College Football Live - Minding the Gap

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Host Victoria Arlen is joined by Sam Acho, Tom Luginbill, and Pete Thamel to discuss the Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Alabama, as they round out the Top 5 in the AP Poll. Find out why they're ranked behind Georgia and if the gap between the top 5 teams is as big as people make it out to be, all on this episode of CFB Live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to college football live. I'm Victoria Arlen. Let's go out the tunnel. Where there's a will, well, you know the rest. With a new key, can Ryan Day finally find a way back to the playoff? And Texas has all eyes on them, going with a full head of steam into the season. What can Steve Sarkisand do to cement Texas's spot in the CFP? Plus, week one opens up with three ranked matchups that could define the season. We're here to tell you what you should have your eyes on in these games. into college football live. I'm Victoria Arlen alongside Sam Ocho, Tom Luganville, and Pete Bammell. Now, after much anticipation and speculation, the AP released their top 25 preseason poll yesterday, so let's get a little refresher. No shocker who's in the top 10. The SEC and Big 10 make up for eight of the top teams. And Georgia and Ohio State were the only teams to receive multiple first place votes. The Buckeyes are top two in the preseason poll, the 19th time in school history. However, they failed to win the national title in any of the previous 18 instances.

But our experts are here to tell you why these teams belong in the top spot. So Pete, what makes Ohio State the number two team in the country? Well, when explaining Ohio State, Michigan is never far behind Victoria. Michigan, if you remember, sent 18 players to the NFL Combine last year, a sign of veteran play and a sign of depth. from talking to some NFL scouts today, a safe number to estimate Ohio State having better combined ready this year is 17 players. That includes at least six guys who a year ago, I would have told you,

were for certain going to the NFL. Guys like Denzel Burke at corner, a mecca and Buka at receiver, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuio Malau at defensive end, Trevion Henderson at tailback. With that caliber of talent back, Ohio State really has a bunch of older veterans who seem primed and ready for a playoff run this year. Don't forget about Jeremiah Smith. The freshman receiver has been tearing up camp.

He was the number one recruit in the country for a reason. Oh, 17. What a number on that age could be key. Now, Lugues, what are going to be some key factors for a championship run? Well, I think it starts at the quarterback position. They weren't, you know, happy enough with Kyle McCord a year ago. So they go out on the Transfer Portal market. They bring in Julian Sand, who I think is the better passer between him,

and Will Howard, and of course, Will Howard comes over for Kansas State. But I think the key at the quarterback spot is just make the routine plays routinely. All right? You don't have to wear an S on your chest at Ohio State on offense, right? Just make the throws are there to be made. And I think under Chip Kelly, you are going to see an awful lot more quarterback run back into this offense because Will Howard's a 240-pound player. And to Pete's point, Jeremiah Smith, I think we'll go down when it's all said and done

as the best wide receiver to ever play at Ohio State. Barring injury, that's how good he is. And on the defensive side of the ball, guys, on the defensive side of the ball, Caleb Downs, Caleb Downs, is Dennis Rodman to the Chicago Bulls. That's the missing piece for them. And the big thing about this Ohio State team

is that when you play them, it's almost like you're seeing double. Talk about Jeremiah Smith, the number one recruit, number one rider receiver, player of the year in Florida. Then on the other side of Mecca Abuka, number one player coming out of Washington, number one wide receiver. It's like you're seeing double.

Who do you stop? Then you go to the running backs. Think about the guys like Trayvion Henderson, who was all Big Ten. Then you've got to transfer in like Quinn Sean Judkins, all SEC. You're seeing double. Then you go to the defensive side of the ball. Jack Sawyer, number 33, JT Too and Malo out, number 44. Dominant players, you're seeing double.

There is so much depth on this Ohio State football team. I think that's what makes them elite. Guys, I think they have three future first rounders in the back end, three of them. The two corners and Caleb Downs eventually, I know he's just going to be a sophomore. And I believe Jack Sawyer has an opportunity to be this year's Aidan Hutchinson from Michigan a few years back. So it's not just their depth. It's not just having great players across the board. They've got some elite level players.

and now they need those elite level players to come to the forefront. They have a lot to be confident in going into the season. And Ohio State extended their record streak of consecutive seasons appearing in the preseason poll to 36. But let's keep it in the Big Ten conference newcomers, Oregon. They earned their highest preseason ranking in the AP poll since 2014 on Monday morning, coming in at number three. I love that duck. They had one first place vote and the ducks will kick off their inaugural season as members of the Big Ten Conference against Idaho.

on August 31st. Sam, what is it going to take for Oregon to make a solid championship run? It'll be experienced starting at the quarterback position. Dylan Gabriel transferred from Oklahoma, one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football with his arm, but also with his legs. You have him tie that with transfer Evans-Stewart, who was coached by Jason Whitten in college, who's one of the number one players, receivers coming out of high school. you have an experienced quarterback who knows how to win big time football.

I think about last year what they have, Bo Nix, an experienced quarterback transferred in, a Heisman finalist. That's what we're going to see with him with offensive coordinator Will Stein, and then Dan Lending controlling the defensive side of the ball. Dylan Gabriel will be the key for this offense. You see similar successes last year with Bo Nix. I think you'll see that this season for Oregon. Well, you mentioned all the playmakers, Sam,

and I'm going to go directly to the front on both sides of the ball, all right? This team is so old, they're practically collecting Social Security. In the offensive line, okay, in the offensive line, they've got three seniors, a junior, and a sophomore that's starting at center, but that sophomore

started their bowl game a year ago. He was backing up a second round draft choice. You look at the defensive front seven, all right? Six of the seven players are seniors. 31, 31 of Oregon's Top 44 too deep are juniors or seniors. So they've got all of the right parts in all of the right places.

They've got a quarterback. They've got front people. And I think that they're going to come into the Big Ten as the most well-equipped team making a conference-to-conference transition up front, which is going to give them a head start. And one of the benefits of having so much experience on that offensive line, defensive line, is that that's where leadership happens. I think about practices. You're practicing against your teammates. through drills. The best teams I've been around and been on have been player-led teams. When you have young freshmen and maybe sophomores, it's harder to lead, but you talk about

senior, senior, senior, junior, guys who have been experienced, it helps take the coaches a little bit out of it and let the players be the enforcers on the team, which in my opinion leads to excellence. We talked about that experience and that excellence, but Lug's what is something that could get in their way? Injury. I think that that's the one thing that you just, you just cross your finger. and you sit there and say, we can't have an elite level player, God forbid the quarterback, you know, have an injury.

I do think, though, that in order for Oregon to materialize into what many people believe that they can become, they've got to go out and prove it against a big boy. And that big boy on the slate this year is Ohio State. That's going to be maybe one of the highest rated games between two college football playoff caliber teams, regardless of who wins and loses.

But if you're Oregon and you want to kind of, shed that Pact 12 narrative, you need to beat a big boy like Ohio State. I will say that Oregon is the only team besides Michigan to beat Ryan Day coached Ohio State in a regular season. They face them on October 12th. All right, we're going to take a quick break. Despite a changing of the guard in Tuscaloosa, Alabama stays in the preseason top five. Find out what Lug's thinks is the most critical adjustment the team needs to make this year. In the 10 years of the college football playoff, the Southeastern Conference has amassed 12 appearances and six national championships, the most of any league. In the upcoming SEC network film,

decade of dominance, fans will get to relive one of the most exceptional eras in the SEC football. Here's a sneak peek. A major reason for the SEC's unmatched success is the strength of the entire league. The competition is incomparable. In 2022 alone, Georgia beat. Tennessee who beat LSU who beat Alabama who beat Mississippi State who beat Aubrey who beat Texas A&N who beat Arkansas who beat O Miss who beat Vanderbilt who beat Kentucky who beat Florida who beat Missouri who beat South Carolina fellas it's a four-quarter SEC war tune in Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern on SEC Network. Well, Texas may be a newcomer this season in the SEC. The Longhorns head into the

season as a top five team for the first time in over a decade. This marks the 25th time since 1950 that Texas has been a top five team in AP's preseason poll. In 12 of the previous 24 seasons, Texas ended that season with the top five ranking as well. Now, unfortunately, Texas will be without one of their stars. So Pete, we saw that C.J. Baxter is out for the season. Who's going to step up in his absence? Well, Texas has had another injury at running back in the last 24 hours, Victoria, with Christian Clark going down for a lower body injury. He's expected to miss the season two.

That leaves Texas with just three scholarship tailbacks as they head into the opener. Sam, if Sark shows up on your phone today, he may be seeing you have some extra eligibility, can maybe tote the rocks with longhorns this year. They're in a little bit of a pickle. They turn their lonely eyes to Jaden Blue, A third year back who's known for his explosion. He's six foot 200 pounds.

And the question is, can he be a workhorse? He was going to be a change of pace guy. Got to come out of backfield and catch passes. What Texas doesn't have is a rugged guy who you can rely on in first and second down to move the chains behind that elite offensive line. One more name to keep in mind, walk on Colin Page. He's a local guy from Austin. He got a bunch of carries in the scrimmage this weekend. And if things keep going this way, he could end up playing a role for the Texas Longhorns.

There's also some chatter about maybe a wide receiver moving over to tailback, but it's certainly in flux. Definitely. Sam, what are going to be some key factors for Texas to make a championship run? The defense will have to be dominant. And I say that because there are two guys on the interior that are gone, but two guys on the edge that are going to have to step up. Baron Sorrell and Ethan Burke. Those names are names you're going to have to get familiar with. why. Barrens deGrelle was just named to Bruce Feldman's freak list right there. Number 88, 64, 260 dominant player, but he's dialed in and had dinner with him a couple

months ago. This dude is focused on nothing but football and bringing a championship to Austin. And Ethan Burke, number 91, he was an all-star lacrosse player in high school, and he's in those conversations of, hey, remember Byron Murphy last year? People weren't talking about him, and then all of a sudden had a dominant ear and became a first-round pick. That's what people are talking about when it comes to Ethan Burke. And so, The edge defenders, and add even Anthony Hill to that as well, are going to be the difference in this team. By the way, Sam, having an old football team that we talked about with Oregon, it's the same way with Texas, particularly along the front. Vernon Broughton's a senior.

Alfred Collins is a senior, so they've got a lot of upperclassmen that played a lot of football. You know, I looked at two areas with this Texas team. Number one, they went out in the transfer portal and they replenished the wide receiving core by bringing in Isaiah Bond, who was uber productive for Alabama. He joins Jonte Cook and D'Andre Moore, two true first. freshman that saw duty a year ago. So I think the weapons are going to be just fine on the perimeter for Texas. But on the other side of the football, I think Jodd A. Barron is a player that does not get

anywhere near the level of respect that he deserves. Now, he was a holdover. He was a player that Sark and the staff inherited. And all he did was buy-in to everything they were preaching. And he's kind of become the quarterback of the defensive side of the football. And he is so productive. And he's always where he's supposed to be, when he's supposed to be there. he gets everybody lined up.

He is critical to the overall success of that defense, top to bottom, from his leadership to his playmaking ability. I think everybody looks at him and says, okay, that guy's a dude. Now, the last but not least, and this may be the most important thing about Texas, it's unbelievable to me that it has been almost 24 years since Texas has had a first round draft choice in the offensive line. Almost 24 years. That's unfathomable to me. And they're probably going to have at least two in this. group, if not another over the next couple of years.

Best offensive line Texas has had in at least 25 years. So there's three transfer receivers who've gotten a lot of the headlines for Texas. Obviously, Isaiah Bond coming over from Alabama, Silas Bolden from Oregon State and Matthew Golden from the University of Houston. But I like what Luke said earlier about D'Andre Moore. He's a guy who's been one of the buzz players in camp and he's a reliable route runner who really knows the offense. Sometimes it's hard to roll three transfer.

receivers out and an offense as complicated as Steve Sarkisans. So look for more to get a bunch of reps and really go on the arc that everybody thought he had when he came in as a decorated recruit. Well, Texas is just trying to keep that momentum going after their first appearance in the college playoff last year. So it'll be interesting to see how it all shapes up. All right, the third highest SEC team is Alabama, had number four in the tide, is ranked in the top 10 for its 16th consecutive season, tying Florida State for the state for the state. second longest streak in the preseason AP poll. However, this is the first time since 2009, they've ranked outside of the top four, sorry, meant they're ranked number five.

Now, Alabama no longer has Nick Saban leading the charge. So, Luke, do you agree with Alabama being ranked fifth? I absolutely do, because I think not only do they have the roster to back it up, they probably went out and got the best option as the next head football coach at Alabama and Kalen DeBore. All right, Sam, we lost Luke. No, and even on Kailen Dabor. Yeah, well, and Luke's set me up perfectly because Kailen Dabore is the perfect coach for Jalen Milrow. Why is that?

What you saw from Washington last year, and I'm stealing this from Lug's. We talked about in the production meeting. So Lug's, I'll thank you later. But Kailen Dabore is a deep ball type of coach. What does Jailen Miro do excellently? He's one of the best deep ball throwers in all of college football.

And now what do we see improved from last season to this season? The offensive line for Alabama. The offensive line has started to give Jalen Milrow more time. Jalen Murrow matured from the first seven or so games and then he continued. That's when the offensive line got better. The first eight games, this old line gave up four plus sacks in seven of those first eight games. Well, the last six games only happened twice. And so Jalen Murrow got better, the offensive line, specifically Tyler Booker and Caden Proctor got better.

And Caden Proctor is another name you to know, six, seven, 360 huge individual. I was next to him about a month ago and I felt tiny and I played the NFL for nine years. And then Tyler Booker as well. well. He's the leader of that offense leader of that team. So what what Lou was going to say is the fact that this is a perfect marriage between quarterback and head coach, then the offensive line is rallied around their quarterback. Sam, I'll jump in on the offensive line. I think it's a really interesting point. There are a lot of decorated prospects, a lot of five-star guys. You mentioned Tyler Booker. You mentioned Caden Proctor. They did not have five-star results

in five-star production last year. Simply put, they couldn't line up in mall people like their pedigree said they should have. So I really think with Kailen DeBore being such a past specialist and the offense being a little bit more wide open, I want to make sure that Alabama can protect Jalen Milrow this year. Dang, Pete, just because Nick Sabin is not coaching Alabama, doesn't mean you've got to freeze up my segment. I mean, for crying out loud, holy smokes here.

Listen, I was asked the question on should they be top five? Absolutely. Not only because they've got great personnel, but I think the coaching staff was a home run higher overall. I will say this, though, about the quarterback position at Alabama. And I think Jalen Milrow has grown leaps and bounds throughout the course of last year. But if there's one area where he's been deficient that I think really has to improve, it's in the intermediate passing game.

Now, if you watch Washington the last two years, you know they love to throw the deep ball, right? You take a look at these numbers for Jalen Milrow, all right? He's comparable with Michael Pennix on the vertical ball. That's his best throw. it's the throw that he has the most confidence in. The problem is that intermediate level is where he's at his horse. He has got to up the efficiency in the out route, curl route, dig route, those types of throws. And oftentimes that's going to be over the middle of the field or it's going to be out to the sideline

where there's a lot of traffic in there that can secure your vision. So that's an area where he's not comparable with Michael Panics. If he grows in the intermediate passing game and adds to what he already does in the deep passing game, I think Alabama is going to be really good on offense. And to your point, Pete, I got a chance to see Jalen Milrow at SEC Media Day and talk about the growth. He has this aura and air of confidence about him, and it's well warranted. He's been through the fire last year. He got benched in week three last year.

But to that intermediate passing commentary, I saw that in the Georgia game, the SEC championship game, when it mattered most, fourth quarter, intermediate pass to Isaiah Bond game winner, that's what Jaylon Milrow does. And so I think he's made that jump in the off season. I think that's why it's going to be a lot better this year. I also want to, before we take a break, the last time the tide were ranked number five in the preseason AP poll was in 2009, and they ended up winning the national title that season.

I don't know if you're superstitious. I'm a little bit, so we shall see. All right, so close to week one kickoff, and it's a week you don't want to miss. After the break, Sam Lugge and Pete, tell you what you should be looking for in each of these three ranked matchups. It is back. It's started with College Game Day at 9 from Ireland. and then number 10, Florida State takes on Georgia Tech at noon on ESPN.

We have three ranked matchups in week one, all on ABC, starting with number 14 Clemson facing top ranked Georgia and Atlanta. These teams last met in 2021 in the opener. The dogs won that game and went on to win the national title. College Game Day will be in the house when the seventh ranked Notre Dame takes on number 20, Texas A&M, and it's a reunion for fighting Irish QB Riley Leonard and Aggie's coach Mike Elko, who came over from Duke. Then on Sunday night,

number 23 USC squares off with 13th ranked LSU in Las Vegas. Both schools were tasked with replacing the previous two Heisman winners in top two draft picks, Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels. Now, a big thing that makes the preseason poll exciting for not just the teams,

but fans is the rankings and where your team shapes up. And it also allows for ranked matchups to kick off right off in week one. So speaking of week one matchups, Lugues, let's start with you, Clemson, Georgia. What do you want to see? I want to see the Kade Klubnik that we saw in the bowl game last year. At the quarterback position, I want to see efficiency, I want to see leadership. I want to see them have the ability to push the ball down

field far more than they could a year ago. And that's the second part of my point. I believe that Clemson got faster through recruiting. T.J. Moore, Bryant West Court wide receiver. And if they stay healthy and we see that Kade Club Nick, this is going to be a heck of a football game that We'll go deep into the quarter. All right, Pete, Notre Dame in Texas A&M. Let's hear it. I want to see an Irish offensive line that looks more experienced than it is, Victoria, in that caldron and college station.

Notre Dame only returns 33 starts on the entire offensive line. Without left tackle, Charles Jagastod, they could have a long night in the trenches. All right, Sam, quickly. We only got a few seconds. USC LSU. Defense. Defense. Give me USC's defense.

up. All right. Let's go. Let's go. All right, for Sam, lose and feet. I'm Victoria. We're all about defense over here. Thanks for watching.

We'll be back tomorrow.