College Football Live - CFB Live: Week 3 recap!

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

Welcome to CFB Live where Victoria Arlen, Sam Acho, and Desmond Howard recap everything that happened in week 3 as well as what to look forward to in week 4. A new starter named and Michigan and TBD on who will start for Texas. All that and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to college football live. I'm Victoria Arlen, and we are going out the tunnel. Now, after a dominating win by Texas Saturday, there is a new sheriff in charge of the AP poll. Our crew discuss what gives Texas the edge over Georgia. Also, not everything is sunny in the sunshine state. After Florida suffered an embarrassing loss to Texas A&M, what's in store for Billy Napier's future? Pete Famil is here to give us the latest. And after just three weeks, there is a new signal car. collar in Ann Arbor. We give you the inside scoop on Michigan's quarterback switchup and how it may affect their season. This is college football live. Let's go. We've got so much to get to on this terrific Tuesday after a jam-packed weekend full of so many shenanigans. And to do that, I have to

bring in, well, some pretty terrific humans. Samacho and Desmond Howard with Pete Fammell joining us in a little bit later. So let's get to that wild week three. Georgia was tested in Lexington, narrowly beating Kentucky 13 to 12. Now, the Bulldogs did not take a lead in the game until 1220 left in the fourth quarter. And the 13 points are the fewest in a one point win by the AP number one team since 1992. Now, Arch Manning made the most of his opportunity and relief duty to lead Texas past UTSA, 56 to 7. He entered in the second quarter after Quinn Ewers had an injury, threw for four touchdowns. He also had a 67-yard rush touchdown, which was the longest by a Texas hit.

QB since Vince Young in 2005. Alabama steamrolled Wisconsin, 42 to 10 in Madison. Now, Bama QB Jalen Milro accounted for five touchdowns. His 14 touchdown responsibles are tied for the most by any SEC player in team's first three games over the last 20 seasons. So let's take a look at this week's college football rankings brought to you by Chick-fil-A. Texas moves up to number one in this week's AP poll. The first time the Longhorns have occupied the top spots since 2000.

and eight. Georgia drops to number two with 23 first place votes. Texas has 35. Miami is up to number eight in this week's poll in the hurricane's highest ranking since 2020. So Des, has Texas actually passed UGA as the top team? Well, I think so. When you look at Texas, they look like a well-oiled machine. And obviously, you look at the quarterback position to both teams. Carson Beck is good for Georgia. But I mean, Quinn Ewers is playing a very high. level and he has this team looking sharp. I believe that because of Queen Ewers, which is the most important position of football, the quarterback position, I would give them the edge. And don't forget, Georgia, they started out the block slow against Clemson. That's score with 6-0 a halftime. And now another lethargic performance against Kentucky. The Texas Longhorns is a team that's going to play to their standard weekend and week out. So at this point, because of the quarterback position, Queen Ewers, I think that Texas Longhorns is a team that's going to play to their standard weekend and week out. So at this point, because of the quarterback position, queen Ewers, I think that Texas, uh, I think that Texas, is the number one team in the country. Yeah, and if quarterback is the most important position,

then I would say backup quarterback is the second most important position. And that's what Texas has shown that they have depth. Not only this year, but last year, the last two seasons, Quinn Ewers has missed time. And last year, not only did Arch Manning get time, but also there are other quarterbacks who got time as well, Malik Murphy being one of them. And so Texas still won, even though there were injuries that abounded.

So for me, I would say that Texas has surpassed Georgia as a number one team, not only because they're depth, but also because of the way they played, though all the noise and all the cameras were on them. There's been so much noise on the outside about, man, Texas is this, and they're number one, and they're this, they're that. Yet they're still performing at a high level on offense, on defense, and on special teams. So I think they have surpassed Georgia's number one.

Performing despite over 100,000 people chanting their names. Now, this is the four times in the past five seasons that a team has dropped from the top spot in the AP poll, despite winning. The Bulldogs have been. involved in all of those instances. The other time the Bulldogs dropped from number one, the AP poll after winning was a similar circumstance where they rallied on the road to beat an unranked opponent by a single score.

They reclaim the top spot the following week. Now, speaking of Texas, they have run into a slight problem starting QB Quinn Ewers went down with what the team is calling an abdominal strain. But according to our Pete Thammel, it is not as serious as initially thought. He's likely to miss this weekend, but is being considered week to week. Here's Coach Sarkeeson on Ewer's status Monday. Next week when you guys get your injury report on next Wednesday that officially begins, he would be listed as questionable. Okay, so we're going to monitor him day to day and see what this looks like.

But he would be questionable for Saturday on the report for next week. So we'll see how that goes. All right. Speaking of Pete, we also have Pete Thammell joining us in. Now, well, Sark hasn't officially named his starter yet. Arch has been taking more snaps while Ewers is still listed as questionable. So Sam, I'm going to start with you. How confident are you with potentially Arch Manning at the helm?

I'm supremely confident with Arch Manning at the helm, and a lot of that's based off of not only what he did last year, but he did this year. Last year is a true freshman. Arch had limited reps, but in the two games he played, you could see the zip on the arm, you can see the confidence. And then this year, in the limited reps, he's played outstanding. But that's not what stands out to me the most.

The biggest thing that stands out to me is getting a chance to run into him. I think it was last year. This dude is 6-4, 220 or so. big, tall, fast can run, but plays with this confident ease about him. And so I think that's why I get excited about this Texas team even though Quinn Ewers is injured

because Archmanning has shown that he can do it with his arm with his legs and he has the confidence in the team behind him. Yes, Sam, the one thing I like about you about Archer's been there for two years now. So he understands the system. He's very comfortable. And to be honest with you, this is a very unique situation where you can give

your backup a whole week to actually prepare as a starter. You know, when Quinn Ewers is a starter, like, okay, I'm going to prepare, but he wasn't preparing like Quinn. Now, he's going to have a full week to know that he's the guy, and he gives Stark, I mean,

he gives Sarkeesian and his staff an opportunity to look at this young man to see how he actually prepares as a starter against ULM. So I think this is a really good opportunity for Arch and for Sark and for the Longhorn's offense to see how he approaches

being a starter for a whole week. week. And Desmond, I really think that the interesting crossroads here comes next week against Mississippi State. Obviously, that's going to be Texas's SEC opener. It's a, you know, a big game, although a Mississippi State did get trounced by Toledo at home last week. We'll see about a week from now the improvement of viewers if they want to run them through practices. The other option, because there's a buy after Mississippi State, is that he could wait until Oklahoma on October 12th. That would give him nearly a full month off to rest that abdominal injury. So those are the decisions facing Texas in the upcoming weeks.

Yeah, and those are great decisions, and those are the right decisions. I think the biggest thing, just to pick up on what Pete, you're saying, and Dez is saying is I think that the point for Texas, the win wouldn't be to start arch for the rest of the season. The win would be to maybe rest when yours one more week, and then you get that by week before you get into talk about Georgia and Oklahoma and some of those games. But I think there's still a clear delineation as far as.

the goals for the team of, okay, is it going to be Arch's team or is it Quinn's, it's still Quinn's team, but Arch to Desa's point is getting valuable reps being the starter to get that kind of reps with the team. Well, and I'd say I'd be pretty confident in arch because he was thrown in during the second quarter. He threw for 223 yards, completed nine of 12 passes on his way to throwing four touchdowns and running for one. So not bad company to be in. Now, we know there's still a lot to be settled in the SEC and Ohio State. While not tested quite yet, seems to be

in the class of the Big 10, but when we look at the ACC and the Big 12, the picture is a bit more cloudy. So, Des, Miami is the highest ranked ACC school. Do you believe they're the best in the conference? Yeah, I really do.

And going into the season, we did our preview show, I picked Miami to win the ACC because I think they hit they hit the lottery of Cam Ward. I mean, he's just an exceptional quarterback. He makes the team better, offensively and defensively. I've seen him in practice.

I've spoken to some of his teammates, and they talk about the juice that he brings. So he's looking at the ACC conference that still trying to figure out Clemson, right? Early in the season, they get the doors blown off by Georgia, Florida State. This season is practically over. So I think that the Miami Hurricanes is the class of the ACC right now. All right, Sam, Utah is the highest ranked Big 12 school. Do you believe they're the team to be there? I still think it's up in the air in the Big 12.

And the reason I say that is this. Utah had the, yes, they're undefeated, but Cam Rising still has some injury concerns. They say he might play this week. He missed last week. Utah was still able to win. Kansas State's another team that you say, man, this is a team that you were excited about. But Kansas State struggled for the first three quarters against Arizona before pulling out a win late. And so you could say that it's Utah.

Cam Rising stays healthy. because of their defense. But Kansas State is a team that kind of needs to, if I would say wake up, Avery Johnson struggled early in the game and started using his legs in the second half. And Arizona is a team that put up a lot of points the week before. I believe it was 61 points versus a lesser opponent in New Mexico.

But there's still something to be said about the Big 12. I think that Iowa State's another team that people aren't talking enough about. But Kansas State is knocking on that door. Utah still undefeated. And so it's still wide open, in my opinion, in the Big 12. Ooh, okay. We're going to keep our eyes up in there. All right, well, let's get to some group five action because what a weekend it was for the group five.

UNLV went to Kansas Friday night and escaped with a 23 to 20 win. The rebels took the lead on an 18th play touchdown drive, which was their longest touchdown drive since 2016, and now they start the season 3 and O for the first time since 1976. Now, a shocker in Tallahassee as Memphis knocked off a reeling Florida state, 20 to 12. The Seminole's become the fourth team since the FBS-FCS split in 1978 to start 0-3, the season after winning 10-plus games. Georgia State shocked Vanderbilt 36 to 32.

Ted Hurst came up with a game-winning receiving touchdown with 15 seconds left in the game after trailing 32 to 29. The Commodores are now 0-4 all-time versus Sunbelt Conference opponents. Toledo! Put the hurt on Mississippi State 41 to 17. The rocket start 3-0 for the first time since 3.0. 2017 and approved a two and four all time versus SEC opponents. This was a Toledo's largest win versus power conference teams in 20 seasons. Now the group of five race for the playoff is shaping up as Memphis, UNLV and Toledo all picked up road wins against power conference opponents in week

three. Those three teams are among five group of five teams with at least a 10% chance to reach the playoff according to the all state playoff predictor. Now what's at stake for Billy Napier as season takes a turn for the worst. Coming up, Peek gives us the need to know on Napier's status. Plus, Michigan's QB battle continues. After the break, the crew gives you their insight on Michigan's changes going into week four and what it could mean for Michigan's future starting lineup. When you're flying Emirates business class, relaxing in an exclusive airport lounge, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, Fly better.

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This season, he's averaging 148 yards per game and has thrown for only two touchdowns with six interceptions. His QBR is 35.3, which ranks 103rd in the country. Here's Coach Moore deciding Monday it was time for a change. Alex will start on Saturday. I'm excited for him. He's been in here. at the bit, so we'll move on from there. I would love to see him just take the reins and do what he's been doing,

you know, through those first couple weeks. And I think he will. He's had a great couple weeks of practice. So is Davis, but obviously, you've got to perform in the game. And excited to see what Alex is going to do. The plot thickens, Des. How would you describe this entire Michigan QB situation? Well, Victoria, coming to the 2024 season,

we understood that Michigan was going to have a quarterback battle, right? J.J. McCarthy had moved on to the NFL, drafted by the Vikings. So now it's like, who's going to be the quarterback? So this is a surprise to anybody, to be honest with you. It was going to be a, I think Jack Tuttle was a guy who they were really looking at. You look at Jack and Jack spent years behind two first rounders. Michael Pinnock's Jr. when he was in Indiana.

And then obviously, J.J. McCarthy at Michigan. but he sustained an injury during camp, and then you had the Davis, Warren and Alex Orgy to compete for the starting position. Obviously, because of Warren's performance, he's pretty much left Sharon no other choice but to start Orgy. So this is where they are now as a team.

We'll see what Orgy does against USC. I think from the big picture to amplify what Des just said, this is shaping up to be a bridge year at quarterback for Michigan. There's an old adage if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one. And I really feel like Orgy will give them a chance in the run game against USC, and maybe they can lean on that offensive line and create some offense that way. But I think Sharon Moore saying out loud that they're making a quarterback change also sent up some smoke signals to the portal,

where Michigan will be looking for a quarterback for 2025. And I think one of the struggles of this season of the quarterback competition is that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none, but they actually have none. Right now we're seeing Davis Warren has struggled. And then Alex Orgy hasn't really attempted too many passes. I think he's three for six for 15 yards. So some of the passes he has attempted, had been in the red zone where you think he's going to run

and he's gotten it out. But if you don't have an imposing offensive line, that can just be mallers and you don't have a great run game. Now you have to rely on the past game. It may not be as beneficial to your team when teams know what you're going to try to do. And so the benefit or at least the opportunity for Alex Orgy is yes, to use his legs,

but also to be able to develop as a pastor. That's the onus which should be on him and on Michigan on the off season to have done that for this season. And then the second piece is this. It says, okay, well, if Orgy doesn't do well, then David Swart has an opportunity to learn from his past mistakes and then be able to maybe return as a starter and finish the season for the team. Feels like the best way to describe this is one big old question mark.

All right, from one problem to another. Let's head over to the not-so-sunshine state of Florida. Florida stayed in Florida both lost in week three with the Seminoles falling to 0 and 3 and the Gators to 1 and 2. This is the first time since 1955 that both teams have had losing records after three games. Now, Pete, as we saw, things are not so sunny in Florida. So what is Billy Napier's future at Florida looking like? Well, Victoria, I had a big story on ESPN.com today looking at what's next for Florida. There's an aura of inevitability that Billy Napier will get fired at some point this season.

From calling around and talking to different people, there does not appear to be the same urgency at Florida as there is maybe in the fan base right now to fire Napier. Part of that is Napier has the locker room. This isn't a completely undisciplined team or a team that's tuned him out. And the other part is if you are going to make a change in your coach this early in the season, you better have some sort of obvious upgrade. or capable coach on the staff. There's nobody on the Florida staff right now that would be an obvious target to be an interim coach.

So look for the season to continue to play out. They obviously go to Mississippi State this weekend and then there's a buy after that. For Florida from the big picture, Victoria, we don't know exactly who's going to end up making the decision on Napier. Athletic Director Scott Strickland would seemingly be doing that, but there's been no clarity on his status yet going

forward. Tough times in the swamp, Pete. Now let's get to some other notebook options and items here, Pete, starting with Wisconsin starting QB, Tyler Van Dyke. So Tyler Van Dyke had a full ACL tear. Sources told me yesterday. He's going to be gone for the season. Van Dyke has 31 career starts. He obviously started his career at Miami, and he came in to sort of help cure Wisconsin's offense. So a tough blow for the badgers. They go to Braden Lock, the backup. He has three career starts, Locke knows the offense. I've been told better than some of the coaches. So he at least will go in and be able to play Phil Longo's style. As for the future of the AAC, Air Force has caught their eye. While there is nothing immediately imminent, there have been

discussions between Air Force and the AAC, and I think we'll know in the next week or two, if those discussions are going to manifest itself, obviously the attraction of Air Force Victoria to the AAC is it would reunite them with Army and Navy. It would put all three military academies under one conference, and that's enticing for everyone at the AAC. Commissioner Tim Pernetti promised to be aggressive, and he is here. It's always enticing what's in your notebook. Thank you so much, Pete.

We always appreciate you. All right, coming up, is LSU close call against South Carolina a cause for concern? And when should we start to worry about Riley Leonard's lack of passing touchdown? Coming up. Black Friday is here at IKEA, and the clock is ticking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials, all the little and big things you need to make this season shine. But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca.com. Bring home to life.

First conference game as a member of the SEC catch Reese and the gang starting at 9 a.m. on ESPN to get you ready. That Oklahoma game wraps up a great triple header Saturday on ABC starting with Clemson hosting NC State at noon and LSU hosting UCLA at 3.30. Each game is also available on the ESPN Plus. Find live sports with where to watch only on the ESPN app and ESPN.com, the ultimate viewing guide to live sports. Speaking of LSU, the Tigers trailed 17 and O and we're still trailing in the final two. minutes against South Carolina until the game Cox missed the game tying field goal securing the 36 to 33 win and BK finding some interesting connections in that win. We beat South Carolina on the road in a sold out stadium in the SEC against the team that beat the pants off of Kentucky who played Georgia right to the end. So if we want to do that game,

You know, I guess we're going to beat Georgia by a lot if that's how you guys want to play this thing. The reality of it is it's hard to win on the road. I wouldn't say they're going to be beating the pants off of anyone, but Sam, what concerns do you have with this close win? My concerns, there's Brian Kelly thinking that the transitive property works like that. It doesn't work like that unless you defensively has struggled specifically against stopping the run. They gave up 243 rushing yards against South Carolina last week. Many of them being big runs, this being one of them, by the quarterback who got injured. If we would have said healthy, South Carolina could have won that game, but that's not the here nor there.

The week before versus Nichols, LSU gave 150 rushing yards. So if they don't get their run game figured out, there will be some problems. It will not be a transitive property. Well, because this team played that team close. We played this team close. It doesn't work that like that. So they got to figure out the run defense and figured out fast. Now, speaking of a game that wasn't close,

Notre Dame beat Purdue 66 to 7 over the weekend. And according to the Notre Dame football PR, the Irish-handed Purdue, its worst defeat in school history. And, Des, I'm going to really just put it bluntly right here. The Fighting Irish pretty much boiled the boil maker. And however, that doesn't mean there are still not issues for the Fighting Irish, besides that boiling. Kewy Riley Leonard still hasn't thrown a touchdown yet.

So, Des, how concerning is this boiling? I think it's very concerning because, you know, eventually you're going to have to play a team that's going to go toe to toe with you. You're going to have to be able to throw the ball down the field and throw some touchdowns. I looked at Riley Leonard's stats from a year ago at Duke. And, you know, he missed some games because of an ankle injury. So he played seven games, but only threw three touchdowns. And he threw three interceptions completed 57% of his passes. So they're going to have to get that passing game going.

I mean, look, there's still hope. There's still hope. It's good to have a win like that to boost that confidence. Speaking of confidence, it's always a good day when these fellas are here. For Sam Dez and Pete, I'm Victoria. Thanks for watching.