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Episode Date: September 15, 2023

Week 3 of Deion Sanders and Colorado's world that we are just living in. The BYU Cougars have an SEC test in the Arkansas Razorbacks. Alabama got eliminated by the Texas Longhorns last week. Can Penn State stick around in the College Football Playoff conversation and should LSU be on upset alert? Plus, the biggest games in the ACC, SEC, BIG 10, BIG 12 and Sun Belt.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Jase MedicalSave more than $360 by getting these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com. Athletic BrewingGo to AthleticBrewing.com and enter code LOCKEDON to get 15% off your first online order or find a store near you! Athletic Brewing. Milford, CT and San Diego, CA. Near Beer.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsKeep your ride-or-die alive at ebay.com/motors. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up is Locked On College Football Kickoff Live, a bonus episode every weekend to get you ready for college football. I'm Drake Toll, the host of Locked On Big 12 and a co-host of Locked On College Football Kickoff Live, recording each and every Friday on your favorite team's feed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Let's get into it. The biggest storylines, the best of college football. That is next. It is Friday. Thanks for joining us again at Locked On College Football Kickoff Live. I'm making Locked On College Football Kickoff Live your lunchtime listen every single week. That's Kenton Gibb. That's Kenton Gibb. That's Kenton Gibb of Locked On Wolfpack.

Drake Toll of Locked On Big 12 here. Kenton, a huge week in college football last weekend. While this weekend doesn't seem to have as many storylines, we've dug up quite a few. And the first, Alabama eliminated. So it turns out there's been some murmurs, some talks here. This isn't your grandpa's Nick Saban, that Alabama is officially out of college football playoff contention

when you look at the rest of their schedule remaining after a home loss to Texas. Well, you know, I think we talked about this a little bit in pre-production and we need to bring it back now. Stay off the weed. That team has been eliminated from nothing. It is rare to hear a player say all of our goals are still in front of us and know that they're not lying. And that was the case when Alabama players went up for their pressures, not only immediately after the game, but even during this week. Everything is still in front of them because they play the almighty SEC.

Ken, what happens when you have a quarterback that can throw the ball really far and can run the ball, but can't efficiently throw a slant route? What do we do with that? Well, I think we should ask Josh Heupel as well, because Bajuka Joe, nevermind. Very seriously though, Money Mill Row is struggling to make the mundane plays. And I tell people all the time that the extraordinary players just do the ordinary extra well. They do the things that you're supposed to do. They hit the slants, they hit the swings, they hit all of the bubble screens.

And on time, on target, in rhythm. And that's what makes them really good. The reality is this for Mill Road. This team doesn't need you to be a superstar, a Heisman winner, all that good stuff. How many national championships has Alabama won without a Heisman winning quarterback? You get what I'm saying?

Like, the reality is they don't need you to go out there and make all of these exciting plays. The key for him is to master the mundane. If he can do that, Alabama will get everything that they want that's in front of them. I just don't know if he can at this point in time. That's the question. That's what could eliminate them in the future.

But as it stands right now, they have every opportunity to get to where they want to get to. If you're an Alabama fan, I'm going to put our production team on blast for a second. I mean, that was the lead-in, was Alabama eliminated. But if you look at the rest of their schedule, Kenton, somehow, they only have three remaining ranked games, and they play in the SEC West. This is a down year for the SEC West. Mississippi State doesn't jump off the page. Arkansas, worse than they needed to be. Texas A&M is a dumpster fire. LSU is already lost by a lot in Florida State.

It's LSU, Tennessee, and Ole Miss, the ones that are circled the rest of the way. And guess what? All of those are at home for Alabama. They've still got a real shot to run the table, go 11-1 and get smoked by Georgia in the SEC title game. Absolutely. And there's a chance they do all those things

and beat Georgia in the SEC title game. And then what's the question? What is the conversation that you have? What is the conversation that you have surrounding this team if they run the table and then find a way to beat Georgia in that SEC championship game? And I'm going to toss this back to you, Drake, because this ain't rhetorical now.

Do you think that you put that team in the playoff at that point, an 11-1 or 12-1 Alabama team with a win over Georgia? I think that Antarctica is cold most years, despite the global warming thing is changing some stuff. But yes, Benton, 12-1 Alabama does make the college football playoff, especially if TCU last year at 12-1 losers of their conference championship also made the postseason 100 and again this is not the usual tough SEC West schedule let's be honest it might not be your grandpa's Nick Saban he's

going to have to adjust to the NIL and transfer portal the same as schools like Colorado now have done so well so early on however however the rest of the sec west is also kind of behind here let's this is not what we're used to in the powerful juggernaut the sec wants you to think that it is and at this point when you look at the rankings look at the team strength a&m just got beat by miami fairly handedly the canes controlled that game and guess what i don don't think Miami is that great. Not good enough to be able to beat an SEC team like that with a half-full stadium.

This is not the SEC that we've been sold. Well, I was told that it just means more. I think it means just as much. I think the SEC means just as much. You know what I mean? That's about it. But in all seriousness, I agree. This is not a year where you're looking at this team.

So often when you talk about coming out of either side of the SEC, there have been years where we're like, you need to be a dominant force. You need to be perfection if you want to make it out of this side of the SEC. Now it's like, I mean, be a good team. You know, beat the teams that you're supposed to beat. You know, you'll generally get there. And somebody out there is throwing their phone across the room or punching their computer or they're turning the Bluetooth off in their car

because they're, oh, I'm an SEC fail. They're Big 12 and ACC guys. They don't know no real ball. And all that stuff. The SEC is the best conference in college football, and it's not close. You can have that every day of the week, twice on Sunday. That's fine. But this is not as good of an SEC as we saw two, three years ago,

especially when the West is so down. There are only three ranked teams in the West right now, Ole Miss, LSU, and Alabama, and one of those already got smoked by a team from the ACC. So let's be honest. The SEC is the best conference in college football. However, it's not as good as it was a year or two ago.

Can we at least meet in the middle there somebody please? Well, two of those teams actually have already been smoked by ACC teams. You know what I mean? Like, LSU got no mosh. They got tapped out. They say, at least Alabama went down fighting. LSU and Brian Kelly say, hey, listen,

we're not interested in being in this game anymore. Y'all got it. We're in Orlando. We're a long way from home. The light's too bright. Pissing down my leg a little bit. That's just what happened there. You know what I mean?

Thank God our pants are yellow to disguise it. Looks like sweat. That's what happened with LSU, okay? And so I'm not sure that I can definitively say the SEC is the best conference in football. Now, granted, this could just be because you don't have to. You don't have to. I will. So this could be because the SEC was the best by a mile in the past. And that gap has closed from a wide chasm to like we got to look at this thing one for one but i mean in that same regard you could also say the results so far this season have said as far as out of conference matchups against fellow power five teams the sec just

ain't it with all due respect okay well with all due respect you're wrong um the sec is still the powerhouse conference of college football until it stops winning national championships which won't have now i'll give you this kenton It's probably not the deepest conference in college football. The SEC this year only seems to go about three to five deep. I think there are some leagues that could make a case to go six or seven deep, a la the Pac-12 that has eight ranked teams and doesn't exist anymore. So, Kenton, we've been on the show for eight minutes. I'm already fired up.

You know what? Speaking of fired up, Jay Stevens of Locked on Buckeyes is – fired up is the what speaking of fire jay stevens of locked on buckeyes is uh i fired up the word i guess he gave his reaction because the buckeyes have named kyle mccord their new starting quarterback jay what do you got for us but the buckeyes two games in two and oh kyle mccord started the first two games against indiana against Youngstown State, and going into week three, I think this is a great move by Ryan Day. Now, the quarterback battle has gotten a lot of attention here and a lot of attention other places as well because it's important. Who your starting quarterback is is pivotal to how successful your team is going to be. Now, we've all looked at also,

hey, is this going to be the 2015 season or is it going to be X, Y, or Z or is Ohio is going to be. Now, we've all looked at also, hey, is this going to be the 2015 season, or is it going to be X, Y, or Z, or is Ohio State going to have to make a move like Nick Saban did in the natty, pulling Jalen Hurts, putting in Tua, then ultimately going in there and winning the national championship, making that monumental move at halftime of that game. I don't know if that's going to happen or going to be needed to happen, but this isn't 2015. This is not the same situation as Alabama and Tua and Jalen Hurts. This is a Buckeye situation where you have two guys at Ohio State who are really good football players.

One guy's a little bit more green than the other. The one guy who is not as green as the other, and McCord has played quite a bit of ball, a little bit of ball over the past couple of years as he's been a Buckeye quarterback at his first start in 2021 against Akron. Stroud did not play. McCord comes in, I believe he threw for over 300 passing yards in that game

just to give you a little thought and a little taste of what McCord did during his first game starting as the quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. But this is different than 2021. This is a whole lot, a bigger, different animal. You're going into this season with a quarterback battle that is ultimately over. Now, if the quarterback battle is over, that is not the end of the two-quarterback system that Ryan Day is possibly going to use.

Ryan Day made a comment saying, Devin Brown is still going to play. Great. I have made my spill. I've said my things about this very topic. There are numerous games on the book. I scheduled that two quarterbacks should play, not because of a two quarterback system being the best way to win the game, but because the game should be so out of hand,

the backup needs to come in to give the the starter some rest and the rest is body but also to allow the backup to get a little bit of playing time all right two things the first i still want jay stevens to narrate my life uh absolute unit the second and more important thing ken what if i told you that big bad indiana played ohio state a couple weeks ago and one kyle mccord went 20 for 33 239 yards no touchdowns and an interception i know what you're thinking we must have run the ball damn well two carries eight yards congrats ohio state you found your quarterback i mean listen at the end of the day we're not there for the practices every day and all that, we're not there for the practices every

day and all that, and we're not there for the ins and outs of who looks best and all that, but I'll tell you, if he continues, if McCoy continues with this type of play, that's not going to be their quarterback for very long. Like, Ryan Day didn't say, you know, so for example, if we look at the NFL, Kyle Shanahan

said Brock Purdy would have to melt in practice to not be the starter, right? Ryan Day didn't say anything along those lines he said hey this is our guy this is who's going to be our starting quarterback this is who we're rocking out with this is who we believe gives us the best chance to win you know so with that being said there's always that asterisk of even whether the coach says this out loud or not it's like it adds a little respect for me personally but that asterisk, and that's what it is for right now. He gives us the best chance to win right now. He didn't want to say that, but that's the reality, right?

Like this isn't a situation where McCord is the guy and there's nothing he can do. Go ahead and have a three interception game, brother. See what happens then. Yeah, I mean, he played fine against Youngstown State. I had a couple stats against Youngstown State as well. So you're looking at a quarterback in Kyle McCord that doesn't strike fear in college football. Like, it's almost a Beck or a Milrow right now that I look at and I think,

hmm, still a lot to prove there before I can buy this young quarterback at a powerhouse school. Staying in the Big Ten to Michigan State. Holy cow, this whole Mel Tucker deal is nuts, Kenton. So basically to unwrap this a bit. So there was a sexual assault survivor and advocate who came to Michigan state's campus on an invite from Mel Tucker, the same guy who signed a 10 year contract with the school. So she comes there,

they strike up a relationship that is strictly platonic. And then there is a lewd phone conversation that he takes on with her unwarranted, unwanted. So along with this, when all of this breaks out and he is interviewed by her attorneys, her team, he lies about the whole thing, where he was, what he was doing, the nature of the phone call. And it has come out that objectively Mel Tucker lied about a lot of stuff. And usually what do you do when you're guilty? call and it has come out that objectively mel tucker lied about a lot of stuff and usually what do you do when you're guilty can't you lie about the little things what the way that i see this michigan state was already thinking oh no we gave this guy 10 year deal well this could be bad the buyout's huge they were thinking huh i mean wouldn't be the worst if something happened for

cause and he gave it to them michigan state didn't have to drub this up or dig around. Mel Tucker just said, oh, hey, do you need to fire me? Here, I'm going to do something really bad that while married, by the way, if you want to add that little nugget in there too. And he gave them a reason to say, all right, let's part ways. So first thing first, to save Lockdown's lawyers a lot of headache here. All of this is alleged, right? This is all the information that we have. This is alleged. We are not saying that

we know the facts of this case. Per USA Today, by the way. Exactly. Per USA Today. These are the facts that we're getting secondhand or thirdhand. With that being said, a lot of people are harping on the 27 phone calls all at night and whether or not it was considered or not. This man had a morality clause in his contract as most nine, 10 figure contracts do. Ladies, gentlemen, non-binary folks, adults, children, and different, anybody listening to this show, if you have a life changing amount of money on the line, even if you have a day-changing amount of money on the line, do not, do not, do not do anything that can compromise that. That is absolutely unnecessary.

Because even if we say, hey, nothing illegal was done here, there were no laws violated, you still violated the morality clause. That's still an objective fact. the morality clause. That's still an objective fact. That's still. So, you know, this is this is a a black eye on, you know, college football, Michigan State as a whole, with everything that they've been dealing with so far lately. And I'm going to make one last point and kick it back to you on this one. I've been hearing a lot of and I hate talking things like this on a sports show because it's supposed to be sports. It's supposed to be fun. I hate hearing the of has mel tucker ruined it for other black coaches that's not how this works that's not how this works right like we

weren't saying that about rick patino bobby patrino we weren't saying that about urban we're not saying this about any other coaches mel made a terrible decision for mel mel made a terrible decision and he deserves all the vitriol. He deserves all the think pieces. He deserves a bit of criticism, the firing, everything that's coming his way. He deserves all of it. He deserves all of it. and denigrate an entire group of coaches that have done well. What has James Franklin done besides lose to Ohio State and Michigan? What has Deion Sanders done so far besides wear a hat in shades when he's talking to reporters, which is apparently a thing now? What has Jay Norvell done? You see what I'm saying? There are multiple coaches at the highest level that their reputations

are very clean. And so to use this one to paint that light, it's a very nasty narrative that I just don't approve of. It's a narrative that was unnecessary. Nobody was asking this question, and then people were like, oh, let's drum this one up. Exactly. And again, what happened in this scenario is something that, to me,

is certainly fireable. And Michigan State, that's where this thing is something that, to me, is certainly fireable. And Michigan State, that's where this thing is leading with Mel Tucker. Now, if you're that program that has been, in the last 10 years, steeped in controversy across multiple different parts of your athletic department, not a good look for Michigan State that seems to be in a spot right now where, I mean, if I'm a coach somewhere else, is that the culture I want to walk into? And I know that's really tough to hear as a Michigan State fan, but this is piled on and piled on across the athletic department. So let's bring this back.

Let's bring this thing full circle because everybody don't realize it's the circle of life and it moves us all. Do you know who the new interim head coach is of this team or associate interim head coach is of this team? Is it D'Antoni, the big D'Antoni guy? D'Antoni, the guy who got kicked out in the first place for allowing some players to get away with some rather salacious things, again, allegedly because he retired before the investigations concluded.

But the coach, you know, left under some, again, very questionable circumstances is now back. That's how far this thing has gone. You know, and it's, again, it's a very sad situation that you look at an athletic department that is from top to bottom. You just randomly see all of these stories popping up and piling on one university to the point where it's getting to the point. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody that's like over the university at large steps in and says, all right,

we have to run all of the searches for these coaches. We have to institute extra policies for these coaches because it's, it's just a terrible situation. It really and truly is. And again, you're talking about not a program that is, is a stranger to controversy. You're talking about years upon years upon years of being in and out of courtrooms for inaction against these types of things so of course mel tucker's gone dantonio's back and we of course he's dantonio's not the head coach now but who knows where this thing could go yeah well kenton let's go back to the fun stuff absolutely let's

do the lighthearted awesome the awesome things that we love about sports. We've got some playoff contenders, pretenders, contenders that we've talked about the last couple of weeks. This week, we're going to discuss Penn State that always seems to be overlooked. We have their host, Zach Seiko, to join us here on this show. But first, Kenton, what do you got from LinkedIn? Absolutely. Well, folks, some folks are already,

we talked about it at Leg Directors a little earlier. Some of these at Leg Directors need to get in on LinkedIn College as well, because I know you're looking for a new hire. But these days, every new potential hire can feel like a high stage wage for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available.

That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs will help you find the right people for your team faster. Trust me, I am a recruiter when I'm not doing this and I have hired folks off of LinkedIn Jobs and to some of the startups that I've worked for. So I can personally vouch for this product. I've used it myself and it did not let me down. If you want to get in on this, all you have to do is create a free job post on LinkedIn Jobs, then add your job and the purple hiring hashtag frame to your linkedin banner to spread the word that you're hiring simple tools like screening questions make it easy to focus on candidates with the right skills and

experience so you can quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview so folks that is linked in jobs to help you find the jobs to help you find the most qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash LockedOnCollege. That's LinkedIn.com slash LockedOnCollege to post your job for free. Terms and conditions do apply. Ken, after a couple weeks of college football, it seems that the public has eliminated Alabama and Clemson from contention. So who is still in that picture for now?

Let's bring in Locked On Nittany Lions, Zach Saco. Zach Saco joining Locked On College Football live today. Zach, it's a Penn State team, and I just said it, I'll back it up. They seem overlooked every year because the big hump is trying to get over the big 10, win a big 10 championship. And that's what it usually takes to get into the college football playoff. What do you make of this Penn state team? A being overlooked and B that being a bonus to try to make a playoff run. Yeah. People still view Penn state as this fringe top 10 team. Okay. That they're going to go 10-2, they're going to

fall to the likes of Ohio State, they're definitely going to lose to Michigan, they'll finish 10-2, they'll go to a bowl game, and who knows if they play an SEC team or a Pac-12, Pac-2, Big 12, whatever. If they play that one, then they're all, they're going to win, and then they're just going to look good in the spotlight. This is one of the most well-rounded Penn State teams that I've personally seen. You have the five-star quarterback. You have two future. You have a first-round pick at quarterback. You have two future first-round picks at running back.

You have a franchise left tackle, a future top-ten pick in Oluf Ashanu. The defense has a bunch of future first-round picks, whether it's Kaelin King, chop Robinson. I mean, I Abdul Carter, Penn state is absolutely loaded and they shouldn't be taken lightly. The, the gap has closed definitely on Ohio state. Everybody knows about Michigan. So we'll see when that contest rolls around in Beaver stadium, just how close Penn state is to a very good Wolverine state.

I'm not going to try to sit here and undermine them, but I know that the class, the gap is closed on the Buckeyes. So Penn State, if things go the way I think they do, they at least go 11 and one. The question is, can they go 12 and 0? Okay. And you know what? I'm going to tell you this. Okay. I'm a Cass Tech guy. You got two of them on your roster, King twins, you know, much love to y'all boys. With that being said, in terms of what has helped close that gap on Ohio State and even narrowed the gap with Michigan, what has Penn State done to kind of even that playing field out a bit and what typically people could look at and say, hey, Penn State's going to be great.

They can still pencil in a W. Why can't they this year? So Penn State has improved mainly because of that that capability on the ground okay it starts with the offensive line you know I'm a big believer in you win battle up front in the trenches okay the offensive line is the best that it's been we've been saying for the past decade because we know for the reasons that they lost the scholarships and Penn State had to focus its resources towards getting skilled guys as opposed to getting the big guys up front but now they they've really settled in they brought in an offensive line or coordinator that is just he recruits he's very good at recruiting and he's

built that like there's tears to it now they don't just have starters they got guys that came back up the backups and then when you have running backs who, like I said, Nicholas Singleton projects to be like a top 10 pick. Katron Allen's definitely in the first round. It's just a matter of where. Those two guys to go along with it. That's why they played right away as true freshmen. So even before we get to Drew Aller, Penn State, two seasons ago in 2021, they're playing Illinois.

They went to nine overtimes because they couldn't close out a bad team. Okay? Penn State was throwing bubble screens on first and 10 to try to pick up some yardage. they're playing Illinois. They went to nine overtimes because they couldn't close out a bad team. Okay. Penn state was throwing bubble screens on first and 10 to try to pick up some yardage. That was their ground game because they had a Noah Cain who just didn't recover right away from the ACL surgery. And then Keevan Lee just isn't a top running back. Okay.

He's okay. He's decent, but he's not the likes of Singleton and Allen here. So that's why Penn state is able to dictate the pace of the game win time of possession and they can go quick quick quick and the offense is finally dynamic it's balanced and you have to pick your poison between Drew Aller and then Singleton and Allen in the ground game Aller Singleton Allen Lambert Smith I mean there are some big names in this Penn State team that I think more people across college football should know.

Not saying household, but they should at least know. Do you think any of these guys have a shot at an outside shot at the Heisman trope? Because I look at what they do and I think, all right, all these elite teams we're talking about seem to have one or two Heisman contenders. Who is Penn State's guy? You think, all right, this dude's got a real shot to go to New York if Penn State puts this together. Aller Singleton.

Now, the discussion for Penn State has been where the explosive run's been. Where are they coming from? When are they going to be here? The wide receivers have let them down in terms of downfield blocking because Nicholas Singleton is that big play player for out of the backfield. Cateron Allen, I would say, is a Heisman hopeful. But because Singleton can break off the 80-yard touchdown at any point in time, he's got the speed to do it.

I would say that he's the more talented of the two. It's no disrespect to Katron Allen. But Singleton does have that big play ability. And right now he leads the team in rushing touchdowns. For Drew Allard, you've got to look at the stat line for drew allard he's been extremely efficient no turnovers no interceptions granted it's west virginia it's delaware illinois will be the first true test then you got a much better defense in terms of iowa just uh right right after that in the whiteout so drew allard is really going to get a chance to back up the pedigree and say okay it's not just inflated

because we're playing teams that are significantly lower than us. You know, I'm as good as advertised. My completion percentage is through the roof. I'm not turning the ball over. I look like a veteran quarterback. And then those passing through for three 25 and three touchdowns against West Virginia in week one, I, because they had to West Virginia sold out for the run and drew Aller showed out. So those are the two guys. Uh, if you're going to look for Heisman contenders on this Penn State team. Absolutely. And in terms of who's a guy that nobody's thinking about, you know what I mean?

Who's a guy that the nation may not know, the nation may not be thinking about in terms of right now in those first-round draft pick conversations that you say, this guy could be an X factor. This guy, if you're watching the big game, you're watching that Michigan or Ohio State game, this guy could be the guy that makes the play that wins us the game. Don't be afraid to say Kobe King.

I wouldn't be mad at you. I wouldn't be mad. I wouldn't be mad. So just because there are some guys that just don't get the due respect that are above him right now, because I like Kobe King a lot. I think he's someone that that i've i've raved about the three linebackers that they have at the on the field all at the same time so i'll pivot to his linebacker counterpart and that is curtis jacobs curtis jacobs was left off award

watch list and then nfl scouts have quietly said hey this guy is a top five linebacker and next year's nfl draft so it's like what are you doing at the college football level when you leave a guy off of a ward watch list and the NFL scouts are saying, no, this guy's pretty good. We could take him probably early on day two, maybe on day one, depending on how the combines go and everything else. But he's had double-digit tackles. Everyone likes to talk about Abdul Carter because he wears 11,

flies all over the football field. But Curtis Jacobs has quietly been the linebacker that's really held the glue of the – been the glue of the defense to add on top of what they already do with the blitzes and the explosiveness. The veteran coming back could have went to the NFL draft last year. Now he's going to be a top-five linebacker prospect for 2024. So that's an unsung hero um as far as offense i'll go with the tight ends theo johnson and tyler warren they're co-starters they've been running

a lot of 12 personnel having two tight ends on the field at the same time because you can't keep them off the offense is able to be built with the fact that they can do so much more so they've been quiet in the passing game because penn state's needed them to just be a you know a helping hand when it comes to blocking and that's fine but Theo Johnson has been talked about as a unicorn because he's six foot six 260 and the way that he runs uh is is very you just have to see it you have when you watch the game very fast when he does go out there for a pass and then Tyler Warren described by Sports, is the best secret in college football, so I'll take their word for it. Absolutely. Well, us media guys know nothing.

Drake is nine toes down about this to tell you we know nothing because he lost a toe saying the Clemson wasn't going to lose the Duke. But I got it back. But I got it back when Texas beat Alabama. Zach, before we get you out of here, the thesis, the 15-second thesis, if somebody's going to know about this Penn State team and why they should go to the college football playoff, it's always been losses in the big games and maybe one slip in a small game.

What makes this Penn State season different? They're motivated. They're well-coached. James Franklin between Mike Yursich, Manny Diaz. They finally had continuity, consistency. They were always rotating coordinators. That's the first part of it. The system is in place, and then they have the talent to back it up. You have not just three stars and lowly four stars. You now have four

stars and those highly talented five-star players. So, Duraler, Nicholas Singleton, Katron Allen, Abdul Carter, we've named it up and down the roster, Kaitlin King, Chop Robinson out of the transfer portal. I mean, the talent is there to go along with the system of probably the best coordinator setup that Penn State has had over James Franklin's tenure. Mike Yuricich, Manny Diaz are both head coaches at coordinator spots. That's Zach Staco, Lockdown Nittany Lions. Zach, thanks for joining Lockdown College Football Kickoff Live.

Absolutely. Thanks for having me. All right, Kent, one of the biggest storylines we bury. We have buried the lead. Colorado, Deion Sanders. We're going to get that a couple of times in today's show, but let's jump in right now first. This team, I mean, we were buying them last week. I guess you're still buying them this week after they dominated Nebraska in a game that was personal.

I was the first one to buy stock in Colorado, and it's a hodl, baby. It's a hodl. I'm holding this thing until the wheels fall off. Now, let me tell you this. Let me tell you this. I think— Let me tell you something. Talk to me.

Talk to me. It's like it was a vine. You're too old. Oh, okay. All right. All right. Well, let me—Drake, me and you are about the same age. Don't do me like that.

The ball head is fooling you. But here's the reality. I have a lot of faith in this Colorado team. The under over that Vegas has on them, I believe, is six and a half at this point. I still think that they have the opportunity to get over that. I'm not necessarily buying them as a playoff team yet because when your defense looks how they've looked at certain points in time this season you're living on a on the edge a little bit

they have to have to have to get better defensively before i can say hey i trust this team to be in the playoffs and also travis hunter and and all that he's, that young man is playing 110, 120 snaps a game. They need to start blowing teams out if they want him to be good and fresh for late in the season. Like, yes, we can say, hey, 110, he still looks good after week one, going into week two. What does that look like when you're going into USC? What does that look like when you're at, you know, you're in the dog days of week 11 and you're saying to yourself, now, wait a minute, what's 110 or 120 times 11 here? You're looking at a very, very different situation when you've got a guy playing over a thousand snaps where he's either targeted on

defense or a guy that's having to go all out on offense. It's tough. It's tough for me to say that, but I do believe that this team is a good team i do believe that this team can shake some folks up scare some folks and all that good stuff and i'll tell you what we saw with tcu last year you don't necessarily need a great defense you need timely stops you need to create turnovers which they have done so far this year so could they be that type of team possibly that type of contender but you know, but I'm just sad because I know the buzzards are circling. They're waiting for Deion to lose. Ah, we told you!

So what? That it was to Lincoln Riley and the team that's probably going to go to the playoffs or just short of playoffs. We told you all along that Colorado wasn't about nothing. Kenton, obviously we'll get into this conversation later in the show, but I want to preface it. This whole Jay Norvell thing, I think Jay Norvell is a genius.

Because this entire week, we've been talking about one name and one team, Deion Sanders in Colorado. Kenton, I am the host of Locked On College Football Kickoff Live, and I had no idea who the Colorado State head coach was three days ago. Now I do, because Jay Norvell, marketing genius. No publicity is bad publicity. So now if you look up Deion Sanders' name, what name pops up with it? Jay Norvell.

Jay Norvell, Colorado State. They've been at ESPN and Fox, have been in his office asking questions about Colorado all week long to him and his players. He took the attention, brought it to himself. And what did Deion Sanders say? Oh, now it's personal. Deion, it was personal last week and the week before that. And is it just going to be personal every week? Maybe they buy that within the program. But to me, on the outside of the program, it was personal last week and the week before that. And is it just going to be personal every week?

Maybe they buy that within the program. But to me, on the outside of the program, it thinks, okay, at some point this whole personal narrative has to die. Jay Norvell tried to trap Dion into sounding really weird about a really small team, right? You know, if somebody is super inferior to you, says something, you usually just brush them off. Not Dion.

No, this made it personal. Kent, we'll get into that conversation later because I know you got a lot. I was about to say, hold on now. Hold on. Go ahead. Go ahead. I know you got a lot to say about it. We got a lot of awesome. We got Conference Confidential coming up. We've also got got to go around with Lockdown Razorbacks host John Neighbors as well.

But first, Conference Confidential? Whatever we call that. But first, hey, what do you got for us, Kent? All right all right well i got some fan duel for you folks i know we're talking college football right now but trust me we've also got nfl action get ready for the nfl season with incredible offers from fan duel america's number one sports book right now new customers can bet five dollars and get 200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.

You heard that right. You turn that $5, flip that into $300 worth of value potentially. Ain't that crazy? Now is the best time to join FanDuel. The app is easy to use. You can bet everything from spreads to player props and more. So visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season with an offer you don't want to miss.

I'm not going to say it's an offer you can't refuse because, you know, we're nice guys. We don't want you to do nothing you don't want to do. It's just an offer you should get in on, okay? FanDuel, the official partner of the NFL. It's an offer you must take or you have to cut your left pinky toe off with a rough remark. I wasn't supposed to say, Kenton, but all right, whatever.

Conference confidence. Not a ton of big rivalry games this week. I keep hearing from people, both sides, this is a boring week of college football. You weren't saying that four weeks ago when you really wanted football to return, were you? No, you weren't. And some teams, though, could be on upset alert this

week while others have opportunities to make a statement so let's go around the country get the latest from our locked on conference host starting with craig scheman of locked on big 10 so this weekend both big 10 coaches in the state of michigan are suspended it's been a crazy time in big 10 country of course mel tucker will not be on the michigan state sidelines because of accusations of sexual harassment so on saturday assistant harlan barnett takes over with an assist from former head coach mark dantonio who's coming out of retirement for this game against the washington huskies who come in with Heisman hopeful Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback and he used to be the quarterback of the Indiana Hoosiers so he could be comfortable

coming into East Lansing he's played in this stadium before this will be the final week of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's suspension the self-imposed three-game suspension he's been serving out the Wolverines take on Bowling Green coordinator, Sharon Moore will handle the head coaching duties. And I heard Michigan's going with the all blues with this one. Blue jerseys, blue pants. Cool. Look,

a couple of quarterback announcements this week. Finally, Ryan day has made it official. He has settled on Kyle McCord is the starting quarterback for the Ohio state Buckeyes. The Buckeyes host Western Kentucky for their final tune-up before next weekend's game against Notre Dame. And Tom Allen has decided on Taven Jackson

as his starting quarterback moving forward for Indiana. The Hoosiers play Louisville. It's not in Bloomington this weekend. It's up in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. Saturday does feature one Big Ten versus Big Ten team on the schedule. Undefeated Penn State rolls into Illinois. Expect an orange out crowd there.

I don't know if it's going to compare to Penn State's white out crowd, which is next week, by the way, against Iowa. But they're going with the all orange. We'll see how that looks in Champaign. And the most intriguing game on the schedule, I think, might be P.J. Flex, Golden Gophers, Minnesota hitting the road to take on Mack Brown's North Carolina Tar Heels. The Heels are eight-point favorites in this one, but I think Minnesota's defense is sneaky good.

And if North Carolina Heisman candidate Drake May plays anything like he has the past couple weeks, Minnesota's got a chance. Look, Drake May has not like he has the past couple weeks. Minnesota's got a chance. Look, Drake May has not lit it up yet. He threw two interceptions in the South Carolina game, and he needed two overtimes to beat App State. So I'm saying it's out there to be had. And finally, don't forget, Friday Night Lights again in the Big Ten, 2-0 Maryland hosting Virginia.

The Terps have a great running back in Roman Hemby, and, of course, quarterback Talia Tangaboyola. So she'll be good. Enjoy the games this weekend. I'm Craig Schumann for Locked On Big Ten. What's up, everybody? Candace Cooper here, Locked On ACC, and here are the games you should check out from my

conference. The backyard brawl, always a juicy. Fielder Kovac is new to this game, but Pitt Panthers are not. What will he bring as he's had a shaky start to the season? Can he turn things around for this offense? Defense has been holding strong per usual. And West Virginia game is always one where you just never know what you're gonna get.

So look forward to tuning into that one in West Virginia, that I might add. Let's also talk about the fact that we have another Big Ten opponent. North Carolina and Minnesota, for the first time ever, are going to be playing against each other in Chapel Hill. So that should be a fun doozy. Can North Carolina hold still, bounce back after a shaky App State game? It's going to be one where can we see Drake May continually improve? He has had not the best Heisman campaign right now, but there is still so much ball left to go. Final

one, I would say, as we're talking through these games, Georgia Tech and Ole Miss. Georgia Tech showing up, not saying they're going to defeat, but a big show up in a big way after last season getting obliterated by the Rebels. Can the Yellow Jackets show that the improvement is there? Possibly an upset taking down a top 25 team. It'll be a great one to watch, so make sure you check it out. Well, this week's slate in the Pac-12 doesn't quite match up to week two's non-conference affairs, but still some games that bring a lot of intrigue to our beloved Conference of Champions. Spencer McLaughlin here for Locked On Pac-12.

The only Power 5 matchup that anyone's paying attention to in the Pac-12 this week is Washington at Michigan State, which now has external factors at play. And you just wonder, is a team going to play inspired or defeated when an interim coach is inserted? Washington has been really impressive through two weeks so far. They stumbled in the first quarter against Boise State a little in the second. Then they found their footing and they won that game comfortably. Tulsa never had a chance playing in Seattle, but Washington has a chance to go and make a statement on the road at Michigan State.

They're a big favorite and they have become a greater favorite since it was announced that Mel Tucker would not be coaching the game in East Lansing on Saturday. But the Huskies nevertheless are playing their first Power 5 opponent of the year. They've taken care of a couple of G5 opponents pretty handily. They haven't struggled in the fourth quarter of either of those games, but on the road, hostile environment against a 2-0 football team. We'll see what Michigan State is able to give them. Last year in Seattle, the Huskies really controlled the game from the early portions of it, and then Michigan State is able to give them. Last year in Seattle, the Huskies really controlled the game from the early portions of it, and then Michigan State made a late surge but never truly threatened to get back into the winning side of things against the Huskies. So if they go in and dominate the way that a lot of people expect them

to, they will solidify themselves as a conference contender and a college football playoff contender here in 2023. A couple other games to note. Fresno State goes 2 Tempe. Fascinating game because the Bulldogs out of the Mountain West are favored against Arizona State. They're a three-point underdog. That might be a candidate for the Pac-12 prime picks this week. ASU playing their third straight game at home, looking to get over.500 once again under first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham. And Arizona comes back home after a great fight against Mississippi State last week to play UTEP. I think they could win that game over the Miners.

Really, really big. That's a rundown for the Pac-12 this week. Catch Locked on Pac-12 on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, Monday through Friday, all year long. That was a look around college football here on College Football Kickoff Live with our conference confidential. Don't forget, big conferences, the biggest conference, the Big 12, is coming up later on in the show.

Kenton Gibbs, it is time for Boom or Bust. Let's take a look at some college football teams that we think have not been as good as advertised and teams that have been better than advertised. We'll start with you, Kenton, your number one boom of college football so far. Absolutely. I mean, there were a lot of choices here. There were a lot of teams I thought have looked very, very good so far this season. FSU, you know, and I'm not saying this because I'm a co-host of Locked On ACC.

Keion Coleman has been dominant. We thought, hey, he's going to be a good one-two punch with Johnny Wilson. He said, no, I'm one-and-two. Everybody else get behind me. He's jumping over guys. I've never seen a receiver in a Power Five game signal, throw me the fade ball, as much as I did with him against LSU. And guess what happened more often than not when he got that fade ball?

He was coming down with it. Number four is having a parade inside the end zone. Yeah, Skip Bayless would say. So yeah, it was a very, very exciting time for Florida State in week one. Week two, of course, everybody expected them to whoop Southern Miss. Now they're going forward with more games of teams

that aren't quite on pace with them, but that's not because they have a terrible schedule. It's because they're legitimately that good right now. They're looking amazing. Kent, we got a little extra time, so we'll go two booms and two busts apiece. I'll give you my boom, Washington. Michael Penix, why are we not talking about the Huskies

and what they've done so far this season? Now, look, let's be honest. The Pac-12 is not something that we were talking about before the year began. Now they have eight ranked teams. So the Huskies' schedule is not going to be easy, but they have taken care of business when they needed to. Now, what I mean by that is there are so many squads, especially in the SEC, who have just not played anybody yet.

We just haven't seen them play a team where you say, all right, here's how they stack up this washington squad ended last season with a seven point win against texas in a bowl game they beat boise state 56 to 19 beat tulsa 43 to 10 the defense is good the offense is better this is a team that we are not talking about enough that is a dangerous dangerous squad to not only win the pack 12 but also to go to the college football playoff and i think similar to penn state we're skipping over that the difference in washington and penn state washington doesn't have to play ohio state or michigan to get the cfp they've got to play cal michigan state arizona of course they have the usc and washington on there but they also

have the stanford on their schedule i think think Washington's got a legitimate shot to go to the CFP, Kenton. They are one of my booms this year. Let's go into busts next. Who is one bust that you've got before we go back to the booms? Oh, man, I think there are so many teams that could have fallen into this bust category so far. And I really could go in for days and days on some of the teams that haven't shown up so far this season.

But I'm going to call one team to the carpet that I just have not seen anything from this season with all due respect. Tennessee Volunteers, come on down. The way the Tennessee fans talked about Milrow not being able to pass the ball on these basic routes, the way they talked about him and his inability to read defenses. Are you forgetting that Joe Milton ran out of bounds to end the game? Are you forgetting that that guy's now your starting quarterback? Hey, listen, I love the nickname.

Bazooka Joe is one of the best nicknames in all of sports. R.I.P. Joe Frazier. We love it on Joe Milton. We love the shirts in the NIL and all that. That boy needs to prove to me that he can hit a quick out. That offense needs to prove to me. I watched them a quick out. That offense needs to prove to me. I watched them play against Virginia. And Virginia, without Chico Bennett, their best defender and potentially best player,

held their offense down until literally the last five minutes of the second quarter. Folks, I'm telling you right now, I'm worried about this Tennessee team. Everybody thought that Rocky Top was going to be a super tough out because of Joe Milton in this offense and Heupel in this high-powered offense. I don't know how much power that they got in it, but they need some gas power, some nuclear power, some electric, some EV power. They need all types of power because

right now they're not looking like it. My bust, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and we already talked to their host here, Jay Stevens, on the show. What have you done for me? You sucked against Indiana. You were lackluster against Youngstown State at times.

Defensively, it was 14-7 coming out of the first quarter against Youngstown State. And if you're Ohio State, that shouldn't happen. This week, you get Western Kentucky, and we talk about teams finishing and doing what they're supposed to do. Ohio State's 2-0, but it feels like a fraudulent 2-0. Their quarterback feels handicapped so far. What can you do for him?

He struggled so much against Indiana. He is one-dimensional. He can't run the football. McCord, I don't think, is an elite quarterback that can lead Ohio State to a Big Ten championship. You already disappointed last year by getting killed by michigan in the regular season we invited you to the college football playoff and you had georgia not just on the ropes you had the game won late let it slip through your fingers and i still a lot of ohio state fans that agree with me i don't buy this whole ryan day thing

i'm still not all the way sold on ryan until this guy with the most talent in the country with so much money with a massive recruiting pool and big brand until this guy can start winning a championship until you win a championship that that's one of those universities can and there's only about five or six of them that your standard here is to win a national championship and if you can't do that, a la Mark Richt at Georgia. Georgia wanted a championship. Georgia fans are going, why'd you fire perennial 10-2 Mark Richt to win a championship?

Ryan Day is getting dangerously into that territory. They are one of my busts. Kenton, give me another boom. Well, I mean, in terms of booms, you know, we got to go to a team that is in the similar vein of that whole Mark Richt and winning the national championship. And are they back conversation perennially? The Texas Longhorns. I got to give them their guts. I got to give them their props. I got to give them their respect. They showed up and beat Alabama. Let's just be honest. This was not a game in which Alabama beat themselves.

No, Texas showed up. Quinn Ears is finally looking like the guy that everybody thought he was. I mean, that boy was out there dropping dimes like he was trying to get kicked out of a strip club. He did everything that you need to do out of a starting quarterback in a big game. He did everything that you need to do in terms of not just protecting the ball, because there's three different types of quarterback. There's the quarterback you win in spite of. He's playing terribly, but your defense and your running game is good enough to get it done. There's the quarterback you win with. I hand off the ball. I hit things on time. Every now and then I make a good play for you. Don't ask for too much. And then there's the quarterback you win because of. And let me tell you something. Quinn has been the guy that because of you, they feel real safe

down there in Austin. I love it. Keep it up. I'm not going to say that Texas is back. However, Texas looked phenomenal. They're one of my boom teams so far this year. Kenton, my boom, and I think it's a level 18 boom. This is a level, maybe even level 20, which is getting kind of crazy. This is from our production team to you to myself, the Colorado Buffaloes. I mean, this is a team that you very well thought could be oh and two many had them at one two three wins how do you put a bandaid on a bullet hole at this point they were one and eleven last season they've already doubled that

win total they're two and oh with wins against tcu and nebraska and and what i want to hone in on here for a bit is this whole jayvell Deion Sanders conversation because while I think Colorado is a big boom I've got Jay Norvell as a boom this week he put himself and his program on the map while all the talk has been about Colorado what do you make of this I strongly disagree with you oh he's gonna be a footnote in the strongly category oh watch it listen listen I agree 18 disagree right there i was just about to say i agree to the level 18 boom i agree to that but i think that this is a huge bust for jay novell because number one you're not gonna be out on that field somebody's gonna get hit in the

kidneys for what you said brother oh that's that's the reality of what we're looking at here but even beyond that i i very strongly feel like there are certain things that you can talk about that you can, you know, they're fair game, right? If you say, hey, Shador hasn't seen a defense like ours. He's never had to throw in his title windows that we're going to make him go against. Hey, Travis Hunter hasn't seen receivers and DBs like ours. We're going to be all over him like a ferret on the first day of hunting season. I love it. I'm all for it. When you talk about how a man was raised, that really is. If you talk, listen, I love it. I'm all for it. When you talk about how a man was raised, that really is. Listen, I love my mother. I know she's watching this right now. Mom, I love you.

If somebody said Ken don't know how to host because, you know, that's just I was raised that you never use any type of vernacular English when you're speaking on television. You speak proper standard English. Now you're talking about how my mother raised me. OK, now it is personal. Now it is personal. Now I want to beat your show because it's that personal to me because now you're disrespecting my mother. That is insane. Of all the things that you have to disrespect about them, of all the things you can say, hey,

they can be the glitz and glam team. We'll be the team that works hard. We'll be the team that puts our nose to the grindstone. We'll be the team with the calloused and nasty hands. They can have those manicure polished ones. We'll be the ones that puts our nose to the grindstone. We'll be the team with the calloused and nasty hands. They can have those manicure polished ones. We'll be the ones that have our hands like this so that we can relax at the end of this thing

when we're singing our fight song. We're playing Katie Dids at the doorstep in the end zone. But you don't talk about a man's mama. You don't talk about the way a man was raised. That's just insane. And now you earned your team getting 50 because you made it what? Personal. He made it what personal he made it personal i look he was already gonna lose by a lot he was already gonna lose by a lot and

dion what was gonna happen was dion was gonna dig up three weeks ago jay norvell probably said oh i think the biggest game on our schedule is nevada because that's the game that matters to them probably and dion was gonna pull that back oh they don't respect us they don't give us any love like colorado state's overlooking us he would take it out of context bring it to pull that and be like, oh, they don't respect us. They don't give us any love. Like, Colorado State's overlooking us. He would take it out of context, bring it to his team, and try to make it personal. He was already going to do that with something small. Jay Norvell said, no, don't dig.

I'll just give it to you. We're already going to get it just beat out of us. We're going to get killed. But let's get killed and make headlines for a couple of days. Again, no publicity is bad publicity everyone knows the name jay norvell now and the spotlight has been turned for a moment from dion to jay norvell how does dion respond of course saying it's personal which is the same thing he said last week and the week before that this is like a reoccurring thing for dion and jay norvell

just said look if it's personal for you it can be personal for me i take my glasses off and take my hat off when i sit down that's how my mama raised me. I mean, he did not, which like Matt Rule, right? Matt Rule cowered down and oh, you know, he didn't double down on his words on game week. Jay Norvell said, I'm going to make it very apparent what I think about Colorado. I'm not going to dance around it. You think he's the big, bad bully? Look, I can come to the table too with my own disrespect. And to me, that shows some cojones from a guy who already knew he's going to get his rocked. Oh, absolutely.

Listen, I'm never going to say that he didn't pull a bold move. If you're asking if it was bold, that's a level 100 lock. That was extremely bold, OK? That was Batman the Brave in the bowl, for those of you who remember that show. But with that being said, was it smart? Was it advantageous for his team? Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

Again, this was already going to be a situation where I'm sure the dogs are going to be caught off and Travis Hunter was going to be in the hot tub by the middle of the third quarter and whatnot. But to me, again, there are certain things that are inbounds, in. You can go for it. You can you know, that's that's college game day stuff. Sign stuff like that's not that's not real football stuff. That's not real. Let's talk the on the field going and going on and happening stuff to me. And I'm very much so one of those guys is like, keep it on the field. Any problem I have. And if I have a problem with you off the field, let it be between me and you as men. Let it be. Don't bring my wife into it. Don't bring my kids into it. Don't bring my mom into it. That's just, those are things to me

that when you bring that in there, even if he was just doing his job to sell the fight, right? Because we've all seen this with boxers and UFC fighters. Like if you talk to the guy, he's the most humble guy in the world. It doesn't really like doing that, doing that but he's like hey I'll talk the way I did because I needed to sell the fight sure you don't sell the fight with mama you don't sell the fight with mama because now we fighting here and in the ring we gonna fight here first and then you gonna get whooped on in the ring but for him

Deion is an old man he ain't gonna you know he ain't gonna put hands on you he just gonna say hey Travis go deep hey Shador hit Travis behind that 5'8 corner that runs a 4'7". Go ahead. That's what we're going to do. Hey, Kenton, is my Wi-Fi coming through okay?

Can you see me all right? Yeah, I can see. I can see. Okay, because it looks like I keep getting these up. Every time I get a notification, my Wi-Fi kind of just flickers in and out, and I keep getting these LinkedIn requests from Jimbo Fisher. He really wants to be friends. Looks like he's got this whole thing freshened up.

I think Jimbo Fisher might be looking for a new job. Yeah, well, Jimbo ain't the only one. Jimbo's looking for a new job, but he ain't the only one. Billy Napier is also a couple weeks away from looking for a new job. Whoa, whoa, whoa, leave Billy alone because he's new. He's new in the game. He's new in the game, so we'll give Billy some grace. Jeff Halfley, that red bandana game, I think that they should take a book out of Penn

State's page and make it the whiteout games. That way they can wave the white flag and send Jeff on his way respectfully. And I'm going to call you Jeffrey. Jeff, can I call you Jeffrey? I'm going to call you Jeffrey. Jeffrey, I know it's been a long time coming, you know, and I'm going to tell you this. It's looking like Ohio State may need a new staff up there soon. And I know you're an Ohio State guy. I know you're an Ohio State guy, Jeff. You know what I mean? Pick up the phone, baby.

You know what I mean? Call them. Hey, Ryan, listen, your new defensive coordinator, I heard you want that old thing back. I'll be there, brother. If you need me, I'll be there because I mean, you know, both of those are tough situations, but I'll tell you what. Boston College just barely scraping

by by the skin of their teeth against Holy Cross. It's going to be an unholy firing, brother. It's going to be an unholy job search in terms of, you know, this market is tough. I'm a career coach too, Jeff. So, again, Mr. Halfley actually not because I'm actually for the money.

Mr. Halfley, if you want to, you know, have a career consultation, I can tell you other things you can get into to make yourself a little money. Jefferson Halfley, notable listener to Locked On College Football Live, is probably very upset right now because he is going to be fired. I don't know what happened to dono man i think dono gave himself a one-week self-imposed ban because of how excited he got from the miami win he pulled the he's on his wake slate of college football and pulled the jim harbaugh for us um so i think since we have a third spot available what do you say we reach out to butch jones we could have had him help us host this show this week he has scored three points kenton three points in two weeks

for arkansas state what once was a great program no matter who coached it i wonder if butch jones has a job waiting for him here at locked on hey listen butch you know we we don't have anything for arkansas state brother we don't have anything for Arkansas State, brother. We don't have anything for Arkansas State. Come on. Come on. You know what I mean? You know more about the NCAA program. I got a few sources at NC State.

I got a few sources around the ACC. I know you got more sources than me in the Arkansas State program, brother. Go on. Come on. Come on. You know what I mean? I hop on the phone with Mr. Lock and Company, and we'll get you squared away, brother. We'll get you a mic set up.

We'll tell you the best headphones to use and all that. You know what I mean? I know you're a little older, so we'll set you up away, brother. We'll get you a mic set up. We'll tell you the best headphones to use and all that. You know what I mean? I know you're a little older, so we'll set you up with a good producer, and we'll help you out there. But I don't think he's going to be a head coach too much longer. You know, I knew back in his Tennessee days when he tried to make one of the best running backs in the nation a tight end that that wasn't going to work out very long.

And so, with all due respect, you know, Arkansas State's athletic director, LinkedIn Jobs, if you need to post a job for free, you know what I mean? I'm just saying. Purple hashtag hiring frame. It is right there for you. It is right there for you. Kenton, there are the ones who legitimately have LinkedIn profiles. Jimbo Fisher, Butch Jones, Jeff Halfley as well.

Neil Brown at West Virginia. His days are numbered. Billy Napier has been an absolute joke at Florida. I mean... Look, I could win as a head coach. If anybody can win as a head, you can recruit. You get four or five-star players. And Billy Napier has somehow found a way to mess it up.

Dave Aranda, his LinkedIn profile has been updated at Baylor, now 0-2 after a loss to Texas State in Utah. But one person... i'm hearing the murmurs kenton that brent venables has downloaded the linkedin jobs app after a disappointing win this past weekend disappointing win against smu the whole art bryles being on the field then jeff labby making his profile picture art bryles to directly go against venables and jokestickly on the athletic director people are wondering what's going on with brent venables who brought oklahoma to a sub 500 season last year so here's the thing brent venables um maybe should have taken the page out of Bud Foster's book. Bud Foster is widely respected as one of,

if not the greatest defensive coordinator in all of college football history. You know why? He found where his home was. He found where he was comfortable. He stayed there forever. He literally is still just hanging around in Blacksburg now. He was with the, I want to say ACC network crew last week

when they were doing their little tailgate segment for Virginia Tech. And mind you, he wasn't there as a pundit. He was with the ACC Network crew last week when they were doing their little tailgate segment for Virginia Tech. And mind you, he wasn't there as a pundit. He was there drinking. That man said, I'm going to be drunk with an O by the time this game starts. More power to you, brother. But with that being said, Brent, hey, coach your name for everybody. Everybody

ain't able. You know what I mean? You gave it the old college try. You gave it the attempt. You don't got to update your LinkedIn, Brent. You know why? Because in the words of 7th Heaven, where can you go when the world don't treat you right? The answer is home. And that's the one place that you'll find

Dabo Sweetie. You need to go on back. They need you over there. They need you over there, brother. You're going back to Clemson. Go on back, okay? Because you don't have to – all these other coaches, they got to find somewhere to be. Brent, go ahead. Go home.

Stop playing. You done messed around long enough now. You know, and Dabo Sweeney, you ought to be standing outside of his house in Oklahoma playing baby comeback outside the boom box. I mean, going full CUSAC on him, okay? So, you know, that's just my opinion. Now, that one you are too young to understand. Yes, yes, I am.

You're correct. What I love is one writer wrote, if they don't have a mess on the field at Oklahoma, they will create a mess off the field, Art Bryles being in Norman. Venables there at OU is right now, he's 2-0. Following last season's sub-500 season, they've got got tulsa which should be a win on the road but you never know with venables so far he's been hit or miss certainly and i just this is an oklahoma team it's in a they are truly an approving year because when you go sub 500 at nc state or

baylor in your first year they're like oh yeah sure there's a progression there's there are levels to this oklahoma no sir that they don't do they don't play that game at ou so brent venables i don't know if your days are truly numbered here but he's at least downloaded that linkedin app and we're going to keep a pulse on that the rest of the season because somebody has got to lead them into the sec and i'm hearing murmurs from oklahoma fans that they don't they're not exactly confident that he's going to be that guy that can get him there in the future. Now,

Kenton, there are some huge storylines in college football that we could get. I mean, there's so many that we haven't gotten to yet. So what do you say? We blitz all the way through them. It's that time where we hear from our lead dog, the MVP,

the czar of locked on and locked on Auburn host, Zach Blackerby for the Blackerby Blitz. It is Zach Blackerby of Locked On Auburn. The Blackerby Blitz. This week we go through the nation's biggest headlines in college football, and Zach reacts. Zach, Deion Sanders, notable douchebag to some, savior of college football to others.

He took shots this week. When Jay Norvell said, when I meet a man, I take my hat off, my glasses off, and I shake his hand. Deion didn't like that. Zach, where do you sit? Yeah, he riled up his folks and he said, they made it personal. They made it personal.

Why is Colorado State wanting to do this? It makes no sense at all. I mean, I think Colorado's got the talent advantage and now they've got the reason to play. I mean, maybe Colorado State could have snuck up on him. Maybe. That's not happening now. I think this is a bad move.

And Deion gets to keep playing the same song over and over again. People keep counting us out. People don't believe in us, and he's able to turn that onto his team and say, hey, these people doubt you, and now you can go and show them. I don't know why people keep giving him ammo, Drake.

It doesn't make sense. Every week, Deion says the same thing. They don't respect us. They doubt us, And guess what? He was going to do it with Colorado State. Now Colorado State gave him a reason to because they know they're going to lose. And now what are we talking about today, Zach? Not Deion Sanders, but Jay Norvell and Deion.

I didn't know who coached Colorado State three days ago. And now I do because Jay Norvell is alongside Deion Sanders in the headline. Look, college game day wasn't here for Jay Norvell. There's Fox Sports. But now there's a storyline that includes the Colorado State head coach. No publicity is bad. We were going to get killed anyway. But now they're talking about us.

I don't know, man. I think it's such a boneheaded move. I don't know if it is a good thing for Colorado State. Oh, well, they like Jay. I know Jay Norvell's name now so if anything comes out of it Jay Norvell made this show wow never thought we'd talk about him uh on on the Blackerby Blitz I didn't either but you know what who one guy that I didn't think we'd be talking about in the hot seat I mean they're trying to fire Nick Saban now he done lost to

Texas at home Zach has Saban lost that little that little touch? Not to circle back to Deion so quickly, but the amount of message board posts, like, we got to go get Deion, and all these Tuscaloosa message boards, like, holy cow, what a wild world that we live in. I don't think Nick Saban's done it, Drake. You can't look at how Nick Saban talked to the media after that loss and tell me that it looks like it always has.

Something seems different. Something seems off. I don't know if Nick Saban's just getting older and maybe he's tired or maybe he knows this team isn't as good as they typically are. And he knows he doesn't have a championship team. I'm not sure but something does seem different seems off which is a damn shame for the auburn fans of the world and you and you too zach i'm sorry well uh drake i just gotta tell you the iron bowl is in auburn this year and weird things happen when that game is played in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Yes. Speaking of weird things, how about relations via a telephone

for one Power 5 head coach who just signed a 10-year contract? Mel Tucker and Michigan State likely completely parting ways after he had inappropriate, unwarranted relations with a sexual assault survivor and advocate via his cellular device. What do we do with this uh you you fire him which is what michigan state is gonna do and and look obviously the folks impacted like you know hopefully everybody's okay and recovers and all of that but the you know michigan state trying to fire him for cause and drake i mean mean, you and I aren't attorneys, right?

You may kind of look like one, but I think this is interesting because Michigan State looks like they're going to be able to fire him for cause. And in this world of college football that has contracts that are just having this massive, massive buyout structures, I cover Auburn.

I know better than anyone. I'm curious to see if they pull this off because it may kind of set some precedent for coach firings in the future. Yeah, what's interesting is Michigan State was probably looking for a way out of that 10-year Mel Tucker. If it's a three- to five-year deal,

maybe you leave him around for a bit. They're looking for a way out. Mel Tucker said, hey, look no further. I'm going to do a really bad thing. And he lied about it, so probably did it. Now, Zach, speaking of legal issues and lawyers, the Pac-12 is being sued. Washington State and Oregon State want complete voting rights in that conference. And I think it's a valiant, valiant pull.

Yeah, the two-team conference, they should have 50-50 splits, right? I think that's how my math works I mean I still just don't fully understand what they're doing and it to me it seems like with with these two teams that are left Drake it kind of just seems like they're mad and they're like well you can't shut down unless you let us sue you it's just a weird thing because i i don't really know how this conference survives and there's been talk about maybe they merge with the mountain west or something like that who knows really unfortunate for those two programs but to me this just feels like okay we're upset we've got to do something hey patch well we hate you yeah well they're gonna

law they're gonna file a, likely win the lawsuit, and at least have voting rights over where the rest of the assets of the conference go, which could end in a pretty big payday for those two schools. Maybe. Weird consolation prize to go to the Mountain West. Zach, Quinn, yours will win the Heisman now.

Is Texas really back following a win against Alabama? I think Texas is back. I think Texas is the real deal and look you know this better than me outside of Texas and maybe Kansas State the Big 12 isn't good and I don't think Texas loses again until they play in the college football playoff Drake I think their toughest hurdle is now behind them and they have to have all the confidence in the world. At 1245 Central Time on Saturday, well, Sunday morning, I turned my TV off thinking the Cal Golden Bears had closed out a 10-7 win at home over the Auburn Tigers,

only to figure out what a thrilling 14-10 finish. It's our one Auburn question every week, so I don't get fired. Zach, the Auburn Tigers got Got it done in a thriller. Yeah, yeah, a little ACC after dark visiting Cal. What a disastrous performance. But, hey, they found a way. They found a way. Apparently, all these Pac-12 folks have since reached out to Auburn people

and said, yeah, that's what Pac-12 after dark is. It's weird stuff. And I'm like, no wonder you don't exist as a conference anymore, because that was not fun to watch. Very good to go to sleep to, and happy for my wallet, and thanks to FanDuel that Auburn did win the game. That's Zach Blackery, Blackery Blitz, top headlines in college football

this week. Kenton, before we get out of here, I want to give our Superdogs this week the outright victories that will shock college football in week three. I'm going to give you a second for yours, because I have perused the landscape of college game. I don't think Colorado State's going to pull a massive upset. I don't think Wyoming shocks Texas the week after the Longhorns

beat up on Alabama at Alabama. But I do think, Kenton, and call me crazy, it's a tough week to pick an upset this week. I've got two of them, two contenders here, and one of them is going to happen. I'm going to guarantee one of them at least. Maybe I'll find out when I explain them. Mississippi State covers 9.5 against LSU, and they might just win outright because I think Brian Kelly, some of the honeymoon stuff has worn off now. That LSU team, there's no way. There is no way they are bought in

to play for Brian Kelly. Just the stuff that he has put out in front of the media, how much of an idiot he looks 90% of the time he's in front of a camera or a microphone. There's no way an 18-year-old kid's like, oh yeah, I'm vibing with this guy. And I also think that Tennessee at Florida is such a trap for tennessee team that has not met expectations and a florida team that's playing at night at home it'll be ugly and gross and ugly and gross favors the home team give me tennessee losing to florida in gainesville to a very inferior florida team and saving billy napier for at least a little bit

and give me mississippi state outright upset over LSU. Super dog. You know, it's tough for me to come up with a true super dog in terms of like a big point spread going against the team and nobody had given them a chance, but I will give you this one, okay? For all the hell that we've given the SEC all episode and talking about, hey, this team's got no chance, this team can't compete, yada, yada, so on and so forth. I'm sorry to tell you, Deuce Vaughn meant a lot more to Kansas State than most people thought. Kenton, watch out. Don't go where I think you're going.

I think Deuce Vaughn meant more to that team than many people thought. And I think that in a old Big 12 matchup, give me that old-time religion, I think Missouri in a old Big 12 matchup, give me that old-time religion, I think Missouri finds a way. I think Missouri finds a way to pull off the upset here. I think it's time. You know what I mean? That's my biggest upset of the week.

I think Eli Drinkwitz and Brian Kelly should coach together, like a junior high football team, just life lessons. I love Eli Drinkwitz. I think that he's a phenomenal coach. I really and truly do. Everywhere that he's been has been better when he left and when he got there. With that being said, I think that Missouri may have been biting off a little bit more than he could chew, but I think that he can chew Kansas State, lean Kansas State quail just fine.

I think he'll get this one done. Boom. Eli Drinkowitz, the Arkansas product. That's Kenton Gibbs of Locked On Wolfpack and Locked On ACC. Yo soy Drake Toll of Locked On Dose Grande. Thank you for making Locked On College Football Kickoff Live your lunchtime listen every single Friday. Come back next week where we break down those massive upsets,

the biggest storylines, and Kenton's going to ride his Peloton. This has been, always will be, Locked On College Football Kickoff Live.