Andy & Ari On3 - Ohio State rips out Notre Dame's heart and Ryan Day is PISSED at Lou Holtz | Florida State survives Clemson | More from a huge Saturday

Episode Date: September 24, 2023

Ohio State rips out Notre Dame's heart and Ryan Day is PISSED at Lou Holtz | Florida State survives Clemson | More from a huge SaturdaySubscribe to On3! ⬇️ youtube.com/on3sports/Welcome to On3 | The best of college football and recruiting https://www.on3.com/Listen to Andy Staples On3 on podcast! Spotify 🎧 : https://open.spotify.com/show/5AhQ4d2m5TQu5Q2vkwtxjt?si=uLK1rMW7QOmLHcZK9URbOwApple🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-staples-on3/id1695325427Follow Andy Staples on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Andy_StaplesFollow Andy Staples on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andy_staplesFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/on3sportsFollow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/on3/?hl=en Like/Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/On3Sports/ Shop On3 https://shop.outsider.com/Ohio State STUNS Notre Dame and leaves the fans in South Bend speechless. But Buckeyes coach Ryan Day had plenty to say. He's still mad at former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz for calling Ohio State soft in an interview on Friday. PLUS...Penn State shuts out Iowa. The Nittany Lions are rolling, and the Drive for 325 is now 15 points off the pace.Oregon dominates Colorado. What does it mean for all the Deion Sanders hype?Alabama runs away against Ole Miss; Can Lane Kiffin ever get that signature win?Florida State tops Clemson in overtime and takes control in the ACCOklahoma grinds out a win in CincinnatiAnd much, much more from a wild Saturday.

Welcome to Andy Staples on three greetings from the Notre Dame press box. What a night. What a game. That is one of the craziest finishes I have ever seen in my life. Notre Dame up for Ohio State gets the ball 65 yards to go a minute 26 on the clock they converted a third and 10 a fourth and seven and a third and 19 on the drive and then really with one play left there's three seconds the whole playbook's open at that point because you're either going to throw it or run it and get it in they decide to run it chiprianum, they had to review it, but he did get in. His knees never touched the ground. His elbow hit the ground as the ball was crossing the plane. He got in. It was an incredible scene. Notre Dame Stadium was electric and obviously afterward it was silent. It quiet there were it wasn't like when Georgia came and they took all the seats there were Ohio State fans in the building but it was still

an overwhelming majority Notre Dame fans and it was just quiet and then you heard the Ohio State people in their corner going crazy it was one of the best games I've ever seen. And, you know, it's weird because it felt like a game out of 1986 for most of the night where neither team could really get any traction. And it came down to Ryan Day saying, we are going to be tougher. We're going to run it in. And Ryan Day was adamant after the game he was furious at some of the the rhetoric going around and look he said it was what Lou Holt said on the Pat McAfee show on Friday where he called him soft but let's be real here this has been going around for quite some time and Ryan Day was pissed off you heard it in the interview after the game with Catherine Tappan

he was the same way when he got to the press conference with us to maybe get some stuff off your back yeah well I'm happy for our team because you know a lot of kids people were taking shots at this team and you know when it's one play away it really hurts but we just finished it with one play right there and it's very fitting and that's what we just you know celebrate when it's one play away, it really hurts. But we just finished it with one play right there. And it's very fitting. And that's what we just, you know, celebrated in the locker room. And we'll continue to celebrate for a little while. You were fairly emotional coming off that field. What were you feeling at that moment?

Well, I've been emotional. The team will tell you that for the last couple days. When I started hearing some of the things that we're saying. First off, it's not true. I don't know where people get off just saying things. It really upsets me. Put the film on. People make comments, and they don't watch film.

Our guys are tough. They're physical. They do. They get after it. And they did it again tonight. And you said that was Coach Holtz? Yeah. Yeah, it was.

Front row. Tim May on. So that's Ryan Day, just furious. Let's look at the chat. There's some really interesting questions in the chat. Patrick says, if Notre Dame just ran the ball on second down instead of throwing a screen, this is the next to last drive of the game. Ohio state would have had to use their final timeout and it would have been third and 19 with only five seconds left. You're absolutely right, Patrick. That is absolutely the truth. And I remember thinking when that pass got tipped and that screen was a it was just a bad idea uh that this was this was 40 seconds they could have taken off the clock is a timeout they could have taken away

from ohio state because remember ohio state had to use a timeout on that intentional grounding call as well because there was going to be a 10 second runoff so that's one less timeout probably that they would have had or 40 seconds less. And then Clark with an interesting question, Ohio state fan here. Do you believe this one actually changes the makeup of the team long-term or does the wind just mask their bigger issues, which will be exposed in Ann Arbor? So this actually, we'll get to this a little bit. I don't even know that we need to talk about Michigan in this case. I think we can, we can probably talk about Penn state in this case as well, because yes. So Ryan day emphatic, his team is tough. He's right. They did get the yard when they needed to,

but let's be real here. Notre Dame kept running the ball and it kept getting easier for them to run the ball as the game went on. And that is something that Ohio State has to clean up because Ryan Day mentioned multiple times, he said one bad half in Ann Arbor two years ago. I don't think that's necessarily the case either. It was a bad half in Ann Arbor two years ago. It was a bad second half in Columbus against Michigan last year where yes, Michigan hits the big run in the fourth quarter. But you notice at that point, Michigan had started to really loosen up Ohio State's defense and were gaining five, six yards to carry at that point. The Georgia game is a different story. The Georgia game is big plays. That's not the same thing. That's not getting just pounded on the ground like against Michigan. But yes, what Notre Dame did at the end of this game

probably should give you pause if you're an Ohio State fan. That doesn't really matter because you should be so happy that you won this game. Like celebrate this. Enjoy this. Worry about that stuff later because this was an incredible win. This team could have given up at any point. Third and 10, fourth and seven, and third and 19 they converted. There was a play when Kyle McCord basically threw an interception.

It got dropped. There was luck involved too, but it's not, it doesn't matter sometimes. Sometimes you've just got to enjoy this. Because there were moments that Ohio State made mistakes that Notre Dame capitalized on. But at the end, they needed a yard. Notre Dame, by the way, had 10 guys on the field on that last play. That's something I'm sure they'll be sick about as they go back and watch it. But it was just an incredible game, incredible atmosphere. And you've got to win games like this.

If you're trying to win a national championship. Now, as far as Notre Dame goes, I don't think they're out of that. I don't think this eliminates them from the playoff because they got USC coming to town. If they can beat USC, the Notre Dame has a chance to make the college football play. They got, they got to be perfect the rest of the way. They got to win every game. And let's think about this. They are going to Durham, North Carolina on Saturday. They're going to Duke. I know what you're thinking, Duke. But

yes, Duke. Duke is very good this year. They have got to get up off the mat and be ready to play when they get to Durham. Or then it does end because Mike Elko and company and the Notre Dame folks know all about Mike Elko. He's a very good defensive coordinator. He was at Notre Dame for a time. This is a game they have to win now. They have to be perfect the rest of the way. And you can't just say it's all about USC

because if you say that and you go to Duke, you're going to get beat. So they have to get up off the mat right now, like the sulk about it tonight. But tomorrow they got to get back up and go because they're not done yet. This season's not over for them. There's still quite a bit of opportunity ahead for Notre Dame and for Ohio State. Everything's in front of them. Ohio State now has to get ready because they're going to have to play Penn State down the road

and they haven't seen it yet because they were busy winning this game at Notre Dame. But Penn State, in a driving rainstorm, just clobbered Iowa, 31 to nothing. And guys, Drew Aller might be that dude. Drew Aller just might be that guy because we wondered at what point would Penn State's offense look different?

Would it be able to move the ball better? Would it be more consistent? Would it be able to give you those wow plays? And some of the throws that Drew Aller made in our driving rainstorm against a very good defense should give you that level of confidence. That's different. This is a different team. And this Iowa defense, as bad as their offense is, this defense does not give up a lot. And Drew Aller was outstanding. 25 of 37, 166 yards, four TDs. I know that's not a great per throw average, but again, driving rainstorm Iowa defense. I know what you're thinking. We're talking about this game, the drive for 325. Where

does it stand? Well, Penn State shut out Iowa. So Iowa now 15 points off the pace. Vaughn, our resident Iowa fan, Iowa had 76 yards of offense and 366 yards of punts. Attaboy, Tori Taylor. Yeah, listen, everybody keeps asking me what this means for Brian Ference. Don't worry about Brian Ference right right now Iowa was terrible on offense we expected them to be terrible on offense as soon as we saw the weather forecast you knew Iowa was going to be terrible on offense the question was would Penn State be able to score on the Hawkeyes and the answer is yeah they could in in terrible conditions so I I am personally cannot wait for Penn State, Ohio State. I think that is going to be a very fun game.

That is October 21st. We're not far away. Penn State's got two more. They got Northwestern and UMass. I think they're going to win those. Then we'll talk about Northwestern and what they did on Saturday in a little bit. But this is going to be an epic year in the Big 10, I think, because Penn state feels very close to Ohio state right now. Michigan's beaten Ohio state a couple of years in a row. Michigan has to go to state college. There is going to be just three big matchups coming up as we, as we go forward and, you know, Ohio state coming out of this one.

Now it's got some room for error. Now it's got a little bit of cushion, but it's, it still might not matter because again, we don't know where Penn state falls relative to Michigan. We don't know where Michigan falls relative to Penn state. So it's not just a Michigan, Ohio state affair this time. I don't think, I think Penn State is going to be heard from in this scenario. And I cannot wait. I can't wait. This is, this is exactly where the big 10 should be. And remember next year, you got USC and Oregon and Washington coming in too. So it is going to be so much fun the rest of the year. But Penn State really did establish its dominance against Iowa.

And that's what they needed to do. So if you're Ohio State, you look at that. You look at what you did against Notre Dame and you say, OK, we are going to have to be ready for those guys when they show up in Columbus because Penn State always plays them tough, seemingly regardless of location. So that's the next big moment in the Big Ten. It's coming. We may as well talk Northwestern while we're at it. The Northwestern players have been through so much this season, but they go to, they're playing Minnesota. Minnesota goes up 31, 10.

This game is over, except it's not Northwestern claws back forces overtime. And then wins the dang thing. 37, 34 and OT scored a touchdown on the first, their first play of their possession of overtime. Wow. What a win for those guys. Happy to hear that. There was a lot going on on Saturday night. It's interesting because we talked about how great the slate was in terms of ranked-on-ranked matchups.

But other than that, the Clemson-Florida State game, we didn't get a lot of drama earlier in the day. The drama seems to be reserved for at night because you had LSU and Arkansas going back and forth. I've just decided whatever I think LSU is going to do, I need to say the opposite because I'm going to be wrong. I thought they would struggle against Mississippi State. They destroyed them. I thought after what they did to Mississippi State, they'd be able to do that very easily to Arkansas at home. Not the case at all.

They were back and forth, back and forth, and then LSU finally does gut it out and win that game. So I don't know. Again, I don't know what that means for LSU because if you've watched Arkansas, like you just saw, you watched Arkansas against BYU, you're thinking, I don't know how good this team is. But LSU in a completely seesaw matchup where Jaden Daniels

would hit Malik Nabors for a touchdown, KJ Jeffs would come right back and throw a touchdown pass for Arkansas. It was back and forth and so much fun. On Sunday's show, we're going to have to go deeper into these games and break them all down. Obviously, the main thrust of the drama was here in South Bend, but there was so much going on elsewhere that it was very hard to keep up with, to be honest. But just so much fun to watch. Now, let's talk about some of these other games earlier in the day.

Colorado-Oregon. We told you what was going to happen in this game. watch now let's talk about some of these other games earlier in the day Colorado Oregon we told you what was going to happen in this game and I I've seen comments like you you guys done you know praising Colorado look Colorado did a great job to get to 3-0 what Deion Sanders did with a team that was 1-11 last year was incredible but they did go against a team that was 1-11 last year was incredible. But they did go against a team that was much more talented, especially on the line of scrimmage. We knew this was going to happen. And so 42-6 doesn't feel that surprising. They were three touchdown underdogs.

I picked what we're going to cover in this game. By the way, that graphic, remember when 0-8 last week? 5-3 this week. 5-3. I thought maybe Ole Miss would give me a shot at a certain point, but no, 5-3. But I'll take it. I had the Iowa under, the Iowa-Penn State under. As soon as I saw the weather forecast,

I was very confident that that one was going to go under. I think I got it at 41.5. It was actually 39 when the game started, but no matter. And then when Notre Dame gave up the touchdown, I did get slightly nervous because I was thinking, okay, what if Ohio State snaps the ball over the – because they had to do the extra point after that touchdown. I was like, what if Ohio State snaps the ball over the holder's head and then he grabs it and throws it in there for a two- conversion. And then, cause I had three and a half when we

picked and then Ohio state would cover and that would be awful. But no, I, I didn't totally redeem myself, but yes, five and three is a lot better than Oh, and eight. If you look at the graphic, I'll have to go back and find out exactly how I did on the, all of the picks, because I know one of my picks, I picked Oregon State to beat Washington State straight up. They did not. Washington State won 38-35, and that was a game where Washington State was ahead and controlling it for most of the game.

Oregon State came back at the end, but Washington State hung on. The Cougars are really good this year. That's a team that they keep playing the way they do. Now, they've got a fairly easy schedule compared to the rest of the Pac-12. I don't know that that means they're going to go to the Pac-12 championship game because I think there's a chance the teams at the top of the Pac-12 are just too good, whether it's Oregon, Washington, USC, or Utah. Utah, I remember, beat UCLA in a game that was not great to watch if you like offensive football.

But then again, neither was Notre Dame Ohio State. So Utah with a pick six early in the game set the tone. They score right before the half. And then they just kind of hang on. And defensively dominated UCLA. So the Utes still don't have Cam rising back. You wonder, is he coming back? If he comes back, how much difference does that make for the offense? Do they get more dynamic? Because if they do, then we are talking about a team that can absolutely compete for the Pac-12 title and maybe

even more. So they've got Oregon State on Friday night in Corvallis. That's going to be a tough one. USC October 21st. So October 21st is shaping up to be one hell of a day. That's remember that's Penn state, Ohio state. That is also Utah USC. And if we remember correctly last year, Utah beat USC twice. And both of those games were fun. The regular season game was magical. That was the Dalton Kincaid basically made himself a first rounder in that game so just incredible matchups across the board let's talk about Alabama and Ole Miss that's that's one I thought this was going to be the time Lane Kiffin finally got Nick Saban and he's he's playing mind games it was a that was

a psych op Sunday night saying I don't know I think that looks like Traveris Robinson's calling the defense instead of Kevin Steele they get in that game Alabama's struggling offensively they're getting booed when they're settling for field goals in the red zone. It's seven, six at halftime. It's like, okay, this is finally it. And then you know what? Alabama's offense comes alive. Alabama realizes we can just run the ball down their throats. And so Alabama controls the game the rest of the way. And you wonder, is Lane Kiffin ever going to get over the hump in one of these? You know, he's – last year they started out really well.

You know, they were really hot. They were undefeated for a while. And Lane was pretty clear in that it was – he felt like it was a little bit of fool's gold and that they had a lot to prove at the end of the season because the schedule was very backloaded, and they did not prove that. But they did play Alabama tough at the end of the year last year, and you thought, okay, this is the chance. This is the time because Alabama, while they're still working some stuff out, they still have a talented roster, but they're just not as good as they usually are.

Well, Alabama came through. I don't know when Lane's going to win one of these. Remember, Hugh Freeze beat Alabama twice while at Ole Miss. So Lane's got to figure this out. He's got to win some of these eventually. And you think about Lane, whether he was a candidate or not for Auburn, they're never going to say at Auburn, yeah, we were going after Lane, but he turned us down. Think about that. If you go to Auburn, you got to beat Alabama and you got to beat Georgia every once in a while. You have to, or they're going to run you out of town. At Ole Miss, I don't know if you have to. You might be able to get by without doing that. I'd be curious to know what Ole Miss fans think

about that. Do you have to beat Alabama at some point? Do you have to beat LSU at some point? Or is it okay to be pretty good and win the Egg Bowl most years? Is that good enough? I'd be curious to know how they feel about that because I know when Freeze was winning, they got a taste of it, and I think they liked it. So is Lane capable of getting in there? This was the shot, I thought. This was the best chance to go to Tuscaloosa and come out with a win. You know, this is like when Hugh Freeze went

in there and won in 2015. The team he beat went out and won the national title. That was a much better Alabama team than this one. But we'll just have to see what happens. I mentioned Oregon and Colorado earlier. Let's talk a little more about Oregon because this is a team that is built to compete for the Pac-12 title. It's actually built to compete for the Big Ten title when they get in the Big Ten. You know, we talked to Brandon Dorlis on the show last week, and he was explaining just how good they are on both lines of scrimmage. And I think that's the part that makes them really interesting because they can be very explosive on offense and they can put up a lot of points, But they have a defensive front and an offensive line that feels like it can control games when they need it to.

And that's going to come in very handy if you're playing against a Washington or if you're playing against a USC. And it allows you to go toe-to-toe with a Utah. Maybe it keeps them from doing what – or allowing what they allowed against Oregon State last year because they're certainly better up front personnel wise but that team looked awesome and you heard Dan Lanning before the game they're trying to trying to get likes on social media we're trying to score points talk with your pads you heard Brandon Dorla say talk with your pads

when he was on the show so that's clearly something that Dan Lanning had been harping on all week. And, you know, you can say whatever you want in this game because they're not playing Colorado anymore. One of them, you know, Oregon's going to the Big Ten. Colorado's going to the Big 12. They don't have to worry about it anymore. But Deion, after the game, said, if you're going to get us, get us now because you're not going to be able

to get us much, much longer. And he says, I think the exact quote was, this is the worst we're going to be. And he's right. That is the worst they're going to be. They're going to get better, but I don't know that they're going to get better in time for USC next week. This USC probably will be able to name its score against Colorado. Now, it will be interesting to compare and contrast how Colorado's offense fares against USC's defense versus against Oregon's defense. That will give us a little more comparison between those two.

Because that's, I mean, ultimately, I think the Pac-12 is going to be a bloodbath. There's so many good teams at the top. These teams are built very well, and it's going to be a lot of fun. That whole rest of the season, like that back end of the season in the Pac-12 is going to be an absolute blast,

and unfortunately, that's it after that. Then they disperse to their new conferences but wow I I'm still trying to get over what I saw I'm still trying to process it all because when Ohio State got the ball back it still very much felt like Notre Dame was going to win that game it felt like this would have been a and we were talking about what this would be the biggest win for Notre Dame since. And I think I was talking to Adam Rittenberg from ESPN, or no, I was talking to Matt Fortuna,

who has covered Notre Dame for a long time. And he said probably since the 2012 Oklahoma game, when they went to Norman and kind of established themselves as, hey, we're a contender this season. I don't, I'm trying to think of the last Notre Dame home win that would have compared to this because they didn't win the Bush-Push game. That's the one that got Charlie Weiss the contract extension, but they didn't actually win that game. So it's been a long time. The Stanford game in 2012 was a big one, but it has been such a dry spell for Notre Dame in terms of being competitive

with teams at that level. And I know that there are Ohio State fans who are worried because Ohio State did struggle with Notre Dame for a lot of the night, but I actually think you probably shouldn't be as worried because I think Notre Dame is now closer to the Ohio States of the world, to the Alabamas, to the, you know, Michigan's than they have been in the past. I think they are much different now. They're getting better. They're recruiting better. They bring in a quarterback like Sam Hartman who kept them in this game and made some really big throws down the stretch. So I think Notre Dame is in a better place than they have been. And so I don't know if it's as bad for Ohio State as Ohio State fans want to think.

Because I think Ohio State fans are so used to being dominant and so used to being able to play against a team like this and just steamroll. I think it means Notre Dame's better. I think it's a lot more Notre Dame being better than Ohio State not being as competitive. But if you're Ohio State, yes, you do worry about what you gave up there in the third and fourth quarter, how Notre Dame moved the ball, especially on that second touchdown drive. But it's just a classic game, and a perfect day for football. So to describe what the day in South Bend was like,

you had 78-degree weather, a breeze, sun all day, perfect tailgating scene. By the way, Notre Dame folks go hard. They go very, very hard, especially for night games. The new attire, the new attire of choice for the gentlemen at the Notre Dame tailgates is the kilt. A lot of the youngsters wearing in kilts. I, I really appreciated that. I thought that was very cool. So I hope they bring that on the road with them when they're tailgating too, but it was, it was a perfect day. The golden dome was gleaming touchdown, Jesus, the sun glinting off that building as it was dropping in the sky right

before kickoff. it was everything you could have wanted in a college football Saturday, except for Notre Dame, the final result. And that's, that is one of the bigger gut punch games I've ever seen. I was trying to think games I've been to where the visiting team won right at the end. And it wasn't a complete walk off because remember they had to, they had to kick the PAT and it wasn't a complete walk-off because remember they had to they had to kick the PAT and then they put a second on the clock and they had to kick off and then Notre Dame got a play they got to do some laterals because there was a second left and Ohio State kicked out of bounds but it was just everyone standing stunned the Notre Dame fans didn't leave they

hung around watched their team sing the alma mater, swayed and sang the alma mater with them. And then when they were done, Ohio State's team swayed and sang the alma mater and Ohio State's fans swayed. And most of the Notre Dame fans weren't leaving at that point either. They just kind of stood there in shock. And I'm trying to think of other games. And the only, the closest one I can think of is a basketball game I covered years ago was a West Virginia Tennessee game and West Virginia won on a last second three at Tennessee's home court and the it's it's crazy because the place goes from to dead silent just like that and then this one was weird because you had the review.

And when they showed the review at first, the Notre Dame fans got a little excited. Like, oh, maybe he was down. But you look at it a couple more times and say, no, no, he wasn't down. And Chip Franum talking after the game about how great it feels and how hard you're working in that moment to make sure your legs stay moving and stay up. Because that's what the first thing hit the ground was his elbow. And when his elbow hit the ground,

the ball was across the plane, his knees at that point. I mean, for, for the last bit of the run, his knees were inches from the ground. It was that close. And it was a just, wow. I don't know. I cannot wait to see what these teams do next because Ohio State, they survived. There are obviously some things they can clean up. Notre Dame though,

they can play with anybody. That's what you Notre Dame, though, they can play with anybody. That's what you take away from this, is you can play with anybody. Yes, it's awful that you lost in the last second. Yes, it was an absolute gut punch. One of the enduring images, there was a lady on the front row, Notre Dame fan, and after the touchdown, she was just hanging over the rail, hair down, head down. It looked brutal.

And just the looks on some of those faces is, what do you do? You can't tell them anything. They were just as elated as elated can be. They were as happy as you can possibly be. And then it was all just ripped away from them. Meanwhile, Ohio State, three times that drive was over. Really four,

because there was a second down play and Kyle McCord throws the ball and it is right out of Notre Dame safety. And he just dropped it felt a lot like Blake Gideon in that Texas Tech Texas game in 2008 remember Blake Gideon was the Texas safety the ball went through his hands it would have been an interception it would have been to the game and that allowed Michael Crabtree to make that last second catch and touchdown and win the game. It was, it was just incredible. What a scene. And Notre Dame can do something with this. Notre Dame can come back from this, but it really will take them emotionally dealing with, with this loss. And they don't have much time because again,

the team they're playing next week, they're playing Duke. Duke can beat them. Duke can beat Notre Dame if Notre Dame doesn't come ready to play. You saw Duke against Clemson. You saw Clemson against Florida State. What Duke did to Clemson, I don't think a lot of teams could have done. Mike Elko has that team going. So this was an epic Saturday of college football. But when I think back, we got all the drama we wanted. But remember last week when we thought, oh, this one's not that great. No, no. Last week was great too. We were sitting there at two in the morning watching Colorado beat Colorado State, and there are going to be ebbs and flows in this season. We're going to look back in two or three weeks and go, remember when all we could talk about was what Deion was doing at Colorado? Whatever happened to that guy?

And what will probably happen is they'll lose to USC, and then they'll start to win a few games, and then we'll see where they're at. Again, for Colorado, if they make a bowl game, that's a great job. That's an incredible season for them. For Notre Dame, they still should feel like they can make the playoff. For Ohio State, they should feel like they can win the national title. But they're going to have a tough road through the rest of the Big Ten because of Penn State and because of Michigan.

Penn State, whole world's in front of you guys. Whole world. USC? They're working on Arizona State right now. If that game goes weird, we'll hop on again and talk some more later. But this has just been an amazing season so far, and it feels so wide open. Like, if you think about it, who's the obvious national champion? Is it Georgia? I don't think it's Georgia.

Not yet. Maybe they will be by the end of the season. I certainly think they're going to be in the mix for it. But I don't know that they can beat every team that we've seen so far. Can Texas be in that mix? We saw Texas beat Baylor. Now you got Texas against Kansas coming up. That Texas-Kansas game, very different tone and tenor than when Kansas went down there and beat them in Sark's first year. Very different tone and tenor. USC, Oregon, Washington, Utah.

Not giving up on the Utes. You saw that defense. Meanwhile, we hadn't mentioned an SEC team other than Georgia. Could could alabama come back they still only have the one loss texas lsu they got the one loss of florida state florida state we saw them beat clemson huge moment for them we talked about it earlier today but a huge moment for florida state first win against clemson since 2014 they're in the driver's seat in the ACC. Florida State and Duke and Louisville. Just like you had it on your bingo cards earlier in the season, right? That's exactly what you said in the preseason. Florida State, Duke, Louisville.

This is a lot of fun. I wonder, I had somebody ask me this earlier. Could this be another 2007? Are we potentially heading towards something like that? Remember, that's the one where LSU was a favorite going in, but they lose to Kentucky. And then in the last week of the regular season, they lost to Arkansas. But then you had the Pitt West Virginia game. You had incredible seasons

from Kansas and Missouri, but Missouri loses to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. Ohio State gets into the national title game. There was so much going on that year. Maybe this is one of those years. Maybe the 14 playoff goes out with a bang because we don't know three weeks from the end of the season, two weeks from the end of the season, who it really can be. Maybe there's eight, nine, 10 teams really that we feel like can compete for the national title. And if that's going to be the case, if that's the future, if that's what the current state of college football with the transfer portal in NIL, if that's what it's going to produce where there are that many teams that can legitimately compete for

the national title, it's going to make the 12-team playoff pretty fun. Also, a new feature that we're going to add to the Sunday show. We're going to do a hypothetical. Who would be making the 12-team playoff if there were a 12-team playoff this year? So we're going to do that resume ranking, which, by the way, Ohio State will be making its debut in the resume ranking. Where they wind up, I haven't decided yet, but they're definitely making their debut. But then also, if there was a 12-teamer, who'd be in it? And I think that's going to take a lot of guesswork right now

because I have no clue who'd be coming out of the Pac-12. And I know what you're saying. There will be no Pac-12 when there's a 12-team playoff, but let's just pretend right now. Hell, let's do a 12-team playoff this year. If there were any year to have one, this would be it. But we don't have that yet. That's okay.

Guys, what we have is perfect Saturdays that come down to one yard that you have to get or you have to stop. And one team gets it. And they celebrate, and they sway with their band as they play the alma mater, and the other team sways with its band as it plays the alma mater. And everybody hugs and goes home and says, what a freaking day.

What a freaking day. What a freaking day. Saturday's other huge result came in the early window. Florida State went to Clemson, felt like the Seminoles should be able to handle the Tigers pretty easily based on what we'd seen so far from each of those teams. That was not the case. Clemson led for almost the entire game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they did not lead when it counted most and Florida State notched a huge win. Let's talk about that and all the other early games.

We got to talk about Florida State and Clemson in a classic, not the game I don't think any of us were expecting. We thought, you know, I thought Florida State was going to go in there and handle business very easily. I did not think it would be a situation where Florida State never led until it took the lead in overtime. But the Seminoles, man, they are a team that perseveres. And I think this is one of those that they've been building to this. Maybe last year's team doesn't win a game like this, but this team does. I thought, really, was surprised at how well Clemson played throughout most of the game. The, the fumble that led to the scoop and score obviously is probably the most crippling play for

them, but I thought their defense was pretty good. Most of the game. I thought they ran the ball pretty well. Uh, Nick, other than the fumble seemed to be doing all right but this Florida State team I I thought okay so Jordan Travis came in with an injured left shoulder then he had an injured right hand when he scored on that sneak right before halftime I was thinking there is no way Florida State loses this game and then the second half started I was like no, it's entirely possible that Florida state loses this game, but they kept on going. Now I'm seeing in the chat, not liking the play calling after that will Shipley run in Clemson's overtime possession. I get it. That is a frustrating situation. It was basically a kind of dump down that could have been a handoff that led to no gain and a fourth down play with the game on the line.

But I don't think Garrett Riley called too bad of a game. I actually thought against that team, they did pretty well. They did a good job of keeping Florida State's defense off of Cade Klubnick, which that was one thing I was worried about. I was worried about he's going to get hit a lot and that they just wouldn't be able to function as a passing offense. But it was a very well-played game on both sides, and Florida State just kind of gutted one out.

And, you know, I think that is the big thing. This was not the 2013 Florida State-Clemson game where Florida State comes in, dominates wire to wire, announces that this is a national championship contending team. It's not what this was. I think we can still look at Florida State's win against LSU as that announcement for this year. But this was the one they needed

to kind of get over the hump against Clemson. And the question is, does this eliminate Clemson in the ACC? I think if they play the way they did today, they're not out of it yet. They just have absolutely zero margin for error. They're going to have to, you're going to have to go undefeated the rest of the way to make the ACC title game. But probably, because I don't know that they can play at this level every single game, this was probably their last best shot. Line of the day, line of the day from Sean McDonough, who might be the best in the business, Jonathan Weitz, the Clemson kicker, he comes out of retirement.

Remember, he was in Charleston taking grad school classes online. Two weeks away from taking a job in New York, he was gone. They had a new kicker named Robert Gunn, highly recruited. He was going to be the guy this year. He struggled early. So Dabo Sweeney calls Jonathan Weitz out of retirement. He comes in, he nails his first field goal attempt, but misses a pretty easy one in the fourth quarter.

And Sean McDonough goes, well, the writers are on strike. Yes, your Hollywood story didn't happen. But what a win for Florida State. The first win against Clemson since 2014. It's crazy that it's been that long. But just kind of the gradual steps and the evolution of Mike Norvell turning Florida State back into what Florida State should be. This is one of the steps that needed to be taken. And Clemson was not going to let them take it easily. I think

if you're a Clemson fan, you should be sick that you lost this game. But you should feel a little better about the long-term prospects. It's not quite over yet. Now, I still think Dabo Sweeney needs to get into the transfer portal some. I still think they can do some stuff that will help them in today's college football. But if they could get a team ready like that for a team like Florida State and play them that tight and that tough, they're not that far off.

Yes, the game against Duke was an abomination, but probably not time to give up on them quite yet. I realize I was one of the people kind of burying them, but I'm impressed by the way they bounced back from that. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't finish it off. And Florida State gets the win, and it is a huge, huge win. And, you know, I think the Keon Coleman transfer, if we're going to talk about how big the transfer portal is,

Keon Coleman, that was an unbelievable catch in overtime for that touchdown. Florida State needed Keon Coleman to transfer to them to win this game. If Keon Coleman doesn't come, they don't win. Now, he had another touchdown in the first half as well. That one was a little more garden variety, but that one at the end was spectacular so if he's not there they don't win and maybe that's the difference maybe that's the difference is Florida State Mike Norvell into the transfer portal obviously out of necessity at first but now has found a way to continue making that team better year after year by bringing people in and Keon Coleman potentially you know one of the most impactful transfers this year obviously Shador Sanders year after year by bringing people in. And Keon Coleman, potentially,

one of the most impactful transfers this year. Obviously, Shador Sanders, way up there in terms of impactful transfers. But Keon Coleman is one of those guys that has made a massive difference since he's gotten there. This was such a big win for Florida State. It's hard to quantify

because they've been down so long. And it's interesting because the coach I'm about to talk about was the guy who had them beating Clemson and then helped start the downfall. But Mike Norvell has done an incredible job of getting them back where they should be in the ACC. And now Florida State is the team to beat in the ACC. There's no other way to say it.

They are the team to beat in the ACC. They are in control. And it's up to them to keep it going. Let's talk about the guy who last beat Clem as Florida State coach, then orchestrated somewhat of a downturn before he took off. Jimbo Fisher. Big win for Jimbo Fisher in College Station.

In fact, Jimbo Fisher might be the only person in Maroon who couldn't tackle on Saturday. 27-10, Texas A&M beats Auburn. And the only play that didn't get made was Eugene Asante on a scoop and score. Jimbo Fisher was actually on the field. Eugene Asante had to dip inside toward the sideline to keep from running over Jimbo Fisher. Jimbo didn't square up and didn't make the tackle, but everybody else did. And this was the thing we needed to see from A&M.

Against Miami, they couldn't get pressure. They couldn't tackle once the ball was caught. They looked much better against Auburn. Now, look, Auburn's offense is not going to set the world on fire. But Texas A&M's defense did a great job. Also, Max Johnson coming in. I feel like Max Johnson was a little bit of a forgotten man. Connor Wigman had done such a good

job at the end of last season. And then at the beginning of this season, he gets banged up. They bring in Max Johnson and you remember, oh, wait, Texas A&M has a backup quarterback who has been a capable SEC quarterback before. Remember, Max Johnson came in for A&M last year and then banged his hand off somebody's helmet and is out. He was hurt. He was out. So we never really got to see him play much last year. The last time we actually saw him playing in earnest was for LSU, throwing a touchdown pass to beat Texas A&M at the end of the 2021 season. So, you know, Max Johnson getting a throw to his brother Jake.

That was fun to watch. And you remembered, oh yes, if something happens to Connor Wigman, Texas A&M probably okay. So Texas A&M's off, but I feel like we should be pretty confident in them going forward. Defensively, this was a good step.

I don't think Auburn's offense is very good, but it doesn't matter if Texas A&M had tackled or had failed to get pressure the way they did against Miami, Auburn would have been more successful. This was a good game for them and probably a good step forward as this stretch of SEC games continues. So everybody was out after the Miami game. Let's see as we head toward the Alabama game, which is on October 6th. Is everybody back in Biden? Because if A&M can play another game like this, they should be just fine.

This is how they should be winning games. But we'll see. Again, Auburn's offense, probably not the best. Let's move to Cincinnati. Oklahoma goes to Nippert Stadium. Told you this was going to be a hard one for Oklahoma. This was not going to be a cakewalk, but they win it 20-6. They grind it out, and defensively, this is what you wanted to see. One of the things that really stuck out to me about this game

was Oklahoma's open field tackling. That's not something I've become used to seeing Oklahoma over the past five, six years. That was pretty spectacular at times where Emory Jones could get the ball out and might get it to somebody six yards down the field. And if they break a tackle, it's going to be a long gain, but Oklahoma's DBs were getting them down. That was,

that was a big difference. And probably the difference in this game. Probably the difference between this game being 20-6, Oklahoma comfortable most of the way, and Oklahoma really sweating about a win or maybe even losing this game. So, Dylan Gabriel, 26-38, 322 yards with a touchdown pass. But all they needed to do was keep the ball out of danger and their defense had them covered, which again with Oklahoma, that's a big difference between last year and this year,

a big difference between the last four or five years and this year. If they can play like that, they've got a chance against everybody they play. If they play defensively like that against Texas, that's going to be a really fun game. So I am very impressed Brent Venables. I kept asking in the offseason, was it because the defense is difficult to learn? Is that why there were so many problems last year? Well, maybe that's it.

Maybe these guys now have that Brent Venables defense down and understand what they're doing. But it could be that Cincinnati's offense isn't that great, but I do think they're going to be all right. As far as Cincinnati and Oklahoma on the other side of the ball, listen, you watched the show last week. You saw Dante Corleone. That man's a bad man.

That's a really good. They're not going to be playing the tackles of that quality every week. Now they will when they play Texas. Texas has had about three of them that match that profile. So Oklahoma's got to block a little bit better. Got to protect. Got to move the ball a little better. Get in a play calling rhythm.

But again, if they play defensively like they did, if they make those open field tackles, this is going to be a really interesting year for Oklahoma this last year in the Big 12. And it may answer a lot of our questions about rentables because that was the thing. Could he do this? Could he produce a defense like he did at Clemson at Oklahoma? You look at the way he's recruiting,

you're getting five-star D tackles. It sounds like maybe they're headed that way. And the way they were tackling on Saturday, very, very encouraging. Let's spend a minute in Ann Arbor, though. Rutgers took a 7-0 lead against Michigan, and then Michigan just turned on the Jets, buried Rutgers 31 a 7-0 lead against Michigan, and then Michigan just turned on the Jets, buried Rutgers 31-7. I like the way Michigan is going.

This was Jim Harbaugh's first game coaching this season. Remember, he was suspended for those first three games. It started slowly, but Michigan is just, they wear you down and they bury you. They're playing exactly the way they did last season, but it feels like J.J. McCarthy is a little more seasoned. I can't wait to see them going forward. They're playing Nebraska next week. That's a very good defense. I want to see what Michigan's offense does against that defense, but I don't worry about Michigan in that game. I think defensively, Michigan's going to take care of Nebraska pretty easily.

So that was a good one. We'll throw another one in there. Marshall and Virginia Tech. Marshall won 24-17. You wouldn't, if you've been watching either of these teams play this season, you wouldn't be surprised at that result. You shouldn't be surprised at that result. But this is getting tough for Brent Pry at Virginia Tech. But Rasheen Ali, 27 carries, 174 yards, two TDs for Marshall.

Thundering Herd looking very good. Virginia Tech, this is not great. And you wonder when they're ever going to get out of the hole. How do you get out of the hole? Brent Prye, does he need more time? Does he need to recruit his way out? Or is he just not the right guy? They're going to have to answer all these questions.

If you read that great story by Andrea Adelson on ESPN.com a few weeks ago, you know it's much more complicated than just is it Brent Prye. There's a lot going on. They're starting to fund the football program at a more competitive level than they did before. But Virginia Tech should be better than this. They really should be better than this. This is getting bad.

That's it for the show. Thank you so much for listening. What a Saturday. We've got a big week of shows planned for you. We're going to break down everything that happened Saturday, go through some press conference audio. We've got the resume rankings. We've got bowl projections coming on sunday night

on monday we are going to project if there were a 12 team playoff this year who would be making it right now and also we'll answer your questions for dear andy so get those questions in you can do it on x andy underscore staples on instagram and Andy underscore staples, or drop me an email. Andy staples on three at gmail.com. Big, big week ahead. We're going to break it all down for you and let's do it again next Saturday. We'll talk to you soon.