College Football Live - CFB Live - Portal Potential/CFP First Round/Texas Holds Manning

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho, Roddy Jones and Pete Thamel for College Football Live. We'll discuss players that have now entered the transfer portal and possible landing spots for them. With the first round of the CFP beginning, we'll hear from Miami QB Carson Beck and his thoughts ahead of their matchup against Texas A&M. Arch Manning has decided to return to Texas, the crew will discuss his decision and what he needs to do going into next season. Tune in now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're flying Emirates business class, enjoying a good night's rest in your lie flat seat, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. Out of the tunnel here on college football live with the first round of the playoff upon us. We hone in on one quarterback who's been to the playoff, but the team he's quarterbacking has never been there. We'll explain. He came out of the portal. Speaking of the portal, three big names in there yesterday, who else could join and which teams are QB needy?

Plus, speaking of QBs, manning the 40 acres for one more season, why Arch spurned the NFL to return to Austin. And we welcome you inside college football live. This man came back to the 40 acres himself. Sam Macho, Roddy Zubin, great to have you with us. Let's get right to it. It is playoff week. Let's take a look at the bracket. It'll begin Friday with the all-time blue blood matchup between Alabama and Oklahoma.

Then they'll have a triple header on Saturday. The first of three will be Miami and Texas A&M. Neither team has ever gone to the college football playoff. They're making their maiden voyage, and it's safe to say there is no player that has been through as much and has more experience on college football's biggest stage of anybody of the 12 teams than Miami's Carson Beck. I mean, this is what I came here for. Obviously, back a year ago,

I was waiting to get surgery on my right arm, which is, it's crazy how much can happen in a year. And we knew what had to be done. We knew what we were capable of to put ourselves in a position for the people that were making the decision to see, hey, like these guys are, are ready and can compete with anybody, kind of like I said after the pit game. And I truly believe that. And, you know, obviously they made the decision to put us in.

And here we are preparing and have been preparing these past two weeks to go face Texas saying I'm on the road. Possibility, by the way, of course, he could face Georgia, his old team in the playoff. And if they make it to January 19th, they could be playing Miami, the title game in Miami Gardens. Roddy, let's start with you. They always talk about this being a year-to-year sport. But this guy started 51 games in college. That blows away pretty much any other quarterback in the field. Do you think that can manifest itself in any ways as they get set for this huge game?

I do, Zub, and I do think that that experience helps. I mean, this is a guy in Carson Beck. It obviously started a ton of games at the University of Georgia. And it's a big environment. He started this year at Florida State, which was a raucous environment. Previously at Georgia, he started games at Texas, at Bama, at Tennessee, at Auburn. And while Kyle Field holds more than all of those, having been in those types of environments, it certainly will help the calm and end Carson Beck's ability to manage everything that's going on.

There's a lot of things that come with a stadium that loud, communication, both verbal and especially nonverbal. But Carson Beck's experience through it means that he's not going to be wide-eyed as if this is the first time he's ever seen 100,000 plus in a stadium before. But it's not just the people in the stadium, but it's also the amount of pressure that could be on Carson Beck in this environment. I go back to the middle of the season this year, a four interception game versus Louisville, the game in which they lost. I go back to even last year, there was a span where there was multiple interceptions in a myriad of maybe three or four games. And so I understand the environment may not be too big as far as the stadium and Kyle Field. But man, sometimes if you put too much pressure on yourself as a quarterback or any position, it may not go in your favor. Yeah, Sam, I understand the interceptions piece of it.

And those are things that Carson Beck has to wear, has to own. But in the last four games, he's only thrown one pick. And let's not forget, this is a guy that was learning this offense over the course of the season. He didn't have one of his top targets and C.J. Daniels for much of the year. Mark Fletcher at running back was hurt as well. So it was a lot going on around him during that stretch of time where he had two interceptions against SMU, four interceptions against Louisville. But since then, he has looked.

much better over the course of the back part of the season. So I'm going to believe that this is a quarterback that just needed experience in this offense. And some of that turnover stuff has gone away. Although the guy on the other side, Marcel Reed has turned the ball over some down the stretch as well. You are. And I think that that'd be the formula for Miami. It's not to put all the pressure on Carson Beck. It's to rely on your defense on Ruben Bay and Akeem Mezzador and to try and force Marcel Reed in interceptions. I think that the way that Miami's the formula for Miami to be able to go to a national championship is to win on defense, win in the running game. And then when Carson Beck has to be special, he can be special. We've seen it at

times, but I haven't seen it all the time. Miami, Texas A&M, again, both making their playoff debut, although Beck is not Saturday, first of three. That'll be on ABC. Beck, of course, is a transfer. And as you've been probably watching the college football newswire this week, you've seen a rash of big name guys go into the portal yesterday. More to come. College Sports Best Insider Pete Thamble is here. Pete, just a reminder here. Keep in mind, the portal is just one this year. We're so used to the 60, the 45 to 30. It's one portal window, January 2 to 15. So take us through some of the big names from yesterday and what you're hearing at the most important position in the sports, starting with Brendan Sorsby of Cincinnati. Well, Zubin, Brendan Sorsby is going to be one the hottest names in the transfer portal. He told me yesterday that he informed the Cincinnati coaches. He is not going to return there and is likely to enter. It is expected to enter the portal. Shoresby is going to explore his NFL options.

He's waiting for his grades to get back. Texas Tech Looms is the favorite for Shoresby services. Indiana is also expected to be involved. Look for him to get a ton of interest. He's a rare blend of size and speed, Zubin, 6.3, 235, productive boats on the air, on the ground, accounted for combined 34 touchdowns last year. He's joined in the portal by Nebraska's Dillon Raola. I was told by sources yesterday.

Rayola also intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal. Raola is a two-year starter at the University of Nebraska, was having a big season this year until he fractured his leg against USC. Look for Riola to have high-end suitors. DJ Lagway, Florida's quarterback, will also have high-end suitors. Sources told me yesterday, he is headed to the portal as well. Lagway started his freshman year, six and one as a starter. He was the foundation of Florida season of hope.

didn't work out that way this year. He had a series of injuries in the offseason in camp that slowed his development. The talent is still there for Lagway, though, Zubin. Look for him to also have some high-end suitors to try to revive his career the same way Bo Nix and Jaden Daniels did midway through their careers. And it ended pretty well for them. And we should mention that Lagway, not too much of a surprise. He was so closely tied to Billy Napier and it was so loyal to Napier that once Napier was out, you kind of had the feeling that eventually Lagway would be out as well. So the question naturally is, and Sam, let's start with you here. We're always looking for a difference maker at the most important position in the sport. See if you can find that Pavia. See if you can find that Mendoza, which we'll talk about those two in the weekend they had in just a little bit out of the portal.

Any of the guys Pete mentioned or anybody else floating out there that you think is a real true difference maker? DJ Lagway absolutely is that guy, in my opinion. Out of the three names mentioned, that's a true difference maker. I got a chance to run into him at SEC me today. And if I didn't actually physically run into him, he's a huge human being about. Every bit of 6-4, every bit of what looked like about 250, broad shoulders, has the athleticism, has the arm to be able to be effective. Now, it is true that he missed a lot of time in camp,

and that could have slowed his development. But if he gets into the right system with the right coaching staff, with the right personnel, I believe that the sky is the limit for DJ Lagway. Yeah, Sam, I think the top-end talent certainly is there for DJ Lagway. The guy that I look at is Brendan Sorsby, who for most of the season, the big 12 was leading the big 12 in QBR. He was one of the most talented players in the country. You talk about size. I mean, this is a guy that's six foot two, two 35 and can run, as Pete said. So that dual threat ability, I think, is going to be highly suited. I know Texas

Tech has been rumored to be the favorite in the clubhouse. But man, if you look at what Buster Faulkner did at Georgia Tech in the quarterback run game, the ability to push the ball down the field, Brendan Soresby seems to be a really good fit there. It's just going to be really interesting. So there's a ton of teams that could potentially be shopping for quarterbacks in the portal and some really big names. I mean, you look at Miami who's done a great job in back-to-back seasons with Transfer Portal quarterbacks. Florida State could be looking. And then in the college football playoff, what about decisions that have to be made at Oregon by Dante Moore and Alabama with Ty Simpson? Those are two teams that may or may not, depending on whether or not they go pro, those quarterbacks go pro, could be searching in the portal as well.

It could be a wild transfer portal off season. But sometimes, Roddy, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I think about a guy like Brendan Sorsby, who with Cincinnati, they started off either six or seven and one, and he was playing really well. They had weapons. They brought in Cyrus Allen, a transfer from A&M at receiver, Caleb Goody, another transfer, Jeff Caldwell, another transfer, have Joe Royer, one of the top tight ends, and he was successful. Then all of a sudden, the interceptions started to rear their ugly head, and they started to lose down the stretch. And so I think that sometimes it might be better to stay, especially at a place like Cincinnati,

who's bringing in people as a league you can compete in, and you might want to leave may not be the best decision. Yeah, last couple words I'll say here. More than half the playoff field this year, their starting quarterback is a transfer. So it's important. And the one guy we didn't talk about, the one thing Riola does more than anything is move around.

Whether it's high school or college, that dude is always on the move. So it's not a surprise. It's happening once again. On the way here on College Football Live, wait until you hear the word. Sharon Moore's successor used to describe what exactly his betrayal meant to the Michigan program. And Manning is back on the 40 acres.

Archie said that months ago. Pete's here to take us inside of the rationale of bypassing the NFL and returning to DKR. That's when college football live returns. Five games, one unforgettable lineup. That's what Christmas is all about. Buckets for breakfast, breakaways for dessert. It's the holiday tradition. Christmas is all day.

With star power from across the globe. The stars, they are going to be out. The best gift, you don't even have to unwrap it. We want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! NBA Christmas Day begins at noon Eastern on ABC and ESPN. Canada's Wonderland is bringing the holiday magic this season with Winterfest on select nights now through January 3rd. Step into a winter wonderland filled with millions of dazzling lights, festive shows, rides, and holiday treats. Plus, Coca-Cola is back with Canada's kindest community, celebrating acts of kindness nationwide with a chance at 100,000 donation for the winning community and a 2026 holiday caravan stop.

Learn more at Canada's Wonderland.com. Handelonium in here. Unbelievable. This is what makes this sport so amazing. The college football playoff first round begins Friday and continue Saturday. Two years ago, the Michigan Wolverines worked their way all the way through that bracket to win the title. Jim Harbaugh left. Sharon Moore took over, but last Wednesday it all came crashing down. As I'm sure you know, he was fired, arrested, detained on the same day.

Same day, Viv Poggi, who has some experience on the Michigan staff in the Harbaugh era, is named the interim head coach. They'll take on Texas and the Citrus Bowl New Year's Eve Day. And Poggi was down in Orlando promoting the game and basically went into detail on the shock and all of it all. It has been a tumultuous time. Okay. And a lot of, you know, anger and then, you know, first disbelief, then anger, then really what we're, in right now is the phase of the kids, quite frankly, feel very betrayed. And we're trying to work through that. It's an amazing gesture. I mentioned he does have experience on the Michigan

staff, but this guy has been a whiz in business. He's a self-made millionaire. He does not need to be in this situation, though he's helping on Michigan in a big time way. Pete Thammel is back. Pete, there's always awkward times when you're looking for a head coach, but considering everything at play here, can you take us through what Michigan is thinking in regard to this most a typical coaching search. Well, Zuban, let's start with it with a timeline. I expect Michigan to have kind of exploratory conversations with a number of candidates this week.

From the Michigan standpoint, their target is Kailin DeBoer. Kailin DeBore has obviously said a couple of things publicly votes in a statement and otherwise about his focus being on the job at Alabama. They play Friday night. Before Friday night, look for Michigan to touch base with some football. and kind of get to know you conversations. It would be a surprise after talking to sources if the non-Khalin-de-Bore category of Michigan coaches

doesn't come down to a list that sounds like this. Jeff Brom, Kenny Dillingham, Clark Lee, Eli Drinkwitz, Kyle Whittingham, and Jed Fish. That's the crop, if you will, that Michigan is likely to filter through. But look, Kalin-Dibor's name Looms. We saw the statement that he obviously released earlier this week. His quotes were fairly direct.

We will see if Michigan tries to take another run at him after the game on Friday, pending obviously the result of Alabama's game at Oklahoma. It's fascinating because some of the guys you ran through there, including DeBoha said they're staying, some have signed contracts, some have retired. It's incredible how far and wide this search has been. On the back end here, let's just talk about POG, Pete, for one second. I do remember when Baylor had their awful scandal.

Jim Grob stepped in for one year's stopgap measure just this past season when Troy Taylor was fired at Stanford. Frank Reich stepped in to help Andrew Luck for one year. Is there any possibility POGI could get them through the 2026 season and then they can reset? Zubin, it doesn't look that way. Michigan, even now, though, it's late in the cycle, has a good crop of candidates that it can choose from. And I don't know how it would be any different if they were going to go back in the market, you know, next November, say. You know, the field is the field. Bipoji went 6 and 16 as a head coach at Charlotte. He has been a nice stop gap for Michigan in some different spots here, filling in for Sharon Moore, filling in now.

He's a good leader, but I would not expect him to be an interim coach at Michigan past the bowl game. Fair enough. They hang a sign on the window that says help wanted college football's all time winning its program. There are certainly going to be some suitors. Pete Hang tight will have you back to talk Pavia and Manning in just a little bit. Notable head coaching movement, one thing you'll notice is that the middle teams there on your screen are all in the playoff. Penn State had that protracted 54-day search, and Michigan, of course, is looking to move on from Sharon Moore. Bob Chesney is going to take on Oregon

with James Madison Saturday. Then he's off to UCLA. Billy Napier is in to replace him in Harrisonburg, Virginia. And Chesney knows all of this is sort of head spinning. It's important that we all understand whatever next year is is next year. It's got to be about us completing this mission of who we are and the mission we're on. And that's That's the most important thing. I think it's cool for him to be around and just kind of get a feel for how we do things. Obviously, he'll do things. However, he wants to do things as we go into next year.

But I think it's cool for our guys to see him and get a chance to meet him a little bit. It's nice for him to have access to some of these practices and get a chance to see some of our players. But ultimately, this is this year's team. And that's where the focus has to remain. It's unbelievable, but this is the way it is. Roddy, let's talk about it. Obviously, we've got teams like Oregon that are losing. both coordinators. A&M's losing their offensive coordinator. We just heard from a coach

that could be coaching two teams in one day if things don't work out late Saturday night. How do you kind of get your arms around all of this as you prepare for some of these people to play and coaching the biggest game of their lives? It's hard, Zubin. You mentioned some of the teams that are facing these distractions. I mean, A&M, you mentioned Colin Klein going to Kansas State. Jay Bateman's also taking another job of defensive coordinator as well. Now, my Elko's the primary play caller, but still those voices that are leaving is tough. The thing that these coaches have to do during this time is you have to embrace the chaos. We had an opportunity to catch up with John Somerall before the American Conference Championship game.

And that's exactly what he said. He said, I am loving it because I am running full speed at two places, basically at the same time. He recruited two recruiting classes to sign at two different places, 18 players at Florida, 13 to Tulane. So that's how you have to handle it. You know, sacrifices are going to come someplace. A lot of those sacrifices are sleep. Sometimes those sacrifices might be on Christmas Day, but ultimately, you got to get both jobs done to a high level.

I just think it's really hard to get both jobs done at a high level. The sacrifices might be for the players who are playing either in the bowl games or the players for the other team. It's hard if you're John Summerall to be a head coach at one school and so try to coach another school, especially a school that's in the college football playoff. Because think about it, you have to go and recruit. You're trying to sign a class.

You have a group of players that's trying to get ready for a college football, playoff opportunity, right? Chesney, Bob Chesney is another example. So I understand that it sounds good and the coaches can say, man, attack it and it's a great opportunity. But think about the player's perspective, a player who right now is trying to go win in a college football playoff

without their head coach. Some of these guys with a new offensive and new defensive coordinator, I think it could be detrimental to their success. You mentioned the word high level on the way on college football live. Arch Manning bypassing a high level opportunity to go to the NFL to return to Texas for one more year.

Pete's back to take us inside that decision when college football live continues. Hi there. Surprise. 30 for 30 presents boo-ya. Can I get a witness from the congregation? You can't stop authenticity. Boo-ya. Stewart was exactly like you saw him on-camera, off-camera.

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where the path to support is clear and every step forward feels like progress, not another wrong turn. Visit camh.ca to help us forge a better path for mental health care. To my linemen who protected me, every receiver in tight end that bailed me out and made me look good

to every running back who fought for more yards. And to our defense, that gave us that heart, swagger, and more second chances than we definitely deserve. This trophy might have my name on it, but it belongs to all of you. It belongs the first time in Bloomington. Playing in front of Hoosier Nation is one of the greatest privileges of my life, and I'll carry that forever. That was one of the most heartfelt speeches you will see. Speaking of raw and visceral, the reaction from Diego Pavia, the Vanderbilt quarterback, also a finalist. You can kind of see it on your screen.

and immediately thereafter, he probably got some advice to put out this statement, which he did, in which he backtracked, talked about Mendoza being an elite competitor, but also wanted to mention that he had been doubted his entire life and that chip-on-the-shoulder mentality is part of the reason he joined Mendoza and Sane and Love in New York. Let's go to Pete to get some quick reaction on this. Pete, they're always talking about at the NFL level, character and all these things off the field. I know we did apologize, but how is this being spun moving? forward and how this might be affecting Pavia down the road.

Look, Zubin, Diego Pave did not have much draft stock to begin with. He has improved a lot in the throw game from last year to this year. But I call the bunch of NFL scouts midseason on Pavia. They said he'll be a camp ad. He'll be a tough cut because he's a competitor. But look for a future gray cut, gray cup champion for Diego Pavia. That's his likely projection. All right.

Well, Berman does love the CFL. So perhaps we'll get a Pavia song reference there down the line. One more thing for you here, Pete, just real quick. And I want to ask you about Arch Manning, a guy that does have some serious NFL potential, kind of the opposite of Pavia. Your quick thoughts on the intel that you got on his decision to return to Austin for one more year. Unsurprising, Zubin, because he was fairly mid, as the kids would say, for most of the season. Finish strong. Let's think about this, fun spin forward.

27 NFL draft quarterback listing. Arch, Lenora Sellers, Julian Sane, Dylan Raola, Nico, Daryon Mentsa, maybe Ty Simpson, Brendan Sorsby, Rocco, Beck, Josh Hoover? Sounds like a pretty good class. No question about it. And if you want to go to the next level, there's a team down in the bayou that his grandfather used to play for

that could certainly use a starting quarterback. We'll see if Arch, Archie and the Saints ever come together down the road. Let's go to you. I mean, you know the Texas program as well as anyone. What do you make of this decision as what Pete said? sort of an up and down year that seemed to end on a pretty high note. I think it's the right decision for Arch Rane and to go back to Texas for another year to continue to develop, but also I think for a year to play without all that pressure.

There were so many expectations coming into this season. He was a Hysman favorite before being a full-time starter. Texas was the number one team. Well, now we can go into a season with the whole year of starting under his belt, and those flashes that we saw can be more consistent. Yes, he's going to continue to grow and develop, but I think the Texas fans could actually see this from, okay, we know what Arch can be, but not this. these huge mountains of expectations that could cause you to play not as good as you would have

hoped. I don't know, Sam. If he goes and lights it up in the Citrus Bowl and the cheese at Citrus Bowl, those expectations will certainly be there for him personally. And then obviously Texas is always going to be good. The thing that I love is that Arch's path has followed a more traditional storyline. And we almost seem surprised by it nationally. He comes in.

He backs up a future NFL draft. pick and Quinn Ewers for two years. He starts. He struggles. He develops. Usually the end of that story arc when you have a guy take the path that he did is that they end up being pretty good at the end of it. Typically, when they're as talented as Arch is, I would expect the offense to be better around him. I would expect Arch to be better.

And it's kind of refreshing as we started this show talking about transfer portal quarterbacks that you have a guy who was willing to sit, willing to develop, willing to go through his lumps, willing to go through articles calling him a failure and a flop. already and come out on the other side, makes you want to root for the kid. In our last 20 seconds here, what does he need to work on this off season in your estimation? It's not even what he needs to work on. I think it's also everyone around him. The running game was really non-existent for the most part of the season.

Offensive line struggled, and there were flashes. I would say to have that base be a little bit higher, right? The floor to rise. There are certain plays that shine that pop off this film for Arch Manning. Just get those more consistent and you'll be A-O-K. All right. There you have it from one Longhorn to another for Pete Dammel, Roddy, Sam. I'm Zubin. Thanks for being here.

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