Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - College Football Kickoff: BYU Faces Huge Test vs Texas Tech, A&M Looks To Avoid Letdown

Episode Date: November 6, 2025

The BYU Cougars face a huge test this weekend vs Texas Tech. Also, the Texas A&M Aggies are looking to avoid letdown against Missouri, who is starting a new quarterback.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18.SupplyHouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHCOLLEGE5 for 5% off your first order. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It was the free space on everyone's bingo card. BYU and Texas Tech being a top 10 matchup because of how good the Cougars defense is. That's our game of the week. Then can Missouri upset Texas A&M and the bracket is out. Our first ranking shows zero ACC teams in the playoff right now. All that more right here on Fire TV's college football kickoff. Welcome back to Fire TV's college football kickoff. I'm your host Drake Toll from Locked on Big 12 in the Savannah Bananas organization.

and we're coming in hot from the heart of college football country in Dallas, Texas. On set with me, former Tar Heel and Dallas Cowboy. He's Jesse Holly and in for Coach Gary Patterson, former NFL running back in Notre Dame commentator Alan Pinkham. Every week throughout the season, we'll be right here breaking down the matchups, the madness, the moments with expert analysis from across the nation, and you can 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, so let's kick it off.

Alan, you were with us last week, you gave us your top five. This week, I'm excited to see how your top five may differ from the college ball playoff. It shouldn't differ too much, but the top three teams have clearly separated themselves from everybody else. Let's jump in right there with our rankings report. Finally, the college ball playoff committee meets and gives us their top 25. Let's introduce you to the college football playoff top 10 right now. If we were to lock it in, all 10 of these teams would make it to the postseason and vie for a national championship. We will focus later on the show on the specific bracket what it would look like, Notre Dame,

where they sit as well as the ACC representative as their conference champion should have a place in. But as for now, Jesse, what stands out to me, Oregon, a one-loss Oregon team below Texas Tech and BYU. That differs from the AP poll. Yeah, well, when you look at the way that this thing is working out, you know, Oregon, they don't have a lot of wins against winning teams. They have one team that has a winning record that they beat this year and that's the Northwest. So when you look at their stretch of schedule, that might have played a position in this and why Oregon kind of dropped a little bit at the number nine. Alan, the committee chair, Mac Rhodes on Texas A&M being at number three. It says, I think statistically when we looked at the A&M defense, they're just lower than Ohio State and Indiana.

You mentioned the top three having separation on most teams. Is A&M rightfully third? I can see the justification for making them third. But what Texas A&M does is outscore everybody. but Indiana, Ohio State, solid on both sides of the ball. Jesse, no group of five schools ranked. Memphis number 22 in the AP poll. We would expect them to fill in that spot

if they win their conference championship, be the group of five representative. But right now, the CFP committee said we mean business. No, and that's, you know, we talk about the business part of college football is when we have to get these teams in there, who's going to get the viewership, who's going to sell out tickets, who's going to be able to, you know, we can really promote. And I don't know if one of those teams, Memphis or UFC

or anybody from the, you know, American conference, really fulfilling that need right now. Alan, I mentioned earlier when we teased your top five. Give me your top five. Is it any different from the Cowboys Bowl playoff? It is similar, but last week I had Texas A&M at number two because I valued their win at Baton Rouge. But now, recency bias plays a point.

Indiana just reminds me of Alabama pre-NIL. They just do everything basic, but they do it best. better than everybody. But the margin is very, very thin between Indiana and Texas A&M. Let's take a look at the rest of the top 25. Ommissions from the Big 12. We do not see Houston or Cincinnati, a couple of two lost teams that could have cracked in there. We do see the Washington Huskies coming at number 23, Jesse. That shows the depth of the big 10. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is a conference when you're talking about the depth of it. There's a multiple team that you can look at and say, man, they can find their way into this

conversation. And, you know, where they're at right now. is pretty good for them. I think so as well. And Alan, it gives an opportunity for other Big Ten teams to add another top 25 win to their docket if they beat a school like Washington or Iowa who sit on the back half of this ranking. Still a lot of time left.

I've always said that the most insignificant thing in life is the score at halftown. The second is the initial rankings. So there's a lot of things. It's going to be a lot of movement, a lot of carnage. So a lot of movement between Big Ten teams. And there will absolutely be movement

in the Big 12 this week. number seven, BYU at number eight, Texas Tech College Game Day with ESPN will be on site. The loser will have to move down, and the winner may just move up. There's plenty to break down for our game of the week. Yet another Big 12 matchup gets to be our game of the week. Jacob C. Hatch of Locked on Cougars. He is the expert on all things, BYU, Hatch on the road. But the Cougars are seven and one straight up in their last eight games as an underdog.

I don't think this Coog's team has faced. No, they absolutely relished the opportunity to be the underdog. They've done most of the season, most of the last season as well, Drake. I don't know what it's going to take for them to finally be a, you know, be a favorite, but they absolutely relish the underdog role. Now, here's the problem, Hatch. I'll represent the Texas Tech side here to play a bit of devil's advocate. Their EPA numbers defensively, efficiency numbers defensively are elite,

number six in the country against the pass, number five in the country against the rush. Number two, in available yards percentage, they are holding teams defensively. defensively, absolutely down from non-conference into conference. And the only hiccup was a game where Texas Tech didn't have starting quarterback Baron Morton that lost to Arizona State in part was because the offense couldn't get moving and the defense was on the field just too long. Now that Morton is healthy. With the Texas Tech run game, it's being more and more established as the weeks go by and a defense that may be the best in the country and it's the best in the Big 12 can be why you put up with names like David Bailey, Jacob Rodriguez. Well, they're going to have to because I think

I think this is far away the best defense, the best team overall, the BYU's face to date this season. And the biggest point is you make a very good point about the David Bailey's and Jacob Rodriguez's. They are very good about punching that football out. BYU's ball security is of paramount importance this week. No doubt. This is a Texas Tech team that is clicking on all cylinders, but BYU is undefeated. Is there a chip on the shoulder of the boys in blue this weekend, considering they're undefeated, but not ranked in the top five? Absolutely.

I think that they are excited for the opportunity to go down and have college game day. They're in Lubbock play a top 10 matchup. In fact, the first ever top 10 match of BYU's ever played in as a college football program. So you know, them being top 10, upon them being a top 10 team. They understand what they're up against, but they also do not like the fact that they are decided underdogs. And they're willing to go out there and show what they're capable of. Because as you mentioned, they are undefeated and they have won games in multiple ways this fall. If you smell what I'm stepping in here, does the loser of this game really lose?

Not really, because I don't think they dropped very far because in all honesty, they drop maybe one to two spots. This is actually a very good position for the Big 12 to have these two programs in because whoever wins moves up a handful of spots. The other one drops down a couple, but both are very much still in the mix for the college football playoff race. I asked you on Locked on Big 12 earlier this week. Tell me now, do you have a score prediction? I'm getting closer to it. I'm telling you, this game, I am absolutely going back and forth on so many different parameters. do think BYU is capable of covering the spread. That is Jake Hatch of Locked on Cougars.

He is the expert on all things, BYU. Jake, thanks so much. Thank you. All right, Jesse, Alan, here's my stat of the week. Jacob Rodriguez, linebacker for Texas Tech. He's putting up better numbers than Mantei Tejow did in the season that he was number two in Heisman voting. And this stat blew my mind.

Seven forced fumbles alone. There are college football teams that want seven forced fumbles so far this season. Jacob Rodriguez, left arm, right arm, has done that himself, Jesse. Yeah, and what you look at that with that linebacker play is it's always about what happens up front. He has a really good defensive lineman up front in front of him. That means that keeps him clean. He's able to be free-froaming. He's not having to shed blocks from guards, from centers, from tackles.

So that means when he gets to the ball carrier, he's not having 300-pound dudes hanging all over him. He can now get there with force. He can do the peanut punch and knock the ball out. And I think those are the type of things that have led to him having. seven force fumbles on the season so far. And you know, I think a lot of people make a lot about the fact that Texas Tech pays a lot of money to players. And other teams play a lot of players, too. But the one thing you can't buy with money is culture.

And coach, Joy McGuire has done an excellent job of establishing a culture that lets them know that when they win, everybody eats. Tortillas. No more tortillas, by the way. Yeah, no one. There's a strict ban on tortillas now. No, no fun. AT&T Stadium. So none of those at the Jones, but I'll tell you this, there could be a bear attack.

Yeah. And look, if you see Texas Tech in a fight with the bear, you better not help that bear because you don't need no help. That freshman has been elite. Jesse Bear Bachmire, one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. And he's faced big defensive linemen. He's faced good linebackers, good secondaries, and he has been unfazed. And that's very rare because every week we keep looking at, all right, when will the freshmen show up and be a freshman, right? When will the freshman mistakes show up?

When will the freshman this and that showed up? And all he's done, Bear Brock Meyer all year long, has just been a stalwart down after down, game in and game out. And he's a big reason why this BYU team is sitting where they're at right now. Now, a big test in front of him with this Texas Tech defense. But he's shown up at every single corner and made him way. You saw LJ. Martin score touchdown as well for BYU. He'll be healthy in starting this week. They're running back with 789 yards this season.

Before we move on from the topic, though, I do want to revisit Bear Bokmire for a second with you, Alan. Was there a moment, Jesse's talked about it a bit, was there a moment when you were a freshman at Notre Dame where you looked across the way and thought, ooh, those boys are a whole lot bigger than I thought they were. Bear Bachmeier's facing that weekend a week out, but he seems to handle it so well. Yeah, you know, it does scare you at first.

I remember against Pitt, I saw him slam down to starting running back on the ground, so hard he bounced off, and I'm like, I am not going to let these guys touch me. So I was literally running scared. Well, I ended up running a 76 yard, You know, and another touchdown, and that ended up beating my coming out. It's another touchdown.

But initially, you do have that fear because these guys are bigger than you. You just came out of high school. But as you play and you get hit a little bit, then you just, you get adjusted and you go out and make plays. An anomaly. The kid's 18 went to prom seven months ago who was playing a song that he wrote on the guitar. Nice. During an interview this week, Stand Up Kid for BYU. BYU, Texas Tech is our game of the week this week.

and we will see what happens in Lubbock, Texas. That is a 12 Eastern kickoff college game day on site in the Big 12. In the meantime, today's show is brought to you by Supply House. Supply House is exactly where I go to tell you that Tosh Magintosh being on the show is brought to my supply house, I guess. I don't know. Hopefully that's not a conflict of interest for you, Tosh. The supply house is exactly where I go as a new first-time homeowner to get H-FAC,

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Where's the SEC? It's number three, Texas, A&M, number 22, Missouri, for our can't miss matchup. He is the local expert Matt Galatson of Locked-on Aggies. Number three, Texas A&M on the road in a top 25 matchup against Missouri. Matt, Bo Pabula out. Is that the number one storyline in this game? Well, I think it kind of has to be if he's your number one guy coming into the season.

And he's performed particularly well this year and he's been a huge part of their offense. Yeah, but I do think that Missouri is going to be in good hands with Matt Zollers. I think he's a really talented guy. I watched him out at the Elite 11 camp in Los Angeles. And I was really impressed by him. He's an athletic guy. I think people don't give him enough credit for us, athleticism, and he can throw the ball around the field.

So if they protect him, I think they're going to be okay. On the road in SEC play. I don't know if any of those venues are easy to play in. Is there a way the crowd is a factor in this matchup? I think certainly any time the number three team goes on the road into an SEC environment, there's going to be difficult times. But the good thing for Texas A&M is they've already faced some difficult environments. before they went to Notre Dame and won.

They went to Death Valley and really laid the hammer down on LSU. So I don't think that that's something that this team has to necessarily fear, but they do have to account for it for sure. Does A&M need to start winning games by more and more points to prove to the committee they deserve to be number one, even number two in the country? I don't necessarily think so because they've beaten the majority of the teams in the SEC by a good margin.

The closest game they've had in SEC play is Arkansas, and that was really a double-digit game until garbage time. And they've got a ranked opponent with Missouri this week that if they handle their business there, they have another one, Texas at the end of the year. If they handle both of those, I think they'll, I mean, I think they already have the best resume in the country. But if they handle those two, they certainly should end up with the number one seed. Matt, give you a school prediction for this one. You know, I've been kind of bouncing back and forth on this one. I think Missouri's defense is going to keep it a little bit tighter than most people think.

And I think that Missouri is going to cover. But I do think Texas A&M wins. I'm probably going to say something around 27 to 23 somewhere in there. I don't think Texas A&M is ever necessarily going to be in trouble. But I think Missouri's defense is good enough to keep things tight and make this a game. That is Matt. He's the expert. Matt, thanks so much.

Absolutely. All right, for you guys, the first thing that I point to when we have the conversation about Texas A&M, Jesse, is the defensive inconsistency. They have not been elite on that side of the ball. That's why I think the committee doesn't have them in the top two. The Arkansas game was mentioned. They allowed 42 points in that win against the hogs. Can we buy A&M with the defense that hasn't shown us a lot, even though they're undefeated?

You know, going on the road, you want two things to travel with you, the running game and the defense. And so when you're talking about the inconsistencies on defense, those are one of the things that you look at and I said, okay, maybe this game can be a lot closer than what it's supposed to be. But, but Mizzu not having their starting quarterback, I think that's going to be the determining factor. while A&M will be able to put enough points up and pull away. Having a freshman going out there, paying up against this level of competition, can be a bit difficult. Yeah, Alan, you see the numbers offensively for Texas A&M. They are a juggernaut on that side of the ball. It's what I think is going to carry them to a win against Missouri.

Well, you know Missouri's got a stout defense, but am I supposed to believe that the Missouri defense is better than that athletic team at LSU that Texas A&M ran up 35 straight points on? I think Marcel Reed and his two receivers Cravey and Concepcion are just way too much for that Missouri defense to handle. It's a road game in the SEC number three, A&M at number 22, Missouri. If A&M wins, they solidify their spot as a college ball playoff team. Almost no matter what if Missouri loses, they're out of the conversation entirely. We'll have our eyes on that one, no doubt. In the meantime, my friend Lee Sterling has his eyes intently on Tulane and Memphis.

Kevin Lee, what you got? Thanks, Drake, another crazy weekend of college football, the books. Looking ahead to this week's lock of the week. Open it, open it, open it. Lee has the key to the lock of the day. Big game inside the American conference Friday night as Tulane visits Memphis, the Tigers, a six-point home favor over the green wave. Lee, what do you like here? All right, so let's first look at the coaches.

Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield, done a great job with this Memphis program, engineered them to two huge upset. wins this year against Arkansas and USF. On the other side, Tulane head coach, John Summerall, disappointing loss last week to UTSA and also the distraction of him possibly going to LSU can't be understated. So now this is Tulane's first underdog role in the American since all the way back in 2022. Their quarterback, Jake Gretzlap, who transferred over from BYU, how he's, how he, has he done when his team has lost a game? Well, last year, after that loss against Arizona State, threw for 346 yards. And then this year against Tulsa led them to an easy 31 to 14 win. The biggest problem here for Memphis laying points is Brendan Lewis, their star quarterback,

who willed them to both of those upset wins. At best, he's 70 to 80 percent. So even if he plays, I think it's a problem here. I'm going to go with Tulane plus the six and a half points. That's going to be my lock of the week. And for more daily pick, subscribe to Locked on Betts. Back to the college football kickoff studio.

We'll see you next week, Drake. Thanks, Kevin. And Lee, as always, a huge bounceback spot for Tulane this week. We'll see if they can get it done. We'll go from our lock of the day to our topic of the week. Jesse, you and I talked about it.

That very first couple shows, Notre Dame, when they were 0 and 2, still in the top 25, can they backdoor their way into the college football playoff? And now, Alan, the Notre Dame guy, they're in the top. If we go to the postseason today, they're in. Yeah, a lot was made about them going O and 2. I think a lot of surprise about the fact that they remained in the top 25. But I think the breakthrough game that Notre Dame had was against Arkansas. They beat them so bad they fired the coach. And you're not supposed to do that to an SEC team. The problem, though, is finding a quality of a quality of

win for Notre Dame. And I think there's only one ranked team remaining on their schedule. But as far as the committee is concerned, they did pass the eye test. And if you look at Notre Dame, if you watch them play, there's no doubt they are one of the top 12 teams in the country. We heard a lot of talk, Jesse, from the playoff committee about the coaches on staff that watched the games. We got a lot of coaches who loved the eye test. Does Notre Dame pass that for you right now? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Notre Dame is one of those teams. And, you know, Alan talked about it. You know, it's better to lose early than to lose late. So they've seen the development from this Notre Dame team. They started running the ball more. You start seeing that defense. A lot of man-in-man defense from Freeman playing out there. This team definitely fits the eye test. And they can go on the road and play anybody anywhere and win a football game.

Speaking of the road, let's take a look at the 12-team college football playoff projection if we were to go today into the post-season. season. Alan, Notre Dame against BYU, the winner-facing Indiana. I saw somebody tweet that this is the easiest path to the national championship game. Do you agree with that sentiment? I don't think any of them are easy, but I know Notre Dame is not afraid of any team on that board and will play anybody anywhere. My only qualm with this, Jesse, comes from the Utah ranking. So both of these are two lost teams. Utah's two losses are to number seven and number eight in the country. Those are both better losses than Notre Dame's. At the same time, Utah has beaten, blown out, Arizona State, who was number 21 at the time, Cincinnati number 17 at the time, they have more ranked wins.

Why do we see Utah below Notre Dame? It's all about the perception. Notre Dame is the shiny, Notre Dame is the 10. Notre Dame is the smoking hot chick. And sometimes the one who may have the better qualities gets overlooked because the one that's a little bit more cuter and Notre Dame fits that cute bill. No doubt. And as a part of that 12th team college, football playoff bracket, even not looking specifically at Notre Dame. I do want to mention a bit about Texas Tech and BYU who have both beaten Utah. Alan, are you surprised the Big 12 is getting as much love as they are, especially above Oregon? No, I think they've earned it by the way they play.

And it's going to be an excellent game this weekend, Texas Tech and BYU. I think so. And since both of those teams have beaten Utah, the lowest they'll likely drop is to 12. So they'll each still kind of control their own destiny for the Cowledge football playoff moving forward, given that Utah's 13 right now, you're going to hand a top 10 loss, a quality loss, to either Texas Tech or BYU. We know the committee doesn't like to hurt you that much

for that quality loss moniker. Coming up, let's talk a little bit more about other teams that could get a quality loss or a quality win, all of that in our playoff playbook. Hey, today's show is brought to you by Fandall. Fandall is exactly where I go this women's basketball season. That's exactly right. College women's basketball is on Fandle,

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Head to fandual.com. Sign up, play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All of that more right now at Fandau. Our playoff playbook starts in Iowa City, number nine, Oregon at number 20, Iowa. A loss for the Ducks would likely kick them out of the college football playoff conversation at least for a bit. Let's turn it over to the expert. Spencer McLaughlin of Lockwood Lockwood. Oregon's offense has to get going against Iowa this week, but it's the defense that gives me confidence in the Ducks matchup against the hot guys this week.

Iowa is still yet to have a 200-yard passing game this season. Oregon boasts one of the best passing defense. in all of college football. I think that allows them to load the box, stop the run, hold Iowa to 16 points or fewer. And this is a good Iowa defense. Make no mistake about it, as we see every year in college football. But for Oregon to just have to get to 20 or 24 points to win comfortably against the Hawkeyes, I think that's more than feasible. I think the defense can help Oregon's offense out and get them a win in Iowa City. Thank you, Spencer. Especially impressive. Spencer coming to us from the Huntsville Penitentiary.

after what he did to all of those toys in the trilogy. Jesse, Oregon loses this game, and the number nine ducks are now out of the college football playoff picture. Yeah, absolutely. And this is not an easy win. When you talk about having to play this Iowa football team, this is going to have to be for Iowa to win this game, they're going to have to make this a very physical football team.

Iowa having one of the best offensive lines in the National Football League, in college football. They could go toe to toe to toe. If you're looking at draft an off of Miami Dolphins, they can go toe to toe to toe. Yeah, but yeah, for Oregon, they definitely have to win this game to stay in it. Yeah, Alan. Well, I think that if you can get Dante Moore in some type of rhythm, that he can run them out of the stadium now.

Iowa has a top 10 defense, but they haven't played anyone this explosive so far this season. So back in Arkansas, town of 4,000 people, Volonia, Arkansas, we would go out at night and we would kill frogs. And when you would kill the frogs, you would fry the frog legs, right? And when you would, when the frog legs hit the oil, the grease, they twitch. LSU at number four, Alabama. Fired the coach, and now here they go on the road against the top five team. Can them frog legs twitch?

They can get thrown into Greece. That's what they can do. They can get, they can go for a little back alley, Alabama fish fry. Because, you know, we tried to fire, the country, try to fire Kail and DeBoer early in the season with that slow start. And all he's done was just put his head down and going to work. And Alabama has shown up every single week as the Alabama that we want to new under Nick Saban. I think LSU

right now, they're a little bit disconjoining playing against Bama. The frog legs may go into Greece, but it'll be the one LSU be the ones getting cooked. I want LSU's down and out. Yeah, I think LSU has a little more pride. I think that this is a team that started up the year as a projected

national champion. And it didn't work out, but I think now they're mad, and I think they're going to have a great showing against Alabama. Don't think they'll But I think they'll have a great chilling. Let's stay in the SEC. It is number five, Georgia at Mississippi State.

This is a new name. Local expert, Jaron Spore of Locked-on, Mississippi State makes his college football kickoff debut. What's up, everybody, Jaron Spore here from Lockedon, Mississippi State. Big question is, how can Mississippi State pull off the stunning upset? Well, it's actually pretty simple, mainly because this isn't the same Georgia that we've seen in the in the past. They're not as dominant. They play several close games. Mississippi State's got a pretty good offense. The defense has played pretty good. I'm still not sold on Gunner Stockton at quarterback. Still not sold on the offense. The defense for Georgia's good, number 21 or something like that in the nation.

But the offense is not as good. And so I think you have to run and gun. I think it's going to be the crowd that's going to be a big key. You know, Levy bought 500 tickets for students. Some of the players did as well. I think that's going to be a big key. You get the cowbells going. You stay in the game. us a turnover, which is something Mississippi State's done really well at. And I think that's the key to the game right there. Be able to control the ball with the running game, be able to turn them over, and we're going to out to find out who is the real Bulldog. Oh, thank you, Jerry. Coming to us live from outside the Huntsville Penitentiary, where Spencer McLaughlin is now housed. Zero chance in hell. Mississippi State wins this game. No, I wouldn't say zero chance. Okay.

Because check this out. Mississippi State has taken a lot of SEC football teams to the wire. They took Texas to overtime, right? They had Texas beat. They were up 17 late in that game. I mean, they've played a lot of football teams tough, but let's not get away from ourselves. I still think Georgia is the superior bulldog of the two, but they can't go in here and sleep on this Mississippi Bulldog football team. Yeah, let's go number two, Indiana at Penn State. Allen, Indiana, is beating everybody by as many points as they want to. Do they continue that trend this week? Oh, definitely.

I mean, they are just so well coached. And at this point, they can see the prize at the end of the road. And they know if they continue to just pound on people and win convincingly, they will be rewarding. Jesse, Tulane at Memphis is the last game of our playoff playbook here. Do we see the winner of this game, especially if it's Memphis still in the driver's seat for that 12th spot in the playoff? or does it come from a Navy or a North Texas? No, I think it's Memphis. I think it's as Memphis's spot to lose.

And it hinges on the arm and the leg of their quarterback, Brendan Lewis right now, who's almost rushed for 600 yards, almost thrown for 200 yards this season, 2,000 yards this season. He's a dual-threat quarterback, and he's the engine that gets this Memphis Tiger team to the college football playoff. Alan Pinkett, life comes out of you fast. So does college football kickoff. It's a pleasure spending two weeks with you. Yeah, thank you for letting me rent the chair. Coach will be back soon, though, huh?

If we don't fire him. He'll have like a... Alan's not fired, right. Coach isn't fired. Maybe we bring Alan with coach. Coach's got one of those little, like lion's skin coats. He's going to come back in from his... What is that, Velvet?

That is the wrap. Well, this week's college football kickoff. But this season is getting into the nitty-gritty. Next week, the Sooners head to Tuscaloosa Plus, an ACC showdown with conference title implications. Probably like Virginia and NC State or something. Who even knows? Same time, same sets, same unapologetic football energy.

And a big thanks to Alan Pinkett and Jesse Holly for bringing the heat. And to you for writing Shock. gun 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.