College Football Live - CFB LIVE - T-MINUS 1 DAY UNTIL GEORGIA VS ALABAMA

Episode Date: October 9, 2026

Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho, EJ Manuel, and Pete Thamel on today's episode of College Football Live. Discussion of Georgia v Alabama and how the weather and field might affect the game. Dante Moore is out for the game against UCLA on Saturday. EJ and Sam also give picks for the Friday Night games. All this and more on today's episode of College Football Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to College Football Live, presented by Fire TV. This is why you come to Alabama. The SEC had night with the whole of the bunch. We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that. All day every day. You play this Georgia team standard because that's what we do. A heavyweight fight for four quarters with you guys.

Which one of those two will paint a masterpiece Saturday nights? We're going to canvas the game from top to bottom. Welcome inside college football live on this Friday. E.J. Sam Zubin, our colleague Pete Thamble, is going to join us in a second. But first, our colleague Greg McElroy, former Alabama quarterback, setting the stage, the mounting anticipation for you know what Saturday nights. Bryant Denny Stadium, 5 and O Georgia, 5 and O Alabama, two unbeatens, two top 16, one night game in Tuscaloosa. Watch somebody's perfect season end. What more could you want? Seems like every year it comes down to some kind of.

kind of way shape or form with these two. The SEC Championship usually leads through this game. Yeah, I can't wait to take the field with our team. Just excited about the environment that's going to be created, so it's going to be an awesome evening. Boxing match, you know, heavyweight blows, a little bit of history and a backstory behind the game and all that stuff.

Definitely like to come out on top. This rivalry means everything, you know. Plus, sweating tears on the field, 15 rounds of a boxing match. KOs are our aren't definitely right now. You know, naturally being so close to each other and playing annually and breath natural rivalry. Just that natural iron. sharp as iron. We're all bred for this moment and we're looking forward to it.

Well, you heard everybody there just talk about what a rivalry it is. And it's right there with the old SEC rivalry at Alabama LSU, now matched by Alabama, Georgia, with the latest installment as top 10 teams coming Saturday night. I mentioned our Pete Dammel would be here. And he joins us from Tuscaloosa. Pete, just give us an update here on the weather and the logistics. Obviously, this has been a huge story throughout the course of the week. and how it might impact tomorrow night's game. Zubin, I'm not a weather man, but I'm about to play one on TV here.

And as for now, the impact of Hurricane East Aeus is not expected to be significant on the actual football game. Hurricane East Ieus is a category three. It's expected to hit land around the golf around 10 p.m. tonight. Certainly, there will be inclement weather, and certainly it will be wet. But as of now, the game time is still set for 7.30 Eastern. And as of now, even the field conditions are expected to be okay. Again, we won't know what happens until the storm blows through here. But considering what it could have been for this specific part of Alabama,

we don't want to minimize what could happen elsewhere, the game should go on without significant incident. Even today, I was told Zubin that the field has a specific drainage system that comes from the masters, that it should not be like a wet, sloppy mess. There is a lot of technology now that goes into the field, and I'm not going to play groundskeeper on TV. I'm already playing weatherman. But the thought is the conditions will be just for.

Now, obviously, people driving in have to be safe. There could be trees down. There could be different things that impact some of the logistics around the game. But as of right now, with Hurricane Isayas coming to town, there should be minimal impact on the actual football game. And I'm glad you mentioned those other two states like Mississippi and Florida that were within the breadth of this thing. We'll get back to Pete on whether a guy that broke his arm less than one week ago might suit

up Saturday in this game. That's an amazing injury recovery we'll talk about in a second. But first, you heard Keelan Russell. there at the top of the show talking a little bit about being a part of this rivalry for the first time. He's going to look across the line of scrimmage for the first time in his football life and he is not going to recognize what's on the other side because he's never seen a defense like this. I can't wait to watch this matchup. I was actually at this game two years ago at Brian Denny when Jalen Murrow had that last second, 75-yard touchdown to Ryan Coleman-William. So this

atmosphere is going to be electric. So the way that Keelan Russell responds to the noise to the dogs up front is going to be exciting to watch. But you can can even see in his top, there's a sense of calm confidence in Keelan Russell. Has a little bit of playing experience last year, but even the experience this year, he's been able to weather the storm, handle the noise, and exceed expectations, not just with his arm, but we've also seen him do it with his legs. Now, what we've also seen is Georgia year in and year out have dominant defenders up front. So how does he handle that?

That would be the question that'll be answered very early on. Well, Sam, it's easy to be confident when you're averaging 287 passing yards a game. And that's what this Alabama unit is doing. And it's not just Keel and Russell. It's also this receiving and tight-in unit in this air game. And look, he's putting the ball in places for Rico Scott and Lottie Brooks and Ryan Coleman Williams to make these plays. But also you look at the tight ends too, Marshall Pritchie.

He jumped over a guy in that Mississippi State game. They're going to be going up a really tough defensive backfield here for Georgia. So I think, again, if it's raining, even if it's not raining, this is going to be a part of the matchup where Alabama's going to have a good opportunity to push the football down the field and especially some of those third downs. Now, the secondary for Georgia is one of the best also in the SEC. You think about Demelo Jones. You think about KJ Bolton guys who have been there for a long time,

and they understand the scheme. So they're going to try to confuse Keel and Russell a little bit in this game. So I think that's going to be a great matchup between the two. All right. We got some injury news here with Pete. Get us up to date on what we need to know on that front for both teams. Yeah, Zuban, it's been a busy week in the Georgia running back room. We'll start there.

Nate Frazier after two straight weeks of being a game time decision and only two carries over those two weeks is back. He's off the injury report. He's ready to go. He's been dealing with a lower body injury, and it's good timing for Georgia as Choncy Bowens, who had gotten a majority of the carries in Fraser's absence, is out. He left the Vanderbilt game with a foot injury. There's no timetable on his return.

And finally, Zubin, you hinted at it earlier. Josh Ford, Alapamus tight end, who's such a key cog in their blocking game for their run game. He broke his arm, and Kalin DeBore said he's optimistic about Josh Ford's return. We'll see how that progresses on the injury report, leaving up to the game. And that would certainly be a quick turnaround from surgery on a broken arm to playing less than a week later. It certainly would be Pete, hang tight. We'll get back to him in a second. There's some major injury concerns for some games tonight, nevertheless tomorrow.

Pete back with more on some big ones tonight if you're looking to throw a few bucks down, hang tight for that. Let's get a production. Let's start with you. I'm going Alabama. You think about the way they played at home. I understand there's a hurricane in the midst. But they hung up 48 points against ECU, 49 points recently against South Carolina and 50 against Florida State. So I like Alabama at home.

I like Alabama as well. I think it's going to be going to be one of those matchups, a lot of back and forth. One of the things that comes down to the wire. But I think Keelan Russell will rise to the occasion. I'm excited to see Jackson Lloyd left tackle, be able to protect maybe Chris Cole, but can't wait to watch this matchup. All right. We also can't wait to watch up here. Big Ten fan Oregon and suddenly resurgent UCLA.

Sure, this might be Raiola's first start at Oregon. But remember, folks, he started more than 20 games at Nebraska. That hit that you saw there knocked Dante Moore out, opening the door here for Riola, who wanted to remind everybody, even though he is now in a fortunate position to be starting for the Ducks, it's always priorities over pigskin. I mean, we didn't really talk about the game

because in that situation, football is not as important to me. And in that situation, like, that's a relationship that I hopefully have for a long time and as my friend and that's my buddy. He's back upright. He's back in the building, doing what he loves. So I think that's where we can celebrate that.

Donce's been saying it all week is, you know, we got to keep pushing and we got to keep growing and find ways to get people open and just following his lead and doing that. Discussing both of these teams because UCLA at 4 and O, certainly we're talking about EJ on that in a minute. But first, give me some advice, Viv Riola, some advice on how he can kind of stem the tide in this big spot for him. Well, it's really relying on the others around you.

It's relying on the run game and also relying on quick game. Dylan Ryola is an outstanding quarterback. Did a great job in his last outing when his number was called. But it's also the running backs that get a chance to be able to take some of the pressure off of Dylan Ryola. Yes, the offensive line as well, but look at it. Seven yards per rush. Oregon's leading FBS. You see the stats.

And so that's how you take pressure off of a quarterback who's getting a chance to start on a new team. But it's not just that. It's also the quick game. Dylan Ryola had a couple outstanding deep balls and even layered throws 20 or 30 yards down the field. That was available. What was even more available, you see about a 70% completion percentage, really 85 in this last game. A lot of it was screens. A lot of it was quick game.

A lot of it was yards after catch. And that's not a bad thing. That's actually a good outlet and a good easy way to get a quarterback comfortable. So I don't expect Oregon to try and push the ball down for every single play. Rely out on the run game, get the quick game going. And then let Dylan Royal to have a couple throws downfield to be able to stretch out the defense. Give me a couple thoughts here on UCLA. Bob Chesney is literally one every stop he's been at, including Zignetti.

He had the insignetti following, and we know that at James Madison. Why is it working so well here in Westwood? Well, it's the trench warfare, and you think about the offensive line and the defense of line. And that's one of the things that Coach Chesney has brought to UCLA is toughness, is physicality with the offensive line. And some of these plays that you're going to see here, you have running backs having four or five yards of freedom to run past the line of scrimmage before there's an actual defender. So you got six offensive line and two tight ends. That's 23 personnel.

And it's a wildcat formation, a creative way. And Sam called this out last night. It's a fourth and one situation. Look at the push up front by this offense line. A great pull and pin block by Julian Armella, the right guard. He's collapsing the side there. And then Wayne Knight, who's doing one of the best jobs in all of the country. Again, number four rushing offense in all of the country right there running in for a touchdown.

You talk about trench warfare on defense. Keep your eyes at the top of the screen. You got one of the past rushers here doing an excellent job of running the hoop, Scott Taylor, number 20. And he gets rewarded with effort here by getting a hand on the football. Force football, excuse me, force fumble. One fumble recovery, also four interceptions. off of Maryland a few weeks ago. Now, again, the zone read.

This is going to be an aspect of this offense that Oregon's going to have to be prepared for. You get a pin and pull, so it looks like it's the same run scheme, but it's not. They're actually leaving a free defender to pitch off above. And Nikola Oliva does a great job of getting out of his hands, allowing Wayne Knight to get out into the alley to get an explosive game. So this is some of the things that Oregon has prepared for. And the biggest thing, when these guys get out on the edge, you've got to get them down on the ground and tackle them.

This is a good football team with the feel good story. Chesney's dad, by the way, is a volunteer assistant. Kind of a cool story all the way around. spring. Keith Gamble back in. Pete, we've got some injury updates for some games tonight. I know you want to get a lot of people updated on. Yeah, Zubin, it's the time of year where it's a busy injury report.

We'll start with Louisville, Florida State. Lincoln Kynholz is ready to go for Louisville. He was all the way to a game time decision last week. I think the question with Keenholz is, what will his mobility be on that injured ankle? For Iowa at Washington tonight, Hank Brown, their starter is out. It'll be first career start for Jeremy Hecklinski for BYU against Iowa State tonight. Star tailback, L.J. Martin, is out. He's going to be out four to six weeks, including that big Notre Dame game next week in Provo.

For Tennessee this weekend, we have George McIntyre's first start. Faisa Breddin is on the trip listed as questionable. And Dylan Stewart will return for South Carolina after that suspension. He's only played 38 snaps this year, Zubin. All right. We'll continue to monitor all of those situations from tonight into the weekend, Pete. Thank you very much. The game of football lost an absolute giant today.

Mike Ditko, of course known as Iron Mike, leading the Bears to Super Bowl 20, has died at 86, but he had a very rich college history as well. Maybe thought to be the first great tight end. Also played defensive linemen at Pittsburgh, where he was an All-American from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, who has produced so many amazing players, including Mike Ditka. When college football live continues, what's it like to play in the Red River rivalry on that field at the state fair? The guy sitting about six feet to my left will tell you what that emotion is all about inside the helmet with Sam. Next. College Football Live is presented by Fire TV.

Welcome back to College Football Live, presented by Fire TV. We are back. 122nd meeting between these two great rivals. Texas has the long time edge. Coach Sark has been around some great, great events in the past, but he knows what he's about to see Saturday. Nothing as cool as this. It's the most unique setting in college football.

It's the most special setting in college football. The idea that this thing is split at the 50, and half the game is a home game, and the other half of the game is a road game, and it's loud when you're on the road, when you're in OU's end. And so I love all of that. I love all that that this,

thing comes with. I love that. It's at the state fair, the smell of the corn dogs, the funnel cakes and all that. It's so special. It's so unique. And, you know, I do not take it lightly, but I would not change it for anything. I think it being there at the old cop bowl is very, very special. Sam, you know that firsthand. You can accentuate some of what Sark said. Take us inside, having been on that field. That's an unbelievable atmosphere. So I played in this game during my four years in college. Early on, I was a freshman. I didn't play a ton. I remember just watching and seeing some of the atmosphere. And all of a sudden, I got a chance to play against the likes of guys like Sam Bradford and some of the stars.

But you think about this, it's a stadium that the entire time there's noise. Half of the stadium is booing. Half of the stadium is cheering. And right down there you are. There you are. Brother Emanuel. Half of the, it went, less facial hair back then. But it's an unbelievable atmosphere that I think will be led by two things.

Number one, special teams. Usually in games like this, rivalry games, special teams has that emotional swing. that can change the game. Maybe it's a big kickoff return. Maybe it's a punt block or punt return. We've seen that in this game. Then lastly, I think the defense on both sides. I think Texas' defense has a little bit of an edge,

but it's special teams in defense that'll be the story for who's going to win this match. Sam, that's it. Texas does have an edge because they've had games where they've had double-digit sacks, like when they played against Tennessee, but Oklahoma still has a standard of playing excellent defense. Their head coach is a longtime defensive coordinator. So I'm thinking about linebacks like Kip Lewis, Amarian Robinson, these guys that can get their hands on footballs.

And here's the thing for Archman. playing solid. I wouldn't say he's been playing great. He's been playing solid. If he gets into this game, he wants to stare on receivers and some of those zone defenses, that's when those interceptions start to happen for OU's off, or excuse me, for their defense. Keep this in mind. If OU loses this game and their season goes askew, it would be

the third losing season for Brent Venables. In the 56 years before Venables, they had a total of three losing seasons. This is a huge game, so it's prediction time. Well, they weren't in the SEC for a lot of that. Fair enough, but they were still Oklahoma. But fair enough. So I'm going to Texas here. I think Texas, again, the defense of, you know, really the front

is the lead for them. So I'm going Texas in this. I'm going Texas as well. And I go back to your point, guys like Rahim Biles on the defense side of the ball. It's not just stopping people, but Texas is taking the ball away on defense and scoring on defense. So everyone talks about the quarterback and offense.

No, defense wins championship. I like Texas than this one. This will be one of three on your local ABC station tomorrow. Right in the middle, Texas A&M and Missouri 1st. And of course, Georgia and Alabama, which we had detailed breakdown, no matter the weather, Saturday night. Let's take a look at today's fast plays.

Brought to you by Good Year. And it's another fast start for Indiana, undefeated, getting ready to take on Nebraska. They weren't really tested by Rutgers last week. Meanwhile, Nebraska hasn't been really tested either. But considering where their recent history is at 5 in 0, they will take it. Even though the quality of competition has not been stellar easily, the first big test. Signetti talked about it. He's never been to the state of Nebraska.

We'll talk about the state of this matchup now, starting with Big Reds quarterback. We have some sirens because I'm feeling the upset alert here. Are you serious? With this Indiana team. Absolutely. Nebraska's a really good football team. And their quarterback, Anthony Kalandra is a big reason why. And the thing about his game, he's cleaned up his interceptions.

When he was at UVA, when he was at UNLV, he had the propensity to just put the ball in harm his way because he was trying to make a play every single time. I believe under Matt Ruhl's tutelich, he's learned to say, you know what, let me hit a checkdown. Let me just use my legs. You see the athleticism right here jumping over guys to get us a positive game. So I think that's a big key. And then also the pass rush guys. They've been really good at that side of the football.

Six different players have two. on his defense. Also six defensive backs have an interception. So again, this is a pesky defense. Yes, you can say they haven't played a whole lot of big teams, but neither has Indiana. So I consider this a potential upset here for a Nebraska cornsels against Indiana.

Well, I would consider Northwestern a relatively good team that people are sleeping on, people didn't know a lot about. But it's really the running game that I'm looking at for Indiana. In a point where you're trying to figure out, okay, who is our team? How are we going to play? They've dominated on the ground. Last week versus Rutgers, 329 rushing yards. A lot of that was Turbo Richard over 200 yards.

Lee Bibi, another 100 plus yards. And it wasn't just Indiana. It was a Northwestern game as well. When things were getting dicey, handed off to Lee BB after Richard went down. And he got critical first downs on fourth downs to help win the game. And oh, by the way, Kalandra's cleaned up his interception issues. So has Josh Hoover, four touchdowns, no picks last week.

And so I like Indiana in this one. Yeah, you know who else thinks Northwestern's a pretty good team? Penn State. When college football live continues, what has happened to the nitty lions? The head lion, Matt Campbell, with the diagnosis on the way with USC on tap Saturday. College Football Live is presented by Fire TV. Tomorrow, game day from Coleman Coliseum,

the home of Alabama, basketball and gymnastics due to the weather, Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Eastern. May have heard Northwestern's got a new building. They play football. You also may have heard Penn State's got a new coach, and he's got the same old problem. Angry fans, Northwestern, destroying Penn State in week five. Matt Campbell knows the blame lies everywhere,

and he knows exactly where the blame is specifically. You know, there is at every turn, you can't just pinpoint this group or this group or that group. The reality of it is we lack an identity. We lack who we want to be and where we need to be. I think those things are real, and those things are things that must. must get better. The thing that's really positive is we know we have the people and we have the

coaches to get where we need to be. And, you know, the only way to do it is a relentless approach back in the practice field of getting ourselves back to where we need to be. He's been in much further holes before having to rebuild Iowa State. You gave me a stat here on Penn State during the break that I still am shaking my head. Yeah, well, look, I got it from our researcher here a few minutes ago, allowing Penn State's defense, allowing 378 rushing yards before first contact. So 378 yust yards before somebody actually took. touches the ball carrier. That's not good enough.

So that tells me that the interior of the defensive line is a bit soft right now. Like they're getting blown up the ball. Again, you have a Northwestern team that yes, Sam, you're right. They are improved. They're better. But I don't know they're 413 rushing yards better and four touchdowns on the ground better. So this is something that Matt Campbell has to get fixed because you look at USC, Wayne Joy and these guys can run the rock as well, even though I'm only like to throw

it there at SC. That's going to be a huge advocate for USC in that matter. Well, those 378 rushing yards might have all happened last week versus Northwestern. Chip Kelly ran kind of like a wingty type. of scheme. But for USC, what's interesting for me is the fact that you think USC, you think Lincoln Riley, you think Jaden Maiava, you think passing offense. But no, this is one of the most balanced offenses in college football. They're pretty much a 50-50 split between run and pass. And those are the names that you just mentioned, King Miller being one of them. They're not

necessarily explosive in 50, 60, 70, 80 yards runs, but both he and Waymond Jordan have a great ability to balance this offense. So if you're going to have two safeties back and slow down that deep passing game, they'll just run three yards, four yards, two yards, and be totally okay with it, which is interesting to see from a guy like Lincoln Riley. It's huge because their defense again has been a tremendous letdown, even with Gary Patterson. It's now time for game picks brought to you by Dick Sporting Goods. Trellas, let's size up to big ones tonight. Let's start with Florida State and Louisville.

Who do we have? I'm going nose here. I think Florida State handles business, especially because last week they should be feeling good about themselves. Ran the ball extremely well, blew out Virginia. I like the nose tonight. I like Louisville, and the reason why is that Florida State did have a little. lead in that game and that lead allowed them to run the ball. But the offensive line struggle

gave up multiple sacks. I believe it was five sacks giving up on Ashton Daniels. So I think Louisville can get a lead in this game and then win the matchup. As Samuel said earlier, Iowa's got a quarterback change, Iowa and Washington. I'll go Iowa still. I was thinking to go Washington just because Hank Brown being out, that's a big loss for this Iowa Hockout team, but I still like Iowa to run the football and play good defense. I like Washington. DeMond Williams has played pretty well. They refined a little bit of a running game last week. And also Washington, the reason they lost the USC last week. A couple untimely mistakes of sacks. fumble, scoop and score. So I think Washington wins this matchup.

Thammel also said No LJ Martin for BYU, Iowa State Cougars. I'll go BYU here. I think Barrow is playing some excellent football and I got a real chance to win the Big 12th. I like BYU as well. Same quarterback, but the issue is 15 rushes for Bacmeier last year. We'll have to increase that load with No Martin. All right. So we'll see what happens. Martin is scheduled to be out four to six weeks, which as Pete said, unfortunately means he's going to miss next week's huge game between BYU and Notre Dame. We got a huge college football Friday on tap with the fellas tonight. And three big ones tomorrow on ABC,

capped by the biggest game of them all, Alabama and Georgia. We'll see you right back here Tuesday for more college football live.