College Football Live - Tricks and Treats of Week 10

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Victoria Arlen, Sam Acho and Trevor Matich are here with a special Halloween themed episode! The crew discusses everything on the line as Penn State prepares to take on Ohio State in what arguably is the biggest game of the season thus far in the BIG 10! Plus, Max Olson joins the show to discuss a recent storyline regarding helmet communications being unencrypted. All that and more on CFB Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. Welcome into college football live. I'm Victoria Arlen. Let's go out the tunnel. Ohio State will be facing Penn State this Saturday with major playoff implications on the line and with talent across both sides. We break down key positions that will have an impact on this game. Also, get your applause is ready because Joe Fortinbaugh is here to give you the inside scoop on some big ranked matchups where two undefeated teams could get their first loss of the season. Plus, we have tailgate tips coming your way to help you, sound smarter and keep you in the know for this jam-packed weekend. This is College Football Live. Let's go.

College Football Live is presented by Dr. Pepper. Happy Halloween from all of us here on College Football Live. We got accordingly, accordingly in the studio. We've got nothing but treats and maybe a few tricks for you on this fine day with Sam Macho and Trevor Madditch with me in studio. And we are going to start today's show off with the story. that is making headlines across college football regarding helmet communications. More specifically, the security of the in-helmet coach-to-player in-game communication systems during power for college football games this season,

being on unencrypted frequencies, raising the question of whether or not they had been compromised. Texas Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hokut raised the issue after learning the helmet communications were unencrypted and accessible to anyone with a scanner and knowledge of how to locate the frequencies. So let's bring in ESPN.com writer Max Olson. What's the latest on this, Max? Yeah, Victoria, the latest is the Big 12 just released a statement that they had completed their review into their conference games and have determined there's no evidence that any of their games were impacted by common communication issues

and any concerns around people accessing that. Now, Kirby Hokeet, the Texas Tech Athletic Director, requested that review and specifically of Texas Tech's last two games against Baylor and TCU to be. to ensure there was no integrity issues with those games. Kirby Oket has not made any allegations that those teams did anything nefarious. However, there is concern on the Texas Tech side that members of the conference knew about these vulnerabilities for the past few weeks and did not immediately bring it to their fellow athletic directors.

Now, how realistic is the possibility of someone being able to access these communications, Max? Yeah, it's a tricky question. You need to have very specific knowledge. And look, I understand the first thing people think of is this signal stealing 2.0. I think there's an important distinction to make there. In my conversations with Big 12 coaches and staffers, there's skepticism that there's concern about the security, no doubt. But there is skepticism that an opponent who access their frequencies could gain a big competitive advantage because of the time between plays. If you had access to this frequency, then you'd be able to hear, for example, the communication,

between coach to quarterback, but you have to be able to decode the play call and effectively communicate that to your defense before the time of the snap. And so there's skepticism, and coaches I've talked to do not believe they've been victimized by this. However, you can't say that it's impossible.

For sure. For more on this story, check out Max's article on ESPN.com. Thank you so much, Max. After exiting early at Wisconsin with an injury, Penn State quarterback, Drew Aller, practice Wednesday, and participated in a variety of drills

that indicated he is taking positive steps towards being available come Saturday against Ohio State. Head coach James Franklin spoke to reporters on the status of his QB on Wednesday. At this stage, no new information for you guys, game time decisions, but so far so good and getting both Bo and Drew a ton of reps in practice. All right, game time decision.

We'll be watching very closely, but let's do a tale of the tape and see which, Which team has an edge in this Ohio State Penn State matchup? So let's break down a couple of key positions and start with the quarterback, Sam. So the quarterback position, this is a little bit interesting, right? Because Bo Perbula may start. Who knows, it may be Jeweller. But I'm actually going to give the edge to Ohio State and the Will Howard.

There's been a lot of talk about Will Howard and how successful he's been. But statistically, he's actually putting up better numbers so far than Drew Allen, passing yards and also touchdowns. And also we kind of have a little bit of the critique of maybe his ability to throw the ball downfield. But what thing that I think Will Howard does an exceptional job of is using his legs as well. So we can run the ball in the red zone, run the ball even in the high red zone. She's ability to pass it and run it, I think gives Ohio State the edge with the question mark at Penn State. Okay.

Well, that's positive for Penn State for sure. All right. What about receivers and tight ends, Trevor? Well, the receivers and tight ends. Tight end goes to Penn State in Tyler Warren. I mean, he had a breakout game against USC. 17 catches, 224 yards. And the guy is 6-6, 250-some pounds.

I mean, the guy is massive, and so he is a matchup nightmare no matter what he does. I expect Ohio State to try to cover this guy. Who do you cover him with? Because if somebody's nimble enough to stay with him, he won't be big enough to stop him from beasting the ball. If somebody is big enough to stop him from beasting the ball, he'll just run right by him. And so I think from a tight end standpoint, you've got Penn State with the edge. However, the receiver standpoint, this is where Ohio State has the biggest edge of any position group on the field. Carneal Tate and Amika, Abuka would be the best.

the number one wide receiver on any other team. But Jeremiah Smith makes those monster catches. Let's take a look at the context in which he does it that makes him so spooky, right? Let's get the one-handed catches out of the way early because we see this all the time on the SportsCenter top 10. He's double-teamed. He will have a defender grab his face mask

and yank it down while he's making the one-handed catch. And by the way, nice throw. So if he's so big, fast, strong, skill, Why in the world would Nebraska leave a safety all by himself against him running vertically down the field? Well, the answer is they don't want to, but they have to. They want this corner to stay back and help cover number four. But instead, he is forced to stay wide because Chip Kelly, the offensive coordinator, sends a corner route out out there, so he can't help inside.

That leaves Smith on that poor safety. And this safety already knows, okay, I am in terrible trouble here. him and by the way, nice throw. That's an unfair advantage that he doesn't need, but they give it to him anyway. And then defenses have to pick their poison. You've got 10 Buckeyes packed in tight. You've got to put 10 defenders in front

so you don't get blasted into the end zone. But that leaves the world's loneliest Hawkeye trying to cover Smith. But they don't expect him to have to cover him every time. What the defense is expecting is that Will Howard can't continue to drop these dimes, right where Smith can use all that physical ability to make the plays.

So it's not like, okay, we're going to stop him with one short defender. The thing is, can Will Howard continue to do this? So that context of helping him with unfair advantages from a scheme standpoint, and precision passing by the quarterbacks makes this guy incredibly hard to cover, and he will steal your candy. And the answer, you talked about stealing candy is not what we want to go with on Halloween right now. He does. He steals candy.

Though he does still candy, what I do want to, the point I want to make is there's been a lot to talk about Will Howard in this high state offense. We wanted so much more. But to your point, all those plays you showed, all those passes were precise. They were pinpointed. So there's somewhat of an advantage that Ohio State does have with those receivers, but also with the accuracy of their quarterback. What about running back, Sam?

So running backs. This one's close, right? Because both teams have great running backs in there in their backfield. But I give the edge to Ohio State to trade John Henderson and to Quinn Sean Judkins. Why? So I think they have the ability to make the big play more often. Now, yes, I understand. Penn State has more rushing yards.

They average more rushing yards than Ohio State does. When it comes to big plays, these stretch. plays, these outside zone plays, you'll see both Quinn Sean Jenkins and Trayvion Henderson have 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 yard touchdowns. And so I think that big playability gives Ohio State the slide edge, though both teams have a great ability to run the ball. All right. I mean, they might steal some candy as well too. All right. Finally, defense and special teams, Trevor. Well, I think especially with the pass rush, Penn State has an advantage. Abdul Carter and those guys are exceptional at pressuring the quarterback, getting

him off his spot. But also, Ohio State. The state's offensive line on the left side is in disarray right now. Their starting left tackle Josh Simmons was hurt against Oregon. Backup went in against Nebraska. They struggled to run the ball and protect the passer. Then that backup got hurt at the end of the Nebraska game and they moved the left guard out to left tackle. They put into a new left guard. What they do on that side of the line is going to affect this game.

All right. Well, there's a lot to pay attention to in this one. That's just one of many. Let's take a look at our Dr. Pepper Championship Drive game of the week preview. Louisville visits number 11 Clems. this Saturday at 730 on ESPN. Davos-Sweeney's Tigers bring in a 22-game win streak at nine at nine home games. That is the second longest active streak in the FBS behind only Georgia.

But can they keep the streak alive? That's the real question. But let's go surfing, channel surfing, that is. Guys, what are you watching? And Trevor, I'm going to start with you. I'm watching Georgia, Florida, and how the Florida defense is able to pressure quarterback Carson Beck for Georgia. When he's cleaned in the pocket, he's at his best. But when he's pressured in the pocket, his QBR goes to 16.4.

That's out of a maximum of 100, average 50, 16.4. And Florida's defense has been very good at getting into the backfield the last couple of games. While watching the Duke versus Miami game, the reason why is that, yes, Cam Ward and this Miami team, they're undefeated. But Duke, they will put up a fight. This is one of the best defenses in the ACC. Nearly had a big win last week. And so Cam Ward, yes, would be trying to win that highsman, trying to put up better numbers. But this Duke defense, led by Manny Diaz, they are stout.

Well, I'm looking at the Oregon-Michigan game because Oregon's got another stout Big Ten defense that they've got to deal with. There's multiple first-round draft choices littered all over the Wolverines defense, especially up front on the defensive line. They're one of the top in the Big Ten at stopping the run at pressuring the passer. And Dylan Gabriel, the Oregon quarterback, is going to have to perform under pressure in order for them to move the ball and score. And the last game I'm looking at, Iowa State versus Texas Tech. We are living in Rocco's modern world because Rocco Beck, the quarterback for Iowa State is leading this team to an undefeated season so far. And yes, they have a date versus Texas Tech this weekend. But as they continue to fight for that big 12 opportunity, whether it's BYU or Kansas State,

going to be a huge opportunity for this Iowa State football team. All right, coming up, Texas Day and Amazon a heater after beating LSU. But should they beware of those sneaky gamecocks? find out after the break how this game could fare out. Plus, the man, the myth and the legend. Our favorite betting analyst, Joe Fortinbaugh is here, and he is stretching, so you better start clapping now, folks, because who knows what he's going to bring.

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team CFP projection Tuesday on ESPN. Yeah. We've got a big weekend and happy Valley Ryan Day is 0 in 5 at Ohio State against team 7 and 0 or better. Well, James Franklin is one in 12 against AP top five opponents at Penn State. The lone win coming against an Urban Meyer Buckeyes team in 2016. All right, folks, cue the applause. Cue the applause. Our favorite betting analyst Joe Fortinbaugh is here. Once again, we paid people to do that.

All right. No, we do not. We just all right, guys. Don't let them in on the bit. Okay. We just saw the coaches on both sides. Like, it's kind of a crazy matchup on both sides. So Joe, which coach are you most confident in in this matchup? So big game James, right?

He gets the moniker because he rarely wins the big game. So you think to yourself, why would you want to get behind Penn State this week? He's had a lot of success against the spread with these Ohio State games. Ten games against Ohio State. See, you can't applause for someone. The words out of their mouth. Seven and three against the spread when facing Ohio State. Franklin's in these games.

He can't just close them out. You're catching three and a half. It opened. It was around four. It's come down a little bit. Ohio State's got issues on the offensive line. They got issues in the trenches. They're on the road.

I wish this was a night game. I leaned to Penn State. I think the under is a very good bet here as well. Well, I agree with you on that, but not just because of James Franklin, mainly because of Andy Codon-Nickey, their new offensive coordinator. So Cotto Nicky is done an unbelievable job, no matter who's been a quarterback. First game of the season. third play of the game, you see Bo Pribula out in the game.

And so in the game. And so no matter who it's going to be, you know they're going to be experienced. Yeah. And we got also that big Pitt SMU game with ACC champ implications on the line, playoff champ, playoff implications on the line. So Trevor, what is what is this game ultimately going to come down to? Well, Pitt has the Freddie Kruger of college football defenses. They lurk where you don't expect them.

And then they take the ball away. And then when they decide to, they just smash you to the ground. They had three pick sixes against a very. very good Syracuse passing offense a couple of weeks ago. And the thing is, SMU's offense has sprung a turnover leak. They've got nine turnovers in the last two games. This is a very good SMU offense. They've got the ability with the dual threat quarterback and Kevin Jennings to be able to deal with this kind of pressure because if they leave any kind of a gap in all these rush lanes, Jennings can burn him, but he's got to burn him because the pressure will be there.

See, I like SMU here. It all comes down to valuation for me. It opens as SMU is a six-point favorite. We move through the key number of seven. We're up to seven and a half. Why? SMU, everyone's down on him a little bit. It's a one point win over Duke. They were minus six in turnover differential in that game. Meanwhile, in Pitt's last game against Syracuse, three pick sixes. I think people are very high on Pitt. SMU lost to BYU early in the season. People kind of checked out on them. Turns out that's a really good loss. BYU's undefeated. I think the SMU teams a little bit undervalued here. You've been Ryan the pit train. Do you want to have you want to jump in on this? So I'm listening to you and I'm picking up

you're putting down, but I still have a lot of respect for Pitt, right? Because those three pick sixes weren't an accident. I think I've called one or two of their games and their defense is their calling card. Offense has been outstanding and I know Eli Holstein may or may not play, but the defense loves to bring pressure. You don't know where the pressure is coming from. And if you don't have answers, it's going to be a problem. And so I lean more towards Pitt in this matchup, but SMU, to your point, has been making huge strides all season. Now, speaking of pressure, we've got that Texas A&M South Carolina game. Joe, why are you rooting for South Carolina? I think this is a big time flat spot for A&M. You can get South Carolina plus a field goal. It opened at four. It's come down to

that key number. I want you to think about Alabama beating Georgia. Huge win, lots of celebrations, as you should have. You overlook Vandy the next week. You get caught smack right in the face. A&M is a huge win over LSU. Now they turn around. They're playing South Carolina who's what, four and three. South Carolina is a tough out. One play away from beating LSU. They were right there with Alabama. You win those two games. You're six and one. This point spread is not South Carolina plus three. I think they win the game outright. I put a little bit on that money line as well. I like that, Joe. Part of the reason is that the South Carolina defense is brutal. Yeah. They're one of the best in the SEC at yards per rushing carry allowed. They stop the run.

And also they're one of the top teams in the nation. I think they're like third in the nation in sacks. I mean, they dominate the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball. And what is Texas A&M want to do? They want to run the ball. They want to dominate you with their downhill power running game. And against South Carolina, that's going to be tough. So now when they go to throw it, they're going to be gamecox in the backfield all day long. So this is a very tricky game for the Aggies. But I don't think it's as tricky as we're all making it out to be. And the reason why is because of their head coach, Mike Elko.

Where did Mike Elko just come from? He just came from Duke, a lot of people didn't have a lot of confidence in. A team that very much, in a lot of ways you would think they were the underdog. What happened all offseason long for ANM? We didn't hear anything, right? They were just sliding under the radar. They were just going to work, putting their heads down, getting their lunch pail, and doing work. And all of a sudden we've seen success, an early loss, but then success, success,

undefeated so far in conference play. And so when I think about teams that may have lulls, I totally get that. But I think it all starts with the top of your head coach. I think Mike Elko is not a coach that's going to overlook any opponent. So that's why I have a lot more confidence in A&M than South Carolina. One other very key point. And I just said that to segue to this, no almond joys tonight. Anyone who's out there, don't hand out the almond joys.

Why? They're amazing. I love almond joys. What is wrong? This is clearly a troll job. You two cannot possibly like the almond joy. I love the almond joy. That leaves room for more candy corn.

But do you? I love candy corn. But why would you, why would you, do you want to finish that sentence? I'm close to, I'm close to walking off. I did not realize you're coming to me.

I take back my applause. I didn't realize there's some of almond joy lovers out there. I thought I was going to get a unanimous. This island here. It's not about Amma Joy. It's about you're wearing a candy corn colored tie. So you agree with. I don't like candy corn.

It is. I don't like candy corn. Sorry. But we were talking about almond joys. I like almond joys. I'm all right. Two and two. They are lovely.

But okay. We're talking about the greatest, not the tasty. Well, we're okay. So you're just undecided on almond joys. No, no, homage joys are great. But the greatest Halloween candy is unquestionably candy corn. I agree with you.

It's delicious. But like you're on our almond joy team. Okay. A lot of, a lot of passion about this topic. A lot of passion. A lot of passion. A lot of passion.

A lot of passion. Very interesting. Very interesting. We are also passionate about these games on ABC. Look at our ABC triple header on Saturday. Miami hosting Duke at noon. Then it's Georgia and Florida at the swamp. And we end things with Texas A&M taking on South Carolina well enjoying some

almond joys. All right. It's time for our weekend lineup brought to you by Wendy's saucy nugs. 33 schools have already reached bowl eligibility. 22 teams can reach bowl eligibility this week, which features three head to head matchups between five win teams and the Yukon Huskies are looking six games for the third time 14 seasons when they take on Georgia State Saturday. Coming up, Tailgate Tips is back, and we'll get you ready and in the know with some fun

facts ahead of this crazy jam-packed college football weekend. This is College Football Live, presented by Dr. Pepper. At Desjardin Insurance, we put the care in taking care of business. Your business, to be exact. Our agents take the time to understand your company. so you get the right coverage at the right price. Whether you rent out your building, represent a condo corporation,

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Visit Ancestry.ca for more details. Terms apply. College Football Live is presented by Ice Cold Dr. Pepper. College Football. It's a Pepper thing. Have you ever gone to a tailgate and realize you don't have anything to contribute to the discussion? Well, we here on college football live have something for you, and we call it tailgate tips, where we give you some necessary tips of knowledge to sound smarter and impress your friends every Saturday. You can thank us later.

It's that time for tailgate tips, and Amy made me look like I'm somewhat athletic. So, all right, Trevor, what is your tailgate tip? This is the first time that Army has played Air Force when Army. was ranked at the time. And you think, well, wait a minute, it wasn't Army highly ranked in the 40s and early 50s? Yes, they were, but Air Force didn't exist until after World War II as its own entity. It was the Army Air Corps until then. It didn't play for the first time until 1959.

This is the first time the Knights are ranked in this game. I love that. That's a huge. That's a huge tip. Yeah. I didn't know that. So that's great for me. My tip is the Indiana Hoosiers.

There are 8-0, and they're the first FBS team to be 8-0 since, what was it, 1998 Kansas State did it. And so 8 no without trailing. So not just 8 no, but 8 no and haven't trailed all season since 1998, Kansas States. That's big time offense for the Hoos. You love to see it. Okay, my tailgate tip is just stirring the pot, all right?

Before the Ohio State takes on Penn State here, why this game is personal for Will Howard. I'm stoked. I'm stoked. I cannot wait. It's going to be a homecoming for me. I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life.

if they didn't think I was good enough. But I guess we'll see next week if I was. I'd say he's pretty good enough. But, you know, we'll see this weekend. All right, here's one for the road. And this one's for you, Trevor. You'll appreciate this. BYU athletic director has a history of epic Halloween costumes.

That's Tom Homo. Wow. We were teammates at BYU. He dressed up like a defensive back all the time. I'll tell you what, though. If that's a live parrot, that he just strapped to his shoulder, extra points. I thought the pair, what about the snake?

I think it's just the whole thing. That's just one of them. There's multiple ones. There's multiple ones. All right, for Sam, Trevor, I'm Victoria. Enjoy your games this weekend. Happy Halloween. Thanks for watching.

We got to go put those costumes on. Let's think they're scary.