College Football Live - How Good Are They Really?

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Host Victoria Arlen, Sam Acho, Tom Luginbill and Pete Thamel look ahead at the teams that may surprise us, like Syracuse, Miami and Tennessee. We also look back at the Week 2 scares some big teams had and whether we should worry or if those teams were caught on a bad day. Plus, we'll look at the top freshman players who could make a splash in the weeks to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to College Football Live. I'm Victoria Arlen. It's Wednesday. We're going to go out the tunnel. With the new AP poll, we have new rankings to discuss, and our analysts break down the highest risers so far and how good they really are. Plus, there were quite a few teams that found themselves on the brink of losing who shouldn't have. Find out which close call concerned us the most. And Colorado was outmatched by Nebraska in week two. Find out why our analysts believe that progress isn't being made in Boulder. College Football Live starts now. We start off our show by first acknowledging the many lives that were lost on this day, September 11th, 23 years ago.

Everyone here at College Football Live send our thoughts and prayers to those families and all who were and are still affected by this tragedy. Week 3 is quickly approaching, but week two left us with memorable moments and even more changes in the AP poll. And week two definitely shook up that poll. Notre Dame in Michigan took a tumble, drop into 18th and 7th.7. 17th, respectively. Tennessee is the biggest riser moving up seven spots while we get new teams making their AP poll debut in Nebraska, Northern Illinois and Boston College. And folks, this season is just heating up. And speaking of heating things up, we've got Lugue, Sam and Pete joining me. And the people want to know, fellas, just how good they are. So Lugues, I'm going to start with you in Tennessee highest ranking since finishing the 22 season, ranked six.

Need I say anything more than Nico? Yeah, lots more. Although he's been a very bright spot for Tennessee, but this is a football team that has completed a pass to 22 people over the course of two weeks. They spread just thin. They're an explosive play waiting to happen, but here's the kicker. They can run the football. Rush for 249 yards on the ground against a senior veteran-laden defense in NCC.

state last week. So they're going to spread you horizontally, force you to stop the run with a light box. And if you can't do it, you're going to see a heavy dose of run. And oh, by the way, on defense, vastly approved for the volunteers. I think they are a handful. They are a problem on offense. And defensively, they're starting to create some havoc. And they're a lot of fun to watch, too. Now, Sam, Syracuse being two and oh under Coach Brown. Are you buying the orange? That's not Texas. Yeah, I'm buying the orange, whether it's a color or fruit. I'm buying the orange. tell me where I'm buying it. Why? Because of Kyle McCord. Kyle McCord has over 700 passing yards, eight touchdowns. Nobody in college football has more passing touchdowns than Kyle McCord. And he's top

three in many other passing categories. Here's why I'm buying the orange color and fruit. Because everyone on this team believes Fran Brown, their head coach has brought this new kind of mentality where they're playing for one another. You can tell by how the offensive line blocks not just in the past game or even in the run game, but in the screen game. They're playing with confidence. You see receivers blocking downfield as well. There's a reason why Kyle McCourt is having so much success. It's because his confidence is increased and everyone around him has rallied behind him. That confidence is everywhere.

Now, speaking of confidence, Boston College ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2018. Bill O'Brien showing that it's good to be an eagle Pete. What are you thinking? Victoria, there is a buzz locally here about Boston College. And the reason is quarterback Thomas Castellano. Last year, Castellanos came off the bench in BC's opener. He had an uneven season. He had 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

I asked Bill O'Brien today, what's been the biggest part of Thomas Castellanos's development? He told me his footwork and his ability to read defenses. Simply put, Thomas Casalanos has been convicted in his decision making. He now has six touchdown passes, no interceptions. And last season, he led the nation in rushing touchdowns. He still brings that element, but there's a lot more to his throw game, which is why the Eagles find themselves ranked. Yeah, Pete, I had the opportunity to spend some time in training camp at Boston College a few weeks back.

And one of the things that Bill O'Brien said to me was what Thomas Castellanos has learned how to do is be a pro. He's the first guy in the building, the last guy out in practice. He's walking with his script, going to spots on the field where they've got a third down or a second down or a first down. And the leadership quality is that he's now grown into have rallied the troops. I think another thing. We've done a really good job in the transfer portal. And this was a roster that was left in good place, I think, by the previous regime. But the transfer portal additions have helped them.

And this could be an interesting matchup in Columbia, Missouri this weekend. And talk about being a pro. That's a thing people forget a lot about. Oftentimes everyone talks about bringing in players from the transfer portal from the outside end. What if you could get better from the inside out? That's what being a pro is. It's studying your film. It's going to sleep on time.

It's eating the right things. drinking the right things. It's being essentially like a coach on the field. That's what we're saying from Castellanos. That's why Boston College has improved so much. That consistent team composure is everything now. The ACC and Big 12 looks open for the taking. We've got three undefeated teams leading the pack in the ACC.

While the Big 12 is showing its depth with seven teams sitting pretty at 2 and O. But Big 12 conference play is just kicking off this weekend with TCU versus UCF. Now we just saw the standing. So we knew going into the season, the Big 12 could be a toss up of who is going to take the title and the ACC would run through Tallahassee. However, after two weeks, we don't know. The ACCC has been flipped on its head while the Big 12 hasn't had a conference matchup yet. With all that being said, which conference is more wide open, Pete? Well, I think you have to say the Big 12 right now.

I think Miami has really performed where they are distanced themselves to be the favorite. It's not over certainly, but they're the favorite. By my count, Victoria, I think six different teams can still win the Big 12. I'm going to put Kansas in there, even though they lost the other night. Kansas State obviously plays Arizona in a non-conference matchup. I think both of those teams can still win it along with Iowa State, Utah, and obviously Oklahoma State. Pete, I find it to be pretty wide open as well in the Big 12. And here's the reason why.

You mentioned Miami, but you also got to look at Clemson. And the reason why I say that is I don't see a team in the Big 12 that is, Miami or Clemson up front on either side of the football. That's what makes those two teams different, in my opinion. I think the quarterback play throughout the Big 12 is really, really good. You've got a lot of competitive depth top to bottom in the conference overall. As with the ACC, it's interesting because NC State and Virginia Tech have underwhelmed while Syracuse and Pitt and B.C. have risen to the occasion.

Even Virginia is sitting there at 2 and O going into this weekend. But I think that the Big 12 is anybody's race, and November is going to be a ton of fun to watch. Well, that's why I would say that the ACC is probably just as, if not more, wide open because just a few weeks ago, everyone had written off Clemson. Oh, there's no way. Look how they lost to Georgia.

Now, all of a sudden, they put up 50 plus points at halftime K Club make set records, five passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and everyone's like, oh, wow, Clemson is the favorite. A few years, last year, people thought that Miami would have no chance. And yes, they had a great game against Florida, but Florida's really down. They've been down for a while. And so Miami may be tested. No, by the way, we talked about it.

Pitt has a player by the name of Des Reed, who transferred from Western Carolina, who is an actual problem, like a quadratic equation. He's legit. And so that's what Pitt has. Pitt has an opportunity to really surprise some people. So for me, I think the ACC has a couple sleeper teams with these teams at the top that may be able to be got. All right. What happens if Pitt?

What happens if Pitt has to face Clemson? Because you need to get a note from your mother to play that defensive front for Clemson. I got one. I got one. Don't worry, Loux. I got one. All right, we're going to take a few friends. I got one.

Don't worry. All right, coming up after some close calls in week two, find out which teams have our analysts most concerned moving forward. And Colorado still has a lot to prove in year two under Coach Prime. Here why Coach Prime is still optimistic despite a crushing loss in Lincoln. That's next. Football Live is brought to you by Inspire. No mask, no hose, just sleep. When you're flying Emirates business class, sipping your favorite cocktail at our onboard lounge, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better.

We have a great SEC triple header on ABC Saturday, starting at noon with 16th ranked LSU at South Carolina. and wrapping up with number one Georgia at 730. And don't forget you can find live sports with where to watch only on the ESPN app and ESPN.com, the ultimate viewing guide to live sports. Speaking of live sports, Penn State had a tail of two halves against Bowling Green. Down by four at halftime, the nitty lions roared back, holding Bowling Green to just 89 yards and three points in the second half after a shaky start. While Oklahoma State prevailed in double OT, a thriller against Arkansas.

the Razorbacks dominated statistically, but missed opportunities they cost them. Three turnovers and two missed field goals spelled doom for Arkansas. Kansas State mounted an impressive comeback against Tulane. Down 20 to 10 at the half, the Wildcats surged back, a clutch 60-yard fumble, recovered for a touchdown by Jack Fabrice, and a game-saving end zone interception sealed the deal in New Orleans. Oklahoma's win over Houston wasn't pretty. The Sooner's offense sputtered, punting eight times and getting outgained 3.8. to 249. Sometimes it's about surviving and advancing folks. And it was deja vu for Alabama

against South Florida. The tide struggled for 50 minutes before erupting for 28 points in the final 10. And it's a reminder that even powerhouses can have off days until they don't. Oregon's heart stopping season continues for the second straight week. The ducks found themselves in a fight. This time it took a clutch 25-yard field goal as time, inspired to edge out Boise State just one week after a tighter than expected win over Idaho. Now, Luges, out of all these struggles and close calls, which one do you find the most concerning? For me, it is Oklahoma, and I'm concerned because they can't seem to find their stride just yet offensively, and they can't do what at the core of their offense, and that is to run the football.

just 75 yards on the ground versus Houston, and 14 of those came from Jackson Arnold, the quarterback. You mentioned the punts, the inability to further drives just 4 or 14 on third down. That's just not good enough, and I'm concerned because this is a football team that's getting ready to go into the meat of their schedule, and Brett Venables knows as well as anybody that up front is where you better be really good to survive in that conference, and I don't think Oklahoma is where they want to be yet. One other team that's not really good up front yet is Alabama.

I was watching the game last week for South Florida. And my first thought I texted it to our producer, Amy. I said Alabama has an O-line problem. And yes, I get it. Caden Proctor, their 6'5-350-pound tackle has been injured. But they had a backup tackle at right tackle who struggled. They were up 14, 13, with 10 minutes left. They moved Tyler Booker, who's a prominent guard out to tackle.

And he played really well. But the question is, how long will this? be sustained. Alabama has struggled in the last several years with the offensive line. They're still trying to get through some injury issues,

but you start getting in the meat of the schedule, that problem could be exposed. Well, I think the other thing, too, Sam, that's problematic. It's 13 penalties and three turnovers, right? That's very uncharacteristic of the University of Alabama.

But I almost feel like if we went into a time machine and we went back one year ago last week, this was the exact same discussion that we were having about Alabama, only it was worse because you were questioning the quarterback position. Remember that? They go down to South Florida and Tampa. They throw Tyler Buckner in there.

He can't complete a forward pass. They struggle and they win the game 17 to 3. Lo and behold, they just slowly got better and better and better and the offensive line improved. Jaylon Milrow obviously improved and they found themselves in the college football playoffs. So I think there's plenty to correct for Alabama.

There's no doubt, but I still think they'll be just fine. I think Alabama has been saying, oh no for a while and we're going to shift gears over to a game that was far from a close call, but a team that is saying, oh no and should be saying, oh no. Colorado faced Nebraska on Saturday and the Buffaloes were down 28 to nothing at halftime. And the game, how never felt really competitive. The Buffalo scored a late touchdown, so things looked a little less worse, but that didn't help much.

So let's hear from Coach Prime on his O-line problems. I feel like we got the right guys. You may shake something up a little bit. Phil Lodd hold is a wonderful offensive line coach. Pat does a tremendous job in calling place as he did the first game. So you just can't take a snapshot of one game and not understand the first game. What we have over 500 yards of offense? I ain't hear all these questions.

But I understand it comes with the territory. Now it's a little bit of deja vu for the Buffs. Colorado had a tough, had a tough rushing attack a season ago. And this season looks to be a little bit of the same. The Buff's air rate is soaring. but their ground game, it's stuck in Boulder. As conference play looms, this offensive imbalance could be their Achilles heel. Now, the numbers speak for themselves.

The math isn't quite mathing, but Coach Prime seems to think something else. So Pete, am I missing something here? Oh, there's an old saying, Victoria, you can't microwave an offensive line. And when you rebuild your entire offensive line from the transfer portal, or they have obviously five-star left tackle Jordan C. And you have all new bodies there. You need the crock pot. You need it to simmer.

You need them to come together. Instead, Colorado has rolled out a whole new unit and they've looked like it. They are dead last in the nation and rushing 1.67 yards per game. And they look disheveled, much like last year when they gave up more sacks than anyone in the country. And Pete, to your point about not being able to microwave an offensive line. We heard coach prom talk to his team about, man, offensive line is a mentality. Talk to them over the last couple days after they got really embarrassed by Nebraska up front. But the issue is you can't microwave a mentality either.

That mentality has to be developed all offseason. That mentality of being more physical and tougher has to be ingrained in you. You can't just flip a switch and say, I'm going to now be this big, bad run blocking offensive line. Last year, Colorado was bottom three in rushing. This year, only two weeks in, they're still at the bottom in rushing. And so, of course, your quarterback's going to get sacked when you're a one-dimensional team. let you take this one dimensional team, not two, one dimension, because every defense is going to be able to tee off and get after your

quarterback, especially when your offensive line is showing that they're soft. I think the discussion when we talk Colorado is we need to remove number 12 and number two, all right, from the equation. So if Shadur and Travis Hunter are not involved in the equation here, then you ask yourself, how many games would Colorado win? because this problem isn't about two or three players. It's about the entirety of the roster. They're not good enough.

And they're certainly not good enough in the trenches on both sides of the football. And when you look at their schedule, look at this schedule right here. Almost all of their road games are against the better teams in the conference outside of really Utah in Oklahoma State. But this is going to get harder, not easier. And so if you can't run the football, Sam, to your point, you know, you become so, one dimensional that people just start pinning their ears back and they start coming after the quarterback and it strains the offensive line. Your quarterback's going to have a hard time staying upright. But to me, this is a bigger picture of loft. I don't know if you guys know what loft stands

for. Lack of freaking talent. Because in many areas, they don't have the players that you need to have to be an upper tier, upper level program. Does that mean they'll never be that? No, I'm not saying that at all, but that's the reality right now. Yeah, and that accountability is a big thing as well too. Well, Colorado takes on Colorado State this weekend. The buffs have won six starts against the Rams. However, they are visiting Fort Collins for the first time since 1996 on Saturday. So we shall see and microwaves are not always the answer. All right, we're not finished yet.

Stay tuned, as Luke tells us, which freshmen have impressed us the most in week two and who we should look out for in week three. Welcome back to college football live for the first time in a decade. College game day is heading back to Columbia, catch Reese, and company. Saturday morning ahead of South Carolina's huge SEC matchup against 16th ranked LSU. Now, it was a memorable week two with some freshmen absolutely going off over the weekend. Lugues, who were your top freshman of week two? I mean, I tell you, it was hard to taper this list down.

So I think we've got to start off with DJ Lagway down at Florida. Could he be the savior for the Florida Gators? This is a kid who is a five-star prospect. out of Texas, a storied, spectacular high school career. Big, physical, looks like Anthony Richardson. I think he's a better, more accurate passer as a younger player than Anthony Richardson was. But this guy can really, really make some plays. And he could not come at a better time for the Florida Gators.

I just think he's going to be special and so much fun to watch. How about this guy, Nick Marsh for first year coach Jonathan Smith at Michigan State. to go on the road for the Big Ten opener against Maryland. And this guy torched Maryland on the back end, deep 77 yard post. He's big, he's physical, he can flat out run, and he's been a terrific addition for Aden Childs, who's a young, up-and-coming, exciting quarterback. But Nick Marsh is going to be a special player in his own right.

He's just getting started. Hey, all of those explosive plays you were looking for with Clemson, right? Where are they been? Well, here they are. Bryant Westgo, along with his teammate, T.J. Moore, Westgo was an absolute blur last Saturday night versus App State. Two deep over-the-top shots got behind the defense, and Clemson's offense exploded.

And I think Davosweeney said, hey, guys, we're going to play the young guys if you're not going to get the job done. Next thing you know, the young guys are playing good, and so is everybody else. How about Colin Simmons for Texas? As what we call a DPR designated pass rusher on the road in Ann Arbor, he is going to be a bolt of lightning off the edge. He can bend.

He's got an explosive first step. Doesn't weigh enough right now to be a full-time guy in the front with his hand down. But boy, is he going to be special in time. Jeremiah Smith is going to go down, in my opinion. It's the greatest receiver to ever play at Ohio State. And he's two games into his career. Yes, you heard that correct me. This guy is on a different level.

He is on a Julio Jones, A.J. Green type of level when it comes to wide receiver play. He's just too good. And then Dylan Stewart, the edge rush are very similar to Colin Simmons that I just mentioned. Dylan Stewart was literally a holy terror against Kentucky last week, gets to play at home this week with game day in town, LSU coming to town. But when you break the huddle on offense, you better figure out real fast where number six is and you better figure out how you're going to handle it. I do have one question, Lou, because I love that list.

What are your thoughts on overall season? Ryan Williams, Alabama, I know didn't have a huge numbers wise this last week, but that dude is 17 years old putting up numbers. I think he is going to be Amari Cooper. That's who he reminds me of. As a route runner, he's smart. And by the way, Sam, he's young. He's supposed to be a senior in high school.

He reclassified up and may be the best target on Alabama's team right now. All right. Well, Luke, can you give us a freshman to watch for week three? If you can choose one. I'm going to choose somebody kind of out of left field because I just got to believe at some point or another, Florida State's going to get some things together. It's Memphis this weekend.

And one of the areas that they have got to improve is running the football and owning the line of scrimmage. And Cam Davis, the running back for the Florida State Seminoles, I think gives them an opportunity to pound the rock, to be a downhill pile pusher. And they need to impose their will on Memphis. This is an offensive line that needs confidence. If the offensive line gets confidence,

next thing you know, DJ is confident. And Cam Davis ends up becoming the workforce for this offense. So keeping on Cam Davis is they take on Memphis. Sam, do you think that DJ can find that confidence? It'll take a team effort. I'll put it that way. I think sometimes some people are motivated internally and some people need a little bit of that extra outside juice.

If Cam Davis can have the year they're talking about, and if the defense for Florida State can make drastic, and not drastic from a personnel perspective, but drastic from an eye discipline perspective, it'll give DJ O'Yangola that confidence that he needs to have success of Florida State. And you have such confidence saying has, last name. I love it, Sam. I love it. I love it. Well, we've got a lot to look out for.

Yeah, I am Aoleava. Nico I Amaleava. We got it. All right. Eamaleava. Seam. Sam. I'm Aalayaava.