College Football Live - CFB LIVE - CHASING A CHAMPIONSHIP

Episode Date: August 13, 2026

The Indiana Hoosiers won it all last season, while everyone else fell short. Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Dusty Dvoracek, Sam Acho and Pete Thamel as they breakdown what went wrong for other National Title contenders. Have the Georgia Bulldogs lost their luster? Can Ohio State replace in a defense that produced 7 draft picks? Rece Davis sits down with Mario Cristobal to talk about his recent success in Miami, while the guys give their picks for a coach who can flip the script this season. All this and more on College Football Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Championship match, a very few could have foreseen. The last two teams standing in the center of the ring fight for this championship, just throwing punches and taking punches from each other. It has determined that they're going to go for this. He's going to take up and we're diving toward the end zone. To come out ahead in this game was a lot of guts. I give Miami a lot of credit.

They played really hard. Took some chances, found a way. Let me tell you, we won the national championship at Indiana University. The Indiana Hoosiers are the kings of college football. You know, in the annals of unlikely outcomes, even with seven or eight months of hindsight, it's hard to find in apt comparison. In chasing the champs is the theme of college football live.

Pete Dammell is here. Sam and Dusty are there. And speaking of there, we're going to start with teams that are right there so close to nipping in Indiana's heels, but haven't quite gotten it done. Georgia probably fits the bill better than every. anybody. In one of the wildest playoff games we've seen since the inception of the playoff, they lose to Ole Miss. People are starting to wonder after the last two playoff appearances for the Bulldogs what exactly is going on. You know Indiana is trying to go back

to back. The last team in college football, to go back to back, of course, was Georgia. But if you kind of take a look at what's happened since 21, 22, the scoring is down. And they have really, in some ways, by a relative level, come back to the pack in just a little way. Now, the question is, what can they do to sort of get back? Everybody starts a new in this new portal NIL era. So let's start with you and Georgia and what their fans need to be thinking about as they want to get back to the top. Well, Zubin, the reason why the SEC is in this slump, if you will, and Georgia hasn't won the national title since they went back to back is really simple. In modern college football now, you can't stock five stars anymore.

So if Georgia is going to win, the Bulldogs are going to rely on puppies. They have 68 players that are in their first and second season. So there's Gunner Stockton who we know. Nate Frazier coming at tailback. Ellis Robinson great in the backfield. But they are going to have to rely on a lot of quality young talent in order to win. A guy like Elijah Griffin, a five-star defensive tackle who starred last year as all SEC is a freshman. He's going to have to step up and be one of those creatures Georgia's had inside in order to push on

and reclaim themselves in the SEC at the top of the sport. All right. And if we're talking about puppies, then some of these dogs are barked, but not as much bite. Here's what I mean by that. It seems that Georgia has lost its luster. I was at the Sugar Bowl last year when Ole Miss beat Georgia and they were going back and forth and back and forth, punch, counter

punch, punch, counterpunch. Games like that usually Georgia comes out on top. They have a big time play. Maybe it's a fake punt. Maybe it's an onside kick like they did versus Texas in the regular season. But this time, Ole Miss was able to recover and they countered to every single punch, not just offensively but defensively as well. But I also

was at Georgia Sugar Bowl last year with a Notre Dame game. Similar story. Georgia has this big lore, but it's not like they're coming back to the center. It seems like everyone else is catching up to Georgia. Look, Georgia is still the team to beat in the SEC, back-to-back SEC championships. But for me, it's the defensive side of the football. And they won back-to-back national championships. They were the dominant defense in college football.

And if you zoom out, then everything looks good. Number 10 overall defense in the country, number four rush defense. If you zoom in, there's a problem. They've got to be better creating negative. plays. They were bad last year, as bad as they've been in Kirby Smart, and sacks, pressure weight, well below what we're custom to see and terrible in tackles for loss. One of the number one defensive stats you can have is to create a negative play. It throws off an offense's possession, and it really puts them in a bad spot. When you go look at that old miss loss, it wasn't the

offense. They put up 34. It was the inability to get to Trinidad Chambers. 26% pressure rate was the third worst they had all season. I totally agree with. Pete. The puppies have to step up. That is Elijah Griffin. Zayden Walker, who was the number one outside linebacker just a season ago. And as somewhat of a veteran, Chris Cole. These guys have to do a better job, creating

those negative plays and harassing opposing quarterback. Here's the coded to the whole conversation, and Dusty, you mentioned that they've won the SEC in back-to-back years. He defeated Alabama and Texas to do it, no less. And that used to be the arbiter. It's not the arbiter anymore. The arbiter for Ohio State is simple, right?

Defeat. Michigan, win the national championship. Well, they did one, didn't do the other. We're going to have Mario Cristobal join us in just a little bit to talk about the Miami freight train and what they did in the playoff a year ago. But the bottom line is a lot of people were shocked at the way Miami ran Ohio State off the field in that game. But Ohio State's ready to run it back, left to right. They have a Heisman finalist, the best player in the sport, and anytime your roster is somebody named Bo Jackson, you're generally in good shape. Here's new Ohio State offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, on the guys that'll be opening holes for Bo Jackson.

We've got a lot of guys that can play. And then things come up. I mean, you want the same five, you know, because that chemistry, that's certainly every coach's goal. But you've got to have contingency plans. I mean, you're playing a long season, the same thing as the NFL. You've got to have depth. And we've got to guys nicked up here and there.

So if they miss a practice, it's an opportunity for another guy or a guy to show he can play multiple positions. But they've been very impressed, especially on the inside. You know, guys have been moving around. It's a great competition everywhere. All right. This is only a joke, Dusty, you'll get. I love.

Yeah, no, I just want to mention, just be a fly on the wall here, Dusty, and let me know about the offensive line under Arthur Smith. Yeah, I love those comments from Arthur Smith, and it really echoes a lot of what Ryan Day's been saying. This could be one of the better offensive lines they've had in Columbus in a while, and especially there on the interior, Montgomery, Saraville, and Hensman.

these guys are going to play on Sundays, and they're going to be opening up big holes. And I think they brought in Arthur Smith for a reason. When you go back to the national championship season with Chip Kelly, they ran the football so effectively, two 1,000-yard rushers that they had on that offense. And they got away from that a little bit last season. This is who Arthur Smith is.

He brings that pro-style stretch zone running attack to the table with a physical attacking style. And when you go back and look in last season, the Big Ten championship, It was multiple short-yarded situations. They couldn't get that push. They couldn't rely on that physical running game. I think they get back to that this season.

I think Bo Jackson has a big year. We know that this passing attack is going to be incredibly explosive, Pete. But I think up front, they now will rely on this offensive line and this rushing attack to get them over the hump and back in position where they were two years ago. And, Dusty, you know who else needs to run the ball? Julian Say and does. Look, they're not going to ask him to be Terrell Proff. or Braxton Miller, but he needs to have the ability, the innate ability, to go get some

tough yards, third and short. He needs to have the intuitive sense to maybe run the ball when he's flushed out of the pocket. Julian Seyen completed 77% of his passes last year. Zuban, that was the third highest mark in the history of college football. He has Jeremiah Smith. He has freshman Chris Henry. He has freshman Brock Boyd who's been the buzz of camp. What they need out of Julian Seyan now is to use these 215 pounds.

He showed up there. He was a few burritos south of 190, all right? Julian's saying has filled in and he needs to play like it. He needs to hop over to the Eastern Town Center, get some more pounds on him. I would tell you, though, he's a high-sman finalist. He's not even the most talked-about guy in the team. It's a great point, Pete. Sam to you, defensively, the Buckeyes, this is just lock and load,

lose a ton of guys on defense to the draft, reload every year. I know you're going to take us through some of the guys they lost and how they're looking to replenish. I don't think it's a lock-and-load year this year. I mean, you lost five guys. in the top two rounds. Three players in the first round, guys like Sonny Stiles, guys like Caleb Downs, who was this

brilliant defensive mind, arguably the best defensive player, the best player in the draft if you want to make that argument. So it's hard to replace that much talent. Arvel Reese is another player. So I understand the offense is said, Jeremiah Smith, Julian saying, but defensively even with Matt Patricia at the helm again,

they're bringing in five new transfers to start on the defensive side of the ball. And so you have to learn a new language, learn a new defense, and you're replacing not just players, who are talented, but also leaders on that defense. That's the concern for me for Ohio State this year. No doubt we mentioned it earlier in the program. Ohio State season ended with a loss to Miami in the playoff.

When College Football Live continues, Reese Davis on the official visit tour with Mario in Miami. He tells Reese the one conversation he and Sabin would never, ever, ever have when they both worked in T-Town. That's when Pete, Dusty, Sam and I return with more college football live. Mysteries unravel and stunning truths are revealed when 2020 investigates. Follow the clues, the evidence, the breaking new details. ABC's 2020 means true murder mystery.

Shocking. If you follow true crime in 2020, then you've got to listen to this. Subscribe now to 2020 True Crime Plus. Add free exclusive true crime content. Search 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts and start for free trial. Terms apply. NFL preseason trifecta on the way to ESPN's Monday night opener in their Super Bowl season, the return of Mahomes likely against the Broncos.

That'll be in September. These three come in this week. You know, on the morning of Friday, October 17th, 2025, Miami woke up as the number two team in the country. By the time they went to sleep that night, Louisville had picked off Carson Beck four times, and it was a foregone conclusion, even to Sebastian the Ivis, Michael Irvin, and Luther Campbell. Same old Keynes. Then a funny thing happened. Miami made the playoff.

They made the title game in their home city and almost won it. As Reese Davis tells us, the third stop of his official visit tour. For Miami, yes, the season may have ended in Miami. With Mario Cristobal, that's actually where it all began. Mario! What's up, man? On your turf.

Welcome to Miami. I'm glad to be here. Casa Cuba. Let's go eat. Man, let's do it, brother. Do you live? Do you live? Do it?

No, no, no, no. That's a Gator Chomp. You can't do that. Wait, okay, do that then. I'll do that. Ready? All right, here we go. What do you like about this place, particularly this restaurant, this neighborhood?

The heritage that comes with it. I mean, a lot of the dishes that they serve are the kind of things I grew up eating. You know, also, it's an opportunity for me to actually speak Spanish. because even though I was born to raise speak in Spanish as I traveled across from a career standpoint, I mean, Coach Saban was not gonna have a conversation in Spanish with me anytime soon. Oh yeah, what is this?

Totonets, you love those plantains. Smash right up. Parolanco, for those Maduro, for all the Padanito, perfect. Very low calorie. I'm sure, you know. There's a reason growing up, all the Cuban kids were playing all.

We're playing O-line and D-Line, mostly O-Line and O-W. How do you think you are perceived differently as a head coach after last season, after what you guys accomplished? I mean, your two plays are drive, a throw away from winning the national championship. I think everyone always recognized what Miami can be, but it's just, I think it's been ruined. You know, the trajectory has been steadily going up. And I think last year was a major breakthrough. You didn't say anything about you. Oh, I couldn't care any less about that kind of stuff.

Duke University and quarterback Derry and Mentsa have agreed to a settlement that lets him out of his contract with the school. This opens the door for him to transfer to Miami. What do you think about some of the criticisms, not just you, because since I'm talking to you, that programs who get players from other ones get, whether coaching, you know, Miami made this offer to this guy, then they got this guy. What do you think about all of that? I think that instead of making noise,

if there's any issues, whatever, there should be change and efforts towards change, but I don't really care much about what other programs do or how they do it. I care about the way we do things and what we do, and we take a lot of pride in that. And that's where it's saying. That's where it ends. You've got to be physical, you've got to be tough, and you've got to get great efforts.

You understand that, man. Yes, sir. When you made the decision, you've come here, looking at it now, hearing you talk about this place, I can't imagine you're making any other decision. As easy as it was, it was also hard for you. Very hard. Come up. You look at the iPod, you're like, oh no.

No, I like our roster over here better, but my brother calls me up and he's dropping all kinds of F-bombs on there. in English and in Spanish. If your butt doesn't do it, well, who the bleep is. You go, man, you know what? You're right. You know, it's like, it's going to be painful. But, yeah, man, we did it. And, you know, still doing it. We've come a long way.

This should be like John Candy and the Great Outdoors. This should be the 96-ounce-shirt. Just keep going. He's got to eat it all. And the grizzle. All right. And he gets... No, I'm kidding. Don't do it.

I'll have an upset summit. You are? I'm finishing this leap, man. Mario going out of the demo with the John Candy reference. Sadly, all four of us are probably old enough to remember the great comic legend. Miami's schedule. We had Marcus Freeman on college football live a few weeks ago. I asked him what the week of practice was going to be like heading up to the November 7th game they've got with Miami.

He just gave me a big old smile. You remember what happened, of course, in the opener between those two a year ago. Mario was such an interesting. case because he really flipped the script on his reputation, his in-game management, all of that. It seemed to go by the wayside when they made the national title game. So in that vein, Sam, let's start with you. Give me a coach that this year, by exceeding expectations,

doing something that's not expected, can really flip the script on his rep. David Braun from Northwestern is that coach for me. And it's not just the coach, but it's also the school. Northwestern historically has not been known as a football school. Yet all of a sudden, we're seeing the newest, most expensive stadium in college football history a $875 million stadium at New Rhine Field. You're also seeing just recently as of yesterday, a $35 million commitment from the U-Line family.

I got a chance to spend a little bit of time with David Braun over these last couple months in this offseason. And you could tell that they're trying to build something different at Northwestern. I understand last year, 7 to 6, year before, 4 and 8. So people don't view them as a football school per se.

You're talking at first round picks at offensive line and now other positions, hopefully. That's when I get excited about a coach like David Brown. Yeah, I'm going to stay here close. to home, and I'm going to go with Brett Vettibles. And look, he had an incredible year last year getting Oklahoma for the college football player, but not many

people thought he could, but I still think there's people out there. I hear it. I think he's just a really good defensive coordinator. He did coordinate in eight national championships, which is remarkable. But this year, I think Oklahoma is even better than they were a year ago. This is the

best roster Brent Vinnibles has had. If he can back up last year's playoff run with a second straight college football playoff, which I expect they do. I think the narrative then becomes, he wasn't just a great defensive coordinator. He's becoming a great head coach in college football, Pete. Well, Dusty, I think Kalani Sataki is viewed as a very good college football coach. He's won 85% of his games the last two years.

BYU's 23 and 4. For him to be an elite college football coach, he has to make the playoff with BYU this year. They have the personnel to do it. They return eight starters on defense, and they add first team, all-ACC linebacker, Cade Uolade. They obviously have Bear Bachmeier and L.J. Martin, who's the Big 12 preseason player of the year. And Zubin, a sleeper for you. Legend, Glasker, freshman wide receiver has been the buzz of camp at BYU.

Don't be surprised if he's one of the breakout stars in the Big 12 this year, giving Kalani Staki a chance to flip his reputation. First team, all-name team for sure. And in this year-to-year sport, you can change your reputation just in one great season. When college football live continues, they got Dante more, they got Decorian more, but why the key for the ducks this season might be a guy who hasn't played in 20 months. Pete'll tell you about him. We'll talk about the ducks next.

August 12, you are ready and already set for kickoff. As are the Oregon Ducks. Let's run through whether they can finally take the next step. 26 and 3 over the last two seasons, there are only losses coming against a team that would win the national title that year, which is crazy, but it's true. But when you have success, what happens all the time? coordinators are out, they become head coaches.

So Lannings got to work a couple of new guys in, but he does have an old guy back. And that, of course, is Dante Moore, who bypassed the NFL draft to come back for another year. And that obviously got so many Oregon fans hyped and ready to go. First half of the season for 60, 70% of the season, really good. Kind of struggled towards the end. And this isn't just on Dante Moore, but it's been Oregon's Achilles-Hield the last couple of years when they play big-time games against big-time opponents on big-time stages. they don't really look all that big time.

Dusty, we do know Dante is a big time player. What are you expecting from him, considering right now he could probably be an NFL training camp he won it? I expect he's going to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football. Will he be the best quarterback in college football remains to be seen because I agree with you. He needs to elevate his play and be better on the biggest stages. But let's take a look at what he did really well last season. It starts with the accuracy, as accurate a quarterback as there is. Time, look at the time of this game.

Down by one 30 seconds, fourth quarter. He locates the two-eye safeties. Knows he's got one-on-one outside. This is going to be excellent coverage on the edge by the Iowa defensive back. But this is as good a throw and ball placement as I saw all year sets up the game-winning field goal on the road against Iowa. How about escapeability? Pressure is going to come off his less side. The defensive end is going to win.

What I love is his eyes stay down the field the whole time. As he's moving, he's looking for an open. target weighs to the last second as Kenyon-Saddyke comes open, falling out of bounds getting hit a strike back across his body on a big third down late in the third quarter. And then pre-snap recognition. Don't let Dante Moore know what you in. He locates the two-eye safeties. He actually audibles into this.

He's going to send Keny on a little skinny post right up the middle. And as soon as he identifies it, the pocket is there and the pass is on point. Splits the safeties, puts it high on the face of his talented tight-in. And it's a touchdown. There is a, it's easy to pull up the tape and to see all the great things Dante Moore does and why NFL talent evaluators are buzzing about this Oregon quarterback. Yeah, he'll be making those throws soon enough on a Sunday, and we get to experience him for one more year on Saturdays.

Dante Moore will have the ability to throw to Decorian more, and Dante is steeped, he's ready to go, and Dan Lanning says Decorian, he is now really honing in on the finer points. Just mastery of the offense, right? Just as far as knowing what route I'm running, how I'm running it, what that looks like. I think his push is a little bit higher, like the level of intensity. He's able to bring drill to drill.

I think is able to, you know, has been able to step up and excited to continue to see what things he's able to do in the future. Obviously, he's a dynamic player. You know, we knew that last year. But consistent play, right, comes with knowing the ends and outs of the offense, being able to make checks of the line and that stuff showing up for him. All right, Sam, give me some more. on Decorian Moore.

What's set out to me most about Decorri and Moore last year is two things. Number one is level of concentration. It's a lot of times there'll be tip passes where usually a defense might get it, but he's the one catching those tips. Number two, it's also his ability to run intermediate routes. He has the speed to be able to beat you over top, but he uses that speed to be able to turn a defender and also stop whether it's 18 yards downfield or maybe maybe a deep comeback.

So that's one thing that stands out. Now, the other side is this. Keny-Saddyk, the tight end is gone. But there's another tight end named Jumari Johnson. the people might think it's the number one tight end in this year's draft. So Decor and Moore, that'd be the number one target. It could be Johnson and Moore like it was last year with Moore and Sadiq. And one more word with Pete.

You get the last word. They obviously have a ton of guys that are ready for the NFL besides Dante Moore. Sure. So when I stress test the national title contenders, Zubin, I want them to have 10 NFL draft picks. Oregon had that two years ago. Obviously didn't work out. They project to have that many this year. The one I'm looking at hardest is Evan Stewart, the receiver transfer from Texas A&M,

missed all last season with. 139 career catches and you'd appreciate this. Zubin, a very patriotic 1776 career receiving yards. That's great stuff on the way out the door. I should mention that Oregon opens this season against Boise State. Tricky game. Broncos have had their number over the years. And on that note, Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson will join us tomorrow on

College Football Live. Hope to see you then.