College Football Live - CFB LIVE - TENNESSEE DEFENSE KEYS TO VICTORY

Episode Date: September 24, 2026

Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho, EJ Manuel, and Joe Fortenbaugh on today's episode of College Football Live. Acho and EJ break down what the Tennessee defense needs to do to stop Arch Manning and the Longhorns on Saturday. A break down of all the ranked matchups upcoming on Saturday. All this and more on today's episode of College Football Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early morning on a Manhattan sidewalk, a shooting caught on surveillance video. It was an assassination-style killing, and everybody saw it. A new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside this captivating case. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer. Listen to Burden of Proof, Luigi Mangione, wherever you get your podcasts. Paint the picture for Saturday. Six top 25 matchups, ranked on ranked. All will be hosted by either Big Ten or SEC teams,

and we're about to hone into one of them right now. That, of course, would be the first regular season meeting ever between Texas and Tennessee. Of course, this is the Horn's third year in the SEC, so no surprise after three straight home games to begin the season. This will be the first road test for Arch and the Horns in 2026, and it happened.

in one of college football's biggest venues. The fellas are here. EJ, Sam, let's roll, get right into this game. Yesterday, your counterparts, our analyst said, Arch on the road, not so sure. He's taking on the Tennessee defense. What does he need to do to make this thing happen? Well, Zubman, we got to add context to that now, too,

because most of those teams are AP top 15 teams that Arches had to go on the road and face here. But let's look at the screen right here. So the main thing I want to talk about is a zone defense about Tennessee, they run more than 50% of the time, Sam. Arch against zone defense, completing over 64% of his passes as well. But this is a form of Tampa 2.

So you're going to see that middle runner. Usually this is a middle runner. It's a safety who lines up in that zone to try to take away all those open spaces on defense. Tony Judgy tried to originate it back in Tampa Bay. It's a cover two scheme, but not a lot of space over top. Absolutely. I want to take your eyes here to the zone dropper to the right top of your screen here. Jeremiah Tlander.

Absolutely. And Alberta Mendoza of Georgia Tech does not see him right there. He thinks he has a free access throw. to the stop route, he gets fooled. It's an interception turnover here for Tennessee. Now, similar to look against Ohio State, similar thing. You got two house safeties right here, off the hash, both going out.

And then you also have this middle defender that usually is going to run a little bit deeper. But he's going to play a little bit more match here with this slot receiver. Yeah, but I see Arch Manning, he actually allows a zone defender to step up. Usually in zone you want space. But this zone defender is seeing the quarterback, he's actually vacating that area. Absolutely. As soon as Art sees this guy right here in zone defense trigger, he does an excellent job of getting in throwing phase and it fires this on the number there to his tight end for a big game.

Now, this is one about Texas run game here against Tennessee. You're going to see a really good job of Georgia Tech doing an excellent down block, down block, down block, down block, creating a ton of leverage here for the run game. Speaking of down on the ground, look right here. You don't want to be down on the ground. That's the worst person V as a defender down on the ground. But all of a sudden, it creates angles and separation for the offensive line of the running back to make space. Absolutely.

In the backs of Texas have this year, Relique Brown, Hollywood Smothers, you give them, those kind of creases, they can end up making them huge gains on the ground. All right. Now, speaking of huge, this is a huge spot for the other quarterback in this game. Believe it or not, there is another quarterback in this game. We have to talk about Phazon Brandon. At this time last year, he was ready for Friday night football for Grimsley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. Now he's got the number one team in the country.

What can he do to try to just make sure he can do his part? Well, Phazon Brandon's a great decision maker, a really good athlete. You could see his competitive excellence on tape. But he's getting ready to face the defense that has really been the. The reason this team, Texas wise, is three and O. It's Will Mushchamp and it's the defense. They create turnovers. They wreak havoc.

They actually disguise a lot more than you would expect. You're gonna see guys like Rahim Biles, that lineback who's off the ball, line up on the ball. You see defensive tackles dropping it covered. You see Colin Simmons, number one, try to sack quarterbacks. Let's see if he's gonna be healthy. And so for me, it's the defense, this SEC defense. This will Mushcheamp lead defense that has had Texas be undefeated so far,

but also that this rookie freshman, 18 year old quarterback, Payson Brandon has to be able to adjust. just for and accommodate for. Yeah, well, this is why his head coach Josh Hypo made him the start of though. He does make great decisions and he has to continue that against the Texas defense that will bait him into some situations where you want to take chances. The other part, ball security. We got to hold on to the football, big fella.

When you take off and run and use your leg as an advantage, what Texas is going to do, all those great linebackers they have are going to try to strip that football out. That's going to be a huge key for him. Again, no interceptions to this point here in three of his first starts to his career. I'm expecting a big day from Faison Brand. Yeah, the dichotomy is so interesting when Ard's got to Texas. He waited essentially 30 months before he played. There was a plan.

Quinn, Ewers, take your time. Brandon, win the job right away, kid. It's yours. It all comes to a head Saturday morning when college game day emanates from Nashville at 9 a.m. Eastern and then flip on over to ABC right after the pregame show for kickoff. And let's take a look at today's fast place brought to you by Goodyear. You know the guys talked about maybe Texas sleepwalking a little bit because they had this huge game against Tennessee. Rutgers may have been the beneficiary of that against USC because SC's got Oregon coming up this Saturday.

Mayava and King Miller were absolutely terrific. And Maiavin is third year working with Lincoln Riley has turned into a player. I don't think a lot of people thought he might be before transferring huge, huge game in the Big Ten between USC and Oregon. It will be Saturday prime time in the east. It'll be in the afternoon out in the West. Let's break this game down. Sam, I want to start with you. many people think they have the presumptive number one overall pick in the draft playing quarterback for the ducks.

So if that's the case, why are you so concerned about them? Well, it's not just the quarterback play. It's the people around the quarterback, specifically offensive line. I go back to that game that Oregon played Oklahoma State. The offensive line struggled mightily, gave up four sacks. And I understand that there was conversation about Oregon's offense and the quarterback having certain tells where the defense knew where there's going to be run or pass. But whether they know or not, you have to be able to protect the quarterback. So I understand Oregon backed up.

that game with an 84 point performance versus Portland State. This is not Portland State. This is USC and a defense led by Gary Patterson that two times he's been the national coach of the year. Five times he's had the number one defense. And so they're going to be hunting after Dante Moore, the quarterback. Offensive line has to be significantly better, whether that's because of the tells or just straight up man to man protection.

Yeah, well, Sam, I would say this, though, I am a bit more concerned about SC's defense, which has been a bit better. But if you look at the points that they've given up, specifically in the last two games, over 30 points to Louisiana, over 30 points to. Rutgers. Rutgers is not a very good offense, guys. I know they're trying to die to get a victory at this point, but USC wins the game. But ultimately, I just feel like there was too many gashing plays when you have such a good

offense in Oregon. Dante Moore, as you mentioned, yes, they didn't have a great game against Oklahoma State. But this is still an Oregon offense with Decorian Moore and Evan Stewart. These guys are big plays waiting to happen. So if the zone defense has so many holes in it at times in USC, that could cause gashing big gains offensively for Oregon's offense. I think the game's going to be a shootout. And to your point, the defense is the big concern.

from USC. Those last two games against Louisiana and Rutgers, five yards per carry, the defense is allowing. Like, we know about the sleepy spots and the idea you're going to go across the country to play Rutgers the week before playing Oregon. You're not expected to be at your best there. But to give up five yards per carry to a Rutgers

team that has looked lifeless. That defense eliminating the Fresno State game, they're given up 30 points per game to the other three opponents. So I think you see Oregon with the confidence builder against Portland State, do-or-die situation coming in this game. Total 62 and a half, I would expect to shoot out. add this quickly, too.

USC played a week zero game. Keep that in mind. They've played, this is not what their fifth game. Five straight. Five straight. That's really hard on the defense as well. No doubt San Jose State there in week zero. This is pendulum Saturday because Oregon USC is one big game.

But another big game is LSU and Texas A&M. And you can see that the loser of LSU Texas A&M will obviously be 0 to an SEC play. But the loser of any of these games is going to see their college football playoff chances absolutely plummet. So LSU, SC, Oregon, A&M, those are the four we're going to focus in on, desperately could use a win. Can really, really be great if they can avoid a loss here. Some of these would be two lost teams before September is over. Of that quartet that I just mentioned, who needs a win the most? There's got to be Texas A&M, guys.

And I think part of it is because now the question at the quarterback spot around Marcel Reed, not a clean day at all against Kentucky, two interceptions. And to be real, when you go back and watch the tape, some of his throws to the left, quick out routes, developing routes. They were in the dirt when he was doing sprint outs. You're trying to find ways to get him in the groove. And he just was off, you know, completely in that game. Kentucky, yes, the defense has gotten better. Will Stein's a really good coach.

But he played extremely uncharacteristically bad in that matchup. So for him in this game, you got to get him off to a fast start. He must not turn the football over. I need to add this for Marcel Reed, too. Be an athlete. And take off. You have the ability to take off and run. You can get first downs with your legs as well.

Don't just try to be in the pocket and be that pocket pass. That was a home game too. Alarming to play like that at home. Yeah, I agree with that. And I agree with all the points you made. But I think that the difference is I think LSU actually needs this game and this win more. And a lot of it's based off of who they have coming up. LSU has to play Mississippi State with a quarterback named Carrario Taylor,

who might be a high trophy candidate. Oh, by the way, in November, check out that. Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, back to back to back. LSU hasn't been playing great. The defense has been fine. Sam Levitt, though, has struggled. You talk about some quarterbacks who are struggling. Sam Levitt will have open receivers that are available to throw the ball to,

but instead he'll tuck it and he'll run. And if defense is start to get a hold of that and start to understand that he's not going to throw it in one-on-one coverage, they'll start loading the box. They'll make him run or they'll make him be a quarterback and they think they can win that way. And so I think LSU, based off some of the questions that quarterback and that schedule, at least questions that quarterback play, Sam Levitt's play needs to be better. And the schedule, I think they need this one more. Question-wise, it only comes down to two for me. It'd be Oregon and LSU because I've already discounted the other two. Not because of the loss.

I think A&M with the schedule where they stack up in the SEC, they weren't going to be at the finish line anyway. I think USC, despite the hot start, is going to have some very loseable games coming up in the near future. So Oregon's got to win it. LSU, to your point on the schedule, I don't think they're getting in. If you're looking to bet a team to make or miss the playoffs, I'd be betting them to miss the playoffs. Look at what happened to them on the road last week. We were so impressed by the Clemson game, and it deserved that. But Levin looked great. Everything looked clean. The defense used the crowd noise.

Then they go out on the road, and it was an absolute disaster. Lane kind of hinted at this in the buildup to this year. For everyone who was so excited about the team, it's going to be. to take some time. So I think it's going to be a good season for LSU. I think they win this weekend, but ultimately they're not there at the finish line. Yeah, I'll just put the period on the sentence by saying Texas A&M was 11 and 0 to start last season. And now they might get out of September. Lucky if they have two losses. It shows you how fast this sport goes. Still to come here on college football live, while the Florida gators are trying to do something only four

schools have done in the last four plus decades. What is it? We'll tell you when college football Live returns. College Football Live is presented by ice cold Dr. Pepper. College football, it's a pepper thing. Welcome back to College Football Live presented by Dr. Pepper, and welcome to an incredible Saturday in the SEC. These matchups taking center stage, we're to hone in on Ole Miss who actually got three number one votes this week.

They're an underdog against the team that entered the top 25. On Sunday, how could that be? Florida head coach John Summerall. He thinks he's got an idea. He was asked this question earlier in the week. You come into this week ranked and favored against a top five team of the nation. Do you use that doubt this week to fuel? Whose guys favorite against these guys?

Do they? There's a lot of good drugs out there, huh? Okay, I want you to take a look at this for one second. Maridate on the screen. A top five team that's an underdog taking on a team that's outside of the top 20. Believe it or not, this will be the fifth instance in nearly five decades

when this is happening, the fifth coming this Saturday. Believe it or not, the top five team has lost every single time and has failed to cover. So this is a very strong indication that Vegas might be on to something.

And on that note, where else would we start by with Joe's? So simply, Help me understand. This is what I was born for. This segment I was born for this segment. So this is the obvious question. You're coming off an emotional all-time win. You're getting number one votes.

The other team just got into the rankings Sunday morning for the first time of the first-year head coach. How was that team favored against Ole Miss? So think of it like this. Ole Miss opens a small favorite minus one and a half. Money pours in on Florida to move that up to Florida minus three and a half, right? That's a significant move. If that was a mistake, there are professors. around the world who would pounce on that immediately, and yet the line hasn't moved.

So the market is what the market is. It is telling you exactly what you need to know, and it's telling you this for two key reasons. Number one, we just spent nine months talking about Ole Miss getting revenge against Lane Kiffin. We paid attention to it. We watched it, we analyzed it, then it happened. We've spent nine months not talking about Florida. Florida has verily quietly put together a good team. They're 3 and 0, 495 yards of offense at Auburn last week, but no one's talking about it.

Ole Miss has to win that game, celebrate, now turn around, and go to the swamp to play the Gators. It is a very tough turnaround. Think about Texas off the Ohio State win. Flack. Think about Michigan off the Oklahoma win. Flat. Both teams won, but they didn't look great. I would bet Florida in the first half of this game.

I think Florida jumps on them early. Maybe Ole Miss turns it around in the second half, but I think that's the approach here. It's the old line that this sport is played by 18 to 22-year-olds, but now it's like 18 to 25-year-olds. But you get what I'm saying here. We're all just human. So on that note, with Joe Gould. giving us that intel. Give me the intel on how Florida does it. I think it starts with the running back, Jaden Baugh. He has eight rushing touchdowns on the year that's tied for first,

almost 500 rushing yards. But it's also the culture that John Summerall's building. I got a chance to call his game last year in Tulane in the college football playoff. I got a chance to chat with John Somerall. He's a fiery feisty coach. You hear him in the locker room, or at least in the team meeting room. He said, hey man, Florida is back. The players believe, and that's the reason why. Number 13, Jaden Baugh is on what people might call a Heisman trophy. candidate seat right now. Three rushes for over 50 yards. No one else in college football has done that.

And oh, by the way, this Florida off the team offensively, they're averaging 54 points on the season. You might say, well, they played Campbell. They put up 44 versus Auburn last week. On the road. On the road. And so it's the head coach. It's the running back.

It's the offense. And I think they're, I understand why they could be favored in this game. Well, I'm going to bet Coach Summeroff is probably watching us right now, getting really mad that we're talking about his football team, but I'm going to keep going. Aaron followed his quarterback is special, guys. ability on third down specifically really jumps off on the tape.

44% completing the third down situation, but also complete in the past, 73% his ability to come into this offense with Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech. I just believe has been a level of comfort for him early in the season. So with him at the helm, he's calm, he's collected. He doesn't put the ball on harm's way. I think Florida's going to certainly have a good chance. You've got to show up this defense, though. I have seen some gashing big plays and explosives by Auburn against that Florida

defense, but ultimately this offense is really potent right now. Could have been Auburn, could have been Florida. Both could have had some role. Gators got him in the early returns if you watched last Saturday. It feels like a good decision. Check out this schedule of games ready to go. And Joe, I want to quickly hit you on your thoughts on Texas, Tennessee. I know you've got a nugget for us here.

Texas was a five and a half point favorite. Tennessee money has knocked it down. You've got to ask yourself how much do you trust the longhorns on the road here in a hostile environment? I could see Tennessee keeping this very, very close. Okay, and just a reminder, students scan the QR code or visit Dr.pepper.com

slash tuition by September 30th to enter for a chance to compete for $100,000 in the Dr. Pepper tuition giveaway during conference championship weekend. On the way, it doesn't look like Oklahoma's going to be at SEC Conference Championship weekend. The sky is falling for sooner fans, but the guy calling the plays.

The most important guy of all says there is no reason to worry at all. With Georgia on deck, he'll explain his logic next. College Football Live. is presented by ice cold Dr. Pepper. College football. It's a Pepper thing.

Hey Martin is anxious to step away from the shadow of Peyton Manning. Let me tell you a story about building a legacy instead of following one. An SEC story film, 17, Thursday, October 1st at 9 p.m. Can't wait. Team Martin. Let's take a look at our Dr. Pepper Trophy run game of the week preview. It's Oklahoma and Georgia. You know Georgia can score Oklahoma.

Seemingly can't, 14 points at home against New Mexico. Fans are concerned, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, the guy that calls the plays is not. I don't see it as pressure. I just see it as a standard of how we have to play, you know, standard of we have to go down there, we have to stay on the field, we have to be efficient, we have to move the ball down the field, and ultimately we have to put points on the board. Regardless if our defense shuts someone out or our defense gives up a few touchdowns, I mean, our job is to go out there, move the ball down the field, go score. They defeated New Mexico 14, 6. Now they get Georgia. What's going on with their offense?

I think there's a level of predictability. At least that's what may show up on tape. You look at the game versus New Mexico, even early on, there would be certain situations where some of the linebackers, guys like Jackson Neck at New Mexico are hunting downfield. Maybe they're perfectly timed blitzes, or maybe the teams that are playing this Oklahoma offense, understand that, man, John Mateer seems like it's more of a run-first type of quarterback,

and he wants to use his legs and wants to scramble. if it's not there, he's going to run it, or there's a lot of quarterback design runs. That's where some of that predictability comes. And so I think that that's the issue. Teams are challenging John Matia to try and beat them with his arm. They're playing a lot of man-and-man coverage. They're loading the box.

They're saying, okay, Mattir, if you want to beat us, let's see it. And so far, he hasn't been able to do it. Yeah, I think part of it, too, is their inability to convert on third down, but specifically first and second down leading to third and long. Yeah. Because a lot of these interceptions were all on third down, in fact, all three of them were. And then you think about even that loss against Michigan,

you have a crossing route where it's now third and 12. You're trying to convert that to keep the game going. And the DB from Michigan undercuts its interception. As a quarterback, that's a hard spot to be in. So yes, I agree there is a bit of predictability. But first and second down, whether it's run game or even some short passing game, has to be more efficient. So now you're in third and three, third and four manageable.

They're 66th in the country in yards per play, despite two of their three games being against New Mexico and U-TEP. It's a problem. Now, the other one was against Michigan. they only score 17 points. How are they going to fare in Athens against a Georgia team that's licking their lips because they haven't really played anybody as of yet? So that might lead to inflated numbers on Georgia's offensive side. I see this a little bit more rock fightish under 44 and a half. I think it's a lower scoring game. George is a big favorite here,

but we haven't seen enough out of the Oklahoma offense to feel confident in them. Georgia is a three and O team. We've got a couple of other three and O teams we're going to put on the screen just for some games that deserve some attention but may not be getting a ton. Here they are. Sam, I know you want to hone in on Iowa, Michigan. A big one in the big 10. Iowa starting to have an offense again or maybe again ever, right? Like, you know, they're putting that point. Tony Diaz is a wide receiver who's, it's kind of somewhat of a dynamic wide receiver which you haven't seen. Hank Brown has kind of won that quarterback competition. Now, this Iowa team is still known for defense, still known for special teams. But there's

been a game this year. They put up over 600 yards. So offensively, they're putting up points, but they're still known for who they are. Yeah, I'm going Drew Mestemaker versus Michael Hawkins Jr. Oklahoma State versus West Virginia. West Virginia coming off a huge win against the top team in UVA, but Drew Mestermaker guys played out of his mind against Oregon. In fact, he looked like the guy that we saw in North Texas last year. A ton of confidence also put up a bunch of points and touchdowns last week in their win as well. Now, Michael Hawkins, Jr., one of the best running quarterbacks in the country is I'm watching West Virginia last week. I'm like, am I watching Pat White and Steve Slate back in the day? That's how that

team looks here in part two under Coach Rich Rodriguez. How about this guy? Camaro Taylor, Mississippi State, sneaky good matchup against Missouri this weekend. Taylor was 23 to 1. to win the high's been entering last weekend. He's down to 11 to 1 right now. He's one of the top three in the country for the award. I wonder, though, if it's time to sell high, he still has Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, and Ole Miss on the schedule.

It's incredible, but, I mean, not to take away. It's been an outstanding start for Taylor and Mississippi State. Yeah, I like him a lot. He's a really good player. I love the system, too. Jeff Levin deserves a lot of really just the recognition for how well he's played because some of these guys are running wide open. Play, Colin's been excellent.

Yeah, I can't wait to see some of the, these matchups. There's a lot of teams that haven't really been tested. Teams that have kind of eased into the first couple weeks. Well, now six ranked matchups. First time we've had six ranked on ranked in the last two years. It's going to be a fun week. I needed to rain this weekend so all my kids sports get washed out. I want to sit on the couch and watch all these games. I don't need it to rain or lightning because we want the games to start on time. We've had enough of that. Camario might have the best nickname in the country, right? Super Camaroo. And you probably did see Pat White because he is on the West Virginia staff reunited with Richrod. College football,

Live from Knoxville tomorrow at 3.30 p.m. Eastern.