College Football Live - Yippee-ki-yay it's CFB time!!!

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

Victoria Arlen, Sam Acho, and Trevor Matich get you ready for week 4 in college football. Great matchups in Oklahoma between Oklahoma State vs Utah and Oklahoma vs Tennessee. Plus Arch Manning named started for texas, and finally get all your betting tips from Joe Fortenbaugh. All that and so much more here on CFB 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. Welcome into college football live. Happy Thursday. I'm Victoria Arlen. Let's go out the tunnel. We have a pair of ranked matchups taking place in the Sooner State.

Trevor and Sam are here to break down the keys in those matchups. Plus, are you smarter than a tailgater? If not, don't worry. because we have tailgate tips coming your way to make you sound smarter this weekend. And breaking news just in about Texas starting QB this weekend. Will Arch Madness continue? College Football Live starts now. College Football Live is presented by Dr. Pepper.

We start things off with breaking news. Texas head coach Steve Starkeeson announced just moments ago that red shirt freshman Arch Manning will be starting for the Longhorns this weekend. It will be Arch's first career start. So the Arch madness continues on, and I've got Sam and Trevor with me in studio to help me navigate the madness. So you know we are in very good hands.

So Sam, what kind of opportunity is this for Arch? Well, this is an opportunity for the present and for the future for Arch Manning. The reason I say the present is that this is going to be his first career starts. What does that mean is that he gets a chance to spend the entire week going through the game plan as the number one, not the number two.

That'll be good for the present. And we expect him to have success. But for the future as well, yes, we know this is Quinn Ewer's team right now, but for the future, this is going to be Archmanning's team after Quinn Ewers comes back this year and plays and goes to the NFL. And so he gets at least one week, maybe two, of preparing as if you're the starter with the ones and getting all the reps so that not only for now but for later, you'll be able to have success in your preparation and for the team.

And so for me, it's a benefit for the now and for the now. for the future. We saw his talent last week when he filled in when he was got hurt. But we're also going to see in this game his opportunity to display his knowledge of football because he grew up in a football family. So a lot of quarterbacks that are great throwers growing up. They throw, they throw, they throw. But the art of quarterbacking is so much more. It's diagnosing defenses. It's understanding progressions. It's understanding protections, things like that. Well, now as the starting quarterback, he's going to have a chance to display that side of his quarterbacking skills and I'm excited to see that.

Now that Manning name is very well known, especially at Texas and beyond in the NFL. Now, Trevor, we're talking about the number one team in the country and their starting quarterback Quinn Ewers went down with that abdominal injury. When do they absolutely need their starting quarterback back? Absolutely

need him, probably homecoming 2032. Arch Manning is as talented as anybody. Here's the difference. Arch Manning is making his first start this week now. Quinn Ewers has 25 starts under his belt. And so when it comes to where Texas wants to go, the teams they've got to navigate to get to the playoffs,

through the playoffs, get to the national championship and win it, that experience matters. And so the worst thing they can do with Quinn Ewers is have a setback as he tries to come back if he comes back too soon. Because keep this in mind. After this game, they play Mississippi State, then they have a buy, and then it starts to get tougher, Oklahoma and Georgia.

And so they don't need to rush Quinn Ewers back. Yeah, I love that statement. It's a very telling statement. Absolutely need him by homecoming of 2032. But it's a true statement. Yes. Because the expectation is for Archmanning to have a lot of success. Now, you may not need Quinn Ewers right now, but you'd like him back to your point by October 12th when they play Oklahoma in the Red River rivalry.

The reason why is this next week, okay, this week, this week, we'll leave them in a row. You don't want to overlook an opponent. Next week, Mississippi State. This is the Mississippi State team that lost 41 to 17 to Toledo. And so you could expect that you were favored in that matchup. Then by week, then the Red River robbery, and then Georgia. And so for me, I think Quinn Ewer is having not only this week to rest, but next week and then a by week will be best for him and also for the team.

When you mentioned Georgia and, of course, Texas took over that top spot from Georgia. So that is a very important game. All right, from all eyes on Texas to shifting over to the state of Oklahoma. Utah's offense faces their toughest test yet. Heading into Stillwater, Oklahoma State looks to continue. neither home dominance against ranked opponents. Mike Gundy's Cowboys have won seven straight at home versus AP top 25 teams. And Tennessee brings its high powered offense to Norman, where head coach Josh Heifle returns to his alma mater. The former Oklahoma quarterback and defensive coordinator led

the Sooners to a national title in 2000 and now faces his old team as a visitor. Now Tennessee is coming off of their most dominant offensive performance in program history. And now Josh Heipel is making his return to Oklahoma, where he won a national title as a player. And, of course, he was part of their coaching staff. So, Trevor, how personal is this game for Tennessee? It's personal for the players. And it's personal for the coach, Josh Heppel, because he went back there as an offensive coordinator and got fired. And he made the statement that that hurt deeply.

Well, he won't make this game about him, but his players know how important it is to him, and they will have his back. And speaking of Tennessee and the players having back, when you're watching tape on your offense, on Tennessee's offense, what stands out to you, Trevor? Well, what stands out is that if you watch the ball, you're going to miss half the fun. Yeah. Because I'll tell you, when you watch this Tennessee offensive line block,

they are just, they're fun. Okay, Cooper Mays and center. He's a little guy, only 310 pounds. He'll drive the nose guard back, but then get on the ground. And now the nose guard, he can watch the ball from there. He's got a pretty good view, right? And then it just keeps rolling. from their Lance Hurd, 340 pounds.

You don't want to stand in front of him in a full run, but you kind of have to because then you'll end up underneath him. But then it's not over because the defense then thinks they can give the running back to business down there, but Javentz Spragans is like, oh, no, you're not. No, you're not.

No, you're not. Not having it. So that helps too for Nico Iamaleava, the quarterback, because he runs a lot, and it's hard to get to him in the pocket. But downfield, the defense thinks, I can abuse him now. But Spragans, no, no, no.

My quarterback is downfield, but he is not alone, and you guys have better watch out because I can eat both of you for lunch before you. You even knew it. So the fun part of this is watching those guys play. When you see Nico make great throws, when you see the receivers make great catches and the running backs make awesome moves and make people miss, just every once in a while look away from those guys with the ball

and look at the big guys because you will see mayhem in the most. delicious way. That was delicious mayhem watching and listening to that. Thank you so much, Trevor, for that. We were both just enthralled with that. All right, well, Sam, how can Oklahoma stop them? There's one guy by the name of Danny Stutzman who wants to get in on

some of that fun you're talking about. Linebacker from Oklahoma, one of the team leaders and tackles, and he's a big individual. Number 28 right there. He's 6-4-230. Leader of the team. He's all over the field. Let the team in tackles two weeks ago. Last week, you'll see him. He's big, strong, physical. If Tennessee wants to run the football, they're going

to go through or maybe a round Danny Sussman. It's going to have to have another big day. And so that's what you have to slow down the run with your linebackers, then force them to be one dimensional. But I think there's one guy named Danny Stutzman who may want to get in on some of the fun. And this Texas defense has gotten, or excuse the Oklahoma defense has gotten so much better now. They know the system. I'm not worried about the Oklahoma defense. I'm a little worried about their offense because on the other side of the ball, Tennessee's defensive front is probably the strength of the whole team. They are very disruptive. And you've got as many is four of the five offensive starters for Oklahoma as transfers. There are still a work in

progress in terms of their chemistry with a young quarterback in Jackson Arnold behind them. So that's the side of the ball that Oklahoma is going to have to take care of. Well, and 41 of Oklahoma's 101 points have come off of turnovers, which is the most in the nation. So that's not ideal. All right. Well, Sam, it's another slow start to the season for Ollie Gordon. And what's been the issue there? Can you just take us to that tape? Where do I start? I know. I know.

There are so many issues. It's not just with Ollie Gordon, not just with the offensive line, but it's also with the numbers. That's what stands out the most. That's where I want to start with this tape. Let's count them. Fourth and one, you have eight guys to block. Okay, that's fine.

But you have 10 guys on defense are going to try and make a tackle. That means there are two unblocked players. One of them right there, middle linebacker Gavin Potter, is going to make the tackle. But it's not just him making a tackle. Notice where the line of scrimmage is. All those Oklahoma State players are not moving the line forward. They're getting knocked backwards.

And so Ali Gordon isn't able to make any progress in the run game. So you say, okay, fine. No progress in the run game. Let's get it to Ollie in the past game. That's Ollie Gordon right there. It's going to be in the backfield, somewhat of a chip release close to chip, then come out and angle back inside and inspect the ball. But no, he misses again.

You see the frustration. He's dejected. He's in despair. Ali Gordon, though, here's the issue. Even if you do catch that ball, there are three Tulsa defenders whose eyes are all on you. They're stacking the box, loading the box, and trying to stop you. But here's the opportunity. When you have a one-on-one with the safety,

your Doke Walker Award winner, one of the best running backs, this is where you make your money. Your one-on-one in safety, you got to make him miss. Do you or don't you? You don't. So it's not just the offensive line. It's not just the quarterback. Ollie Gordon's got to be better as well.

So now fast forward to the rest of the team. Okay, boom, you have a tight end. Ball hits them in the chest. So passing game isn't working. Okay, so running game's not great. Let's go to the passing game. Now, you're going to see Alan Bowman quarterback throw the ball to the other team.

And so there are some. So many issues with this Oklahoma State team, I go to this fourth and one again, Arkansas game. Receivers run into each other. So Ali Gordon's being stopped. You say, okay, let's pass the ball. Pass the game isn't working. That's the frustration that's happening for this Oklahoma State offense. Well, and Ollie tied for third in FBS with 62 rushing attempts with just 56th with 216 rush yards.

So Trevor, on the flip side, we've got Utah. Looks like they can have Kim rising back this week. what will be the key for the youths. Well, to keep Cammerizing healthy. They're a different team when he's playing quarterback because they can hit all parts of the field. When he hasn't played because of injury, they've become a power running team

and a short passing team, basically. So you see the yards for play when he's there and when he's not. That's a massive difference. Now, his backup last week was Isaac Wilson. Freshman did well against Utah State, but this is Oklahoma State. This is a completely different animal.

And so they will need Camer Eyeman. to remain healthy. He's got an injury to his throwing hand that he got in the goofiest way possible. He was tackled out of bounds and he hit his hand on a drink cart. That's how he heard. A drink cart. So that's that's 15-yard penalty unsportsmanlike conduct by that drink cart. Okay. All right, we're going to just. The drink cart should be halfway up the staining. It should not even be there. It should not even be there. Okay. It's like you're going to drink. We're going to move on. We're going to move on to Clemson. All right, we're going to keep shifting gears.

All right, let's get to our Dr. Pepper. All right, we have our, let's take a look at our Dr. Pepper Championship Drive game of the week preview. Kade Clubnick's season has been a tale of two games after a rough outing against Georgia with a 42.5 QBR. He bounced back spectacularly versus App State posting a near perfect 99.6 QBR and the Tigers will face NC State in Death Valley, a noon kickoff on ABC. Coming up, Michigan, our underdogs at home once again as they take on USC and find out what our analyst thinks may be the key for Michigan to outlast USC. College Football Live is presented by ice cold Dr. Pepper. College football. It's a pepper thing.

And in part by Verbo Private Vacation Rentals. Relax. You booked a verbo. And Fair Life. Enjoy great taste and nutrition with Fair Life. Ultra Filtered Milk. Black Friday is here at IKEA and the clock is ticking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials. All the little and big things you need to make this season shine.

But don't wait, like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca slash Black Friday. IKEA, bring home to life. Join the show and Pat's kicking contest is now up to 55K. I'm for our weekend lineup brought to you by Wendy's saucy nugs. The college football weekend kicks off Friday night with number 24, Illinois at number 22, Nebraska. Saturday slate features number 11 USC heading to the big house to face number 18 Michigan. Then Oklahoma State defending Stillwater against the Utes and number six, Tennessee,

clashing with number 15, Oklahoma. Now the big breaking news today is that redshirt freshman Arch Manning will be making his first career start for the Longhorns this weekend. Manning, the top prospect in the class of 2023, has appeared in four games for Texas, but had his breakout last week in a 56 to 7 win over UTSA after Ewers was injured. And we've got our sports betting analyst Joe Fortinbaugh hanging with us now. Joe, what is this new? It's great.

Yes, great to have you here. Oh, Joe, we love you. He's back from Vegas, everyone. Joe, what is this news mean when it comes to the sports betting side of things? Cho's probably not going to want to hear this, but once I lay it all out, we're going to understand. We're going to make some sense of this. Arch getting the start. U.L. Monroe, 45 point underdog in this game, right?

I would play the underdog in this game. And I go, oh, you don't want to like, you don't like Arch. No, very much like Arch. Like Arch so much, much like Texas does, how long do you want to leave him in this game now that yours is banged up? If you're up 31 late in this game, do you want to keep him out there knowing you got the conference schedule on the horizon? They're number one in the country. They don't need style points. There are plenty of big games coming up.

U.L Monroe, off their by week. They've had two weeks to get ready. They're 2-0, no dormat. I take the 45 points here. I knew I could swing you. I like that. I think that's a great. Okay.

That's a great explanation. All right. Okay, Sam, well, we'll, we'll, okay, Sam, we'll, we'll move on to another. We won't be complimenting him today. No, no, no, we'll move on to, uh, no, no, we'll move to another quarterback change. How about that? Michigan, making QB moves ahead of their Big Ten opener against USC going with Alex Orgy over Davis Warren, who, Davis Warren, who averaged under 150 yards for games, six picks in just three

games. Now, we know going into the season, there would be a QB battle, and there has, been a few plot twists along the way. So Trevor is Orgy the answer to turn things around? Well, I think he's the best answer for now. Yeah. While Jack Tuttle remains injured, who I think is a guy that we may see as the season goes on depending on whether he can get healthy. But the thing about orgy is that he is a skilled runner, but his passing is a work in progress. And he has got a whole new bunch of offensive players except for one guy in front of him, Colston Loveland to tie it in. This guy's going to be an important X factor for him because they've got to play

keep away from that explosive USC offense. Loveland has more receiving yards for Michigan than all of their wide receivers combined. And so he's got to be healthy. He's been banged up. And if he's healthy and if he can go, it'll really help Orgy. Yeah, I think the biggest thing that'll help Alex Orgy is Michigan's defense. I think that's their best opportunity. They played a great. You look at the game against Arkansas State last week. You say, man, they gave him 18 points. Well, so there were three turnover. You talk about that piece. There was a,

lucky pass is the right way to say. But pass it was kind of like a perfectly place pass. I think this this Michigan defense is going to try to give USC problems. Now, Miller Moss is, uh, is I believe elite level, but Alex Orgy's biggest benefit, number one is that defense. Number two, I think in the long run, it may not be Alex Orgy's team. Maybe he does take the reins, but if not, maybe Davis Warren does what Jaylon Murrow did last year as a week on the bench. All of a sudden, you, you, you, not only gain confidence, but you get a week to like watch and see what you need to get better at. And then you take over the reins if Jack Tuttle doesn't get back healthy. So it's still up in the air. Will it be Orgy's team?

Will it be, go back to Warren? Will it be Tuttle? A lot of still to be determined. That's wildly optimistic right there, Sam. That's a glass half full. That's why we love Sam. Big half full. Yeah, I like it.

It's amazing how much perception can change in such a short amount of time. If you go back into the summer, Michigan was a 12-point favorite in this game. They're now a five-and-a-half-point dog. That is a 17-5-point swing. You don't see that unless there are dramatic injuries, right? But despite the move, I still find myself liking USC in this spot for a couple of reasons. Michigan wants to run. Michigan wants to play defense.

Fantastic game plan at home with the crowd noise, except if you fall behind by a couple scores and you have to play catch up like they did against Texas, who jumped up in the second quarter, and that was all she wrote. Miller Moss and USC have had two weeks to get ready for this game. They've shown they can go into a hostile environment, the neutral in Vegas where they won that game against LSU.

They held LSU to 20 points. They can play some defense. Ask yourself with Orgy, is he getting the start because he's the better guy or because the guy in front of him couldn't get the job done? That's what worries me about the quarterback situation. with Michigan. What also worries me, too, is that this is a crazy note, too. Before we move on,

is the Wolverines have allowed six past touchdowns in three games after allowing eight all of last season. And if Miller Moss throws for 200 yards, it would match the most such games Michigan allowed all of last season. That blows my mind. All right, anyways, moving on. I'm not the optimistic one today. Shockingly, all right, Joe, we've been really sorry, guys. Sorry, Joe, we've been talking up Tennessee and Oklahoma this game with Tennessee on this offensive rocket ship, if you will. What stands out to you the most in this matchup? So another big move from the point spread when we look at where this was in August, Oklahoma minus four and a half. Now Oklahoma plus seven, 11 and a half point move. Now naturally we have to upgrade Tennessee because they've been better than expected.

They look fantastic. Naturally, we'll probably downgrade Oklahoma a little bit because they are dealing with some injuries on the offensive line. But I got to tell you, Nico I amaliava, as great as he's been, first road start. How much of a test truly was NC State? There's a lot here where when you saw it get to seven and a half, the pros got involved. I'm looking to Oklahoma in this game. But if you like Tennessee and you think

I Amalia Aliva has a big game, bet him to win the Heisman because he's sitting around 9 to 1 now. You go win this game in a standalone spot on TV with everyone watching. Those odds will drop come Monday morning. We always like having you here, Joe. Thank you so much. Yep. Thank you. Thank you to the crowd. Thank you for the crowd. Thank you for the crowd.

Thank you for coming. All right. Stopping up. I'll flood the crowd. All right. Coming up after the break, the crew gives you some tailgate tips to help you become smarter about college football

and look like the ultimate fan this weekend. This is College Football Live. Presented by Dr. Pepper. It's week three of Canadian tires early Black Friday sale. These surprises won't go lower this year. Maybe too long. Freezing.

Save up to 50% November 20th to 27. Conditions apply, details online. College football. Live is presented by ice cold Dr. Pepper. College football. It's a pepper thing. And in part by Fair Life. Enjoy great taste and nutrition with Fair Life Ultra Filtered Milk.

We've got a great triple header of games Saturday on ABC and ESPN Plus, starting with Clemson hosting NC State at noon. And the day wraps up with Oklahoma making their SEC debut. hosting Tennessee. Find live sports with where to watch only on the ESPN app and ESPN.com, the ultimate viewing guide to live sports. Have you ever gone to a tailgate and realized you don't have anything to contribute to the discussion? Well, we here on college football live have something for you. 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. How to catch a football yet. Trevor, what is your tailgate? Well, first, I think it is brilliant how you did not allow that football to hurt your hands or your fingers. Yeah, not with this manicure. Mine is Cal at Florida State. Florida State struggling Cal, one of the best teams in the nation last year, and this at takeaways. If they get a couple of interceptions at Florida State where most Seminoles don't even know Cal plays football, it could get ugly in Tallahasse.

All right, Trevor. Well, the one I'm excited about is I'm excited about Arch Manning, new starting quarterback for Texas this week. Well, this week, he's making his start versus Louisiana Monroe. Who did Quinn Ewers make his first start against? A few years ago, Louisiana Monroe. Oh, by the way, Arch Manning played high school football in Louisiana. A lot of the players he's played against now he played against in high school. Okay, mine is age is just a number, except this one might be a doozy because the combined age of the starting quarterbacks in Saturday's Utah, Oklahoma State game is 49.

And to compare it, the combined age in Sunday's Colts Bears game is 44. Look at this lovely little graphic. Wow. Bet you didn't know that. And we have a very exciting day. You guys have a very exciting weekend. And it's going to be a fun one. You guys ready to go.

We are. We got to make sure there's a ball around that we don't have. You can fall in my practice for it. Calling Cal at Florida State. Yes. It's going to be a fun one. All right for Sam and Trevor. I'm Victoria.

Thanks for watching. Enjoy your games.