Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Are you ready to
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(00:23):
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We're here to break it all down. Let's go, Let's go.
This is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by
bet MGM. We're live from your tail game. Here's Brian No,
former Penn State All American, Rich Mornberger, and picks Wise
(00:45):
lead Betty analyst Jared Smith. Oh what's going on? It
is a glorious slate of college football action today. I'll
tell you what fellas. I had an epiphany this morning.
I's getting ready for all these games and thinking about
what's about to come, and I was like, you know what,
Thank goodness for not only Alabama and Tennessee, but all
(01:08):
these ranked versus ranked matchups or else we would spend
three hours talking over here. You know what it's like
days heavy day? Alright, Rich, where's your Pen State gear?
That's good point, That is a solid point. It's in
a bin in our storage. Uh. And I haven't taken
(01:31):
it out kids, right, That's that's it. All the fun
stuff goes away, and that's the kids stuff takes up
all the space. Did she go to Michigan? We are
both Nittany lines in this household of She actually played volleyball.
She's the national champion in this I probably called a
(01:52):
bunch of her game. I called a bunch of those
games back in the day at recall. That was awesome. Yeah,
I guarantee our play. She's uh yeah, she's the athlete
in the house. I'm just some some big dummy who
pushed people out of the way for a living. By
the way, this is how my stupid brain works. What
if Jared was on the call for one of your
beautiful wife's games. They're rich, and he was just like, man,
(02:16):
who is number seventeen over my right? What happened too?
And we couldn't we couldn't be critical of the team.
It was like state media. It's like, like, I wonder
the just it just either completely in love or just
completely disgusted with her playing, like I don't know this.
Seventeen is a liability in the background. Russ rose Man.
(02:40):
He knew, he knew what he was doing well. It
was pretty pretty good. Get there. We'll get to your
Nitney alliance here just a couple of minutes. But let's
start it off with Bama against Tennessee. You look at
the points bread that's been the talk of the entire week,
and it just keeps taking up, up up toward Bama,
right around ten hours each and closer to ten over
(03:02):
here at bet MGM. So it does indicate Bryce Young
is gonna play. Of course, the betters believe he's not
only gonna play, but play really well, and Bama needs that.
But first impressions of this game where Tennessee is oh
and fifteen against Nick Saban while he's been at Alabama,
what stands out to you most? I mean, look, the
(03:24):
deal with Nick Saban is I think preparation is everything,
you know. I I think I think, even though Bryce
Young hasn't been playing, if he's ready to go today
in terms of ready to go physically, you know, he's
gonna be mentally prepared. And I think that's what the
books and the sharps and the people who well the
(03:44):
handicappers especially, but the public even are aware of. Like
it doesn't matter which side of this year on you
know what to expect that Alabama and BAMA has been
that way ever since he's taken over that program. So
I understand there's a lot of buzz around Tennessee and
rightfully so. And I understand that that program has had
(04:04):
quite a turnaround and they're really enjoying it. But which
team is better qualified? I'm talking about coaching staffs, I'm
talking about culture, I'm talking about Shoot, even the secretaries
have a bunch of national championship rings over there. It
doesn't matter who you are with the Crimson Tide. You've
been there, done that. This is just another Saturday to you,
Whereas you know, for the volunteers, it's been sometime, it's
(04:26):
been a while. I mean, who the champagne's dried off
the carpet? Like, who remembers when when Tennessee was was great?
You know? So it's it's one of those things where
in terms of who do you trust more in a
moment like this, Well, it's gonna be any team that's
prepared by Nick Saban right now. Yeah, this this line
(04:48):
has been on a weird trip this week. So it
opened at eight and immediately we did see some sharp
money come in on Tennessee and most of the handle
this week in act that when I pulled up, Drew Odell,
one of the data analysts at bet MGM, sent this
out this morning. They usually send out the most bet
games of the week, and then we'll hear later from
(05:09):
our pal Shamus to confirm it does look like Tennessee
is also the biggest public side of the week as well,
so early sharp money on the balls, public money all
week on Tennessee. Then on Friday yesterday we started to
hear some things about Bryce Young and his status, and
then that's when we we really saw the steam on
(05:30):
Alabama come in eight eight and a half now hovering
in that nine rank, kind of a dead man zone
in in in the nine range. It hasn't gotten to
that secondary key number of ten. I don't think it will.
I think it will stay at nine nine and a half.
If anything, it'll it'll push back towards Tennessee because again,
most of the public is engaged in this volunteers team today,
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and it makes sense. I think if there was ever
a time where Alabama looked its weakest during this little
stretch here over the last couple of years, there's some
whole is to be poked in the team this year.
Does that mean they're gonna lay an egg today? Probably not.
I agree with Rich. They are the most prepared team
in the country. But penalties and turnovers have been an
issue for them this year. They're a negative five intern
(06:12):
over margin. I mean that's unheard of for an Alabama time.
And you could talk a little bit about last week
and you know, backup quarterback and you know they still
won the game, but they turned it over four times.
Can they clean up those little things on the road
hostile environment with a quarterback that even if Bryce Stung
does play I think less than That's the key. What
is the gauge of Bryce Young today? If it's I
(06:35):
think Alabama will be fine. If it's fifty to six
with some pedestrian, you know, by relatively terms wide receiver
group compared to previous years, that's where Tennessee might have
an opportunity today. But the history of this rivalry very
one sided. And uh, it's monkey on the back for
sure until you know proven otherwise for Tennessee. Yeah, man,
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so much to look forward to. You can't wait to
see Hendon Hooker in that Tennessee offense against Nick Saban's defense,
a lot of tempo stuff does bother Alabama? Could that
be the same story today? Are we in store for
a shootout? Today? Nick Saban talked about how high powered
Tennessee's offense is one of the best, if not the
actual best, So cannot wait for that. We'll be talking
(07:19):
about this matchup throughout the entire show today. And also
let's work in your Nitneyllions over here. Number ten Penn
State at number five, Michigan. I say this to you, guys,
this is the truth revealer portion of the schedule for
Penn State because they have Michigan today, they have Minnesota
the next game, who just dropped from the rankings, good team,
(07:41):
and then they have Ohio State. So this trio, this
little clump of games for Penn State, it will reveal
the truth about this team. And it starts today against
Blake Coreum, the dynamic running back of Michigan and the Wolverines. Yeah.
I mean, and let's face it, these conference schedule makers,
there are no dummies. They know exactly what they're doing
and the reason why they're doing it is because they
(08:02):
want undefeated teams facing each other mid season, end of season.
And this is that part of the schedule for Penn
State where they're gonna run headlong into good teams. Uh
in conference and this is when the Big Ten shines.
This is this is when you get an opportunity to
see two of the best doing it right now. And
we were talking about big on bad last week. This
(08:24):
is big on big. This is a great rushing attack
against a great defense. Um, the Wolverines, what do they
do well? Well? I mean they're led by their lead
back and you mentioned his name. Korum has just been
rent running wild all over college football these days. And
if that defense can handle it, uh, it's gonna be
a good day for Penn State. If they can't, well,
(08:44):
then Michigan is gonna be able to control the clock,
control this game, slow this game down, and then win
this game. So boy boy, I mean you couldn't ask
for a better in conference matchup on a Saturday than this.
I mean, this is this is it. This is like
I said, this is when this conference shines. This is
when college football shines. Yeah, this limb is just soaking
(09:06):
that fight song for a second. Do you do fist
pumps Penn State for the fights? Like, what do you do?
I kin't remember doing it, and in this I'll be honest,
that didn't have a ton of like instand traditions from
when I was there. It's just people going rowdy. The
Zombie Nation was really the big one, um but that
was just a song that was played. Like. We didn't
(09:27):
have a lot of like you know, choreographed things that
went on during the game. We just hopefully, you know,
beat the crap out of other teams. Um. So, this
line's kind of been hovering around the seven mark all
week open six and a half. Early sharp money to
Michigan pushed it through seven. The key number, of course,
gets to seven and a half. That's where the Penn
(09:47):
State money stepped in and then it's been a tug
of war all week. Very smart money on both sides
of the seven here, and I think it makes sense.
I think this line is very fair. All the rating
systems that I use, we have five day to five
or six data points to collect now with a lot
of these different rating systems that people compile, and most
of them that I tracked that have been doing a
pretty decent job against the numbers this year, have this
(10:10):
game pegged at seven six and a half seven f
So again, I think the line is very fair here,
and I think the key point is how hard it
is to really grade how these teams have played because
of the competition that they played, both teams, strength of
schedules outside of the top ninety in the country. I mean,
and and you look at even the big ten teams
(10:31):
that they've played, Produce struggled Indiana, Iowa. So it's just
it's really hard to grade both of these teams. Michigan
has owned this rivalry lately four of seven overall, five
of seven against the number. But situationally, I think this
is a good spot for Penn State off the by,
whereas Michigan. I know they didn't play a difficult opponent
(10:54):
last week, but they still had to play. And I
think when you look at J. J. McCarty against Shawn Clifford, well,
Clifford has the experience d she started thirty eight games.
McCarthy is in his first season, really is the guy,
and he hasn't really been tested yet. Clifford, you know,
you say that competition has been bad, but they still
went to Auburn. I know that the team isn't good,
(11:15):
but that's still a difficult place to play. So I
kind of lean towards Penn State, even though both schedules
have been a little bit poor. But I think Michigan
has better players. I think Michigan's running game right now
is what scares me, because Penn State hasn't been as
buttoned up against the run as they usually are. How
about this. They're outside of the top ten in Russian defense,
(11:37):
that's to me. I know that sounds lofty, but that's
where Penn State usually is. So Penn State stopped the
run today. Are they're going to commit to an extra
guy in the box? I certainly would. I'd make J. J.
McCarthy throw it over my head. And how does that
cat and mouse game play out with Michigan's run game,
which likes to trap and send offensive linemen into random places.
So it is going to be a very fascinating game today.
(11:58):
And obviously the popcorn will be front the center. Yeah,
I know you're gonna be all set for this one. Shoveling, shoveling.
And I always say double fisting with drinking. Why don't
they say double fisting with popcorn? You little free though,
right of course? Yeah, I gotta do it that. Yeah, Okay,
so we're off and running already today. That was the
voice of Jared Smith over their lead betting analysts from
(12:19):
pix wise dot com, Rich orn Berger, whose Penn State
gears in storage apparently is the Penn State All American.
I'm Brian though. Coming up next, We've got some eye
popping numbers for you. And also could the Magic Carpet
Ride be ending for a certain team this evening. We'll
get into that as well. It's Fox Sports Radio's count
(12:40):
Down to Kickoff presented by bet MGM. Oh yes, yes, yes,
Welcome to the biggest tailgate party in the nation. You're
locked into Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff and it's
presented by bet mgm, the King of sports books. Once again.
(13:00):
Here's Brian No, Richenberger and Jared Smith. Welcome back to
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to kick Off presented by bet MGM.
New users downloads bet mgm app today use code countdown
for a special offer. That's code countdown in the bet
mgm app. Speaking of the bet MGM app, got a
(13:21):
couple of stinky lines today, the stinkiest of the stinky
least money So Kansas Right Kancers played pretty well pretty
well this year. They are nine point underdogs at Oklahoma
cliffs notes version of Oklahoma. They're freaking brutal. They have
(13:42):
been awful. They're the only winless team in the Big Twelve.
They do get Dylan Gabriel back. That's a big deal
their quarterback, at least that's what the betting line is
indicating there. But Kansas they're on their backup QB. But
Jason Bean played pretty well last week against TCU. What
do you guys think of Kansas plus night. I don't
know about you. I'm running to bet Oklahoma because this
(14:03):
line could not stink anymore. Yeah, these these are ones
that stick out like a sore thumb. And you know, again,
what is your Jayhawks coach doing at the Helm? And
every coach in that building, and frankly everyone on that
staff is doing. Even the the you know, the the
lunch ladies and and the janitorial staff. As they're passing by,
(14:26):
the players are like, you know, they're they're saying, the Sooners,
they're gonna beat your pants off, you know that, right?
You know that they meaning the books Because look, a
lot of people have acted like college football and betting
have been church and state for all these years. It's
it's not true because these coaches are aware of the lines.
(14:47):
These coaches are aware of which which direction these lines go,
and if they feel like there's enough there to post
on the Bolton board, they will. And so you're talking
about a five and one Jayhawks team taken on in
even record Sooner's team. A down year for Oklahoma, if
you ask anyone around Oklahoma, yeah, yeah, I mean that's
Bolton board material if you ask me, so, expect an
(15:10):
inspired Kansas team to take the field. Uh in Oklahoma today.
Rat poison is what our friend Nick Saban calls it. Um.
There's a lot of people betting Kansas today. A lot
of people are seeing that number and they're saying, wait,
what did we just saw? Last week? Oklahoma lost by
(15:32):
how much to Texas? And that was a really tough
spot for Oklahoma. First of all, Texas Texas defense is
a top ten unit. They've got top ten talent and
now they've got Gary Patterson and Kwiatkowski have done a
great job with the Boise State in the Washington defense
molding it. You had Gary Patterson and the Texas a
legit team. Oklahoma was playing without their their starting quarterback,
(15:54):
Dyllan Gabriel and unlike Kansas, who will be without Jaleen Daniels.
So the market is brying your spot on the market,
absolutely telling you Jalen Daniels out Bill and Gabriel. In
the drop off from Gabriel to general Booty and the
other backups of Oklahoma, uh massive. Unlike Kansas, where Daniels
(16:14):
is good, can't really throw it as much more of
a runner being can clearly chuck it. I mean, he
almost ruined our bet last week on TCU UM and
I think that's a that situation was difficult. I think
for TCU, you prepare for a mobile quarterback all week
and then all of a sudden you have to completely
shift your defensive strategy and figure out how to cover
(16:35):
guys in the back that are running behind you this week.
You would expect Brent Ventables to have the same information
we do, know that it's going to be a throwing quarterback,
not a running threat, and have his team buttoned up accordingly.
The numbers on Kansas haven't been good. They've been doing
it with smoking mirrors. There a bottom twenty offense or
excuse me, a bottom twenty defense this year. I think
(16:56):
Oklahoma is going to drop a hammer today and I
think I love fading. The public dog that has fleas
Operation fade. Kansas is in full of that. I probably
will bet against Kansas most of the games for the
rest of the season because I think on paper they're
just they're not a great team. They just kind of
won some games early and they captured the hearts and
minds of America and game Day last week, and I
(17:19):
just think they're not there. Their win total was two
and a half coming into the season. They they're there
their way above that already. So I just think Kansas
above their you know, ahead of their skis at this point,
and it's probably a decent spot to to sell and
to your point, Brian, like like Oklahoma after an embarrassment,
that's that's a spot also that you know, as a
(17:42):
better you look for when you get goose egged, you know,
when especially against a rival forty nine. That loss against
the Longhorns was embarrassing. So the bounce back game, you
know that the whole team is mad and they're gonna
come out angry. You know what, here's another number. I
would look at it. I don't know, I don't have
it in front of me, but you guys might whatever
(18:03):
the total on this game, you might want to take
the over because Venable's defense with Oklahoma has been nothing
to write home about. Kansas defense, your point, Jared has
been awful. So whatever that number is, you might want
to take the over because we're probably going to see
more offense and defense played today steamed up from six.
So yeah, the you know, the early money certainly agrees
(18:24):
with the over. There. It looks like most of the
tickets I'm expecting, you know, not a ton of handle
on the total in that game. But the fact that
almost of the tickets are betting on, you know, the
public is loving They're eating up the Jayhawks is an
underdog here it It might be you might hear this
one later when we get to our rapid fire segment
(18:45):
link wing. Now, as far as the magic carpet ride,
that's alluding to USC USC six and oh heading into
Utah tonight eight pm Eastern time, And look, I think
it's a stink line. It's one of these. This has
happened before with USC at Utah and USC came in unblemished.
(19:06):
Great season. Utes are favored by three and a half
and a lot of the betting public is like, give
me USC all day, give me the undefeated tape over here.
But it has been a house of horrors for USC
going to Utah. There were no fans a couple of
years ago when it was the pandemic, So it's a
lot different than the atmosphere tonight. I like, it's an
(19:30):
interesting matchup, really interesting because USC can still pound the
rock and when you can run the ball that travels
with Travis Dye, we haven't loved what we've seen from
Utah in the trenches, so that gives me pause. But
when you get three and a half for Utah, who
just got smacked around and punked by U. C l
A last week, sometimes you fall into the trap of
(19:52):
thinking what happened last week is just gonna automatically repeat
itself this week. It doesn't always go down like that, No,
it definitely doesn't. You know, it's it's the toughest test
of the season so far for the Trojans. You know,
out of USC's six wins, the highest ranked team UH
is Oregon State. You know, think about that. I mean,
(20:12):
we're all excited about, you know, USC, because it's the
Trojans triumphant returned to the top of the standings, but
Oregon State sit somewhere in the mid forties in terms
of where they would rank if the power rankings did
did go that far. So this is a big test
for the Trojans. This is gonna be a tough, physical game.
(20:32):
You know, That's exactly what the Utes want to do.
They want to muck it up. They love to win ugly.
It's been the the heart and soul of that program
for years and years and years. I think this is
without question the toughest test for USC. And this is
where the rubber meets the road. Are you a real
team or not? We find out today. Yeah, this is
(20:53):
USC's real first big test. Utah has had a couple
of them. Haven't really played well in them though. Uh
you know a game against Florida Week one had it
two opportunities inside the five zero points. Then the game
against u c. L A just got beatered, battered and
bruised up front. And how about this Utah's defense outside
(21:16):
the top sixty in rush efficiency. Again, that is, in
my opinion, the identity of this team, at least in
prior years. That's what sets Utah apart from the other
teams in the Pack twelve they're willing to get muddy
in the trenches with you. USC actually has the better
offensive line play there are top five team and rich
(21:40):
You're gonna love this. So now that we have a
few weeks into the year, one of the data points
that is fed to me now is a line yards
created metric. We can actually track how much movement the
offensive linemen create. I know, and USC is third in
the country in line yards created. Ohio states first, by
(22:01):
the way, which is scary considering how good they are
at every other position and on the offensive line. But
that's to me the matchup within the matchup here, Cameron
Rising is gonna move the ball against this USC defense.
I think that's fair to say. The question is how
does Caleb Williams and company handle the atmosphere, handle the
spotlight night game at altitude. Well, here's an easy decision.
(22:25):
Hand the ball to Travis die It's coming off a
hundred fifty yrd game. He's got four hundred yard games
this year, and USC, in my opinion, has a matchup
edge here, maybe a hidden one in the trenches. Offensive
line against defensive line. Running the football, that's the quickest
way to get acclimated to the environment is just hand
theball to Travis Die. Let him, you know, give you
a second and four instead of second and ten on
(22:48):
an incomplete pass. So I that to me is what
I would do if I was linked Riley is. I
would allow Travis Dye to be the tone center here.
A ton of experience for him play at Oregon, understands
the environment at Utah. This is gonna be a fun game.
First game for USC against the ranked opponent all year,
and they're an underdog, as an undefeated team against a
(23:09):
two lost team. A lot of moving parts here. I
love your point about spotlighting the run game if you're USC,
because the easy reaches. While Jordan Addison right, but you
know he's going to be followed all game long by
Clark Phillis. I mean, that's the one to watch, and
you know the cameras are gonna find it constantly because
(23:29):
those are two future first round draft picks and you know,
arguably the best corner, the best defensive back in the
country going against the best receiver in the country right now,
and it should be fireworks. But yeah, you know again,
when you go big on big sometimes it cancels it out.
And if you have an edge creating air in the
run game is the way I call it? Creating air? Yes,
(23:50):
let's create some air when you're blowing, when you're blowing
the big hogs off the ball and you're running back,
has room to make the decisions in the backfield. You
create that room and you're able to, you know, find
some daylight. Yeah, usc, I think that's a great plan.
Make this as ugly as Utah wants to make it,
and try to win at their own game. By the way,
(24:12):
is that what you call it? Like if you eat
like beans, you call that creating air? Also creating air
on my waistline. Most days we wanna create some air
over a little meaning space for a guy, Nick Cope
to join the party. Nick, what's the latest, buddy, what's
going on? Guys? Good morning, Excited for this big day
(24:33):
in college football and all eyes gonna be on Alabama
and Tennessee among all the other games. And Alabama coach
Nick Sabans his quarterback Bryce Young is on track to
play today against the Balls, but a final decision will
have to wait until he goes through pregame warmups. He
sprained his right shoulder a couple of weeks ago against Arkansas,
for Tennessee. Reports say they're gonna be without a couple
of key starters, senior receiver Cedric Tillman and senior safety
(24:57):
Jalen mccolla. Tillman has been out the last month with
the an ankle injury, though he is progressing, and mccola
is out after he was arrested on felony aggravated assault
charges earlier in the week. Bet mg N has Alabama
currently giving eight and a half on the road. Illinois
quarterback Tommy DeVito will start today against Minnesota. He left
last week's game against Iowa with an ankle injury. Gophers
(25:19):
will have star running back Mo Ibrahim as well. Minnesota
is a six and a half point road favorite, according
to bet MGN. Elsewhere, Kentucky coach Mark Stoop says quarterback
Will Levis is good to go for tonight's game against
number sixteen Mississippi State. Levis was out last week with
turf toe. Bet MGM has Mississippi State a three and
a half point road favorite. ESPN reports NC State quarterback
(25:42):
Devon Leary will not go today in their Top twenty
matchup between the wolf Pack and Syracuse. It's a shoulder
injury for Devon Leary had he suffered last week against
Florida State, Syracuse favored by three at home according to
bet mgen Quickly to Baseball, both wild card winning teams
in the National League on the cusp of the NLCS
(26:03):
now as the Padres edge the Dodgers two to one
last night, taking a two to one series lead. San
Diego's bullpen been lights out and they've thrown thirteen scoreless
innings in the series. Phillies blew out the Braves nine
to one, got home runs from Reese Hopkins and Bryce Harper.
Philly leads that series two to one, and then you've
got game threes. In the American League today, Yankees and
Guardians tided one apiece in the series after Cleveland one
(26:25):
of four to two in ten innings, and the Astros
can sweep the Mariners today with a win in Seattle. Guys,
back to you, great stuff, Nick, really well done. It's
Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM.
For sure to check out the new looking features in
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(26:46):
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code countdown in the bed MGM app Let's do it,
Let's go Big twelve matchup of the deck. M oh,
this is a beautiful matchup. Top fifteen matchup number eight
Oklahoma State at number thirteen TCU. Both squads are five
(27:09):
and oh are made man mad Max Max Dugan crushing
it this year. Is not the controls here today as well,
and Uh, I would expect a lot of offense. I
expect a lot of offense. Oklahoma's they can't run the
ball effectively, but Spencer Sanders had another strong season, and
(27:29):
I'm expecting a lot of fireworks. I was shocked. I'm
sure you guys are pretty surprised too. No one could
score last week with TCU at Kansas in the first
half and then it was just fireworks galore in the
second half. I don't think we're gonna see ten to
three today at halftime when it's Oklahoma State and TCU. Yeah,
this is UH, this is gonna be one of those
(27:51):
fireworks games. There's no question about it. A lot of
offense um in terms of in terms of the the
expected offensive output per play. I think tc A TCU
only trails Ohio State in that category. Um, I mean
their skill positions all over the field for this uh,
for this team. Max Duggan obviously one of the best
(28:14):
balls in college football right now, highest passer rating and
also when he throws, just just spot where he's putting it.
That's the most impressive thing about doug In so far
this season. He doesn't throw a lot of interceptible passes.
He puts it in spots where only his receivers have
a play on it. And that is a really really
(28:34):
important aspect of playing the quarterback position these days. Because
these defenders they're fast, they're range e, they're all over you.
It's gonna be it's gonna be a high scoring game.
It feels like, I mean, we say that and then
we'll see like a twenty one point you know, slug
fest where it's you know, thirteen fourteen is the final
(28:55):
one missed extra point is outcome. But but I'm expecting
is to be a big day offensively. Yeah, the first
line of my notes is tracked me. Uh. That's that's
kind of the vibe I'm getting. So, Jim, Jim, the
hack saw dug In is the first place my mind
goes every time we talk about max Um. I don't
(29:18):
know if any old school wrestling fans out there that
are listening. Um. So it's Oklahoma State's an intriguing team.
Not not all undefeated teams are created equal. For example,
there are several of them in the country, fifteen of them,
to be exactly, every single one has at least a
top ten unit on either offense or defense except Coastal Carolina.
(29:39):
All right, that makes sense. Oklahoma State and you would
think the defense would be the leader of the pack here.
They had one of the best defense in the country
last year. They won the Big Twelfth Championship because of it. Well,
the architect, Mr Jim Knowles is now hanging out in Columbus.
Very exciting to see him. Yeah, it's I'll be honest.
I think that's the it is important part of this game,
(30:01):
this team and Oklahoma State season is the identity shift
with this team now. Listen, Spencer Standards is an experienced
quarterback top twenty and QBR, but completion percentage a little
lower than what I would like, and the explosiveness on
the outside not quite there. They're not dynamic at running back.
(30:21):
They have a deep wide receiver group. But again, they're
not explosive. There's not a guy that all right, we
got to defend him and shut him down or else
we're gonna lose this game. It's kind of spencer standers left,
right and center try to make some plays for us.
TCUs got one guy that is off his rocker right now,
the wide receiver. The name is eluding me, but oh
(30:42):
my goodness, gracious, you better double cover Quentin Johnson. That
guy will burn you. And again, Oklahoma States defense, like
we've said, has been had at times, allowing four hundred
and thirty yards per game. That's over a hundred and
thirty per game more than last year. They can be
(31:04):
TCU at home as a favorite against an undefeated team.
The market's telling you who's going to win this game,
and I think the horn Frogs they're they're up for
this one. They're in Fort Worth today. Look, man, we've
talked about how high scoring we expect this game to be,
and I certainly expected as well. It just blows my mind.
I'm so conditioned to these NFL totals where you see
(31:28):
him consistently in the forties, the forties, you'll see Thursday night. Yeah,
you won't see every now and then it'll take into
the fifties. You see Bills, Chiefs, it's like fifty four.
You won't see anything close to sixty eight and a half,
and so it's a little bit jarring. I know college
football is a lot different, but if you stop and
think about it, because I'm thinking it's gonna be points
(31:49):
scalore here Oklahoma State TCU, sixty eight and a half
is still basically downs per half, five touchdowns a half.
That's a ton. We just saw the disgraces of Thursday
Night football and back to back weeks, but I still
think the over is the better play here today. Yeah,
it might be, And the only thing that could slow
(32:11):
it down is the pass pass rush of Oklahoma State.
They have a couple of the really three of the
big twelves best rushers upfront with Lacey, Martin and Oliver.
They'll get into the offensive backfield. You know, it'll be
it'll be an issue for Dougging at some point in
the game. He'll have to be able to throw around
(32:33):
over or in the grips of one of those three men,
and they are men up front. So yeah, that's that's
the only thing that can slow down the offense today. Otherwise,
I agree with the first two words on Jared scouting report.
Track meet Lacey's grading out right now as a top
twenty d N. I noticed a fifth year senior, and
(32:55):
I'm looking at his Pro Football Focus grades right now
increased significantly in each season. I mean, he's looking like
going to be a high graphic based off of these numbers. Um,
that would be the one bugaboo for for the horn Frogs.
You know, if you want to turn that frog into
a prince, you're gonna have to figure out a way
to get past this defensive line. This is a big game. Listen,
(33:16):
the Big twelve. It's got some teams in the mix
this year. In Texas, I think the metrics are telling
me Texas is a top five kind of talent team.
We'll see if they trip themselves up at some point
down the road. But TCU at Texas or I forget
where that game is played, it's in a few weeks.
If the winner of this game today, if it is TCU,
(33:38):
that TCU Texas game in a few weeks is gonna
be a biggie. It's gonna be a biggie. So I
think down there in the Big Twelve. We got ourselves,
got ourselves a couple of squads that can maybe make
some noise. Didn't expect that conference to to have its
toe dipped in the college football playoffs this year, but
I think we are starting to feel that. And this
is this is the battle of the last two undefeated
(33:59):
teams in this conference. You know, so whoever gets this
stays perfect on the season. And uh, you know we
were talking about this earlier with Penn State Michigan. This
is the real test, real first test for both these teams.
If you look at strength of schedule really poor for
both Oklahoma State and t SU up until this point
when they face each other. I just flashed back to
(34:20):
Larry Scott, the former Pack twelve commissioner, where the conference
just used to cannibalize itself, right like the last undefeated
team would somehow go down to another Pack twelve school.
I picture Larry Scott watching like Big twelve action and
just like, let's see if the same thing happens to
your conference. That having a my conference over and over
(34:40):
and over again. All right, we're often running Rich Hornberger
Penn State, All American is with this Jared Smith lead
betting analysts from pix wise dot Com. I'm Brian No
coming up today. This team is brutal. It might be
the worst team in FBS. Could this brutal squad be
a winner today? We'll get to that. It's Fox Sports
(35:02):
Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. I'm a man.
Kickoffs are coming, Sue, and we're leading you up to that.
This is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by
Bett MGM, the kick of sports books. Once again, Here's
(35:23):
Brian No, Rich Hornberger and Jared Spitch. Are you turning me?
It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by
bet MGM. Just a little over two hours to go
until kickoff. Let's dive into this count Check this out.
(35:44):
Our late latter our Parlay Platter is brought to you
by bet MGM. Earn a fifty dollar bonus by signing
into bed MGM and clicking on refer a friend to
invite a friend, and in just a few simple steps,
both you and your friend will receive a fifty dollar bonus.
Bet m g M, the King of sports books, the
King of Parlay's all right, Jared, You've got your parlay
(36:06):
platter over here, three picks. You're going all money line
and I'm gazing at this thing. I see hold he
let me let me wipe my eyes, like maybe I'm
seeing this one. I see Colorado State. Who's Colorado bringing
up the Rams? Yeah? You like the Rams here today
to get there first? Well, they won last week. It
(36:27):
was the nation's longest losing street. That's right, and they
go and trust me, I that was I got. I got.
I got some flak for that pick last Friday when
I picked Colorado State catching three against the back. I
think it was three in the hook. But it didn't matter.
They want out right. They snapped the nation's longest losing street.
Now they're going for two in a row. And listen,
(36:49):
I'll be honest. This is this is a long shot parlay. Guys.
This is one of those where you put a nickel
down to try to win a lot of nickels. And
you know what, the parlays haven't gone for us this year.
We have not won one. Um and you have you,
you have you hit a parley. I haven't done one.
It's your segment over here, But if I win one,
(37:12):
it'll be our segment, won't it. Yes, oh yes, you'll
make us look very very brass. Well, here's the beauty
of these. This one this week is forty six to one,
so if we hit one, we will make up for
lots of parlays going forward. But again, that's discipline here
on the show. We're all about structure and discipline and order.
Half a unit one a week just for fun. This
(37:35):
isn't our bank roll buster here, this is just for fun.
Colorado State plus three against Utah stay tough spot for
Utah State coming off the win against Air Force. Their
defense was on the field for thirty five minutes and
fifty five running plays. That's very good news for Avery
Morrow who ripped off seven per tote last week against Nevada.
We are absolutely taking Middle Tennessee stayed on the money
(37:57):
line once again. We bet him last week didn't out
against you a B. Well, this is a good situational
spot again, I think for the Blue Raiders. Western Kentucky
comes into town homecoming in Murphysboro. Western Kentucky plays you
a B in six days. Middle Tennessee going into their
bye week, so I think situationally good spot for Middle
(38:18):
plus two forty on the money line there and of course. Listen, guys,
I'm putting Penn State money line into Parlay. Is at
a homer pick. Absolutely, it's the first game of the day.
I want Penn State money line in the parlay. I
don't really care what any of you think. It is
a homer play. If they win, great, If they lose,
I'll be sad anyways, So you might as well just
throw it in. Penn State money line, Middle Tennessee money line,
(38:38):
Colorado State money line. We'll dive in more Penn State
breakdown a little later in the show. Again, forty six
to one, fifty bones for me pays out almost twenty three.
Let's have some fun today, Okay, let's have some fun. Okay,
and I'll just sprinkle a little, uh little flavor on
top of this mountain west leg of the parlay. Okay,
all right, yeah, Utah State they throw a ton of
(38:59):
inn receptions right now. They lead the nation with twelve
on the year. Um, and I will say this, you're
really susceptible to giving up huge run games. Anybody's who
committed to rushing against the aggies have had success in
Colorado State just figured out the run game. They hadn't
had a hundred yard rusher UM a hundred yards rushing
(39:21):
all year, and they had a hundred seventy seven against Nevada.
So whatever was bugging them, they were able to figure
it out a week ago. Plus Utah States defense can't
stop anyone on the run, so I mean, and they
can't get off the field UM on third down. So
if you want to win, if you're looking for a win,
if you're looking for a money line pick, I don't
hate it. I don't hate it. I'm surprised, though. I'm
(39:45):
surprised Rich, because you sprinkled some Mountain West knowledge on
this parlay, and I thought you were gonna go the
other way. I thought it gonna be like the Nitney
Lions outright. Really, I'm surprised you zig when I thought
you're gonna zag. We'll get We'll get there, all right, Okay,
coming up next, this guy, he could take a whole
(40:05):
lot of pressure off his quarterback, and he could take
a whole lot of pressure off his defense. Today, Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f
s R to listen live. Oh what's going on everybody?
Just under two hours until kick off. It is a
(40:28):
majestic slate of games today. We've got six ranked versus
ranked matchups, even some tasty matchups that don't feature ranked
versus ranked. So very much looking forward to getting to
all of this stuff. Let's dive back into Bama at
tennessee the news today breaking this early morning. Maybe not shocking,
(40:52):
but Bryce Young is expected to play. If you pay
any attention at all to the betting lines, you'd probably
be ahead of the curve on that one. If there
wouldn't be this much money pouring in on Bama if
he wasn't playing, so Bryce Young most most likely will
be behind center. I think this guy's the running back,
Jamir Gibbs, who has been sensational for Alabama the last
(41:13):
two weeks. I think he can take a lot of
pressure off of Bryce Young today. He could also take
some pressure off of that Alabama defense if Alabama is
able to play a little bit more ball control. If
you can run the ball effectively, you can really dictate
a lot of things. And if they're able to do
that with Gibbs, I think it would not only help
out Bryce Young, I think it could help out Alabama's
(41:35):
defense to a degree. Hendon Hooker is gonna get on
the field. It's that as if they're never gonna get
the ball. But I think in terms of pace, in
terms of Tennessee playing how fast they want to play,
you can really change the tempo as far as that goes. Yeah, yeah,
there's no doubt you gotta put some pressure on Hendon Hooker,
who's right up there in the Heisman race. I mean,
(41:56):
this Tennessee offense moves to football. There's no other way
to put it. They just find ways to convert first downs.
And it doesn't matter what down or distance their face
with They're They're just tremendous at moving the football. So
how do you defeat that, Well, you just put pressure
on the quarterback up front. And Alabama's defense is a
(42:17):
sensational unit, and I don't think they're getting enough credit.
It was very easy to steep a ton of credit
on the Georgia Bulldogs because over the past couple of
years they've really been reliant on that unit. Alabama lesso historically,
well I shouldn't say historically, but say the past half
decade or so. Well, this season is very different. This
(42:39):
season they've really needed the Tide defense to step it
up for them in some spots, including last week against
A and M. And so this is gonna be another
one of those games. You got young back, but he's
nursing a sore shoulder. You have a really talented balls offense.
I think it comes down to that matchup what they
can do offensively to you and what you the Crimson
(42:59):
Tide can to them. And so I'm gonna be watching
the battle up front between the old line in this
pass rush when the Valls are trying to throw it downfield. Yeah,
Bama offensive line twenty three in that line yards created metric,
they're actually first on passing downs, but they're outside the
top sixty and stuff, right, so some of those runs
are getting, you know, halted before the line of scrimmage.
(43:21):
And Brian, I'm very glad you brought up the point
about Jamir Gibbs. My notes have it as underutilized the
nugget next to him eight point three yards per carry,
but only sixty three carries and twenty two receptions in
six games. He's only touching the ball per game fourteen times.
(43:42):
For perspective, there's over a hundred running backs in the country,
averaging more carries per game than Jamir Gibbs and Derrick
Henry's Heisman season averaged twenty six carries per game in
So that puts it in perspective how little Jamir Gibbs
is touching the football. Maybe they're saving him for the
(44:03):
stretch run. Maybe this is the day where he gets,
you know, giving the full monty of carries, touches, receptions, etcetera, etcetera.
But to me, I I think it's the Alabama receivers
that are really under the spotlight. I'll be honest, and
I do this every week, and I dive as deep
as you could possibly dive. I had to look up
who the Alabama receivers are. I could not name one
(44:24):
off the top of my name. And again the perspective here, DeVante,
DeVante Heisman, DeVante Smith, I mean, just call him DeVante Haisman.
Why not Jalen Waddle, Jamison Williams, Jerry Judy, Amari Cooper,
Julio Jones, John Metchi, Guys that even aren't at that level,
(44:47):
and that I can't. I really could not name one
off the top of my head until I looked um.
To me, I could see Alabama is still getting movement
with their receivers and with their running backs against this
Tennessee defense, which has struggled this year in efficiency against
the past. So even though there are not any household
names playing that wide receiver position for Alabama, I can
(45:08):
see them moving the football not being set. The pressure
rate is key here. Bryce Young is not pent even
if he plays. From what I hear and Rich you
can speak to this because I've never had any kind
of major injury and had to play a football game,
a contact sport. I'm assuming the shoulder once it gets
hit will be less than one after the game. Then
(45:30):
it is pregame and Tennessee brings the heat fourteen sacks
in the last four games. Can they get enough up
front to make Bryce Young feel uncomfortable? Great matchup on
that side of the ball, I mean, the best on
best is Obama's defense against Tennessee's offense. But the more
game within the game is how Alabama looks offensively and
(45:52):
how they moved the ball against a Tennessee defense that
has been moved this year. Yeah, what's weird is you
mentioned the wide receivers and the talent is clearly down
from all the dynamic names that you rattled off and
not that long ago, right, And it just reminds me
of some of these universities that are just well stocked
in certain positions. Notre Dames had a run on tight ends.
(46:13):
They're sprinkled throughout the NFL. You guys have Penn State linebacker,
you would be like LSU just not having defensive backs
and you're like, what is going on here? But that's
really what you're seeing from Bama, where the talent at
wide receiver is clearly down. And that's why. Get Jamir
Gibbs involved in that game too. Get him involved in
the passing game, throw it to him, use him as
(46:33):
an Alvin Kamara type code up against Tennessee would make
a lot of sense where Camara went. But Gibbs is
an absolute home run hitter. You've seen it the last
couple of weeks. It was the slug fest against A
and M. He was well over a hundred yards rushing
and he had a couple of huge runs against Arkansas
the week prior. So I would absolutely rely on Jamir
(46:55):
Gibbs more than like you said, Jared, they have been
to this point. Yeah, And your point Jared about the
shoulder injury that Bryce Young's dealing with. I've felt with it,
you know, And now listen, I wasn't tasked with throwing
the football, but I know how painful it could be
and how limiting it can be when you spring your
a C joint. As a matter of fact, I don't
know if you can see it, but I got a
(47:16):
scar right here collar bone. On the show this morning,
let's go, why don't you do all the show? Short?
We go from the top. The second WWF reference of
the day. Yeah it was Hulkin. It's Max Saw dugging
mad baby. But yeah, like they, I mean, these these
(47:41):
can be such severe injuries that you know, at season's end,
I ended up having part of my collar bone removed
to make our room in that joint. You know, it's uh,
it's they sort of shaved down the clavical and they
because if it gets inflamed, what it does is it
limits mobility. That's the biggest problem with injuries like this,
(48:01):
these orthopedic injuries. Everybody talks about the pain, the pain,
the pain, and it's the lack of mobility. When you're
a quarterback, mobility is everything, I mean strength. We could
we could talk about strength. You know, Oh, this guy
can throw the deep ball, but without accuracy, you're nothing.
And so if you're lacking any mobility, uh, you're in trouble.
And by the way, this particular injury you fall on
(48:24):
that shoulder, you're in a tremendous amount of pain. So
there's that. The other part of it is, Look, he's
one of your stars. You talk about Gibbs, He's the star.
Will Anderson Jr. Has to ruin this game for the
balls offense. I mean, he has led this nation in
pressures on quarterbacks he's faced, He's got twenty six on
(48:44):
the year. He's been tremendous so far. He's got a
step up big and be the ruiner today for this
Vall's offense. And they got a couple other guys up
front who can create havoc and the offensive backfield. And
so I really think that's what this is gonna be about.
Keep Rice Young upright, don't rely too heavily on him,
keep him safe, but most importantly pin back the years
(49:06):
and go after that Vall's offense and create havoc up
front and get to Hendon Hooker as much as you
possibly can. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that quarterback matchup man, and
you mentioned it rich with the I just thought of
Tom Brady, right, Like Tom Brady is all about stretching
and it's not strength training, it's just having that range
of motion like it's all about that, so elongate the muscles. Yeah. Absolutely,
(49:34):
here's a question right now for the not that season
ends today, Hendon Hooker's on the Heisman podium. Yes, yes, yeah,
I think so. Yeah. I mean that talk about a
far cry from where we were six weeks ago. I mean,
this is a team that again has had success at
(49:57):
a very miniscule level over the last few years, and
now we are talking and it's kind of ironic there
might not be an Alabama player on the Heisman podium
if the season ended today. Wow yeah you maybe possibly
with Bryce Young missing over what like a game and
a half, Like that's a big tour rol about six
five or six games in. I also think this too
with Hendon Hooker. This is a like a mid October matchup,
(50:20):
you know what I mean? Because Hendon Hooker, you can
tell there's a difference between you know, this game midway
through the season, like last week against the l s U.
He's not springing up like it's game one where he
just got hit and he just yeah, he was a
little last week. He was last week and and then
was against L s U. This is a different animal
this week against Alabama. That is something to keep an
(50:41):
eye on. I will say this, the Alabama defense giving
up some big place to to some really good receivers
and they haven't been gassed for a ton of points.
But Xavier Worthy had a hundred yards without Queen yours.
Evan Stewart had a hundred yards last week with a
very young quarterback at the helm for a m So
there's an opportunity. And I know no Cedric Tillman today,
but at McCoy Keaton have been a nice, you know,
(51:01):
triple threat on the outside. It's just can Hooker stay
up right long enough? Because you're right, he has looked
a little gimpy last year. It's not quite justin fields.
The Bears quarterback right like fields is almost like Byron
Leftwich territory, where there's carrying him down the field right.
But h handon Hooker, it hasn't gotten to that level yet.
(51:23):
Hopefully he doesn't get there. But you can tell he's
been feeling the hits lately. So I'm really curious what
he's able to do with his legs. We all see
what he's doing with his arm this year in college football,
and it's tremendous. But he adds a lot to that
offensive attack with his legs. So how effective Canny be
against Bama todays? If he's feeling good, maybe he runs
(51:43):
for even forty fifty yards. You never know when those
yards come. It could be on third and three in
a key moment and he just tucks it and runs
for a first down. So I want to see how
healthy Hendon Hooker feels also. But this is mid October, right,
the injury issues with Bryce Young, the three issues with
Hendon Hooker, this is October football, man, That's how it goes.
(52:04):
And sometimes your best opportunity to have success is to
rely on a great decoy. And maybe that's all Bryce
Young is today, right, Because if you bring in Jail
and Moreau with film now of him getting a start
last week, it didn't look great, you know. And and
so if you can keep Bryce Young on the field
just for the threat of what can be, well, that's
(52:25):
gonna keep the defense a hell of a lot more
honest than if you put Milreux on the field. So
I I feel the most important thing for Alabama is
to keep him on the field because again, even just
a perceived threat of what young can do to you
offensively is probably enough to disguise how limited he actually is.
(52:47):
He has to be able to stay on the field, though,
so protecting him is a b C. I mean, go,
it is the highest priority today. By the way, super fast,
do you guys think in the not too distant future
that will have a little bit more insight in college
football about the injury report? No? Never, you don't think
(53:08):
it will ever happen. Well, it's because of the way
the programs are run and there's hippo laws. They're not
professional athletes. So in another life, I was a sports
information director of Florida Atlantic and Rich I'm sure you've
seen this side of it too, very very very difficult
to give out any information. The bigger the program, the
less information you get to Yeah, that's uh, that's an
(53:31):
important thing to point out. Until the rules change where
these guys are considered professionals, which you know, would would
take off a whole I mean you're opening a Pandora's
box there where it's you know, medical insurances workers compensation
like a union. It's going to and it may head
there at some point, but that would be that would
(53:52):
be the the canyon, the divide that you have to
clear before we get to that point. But I do
think that letters and books are going to be looking
for more clarity, so they're making some sort of I
don't know, without necessarily tipping your hand as to without
violating hippolage. There may be some way to get around
(54:13):
that and still get the information out there that that
betters in books need. He could always first, Brian, and
do you know this too? Like we saw it yesterday
with Alabama. All of a sudden, I wake up on
Friday morning and the Alabama line jumps a point and
a half. There was no news that broke about your Obama,
but but the line moved a point and a half
(54:34):
on the biggest game of the year with everybody betting Tennessee.
We saw it last week with Kentucky, right, the number
just completely dropped. What what Kentucky was favored by against
South Carolina? And you're like, huh, here's whatever minds me.
Do you ever see the movie Casino, first scene in
Casino when Ace Rothstein is in that back alley making
(54:56):
bets and then all of a sudden all of the
bookies run to the pay phone after Yeah, yeah, yeah,
that that's kind of And again it's not as crude
as that. There's there's in I don't want to say insiders,
but there are spies and little birds if you want
to take something from Game of Thrones, little finger, you know,
the whispers, and then all of a sudden, the market moves,
(55:19):
and the market, to me is the biggest, you know,
indicator of any injury. The market always knows before Adam
Schefter to those guys, sends out a tweety and that's fine,
that's all well and good. It's just interesting. With the
explosion of betting, it just still is interesting. Coaches, they're
effectively they're essentially able to say, you'll find out Saturday
(55:41):
who's playing and who isn't you know, like well, Nick
Saban hasn't confirmed that Bryce Young's playing yet that Nick
Saban played his cards very close to the best. I
saw a Sports Illustrated reporter tweet out that, yeah, we'll
see it's this injury and that and we'll see pregame. Well,
the markets already told us who's he's he's playing. You know,
at this point it would be a surprise eyes a
shock to the market if he doesn't play. So, even
(56:03):
though Nick Saban again not revealing any information the market,
Everest told us absolutely, every time you make a wager
at bet MGM, you earn bet MGM rewards points that
can be redeemed for things like free bets and risk
free tokens. They can also be converted to MGM rewards
points that can be used towards dining shows and hotel
rooms and over twenty MGM resorts. Okay, we're just feeling
(56:27):
the flow here today. Jared Smith is from pix wise
dot com. Rich Orne Burger has a shaved clavical. He's
a n State All American. I'm Brian. Yes, I if
I met pe Hi, I'm rich Run Burger. I have
a shaved clavical. That's how I would introduce myself. You
guys want to see more scars coming up next, Keep
(56:50):
the scars to yourself, sir. This is a children's show, yes, absolutely,
all right. Coming up next, it's the team that's raising
its hands saying, hey, remember we're ranked well, don't forget
about us, we're ranked over here. We'll tell you about
that squad coming up. It's Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff,
presented by bet MGM. I don't get it who he's
(57:10):
connected to him? Tell him to take his feet off
the table. What do you think? This is a sad joint?
Welcome to the biggest tailgate party in the nation. You're
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it's presented by bet MGM, the King of sports Books.
Once again, here's Brian no, rich Yournberger and Jared Smith. Ah. Yes,
(57:38):
just a little over one and a half hours. One
and a half hours until ball loaded day. It's Fox
Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. Earn
a fifty dollar bonus by signing into bed MGM and
clicking on refer a friend to invite a friend, and
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(58:02):
of sports books, the King of Parlay's let's do it
j c C matchup of the day. Okay, so we've
got number fifteen NC State at number eighteen Syracuse and
syracuses that team sort of waving its arm like hey, guys,
don't forget about us. We're ranked over here. Syracuse is
(58:24):
rank I love Dave Dorin, the n C State coach.
Leading up to this game. He was basically talking about
Syracuse's quarterback play last year, and I'll paraphrase that. He
was like, man, they stunk last year. They're a lot
better this year. The passing game looks a whole lot better.
And that's a big, big deal in this game today.
With Devin Leary not expected to suit up, Yeah, he's
(58:46):
got a shoulder injury. Also, it's not just Brice Young,
although that's all you've heard about all week long. If
wearies out, it's gonna be red shirt senior Jack Chambers
who'll start for the wolf Pack. Um, he came from
Charleston Southern point to that on a map. I mean,
I'm guessing it's the Carolina's. Uh, it's got just a
thirty nine point five passer grade. So look, you know
(59:10):
you're gonna have to protect this offense by leaning on
the run game. And I don't know how successful of
an option that's going to be for the wolf Pack.
I Look, the deal is this, Syracuse is led by
their defense. Um, they've got the ninth artist strength of
schedule less left. So I don't know necessarily if this
(59:32):
has been an undefeated season because they are truly an
eighteenth ranked team in the country, or if they've had
a little bit of a cakewalk as they started this year.
But this is the tester, and I think we've talked
about that. We've used words like that the entire morning
so far in terms of teams turning the volume up
(59:53):
on their schedule. Here as we hit the middle of
the season mark, it is a huge test for the
Orange and it a great opportunity because you're facing him
back up at quarterback with Leary out, Yeah, quees off
the buy so rested. Uh. NC States played a couple
of really tough games in a row, Clemson and Florida State.
(01:00:13):
So this is this is one of those spots where
I'll be honest, when I looked at the line, I
kind of said to myself, man if Leary, please really
like NC stated the dog, And even this morning, when
we have official confirmation that he's not playing, I'm seeing
a little bit just a submission of movement towards the
wolf Pack. Off the three and a half now towards
(01:00:35):
the three. So maybe there's not quite as much love
for Syracuse in the market based off of their record.
And again, when a line goes from three and a
half to three in the wake of the starting quarterback
for the underdog being announced out, it tells me there
might be some upset vibes with the wolf Pack today.
(01:00:56):
Tough spot for them at the Dome, whatever sponsor they're
calling at these as. But I do I do think
I would lean NC stay with the points in this match,
but now that it's off the three and a half
significantly less valuele I like just avoiding the potential of
stepping in it by calling it the Dome the Dome.
(01:01:17):
I have a lot of series. I know there's a
lot of Syracuse people out there in the broadcasting world,
my friends particularly. I don't want to offend any of them. Yeah, hey,
no doubt about that. I'll say this real fast, though,
Garrett Schrader has played very well the Syracuse going back,
and I wonder, guys, where there's a difference between history
versus the here and now, you know what I mean?
(01:01:38):
Where Syracuse they don't have the history in recent memory
right football wise, but the here and now has been
pretty good to this point. And it could be good
enough against NC State on their backup quarterback today. I
also wonder about Bama. The history has been fantastic, but
the here and now today, what is that going to
look like? So I think it's always a balancing act
(01:01:59):
between not just dismissing history, but not being beholden to
it either. Yeah. Yeah, especially in college football, because even
though the coaches and the staffs can stay the same,
the players change year after year after year, and you're
gonna see more flux in the market of players coming
to certain schools as a result of the transfer port
(01:02:19):
or portal, because more players are going to choose their
own destiny and potentially put together their own quote unquote
super teams. You know, quarterback A goes to school B.
Maybe recruit who was unhappy with his usage at wide
receiver in a certain offense as a freshman moves on
(01:02:41):
and goes and leaves a program. And so whereas you
have the savings of the world and the Dabbos of
the world able to stockpile future first round draft picks
on their roster for years now, those players are going
to get cold feet or or uncomfortable and their standing
with the team and move on to other program. So,
like you said, don't trust history, trust what your eyes
(01:03:04):
are telling you. And it is called the j M,
a wireless dome. Now come on, by the way, So
Jack Chambers, that's the backup quarterback, Frenzy state the one
thing that I will say, and I know backup quarterbacks,
and you know, I'd rather have Learry who's been he
(01:03:26):
can run and he's got he's got a kind of
running numbers to back it up at Georgia Southern and
George Charleston Southern wherever he played prior um That is
a different element that Syracuse has not yet faced this year.
Most of the quarterbacks they have faced have been relatively stationary.
We'll see because I'm looking at the Charleston Southern numbers
(01:03:47):
right here from prior seasons. And this is a guy
that ran for seven touchdowns last year over four yards.
So we'll see the way we have a change of
pace on this show. Also, it's kind of a running quarterback,
if you will. Also, he goes by the name of
Nick Cope and he's here to spin us around the
sporting landscape. What's going on? Nick, I would have been
ecstatic to have been a running quarterback back in the day.
(01:04:10):
That would have been a lot of fun, and unfortunately
there wasn't a whole lot of running on the football
field for me. Anyways, you guys talking about the line
in that NC State Syracuse game, Our friends a bet
MGM do have Syracuse as a three point favorite. This morning,
there has been some movement in the Minnesota in Illinois line.
I know it's not ranked on rank, but Minnesota not
(01:04:31):
far outside the top twenty five. With the news that
Illinois quarterback Tommy DeVito will start today, that line has
shifted from Minnesota being a six and a half point
favorite on the road, it's now a four point line
in favor of Minnesota on the road at number twenty
four Illinois. By the way, Gophers will have start running
back Mo Ibraheim for the game as well. Elsewhere, Kentucky
(01:04:53):
coach Mark Stoop says quarterback Will Levis is good to
go for today's game against Mississippi State. That's number twenty
two Kentucky against number sixteen Mississippi State. Levis coming off
a turf toe injury. That is a three and a
half point favorite for Mississippi State according to bet MGM.
Alabama coach Nick Sabans his quarterback Bryce Young is on
(01:05:13):
track to play today against Tennessee, but a final decision
will have to wait until pregame warm ups. He mentioned
that on Friday, and then he appeared on ESPN's College
Game Day again this morning and reiterated those same words.
So we will have to wait a few extra hours
to know for sure if Bryce Young is going to play,
although all things are pointing to that right now. For Tennessee,
(01:05:34):
they will reportedly be without senior receiver Said Tilman yet
again and senior safety Jalen McCollum. Bet MGM has Alabama
as an eight and a half point favorite. Some injury
news in the NFL this morning, as ESPN says both
Dolphins quarterbacks to a Tongue of Ioloa and Teddy Bridgewater
have been cleared from concussion protocol. Tongue of Iolo will
be inactive tomorrow. Bridgewater will back up Skyler Thompson. However,
(01:05:58):
Tongue of Iloa ise expected to play next weekend when
the Dolphins play the Steelers. NFL media reports that Commander's
quarterback Carson Wentz fractured a finger on his throwing hand
in that Thursday night game against the Bears. He will
see a specialist to determine next steps in baseball. The
Pentres edge the Dodgers two to one. They've got a
to one series lead. Game four is coming up tonight
(01:06:20):
in San Diego. Phillies blew out the Brains nine to
one on Friday, got home runs from Reee Hopkins and
Bryce excuse me, Reese Hopkins and Bryce Harper, and so
the Phillies will have a chance to close it out
later on today. Yankees Guardians tied to one one in
the series Cleveland one four to two and ten endings
on Friday, and the Astros can sweep the Mariners with
(01:06:42):
a win today in Seattle, Guy's back to you. I
had a brain freeze when you're like, they're tied up
one one with these weird start times due to rain delays.
I'm like, are they playing right now? And like, of
course they're not playing right you're talking about the series. Yes,
the series creaked out there for a second. It is
Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM.
Let's dive into this here. Follow the money, good money. Alright,
(01:07:05):
We're gonna follow the money with Shamus McGee, our guy,
team lead of sports trading at bet MGM, joining us
here on countdown to kickoff. Welcome in, Shamus. I'm hearing
that the money is pouring in on Alabama and Tennessee today.
Is that the game that features the most money that's
being bet right now at bet MGM, It looks like it.
(01:07:26):
I mean, we've seen action all throughout the week on
this game. Uh, a lot of it coming in on
Tennessee outright. Uh. Pretty good, good brand press in Tennessee,
and uh everyone in the state of Tennessee seems to
be backing the money line on the volunteers today. But
the as you guys have probably seen, like the line
is shifted from about seven and seven and a half,
(01:07:47):
it's about the eight and a half that we sit
at right now with the Bryce Young News. Yeah, it's
the rare day where the sports books rooting for Alabama
to how they blow out win. Usually it is the
opposite um other big games today. And let's I think
of the other two remaining big games, the one I'm
more intrigued with in terms of push pull with the
(01:08:07):
points bread has been USC in Utah, and I think
that's because of where the off season number opened some
of the game of the year numbers here in the
Desert Utah minus twelve. Obviously, the power rating since then
have shifted dramatically. This line opened in that three and
a half four range, Shamus, and it looks like we've
(01:08:30):
seen some push and pull from the Sharps on both
sides this week. What are you seeing between the Utes
and the Trojans. So it's a you know, it's a
day that ends in y, so we're seeing a ton
of public money on the USC money line. There you go,
it's no surprise there. But I mean, we reopened this
line back at three and a half where we sit now,
(01:08:51):
and it's been pretty rock solid there most of the week.
I think the only thing of note is that the
public is just hitting the USC money line. But it's
it's really good two way action, i'd say on on
the spread. Probably a little bit more money on the
Utaw money on the Utaw spread coming in the last
couple of days, um, But yeah, I say it's definitely
a really really good action coming in and it's a
(01:09:12):
later kickoff, so we should see a big handle on
that game for sure. Any huge line movements are or
weird line movements that you've noticed over the course of
the week. I think the Mississippi State in Kentucky games
saw a big move with the Will Evince news a
lot of it um um. I wanted this quarterback based PC.
(01:09:34):
You got some really good sharp action, i'd say earlier
in the week, pushing them to four and a half
b y U opened up two and a half point
favorites that game, sitting at a pick up against Arkansas,
So definitely a lot of sharp action going. This Illinois
game has been a little weird, uh this morning with
the de Vito news for coming to for Illinois against Minnesota.
So yeah, i'd say some definitely the QB news definitely
(01:09:57):
even all over the place with these lines. But i'd
say Oklahoma actually it's probably the biggest one. You'll notice
line open up around the Oklahoma minus seven, which is
almost insane considering where you think where that line would
have opened it back in July, but we currently said
at nine and a half on Oklahoma minus on the
Oklahoma minus side. He Shamus McGee from bed MGM. I
(01:10:19):
always love what surprises you, Shamus, because you're on top
of this stuff. Man. So you just mentioned Oklahoma at
nine and a half right now, either that or something
else that has caught your eye where you just say, wow, really,
I mean I could bore you guys to death with
you know, is New Mexico State really a touchdown worse
than this week? Let's go. That's certainly caught my eye. Um,
(01:10:45):
for all the all the sickos out there, they'll be
watching with me later later tonight. I will be all
over New Mexico and New Mexico State later today, the
Battle of the Land of Enchantment. I mean, there's always
an incarnate word lurking out there. I'm where Shamus, is
there an incarnate word on the board today? An FCS
team that we should be concerned about. I mean, you look,
(01:11:10):
they haven't played in a few years, but hold game
played Army pretty tough years ago. That lines around thirty
thirty two and a half right now, A lot of
points and the totals fifty one. Yeah, yeah, they're they're dog. Yeah,
they're dog thirty one and a half. So you're saying
(01:11:32):
you're all over cold, cold brush your teeth of course responsibly. Yeah,
we all know that. Hey, you know, Samus, we're batting
around this thought. I think it was Brian brought it
up earlier today. Do you think we're ever going to
get to a point in college football you notice or
you you mentioned the line movement with the quarterback injury
news where college coaches are gonna have to report anything
(01:11:55):
like how NFL coaches have to on injuries. So really
good question. I certainly would hope so. But you have
like coaches like sab and Sabing plays everything close to
the chess. I feel like they're they'd have a lot
of pushback is there's so much stress. It lends you
NHL coaches where you know, goalies injury weeks a week,
(01:12:16):
but it's like a torn HBL. But I think you know,
it's the extension of sports betting and how popular is
the Mac and the Sun Belt. I'm pretty sure both
have deals with sports books or sports betting feeds now,
so you know it's becoming more and more popular across
the landscape of college sports, and with all this money
(01:12:39):
being thrown around, I think it's something you might have
to consider. By the way, shame is for the people
who like to side with the books. Sometimes that's a
popular way to go about trying to picking games, to
try to pick games. Who is bet MGM. Which team
or teams are you rooting hardest for today? Based on
the money that's come in. On the other side, I
(01:12:59):
think it's gonna be Alabama today. The way is the
way it's shaping up, the way the books looking. I
think we're gonna need Alabama is the biggest needs so far.
I mean a lot of a lot of daylight less
though I could be wrong, but it's definitely taking the
most action. I think people saw how vulnerable Alabama maybe
looked last week. But Tennessee is a huge liability on
(01:13:19):
the money line, and it's definitely not out of a
round of possibility that they that they win that game
and any on the spread the plus seven and a
half plus seven at eight and a half, we're still
seeing Tennessee money in. So it doesn't matter what Anyley,
doesn't matter, We're we're moving the number two. It's the
Tennessee money is just still coming in. Remarkable anything with
Penn State. Michigan were contractually obligated to ask really good
(01:13:43):
book for us on this one. Um, I'd say, um,
Michigan winning but not covering is probably the best result
for us there. Um, But yeah, really good book for
us that that should be a good one at noon. Awesome, Well, hey, Shamus,
great stuff as always. Man, enjoy all the games today.
(01:14:04):
It is a glorious slate of college football action. Yeah,
you too, enjoy the games today, guys, thanks for having
shamous McGee team lead of sports. I think I'm taking
its teeth the cold? Is it the Raider? I was
(01:14:25):
gonna say, I have a freakish knowledge for random college.
All right, I'm gonna need you to give me Charleston Southern. Then, Yeah,
I think it's the Lancers, right right, I think it is.
We're gonna have to do a pop quiz coming up. No,
no studying, no studying right here. J I'm curious if
(01:14:46):
I'm right. That's the first thing that came to mind.
I'm that that might be Longwood, might be the Lancers.
Oh man, we'll find out. We'll find out. Coming up next,
we'll have a competition, Rich, I'll give one, you give one.
We'll see who has who can stump here the most
here coming up, we also have this coming up next.
Jared Smith picks wise dot Com. He's their lead betting analyst.
Rich Hornberger Penn State All American. I'm Brian No coming
(01:15:09):
up next here. There's a trend we've seen in college football,
especially over the last couple of weeks. We even saw
it last night. Could we see the same thing take
hold in a couple of games today? It's something to
keep your eye on. We'll tell you what that is.
Coming up. It's Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented
by bet MGM. Smells like ball kickoffs are coming, Sue,
(01:15:33):
and we're leading you up to that. This is Fox
Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by bett MGM. The
kick of sports fots once again. Here's Brian No, Rich
Hornberger and Jared Smith. Ah. Yes, just about an hour
(01:15:54):
and ten minutes until kickoff. It is Fox Sports Radio's
count Down to Kickoff for his did by bet MGM.
But sure to follow bet MGM across all socials at
bet MGM. Let's do this not live yet live betting. Okay,
So we're looking for potential live betting opportunities, and I'll
(01:16:17):
say one thing. Watch these games with high totals that
get off to a sluggish start. And we've seen this
the last couple of weeks, right, we saw it in
that Kansas TCU game. It's ten to three at halftime,
and there's just fireworks in the second half. You saw
it last night. If you are sick enough to watch
Navy and SMU couldn't score in the first half, its
(01:16:39):
thirteen to seven and then fireworks galore. So pay attention
to Oklahoma State TCU HI total Kansas Oklahoma HI total.
If it gets off to a sluggish start, you might
be able to bet the end game over there, go
it live. I think uh the bright young situations worth
(01:16:59):
mon drink. To keep an eye on how he looks
at the start of the game. If we see some
inconsistencies with how he's throwing the football, you might have
an opportunity to bet Tennessee live. I think injuries it's
hard to gauge watching on TV, but when you have
a quarterback that is his shoulder, his throwing shoulder, it's
(01:17:21):
a little easier because if there's ducks being floated all
over the field and he's taking some shots early in
the game, that could be one where I either bet
the under or I come back on Tennessee. But man,
the line movement is really tough to to to bet
Tennessee based on what we're seeing here. Yeah. The one
I would look at is that minus three for Syracuse
(01:17:42):
hosting NC State. I fancy State scores first and it's
later in the first quarter and you can get under
that magic number of three and it drops to two
and a half something like that. I would hammer Orange
the Orange because that's a tough place to win now.
I played there in two thousand eight Penn State went
on the road and it was a pounding Syracuse just
(01:18:04):
couldn't hang with us. But um, it's a weird place.
The j M A Wireless We're gonna have to sponsor
the show based on today. I swear I've never heard
of j m A Wireless until now. It's awesome. I've
just changed subscribers, three wireless plans for everybody. Yeah, I
(01:18:31):
like that. That's I like both of your insights over there,
and yeah, it's it's one of those deals, especially with
Bryce Young. How do you detect how he feels early
compared to how he might look later on. It's gonna
be difficult to gauge potentially, but I like your angle
on that, Jared, for sure. It's something to keep your
eye on. By the way, I've compiled a list here
since you're Mr FCS nickname guy Jared Smith, pop quiz.
(01:18:55):
Are you ready for this? I've got yeah, I mean
actually that's a little tougher. I'm better with like the
random FBS team, But sure, go ahead. Oh okay, all
we've seen Wagner a couple of series. That one's easy.
I'm from that area shot Where where is that area?
By Staten Island stand Wagner? Okay, okay. How about the
University of Alabama, Birmingham. Oh, that's easy. The Blazers, that's
(01:19:20):
one of my favorite about this. Hampton Hampton Pirates, look
at you? Okay, three for three, baby, Hopefully my bets
do this well today. How about Charleston Southern. Yeah, that
one's a little tough for you. See you're cheating. Good
job by you because you knew he didn't know. Very
nice job by Wait wait wait, wait, wait, hold on,
(01:19:41):
we just did this one. No, well, I I said Lancers,
and I don't think I think Longwoods the Lancers. I
think it's the Bucks, right, are all right? Coming up next?
How much does QB experience matter in this matchup? Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
(01:20:01):
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. Oh what is going on everybody?
We are less than an hour away from tick off baby,
and it is a beautiful slate of games today, six
ranked versus ranked matchups. So we are here to just
(01:20:25):
dissect ball left and right. And I'll say this in
the Penn State Michigan matchup, I'm really curious as far
as quarterback experience. We hear this quite a bit. How
much does experience matter in this one? You've got Sean
Clifford at Penn State. He's played in about forty games
as a starter. It's a lot of games. And you
look at J. J. McCarthy, he's had six starts as
(01:20:48):
the Michigan quarterback. Now the way I look at it,
you guys might look at it differently. I look at
it and say, experience matters. But it matters to a point.
If you look at Kate McNamara, he was more are
instant j J. McCarthy, but he's not that good. So
Jim Marba made a change and now J. J. McCarthy
is playing. Sean Clifford has a lot of experience. He's
(01:21:10):
all right, he's Okay, So I'll put it to you, guys,
how much do you think experience matters When the quarterback
matchup is Sean Clifford against J. J. McCarthy. It matters
a great deal. And here's why, because you know out here,
I live in San Diego and I live near Coronado Island,
where the Navy Seals trained, And the way they describe
a guy who's composed is he's a low heartbeat guy,
(01:21:33):
which means that when everything's tense, he's the guy calm.
He's the guy who can keep his cool. He's the
guy who can operate under fire. And in that situation
you're talking about actual fire in football, though, When everything's
happening and it's happening in real time and in its
situational and it's situations that you haven't experienced, life starts
(01:21:55):
moving really really fast. So for Michigan, that could be
the case offensively or Penn State. With a quarterback who's
been out there for forty starts or thirty eight or
whatever it's been, you keep your cool because you've been
there before, you've been through the quote unquote wars. You
understand the moment and what you need to do in
that moment, you can avoid the mistake that maybe the
(01:22:16):
less experienced player will make in a situation where all
of a sudden, the heat gets turned up and you
need to operate when everybody else is flying around a
million miles an hour. So that's advantage Penn state. Now,
there is an advantage to be inexperience sometimes because what
you don't know you don't know, and what you don't
know can't hurt you sometimes. And sometimes when you're five
(01:22:37):
and oh and you're starting quarterback and it's your senior
year and it's all important to you to keep that
record clean, you start to feel the moment and then
that heart starts pounding a little bit faster. So it's
about controlling yourself in those moments and handling it. And
I guarantee there's gonna be, you know, end of the half,
end of game situations where both these quarterbacks are gonna
(01:22:58):
be faced with a decision to make and the one
who blinks is going to be the one who ends
up losing this game for his team. I love that
description so much because you're a percent right. There's there's
two very different units battling in this game, and it's
if you want to just look at the offenses. It's
a Michigan offense that I think has evolved now with
(01:23:22):
some skill position guys, probably the best crop of skill
position guys of hardball Michigan offense has ever had. There
mostly been a defensive team with some big, bruising tight ends,
and now we've got Ronnie Bell and Blake Coreum and J. J. McCarthy.
These guys are you know, upside skill position players. And
on the other side for Penn State, it's a quarterback
(01:23:44):
that has had some ups and downs throughout his career,
a lot of ups and downs, and and he had
does have thirty eight starts under his belt. Might not
be another quarterback in the country that has that many
starts under his belt right now. So maybe the most
experienced but maligned at times poor QB Yard this season
outside the top fifty. Not as turnover happy as we've
(01:24:04):
seen Clifford in the past, only two picks. That's experience,
and that's I think important. But the offensive line for
Penn State has always been recently the bugaboo, and this
year eighty three in line yards created a hundred and
twelve in opportunity rate, which is basically a metric that
says how much space is being created for the running
(01:24:25):
backs to carve up. This is a very impressive Penn
State running back room, perhaps the most impressive of all time.
And that includes a room that used to have see
Kwan Barkley and Miles Sanders, and this room might be better.
The two guys they have in the backfield right now,
they're true freshman. We don't know what their true potential
is Singleton and Allen, but they've both been fantastic so far.
(01:24:49):
Can Penn State establish a running game against the Michigan
defense that's top ten and rush efficiency this year, top
twenty in defensive line yards created. We have metrics on
both sides. People, we don't discriminate offense or defensive line yards.
So the and when, But when I look at the
Maryland game against Michigan, that's when I start to feel
some Tingley's that maybe Penn State can move the ball
(01:25:11):
a little bit in this game. Maryland yards twenty seven points.
I would put Penn State's offense ahead of Maryland, not
by a lot, but I think the experience and the
talent a little bit ahead of Maryland. So that's really
where I see this game playing out both offenses very
different offenses. One of them is a little more flash Michigan.
(01:25:32):
Maybe Penn State's a little more ground and pound in
this game, and compense State stop Michigan's running game because
they're gonna want to run. Blake Korum left right in
center to take the pressure off j J. McCarthy playing
his first real big game, top ten, top ten kind
of game. Can Michigan survive and advance to the next week?
I think two things. I think that what you're talking
(01:25:53):
about rich as a low heartbeat guy right as a
quarterback that has a lot of experience in your more
likely to freak out like Will Ferrell and old school
like we gotta k I think that would be a
bigger deal if this game were at Penn State for J. J.
McCarthy not having as many starts, so being at home,
(01:26:14):
I think that could help him because I do think
it would be a much bigger deal if he was
on the road. And the other thing, and you're mentioning
this to Jared Michigan's rush defense, it's been spectacular. Their
top ten in yards allowed per game. They're also top
ten in rush yards per carry. But then you dive
in and you're like, Okay, was Hawaii who lost fifty
(01:26:37):
six to ten trying to run the ball? Was Yukon
who lost fifty nine to zip trying to run the ball.
So that's where I wonder, just how good is Michigan's
rush defense. It's gonna be tested against Alan in Singleton
today because the stats look really good and it might
be a really good rush defense, but this is the
true test today. Yeah, yeah, and and again we mentioned
(01:26:59):
this earlier in the show, but both of these teams
really haven't been tested. I mean, these are the most
complete teams on either side of the docket that either
team has faced the entire season. And that's the reason
or part of the reason why Michigan six and oh
Penn State coming off the BI is five and oh.
And So really what it comes down to is how
(01:27:19):
effective can these quarterbacks be? And who do you like
in terms of the quarterback matchup against the defense they're facing.
Because if I'm Michigan, I'm saying, okay, guys, here's what
we gotta do. We gotta stop the run. And if
I'm Penn s Date, I'm saying, okay, guys, here's what
we gotta do. We gotta stop the run. So if
you have both strategies panning out the same exact way
(01:27:41):
defensively means that who's gonna win this McCarthy or Clifford,
and McCarthy draws probably a tougher matchup in the defensive
secondary going against cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Who's been sensationally
arguably one of the best defensive backs in n C
double A football, definitely the best in Big Ten. So
that's where I think this is going to really be
(01:28:04):
the determining factors. Which quarterback blinks first, and to your point,
playing at home instead of on the road advantage. McCarthy
Clifford's got the experience. I can't wait to see how
this one unfolds. One more quick deep dive into some
of the metrics here and especially the schedules that are
really how do we grade these teams. Let's talk about
(01:28:25):
Michigan schedule first, Colorado State, Yukon, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland.
Let's remove Maryland from the equation because they you know,
Michigan was pushed in that game. Those other offenses that
I just mentioned outside the top ninety in efficiency e
p A per play expected points added, so really hard
(01:28:46):
to gauge. Now let's go to the Penn State schedule.
It hasn't been great either per Due, Ohio, Auburn, Central, Michigan, Northwestern,
other than Ohio all outside the top eighty in offensive efficiency.
So neither defense or offense has really been tested so far.
(01:29:07):
Both will today and I think for Penn State, the
interior at the second level defensively is what concerns me.
Chop Robinson's playing great, mustaf Er upfront. These guys are
are studs. In the back, King's been fantastic, top five corner,
Joey Porter, draft Stock rising the middle of the line,
the middle linebacker Elsden. His run blocking grades have been
(01:29:29):
a run stopping grades have been very poor. And Michigan
runs this scheme where they like to trap. You'll see
guards and centers pulling all over the place. So how
does that second level, which usually Penn State linebacker you
not quite up to those standards this year, and running
the ball, if you can maneuver around those linebackers, you're
(01:29:53):
gonna get to the second and third level. So that's
the matchup within the matchup today for Michigan's offense against
Penn State's Yeah, there'll be a lot of fun to
see because Blake Corehum has been fantastic so far from Michigan,
and if he can have his way against Penn State,
that's gonna put even more pressure on uh Sean Clifford
today potentially, so really interesting to watch that unfold. It's
(01:30:13):
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM.
I wanted to circle back because Shamus McGee blew my
mind from bet MGM where he's like, we really need
Alabama today, we really need the Crimson tide. You Brett
mentioned this, yeared you hardly ever hear any sports books
say something like that, so it is it's astounding that
(01:30:37):
you've heard those words from a guy who was as
plugged in as anybody at a major sports book. And
there are books around the country that need Alabama. And look,
some of it makes sense with the injury question marks
about Bryce Young, who's gonna give it a go? How
effective will he be? And Tennessee just looked all world
last week on the road against l s U and
(01:30:57):
they're undefeated. So I get it. It's I am a
favorite by eight and a half on the road, but
it just it blows my mind that you hear someone
from a major sports books say, man, we need Nick
Saban in the tied to roll today. Man, you don't
get that very often, no, very It's probably is the
only week of the year it will happen unless we
(01:31:18):
get some weird you know, college football playoffs scenario. But
you flash forward, like, just put your mind in the
SEC Championship for a second. If it's Bama Georgia, I'm
assuming Bama is going to be a seven point plus
favorite at least maybe or maybe maybe not quite seven.
But yeah, if it's it's below seven, everyone's gonna bet Bama.
(01:31:40):
Everyone bet Bama in the National Championship last year too.
That was another one that was fun. Yeah, it's interesting.
So I mean pounding the dogs and the money line.
I mean, look, it's it's a huge game. It's just
a huge game for Tennessee. So I I just pictured
the entire state of Tennessee with bettings slips in their
hand and they're like, yes, one more for the volunteers,
(01:32:03):
thank you, and now the volunteer on Alabama today and
the books literally Shamus is like, who wants a volunteer
on our side? I think the Tide. I mean, I look,
I I honestly, you know, even if this number was nine,
it just sort of feels like, isn't it time for
the Tide to have that game where they remind everybody
(01:32:26):
who they are? I thought it was gonna be last
week against A and M. That was a closer game
than I would have I would have predicted, but mill
Road did not play to the billing or at least
to what we've gotten used to seeing. You know, it's
a quarterback factory at Alabama. You know, one goes out,
the next comes in. You go, oh, yeah, that's why
they're Alabama, because they always have a guy. But the
(01:32:47):
performance wasn't there. So the game was much closer with
Bryce Young back and again not even a hundred percent,
but if he can play good enough decoy where the
threat is enough to keep the Valls defense, It's honest,
it sort of feels like if they can jump out
to I don't know, say a seven point at ten
point first half lead, this could end up being. You
(01:33:10):
know that you can ruin volunteer night in Tennessee. You'll
see what it looks like. Well, it's daytime game, but
you get what I'm saying, yeah, full disclosure, I I
did bet Tennessee seven and a half earlier in the
week thinking Bryce Stone was going to be less than
a percent. That ticket is now as worthless, is worthless
as toilet paper now. Um. But I did come back
today on a money line parlay with Alabama and TCU
(01:33:34):
at even odds. So I'd love to see the Obama
Crimson Tide win this game by a touchdown. But I
do think, I selfishly, but I do think Alabama wins,
and I don't know if it will be as you
know distance as maybe we think that patented Alabama, you
know some of the other games between these two teams
(01:33:54):
which have been all blowouts over the last few years.
But I I do think Alabama's is the right today.
I'll just say real fast, man, it is. It's amazing
the respect that Alabama is getting just with the point spread.
Not as much as what what Shamus was saying with
their lining up not just to bet Tennessee with the points,
but go Tennessee on the money line just to win
(01:34:16):
out right, but the point spread. Just think about everything here, guys.
Where they barely survived last week, although with their backup
quarterback against Texas A and M. They barely survived earlier
in the year with Bryce Young playing the whole game
at Texas won by a point. And now they're favored
by eight and a half against the Tennessee team that
(01:34:36):
is undefeated, that has an explosive offense, favored by eight
and a half. That is as respectful of a point
spread as you can get. With all those factors. We
don't know how Bryce Young's gonna play, if he's gonna
play the whole game or not. They're favored by almost
ten points. It's crazy. You might be talking me off
a rapid fire ledge right now. Well, no, no, I'm
(01:34:58):
on the other side of it. Yeah, I don't know, Yeah,
I just I just it just feels like every year,
every year the drumbeat starts getting louder, for like, you know,
this is the year where the tide really start to crumble.
This is the year where we see Nick Saban finally
have to retreat back to his lake house and sadly
(01:35:20):
drive around and maybe only fifteen miles per hour on
his jet skis it just and then all of a
sudden he has you know, banansa of scoring and they
beat some team that they're you know, not almost never dog,
but they beat a team by thirty five and they go,
oh yeah, remember what we can do when we really
are gunned up and ready to play. So, I don't know,
this feels like it might be that week. Well the
(01:35:43):
Patriots when they still had Tom Brady, it was the
same thing. Well even this last week. That's a great
point you make. They go to play the Detroit lines
with their third string quarterback and everybody's like, they beat
twenty nine nothing, you know. So it's just one of
those things. Hey every time. Just Colgate too. By the way,
(01:36:04):
I bet Colgate. I bet Colgate one unit on Colgate.
The old shame is special. Let's fire up talk about
I'll Jugger not playing today. I'll tell you what, man,
I'm still on a quest to stump you on an
FCS nickname that you don't. You'll get there eventually. Brian,
South Dakota. Who is it South Dakota? Yeah, yeah, because
that's tricky because well with the jack Rabbits of South
(01:36:28):
Dakota State, I want to say Wildcats, but I'm wrong.
Probably I'm wrong on this one. Is that is that
your final answer? It is just give me the baby
let's go on. Finally, everyone, you had to pick the
most random state out of all fifty to finally get
(01:36:48):
me congratulation. Got out to the Black Hills. I was
just there somehount Rushmore. Oh yeah, that's right. I mean,
I'm sure it's beautiful out there, but it's it's awesome.
Very nice people over there too, very Every time you
make a wager at bet m GM, you earn bet
MGM Rewards points that can be redeemed for things like
free bets and risk free tokens. They can also be
converted to MGM rewards points that could be used towards
(01:37:10):
dining shows and hotel rooms at over twenty MGM resorts. Okay,
we are feeling the flow over here. Jared Smith from
picks wise dot com rich orin Burger who has many
scars as a Penn state at all American. I'm Brian though, alright.
Coming up next, quick Hits. We have so many games
(01:37:31):
that we have to get to a portion of the
slate in quick hitting fashion, including a literal battle of wills.
We'll get to that. It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown
to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. Welcome to the Biggest
tailgate party in the nation. You're locked into Fox Sports
(01:37:53):
Radio's Countdown to Kickoff Touchdown and it's presented by bet
MGM of sports Books once again. Here's Brian no, Rich
Ornberger and Jared Smith. Welcome back to Fox Sports Radios
Countdown to Kickoff presented by bet MGM. New users download
the bet MGM app today and use code countdown for
(01:38:14):
a special offer. That's code Countdown in the bet MGM app.
Just a little over a half hour away from kickoff. Here,
very much excited for everything today. So we've hit on
the biggest games, but there are some really good It's
like a fight card, you know, you have you never
see a big prize fight either in boxing or m
(01:38:35):
m A. And it's the headlining event is really good
and the card is just stacked. That's what we have today.
So we'll go rapid fire. We're gonna go with some
quick hits with some of the other intriguing matchups. How
about this one Mississippi State at Kentucky, a battle of
Wills meaning Will Rogers ms U quarterback and Will Levis
(01:38:55):
the Kentucky quarterback who's gonna be on the field today.
And how about this Will Rogers. He set the SEC
all time completions record last week. He surpassed Aaron Murray
at Georgia. Aaron Murray did it in fifty two games.
Will Rogers in twenty eight games with the most completions
in conference history. So Mississippi States played well so far
(01:39:17):
this year. It's a road test for the Bulldogs. Looking
forward to this one tonight. Yeah, feeling like a bull
you're pulling for the Bulldogs here. I would say just
based on it's look. I mean I Mike Leach's air
raid offense is something to behold. Nobody in college football
(01:39:40):
right now throws more passes than Mississippi State. In terms
of their offensive playbook, it's something north of six up
their plays offensively, uh end up having the quarterback heaving
the football downfield. It's just an exciting way to play.
I I it's almost like the inverse with Michigan Wolverines,
(01:40:01):
like there's some absurd run rate offensively. Well, Mississippi State
the Bulldogs, they're just they're just the the exact opposite. So, yeah,
Mike Leach the air raid, I'm I don't know. I
I love I love the way they play football. It's
very two I love this matchup. I think it's gonna
be fun. Yeah. Kentucky not quite with their offensive little
(01:40:24):
more a little more ground in pound. Good game for
Chris Rodriguez Junior last week, which was a good thing
to see, even though Kentucky lost the game by ten.
Of course we'll love us not playing. I think a
big reason why I would lean Kentucky here. I could
take four and a half points at home. Right again,
(01:40:44):
better defensive team. Mississippi State doesn't stop the run well,
you would think the Kentucky offense. The recipe to keep
that air raid you know, off the scoreboard is just
to keep him off the field. So that would be
the game play and for me today for Kentucky, but
I would lean the four and a half points. But
I don't love this matchup. There's other games on the
(01:41:05):
board today. To your point, Kentucky's defense allowing just fifties
seven point nine completion percentage, which is the fifth lowest
in the Power five. So yeah, definitely definitely good on
good they're Yeah, I'm gonna be tested today Mississippi. Mississippi
State and the Icy Whites tonight. Yeah yeah, rocking the
all white uniforms. Interesting see if that helps it all
(01:41:28):
just based off of uniform feels like that. That's an
Oregon conversation right by the way, looking sharp. Yeah, a
look at Oregon's all green looking good, Oklahoma. If you're
on the uniform thing rocking the unity uniforms today, that's right,
(01:41:50):
that's right. That's what I was like, don't have the TRUP.
They're emphasizing the importance of togetherness and building relationships to
better society, like the last week when they were getting
their butts with by Yeah, yeah, that would have helped.
But uh, all dark look pretty sharp, right, Like all
dark outlined in Crimson. The word unity is on the
(01:42:14):
name plate of every uniform. So you'll see the behind
center today cover five letter word for money cover. Yeah, yes,
so keep your eye on that. And also another one
to mention here, Clemsons to Florida State at night. Really
(01:42:35):
interesting matchup. Watch Jordan Travis, the FSU quarterback ugly interception
last week against nc stayed at the end, but he
rushed for over a hundred yards. See if he can
use his legs tonight as well. Clemson's expected to have
all five of their top defensive lineman ready to go,
and that's a big deal for Clemson, obviously, because they're
(01:42:56):
as good as it gets in the country. When it
comes to d line, really, goal to game plan for
a talented running quarterback. Ask any defensive coordinator in the
country what you would like to prepare for defensively if
you had your druthers, it's always the statue in the pocket,
even a guy who can slice and dice you, because
at least it's a stationary target. You know where he's
(01:43:17):
gonna be every single play, whether it's a three step
or a five step. Hey, we just know our landmarks.
We know what we gotta do. We gotta get the
pressure up the middle. You gotta collapse the pocket. But
when you're playing against a mobile quarterback, the frustrations are limitless.
And it's both in the run game and obviously in
the past game with improvisation. So yeah, that is no
(01:43:38):
easy task today. Interesting matchup here, and it smells a
little funky this line. You would think after Florida States
really ugly loss last week and Clemson's playing a little better,
you would have expected a little more distance between these
two teams on the point spread three and a half four.
I mean, that's basically a pick up. You know who
(01:43:58):
wins the game. Likely UH is going to cover the spread.
Florida States played the tougher schedule, better yards per play margin.
Clemson has a better scoring margin, but again the competition
Clempson his face, I think a little weaker. I would
lean Florida State here. I would again, this is a
stinky line, and I think there's a little reverse line
movement happening. Not a ton, but the majority of the
(01:44:21):
handle does look like it's coming in on Clemson as
a short favorite. People see that number very small next
to Clempson. They see what Florida State did last week.
They're excited. But I think the better bets, the sharper bets,
have come in on the knolls. I'll say this real fast.
It caught my eye. It's a kind of like a
geeky stat. I guess, I don't know, maybe a geek
um uh I noticed something geeky. I don't know. But
(01:44:45):
there are they're ranked in the top fifteen, all the
top fifteen teams. There are three losses collectively, so we
know Oregon wrecked Georgia. I'm sorry, Georgia wrecked Oregon. Three
couldn't do anything. The other two losses. Clemson was the
reason why Clemson beat wake Forest in that double overtime game,
(01:45:08):
and Clemson beat NC State, and both wake Forest and
NC State are still in the top fifteen. So we
have three total losses for top fifteen teams and Clemson
is responsible for two of those. I think the a
c C is down, right, Like, I mean, is it
still fair to say that of the power conferences this year,
Pack twelve a little better than we expected, maybe Big
twelve a little better than we expect, that a c
(01:45:29):
C still down? Is that fair to say? Oh? Yeah, yeah,
that's definitely fair. I mean, And and the fact that
it's what weeks seven of the college football season. You
include the week zero, so technically it's week ade and
we have two undefeated teams in the Big Twelve matching
up against each other. I mean, when's the last time
that's even happened at this point in the season. I
(01:45:49):
can't remember the Texas days. Maybe yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
And they're obviously you're gonna be SEC team soon. So
it's TCU Oklahoma State and UM. And that's a big
game to watch because you have eighth ranked versus verse
thirteenth ranked headant on the road there to face the
horn Frock. So yeah, yeah, it's it's been a little
bit of a rejuvenation for those two conferences. You know,
(01:46:11):
I like that word rejuvenation. We need to rejuvenate with
Nick Cope here he runs a four three forty. I'm
surprised he wasn't more of a running quarterback in high school. Nick,
what's the latest we gotta know here, Bud, I'm just
as surprised as you are. I don't I don't know
what went wrong in uniform news. I don't know if
you guys saw this what Utah is doing with their
(01:46:32):
helmets tonight. They've got black helmets that are hand painted
with Aaron Low on one side and Tie Jordans on
the other. They look amazing. It's gonna be electric tonight
at Rice Eckles when Utah plays USC in that top
twenty matchup. And and Brian, I was bummed. You got
Jared stumped earlier. I had one sitting in waiting. Man,
I'll just throw it out there just in case, real quick,
(01:46:53):
Jared Southern Illinois. Lucy's okay, Yeah, it's it's a unique one, alright.
That one is college basketball powerhouse. That was that was
quick on the draw. I love it. Man. All right,
you guys are talking about Will Levis. He is good
to go. According to his head coach Mark Stoops. That
(01:47:13):
line is Mississippi State three and a half point favorites.
According to bet mgen, Alabama coach and Nick Saban says
Bryce Young is on track to play today. They're gonna
go through pregame warmups to confirm that. For Tennessee. They
will reportedly be without senior receiver Cedric Tillman and senior
safety Jalen mccola. Bet MGM has Alabama favored by eight
(01:47:35):
and a half. NC State quarterback Devon Leary is out
for their game against Syracuse. That's the top twenty matchup.
Jack Chambers set to start for the wolf Pack as
they take on the Orange. Syracuse is laying three at
home according to bet MGM. In Illinois, quarterback Tommy DeVito
will start today against Minnesota, Gophers will have start running
back Mo Ebraheim. That line is dropped with the news
(01:47:58):
that de Vito is starting come in this morning. That
MGM has Minnesota has a four point favorite, down from
six and a half just a couple of hours ago.
In the NFL. ESPN reports Dolphins quarterback to a Tongue
of Ioloa has been cleared from concussion protocol. He'll be
inactive tomorrow but will play. Is expected to play next
week and against the Steelers. NFL media says that Commander's
(01:48:19):
quarterback Carson Wentz fractured a finger on his throwing hand
Thursday night against the Bears. He will see a specialist
to determine timetable and next steps. Guys, back to you,
all right, thank you very much. Nick uh. You know
you haven't lost that much speed. You're about a four
four guy now from your high school days. I'm a
four four to the fridge later. That's about it. And
(01:48:42):
it's what five feet away? Is that? Yeah? Maybe seven? Alright?
A little quick quick first step. Yeah. It is Fox
Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bed MGM. Let's
dive into this down watch. Okay, the Heisman Watch has
(01:49:03):
turned into the c J. Stroud Watch. I think we
could say as of right now at bet MGM, he's
the runaway favorite at minus one fifty five. He's got
minus money, so you gotta lay a hundred and fifty
five to win a hundred and next in line. You've
got Caleb Williams, the USC quarterback. He's at ten to one.
(01:49:23):
Bryce Young has plummeted down to fourteen to one. That's
where we stand right now, guys, boyal boy um. Let's
put it this way. I think I agree with what
Jared said last week. If you see value in betting
on c. J. Stroud to win this uh laying that
(01:49:45):
one you were talking about to win a hundred, well
then that's the bet you should make. But if you
want to get you know, if you want to have
fun with it, if you want to sprinkle a unit
on a game or on a futures bet that you're
you're willing to lose, you know, Hendon Hooker huge one
for the Valls hosting the Alabama Crimson Tide. If this
(01:50:06):
ends up being a blowout victory for the volunteers, which
doesn't seem likely, but is it in the realm of possibility,
I think all of a sudden, his name is gonna
fire up the board and a lot of people are
gonna be higher on Hooker than they were prior to.
So that's that's where I would say, if you wanna
if you want to have fun with it, if you
want to, you know, half unit a unit on a
(01:50:28):
game on a on a futures bet and have fun
with it. Hendon Hooker might be that choice. I love
that strategy because again, those odds significantly longer than just
betting Tennessee on the money line. It right, it And
that is a very good strategy that I use all
the time with futures betting. I used it this week
(01:50:49):
with the Baltimore raven for not to go into the
NFL world. But I think I think the Ravens are
going to win and and get a victory against the Giants,
So let's back them in the future smart get next week.
If they win the futures market, obviously you get significant
movement in your favor. And with Hooker because he is
an underdog and because Bryce Young is dropping, it's like
(01:51:12):
a sling shot. It's like a double market move in
your favor. I'll be honest, though, if anyone besides C. J.
Stroud wins this award, I will be surprised. So right
now it looks like everyone is competing for the podium
unless we get a surprise result in Knoxville today. Yeah, sure,
I'll say this. It's interesting how much some of the
(01:51:35):
lines have moved where if you take Bryce Young and
Hendon Hooker, they have the same odds right now currently
to win Heisman at fourteen to one. Bryce Young before
the season started, he was about three and a half
to one. Hendon Hooker was sixty six to one, and
they currently have the same exact odds, so that has
moved quite a bit. C J. Stroud, on the other hand,
(01:51:56):
he was plus two hundred before the season started, so
that hasn't moved as drastically now that he's the favorite,
But it is interesting at times how much it has moved,
and for Hendon Hooker it's moved a ton. It's a
great point to about where Strouds market open, and that's
a lesson why it doesn't make sense to bet the
(01:52:17):
favorite in the futures market early in the proceedings, especially
in a case like Stroud. But now, obviously you'd rather
have the plus two hundreds, but you're not going to
have a significant you're on, especially only betting peanuts, and
you're just you know, a hundred, two hundred all better.
It's not a significant difference to go a hundred dollars
to win two hundred on Stroud in in August, and
(01:52:38):
then two hundred dollars to win a hundred plus in
here October. You're you're paying for all of that information.
Guys get hurt, all these things drop out, and then
you have a much more secure feeling with your c. J.
Stroud beet. But the odds haven't shifted a ton. Okay
it is uh Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff presented
(01:52:58):
by bet MGM. That's Jared Smith, lead betting analysts from
picks wise dot com, Rich Ornberger, Penn State all American.
I'm Brian No coming up next. We've given you all
kinds of information, We've given you all kinds of fun too.
Now it's time to make some picks. Have we talked
Rich out of the Alabama business? Huh? Have we done that? Here? Today?
(01:53:21):
We will find out around the corner on Fox Sports
Radio's count Down to Kickoff presented by bet MGM. Kickoffs
are coming, Sue, and we're leading you up to that.
This is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by
bett mg I the kick of sports bots once again.
(01:53:42):
Here's Brian No, Rich Ornberger and Jared Smith. Ah. Yes,
only about twelve small minutes away from Kickoff. It is
Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by betten g M.
Thank you to the crew. Nick Cope, tremendous job on
(01:54:03):
the updates. Ryan Burr Singer, great job as the producer
as always, Iowa Sam our technical producer. He's like, hold on, Brian,
I'm I'm queuing up the uh the bumper music. I
was like, maybe Raining Blood Blood by Slayer be a
good selection. They played it. Shout out Diowa Sam for
that unbelievable job by him. Coming up next Top of
(01:54:24):
the hour, Up on game, LaVar Arrington, t J. Hushman,
Sada Blaxico Burris gets you loaded for a full weekend
of ball. All right, it's the moment of truth. Let's
do it rapid fire. Okay, three picks against the spread,
could use totals if you want. Jared will start with you.
(01:54:46):
Your three picks. What are you thinking today? Are one
and two? Last week? Nine and nine on the year.
Let's just start from scratch. I'm taking eight with Middle Tennessee.
I mentioned it good situational spot for the Blue Raiders
Western Kentucky. They only have six days, do they? At
the face u A B one of the best teams
in the conference Middle going into their by rivalry game Homecoming,
and they need it because if they don't win this game,
(01:55:08):
they're owing three in Conference USA. I'm taking the over
in L s U and Florida. Perfect recipe for and
over two desperate offenses, too bad defenses, and too fantastic
old lines. Top fifteen in line yards created the rich
Orn Burger stat of the day. We're going over fifty
and a half in L s U and Florida and Oklahoma.
There the wind blows laying eight and a half. Operation
(01:55:31):
Fade Kansas. We will probably fade the Jayhawks every week
for the rest of the year. Jalen Daniels out Jason
bean In. Brent Venables gets all week to prepare for
this passing offense compared with Daniels a little more of
a runner. Sooner's embarrassing last week. They won't play that bad.
They lost forty nine zip. They will play much better today.
Market telling me Sooners cover Oklahoma Lan eight and a half,
(01:55:51):
L s U, Florida over fifty and a half. Mt
s U catching eight rapid fire Baby man Oman Oman
Hey two in one last week eight and ten on
the season. Let's roll. Alright, Penn State visits Ann Harbor.
I don't see any barns burning this afternoon out there
in Michigan. I see a defensive battle, both teams playing
(01:56:15):
close to the line of scrimmage, looking to avoid the
big mistake. The total on this game is set at
forty nine. I'm going under all right, here's what I
think I think. Alright, I think I think that Alabama's
pass rush can get to Hooker and limit the damage.
Bryce Young, I think he's healthy enough to keep the
balls honest, defensively, I have the tide covering up that
(01:56:37):
eight and a half there later. Yeah, at the run
of volunteer party. Okay, I call this one the Shamus Special.
Could not lay off, he said. Colgate plays tough at
West Point getting your toothbrushes out. Four out of five
dentists recommended you need to take the thirty two and
a hook versus army they're handing out to Colgate, And
(01:57:00):
I'm just keeping the pearly whites white on this week
seven afternoon. Okay, so my picks they're gonna sound pretty
square and in instance as they are, but you could
argue this weekend they might be sharp. So so square.
It's sharp, right, yeah, maybe so square sharp? I like that.
So I'm on Oklahoma as well. It's up to ten.
(01:57:23):
Their favored by ten. How is this just based on
everything that the point spread is telling you, like, throw
your football logic out the window. Somehow, some way, Oklahoma
State's gonna cover the ten. I don't know how, but
it will happen. I'm rolling with Bama too, rich eight
and a half on the road against an undefeated team.
(01:57:44):
Handon Hooker has been tremendous. Brice Young is even gonna
play the whole game? Is he gonna be effective? And
their favored by eight and a half. It's just again,
throw your football logic out the window. Bama rolls somehow,
some way. And I don't do this, but I will
make an exception for you. Find gentlemen and everybody listening.
Georgia minus thirty eight and a half against Vanderbilt five
(01:58:10):
to three against Alabama. They got worked by Old Miss
last week. Now they played Georgia. This is their third
tough opponent in a role they get crushed. Give me
Georgia by at least thirty nine. There you go, all right,
at the moment of truth, for you Jared, let's do this.
This is the best play of the day. Alright, Jared,
(01:58:34):
what are you thinking? Man? Well, we haven't had a
lot of success here, and we're one in five of
our plays to day. It's ugly transparency. Though again I
will always tell you if I win or lose. We
have not been picking these well, So instead of me
picking today, I let my pal Shamus McGee picked this one.
And of course, what are we gonna do. We're gonna
take thirty three with Colgate for the player that day.
(01:58:57):
Let's go how do you get off the stream? Bah,
We're going to col Gate and then we're going to
go here and never listen this. I have no handicapped
for this game other than a really smart person who
does this for a living came on our show about
ninety minutes ago and said, Colgate is the spot. So
Colgates the spot. Catch the thirty three and brush your
(01:59:17):
teeth accordingly, kids twice a day. Don't forget the flaws. Man.
We are neck and neck with Yeah, it is gonna
be just a fantastic day of ball. Everybody. Enjoy the
heck out of it. We'll see you later.