Andy & Ari On3 - Tennessee SMASHES Oklahoma | Michigan punches it in to beat USC | Missouri SURVIVES Vandy

Episode Date: September 22, 2024

Welcome to Andy and Ari On3, presented by Wendy’s! Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11. Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs. This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES The Money Game is a compelling six-part docuseries that chronicles the introduction of the groundbreaking decision by the NCAA to grant NIL (name, image and likeness) rights to student-athletes, permitting them—for the first time ever—to earn endorsement compensation while maintaining their amateur athletic status. The Money Game features inside access to LSU stars Jayden Daniels, Angel Reese and Livvy Dunne through last year. See the world of NIL through their eyes. Watch The Money Game on Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/The-Money-Game/dp/B0D9KQWC97?tag=on302-20 Join us at 11:30 pm ET as Andy & Ari recap an INCREDIBLE week 4. Live from Norman, Oklahoma, Ari describes the scene as Tennessee beats Oklahoma in the Sooners' first conference game as an SEC member. We also continue with the rest of Saturday's slate with a mix of Friday night's action included... (0:00-16:22) Intro - Tennessee BLASTS Oklahoma(16:23-18:22) Wendy's Saucy Nuggs(18:23-20:53) Colorado defeats Baylor LIVE(20:54-23:00) Furthering Oklahoma Discussion(23:01-33:41) Arkansas beats Auburn(33:42-35:03) Amazon Money Game(35:04-46:24) Michigan Survives USC(46:25-48:31) Indiana is Undefeated(48:32-53:32) JMU-UNC(53:33-1:00:21) Utah-Oklahoma State Discussion(1:00:22-1:03:56) Clemson WHOOPS NC State(1:03:57-1:07:35) Missouri Escapes Vanderbilt in 2OT(1:07:36-1:09:21) Congrats to the state of Florida!(1:09:22-1:13:37) Ari's Text from his wife(1:13:38-1:17:16) Friday Night Fever(1:17:17-1:21:13) Conclusion; Week 5 Picks Monday! Watch us on YouTube instead! https://youtube.com/live/FplOyjLBgn0 Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

What a day! Ari is in Norman, Oklahoma, where the the natives are not happy at all because Tennessee came in there and manhandled the Sooners. Ari, Tennessee looked like a team that has found multiple ways to win a game, which is that not the next step in the evolution of a team that can win big things? Yeah, because the thing that's crazy about this game, Andy, is that I don't think that Tennessee probably leaves Norman feeling they played all that well. You watch this game and you see the ebbs and flows of it. And really, I think it's Oklahoma that's probably regretting the way things went right like jackson arnold had three turnovers in the first half one including uh you know inside the

five yard line of oklahoma he threw a pass that was backwards that was a turnover you fumbled it in a critical situation like i feel like oklahoma's defense was actually really really good in the game and they went in and made a move at the quarterback position. And Michael Hawkins came in and played much better. And it makes you think and wonder, like, how much better could this game have been for Oklahoma had they just not had the turnovers from their quarterback? But, you know, that said, Tennessee, you know, defense was really, really good. Their defensive line is, are their menace is Andy.

And, of course, Nico threw those few pretty passes in that game that took your breath away. So, yeah, I moved Tennessee into my top three this week. I think this is a team that is capable and built to win a national championship this year, and the best part about this, Andy, is they have to play Alabama and Georgia this year. So we're going to get our answers. But so far, so good for the volunteers on the road.

We are going to get our answers. I just gasped because as you were talking, LeJonte Wester caught a desperation heave as time expired for Colorado. If Colorado kicks the PAT, they're going to be tied with Baylor and go to overtime. They're reviewing this right now to make sure he caught it. But it sure looks like he did. We'll go into the chat. Coach RJ says they didn't smash OU. Stop it because I made the headline Tennessee smashes OU. Coach RJ, was there any second of this game that you thought Oklahoma had a chance of winning?

I'll wait. I'll wait. Oh, no. Oh, there wasn't. Yeah. Tennessee smashed him. Am I wrong? Really, really regretting that I didn't get to see that play live, Andy, but no, I don't think you're wrong. And I think that smashing takes different, um, angles, you know, it doesn't just have to be some offensive output where you're like winning 50 to nothing for it to be a smash. The smash was that Oklahoma, right or wrong, was never in a position to win the football game. So, you know, on the road in Josh Heupel's return with all the things that were on the line for both teams,

two teams with two young quarterbacks that are trying to prove a point, and Tennessee won this game without having to sweat. And that's, it doesn't matter what the scores or what it looks like when you're on the road in the SEC, and especially when it's Oklahoma's first SEC game. You've got Josh Heupel returning. I walked by a picture of him in the Oklahoma press box as a player winning a national championship. I mean, this is a big deal for people in Norman.

And to come in and never feel like you're going to lose the football game, I think is the literal definition of what you're trying to say there. Well, so I can change it. I have the power to change the the youtube headline like right now uh should i change it to tennessee mushes oklahoma let's ask the chat is mushes a better word than smashes in this case is mushes a more accurate description of what happened in this game because i think i think mushes is a is a good description you know andy too like tennessee literally could have won this game because I think I think Mushes is a good description you know Andy too

like Tennessee literally could have won this game like 42 to 3 or you know whatever it was like Tennessee left a lot of plays out there too and you know the 25-15 score that you see there is the final I don't think necessarily tells us the story of what happened in this game you know Tennessee their offense broke out a few times. Oklahoma's defense was very, very good, but it wasn't like Tennessee played this perfect crisp game either. It's just that Oklahoma's errors, which were more in more critical times, put them in a position where they couldn't win this football game. Also too, Andy, it's like, I know Jackson Arnold got benched in this game, but how much do you attribute, you know, Arnold's turnovers to him not being good enough?

And how much do you attribute it to a defensive line that literally was just smashing for a lack of a better word, the offensive line they were facing? Oklahoma couldn't block Tennessee. That's what happened. Now, Oklahoma's defense did play really well, but the problem is like when you're really good at forcing turnovers and forcing fumbles and recovering fumbles, and they did that, you force and recover two fumbles,

and your offense gives it right back on the next play two times in a row. That is insane. Just insane. Yeah, it happened two different times. You never really see that at all, Andy, in games in general where it's fumbled and fumbled right back. One of them was deep, deep, deep inside the red zone. It was, I believe, 10-3 at that time. Had they been able to punch one in there, it might have been a different football game.

Then just turning it over by putting the ball on the ground on the very next player or two plays later, it just... Let me just ask you this, Andy. Obviously, Oklahoma had a lot of unforced turnovers and unforced errors that caused them to not be competitive in this football game but what was your takeaway watching this at home like were you like this is a team that is a top three team in america uh they can beat you in a lot of different ways they didn't play a crisp football game but we're never in danger of losing is that how you viewed it i didn't i don't know their top three team i think we'll find out if they are because they're

going to play tennessee and alabama or play georgia and alabama but they look like a top five team a top 10 team for sure they look like a playoff team like i feel very comfortable saying that remember they're playing without their starting left tackle also so it wasn't like they were 100 in this game but again josh heupel called this game very conservatively because he knew oklahoma couldn't block his defensive line now here here's the thing about that i go back to talking to josh heupel at sec media days and i brought up something about him being an up-tempo offensive coach, and he stopped me, and he said, please do not lump me in with all those guys. We are going to play defense at Tennessee. And that struck me that he would say it like that, because it clearly

was bothering him, something that has bothered him in the past. And it's true. You don't win national titles as the team that only can beat people 50-10. Like that team two years ago, the Tennessee team that beat Alabama in a game that just broke our brains. You never thought they had a chance against Georgia. Not even once. Because they don't know how to win that way. Or don't know how to win that way or didn't know how to win that way. This team looks like it might be able to win a game like that. Yeah. Last year going into the, I remember talking about this last year and I was like, Tennessee is a really fun team to watch. And that was two years ago, Hendon hooker, um, you know, and Jalen Hyatt and those guys were

lighting up the scoreboard. Very exciting to watch. But never in my brain did I ever consider the fact that they would be able to beat Georgia. So echoing what you just said, I think I might go as far as to say, Andy, that I would pick Tennessee to win that game this year. Is that crazy? I know this is a podcast and it's a safe space. We've got a lot of time on the show to talk about how I'm wrong. Still crazy. And by the way,

at Arkansas is not going to be easy either for Tennessee. Stason in the chat, Matt, Matt, I'm saying Tennessee smashed Oklahoma. He apparently didn't actually watch the game. So let's run it back with Hawkins starting the game for Oklahoma. It still would have ended the same way.

Oklahoma scored after it had no chance. Like it was 22 to three. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you know, you never know the alternate history of that stuff. Cause I do think that the turnovers really did play a major key and factor in this game, Andy. Um, but the reason why they went to a quarterback that they didn't deem as good as their starter is because he's probably not as good as their starter. Now, this is a Tennessee discussion that we're having, but I do think that we need to take some time right now and kind of analyze the Oklahoma side of this a little bit because I saw a lot of this on Twitter, and it wouldn't be a podcast,

and it wouldn't be entertaining if we didn't actually discuss this Dylan Gabriel cloud that's hanging over because i was about to ask you that same question that what if dylan gabriel were still at oklahoma because i do think that probably would have made a difference tonight well the question that i have is, are you out on Jackson Arnold? Cause I'm not, I think turnovers are really, really bad and he's been doing it all year, but I do think that he has the physical tools to be very good. Now the question is, is why did Oklahoma feel comfortable making that move? Because we already know that Dylan Gabriel is a proven entity in this sport, right? We know that he's going to

have Oregon in a position to be competing for the Big Ten Championship at the end of the year, and we also know that he's going to be in the Heisman conversation as long as he does that. So in order to allow somebody who can play at that level to leave your program, you also have to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the person that you're letting him leave for is just as good or better, and I question the analysis of that right now. And it's not to say that the entire story has been written on Jackson Arnold or that he can't turn it around and have a very good year. I don't know what Oklahoma is going to do with the quarterback position

moving forward, especially with Texas looming here in two or three weeks. But I do question the coaching staff offensively on Oklahoma's, you know, underneath Brent Venables and how they were able to analyze their quarterback position going off into the year. Because the sad thing about this is, and I was joking with Sooner Scoops, Kerry Murdoch on the way here, but it's like, does Oklahoma have the exact opposite problem right now that they had when Lincoln Riley was here? Like, do they have a really, really good defense but can't get an offense together? Because, like, we all know Brent Venables

is going to have a really good defense. I was very impressed with Oklahoma's defense in this game. Like, Tennessee is a team that can drop 50 on just about anybody in the country, and Oklahoma was hitting them. They were arriving at the football. They weren't making mistakes. There weren't coverage busts.

And the one long touchdown that they gave up was actually, like, a really beautiful throw by Nico over the middle that couldn't have been placed in a better place and sometimes good teams are just going to get those so like i know i just spoke for a lot and probably vomited all these thoughts that i've had and i haven't written my column off of the game yet i'm trying to like kind of articulate like this oklahoma situation is almost more interesting than Tennessee's win. It is much more interesting. And they are headed to Auburn. And I know we're going to talk about Auburn in a little bit. But that game is a must win for both teams for different reasons.

Now, Auburn has to show a pulse at this point after losing to Arkansas and Cal. Oklahoma needs to get its mojo back before it goes and plays Texas. By the way, it's overtime in Boulder. First and goal, Colorado. Shador marching them toward the end zone. They spotted that one a bit short. Maybe it's not first and goal, so we'll find out. But this is such a fascinating situation in Oklahoma because Oklahoma will not accept not being a contender in the SEC. That is not acceptable there. You have to be good. You have to be good in your conference.

There is no other way. So they can't have many more performances like this. And I think Brent Venables is fine, obviously, but things like how they handled the quarterback situation, letting Dylan Gabriel leave, saying it's going to be Jackson Arnold, and then yanking Jackson Arnold in the middle of your first SEC game, that is going to be examined under a microscope if there are more games like this in the future.

Well, I mean, there is just a lot to unpack there because you have to ask if offensive coordinator Seth Luttrell did a good job or if his staff did a good job analyzing the talent they have on their team. And we're going to talk about this with Auburn, too, of like it is the coach's job, maybe the supreme job outside of talent accumulation to be able to identify and evaluate the talent

that's on your roster and know what their ceiling is so did they evaluate this poorly and if they did also ganking out the person that you mis-evaluated early to put in somebody else who isn't as good probably in terms of talent seems like a strikingly weird move to me because not only did you lose this football game you enter the following because not only did you lose this football game you enter the following week not knowing who you are offensively so like you know it is very strange to be sitting in norman oklahoma and having a discussion about them not having a very good offense um especially considering the fact that this place has just been a volcano of points for the last 10 years as long as i can remember but like

it does feel like they left something out there because their defense played a game that was good enough to win to me like i think that like i wouldn't like i have no notes for their d yeah no their d played fine now tennessee's d played better like tennessee's defense is really good and i think that's that's the part i think the oklahoma fans who are yelling at me about saying tennessee smash oklahoma are not wrapping their brains around they're like our offense just played bad no no tennessee's defense made your offense play bad because it's good yeah i mean you have to consider the fact that they have maybe the best pass rusher in college football on their team you know like and he made his presence felt from the very beginning so you know i think that

we learned a lot about tennessee what do we call it revelation saturday or contact saturday i think that we learned a lot about discovery the saturday of discovery it's the discovery saturday i discovered a lot about myself today too but i uh i was putting a pretzel a lot watching these games just like i'm just angry at myself for some of the things that we said on the show we're going to get into it but i think that we learned obviously a lot about oklahoma and now we have more questions about oklahoma going into the following week i think they're a very fascinating case study of like what do you do in this situation because like you have a quarterback that you're supposed to be nurturing and developing and putting into a position to flourish offensively here who now has his confidence absolutely wrecked now I don't know

if he can get worse than the turnovers that he had but like what do you gain by this not only did you replace Jackson Arnold but now you didn't win the game and you go into the following week with this big cloud over your head you have a bunch of people questioning whether or not you did the right thing with Dylan Gabriel and you know it's not necessarily going to get easier with, with Auburn and tech, excuse me, Auburn should be pretty easy, but Texas around the corner and then Ole Miss two weeks after that. So, um, yeah, but Tennessee did what they had to do. I think that they are going to be a very good football team and I'm looking at their schedule right now that you just posted here, Andy, But, you know, outside of Alabama and Georgia,

even if they were to drop both of those games, I think they'll probably get one of them if I had to guess. They are firmly in the college football playoff this year. So this isn't a team that is going to be a flash in the pan the way that, you know, the Hendon Hooker team was in the sense that the second they played a team that's actually in the national championship race, they got embarrassed.

I think that this is a team that we're going to be talking about and analyzing into the the deep months of december and maybe even january that we are that we are all right ari update from boulder colorado has scored in overtime baylor is driving in overtime baylor just converted a third and two. They have a first and 10 on the Colorado 14 yard line. Coming down in here. I was like, I'm going to bring my iPad in here. And I didn't bring my iPad in here. And like,

now I'm just like, just, I tell you what, I'm going to give you a chance to go get your iPad. Cause we were presented by Wendy's and Wendy's saucy nugs. So we had a saucy nugs taste test the other day. You watch that taste test. Ari's going to get his iPad because Sori Robertson just made it first and goal for Baylor. Ari, your official welcome to On3. We are presented by Wendy's, the Saucy Nugs. That's our specialty item. We have every

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some garlic parm. Okay. The garlic parm is a very full, savory... The honey barbecue's got your sweet. This is your ultimate savory here. Buttery and savory.

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It's a little bit hotter. Parmesan garlic. Oh, this is spicy Parmesan garlic. Yeah, yeah. Okay. It's pretty damn good. See this? I keep changing my favorite. I think that's the point of this exercise, right? Okay. It's pretty damn good. See this? I keep changing my favorite.

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Okay. Describing what just happened. So Baylor is about to score, handoff to Dominic Richardson. He appears to be jumping into the end zone. Ball is knocked out by Travis Hunter. Ball rolls through back of end zone. If the ball is knocked out before it crossed the plane, and that's what it looks like in the video, Colorado wins. If it crossed the plane, Colorado and Baylor will line up for Baylor's PAT and if Baylor makes it, then there will be a second overtime. The fans already stormed the field already. Well, that ball's out.

It looks out. What a play! If this is how it ends, what a play by Travis Hunter. He went right at the ball and knocked it out. It is just a quintessential Colorado football game right there, Andy. That's the high

and the low of this program. That's the high. Yeah, very good win. I thought Baylor was going to beat them, um, to beat them at home and to, they were down seven. Producer River tempting fate with the, uh, the score graphic because, oh, okay. It's over. It is over. Colorado has won. Holy cow.

What a game. He got a running back diving over the goal line there with the ball in his hands to tie it, and they ended up winning. So, hey, good for Deion, man. That was a pretty good game, and I don't know. I think that's probably a bigger problem for Dave Aranda if you want to have a frank conversation about that at some point, maybe this week when we let the dust settle.

But that's not a good loss for Baylor either. No, because Baylor was controlling that game and then just stopped scoring. And it took a perfect Sawyer Robertson pass to get them back in the lead. And, of course, they give up the Hail Mary at the end. Now, that was a big collapse by Baylor. Kind of the opposite of Baylor's UCF game last year. Last year, UCF was up on Baylor. And then Baylor had this similar kind of comeback to win,

which is one of Baylor's only Big 12 wins. No, if Dave Aranda wants to save himself, this ain't it. No, no, no, especially blowing a lead there late. Baylor's supposed to be one of the teams that matches up well against a team that doesn't block very well. They're supposed to be a team that's sound and has athletes that can break through some of the things that Colorado was susceptible to allowing, and they weren't able to do that tonight.

I mean, they scored 31 points, but they didn't get it done. Jerry in the chat. Boy, I've pissed off the Oklahoma fans tonight. Well, I think they're taking out their team's poor performance on me. Tennessee didn't smash. Tennessee smashed. If we're playing smash or pass, Tennessee smashed. We found

our quarterback in Hawkins. He just couldn't make up for Arnold's three turnovers. Oklahoma's defense played hard and set up our offense to win. Jerry, you got smashed. Maybe you won't get smashed next week. I hope it works out better for you. I'm sorry. Let's talk about the team. We found

our quarterback? Is that how we feel here? I don't think you found your quarterback. I don't think that's settled at all. Yeah, that's going to be a discussion point that we're going to be having at some point this week, Andy. Yeah, Mars Jam smashed is not eight points. It is if you actually watch the game! Or you're not a delusional Oklahoma fan trying to cope about getting your asses beat on the line of scrimmage because that's what happened and guess what Texas is better at the line of scrimmage at Tennessee Alabama's better at the line of

scrimmage than Tennessee you have to play them too. Man. Sorry. I just, I don't like delusion. I'm the one who usually gets fired up here, bud. So I'm just letting you cook while you, you know, it's a nice change of pace for the show. So I'm into it. I agree with you.

Also understand too, that if you're an Oklahoma fan, you're probably in rough shape right now. And, you know, looking for somebody to, you know, you're probably in rough shape right now and looking for somebody to jab a little bit. And we'll be those people for you. But if you have eyes and watch the game, it's pretty clear what happened in that one. Yeah, Oklahoma got dominated in this game. Heupel took his foot off the gas, maybe out of respect for his former team. But he dominated you. So get better because you got to go play Auburn.

And Ari, by the way, BYU's beating Kansas State shortly before the half. They're up 10-6. Just got the ball back, headed toward the red zone. This night is going to be wild, I can tell already. But Oklahoma's going to Auburn. Auburn, as we predicted, lost to Arkansas on Saturday. What we didn't predict was Hugh Freeze throwing not one,

but two quarterbacks under the bus, driving forward and then backing the bus over them again after the game. It's so annoying to me. It bothers me to the point that I wrote a column from the press box of the Oklahoma-Tennessee game in the third quarter because you want to know why, Andy? The game was over in the third quarter, so I could focus on something else for a while. To me, I just don't understand this thought process. If you're the head coach,

if you're Hugh Freeze, of saying we need to find somebody who can throw the ball to our team and not the opposing team or to say uh we got to find guys that can do what we're coaching them to do in the same breath of like knowing specifically that it is your job to find those guys during the offseason and you spent this offseason saying multiple times and multiple people that you didn't feel comfortable or didn't want to spend a million your job to find those guys during the off season. And you spent this off season saying multiple times at multiple people that you didn't feel comfortable or didn't want to spend a million dollars on a quarterback. And the thing that is really dumbfounding to me, Andy, more than anything is, is that like Hugh freeze was the perfect person to have replaced Brian Harsin at Auburn,

because we knew that he understood the principles of what needed to be done from a recruiting standpoint to situate your team in a way that you can win these games. And he has done a much better job. It's impossible to not do a better job than Brian Harsin in talent accumulation, but they go out and they get a five-star receiver. They get another really good receiver in the portal. And it's like, I don't understand how the man did not address his quarterback issue and not only didn't address it but you know stood by Peyton Thorne and Hank Brown in the offseason and threw the players in the bus or under the bus excuse me on Saturday that he backed in the offseason by not going out and getting a guy and I understand too that we're in a world now where you know a million dollars is a lot of money and you want to pay and allocate those funds in the right way and if you don't feel like you found somebody in

the portal that was worth that investment not wanting to do that like I understand it but at a certain point as the head coach of Auburn who has to play really good SEC teams you almost feel like there should be a sense of urgency to overpay somebody, even if you don't think they're good enough to not put your team in a position where they are throwing four picks between two quarterbacks, one of which was in the end zone and a terrible throw and a terrible decision. And honestly speaking, if Auburn had a quarterback with a pulse in this game for four quarters, they had a really good chance of winning it i mean i looked up while i was working earlier and was watching this and i think i saw four

turnovers from both teams and they were trading them back and forth right before halftime it was yeah it's very similar to tennessee oklahoma actually but like it just irks me to no end when a coach who was making millions of dollars is placed in charge of assembling a roster and then ignores a blatant and like listen andy i'm just gonna say it like i'm no like uh talent evaluating genius there's people at on three that helped me out with that you know they are able to look at someone's footwork and be like well they've got a top 60 ceiling or don't was on the phone today with cody belair talking about it and I my my eyes saw that Auburn had a quarterback problem I've seen Peyton Thorne play not just at Auburn but at his previous

school quite a bit because I'm a big 10 homer I know what he's about I think that we know what his ceiling is as a player I don't think he's a crappy player I don't think he's terrible I think he could thrive in in the right situations and't think he's a crappy player. I don't think he's terrible. I think he could thrive in the right situations. And I think he played much better than Hank Brown did on Saturday. But if you are, you freeze and you're dumbfounded by what happened out here today, I have no idea how you could not see this coming when everybody, including my dumb eyes saw this coming.

Like I, it just like blows my, every single thing about that news conference, the game and the way that he approached his roster, building this off just blows my mind. Every single thing about that news conference, the game, and the way that he approached his roster building this offseason blows my mind. Well, Bo Wallace had some thoughts. Bo Wallace is interesting because I remember

seeing Hugh Freeze at the Senior Bowl, not this past year, but the year before. So right after he's taking the Auburn job, he's trying to sign his first class or he's finished signing his first class. Uh, he hasn't coached a game there yet, but he talked about how he needed a quarterback like Bo Wallace, who, who was the one at Ole Miss who kind of got, made it impossible for him to run his offense really is the way, the way he put it, that, that kind of set the table for everything else that came after,

which was signing Laramie Tunsil and Robert Kandiche and, and all of those great receivers that he signed. Well, Bo Wallace had some stuff to say on Twitter tonight, and I will point out that Bo Wallace has in the past called Hugh Freeze a top five play caller. So he did say that last year after the New Mexico state game. So I'm going to say say that first but this is what bo wallace typed on on twitter on saturday night we're approaching the point he's thrown so many qbs under the bus that maybe no one wants to play for him his offense helped me tremendously put up numbers but when i blew my shoulder out but why is it someone else's fault every time there's a loss but when there's a win i watch the press conference and just count how many times the word I is used.

Appreciate what he did for me. My son wouldn't be playing for him though. And then, and then Bo Wallace goes on. If you want to read it, the whole thing's on Twitter, but not complimentary of Hugh freeze. And the thing is, this is not helping right now.

Like the quarterbacks are the ones he has, who he got is who he's got and he had a chance to have who he chose to have who he chose to have you're right you're right because auburn is not a place where they're like no coach we don't have enough money for that if he says we need this don't go get him. And they did the dance a little bit with Riley Leonard, who's from Alabama originally, went to Duke and then went to Notre Dame. But they didn't, you know, Notre Dame made a really good offer. And it doesn't seem like that was that was really a consideration that Riley Leonard was probably headed to Notre Dame the whole time. There were other quarterbacks they probably could have gotten in on.

We don't we don't know about Kyle McCord or like Jordan mcleod was leaving jmu and ended up at texas state but you know there wasn't a lot to choose from but wouldn't you have just added one anyway wouldn't that be worth it at this point like because when you get to a point where you're you have benched both of your guys in back-to-back we or ever twice in three weeks um and you're throwing four picks and a loss to arkansas it's like what is it that you were not willing to upgrade on i just don't see the whole picture here you know what really broke my heart andy and i'm no softy i think that if you're a college football player um who's playing at a program in the sec that you're probably you know

pretty thick-skinned and understanding how how passionate these fans are but they interviewed peyton thorne after the game and they asked him what his advice would be to hank brown then he said to stay off his phone uh in the next few weeks and only talk to people in the program and i'm thinking to myself like hugh freeze is not helping his quarterbacks out in that regard either by no because right now the auburn fans for the most part are still they still have hugh freeze's back and they're you know so if hugh freeze says that's that it's that guy's fault they're not blaming hugh freeze yet though i think they're not far away from it. Here's what I will say about Hugh Freeze. He obviously gets the assignment more than Brian Harsin did, because if you look at the players he brought in in the 2024 recruiting class,

who they're planning to bring in the 2025 recruiting class, he's certainly upgrading the roster, but he's not gotten the quarterback he likes yet. And Caden Salter didn't follow him from Liberty. Or he didn't want Caden Salter from Liberty, which is crazy because Caden Salter is better than the quarterbacks he has. Okay, I'm going to go on an epic rant that may get me fired or you may love. So let's just go for it. Okay, great. I've enjoyed working with you so far.

It's going great. We're climbing the podcast charts, so try not to get fired right now. Although I'm not going to get fired, but I don't know if people are going to love this. We all know the drawbacks of hiring Hugh freeze, right? Like we don't need to relitigate that whole thing, but it's pretty safe to say that Hugh Freeze probably isn't the most likable person to begin with, you know, coming into this job. So at the very least, doing things that make you even more easy to dislike just doesn't make sense to me when you have to trot these quarterbacks out there. Like as a head coach of a place that got a second chance after some of the things went way off the rails back in your past like just try to act and be like a normal nice considerate person

like and I don't know if that makes any sense for an SEC coach maybe you can't be both but like you're not doing anything but harming the players on your team that you need to rely on and that you bet on before the season started so like it just makes me not like him and it makes people not like him and like I do think that there's probably some goodwill that he would like to earn back especially knowing his past being in people's dms and everything like just be a good dude and like stand by the people that you chose to bet on like it just like it irks, and I don't know why. It's just because it's so hypocritical and it's so wrong in every regard.

If you don't think they're good enough to play, that's great. Then go out and make a move and remove them from your team like every other coach. Don't bring them back. Put them in a position where you know they can't succeed and then tell them they suck on TV after you lose. It doesn't make any sense to me. Listen, I don't think that's going to get you fired,

and I don't disagree. You're exactly right. You chose these guys. You chose not to spend the money on somebody out of the portal. Don't blame them. You had the option to do different. Don't you want people at Auburn to be rooting for you? Don't you want people to forget about your past and like see you for what you're doing at auburn just like act in a way that is at least semi-presidential while you're trying to get through a terrible situation that you created what's your what a word choice what a word choice all right i guess yeah okay yeah all right i really gotta talk about USC in Michigan.

That game was also banana land. And I had an instant reaction about it earlier, but before we talk USC, Michigan, I tell everybody about the money game on prime video. It is an excellent docu-series on prime video, following the athletes at LSU last year, as they navigate the world of name, image,

and likeness. It's unbelievable insider access, especially with Jaden Daniels. Like we all watched that Alabama LSU game last year. We saw him get knocked out of the game. This shows you what happens the week between that and him playing against Florida. It was nuts. You get deep insider access with Jaden Daniel daniels angel reese with libby dunn it's so interesting you want to watch the money game on prime video click the link in the show description on this youtube video you're watching also if you aren't a prime video subscriber you click that link you can sign up for prime video and you can watch all the other cool stuff on prime video along with the money game, NFL football on Thursday nights,

the Rings of Power. That's what I'm watching while I'm not watching the Money Game. So check it out. Click that link. Watch the Money Game. You are going to love it. It's right up the alley of the folks who listen to this show. And you will learn something, too.

Ari, we learned something today about Sharon Moore, and I think we also learned something about USC too, but we'll start with Sharon Moore. Michigan's offense, at least the passing part of it, horrendous with Alex Orji, just horrendous. Good thing they're good at running the ball. That said, Sharon Moore, actually kind of similar situation to the Hugh Freeze situation, where he's got a couple quarterbacks. Neither one of them are very complete. There's only so much you can do with them. But Sharon Moore figured out a way to win the game with one. He did. He did. He created the best plan he could to put his team in a position to win the game and then won the game.

Yeah. Colin Mullings helped a lot. Yeah. Well, it's important to to to make the distinction. And you wrote a column about it two weeks ago. But I just want to make sure no one gives you a well actually here because Andy knows this. But Sharon Moore didn't choose this situation. This was given to him because the timeline of Harbaugh so like I think that there

is a distinction between you know what Hugh Freeze is dealing with and what Sharon's dealing with but like coach Moore here is trying to make the best out of what hand he was dealt designed a game plan in order to try to give their team a best chance to win and they won. I think that Michigan is deeply and inherently flawed on offense. I think this was a very good win, but I don't know that I left this game feeling like Michigan is back as like a big 10 contender. I think we learned more about USC in this game than we learned about Michigan. Is that fair? I think that's fair.

And I'm curious to hear what you have to say, because you and I were texting in the first half and it was like, oh God, this is horrendous. They're back to what they were. And I felt completely different after the second half. I felt like USC has gotten better, that they're going to be okay in the Big Ten. They still have

some stuff to work on. They need to get their offensive line better. Their defensive line needs to be better. But these are also not things that you can fix instantly. They're things that have to be fixed through recruiting and development. And I think they now have this situation where they can develop some guys on the defensive line. The offensive line we'll see, but they also made a change on the offensive line where they pulled one'll see but they also made a change on the offensive line where they they pulled one tackle they moved the right tackle the left tackle they brought a redshirt freshman in to play right tackle and that group got better so i felt like usc you know this this game had it happened last year had this been this year's michigan team and last year's usc team

it would have been 49 to 24 Michigan would have run for 550 yards but that's not what happened here well it's it's funny because Michigan got worse and USC got much better and USC lost the game still so that gives you a kind of a little bit of a key into um how big of a gap there was how big the gap was yeah um and they had Caleb Williams last year remember when we were having a discussion from a caller two weeks ago about whether they got better without him? It's insanity. I was thinking about that today.

So here's the thing that I wanted to say about the game. So, like, you were right. This was the tale of two halves, Andy. And I had a really hard time in the first half of this game. And I want you to maybe be my therapist here. Okay. So here's what I tweeted right before halftime. I wrote on Twitter, the thing I have the hardest time with in analyzing this sport is that we all get fooled into thinking something, and in the end, the conclusion should have been the obvious.

Example, USC is getting its ass kicked in the trenches by Michigan on the road. It legit frustrates me to be so wrong about something that should have been so easy to see coming. And that, to me, was real in that moment. But then I feel like this is a positive for USC because during a time in which you are getting dominated in the trenches the way that they were in the first half of that game and if you were watching in the first half like I didn't think there was a shot in hell that that team could win that football game so like on one hand we are left with the embarrassing fashion in which they lost that game which was giving up that 80 yard or whatever drive at the end with the big uh Mullings with a

huge glow Mullings run yeah when you knew their team can't get a first down or throw the ball more than three yards down field effectively like the fact that they gave that up is insane to me because you knew what was coming and you still couldn't stop it that leaves a really big sour taste in your mouth considering the fact that that big run also illustrated some of the terrible tackling that we became accustomed to seeing from usc a year. That said, though, as easy it is to come down on Lincoln Riley and to say, hey, as much as things have changed, things are still the same. I don't think that that's true. I actually think that USC getting Michigan on the ropes, taking the lead late, their defense hanging in there, getting stops, rushing the ball pretty well on offense. Like they illustrated a toughness in the second half of the game

that faltered with the game on the line, but would have been completely absent a year ago. So I have a really hard time right now with USC and how to view Lincoln Riley because on one hand, you know, I think all of the things that have gone wrong for USC are his fault. I think that a lot of the things that are happening with the defense and the fact that they aren't great right now and are just pretty good is because he's stuck with the wrong defensive coordinator for a year or

two too long like but on the other hand he's made a tremendous stride defensively with dan and linda's new defensive coordinator the team plays with a lot of toughness i thought they tackled really well for the most part of this game and in a game where they should have been worn out by the third quarter by getting their ass kicked for the entire first two quarters of the game they actually became the dominant team in the second half so i think that that's actually something that usc fans should be happy about so like on one hand like usc couldn't tackle and allowed a big run and then let the you know fourth and goal go in like how monumental would it have been had they got the stop on a fourth down goal line stand against Michigan?

I think that that's just too much change to ask for for one year. All right, so here's the thing with USC. If they can beat Penn State, they're still in it. If they can't, they're probably not going to make the playoff because Penn State probably beats them in a similar way to Michigan, which means Notre Dame probably beats them in a similar

way to Michigan. That's probably, or they maybe they drop one to somebody down the road, like Rutgers or Nebraska. But if they could beat Penn State, they're still in this thing. You might still have a chance to take a thousand bucks off me. I don't think you're going to. No, I'm out. Yeah, it's over. But I'm not. I'm not out yet. I think you still have a chance. Now, you mentioned the wrong defensive coordinator.

The wrong defensive coordinator is back next week. Alex Grinch, Wisconsin safeties coach, will be in the Coliseum as Wisconsin plays USC. So there you go. All right. Well, Andy, I just want to say that too before you move on to this thing because I didn't say it before. For those who don't look at box scores and just like watch the games and then move on to the next game after you're done,

Alex Orji went 7 for 12 for 32 yards in this game and USC lost. And I know this is the Big Ten, and the Big Ten West has had some pretty crazy games. I cannot imagine that a team has beaten a ranked opponent or at least a top 15 opponent in Big Ten history by throwing for 32 yards with their quarterback. I didn't look it up, but I cannot imagine that that's not a record of some sort.

Do we get to make USC an honorary Big Ten West team now? Is that possible? Like, they never played in a league that had East and West, but can we just make them a Big Ten West team just for tonight? I would say that was a Big Ten West game because I think Michigan is like the alpha of the Big Ten West this year. But there's too much skill talent on USC's defense. You know what that reminded me of?

When Iowa or Wisconsin beat Penn State back in the days. How about this? Did it remind you of Iowa beating Minnesota tonight with Cade McNamara completing 11 of 19 passes? So pretty good completion percentage considering he only threw for 62 yards so kate k mcnamara threw for 62 yards and i will won 31 to 14 against minnesota andy before i know we we might be here all night but i i have to ask you um we came into the season or a lot of people came

into the season anticipating that michigan was going to be a team that was alive in the Big Ten race, right? We know the talent on defense that they have. We were unsure of their quarterbacks, but we did know for, you know, they had enough talent to win 10 games. They got annihilated by Texas, who was number one in my top 10 that I posted on on three tonight. I think Texas is a very, very good team with supremely talented lines that we're able to stack up. Did this Michigan win change your mind at all about Michigan? Or do you think they just gutted a pretty good win out? Or do you think like this is a- No, I think, doy seven in the chat. Michigan is a better version of Iowa. That is correct.

That is what I believe. That is what I think they're going to be this season. Actually, they might not be as good as the Iowa version of Iowa, which is scoring lots of points, and I'm going to have to start taking Iowa overs now. But here's what I think this Michigan team will end up being. It will be a lovable team because it will fight, but will not be good enough to beat an Oregon or an Ohio state because it doesn't have the players and it doesn't have the quarterback and Michigan fans who are very smart people will not blame Sharon more for them, for them not having the quarterback. They will understand that the situation that more was put in by the timing of

Harbaugh's departure is why they don't have that. And they'll gladly trade that for the national title that they won last year. And they're fine with it. But I think, yeah, I think this will be one of those lovable teams that doesn't quite get there. If you like, if you know, Kentucky basketball, the unforgettable, the 92 team, they didn't win. They got beat on the Christian lateraitner shot, but they brought the program back. This isn't them bringing the program back because they won a national title last year, but this is them setting the tone for the Sharon Moore era of, hey, we're going to do exactly what

we can do. We're going to try to punch you in the mouth. That's who we are. That's our identity, and we're going to fight even though we don't have the ideal situation. I think being in a position where your quarterback throws for 32 yards in a football game makes you susceptible to losing to anybody on your schedule. I don't think they're going to win 10 games. Jeff's in the chat. He's an Indiana fan. He's asking about the media that picked Kurt Sedetti to finish 17 of 18. Look, Michigan could lose to Indiana.

Indiana's really good. Yeah. I mean, we're going to lose possibly. I don't know if we have time tonight, but we are going to be smoking cigs at some point on the show this week. Well, I mean, Coach Cig's beating Biff. Did you see what Biff P pokey was wearing in that game the charlotte coach the cut off sleeves he's got the he's got the microphone pack right here just pulling it down to show the chest air off it was dressed like me when i retire in boca raton

florida in about 20 years that's that's gonna be me on the publics down there that's my that's my persona but let's's give Indiana a little just a quick piece of love here. We're 4-0 here. They beat the crap out of UCLA on the road 42-13 and their next games are Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska,

Washington, and Michigan State before hosting Michigan in November. There is not a game that I just said that team is not capable of winning. And I know it's crazy. And I'm not going to over, you know, I get into a lot of trouble on the show getting too excited. So I'm not going to get too excited.

I'm not going to say they're going undefeated or whatever. I'm tired of Notre Dame and Nebraska embarrassing me. But this is a team that could have one or two losses in mid-November, and that would be pretty great. It's been really cool to watch Cignetti cook there, to actually have a coach that goes to a smaller place and actually genuinely believes that they don't have to settle for getting your ass kicked every week.

I think a lot of coaches take jobs that are traditionally not very good or face challenges or at basketball schools or whatever that just go there hoping to win enough games to get their next job. And I genuinely believe that he thinks that Indiana could be a great program, and I love that. And I think it's part of the same reason why we loved Kansas last year because they had a coach that believed that they could do something that people thought was impossible.

So that's always a fun thing. It's sports. And I thought we could give some Indiana flowers out here do something that people thought was impossible. So that's always a fun thing. It's sports. And, um, you know, I thought we, we could give some Indiana flowers out here from a guy who only cares about national title contenders. Let, let's do that.

We did that. We love, we love coach Siggs. I told you when I talked to him at big 10 media days, I was under the spell. I was, I was all in on Indiana at that point. So I continue to be all in on Indiana.

Now, where did coach Siggs coach before he went to Indiana? What'd you say? Sorry. Where did coach Siggs coach before he went to Indiana? Oh, James Madison. Sorry. Of course he was replaced by the very handsome Bob Chesney. So Bob Chesney, the very handsome Bob Chesney went So Bob Chesney, the very handsome Bob Chesney, went to Chapel Hill today with the James Madison Dukes. Oh, that was the Tar Heels.

I get what you're doing now. Sorry, I blacked out there for a second. There we go. All right. I'm on board now. Yeah. So reset. The very handsome Bob Chesney

took the James Madison Dukes down to Chapel Hill and beat the living tar out of the tar heels. 70-50. Ari, after this game, Mack Brown got up in the locker room, according to Inside Carolina, and basically said, if it's me, if I'm the problem, I'll go. And the team was like, no, it's not you, coach. And then Matt kind of reiterated this to Chris Lowe from ESPN and said, that is how it went down, but I'm coming into work on Sunday. Ari, that was wild. I did text you in the middle of the first quarter if there was something in the water North Carolina that was chemically like making it impossible for North Carolina to field an even partially functional defense and like listen I think that Mack Brown is uh you know a hall of

fame coach and a national title winner and you know did everything that he could do at Carolina you know I think that this probably is is the mark of the beginning of the end there. I just cannot imagine how frustrating it is for him because he is, you want to talk about being under the spell of a human being, spend five minutes in a room with Mack Brown and that guy will have you believing anything that he says. I don't believe it that he's a salesman or a snake oil salesman like they say on message boards. I he's just a genuinely great guy um and believes in his team and believed in the vision and they've fielded some really exciting offenses over the years of you know his second stint at north carolina and they've had a top five draft pick at quarterback during that time and they are

just constantly having defensive performances like this and you have a group of five team come in and drop 53 and you know the first half i mean there probably has to be some sort of self-reflection of like is this like am i doing something that can't get over this because it's not it's pathetic like there's no other way to put it like you can't give up 53 points to james madison you just cannot do Like you can't give up 53 points to James Madison. You just cannot do it at home. They give up 70 points to James Madison. Sorry, 53 and a half. Yeah, 53 in the first half, not 53.

Yes, that's correct. Yeah, I thought they were not going to break 50 in the half and then they threw a pick six. Now, see, that's the thing. It was a total meltdown. Offense, defense, and special teams. Now, coming back to our Auburn discussion and our Hugh Freeze discussion, here's what Mack said after the game.

It can only come back to one person, and that's me. Now, the question is, are the money people at North Carolina going to say, if that's true, if you believe that, then maybe we need to do something about that. And I do wonder if that happens sooner rather than later because you could always work it out and say you you finish out the season we're gonna go find somebody if you go back in time two or three years ago and you like look at north carolina's program and i went there to chapel hill and profiled their uh their recruiting efforts for a while there, they were doing really, really well in the state of North Carolina.

They got a lot of five-star prospects and bunches for that two- or three-year period. And I will say that North Carolina as a state is a sneaky, talented state. We don't really talk about them a lot in the same ilk of Georgia or Florida or Texas, but there are really good players in the state of North Carolina. And for a while there that they were winning recruiting battles with teams like Clemson in the state of Virginia, like it's not a hopeless place.

And they, and they got Drake May to go there. They got, you know, Josh Downs there. They've had a lot of really good players. And for whatever reason, even the five-star defensive ends, like the Keyshawn Silvers of the world that they've gotten just haven't panned out. And I just don't know if you're a coordinator higher away or if it's a recruiting issue or if the players in North Carolina aren't as good as we think they are because of their ranking.

I don't know what the issue is. But there's no excuse for North Carolina to be fielding a team. What is this, year five of his second stint now? Yes. Giving up 53 points to James Madison and a half. So, by the way, as we're talking about this, my Avery Johnson bandwagon has driven off a cliff. He just threw another interception.

BYU with a long run, now first and goal. They're up 17-6. Look like they're about to punch one in again uh so our situation in the big 12 could be in in flux although i think we kind of know who's at the top of the big 12 right now if kansas state can't come through because the utah utes went to stillwater still starting their back or still playing their backup quarterback, Isaac, the freshman, whose name is Isaac, and why am I blanking on his last name? Zach Wilson's brother.

Isaac Wilson, yes. There you go. They dominated. Because I black out sometimes, too. Line, line. That's funny. But their defense was excellent up front. They ran the ball well.

I think if Cam Rising is healthy and playing, this game probably isn't all that close. And that's a really tough place to play. I was very impressed with Utah today. Yeah. Not having your quarterback and going on the road to Stillwater and getting this win in a game that we said was going to go a long way and helping determine what the Big 12 is going to look like in December,

I moved them into my top ten on three of my rankings because Cam Rising, I think, should be back next week, but that is a huge – Yeah, it's a finger situation. And he was talking like he was going to be playing this week. That may have been a smokescreen. But, I mean, if they can get him back for next week, that's going to be a huge lift for them.

Utah doesn't even play Kansas State this year, Andy. No. Arizona, Arizona State, TCU, Houston, BYU, Colorado, and Iowa State. This is a team that doesn't have a game on their schedule and they close out at UCF with all those games that I think they're underdogs in. If they get Cam rising back, he can stay healthy.

They play the defense that they played on Saturday. For a minute there, I had Kansas State as my Big 12 winner in the bubble watch. When I write that at some point at four in the morning today, I think that it's unquestionably Utah who's going to be the number 4 seed in that new bracketology. Even if Kansas State were to come back and win this game, I would still probably put Utah, well, I'm going to because it's

what I'll be writing after this broadcast ends and after that game ends. My bracketology game ends, uh, my bracketology, which comes out Sunday mornings, I'll have Utah at number, at, at the, as the number four seed,

you know, as the, the eight, the big 12 champ, I have Miami as the, the ACC champ, they handled USF, but Utah looked great.

And if cam rise, if they can do this without cam rising, what are they going to do with cam rising? Yeah. You know what I mean? I'm just like, I'm kind of hoping that the man will come back so we can actually remember what it looks like with him playing football there.

But it is an absolutely incredible win. It's an incredible win for a team that is in a new conference without their quarterback going on the road against an Oklahoma State team that beat Arkansas and, you know, all the things that go into play and playing in Stillwater. So I'm very impressed through them in the top 10. And I think that this Utah team that was just a bully in the Pac-12 is situated very nicely in their new conference. And that conference has an automatic bid. And so the races we go.

Matt in the chat. I know my question all those years ago to you about Kentucky being the best job in college football. So we keep discussing, Andy. However, was I wrong? Is Utah the best job in college football? No, it's not. It's actually pretty hard, but Kyle Whittingham's really good at it. Think about what Kyle Whittingham's done.

Kyle Whittingham succeeded Urban Meyer at Utah. Urban Meyer got hired at Florida in November of 2004. He then coached them in the Fiesta bowl. So Kyle Whittingham takes over full time, like January 2nd, 2005. He's just been unbelievable since then. He, you know, he has the undefeated season where he wins the mountain West and beats Alabama in the sugar bowl. He takes them into the pack. 12 builds them into a team that can compete in the Pac-12, wins two Pac-12 titles, and here they are in their first year in the Big 12, where they may be the best program. Yeah, and also, too, is doing it in an area of the country

that is not easy to recruit. There aren't a lot of players in Utah. Great linemen there, and some quarterbacks. Yes, great linemen there and some quarterbacks yes linemen well I mean I guess that's how they've uh they've gone about building their program but you know for Kentucky at least anybody who takes the job there because of what Mark Stoops has been able to do has a direct and identifiable plan that they could duplicate like if you go to to Utah and this is a compliment to Kyle Whittingham, what do you do to duplicate what he's done? I think that that's more of an illustration of how brilliant it's been. Yeah, I assume Morgan Scali will replace him

and just try to do the same things that he's been doing. But there's no guarantee. Even a guy who came up through the program, played for the program, and has worked for the program for that long, there's no guarantee that it's going to work the same way. But Kyle Whittingham has been spectacular. Like, I think we should put him, and actually, fitting that he beat Mike Gundy today.

I'm trying to wonder, I can't remember if they've played each other in a bowl game before. But Kyle Whittingham and Mike Gundy are kind of in the same echelon of coaches that have done just an unbelievable job. And I don't know that people quite appreciate, like, I think they're both kind of on that bill Snyder wizard level. Maybe not,

maybe nobody's quite bill Snyder, but that, that you take a program that should not be able to be this good and you make them consistently good year after year after year. Well, the difference between Mike Gundy and, and save me if I'm wrong here, Andy, it's almost midnight and I might've forgotten something,

but like Whittingham broke through the PAC 12 and won the PAC 12 twice. Like Gundy is an assistant winner, but like he, I don't know when's the last time they won the big 12. Like I'll look at it right now. They won in 2011. This is a very consistent thing, and, you know, it's been a long time. And listen, I understand, too,

that Mike Gundy has also had to coexist in a conference when Oklahoma has been at the peak of what they were, too. And, like, it's not apples to, you know, apples. But, you know, Kyle Whittingham winning the conference and beating teams like USC with Caleb Williams a few years ago when Oregon's been very good and doing it at a place that doesn't have a very rich tradition of recruiting nationally and is just relying on what's in Utah. You know, the religious aspect of a lot of the people who live in their state, too, comes into play. And it's just a I would put him ahead of Gundy for a lot

of reasons. Well, they're both very good and he has the W. He can say scoreboard right now, but Utah, I think, is now my favorite to win the Big 12. I feel like they're in the driver's seat. Another team that's kind of in a driver's seat of sorts. We haven't talked about Clemson yet, Ari, and let's talk about Clemson and NC State because as Appalachian State was getting hammered by South Alabama on Thursday night at Appalachian State, I was like, are we sure that Clemson winning against Appalachian State meant something? Because they got destroyed by Georgia, then they went and killed Appalachian State. Well, they destroyed NC State. I get NC State didn't have a starting quarterback, but it sure looks like Clemson is a lot more competent.

That offense looks a lot more explosive. I don't know that that necessarily means that if they had to play a Georgia or an Alabama right now that they'd be a whole lot better, but I got to think they might be. Well, I mean, I did text you on Friday night saying that I'm on high alert for another offensive dud for Clemson and they dropped 59 points

so like I and Kate Klubnick looked awesome like he ran well he was throwing dimes like he looked great and we're not in an era of college football anymore where getting blown

out one time excludes you like it used to. You used to be able to lose, but you couldn't lose by a million. You know what I mean? Now it's like, who cares what the score was? They lost to Georgia. Whoop-de-doo. I think that, in my opinion, I still believe that Clemson is a 10-2 team that doesn't scare any of the best teams in the country. And I think that these results are in line with a 10-2 team

that doesn't scare Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State. But they keep racking up wins like this, and they're going to because they're playing Stanford, Florida State, Wake Forest, Virginia, and all in a row before they play Louisville in November. This is going to be a team that's six or seven and one by the time they go out and face Louisville and they get through that, then they've got Virginia Tech, Pitt,

the Citadel and South Carolina. Like again, another team that I don't really see a game where they're not favored. So, you know, they're in a very good position and certainly in a driver's seat. Like Clemson is probably going to be in my playoff field when i do bubble watch because it's just like the path to the to the field is is right there and very invisible to me

and it's also a path to two acc teams in the playoff yeah because if clemson wins out and they play miami i think they're both getting in if Miami's still winning the way they're winning. You mean like it gives Miami a one loss in the hypothetical ACC championship matchup? Yeah, let's say it's 11-1 against 11-1. They're both in probably. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's going to be very interesting.

By the way, as we said this, BYU just had a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown. Oh, so this is a surprise. He might have dropped the ball nope he didn't drop the ball it was across the plane so yeah it's it's getting ugly in Provo yeah that's uh and Oklahoma State has a pretty tough game next week after the game that they play they have to play Kansas State and we thought like I mean I don't know what to do with Kansas State today was a hodgepodge of results that were confusing, revelatory, and discovery.

And the game's not over yet. So there's 25 football minutes left. So we don't know if Kansas State's going to lose yet, although they probably will. 30-6? Yeah. Yeah, it's not great, Bob. Not great. I'm going to throw a few sh check on there for you if you want to

take kansas state like 21 to 1 to win the game i don't know it's up to you not not given what i've seen so far no absolutely not all right what other game oh i know what game we need to talk about we need to talk about missouri surviving vanderbilt diego pavia pushing the tigers to their limit but then we had a little case of college kickers. Now, Missouri had missed three kicks earlier. They did kick a field goal, clearly missing Harrison Mivas, the thicker kicker. But they kicked a field goal in that second overtime. And then Vandy missed the field goal in the second overtime.

But so BC pushedouri a bit i felt like boston college pushed missouri in the first half and the missouri just sort of took over they like they had some drives where they had to kick field goals but then they kind of took over this one vandy was in it the whole way. Mm-hmm. Yeah, Vandy should be 3-0 right now, or coming into the week, because they should have beaten Georgia State last week. If you're watching the game, they lost in a pretty heartbreaking fashion.

Like, they are not, this year, a team that's just going to lose 60-0 every week. So, like, I don't know how much to overreact to this. Like, there's no reason why Mizzou should have been in an overtime game with Vanderbilt. Don't get me wrong, but I don't think that Vanderbilt is just a hopeless pile. No,

I think they are actually. And we've talked about Diego Pavia that he's a scary person. If you have to play it. So like Mizzou is a very interesting team to track because they play Alabama and Oklahoma back-to-back weeks in games in October 26th and then by week then November 9th against Oklahoma and I still think that if they're 10 and 2 they would probably be in the playoff like they don't have they got the easiest SEC schedule that I can think of. And they're a really good team with one of the best offensive players in the

country and Luther burden. So like, how much do you take from this Vanderbilt scare? And listen, they would have gone to another overtime had their Vanderbilt's kick or not pushed a 30 something yard field goal left. But like, it is not overreaction territory for me i don't know about

you no i don't think it's a it's a win your clunkers win i probably i i'm probably gonna pull missouri out of the i had missouri in that last at large spot in bracketology i'll pull them out and put them in the the first four out but they can win their way back in. That's obviously no problem. It's two weeks in a row where I felt like a team that should be a playoff team should be a little more dominant at some point in those two weeks. Yeah. I just don't know.

I have a hard time with this, with the bubble watch, Andy, but I look at schedules, and it impacts me so much. It should. I just don't see how they would be the first four out. I think if they're 10-2, they're in firmly. But if you can lose to Vanderbilt or get pushed to double overtime at home by Vanderbilt, you could lose at Texas A&M. You could lose to Auburn. You could lose to Oklahoma. You could lose to Alabama for sure. You could lose to Auburn. You could lose to Oklahoma. You could lose to Alabama for sure.

You could lose to South Carolina. So that's the thing. It's possible that if you're that team, you can lose to a lot of these teams. You could lose to Arkansas. I don't think you could lose to Mississippi State. That's the one I don't think you're going to lose to, but who knows?

Ari, we do need to congratulate the two teams from the Sunshine State. Miami, we already talked about. Miami blew out USF. It was tight in the first half. Yeah. Florida beat Mississippi State. Congratulations, Billy Napier. I believe he will survive into the bye week, I think.

They play UCF on October 5 5th that'll be the next time we see the gators and florida state won they beat cal that was a dicey that was not pretty i was inside the 35 within the last minute and a half of that game if i recall they were they were and they and florida state sack fernando mendoza right at the end and that was that was how the game ended but it was ugly it was i had the four box going and florida state cal was up in the upper right hand corner just staring at me never getting the sound turned on because all of the other games were more interesting but at the very end it got the sound turn on uh you're gonna have to explain to me all the memes from this week

because i saw them and i know that everybody was having a lot of fun with them, but I don't understand what they were talking about or why they existed. So you'll have to. Cal people are very smart, very computer literate, very computer savvy, and they kept doing these AI generated images to make fun of Florida State. There was only one image that I saw on Saturday night, though, and it was a bear that was crying, and it said, Go woke, go broke. But I don't understand the woke thing, or why Florida State got the brunt of that.

They're from Berkeley, Ari. They're hippies. That's the joke. I'm still not getting why that has to do with Florida State, but you'll have to help me out with that you know i'm not very political and i'm not very in that world but you're gonna have to like help me out with that but i don't know if we're winding down the show but you want me to read an absolutely insane text message that my wife just sent me knowing that i'm live on the

show right now can i read this to you please do please do boo something you don't need right now but i will forget if I don't send it this moment. I was driving home and I saw two young girls, maybe 16 or 17. She was on the side of the road on our street with a big rod in her tire. And I stopped to ask if they were okay or if they needed help. And she said that her dad was on the way. And I said, are you sure I will wait with you? And she said, no, he's two minutes away. I ran over something and it got stuck in my tire, but they are coming here. My dad over something and it got stuck in my tire, but they are coming here.

My dad is coming to help me. They were wearing big cheerleader skirts and sweatshirts. Made me think of our daughter. You need to learn how to change a tire. Thank you. You absolutely need to learn how to change a tire. Maybe we'll have a lesson on the show. That's an off-season show. We can't do it it during the season we have too many interesting things to talk about

but during an off-season show we're going to bring we're going to bring a professional in i know how to change a tire but not well i've done it several times not well we need a professional to come in and he will teach you how to change a tire that's that's all there is to it you know what i would do if it were my kid in that situation right now and i did not i'd go pick her up and then i know like what but yeah it's okay uh we we will i it would be a cool off-season segment, Andy, if it was just like, Andy teaches Ari basic male life skills. Yeah, we'll teach you how to change your oil. We'll teach you how to pre-order air conditioner filters

so you just have them stacked up in the garage. I did learn how to change the water filters in my fridge the other day. I felt pretty good about that. Yeah, that's real hard. I didn't know how to do it, and I know how now. So just little victories here, pal, okay? There is always a YouTube video.

Here's the thing. The only thing you need to know about home improvement of any kind, or changing tires, actually, is there's always a YouTube video. Simple as that. Andy, it's always these comments, too. It's always just like the emasculating you're not a man comments that just laugh i laugh at all the scott says his 11 year old daughter can show us how to change where i'm i'm showing it's like i don't know i'm a gambling man and i gotta

tell you maybe we can get into it this week i got absolutely wrecked today i got wrecked today but i would take whatever little money i have left and i would bet that his 11 year old daughter can't actually start to finish change a tire i bet she can like with the jack and everything you think she's just getting the car up on the jack and changing the tires that's what the jack's for so she doesn't have to lift it herself no but it's still kind of hard to push it down isn't't it? Push it down. You spin the thing. Oh, I thought there was like, and it pushes it up.

Provided you have the jack under the reinforced part. You have to know where the reinforced part is because otherwise you can really very much damage your car. But we'll talk about that in a bit. Okay, cool. Congratulations to Billy Napier, okay cool congratulations to billy napier who i think will get to keep his job for a little bit longer congratulations to mike norvell who won a game oh congratulations to arch manning who won his first start we weren't really doubting that he would beat general booty in that start but he looked good got got pulled after three quarters because they were dominating yeah i'm gonna have to uh go back and watch that

i recorded it i didn't watch much of it i saw the stat line i saw he threw a pick early uh but we should go back and watch that and talk about it because i think it's going to be you were watching oklahoma tennessee over the thriller that was texas louisiana m dare you? Yeah, but well, the internet, and I'm not one of these people who complains about this stuff, but the internet was non-functional for me in the press box. So I could not get my iPad to play the games that were on. It was a real, real kick in the knackers. Oh, also Louisville beat Georgia Tech.

That game pretty much turned on a field goal that Louisville blocked and ran back for a touchdown. It would have, you know, might've been close. Had Georgia Tech been able to on a field goal that Louisville blocked and ran back for a touchdown it would have you know might have been close have Georgia Tech been able to to make that field goal that game might have been close but Louisville goes ahead and wins that one yeah I I think oh Ari before we go we need to talk about Friday night we need to talk about something that happened on Friday night we do well two things happened on Friday night one short do. Well, two things happened on Friday night. One, short one. Syracuse decides to single cover LKO Manor on fourth and nine.

That's a terrible idea. Stanford wins that game. And that was the dude that burned Travis Hunter, right? That was the dude that burned everybody. Everybody. But yes, especially Colorado in the second half of that game last year. The specifics of that was that it was fourth down, I believe,

and the game was on the line, and they had single coverage on the outside, and he threw a back shoulder throw that was an unbelievable catch that won them the game. And it's like putting your corner on an island against their best receiver in that situation was not Fran Brown's finest moment. No, it was not. But the more impressive even situation was illinois going on the road to lincoln and winning in overtime tremendous game by luke altmeyer illinois quarterback tremendous

series of defense in overtime called by illinois defensive coordinator aaron henry he had dylan ryle is so confused that Nebraska just kept going backward yeah I actually think Andy I know we're an hour and 15 into this that this should be like an entire segment on Monday show or Tuesday show after we're done with the picks because I really want to dive into like how to feel about this um on one hand nebraska lost in the most nebraska way possible right um and rayola missed a wide open receiver in the end zone that probably would have won them the game right on the other hand like did that feel nebraska etu or did it just seem like a good team lost a tough game like i i just like the stats are insane. I was, like, watching Mitch Sherman and Max Olson, I believe,

were out there tweeting Chris Finini some pretty insane stats about how awful they've been in overtime. Like, they haven't scored a touchdown in their last eight overtime games. And all the Nebraska-ish stats that you could get from one loss or a one-possession loss. But as heartbreaking as that probably was for Cornhuskers fans, it did not feel to me the same way for the most part that a lot of their grab-ass games that they lost last year

looked in the year before. So we got to dive into that. I thought Illinois played really well. I thought Brett Bielema, as usual, had a really good game plan. I know it's like typical top radio thing, like, did this team win it or did this team choke? I don't think so. I don't think so.

I think Illinois played well, and I think Nebraska's still going to be pretty good. Did we think Nebraska was a playoff team? No. We are pretty sure Nebraska is a bowl team. The question is how good of a bowl are we talking about? Like, that's really what we're talking about here. And I think all of that is still out there for Nebraska, but a lot more is out there for Illinois. Now, you know, if Illinois can beat Penn state, well,

we got to say a little discussion we have to have about the next part of the Big Ten. And they play Penn State in State College on Saturday. So, Ari, that is a game we'll be picking on Monday. So we'll talk about Illinois a little more on Monday along with Penn State. We'll also talk about the Illini probably on Tuesday, because you're right. We do need to have a whole segment on the Brett B lima of it all. But we got the pick show coming Monday. 9.30 a.m. Eastern time.

Live on the On3Sports YouTube channel. Afterward, On Dem demand on that channel, on demand anywhere you get your podcasts. Come pick some games with us. We are not always right. We were right about Arkansas-Auburn this week, both of us, though. I was right about Michigan.

You were not. I was wrong about everything today. I got... You were right about Arkansas. You said Arkansas Moneyline. You were right about one thing. Yeah, that's true. It was a sad day. It was a bad

day. Just let me wallow. It was a fun day. A discovery day. I cannot wait to dig into this bubble watch thing that I'm going to do. I need you to call me or tell me or text me what your column would be off that game, which way you would go, because I still

have to write it. It's midnight. I've got to drive back to Oklahoma City, but that was another wonderful, wonderful day in the world of college football, and I'm happy I was able to talk it out with you here tonight. Well, I can send you my bracketology if you just want to cheat off of it, but I'd rather you

didn't. I hope it'll look different. I want the consumer to get a variety of product from us. Speaking of products, by the way, you know we are sponsored by PrizePix, Ari. That free Caleb Williams or the almost free Caleb Williams square. If Caleb Williams throws for a yard against the Colts on Sunday,

I'm going to win this sucker because I had a four play, uh, F O U R, uh, involving that Caleb Williams square, which is if he throws for more than 0.5 yards, I get that square. I had Garrett green more than 19.5 rushing yards in the second half of West Virginia's thrilling and lightning delayed win against Kansas. I had Garrett Nussmeyer more than 294 and a half passing yards in that LSU win against UCLA. And I had Missouri's Nate Noel with more than 86 and a half rushing yards. He ran for 192.

So when Caleb Williams throws for a yard, I win. And if you would like to win playing prize picks, use the code staples, play five and get 50 instantly and you can pick your own squares ari it was a wonderful saturday i know you had fun in norman i did and can i say thank you to the sooner scoop people oh yes please i'm in a studio um carrie murdoch and the sooner scoop family has treated me like family today. Uh, they brought me in, I'm in their studio. They got the graphics up. He, uh, Carrie walked me to the stadium. He got me a water bottle. He got me a parking pass. He was texting me out of the blue, asking me if I'm doing all right. Like this guy is first class. If you're an Oklahoma fan and

you're not subscribed to on three and Sooner scoopcoop.com, these guys are in the know. They know what they're talking about. They have the goods during a very important time in Oklahoma's program. And above all, they're good people. So thank you so much to Carrie and the Soonerscoop family for having me in here and helping the show look as good as it did tonight. Yeah, they are amazing. And Oklahoma fans, I know I've been mean today, but the good news is you have Kerry and you have Eddie Radosevich and you have George Stoya and you have the most wonderful people covering the Sooners for you.

And they will be getting to the bottom of all this stuff as Oklahoma gets ready to go play Auburn, which I think is a very interesting game. I said before the season, this is going to be a pivotal, critical game. I don't necessarily think I thought it was going to be pivotal and critical in that way for Auburn in the, in the particular way it is, but it is.

And Oklahoma, meanwhile, needs this win, needs this one going into the Texas game. Cannot wait. Ari will pick that game on Monday. Talk to everybody then.