College Football Live - Ohio State defeats Penn State ONCE AGAIN!

Episode Date: October 24, 2023

Greg McElroy, Matt Schick, and Desmond Howard kicks off the shows recapping Ohio State's big win against Penn State once again and an update on Michigan's latest reports about their investigation. Following that, they dive into some pretenders and contenders of the season with a few weeks remaining. To end the show, they discuss whether or not if Caleb Williams and USC can bounce back after back to back losses. 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. Welcome to college football live. I'm Matt Schick. Let's go out of the tunnel. We're going to have an interview in a moment with Mark Schlebeau to give us the latest developments into the Michigan sign-stealing investigation. And with the first college football playoff rankings a week away,

We break down the playoff contenders and pretenders of those teams who eeked out a win this weekend. Plus, there's just something about Ohio State that Penn State can't seem to crack. We discuss why the Nittany Lions still cannot get over that home. We begin college football live at the latest from Ann Arbor. Late last week, it was revealed the NCAA's investigating an alleged sign stealing operation that centers on one of their full-time analysts, Connor Stallions. According to ESPN reporting, it was an elaborate operation that included purchasing tickets to games of Michigan's conference opponents over the last three years and the video recording of those team's sideline signals in person. Let's welcome in Greg McElroy and of course Desmond Howard. Greg, start with you.

How big of a deal is this to you? It's significant. And part of the reason why is this is a scheme that just feels as if it's years in the process. of kind of figure out the intricate details of how they want to go about figuring out other team signals. Now, this is not new in college football. People steal signals every single week. This is something that we see in every nook and cranny of the college football landscape, but when you're going to an extreme like this, in which you have a coach or an assistant

or a staff member that's going to other places and surveying what's going on in the opposing sideline and using video recorded evidence to process some of those, that sign stealing. That's where it becomes really problematic. All this could go away very quickly, though, if they would just implement what the NFL implements by getting rid of signs altogether and going with radios in every team's helmet. I wish they do that and accelerate that process now. We're already starting to get some momentum that direction does,

but this is clearly a very avoidable issue moving forward, but it does look really bad on the Michigan program. Yeah, Greg, like you said, it's something that a lot of programs they try to do. I mean, why would you not? You have some three quarterbacks on the sideline signaling plays. It's almost as if the offensive coordinator dares you to try to decode their system. So I was actually surprised. I didn't even know there was a rule against scouting.

I mean, because we've always scouted teams from high school to college to the NFL. So I didn't even know there was a rule. But with that being said, it seems as though something has happened with this rogue individual who went to stadiums and looked at the other team's signals. And we're going to see – you know, but Jim Harbaugh said that he's going to cooperate fully. The athletic director, Ward Manuel, he pretty much said the same thing. So we'll see where it goes from here. Pete Tamil, Mark Slavov filed this story for ESPN.com. Check it out right now.

Mark Slavov joins us now. What is the latest on the investigation involving Michigan? Matt, our reporting uncovered yesterday that Connor Stallings, the analyst, had purchased tickets in his name from at least 11 schools in the Big Ten out of the other 13, multiple tickets to multiple games over the last three years. In some cases, he forwarded those tickets to other people. We know at least one Big Ten school was able to capture video footage of a public. person sitting in the seat that Stallions paid for, and he was holding an iPhone for the entire game, and appeared to be videoing signals from the opposite sideline.

Connor Stallions, he can be seen on the sidelines of these Michigan games. I know there's some video out there that you can find on Twitter on the X of him standing next to Jim Harbaugh and the coaching staff. So he's at Michigan on game base. Who's using these tickets? It's good question. We got the names of three individuals from various parts of the, the country that these tickets were forwarded to, even though he purchased the tickets, some of the tickets at least, off a stub hub and C-keek and other secondary markets,

the schools are still able to track who purchased them where they were sent, the network of people, how big it is, who they involve. We still don't have all the details yet with that certainly something the NCAA is interested in. NCAA looking at Stallion's computer as well. What exactly are they looking for? and how might what they find impact any punishment Michigan undergoes? Yeah, man, I think the big question right now is, was Connor Stallion's a lone wolf? Was he a rogue actor?

Jim Harbaugh said in his statement. He wasn't aware of any illegal scouting that was taking place within his program. He didn't direct anybody to do it. Who knew what? When did they know it? How much were Harbaugh and his coaching staff involved in this scheme, if any? Those are the questions the NCAA are going to, is looking to find out. out the answers to, you know, they could take a look at his email, emails between Jim Harbaugh and other coaches with Connor Stallings, expense reports, credit card statements.

Was he reimbursed for these tickets he purchased from other Big Ten schools? Those are some of the issues the NCAA is looking at right now. All right, Mark and Pete will be all over it on ESPN.com. Thank you, Mark. Much appreciate again on the heels of that. Michigan easily dispatched to Michigan State. their biggest games, though, still ahead of them, namely Penn State and Ohio State. Those two squared off in Columbus. For the seventh straight year, it was Ohio State putting one in the wind column. Marvin Harrison Jr. a career day.

The Penn State offense never got on track. One for 16 on third down. The two head coaches today reflected on Saturday's showdown. I still come to work every day thinking we're not very good, you know, and I feel like we should have won by 30 points. You know, you have to have that mentality. because whether good, bad, or indifferent, you have to ignore what's going on outside

because what matters is what's going on in this building right here and getting better and winning on Saturday. What we got to do is we've got to move on and learn from it and get back to stacking days and finding ways to get wins. Because I also believe that we got to make sure that this loss doesn't get us twice, which I think has happened in the past. Because I think of how everybody in the Penn State community

responds to these things. Let's take a look at this week's college football playoff rankings brought to you by Verbo. The loss knocked Penn State down. A few spots to number 10 in the newest edition of the AP poll. Top six standing pat, no movement. Texas, Oregon, Alabama, all benefited from Penn State's fall. Yeah, start with you here.

How did Saturday's outcome in Columbus impact how you view those two teams? Yeah, so watching those two teams is really hard to get a grasp on on either one because a quarterback play just wasn't what you expected. I thought that Drew Ailer coming to the 2023 season was going to be a guy to help open up the Penn State offense, but that wasn't

the case. And now I understand why a couple of weeks ago, James Franklin was asked during the presser about throwing the ball vertical. How about just chunk it down and see what happens? And he, you know, had a kind of like emotional reaction to that question. Now I see

why. They just couldn't go vertical. you look at Ohio State, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with their home run here, Treveon-Henderson. I mean, this is an outstanding running back that can go the distance in the blink of an eye. And, you know, he's been in and out of the lineup. So the running game hasn't been consistent.

The only difference is that they had the best player on the field Marvin Harrison, Jr. And he made sure that he showed Penn State secondary who he is and what he's made of, Greg. Yeah, I mean, Trevion, he's always hurt. It's to this point. It's like all throughout his story. career is always something. I hate that, but he's just not at this point a real dependable piece

for the Ohio State rushing attack. I thought Chip Trainham had some moments. I thought Maya and Williams had a couple moments as well, but this was really all about Marvin Harrison. A lot of people have said, well, why can't James Franklin get over the hump? Why can't he beat the likes of Ohio State? Why can he beat the likes of Michigan? It's because they don't have the same caliber of talent. With all due respect to the people that are continually on the annual basis of putting Penn State up there alongside Ohio State and talent. Y'all, it's not the case. I mean, Ohio State over the last handful of years

has trotted C.J. Stroud onto the field or Justin Fields onto the field. Most recently, it's Kyle McCord. Those guys, whether Kyle McCord becomes the first round pick, I don't know, but I would take all three of the aforementioned players over Sean Clifford, and at this point of his development, Drew Aller. I look at Marvin Harrison,

OLAVe, Wilson, all the amazing wide receivers that Ohio State has run onto the field against Penn State. Yeah, and while Jehan Dodson's great. Right now they're working with Keandre Lambert Smith. Ohio State is significantly more talented than Penn State and has been for years. That's why when you look at the record that James Franklin

has against Ohio State, it's not necessarily a reflect on the type of coach. It's just a reflection on the personnel that he has to take the field with every time he plays the Buckeyes and to a lesser extent the Wolverines. You know what, GMAC, I get that. I want to push back just a little bit on that. This is a very talented

Penn State team had the blue chip quarterback who they had attempt 42 passes. Nick Singleton, nine carries. Kate Fran Allen, nine carries. If not for a Curtis Jacobs, you know, scoop and score that was negated by a penalty, maybe we're having a different conversation. How much of this is game planning, just the way they go about their business? Well, Christian Hackenberg was a blue chip quarterback, too. I don't care how many stars you have at this point. I mean, it's great that Drew Aller's got a really high ceiling, but I also acknowledged that he, by far had missed what? 43 percent of his throws were considered, quote,

off target on Saturday. And if you look at the coverage that his receivers was trying to beat, I didn't think there was a lot of separation between Ohio State's secondary defenders. And you look too, by the way, Ohio State had a true freshman at corner because Denzel Burke was unavailable. It's not like they were at 100% at any point this past year, this past weekend as well. So I just look right now at the gap between the two. And while I have a ton of respect for Penn State's program, I just acknowledge that there's a

gap that exists between Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. And that gap isn't exactly small, at least at the moment. It does quickly. Did you see a team on the field Saturday that can beat Michigan? You know, the thing about the science scandal, what gets lost is just how well Michigan's playing on the field. No one's giving these kids credit for going out there and smashing opponents week in and week out. I did not see a team at this point that I thought could beat Michigan. By the way, they played Saturday.

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Black Friday. IKEA. Bring home to life. And they pounded Michigan stay for sure. No team has handled its business better than Michigan this season, regardless of schedule, no doubt. Up next, we saw some up highly favored ranked teams avoid some major upsets. Which one of those great escapes concerns us the most? Next. Now for this week's ultimate performance presented by DMBMW. Hats off to the whoos. 24 point underdog Virginia upsets number 10 North Carolina

on the road program's first ever road win against the top 10 team. Largest, upset by an ACC team in 25 years, putting a huge dent in the Tar Heels' playoff hopes. Other top 10 teams were a little more fortunate avoiding the scare. Let's do some pretenders and contenders here. We had Oklahoma guys. They beat Texas, then they had a week off, and then they just looked off escaping UCF by the skin of their teeth, GMAQ. Oklahoma, contender or pretender?

I'm going to still say at the moment. contender. I think that they have enough offense and the improvements on the defensive side have been notable. At the same time, to kind of couch the original point, can they win a national... Can they beat Michigan? Can they beat Georgia? That I

have a hard time seeing right now. But as far as getting to the college football playoff, I think they're still in a really good spot. But the next two weeks will define their season. Yeah, I agree, Greg. I think that they are a contender. You look at what happened a week ago. We see it all the time after one team

has such an emotional victory over one of their rivals then the next week. They kind of come out a little bit flat. That's what we're experienced with them. But I think in every game that they have moving forward at Kansas, at Oklahoma State, West Virginia would be interesting at BYU and TCU. You see that they're, they will be heavy favorites in those games. The one thing that concerns me is the passing game down the field. Can they stretch the field without Andrew Anthony,

to transfer from Michigan who played wide out, who actually got hurt in the Texas game, it won't be available for the rest of the season. They're going to have to find someone to replace Andrew Anthony. All right, Des, let's go to Washington here. A week after beating Oregon, it took a pick six late to provide some separation against one-win Arizona State.

Contender-pretender, Washington. Guys, you know, late Saturday night, I got a text from one of their coaches and said, we have to get a team win. today and team was in caps because they understood that they just escaped by the skin of their teeth. Again, another team that a week before this game, they had the emotional victory at home over Oregon, came out flat and stayed flat. But I still do think that Washington is going to be a contender because I still think that they're probably the best team, Greg, in the

Pac-12. Yeah, Des, I'm on board. I've actually called. college football playoff level caliber Washington teams against Arizona State. Check out 2017. They lost that game like 20 to 6, where their offense could just only manufacture six points, and they just weren't very good. They went to the playoff in 16. So this was like a top five team in Washington. This was one of those rip off the rear view mirror, burn the tape in advance, because it was hideous in so many ways, but you survived. And this is a game, by the way, where we've seen Washington. We've seen Washington lose ones like this in the past. Granted, most of them are outside of Seattle, but still at the same time.

It wasn't pretty, but you survived. So take it and run. If you're scoring at home, offensive touchdowns from the weekend, Iowa 1, Washington, zero. Let's move on here. Texas, Des, we'll see if they have contender pretender status here. But what do you think? They already have the loss.

And then the narrow win over Houston needed to stave off the Cougars and get some help from the officials in that third down spot there, fourth down spot late in the game. What do you think? Yeah, I don't think they're going to be contenders. You know, they struggled against Houston and then they got their quarterback, Quinn Ewers. He ended up getting injured in that game. And it seems like he's going to be out for quite some time with a shoulder injury.

And the thing that scares me, that worries me, Greg, is that it's not just a shoulder injury. It's his throwing shoulder. A year ago, it was his non-throwing shoulder. this year is his throwing shoulder and you as a quarterback, you know how long that may take to come back from an injury that's a part of your, that's on your throwing shoulder. Contender status certainly going to be dependent on the health of their quarterback, Quinn Ewers, like you said, who was performing very well in the game,

23 of 29, 211 yards, a couple of touchdowns, exited the game late in the third quarter after taking this hit. He later had his right arm in a sling on the side. headlines head coach Steve Sarkesian on who will take the reins. If the game was being played today, Malik would start the game and again, Arch will be ready to go. And like I said before, I've had a ton of confidence in Arch. You know, I think it was a couple weeks ago. I mean, he had a fantastic practice. And so I'm really encouraged by that. Not every school is as fortunate as we are to have

the quarterback room that we have and the connectivity that that room has. I think a lot can be said for Quinn and his leadership in that room. I think they're always trying to lift each other up and help one another. We saw Malik Murphy in the game, G-Mack, on Saturday. But is it time to get a glimpse of the Arch Manning era? No, no, no, absolutely not. You and your five-star quarterbacks today, Matt Schick. Let's just relax, okay?

It's Malik Murphy's show. They've said that from the spring. This was a pretty hotly contested battle there in the spring to see who was going to be the backup quarterback. Will it be Malik Murphy or will it be the five-star blue chip that Matt Schick wants to start in Arch Manning? And it was Malik Murphy. He played really well in the transfer portal. He played very well in the spring game. Almost entered the transfer portal because a lot of teams were very interested in him potentially coming in and becoming their starting quarterback. Steve Sarkeesian said, man, stay here.

We're going to develop you. You're going to get an opportunity to play. decided to stay, but this young man with a lot of talent and a really high ceiling, it's just about can he manage the game? Because they're going to be able to run the football with Jonathan Brooks and company. I still feel good about that part of their game. He just has to make good decisions and not turn the ball over because there's still so much more talent than just about every team they'll face up until they play Oklahoma in the big 12 title game. It's not just me that wants to see Archmanning eventually. It's America, Greg. Eventually, we all will. Thank you very much.

Coming up again, we're going to get to see Texas's quarterback, whoever, it is this weekend, part of a triple header Saturday on ABC. Fourth ranked Florida State ticket on Wake Forest at noon eastern and seventh rank, Texas hosting BYU. Coach Prime in Colorado fresh off the buy, ticket on UCLA. Speaking of UCLA, their cross-town rival didn't have much fun Saturday night as the youths once again got the better of the Trojans. What's wrong with SC?

It should be a great one at Rice. Eccles, one of the great environments of college football game day will be on hand. And now it's time to check in on the Capital One, rewarding performance with 42% of the vote. Ohio State's win over Penn State takes the prize this week. Bama and Utah getting some love for their big wins as well. Virginia, the upset over UNC. Don't forget to get your vote in on YouTube.com slash at ESPN CFB. Utah and head coach Kyle Whittingham had a great quote after the win over USC guys saying,

hey, they got their highsman winning quarterback and Kayla Williams. He's going to do some things. We've got our pig farmer at quarterback, and we like that guy, too. Des, how, excuse me, Greg, how far can this pig farmer at quarterback, Bryson Barnes, take Utah? Well, the beautiful thing about Utah is it's seldom about just one player. It always seems to be about the greater good. And if you look at Utah especially, they've now made some adjustments,

tweak their lineup. Y'all, they took a safety in Sione Vaki and made him a running back the last couple weeks. He's been playing both ways, and he's really opened things up. For them in the run game, De Quinda Jackson's also gotten healthy. They're really good in the front seven, both offensively, and they're doing a great job along the offensive line as well. So I look at this game last week, and it was not at all surprising. But Des, we're really going to find out about Utah this week when they welcome the Oregon Ducks to town, because I think that is a potent offense and I think a really capable defense that Dan Lannning has in Eugene.

Yeah, it's going to be a great challenge. for the use, but I have to say I'm a huge fan of Kyle Whittingham and his team and his style of play. I just think they're like a physical bring your lunchbox to the game type of mentality. And they're going to punish you. They're going to punish you for four quarters until you relent. That's what they did last week as USC. But Oregon is going to be a different monster because I saw them live and in person in Seattle against Washington and Bo Nix and that offense. They're very dynamic and explosive.

So I'm really, really looking forward to this matchup Saturday. I'm staying for the game this time. Well, Des, USC's got games against Washington, Oregon, and UCLA to close out the season. Caleb Williams, USC, what do you want to see from the reigning Heisman trophy winner to cap off the season here? No, we've seen Caleb Williams when things are great, you know, when he's the Heisman front runner and the team is winning. Now we want to see how he responds to adversity. You know, they lost back-to-back games. He was harassed through three interceptions in the Notre Dame game.

Moving forward, I want to see what type of leadership qualities he has because they're going through some extreme adversity right now. Yeah, out of the playoff picture already. We shall see how USC gets up off the map. We're back on Wednesday.