← See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack
See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack
CFB Week 11 PICKS | College Football Playoff RANKINGS REACTION
00:48:37
CFB Week 11 PICKS | College Football Playoff RANKINGS REACTION 0:00 CFP Rankings Reaction 11:50 BYU-Texas Tech 18:27 Texas A&M-Missouri 22:55 Oregon-Iowa 28:36 LSU-Alabama 32:56 Georgia-Mississippi State 37:10 Tulane-Memphis 38:42 San Diego State-Hawaii 39:42 FSU-Clemson 41:49 Navy-Notre Dame 44:00 Most Likely UPSETS?
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Transcript132 lines
- [00:00]
A
And how about that Polack interception in the end zone?
- [00:03]
B
Well, it's David Pollock and I think people are going to learn what kind of ballplayer he is. He's got a heart of a line. I'm really proud of that kid.
- [00:09]
A
This is Seaball Get Ball, College football's top show for football analysis, predictions and coach interviews. Now here's your host, three time All American, seven time Emmy award winner.
- [00:22]
B
Well, I'm a liar, not Brent. I'm a liar. We said we'd do the reaction show last night. Not Brent's fault, my fault. I was traveling and the WI Fi was less than stellar. It was actually cheeks at the airport. It was not good. We thought we were going to react. But we'll give you the Reinkings rankings reaction today now and then we'll, we'll jump into the picks, which is, which is cool. So give both at the same time. I think it's always interesting. The thing I always do with the rankings every single year, the first thing I do is I start to listen to the committee chair because we get to hear his voice and so I like to listen. And Mack Rhodes is the guy this year, he's the current AD at Baylor and just, I like to listen to him talk about the different teams and when he gets interviewed and he doesn't say a lot all the time, but I think when he does say things, it will matter about how they looked at things. For example, if you want to start at the, at the top, like when he talked about Indiana, Ohio State and Texas A and M, there are some people that said that was a discussion. There are some people that thought that. I thought the discussion was between 1 and 2 and then I think maybe you could get to the next one. I just, I didn't think, I thought the domination by those two teams, the consistency by those two teams, I thought made it pretty clear. Now there are some people that are going to disagree with that and put A and M in there because of strength of record and different metrics. But the domination factor I thought was Indiana, Ohio State. But he made it very, very clear. He cut it down. He said we talked about all three, but then we got between. We felt like Indiana and Ohio State were close. So you immediately know that Ohio State and Indiana are close. And then he talked about statistical data. So the control. Rollins that just talked about stats matter. Stop kicking me in the face when you say stats don't matter. We looked at the statistical data, both offense and defense, um, both teams were in the top five. Both Teams were really good. Um, I think it was interesting to. To. To listen to him too. And this is all just context for me. Like, and then he said, we. We also have three coaches in the room, and we lean on three. The three coaches. When it comes to watching tape, I like to hear that too. Like, I love to hear that they're leaning on the coaches. The coaches do know the most. Like, they've been in the rooms. They understand probably the game more than others, but they felt like Ohio State was a little bit better up front on the. On the offensive line and. And they thought they were better defensively. So clear separation. It wasn't like it was nitpicking. They mentioned a few things right off the bat that. That they thought was a differentiator. So one through three was. Was pretty easy. Did. Did you think so as well?
- [03:03]
A
Yeah, and it was like they talked about, like, hey, they're actually watching football. And like, even I heard macro or saw a clip of macro talking. He's like, I really don't have much argument because it seemed like it made logical sense and everything was good. And, you know, it's not, you know, even looking at it from your rankings, there's a few that were flipped. Like, I think Notre Dame, Oregon flipped.
- [03:27]
B
BYU and Texas Tech flipped.
- [03:29]
A
Yeah, like, little things compared to what you had. But it's the same 12. And, you know, we were pretty.
- [03:37]
B
We were pretty spot on.
- [03:39]
A
Yeah, we did Georgia, Memphis, which is ironic at this point in time, given that Memphis made fun of Georgia's. Memphis coaches made fun of Georgia earlier in the season, but Ole Miss, Virginia, I think you had that. That's exact as it is right now. You had, you know, Ohio State, Indiana flipped. But three, four, the same. Like, I just. It felt like there was a lot of logic. The couple big sort of things. For me, takeaways was they look at the Big 12 more as the quality league, but the ACC is the quantity league. You have three Big 12 teams in the rankings. You have five ACC teams, but Virginia is the highest at like 14.
- [04:21]
B
Well, and then you have nine. SEC and then seven.
- [04:25]
A
Big Ten, Big Ten.
- [04:26]
B
And if you typically look at the. The rankings, a lot of times the SEC owns the bottom of the rankings, but that's the Big Tens. The Big Ten really owns. If you're. If you're looking at the. I'm saying the bottom of the top 25. So, like, 19 with USC, 20 with Iowa, 21 with Michigan, 23 with Washington. And obviously that matters.
- [04:46]
A
Playing each other.
- [04:48]
B
Yeah. Because now you have places to go like you have the ability and the capacity to move up and to jump into the top, you know, into this debate as the season goes along. If Iowa gets a big win, you know, if Washington can beat Oregon at the end of the season, it might give them a good, you know, jump. Not one G5 team ranked in the top 25. That's interesting. It's something that stood out.
- [05:12]
A
It's something I've said for a long time they should have their own playoff, but that's just me.
- [05:15]
B
Well, I think everybody agrees with that too. Like if, if you really, you, you know, the difference between.
- [05:20]
A
There's levels.
- [05:21]
B
We know that a G5 team now, especially when you talk about a, A having to go through a bracket and consistently win a bunch of games, they got no shot. One game scenario, maybe you have. Maybe with that you don't have a shot. So the SEC had the most, but I don't think that really, really matters. You know what's interesting to me too is head to head mattered. So Alabama over Georgia, Georgia over Ole Miss, Ole Miss over Oklahoma, Texas over Oklahoma, Virginia over Louisville. Except for one spot, it didn't matter. It didn't matter with Miami over Notre Dame. And for our rankings, we did, we did a similar thing. Like we had Notre Dame well above Miami. Okay, well, why do you think they do that? Like, I think Miami has four wins over FBI, you know, top 35 teams, which is, which is good. Like they've got a good resume. They have the head to head win over them. Um, Notre Dame's what, what they've done is not near as impressive. But you can look at Miami and say that what they've been the last several games, they're starting to leak oil and they're not playing as well. So I think that's something that we all take into account that when the start of the season, when you saw them to now, I, the last four, three or four weeks, I don't feel like it's been the same team. I feel like they've been offensively, they've come down several notches. Defensively, they've started to, to break and give up some more, some bigger explosive plays. And I think a lot that has to do with their offense as well. Their offense doesn't help them as much. But you know, I think that's an interesting. You could talk about that and you could debate that for sure. If my, if I'm Miami, I'm. I'm going to absolutely mention it and say I don't like that because it doesn't benefit you?
- [07:04]
A
Well it's also play better like you the guy, the. What was his name again? Mac Rhodes. Yeah, I think, I think I thought I heard a clip or saw a clip of him talking about m consistency with Miami. A lot of inconsistency recently and want to see more consistency. So hey they're they're watching the games. That's, that's the other part. The other thing to me is I think it's clear we're going to see like Ohio State and Indiana are basically just playing for one versus you know they're going to be in the top three barring some barring Michigan doing Michigan versus Ohio State things again which is still very much a possibility. That can't still it's not like it can't happen but if those two are undefeated going to the Big Ten championship game they're 1 and 2 or 1, 2, 1 and 3. Whoever wins that game is one the two SEC champions on barring I think if there's a one loss SEC champion or two teams that are one loss in the SEC champ they're going to be 2 and 4. So that five spot is. You know you're getting the G5 team with the five spot. That's a. In a home game.
- [08:10]
B
Like it's not a bad spot to be.
- [08:13]
A
You don't have to play your conference championship game likely that is not a bad spot to be.
- [08:17]
B
Last year, last year how many teams that had buys won a single game in the playoffs. The answer is 0, 0, 0. Then the, the off time because you already have a. You already have a week off. You already have a week that you're all going to get to rest. Then you add another week. Now you're coming in. It's almost like the start of the season. Like it's so much time to get back into rhythm. So it's not the worst thing obviously in the world. Virginia to Virginia is an interesting one too. The only thing I'll say about that is they're. They're behind four two loss teams and.
- [08:48]
A
So I think the, the respect for.
- [08:51]
B
The acc obviously you can look at that not there because, because I think the, the teams that have the gripes probably if you want to say a little bit is Miami, Virginia and Louisville. Like you could probably say that hey maybe we deserve to be ranked a little bit higher. But I think they're all there together because the similarities of the resume and the similarities of. I don't think there's a lot of healthy respect for, for those, for those Teams like I don't know. Listen, like I think there's reasonings for that, right. Like Virginia's been, they've looked very average in a lot of these games. Like they've, they've, they've met, they've played with their food.
- [09:27]
A
Yes.
- [09:27]
B
Right. They've played with their food. Lack of Louisville I think probably has the biggest gripe because Louisville lost in double overtime where they out gained somebody by 150 yards. Like they Louisville like time of like control of the game. Like they should have won the game. They did not. So they deserve to be knocked and docked. But like if you're looking at the Louisville Cardinals and what they've done and how good they've been this season and then they have the one whoops that was not like it wasn't the most horrible thing. It was a bad job by their QB and it was a bad job on another fourth down. But I don't think it was the end of the world. I wonder if Louisville runs the table if they'll get more respect and because, and maybe that one whoops doesn't matter as much because I understand why they'd be upset.
- [10:13]
A
I mean they're going to get one obviously the ACC is going to get one team as a champ but what's the likelihood that they get two with the way the current first rankings come out? That's very, that's much smaller. I think you'd have to have a Louisville run the table and then Georgia Tech run the table but not be in the ACC championship game, beat PIT, beat Georgia, be 11 and 1 and then Louisville beat Virginia. Then you could maybe see a scenario where there's two ACC teams. I don't other than that like I'm, you know Miami's got to win out to even have a chance to get to that debate with Notre Dame. But the other thing to me and we, I think we talked a little bit about this on, on Monday. It's going to be hard if Oregon wins out is I don't see a.
- [11:00]
B
World where the big knock everybody in the Big Ten out other than Michigan.
- [11:03]
A
Michigan's the only other shot to get that fourth, fourth bid for the Big Ten. I think the SEC is getting four at minimum based on how these initial rankings are.
- [11:10]
B
So let's get jump. Let's jump to the the picks. But the Mac the chair said this to Mac Rhodes which I think just, just think about in your head. He said head to head common opponents, strength of schedule, strength of record. Like you kind of get, you get a You get a criteria from them. They held true for the most part. Except for, sorry, Miami, Florida, everybody. Except for you. It holds true that it was somewhat close, but Miami's like, we're down here. Like, bye, guys. All right, let's get to some picks, homie.
- [11:42]
A
Gary, I think the picks are going to continue on YouTube. I think we're moving off of the Twitterverse for the, for the picks part, I was gonna say. All right. Nugget platter. For the first time we, we kind of, you know, game we all want to see. Texas Tech is in the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time in their history. I saw that note and everything. Not just, not just the fact that they're at 8 and in the actual playoff, the just ranked in the rankings. That's. That's impressive.
- [12:20]
B
Well, it's impressive and, and how they've done it, obviously, it's, it's not a surprise, man. Like, they made a big investment. They joined this. They're in the business with this world and it's, it's paid off and everybody gets the opportunity to have this. Everybody has the same rules now. Not everybody has the same backing. Okay. And they've taken advantage of it and they've done a Good job. And third in FBS in points per game, almost 500 yards a game, fifth in FBS. To me, this, this is going to continue to go as their quarterback goes. And he's not, he's healthier. Does he keep. Continue to get healthier? The shots down the field is what you really want to continue to see from this offense. When you watch this offense, man, it's pound away.
- [13:06]
A
It's.
- [13:06]
B
It's pound away and then it's going to be taking deep shots. And Cameron Dickey's been really, really good. Like people, we probably haven't talked about him enough. If you watch him running the football, super physical, got that just a little bit of wiggle. And remember, he wasn't supposed to be the guy. Right. He was supposed to be a one punch. They spent a lot of money at running back with, with a guy from USC and Joyner kid. Joyner got hurt, so he's done a great job and creating some balance. And then, you know, David Bailey and company, like we talked about, he's, you know what's weird about David Bailey? He's been a really good player. And I'm going to talk about this from a, from a defensive lineman standpoint. He's been a really good player throughout his career. He's been a really solid player. When you look at David Bailey now, he's got 11 and a half sacks. He leads FBS. He had 14 and three seasons at Stanford. 14. Like why? It's because he's playing with other great players on the offensive line. Like when you play with other great players, it's. It's amazing how when you get singled up, you're going to have more success. It's amazing how when the pocket gets pushed from the middle, there's nowhere to step up. Like it matters so, so much. And then you got the Rodriguez element and the defense at Lubbock, which is, It's. I've. I've said this before. It's like Halloween. Like it's nuts. People will be dressed up. It'll be crazy. It'll be wacky. I think Barkmire is walking into a hostile environment and I think Texas Tech has a chance to make a statement and own the lines. Own the lines of scrimmage play. Well, I think Texas Tech's going to win this football game. I think Bear is going to be put in a big, a tough spot and then instead of Iowa State, when he could throw his way back into it, can they protect him now? When, when they do that, it's going to be a hard task. This feels like Texas Tech big even though this is 7 versus 8.
- [14:59]
A
So let's hit back to a couple things you said there. One with Bailey and playing with Romello Height and all the other actual A.J. holmes and life is Lee Hunter. Like Bailey and. And height have 95 quarterback pressures. I think Georgia as a team has like 108. They have 19 or I think it's like 19 sacks maybe something like that, or 16 sacks combined. Georgia has eight. So when you play great pass rushers together, it's there. The thing with this game though is I think actually both teams are in a perfect sort of schedule position wise. BYU had a bye week after six straight weeks. So preparation for this game, all the things that Texas Tech does defensively. We talked about Jacob Rodriguez and the fumbles all in fumbling force fumbles, all that sort of stuff. But then Texas Tech I think is actually in a good position wise because Morton played last week one week of kind of kick the rust off after not playing for a little bit. He struggled in the intermediate area, still hit the deep shots like you said. But all right, pressure. Bear's been pressured 40, 28 of his drop backs. But in their two closest games, Arizona and Utah, it's right around 40%. My guess is it's going to be right around 40% if, if not more in this game.
- [16:17]
B
I tell you what though, that sucker's got something inside of his chest that's different, man. I'll say that like now Sam Levitt diced up this defense and even in a two minute situation when they needed to go down the field, they needed, they needed a. Must have. It was a passing situation. They still couldn't get home and get to. To Sam Levitt. Texas Tech couldn't. I love Bear the dude. I think the dude's got some special qualities and special inside of him and Robertson Kingston are good man. And their offense, BYU's offense is awesome. Like if you're not watching, like they know how to conceptually get people open against zone against man. They're like, they're really good at it. Bear, Bear will make, make some plays. I, I just think this is a really tough ask man.
- [16:57]
A
Like this is RPO game might help. They're heavy rpo. Like that might help in terms of, you know, pass rush and, and mitigating some of that. But no, I, I agree. I don't, I don't think, I think the Red Raiders are saying, hey, we might need to be that crash the party top four team when keep in.
- [17:18]
B
Mind you, you, you said they're in a good spot. The only thing that really hurts BYU's chances of making the College Football Playoff is to get belt to bottom. Like if they get destroyed like now you start talking about. Because if this is a close game, they play in the Big 12 championship game. If they win this game, BYU sitting absolutely gorgeous to make the College Football Playoff, I think the only thing that starts to put doubt and move them down the rankings if they lose, I don't think it's that big of a deal. But if they, if they get beat bad, it's, it's a, it's a really bad thing for their chances obviously of making the College Football Playoff.
- [17:53]
A
So do you think they get beat bad?
- [17:55]
B
I do. I don't think this is, I don't.
- [17:58]
A
Think this is a plus point game to you.
- [18:00]
B
A what?
- [18:01]
A
Two touchdown plus?
- [18:02]
B
Yes, I do. I don't say that often. I usually find a way to try to make it close, but I think that, I think BYU's defense, I think Texas Tech's speed and now that Morton can take the deep shots, can make some plays in the passing game and keep them off balance, I think that Texas Tech take care of his business. Sorry byu. Sorry Bear. You're my spirit animal, Bear, but sorry.
- [18:26]
A
I had Texas Tech by seven all Right. Heartburn games. We actually have two ranked matchups now. We'll hit the first one, Texas A and M on the road at Missouri where Coach Drinks said, we knew he was the future, but the future is now. You get Matt Zollers starting true freshman starting for for Missouri. He's 14 of 24 for 138 and a touchdown against Vanderbilt. Yeah, but here's the. Like, can you stay out? Like, you put a true freshman even at home on third down against the best team on third down in the FPS. 22.2% conversion allowed. That's insanity of us. That.
- [19:14]
B
Is Hardy still at Missouri. Are we. Are we still running the football? Like, what, What? Like that dude was an ox the first part of the season and was controlling college football. I mean, he was like, they were doing such a good job of getting him to the second level and then letting him be special. And now, man, like, there hasn't been a lot of holes. The injury now to QB doesn't help. Now. Zollers, I think, can spin it. He's not an athlete. He's not like the other guy. Like, he's not like Prabula. Prabula really added the element of, of run pass to the option. He could run it, you could develop it and kind of alleviate some pressure off of Hardy. Like A and M's had some, had some mishaps up front. They've given up some yards. It's all about Hardy. Can Hardy. Can Hardy do his thing and put up some numbers to keep them out of those obvious situations? Listen, Missouri's got three games that have been sided, decided by seven or less points. Like they're one and two. Like, but they haven't. They also haven't gained more than, than, than 376 yards in the last three games. Like they're just not. And, and that was before Prula got like, listen, you were loving on Prula, rightfully so. What he was doing and putting up the numbers and all that stuff, that's also a part where the numbers can lie to you. Like, right. Once you start playing better competition. Right. You have to be able to judge that. And per bull in this offense has really, really struggled. So everybody around Zollers is going to have to be better. And then, oh yeah, you know, you're playing the other side with Concepcion and Craver and Reed, who, Who have the speed and A and M8. No. For the first time since 1992, like, they've got all the things going in the right, right direction and they've got five games this season with 40 plus points. So the probability of getting in a situation where they're going to score points and you're going to have to outscore them is strong. This is another game, another ranked unranked matchup where I don't think it's going to be as close as a score. Like all the SEC, 50% of the games this year have been by one score less. I don't think this is a one score game. I like A and M to take care of business. I like Reuben Owens and I like Cassius Howe and Reed and Craver and company to to get the dub and I think Elko's got the right mindset.
- [21:30]
A
The only way. There's two ways this stays close. We talked on Monday about Marcel Reed and some of not playing as well, at least not as consistently. Turning the ball over a little bit on the road that might, you know you get two pass rushers for Mizzou and some others that might help that. But the other thing is Hardy off of a buy and the if you had to sort of what's the wart for Texas A M and you're looking and okay, there it is. They are one of the worst tackling teams like in terms of which is amazing given their third down conversion rate.
- [22:01]
B
But in terms run defense has been iffy sometimes. Yes.
- [22:03]
A
Like the tackling grade like and missed tackle percentage, things like that. That's one of the highest in the or one of the worst in the power four. Obviously Hardy is break tackle machine for the most part. If, if that happens. Okay then it's close but I don't think it's going to be either. I got Texas ain't in by 10.
- [22:18]
B
Well and Missouri also has the one thing that could be fun to watch too is just a team speed up front of guys that can catch Reed. Actually they can't catch him but they could at least slow him down, make him uncomfortable. Catch him because he the dude. The dude's fast. But they got 23 sacks on defense. Yeah. So I mean they definitely get after the qb. But that's. That's weird. This is a season where we've pointed to so much of the same like so much of like competitiveness. Competitiveness. Competitiveness every game being close and we both. I. I feel like both those two games we've talked about so far, not so much. Yep.
- [22:55]
A
All right. Next ranked matchup which is now a ranked matchup because the committee ranked Iowa.
- [23:00]
B
Which they did the right thing. They should be right.
- [23:02]
A
Speaking last one. Last Thought I had about the rankings. So when we talked on Monday, I was like, hey, I looked at all the teams that can make the playoff. I forgot Notre dame. So it's 35. But the only team that's ranked that I think that is eliminated is Tennessee. Tennessee, at 25, is the only team that can't make the College Football Playoff. But still, all right, I was ranked. So Oregon at Iowa. This is a. What are you for both teams? What truly are you? Because this is a really good game.
- [23:34]
B
Man. When you look at Iowa, it's always like, you always want to. To lean into who they are and what they are, but you always look at them, you're just like, man, if they just had a throw game, like, if they just had. Every year. Yeah, like it's. Every year, it's always like, man, if you just. They just had a little bit more explosiveness, you know, Oregon's been really, really good on the road. You know, they know who they are. Dan Lanning is a really, really good team. Or Dan Laney is a really good coach. He's got a really, really good team. I just. Three games this season, Iowa has 37 or more points. That's awesome.
- [24:10]
A
Like, for them, specifically, that.
- [24:13]
B
That's ridiculous. For them, like, it's. That's world. Yes. That's out of this world. Nuts. Insane. You know, 31 points a game this season is the most since 2020 for them. But I just. It's. It's Gronowski. Can you. Can you be one dimensional and beat Oregon? He hasn't thrown for over 200 yards in a game. Like, not going to. Molten's a really good running back, too. He's really good, man. Physical. So it's about the body blows. They're at home. I think this one now. I think they'll stay close. But who are the guys that can make the plays out wide? Who are those guys that are going to create some explosive, alleviate some pressure from having to be perfect all the time? And that's why I go Oregon, the other direction. Oregon's got a bunch of those big defensive linemen that can eat up guys. They got a bunch of guys that can penetrate. They got a bunch of ways to load the box. They got a bunch of ways to make you throw the football. Like Indiana, they had to throw the football well, they could do it, right? Iowa, they're going to have to throw the football. They're going to have to make a play. And I just don't know if they can make a play in the back End I know they'll make one on special teams. I know they'll get some stops on defense. But the passing game just it's the same thing that, that, that it always deters me from picking Iowa in a big game like this and so I'll go with the Ducks. But I do think this is a close lower scoring game. I think this is like a 2724 field goal game.
- [25:43]
A
I wrote 2320 Oregon. But it's amazing to think that Iowa is one sort of stop and then maybe a few completions and a field goal away from beating Indiana being 7 and 1, riding a six game win.
- [25:58]
B
Streak and you could argue a quarterback not getting hurt away like when their QB got hurt, that game ended. It was over. Now Mendoza and company made plays after that against the defense. That was that. And but, but they, they hit the quarterback consistently. But, but, but here's, here's the thing, Brent. Here's how Iowa can win and here's why. Iowa can win because they can control the line of scrimmage and they can control the clock. Like that's what I was going to do. You're going to look up and it's going to be like what the freak just happened to the first quarter. Like two possessions. Like yeah, like we finished the first quarter. Like in the Duck fans might be sweating a little bit because like they will run it, run it. Their QB is a big strong sucker who's going to run it and they're going to go three plays and they're going to go first down and two and a half minutes is off the clock. Like obviously not that much. Just being sarcastic but I think they'll put some 10, 15 play drives together and then it starts to put pressure on the other end and Oregon's offense hasn't been in a groove. You know, I don't think this, that's an offense. Like I'd be interested to see if they do get back to beginning of the season. They were putting up 50 effortlessly and then they went to Penn State and Penn State, remember, not that good anymore and Northwestern is their best win, the only team they beat with a winning record. So I think this is going to be a challenge.
- [27:19]
A
The, from an Oregon perspective, I'm curious and I don't. I looked just to see if there was any sort of injury to it, but I didn't really see that. But the Air Hill, the freshman kid, the not the, not the Thunder Davison, the Lightning that at Penn State had 12 touches for 94 yards and was just this Electric type player. Had a touchdown against Penn State. He's got all those same stats, like 11 touches in the last three games. Like I thought he was going to be this right next level explosive guy for them. And maybe, like, maybe there's something that I haven't seen and also seeing more and more, hey, Evan Stewart might return.
- [27:57]
B
Evan Stewart, he's dancing on videos.
- [27:59]
A
Like he looks good.
- [28:00]
B
He's dancing on the video. Gritty and up.
- [28:02]
A
Yeah, I got Oregon by 3, 23, 20. Same thing.
- [28:05]
B
But, but what you said is interesting because it's, it's, it's, it's a very constant thing. Usually when you're a young guy being able to trust you to pass protect and do the dirty work. Like, it's, it's just, it's hard, man. It's just hard to, it's a hard concept to grasp because most guys weren't taught it in high school. So you're learning it for the first time. It gets better players.
- [28:32]
A
Yep. All right, next heartburn game. LSU at Alabama. Do they get an interim coach bump? Kind of hasn't really worked out well for Penn State and Florida so far. Can one of these teams now LSU in the sec, specifically lsu, Florida or Auburn, that have interim coaches and new, you know, new stuff going around, can they be a spoiler? I, I, because Florida's got Ole Miss next week, Auburn's got Alabama later. I mean, Auburn's got Vandy soon. So next, next week.
- [29:12]
B
Well, here's an interesting thing about, here's an interesting thing about LSU and here's how this is a game and how we could, we could maybe say this is going to be a game. We have no clue what to expect from lsu. None. But we do know they've been elite in past defense. We do know that. We also know that Alabama doesn't run the football well like Jam Miller. We talked about his return the last two games, Brent. He's got 22 carries for 41 yards. That's less than two yards a carry. Yeah, number me. I mean, good. Like so, so do if they want to get past Happy, which Alabama is a pass happy offense. But they're so good at it and they trust their quarterback and he's great. Well, here's the thing, here's another thing too. This time of year it gets a little bit colder. It's a little bit harder to throw the football. It really is, man. Like sometimes the weather, even in the south, it will matter. Like those things sometimes tend to come into play. So if the passing game, you know, Struggles a little bit. Can Alabama lean on running the football? Like, they have to get that part of, like, if they want to win a national championship, they want to win an SEC championship. Like, they, they have to have just a little bit more balance. And so LSU secondary is so good. They've been good. How do we decide who's tapped out for lsu? Like, Frank Wilson comes in as an interim coach. It's. It's just hard. Like, what am I going to get? What do I know? Whit Weeks has been banged up. Like, him coming back would be tremendous for them, right? Like, tremendous. But how can you look at LSU's offense and say, yep, like, I'm all in, baby? Like, Alabama's offense has kind of. Or defense has kind of done this. It's kind of ascended, right? Like, we've started to get an identity, know who they are. I don't know what LSU's offense is. And so can they hang early defensively? Can they keep them in it? Turnover, I think that's the whole game. And I just, I don't see how they're going to beat Bama because I just don't. The scoring for LSU has been such a disaster this year. I mean, such a disaster. Watching them play offense. Like, last year, Nussmeier threw for over 300 a game. This year, he. He's at 220. Like, it's, it's night and day, man. It's. It's fallen off of a cliff. And I know the injuries probably have something to do with it, but this. No one on the team has more than two TDs rushing this season. Like, where's the run game? I mean, they, They've. They've got it. They. They talked about creating balance. They haven't been able to do it. So your guess is as good as mine what you're going to get from, from lsu. But that's. I'll take Bam. Especially being at home. Like, it just, it makes sense to take Bama. You're taking Bama too. There's no way you're.
- [31:56]
A
Yeah, heck no. Bama by 10. But in terms of, hey, if I'm an LSU fan, like, Melro just scored again and just got another 20 yard gain and he ain't playing this year. So, like, that element is not there. So maybe you get some tip balls, pick six energy, and then sphincters get tight in. In the stadium and they have some level pause. It has to be positive energy early because if it's not, then I think it does crater in a Way well.
- [32:29]
B
And you know what's interesting as much as we've talked about LSU's defense, they only got 17 sacks too on the season. Like it's one it's 11th in the SEC. So to me to beat Alabama you better have a pass rush. Like you have to affect A and M has a chance to beat Alabama. They've got a great pass rush. Like you better have dudes up front that can win. And LSU hasn't consistently rushed the passer really well even though they cover exceptionally well.
- [32:56]
A
Georgia at the cowbells. Mississippi State, Mississippi State. Hey, last week they did the Arkansas what Texas did to them 17 unanswered in the fourth quarter you get Anthony Evans, receiver who's now I think the leading receiver now for Mississippi State, pretty familiar with Georgia gets to play against his former team from a year ago. I they put up 31 on Georgia a year ago but this is you know, on the dog vent@ugasports.com they has they said has someone mentioned in the last 20 minutes that it's a trap game? Because I feel like I hear every 20 minutes that this is a trap game. Well because it's a noon start on the road in Starkville, it's definitively a trap game. So I can Arkansas ran for 240 on them at like 6 a clip. Georgia so so here's the thing.
- [33:47]
B
Let's take off the table that Mississippi State's going to get a ton of stops and that Mississippi State is going to win a low scoring game. Like there's one way for Mississippi State to win this game. It's through the air. It's throwing the football Like Georgia are you better in past defense. Georgia are you pass rushing? Because here's the thing. We know Mississippi State is going to throw the football. We know they're going to throw the football. Like bring in the packages bro. Like this is my I love this game as a defensive lineman bro. Like I get to go get the freaking quarterback. Like I play the run on the way to the quarterback they can tempo you obviously at Mississippi State they've got a quarterback that feels very confident that spinning it can they protect up front. Georgia struggled to get after the quarterback like the noon guess who's next week all that stuff comes to right? Texas coming to town next week all that stuff comes to play. So I think this is and listen you're not picking against Georgia with this. I'm not picking against Georgia because even if it does get sloppy and it gets high scoring a la Tennessee, Georgia can do it can do it. Georgia can win multiple ways. Mississippi State's gonna have to outscore you. That's how they're gonna have to win this football game. I, I don't know that Georgia will give them the ball enough to let them do that.
- [35:06]
A
It was one against Florida where like to me, if I was a Georgia coach on the sideline and Florida ran the ball, I'd be like. Especially after KJ Bold went out. Thank you. Appreciate it. Keep doing that. Keep running it. Because we don't defend the pass, we don't get after the quarterback very well.
- [35:22]
B
That was big, by the way, Bolden being right before the first half because now he's back this week. That was a big timing of. That was fantastic for Georgia.
- [35:31]
A
Clay in the chat says that he has a fever and the only prescription is less cowbell.
- [35:39]
B
Hey, Clay, you ain't going to get that, brother. That is not, that is not on the recipe. Those state fans, man, they should be so jacked up and excited this year too, to watch the, the product and the turnaround from Levy in another year in the system, man. Like it's been.
- [35:55]
A
They're fighting for bow eligibility, dude.
- [35:56]
B
It's been fun to watch and it's going to be loud and obnoxious and crazy. But another thing too, about that Arkansas game last week of why Mississippi State 1? Arkansas had 18 penalties for almost 200 yards. That's also not something that Georgia does, right? Like they're, they're not going to beat themselves. But, but this is, this is the trap game. There's a reason it's been talked about. There's, there's, there's the, there's the recipe there that Mississippi State can win when they're at home with those cowbells that Clay was just talking about. That's super annoying. A great, a great home atmosphere, a passing game that matches up well against the weakness of the other team. Now it's. How does everything else come into play with special teams, with their defense? How do they get some, some things to go their way?
- [36:41]
A
I went against myself in terms of picking on, on the website and I picked a nine point margin last week. I'm not doing it again the rest of the season. Every game for Georgia, for me, the rest of season. 30, 23, that's. That's my pick. Other than Charlotte, they're beating Charlotte handily. But so Texas, Georgia Tech, you can already book it. 30, 23, that's my pick. That's what it is this week too. Okay.
- [37:08]
B
All right. Okay. All right.
- [37:10]
A
Chips and dip north the marquee game. But we are fired up to dig into it. That is two lane at Memphis. Memphis, who's 22nd in the AP poll, did not get ranked in the, in the College Football playoff rankings, which I thought was actually good. Who's playing quarterback for these teams? I. Brendan Lewis left the Rice game. I think you think he's gonna be okay. Red Sloff got replaced in the UTSA game. Tulane's coach has been talked about. They kind of stunk. Do they get a bounce back effort? This is still big in terms of the American Conference. It matters a great deal in terms of the playoff. Memphis is at home. So you're taking Memphis. I'm taking Memphis, yeah.
- [37:52]
B
I mean simple as that. I'll take Memphis too. Red Slife has been interesting to, to watch like, because you thought like he would get more comfortable with the system and the passing game would come along because it was really his feet early in the season. But like it hasn't really meshed the way you thought it would now. And John Summerall's talked about in every job, for gosh sakes, right. Like there's, there's a big distraction with that Memphis. The one thing you know about Memphis, what they'll do, they got, they got three backs that are going to tote that thing. Like they're going to run it hard. Like. So I will take Memphis because I know I'm going to get that physicality. I know I'm going to get tackles broken, easier offense. So give me, give me the Tigers.
- [38:34]
A
Couple quick ones and then we'll get to which is the most likely upset because we didn't have any last week. Of the ones we picked, none of, none of them actually had upsets. Sneaky, sneaky playoff team and sneaky big game. San Diego State at Hawaii, who you talked about with Timmy Chang, is already bowl eligible. But San Diego State 7 and 1, they're lost to Washington State, but they drubbed Cal. They get Boise at home. You don't know the rankings right now because they, they put Memphis in. But how close are they looking at these teams? Because it's behind the curtain.
- [39:04]
B
Yep.
- [39:06]
A
So San Diego Snakes, Tiki Sneaky playoff team going out to Hawaii.
- [39:12]
B
What a glorious trip. By the way. That's what I want to do.
- [39:15]
A
Where are you going to play? I'm going to Hawaii.
- [39:16]
B
I want to go to Hawaii and play. Like I would book that every year if that was possible. Obviously the logistics are probably a nightmare, but yes, I mean so much freaking fun. So who you taking.
- [39:27]
A
Oh, I'm going to take San Diego State. I just thought it was, it was more worth mentioning.
- [39:30]
B
Okay.
- [39:31]
A
The next one worth mentioning. Florida State at Clemson.
- [39:35]
B
Like this was a no, I don't think this, this game doesn't deserve to be talked about. Isn't that crazy to think about that now at this point in the se. This. You're only bringing this up because it's such an anomaly and it's so ugly. Like that's why you're bringing it up. It has nothing to do with either team being worth a flip. It's literally because they both stink.
- [39:57]
A
I also brought it up for a question. Here's. Here's the question I wrote in my. For this game. In all your years of doing this, have you ever picked a team to win the whole thing that not end up being bow eligible?
- [40:07]
B
No. Yes. This year.
- [40:11]
A
I mean the insanity of that is unreal.
- [40:14]
B
Did you see the sideline too? Like the dad going nuts and it.
- [40:19]
A
Involved somebody that we know. So. Yeah.
- [40:22]
B
Yeah.
- [40:22]
A
I mean a lot of interesting comments there. I saw. I saw on Twitter, on the Twitterverse relates to that.
- [40:28]
B
Yeah. I mean that just stinks. Obviously. It's, it's not fun. It's. It's. It's frustrating and you want to see something like listen, I, I don't think anybody's saying fire Davo. There's a lot of places that probably would and we've already seen some of that stuff. I don't think that's a place that would. But man, like this is a, this is a fall. This is a big fall. And when you bring in Allen to fix a defense and it still continues to struggle when you, when your offense hasn't got it together most games. And here's another thing. They never get it together at the same time ever. Like they never play a great. They haven't played a great game this season and I think it's got to be frustrating. But interested to watch Clemson this offseason. Like what the heck are they going to do to. To change to turn around because they're going to lose a lot of guys, man. A lot of guys that are going to get their most teams going to.
- [41:17]
A
Get early in the draft or they might portal like you might see a lot of. It'd be interesting to see how many guys leave just because. Yeah that's a, that's an interesting situation to watch in the off season and it wasn't good but it's. And I'm sure there's a lot that the most interesting Thing about Clemson's is NFL draft part because they got so many guys that are in that realm. It's like, okay, who's still playing hard? Like if you're an NFL draft guy, you know, the season's kind of intact, cooler game. Be on ice the earliest. It was 5414 last year. Navy at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is rolling. And if you had, if you asked me who not in the top three to four right now in the rankings, would I pick to win the whole thing, I would probably pick Notre Dame.
- [42:08]
B
That sounds familiar to what I said last year. Notre Dame was going to kick it in gear and down the stretch I believed in him. I like that you're believing in them. I think you, you know, it's interesting to, it's interesting to watch their season and obviously, yes, you have the first part of the year which. But keep in mind how many guys they were breaking in. Keep in mind they were breaking in a new defensive coordinator, like a new qb. Like there was so many things that were unknowns and you're starting to see them. The last week was kind of sloppy. It wasn't a, it wasn't a great performance. And I think the lines of scrimmage is probably a little bit more of a question mark than it was a year ago because they were physically dominant up front. But I think the skill is better, you know, so I think that it's, it's a team that can be very, very good. It's a team that has a chance. When you look at Price and Love, best one, two punch in the country. Not even close. Like it's, it's amazing how physically dominant they are. And then C.J. carr with the continual growth and making plays like it's an offense that's. Honestly, this offense has a. Is scarier than last year's. Like it's, it's so much more explosive and more potent than it was a year ago.
- [43:20]
A
Does Navy keep this within three touchdowns?
- [43:23]
B
Man, last year, you remember when we thought this was going to be a really good game and Notre Dame said hold my beer. Like, like it was bad. They were faking. Notre Dame was faking punts. I remember too in that game and even got called back. Like, I think they, they actually play the option really well. I don't think, I don't think Navy's going to good. Here's the problem with Navy. Just like every team you see that is a triple option team, their past defense ain't real good. So it might not be a Jeremiah Love game as much, but CJ Carr is going to throw it in the back end. And Navy typically plays aggressive because they're not great in the back end. And then when you break one tackle, it's the band's playing, but it's just not yours.
- [43:59]
A
All right, four games. Which of these do you think is the most likely upset? Like I said, we didn't have any last week. So Auburn at Vanderbilt, Indiana at Penn State, Northwestern at USC or Wake Forest at Virginia?
- [44:17]
B
I mean, I put Virginia on upset alert every week. I mean, that's fair, isn't it? Like, they're gonna. Like, Virginia's probably gonna. Now there's something to winning those games and being. But they're gonna be in a close game.
- [44:28]
A
That's.
- [44:29]
B
That's absolutely going to happen. What was the first one you said?
- [44:32]
A
Auburn at Vanderbilt.
- [44:33]
B
I think that one's a good chance, too. I feel like Auburn. Hey, did you hear DJ Durkin's press conference the other day? Like, he. I listened to it and he. I love DJ Durkin. He's a. He's a tremendous defensive coordinator. He was the head guy, too, and did pretty well. He wasn't atrocious. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. He was nervous. Like, I liked it. Like, he was so excited. Like, he was excited. It sounds like me. Like, you know me, I get going in like this. And he was. He was like, yeah, he was wired. It was energetic. It was.
- [45:05]
A
Well, and the thing is, is that might be great for Auburn. Like, go play free. New, complete new energy. Like.
- [45:13]
B
Well, there's still one glaring problem. Who's playing quarterback?
- [45:16]
A
Quarterback.
- [45:17]
B
I mean, why would you not play.
- [45:18]
A
The young kid at this point, unless you think he's just completely not ready. I'd play the kid.
- [45:25]
B
If you're going to play Deuce, you got to run him, too. Like, because he's. He's a tremendous athlete. And that's obviously what you're going to be best at when you're a young player while you're learning the reads and stuff.
- [45:34]
A
Like, I mean, it's one of those where it's like, okay, if I'm going to do this for three games, well, you remember, I want to stay close in these games. Do I want to, like, you know, actually try to build and see if there is something here?
- [45:49]
B
Well, and obviously the easy answer is like, he's not playing for a reason. I get a kick out of that so much when everybody's like, you see the right tackle, he's getting beat like crazy. Well, I promise you, if they put in the other guy. He's going to get beat, too. Like, it's not like there's a. They're not going yet.
- [46:05]
A
We're not going to just play the worst players.
- [46:07]
B
You don't do that. Not when you want to win. But. But I think Auburn is an interesting team to watch because again, like you talked about, one of only three teams in the country to not give up 24 points and they have some skill. If they can make some plays, like they can be in a game. So Pavia is going to be under the same pressure that he's been under. Like. Right. Like they're going to be able to pressure him and then, you know, the running game and I would maybe have some packages for the young guy just to use some of his talents and. Because whatever what I'm seeing from the other two, man, like, it's not good. But every game's close for Auburn. They're in every game, man. Like this. This is. This is a great. Like we talked about, it's a great job, man. It's a great. There's a lot of talent on this roster.
- [46:50]
A
So does it count for Pavia if they. If they win this in his Hugh Freeze numbers kind of can't. He was gonna. I think it's the fifth time maybe, right? Is that what it was? I think the fifth time that he was played. Freeze this.
- [47:04]
B
He beat him. He beat him in New Mexico.
- [47:06]
A
He beaten him three or at least three, maybe four.
- [47:09]
B
And they beat him twice at Vandy. I think he's beaten him three times.
- [47:12]
A
Yeah. So he was going for. Again against. But not now.
- [47:15]
B
And just think. Just think if. If. If he was there, got beat at New Mexico by Pavia. Just think if he brings Pavia to Auburn. Think about where Auburn is right now. Auburn's in a different stratosphere because Hugh Freeze with Pavia, a guy that does that, that can make plays and that is a. With that defense, bro. That would have been a totally different animal.
- [47:42]
A
Yep. What if I would pick that game as the upset game of the week? I agree. If. That. If I had to pick one of those four.
- [47:48]
B
Yeah.
- [47:48]
A
But. Yeah, that's it. That's the picks.
- [47:51]
B
That's the picks. That's all of them. We're gonna. We're gonna have a little scheduling switch up. We had a little snafu with Jeremiah Love, but we get C.J. carr, so it's not like we're. It's not. We're not going to be upset that we're not upset. We wanted Jeremiah Love. But we want C.J. carr, too, because I think C.J. carr will do a great job of breaking down A and Miami. What they faced the season replacing Riley Leonard.
- [48:13]
A
His progression.
- [48:14]
B
Yeah, it's been fun to been fun to watch. So we'll talk to him. I think that's. Is that tonight? Yes, we will. It's tonight, baby. I don't even know what day of the week it is right now.
- [48:25]
A
It's Wednesday.
- [48:25]
B
Especially yesterday with the traveling and stuff and the snafu. Again, I apologize for the late on the rankings reaction, but 8:30 tonight right here. We will see you dudes. And we'll have, we'll have CJ Carr as well. Peace.