Countdown to Kickoff Presented by Underdog!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you ready to witness greatness football.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Fans i love football welcome to the biggest tailgate party
in the nation fox sports radios countdown to kickoff Your
Countdown to Kickoff is presented by Underdog. Unleash your dog.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
You better watch yourself, big dog.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
We're setting you up with the information you need to
watch your team win. This is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown
to Kickoff. Now, we're live from your tailgate. Here's Brian Noe,
former Penn State All-American Rich Ornberger, and FSR betting analyst
Jared Smith.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Oh, what is going on? Welcome in.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
Happy Saturday to you. Hope all is well as we
get you set for ball. What a ball weekend it.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Is, huh?

Speaker 4 (00:48):
The ball buffet is definitely in full effect. Smells like ball.
Full slate today. We get the games tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
The Irish.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Irish tomorrow night, huh? We got the only ranked game
tomorrow night as well. At the same time, kind of weird,
kind of weird. We get a game on Monday, so
it is just a fiesta of college football over here.
Good morning, Rich.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Good morning, Jared.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
All good in your worlds, I would imagine, with ball
being back here.

Speaker 5 (01:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's wall-to-wall football. And then on top
of that, we got a dog. We rescued a.

Speaker 6 (01:26):
Doggy this past weekend. Actually, right after we got off
the air last Saturday, we went out and didn't expect
to even be at a farmer's market that Saturday and
ended up coming home from said farmer's market yesterday.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
With a German Shepherd puppy.

Speaker 6 (01:46):
So, yeah, there you go. That's life with kids. But
other than that, it's been pretty much college football and
getting ready for the NFL season to kick off.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
I guess you're only allowed to pick dogs today.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah. The tradeoff.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Shout-out underdog, right?

Speaker 3 (02:03):
I guess we're dog-themed on the show the last couple weeks.

Speaker 5 (02:06):
No, obviously very excited that football is back. It's a weird–
like week one, it catches up on you. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
That sounded real. That's good.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
Down Dakota. Oh, wow.

Speaker 5 (02:20):
That was a– that late one, the one at the
end there, that looked like he was the hungry one. Yeah,
like week one, it just– like because we had games
last week and then you have games all during– the
week as well, like Thursday and Friday. So you get
to Saturday and it doesn't feel like it's the start

(02:41):
of a season. But in reality, today, in my opinion,
is the first real Saturday of college football season. I
know we've watched games for the last week.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
I get it. But it just smacks.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
Differently when the entire country is playing compared to when
there's just a few games.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
It's just a different level of excitement. So, yeah, giddy up.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
Well, you know, I don't want to be Mr. Wet
Blanket over here, but most of these matchups this week sucked.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:10):
But we get some good ones, and with such a
huge slate of games, you're bound to have some great
games unfold where you might not have been gung-ho matchup-wise
heading in, right? It's just bound to happen. But we
start with last night before we get into full-fledged preview mode.
How about Darian Mensah to Malachi Toney? That works. That

(03:31):
looks pretty good. As Miami rolled Stanford, just crushed them
to the tune of 45-6. as Darian Mensah stat line
27 for 30, just started. He completed 27 of 30
passing attempts for 401 yards and five touchdowns. That's what

(03:51):
Darian Mensah did in his first action at the U
transferring from Duke Malachi, Tony, 12 catches, 234 yards and
three touchdowns. He broke a Miami single game record for
the most receiving yards. And like, Certain schools, it's like, ah,
it's impressive. At the U, there's a guy named Michael

(04:12):
Irvin always on the sidelines roaming around. He was there
last night at the farm. Yeah, like Tony's done more
in one game than anybody wearing a Miami uniform has
ever done. So that was a heck of a night.
Mark Fletcher Jr. held in check, though, only 40 rushing yards.
His poor mom drove over 2,500 miles to see only
40 rushing yards. The offensive line isn't as studly as

(04:36):
it was last year, so they've got to get that
up to the standard they're used to. But all in all, great,
great debut for Mensah. Miami looked alarmingly good last night
against a weaker opponent, but still alarmingly good.

Speaker 6 (04:53):
Yeah, I'm very curious to see what ends up happening
with Miami on the national stage. It's actually an interesting thing.
There are certain teams that you kind of know at
this point already. are going to just be buttoned up
during the regular season.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
They just are.

Speaker 6 (05:13):
And Miami's starting to creep into that conversation. It's almost
feeling like they're going to arrive at a point where
Penn State has been.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
For, say, the past half decade or so, where you're.

Speaker 6 (05:27):
Consistently getting to base camp right before Summit. And you're there,
but can you get to the tippy top of the mountain?
That's going to be the question that about the climb.
And I'm curious. I'm curious because obviously Penn State moved
on from James Franklin. Matt Campbell will be their head
coach this upcoming season. And it's specifically for the reasons

(05:50):
that when Franklin got to that final base camp every year,
he just couldn't beat Ohio State. He just couldn't beat Michigan.
He just couldn't crest the mountain. Will Miami have similar struggles?

Speaker 3 (06:04):
We'll find out. Or will they overcome them?

Speaker 6 (06:06):
But that's a heck of a start, and that's a
heck of a hookup between a quarterback and his favorite
receiver so far.

Speaker 5 (06:12):
Yeah. Let me know when Penn State gets us in
a national championship game, Rich, and I'll be happy.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
I'd love to wake me up when I get to
watch that game.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
I think Miami deserves a lot of credit for what
they've been able to accomplish.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
In this crystal ball era.

Speaker 5 (06:28):
It is an era that I think is starting to
bloom into what, it could become, and we've been down, listen, we,
I remember we did the show a few years ago
that night, they played Georgia tech and should have taken
a knee and they didn't, and they blow the lead. And,
you know, I think they've come a long way since then,
but it's irrelevant what.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Crystal ball does.

Speaker 5 (06:47):
It's all going to be on the eyes and, and,
and the shoulder of Darren Mensah and what he sees
and how he's able to navigate what I would say
is a relatively easy schedule. I mean, I know they
play brian's irish in early november but you know they
go to clemson they play florida state um outside of
that it's a whole lot of nothing i guess that
game at unc on halloween looks a little tougher now

(07:08):
but it for the most part this is a team
that should win 10 or 11 games you can book
that and then their season will be decided on on
how things go in the playoff um apparently malachi tony
won the heisman last i don't know if you guys
got the memo but it's over the race is done
malachi tony is the heisman trophy winner based off of
what I'm reading on my timeline over the last 12 hours,

(07:31):
I'm not going to crown anyone a Heisman Trophy candidate
after one game, especially when you face Stanford, who let
Michael Alejandro go absolutely berserk in the second half last week,
and that was Hawaii. So I think we have to just,
everything we see this week, I know we want to
crown everyone and overreact to everything we see, but as

(07:52):
Brian mentioned at the top, it's not a great slate
of games. It's a lot of teams that have played
already and facing teams that haven't.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
It's a weird week.

Speaker 5 (08:00):
So get through the week, get your opinions, and then
be prepared for those opinions to be wrong over the
next 14 weeks.

Speaker 4 (08:10):
Well, and then the other games of note last night,
a couple of shutouts. The big boys putting it on
the little guys. USC shut out Fresno State 39-0. Oklahoma
shut out UTEP 51-0. The USC game, Fresno State had
a chance to score at the very end. And I
actually give them credit. They were at USC's 8-yard line.

(08:31):
And instead of being like, let's kick a field goal
and avoid the shutout, they went for a touchdown, which...
I appreciate they didn't come close to getting it as,
you know, Gary Patterson, the new defensive coordinator at USC.
He got mobbed in a friendly fashion by USC's players
as they pitched the shutout.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
Right.

Speaker 4 (08:49):
And USC, this is the stat of stats, man. USC
out gained Fresno state five 52 to one 16 Fresno
state at 116 yards of total offense against USC. Not
exactly the 85 bears of college football over there, but
that was a rough one for Fresno state, man, as

(09:09):
they were. They were a trendy pick, plus the points.
They were. They were taking money early in the week.
That did not work out well.

Speaker 5 (09:15):
I think that was more of a USC fade, though,
than anything else, because nobody really knew what Fresno was
going to be.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
Yeah, and that, listen, Jared, to your point, that's on
the heels of last week. USC was not impressive, especially
late against San Jose State. San Jose State scored a
bunch of fourth quarter points and made the score look
a little weird, and then the whole thing with the crowd,
not a great turnout in the first game of the season,
but USC came to play last night, and they put

(09:42):
it on Fresno State, pitched a shutout, and only gave
up 116 yards of total offense.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah, that's the story.

Speaker 6 (09:48):
The most interesting thing about USC is the fact that
they held Fresno State to 2.6 yards per play of offense.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
That 116-yard mark that you just described. about. Two safeties
forced two turnovers.

Speaker 6 (10:05):
We've seen Lincoln Riley throughout the course of his career
play Pump 500 yards up offensively on just about anybody
in college football. And I'm not saying that's some ho-hum affair. Obviously,
these days in college football, you need to have that
arrow in your quiver. But what has really flummoxed USC,
even against lesser competition over... the years that Lincoln Riley

(10:28):
has been there is defense. And so that's an extremely
encouraging sign for Trojan fans. When Lincoln Riley pitches a
shutout early in the season, especially against, I don't want
to say it's necessarily warmup competition, but you know, a
team that's kind of there right on the doorstep of
getting you ready for some real conference action coming up

(10:51):
very shortly.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
It's, it's extremely encouraging how the defense played.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
Very, very encouraging.

Speaker 5 (10:57):
It was one of those situations where I thought it
was a really good spot for USC.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I really did.

Speaker 5 (11:02):
And part of it was situationally. Part of it was
bouncing back and getting a better number on a team.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
And it wasn't a huge move. I think the final
move is like– I think.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
Fresno opened plus 23 and they closed 21.5. I thought we–
I was waiting. I was on the USC team total
over that hit. It took that late touchdown to get there.
I was waiting for a 21. I didn't get it,
but I did put 21.5 in my contest picks this week.
One of the local books here in town, the college
football contest that I do.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
Every week, seven picks, ATS, that was one of them.
So I like USC this week.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
So there's a trend.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
There's a really interesting trend.

Speaker 5 (11:39):
If you go back, and I've been doing this for
the last few years because we get this every year,
so it's always interesting when it happens. And I'll ask
you guys this question because– This is the only day
that we'll.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
Have to ask it for the rest of the year.

Speaker 5 (11:53):
Teams who play in Week 0, the following week, they
play a team in Week 1 that hasn't played. So
it's 0-1, 1-0 versus 0-0. Historically speaking, the team that
plays in Week 0 is at a disadvantage against the market.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
The team that doesn't play.

Speaker 5 (12:13):
Is about a 58% cover rate over the last 10 years.
And the logic makes sense. You're putting something on film
that your opponent can scout and you can't scout anything
because they haven't played. That makes sense to me logically.
But the data over the last three years has flipped.
The teams that are playing in week one, or excuse me,

(12:35):
in week zero have are having more success in week one,
especially the favorites, the big favorites like USC, 21 and
a half over Fresno. And I think the reason for
this is these are all new rosters every year. So
the value of putting something on tape for your opponent
to scout is starting to decrease. And the increase in

(12:55):
value is having a full game's worth of live reps
with your team that you've never played with before because
it's a brand new roster. The favorite in week one,
That has played in week zero, facing a team that
doesn't play in week one, is now 9-0 straight up
in the last three years, 7-2 against the spread if
you count USC's win last night.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
So historically, the date is flipping.

Speaker 5 (13:15):
So I'll ask you, Rich, what matters more for a
young college football team that's never played together before? Is
it getting a game's worth of live reps? Or is
it possibly putting something on film that your week one
opponent can scout and you can't scout them?

Speaker 6 (13:31):
Yeah, I think there's obviously those two modes of thought
and thinking. I personally believe it has more to do
with scheduling. I think that a lot of these teams
got wise to the fact that they're putting good tape
on film for... coaches to scout. And so you're going

(13:51):
to see the scheduling flip where a week zero point appointment,
you may take a bigger risk on and schedule somebody who,
you know, you might want to sneak up on if you're,
you know, if you're a team there in the hunt.
And then you go out and you play, I'm not
saying a cupcake, but maybe an easier win on your

(14:13):
schedule week two. And it gives you the opportunity after
you get your pads warmed up week zero to go
out there week one. and have some success because, like
you said, Jared, and I do think there's some value
to that, when you have a game under your belt
and you've gotten some action against a different color jersey,
you've gotten into the routine of game week, all of

(14:35):
those things do matter.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
But the preparation matters also.

Speaker 6 (14:40):
And so when teams have advanced scouting on you from
this season with all of the new personnel you're trotting
out there on the field, all of the new formations
from your brand-new staff offensively or defensively, Yeah, they get
the jump on you. So I do think that teams
are getting into the habit when they play week zero
to schedule an easier opponent in week one to sort

(15:02):
of counteract the perceived advantage that their opponent may have
in week one.

Speaker 4 (15:09):
I just think, look, man, this is mostly just matchup based.
Whether one team plays a game, has a game under
its belt, and the other team doesn't. I'll put it
this way. If you said, hey, Fresno State, USC, what
are you thinking in this game? I wouldn't start with,
who played last week? I wouldn't start with that. I

(15:31):
would just be like, wow, man, Fresno State, they're going
to be up against it. You talked about the spot, Jared.
You know what I mean? That data point eliminates the
matchups because it's this overarching thought, right? It's this big
umbrella in every team. One team played... Last week, the
other team didn't. Here's what the data tells you over

(15:54):
time and recently. Like you said, it's flipped. But my
whole point is, you could go game by game and
be like, all right, does the team that played last
week have an advantage? And it's like, well, I don't
think Tennessee State, who played last week, has a great
advantage over Georgia today. You know what I mean? To me,

(16:15):
it's much more matchup-based than Georgia. who played and who
didn't in week zero, if you will.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
I would agree for the most part.

Speaker 5 (16:23):
I think it's interesting to– it's one of those things
that's interesting but not necessarily important just yet. First of all,
not statistically significant with only nine data points over the
last three years that indicate that the favorites are having
more success. I mean, you've got a couple of games
that were kind of coin flips. Like in 2024, you
had Nevada and Troy. That game was a touchdown, and

(16:45):
the team that played the prior week ended up winning
and covering Nevada.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
So I think for the most part.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
I do agree.

Speaker 5 (16:53):
A lot of these are USC over Fresno and Iowa
State over South Dakota and Kansas State over North Dakota
and Fresno State and Georgia Southern. So it's a weird
trend to handicap, but it intrigues me because the sport
of college football is changing so much, and historically speaking—
If you asked any coach, I think most of them

(17:14):
would say, I don't want to put anything on tape
for my next week's opponent to scout. But now I
think if you asked every coach, I think some of
them might say, man, we got 40 new players.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
We need a game of live reps under our belt.

Speaker 5 (17:29):
So it's always like it's kind of like the fourth
down equation. Like every time a team goes for it
on fourth down, the way you know that it's the
right decision or not is if you ask the opposing
team's fans if they're upset that the team's going for
it on fourth down, then it's the right decision. But
I think if you ask coaches today, I think some
of them will probably say, yeah, you know, I'd love
to get 60 minutes with this group because I have

(17:50):
no idea what we're going to get. As opposed to, man,
I really don't want to put this play on tape
for next week's opponent, the scout. So it's a conversation
I've had with a couple of people that are starting to–
opinions are changing. And it's just, I think, a sign
of the times. The sport itself is changing.

Speaker 4 (18:06):
Well, I'll just say it's something to watch today. Because
take a team like Ohio State. They host Ball State,
and they're favored by a million points. Are they going
to put a bunch of stuff on tape where they're
at Texas next week?

Speaker 3 (18:20):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Same thing for Texas State.

Speaker 5 (18:22):
I'm on both Texas State and Ball State this week
because of that.

Speaker 4 (18:25):
It could be very vanilla for the big boys. You're right.
So that part makes sense to me. I'll put it
this way. I wouldn't pick a team... whether they played
in week zero or not.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Agreed.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
That's not my handicap.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
It's a monitor situation. It's assess, investigate. That's right.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
That's right. We're off and running. We've got Rich Orenberger,
Penn State All-American, Jared Smith, FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian Ngo.
You may know underdog sports for Pick'Em, but did you
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(19:08):
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unleash your dog. Terms apply. All right, coming up next,
which severe punishment is worse? It is Fox Sports Radio's
countdown to kickoff. Presented by Underdog, unleash your dog.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 7 (19:43):
Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. Now,
in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to
7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
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Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yup, that's right.

Speaker 7 (19:57):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
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FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino and
Rich FSR.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
Check us out on.

Speaker 7 (20:09):
YouTube, subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away.

Speaker 4 (20:13):
It is Fox Sports Radio's countdown to kickoff. Presented by Underdog.
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(20:35):
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unleash your dog. Terms apply. Okay, so we're going to
get to the severe punishments levied against the Los Angeles

(21:00):
Clippers here in just a bit. I know it's a
ball day. Ball buffet is in effect, but we have
to carve out a little bit of time for this
Clippers situation. We'll get back to the previews and all
that good stuff, but Before the severe punishment, a different
severe punishment. Because yours truly, as you can see on
the little video call we have going on, yours truly is.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
Oh, you're getting it ready.

Speaker 4 (21:23):
It's bound to come out in last place here of
our non-football season. It was tight.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
I looked at the standings this morning.

Speaker 3 (21:28):
It was pretty tight. It was.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
It was.

Speaker 5 (21:30):
Rich did just enough last week. Just got himself across
the finish line.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
Just enough. That tricky dick over there.

Speaker 5 (21:38):
With two and four, he would have lost, right? So
he had one– it was one result essentially that flipped it.

Speaker 4 (21:45):
Well, here's the scenario. So– I have two picks that
haven't come through yet. One is pending, and my girl
Kalia Copper didn't play last week.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
Oh, so you get an extra one this week.

Speaker 4 (21:59):
Yeah, so I have basically two pending. If both of
those are winners... And fingers crossed they are. I'm taking
you down with me, Rich, right?

Speaker 1 (22:08):
So we shouldn't, like, all bets are not final.

Speaker 4 (22:13):
But this is what I thought about. Like, either way,
I tie with Rich for last place. Last place has
to pay off their debt. So I'm going to pay
it off right now and get the good gambling god juju.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
I like this idea.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
In my favor to start the football season.

Speaker 5 (22:31):
I burned some sage this week. I know that sounds weird,
but I did it around my entire office. I went
through my office and all of my football things that
I used, and I just said, I burned some sage.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
I know I will, but I'll do it.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
Well, you know, this record speaks for itself. This offseason, 48-38-1. Yeah,
a good offseason.

Speaker 6 (22:52):
You led the charge there, and that's through the trials
and tribulations of we had a college basketball season and
then obviously the dog days of summer with a bunch
of baseball nerfy and yerfies. You got us through, buddy.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
I did.

Speaker 5 (23:08):
Listen, I don't think it's a– I know I'm about
to jinx myself, but I'll say it. I've been doing
this now show for our fifth season. I have yet
to finish in last place once.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
I know.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
And I still owe you guys.

Speaker 6 (23:22):
So I have to do what I like to call
a coffee mayo flight. I owe you guys a coffee
with Miracle Whip, a coffee with mayonnaise, and a coffee
with Dijonais because.

Speaker 3 (23:37):
Of some makeup work.

Speaker 6 (23:38):
So I have this whole strategy mapped out here. And
it's going to be an absolutely awful day. But, yeah,
I'm going to clear the schedule for the rest of
that one.

Speaker 4 (23:49):
We're still waiting for that day here, Rich.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yeah, I know. It's still pending.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
Make sure that the restroom facilities are full use that day.

Speaker 4 (23:58):
Okay, so here we go. So for the radio audience,
I'm beginning to see it now.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
I'm watching on our screen.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
Drop in the mayonnaise. Oh, no.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Here we go.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
You guys can do play-by-play if you would like.

Speaker 6 (24:10):
The Miracle Whip, it's not as viscous, Jared, as I
thought it would be.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
It's looser.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Agreed.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
It is.

Speaker 5 (24:17):
It's a little more– wow, you're really getting it in there, Brian.
Do you like this? Should we change this? Do you enjoy–
are you a Will Levis supporter?

Speaker 4 (24:25):
I'm not a mayonnaise guy at all. I used to–
like I love BLTs, huge BLTs.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
I'll be honest.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
I think you've– like you don't have to make a
mayonnaise drink with coffee.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
You could have made– you really went.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
You can tell. Can you see?

Speaker 1 (24:40):
Oh, wow.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, you can tell.

Speaker 6 (24:43):
Okay, so you're holding up a Caramel Frappuccino Starbucks pre-made
drink with the wide mouth, the glass bottle.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
Wow. So you can really– oh, no.

Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yeah, that's pretty bad. I didn't realize that's– yeah, that's not–
That is a miracle whip.

Speaker 3 (24:59):
Take a sip there, bud.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
Let me take a picture of this thing here real fast.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
Yeah, take a picture.

Speaker 5 (25:03):
You want to make sure you document it for all
the social medias.

Speaker 3 (25:06):
That's bad.

Speaker 6 (25:08):
Wow, that's... So, again, for anybody who's catching up on
the fly, here on Countdown, presented by Underdog, anybody who
loses our season-long bets has to drink the Will Levis coffee, which.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
Is, shockingly, with the build that he.

Speaker 6 (25:27):
Has, because, I mean, you could comment on his football
playing all you want. The guy's built like an Adonis.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
Absolutely.

Speaker 8 (25:33):
I think we can just drop the coffee part. We
just got to enshrine this in, like, a cocktail book
as the Will Levis coffee.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
The Will Levis, right. Yeah. He puts mayonnaise in his coffee.

Speaker 6 (25:42):
And so the punishment for a lost season is the
mayonnaise coffee, Will Levis.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
And we'll see. Man, Brian, when you shook it up,
that got foamy. That's not.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
It really did, actually. Yeah, it did.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
Maybe it won't be as bad. Egg white's foam.

Speaker 8 (25:58):
So maybe that's it.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
It's true.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
I feel like it's got to hurt more because I
started off so badly.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
Oh, no.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
Don't put more in there.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
Oh, no.

Speaker 4 (26:08):
Let's put a little more.

Speaker 2 (26:09):
Oh, my God.

Speaker 3 (26:10):
Your arteries, man.

Speaker 6 (26:12):
I'm going to say this right now.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
You don't have to drink the whole thing, bud.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
What is that? Is that Best Foods you're using?

Speaker 8 (26:18):
Is it Hellman's?

Speaker 3 (26:18):
I can't see that.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
No, just Miracle Whip.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
Oh, that's not really.

Speaker 8 (26:23):
Mayonnaise i think we've gone over this before but sure
oh i know that might be worse.

Speaker 4 (26:26):
The mayonnaise police is a the mayonnaise police you exonerated
me last time you said it was okay so.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
I i'll be honest i don't really care what kind
of mayonnaise you use no yeah i.

Speaker 8 (26:37):
Think it might be worse than it might be worse
it might be worse it might be better it's okay
it's still not ideal I'm.

Speaker 6 (26:44):
Watching this, and I'm thinking about having to do this,
and I'm going to throw up.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
I don't even have to do it, and I'm going
to throw up.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Oh, my God.

Speaker 4 (26:55):
There was a lot of space before.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
If you guys want to see.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
A vomit live on air, then have me lose and
make me do this.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
I drank some of this to add some room for
the mayonnaise. It's full again.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
No, yeah. You added a fourth cup of mayonnaise. I
was watching. Dude. Say a prayer at least. Do something.
Burn sage.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
Burn sage. We're just going to take it down. We're
just going to take a straight mayonnaise to the dome
type thing right here.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
Here we go.

Speaker 4 (27:27):
We're chugging. Does Joey Chestnut do any chugging type stuff?
I know he eats.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
I think he does milkshakes.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
He does milkshakes.

Speaker 4 (27:37):
He's got some records.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
They're not mayonnaise milkshakes, though.

Speaker 4 (27:41):
It's not moving, by the way, guys. It doesn't move
at all.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
It's going to be sick.

Speaker 4 (27:46):
All right, here we go. I'm taking it down here.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
Oh, God. Oh, God. Here it goes. All right, Brian,
taking a deep breath.

Speaker 6 (27:55):
Caramel Frappuccino is upended, and he is drinking in large gulps.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Oh, my God.

Speaker 6 (28:01):
The Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino pre-mixed drink is halfway done already.
He's deleting this thing as the Miracle Whip iceberg has
slipped down his esophagus.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
He's finished it. He's finished it. He's done it. Do
you believe in miracles? Miracle Whip.

Speaker 4 (28:19):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
When you drink.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
Eat something and you tell your breath is awful that's
how i know my breath don't come.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
Near i can smell mayonnaise and i'm hundreds of miles.

Speaker 4 (28:32):
Away from brian that was smell it like you're like
chunks you know like oh it's chunky and lumpy and
yeah it's not.

Speaker 6 (28:41):
Good at all yeah not you don't want to replicate
that yeah that'll teach you for losing I.

Speaker 4 (28:46):
Think that might be worse than what happened to the
Clippers over here, honestly.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 (28:50):
It's the punishment segment.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
Great transition.

Speaker 5 (28:52):
Honestly, the fact that you're doing the show, still hosting it,
and not throwing up right now, you deserve a medal.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
Thank you. I'll tell you what. Midway through, I'm like,
we could have a reversal right here.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Oh, man.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
That would have made radio history right there.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Yes. promos for years.

Speaker 6 (29:12):
The question is, do we throw the challenge flag?

Speaker 3 (29:17):
You know, then we have to go to the videotape.
I mean, it would be, that would be terrible. Well,
we're good.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
That's our paid. We're good to go right here. Let's
dive into the Clippers here real fast. Before we get
back to ball, Clippers got hammered for circumventing the salary cap,
paying Kawhi Leonard under the table. They get stripped of
five first round draft picks. Just think about that. Think
how bad they're going to be. over the next, who knows,
foreseeable future. Kawhi is gone. Look at their roster. They're

(29:46):
going to be losing games left and right. These are
going to be premium draft picks that they're losing, most likely.
So they get stripped of five first round draft picks.
Steve Ballmer, the Clippers owner, he's He's suspended for an
entire year. Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard gets a slap on the wrist.
$ 700, 000 fine. Pablo Torre was on with Dan Patrick this week,

(30:10):
and he says Kawhi Leonard made at least $ 66 million
under the table.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
At least.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
It might be well more than that, and he gets
fined $ 700, 000. But the fine print here is that Because
the Players Association agreed to this punishment of Kawhi with
the NBA, there's no arbitration here. So what really happens
is the NBA positioned themselves to hammer the Clippers. They

(30:41):
give Kawhi Leonard a slap on the wrist. But I
guess it does make some sense, if you think of it,
to discourage teams from doing this again. It probably would
make more sense to hammer one side and be lenient
on the other than be sort of in the middle
with both sides. You really want to make a strong

(31:02):
statement that this can't happen going forward. And punishing an
organization the way that the NBA has... could position the
NBA to not have to deal with this going forward
as much as they would have to, right? So I
hate that Kawhi got off so easily. This is a
joke that he just slid on this whole thing. He

(31:22):
should at least be suspended. No suspension whatsoever. He comes out, what,
plus $ 66 million or in that neighborhood in this whole thing? Ridiculous.
But the Clippers get hammered for this, and... I say
rightfully so. Steve Ballmer was lying through his teeth from

(31:42):
the get-go, and the NBA saw through all of this BS,
and they hammered the Clippers pretty harshly, very harshly.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah, it's interesting, man.

Speaker 6 (31:53):
You know, because this was institutional failure on behalf of
the NBA and whatever watchdogs, guardrails they have in place
to make sure things like this doesn't happen... At the
franchise level with Steve Ballmer and his staff.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
And then.

Speaker 6 (32:13):
Of course, the leadership involved in these negotiations and, you know,
the people on the outside of the franchise lending their
services to grease the wheels and to get Kawhi compensation
that he was asking for over and above what either
the team's cap availability or the team wanted to pay
on the up and up. Yeah, obviously there's institutional failure

(32:37):
there and leadership issues, of course, and they're being punished
for that. with the suspension of Balmer, the enormous fines,
the draft picks that they're losing in the future.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
But Kawhi could also face a suspension.

Speaker 6 (32:52):
Just because all of that is true, these two things
aren't mutually exclusive. It doesn't suggest that Kawhi's off the
hook because he asked for more compensation. His camp pressured
the Clippers to get that compensation. They caved and found
a way to pay him. If this was never placed
in writing and it's all alleged and the circumvention they used,

(33:19):
the tactics they used worked to get Kawhi paid what
he wanted while never having anything documented saying that that's
exactly the reason why he's receiving this compensation doesn't take
him off the hook to endure punishment. Uh, you know,
so if you find the Clippers to be in the wrong,

(33:40):
it doesn't mean that Kawhi's let off Scott free and
just has to pay what amounts to basically restitution of
the less than a million dollars he received in a
fine to the league. I think the punishments are a
little unbalanced here. I'm very curious how the Clippers feel
because that organization is going to feel the reverberations of

(34:01):
this for a decade. And Kawhi Leonard's going to play basketball,
and he basically paid what was like a civil court payout.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
You know what I mean? It's like, eh.

Speaker 6 (34:13):
I'll throw $ 700, 000 at this to make this.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
Problem go away. All right, who wants to play pickup?
You know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (34:19):
Like, it's kind of crazy how it all worked out
for Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 5 (34:22):
Yeah, he's insulated from it to a degree as much
as he possibly can be.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Correct me if I'm wrong, and I was reading through
a story yesterday. The trade went through. Like, he's no
longer on the Clippers, right?

Speaker 4 (34:35):
Well, it was still– sorry.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
You haven't taken a drink of anything yet.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
I don't know that it's gone through. It's been pending,
so it's up to the Raptors to be like, all right,
let's proceed with this thing because it was held up.

Speaker 5 (34:52):
So he's still technically on the Clippers.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
That trade is not yet. Don't quote me on that,
but I don't believe it's like how.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Wild is it that we still don't know, though?

Speaker 1 (35:01):
That's the thing.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
Like they literally made a trade. What was it? Three,
four months ago.

Speaker 5 (35:05):
We still don't know if what team he's playing for.
I guess it doesn't matter because he's not suspended. So
whatever team does bring him in, let's assume that the
trade is happening and it's final. Then he'll just start
playing because obviously the fine is not going to change anything. Clearly,
the business side of it is what the NBA went

(35:26):
after here. Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations. Jillian Zucker,
president of business operations. Dennis Robertson, he's on the Kawhi side.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
Uncle Dennis. Those are the people who got hit the hardest.

Speaker 5 (35:37):
And then Steve Ballmer, obviously, you know, more of an
embarrassment than anything else. And all the money that he
has to fork out.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
So I think that's, to me, the crux of this.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
I don't.

Speaker 5 (35:50):
I don't know if I find fault in Kawhi. I
think it's one of those situations where he probably was
the one who was at least responsible because it's his money.
But I don't think he's the one who hatched this idea,
if that makes sense. Like, you know, it's like intent.
I don't think he was the one crunching numbers and

(36:13):
talking to his people and saying, hey, let's find out
a way if we could do this. I'm assuming he
was approached– With the idea, and he just didn't push
back on it.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Is that fair?

Speaker 5 (36:24):
No.

Speaker 4 (36:26):
Kawhi, here's the deal. Kawhi and the Clippers did dirt together.
Kawhi was actively seeking these things. Uncle Dennis was actively
seeking these things. They went to the Raptors and were
actively seeking extra money. And the Raptors were like, no,
we're not doing that. And the Clippers were like, we will.

(36:47):
So compare it like this. It'd be like Kawhi went
to the Clippers and was like, I think we should
rob a bank together. I really want to rob a
bank together. And the Clippers are like, yeah. And they
the Clippers mastermind this whole bank robbery. Kawhi and the
Clippers rob a bank together. They get busted and the

(37:07):
Clippers get hammered for it. And Kawhi gets a slap.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
On the wrist.

Speaker 4 (37:11):
It's ridiculous. It makes no sense whatsoever. But that's where
we are right now. All right, we've got Rich Hornberger,
Penn State All-American, Jared Smith, FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian Ngo.
Be sure to subscribe to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube, and you'll see
our best videos from all of our shows. And don't
stop there. Hit that thumbs-up icon and comment away. Let

(37:33):
us know whose takes you like and even whose takes
you don't like. Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube.
And subscribe. All right, coming up next, the Parlay Platter.
We each have one selection for you. We pool it
together for a greater payout. And good news, if one
of us is wrong, we don't have to drink anything
with Miracle Whip in it or mayonnaise in it. It's
a freebie here for the parlay platter. We'll get you

(37:55):
a play right around the corner. It is Fox Sports
Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Underdog Unleash Your Dog.
It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by
Underdog Unleash Your Dog. You know that feeling when there's
no game on and you're just bored? Well, forget that.
Introducing Underdog Rips, a whole new way to play, even

(38:16):
when the field's empty. Buy a digital pack, rip it,
Then cash or stash the card and ship it to yourself.
And here's the best part. You see odds before you
buy and get instant cash-out offers after you rip. This
is for the sports fans and card collectors who live
for the big pull. Rip real cards underdog. Unleash your dog.

(38:40):
All righty, let's do this.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
Check this out.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Parlay platter.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
Ah, yes, the platter. We each have one selection for you.
We pool it together for a greater payout. Jared, we
start with you.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
What do you like? Well, guys, the Seamus special.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Will live on forever.

Speaker 5 (38:56):
I was texting him last night, and I was like, listen,
I got to give out an FCS pick because it's
what we do.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
And I figured, why not put it in the platter
every week?

Speaker 5 (39:04):
Because it's a fun little freebie, and we can, again,
have some fun with this play. Montana State laying 45
and a half points against Butler. When you can lay
45 and a half with the defending FCS champs against
the basketball school, you absolutely have to do it. Butler
last week. This is the Butler Bulldogs, right? The basketball school.

(39:24):
They have a football team, too. They're in the FCS,
the Pioneer League. They almost lost to Georgetown last week.
Not that Georgetown. Georgetown, Kentucky. An NAIA school. Gave up
almost 400 yards. Now you have to go on the
road for a banner game. Again, Montana State won the
national championship last year. And they've got everyone back. So

(39:44):
I think Montana State rolls.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
Big number today.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
And we'll lay 45.5.

Speaker 3 (39:48):
Yes, you can find this on Underdog.

Speaker 5 (39:50):
Montana State minus 45.5 against Butler.

Speaker 3 (39:53):
All right, give.

Speaker 6 (39:54):
Me Hawaii, the Rainbows hosting UNLV on the Hawaiian Isles.
I actually liked how they fought against Stanford week zero.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
They've got a game under their belt.

Speaker 6 (40:06):
The Rebels have to come out and face them on
the road, and that's never an easy place to win.
It is a really kooky setup out there at the
University of Hawaii. I've called several games at their tiny
little stadium. multi-sport facility that they host games at currently. So, yeah,
give me the rainbows at home on the money line

(40:28):
to beat UNLV today.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
All right.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
I'm going to go with my Irish. I'm going to
go with Wisconsin-Notre Dame under 46.5. Notre Dame's defense is really,
really good. Wisconsin's wide receivers, not that good. So this,
I don't know how Wisconsin is going to move the
ball effectively in this game. And listen, Notre Dame, a
lot of turnover offensively with their skill positions. Lost a

(40:56):
couple of first round running backs in Jeremiah Love and
Jadarian Price. I like the under in this game.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
That's what I got for you. Plus 720.

Speaker 5 (41:02):
Nice little underdog money line from Hawaii.

Speaker 4 (41:05):
Not bad. Can this team do its USC impression? That's next. Oh,
what is going on?

Speaker 3 (41:11):
Welcome in.

Speaker 4 (41:12):
Happy Saturday to you as we get you all set.
For a day and weekend full of ball. Hey, with
the iHeartRadio app, you can stream us wherever you happen
to be. Catch us in all of our Fox Sports
Radio shows live 24-7 in the new and improved iHeartRadio app.
Just search Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream
us live all day, every day. And be sure to
select Fox Sports Radio as one of your presets in

(41:34):
the iHeart app. So it'll always pop up at the
top of your screen. By the way, before we get
to the previews, look at this. This is the aftermath
of I had to drink coffee with mayonnaise in it.
It hasn't gone down yet. If you drink wine, what
do they call it?

Speaker 2 (41:51):
The legs.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
The legs, yeah. You see the legs? The mayo has legs.
The legs have not retreated at all. They're just stuck
to the side of the... Gosh, that's terrible. That's what's
inside me right now.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
You're a soldier, Brian. You have my respect forever, my friend.
That's really– that's alarming.

Speaker 6 (42:08):
Yeah, you know, I'm going to send you a cardiologist
who I really like.

Speaker 3 (42:15):
Get you in touch with him. Thank you.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
I appreciate that, yes.

Speaker 3 (42:20):
Well, we'll see.

Speaker 4 (42:21):
My pending picks, I'm taking you down with me, Rich.
If my pending picks hit, I need the Yankees to
win their division, which is– That's.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
The one I don't know about. Oh, Ray's a bit hot.

Speaker 3 (42:30):
Ray's a crot.

Speaker 6 (42:31):
And, yeah, the Yanks just lost out in San Diego
to the Padres, so not a good start.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Big week for the Padres.

Speaker 5 (42:38):
I need that over 83.5 wins to get home for us.
We need 10 more wins this year.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
What do you think, Rich? Can we get home?

Speaker 4 (42:44):
10 out of how many games left?

Speaker 1 (42:46):
They're 74-67. They played 141, so they got 21, so
they can go 10-11 and I'd win.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
Okay. But 9-11.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
9-12, they ain't going to get it done.

Speaker 3 (42:55):
No.

Speaker 6 (42:56):
They got rocking hot for a second there, and then
they had this major cooling recently against some teams that
they should have beat, frankly. So the turnaround against the
Yankees last night was a big deal. We'll see if
they can continue through the weekend. Obviously, the Yanks are
loaded for bear, but... They're in a battle. That division,
that AL East, that's tightly contested.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
And the Rays have been unbelievable this year.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
They just swept San Diego. And they lost two out
of three to the Reds.

Speaker 4 (43:27):
Some ugly losses in that series, too. I was at
Tampa for one of those games. But one game where
the left fielder dropped... The fly ball that would have
ended the game, it hit his mitt, and it's that
little tiny wall. It comes up to your midsection. He
dropped the ball, and it went over the fence for
a two-run homer, and he's like, oh, my gosh, I

(43:48):
can't believe that just happened right there.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:51):
I thought about if I could have surpassed you by
a game, Rich, I thought about entering like the Lions
season win total over.

Speaker 5 (43:58):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:59):
Just prolong it like we'll settle this thing in January,
you know.

Speaker 5 (44:03):
But that's not a road. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
It's saying.

Speaker 5 (44:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
All right, let's get to college football here. Monday night,
number 19 SMU at Florida State. And I did mention
just a few minutes ago, can this team, meaning Florida State,
do its USC impression? Think about USC last week. They
got criticized heavily. Not a good fourth quarter against San
Jose State. Not great attendance. It was just a bad

(44:30):
beginning of the season. and USC came out highly upset
and angry about how last week went down, and they
took it out on Fresno State, something significant. Florida State
last week, not impressive whatsoever against New Mexico State. Pass
rush was nowhere to be found for the Seminoles. You
can't have that against Kevin Jennings. He'll dice you up,

(44:51):
something significant here. So need to see a pass rush,
but that's the question. I don't expect 39-0 and SMU
to have 116 yards of total offense like Fresno State
did last night against USC. So it's not going to
be a boat race, but the thought is can Florida

(45:11):
State look way better offensively and come out highly motivated
and very angry against SMU on Monday night. That's the question.
Do you expect good things from the Seminoles here, Rich?

Speaker 6 (45:23):
Yeah, I mean, I think they kind of need it.
This game, I frankly think, means more to Florida State
than it does to SMU. I think SMU can lose
a competitive road opener and then still have the entirety
of their ACC season to rebuild the resume, so to speak.
Florida State doesn't have nearly as much breathing room. Mike

(45:44):
Norvell coming off that 5-7 season, I believe it's a
crossroad season for him. So FSU beat New Mexico State.
They kind of beat their breaks off in Week 0.
But SMU, like, that's a dangerous team.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
And so this....

Speaker 9 (46:08):
Florida State needs to be, I mean, look, if Norvell
wants to keep his job, if you want to have
a season that's a big time bounce back, you've got
to host this team and get an early season win
to build some confidence.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
I think it's not, I don't want to overstate it.

Speaker 6 (46:26):
I don't want to say it's a massively important game
for the Seminoles, but it is an important game to
get this W under their belt.

Speaker 5 (46:32):
Yeah, it absolutely is, and the market has not been
kind to Florida State this week. This line was sitting
under three for pretty much the entire summer, and then
it got to three after Florida State's– we'll call it
a win. I don't know what you want to call
it against New Mexico State.

Speaker 4 (46:48):
It was– Sleepy win, you know?

Speaker 3 (46:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
Yeah, I mean, it's a win, but in name only.

Speaker 5 (46:55):
For SMU, SMU's a fun team to break down because
they're a very fundamentally sound team. I love Rhett Lashley,
fantastic coach. And they're a team, and you know we
love talking about offensive line play here on the show.
That is the strength of SMU. Joshua Bates, their starting center.
Addison Nichols, right guard.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
P.J.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
Williams, right tackle. The right side of their offensive line
is a bear.

Speaker 5 (47:16):
They're going to run the heck out of the ball,
I think, against Florida State. Florida State did not do
a good job getting penetration. I think they only had
two tackles for a loss against New Mexico State. That
is not good. Very little penetration. And you've got those
two freshman NIL sensations there. on the defensive line who

(47:39):
did not play well at all for Florida State, the
Desir brothers, Daryl and Mandrell.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
They made a boatload of money.

Speaker 5 (47:47):
They're worth about over a million combined, and they had,
I think, five combined tackles in the game against New
Mexico State with zero TFL, zero sacks, two defensive linemen.

Speaker 4 (47:57):
Freshman.

Speaker 5 (47:58):
Getting better and improving. But this is a mismatch, I think,
for Florida State's defensive line against the SMU offensive line.
I think that is where the Mustangs will be very
buttoned up in this game. Kevin Jennings last year, top
20 quarterback, does get a little bit happy feet under pressure.
Remember the Penn State playoff game a couple years ago
through that really bad pick six? That's his MO is

(48:21):
when the pressure comes, he kind of stares down the
barrel of the gun and loses his eye level. And
that's why the offensive line is so key. Kendrick Raphael
is the running back for SMU. I think that's the
guy to watch in the prop market for your underdog
prop bettors out there. Cal transfer forced 50 missed tackles
last year, fourth most in the ACC. So behind the
offensive line with Jennings, I think on the road, I

(48:43):
think running the ball makes a ton of sense. Ashton
Daniels I thought played okay last week, Brian. I think
it's tough to really gauge where he's at. Inconsistent with
his arm, but obviously an incredibly athletic player. I like
what Croma, the star running back, had 115, 8.2 per
rush last week.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
I think that's going to be the key. Can Florida
State run the ball.

Speaker 5 (49:03):
Against what I would say is an SMU defense that
is good, not great. I think they can be run on.
They can be pushed around a little bit up front.
So fun matchup. I think it's going to be kind
of a trench matchup. And I think SMU's offensive line's
got a big edge there.

Speaker 4 (49:17):
Yeah, I just want to see more than dink and
dunk from Ash Daniels. You know, that's what happened last
week against New Mexico State. He hardly threw the ball
downfield at all. It was 13 of his 17 completions
came within six yards of the line of scrimmage. That's
just screens and real, real short stuff. Like, all right, man,

(49:37):
just run three yards and go right across the middle,
and then I'll look for you. We're not pushing the
ball downfield at all. And like you said, he's a
really good athlete. And when he was pressured by New
Mexico State, it was throwaway city. So I want to
see a couple of things from Daniels in this FSU offense.
Can you push the ball downfield more than– beyond six

(49:58):
yards of the line of scrimmage. That's not too much
to ask, especially against SMU's defense. And for Daniels, when
he is pressured, Can you use your athleticism? Keep a
play alive. Pick up some yards with your legs. Don't
just automatically throw it away. He's too gifted to do that.
So I want to see Daniel step his game up.
I want to see Florida State step its game up.

(50:18):
But if they can't pressure Kevin Jennings, SMU's offense is
going to be very difficult to deal with. So maybe
you look more to the total than a side. I
would expect Florida State to look a lot better. That
was such a disappointing effort against a horrible New Mexico
state team. So they, they might come out highly motivated

(50:39):
and do a bit of their USC impression and look
a whole lot better in game two than game one.
We'll see if they can do that on Monday night.

Speaker 6 (50:47):
And I think they will look sleepy wins in week zero.
They don't, they don't scare me off if I'm a
better who's interested in a side. And it's because I've
talked to college football coach after college football coach about
their strategy and, when they're playing an early season game
against a matchup where they're obviously heavily favored. And every

(51:10):
single one of them says, yeah, we're not.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
Opening up the playbook at all. We're going to keep
this thing real vanilla.

Speaker 6 (51:15):
You know, so a lot of those dink and dunk
plays that you'll see, they're by design.

Speaker 3 (51:21):
They're intentional.

Speaker 6 (51:21):
We're not going to show you our downfield pass game.
We're not going to get vertical on this team at all.
We're going to keep it pretty close to the line
of scrimmage. It's kind of like Miss Small. Aim small,
miss small, you know, to borrow the line from the
movie The Patriot with Gibson, you know.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
Great movie. Great line.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
Great movie.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
And it's true.

Speaker 6 (51:43):
Like when you kind of close in the aperture and
you say, hey, these are the plays that are sort
of our day one install plays during our preseason camp
that everybody knows, like the back of their hand now,
that are kind of rote. and that they're almost tired
of using at this point, but we're going to go

(52:03):
out there with a very limited playbook, and that's all
we're going to dump out offensively. Defensively, we're not going
to showcase any exotic blitzes. If we have to pressure,
we will with one or two extra rushers if there's
a need for it, but we're not going to expose
ourselves here. And so Florida State... Doing what they did

(52:25):
in week zero doesn't bother me so much. But one
thing that I think our show does a good job
of that I think nationally, I think people will start
wrapping their head around, especially if the Mustangs get an
important road season opener win or something.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
Early season win, is SMU is not some Cinderella anymore.

Speaker 6 (52:44):
Rhett Lashley has built up this program into now what
should be talked about as a perennial playoff powerhouse. SMU's
back in a big way.

Speaker 3 (52:55):
You know, this is over the... Here, I'll give you
this stat I found.

Speaker 6 (52:59):
They've won 20 games over its first two seasons in
the ACC era.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
Miami has only won more among ACC teams during that span. So...
If we're looking at.

Speaker 6 (53:12):
Two seasons and two seasons alone, SMU and Miami are
in a class of their own inside of their conference.
So this is a program that should expect to walk
into Doug Campbell Stadium and get a W. Like that's
the confidence they should show up for this road day with.
And I think some of the betting markets agree with

(53:33):
that philosophy. I just don't think nationally the storyline around
the Mustangs is favorable enough. I think this is a
really scary opponent for anybody preparing to take them on.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
I agree.

Speaker 5 (53:46):
I think that's why they're a road favorite in Tallahassee.
I mean, go back and close your eyes. And go
back to like 2020 or 10 years ago when Jordan Travis–
I forget what year it was.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
It was 22.

Speaker 5 (53:57):
Jordan Travis, Florida State's undefeated season. They got held out
of the playoff. Close your eyes and go back to
that time, and I'm going to tell you that in
four years– SMU is going to be a road favorite
in Tallahassee.

Speaker 4 (54:09):
Yeah, right.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
What the heck? What planet are we on?

Speaker 5 (54:14):
And I think that speaks to Rhett Lashley and what
he's been able to do and just the overall.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
Trajectory of this SMU program. They have guys.

Speaker 5 (54:23):
Defensively, I didn't give them a ton of credit. I
think that's where Florida State has an edge in this game.
I do think Florida State's offense– is significantly more talented
than what we saw last week. And to be fair,
they did play pretty well.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
Offensively last week.

Speaker 5 (54:39):
Like, Croma, 8.2 yards per carry. Wisner, 8.5 yards per carry. Singleton,
he had 40 yards and a touchdown. They had three
guys on the ground last week that were all running
it well. Deuce Robinson's the star receiver. He had three
for 50. Malachi Danzy, sophomore, four for 51. They have
guys who can stretch the field. I'm going to be
really interested to see if the urgency is there because, Brian,

(55:03):
I think you mentioned this. This game matters a lot
more to Florida State. Because things unravel really fast for
Mike Norvell. By the way, they play at Alabama next week.
So you get punked at home by SMU if that's
the case. And the market does say SMU's favorite on
the road. Then you got to turn around and play
in Tuscaloosa next week. And oh, by the way, do

(55:25):
you remember what happened last year when Florida State played Alabama?

Speaker 3 (55:28):
Didn't go well from Alabama.

Speaker 5 (55:30):
I'm sure there's going to be some revenge monkeys that
are going to be reaching out and trying to grab
the Noles next week. down there in Tuscaloosa. They're not
going to be happy about it. So I think that's
going to be another really tough game. Like you could legitimately, Brian,
be staring at one and two in the face where
your one win against the Mexico State was not very exciting.
And then you get blasted by SMU. You get blasted

(55:51):
by Alabama. This game matters to Florida State a lot.
So I think it's one of those situations. I like
how Rich framed it. We overreact a lot to what
we see in Week 0 and Week 1.

Speaker 1 (56:04):
We did it with USC. We were off the USC train.
Now we're back on.

Speaker 5 (56:10):
So I think you just have to take each game individually,
and I think you will see a significantly more increased.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
Level of effort, I hope, from the Noles today.

Speaker 4 (56:20):
Yeah, the last two seasons for Florida State under Mike Norvell, 7-17. Yep.
And what you're talking about, Jared, is let's say it
doesn't go well on Monday night. And then, yeah, Florida
State last year.

Speaker 3 (56:35):
Short week at Alabama.

Speaker 4 (56:37):
And last year, Florida State ran all over Alabama, like
physically beat them down. And, yeah, I'm sure some Alabama players,
they have not forgotten about that, you know, going into
this one. So you do not want to drop this
one at home in a standalone game. This is a
big deal for Mike Norvell in Florida State. So we're

(56:58):
excited for that one on Monday night, no doubt. All right,
we've got Rich Ornberger, Penn State All-American. Jared Smith, FSR
betting analyst. I'm Brian. No, you may know underdog sports
for pick them, but did you know about all the
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(57:21):
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All right, coming up next, this team paid a lot
of dues for zero payoff. We'll give you details coming up.
It's Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Underdog.

(57:43):
Unleash your dog. It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff,
presented by Underdog. Unleash your dog. Football is back on
Underdog Sports, and so is your chance to instantly call
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Underdog drops the stash straight into your account with Keep
Your Million. Here's how it works. Pick a player. And

(58:04):
divide your cash between higher or lower, like putting $ 700, 000
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$ 700, 000 on your favorite quarterback to throw higher on his
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whatever wins. It's 20 rounds between you and a million dollars. Underdog,

(58:27):
unleash your dog. Terms apply. OK, we do a cannonball
into the waters of Clemson at number 11 LSU. And look,
as it seems to be the case in college football,
we'll get to football in a bit.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
Right.

Speaker 4 (58:44):
But first, courtrooms and injunctions and all this craziness.

Speaker 3 (58:50):
So a.

Speaker 4 (58:52):
Judge in Baton Rouge. He said, no, LSU, you can
use pro players on your roster. And LSU, right before
midnight last night, they were like, we're going to hold
off on that because we're not quite sure if the
SEC can come back and hammer us if we're using
pro players. So they have not added a couple of guys,

(59:15):
Daquan Wright, Zavian Harris. They have not added them to
the roster right now. They could later on, but they
want to dot their I's, cross their T's. That they're
not going to get hammered down the road by the
SEC or NCAA or who knows who. But they have
not added the players as of right now. But it's funny,

(59:37):
like a couple of sound bites. One from Rams head
coach Sean McVay. So he was asked about pro players
in like NFL training camps going back to play college football.
Here's what Sean McVay said during the week.

Speaker 10 (59:51):
I can't even comprehend this stuff.

Speaker 3 (59:53):
It's wild.

Speaker 10 (59:55):
I don't know enough about it other than the fact
that guys that can be in NFL camps, if it
doesn't go down for them, they can go back to college.
I mean, I feel like I took a freaking gummy.

Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
I mean, I don't know what's– I don't even understand it.

Speaker 5 (01:00:10):
What kind of gummies are Sean McVay talking about there?

Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
Yeah, apparently he's had them before, right? It's not just now,
but he speaks from experience. But it is. It's a
crazy scenario. This is what Clemson head coach Dabo Sweeney–
had to say about the whole idea of having pro
players on your college roster. Here's Dabo during the week.

Speaker 3 (01:00:31):
I would just say it's kind of embarrassing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
I mean, honestly.

Speaker 11 (01:00:36):
It's just embarrassing that that's where we are. And I
don't blame the kids and people trying to take advantage
of the system. I just think it's embarrassing where we
are with college football. And we've been there for a while.
So I just keep my energy and my focus on
and my energy on the things that I control and
the things that matter, and that's these.

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
Kids here and our team.

Speaker 11 (01:00:56):
But, you know, all that outside stuff, I mean, we
just kind of– no pun intended, we just stay in
our lane.

Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
What a lie.

Speaker 3 (01:01:05):
Come on.

Speaker 4 (01:01:06):
What a lie. It's just, look, man, it's crazy. I
think the story has gotten, I don't know, we're blowing
it out of proportion, but it's all about setting a precedent.
I get that a lot of colleges don't want to
see pro athletes come back to college. That makes sense
to me. The way it used to be, if an

(01:01:28):
athlete in college signed with an agent, they were done.
No more college competition for you. Now you can actually
go to the pros and be like, yeah, I'm going
to go back to college. I don't think that's the
way it should be at all. The weird thing with
this story, though, with the two players in NFL training
camps that are now trying to go back to LSU,

(01:01:48):
the five in five rule hadn't been established yet.

Speaker 3 (01:01:52):
Had it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:54):
They probably never would have gone to an NFL training camp.
They would have remained in college. So their argument is
we're just trying to do what's going to be common
starting next year. Like we're not doing anything crazy over here.
We would have stayed in college the whole time. So
they have a decent argument. It's more about the precedent
of college doesn't want pro athletes to come back to college.

(01:02:16):
That part of it makes sense to me.

Speaker 6 (01:02:18):
Yeah, I'm having such a hard time with all of this.
Like these players are like these coaches are like anybody
who cares about college football has been over the course
of the past few months really is what it boils
down to.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
I mean, years.

Speaker 4 (01:02:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:02:35):
But I mean, this has been a very short amount
of time in total that so much has changed. You know,
the likelihood that college football will stay more in the
realm of amateurism is probably, we probably crossed that bridge

(01:02:55):
and set it on fire.

Speaker 3 (01:02:57):
I don't think we're ever going.

Speaker 6 (01:02:59):
Back to, you know, the hunky-dory days where everything's fine
and these guys are considered amateurs and those guys up
there in the NFL are considered professionals. I think we're
going to see college football adopt more of a major
league baseball's minor league mentality where, You know, there's going
to be a little bit more ease of transference from

(01:03:22):
one league to the other. Now, I'm not saying that
you're going to see guys who have gotten significant playing
time in the NFL come back down to college who
haven't exhausted their eligibility and continue to play at a university.
I don't think it's going to be that, but I'm
not going to rule it out. I'm really not because
we see it all the time in the bigs in,
in major league baseball, you know, guys, they, they may get,

(01:03:45):
you know, start for an entire end of a season
for a team that's been ravaged by injuries. And then
all of a sudden he's back with the triple a
club and yeah, now you got the organization got to
take a good hard look at him and see what
goods he has, but he needs a little bit more
seasoning before he gets to call up again.

Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
And maybe that's what college football turns into. It wouldn't
shock me. And so I get it.

Speaker 6 (01:04:08):
You have two different philosophies happening in this game, and
I think it's a beautiful game to sort of encompass
everything we just talked about. On one sideline, you have LSU,
and you have Kiffin with his elite transfers and aggressive
roster reconstruction and a quarterback imported after already taking another

(01:04:30):
team to the mountaintop. And then on the opposite sideline,
you have Dabo, who's... Development and continuity and recruiting and
comparative restrained use of the portal has helped him build
up his college football enterprise.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
And so this is this is like the great debate,
which is better. And the truth is.

Speaker 6 (01:04:55):
From a philosophical standpoint, you can win either way. So
I'm very curious to see what happens on the field today.
I think that LSU obviously has built a monster, but
this is an important game for them because Kiffin wasn't
brought in there like you were talking about earlier, Brian.
Wasn't brought in there just to sort of play patty cake.

(01:05:15):
He's brought to LSU to win a championship. And if
they stumble out the gates, that that's going to harm
some of, it won't be absolutely critical to them winning
a championship. They could still do that obviously if they
lose game one, but it will harm this mystique that
has been built up this off season.

Speaker 5 (01:05:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:05:35):
I'm glad the games are starting.

Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
It's time to talk about the games and not this
craziness anymore.

Speaker 3 (01:05:41):
In my opinion, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:05:43):
Yeah. But you are unraveling– I mean they were talking

(01:06:07):
about banning LSU from playing and SEC teams boycotting the games.
Like 100 years of SEC football unraveled by a couple
of NFL castaways. Like it didn't make sense from a
risk-reward quotient. Like if you're a trader and I'm a trader,
I trade stocks every week, options, all this stuff. The

(01:06:27):
risk wasn't worth the reward. These are not elite players.
You're going to blow up the entire college football landscape
for two guys that are slightly above average players.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
It didn't make sense, logically.

Speaker 5 (01:06:38):
So I think it was all a big, giant game
of chicken where Lane just wanted to see what he
could get away with. And when push came to shove,
they didn't even add him to the roster. So I
think that shows you exactly how they feel about this situation.
LSU blinked first. Now let's forget about it and let's
play a football game because this is a really interesting handicap.

(01:07:00):
I actually think the under is a great bet here,
especially if you can find a 51. If you look
at last year's game, these two teams played last year
and the same defensive coordinator for LSU, Blake Baker, who
blitzes a lot, 70% of snaps last year, they blitzed
Cade Klubnick, who was an experienced mobile quarterback. You look

(01:07:20):
at the snaps where he got blitzed last year, 63%
adjusted accuracy, five yards per attempt. When he wasn't blitzed,
adjusted accuracy went up to 71%. Yards per attempt went
up to seven and a half. That was Cade Klubnick,
very experienced quarterback with wheels. Now it's Christopher Vazina making
his second career start on the road. Doesn't have the

(01:07:41):
same wheels as Klubnick. Hmm. It feels like a really
tough ask where Baker will force the quarterback to play hot.
He is basically telling the receivers, you're not going to
go deep because you're not going to have time. So
you're going to have to play quick. The quarterback is
going to have to make quick decisions, under pressure, at night,

(01:08:01):
in Death Valley.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
Good luck, Vazina. Not the pass that I'd want to
have to.

Speaker 5 (01:08:06):
Be put on me and basically my first career start.

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
Yeah, for our guy, Big V, we'll call him. 105
career passes in college. Like Jared said, his second career start,
and you're in Death Valley, like on the road Death Valley,
not your home Death Valley. This is a different deal
at night. Mike the Tiger's right across the street in
his cage. It's just a different atmosphere there at LSU.

(01:08:35):
So it can be a ton of pressure on Vazina
in this start here. I'm really interested to see Sam
Leavitt in his first action as LSU's quarterback and what
he's able to do against Clemson's defense. It's unfortunate that
the court stuff the whole week has been about these
two players. Daquan Wright and Zavian Harris. Will they play?

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
Will they not?

Speaker 4 (01:08:57):
Will they be added to the roster? Will they not?
It's been a whole... week of that. And this is
a really good matchup, you know? So it's like the
matchup is totally secondary to the whole drama that played out.
You had a Georgia... attorney general encouraging sec commissioner greg
sankey to take quote all measurables all measures available end

(01:09:18):
quote including removing lsu from the conference if it played
pros which is ridiculous it's like dude go fix a
bridge shut up you're not kicking like lsu out of
the sec it's so dumb this is the definition of
grandstanding It's so ridiculous. But, Rich, you made a really
good point where, hey, follow the money. Look at Darian

(01:09:39):
Menzo at Miami. He's got a $ 6. 5 million NIL package.
Could you see a day where a quarterback gets drafted,
goes to the NFL, is maybe a late first, second,
third rounder, and he has a rough rookie season? And
it's like, yeah, I'm going to rebuild my value. I'm
going to go back to college, maybe even make more

(01:10:00):
money than what I'm getting with my rookie contract in
my first year. Go back to college, get some starts
under your belt, pick up back fresh and go back
to the NFL. You could see that. That's not what
college sports is meant to be. And that's why the
pushback has been so significant. arguing against pros returning to college.

(01:10:25):
I totally get it. I don't think that's what college
is meant to be. But that's why this whole thing
has been so heated. It's the precedent. And college doesn't
want to see that happen. And I agree with it.
But to Jared's point, the juice never worth the squeeze.
These are players that are not going to make LSU
all of a sudden. a title contending team or put

(01:10:46):
them over the top. You're not going to do it
because of these players. So it's like you want to
be a pariah for using pros, setting a precedent, and
you're not even gaining that much. There's not this huge
benefit to doing it. It's a much lesser degree of
what Texas Tech was willing to do with Brendan Sorsby.

Speaker 1 (01:11:07):
Right.

Speaker 4 (01:11:07):
Like the gambler. They wanted him to play. And the
Big 12 is totally sorry. The monster energy Big 12
totally against that. It's like, do you really want to
die on that hill? I don't I don't understand LSU's position,
this whole thing. It's a total lack of foresight. And
it's like a little kid just trying to see a
way with he can get what he can get away with.

(01:11:27):
And it's pretty clear that the risk is not worth
the reward. Exactly what Jared said here.

Speaker 6 (01:11:32):
Well, I think Lane Kiffin likes himself some Lane Kiffin
in the media. I think Lane Kiffin likes when people
are talking about Lane Kiffin. Wherever he's coached, the story
is always Lane Kiffin. And so the reality of this, guys,
is if he didn't want the heat, he wouldn't have
done it in the first place. And so I frankly

(01:11:55):
feel like this is a lot of pomp and circumstance,
much ado over nothing.

Speaker 3 (01:12:01):
I really do.

Speaker 6 (01:12:01):
I think that he's testing boundaries like somebody was going
to have to eventually anyways, given... you know, some of
the things that are, have suddenly become available to college
football coaches. And we know him to be a habitual
line stepper anyways. So he's going to get close to
the edge of the cliff, no matter what. I mean,

(01:12:22):
this is a guy who literally spends his off seasons
posting pictures with attractive young women after yoga classes.

Speaker 3 (01:12:30):
Like he Lane.

Speaker 6 (01:12:32):
Kiffin wants to see his face or his name on
television or or hear his name on radio, or see
his picture being sent around the internet, because Lane Kiffin
knows that the bigger the signal fire is burning, the
more people know his name, the better Lane Kiffin's going

(01:12:54):
to be.

Speaker 3 (01:12:55):
No press is bad press, right? Because as long as
they're talking about.

Speaker 6 (01:12:59):
You, you're going to cash in on that fame, right?

Speaker 3 (01:13:03):
And he has.

Speaker 6 (01:13:04):
He's done a masterful job. And he's had some major
gaffes over what has been a pretty storied college football
career as a coach. So I give him a lot
of credit for finding another... nuanced unique way to get
his name and his program at the top of the

(01:13:24):
rundown on a lot of sports talk shows he he
he really is like a puppet master and he pulls
a string and everybody you know they're arm jerks and
they don't know why well it's because lane is is
the uh is is the one holding the you know, the, the,
the wooden crossbars of the marionette at the top, you
can just see him just offset above the curtain.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47):
You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 5 (01:13:49):
So college sports is, is unique in the sense that
the coaches are actually the stars.

Speaker 3 (01:13:55):
It's, it's flipped in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (01:13:57):
I mean, there's some coaching stars in the NFL, but
I think in, in college football, especially at college basketball,
the coaches are stars and, and, It kind of needs
to be that way because you're a leader of young men,
where in the NFL you are a leader of men.
And in college sports especially, you just get this very,

(01:14:19):
you know, I don't want to say immature, but the
players are much more younger and they're just in a
much more developmental state. So who's leading them matters a
lot more. We've talked about this before on the show,
like which coaches are the least and most important for
their respective sports. I think college football, college basketball, like
you put them near the top of the list, man. Like,
these coaches are superstars. And Lane has always had that

(01:14:42):
flair for the dramatic. I will give him credit for this.
If you were asking me, Jared, if you were the
head coach of a college football program, how would you
conduct yourself?

Speaker 1 (01:14:51):
It would not be like Lane. It would not.

Speaker 5 (01:14:53):
I mean, you heard the Saban comments this week. Got
to keep Lane away from the women that are in school. Like,
that is not how I would conduct myself if I
was leading a group of young men. However, I also
see things objectively, and I have to give Lane credit.
Here's what we're not talking about today and this week
and all summer.

Speaker 3 (01:15:12):
Sam Leavitt.

Speaker 1 (01:15:13):
Pressure's on this kid.

Speaker 3 (01:15:14):
He's been injured a bunch.

Speaker 5 (01:15:16):
He's had some very impressive streaks and stretches of college football,
but he's also had some injury issues. We're not talking
about any of that. We're not talking about the pressure
on him going from the Pac-12 or whatever you want
to call it, whatever Arizona State was in the last
few years, to now the SEC. We're not talking about
the pressure that's on what I would say is a

(01:15:36):
Heisman candidate. I mean he has got the tools. Like
the ceiling is through the roof.

Speaker 1 (01:15:41):
We're not talking about any of that.

Speaker 5 (01:15:42):
We're talking about lane and transfers that aren't even going
to play. And it's kind of like a masterful misdirection.
where we're going to talk about Levitt at some point,
you know, after the game, probably Saturday night into Sunday,
but we're not talking about it right now.

Speaker 3 (01:15:56):
The pressure's off.

Speaker 1 (01:15:57):
Like, just go play ball, kid.

Speaker 5 (01:15:58):
And I think that's where I give Lane credit, is
he's a really good job of taking the pressure off
of his team and putting the spotlight on himself.

Speaker 4 (01:16:05):
Yeah. Last thing I'll say is we typically talk about
players this way, where it's like, you love him if
he plays for your team. You hate him if he
plays for another team. That's Lane Kiffin. Like, that's Lane
Kiffin as a coach right there, where I want my coach,
if he's coaching my favorite team, I want a coach
to push the boundaries, look for any morsel of an

(01:16:26):
advantage that he can gain for his squad, not afraid
to be the bad guy. I want those things. The
one thing I wonder about LSU in this game and
throughout the season is, is your energy being spent in
the right areas, right? Like this whole week has been
about these two players that were in NFL training camps,

(01:16:47):
possibly joining LSU's roster. That's what it's all been about.
To Jared's point, there's some good that comes from that,
but there's a lot of bad where it's not. We're
on to Clemson. Clemson. Only questions about Clemson. It's like
these players are being asked about these guys that just
joined the roster. It's been a crazy week. So I
wonder if that plays out on the field here tonight

(01:17:09):
against Clemson. It'd be fun to find out. All right,
we've got Rich Ornberger, Penn State All-American, Jared Smith, FSR
betting analyst. I'm Brian Ngo. Coming up next, prop it up.
That's right, the prop betting market. We'll get you a
couple of plays right around the corner. It is Fox
Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Underdog. Unleash your dog.
It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Underdog.

(01:17:32):
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but you're different. You actually are a genius. Show everyone
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Speaker 3 (01:17:54):
Underdog, unleash your dog. Terms apply. All right, let's do this.
Prop it up. Player plays.

Speaker 4 (01:18:05):
All right, prop bets galore. Jared, you're the first to
fire away. What do you like?

Speaker 5 (01:18:11):
I gave you a hint at this in the SMU handicap,
but I really like Kendrick Rafael this week. Higher than
64.5 rushing yards. He's the starting running back for the Stangs.
Cal transfer, very experienced back, very productive. Sturdy, 5'11, 200 pounds.
He forced, again, 50 missed tackles last year. That's fourth
most in the ACC. And here's the cherry on top.

(01:18:33):
We know SMU's offensive line is great. We know they're
going to want to run the ball on the road.

Speaker 1 (01:18:36):
I think all of those things make a ton of sense.
This is also a homecoming game.

Speaker 5 (01:18:39):
He is from Naples High School, which is a pretty close,
you know, hop, skip, and a jump from Tallahassee. He
got zero offers from in-state schools coming out of high school.
zero florida florida state miami none of them gave him
an offer um bounced around a couple different places ended
up again at cal and then now transferred to smu

(01:18:59):
so you think he's going to be fired up to
play in his home state when he got no offers
from florida or florida state or miami or any of
the teams in the state of Florida. I think Kendrick Raphael,
if SMU is going to run the ball, he's going
to be the reason why they're going to have success
over 64 and a half rushing yards.

Speaker 3 (01:19:13):
All right.

Speaker 6 (01:19:15):
I'm going with sire gains, Boise state running back going
higher than over his 34 and a half rushing yards prop.
Here's the reason why 10 of 14, that was the
glaring number that stuck out to me in 2025 sire
gains eclipse 34 and a half yards rushing in 10
of 14 games. What was especially useful is Boise State

(01:19:38):
went on the road to Notre Dame. They lost, but
Gaines had an 11-rush, 39-yard performance against Notre Dame. I
think he can do the same production against Oregon today.
So give me Sire Gaines over his 34-and-a-half rushing yardage total.

Speaker 4 (01:19:53):
I love it. Shout out to Underdog, Rich. You have
transitioned to higher.

Speaker 3 (01:19:59):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:20:00):
I feel like a left tackle that got moved over
to right tackle. It's no longer the San Diego Chargers.
It's the Los Angeles Chargers. I like that, higher, in
terms of the props. That's the lingo over there at Underdog.
I'm going to stick with the same game, Rich. I'm
going to steal a page from your book, basically. I'm
going to go with Jordan Davison, higher. Then 65 and

(01:20:23):
a half rushing yards. Here's the thing with Boise. They
don't tackle. Kind of a problem against a team that
can run the ball down your throat in Oregon. Boise
was 134th in tackling last year. Dead last in rushing
explosives allowed. I don't expect them to be, you know,
the 2000 Ravens in college football over there. I like

(01:20:44):
Jordan Davison going over 65 and a half, excuse me,
higher than 65 and a half rush yards. Coming up next,
if you're looking for a live dog, look at this guy.
Welcome in.

Speaker 3 (01:20:54):
What is going on?

Speaker 4 (01:20:55):
Happy Saturday to you. Hope all is fantastic in your
world as we get set for a full day. Ball
buffet is in effect today, tomorrow, Sunday. It's a beautiful
thing here. We're going to start off this hour with
the only ranked matchup of the entire week. That would
be number 24, Louisville. Taking on No. 9 Ole Miss.

(01:21:16):
This game is in Nashville. I was just there a
couple of days ago. And it's funny because the current
Nissan Stadium, it's dwarfed by the new Nissan Stadium that's
right behind it. And it's going up all the bells
and whistles. But this one will be in Nashville. And
if you're looking for a live dog, look in the

(01:21:37):
direction of Louisville head coach Jeff Brom. This guy is live.
money as an underdog. His record against the spread has
been fantastic. Some outright upsets as well, right? Taking down
Notre Dame, taking down some of the big boys from
a couple of years ago. He's had some huge upsets
on his resume, Miami in the mix, right? So I

(01:21:58):
think Louisville is more than live in this game. Can't
wait to see Trinidad Shambless. Last time we saw him,
he had one, one for the record books, really one
for the ages and, last season where this guy comes
out of nowhere and is wrecking FBS, right? Ole Miss
is going through the playoff and they're toe to toe
with Miami who ended up in the national championship game.

(01:22:21):
They take down Georgia. So really excited to see Chambliss
for the first time this season against Louisville. But I'll
tell you what, man, Jeff Brom, he knows how to
build a roster. He does a great job in the
transfer portal. He's sort of like, It's a weird comparison,
but it's like USA Olympic men's basketball, right? Where instead

(01:22:42):
of getting the biggest superstar for the roster, they're like,
we kind of need Derek White, right? We need a
glue guy. We need a guy that shoots threes, plays
great defense, can do the gritty stuff. You know, we
need him on the roster. That's what Jeff Brom can
do in the transfer portal. Does a great job of
building a roster there. And this is going to be
a tough game for Ole Miss. So I'm excited for

(01:23:03):
this one. in Nashville tomorrow night, unfortunately at the same
time as my Irish. I don't know why. They should
have spaced those out.

Speaker 3 (01:23:10):
You know what?

Speaker 4 (01:23:10):
I'll get the side-by-side TVs going.

Speaker 2 (01:23:12):
It'll be fine.

Speaker 4 (01:23:13):
What do you think about this matchup here, Rich? Ranked
versus ranked.

Speaker 3 (01:23:17):
Yeah. Ole Miss is the better team.

Speaker 6 (01:23:20):
Louisville may be the more dangerous team than the ranking
would suggest. Ole Miss obviously has the quarterback edge. They've
got the better returning offense core overall and the higher ceiling.
But Louisville has three things that Makes me uncomfortable laying
a big old number against them, and that's an explosive

(01:23:42):
running back, a proven defense, and a coach who already,
as you said, can manufacture top five upsets. And he's
done it in the past, so... Because this is a
neutral site game in Nashville, Ole Miss doesn't get the
full benefit of Oxford.

Speaker 3 (01:23:59):
This is going to be a war. I love this
ranked matchup.

Speaker 6 (01:24:03):
I think it's going to be one of the underrated
games heading into week one that we'll be talking about
heading out of week one.

Speaker 5 (01:24:09):
Yeah, it jumped on to seven and now it's kind
of back. So we did see some Ole Miss money
at open. It opened five and then it got to
seven and now it's sitting six and a half. So
that's kind of been the trajectory for the number. Definitely
has a lot of playoff implications. I like this Louisville team.

Speaker 3 (01:24:25):
I really do.

Speaker 5 (01:24:26):
I think Jeff Braum, as Brian mentioned, is a guy
who gets a lot out of his players. How about
the quarterbacks that he's had over the last few years?
Plummer in 2023, Shuck in 2024, and then Miller-Mollis last year.
Those guys are all NFL caliber players that he brought
in through the portal and coached up. And I think

(01:24:47):
that is what we're going to see with Lincoln Kienholz.
This is a guy who's making his first career start.
He's only had 40 career dropbacks. We don't know what
we're going to get. I did a film study on
him over the summer. Actually, let me get those film
study notes. From South Dakota, three-sport athlete. You know, he's
a kid who's, I would say, more of an athlete
than a quarterback.

Speaker 1 (01:25:05):
But he can throw.

Speaker 5 (01:25:06):
But his rushing ability is what I think you're going
to be really surprised and excited about. When you watch
him play, this is a running Louisville team. Isaac Brown,
Kiwan Brown, these are guys that are absolute studs. Isaac
Brown last year, 7.8 yards per carry.

Speaker 1 (01:25:22):
That's the top running.

Speaker 5 (01:25:23):
Back mark in the country since 2024. So this is
a Louisville team that is going to churn out yardage
on the ground. And that could be tough week one
because a lot of times, and Rich, you could speak
to this, the defenses are a little bit ahead of
the offenses. But I think once the games start and
the pads start popping, if you're the more physical team,
it doesn't really matter what side of the ball you play.

(01:25:45):
And I think this Louisville offense is going to be
very physical. I like the Ole Miss defense. They rebuilt
things a little bit up front, but they still have Echols,
the star defensive tackle, projected first-round pick.

Speaker 3 (01:25:55):
Keep an eye on him.

Speaker 5 (01:25:57):
Suntory Perkins, Edge, Burrow, Florida transfer, massive human, 6'5, 340
in the middle. And then Luke Forelli, who got a
lot of controversy this summer, transfer from Cal, almost went
to Clemson. He was actually at Clemson, and then Ole
Miss scooped him up. So this is kind of a
rebuilt but very talented Ole Miss defense. That's the key
for me, Brian, is can Louisville run the ball against

(01:26:19):
this Ole Miss defense? If they can't, it's going to
be a long day. because I really think this Ole
Miss offense, who I know can run the ball with
Kawan Lacy and Chambliss, the quarterback, is going to be
very effective.

Speaker 1 (01:26:30):
I think Chambliss.

Speaker 5 (01:26:32):
Quick release, star quarterback. I mean, this is a guy
that I think is going to be on the top
of a lot of draft boards this year. I think
Ole Miss will have some success running it and moving
him around. I know Louisville's defense is solid. I like
Clev Lubin, the edge rusher for them who's got 64
pressures last year. He's the guy to watch on Louisville's defense.
But Ole Miss's offense against Louisville's defense feels like it's

(01:26:52):
a pretty solid matchup for Ole Miss. Can the Louisville
offense balance things out and keep the ball out of Chambliss' hands?

Speaker 1 (01:26:59):
That's the question I don't have the answer to.

Speaker 4 (01:27:01):
I'm really excited to see Pete Golden in his first
full season as the Ole Miss head football coach, right,
where last year he takes over for Lane Kiffin. Lane
bolts to LSU. It's just chaos. And Pete Golden, all
things considered, did a really good job. He exceeded expectations.
They take down Georgia. They're toe-to-toe with Miami. And there

(01:27:22):
were a lot of comments about, hey, Pete Golden, like
they're not missing a beat whatsoever. It's like– Let's give
that some time. Let's give that a little bit of time.
Get some more information because it's one thing to win
a couple of games to be competitive in a game
against Miami. And to have a full season transfer portal, NIL,

(01:27:43):
all these moving parts. So there's a lot going on.
I'm really curious to see how Pete Golding handles that
in his first full season. Because look, man, you can
see slippage here and there. Look at Kalen DeBoer at Alabama.
We saw slippage immediately. So I want to see what
happens with Pete Golding. We all know Lane Kiffin is

(01:28:04):
a master of the transfer portal. So if Pete Golding
isn't the same, you're going to start to see some cracks.
So we'll see if we get our first glimpse of
that in this matchup. Potentially we will. I want to
see the wide receivers of Ole Miss, right? Does Chambliss
just make it work with whoever's out there? It's not

(01:28:25):
like they're going to get some guy that was, you know, just...
working at Starbucks and they were like, Hey, you look
like you could be a receiver. You want to play
for the rebels? The talent level is better than that
at Ole Miss, but there are questions like how good
are these guys compared to what they just had? But
Chambliss is so gifted that he might make the receivers

(01:28:48):
that they have better. So I want to see how
that relationship works out. But this is a great– it's
a weird thing to say, but it's a litmus test
type game, I think, for both teams. And you're getting
a little bit more of that in college football because
we have 12 teams in the playoff. You get a
little bit more wiggle room. where if you drop a game,
it's not death to your season right out of the gate.

(01:29:10):
You get a couple of mulligans, and you're still alive
for a playoff berth. So this is a litmus test
of where they stack up and how they look going forward.
For Ole Miss, maybe they win the game, but you see, like, oh, man,
they're vulnerable in a couple of areas, and the SEC
gauntlet is going to expose them. So there's a lot
to look at in this game. I can't wait for it.

(01:29:32):
In Nashville should be a good one.

Speaker 6 (01:29:34):
Yeah, this isn't some rebuild after a bad season for Golding.
He inherited a program that reached the college football playoff semifinal.
And he also has back his star quarterback and his
star running back from last year. The question is, does
Ole Miss look as offensively dangerous as they did without Kiffin?

(01:29:56):
And that says something about how sustainable all of this
is and how sustainable this program has become. You know,
because look, we've seen this before where You know, the
predecessor builds something up, and then the understudies take over,
and it all gets torn down. And sometimes we see
the predecessor build something up, and then the understudy take

(01:30:20):
it to even higher heights, like Jason Day with the
Ohio State Buckeyes. You know, that could be the situation
with Pete Golding. I will say the game-breaker in this
game for me is Lacey out of the backfield for
Ole Miss. He creates a very difficult question for Louisville
to solve defensively. If you add an additional safety to

(01:30:42):
the box, if you're Louisville, well, Shambliss can take you
apart downfield. He's showcased the ability to do that. And
so it's a little bit of a pick-your-poison situation. You've
got two problems to deal with in the offensive backfield
if you're Louisville, and you're going to try to make
that choice wrong no matter what if you're Ole Miss,

(01:31:03):
either highlighting the run game against a light box with
Lacey or exploiting some of the advantages when a team
tries to add extra bodies close to the line of
scrimmage to defend the run against Lacey where Shambliss is
going to have more opportunities.

Speaker 3 (01:31:19):
Downfield against the Louisville defense.

Speaker 5 (01:31:22):
Yeah, I think Louisville's defense is going to be up
against it. You cannot play a light box against Kiwan Lee.

Speaker 1 (01:31:27):
You just can't.

Speaker 5 (01:31:28):
You have to stop that first. And then how Ole
Miss responds from there will be the key. John David Baker,
that's the new OC for Ole Miss. Don't know a
ton about him. Did a good job at East Carolina
the last couple years. I think they were a top 20,
top 25 offense yardage-wise at ECU.

Speaker 1 (01:31:47):
Obviously a big step up in talent.

Speaker 5 (01:31:49):
When you have a guy like Trinidad Chambliss, you just
kind of let him do his thing. He's got one
of the quickest releases in college football. Second quickest average
time to throw rate. 14 touchdowns, one pick last year
on those quick throws. So I think it's going to
be a lot of, if you're not stacking the box...
How can we get the ball to the outside quickly

(01:32:10):
and let our players make plays in space? And that's
the key for Chambliss. Again, lightning quick release. I actually
like this Louisville defense.

Speaker 6 (01:32:17):
I do.

Speaker 1 (01:32:18):
Lubin, as I mentioned, is an elite edge rusher.

Speaker 3 (01:32:20):
A.J.

Speaker 5 (01:32:21):
Green, the opposite edge rusher, is solid. Antonio Watts is
kind of this nickel hybrid safety. He's going to be
around the line of scrimmage a lot. That's another player
I've really enjoyed. when I watch Louisville's defense and he's
a guy that definitely pops. The question is, can you
contain Chambliss and keep him in the pocket? The issue
that I see and what I've seen from Louisville's defense
over the years is when those quarterbacks break contain and

(01:32:44):
create havoc is when they break down the most. And
that's something I think Chambliss does. You go back and
watch that play against Georgia, like the play against Georgia,
when he, you know, let, you know, break contain to
the pocket, figure out a way. I think he, broke
like three or four tackles like in and right around
the pocket and then got outside and it made a
play down the field. It was like the signature play
of that Georgia game in the playoff last year. Like

(01:33:05):
that to me is, is where Louisville I think is
going to struggle is to contain him. But that's where
their offense has to be key. Like, like the, the
game script here smells like an under because Louisville is
just going to run.

Speaker 1 (01:33:19):
The heck out of the ball.

Speaker 5 (01:33:20):
And I don't know how much experience kind holds has
and how much Brom trusts him in this spot, but,
to open things up and throw it.

Speaker 1 (01:33:27):
Deep down the field.

Speaker 5 (01:33:28):
I think it's going to be a lot of running
for Louisville. And then for Ole Miss, it's Kiwan Lacy.
It seems like it's a game where the ball's going
to be on the ground a lot, and that means
the clock's going to be moving a ton. So I
would say under, if you can find a 51, I
don't think it's available anymore, but that's where I was
at with this game. I think 50 and a half,
or excuse me, 55 and a half, 51 I was

(01:33:51):
thinking of the the LSU-Clemson game tonight. But 55.5, I
would say under 55.5 would be the.

Speaker 1 (01:33:58):
Play that I would give you in this one.

Speaker 4 (01:34:00):
All right, that's Jared Smith, FSR betting analyst. Rich Ornberger
with us, Penn State All-American. I'm Brian Ngo. Who wants
to be a millionaire this football season? Download Underdog and
jump into.

Speaker 3 (01:34:11):
Keep Your Million.

Speaker 4 (01:34:12):
Start with $ 1 million and hedge your bets across 20
player prop questions by splitting your cash on higher or lower.
Keep whatever lands on the winning side. But if you
hit zero, you're out. Make it through all 20 rounds
and you walk away with whatever's left. Underdog, unleash your dog.
Terms apply. All right, coming up next, you can make

(01:34:33):
an argument it makes sense not to shy away from
this guy. Man, but it can bite you. We'll give
you some details coming up. It's Fox Sports Radio's Countdown
to Kickoff, presented by Underdog. Unleash your dog. It is
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Speaker 3 (01:35:19):
Underdog.

Speaker 4 (01:35:20):
Unleash your dog. All right, we've got Wisconsin against... My Irish, huh?
Tomorrow night at the frozen tundra of Lambeau field. It's
not quite frozen yet, but that's where they'll be shamrock
series game for the Irish. They'll have their fancy green uniforms,
all that good stuff. New patch, new SoFi patch. Got
a lot of attention in the off season right there,

(01:35:40):
but how about Wisconsin head coach Luke fickle? So he's
talking about throwing at stud Irish corner, Leonard Moore, Leonard
Moore might be a top three pick next year. Like,
He's arguably the best corner in the country. And Luke
Fickle says, yeah, we can't be scared. Here's his quote.
It's some double negatives in here, but whatever. Let's roll

(01:36:01):
with it. We've got to not think that we can't
go that direction. I'm not saying he's not the best
in the country. I'm not saying he's not top two,
three NFL draft pick in the country. But the idea
is you've still got to be able to run your offense.
The thing that I love about what it is that
we do is we make people do everything. So he'll

(01:36:25):
have a chance to prove that he's the best in
the country, end quote. I get it. I get it. Like,
you don't want to take one side of the field
away and be like, oh, it's Leonard Moore. We can't
throw out Leonard Moore. I get that mentality, but that
could run you straight into calamity here. So it'll be
interesting to see how this plays out. Leonard Moore, Christian Gray,
this Irish secondary is really, really good. You don't have

(01:36:47):
great receivers at Wisconsin. I think the Badgers can have
a heck of a time moving the ball in this one.
but they're not going to shy away from Leonard Moore.
What do you think about that, Rich?

Speaker 3 (01:36:57):
I actually agree with Fickle here.

Speaker 6 (01:37:00):
I don't think you can completely avoid Leonard Moore. Look,
there are so few cornerbacks in the college game or
even professionally who have been able to shut down a
side of the field, and that's essentially what you're conceding
if you say you're not going to.

Speaker 3 (01:37:16):
Throw it Leonard Moore's way.

Speaker 6 (01:37:19):
Darrell Revis is the only name that comes to mind easily.
And that was a New York Jets offense that really
benefited from offensive coordinators' lack of interest in testing Revis
over there on the island against the top receiver. And
so what it did is it forced coordinators to play left-handed,
and Rex Ryan defensively was able to have a field

(01:37:41):
day with some exotic blitz packages where you could have
a whole number of things occur if you could take
away one player in the field or take away one
side of the field. And so I agree with Fickle.
You're going to have to test that side of the field. Now,
here's the bad news. In only 10 games last season,

(01:38:02):
Leonard Moore allowed just a 45.9 passer rating when his
opponent was targeted. He also intercepted five passes along the
course of his season. I mean, he's a pretty... Unbelievable
talent at corner. But I do agree. Heading into a

(01:38:23):
matchup like this, especially if you're speaking directly to the media,
you could have a conservative gameplay. when you're throwing Leonard
Moore's way but especially when you're speaking publicly do not
concede one side of the field and just say hey
look we know what it is we know what we're.

Speaker 3 (01:38:39):
Up against we're gonna have to play left-handed a little bit.

Speaker 6 (01:38:41):
No no no hey we're gonna we're gonna throw at
him you know we're gonna have to mix it up
We respect his talent, but we're going to have to
throw at him.

Speaker 3 (01:38:48):
I think that was the right thing for Luke Fickle
to say. Yeah, I think.

Speaker 5 (01:38:53):
He's dodging the real issue, which is Wisconsin's offensive line.

Speaker 1 (01:38:58):
It's a disaster.

Speaker 5 (01:38:59):
Major challenges on the right side. Emerson Mandel, Kevin Haywood,
both questionable. That, to me, is the bigger issue here.
Colton Joseph, the old Dominion transfer, he's going to be
the starting quarterback for Wisconsin. Of course, Billy Edwards now
at UNC had that nice win last week in Ireland.
Joseph is more of a runner than a thrower. He's
got a very low adjusted accuracy rate. He's not a

(01:39:22):
guy who's going to really pick you apart. So I
think throwing at the best corner in the sport is
probably not, with a bad offensive line that's injured, is
probably not the best strategy. I like a couple of
pieces on Wisconsin's offense. I like Abu Sama, Iowa State
transfer running back. Darren Dupree, returning rusher from last year,
top runner for them, is back. So I think they're

(01:39:42):
going to try to run it. I don't know how
successful they're going to be. I love this Notre Dame's defense.
I always mispronounce his name. Kingston Viliama Asa. Did I
get that right, Brian?

Speaker 4 (01:39:52):
Close enough.

Speaker 3 (01:39:54):
Close enough.

Speaker 1 (01:39:55):
Probably the best linebacker in the sport. Questionable, though, with
a knee injury.

Speaker 5 (01:39:59):
That's a guy to keep an eye on if his
name pops up on the injury report or if he's
going to play. That's obviously a big knock on Notre
Dame's defense. I think Wisconsin's got a couple of pieces
they can throw to. Hilton's their best returning receiver. Cedric Book,
Chris Brooks, excuse me, Jalen Domingo, a couple of transfers,
Oklahoma State transfer Shamar Rigby, and then Domingo's from Southeastern Louisiana.

(01:40:22):
There's not a lot that I like about this Wisconsin offense. Now,
Notre Dame's offense, I like a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:40:30):
I think C.J.

Speaker 5 (01:40:31):
Carr is a legit Heisman candidate, guys. 24 touchdowns, six
picks last year. He really stepped forward throughout the course
of the season. His NFL-type progressions and the way he
was moving through defenses I thought really was solid. And
then Brock, the OC, is I think going to put
a lot on his plate this year. You even saw

(01:40:52):
it last year, checking at the line of scrimmage and
getting into and out of things and having that autonomy
I thought was really impressive for a young quarterback that
didn't have a ton of experience. We know Jeremiah Love's
not there. We know Jadarian Price are not there. But
the receiving core this year, I think, is really impressive.
This is probably the best receiving group maybe Notre Dame's
ever had. Greathouse and Faison and Graham.

Speaker 1 (01:41:14):
Quincy Porter.

Speaker 5 (01:41:14):
This is going to not be a ground-and-pound Jerome Bettis-type
Notre Dame offense.

Speaker 1 (01:41:20):
They're going to spread it out. They're going to throw
it a lot. They trust C.J.

Speaker 5 (01:41:23):
Carr.

Speaker 1 (01:41:23):
They like C.J.

Speaker 5 (01:41:24):
Carr.

Speaker 1 (01:41:25):
And I think Notre Dame, the ceiling is very high
for this offense this year.

Speaker 4 (01:41:29):
Yeah, I'm excited for it. And it's your first glimpse of...
How are the reps divided up? How are the targets
divided up? You mentioned, Jared, right, where you get, you've
got Jordan Faison out there, you've got Jaden Greathouse, and
then you've got a couple of Ohio State transfers at
wide receivers, so what do the reps look like? Who's
getting the playing time? Who's getting the targets? It could

(01:41:51):
be a revolving door from game to game, right? And
of course, the running game, where you're losing two first-round
running backs. You can't say that most years, right? But
Losing Love and Price, those are big shoes to fill.
So we'll see if the Irish are a little bit
more pass-happy in their offense going forward. But it's your

(01:42:12):
first glimpse of the Irish against Wisconsin at underdog. Irish
favored by 20.5. Total is 46.5. So I don't expect
a lot of Wisconsin points. That's the thing, man. I
would agree. It's going to be hard for them, right, Jared?
Team total-wise, it's like they're not going to be– What
do you think the.

Speaker 1 (01:42:31):
Crowd's going to be?

Speaker 5 (01:42:32):
I mean, obviously it's Madison, close to Madison, but it's
Notre Dame. I think it's going to be a neutral, right?

Speaker 4 (01:42:40):
I think it'll be pro-Notre Dame, really.

Speaker 3 (01:42:42):
Pro-Notre Dame, really, in Green Bay.

Speaker 4 (01:42:45):
Yeah, because even if it, let's say it was whatever,
60-40 Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (01:42:49):
Yeah, I'll say 50-50, that would be my guess.

Speaker 4 (01:42:51):
Or whatever it is. Who's going to have more to
cheer for? You know what I mean? It's going to
sound like it's, man, this might be 90-10 Notre Dame here.

Speaker 5 (01:43:00):
It's a rare scenario where the game is significantly closer
to Wisconsin, but you're right. I think there's a chance
that it's a pro-Notre Dame crowd. I had a friend
who reached out to me about the game. He's actually
going to the game. Actually, I think Seamus is going
to the game too. They think there's going to be
a lot of Wisconsin fans there, and I'm just like,
it feels like a neutral. But maybe, to your point,

(01:43:21):
maybe it is more pro-Notre Dame.

Speaker 4 (01:43:22):
I mean, it's going to be hard, you know, if
Notre Dame has four touchdowns on the board, our Wisconsin
fans are going to be like, first down, baby, let's go!
And it just, the crowd erupts.

Speaker 8 (01:43:32):
Hey, just cover the number for them, right?

Speaker 1 (01:43:34):
Just get it within 20.

Speaker 6 (01:43:35):
I mean, we were talking and joking about Leonard Moore and, like,
what Luke Fickle's going to do against that problem defensively,
but I agree that the under is very much so
in play, and I've attached it to a couple of
parlays on underdog already this morning.

Speaker 3 (01:43:50):
Nice.

Speaker 2 (01:43:51):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (01:43:52):
Parlay wheeling and dealing. Oh yeah. I, I've, well, let's
put it this way. After, uh, getting floated.

Speaker 6 (01:44:00):
Some funds, daddy needs a big hit because, uh, You
need money for dog food over there.

Speaker 3 (01:44:06):
Is what's going on, right? Yeah. This puppy's got to eat.
This puppy's got to eat.

Speaker 6 (01:44:11):
Speaking of underdogs, I got a dog under my feet
right now. Yeah, but this Notre Dame defense, man, is–
Leonard Moore is the most talked about piece, but he's
just the best known of what's already great. Last season,
13th nationally in scoring defense. They only allowed 17.6 points

(01:44:31):
per game, 11th against the Rush. averaging 99.3 yards per game,
ninth in sacks per game. They tied for the National
League lead with 21 interceptions. Wisconsin, they can't just avoid
number two of the defense and attack everyone else because...

(01:44:56):
this defense is loaded. Like, you know, I mean, yeah,
I get it. Leonard Moore presents a really difficult problem
and challenge on the corner, but then you got to
look past him and say, oh yeah, but the linebacking
core is a problem. The defensive front poses an extremely
difficult pass rush and the secondary overall plays tremendous shell.

(01:45:17):
And then when they're playing low in the box, they're,
they're good tacklers and they, they really do defend the
run well. And so where do you have an edge
against this Notre Dame defense? The answer is probably nowhere.
You know, you're probably gonna have to generate your own success,
grind out some early down positive plays, and then set
yourself up for third and manageable. It's the best you

(01:45:39):
can do is sustain drives, tire them out if you can,
and then try to cash in either with three points
or seven. But I have Wisconsin today capped, you know, 10,
12 points, you know, it's like, they're, they're not going
to generate a ton. And, and I look at Notre
Dame and I could easily see them.

Speaker 3 (01:46:00):
Scoring somewhere in the realm of, you know, 30 points. Like,
you know, this is a neutral site. Games are weird.
We just talked about that.

Speaker 6 (01:46:08):
It might be a more of a bowl game vibe,
even though it's played in the state of Wisconsin, they're
not in Madison.

Speaker 3 (01:46:14):
So that, that lends.

Speaker 6 (01:46:15):
A little interesting flavor to this one, but Yeah, I
got Notre Dame, and I like them favored in this game,
and also I like the under. I think the total's
going to stay low.

Speaker 4 (01:46:27):
Yeah, it makes sense. It's funny because some of these
early college football games can resemble NFL preseason games, meaning
let's just say Notre Dame's up, let's say 35-10. So
that's 45 combined points. The total is 46.5, and by
that point, It's backup city backups. Right. And you're like,

(01:46:48):
come on. Second and third Notre Dame defenders like prevent
a score. So you're just sweating.

Speaker 5 (01:46:54):
I needed a USC touchdown to get over my team
total last night. And it was all backups in the
fourth quarter. And I was and I got one.

Speaker 1 (01:47:02):
We got we got home.

Speaker 4 (01:47:03):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:47:04):
How about I would have preferred if it was Jaden,
my elbow. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:47:08):
How about the under?

Speaker 6 (01:47:09):
How about the under for folks who took the Oklahoma
game last night? The total was 51 and a half.

Speaker 5 (01:47:18):
So it opened 50 and a half and people bet over.
Then it got 51 and a half. Then people bet
under and it landed. It's 51, 51 and a half.
So there was people you could have middled it last
night if you really were sharp.

Speaker 9 (01:47:30):
Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 3 (01:47:30):
That would have been insane. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:47:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:47:33):
What a win that would have been.

Speaker 4 (01:47:34):
You're talking about threading a needle.

Speaker 3 (01:47:36):
51 to nothing.

Speaker 5 (01:47:37):
Well, 51 is a key total in college football.

Speaker 4 (01:47:39):
It's like doing an underdog read in 54 seconds. It's
hard to thread that needle right there.

Speaker 3 (01:47:44):
You know, it's very hard. How about this?

Speaker 4 (01:47:47):
Let's do some top three quickies right here. So we'll
look at the top three teams and just very quick notes.
Shot clock. Picture an offensive rebound in the NBA. It
doesn't reset to 24 seconds, right? It resets to 14 seconds.
So even faster right here. We got Ball State at
number one, Ohio State. Ohio State favored by 49 and
a half. The total is 55 and a half. Not

(01:48:10):
much respect for the Cardinal over here. Chirp, chirp up
against it. They've got a quarterback who's 250 pounds. It
could be very conservative for Ohio State with Texas on deck.
What do you think about this, Rich?

Speaker 6 (01:48:21):
Yeah, I mean, look, the reality of the situation is
I think Ohio State is going to do with what
most teams are going to do who have a big
game looming in.

Speaker 3 (01:48:30):
The very near distance.

Speaker 6 (01:48:32):
You're going to see a lot of their backups get
action very quickly. You're going to see a very vanilla playbook.
These are games early in the season that I kind
of go hands off on. Because all of the lines
are fishy to me. If I were to– I don't
even want to give advice on this one.

Speaker 3 (01:48:50):
Take the points. Come on. I took 50.

Speaker 1 (01:48:52):
They gave you 50 points. You have to take it.

Speaker 3 (01:48:58):
I guess you do.

Speaker 6 (01:48:59):
If I have a lean, it's that way. I hate
doing it, though, because there's nothing worse than when, you know,
you're you're flipping back through the channels. You're like, I
wonder what's going on in Ohio State. And they're up
by thirty five at halftime. And you're like, you got
to be kidding me.

Speaker 1 (01:49:15):
I feel OK.

Speaker 5 (01:49:16):
If it was thirty five, nothing at half. I think
I feel pretty good. I took fifty and a half. Actually,
I got fifty one. I got a book here in
town that gave me a 51. Underdog's giving you 50
and a half. I would still take 50 and a half.
It goes back to the point of next week. And
this is why I like Texas State as well against Texas.

(01:49:38):
What does Ohio State have to prove today?

Speaker 3 (01:49:41):
Nothing.

Speaker 5 (01:49:42):
And they have everything to lose next week. Whereas some
other teams, for example, Notre Dame plays Rice next week.
He's like, yeah, all right, just empty the playbook this week.
It's not going to matter a whole lot. Whereas Ohio
State and Texas, I guarantee you that there is at
least one coach from both teams that are at the
other team's games today, like some advanced scout or some
kind of advanced scout taking place.

Speaker 4 (01:50:04):
No cell phones, though, right? A la Michigan, right? No
cell phones.

Speaker 3 (01:50:08):
Yeah, right.

Speaker 4 (01:50:08):
It's all legal, wink, wink.

Speaker 5 (01:50:10):
But if I was Ohio State, if I was Texas today,
if I was Sark, I would show nothing, absolutely nothing.
And I think that favors the dog. Not only Ball State.
I can't name one player on Ball State, but I
took 50.

Speaker 3 (01:50:24):
And a half.

Speaker 5 (01:50:25):
Why not?

Speaker 3 (01:50:26):
Okay. All right.

Speaker 4 (01:50:27):
And crack style. We're rooting for you.

Speaker 1 (01:50:31):
So you want to be a gambler.

Speaker 4 (01:50:32):
Yeah. Number two, Oregon hosting Boise State. Oregon favored by
24 and a half. The total is 51 and a half.
Boise State doesn't tackle. It's an issue. You got to
get people to the ground. They do the worst job
in FBS. That's what happened last year. I don't think
they've completely just turned it around. And it's like, wow,

(01:50:53):
this team, they tackle everyone. It's going to be a rough,
rough day. Dante Moore, the running game, these backs are
hard to bring down. They suck at it. Like 24
and a half, it's one of those point spreads where
it's like, you get the hook, though. Come on, take
the Broncos. It's like when you start trying to do
me favors, I know you're trying to set me up

(01:51:13):
to screw me over here. So if anything, I'm laying
the points in this one, Rich. What do you think?

Speaker 3 (01:51:20):
You know what?

Speaker 6 (01:51:21):
I would be more on the side of taking the
points with Boise, and here's the reason why.

Speaker 3 (01:51:27):
9-5 season last year.

Speaker 6 (01:51:30):
I understand they lost a lot offensively, but don't forget
about what happened last time.

Speaker 3 (01:51:34):
Boise went to Autzen. That was in 2024.

Speaker 6 (01:51:37):
Oregon barely escaped by the skin of their teeth with
a 37-34 loss.

Speaker 3 (01:51:44):
Needing a field goal as time expired.

Speaker 6 (01:51:46):
Plus, Boise State's quarterback, Maddox Madsen, who I've seen in
person many times, called many of his games. He threw,
he's one of just three active FBS quarterbacks with at
least 35 games played at the same school.

Speaker 3 (01:52:03):
So when you think about consistency, when you think about.

Speaker 6 (01:52:06):
The fact that Boise State has the same signal caller
under center for that many games, it's so unique and
rare in the culture of college football. They posted 28
consecutive winning seasons. That's the longest active streak in the
country right now. So this is one of those teams.
This isn't your normal ho-hum early season scheduling speed bump

(01:52:30):
for Oregon.

Speaker 3 (01:52:31):
This is they scheduled a little bit of a challenge
here early in the season.

Speaker 6 (01:52:35):
So I'd be I'd be more interested in taking the
points and laying the points in this one.

Speaker 3 (01:52:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:52:41):
Oregon's a tough, tough team. I really like their offense
this year. I think Drew Merringer, their new OC, took
over for Will Stein, comes from their system. He was
basically the co-OC last year.

Speaker 1 (01:52:56):
So you get a.

Speaker 5 (01:52:57):
Seamless transition in terms of Dante Moore's development and his progression.

Speaker 4 (01:53:02):
And I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:53:03):
I love the running game. Thierry Hill, Jordan Davison are
thunder and lightning. They've got this.

Speaker 5 (01:53:08):
We know how great the tight end room was last year. Um,
they've got another really good one this year, Jamari Johnson,
probably their most dynamic pass catcher, but their receiving group
is very deep. Evan Stewart's back from injury. Like they
are about as complete of a team as you're going
to find in college football. I think if I had
to pick a national champion today, I think Oregon's the
most complete team. I think their defense, um, it's a

(01:53:30):
no fly zone, especially their secondary, probably one of the
best secondaries in the sport this year. I know we
just talked about Notre Dame and Leonard Moore, but I think, uh,
Start to finish, top to bottom, I think Oregon's secondary
might be better. So there are no holes on this team.
Can they cover 24 against Boise? Abso-frickin-lutely. They play Oklahoma
State next week, so they're not really gearing down for anything.

(01:53:53):
And we've seen Oregon really throttle up these early season
games at home. Last year they beat Oklahoma State by
like 70 points or something crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:54:02):
It was absurd.

Speaker 5 (01:54:03):
Shout out Jeff Schwartz, former Oregon guy. He's at the
game today. He's at the game today. I'm filling in
for him tomorrow on countdown. So I hope he has
a good weekend. And Eugene, I'm assuming it's like an
alumni or homecoming type of situation in their first game,
but it should be.

Speaker 1 (01:54:17):
A really fun one.

Speaker 5 (01:54:18):
I've got a slight cover for Oregon. I don't have
a ton on this one, betting-wise.

Speaker 4 (01:54:23):
Oregon's loaded, and they've had to sit with the IU beatdown.
In the CFP for months now. This is the first
time they get out there.

Speaker 1 (01:54:32):
That's why I like Miami last night, too.

Speaker 3 (01:54:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:54:34):
Because of the Indiana game. It was their last game,
you know?

Speaker 4 (01:54:37):
By the way, you mentioned Skin of My Teeth, Rich.
That is a Megadeth song.

Speaker 3 (01:54:40):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:54:41):
Your middle fun nugget for the day. Super fast because
we mentioned it. Tennessee State at number three, Georgia. Georgia
favored by 48.

Speaker 3 (01:54:49):
And a half.

Speaker 4 (01:54:49):
They are awful under Kirby Smart covering these huge spreads.
Do they finally get a cover in this one here?
The numbers fluctuated a bit this morning. I've been watching
it on an underdog. It went down to 46 and
a half. It's back up to 48 and a half.
So a little back and forth action in this one.

Speaker 3 (01:55:07):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:55:08):
Look, this is such a different game than the one
we were just talking about. Completely different in so many ways,
whereas Boise State, I think, is a legitimate opener.

Speaker 3 (01:55:18):
I mean, Georgia should completely control this game. Should.

Speaker 6 (01:55:24):
Obviously, they went 12-2 last year. They're going against a
Tennessee State team who had the almost exact opposite 2-10
a season ago. And then you just look at the
enormous statistical gaps in every single direction, plus this being
the first ever meeting. You're going to have a lot
of Tennessee State kids with big eyes walking between the hedges.

(01:55:48):
This feels like demolition in the waiting, but as you mentioned,
Kirby's smart. With SEC play not opening until September 19th,
Western Kentucky next week, maybe this is one of those
tune-up games where by the third quarter, it's just a
sleepy victory that they're cruising toward instead of worrying about

(01:56:11):
covering a big spread.

Speaker 5 (01:56:13):
I mean, again, Georgia's 0-14 against the spread when Kirby
Smart's favored by 38 or more.

Speaker 1 (01:56:20):
They've never covered.

Speaker 3 (01:56:21):
It's insane.

Speaker 5 (01:56:21):
I have no analysis on this game other than I'm
sure Georgia's heard that this week. I'm sure they've heard
it this week. And I would say first half. I
got 27 and a half. I laid four touchdowns with
Georgia in the first half. That would be the only
wager I would make on this one.

Speaker 4 (01:56:36):
Okay, all right. We've got Rich Ornberger, Penn State All-American,
Jared Smith, FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian Noe. Coming up next,
rapid fire, a bushel of picks. We'll throw them out
to you Frisbee style. Hopefully get you some winners. That's
on the way. It's Fox Sports Radio's countdown to kickoff.
Presented by Underdog. Unleash your dog. It is Fox Sports
Radio's countdown to kickoff. Presented by Underdog. Unleash your dog.

(01:57:00):
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the air props to the crew our trusted producer back

(01:57:21):
back in the building host of the dodger zone pod
mr bo benson.

Speaker 3 (01:57:25):
Did i miss anything important you guys.

Speaker 4 (01:57:28):
I uh i don't think drink uh coffee with mayonnaise.

Speaker 5 (01:57:31):
Yeah i was gonna say uh i've been back for
30 minutes we did that and i was ready to
leave again so i.

Speaker 4 (01:57:36):
Don't Another six weeks off.

Speaker 3 (01:57:39):
I get it.

Speaker 4 (01:57:40):
I don't blame you. Our technical producer extraordinaire, Mr. Chris Perfette.

Speaker 8 (01:57:44):
I might have to call. foul on everyone referring to
Miracle Whip as mayonnaise. It's not that.

Speaker 3 (01:57:49):
As a mayonnaise enjoyer. Real quick, my horse picks for
this weekend.

Speaker 8 (01:57:53):
It is two-year-old weekend, so a little bit of acid
in the throat trying to do this, but I like
the pedigree on Flight Command in the spin thrift.

Speaker 3 (01:58:01):
He's 10-1.

Speaker 8 (01:58:02):
At Saratoga in the spin away, I like Summer Starlet.
She's 2 to 1 and then kentucky downs is uh
the uh was a kentucky turf cup i like old
crazy bone he's a little bit of an older guy
but at six to at eight to one i like
kind of place or show on all these guys look
at this all.

Speaker 4 (01:58:20):
Right By the way, the legs are still there with
the non-manage. The legs are still in full effect like
three hours later.

Speaker 3 (01:58:28):
That's crazy. So much Miracle Whips back to the edge
of the glass.

Speaker 4 (01:58:31):
Shout out to our guy Saga on digital posting our clips.
Appreciate all of his hard work. Give Fox Sports Radio
a follow on X. See our smiling faces, get our pics,
all that good stuff. Top of the hour. Jonas Knox
in the building here. What is he doing? He's a
weekday radio star. What's he doing slumming it on the weekend?

Speaker 3 (01:58:49):
This effing guy.

Speaker 4 (01:58:51):
Freaking guy over here. In less than eight American minutes,
he's got you covered. Keep it locked right here on
Fox Sports Radio. We got some picks to make. Let's
do it.

Speaker 2 (01:59:01):
Rapid fire.

Speaker 4 (01:59:03):
All right, Jared, we start with you.

Speaker 3 (01:59:04):
What do you have?

Speaker 5 (01:59:06):
All right, I'll go quick. Ball State plus 50.5 at
Ohio State. I don't really care who Ball State is
playing today, but Ohio State has Texas next week. So
that is the reason that we're fading the Buckeyes. We're
fading the Longhorns because Texas has to play Ohio State
next week. So I'll take 29.5 with Texas State.

Speaker 1 (01:59:22):
Can't name a player on Texas State.

Speaker 3 (01:59:23):
Don't care.

Speaker 5 (01:59:24):
I don't think Texas is going to be fully up
for this game. I can't name some players on South Carolina.
We're going to lay 35.5 against Kent State. This is
Kendall Briles' first game as the new OC of South Carolina.
Last year, Kent State lost 44-zip at OU, 66-10 at
Florida State. Two years ago, they lost 71-zip at Tennessee.
I think Kendall Briles is going to rev up the

(01:59:45):
engines for the Gamecocks today.

Speaker 6 (01:59:47):
All right, I'm taking all road dogs in the NFL
to start our season here.

Speaker 1 (01:59:52):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (01:59:53):
To celebrate having a new title sponsor underdog and a
new dog in the Orenberger household. Give me the Patriots
plus three and a half. Drake May in New England
already proved they could reach the Super Bowl. I think
getting more than a field goal on the road does matter.
This is a Super Bowl rematch. Too much respect in
Seattle for the Pats. Give me the Niners also on

(02:00:15):
the road, plus 3.5. And the Bucs on the road
in Cincinnati, plus 3.5. We saw that defense collapse last season.
Road dogs early in the NFL season, they cash in
a lot.

Speaker 4 (02:00:28):
Wow, I have all this time here. Goodness, let me
stretch my legs out. Wisconsin, Notre Dame, under 46 and
a half. Give me Louisville, plus six and a half.

Speaker 3 (02:00:37):
Give me Oregon, Rich.

Speaker 4 (02:00:39):
I'm laying the 24 and a hook.

Speaker 3 (02:00:41):
Go, Ducks, go!

Speaker 6 (02:00:43):
No!

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