The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Building the Beast: Loaded Week 5 slate—hello, Oregon-Penn State and Alabama-Georgia—will move draft boards

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

This is the sort of week that makes college football fanatics and NFL Draft nuts the Predator meme. Saturday is absolutely loaded with games that are monumental on the college football landscape filled with players who will be playing on Sundays next year. From Oregon at Penn State and Alabama at Georgia, to LSU at Mississippi and Notre Dame at Arkansas, to Ohio State at Washington and USC at Illinois, we're going to see a lot of future NFL players determining the outcomes of hugely impactful college football games. Dane Brugler and Dave Helman break it all down on this episode of The Athletic Football Show's Building the Beast.Rundown (timestamps are approximate)6:01 Game Ball: Miami EDGE Ruben Bain12:38 Game Ball: Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza26:45 Game Ball: Utah OTs Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu34:15 Game Ball: Oklahoma EDGE R Mason Thomas (yes, R without a period is part of his name)43:23 Oregon-Penn State57:26 Alabama-Georgia1:08:22 The rest of the Week 5 LookaheadConnect with The Athletic Football ShowX: https://x.com/TA_FootballShowIG: https://www.instagram.com/tafootballshowYT: https://www.youtube.com/@TAFootballShowTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tafootballshowDiscord: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshowCall us: 847-448-0701Email us: [e-mail]: Dave HelmanCo-Host: Dane BruglerExecutive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Dave on X: @davehelman_Follow Dane on X: @dpbruglerTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another episode of Building the Beast. I am your host, Dave Hellman, and oh my goodness, do we have a show for you all today? It was a fun weekend in college football this past Saturday. A lot to react to, a lot of big performances. Guys like Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza staking their claim in the early going of the season, had a lot to recap with Dane Bruegler about the weekend that was. But at the risk of minimizing that, holy cow, do we have a weekend coming? up. The first truly

titanic weekend of the college football regular season is upon us. We got Oregon Penn State. We got Alabama, Georgia. We got LSU, O'Miss, Ohio State, Washington, and half a dozen other big games in between a lot of prospects

playing big time games on Saturday. And we are going to break it all down. So without further ado, Dane Bruegler and myself, let's get to it. And I'm joined now by my friend, my co-host, the man who, as if he doesn't get enough football on Saturdays, followed that up with a trip to the Browns Packers game on Sunday. Dane, how we doing, bud?

I'm good. It was, that was an entertaining game for sure. Took my 10-year-old to his first NFL game. He's a Packers and Browns fan, so I thought it was perfect timing for that. But, yeah, it was a busy, and usually, because Sundays are so jam-packed with a lot of NFL things to keep tabs on, but I'm also watching the tape from Saturday's games. And we had a lot of action on Saturday that, you know, we had to catch up on Sunday night because there was a lot of big matches we talked

about last week in the pod. And a lot we needed into today for not only this week, but then next week, which is another big slate of games chance for prospects to really show out. So, yeah, this is going to be a good podcast today. Let's do it, man, because look, I haven't been lying. I love college football. I love talking draft.

like this entire first month of the season has been fun in its own way. That is still true. But I woke up with some extra pep in my step this morning, dude. Like I bolted out of bed to finish my prep and finish my notes for this show because not only did we have a pretty full slate from last weekend where we got some really good information. We saw some prospects show out last weekend. but man, this is what it's all about here. The upcoming slate, week five in the college football season, we're finally seeing some Titans go against each other.

There's going to be, there are going to be a lot of matchups, probably half a dozen games where there are like a lot of NFL prospects on both sidelines in this college football weekend. So we're doing the show a little bit differently this week. We're still handing out game balls. We're going to go over the week four slate in detail. But we're going to do.

to spend a very healthy amount of this show just detailing all of the matchups coming up this weekend. It is a loaded slate. And if you want to follow the draft and get ready to learn about this draft class, we want to make sure we are arming you with as much knowledge as possible. So a little bit different of a show, but I think it might be our fullest show to date. So before we get into all that, let's hand out some game balls. Let's talk about what we saw in week four. We got a lot of game balls to get to because like I said it was it was a pretty full weekend in week four even if it's not quite as loaded as week five but I think the only place to start dan is you know last last week we talked about it maybe the top 10 of this draft class is a little hard to pinpoint this early in the

season but after miami's demolition of florida 26 to 7 down in miami on saturday night I think we got to start recapping last weekend with Ruben Bain Jr. and that Miami pass rush. Simply put, he's been the best. All right. I won't say best. I will say most impressive defensive prospect that I've studied so far this year. Just full stop.

I mean, he's ranked number two in the FBS with 22 pressures in the tape matches. These aren't gimmee pressures that he's getting. Elite run defender. Watching him on that tape against Florida. He just shredded both tackles with power, with burst. He has dynamite in his hands where he's going to go right through you. But he can also line up as a wide nine. And he has that burst off the edge where he doesn't look like a 275 pounder

with that initial quickness and that dip around the arc. So he can win in different ways. And I mentioned this before, but he was such a tough guy to get a hold of to figure out this summer. because the 2024 tape just, it was very meh. But it was hard to figure out, okay, how much of that is injury related and how much of that is just he's not taking that next step. Turns out injuries had a lot to do with it because he's fully healthy now. And I don't care what tape you watch.

Notre Dame, USF, Florida. He has taken over games and boosted his draft profile in a big way in the process. I know this is a cliche about pass rushers and all defensive. of linemen want to play with violence, but Ruben Bain just looks violent when you watch him. Like every single rep, he's trying to get his hands on you, get inside of the offensive tackle. And like it just looks like a Tasmanian devil the way his arms are flying around and he's just trying to bully the guy he's going against. And the consistency with which he did it against Florida really stood out to me where every time

I'm watching him on a pass rush rep. And you're right. He's a good run defender as well. He's got 14 run stops per PFF this through this early going of the season. But yeah, particularly as a pass rusher, the violence just really, it really feels like it jumps out to me. Yeah. And so like you're thinking about the body type and the way he can affect the backfield. So we're thinking like Brandon Graham, George Carl Loftus, like somewhere in that range of like a comp of a player where he's not the longest, but he's very densely built.

and he plays with power, plays with violence, a good athlete in terms of burst off the ball, in terms of what he can win, he can win high side, he can win two-way. There's a lot of ways he can win. It's not just speed. It's not just power. So I think that there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic about him going to the next level and having a very high floor of a guy that you just, you want to make sure he's on your team because of the way that he goes to battle every single play.

The motor is nonstop. Show me the film of him taking a playoff, because I haven't seen it yet. Just not in his DNA. It's not how he plays. So for, and this was a game against Florida where Carson Beck wasn't at his best. The offense was fine, but it wasn't great. It was really up to the defense to shut things down.

And can they do it the rest of the season? Maybe they've got Florida State coming up here in two weeks at Tallahassee. That'll be a fun one to watch, especially with a mobile quarterback. So this Miami team, we're still figuring things out about them. but I mean, it's hard to disagree with them being ranked so high in the polls at this point. And Bain is a huge reason why. Yeah, it was a rainy night in Miami. You're right.

I mean, we talked about Carson Webb back at the end of last week. And it was fine. I don't know. He had the ugly pick. It didn't look like he had good command over his throws. And maybe that's because of the wet weather. But yeah, I mean, on a night where the offense wasn't really anything to write home about, having a pass rush like this is

a nice thing to have that you can fall back on particularly especially you know Florida tried to make a game of this in the second half and you know the offense they did their part you get to 26 points but man this defense was was tough to go against and I wanted to we talked about this last time

we talked about Miami Ruben Bain is the headliner for sure but another nice night from Akim Mesidor as well Batman right I mean and we And we talked about it. I think Bain is seen as the more high upside, higher ceiling NFL prospect. But Akeem Mesidor, nine pressures in a sack on UF. He's got 19 pressures on the year.

That is a hell of a tandem to fall back on if you need something to work every single week. Yeah. And Medsador is coming off the injury. He's going to be a 25-year-old rookie. So there are some things working against him just as a prospect. I don't know that he's going to be someone we're talking about as a top 50, top 60 pick. But you can't argue with what he's doing on tape and the production he's putting up. He's winning.

They're lining him up inside, outside. He's able to win in different ways with that quickness, with that power. A little bit of a tweener where, you know, he's right around 275, 280. And so is Bain, but Bain's clearly an edge where with Mezedore, I think you could, you know, we've seen him line up in the middle inside in the past. a few more questions to his game, but I'm glad you brought him up because I was going to if you, if you didn't,

because it's worth, I don't want him to get lost in the Bain talk because he is, uh, the way he has played this year. He deserves the praise as well, even if there are a little more questions to his game. Very. Let's not get ahead of ourselves because week five is loaded.

But yeah, Miami Florida State certainly going to be a headliner in a couple of weeks. If Miami is going to go where they want to, they will eventually need better performances from Carson Beck and the rest of that offense against top tier opposition. But again, I mean, you hold a you hold an SEC opponent to seven points in a prime time spot. Your defense looks like that. I think that's a perfectly nice place to be coming out of September and Ruben Bain very deservingly getting a game ball. No doubt. And like we said last week, the top 10 this year is very looking very unsettled.

Bain's one of the few guys that's making a strong, you know, flag plant to, hey, I deserve to be up here, talked about it with anybody else, and it's hard to argue with it. If Bain was the main headline grabber among draft people coming out of the weekend, the other one was the quarterback that played up in the shockingly lopsided game between Indiana and Illinois. I think Fernando Mendoza, maybe not the strongest statement of the season, but the first, big statement of the season. I mean, he had a fantastic game. Indiana beats Illinois, 63 to 10. It is the biggest win ever by a non-top 10 team against a top 10 team. Hoosiers 12th straight win at home. Yeah, I mean, the stat line is phenomenal. 21 of 23 for 267 and 5 touchdowns.

But, Dane, you actually, you wrote about this on the athletic today. We're recording this on Tuesday. So by Wednesday, if you're listening to this, you can go read it on the site. But let's contextualize this because I agreed with your piece very much. This was a strong statement from Fernando Mendoza, but also maybe not something we need to lose our minds about, at least not one week into the season, or one month into the season, excuse me. Yeah, and Indiana, because Mendoza's played well this year, but Indiana faced three inferior opponents. And so what would it look like against a better defense?

Now, Xavier Scott was out for Illinois, arguably their best defensive player and prospect. Sounds like he's going to be down the rest of the year. Maybe he comes back later. We'll see. But credits Mendoza, yeah, over 90% completions. That's all right. Five touchdowns. And like, no turnovers.

That's a, that's a key part of this as well. He now leads FBS, 14 touchdowns, no interceptions. And I'm not trying to throw cold water on it. It's just, you know, some of the praise is over the top with, with Mendoza. and I get it. He looked great. He had one pass attempt over 20 yards and it was incomplete. 17 of his 21 completions were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. This was very much a take with a defense as giving us type of performance. And that's not meant to be criticism at all.

The job of a quarterback is to move the sticks, not make mistakes, and impact the scoreboard. And Mendoza did exactly that. So in no way am I criticizing him because he played a heck of a game. And I thought there were a lot of plays that I think really. summed up him as a prospect from this game. He's outstanding at layering throws. That first quarter touchdown that he had from the 11-yard line, which I thought it was his best throw of the night, it really showed the poise, the placement, throwing to the back of the end zone.

I think that put them up 14 to 7 at that point, and they didn't look back. I think what I love the most about what he did against Illinois was how he showed how he can handle pressure. He's really smart pre-snap, and that gives him an immediate head start, post-snap. So he handles the Blitz extremely well. And I think of the Morgan Freeman gift from the Dark Knight. He's smart enough to sense your pressure. He quickly finds vulnerable matchups. And your plan is to blitz this quarterback? Good luck. Because these are the stats. Just going away from the tape, just looking at the stats, since the start of last season

against the Blitz, Mendoza, 64% completions, over 1,500 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 80 first downs, zero interceptions. And so far this year, he's just, he's been sacked once on blitzes. So he is finding answers to the test based off his pre-snap reads and understanding how the defense is trying to attack him. So, and I think there were some plays in this game where, you know, one of my big concern, not big concerns, but areas of his game that I don't love is he's just not a high-end physical talent. His size is good. Arm strength and mobility are closer to average than above average. And that does show up at times.

but his poise, his football IQ, the accuracy, those are the type of qualities that you can bet on for him to be an NFL starter. I think you highlighted in your article as well. He showed, he showed some nice mobility in this game. You highlighted a play where he made a playoff schedule and dumped it off to his guy in the flat. He had another third and four scramble in this game that is like, it's not impressive when you're talking about major college or pro football. it was nice to see him be able to make plays with his feet and be like, all right, like,

you're doing this against top 10 opposition in the Big 10. That registers with me, even if it's not the flashiest play to watch back. Yeah, and he did this last year at Cal where it's just like just enough. You know, I don't need you. The bar for a lot of people has become Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson in terms of mobility. That's not the bar for a functional quarterback play. Can you just extend plays enough? where you're not going to be a negative in that area. And I think that he has shown he can do that more times than not, which is very promising to see. But yeah, it'll be interesting the rest of the way with a very unsettled quarterback situation at the top of this draft.

He's a junior. So has eligibility left? His younger brother is his backup. So how will that affect his decision making about, hey, I don't, I don't, my brother's he'll be going into his third year do i does that affect or is that affect his decision in terms of well if i come back then he's not going to go on the field for us until his fourth year in college so there you know there's some interesting things there uh by the way did you see the um qb one poll that espn had on saturday i did and it was it was just as muddy as what we've talked

about on the show well and no votes for mendoza which is interesting and no votes for for Dante Moore, Oregon quarterback, which I thought was interesting. And I mean, I would agree that Lenora Sellers, probably the frontrunner right now, just for context, Pete Thammel had a poll of 25 scouts and execs about who would be quarterback one right now. Sellers got the most votes, which I would agree with. But I was texting with a scout, how silly a poll like this is in September. Area scouts are not watching other areas.

So a Southeast scout, he might think Nuss is quarterback one. he's not watching sellers. He's not watching Mendoza. He has no idea about all these other quarterbacks around the country. And even the National Scouts, they haven't been on the road enough to seat all these guys yet. So I get what ESPN does this. It draws eyes. Heck, we're talking about it right now. But I would take that poll with a pound of salt because it really means nothing. And it's funny. I remember it they did this last year. And I remember, so I went back at this time last year. So Thamble did a same exact poll. He asked 20 scouts for who would be the quarterback one, nine votes for Shador, five for Carson Beck,

four for Jalen Milro, and then one for Quinn Ewers and one for Cam Ward. So out of those five guys, Ward is the only quarterback who was drafted top 75, just just something to remember when you see a poll like this this early in the process. That actually, that perfectly compliments what I was going to say too, is like, let's even, let's just, let's just say for. the sake of argument that scouts and general managers have gotten eyes on everybody. Cool. You've seen them play four games and 80% of those games have come against competition that is not worth mentioning.

You know, like among the big time quarterback prospects, like let's say there's six of them, we probably have like four games to go off of that are worth giving a crap about. So like even if you've seen them all play, the picture is just so. incomplete. And I think Cam Ward is a perfect example where like at this time last year he had played an impressive game in the swamp and you know, maybe that

stood out to people, but you haven't played the vast majority of your schedule by this point in the season. So yeah, it's very premature. And the year before that, it was Jayden Daniels who we weren't talking about at this year at this time two years ago, we were not talking about Jane Daniels as a top two pick.

That's just, you know, he was trending to being maybe a first round pick, but we had not gotten there yet. And so yeah, these things are very fluid. And it's, you know, I think that a lot of fans kind of think like there's a secret vault where the NFL keeps the quarterback rankings and everybody else is just trying to catch up to the rankings that are in that vault. Scouts and teams are trying, they're catching up to all this too because we're getting new tape every week. We're getting new examples, new evidence of what these guys can do. And that's why it's so important to keep an open mind with what Carson Beck is going

to do this year, with what, you know, all these, especially these young guys, Lenora Sellers and Arch Manning and these are very young players. And that's why even though the early results have been disappointing somewhat for this quarterback class, part of the reason for that is so much of the promise was tied to young guys. And so with sellers being a little bit up and down, with the way that Arch has played, with, you know, some of these other quarterbacks, whether it's Sam Levitt or, you know, all the promise that we were kind of hoping for with Nussmeyer and some people really like Kate Klubnick, you know, like a lot of these guys are young. And so there's going to be some volatility in their games. And we just need to keep an open mind as we get the full body of work this year. And to bring it all back to our game ball, it's not.

not to hate on Fernando Mendoza. He played a great game, but I think we are, people are thirsty. People are parched and crying out for a quarterback to get excited about. And this was, this was the best game played by a notable quarterback prospect so far this season. It was a good game. I don't think it's going to change my opinion about a whole lot. Yeah, Indiana spams the hell out of RPO's and credit to Mendoza. he did a great job of hitting his guys in stride and finding the open man. But I'm going to pump the brakes on rearranging the quarterback rankings just yet, even though it was admittedly a very good game. So yeah, if we're just looking at the quarterback rankings,

and let's just take Arch out of the conversation. I'm kind of sticking with what I had coming into the year. And that was sellers. If we're taking Arch out of it, sellers, then Nuss, then Mendoza, who were all kind of in that top 20 discussion for me in my early top. 50. I kind of feel good about that right now. Now, obviously, that could change a week from now if Nussmar goes out and has a struggles against old miss or, you know, who knows two months from now what it's going to look like. Some of these guys might go back to school. But at least where we are

right now, I'm not making any drastic changes to my quarterback rankings at this point. Plenty of time for that to change. Like I said, we got we got some big matchups to talk about heading into the weekend. We got a couple more game balls before we do that. Let's take a quick. break first. All right, Dane, two more games, two more game balls we wanted to highlight. We talked a lot heading in about the matchup between Utah and Texas Tech in Salt Lake City. Wanted to hit on that for a variety of reasons. Texas Tech did get the dub 3410. I would just say 3410 implies that it was this beat down. And the score didn't really, the score didn't really get out of hand until the last five or six minutes of this game. Very, very fun game between the Red Raiders and Utah.

a couple things that went out of whack. Honestly, it was disappointing to see Baron Morton left the game injured. You know, he had 149 pass, 142 passing yards and two picks when he took a hit to the head. I thought true freshman backup, Will Hammond made some really impressive throws, but that can be, that can be for a draft show three years from now. But yeah, we wanted to highlight the Utah offensive tackles, Caleb Lomu and Spencer Fano, who even in a loss, I came away pretty impressed with. what I saw. What about you?

You and me both. I thought they, their youth definitely showed at times. But overall, I thought they showed a ton of promise and why scouts and evaluators are excited about him. Spencer Finno at right tackle, he got himself in trouble with, especially when his hands

aren't right. They get a little high, he hooks rushers, especially when they attack his outside shoulder. He had that critical, ineligible downfield penalty, which brought back a touchdown. That was tough. One of the few explosive of plays Utah had on the day, right? So to get that called back,

and it's just a miscommunication that you can't have, but I still feel pretty optimistic about him. He's a latch and drive bully in the run game, even if the sustained strength needs to be better. He moves well in his past sets. He has the right demeanor. Overall, I thought it was a solid game, except for a few

key mistakes. Lomu, it was similar. I thought that there was a play in the late second quarter. Lomu, the left tackles line up against Ramello Heights. He sets wide, even though he has outside help with a tight end. And that just, the wide pass set invites the inside rush. Lomu cannot match heights quickness inside.

It flushes the quarterback who then throws an awful pick. The interception is on the quarterback. It's just a terrible decision and throw. But again, you can see Lomu's youth throughout this game where he's still figuring things out. And he's a red shirt sophomore. This isn't a reason to hit the panic button by any means. It's more just providing that important. context when scouting these young tackles who are going up against some some pretty athletic

edge defenders and really a defensive line that's pretty good as a whole. I love when my notes sync up with the guy who writes the beast because I was watching this game back. And throughout the game, Lomo's like speed to the edge is so impressive. Like he can just erase an angle very, very quickly. And the one time it didn't work, yeah, he set himself up to do that and got beat inside. and just a horrific play where I was like, wow, it kind of jumps out that he got beaten this way. But over the course of the game, and I mean, look, I get it. You make a mistake that leads to an interception. You can't just hand wave that away.

But over the course of the game, he looked pretty comfortable dealing with everything they were throwing out him out there. His foot quickness. And I think the thing that just is the most impressive to me, his ability to catch his balance, which playing offensive line is all. about recovery because you're you're playing defense you know you are reacting uh in in past pro you're reacting to what the defense is doing the past rusher is doing to you and his ability to catch himself and to recover is remarkable so a lot of times he doesn't need to because again like you like you said his foot quickness to be in the right position is outstanding but his ability

to catch his balance is fantastic um both these guys just they need to get stronger and they need to see more reps so the players we saw in the this matchup are not the same players we'll see on tape in November, late November, around Thanksgiving because they will be that much better based on this experience that they've had. So I, again, no reason to push the panic button at all. I thought both showed the promise that, you know, we were all kind of hoping going into this one.

Real quick, you mentioned the ability of the Texas Tech D-Line. And look, hey, they got, they got a, at the end of the day, what you would call a comfortable win over a ranked team on the road. a big win for them. David Bailey, he's credited with the sack in the box score. I thought that was more of a cleanup effort than anything. But overall, I mean, what did you see from the Texas Tech front on from their perspective of things?

Right. And obviously, we don't think of defense when you think of Red Raiders, right? But they've invested in that side of the ball. And this game was a perfect example of that, especially on that defensive line. And I throwed Jacob or Rodriguez, the linebacker in there too, because he had a heck of a game. But yeah, Bailey, I thought was okay. I worry about him as a run defender. There were several times in this game where he was able to be moved from a spot and there's really nothing he could do about it. But when he has a chance to rush with speed, that's really like, okay, yeah,

I get why the scouts are excited about him, why he has a as a place at the next level. Ramello Heights, again, he's a little more of that similar where he's a tweener. He's active and you love the play demeanor, but again, the fit and the role you're kind of worried about. But then I don't want to leave out the interior guys, too. Lee Hunter and all these guys are transfers. Lee Hunter coming in from UCF, 6.3.5, 330 pounds. Not the most rangy. I don't love his ability to impact the pocket.

He doesn't do it consistently. But his strength at the point of attack, that's what you like about him. He's a two-down run defender. And I think he'll be part of some type of rotation in the NFL. and then Skyler Gil Howard, kind of the opposite from Northern Illinois. He's a hair under six foot, 290 pounds, a little bit undersized, short, squatty. But that initial quickness that he plays with, the lateral range allows him to knife through gaps and create those negative plays you're looking for.

So this front, really the front seven for Texas Tech. And they've got some guys in the secondary as well. It's going to make Texas Tech a contender no matter who's that quarterback. The Big 12 is very getable, especially this year. So, you know, it's past due time. We talk about Texas Tech as a possible playoff contender. Look, the winner of this game was going to have a leg up by virtue of staying undefeated. And now Tech is on their by week this week, but they go on the road to play a currently 3 and O Houston team.

I mean, you got you got a road trip to Arizona State. They got a game against BYU who is in the top 25 now. So, I mean, it's not all easy the rest of the way. but if you can go into Salt Lake City and beat Utah fairly comfortably, then yeah. I mean, like this is a team that we should. I expect them to be in the playoff mix. I expect this to be a team. I mean, minimum of nine wins, maybe more than that.

I'm excited to have an eye on these guys all year. Yeah, and well, hopefully, Morton can come back healthy. It was not a good first half for him. Both of his interceptions were under throws, not great passes. And then he didn't have the second half to kind of, you know, write the ship. And so hopefully he's able to come back and put better performance on film for scouts. Last but certainly not least among the game balls, Oklahoma edge rusher, R Mason Thomas, man, who he was on your preseason top 50. He was on your preseason watch lists.

And I don't want to say I forgot about him, but there was a lessened emphasis, because he was suspended for the first half of this game against Auburn for a targeting penalty the week before. Safe to say he made up for lost time in one half of football. He finishes with four tackles, two sacks, showed some impressive chase down speed, dominated Auburn's offensive line when he needed to. One of those sacks was a walk off to get a safety on Jackson Arnold and basically put this game to bed. Sooners get a big win over Auburn and I find myself wanting you to tell me more about

R. Mason Thomas. Yeah, after not playing in the first half, to come out there the first series of the second half and go get a sack, put them in a third and long situation that they couldn't dig themselves out of. And then the final

series to go get that sack safety was huge. And look, Aramason Thomas is, he showed up a lot last year. It would have been a top 100 pick if he came out after last season. He goes back to Oklahoma. And the size is what it is. You know, he's 6.1 and a half, 249 pounds, just under 32-inch arms, under 9-inch hands.

That's a non-starter for a lot of teams. But that first step burst, the ability to affect the quarterback, that's real. And so even though he doesn't play long, there's violence in his punch. So he's not only just like a wide nine type of rusher. So but there is going to be a lot of debate about, okay, do we draft them top 50? If we don't feel 100% he could be a true every down player or is he going to be more of a sub package guy. So there's going to be a lot of debate about that. But there's no question.

This is someone that can play at the next level and his ticket's going to be his ability to rush the passer like he did against Auburn. And it's it's painful watching Jackson Arnold hold the ball back there because it's just get on. your sundial. And I even sent this message to you during the game was it's amazing how besides, you know, Cam Newton in that historic season, like Auburn cannot get quality quarterback play like the last 20 years. I mean, I know Bo Nix was there, but it wasn't the Bo Nix we saw at Oregon or certainly in the NFL.

No, it was not. Like, it's Auburn has really strong. Jared Stidham was fine, but Jared Stidham was the best quarterback you had. It's just, it's really unfortunate. And I know Auburn, it's not like they're not trying. They went after a lot of quarterbacks this offseason. Some of the money they were offering for guys like Brendan Sorsby at Cincinnati before he decided to stay put. A couple of other guys.

And they end up with Jackson Arnold. And Arnold's fine. He could run around. But he just doesn't give you enough in the passing game. That's going to help you win games on the road against a good opponent like that, like Oklahoma. And so that was, it's unfortunate to see for an. Auburn team that's got talent. The history of Auburn quarterbacks in the NFL draft, you've got Jared Stidham from a few

years ago. Jason Campbell is a first round. I mean, after Cam Newton, you jump all the way back to Jason Campbell, which. Yeah. That's all 20 years ago. That's what I'm saying. You're talking 20 years ago. And then before Jason Campbell, you got to go back to like 1990.

You're right. It is, it is not a position that has produced much in the way of NFL talent. despite the fact that, you know, Auburn is usually a pretty good football team. That is that is kind of wild. And I did, I wanted to highlight the R. Mason Thomas, the first sack where he like Superman dives on Jackson Arnold.

It's, it's a really fun play. It's so much fun and you could see it coming. But also I was like, what am I supposed to take from that other than the fact that the quarterback held the ball for eight freaking seconds? Like I don't really, I don't feel like I learn a lot about a prospect when that.

happens, but it's still really fun. I'm firmly in favor of it, but Jackson Arnold, we got to let that thing rip, my man. Yeah. Yeah, and this is going to be a fun ed rusher class. Because there's, there's all shapes and sizes, you know, Kedric Falks over 270, Baines, 275. You know, there's a lot of bigger guys, but there's also some of the under-south, quote-unquote, undersized ed rushers, too. So this is, this is going to be another pretty interesting edge rusher group and our Mason Thomas is squarely part of it. I also wanted to highlight our guy, John Mateer, who we gushed over a couple weeks ago.

And I'm going to shout out my guys over at the solid verbal podcast when I say, John Matier, little bit of Baker Mayfield to him. Like, we kind, I said, I said that might be a lazy comp because he wears an OU uniform. But after watching his go-ahead drive in the last five minutes, yeah, man, Like you drop a deep ball in the bucket to your receiver, 31 yards down the sideline. You know, he doesn't look impressive as a runner, but he makes people miss. He's not afraid to plow over a guy at the goal line. Firmly willing to say, little bit of Baker Mayfield to this guy.

It's too much on the nose, right? It just because it does fit in so many ways. Guys that were doubted and overlooked at a high school, guys that transferred to Oklahoma, and became Heisman contenders. And, you know, we've talked about Meteer before. I think there's the two big differences, obviously, Baker, he went number one overall because of his accuracy. Meteer doesn't have that type of accuracy.

And so what I want to see from him the rest of the season is just can he consistently show he can put the ball where it needs to be. And then I want to see him cut down on turnovers. He has at least one turnover in every game. And then can he stay healthy? This guy invites contact, which, I mean, cool. Like that's, you know, Jane Daniels did this too in college and he was able to stay healthy throughout that year at LSU, that final year at LSU. Meteer, it just feels like he invites it a little bit too much.

Like, I get it, man. You're a tough runner. Your play strength, your finishing strength, the way that you will get every yard and every inch, I love it. But man, SEC competition ain't no joke. Like you need to get through the season healthy and so you're helping your team. And so hopefully that's not an issue for moving forward because it's a lot. lot of, he's a true dual threat weapon, no doubt. John, we're all very impressed.

It is okay to slide or go out of bounds, at least on occasion. Maybe not at the goal line with the game on the line, but like, you know, two or three times per game. That is okay. All right. It was a really fun week four. Those are the game balls. Respectfully, it pales in a comparison to what we got on deck in week five.

We're going to preview all the big matchups real quick. We're going to take our last break and we'll get to it on the other side. All right, Dane. Like I said, this is what you go to work for. This is why we're fans of football. It is an incredible slate of games. There's a lot of them. We're going to hit on quite a few, but there are two big headliners we are going to

talk about. At the same time. What is that about? Dude, there's, hey, get your quad box ready. If you've got a spare TV or a laptop lying around, this is going to be a weekend where you're going to want to have multiple monitors running at once because it's not just the night games. Like there are several big games on at 2.30. There are two or three really fun ones on in the early window. So find a way to watch more than one game, preferably find a way to watch

four or six because it is that type of weekend. But it does start with the 630 games on NBC. Oregon goes to Penn State for the Whiteout at Happy Valley. And at the same time on ABC, Georgia plays host to Alabama in a rematch. of the fricking the thriller from last season in Tuscaloosa, the game that put Ryan Williams on the map. Now we get to see what it looks like at Sanford Stadium. I'm going to start with the Big Ten game, Dane, start with Oregon, Penn State. First big, big test for both of these teams, really.

I mean, Oregon's been mauling everybody. They've played like name programs, you know, Northwestern and Oregon State. These are teams we've heard of, but they have clearly outclass. everyone on their schedule. This offers like the first true test. Margin of victory for the Ducks so far, 42 points this season, but with a combined record of 2 and 10,

just to give you an idea. And then on the other side, Penn State just has not played in anybody at all. Three games, they were off last weekend, average margin of victory of 38 points. They've played Nevada, FIU, and FCS Villanova. So we're about to find out. This is the first real test for two teams with very real national title aspirations.

I'll leave it to you where you want to start because there's a lot of stuff to get to. I mean, I think the main attraction is the quarterbacks. And so Oregon's Dante Moore. He's been outstanding this season. He's gotten some of our game balls the past few weeks. 75% completions, 11 touchdowns, one interception, several big plays. I mean, this looks like an NFL starter. But to your point, it's been against average competition, average being the nice way to put it.

So what will he do for his first real test against a respectable defense in a very tough road environment? This is the whiteout game at night at Penn State. So there's a lot we need to learn from more in this one. And this would be a fun one with coordinators. Penn State's defensive coordinator against Oregon's offensive coordinator. What kind of position do they put the quarterbacks in? Drew Aller, just like we said with Moore, he's been fine and not quite as good as more, but he hasn't faced anybody.

So 65% completions, only four touchdowns and three games. I don't know. I mean, it just, if you're going to be a legit contender for Best Team in the Nation, top quarterback, I mean, you would like to see him beat up on some of the lesser opponents on the schedule because now it gets against the better teams. And so it just a little disconcerting that is his best game really going to come against Oregon as opposed to Nevada, FIU, Villanova? Maybe. And if it does, good for him.

But this is going to be, Oregon will be one of the two or three best defenses that Aller will see all year. And this is going to be, there's obviously be a lot of scouts and NFL personnel in the building. But this will be a tape that every single team, every single NFL team watches for multiple reasons, but especially these courts. quarterbacks. It's really funny the way you can be not impressed by the same thing, basically. Like, for example, Dante Moore has turned enough heads to the point where, like, people are putting cutups of him on social media and they're saying, like, oh, look at this throw. This is an incredible throw the way he leads this guy. And we've talked about Dante Moore on this show. And I kind of roll my eyes where I'm like, cool, in a clean pocket, he led his receiver who had three

steps on his guy. Like, I'm just not impressed by that. If you are, that's totally fine. I don't really care. And then at the same time, I'm like, well, Drew Aller, why aren't you doing that, though? Like, I, it's not impressive, but I would like you to do it. And Penn State's passing attack. Look, I mean, they've won all these games comfortably. They're absolutely loaded. I'm not writing off Penn State. But like, as somebody who puts the rundown for this show together, I have occasionally felt a little guilty that this is the first time we're saying, drew Aller's name. But then I look at what they've done and I'm like, well, why should I? Like at the very least, why don't you have 11, 12, 13, 14 touchdowns to one interception this

year? Like what's what's not clicking with Penn State and am I supposed to believe that it is going to click into place against maybe the best team they'll play this year? Yeah, I think the offensive line's been inconsistent. Bringing in a lot of new receivers. Tyler Warren's no longer there obviously. So I think there is some chemistry and just you want everything to gel the right way. And that's not to make excuses. I think that's just the reality of a lot of offenses that first few weeks of the season. But this is late September now. So we're not, no more excuses. This is time to go out and produce. And so for both Aller and Dante Moore, this is a big game to show not just for playoff considerations, but to say to scouts.

It's like, hey, yeah, I'm a future NFL starter that you want to bet on in the draft. And this is a big game to show that. So it's not just the quarterbacks, though. I think both left tackles. This is a big game. Isaiah World for Oregon has and Drew Shelton for Penn State. Both have been fine. Like, both were in my top, I think 30 of my, of my top 50.

They were actually. So I'm going to try to do this on a show like this where we're going to say a thousand names, I'm going to try to give people at home a guide. So when you're watching, so Isaiah World was your number 28 prospect. Drew Shelton, the left tackle for Penn State, was your number 27. Isaiah World wears number 76,

and Drew Shelton wears number 66. So if you're watching on Saturday, trying to keep it all straight, I'm trying to be here for you. And I appreciate that too. because that's both these left tackles, you can see why they're ranked where they're ranked. Like you see the talent,

but they're also both very inconsistent technically and just overall as finishers, the ability to match speed and space, the ability to sustain blocks and finish in the run game. There's just these little details that they're just not there yet. But again, you see the talent. You see the size, the movement skills. You see why they're ranked where they're ranked

where they are, but this is a game where you're facing really good edge rushers for Penn State, Danny Dennis Sutton, and then for Oregon, help me out with the last name. Mateo Ui Ungolaleigh? Perfect. Thank you. I'm not good with that one. I need to work on it. But these are good edge rushers who will test the offensive lines.

And it's not just left tackles. I think Penn State's left guard's really good. Yawane, Dawkins at center is a good player. Oregon's got a good center. So this is a, the quarterbacks are going to be kind of the headlines, but the offensive lines are going to play a big part in whether or not these offenses find success. Uiungal L.A. wears number 10, just FYI. He was Dan's number 18 overall prospect heading in three sacks in four games.

Again, neither one of these teams. Stats just, stats don't feel real for Penn State and Oregon. because I'm just like, okay, cool. Like you've just been beating up on bad teams. Let's see what happens on Saturday night. A couple other guys, like just going off of your listings, a couple other guys that felt worth mentioning. Highest ranked on my top 50 in this game.

Tight end, right? That is correct. Kenyon Sadiq, who we have talked. We've talked plenty about him. He was 17 on your board. Number 18 for the Ducks, which is a fun number for a tight end to be wearing, but an incredibly fun,

mismatch kind of guy. He kind of, he literally jumped on to the national consciousness in the matchup between these teams last year in the Big Ten title game where he leapt a defender on his way to the end zone. So I'm, I'm excited to see what he does for an encore. Oregon running back and Mackay Hughes number 20 for the Ducks is interesting to me. He's been MIA, which is, it's interesting because the Oregon running attack, they're deep. They've got a lot of guys.

and Hughes is supposed to be Tulane transfer coming in supposed to be a big part of it and he hasn't been so I don't know what's going on with that situation

and are we going to see more of Hughes in this one but that is and they haven't really needed them necessarily because they run games and very good with the young guys

so something that I yeah that I question when you don't need to kick into high gear to beat teams right so I'm very interested if they've been what exactly the situation

is with Mackay and whether or not we're going to see him, see more of a role in this one. Speaking of Bax, Penn State has a couple as well. Nick Singleton and Ketron Allen both figure to feature heavily in this game too. Yeah. Singleton's just a, he is going to be a pre-draft darling with the way he tests.

Like he's going to be 220 pounds, might run a 4-3. I mean, it's just he's explosive as they get for that type of size. Ketron Allen, he's going to be the opposite, where he might run a 4-7. But man, this guy knows how to play football. Like, there is a spot in the NFL for him.

So a really good combination that Penn State has that's really going to test that Oregon run defense, which is led by one of my favorite players in college football, Brian Becher, the linebacker for Oregon, former baseball player drafted by Houston Astros, still hasn't quite said, you know, what is he going to play baseball? Is he going to go to the NFL draft? Scouts think he's going to leave. NFL just because they feel like that's where his heart is. But, you know, he's already been drafted by,

and Astro's drafted him pretty early. Like, I don't, maybe 13th round, something like that. So, you know, a decent round. I love how the 13th round is early for a baseball player. Right, right. The thing I love about the baseball draft is there's no set rounds. They kind of just, when everyone's kind of done, that's when they end it. And they're like, all right, I think we've, 40 second round.

All right. I think we're good. Everything about the baseball draft. mystifies me and like the the money the bonus pool that you have to like pay guys and all yeah it it it eludes me but fortunately we we talk about the NFL drafts which is my saving grace yes yes but brice betcher um yeah number 28 he he had an interception um but last week or what against northwestern i believe it was um he is really smart he's a center fielder in baseball so you know he has range you know, you see that hand-eye coordination with the way that he plays.

So I'm a big fan of his and the way he plays. This is the temperament and the demeanor. So can't what is, how does he hold up stopping these two running backs? That'll be a big emphasis in this game from a scouting perspective. Penn State, a three and a half point favorite, which basically says, you know, the people that set the lines are viewing the home field advantage as a pretty deciding factor in this matchup, which makes sense. I, you know, it's cliche, but I think Drew Aller is the most intriguing piece of this whole thing because he's, I mean, the guy's 6.5, 2.30, he's got a rocket arm. Like, if you're just, if you're doing, if you're just going on measurables and how you look, this guy should be like the runaway favorite or at least one of them to be like a top quarterback prospect. But he just hasn't looked that way. He hasn't looked that way to this point in the season. Doesn't mean that he won't, but there is no,

time like the present. And if Drew Aller looks like an elevating difference making sort of player, then like I said, people are desperate for a quarterback to get excited about. This is your chance, Drew Aller. Yeah. And I think this, I mentioned earlier how just keeping an open mind to quarterbacks is so important in college. So many times people see a quarterback like as a sophomore and they kind of make up their decision about them and they don't give these guys any grace that, hey, he might get better. Last year, Drew Aller is a much better quarterback than we saw his sophomore year. If Drew Aller is a much better quarterback as a senior than he was as his junior, which

that happens. Guys get better. Then I think people need to go back and, you know, kind of change their, how they view this player. Now, if he doesn't, if he struggles mightily against his Oregon defense, then if he's not helping them win, then all of those concerns will be amplified. And some of the criticisms, a lot of the criticisms will be, will be warranted. But I just think it's important to keep an open mind with these guys. Both Dante Moore, this being his first real test, and then Drew Aller, who a guy we've seen,

this is his third year as a starter. It's time for you to have a big time moment in a big time game and show that you can put the offense on your shoulders and go create if that's what it calls for. And it might end this one against a really good opponent. You're so true. And I will do my best to keep an open mind. but this is, I mean, this is the first meaningful impression and one of the biggest impressions of the year for both of these guys. And whether it's fair or not, I know the way the football viewing public works.

And if you make a bad impression on this stage, you can overcome it, but it's going to take, it's going to take some time. You know, Penn State gets Ohio State on the road much later on this year. A bad performance here is the type of thing that's going to follow you for quite a while. And I mean, it definitely pertains to Drew Aller, but it could pertain to Dante more just as easily. No doubt. And obviously, we've seen it with, you know, it doesn't matter what Archmanning does the rest of the year. People are going to remember that Ohio State first impression. And that's what they're going to stick with.

Like, that's just, I get it. Like the nature of how this works. But, you know, I remind people all the time, Jane Daniels, what he looked like in his third season or fourth season compared to now. Some guys, it just takes time. And so with with Aller, we'll just, I'm not saying one way or the other. Like this is, he's going to play great or he's going to be awful. I'm just keeping open mind to whatever the tape says. At the same time, all of this is happening. DeBoer is going down to Georgia as the Alabama Crimson Tide do the return game against the Bulldogs. Bama, we know the

score here. They lost a shockingly one-sided game to Florida State in the season opener. They fell out of the top 20 for the first time in almost 20 years. I was in college. I was in college. eating chicken wings in like a secondhand recliner that I found in a dumpster. Last time Alabama was outside the top 20, just for a reference. Life's changed so much for you over the years. I mean, I still have the recliner, but everything else is much nicer, I promise. I mean, Bama has handled their next two opponents. I mean, they beat Wisconsin and somebody whose name I already forgot by a combined,

U.L. Monroe, by a combined score of 11 to 14. I mean, they were on a buy last week. Georgia's undefeated. I would say they don't look like the fire breathing monster that I associate with Georgia, at least to this point in the season. Very unimpressive against their Rino wins on the schedule. And then, I mean, they did beat Tennessee on the road. I get it, Bulldog fans.

But you give up 500 yards of offense and 40 points and you go to overtime. That's not what I associate the Kirby Smart Georgia Bulldogs with. So a lot of time left in the season. But yeah, two programs that I don't think have measured up to their very lofty standards, but getting a win against the other one, particularly if you're Georgia for what Alabama has sort of been to them during Kirby Smart's tenure, I think particularly for Georgia, this is a great way to reassert yourselves, I'll say. Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

And I mean, I think you're right because you think of Georgia and you think of multiple first round picks every year. who's Georgia's first round pick this year? I'm so glad you said that, Dane. It's interesting to me, the spread, and again, home field advantage plays so much of a factor in college spreads, but Georgia's favored by two and a half. When I was previewing this game, and I'm looking at your preseason lists,

I'm going, looking at where all the prospects are. And I'm just, I came away from it. I'm like, man, Bama, Bama has way more talent, according to the experts than Georgia does in this particular game. At least that's the impression that I got. Am I right about that? I mean, Georgia has talent. There's no question.

It's just it's unproven talent, right? It's guys that were high recruits and can play talent wise, but what's the impact? And I think if you, if the draft for tomorrow, their highest drafted player may be C.J. Allen, the linebacker, but he's not a slam dunk first round pick. But even honestly, I think of Alabama too. like they don't have it. And this is where, so Caden Proctor, he's really starting to worry me.

Like he is struggling this year. And it's, some stuff is coachable, yes. But when you're just not getting better in certain areas in terms of understanding, timing, your landmarks, like I just,

it's fair. And a bigger guy that you worry about weight, and him being able to hold up. It is fair to really worry about Kane Proctor, who has not taken that next step, like I was kind of hoping he would coming into this year. He was a high on my preseason top 50.

He has not played up to that level at all, which kind of a theme for a lot of the guys in the top 10 this year. But Proctor is a guy that I think it is absolutely fair to worry about. He needs a bounce back game in this one, in a big way to kind of write to ship a lot. little bit. But Alabama's another team that, again, they don't have those easy slam dunk. This is an easy first round pick.

LT Overton, he's been fine this season. He's had a few moments against Wisconsin. I still want to see more from a player like this who has talent. But again, we think he has a shot to go round one. All right, let's see the first round tape and not just focus on, oh, he's got first round traits and we're going to trust that that will eventually come out. Let me see it on film. and especially against a really good opponent.

So Alabama and Georgia, both these teams, I think we're desperately wanting someone to step up and announce themselves as, hey, I'm a first round pick. A lot of these guys probably have the talent. But, okay, let's go see you do it on and put it on film and impact the game in a big way. What are your thoughts on Georgia defensive tackle Kristen Miller to this point in the season?

Like just looking back and like I said, I know Georgia gave up a ton of yards and points to Tennessee, but I saw I saw some encouraging snaps there like he is a fun guy to watch particularly as a run defender that's his specialty as a run defender and they have such a heavy rotation in that Georgia defensive line just like always where you're just not going to see a high volume of snaps but when he's out there yeah he's good he's solid he's fine I don't think he's making too many impact plays maybe one or two a game so he's another one especially with Alabama's supposed to get Jam Miller back in this one so the running back

that's important to watch this senior running back class. Jam Miller, I think, was number three for me coming into the year. He's been banged up. And then also for Alabama, they're getting Tim Keenan back, the defensive lineman, who is a really, he's a draftable player. So getting those two guys back, hopefully healthy, big for their opportunity as well to kind of say, hey, don't forget about us. We're draftful players as well.

I'm so glad you mentioned Jam Miller. Number 26 running back for the Crimson Tide. I just think he's a, he's a fun freaking player, man. Like, I love his decisiveness. I love his physicality. He caught a touchdown on a wheel route against Georgia last year in this game, which a nicer receiving play than you see from a lot of college running backs. I, if I'm looking for reasons that one team might have the edge in a game,

I saw Jam Miller's available for this and I was like, oh, I'm excited to watch that. Yeah, especially in Jalen Milro. When he's throwing it, running backs, they're not exactly the most catchable balls. Some of those are missiles. And like,

remember, he's a running back. Oh, it was a nice catch. Yeah. You got to finesse it in there. Yeah, Jim Miller.

That was a good. That was a nice catch. On the flip side for Georgia's offense, I want to see someone, one of these skill players step up, whether it's one of the running backs, one of the tight ends with Lucky and Delp. What about one of these receivers?

Colby Young is, is a good player. But can he, I'm not expecting you to take over the game like Ryan Williams did last. year, but, you know, I want to, I still want to see you be a more consistent weapon for that offense. Sacriah Branch maybe with the, especially with the, a lot of those screens and bubbles and trying to get them in yak opportunities, London Humphreys, Dylan Bell. So which one of these Georgia receivers or skill players can step up? I'm glad you mentioned Branch. He was on everybody's

radar when he was at USC. And I mean, he is, he is leading the Bulldogs offense right now. 11 catches 181 yards to this point in the season. The two tight ends you mentioned loss and lucky number seven for Georgia, Oscar Delp number four. It's just been a slow start. I think they've combined for like seven catches so far this season. So I'm I'm curious to see what that looks like. I'm curious to see Zachariah Branch in another big opportunity against a team with as much

talent as Alabama has. Who among those three big names in terms of like draftable prospects? Yeah. Like it would be nice to see one of the. those guys have a no worthy game. I think they're going to really want Branch to be the guy in this one, where you're going to see a lot of quick throws, get the ball in his hands,

let them go create and try to put stress on that defense. And we're probably just set up the big play down the field by doing that enough. This is an Alabama secondary that has talent. I mean, Bray Hubbard, we've talked about the safety, who had the lackluster start against Florida State, but then bounce back in a big way against Wisconsin. DeMani Jackson, the corner on the outside is a really good player. So this is going to be a good matchup of defense versus that Georgia offense.

Bray Hubbard number 18 for Bama. Yeah, I got to believe he's going to play with his hair on fire. How could you not after what happened week one? And he took accountability for it after that game. I got to imagine he's going to be flying all over the field. Even like just even if he's not doing a great job. like you just like give me some effort this time around i just got to imagine that's going to happen uh you mentioned damani jackson number one for alabama kion sob is another one the other safety number

three i mean yeah i guess it is a valid point on your part neither one of these teams is delivering on the amount of talent that they have on their roster i think alabama has a lot of guys that you've heard of i'm curious to see if they play better than they did against florida state and maybe getting guys like Jam Miller and Tim Keenan back. I mean, Alabama shouldn't have any problem replacing injured players, but maybe getting quality players back in the lineup can help with that. I just, I think for a game like this, and Bama played so well in the Georgia game last year, like I expect to see like the full version of Alabama, not whatever we saw week one. Whether that's enough to win the game, I don't know. But I just think, I think this will look more like. the Alabama that we're used to. And I'll be, I'll be pretty disconcerted if they don't, honestly. Yeah. I think that's fair. Two more players

I wanted to mention. Jeremy Bernard, the Alabama receiver, who is just, he's going to be a good pro. I don't even be a great pro because I don't think there's anything elite about his game necessarily, but he just does everything really well. That's going to translate to the next level. And then

Dailen Ever at the corner for Georgia, one of the better senior corners in this class. I But if the draft were tomorrow, I don't, maybe he sneaks into the top 100. I think he's kind of right there on the cusp based on just the feedback I get from scouts with Daly and Everett. So this could be a big game for him just to kind of inch his way if he wants to be a day two pick. Jeremy Bernard, number five for Alabama, Dailen Everett, number six for Georgia. You have no idea how proud I am that the guys in my notes are the guys you're mentioning.

We didn't coordinate this. Just happy, just happy for myself. That's why this works. All right. Those are the two big ones. There's plenty more we're going to hit on. We'll do it a little more quickly, so we're not here all day. But there are so many good games on the docket for Saturday.

Let's jump to the early window, 11 a.m. Central, 12 p.m. Eastern. USC goes to Illinois. Elinai looking to bounce back after just a brutal loss to Indiana on Saturday night. We've talked about the USC receivers and wanting to see them play. better competition. I think this would qualify. It sounds like Jacoby Lane doesn't sound like he's going to be available,

but Mackay Lemon, somebody to watch in this game, is there anybody else that jumps out to you? Well, I mean, I think we're overdue to talk about Jaden Maiava, the quarterback, 70% completions, nine touchdowns, no interceptions. You know, somebody's got to get the ball

into the hands of all these weapons that USC has. And he's done a nice job of doing that, limiting mistakes and just being a distributor. Mikey Lemon, the yak, the ability, I think I was, I don't know that any other receiver on that USC offense has more than double-digit catches, but then there's Lemon where you know where the ball's going and he still is able to make plays.

So again, that Illinois defense is banged up. They're missing Xavier Scott. Hopefully we see him at some point later this year, but he won't be playing in this one. So it's at Illinois and, you know, we'll see if that home field advantage helps them at all but this is a USC offense I like to throw it around and you know credits myava and lemon and those guys I think they're they need a little more pub as as prospects at the same time that's happening Notre Dame faces Arkansas in Arkansas Dan do you want to know what the over under for Razorbacks fighting Irish is guessing it's high right so 50 64 and a half

half points. And I'm taking, I'm taking the over all day on that based on what we've seen from Notre Dame and Arkansas. Yeah, no, exactly. Exactly. I mean, I've watched both of these teams play defense and I don't have much reason to believe like 42 points is going to need to be your score to get this thing over the finish line. Should be a lot of fireworks. We've talked plenty about Tailing Green, another chance for him to do something with a national audience on him. But you wanted to talk. One of my favorite things in college football where you say like, okay, yeah, I know you're excited about the main guy, but, but this other guy is the one that we need to be watching. And it sounds like we might have that going on in the Notre Dame backfield. Yeah, can we give more

love to Judarian Price? Jeremiah Love is awesome. He's a first round player. But Price, I don't think, is too far behind him. I mean, he's averaging 6.9 yards per carry this year. He's already had five touchdowns, a little more unproven in the passing game than you want to see from a running back that you're getting excited about. But man, I love watching his balance, his tempo as a runner.

And like we said, that Arkansas defense is basically Swiss cheese. And so I'm very eager to see what this Notre Dame offense can do. Like I said, I mean, points galore. I don't know, I don't know how good either of these teams are in the grand scheme of things, but there should

be plenty of incentive. of it's it's the perfect early window game that is what i want out of an 11 a m game like i don't have time for some 24 to 10 nonsense at 11 i need i need like a 42 to 40 shootout to get the day going hopefully that delivers jadarian price number 24 in your programs if you're watching that one real quick about tailing green you mentioned him someone we've talked about i i get why people are excited about him i really do because every game he teases big play potential with both his arm and his legs. And we saw it against Memphis, just this last week, even though it was a loss.

But it's the mistakes every game that just, it's like an anchor on his, the ability to get excited about it. It brings you down because it's, yeah, that looks great. It looks great. But then he throws a bad interception or makes a poor decision. And so Memphis, another multi-interception game, this is a development player until he tells us he's not. You know, and he needs to take better care of the football. if he can do that against Notre Dame's inconsistent defense, it'll certainly help.

But it's still something you want to see on film from a player who's an older guy has still played a lot of snaps. I want to see you cut back on these bad decisions and just show off your talent. So far, he hasn't been able to do that. God, very excited to see the point total in this game between these two teams. As far as like under the radar games go, like if we're not counting the headliners, I think this is the game I'm most excited about on the day.

And we'll see how right I am to feel that way. But Ohio State, number one in the country, talent galore, NFL dudes all over the place, going out to Seattle to play Washington, who feels like the most under the radar undefeated team. And I understandably so. Like they haven't really played anybody. They play on the West Coast.

A lot of their games are. happening after a lot of the country has gone to bed. But I don't know. I think this could be a feisty Washington team. Jonah Coleman, number one for the Huskies, their star running back. He leads FBS football with nine rushing touchdowns. Denzel Boston, I think, is a guy that is going to jump off the screen to football fans because he's like six, four and a half and just attacks the football. Like, he's the perfect, he's just a fun player to watch. He's the perfect like fade ball wide receiver who's going to go high point the thing and score a touchdown. So I don't know.

I'm intrigued by this Washington team and I'm intrigued by what sort of test they can give Ohio State. And I've been to Husky Stadium. That is a loud place. That is a tough place to play as the road team. So not not calling for the upset merely just saying that I think this could be a good game. Yeah, I think so too, especially Ohio State's coming off a box.

so they've had time to, you know, really prepare for this one. Washington's defense has really not been very impressive. And so Ohio State, it's a young defense or a young offense. And so their quarterback needs to, you know, scoring, you know, 21 points might not be enough in this one. So they need to go out there and score, put points on the scoreboard. Glad you mentioned Jonah Coleman. I mean, he is, he's played really well this year. It has been against lesser competition or at least not top competition, but short, stock,

really dense lower half, burst through the crease, much better than at least what we put on the 2024 tape. He's averaging almost seven yards of carry. And the vision and the jump cut ability at that size, I think is just really impressive. His percentage of big plays is it's got to be among the best, among all running backs in college football. So with Ohio State's defense, it's going to get a lot tougher

and very eager to see that success rate against sunny style, Ravelle Reese and everything that Matt Patricia's defense throws at him. I'm going to say if you want to watch college football like Dane Brugler, zero in on Jonah Coleman and Arvel Reese. I have a feeling he's going to have a close eye on that. Number one for Washington, Reese wears number eight for Ohio State, I believe. Correct. Yeah, that's going to be must see TV if you're a draft nerd.

No, no doubt. Plenty of other talent on Ohio State. I think we've covered that well enough. But yeah, I think this one way or the other, this is an interesting game because it can show us just how good these players on Ohio State are or maybe Washington. Yeah, Washington can leap onto the radar a little bit in a game that people will be awake to watch for a change, which you can't always take for granted with the Huskies. Down in Oxford, Mississippi, 230 window, LSU and Ole Miss. You know I'm glued to this one. This is the game that gives me more anxiety than any other every single year.

year. But plenty of reasons to watch if you're not an LSU fan. Obviously, Garrett Nussmeyer. For me, Dane, though, I can't wait to see Ole Miss receiver Harrison Wallace go against pretty much everybody on LSU's secondary, but preferably for our purposes, if we can get Harrison Wallace, number two for Ole Miss lined up against Mansour Delane, number four for LSU. That's what we want to see here on this podcast. No, no. I mean, Delane's best. Clemson tape, Florida tape, he's been outstanding. And so this is a game where it always feels like fireworks. It was the final score of the game two years ago with Jaden Daniel.

I mean, that was. It was something awful. It was, I think it was 50 to 48. Something is one of the worst four hour blocks of my life. It was so stressful. Sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up. 53 to 48.

Excuse me. I didn't do it justice. Oh, wait, no. Oh, God. was a different, that was a different, LSU Ole Miss game. Yeah, that, that was the game where Kishon Booty scored like five touchdowns in a game, 55 to 49 a couple years ago when Jaden Daniels was on the team. Just, this is just the most bonkers rivalry. And I hate it.

I hate that it has to be played. The latest wrinkle, did you see who LSU linebacker Whitweeks is dating? I did. Yeah, I wasn't sure if we were going to bring that to this show, but yes, I mean, Whitweeks is apparently dating Landry Kiffin, daughter of the head coach. So as if this needed any other drama, we got that going for us. It's amazing. I mean, only college football. It's just amazing. Like, that's just, it's not that this rivalry type of game needed any more spice, but that definitely spices it up. We talked about it the other day. I mean, LSU has a draftable player or more at all three levels of the defense. So that is worth watching.

I mentioned Harrison Wallace. I'm just going to selfishly, actually, as a draft nerd, I want to see Trinidad Chamblis continue to play for the rebels. As an LSU fan, I don't really want to see him play. Like he looks really good and I'm a little afraid. So yeah, there's a lot of angles here. I'm guessing, yeah, it'll probably, I don't know. LSU's defense has been so good.

Maybe they can actually hold Ole Miss to like less than 40 points for what would feel like the first time in years. What's the over under in this one? Do you have that? I can pull it up. One sec. Yeah. The history of this game tells us it's going to be a high scoring affair. But to your point, LSU's defense is playing pretty well.

And Ole Miss held Tulane to what, like 10 points last week. So they got after the quarterback, Ratzloff in that one. So two defenses that are playing a little bit better. But yeah, history says this is going to be a high scoring affair. Over under set at 55 and a half. So even with as good as LSU has been on defense, people are still expecting some points in this one. And I can't say I blame them.

Yeah, I can't blame them either. We mentioned Fernando Mendoza. I don't know how much you want to talk about this game as a whole. But I do think it's interesting. One week after a huge home win that put them on the map, put them on the national radar. Indiana is going on the road to Kinnick Stadium to face Iowa. It's a tough place to play.

It is a tough team. Even when Iowa's not good, they're just a salty team to go against. And I just, I want to see how Fernando Mendoza holds up in this matchup and how the Hoosiers in general sort of respond to such a big moment last week against Illinois. Yeah, we hit a lot on Mendoza. So just to see him against this defense will be interesting. Max Luella. number 48, edge rusher for the hot guys.

He's kind of a spark plug off the edge, someone to watch for. I think he's a day three draft pick. For Indiana on offense, those past catchers deserve a lot more love. Elijah Serrat's a good size athlete. He has NFL starting potential. But I'm a big fan of Omar Cooper Jr. The other, again, another theme of this, the other receiver for Indiana. He might be the best receiver in the country with the ball.

in his hands. His contact balance, the toughness are outstanding. The force miss tackles are all over the, all over the tape. He's averaging 12.1 yards after the catch, which is among the best in college football. So he is, he's a guy that he want to get the ball into his hands and just let him go go have fun. His run after catch on his touchdown against Illinois, he like kind of tightrope the sidelines. Very impressive. Omar Cooper Jr. Number three for the Hoosiers, top 10 the country in receiving yards second in the country in receiving touchdowns by the way indiana's got oregon in eugene after this iowa game so feels like a little bit of a trap game i'm i'm curious to see how the hoosiers handle being a team with a target on their back basically i mean this is they played

nobody through the first three weeks and now they follow up a big illinois game with this i yeah i think this is an interesting spot for them last but definitely not least if you're sitting around on Friday night with wanting to watch some football. I know I will be. You got TCU going to Arizona State. I kind of love the theme here. Arizona State was ranked. They fell out after a bad road loss. Now they get the chance to do the same thing to TCU, who is undefeated and now ranked number 24. So it's a spot for the Sun Devils. Obviously, we've talked a lot about Sam Levitt and Jordan Tyson, spot for them to say, Hey, we can do it to you too, the same way it happened to us.

No doubt. Those two guys will be, you know, kind of get the main attention of scouts for this one. But for TCU, Josh Hoover at quarterback has been awesome. 11 touchdowns, two interceptions. He'll attack every level of the field. His receivers are giving him windows. Eric McAllister had a huge game last week against SMU over 200 yards receiving, I believe it was. Good size speed.

He was better with his yak last week, which is a good development for him. I think he's got a shot to be drafted late. And it's a fun battle with McAllister and then Jordan Dwyer. Both those guys are transfers and what McAllister's Boise State, Jordan Dwyer's Idaho State, I believe. And then seeing them go up against Arizona State's secondary, coroner, Keith Abney, he had his first interception last week against Baylor. He's kind of looked at as a day two potential guy at corner.

So to see him go up against these receivers and this type of passing attack, that'll be a lot of fun. I don't remember if I've mentioned him on previous shows. What do you think about Arizona State running back for Leak Brown? You know, especially with the way that they want to play that Arizona State offense where they want to, it almost feels like they want to use the pass to set up the run at times with the because, and I get it with Sam Levitt and when you have the weapons that they do. But if they flip that maybe and really rely on that run game because I just don't think the offensive lines helped them out.

enough in terms of opening holes but he has talent no doubt and so in a running back class where it's very muddled and we're trying to figure out okay who's going to step up he's in that mix where it's like all right if he goes out and has a big game maybe we need to be talking more about him he's listed at 5-9-195 which means he's not even that big typically uh but man i don't care he's he is fun physical. Like he he runs like a bigger player and he runs angry. And if what has happened so far this season is in any indicator, he's going to break a chunk player or two in this game. He's, he's been very fun to watch. I got my eye on him. I got my eye on a lot of stuff. I mean, we just laid it out. We just did like 45 minutes of just talking about the prospects to watch in

this one weekend. I'm geeked, man. Like I said, I was I was feeling it when I got up this morning and this is exactly why there is going to be something to watch in every window of the weekend. I cannot wait. And that means there's going to be a lot to recap next week when we try to parse through all of these games

and figure out, okay, this happened. What does it mean? Because yeah, there's going to be a lot happening Friday and Saturday and we'll be back next week to break it all down and try to figure out what it means. Absolutely cannot wait. Dane, enjoy the games. I will talk to you soon. If you're listening, enjoy the weekend. Hopefully it's everything we're billing it to be. We're hoping it can be. Either way, we will be back to

recap it all next week on Building the Beast. We appreciate it. We'll talk to you all next time.