Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - Texas tumbles. Will Michigan or Oklahoma suffer the same fate? | College Football Kickoff

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

Texas falls to 7 in the AP poll. Michigan and Oklahoma take center stage in week 2. Should Arizona State be on upset alert? And Iowa vs Iowa State face off in a huge rivalry showdown.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!UpsideSimply download the free Upside app in the App Store or Google Play and use the promo code FOOTBALL to get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up. Start earning cash at the pump, today!  Click Here: https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FThe Game CapGrab your team’s classic bar or retro circle designed hat and use code LOCKEDON for an exclusive discount. Head to Because legends wear The Game. Head to thegamecaps.comDoorDashWith 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.MazdaIt’s the small details that make the big plays. And just like there’s more to every player, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda. Move and Be Moved. Rugiet150,000 men have made the switch →https://Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGEUse code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!SupplyHouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://www.supplyhouse.com/apply-for-trademasterto sign up for free and use promocode 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.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at www.monarchmoney.com/lockedoncollege for 50% off your first year.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.

Chaos in college football with Texas and Alabama, both falling last week, and I can promise you, it's only about to get crazier. 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 the Savannah Banana's organization and Locked-on Big 12, and we're coming in hot from the heart of college football country in Dallas, Texas. On set with me, two legends, 22-time coach of the year. He's Gary Patterson, and next to him, Jesse Holly, of the Dallas Cowley. Cowboys and North Carolina Tar Heels. Every week throughout the season, we'll be right here breaking down the matchups and the moments

and the madness with elite insight from experts 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. So let's kick it off. Last weekend, we talked a ton about Texas and Ohio State. In the end, not a lot of the offense, Jesse. We go into this week with expectations still high for plenty of teams at the top of the country. But number one takeaway, college football is so back.

College football is back and it is madness. And that's what we love about the game of college football because each and every week coach, and you know this, it can be an upset brewing, right? You're dealing with 18, 19-year-old kids and sometimes they're very, very unpredictable. That's what always keeps us locked in. No pun intended. Nice. But always watching the great game of college football.

Well, and why I coached for so many years, I did, you know, just to sit down, when you weren't playing your own game, be able to sit down and get surprised. You know, I was seeing the quarterback, the transfer going to Florida State, seeing the transfer going to Miami. You see these new quarterbacks. You see new players. You see freshmen, the little wide receiver from Miami stepping up.

It's a freshman coming in. They said he didn't even know if he was going to play. He has like six big catches. I mean, that's why everybody watches the game. It's so much fun. And now everything has been thrown for a loop in the A-Vee. Let's go to our rankings report. This week of the rankings report, my number one takeaway, coach,

LSU, I thought they looked like the best team of the country this week. I thought Ohio State could still give me a little bit more offensively, though Texas defense is good. And we likely saw college football playoff teams that lost in week one. But I wanted a little bit more respect for LSU. Yeah, you know, for me, I was a voter on the coaches poll for 20-some years. And I would tell you, if you just looked at it, if you just voted how you just voted how you do it, did weekly. You have a veteran quarterback in a very hostile environment, goes into Clemson and gets the job done. He was everything I thought he was going to be. I would have probably

pushed him to be the number one team in the nation this week just because of what they did. Jesse, 14 Florida State. Alabama at 21 this week, I'd probably go there next. Seeing Florida State at 14 for me, I mean, if they just beat the next. number one team in the country at home. And that's what you're telling me by this AP poll. Do they deserve to jump to 14 after going two in 10 last year already? I think they do. It's not just beating a team.

It's in way, the way that you beat that team, Rick. Like, one thing that I took away from this weekend that was a shocker to me. I'm an ACC guy, right? I support the ACC. I played in the ACC. I saw Florida State and I saw Miami play a style of football that was very reminiscent to what the SEC is right now. They were really physical, man, really big guys on the inside.

And they took it two guys. And that just tells me that the league is changing. And the ACC brand of football, the Florida States to Miami, understand if our path to the national championship, it will not go through the ACC. You will have to beat one of these SEC powerhouses. And the only way you're able to do that is you're able to match up with those guys in the trenches. I saw Miami. I saw Florida State do that this weekend.

Coach, let's throw a wild card in there. Number 25, Utah. You said you stayed up and watched that game. Devin Damp here, the new quarterback out of the transfer portal looked very good. Yeah, you know, I didn't know a lot about. I didn't watch a lot of New Mexico a year ago, but I will tell you, Utah always has a great defense. They always play great special teams, big tight ends. And all of a sudden, I watched this quarterback that threw for like 25 touchdowns a year ago ran for, I don't know, over

a thousand yards himself. And they can't catch him on the field. If you can put that kind of offense with that kind of defense, I think the Big 12 has got a new player in the game. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see 24 and 25 Texas Tech in Utah move up as the weeks go on. Texas Tech beating an FCS opponent at home and looking good in that fashion. Utah going on the road against a Big Ten opponent getting a double-digit victory over UCLA. This week, we turn our eyes to the only top 25 matchup in the country. It is time for the game of the week here on college football kickoff presented by Coca-Cola. They are our local experts with the Wolverines and Locked-on Wolverines, Isaiah.

A hole and locked-on Sooners, Jay Smith. Let's start with the home team in this big time. game of the week. Jay, can John Mateer get it done and prove that he is the guy, not just for Oklahoma, but one of the guys in the SEC? Yeah, I believe he can. He has the experience of playing college football. This is his third year in the system with Ben Arbuckle. He understands what he needs to do. I think that's where the advantage came in for Oklahoma is that not only you getting a veteran quarterback out of the transfer portal, but you also get them paired with his offensive coordinator. So if there's teaching that's happening, it's with the skills guys. And in my personal

opinion, typically when you get a transfer, the guys that are easiest to teach are usually your skills guys. The quarterback is the one that usually you kind of get worried about. Same thing with offensive line. But John Mateer is out there. He's a dude. He had his first game and he looked like a beast. 337, 392 yards. He set a record for a newcomer at Oklahoma in passing against. Be Baker Mayfield. Now, you hear the Baker Mayfield comparisons. All right. all the time, but yeah, he's out there playing. And the good thing is, too, he can run when he wants to. This game felt like he was more so filling things out. And I think he'll be able to continue to do that going forward. Isaiah, you both look like you could be in a great boy band and unfazed. Both of those

things are true. Give me your Bryce Underwood takeaway right now and whether or not he can out duel John Mateer. Well, that's the, that's the big question, right? We don't know exactly what Bryce Underwood is, I mean, you look in, he had 251 yards, 21 of 31 passing a touchdown against New Mexico, but you have the caveat that it was New Mexico, right? Now, at the same time, he outplayed any quarterback that Michigan had last year and put up more yards than you saw even a lot of the J.J. McCarthy games in 2023, the national championship year, but the big step up in competition, he's going on the road for the first time, but I loved the poise that I saw him play with, the ball placement, the mixture of velocity and touch. I mean,

Connor Stallions, who was these offensive coordinator at Belleville, told me when he left Michigan, he knew exactly what J.J. McCarthy was. And when he saw Bryce Underwood for the first time, he said, that guy is already where he is. But we have to see him do it. So that's going to be the big key. Can he go up against a much more difficult defense and still be what he was this past week? Jay, let's go quick here. Give me your final score. Give me Oklahoma 25, Michigan 15. I think it's going to be a lower scoring game than expected, but I think Oklahoma's defense is going to prevail

only because we've lucked out at getting a really good quarterback only in his second career start. Isaiah, you are my fire, my one desire. Score prediction. I'm going to also go with Oklahoma for the moment. I think it's going to be closer than that. I'm looking at Oklahoma 24, 23. Michigan's defense, even though it didn't look great against New Mexico,

I mean, this is the same defense that you saw hold Alabama to 13 points last year. I think it's going to be a really hard fought game, but Oklahoma on top. Two consummate professionals, they both pick Oklahoma at home. It's Isaiah Hole of Lockdown Wolverines and Jay Smith of Lockdown Sooners. Thank you both. And being a passionate college football fan is hard work. All the pomp and circumstance makes you work up a thirst. Fan work is thirsty work.

Enjoy a refreshing Coca-Cola. Coach Oklahoma and Michigan. Again, you said you watched both their games last weekend, and it didn't take very long to understand each team was going to overmatch their opponents. Well, yeah, I think it's a game that's going to come down to what we just heard earlier. The quarterback game is going to be a big part of how those two guys lead their teams, both new. But at the end of the day, both teams can run on defense,

so it comes down to who's going to make the most plays. Jesse, you played in some big-time environments in college football. I know coaches mentioned how tough it is to play in Norman before. is that going to play a major factor in a game like this? It always does, especially when you have young quarterbacks and you look at what Underwood is. Britt Venables, he's been known for his defensive coordinator prowess. And so being able to have that young fella confuse a little bit

and then you have the roar of the crowd. Going on the road, young football team, Britt Vinnibals, he has to show himself to be a good defensive coordinator by Rowlandlander than a young fella and having him on edge all game long. Coach, these are two coaches that I think both fan bases still have questions about. at Michigan and Oklahoma. Is there a way to take an advantage of this matchup from a coaching standpoint?

Well, I think both of them, and they both want to be this way, if you watch both ball games from last week, I think the team that ends up because of the quarterback play, the team that can end up defending the run, and the team that can actually run the football, that's what Michigan's be able to do.

They were able to do it last week. That's how they allowed the young quarterback to actually, I think, feel easy about the ball games because, I mean, the one running back, I think had two or three touchdowns in the ball game. When you can get yourself where you're in second in four, second in five, you're not in second in ten, not second in eight. Then it makes it a lot easier for that young quarterback to make decisions. And Matera's been there.

He's already played two or three years. He understands what's going on. And I think both of them, like I said last week, I think this game is changing. There's times when the quarterbacks are going to have to win and they're going to have to make plays with their legs. The defenses are getting too fast. Jesse, you give the edge to OU? I do give the edge to OU. I think Mater is going to be the determining factor. A little bit of an older player. And OU wasn't a bad football team last year.

Coach, we talked about it earlier. Having that point guard being able to run your football team, I think Oklahoma has one in there. I give them the slight edge. Today's show is brought to you by Upside. Upside is exactly where I go when I need a little bit more savings. Download the free Upside app. Use promo code football for a 25% gallon boost right now. If you're still paying full price for gas, you're paying too much.

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Go to upside.com for terms and conditions. That is upside. Today's show is also brought to you by Mazda dog. Mazda is where class meets impeccable drive. Mazda custom is where you go with Mazda's moving the game forward. Brought to you by those who believe it's not just about playing the game, about redefining it. These moments do more than when they push what's possible, remind us to go the extra yard.

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that should be very good in Michigan versus Oklahoma. That game in Norman is our game of the week. But there's a contest across the country in the Midwest that everybody seems to be overlooking. It's Iowa and Iowa State. This game is in Ames, and the Sihawk matchup is this week's can't miss game. Trent Condon of Locked-on Hawkeyes joins college football kickoff, the local expert talking all things, Iowa. Trent, can Kurt Ferrence's squad throw the ball at all this week against Iowa State? Well, don't feel really optimistic about it after Mark Grinowski's debut. The South Dakota State transfer, just 44 yards in the first game. This has been now a half-decade problem for the Hawkeyes, throwing the football.

The offensive line looks great once again this year. The running game, even with injuries, looks to be in good shape. But Garnowski, maybe a little bit too charged up against Albany at home. Now he's got to go on the road in two aims in a difficult environment. So hard to feel optimistic after performance number one in a Hawkeye uniform. Difficult environment, yes, but also you mentioned quarterback struggles the last few years from Iowa. They've still won the last six in Jack Tri Stadium. And that trend can continue with or without throwing the ball.

Yes, absolutely. And it goes back to the ground game. What I was been able to do there on the ground, going back to last season, even in a loss, Caleb Johnson was outstanding in that game. And Iowa comes into this one, bringing back two preseason, All Americans, Logan Jones at the center position, Jennings Dunker, maybe the best right tackle in all of college football. They look really good up front again.

And that has been something where historically I was been able to win this game. They muck it up. Something crazy happens. maybe a special teams play. That's been the recipe for Kirk Ferrence and winning a lot of these games and aims. Yeah, it's been Kirk Ferrence over Matt Campbell. Three, now six of the nine times,

I shouldn't say just three and six in that span. For Campbell, what's the final score of this game? I look at this one to be a tight one down to the wire, but I got Iowa State fighting a way to win for the first time since 2011. I got the Cyclones pulling it out 2317, and it becomes a Cyclone State for the second straight year. Wow, that is Trent Kahn, the host of Lockheyes, playing down the middle and objective journalist, as always. Taking the Iowa State Cyclones, Trent, thank you very much.

Rocko-back, Carson Hanson, Abu Sama, deadly on the offense for Iowa State defensively. They have Dominic Orange. They call them Big Citrus on the D-line. Jesse, I think Iowa State's clicking on all cylinders. No, absolutely. And be able to rejuvenate and revamp your team after losing all the two lost in the NFL draft and being right back in there again. And you're talking about an Iowa team.

who can't really pass the football pretty well. Like, you know, those in-state rival games sometimes you know. Come on, you can tell them. You know, I love to throw the football. I love to throw the football coach. Yeah, you're absolutely right. They're absolutely loaded. This is one of those games where, you know, Iowa, you got to hope things don't go their way

because Iowa State's rolling. You know, having played the Iowa State Cyclones for a few years, the thing that I think you'll realize is he has a system. So when he starts the beginning of the season, he starts very simple. He tries to be very physical. It doesn't matter if he plays a 1-8 team. He plays a Power 4 team. Coach Campbell is going to make sure that they can block and tackle.

They don't beat themselves. And then as the games go on, as the season goes on, he keeps adding more things. There's one thing that is going to be constant on Iowa State's offense in that they're going to be able to run the football. But not only can they do that, they're going to have big tight ends and they can throw the football to and they're going to do it in critical times. And you've got to be able to stop that. And that's one of the reasons I think Iowa has always matched up pretty well with them

because they've been able to play great defense. And they have big guys that actually can help defend instead of a DB. They've got linebackers and safeties that are that size that can defend those guys. Yeah, I thought Iowa State's win last week against South Dakota was super impressive. South Dakota, the number four team in the FCS. Iowa, on the other hand, struggled a bit again to throw the football against you, Albany, just 48 passing yards. Jesse, you said it.

You're the wide receiver at the table. You hear 48 passing yards. You get chills or something? Listen, this is not 1949. He thought it was his living room. All 48 of those passing yards better be to you. There better be to me. Oh, you're going to see an upset guy on the sideline.

But you've got to be able to pass the football in this league. So not being able to do that last week against kind of a lesser opponent. It doesn't bode well for Iowa coming in this. this game because Iowa State. Yeah. Last week, we talked about passing the football in our lock of the week. It was Texas over Ohio State. Guys, that didn't work out.

Can we win some money this week with our lock of the day? Thanks, Drake. After a wild week one, we have another lock for this week. Open it, open it, open it. Lee has the key to the lock of the day. Kevin Rogers and Lee Sterling of Locked-on Betts with you. Looking ahead to Ole Miss and Kentucky, an SEC showdown in. In Lexington, the Rebels favor on the road.

Lee, what do you like? Well, last year, Ole Miss was 4 and O'Noh going into this game. They had just beaten Georgia Southern, 52 to 13. And just like last year, they win last week 63 to 7 over another Georgia team, Georgia State. So has all the elements. They're playing well. They're looking for revenge for last year's 20 to 17 loss. But don't be shocked if more of the same happens here in this game.

Austin Simmons for Ole Miss, one of these quarterbacks. It's talented but has never started a road game. In fact, going into this year, it only from 32 total passes for Ole Miss. Last week, they ran up 695 yards, but they allowed 191 yards rushing on the ground, and most of that was in the first half here in Kentucky. Get this, 7 and 3 is a home dog under crafty head coach, Mark Stoop. I'm going to go with a lock here of the week. Kentucky Wildcats plus the double-digit points.

Game goes right down to the wire. It should have been an interesting game between Kentucky at Ole Miss see if the Wildcats can knock off the rebels for a second straight season. For more daily picks, subscribe to Locked On Betts, back to college football kickoff studio. And we'll see you next week, Drake. Yeah, Kevin, Zach Calzada threw for 85 yards last week. This is the week that Kentucky gets in there against Ole Miss, I bet. Coach, let's send it to you.

Last week, you had a really good, entirely well-thought-out play on Jerry Kill and what he's brought to college football. This week, let's run it back with some Coach's Corner. Well, yeah, you know, we always want to pick a great topic on Coach's Corner. And one of the biggest topics in not only college, but in the NFL, is fourth-down analytics. And, you know, being a defensive guy, you know, looking at all of it, I think if you look at it, it looks like they're going to blow the top off. It's been like 1.4 to 1.9 over the last 20 years.

I was just talking to Jesse about that I think it's probably going to be over two people going on fourth down this year. But what I wanted to do is kind of take you and dive into why as a coach when you looked into how you did things. From a defensive perspective, especially if you got down in the situation where you scored points where you could take away a field goal and you took away points, I always consider it if you didn't make a fourth down, it being a turnover or a takeaway. And so during the week, we had two types of different fourth down plays we have. We call it power fourth downs where you could physically thought you could just run over them. You could pull the guard, run a power, do those kind of things. And the other part was the design fourth down where you knew when you saw them line up and things

and you could get them to move with motions or picks, especially on the goal line, and you could come with it. And so the things that kind of play into what you do with all that is when you walk out on the field right before the ball game, how's the wind blowing? Are you going to take the ball first? What kind of defense do they play like Ohio State last week the year before in 2024? They were like the number one red zone goal line defense in the nation. How do you attack those kind of guys when you get into fourth down? And the thing that you've got to realize is that when you get into fourth down.

down there in this day and age, it seems like to me, and this is just a guy watching TV, watching a lot of ball games, is once they get to fourth and one and fourth and three, it's like, hey, we're just going to do this. And I think people need to realize that there's a lot more that goes into a ball game, and it's still a fourth-cord ball game where you have to realize that if I don't kick the field goal, there was a couple situations in games last week where if you kick the field goal, you make it a one possession game going into the side, second half and the other team is going to get the ball, going to receive the ball coming off the

kickoff. And so what you've got to realize is if you don't and you go for it, even though you're trying to score more points, you could put yourself in a situation if they come down and they score that you're going to be down two scores and now what are you going to do and you're going to get the ball in half of the third quarter and actually third quarter will be done. So for me, how do we go about this so that you know that you can gain possession, sessions. You can score on the goal line. You know, I go back to the last four or five years that we were at TCU and we had two or three times that we went, especially on the road, that we went for two-point conversions because we felt like our whole mindset was that when you went on the road, you had to steal ball games. And so three of them, we had one at West Virginia. We went at Boise, where we went up there. They had a 56 game winning streak. But then we came back to over. Oklahoma and 17 and we went for it on for a two point at the end of the ballgame and here's why we felt like that We had to play Baylor on Friday. It was already 1130 at night

We're on the road. We need to steal a ball game the safety came out of nowhere and tipped the ball away But we get off the field the worst thing we wanted to be is one-on-one We had to play Baylor on Friday. We had to go into overtime again and we won that ball game I truly believe that we would have not gone for the two point and my point of this whole thing is is this. You have to have a mindset. You have to have a game plan, not just while you're in the ball game, but you've got to think during the week, how you're going to plan out your plays. I always wanted to have that conversation. So we knew when we went on Fort Down that we felt like we had a play that would work. Sometimes it looks like that you, a lot of offenses, what they

think is there, I'm going to put myself in a situation. Here's the, here's the Fort Down plays that we run, especially on the goal line. We're going to practice them during two days, fall camp, we're going to do all this, and here's what we're going to run. I would discuss and argue that you need to make sure that you have, you may work on things that you've done already, but you've got to have plays that you say, hey, look, we have an advantage if we do this, and if we can do this, then we're going to be able to move ahead. And if you don't have that, then it's okay still to punt. It's okay to be able to play field position because, you know, there's charts out there that will tell you that if an offense,

starts inside their 15 yard length coming out, you know, it's not going to be a very high percentage. They're going to go down the field and score. They start at the 35, the certain percentage, they start at the 50. And it seems like right now that if you get in a situation where it's first, it's fourth in one to three, really anywhere on the field, depending on how it's going, that offenses are willing to go ahead and do and go for it. So I would bring it up to Jesse, an offensive guy, and I know you have some thought processes on this, your mindset of why offenses think that that's what we need to do. Well, when you look at the way that football is being played now,

it's being played at a much faster rate, score more points. But I think going for it now is a mindset and the fact that defenses, and you know this coach, you're always thinking about if we can get to fourth down. You see the defense to do that, and they get to fourth down, they're holding their fist up, and they're saying we've achieved something. You break that tendency now when teams now begin to go for more analytics show that you have a higher percentage chance of doing it and you steal possessions. You're able to have that defense on the field longer and that pays dividends in the later game, later time of these ball games. We like to call them like body shots.

If I can get and convert a couple of those fourth downs in the second half of that game late in that game, that defense was on the field potentially for another six, eight, ten, ten, You multiply that over time. And now in the fourth quarter, they've played far more than they wanted to. And you've been able to set the tone for your offensive team to let them know that we're going to be aggressive. And your play caller understands that I don't have to get all of it on third down. I have to just get some of it because on fourth down, we're going to go for it again. So I know that a lot of teams are moving towards that. And I think it's more of the norm than it is just a one-time thing.

Well, there's one thing for sure. you play the best defense when you're standing on the sidelines. I'm not any doubt about that. Coach, I'll close it up with this if I can. I heard a ball coach a few years back say, am I running this team or is it the 24-year-olds with their computers? That's maybe a valid question because now it's not, okay, what's the actual situation? It's, you know, put your nose up in the air and your good old reading glasses on

and you say, well, the analytics say this. It's the computers. Well, I guess that's the point. You know, I've always felt like it's a field game. Yeah. I think there's things. It has to be, right? Well, and depending on the situation,

field position, the weather, all those things. And sometimes it comes down to it. You couldn't run and get a first down on second and three, and then you try to do it on third and three. What makes you think that you're going to be able to do it on fourth and three? Because most defenses are going to call fourth and short, a lot like they're going to call third and short, except when you get down inside the red zone.

And so for me, it's all about understanding that we're trying to create opportunities for ourselves as a team on offense. But the other side of it, I don't think people have, I don't think they've, I think they've forgotten that it's also, for me, as a head coach, it was kind of like a turnover, especially when I'm seeing teams go on the 40, 45, 50 clear out there, where especially if you're playing good on defense, that those percentages go down. If you can put it inside the 10-yard line, and you can stop them, you get the ball back, and then you're going to get an advantage. But I would tell you, again,

if the defense is standing on the sidelines, like Jesse said, and you, and you know what's a, it's kind of one of those things where you gain a lot of momentum and competence as a football team when you know, they know you're coming and they can't stop you. Oh, today's show is brought to you by DoorDash. If there's one thing I love, it's DoorDash, almost the weekend.

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DoorDash DoorDash DoorDash Rockobacked go to DoorDash today yeah speaking of going forward on fourth down Dave Miranda and the Baylor Bears they they love it they it is one of his favorite things to do in Waco and it's a great segue into our play playoff playbook. It's those Baylor Bears looking for a bounce back win this week. Locked on Baylor. He is the expert. Cameron Stewart. What did you got? Baylor beats SMU if they tackle, full stop. If they're going to give up six yards of carry like they did against Auburn, they're going to lose. If they're going to be minus 80 on first down yardage like they were against Auburn, they're going to lose. But this SMU offensive line is not Auburn's

offensive line. This SOU defense is not Auburn's defense. I think Baylor's offense can put up 35 points in this game. That offense was still clicking for most of the game in week one against a very talented Auburn team. Soria Robertson completed passes to eight different pass catchers. I don't see that production suddenly dipping in game two. And I think they're going to have at least a better game plan going in against the Mustangs that they did against Auburn. If they tackle And they don't give up six yards of carry and get out gained on the ground by about 240 yards. Baylor will beat Auburn and we'll get back on track at one-in-one on this season. Self-Tanner is your friend, my friend.

Not so fast. Let's go to Grayson Singleton locked on SMU. SMU will have a big advantage over Baylor in their matchup this coming weekend, and it is in the ground game. SMU ran the ball well, and the offensive line dominated the defensive line of East Texas A&M, reestablishing the line of scrimmage visually three, four yards down the field. On the other side, Baylor did not handle the running game of Auburn very well at all to the tune of being bludgeoned by the Tigers for 306 yards on the ground.

It was an absolutely awful performance. And to make things even worse, Baylor is now going to be missing its best defensive lineman Jackie Marshall, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the Bears' loss on Friday night. So if SMU is going to win this game, it is going to come down to the fact that they are going to be able to run the ball at will over Baylor. That's going to set up the play action pass. That's going to make it easy for Kevin Jennings to get his receivers open and hit them and allow those speedsters to create more plays after the catch. SMU will win this game if they are allowed to turn their receivers loose and just keep the Baylor defense disjointed. And it's all going to be predicated on can the Mustang?

run the football, which I believe they will be able to. And after that, all bets are off for what this offense will be able to do. Coach, the Baylor guy says that the Bears will be able to stop the run this week. The SMU guy says, well, they couldn't stop Auburn. Is there a comparison here? Well, I think Auburn's a very good football team. I think they've gotten a lot better on defense, the quarterback, I think there's going to do. I think you're going to find out. I was very impressed with the corners of Auburn, and then their front was really, really physical. So I'm not sure that I would compare SMU and Auburn right now. But, you know, SMU didn't look like they were overly inspired last week playing who they played.

So I think, again, reality is going to be somewhere in the middle. This should be a tight game, I think. Let's go Illinois at Duke. Jesse will go to the ACC hosting the Big Ten for this one. Did the Duke Blue Devils have a chance? They looked pretty good last season. Yeah, they did, but it always comes out to the interior. And I don't think Duke will be able to hold up just as they need to against Illinois.

in the interior, I think Illinois is win this game. Yeah, it's Ole Miss going to Kentucky, Coach. This is a game the Wildcatch actually won. They upset the rebels last year, keeping them out of the college football playoff. How does that play into this rematch, I don't want to call it a rivalry, but the rematch this breeds? Well, all I'd say is that I wasn't overly excited about the Kentucky game last week. Kentucky comes back, they're playing at home, now they're playing in the SEC. If they play to a higher level, I think this becomes a game.

But Ole Miss is very talented, especially. on their defensive side. And, you know, they've got some young skilled players on the offense. I think they were going to step up. But I'd still pick Ole Miss. Sam Levitt, one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Arizona State goes to Mississippi State, Jesse. Yeah, you have one of the best quarterbacks in the state. You don't have Camp Scataboo anymore on the back field.

But anytime you have a quarterback coach, you know you got a chance. And I like Arizona State chances in this match. Mississippi State was 2 and 10 last year, coach. Now, this is a pretty tight spread. Well, yeah, again, going to somebody from the West coming to, to the east going to the southeast and playing that environment, the cowbells, everything going on. I think, you know, if Arizona State wants to get themselves back in the playoff, they've got to be able to go and play somebody from the SEC and prove that they can win.

And this is a good game to do that for it. Yeah, I think we'll learn a lot about each of those teams that you saw, and that's a wrap for us. On this week's college football kickoff, presented by Coca-Cola, but we're just getting started. Next week, the SEC slate is packed, full of ranked teams, putting it all on the line. and you won't want to miss it. Same time, same set, same unapologetic football in energy. Big thanks to Coach Gary Patterson and Jesse Holly for bringing the heat and to you 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 FireT.