Week 6 Predictions: Miami–FSU, Bama’s Test, & Dan Lanning INTERVIEW

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning interview with College football predictions for Week 6 lead with Miami vs Florida State—the #3 Miami Hurricanes under Mario Cristobal against the #18 Florida State Seminoles—plus Vanderbilt vs Alabama Crimson Tide with Alabama football guided by Kalen DeBoer, QB Ty Simpson, and five-star WR Ryan Williams. George Wrighster also lands a rare mid-season interview with Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning after Oregon’s 30–24 OT win at Penn State in the White Out, digging into Dante Moore’s poise and why the Oregon Ducks sit atop his board. Then we unveil George’s Week 6 Top 25 (Oregon football, Miami hurricanes football, Ohio State football, Oklahoma football, Penn State, Ole Miss, Indiana, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Alabama football, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame football, Tennessee vols, LSU football, Michigan football, Florida State, Missouri, Illinois, Utah, BYU, Washington) and map how these rankings collide with conference races across the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12.

 

Predictions continue with national brands that will swing the College Football Playoff (CFP) conversation: Texas Longhorns vs Florida Gators, Wisconsin at Michigan Wolverines, Penn State at UCLA, and Clemson at North Carolina. Expect no-BS logic anchored to the four numbers that actually decide Saturdays—third down, red-zone TD rate, turnover margin, and hidden yards (penalties, punts, field position). We’ll tell you where the mismatches live (speed vs structure, QB composure vs pressure, WRs vs corners) and which underdogs are live versus public favorites. Drop your picks, call your first explosive play, and subscribe for daily Power-4 + Notre Dame truth—receipts kept.

 

Chapters:

00:00 College Football Week 6 Reaction

01:10 Miami vs Florida State Prediction

11:42 Vanderbilt vs Alabama Prediction

18:27 GW Top 25 Reveal

30:20 Dan Lanning Interview

40:42 Texas vs Florida Prediction

46:55 Minnesota vs Ohio State

52:24 Penn State vs UCLA Prediction

54:22 Kentucky vs Georgia

55:30 Iowa State vs Cincinnati

58:46 Illinois vs Purdue

01:00:00 Clemson vs North Carolina

01:02:16 UPSET ALERT: Washington vs Maryland

01:04:16 Michigan State vs Nebraska

01:06:00 UPSET ALERT: Texas A&m vs Miss St, Texas Tech vs Houston, Virginia vs Louisville

01:09:25 DUKE vs CAL

 

#oregonducks  #miamihurricanesfootball #AlabamaFootball #DanLanning #CollegeFootballPredictions #CollegeFootball #Week6  #CFB #CFBPlayoff #SEC #BigTen #ACC #Big12  #fsu #FloridaState #OregonDucks #KalenDeBoer #TySimpson #RyanWilliams  #DanteMoore #TexasLonghorns #FloridaGators #MichiganFootball #WisconsinFootball #pennstatefootball  #uclabruins  #clemsonfootball  #uncfootball  #Top25 #UnafraidShow #GeorgeWrighster #floridafootball #pennstatefootball

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the College Football Show. I'm your boy George Rice,
the former NFL player, college football player, college football analysts
for c W, and today we have a jam backed show.
Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning will be joining us
in just a few We are gonna switch things up
this week a little bit where I Am going to

(00:22):
give you the game previews this week, release my top
twenty five yet, and then the Dan Lanny Think again.
So you guys, make sure that you like, subscribe, get notifications,
and tell a friend about the show. So we are
now in week six in college football, and the contenders
and the pretenders, they haven't quite weeded themselves out yet

(00:44):
because there are still a lot of huge matchups, a
lot of big games, and a lot to be decided
on the field.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Now, there are.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Teams that we believe are good, right like teams that
you know, have the right pedigree, teams that have the
right name, teams that have the right coaches, if you will.
Some of these teams ain't gonna make the playoff because
it is not for everybody, and neither should it be
for everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
But this week, though, we have some big matchups that
are going to decide who's a contender and who's a pretender. Now,
the first game that we are going to talk about
Miami at Florida State.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Now this is at Dope Campbell Stadium.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
It is four point thirty pm Pacific time, seven thirty
Eastern time. Possible thunderstorms because right now the thunderstorms is
supposed to come in on Sunday. But we know how
Florida weather is. I know your boy used to live there,
played with the Jags. And yet coach versus coach, we
got Mario Christibaal versus mister Mike Norvell, and Christa Ball

(01:52):
came into this season one in six versus ranked teams
at Miami now beaming Notre Dame.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
That does not mean that christa Ball in the clear.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
But the Canes they should have confidence about, you know,
dominating a lesser team after the way that they did
us self and the way that they did Florida in
the trenches.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Now, Mario Christball is a guy.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
That wants to be physical as hell all game, and
that in and of itself means that he is going
to try to physically dominate the opposing team. And remember,
Mario Christobaul also wants to be the guy that not
just physically dominates the other team, but he wants to

(02:33):
impose his will and make sure that everybody knows who
the dominant team in the state of Florida is. Now
when we look at the line on this game, because
these things matter to a lot of people, the line
on this game, Miami is only favored by four and
a half points, despite what we saw from Florida State

(02:55):
last week when they lost to Virginia. And part of
that is because Mario Christiball has a combined one and
two record against Florida State as a head coach and
a record of now as a player. But that's a
whole different thing, is three and one as a player
versus them. And if you think about it, christa Ball
sort of owns Florida State for getting him the Miami job,

(03:19):
if you really think about that, because Willie Tagger, so,
Willie Tagger got the head coaching job at Oregon Miami,
Mario Christiaal came with him.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Taggert leaves and.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Goes to Florida State, does not do a great job,
and then he gets fired, and then Mario Christaball is
doing good at Oregon, and then Miami's coach gets fired.
Now Mario Christa Ball gets to go to Miami see
six Greason separation. But let's look at Mike Norvelle, Florida

(03:51):
State's head coach, because he publicly disagreed with his quarterback
that the Virginia loss was about the guys filling themselves
after an undefeated start. So Norvelle said the loss was
about not being experienced and playing from behind and recovering
from early mistakes. Now, this is one thing that causes
a problem with teams head coach and the quarterback. They

(04:12):
got to be on the same page. The messaging has
to be the same, which highly concerns me about this
game because whatever the actual facts are, they've created a
situation where Florida State needs to beat Miami if they
still intend to contend for an ACC title. Because everybody
was really excited about that Alabama game. But what I

(04:32):
said about this Florida State team proved true last week.
They are a good football team. They are a much
improved football team from last season. However, there is a
significant difference in being able to win a game.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Right.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
There's a big difference in being able to win a
game and being able to play at the highest level
that is needed on a weekend and week out basis.
Let's look at quarterback versus quarterback. We got Thomas Castianos
over there at Florida State because he has been getting
some passes batted down because he's a shortcam and some

(05:08):
of that has led to turnovers as well. But that's
really only the criticism that you can have of his
play so far this season, because his yards per attempt
are up almost twenty five percent from last year, and
he has career highs in pretty much every passing stat
like yards per game and completion percentage.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And he's also running more, running more than he did last.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Year at Boston College, and that makes the Florida State
offense a lot more dangerous because Castianos his biggest weapon
is six foot six wide receiver Deuced Robinson. And this
kid transferred over from USC and because he wanted to
play at his dad's alma mater in Tallahassee. And now
he's averaging over twenty yards per grab on the year

(05:50):
and he has been a dominating factor despite that drop
or not drop, depending on how you feel about it.
At the end of the Virginia game, Now Miami quarterback
Carson back. He also has three interceptions on the year,
but he is having a career year in terms of
completion percentage because he trusts the receivers that he has

(06:11):
with him at Miami. Because Georgia last year, I think
they either were number one or number two and drops
on the year. And it makes a big difference when
the quarterback can chunk up a ball to CJ. Daniels
like he did in that Notre Dame game and he
make a one handed around the back loop the loop
catch and But the scary thing about Miami this year

(06:34):
is that they honestly don't need back to be cam
Ward from last year in terms of being able to win.
Because against Florida in the first half he was eight
for seventeen for ninety eight yards. But the question is
cam Beck carried this team if necessary? I believe so
for a couple of games. But you only need that

(06:55):
for a couple of times a season out of your
quarterback anyway to be a superhero. But Floyd like he
can carry. But Florida State think about this. Last week
they picked off Virginia's quarterback Chandler Morris three times and
that led to fourteen of their thirty five points in regulation.
So why put the ball at risk when you can

(07:17):
run teams over. Now I do believe that Carson Beck
is better than Chandler Morris, but still, and that brings
me to comparing the Miami offense versus the Florida State defense. Now,
Miami is being extremely methodical when they have the capability
to be explosive. You got Malachi Tony, CJ. Daniels, Keelan Marion.

(07:40):
They're only averaging eleven yards per catch on fifty one receptions.
Now the Hurricanes, they only have two forty plus yard
pass plays on the season so far. Now, before the season,
my recommendation to Miami was listen, get behind Mark Fletcher
Junior and let him run the rock on the way
to a potential Heisman Trophy bid. Now, assuming that Miami

(08:04):
continues on their current pace and makes the ACC Championship,
Fletcher is then on pace for thirteen hundred yards, sixteen touchdowns,
and six yards of care. Now those aren't the Heisman numbers,
but they are ACC Player of the Year kind of numbers.
Now on the offensive side for Florida State versus Miami's defense,
Florida State is on offense, they are hard to pin

(08:28):
down because there's organized chaos of Thomas Castianos, who hadn't
thrown more than fourteen passes in a game their through
three games, and then he had to be put in
a position to have to throw to bring Florida State
back in the game against Virginia on the road. And
if you only watch that final drive of the game
in regulation, you might actually think that Castianos is the

(08:50):
best quarterback on earth because he's running about as often
as he's completing passes. So far in Florida State, they
need to score a White to step up along with
along with Deuce Robinson, just Sam Now on the defensive side,
I don't believe that Miami has anybody that can shut
down Deuce Robinson one on one because very few teams

(09:13):
actually have an answer for a guy that looks like
you know, Jason Taylor at wide receiver. Now you don't
even have to cover him perfectly to dissuade Thomas Casiano's
from looking his way, but he's going to force the
ball to it. But now, the man that is on
people's Heisman list that must be talked about for Miami

(09:35):
is Ruben Bain Junior. And then you got a key
Mesador as well, because those dudes are absolute problems. They
impossible to block, and this is the reason why Miami
is having so much success on defense this year. All right, now,
let's look at the X factors of this game. Because

(09:57):
you got Carson Beck. He's the X factor for Miami
because he isn't a statue, but he operates from the
pocket almost exclusively. And after watching chand the Morris make
Florida State pay with three touchdowns on the ground, you
actually have to wonder if Beck has it in him
to pick up a few yards to keep the chains moving,
because back in twenty twenty three at Georgia he scrambled,

(10:19):
but he never really you wouldn't with the game on
the line outside of the one contest with Georgia Tech.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
Now does Beck have.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
It in him to dive through the pieline to make
a play if necessary? But for Florida State, they only
have two players with double digit solo tackles and they
are both dbs. You got East Texas A and m
and Kid State back to back weeks. Now that I
promise you didn't get this defense ready for conference play.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
But Memphis transferred Larry Elijah Herring. He did step up
to make a few plays against Virginia, and the Seminals
are gonna need him and the safety's Ashton Barker and
Earl Little to put their bodies on the line in
this one to keep Mark Fletcher from getting passed the
second level and running over this defense. But my pick
in this game is going to be and this is

(11:13):
hard because this is a four and a half point
spreat I have Miami as one of the top four
teams in the country. I think that this is gonna
be a lot in dope Campbell and I am going
to pick Florida State to lose this football game. I'm
going to pick Miami to keep rolling.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then people are gonna have questions of Mike about
Mike Norvel after this game. But as the clips would say,
so be it, so be it. Now let's look at
this Vandy versus Alabama game. Alabama's favored by ten and
a half points going into Bryant Denny Stadium, and this
is a twelve thirty kick Pacific three point thirty Eastern
time on ABC.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Now. Coach versus coach.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
We got Kaylin de Boor in this game going against
Clark Lee over there at over there Vanderbilt. Now the
question is, did Kaitlyn the Boy get his groove back
versus Georgia or does Alabama just own Georgia.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
Honestly, both actually could be true.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
But before we get into what the boor is doing, right,
we have to use the weekly disclaimer that this is
a must win for Alabama because every week is a
must win for Alabama, and the Boar's not gonna be
off the fan base hot seat because he actually on
the real hot seat, because the ain't gonna fire him unless,
you know, he loses six games this season. Now, he's

(12:35):
not gonna be off the hot seat until you get
multiple SEC championships, trips to the playoffs and everything else.
But the thing is, like, let's assume that he was
coaching somewhere else and where the standard is not perfection.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
Do you see what he's doing with these quarterbacks?

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Like it's literally the same thing he's always done, but
it never gets less impressive. Ty Simpson has looked like
a neurosurge out there, and all three of their former
talented passers already combined fifteen touchdowns and zero interceptions and
seventy percent completions. That is what Ty Simpson is doing,

(13:14):
and this is why you hired Kaylen de Boor for quarterback.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Playing, game planning.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Now, on the other side, you got Clark Lee because
his staff are everything that is good and is fun
about college football because he is a Vanderbilt fullback that
grinded his way up to becoming Notres Dames DC before
taking the Vandy job. And then Philly his staff with
some of the easiest guys to root for it. You

(13:39):
got Jerry Keel, who if it wasn't for health issues,
might be an SEC head coach and he's impacted everywhere
he's been in a positive way. You got Tim Beck
calling the offense who spent thirty years winning at Pittsburgh State.
And then you got Steve Gregory calling the defense. You know,
and then you got a white, undrafted of undrafted free

(14:03):
agent defensive back out of Syracuse that played eighty five
games in the NFL. Like, there's no wonder why Diego
Pavia is tearing it up there because he's surrounded by
an entire staff of Diego Pavia's.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
They understand him, and they get it.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
They get it, and they believe because they if you
ask them, Vanderbilt players man for man, Oh, what do
you think about playing Alabama? They'd be like, we don't
give a damn about playing Alabama. We don't give a damn.
They aren't scared. They beat them last year, and now

(14:39):
they are so determined because they foolishly believe Diego Pavia
when he told them I came back to win a
national championship. Now it's not foolish in terms of it's
foolish in terms of is that going to happen? No,
But is it foolish that he's gotten them to believe that? No,
Because that's what great leader and he's one of the

(15:03):
best leaders if, and I will say this that Diego
Pavia has that like he's Tim Tebow. That's what he is.
He's Tim Tebow without a Bible, That's what he is.
He instills that sort of belief in everybody around. Is
Diego Pavia the best passroom?

Speaker 3 (15:22):
No?

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Was Tim Tebow?

Speaker 4 (15:23):
No?

Speaker 2 (15:24):
Are they excellent college quarterbacks? One? One hundred percent? I
mean it is.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
I mean, at some point in time, if Diego Pavia
wins this game and Vanderbilt wins this game, how can
you not put him as a Heisman front runner? It'll
be him and Dante More if he wins this this game,
and then a side of Fernando Mendoza depending on what

(15:51):
happens in the in the Oregon game against Dante Moore. So, dude,
this is great. This is great theater, this is great action.
I am excited about this game.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
I mean.

Speaker 1 (16:05):
Now, on the Alabama side, you got Grubb, who is
their play caller, and he's gotten back to having the
fun again because they threw a pass to Cayden Proctor
last week, their left tackle and that was against Georgia.
Because if it can be done, Alabama will do it.

(16:27):
They that makes their players happy. It's in, it's innovative,
it's fun. That makes players be like yo. Our coach
James he believes in is, He'll He'll do all sorts
of stuff.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
I'm just saying it is fun and it is exciting
to watch.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
And then you got Vanderbilt's defense because the strength of
their team really is their ability to create down in
distance disadvantages to get off the felid on third down
because they have only allowed nineteen out of fifty five
third down conversions. That ranks eighteenth in the country. Well,

(17:08):
and they also rank eighteenth in the country and tackles
for loss with thirty one. Steve Gregory's defense also seems
to adapt to the as the game goes on, especially
coming out of halftime, because those adjustments are going to matter.
Now my picking this game, actually, I'll go back X factor.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
First.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
For Alabama, I think it's Jeremy Bernard. Everybody knows who
Ryan Williams is, and I don't think that that's gonna
be a thing. But for Vanderbilt, I think the X
factor is Diego Pavia and their defense being able to
get off the field on third down. Alabama is favored
by ten and a half points. I am going to
take Alabama to win this game, but I'm going to

(17:50):
take the Commodores plus ten and a half. This feels
like a game that could depending on the game script
all we could go left and if Kaylin de Boris
loses to Vanderbilt at home, Lord help him, Lord help
him in the state of Alabama the city of Tuscaloos.

(18:11):
We do have Dan Lanning coming up in just a
few minutes, but I did want to take a break
from the games to give you guys my top twenty
five for this week. Reveal my top twenty five for
this week. Now, I base my top twenty five criteria

(18:32):
on three things quality, wins, schedule played, and dominance. I
don't project out to what you are going to be.
There's no projection about you know, your roster. There's no
quote unquote benefit of the doubt. We don't do that
on this part. It only matters what you have put

(18:54):
on the wood. That's it, that is all you get.
So my first my twenty one through twenty five Missouri
at twenty one, Illinois at twenty two, Utah twenty three,
BYU at twenty four, Washington at twenty five. I love
the way Washington looked on some level versus Ohio State.

(19:18):
They didn't get run out of the building. They played tough,
they played physical, They just got leaned on. They got
leaned on a lot, and they eventually cracked by a
more talented team. But I love what je Fish is
doing their building. They are going to be a tough
out as the season continues to go on. With their
quarterback tomut Williams. Let's look at BYU. They're continuing to grow.

(19:43):
Of Utah recovered from that Texas Tech loss. Now they
still do have some things that they got to shore
up in that passing game with Dampier.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
But is what it is.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
Loved Illinois's rebound from the Indiana loss to beat usc
who was in the top twenty five last week, and
then we got Mos at number twenty one, who we're
gonna have to start talking about Missouri probably pretty damn
song because this is eighteen.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
They do have coming up. They got a nice little
slate coming.

Speaker 1 (20:14):
Up and this and that slate is where we are
going to find out who they really are because coming
up they have, yeah, Missouri coming up.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
They are coming up.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
On honestly the toughest part of their schedule, and it's
going to be a part where they can't be denied
if they are able to navigate the next few weeks,
just say all right, we also, oh now, let's get

(20:51):
to the next ones. We have, uh sixteen through twenty.
We have Notre Dame at sixteen, Tennessee at seventeen, LSU eighteen,
Michigan nineteen, Florida State twenty.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
And I know that.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
People are going to harp and they're going to be
focused on this Notre Dame situation.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Yes, they do have two losses right now, and people
have been asking George, How can you have them ranked?
How can anybody have them ranked? Well, it's pretty easy
if you watch those games that they lost, when they
lost to Texas A and m forty one to forty,
there was clearly a play at the end of the game.

(21:37):
That last play where the touchdown was thrown should have
been a holyfinalty. He was clearest day to everybody else involved.
And then you have that Miami game that was a
very close game. They lost that game by three points.
Then they came out and scorched Purdue and they did
bad things to Arkansas as well, putting up fifty points
a game. They are scoring points. They've scored four against

(22:00):
Miami forty versus Texas A, and m fifty six versus
per Due and Arkansas fifty six. So it's funny because
people keep talking about their schedule, Notre Dame schedule, Notre
Dame schedule. What is the issue with their schedule? They
are the only team in America that from from my recollection,

(22:22):
that they have not played an FCS or a group
of five opponents. Yet what else do you want from
just the reality LSU their offense is we we know,
we know, we do not believe and Michigan. They got
to get some more passing yards and stuff out of that,

(22:44):
out of Bryce Underwood and Florida State. They got a
huge test with Miami coming up this week, so they
can bought back up the rankings.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
But that Virginia loss just shows that, you know, they're.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Not of the of the of the highest ilk right now,
then we got to talk about the next group of teams.
We got number eleven Texas A and M, number twelve
Georgia Tech, number thirteen Alabama, number fourteen Georgia and number
fifteen Texas.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
Now I'll get called an.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
SEC hater at this point in time, but let's be
real about this. Texas A and M way too many penalties.
I understand they're sitting undefeated right now. People have them
ranked the highest four in some places five, but too
many penalties. And Marcel Reese he needs to level up

(23:39):
as a passer a little bit if but he is
a playmaker. And this defense is much improved despite the
notre damn game. And you know there's a quality football team.
But they gotta go win some more games. It's just
the truth, all right. Georgia Tech. I'm gonna tell you
this feels like fools goal. But this is what they

(23:59):
have earned. This feels like fools goal because this team
has not that. They had some bumps against Temple, they
should have lost the wake Forest game last week, but
they continue to win games. Uh, they're they're they're head
coach doing a great job, Brant Key. And but like
I said, they have been running their quarterback.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
Haines King way too much. And the bot.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
They are going to have one of them Florida State
Virginia games, maybe two of them.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
You can, you can book it.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
But it's coming at Alabama and Georgia. People reacted to
the Georgia win overreacted to the Georgia way. Is Georgia
good football team?

Speaker 4 (24:42):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (24:44):
Is Georgia right now a team that we saw in
Kirby Smart put out on the field for the last
few years.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
No, No, they're not. They're not. They're not even as
good as the team that won the SEC last year.
They're not.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
So the Alabama win they get credit for it. So
why is Florida State ranked back? Florida State lost to Virginia, Like,
come on, Florida. Florida State was behind them last last week,
Well was in front of Alabama last week, but they
got a good good win and Texas. I have no
idea how people still have Texas ranked inside of their
top ten. I don't because Texas has not done anything

(25:21):
this season, anything this season to lead you to believe
so far, because arch Many has not played great so far,
that this is a top team and their ranked number
number nine. They lost to Ohio State, then they beat
San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston, and now I'm
supposed to believe all over again.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
No, sir, no sir.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Next up we have the top six, Ole miss at six,
Indiana seven, Texas Tech eight, Iowa State nine, and Vanderbilt ten.
You're like, George, do you really think that Vanderbilt is
better than Texas, A and M Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
We'll see, we'll see. I'm not thinking. I'm not thinking.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
I'm going off for what has been put on the paper,
what has been put on the film. They've beaten Virginia Tech,
South Carolina, Utah State, Georgia State, and Charleston South. If
Alabama had the same resume with the amount that they
won buy in these games, they probably be number one

(26:36):
in the nation. So I am not going to disrespect
Virginia in that way. One thing I find interesting is
that number nine Iowa State. They are underdogs this week
at Cincinnati, which is a little bit weird, but we
will get some answers there. Texas Tech at eight. Feel
good about them. Indiana versus Oregon in two weeks, gonna

(26:58):
let everybody know what is going on. And the Big
Ten looks really good right now. And Oh Miss, a
team that I did not believe in. I can't say
anything about them right now. They are off this week,
so they're gonna have the luxury of not losing. But
there comes a point where I'm gonna have to start
believing in Old Miss if they keep winning football games.

(27:21):
And now the completion of the list, Oregon at one,
Miami two, Ohio State three, Oklahoma for Penn State five.
Penn State still looked very good on defense. When I
went back and watched the y'all twenty two of the
Oregon game. They did not let Oregon run away from them,

(27:45):
even though they got dominated physically in the game, but
it was still like they still made plays on defense
and they are going to be a tough out if
they can figure out a little bit of offense. Like
they're gonna be a tough out regardless. This is a
good football team Oklahoma where they be Michigan already, they
have done some nice things. They get a layup with

(28:08):
Kent State this week. They've beaten Auburn already, so yes,
they look good. And you know they get some time
without their quarterback. But if they can just get by
those games, you know that this is a good football team.
Now where the controversy starts for people is at the
Ohio State pick. I understand Ohio State is the reigning

(28:29):
national champions, but that was last year. They got a
whole new quarterback, whole new coordinator from the offense, hold
new coordinator on defense. So forgive me if I'm not
giving them all the benefits of the doubt, because we
don't give benefits of the doubt. Ohio State's offense looks
nerf to right now. And if you don't know what
nerfing is, it's a video game term about when, like

(28:53):
you know, like if you have a real gun, what happens.
It shoots and it breaks things up. If it's a nerf,
if it's a NERF weapon, what happens it? You know,
it hits things and it doesn't break it. So that's
what nerfing is. And between Julian saying or whether it

(29:15):
is and them not trying to put too much on
his plate, or whether it is Brian Hartline still trying
to figure out the offensive coordinator stuff.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
That's why.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
But this defense fantastic might be the best defense in
the country. We really keeping it real. Miami at number two.
We've talked about them extensively. They look really good. They
get a lot of credit for what they've done. And
then you got number one Oregan. I felt like that
they have been dominant all year. They just look really

(29:47):
good and they've shown that this show travels, it will
go on the road and travel, and now they look
like the best team in the country. All right, now,
I want to get to what you all have been
waiting for before we get to the rest of the picks.
We are going to get to mister Dan Lanning, where

(30:11):
we get a chance to talk to the head coach
and the Ducks.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Let's get to it.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
We are now on with the head coach of the
Oregon Ducks, mister Dan Lanning, and they just went out
to Happy Valley got a huge win against Penn State.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Coach welcome to the show. Appreciate you having me, all right.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
So you just have a huge win. You're emotional after
the game. Why were you so emotional after the game?

Speaker 4 (30:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (30:41):
Those are those are the games that just drain you, man.
And you see how hard your guys work. You're really
proud of the effort they put in. And you knew
in that moment it could have gone either way. So
for it for it to tip your way, you know,
it's just it's an emotional moment. It's a big it's
a big one. It's exciting, and uh, yeah you celebrated
a little.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
But yeah, and you have kids that are you know,
middle schools almost high school a heat. So I would
imagine that you've seen the memes, right or you've heard
about the memes? What did What did your wife and
your kids say when you got old?

Speaker 3 (31:20):
They know that I'm crazy, They know them crazy. You know,
you have a little sitting down with them like, hey,
you see what They're.

Speaker 4 (31:26):
All laughing at it. They think it's hilarious.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
So it's it's fun because at home, I'm dad, right,
I'm not coach, so they can have fun making fun
of me too.

Speaker 4 (31:34):
Whenever I get a little bit juiced.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
What did you learn about this verse, this twenty twenty
five twenty six Ducks team and going to that environment
and getting a win.

Speaker 3 (31:48):
Well, just you know they can handle the chaos, right,
they can because it was chaos.

Speaker 4 (31:52):
It was it was a loud environment. It's an unbelievable environment.
They can handle the pressure right, pressure got turned up.

Speaker 3 (31:58):
They leveled up, and overall the guys played with unbelievable
effort throughout the day. Just you continue to look through
that film and you see guys that were playing with
their air on fire, which was awesome.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah, what do you do to get your team prepared
for that?

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Because there was so much noise, pomp and circumstance, always
to white out this and that. And I heard you
say play the game, not not the environment. So but
how do you actually like instilled that in your team?
Like what things do you do?

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Well, you can't create that chaos like in practice like
you want for the game. But you try to make
practice as hard as you possibly can, whether it's the
speakers being on top of our guys all the way
throughout practice, whether it's the situations that you work game
on the line, situations that you work in practice where
the coaches don't know what's coming, the players don't know
what's coming, and you just kind of throwing on them in.

Speaker 4 (32:47):
The middle of a practice. You know, those big moments.
You try to create those on a regular basis and
make it tough.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
Yeah, and what did you learn about your your quarterback
in Dante More? Because obviously everybody knows he was physically talented,
but it's different when you see it in practice and
then when you see it in the gate.

Speaker 3 (33:07):
Yeah, I mean just that he's that guy. He has
unbelievable poise. He was at calmdemeanor. You know, he's a
guy that can help me be calm in those moments,
which is awesome to have somebody that like can show
you out a little bit too through the process. And
you know, he operated, but he operated knowing that he
didn't need to do it himself.

Speaker 4 (33:23):
He had people around him that he could trust.

Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah, that sounds like some nick Sirianni Jalen hurts at
going going going on where a coach is you know,
at at a ten and Jalen is like, hey, yo,
we're good man. Is that kind of the relationship that
you and Dante are building right now?

Speaker 4 (33:44):
Yeah? We've got a.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
Great one and I love him to death. You know,
I love him as a person more than I do
as a quarterback. He's an unbelievable person. He's he works
really hard. And when you know that your quarterback's prepared
and he works like Dante works, it gives you a
lot of confidence as a coach.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
Yeah. On the Ducks versus them and the pregame things.
There's a whole lot of stuff talked about leadership. You
have the leadership retreats and all those sorts of things.
How do you think that that plays into how your
team plays and really the development of the men and
the character that allows you to go win games When
you know when you go into overtime, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
When you look at our team and you realize how
many people were gone after last season and we're gonna
have to establish some new leaders, establish new standards. You
tell the guys that and you identify it right away
and you say, okay, but here's what we're gonna do
to attack it. A lot of people say it, like
what's the development look like? How are we going to
transition that? And you know, for us, we want to
expose our guys to as many opportunities to create that

(34:43):
as we can, and they did an unbelievable job of
this offseason saying, Okay, I'm tired of hearing coach say
we need leadership and it's there now.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
And we have it.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
Yeah, and you're getting a lot of production from true
freshmen and red shirt freshmen. Got red shirt freshman starting corner,
true freshman starting true freshmen at getting reps in the
running back room. How is it the recruiting? Is it
the development identification? Like how do you have so many
impact young players playing on this team?

Speaker 3 (35:15):
I think all that adds up. You know, it's always
tough for a young guy to be able to play
if they're not prepared. Our coaches have done an unbelievable
job preparing them, and those guys are doing an unbelievable
job preparing. And then when you identify the right guys
that you think can make an impact, We've always said it,
if you're good enough, you're old enough, right, there is
no age on performance, and these guys are performing on
your matche Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
I love that, and the team clearly understood the moment.
But as a head coach in this playoff era, obviously
you want to win win your games to get to
the playoff. But at the same time, you want to
be peaking when playoff time comes. And you had some
experience last year. So what did you learn from last

(35:56):
year that you're putting in application right now?

Speaker 3 (36:01):
You know, I think it's every year is different, Every
team's different, you know. I think the big thing is
us continue to grow, try to find our awards before
somebody else finds them.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
Recovery is huge for us this week.

Speaker 3 (36:11):
Our team's gone really hard for five weeks, putting ourselves
in position where we can do a great job of recovering.

Speaker 4 (36:16):
And still challenging ourselves in practice to.

Speaker 3 (36:18):
Be the best version of us and look for opportunities
to grow up. But I think each year is a
little bit different. You have to modify it based on
what that team looks like.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
Yeah, when you're looking at I guess the bye week, right,
because coaches are notoriously the good would seem like they
focus on the things that are that didn't go right,
even after an emotional win. So you don't have that
let now, So what's the message for this week in
the bye week before you have another top ten matchup

(36:48):
next week with Indiana?

Speaker 3 (36:50):
Yeah, just tap in right, tap in on where you're
at right now. Everybody has an improvement planning in our program, right,
every single position, every single person. So what do we
need to improve? What do we need to get better at?
And be in the moment right now. It's about being
right here on Tuesday, right and not worrying about Wednesday
and not worrying about Thursday, being in the moment right
now to improve.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Yeah, can can you talk about I want to go
back to that white out environment for a second, because
there's been comparisons to Washington, to Ohio State and Auton Stadium,
and you said that that's one of the best environments
that you've been in. What did you mean by that

(37:31):
and how would you compare it to some of the
other places that you've been.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
I think it starts right when you start to pull
up and you see all the RVs, you see all
the people tailgating.

Speaker 4 (37:40):
I mean you're you're.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
At first you're saying, how do they get one hundred
thousand or one hundred and ten thousand people into State College?
And then when you're when you're driving up, you're like, oh,
here they are, right, there's a bunch of them, and Uh,
the operation throughout the game. The way they stay engaged
the fans. You don't see them sitting down. They do
a really good job. It's impressive to see. But it
starts probab right when you're driving up you recognize the tailgate.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Yeah, and uh, the song Mote Bomba was a little
bit of a discussion last week.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Is that Is that going in your playlist now?

Speaker 4 (38:13):
No, I'm probably deleting that one.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, it was a really good experience.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
So what do you what do you need out of
Ducks fans in the crowd in the that they're gonna
get a week to recover, but what do they need
to be looking forward to and expecting you expecting out
of them in a week from now.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
Our fans are the best.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
And you know, I think the thing that makes some
environments different is they get hot for moments, right, they
get hot for a third down, they get hot for
a punt, they get hot.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
For in the red area. Right.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
Our fans they're hot from from start to finish, all
the way through the game. So that's what we need
from We need that, We need that jews, that energy
from from beginning to end.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Yeah, and your defense, like the defense stoned Penn State's
running game for the majority of the game, and it's been,
you know, different, And it looks like that there's some
shades to some things that you that that you guys
played at guests last last year. How important is it
to that that that Ohio State game. It looks looks

(39:17):
like you guys are using theenem in a lot like
they used Caleb downs last year.

Speaker 4 (39:22):
Yeah, you got to be able to adapt. You got
to be able to adjust.

Speaker 3 (39:24):
I think that's an important trade and that's for coaching
and that's for players. I think our guys have done
a really good job handling that. And ultimately our goal
is walking away after last seasons how do we eliminate
exposed to plays?

Speaker 4 (39:35):
And that's been something that can help us.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
Yeah, and you you are clearly you know you're early
in your head coaching journey, but it seems like you
figured out a lot of things early. What what I
would say is the biggest thing that you've learned from
when you got the job to now you're sitting here. Uh,
that having playoff experience and everything else.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
Yeah, I don't know if you can put your finger
on one thing, but it's probably just that piece of
what I said before about the ability to adapt and grow,
you know, and challenge your staff to do the same,
not get comfortable, you know, and looking at what's been successful,
that's great, but it's more about looking about what can
be a problem in the future and how do you
attack that.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Yep, And well, we are excited to see what happens
for the rest of this season.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
You guys, it is.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
Dan Lanny, head coach of the Oregon Dugs. Any any
parton messages before we get out of here, No, just.

Speaker 4 (40:27):
Appreciate our fans.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
Man can't wait to see him fill out audts and
create an unbelievable environment for us when we get with Indiana.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
All right, appreciate it. Thanks for coming all you bet,
Thanks George. Yep.

Speaker 1 (40:39):
Now let's get back to the games. We got Texas
at Florida. Texas is a six and a half point
favorite in this game. The over under in this game
is forty one and a half and if we look
at this right, the weather should be good in this game.
But there is a change of thunderstorms as well, so

(41:02):
we will see and if the weather gets money in
this game, it.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Could get interesting.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
Now, when we look at the coaches of this game,
we got Billy Napier versus Steve Sartus Sarkisi. Steve Sarkisian
has Texas humming again, and Billy Napier is fighting for momentum,
he is fighting for stability. And the question is can
he save his job by beating Texas now. If the

(41:33):
answer is yes, it shouldn't be done now because the
job should never come down to one result.

Speaker 2 (41:40):
It just shouldn't.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
And that goes to show that there's no long term
confidence or long term vision for the future of this
football team. Because if you are at a point where
you're having this debate every time you lose, that means
it is time to pull the plug. That means that
you would either not supported the coach wells, not done

(42:01):
a great job, or any of those things.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
And if the whole reason why you haven't.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
Done it is to make sure that you lock your
players into a lame duck season, oh, it is going
to hurt your future recruiting because there are I've talked
to people inside the industry and they believe that Billy Napier,
that this thing is is gone and that they were
waiting until after this fifth game because they don't want

(42:28):
players hopping in the portal and they don't want players
to exercise their red shirts because they've played five games,
and that to me is criminal.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
That is criminal.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
If you gonna get rid of, get get get rid of.
But don't sit there and do that. But I do
believe that Billy Napier. On one hand, I like what
he's doing, But on the other hand, it's a little
frustrated because on one hand, he's like, listen, I'm if
I'm going out, I'm going in my way, I'm calling
the players, doing the all of that stuff. But also

(43:03):
you probably should have gave that job up and just
focused on the CEO management on it. I'm just saying, now,
let's look at Arch Manning in this game Texas quarterback,
because he might not be under Billy Napier's level of pressure,
but his level of pressure is not is a non
zero number, it is actually way over zero because Texas

(43:26):
is entering the heart of their sec play with a
quarterback that they aren't even sure has that extra gear
to get them into the conference championship, much less justified
the last three years of hype.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
That's just the truth.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Now, is he talented one hundred percent, but talent is
a coach killer.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Potential is a coach killer.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
And that moment in the Sam Houston State game where
he's standing over the kid flexing, that just showed how
much the pressure is on him and he's trying to
find anything to get it back. I want to see
him play well, so let's hope that he can get it.
But we will shut say though that Miami showed the
blueprint to be Florida. It is to run the ball

(44:11):
straight at them. And while they don't have the same
level of athlete the Miami does in the trenches, blocking
downhill is what over offensive lineman. This's what they live for.
And all Archie has to do in this game is
make the throws that matter and hit a guy like
Ryan Wing. Go down the scene when Florida starts to
overload the box, don't miss the layups, and don't throw

(44:33):
the ball to the other team.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
That is going to be the key. Now, on the
other end, you.

Speaker 1 (44:38):
Got DJ Lagway because he went from throwing five picks
on forty nine pass to throwing the ball only twenty
three times in the next game against the LSU. Now,
the ultimate sign that your offense has lost faith in
you is cutting your reps in half in terms of
being able to throw the ball and then coming up
with the same one touchdown result because Napier calls the

(45:00):
so you know it didn't come from the officer, It
came from the top of this list. And Texas, honestly
is not the game. Is not the defense to get
right against. Now, the thing that Steves are the best
thing that Steve Sarkisian ever did was steal Pat Qwatowski
from Washington to run this defense. Because the Texas secondary

(45:22):
is holding opponents to one hundred and sixty nine passing
yards and half a touchdown per game over their last
twenty and last year, Florida was one of the teams
that they kept from throwing for a touchdown in their
forty nine to seventeen win. Now, Lagway did not play
in that game. But do we think that he'll solve
the Texas defensive postle for what we've seen so far

(45:43):
in this game? I mean, I don't know, We'll see
who knows. Maybe Napier goes full Yolo air raid mode
and goes down swinging, but he didn't do it last week,
so why would he change now?

Speaker 2 (45:57):
But the X factor in this game is going to
be Florida crowd.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
Now, will they show up and back the Gators in
the contest of the two top brands in up, two
of the top brands in the sport, one of which
hasn't visited Gainesville in eighty five years, or will they
be there to express their disapproval of the direction of
the team.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
That's a good question.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
But to go back to this line though, I am
going by Florida. Texas is favored by six and a
half points. Florida has been holding opponents down. Texas offense
hasn't looked great. I'm still not going to pick this
to be a get right game for them. I believe
it is going to be tough on them and the

(46:37):
Florida Gators lose this game, but only by one single touchdown,
which is more than the six and a half to
take sixes. Well, sorry, take Texas and latest six.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
And a half points. All right. We got Minnesota at
Ohio State.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
Ohio State is twenty three and a half point favorites
in this game over under forty five and a half. Now,
the Gophers in this game, they come in at three
and one. Ohio State is four and oh This game
is in Columbus, and historically Ohio State has dominated this game,

(47:20):
and they just ended Washington's second home long second longest
home winning streak in the nation. And this defense, they
are absolutely for real. They're absolutely for real, and these coaches,
these coaches are for real. Ryan Day is for real.
He just won a national championship and figured out how

(47:41):
to win big games.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
He hain't figured out how to be Michigan yet.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
But what does it matter if you can still win
the national championship without Michigan, without being Michigan.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
I know Michigan fans that matters to you.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
Ohio States are pretending it don't matter to them, but
you know, is what it is now.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
PJ.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
Fleck, he is trying to be stole Roland, like teams
are trying to steal him right now.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
For these openings in college.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
Football, you got UCLA open, got Georgia Virginia Tech open,
you got Arkansas open.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
And PJ.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
Fleck is one of these names that people Oklahoma State,
that people are continuing just to hey, hey, hey you
are you are you good? You up big at That's
what it is now. The quarterbacks in this game, you
got Julian saying nine hundred and eighty seven yards in
the season, ten touchdowns, three picks. It's been efficiency over

(48:35):
value for him. But Minnesota's quarterback freshman Drake Lendsy, do
not sleep on this kid. He's got almost a thousand
yards passing already this season, seven touchdowns, two picks, and
Minnesota needs to play cleaning this game and not turn
the ball over and figure out how to run the ball.

(48:57):
Because if you are depending on Drake Lindsey to run
the football, if the mom Williams could not have success
doing that, Drake Lendsay ain't gonna have success doing that.
Minnesota has to run the ball, pass the ball officially,
and that is going to be tough against this against
this defense from Ohio State. It just is because their

(49:20):
front has been absolutely smothering. They've been smothering and the
Gophers they got to stay ahead of the chains. And
you know, this Ohio State offense on the other end,
very balanced attech like we have not seen this from
Ohio State in a long time.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
This just feels. This feels like those you know, like
two thousand.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
Fourteen, thirteen fourteen Alabama teams where they just lined up
and just leaned on you just just just leaning on you,
like they're not trying to do anything special, tricky, none
of that stuff. Bo Jackson's doing a good job. But
the thing that's at some point in time Ohio State
has to unleash Jeremiah Smith because there will, I promise you,

(50:06):
I was a former pass catcher, been around a lot
of wide receivers. There will be some frustration growing with
Jeremiah Smith because he had hopes and dreams of this
year coming into this year, of you know, winning the
Bulittnikoll forward and all this stuff. And right now he's

(50:26):
got twenty eight catches, three hundred and ninety six yards
and four touchdowns. And when you look at where this
ranks in the nation we're talking about, you know, he
is number eighteen in the nation in terms of yards,
number eighteen in the nation, and there are plenty of

(50:47):
people who have more touchdowns, and then in catches and
it catches, he is number.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
Twenty two in the nation.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
Those aren't to get you the postseason accolades that you
are wanting, so of course there's gonna be some hesitation there.
But they got to figure out how to get him
the ball to keep guys like that happy, especially not
just for this year. He got one more year after
this too. Now the X factor in this gap third
down defense. Minnesota has to get off the field on

(51:22):
third down and then on offense they have to They
absolutely have to make sure that they are converting third
downs because three and outs you're going to lose. Losing
the field position better you are going to lose. And
that's what Ohio State is doing. They are taking the
field position and they are not letting you have it,

(51:43):
and then their athletes are bigger, faster, stronger, and they're winning.
I'm just saying this is what it is, all Right,
I am going to pick this game. Ohio State wins
this game, But twenty three and a half, that's a
lot of points. However, I am going to lay the

(52:03):
points with Ohio State. Twenty three and a half. This
is gonna be an easy cover. Hell, they would have
covered this versus Washington last week if they were playing
in the ship. All right, next game up, we got
Penn State at UCLA. Now Penn State is favored by
twenty six and a half points in this game, and

(52:25):
you're like, George, why are we even talking about this game?
Nothing on the Ucla side because we're gonna see what
we're gonna see out of Nico. Yeah, and Malava and
this offense, and it ain't gonna be good. It ain't
gonna be good because it ain't been good all year.
And Penn State's defense is really good. They are tough,
they are physical, and they are going to be mad
after losing to Oregon last week. Yeah, yes, the two

(52:47):
times I zone travel thing after an emotional loss, it
might be a thing. But don't think that UCLA is
coming out here scoring twenty one points because that ain't happening.
It ain't happening even at home, even if Penn State
stars slow, because this Ucla out has been putrid, and
James Franklin and his staff Andy Koenikki, they know that

(53:09):
the office that they put out versus Oregon is not
going to cut it. I expect them to open things
up for Drew Aller and this is either going to
be a feast or famine thing for him. It's your
feast because UCLA can't stop a nosebleed right now. So
this is a get right game for Drew Holler. You
have to give him the confidence to throw the ball,

(53:31):
and if he can't, you to put it, Franklin, you
up shit's creat if he cannot have success throwing the
ball against him, it's just the reality. I'm sorry to
be the bearer of bad news, but those are just
the facts. There is no way for you. There is
not a circumstance that UCLA can win this game. This

(53:53):
is a threat level zero two Penn State. The only
threat to Penn State is is not getting drew out,
not getting this running game going, not getting this offense
looking competent, because if not, the fans are gonna get
more critical. James Franklin is gonna get more testing, and
it is going to cause problems down the road for

(54:14):
this tack. All right, next game up, we got Kentucky
at Georgia. Kentucky at Jagia. Now Georgia's favorite in this
game by twenty and a half points. Not gonna spend
a lot of time in this game because Kentucky's quarterback
situation is not good. Georgia is gonna be mad at
losing this this game. Georgia almost lost this game last

(54:35):
year at Kentucky and the Gunnerstockton who was nerfs last game?
What under one hundred and fifty yards passing Georgia is
going to get right against this Kentucky team. It is
going to be It should be ugly, It should be
ugly in this game. I'm going to take Georgia at

(54:56):
home to start a new win streak. Minus twenty and
a half have in this game. Now, the question is
will be over under a forty eight hit? Probably not
because but Georgia's defense, Lord Mercy, it just ain't it
right now.

Speaker 2 (55:13):
But I do believe that they bounce back bigg in
this game.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
Now, this is a game of a top ten team
in my rankings is and number fourteen in the ap pole.
You got Iowa State number fourteen at Cincinnati. Cincinnati is
favored in this game. Cincinnati is favored in this game.

(55:39):
And I'm like, and I know, I know that Illin
that Iowa, that they have a propensity and a proclivity
for being in rock fight type of games. However, it
feels highly disrespectful that they are playing against and.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
Cincinnati is favored in this game.

Speaker 1 (56:03):
I be honest, it feels it feels weird this The
line on this game has been falling, but it still
feels weird. It does because rock o'beck is playing very well.
Ohio State. I'm sorry. Iowa State is five and oh Cincinnati, Yes,
they are three and one and their long loss was

(56:25):
at Nebraska, but still well, actually it wasn't at Nebraska.
It was against Nebraska in Arrowhead Stadium. So I am
looking forward to this game. It is one of the
early nine am kickoffs here on the Pacific time, and
it'll be what since Cincinnati's easter no cin cential time,

(56:45):
I believe, so this will be eleven o'clock kick there.
So I'm looking at this game. I'm still rolling with
Iowa State. I do believe that they lose at some
point in time this season. I just don't know when
that's gonna be. They have all already taken care of
Kansas State in Dublin, they took care of Iowa sixteen thirteen.
They just beat Arizona thirty nine and fourteen. So yeah,

(57:09):
I am in no way, shape, form or fashion concerned
about this team at all in this game. Iowa State
money line in this game, buddy, all right, And here's
the thing is, but let's not I don't want to
fully just ignore Cincinnati because their quarterback, he has an

(57:36):
opportunity to play well, and he has played well. So
far this season, and mister Brendan Sowarsby, he already has
ten touchdowns this year. One interception and that loan interception
came against Nebraska when they were trying to come back
at the end of the game and he threw a
bad pass toward the end zone. So he is playing

(57:58):
very well right now. And I do believe that that
is why Cincinnati is favored at home because they know
it's probably going to be a low scoring game. But
I just don't see them being able to hold off
Iowa State. Matt Campbell feels like he's on a mission
for his second straight ten win season and the second

(58:21):
ten win season in.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
Iowa State history. Feels good.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
This is the man who loves being in aames turned
down multiple jobs, so I love to see it. Next
game up, we got Illinois at Purdue. Illinois is a
nine and a half point favorite. In this game, Purdue
has looked significantly better. This is a threat level of

(58:47):
like a five from the scale from one to five.
This is a This is a three and a half
threat level to me. You just came off an emotional
win against USC. I picked this team to go to
the playoffs. I believe that they are going to beat
Perdue in this game, Drew Aller in this passing game

(59:08):
will continue like they're building some momentum and all this stuff,
the running game with Fagans and all of it. Yes,
really good job, really good job. And Brett Beilamuk got
his team to bounce back, and they should have beat
USC by more. They didn't fumble two touchdowns of two
balls into the end zone basically when they were they

(59:30):
fumbled into the end zone once and then they fumbled
on the one. That well, they fumbled on the one
and then they fumbled on like the three or the
four going in. That's tough, Sleddon and Luke Altmer is
doing a good job. He's got eleven touchdowns already this year.
But then Ryan Brown for Perdue, he's doing a good job.
I'm going to take the ALIGNI to win this game. However,

(59:54):
this nine and a half feels a bit much on
the road. After emotional victory, I believe that or Do
is going to be able to keep it inside this number,
that this could be a seven, seven to nine point win,
but that nine and a half feels a bit aggressive.
All right, next game we got Now, this game is

(01:00:14):
not in no way, shape, form, or fashion is a
game that anybody is like, Oh my god, I can't
wait to see this game, aside from the coach's names.
Because you have Clemson at North Carolina. Clemson is favored
by thirteen and a half points. Think about how bad
North Carolina is at two and two that.

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
You have one in three.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Clemson favorite over you by two touchdowns. Think about how
bad North Carolina has been. And honestly, nothing looks good
for North Carolina right now at all.

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
They don't look good.

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
They lost, They got beat up by TCU in the
beginning of the season.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
They beat Charlotte and Richmond.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
They got just just drowned by UCF last week. They're
gonna be playing Clemson at home. This is a one
hundred percent get right game for Clemson. They will win
this game by more than the fourth by the thirteen
and a half points, So lay the points. Because Dabbo
is the kind of guy to get Kate k Klebnick,

(01:01:24):
who on the season six touchdowns for four picks. There
the energy is going to get to go. The only
way that North Carolina stays inside of this number is
if they take Geo Lopez out, who has three touchdowns
three interceptions on this season and put Max Johnson in

(01:01:47):
he is the better quarterback. I'm sorry, Bill Belichick. I
know you are an expert NFL coach Cox Football. Come
over here in holler at you boy?

Speaker 2 (01:01:59):
How at your boy? Now? Yeah? Because you usc looks
awful right now.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
They don't even look like that there's any hope of
any putting a good product on the field. But now
here are some teams this week who I believe are
on upset alert. Upset alert for me this week Washington
at Maryland. Washington is favored by five and a half points.

(01:02:27):
Washington is three and one. They just played tough against
Ohio State. So you're probably like, George, it's Maryland, right,
it's Maryland. How could you be this Hio Maryland?

Speaker 4 (01:02:37):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:02:37):
Yes, are we talking about fourd oh Maryland? Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
Yes, that team, that team mkay of you know we
got Mike Loxley versus Jed Fish, same kind of guys
were talking about builders. Maryland is being fau Northern Illinois
Townsend and then they just beat with Wisconsin. Now, Washington

(01:03:02):
should win this game. I believe that this is gonna
be tough sledding for them. Only because this is gonna
be a twelve to thirty pm Pacific kick three thirty
Eastern time. It's in Maryland. Big ten teams have not
done well two time zones. Jean Fisher's teams have not

(01:03:22):
done well two time zones. Now I picked I have
predicted that Washington will finish. I think I picked them
fifth in the conference this year, and losing to Maryland
will put a bump in that road. But you know,
I think that Washington was phenomenal at home. They didn't

(01:03:44):
lose last year. Only lost since Jean Fish has been
the at coach has been to Ohio State, which is understandable.
But they have not traveled well and been good on
the road. So this is the reason why I'm putting
Washington on upset alert. This five and a half fills
Washington should win, but I'm going to take Maryland in

(01:04:04):
the upset in this game. That is one of my
upsets for this week. All right, next game up, we
got Michigan State three and one Michigan State versus Nebraska.
Nebraska is favored in this game by eleven points. Both
of these camp teams come in at three and one.
Michigan State's only lost two weeks ago at the stroke

(01:04:26):
of midnight versus USC, and then you got Nebraska, who's only.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
Lost came in.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Yeah, Nebraska's only lost came a few weeks ago versus Michigan.
So I am, and that's because they got out physical.
Michigan State's defense has not been able to stop a nosebleed.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
However, though, however, they're.

Speaker 1 (01:04:55):
Head coach Jonathan Smith when we look at him versus
Matt these are both programs in the building stages. Michigan
State just started the build a little bit behind, and
I believe that Michigan State will be a little bit
healthier this week. They were just off and now they

(01:05:19):
get an opportunity to play Nebraska. Jonathan Smith is gonna
scheme some things up. They're gonna look at the USC
film see how the stunts from their d line hurt them.
I believe Nebraska wins this game, but they not cover
this eleven points. It is gonna be too much. Michigan
State is gonna stay inside this number. And Aiden Childs,

(01:05:40):
who is having a good year this year, is going
to continue to play effishing football. And Dylan Riyola, who
has eleven touchdowns and one pick on the season, He's
probably gonna be under a little bit more pressure than
you know that he's been outside of the Michigan game.
But as long as Michigan State doesn't give them a

(01:06:02):
lot of easy access throws, which Dilan Rowla loves, then
they'll be able to stay.

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
Inside of this number. We got a couple more games.
We got.

Speaker 1 (01:06:14):
Mississippi State at Texas A and M. Texas A and
M is favored by fourteen and a half points in
this game. And this is a one where I am
putting Texas A and M on upset alert. And the
only reason why I'm putting Texas A and M on
upset alert is because sometimes they have a propensity to
turn the ball over too much, and then also they

(01:06:35):
are penalty ridden.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
Penalty ridden.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
However, Mississippi State, they lost their game last week versus
Tennessee because pick six and a fumble six. If that
doesn't happen, they upset Tennessee and Jeff Levy has this
team moving in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (01:06:54):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
If Mississippi State is able to cover this fourteen and
a half points, it is because of only one reason.
Because Mississippi State turned the ball over too much. But
they weren't able to put a stop to Tennessee's explosive
offense and pick Joey Aguilar off and all of that.
They are gonna have similar success against Mississippi against Texas.

Speaker 4 (01:07:18):
A and M.

Speaker 1 (01:07:19):
Even though they lose this football game. I'm going to
pick Texas A and M to win this football game,
but probably around ten to thirteen points, fourteen and a half,
a little bit to aggressive for my blood. Texas Tech
at Houston upset alert only because it's at Houston, even
though it's still in the state of Texas. Tex Tech

(01:07:40):
favored by ten and a half points. The reason why
I'm putting them on upset alert because who is going
to start is Baron Moore and their NIO guys. Is
he gonna start or the truth freshman that came in
and won them the game versus you talk. That's gonna
be the question. Because Houston defense has been tough for

(01:08:01):
the last two years. This feels like a potential spot
here and we are going to be monitoring this game.

Speaker 2 (01:08:09):
Another tick. Virginia at Louisville. Louisville.

Speaker 1 (01:08:13):
Nobody's been talking about Louisville all year. Nobody's been talking
about and Louisville is a team that can win football games,
and their schedule gives them an opportunity.

Speaker 2 (01:08:24):
So Louisville is playing number.

Speaker 1 (01:08:29):
They're four and oh coming into this, coming into this game,
but they've only beaten They just beat Pitted last weekend.
They had Bowley Green James Madison and East Kentucky or
Eastern Kentucky, we don't know. And Louisville is favored in
this game at home. I am going to outright pick

(01:08:51):
Virginia to win this game. I don't believe that Tony Elliott,
their head coach, is going to allow them to rest
on their laurels and winning. And he's gonna his message
is not gonna be don't get fat and happy. This
ain't rat poison. You ain't good enough to have rat poison.
You are not a good enough team to have rat poison.
So he's gonna communicate that to his team, and I

(01:09:13):
believe that they win. Now. The next thing that we
got the last game that we got to talk about
is we got col versus Duke and people are like, George,
why are you talking about them? Because we got some
new fans from the Calgarithm. So we gotta service them
a little bit because they want to talk about but
the thing I do. But the main reason why I
want to talk about this game is because I am

(01:09:35):
going to be watching this game for two reasons. For
two reasons, and this game is a night kick seven
point thirty in Cal Berkeley. The reason why I'm watching
this game is Darien mensa Duke quarterback who has been
absolutely balling this year, and then Cal's quarterback Jaron Keewee

(01:09:56):
Sagapoyt telling those are the only that is the only
reason why I'm watching this game. So Darien Minzer threw
five games fifteen, one hundred and seventy three yards, passing,
thirteen touchdowns and two picks.

Speaker 2 (01:10:10):
He is lighting it the hell up. Now.

Speaker 1 (01:10:13):
Duke had two losses to Tulane, they lost thirty four
to twenty seven, and then they lost to Illinois forty
five to nineteen, with which it was just a turnover
festival in that game. So I'm not even gonna hold
that one against them too much. But on the Cow side,
you got Jaron kiwe Saka for Telly. He came out

(01:10:36):
hitting like gangbusters this season and so far twelve one
hundred and forty two yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions.
Now the last couple games, the kid has slowed down
and this is some rookie wall activity.

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
So he started out against Oregus State three touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
Then he played well against Texas Southern, even though even
though he did throw a pick, but he was completing
seventy percent of his fast is basically through three games.
Then they played San Diego State. That's where things started
to fall apart seventeen for thirty four under fifty percent,
no touchdowns, two picks. And then last year last week
versus Boston College in a win that in a dice

(01:11:15):
in game twenty two for thirty four two point fifty
four to two picks. I'm sorry, two touchdowns and a pick.
So this kid is clearly playing well, thrown for a
lot of yards, but it is going to get much
more difficult this week against Duke, and I cannot wait
to see it. You guys, though, this is Unafraid Show,
George Reissel's college football podcast. Make sure that you like, subscribe,

(01:11:38):
get notifications, tell a friend about the show, and most importantly,
share and get these comments.

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
Man peace out