College Football Live - Bedlam at Berkley!

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

Jen Lada, Desmond Howard, Steve Coughlin and Pete Thamel go live from Cal to continue to prep you for Week 6 of the College Football season! The crew discusses a rematch of last year's national championship game, Clemson's new look offense as well as the big time ACC matchup between Cal and Miami. All that and more on CFB Live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're flying Emirates business class, dining on a world-class menu at 40,000 feet, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. The college football live presented by DirecTV. Miami-facing kids like this you have, the better off we are going to be home of the... Fortinium Memorial Stadium, just a glorious scene. And I am alongside Pete Thammell in Stanford, Steve. And Desmond Howard, I'm Jen Lattah.

So let's talk about that game because that is like why we are here. And it is the Miami Hurricanes taking on the California Bears. Hurricanes are logging those frequent flyer miles this season, guys. They made the 2,574 mile cross-country flight to Berkeley. That's their longest trip of the season. In fact, the more than 5,000 mile round trip for this trip is the most for any single domestic FBS game this season minus Hawaii, which this is old hat for at this point. Miami's 11,517 miles in the air this year

puts them third in the ACC. Only Cal will top them with 20,660 miles. So guys, we've got to start with that travel because that will be a storyline. Desmond, how much does the travel from South Florida to California affect this team? Yeah, me and the Canes have traveled very far for this game. I live in Miami, too.

I think the travel is kind of overblown. I spoke to some people who made the trip with the Keynes, and they came in yesterday. They had practice before they came in. These guys are young. They can get acclimated to the time change. I think they're in high spirits right now. The only problem I used to have was like when you have a late game,

the anxiety of waiting for that game to come. I think so Saturday may be a little more difficult as far as just waiting for that game than just then, to me, the actual travel to get. here. There is more familiarity with the quarterback facing Cal than there is for most ACC matchups that Cal will have this year. What do you expect from Cam Ward? Well, with all the coffered tree alignment, Cam Ward being at Wazoo last the last two years than playing Cal and Coach Wilcox has familiarity with what Cam Ward has done. They force them in some bad

situations. Six turnovers, seven sacks, a win and a loss to Cam Ward. The biggest factor in this different, the biggest difference though is Miami's offensive line is a heck of a lot better than the offensive lines that Cam had in Pullman. So that's what you've got to rely on. When your offensive line is the strength of the team, you're going to come into a wild atmosphere. You've got to be able to rely on that offensive line. You got Damien Martinez, too, in the back field.

Absolutely. And Desmond, you wanted to talk about the maturity and the patience and how that will be tested in this matchup. Yeah, I think when you look at this Cal defense, I mean, they're one of the most outstanding defenses in the conference. I love what they bring. They have, of their 11 starters, nine of those guys are seniors. So they are a mature group.

They've played a lot of snaps together. And you watch them play, like they're always in sync. You don't see a guy out of position or anything like that. And they very, very rarely give up explosives. So they're going to make Cam Ward and Miami Hurricane's offense earn every yard that they get. A lot of people paying attention to Jaden Ott as well, Pete. What do you expect from him? Well, the Calgary is certainly paying attention to him.

If you heard the song, running it shifty, running it swiftly. Well, honestly, Jaden Ot hasn't done that yet. He's been hampered by a sprained knee. He's only averaged 3.3 yards of carry. That's two yards of carry less when he was running and inspiring all those lyrics. But the by week has been very helpful to Jaden Ott. I've been told that he's looked as good as he has

in his career this last week in practice. Look for him to go OTT. There you did. He was showing everyone that video, by the Chappell Rone Ode to Jaden Ott. Ward went one in one, as you mentioned, at Wazoo. He accounted for seven touchdowns, Guys, he had six turnovers, including a backbreaking interception last year.

Obviously, he will try to clean that up as they take the field tomorrow. Let's go to a Heisman update, which is brought to you by Nissan. Look who it is, Cam Ward. He has a nation leading 18 past touchdowns. Jalen Milro also no surprise on this list. He leads all quarterbacks with eight rushing touchdowns, while two-way star Travis Hunter leads the Big 12 in receiving touchdowns. And let's not forget about Ashton Genti.

He's been tearing it up the smurf turf with 13 rushing touchdowns this season. Pete, we always go to you for the top stories of the weekend. Where should we start? Well, let's start with Florida State Clemson, where I think when we were this summer, we thought we'd be in Tallahassee this week and not in Berkeley. The Brock Glenn era will begin a quarterback. DJ Owee Ungle, with that broken finger,

is going to be out for an extended period of time. We'll see Brock Glenn. When we last saw him as a starting quarterback, it didn't look great. He was 8 to 21 against Louisville and ACC title game last year. 9 of 26 against Georgia in that disastrous orange bull for FSU. Look for Brock Glenn with a full week of practice as the starter to get rolling. For South Carolina this week, they get two key players back.

Both Rocket Sanders, the tailback, and Lenora Sellers, the quarterback are probable to play against Old Miss. Obviously, Sellers heard himself in the first half of that LSU game. Sanders heard himself in the Akron game. He was spot on this island of boot. They're both probable and ready to go this week against Old Miss. And then some breaking news today for Northwestern, tailback Cam Porter, who's the best player on the Northwestern roster.

He missed the Washington game last week. He had a lower body injury he was dealing with. He is back. He's averaging 5.3 yards or carry. Look, if the Wildcats are going to beat Indiana, who comes in 5 and 0, they're not going to hang 52 on them. They've got to grind out the clock, and they need Cam Porter to do what he's done his entire career at Northwestern, grind things out.

Yeah, but Indiana is having a heck of a season, man. Are they going to be a tough team to slow down? We are just getting started on college football live, including how the 12th man, you're familiar with that energy, right? How it will affect the unbeaten Mizzou Tigers? Luther Burden, can he hold up in that SEC environment? I guess we'll find out. Plus, Steve's giving us the best of his best bets of the week

as he takes you into his week six gambling guide. Can't wait to hear that when college football live rolls on. This Heisman Update is brought to you by Nissan. Premier partner of the Heisman Trophy. College Football Live is presented by DirecTV. All your entertainment, nothing on your roof.

Stream Direct TV satellite free. ABC College Football Triple Header. Number nine, Missouri is in College Station, squaring off against number 25, Texas, A&M. That game is at noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Then number five, Georgia looks to bounce back after Saturday nights lost to Alabama, hosting Auburn in the Deep South's oldest rivalry. And then we cap the night with number four Tennessee taking on Arkansas. All three games are available on the ESPN app so you can watch them anywhere.

All right, guys, we have some big games going on this week. What is much watch in your mind, Desmond? I think the Michigan versus Washington game, Michigan on the road for the first time this year traveling all the way to watch them. People are saying a rematch a national championship game in logos only. Whole teams have looked very different. Both head coaches have moved on to bigger jobs. And obviously, you have a Michigan team that wants to run the ball. They've established themselves as a running offense thus far this season.

Last week, you saw Rutgers run the ball a lot against Washington. I expect the same in this matchup, too. I'm looking at Iowa and Ohio State in Columbus. I'm just wondering how Iowa is going to score. When you look at what Cade McNamara has done against two power four opponents, he's thrown for 62 yards in one game and 99 yards in the other game.

If Ohio State gets ahead in this game, I just think it could turn into a track meet. And I don't like the matchup for Iowa. They have to be able to run the football. They've done that, but they haven't played the prowess and the talent that Ohio State has on the field. Well, I'm looking at the Clemson Florida State matchup,

and all of a sudden we have Clemson running a good, Go-Go offense. We haven't seen this out of Clemson in a few years. Cade Clubnik has 12 touchdowns and one interception since that opener against Georgia. They scored 45 in the first half against NC State. He's 58 of 81 in the last three games. This is why they went and hired Garrett Riley two years ago. It's finally starting to come to fruition.

And in Tallahassee, we'll see again if the Tigers can keep it rolling. Yeah, you mentioned Brock Glenn earlier in the show. Only 17 completions in those two starts. They have really struggled to move the ball with him on. under center needs to get that taken care of if they're going to win this game. Let's go to today's road test presented by Goodyear. Missouri has been great away from their Memorial Stadium. We are at Cal Memorial Stadium, but at their Memorial Stadium, when they are away, they are 21 and 11.

Their three-game win streak on the road is tied for second longest in the SEC. Currently a two and a half point underdog against Texas A&M. Steve, we went to Texas A&M recently. We know about how formidable 12th month. man can be. What do you expect from wide receiver Luther Burden? Well, he has to get as many touches as possible. He's their best playmaker. But with that, there's a couple things. You have Brady Cook, who has not played as well as he did last year, consistently throwing the ball, decision-making on third down. But the biggest factor in this game is how does that Missouri offensive line

handle the 12th man in their first road game? It's October, right? It's October. Missouri's playing their first road game. As you said, we were there and they've been great at home. You You know, fell behind against Boston College, tight game against Vanderbilt. This is a whole different animal. That offensive line has to be on the same page in this game. I agree with you 100%. We were there for the Notre Dame game. Coming to that game, we're like, okay, how's Notre Dame's offensive line going to deal with the noise of the 12th man?

You think about the same thing with Missouri and their offensive line. Not only the 12th man, but there's a guy named Nick Skorton who plays defensive line for the Aggies. Who is just an absolute beast. He's destructive. He's disruptive. they're going to have to deal with him. Once you get over the noise, how are you going to deal with the Aggies front seven,

especially that defensive line? So that's much more of a concern for me than the actual noise. Well, from the big picture in this game, there's an air of ambiguity right now hanging over the quarterback situation in A&M. Since that opener, Connor Wegman, has been a game time decision. He's been listed as questionable, and that's again the case this week going in.

Marcel Reed came out of the gate on fire against Florida. He's been a little uneven in the last two weeks. They only had 297 total yards against Arkansas. With Wegman getting better in a buy next week, a decision will be looming for Mike Elko. We'll see if that decision comes tomorrow if Wegman's health has improved significantly or we'll see if that decision comes after the buy. But it's really interesting. If it is read today, it's a huge audition going into the buy.

No doubt. They will have to show their cards at quarterback eventually when Wegman is healthy. Missouri's 8-game win streak is tied with Army for the longest active win streak in the country. We talked a moment ago about the line in this one. Two and a half point underdogs against Texas A&M. That brings us to your gambling guide for this week. Yeah, we've been doing it all right.

We've got a special deal out there now. Yeah, come on. We touched on him in the highs been talking at the beginning of the show. There is a prop on him now for rush yards against Utah State. The number is 191 yards. Utah State is

115th in Rush Yards Rush yards allowed per game last in total defense. I expect Ashton Genti to go over that number. He's a big. I mean, and I don't expect it anymore, any less here. That's the big. So I expect big things for Boise State as they trek towards that big game with UNLB coming up.

All right, Kent State is not playing this week. We've gone against Kent State. And now who else can we go against? It's Ball State. The only team worse than Ball State in the country. country in total defense and points defense is ball state. Western Michigan has played some good competition. We're going to lay the 10 points with Western Michigan. They're one and three, but we're going to lay the 10 points with them. And then we touched out earlier Georgia Tech. This

one seems fishy to me, guys. Duke undefeated. You're right, had a great win against North Carolina. Now they're going to Georgia Tech and they're getting nine and a half points. Somebody knows something that I'm not going to try and figure out. So I'm going to lay the nine and a half with Georgia Tech in that game against the undefeated Duke Blue Devils. And this is one of those things you don't like to talk about that you have been doing really well this season. So I know that there's people are making a lot of money.

But the number's nine and a half. Okay, I just want to make sure. Okay. All right. Oh, you got to get the math. You got to get the calculator out. I'm just saying, brother. I'm not sniffing a super dog here who can say.

Coming up on college football live, obviously Georgia, coming off a very tough loss to Alabama last week. They take on Auburn this week in the deep south's oldest rivalry. We'll break down that matchup right after this. You're watching college football live, presented by DirecTV. Black Friday is here at IKEA, and the clock is ticking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials. All the little and big things you need to make this season shine.

But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our. Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca slash Black Friday. IKEA. Bring home to life. College Football Live is presented by DirecTV. All your entertainment, nothing on your roof. Stream Direct TV, satellite free.

Make sure you join us 6 a.m. Pacific, 9 a.m. Eastern. Marshawn Lynch, the guest picker for our big show. Let's take a look at today's player to watch, you by today's military. Georgia D.B. Malachi Starks is looking to rebound this week against a struggling Auburn offense. Since 2022, Starks has six interceptions, just a 48% completion rate when targeted. Listen to this. The last time he faced the Tigers, Auburn quarterback Peyton Thorne threw his way just once,

resulting in a pick. All right, so obviously, Georgia coming off with that tough boss to Alabama. It was the game of the year, the game of the century, perhaps Desmond. What do you need to see from Georgia in a bounce back effort? Well, I want to see is a faster start. They go off to a slow start against Clemson, score was just 6 to 0 at half. And obviously last week,

it's like they were sleepwalking through the first half against Alabama. So I think at this point, we need to see them get off to a faster start. Carson Beck said he's not into moral victories, that he was happy when he saw the way his team and himself, how they responded in the second half. But they were so disappointed that they came up short. To me, the takeaway is, why don't you get off to a faster start? And I think we may see that tomorrow against Auburn.

Well, it was a tale of two halves. They were a different team in the first half. Just on the offensive side. The defense got put in a bunch of tough situations, but they didn't step up. At Malachi's Stark, that might have been the worst game I've seen him playing his career. And he's been incredible for them. So now you come back home, you really found something I thought with the past game. I thought they exposed Alabama's secondary.

But when you think about Lockett and Arient Smith, and Dylan Bell, you've got to get those guys the ball. I mean, they abandoned the run game because they were behind so much. Carson found himself in that second half. So I think, like you said, the onus on what you did well against Alabama, you should be able to do it well against Auburn, knowing the struggles they've had on both sides of the ball. So, yeah, the onus on the start and just doing what you did well in that game.

They maybe get the run game going with the freshmen and how they have that going. But get back home, get comfortable. and I'm sure Kirby got his team's attention. Good news for Starks and Company. They won't have to worry about a 17-year-old Ryan Williams this weekend, yes, correct. And really, I think the key to Georgia's defense, taking some momentum off their good second half,

is going to be how Mikel Williams plays. He's Georgia's star defensive end. He and Starks are the two best defensive players on the Bulldogs. They're both high, high-end draft prospects. He's been dealing with a leg injury. He was the story of the game in warm-ups last week, Jen. Everyone was following him, and look, he looked great in warm-ups. He was moving like he was going in the combine.

By the end of the second quarter, you could see that leg dragging a little bit. You could see the adrenaline wore off and he was in some pain. He ended up playing 22 snaps in that game and he had one TFL. So effective but selective in how they used him. So he has gone from a questionable to probable, but I've been told to expect the same thing from situational and they're going to see what they can get out of him, but it's probably going to be limited snaps again for Mikel Williams,

which is a big deal for Georgia's defense. The other thing I was going to say about on the other side, you have Auburn. You had as bad of a September as you could possibly have. Cal went there and won. They started out with five home games, and they're two and three. Quarterback, you know, drama going on. They got to come out with a good effort.

I mean, because this one, if Georgia comes out like you did in the second half, it's going to get ugly and there's going to be a lot of fingers being pointed at Auburn. All right. We've got action tonight, so let's take a look at the games that we'll be going on on Friday. Let's start with Jacksonville State at Kennesaw State. Pete, I'll start with you. What should we be paying attention to? Points, points, points, and more.

points. Jacksonville State is allowing 37 points a game. Kennesaw is allowing 29.3, but they also run an offense that doesn't let you score a lot on the other end because they hog the ball. I think the ball is going to be flying around tonight. Look for Rich Rod to go in his bag of tricks. They're one in three Jacksonville. Kennesaw State is 0 and 4. There's going to be an air of desperation in the fall air there. No doubt. Kennesaw State's still looking for that FBS win. They've been close to start the season, had a bunch of road trips in the middle. one thing I know about this game and these two teams involved, Rich Rod knows how to coach some offense, Jacksonville State. And my little brother, Jermaine, he lives in Kennesaw.

He told me that the team is ready for this game, so I think they're going to come out Victoria. They'll get their first victory. That's right. Let's go. We go to Houston at TCU. What will you be watching for? Houston, we have a problem.

It's your offense. It is the worst in college football. They are scoring 10.4 points per game. That's not something we're used to at a Houston, which traditionally has a wide open offense. We're not used to that out of Willie Fritz, who's one of the best football coaches for the last couple decades we've seen in college football.

There's a personnel issue there. This is an opportunity for TCU to get some momentum. They obviously gave away that game against UCF, and that program really hasn't found its footing since they played in the national title game. So look for TCU to have an authoritative statement against Houston tonight. TCU also has to try and get things better on the defensive side.

You know, how bad they've been on that side, and now you mentioned they get Houston, who's really struggled on offense. TCU's offense has been, I mean, they've got to be at the top of the Big 12 when you watch them. Total contrast of styles. Houston's just going to want to stay in the game. I think TCU takes care of business.

I'm going to TCU. I've liked them this season. I've been high on TCU. I think TCU wins big. Michigan State, Oregon, Pete. Well, we've got a note on Nick Marsh. Remember, he had the breakout game with nine catches, a buck 60 yards.

When Michigan State went and beat Maryland, It was one of the best freshman singular performances of the season as a receiver. He's been banged up. He only played about 20 snaps against Ohio State last week. I was told he's been full going to start tonight in Eugene, and they're expecting him to regain some form if they're going to have a chance against the ducks. Don't get caught looking ahead with the Buckeyes coming to Eugene. Oregon, get out of this game, injury free,

and you have everything you wanted that you had a goal for at the start of the season, Oregon Big. Yeah, I can't believe we're picking this game. I thought maybe we were picking against the spread. Jonathan Smith's going back against his rod. Yeah, I'm going, I'm going ducks. I'm going ducks. Syracuse at UNLV. So for Syracuse to win tonight,

there's an onus there to establish themselves on the offensive line. Their center, Gianre Reed, is known as the general. Well, tonight in Vegas, he has to be the pit boss. For Syracuse to win, they need to punch the rebels in the mouth and really just set and establish that they have the superior talent

to go into Allegiant and win the game. UNLV bottled everything up that was off the field last week and really put on a great performance against Fresno State. But now you have what the offense with Taj Malik is going to look like. I think that helps Syracuse. Syracuse has done a good job in the portal, getting talent on the defensive side. I like Syracuse and the upset here.

Really? Wow. Well, I'm going to UNLV. I just think sometimes we have those off-the-field distractions and something happens with your players. I think that's when the guys rally and they come together. I think that's what we're going to experience. We've seen so far from UNLV.

We saw it last week. I think it continues this week. So I'm going with UNLV for the victory. Good picks for you guys. You know, Desmond was wondering why we were talking about Michigan State at Oregon. Maybe just maybe there's game day implications in that one. It's distinctly possible, right? Thanks very out with us, guys, on College Football Live.

We are sitting in this fantastic environment here at California Memorial Stadium. Game Day gets rocking bright and early, dark and early tomorrow, 6 a.m. local time going to be a show hope to see a lot of you out there thanks for hanging out with us we'll see you next time everybody come on now Steve what your record against good