College Football Live - CFB is BACK, Amen!!!!

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

Host Victoria Arlen is joined by Sam Acho and Tom Luginbill with insider Pete Thamel to discuss day one of Big 12 Media Days. The crew looks at the Ollie Gordan II situation and Oklahoma State's outlook of the season. Plus, expectations for Utah and quarterback Cam Rising, as well as a look into Kansas State's season as favorites to win the Big 12 Championship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With conference realignment in the Big 12 shifting west, so does Media Day. For the first time ever, Las Vegas plays host to the Big 12. And as you can see, they made quite the shiny first impression. Viva, Las Vegas. Welcome into College Football Live. I'm Victoria Arlen. And it is hard to believe that we are just seven weeks away from the start of the college football season. While it was an eventful season with more stories and changes than we have time for today's show,

we're going to start things off in the Big 12 with day one. of Media Day. And with that, we're going to bring in the rest of our team. We've got Sam Acho, Tom Lugan Bill, and we've also got Pete Thamel out in Las Vegas. But before we get to our friends here, we've got our Big 12 storylines to kick things off. Now, after adding four schools for the second straight year, the Big 12 now consists of 16 teams. This year's newcomers hail from the PAC 12, including Colorado, which is back in this conference for the first time since 2010. The league has seen four different champions over the last four seasons with seven different teams playing in the Big 12 title game during that stretch. The conference also sent a team to the playoff the last two seasons.

Now, the race for this year's Big 12 crown is expected to be tight. ESPN analytics project nine schools with at least a 10% chance to make the conference championship with Kansas being the favorite of the bunch. Now another big story in the Big 12 is coming out of Oklahoma State. Their star running back, Ollie Gordon, was arrested last week on suspicion of driving under the influence. He released this statement yesterday. I'm deeply sorry for the actions that led to my arrest on June 30th. I sincerely apologize to my family, everyone in our program, including our players, Coach Gundy, the staff, Oklahoma State University, and our fans.

Regardless of the outcome of this pending investigation, I did not. uphold the values I have for myself and the values of the OSU football program. I'm committed to learning and growing from this mistake and I will work to earn back the trust of those who I have disappointed. Thank you. Here's Coach Gundy earlier today with Pete Sammel. Well, Ollie's very fortunate that he was able to get out of that situation without anybody getting injured, getting hurt. And when they called me the next day, you know, I shared that with Ollie. First thing I said, would anybody get hurt? No, well, you're lucky. you could have hurt somebody else yourself,

and then you deal with that the rest of your life. You know, I have three boys, 29, 23 and 18, 19, and we worry about that all the time. And Ollie's going to play. You know, and I share this with Ali. I said, Ollie, we're in a time where you guys are essentially employees. You guys make lots of money to play this game. It's different than it was five years ago.

And your punishment's going to be facing the facts. That's why we brought him here to do. day. I said you're not going into hiding. You're going to face the music. You're going to have to stand up and talk to people and answer questions. And hopefully more than football, you can learn from the situation you've been in. Because if not, then we have a real issue. But he's going to play. And I'm going to do what I think, what we think is best for Oklahoma State football. And I think it's best for Ollie to play. If there's any punishment, it's make him carry the ball 50 times in the first game. He's on a shorter leash right now, unfortunately, because I understand young people,

we all make mistakes, but if we don't learn from those, then it's not really good. So we've had several conversations. We'll have more over the next month. I think that he understands how serious that situation was, and hopefully he can learn from it and move forward. Sam, what are your thoughts on Coach Gundy's words on Ollie Gordon? Well, I agree with Coach Gundy, especially with the fact that no one got hurt. This situation could have been extremely worse if someone would have been injured in that, in an accident. And so the fact that no one got hurt is a big deal. But part two is you can't rely on someone not getting hurt for you to be okay or to be not culpable.

And so for me, I think Ali Gordon has to learn from this mistake, part one. But part two, I also listen to Mike Gundy and said, hey, he's going to get the ball. Ali Gordon is going to be our bell cow for our team. And so yes, no one got hurt, but don't rely on that being your answer or your excuse moving forward. Yeah, Sam, you know, he talks about making choices and there's going to be consequences for those choices. And I love the fact that he brought him to Big 12 media days and said, hey, you're going to stand up on that podium. And you're going to now answer the bell. And we talk about being very fortunate that nobody got hurt.

Also very fortunate. Nobody got killed. And I think that, you know, this is a great opportunity for Ollie Gordon to grow up a little bit, understand the responsibility and the accountability that comes with who you are now as a college football player, the exposure that surrounds you. And I could not have phrased any better what Mike Gundy just stated right there. I thought that was a fantastic response because it is centered around accountability and being able to be responsible for your actions. I think definitely starting first and foremost that nobody got hurt or like you said,

nobody got killed and that accountability is key. And so we're going to shift gears to Ollie Gordon as a player. Lug's last year at this time, Ollie Gordon's name was flying a bit under the radar. But now everyone knows his name and knows what he did last season. So what was the turning point for him last year? It was following the blowout loss at home to South Alabama. And leading up to that game, Oklahoma State could not run the football. They were not a very good football team in the offensive line.

And following that game, Mike Dundee brought his staff in and essentially pounded his fist on the table and says, guys, we're going to feed Ali Gordon the football. But we're going to have to do it in a different way. This has been traditionally a zone, split zone team. and they said, wait, we got to start doing some things that can help out our offensive line too, angle blocks, down blocks. So they went to more of a gap scheme, counter, power. And next thing you know, everything just started to explode.

And he became this bell cow. And in doing so, the defense got better. All of a sudden, not as much pressure on quarterback, Alan Bowman. And so I think the one thing going into this season is there's no secret anymore. Oklahoma State, Ali Gordon, this offense is not sneaking up on anybody. But this was a coaching decision and a really good one by Mike Gundy following that loss in South Alabama. I would even say a great coaching decision.

Why? Because after that change after week three, Ollie Gordon went on to win the Doak Walker Award for the nation's best running back. Talked about those first three games. I think he had a total of 19 carries. Well, game four against Iowa State, he had 18 carries for over 100 yards and 100 yards again the next week. Then 200, 200, nearly 300. He went off.

And so teams could not stop him. Why? not only because of his size, but he got stronger as the games went on. It seems as if the teams who were facing him were growing weaker, weary, and more tired, and he kept on getting better as not only the season went on, but as each individual game went on. And so Ali Gordon's going to be how this team wins or loses. He's going to be the bell cow to Tom's point for this offense,

and the defense will lean on him if he can keep the ball in the offense's hands. But Sam, how do you see the defense is changing? Yeah, I think it'll be a big change. So specifically for this, if I'm a defender who's going to play Oklahoma State, I know now that Ali Gordon is going to be the star of this team. You heard Mike Gundy just say I'm going to give him the ball 50 times. And so what happens is this. Instead of, let's say you run a three, four defense, three defensive linemen,

two outside linebackers and two inside linebackers, really four linebackers. You might actually change your defense at a new defense and maybe put four defensive linemen. We used to call it the 40 defense. Four defensive linemen. So four big guys, two outside linebackers, one inside linebackers. one inside lineback or maybe even two and have less corners on the field or maybe one less safety on the field. Why? So you can load up the box and not let Ollie Gordon beat you. Let anyone else beat you, but not Ollie Gordon. Nope, Ollie Gordon for sure. And he is expected to speak

today at approximately 5.30 Eastern. Now, Oklahoma State is one of the few mainstays in this conference. As it stands now, exactly half of the Big 12 will have joined within the last year, plus from the American Pact 12 and independent ranks. It's a new look for the league. Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark spoke earlier today, and here's what he had to say. We've got 16 great coaches. We've got a lot of star power.

You know, when you think about the quarterbacks, you think about the running backs. Many of our programs have been building over the last couple of years. So I think it's only natural and appropriate for us to think that way right now. We were a very deep conference last year, but we got deeper, not with the Four Corner Schools. So I'm expecting great things from our schools this year. I think last year we underperformed a little bit, candidly.

I don't expect that to be the case this year. Every week will matter, and as I said earlier, November, we will brand the month as a race to a championship because I think it's going to be really tight this year, and it will take until towards the end of the season for us to determine who will show up at AT&T Stadium for that championship game. Every week will matter indeed. Now, Pete, with no Texas, no Oklahoma,

what's been the feeling around day one of the Big 12 Media Day? Well, Victoria, talking to coaches here today and Big 12 officials and the Raiders Stadium, they channeled Al Davis. Just win, baby. They need to win marquee non-league games. West Virginia needs to beat Penn State in the opening weekend. Colorado needs to go make a great showing at Nebraska in September. One thing to watch and one thing of

officials told me they had some hesitation about is Kansas State hosts Arizona in week three in a non-league game. It had been scheduled years in advance when they were in different leagues. You have to wonder if that, with those teams being contenders for the college football playoff, if that non-league matchup giving one of their contenders an extra loss comes back to bite the Big 12 at the end of the year. They'll both be saying just win, baby. Now, Sam, now that Texas and OU are gone, which team do you feel as best equipped to be? become the new face of the Big 12th. I think it's Kansas State.

And the reason why is not only did they win a Big 12 championship just a few years back, but this team was number two in scoring offense behind Oklahoma. There were number two in scoring defense behind Texas. The two teams that they were behind are both gone now. And so not only that, they're also returning who was a freshman phenom, Avery Johnson. He had five passing touchdowns, seven rushing touchdowns. This dude is a, is an animal. He's a beast.

He's a freak. Pick a name. That's what he is. So you have him coming back, 19-year-old dominant force, along with a team that knows how to win. Ooh, just winning. You know, Sam, there's a variety of ways to answer this question, and I'm going to look at it from a what world we're living in perspective. And I'm going to go with Texas Tech because when you take a look at the name image and likeness structure, the collective, whether it's boosters, alumni, support, facilities, upgrades, stadium enhancements, what they have happening right now in Lubbock. That is a program that is prined to take the next step.

So we're in a different era of college football right now. And I think Texas Tech has put themselves in a position to be in the driver's seat. I think both teams have continued to put themselves in positions to just win baby. All right, I'm done. I swear, I promise. All right, we've got so much more coming your way on college football live. We'll hear from Utah head coach Kyle Winningham. And Luggs tells us how Cam Rising could lead Utah in their first big conference push.

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Utah comes over to the Big 12 after winning two of the last three Pac-12 championships. Since 2014, the youths have been ranked in 44 of the 60 CFP polls the most of any team without a playoff appearance. Kyle Winningham returns for his 20th season as Utah's head coach. He's tied with Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy as the second long. 10-year FBS coach at one school, trailing only Iowa's Kirk Farrants. And after missing all of last season with a knee injury, quarterback Cameron Rising is back for his seventh collegiate season, rising ranked six nationally in total QBR as Utah's starter from 2021 to 2022. Head coach Kyle Wittingham caught up with our Pete Thammell moments ago.

What do you expect for Utah coming into the Big 12, Kyle? Well, first of all, great opportunity for us. We're elated to be in a conference. And we've got a pretty good roster coming in this year. So we think we can be competitive right away. But we're excited about the new opportunity, new challenge. And really for me and the point in my career that I'm at, it's a re-energizer. Yeah, yeah.

Last year, your offense was really bit with the injury butt. Obviously, Cam Rising made the headlines, but you lost Brank Keithy for the season. You lost Micah Pittman. You lost Micah. Your tailback. I'm just curious, Kyle. What can this offense do if healthy this year?

Well, with Cam back and quarterback, that gives us a great start right. Brand Keehee is back 100%. So those are two really dynamic players. We've added some receivers on the outside that we're really excited about. Offensive line should be solid, and the tight ends of running backs are going to be doing their things. So we think we have a chance to be a very good offense once again.

No team in college football has been ranked more in the CFP rankings and not made the CFP. The UTS are I think 44 weeks ranked. What opportunity does the 12-team playoff afford you, Kyle? Huge opportunity. It's great to be able to accomplish it on the field without having some committee have to vote you in. And so we're big fans of the 12-team expansion, and we're looking forward to competing for one of those spots. There's so much new in this league right now, Kyle.

You're learning a lot about the different programs and the different leagues. What do you think, how will this league ultimately be judged in terms of you mentioned earning the playoff bid, which the champion will obviously get. What does this league have to prove in order to get multiple bids and prove it as one of the top leagues in college football? Well, I think when you get to the playoffs, when you get it? You can't just get there. You want to get there and show up and be very competitive. And I think that really will be the key. How we fare when we do get to the playoffs, what can we accomplish?

With Rising returning, it's no surprise that Utah was picked first in the Big 12 preseason media poll. They're the only former Pac-12 team in the top four. Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Kansas rounded out the top tier. Now, Lug, what are the expectations for Utah? Well, when you got a seventh year starter, a quarterback coming back, and you're probably going to be the most physical defense in the entire league. That's a great leg up as you enter into the Big 12. I think that's the one thing about Utah that has always impressed me is they will physically bloody your nose for all four quarters of the game. But I think in July, particularly this time of year, when we start prognosticating about what may or may not happen. You have to start with the schedule. It's about who you play, where you play, and when you play. Now, take a look at the schedule for Utah. And look at the familiarity early, Southern Utah, Utah State, and then Arizona and Arizona State, a lot of familiarity there. And then look at who they do not play. No Kansas, no Kansas State.

This is a really good looking schedule. And also, no Texas Tech. That last game against UCF on the road on November 29th, I think could be intriguing. So they are coming in with a favorable schedule, a defense, as I mentioned, And if the quarterback in Cam Rising can prove to stay healthy, they are going to be a very, very difficult team to deal with weekend and week out. Yeah, but that's a big if. Because remember last year around this time, Lug's,

we were talking about Cam Rising. Maybe he'll come back. Maybe he won't. Last year he didn't play the entire season, which led to this offense being one of the worst ranked passing offenses in the entire college football and the entire nation. And so without a healthy Cam Rising could prove extremely detrimental to this offense, part one.

But part two, to your point, easy, But that's September 21st game against Oklahoma State. I think it's going to be a true litmus test for this team, for this offense, also for the defense, to see if they can slow down a physical running game with Ollie Gordon. Now, Pete, a lot of this depends on their quarterback Cam Rising, who, of course, is coming back for seventh year of eligibility after missing all of last season with that knee injury. What's the latest on his health status for this upcoming season? Well, Victoria, I can give you two updates from chatting with Cam Rising this morning.

flow is still fabulous going right down to his shoulders. More importantly, more importantly, his knee is fabulous. He told me that he's healthy enough where he doesn't need to wear a brace this season. Obviously, Will Cam Rising play was one of the big stories of last season that lingered all the way through the fall. He decided to take the year off to nurse that knee and he's back. Look, Cam Rising is a stone cold winner. He's 18 and 6 as a starter at Utah. He led them to back-to-back conference titles. And there's a strong feeling around the Utah program, as Luz mentioned, their defense coming back. If Cam Rising is healthy, he can lead them to another conference title, this time a new conference. We love fabulous hair and a fabulous healthy knee. Thank you, Pete. Cam Rising ranks six nationally in total QBR as Utah's started from 2021 to 2021 to 2022.

Now coming up, there's another quarterback in the Big 12 that all eyes will be on. Ocho explains how Avery Johnson's dynamic play erases a lot of potential concerns with that offense. That's next. As a true freshman Kansas State QB, Avery Johnson was crazy good in the Pop-Tart Bowl, earning every bit of that tasty trophy with not one, not two, but three touchdowns, 249 yards, zero turnovers, and game MVP honors. His coach Chris Climmon spoke earlier today on his confidence and competitiveness. Yeah, competitive. For starters, he's one of the best competitors I've been around.

He's going to be the fastest kid on the field all the time. I mean, he's got elite speed, but he throws it much better than people have probably given him credit for, and we're going to see that this year. And just he's a confident kid. He doesn't, he's not an arrogant kid. He's just very confident, and he makes everybody around him better. I've seen it this spring where he's kind of brought wide outs and running backs and tight ends together and kind of led some of the captain's things. He's a true leader, and this is, we're talking about kid that's a true sophomore. So I'm excited because I think his trajectory is just going up.

I also want to add that he has really great hair too. But at 19 years old, with confidence and that competitiveness, Avery Johnson is the highest rated quarterback that Kansas State has signed in 20 years. Now, Luke, can you give us a scouting report with just how good this guy really is? Well, absolutely. He was our third ranked quarterback in the 2023 class, a true dual threat. You heard Chris Climman say it right there. He's going to be the fastest guy on the field.

And I would also agree with him. We had him down in the Under Armour All-America game. I had a chance to spend a week with him. He is a deceptively good passer. But where he really excels is when things aren't perfect. Now, why is that important? It's important because that's the position on the field for Kansas State on offense that they're having to revamp the offensive line.

So Avery Johnson can mask some of those growth pains because of his feet, because of his legs, continues to make good decisions, and he grows. And I love how coach mentioned how he makes everybody else better. Pete, what about you? What's your scouting report on, A. Thanks, Victoria. I'm out on the flow beat here in Vegas. Avery Johnson obviously has a great flow. It was interesting talking to Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire today. Every Johnson had five touchdown runs against Texas Tech last year. And McGuire said he gives you nightmares. He also threw a bit of shade at Will Howard, this quarterback who transferred from Kansas State to Ohio State. And he basically said the reason that Will Howard transferred was because he wasn't going to be the starting quarterback at Kansas State next year. It was set as a compliment to Avery Johnson, who could be one of the faces of college football by the end of this season.

And not only a face, but also a name, a name that every college football fan needs to know. If you don't know the name Avery Johnson yet, now's the time to get that name on your radar. Wow, we talked about it, five rushing touchdowns, all on designed quarterback runs last year versus Texas Tech. He had seven rushing touchdowns on the season, most by any freshman. And then he also had five passing touchdown. So what makes him so hard to defend is that he's not just a runner. He's actually going to move in the pocket, make it look like he's going to run,

and then dump the ball downfield. And so that's the true definition of a dual threat quarterback. He can do it all. And that's what makes it hard on defenders to try and stop, slow down, or try to figure out how to keep Avery Johnson from going off on your defense. Well, you know, I think it's going to be interesting to see. He could very well be the face of the Big 12, so we shall see. All right, for Pete, Sam and Lugues, I'm Victoria Arlen.

We're going to be back with more Big 12 Media Day tomorrow with college football live at 3 Eastern on ESPN 2. Thanks for hanging, guys. Hey, Victoria, is your wrist okay? No, we're on injured reserved here. Yeah. I can't. Guys, I can't do a football today. Whatever.

Tomorrow, who knows what color is. Play through injuries, play through the pain. We're just, I'm trying to accessorize it, you know. It is what it is. All right. We'll be back tomorrow. We got pink tomorrow. I'm going to wear the pink one tomorrow.

All right.