College Football Live - Change is in the Air

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

Host Kelsey Riggs is joined by Sam Acho, Jordan Reid, and Tom Van Haaren as they discuss the breaking quarterback news in college football, involving transfer announcements and players declaring for the NFL Draft. Then, we need to discuss the Famous Toastery Bowl involving an absolutely wild comeback from Western Kentucky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to college football live. I'm Kelsey Riggs, and we're coming out the tunnel with a big time flip just days before National signing day. We'll tell you what Dylan Raola's commitment means to Matt Ruhle and the cornhuskers in the future. Plus, with Carson Beck and Jalen Milro returning for the 2024 season and Quinn Ewer's coming over from the Big 12, who's the best returning quarterback in the SEC. And it's a constant revolving door with the transfer portal. We get you up to speed on who's coming. in who's going out. It's all coming up on college football live. Welcome into college football live alongside Sam Mawton-Reed. I'm Kelsey Ricks, hanging out with you for the next half hour, less than 24 hours away from National

Signing Day. We've got a lot to get to, including the transfer portal. Keep an eye on that. But right now, we got to start with the big flip out of a high school commit, the top pocket passer in the 2024 class, Dylan Raola's flip from Georgia to Nebraska. He's the number eight recruit in this year's class, according to ESPN. His dad was an All-American for the Cornhuskers. His uncle coaches there, and now he is headed to Nebraska as well. So ESPN, College Football Reporter, Tom Van Herron joins us now here on College Football Live. And Tom, what can you tell us about what went into his decision to flip from Georgia's Nebraska? Well, you mentioned that his father was an All-American there. His uncle is the offensive line coach.

He told us it's in his blood. Nebraska is in his blood. He was familiar. with the program. He had a level of comfort with the program. But early on in his commitment before Matt Rule was there, he committed to Ohio State. And then he flipped to Georgia. And he chose those two schools over Nebraska despite the ties that he had. And so now with Matt Rule there, I think you have to give him a lot of credit. The way that he's developed programs, if you look at what he's done at Temple, what he did at Baylor, every time that he's tried to rebuild the program, he has had success. I think Matt Rule absolutely played into this for Dylan, and then you look at the opportunity to play. He's going to come into a situation

where this past season, Nebraska's three quarterbacks had 10 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Jeff Sims has already transferred out. There's an easy, a clear path for Dylan Royola to be the starter in year one and try to lead this program back. At Georgia, Carson Beck is coming back. They've got Gunter Stockton. They've got Ryan Puglisi committed in the 2024 class as well. It was going to be a different path for him to see the field early on. And then I think you also have to factor in NIL in all of this, too. And you look at Nebraska and what they are. I had a coach at Nebraska a couple of years ago when NIL first started.

He told me, look at what we have here at Nebraska. We have no professional sports teams here. This is it for the fans of the businesses around here. Nebraska should excel in the NIL space. And I think they're going to. So all of that combined for Dylan Royola, I think that set up a perfect scenario for him and a chance to go in there and maybe become a legend like his father was.

If he can help turn that program around and get them on track, he's now only hours away from signing and being a Husker himself. We've heard Matt Ruhl talk about what it takes to get a transfer portal quarterback, a couple million dollars. I wonder what it gets to get a guy for a flip from Georgia to come to Nebraska. Tom Van Herron with the very latest. We appreciate it, Tom. Let's bring in the guys now and dive back into what this means.

means big picture for the Cornhuskers and also for Dylan Rayola, for Matt Rule. And what he's trying to build there, Jordan, to get a guy like this to flip. What does that do for your program? Well, it's big. Anytime you can get your first five-star recruit since 2005 is going to be a big deal, no matter where you are. And Tom hit the nail on the head as far as wherever Matt Rule has been collegially, whether it's Temple, Baylor, or some other stops that he has had as a head coach.

He has been able to turn that around. And the biggest reasoning behind that is recruiting, but it all starts with the quarterback. Getting Dillon Raola is huge just because now there's going to be a trickle-down effect. Now you're going to be able to get offensive linemen wide receivers and being able to stockpile just because they know exactly who's going to be throwing the football to them. So this is big for the Huskers. Yeah, but it may be big for the Husters, but the starting spot for Raola is not going to be guaranteed. I think about Dante Moore.

Remember the five-star phenom that went to UCLA and though he got a chance to play a lot. He didn't play well during his time at UCLA. And so, yes, you may be a five-star, but Chuba Purdy, who started the last, last few games of the season ran for over 100 yards, a quarterback, brother of Brock Purdy. He's still going to be vying for that spot as well. And so I don't think anything will be handed to Rayola, but it's a great opportunity for competition for him, but also for every other quarterback in that quarterback room. More on this story and, of course, everything that's happening with National Signing Day.

Tomorrow, two-hour show right here on ESPN 2. And guess who you're going to hear from? Matt Ruhl himself joining the crew. Tom Van Herron will, of course, be a part of it as well. Looking forward to that three to five right here tomorrow. tomorrow on ESPN 2. Let's get to some other news, though, and it's quarterback news, because what else is there right now? Speaking of Georgia, Georgia, rather, they won't need a quarterback next year because as you heard

Tom mentioned, Carson Beck is coming back. The Bulldog starter was among the most efficient quarterbacks in FBS this season, leading Georgia to a 12-1 record in his first year as a starter. So the Bulldogs have one more game this year. They'll play Florida State in the Orange Bowl on the 30th. But Sam, what should we expect from Georgia next year now that they're getting their quarterback back? I think we'll expect a lot more success from Georgia. And yes, they only had one loss this season.

But those back-to-back national championships, you go to the playoffs, playing in round one, you play again. I mean, that can wear on your body physically and also wear on you mentally. And so I get it. You're not in the championship game this year playing Florida State in a few weeks. But more importantly, this is going to bring a revamped offense and more confidence to Georgia. You see the schedule. You have an experienced quarterback that's going to start against Clemson, week one. Then you have Tennessee Tech, Kentucky, Alabama, September 28.

It's going to be a huge game. Carson Beck has shown that he can have success with or without Brock Bowers, who may be going to the NFL. And so this is a huge get, if you will, for Georgia to have Carson Beck coming back, his experience, his confidence, and there are no more quarterback questions in Athens. And I agree, Sam. And there's a standard to uphold at Georgia, back-to-back national talk. You didn't get or you didn't climb to the mountain top this year.

Carson Beck, that was a big reason why I think he came back. And yes, he said the NFL can wait for another year. I think Carson Beck has the potential to be an early round quarterback. But he wants to get back to that standard of upholding being a national title contender. And I think Georgia is definitely going to be that next year. And you look at the first five games of that schedule. It is really tough. I think Clemson may be a tough opponent next year.

Alabama, we know they're always going to be one of the thorns in Georgia side. And then also Auburn, who I think is an ascending team. So getting Carson Beck back is going to be really big for this football team. And then whenever you don't have any type of turnover at quarterback, that's always going to be a big thing. We know Georgia is always going to be good defensively. But whenever you have that competency under center, that's always a great thing. And that September 28th game against Alabama. You've got the quarterback that knows what it's like to lose that game, wanting a little bit more.

It'll be interesting, Sam, as you mentioned, to see which of his key pieces comes back. But you know, Georgia, they just continue to reload year after year. Never really a rebuild there. Let's get to some other quarterbacks, though, in the SEC, because it's going to be loaded. Jalen Milrow, Carson Beck, Jackson Dart. They've all announced their returning. Then, oh, yeah, don't forget Texas coming over to the SEC. So Quinn Ewers is going to be there in his first season with the SEC.

Guys, let's talk about who some of these guys can be next year. Because Sam, lots of really good returners in these SEC quarterbacks. Who's the best right now that you think is coming back? next year in this conference. I'm going to go Jalen Milrow and not just where he is right now, but how much better he's gotten as the season has gone on. Jalen Milro over the last 10 games, 17 passing touchdowns, so have brushing touchdowns.

But check out this highlight, I will call it a highlight from the SC Championship. Remember, early in the season, you see Jalen Milrow get sacked a lot. So Georgia in the championship game says we're going to spy him. Two guys on him. No matter which way you go, we're going to find you, sack. But later in the game, fourth quarter, third down. Look at Jalen Merrill. They're spying them again.

but his eyes are down field. He's not looking at the rush, looking at the quarterback, gets it to Isaiah Bond for a huge fourth down conversion. But what makes Jalen Murrow so special is his legs. And so Alabama's not going to shy away from this. Fourth quarter game on the line. You get it, you win, you see our guards are going to pull. Jailen Muriel is going to look like a running back here,

get up to 19, 20 miles per hour, and make a smart play sliding in bounds with less than three minutes left in the game. And so what makes Jalen Miller so special is his life, legs, but as we saw in that game as in addition to the entire season, he's gotten better as a quarterback with his arm, not just in the deep ball, but intermediate passes. Yeah, Milro was a great answer, Sam, and we just talked about Carson Beck of Georgia. He potentially could be another answer, but I'm going to go with Quinn Ewers at Texas,

and Quinn Ewers has progressively gotten better each and every week of the season. And yes, I know, he's battled some durability concerns, but whenever he has been on the field, this offense has definitely been different. He has outstanding weapons in A.D. Mitchell, Xavier Worthy and Tatian Sanders, but Quinn Yulers, excuse me, is the one that makes that entire operation go. I'm interested to see how he plays next year. But if you think about it, to a tung about Lola, Mac Jones, some of these other quarterbacks that has been under the tutelage of Steve Sarkesian, they have turned into first round selections. Quinn Uers definitely seems like he's on that track. But the tricky thing is he's going to have to get used to a whole bunch of new weapons next season. We're going to get to see those guys at least one more time, though, just 13 days from now. College football playoff semifinals cannot wait for that. We'll see what they can both do on the big stage.

Meanwhile, on the other side of this break, we've got to talk about a quarterback from the SEC who's not returning next season. That's Heisman trophy winner, Jaden Daniels. He's off to the NFL. What kind of pro can he be? Plus is to a crowd in Eugene. Ducks added quarterback Dante Moore,

just days after they landed Dylan Gabriel. How's that all going to play out? We'll discuss it next on college football. football live. Welcome back to college football live. Oregon's quarterback room just got a little bit more crowded. Former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore announced his commitment to the Ducks. He appeared in nine games through for over 1,600 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. But guys, he's joining another new quarterback there. Former Oklahoma quarterback, Dylan Gabriel. He's already committed to the Ducks as well for his final year of eligibility. So Sam and Jordan, you would

assume that the guy who has one year left, Dylan Gabriel, is the guy and that Dante Moore is coming in to compete, but also get ready for the future. But Jordan, it's interesting. I know college football is a business now, so you're always building towards the future. If I'm Dylan Gabriel, I went there to be the guy. Now there's maybe a little bit of a competition. What does this do for Oregon in the future, Jordan? Well, it's great just because you want competition all throughout the roster, but the one spot where you definitely want competition is that quarterback. And we've seen in any level of football how important that backup spot is. But with Dante Moore coming along alongside Dylan Gabriel, now you have the heir of parents of Dylan Gabriel.

Everybody knows that Dylan Gabriel is going to be the entrenched starter coming into training camp. Now he has to go out there and earn it. That's not to say the position is going to be hand-given to him. It's not going to be like that. And Oregon does not want it like that. But you have two options at the top of the depth chart. But what's slowly happening in college football is that it's somewhat turning into the NFL and that you want to have that competent veteran in front of that young and

intriguing option, that younger intriguing option, I should say, and that's exactly what Oregon has established with their roster right now. And Jordan, you get it full well, right? You played the quarterback position in college, so you understand that competition. And me, I played outside linebacker, and we went to national championships in my school, and we got a chance to see what that competition looks like. And so for me, if I'm Dillon Gabriel, I'm excited about the competition. I think that's part one, and Dante Moore should be as well.

Part two, I think that may be even more important is the idea of not necessarily recruiting, but relationships. I got a chance to spend time with Dan Lannin at Pact 12 Media Day a few years ago. Just a quick hi, hello, interviewed him as well. But you could tell that he cares about his players. Dante Moore had initially committed to Oregon back out of high school and changes commitment. So as you can see, it's not one of those situations where you're saying, well, now that you've made a bad decision, now we're going to be gone from you. No, you're able to come back.

And so I think those are the two things I think about. I think about the competition, but also think about recruiting. And to the point of competition, Dante Moore, the five-stitch. recruit number two over all the class does need to get better. There were three back-to-back games, back-to-back-to-back of pick sixes, and you saw that. So I think Dylan Gabriel, who has an experience, a wealth of experience at quarterback, ran for 12 touchdowns through for 30, is going to be able to help Dante Moore get better, not just by the competition, but Dante Moore learning from him as a quarterback.

I guess the other thing I think of, and you guys kind of touch on it a little bit about what's becoming more like the NFL, Sam, is in the relationships as well. you mentioned Dan Lannning. Surely, like, you have a conversation with Dylan Gabriel after he just committed. Like, hey, just so you know, we're getting another guy, right? I think of the NFL. I think of, like, what happened with Jordan Love and Aaron Rogers. I mean, surely that's something you want to put out there ahead of time, right?

Well, you never know. I remember so to the NFL example, when I was with the Arizona Cardinals in 2013, we had a new coach, Bruce Ariens, right? It was a coach of the year for the Colts and came to us to the Cardinals. And then we signed Drew Stanton to be our quarterback. And he was the guy. He was going to be the starter. And a few weeks later, we signed Carson Palmer because he became available.

And Carson Palmer became the starter and took us to the playoffs. And the team went really, really far. And so I think it's one of those things where you come in expecting to be the guy. And you may know that other competition may come in, but it's still your job to try and beat out whoever else is around you. And so Drew worked to get better. Carson worked to get better. And it made our entire team better because there was a situation where Carson got hurt. Drew had to step in.

And we kept on winning even with our backup. And eventually, Drew got to get. hurt, our third string quarterback. Here's the thing. No doubt this Ducks team is in a good spot with both of those guys in the quarterback room. Speaking of other quarterbacks, it's Kyle McCord, who has found his help. It's interesting because he was rumored to Beath looking at Nebraska for a little while. We know what's happening with Nebraska, and we know what's happening with Kyle McCord.

He is headed to Syracuse using his final year of eligibility there. He was 11 and 1 as Ohio State starter, finished with 24 touchdown passes and six interceptions. So Sam, I'll come back to you first. We talked a lot about Matt Rule, Nebraska, and what was happening there. But this is kind of similar because you have Fran Brown, who's coming in to build something new at Syracuse. And you get a guy like Kyle McCord, who's a big name in college football to come. What does that do for what he's trying to build with the orange? Oh, it's everything because it just is another sense of confidence for every other recruit to know that, oh, this guy, Fran Brown, the new head coach, says what he means.

means what he says. I remember hearing an interview his introductory press conference. You could tell this guy keeps it a buck, keeps it 100 with all of his players. So he's probably being honest with Kyle McCord, probably recruited him when he was coming out of high school and said, okay, come and change the program.

And all of a sudden, if I'm a different player, I have a quarterback like Carl McCord who's coming to Syracuse. And all of a sudden, you can get some of these high-level recruits. Remember Marvin Harrison, not junior, but Marvin Harrison Sr., from the Colts, went to Syracuse. So you think, man, there could be a lineage of star players or maybe their kids that could come to this school, but you need a coach who players

believe in, a coach who the community believes in, and from the little I've heard from Fran Brown, I believe. And the message is always great at Interd Library Press Conference for head coaches, but the first question that everybody asks is, who is going to be the quarterback? Who is going to be the quarterback that is going to be engineering this program? And I keep coming back to this word, its competency. That is what Kyle McCoy brings to the table. I know his upside may not be great.

I don't think Kyle McCord is a world-beater in any sense. of the world, but he's going to bring competency. He started games at Ohio State, which is a big-time program. Any one games there. We're talking about a Syracuse program that hasn't had back-to-back winning seasons since 2012 and 2013. They moved to the ACC in 2012. So that's how long it has been for this program as far as having back-to-back winning season. They're going to have a chance to have a winning season this year, a back-to-back winning

seasons, I should say, this year. But Fran Brown is trying to bring that type of competency to this program. And I think Kyle McCourt is a really good first building block for him. Well, we heard so much about Fran Brown and what he could do. As a recruiter, now we're getting to see it in action in just his short time there with Syracuse so far. Let's get to some other transfer portal news. And of course, it's another quarterback, Arkansas quarterback, KJ Jefferson. He's in the portal for his final season of eligibility started with the Razorbacks for the last three seasons,

throwing for 64 touchdowns over the last three years. Then there's USC who's going to be looking to fill a couple of holes next year, quarterback Malachi Nelson, as well as cornerback, Dermani Jackson, and linebacker Tackett Curtis Nelson, their quarterback, sat behind Caleb Williams this season and still has four years of eligibility left. And another quarterback is on the move, but this time it's to the NFL. Heisman Trophy winner, Jaden Daniels, announced he is playing, he has played rather his final collegiate game. He declared for the 2024 NFL draft through for over 3,800 yards, 40 touchdowns, as well as rush for. over 1,100 and had 10 scores on the ground this season. Jordan, stock is definitely rising for the Heisman trophy winner.

What does he bring to an NFL team at the next level? Well, the thing about Jaden Daniels is that he was an afterthought coming into the year. He had a bunch of day three grades based on the scouts that I talked to. But the two things that changed his game was he figured out how to be a slippery runner. And then his deep accuracy was just phenomenal this year. 95.6 QBR, which is first in the country, 35 touchdowns inside of the pocket, which also was first in the country. I think Jaden Daniels is going to end up being a top 10 pick before us all set and done.

And the name that keeps coming up from scouts that keep talking about him is Lamar Jackson. He reminds you a lot of Lamar Jackson. He's more of a slippery runner as opposed to a make you miss type of runner than Lamar. But as far as being a passer, he's further along than what Jackson was when he was coming out of Louisville. It's funny, too, because the highsman conversation you were thinking about Lamar Jackson. This was a team that had three losses. But you saw how well he played. His stats were just amazing.

and he is able to be the Heisman trophy winner. We'll see what he's able to do at the next level. Meanwhile, on the other side of this break, we hear from Florida State head coach Mike Norvell for the first time since he spoke on to selection Sunday when his Seminoles were left out of the college football playoff. You won't want to miss what he has to say as they get ready for their bowl game with Georgia.

Tonight, Bull Mania marches on in Texas, record-setting quarterback Frank Harris and UTSA square off against a stout martial defense in the Scooters Coffee Frisco Bowl, nine Eastern, six Pacific on ESPN, ESPN to Porteys, and of course, the app. Meanwhile, Florida State, their bowl game prep is underway. The NOL is not playing the CFB as they had hoped, but getting said for the Capitol 1 Orange Bowl matchup with Georgia.

Today, Mike Norvell spoke for the first time since he last did an Orange Bowl press conference on Selection Sunday. Take a listen. It's been challenging. I mean, it's, you know, for all the things that, you know, how the, how the season ended, You basically got 12 hours to celebrate, you know, what was an unbelievable accomplishment for this team. Then you had to learn how to work through disappointment, hurt,

you know, frustration, anger, all the, every bit of it. 18 to 22-year-old kids and you're 42-year-old, 42, I think I'm 42, 42-year-old coach, you know, and so, you know, it's hard. But, you know, at the end of the day, you control the things you control. And, you know, we did everything that we needed to do to win 13 games.

this season. Now we get an opportunity to go get better. You can't, it can't just be good when it sounds good. For a group of young men that are having to work through that, I mean, it's probably been the most challenging couple weeks of coaching I've ever had. And, you know, but it is, you know, it is our reality. So you, you know, work through it and you go push and get better. I'll have to break down from what Mike Norville said, they're saying, what's your reaction to kind of his synopsis over the last couple weeks. Now, my biggest reaction is the words that he said, the hardest few weeks I've had of coaching. Why is it hard?

If I'm a player and I'm responding to what happened, I mean, it's hard to respond. We had a speaker come in when I was playing. They would say E plus R equals O, events plus response equals outcome. And so there's a big event that happened. Okay, we went undefeated, but we didn't make the playoff. How do we respond? That's going to determine our outcome. And the outcome is going to be what happens.

happens when they play Georgia. So for me, I think it's hard as a player and probably as a coach because you feel like the world is against you. But as coach Norville said as well, this is a great opportunity to show the world who you are where you're capable of and knock off the former number one team. A lot of us can't relate to the feelings, but I can relate. He can't remember how old he is. That was relatable.