WEEK 9 PREDICTIONS: Vandy Hype Check, Ballsy Upset Alerts & Teams That Should Buckle Up | College Football - The Solid Verbal College Football

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal holl.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
That 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.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
You want to be happy for Dake Edo State?

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Is that whoo whoo?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
And now Den and tie.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Dan Rubinstein, welcome back. It is week nine. Yes, if
you can believe that, my friend, welcome back.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
I'm terrific.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
I've long said this that the very beginning moments of
week one are an incredible feeling. Right, college football is back.
You get that full Saturday slate, my number one full
weekend in terms of pure college football. It depends on
the matchups. We're a week shy, we're a week short,
it's week ten. But there is something building in me, Settle.

(00:49):
There is something building where I have this like crazy
anticipation for knowing a good amount about so many teams,
which I guess some listeners might suggest otherwise. Sure, but
knowing as much as I'm going to know about a
good number of teams heading into like that nine ten
weeks nine ten eleven part of the year where the

(01:10):
air is finally shifted.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Here it's a little bit chillier.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
You're getting into some big heavyweight rivalry type matchups, not
the biggest, but you know, there is that scar tissue,
there is the emotion involved in a lot of these matchups.
I just think we're in the middle of such a
wonderful football jacuzzi and I just want to stay here
for like six months, if that's okay with you. I
love this time completely in agreement.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
I love it. Welcome back, one and all. We're going
to talk through week nine. Go back and listen to
the Tuesday episode where we previewed some of the three
big games this week. I say some of the three
because that sounds awkward, because I didn't mean that, because
there are a bunch of games that we need to
talk about today. Yeah, and I'm excited to go through

(01:59):
them with you. Dan. Of course, with the Verbalerhood, we
would encourage everybody to head on out to verbalers dot
com and sign up for run the Board. We're gonna
give away a two hundred dollars gift card this week
to our friends over at home Field. Not a sponsor
could be get in on the action by going to
verballers dot com and signing up for any tier. We

(02:20):
will talk through some of the games that you will
be picking momentarily. Dan. On today's episode, of course, a
bunch of previews we're going to talk through. When you
can go out and be amongst the people, Dan, I
know you're going to be amongst the people.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
We will I'm gonna be amongst the people.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, we'll get to that at some point. How are
you feeling, though, more broadly about this week from a
thematic standpoint.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Glad you asked. So.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
As I was going through these matchups, I started noticing
something that I'm sure has happened other times of the season,
but I noticed something with some of these bigger matchups.
And the thing I noticed was there are a number
of teams on the road again, a second consecutive road
trip right that year, on the road last Saturday, fly home,

(03:06):
back out on the road, and as we're dealing with injuries,
as we're dealing with depth, that seems meaningful to me
that I have less confidence. We saw that with this
is a trigger warning for Nebraska fans. We saw with
Nebraska fans, right and that was a short week, but
they had gone to Maryland and a great comeback and
won that game against the Terps, flown home and immediately

(03:26):
back on the road for a Friday night game against Minnesota,
and I just think that's tough. Unless you are built
with a three deep that is just bulletproof, it's a
tough ask. And so when I looked at this week's
schedule and the following team's Baylor, TCU and Cincinnati Ole,
Miss Georgia, now Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky now Mississippi State, MISSOO

(03:47):
Auburn and now Vandy SMU Fumpson and now Wake Temple,
the surprise of the American should have beaten undefeated Navy
a couple of weeks ago, Charlotte and Tulsa. So I
have this as seat belt Saturday, a colon turbulence ahead.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
I like this, Did you make that sound yourself? You
definitely make that sound your did You're like the teacher
and Charlie Brown. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, I'm always wearing noise canceling headphones, so that's all
it sounds like to me as I'm watching whatever.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
On my laptop or iPad or something.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
So yeah, it is seat belt Saturday. I'm going to
try not to yell as much, Okay on this episode.
I've been told from the for ballerhood that I'm yelling more.
Maybe it's because I'm in my feels a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Week nine I think brings out the best in all
of us. Hopefully it brings out the best in me.
As you are going to be away this coming Saturday
and I'm going to be doing the midnight stream alone.
Yeah you are, so, you could definitely make a strong
case for a solo Saturday. Of course, seat belts Saturday
is a little bit bigger. Actually buckle up your seat

(05:04):
belts because I don't know what the solo show is
going to sound like. But would welcome everybody support Dan.
If you want to call in on the rever bline
at eight five to five verbal three, I know some
people that can make sure that your voice message gets through.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
We did cover the ole Miss Oklahoma game as well
as the BYU Iowa State game, as well as the
Texas A and m LSU games on the Tuesday episode.
We did a deep dive of all of them. There
are clips out there on the YouTube channel. If that's
all you care about, it doesn't matter, Okay, those are
the games that we talked about in I guess greater

(05:41):
detail on the Tuesday episode. I don't know if you
have had any one to eighty any about face since
we discussed those games on Tuesday. I have definitely been
wavering a little bit on which on some of my picks,
the LSU, Texas A and M gaming particular, because I'm
just terrified of Tiger Stadium at night. Yeah, and I

(06:05):
went in on Texas A and M. And you know,
I've also been on the sly kind of building this
little betting model that i'll talk about here. I need
something because the picks am in bad, So I've been
building this thing, and my model has been telling me
that some of the picks that I made early are
the wrong ones. So I guess this will be an

(06:27):
interesting test for it. But yeah, LSU at Night at
Home to me is interesting. I feel good about the
BYU pick, even though I think we disagreed on that one,
and I still feel pretty good about the old Miss
Oklahoma pick. But the A and M one, I'm definitely
having a little bit of second thoughts.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, yeah, I'm quadrupling down. I like Texas A and
M a lot more than I like where LSU is
at as a team as a program right now, I
think they're better coached. I think by and large they
perform better. I didn't love the A and M run
defense in that first half against Arkansas and defense overall,
but all the same LSU and that defense, which I'm

(07:06):
almost positive is really good at home as an underdog
in front of what should be a frenzied crowd in
a big emotional matchup. I'm just I'm gonna stick to
my guns here. I'm gonna stick to my line of thinking,
my credo, and I'm sticking with LSU and riding that
defense until Brian Kelly manages to break that as well.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Three point thirty ESPN. It is number fifteen Missouri. It
is number ten. Vanderbilt Vandy is a two and a
half point home favorite. We got messages from people out
on the YouTube saying, hey, I looked at the time
code of the Tuesday episode. I did not see any
mention of this game. That's because we're going to talk

(07:51):
about it today. We're gonna talk about right now, Okay, everybody,
and I feel like everybody, and I'm gonna yell, I
don't care.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
It's okay.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
It's really high right now, as they should be. As
they should be if you go through, if you look
at the results, of the verball Or poll. You got
some really interesting votes for Vandy that are coming in.
Pretty much everybody's got him in the top twelve at
this point, and I think rightfully, so continue absolutely, but
it is a spectrum for where people feel Vandy should

(08:20):
be within that top twelve. We've had some as high
as three, We've had others as low as twelve. I
don't think we had anybody left him out of the
top twelve. But there are a lot of folks that
I think are really feeling Bandy right now. And I
get it. We both picked in the cover last week.
They won outright. I thought they looked really good. I
love this team, I love this story. I think most

(08:42):
people listening right now feel the same. Okay, so I
think now is the right time. I think now is
the right time to say hello to the bad guy Dan.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
Hell, So, I had an evil laugh sound that I
apparently didn't pulled down onto this computer that I was
going to play right here.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
That's pretty good, right, that approximates evil?

Speaker 1 (09:10):
I think it is. Yeah, it's all white as evil
as the laugh that I pulled off YouTube. But it's good.
Give me it one more time, please, If I can
establish my reputation as sort of like an edgy bad guy.
What would that do for the show?

Speaker 3 (09:28):
I think a lot of people would have a very
difficult time believing that you have a drop of evil
in your body?

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Has Vandy played a real offense other than Alabama? I mean,
Alabama's is almost as real as it gets. Right, Other
than Alabama? They lost by two scores. Have they played
a real offense other than Alabama?

Speaker 3 (09:49):
I'm looking right now, I'll wait, I can wait. Okay,
Virginia Tech has struggled, South Carolina has struggled, Georgia State
has struggled. Ut hold on, let me look at the
official number. But I feel like they've been scoring points,
albeit you know, not the craziest schedule you TUTA status
is around top forty in terms of points per drive.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Okay, I think they scored a little bit against Vandy, Right.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Keep going, got wait? I can I got nothing but time?

Speaker 3 (10:16):
Okay, Well, no, we're not going to do a two
hour episode and then LSU if we're leaving Bama aside? Okay,
So Bama by far the best, Utah State likely the
second best in terms of actual production. LSU has struggled
to score more than lowish twenties.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
Just to refresh, Yeah, the memories of the reballer hood.
Vandy lost that game on the road at Alabama by
sixteen points. It really wasn't that close. It was competitive
for a chunk. I would say, I'm on Miszoo here dog, Okay,
I'm on Missouri. I think they're good enough on offense

(10:53):
to pound the ball on the ground. I think they're
good enough on defense to not get paviaed. Yeah, because
I was looking through some of the stats on the
Missouri side, Missouri has played three quarterbacks that I view
at least as really talented scramblers, good runners of the
football at the quarterback position, Jalen Daniels, Lenoras Sellers and

(11:16):
Jackson Arnold. If you add up all of their rushing yardage,
how many rushing yards do you think combined those quarterbacks
have had on the ground against Missouri. Probably not many
judging by your tone. Eleven it's pretty great three quarterbacks
eleven yards. Do you know how many times those three

(11:38):
quarterbacks were sacked by Missouri?

Speaker 3 (11:42):
So is your number incorporating sack yardage or is this
independent of sack yardage?

Speaker 1 (11:48):
The number one was incorporating sackyard.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
Okay, besides, I don't know eight or nine times total, Well,
damn eleven yards, twelve sacks. Gimme Miszoo twenty eight to
seven teen is the final. They are not getting paviaed.
They are going to get a big win here on
the road, despite the fact that they're a dog. Okay,
I mean you're highlighting the defense now of Miszoo because

(12:11):
the offense of Vanderbilt has been incredible and I actually
this is I have a triple nugget here, a analytics nugget. Sure,
Vanderbilt is one of the most improved offenses in America
right now, all right, I can turn off the robot,
the analytics robot. Vandy this season has been outstanding. And

(12:31):
it's not like they were bad last year on offense,
but they've improved to such a crazy degree. Their downset
conversion rate in terms of like how often are they
generating a new set of downs is incredible. Their rushing
attack has been so much better. They went from like
one oh three to like number one in terms of
expected points added per attempt. They've been great. They overhauled

(12:55):
their offensive line. They sort of flipped their left tackle
and right tackle and right guard and left guard, depending
on the strong weak side. It's a very old school thing.
I was texting with our fuddy Jeff Schwartz about it
and what Vandy does. They just have some ass kickers
up front. So I'm not saying Miszoo can't overwhelm Vandy upfront.
I'm just saying, you look at that tape against LSU
and Vanderbilt was just mashing on the ground against a

(13:17):
good LSU front. So I'm going with Vandy here because
I think you evaluate. I'm gonna get personal here, Ty,
I've mentioned this recently. I think you evaluate too often
in a vacuum that you're saying this is what Miszoo
is and can be and who they are. And so
I think they're going to do this even though they
just took two overtimes to score twenty two points or

(13:39):
something against Auburn last week on the road in a
big emotional win, and now go to Vanderbilt another road
test for them, And so I'm not falling for this.
Let's think of a Tyson vacuums, Dyson vacuums. Tie, Ty,
don't it's almost too close. Yeah, I'm not falling for
your your your trickery here, Ty, I'm going Vandy to

(14:01):
cover and win against a very good Missou team. I
just think again, situationally, Vandy's riding high and maybe there's
a letdown spot. You know, one of the biggest wins
ever at home against LSU. I just think Vandy is
built to beat this team. And I don't trust Bo
Brabulah on the road here. He did struggle last week
against Auburn with some turnover stuff and wasn't big downfield.

(14:24):
I have Vandy here twenty seven to twenty three.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Either way, it looks like a really good matchup in
the trenches. You know, to your point about what Vanderbilt's
done along the offensive line, and I think, to my point,
what I'm getting at is what Missouri has done along
the defensive line. That matchup is going to decide this game.
I think we can agree on that for sure. It's
just a matter of, you know, can Vanderbilt get Diego

(14:49):
Pavia going? He is clearly the catalyst, the engine for
this offense. And if they can't, if Miszoo can do
to Pavia what they have done to some other quarterbacks
who are and who can be used in that capacity,
then I think it favors them. If Vanderbilt can continue
doing what they've done on the ground with their line,

(15:10):
get Pavia into positions where he can make plays, they're
gonna win the game. So it should be a great game.
It's a fascinating matchup, and not just because it's a
Vanderbilt team that is now in the top ten. I
think there are some real interesting matchups here, positional matchups
on the field that make this one pretty cool. So
I'm excited. I'm excited to see it's a three point
thirty again on ESPN. My sense is that we're gonna

(15:33):
have a bunch of folks out there who have hot
takes on this one because Vandy's involved. And again Vandy
is like this, darling, right now, let's say hello to
the bad guy. Dan, give me that sound one more time.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Okay, fair enough.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
I like doing that voice. It's pretty good.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
You get into a little bit of the I'm trying
to remember the name of the guy who did all
the old trailers, the trailer voiceover, Yeah, yeah, Don la Fonte,
And there it is.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
I have to google real quick.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
I can do a bane voice or I'm burn I
can do that. I'm getting better.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
It's too muppety. It's too muppety to muppety. Yeah, you do.
Like if there were a Batman Muppet movie, which, by
the way, would watch, Yeah, would see in the theaters.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Would the boys watch that? They would watch that?

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
I don't think they have a Muppet or Batman reference
point yet. They're still kind of young, but I would
take them. Sure, you just did, like I'm burn burn Nope,
just not not there yet, not there. Keep keep work shopping. Okay,
next game, we got a bunch of games. Are gonna
go rapid fire through a bunch of these. Okay, Okay,
high new in ESPN two. This is a big one

(16:40):
on the G six level. This is number eighteen South Florida.
This is unranked Memphis. South Florida is a five point
road favorite.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
I think Memphis was so busy thinking about this game,
too busy thinking about winning the American maybe making the playoff.
It says here they lost to U A B. And
we confirm this, Dan, Yeah, watched all of it actually
on Monday. Like there are bad losses and then there
are losses to a UAB team that just fired its coach. Yes,
Bill Connolly, our friend grades uab's defense as the one

(17:13):
hundred and thirty fourth best in the land, and that's
after last week. So it is a very bad defense.
This is a very bad loss for Memphis. Clearly, you
know where I stand on USF. At this point, I
am all in. I push my chips all in on USF.
I am officially committed to the Birom asylum.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
The Byram asylum. I like that. That's a good job, right,
that's good.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
Where are you at on this game?

Speaker 3 (17:41):
I actually really like USF as well. I was impressed
with their road tests. This scares me now. I was
impressed with their road test against North Texas in arguably
the biggest North Texas home game of the modern era,
and the second half where they just poured it on.
It was a slower start for USF there in I
think Denton Texas. The thing that's concerning to me about Memphis,
and it's not necessarily the UAB result, because they absolutely

(18:02):
had the opportunity to win that game. At the end,
they weren't demonstrably worse than a terrible team in UAB.
But it's that they haven't really played anybody that would
prove something about Memphis in this moment, and they played Arkansas.
They beat Arkansas, that is a worthwhile thing, but they
haven't really played a defense that has tested the Memphis offense.

(18:24):
Even if Arkansas is the best team that they've played
and they won, the Arkansas defense has been largely terrible
this year. And I have come away in the limited
time I've watched Memphis and looked at Memphis numbers saying
to myself, Okay, if they're legitimately good their numbers, their
performances would look a lot more legit would be a
lot more impressive against this schedule. And now they're taking that, well,

(18:47):
they're staying at home, but they're taking that in a
game against USF. I just think USF is more tested,
They're more prepared for this moment. I think they have
the best collection of offensive skill in this game. So
I have shootout in mind here, but I think there
are just more ways for USF to win. And I
like their defense a little bit, but I think it's
been tested more So I have UYS have winning this

(19:09):
game forty one to thirty three.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, I think that's right. I think there are gonna
be a lot of points. Yeah, I do. So what
you're saying is that you're gonna strap on the street
jacket and join me in the byrom asylum.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah, I'm right there with you. Yep, padded walls and all.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
I stand by what I said at the beginning of
the year. I think they're winning the American. I think
you are one hundred percent right. Yes, this is a
shootout with a lot of points. I am taking USF
minus five. Okay, same, we agree with five e's if
you care about Group of six football. By the way,

(19:47):
there's football. Memphis is gonna be fun as hell the
rest of the year. How do they play a bunch
of teams that are in the running for the American.
They've got USF this week, They've got too Lane on
the schedule. They still got Navy on the schedule. Navy
is having a great season so far. Memphis is going
to be right there, a very gumpy schedule where they're

(20:08):
just gonna be kind of everywhere, and they're definitely gonna
have a lot to say about who wins this conference,
maybe who makes the playoff, even if they don't, so Memphis.
Keep your eye on Memphis, even if you don't like
them to win this game or any of those games,
They're definitely going to be in close proximity to relevance

(20:29):
at a minimum. Dude.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
By the way, just however it worked out with the
American in November. It's just banger after banger after bank.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
It really is.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, it's a great November to watch American football. And
it's like Navy is the big highlight, which I guess
makes sense given that's called the American North Texas on
the road, Notre Dame on the Road, USF A bye,
and then at Memphis. Yep, there's just I don't know,
it's must watch twelve.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
O'clock on TNT. Kansas State at Kansas Dan.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
Big rivalry here, Kansas State at Kansas Sunshine.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
Some flower showed out seuse me? Yeah, yeah, Kansas is
favored by a field goal. I sat down for about
a half hour last night and I was trying to
figure out what the hell's going on with the k
State because the stat profile is wild. It is wild.
It is all over the map, and I've seen other
teams like this. We've been doing this a long time.

(21:21):
They're certainly not unique in that aspect, but it's just
all over the place. A They've been really inefficient on
offense in part because they've had like no pop on
the ground. B they've given up a ton of big
plays and like some combination of that has really harmed them.
I think the point spreads about right three points in

(21:44):
favorite Kansas at home. I think I trust Kansas more
here because there's really no reason to trust Case State.
I've got something like twenty seven to twenty one Kansas
win in this one at home.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
I have Kansas as well. I think it's higher scoring.
I think it's like thirty eight thirty four or something
like that. This, by the way, is a JB Long
Mike Golick junior game. Okay, cool, cool. I think good
excitable announcers in this one for a good excitable game,
this one should be good entertainment. I'm with you. I
like Kansas here. Kansas State on the road hasn't done
much for me. This is Kansas coming off of a

(22:17):
bye at home in the fresh, overhauled stadium. I like
the Jayhawks pop on offense. I don't love their defense.
But I just there's something about Kansas State week to
week that I'm just I mean, you've used this word
week and we get week out. I just I'm not there.
Trust wise with them, I know they're still beat up.
Everybody's beat up at this point, and Kansas State is
also coming up off of coming off of a bye.

(22:39):
The TCU win was really nice, but I just you know,
the loss in Arizona earlier, the way they lost at Baylor.
I just think if it's close and emotional in a rivalry,
I'm gonna go with the home team late. So yeah,
I'm going Jayhawks here, as the wise profit.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
Says true, Yeah, we both trust Kansas a little bit more.
Number four Alabama on the road at South Carolina. Alabama
is a twelve point road favorite. Dan Rubistein you may
recall South Carolina made a switch at offensive line coach.

(23:14):
I believe before a last game against Oklahoma, they gave
up six sacks. Fans of this team have to be irate.
I don't see any way around it. You've got Lenora Sellers,
a generational, perhaps first round quarterback talent. They can't block
for them. They cannot block for him. There is definitely

(23:35):
a bit of this that feels like they are wasting
his talent on this team.

Speaker 3 (23:39):
It kind of feels like in Alabama minus anything, I
do hesitate a little bit just because of the spot
there and coming off of a big win against Tennessee
in a rivalry spot last week, and then you go
going on the road and it's a good quarterback at
South Carolina. But when you watch his game Cock team,
you think you just feel bad for him. You feel
bad for Lenora Sellers that you can't just take a

(24:00):
drop back and step into a pocket and find a receiver.
I don't love their receivers. The defense in South Carolina
is not bad. It's a decent enough defense. It's a
defense good enough to win SEC games and a defense
good enough to be half of a bowl team coming
out of the SEC. But the offense is just such
a nightmare. The offensive line is such an like there's

(24:23):
just there's nothing to be done here. The adjustments haven't
been there, and so I'm going bam my minus anything.
By the way, I did check because for some reason
I remembered, you know, when we do our preview shows
in August, we're going to be wrong about so much.
We're going to be wrong for yourself. So many team
speak for yourself. But I remember the South Carolina fan

(24:43):
base being a gast that we had serious questions about
South Carolina this season. They were like, I don't know, man,
they lost a lot couple yeah, and it was I
just went back and looked at it, and again, I
am no different if somebody says something bad about my
team in any sport, I'm like, you don't know what
you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
You're not paying.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Attention to the details here.

Speaker 3 (25:03):
But there was a lot of like this offense has
a lot more electric playmakers than you realize.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
There's so much.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
They're so stacked on offense in a way that you
can't comprehend anything less than ten and two is insane.
Likes comments like that, And I look back and I
was like, you know what, God bless. I love the emotion.
I love the spirit, but I didn't understand it then.
But I was open to it. And it has not
worked out. So I hope they can get it figured out,
because I like people talk about like big programs like

(25:32):
oh with college football.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Is better when Nebraska's good, when Florida's good.

Speaker 3 (25:35):
I don't know. I love South Carolina. I want South
Carolina to be good. That stadium rocket, I always say
it on this show, the electricity of Williams Price, That's
what I want out of my college football South Carolina
doing weird stuff every week.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
Are you familiar with the movie Independence Day? No?

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Go on, Nope.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
There is a scene in Independence Day towards the end
when like the aliens come down and Will Smith and
Harry Connick Junior of like flying through the Grand Canyon
or wherever you remember that you know what it' see
I'm talking about, of course, And there's a moment where
on the radio, Harry Connick Junior says to Will Smith,
I'm going to try something here, yeah, and Will Smith

(26:15):
says harrtt no, No, you can't bank at that speed. And
then he tries it and he gets blown up by
the aliens because he captain Jimmy Wilder. Yeah, I should
have pulled the sound, but this just came to me
as we're talking through here. Yeah, I'm going to try
something here, Dan, Okay, do it. We've heard a lot
about Lenora Sellers, Yeah we have.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
And look they were augusta wind away from winning this
game last year in Tuscaloosa.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
Have we seen him truly take a game over yet
this season? No?

Speaker 2 (26:46):
But has not had you know, the opportunity.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
BAMA does not create a ton of pressure. Bamma does
not blitz in order to try and force the issue
with creating pressure right a lot of zone. In fact,
about eighty percent of the time they're playing zone. Good
to know they played one quarterback remotely similar to Leonora's
Sellers back in Week one, and he had them on

(27:11):
skates and they lost Tommy Castellanos.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
I mean, Diego Pavia can move, man, even Gunnar Stockton
can move, bo Purbula can move.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Then more quarterbacks who can move than not. Leonora's Sellars
is cut from a different Oh he's different. I under
I get that, but it's different. Okay, you can compare
it to all those guys if you want to. Yes,
they can move.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
This is not a bunch of like Drew Bledsoe's on
the schedule. No, No, they played one guy who I
think rises to this level of mobility. Okay, okay, sure,
and yes Pavia, they can put Pavi on the move,
But Leonoris is different, man, he is different. Pavi is
not getting drafted in the first round, final game of October,

(27:56):
biggest remaining home game for South Carolina, would.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
You say to Facto National Championship.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Not at this point, I think people will be excited
for this game. But I think the reality of twenty
twenty five is set in on the South Carolina fan
base so that it's not just it's just not going
to be as hyped up place.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
As it would be if they were pretty good. Has
Bama looked mortal away from Tuscaloosa.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
This season?

Speaker 3 (28:23):
Alabama away from Tuscaloosa has lost at Florida State. Beat
Georgia on the road, That's pretty difficult to do. Beat
Miszoo on the road, difficult to do, but very quick,
it's demolished. These are top fifteen teams, though, except for Florida.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
State, there is one South Carolina game every year that
makes zero sense, and this is that game. South Carolina
is going to win this game outright, twenty six to
twenty four.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
I love this from you.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Where's my sound the Yakus Dog of the week.

Speaker 3 (29:04):
By the way, sidebar here, because we've just been talking
about Diego Pavia a bunch this episode so far. Diego
Pavia is going to be the most famous and legendary
Montreal Alouette of all time. I'm calling my shot right now.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
If I were Lenora Sellers, I'd be offended that you
compared him to those other quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (29:29):
I'm sorry, successful mobile SEC quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
Lenoris is different man. Norris might be the first overall pick.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
That's fine, get out of here.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
They are mobile. I get what you're saying, but I
just I think this guy's different, and I think there
is gonna be a game this year. This is gonna
be the win.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
This guy's not mobile enough to win games in twenty
twenty five. Apparently he is going to put the team
on his back.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
They're gonna win this game out right. This is going
to be a shocker of Week nine. And I'm gonna
have to talk about it without you because you're going
to a fall wedding.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
Listen, you told me I need to all in and
do a reverb or I'm gonna send in a video
that you can play in the beginning of the episode.
And if Alabama went, what time is this game? Cack
three thirty Eastern times, so it'll be long over it
to night wedding. I will on video in my formal
war admit defeat.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Also at three thirty Big ten Network number twenty three.
Illinois on the road at Washington, Washington is favored by
four and a half points. I've been really high on
Washington this year and then I've been reading a lot
on social media of what Washington fans have to say
about Washington, and I've detected much frustration, at least among

(30:39):
the very online segment of Huskies fans. So I have
definitely taken a second look at the Huskies. I am
curious to get your thoughts on this game.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Dan, I would like Washington a lot more if part
of the Washington story this year and recently, if it
didn't include the amount of offensive line injuries that Washington
is trying to play through. And so I don't love
Illinois's defense. Illinois is down at least a couple of
key contributors on defense, including I think their best dB.

(31:11):
But I think there's just more on Washington that's known
in terms of how to corral this offense. We saw
last week the run game completely disappear, you know, Demon
Williams is a big part of that. Jonah Coleman is
the run game. Uh, and they weren't able to do
anything against Michigan's defense on the road. Illinois defense is

(31:32):
not Michigan's defense. But I just think the book on
Washington has more chapters in terms of how to play
the Huskies and so that their defense isn't anything special
and below average thus far, I generally think Mike. A
part of my rubric is if I think Washington's decent.
I think they're pretty good. And it's a distance to

(31:54):
travel for Illinois. It's golf a bye week for the
Alli and I, but it's a distance to travel. The
home field advantage of Washington, I think can be significant.
We saw Ohio State buy up like half of that stadium, though,
but I don't think Illinois is gonna travel in that
same way. I'm taking the Ali and I here, and

(32:15):
I don't love it. I think they're gonna be a
ton of points, is how I'm kind of coming down
in this game, like I think somebody's winning this game.
Thirty one, twenty seven, thirty five, thirty one somewhere in there.
I don't know what the total number is here in Vegas,
but I wouldn't hate taking the over in the in
this one.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
So got it?

Speaker 3 (32:34):
And to take Illinois for me, what's the number number? Okay,
I'll look it up. So what's your reasoning.

Speaker 1 (32:43):
I think they're gonna be able to throw in Washington.
I think Luke Altmeyer's quietly had a great season. Yep,
I think he's gonna go off in this one. And
I hear what you're saying about the offensive line stuff
on Washington. I mean again, all you gotta do is
go online. You could read a lot the same stuff.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
Oh, fifty four and a half, fifty five and a half,
fifty three and a half is somewhere in there.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
I I go over thirty three twenty seven. I've got
Illinois winning this one with a lot of points.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
Same a little a little damp by the way in
Seattle for this one. I did look that up, But
when is it not at this time?

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Also at three thirty CBS, the Floyd of Rosedale game, Dan.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, Baby, A play for a pig Trophy.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
Minnesota on the road at Iowa. Iowa is a nine
point favorite, nine points. So interestingly enough, these teams are
exact opposites when it comes to how they do against
the point spread. Iowa is seventy one point four percent

(33:46):
against the spread. Minnesota is twenty eight point six percent
against the spread.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
Together, they're keeping it one hundred.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
As a kid, say, but nine points, nine points is
nine points telling us that Vegas knows something that I
don't because that felt like a lot of points to
me when I first saw it, or does nine points
feel about right too?

Speaker 3 (34:11):
It feels like a big number, which kind of I mean,
there's not crazy weather. They're both in like arguable letdown spots.
Iowa beating a sort of obviously hobbled Penn State by
a point at home, but beating Penn State, even if
it's not beating a top five Penn State, it's a
big deal to do in front of your home crowd.
And obviously Minnesota with there went against Nebraska last Friday

(34:32):
was a big deal, so arguable letdown spot for both
of these teams. It does seem like a big number.
One thing I did consider when looking at this is
Iowa was scoring points without a passing game.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
No pass They're like Navy of the Midwest.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
They're managing to score points and win field position and
give themselves short fields. They're doing really advantageous things week
to week. I think they beat where they beat Wisconsin
thirty seven to nothing, scored twenty five against Penn State,
which you know if you do that and dog gears,
it's seventy three points for Iowa in a matchup like
what Penn State's defense usually is.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
PJ.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
Fleck never wins this game, basically, I think they've lost
nine of ten or eleven of twelve or something. Iowa
just always wins this and so that's something I considered here.
I just if the line seems strange in one direction,
I'm going to lean in and I think Iowa wins
this by a couple touchdowns twenty eight thirteen something like that.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, a little model I've been working on as Iowa
minus seven. Okay, So to that end, I'm gonna go points.
I'm gonna take Minnesota plus the points. But this does
look like a slugfest to me where Iowa wins. What
time is kickoff? Three thirty? Okay, I've got it at
like seventeen thirteen, And I'm with you. The fact that

(35:53):
Iowa has now fully committed to the ground game I
think has made them better. Like they're not even trying
to hide, They're just gonna run. And Mark Ronowski as
a runner has been much better than when they tried
to make them a passer, which is tough when you're
a quarterback. But it's tough, but he's good at it,
you know. I Mean, that's part of why they brought
him over. That was part of the appeal. They're just

(36:13):
steering way more into that than they are his arm.
Minnesota was great last week. They killed Nebraska's line. I
just think it's a different matchup this week. It's a
different matchup this week. They're not going to have as
much success against Iowa as they did against Nebraska. I
will be rooting for my beautiful, beautiful Golden Gophers to
take back Floyd. Sure, but I'm I think iowall win

(36:39):
seventeen thirteen. Give me those points.

Speaker 3 (36:41):
You just made the body blow sound unintentionally. Ooh ooh, yeah,
it's great. Yeah, I'm gonna give the points. Iowa is
just they're winning in very Iowa ways once again, and
I feel good about it at home. And I think
the Minnesota win was very nice against Nebraska. But I
think beating up on a team with no trench strength is,

(37:07):
you know, not the most impressed trench strength.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
Their offensive line doesn't protect their quarterback all that often,
and they can't stop the run. So I don't know,
beating Nebraska's nice, but it's not beating a top twenty team.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
Right now, four o'clock ESPN two Baylor at number twenty
one Cincinnati, Cincinnati favored by four and a half points.
Dan and I'm thinking a lot of points that feel
right to you, A lot of points it does. Yeah,
I've got this one at thirty seven thirty one Cincinnati,

(37:42):
and I graded this one out at about Cincinnati minus
six on the aforementioned model that may or may not
have any scientific quality two whatsoever. Yeah, neither team plays
past defense. The difference that I see is that Baylor
also doesn't play any defense. They don't stop the run
at all, and Cincinnati's been very good at that. So

(38:03):
I think Cincinnati is a better team. I think everybody
is sleeping on the Bearcats right now. I think they're
a pretty good squad, and I think this will give
them another opportunity to show it. But they're going to
need to score a lot of points. Because I think
Baylor's going to score a lot of points. This is
going to be a fun game in the middle of
the day.

Speaker 3 (38:18):
I'm going to take the points here. I think Cincinnati
wins this game. The thing you have to remember with
Baylor is they are dead set on torturing their own
fans this season. They are absolutely dead set on torturing
their own fans. They neither win big nor lose big.
They were down I don't know seventeen twenty twenty one
points or something against TCU and came back made it
look closer than it actually was likely. They win close,

(38:40):
they lose close. They win in dumb ways, they lose
in dumb ways. And I think that trend continues here.
I think the defense will let them down to your point,
but I think it's going to be a nice back
and forth. Let's go thirty eight to thirty five.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Sincey I just jotted down for Tuesday's episode, we need
to do a bit on the most tortured fan bases
in twenty twenty five. I think that'd be fun. If
you've got a suggestion, solid verbol adgmail dot com, let
us know. Will include you Baylor's in that conversation, Baylor Nebraska. Uh,

(39:14):
there's a point we'll think about Arkansas. Auburn, Oh my god, Auburn.

Speaker 3 (39:18):
Well, yeah, Auburn continues in the acc this year tortured
fan base Tuesday saying I'm just I'm giving some considerations.
Florida State gave themselves a lot of hope after week won.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yeah, I think I think they passed the point of torture.
Now I think the fan base is essentially dead for
the twenty twenty five season. But yeah, early going, Yeah
until people, by the way, I got what was going on.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
Yeah, we've had some reversals too, so it's like seemed
tortured and now has hope the UCLA reverse that's unusual.

Speaker 1 (39:54):
Cincinnati. Cincinnati lost to Nebraska in week one and this
since looked really good.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
But there's I mean, so lost to UNLV in New
Mexico and Northwestern. Sure, uh yeah, that's a good Yeah,
submit your team, submit your application, be for your fan base.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
Seven thirty NBC. It is Michigan number twenty five on
the road, a fourteen point favorite against little brother Dan
Michigan State. Not my words, my card's words.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
That's true. It was a long time ago.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
Fourteen points Is that too many in a rivalry? No?

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Because this defense is that bad and this is a
game that Michigan is always going to want to win
by ninety three points.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Like, the question is what are you betting on? If
you side with Michigan State, what are you betting on
right now? Because Michigan's not perfect.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Right, it's any Lansing, Right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
It's any sancing to me, though, this looks like the
kind of gamer. Michigan can just bully the crap out
of the Spartans. They can play bully ball for sixty minutes,
they can win comfortably, they can push them around because
Michigan State's defense has not gotten better, right, which is
a real problem, and that conversation is going to extend
probably beyond this season. But I just I don't know

(41:07):
what I'm betting on other than the rivalry aspect, Other
than the fact that this game has kind of been
weird in the past, I'm just not seeing it. I
gotta go Michigan minus whatever.

Speaker 3 (41:17):
Okay, So Michigan with a couple of high profile games
in a row, Washington and then on the road at
USC the week before that. Michigan on the road this
season has lost to Oklahoma, gotten by Nebraska though there
was a late touchdown, there was a three point final win,
and then demolished essentially by USC, pushed around by USC

(41:38):
on the road that maybe there's something about Michigan on
the road. Admittedly, those three defenses are a step at
least ahead of Michigan State. I'm going to Michigan minus
anything here. So I have Michigan winning this thirty four
to thirteen covering. Okay, and didn't Michigan State just get

(42:00):
absolutely demolished by Indiana as well.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
That's tough.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
I think we're in agreement here. Nice go Michigan's go
under the radar games.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
I got some good ones here, Okay.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
I put these under the radar games on the document
because there's a reason to care. Might not be obvious,
but there's a reason to care. Maybe we've got a
I don't know, upset potential. Maybe there's another storyline that
needs to be surfaced here for the verballer hood. Maybe
it's a seatbelt Saturday game. Maybe it's a seatbelt Saturday
game high noon on the seedp SMU on the road

(42:37):
at Wake Forest. SMU is only a three and a
half point road favorite. Now SMU is unranked, but they
are five and two. They're at three and zero conference.
If all the projected favorites win out from here on
out in the ACC, which won't happen, I know. But
if it goes super Chalk, your ACC title game would

(43:00):
be Georgia Tech versus SMU. Yeah, but that said, Wake
Forest is a pain in the ass. They play whistle
to whistle, they're gonna fight him, and SMU's got Miami
on deck. So perhaps a little bit of a look
ahead spot here?

Speaker 3 (43:17):
Let down look ahead? Who did SMU beat last week?
They beat Clemson? Did they not be Clemson?

Speaker 1 (43:23):
Dan? Let down look ahead sandwich? Here? I will take
wake Forest plus the points. I don't know if they
went out right, but this to me feels like every
bit the reason why we came up with a let
down look ahead sandwich?

Speaker 3 (43:36):
And so is it also not a seatbelt Saturday? Right Turby?
That game was at Clemson, so SMU was flying unless
they're hanging around the East coast, flying to South Carolina,
flying back to Dallas, flying now to Winston Salem.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Or wherever they're actually flying into a North Carolina.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
Uh, wake Forest coming off of bye yes BLUs the points?

Speaker 2 (43:58):
Strong defense?

Speaker 1 (43:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Are they one of my nuggets? Oh my god, they
absolutely are. Wake Forest from one of the worst to
one of the best. Now, schedule is what it is,
but they're performing like a really strong defense or strong
defensive improvement team should be performing. They're way better in
forcing three and outs, they're great in the red zone.
They don't allow anything through the air. Again, the quarterback's

(44:21):
face is not incredible. They're getting a ton of pressure
thanks to two big edge transfers. I just I like
where Wake is at in this one. I'm gonna say
wake in and upset. This is again, this is part
of my credo. This is a good defense at home
as a home dog. I don't know if the environment's crazy,
but coming off of bye means something to me.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
So I like Wake out right here. Twenty eight, twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Also at high noon, ACC Network number sixteen, Virginia on
the road at North Carolina. The point spread is ten
and a half in favor of Virginia. I think there
is a chance that North Carolina gets absolutely crushed in
this game.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
Do you think so?

Speaker 1 (45:09):
Look of the week? They are terrible, Dan, I don't
think the fan base cares about this team. I don't
think the fan base cares about a game against Virginia.
Even though Virginia is very, very good, Virginia is not
a traditional power. I think Virginia is going to go
limb from limb and annihilate UNC in this game.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
Gay's at North Carolina, right some what so? I mean,
so what.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
North Carolinaginia and Tony Elliott and Chandler Morris are afraid
of a checkerboard end zone or an argyle end zone.
I don't think, so give me the hoo.

Speaker 3 (45:50):
They likely Okay, so North Carolina likely because of a fumble.
They should have beaten Cal on the road last week.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Right, Okay, that would have.

Speaker 3 (45:59):
Been a step forward, and Virginia likely should have lost
to Wazoo.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
Right.

Speaker 1 (46:03):
Obvious look ahead spot here with North Carolina.

Speaker 3 (46:06):
Obvious look ahead spot with North Carolina. I don't love
your confidence here. I'm taking Virginia, but I don't love.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
Your Virginia is going to maul North Carolina.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
Okay, I don't, I don't. I would stay away from
this game completely, honestly.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Twall forty five sec network Auburn at Arkansas. Here we go, Yes,
here we go. A battle of one team that fired
their coach and another that probably will fire their coach.
Arkansas is one point home favorite. You have to think
that the stakes are pretty high for Hugh Freeze because
if he doesn't win this one, they're probably missing a
bowl and that would be really bad. Yeah, so I

(46:46):
think Hugh Freeze back to the wall. Give me Auburn.

Speaker 2 (46:49):
I'm gonna take Arkansas.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
Why, Okay, I don't like with Auburn the twenty twenty
five SEC season riding with all just brings sadness to
the Masks.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
All right, listen, Yeah, do you agree with me when
I say that Auburn is good enough on the ground
to roll out the Notre Dame playbook against Arkansas?

Speaker 2 (47:14):
I guess.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
And those are two different teams though.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
They're yeah, obviously, but I'm saying I think Auburn is
good enough on the ground that they can force the issue.
They can run the ball, they control the clock, they
can avoid getting into too much of a shootout, because
this one's got shootout written all over it. Sure, I
do like Auburn's defense. I think it's something like thirty

(47:37):
four twenty three Auburn wins.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
So they're gonna score twice as many points as their
highest scoring SEC output this year against Arkansas.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
I'm sorry, does Arkansas playinny defense? It doesn't matter.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
They're gonna score more points than they They're gonna score
more than seventeen points. Yeah, No, I know, I'm agreeing
with you.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
Yeah, I just don't think they're gonna double it up.

Speaker 3 (48:00):
So Okay, I'm taking Arkansas to win this one in
a heartbreaker, heartbreak twenty seven to twenty four Hogs.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
Bobby Patrino wants that job. Hugh Freeze is playing a
stay in his job. Bobby Patrino is playing to get
it full time.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
Actually, that's a lot of points for Arkansas. It's a
good defense. It'll let down Spot losing overtime to Miszoo.
I'm gonna say twenty to seventeen the seventeen street continues
or the seventeen number continues.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Four fifteen sec Network number twenty two. Texas on the
road at Mississippi State. Texas is a seven point road favorite.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Dan, Yeah, will you picking I'm won in Mississippi State here.

Speaker 1 (48:44):
I knew it. I knew it, I knew you. I
do know this.

Speaker 3 (48:48):
I don't love it. But they've acquitted themselves. Other than
the A and M game, they've quitted themselves really well
against quality teams this year. They don't back down from anybody.
Texas coming off of the seatbelt Saturday performance going into
a seatbelt Saturday performance after sneaking by Kentucky and overtime
double overtime, scoring almost seventeen points in the process right,

(49:13):
sixteen magic sec number. Yeah, yeah, nearly seventeen. Almost got
the seventeen. There's just nothing about this game being in
Starkville that hasn't be confident in this Texas offense solving issues.
It's not the Kentucky defense isn't incredible. Texas made a
ton of mistakes on offense. I think Mississippi State. This

(49:36):
is going to be a juiced up crowd for Texas,
for Arch, for sark you name it. It's going to
be low scoring. But I have Mississippi State winning this game.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
Wow outright? Seventeen to fourteen. Yeah, yeah, Statistically Mississippi State
actually is better offense than Texas.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Doesn't take much.

Speaker 1 (49:55):
I mean, nobody had that one on the Bengo card
back in August when.

Speaker 3 (49:57):
Everybody just I think Texas just moved a freshman receiver
to running back. Yeah, because they're they've gotten exceptionally thin
there as well.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Nobody had that one back in August that Mississippi State
statistically would be better than Texas on offense. Everybody's picking
Texas to be in the final four. You had it
in the National Championship. I had him playing Penn State,
which we won't talk about that. But for sure, this
is potentially a sneaky upset pick if you are a
feeling as dangerous as Dan Rubenstein.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
Yeah, I just thrown with Texas.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Defense is too much for Mississippi State.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
Oh, They're not going to score that much on them.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
I've got it at something like twenty four to thirteen
Texas with the win. Okay, I actually really like Texas
in this matchup.

Speaker 3 (50:44):
Missisippi State's defense is solid. They're not great, They're okay.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
Mississippi State has been a great story this year.

Speaker 3 (50:50):
M h.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
But I think the Texas defense is gonna be a
little bit too much for him. Okay, seven sec Network
number seventeen to see a nine point road favorite at Kentucky.
Dan two teams in a bit of a letdown spot.
They big games a week ago, right Kentucky. Obviously, we
just talked about what they did against Texas. That was

(51:13):
an overtime game. Tennessee was on the road in Tuscaloosa.
Kentucky has gotten increasingly better quarterback play since they made
the switch over to Cutter Bully. Yeah, they still lost
three straight though, right South Carolina and Georgia Texas, but
the quarterback position has definitely improved. I think there has

(51:34):
been some good progress there. I still think I like
Tennessee in this matchup. I'm not crazy about Kentucky giving points,
giving the points.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (51:44):
Is there something about Tennessee and the SEC that has
shown that they can win something comfortably?

Speaker 1 (51:50):
No?

Speaker 3 (51:51):
No, so this would be a first there aren't. They
have a seatbelt Saturday matchup right, correct? Alabama on the road,
now Kentucky on the road. I think Tennessee wins this game.
I think the number is too big. I final score
twenty seven to nineteen, something like that.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
And finally, eight pm ESPN two, it is Houston. It
is Arizona State. Arizona State, number twenty four team in
the land, a seven and a half point home favorite.
So here is my thing here, Okay.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
I'm ready.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
I think Houston is better than you think, the better
than people think, especially on defense. They are three and
one in conference. The remaining schedule is gettable, so this
is a very big game for them.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
And if you believe that this is a letdown spot
for ASU, I think you could build like a little
bit of a logic maze to get yourself to picking
Houston plus the points. I don't think I can take
them out.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
Right, So Sam Levitt hasn't lost in Tempe, right, No, Okay, continue.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
I just don't know if there is such thing as
a letdown game for ASU, and I don't know how
many times throughout the course of this here podcast we
have encountered this scenario with ASU, right, But it seems
to me, if you go back to what happened last year,

(53:19):
ASU doesn't have letdown games. ASU builds on the big games.
They only get better after the big games. They build momentum,
whereas many of the other teams in college football tend
to peter out. We were waiting for ASU to peter
out all last year. They never They didn't. They almost
want a playoff game against Texas. So I think if

(53:40):
we learned anything from that experience, they tend to feed
off the big wins. They tend to get better after
the big wins. I think ASU wins this one going
away because of that. Even though I like Houston a
lot and I think Houston deserves a lot more respect,
I think ASU is going to feed off of the
win from a week ago over Texas Tech. They had
Sam Levitt back definitely looked much more himself. I think

(54:03):
as he wins this one. I think they are again
going to start building towards season's end.

Speaker 2 (54:08):
I think Asu wins. I think Houston keeps it real close.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Houston's another one of my teams that I have the
sort of daticks for the d analytics. Yeah, Houston's been
a really quiet good story this year. You mentioned the defense.
They've been really good at preventing big plays, forcing three
and outs. But in terms of offensive improvement, they're one
of the top ten I think most improved offensive teams
in terms of points per drive. Tanner Coozial big deal.

(54:31):
Why the tight end transfer coming in along with Amaro
Thomas the receiver transfer. There's just been a huge uptick
in terms of offensive success. They were a nightmare on
offense last year. They have the dudes.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
This year.

Speaker 3 (54:43):
They're way better on third down, They're playing faster at times.
The offensive line has been sort of an up and
down thing, but especially on the inside, it's been solidified
by those transfers. So Houston's a success story in that
they're not incredible anywhere on their roster, but like not
even even mentioned Connor Wigman's name. He's been a stabilizing
force at quarterback, you can actually throw the ball down

(55:05):
the field some, so they haven't had that in Willie
Fritz's short time there. Houston's in a really good place.
I just think there are more ways for ASU to win.
I like that they're at home. I don't love Jordan
Tyson's injury. We'll see how he is.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
I know, I know I'm watching that pretty closely as well.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
But if Houston can stop the bigger plays and makes
Arizona State really drive down the field, it could limit
possessions here. So I have ASU winning this game, but
real tight. I' something like twenty four to twenty three.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
Are there any other games on your radar that I
did get?

Speaker 2 (55:36):
Portion?

Speaker 3 (55:38):
Well, We've got the Dakota Marker, by the way, number
one against number two FCS snick game.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:44):
South Dakota State North Dakota State. First year coach. South
Dakota State quarterback Chase Basins beat up. North Dakota State
down a couple huge playmakers. At least one big playmaker
on defense got hurt last week the Bison. I'm going
to North Dakota State here. Okay, maybe it's just because
I've been there. I've been to a game I've loved it.

(56:05):
I think North Dakota State in this Dakota marker gets
it done. I have not watched the Bison yet. Usually
they're a December team. For me, Bison.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
That was one of the coolest experiences I think that
we've had since doing it was great going out to
that playoff game. I mean it was cold.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
That was cold.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
People out there who tailgate for the Bison are cut
from a different cloth. It's great experience, innovative, I think
at a minimum, with how they build kind of their
little forts with jet engines inside to keep things warm.
That was an incredible experience. I'll never forget that.

Speaker 3 (56:41):
Northwestern Nebraska. We already heard Matt Rule talk about it like.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
In Northwestern is better.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
There's gonna be a lot of Nebraska fans in this
crowd the games at Nebraska. Yes, who are going to
begin the game with this temperament? All right, let's see
that's the whole thing.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
All right.

Speaker 3 (56:59):
Let's see it's against Northwestern Nebraska should likely win as
a touchdown favorite, but Nebraska's in a weird, uncomfortable Jacouzi
right now, and see if they can get out NC
State pitt This is a take care business game for
pitt if they are something they should take care of
business against the Wolfpack at home, they're around a touchdown

(57:19):
favorite Fresno San Diego State, to me feels pretty large, beautiful,
beautiful aztecs my beautiful assex. On the road, I'm traveling
to San Diego. They're heading to the San Joaquin Valley.
Fresno State a home dog here. I think this could
go a long way. Santio State has not played a
robust schedule. I think I like San Diego State at home,
excuse me, San Diego State on the road. I don't

(57:41):
trust Fresno through the air to stay clean. Wisconsin Oregon
Man thirty Wisconsin spread.

Speaker 1 (57:49):
Thirty five point dog man.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
Wisconsin has not scored two offensive touchdowns in a game
against a Power conference opponent this year. The game against
Bama featured a kickoff return touchdown.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Somebody put together their drive chart, Oh my god, over
the last couple weeks, and I mean it's just a disaster.
It's an absolute disaster. I am a little bit disappointed
in you that you have not picked up on this
to do a dramatic drive chart reading.

Speaker 3 (58:17):
I might save it for after this Oregon game on
our Monday show. I might submit a Wisconsin drive chart
video of myself doing this from the dance floor if
it goes terribly. The Wisconsin offense, I think they have
a buy after this game, but Luke Fickle seems to
have a vote of confidence from the ad. This game
is going to be ugly. Wisconsin's got some pretty good

(58:38):
guys on defense, but they're just not gonna be able
to hold up because the offense just can't do anything.
So Oregon should likely limb from limb rip apart Wisconsin.
Louisville's in a letdown spot but should be okay Miami.
Stanford should not be okay for Stanford traveling across the country,
but the Stanford defense quietly improved this season. Ye turned

(58:59):
to a back quarterback though. TCU should take care of
business on the road against West Virginia, but a letdown
spot after they beat Baylor. You mentioned Houston, ASU, I
think oh and Colorado Utah is interesting to me. Colorado
can move the ball. There hasn't been a significant drop
off offensively even without she Door Sanders and Travis Hunter.

(59:19):
The problem with Colorado is they have not been able
to stop the run, and that is the Utah. M O,
So I think I have Utah winning this game comfortably.
They're like at two touchdown favorite here.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
Yeah, I saw that. It's a pretty big favorite.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
Yeah, I have Utah thirty seven to twenty. I think
they cover so Dan.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
If you're looking at week nine and wondered, when can
I go out and be amongst the people, there are
obviously some extenuating circumstances. You've got one of your best
friends in the entire world getting married and you have
no choice getting married on the day of the week nine,
then you gotta go. You gotta do. Not preferable, but
you do. You gotta do for all adults here, do
what you gotta do. So I'll be doing the show

(01:00:05):
solo Saturday night on the YouTube channel. Would encourage people
to stop on, buy and egg me on, yell at me,
try to be nice. I've never done that before. I
have no idea how this is going to go. Be horrible,
so I apologize in advance, but we're gonna give a shot.

Speaker 3 (01:00:20):
Well, you also have to do it knowing people are
going to listen to the show as a podcast but
also watch it. It's easier when you're just having a conversation. Right,
you're just having a filmed podcast. But now this is
a broadcast. It's a broad Kail.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
I can't just wear a funny hat and expect that
everybody will kind of, you know, gloss over it. If
it's bad, worth a shot. It's where I might wear
a funny hat. We'll see for the rest of you, though.
Most of the big games are in the SEC. So
what I would say is run the read option. You
can opt to either watch the early game okay, Old

(01:00:54):
Miss Oklahoma or the lake game, which is Texas A
and M and LSU. Build your day around one one
of those two time slots. The rest of it. The
rest of it you could take or leave it. Okay. Now,
I would say, there's a wonderful quad opportunity.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
And my question to you is how bad you really.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
Want place in the middle of the afternoon. You've got
like eight games.

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
That's a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:01:18):
You could put two quads together if you want. Yeah,
you've got Miszoo Andy, You've got Alabama, South Carolina, You've
got BYU Iowa State, and you've got Illinois Washington, which
I think will be really interesting in the three thirty block.
You've also got the aforementioned San Diego State Fresno game,
which could be fun, Minnesota Iowa traditional rivalry, Baylor Cincinnati
if you want points, and Texas Mississippi State if you

(01:01:41):
want upset potential. Actually, if you want upset potentially, you
also have Alabama South Carolina. That's just me speaking, Okay,
so you can run the Reid option. I would say,
if you've got no other way out for plans this weekend,
pick one of those games early game, late game. If
you are gonna be in front of the TV all day,

(01:02:03):
build yourself a nice little quatter two in the middle
of the day.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
Oh I like that? Okay, your fair enough.

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
By the way, you should for your solo performance. You
should see the degree to which you can create the biggest,
most beautiful straw men in your broadcast, because look, you're
just gonna be buying time, right, You're not gonna like,
all right, well those are my eleven minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
So you're so.

Speaker 3 (01:02:28):
I've listened to a lot of sports radio solo hosted
sports radio. So what you're gonna have to learn to
do is lean on the phrase I hear what you're saying,
but tye, what about that? Is gonna be your key
to stretch this. Your Hamburger Helper performance is going to
be the straw man with every single result. But Ty,

(01:02:49):
I hear what you're saying, but tennessee blah blah blah,
and then you're gonna respond to nobody saying what you
actually said. That I think is gonna be the miracle
of your Saturday night.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Performance, the mayor of my Saturday Night performance. If anybody
out there has any tips or tricks, but my advice
if you've done this before, sliverble at gmail dot com
or hit me up on social media if you're out.

Speaker 3 (01:03:13):
Or you'll say something like, but where are all those
people who are saying.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
You don't hear from them anymore?

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
I think I just did that with South Carolina fans
to start the episode.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
I think I think you did.

Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
But I think you have I think you have it
in you.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
Speaking of having it in you, time, will you drop
that egg stanky shaking quaking.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
Drum and five shaking it's quaking high noon, Georgetown four
and three on the road at Bucknell four and four. Dan,
you're gonna be in California. You're gonna miss all these
paligue games. Man, I know it's a shame.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
Give me Georgetown here on the what about the Hoya
season all, I'm taking.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
Them away from multi sports field.

Speaker 3 (01:04:03):
I think they've grown in a way that not a
lot of people can comprehend, myself included.

Speaker 1 (01:04:07):
Continue one pm. It is the Lehigh Mountain Hawks seven
and zero and number seven in your latest FCS poll.

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
That is right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
They're on the road at Fordham. Fordham has also played
seven games they've won, won. They are one and six.
Give me them Engineers, baby, give me the le High
Mountain Hawks. They are going straight to the top.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
Yeah, I'm going Engineers here and.

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
Last, but not least, it's a light slate here in
the Patriot League this week. We've got Colgate at two
and five. We've got holy Cross at one and six.
Somebody's got to win. It's a bad football game, Dan,
I have not looked at the point spread, but I'd
be inclined to go Gators here on the road.

Speaker 2 (01:04:47):
I'm gonna go Gators as well.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
Yeah, if you've made it this far, perhaps we can
get folks little easter egg Dan. Oh, it's been a
hot minute since we did a secret verbal.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (01:05:02):
I like this, and I've had a couple of requests
come in, particularly on the discord, people asking me reaching
out privately. Sam. Whatever happens is secret verbals. You have
gotten in trouble for some secret verbals in the past,
but not but we've also made friends. Yeah, I've got
a target here that I think is a perfect subject

(01:05:26):
for our secret verbal. Okay, can you remind folks what
the secret verbal is?

Speaker 3 (01:05:30):
Okay, the secret verbal is going on. I guess in
this case it would be, uh, Twitter or X the
everything app or X call in the Everything app.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
Yes, but is that what it's called. I think he
wants to call it that, but I don't think X
call in the Everything app. Sure, yeah, I am not
submitting payments on the Everything app. FYI.

Speaker 3 (01:05:51):
So you go on whatever you call it, Twitter, X,
and we are going to indicate a person that you
are going to tweet at, and you're going to tweet
at them a very specific message, but without a trace
of where it originated from. This show, right, and the
message is meant to confuse and titillate and or make

(01:06:11):
somebody curious. That is correct, why they're being inundated with
this message.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
You do not tell the subject who prompted you to
send the message. You do not indicate anything otherwise, you
do not even get into a conversation. Right, this is
just sort of a random stream of tweets, posts, zets,
whatever that come into that person's mentions, and they have

(01:06:36):
no idea where they came from.

Speaker 2 (01:06:38):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
It is not intended to be destructive. It is not
intended to be cruel or mean.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (01:06:43):
Our subject on this secret verbal is Tim Brando. I
like that. Obviously a long time announcer, Tim Brandou for
CBS calls some of the late games. I have a
sense that if we do this right, Tim Branda will
have no idea where any of these are coming from.
His name on Twitter X is simply Tim Brando, Tim

(01:07:04):
b r a n d O Dan, national sports commentator
for Fox Sports. Yeah, has a healthy following. What are
we tweeting at him?

Speaker 3 (01:07:13):
Okay, so you're gonna tweet at Tim Brando. Hey, I
know this is a little bit out of nowhere, but
were you at Eurovision twenty thirteen to see cascada? Is
that how he pronounced it, cascata cascada?

Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:07:30):
That's how they probably say it in Oshkosh Castkiada. So
you're gonna tweet Okay, So the Eurovision twenty thirteen concert
was where ty do you do?

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
You have this at the tip of your your brain? Budapest?
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:07:48):
The Eurovision twenty thirteen show was held at Malmo Arena
in Malmo, Sweden. Okay, so great, kind of out of nowhere.
But were you at the twenty thirteen Eurovision show in
Sweden for Cascata? And I'm pretty sure I saw you
there and I didn't want to I was nervous and
didn't want to say anything. Your variation of twelve years

(01:08:11):
after the fact asking Tim Brando if he was at
the twenty thirteen Eurovision show to see Cascada.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
This could be one of the best ones we ever do.

Speaker 2 (01:08:19):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:21):
I am just urging people do not do not give
away the game. Work with us here. If you made
it over an hour into this damn show. Yeah, no snitching,
no snitching. Okay, you owe it to yourself.

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
Is that how you pronounced that m a l mo?
But the O has like an umlaut over the O.

Speaker 1 (01:08:41):
I don't know. I didn't know they did umlouts in Swedish.

Speaker 3 (01:08:45):
I think that's what an umlaut is, is it not
the double dot the double dot.

Speaker 2 (01:08:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:08:49):
So Malmo is not terribly far from the coast in Sweden.
It's on the western side of the country. So Eurovision
twenty thirteen, Cascata Coscatta.

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
Were you there? Were you into it? It was random
seeing you.

Speaker 3 (01:09:07):
I didn't think it was you, but in retrospect now
twelve years later, I think it was you. I'm glad
that you've gone on to so much success in your life,
you know, Keep it positive, Keep it positive. Brando twenty
thirteen Eurovision to see Cascata in Malomo.

Speaker 1 (01:09:21):
How'd you say that? Malmo? Ma Malmo?

Speaker 3 (01:09:25):
How would you say it? Malmo Sweden pronounced here we.

Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
Go, ty Malmo Malmo.

Speaker 3 (01:09:33):
I think it's yeah, it's mL dot m ow Malmo,
Malmo Malmo.

Speaker 1 (01:09:42):
I mean, don't ask me how to say anything that
starts with ma, because it's always malmo. Meel mario, yeah, Malmo.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:09:50):
Shout out to anybody and everyone in Malmo listening right now.

Speaker 1 (01:09:54):
All right, Well on that note, yeah, thank you to
what it all for bearing with us, for making it
this far with us. Please do get in on run
the board play for that two hundred dollars home field
gift card. Go to verballers dot com. By the time
many of you are listening to this episode, you can
just go right on out verballers dot com. We'll pin
the posts at the top tell you everything you need

(01:10:16):
to know for how to get in on the week
nine game. Yes, Dan Rubinstein, it will be very weird
doing the show without you on Saturday Night, but I
hope you have a good time. Please wish Blind and
I Scott my best. Yes, and for the rest of
you for the forballer hood, hope to see you on

(01:10:39):
Saturday Night Live. We're gonna try this out. We're gonna
see how this goes solo. If you've got any tip
or tricks, let me know, it's oliverbogmail dot com or
reach out on social media. That again, will be midnight
Eastern time on Saturday. Of course, the full audio and
video podcast will be available on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
Can wait.

Speaker 1 (01:11:00):
I can't wait to listen see how this goes. I
don't know. I think you're gonna be great. For that
guy over there, that terrific for that guy over there,
my good friend Dan Rubinstein. From myself, Tye Hilderbred, thank
you so much for down winning, for listening, for supporting
all that we do. We will talk to you all
on Saturday night. In the meantime, stay solid, peace,

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