College Football Live - Everything's Bigger in Texas

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

Jen Lada is live in Austin, Texas, alongside Pete Thamel, Steve Coughlin, and Desmond Howard to break down a packed Saturday of college football. The crew dives deep into the performances of Quinn Ewers and Carson Beck, analyzing which quarterback might shine brighter in this SEC Georgia v Texas showdown. Desmond highlights one of the Heisman favorites, Ashton Jeanty, and discusses his impact on both the game and Boise State's season. Meanwhile, Steve Coughlin and Pete Thamel provide insights and updates on key players that could influence your betting decisions this Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're flying Emirates business class, dining on a world-class menu at 40,000 feet, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. The college football live, presented by DirecTV. Texas, the beautiful city of Austin, home of D.K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, which will be rocking tomorrow night for an epic matchup. between number five Georgia and number one, Texas. You know, this is just the third AP top five showdown in that building's history.

And I'm sure there'll be some Georgia fans there as they travel very, very well. Welcome into college football live on this fine Friday. He's Desmond Howard, Stanford Steve, Pete Thammell, and I am Jen Latter. I think we should waste no time getting right to the big game that everyone is talking about. And that is Georgia versus Texas. And featured in that game, will. be two quarterbacks that you know and you love. Carson Beck versus Quinn Ewers. Beck is coming off a career high, 459 passing yards versus Mississippi State.

That's third most in program history. Meanwhile, Quinn Ewers, he had a pretty nice little game himself, 317 total yards per game. That is very good at home, and that's where he will be this weekend. So let's take a look at today's road test presented by Goodyear. Texas, 25 and 1 in AP top five home team games in the last 20 seasons, good for best record in those type of matchups. The dogs have played an AP number one team eight times, never on the road. So that, of course, changes Saturday in Austin. We begin with Pete Thammell, the authority. What will you be monitoring in this game, Pete?

I'm going to be monitoring Quinn Ewers, Jen. For as bombastic as the blowout of Oklahoma was for Texas last week in Dallas, Quinn Ewers really wasn't quite himself. He averaged just 5.2 air yards per attempt. He really didn't let it rip down the field against the Sooners. So what I'm going for against Georgia is coming off that oblique injury, is he comfortable really letting it fly? Isaiah Bond has been banged up.

He's probable for this game. He's arguably Texas's best receiver. If he doesn't play the full complement of snaps, will yours be able to go to Ryan Wingo in some of those downfield situations? He's the very talented true freshman who's had a nice rookie campaign for the longhorns. Des this will be the toughest offense that Texas has faced, although not the same offense that we have seen from Georgia in years past. What are your expectations? Well, like you said, it's not the same offense because Georgia's running game just hasn't been like we've seen in years past.

And Carson Beck, you just mentioned, probably has best passing game of the season thus far. I guess Mississippi State. But I think he had a slow start to the season because he didn't have Ladd-McConkie. He didn't have Brock Bowers. So he had to find weapons in his office. that he can rely on. And I think he found a couple guys. Arian Smith, he averages 18 yards per catch,

three touchdowns on the season. And Dominic Lovett, two touchdowns on the season. What happened was Beck is in the position now where he has to make the receivers better. He had receivers a year ago who made him better. So now coming to this game, this is actually going to be the most prolific passing attack the Longhorn secondary has seen all season.

to me it's all about the start of the game for both teams. But the first time in 49 games, Georgia is going to be an underdog. And then we think about what they look like on the road at Alabama. And that was as bad as start as you. I mean, you think about if they got anything in the first half, the way they closed the game. And then that matchup, you touched on it. Georgia's offense, Texas hasn't played anyone to the reckoning that Georgia could do in the past game.

And that's a lot of pressure on your secondary. And a spot like this, when you know you're going to get tested, How does Texas's secondary respond? That's the whole key to the game for me. So one of the things we have talked about this season is that these losses are not do or die. In previous years, it was like, well, you're out of the conversation now. Thanks for playing. Not the case this season.

If Georgia loses this game, Des, are they safe from being eliminated? Well, I'm not sure. I mean, you know, we're coming to a seat now, if you asked me that a year ago in 2023, October 18th, that's like, yeah, it's done, put a fork in it. But it just seems like everyone in the SEC, especially the heavyweights, they all have one loss. Everybody except the Texas Longhorn. So I think if Georgia loses,

they still may be able to get some games, some big games later down the road that can help them if they win. No doubt. They got ranked games against Ole Miss. They got to go to Oxford and then they get Tennessee coming to their place. You know, the conversation before the season was,

could we possibly even see a three-loss team? Yeah, exactly. You know, getting in the playoffs. I don't see that now. Now that we're halfway through the season and you see where the losses are, But I will say the loser, if Georgia loses this game, I'll allow the game in Knoxville tomorrow,

you're out of Mulligans. Your back is totally against the wall because you're not getting in with three losses. To Dez's point, Georgia certainly could gain momentum as the season goes on offensively. But if you're looking for a metric to compare last years and the previous Georgia team to this year, look no further than third down conversion.

They were fifth and second in the country. This season, guys, 74th. So they're going to try to turn that around as the season goes on. Pete, we go to you now for some of the other top stories. headed into this week's action. What are we watching? Well, let's start with Travis Hunter. Obviously, the most dynamic players in the country.

A deep exhale came over college football this week. When Coach Prime said Travis Hunter should play this weekend, he's back. He left the last game against K State with a shoulder injury. Interesting stat. When he came off injury last year in the Stanford game, he played a mere 157 snaps. So don't think if he's back healthy that Dion's not going to play him now. One of the great stories this weekend is Indiana's moment right now.

The Hoosiers are hosting Nebraska, and it is arguably the biggest regular season game in a generation at Indiana, maybe two generations for all we know. Kurtzignetti has rebuilt that entire team through the transfer portal, but this is the first time they've really played someone with a good quarterback and equitable talent. We'll see if that number seven scoring defense of Nebraska can shut down Indiana's number two scoring offense. Pitt hired a new athletic director this week. Alan Green, the former AD at Buffalo and Auburn, who'd been at Tennessee and,

Old Miss since getting dismissed at Auburn is the Panthers new AD. Pitt was really zeroing in on someone who could bring NIL in the modern college athletics, and he's seen that at both Old Miss and Tennessee. And the biggest news today is that Haynes King, the star Georgia Tech quarterback, will not play against number 12 Notre Dame this weekend. Zach Pyron, the veteran backup, who started two games and has played in all seven games this season. They've had him come in in key series is to run the ball, so he's not new to everything.

here. But Zap Pyron gets the start for Georgia Tech. He's a similar dual threat to Haynes King. This is obviously a huge spot for him. He hasn't started a game since 2022. Okay, Des. So King out, how big of an impact is that on Georgia Tech? It's a big impact. I mean, we've watched him when Dublin, Ireland gets Florida State. And I mean, he just runs that offense in such a proficient and excellent way. With him missing, I don't know if they're going to miss a beat offensively. Yeah, I'd love the game plan that Georgia Tech has come in, a couple of tough losses. but offensively they've looked really good.

Now you wonder how the quarterback changed. I just want to go back to Travis Hunter. Coach Prime says he should play. He didn't say he will. Is that what he said? I thought it was interesting. It was a, it was a little bit paradoxical how he were. As what the Coach Prime could do.

But it should. What I've been told is there's nothing structural with Travis Hunter. So there's no thought on a long loss. And look, we'd say how it looks in practice this week, but it really doesn't practice a whole lot. I mean, you can't. When you play 157 stats. If you were Travis Hunter or not, I do all my work on Saturdays, folks.

And plenty, by the way. All right, so much more to come here on college football live, guys. Let's begin with another SEC showdown this week that comes before Georgia, Texas. The tide rolling into Tennessee to take on the one-loss falls. Who will come out on top in that one? Plus, Des is breaking down one of the top Heisman hopefuls. Ashton Genty is on a buy this week, but we can't. Stop talking about this guy.

And neither can Travis Hunter for whatever it's worth, guys. That's next on College Football Live. College Football Live is presented by DirecTV. All your entertainment, nothing on your roof. Stream Direc TV, satellite free.

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Welcome to the shootout in Texas. Austin, of course, the big game Saturday night, and then Sunday, the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix. That's at 3 p.m. Eastern on ABC and ESPN Plus. Now let's take a look at the Heisman update brought to you by Nissan. Despite missing two games this season, Texas QB Quinn UR sits behind only Jay and Milro. In QBR in the SEC, you see him there on the list, but he is still behind Ashton Genty, who has been tearing it up for Boise State, tallying in an impressive 11th, excuse me,

17 rushing touchdowns, more than the totals of 119 other FBS schools. Just incredible. Desmond, what can you tell us more about Ashton Genty, who's at the top of this list right now? Boise State's Ashton Genty is on everybody's short list as far as. the Heisman. And I'm going to show you why. This young man is really special. Now right here, this play is an outside zone. His track is to the left foot of the left guard. Look how he's standing. Very calm, just surveying the defense. He's not in the normal two-point stands like most running backs. But here he is right here. Now, at the snap, he goes his left and then color shows. Don't forget he's trying to go ahead. Look at the footwork. Settled movements in the hole. He can make you

missing the phone booth. And then right here already made two more defenders miss. I don't know how Genti gets out of that tackle right there. And then he's off to the races. I've been told that in four steps, he could get up to 21 miles per hour. I haven't seen anybody catch him yet. Now, a lot of scouts talk about Gentie and pass pro. Here he is right here to drive the quarterback. This is going to be a cat blitz. This cornerback is going to come. Watch Gentile on this play. He recognizes the blitz, steps up, Mesa right there, giving the quarterback a clean pocket for an easy throwing catch. This is what people love about him. He's the complete package as far as running backs are concerned.

He runs, he blocks, he catches the ball. That's why he's on everyone's short list for the Heisman. Good stuff, Des. How about some other names that we need to know as we enter week eight since the tough outing against Georgia? Cade Klubnik has turned it around significantly. He ranks fifth in FBS in total QBR. He's thrown 17 touchdowns to just one interception. Meanwhile, Garrett Nussmeyer has looked better each and every week.

He is leading the SEC in completions and touchdowns this season. He is also the first LSU player to throw for 300 yards in five of the team's first six games of a season. And in the Big Ten, Illinois's Luke Altmire is a name to remember as the Aligni prepare for Michigan. his 14 passing touchdowns this season tied with Will Howard and Dylan Gabriel for most in the Big Ten. And keep an eye on Michigan's Khalil Mullings. He's averaging just under 100 rushing yards per game. And his 25 forced missed tackles are fourth most in the Big Ten. So a lot of people talking about this game between Illinois and Michigan seeing what they will do this weekend.

Des, what is something you are watching in this one? The quarterback Jack Tuttle, you know, he was. supposed to start during the season, got hurt during camp, and then had the battle between Davis Warren and Alex Orgy. The Walk-Wong Warren won the matchup, but he didn't last long. And Teno came in in the Washington game. Despite the fact that he hasn't played competitive football in months, you could tell how it opened up the office and the office looked different. Now, because he hasn't played in months, he had two costly turnovers, a fumble and interception, both in the fourth quarter. But now with a week or a week.

off. They had the buy week. Curious to see how Michigan's offense looks under Jack Tuttle. You had the broken tackle summer for Mullings. Hey, he's probably the happiest guy that Tuttle's. Any guy that he could get out of the box that's got to help him. But to me, it's about Illinois's run defense. They started the year great. Didn't give up a rushing touchdown. The first four games, the last two teams, Penn State and Purdue, have each run for 240 yards. You know Michigan's going to want to establish the run with Tuttle. that quarterback, what Illinois rush defense shows up, the one from the first four games, or the one that's gotten gashed the last two weeks. That's the key of the game for me.

One of the most improbable stretches of football this season was Purdue scoring 40-something points in the second half of that game against Illinois. It came out of nowhere with a backup quarterback and with a defensive head coach calling some of the offensive plays. It was completely bizarre and not indicative of what we seen from Illinois on defense this year. I really think not having Caden Fagan at tailback, who's going to be missing the next couple of weeks, played a part into that. Illinois, it's Brett Bielma, right?

It's Wisconsin. You want to grind the clock down. And when you don't have that star thumper tailback, it's more difficult to do that. That invited Purdue back in the game. That was a fumble return in there. There were a couple of fluky things, but it'll be interesting to see how that Illinois defense bounces back after that complete bizarro half against Purdue.

Illinois has not won an AP-ranked matchup at home, guys, in 34 years. Been a minute. That was Ohio State back in 1991. Coming up on college football live, guys. The tide are going to Tennessee this week for a big SEC showdown. Which one lost squad will come out on top? The guys are bringing down the matchup that you need to have your eyes on right after this.

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9 a.m. Eastern until noon. Lots of fans out here enjoying college football live. They want to hear Steve's gambling guide beginning with Miami at Louisville this weekend, Steve. Yeah, I hope they like underdogs, because that's what we're looking at this weekend. Let's go start with a noon game. I'd love it even much more if it was a night.

game, but Louisville at home getting points to Miami. When I think about the matchup, I think about Jeff Brom in that opportunistic offense. There's an ability for big plays against Miami's defense, which they've given up the last couple games. I like Louisville plus the points at home against the hurricanes. Nebraska is a team that we have been waiting year after year after year. Seven years, I believe. They haven't made that bowl game. They're looking to get back. All the focus is on Indiana. Five straight games, over 40 points, but they haven't played a defense like Nebraska. Nebraska's defense will keep them in this game all day long in Bloomington. I like the Hornhuskers plus the points. And then a big one again for LSU. Going on the road after that

monster comeback against Ole Miss. Arkansas is a tricky team. In my opinion, they should be undefeated with the two losses that they blew at the end of those games. But I like Arkansas. They're live. they're at home. Pete tells me Tailing Green's going to play. He's a major factor and I think that offense is going to cause problems for LSU's defense. So with like the home dogs and the hogs at home. Somebody at this table may have put

money on a different team than you picked, so that's making them very uncomfortable at this moment. I don't want to say who that is. Let's get to the SEC matchups tomorrow on ABC, number 7 Alabama at Neeland Stadium, taking on number 11 Tennessee. That's at 3.30 Eastern. At 7.30 Eastern number one,

Texas host number 5, Georgia. of course at the 40 acres, you will not want to miss those games. Now let's take a look at today's player to watch brought to you by today's military. And who else? It is Nico, Iamaleava and the Vals looking to bring back their explosive offense against Bama this weekend. But how, guys, it will all be about the play action. He's completed 70% of his passes while also having the third most passing yards in all of

FBS on play action plays. Des, he was sacked three times by Florida last week. How does he take advantage of a situation this weekend? You know, I think it's going to be tough. His offensive line, they haven't done a great job protecting him. Going up against this Alabama defense, I think the strength of their defense is actually up front. I think on the back end, they're kind of suspect.

But their front seven is going to get after, Nico, and make sure that he has no time, make him uncomfortable. guys, don't forget, he's a first year starter. So the thing you want to do is confuse him. You want to make sure that the pre-snap looks. Don't look anything like the post-snap looks. Why? Because you want him to hold that ball a tick or two longer

so the rush can get to him. I think that Alabama will be able to do that. Yeah, a couple things here. You brought up Nico. I also think about Jalen Milro. Think about two weeks ago before the Oklahoma game, how all the positive talk was about these two quarterbacks. Yeah.

And they've come back to reality because of the, their own play. Situational mistakes that cost them in big spots. But the other thing to me, and you touched on Alabama, it's Alabama's defense, right? They got scattered all over to place against Vanderbilt, gave up 40 points. And last week, they tightened it up. But if they're in critical times, they had lack of communication in the secondary, lack of tackling in a big spot.

So Alabama's defense, now they go back on the road. The last time we saw them, they gave up the 40 spot to Vandy, what do they look like in what should be a super, supercharged atmosphere? In late September, Tennessee did not seem susceptible to an offensive slump. They scored 69 against Chattanooga, 51 against NC State, 71 against Kent, pretty much in the first quarter. And here they are looking just average on offense in SEC play. Their passing offense is 14th in the league in SEC play. And they really need to snap out of it and rev that edge.

It doesn't hit on it. It hasn't just been Nico. The offensive line hasn't been great. They don't have the same caliber of skill they had when Hendon Hooker was there. It's just a lot of different things that have been a confluence here. And it's, look, it's going to be tough to snap out of it, even against this Alabama defense. But it's really two slumping units that are going to collide on Saturday. So I'll ask you guys the same thing we asked about Georgia earlier in the show.

Is this do or die for either of these teams when it comes to the future in the college football playoff does? I think it is for Alabama. They only have one loss, right? And, you know, they don't have the strength of schedule moving forward that Georgia has. And I think their only game against a competitive team or ranked. team will be on the road in Death Valley against the LSU. So I think things look very bleak for Alabama if they can't travel to Knoxville and knock off the volunteers.

They're probably rooting for Missouri tomorrow, too, to get a win because they're another team that has to come to Tuscaloosa, which would be a quality win in that, in that reassurance. So I don't believe they're out of it. I think it's one of these teams, if they finish 10 and 2, they're going to have enough. I think the resume will be strong enough. Tennessee still has a road trip to Georgia, so that would mean they, they're going to would end up 10 and 2 with a win over Georgia.

So I said at the beginning of the show, they're out of Mulligans, though. Like the back is all the way against the wall. You got to win out from there and hope for others. You know what's that stake for these two teams, Georgia and Alabama, that dominance that they've had, that mystique of dominance in the conference. You lose this game.

If both teams lose tomorrow, that goes away. Yeah. Yeah. So you're saying you don't have that idea of you just walk into a place and the opponents are afraid of you. And you get that ultimate respect, exactly. Welcome to Modern College football, right? That's what it is.

No, the lower tier SEC teams have farm systems. They're called the Mac and the Sunbelt. There you go. And their rosters are filled. Look at Indiana. They're 27 portal guys. 13 came from JMU. They all of a sudden got average at the very least very quickly.

And that's what Modern College Football has done. The traditional cellar dwellers now have farm systems to fill their holes. And that's why you can turn a program around very quickly. All right. Obviously, the big game right here tomorrow. Georgia taking on Texas. Two Nick Saban disciples, by the way, that will be on opposite sides of the ball

and opposite sidelines at the game tomorrow. These fans cannot wait for it. We can't wait for it. That's a very good point. Stay tuned to college game day tomorrow morning to find out where Scottie Shepler is our guest picker. Thanks for hanging out with us, guys.

Have a great one. We'll see you next time.