The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - USC - LSU reaction, Week 1 College Football recap

Episode Date: September 2, 2024

John reacts to USC's big win over LSU and dives into how impressed he was with Lincoln Riley and the Trojans (8:06). Later, John dives into some of the top college football games from the weekend and what his biggest standouts were. (20:46) Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app,

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new and former NFL plus subscribers. Additional NFL plus premium terms at NFL.com slash terms. Happy football returning. Hello everybody. This is John and this is the Three and Out podcast. I just watched Lincoln Riley shut your boy up. and win a massive, massive game in Viva Las Vegas. That's what Lincoln's singing right now, probably with a cocktail on the team bus. Because unlike Lane Kiffin, who got left on the tarmac, they are going to be celebrating on the tarmac.

Incredible win for the Trojans, Miller Moss, Danton Lynn, the new defensive coordinator. His dad, Anthony Lynn's got to be really proud. That was a different USC team than we saw last year. So we'll dive into the game on just USC, because that was massive. Fun to have him back a little bit.

And LSU, man, Brian Kelly. He's lost to Florida State back-to-back years in opening games. Last year he got demolished, remember, when Keon Coleman had like 10 touchdowns against him. And then he lost this game. This was much closer, clearly, than last one. But not the end of the world because of the 12-team playoff. but it's, I don't know if I see him as a playoff team.

So we'll dive into thoughts on the game, and then I watched a ton of football. Georgia, Georgia Clemson, a lot of takes on Dabo Sweeney flying around. I think people are overcomplicating a little bit. Comes down to one position, which he's not getting right right now. Miami destroyed Florida, that job's going to come open here soon. A&M, Notre Dame, some of the young quarterbacks I saw, some of the prospects for the draft. I mean, the popularity of college football right now is just, it's at an all-time high. I mean, these games, the ratings on these games, you're talking 9 million people watching 9 a.m. kickoff, West Coast time.

Now, maybe a lot of those people are on the East Coast, but holy, moly, these are getting people fired up. And I kind of want to talk about that, how the popularity of football, the NFL college, the draft, the combine. It's just all kind of interconnected. And it's just thriving. I mean, it has, I was glued. I watched football Thursday night, Friday night, got up Saturday morning, did a little gym break, still watched football at the gym on the treadmill,

came home, watched more football. I was watching football last night until like 1130 at night because the Arizona game went so late. And then today, I just kind of screwed around, didn't do much, waited for another football game. And yeah, so it's exciting. Well, if podcasts all week long, obviously week one of the NFL is here, Colin and I are going to do a podcast tomorrow night.

So this is Sunday night. We got Labor Day tomorrow. So if you listen on Labor Day, maybe listening on Tuesday, Colin and I also just did a podcast. I'm sure we'll talk college football, NFL. Good times. Exciting. It's really, really exciting times right now.

Because, God, I love football. It's just, I can't even. Can't even hide my love. Other than that, subscribe to the YouTube page. We might be dabbling in the YouTube golf space here coming up. So I'm going to shoot some videos, be out in the next week. Buckle up because I got some ideas. We've got some things brewing.

Subscribe to the podcast, obviously, if you listen on Collins' feed. If football's back, we're going to keep talking about it. But first, do you want to go to one of these games? It felt like a USC home game tonight. If you want to go to any game, college, pro, concerts, comedy shows, you name it. I got you covered. My friends at GameTime, just download the GameTime app. Download the Game Time app.

Go to anything you want. And I'm even giving you a little deal. $20 off right now. So if you want to go, enjoy yourself, get out of the house. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code, John, for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again.

Create an account and redeem the code, J-O-H-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today, last-minute tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed. Okay, let's dive into the story of the night. It's Lincoln Riley, and I'll take the L. I'll take the egg on my face. I thought they were a 6 and 6, 7, and 5 team. I thought they were a team that was going to have major issues, right? I mean, last year, what we witnessed was like an NBA team that to win games depended on their star player to score 45 and 50 a night.

And they had Caleb Williams. And sometimes he could do it. And sometimes he couldn't. But defensively, they couldn't tackle anybody. They were bad. I mean, they were, and really, USC's defense now has been bad for a while. But the transformation that we'll dive into Miller Moss, who definitely surprised me, like most of the. people he had never really played. You didn't know what to make of it.

Anytime you have a young quarterback, I think the jury is out until they prove it. But the story of the night was the defense. And hiring Anthony Lynn's son, I got news for you, DeAnton Lynn, if they look like that all season long, he's going to be a college head coach next year. He's coached in the NFL. He works for the Ravens. He excelled for Chip Kelly last year at UCLA. His star pass rusher went in the top 20 to Indy, Latu, and tonight, whatever the hell he was doing and preaching for the last seven, eight months, worked. They showed the visuals of these guys' bodies.

Part of it with USC, and listen, some of us, us west coasters go, I don't think you realize how physical and big Pete Carroll's team was. I understand it's a long time ago, but they were massive. They were, they dominated on defense. it's why they ran the country. It wasn't offense clearly was sexy. They had Reggie Bush and Matt Leiner and Hinesmans. But defensively, they had first round picks in every unit.

They had a ton of them at linebacker and a defensive line. They hit you right in the teeth. And then Lincoln Riley comes, you're like, these guys look like me. How are you going to beat anyone with a bunch of little tiny dudes? And then they show tonight the transformation. I guess they stole some guy from Vanderbilt. And that worked.

The strength program, whatever they're feeding these kids, the jamba juices, the protein shakes, the body types, guys were going from 235 to 260. And just on television, it jumped off the screen. The other thing was the open field tackling. USC has tackled like a Mountain West team for years. And it's like we hold them to such high esteem because of the program, because of the history, because they give Lincoln Riley $120 million. and then they're playing Arizona and they can't tackle anybody.

You're like, what's happening? And you watch tonight that first drive of the game, you're like, God, I don't know. And then they settled in. And they consistently tackled all night long. So Lincoln Riley makes a change of defensive coordinator, hires a crosstown rival DC, and it immediately paid dividends. I mean, they're playing a team that has, I'm texting around trying to get the draft grades on these guys,

The left tackle Will Campbell for LSU, top 15 pick. The right tackle, a little bit of a raw product, more than likely a first rounder. Obviously, their quarterback, I mean, to me, he looks like an NFL guy. Lacey had to be the best third wide receiver in the country last year playing with Malik neighbors and Brian Thomas Jr. I mean, that's a, Daniels played on an All-Star team last year, and they handled it, man. did. The other thing is, because LSU travels so well, despite it being in Vegas, which is a

four or five hour drive from Southern California, that felt like an LSU home game. And for USC, the pressure on that program, I thought this before the game kicked off, the pressure on these two coaches in this game were immense. It's year three, and this isn't like 15, 20, 30 years ago, where it takes three or four years to truly even evaluate a guy. You can flip it like that. The transfer portal, the world is completely different. Your ability to flip a program has never been easier because of the modern-day rules. Brian Kelly got $95 million. Lincoln Riley got $120 million.

The standard for these guys was like, oh, be competitive, win eight, nine games. It was like to win national championships. In year one and two, obviously last year for both guys, the defenses were horrendous. They had the number one and number two overall quarterbacks in the draft, and neither one of them sniffed the Final Four. USC had no shot, and Brian Kelly couldn't stop a nosebleed. So you're like, there's tangible pressure in this game. Because of the 12-team playoff, it doesn't make or break your season.

But that's a, for as great of a win that is for Lincoln Riley, and that's a fantastic win. I mean, that's as good as it's his best win at, you know, it's a short tenure, but it's one of the biggest wins of this career. I mean, there's no way around that, right? Neutral site against LSU when he's an underdog. That was massive. It's equally a pretty big loss for LSU.

You know, you have all this talent. Clearly defensively, they weren't as bad as they were last year, but something's missing. They don't look like the dominant SEC program that, you know, some of the teams that Les Miles had and obviously Nick Sabin had. days are long gone. And you could argue maybe those days are long gone just in general in college football. But how does this team, I mean, 9 and 3 feels like best case scenario? And here's the problem. If USC's 9 and 3, which if you look at their schedule, like they're going to drop a random game.

To me, the Notre Dame games, kind of advantaged Notre Dame. Michigan, kind of a coin flip, because Michigan's clearly not as good. But let's just say they go 9 and 3. And LSU goes 9 and 3. and basically one of the last playoff spots is between those two teams. Well, USC gets the spot. They beat them, straight up. That's how it happens, right? I mean, we don't even need to argue that.

And I thought if USC lost this game, looking at their schedule, you know, probably 8 and 4, I look at them now like a 9 and 3 team. And Miller Moss, that was really impressive. I mean, my expectations for them were zero, didn't have any, and they probably weren't positive. Halfway through the game, you're like, God, I kind of like this guy.

By the end of the game, you're like, God, that guy's a gamer. Both the quarterbacks. They played winning football. I know Nussmeyer threw the pick at the end of the game, and it's crazy as my first year at Fresno State in 2008, Doug Nussmeier, his dad was the offensive coordinator. I love Nuss. I saw him at the Combine this year.

He's currently the Eagles quarterback coach. He's been kind of Kellynne Moore. those guys have been together since Dallas. He was a quarterback coach for Dak, and then he went to the Chargers with Kellyn, and then he went with the Eagles. He's a stud. So I was rooting for him.

But something about Brian Kelly, not the most, I don't know, easily rootable individual. Something's just a little off. He's always kind of screaming at people. But the expectations for him, like even if Lincoln had gone seven and five this year, nothing's going to happen.

To me, the Brian Kelly thing, Last year was such a disappointment because their offense, it's impossible to get better on offense. Their offense legitimately was like the Joe Burrow 2019 year. And I think statistically it's like the greatest offense in the history of the sport. But from a talent standpoint, very similar. Starwide receivers. Top five pick. Another guy top 25 pick.

Lacey's probably a top 50 pick. Two tackles, stars, quarterback, NFL guy, running backs. Like, well, I don't know. You know, one thing that jumped out to me, and I'm not pretending to be Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVey here, deep passes and long breaking routes down the field, even when you have great athletes, are difficult to complete. One thing USC did a good job of tonight is some quick hitters across the middle. They got rid of the ball fast out of Miller Moss's hands. Yet it felt like in Doug Nussmeyer, or not Doug, but Garrett Nussmeyer, his statistics,

really good, but they were asking him to kind of play like Patrick Mahomes. Why don't you run some quick hitting routes and let your great athletes, I don't know, a seven yard out. Well, if the guy breaks a tackle, it turns into 40 yards. Run a slant route. If the safety takes a bad angle, could be 26 yards. And they're just, their offense, a little weird. And they got going for a little bit running the ball, but when you have two NFL tackles,

you think you could be pretty good, you know, on the ground. dominate on the ground. And maybe that's a testament to USC, bulking up the defensive line, adding some guys in the transfer portal. USC has a guy. This has to be the only time this has happened during this transfer portal era.

And I can't imagine it happening anytime soon. Number 81 for the wide receiver, started his career at USC, transferred to UCLA. And now he transferred back to USC. We've seen a lot of guys do the three-team transfer. Start somewhere, go another place, go another place. But this guy came home.

Maybe home is where the heart is. Herb Street mentioned it. It is cool in this kind of day and age when all these guys are bouncing around, left and right, and everyone's taking the most money. I don't blame them. But just two kids that got passed over, had to buy their time, got to eventually start, play their first game. Notre Dame A&M did 8 million people.

UGA Clemson did 7.9 and Miami, Florida did 6.6. million on Saturday. I think it's fair to say we're going to have well over 10 million people watching that game. These two guys waited, years as the backup, get to play in front of, I mean, it's going to be one of the highest rated games of the year, given it's Sunday

night, nothing else on TV, and both of them excelled. What a cool moment for some of the old school football guys. Listen, I'm not anti-transfer portal, but I also don't just think everyone jumping around, like, there's a reason you're not starting.

It's kind of cool to be the starting quarterback. You got to go to USC and LSU. It's kind of a big deal. Maybe one day it'll be your turn. And when it is, it's pretty fucking badass. So props to those two guys. But like I said, man, what a win for Lincoln. And Brian Kelly, man, I think right now you'd have to bet against them making the playoffs.

Right. Ole Miss. I like Ole Miss more. They definitely can be more prolific scoring-wise. Alabama, like, Kaelan Dupor was just in the national championship. You could argue Kailen Dubeau currently is a better coach than Brian Kelly. Today, I know their resumes, Brian's accomplished a lot, but like today, who would you rather have?

Kailen Dupor or Brian Kelly? I'd take Kailen Dupor. So LSU still has a lot of question marks, even if their defense, I guess, looks a little bit better from the previous year. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that

we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid?

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Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away,

such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's hit on Davosweeney really quick because he's getting crushed. Georgia just curbs stomped him. I mean, killed him. Got up early, was slamming coffee.

The game kicks off. It was kind of close for a half. You're like, and I thought, you know, Clemson, they've recruited really well, backs against the wall, not a soul in America that follows football, thinks they have a chance. I'm like, eventually, aren't you going to play one of these games close? They kind of did, and then they didn't, and they got boat raced. And after every person that covers college football, former players, media people, are crushing dabble for the transfer portal thing.

And I think they said during the game that Georgia might be 11. It's one of their bigger transfer portal classes of the Kirby tenure. The problem is not the transfer portal. Obviously, he should utilize that, and it would help. But the thing that has derailed Clemson as a program is quarterback play. He won a national championship with Deshawn Watson. He won a national championship with Trevor Lawrence. Before Deshawn Watson, you know, ran off every massage therapist in the state of Texas,

and his body started failing him. And Trevor Lawrence will see how good he was, or turns out to be, still a lot of question marks there, was the number one pick in the draft. And Deshawn Watson was a guy after like three years, every team in the league except like three or four would have wanted. So those guys are legit NFL dudes leaving Davosweeney. From there, he went to DJ Ungule, who everything I've heard, nice guy, probably an XFL player.

And then he thought he was upgrading with Clubnik, who might just not be very good. And for the transfer portal, adding a guard here, a safety here, not disputing that that would not help. It helps Bama, it helps Ohio State, it helps USC, it helps. You should utilize that. But when your quarterback play sucks or is not good enough against other NFL quarterbacks

on other college teams like Georgia has, and that ultimately wasn't the difference in the game because Clemson was just overmatch, but they had no shot as the game went on with that quarterback. None. Siltch. So, like, Scott Frost I saw today, just got hired. Who hired him? Oh, the Rams. Scott Frost, who had no equity with Nebraska beside he'd been a successful coach right at UCF

and had played it Nebraska. But he didn't have equity of like taking them to 10 and 11 win seasons. Kind of staked it all on Adrian Martinez. And then it failed because Adrian Martinez turns out wasn't any good. So what happened? Scott Frost got fired. So usually coaches in this position get fired when they keep missing on the quarterback. Now, Davo has so much equity going to three national championships, winning a couple, dominating for a while.

But it's not going that well right now. And to me, everyone can talk about the transfer portal, but I promise you, when your quarterback is not good, you could have 10 NFL guys next to them. You're still going to be, you're going to have problems in the tight games. So Georgia looks like a dominant program. Yeah, they are. But they also have an NFL quarterback who looks pretty damn good. Clemson does not.

Same thing with Florida. Like, why is Billy Napier going to get run out of town? Well, his team's not very good. But the quarterback play is just like, Cam Ward was many thought the number one guy in the transfer portal. Got a bunch of money to go to Miami. Played at Washington State, super freak, right? Can run, huge arm.

to make a mistake here or there, but his good is really good. What happens? Miami goes. They've dominated the transfer portal. They recruit well because Mario's a great recruiter. And they kill Florida. They dominate him. And now I think big picture of the question mark is, Florida's going to open up.

And an article came out about Lane Kiffin, hasn't had a drink in three and a half years, as a new man. I don't think that was a random article. I think he's trying to change the perception nationally. Now, part of it, his daughter goes to Ole Miss. He wants them to stay. It sounds great. But I've been doing this long enough. And these articles matter. Because the perception on Lane, like, he wanted the Oregon job a couple years ago. They wouldn't give him the time of day.

Wouldn't entertain them because there's a lot of some question marks. But those have kind of subsided. He said, listen, no drinking anymore, no screwing around. Florida has an opportunity to be one of the best jobs in the country. And clearly Lane's killing it at Old Miss. They're going to be, I mean, they are good. And that's just something I'm keeping an eye on big picture. Lane Kiffin, Florida, maybe he just stays at Ole Miss for the rest of his career. I would say eventually Florida is going to have to get really, really serious. And when you start looking around, like, what are they going to do?

Go after Urban Meyer. I would say Urban is dramatically more toxic after some of the situation, even at Jacksonville. He hasn't coached in a while. Lane currently is kicking ass to take names. I'm not saying Florida would turn down Urban, but doesn't Lane? make way more sense now. I'm not even know if Urban would want the job.

One thing that is very, very evident is the young quarterback play all over the country. I looked at Arch Manning's class, the top five quarterbacks. Number one was Arch Manning, who doesn't get to play because Texas has Quinn yours.

Number two was Nico, I can't say his last name, but Tennessee starting quarterback from Los Angeles. I got news for you. If you haven't seen him yet, just YouTube, some of this throws from last

week. You're going to see him throughout this season. It's his first year starting. I guess he started the bowl game. He's a big time player. Some of these guys, for a lot of my life, most quarterbacks in college, I felt like had average arms. They were just like, this is not NFL. When you just flip around the channels now, you go to like Tennessee. You're like, this 19-year-old guy named Nico is throwing 99-mile-on-hour bullets.

I go to Nebraska, Riola, he's throwing just. just darts. I watched Oklahoma. It was either Thursday or Friday night, Jackson Arnold, who, listen, Dylan Gabriel is an excellent player, Oregon's starting quarterback. Oklahoma told him he was not going to start anymore. They were going with Jackson Arnold, who was fifth in the class behind Arch Manning, Nico, who am I missing, Dante Moore, who was now the backup to Dylan Gabriel at Oregon, who was at UCLA last year, and number four is the guy Malachi Nelson, started at U.S. USC, Lincoln ran him out of town, went to Boise, and he couldn't even win the job.

So you can't hit on them all. But that class looks like he's got a chance. Three of the four guys, pretty talented. And who knows, we'll have to wait and see with Arch. But Jackson Arnold and Riola, you talk about the ability to move, throws down the field, accuracy. They got some swag. They got some, like, Panache. They just got some shit to them.

They're just a very, same with Nico. Just a very, very enjoy. Easy watch. very easy watch. Historically, a lot of these guys, sometimes they were at some of these schools that were throwing up a bunch of points like a Mike Leach school, a Hawaii.

Now these guys, and I think a lot has to do with seven-on-seven camps, these guys are throwing. A lot of these guys only play football. You know, people my age, in their late 30s, 40s, 50s, if you were a great athlete, you played it all. You're on the football.

If you're the quarterback, then you're the point guard or the shooting guard, and then you were the shortstop. Most of these guys now quit the other sports and just play football. I saw Nico actually play a little volleyball on the side. Check out his volleyball highlights. They look incredible.

But these guys master their craft. It's like Tiger Woods. Like what was Tiger Woods doing when he was 14? He was just playing golf. He was isolating at the sport, which obviously is very unhealthy for 99% of people because you're never going to play past high school. But when you have like pro potential like these kids, it can be a huge advantage, especially, you know, you love it and you're an addict.

not going to burn out. You hit the ground running and you look like a star. So the young quarterback talent in this country right now, these guys aren't even draft eligible, right? Not even draft eligible. And they just look like studs. Some of the guys that are draft eligible, Arizona's wide receiver, McMillan, he's just a massive guy with incredible ball skills who can make people miss and dominated on Saturday night. He had 304 yards and four touchdowns. and honestly it felt like more. And everyone I've talked to in the NFL, there's only one question mark on them

is like true top end speed, right, to be like a top two or three overall pick. You know, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, these guys had elite speed. Malik neighbors last year, you've seen like, trying to think guys in Julio Jones, but I think he's got a very, very good chance

to be a top 10 wide receiver or a top 10 player in this draft at wide receiver. the number one wide receiver off the board. Travis Hunter and Colorado, Chador. I think there's no disputing, and Colorado plays Nebraska this week. Talk about a great game. Rola versus Chador,

Dion, at, you know, in Omaha, wherever the hell of University of Nebraska is. I don't think that's in Omaha. But Lincoln, Nebraska, that's going to be must watch. Shadour, there's no arguing that he has number one overall pick talent. right the arm strength the accuracy the mobility obviously the genes he comes from he's he's a very very intriguing

player and i would say he's a lock top 20 pick as of right now but these next you know 10 games playing real teams he played north dakota state which is an excellent program you don't determine your draft stock after out of that if i'm a gm watching you play in February, I never even watched that game. Same thing with Travis Hunter. Now, Travis Hunter was already viewed as a top five pick, like a borderline lock. I think the hard part with Travis Hunter is all the scouts want him to play corner. Rightfully so.

It's way harder to find corners than wide receivers. Looked like the last five drafts. There's been an unlimited amount of wide receivers every year in like the first round, let alone all the good players that go in the second and third round. There haven't been many high, high-end plug-in play sauce gardener Derek Stingley types. So they want him to play corner. The problem is, if you're Travis Hunter, think about this.

Brandon Ayuk, who got 75 balls, just signed, got $75 million guaranteed. The money these wide receivers are making, it's like $30 million plus a year. The top corners, now maybe that changes with sauce and stingly, and I would guarantee this. Their agents are going to try to change that, as they should. But right now, there's a big gap financially.

Now, the rookie contracts, all the same. Everyone makes the same money based on your slots. Like, if you're drafted number three overall, whether you play corner, left tackle, quarterback, you're getting the same contract no matter what. But that second contract is something to think about. My question is, can he really play both ways all season long and do it at a high level.

Last year he got hurt, kind of ran out of gas. Clearly, I think they're going to try it. What does that look like when they play Arizona? And he's going up against a top 10 wide receiver. And he's also playing all the snaps on offense. He's like the Shohei Otani for college football. It's the most remarkable thing I've ever seen. We've seen a lot of guys, quote-unquote, slashes, right?

A defensive player that would get some offensive snaps. it was usually that way. You don't see many offensive players also getting defensive snaps. But Dion, Charles Woodson, guys who were defense, got to play a little offense. This guy goes both ways. It's like high school. It's like if you just went to like Alabama or LSU or Ohio State's best high school recruit this year at a skill position like wide receiver or corner, I guarantee you they're going both ways.

I play running back and I play linebacker. Or I play wide receiver and I play safety. And I never come off the field besides special teams. That's what this guy's fucking doing. It's insane to watch. And some of his highlight plays, it was sweet. So Colorado, they're an entertaining watch. You can't argue that.

It's just they're playing on TV against a real team. I want to watch. Will Johnson, speaking of top corners, if Travis decided to play corner, and who knows if he ever even, quote-unquote, declares, maybe he just goes into the draft as an athlete, Will Johnson, I think, is viewed as the top corner right there with Travis Hunter, had an unreal pick six against Fresno State.

Give the dogs some credit. They went in to Ann Arbor, defending champs. Granted, they had an entirely new team and a new coach. Dogs have my guy, Tim Skipper. They were right in the game. But Michigan had a little bit more. Michigan's going to have some issues on offense. Quarterback play, pretty big question mark.

But their defense is really good. And Will Johnson, I don't know how, quote, quote, long he is, but he's a top 15 corner, I would imagine. Anything else? It really is crazy the popularity right now of the sport of football, and whether that's gambling, whether that's, you know, kind of the fantasy football generation of people wanting to watch star wide receiver, star quarterbacks, but seeing some of these numbers, 8.2 million people watching Notre Dame A&M.

8 million people watching Georgia Clemson. If you told me 12 million people watch tonight, I'd believe you. Like college football, and Collins has been talking about this for a long time, it used to be so regional, right? It was just the South was having so much success. Well, now the South is cool. Nico, Tennessee quarterback from Los Angeles. Georgia's leading Russia against Clemson from Los Angeles.

All these guys, it was a big deal I remember growing up. if one of our star high school recruits in Northern California left the Pact 12. Brady did it to Michigan. DJ Williams did it to Miami. But for the most part, if you weren't going to USC, UCLA, Cal or Stanford, you know, Oregon or Washington, maybe Colorado.

But you didn't go, you weren't going to Alabama or Georgia. Now look at Georgia, they're starting a running back. It's from Los Angeles. Brock Bowers is from Napa. I've been saying this for a while. Sabin changed the game financially for all these coaches because college football has become more popular and he was the leading bus driver for the success.

But he also made the SEC really cool. He made it cool outside of the South. I think it's cool. Spent 37 years of my 39 years on the West Coast. And I'm infatuate. with the SEC. Has the best players, right? The SEC just resonates.

And one of the things in the tweet I saw about the ratings, Stuart Mandel, those were ABC games. Well, guess what ABC did? They bought the SEC. Now, their song leading into the SEC game may be pretty cheesy and maybe pretty bad, but it's going to work because this isn't just people in Mississippi

and Alabama and Arkansas watching these games. I watched every second. I'm sure many people listening watch bits and pieces of a lot of them and we're living all over the country. And when I look at the SEC and the Big Ten and this is going to be an argument, especially now because of the power of the two conferences,

the SEC is much better. Now, I know USC beat him the night and that was a big deal, but I watched the Big Ten, their quarterback play is not great right now. Michigan's quarterback plays down and then the random teams. And that's where the SEC,

like their random play. teams have NFL quarterbacks because they've been stealing so many of these quarterbacks from the West Coast. Where did Lane Kiffin get his quarterback? Jackson Dart, USC. So it's like, now, Texas A&M's quarterback, he was one of the worst players I saw all weekend long for a good player. And I text a buddy in the NFL, I'm like, what's the deal with these two quarterbacks? He said the two most overrated guys coming into the season for

quote-unquote draft prospects. Now, Leonard the Duke transfer for Notre Dame he's like a poor poor man's version of Cam Newton he's so big and he can run guys over but throwing's very hit or miss I don't view that guy like an NFL thrower as of today

in A&M's quarterback I mean look like he should be at UC Davis now the defense in those games and that's the other thing the defense now the Big Ten has good defense too but the physicality of the SEC right now

and really all the Power 5 high-end schools is really high. And the hitting in that game kind of felt like NFL light. Guys were getting crushed. Notre Dame schedule a joke. They'll probably cruise the playoffs. But that was an impressive win. On the road. Now, the other quarterback couldn't complete a pass to save his life,

but still, wins a win on the road against an SEC team. Oregon was pretty bad. I didn't watch much of that game just because I don't even think it matters. But overall, man, this is, we got a lot of NFL talent. And that's the other thing. You know, rising tide lifts all boats. The popularity, it all bleeds into each other, right? The NFL's popularity, the drafts popularity, college football's popularity,

they're all interconnected. Because when you're watching tonight, Garrett Nussmeyer, like he's going to get drafted. When you're watching Lacey and the two tackles and some of the dudes on USC and guys over the weekend, in any of the big games, you're like, that guy's an NFL player, that guy's an NFL player, what rounds this guy going to go? And the power of that is just taking this all to a new level. And we can add the gambling, the, I don't know, fantasy in college doesn't really exist, but it's all part of each other.

It's all in the same, you know, network. It's all under the same umbrella. And it's why football is lapping everybody right now. You know, you look at basketball, it's all disconnected. The best players in the NBA are Euros, right? AAU is a joke. No one cares about the G League. College basketball only matters for the bracket.

Baseball, it's all out of whack. But it all has to be interconnected. I love golf. Talk about a sport that's all over the map. When everyone is connected, even if college has their issues, the NFL kind of has some of their issues, I mean, I can't get over the more and more I think that the NFL is playing a game. in Brazil. I'm not anti-expansion, but just talking to some people, it's absolutely ludicrous.

I mean, it's insane that they're doing it. It really is. If you saw A.J. Brown's quote, he's like, yeah, they kind of told us, we can't take our phone outside. Like, I'm just going to stay in the hotel. Fucking, the Brazil guy just banned Twitter. It's like, what are we doing? Just play the game in Lambo or Philly. And if you want to go international, go to London. You're going to fucking Brazil. What are we trying to prove here? But regardless, I mean, we can nitpick anything. The NCAA, I haven't watched Connor Stallion's documentary yet, but I did see some clips from the NCAA chick that was grilling them.

It's like I couldn't even imagine, even of him Connor Stallion's and guilty, taking her seriously. But regardless, like the two entities got some issues. But where they don't have issues is when the game's on for four quarters, people all around this country are glued. And I love football as much as most. But I thought this weekend, the talent out there, the entertainment value, the matchups, been saying forever we need to get rid of.

We need LSU USC. You shouldn't be able to play. Maybe, you know, you can play a Fresno State, a Boise, but playing some of these like FBS schools. Listen, North Dakota State is really, should be in the Mountain West. But, and they're good, and they would beat a lot of, you know, Division I schools. But just in general, that practice needs to end. We just need teams playing other real teams because that's what the consumer wants.

And when you give us awesome matchups, millions of people are coming. So we know that these television networks have more and more control because they're literally paying for everything, that they got to keep dropping the hammer of like, for the three weeks buffer before we start conference play, we got to play real games. I don't even care if they're close.

Like Oregon, Idaho actually was a, close game, that game should not be allowed to happen. It should not be allowed to happen. Especially now, Idaho bumped down divisions. When I was at Fresno State, they were in the whack. They're not even that anymore. They were FBS or FCS. I get those mixed up. They were in the playoffs. I think they lost in the first round. They're playing like SAC State, you know, in South Dakota State and Montana State. I have a lot of respect for those programs, but they shouldn't be allowed to play these teams. And this is why I think we're never inevitably headed toward the big kind of NFL-style college football.

Like in the NFL, you only play other NFL teams, right? Power 5 teams should only play other Power 5 teams. Or you get one group of five a year, you know, or whatever. But you should not be able to play some of the teams that some of these schools are playing. And I understand some of these schedules are really hard. You know, you look at whose schedule was I looking? I was like, Jesus. might have been Georgia's or Ole Miss.

Some of these SEC schedules and some of these Big Ten schedules are difficult, right? If you have to play Ohio State, if you have to pay Penn State, if you have to play Oregon, it's hard. That's not like playing, you know, random teams. But still, we've got to figure that out. But overall, fantastic week and just, I'm sweating. I'm so excited. So glad college football's back. NFL is right around the corner.

And let's rock and roll, baby. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you, you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast

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