James Franklin Fired, Poll Reactions & Early Picks for Ole Miss-Georgia, Tennessee-Alabama & USC-Notre Dame | College Football - The Solid Verbal College Football

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal. Ill for me, I'm a man,
I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well, I
want to be happy. You want to be happy for
a day? Ato state? Is that? Whoo whoom? And Dan
and Tie Dan Rubinstein, welcome back to the solid verbal.
My friend, it is rainy here in Eastern PA. The

(00:25):
voice isn't doing so hot, a Tie, maybe I caught
whatever you've had for the last month and a half.
But a last, we are here, we are soldiering up.
We are ready to go on this here Tuesday episode
of the pod, My friend, welcome back. How are you today? Terrific?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I'm great, Tie. I'm actually feeling better and better with
each passing day, largely because Oregon didn't lose to Indiana
this morning.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
So I feel pretty good. Now. I'm good.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
A very excited Week eight as a jam packed one.
So excited to both look ahead look back to some
of the games and storylines. We didn't do justice with
our attention span on Saturday. We've got polls to discuss,
We've got obviously news to discuss. We did an emergency
reaction video stream slash Patreon podcast about James Franklin being

(01:19):
relieved of his duties in State College. So we are
stacking topics for today, and I'm very excited we are.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Indeed, we will get into the Franklin stuff. There were
a few other firings here that we at least have
to mention not to give away the game too much.
If you're listening to this episode, you have surely heard
by now what's going on. But we will get into that.
As you said, polls, we've got a couple previews that
we're going to go into in advance of week eight.
Hit follow, hit subscribe. If you're new here, We've had

(01:47):
a bunch of new people come under the tent over
the last few weeks. It is great to have you
here with us in the verballerhood. Make sure you tell
your friends. Yes, of course, we appreciate everybody out of
dot com for voting in the poll that we will
discuss here in just a little bit for Bawler Top twelve.
And yes, of course we have breaking news. Let's just

(02:11):
dive in. We have bracking news, but from yesterday, from yesterday. Yeah, yes,
we're recording this midday Monday. James Franklin relieved of command
at Penn State three and three, halfway through the season.

(02:36):
Came as a bit of a surprise. You and I
were messaging on Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon. You are like, hey,
maybe we should be on call in case something goes
down with Franklin, And I said, there not gonna fire
him now? Of course, of course, am I not fire
him at all? Maybe they'll just kind of, I don't know,
suggests that he take another job and kind of get

(02:57):
out of the buyout or something. Nope, they fire him. Dan,
forty seven minutes later, they fired him. They got rid
of them. Pat Kraft just gave a fiery press conference,
which I can talk about here. Okay, just a little
bit staate ad. Penn State. AD, that's correct, a last
Penn State is now the big job that's on the board.

(03:18):
There are a handful of others. My hunch is that
it's not going to be the last one to come open.
My curiosity is whether Penn State opening now is going
to promote other schools that are maybe on the brink
to make the move sooner than they expected, just so
that they can get their hat in the ring as well.
But as you know, I have a lot of thoughts
on this, Dan why don't I turn it over to

(03:39):
you for a second to get your initial feedback on
what we saw. Of course, as you said, we did
do a bit of an emergency stream. We posted that
audio out to our patreon folks at for bolers dot
com yesterday afternoon. But now that you've had a few,
i don't know, a few hours to sleep on this news,
to think a little bit more about it. Picture mindful

(04:01):
of the fact that you have no connection to Penn
State other than the fact that your Oregon Ducks play
in the same conference and beat Penn State a couple
weeks back. Sure, what was your reaction to this? Did
it surprise you? Again? I've got a lot to say,
but I want to give you ample opportunity here at
the mic.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Sure, I think the frustration is warranted. I think the
concern about the direction of the program, given how long
he's been there, is warranted. I think the frustration with
some of the things that he's had time to fix,
maybe the offensive roster, the offensive outlook, quarterback development is
extremely concerning. And I think every Penn State fan is

(04:37):
justified and feeling, you know, pretty frustrated with where Penn
State has been this season. Given I think reasonable expectations
given what they returned from a semi finalist team from
last season.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
I think all that.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
I don't have any qualms, quibbles whatever, with any of
those concerns. It's a wild world in which somebody who
has won as much as he has, including taking a
team to the playoff but deep into the playoff last season,
has a bad start this year given you know, expectations
once again and is let go October twelfth, right, he

(05:12):
doesn't make it to Halloween after winning as much as
he has at Penn State again all of the like
comments about can't, can't win the big one, and you know,
he's a medium game, James, I just made that nickname up.
That's pretty good, Okay, It is kind of crazy unless
something behind the scenes was too far gone, and I'm

(05:34):
willing to fully appreciate and understand that that's a possibility,
right freight relationships with administrators or the locker room or
assistance whatever that You're like, it's just there's no coming
back from blank And I'm totally open to the fact that,
you know, maybe it just was a sense that the
fire was gone from Franklin, from within the program whatever,
and you're just like that it had run its course

(05:55):
and the search for a new guy begins today. I'm
open to all of that. It's still feels, on a
certain level kind of crazy to do this now, and
so I was with you when you said that you
would be surprised if they were to make a move now.
But again, we are not privy to exactly what's happening

(06:16):
behind the scenes, and so I'm sure that plays a role.
But what James Franklin has accomplished at Penn State is
unmatched by one hundred and twenty eight current coaches. Right,
So that's the clear statement and signal. And this can
be debated whether this is fair or not, but the

(06:37):
clear signal from Penn State Packcraft, anybody involved in making
this decision is we believe Penn State should be no
worse than ten and two, eleven and one. Ever, we
believe the standard for Penn State is equal to the
best teams in this sport. Again, whether that's fair or not,

(06:58):
whether it's backed up by recent results, modern results, whatever,
anything since nineteen ninety five, sure, please argue it. It's
fine with me. But the clear statement is we should
not take a back seat to literally anybody in this sport,
and we need to find somebody who is demonstrably better

(07:19):
than what James Franklin has accomplished here. And I apploud
setting a high bar. I think setting up a high
bar and anything in life is admirable. Right, hold yourself
to a high standard. Who's that guy who wants to
come to Penn State and do that? Okay, who's that guy?
I don't think it's gonna Kurtz signetty. Who's that guy?

(07:39):
Find him? Okay, you talk the talk. Now, let's see
how well Packcraft can walk.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
I'm ready. Pack Craft did talk to talk. He talked
to talk. He did talk to talk, and he said
almost precisely what you just described. Look, I feel the
same about James Franklin. I expected that there was going
to be a new guy on the sidelines next season.
I didn't expect it to happen this quickly. Just for context, right,

(08:06):
More to your point, James Franklin was there for over
a decade. He further stabilized the program after Bill O'Brien left.
He built it into a bit of a recruiting powerhouse,
and more often than not, Penn State was one of
the best three teams in the Big Ten. So this
was not a Sam Pittman situation where James was constantly
on the hot seat. This wasn't even a Jimbo Fisher

(08:29):
situation where he had a few bad seasons and then
they let him go.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
And to be to clarify, to clarify the old Big Ten.
The old Big Ten, they were one of the best
three programs and made the conference championship game last year,
so they were one of the two best ish you know,
depending on your viewpoint, but in the old Big Ten
they were a top three two.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
This is a guy who made the semifinals a year ago,
and still they cut bait as soon as it was
clear they were not going to get back. I have
been pretty clear on this show that I liked James Franklin.
I do think he deserves more respect in the end
than he ended up getting here. I saw some of
the comments that had been floating around online about him
and his family, and like all that stuff's embarrassing. Of course,

(09:10):
the good news is, I guess he's going to walk
away with a lot of money one way or another.
If nothing more, I think he's going to have more
than ample opportunity to get a fresh start somewhere else
if he wants it. All that being said, I understand
this atmosphere better than most. I went there. I live
in the state. I talked to still a long list

(09:30):
of Penn State people who are very close to the
football program and more connected than you and I. I
thought that this would happen at the end of the
season because the endless pursuit of Ohio State finally got
to everybody, and in this case, it finally drove everybody
crazy enough to justify a fifty million dollar buy it. Sure,

(09:52):
there is a reason why my Penn State preview centered
around beating Oregon and or Ohio State and not winning
a national championship, even though I jinxed him by picking it.
Definitely not set it around beating UCLA in Northwest. Definitely
did not even mention that in the preview, everyone is
chasing a title that is not unique across college football.

(10:15):
Penn State was chasing a symbol, and that symbol was
about getting over the hump. That symbol, that sign, that
vision from above was about beating one of the perceived
top teams in the conference as a proof of concept
that Penn State is on that same tier. Yeah, everything

(10:38):
pointed to this year. Everything pointed to this year being
the year that that would happen. And so that's why
pack Craft did this. Now I've said it before. If
pack Craft were to go up there at the lectern
after the season and say, you know, we know we
fell short of that standard, but we still believe James
Franklin is the guy, he would have a hard time

(11:00):
in the Penn State community getting buy in. I just
think it was time. I think the relationship had run
its course. Even though James Franklin has accomplished a great
deal at Penn State, I don't think he could go
up there incredibly say it at this point, for better
or worse. And so that's why I made the move.
As I sit on the reaction stream, even though I
disagree with the manner in which they did this, I

(11:22):
do give him credit. He spoke to this at his
press conference. He made the decision on Sunday. He figured, look,
this is going to happen, let's just do it now.
I give him credit for ripping the Bandaid off. There
are a lot of programs that don't do that. I
think that was you know, if you made the decision,
why masquerade around as if it's anything else. Right, The
obvious question now is who's next? Okay, to your point,

(11:44):
who's next? You always see two lists floating around when
you have something like this pop up. You've got one
that's a wish list that is totally unmoored from reality,
and then you've got another list, which is almost always
more underwhelming, and that's the one that I think is
more reflective of reality.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
Well, you know whose name always gets tossed into these
big openings, John Gruden, James Franklin, Yeah, James Franklin, Right, continue.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
James Franklin. Man, he's gonna have his pick of the
litter here now, Yeah, Hue. There is no shortage of
well known pen stators out there confusing the wish list
with the reality list. And I don't blame them because
every fan base in the history of college sports has
done the exact same thing. Here is where we're at.
Of course, you got to make the calls to the

(12:34):
Kurt Signettes, to the Marcus Freeman's, to the Dan Lannings,
to the Lane Kiffins, to the whoever you think are
obvious upgrades. You got to call them. You have to.
In my opinion, it sounds like, in your opinion, none
of those guys are going to leave a stable situation
that they have built themselves into being contenders to come

(12:55):
to another place that they think they might be able
to do it.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, but Pat Craft has a ton of any time
in right, so making those calls, it's not that huge
a deal.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Why leave a current contending situation on the hope that
you can build it elsewhere, especially in this era of
college football, where as we've said, time and against stability
is currency. Sure, I don't see it. I see the
reality list being much shorter than most Penn Staters would
care to admit. I do not think they are going

(13:24):
to get Kurt Signetty away from Indiana. I think Indiana
will pay him a king's ransom to keep him there.
Why would he leave? I think that's when the Matt
rule stuff starts to heat up. I've had so many
people over the last twenty four hours message me and say, well,
why pay fifty million dollars to get rid of one

(13:45):
coach and then hire another one that you could argue
isn't quite as good. I don't disagree with that. I
understand that sentiment. I'm not out here advocating for Matt Rule.
I'm not, but there's a very close personal connection here
between Rule and Craft goes all the way back to
their days at Temple. Matt Rule Penn State grad State

(14:09):
alum played linebacker. Clearly, there has been a lot of
steam on Rule for a good long time. That's why
I've been talking about it for five years. It has
been the worst kept secret in college football that he
would be the target of a hypo set hypothetical search
here for Penn State. I don't think it's a lock
that he's going to take it, but all I can

(14:29):
say is I've heard the same name over and over
again for the last five years. Yeah, Pat Craft even
sort of looks like Matt Rule, Dan.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Okay, okay, like morphing together like a like an owner
and their dog morphing together into the same look like when.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
People are married for a long time then they start
to look together or look a lot the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I don't know. So I think it's it's rules job
to lose. Honestly, if he wants it, I think it's his.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Well, look, look all right, First of all, he's just
the obvious fit too. You mentioned the connection to state college.
I think he went to high school and state college,
played at Penn State or Joe Paterno, and he's got
awful against ranked teams.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
What is more Penn State than that? Ti? What is
more appropriate for this.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Higher than somebody who has gone what two and twenty
three against ranked teams in his career? Come on, he's ready.
He's been building for this moment his entire life. With
each ranked loss, Matt Rule becomes more and more Penn State.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
Continue some other names out there that I think are realistic.
I think Manny Diaz is in play. Okay, I think
Matt Campbell could be in play. My sleeper candidate. I'm
going to keep trying to speak this into existence because
I like Fran Brown at Syracuse, but I haven't seen
Fran Brown on any lists. But there is also a

(15:49):
ton of overlap between him and Pat Kraft. Fran was
on rules staff back in the day at Temple. I
think he'd be incredible with more resources. He's from Jersey.
That'd be my guy if all the big guns said no.
But nobody's asking for my opinion. So this is going
to heat up. This is going to be very interesting
to watch.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Can we get Terry Pagoula's opinion. I feel like that
one's pretty valuable.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
It probably is, Yeah, it probably is. But I think
that's the state of play. I think it's a shorter
list than most people would care to admit. I understand
why when you've got a big job like this one,
there is a more fantastical list of candidates that pop up.
I've even seen Urban Meyer, John Gruden, Let's I mean,
let's throw them all on the list. Yeah, throw all

(16:32):
of them on the list. Yeah. But I think in
reality it's going to be a more confined list to
a couple people. And I stand by what I've said
for the last couple of years now, I honestly believe
that it's going to be rule okay, that wrong seven
times every time we do an episode. So you think
he would be good there, I think it would be

(16:56):
a tough sell. Initially. I think they would almost certainly
try to sell it as a homecoming of sort.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
You think it would be a tough sell. It seems
like it would be an easy sell.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
No, I think it'd be a tough sell. I think
it'd be a tough sell because this is a fan
base that is only getting behind this move against Franklin
because he has not been able to win the Big One,
and so then to bring in Rule, who, to your point,
hasn't really won the big One. How do you kind
of square that circle?

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Because I don't think people will care, because I think
people will say, like he's one of us. He understands
this place in a way that James Franklin never did.
He's going to be able to Maybe that's the energize
this program in a way that Franklin never was able to.
He understands the modern game in a way that Franklin doesn't.
And he was at a Baylor Post Briles, he was
at Nebraska Post Frost, and you know that those were

(17:44):
such uphill rebuilds that you got to give him time
he would have started to win it Nebraska. Now that
he comes into a Penn State situation.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
They should contract you out as the PR guy for this.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
No, I'm just saying it would be an easy sell
because Penn Stators love nothing more than one of their own, right.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
I think that would be the anger. I don't know
if people would buy it, and I would encourage pants
Stators who listen to this show. We have a lot
of Pen stators who listen to this show right insolverblegmail
dot com. Let me know if you would buy that,
they would eat it up like those grilled stickies I
brought home. TI, Come on, did the kids like them?
By the way, loved Love couldn't get enough good stuff.
Our hotel gave us some for free. It was awesome. True.

(18:20):
I don't know, We'll see, but I think that would
be the angle if indeed they end up going with
Matt Ruhle don't do it. I don't know if I
would buy it. I'd be curious to hear from the
community if they would buy it. But my hunches. That's
where we're at right now. And there is a reason
why it is not just me saying Matt rule. Everybody

(18:42):
worth their salt in this world has came to the
conclusion that he is the top target outside of Curd Signety,
which everybody understands. But there is a reason that everybody
instantly said the same name. Yeah, outside of Penn State,
we've got openings at UAB Trent Dilfer, it always seemed
like it was going to be a bit of a

(19:03):
rocky experiment. The experiment is over. Trent Dilfer out at UAB.
We also have another Trent, a little bit of tre
entertainment here. Oh man, we're losing Trends and Brents by
the day. Incredible. Trent Bray fired after a winless start
at Oregon State. Yeah, add two more openings to the board.

(19:23):
Maybe not Power Conference openings, but alast these were two
that I think were very much on the radar for us,
just because of what's going on at Oregon State and
because the Trent Dilfer hire involved a guy by the
name of Trent Dilfer who everybody who follows football knows
the name. Neither one of them working out will be
interesting to see which direction they go.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
UAB won a lot of games before Trent Dilfer. Geographically,
it's in a good place. If they can get nil
stuff in order, they can win a bunch of more games.
Oregon State's going to be tough.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
They are.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
Looking like a I don't know, second or third tier
Pac twelve new look Pac twelve team at the moment,
we'll see. I think their ceiling is obviously higher. I
feel for them as a program and everything that you
know has happened around them in college football these past
few years.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
You know, I could see.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Them going the same direction that Wazoo went with Jimmy
Rodgers and finding a smaller school guy to immediately infuse
that roster with guys who have played for the new coach.
Who that guy is unclear? Right, you could take a
look at somebody like Jason Eck who has done, you know,
did really good things at Idaho. Is in year one
at New Mexico, so that you know, it's hard to

(20:33):
pull a guy away after just a year, but certainly
has regional familiarity and I think has a very good
coaching reputation. There are a number of guys in the
Western footprint that I think could do a decent job
at Oregon State, but you are up against it a
little bit given the situation at corvallis fair enough.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
If you are a fan of one of those teams,
let us know, soliverle gmail dot com who you would
like to see next. I think it was Chris Mortenson's kid,
who's been the name the interim at UAB. Just kind
of interesting. Oh yeah, that's right, yep, all right. Shall
we reveal the results of the latest polls? Please? I'm
ready leave an uverballer. Top twelve poll fresh off the

(21:16):
press is Dan Rubinstein. Your number one team is still
the Ohio State Buckeyes. Number two team is still the
Miami Hurricanes, but the new number three team is the
Indiana Whoho Hoo's your stand yes, knocking off yours everything
else on the road in Autson, a signature win for
Kurt Signetti. Yeah. After Indiana, it is number four Texas

(21:37):
A and m number five, Alabama, number six, Old miss
number seven, Texas Tech just creeping their way up number eight.
Your Oregon Ducks, followed by Georgia, followed by Georgia Tech,
followed by LSU at number eleven. Tennessee hanging on by
a thread but still coming in at number twelve. The

(21:59):
first four out Notre Dame at thirteen, USC at fourteen,
BYU at fifteen, and the Missouri Tigers still in the
hunt at number sixteen. Dan, Yeah, we look at the
verbaler pole. We look at the AP pole. I mentioned
this on our episode last Tuesday. We are seeing a

(22:22):
slow merge of the polls. They are starting to look
awfully similar. My suspicion is that was always going to
be the case. We have Indiana up four spots in
the AP pole to number three. We also had some
other big gainers of note, Texas back in the top

(22:42):
twenty five. They go from unranked to twenty one. Utah
goes from unranked to twenty three, Cincinnati unranked to twenty four,
Nebraska unranked to twenty five. Otherwise, we had a handful
of teams that are up three to four spots. Notre
Dame also number thirteen in the AP pole. They are
the top two loss team other than Texas, who I
mentioned a moment ago BYU also at number fifteen, up

(23:07):
three spots, Vandy up a few spots to number seventeen.
South Florida up five spots all the way up to
number nineteen. I don't necessarily need to go through the
biggest droppers, but you might expect Oregon in Oklahoma, and
Michigan Illinois, and Arizona State, Iowa State, Florida State, all

(23:28):
of these schools dropping a fair amount by virtue of
their own results from this past week. What are your responses,
Dan to what you just heard.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
I don't have anything too dramatic here. I mean, Florida
State is slowly bringing down everybody's strength of schedule and record,
right that like true Alabama's loss is looking worse. It
looked like Miami's win against Florida State would be a
nice resume item, and now we might get to the
end of the season and have a reaction of like
Virginia was taken a double overtime by Florida State. That's

(23:57):
not a great look Virginia. Right, So there is that
that is amongst the top ten. Oregon falling to eight,
I think makes sense. I think that's reasonable. Texas Tech
should be ahead of Oregon. They haven't lost a game.
We'll see what Texas Tech looks like and what Baron
Morton's health situation looks like. Because Will Hammond, after looking
good against Utah, did nothing against Kansas, but all the same,

(24:18):
they destroyed Kansas. So good for Texas Tech. I feel
like they've earned that spot there. Thus far, LSU still
doesn't look like a complete team in the way that
I would like a top ten team to sort of
show shades of because they still don't seem to be
able to figure out offense. We'll see if that's something
that can grow over the course of the year. It's still,
you know, early mid October as we record this, Tennessee

(24:40):
looks a little bit more human, but it's a good
win over Arkansas. It's better than losing. I don't for
some reason, and I don't know if you came across
this in your social media morning here on Monday morning.
Maybe I was just GEO targeted because of where I
am in this universe. I'm seeing a lot of like,
explain to me why Illinois copare resumes with no nap.

(25:06):
There was a lot of Illinois pr anger about Illinois
not being in the top twenty five with their two
losses now to Ohio State and Indiana, two top three teams.
To be sure, do you feel strongly about Illinois with
a signature win against USC which has looked better now
right than ever, and two losses to top three teams?

(25:28):
Anything there?

Speaker 1 (25:30):
I'm really mixed. I gotta be honest with you. I'm
really truly mixed. Okay, I don't know what to think.
I want to think more highly of them, I really
truly do. I just can't bring myself to do it.
Here's where I stand with that.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
Illinois I think is a good team, pretty good good
wherever you want to land with them, that's fine. When
your team loses by fifty three, you're gonna have to
give it a minute before you start complaining about where
you rank or not ranked. Yeah, right, that there is
a certain I thought the Ohio State performance, all things considered.
They fought really nicely, especially in the second half. They

(26:09):
pulled it to what twenty to ten in the third quarter,
and you got out of hand light and they couldn't
really do much. But they improved on offense in that
second half and they quitted themselves. Fine, you lose by
fifty three, you're gonna have to lay low for a minute.
You're gonna have to lay low before complaining about where
you are. You're not ranked, and I think Illinois has
the opportunity to grow. This is still, you know, mid October,

(26:32):
but by and large, I think I'm fine with these rankings.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
I think I'm okay with it too. I understand the
argument for Illinois because I think Illinois is having a
very good year, and I agree that they acquitted themselves
fine enough against a really good Ohio State team that's
gonna win a lot of games this year. It's going
to be in the playoff, is probably going to win
the Big Ten. Well, I guess maybe I shouldn't say

(26:57):
that with how Indiana's come on. But they will be
in the hunt for sure, probably in that game against Indiana.
At this point for the Big Ten, I would just
like to see something more that I could hang my
Illinois hat on, you know, like I've seen the social clips,
like I know that people are undervaluing Luke Almeyer. I

(27:19):
think he's done a really good job this season. He's
had a good campaign for sure. Can't lose by fifty three,
y right, fifty three, And there aren't a lot of
other opportunities here the rest of the way for them
to pick up that signature win, you know, like Washington, Rutgers, Maryland, Wisconsin, Northwestern,
those are your remaining games.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well, it's not a matter of signature wins. It's a
matter of the schedule is getting easier. And so I
get it winning, No, I get it. I get the
top twenty.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
And they've played some teams here for sure that I
think will will help their strength to schedule. But sure,
you know, there's a pretty good chance Illinois plays out
the rest of its season, finishes ten and two and
is sort of an afterthought.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Oh I don't think you win ten games in the
Big Ten and end up an afterthought. But what is
if you big ten, you're in the playoff. What is
considered the standard, the standard for what what is considered
the standard now for getting into the playoff? Do you
think a ten and two Illinois relative to the pack
because they're going to be a bunch of two loss teams.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
Sure, I mean it depends who else finished. You honestly
expect that what amounts to an unranked Illinois is going
to just worm its way up in the polls with
this remaining schedule, knowing that they lost by fifty three
points and that they're going to be on the periphery
of the playoff conversation. I think they're gonna be. I
think they're going to be a pretty far ways away

(28:42):
from that conversation. Uh.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Look, if you finish with ten wins and you're right
in terms of signature wins, Look, it depends what USC does.
USC has to do work.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
Right.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
If USC beats Notre Dame and they finish whatever eleven
and one and Illinois has a win over USC, there's
your signature, right. Sure, everybody in front of them is
going to lose if they go ten and two, Right,
everybody who does Oklahoma have moving forward?

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Right? I mean, look, it's the same argument that I
am making against Illinois that I think you could also
make against a team like Notre Dame. Sure, right, two
early losses to good teams. The problem is that Notre
Dame lost to Miami and Texas A and m by
a combined four points, and Illinois lost one game by

(29:32):
fifty three points. Totally okay. So I just think it's
a slightly different bit of calculus on the Illinois side,
even though they're having a really good season. Yeah. No,
I think you know all of these teams and they
will only will move up and they're going to be
in the top twenty by the time all is said
and done for sure, And I'm sure that their name
is going to come up in reference to the playoffs
as well. I just don't see it.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
It will, It will all sort itself out. It will
all sort itself out. You want to talk about Indiana
last season without having that signature win they were tending
to and in the periphery of they were in that's true,
the neighborhood and got in.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
Let us know your thoughts against solid Verbal at gmail
dot com. As the old text machine is going off
here with this coaching search, Dan lot's happening. Okay, Yeah,
With all that being said, we have a few early
Bird specials that I think would be appropriate at this
juncture to talk through. Week seven was a big one.

(30:28):
Week eight again looks like a pretty big one. Maybe
not so many obvious headliners. We're not going to have
the time here to go through all of the ones
that I think we wanted to cover, but we've got
three Biggins here. Let's just dive right in early Bird special.
The big game, I think with respect to the current

(30:48):
state of the college football polls is All Miss against Georgia.
This one is three point thirty. It's on ABC, it
is Saturday afternoon. This is a game that All Miss
won sort of a program defining win in a sense
a year ago, twenty eight to ten at home in Oxford.
It is the highest ranked matchup of the week. We've

(31:09):
got two top ten teams at play here, and bigger picture,
at least on the Old Miss side, this game against Georgia,
the game they've got next week on the road against Oklahoma.
These are the two Biggins. Man, you win one of them,
you don't do anything stupid the rest of the way.
I think you're in the playoff. Okay, just that easy,

(31:31):
Just that easy. In the SEC, all you got to
do is just win the games are supposed to do. Yeah,
so this is a six and a half point spread
for Georgia. It is up. I believe it opened around
four and a half. What is your initial lean here,
number five Old Miss on the road at number nine.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
Georgia, Ei Leen ole Miss h covering this game but
not winning this game. I think there is something about
Georgia at home. Georgia does by the way, the last
three four years, they don't cover these games. There's something
like I'm gonna get the stat wrong, but they are
clearly below five hundred in terms of how they perform
as a home favorite. I don't like their lack of

(32:12):
explosion on offense. I don't love that they don't do
anything incredibly well again, aside from stopping the run, which
is meaningful against ole Miss, when that was like the
one thing that was working last week against Wazoo. There
was a certain amount of lethargy that ole Miss was
playing with against ol against Wazoo last week. By and large,
you want to say that's a look ahead spot.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
That's fine. They were coming off of.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
A bye I believe, which either points to it or
points to something in terms of lack of focus. I
think ole Miss is good. I think they're potentially really
really good. This is a specific kind of spot at
Georgia that, let's hope isn't too big for Trinidad. Chambliss
coming from where he came from. Ole Miss only plays

(32:56):
four road games this season. I look this up. It's
at Kentucky, at Georgia, at Oklahoma, and at Mississippi State
of course in State, So this is by far going
to be the biggest road stage to date for this
year's version of ole Miss in Trinidad. Chambliss, so that
worries me a little bit, given the rust that he
showed coming off of the bye last week. I also

(33:17):
think it was a good wake up call probably for
ole Miss that Wazoo game that they kind of slept,
walk through stuff, walked something like that. I just there's
nothing I truly love about Georgia right now, and so
covering that kind of number against what I feel like
is a high quality ole Miss team, I'm gonna kind

(33:39):
of have to see it to believe it. I think
they were somewhat fortunate to come away with a win
at Auburn. That was a tough spot for them, and
by the way, that's a compliment that they were able
to win that game. To win losable games is a
difficult thing, especially on the road. I think there is
a certain amount of moxy to Georgia. I just don't
know if you can count on it week to week.
And I think ole Miss last year. God, I think

(34:02):
it was from home alone, right where Kevin McCallister walks
out of his front doors like I'm.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Not afraid anymore? Did you hear me?

Speaker 2 (34:10):
There is kind of that feeling in the sec about
Georgia right now.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
There is they're really I'm not a friend anymore.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
An ole Miss had that breakthrough last year and Kentucky
had that breakthrough last year. Was thirteen twelve game or
something like that. The mystique, the Georgia mystique is not
what it was even two years ago.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, I got to go pull that sound now you're
gonna force me to. It's a pretty good, pretty good sound. Wow,
what a pull. Good for you, man, that's a good one.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
So I think Georgia still has enough to win this game.
I think the best of Georgia on the ground running
the ball. I think there's still enough talent. I think
there's still enough creativity on this offense at its best
to pull this game out. But I think it's gonna
be weird and tight twenty three to twenty one.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Georgia. Man, we're hanging out too much, aren't we. Of
course we are. We talk to each other more than
we talk to our wives, which is, yeah, probably not good.
And between me and you, it's not so bad. I mean,
I like, it's not so bad. We're all right, We're
cool statistically speaking, not to make this conversation too boring.

(35:16):
What's interesting to me is because there's a little bit
of weakness on weakness going on here. And what I
mean by that is Georgia has not been very efficient
on the ground, even though they're running it sixty two
percent of the time when they're not in like an
obvious passing situation. Yeah, there are pretty clear signals here
that Kirby wants to make fetch happen on the ground.
He wants to run it, doesn't care as much if

(35:37):
they're efficient at it, but that's just sort of his brand. Yeah,
And I think that's a good plan because ole Miss
is very gettable on the ground, like if you take
away that LSU game, which I do think is a
bit of a red herring because LSU can't run on anybody. Right,
ole Miss is given up like five yards of carry,
so I think it's there if Kirby wants to pursue that.
But to my eye as well, this looks like a clue,

(36:00):
slow scoring game. I've got it at twenty four to twenty. Okay,
I think Georgia wins it. I think because of defense
and special teams, I have more confidence that Georgia and
Gunner Stockton are going to make a clutch play. Like
what jumps out at me a lot here when I
look at the numbers and the aforementioned mystical spreadsheet is

(36:21):
that ole Miss is really good at getting pressure, but
not great at getting sacks, And that skes me out
a little bit. Going into a matchup with an improviser
like Gunner Stockton, who is particularly dangerous when you get
him on the move, just kind of pulling plays out
of the hat. It's dangerous. I think with a guy
like Zachariah Branch who isn't necessarily going downfield but is

(36:42):
really good in space. Yeah, Old Miss, right now, profiles
is a very average tackling team, right, So you kind
of mix all that stuff together and it strikes me
as hey, there's going to be a big play here.
Don't necessarily where it's going to come from. It's going
to hinge on like one or two big plays. That's
what I'm getting from this. A shifty guy like a
Zechry Branch maybe can thrive in a matchup like this.

(37:04):
I agree with you when you say twenty three to
twenty one. Yeah, I'm gonna go twenty four to twenty.
I think we agree. I think Ole miss covers, but
I think Georgia wins. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
By the way, Georgia has not covered this year at
any sort of impressive rate. I just I don't think.
I don't think Vegas. I don't think people have a
really good handle on what Georgia can be. I think
they're very well coached. I just think in terms of
talent at to any spots there, if they were wearing
another sticker on their helmet, I think we would think
differently about this Georgia team. Again, winning last week was

(37:37):
impressive that they were able. That was such a losable
moment for them, that they were able to finish off Auburn.
But yeah, I think Ole Miss is of too much
quality to lose this game comfortably. So I either think
they win it or they lose it close, and it
should be super entertaining.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
You know, you've been having a pretty good run of
picks here over the last three weeks or so, and
it gives me a little bit more confidence in my
own pick here.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
All right, Well, I took Auburn last week to win
out right, you did, and I kind of stand by it.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
I would do it again. Yeah, you did, But otherwise
you've been pretty good. Yeah, seven thirty ABC, stay in
the SEC for a second if we can. Yeah, Number
eleven Tennessee on the road, this time at number six Alabama.
This line is down. When I saw it initially on
the document, it was eight and a half. It's down
seven and a half. So maybe a little bit of

(38:31):
money coming in Tennessee volunteers. Tennessee lost this game fifteen
straight times during the saban Era, I guess most of
the saban Era between two thousand and seven and twenty
twenty one, fifteen straight losses. Since then, they have won
two of the last three. That includes a seven point

(38:51):
win last year. In Knoxville, Dan two offenses that I
think are going to be paramount in this conversation to
teams that are obvious rivals. Do you have a lean
I love Alabama? Love Alabama? How much to love Alabama?

(39:16):
A good deal?

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Alabama I think should be feeling good about itself pulling
out the win that they pulled out against Missoo last week.
We haven't used this phrase in a long time. Lro
the luck running out Tennessee with self inflicted wounds ten
penalties against Arkansas. If you watch that game, Arkansas kind
of got whatever they wanted on the ground. They did,

(39:38):
absolutely did, and that gave me pause that Alabama's growing
in that department that jam Miller seems to be growing
each week. And if you add in a ground game
to Alabama's repertoire and it opens things up. As ty
Simpson grows and his ability to spread the ball around grows.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
And be scary, that'd be scared. Now jam Miller was
out with the concussion. I have not seen his updated status.
We're only recording this on a Monday, so you know, Erra,
give that one a little time to develop here over
the course of the week. But it's a very fair point.
Have you watched that, We'll call it.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Alabama's ground game has been growing, and then so Tennessee's.
On Tennessee on offense with self inflicted wounds against Mississippi
State the week before that, they were counting on defensive
playmaking to stay in that game and win that game in.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
Overtime, and I just I'm not buying it. Right now.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
They barely get by Arkansas with a three to nothing
turnover advantage, and I'm just I think Tennessee's good. I'm
impressed with Joey Aguilar being thrust into this situation as
quickly as he was. I just think going to Tuscaloosa
and coming away with a win and even hanging around

(40:50):
if Bama is now firing on more cylinders, considerably more
cylinders than they were earlier on in the season.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
I just like Bama here.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
I just I think they have more ways to win
and Tennessee is just They're not as crisp as I'd
like them to be in this moment to go into
Tuscaloos and win. So I have Bama buy a couple
of touchdowns here.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Really, Yeah, I'm going Tennessee outright. Wow?

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Okay, you can't argue to me that they've been playing
in a crisp fashion though no, I know, ten penalties, barely.

Speaker 1 (41:24):
Winning with the three turnover like, Its just okay. These
are two offenses that have faced a ton of zone coverage. Okay,
and you've got two quarterbacks who I think are happy
to sit back there and pick you apart. Yeah. Joey
Agilar obviously not as pinpoint a passer thus far as
we have seen from ty Simpson, but he also had

(41:44):
that reputation when he left apt State, most recently when
he left the UCLA. We sort of knew that that's
what Tennessee was signing up for. It's not really a surprise.
I think I hate this matchup for Tennessee if it
were just a throwing offense. But it's not right, and
there is actually a lot of balance here. So the

(42:06):
key for me is whether they can run. You know,
we talk about Alabama on the ground, but let's talk
a little bit about Tennessee on the ground. Play the
Shawn Bishop star Thomas. That has been a really good tandem.
They've been excellent. Bishop is over seven and a half
yards of carry. If I'm Josh Hipel, I spread Alabama out.
I run it down their throats. I force Alabama to

(42:30):
bring some safety help up to aid in the ground game. Okay,
and that's when presumably it could open things up through
the air. Ok So, I think with that being said,
being the fact that Tennessee isn't just a one dimensional
offense and they actually are better and more physical on
the ground than I think a lot of people would understand.
This goes back a year, by the way, two years,

(42:52):
with how they've run this offense. I like the balance
and I like that part of Tennessee's game, especially going
into this matchup. I don't know what the status is
for Jan Miller, but he has been the guy that
is growing most in this rushing attack for Alabama. And
I obviously like ty Simpson. We've been talking about ty
Simpson till we're blue in the face. I really like Alabama.

(43:14):
I like how they have matured ever since Week one. Right,
It's clear that they have gotten better. It is clear
that they are all kind of growing into this new
system under Ryan Grubb. And it's clear that ty Simpson
is a better operator of the offense that Calendibor wants
to run. So I don't want to take anything that
Alabama has done and poop PuO it. I think they

(43:35):
have done a really good job ever since that Week
one loss. But there is something about this game that
speaks to me, Dan. Okay, there is a big orange
apparition that appeared above me as I lay in bed
at night. That's just a pumpkin tie. It's Halloween time.

(43:56):
I've got Tennessee thirty two to twenty eight here as
my ob sens action of the week. I'm feeling it.
I'm feeling it. I saw it. It came to me
in my sleep. Okay.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Not a road tested team at all, other than that
Mississippi State game, by the way, which they had to
win in overtime in Starkville. Tough place to play. Both
of these teams, by the way, in terms of your
final score. I don't hate it because both of these
teams have been pretty bad in the red zone defensively,
So that's where Deshaun Bishop, Star Thomas whoever, might really

(44:30):
earn their stripes. That if you can push Alabama a
little bit in the red zone. The concern, though, is
Missus thought the same thing and a Mott Hardy really
did not make a huge difference.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
This is very true. This is a great point, and
so you can argue yes.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
Of course, what Ty said was that they're going to
run to try and open up the pass boprah bula,
not necessarily as pinpoint as the best of Joey Aguilar.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
That's fine. I'm okay with that counter again.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
I'll just I'll echo what I said earlier. It seems
that if you're going to go to Alabama and beat
them out right, you got to have your your t's
crossed and your lower case jays dotted.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
And I'm not there with Tennessee thirty two to twenty eight,
Upset of the Week thirty four to twenty take it
to the bank, Okay, actually, don't take it to the bank,
because my take it the bank. Go with Dan, Well, go.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
Take the take the pick to the bank, get out
a roll of quarters. Put three dollars worth of quarters
on Tennessee to win out right, and just be happy
and buy yourself a side of fries with your winnings.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
By bank, I mean piggy bank where you put scare
change bet like a few dimes on what I am
saying here.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
Or take it to Tim Banks. Is he not the
defensive coordinator for ten Banks. Okay, very good, I apologize
that was terrible.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
One final preview. At least on this episode, We've got
more that we're going to get into. There's the Holy
War this week. There are a bunch of other games
this week week that I was looking at before. Can
I interest you in a little LSU Vandy Georgia Tech
Duke UNLV Boise's a really big deal? Maybe we even
talk about your Oregon Ducks traveling cross country as a

(46:13):
sixteen and a half point favorite against Rutgers. Man, I
want to fly in for that one. Danny excited about
that one.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
Man if Rutgers didn't have what might be the worst
defense in America or at least in the Big ten.
Uh No, Although I am sidebar looking to at some
point going to New Jersey Pizza Tour.

Speaker 1 (46:33):
I believe it to be America's best pizza state. Really,
I think where would you go in Jersey? Everywhere? I mean,
we've been to Rotza, Rozza is not a sponsor, could
be Oh my god, I'd go tie where else in Jersey?

Speaker 2 (46:47):
Well, I want to do Central Jersey, if there is
such a thing as central like Trenton style tomato pies.
I want to I want to go to Rosy's. I
want to go to so many different places up and
down New Jersey. So, yeah, I want to go outside
of Philly. I've got a list.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
Hi.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
I actually was sent Friend of the Show, our buddy
Ben actually has so it's Friend of the Friend of
the Front whatever. I actually received a Google document that
has actively updating New Jersey pizza rankings, not like a
magazine piece, not a website. Somebody's personal updating Google doc

(47:24):
power rankings.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Well, anytime you want to fly over here, you know,
you can stay here and we can drive. We can
do the drive in Jersey and like.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Well, I'm just it's I'm gonna have to sell the
missus on something else.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Ty and I are gonna volunteer at a bunch of
middle schools, like a pet shelter or something. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
Yeah, we're gonna go to pet shelters. We're gonna clean up,
like we've gotta do something, and then we will just
get in your car, get in the Mazda, and go
to a bunch of pizza.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
Rias seven point thirty on NBC number twenty, USC number thirteen,
Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a seven and one half
point favorite. In the last ten meetings of this game, Dan,
the winning team has scored at least thirty points nine times.
In many cases, the winning team has scored over forty points.

(48:11):
The over under here is sixty one and a half points.
I implore you, my good friends listening at home, your
luck of the week is the over luck of the week.
I have many thoughts on this game, as you might expect.
Why don't you lead us off dance, since you are,

(48:32):
of course the picker extraordinary seven and a half points
is the lot in favor of Notre Dame. Who you got? Okay?
So here's here was my starting point.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
My starting point was Lincoln Riley doesn't win this kind
of game ever. Ever at USC, a tough road game
against a ranked team. I don't know that he's over,
but I believe he's over. I believe you as I

(49:01):
sort of went through the old memory bank speaking of
taking it to the bank, and I can't remember a
quality road win for Lincoln Riley and USC, can you?
They had their road struggles against literally everybody. Last year
they had the shootout loss. I think it was year
one against Utah. That was USC just not being able

(49:22):
to figure out heart how to guard.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (49:24):
Dulton kinkaid, it was a tight end. I forget which one.
They've struggled here. They've struggled against Notre Dame on the road,
They've struggled against Oregon on the road, and each season
is its own beautiful, unique flower snowflake, take your pick.
So USC from three years ago does not mean that's
who USC is today, but I would have loved to

(49:46):
have seen That's barely grammar. It'd be nice to have
seen a Lincoln Riley USC team be prepared to game
plan four and execute during a really big road game.
And that's not anything we have necessarily seen yet, and
you never see it until you do. So I'm open
to USC turning the page and winning this game.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Okay, USC winning is what I'm here.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
I'm no, I'm just saying, like, this is how we
previewed the Oregon Penn State game with me saying James
Franklin doesn't win these games, so I'm gonna be consistent.
Lincoln Riley doesn't win these games, but I'm not saying
he never will. I'm just saying are very limited sample size,
and it is a small sample sized sport. So that's
all we have to go on. Is USC under Lincoln
Riley has struggled in these spots. Okay, I think USC

(50:34):
this year has a lot more to like about them.
I think the defense has shown flashes. Although I'm not
a big believer in them week to week, they certainly
showed it last week against Michigan.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
They were beat up against Illinois. Everybody's beat up at
a certain point.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
And it comes down in this game to the degree
of your belief in Notre Dame's defense having grown since Purdue.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
I guess Texas A and M but you could I
understand the give up thirty to Purdue. Yeah, I understand that.

Speaker 2 (51:07):
And so your belief in whatever that they've grown since September.
And they've looked good against NC State and Boise State.
Those teams are not necessarily coming in with the talent
that USC is coming in with. There's no Makai Lemon
on those rosters. There's no King Miller. I guess I
didn't anticipate saying that. Who just stomped Michigan. And I

(51:28):
think Jane Mayova is better than Maddox Madson and CJ.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
Bailey in this.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Moment, So that was my starting point. I'm a big
believer in CJ.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
Carr.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
I'm a big believer in feeling good about home teams
and these kinds of spots. But I'm also not fully
at a point of trust with Notre Dame's defense, even
though they've improved. I just when I watch them, I
don't come away thinking they have the number of killers
i'd like to see up front on defense in this moment. Yeah,
that's true, and that's just too overall leaf in their defense.

(52:01):
I really like their playmakers on offense more so than
I have in a while.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
I think. I think there's a good amount of there's a.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
Good and high ceiling I think for what this Notre
Dame team can accomplish on offense, especially against USC, I
think Notre Dame wins this game. But that number is
too high for me. That number is just too high
for me. I think it's a back and forth game.
I really do like your pick for the over. I
don't think it's going to get as out of hand
back and forth as the Texas A and M game.

(52:28):
But thirty five thirty one, thirty six, thirty four something
in there I think is appropriate for this game. I
think Notre Dame pulls it out at home.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
I've got thirty eight to thirty one. There you go.
I think it's somewhere in that neighborhood. By the way,
I wrote this down, so I don't forget it. I
don't know if we can see you see it's it's
a little bit blurred. Let's Dan open to a USC win.
I'm open to it. Ty, great analysis, Dan, thank you,
thank you for sharing that here with the Ty.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
I have a high bar I need to hit. Penn
State is talking about the bar that they need to
hit as a as a program, as a university.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
I'm open Now.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
When I say I'm open to USC winning, is I
don't think USC will never win this type of game
because I think this is a team that has clearly
shown improvement this year, and there are more playmakers, it seems,
on defense than in recent years. And whatever Michigan is
or isn't, USC played like there there were There was

(53:23):
much more to believe in about this defense.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Last week. If you went to your wife and said,
I just just so you know, I don't believe this,
but I'm open to you know, who else might be
in the neighborhood. Sure, who is also a woman.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
I don't think my wife has listened to a sentence
that long that I've said since twenty twenty three.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
So.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
I could say that and she'd be like, Okay, whatever,
married guys, back.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
Me up up, all right, all right, I'm just giving
you crap.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
No, that's fine. Now, that's what I feel. I feel
USC is really good. I think they are better than
number twenty in the country right now. And I think
Notre Dame has a terrific opportunity because of CJ. Carr,
because of what I think is some growth on this
defense under Chris ash And it's understandable that you take
some time in getting used to a new defense. They're
still playing a bunch of man it's not like they've

(54:17):
completely abandoned play. Yeah, it's fifty six percent, which is
like one of the most in the country.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
Right. Yeah, it's more than most of the teams in
the country, but it's not as man heavy as it
was a year ago.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
It's this is going to be a much bigger offensive
test than what NC State and Boise State this year's
versions had to offer these past couple weeks. But look,
Arkansas was able to move the ball some for half
a quarter.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
So there's that they killed Arkansas. And by the way,
it had a shot at Tennessee, right we saw just
as another frame of reference here. We just got done
talking about Tennessee. The defense has definitely improved since the
A and M game, I agree, but this is still
not the Notre Dame defense from twenty twenty four, and
USC is still the top offense per the SP plus.

(55:06):
So I'm curious to see how Chris ash and Marcus
Freeman and this defensive coaching staff or Notre Dame schemes
this one up, because, as you said, they play man,
but they're not nearly as heavy on man as they
were a year ago. You've got an obvious threat and
a guy like a makay Lemon. In theory, it makes

(55:26):
sense to just stick Leonard more on him. But mkayle
Lemon works like two thirds of the time out of
the slot, which is not typically where they put Leonard Moore.
Will they put them here there? It's a fair question.
I don't think the other guys that they have are
gonna be much of a match for mkay Lemon. I
think it would behoove them to put Leonard Moore on him,
But We'll see, We'll see what they decide to do

(55:47):
to what end they mix that up. I'm not as
confident as the other guys in past coverage, and so
there's a question of, well, if you take away McKayle Lemon,
then what happens to Kobe Lane? They can put Christian
Gray on him. Christian Gray is great for like two
to three pass interference calls in this game. The matter
who he's covering had a good game last week, to
his credit.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
But by the way, USC has been utilizing, like McCrea,
a bunch of tight end Yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Yeah, So I just there are a bunch of weapons here,
is what I am getting at. Yeah, on the USC
side of things, that definitely give me cause for pause
or favorite pet charity of course. Of course. What scares
me most though, is actually what USC has been able
to do on the ground this year. And I think
Notre Dame is going to have a really tough time

(56:33):
holding them down in all facets because it is not
the same defense.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
Am I out of line when I said that Notre
Dame doesn't seem to have the killers Like you look
up the middle and I'm trying to remember the exact
names you know that, like previous names have been leaking
out of my brain like an overstuffed sausage.

Speaker 1 (56:49):
As I remember, I said, who did I say?

Speaker 2 (56:51):
I said Malachi COHLEI, which I think I combined Malachai
Tony and was it Stacy Coley a receiver for Miami
way back. Okay, So if memory serves I totally feel
this way about everything in my life, that every brain
has a capacity for something like five thousand names and
then after you hit that, everything is going to go awry.

(57:12):
Howard Cross and Riley Mills last year and they were
beat up Jack Kaiser.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Jack Kaiser no longer on the team.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
No, that's what I'm saying, Like, these are the guys
that they had Xavier Watts right, that they had these
dudes on all three levels that made offenses really really hesitate.
And I just in the limited amount you've obviously watched
much more Notre Dame than I have this season. Yeah,
it doesn't seem like those guys are on that level,
at least not yet.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Well, the line was a question coming into the year
and it remains a question, and there was a huge
question around pass rush getting pressure. I think it has improved.
It still is not where it was a year ago,
and I still think there is an open question about
how they deal with a good rushing offense, which is

(57:59):
what I think I think USC can be and has
been so far this season. And I am concerned about
the balance of that USC offense. I don't think Notre
Dame is good enough to stop all of it, and
I am fearful that they're going to get gashed on
the ground, which is partially why I think this is
going to be, as you said, a back and forth affair.
I just think it's headed in that direction. And furthermore,

(58:23):
Notre Dame is just as good on offense. The cjcr
experiment has worked famously. He's been really good famously. If
you have not purchased your CJ. Car stock yet, I
would implore you to do so before this weekend, because
after this weekend, everybody will know CJ. Carr. CJ car
is really good. He is really good. This is not

(58:44):
me exaggerating. Just watch him. If you have yet to
watch him. I agree he is going to have a
good game against USC. I think Notre Dame can push
USC around. I think they can push them around. I
think they're going to be solid on the ground. I
think it's going to be a lot of Jeremiah Love

(59:04):
Jadarian Price, and when it's not those two guys, it's
going to be CJ. Carr through the air. So this
truly could be a situation in which the last team
with the ball ends up winning. Okay, I'm with you.
I do not trust more names defense, even though they
have gotten better, but I do think it's at home.
I do think ultimately they've got more playmakers that I

(59:24):
trust on offense, and I've got them thirty eight thirty five.
But that you didn't answer the question. What was the question?
Are you open to the possibility by USC winning? I
am open to the possibility as well. Okay, I am,
I am, And I may have even wavered in the
middle of that preview thirty eight thirty one, thirty eight

(59:45):
thirty five somewhere in there. I think it's within that
number seven and a half points.

Speaker 2 (59:49):
I will say we were talking about this before, and
then we can move on from this game.

Speaker 1 (59:52):
Less you have any other thoughts. There is no more
web savvy, commenting savvy out than USC fans. Oh it's
the best. Indiana's pushing for it right now. Indiana's done
a good job. They're doing a good job. They've they've
been on us here. It's our organ preview, but.

Speaker 2 (01:00:11):
We get messages and replies about everything USC.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
When we pick USC and they win.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
They're like, well, welcome, You're now catching up to what
everybody else has seen with USC. When you pick USC
to lose and they win, you're like typical haters. You
pick USC to lose and they lose, you're correct in
evaluating USC losing. You're told, guys, do your research. This
was always going to be a transition year and a
lot of research. A lot of people like you don't

(01:00:39):
do your research. I'd imagine everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Who does this gets that same comment. It's the most
popular comment.

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
The attention to detail and the attention to the solid
verbal as an organization that we get from USC fans
is unrivaled, and I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
What is your power ranking? Your current power ranking of
loud fan bases on the end right now, you're of
our Lord twenty twenty five, about midway through the month
in October.

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
As it relates to our show, or just in general.

Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
I think as it relates to our show, But my
hunch is that that carries over mirrors many other shows.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
The Ohio State Michigan block of fans is still probably
the most vocal. I would say, I don't know if
we just, you know, we are just the sweet nectar
that attracts the USC fan base. But no, I just
don't think they're large enough in this moment. We obviously

(01:01:39):
have a vocal Oregon contingent. Because of my background. I'm
trying to think specific schools that seem to really bring
the energy and heat behind the scenes.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
Do you have one on me or three? We could
post anything. We could fart into a microphone and label
it as a Miami video. Oh yeah, we do get
a good amount. Yeah, we would get one hundred and
fifty comments on it from people either claiming disrespect or
good analysis on them.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
I mean, I think a lot of Miami fans would
feel as if us farting into a microphone might be
an improvement over what we currently do.

Speaker 1 (01:02:14):
That's true. I can't I can't counter it. Miami is
number one. Miami is number one of my power rankings
right now. Okay, and this isn't even intended as a dunk.
I'm just saying in terms of volume and intensity and passion.
They've got a lot to be excited about this year. Yeah,
so Miami for me is is number one. I actually
put Indiana two right now because and this is probably

(01:02:36):
showing a bit of my own ignorance. No, there's a
huge alumni based in India. It's a huge alumni base,
but I think they are just more recently acquainted with
their football prowess and they sort of don't know how
to react to it, which I don't blame them for.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Oh so we're talking about the sig Cadas. Yes, the sig.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
Catas are coming out of their subterranean layers and definitely
commenting on any in all things Indiana that we post,
keep the YouTube or where to do it. Even more
so going Miami one, I put Indiana to USC is
definitely third.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
Well, we get the USC thing both because we have
Notre Dame in Oregon, right, That's where there's like a crossover.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Yeah, that's right. And then I think fourth would definitely
still be Michigan. Michigan is like the perennial top five
fan base on our videos as far as I'm concerned videos,
whatever else. We've had some Oklahoma, we've had some Nebraska, Nebraska,
is pushing for a spot in the top five. They're
not there yet, but depending on how this goes the

(01:03:36):
rest of the year. I mean, they've got a Friday
night game this week that we'll talk about on the
next episode. Certainly, if the Rule prophecy comes true, I
don't know, but if that ends up being a thing,
we will hear a lot more from the Nebraska fan base.
I've already been hearing for a lot of Nebraska people
who are like, why do you want Rule? Like I
like them, but why do you want them? So we're cool.

(01:03:57):
I'm cool with all these guys, all these fan base.
It's cool, totally cool. But Nebraska's pushing for a top
five spot.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
I do What I do enjoy about Nebraska fans this
season is there's a demand to talk about their absolute
garbage offensive line. More right, You're just like, excuse you?
Will you please draw more attention to our terrible offensive line? Like,
I guess if you want us to?

Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
Sure, Okay, there's a lot the Nebraska thing is gonna
be interesting to watch. What was the nickname you found
for well Man? I think it's unfair.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
I don't think it's nice people calling Dylan Royola bad
pick Mahomes after last week. It's not nice, it's not fair.
He's a kid. Give them time to grow. And it
was a bad game, but Nebraska won the game. When
you're ones, of course.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
All right, sorry for that left turn, but okay, I'm
glad we were able to get that off our chest.
We've got a really good week of games here. It's
not just those three. What do we have Friday Night?
We've got Louisville Miami, which we're gonna have to talk
about definitely next episode. In addition to Nebraska Minnesota, which

(01:05:04):
I listen, take me out of any Minnesota discussion for
whatever reason. I have a saft spot for Minnesota football.
It's only a seven point line in favor of Nebraska
on the road, so somebody is feeling something. I don't
know what that scene is going to be like. I'm
sure Fleck's going to be fired up for a Friday
night game, sure, but there's that early on Saturday. I

(01:05:27):
mentioned LSU Vandy. Vandy is favored, which I remind me
the last time Vandy was favored in a spot like
that against LSU at home right, Georgia Tech Duke Duke
is favored by three makes sense. Duke's good. Michigan favored
by five and a half over Washington, PCU, Baylor for

(01:05:47):
all the points. Early on Saturday, m HM and UH
Oklahoma on the road at South Carolina.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
It's a great early window, really good early fun. South Carolina.
I believe just let go of their offensive line.

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
Offensive line coach, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
Yeah, they just made a change that the offensive line
has been pretty putrid. No between Friday and Saturday night Louisville,
Miami should be good. Miami's favored by a couple of
touchdowns there. And say what you will about Minnesota this year.
You could make a very strong case that they're better
than Purdue after last week. Stop it, yes, stop, hold on,
hold on, they are almost certainly better than Purdue.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
They're better than Purdue. They needed a fourth quarter comeback
to beat Purdue. They did need a fourth quarter. They
could neither run nor pass the ball.

Speaker 2 (01:06:29):
But I will plant my flag and I will say
Minnesota almost assuredly better than Purdue.

Speaker 1 (01:06:35):
Saturday afternoon, we've got UNLV Boyse, which is a big
deal in the Mountain West. We've got great SMU Clemson
Clemson favored by nine and a half points. We've got
Texas Tech on the road at ASU, which looked like
a bigger matchup weeks ago. I don't know what Sam
Levitts status is going to be, but I don't know

(01:06:56):
what Barre Morton status. Doesn't know what Barr Morton's status
is going to be. Yeah, Texas Tech fit up to
seventh now in the polls there at ten and a
half road favorite and Mississippi State up Florida. Florida favored
by ten bud Who the hell knows, man, I.

Speaker 2 (01:07:13):
Think Mississippi State's pretty good this year. You know who
SMU led SMU and receiving last week against who did
SMU beat? Did they beat Stanford? Jordan Hudson, Yeah, leading
receiver for SMU the name of the season. We didn't
mention it, but Clemson obviously took it to Boston College
last week. Great afternoon window UNLV looking to stay undefeated.

(01:07:38):
Hopefully we get a good bit of health news from
ASU and Texas Tech quarterback wise, and Florida has an
opportunity if Florida is maybe sort of kind of decent
and maybe kind of sort of want to save billion
Apier's job.

Speaker 1 (01:07:51):
Which won't happen. Got to be Mississippi State. Yeah. Well,
I was wondering if now that the James Franklin thing
went down, if perhaps we would see other schools that
decide they want to follow suit in Florida is one
of them that we'll just keep watching. And then in
the nightcap we talked about a couple other night games,
of course, but I mentioned Oregon Rutgers, Penn State at Iowa,

(01:08:16):
Terry Smith, interim coach on the road taking his team
into that nightmare. Iowa favored by two and a half points.
Texas at Kentucky. We've got Maryland at UCLA, the behemoth
that is Jerry new heisl and UCLA two straight wins,
and Missoo at Auburn could be kind of interesting. That's
a great night cap. And then in the late late

(01:08:38):
series of games, Florida State at Stanford. I'm already warning
you the hinterlands man Lafayette at Oregon State. That's a
fifty point spread. I made that up. No, oh, you
did make that up, because I don't think the organistation
would be favored by fifty anyway. I wanted to see
if you would take the bait. You took the bait.
I took the bait. What is that?

Speaker 2 (01:08:58):
Is there an actual line in idn't see a line
now because I haven't seen Pat league lines this year.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
We will find I'll find a line for that. We
have people we can email. We'll get a line on
Lafayette Orgelafia has been pretty good. And by the way,
before I go any further, there is a real chance
this year that Lehi is going to be hosting an
FCS playoff game. Okay, if that happens, you might have
to fly over here to watch a Lehigh FCS playoff game.

(01:09:26):
You might have to. If not, I'm going with Kate.
Kate and I will go. We can do the onderground reporting.

Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
You're going to make the five minute drive. That what
you're saying, the dedicated I would have to go, right.
I think so that's a huge deal.

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
I might be able to coach the team. I got
deep connections over at least.

Speaker 2 (01:09:40):
Just ask to call the defense, make them say no. Right,
you're talking about Pat Craft calling Kurt Signetti. Yeah, maybe
pac Craft could get Frank get a Signetti.

Speaker 1 (01:09:51):
I keep saying Frank Signetti whenever I mentioned Kurt. I
don't know why.

Speaker 2 (01:09:56):
I think you should definitely go. If I would go
make the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
Okay, all right, well that does it look We covered
a lot of ground on today's episode. Thank you one
and all for your ongoing support. Please do follow along
at verballers dot com. You can sign up if you
want to be a free member. On occasion we do
throw some crumbs out to the free members. But of
course you get the ad free episodes, you get the

(01:10:20):
bonus content. You get to play in the games, you
get to vote in the poll, you get access to
the discord, all of that fun stuff. If you join
as a paid member as a certified or Premium tier Verballer,
if you like what you've been hearing the season, if
you want to help support what Dan and I do,
keep these bright lights the Soliverbal Studios on. Sign up

(01:10:40):
as a certified or Premium member. We appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:43):
Imagine having a direct line to Ty hilden Brandt to
thank him for his hard work. And imagine having a
direct line to me to tell me how much of
a goober I am.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
Imagine that possibility. All right, listen, no, you want to
join as a hater. We can't stop true, we can't
stop you.

Speaker 2 (01:11:01):
Oh my god, hold on sidebar, should there be a
twenty dollars a month haters tier.

Speaker 1 (01:11:08):
I don't know what.

Speaker 2 (01:11:09):
It's involved, Like, what would we even offer. I would
say for twenty dollars a month. Our tiers are five
dollars and ten dollars a month.

Speaker 1 (01:11:18):
You know, I have to write this down.

Speaker 2 (01:11:19):
Now, write it down. It's the exact same thing as
the premium tier, except if we are wrong about your team,
you get a personalized voicemail from us apologizing. I mean,
we could try it twenty dollars a month haters tier.
We got to come up with it. We got all
you need to give us. We need the credit card.

Speaker 1 (01:11:41):
Hold on, if you're a hater, we need your feedback.
We need you, We do need your feedback. But yeah,
all you need to give us is obviously the payment,
which I don't see the credit card info. I never
see that. I don't want to see that. I don't
want to see your credit card number. Yeah, but the
only thing you would need to supply in that instance
is a phone number. Yeah, that's true. We do a
phone number. Email.

Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
I mean we can I can post audio private, I
can send somebody a private audio file.

Speaker 1 (01:12:04):
That's fine. Okay, we need to workshop this let us
hay here if you would join the haters tier everbowlers
dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:12:13):
Could you imagine if I picked Oregon and I said
something hypothetically like I don't see a lot of players
on this Indiana roster who would start for Oregon, and
then Oregon loses at home to that Indiana team.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
I just don't know if the people commenting on the
Indiana and Oregon content are willing to foot a twenty
dollars haters, tier Bill, I.

Speaker 2 (01:12:31):
Mean, Tye, We're not talking about fraud haters. We're talking
about tried and true to the marrow haters here that
are believers and practitioners of the hating game. So to them,
what would be more delicious and satisfying than receiving a
message from Tye after picking Clemson to run away with

(01:12:52):
the ACC and having Clemson lose to take your pick
like a Georgia Tech fan, getting a personalized message to
be like, you know, hey, this is ty Hilda Maran
from the Solid Verbal and you know what, I really
flubbed it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:05):
Man, You're basically subscribing to a hater's cameo, is what
this amounts to? Yes, all right, I'm more delicious. We
can we can run this one up the chain, see
what management thinks.

Speaker 2 (01:13:17):
But and there would have to be a minimum amount
of time in that message, like you'd have to go
on for at least ninety seconds to admitting defeat.

Speaker 1 (01:13:27):
And I do it all the time, that's true. The
haters tire. You know, we covered a lot of ground
in this episode. Shout out to the haters. They have points.
Sometimes they have points all the time. Yeah, love our
haters and make this what it is. And thank you
to your support, regardless of whether you're a true believer

(01:13:47):
a full hater. We love you all here in the verballerhood.
Thank you so much for giving us so much of
your time. We hope you got some entertainment out of this.
Our next episode will drop on Thursday, yes morning. Of course,
we will cover many more of the games that we
did not have a chance to discuss here on today's episode.
Of course, the aforementioned verballers dot Com is where you

(01:14:09):
can go. We will keep you abreast of whether or
not we decide to go with a hater's tier. Could
be kind of fun. I would do that, by the way. Yeah,
the voice messages follow along on social media wherever you
can subscribe to the newsletter. We've been doing a lot
of fun stuff with the newsletter, will continue to do that.
Big shout out to Tyler for the work he's been
doing on our Quick Slants newsletter, and of course, big

(01:14:30):
thanks to our verballers out there who have been really
good about posting our stuff, have been really good about
leaving star rankings and reviews and just doing whatever they
can comments on the YouTube videos all that stuff to
help push our content out. About halfway through the regular
season now, the support has been really really humbling, and

(01:14:51):
you know, if I've said it once, I've said it
a thousand times. It means the world to you and
I yes, so thank you to everybody that's listeners in
the game. Absolutely the best. For that guy over there,
my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Thy Hill and Brand,
thank you all, Thank you all. We will be back
on Thursday. In the meantime, you know, the drill, stay solid. Peace,

All Episodes

James Franklin Fired, Poll Reactions & Early Picks for Ole Miss-Georgia, Tennessee-Alabama & USC-Notre Dame | College Football

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

24/7 News: The Latest

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}James Franklin Fired, Poll Reactions & Early Picks for Ole Miss-Georgia, Tennessee-Alabama & USC-Notre Dame | College Football