. You know, this community has welcomed me in for the last six years.

and my family, and you know, it's a sad day. When something of this magnitude on this scale happens, there are literally no words that are going to provide any solace for this. This is where moments like this is what reminds us, it humanizes us all, and show you just how fast life can change.

That's Demario Davis on the heels of Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi, and he shares his personal perspective. His son was out in New Orleans on New Year's Eve, as were thousands of people celebrating the start of 2025, only to have this man plow through a crowd with his truck driving at high speed.

And he died after he jumped out of his pickup truck. He had weapons traded gunfire with police officers. Two officers were injured, but they're in stable condition.

We now know that 15 people were killed and others are still in the hospital and many of them in local hospitals. We'll try to get updates as we can. But what I've been doing is searching online to try to find their identities. And there are videos out there, people even talking about their loved ones that were lost, but officially confirmed by multiple news reports.

And I want to make sure that I share some of them with you. There was an 18-year-old aspiring nurse who just graduated from high school. There was another recent high school graduate as well who wasn't yet identified by name. Another one that was confirmed by a school who was 21 years old and had graduated in 21 from a local high school there. Many of you have heard the name Tiger Beck.

He was an all-Ivy punt returner at Princeton, and he was in his 20s, a single mother of a four-year-old boy who was also in her late 20s. There was a 25-year-old whose name was Matthew. His mom said she last...

talk to him about nine o'clock on new year's eve and he was all excited to go out and celebrate the new year he was an audio and visual technical coordinator in some capacity for the superdome he worked at the superdome it was his dream job as mom said and he was

And she never saw him again after she bid him farewell at 25 years old. He was one of the victims of the attack. And then a 37 year old man, father of two who on a whim had finished up work and his cousin said, Hey, let's go celebrate in new Orleans and go to the French quarter to ring in the new year. And he did. And he and his cousin were both hit by the truck. His cousin survived, but he passed away an 11 year old and a one year old little boy left behind.

So I've been able to find some of their stories and some of their identities. More and more we'll hear on this Thursday, even around the Sugar Bowl as it's scheduled to kick off at 3 o'clock local time. One more piece of audio I want you to hear, and this is from SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, the head coach of Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman, giving us his perspective as he was finding out about the details when they were unfolding. Okay.

We got together this morning as a team, and, you know, before I got downstairs, I had gotten a phone call that there was obviously some type of tragedy that happened in the middle of the night, and I didn't really have the details. And so we were preparing this morning to play a game this evening. Right.

Then after our break, when we got the news and we learned of the severity of the tragedies that happened, you know, we had to get back together as a team. I think a lot of people would start to hear that the game would be postponed, but we had to get back together and discuss what had happened. And so, you know, what I told the team is, you know, in the toughest moments, the culture, you know,

of any program of a nation is revealed. And I have a lot of faith that this country will rally around New Orleans and support all the victims and families that were affected. Marcus Freeman on ESPN talking with Scott Van Pelt, talking about the way that they found out as a team and sharing some of his emotions.

And here we are thinking about a game that will kick off in under 12 hours. Law enforcement is stationed around the French Quarter and the Superdome. And the Sugar Bowl is still scheduled to go on as...

postponed, but as planned. But here's the thing. The Louisiana Attorney General, Liz Murrell is her name. She's saying that, yes, there is evidence that multiple individuals are involved. We don't have a lot of other details. I'd seen one FBI report that it was three men and a woman they were looking for. And the FBI does not believe that this driver acted by himself. They found guns and what they believe are

are improvised explosive devices in his truck and then other devices elsewhere in the French Quarter. So if you're a fan, you want to attend the Sugar Bowl, you're in town to attend the Sugar Bowl, do you still feel safe? If you don't know where these other individuals are or how they might plan to piggyback on top of this other attack,

So it's a little bit scary. I think I probably wouldn't go to the game. But of course, there are many who will be working at the Superdome and there's teams that will be there on the field with all the coaching staffs and their support. And so be praying for their safety and praying that there are no more attacks that are carried out successfully.

at a law radio is where you can find me online. I appreciate your perspective to as many of you are weighing in as you hear the show. Also on our Facebook page. Good morning to you. It's January 2, which kind of blows me away. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. This portion of the show is brought to you by ethos life, the easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes up

to $2 million in coverage with no medical exam, just a few health questions. Get your free quote at CheckEthos.com. Not available in all states. Producer Pete and I back together working for the first time as a duo in a couple of weeks and I feel like it's a good time to do some knockout.

Here we go. And a couple of things that a couple of things along the way, just some stuff that I came across throughout the entire off time. Hey, football fans, it's Andrew Filippone, host of the First in Pod podcast. Join me and my co-host, three-time All-Pro Patrick Peterson, as we break down every game every week. New episodes drop on Monday and Friday mornings. Be sure to subscribe on the Odyssey app wherever you get your podcasts.

Between us. So we'll start in round one with the college football playoff. In the next two years, which will happen? The college football playoff will have neutral sites for the first round or will more teams be added to the playoff?

In the next two years, you know what? I will say we're going to knock out the neutral sites for the first round only because it might take some coordination. If you think about the stadiums and where they play and sell go, we'll definitely have more teams added to the playoff in the next two years. I'm told that it's going to happen pretty quickly. Expansion to 14 teams, which is crazy to think about how quickly we got to this point.

We're out two out. Speaking of the college football playoff, is it exciting or overdone?

Can it be both? Can it be exciting and overdone? I guess this is knockout. Right. So we go by TKO. I would say at this point, it's exciting because it's new. So we'll knock out overdone though. I feel like it's bloated and it doesn't need to be this big. I think some of the matchups would indicate that not all 12 teams are really competing for a national championship. This form is,

This bracket leads to us selecting 12 teams, and the committee is forced to select 12 teams. But it's pretty clear that there aren't 12 teams that are capable of winning the national title. NFL for round three. Vikings get the number one seed, or the Dolphins slash Bengals make the playoffs. Huh. Meaning one or the other? Yes. Yes.

You know what? I'm going to go with the Vikings get the one seed and knock out Dolphins and Bengals. So Mama said knock you out. The Broncos are playing the Chiefs. They're not facing Patrick Mahomes. They're going to be a bunch of other starters that don't play for the Chiefs since they already have the one seed. So I'm going to say that it's more likely with the way the Vikings are playing their offensive line that

Obviously, the defense has played really well, too. They're not going to be intimidated by the Lions on a Sunday night football game. You have all the incentive, the NFC North title, and the bye on the line. So I'll say Vikings go toe-to-toe with the Lions and win the one seed, and Dolphins and Bengals are going to be on the outside looking in. And don't forget how banged up the Lions are, too, heading into this game. Especially on defense, yeah. For sure. Round four, if I'm the Patriots...

Gerard Mayo or Mike Vrabel coaching the team in 25? I think Mike Vrabel is terrific, and I believe he will earn a new job in the NFL, but I don't believe it will be the Patriots in 2025. I don't know how you can evaluate Gerard Mayo when the team is fantastic,

firmly in rebuild mode. Not to mention he has a rookie quarterback that hasn't started all season long, but they like what they see with Drake May. I don't think it's fair to evaluate him when they don't have a roster yet that he's had a hand in building that would fit his system. He's still working on that culture. It's not Bill Belichick. It's something different, though, of course, he learned under Belichick, but so did Mike Brable. So,

I'm saying they're going to give. Bob Kraft is not a guy who makes these type of split second decisions or knee-jerk decisions. So I'll say Gerard Mayo gets at least one more year and potentially the number one draft pick in the spring. And final round, which would you rather have? An NFL draft lottery or NFL expansion? Ew.

I guess neither. Yeah, neither. But if I have to pick one. NFL expansion. Are you meaning expanding the playoffs or more teams added to the NFL? More teams added to the league. Say two. Say two in five years. All right. So we go from 32 teams to 34 teams. Right. Of the two, I think this is...

Y and Z as opposed to A and B. I will take the NFL expansion so that more cities can be involved. NFL draft lottery is a bad idea. Teams do not tank. We're not seeing any evidence of tanking around the NFL. Think about it. The Raiders won last weekend. The Giants won last weekend or

Was it last weekend? But they're all blending together now. So, yeah, Raiders and Giants are still pursuing wins. The Patriots are still pursuing a win, even though they could lose to the Bills and end up with the number one overall draft pick.

Today's teams are not playing for the future. They're playing for contracts. They're playing for bonuses. They're playing for incentives. In some cases, they're playing to keep their careers alive. Coaches are trying to keep jobs. No way are these teams in 2024, well now early 2025, tanking for next year's roster. So that doesn't happen. So I'll go...

NFL expansion because the draft lottery I hate the NBA draft lottery I don't think I'd like it any better with the NFL I think you get the NFL draft lottery before it though as much as I would probably want more teams instead of a lottery I think you get it before because it's another thing to sell but in what arena or what examples do we have of NFL teams tanking in order to win the number one pick I don't know if there's examples I think it's more of the temptation is there

Okay. The rules are set to where there's temptation. Okay, but I don't think you see evidence of that anywhere. And so I don't know that... Well, maybe it would be passed by the Players Association, but I'm pretty sure the NFLPA would have to agree to something like that, something with that drastic of a change. So we'll see. But I think one of the draws of the way the NFL is set up, where your worst teams have...

have access to the top picks the following spring, that means that you can with a great quarterback or let's say a great left tackle or a tremendous pass rusher or a top wide receiver. You can choose a,

an amazing game changer with your number one pick in the draft or, you know, those top 12 picks, top 15 picks on, on through the first round, you can get game changers that instantly have an impact and teams go from worst to first because of it, or they, they become playoff teams. They become relevant despite the fact that they were so bad the year before and

Only in the NFL can you have such a drastic change from year to year. The salary cap, the true salary cap is one reason. And I think the way that the draft is set up is another reason.

Yeah, I think it's a tricky subject. It really is. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing it. I think it's just another dimension to the game. I think it's good for the fans. But it's not good for the teams. You could make it where it's fair, where it's fair across the board. I mean, it takes out that temptation to tank. I think it just eliminates it. And not that people are doing it, but it eliminates anything that could cause people to tank.

All right. We'll see. Well, I don't really like either idea, the draft lottery or NFL expansion. It's already bloated as it is.

At ALawRadio is where you can find me online. Mama said knock you out. Also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence coming up. It was nearly a choke job by the Texas Longhorns. They end up winning in double overtime against Arizona State to advance in the college football playoff. But man, it was not easy. It took all of the emotion and the energy that they had. And of course, it took a toll on Arizona State. Here's our latest sports update.

And here's Peter Schwartz. Infinity Sports Network Sports Flash. This report is sponsored by GoodRx. For simple, smart savings on your prescription, go to GoodRx.com or download the free GoodRx app. The Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia was postponed until 4 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday following the deadly truck attack in New Orleans.

In the college football playoff quarterfinals, we'll start with the Rose Bowl. First down and goal, Ohio State at the 8-yard line, moving to our left. Going under center is Will Howard. He's going to pitch it left side, Henderson. Around to the 5, tries to get into the end zone, does!

Touchdown! Travion Henderson, an eight-yard score, his second touchdown rush of the afternoon, and the Buckeyes have hit the 40-point mark, 40-15 over Oregon. The call on 97 won the fan in Columbus, Ohio State over Oregon, 41-21.

In the Peach Bowl, Texas and Arizona State went to double overtime. Quinn Ewers hit Gunnar Helm on a 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Longhorns ahead. And then... Now Scadaboo shifts to the left side of the quarterback, Sam Leavitt, on third down. Play action. Leavitt looks. Fires for the end zone. It's intercepted!

The intercepted Andrew Makuba. This ball game is over. Texas is going to the Final Four. Call the Longhorns Radio Network Texas over Arizona State in double overtime, 39-31. It'll be Texas and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl National Semifinal on January the 10th.

From the NFL, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will sit out Sunday's regular season finale against the Giants, so he will not break the NFL single-season rushing record. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will not play in Sunday's season finale against the Broncos. Carson Wentz will get the start in his place.

NBA, the Knicks win their ninth in a row, beat the Jazz 119-103, a triple-double for Josh Hart. Nikola Jokic had a triple-double, 23 points, 17 rebounds, 15 assists. Nuggets over the Hawks, 139-120. Kings beat the Sixers, 113-107. I'm Peter Schwartz.

855-212-4227. That's the number to get in touch with us, the Infinity Sports Network. Give us a call. 855-212-4227. 11 under center to take the snap. Has it. Hands it to Scadaboo. Fouls forward to the goal line, and he is across. Touchdown, Arizona State.

Cam Scadaboo is across. Leavitt hands it. Scadaboo outside. Breaks inside. He's across for the two-point conversion. The game is tied with five minutes to go. It's 24-24. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

Seriously, how did that happen? On Sun Devils Radio, it was quite a stark ending to regulation for the Arizona State Sun Devils, Texas Longhorns. They had been up by a comfortable margin, if you will, although it turned out to be not so comfortable in the end. Yeah, Texas was ahead 24-8 to start the fourth quarter of this college football playoff quarterfinals. This was the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. And they were up by a comfortable margin, if you will, although it turned out to be not so comfortable in the end.

And after Ewers, Quinn Ewers, runs for a five-yard TD...

It was the first touchdown they'd had since the first quarter. After he runs for that touchdown, they're sitting comfortably ahead by the 16 points, only to then see Arizona State come roaring back. And a series of miscues and miscalculations and mistakes by Texas. It was almost a comedy of errors included in their bad penalties, a misfeel goal in the late stages. In fact, with what was it?

Gosh, a few seconds to go in the what was on the

38-yarder. It was right there at the end, a few seconds to go at the end of regulation, and Texas misses, which then forces overtime. Now, if you know college football overtime, great, you get it. Each team gets a turn after a certain... I think it's double overtime. You have to go for two. So there's a lot of ways that they try to keep it fair. I hate college football overtime. I don't like it at all. It feels to me more like penalty kicks or...

shots. But this is the system that they have, and it does certainly make it dramatic. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. So Arizona State gets the ball first in the overtime, and the Sun Devils pretty easily able to score. Cam Scadaboo gets...

Another highlight reel moment. He's into the end zone with a three yard run. But but this wasn't any old three yard run. He was stopped seemingly on what was the two yard line, maybe got a yard. And then he's got a lineman on his team that grabs him and kind of whips him.

spins him around and whips him into the end zone while there are Texas defenders hanging off and kind of getting scattered in every different direction so it's pretty dramatic it was a show of strength to be sure for Arizona State and for Scataboo it was just the latest in what was a really impressive second half for him he sparked that rally for the Sun Devils so then it's

The turn of the Longhorns to get this, well, they have to score a touchdown now, right, to get this one into double overtime. Ready to take the snap. Has the snap. Fourth and 13. Ewers looking. Fires. Open. He caught it. Touchdown, Texas. Matthew Golden strikes again. 28 yards on 14.

13, and the Longhorns score a touchdown. Play action. Ewers looking to throw. Steps up. Fires downfield for Helm. He caught it. Touchdown, Texas. Back-to-back plays, and this time, Gunnar Helm catches the touchdown pass from Quinn Ewers, and the Longhorns are back in front.

It's crazy, right? The roller coaster of emotions in this game where they're down to a fourth and eight. They get a false start penalty and the Longhorns face a fourth and 13 at the end of the first overtime. They have no choice but to score a touchdown on that play. They do it. It's a 28-yard pass from Quinn Ewers. Sends him into double overtime. At this point now, they have to go to the two-point conversion because if it's double overtime, Texas gets the ball first. No,

Not even 30 seconds later, game time. Well, not even that, right? It's the very next play, as you hear on the Longhorns radio network. It's Gunnar Helm that catches a 25-yard strike from Quinn Ewers and the two-point conversion. But there was still one more play the Longhorns had to make to seal this one. Now Scadaboo shifts to the left side of the quarterback, Sam Leavitt, on third down. Play action. Leavitt looks, fires for the end zone. It's intercepted!

Intercepted. Andrew Makuba. This ball game is over. Texas is going to the Final Four. Wow. You can hear it not just in the voice of Craig Way, who does the play-by-play on the Longhorns Radio Network, but you can also hear it with the fan frenzy behind them in Atlanta. I mean, the

at one point, the TV broadcast on ESPN was showing just kind of the various emotions on the fans faces in the crowd, the highs and the lows for both Texas and Arizona state. Uh, I can tell you that I was sitting across the living room from my husband, who is a Longhorn fan and,

And not just that, but a couple of his sons are big Longhorn fans. One of his sons is an Aggie from A&M, so he's kind of the outlier. But yeah, his mom, his brothers, they're all watching this game, and he was riding that wave of emotion. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. So 39-31 is the final, and I do appreciate that the Longhorns fought back. The issue, though, is you play like that, and you leave the door open. Let's just say for the sake of argument, right?

that Texas builds a lead against Ohio State, which may not even be possible the way that the Buckeyes are playing. But you build a lead like that against a quality opponent in the Final Four. We're talking legit championship contenders now. You can't afford to have a false start in a fourth and 13 in overtime. You can't afford to miss a field goal. You...

You can't afford to grab the penalties. There were a couple of really bad pass interference and defensive penalties that were called critical moments that allowed Arizona State to continue advancing and scoring those couple of late touchdowns.

I mean, they just did not look good in the fourth quarter after building that lead. But they did fight back. And to a man, both Arizona State as well as Texas, what they talked about were the emotions of how they had to navigate those.

because of the way that this game took you kind of on a roller coaster ride. Steve Sarkeesian, I mean, he knows it wasn't perfect, but certainly recognizes that weathering the storm is a great quality. Not our cleanest game of the year. Then that's okay to say that. But the one thing that I know about our group...

is when our backs are against the wall and when our best is needed, our best shows up time and time again. And the resiliency that these guys showed today was something that, as a coach, makes you really proud. You know, that we weren't at our best, and it felt like an NCAA March Madness basketball game with the swings of emotions and things. It's just been super cool to see the amount of guys that have really –

Let God come into their heart. And, you know, me being part of that and Johnny being part of that, it's kind of like a domino effect in the locker room. I think more guys are, you know, starting to come to Bible study, come to chapel, whatever it is, and just to see that. And I think that's what grows us closer as well, just the amount of guys that are putting their faith in the Lord has just been really cool to see. I mean, we pray after every practice as a team.

And, you know, prayer is very powerful. And I really believe in prayer. And it's just been cool to see how Jesus and God have just worked in our lives throughout this year. And I think that is also a testament to how we stay level-headed and poised throughout the entirety of a game. Quinn, you were pointing to the faith, the collective faith of the Texas Longhorns, a powerful testimony from him as he talked about what sustained them over the course of what was a crazy season.

fourth quarter and overtime, double overtime, but able to take it all in stride. And yeah, they were up 17-3 in the third quarter, up 24-8. There was a safety in there where he gets sacked in the end zone after he recovered a fumble. Actually, kind of crazy. First safety in college football playoff history, but maybe that was the turning point where Arizona State felt like, okay, this one is not out of reach. And Ewers, yeah, they faced a lot of third and longs.

I know that he's been criticized royally, even as people are pointing to the end of his tenure at Texas. There was a report out on New Year's Day that I actually took a screenshot of it so I could share it with my husband, that there is an unnamed school, which, you know, that's convenient, an unnamed school that has offered Quinn Ewers, now this is tampering, right? He's not in the transfer portal. He's still a Texas player, but an unnamed school that's offered him six hours

million dollars to enter the transfer portal and then leave Texas and go to wherever this campus is to become their quarterback, which is kind of crazy. But I know that that's happening. And so good for Quinn focusing on the task at hand. Pete, do we have time for one more or are we up against the clock?

Okay. So we just know if you go and you look at some of the videos or hear some of the reaction from the Arizona State side, it's the same thing. The

the tears recognizing they left it all out there and that's what I love about sports I know it's the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat but I know also too that very often you have athletes men and women young men and women who are giving it everything they've got in that moment which is why when it's done they're spent right

We don't generally cry here on After Hours, though. It's happened in the past, I will admit. This is my final show from Houston, heading home to New Jersey over the next few days. So I will not be with you tonight, but back on Sunday night from studio with producer Pete as we wrap up week 18 in the NFL and set the playoff picture. Happy New Year to you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Boom!