Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - The SEC is Mostly Bad and Geoff’s Top Six Teams After CFB Week 5

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

Geoff is joined by an emotional Gabe to explain his picks for his top six teams through five weeks of college football. Plus, what Oklahoma needs to do to live up to Geoff’s expectations, and Harbaugh gets credit for leading Michigan with his back against the wall.Geoff and Gabe debate whether there are any contenders in the SEC besides Georgia and Alabama (probably not), whether Bo Nix is good (probably not), and whether two Big Ten teams could make the CFP (definitely not). Also, Geoff tells why he doesn’t think Wisconsin needs a new coach, and why it’s time for Oregon to make a change at QB.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

it's monday october 4th i'm jeff schwartz alongside gabe goodwin this is jeff schwartz of smarty we're powered by the varsity podcast network this is our monday college football episode we'll give you our top six and we're going to talk about what's happening around the cultural landscape but first a little background information as we record this sunday night i know this is a college show we'll get to our nfl show on tuesday and we'll get to our gambling show later in the week but right now the New England Patriots are playing the Tampa Bay Bucks as we're doing this okay a little behind the scenes Gabe despises Tom Brady if you think you hate a human Gabe hates Tom Brady more than you hate that person and we're gonna have a fiery game tonight guys because

they're loving up on Tom Brady they put a little Adele to enter the show tonight, a little look back, all the championships. Matt Jones, there was a fumble, like Brady's about to score right now. So Gabe, how are you, man? All right, thanks, Jeff. That's really kind of you to set things up that way. And your Jets won today, which you hate. So that...

Just enough. I didn't realize that it was Pats versus Bucks. I thought it was Brady's former team versus Brady's current team. I didn't even know there were 10 or 21 other guys on the field around him. I just thought it was the former Bradys versus the current Bradys, the historical context Bradys. All the guys who he pantsed for 20 years are up there singing his praise. Drew Brees is about to get his stupid personal accomplishment record

smashed in his face, and he's up about to get his stupid personal accomplishment record smashed in his face and he's up there kissing butt. I hate all of the Tony Dungy. He's missing a few rings he should have and he's up there. Oh my gosh, Tom Brady, what a competitor. It's disgusting. Enough already. He's had 20 something good years. Do we need to keep this going? Tell me how you actually feel. And the worst part for the college audiences, you know the coach I associate with him

and Belichick the most? Nick Saban, who's doing the same thing to us. If you like college football, sorry, you can't have nice things. Nick Saban wants all of it. He's going to win every damn year. This year's no different, Jeff.

He is going to win every game of the year. So let's get to our top six. And remember I told you about week six. Things would even out, right? I had some odd top sixes. I gave some love to teams that might not have needed the love

or should have get the love or will be there. But now we're entering week six, Gabe. I feel like I've got a pretty firm idea on who the top six are. At least now, right? There won't be any surprises. Maybe six. Six I have firm idea on who the top six are, at least now, right? There won't be any surprises. Maybe six. Six I have to decide on. But top five to me is the same as the AP poll. Alabama number one, Georgia number two, Iowa and Penn State three and four.

Iowa and Penn State play this week. We will talk about this game a little bit now, but probably later in the week more often. It's the first time – I saw the stat. I think this is accurate. The first time that a top five matchup between Big Ten teams is played without like Ohio State in it since 1997. Like it's a big matchup for both these schools. Cincinnati off their huge win against Notre Dame. They deserve credit here. They beat Notre Dame. I don't know how good Notre Dame is. I don't care. Cincinnati winning them into Notre Dame. They deserve credit here. They beat Notre Dame. I don't know how good Notre Dame is. I don't care.

Since they went into Notre Dame and beat them. And number six really can be a toss-up. I'm going to put Michigan in there. I don't feel great about this. I mean, I think Michigan will be out of there soon. They just can't really move the ball on offense without running the ball, which kind of – but if they put Oklahoma right now, are you telling me their defense and their rushing attack couldn't beat Oklahoma right now, Gabe? So I'll go, I'll go

Michigan six just for now. Again, this, this stuff evens out. So, you know, my ducks lost. I mean, they lost and so they're out Oklahoma five and oh, but haven't looked all that good compared to what we expect out of them. And they play Texas this weekend, so we'll know more about Oklahoma and Texas after this weekend. Yeah, well, we're going to have to get to your ducks. I'm sorry for that. That will feel for you like this Brady Fest feels for me.

So Oklahoma, again, you finally gave them some credit a week or two ago, but you're just, Rattler and company aren't doing enough to really impress you yet it's really it's it's not fair because the expectations are so high on them right that when they don't play like we expect it's like you know they beat Nebraska by seven West Virginia by three and Kansas State by six now the Kansas State scores a little bit off they were up up 34-17 the fourth quarter, right? That was a much bigger win than the final score indicated. But I just want, look, if they beat Texas, this would be the first time they've played a ranked team all year.

We know that it's in the Cotton Bowl. It's a big game for both teams. If they beat Texas, they'll most likely be in my top six next week. Because Oklahoma, I mean, Iowa and Penn State are probably out. One of the two is probably out, I would imagine. Well, yeah, I mean, somebody's got to lose that game and it's probably going to be pretty hard to keep them in your top six if they're at three and five and one of them loses. So, all right, fine. Oklahoma will creep in closer. We're going to spend some more time unpacking Cincinnati and Michigan in a minute. Let me just mention a couple of the other teams that probably wish they could get some love on this podcast right now.

Okay, so Ohio State, I don't know that they really have any better case now that Oregon lost. But Ohio State's still sitting there as Ohio State. The quarterback's looking a little bit better. They're 4-1. We all know they can still easily win that conference. So do you want to have them right on your bubble? I think they're right on the bubble. I think they're in the bubble. Again, they're going to have a much different,

they're going to have a much tougher road now once they get to the conference slate. We'll find out who they are in the next couple of weeks. Again, a lot of these teams will figure themselves out. I'm not really worried about where the teams stand at the moment because they'll play each other, they'll knock each other out, and we'll kind of see who's standing at the end because they they'll play each other they'll knock each other out and we'll we'll kind of see who's standing at the end of the season but it's also look it's a year where the Bearcats man if it was every year to get Cincinnati into the playoffs this might be it I agree so we'll get into them in depth in a minute but this is the section where I just have to throw some

names around yeah and out of my heart in this one, but Coastal Carolina, they're beating everyone on their schedule. Yeah. Look, I have a buddy, RJ Young, at Fox Sports, a colleague of mine. He just put his top 25 out. He just put everyone who's undefeated in the top 15.

I mean, that's one way to do it. I think Coastal Carolina wouldn't beat any of these top opponents, but they've won the games on their schedule. It's something that is frustrating about the way we talk about teams, and I get it. When you play a better team, you're not going to look as good a lot of times.

But you can only play teams on your schedule, right? And you can only talk about a team based on who they played. And we'll get to Oregon in a few minutes because this is where, if you know a team intimately, you can kind of criticize even a good start because you know what's happening. But you just play teams on your schedule. And Coastal Carolina is beating teams on their schedule.

It's all they can do. They can't schedule up. They can't play in a better conference. So, yes, they get credit for winning their games. Are they a top six team? No, they're not a top six team. All right. Well, Cincinnati, as you've already said, is the best case for you were just

close enough to that top six to begin with. Then you beat a team that a lot of us like, at least historically in Notre Dame. This is the week we have to take you seriously. We previewed it for a few weeks, so we'll get to them as soon as we come back from a break. We're also going to talk about those two top SEC teams that I said they just have it in the bag. I don't know. Maybe you have to make me a little smarter on that. So the things I think I learned this weekend when we come back from a quick break. All right, Jeff, we're back. These are the things I think I learned

where you make me a little bit smarter and tell me if I got it right. Here's the simplest take of all time. The second tier of SEC teams, meaning everyone not playing in Tuscaloosa or Athens, they're all trash. Maybe not exactly trash, but they aren't as great as we've been pretending. Auburn, who knows, maybe could be an exception.

But Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Florida, they all seem pedestrian to me after another week of watching them. I think we have to stop fetishizing the SEC and just say what it is. Alabama and Georgia are great. So this is a discussion that people always have, right? And I think you're onto something here. Again, this does not diminish what Alabama and Georgia have done so far, but the depth of the SEC is not as grand as we would like to make it out to be. And this happens each year, right? The top is really good. Don't get me wrong. But we've seen the SEC leave a little bit this year, leave the confines of their home and go play in other places. And they haven't looked as good in those contests they do at home. And

now we look as they start beating each other up. So Arkansas, this was the biggest, this was the biggest easy blowout of the weekend that I could have predicted. It's really hard to play in these spots when you haven't done it before. And they had not done it before. They had not done it before. And they got their asses kicked. And they'll learn from it. And next time they're playing a big game like this, they'll be much more prepared to play

in a big game like this. Kentucky, though, had a great win. Now, I don't know if they're great, but they beat a Florida team at home. They haven't beaten since 1998, I think, something like that. So they get credit for that. No, 1986, I think it was, the year I was born.

So yes, credit for that. But again, are they a power in this country? Probably not. But they're 5-0. They deserve the credit for being 5-0. Auburn had a very odd win against LSU, but LSU now seems to be worse and worse. I mean, people are talking about a hot seat for LSU now.

And the one time Auburn played a good team, Penn State, they got their asses kicked. So what is Auburn, right? Ole Miss, look, again, got another Saban assistant got trounced by Nick Saban. What a surprise. And I think Ole Miss will win most of their games. Their offense is really dynamic. Their defense is much better than it has been in the past.

They'll win more games. They're playing Arkansas this weekend, and they don't have another ranked opponent. Texas A&M, it's really good for Jimbo that he got a new extension before the season started because he would not get that extension right now. They're 3-2 overall. Quarterback got hurt, but the backup hasn't really played terribly well. Defensively have not been quite what they've been in the past.

And they lost to Mississippi State. They lost to Mike Leach at Mississippi State at home this past weekend. So Jimbo's not on the hot seat, but people are kind of talking about him. So I think you're right, right? Florida and Georgia, excuse me, Alabama and Georgia are legit. They're the two best teams in the country. There's no debating that. Georgia has allowed 23 points this season.

23 points. That is it. They're averaging, they're allowing 4.6 points per game. 4.6 points per game. I don't care, again, who they played. Don't care who they played. That's a remarkable game. Because that includes garbage time, right?

So the backups are playing well to end football games, okay? They are legit. Now, offensively, Stenson Bennett, we'll see. Or JT Daniels, I don't know. They ran the ball really well against Arkansas they only threw the ball 15-ish times in that game they didn't have to right they're gashing Arkansas so um they're they're legit Alabama of course is legit right they could just score it well and they did against Ole Miss so you're right look the rest of the SEC

not as good this year um and and, Gabe, this comes down to, and we'll talk about this all year, I think. There's just not good quarterbacks this year in college football. There's not. There's some. We have a couple great guys, but it's just kind of like a meh year for quarterbacks. Not a lot of pro.

Like, who's the number one guy right now who will be drafted to the NFL? You're like, he's the guy. I don't know. I don't have an easy name that rolls off the tip of my tongue is it jake hainer at fresno state who just lost on the road to hawaii like who is that guy so this goes to a broader point that the sec outside of in georgia might not even have a pro quarterback stenson bennett is not yet bryce young still too young in Alabama there's not a lot of pro quarterbacks out there right now yeah there aren't um I want to pick on a couple things you just sort of said and kept speeding past did you did you just say a hot seat issue

at LSU I mean that yeah I mean people are I mean social media right I mean, social media, right? They don't actually think that's real. No, but after last season, were they winners? Good. And this year now, they're, what are they? Three and two. The loss to a Bruins team doesn't seem as good as they were maybe previously. You add in last year's disappointing year. Last year, they were one, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Yeah, 5 and 5. It's the South, man. There's pressure on you to win every year. So I'm not sure he's on the hot seat right now, Gabe, but if this continues throughout the year, I think next season, there will be talks about Edo on the hot seat. They still have ranked Kentucky,

ranked Florida, ranked Mississippi, ranked Alabama, ranked Arkansas left. Okay. They did lose to an Auburn team that I said might be the only team I'm willing to put in that like 1b tier in the conference because Bo Nix is just fun to watch and he had a cool stat line but he had probably the craziest scramble and throw I've seen in years it was wild yeah so I mean make me a little smarter here because I don't know much more than the highlights i've seen can that dude really play i feel like his name's been around for a long time i'm supposed to believe he's good no he he no he can't okay he's just he is what we saw right he's gonna make a bunch of wild plays but when the structure of the offense is not very

good okay but they do look like a team that if there's someone out there who could just blow the whole season for the SEC and knock off one of those top two teams, they seem wild enough that they could pull it off. I think it probably was Florida, but now they lost two straight games. I mean, Kentucky, but Kentucky, you know, they don't – Kentucky is the interesting one. They play really good defense, right?

They've allowed 10 points to South Carolina and 13 points to Florida the last two weeks. They get Georgia in two weeks. They're at Georgia, though. That game, if that was at Kentucky, I'd feel differently. That game's at Georgia. Don't talk yourself into Kentucky, Jeff. That's silly.

I'm not going to. They're not even a basketball school anymore. I don't know what happened there. Fair enough. Let's just give the top two teams a minute or two more. We will have Auburn-Georgia, which will be fun, because I think we'll find out really if that defense is as top-notch as it looks. So, you know, you mentioned they pitched the shutout.

I haven't had two shutouts in a row since 1980. They won a championship that year. Fun little stat for you. So when we have Alabama offense, we're pretending their defense isn't also top-notch. Alabama offense versus Georgia defense one day. What you've seen so far, what do you like better? Oh, man, that's a tough question.

I think, look, Kirby Smart's done a great job with Georgia. But again, I'm always going to default to Nick Saban, unfortunately, if they're playing in a game like that. I mean, look, we heard all week about Ole Miss. And I thought it was kind of silly how high people were in Ole Miss. Ole Miss is going to go in there. They got their asses kicked. It was a 35-0 at one point in that game.

And so I'll lean Bama for now just because we've seen this show before. We've seen it happen. If Georgia's defense allowed 24 to 28 points to Alabama, are Stenson Bennett and JT Daniels scoring 31 points against Alabama? 34? I don't think so, right? So that's the problem, right? And we'll talk about some of these other teams like Iowa.

Look, Iowa, they're 11th, they're number one in the country turnover margin, but they're just like blonde offense, right? I mean, they had 44 points against Maryland with 300 yards on offense at one point in that game. That's, you play a team, we don't

turn the ball over a hundred times, and what do you do offensively? So there are some worries for teams like that. But for Georgia, that's kind of where it's at for me. It's like I just – I would go default to Alabama to prove it otherwise. All right. Well, then let's move to the middle of the country. And a couple teams you just sort of kept saying, give it a couple more weeks, let's see another matchup.

So Michigan beats Wisconsin. They improved to 5-0. They're in the top ten. We finally have to talk about Big Blue. We'll come back to them. We also have to acknowledge Cincinnati. You said it off the top of the show. You marked week six as the week to really decide if they were for real.

Well, they are. They got a Heisman-Hopeful quarterback. They got a coach everybody loves. They snap a 26-game home win streak in South Bend for the Irish. My opinion, they're in until something goes wrong. Like, this is kind of theirs to lose now at Cincinnati, right? It most likely is. The question becomes schedule, right?

And it's not fair to them. You play the team on your schedule. But they have one ranked opponent on their schedule, rest. And a lot of the other teams don't. Let's say Oregon goes 12-1 with the one loss to Stanford with an Ohio State win. And they played, I don't know if Bruins will be ranked in a couple weeks. But, you know, they play Arizona.

They play, you know, they play ranked. Let's say Oregon State gets ranked at some point. The Bruins are ranked again at some point. And I don't think they play Arizona State. But they play Arizona State in the Pac-12 championship game. Yeah, I get you for that. They get a few more ranked wins somehow, some way, and they win the Pac-12. Like, is that better than or worse than Cincinnati?

Does Cincinnati deserve to get in? Does Cincinnati deserve to get in? Does Oregon deserve to get in? That's the question. And I hate this because it's not Cincinnati's fault what league they play in, but a big part of why it's tough to jump up to a Power 5 conference. And we saw this with Utah. It's the best example, right? Utah was 13-0, 10-3, 10-3, the three years before we went to Pac-12 conference.

They joined the conference. At the time, 2012, right, there was one good team oregon right usu wasn't good in the south arizona was good in the south i mean one team and they went like four and eight and five and seven and six wins eight with the first four years they won didn't win at all and it's tougher to play that week in and week out tough schedule in the conference so oh, as of right now, you're right. They'll be number four after the Iowa-Penn State game. It's going to be hard to get them out of number four. Okay.

Well, can we say the Dozen Ritter's now in the top spot for a Heisman, for whatever that's worth? I mean. It's probably still going to be Bryce Young right now, but he's going to be up there. I'll tell you one other guy. Hank will be happy to hear about this. Bijan Robinson,

the running back of Texas, is freaking good. He's good. And I think people know who he is nationally, but they'll know a lot more after the game this weekend. Okay. The Red River rivalry. Red River will shoot out.

No, rivalry. Got to call it a rivalry. Just like the Civil War, right? The Civil War, Oregon State, that's no longer the name of it. Except I call it a rivalry. Just like the Civil War, right? The Civil War, Oregon State, that's no longer the name of it. Except I call it the game formerly known as the Civil War. That's how I can get around saying it.

World's largest cocktail party no longer called that either. That's so weird. There's a lot of things have changed in our lives, Jeff. What else has changed? Brian Kelly went from Cincinnati. He had a great run there. Goes to Notre Dame. Supposed to be the big guy.

You were praising him a couple weeks ago. You liked what he was doing at Notre Dame. What the hell happened there? I feel like his old school even trolled him a bit in social. Like, Brian Kelly just loses stuff? How do you lose that game? Offensively, they're just not very good right now. I can go back to this again.

Well, their offensive line is young, and they had a lot of deficiencies because a lot of guys went to the NFL. And their quarterback's not very good. Again, Gabe, look around college football. Okay, let's look at the top teams right now as ranked. Alabama, they have a pro quarterback, okay? Like an elite pro quarterback, probably. Bryce Young, he's still young.

But Georgia, do they have a guy that screams like really good pro on their roster? No. Iowa, Penn State. Cincinnati, maybe. Maybe. Oklahoma, possibly. Ohio State, maybe. But Spencer Rattler and CJ Trav not played to what people think.

Oregon, definitely not. Michigan, no. BYU's 10, no. Michigan State, no. Oklahoma State, I've watched zero seconds of them. I'll be honest with you. I have no idea. Arkansas, no. Notre Dame, no. Oklahoma State, I've watched zero seconds of them, I'll be honest with you. I have no idea. Arkansas, no.

Notre Dame, no. You know what I mean? Kentucky at 16 has Will Levins, who might be good at NFL. There's just not a lot of quarterback greatness this season. Yeah, I have watched a few minutes of Oklahoma State. I was surprised to see Mike Gundy's in year 17 there. They got a quarterback who looks like he can do Mike Gundy things, but so not a ton. All right, so let's talk about the other team then that we waited until this week to decide if we were going

to take them for real. That's Michigan. Okay, so Wisconsin, by the way, definitely not it. One in three worst start in 31 years or something. I mean, they're probably looking for a coach soon, but Michigan's beating everyone they're probably looking for a coach soon. But Michigan's beaten everyone they're facing, and they've got plenty of tests left. And if they can pass a few of those tests, no question they're a real team. So they're going to get Nebraska. Fine, let's give them a win. Then they're home against Northwestern.

Let's give them another. But then it starts. Michigan State on the road. They got Indiana, but then they're at Penn State. And then, of course, they play Ohio State late in the year. So is this just a fluky thing where Michigan kind of started hot, does a few things right, is competitive, but won't actually end the season undefeated or with a loss? They got three losses coming, right?

So Michigan is surprisingly 22nd yards per play on offense, but a lot of that is from the ground game, right? And they're very kind of old-school conservative, like run-the-football type team. I just worry about those types of teams when you get behind in games. And can you come back from those games? Are you able to do the extra things when things aren't going? Because your defense is not going to play great every game.

It's impossible. It's the way it is. It's hard to do that. Just like your offense won't play great every game. And if that one game is at Michigan State or at Penn State or at Maryland or Ohio State, are they good enough offense to win? Harbaugh deserves a credit man his back is against the wall took a pay cut this year

they're 5-0 and they're hammering people right they're hammering teams good for them they deserve again the credit that they get and they should be ranked they're ranked in the top 10 I believe right they're number 9 um then Nebraska Northwestern and they're at Michigan State we'll know

more after Michigan State. At Michigan State. But we just worry about their offense. That's it. Okay. So then now's the right time to ask it because this probably won't be how it feels as soon. But right now, the Big Ten's got a whole bunch of teams in the top ten. They haven't all played each other yet.

Could this be a year where two Big Ten teams somehow make their way into the playoff? If the SEC messes up the things up enough for each other and oregon doesn't get that miracle path you talked about and they don't show the love to cincy do we see two big 10 teams i would say no and the reason why is again i think we're going to see some carnage in the big 10 like they just they play each other yeah and um they're these teams all have enough flaws to where it's unrealistic to expect them to win out it just is it sort of feels like you ever play the um that game uh king of the hill you get on like a big raft and

everyone's pushing and shoving and you were always probably the big guy so i'm sure everyone kind of teamed up and tried to push you off then there were sneaky guys like me who would be like, I'm not going to even engage. If I go after Jeff, that guy's going to pancake me. I'm in the water, game over. But if I just hang back, maybe three other people trip Jeff, push him off, and then I shove them and I win. Could that happen in the Big Ten?

Possibly. I don't know how you followed that. possibly I don't know how you followed that but I I am um I I just again there's gonna be carnage I think like that's that's what I think we're gonna end up seeing and and I I doubt because we're gonna have two big we're gonna have two SEC teams because if Georgia and Alabama play and it's one and two and that's the championship game the losers go in the playoff just letting you guys know that um so that's just who the other two teams are. That's so anticlimactic. To imagine that Georgia could lose by three touchdowns.

I don't think they would lose by three touchdowns. But if they did, maybe they're out. How about that? Okay. But are you taking, again, let's say we're Oregon. Oregon runs the table. They're 12-1. Are you taking in a 12-1 Oregon team with a loss to Stanford

and a win against Ohio State, or a Georgia team who ends up beating a bunch of ranked opponents but loses by two scores to Alabama in the title game project in Georgia right yeah probably should I don't know what they'll do um let's talk about real quick and then we'll get to the last thing I think I learned uh I think I learned that Wisconsin's probably going to have to rebuild some things there. We already know USC is looking for a coach. Wisconsin could be. Those are two pretty good programs. Are they going to be competing for the big names now?

I don't think Wisconsin's going to get rid of Chris right now. But I think they have to talk with him or he has to decide to be different in offense. What they've done is worked for a little bit. But when your offensive line is not as good as it decide to be different in offense. What they've done has worked for a little bit, but when your offensive line is not as good as it used to be, it's hard to keep that offense going. We're talking Notre Dame, obviously, right? Both these offensive lines have had departures because of graduation, and it's hard just to fill those guys back in sometimes.

And Wisconsin is too one-dimensional. They're not good enough at quarterback. They're not – look, the game of Notre Dame, they're off a bye game. And their offense looked just not functional at all. So this offseason has to be spent figuring out a way to be more adaptable. And we talk about the best coaches and their ability to adapt to different things, to change the way they do things. They take the ego out of it, and they have to do that with Wisconsin. They have to find different ways to score points. way they do things, or take the ego out of it.

And they have to do that with confidence. They have to find different ways to score points. They cannot do the same thing anymore. Okay. Well, then we've teased him several times. I'm going to shift up what I plan to ask you, because I think you've already told me that the Pac-12 is virtually irrelevant unless everything goes right for Oregon down the stretch, and they probably still need a little help from another conference. so I was gonna ask you if I learned that correctly but now

I think the answer is clearly yes is there anything else I should have learned from that Oregon loss or about Stanford because now they've upset two people's seasons Stanford's not that good I don't need to learn anything about Stanford what about their coach coach? I love this guy. Should he be the next SC coach? No, he won't be the next SC coach. Should he? It's a good question. If they get to play Oregon every year in the fifth game,

which is like how Oregon's lost four times the last 20 years as undefeated 5-0 team to Stanford, sure. I mean, look, we watched that game. Oregon should have won that game. They made a ton of freaking errors. I don't know.

And credit Stanford for coming through in the end. Here's my thing with Oregon. So, oh, God, so many things. Look, the officials were dog shit the last drive, okay? Call targeting, fine, whatever. The hit to the neck area. But that holding penalty was utter garbage. It was a terrible call.

That being said, the refs were not at all to blame for this loss. And here's the thing as a player, I have always said, and I've held this firm. I held this firm when the Saints and Rams had the pass interference thing. I'm holding it firm now to my team.

Players, at least for me, I never blame the refs. Because there's moments in games I can be better as a player that the refs are not part of it, right? How about that drive itself? Second and 19, balls are like the Stanford 6 or 7. They complete a pass for 23 yards. What are we doing, defense?

Right? Like, make a play. There's just so many little mistakes man like we're driving down on that final drive two false starts in a row and then we have to pass the ball i'm okay with passable we have to pass the ball second 18 what are we gonna do run the ball for four yards we have to pass the ball but the problem with oregon besides injuries we can't fix injuries um is our quarterback's not good enough. I've said this for weeks, Gabe.

It's not anything brand new. He's not good enough. Anthony Brown's in his sixth year. He's a sixth-year senior. He is what he is now. And what he is is not good enough. And I'd rather lose with a five-star freshman who's going to be our quarterback next year

than lose with Anthony Brown. He had some egregious errors in this game. I said it was unforgivable on Twitter and people were upset that I used that language for a college player. He's also like 23 years old. I feel a little different with a 23-year-old than I do with an 18-year-old.

But the end of the first half, Oregon had a perfectly drawn-out play. It was fourth and one at the one. Drawn up. And if it was run the way it's supposed to be run, it was a touchdown. It was a walk-in touchdown. Would have made it 17 to 14 at halftime.

Anthony Brown, as a 60-year senior, just didn't run the play. Did his own thing. Played a hero ball. Played a hero ball. No touchdown. Even later in the game, Oregon scored on Anthony Brown,

kept the ball on a read option. The running back, who he did not hand the ball off to, walked into the end zone, and Brown just followed the running back. Like, he didn't even run where he was supposed to go. He kept the ball and just ran on the backspath. What are you doing, buddy? Oregon has no down throw passing game, none whatsoever. We could have tried one pass over 10 yards.

That was it. And it was incomplete. We just got to move on and I don't know what the coach is going to do we have a bye now we get Cal but in the end though

the jumping off the bandwagon thing is hilarious to me like two teams go undefeated every year okay if you thought Oregon was going undefeated I don't know

that's your problem that's a you problem I didn't think that I've told you guys from the start we lost a game we have a whole schedule left to go now.

And we'll be fine. But we have to do these quarterbacks. I would much rather lose with Ty Thompson than Anthony Brown. I don't know if coaches are going to do it. Our OC was not there. Our OC was not the game. I didn't think that was an issue. But I've been told maybe he helps a little bit more than I think on game day as far as helping Anthony

Brown out. But our play calling was fine. And the win probability was 99% when Stanford got the ball back. Like, we just gotta make plays, man. And sometimes losses like this can really kind of regroup a team. Last thing on this, it's so funny, man. Three weeks ago, Mario Cristobal was like,

go to USC, right? I want him at USC. Greatest coach ever. Now he's a bum because they lost this game like come on pick pick our pick our poison guys is he a bum or is he not so Oregon lost it sucked I was upset my Giants lost that night too now the Giants eventually won the NL West my gambling pick sucked it was a rough weekend but guess what Oregon's off this weekend they get Cal in two weeks and we'll be fine Jeff we, we opened the show this way. I'm going to close it this way. We always try to hit on some losers at the end of the show. So, you know, I'm a lifelong Jets fan and you've taunted me for that since I've known you. And, you know, it was not easy for me to eventually just say I'm done, I'm out. And I switched allegiance to the Chargers. I live in LA. I said enough. I'm a Chargers fan now. That was two weeks ago. This week, I got up the cojones to say,

not only am I not a Jets fan, I'm picking against them in my eliminator. So I picked the Titans because of course they were going to win that game. And the Jets Jetsed me. I tried to get rid of these A-holes, and they Jetsed me in an eliminator. I'm out. I'm out week four because I picked against the Jets. How could that possibly go wrong? Yeah, well, so you're the biggest loser this week. I thought my picks were the biggest losers.

I'm a bigger loser than you. And the guess is that Tom Brady, they'll probably just bring a gold jacket out to him after the game ends tonight. It's only 3-0 right now. They just missed a field goal. All right. Let's wrap it up. We've got to talk about the NFL on Tuesday. Then you've got to make some good picks on Thursday.

Oh, jeez. I've got to do something. I was pretty good in college, but yikes. My NFL picks. I don't know what's happening, man. It's a weird year. But, yeah, we will get it right. All right, guys.

Thank you for joining us. We'll be back tomorrow. This has been the Jeff Schwartz of Smarting the U podcast powered by the Varsity Podcast Network. Please rate, review, subscribe. Really appreciate getting those notes from you guys. You can follow me on Twitter at Jeff Schwartz and we'll be back tomorrow. Take care everyone.