Week 1 CFB Recap & Reactions Following LSU vs. Clemson | The McShay Show

Summary

The McShay Show — Week 1 CFB Recap & Reactions: LSU vs. Clemson, Texas-Ohio State, and More

Date: August 31, 2025
Host: Todd McShay
Guest/Co-Host: Matt Bowen
Podcast: The Ringer – The McShay Show

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Episode Overview

This lively episode kicks off a new college football season with Todd McShay and Matt Bowen breaking down the marquee Week 1 clash between LSU and Clemson. The hosts dissect game-deciding plays and shifting perceptions around draft prospects, share live reactions as the final moments unfold, and roll into raucous, honest reactions to headline matchups including Texas vs. Ohio State and Alabama vs. Florida State. They also spotlight standouts and disappointments from across the slate, offer sharp draft insight, and address viral takes circulating among fans and analysts.

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LSU vs. Clemson: Game Breakdown & Quarterback Duel

(Segment runs approximately 01:54–22:00 and referenced throughout)

Quarterback & Coaching Decisions

• Late-game scenario debate: Matt opens by positing, "Who would you rather have in this situation? Late game, coaching staff and quarterback?" (01:58)
  • Feels more comfortable with Clemson's staff, but acknowledges LSU’s offensive firepower.
• Bowen’s QB Rankings: Clubnik as QB1 due to physical tools, but raves about Nussmeier:
  • “Nussmeier though my point I was about to make. This dude is so special. Managing, sensing, feeling and dictating pressure...it’s his special sauce.” (05:17)
  • “[Nussmeier]—he doesn’t have to be the fastest, he doesn’t have to have the strongest arm. He knows where the pressure is coming from. He senses it. When the pressure builds up...everything calms down.” (05:33)
• Todd McShay on LSU’s O-Line:
  • “The LSU offensive line is playing out of its mind. I’m stunned with how well they’ve played tonight.” (03:25)
• Key Play Call & Rules Controversy:
  • Both hosts bemoan a controversial incomplete pass on what they call "maybe the best throw I’ve seen in college football the entire first week." (07:17–08:24)
  • “But the ball couldn’t have been put in a more perfect...placement was perfect. And then we’re going to call that an incomplete pass?” – McShay (08:10)
• Game Management Praise/Critique:
  • Matt notes early LSU mistakes but emphasizes the halftime turnaround:
    • “First half: mistakes, early penalties, fumble on second possession, two timeouts in the first six minutes...Second half, they were just trying desperately to find someone that could do something with the ball.” (23:43, 25:03)

LSU’s Defensive Stars & Adjustments

• LSU Defensive Standouts:
  • Praises for Mansour Delane and Harold Perkins in key roles:
    • “Harold Perkins has been awesome...In that role, that roaming role—in coverage against tight ends, spying quarterbacks, rushing the quarterback...” (14:19–14:50)
    • “Wit Weeks has had some big plays...he made where Clubnick tried to take off...an unbelievably athletic, smart, great play.” – McShay (35:24)
• Halftime Adjustments:
  • “Halftime adjustment that LSU made in terms of keeping Clubnik in the pocket has been a real difference maker.” (03:25)
  • “LSU’s defense shut Clemson out in the second half...they came out and said, ‘You’re really hurting us with that run...We’re not doing that anymore. I’ve got this guy named Harold Perkins who is just going to shadow your quarterback.’” (28:28)

Run Game & WR/TE Play

• LSU’s Run Game:
  • “Kaden Durham: 17 carries for 74 yards, 4.4 yards a carry. Not great, but a competent running game tonight.” – McShay (19:13)
  • “A lot more balanced...That’s a big difference than Nussmeier just airing it out all night.” (20:10)
• Key Receiving Threats:
  • Aaron Anderson: “The dude when you need a play...Find a way to get him the ball and he’ll do something after the catch.” (20:43)
• Clemson WRs:
  • Antonio Williams’ absence sharply felt: “I thought that was absolutely missed and noticeable tonight.” – Bowen (30:44)
  • “With the exception of Woods, who I think was really good vs. the run, but just didn’t have the impact plays we were hoping to see.” (28:49)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Nuss Meyer’s going to win games late and do things that I think plagued Romo’s career.” – Bowen on late-game poise (22:45)
• “[LSU] legitimately could play for the national title.” – Bowen on season outlook (17:38)
• “I think you saw two teams tonight that are capable of making a run if they keep getting better...” – McShay (38:10)

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National Reaction — Texas vs. Ohio State

(Segment approx. 39:30–66:00; see especially 39:46–54:51 for Arch Manning analysis)

The Arch Manning Discourse

• Host Reaction to Criticism:
  • Both hosts decry “I told you so” takes directed at Arch Manning, blending empathy and critical analysis:
    • “I do want to make this perfectly clear. Arch Manning did suck today. He was not good.” – Bowen (50:16)
    • “I am concerned that he is a Manning...can’t miss some of the throws he missed today...that's fair now.” – Bowen (52:26)
  • Emphasize patience and developmental curve:
    • “What we saw from Arch...is not what we’re going to see from him in week four or week five.” – Bowen (44:26)
    • “I didn’t expect [Arch] to play well in Columbus for his first start. We’ll see where he is at the end.” – McShay (49:56)

Texas Play Calling, Ohio State’s Performance

• Sarkisian’s Conservative Gameplan Criticized:
  • “Training wheels were on and it was maddening.” (40:29)
  • “Can we try something other than a quarterback sneak in that situation?” – McShay (48:37)
• Jeremiah Smith Emergence for OSU:
  • “Jeremiah Smith and Brian Hartline were the difference in this game.” (49:19)
  • “Sayin needed training wheels on and played really well with them.” – McShay on OSU's new QB (59:52)
• Takeaways for Both Programs:
  • “If these teams were to meet again in the playoff...they’re going to look very different than they do today.” – Bowen (65:11)
  • “Potential for growth in Texas is outrageous.” (65:25)

Standout/Funny Quotes

• “People suck, man.” – McShay on football discourse (39:48)
• “On the flip side, don’t make somebody’s bad day your gain.” – Bowen (56:23)

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Alabama vs. Florida State – Tides Turning?

(Segment approx. 66:15–81:02)

Florida State’s Portal Upswing & New-Offense Vibe

• Tommy Castellanos raves:
  • “That son of a gun Castellanos. What?!...the quarterback I’m most scared to play in college football. After week one...that guy’s a nightmare.” – Bowen (66:15, 78:03)
• Gus Malzahn’s impact lauded:
  • “He is so creative with the run game...You’re watching, it’s a magic show if you’re a defender.” – McShay (69:24)
  • Florida State’s running game: 49 carries, 230 yards (70:08)
• Emerging playmakers: Makai Danzy and DJaylen Lucas both get the spotlight for chunk-yardage, speed, and versatility.

Alabama’s Struggles

• Offensive line and running back issues:
  • “Alabama...averaging two yards per carry. That’s not going to work.” – Bowen (73:47)
  • Wide receiver corps thinned by injury and inconsistency.
• Ty Simpson’s debut at QB:
  • “I thought he looked good, like did a great job...heated his ass off.” (75:22)
• Program Concerns:
  • “That’s the one team I watched today and I was like, oh, they’re in trouble.” – McShay (72:15)
  • “I don’t think they get out of September without two losses. They play Georgia right now...” (76:03)

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Rapid Fire: Notable Performers & Quick Takes

(Segment approx. 81:02–89:52)

• Jalon Daniels (Kansas): “When he’s rolling, he’s frightening.” – McShay (82:09)
• John Mateer (Oklahoma): “24 of 31, 319. Oklahoma’s like, Ah, okay. Phew. Because they’re used to...‘Oh, we’re back.’” – Bowen (82:35)
  • Finished with nearly 400 passing yards.
• Drew Allar (Penn State): “22 of 26. Only encouraging because...wanted to make sure he was okay.” (83:41)
  • Transfer WRs Kyron Hudson and Trevor Pena: “Huge first games, man. So that’s encouraging.” (84:43)
• Michigan Freshman Bryce Underwood: “If he’s as good as advertised, you know the talents there. I’m excited to see Michigan: what is Michigan this year?” – Bowen (85:46)

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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS & HOT TAKES

• Clemson’s remaining schedule: “They’re going to be favored in all other 11 games.” (33:14)
• Impact of Portal & Early Season Trends: “Defenses are always ahead of the offenses...more exaggerated now with the portal.” (66:07)
• Oregon / Dante Moore Watch: “Dante Moore...13 for 21, 213 yards, three touchdowns. Kid can throw the ball.” – McShay (88:22)

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• “[Nussmeier]—he senses pressure. He’s never like I talked about Jackson Dart...everything calms down when the pressure builds up.” – Bowen (05:33)
• “I just don’t get it. We’ve just gotten so crazy with what’s a catch and what’s not a catch...That’s a catch all day.” – McShay (08:14)
• “This game is not disappointing from the quarterbacks, in my opinion.” – McShay (10:48)
• “Wit Weeks has had some big plays. That play he made where Clubnick tried to take off...was an unbelievably athletic, smart, great play.” – McShay (35:24)
• “It’s hard not to believe, but I also truly believe Clemson is one of the 10 best teams in the country.” – Bowen (38:10)
• “Arch Manning did suck today. He was not good.” – Bowen (50:16)
• “What we saw from Arch...is not what we’re going to see from him in week four or five.” – Bowen (44:26)
• “Jeremiah Smith and Brian Hartline were the difference in this game.” – McShay (49:19)
• “That son of a gun Castellanos. What?!...after week one, and it’s just one week. I don’t want to play that guy. That guy’s a nightmare.” – Bowen (78:03)
• “That’s the one team I watched today and I was like, oh, they’re in trouble.” – McShay on Alabama (72:15)

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Closing Takeaways

• Both LSU and Clemson proved they are Top 10-caliber teams despite the scoreline.
• Perspective and patience are needed with first-time QBs like Arch Manning and Ty Simpson; viral overreactions are called out, but critical analysis remains.
• SEC power Alabama’s blemishes feel more systemic than just transitional.
• Florida State’s offensive rebuild and Gus Malzahn’s scheme are legit storylines.
• Early in the season, defenses rule, but talent and coaching adjustments—especially for QB development—will tell the story by midseason.

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Listener Engagement & What’s Next

• The McShay Show will keep hosting post-game recaps every week, bringing “group chat” energy and draft-focused analysis to fans.
• Listeners are encouraged to join live, submit questions, and follow for guest appearances and deeper prospect breakdowns in coming episodes.

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For more detail, and full draft analysis, subscribe at The McShay Report.

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Transcript

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[Todd McShay]

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[Todd McShay]

Sam.

[Matt Bowen]

We'Re live. Mench.

[Todd McShay]

Here we go.

[Matt Bowen]

You good?

[Todd McShay]

I'm great, man.

[Matt Bowen]

Even better than nor the normal good. All right, here's the situation. Seven point game. We love coming on. Breaking into the game we wanted to be on a few minutes earlier. First week playing through some things. My link wasn't working. Who cares? 322 left 17:10 LSU. LSU just got the ball back. It's interesting. Connor Nevins asked us an interesting question. Who would you rather have in this situation? Late game, coaching staff and quarterback. I said I like I'm happy with either of these guys. Kate Clubnik or Garrett Nussmeier. Right? Yeah, I feel like I would be better late game considering like everything that's gone on in this game and LSU's history in. In week ones and. And some of the penalties in this game and. And the fact that they've not been able to close out games that I. I feel more comfortable with Clemson's staff and Clemson's organization, if you will. But then I started thinking to myself, I. With Antonio Williams out of this game, I. I think I'm like, I just feel like there's more juice in the LSU offense. So here we are. It was a good question. Figured I'd start this whole thing with it. I don't know if you have any thoughts on it, but nuss Meyer so far. Go ahead. You answer your thoughts on that first.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, you make all good points. If we're going off just this game too, which I Think you would have to. When you're talking about this group specifically the LSU offensive line is playing out of its mind. I mean the LSU offensive line is. I'm, I'm stunned with how well they've played tonight and I think it's actually played better than the Clemson group. This has been a tale of two halves, right? Yep. I think that, you know, the halftime adjustment that LSU made in terms of keeping club Nick in the pocket has been a real difference maker in this game. But I think the off I, I am impressed with that LSU front.

[Matt Bowen]

I am too. But you know what else I am? You. You go to the Manning passing academy and you watch some of those guys throw. You watch the tape of like Lenora Sellers, you watch the mobility of club Nick. You watch some of these other guys and the special traits that they have. And it's kind of like pre draft, right?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

The further you get away from the tape, the more influenced you can become. Then you get into a game situation. Here's what makes and I want to make this perfectly clear as we're watching Nussmeyer right now with the ball 235. They're up 17 to 10. It's third and 11.

[Todd McShay]

Here we go.

[Matt Bowen]

Let's watch this play first. We've all night long to talk about Nussmeyer and what makes him special. And if you're watching like I've got YouTube TV, I don't know what men she's watching. Probably basic cable up in Jerry, New Hampshire. You're probably ahead of us.

[Todd McShay]

I'm a couple seconds ahead of you.

[Matt Bowen]

All right, so they dumped it off to the back. Safe play to Durham. They're gonna run this clock down. Clemson's got one timeout left. It doesn't appear well the college football. The two minute timeout now.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Matt Bowen]

So they'll run it down the two minute timeout. So here's our, here's what we wanted.

[Todd McShay]

This is everything you wanted. Everything you wanted.

[Matt Bowen]

I said early in the week it's going to be Nussmeyer driving him down. So scoring. I didn't think it was going to be early in the fourth quarter, but it was little back and forth. QB1 versus QB2. I've got Club Nick, QB1 because I think the, the physical tools are slightly better than Nussmeier. Nussmeier though my point I was about to make. This dude is so special. Garrett Nussmire is so special. Managing sensing, feeling, feeling and dictating pressure. It's his special sauce. If you really watch him in this game and I can't wait tomorrow on Sunday to go back and watch the coach copy tape all 22 and the tight copy. What makes him special, man, I still have the volume on. You probably hear it in the background, is the fact that he's. He doesn't have to be the fastest. He doesn't have to have the strongest army. He knows where the pressure is coming from. He senses it. He's never like I talked about Jackson dart and some of the things I loved about him. Kind of everything calms down when the pressure builds up. And I. It's the same thing with him. And I saw that and I saw. And I was like, that's the same thing with Josh Allen. Some of the great ones, right? He's got that. That innate ability. And it's maybe because it's. He's been around the game of football his whole life. His dad's a quarterback in the NFL. Quarterback coach. Now he's the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Don't know how that's going to go for the Saints this year. They named Rattler the starting quarterback. But my point in all this is the wide receivers weren't stepping up. The run game is. Is not a championship level, I don't think for either of these programs tonight. But we can get to all this as we recap the day. But my point is, like with everything on the line, his ability to distribute the ball and handle pressure, tangible pressure like pass rushers in his face and then pressure of moments. How about that throw he made? Best throw of the night. Maybe the best throw I've seen in college football. The entire first week date back to week zero was, I thought, a terrible call by the referees. You didn't think it was. I did.

[Todd McShay]

I was just messing with you.

[Matt Bowen]

Bill Lamanier is on my side, but Bill can be up and down on this and I love Bill.

[Todd McShay]

That's a catch all day. That's a catch all day.

[Matt Bowen]

It was right to. He dropped it that. Right like. It was like. It looks like a catch in the bucket. Down the right sideline with. Was it Barry and Bracket this hair. Yeah, Barry and Brown, right. The Kentucky transfer.

[Todd McShay]

Unbelievable play. Great release, great track. I mean, just.

[Matt Bowen]

But the ball couldn't have been put in a more perfect.

[Todd McShay]

No, the placement was perfect. And then we're going to call that an incomplete pass. I mean.

[Matt Bowen]

And then they missed the field goal, right.

[Todd McShay]

Kid cramped up as he went through.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, they got. They got nothing for it. So this, this game would be over.

[Todd McShay]

But you're Right. That was the best throw of the night. That was, I mean, that was maybe one of the best throws we've seen. All I've seen all weekend so far.

[Matt Bowen]

So.

[Todd McShay]

So how do we not reward. How did you not reward two college kids for making that kind of play? Like, I just don't get it. I get all. We've just gotten so crazy with what's a catch and what's not a catch. And it's been years of this now.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. Barry and bro and it was an SEC crew, by the way. But I mean like, could, could it be any better at home? LSU's punting the ball. Two minutes left. You're in your death Valley. If you're Clemson, you've got your quarterback in Cade club. Nick doesn't have Antonio Williams, but so all night.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

Time to, time to step up.

[Todd McShay]

Feels like the SEC needs this one. A man. Feels like they need one.

[Matt Bowen]

There we go. Oh my gosh.

[Todd McShay]

I know. Already early. I feel like they need one.

[Matt Bowen]

I know. We'll get to Alabama in a little bit.

[Todd McShay]

Just saying the SEC is so, so great. Come on, man.

[Matt Bowen]

There's an. They're showing Antonio Williams on the broadcast right now as they do. This is the best crew in the business. I'm not even. You know, I love Kirk and you know, I, I love Chris and I've worked with them a lot. But I'm talking like the production crew, the, the camera people, the, the, the people in inside the, the truck. Just knowing the moment. There's nobody, there's nobody better in the business than these guys. But you get the ball on the 43 yard line.

[Todd McShay]

I'm before. It's so hard not to tell you what's happening.

[Matt Bowen]

Oh, you are.

[Todd McShay]

Which by the way, this is a little bit of payback because if you, if you remember Captain Jack, strip sack for the touchdown. I was a couple seconds behind you.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And you're like, you're not gonna believe what's about to happen here, Mitch.

[Matt Bowen]

Well, there's an incompletion in the first play which you knew.

[Todd McShay]

I'm not giving anything away.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, they're like FCC laws against us at doing play by play.

[Todd McShay]

This game is not disappointing from the quarterbacks, in my opinion. I know it's not high. No, I know it's not high scoring. I, I, you know, we'll be interested to do the deep dive tomorrow. We can talk about that more about the nitty gritty of it all. But on face value, I've not been disappointed.

[Matt Bowen]

Nussmeyer has outplayed Club Nick slightly.

[Todd McShay]

I didn't think so in the first.

[Matt Bowen]

Half, but overall, no, not in the first. Overall, I think Nuss Meyer has. Like, when he settled down, how he settled down, the way he distributed, the pressure he was dealing with. Nussmeyer has been the better quarterback tonight, but, like, Club Nick's been good. And it don't matter if. If Club Dick drives him down and scores here.

[Todd McShay]

Where are you?

[Matt Bowen]

Oh, okay. All right, so we've had two completions now. You're ahead of me. I know we are. I'm at 134.

[Todd McShay]

Set the table again, though.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, I'm a minute 34. Club Nick, he's holding his. He's holding his helmet. He's getting the call in from the sideline. 17:10, LSU. Fourth quarter. They've got two completions now. One was a great throw under pressure, arm hit to his right side. Second one was an easier throw. Run after catch. They now have the ball in the 21 yard line, completed for a short gain. Looked like the tight end, but I'm not sure who it is. Yeah, 87. All right, so now second down, and let's call it seven. Second and seven. About. Yep.

[Todd McShay]

He's not pressing, which I like. He's letting his guys make some plays after the catch. He's not pressing. He's not forcing the ball downfield.

[Matt Bowen]

All right, so now we get to take a deep breath. There's a minute. Nate left, but he went out about it. Caught the ball. Receiver caught the ball. Underneath throw. It's gonna be about third and four, Third and five, I'd guess. The clock stops. Oh, yeah. I mean, the beauty is it's the best game so far of all of college football.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

You knew it already, huh? Incomplete pass on third down. So it sets up a fourth and four. Missed a. Fired it a little bit high, little out of it. Receivers reach. Oh, hearts pounding. You get defensive coordinator Baker.

[Todd McShay]

There's a timeout coming up, just so you know.

[Matt Bowen]

Okay, timeout. All right. So, I mean, would you rather Nussmeier in that offense in this situation? Fourth and four, it's just like Club Nick's. I still.

[Todd McShay]

It. Listen, it's. They have shut down Club Nick's feet in the second half. I still say I still like it. Show. It could just show up here, right?

[Matt Bowen]

It could just show up. I gotta be honest, man, this LSU defense is better than I thought. And I. I went on a rant about LSU's defense and what I thought it could be. Remember, you're like, we talked about it sucked. Two years ago, Baker comes in as the D coordinator. I was like, they made a significant improvement. You're like, yeah, but they were just kind of. They were middling last year at best.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

41 tackles, made, four tackles for loss, two sacks. Mansour has been freaking awesome.

[Todd McShay]

Monsoon Delaney Lane has been awesome. Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

Huge play in the fourth quarter. Batting the ball down. Had an interception. Did some really good things in coverage. Comes to Virginia Tech transfer. This guy's a dude.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

Perkins in that star role. Early in the game, they had to call a timeout because he was all right. Here we go. You're probably ahead of me, but Harold Perkins has been awesome. Oh, no. Why you're staring at me? Weeks has had some big plays. There's nuss, man. What'd I tell you about that cat?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Got some big ones.

[Matt Bowen]

Big ones on the road. Look at Harold Perkins. Look at him.

[Todd McShay]

He sp.

[Matt Bowen]

He spied him. He spied him.

[Todd McShay]

Yep. And he did it a lot in the second half.

[Matt Bowen]

In weeks.

[Todd McShay]

Two weeks in. In Perkins were. Were just massive and not letting.

[Matt Bowen]

But in that role, that roaming role.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

In coverage against tight ends, spying quarterbacks, rushing the quarterback. I told my. My sources at LSU have gotten a lot better from the jamarcus Russell days, man. I told you they. They were raving club Nick, you know, he. He knows. He's owning it. I'll tell you one thing. We walked away from Ohio State, Texas, and there was some ick. You walked away from Florida State, Alabama, and you're like, how good? Who. How good's anyone?

[Todd McShay]

Right?

[Matt Bowen]

And is this really just all that Alabama can be, or is this just the first? You know. You know, I know. I know two things. Two teams definitively are legit top 10 teams in this country. And there. These two.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, you don't think Ohio State.

[Matt Bowen]

Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying Ohio State isn't. I'm saying, like, this is the first game where I'm like, both these teams are really freaking good, okay? And I'm sure of it. And it didn't. Like, the result didn't matter.

[Todd McShay]

I. Yeah, I get what you're saying about that Ohio State, Texas game.

[Matt Bowen]

We'll come back for that in a minute.

[Todd McShay]

But, yeah, I think we'll look back on it and be like, these two teams are really good.

[Matt Bowen]

Oh. Oh, I know both those teams, but it still felt that. I still felt ick. I don't feel ick for this game. I don't feel like.

[Todd McShay]

No ick.

[Matt Bowen]

No. I don't have a major, like glaring.

[Todd McShay]

1710 low scoring man for these two, I mean, awesome quarterbacks.

[Matt Bowen]

The reason I like LSU even like, remember what the first thing I said when we came and we're doing the power rankings, right? The last 10 days or so we've done power rankings leading up to the season. And I said, I legitimately believe, bottom of my heart, if they come together and play the way I think they can and some of the portal guys work out, I legitimately think LSU could play for the national title.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I think you're right. Now, I, I wasn't sure about it then. I, I, I, I hear what you're.

[Matt Bowen]

Saying now, but my questions were the run game, which has not been answered, but the defense and it, it, I'm not saying it's answered for the whole season. You can't ask for much better of a showing from that LSU defense than 10 points against club Nick in that offense.

[Todd McShay]

No, no, that was veteran offensive line. They shut Clemson out in the second half. They came out and said, look, you're really hurting us with that run. You're hurting us with your feet. And by the way, Brian Kelly said it before the game in his pregame interview. He said, we want to keep Klubnick in the pocket. If we keep him in the pocket, we feel better about it. And Clubnick was extending all these plays with his feet in the first half and they were like. And Baker said, no. DeForestator said, no, we're not doing that anymore. You're not getting outside. I've got this guy named Harold Perkins who is just going to shadow your quarterback and it's not going to be an issue anymore. I'm encouraged by the LSU running game. After tonight, I'm surprised you aren't telling.

[Matt Bowen]

Tell me why. I'm not saying I'm not. 1. Go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

1. I thought that defensive front again, I just thought that defensive front was going to control. I thought Parker for Clemson tonight was awesome. I did not see enough of Peter woods, who's supposed to be all world.

[Matt Bowen]

I didn't either.

[Todd McShay]

Now we'll go back and see why that is. It's sometimes hard to gauge why.

[Matt Bowen]

I mean he was second on the team with tackles. When I looked late, early in the fourth quarter.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. I just didn't see, I just didn't see him making impact plays. Parker, I did. Parker was a, a force. He had the bad penalty, but other than that, I thought he played a really strong game. That. But what the reason I'm encouraged is that that defensive front from Clemson I Think is good. I think it's going to be very good. And Kaden Durham won 17 carries for 74 yards. 4.4 yards per carry. I'll take it, man. He was, you know, it was a competent running game tonight. It was a great. No, it wasn't what you would maybe call championship, but it was a lot better than I remember being last year.

[Matt Bowen]

I thought, you're right.

[Todd McShay]

A lot more balanced. I mean, they had 39 passing attempts and 31 rushing attempts tonight. That's a big difference than Nussmeier just airing it out all night. So to me, I mean, I thought that was a step in the right direction. I also, I'm just looking at these numbers now. That's why I'm rattling them off. Do you know what Clubnick finished with?

[Matt Bowen]

Passing?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

Not. It wasn't great. A 19 to 38.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. No touchdowns, one interception. Felt like a better night for him.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

But the second half, again, that, that LSU made the better adjustments. You know, they, they went in and, and made the better adjustments about what they needed to do. Even on the offense, too. I mean, defensively it's obvious what they did. And then on offense, I thought they got some of their screen games, some of their quick hitters going. It really got that offense rolling. They got. They found a way to get the ball in Anderson's hands. The slot receiver who you know all the. Aaron Anderson, the guy they, they've added all these guys around them and they're all great. And you know, the, the tight end trade has green and the, and the red zone's great. I think Bauer Sharp's going to be a good player for them. All those are nice. But Aaron Anderson's the guy and he may not be the guy that they've had in the past. Who's that Elite outside dude, but he's the dude when you need to play. Aaron Anderson is going to make a play for you. Find a way to get him the ball and they'll do something after the catch with it. So I, I was impressed with, with the way lsu, the way the coaching staff handled it tonight.

[Matt Bowen]

I don't disagree. It turned out to be a much more complete game than, than what I thought in the first, like the first half I was going through. First of all, We've got almost 500 people or 500 message or 500 people in the chat right now.

[Todd McShay]

Awesome.

[Matt Bowen]

And like, let's just stop down real quick. Game's over. Thanks for being here. This is week one, you know, didn't like promote it A lot. You guys aren't used to this. We're gonna be here every week. Okay. And we're just gonna grow this thing. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Every. Every single. After the prime time game. This is where you're gonna be. This is where we're gonna be. For sure. Contractually, I guess, or just. We made our own decisions. We promised it.

[Todd McShay]

We'll deliver. I might be here anyways.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, but this is awesome, man. Like, week one, QB1, QB2, Clemson, LSU. Got a lot to talk about. And like, just look at like Garrett Fitzgerald. The boys are back in town. You're right about that, man. Nussm Reminds me of Romo. Get out of here. Pepper squad, I guess. Is that a positive or negative? I don't know.

[Todd McShay]

I like Romo. I don't think that. I think that might be a positive, man.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, but Nuss Meyer is going to win games late and do things that I think plagued Romo's career.

[Todd McShay]

Okay.

[Matt Bowen]

Nus Bus. We got all, like, we got all these people. I. I like what's going on. So thank you for being here. Keep it coming. I'll check the. I'll check the chat as we go and. And we'll keep you involved. I was watching this game, right, and lsu, it started out and I'm like, here we go again. You see the 1 and o t shirts coming in today in warm up? No, they have one and one and.

[Todd McShay]

Oh.

[Matt Bowen]

Like that's been the off season focus. And when you set a focus in the off season, you come out and you play the way you did in the first half. That thing can backfire on you.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, that's.

[Matt Bowen]

They're practicing at night, they're changing their routine, they're going team, team, team. They're doing a lot of different things.

[Todd McShay]

Because they had to get the chips in the middle. Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

Kind of like. Kind of like the Bengals, right? Playing. Playing their starters late. Was the second or third preseason game. Late in the game, you got your franchise running around, taking big hits. Joe Burrow. Like things you don't want happening, but it's because of a mindset that you're trying to establish. Same was going on with LSU this off season. So they come out in the first half and I'm just writing mistakes, early penalties, fumble on second possession, two timeouts in the first six minutes of the game. This is not. This did not appear to be a team that was that dialed in and had that emphasis in the off season that this was the game had to have this. Okay.

[Todd McShay]

Think about how the first half ended. They throw that quick hitter to Chris Hilton and. And he. On fourth down. They get no points. They fumble. I mean, Clemson goes in the halftime with all of the momentum in the world.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, it was fourth and two before the half.

[Todd McShay]

Or.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. From the 12 yard line. They pass on the field goal. I kind of like Brian, like it's still. The mentality is. And by the way.

[Todd McShay]

But the execution sucked. I love the mentality. The execution sucked.

[Matt Bowen]

I like the. And I wanted to blame it on the coaching staff and the offensive play. That was n. Man, he checked out of a play.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

In that crowd, that end zone noise. Had the onions. Been around this game. Trusted himself. Wasn't the right call. Especially when he moved his back over to the right and he had all those jerseys. It happened fast. It was loud. But there was a confidence level about I'm in control. Yeah, I, I messed up. But let's come back in the second half and we got like, we got these guys. It's all right. We scored three in the first half. We're going to get this thing rolling. I thought in the second half that, that they were just trying desperately to find someone that could do something with the ball. The ball in their hands. In the first half. It didn't seem LSU okay then I thought it was that, that 39 yard catch from Aaron Anderson early in the third quarter they kind of like, all right, here we go. And then right after that. Yeah. And then. And then Aaron Anders Anderson had another catch. Right. That. That was kind of the moment where it felt like what the adjustments they made, the talk they had at halftime. Now they're, now they're going out and proving what they're saying. And from that point on, LSU is in control of that game, man.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, exactly right. It's. There's been a lot of talk about play callers this week, obviously because of Brian Harline becoming the play caller for Ohio State. And it was something I was watching all day today and you know, with Sark, whoever. Name, name one of these coordinators. And it's so fascinating to me that one you. When they get into a rhythm, when they get, when they start to feel it, you can tell the play callers are starting to feel with the way. And you can tell at LSU was so they were starting to feel it with some of the things that they were doing, whereas other teams were struggling. And you got to create more opportunities for yourself to kind of probe defenses. If you're getting three and outs, three and outs, three and outs. You're not getting a good feel for what kind of what, what kind of defense they're going to throw at your two by one looks or whatever, whatever you want to talk about, whatever your personnel is, whatever your formations are, you're probing defenses. And if you're constantly three and out, you're not a good, Getting a good feel for. Okay, when we come back to this look, they took this away, but we know we have this if, if we get that same look again. And so it's just fascinating to me. Like you have to get into a rhythm, you got to get going and you have to create more opportunities for yourself. And it's difficult when you don't.

[Matt Bowen]

Defensively. Then on, you know, for, for Clemson, we talked about it. I thought Sammy Brown was awesome. And everywhere right from the jump, woods was underwhelming. Let's watch the tape. Parker, some pressures. He had that one big penalty.

[Todd McShay]

What'd you think about that, by the way?

[Matt Bowen]

I thought it was warranted but unfortunate.

[Todd McShay]

It was a little closer. I probably, I kind of leaned towards the same way as you, but I felt like they were making it sound like it was egregious and it didn't feel egregious to me. No, no, it felt like that. You know, Klubnick, I mean, not clubbing. I'm sorry. Nussmeier got bumped towards him and he kind of took a little bit of a liberty with a little extra shot at the end. I also thought Nuss did a little bit of an acting job. I didn't think it was as egregious as some other late hits I've seen.

[Matt Bowen]

I agree with that. What I liked about was one of the things I liked about TJ Parker in this game as a potential top 10 prospect. The motor chasing from behind LSU did a nice job of when they moved the pocket. It was away from him and he was barreling down on Nussmeier. And it wasn't just that play. Run defense was pretty, pretty good throughout the night, especially first like two and a half quarters. I agree. Even Avion Terrell had the, that forced fumble. I, I thought I, I, with the exception of woods, who I think was really good versus the run, but just didn't have the impact plays that we saw that we were hoping to see from him in the first game in the pat, in the, you know, in pass, as a pass rusher. I thought the defense showed up.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, look, they only put up 17, man. It's not like LSU was running up and down the field.

[Matt Bowen]

No, no.

[Todd McShay]

So.

[Matt Bowen]

I thought it really. I. All right, flip side. I thought it really hurt not having Antonio Williams.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

For, you know, when you, when you look at. But here's the thing with Clemson, like I remember, I'm just going, going back to my notes like this was supposed to be the thing. Like Antonio Williams, TJ Moore. TJ Moore had a good night. Do you have his numbers there? He had a good night.

[Todd McShay]

4 for 55, Wesco, 4 for 60, 4 for 66. Tyler Brown, 4 for 43. I mean they were all kind of middling, know what I mean? They, they're all okay.

[Matt Bowen]

That Southeast Missouri transfer, Tristan Smith, 78 catches, FCS level last year. Didn't see much of him.

[Todd McShay]

Nope.

[Matt Bowen]

I just, I thought, I thought this receiver group was going to. I, I keep waiting for Wesco to explode. But I think the bottom line is this is Antonio Williams. He's the star.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Matt Bowen]

And the other guys are really good in their roles, but you got to have your star. And I thought that that was, that was absolutely missed and noticeable tonight.

[Todd McShay]

That could change over the course of the season. But it's clear that that's how it is right now. I mean, Wes goes. Got more than enough talent to turn into that kind of a guy. But it, if you were expecting it tonight, it didn't happen. It just didn't happen. There was a couple times I thought him tracking the ball, he made it more difficult to come down with the catch. With the way he was positioning his body, he wasn't tracking it as well as he could have. I mean there's just these little things. I thought that the, the one where you said that club Nick was a little too far on the third down catch. I thought that Wesco should have had that. So I mean, just not quite there yet. All the talent in the world. But you're right. Antonio Williams, when you need to play, you know, you know all these other guys, Barry and Brown made some great plays tonight for lsu but when they needed it, it was Aaron Anderson. And when you need it, when you're Clemson, it's Antonio Williams and they just didn't have him.

[Matt Bowen]

The run game was the big question coming in. Does it for Clemson? Does, does this team possess championship caliber run game? You remember last year showed up in big moments, completely outrushed and losses, South Carolina and Texas.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

Adam Randall was their leading ball carrier excluding Kade Kubnick who technically had eight carries for one yard. I'm talking pure runners. It was supposed to be Adam Randall, right?

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

It was supposed to be. We didn't. Never saw the freshman that I saw. Gideon. Gideon Davidson.

[Todd McShay]

Nope. He was on the field and they noticed him.

[Matt Bowen]

But he blocked as the Asia Mumer. David. David ez, as I call him, he had three carries. And the guy who was supposed to be there, like the load carrier who they came in feeling confident about, the wide receiver. Remember former wide receiver Adam Randall had.

[Todd McShay]

The great touchdown run?

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. But he had five carries for 16 yards, man.

[Todd McShay]

And I'm trying to go through it right now, Todd. I don't think he carried the ball in the second half. So if he did, he had like one or two. I mean, when you have five, I.

[Matt Bowen]

Mean, it felt like LSU had the ball the entire second half.

[Todd McShay]

Sure did.

[Matt Bowen]

So that's something. But. But I'll say this for Clemson, you get to now regroup. They're going to be favored in all other 11 games.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Matt Bowen]

Georgia Tech, Louisville, South Carolina are on the road, but you got SMU at home. And by the way, that. That road trip I'm making now that I'm going to try to get. I'm trying to get you to come November 8th. Florida State, all of a sudden, that's a big game.

[Todd McShay]

That's a huge game. All of a sudden.

[Matt Bowen]

I thought it was going to be like, oh, that's going to be a tough game. Florida State's gonna be better this year. We'll get to that in a minute.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I think they're all right. I'm not. I'm not.

[Matt Bowen]

No, I do, too. I'm. I do, too. I'm not either. But I'm saying they. It's not like they're jumping from this to, like Florida A. M. But, you know, like this, like some of the other teams that we talked about leading up to the season.

[Todd McShay]

And this is the roller coaster that every college football season is. You know, last year, I mean, Ohio State was done. Done after the Michigan loss. It's just, you know, Northern Notre Dame, no way they get to the final after losing the Northern Illinois. They listen to Northern Illinois. So, you know, there's a lot of football to be played, and these teams are built to get better and they're built to compete at the end.

[Matt Bowen]

I've never seen a fly. I got a fly in my room in my office, but I've never seen one who's like, half dead.

[Todd McShay]

I love how you play through adversity. He's pushed through.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. I'm just like, if you're gonna. If you're gonna sneak in off the Porch and come into the studio slash office, and you're gonna be a fly. Like, I expect a little bit more fight out of you. I expect to hear the buzzing and, like, annoying me. It was just sitting on my papers. Anyway. Most encouraging to me, though, man, was. And I go back to it, that. That LSU defense.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, no, that's. That's a.

[Matt Bowen]

That's a good group. I didn't see.

[Todd McShay]

I liked Wit Weeks. Okay. I liked him tonight. I loved him. I mean, he.

[Matt Bowen]

I remember his brother was the one who was healthy during camp and starring during camp. Wit shows up. Game time, man.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, that play he made where clubbing tried to take off and he came off the pass rush to wrap him up, that would have gone for like 20 yards in the first half, was an unbelievably athletic, smart, great play. I mean, it was just unbelievable play. I thought he was outstanding. And we were excited about Harold Perkins, and we should be excited about Harold Perkins, and we're excited about Delane, and we should be excited about Delane there. I mean, it's that they. I wanted to see it.

[Matt Bowen]

Even though he had a nice play early on.

[Todd McShay]

It's great on paper. Until you saw. Until you see it. Because I, you know, I've thought you. LSU's had talent in the past and not had great defenses recently, and tonight they played like a really good defense.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, I'm encouraged. I'm really encouraged. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know where. I mean, lsu. LSU gets over that. They hadn't won since. Was Georgia, Duke. Georgia.

[Todd McShay]

No, that's.

[Matt Bowen]

No, that's Clemson. Clement. LSU hadn't won since Joe Burrow.

[Todd McShay]

In the opener, you mean?

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. So Clemson's now lost three, four of their last five openers, but LSU hadn't won an opener since Burrow 2019. Is that right?

[Todd McShay]

That one. Five. They have one in five. They have won three under Kelly and then won the two years before.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. Yeah. So Joe Burrow. That. I remember that.

[Todd McShay]

By the way, in a way, this is good, I think, for the way the playoff bracket could lay out, because LSU needed this win more than Clemson. Let's be honest, LSU's.

[Matt Bowen]

I agree.

[Todd McShay]

LSU schedule is going to be so much tougher that there's a couple losses that you can. You can just see popping up in there. Whereas if Clemson had won this game, LSU's margin for error was a lot smaller. So if you're wanting to get the most talented teams in there, I think this is actually good for the overall playoff picture.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. I don't disagree. LSU needed this more considering their schedule, considering what, what they've got to deal with. I'm all over the place because I. There's so many more angles I want to go to. I, I think the most important takeaway, honestly, is when you got a guy like Nuss Meyer, everything calms down.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

And he was up and down and up and down last year. And I hope physically he's able to not show some of the wear and tear that he did a year ago. I think he is a supporting cast. The run game is improved.

[Todd McShay]

The.

[Matt Bowen]

The offensive line, big question, losing those guys to the NFL, huge question coming into the year. Brian Kelly said definitively, like, I trust this group. I know a good offensive line and this is a damn good offensive line. Even though they lost Will Campbell, fourth overall pick Emory Jones, third round pick Garrett Dellinger, I mean, they lost three guy, four guys and Miles Fraser four draft. And that group was pretty darn good tonight against a really good Clemson front. Okay. It's hard not to believe, but I also like, truly believe Clemson is one of the 10 best teams in the country. I think they can become one of the five or six best teams in the country come October. And I. And I would not rule that team out from getting better and better as the season progresses like they did at the end of last year and playing for a national championship. I think you saw two teams tonight that are capable of making a run if they keep getting better and making a run and playing in the national championship game. I think, I think that to me, that's fair to say, 100%.

[Todd McShay]

I'm still high on Clemson.

[Matt Bowen]

All right, now let's get to. Let's get to the rest of this.

[Todd McShay]

Where do you want to start?

[Matt Bowen]

Texas? Ohio State? Okay, let's just get to it. Yeah, I just want to get it out of the way because I want to talk about the rest of the game.

[Todd McShay]

Okay.

[Matt Bowen]

People suck, man.

[Todd McShay]

Yes, people do suck.

[Matt Bowen]

People suck.

[Todd McShay]

It's.

[Matt Bowen]

And I don't even have to tell you, and you and I haven't spoken once today. We've been on a group chat, but we have. But not like talking to each other. Everyone loves to tear people down. And I get it. Arch didn't choose to be born into the Manning family, but certainly being born in the Manning family has allowed a path for him, both genetically and support staff and everything else that is needed to develop a young man into a quarter quarterback at a high level is all there for the taking for Arch.

[Todd McShay]

I get it.

[Matt Bowen]

Let. Let. I'M just going to be real with everyone here for. Okay, yeah. I like, I'm close with his grandfather and I like his family and I was at the Manning passing academy and all that. But I, I think people have come to trust. Like, I'm gonna, like, I got no problem separating church from state. What I do have a problem with is like the people in this industry, man, I got news for you. I watch the same game. I do have more perspective than a lot of these bozos out there because I'm. Because I'm better at our job and you're better at our job than a lot of those bozos out there too. And we're certainly better at what we do and people come to us for real information because we're not trying to get people to click and do all that stuff. Okay. There's a real easy path to that. We can take it. But I'm not here for that. I'm here to do it the right way. But I'm watching the game today and I, I see. I see a couple things. I thought the training wheels were on and it was maddening. I thought Sark did a really bad job today. I thought Sark coached like Quinn Ewers with injuries last year. I didn't. I thought it wasn't until they got behind and the pressure was on. And we saw this a couple times last year with viewers in that Texas offense. It took them in an emergency situation, Arizona State being the most recent example where it's like, we got to open it up, we got to get creative, we got to just take some chances, got to take the training wheels off for that offense to start cooking a little. And so I think Sark was part of the problem today. And by the way, I don't even think you, Steve, know the level of respect I have not only as a coach, but as a human being that I have for Sark. And it's okay. Because you know what? You have sucked at your job some days. I have certainly sucked at my job. And Arch today, if we take his name off this thing and the expectations, it was still a less than desirable. I mean, you're the starting quarterback at Texas. Okay. It was a less than desirable performance. 37% he was off target. Was his percentage off target throws. And I saw the same thing. I didn't need the number to come up and there was popping it everywhere on ESPN because it makes the, the analysis easier. He was not only on throws that he completed. I mean, not only throws, he were incompletions that he missed on throws that were completions even. We talk about missing inside the strike zone. He was off target today a lot. I'll tell you what I am concerned about in a minute. What I'm not concerned about is, and I've said this for a while now, Steve, like I've, I do this for a living. I've done this for 25 years. The most, the biggest improvements I see in a quarterback, it's not from week one to week two, like coaches always say, it's from week one to about week four or five. In a season when you're a first year starter, we can get in all the science and the methodology and all the reasons why, but you learn from your mistakes. You go into game two and you haven't repped it enough for you see it again, you make that same mistake again, then you stop making that mistake. Whatever. It's, it's a, it's a process. And so what we saw from, from Arch specifically is not what we're going to see from him in week four or week five. So you know what I'm not going to do? I'm not going to come out and say he's a bust, he's terrible. Because everyone wants me to either say he's a bust and he sucks, or no, I'm not buying in. Hang on. Be patient with Arch. Right? And I.

[Todd McShay]

Even early for the bus talk, man, when you go into Ohio State as.

[Matt Bowen]

The first start, like I, I'm watching awful announcing today and, and like, and, and I, I think they've got a purpose too. We all have a purpose in this industry and they've got a pretty good purpose. I think they keep a lot of people honest. I think some stuff's just really funny. I think some stuff they do is past the line and that kind of sucks. But like society sucks these days probably always. But I can only speak for my, my generation and the generation be, you know, after me. You know what I could do? I could say, you know, Steve and I had a podcast about Arch Manning. We talked about how he wasn't developed as a pastor. And, and I told you so like he's not there yet. And, and I, and I told you I didn't rank him in the 2026 draft class because I knew this could happen. I said, let's wait to 2027 because I knew he's going to come out and suck today. And you know what? I saw people do that. I actually saw people do that. It, I don't care. I saw, I, I saw. I saw Rogers come out and do it.

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[Matt Bowen]

He played quarterback. His brother's one of the all time quarterbacks. Whether they have a relationship or I don't, I don't know. But to come out today and say I told you so, like why does that make you feel good? I watch the same tape. You were actually a little bit harsher on him than I was. But we've, we, we get greed on the same things. The mobility is a great asset. Well, guess, guess what? The mobility was taken away today in part because Ohio State's defense is awesome again and in part because I don't think that they had an aggressive enough approach. And every report I got from from camp down in Austin was he's running man run the run, QB run game is a big Part of where was it today? So there's a lot of factors in here. And so to come out and do the I told you thing makes you just as horrible, maybe more horrible.

[Todd McShay]

We were talking about tv, by the way, how many of these guys have watched? I haven't watched it yet because I'm watching the other games. I'm getting.

[Matt Bowen]

That's the other.

[Todd McShay]

I'll tell you, we're gonna have another show on Monday.

[Matt Bowen]

Yes.

[Todd McShay]

And I will sit down with you and I will be level headed and you will be levelheaded and we'll say, here's what we saw. What we're not gonna do is say that this kid sucks after watching TV tape after him going into Ohio State. And honestly, what are we doing? You want to know what I'm mad about after that game? It's not about how Arch played. I'm mad about at the goddamn quarterback sneak against, against that defensive front on fourth and goal where you get no momentum. You have no momentum with your quarterback. Can we run downhill, please? Can we just get downhill and see if that works? Can we try something other than a quarterback sneak in that situation? They don't act like Arch played so poorly that Texas didn't have a chance today because that wasn't the case. I thought the difference in the game today was Brian Hartline clearly knows how to call a game. I thought he was outstanding today. And it helps when you have Jeremiah Smith. And that's the second thing is Jeremiah Smith. Now you could talk about the Ohio State defense. I would counter by saying that Texas defense is pretty damn good too and held you only the 14 even though their offense was struggling too. Like, I mean, there's a lot of things at play. To me, Jeremiah Smith and Brian Hartline were the difference in this game. Yes. Arch didn't play well. I didn't expect him to play well in Columbus for, for his first start. We'll see where he is at the end.

[Matt Bowen]

But here's the difference and here's where I'm willing to go. Here's where I'm willing to go because I. Because. And it's not because I care about my media standing and I have to have a strong take to get on a show or for people to run this clip somewhere else. I couldn't care less.

[Todd McShay]

You shouldn't.

[Matt Bowen]

But, but I do want to, I do want to make this perfectly clear. Arch Manning did suck today.

[Todd McShay]

He was not good.

[Matt Bowen]

He was not good.

[Todd McShay]

Not.

[Matt Bowen]

And, and if you want to drill down before I watch the coach copy tape and What I know I can tell you I am concerned about one thing in this moment. I am concerned that he is a Manning and his uncles are Peyton and Eli. And he's had every resource, including a college level coach come and be his offensive coordinator in high school. If my son can go to decent camps in Massachusetts to work on his footwork and throw accurately, short and intermediate to open receivers, a, a Manning with that talent level, with those resources at this point in his career, can't miss some of the throws he missed today. And so without watching the coach copy tape and going back, like, I'm not going to sit here and lie about it and sugarcoat it and I get news for you. Arch is watching the tape and he's, and he's banging his head against the desk and he's pounding his fist and he's pissed off at himself. But if I want to raise an initial concern, that young man should not be missing those throws, some of those throws, not all of them. There's a handful that I looked at today and I was like, that concerns me. And that's fair now. Now in week two, no one's saying that they four and by week 10 as a starter, if he's still missing those throws, now it's a problem. Now it's part of his evaluation. Now it's who he is. And now you start asking the questions, can he fix that? Can that be corrected? But Josh Allen was missing a lot of throws and, and at the, at that time I didn't, there hadn't been many examples of guys who came in the league and got more accurate as a passer. But then all of a sudden Lamar Jackson did and Josh Allen did and then Jaylen Herz did and a lot of guys did because they had the mobility. But what was stripped of him today by maybe the defense and certainly by some play calling stuff was the mobility element of his game. That can't happen anymore.

[Todd McShay]

Right?

[Matt Bowen]

That's on Sark, that's on the offensive staff, that's on Arch. So there's a lot of like for people to come out and do a 60 second clip of I told you so.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, yeah, I mean there's a reason.

[Matt Bowen]

It's absurd.

[Todd McShay]

This one hits. I get it. You know what I do like and.

[Matt Bowen]

Then people come out and be like, you know, like, I, I like, I don't have time for that. But if you want to have a conversation about. Yeah, I'm concerned about that part. I'm also concerned that Sark is still coaching the way he did with viewers.

[Todd McShay]

All fair. We'll be.

[Matt Bowen]

Yes. And let's be fair with Sark. It is a first year starter, it is in the shoe and nobody but Michigan goes in and wins. It wins in that place. It ain't easy, right. So there's a lot of factors here, but like they better get it figured out pretty soon or else this is going to be a really disappointing season.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, you know what I like?

[Matt Bowen]

What?

[Todd McShay]

San Jose State at home, UTEP at home, Sam Houston at home for their next three games, then a buy and then they go to four Florida. So they've got time now to, you know, hey, look, didn't go the way we wanted it to go. This is what we need to work out on you kind of, you've been kind of punched in the mouth a little bit. Let's go back, regroup, catch our breath. I think that gives them, I think the schedule now gives them a chance and they better make the most of it, man, because then it's at Florida and then Oklahoma. So you better make the most of it. But they do have an opportunity here to regroup, fix. They have some tape to look at now and say, here's where we're off. This is, this has got to get fixed immediately. But yeah, I'm not saying he, when I'm saying we're going to go back and look at it and have a different conversation. I'm not, I want to be clear. I'm at no point am I pretending that I walked away from that thinking, well, maybe this is better than we think. When I get to the tape. No, I want to be specific about.

[Matt Bowen]

No, it was bad.

[Todd McShay]

Right? We'll be specific about what our criticisms are not. I told you he was trash or whatever. Whatever these people want to say. Like, that's just, I mean it's, that's a pointless conversation to me. That's not something I'm interested in.

[Matt Bowen]

And so we'll come back on Monday and we'll, we'll drill in with some more details on it. But I, but I can say this. It, it, it's that part of it was concerning for me. Some of it I can write off to at Ohio State, first game as a starter, whole offseason, all the pressure, all those things, offensive coordinator maybe, who's also the head coach, maybe trying to protect the young guy and then that road spot and all those things. I can write off some of it. I'm not, I can't write off the portion I talked to you about, but can that I want to See it?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I want to see it. I want to see it.

[Matt Bowen]

And I don't even mind. Like, the memes I like, I get. Like, that's the. The crazy. I'm not even mad at the crazy people. Right. I'm not mad. It just. And I'm not even mad at Joe Fan. I hate that. Like, seems condescending. I'm not mad at the average fan who's, like, having fun drinking beers on a Saturday. Some of the shit's funny. I get it. Like, I laughed and then I was like, it's not like that's a human being, but, like, a couple things. But like, I'm talking about people are paid to be professionals in this industry.

[Todd McShay]

Yes.

[Matt Bowen]

And you get Jordan Rogers coming out to do a 60, 60 second clip of I told you so when, like. Yeah, I saw it too. I've been doing this a lot. I actually. I like. I covered you in a game in college. I actually like the guy. I actually like Jordan. But, like, I'm done. I'm done not talking about who's doing stuff that I don't like. That's last season. I played nice last year. I'm done with that.

[Todd McShay]

So nice. I can't wait.

[Matt Bowen]

You're gonna see a whole new side of me, men, because I just. I'm getting too old and crusty for this stuff. On the flip side, don't make somebody's bad day your gain. But if you got something for me and you want to talk about it and you're. And you're ripping him. I just said he sucked today. I told you. There's a part in there that I'm worried about that I hope gets erased, just like I would hope got erased for Nuss, for Club Nick, for Lenores, for all these guys. But like, to get in first with the quick hit so I can get on, get up on Monday morning so I can be part of a big bigger show because it's my career. I'm not here for that anymore. All right?

[Todd McShay]

The flip side. Can I say please? I think Ohio State fans already knew this, but there had to be a little doubt. A new coordinate, new coordinators, you know, new quarterback, young quarterback, a rebuild. Yeah, you gotta. You got a good squad again, man. Buckle up. You're going for another run.

[Matt Bowen]

Well, that's why. Okay, that's why I wanted to get Arch out of the way so that we can actually talk about this game.

[Todd McShay]

Saying I thought was encouraging in his first game. I don't want to anoint him and act like he had the best game ever either. That's. I think that would be an overreaction to the other side just because he won. But it's encouraging. He had an encouraging performance. And I'll say this too. I'm already catching heat from some of our listeners on. On X. And I get it that I keep underestimating the Ohio State offensive line and they just keep playing well. So that's going to continue this year. Going to look at them and be like they're just not that good. And then they're just going to go out and win games. So that's probably going to happen again.

[Matt Bowen]

They played pretty good today. I do question run game.

[Todd McShay]

They were really good, but I don't.

[Matt Bowen]

Know how much juice they have at running back if we're talking about a national championship.

[Todd McShay]

I like Donaldson. It was. It's not. He's not quite that guy. I hear you. But a pretty good squad. If you had all those fears and doubts coming in of maybe like some butterflies in your stomach. I know we're ranked high, but I mean, Chip's gone and we got a new defense coordinator and rebuilt defense, rebuilt offensive line. Are we really going to be that good? It looks like they're going to be that good.

[Matt Bowen]

They held them to. And I know that's another like meme and we can have all sorts of fun, but like every. Every season's a new season and the players are new players for, you know, a large percentage like Ohio State held Texas to 1 for 5 on fourth downs. And that was critical. It was absolutely critical. I do want to say this. Absolutely great to see CJ Baxter out there for Texas and doing his thing. And Sark wasn't. Wasn't lying when he said after that last scrimmage and I watched him going 100 and that knee brace was off to see the juice he had in those legs again, to see him catching the ball. I think he had five or six catches today. C.J. baxter's. And I talked to a scout like, if this guy's back, I'm telling you, He's a top 100 draft pick, so. And I like that Livingston kid. I know he had the one drop and it looked like he could have had a drop. I didn't really know much about him. The wide receiver. I think he. I think he's got a role in that offense.

[Todd McShay]

Gotta get Wingo more touches, man. You gotta find a way to get Wingo the ball more.

[Matt Bowen]

Frustrating guys from that class.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm just. I keep wanting more from those two guys.

[Todd McShay]

Get him the ball somehow.

[Matt Bowen]

But I did think it was interesting of going back to Ohio State's offense now. I. While I thought the training wheels were on too much for Arch because his game is built on. You gotta let him be a playmaker and you gotta let him make some mistakes in order to get the good from him as a young guy. And he'll. He'll have to figure out. Figure it out on the fly. Saying needed the training wheels on and played really well with them. Yeah, he seemed calm. It's what I. It's what I kept hearing about him. He's really smart, Todd. He's really smart. He understands his role in things. He knows. He knows how to protect the football. He's got like, with a great team around him, he can for a young guy, he can kind of manage this thing pretty well. That's what he did today. Didn't help him early on that the best receiver in the planet and maybe the best receiver in college football in the last. I don't know how many long years. We can have that debate another time. Had a couple drops early.

[Todd McShay]

Those drops. I know he dropped the ball. He wasn't getting the first down on those plays like it was, but.

[Matt Bowen]

Okay, how about. How about your boy Max Claire from Purdue?

[Todd McShay]

That was a bad one.

[Matt Bowen]

Write those hands.

[Todd McShay]

You had to go right there, huh? Okay.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm just saying it didn't. It didn't help for a young guy against a Texas defense in his first start with this new program and big time moment all off season, all the pressure that's in Columbus.

[Todd McShay]

2.

[Matt Bowen]

You talk about 2 fam. Like the Austin with that Dallas media and all that. Like it's. It is a bubble and so to come out and all of a sudden I get. Jeremiah Smith's dropping a couple passes and I kind of maneuver around the pocket and I throw to the left. I. We got like 11 yards, 10. This tight end that we picked up from Purdue's caught everything this summer, this fall camp. And he dropped like. And it kind of looked like. Like that.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

You know, but he hung in there and I never saw ups and downs with him, which is really encouraging. Right. And I think they'll keep kind of letting. Giving them more rope and you see the talent. The run game was okay, but they. But they stayed committed to it. Donaldson had 19 carries for 67 yards. James Peoples had had 10 carries for 20, which is highly underwhelming. But that's still 29 carries. When you took. When you look at LSU and the numbers of carries, you look at Clemson in the few numbers of carries from their running backs. Like they're clearly. And then, and then pounding it on like short yardage, goal line, trusting that offensive line. There was just a lot of encouraging things. That Carnot Tate double route, that double move.

[Todd McShay]

Unbelievable. I had two catches the entire game. But I mean, what an impact he made.

[Matt Bowen]

Two for 49.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

Jeremiah Smith six for just 43. It's kind of weird. The two, two greatest receivers in the history of college football. Right?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

I had a note on this. I had the exact number.

[Todd McShay]

Ryan Williams and Jeremiah.

[Matt Bowen]

It was like 73 combined receiving yards today. Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith. But oh, well.

[Todd McShay]

Do you see the Texas running numbers? I mean they were 37 carries for 166 yards. I mean they ran the ball okay today. It's just when it matters, they don't, they can't come up with those fourth down plays. It, it's just to me, it's, it's wild. Some of the play calling in that situation. You got to be able to figure that out. Especially with a guy who can make a play like get, get Arch out of the pocket. Find a way to get him out of the pocket and let him make a, a run pass decision. Wow.

[Matt Bowen]

They allowed, they allowed him to a couple times, but it wasn't until like the third quarter.

[Todd McShay]

What are we doing with these quarterback sneak. It was driving. It just drove me nuts.

[Matt Bowen]

The best drive was, was the first drive of the second quarter. But then Arch got outside on the move, hit the run path. That was like the only time in the first half, I should say, where I felt like they were starting to open it up and get. He was getting in a rhythm. They got him outside that run pass option, but it ended with that goal line stand.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

With the quarterback sneak which by the way, he should have snuck it to the left side. And there seemed like a fire drill. Anytime they pan to the head coach, who's the, who's the play caller. And he's looking around like someone else did something wrong.

[Todd McShay]

It's like, yeah, what are we doing? I saw the exact same thing. Who are you looking at? And I don't know, maybe someone, some. Somewhere along the way something got relayed incorrectly. I don't know, but it didn't look good. It's not a good look.

[Matt Bowen]

I like the injuries guy a little bit. I saw from him, he's got a.

[Todd McShay]

Little bit of juice to him.

[Matt Bowen]

That's what I'm saying. A little bit of speed. So there were positives for Texas. And. And also I like. I. I give Ohio State credit. Five transfers, defensive tackle for Texas. New. New faces and bodies in there. They went after him early. But then I also give Texas credit. They kind of bowed their neck defensively.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

You know.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

Those were two heavyweights today, man.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, it was.

[Matt Bowen]

It's.

[Todd McShay]

It wasn't the game I wanted. It didn't un. It didn't play out the way I wanted it to. You know, I wanted Arch to have this great game, and I wanted to do this back and forth and I would see Jeremiah Smith running up and down the field. Doesn't change the fact that these are two damn good football teams. And again, two football teams that. The potential for growth. That's the. That's one of the flip sides that we're talking about. All these new quarterbacks. Well, yeah, that's. That's true. Where are these teams going to be, though? Who's. Who's going to be the team that gets better? Who are the teams that are going to get better? Because the potential for growth in Texas is outrageous. I mean, they could be a far better team if these teams were to meet again in the playoff. They're going to be. They're going to look very different than they do today.

[Matt Bowen]

I completely agree. All right. I did. I mean, it was very clear throughout college football from week zero through through this game. And even in tonight's game, the defenses are always ahead of the offenses.

[Todd McShay]

I wonder if that's more so now with all these. The. The portal stuff happening. I wonder if it's even more.

[Matt Bowen]

Absolutely. It's more exaggerated.

[Todd McShay]

Okay.

[Matt Bowen]

Except in Tallahassee, that son of a gun Castellanos. What?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Key difference for that one. And Clemson.

[Matt Bowen]

Don't rain on my parade with you.

[Todd McShay]

Bring in an experienced quarterback who's mobile. That's what I think the difference is. There you have an experienced guy who makes.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah. No kidding. Yeah. No, I know. I don't. I don't want to talk reason here. I want to talk about. I want to talk about Tommy. Tommy Castellanos for Heisman man, talking trash all off season.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

He was talking to Alabama. You ain't got Nick Saban to fix your problems, to come save you and to back it.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

And to come out in that first half and do what he did.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

You gotta remember, they had a graphic today. Back to 1996 in the ACC has only been five guys who did what he did at Boston College. 2000 passing, 1000 rushing. Two of those guys were DeSean Watson and Lamar Jackson. This guy's different, man. We, he was right up the street, the heights, Boston College, not a lot of talent there. Still was keeping them in games. Now you put them with Florida State and they clearly the portal money worked this year. Who.

[Todd McShay]

Well, you know what else worked? Bringing in Gus Mulan, who is an absolute wizard, a wizard in the run.

[Matt Bowen]

Even with a mobile quarterback. It was like, oh, this is such a, such a perfect fit. I mean but his watching all these other quarterbacks and they're so good and, and, and Nussmeier with the pressure and club Nick with some of the mobility stuff, but he was kind of bottled up but still. But making throws and some of these other really good quarterbacks. And then I'm watching Florida State and I'm like, oh, it looks so easy because that guy makes up for any other mistakes that are going on. And then the thing with Florida State was on top of all the other problems they had last year, they didn't have chunk punch plays, they didn't have anybody who made big plays. This guy, Makai Danzy, yeah, is a receiver but yet has 58 yards rushing in a touchdown on two carries. Then you get your running back, D Jaylen Lucas, who's five 9,173 pound, lightning bolt at the running back position. He doesn't really carry the ball, but he's got two catches for 66. They've got, they're intriguing, man.

[Todd McShay]

They're very was a blip.

[Matt Bowen]

It looks like Mike Norvell is like I tried to tell you. Yeah, we do this portal every. Lsu, go get your guys. Texas Tech, go get your guy. We do this portal thing and last year we made a couple mistakes and then when we started losing. We don't have a culture here because it hasn't been built over. But like a lot of programs are going to be like this moving forward. But you know, Castellanos went from plus 5,000. Tucker Sr. Guys at FanDuel. Yeah, they always deliver. Plus 5,000 to end of game plus 3,000 and get your money in.

[Todd McShay]

Dude, I can't, I cannot stress enough the malls on Magic show though. I mean there he was at UCF last year, fifth best rushing offense in the country. Your year before that, fifth best rushing offense in the country. Year before that, ninth best rushing offense in the country. The D. You think about those Auburn offenses that he has. He knows how to like, he is so creative with the run game and you saw it, you know, with those Dany reverses and the way they were getting, you know, all these guys they were getting Lucas outside on these jet motions.

[Matt Bowen]

And.

[Todd McShay]

And you're watch and you're. It's a magic show if you're a defensive. If you're a defender, all you're watching.

[Matt Bowen]

Look at my left hand. I'm trying to tell you, well, I just shove it up here with my right.

[Todd McShay]

And then you try to be a position and make a tackle. And then.

[Matt Bowen]

And.

[Todd McShay]

And then they're like, we're very happy with getting, you know, 10 yards every three plays. We don't need to break long runs. We just want to run. Like, we're just gonna beat it out of you. 49 carries today, 49 rushes for 230 yards for Florida State today to beat the hell out of you. Now, the other thing that was a problem for Alabama today was they were beat up on the offensive line and the defensive line. No Tim Keenan today, their best interior run stuffer isn't in the game. Did not play because of an ankle injury he had in practice. I mean, it was a. An avalanche for. For Alabama in this game. I'll say this, though, just about Florida State going forward a little bit quickly. I'm interested to see how good this defense really is, because I'm not sure how good this Alabama offense is. And they kind of were starting to make this a little closer than it could, than it should have really been. And Jeremy Bernard, your guy, my guy, your guy. Eight for 146 today in terms. Eight catches for 146 yards with Ty Simpson throwing in the ball. We'll see how good.

[Matt Bowen]

Come on. You're just going to gloss over Jeremy Bernard.

[Todd McShay]

Unbelievable night.

[Matt Bowen]

Is everyone happy now? Like, because I'm getting all sorts of noise about Jeremy Bernard. He's just a. He's a number three. He's. Now this guy's a player man.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

What's up with Ryan Williams?

[Todd McShay]

I don't know. I did not see after the game. It didn't look good. And by the way, Isaiah Horton didn't.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm talking about. I'm talking about the game.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, you know he had a head injury, right? He got hurt.

[Matt Bowen]

Yes.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

But when I'd be. Because.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, it's interesting.

[Matt Bowen]

He bulked up. He looks better. He looks more physical. Like last year, he looked like he. He was gonna. He was brittle. This year. That doesn't look really. I remember.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. And then he came back in.

[Matt Bowen]

He wanted nothing going over the middle and contact. But I'm. But maybe that's.

[Todd McShay]

That was weird, too.

[Matt Bowen]

A byproduct of that with his Head injury. And he. And I did notice and I thought to myself, he's acting a little funny on the sideline. He tried to check himself back in. They pulled him out.

[Todd McShay]

They pulled him out.

[Matt Bowen]

Yep, I saw that.

[Todd McShay]

So if you look at that, I mean, it was a. For Alabama, it was a just again, an avalanche of problems, avalanche of issues. But I mean, this is. That's the one team. I'll be upfront about it. That's the one team I watched today and I was like, oh, they're in trouble. Like this team is in trouble. This is not. This is there. They have a. They have a real problem in Tuscaloosa.

[Matt Bowen]

I thought. I thought Kaylin DeBoer was going to fix it to the point where I actually. I went out on a limb. I was like, I think Alabama can win the national championship.

[Todd McShay]

I 100 was. I don't know about winning the national championship, but I thought this was gonna.

[Matt Bowen]

They miss Jam Miller a lot at running back, but I don't know if that's enough to solve these problems.

[Todd McShay]

That offensive line, it is talented and it is inconsistent. Kaden Proctor will drive you nuts, man. The left tackle, he will.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm excited to watch this. Yeah, I know. I'm excited to watch that. Go back and watch the tape on the Parker Brailles for Daryl Jackson matchup because, yeah, it felt like Daryl Jackson got the better of that thing. Not necessarily against Brailles for, but just clogging up the middle. Kevin Riley's the only back with juice for Alabama. I looked in the fourth quarter. You know, Alabama, the Crimson Tide with the first year starting quarterback was averaging 2 yards per carry. Yeah, that's not going to work. And where are the receivers? Because Jeremy Bernard was awesome. Ryan Williams got injured, but remember there was a lot of talk about Isaiah Horton comes in, he's going to be a third. He's actually going to be the X opposite Williams. Where is Horton? Injured. Did I miss something?

[Todd McShay]

I didn't he do in the very beginning of the game. He was on the. The bike and I don't think he. I think he was very limited today.

[Matt Bowen]

And Richard Young, I didn't see much of him. The guy I did like was. Was Rico Scott. He stepped up. Great block. And then it gets paid off late in that drive with the touchdown. Great effort Pylon. They reviewed it. Touchdown. You want True serum?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I do.

[Matt Bowen]

I. How do I phrase this kind? Not kindly, but just like the two. The two sec quarterbacks that came into the year. And I wonder like physical Tools wise, passing, consistency, Are they good enough to bring their elite programs where they, they expect to be? Ty Simpson at Alabama and this is not going to be popular. I, I, I, I'm not saying I'm wrong. I, I hope Gunner Stockton is good enough, smart enough, competitive enough, and I know he's great in all those areas. I don't know how advanced he is as a passer too. And I think some of those inconsistencies as a passer are going to show up at times, especially for a Georgia team now that has all these wide receivers. So that'll be interesting to see. And I'm not talking about, you know, what they did today. I'm talking about like in the sec. That's going to be interesting. But, but Ty Simpson, I thought he looked good, like did a great job.

[Todd McShay]

Heated his ass off. Oh, he did his ass off and.

[Matt Bowen]

He got himself, he got out of some trouble that he didn't create for himself and he did some positive things and like that first drive. But first or second driver forget looked really good. But I think he's one of those guys that's going to have to have for a little while at least gonna have to have a lot going on around him. And if that line plays like it did and at the lack of a running game, it's concerning. I'm not saying like Connor asked a good question. Are you more concerned about Alabama or encouraged about Florida State? That's the question he asked earlier in the day and I wanted to ask you that.

[Todd McShay]

I think I'm very excited for Florida State fans. I think I'm more concerned about Alabama coming out of this game. This is an Alabama team that had an ugly loss to Oklahoma last year. This now feels like it's something different than what I thought it was. I thought it was maybe Jalen Milroe wasn't the quarterback that needed. I thought maybe it was Caleb DeBoer's first year. Now I'm starting to think, oh, no, this is more of a, this is more of an issue. This wasn't a blip. Those weren't blips. That wasn't. He needed a year to get his guys in and get the program right. I don't, I no longer. After today. I'm not feeling like that after today. I don't think they get out of September without two losses. They play Georgia right now if you get, you know, and look, I know Georgia didn't play anyone really. I mean, they played Marshall.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah, Georgia's good though, Georgia.

[Todd McShay]

But Georgia's Good. I don't. And they're at Georgia for a night game. You know, my. You know, I don't think anyone. I don't think there's a lot of people who disagree with me that Georgia should win that game. Now you have two losses. So now you're going 10 later on the season. You're going Tennessee at home, South Carolina away, LSU at home, Oklahoma at home. You're gonna win three out of four of those. I don't know, man. I don't know. You got, I mean, like. And then you got a very tough Auburn team in the Iron bowl that's going to look to finish you off. That it would make nothing happier than to, to end the, the, The Tides run at this. They are in real trouble. Real trouble. And if they don't get healthy, I mean, Jaden Roberts, I don't think played on at offensive guard or. It was limited today if they don't get healthy in a hurry, because I don't think they're as deep as they've been in years past. I think this is a. This is. This could get ugly fast.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm looking up Florida states. I'm trying to decide myself.

[Todd McShay]

I'm super happy for Florida State. I want to take the negative.

[Matt Bowen]

Well, you. You sound so condescending when you say, I'm super happy for Florida State was on a national championship run. Like, stop with the happy thing.

[Todd McShay]

No, this is. I will tell you this.

[Matt Bowen]

Oh, they have a good little team. I, Castellanos, I'm telling you, was the, the, the quarterback I'm most scared play in college football. After week one, and it's just one week. I don't want to play that guy. That's a nightmare. That guy's a nightmare. With a little structure with Gus Melan, with some of those weapons that are running around. My wide receivers running the ball, my running backs catching the ball. Like, I get it now. You get some time to prepare. You've seen it. And, and, and, and even in the second half, Alabama bottled them up a lot more. But, but they were also trying to run the ball, like, run the clock out.

[Todd McShay]

So let me, Let me be clear about what I'm saying here. Two years ago, Florida State absolutely should have been in the playoff, and it's that they weren't. And I understand that the committee looked at it and they said, Jordan Travis broke his leg. You're not the same team with that. I get all that. That defense was good enough. They deserved a shot at the playoff playoff. They had played well enough with the way that was structured at the time. And so when I say what I'm happy for him. I thought they got screwed two years ago and then last year the wheels just came off of their season. And if you're a Florida State fan, that must have been a dizzying experience to go from. We might play for a national championship. So we're not even going to get a chance to now. It actually makes it look like the committee was right and we should never have had that chance because we're not that good of a program to now coming out and beating Alabama in the opener. I think that's great for out the Florida State fan base. I love that.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm saying after.

[Todd McShay]

I don't think that the, like, I don't think they're. They deserve like any kind of a sympathy vote. I just think it's cool that it's gone this way, you know, because it was a shitty year last year.

[Matt Bowen]

I'm telling you, I like, I, I won't be shocked at all. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. I won't be shocked at all when we go down to Greenville and stay in Greenville. Would Marissa's family and the Peron feeding us red sauce. It's November. We want like some pastas and stuff. Peron's Italian Gourmet and we venture over to Clemson. If Florida State's eight, no, I wouldn't be surprised either.

[Todd McShay]

And like that means they beat Miami.

[Matt Bowen]

And I think they play Miami at home. Like I think they're good enough to beat Miami. Do you know crazy that would have sounded 24 hours ago. There were two touchdown dogs.

[Todd McShay]

I actually would say that. I feel comfortable saying not at worst, but it looks like they're going to be one one lost team.

[Matt Bowen]

I mean seven and one going into Clemson. Those two, that could be a seven and one versus seven and one if, if Clemson has that same amount of games. A1 loss versus A1 loss. Or Florida State could be undefeated. The undefeated team that Clemson's looking up at at the standings. I want you to understand that.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, no, I get it. I get it, man.

[Matt Bowen]

But to answer my own question. Question which was stolen from Connor. I'm a little more nervous than I am such an. You're such an.

[Todd McShay]

You know that this is so typical.

[Matt Bowen]

This one's both. You want to call this one's a classic overreaction.

[Todd McShay]

Having the take and then you want to like have the same take.

[Matt Bowen]

It was the condescending way in which you did it. But I'm, I'm worried. I Don't think you're. If. If I don't. That Georgia game. Scary.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

And then it ain't right by Georgia. No, I know that. But if it ain't right for that Georgia game. But it might be. Yeah. They're talented enough. It might be, but something seems off. Something seemed really off today. All right, I got just a couple quick hitters for you, and we can get out of here. I will take some questions someone asked me a little bit ago. Are you MLS Reach? Asked. And MLS Reach made a good point when we were talking about, like, guys, you absolutely scared to death of playing at the quarterback position. And he's a big fan. We're big fans in the McShay household. Tate is obsessed with this guy, Jalen Daniels from Kansas.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, you're good.

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. You look good. Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

And when he's rolling, he's frightening.

[Todd McShay]

How was Connor's guy today? How did he do? How was John Mateer from Oklahoma?

[Matt Bowen]

Well, I was gonna say, I've got some quick hitters.

[Todd McShay]

Hit me. Did he do all right?

[Matt Bowen]

John Matier, he's. He's. He's a heart attack. And even in game, like, his mechanics are all over the place. He's sl. You see him.

[Todd McShay]

Did you see it at all today? He's flipping it. It's just. Oh, God, it's so fun to watch.

[Matt Bowen]

It's amazing. Just turn 24 of 31. 319. Oklahoma's like, Ah, okay. Phew. Because they're. They're used to. You know, they had. They had that run with Baker and Kyler, you know, like.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

And then did it deal with that nonsense and to now have like, oh, we're back.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. And also that are we going to be able to compete in the sec? And we'll see more of that going forward. We'll see. But I think this team's going to be really good.

[Matt Bowen]

Really good.

[Todd McShay]

Really good.

[Matt Bowen]

So I put him in the top.

[Todd McShay]

12, 30, 37, 392 yards.

[Matt Bowen]

I was a 30 for 30. Is that what he finished with? 300. What was it?

[Todd McShay]

392 yards.

[Matt Bowen]

Oh, I. I thought he was out of the game, so I wrote down the stats. I'm like, they're winning, silly. So he threw for almost 400 today. Yes.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

That's like a Joe Burrow stat line.

[Todd McShay]

It's insane. And now it's Illinois State, but you could say whatever you want. That's still insane.

[Matt Bowen]

Penn State 46, Nevada 11. Aller was 22 of 26. Only encouraging because I saw something with like his knee brace on recently. And I. I just wanted to make sure he was okay.

[Todd McShay]

He looked.

[Matt Bowen]

He looked really good. What I really cared about two things sort of with Den. I deny Dennis Sutton.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

He looked good, though. The competition, obviously, Nevada. But a couple of the plays I saw, like, standing up.

[Todd McShay]

I got a question about this on X.

[Matt Bowen]

Two force fumbles.

[Todd McShay]

I got a question about him on X and about how early he would be. And I have him just inside my top 50 right now. He's not Abdul Carter, but he's a damn good player. And I think that's a little bit. I think.

[Matt Bowen]

I think that's fair.

[Todd McShay]

Day two is good.

[Matt Bowen]

Again, against competition. Not sure, but it was promising because sometimes you hear about these transfers and guys coming in and they look good in camp. And I just talked to you about a couple teams who were like, where are those receivers I kept hearing about.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Matt Bowen]

And I got one. Didn't see the field. Or he's. He's on the bike or he's this. But Kyron Hudson and. And Trevor Pena, I keep on wanting to call him Trebor, but it's like, Trevor, Trevor, Trevor. Trevor Pena had huge first games, man. So that's encouraging.

[Todd McShay]

Like what you're hearing, very encouraging is.

[Matt Bowen]

What'S going on the field against competition. But 13 catches, 173 and a touchdown combined.

[Todd McShay]

So right or wrong for them, it's going to be, you know, big games and it's. They could look. They look great today and then. But it's going to be like, not good enough until they show they can win the big game. Just. Which sucks because. Just be happy that they played well today.

[Matt Bowen]

I didn't watch the Michigan game outside of a few plays.

[Todd McShay]

No.

[Matt Bowen]

Shout out. Shout out to Deborah McShay, who's a much more reliable scout than Ryan Rossillo is and tries to be every single year. My mom, you know, she brought me in this earth. She's got an eye for talent. She really likes what she saw from Bryce Underwood.

[Todd McShay]

Nice.

[Matt Bowen]

And she can be very hard on Michigan. She's in Michigan. My grandfather, Marshall Brown from Michigan, the whole thing. But. But a little bit excited. Then she got nervous, but then I guess he made a couple big throws. So I'm excited to watch some of that tape with Underwood because that. I mean, honestly, man, if he's as good as advertised, you know, the talents there. I'm excited to see Michigan. Like, what is Michigan this year? I think that's a massive question mark in the landscape. Yes, we know Penn State's going To be good. We now know Ohio State is freaking good.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Matt Bowen]

Is Michigan to the level?

[Todd McShay]

Right. Be interesting.

[Matt Bowen]

Indiana. I want to see Indiana in a game that Matt like, you know with Mendoza. But Tennessee, I watched some of that this morning around the noon kick basically commercials and going back and forth. Aguiar had a really good game.

[Todd McShay]

That's what I heard. I didn't see anything.

[Matt Bowen]

He was missing high on some throws early on and apparently that that was a problem with him at App State and all that. But like star Thomas desean Bishop like really good in the run game. They come out and Tennessee runs that football man. But Bishop and Thomas combined for 23, 174 and 3. Now obviously Syracuse throws it all over the yard and they kind of kept it closer than it was. And then finally Tennessee pulled away but encouraged by the wide receiver Braylon Staley would been dinged up in camp they weren't sure. He came in 4 for 95 with a touchdown. Some big plays off of that run in the play action. The one note I do want to make before we go. Jermad McCoy. We talked a lot about him in the preseason reports where he's practicing tracking to playing. He's not playing but there was no setback. He's cornerback one for based off of tape in my opinion if he gets back to 100 we'll see how the season plays out. But we talked a lot about him. I just want to kind of give give everyone an update that he's. He's out probably two weeks maybe on.

[Todd McShay]

Terrell comes to play to go.

[Matt Bowen]

You throwing that into. I think you froze which is why.

[Todd McShay]

Avion Terrell played well.

[Matt Bowen]

Okay, good. I can't tell if you're just freezing on the zoom link and you just keep having Almost like Tourette's. Almost like Tourette's because all I keep hearing is Avion Terrell played well. Avian Terrell I'll just mess with you. Okay. What else you got Anything?

[Todd McShay]

What about the Ducks?

[Matt Bowen]

What about them?

[Todd McShay]

What about the Ducks?

[Matt Bowen]

How'd they do?

[Todd McShay]

You see Dante Moore?

[Matt Bowen]

No, but everyone's asking about Dante Moore so give them their I I didn't Watch it.

[Todd McShay]

Team for 23213 yards. 3 touch. Kid can throw the ball. I mean he just Tadik had one catch. A 20 yard touchdown mate Mateo Uig G that name two. Amari. Yes. Thank you. Two sacks. Mari Washington the defensive tackle who's a stud. The tackle. And after loss. Fly Ducks fly.

[Matt Bowen]

All right. And by next week folks we'll we'll have. We'll. Hey, Tucker. I'm gonna fly you from your posh little.

[Todd McShay]

It was good until the end.

[Matt Bowen]

Up to Derry, New Hampshire to get this Internet fixed for good until the end. I'm looking at this. Look. Anyone have any questions before we go? Oh, Matt A.

[Todd McShay]

What?

[Matt Bowen]

Matt A is angry. I think Matt A is a clems event. No. Doesn't have an elite arm, isn't big, physically limited mobility, isn't a great decision maker. Okay. Okay.

[Todd McShay]

You know what? He is, Maddie.

[Matt Bowen]

When you all get off the stream, please watch the cow game. I can't believe this QB is 18. Okay. Yeah. See that Cal freshman? I said we gotta watch the Cal freshman, so. So apparently Cal got their. Their quarterback stolen and they found. They found a pretty good one behind him. Jonathan caddick.

[Todd McShay]

I I 20 to 7 right now.

[Matt Bowen]

Well, you're breaking up, so you're. When you're given reports, it does. Utah's up.

[Todd McShay]

What I got?

[Matt Bowen]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

20 to 7.

[Matt Bowen]

20 to 7. All right, we're done. Because men's Internet said we're done. It's also 12:30 in the morning. This is fun. We'll be back next week. We got some guests we might have lined up. I'm also gonna, you know. Yeah, I'm not gonna bring it up. I talk too much. We'll see you on Monday morning, though.

[Todd McShay]

Here.

[Matt Bowen]

Like, here we go. Season. You watch your tape, I'll watch my tape. Let's get back on Monday morning and we can do a detailed breakdown of some of the things we saw. We talked break down kind of the quarterback prospects, but also some other prospects and how they played and. Yeah, and we'll get your Internet figured out between now and then. Appreciate everyone joining.

[Todd McShay]

We had.

[Matt Bowen]

We had a good amount of people here for the whole time and we're excited to keep doing this the entire season long. So we will be back on Monday and we will be back for this live stream next Saturday. Until then, I hope you're well and enjoy Sunday with your family and friends. Love later. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG D help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 247 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-88-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York.

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[Matt Bowen]

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[Todd McShay]

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[Todd McShay]

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