College Football Live - CFB Live - Who's Next?/The Undefeated

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho, EJ Manuel, Joe Fortenbaugh and special guest Peter Burns for College Football Live. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry gives his thoughts on the next hire for LSU amid the firing of Brian Kelly. Nebraska and head coach Matt Rhule come to an agreement that will keep him in Lincoln even longer. Ohio State looks to remain undefeated as they prepare for Penn State and the crew will breakdown the other remaining teams yet to lose. You don't want to miss Joe's Friendly Wagers either, all that and more on CFB Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

College Football Live is presented by Dr. Pepper. We are driving towards three ranked on ranked matchups here in week 10, a pair in the SEC, one in the Big 12. Plenty of opportunity to talk about that a little bit later here on college football live. But we welcome you inside. I'm Zubin Mahenty. And as you know, if you're a fan of the SEC or have been following the LSU story, it's been a crazy 72 to 96 hours. Let's get you up to date on what happened last night. Then we'll discuss.

line after Kelly spiring, the governor of Louisiana, filling a power vacuum because right now LSU has no permanent school president, spend it yesterday at a press conference calling out the athletic director and shouting out the nation's first fan. I can tell you right now, Scott Wood is not selecting the next coach. The board of Supervisor is going to come up with a committee and they're going to go find us a coach. This is a pattern. The guy that's here now that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M, 70-something million.

dollars. Right now we got a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again. And you know what? I believe, I believe that we're going to find a great coach. I mean, maybe we're like President Trump pick it. He loves winners. You know, I'm not going to be picking the next coach. But I can promise you, we're going to pick a coach and we're going to make sure that that coach is successful. And we're going to make sure that he's compensated properly. And we're going to put metrics on it because I'm tired of rewarding failure in this country. No, I didn't know that. Do you have any idea of what the next steps might look like?

Next steps are we going to go hire the best coach for Louisiana State University. It is incredible. I want to mention President Trump did own the New Jersey General, so he does have some football experience in the USFL days. We are joined, of course, EJ. Manuel, Sam Acho Zubin Mahenti. Special guest, Peter Burns from the SEC Network. He's a Baton Rouge native, and I'm sure he spent a couple of minutes on SEC this morning discussing this story, though that's just a guess.

Peter, just give us your initial thoughts on what's going on. here with some boots on the ground perspective, and then we will dig into this thing. It's a Cajun Game of Thrones, gentlemen. That's what's being played out right now in Baton Rouge. And listen, LSU and politicians getting involved with these things, this is nothing new. I mean, Huey P. Long used to lead the LSU band back in the day when he was the governor. So the difference here is that traditionally these conversations, these decisions are made in some back room at Phil's Oyster bar in Baton Rouge, as opposed to in front of a press conference. that the whole world can see.

And I think that was the big concern for a lot of LSU fans and even power brokers that sit there and go, wait a minute, why is all of this dirty laundry coming up right now? Why is there a power struggle when we arguably have the best job opening? We're trying to get the best candidates here to come down to Baton Rouge. Peter, why is, while we're hearing this conversation with the LSU head coach opening, but not with any of the other head coach openings around the nation? Again, I think these conversations are being had right now throughout the country and throughout college football where there are Board of Supervisors. There are politicians that get involved, but again, not in this public way.

And we go back and look and, you know, when the governor, Jeff Landry came in there yesterday, he said, listen, you know, Scott Woodward was on the hook for the $77 million deal that Jimbo Fisher got bought out. Well, that was not factual. He was the original did the first deal, but it was Ross B. York that gave him the $77 million deal. extension that led to the buyout. Then goes on to talk about the difference in all of the agents are sharing the same agent and the coaches are the same as well. That's not factually correct as well. But what it comes down to, and what I think Jeff Landry is right about, is a lot of college football administrators feel like the agents have taken advantage of these athletic departments right now and got them into these bloated contracts. So they're kind of

scratching their head going, wait a minute. We believe in what you say that we can't do these contracts anymore, but now you've made it probably even more difficult for this LSU hire to go. Peter, the way I see this as well, when you have the governor of the state of Louisiana chiming in and almost having like a full meeting about this on TV and for all of us to sit and listen to it, I mean, one that just shows the expectation of this job at LSU. I almost went to LSU. That was my second choice. And I know that state loves their football.

I know the high school ranks are great. They would have to have you, E.J., though? Right, right. Been throwing Odell and Jarvis. But you know what's funny is who. whoever takes this job next, Peter, I'm very curious to see where they go because A, you're going to need a strong personality. And I think B, you're going to need somebody that can come in and win right now.

This does not look like a, hey, we're going to rebuild this thing for two or three seasons. You need to come in and win a championship next year. Well, and that's why you sit there and go, you look, go back and think of the success that Nick Saban had in Tuscaloosa. He said it himself going, when I got here, everything was going to be in this direction. Everybody was going to head in the same spot. And right now, if you're in a great job, let's say Lane Kiff and Dan Lannning, any of these names that are out there that are going to be on these short lists, you sit there and go, is that a stable environment that I want to go to? But at the end of the day, gentlemen, as much as I looked and kind of cringed as a Louisianaan about political people getting involved in these conversations, it doesn't matter. As long as you win, then you'll be fine. And you don't. That's when all of a sudden people get a little antsy about this. I mean, listen, the governor liked it when Jay Johnson, who was hired by.

Scott Woodward won two championships. He liked it when he swung big and got Kim Mulkey hired in a women's championship when he elevated Jay Clark for a gymnastics championship. So you can't say I like it one way and don't like it the other way. This is just a power struggle that probably precedes even the time that Scott Woodward was as the athletic director at LSU and even Jeff Landry as a governor. Well, Peter, let's take the power struggle out of it. You're a native of Louisiana.

Who do you think should be the next coach of LSU? Well, that's a great question. I mean, obviously, Lane Kiffin's name is going to be out there. I think Dan Lannning is a perfect fit for the mentality they want, but also I think Phil Nights locked him up to a lot of money, which, by the way, the governor says, hey, they don't have all that money down there. So you probably go out to a different rung. And here's the deal. The idea of who that person is, it's more of do they have the care for LSU. Nick Saban wasn't a great name from Michigan State, but he cared about the product and he was obsessed about winning. than he won a championship. Same thing with Les Miles. Ed Ogeron had that care for the people, Louisiana,

and he cared about that program, and they won a national championship. So I look at this and go, you already got the made man in Brian Kelly, and he kind of used it as a golden parachute. So at that point, it's more about who is hungry and going to show up every single day. And another reason why, real quick, guys, to go back to it, Landry's right. You might be able to offer $3 million in a heavy incentive-laden contract because you want somebody in Baton Rouge that, wants to be there and not doing it for the money, but doing it for he thinks he can unlock

another national championship there. Last thing for you, just the unique nature of everything you're talking about, no school president, the governor weighing in, no real time table, more coaching openings to come. How does this situation move forward knowing that this job search has tentacles that no other one has? What it is is it still moves forward, Zubin, because the last three coaches that have been hired and took the field at Tiger Stadium, won national championships. I don't expect this hire to be made until mid-December,

because I would imagine they want to go after someone who's in the college football playoff hunt. The issue is, is will the waters have calmed down since there? And by the way, can you imagine we had Ed Ogeron on our network earlier yesterday saying he's ready to come back, and that's not even the craziest LSU storyline in all of this, gentlemen? Fair enough. It's incredible. We'll see what happened. O'Jeron, one of those three, that on the job, four years or less, won a national title, something that Brian Kelly was unable to do here in year number four.

Great perspective. You can check it out on the SEC network all the time every morning with him, Chris, and the gang. Peter, thank you so much for your expertise. You got it, boys. Great to see you. Now, obviously, LSU is not headed to the college football playoff or in contention for the SEC title. The loser of the Oklahoma Tennessee game is probably going to find themselves in the same position as LSU as on the outside looking in, especially the balls.

You need a microscope to see that 2% if they happen. to lose this game Saturday against OU and one of our three ranked on ranked matchups, the fellas dig into one particular aspect of the showdown. Thanks, Zubin. This is a great breakdown to show you guys because you talk about man coverage. What exactly is man coverage? How would you coin name? So I would say, hey, I'm on you and you're on me, but there might be some communication

that needs to happen, maybe an end call or an out call, but some kind of communication. Absolutely. So let's get into that OU right now, only completing less than 53% of the passes against man in Tennessee. on the other hand, giving up about nine yards per attempt. So right here, we talk about a man indicator. What does that mean? You got the nickel running with the receiver right there.

That tells me as a quarterback, this is going to be man coverage. But Sam, you're going to see these linebackers here. What do they do? They communicate. So they know that, all right, you've got the first guy in. You see him? Boom. He's going to be on him outside.

I'm going to get the guy who's coming out. That's going to be the running back. So they know already before the snap who's on who. Absolutely. And they do a great job right here. You got Jaden Peraldi sticking with this man. And this ends up being an incomplete because if Peralti. If Perlati doesn't go with the drag right there, it ends up being an easy checkdown,

a potential big play coming out of the back door. But I heard easy. I heard checkdown where you're about to see from Oklahoma is not easy and it's not going to be a checkdown. Hit the play button and watch what happens. We're going to see man-in-man, but it's going to be a lot more difficult of a route combination. Yes, there's a lot going on. But I also want to mention this. This is going to end up being four to the strong side.

You're going to have four strong. You got trips initially, but the running back is going to do an orbit motion to his left. So it's man-and-man. So on the outside, those guys don't matter. They're locked on each other. So those guys disappear. Inside linebacker, spine the quarterback. He doesn't matter.

Disappears. It's these four on those three eligible receivers. Absolutely. And this is where the conundrum happens here for Ole Miss. And really, Oklahoma does a great job and taking advantage of it. You're going to have the safeties and a bond. And Sam. What's the key right here for these two guys?

Communication. This is where you have to have that in, in, in, in, and end call so that T. T. Day, Dodder, he can hear from Sage Ryan. Somebody's coming in. He can put his eyes inside and get Isaiah Sitenya on the in route. But no communication happens. And why is John Matier do a great job of keeping the play alive,

communicate right there to Satania A. Keep coming through on the drag route. He hits him out the back door. This is something to keep an eye on in this match between Tennessee and Oklahoma. Fellas, thank you. That's actually going to be the third of three under the lights on your local ABC station

with Vandy and Texas and Arch Manning. Right now listed is questionable with the concussion if you hadn't heard. And then Georgia and Florida in the middle there all Saturday on your local ABC station. New here on college football live. You might want to slow your role on Matt Rule to Penn State and going home to his alma mater because he's going to sign a two-year

contract extension to stay with Big Red, which is a huge victory for Nebraska coming off their first bowl win in eight years last season and now moving forward. Mark Carney has officially became the new head coach at Ken State. He was the interim, now getting the official tag. Congrats to him. On the way. Undefeated. But for how long the fellas. Tell us when that first Dell is coming if it's coming at all, right, Joe? That's a very dramatic setup there. I've got everyone's attention. Kirby Smart has owned Josh Heiple in Tennessee.

They're betting this game like they already know the outcome. ACC, we've seen these things get mucked up before. Club Nick and Clemson, that's just a mess. This is the focus. The focus is the mustache. I stole it from him, and now I'm projecting it to you. So if it doesn't work out, you blame him, not me. College Football Live is presented by

Ice cold Dr. Pepper, college football. It's a pepper thing. And in part by Liberty Mutual Insurance, only pay for what you need. Welcome back to college football live presented by Dr. Pepper. The teams that have nothing in a lost column, these six. To me, the most intriguing of all, of course, is the one on the extreme right, A service academy, possibly making the playoff, any way shape, or form. That's a conversation for another day.

We'll wait to see what Navy can do. We're going to hone in on a trio of those teams now as we welcome you back inside the studio. To break it down, Joe Fortinbaugh, E.J. Manuel, Sam, Acho. I'm Zubin Mahente. Let's start with the team that has flipped the ACC on its head right now, undefeated Georgia Tech. Again, when they might lose first, if they lose it all. Well, so I'm calling the game this weekend.

So I'm going to hold off on what happens this weekend. But I'm circling that Georgia game towards the end of the season. Why do I say that? They went to eight overtimes last year. But more than that, the team that Georgia Tech is building seems as if it's a team that's built to try and not just beat, not just compete with, but to beat Georgia. But to beat Georgia, they're so physical. They're so tough at the line of scrimmings. Love to run the football.

Haynes King is a physical quarterback as well. So, yes, NC State at night, it could be dangerous. But I'm going down to that game versus Georgia as when I'm looking at a game they might look. Look, does anybody have a red sharp because I needed to circle this. This game this weekend. NC State at NC State. And the thing is, guys, it's a night game. And one thing that NC State always does,

they play up at night in Carter-Findley Stadium. I've had that happen to me. But when I was at Florida State, we lost to them by one point late in our season and it derailed us a little bit. So you look at the way Georgia Tech, though, has been built. They've had a lot of close wins.

Like they're able to win with field goals, they're able to win with defense. And then certainly Haynes King is starting to put together a Heisman type of resume as well. He can throw it. He can run it. And this is the other part, too, against Duke. Duke had a lot of chance

to move all the way down the field and then boom. Georgia Tech comes up with a big turnover. Then right here, just a misdirection off the run game, getting opportunities to wit with some passes and play action. So a lot of good things that could happen here for Georgia Tech, but they must be on high level. If I'm being completely honest, my answer would be two weeks to go against Duke. I bet that game quite aggressively.

And as you highlighted, there were a lot of things that went wrong. Duke had him on the rope. So that highlights a bigger point. I think this week against NC State's a big red alert game. You already see money coming in on NC State. Lines gone from six and a half down to five and a half. Georgia Tech has been very good, but not all undefeated teams are created equal. They're three and oh and one score games.

They've had some fortunate breaks, and at some point, the bottom can fall out on that. So this is a very dangerous spot this weekend against Wolfpack. Okay, so it's red Sharpie, red alert, duly noted. Make sure you know it. Next up, BYU, off an 11-win season. Everybody's like, how could they do better? They've got a true freshman quarterback who wasn't even there for spring ball, and they're sitting there undefeat.

Well, I go to when will their first loss happen? I think about that Cincinnati game towards the end of the season. Cincinnati's a team that not a lot of people are talking. about. Their quarterback has 27 touchdowns, only one interception, 20 rushing, seven passing. And Cincinnati's a team that I think is ascending and they're rising. So BYU, they found ways to win. And I think that Texas Tech game could be interesting, right? Baron Morton is healthy now. But I go back to that Cincinnati game and that's where I'm like, man, it could be dangerous for BYU. Yeah, I'm going to Cincinnati game as well because of the emotion that's going to go

into that Texas Tech game on the road. I think they can potentially win. And then TCU is going to be a hard one at home. I'll say Cincinnati as well. I'll say Texas Tech, and I'm leaning into something. It's an advantageous spot for BYU because they'll have the buy to get ready for that. You go inside some of the advanced metrics. BYU's number two in the country this year and turnover differential per game. When you're living and thriving off of forcing turnovers, at some point that eventually dries up. And when it does, are you still able to get the job done?

They've been very good this year, very good, especially overcoming that spot at Iowa State and handling their business. But Texas Tech is going to have something for them. One last thing on Tech. Remember Will Hammond already out. Morton's got the bulky legs. So if he were to go out, they suddenly don't look nearly as dangerous. We'll see what happens. Last up on this list, Texas A&M for the native Texas.

Man, I almost got the A&M color shoot. Yeah, I mean, we both do. And A&M's a team that looks like they could run the table. But that last game of the season, playing Texas again, a rivalry game. You got to go with Texas. That's one of the games where you just don't know what's going to happen. It's a rivalry. It's a second year back after a 10-year-plus hiatus.

Missouri has an injured quarterback in Boobobos. South Carolina's been up and they've been down. Sanford is Sanford. But November 28th at Texas, I don't care how good or how poorly Texas is playing, that's the game that I circle as a game that A&M could easily lose. They look like they're a better team, hands down. But it's a rivalry matchup, and that's the game I'm looking at. The Egg Bowl is a perfect example of that.

Mississippi State always shows up. No, well, that's what I was going to say, because it's a robbery game. Anything can happen in that matchup. I do think Texas A&M is one of the strongest teams, offensively, defensively, and special teams in the SEC, but that's certainly a game they've got to be on alert. I got them running the table. You got two weeks to get ready for Missouri.

Missouri. You're coming off a buy this week going into that game. So I think you handle your business. South Carolina is down. That should be formidable. But the Sanford game we already talked about. I think they'll handle Texas in a very competitive game. But I like them undefeated the rest of the way. I am shocked there's still plus money to win the SEC. Really good price out there. They're number two behind Bama. There's an opportunity there. Keep in mind, Texas A&M has never played in the SEC championship game. Never won it. No conference title since 1998. Joe thinks all of those. Damn, scoobin? How are you going to end it like that? I'm just saying it can be a great story if it comes true. The Dr. Pepper Championship Drive game of the week is Cincinnati. What did Sam say? 27 touchdowns for Sorsby, 27 split. Dampier's got the ankle injury, so we'll wait to see.

But Bert Fickland, the true freshman filled in last weekend, and was really good. Those are the two QBs we hope we see out there. Game day is going to be there Saturday morning 9 a.m. Eastern on the base of the Wasatch Mountains. On the way, Joe, you're not going anywhere. even though I insulted you, he almost walked off the set. He's back for friendly wagers on this Thursday edition of College Football Live. College Football Live is presented by ice cold Dr. Pepper.

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So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us and contact Desjardin today. We'd love to talk, business. What to watch for tonight, Norfolk State, Delaware State, Deshawn Jackson versus Michael Vick. And remember, they're going to play this game at the home of the Eagles, which, of course, was a venue that both of these had some incredible moments. And you can see kickoff tonight, 7 Eastern on ESPNU. Elsewhere in the Keystone State, Penn State's going to hit the road and head to the shoe.

We know the story and how big of a game this was supposed to be. And then everything happened with James Franklin. But if you ask the opposing coach, it doesn't matter what's happened. This is still a huge game. When you looked at this game, you know, a few months ago, I mean, it was an absolute matchup game. That has not changed. It's still the same players other than the quarterback. They really have a nothing to lose mentality.

So we have to be on high alert at all times for things. You know, they have two weeks to put together different things on offense, defense, and special teams that they haven't put on film. Obviously, no one's given us a chance. And I'm going to, you know, reemphasize that to our team. I don't think we've ever been 20-point underdog since I've been here. But it's motivation. You know, no one believes in us.

We're going to come out and fight like we did at Iowa, but we're going to fight a little harder. All right, Joe, take it away. You heard Coach Smith invoke that 20 and a half. I would like to believe. I would very much like to believe. My wallet does not believe at all. I'm going to go ahead and lay the 20 and a half.

The problem is the Iowa game. Last week they were in a spot. It was heartbreaking the way they lost. I think morale is dead. Six point. What are they giving up? 5.8 points per game? That's the play.

Yeah, give me Ohio State as well. Joe, I think this is a late cover. I think the first two quarters, it could go back and forth, but I think ultimately Ohio State pulls away. Well, Penn State has had two weeks to prepare coming off of by week, but so is Ohio State and their defense is that much better. Give me Ohio State as well. All right. Game number two, Vandy, Texas, might surprise some people.

Vandy's played a lot of big games in a row. What does Vandy like to do inside zone? A lot of runs on the inside, run-heavy team. That's the strength of this defense. We're always talking about Arch. Texas defense leads the way they cover the two and a half. Give me Diego Pavia. I'm not just giving me Pavia.

This is going to be his high asman moment. I'll tell you what, this is going to be his high asman moment. I'll tell you what? weekend, top 25 matchup in Austin. I like Vandy. Man, I like Mandy, too. But I live in Texas, man. Give me a little bit of, a little bit of, I don't know if it's going to be

Archmany. Actually, he's in concussion protocols. I don't know who the quarterback's going to be, but give me Texas. Questionable right now. Finally, let's go to this one. Special angle here. Florida first half, minus three and a half first half. New head coach, two weeks to get ready.

I think they have some wrinkles. Defense only giving up 23 points per game. We know Kirby's the second half coach. I like the Gators in the first half, plus three and a half. I actually like that play. Give me Florida as well. The first half total right there. I like that.

I'll stay there plus three and a half. I don't. I like Georgia. I think Georgia is just the better team. And I understand there's a new coach and there's going to be maybe a new injection of confidence. But, man, Georgia is playing on a different level right now. It's pretty amazing to think we thought Penn State, Ohio State, wait all season, wait all season for these two. Not as big as we thought, but there are some really good ranked matchups to have.

And I will say, is the only guy here on this set that doesn't have any kids and won't be trick-or-treating tomorrow. Enjoy the trick-or-treating or as I learned about for the first time ever yesterday. Trunker Treating. Trunker Tritie. Tunker Tray. Had never heard of it before. See you.