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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talking Sports: Bowling for Rankings

Aired January 03, 2003 - 06:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, how do you like that?
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE ATLANTA: That's good work.

WHITFIELD: We've got our own Mr. Cotter here.

COTTER: That's good work. I like that.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and we're going to talk about a little bowling for dollars, so to speak.

COTTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Fiesta Bowl this evening.

COTTER: Right.

WHITFIELD: Chris Cotter here with The Zone here in Atlanta. And this really is the big game. You've got the No. 1 Miami and you got No. 2...

COTTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... Ohio State going to head to head, and some say that you know Ohio State's got to play a perfect game in the first quarter.

COTTER: Well, yes, that's right. They can't get -- really they can't get behind quickly because otherwise it could be they could get really bamboozled. I mean this is a team that they're going to be relying on their defense, particularly up front, to keep it close. And yes, you said it exactly right, they hope to have it close by the fourth quarter to where they -- their special teams, which they have an advantage over Miami, can really take hold.

But I think it should be a pretty close game. I mean Ohio State's defense is what's going to keep them in the game. Miami wants to be able to run the ball with Willis McGahee and Ohio State up front, they have the fourth best run defense in the country this year so they're going to stop McGahee from running wild on them. They're going to force Dorsey to also have to beat them through the pass. So in that regard, they may be able to keep it close.

WHITFIELD: And McGahee being this Heisman finalist, right?

COTTER: That's right, very tough, talented running back. But Ohio State has their own talented running back in Maurice Clarett who has been banged up most of the year. Now he's healthy. He's had these six weeks to recover since the Michigan game, the last game of the year. So I look for Ohio State to come out strong in this game, too, right off the bat; but Miami in the end, just too many weapons offensively and defensively. They'll end up winning the game.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

COTTER: And their long winning streak, which is the longest in I think 40 years in college football, will continue. It'll be I guess 39 games.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, I'm going to pull for Ohio State only because that's my dad's alma mater.

COTTER: And the underdog, which I think most people will be pulling for.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you always got to pull for the underdog.

COTTER: Right.

WHITFIELD: OK, the Outback Bowl, Michigan and Florida.

COTTER: The whole bowl season, you know we've had 27 bowls already now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I've lost count. I'm like Outback, never even heard of that one.

COTTER: The Fiesta Bowl is going to be the 28th bowl.

WHITFIELD: OK.

COTTER: But most of the bowls have been snoozers. I mean they really have not been good games. This one between Florida and Michigan was actually the best game, 38 to 30. Michigan got the win. And you see here Florida with some questionable play calling there late in the fourth quarter, but Michigan did get the win. This was one of the few games that was actually very, very exciting. It was a case of dominant teams...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

COTTER: ... rather than really, really good games.

WHITFIELD: Was the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans not exciting?

COTTER: No, it was not.

WHITFIELD: Really, I thought that was a nice one.

COTTER: A very, very -- an exciting performance by Georgia, and that's really what I think most people focus on. This game and the Orange Bowl, which we'll talk about in a bit, but Georgia defensively -- here you see Bruce Thornton picking off a pass and taking it to the house. Georgia just proved to everybody hey, we're just about as good as anybody else. And if there was a playoff system, which the Georgia fans would have loved this year, they'd have been one of the favorites because they really dominated down the stretch and really took care of business against Florida State.

WHITFIELD: And among those dominating, USC.

COTTER: Yes, USC last night. This was supposed to be the great game. I mean this was the one everybody looked at and said if it's not the national championship game, I want to see the Orange Bowl and...

WHITFIELD: Man, look at that. That looks like that's like fast forward, what?

COTTER: That is fast forward.

WHITFIELD: That cannot be real time. That was ridiculous.

COTTER: That would have been Carl Lewis running down the sideline...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

COTTER: ... if that was real time.

WHITFIELD: OK. OK, just checking on that.

COTTER: That's the opening kickoff that Iowa took the distance. But after that it was all USC. I mean here you see Justin Fargas running for a 50-yard touchdown and USC's Keyshawn Johnson there enjoying it, the former USC Trojan currently with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

So USC and Georgia, both of these two teams saying hey, it might come down to the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship, but we think we should have a right to play in it too.

WHITFIELD: They were the ones to watch.

COTTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, we'll well see. Maybe next year, huh?

COTTER: And both of those teams are going to be very, very good next year.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Christ Cotter, good to see you.

COTTER: Good seeing you.

WHITFIELD: And of course we always love playing the music.

COTTER: Play it again, as always.

WHITFIELD: That was fun.

COTTER: We need to have Horshack or somebody back here saying ooh, ooh, ooh.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. All right, thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 3, 2003 - 06:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, how do you like that?
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE ATLANTA: That's good work.

WHITFIELD: We've got our own Mr. Cotter here.

COTTER: That's good work. I like that.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and we're going to talk about a little bowling for dollars, so to speak.

COTTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Fiesta Bowl this evening.

COTTER: Right.

WHITFIELD: Chris Cotter here with The Zone here in Atlanta. And this really is the big game. You've got the No. 1 Miami and you got No. 2...

COTTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... Ohio State going to head to head, and some say that you know Ohio State's got to play a perfect game in the first quarter.

COTTER: Well, yes, that's right. They can't get -- really they can't get behind quickly because otherwise it could be they could get really bamboozled. I mean this is a team that they're going to be relying on their defense, particularly up front, to keep it close. And yes, you said it exactly right, they hope to have it close by the fourth quarter to where they -- their special teams, which they have an advantage over Miami, can really take hold.

But I think it should be a pretty close game. I mean Ohio State's defense is what's going to keep them in the game. Miami wants to be able to run the ball with Willis McGahee and Ohio State up front, they have the fourth best run defense in the country this year so they're going to stop McGahee from running wild on them. They're going to force Dorsey to also have to beat them through the pass. So in that regard, they may be able to keep it close.

WHITFIELD: And McGahee being this Heisman finalist, right?

COTTER: That's right, very tough, talented running back. But Ohio State has their own talented running back in Maurice Clarett who has been banged up most of the year. Now he's healthy. He's had these six weeks to recover since the Michigan game, the last game of the year. So I look for Ohio State to come out strong in this game, too, right off the bat; but Miami in the end, just too many weapons offensively and defensively. They'll end up winning the game.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

COTTER: And their long winning streak, which is the longest in I think 40 years in college football, will continue. It'll be I guess 39 games.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, I'm going to pull for Ohio State only because that's my dad's alma mater.

COTTER: And the underdog, which I think most people will be pulling for.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you always got to pull for the underdog.

COTTER: Right.

WHITFIELD: OK, the Outback Bowl, Michigan and Florida.

COTTER: The whole bowl season, you know we've had 27 bowls already now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I've lost count. I'm like Outback, never even heard of that one.

COTTER: The Fiesta Bowl is going to be the 28th bowl.

WHITFIELD: OK.

COTTER: But most of the bowls have been snoozers. I mean they really have not been good games. This one between Florida and Michigan was actually the best game, 38 to 30. Michigan got the win. And you see here Florida with some questionable play calling there late in the fourth quarter, but Michigan did get the win. This was one of the few games that was actually very, very exciting. It was a case of dominant teams...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

COTTER: ... rather than really, really good games.

WHITFIELD: Was the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans not exciting?

COTTER: No, it was not.

WHITFIELD: Really, I thought that was a nice one.

COTTER: A very, very -- an exciting performance by Georgia, and that's really what I think most people focus on. This game and the Orange Bowl, which we'll talk about in a bit, but Georgia defensively -- here you see Bruce Thornton picking off a pass and taking it to the house. Georgia just proved to everybody hey, we're just about as good as anybody else. And if there was a playoff system, which the Georgia fans would have loved this year, they'd have been one of the favorites because they really dominated down the stretch and really took care of business against Florida State.

WHITFIELD: And among those dominating, USC.

COTTER: Yes, USC last night. This was supposed to be the great game. I mean this was the one everybody looked at and said if it's not the national championship game, I want to see the Orange Bowl and...

WHITFIELD: Man, look at that. That looks like that's like fast forward, what?

COTTER: That is fast forward.

WHITFIELD: That cannot be real time. That was ridiculous.

COTTER: That would have been Carl Lewis running down the sideline...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

COTTER: ... if that was real time.

WHITFIELD: OK. OK, just checking on that.

COTTER: That's the opening kickoff that Iowa took the distance. But after that it was all USC. I mean here you see Justin Fargas running for a 50-yard touchdown and USC's Keyshawn Johnson there enjoying it, the former USC Trojan currently with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

So USC and Georgia, both of these two teams saying hey, it might come down to the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship, but we think we should have a right to play in it too.

WHITFIELD: They were the ones to watch.

COTTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, we'll well see. Maybe next year, huh?

COTTER: And both of those teams are going to be very, very good next year.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Christ Cotter, good to see you.

COTTER: Good seeing you.

WHITFIELD: And of course we always love playing the music.

COTTER: Play it again, as always.

WHITFIELD: That was fun.

COTTER: We need to have Horshack or somebody back here saying ooh, ooh, ooh.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. All right, thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com