College Football Live - Week 0 Begins!

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

Welcome to CFB Live, hosted by Zubin Mehenti along side Sam Acho and Roddy Jones! We give you all the latest from Brent Keys going off during press conference, to the outlook for the ACC and so much more. You don't want to miss it here on College Football Live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Hey there, welcome to college football live with Sam Acho. I'm Zubin Mahenty. Let's get it going because this week you knew there'd be a bunch of quarterback decisions made, and there's been one made in South Bend. And that is, to be expected, C.J. Carr is going to be rolling out there when Notre

opens their season on Sunday, August 31st at Miami. He had been in a neck and neck battle with Kenny Minchie for the starting job. Competition was so fierce that Steve Angelli, quarterback on Notre Dame's team last year, kind of had a feeling he was going to be out of the mix, transferred to Syracuse, where he is the starter, and now Carr is the starter in South Bend. All right, either way you slice it, Sam, a ton of inexperience at the position after Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard gave them a ton of his start. experience there. What are you expecting from CJ Carr out of the gate on the road in a nationally

televised game under the lights for his Notre Dame debut? I do expect CJ Carr to push the ball downfield a little bit more than what Notre Dame has done in the past. One thing that stands out to me about his game, at least what you see in practice or in their spring game, is his accuracy, not just deep ball, but intermediate as well. He's not a dual threat quarterback. So if there's pressure in the pocket, he's not going to be able to evade or escape as well as Kenny Minci may, but he is accurate, which allows Notre Dame another dimension of their game. Yes, we understand Jeremiah Love is the best back currently in college football, so they can lean on the running game, they can lean on their defense. But the area that CJ Carr provides for you is a downfield

passing attack that you may not have gotten from Kenny Minchie. What is the reasonable expectation here because for whatever limitations people thought about Hartman or Leonard, they had seen a of college football experience. This guy basically has none. What's a reasonable expectation? Well, it's reasonable to taper expectations overall just because this. If I'm Marcus Freeman, and I know I have an inexperienced quarterback, I'm not going to put him and throw him under the fire.

I'm going to lean on my running game. I'm going to lean on my two dominant backs. I'm going to lean on my offensive line. I'm going to lean on my defense. You're going to, as a defensive-minded head coach, Marcus Freeman understands that Miami is breaking in a new quarterback as well. So week one, you're going to rely on your defense to try and rattle, shake, rattle, and roll, Carson Beckett quarterback, who's also coming off of an injury. And then week two, you have Notre Dame, or really at September 13th.

You're playing Texas A&M. That's another team that had some quarterback issues last season. So you have to understand it's not just a one-person position or one-person team. It's offense, defense, and special teams. Special teams being a point that Notre Dame really emphasized last season, they were one of the best special teams in college football. You have to let those guys. help lead you as C.J. Carr is breaking in as a starter. Marcus Freeman had some fun saying that he played in the game with Ohio State

against C.J. Carr's grandfather, Lloyd, who was coaching Michigan that day, how time flies. We do have another quarterback decision made. Bear Bachmeier is going to be the first true freshman in school history to start at quarterback for BYU in an opener here. Don't be fooled. He does wear number 47. He says he was a running back and linebacker until about eighth grade. and he just kind of liked the number, so he kept it. We'll see what happens. By the way, his brother, Tiger is a wide receiver,

so expect the bear to Tiger connection in Provo. Julian Seyenne ended up getting the job at Ohio State yesterday alongside Joey Aguilar at Tennessee, who also got the nod yesterday. Sagapulte Telle out west beats Devin Brown to get the job at Cal. Auburn is going to open the season against Daler. Seems pretty clear that Jackson Arnold is their guy under center, but they got a pretty packed quarterback room.

And Hugh Freeze was asked, in addition to Arnold, is it possible you could see the other two guys when asked this question? Could we see all three quarterbacks Friday night in Baylor? Yeah. Yeah, there's strengths. And, you know, you put on Ashton's film from Stanford. and I mean, this guy ran away from some really good teams, like Clemson and Notre Dame. He's got an extra gear.

Deuce right now, as far as he can make any throw on the field. And he has a poise about him for a freshman that's unique. That was hardly the only thing that Hugh Freeze said. He also indicated he has a very potent coaching staff that likes drawing up plays, and he likes doling out when they can. Listen to this. Derek Nix is the offensive coordinator, and he does all the planning, scripting, in charge of the game plan. But, man, there's no staff that it's not a collaboration on the plan.

And I offensively or defensively reserved the right to say on the call sheet. I don't really like that one right here. But he does a great job for us. Kent kind of leads the third down plan. But other than that, Knicks kind of leads to charge. And we welcome Roddy into the program. Great to have you, Roddy. And Sam, I want to go to you first here on this situation.

You know, there's an old saying if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. What he's saying is, I got three and I got three, apparently. What do you make of his comments here, especially in regards to the opener? Yeah, when you have two quarterbacks, you have done, if you have three, you probably got negative. If you have three different quarterbacks that may not only start throughout the season, but may get reps in one game. It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence if I'm a player on that team for the Auburn Tigers.

Why do I say that? I got a chance to call one of Auburn's games last season. I think it was the game right after Payton Thorne through four interceptions. You would think that a coach would say a coach who in a lot of ways has seen himself as a quarterback whisperer would try to inspire some confidence in either his quarterback or his backup. But it didn't seem that way. You've listened to the media. it was as if he threw his quarterback under the bus.

And then the five-star phenom freshman Hank Brown got a chance to go into the game. You thought he was going to be the guy. Then Hank Brown made some bad throws. But all of a sudden, he was thrown under the bus. So I don't have a lot of confidence in Hugh Freeze when I listen to him, talk about whether it's Ashton Daniels or one of two or three different quarterbacks playing in the first game versus Baylor. To me, it's not a good situation at all for Auburn. Sam, the alarm bells are going off for anybody that's been listening to what Hugh Freeze is. has been saying in the offseason.

First it was the comments about him sort of taking things easy, telling DJ Durkin to make sure that Jackson Arnold has success. Then it's been this conversation of all three quarterbacks can play. They went out and got Jackson Arnold. That was supposed to cure the quarterback issues that they had a year ago. Now he's saying he's going to play three guys. And look, I understand if you want to play Ashton Daniels because he's got a completely different skill set.

He is very fast. And he did have a nice, have a couple of nice games, especially. against Clemson on the road in Clemson. He had some nice runs. He's a different look than Jackson Arnold. But when you talk about playing Deuce Knight as well with Jackson Arnold, I don't know how not only the team, but how Jackson Arnold could be very confident going into the season.

And if they don't get this thing right, it's a really talented roster, but they can be sitting there at five and seven once again. They don't get the quarterback right. Yeah, especially when you're playing a Baylor team that's returning quarterback, Sawyer Robertson, who that team, not only did they, inspired confidence towards the end of the season, I believe it was five or six straight wins to

end of the season, but also they have quarterback continuity. If I'm, I didn't play quarterback, but I played outside linebacker, but I play quarterback for a team and I know that there's two other guys that are right next to me that if I make a mistake, they could go in the game. My coach is saying publicly that he doesn't know who's going to play in the game and all three could play, it does not, not only inspire confidence for a quarterback, but it also adds a room for doubt. So for me, I think it's a bad decision to be able to say that not only is there a

quarterback competition, but that in week one, that's in a few days from now, you could have three different quarterbacks playing. It's bad for the psyche of the QBs. It's really a huge game, too. For Baylor, that's another subject for another day. But considering the way they finished last year, they could have some strong momentum with the week one win. Speaking of strong momentum, the ACC has the opportunity to get out to an absolutely tourage start. Take a look at some of these non-conference opponents that they have in week one with an opportunity to really prove that this is just much more than the Big Ten and the SEC. But Roddy, I want to begin with you at the end of the day,

if all anybody cares about anymore is the playoff. And that's what I continue to hear from fans everywhere. This is a great opportunity for the ACC to have a bit of an image rehab. Sure, they got two teams in, but they didn't really do much when they got there. No, they did not. And that's the lasting image that everyone is left with Clemson on the road going down against Sam Acho's Texas team. and then SMU going on the road

and really having catastrophic mistakes against Penn State. If you look on a play-in, play-out basis, they actually kind of held their own. And for much of the first half, we're driving the ball down the field on that Penn State defense. But it was the catastrophic picks from Kevin Jennings that really doomed them. And that interception was in the red zone.

You had a pick six that happened in the first half as well. And then there was another one. He was scrambling. Kate Klemmick actually played pretty well, but it was at Clemson defense that really let them down on the road at Texas. So if you're the ACC to get that out of here, to get that reputation and that narrative out of here,

you've got to win some of these games. And I don't think anybody expects the ACC to win all of them. But I think if you're below 500, and that graphic that we showed didn't even have Virginia Tech, South Carolina, I think if the ACC is under 500, it's going to be tough to get rid of that uphill narrative for the rest of the season. Yeah, and I agree with you.

I think, number one, I think the ACC does have a great opportunity early in the season, to put their best foot forward. Think about a team like Syracuse playing the SEC where everyone says that it just means more. Well, Syracuse is changing quarterbacks, as is Tennessee. And I believe that Syracuse has the edge,

even that quarterback in that opportunity. So I think that early in the season, the ACC may shine a little bit more than other conferences. The interesting thing about that Syracuse-Tennessee game is both of those teams have a lot of questions of the quarterback position. Joey Aguilar starting for Tennessee. Can he cure the turnovers?

And then Steve Angelly, sort of the hero of the Orange Bowl last year with that drive right before halftime for Notre Dame to get the field goal against Penn State takes over for Syracuse. Syracuse threw the ball more than any team in the country a year ago. Kyle McCord led the country in past attempts. Will the offense be the same? Will they put that much on Steve Angelly's play? I'll be really interesting to see against a Tennessee team that may have offensive questions, but defensively they're going to be really good. Yeah, but do you think about offense defense? Who leads the charge?

It's the head coach. is Fran Brown. Fran Brown led the Syracuse team to a 10-win season, which was outstanding. What did you do that with? He did that with a transfer quarterback in Kyle McCourt that a lot of people

weren't excited about. Now you have a transfer quarterback in Steve Angelly, who has experienced last year in the playoff in Notre Dame, had a chance to lead his team when quarterback Riley Leonard got injured. There's experience there. 10 touchdowns, one interception.

On the other side, Tennessee has a new quarterback in Joy Aguilar, who led college football in interceptions, 14 picks last season. So there's definitely a long. lot to be desired when you're Tennessee. And I think there's a huge opportunity for Fran Brown, Steve Angelly, and the Syracuse Orange. And one of those teams in the ACC that's going to have that opportunity is Clemson.

They'll be taking on LSU and on the way here on college football live. Brian Kelly has weighed in on just what he's been most impressed by. Hint, it's what everybody has been most impressed by. We'll hear from coach next. College Football Live is brought to you by Popeyes. Love that chicken from Popeyes. At Desjardin, we speak business.

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You know, on July 1st, the College Sports Commission was formed and went into action. They are responsible for overseeing compliance around roster limits, RevShare, and of course, the NIL deals that we all hear about. They're also going to have a very potent enforcement arm with regards to discipline, and it's important to note that they will be independent of the NCAA. a qualifier that's often not mentioned, but is critical to note. And with more, we are joined by the inaugural chief executive officer of the College Sports Commission.

He is Brian Sealy, and he joins us on College Football Live. Brian, thanks for being here. First things first, what piqued your interest in taking a job like this? Yeah, thanks for having me. I've been a college sports fan my whole life and just as a lawyer in sports working at Major League Baseball the last few years. You know, I've been paying particular attention to the size of changes in the college sports landscape, particularly with respect to how student athletes are

compensated. So it just seemed like a really fascinating area and also an area where I could add a lot of value with my enforcement background and my background building teams in sports. So I'm really excited to be heading up this new entity. Yeah, I know you're involved in some of the biggest decisions Major League Baseball has had in the last several years that caught the attention of fans everywhere. What's the priority, the biggest priority right now as the CSC gets off the ground? There's a lot of work to be done, but I think probably our biggest priority is making sure that the rules are known and understood by schools and student athletes and that education happens such that people can not only understand the rules, but easily follow them. And so we're doing a lot of speaking right now. We're doing a lot of educating and we're doing a lot of work on finalizing some of the rules coming out of the settlement. For people that are just sort of looking at this and trying to figure out what this new entity is,

how would you say you really distinguish yourself from the NCAA? The College Sports Commission or the CSC, as we call it, is a new organization. The NCAA has been around for quite a long time. We're brand new. And our focus is on a very particular set of topics. First of all, how schools share revenue with student athletes. Second, how student athletes are compensated through name, image, and likeness deals with businesses. And finally, the roster limits with respect to college sports.

You know, a lot of people believe that the adjudication of the Michigan sanctions was the last major case the NCAA is going to be taking on. And then everything moving forward will be handled in some ways by the CSC, where you have to find out, obviously, what school that would be or what case you're going to be looking at. But what should fans and others know about the way the process is going to be handled by the CSC moving forward? So the CSC, again, is focused on student athlete compensation, so not on playing rules or sports betting or other things the NCAA will handle. But there is a unique mechanism that the CSC is going to utilize, and that is to have neutral arbitration. So CSE decisions can be appealed by student athletes or schools to neutral arbitrators, and those arbitrators will have the final word on whether the action that the CSC took was appropriate. And that's a system that we welcome.

We welcome the accountability in having neutral arbitration. Very interesting. We'll be keeping an eye on it as we move forward. I can just say this. Anybody that follows college sports right now, particularly football, knows that the power four commissioners can't agree seemingly on anything. the fact that the CSE needs to be formed and Brian CLE should run it. So we're off to a good start. Thanks for the info and the primer today and we'll be talking down the road.

Thanks, Brian. Thanks so much, Zuban. This is a beautiful time in a wonderful town. We have real football happening for the first time in months. It's Farmageddon. It's an airlingish football classic on week zero in Dublin. And here we are creeping close. sir, to Iowa State and Kansas

date a continuation of one of the longest continuous rivalries in all of college football. Week zero, not exactly a new entity. We've had some really interesting games over the years to wet the appetite, including back in 1999, when

Texas took on NC State. Big time block punt you're looking at. A little scooping score by Eric Leek to give the Wolfpack the lead. Good, late. And they would Hang on to win 23, 20. Little before Aceos time, but they could have used them out there in a tight game like that.

So, Sam, let's start with you. Week Zero has a lot of advantages. It has a lot of disadvantages. Everybody's playing up all the positives, especially the two teams that are there. As a former player, what do you think about getting started well before everybody else? Yeah, there's good and there's bad. One of the positives of a Week Zero game is that you get a chance to start your season off on right foot. I think about a team like Georgia Tech last season when they got a chance to beat Florida

State and everyone remembers Jamal Haynes and Haynes King that entire season. Georgia Tech had a great year. Now, the alternative is what happened to Florida State. You start off your season on a wrong footing, then fast forward, you go and lose your next game and have one of the worst seasons that I can remember in Florida State history. And so one of the best opportunities for a week zero game is that you can start your season off on the right foot. But if it goes the opposite direction, especially when you're traveling all the way overseas, man, it could set your season off the wrong trajectory. You're exactly right, Sam.

I think the other thing that you look at with these week zero games and the teams that have played in them is what it can do for your brand. I mean, if Farmergaden happens on a typical Saturday, we're excited about it. We're talking about it. It's a top 20 matchup, but there's probably a top 10 matchup in the Big 10 and three top 20 or top 15 matchups in the SEC. So the narrative, it kind of gets lost in the wash. Now Kansas State and Iowa State this year, and Georgia Tech and Florida State last year get to have their narratives told in a standalone environment.

And in the ACC, that means real dollars now. In the Big 12, it means relevance and being in the forefront of people's minds. But it certainly can help from a practice standpoint because you get an extra buy week during the season as well when you start in week zero. And when you're playing in a league like the Big 12 where there's so little separation from top to bottom, maybe that one extra week off, is merely the key. We'll see. On the way, speaking of Key,

we've got Brent Key. We've got coaches around the country. We're weighing in? What are they really saying? You'll hear him at the mic, like Coach Key, and then the guys who will translate next. You and your crew do the big shows

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Texas Tech loses a huge running back there, trying to win the Big 12 for the first time. ever, Brent Key, has there ever been something more pessimistic said about your team before a game than this? I don't think we're anywhere close to being ready to play a football game. Way to many penalties, wait to me turnovers, way to many bonus assignments, way too many guys that either didn't play or tapped out. What did you like that you saw today? Just not much, or?

Well, Kelly, we have better pass protection out there today. But now I'm concerned about the lack of pass rush, and the fact we can't catch football when it is thrown. The only thing good about today is the fact we have time to correct it. Look, I don't care if we go into the first game. We run two offensive plays and two defensive calls. We're going to play what we can execute. What changed from the way they were playing going into that?

I don't know. If I had a crystal ball, I'd be able to stop it. I'd be predicted it's going to happen. Roddy, that's like Sabin there with that post-battle. That's the same thing. Yeah. And Brink Key is a guy who coached under Nick Sabin for a number of years at Alabama. So maybe Brink Key is channeling his Sabin, sending a message to his team through the media.

Or maybe he's just mad. He's just mad because they had a bad day. He took it out on his team. He took it out on the media. This is a Jordan Tech team that should be pretty good. But Brinkie's not inspiring confidence. All right. On the other side, Brian Kelly's also been known as a guy that can kind of lay into his team a little bit.

Let's check out what he had to say. Remember they got Clemson in week one. I think the things that probably stood out are the things that stand out to you is the depth that we now have at wide receiver on the defensive side of the ball in the back end of our defense. We really like the development of our end play.

Those are all like tangible signs. The other ones you don't see unless you're here every day. And that's the depth of this team and the ability to push each other. All right, Sam, what is he really saying there? There were some plot it's there and there was some criticism there. What do we think? Hey, Sam, man, I hope we're deep enough to play Clemson.

I don't know if he called it Death Valley Jr. A little Death Valley. I don't know. I hope we were deep enough to get a W week one because I haven't been able to get it. The last several seasons. Keep in mind to Sam's point. They've lost openers now five years in a row to Mississippi State to UCLA, to Florida State and back-to-back to.

years and last year's heartbreaking loss to USC. See if they can get off on the right foot. Saturday night, August 30th, and we'll see you tomorrow.