Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - College Football Kickoff: Big Tests for Miami/Florida State and Vandy/Alabama. Who survives?

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

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Florida State brought back down to earth after a dramatic overtime lost to Virginia, but there's still our game of the week against Miami and then Alabama Vanderbilt. Can the Commodores get it done again? This is college football kickoff. Welcome back to Fire TV's college football kickoff presented by Coca-Cola. I'm your host, Drake Toll from Locked on Big 12 and the Savannah Bananas organization. And we're coming in hot from the heart of college football country in Dallas, Texas. is on set with me, two legends, 22-time coach of the year, Gary Patterson, and former Tar Heel and Dallas Cowboy, Jesse Holly. Every week throughout the season, we'll be breaking down the

matchups, the moments and the madness with expert analysis from across the nation. Look for new episodes every Thursday on your Fire TV and Echo Show devices. This is your all-access pass to the weekend ahead in college football. Let's kick it off. Jesse, the Oregon Ducks. Do we have a new number one team in the country in your mind? We don't. I still do believe that. I still do believe that Miami's the best team in the country. Okay. But Oregon definitely goal that went out there and showed themselves worthy of being in that conversation.

It's a team that when you look at their coach, they reflect that type of energy. Kind of a madman, kind of a fast-paced guy. But Oregon, I mean, a really good football team. Yeah, they are. You know, to go into Penn State, white out, do all the things they did, and then do it the way,

because people don't need to forget, they were up 17-0, and then everything, well, it went into overtime. But, I mean, they really got after him for most of the ball game. No doubt. Let's go into more depth on who should be number one and in that top five. And this week's rankings report. One of the biggest storylines in the rankings report this week,

Ole Miss jumping nine spots to number four. Jesse, they looked legit against LSU. No, absolutely. Coach Kiffin has got those boys rolling. He's found his quarterback and his dual-threat quarterback in Trinidad Chimblis. And that team is explosive. That team is energetic. And I love the way that.

coach Kiffin coaches. He gives it to you wrong. He gives it to your uncut. He has those guys ready to go and play some expired football right now. Well, you know, we've talked about last week. You know, they had Georgia last year, big home game upset, and then my number one team in my ranking this week,

last week was LSU, and it really didn't even look like that close of a ball game. Now, I don't think it did. If you actually watched it, Ole Miss, was able to control LSU and finish the game off. Speaking of those rankings you had last week where LSU was number one, let's see how it's changed, coach, What's your top five?

Well, now being able to see Ohio State and Oregon both go on the road. I had Ohio State, then Oregon. Miami, I still think it's one of those teams, but they are idle. And then Ole Miss, the way they played, and then A&M. You're lurkers. Your lookers, your lovers. Well, my lurkers, even though they right now don't know about the quarterback, but I saw a picture of just a band-aid on a hand.

So I've got OU in my workers. I got Alabama really moving up. Texas Tech. Got to talk somebody from Texas, Penn State, and LSU. Yeah, I think Texas Tech is a team that most of the country is overlooking. They were dominant defensively against Utah, 34 to 10. Their win a couple weeks ago. Their defensive line is one of the best in college football.

They paid a lot of money for that defensive line, by the way, but they've got a lot of money. The black gold out in West Texas has been very kind to the Red Raiders. Let's take a look at who is in and who is out this week. Jesse, they got a win against Florida. State, are we back, are we in on Virginia, or is this kind of a one-off? I'm an ACC guy. Okay. So I'm always going to be pro-ACC, and it wasn't just a win.

It was a back-and-forth battle that they went up against Florida State, who many people across the country thought, you know, this is a real serious contender in Florida State for playing in the, you know, the finals of the college football playoffs. And Chandler Morris and Company, they're playing some really good football, and that game gave the country a good feel of what teams outside of. Clemson and Florida State, Miami, and the ACC are really about. Well, you know, BYU, you got BYU, Virginia and Arizona State. They all move.

Everybody's starting to see. BYU, maybe it wasn't as showy a win as you wanted to. And then you had Virginia, but it was because I watched Florida State play out of, you know, I watched all those games of how people played. And you go, this is like a Bobby Bouten team. And then this happens. then it kind of makes you wonder because of the portal and everything else. If he had too many new people and you had such a great win,

and then you think, oh, we're playing Virginia, and it's Virginia. Well, Virginia's not Virginia. They were somebody that could get out to you and it was at home and then they rushed the field. They looked legit. And I also, I'm glad you brought up BYU. I think them sitting at 23. They're one of the best graded defenses in the country. Jack Kelly is a monster.

They struggled early against Colorado, but showed resolve on the road to come back and win that game against Dion and Company. BYU could be a player for the rest of the season of the Big 12. And their schedules fairly easy up until they get Utah here in a couple of weeks. Our game of the week this week, Miami at Florida State. Can the Seminoles get back in the driver's seat? Can Miami prove they're one of truly the best teams in college football? All of that right here for our game of the week.

It's the game of the week here on college football kickoff presented by Coca-Cola Alex Dono of Locked on Cain's, Brian Smith of Locked-on Seminoles. Let's talk about this week's game of the week. Dono, do you fear going on the road against a Florida state team that needs a get right game? I don't know fear is the right word. I would go with the word respect. I've been following this rivalry for long enough to know that Doe Campbell Stadium is a really tough place to play. And an interesting aspect about this, Drake, is it's going to be Miami's first road game of the season.

They have not left the friendly confines of Hard Rock Stadium yet. And I think the guy who's going to be instrumental in setting the tone for his team. teammates is Carson Beck. In his sixth year, all the experience he had in the SEC playing in crazy environments like in Tuscaloosa. They played in Austin, Texas last year. So I really think that, you know, young teammates of his, like true freshman wide receiver Malachi Tony, who's been a big part of Miami's offense so far, are really going to lean on Carson Beck to let his experience kind of guide them through that tough road environment. It's Miami, Donald. Let's not kid ourselves. Every game is a true road game for the canes. Brian Smith, because of the kids, because of

That's a bad experience for the hurricanes. They go in against the Florida State team. Look, the big question mark is Mike Norvell, right? If he wins a big one but then loses the small one, I mean, what do we do here? Do you have the confidence that a Mike Norvell-led team can go on the road in a top five game and get a win like this? Well, they're playing at home this time, so I don't have to worry about that part. But they're capable of putting points on the board. They get the number one offense, number one rush offense.

And I think they're going to have to score to win. Their defense is pretty good, but they didn't tackle Virginia, so I'm not sure they're going to tackle Miami. The only other thing that I'll say about this, if they're not fired up to play Miami, a special act with the way they displayed an egg in some of the game against Virginia, that I don't know what's going on. I mean, it's Miami. It's your arch rival. It's time to play. Yeah, great clarification to get in this game in Tallahassee. Dono, give me a brief synopsis and a final score projection. Yeah, I mean, I think for Miami to win this game, they've got to take.

care of the football because I believe the hurricanes have the advantage at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. So Miami, if they can set the tone and try to out muscle Florida State, I think it's probably a Miami victory somewhere in the neighborhood of 31 to 23. I think a big key for the hurricanes defensively is to be disciplined against all of the eye candy and misdirection that comes with a Gus Malzano offense. So I think Miami is going to really have to be sharp and have a lot of gap integrity and discipline and communication. in this one. But I think if Miami takes care of the football, I think it's another Miami win and a big tone setter on the road. Brian, your opportunity to push back here. Brief synopsis final score.

I actually agree with Dono that Miami should win. I think they've played better. They've earned that respect. I've got it closer. I've got it 31.28. But for the same reasons, Miami so far has shown to be the better team in the trenches. If Florida State is going to win, they've got to hit some shots down the field. It's going to be hard to move the ball just five yards at a time against Miami's defense. But right now I get the edge to the games. We saw a two-lost big 12th team last year win the conference championship, make the college football playoff. I don't think Florida State's out of the picture, even with a loss this week. Obviously, Miami is gunning for an at-large bid, much less a place from winning the ACCC. Alex Dono, he's Brian Smith, our two experts on this game. Thank you guys so much.

Thank you. And thank you for being a passionate fan. It's hard work. We all know it's hard work. There's pomp and there's circumstance every single weekend, every Saturday, and it makes you work up a thirst. Fan work is thirsty work and joy or refreshing Coca-Cola. Today's show is brought to you by Fandall. Fandall is exactly where I go this weekend to pick the money line of whoever is playing against Utah and probably win many, many, many monies. And we'll go into my pocket and I'll be so excited and happy. Fandall is actually where you can go and win a whole lot on college football and have a whole lot in free play in your back pocket for just $5. You throw $5 down if your bet hits.

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Today's show is also brought to you by Square. I go down to Island Dacquiry here in Wilmington Island, Georgia, and I enjoy a Daccarry. And it's run on Square, your entire neighborhood actually. is run on Square. We know that there's just those places that are pillars for you in your neighborhood. With this episode being brought to you by Square, I bring up Island Daccarry. That's right down the road.

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But before you do, go support your favorite neighborhood spot. You'll be happy you did Square. See you in the neighborhood with Square. Those were our local experts on all things, Hurricanes and Seminoles. Let's break this game down just a little bit more. Tommy Castellanos, Jesse, is a guy who lost the big one last week on the road against Virginia. It gets to come back home.

I called it a get-right game. Typically, you'll see a get-right game big against that push-over opponent, that soft opponent. But being in the confines of Tallahassee in a matchup where you're going to have a sold-out crowd behind you, I think this could be a confidence boost for Florida State, especially if they knock off a top-five team. No, absolutely. But when you talk about getting the get-right game, Miami's the wrong team to want to get right against them. Even when you look at Miami, where they're really good at is the defensive line.

You know, Ruben Bain Jr. and company, they are really solid in the trenches. So for Tommy Castellano, he has to be a magician. He has to be the guy that we've seen prior to the Virginia, even in the Virginia game, just making all of those plays because that Miami defensive front is one that is aggressive. They're playmakers. They're strong. They're physical. So I wouldn't say a get-right game, but this is one of those games.

where Tommy Costellano can put his name out there up there with the rankings of the Heisman trophy winners if he can go out there and get a victory against Miami. You said it right, and here's the thing. Everybody knows how good Miami is on defense. So if you can go and you can use your feet and you can be successful

and he can do the things he did and he can do it against Miami, like anything else. It's kind of like the Ohio State Texas game. You get more street cred when you play one of those kind of games early. This is one of those kind of games. You have two quarterbacks,

that both went to a situation where they went there so they had a chance to win a national championship, played at a very high level, both of them now in this kind of ballgame, and they hate each other, and whoever comes out is going to be the top of the town. So we just need to understand. They know what it's at stake. And maybe that's the get right aspect to me is if you win this game, you've erased the Virginia loss. If you win this game, we're not talking about Florida State Virginia. We're talking about Florida State who got a top five victory who beat Alabama earlier in the year.

That Virginia game is gone. you have completely gotten right. But again, it's a very tough opponent if you're trying to put things back together and repiece it all. 36 and 33 Miami leads the all-time series. Coach, we mentioned this a couple weeks ago. These rivalry games, things get crazy, they get weird.

Your winner could be anybody. Well, you go back now to the playoffs. If it shows at the end of the year playing these kind of games and you have a loss in one of these kind of games and it still doesn't affect you like we talked about Notre Dame being O&2 and still being the top 25,

if you can show you can play these kind of of games and you play well in it, but you, like you had Tennessee that misses a field goal. I mean, them and Georgia, I mean, yeah, could have been completely. It could have been flipped. Yep. Completely flipped. And so I really think, I really think that we're seeing even in the top, I look at the top 15 of all these, all the schools that are there, like we just, we talked about earlier when

we were in here talking, you've had 10 teams being the top five. Yeah. And so now you're talking about Miami and Florida State, both of those teams being two of those teams that have been that. And now people getting pushed, I think everybody knows what's on the line, but they know it's not the end all like it was when you had a 14 playoff. It's now, hey, look, I played somebody, I've got a resume. Win or lose, if I play well, I have a resume, and it's going to be counted on later on when we get to December. No doubt. I think we're seeing one of the most competitive college football seasons in a while at the top.

We're not seeing a ton of massive upsets, but I think the top 15 from one to 15 is much closer than it was in seasons past. You have, coach, you said preseason, eight or nine teams that could vie for a national championship. That may actually be 12, 14, 15, and 2025. I think it's good overall for college football. Another team that wants to be in that conversation, the Vanderbilt Commodores. They are our can't-miss matchup against Alabama this week. He is the expert on all things Vanderbilt from Locked-on-Vandy, Corey Burton. Corey, last season, 40 to 35, the shock of college football, Vanderbilt taking down Alabama.

Can lightning strike twice? Absolutely. I mean, this Vanderbilt team is way better this year than they were last year, I think, especially up front when you look at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I think what they've done in their five games this season is they've really controlled the line of scrimmage. So that's been the biggest key for this team. And, of course, Diego Pavia developing on the skills that he needed to improve on. coming out of 2024. So this team is probably the most complete Vanderbilt team, maybe ever. Diego Pavia is off his parents insurance. He can rent a car without any excess fees.

And he's maybe the most experienced quarterback in college football. What does that experience give him in this game against Alabama, who's got a first time starter at quarterback here in 2025? Well, the experience is from an SEC perspective, he's been through the league one year. So that's a ton of experience right there. He's seen a lot of football. He's seen a lot of defenses. He's worked with a lot of talent. And he's got, I think, this is his third or fourth year with Jerry Kill and Tim Beck by his side. So he's got a ton of just overall college football experience, SCC experience, and of course system knowledge and experience as well that goes with all of that and the comfort level that you get in the confidence level that you get being

that experienced. Corey, give you a quick synopsis and a final score. Quick synopsis. It's going to be a physical game. It's going to come down to who plays the cleanest. who wins the line of scrimmage. If Vanderbilt can control the line of scrimmage, they can control the game and control field position. They will win. If they can run, they will win Bama struggles, or they have struggled thus far stopping the run,

and they've struggled thus far on third down. So I think it's going to be physical at first. The scoring is going to open up a little bit, but I think Vandy's going to win 34, 31. You're going to get a last second field goal or late field goal from Brock Taylor to put them ahead for the final time. Sandy fans will storm the field in Tuscaloosa and take those goals as well and start to go fund me and all of that. Corey Burton, the expert on all things, Vanderbilt. Thank you very much.

Appreciate you guys. You guys do a great job. Thanks, Corey. Coach, we've got to start up with you. You were just in Nashville watching Vanderbilt, got a very up-close look at the Clark Lee program. Do you think this is a team that's ready for Alabama, ready to beat them again? Well, for them to win, they have to do what they did last year, you know, 12 of like 18, on third downs and ran the ball, controlled the clock, did all of it. I really think it comes down to Pavia. You know, one of the things that I was so impressed with, I mean, he controls everything as far as call is concerned.

He's going to get up there. He's going to check the whole offense. They allow him to do it. You know, the things that are not in their favor, in Alabama's case is they're not fooling them this time. I think Alabama may be playing at the highest level of these last three ball games of anybody that I've watched on tape. And so for Vandy to do it, they've got.

You got to do, just like he said earlier, I think you're going to have to be able to, what Corey did, they're going to have to be able to control the line of scrimmage, and some good things you're going to have to happen to them. Jesse, transit of property does not work in college football, but it's the weird circle of Florida State losing to Virginia, but beating Alabama and Alabama beating Georgia. None of it really makes sense to us, and it may not until the very end of the season. I mean, how do we judge this Alabama team? Do we still keep that Florida State game in our psyche, or is this the same Alabama that beat Georgia

And that's how we look at them the rest of the seas. Listen, sometimes it's what have you done for me lately. And lately, the Alabama football team beat Georgia, right? And so the thing is when you look at this as a whole, Alabama wants his lickback. Right? You lose to that team last year with your hopes on the line. They want their lickback. And it's going to be a tale of two teams because when you look at Alabama, they're one of the best scoring teams in the first quarter.

They score 10 points in the first quarter. But Vandy's not a team that goes away. they scored 24 points a game in the second half. So Bama has to come out, do what they do, but able to maintain that throughout the course of the game because Vand is one of these team coaching, you saw it firsthand that they have a never-stop-fighting attitude. So I think Bama wants to get their look back,

and it's going to be a really good football game. Well, that's what I told Coach Lee. I mean, they were on the sidelines, and they were frustrated last week because Utah State, and it was 55-35, and they gave up some big plays. And I said, wouldn't you rather be it? all these things went wrong right now. But you won 55, 35, 35, and then you made all these mistakes next week against Alabama.

That's when you wanted to have the perfect game. So I think that's what they're looking for. They want to be able to go into Tuscaloosa. They want to be able to play their kind of game. They want things to go right for them. And I think they'll be more focused. No matter what anybody said, they just came off of Virginia Tech, and they came off of playing South Carolina.

They won both those games on the road, right? Nobody felt like I don't think they were favored in neither one of them. And they dominated South Carolina. And so then you play to Utah State. You're not going to play like that every day. And so I think you're going to get a great ballgame. I think you've got two good teams that come after each other. Even though I'm, you know, Jerry Kiel, Vandy, all of it.

Right now I kind of lean a little bit towards Roll Tide. Shocking, Jesse. Between Vanderbilt and Alabama, our analysts said Alabama has advantage. I said I just leaned a little. I didn't. I didn't jump in the back seat. And credit to Vanderbilt any other year, we might not even have this game on the sheet of paper right here as a talking point.

It's awesome. We're going to see a top now 20 matchup between Vanderbilt and Alabama in Tuscaloosa this weekend. We have kept you long enough without telling you how to win money. It's time for our lock of the day here on college football kickoff. Thanks, Drake. After another wild week in college football, it's time for another lock of the week. Open it, open it, open it. Lee has the key to the lock of the day.

This Saturday, we head to the Lone Star State. Big 12 battle. Texas Tech and 11.5 point favorite at Houston. Both teams are at 4-0. Lee, what do you like in this one? Well, NIL money spent is very important to this game. Texas Tech number two in the country just behind Texas. In fact, top six schools, only one combined loss.

Texas and Ohio State played each other. Texas Tech right now, their best win was against Utah, 3410 in Salt Lake City. And if you're saying, well, it was turnovers. Nope. They dominated play. They had a 484 to 263 total yard advantage. And they played more than half of the game with a backup quarterback. Houston's best win, Colorado.

That's right. Two and three Colorado with wins only Delaware and Wyoming. Texas Tech, now an incredible defensive line. Four new transfer starters from other schools who were all conference last year or right up there. They held Utah to 101 total rushing yards in Devon Dampier, just 11 for 27 running the football here. This Houston team is going into a gunfight with just a knife here. Texas Tech is going to be my luck of the weekend. And for more daily picks, subscribe to Locked-on Betts.

Back to the college football kickoff studio. We'll see you next week, Drake. Thanks, guys, as always. Houston, though, the number two defensive team in the country in net EPA. That's an efficiency metric, but we can't ever disagree with Lee. No, you don't want to do that. Stay right down the middle with Lee Sterling. I like my knees.

Six of them. We still all have six. Yeah, we're good. The production staff's all good, too. So I think we're safe for now. We'll keep the topic on gambling, though, because Lane Kiffin, A college football head coach decided this week to chime in saying, take the over.

You have coaches now that are giving fans directions for their game. And that's just a part of how now gambling's become the vernacular of college football. They work one in the same. And so why not go deeper into it with this week's Coach's Corner? You know, I learned a long time ago when I first became a head coach in my first seven or eight years, people would say to me at the end of the season, coach, you covered the spread. I was a young head coach. All I cared about was winning.

I didn't even think about it. Until we went to the Rose Bowl in 2010, and Wisconsin, which we played at TCU, was scoring like 70 points, I think, on their last six or seven opponents. And then somebody brought my attention, they said the spread, and they said it was minus two TCU

that we were favored in the ball game. And I'm like, have you guys lost your mind? We're in the Mountain West Conference. It's the first time anybody's been allowed. outside of the Big Ten or the Pack 12 to play in the Rose Bowl, and you're saying that we're favored. Well, we ended up winning 21 to 19. So then from that point on, I started paying attention to them.

And to be honest with you, whether the line was large for us or against us, especially when it was for us, I would always talk to my teams about, hey, look, if you don't play well, you know what I'm going to say. Were you guys all on the take? Is this what's going to happen? You guys didn't have to play very well. But you need to understand, I would pay attention to the line, especially when it got to Wednesday, Thursday, or Fridays,

for the simple reason that if that line went from one to four or it went to a plus, then you start saying, well, who do they know, what do they know that's going to really make a difference? Somebody's not playing. There's an injury thing that we don't know about. And my guys said to me, well, coach, there's this offline injury deal that tells everybody,

really on Tuesday or Wednesday, who's not going to play, who is going to play coming out of Vegas. And so I started paying a lot of attention to that. And then as a personal thing, we used to be, you know, we'd be, let's say, pick to win by 45 points over a 1-8 team early in the season or somebody that wasn't late at night on my call. And I would take a knee and let's say we were supposed to win by two and we were on the 25-yard line and there was 30 seconds left. and I'd take three or four knees just to run out the clock, you know, to be a good person. And then somewhere in the middle of night I'd get a death threat because somebody bet a lot of money on a game.

The thing that happened, though, is that you had caller IDs. So then I could get to a point where I could actually call those people back, Drake, and talk to him about. And there'd be, you know, coach, I'd had a lot to drink. You know, this is how much I bet. I said, well, what do you, I mean, what are you doing that for anyway? I mean, it's like, but, you know, I would say to you guys, it's a real thing. Those guys are professionals. I think nowadays, we could, in those times, we couldn't talk about it, but we all thought about it as kind of what my point is.

But nowadays, now with all the betting going on, now coaches, players, I think all of them think about it. So what do you guys think? I mean, the end of the day, I mean, it still comes down to a lot of pressure and a lot of money. I think first, you counseling bettors across the country. who are calling your phone, you calling them and saying, what are you doing, July? That's a really good. I like that you call them back and give them a couple words of advice.

So, Jesse, here's my question. We can talk about the large spreads. Coach mentioned that a little bit. Hey, your team can, I mean, if you're a 22-year-old, you're gonna see, okay, we're favored by 24 points this week in a conference game. Your head could get too big. My question is, and an example of this is this week,

Iowa State top 15 team in the country. They're playing Cincinnati, who's unranked. Cincinnati's favored by two. So if I'm a Cincinnati kid, if I'm your 20-year-old cornerback, I see that. I'm thinking, what? They're favoring us against the top 15 team. That almost sounds fishy to me, the player, right?

Do players read into lines and say, wow, we're favored this week? You know, the thing is, is that you said it perfectly. You said, I'm a 22-year-old kid in today's society. And what that does is, because you have to look at the way it's worked out now. Back when I was playing college football back in the early 2000s, we didn't have social media. There wasn't, you know, there wasn't at the drop of a cell phone. you can pick up, you could pick up the scores, and there wasn't Instagram or Twitter or all these other things. There weren't, you know, the fan duels of the worlds and the, you know, all the different, you know, out.

Trifectos. Yeah, where you can go and you can make these best. Now, you had to go see our boy Lee Sterling, you know, down, down at the bookie. You know, you had to go see the bookie down, you know, down by the bar to get abetted. So it just wasn't a prevalent thing. So nowadays, it's everywhere. You know, you have sponsorships are doing it in stadiums. It's on everyone's cell phone.

It's everywhere on social media. So it's a constant thing for these younger kids because people never let you forget it as long as your own social media. You're going to see the way that people are betting in these games. So I think they are more mindful now than ever. So the big spreads this week, whether it's Kentucky at Georgia, the dogs are favored by 20 and a half. It's this Ohio State versus Minnesota game or UCLA and Penn State. Coach, question for you, if you're Penn State and you beat UCLA 421, you waxed them. You took them out of the woodshed.

But you didn't cover the spread. Is there something in the psyche of the coaches, the players, where you get down with the game, you say, oh, we missed this certain metric in the sky? No, you know, really to me, it's just, for me as a coach, it was about, did we play well or not? Yeah. If we played and this is the best we could do, and they had a good game plan and, dude, you can't do anything about it. The games I worried about is when you had a large spread and then you went in and your kids just did not. I mean, no, didn't feel like there was a lot of energy, all this things.

and then a couple of things happened against you, and all of a sudden, you're turning around. And really, it's what happened to Florida State and Virginia. All of a sudden, you come out, you turn the ball over, all of a sudden, down, you're down 14 to nothing. And now you've got a claw in fight, and all of a sudden that you're getting nervous because this is all happened to you.

You didn't think this was going to happen. Your kids didn't think it was going to happen. Yeah. Okay, and those are the kind of things I think with coaches. I think once we get, before the game, all of it, think about it. Once that ball gets kicked off, you don't think about those kind of things anymore. I mean, at the end of the game, I'm more worried about that I didn't embarrass the coach across the field than I was about whether a guy won.

Covering his spread. Yeah. Yeah. So, and the other side of this, and we'll end it here, is if you're in Florida State Spot last week where you're only six-point favorite, I think you look around the locker room and go, we're only six-point favorites. Are we worried? What do you mean only six-point favorites against Virginia? And then that starts crawling in the psyche that, wait a second. You know, I think from a player's perspective, you don't really think about that.

Like, you know that there's an opponent that you have. have to go and face. And, you know, football players sometimes are just built a little bit differently. Like, you're kind of insulated in this bubble and you're only looking at the next game. You're saying, I don't care what the point spread says. I don't care what we're favored in that. We got to go play this football team. And a lot of it, when you pop on the tape and you watch the film, you can sit there and say,

this is a good football team. And if we don't bring our A game, they're going to beat us. And I think the spread is, again, it's an outside thing that happens to filter inside just because of way that social media works nowadays. The other thing, Drake, that I had to start doing is I had to start talking about him. You know, I was telling them, and I used this as a joke, you know, a couple big, not so good looking offensive line. And two of the prettiest girls that ever came up and started to talk to them out of nowhere,

right? And then they're saying, well, who's going to play this week? Who's injured? What's going on? And they're like, you know, these girls are talking to me. Yeah, well, that's a reason why they're talking to it. And it wasn't, and that was a joke all the time. time. It really wasn't because they really liked you. They are going to get paid on the other end.

If they came up with some information, well, as the quarterback... Their uncle Lee Sterling is a little talking. Well, here it is. Yep, yep. Today's show is brought you by Mazda. Mazda is bringing class, power, and style to you, and Mazda cars do simply more than move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IHS top safety pick awards than anyone else from footwork to breathwork, athletes sweat all the details. Mazda brings the same intention to how they craft every model.

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Take this to my favorite college football game or even going to a comedy show. Went and saw Tyler Childers in Queens, New York this week for Dirt Cheap in the Pit. I was standing from me to you to the artist all because of games. game time and how cheap tickets are. Pull up game time, a couple of taps, see amazing deals, and even go to your favorite college football games for as low as $25. So love the zone deals. Pick a section.

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the 12-team college football playoffs. This is our topic of the week this week. We talk about the 12-team format and kind of how you build your schedule with large spreads and teams you can beat. So we heard from Kalani Sataki the head coach at BYU this off-season. He said at Big 12 Media Days that every team

in the Big 12 should play three games out of conference against teams on the ACC, the Big Ten, and the SEC. Here's my question though, Jesse. If your non-conference schedule features, let's say, Louisville, Ohio State, and then, I don't know, Indiana. Three decent teams, right?

And you go nine. and three, you might miss the college ball playoff. But if you go non-conference against Samford, Georgia State, and South Alabama, and you're 12-and-0, do you miss the college ball playoff? No, I don't think so. When you look at like

SEC schools, right? And here's the reason why. It's because, yeah, I may go out and I may play three top contenders if I'm BYU or one of those other outside schools, but my in-conference games are not that tough. It's teams like the SEC who are every single week

It is a battle. Like, you look at A&M schedule coming up here. Like, they're playing top 10 teams every single week. And that right there is just a, to me, it shows that you can go through the fire against the top-level competition and come out a little bit unscathed. To go win three games opposed to going to win nine, eight, nine or ten games within conference like that, that to me holds a little bit more weight than the outside. So, Coach, the question is for me, why would you schedule tough teams out of conference

if you lose your penalized or you can just add a win to your win total? So I always had a deal, had four athletic directors. And our deal was we'd always play what we'd call a slide game where we weren't going to be picked to win. Like we'd play Ohio State. Somebody like that, because number one, you wanted to find out what kind of team you had. Then we would play a 50-50 game. Somebody that people thought we should win, you know, could go either way

or one you should win. Those were your three non-conference games. But you always wanted to play once so that if like a year we went to the Rose Bowl, And even with the Fiesta Bowl, we played Virginia and Clemson on the road, and won both of them, which was tough, especially. They were wearing all orange, which they don't do very often in Clemson. And then we played Oregon State back when they had the Rogers brothers, and you had a really good Oregon State team come to town.

We played them the first game of the season. But I think you've got to be able to prove to people, just like you do that you played somebody in the non-conference, especially when I was in the Mountain West Conference. And that's basically in some ways, that's what I think is to talk. He's talking about, he's talking about you've got to be able to show, but I guess when they look at a resume, you better at least have one of those games on your deal.

Because I think you can lose one. You go 11 and 1, okay? You lose like we would always play. We played Oklahoma as our stretch game. Always in 2005, we beat them. In 2008, we didn't beat them, but we still went 11 and 2. We start setting the stage because then you go 11 and 2 the next year and nine, you know, you go 11 and 2, 12 and 1, 13, and 0, and then we go to the Rose Bowl.

We went 36 and 3. So, and you played somebody like that every year. I think you have to play a stretch game to be able to prove to people that this is the kind of football team that we have. And also, when you add to that, you don't want to have these teams enter in the college football playoffs and get dogwalk. Like, that's just not good for TV. So if these teams are winning these games, you know, in conference, they're, you know,

they're nine games that they won in conference. and it kind of played the out-of-conference game, so-so. Now when you get into college football playoffs where coach you don't understand this, I have time now fully a month to prepare for this football team, and then you get the showing, and it's a blowout. It's not for good for TV.

It's not good for the big money people that are paying the sponsorships, and then it's not good for college football to watch those type of games. Well, then you look at Indiana where I would have just handled it different the way it looked where he dropped somebody off the schedule. Can you imagine, though, the team he was, and I can't remember who it was. He dropped off, right? But if he plays that game, is he ranked higher now? Right.

Because he played somebody in non-com schedule before he got to the Big Ten? It's a great question about Kurt Signetti, who's also brought this up. But Signetti's point is, look, I'd rather be 12-0 and I had three cakewalks than be 9 and 3, and I played three different LSUs. And until the committee says, strength of schedule is a metric we'll go with, to put a 9-and-3 team in who played three LSUs versus a 12-0 team who played three Samfords, that's a lot different. They're going to have to make that distinction to be able to move.

forward. But if we talk about schedules in in VYU playing an easier schedule than LSU, that's non-negotiable. That's objective. Can we fix that with the 33-team conference coach? Well, you know, that's what we were talking about earlier. My whole thing was, good segue, huh? Come on.

When you get into in the top 13 teams, and I was looking at it's Miami and Texas Tech of the top 15, that's the only thing that's not a Big Ten or you're not an SEC team. And so I think one of the things we were laughing and joking about was, well, you got 16 and 1, you got 17 and 1. and one, you've got 17 and other, we'll just do the big 33. I mean, we'll come back with the big 33,

that we'll have a bigger TV, right, and we'll go about our business. Look at all those logos. Oh, my gosh. Hey, that's what I'm talking about right there. That's a color-coordinated whole top of group in it. And you couldn't, could you imagine trying to say, well, who exactly is at the top of the standings? Of the big 33. Oh, yeah.

I don't even know where we start. Would you go east and west? Would you go north and south? I mean, how would you do this? You got to regionalize it somehow, right? And this is a wild hypothetical. Here's the weird part, though. I do think that, and we've heard a lot in the offices, North Carolina, Miami, Clemson, Florida State are lobbying better positioning in a different conference, likely the Big Ten, possibly the SEC, because those two leagues are making $20 million more dollars per team per year than schools are being paid by their TV contracts in the ACC or the Big 12.

So I think we're going to see a very different ACC come 2030, 2031, as these TV contracts start to run out and become restructured. That's when I do think you'll likely see the ACC and the Big 12 say, look, we either work together or we die in college football. But right now, the ACC, I think they're two and five this year against the Big 12. It's a conference that's trying to get back into the national spotlight without their powerhouses like Clemson or Florida State. They need Louisville to be really good. They need SMU to be really solid. And they've ebbed and flowed. Let's get into a couple of those games that come from the Big 12 and maybe an ACC team or two.

As we've already talked about Miami and Florida State. It's time for our playoff playbook. It is Texas at Florida. That's where we'll kick this thing off Florida. So here we go. Here we go. Man, life is a circle. Here we go.

Six points spread in this game, right? If you're Billy Napier, you're going, we're playing Texas, and they own the... It's only a six point spread. You know, again, it's that rat line. It's like somebody smells something here, and they think that Texas might slip up this week. Well, it's, it's Arce Manning's first conference game. It's on the road. Welcome to the SEC.

Texas. And the swamp is a tough place to play. And right now, we came into this season and we thought Arch Manning was going to be the second coming to Jesus and football pass. And it hadn't quite worked out that way. And even though Florida's kind of, he's more like a Paul, right? He's like, yeah, he's one of the disciples. He didn't quite gotten here. He's not going there yet. But I think when you look at that and say, hey, going on the road, Arch hasn't been as good as we thought he would. That's still a tough environment to play it. Well, yeah, I think this is one that they wish they would have flipped the games where it was more it was going to be in Austin. You know, that's, as you said, a get better game. I think they would feel a lot better

if they had their own 100,000 people screaming for him and doing it. And, you know, to be honest with you, quarterback for Florida, he throws five picks. Live one. Yeah. And so you need to understand. They haven't played their best football. They got well last year with a big win, I think, LSU. And I think you're looking at a situation where you've got a, Texas team coming to town, plays great defense, trying to find themselves really a little bit on offense with a young quarterback. And Florida's looking at it, you know, from sitting in the locker room, and I think you'd know this, I think you would agree, Jesse, no matter what the coach says, they know, they watch TV, they, they watch the film, they, they know, you can say all you want to to, to your team about trying to talk them into, well, they're not, they're not this or they're not that. But at the end of the day, the kids know, you can't fool a six-year-old. You're not going to fool a 22-year-old.

And so they know. And this, in some ways, the six-point, all of that kind of gives, I think, Florida a little bit of confidence because, you know you haven't played your best football. You know you're athletic enough on defense to go get after them. And so I think this is going to be an interesting one. Vegas believes in Florida. I mean, again, if I'm a 22-year-old quarterback, like Vegas believes in us. Desperate team right there in Florida.

Vegas might look at that and go, they may just throw everything at this Texas football team. They need it. Iowa State at Cincinnati. I don't think either of these teams are desperate right now. I think they both have looked really efficient, namely Iowa State, but they are underdogs on the road. Jeff Carr have locked on bearcats. Will Cincinnati get it done? Cincinnati Bearcats are going to beat the Iowa State Cyclones this Saturday because of their offensive line and because of Brendan Sorsby. Brendan Sorsby had a breakout performance in their win over Kansas this past week, where it seemed as though Jalen Daniels was making play after, play and Brendan Sorsby answered every single time. He orchestrated multiple long drives and he orchestrated the most clutch drive of the game with a minute 45 left in regulation. He was able to

lead the team down the field and get the go ahead touchdown. And I love this offensive line. They've allowed one sack all year long and they just look really strong and provide the balance that Scott Satterfield wants to run on offense, whether they are passing or running the ball, this offensive line is lethal. That's why I think the Bearcats get the win over Iowa State at home at Nippert Stadium. It's sold out. It's going to be striped red and black. Bearcats don't get that win. Jesse, sweater to sweater. Yeah, yeah. Brendan Sores is a good quarterback. He is white, hot right now. He's playing some phenomenal football. After taking that early loss of Nebraska, he has been on an absolute tear. Watch out, because he could be one of those guys that can really

take over. Coach, you got a soft spot for Boise State. You've mentioned your early years at TCU before with the Big 12. You're reminded of Boise State. Do you think that there's any way the Broncos get it done at Notre Dame? No. Okay. Thank you. All right. Kentucky. Notre Dame right now, they've had their, I mean, you've got, they have an edge to them right now because they felt like they are. They got two losses. I mean, their backs against the wall. There's nobody that they're taken lightly. It is Kentucky on the road against Georgia. Look, 21 point spread, 20 and a half point spread here, Jesse. I know we're talking a lot about spreads today. I think Kentucky can can, can, can, at least slow the game down to the point they lose this 35-24.

Is it basketball season yet? Hmm. Yeah. Kentucky's waiting for basketball season. Let's be honest. Kentucky's waiting for basketball season and going down to Georgia. After Georgia losing Alabama, they're going to be looking for basketball season real soon in Kentucky. Yeah. Mississippi State at Texas A&M.

Coach, I think this is another feather than cap for A&M. I think Mississippi State is a good football team. But when you're playing on the road against now a proven SEC opponent like the Aggies, I've got the other team in Maroon who's playing at home this week. Yeah, they're just playing great defense. I think it'll be closer in what you think. They play Tennessee. I mean, right down to the wire, I think it's going to be the same thing in Agiland.

All right. I've thrown my pen twice to the show. It's a record. It's a third time. That's a wrap on this week's college football kickoff presented by Coca-Cola for this season just getting started. It's heating up. Next week, the Red River rivalry is just beginning to stack the slate of games. Same time, same set, same unapologetic football.

I won't be here. I'm on vacation next week, but I hear that coach is going to take our stand-in host to the fair and get him a turkey leg. Okay. Big thanks to Coach Gary Patterson and Jesse Holly for bringing the heat, NDU, for riding shotgun with us. Enjoy all the action this weekend. Stay locked in, stay fired up, and we'll see you next Thursday right here on Fire TV.