Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - College Football Kickoff: Ole Miss/Georgia, BYU/Utah Headline Week Eight Slate

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

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Can BYU use a freshman quarterback to win a rivalry game in one of America's most underrated rivalries against Utah? Then Georgia, Ole Miss, our game of the week out of the SEC, and James Franklin was fired. Justly or unjustly? All that more right here on Fire TV's 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. One set with me, two legends, 22-time coach of the year, Gary Patterson and the former Tar Heel and Dallas Cowboy Jesse Holly. Every week throughout the season, we'll be right here breaking down the matchups, the moments, 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, James Franklin got fired. Coaching now is the new gig. Get fired and get paid. one of those things that we're looking at across the college football landscape of head coaches who are losing their jobs. Some may say it's just, some may say it's unjust. I think

I may not particularly be the one on this panel to have the most say-so in that because I've never been a head coach that was fired before, but maybe we have someone else that. I also, I think, I think, I believe in the let go and get paid. The beach is great. There's nothing. wrong with the beach. But from my standpoint, you turned down a lot of jobs in your time to stay where you did and you had loyalty. So there's parts of it, especially like a Mike Gundy where he'd been there 21 years, like I'd had 21 years. But I can understand everybody's sentiment from a lot of different views. I turned down a job to work at Sonic Drive in when I was 17. That's about the

extent of my job turning down. I had the same. See? Maybe one day I can coach. I have a problem with the slushies. Get a lot of money. with it too. We will certainly get there at our coach's corner later today. But first, we need to start it off with maybe a little bit of Penn State talk, even as they're completely out of the rankings and probably can't get back in. This is our rankings report. If we do have time to jump to the NITU Lions, I'm going to put at the back of the segment because first, Indiana now the number three team in the country, their highest ranking ever. Coach, I'm buying. I think this team's legit. You know, I was waiting. You know, what I've said on the program, before I said anything

good, I wanted to see them have that win, and they had that win. And it's hard to go to Oregon and they did it and they did it convincedfully. I'll be honest with you. I think they pushed him around. Yeah, Texas A&M and Ole Miss swapping places, Jesse. But again, as much pomp and circumstances you put around two SEC schools that are not unfamiliar with the top 25 over the last couple of decades with the top 10. I still go back to Indiana as kind of my story of the week. Yeah, every private football season, we have a Cinderella story. What team will emerge out of those teams that we always talk about? The Bamas, the Georgia's, the LSUs. of the world. And this is one when you look at Coach Signetti, what he's been able to do with that program.

We're talking about Indiana here, right? Most of the time, we think about Indiana being a basketball school, not a football school. But Coach Stignetti has come in there. He has brought the recruits. He has brought the culture. And now he has put Indiana football on the map with some significant wins, both last year and this year to solidify that Indiana is a real football program. Yeah, let's go to who's in and who's out. Illinois, no longer in the rankings alongside the likes of Arizona State and Iowa State. Now, look, a few of the things. these warranted Florida seat, I think, included in there. They shouldn't be in the top 25 right now. The one that confuses me, though, coach, is Illinois. If Notre Dame can be at 13 right now,

because they have two quality losses. Illinois is lost to what, the number one and number three teams in the country, but they can't be in the top 25. Help me understand that. Yeah, I'll be honest with you. If I was still a voter, I would have a hard time doing that. And not just that, but there's some people they've put them in front of, you look at a BYU. you undefeated. Oklahoma has one loss. Missouri. Banderbilt, they all have one loss of the way Virginia's played. And so, you know, it's hard. How do you justify it? I guess it would be my point. And we'll get to coach your top five and your lurkers this week. But Jesse, Notre Dame, we'll take a look at their remaining schedule. Down the stretch,

we said it four weeks ago. They're probably still somehow going to the college football playoff. And that rings true today more than ever. No, absolutely. And as much as we try to ratches and put critical thinking behind how this voting goes. Let's just be honest with ourselves. Notre Dame, when it looks at for the college football landscape, is a smokeshow, right? So they are the ones that we consistently want to keep bringing around. They look good on your arm. They look good on TV.

Opposed to those other programs that we're talking about, Notre Dame always going to be the sexier, the better-looking pick each and every week to go on college football TV, to be in the rankings, to get the national audience. and attention to it. And that's why I think a lot of times when you hear about the Illinois, you know, they have good qualities and they're good listeners, but they're not the smoke show that Notre Dame is. No doubt. They don't bring in that brand value.

Everybody wants today is brand value. Coach, let's see if Notre Dame cracked your lurkers conversation. I don't think they'll be in your top five. Who is your top five? Well, again, I stayed with it. Either though, Miami, I still had Ohio State and Miami tied at one. I did. Is that allowed?

I guess it's your coach's top five. You could have all five tied at one. To be honest with the, really, if they let me do it and everybody wouldn't just go crazy, I'd probably put the top five, all of them at one. Exactly. I mean, if you're all undefeated and you've all, then you have A&M at three, Indiana at four. Some people would argue. I think A&M deserved for this week, the people they've played on the day-to-day.

It hadn't just been one game. And then Old Miss, I mean, you look at LSU, the win he has. You know, he talked about the game last week against Washington State. You knew it was going to be a let-gown game because who do they have this week? They got Georgia's. So those five are my top five. My lurkers, again, I think, you know, you look at Texas Tech. Everybody wants to see if they keep doing it every week, Bama, Oregon, and Georgia.

And you see how it all turns out. But it's hard, you know, for me, it's hard to see when you get one loss and the people you're going to play. Yeah. And you drop people and you say, it's kind of like the top tens, the top 10, leave it alone. The first ad that we have today is Supply House. You can go get stuff for your house at Supply House. When the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with Supply House. And their Trade Master program is awesome because it's Supply House.

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So what are you waiting for? Visit Fandul.com. Download that app today, the Fandul app and get started. Fandle.com, visit it today. No doubt. We've mentioned a lot already about Ole Miss, Trinidad Shamblis, and Georgia. Gunter Stockton, that is this week's game of the week here on college football kickoff. The game of the week here on college football kickoff presented by Coca-Cola star Stephen

Willis of Lockdown Ole Miss, who we see once again this year in Clint Shamp. of the Hamlet of Locked on Bulldogs, who we see once again this year. I think you two guys will be pretty common stalwart to this show as we go forward. A big reason why, Stephen, is the offense of Ole Miss. EPA, my favorite three letters in all of college football, the efficiency metric, says that Ole Miss is the number 23 passing team in the country, and Georgia's defense, number 84 against the pass. Is that the difference?

I think that the running game actually plays more of a role, but that opens up the pass game. That's how you make those explosive plays against the defensive back. It's going to be about whether Q1AACC can run up the middle. Hit those straight line shots, as Coach Patterson always talks about. Whenever you do that, the play action works. You can make the tight in, attack the linebackers, and you can hit the cornerbacks and do stuff similar to what Tennessee did.

Clint, it's not all doom and gloom. The Ole Miss defense. Everybody every week, it's like, oh, well, it depends on how good the quarterback plays. I want to go EPA here on us for a second. going to give some real nitty-gritty. 122nd defense in the country against the rush efficiency-wise. That's not good. Georgia 49th in America running the football.

Is that the difference, Clint? I'm so glad you're talking about EPA. This is one of my favorite stats in the entire world. I'm going to talk about it a lot because second half Georgia EPA is the best team in the nation. Now we just need to do that for four quarters, but the running game is 75 yards better than last year's Georgia team. The best way to keep laying off the field run the dang ball. Bobo. That's going to be the game plan. We have Chauncey Bowens, who's healthy again coming off that calf injury. Gunner Stockton is absolutely dynamic keeping the ball in the RPO game. It is going

to be the difference. And I think Georgia leans heavily on that and then spices in those take the field, take down the shot of the field throws by Gunner. That's going to be the difference in this game for me. Stephen, if Ole Miss is going to pull off a win, what is the one area where they have to dominate if it's not the run game? think you need to attack the middle of the field. I think this is going to be a big game for Dequan Wright. I think that's the goal for Trinidad Chambliss at quarterback. The tight end is the best friend of the quarterback. That's what you always hear about. Put those linebackers in very conflict positions to where you don't know. Give Trinidad Chamblis a run past option. If that

happens, you could open up this defense and that could work. So I think Deqon Wright is the key. The middle of the field passing the ball will be necessary for Ole Miss to win this game. Clint, quick synopsis, quick score prediction here. Quick synopsis is CJ Allen's the best lineback of the nation. Justin Williams is playing a lot of inside linebackers as well. We saw Jackson Arnold last week, who I think has very similar traits to Trinidad. I'm giving Georgia 2724 victory at home redemption from last year against Lane. Stephen, I was going to cut you off, but I'll give you a chance to respond.

Trinidad Shambliss being compared to Jackson Arnold, quick synopsis and a final score. A, that's mean. But take Ole Miss winning. 24 to 21. I love it. Stephen Willis of Locked on Ole Miss. Clint Shambla's of Locked on Bulldogs, both the experts on these two teams catch each of their shows. Pretty much seven days a week at this point. These guys are doing the brunt of the work. Thank you both for joining. Appreciate it. Take care. Once again, being a passionate fan is hard work. And all the pomp and circumstance makes you work up a thirst. Fan work is thirsty work. Enjoy a refreshing Coca-Cola from this week's

game of the week. Jesse, overall, what I've seen from Georgia this year is a team doesn't jump off the page to me in a big way in a singular category. Maybe they're a consistent football team, but I can't point at them and say, man, they're elite because this is the best this in the country. No, absolutely. And for Georgia, for many seasons, it's always been just their defense, right? They've had a plethora of first round picks all across the board, front line, backline, in the middle.

And so now they've kind of had to do, kind of patchwork this thing, right? It's like they're not great in anything, but they're really good everywhere. And this is what Kirby Smart has to be able to find ways to win in football. games because you don't have those dynamic players that you have once upon a time. And so Kirby is kind of just feeling his way through this thing, consistently playing teams tough and close. And then at the end of the game, that's why you hear in the second half of these games, they just wear you down.

And then over time, those athletes that they have on that roster and just kind of went out at the end. Well, for me, and this is what I said on Locked on Ole Miss the other night, it's so many people have Kirby's playbook. They've all come from the saving tree. And that's why I think they do such a great job in the second half. Everybody knows how they play technique. Everybody knows how they scheme things up.

And so then once they see what they're doing to them, and then you've seen the adjustments in the second half, I think the one thing I would, if I was Kirby Smart, I would do is I would change up how I'm going to do things. Because he has, like every Georgia team, they can really run. And it's really going to come down to can they control the imagination of Elaine Kiffin. So I think this game comes down to third and fourth down where Ole Miss is 17th,

offensively, and conversion rate, and Georgia is 79th in the country at getting off the field. They're very bad at getting off the field on late downs. A piece of that coach, the middle eight, we talk a lot about that middle eight. It's the last four minutes the first half, first four minutes of the second half. This feels like a middle eight game where the winner of that eight minutes wins the night. Well, it was no different with the Georgia game a week ago, right? I mean, they end up winning the ball game, they pull it out at the end, and they survived. You can tell they'd been there before.

And I think that's a big thing because Ole Miss is a little bit younger or a little bit newer, I would say, but they're very talented. And can they hold up on the road and play discipline football so that you can make those plays? Because I always believe games come down to like five plays in the game. They're major. And a lot of those happen in those last four minutes. You see both these teams have pretty solid resumes. George's only loss was to Alabama. Jesse, we also just saw a Truderdad Shambl's run.

I think he's the difference. I've got Ole Miss in this one. No, absolutely. I think Trinidad Shameless, he ends and it starts with him, but it's the explosive that this Ole Miss offense has to be able to put out there. They have to go out there and get a bunch of those big 20-plus yard plays. Because, again, you don't want this game close to the second half with this Georgia team. You want to get out there and get a lead and make them one-handed.

I'm right there with you. I think Ole Miss will take this one. Well, in the SEC, once they get in the conference, who can wait seven days after having a baby? big game, win by only a couple points. Yeah. And can they get the energy back by the time they play the next ball game and can they do it for four quarters? That's how, that's why it's so hard in the SEC to go win a championship, especially to be undefeated, is because every week you're playing somebody

just like you. And so, and that's why everybody likes watching the games. In the distance, I hear him. He beckons. He hosts Locked on Cougars and talks all things BYU. It's time to talk some BYU for I can't miss match him. He is Jay Katz, the local expert about all things, BYU from Locked on Cougars. Jake, even this week, we're seeing even more wrinkles of why this rivalry, Utah, BYU is one of the most underrated in all of college football. No doubt.

That's the fun part about this. We're going to see a lot of fun action. I think this weekend is the Cougars and Yutes. Battle for the first time has ranked opponents. Bowles inside the top 25. BYU is looking for its third win in a row. This is a matchup that in the 2010s was dominated by Utah. The Cougars have the opportunity to, I think you said it,

on your show this week, build a rip. effect that hurts the UTS for years to come if a freshman quarterback in Bear Bachmeyer gets it done against the season, Devin Dampeer. Absolutely, because if they do that, that shows that BYU's got some continuity building. And you mentioned a freshman quarterback in Bear Bockemeier. Why wouldn't you have confidence you can make that three or four or five games if you win this game against the youths? Taking a look at BYU this season, they've been elite at running the football. And Utah's one bugaboo is their rush defense.

Is that the ultimate key of how BYU-Kulani Tatake can win the rivalry game at home? Yeah, to take the pressure off a young quarterback and a rivalry of this magnitude, you absolutely need to run the ball. And if EYU can do it, they will absolutely run it down the Ute's throats all night long and make sure that they shorten this game, if at all possible. And I know a second ago we mentioned Bear Bacchmeier being young, Devin Dampier being experienced. Let's take away their classification and just go quarterback versus quarterback. Where is the edge? I think the edge is in Bear Bokmire's arm. He's shown the ability to throw the ball down the field much more effectively this season than Devin Dampier has.

That doesn't mean that Devin Dampeer hasn't thrown it down the field. It's just not been as accurate as I believe that Bear Bockmeyer has been with his downfield accuracy. BYU can make it, in essence, a two-team race in the Big 12 alongside Texas Tech for a title in Arlington later this year. Give me a quick synopsis and a final score prediction for this game. I think it'll see me a tight one less than a touchdown possession. I've got a BYU 24, Utah 23. Wow, a one-point score, Jake Hatch. All things BYU with Lockdown Cougars every single day here with our can't miss matchup.

Thanks, Jake. Great. Thank you. Coach Gary Patterson, you have coached against both of these teams in some pretty dang good environments, whether it be Provo, Salt Lake City. I think this is going to be one of the best. Again, one of the most underrated rivalries in all of college football. It's going to be rocking on Saturday night. Yeah, you know, because they played each other so many times, I use this word and I don't try to, I don't try to use it very often, but the word hate. Nice.

I think you kind of get to where they. Hate, in the Holy War. Yeah. hate in the holy world. But they get out for each other, and it's not just the leaven on the field. It's the fans. It's everybody. It's a year-round thing.

Anybody that's in the same state, and they're very close. I mean, their schools, what is it, an hour from? 40 minutes, 40 miles. Yeah, it's so, yeah, they have to live it all year. Jesse, this is a rivalry where, like, last year, I think a cheerleading coach got hit in the head with a water bottle and passed out. Like, every year, there's something different where you just go, how in the world, between two mostly tamers? mostly tame fan bases do we get to this point. This is what I think that the Big 12 needs.

And you and I talk a lot of Big 12 ACC, yourself an ACC guy. The Big 12 needs games like this, top 25 matchups like this, to further put itself on the national map. No, absolutely. And we talk about all the time on this show about, you know,

what is sexy to TV? What do people want to watch? And so having these type of matchups can definitely now put these teams and this conference in such a light now that people are now gravitating to it more. They're wanting to watch it more. They're wanting to see these type of teams play each and every week on college football because, you know, when you have the SEC, you have the ACC, a lot of

people gravitate towards that. But top 25 moments like this. And if it's a good game, these are one of those instant classic games that you'll play forever and that'll both up the conference. Again, I mentioned EPA earlier with our game of the week. I'll do it again here. So you just saw BYU is not great on third down, but what they really are efficient at is running the football. 17th in the country, efficiency-wise, running the ball. Utah 86th defending the run. Coach Gary Patterson, BYU has got a freshman quarterback. But that freshman has won freshman of the week in the Big 12.

More than 50% of the weeks this year. He is the cat right now for the Cougars. I think if he runs the ball well, this game at home is in BYU's court. Well, if they haven't watched him, he's what, 6'4, 225 pounds. I watched the game last week, and it turned into quarterback run game. to win in the fourth quarter and get in two-point plays, do all of the things that they needed to do. They trust him.

And he doesn't act like he's a freshman. I will just tell you that. If you watch his face, which, you know, being a coach, the eyes sometimes they glaze over. They glades over and do things. His eyes do not glaze over in any of the games I've watched him play yet. When you talk about such a big rivalry game as a freshman, it's comforting to be at home.

When you're at home, your crowd's behind you. even if you don't show that you're nervous, there is a little bit of nervous because you're hearing about how big this rivalry is and how important this game is. Can I ask you, I know Lee Sterling's knocking down the door back there trying to get in here. But you told us a story off the air a couple weeks

ago about your first action as a freshman playing Florida State. Yes. How does that mean, you gave your own perspective of what Bear Bachmeier is going through right now and he's doing it in stride. Yeah, no, absolutely. When you go out there and you start seeing these, you know, this guy's a young kid,

but going out there as a freshman playing in such a big game, right? And now you're talking about the implications of this being potentially how you get into the college football playoffs. You're wanting to win this game. I'm a freshman. This is on my shoulders. A lot of what's going to happen in this game for BYU

will happen on the shoulders and legs of Bachmeyer. So, you know, sometimes having that at home, it can be a wow experience, but having that game at home calms you a little bit. The coach can come and, you know, corral you a little bit. You're not on the road where this thing is getting really crazy and throwing at you. You're playing Florida State.

Bobby Bowden. He was playing Portland State his first game this year. He got to ease in a little bit. A little bit different. I'll be on site on Saturday. BYU, Utah should be a fantastic matchup. Very excited for it. And look, Lee Sterling, he's got a leaning in this game. Lee, what is our lock of the day? Kevin, take it away. Thanks, Drake. Another wild weekend in college football in the books. We look 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. The game in the Big 12 between a couple rivals as BYU plays host to Utah, the Uts at 5 and 1, BYU undeated, but the Cougars are a home dog here. Lee, what do you like? Well, not only have both of these teams come out of the gate strong, Utah 5 and 1 straight up and 5 and 1 against the spread, BYU, 6 and 0 and also 4 and 2 against the spread, both of these teams are fighting to win the Big 12 and also,

maybe getting to the college football playoff. Now, there's no denying. Utah has the best weapon in this game, and that's quarterback Devin Dampier. He's thrown for 11 touchdowns. He's run for also five touchdowns. Got some decent complementary weapons, but BYU's freshman quarterback, Bear Bachmeier, certainly has raised some eyebrows, thrown for eight touchdowns, and run for seven touchdowns and almost 300 yards rushing.

I think BYU's complimentary players in running back LJ Martin, who's run for over 650 yards and also the top two receivers, Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston, are probably a little bit better here than Utah has. So I think the BYU on defense is going to use a spy to limit Devin Dampiers running here. And just think that the home field, very important in a rivalry game, I'm going to go with my luck of the judge. day here. I'm going to say BYU gets the job done 24-21 over Utah. And for more daily picks subscribe to Locked-on Betts.

Back to the college football kickoff studio. We'll see you next week, Drake. All right. Everybody's in on this. Parker, what's your favorite part about Mazda? I actually drive a Mazda, so that's fun. Is that real? Whoa! He got one of those leases. He got one of those leases,

didn't they? Actually, actually is a lease. I will say, the IHS top safety pick. You have a toddler? That's a win. That's a win. And if you have anything older than a toddler, also a win? I hear that.

I hear that. It protects you as well. Nick Mervat's got to love that Mazda. Yeah, that available Napa, leather upholstery. Yeah. JT, what's the country? Where's it from? Japanese, right?

Yeah, it's that Japanese. Japan. I'm sorry. Just the read says Japanese. Like John Berger did. Read off the top. 100%. I mean, Jeff.

Would you say that Mazda makes everyday drives feel like anything but? I mean, they give you the all-wheel drive to get you out of the sticky spots that some ad reads could put you in. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Well, one day we'll all pull together enough money for us to go to Japanese used together. We're going to do one big 12 squad trip, all of us to see the Mazda factory on the locked on big box squad. It's five o'clock somewhere. Come on, guys, you got to coach you. I'll leave the singing to you.

So James Franklin takes $60 plus million to sit at home. That's a pretty good unemployment check. And coach, this is yet another example of an FBS, high-level FBS coach losing their job and getting a massive buyout this year. Well, as you know, the one thing that's norm in college football and has been forever is coaching changes. We had a saying at one point in time, you're either being fired or you're being hired. That's what it is.

The positives, you change the possibility of energy in your program. But hopefully he and the athletic director had a lot of conversations, and really all these coaches had conversations before the season, so they knew what they were getting into. But you're looking to make a change because you need as far as your boosters, money, recruits, all those things. The negatives, some of these coaches got fired before the Redshirt, fifth game of the season.

So did they leave? Did they stay? They had to make decisions. really the senior class is forgotten because you don't have anybody around. When I went to Texas after TCU, I was the one that had to really speak up. They would call me on the phone, the pro scouts would, and talk about what these kids were about. The recruiting class is sometimes when you get rid of the coach early, they're gone. And, you know, 30 to 50 families are forgotten.

So I would ask you guys, I mean, what do you think about, what is your criteria for what you think the next head football coach could be, let's just say for Penn State. Yeah, for me as a player, like I look at that and I go, the first thing I want to know is, especially in this day and time, can this coach get me to the next level? Will this program and this coaching be able to get me to the National Football League, right?

Because that's the ultimate goal for a lot of these guys who are coming into these high-level FBS programs. You don't go to Penn State because you're going for, I just want to get a great education. No, I'm going to play great football, high-level football because I want to go to the National Football League. So the next guy that comes in and gets higher, is there a pathway through this program and through this coach to get me to the National Football League? So that's one of the things that I look at.

And then also, how they communicate, right? This is a day and time now where communication can be in many different ways, right? It's not like old school, like we used to come in and talk to one another, but can they adapt to the way that these young kids communicate through the cell phone, through social media? Is the program hip, right? Because sometimes you look at a program like Penn State, it has a historic back. background and what it is, but I don't know if Penn State is hip. I don't know if Penn State fits the mold of what the new college football kid is looking for.

So if I'm in today's time looking to go to Penn State, I want to know that I'm going to be up to date and current. This coach is going to be able to communicate to me the way that I need to be communicated with and the pathway from this school to the National Football League is one that can follow me and I can follow to get me there. I think that's good. Analyst's point of view, I want to know how many billionaires are on your speed dial. I really do.

You know, that's where, so I look at a coach like a Joey McGuire who got his start as a Texas high school football coach. I go to Ryan Day at Ohio State. No one's waxing poetic about his ability to coach the offense, the defense, the X's and O's. Talking about jimmies and Joe's CEO type, guy that can woo the donors. I need a guy in my program that can bring in the dollar signs because the second the dollar signs are there, you bought a new defensive line, a new offensive line. Joe McGuire said it. If you are a big, if you're a hog molly and you want to make some money, you want to play high-level football,

You just pick up the phone. It's all West Texas. We'll get you here. And that's where I think each of these programs will look to them. It's a GM type to head up their schools. Coach, I mean, you're the one that the cable one. And I agree with all of it. But I think that somewhere in your program, so when I was hiring,

so when you talk about hiring an assistant that possibly could be a coordinator, you had the three types, an X and O, okay, and on the field guy, and then an evaluator, recruiter. You've got to be two out of the three. And if you want to be a coordinator, if you look at, let's just, say Ben Johnson, now with the Chicago Bears, you have to have some... Tall Hills. Tall Hill. Yeah. You have to have some imagination about how you change your game plan,

and you have to be a fixer. Guys that have imaginations have to be fixers. And then if you want to be a head coach, then it's how you deal with the kids, how you deal with the alumni, you've got to be able to manage people, and you've got to be able to raise money, period. And so do all of those, because as I look at it, sometimes when you look at it from at least outside looking in, guys are looking at, well, he, he's... He's a great play caller. Sure. So, but they never say, well, how does he manage people?

How did it? Was he a good evaluator? Because somewhere in your program, I don't care if you're at Penn State or you're at any of the schools that got left. Because here's the thing people need to understand. If you take a guy, let's say like Mike Gundy, okay, he's won for so many years. And all of a sudden he's not winning. Well, it can't just be the head coach. Yeah.

You follow me? So one of the things that I think had happened even with me at TCU, they went and changed. We had one strength coach towards just for football. they ended up having five street coaches with what you get. So you get changed, which is a good thing. There's a lot of positives. But I can go back to 2013 when Chris Delcante

and I, second year in the Big 12, we went four and eight. We had a conversation. We changed. Coordinators on offense, we changed some things. And then we play for, we play basically get a lot of people feel like we got cheated out of the playoffs. So not necessarily is it a bad coach? Sometimes

the situation, sometimes they just need to hear somebody else talk. That's my opinion. And there's a lot of ways to do all that. And everything you guys said, I agree with totally. No doubt. I'm glad you mentioned that, you know, going from one strength coach for you with full-time football and then the next year, the next guy gets five. And that's the shiny new toy. The shiny new toy is going to get more of the assets to win with. And I think what you're seeing is out of the Big 12, the ACC, Big Ten and SEC specifically, your leash is shorter as a head coach at the top of college football. And I think it's shortest, maybe in the best conferences. And that

leads us into our topic of the week. What is the best conference? Because we're in a situation now where a lot of folks are talking about how the Big 12 is 10 and 6 against power four opponents and Notre Dame combined. The SEC is 11 and 4. They're the top two leagues in that category with the Big 10 at 7 and 6. The ACC at 7 and 13. You see the standings right there, the Big 12 and the SEC at the top of this thing. Jesse, I'm going to stand up for it. You ready for this one? Here we go. So here's what's crazy to me. I've been hearing all this week that the SEC, well, you know, there's no more ranked games left on Ohio State Schedule. There's no more ranked games left on Miami's schedule.

But the SEC has 10 ranked teams. Illinois loses to the top five teams in the country and can't buy a ranking. But it feels like if you're, if you just have those three letters next to your name, S, E and C, you can be in the top 25. So if we're building the whole AP poll based on what conference you're in, if you're in that specific conference, of course you're playing all the top 25 games. And that is not fair in college football. Yeah, but life's not fair, Drake.

BAN, there we go. That's the problem. I stood up for it and you can't even talk me about. We're talking about things now, like life isn't fair, sports isn't fair. And a lot of times what ends up happening is to the victor goes to spoils. And for an SEC conference, they have all of the big dogs in there. A lot of the money is in those kind of southern type states where you can go and you can get the big time recruits. And you have the 100,000 people, you know, a person stadiums.

And you know, you're constantly on TV. And for the SEC, you're talking about a conference that goes 10 deep with teams. at every single week you're playing top level competition. Like when you get to in conference in the SEC, you know, those games are a regular game for you, but to someone else, that would be the game of the week for them. And so that's why you look at a conference like the SEC and you kind of kind of have to give them the nod

because top the bottom, man, it's a tough conference to be in. And every single week, it's a tough opponent that you have to play. Well, yeah, and two of the teams were at the bottom in the last, well, not just the last couple years, Mississippi State and Bandi, and you're looking at the last couple of years, State and Bandy and you look and see how they've played. Yeah, they're great. And so I think that's one of the things.

If I was going to say, if I was going to talk between them and the Big Ten, the one thing I would see about the SEC this year, I think it all gravitates toward the top, all their teams. Yeah. They all gravitate toward the top. And you still have, you still have the Indiana, you still have the Ohio State, you still have the top tier groups, but I think the, I always look at a league and look at, okay, well, so where to the bottom, where do the bottom guys fit?

And I think the bottom's a lot lower in the Big Ten this year comparably to what the SEC is. The Ravens are struggling to buy a win. The bills could lose to the Dolphins. In the NFL, Team One versus Team 32, you're talking pro athletes. These guys are pretty even. I do think the SEC is, by and large, built like that. Team one and Team 14 have a lot more similarities than Team One and Team 14 in the ACC,

especially the Big Ten, the Big 12. But I do think if we go a conversation of Big 12 versus Big Ten, Coach, I think team number seven in the Big 12 is better than team number seven in the Big 10 this season. Well, yeah, the one thing that you have is it's very, there's a lot of parity in the Big 12. Every week, I think what people like watching it is you don't know who's going to win. Sure. I mean, the bottom line to it is everybody can play and it really makes a difference in some ways if you play it all or not. Yeah, but you say that.

I like watching it. You like watching it. Joe Schmo wants to watch number 11 play number six. He doesn't want to watch, wow, what a gritty Cincinnati versus a gritty Kansas team. You know, the general college football fan loves to see those sexy numbers next to a name. Well, but I think what helps is if you have a great player, let's say Max Duggan for TCU a couple years ago, he became the national favorite because the way you could see him on his knees after he got done carrying the ball and all the things because he was all in. I think the world loves seeing players and teams that are all in that love the game just as much as they do as a fan base.

And I think what you just said about that is, and the portal in the NIL kind of makes that a little bit more prevalent going forward. Right now that we're in this new space talking about having a name brand player, you can have a guy who's the quarterback at a big time SEC school one year, and now he's at a big 10 school or a big 12 school the next year so that name recognition may carry the attention to that conference with this new NIL and the way that we're able to do the portal now. To that, what he just said, I mean, Coach Signet, I mean, he brought a lot of players with him to Indiana. Sure, yeah. And I think you're going to start seeing that Oklahoma, Mattir came with the offensive coordinator. I think you're going to start seeing that possibility, just like they do in other sports, right, that you're going to see, well, okay, the head coach can come. And by the way, the reason why he hired him is because he's going to bring these 10 guys with him or even maybe just one guy with him that's going to make a lot.

difference in. And it's sad, but to be honest with you, that's just, that's the way of the world now. Well, I think you said that at the top here. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's also not fair. There are times almost out. But first, we've got to get the playoff playbook. Here in our playoff playbook, we'll take a look at some of the biggest games this week in college. Football, Tennessee and Alabama at the top. Obviously, a lot of playoff implications with USC and Notre Dame. And you can't even forget, Texas Tech continuing to dominate the Big 12. Will it happen once again against Arizona State? Will a double-digit win happened once again this week? But first, back to that Alabama and Tennessee game. He's Eric

Kane of Locked on Valls. He's got the inside scoop. Why can Tennessee win the third Saturday in October for the first time in Tuscaloosa since 2003? Well, because Tennessee has a great quarterback this year and Joey Aguilar, a quarterback that can push the football down the field, make the accurate throws, take what the defense has given him. He's a crafty quarterback. and we've seen that through six games so far. So Tennessee has a dynamic quarterback and an offense that leads the SEC in points per game in total yard.

So Tennessee offensively, led by Joey Aguilar, a big reason why Tennessee can pull off this upset on the road. Plus defensively, it's been all over the map. There's certainly some flaws. Don't get me wrong. But what Tennessee defense is good at, takeaways. So opportunistic, sacks leading the nation and sacks per game

for defensive touchdowns. Good for about a takeaway or two per game. Tennessee's defense will create opportunities to give the football back to the offense to go and score. I expected to be a high-scoring game. But that right there, those two reasons are why Tennessee can certainly pull off this upset. Jesse, I don't know if I see it. This game's at Alabama. They're very high.

Yeah, they are, absolutely. But there is a way to get there. You're talking about the big plays from the Tennessee offense, right? You've got to get out ahead of this Alabama team because it's still Alabama. And Ty Simpson has been playing some incredible football, but I think you're seeing Aguilar to Brazil, big play down the field. Tennessee can stay into this game, but I think Alabama wins. Coach, USC at Notre Dame.

If the Irish lose this, I do think they're officially out of the college while playoff conversation. Well, yeah, I do. I think what USC has to prove, and it was the same thing that James Franklin talked about going all the way back to UCLA, the thing that he has to prove is he can go all the way

to Notre Dame and he can go win a ball game. And if he can do that, then I think people are even going to pay. I think USC has as much to prove and this ball game is what Notre Dame does. No doubt. Corey Burton, locked on Vandy, is the expert on the Vanderbilt Commodores. They will host LSU as a favorite this week, Corey?

Vanderbilt can win this game two ways. One, make LSU one-dimensional and force Garrett Nussmeyer to beat you by himself. Their inability to run the ball is contributing to their low-scoring output. So if you can make them one-dimensional, they will have a harder time scoring, and they will make mistakes. Garrett Nuss-Mier had two interceptions. against South Carolina. They just continue to struggle in the red zone because they can't run the ball. Replacing five offensive linemen is a very, very tough thing to do and they can't get it that

way. So the other way, or actually the other factor is Diego Pavia, and this offense just needs to play within itself. Be patient. Manage the ebbs and flows. LSU's defense is going to make big plays. They are a bend but don't break defense, so they're going to be able to make those plays. Just don't panic, stay on schedule, and that will give you a chance to win first down more than, more than not. That will give you a chance to continue to win on third down and be able to convert those things into points. And thank you, Corey Burton. I think that Vanderbilt has a great shot.

Coach, quickly, you mentioned Jerry Kill almost every week. We got to again. That Vanderbilt team is, they're nasty, man. Well, they had an off week. I think that's a big deal. They're able to get healthy. I think that gives them if they can play fresh, I think they gives them harm and they're playing at home.

It's a sellout. I've talked about trying to get people tickets and there's no tickets to be found in Nashville. And so the bottom line to it is, it's probably one of the bigger games that Vandy's had in a long, long time, playing for something, and they're playing LSU. Yep, Texas A&M at Arkansas.

I think the Aggies have an opportunity to really prove Bobby Petrino is not the answer for the hogs and further bolster their top five resume. Mizzou at Auburn. If Mizzou wins this, they're a college football playoff outsider, but inching closer. And then if Auburn loses, they could be a fire Hugh Freeze game. Let's go Georgia Tech at Duke. You're the ACC guy. Duke is favorite.

Yeah, man. Like Quatis is kept. Metti Diaz has went down to Durham, North Carolina, and it pain, you guys know, it pains me to say this. But many Deans has turned this Duke football program into something. They're playing well. They have a really good quarterback. And so this is a program that you can look up and go, wait a second, Duke is playing for an ACC championship. Georgia Tech better watch out. You got to kind of like Georgia Tech because of the way they play. I mean, I just, it's a kind of a real of sleep. Well, it's an offensive line head coach. And so you know it's going to start in the trenches.

One of the things you can say from the very beginning when we watched them when we first saw the first week, I mean, they're going to hit you in the mouth and they keep coming at you. Yep. They've been behind in ball games. They fought back to win ball games. And so, you know, even though it's where it's at, what's happening, I still, I still like. I like the rambling wreck from Georgia Tech. Over in the Big 12, Texas Tech at Arizona State, I think that Texas Tech is the best team of the conference. 10, 12, 14 points right now in that league.

And the Arizona State might be without Sam Levitt, even if Texas Tech is without Baron Morton, their run game so strong. Their backup quarterback proved himself against Utah. Jesse, I think Texas Tech rolls, even though they're on the road. That roster is just different for the league. It absolutely is.

And while you're talking about the offensive side, I think this roster is different because what they do on defense. That front, those linebackers, those guys on the outside, they're just a stout defense. And so whether it's at home or on the road, that defense will travel.

And that's one of the hallmarks for this Texas Tech team this year. And that defense is just being really tough. They're back to the Spike Dyke era where they were, you know, he was like 13 and four against A&M and Texas. Yep. And when they've been able to play defense, they've been able to win a lot of ball games and they can play defense now. No doubt. I think Texas Tech is easily the favorite for the Big 12th championship. Maybe the most clear favorite of any, right there with Miami possible, but Georgia Tech hanging around, clear favorite of any conference in the country.

And that is a wrap for this week's college football kickoff, presented by Coca-Cola. But this season is just starting to heat up. Next week, a top-10 matchup in the SEC. Believe it? Can you believe that? We're going to top-10 game in the SEC. Two American teams jockey for the position in the playoff race. Same time, same set. Same unapologetic football energy.

Big thanks to Coach Gary Patterson, the Hall of Famer, and Jesse Holly, the Dallas Cowboys for bringing heat. And to you for riding shotgun with us. Enjoy all the action this weekend. Stay locked in. That's a terrible throw. Stay fired up. We'll see you next Thursday. Thursday right here on Fire TV.