WEEK 3 PREDICTIONS: Second Chance Saturday & Teams With The Most To Prove | College Football - The Solid Verbal College Football

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal hell that 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? Edo State is that?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Whoo whoo?

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And now Dan and Tye Dan Rubinstein, Week three is
upon us, my friend, welcome back. How is your health?
Could be better? Could be worse?

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Ty, Just like any other day, I feel okay because
I'm here talking about college football. I'm here with you,
I'm here with the verbawlers. Another joy to be on
this planet and standing up right Ty, another day above
Ground's good day.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
As the wise profit Pitbull once said, Dan, welcome back
in to all ofver bawlerhood. Thank you so much for downloading,
for supporting what we do. Of course, verbolers dot com
is where you can go if you want more info
on that. We will talk through the game this week
in just a little bit after we talk about many
of the other games that are going on in and

(01:03):
around the world of college football. If you didn't catch
the episode that we did on Tuesday, we talk through
three of the big matchups in week three. Those include
Georgia on the road at Tennessee, Florida, on the road
at LSU, Texas A and M on the road at
Notre Dame, and we will talk about those a little
bit here momentarily, But if you want the deeper dive,

(01:24):
you're going to have to go back and listen to
that on the Tuesday episode Dan. Of course, if you
are here right now, if you like what you hear
throughout the course of the episode, hit follow, hit subscribe
so that you don't miss any of our episodes. If
you're watching or listening on any platform that allows you
to drop a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
Please watch out, drop a comment, let us know how

(01:45):
you feel about our predictions, give us some of your own.
All of that stuff helps the verballer hood go round.
My good friend, how are you feeling about week three?
I feel really good about week three. I feel really
good about you know, you get to the portion of
the before where you're like, all right, I've been saving
a little bit of room on my plate for these
crab claws. There is something about week three and the

(02:06):
depth of interesting stories. Now that we have two weeks.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Of a little bit of data, a little bit of
a concept of where teams are and aren't as related
to expectations, who's surging past early expectations, who is lagging
behind early expectations? But also Week three for a lot
of these teams, and this sort of dovetails with our
prove it segment.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
You have a sound for that? I assume I do
have a sound. I'm going to use the same one
as last week, since you responded better to that one.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Okay, thank you very much. The weird horns didn't get
me going, Now get me horn. It's fine if you will. Yeah,
there is something about this specific Week three that makes
me think about the number two because for a number
of people in this great sport and a number of teams,
I have this as a second chance Saturday that you

(02:54):
don't need to wait until October to prove that what
you did early on was a fluke and you're different
now because there are opportunities for so many teams and
so many players to erase what happened in Week one
or in Week two, with the opportunity against a quality
opponent or playing against equality defense or offense to say,
you know what, I'm going to take advantage of this

(03:15):
Week three opportunity, and I'm going to say that down
performance that disappointing performance in week one er week two?
Does you can reverse it this quickly?

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Ty?

Speaker 3 (03:26):
You can reverse it? If you are DJ Lagway, if
you're CJ. Carr, if you're Alabama playing against an opponent
you definitely should beat and our favorite to beat comfortably.
You have that opportunity, right that. If you are Texas
A and M, you get a second chance at Notre
Dame after losing last season. If you are Notre Dame,
you get a second chance.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
For CJ.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Carr, and this offense took a little bit more dynamic
against a high quality defense and program. There is that
across the board. I saw somewhere that Josh Hipel hasn't
scored more than seventeen points against Georgia. I don't know
if it's a second chance, but it might be a
second chance at a second chance, and that counts for something.

(04:06):
And I just love the idea. You know, we have
what LSU and Florida. That's a big time second chance
for DJ Lagway and this Florida offense to show any
sort of pop, which I.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Think that's there.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
I think that's where that that in sync bite comes from.
The song pop, right, Yeah, So I'm very excited for
this Second Chance Saturday because I think there's a lot
that can be flipped for a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Beautiful Well, second Chance Saturday, I think is going to
work out quite well for us here in the forballerhood.
We have a bunch of awesome games to discuss here today,
not just those three that we talked about on Tuesday.
We will get into those momentarily. But as you hinted, Dan,
we've been doing this segment the last couple of weeks

(04:53):
called prove it in this lifetime. You'll have to prove
nothing to nobody except yourself and that little pop. Speaking
of pop, yeah, before we played it before week two.
This is kind of when we look around college football,
we take the temperature of what's going on and I

(05:13):
think try to verbalize which teams, which players, which coaches,
which whatever have the most on the line in Week three.
Like I look at this slate this week and I say,
Florida has a lot on the line. It's not just
to build a napier thing. It's not just the DJ
Lagway thing. But Florida was one of those teams that
had a lot of preseason hype coming into the twenty

(05:34):
twenty five season. Losing to USF is not what they
had on their bingo card in Week two. Clearly they
had this game circled against LSU. So I am curious
to see what we've got from the Gators this week
on the road at night in Death Valley. That is
going to be a tough, tough proving ground for them,

(05:56):
to say the absolute bare minimum. Sure, but they've got
a prove that they have what it takes. Even if
they don't win that game, they've at least got to
go toe to toe with LSU come out of that
one with a close loss. Because anything more than that
is bad news for Napier. It's bad news for that program.
It probably is a death knell with respect to just

(06:17):
preseason vibes that were really really strong in Gainesville. So
they're the first that come to mind for me. Who's
the first that comes to mind for you?

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, I have that on my list. And to just
build on what you were saying, I think it's a
BILLI Napier DJ Lagway combination because he's the play caller,
he's the architect of this offense and whatever deficiencies he
has as an offensive mind with this team, you sort
of expect a quarterback to be able to lift to
the best of his ability and cover for any deficiencies. Right,
That's why we use the term playmaker, to be able

(06:47):
to create something out of nothing, to buy time and
go downfield, to be more precise, to use your legs,
whatever it takes to keep the chains moving. So I
think they have a ton to prove. I have Clemson
here as a team with a lot to prove. Clemson
has a Georgia Tech and we're going to get into
more detail in this preview that I think still has
defensive issues, but is also a Georgia Tech team. That
this is the matchup of the home slate for Georgia Tech. Yes,

(07:10):
so you will never because the Georgia game, I think
is in Mercedes Benz this season. So when you look
at the schedule, there is not going to be a
more hyped up crowd for an opponent than what Clemson
will be seeing in Bobby Dodd and what Clemson showed
last week was very little on offense for the majority
of that game. Slushy weather obviously the lightning delay, But
Georgia Tech is so specific in how they want to

(07:33):
beat you, which is just running the ball down your throat,
and Clemson again has had some issues stopping the run.
They weren't consistent in doing it last season. The offense
looked vanilla against Troy until they decided to sort of
take the game seriously. Maybe I don't know. I don't
know why. It was a lot of like dink and
dunk and unable to move the pile. It wasn't impressive
from a Clemson offensive perspective for a chunk of that game.

(07:55):
Just sloppy and unimagined, unimaginative.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
Excuse me.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
So, I think Clemson has a ton to prove that.
Once again, we're not just talking about Clemson as a
team to compete to win the ACC. We're saying, given
their experience, given that this is Kad Klebnick's fourth year
playing in this system, that they should be a team
ready to compete as a top four legit national championship contender.
And what better time to perrove it than against a

(08:21):
really challenging opponent on the road.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
I've got Miami on my list as well. Okay, And
I kind of wavered a little bit as to whether
I should mention this here, but I think it applies. Look,
I don't continue. Miami has, for better or worse, over
the last couple seasons, earned this reputation of falling short

(08:45):
in some big moments, though not all right, and though
I feel like they are a much better team than USF,
and I understand the big destrodum last year, right destroud,
I understand the point spread which we will talk about
here in addition to that Clemson game and some others.
But this is an opportunity for them to leave no doubt,

(09:07):
and especially in the state of Florida, which is really
interesting with respect to college football right now, right, Miami
has an opportunity here to drill USF and beat a
team that just beat Florida. By the way, Miami is
Florida on deck. Correct. It is a look ahead spot, Yeah,
a little bit of a look ahead spot. So we

(09:28):
have seen Miami in situations like this before maybe look
past an opponent and not put their best foot forward.
And I think this is an opportunity for them to
do just that, albeit against the USF side that is
two and oh has had a really good start to
its season. I think you and I are both in
unanimous agreement that Miami is way better in terms of

(09:49):
just roster construction and what they've got depth wise. This
is an opportunity for them to go pedal to the
metal to prove it, to prove that what we saw
against noted aim in week one, to prove that what
we saw last week was, you know, this is going
to be a trend and not something that they forget
about when they were in a look ahead spot.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
This It reminds me a little bit. Obviously I'm gonna
make this about me and my fandom, but when Colorado
traveled to Eugene and Dan Lanning gave the whole like, yeah,
they're the darlings of this sport early on. That ends today. Yep,
this Cinderella story ends today. And USF has not gotten
the type of attention, don't. They don't have the type
of personality that Dion Sanders was and is. But USF

(10:33):
absolutely coming out of nowhere to be one of the
big stories and darlings of this early season. With how
they've performed on the field, Miami has the opportunity to
prove that, yes, this ends today.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
The only other team that I'll throw out there, and
I'm curious to get your reaction to this. South Carolina, Okay,
what do they have to prove against what Vandy? South
Carolina at home against Vandy. I was thinking this through
before we hit go here, and I could actually make
the same sort of case for South Carolina as I

(11:07):
did Virginia Tech when I talked about Virginia Tech needing
to prove itself against Vandy a week ago. I think
South Carolina is in a position where there's a lot
of hype around this program, given Leonora Sellers and Dylan
Stewart and maybe starting to see Nick Harbor kind of
come out of our viberation. Like they've had some moments

(11:27):
here in the early part of the season, and I'm
just curious to see how they look at home against
an opponent that seems to have it together. Like I
know we're not used to saying that about Vandy, but
the way that Vandy pulled away in the second half
of that Virginia Tech game was damn impressive. Vandy does
not need to prove anything to anybody. They're going to be,
I think the consummate underdog, but for sure South Carolina

(11:51):
is trying to play for something more. Does have NFL
caliber towent on both sides of the football, and this
is only a four and a half point line at
time of recording, so they need to prove that they
are good enough to beat a team like a Vandy,
who they should be, and they have better talent than
across the board.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
I just I don't have them on my list because
I don't feel when I think about South Carolina's potential
this year, which I think is pretty high given when
you have a star quarterback and somebody who's able to
capable of playing like Lenora Sellers can, obviously there should
be a good amount of expectations on your shoulders. But
they haven't lost early. They've looked good, Vandy's looked good.
I don't think the season trajectory changes unless they absolutely destroyed,

(12:31):
So I'm not sure how much they have to prove.
I don't know how much that changes our outlook on
South Carolina because I think if this game is competitive
one way or the other, I think we're going to
like both teams moving forward.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
One hundred percent. The reason that I think I bring
them up the most is just because the SEC right
now feels very influx to me. Very early right for
the most part, haven't gotten into conference play. They're going
a couple games here and there. But I'm I'm of
the mind that if you are a South Carolina believer,

(13:03):
these are the types of games that you need to
see them win in order to verify what you're feeling.
They got to win them like this. That's where I'm
at here.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
Okay, My next prove it team is Tennessee Volunteers. Well,
why don't we do this, Dan, Why don't we put
a pin in that for a second? Oh, you play
my sound? I love this sound.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Time the week. Wait three coming at you, three point thirty, ABC,
it's Georgia, It's Tennessee. This line is now down the
three and a half points again. We did the deep
dive on the Tuesday episode. You were just about to
talk about Tennessee. Yes, figured that would be a perfect
vehicle to get to this segment of the show. Talk

(13:49):
to me about Tennessee and why they need to prove
anything to you.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
Josh Eipel and the Balls have not been able to
figure out Georgia. This Georgia team, while looks like they
are going to have another terrific defense. I think this offense,
there are a number of questions about whether or not
they can score thirty points against a good team and
their opponents haven't dictated a ton to us, but they

(14:14):
don't look like killers on offense early on this year.
Gunnerstockton does not look like somebody who is either capable
or trusted to take shots downfield, be aggressive and loo
was Marshall and Austin p I understand that, but there
doesn't seem to be the pop desire from this Georgia team.

(14:36):
And when you play against the best of Tennessee, there
will be times where you're gonna have to flip a
certain switch. And right now, I think there's pressure on
Georgia and now particularly Look, this game is in Knoxville, yes, correct,
so you're at home. You have an opportunity after looking
very good early on, depending on what serious season looks like,

(14:58):
we'll see struggling Cloud last week. I think Tennessee has
an opportunity if you're bringing a good defense and a
home field, a home crowd to this matchup, that there
is an opportunity to prove that you have taken the
next step. Even if as overall expectations for Tennessee this
season aren't like we've been building towards twenty twenty five.

(15:20):
Right the offense, I still think needs another year to
get seasoned, but I think opportunity wise, it's a really
nice chance for Tennessee to prove that it can get
over on a team that has struggled too recently.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
College game Day is going to be in town. This
is clearly going to be a pretty big setting for
this game. I was on Tennessee's My Home Dog of
the Week. Okay, when we did our predictions on Tuesday.
I honestly don't remember who you took here. I think
I took Tennessee. Yeah, I think we both were on
the balls here, And I'm just wondering if anything has

(15:53):
changed your mind over the last forty eight hours since
we did the last episode. I've been a little creeped
out by this point, spread to be honest with you,
that that it keeps moving in the Tennessee direction. I
mean you can kind of look at that both ways.
It either affirms what we're feeling or it gives us
reason to be creeped out. If a line is going
in one direction, oftentimes going in the other tends to

(16:13):
be profitable.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
So I think it just sort of depends that, Like
in your gut, do you feel Georgia is Georgia in
your gut, do you feel like, yes, it's nice that
Joey Aguilar has shown immediate comfort in this offense and
that guys are getting loose and they're winning in a
number of ways against you know, less than stellar opponents
in this moment, and that it's a comeback down to

(16:37):
Earth moment for the Balls because the best thing on
this field, it's not a difficult case to make, is
still going to be the Georgia defense. Defense travels they
you know, Kirby Smart has exclusively won I believe against
Tennessee and Josh Hypel, So do you believe this here
is different or do you believe that, you know, say

(16:58):
what you will about Georgia's offense, they can win this
game twenty to seventeen.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
I'm just a little worried about falling into the trap
that I set for myself that I warned everybody about
before the season, and not to reiterate what I said
again on Tuesday, but I was all about Tennessee's gonna
go out, They're gonna blow the doors off their first
two opponents. Everyone's gonna feel great about the Valls, and
they're gonna.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
Which they kind of did last year before coming back
down to Earth.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, did the exact same thing, which is why I
brought it up in the first place. Right, But I'm
gonna roll with Tennessee here because I'm unclear what to
feel about Georgia. Yeah, Georgia will still be very good.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Yeah, I'm just I believe in Tennessee's defense. You give
me a defense, a home crowd, a home dog, say less,
I'm in.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
I mentioned that Florida has got a lot to prove
against LSU. This is seven point thirty. This is an
ABC game. This is on the road at night against LSU.
Florida at LSU, LSU favored by eight and a half points.
Now at time of recording, we did our show on Tuesday,
it was nine and a half. I was on Florida
felt like too many points to me. I stand by

(18:09):
that prediction. Excuse me, but I also stand by what
I said a moment ago about Florida having a lot
to prove here. I think if you come out of
this game, you end up losing by fourteen seventeen points.
If things get out of hand against LSU, that's a
real problem, and suddenly there's going to be a lot
more smoke around the Billy Napier thing than you know,

(18:30):
we expected for it being week three and not even
through the month of September. So I don't know if
they win this one outright. I think they've got the
talent to win this one out right. And I'm also
not entirely convinced on the LSU defense side of things
that to me. You know, we're going to talk about
Clemson here in a moment, but you can definitely play

(18:50):
a little game where you're wondering is LSU's defense that
good or is Clemson's offense just not together yet. This
will be another opportunity, I think for LSU to prove
that side of the ball what they're capable of. But
on the Florida side, they've clearly got the most pressure here.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
To be clear, LSU's defense is ahead of their own
offense by like a considerable margin in this moment. In
this moment have been more dependable. They have played against
a fourth year starting quarterback at a huge place in Clemson,
and Kate club Nick and came to play. So I
think I'm a little bit I'm sticking with my pick.

(19:25):
I'm gonna take the points. I think LSU wins, but
I think it's close. I think Florida is probably overlooked
USF to whatever extent last week, and I think they're
gonna be more locked in. I don't mean who's not
locked in going to Death Valley. So I'm gonna stay
with Florida improving but not having the wherewithal to finish

(19:47):
a game against LSU on the road again. Go back Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
We did the deep dive of this one, and the
other one that we did a deep dive of on
Tuesday was the A and M Notre Dame game. I've
seen this line jump around a little bit. I've seen
it as high as seven. Right now, it says six
and a half when I look at the sheet. Either way,
the odds makers have Notre Dame as about a touchdown
favorite here against Texas A and M. I am probably

(20:11):
not the most objective voice on a game like this
because I tend to overcorrect for the fact that everybody
knows I'm a Notre Dame fan.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, well, you had them correctly beating Miami, I assume
to start the season on the road.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
Continue.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
I was wholly convinced that they had that game. I mean,
Miami tried to be clear to make you sound they
did prescient. Yeah, they did so. My thoughts aside on
this game. You like Notre Dame way more than I did.
I tend to think it's going to be very close
and within that number. I don't know if either team
here has a ton to prove on the national level,

(20:50):
like maybe more A and M, because A and M
has generally not done well in spots like this this early.
Right the Notre Dame side of things, I think it
will be more defensive if they were to take a loss,
just given that there is a lot new new quarterback,
new coordinator and the works. But the A and M
side of this, to me is really really interesting and
I'm curious to see what kind of game plan they

(21:11):
try to run against Notre Dame. Sure, so this is
Notre Dame coming off of a bye correct correct A
and M played last week, got a little dinged up.
Marcel Reid should be fine. I don't know if I
just if this A and M passing attack has matured
to the point where I trust them against a strong
defense on the road. I don't trust CJ. Carr that

(21:33):
much this early against a good defense, but I think
i'd rather have the quarterback I have questions about at home,
who's been in the program and is a little I
think they're the same age though, right, I think Marcel
Reid and CJ. Car are roughly the same age. Marcel
red just has far more playing experience. I think I'm
just going Notre Dame. I just trust that defense at

(21:53):
home a little bit more to force a couple of mistakes.
And you know, the targets for Marcel read are new
to college station, and I just think it's going to
take a little bit more time.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
So I'm going Notre Dame here.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
I forget what the score I gave out, but similar
to what the Oklahoma Michigan game was last week twenty
four to fourteen, something like that.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
I know you well enough to know that when you
feel good about a game, that's the tone in your voice. Yeah,
and I do feel pretty good about this game. Yeah,
You're usually pretty spot on when you have that kind
of demeanor about you. So I'm gonna hope that you're right.
As a Notre Dame fan. Again, we covered all three
of these on Tuesday. Now, in terms of games that
are also big that we did not cover, let's travel

(22:38):
back in time, Dan Boda Dooda dooda doo High Noon ESPN.
It is Clemson tipping the scales at one and one
on the road at Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech two and zero.
Georgia Tech is a three and a half point home dog,
Dan Rubinstein. We miss this in our week two recap

(23:03):
because Tech played Gardner Webb. No, Haines King's already banged
up through one week of the year. It sounds like
they let him sit it out on purpose so that
he could heal our costs. This one precautionary, of course,
A long season ahead of them. Sounds like he's good
to go. I did entertain the notion of buying is
Haines King hurt dot com It can be yours for

(23:25):
the low price of eighteen ninety nine. I did not
buy that. But the answer is generally yes if you're wondering. Yes,
Clemson's won the last nine meetings in this matchup. Eight
of those nine have been by double digits, including the
one last year when they won forty two to twenty one. Yes,
a lot of people are high on Georgia Tech. I

(23:46):
might be higher than everybody on Clemson, perhaps even to
this day. Are you pulling the upset here? If you're
Georgia Tech. Are you covering the point spread at home?
If you're Georgia Tech, what is your game plan? If
you're Georgia Tech.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
If you're Georgia Tech, what's the game plan? Let Clemson
beat itself?

Speaker 1 (24:07):
Maybe?

Speaker 3 (24:08):
So that sounds very simple, but it's sort of you
have to yourself be buttoned up. You yourself can't shoot
yourself in the foot. You yourself have to have a
very specific vision and stick with it whether or not
it's working early, but stick hang around and wait for
Clemson to make mistakes. And it wasn't pretty last week.
That doesn't define who Clemson is this season. I like

(24:29):
the spot for Clemson actually, and it's not the Haines
King thing. It's it's not a real road game. I
mean it is, but it's you know, it's a very
close distance to cover, so it's not flying across the
country or flying to Boston or something like that.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
For Clemson. It's an easy ride.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
And I think Clemson getting that kind of wake up
call last week going down whatever was sixteen nothing, sixteen
to three to Troy. I think that's extremely helpful early
on in the season in the way that like as
soon as notreedme take any pick, but Notre Dame loses
last year to Northern Illinois and completely takes it out
on the next like seven opponents. Right, they start drilling them,

(25:07):
they start getting bunned up. Everybody locks it.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
It's a zombie Alabama situation, is what you're describing, right, Yeah,
a little bit of taste of their own blood and
then suddenly they turn into something more. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Now what has me worried is there is a single
word that I don't love seeing next to a player
at any position, let alone Clemson's leading receiver, and that's hamstring.
Antonio Williams did not play last week correct against Troy,
And it might have been precautionary.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
He might just be nicked up.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
It might just be a very minor thing when you
are dependent on speed and power and force and your
hamstring is nagging at you.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
I don't love it.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
And maybe it's just because I myself an elite athlete
that provides a ton of torque in my life and
I've dinged up my hamstrings. Is not fun so and
I know obviously Clemson has firepower aside from him, but
I still like Clemson here because I think Georgia Tech
is going to have all of Clem's attention, especially after
what they almost did against Georgia last season, what they

(26:04):
did against Miami last season, And I think getting that
wake up call, I think is going to be very
valuable for Clemson.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
I think they have better players. I think they have
a better team.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
And if you shut down, which is a big if
it's a big ask Georgia Tech on the ground, I
think it becomes a lot more difficult because Georgia Tech's
defense is still not at a place that I love.
You know, I take Tennessee because it's a good defense
at home. I wish Georgia Tech's defense were a little
bit closer to above average. Yeah, it's two games in,
we have no idea, but I would have liked to

(26:35):
see in a little bit more against Colorado. So I'm
going Clemson here to win by a touchdown and take
this one thirty to twenty three.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, I think we're kind of on the same track here.
Like the big question for me goes back to Clemson's
offense in Week one against LSU. And I know I
mentioned it a few minutes ago, but just two hundred
and sixty one yards. Was that because the LSU defense
was so good. Was that because they're not that good
on offense, or they're still trying to get it together
on offense. Even last week they outgained Troy I think

(27:06):
by a total of five yards, and most of that
was in the second half. They had a sluggish start,
they had a weather delay, they had some injuries. You know,
we don't need to re litigate that. But I think
the Clemson offense question is obviously more of an existential
thing that we're going to have to talk about over
the course of the season, and this is like another
important step to try and understand where they're at. I'm

(27:27):
not sure how much it matters though, against Georgia Tech,
because Georgia Tech is not a team, at least not
recently that anyone has associated with defense, virtually no pass rush.
A year ago, the pass defense was really bad. I
think they've got the talent to be better this season,
but I'm not expecting any kind of shutdown defensive effort

(27:49):
from them in this one against Clemson. So I think
this is a lot of fun. It's a great matchup.
I've got it at something like thirty one twenty five Clemson.
I'm not super confident in now.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
You have to actually it's an actual gamble to feel
good about Clemson's offense.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
It is right now, it is, and so that's why
I say I'm not overly confident in that. But part
of me feels like at this point I'm so invested
in Clemson. Just you know, I've been talking about Clemson
left and right since we started doing previews back in July.
I would be a hypocrite for not picking them in
a spot like this. So I think the difference ultimately

(28:26):
is the defense is better. The defense gets a few
key stops. It's fairly well telegraphed what Georgia Tech's gonna
do when they have the football and it's going to
go through Haines King. I think a couple key stops.
I think a couple big passing plays, probably to Bryant
Westco who had some big ones last week as well.
Thirty one to twenty five is sort of what I'm thinking.

(28:48):
But I think it's a good game, and I think
it's a lot of fun. It's a great matchup in
the early part of the day.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
By the way, if Clemson doesn't score thirty points this week,
I think I might just be done with Clemson as
a national championship content. There's something very risk averse and
scared and shriveling about this Clemson offensive vision that I'm
just not on board with. Given the experience and given
the potential.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Three point thirty ESPN they call it the backyard brawl
Pit two and oh West Virginia one oh one. Pitt
is a seven point road favorite. They lead the all
time series sixty three wins to forty one losses. They're
also three ties thrown in there for those who care.
What do we do in a rivalry of this magnitude,

(29:34):
Dan Rubinstein, you.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
Got to throw out the records unless the team just
did nothing against Ohio continual?

Speaker 1 (29:43):
Can Rich Rod get revenge for his infamous thirteen to
nine loss against Pitts. That's true, the one that cost
them a spot in the BCS title game back in
two thousand and seven. I will also point out, as
was emailed to us, this is of course a game
being played on the thirteenth day of the ninth month

(30:05):
of the year, just to maybe complete the semi Wow.
Did you see that somewhere? Did you? Maody emailed it
in oh, okay, nice, where are you at here?

Speaker 3 (30:16):
I just don't you can say that West Virginia was
in a look ahead spot, but they knew Ohio was good.
They knew Ohio won the MAC last year. So this
is a quality opponent that they had last week that
they could do nothing basically on offense against. I have
no reason to pick West Virginia here other than the
fact that it's at home, and it's an emotional spot,

(30:38):
and you have to believe in like the Pixie dust
in Morgantown to feel good about West Virginia in the spot.
Even if Pitt is once again an up and down
team this season, obviously they're going to be motivated in
a rivalry spot. Obviously they have experience on offense and
a good track record on defense. Doesn't happen every year.
We'll see where they are pit again, what do you

(30:58):
know about Pitt this year? They're better than Douque. Yeah,
they're better than Central Michigan. Okay, So basically you're saying
to yourself, who has shown more of an ability to
completely tank and that's West Virginia in this moment, which
is like so obviously sort of understandable.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
This isn't a roster that, like.

Speaker 3 (31:18):
Rich Rodriguez has curated over the years and you know,
recruited to a specific vision over time. So I just
think Pitt's better and they're gonna win this game by
two touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, pittlock of the week, block of the week. You
know where I stand on Pitt. I like them a lot.
I take your point about Duquine in Central Michigan. I
don't think he can take a whole lot away from that.
But Eli Holstein is back healthy. They are seven and two.
When Eli Holstein is back and healthy, I think the

(31:47):
trend continues here. I was hesitant. I hate taking a
road favorite in a rivalry game like this. I hate, hate,
hate it. But the other thing that we should add
to your point about what am I betting on with
West Virginia. Did you see Jaheim White is down for
the year now?

Speaker 3 (32:02):
Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, he's done. And so
you're like, what are you betting on? You're like, well,
you're betting on less with regard to the rushing attack, probably,
So what is the manner in which West Virginia is
fighting here?

Speaker 1 (32:16):
West Virginia loss last week to Ohio, as you mentioned,
They were also outgained by nearly two hundred yards one
hundred and eighty yards, So offense is a serious issue
at this juncture. Rich Rod is still figuring it out.
I don't think that is a black guy for West
Virginia or rich Rod. There's a lot new There's a
reason that he took over the program. They are basically

(32:37):
trying to reboot. So I'm not feeling it on the
West Virginia side. If West Virginia were to pull off
the upset here or even keep this one close, that
would be a shocker to me and would definitely be
a flashing red light with respect to my pit love.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
You might even be fortunate if you are planning on
wagering on this game, that we've only seen two games
of West Virginia. Yes, because potentially, if we've have three
four games of West Virginia, if they if what last
week was is representative of where they are at least
early on in the season, you might have been looking
at an eleven and a half point line, thirteen and
a half point line.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
So that's exactly right.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
I hope we get a good one here. I hope that,
like we get a game that says look, West Virginia
is starting over. But you gotta appreciate their fight in
the spot like this against a hated rival. But it
you gotta really squint. You gotta have that ability between
the eyelids, because it's not apparent right now.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Thirty one to fourteen Pit wins going away. Yeah, thirty
four to thirteen. Yeah, four to thirty pm Eastern time
on the c dub dan USF two and O Miami
two and O Miami favored at home by a seventeen
and one half points. I would say a bit lost
in the shuffle amid Florida losing to USF is the

(33:52):
fact that USF through two weeks of the season has
blown all projections to smith reams with respect to its defense. True,
just twenty three points allowed to both Boise State and Florida.
Combine the audacity of Todd Orlando's defense. Oh, you're getting
out ahead of me. I was building to say that

(34:15):
I apologize. I was building to say that the secret
in Tampa is Orlando. It's good. It's good. Look another
second chance.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
Right.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
What was his reputation after USC It wasn't great. He's
revived things for himself. It's great in both cases, both
Boise and Florida, we saw the opposing defense or opposing offense,
excuse me, look extremely sloppy, and I think we can
chalk some of that up to early season yips, maybe

(34:46):
some look ahead with Florida having LSU on deck. Yeah,
but it is something to take note of going into
this game twice as a coincidence. If they were to
do it again, that could be more of a trend.
It's going to be harder, though, because I think Miami
is a better team and they have faced so far.
So yes, maybe the secret in Tampa is Orlando. Maybe
it isn't, but this is a big point spread. I

(35:09):
don't think USF can sneak up on anybody at this point,
given what they've done through the early part of the season.
And again, this is an opportunity for Miami to prove
its metal, to prove that it's not going to look
past this opponent. With Florida on deck, where you at.

Speaker 3 (35:26):
I'm taking Miami and I'm taking it for the like
this ends today. Element of it that USF has all
of Miami's attention. I don't think Miami is a finished product,
but I think with what they're ceiling is with regard
to speed on offense. I know you love the young
receivers from Miami after what you saw them do up
close against Notre Dame or I guess up close emotionally

(35:48):
not physically sure, And I like where Miami's defense appears
to be and appears to be headed under Corey Heatherman.
I think when you have the potential to have as
disruptive a defensive line as Miami should have every week,
I think that changes the calculus that you can't just
beat Miami with an opportunistic quarterback who can extend things.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
I think he's gonna get.

Speaker 3 (36:13):
Hit a little bit more than he has been against Miami.
I like the receivers for USF a bunch, and it
would not at all surprise me if USF was up
ten to three or something in this game early. Because
I think Alex Golish is a great offensive mind. I
think they're gonna have a great game plan for Miami.
But I think over four quarters, the speed and the
attention and how locked.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
In Miami is going to be.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
I think it's going to go similarly to where it
was last year, even though this offense is not where
this Miami offense is not where Miami's offense was last year. No,
I think we're looking at something like thirty eight seventeen Miami.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
Yeah, and we also don't know where Miami's offense is
at this year. They played defense, play a really good defense. Yeah.
They blew out Bethune Cookman last week, and I think
we know for sure it'll look different. It can't look
the same because the quarterbacks are completely from players, But
this could still be a really good Miami offense. I
think gave voice to that, you know, I did a

(37:05):
big number. I think it'll be slower paced than it
was a year ago, and I don't think they're going
to have quite the playmaker in the backfield like they
did last year with cam Ward, but it could still
be very good and we saw some of those guys
on display against Notre Dame. The USF offense is super
interesting to me, Yeah, because if you look at the numbers,
it's been a really fun combination of very explosive and

(37:28):
highly inefficient, and in general, those are some of the
most fun teams to follow because you just don't know
what you're going to get from play to play. They
are not playing quite as fast as I expected. They're
basically building the entire plane out of Byron Brown, their quarterback,
along with Keishawn Singleton out wide, Chas Nimrod one of
the great chazz is in college football right now, next

(37:51):
to Chas Coleman up at Penn State. I don't know
if they can do enough just with that trio to
get the job done here against Miami, but I think
they're gonna try. The quirk for me is the look
ahead factor on the Miami side. Is that something that
we see come out early, come out late, my hunches,

(38:12):
we won't. I think how you feel about this game
depends entirely on where you're at with Miami's ability to
move the pile with its line. If you feel like
Miami's got the advantage up front, as I do, and
that they can push USF around like they did to
some extent Notre Dame, Yeah, then you feel like Miami

(38:35):
can bully their way through USF and ultimately get get
the dub here. They can dictate tempo, they can dictate tone.
I think that's what happens. I don't think it's a blowout,
though I really don't. And so I was back and
forth on this point spread, I've got it at thirty
one to twenty one, miamim interesting.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
Okay, so you're taking the points here. So this is
what It's the third straight rear game for USF. I
mean a game against a very real opponent. Not a
lot of people can say that. If anybody right, it's
their second straight game on the road in a difficult environment,
and I just wonder what the spread is if I
know this is going to sound fictional, tie, I know
this is going to sound like it's not of this world.
If Florida took care of business at the end of

(39:18):
the game in a sensical way, right that this was
an absolutely winning or winnable game for Florida that they
couldn't close in. So, like, what is our opinion of
USF if they just put up a good fight but
lost late against Florida, You're like, Okay, great job USF.
You are hanging with a quality SEC team and you
beat a playoff program from last season.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
What a start this is.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
Twenty two and a half points, twenty four points, Like,
that's the question to me that, like, how much work
is that win doing when it was you know, on
the other side of things, a very losable moment for USF.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
What's your final score prediction? I said thirty eight seventeen
thirty eight seventeen, Yeah, yeah, I could see.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
It all right.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Seven forty five sec Network Vandy two and O South
Carolina two and O South Carolina favored by four and
a half points. Feel low, Feel it'slow, Uh not really.
I mean I think Vandy's good, not great, but good.
Weird quirk. Yeah. Week three. We have a common opponent

(40:19):
between these two teams, do we not we do in
Virginia Tech. Yeah. I think it's a much harder ask
on the Vandy side to go two lane stadium and
beat Virginia Tech. Albeit not the Virginia Tech that we
grew up rooting for or grew up watching, right, but
still a tough place to play still, I think a

(40:42):
fair amount of talent on that side. Probably a bigger discussion,
But I was really impressed by the way that Vandy
asserted itself in the second half of that one, and
I think it really underscored the fact that they're a
good team. They're good team. Diego Pavia was still able
to take over. It's a veteran squad. They had a
ton of returning production I believe the most in the

(41:03):
SEC coming into the year, and it showed. It absolutely showed.
So now this is going to be the next step
here going to South Carolinas. One is at night. South Carolina,
I think does have a lot to prove in a
matchup like this. Okay, is there any reason to believe
that the Diego Pavia Pixie dust is going to be
spread all over Columbia South Carolina? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (41:28):
I don't know if you should feel amazing about South
Carolina's offense in this moment. How many offensive points did
they score against Virginia Tech?

Speaker 1 (41:35):
Seventeen? Right?

Speaker 3 (41:36):
They had the punt return touchdown, right, correct, so I
think it's seventeen points against Virginia Tech. How many points
did Vandy score against Virginia Tech forty four? Forty four,
which seems like it's more than double. Again, I went
to a state school. Math is not my strong suit.
So if you were to take common opponent after three weeks,
Vanderbilt's offense was much better prepared, especially as the game

(41:57):
war on, to take it to Virginia Tech. Whereas South
Carolina's offense, I have some questions about this offensive line
doesn't seem like it's fully formed whenever that form is
going to be. They're looking for answers in this moment,
so that would be a reason why to feel better
about Vandy. I don't love the double road game thing.

(42:18):
Two difficult places to play Williams Bryce and Lane Stadium.
I think South Carolina by the fact that they're at home,
that they I mean, they both have you know, folk hero,
super fun quarterbacks. I think they edge out Vandy late
in this one. I think there's gonna be an energy
to this one. I think it's be a great back
and forth. I have South Carolina winning this game ultimately

(42:40):
twenty seven to twenty four.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
I've got it. I'm going to take the points. Okay,
I've got at thirty one to twenty South Carolina. But
I think it's a similar game to the one you described.
I do think it's close, and I think Vandy's a
good team, and I love the veteran experience, especially on
the road hostile environment like Williams Brice. They will probably
beat expectations again this season. They will find a way
to do that.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
I know.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
It's something that we talked a lot about in the
preseason about how well the schedule is going to be hard,
and it's an uphill battle to get back to where
they were. You remember all of that conversation a couple
months ago. But I still think they will find a
way to exceed expectations because that just seems to be
the mentality in the culture of this program right now.
But it's just too much to ask. I think going

(43:25):
to South Carolina at night to win this one outright,
But I do think it's close for most of the game,
and I think Carolina pulls way late, kind of like
the Virginia Tech to be honest with you, So I'll
say thirty one to twenty, but I could see it
being lower scoring and I could see it being closer.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, I'm just going to need to see it from
South Carolina's offense because they didn't show much in terms
of closing in terms of pop against Virginia Tech in
week one.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
That's basically all we have. So this is a second
chance for.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
South Carolina against quality opponents to show offensive progress.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
A couple other quick hitters here that I want to
talk through. Okay, I'm ready high neon ABC Wisconsin too,
and oh Alabama one and one, but Alabama favored by
about three touchdowns here at home. Is there any good
reason to go Wisconsin plus the points outright? Can you
construct that case for me?

Speaker 2 (44:14):
Now?

Speaker 1 (44:15):
No, I can't. So it's Wisconsin.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
Well, I guess has a second chance at a quarterback
after losing Billy Edwards early on. We'll see how when
he comes back. But if it's Danny O'Neil, I think
he's a backup quarterback, which means I think he has
some spunk, he has some playmaking ability. But when you
watch him play, when you watch him play against Middle
Tennessee last week, you're like, this is not gonna go
well against Alabama. Of Alabama cares why? And I think

(44:38):
Alabama's going to care against.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
What did you see when you watched him?

Speaker 3 (44:41):
I think he was a little bit late. I don't
think he's got a good arm. I don't think the
offense is going to be all that dynamic with him
in there. I don't think they have the receivers to
really challenge Alabama's dbs. And I think there's a good
chance that Wisconsin's going to struggle to protect him as
I think he's late, hold onto the ball too long.
And Alabama, if they have a pass rush that's improving

(45:04):
over the course of the season, should be able to
disrupt his field division, should be able to disrupt his confidence.
I have Alabama big here, and I think they're gonna
be just fine against Wisconsin because look look at the
DCAL in Wisconsin's helmet. You have to take them seriously.
They're a major program, and I think Alabama will.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
Yeah, I've got a zombie Bama situation. I think they
tasted their own blood. I think they've been hearing what's
been said about them in the national media, and I
think they handle Wisconsin easily. Forty five to fourteen, Yeah,
final something like that was going to say fifty two

(45:42):
to fourteen. I think they're going to run one up
here on the Badgers, seven pm ESPN, Arkansas on the
road at Ole Miss. Dan. Yes, Ole Miss is a
seven point favorite. Is it weird of me to feel
really good about Arkansas here? Yeah, I don't know what
you're feeling really good about. But their offense has been

(46:04):
so good so far.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
They've looked really good, and I'm sure they've played like
a legitimate defense where you're just like that's a measuring stick.
They beat Alabama A and M. I know, listen, there's
no comma between those they didn't beat Alabama and Texas
A and M. They beat Alabama A and M.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Yeah, I am going to go down with the ship
on this one. Okay, I am taking Arkansas outright. Okay.
I don't know why. I can't fully put into words
why I feel this way, but in looking at the
numbers that I saw, granted against far lesser competition, I
got the sense that they could win this game. I

(46:42):
am going to trust my intuition because when I try
to think through my picks, it generally doesn't work out
any better. I'm going to go with my gut. My
gut pick of the week is going to be Arkansas
outright on the road at ole Miss.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
Have fun with that, Okay, I just look, I understand
why saying it. I understand that Arkansas has an exciting
quarterback and they're sort of they're They're led by a
very specific head coach who has a very specific vision.
They have an offensive coordinator was a very specific vision.
There's a lot to like about the fun quotion of

(47:15):
Arkansas this season. I just I think you need to
be a little bit more buttoned up to beat ole Miss.
This version of ole Miss. Look, they weren't great against
Kentucky last week. The mistakes from Austin Simmons early weren't amazing,
and like only beating a team by a touchdown who
basically had no ability to pass the ball. That's not
a great look on Ole miss But I think against

(47:37):
Arkansas and this game is always weird a lot. There's
a long history of like interesting strange bounces and back
and forth and shootouts. I'm gonna go ole Miss here.
I think last week that their experience in playing against
a real defense, I think gives them an edge.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
I think they're able to sell Scott a little bit more.
I'm going to Ole miss Here by ten to twelve points, tailing.
He's been real good, I know, But what else is that?

Speaker 2 (48:04):
I know?

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Listen, I get it, I get it. Perhaps I'm going
out in the wrong limb. But I'm gonna go Arkansas, right,
what the hell? Yeah, I'm gonna give the points. Eight PM,
ESPN two the Darien Mensa Bowl, if you will, the
Mensa matchup Duke on the road at tu lane. Yeah,
Duke is favored by one and a half on the
road at two lane. Have you looked at two lane's numbers?

(48:25):
So far, not closely. No, Tulane's been running the crap
out of the ball good this season, and.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
Well, they added their quarterback in like an hour and
a half before the season started, so you got to
give him like a minute.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
I think they're going to be motivated to get the win.
I think if anybody can make something of the fact
that Darien Mansa left, it's a guy like a John
Summroll who definitely speaks with his chest, with a lot
of emotion and seems to know how to get a
team fired up. I think he's going to be able
to use this one to his advantage, and I think

(48:58):
they're gonna end up winning this one out right now.
I also think there is a little bit of a
prove it factor here at play on the Tulane side,
because with all the talk being about USF, with all
the talk being about what are they going to do
at quarterback, it almost feels like in the build up
to the season, two lane was kind of an afterthought.
Boise was the one that everybody had penciled in on

(49:20):
most of their playoff brackets. We saw some other teams,
I didn't see enough Tulane on there, and I think
it was because some of the quarterback questions and you know,
generally just some of the turnover that they experienced losing
Makai Hughes to Oregon Ducks. Right, I mean like there's
a lot. There's a lot there that I think factored
into why they weren't a little bit more prominent. A
guy like John summerl knows how to play off of that,

(49:41):
and I think they win this one at home. I
think they need to prove that they can beat a
team like this.

Speaker 3 (49:46):
I'm not abandoning Duke after one ugly loss to Illinois.
I'm not abandoning Manning as, I'm not abandoning Dariu Mensa.
I'm not abandoning any of these guys. They played okay
short of the five turnover if it weren't for those five, yeah, right.

Speaker 1 (50:05):
Right right.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
I think there's Duke value here. I think there is
something random about turnovers. I think there can be something
correctible about a disastrously bad performance. Illinois won that game,
fair and square. They destroyed it Duke, because what do
good teams do take advantage of other team's mistakes. I
just don't think you can count on that from Duke

(50:27):
each week. I think they're going to be focused. I
think they're gonna be locked in. I think it's a
good time to get out of your home stadium, out
of your home bed, get on the road, focus on
this game. They're going to take TU Lane seriously, obviously,
and I think Duke is gonna win this one.

Speaker 2 (50:42):
On the road.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
We disagree, We disagree. And also, if you don't understand
this line, then you lean into it, right, Yeah, well,
I was gonna say there's some logic in leaning into
a line that you don't understand for sure. Also, they
only beat Northwestern by twenty all right, if you under
the radar games, who just look at a periscope? What

(51:04):
do we see out there on the high seas of
the college football Week three Landscape ten thirty on TNT
Texas State at Arizona State. Arizona State lost last week
on the road. I am not expecting much defense from
Texas State. But if you are somebody who cares about
point spreads, the line here is fifteen and one half points.

(51:26):
It's a lot. I do think Texas State could score.
I am not touching this game with a ten foot poll,
mind you, but if you're interested in points, I at
least think that Texas State is going to give them
a bit of a game early. They will find ways
to score points because that's what they do. They just
don't play defense, and that will ultimately be their undoing here.

Speaker 3 (51:46):
Right, Yeah, I think if ASU has not completely fallen off,
they will use Texas State as an opportunity to get right.
If we believe that Sam Levitt is better than what
he showed himself to be a it's Mississippi State, which
I do. I feel good about Arizona State. Not maybe
as great, but I still feel good. I'm not abandoning

(52:07):
the sun Devils after week two. And if we feel
Texas State is competitive but like you said, perhaps defensively deficient,
so this is a great opportunity for Arizona State to
run hard.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
To lock back in.

Speaker 3 (52:19):
Kenny Dillingham seems to be the kind of coach that
can get things right if they're going wrong right, has
the personality, it seems like they have the culture to
get things fixed quickly. So yeah, I think they win
this game by three touchdowns forty two to twenty.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
Another game here that I think is quite interesting, Dan,
I'm right, Minnesota on the road at Cal now ten
thirty kickoff on ESPN. Cal is a one point home dog.
This line has jumped around a little bit. This is
going to be a very interesting setup because I'm interested

(52:55):
in seeing what Cal's freshman quarterback can do against a
pretty good defense in Minnesota. I think the defense is
the key. I also think this is a lower scoring
game that's gonna end up being ugly, and somebody's gonna
win twenty three to twenty. So just keep this on
your radar. If you like what you've seen thus far
out of Jaron Kiave Songapoola Tela, perhaps you go Cal

(53:18):
outright here at home. Otherwise, maybe you take the Minnesota defense.
I'm Brian with the Minnesota defense. Twenty three to twenty.

Speaker 3 (53:29):
Yeah, I guess that's a challenge for Cal. It's another
late night game, though, So that's what time is that
Minnesota time?

Speaker 1 (53:37):
I guess it would be nine thirty No, no, no, no, no,
this is at Cal, right, it's at Cal.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
Yeah, so oh, ten thirty pm East Coast. So it's
a nine to thirty kick, Yeah, you're right, nine thirty
kick from Minnesota. I don't know, man, there's bodycluck stuff
at play here. We see it every year. Neil Oregon
has it this week, by the way, traveling to Northwestern
an early kick So that's what nine am Oregon time, right.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
I think I'm gonna take cal here.

Speaker 3 (54:05):
We saw it against Miami last year where they had
that opportunity against a much better team in Miami to
close out that game. They choked it away. I'm gonna
go cal here to win this one, Okay. I think
Minnesota is just gonna look off.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
That's fair enough. Actually, I guess it would be. Yeah,
it's I mean, it's just a late game. I don't
know what I'm trying to I'm trying to work the
math out of my head. I can't do it here
on the fly. But it's it's just going to be
a late game for them. And Minneapolis is the central time.
Minneapolis is the central time, So it's kickoff another later kickoff.
This one's on Friday night on Fox. This is case

(54:40):
State on the road at Arizona. Case State only a
point and one half favorite against the Wildcats. Now I
had written Arizona off for dead. Arizona's actually looked fine
so far this season, as far as as much as
we can tell. We'll get much why we were State. Yeah,
Kansas State has not. It all looked fine. Kansas State's

(55:02):
got two losses. They have struggled in all three of
their games so far this season. I think I was
incorrect previously when we talked about KSE State on maybe
the Tuesday episode. I think I said that they were
zero and three by mistake. It's kind of feeling like
they're ow and three given where they're at right now.
But one and two. Their only win is that one
thirty eight to thirty five whatever it was over North

(55:23):
Dakota a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I'm gonna go
Arizona out right here, Dan, I'm going to Arizona too.
I don't know what's going on with k State, and
I don't want to bet on that side of this,
So give me Arizona.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
So here's what's going on with Kansas State. They may
not be very good, they might be okay. This is
a week after a Service Academy team yep. So the
defense in some way is worn down with how much
they were on the field and what they had to
do against the best of Armies offense. That's not great.
I have too much emotional baggage as an Oregon fan

(55:58):
to deal with. Hey, things are not looking great. Let's
go to Tucson and play a game at night. Now,
I have too much of that in my DNA, So
I'm going Arizona here. I don't know if I trust
this offense at all. I love that against teams that
are not on the same level of Arizona that this
defense held them completely down. Yeah, you can't take a

(56:19):
lot away from Hawaii and Weaver State. Hawaii did beat
where they beat Stanford in week zero, correct, that's something
I guess. But holding teams to four and a half points,
I like that. That's I mean, that shows focus, that
shows energy, you're locked in in the red zone. I
just I think Arizona is improved early on, and it's

(56:41):
just a bad spot for k State.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
So give me the Cats. I have ten other games
here that I'm going to rattle off very quickly. Okay,
just because these are other under the radar matchups for
one reason or another. Okay, seven pm old dominion at
Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech's only favored by a touchdowns. Virginia
Tech needs to win this game. I think that goes
without saying. This game has not always been a blowout

(57:03):
favorite Virginia Tech. They need to blow out or win
for Virginia Techah, that's I'm trying to be gracious here
because I know, ay Virginia Tech people go to city here. Yeah,
I'm gonna go Hokies as well. Seven pm. APP State
on the road at Southern Miss. This is interesting because
there's a lot new on both sides. I like where
app State is at. Actually, so hang all over app
State here minus one and a half on the road

(57:24):
at Southern Miss. I am as well. Friday, seven point thirty.
It is Colorado. It is Houston, Colorado. It appears is
going to be starting a different quarterback. Now have you
seen this in the news, Ryan Stith He's seen this Monday.
Ryan stob is the third string.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Here's what I don't love from my college football programs
and college football teams. If after two weeks when Deon
Sanders said there was maybe I'm misquoting here, but that
there was an ongoing battle between Caden Salter and Juju,
the freshman quarterback coming in with a lot of acclaim

(58:07):
that oh yeah, Juju's gonna see the field and we're
going to see what we have in them. And after
two weeks, Ryan Stobb is reportedly getting the most reps
in practice. They're like, if you have two quarterbacks, you
don't have any if you have three quarterbacks, we have
a conversation to have about where this offense is, where
the passing attack is. So yeah, I don't know if

(58:30):
there's injuries involved with either Caiden Salter or Julian Lewis,
but I think I'm going Houston here. I don't love
where Houston's offense is at. It hasn't been especially explosive
early on this season. No, but at Houston, I think
I'm gonna go Cougar's here.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
Cougar's favored by five and a half. I'm with you, man,
I'm with you. Not sure what's going on with that offense.
Some other notables. Michigan I believe was without Sharon Moore.

Speaker 3 (58:55):
Right, Yeah, it's Biff po Gee stepping in head coach,
former Michigan associate head coach, went to Charlotte.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Didn't work out back at Michigan. Yeah, that's at high noon.
They're hosting Central Michigan. Also at high noon, your Oregon
Ducks coming to town, big noon kickoff, gonna be there
right there in Evanston Dan Oregon about a four touchdown favorite.
It's notable. I think just because they get to play
in the portable stadium and you're going to.

Speaker 3 (59:20):
Be there Martin Stadium, all be there. I might make
some cookies and wander around some tailgates and pass out cookies.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
I don't know. I just I'm very excited for my
team being there and I want to do nice things.
So let me know.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
If you're going to this game, we'll try to find you.
I guess the only reason not to give the points,
because Oregon has clearly been dominant against Montana State and
Oklahoma State, is wind the elements.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
They're going to cream North because I.

Speaker 3 (59:44):
Think they could probably run on them too. So I
know they've got Oregon State and Penn State coming up.
But I guess your idea would be, like, yep, they're
just going to be happy to win this game. Even then,
like thirty five, I don't know what the score is,
whether they don't cover all right, so it's like thirty
five to seven.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Oh, I think they're gonna kill him. I think they're
gonna absolutely barely. Did I see that Camporter is out
for the year now? On the Northwestern side.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
Yeah, Camporter has long been there and their number one tailback,
he's done. It doesn't seem like the offensive line protects
Preston Stone. It doesn't seem like his options at receiver
are all that interesting. They have good they have a
couple of really nice pieces on this defense, but I
think it's just too tall a task.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
Also at high noon, Memphis at Troy. Memphis is a
four and a half point road favorite. Memphis is another
one of these teams just sort of hanging around. Historically,
Memphis has been one of the better non P four
schools G five, if you will. I'm not sure what
to make of them this season. I was a little

(01:00:49):
bit lower on the Tigers because they lost their longtime
quarterback and it was kind of like starting over in
some sense. But yeah, that being said to and oh
that being said, G five ranks are kind of an
uproar right now given what we've seen go down, So
Memphis maybe can gradually assert itself and be part of
that conversation. That's why I'm interested in this game. We'll
see I'm gonna go. Memphis is a letdown spot for Troy.

(01:01:12):
USC on the road at Purdue. You watch Perdue what's
your take on Perdue? They're not that good, but that's okay.
But they care, Okay, they care more.

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
I thought they were playing with more, more gusto. I
just the talent level is not there. USC should be.
I don't think it's not a look ahead spot for
USC or anything. I think USC should be in a
good place to win this game comfortably. So I'm gonna
I'm gonna give the points. Uh what time is kickoff
in this one?

Speaker 1 (01:01:40):
Three thirty on CBS. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:42):
I think I think they're gonna be just fine, So
I'm gonna go USC here. USC has been stat padding
a little bit late, and that's okay too, but USC
should be fine.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
Iowa State it's a three touchdown favorite on the road
at the red Wolves of Arkansas State. I might have
been a little too high on Arkansas State, so let's
go Iowa State here in this one for me.

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
Let down spot, I don't know if I would. I
don't know if I'm giving the points. No, but it's
a it's a letdown spot. So that has me a
little bit concerned.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
But no, I'm okay. And the last one here on
my list is fau at fi you fiu favored by
two and one half points. The only reason I bring
it up because this rivalry game they call it the
School Bowl. Yes, named after Don Shula. So there you go.
If you are watching games and you're wondering to yourself self,

(01:02:28):
what is the best window for me to get the
full college football experience? To you is how bad you
really want place? If you're looking to build that optimal quad,
you're looking at the Nightcap. I think this is one
of the strongest quads that I have seen in a while.
I agree, Florida at LSU running at the same time

(01:02:49):
as Texas A and m Notre Dame running at sort
of the same time as Vanderbilt South Carolina which starts
at seven forty five because the SEC network does this
weird thing where they got to be different, and then
at eight pm and ESPN two Duke on the road
at two lane. Is I think a matchup that's gonna
have a lot of emotion just because of the MENSA connection.
The MENSA matchup, if you will, I agree, if you

(01:03:09):
can get those four games in a quad, and I
know some of the services out there, let you build
your own. Some are better than others. But if you
can build a quad with these four games, either through
the streaming service or manually on different TVs, whatever method
works for you. But that's where it's at.

Speaker 3 (01:03:26):
I totally agree. This is a great quad. This is
going to be a great evening order some takeout food.
Really sink into the couch, do your thing. This is
you know they talk about Netflix and chill. Don't do
the chill thing. No, this is just college football and
college football.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
I think that's right. Also, we have a conversation to
have here about the window of opportunity this week we
talked about on Tuesday episode WED, a gentleman to reached
out to us about having a birthday party for his
kid between three and five pm Eastern time on Saturda.
I had another individual email me and say that, being

(01:04:06):
Georgia fans, their kids are used to their birthdays not
meaning anything as they are also in the fall, you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:11):
Can do it like what they do in schools with
summer birthdays, right they celebrate the half birthday.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
Celebrate the half birthday.

Speaker 3 (01:04:16):
Yeah yeah, they're like, well, you know, me is not
turning seven until August, so let's have it in If
my math is correct, February to the half birthday.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
Then you could probably get away with missing up until
about four thirty pm Eastern time if you need to
go out there and be amongst the people. If you're
hosting the birthday party for Junior, you're catching a neighborhood
showing of cats. Really, any other off Broadway production that's
your thing. Is Naked Gun still in the theaters, I hope,

(01:04:48):
So I hope it makes a ton of money. I
want to go see it so badly. I'm see I've
been talking about going to see that movie for three weeks.
What windows do I have? My life does not have
either exercise or I'm with kids, the window of opportunity,
take the opportunity to go out there and watch the
watch the movie.

Speaker 3 (01:05:05):
No, the problem is my attention span is so little
that even when I'm home during the early window, then
I have to, like, thank God for the DVR stuff
on YouTube TV that's unlimited. I have to go back
and watch what I miss while I'm watching current stuff
with my crippling lack of attention span. And this week
I'm going to a game at eleventh Central, so I'm

(01:05:27):
really gonna have to catch up in that window.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
You got to about four thirty pm Eastern time. Okay,
but after that you got to get in front of
your TV on the couch, get the quad loaded up.
The good news for the gentlemen who emailed me is
if the party only runs till five, I gotta imagine
the little one's gonna be conked out pretty soon upon
getting home. Put them in bed early, get the quad

(01:05:51):
loaded up. You'll have enough of a taste for the
college football a week at that point in time. That's true.
Do you have any food plans this weekend? By the way,
Kate's after me to make the pizza. I haven't made
pizza in forever. What's wrong with you? Man? You have
a gift. I have a gift. You gave me the recipe.
That's the gift.

Speaker 2 (01:06:11):
I know.

Speaker 1 (01:06:11):
But the other thing is, though, you've got a bum shoulder,
so I don't know if yeah, you're on the I'm
going to talk about more in the bonus episode tomorrow,
but ties song apart physically, some harrowing physical revelations that
I have to share with the verballerhood. By the way,
verballers dot com is where you have access to that
bonus episode. If you are at all interested, you can

(01:06:32):
also sign up for Run the Board. We're giving away
a one hundred and fifty dollars gift card to Bombas.
Bombas is not a current sponsor of the show, but
Dan has a saying here if you'd like to repeat
that for the verballer hood.

Speaker 3 (01:06:43):
You're only as comfortable as your feet are and or
your undergarments, because Bombas makes an extremely comfortable for the
dudes or anybody who wants to wear it, like the
boxer briefs. Yeah, top of my rotation, really good, terrific undergarments,
under rus whatever you want to call them.

Speaker 1 (01:06:59):
Tie.

Speaker 3 (01:07:00):
Yeah, the socks are obviously top of the rotation. I
was thinking about trying to figure out if I could
somehow steal this fifty dollars. Yeah, yeah, I was thinking
about doing something illegal and else transferring this money to me,
But my morals and ethics got the best of me,
and I won't be taking this one hundred and fifty
dollars for myself.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
There are twelve games on the Run the Board slate
this week, Yeah, Texas, A and M at Notre Dame,
Clemson at Georgia Tech, Wisconsin at Alabama, Georgia at Tennessee
Pit at West Virginia, South Florida at Miami. You're noticing
a trend here. By the way, Yeah, Florida at LSU,
do get Tulane, Minnesota at Calvandy at South Carolina, Louisiana
at Missouri. Threw that one in there, app State at

(01:07:42):
Southern miss We've talked about all of those games, with
the exception of Louisiana at Miszoo. All of those games,
hopefully we gave you enough to feel dangerous again. Go
sign up for a certified or premium tier, at which
point you can go in there. You can sign up
for the game pick twelve games against the point spread.
If you win, you get that card. Otherwise, if you

(01:08:03):
play all season long and finish in the top five,
I'm working, by the way, on the leader board. Nice
overall leaderboard. If you finish in the top five, you
get a seat on our coveted board of trustees. By
the way, that game.

Speaker 3 (01:08:14):
Speaking of food plans, I don't have any yet. The
Louisiana game for Mazoo. Let's not look ahead Sandwich. Oh
it is after the Border War pre South Carolina. Absolutely
is so.

Speaker 1 (01:08:26):
There you go go and check it out of our
ballers dot com. If nothing more. You support what Dan
and I do. You get access to the bonus episode
with that we're going to record tomorrow. Get access to
everything a little bit early, of course without the ads.
Of course. You get access to the games, the polls
that we're going to run that you can vote in
on every week, the Discord server, and so much more.

(01:08:48):
TI last week, That's all I have you can I'm sorry,
last request.

Speaker 3 (01:08:52):
Oh on this second chance Saturday, will you drop that
big stanky rough rabbit and thriving drum and fife?

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
Hi? Baby, oh baby, oh baby, oh baby, oh baby,
oh Baby.

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
Friday, seven pm. Colgate on the road at Syracuse, Syracuse, Dan,
does Syracuse have what it takes to knock off the
Gators coming to town?

Speaker 1 (01:09:23):
I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
I'm going Colgate in the upset pick here, really Syracuse
struggling with Yukon give me the Gators.

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
I have no idea. I'm going Syracuse. I think we're
okay with Syracuse. Saturday High Nude Lee High on the
road at Dukane Lee High two and Oh, Dan looking
very strong here out of the gates. I'm going Mountain
Hawks on the road against Duquesney.

Speaker 3 (01:09:45):
You know I'm anti Lee High in almost every single
facet of my life. But against Dukane and what they
couldn't show against Pitt give me.

Speaker 1 (01:09:52):
Lee High Saturday, one pm. This is a tough one
for Yeti's Lafayette on the road at multi sport field
against the Georgetown hoy is Dan.

Speaker 3 (01:10:04):
Lafayette big didn't even lose an ounce, wink asleep over
this one. I have them forty two to nine over
in multi sport field, no less in multi sport field.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
Absolutely, lafayettees built for this. They're built different. Continue, I
got Georgetown Saturday two pm. Rhode Island two and oh
on the road at the Crossaders of Holy Cross also
at two and it's tough. Yeah, I'm going Cross Saders here.

Speaker 3 (01:10:26):
I just there is something about the allure and mystik
of Crusader football that I don't think Rhode Island can
just approach at all.

Speaker 1 (01:10:33):
Didn't Rhode Island have a guy that played or used
to have a guy that played for Oregon and got drafted. Yes,
Johnny Cornelius right tackle. The last couple of years seven
Saturday three point thirty Fordham oh and two Stonybrook Owing two.
Been a rough go here for the Hammies to start
this one off.

Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
I think the important thing is Fordham's getting away from
the Bronx here. I think it's a chance to reset
second chance Saturday. After all that, Where is Stonybrook?

Speaker 1 (01:10:58):
By the way, where is that? I assume somewhere in
New York? Do you want it?

Speaker 3 (01:11:01):
You want me to look real quick, stony Brook. Let's
see stony Brook, New York. Stonybrook, New York. Okay, beautiful
Long Island.

Speaker 1 (01:11:08):
Okay. That's a brutal drive, though, isn't it? From from
the Bronx to Long Island. It's not a fun drive.
You ever drive to Long Island? I have? That's brutal, man,
that is brutal. I had to drive into a wedding
up there back in the day. That was the worst
night of my life.

Speaker 3 (01:11:24):
If you are going to ask me my favorite vistas
along a drive, the lie is not among them.

Speaker 1 (01:11:32):
Yeah, no, okay, I'm gonna go forward them get their
first one of the year and last, but not least,
as we bring the music down VM I at one
and one, traveling all the way up to Williamsport, Williamsport area,
Bucknell playing hosts there one in one Who you got.

Speaker 3 (01:11:52):
I'm gonna go with the vm I, the Virginia Military Institute.
There's certain amount of discipline that it takes to go
to Bucknell, and I think VMI has it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
You know, Manti Nelly here, No, I do know that.
All right, that does it? Thank you to one it
all for chiming on in important programming. Note, we will
be without our chief reverb engineer Shay this week, which
means as the reverbs come in, yours truly is going
to be the one cutting and mixing and putting them together.
So if you would like to get a message through

(01:12:20):
directly to my ear eight five five Verbal three is
the reverblind that you can dial throughout the course of
Saturday as you're watching all the games in week three.
If you've got something to say, I will hear it.
Just be nice, I will.

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
Pick There are some Yeah, there's some other weird ones though,
I should say this week so we we didn't highlight
the Thursday Friday stuff as much. But like NC State
Wake Forest, I love I'm gonna.

Speaker 1 (01:12:46):
I love NC State in that game, Dan, I was
gonna be I was probably gonna put that out on
the old Twitter at some point, but okay, I love
NC State minus like seven in that game? Real? What
if like NC State?

Speaker 3 (01:12:58):
What if UCLI loses in New Mexico? Like that is
a must must must win for Deshaun Foster and UCLA.
Yeah late Friday, right Yeah, Utah Wyoming Interesting to me.
I don't up before because you put them so low
on this doc. I assume you were purposely disrespecting all

(01:13:19):
these programs. You could have brought it up before. You're
half of this show.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
Technically, but we know you're the face and the voice. No,
there's some interesting ones. I think. Just pay attention Week three,
keep your eye on the bottom line. I think that
it's gonna get weird. It always does. It's college football.
It is college football. Boston College at Stanford could be
a little bit weird. Who knows. Yeah, letdown spot for
BC after a tough game, nightcap, traveling cross country.

Speaker 3 (01:13:46):
You never know, North Texas, Wazoo. I'm keeping an eye
on these games.

Speaker 1 (01:13:49):
I like all of this. Keep it right here, hit
follow hit subscribes that you don't miss any of the episodes. Again,
if you're watching, if you're listening anywhere where, you can
leave a comment. Appreciate that if you've made it this
far and you really like what we do, leave a
star rating review of course, that helps more people find
the show. That is all I got for now again,

(01:14:10):
do not forget stop on back live Saturday night. Yes,
we do a live stream. We do our reactions live
out on the YouTube channel. I will reroute smell ties here.
I haven't done it yet.

Speaker 3 (01:14:22):
Actually please do. I will refusing for people to hear
it and not get there.

Speaker 1 (01:14:26):
Smell tieshare dot com so that you can get to
the live stream of watch live reactions on Saturday night
as we react, of course to all of this madness.
In the meantime, though, thank you one and all for
your ongoing support. We appreciate it. We will be back
on Saturday night for that guy over there, Dan, for
myself Tie as always, enjoy the weekend's day, solid peace,

(01:14:51):
and if any sports medicine doctors are listening and you've
got like killer labrum tips solid verbal at gmail dot com,
see talk about this on the Bonus Show. I tore
my other labor there it is. Oh my god,

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}WEEK 3 PREDICTIONS: Second Chance Saturday & Teams With The Most To Prove | College Football