Poll Reactions, Dan's Big Dump + Early Week 7 Picks for Ohio State-Illinois, Alabama-Missouri & Indiana-Oregon | 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 hull.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
For me, I'm a man, I'm forty.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
be happy. You want to be happy for day Edith state?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Whoo whoo?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
And no, Dan and Tie.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Dan Rubinstein, Welcome back to the soliverbal money is Ty
Hildon Brandt. Welcome back for ballerhood. Thank you so much
for downloading, for listening, for supporting. We are now through
officially six weeks of the college football season. We thought
last week would be kind of quiet, didn't end up
being quiet at all. On today's episode, we're going to
start looking ahead into week seven, which Dan I did

(00:41):
the advanced look ahead. It looks like a friggin' banger,
So get your affairs in order. Sure, sure you're ready
to go? Week seven was pretty damn good. How are you?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm great. I'm very excited for week seven. I'm very
excited for every single week. This is the particular part
of it. I say this is the particular part of
the season. It's the entire season really where you really
get the chirping of fans who say, why is this
team number five? Why is this team number eleven? Why
is this team number seventeen. Who is this team beaten?
What has this team done? And there's no pleasing anybody,

(01:13):
which is great.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Hell yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Once you realize that you're not going to make anybody
happy if no matter who you are, then you're free
to really just go for it when talking about college football.
Nobody's good, nobody's beaten anybody, nobody's bad, nobody's done anything.
It's great tie and I really am feeling it for
whatever particular reason. As we enter into week seven, let's.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Roll, I would be curious to know, among other people
who do what we do or something similar if they
have also noticed that the tenor of the comments has
changed very quickly, like overnight, once we got into week five,
and certainly now after week six, a lot more fire
in some of these comments, Dan, as people are starting

(01:54):
to look ahead, starting to really be in their feels
with what's going on with their respective teams. We will
get into that to some extent here over the next
forty five minutes to an hour or so.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
The one thing they can agree upon, to be clear,
is that it is Odu's time.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
The monarchs.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Fear the monarchs, is that it is all monarchs, all
the time Ricky Ronnie's dudes are rolling and ready to explode.
That's I think we can all agree. It's ODU, it's Harvard,
It's possibly San Diego State and Ohio State will win
it all. Beyond that, everybody's on the same page with
those things. But beyond that, you know, it's get what

(02:32):
you can well.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Welcome back in, Welcome one and all, hit follow, hit
subscribe so that you don't miss any of the episodes.
If you are watching this or listening to this in
a place where you can leave a comment, we of
course encourage that it helps push our stuff out to
more people, so please do leave a comment with your thoughts.
We would greatly appreciate that. Of course, for ballers dot

(02:54):
com is where you can go if you want to
get these episodes without the ads, get access to all
the other bonus perks, and I guess the deep satisfaction
of knowing that you are supporting what Dan and I do,
helping us keep these bright lights on the course of
the college football season. So on today's episode, we're going
to talk through the latest in ap poles in Verboler

(03:16):
Top twelve poles. We're also going to go through three
big previews in advance of week seven, as we've called
them here the Early Bird Specials. We're going to have
Ohio State, Illinois on the table. We're going to have
Alabama Miszoo on the table, and of course we're going
to have the Indiana Hoosiers against your Oregon Ducks on

(03:38):
the table as well. A little bit deeper on into
this episode, mister Rubinstein, before we dive into all of that, though,
this is sort of our quiet moment of reflection. Oh yeah,
gives us an opportunity to maybe give voice to things
that we didn't have a chance to scream out at
the top of the mountaintop when we did our Saturday

(04:01):
night at midnight livestream. Yeah, now that you've had about
forty eight hours to process what's on your mind.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
I loved Houston's uniforms, their oilers' uniform I thought that
was great.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
I don't know what to call this segment. You know,
it's sort of like an opinion dump of everything that
is lingering. So I just came up with Dan's major dump.
I don't know if that's up. Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, we also have what the big dumper is
shining in Major League Baseball. So sure, I just hear
the dump, tiyar the dump Texas Tech. I didn't watch
a ton of Big twelve. I was came away really
impressed with Texas Tech's defense. And that's all to say.

(04:40):
Houston had a quarterback change because of Connor Wigman injury,
and I just Dean Chris is not going to be
that guy to beat an excellent team, we don't think.
But we'll see what Houston is moving forward. But I
really liked what I saw from Texas Tech's defense. I
thought they played, especially on the road, especially now that
Texas Tech is sort of a marked team. I thought

(05:01):
they played with a good amount of fervor would that
be an appropriate word? Ivery word? Love that, thank you
very much. So that was something I came away impressed with.
Colorado games are crazy entertaining. Colorado turned Georgia Tech over
to start the season fifteen times in the first quarter
and couldn't take advantage, Whereas Colorado threw or Cadence Salter

(05:21):
specifically through a bunch of interceptions three interceptions, one of
which was right before the half in the TCU end zone.
So there was essentially a twenty one point potential swing
of points in this game, and Colorado was driving to
tie this late. Colorado in a lot of different ways
is quietly improved. Like I think their pass protection is

(05:43):
a little bit better. They ran the ball pretty well
against TCU, and TCU didn't have an incredible game. They
just picked off, picked up what fell off the opportunity
truck against Colorado, and so I thought Josh Hoover made plays,
you know, they did quality things. But that was a
winnable game for Colorado that they on the road in
a winnable spot. So an entertaining game. Speaking of which,

(06:04):
you mentioned this and you had seen more of it
than I did. In the Big twelve, the Kansas State
Baylor game, Yeah, there is a case to be made
that Baylor is playing the most entertaining schedule of twenty
twenty five. So I don't know if Baylor fans love
that reality. No, but week in and week out, whether
it's the ASU game, whether it was that Auburn game

(06:26):
early on SMU, now of course the Kansas State game.
It's a you talk about the coat, this is a
cardiac bear situation. Oh my god. Yeah, I can't believe
the very specific way and it wasn't just the pick six,
it was a bad pick six. It was a bad
Avery Johnson throw. There was a touchdown saving helmet ripped
off the head, a Jace Brown long catch had his

(06:51):
helmet ripped off as he was cutting and making a
move to score an open field touchdown that was called
back because of the penalty that I don't think can
be declined, so that would have been a game winning touchdown.
And then Kansas State had the ball near the end
zone with under two minutes left, it was after the

(07:12):
two minute timeout and started throwing it and basically saved
Baylor from taking timeouts and gave the ball back when
they couldn't punch it in and had to settle for
a field goal. The manner in which Kansas State blew
this game was atrocious. It was really really bad. Some

(07:33):
of it their fault, some of it not their fault.
But the Big Twelve is playing incredibly entertaining football this year,
and we knew it was going to be chaos. We
knew it was going to be any given week, but
they are living up to it, and more so, I
was thrilled with that entertainment factor. I went back and
watched Mississippi State, Texas A and M. I'm super encouraged
by Mississippi State. They don't have the depth to play

(07:53):
four quarters against I think really good teams, and look,
I say that in the wake of them taking Tennessee
to overtime. I liked how they ran the ball. I
like the energy with which they played. Texas A and
M is better. They still have their own red zone issues,
it seems, but they ran the ball really well and
I like that. I like how confident Marcel Reid is
in himself, whether or not it's deserved or not, because

(08:16):
I kind of think you need to have that, yeah, right.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
You absolutely need to feel like you are the dude.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
He has not ascended to what he will be yet,
but he is positive he has and I appreciate that.
I am a big fan of the entertainment factor of
Texas A and M as well, and also encouraged by
what Mississippi State has done. Some real big questions about
Washington on the road right now. After watching them against Maryland,
came away very impressed with Maryland. For the most part.
There was a dropped I think it was a slot

(08:44):
fade from Maryland that basically would have given them a
go ahead situation and probably a game winning you know,
set up a game winning touchdown if not scored, a
game winning touchdown. And look, nobody's perfect. Nobody is one
hundred percent. But that was a bummer to see if
you're a Maryland fan. I'm sure as I'm saying this
on and you'll probably hear it on Tuesday. And then
on the flip side, Washington just kind of woke up

(09:04):
in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Yeah, I was gonna say, Washington, the questions are not
unfounded Washington on the road, but the way they came
back in that game late I think is commendable.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
It does seem like they made some adjustments on offense.
It does seem like they need to build more of
the plan out of Jonah Coleman. It does seem like
they need to figure out how they want to use
Demon Williams a little bit better because he's not a
big dude, and so just having him try to explore
a pocket at his size I don't think is a
great long term plan for Washington's goals. So I want

(09:39):
to see what they're able to do in how Jedfish
and Demon Williams work together to figure out that offense
because his talent is unquestionable. He's very very good. He's
just not a big dude, and so curious to see
how creative they can get because they have skill position guys.
I don't think there anything right now beyond like an
eight ish win program. But they seem to be recruiting well,

(10:00):
and if they can figure out their road issues and
some red zone issues, they need to get healthier for sure.
As to many many teams, that was very encouraging because
you could argue that Washington was one of the three
best clunkers one situation at Maryland this past weekend. Otherwise, no,
we can talk about teams under the radar in a moment.
I wonder if there was anything lingering for you.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Well, I mean I mentioned it a little bit on
the episode that we did on Saturday night, and I
have been marinating this thought for a while. But I
really think Michigan is flying under the radar. Okay, I
really truly feel like Michigan is flying under the radar.
They are not a perfect product by any stretch. Bright

(10:44):
Underwood is still young. We still see some of those
growing pains that you have with any true freshman quarterback.
Certainly they're running the hell out of the ball. I
think they've got a real opportunity, especially if they beat
USC this weekend. If they beat you USC this weekend,
there are obviously land minds on the schedule the rest
of the way, but I think there is a pretty

(11:06):
clear path to getting to that Ohio State game at
the end of the year, which by the way, is
in ann Arbor, and that being a play in game
for the Big Ten title, which is almost mind blowing
to an extent because it's a true freshman quarterback and
there's a lot of turnover on this Michigan team from
a year ago, and there's just like a lot new
they have without their coach for a couple of games. Right,

(11:28):
there's everyone's been talking about all these other schools. Keep
your eye on the Michigan Wolverines because I think there
is a legit chance that they become much more of
a factor in the Big Ten conversation the deeper we
get into this thing, especially now with Penn State kind
of fallen flat. Right, We're going to see Indiana. I
won't give away the game too much, but Indiana on
the road tough spot this week against Oregon. There are

(11:50):
going to be other situations around the Big Ten that
end up breaking and I think a lot of that
could play in favor of Michigan.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Okay, interesting enough, there's a lot there to like about Michigan.
You know, there's still like a you know, everybody's a
rolled ankle away from a backup quarterback, but they're a
rolled ankle away from I think Jake Garcia playing quarterback.
So that's a little bit different when he doesn't offer
athletically what Bryce Underwood does when there is an inconsistent
at best passing game, though hopefully becomes more consistent. And
Donovan m McCauley's sort of emergence this past week against

(12:20):
Wisconsin is something that continues for the Maze and Blue.
One other game, by the way, just speaking of Yellowish
and Blue, the first quarter and game plan, I guess
it's Brian Harson's offense at Cal of Jks speaking of
like confidence that like, I'm a fully formed Heisman caliber quarterback.
Jks isn't that yet. You know, he obviously has a

(12:42):
pretty interesting ceiling. Jaron Kiave. Then you can take that
song songa poola tally what he does in terms of
coming out and this was against Duke coming out and
just rifling it downfield. There is no part, like the
part of his brain that says, maybe check it down

(13:03):
here doesn't exist. It's just never formed. Whatever cortex that
forms in was never formed. All he wants to do
is take shots, and that's intermediate stuff up the seam,
that's downfield, up the sideline. I love the brazen. I
don't care what the defense is in. I have my
heart set on this, you know, receiver who should be
relatively opened. It went terribly after that first quarter. He

(13:26):
ended up throwing three picks bad ones into double coverage.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Like.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
It wasn't pretty after that. But the raw materials are
there for him to be whether it's for Cal, whether
it's for anybody else. Because I saw Ron rivera mention
like this is Cal, why would anybody leave?

Speaker 1 (13:39):
I'm like, well, we'll get back to Iron.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
We got a few ideas wherever he is, hopefully for Cal,
it's at Cal. Whatever he can form into. If he is,
you know, locked in on his development and the coaching
staff is consistent or whoever's coaching there, his ceiling is unbelievable,
Like I don't have a comp for him, but the
ball just shoots off of his hands. Maybe I'm just
biased because I love a good lefty quarterback, but whatever

(14:04):
his offenses look like, roster wise, whatever it looks like
offensive coordinator wise, with the way he comes out, and
then you compare him against other true freshmen who are
coached more conservatively, coach to like take what the defense
has given you. Jaksh just grabs and so again, pure entertainment.
And this game turned around pretty quickly with the turnovers

(14:27):
and Duke figuring things out, and Duke has quietly gotten
a lot better since that two lane game. I just man,
he is worth staying up for because at some point
you're gonna wake up like hit five hundred and four
yards passing at two am, Like he is single handedly
keeping PAC twelve after dark and whatever conference cal is
currently and alive, and I'm I'm grateful for it.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
By the way, speaking of Duke, do you know that
if the season, if the ACC season were to play
out exactly according to projections right now, Yeah, the favorite
team wins every game, which we know is not going
to happen. This is all not this sporture, right and
certainly not this conference. That's just not what the ACC
is about But at this moment, if it all plays

(15:10):
out exactly according to projections, your ACC championship game would
be Miami against Duke via tiebreaker. Duke would have a
tiebreaker over UVA. I believe Duke would be Va.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
What a revenge spot, Manny Diaz in a huge spot
against Miami.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
I'm just saying. I'm just saying. There are a bunch
of conferences now and again, you know, you look at
tiebreakers this early on, you tend to get some very
weird results. It should surprise nobody that the same is
true over in the Big twelve, where you could quite
literally have ten teams right now that are bunched and
all have a legit shot of getting into that top
two and playing for a conference championship right now. Texas Tech,

(15:46):
I think is the inside track. But you mentioned Baylor earlier.
You can make a case for Baylor in conference being
anything from like eight to one all the way down
to four and five, right, So there's just a lot
of variability with respect to that. And I think this
dovetails into my only other point before we move on here,
and that is not just with the results that we

(16:08):
saw this past weekend with I think some of the
news that we have seen come out around college football,
and with some of the results that are to follow,
let me just again underscore the point this is going
to be a very, very active coaching carousel cycle. We
didn't see it as much a year ago. Okay, that
was a bit of an anomaly, but the way things

(16:29):
are trending right now, whether it's guys getting let go,
getting bought out, not getting renewed, guys going elsewhere, this
figures to be one of the more active cycles we
have seen in a good long time. Truly, Dan, and
you know this as well as I and anybody who
is in this line of work understands this all too well.
One of those deals where it's a Sunday in November,

(16:52):
you and I are sort of on call because if
the bat signal goes up and we got to hop
on and record sort of an emergency whatever, because Bill
Belichick decides he doesn't want to coach at North Carolina anymore,
or James Franklin decides he wants to leave Penn State,
or any number of oddball situations that I think are
becoming more and more realistic that tends to crush all

(17:13):
in the month of November early part of December. It's
going to be a very, very active, like two week
three week cycle immediately following the season, and I just
want people to be on guard for that because it's
going to happen. Just keep yourself in the right frame
of mind, have a go bag ready in case you
need it, because we are trending in that direction and

(17:36):
I have a high level of confidence that we're going
to end there before long.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Are you mentally prepared and engaged enough for when James
Franklin turns this season around for Penn State and takes
the New York Giants job. Is that something that you
are no, no, no, ready for? Do you have the stomach?
Are you going to need to take some charcoal pills
to make sure your stomach is lined for that moment.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
I would need to have earplugs to combat the phone call,
the inevitable phone call I would get from Uncle Joe
Colarusso about the Giants bringing on James frank No, No,
that will not happen. It may happen that Franklin takes
another job, sure, because he will have opportunities out there.
I have to imagine there'll be a bunch of places
that would sign up for James Franklin. Maybe UNC will

(18:18):
be open. Who the hell knows, they're not playing very well.
But I just think a lot of motion in the
coaching world is to follow. I'm not going to sit
here and talk specifics. It's way too premature for that.
But yeah, the writing is on the wall everybody that
this is going to happen once we get again latter
stages of November early part of December. Just be ready,

(18:40):
of course, right in solid Verbo at gmail dot com.
Let us know your thoughts if you have any leftover
thoughts after what we saw in week six. We do
have a rebawler top twelve pole as well as the
ap top twenty five pole that we're going to get
into here in just a minute. Do you have any
other thoughts stand based on what you saw before we

(19:01):
let the fine people go and we move on.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
I don't think so, but I'm happy to uh if
you have any questions, if you have any comments about
who we should talk about more. UH, maybe that Thursday
Bonus show would be a great place to do it.
I think that would be great for bawlers dot com.
We did one on.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Vandy a couple of weeks ago, Mandy and Georgia Tech
and Georgia Tech. We had a bunch of other suggestions
from our premium for ballers. My thought was that we
would pick two off the vine. But if anybody else
has suggestions, open to it, Open to it. As always
forballers dot com, let's reveal that for Baller top twelve poll,
shall we I'm ready got a new one out here.

(19:36):
We got a lot of movement. What's interesting about this poll?
And I will talk about the inferior ap pole in
a second. Okay, okay, what we're seeing is a lot
of indecision over who the top team is right now.
In our poll especially, we've got a pretty good cluster

(19:58):
of Ohio State. Ohio State is one, Miami at two,
and your Oregon Ducks at three. Seen a little bit
of movement in that top three over the last couple
of weeks, not because any of these teams is doing
anything wrong. I think Oregon was docked a few notches
because of what went down with Penn State. And I
want to talk to you about this.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
We've got some simple minded voters tyed, as does everybody.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
I want to talk to you more about this once
we get into the Indiana Oregon preview. Okay, because there
is a question of perception now after what went down
with Penn State. But alas your top three in our poll,
Ohio State, Miami, Oregon. Then we've got a secondary cluster
after that, Texas A and m at four, Ole, Miss
at five, Indiana at six. After that, it rounds out

(20:46):
Alabama seven, Oklahoma eight, Texas Tech nine, Georgia Georgia Tech,
and Missoo to round out our top twelve. Nice to
see Miszoo getting into that top twelve in advance of
their big matchup this week week against Alabama. Any thoughts
on what you see in the verbal or pol.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
I understand why Miami has moved up. It's an impressive win.
We don't fully know what Florida State is or is not,
but Florida State's on a losing streak now, and so
you know, if you're going to discount what Florida State is,
then I guess you have to discount what Miami did,
which I think is foolish. But Miami is really, really,
really good, and I thought the Florida State defense came

(21:27):
to play a good deal in that came gave up
some big plays of course, and that was the difference.
But what Miami is on defense I think is leading
the way right now. As much as I like Malachai Tony,
I'm okay with Ohio State at one. I mean, they've
beaten everybody in front of them. Their defense is probably
the best thing in the sport right now.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Their defense is playing at an almost impossibly good level.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
And that's Look, it's against a Texas offense that we've
discounted after what they've done since, it's against Minnesota's offense.
It's against a general good, not great Washington offense, and
they didn't allow points in the end zone to any
of those teams. To excuse me to Washington and Minnesota.
I think Ohio State is a better team than Miami

(22:13):
in this moment, but I don't have the resume that
you know, can can fully back it up where it
seems that Miami with wins against a Florida team that's
up and down, a Florida State team that now we
consider up and down a USF team that we think
is a good for that conference type team like Miami
has proven at weekend and week out two. So it's
just a personal preference, and I think I would take

(22:34):
the team that has that combination of offense and defense
on a slightly higher level in my opinion, in Ohio State.
So I'm okay with that distinction there.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, I had voted Miami one, I think mostly because
of that resume. But clearly I understand the case for
all of these teams, and it seems as though overballers
were out there making their case as well. Where we
do have a little bit of disparity, as you might expect,
is with the AP Top twenty five. The AP Top
twenty five saw some pretty big drops, as you might expect,

(23:07):
both Texas and Penn State drop from the top ten
fully out. Yes, there are now two and three.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
In which fine, Yes, are you okay with that?

Speaker 1 (23:16):
I'm fine with it. Yeah, I think you have to
be Certainly on the Penn State side, you lose the UCLA.
You deserve that. Yeah, you know, there's no two ways
about it. The Texas thing is probably a little bit
of a different story, but Florida was unranked as well,
so I understand it on that front. Vandy dropped four
down to number twenty. Iowa stated a pretty big drop,

(23:37):
eight all the way down to number twenty two. Florida
State drops seven by virtue of their loss to Miami.
They are still in the top twenty five, but they
are currently at number twenty five. There are a couple
teams that are in the teams that slit up a
couple slots. Okay, this is what tends to happen this
time of year, Right, teams in front of you lose

(23:58):
very gradually.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
You gotta rank twenty five, right, you gotta get twenty
five teams in there, which means teams that you might
think are like the nineteenth or twenty second best team
all of a sudden like thirteen eleven. Okay, just somebody's
got to be there. Just slide in these teams around
on the board. Georgia Tech, Miszoo, the Aforemstion, aforementioned, Michigan Wolverines,
Notre Dame Illinois byu UVA. These are teams that all

(24:24):
benefited from those in front of them dropping. All of
them went up about four or five slots, noted Ames
up to like number sixteen. Again, it's like nothing ever happened.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
Right, So there's a lot of football that's yet to
be played. After this week, I guess technically we will
be halfway through the regular season. As we get a
little bit deeper into this thing, more conference games are
going to go down a bunch of these teams in
front of that grouping that I just mentioned of six
or seven teams. There will be losses, there will be

(24:55):
opportunities for them to gradually improve their standing as well.
But I don't have any harsh reactions to the AP pole.
What I am feeling, though, is that there is a
little bit more of a merging taking place between what
we see on the AP side and what we're seeing
on the verballer side. Just because teams are playing more games,
it seemingly is getting a little bit clearer. Who deserves

(25:17):
to beware.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
I think there is a steep drop off after three
between Oregon and Ole Miss. I think there's another steep
drop off likely between Alabama and Texas Tech, Georgia LSU
in there. Just what Alabama looks like now going to
Georgia and winning and finishing strong against Vanderbilt. You're right though,
about you know, the team slipping into the teams. You're

(25:41):
just like, LSU's the eleventh best team in the country
right now, and you're like, yes, they've beaten Florida and Clemson,
and the offense hasn't looked all that great. They didn't
look amazing obviously offensively against Ole Miss. We'll see what
their health is on offense. There's a bunch of questions there.
So I don't feel great about associating LSU as one
of the twelve best teams in the country right now,

(26:02):
but they certainly have a defense that would, you know,
withstand any argument otherwise, Illinois I don't think would hang
within ten, fourteen to seventeen points of Notre Dame, who
they're ranked right next to right now. I just have
questions about Illinois's consistency on either side of the ball.
And we're not handed the USC game, but that was

(26:22):
an extremely losable game. And also you lose by seven
hundred and thirty eight points to Indiana, I think you
should probably fall a little bit lower than what your
resume might say.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Great.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
With Virginia and Vandy where they are, I'm not positive
why Iowa State is where they are and Cincinnati's not ranked.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, the Cincinnati question is interesting.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
If they're both one lost teams and Cincinnati just did
whatever they wanted and scored I think near forty points
against the Iowa State defense. I'm not sure the thinking there,
especially as the Kansas State win hasn't aged especially well
and they've played close against some other teams. I just
you know, I'm not sure why we have Iowa State
ranked in this moment. Great with Memphis being there, South

(27:04):
Florida fine.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
Some of the teams that you're referencing here. We've got
Illinois at seventeen in the AP pole, We've got South
Florida at twenty four in the AP pole, just a
notch behind Memphis, who's at twenty three. Iowa State, as
you said, still in the top twenty five at number
twenty two. Of the teams that we see in this

(27:26):
AP top twenty five, which team is the most fools
gold right now?

Speaker 2 (27:32):
There are just there are teams on here where you're like,
I haven't seen what Byu has done against a quality team.
I haven't seen what like Miszoo has done against a
legit team. We will see this weekend and we'll get there.
I don't think there's full fools gold, but I'd love
to see Florida State play well after Week one. I'd
love to see that. Yeah, I guess I guess those

(27:53):
are my teams just based on lack of opponent. So
I have Illinois, Illinois BYU Miszoo and who else? Did
I say, Well, I'll.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Throw on another one in there, and I think LSU LSU.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, LSU at eleven. I mean just they have a
top twelve defense.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
But they have a better defense. I'm still not sure
we fully understand how good it is or isn't. But
the offense has definitely been problematic.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
When I say top twelve, I don't mean the defense
is top twelve in the country. I mean they have
a defense that can boost them into a top twelve conversation.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
LSU is a team that jumps out to me. I
like Texas Tech. I'm still not fully sold on Texas
Tech top ten.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
They've taken care of business, taken care of business.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
I want to see them play against better competition. Yeah,
Texas Tech is a bit of a question for me.
And I am still coming to grips with the whole
Virginia thing. Okay, I think Virginia is a really really
good story and by any measure, what they have done
right now is a huge coove for Tony Elliott, right,

(28:59):
I mean, just is it is already a wildly successful
season for the Who's. They're going to go to a
bowl game, They're going to probably get pretty close to
nine wins. Eight nine wins I think is realistic where
this team is at. The question though, once you get
into the top twenties, can you sustain it? And that
is where I am not fully committed to the Who's.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
At their best. They're good, but I don't think there
is any one part of their team that you can
point to as like this is what's going to keep
them in the top twenty, Like it's just going to
be a roll. Like some weeks are gonna win in overtime,
some weeks you're gonna lose. They closed, They've closed well
the last couple of weeks, obviously winning those games in overtime.
But the sustainability for Virginia in this conversation I think

(29:43):
is not great.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
Right in solid rebel edgima dot com, leave a comment
let us know your thoughts on the latest Verbowler Top
twelve pole ap Top twenty five pole. Of course, you
can vote in our poll by going on out to
our Patreon at verbowlers dot com, or you can go
Patreon dot com Solid Verbal either or we'll get you
to the same spot. If you sign up as a

(30:06):
certified or premium Verballer, you can vote every week. We
drop this poll bright and early every Sunday morning. On occasion,
we also give out free ballots to people who are interested.
If you just sign up as a free member, you
want to dip your toe in find out what the
verballer hood is all about out on Patreon. Yes, you
can sign up as a free member. On occasion, we'll

(30:27):
throw you a ballot, especially on the big weeks when
we've got a lock up body, and we did it
last week. We wanted to get more in there. I've
been giving out some free ballots on social media people
who respond to me as well, So make sure you're
tuned into all things solid verbal Dan and I whatever
platforms you're on. We like to try and spread the
wealth here and introduce some new folks into the fold

(30:49):
when it comes to voting in this poll. Let's prve
you some games, Dan Badly Bird Special. It is a
banger of a week seven. Typically. The way we put
this document together, and by the document, I mean basically
the backbone for all of the episodes we do. We

(31:10):
look at the schedule, we pick out two or three
of the biggest games. Last week we had two. A
couple other weeks we've had three. This is definitely a
triple header. Onto the episode today, we've got three games
to discuss. We've got Ohio State Illinois. We've also got
Alabama on the road at Missoo. We've got Indiana on

(31:31):
the road at your Oregon Ducks. Start at the very
top though, high noon on Fox. It's the big noon game.
It is an interesting rivalry. Did you know that this
is a rivalry between Alaba and Illinois. Yes, the Illa
Buck rivalry. The winner of this game receives a carved

(31:52):
wooden turtle named Dilabuck. Originally it was a live turtle
that they picked to dignify the expected long life of
the rivalry.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
Okay, I appreciate that the turtle died. Oh well, circle
of life, and.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
So now we've got this wooden figuringe go look it up,
pleasant enough, like a good turtle. You pro turtle.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
Pro turtle absolutely.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
And the other thing that I would add as part
of this rivalry, at least in the early years, is
that at halftime, the junior honorary societies from both schools
used to go out there and smoke a peace pipe. WHOA, Okay,
they no longer do that. My guess is the tradition
is alive and well somewhere in the parking lot if
you're interested in peace pipe.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
But alas of course.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Ohio State on the road minus fourteen and one half
points against the Illinois Fighting Allion. I Dan, I have
a couple mine bending stats from the Office of the
Solid Verbal Research, oh Please. Through five games, Ohio State's
defense is allowing an average of five points per game.

(32:58):
They have not allowed a touch down since Week three,
which is crazy crazy. I need your help. We need
to come up with a nickname for Caden Curry and
Caden McDonald, the two defensive tackles for Ohio State who
have been awesome. They had like eighteen tackles, eight for lows,
five sacks, A crazy double Caden situation. It's a double

(33:21):
Caden situation. I am not creative enough to come up
with the nickname. The best I could do was Caden Crush,
and I don't like that.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
And wouldn't they be tackling Caden Vegan.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
There's a three Caden situation going on here.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Yeah, that's a tricade. Yeah, the tricaid, the arcade. I
don't know.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
The God's not bad.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
Arkad's not back because you also have rfl Reese.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
The Arkid.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
It's the arcade, the trifecta, the triumvirant. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Their defense is putting up arcade numbers.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
True.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
On offense, we've got some arcade numbers as well. Julian
Sayan has completed over eighty percent of his passes so
far this season. And despite all the talk about Jeremiah
Smith Carnell Tait averaging over eighteen yards per catching no
drops on the season, he leads the team with eighteen

(34:11):
point one yards per reception. This is a very very
good Ohio State team, both on offense and on defense.
Let me say this, I am definitely prone to overthinking
matchups like this. I don't often ride on the underthink express.
That's part of my problem. It is very difficult to

(34:34):
build a case for Illinois here.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
I think there's a pretty good chance they end up
getting drilled. Agree to their credit, they're five and one
against the spread this year. Okay, so there you know
Vegas is still trying to figure out Illinois. Can you
build a realistic case for Illinois in this game.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
If we're talking about straight up and without injury, not really,
how many players in Illinois starting twenty two would start
for Ohio State? Gay acis maybe no, not many. There's
not a ton, especially with some of the injuries on
Illinois's front that we haven't able to see what they

(35:17):
could be fully realized on defense. But like I like
Illinois players on both sides of the ball.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
I think Illinois solid. I like Illinois as a team.
But what I keep getting hung up on is the
best case I can make for them in this game
is winning the turnover margin, getting short fields, playing at
a slower pace to keep Ohio State off the field.
And that's a formula that requires about eighty percent good luck, right,

(35:46):
And if we're gonna sit here on this show and
try to be logical with who we're predicting and why,
I can't base the whole thing around luck, I just
can't do it.

Speaker 2 (35:57):
The best of Texas's defense in Week one held Ohio
State to fourteen points. Texas has a number of all
American caliber guys on that defense, especially linebacker edge. You know,
they look terrific at their best, sure, and they held
Ohio State to fourteen points. Illinois is not near there
in terms of talent games of Illinois, which is nice.

(36:17):
You're gonna need to just bleed so much of Ohio
State clock, right, You're gonna need to sort of convert
every third and short, fourth and short. You're gonna have
to go for it on fourth and short like kind
of deep ish in your own territory. You're gonna have
to take those kinds of chances to keep the Ohio
State defense on the field. And even then, it's not
a formula like to drive down the field and take
fifteen seventeen nineteen plays against Ohio State's defense. That's not

(36:40):
allowing anything. And the best thing you do if your
Illinois is throw the ball. You're gonna Hank Bety your
way to beating Ohio State. All due respect to Hank Beaty,
who is good, but it's it just doesn't feel like
a competitive formula right now. And so better that this
game is at home than away, as we saw what
Illinois did or didn't really do in Bloomington. No, I mean,

(37:01):
it's short of an injury, right if Julian Saying goes
down or something like that. Even that, we never want
to happen. But uh no, I mean it's at noon.
You could get to sleep at Ohio State for a
quarter and a half something like that. You could have
like a reasonable looking halftime score. You could have a
halftime score of seventeen to seven and be like, oh, interesting, Okay,

(37:21):
there's something there. It's not going to be interesting. I
don't think. I just this has thirty five to ten
written all over it.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
I've got thirty seven to fourteen. Maybe we've been doing
this too long and we finish you to finish each
other's sentences, But I'm with you. Like the offense runs
through Luke Altmeyer. On the Illinois side, they're not particularly
efficient on the ground. Almost all their pop comes through
the air. I like the Altmeyer to Hank Baty connection.
I do. He had a great game a week ago.

(37:53):
You just need more options if you're going to beat
Ohio State, if you want to mount the serious charge
against the Buckeyes, you need more I think they can
move the ball to some extent between the twenties, but
if they get into the red zone. One of the
issues we've seen with Illinois this year too many field goals,
not enough touchdowns, and especially on the Ohio State side,
they're not allowing any touchdowns right, So that's a trend

(38:15):
that Illinois would need to reverse pretty quickly if they
want to have a fighting chance here against Ohio State,
because field goals aren't going to beat the buck guys.
I'm just not seeing that. The Ohio State defense has
been nails and then like the other side of this
is not to be overshadowed. The Ohio State offense. We

(38:36):
talk a lot about the playmakers on offense. We know
how good they are, we know how efficient they've been.
The quiet engine for this offense has been an offensive
line that has been really good this year. They've been
really good at protecting Julian saying in general, they have
done a really good job of keeping the offense on
the field. The game plan early against Washington was probably

(39:03):
a tell for what we're going to see early in
this game because they just kept running it. They ran
it five of their six opening plays. They wanted to
get going on the ground, they wanted to take some
pressure off of the young quarterback. They did get stopped
on that drive at Washington by the way down at
like the five yard line, But I think if they
can establish themselves out of the gate as the more

(39:25):
physical team in the trenches, it's going to be a
problem because eventually you're going to have to commit resources
to that, and that's when they get you over the
top of the passing game, and we know they have
options out wide. I just think the margins here for
Illinois are so slim it is really tough for me
to find the path, not necessarily to cover. I mean,
anybody can cover, right, I think it's unthing like thirty

(39:48):
seven to fourteen Ohio State. I think they wouldn't going away.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
Yeah. The saving grace I guess if you are hoping
for a close Illinois game or an upset, is like,
this is the biggest game of the season in champ Right,
this is the de facto Super Bowl, all due respect
to USC, but that's not on the same level in
the Midwest as Ohio State coming to town. And so
you are going to have people from all you know,
Illinois alums coming in from all over for this game,

(40:12):
and it's gonna be a frenzied atmosphere. But it's also
at noon, where it's actually really at eleven Local, right,
it's at eleven Central. So you're just not going to
get the crowd whipped up in the same way that
they would if it were you know, two thirty local
or six thirty local something like that. So that takes
a little bit of the air out of things. It's
a huge game, right that there is that element of

(40:34):
like Ohio State isn't a finished product. You know, there's
a lot new on both sides of the ball full
time starter wise, but man, they went to Seattle and
they just silenced them. Like, I don't think Minnesota is amazing,
but Minnesota did nothing. PJ Flex said, like that was
the best defense he had seen in thirteen years in
the Big Ten. And then you couple that with Illinois

(40:54):
against the better defenses that they've played against the past
couple of years, Oregon, Penn State obviously earlier this year, Indiana,
and they are silent SA Bowl and so it's hard
to see them coming through for four quarters. Yeah, thirty
five to ten.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Speaking of games being played at eleven am local time,
we get Alabama, a three and a half point road
favorite on the road at Missoo, Yes twelve Eastern eleventh
Central Miszoo has a rest advantage. They're coming off of
a bye. Obviously, the early kickoff. I question whether there's

(41:29):
a little bit of a look ahead here for Bama
with the Tennessee rivalry on deck. We know that's a
big deal.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
I yeah, I don't think there's a look ahead situation.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
I'm I'm just a marketplace of ideas, Dan Rubertstein.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
Market place of ideas, Okay, carolling some stuff out there.

Speaker 1 (41:44):
I want to see how it how it clicks.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
I'm allowed to disagree with you. Yes, Missoo the top
fifteen team. I think they will have their absolutely on
the road.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
The more important thing in this matchup is a very
specific tendency. That is Miszoo running the football, which is
a clear and obvious strength, and Alabama stopping the run,
which they have not consistently been great at.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
We saw Vandy have a little bit of early success
on the ground that dried up. Alabama did get its
act together. They weren't able to be as successful moving forward,
but in the early part of that game we saw it.
I think Missoo will be better at it.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
And Missoo is on a rest advantage, right I said
off playing at home? Yeah, as I said there, so,
I'm just like as as it relates to the run
and the fresh legs.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
Yeah, so Miszoo has been lurking. They have been lurking.
They got the win a few weeks ago at home
against South Carolina. We haven't really talked a whole lot
about them otherwise because they haven't really played that difficult
of a sleep.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
Right.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
It's a physical team. They're very good at running with
a mott hardy. Mott Hardy, by the way, the transfer
leads the nation in rushing yards. I think he leads
the nation or leads the sec excuse me, in rushing
touchdowns with nine.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
He's over seven hundred yards of the year, I've seven thirty. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
They lead the nation as a team in time of possession.
They lead the nation in terms of third down offense.

Speaker 2 (43:11):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
They convert about sixty one percent of the time. So
there's a lot to like here on the Missou side. Plus,
then you layer in future Penn State quarterback Bo Prabulah. Yeah,
you wish dude, who's been really solid. They haven't fully
unleashed him on the ground yet, maybe because of you know,
some questions about quarterback depth after Sam Horn went down. Yeah,

(43:35):
I think it's a very very compelling choice to go
Miszoo here at home against Alabama because of that matchup.
I really like that matchup.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
You like the matchup of Missoo being able to control
the game on the ground against the Alabama run defense.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
I do.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
I think that number is characterized. I mean like it's
a little bit of Thomas Castelanos obviously the long run
Cedric Alexander. But they you're at to your point, you
did say this, they tightened up very clearly significantly after
some early struggles against Bandy on the ground. They ran
the ball better obviously against Bandy than they had been
running earlier in this season. So hopefully that's a continued

(44:13):
step in that direction. If you're an Alabama fan. The question,
so this Miszoo checks off a lot of the boxes
of like they're playing at home, they're an underdog, the
defense is performed. I think they're leading the nation in
three and outs forced. Yeah, the percentage of drives that
end in a three and out when Missoo's defense is
on the field leads the nation. It's also just a

(44:33):
question of to what level do we believe in this
year's Miszoo team based on essentially Kansas and South Carolina.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Well and that's the thing, that's the important caveat.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
I think quality teams, we don't know what that brings
out of Missoo specifically, Bama's going to.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Be able to test Miszoo through the air, especially in
a much different way. And no disrespect to what Missoo
has done so far, they've been very very good. But
like you and me and Ari Wasserman, we could stop
the passing attack of UMass and u Elmanroe.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
Oh man, that was just disrespectcause they played Lafayette. They
just played Louisiana.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Yeah, this is obviously a very different animal, yeah, on
the Alabama side, And the same could be said for
this defense as a whole. I don't know if they've
really been tested against an offense like this, So might
there be a little bit of culture shock? Might there be,
you know, a sudden jump up in competition that the
Missouri defense is not prepared for. I think that's very

(45:37):
realistic and possibility here. Yeah, I just like that matchup
on offense.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
Okay, So if we can agree that Alabama is likely
a much better throwing team this season than where they
were last season, yes, yes, for sure. What Ty Simpson
looks like right now is pretty pinpoint and for as
fun as the Alabama offense could be at times last year,
I don't think we could count on this being a
Jalen Milroe dominating things through the air offense. Alabama beat

(46:06):
Miszoo thirty four to nothing. Last year. That was a
Brady Cook injured Drew Pines step in situation, Noah mad Hardy.
It's different teams, different years. It's also thirty four to
nothing in Tuscaloosa. I think Alabama wins this game. I
really do. I'm a Bama believer after last week, you know,

(46:27):
to do what they did last week in a letdown
spot against Georgia. Now, this is three in a row,
three tough games in a row Forbama. But I think
I just believe in the talent right now. And as
much as I like a Mad Hardy and Kevin Coleman's
having a really nice year for Miszoo, Bo Brabula throwing
into the teeth of the Alabama defense, I just need

(46:47):
to believe it, you know, I need to see it
to believe it. And so I'm not there yet. I've
been fooled by Missoo before I'm gonna say Maszoo is
a good team this year that will challenge to win
double digit game. I'm taking Bama here. I'm going twenty
seven to seventeen tied.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
I'm going twenty six twenty one, Misszoo outright, wow? Okay,
And I do think Alabama is going to have success
through the air, and it's not like they're going to
get shut down and not move the football. I think
this is going to be a really good football game.
But I just think the play style benefits Mszoo. I
really do. I think they'll be able to run it.
I think they'll be able to control the clock. I

(47:27):
love what they do on third downs. It will be
a test for the defense. It is not the same
as playing these other teams that they've beaten thus far.
There is no question about that. You mean, Miszoo man, Okay, disagree,
We do disagree. One more game, okay, three point thirty

(47:47):
on CBS. College Game Day is going to be in town.
Friend of the show Jenny Dell and CBS will be
in town.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
It is a matchup of two top ten teams that
statistic Glee DAN are very similar, very similar so far.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Great.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
We also have two lunatic coaches, which is probably my
favorite part. Of this matchup as a whole.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
Yeah, Google, may, Google.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
May, We've got Indiana on the road at your Oregon
Ducks Oregon favored by seven and a half at home.
Yeah so look, I posted a screen grab out on
Twitter of this week's games, and somebody responded by saying
that this was a fake top ten matchup. I'm assuming
that's more of a dig at Indiana than Oregon. Okay,

(48:33):
I think so too, But a last let me let
me ask it to you this way. Okay, tough overtime
win for Oregon two weeks ago. Now on the road
and Happy Valley, we were there. Since then Penn State
falls on its face, loses at UCLA a week ago.
Now they've dropped out of the top twenty five. We
talked about that a couple of minutes ago because of

(48:56):
what we saw go down with Penn State last week.
Does that make you any less confident in the Oregon
Ducks being.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
Out of the top twenty five? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (49:07):
No, no, no, being so that Oregon's signature win may have
come against a team that in reality may not be
that good.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
Okay, Or you can add about seventy five IQ points
and say Oregon bet Penn State twice. It's it's your choice.
It's anybody's choice. If you want to think I'm again
marketplace of ideas, No, it's okay, So Mark, everybody has
that opportunity to ask you the question.

Speaker 1 (49:30):
I know how I feel. I'm asking how you feel,
as an Oregon along.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
How do I feel. I don't discount that win at all.
I was there. The environment was crazy. We're going to
see a lot of those dudes on that Penn State
defense get drafted. We're going to see Drew Aller start
a stellar podcast in a few years. I just am
of the mind that Oregon is really, really good, and
they're playing at home with a week off. And I

(49:56):
wouldn't go as far as to say that this is
a fake top ten matchup, because I think the best
of Indiana can beat a lot of teams and win
a lot of games. But I just I think Oregon
is more solidified. I think this sport, more than basically
many other sports, is such a talent thing. And I

(50:18):
don't know which players, Like Indiana's got a very good
quarter in ponds, but who's starting for this Oregon team,
Like who is legitimately starting? Like I think their linebackers
are good, but I just think Oregon is better at
like twenty of twenty two positions.

Speaker 1 (50:37):
Did I see that Dante More has been sacked only
once this year?

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Dante Moore, I believe, has only been sacked once, and
it was like a free rusher coming like the right
tackle was. I don't know if it was a miscommunication thing,
but yes, it was a free rush against maybe Oklahoma
State something early. So I think Indiana is good. I
just think Oregon's ext and I think Austin's a big deal.

(51:03):
I think what Indiana hasn't done against basically all of
the very much legit defenses that they face. You go
back last year and this year, they needed every second
to beat Iowa on the road, and they needed Iowa's
quarterback to get hurt and pick off Iowa's backup quarterback
to seal things. I just think away from Bloomington, they

(51:24):
are also like essentially traveling across the country. Yea, Indiana
in this matchup. It's not like a body clock game
in the same way that other Big Ten matchups are,
but they are traveling, and so I just don't think
they have it for four quarters against this Oregon team.
I think there's just too much speed. I think Dante
More is too good. I did not come all way

(51:45):
all that impressed with Fernando Mendoza against Iowa. I think
the best of him is excellent, but I just I
think he's like third tier national quarterback, not Heisman contender,
and ready to eat my words if I'm wrong. Indy
has gonna win a ton of games this year. I
think Oregon's just clearly better. And so I have this
as like thirty eight twenty ducks.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
I've got thirty eight to twenty four ducks. We tend
to agree, and I also agree on the point that
Indiana's legit and it is very good. It's not a
feel good story. They have a top ten offense and
defense so far based on statistics. Say whatever you want
about Fernanda Mendoza sixteen touchdowns, one interception. He has played

(52:28):
very very well. He's also played in aughtsin before he
has He played as a true freshman when he was
over with Cal. Could that help him here? You know,
who knows it's going to be loud. The autsin Zoo
is a thing. It's a tough place to play, and
I tend to favor Oregon as well, but he's got
that experience. I also like their defense or defense has

(52:49):
been very opportunistic. They lead the nation forcing interceptions, they
rank third and turnover margin. This is a very good team.
It's a lot to like about Indiana. I certainly think
they have the talent to hang around for some period
of time. I just don't think four quarters. And so
the game that I am envisioning here is one that
is sort of close for a while, and we are

(53:11):
in pins and needles late in the fourth quarter, wondering
if a late touchdown is going to come and give
them a back door cover.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
The number has come down, right, It opened double digits,
and it's come down to seven, eight points.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
It's come down. So I could see this one as
thirty eight twenty four Indiana with the ball laid. If
they score, they're going to screw over a lot of betters.
We have seen situations like that on a couple occasions
so far. In fact, Burnana Mendoza apologized to betters two
weeks ago because of what went down in their game
against Iowa to safety safety. So yeah, I am with you.

(53:46):
I tend to agree that Oregon is just better across
the board and I think they will be able to
assert their will at home in Autsin against the team
in Indiana that is very very good and very very solid.
But to the point, nobody in Indiana, almost to a man,
is going to make that starting roster for Oregon. Right,

(54:09):
So thirty eight twenty four is my final. I'm ready
to eat my words if I am wrong on this one.
But I did see Oregon go into Penn State, which
say whatever you want about the Nitney Lyons, but to
win in that setting is mind blowing. You can't imagine
how loud it was there.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
Yeah, and the only teams that are truly able to
do that in those big games against Penn State are
all of them.

Speaker 1 (54:31):
So I see we've gotten now into our Penn State
joke mode, which is fine. They lost hold on that?

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Was that not a fact? I'm sorry? Does James Franklin
win that game? Effort?

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Okay? Dari, how dare you bespurshed the name?

Speaker 2 (54:46):
I'll go look back and see how many of those,
you know, top ten matchups James Franklin and Penn State
have won lately.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
You could send that one off to the Penn State
Reese or the Solivrable Research department on Penn State.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
True the crack staff, Yeah, I think Oregon's better. I
think they have the edge at quarterback. I think they
have edge at coordinators and coach. I think they're the
fact that they're playing at Oddson Stadium and once again
to bookend things Indiana against these top playoff caliber teams.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
Right.

Speaker 2 (55:11):
They score three points last season until the final two
minutes against Notre Dame. Was that what it was?

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yep?

Speaker 2 (55:18):
They score twenty points I think three points in the
second half against a Michigan team that had no offense
last year. They won that game. Better to win those
games than to lose. Absolutely couldn't do much on offense,
if at all, against Ohio State last year and needed
every second to get to the whatever it was twenty points,
seventeen points against Iowa this year on the road. I

(55:39):
just think there's a ceiling. The ceiling is probably ten
and two and super impressive, but losing to teams who
are able to match up better than most, and there's
always been that big ten team for a long time.
That was Wisconsin, maybe it was Penn State, you know,
taking care of business against the lesser and then just
not quite being there against the top flight teams. But

(56:00):
I don't know. I think Oregon has its act together.
They're playing at home. I think there are too many
weapons on this offense for Indiana to keep up with.
And the playmakers on defense I think are gonna give
Oregon some short fields and some opportunities.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Man, if this points break comes down to seven. If
it goes down to seven, that's lock of the week
territory right there.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Okay, it was just bad news for you, I know,
very bad news for you. I know, I think they
win by two scorers. I feel pretty confident in that.

Speaker 2 (56:26):
Let's be clear, Iowa was in position to win that
game without a passing game correct two weeks ago. So
that's all.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
Some other very interesting Week seven games. We're not going
to preview these, not going to preview them yet. There
is hope for all of them on our upcoming Thursday episode. Okay,
on Friday night, a banger of a G six game,
South Florida on the road at North Texas. North Texas
actually favored at time of recording. That should be a

(56:58):
fun freaking game.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
We've also got at high noon on ESPN on Saturday,
Pitt on the Road at Florida State. How does Florida
State deal after their loss? Three thirty, we've got the
Red River shootout, Oklahoma at Texas, maybe taking on a
little bit of a different feel, but Texas still favored Dan. Yeah,
Iowa State at Colorado. Colorado is a four point home dog.

(57:22):
It's interesting. At three thirty, Nebraska at Maryland. Maryland with
another shot, try and take down a team that's traveling
across a good chunk of the country in the Nebraska sinse. Yep,
they're a six point home dog. TCUK State another one
of these demolition Derby style Big twelve games.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Oh my god, there is zero chance this is boring.
There's absolutely zero chance. That's why I burn on the list. No,
you're absolutely able within your right and it's the right move.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
Zero chance it is anything less than crazy entertaining. In
the nightcap, we've got Florida at A and M. We've
got Kansas at Texas Tech. We've got Michigan at USC,
We've got Georgia at Auburn. We've got South Carolina at LSU.
We've also got BYU at Arizona. A bunch of really
freaking interesting games this week.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
That's an amazing lineup that is truly excellent.

Speaker 1 (58:17):
And then at night, if you're really a sicko at
ten to fifteen Eastern time, it is Arizona State at Utah.
I don't think super highly of Utah, but.

Speaker 2 (58:28):
Utah I think you should. I think you should tough.

Speaker 1 (58:30):
Place to play. I don't think either of these teams
are super buttoned up, even though Arizona State feels to
me like maybe they're starting to figure it out. But
only a five point line in favor of Utah.

Speaker 2 (58:41):
Yeah, this is great. I sometimes like to make date
night plans on Friday night with the misses. This week
might be put the kids to bed, just relaxed from
a long, difficult week, make some fried rice, and don't
move off the couch. I'm very excited for USF North Texas.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
I am as well. What I was going to say is,
I think the strat when it comes to wives significant others.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
Sit down for TIS marriage advice, TIS marriage advice, Colin.
Maybe it's good.

Speaker 1 (59:10):
I think fried rice is the move. I think some
sort of heavy food is the move, because then perhaps
you are promoting an early bedtime.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
Oh, we always promote an early bedtime in this well,
so do I we're at this point.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
Yeah, but my point is early bedtime, get the TV
to yourself, could really hunker down and enjoy the second
half of USF North Texas, which I think is going
to be a banger.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
You're out of your mind if you think I'm making
it to the second half. If I'm needing a giant
bowl of kimchi fried rice or something, fair, out of
your mind is fair?

Speaker 1 (59:41):
This is fair. We've got a bunch of these games.
You don't have the Friday game on the Run the
Board slate because Run the Board is always just for
Saturday and beyond. But most of the other games here
that I mentioned are going to be on a run
the Board slate. Each week you play for fabulous prizes.
This week, I think it's going to be even more
of a fabulous prize. But stay tuned. Wow, more to
come on that front. Yeah, we gotta we got to

(01:00:03):
bring out the big guns for a week like Week
seven is a true big freaking week of games, and
Week eight isn't that much off the pace of Week seven.
We Gate looks like a banger too, So just like,
do some advance planning. I'm just saying, you know, we're
all in this together. Make sure you got your affairs
in order. Cuse seven, eight, even nine. These weeks look

(01:00:28):
like they're gonna be crazy. Man, it's gonna get crazy.
Things are gonna start breaking, Chaos is gonna start happening.

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
Oh so a week, Yeah, I'm looking at week right now.
USC at Notre Dame. Wee Kate's good too, Okay, yeah,
Oregon at Rutgers.

Speaker 1 (01:00:43):
Do you want to come over for that one true
drive over?

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
I can't believe Oregon is doing two East coast trips
in like three and a half weeks.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Okay, ethan calliac manis watch out.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
It's true? All right, Big news going to Ann Arbor
for Washington, Michigan in nineteen ninety one.

Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
Banger Yeah yeah, Don James anthology, m hm, all right
again for the last time. Soliverbal at gmail dot com
is the email. But the most important thing you can
do to support what Dan and I do is click follow,
click subscribe. Wherever it is you are consuming this here
podcast episode, leave a comment, leave a review, leave a

(01:01:23):
star rating. Anything you are willing to do on our behalf,
tell a friend. All of that stuff goes a really
long way towards getting the soliverbal in front of more
people and growing the footprint of the forballerhood. We'd appreciate that.
Of course, verballers dot Com is where you can go
if you want to further support us.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
Yeah, Ty Scott doggy toys to buy, I do. He's
got to keep his two fluffy bitches full of toys showing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
I'm showing this one out to the camera. This is
a duck with a tennis ball and a rope attached,
so we got a lot of swish at the top.
We've got a tennis ball in the middle, We've got
a rope. All three three of the things that my
youngest dog is most obsessed with on one toy.

Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
Wow, eating ducks. Go hoosiers. I guess go hoosiers. All right, cool.

Speaker 1 (01:02:11):
Thank you one and all for your ongoing support of
the show. We will be back on Thursday to give
you a full preview for all that is in store
for us here in week seven. In the meantime, you
know where to follow us, you know how to subscribe
to us. Please do tell your friends about us all
of that good stuff. You're probably tired of hearing me
say that. I won't say it anymore for that guy
over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie

(01:02:33):
hilding Brand, thank you again for everything. We will talk
to you soon as stay solid peace

All Episodes

Poll Reactions, Dan's Big Dump + Early Week 7 Picks for Ohio State-Illinois, Alabama-Missouri & Indiana-Oregon | College Football

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Breakfast Club

.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;}Poll Reactions, Dan's Big Dump + Early Week 7 Picks for Ohio State-Illinois, Alabama-Missouri & Indiana-Oregon | College Football