Billy Napier's Hot Seat, Sark Trash Talk, and AP Poll Overreactions

Summary

Ringer Tailgate – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Billy Napier’s Hot Seat, Sark Trash Talk, and AP Poll Overreactions
Date: September 11, 2025
Hosts: Van Lathan, Joel Anderson, Tate Frazier

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the hottest topics of the current college football season: Billy Napier’s precarious position at Florida, Steve Sarkisian’s testy media moments at Texas, quarterback development challenges, and the ever-controversial AP Top 25 poll. The crew delivers sharp analysis, personal stories, and irreverent banter—mixing fan takes, journalistic insight, and outright chaos with effortless chemistry.

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Tailgate Drinks & Setting the Tone

(00:08–02:00)

• Hosts start with banter about favorite tailgate drinks, setting a relaxed, personal tone.
  • Van: “A beat of beer. … Reminds me of a crisp yet humid Saturday morning down there in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.” (00:37)
  • Joel: “I like a cider, you know, so a Woodchuck. … But yeah, any Woodchuck cider, I’m in for that.” (00:55)
  • Tate: “Down south in North Carolina, we like a bourbon, you know what I mean? So, like a whiskey ginger.” (01:18)

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Billy Napier’s Hot Seat at Florida

(03:13–15:09)

• Van’s Take: “Billy Napier is back on the hot seat. … Coaching with the puckered asshole from here to the rest of the season.” (03:13)
• Joel discusses fair expectations for Florida given resources and history, emphasizing that “after four years…you should be able to win 10 games at Florida.” (04:32–06:12)
• Team debates whether program expectations were set too high by legends like Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer (09:26–11:13).
• Van on program culture: “Are we making the same mistakes in year four that we made in year two? … If the program isn’t evolving and getting better, the question you’d have to ask is: when is that going to start happening?” (06:38)
• Van invokes the “Tim Tebow Ole Miss speech”: “Every elite team needs a guy who can deliver that type of speech…Does that guy exist in Florida’s locker room?” (13:18)

Memorable Moment:
– The group laughs about Florida fans’ impatience and history:
- Van: “Kingdoms were not built on 20 and 20 records.” (04:21)

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2. Sark’s Press Conference & Arch Manning Hype

(15:09–23:55)

• Sark’s weird response regarding Arch Manning’s health after video showed Arch wincing:
  • “I’ve never filmed any of you guys when you’re using the bathroom, so I don’t know what faces you make when you do that.” – Steve Sarkisian, quoted by Tate (15:09)
• Van urges honesty: “If somebody would have said, ‘damn, Van, are you all right?’...No, answer the question. Is your shoulder okay? Is he okay?” (16:12)
• Joel points out Arch is practically a brand and the Mannings wouldn’t risk him if really hurt (17:37); team jokes about product plugs and tone-deaf coach responses.
• The crew riffs on the odd analogy, dad bods, and coach weight loss.
  • Van: “If we’re plugging stuff, then I gotta plug Benefiber...I’m popping them, okay?” (21:33)

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3. Oklahoma vs. Michigan & Quarterback Development

(24:23–36:22; and 36:22–35:04 (reverse segment time))

• Joel: “Oklahoma proved that it is playoff capable until shown otherwise. ... It made me worried they left for the SEC and were going to become Arkansas.” (24:23)
• Van and Joel debate patience for new head coaches, especially for Michigan’s Sherrone Moore. Joel gives a direct warning: “They will fire your black ass. ... Don’t lose no more games.” (25:12)
• Van’s Big Question: “Are we sure it’s even worth developing these quarterbacks in college football anymore?” (28:33) Highlights:
  • The demand for “turnkey” QBs may discourage development.
  • Transfer portal and incoming talent can stifle growth for home-grown players.
  • “There’s a question now with the expectations in college football...My friend Carter ... made the point that a lot of the development is being hampered by (transfers).” (31:21)
• Joel: “Do you really want to play transfer portal roulette every offseason? ... That all changes if you’ve got Peyton Manning or Cam Newton. ... That’s who Bryce Underwood is supposed to be.” (32:36)
• Conclusion: Fan bases must recalibrate expectations for “baby starter” QBs.

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4. AP Poll Controversy & Media Responsibility

(37:05–49:00)

• Danny Kanell’s viral post: “The AP Top 25 is a joke. …”
• Van and Joel react to reporter Haley Sawyer’s viral video voting Florida ahead of USF:
  • Van: “It’s very difficult...to listen to her talk and not get pissed off.” (37:05)
  • They discuss gender bias, the pressures on modern beat writers, and the need for editorial oversight.
• Power dynamics of the AP poll: “...it’s an aggregation ... that’s why people get upset.” – Tate (43:34)
• The panel points out illogical team placements, Clemson’s puzzling rank, and debate whether South Florida (USF) is undervalued.
• Joel: “What else would South Florida have to do to be over Clemson at this point?” (44:32)
• General consensus: Polls reflect narratives and brand biases more than on-field results.

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5. Start, Bench, Cut: Vick, Belichick, DeSean Jackson

(50:47–56:41)

• Joel starts DeSean Jackson, citing his cultural importance winning at Delaware State (an HBCU with few resources).
• Van is all in on Michael Vick: “In a lot of ways, Vick is the Iverson of football. ... I will be on the side of Vick for the rest of my life. He is one of them.” (54:03)
• Extended banter about Vick’s reputation, fantasy leagues, and the “legend of 7.”

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6. Ray Lewis, Shannon Sharpe, and Low Horses

(56:41–60:45)

• Van delivers an epic tirade after hearing Ray Lewis criticize Shannon Sharpe:
  • “Ray Lewis, you cannot in any way shape or form. ... Your horse is low. ... I like to keep my horse low as well. ... I’m a low horse motherfucker.” (59:57)
  • The group reminisces about NFL personalities mixing with college football nostalgia.

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7. Week 3 Preview: Games to Watch

(61:14–81:29)

• USF at Miami
  • Joel: “USF is good money, man. … For all intents and purposes, they’re leading the race for the Group of Five play-in.” (61:14)
• Georgia at Tennessee
  • Van: “Georgia-Tennessee is going to be a prove-it game. … Which team gets to answer the most questions on Saturday?” (63:16)
  • Joel breaks down Josh Heupel’s goose-egg versus Georgia and trash talk from Tennessee QBs’ families.
• Texas A&M at Notre Dame
  • Tate: “I think this is A&M’s coming out party. … I think Mike Elko is a really good coach.” (70:02)
  • Van: “If A&M beats Notre Dame, they’re going to freak out in South Bend.”
  • Joel: “Marcus Freeman, they’ll fire your black ass.” (71:29)
• Florida at LSU
  • Van’s concern level: “Eight. … This is the game that Brian Kelly has lost.” (73:05)
  • Discuss the impact of injuries and expectations for a “must win” scenario.
• Other games flagged for upsets or intrigue: Clemson at Georgia Tech, Colorado at Houston, Duke at Tulane, Minnesota at Cal, and a slew of SEC and Big Ten matchups.

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8. Big Van on Campus: The “Bobby Petrino” Move

(81:47–89:32)

• Van tells the story of a Bills fan donning a neck brace after instigating a player altercation:
  • “What do you call it when a guy royally fucks up, then uses a neck brace to get sympathetic? … That’s the Bobby Petrino.” (81:47)
  • Hilariously compares this to Petrino’s infamous motorcycle/affair scandal at Arkansas.
  • Van: “I think on the ticket of every major sporting event, there should be a waiver that says you consent to mutual combat the moment you make contact with a player in a threatening manner.” (83:29)
• Spirals into Arkansas nostalgia (Matt Jones, Darren McFadden), and the saga of Petrino’s 25-year-old girlfriend.
  • Joel quotes from Petrino’s investigation: “It’s unclear when the relationship turned sexual. Dorrell said the two had been intimate four to six times since around September.” (90:07)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On SEC programs’ expectations:
  • Van: “See, vulnerable coaches sit on hot seats. Solidified coaches sit on thrones in college football.” (03:13)
• On AP poll and media discourse:
  • Van: “This is the type of shit that really fucks the entire college football culture up to me.” (41:05)
• On Ray Lewis:
  • “You can’t get on the high horse. Your horse is low. … Low man wins!” (59:57)
• On generational talent QBs:
  • Joel: “If you’re not going to get Peyton Manning or Cam Newton, just get a bunch of guys and keep trying. … But for Bryce Underwood, you build around that dude.” (32:36)
• On the college football chaos and soul:
  • Van: “I love it when pro athletes beat the hell—college athletes beat the hell—out of people who have gone too far.” (83:29)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:08 – Tailgate drink banter, setting up show chemistry
• 03:13 – Billy Napier Hot Seat deep dive
• 15:09 – Sark’s Press Conference & Arch Manning video
• 24:23 – Oklahoma v. Michigan & QB patience
• 31:19 – Quarterback development dilemma
• 37:05 – AP Top 25 Overreach & media criticism
• 50:47 – Start, Bench, Cut: Vick, Belichick, Jackson
• 61:14 – Week 3 key games preview
• 81:47 – Big Van on Campus (“Bobby Petrino” story and mutual combat waiver)
• 89:32 – Arkansas nostalgia, the Petrino affair, and closing

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Conclusion

For college football obsessives and casual fans, this episode is a lightning ride through the sport’s hot-button issues—equal parts smart, irreverent, and honest. From Florida’s existential crisis to wild press conference tangents, to the unfiltered “Big Van on Campus” segment, the crew keeps things fresh and potent with sharp takes and contagious energy.

Essential listening for anyone trying to keep up with the real, unvarnished storylines of CFB season.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome back to Ring your tailgate. It is a Wednesday edition of the show. We got a lot of fun here, a lot of big segments to get to our reactions. We got big van on campus, one that crosses into the professional ranks. We're gonna have some fun with that as well. But first and foremost, I've had a lot of listeners reach out and ask a simple question. So I wanted to open the show with that question to you guys. And I'll start with you, Van. What is your tailgate drink of choice? There's been a lot of people that are like, if you're going to have a tailgate show, I need to know what you're drinking at the tailgate. So, Van, I lob that up to you. What you drinking at the tailgate?

[A]

A beat of beer. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. Yeah, Louisiana beer from down home. I love it. Reminds me of a crisp yet humid Saturday morning down there in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I go with the abita.

[B]

The abita. Good answer. What about you, Joel? What's your drink of choice?

[C]

You know, I'm sort of a sweet drink kind of person, so I like a cider, you know, So a woodchuck. A woodchuck cider. We could go to Granny Smith or just the regular flavor, but that'd probably be, you know, they have a nice offer, like some seasonal offerings as well. So, you know, that's one of those, too. But, yeah, any woodchuck cider, I'm in for that.

[B]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if he's drinking cider? Is the question. I did not have cider on the big board as the answer. But, Joel, Van, you got a beer, you got a cider? Down south in North Carolina, we like a bourbon, you know what I mean? So, like a whiskey. Ginger was always a nice mix, you know what I mean? But, you know, in the morning, time for a noon game, that's always tough.

[C]

You're trying to end up on Wolf Wolf, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

Up in the morning. So, I mean, it doesn't. The tailgate doesn't necessarily have to be in the morning. It could be in the afternoon. But I kind of want to watch the game with my brain cells intact, so I'm just gonna sip on some beer. I'm not gonna go straight for the Everclear while I'm at the tailgate. Like. Like. Like Tate is.

[B]

Yeah, well, look, when you have to watch Carolina football, you need all you can take to get yourself out of the mindset to watch some football. We got a good show for you. We got reactions, we got previews, we got all that and more coming up on Ringer Tailgate. This is Ringer tailgate presented by FanDuel and college football Saturdays are already delivering. Every game means something right now. Ranking shift upsets, Best place to stay on top of it all FanDuel. Whether you're riding a noon kickoff or betting the late games, FanDuel lets you bet it your way. Same game parlays, live betting, player props, alt lines. Whatever your angle is, it lives in the app. So if you're watching all the action, bet on it now with FanDuel, download the app and head to FanDuel.com tailgate and make every Saturday count. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. All right, let's get into it. Van One big reaction. We talked on Saturday. Boy, do we have a lot of fun on Saturday. The ranked game of the weekend was right after, well kicked off about the middle of our stream, so we didn't get too much reaction on that. So I'm sure we'll hit that. But first and foremost, I think you're going to talk about the biggest storyline in college football. So let's start there. One big reaction. What you got, Van?

[A]

Billy Napier is back on the hot seat. Oh man, this is one. This is a story that won't die down in Gainesville. Billy Napier on the hot seat. Everyone who was talking about SEC football last year thought that there was no way that he finished the season as Florida's coach, right? But what happens? They catch lightning in the bottle. They beat lsu. They run off some wins. They also have DJ Lagway, who is a young quarterback that everybody says is going to be the next big thing. So conventional wisdom says they're going to be a lot better this year. And not only is his seat not going to be hot this year, his seat is going to be solidified to where he can coach from it and build a kingdom. Right? It's not a seat, it's a throne. See, vulnerable coaches sit on hot seats. Solidified coaches sit on thrones in college football. That's the way warm thrones. The reality with that is you thought that he had changed it around and he was building towards that one loss to usf and now he is back on the hot seat again, coaching with the puckered asshole from here to the rest of the season.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Kingdoms were not built on 20 and 20 records. He's 500 right now during his time at Florida. Joel, do you think it's fair that he's back on the hot seat? Obviously he was on it last year. He gets off the hot seat, but he's quickly back there.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I guess it depends on what you think about firing coaches. I'm probably more conservative. I like, you gotta give guys a chance to win out. I feel like a couple of recruiting cycles is like the fair thing. That's a very 1980s ass approach to this whole thing. And so given that, and given that, this is his fourth year. So this is your program, these are your guys. There's no more excuses. You brought in who you wanted to get in. You got rid of who you wanted to get in. You've got all the facility upgrades. Like, Florida doesn't basically take a backseat to anybody in terms of what resources, location to talent, proximity to talent, any of that stuff. And yet it's this. And I assume, and from what I can tell from the Internet and having lived in Florida, I know that Florida Gators fans think that they're better than this. They think that they should be Georgia, that they should be Alabama, and they have evidence of that. They've seen it happen. So, yeah, I don't. This is unacceptable. Because the thing is, even if you acknowledge the fact that Florida has, according to pff, the third toughest remaining schedule in the country, the thing is people should look at your schedule and say, well, shit, man, we got to play Florida. Not, man, Florida has to go on the road, you know, to play against Texas and stuff like that. Like that. They think that it should be flipped, that they're the A bit. That they're the A side of the other marquee, not the B side. So, yeah, man, I got to think that. I mean, this is totally fair. You should be able to win 10 games at Florida. Like, you don't always have to. We're not talking about Georgia or Texas or one of the schools that have all those advantages, but you should be able to win 10 games at Florida after four years.

[B]

And it kind of started with Spurrier, right? Spurrier comes down from Duke and kind of resets that program. Obviously he won a Heisman there as a player as well, but really, when he came there as a coach, that's when the program became solidified as a top tier program. We obviously know about the Urban Meyer era as well, but when Spurrier came, that kind of Set the standard when Napier got hired. Van he obviously wasn't adored from day one. Do you think that kind of still kind of counts against him a little bit? Like they never really welcomed him with open arms?

[A]

No, I think it's largely about what's happened on the field now. Right. I'll go back to this. The conversation around when you let go of a coach or move on from a coach is always going to be one that depends on what you think the right way to build a program is. It's the right way to build a program by bringing a guy in there and expecting, you know, add water and then things turn around. No, we've seen that before. We saw Nick Saban lose to UL Monroe while early in his senior at Alabama. We've seen that coaches takes time for them to get their guys in. But you know what it matters though in this situation, it matters how these teams are playing. And when I say how they're playing, I mean whether or not there's snap on offense, whether or not there's snap on defense, whether or not there is effort, passion, whether or not there's execution. When we talking about coaching, it's one thing to have guys out there that can't execute the game plan that you're asking them because they can't win their one on ones. That's not what we're talking about. Are we making the same mistakes in year four that we made in year two? Do these games look the same? Do things feel the same? Because if the program isn't evolving and getting better, I'm not talking about not quitting. His teams don't quit. That's very true. But if the program isn't evolving and getting better, the question that you'd have to ask is when is that going to start happening? I'm not saying that they should get rid of their coach right now. I'm not the type of person that ever roots for somebody to lose their job. But what I am saying is that there are things that you can look at besides wins and losses to decide whether or not a coach and their messaging is having an effect and resonating with the locker room. And those are the questions that people are asking about Billy Napier.

[B]

Yeah. And the grass isn't always greener. Right. Dan Mullen was there, had a better record. They get rid of Dan Mullen and now, you know, he's at unlv. They're three and oh, they lead the country in penalty. Shout out to our guy, Vontez Burfict and you know Again, for the Florida fans, they're like, wait a second. We got rid of this guy, and we don't look like a better program for it. Joel, you wanted to pick back up on that?

[C]

Yeah, I was going to say, actually, you. You, You. You took my point there. That Dan Mullen, people overlooked what he did. And of course, I mean, he was five and six in his final year. They finished five and six. Like, that's not the trajectory you want in your fourth year. That was his fourth year. But Dan Mullen is a good coach, man. And they won 10 games and 11 games his first couple years. That's. Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier spoiled the Florida fan base. And so they don't realize that, like, yo, man, y' all are traditionally. You are not one of those heavyweights. Like, you have to. You have. Your spot is up for grabs every year, depending on coach. I see Van laughing at me. Cause I always say that about you. I just. I'm hard on that, but I just. I mean, everybody. You don't have a right to be 12. One, right? Like nine and three.

[A]

Joe, who hasn't been down? Name me a college football program that hasn't been down. Right now, it's like. It's like saying, who?

[C]

Ohio State.

[A]

Ohio State. Ohio State hasn't been down. So Ohio State.

[C]

Oklahoma's been down maybe three years of my life.

[A]

Oklahoma has. Oklahoma has been down just recently.

[C]

Well, for you. Okay. Yeah.

[A]

For you, right? So Oklahoma. So what I'm saying is, like, if we. Ohio State may be the most consistent program in the history of college football. I get it. But, like, you're always, always in college football one coaching hire away from not being traditionally where you've been or being better traditionally than you've been. So the legacy of Florida football, that's. Come on, man.

[C]

What? No, no, I didn't say they were bad, but I'm saying. And every school can be judged this way. Outside of your great coaches, who are you, right? Like lsu. And this is a credit to your school. I'm gonna even shout out your program. Van, nobody thinks that Ed Orgeron is some sort of genius or that Les Miles was. But in this current era, LSU is so good and has enough talent and enough resources that they don't. They. You would be upset if they were Florida right now, and they've not been Florida in this generation. And I'm just saying that Florida has no, you know, outside of that great era, they have no right to that. Like, nine and three should be fine, right? Like, you should be able to accept that sometimes also, it helps when you.

[B]

Win the national championship in basketball. Right? I mean, that at least, like, keeps the fans at bay for a little bit. I mean, obviously these are football fans in the sec, but it's nice to win something, right? I mean, you think people in Florida.

[C]

Care about basketball, Tate? I don't think they do, though. I think they onto that.

[A]

You know, Let me tell you what I know from that. Let me tell you what I know that they care about. And it's undeniable that Steve Spurrier put Florida in a different stratosphere. I don't want to act like that's not true in terms of their expectations, but their expectations are there. 9 and 3 is not going to get it done in Florida. So it makes no sense to tell the fan base that they should be okay with nine and three, because they're not.

[C]

If they went nine and three this year. He keeps his job, though.

[A]

If they. If he went 9 and 3 this year. Yeah. Cause he's coming off that.

[B]

But like, he might be in the playoffs.

[A]

They want to see. Yeah. You can make an argument that with that schedule, 9 and 3 should get you in the playoff. I don't know if you lost to South Florida is a part of that equation, but.

[B]

Well, what if they're in the playoff? You know what I mean? That would be the argument.

[A]

Maybe. But what I'm saying is the expectations at a school like that, at Florida, they. They want excellence and they the swamp. And so that's what they're expecting. And if Billy Napier can't give it to him, then they're going to look for somebody else.

[B]

Absolutely. And that might be Alex Golish. Right. Who's the head coach of usf right across the field this weekend where they, you know, obviously the grass, like I said, isn't always greener, but it might be with a guy like him who's been able to get that offense flowing and churning and obviously wasn't so much in that game, but got enough for them to get the win. And now we have another conversation about Billy Napier. Billy Napier, by the way, seems very unaffected by the conversation. Maybe because he's already kind of weathered the storm before. He did handle the press conference really well, Joe. I mean, right now, if you're Billy Napier, what's the message to the locker room? If there is a message.

[C]

We still have a lot to play for. Everything is still ahead of us. If they win every game on their schedule, they're going to be in. If they only lose one more game they probably are going to be in. So that's what you can say. It's like everybody thinks that our season is over, but we have enough talent in this locker room. Everybody that thought we were great, there's a reason they thought we were great. We still have enough talent in this locker room to go ahead and win. But I mean, the reality is, if you want to, outside of it, it'd be like, man, you have one of the hardest schedules in the country and you just lost a game that should have been one of your gimmes.

[A]

Can I point to a moment that is one of the banes of my existence, but matters in this conversation we're having right now, please. The Tim Tebow Ole Miss speech. Okay, now look, legendary. I'm just gonna be honest, you know, man, we're doing a show and I don't want to come off like a homer and I. And it's. But I just want everyone to know that's listening to my voice right now how hard it is for me to give props to Tim Tebow. It's just so. It's one of the most difficult things. Right? But I have to. The reason why is because every single locker room of every elite team needs a guy who can deliver that type of speech. And not to the media, to the national media, but to the locker room. Someone that can say, you know what? We came out and we laid an egg. We lost to a team we shouldn't have lost to. Everything's still in front of us. And what we are going to do is regroup, recommit and rededicate ourselves to coming out and having a fantastic season. Does that guy exist in Florida's locker room? How many teams in college football right now have that guy? And it doesn't have to be a Heisman trophy winning quarterback to deliver that. It could be your Sam linebacker, it could be your safety, it could be the lineman. It could be somebody that's a Walker.

[B]

Ed Reed. Right.

[A]

It's normally an excellent player. But leaders in the locker room, who has those that can get those guys back believing in what they do on the field? That's the question that's probably going to be asked in Florida's locker room right now. And the question is, if you don't have that guy, if that guy doesn't exist in your locker room, does that reflect on the coaching and the program building that exists in Gainesville? Those are the things that you're asking yourself?

[B]

Yeah. One name that came to mind when you mentioned that and I talked to Joel, about this. Earlier in the season, Diego Pavia at Vanderbilt, he seems like the most Tebow kind of genetic baby, whatever you want to call it, of this generation of guys that can go and do power lifts with the lineman and send a message that way. But again, is that a guy in, you know, the Florida locker room that can get that done? We'll be talking about Billy Napier, I'm sure, on Saturday, and kind of their setup going into that LSU game kind of feels like a must win at this point. My one big reaction, he's talking shit, and I'm talking about Steve Sharkesian. He was asked about. There was the video that got circulated of Arch Manning. We got Arch Madness at this point. Arch is the. The talking point. People are watching all of his games. Just look at the ratings. But again, there was a video where he's flinching, win. Wincing, whatever you want to call it, after he makes a throw. Sark was asked about this and he said this quote, I've never filmed any of you guys when you're using the bathroom, so I don't know what faces you make when you do that. End quote. Van, I'll go to you first. Is he saying that Arch is shitting himself on the field? What's the correlation? What were your thoughts when you saw what Shark said?

[A]

Is he hurt or not? Okay, is he hurt or not? Man, coaches, we different now. We can see when you guys are doing the coach speak and not getting to it. Hey, the situation is this. This deal. It looked like it hurt to throw the football. That's what it looked like. It looked like, oh, my God, we've all been there. I'm 45 years old. A couple of days ago, I was walking the dog and the dog pulled me too hard and I thought I had dislocated my shoulder. If they had a slow mo on that, I would have looked like Arch. The reality is if somebody would have said, damn, Van, are you all right? Are you okay? I can't look at them and go, hey, mind your business. No, answer the question. Is your shoulder okay? Is he okay? He seems to be. They're putting him out there. Made a lot of throws. He ran the ball. He did all. But obviously from the outside, looking in that video is concerning. It's a concerning thing. And this is part of the thing with Arch. Rather than have a straight up conversation about what he can do and where he's at, they cook the books to make his legend larger than what it is. Just talk to people and answer the question. If there's no story, then just say that.

[B]

And wouldn't that help his legend, right. If he is a little bit hurt or a little bit banged up, I mean, he's taken some hits, he runs the football. He's obviously, you know, goes up against an Ohio State defense that's taking licks on him. I mean, Joel, wouldn't that be a better story if he was a little bit banged up? I'm confused by the quote and just sort of the intent behind it.

[C]

I mean, I guess the thing is, is that coaches are very cagey around injuries, right? They don't want to release anything. They don't want to reveal too much. My reasoning in this situation that we're read that we're all reading too much into it, is that why would the team risk him against San Jose State and UTSA in this run of guys, you don't need Archie Manning to beat this team, right? So if it, if he is hurt, if there's a little something wrong with his shoulder, it'd be easy to say, hey, look, we're going to sit him out or he's going to have limited reps in the game this week. Right? And I can't imagine, I mean, Arch Manning is basically his own corporation. Like, if he's really hurt.

[B]

Warby Parker, Red Bull, right? He's got all these vuvori, man.

[C]

Bill's got the Vuori thing too, you know. So, yeah, they both got a little. Man, that looks like a really nice brand of workout clothes, but he's doing.

[B]

A plug right now.

[A]

Yeah, it does.

[C]

It looks really nice. I couldn't afford. I can't afford that. I get my stuff at TJ Maxx when I used to work out. But no coach is going to reveal any of that stuff, so. But no. Well, okay, let me get my thought back. See, I had forgotten it, man.

[B]

You only got two loss in the ad.

[C]

Yeah, I got two loss, right? Yeah. Arch and the Manning family are not going to risk that industry right there. They're not like, they're not going to fuck up his draft status. They're not going to expose him to more injury. So I think that's kind of. If Arch was really hurt in such a way that it was really serious, I cannot imagine that they would put him out there. Now, maybe I'm being naive, but I think he would get to decide whether or not he should be playing or not.

[B]

But going back to Van's point about the lore of Arch Manning, right, the entire offseason, when they asked him about the backup Quarterback. They kept saying, we don't have a backup. Like, we don't have a. They basically were bragging about the fact that they don't have anyone behind Arch, because that's how much they believe in Arch, which is also now fascinating, because if he was a little bit banged up, you don't have a backup quarterback. Am I crazy to feel that way?

[A]

Van, I don't think you're crazy to feel that way at all. And everything that Joel said is absolutely true. And I agree with Joel. I think he's okay enough to be out there. But back to the point, explain the video. Hey, it looked like he threw the ball and it hurt. That's what it looked like. He was grimacing, wincing noticeably on a ball that died another one, right? Cause you're also combining this with the fact that every couple of passes, Arch throws, one that dies three or four yards before the intended receiver, right?

[C]

Very weird.

[A]

So if you're asking yourself, why does that happen to him? And you're looking at, oh, maybe it's mechanics, maybe he's not setting his feet right, or, you know, whatever's going on, the answer of there's something wrong there physically is going to make a lot of sense to a lot of people, particularly if you have a close up on his face and it looks like he's hurt. So either he is or he isn't. I think what Joel said made a ton of sense, but from the head coach's perspective, I would expect him to just say, hey, guess what? He's 100% fine and ready to go and there is nothing wrong. Next question.

[B]

And from the Meteor's perspective, I think it's fair to the question. You said, Van, right from the jump, is he hurt or not? Like, the follow up is simple, right? You talk about me going to the bathroom and being constipated and making faces. I mean, I think it's fine to follow up and say, well, back to the original point, is he hurt or not?

[C]

Did y', all, did you. So did y' all follow that? Cause I actually, when he said it, I didn't even really kind of understand. Like, I was like, I get that, like when you're on the toilet, you might make a face and that Arch made a face, but is that the, is that the sole connection that you both make faces? And I didn't get that.

[A]

Doesn't happen to me. So that doesn't happen to me.

[B]

What, because you're stoic on the toilet, right?

[A]

If we're plugging, if we're plugging stuff. If we're plugging stuff, then I gotta plug benefiber because I'm popping them, okay? I'm popping them. I got the fiber supplements. I got the trust your gut supplement. Because it was happening for a while, so it's not happening to me. The question I would ask Sark is, how's his diet? Like, what you going through? You know what I mean? So for me, that's not a thing. That's not happening.

[C]

I'm glad you brought that up, because I've been looking at Sark, and I was like, you were the first man in the history of fatherhood to lose weight after you had a baby. He and his wife welcomed their first child in April.

[A]

Oh, congrats.

[C]

Right? Yeah, congrats. So that's dope. He's a new dad. This is. I'm sure it's an amazing experience for him, but he's. He looks very slender. I was like, okay, wait a second. Yeah, come on.

[A]

For a second, Joel Cassian aspersions. Are you saying he's on the jar Olympic?

[C]

I was.

[A]

Wait, wait. Are you saying he's constipated? Are you saying he's in the constipated because he's on the jar Olympic? I didn't want.

[C]

I'm not making any allegations. I'm just saying the man looked good. And just whatever he's on, I would like to know, because I never heard of a dad having a baby and then losing weight is just, you know.

[B]

He also snapped, by the way, kind of like into the Sark that we've seen with the get back guy before, you know, that is trying to lead him out of the tunnel where he kind of goes into that crazy rage. He did that with this question, you know what I mean? Like, he got that crazy look in his eyes a little bit. So, you know, as a dad, you.

[A]

Gain weight is what you're saying. When. When you. When the baby's had.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Absolutely. You don't even eat a lot. That's the funny thing. Like, you don't even really get a chance to eat. Yeah, well, like, I have to wait. Basically tell my kids I'm probably eating dinner every night, like 11:30, you know, and. And, yeah, you know, imagine you wait all day to have something you really want. You're probably not gonna settle for a nice salad, you know?

[A]

Yeah, I never. I haven't been through that. I'm always able to come up with that $500. So.

[B]

He'S gonna figure it out.

[C]

Come on, man.

[A]

I'm always. Anytime that call. I got it. Don't worry about it. I got you.

[C]

I will. I will take care of everything. Bam. See, man, you know what, though? I mean, like I said, the second one I really didn't quite plan for, you know, so I kind of Guys.

[A]

Okay, it's a joke.

[C]

Is it still 500?

[B]

Joel's just getting out these products. That's what matters.

[C]

Is it still 500? But yeah, no, man, Sark, man, he looks good. Yes. Shout him out, man. You know, he's got.

[B]

And this was a nice deflection, right? If you're Sark, get the conversation away from Arch, get it on to him and his weird quote about going to the bathroom and all that sort of stuff. So I understand the deflection, but it is a very strange quote. One big reaction, Joel. Obviously, Oklahoma, Michigan did play. We have not talked about that game. What was your big reaction based on what you saw from those two?

[C]

Well, so there's two. Two, two for one sort of big reactions. Right? First things first. Great atmosphere in Norman. Well played game. Oklahoma proved that it is playoff capable until shown otherwise. And you know, people have been spending the last couple of weeks talking about, man, it's so much better when the Florida teams are good, you know, when all. When all the Florida teams are doing well and they're ranked. College football is better. I actually think football is better when Oklahoma is in the mix and their fans have something to be excited about. Like, I didn't want them. I. It made me worried that they left for the SEC and were going to become Arkansas. Like, you know, the Arkansas when I.

[B]

Was a kid was like, shots fired at Sam Pittman.

[C]

Yeah, well, I'm just saying, like, I mean, Arkansas kind of. They were sort of a major power, you know, or they.

[B]

We're going to talk about when they were a major power a little bit later in big van on campus. But yeah, back to the point.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were there. So, but so they. I didn't want Oklahoma to be that, like, be this dominant program and then go over to the SEC and be Ole Miss. Right. So it's good when they're back and Brett Venables needed that. But Sharon Moore, this is my warning to you. They will fire your black ass. Okay. Like you will race. Yeah, man, I should have shot up, said I didn't. This is my race stat of the week. Throw more. You shouldn't lose. Don't lose no more games.

[B]

You should have skeeted that one.

[A]

That's a Skeet. You wanted to say that for the Skeets. You're skating all over the.

[C]

You're on Blue Sky. I've seen your handle, bruh.

[A]

You know why I joined it, bro? I joined it because they made me. I haven't been on there, people.

[C]

Blue sky made you big Blue sky guy. Ok, let's shut that up.

[A]

You guys. Y'. All. Y' all think this is bullshit. It's true. People ask me to do stuff and then they say, van, if you don't do this, you don't really love what you say you love. And I'll be like, God damn. Okay, why do I sign up Blue Sky? I'm not gonna name all of the other apps. Cause I tried all the.

[C]

Are you on Mastodon? Are you on Mastodon, too?

[A]

Mastodon threads, all of them. They just couldn't make it happen. And that's okay.

[C]

But the Skeets.

[A]

I know people are over there on Blue sky and they're skeeting it up, you know? So you have to bring that energy here to the tailg. I get it.

[B]

I'm just saying be careful out there. But you're carried for him, right?

[C]

Van probably saw it. He's on the. He's on the app. Just so you know, he's got the. So anyway, but look, man, what I remember. So David Shaw managed to keep Stanford going for a pretty long time. He lasted about another decade after Jim Harbaugh. I mean, it is totally within the range of possibility that a coach can get fired in their second year. It happened with Brian Harson, it happened with Willie Taggart. Like, this is the thing that big programs will do if they get scared. And what have you really seen in the Sheron Moore era, but for that Ohio State victory, that would make you really excited about the direction of the program. You do have Bryce Underwood. But then you go to Oklahoma and you saddle him with a game plan that sort of neuters him. Like, I watched a little bit of that game. I got a chance to rewatch some of it, and I was just like, okay, I get it. They're trying to protect the freshman on the road in a tight spot against a guy that's a defensive mastermind in Brent Venables. But I don't know, man. Like, I just. Michigan, are you happy with the direction of your program? And don't lie to me. I see you on the Internet. I've already seen people calling him a di. And, you know, this is. This guy. He's not going to make it. And we need to see something, Sharon, or they were criticizing the way that he was talking to the media. They say, oh, show a little emotion, you know, pump these guys up. So I'm you just seeing sort of a groundswell of discontent there. And I don't know, man, like, maybe beating Ohio State again this year would be enough if they live up to Vance prediction. But my thought is, man, you better. They better start showing some signs because they. Bryce Underwood's on the clock.

[B]

And it doesn't help right when he has an interim coach coming in that's going to. He basically said in his press conference, everything's going to run the same without me. That doesn't help, right, when the coach basically says it'll be the same thing without me.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, look, this, we are. This gets into my one big question.

[B]

Okay, perfect.

[A]

Which is, are we sure it's even worth developing these quarterbacks in college football anymore? Cause let me tell you what I saw in the Michigan Oklahoma game. What I saw was Jon Mateer, who basically started his Heisman campaign that night. It wasn't that Jon Mateer was so overwhelming that you went, this is your runaway Heisman winner. But it was that he was given questions by the defense and he had answers at quarterback, which is the first thing that you want from a guy that's going to be your signal caller and the catalyst of your offense. The defense gives you questions, your quarterback and your play caller answers those questions, and Mateer was able to do that. Now, the difference obviously, between Mateer and Underwood is that Mateer is older and coming from a situation where he had so many game reps that when he gets on the huge stage, no disrespect to Washington State, but when he gets on the huge stage, he can now execute with a little bit more experience. The thing with Bryce Underwood is it was his second game at quarterback. And I'm not talking about even like Arch, Right. Arch had his second game starting. But Arch has been around that program for a long time. I think it is completely well within people's expectations to expect a little bit more from a guy who's been around that long. But even with him two games as the entrenched starting quarterback, and the question that I'm starting to ask is, is it even worth it to develop these guys anymore? Or how are people going about developing them? Because when I look around the country, I see people talking about DJ Lagway, that's a baby starter. Talking about Arch Manning, that's a baby starter. Talking about Bryce Underwood, that's A baby infant. Da da goo goo gah ga starter, right? And when we've looked at the couple of QBs that have been out here that we've, that have gone number one or won the Heisman, we're talking about guys like Cam Ward, we're talking about guys like Jaden Daniels, we're talking about guys like before him, Caleb Williams, guys that were around and at their second stops on these schools and had had a lot of snaps. Not saying that we didn't see flashes of them from the beginning, but had a lot of snaps, a lot of snaps under them. Now Sherrone Moore is, in my opinion, under pressure from a fan base to have Bryce Underwood come out and look like something that it would really take a lot for him to look like at this particular point in his development. Man, when Tebow was out there his first year, he was a gadget gimmick, power.

[B]

Pop, basically a fullback right at that point.

[A]

So what I'm saying is, you know, there's a question now with the expectations in college football, with the transfer portal really changing the way these players develop. My friend Carter over at Power Hour lsu, a great LSU podcast and film study place made the point that a lot of the development of players, not even at quarterback but at other positions is being hampered by the fact that if you get a five star, four star transfer in and you have your guy that you recruited, it doesn't matter about the fact that you already have this guy on your team. You have to give the reps that you have in practice to the big time transfer that you have and that hurts the development of some of the other guys that you have in your program. I think it's a great point. I think it's also the reason why we're seeing some of these players not just at qb, but at all these positions bust out a little bit more than what they would have in other in other scenarios. Long winded. But that's to say it's almost as if what fan bases really want is for you to go buy a good QB to put around your offense and have somebody that you can actually criticize honestly and not say that they are inexperienced. And I wonder how that affects the development from a psychological standpoint of a young quarterback.

[C]

I think that'd be crazy, bro. I mean, do you really want to play transfer portal roulette every off season? I mean, sometimes you get John Mateers, sometimes you get DJ Oogelele, you know what I mean? Or you might get, you know, Mark Gronowski, who's there at Iowa. Like that was Iowa's big off season pickup. Like, man, we got the guy from South Cody, bro, he's really good. You know, he's going to revolutionize our offense. And they were out there putting up 13 in a rivalry game, you know, so I wouldn't necessarily want to do that, but it is sort of like a twist on my idea. I've always had in the NFL. If you're not going to get Peyton Manning, if you're not going to get Cam Newton, if you're not going to get, you know, whatever people thought Trevor Lawrence was supposed to be, if it's not going to be the generational guy, just get a bunch of guys and keep trying. Use the veteran guy that's out there on the market. That's what Van is arguing for. And I don't think, I don't. I sort of agree with that. But I think that all changes if you've got Peyton Manning or Cam Newton. And that's who Bryce Underwood is supposed to be. He's supposed to be that sort of a generational guy that you can build a program around for three years and they can develop an identity around that dude if it's just, you know, whatever four star that happened to show up. But this is supposed to be a special dude. And so I think you gotta make it work with that guy. Anybody else, I get it.

[A]

Yeah, I agree with you, but this is what I'm saying, I agree with you. I think that that's the way that you do it. I mean, even Ohio State last year, Will Howard is a transfer quarterback. Right. So I agree with you. But what I'm saying is this, if you truly believe in that, as a coaching staff, obviously you have to coach that way. But as a fan base, you also have to understand that going on the road to Oklahoma is going to be a piece of the developmental process of Bryce Underwood. And if they don't come out and throw the ball 40 times, if they don't come out and throw the ball 35 times, it might be because it's a delicate process as far as quarterbacking is concerned. That kid goes out there and throws four picks against a really veteran Brent Venables defense, now you have to worry about how that's going to weigh on his mentality. So I think to your point, you're right. But we have to have that idea in our head that it doesn't matter how generational these guys are, they need reps.

[B]

I mean, and the tamper line comes quickly too. I mean, For Bryce Underwood, as soon as he doesn't look great, there's another coach that's another offensive coordinator that's reaching out through different channels, you know, and saying, hey, in our offense, you would look amazing. We'll let you throw it down the field. We'll let you run the plays you want to. You know what I mean? Like, it can go that way too sideways real quick.

[C]

Michigan only lets go of that guy if they lose faith in him because they have the world's richest man. Like, that is his toy, you know what I mean? Like, that's the dude that his wife got him, Bryce Underwood as a gift, which is, I mean, weird for all the dynamic I see. Yeah, that's right, man. That's right.

[A]

You went to the well again.

[C]

It was kind of weird, but that's kind of what happened. You know, she bought. She bought. She bought him. The guy.

[A]

This is blue shirt.

[C]

She bought him. The guy that she. He's like, I want that so much.

[A]

Sism into the show.

[C]

I'd love to have that boy up here at University of Michigan.

[A]

Oh, my boy.

[C]

I love to have that boy up here.

[A]

I don't know what's going on.

[C]

And so, yeah, if you. They're not going to lose that guy if they don't want to. They've got. They. They got the money they. To. To make. To keep him there.

[A]

This is going to be fantastic.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And he's got a game in the second half of the season where he goes nuts and he'll be fine.

[C]

I wouldn't even give him up for John Mateer, you know what I mean? That's how. But that's how. That's how much I believe in him.

[B]

So, yeah, I'm not even saying him. I'm saying him giving up on Michigan where he looks at his coach and says, this is. This isn't the guy. I'm going to go somewhere else that's going to take care of me. You know what I mean? That's the. His two sides of the coin when it comes to the transfer portal Van is pump faking at us right now. Let's hit us with the first fact here. Total viewing of college football is up 25% across all networks through week two. And that leads us perfectly into our overreaction of the week because there's a lot of people upset about the AP Top 25. Danny Cannell is the one who gives us the overreaction. He tweeted this. The AP Top 25 is a joke. The fact that we use them to create narratives and perceptions around certain teams or conferences is ridiculous. Van, are you as upset about the AP Top 25 as many people are online right now?

[A]

I wasn't. Then I heard the lady from the AP top 25.

[B]

Yeah. Haley Sawyer seems like a very nice lady.

[A]

Haley Sawyer seems like. She seems like a very nice lady.

[B]

But she's in the crossfires.

[A]

It's very difficult, guys, if you love college football, to listen to her talk and not get pissed off.

[B]

You don't know her process.

[A]

It's. It's okay.

[B]

It's the process.

[A]

I did not watch, so I know everybody has heard this, but I've witnessed this. Back in the day, we all went to. This is at Best Buy, and the general manager at Best Buy was a guy named Arlen. Arlen Bethay was his name. He had played college football at Wofford and so Terriers. Yeah. And so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings after a shift at Best Buy one time. It was a new Buffalo Wild Wings. So Arlen was like, I'm gonna take you guys out to Buffalo Wild Wings. You guys get so good. So we have to Baton Rouge. We're like, God damn. What is Buffalo Wild Wings? Buffalo Wild Wings is in town. We gotta go check it out. So we all go over there and we go over there and the. I never forget this game. It was a crazy, physical game. It was the Jacksonville Jaguars versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. And this is like 2003, 2002 or whatever. So it's a hard hitting, really, really physical game. And we're all enjoying it. And we get into a conversation, Arlen and I, about who the best NFL running back of all time is. I'm a Barry Sanders guy. He was Emmett Smith guy. He said Barry Sanders was better as a pure runner. But Emmett Smith, you're talking about blocking, you're talking about stiff arming, you're talking about all the things that make up the position. He was a better overall running back than Barry Sanders was, all of that stuff. So we're having a conversation, and there's a girl there, Mandy. She jumps in the conversation. She goes, I've always just loved Barry Sanders more than Emma Smith. It's just more aesthetic. And there was one guy that worked with us from the warehouse and went, who was Barry Sanders? Quarterback? Who was he? And she's like, what? He's like, yeah, you women, y'. All. Don't be knowing nothing about sports. Tell me his whole O line if you know about Barry Sanders, if you want to. So what I'm saying Is that fans on truth Media. Now what I'm saying is, listen, there's been this long held thing that women in some kind of way had to qualify to talk about sports. And it's such bullshit. And it has to do with, you know, guys feeling like this is arcade watching sports and stuff like that.

[C]

Why did you follow up with race, with gender? Would you accuse me?

[A]

What did you.

[B]

Fire with fire?

[A]

What are you doing? Okay, no, actually this is not blue Sky Lathan. This is fucking. This is Fox News True social.

[C]

Okay. Oh yeah.

[A]

Really? So Truth Social Lathan. So when I watched that video, the first thing that I thought was, and I'm gonna be real with you, is how much damage is this lady not of her own doing, doing to the idea of the lady, the woman in sports who knows her shit, who's a fan, Even the ones who don't know their shit. It's for everybody. It's for everyone. And I just saw all of my friends back home that went, see, this is what the deal is.

[C]

This is the deal.

[B]

You went right back to Buffalo Wild Wings.

[A]

I was right back to Buffalo Wild.

[C]

Wings because I remember I looked at.

[A]

Him, I'm not gonna say his name. Cause he's a good guy, got a family, the whole thing still known. I looked at him, I was like, hey man, don't do that. We talk about football here, bro. And I just saw this when it was happening. Cause so many people. The AP poll is worth so much to so many people. And that she. She basically made it seem like she votes based upon the mascot that she likes the most. And that's the type of shit that really fucks the entire college football culture up to me.

[C]

Was there quarterback Eric Kramer?

[A]

It was. He played for a couple. Eric Kramer, I think Scott Mitchell was there. Scott Mitchell, yeah. So there was a couple different quarterbacks with Barry, but that's not what we was talking about. Let Mandy have her fucking opinion. She liked Barry Sanders. But I'm saying this is the type of shit that feeds into that.

[C]

This is. It made me think about as an old journalism newspaper guy. It just made me think about the idea that we ask journalists to do so much more than they're qualified to do or than they should have to do.

[B]

Especially beat reporters. Right, Joel? Like her. She's a USC football beat reporter. She's not watching national games and. But she does have a vote because.

[C]

Yeah, right. I didn't. Yeah, man, I didn't have to do stuff like that when I was a young journalist, you know, I didn't have to upload a video, have a social media presence, try to keep up with my poll, vote, cover the team, do all this stuff. And it also made me think about the fact that there's just not another layer of management like there used to be. Like, she would have had a direct reporting editor. I'm sure she said, somebody she reports to. But there were more people that you run it by and say, hey man, I'm going to do this video. Can you take a look at it real quick before I do it? And they probably would say, oh, yeah, like, let's not do that. Let's hone your message here. But now you've got a young reporter person that has all this stuff and they're just going straight to market, you know what I mean? Like, just direct to market, talking to people. And not everybody should have to do that. And so that's what I actually thought of when I saw it. You know, the poem.

[B]

It's always good to have an editor, especially like an editor that can look at your, you know, top 25 and say, hey, you know, USF beat Florida, right? And then she might be like, okay, I'll put them ahead of Florida. You know what I mean? That was what she was getting grilled for, the fact that she put Florida ahead of USF after the loss. But again, you could argue, hey, these are my power rankings, right?

[C]

Yeah. What did.

[B]

Okay, sometimes you can't trust the process. That's.

[A]

What do you guys, what do you guys think about this poll? I mean, that's the real question. What do you think about the poll? I mean, her votes notwithstanding, Ohio State's at 1, Penn State's at 2, LSU at 3, Oregon, Miami, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Illinois, Florida State, like, what do you think about this poll? Florida State up to number 10 in the poll from two performances. One, two dominant performances. The question is, is there anything that you see on this poll right now that bothers you in a, in a real way?

[B]

I think South Florida, I would bump up a little bit. I mean, 18, I understand. You know, it just kind of categorically, it just works out where the brand obviously does more than the football itself. So it's like, okay, South Florida, they'll be happy at number 18. I think that's sort of the pushback. They have two ranked wins, they've looked really good. They went in the swamp. I would personally put Florida State ahead of Illinois just based on what I've seen of those two teams. But again, this is an aggregate. The problem with it's an aggregation of votes and that's why you get a poll that is confusing to people and that's why people get upset.

[C]

Well, also, I mean, I probably would have Iowa State, Oklahoma and South Florida over Clemson. Like, what has Clemson shown this year that makes you think that they should be number 12 over Oklahoma, who just beat Michigan? Right. Like, I don't, like they're still, they're still riding off the fumes of losing at home to lsu, who Nobody. You know what I mean? Like, so that doesn't make any sense to me.

[A]

And yeah, they're riding off the fumes of last year.

[C]

Yeah, they've done nothing this year that shows that they need to be that high. Certainly over South Florida. What else would South Florida have to do to be over Clemson at this point? Like, I don't understand, like they beat Boise State and they won at Florida. What has Clemson done to merits them being over them? It doesn't make any sense.

[A]

South Florida I think is a, what is it? A 17 point dog?

[B]

17 and a half.

[A]

Yeah, 17 and a half dog at Miami this Saturday. Right? 17 and a half point dog. Okay. Chances are they won't win that game, but if they do, guys, South Florida would have to be one of the top five teams in the entire country, if not the number one team.

[B]

And they have been before, you know what I mean? It's not like there's a ceiling on the program. They've been number two before. Right.

[A]

It would be very hard to put them at that. But the jump from 18 if they were to win this game as a 17 point dog, however, that would have to happen. It doesn't seem likely in any type of way that there will be enough things that go right for them to have that happen. The talent gap between them and Miami, at least on paper, seems to be so wide. But if it did happen at that, at that point they'd have to be, have to be a top five team in the country.

[C]

I think they would almost certainly be because Miami's going to drop out of the top five if they lose that game. They're going to go over Texas and they're going to go over Notre Dame because they would have done something that Notre Dame didn't do. Beat Miami and Miami. Right. So I would think that they would at least in a minimum six, but they would have a good, they have a pretty much an airtight argument for being top five and I would probably vote the number one just based on resume alone.

[B]

Also Penn State, I mean, talk about a team that's been able to just to kind of hide under the radar in the top five. I mean, they've played absolutely nobody. They have not looked good at all. And they played Villanova this weekend. So I mean, they're just kind of.

[C]

Hiding battle for Pennsylvania.

[A]

Look, and there was one thing that she did say when she was talking about it that's interesting. These rankings are. What happens on the field is a part of the calculus of these rankings. Us as fans, we realize that there are preseason rankings. We know what the blue chip ratios and all of that stuff is. But then the games start and we go, okay, well this happened this way. This happened this way. I learned this lesson when Florida State, we were talking about this before when Florida State beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame and won the national championship over Notre Dame. This is back in the, in the.

[C]

93.

[A]

War Dunn. Yeah, the War Dunn, Charlie Ward era. Because Notre Dame then went out and lost to Boston College. And in that situation, the loss meant more than the win, the head to head. So it's interesting to see what they base all of this stuff on because for us, we just want it to be based on kind of what happens on the field. But I think there are a lot of voters who go, doesn't matter what happens on the field. There's just no way South Florida could be better than Penn State. You gotta look at the roster.

[C]

No, they absolutely do that. They absolutely do that. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. But it's also one of those things where these writers again are covering a beat, which is one team, and the expectation that they're going to be to watch all these other games and all these other teams and having formed opinion on all of it, it kind of is in a tough spot. And now you got like the ball knowers, right? You know, the guys that are out there that are like, I know ball, I should have an AP vote. You don't want an AP vote. I promise you this is, it is a.

[C]

Does that even seem fun to like on a Sunday morning, a Saturday night? Be like, man, I got.

[B]

Wait till you're doing an apology video on Twitter and then you'll, you'll want to give up your vote real quick.

[A]

The question is like, do they, they give you the vote, but do they take it away? Cause like, what if they gave me an AP vote and I voted like Southern number one, Southern, Gramlin, Jackson State, Pine Bluff, all of those teams in the top five, and all those teams aren't even.

[B]

They probably have like a demerit system, you know, 10 demerits they take it away.

[C]

We need to get Ralph Russo on. Ralph Russo was the guy that did the poll for so long at the ap. Shout out Ralph. Now he's over the Athletic. We have to ask him if he's ever been able to pull somebody off the pole just like, hey, man, stop this shit.

[A]

You wild.

[C]

Yeah, that's enough.

[A]

I put nickel state. This all the two Lane is the. All of these. Two Lane is actually good.

[B]

Hey. Two Lane has an argument this weekend to put them in the top 25. You know what I mean? That's. That's fascinating. We'll keep up with the AP poll, but I thought the overreaction was hilarious. A lot of people it's easy to grandstand and throw rocks from outside of the house. And these poor AP writers taking a beating as always. Yeah. Danny. Danny, calm down.

[C]

Ringer.

[B]

Tailgate is brought to you by FanDuel. Ready to fire up your Saturday's. FanDuel's got a boost you don't want to miss. It's called boosting with the boys and it's given everyone a college football profit boost every single week. This week I'm fading the rest of the experts. I think I'm going to go with Texas A and M at Notre Dame and that's good news for the Fighting Irish. And here's how it works. Each week we're giving everyone a profit boost to use on college football. No opt in gymnastics. No invite only nonsense. Everyone gets the boost. We're talking real games, real teams, real Saturdays with an extra payout on the line. It's easy, it's fun, and it's only on FanDuel. Go to FanDuel.com Tailgate to download the app. Check out the boost and with the boys offer and get in on all the action. Must be 21 or older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See [e-mail] gambling problem. Call 1-800-gambler or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. Let's do one more fun thing before we get to the preview. Start binge cut. I'll. I'll go to you first here. Joel Belichick, Michael Vick, Deshawn Jackson all got their first college win this weekend. If you had to to rank them Start. Bench, cut. Which one meant the most to you? How do you go?

[C]

Start desean Jackson.

[B]

Okay. Nice.

[C]

Delaware State has been really impressive in its first couple games, and they beat Albany this past week. So that's DeSean Jackson's first win as a head coach. Man. Albany was in the FCS semifinals two years ago. Like, and I don't think people understand, like, how bad or how low Delaware State is. Like, they'd won two of their past 23 games. They haven't had a winning season since 2012. Okay. And they don't. Like, this is a school. It's the hbcu. There's not a lot of resources. It's one of the. It brings in some of the least amount of revenues of Division 1 schools in this country. So for Deshaun to have done what he did. And they even played pretty good the first week against Delaware, which is now an FBS school for people who don't know they bumped up against usa, right? So I'm like, man, it's hard to do better than that, man. Like, Delaware State. That's a. What he seems to be trying to pull off there. And I was sort of skeptical. I went to the MIAC media Day, a coup, about a month ago, and talked to him there, and I'm just like, man, you know, good luck to you, brother. But, I mean, he's actually shown out. Bench Michael Vick, bro. I mean, they beat Virginia state. That's a D2 program, and they barely beat them.

[B]

Shout out to Ben Wallace, though. Virginia State.

[C]

Yeah. Tate knows something about everything, man. You get to the end of the Senate and whatever it is, he's got the real Virginia State.

[A]

I thought he went to Virginia Union.

[C]

Is that Charles Oakley you're thinking of?

[B]

Maybe. Maybe I got him mixed up. Check me. Fact check me.

[C]

I'm looking it up right now. We need.

[A]

If you mix up.

[C]

Do we have an aos?

[A]

Tate, I gotta be honest with you. If you mess up. Charles Oakley.

[B]

No, not the players himself. I'm talking about the colleges. Virginia State, Virginia Union.

[C]

Oakley went to Virginia Union. So Oakley went to Virginia Union, and.

[B]

Ben Wallace went to Virginia State.

[C]

Now we're looking to Ben Wallace. Okay, hold on.

[B]

Virginia State.

[C]

We're looking it up. We're doing it live.

[A]

We bait beer on this.

[C]

I get it. Here we go. Oh, man. Virginia Union, man. Both. They both have a legacy. Virginia Union, guys. Damn, man. Who are you thinking of that went to Virginia State?

[B]

I thought. I thought he did go to Virginia State. I just. I mixed it up.

[C]

Sorry, man. Cuyahoga, whatever it's called. Community college. And then Virginia Union after that. Oh, man, that's unfortunate, bro. Well, you tried, though, and I appreciate it.

[B]

You did it. Hey, I shot from the hip.

[C]

You did okay. You were close. You were close.

[A]

I cut Belichick, I start Vick, and I put Jackson on the bench, ok? I'm one of those Vick niggas, man.

[C]

Yeah, okay.

[A]

I am, bro.

[B]

I'm Rutgers this weekend, by the way.

[C]

He still got waves, man. He's just real cool. He carries himself.

[A]

People don't understand the Vick thing, I don't think, bro. So I saw this tweet, and the tweet said, michael Vick has gotten more from being a mediocre quarterback than anybody in the history of sports. Okay, first of all, Michael Vick was not a mediocre quarterback.

[B]

Yeah, hater.

[C]

Too much hang too much.

[A]

That's hate. You can't say that. But in a lot of ways, Vick is the Iverson of football.

[C]

Yeah, it's true.

[A]

I'm one of those Vick guys, bro. Vick used to. Vick was crazy. I will be on the side of Vick for the rest of my life. Just Michael Vick, watching him as.

[C]

What if they said he was fighting dogs again, would you still.

[A]

Y' all know how much I love dogs, man. But even that.

[B]

That's how much you love him.

[A]

That's just another defense that he was able to run around. Cause they had him boxed in. But then all of a sudden, his escapability. He got out of. He got out of the bad news. He got out of there.

[B]

You know, he found Algie Crumpler for a touchdown. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

He found algae. He got out of there. And then. Remember the Vic game? The Eagles, I think it was, versus the Redskins that they were playing?

[C]

Oh, yeah, that was Vic to desean Jackson.

[B]

Yeah. Those are our guys. Two head coaches, man.

[A]

It's about Vick. I am in for the success of Vick, and I don't even call him Michael. I just say Vick, man. It's Vick. So I don't know why, but when I think about super athletes of my childhood who have not my childhood. I was in my twenties, of my. Of my youth that I am connected to, that I want to see succeed. Just because people didn't want it to work at every turn. He is one of them. So I am desperately hoping that Coach Vick becomes the guy at his program, like, for real, man.

[B]

Yeah. That seven is strong. I mean, everybody was trying to wear seven After Mike Vick was at Virginia Tech and then obviously with the Falcons. I remember those games. Julius Pepper, spying Mike Vick. I mean, that was just electric. Great times.

[C]

Tough.

[B]

Tough beat for Bill Belichick, by the way.

[C]

I was gonna say, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? You. You. I mean, you part of Big Carolina, so what are you gonna do? There's no way you gonna go back and talk.

[B]

I'll start Belichick, to be fair, you know, shout out to Jordan, holding the door for the team. You know, bending the knee for everybody, making sure everybody gets in the locker room. Figuratively.

[C]

O, calm down. That's just the village.

[B]

Shout out to Belichick. But you know, Mike Vick, you know, I'll bench. Even though I want to put. I want to start Mike Vick, honestly, I was in a fantasy league with him a few years ago. He's a legend. So shout out.

[A]

You were in a fantasy league with Vic.

[B]

I won that fantasy league.

[C]

Wait, like. Oh, really?

[B]

Yeah, it was a ridiculous league that I somehow got.

[C]

Wait, hold on. Who else was in it?

[A]

You're in a league with a bunch of killers. Killer league. Ray Lewis, man, I gotta give Ray Lewis a lot of props. Hold on for a second. I gotta say this about Ray Lewis real quick. Hold on. I gotta say this about Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis went on the Patrick Bet David podcast, right? I don't know if you guys saw this. Patrick David.

[B]

We're gonna take a quick. We're gonna take a break after this.

[A]

Yeah, he went on a podcast and he was talking about how disappointed he was in Shannon Sharp.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like, man, I can't believe Shane Sharpe is acting this way. Ray Lewis, if you don't shut the fuck up.

[B]

He said he chose fame over friendship.

[A]

Ray Lewis, you cannot in any way shape or form. Ray Ray, we've supported you through worse. Ray Ray is a whole group of athletes that I'm not going to take that I'm better holding the thou shit from. And you were one of them. Ray. Ray. You know what? I could ask you, Ray, to just fuck your whole shit up. Ray, what happened? I could just ask you that. I just can't believe the moxie on some of these guys to sit there. I'm not about to say that Shannon Sharpe has been a saint these last couple of years, because obviously he has not. But if I'm Shannon Sharpe and he handled it, if I'm Shannon Sharpe, I'd be like, not you, dawg. You can't talk to me like this. I know you, dog. All right, stop. What the fuck is Ray Lewis thinking?

[C]

One of the few press conference moments I remember in my life is Shannon Sharpe walking up behind Ray Lewis at Super bowl media day and, like, giving an impassioned defense of him in front of the media.

[A]

You can't call me after that.

[C]

I mean, that's the crazy thing. Yo, bruh.

[A]

I watched that and I don't ever. I felt, bro, you can't. Not you, bro. Not you. Not you, bro.

[C]

Shannon handled it so much with so much more, like, dignity than I would have expected, because I think I would have been really mad. Like, he was just. He just talked to, you know, Country. You know, Country Forbes. Like, oh, well, you know, the day is long and whatever. You know, that kind of stuff. And I've just been like, what's your problem, bro? You know what I'm saying? At least that, like, I just like, God, what the fuck?

[A]

He probably didn't know what to say. He probably. He probably thought it was AI. Cause when I was first watching.

[C]

Did look kind of weird.

[A]

Yeah. Cause when I was watching it, I was like, Khalika goes like, what are you looking at? I'm like, somebody do something fucking outrageous. This guy here, he must have had too many Red Bulls, man. He on that four Loco.

[B]

I think he was fresh out of church. That's what it felt like. It felt like he was moved by.

[A]

The spirit, the blues. Ray, what happened? How's that? Just answer that question.

[C]

You ain't seen too many people in the world try to poke Ray Lewis, man. You know what I'm saying, Van. So just out of. Just, if Ray Lewis does happen to see this, I mean, we just are getting to know each other. I'm not ready to fight for you just quite yet.

[B]

So, Ray Lewis back at the Fantasy League, group chat. I'll send a message out. I'll make sure we're all good there. I'll make sure.

[A]

I'm not worried about that. I mean, what I mean.

[C]

Well, actually, maybe I should be. That's what I'm saying.

[A]

What are you doing? But look, look, I'm all. Look, I'm not in any way criticizing. I'm not first. Fuck that shit. I said what I said, Ray. You can't get on the high horse. Your horse is low. Okay? I like to keep my horse low as well. I'm a low horse motherfucker. I like to keep my horse low and shoot from the low up. Cause I can't be on the high. I worked at TMZ before I opened this computer up. It was 53 tabs on there. I don't have to tell you guys what was on the tabs. I can't shoot from the. I don't have to. I can't shoot from the high horse. And Ray Lewis, you can't get on the high horse, brother. You can't. You can't get on the high horse, man. It's over. The horse is low.

[B]

And what do we know about football? Low man wins. You know what I mean?

[A]

Always, man, a host.

[B]

That's what it is.

[C]

Low man wins.

[B]

And let's look forward to this weekend because we got some football to talk about. A great way to transition into week three. We got some great games in week three. We got, you know, Georgia, Tennessee, A and M, Notre Dame, USF Miami, our bull trying to keep the hot streak going. Wisconsin, Alabama, Alabama look like they're back. Let's start here. Joel, your game, your big game of the week. I just gave you four big ones. Is there one outside of that, or is there one game of those big four that you like to watch and you're excited to watch this weekend?

[C]

Well, I mean, I definitely want to see the. The USF Miami game. Like, I mean, I'm just personally interested in that also, because USF is good. Is. Is. Is. Is good money, man. They don't have much else to prove. They've already got two wins over ranked teams. For all intents and purposes, they're leading the race for the group of five playing, and I think that'll allow them to play a little loose. You know, Miami is going to have to get back up for another game. I mean, you could see even though USF is coming off that win over Florida, you could easily see them get caught looking. And, I mean, one thing we know about the canines is that they're good, but they're also sort of goofy. Like, you know, they'll do some shit where they'll lose a game they're not supposed to, or Mario will have some sort of time management issue or whatever, or put the game he kind of.

[B]

Did against Notre Dame. I mean, that kick that they made was a miracle of somebody.

[C]

It was unreal that he was willing to put that game on that kid's leg, you know, so anything can happen. But I think that would probably be the one that I'm most looking at. But also like Vandia, South Carolina, low key, kind of interesting. There Go Pavia, one of the most interesting men in the history of college football. On his resume, he helped New Mexico State beat Auburn, which is a crazy thing, just a crazy thing to say in football. Last year he led Vandy over win to win over Alabama. Right? That's just something that does not happen. And so they go out to Virginia Tech last week and dog, they were down 20 to 10 at halftime. They won that game 44 to 20. Virginia did not score. They only had 21 yards of offense in the second half. If South Carolina is who all these other people say they are, they'll win this game. But don't sleep on Vanderbilt and Diego Pavia, man, they're coming.

[B]

Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. By the way, they cleaned up the locker room after that Virginia Tech win. Like they had the custodian services of Virginia Tech's Twitter account like send out a thank you to Vanderbilt football. I had never seen that before in my life. So give a shout out to Vanderbilt. They're taking care of the details. You know what I mean? I'd love to see that, Van. And of those four games, does one stick out to you?

[A]

Georgia. Tennessee. Georgia. Tennessee is going to be a prove it game and one of the best types of games in college football. To me, it is a game where two teams that have showed us different things to where we're going to be able to see on the field who's real and who's not. To me, perfect matchup of this. You have a Tennessee team that, with Aguilar is running the ball well, throwing the ball well, but people are still having questions. And then you have Georgia, a team that, because they haven't been in the spotlight yet this season, you know, hasn't really had a lot of people looking into them and asking questions about how dominant Georgia is or how reinvigorated the program is after a year where they weren't the Georgia that we are used to seeing, especially for the last five, six seasons, seven, eight seasons, depending on how you look at it, a battle of some really good stuff. A Tennessee running game that is always potent against a really good Georgia front. You're going to also see the quarterbacking at Georgia, Gunnar Stockton, who if you guys look at it, did you see how many times Gunnar Stockton threw the ball against Austin Peay? See how many times he threw the ball?

[C]

How many times?

[A]

I think it was like 30 or 35 pass attempts against Austin Peay and they scored 28 points.

[C]

Yeah, it was not a very. I mean, just I didn't get a chance to see the game, but statistically it did not look like what you would expect Georgia vs. Austin P. To look like.

[A]

Right. So when you. And there were extenuating circumstances in the game, there was a weather delay, there was all kinds of. That throws people off, you got to get back up and all of that kind of stuff. So maybe they were throwing the ball that much to kind of work the kinks out a little bit. But what we know from Georgia is that the passing game has been something that people have. Particularly the passing game from QB to wideout is one of the things that people have been asking about for the last couple of seasons for them. So they're going to get the opportunity on the road at Neyland to prove that.

[B]

Very tough place to play, by the way, like, Tennessee wins at home.

[A]

Yeah, Like a very tough place to play to prove that they are one of the teams that we should be paying attention to as a playoff and national championship contender. It's a big game in the sec. It's a huge game nationally, and I want to see which team gets to answer the most questions on Saturday.

[C]

You know, Josh Hyper never beaten Georgia 0 and 4 against them, and he averages 40 a game versus everybody. Like, that's with Tennessee and 14 versus Kirby Smart in Georgia. So they've not, you know, they haven't. They've not really shown up when that game is there. And I'll be, you know, Joey Aguilar, cool it. You know, his family, his father, you know. Oh, man. You know, thanks to Nico. We appreciate, you know, what Nico did for us. I mean, just, you know, cool. Cool your jets, bro. You know, it's a long season. You have not, you know, now you get to play against Georgia. You know, if you. If you could still pop your shit after that game, amazing.

[B]

But, yeah, he said, I think it's clear who won the trade. Talking about Nico and Joey. Obviously, Joey came in the spring. You know what I mean? Save that for a little bit later.

[A]

How do you feel overall about dads talking shit? College football, dads talking shit?

[B]

I mean, if you keep it in the stands, like, you keep it, like, off air, I'm okay with it. But when you go on the record and you put out a, you know, a release statement, I feel like, like, that jumps the shark, you know what I mean?

[C]

I feel like if, like, you know, the Lord blesses me and my son Desmond becomes a good football player and people, you know, come to. I'd be like, oh, I'm not doing interviews.

[A]

Don't ask me shit.

[C]

Don't ask me, you know, did he say that I could talk? That's what my relationship would be I'd just be like, I don't. There's no need for you to quote me. Like, I just.

[B]

I would compliment the other team, the other quarterback, the other coach. You know what I mean?

[C]

I'm proud of my son. I hope he does well, blah, blah. But, like, what other. Why. Why are we getting into what's going on with Nico? That doesn't make any sense.

[B]

Also, your kid kind of has to back up what you say. I mean, we saw it with, you know. You know, Lonzo having to do that with Lavar a bunch, where it's just like, I didn't say that, but my. My dad did. So now I gotta go.

[C]

When you can't whoop your dad, when you can't whoop your dad, you know, that's kind of what happens.

[A]

You know, I blame myself for that to a degree.

[C]

What did you make Lavar Ball a thing?

[B]

You emboldened him.

[A]

Well, I kind of. So I was on YouTube one day. This is a true story. I was on YouTube one day, and I saw this video on YouTube. And the video said, Lonzo Ball, a 6, 5. Steph Curry would bounce. I was like, ah, cool. And there was this guy named Alan, the big Waller Brand guy, that ended up getting in trouble with them.

[B]

Allen redacted whatever.

[A]

The big baller. He ran Big Baller Brand. And he ended up. They ended up going their separate ways, and they accused him of stealing all kinds of money.

[C]

Anyway, Alan Foster.

[A]

Alan Foster, he was doing promo and press for them. So he had asked me to do an interview with lavar Ball on TMZ Sports. I remember, man. Lamelo walks out. Before he was still in high school, he had just scored all kinds of. Scored like 92 points in a game or something like that. So I asked Levar Ball, I was like, yo, do you think that your son could be as good as Steph Curry? I saw this video that was comparing your son to Steph Curry. You think your son could be as good as Steph Curry? And lavar Ball goes, hell, no. Oh, shit. And then he goes, my son gonna be better than Steph Curry. And then that's when it started. That's when it started. And it was just because I was trying to get a headline. See, man, see, That's a good headline.

[B]

Then Lavar took that that he was gonna beat MJ100. We need.

[C]

We need people like Van in the world. Cause I wouldn't even think to ask that question. Cause I'd be like, that's crazy. Like, I'm not gonna Put, you know, I'll just be like, that's just something I wouldn't do. Because you wouldn't even. You wouldn't even expect to get a response like that.

[A]

Nah, that's just.

[C]

How did you know that we can talk about. How did I just. How did you know to ask that question?

[A]

I knew to ask it because I never. When I was at tmz, I never went into an interview ever, ever, without a headline in mind, ever. So I never went into an interview without a headline in mind. So when I was sitting down talking to him, I was thinking, either, no, my son can't be as good as Steph Curry. Pump the brakes. Pump the brakes. My son can't be as good as Steph Curry or my son will be as good as Steph Curry. But he didn't give me either one of those. He gave me, my son will be better than Steph Curry. I walked out of there like I was the man.

[C]

Man, that's. That's some journalism game for the kids, man. That is. That's a good way. I didn't think about that.

[B]

Yeah, there you go. Especially these days. And also, what did lavar teach us? Speak it into existence. And let's talk about something that I'm trying to speak into existence. Texas A and M at Notre Dame. I think this is A and M's coming out party. I think that A and M lets the rest of college football know.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

That they're for real. And Notre Dame, this is a quote unquote, must win game for Notre Dame. But I think this is a KC Conception game, obviously at NC State. The ACC has turned into the minor leagues of the SEC in the Big Ten at this point. It's like, look at the star player. Star Thomas for Tennessee, the running back. You mentioned their running game from Duke last year. Casey Concepcion from NC State. I've watched both these guys quite a bit. They're really good players. I think Concepcion is going to have a big game. I think Mike Elko is a really good coach. That's a little bit under the radar right now. So speaking it into existence, I think Texas A and M is going to have a big week this week.

[A]

If A and M beats Notre Dame, they're going to freak out in South Bend. They cannot start owing to.

[C]

The headline. The headline is Notre Dame doesn't make the playoffs. Right. Well, I guess. I guess the thing is, does 10 and 2 Notre Dame make a playoff? You know what? Right now with those two losses, face another team currently ranked. There's not Another team on their schedule that's ranked right now with those two.

[A]

I don't know, man. That would be. They need as many quality victories as they can get, and to have lost to both of those teams back to back to start the season would be a disaster. Marcus Freeman cannot lose that football game.

[C]

Marcus Freeman. They'll fire your black ass scissors back to it. They will. I'm just saying they will.

[B]

He lost in Northern Illinois last season, got a pep talk from Thomas Hammock, and then the whole season changed and the narrative flipped and he goes to the national championship game. So he has bounced back before, but I don't know. I really like this Texas A and M team, and I feel like they're not talked about enough. And everyone's kind of. Of saying, well, Notre Dame can't start. Oh, and two, so we have to expect them to win this game. And I'm just saying watch out for Texas A and M. So I admit.

[C]

I just should be a good one. I would love to see if Marcel Reed can pass this year. That's what I need to know first. If Marcel Reed can pass. Okay, cool. But if he can't pass, then we're not. I don't think we're talking about anything. Yeah.

[A]

Marcel Reed and his ability to affect the Notre Dame defense, which on the backside, the Notre Dame defense, is phenomenal. The secondary is amazing. His ability to make some reads. And also Mike Denbrock, the oc Damn, that hurts to say. Mike Denbrock, the OC Of Notre Dame, when he could have been calling plays for us. But whatever. Mike Denbrock, the OC Of Notre Dame. How creative. He uses Marcel Reed's ability to, you know, move the pocket, throw in the rollouts, and really scheme up some openings against a really good Notre Dame secondary. That's going to be. Tell the tale of how, you know, they can move the ball down there as well.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Other matchups on the board. Florida, lsu. Van, I turned to you. This is obviously a little bit of a redemption game, potentially, for Brian Kelly, but he was trying to give, you know, Billy Napier all the love, saying he likes the way he runs his program. It does feel like he's trying to make sure to keep it all positive. Are you concerned? What's your concern level if we do that from one to ten going into this game?

[A]

Eight.

[C]

All right.

[A]

Certain levels. An eight? Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

As an LSU fan, this is the game that Brian Kelly has lost. This is the game he's lost. He's lost this game. He's lost the game where LSU has had the big victory. Obviously, if you guys watched the Louisiana Tech game and you came away from that, two things happened. Number one, LSU got dinged up a little bit. You saw both Braylon Moore, who now they're saying could play on Saturday, the starting center for lsu, probable he might play, he practiced, and Tradez Green both go out with injuries. And that just changes the LSU offense a little bit. Particularly because the replacement for Braylon Moore is DJ Chester. A guy who struggles at center. Sure, he's a great kid. Sure, he's trying his best struggles at center. We're going to have to run the ball for the entire season. We have to run the ball in this game. And if we can't run the ball, you're putting it all on us and you're asking for mistakes to be made. But all of that's to the side. This game reminds me of Texas A and M a couple of years ago. It reminds me of Florida last year. Reminds me of games that LSU should win under Brian Kelly, that they somehow find a way to lose. Brian Kelly needs to win this game. He needs to win this football game. He's going out there against a team that last week looked listless, undisciplined and played with no fire or emotion. Will they be up to play against LSU and save their season? Yes. You're going to get their best shot at night in Tiger Stadium. Not only does LSU need to win, LSU needs to answer all the questions any doubters and haters have about the program right now. This is get done.

[C]

Van is ridiculous, man. Y'.

[A]

All.

[C]

I mean, y' all already. I mean, they.

[B]

Clemson turned it into Matt Rule.

[C]

They got a little bored. They played with their food against Louisiana Tech. And now Brian Kelly's got a must win game. See how y' all act.

[A]

Understand?

[C]

You see how y' all act.

[A]

You understand?

[C]

That's just. Man, don't get it.

[A]

You understand? Okay, thank you. You don't get it.

[B]

You weren't in the Buffalo Wild.

[C]

Clemson was. Clemson was just. It was just a week and a half ago.

[A]

It was a week and a half ago.

[C]

And then a week and a half.

[A]

Ago, they went out and were down 16 and nothing to Troy. It took it away. You don't get it.

[C]

Quickly in college football.

[B]

Some other notable games we want to highlight. Clemson at Georgia Tech. That'll be a fascinating game. Haynes King trying to get healthy for that game. We got NC State, Wake Forest on Thursday, Colorado, Houston on Friday, Pitt, West Virginia, the backyard Brawl a little bit less Luster there now that they lost Ohio, but again still will be a fun game. Duke at Tulane, the Darien Mensa game, a little redemption game for him to go back against. A really good team with summer. All Arkansas, old Miss, Minnesota, Cal, Kansas State, Arizona, New Mexico, ucla. Of that sort of slew of games, Joel, which one, you know, outside of the ones you've already discussed, really stands out to you?

[C]

I mean, I guess if I have to pick, I probably would take Colorado and Houston. Only, you know, prime went with his third string quarterback, man.

[B]

Well, then he called out the media and said that they report lies. So we don't really know where we stand right now.

[C]

Okay, we'll see. All right. I mean, you know, he can play that game if he'd like. I mean, I, I mean people really. Deion is really lucky that Shador and Shiloh and Travis are gone. Cause a lot more people will be running that clip about him talking about timeouts if they were all back there and he had that sort of thing. Like it's been kind of a weird start to the year for him. But I would like to see what they got. And you know, Houston is a, you know, they've got a really good young program there. So I mean, you know, last year I think, what did Houston beat? They beat byu. There'd be somebody. Well, anyway, Houston is like, is a tough team. It's on a Friday night. I mean, you could easily see prime losing that game. So. Yeah, that's probably the thing I'd be looking at. And also like that, that New Mexico UCLA game, DeShawn Foster, they will fire your black ass. They will, they will. They will fire your black ass, man. You better win that. You better win that game.

[B]

Especially with the $2 million quarterback, right, Nico?

[C]

I mean, I mean his buyout is like popcorn is like popcorn and Diet Coke, man. There's nothing. I mean, although UCLA is kind of a broke ass school and a broken, broke a broke ass system. But they'll find the money to get rid of him for that. They can't afford to keep looking like this.

[B]

They found the money to get out of that Under Armour deal and become a Jordan brand school. So when they really want to find a way, they'll find a way. That's what you learn at big time college athletics, Van. One of those games that stands out to you. Another matchup. He's got the football back.

[A]

Obviously, you know, Florida versus LSU is the matchup. For what?

[B]

I can't think of anything else.

[A]

No, it's not true. Oregon Versus Northwest.

[B]

Okay, yeah, he's doing kickoff.

[A]

That should be another bludgeoning, right? However, I'm just interested to see the development of Oregon and how they are looking right now. Granted, I hadn't been tested a lot. A lot of the questions about Oregon don't seem to be questions. People wondered about the wide receiving core, the five star freshman Decori. And Moore looks like he is fantastic, right? Dante Moore, the quarterback, is throwing good balls, making decisive plays. They are not in the thick of it yet. They are not. But when you watch Oregon, it seems as if the early season schedule that they have is lending itself to late season success for them as they work out some of the questions and they answer some of the questions that they might even have about themselves. So I'm always gonna watch them when they're on because. Because they might be. Might be the sleeping giant, you know, nationally in college football this year.

[B]

Yeah, Dan Lanning, what an incredible speech. Before he goes out and destroys Mike Gundy. That gets leaked out. And I guess it wasn't leaked. They put it out on purpose to let people know what he said before that game, but he was like, they basically put gasoline on a fire and then they were ready to absolutely, absolutely destroy them. So Dan Lanning does a good job with that. Matt Rule also had his speech come out that I think he said was leaked, but it felt like it was definitely a similar thing. They just wanted to get those speeches. Joel, what do you think about that? Like halftime locker room speeches. Do you think they should be private or, you know, do you care? They get leaked out to the public. Kirby Smart had a good one where it was actually leaked.

[C]

The Kirby Smart win, I think. And if somebody had said it was before the game against TCU in the national championship game, and I sort of believed it, but it was actually against Florida from earlier that year. And yeah, I mean, that's. Or when Nick Saban gets after somebody, like a halftime speech can really pump your shit up. I mean, Kirby Smart is so intense. And I remember before that night before tcu. Cause I kind of fooled myself into thinking. I was like, man, you know, we hit a couple big plays of Quentin Johnston. You know, Max Dugan gets rolling, maybe we might be able to beat Georgia. And then they interviewed Kirby Smart on the sideline right before the game. And I'll never forget, they're like, you know, Kirby, what do you think the big factors of the game tonight are going to be? And he's pausing like aggression. And I was like, oh, man, we gonna get up man, we wouldn't get hurt. And that's what he's like. So, like, Kirby has that kind of thing. Matt Rule, though, man, is kind of, you know.

[B]

Dan Lenning, I believed Matt Rule. There's a little bit of. Wait a second. Yeah.

[C]

The thing is, like, you gotta kind of try, like, as a coach, like, you don't, you know, 18 and 19 and 20 year olds, they will fall for that kind of. They would. That rah rah stuff actually works. The reason coaches do it over and over again and why it's a cliche and a stereotype is because that stuff sometimes works.

[B]

Also, Kirby can talk that talk. He's got a little slang to him. When he gets, like when he gets in the locker room, I don't know, it's a little bit different than when he's talking to the media people.

[C]

People in the south, man, you know, where you come from, man, you can just kind of tell when people. We have a lot more in common than people tend to think. And when I heard Kirby. When I hear Kirby smart talk that talk, I was like, man, yeah, bro, that's like, you know, limit.

[A]

Yeah. You know, we're around each other a lot. I was talking about this earlier today. It's like there's nowhere in Baton Rouge that you can go and not see black people. There's plenty of places in LA that.

[B]

You can go or the Midwest. I mean, I tell people that all the time. Yeah, a little bit different, but. But last thing before we get out of here, it's the best thing. This is our Lee Corso, you know, head pick gear. Basically, at this point, not to put too much pressure on him, I kind of want to call this segment Van Wilder Van Wildest, but again, it is Big van on campus. And Van, I turned the keys over to you. What's. What's on your mind this week?

[A]

What do you call it when a guy royally fucks up, then uses a neck brace to get sympathetic? Before you guys answer that question, let me tell you what happened. There was a gentleman who apparently was watching players or next to the players, next to the end zone in the Bills and Ravens game. And he did what fans do sometimes when they get overzealous. He hit a player on the head as they were walking by. And then there was a freckas. Well, this gentleman went on the news with a neck brace on to talk about his experience to show frailty after he has antagonized some of the finest, most vicious, most dangerous athletes in the whole world. He challenged Them. And now he wants a neck brace. Smack them. So smack them. Smack them. So the question is, what do you call it when a guy royally fucks up and then uses a neck brace to get sympathy? This guy was in a neck brace. You call it the Bobby Petrino. You guys remember Bobby Petrino?

[B]

The neck goes back to Arkansas right after the.

[A]

After the motorcycle accident. Now, there's people that are listening and they're saying, man, that's not the Bobby Petrino, okay? The Bobby Petrino is when a powerful man from Arkansas has sex with a younger woman who works for him and nearly loses everything. That's the Bobby Petrino. And I'll tell you guys, that's actually not the Bobby Petrino. That's the Bill Clinton.

[C]

Oh, man.

[A]

All right. That's not the Bobby Petrino. It's the Bill Clinton. This. The neck brace is definitely the Bobby Petrino.

[B]

Or Andy Kaufman, right? It's one or the other. Yeah.

[C]

You gonna bring up the neck brace sympathy.

[A]

But this guy did. And when he did it, I automatically thought, look, it's Bobby Petrino again. If you guys don't remember, there was the whole motorcycle accident. Bobby Petrino. And one of the ladies that worked in the athletic department had been. And when he had the neck brace, he had the motorcycle accident. He showed up with the neck brace, trying to get sympathy for people. And I saw the same thing, and it made me think of college football. Now, I don't know if this is gonna work for this gentleman. I don't know if showing up with the neck brace, you see people do it in court, you see people do it in press conferences. You saw Bobby Pacino do it. I don't know if it's gonna work for this gentleman, but it did get me thinking about one thing that I truly believe, and I wanna run this path. I think on the ticket of every major sporting event, there should be a waiver that says you consent to mutual combat the moment you make contact with a player in a threatening manner. A waiver, a contract on the ticket, meaning I'm not talking about the player runs into you, he grabs your popcorn. Ha, ha, ha. All of that stuff. I'm not talking about any of that stuff. Stuff I'm not talking about if the player starts with you, but the moment you make contact with a player at a major sporting event. Not talking about at your kids soccer games either. Mutual combat should be instituted and allowed and initiated. Because I love it when pro athletes beat the hell. College athletes beat the hell out of people who have gone Too far. I'll never forget it, guys, the Malice at the Palace. The guy runs up to. I think it was Ron Artest. You could play this down here if you guys want. And then he stops. Cause he realized, yo, am I fucking up?

[B]

He said, I made a huge mistake.

[A]

He's like, am I fucking up? But he was too deep in. He couldn't get out. He had like. You ever seen one of the videos where the lion is looking around and then he sees his prey? That's who that guy was. And he got fucked up. So when I saw this, I thought, number one, this guy's doing the Bobby Petrino. I fuck with that college football.

[B]

Number two, it's a good connection, right?

[A]

This should have been way worse. We should have seen him on the tv, missing some teeth, with two black eyes. Cuts over the top of his shit, the whole nine.

[C]

Why are you standing like.

[A]

What are you doing? What are you doing?

[B]

Yeah, he should have been in a wheelchair. Should have had his phrase.

[A]

Bobby Petrino Jr. You don't do that, right? So every time I see something that reminds me of college football and it reminds me of those great Arkansas teams. Remember Matt Jones? Talk about SCISSMs.

[C]

RIP. Ryan Mallett, man.

[A]

Ryan Mallett. What was the. They had the two running backs, Darren McFadden.

[C]

Oh, Felix Jones.

[B]

Felix Jones.

[C]

Jones was there. Peyton Hillis. They were all in the same backfield. That's right.

[A]

Yeah, they were 3D, like loaded with talent and also coached by a man. If you show him a little something in the athletic department, right, you give him a little. You know what I'm saying? Bobby Petrino's the kind of guy. Hey, Coach Petrino, how you doing? No, it's not how you're doing, Coach Petrino. It's how you're doing, youngster. And I like that type of shit too. I like that type of shit.

[B]

Can I give you a happy ending to the Petrino story? By the way? The young lady that was allegedly on the motorcycle, she. She had a fiance at the time. They're actually married now. And they, they actually. Yeah, they got through that whole, whole situation.

[C]

So I can. I can imagine a scenario in which you can pitch that to your fiance and they feel sympathy for you as opposed to anger. Yeah, but I think the thing with Petrino, though, it comes back to the Bill thing, man. Petrino was 51 years old at that time. He never thought he'd see another 25 year old naked.

[B]

Yeah, she was never the original Jordan Allen.

[A]

I never thought. He's too young for That I don't give that credit. I don't give that. I understand you, Joe. Joe. 51 is no man.

[C]

Plenty of times no 25 year old dreams of sleeping with a 51 year old man.

[A]

I just think that 51, you're still in the game if you're 71, I give you a. If 51, 51. If you're 51 in the coach of the team. If you're 51 or like think about successful 51 year old guys, they can still get it. They can still get it. Now 81 is 71 is when the women started asking questions about themselves, taking showers, crying, the whole nine. But 51, you can still get it.

[B]

He didn't have a ball coach.

[C]

Nah. I still think, man, cause he had been married, he's an older man. There's no, you know, you still can get it but you don't expect it. You know, like maybe if he had been single or he was out there, you know, he probably, well, you know, I probably could do a little something. People may start asking questions and I may look unserious, but this is my life. But regardless, there's no way he thought he would see a naked 25 year old body again. And it fucked him up.

[A]

I'll just tell you this before we get out of here, just think about what they was doing. She had turned his whole life around. This man was on a motorcycle.

[C]

Oh, bro. Yeah. He was out there living.

[A]

Just think about, I just want everybody to think about something. Think about how quickly it changes. One moment you're Bobby Petrino. You're on top of the, you're the most popular man in your state other than the people that run Walmart. Right? And the wind is blowing through your hair. You're on a motorcycle with a 25 year old woman, long legs all around you, fucking listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is one of the best moments. And then the next moment, boom. Neck brace, press conference, all bruised up and it's the beginning of the descent. I guess he's back now, but that's.

[C]

You'Re literally in a ditch.

[A]

That's big van on campus.

[B]

That's big Van on campus.

[C]

Big Van. That was good, man.

[B]

That was good. Honestly, I like a little like, you know, you know, Harken back to the old days of college football. I mean people forget Bobby Petrino got that job at Arkansas by quitting the Falcons job. Like before they could interview him, him, he had to quit the Falcons job. So he literally had a meeting in Atlanta. He left the original meeting, which was secret to go, quit in Arthur Blank's office, then went back to sign his contract at Arkansas. So that's how he even ended up at Arkansas. So, I mean, that's college football for you right there. I mean, there's a lot of moving parts. Joel, before.

[C]

Before we go, can I read this one sentence from. From. From a story?

[B]

Yeah, please.

[C]

At one point last October, Petrino and I won't say the woman's name, were sitting in a car eating lunch and talking and quote, she said, are you going to kiss me? According to Long's notes of his April 10 conversation with Petrino. He then wrote kissed on lunch outing. Next sentence. It's unclear when the relationship turned sexual. Dorrell said the two had been intimate four to six times since around September. I mean, bro, look, man, that's an amazing. Those are some amazing, you know, things that are going on right there, man. Bobby Petrino, man, you know, I, at.

[B]

The time, good football coach.

[C]

Yeah. At the time, I'm like, that's crazy. But I'm 47 now, you know, and I. As you get older, you're kind of like. I kind of see how. How that might have happened, so.

[A]

Oh, my God. No, I mean, not like in the show. Tate, it takes.

[C]

Okay. No, I mean, I can't. The thing is, I can understand that. It doesn't mean that I would do it. Okay? That's all I'm saying.

[B]

Save that for blue sky.

[C]

I love. I love my wife.

[B]

Get that on a T shirt. Shout out to big van on campus. Shout out to Joel Anderson. Shout out to everybody listening to ring your tailgate. Look at this. That's a lovely family right there. Beautiful family. We appreciate everybody tuning into the show. Gonna be a fun week. We'll be back live on Saturday. We're having a lot of fun live on Saturday, so please come join us. Come hang out. And again, this is Ringer Tailgate and we will talk to you very soon. Must be 21 or older and present in select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and older and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com RG call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.orgchatinconnecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org In Maryland, hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-8778 Hope NY or text Hopeny in New York.