← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast - College Football Reaction: Big Blowouts In Playoff, Ohio State Looks Unstoppable, Indiana “Gutless”, Quarterfinal Predictions
00:22:28
Loading summary
Transcript51 lines
- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
With AMEX Platinum, you can enjoy access to dedicated card member entrances at select events because skipping the line makes you the star of game day.
- [00:08]
John Middelkoff
That's the powerful backing of American Express.
- [00:10]
Colin Cowherd
Terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.com with AmEx card Member entrance access not limited to AMEX Platinum Card as we gather together during this holiday.
- [00:17]
John Middelkoff
Season, let me share a gift that keeps on giving.
- [00:20]
Colin Cowherd
Chase Freedom With Chase Freedom Unlimited, you'll not only experience the joy of 1.5% unlimited cash back, but also the freedom to create cherished memories with your loved ones. Discover the magic and learn more@chasefreedom.com and let this season be filled with love, laughter and the delight of extra cash in your pocket.
- [00:40]
John Middelkoff
Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank.
- [00:42]
Colin Cowherd
NA Member FDIC.
- [00:45]
John Middelkoff
This is Doug Gotti from All Ball with Doug Gottlieb. Listen, I'm gonna get serious for a minute. The hate in our country is getting out of control. In fact, it's sadly at an all time high. But it's gonna take all of us to stop it. I mean, we're all on the same team in this country. So let's take a break from our hate so our team can regroup. We need to take a timeout against hate. Visit standuptoallhate.org to help and join me in calling for timeout against hate by following OTs upwithhate or posting the Blue Square Emoji.
- [01:16]
Colin Cowherd
Holiday magic is in the air and.
- [01:18]
John Middelkoff
DSW has got all the shoes to make your season extra merry. Believe you've got parties to attend and.
- [01:24]
Colin Cowherd
Lists to check twice.
- [01:25]
John Middelkoff
So DSW is taking care of the details like gifts to make their eyes all aglow. Styles that bring joy to your world. Brands everyone wants like Ugg, Nike, Birkenstock and more and deals to make your budget bright. Find the perfect shoes for you and yours at a DSW store near you.
- [01:44]
Colin Cowherd
Or dsw.com what gift are you going to get that person that's impossible to shop for? Give the gift of sound JLab has the perfect gift for anyone with a variety of styles, sizes and colors. And they have products for under $100, under $50 and even under $25. I love that. Save up to 60% on select JLab products this holiday season on JLab.com look for the JLAB Blue Box at retailers everywhere or visit jlab.com today. The volume all of these college football reactions presented by JLab. I'm wearing my JLab earbuds right now. They're awesome. They have the best audio products in the game, they're ready to take care of you. This football, okay, Whether you're traveling to watch your favorite team play or just streaming the game at home, find the blue box. That's how I first found it at an airport, Logan Airport in Boston. Find the blue box at Walmart, Target, Best Buy and more. Or just visit jlab.com their price points really good. John Middelkoff, former NFL scout with the Eagles. His podcast is three and out. All right, let's talk college footballs. So road teams. Tennessee hammered Indiana, gutless performance. Boy, does that Kurt Signetti talks a big game and doesn't back it up. SMU hammered Clemson, did throw for 336 yards, but they were outmatched. I thought the best get bet of the weekend was Texas minus 12 and a half at home. And I thought Clemson played about as well as they could and they still got beat by 14. But I want to, I want to say this. So this is a 12 team playoff that will become 14 pretty soon and maybe 16. The reason we have the playoff, it was negotiated like These aren't the 12 best teams in terms of NFL athletes. That's not what it is. The reason this is allowed is because there was a lot of negotiation. The Mountain west gets involved. Everything was negotiated. So it's not going to be seven SEC teams and five Big Ten teams. That's not what it's going to be. But the other thing is, most of my life I remember arguing this. I'm not even sure if I was at Fox or espn, but I used to be against the playoff because my argument was always this. Have you ever thought in your life the sixth best team in college football by the end of the year could beat the number one team? And my answer is no. I mean, when Nick Saban's 15 year run, most of his teams, there were only two to three teams in the country that could play with them. Clemson with Trevor Lawrence or DeSean, Ohio State, Georgia, maybe an LSU team that could play with them. So by the time you would get to like the fifth, sixth, seventh team, especially if the first round was in Tuscaloosa, they were going to kick the holy hell out of anybody they played. So the idea that Ohio State or Penn State or Notre Dame in a home game, now we go to neutral sites, we'll have an upset this weekend. But my take is we're overreacting a little bit now. Again, I thought Tennessee and Indiana would play close because I thought weather would be such a factor, but it was just cold and clear. But we've got to be honest about this. When Pete Carroll was rolling at USC or you know, again the Nick Saban or Kirby Smart for about a three year run, there weren't five teams that could go toe to toe with them. The only thing it maybe be the Natty game, a Michigan or an OHI Ohio State. So I think this was not predictable but I think we're overreacting because coming up now, John, now we've got neutral site games. I would bet almost anything we're going to have an upset, one of the underdogs is going to win. I think we're overreacting a bit to a 12 team playoff that was negotiated. You're just going to get some Boise States in this thing and some ACC teams in.
- [05:47]
John Middelkoff
Well, I think it's twofold. First, I can't expect it to be perfect. Year one, this isn't year six, this is year one. On the flip side, I see a lot of pushback of everyone complaining like you shouldn't complain, we should celebrate this. It's like, I don't know, I mean this all exists because millions upon millions of people give their time to be entertained. And I've been watching football my entire life and I don't ever remember before this year watching Indiana and Indiana didn't get the benefit of the doubt right in most people's eyes because it's like we don't know you. You don't have any NFL players. Who did you beat this year in the NFL? If you make the playoffs, you. It's impossible to not beat some good teams. Plus even the bad teams you're beating are full of pros. I texted around some college scouting directors. I said how many combined NFL players do SMU and Indiana have? And he said I will have to see some all star game stuff. But probably five total. I said South Carolina, Ole Miss, Alabama. He'd say probably on average low end seven for a team. I mean Bama eight, nine. So the talent, the physicality, like Tennessee got their ass kicked. If you just watch Tennessee move around. The quarterback is a young, frenetic player right now. Their talent on the team is immense. And Indiana we basically lumped in the Big Ten in the SEC as equals. And because Washington, who was in the Natty last year lost their coach and all their players wasn't any good. USC was supposed to be good, not any good. Michigan obviously lost 17 NFL guys and their coach fell off a cliff. So they had three SEC teams. Penn State obviously, Oregon, Ohio State, but the rest of the conference for it was really bad. Right. So it turns out Indiana, like, I just think they're not very good relative to the SEC teams. Like, I don't think they could beat any of them. Y and I think. But they went 11 and 1 and some of these other teams went 9 and 3. This isn't the NFL records. Like I said, we're comparing apples to cheeseburgers. So trying to do these records because in theory it makes sense. Well, they're 11 and 1 because that's how it's always worked. And I just go, I don't know. So I think we look back at it in Indiana and smu, two things can be true. Indiana had a remarkable season, the best season in the history of the school by a mile. And they're probably not a top 20. Like, are they better in Colorado? I just looked at the top 25 yesterday. It's like, well, Colorado's got a top 10 quarterback, Michael One, and the best player in the country. Indiana, I'm watching, like, do they even have a pro? They're, they're solid defense. Smu, I mean, that was like JV versus varsity.
- [08:29]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [08:30]
John Middelkoff
I mean, their quarterback was completely overwhelmed. And the ACC is terrible. So of course it's overwhelmed. They don't have the talent. Who did they beat? So I think that moving forward, just because you have two more wins in a bad conference, this isn't the NCAA tournament where there's 64 teams, like, whatever, just throw this team the seventh seed. We only had 12 spots and I thought we got pretty let down for, for a lot of people that dedicate a lot of time that don't even have a horse in the race. They just want to be entertained. You're like, this doesn't look right.
- [09:02]
Colin Cowherd
Well, and also it's going to get potentially worse because if you really look at Washington, they have an excellent young quarterback and Jet Fish had a great recruiting year. So Washington's going to be interesting team next year. They'll be back. They'll be a top 20 team. Michigan just got the best quarterback, and again, they recruit at a very high level. Michigan will be viable. I just saw this weekend USC went and bought two SEC defensive linemen. So I, I and their schedule is pretty weak by Big Ten standards. So my takeaway is the Big Ten, to your point, was top heavy and very weak. I don't think it'll be that next year. I think Ohio State will still be great, but I think Michigan, usc, Washington will be much better. And I think Oregon's and Penn State are going to remain powers because Lanning and James Franklin are top 10 recruiters easily in the country. So I think this year we got Indiana. Not that it's a one off. I did. I kind of felt like when I was watching Indiana play, it's not that they lost, it's that if I'd have told you it was 27:17 and you didn't watch the game, you'd be like, okay, that was a game. Indiana was so gutless, punting down three scores, second half in plus territory. I think it really, it was the way Indiana lost, which was like, we just, we know we can't compete. We don't want to be humiliated, so we're just going to try. I think that really pissed people off. It was like, okay, if you're going to play like that, just put Ole Miss in the tournament.
- [10:35]
John Middelkoff
I thought of a rule that if you are on the fence of a couple teams that you have to have minimum more than two guys on each side of the ball that would start for your opponent. And did Indiana have four guys on their, on their starting 22 that would start for Notre Dame? Do they have one? Maybe. How many guys on SMUs starting 11 on offensive defense would start for Penn State? Two, maybe. Where? That's the, that's the argument for Ole Miss, South Carolina and Alabama. Yeah, they might not have won. Probably wouldn't have. But I know the talent discrepancy. Like I don't have a big issue with Tennessee getting their ass kicked because I don't think the talent discrepancy. Obviously Ohio State's better and I mean could win the national championship pretty easily. But like Tennessee, you could tell physically it's like their quarterbacks throwing the ball over the map. They got NFL players all over the field. So I could live with that game. I can't live with the Indiana game where it's like, I've never watched this program. I've been watching college football for three decades and I can, I do this for a living. So I know, well, they don't have any talent. So it's like, what's going on? And then Signetti, I think some of his comments to Saban before the game, bragging about, I looked at their schedule. They go to Penn State, to Oregon, to Iowa. And like you said, the Big Ten is going to be better. That game is going to be circled. The Big Ten coaches are going to want to beat the shit out of him. I will be stunned. Six and six. They are going to be a target next year. And I hope they enjoy this year because it's not going to be like that moving forward. I'll promise you that.
- [12:06]
Colin Cowherd
So before we get to the quarterfinal games, I do think we have a potential upset. Listen, Tennessee, Ohio State, Ryan Day. The critics can go back to their Reddit boards, but here's what I really took away. Clemson, they deserve credit. They fought to the very end and they don't have again. They don't have transfer portal guys and they don't recruit. Even when Dabo was winning a Natty, they didn't recruit like Alabama and Georgia, lsu, they never have. They just don't. And they don't use a transfer portal. So I think Dabo is a hell of a coach. But my takeaway on that is if Ohio State's, if Will Howard is as good as he was against Tennessee, I don't know how Texas stops them. I mean, Clemson was throwing the ball all over the yard. They were throwing it up the sideline, out of the backfield seam routes. I mean, when you think of Clemson, you don't think 350 yards passing. I know Texas won 38, 24, but that 24 points, I looked at that and I thought, jesus, Texas plays Arizona state, next 13 and a half point favorite. Maybe that's not an issue. But if I'm Ohio State in my passing game after this weekend, Ohio State's my favorite to win the national championship, not Texas. I was almost dismayed. Not just that Clemson threw, but the variety of throws, the third down throws, the wide open targets in the middle of the field. It was startling to me.
- [13:47]
John Middelkoff
Well, their quarterback really come along. I mean, he's the guy to keep if he goes back to school. I mean, I think he'll be in consideration to have a chance to be a really high draft pick in 2026. That kid's, that kid's really got a lot better since that first game at Georgia. And last year was pretty bumpy. I like Cade Club Nick a lot and they had one of the great, I think, freshman recruiting classes at wide receiver in recent memory, those couple five star kids. But to me, Sark has had to coach around Quinn Ewers a lot of the year. And you see that when we talk about coaching with some of these young rookie quarterbacks. What do you call on 3rd and 7 or are you willing to call something aggressive on 2nd and 10? Are you just trying to throw in like a screen or you know, a draw play? I think he coaches around Quinn Ewers because to me he is a pretty big Roller coaster. You don't know what you're getting series to series. And this is where you know the seating when Ohio State's on. I mean, they showed up in that game. You went, holy hell.
- [14:41]
Colin Cowherd
I know. It was like, wow.
- [14:42]
John Middelkoff
They were hitting guys like they were, you know, Dre Greenlawn, Fred Warner. It's like the defense, the how good Jeremiah Smith is. Will Howard looked like Peyton Manning. I mean, that was one of the better games of his life. And Ryan Day, listen, they'd had a long time to soak up that loss coming at home. I listen, I picked Tennessee. Five minutes into that game. You went, this could be 50 to nothing. This team is going to try to injure everyone inside. Can they keep that up again? You know, Dan Lanning, this is where Oregon got screwed. They have to play that team in their opening game at the Rose bowl too, which is not a huge advantage because it's not like Ohio State fans aren't used to traveling to that game, which is a cool game that the Rose bowl gets Oregon, Ohio State.
- [15:24]
Colin Cowherd
That's good. That may set a record. The ratings for that game may set a college football non national championship record. I'm not joking.
- [15:33]
John Middelkoff
I think if you're Oregon, you just go, we had the best season. We're the only undefeated team. And Penn State gets to play Boise and Texas gets to play Arizona State. And we got to play that the biggest payroll in the history of college football with NFL guys all over that we had to like knock down, drag out to beat at home. That's. That sucks for them.
- [15:49]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [15:50]
John Middelkoff
You know, a team that's never won a national championship, that if I told you right now they were getting a good draw, you would like them a lot more. But you're like, damn. They'd have to go through three tough games, right? They'd have to beat Ohio State, they'd have to beat Texas. And then they probably have to be Penn State or Georgia. I mean that's, that's a murderer's row. So. And they had to beat Penn State, you know, to. In the conference championship. So I listen, if Oregon were to win the national championship, it would be really, really impressive. I can't take Texas because of the quarterback, but their talent on the team. I mean, there were that goal line stop that they had basically ended the game again. They can really rev it up. I mean, they got guys on defense. You're like, holy shit. And you know the skill. Their two running backs are really good.
- [16:31]
Colin Cowherd
I just quarterback.
- [16:32]
John Middelkoff
If you told me Cade Clubnik, Clemson Quarterback was Texas's quarterback. I'd be like, watch out for I, they, they might be my pick. And I just. Is Will Howard going to play like that every game? Is he going to play like that against Dan Lanning's defense? Is. If he does, they'll probably win. Right? I mean if he's gonna, if he's gonna be Peyton Manning Jr. Then Ohio State's gonna be a serious problem for anyone they're playing.
- [16:54]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, let's wrap it up. Penn State minus 11 against Boise State. I actually think genty run, he ran for almost 200 yards against Oregon. I think these are neutral site games now. That's a whole different ball game in college football.
- [17:08]
John Middelkoff
Totally.
- [17:09]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. The college football team, you know, the 70% of NFL games are one score, one possession games. That's not college football. Home teams win. I think Boise State, I think Boise State is going to be, you know, Penn State may be lulled to sleep opening with SMU at home, blowing them out. And now they look and see Boise State hard to get that locker room revved up. SMU is a bigger name to some of those Penn State players. In Boise State they couldn't, you know, they don't even know where. Hell, most college players out east don't know much about Boise State. Can Boise State hang with them? I think they can.
- [17:47]
John Middelkoff
I do think Penn State's lucky that they got this generational player on Boise State. That's an easy one for the defensive coordinator circle. I mean this guy had like a Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State level season. So it's to me, if they were much more of like the Kellen Moore more of a complete team than a one man band, I think it would be a little different. You might look down upon them, but I think when you're playing a guy that would just sit next to Travis Hunter on that Saturday night, the Heisman Trophy, it's easier to get up. I also think, and this is my argument, like listen, I started my career in the WAC which basically turned in the Mountain West. The difference of size and strength on the line of scrimmage. We saw it in Indiana and SMU against, you know, their two opponents at the lot. Notre Dame and Penn State just overwhelmed them at the line of scrimmage on defense. And I don't know if Boise State, their passing offense isn't good enough. So I'm putting 10 guys in the box be like, what are you going to throw on me? And I think it's a very, very tough matchup for Boise State. I also Think Penn State. If this was the NFL and these games were out in the cold weather, I think Penn State and Notre Dame would be built for it. Play defense. Run the ball down your throat. Play like the 49ers did with Jimmy Garoppolo. We're just going to freezing cold weather. Let's roll. I mean, you watch Notre Dame, they would love every game at 19 degrees. Yeah, because that's. And same with Penn State. Freezing cold, snow, rain, that's how they would want to play. That's where these neutral site games, you know, I think Notre Dame's a good example. Like, I actually kind of like them against Georgia. But then you put them in a dome. You put them in a dome, it does take away their strength. If you told me that game was outside in a cold weather spot, I'd be like, georgia is in for it in a dome team speed. Georgia's going to be a little faster, but Notre Dame can definitely win that game. I listen, I love Boise State. Been rooting for him for a long time. I think this is a really, really tough matchup for them. Same with Arizona State.
- [19:41]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean, listen, I think Penn State's going to win. I think your point on Notre Dame, Georgia is well taken. Texas should beat Arizona State. So I said before the year I thought Oregon would beat Ohio State at ots and I thought Ohio State would beat Oregon in the second matchup. I think I like Ohio State to win in cover against the Ducks.
- [20:04]
John Middelkoff
I think one big difference between Penn State, Georgia and Notre Dame than the other three top teams in Texas, Oregon, Ohio State. They are so explosive on the outside. Like they feel like an NFL team at wide receiver in the skill position. Penn State and Notre Dame just don't. Penn State's tight end is going to be a top 20 player.
- [20:27]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, Waller.
- [20:27]
John Middelkoff
But they are not as explosive at the wide receiver position. So, I mean, like you said, I think Oregon, Ohio State, I mean, that could, that could feel like the national championship game. And I think Texas, if the quarterback can just play under control, which he's proven he can't really for four quarters, they could be pretty. I just don't trust them. And Notre Dame, Georgia, whoever wins that game might be. Honestly, I kind of like the draw for Penn State. Penn State plays Boise, wins that game, and then plays that Penn State and Texas are going to get. I mean, they're enormous favorites. Favorites in the second round are going to be playing two teams that are going to be coming out of a war zone. I mean, Ohio State and Oregon And Notre Dame and Georgia bodies are going to be left on the field in that game. Right. So I think that is a massive advantage. If both those, if Texas and Penn State take care of business. I mean, Ohio State pulled out their quarterback with nine minutes to go in the game.
- [21:23]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I think what we're going to see in this playoff, and let's go back to the playoff as a whole is I think it's going to expand to 14 teams and possibly 16 on any given Saturday. You may get three really great games between good teams. There's a lot of blowouts in college football. It's just the way the sport works. It's. Of all the American sports team sports, it's the most have and have not sport. Even baseball, obviously now with the regional networks dying, it's getting more have and have not. There's like six teams that have money and like 26 or 24 that don't. But I think the neutral site games, I think Oregon, Ohio State is going to feel like usc, Texas, remember that game with the stealth fighters flying over where you had like 18 pros. The first game was great. I think Ohio State, Oregon becomes the game of the year. I also think it is hard to play perfect football back to back weeks. Ohio State was nearly perfect. It's hard to duplicate that on back to back weeks.
- [22:30]
John Middelkoff
I also think that these guys have never played a season this long. Right. I mean a lot of these teams played in conference championship games. Some of the teams that didn't just play this first round, I mean you start looking ahead, they still got three more games. I mean, and you saw some just collateral damage as you know, Notre Dame, a defensive lineman get banged up. You're talking about by the time you get to the semifinals, can you stay healthy enough? Which. Which honestly could just be a determining factor for whoever wins it. Just a team with the most health. Because we've been hammering at home and these coaches have been these teams. The depth isn't near the same. You know, in the peak of the Saban era, so what? I lost a first rounder, I got a 19 year old first rounder behind him. Right. Those days are done. I mean there's a massive drop off. Some of these teams are losing guys. Ohio State put a quarterback in the game when they yanked Will Howard, he's in the transfer portal. And Ryan Day had to have a talk with his team like hey guys, are we cool with keeping him around? You know these. Because these guys are in weird spots. Penn State's backup quarterback is gone. So and that's not. Obviously, we talk a lot about the quarterbacks, but it could be, you know, a backup linebacker, a freshman kid that might have had to be thrust in if someone got injured. So we got a long way to go. I mean, this is. You see the NFL guys are dropping like flies in college. Guys aren't as big. They're not. Especially some of these guys, 18, 19 years old that are playing, their bodies aren't as developed, taking a lot of big hits. It's not like the violence in these games is that much different. I mean, how hard was Ohio State and Notre Dame and these teams hitting the physicality. And honestly, I appreciate the one thing that jumped out to me about this weekend, which was obviously a pretty big letdown with the blowouts. We talk about a lot about nil and people not having. It feels like guys are mercenaries now, and maybe that's the case. But it does feel like the guys playing in the game are just all in and trying their 100% effort. And you feel that, you know, the teams, it's not like none of these teams took their foot off the pedal. Like Clemson just came back because they got NFL guys. It wasn't like Texas stopped trying.
- [24:31]
Colin Cowherd
Right? John Middelkoff. His podcast is three and out. Good job, buddy.
- [24:37]
John Middelkoff
Merry Christmas, Colin.
- [24:38]
Colin Cowherd
Merry Christmas. The Volume.
- [24:44]
John Middelkoff
What's up, everybody? Adnan Burke here to tell you about a new podcast. It's NHL Unscripted with Virgin Demers. Jason Demers here. And after playing 700 NHL games, I got a lot of dirty laundry to air out. Hey, I got a lot to say here, too, okay? Each week, we'll get together to chat with the sport that we love.
- [24:59]
Colin Cowherd
Tons of guests are going to join.
- [25:00]
John Middelkoff
In, but we're not just gonna be talking hockey, folks. We're talking movies. We're talking tv, food, and Adnan's favorite, wrestling.
- [25:07]
Colin Cowherd
It's all on le table.
- [25:09]
John Middelkoff
Listen to NHL Unscripted with Vir and demers, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondence and contributors. And with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed, listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [25:55]
Colin Cowherd
What's up, everyone?
- [25:56]
John Middelkoff
It's Justin Penick from John Boy Media.
- [25:58]
Colin Cowherd
The host of the Football Today podcast.
- [26:01]
John Middelkoff
With Bobby Skinner and Chris Rose. We roll three times a week. On Mondays, on Wednesdays, on Fridays, breaking down everything you need to know about the NFL. We're gearing up for the NFL playoffs. I hope you can join us. Join in with us three times a week. Listen to Football Today on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get.
- [26:20]
Colin Cowherd
Your podcast and you will be glad you did.