The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - 10/25/17 - Why Penn State is like the Golden State Warriors

Episode Date: October 30, 2017

Joel Klatt dives into his updated Top 10 and Matt Leinart stops by to break down the Heisman Trophy race. Plus, Joel previews the upcoming clash between Ohio State and Penn State, and tells you why the Nittany Lions have a lot in common with Steph Curry and the Warriors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yeah, yeah. We're live. We're live. It's Breaking the Huddle. I'm Joel Clatt. Welcome in. Yes, this is a polka dot shirt. It's awesome. The show, Breaking the Huddle, sponsored by Dr. Pepper at every tailgate and home gate. It is the one fans crave. It's the one I crave right now. It's been a long day. I'm going to need a little caffeine before we get started here. Thank you for joining me on Facebook. I'm really excited about this week's show because there's a lot to get into, including. two teams in the top, well, my five, AP top six that are facing off this week, Penn State, Ohio State. Gus, myself, Jenny, we're going to be there in the shoe. Can't wait that game is on Fox. So this is what's going to go on today. I'm going to, as we always do, give you my top 10, as I see them this week.

Then Matt's going to come in. We're going to have a chat about the Heisman Trophy. What we've got going on in that race. And then I'm actually going to give you some chalk talk, some Xss and O's about how, Penn State gets Sequan Barkley going, not in the run game, but in the passing game. That's right. So you're going to want to be here for that because I've got very cool stuff. Why is Penn State like the Golden State Warriors?

Oh, professional T's. You're going to have to wait to watch the Chalk Talk segment. As always, listen, this show is only as good as the comments that we get because we have a really fun deal. Right after the top 10, you guys bring some snark, bring all of your hate, all your bias, everything like that, right? Throw them at me on the comments. Share it with your friends so that we can have more fun.

And then we're going to try to get to some of those comments right after the top 10. And I'm going to give you as much heat back as you tried to give me. I think it's very fun. You should as well. Gosh, Dr. Pepper is so good. Let's get to the top 10. Remember, comments. Let's go.

It could be about my polka-dye shirt or my flannel tie, which is awesome. Let's go. My top 10, as I see them this week. I just did an Oklahoma game, and I've got Oklahoma at number 10 in the country. Okay, so here's the deal with Oklahoma. I think Baker Mayfield is awesome, and their defense is like, you know, it's kind of one of those things where it's like, you maybe have one of those friends that you know is like really cool, and you always want to hang out with them, but then you always know that like, well, they're going to bring that one person along,

and you're going to have to have dinner with like, uh, but we like the other guy, because he's so awesome that I want to hang out with him, but that other friend of his is really that's like Oklahoma. Baker is clearly like the cool friend, and the defense is like, they're, oh, nothing to see here. Let's not invite him anymore. The defense has struggled so bad. They're 92nd in the country and pass efficiency defense. They gave up 268 yards on the ground, so we've seen them gashed on the ground last week against Kansas State. Then we've also seen them give up a lot of passing yards, and I'm a little skeptical. I got to be honest, if Mayfield's not on this team. I don't know if they're a top 15 team, much less top 10. He writes a lot of

wrongs because this guy is phenomenal. He's fabulous. We'll talk a little bit more, I'm sure, about him when Matt gets in here for the Heisman Trophy. By the way, their next few games, they face Tech this week. So I'm interested to see how Texas Tech exploits that passing game. Then Oklahoma State and Bedlam and then TCU. So they win three in a row, and we're talking about Oklahoma being right back up in the 4-5 range. They'll be right up there in the playoff race with that big win over Ohio State earlier in the year. I'm sure we're going to get to some Oklahoma fans being upset because not only with who I have at number nine, but also at number five.

So let's get to it for number nine. Oklahoma State. What's up? Oklahoma State. I see you playing an overtime game in Austin, Texas, getting through it. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. I understand that. they came in with the number one total offense in the country and they score 13 points.

That's not sweet. I understand that. But every team is going to have a game in which they struggle a little bit, right? And it's like, how do you get through that? Can you still win? And Oklahoma State did, right? They did everything that they needed to do. Their 13 points in a win is the lowest point total in a win in the Mike Gundy era.

He started coaching in 2005. Shows me a little resiliency, actually. Resilience. Yeah, some resilience. Yeah, make a comment about that. Pocodot shirt guy can't pronounce anything. So Oklahoma State is still in the top ten. They're at number nine. Everything's still ahead of them.

They still have a chance to go to the Big 12 title game and go from there. Wisconsin's at number eight. Listen, we know the narrative with Wisconsin. I think they're a really good team. I love what Jonathan Taylor's doing the freshman running back. He's got over 1,100 yards right now. he's a phenomenal player. I don't know what they can be in the passing game.

Remember, at times, I think last week they had three scholarship-wide receivers. Three! What are we doing? Right? I mean, they can mall people up front, but when someone stops their run game, is Alex Hornabrook the type of guy that you trust to win a big game? Remains to be seen. I don't know. I don't know what the answer to that is.

Love their defense, lock down corners. You know that it's not breaking the huddle, sponsored by Dr. Pepper, unless I say who? What's his name? Come on, Facebook. Write it down. Write it down. What guy do I drop every single show? Someone, make the comment. Make the comment. Jim Leonard, the defensive coordinator for Wisconsin. That's right. We do not get through breaking the huddle without a little Jim Leonard. That was weak applause. Yeah, there we go. Jim Leonard. Yeah, Jim Leonard. That's how we do it. That's how we do it. Taylor, by the way, in the last seven games did that. at 1,100 yards.

That's not a freshman run for 1100. It's season seven games. That's incredible. Clemson, against my better judgment. When you look at what Clemson has done, it's been awfully uninspiring, in particular with Auburn's fall off, in particular with Louisville's fall off. And now all of a sudden, you look at a team that's essentially

even in the turnover margin. Their defense, which is supposed to be this great defense, is only for seven turnovers. Their quarterback is dealing with an ankle injury. He's dealing with a head injury. did not practice in their off week last week. They're incredibly fortunate via the schedule makers that they have an off week before who, Georgia Tech. So they face the option offense after a by week.

That's incredibly fortunate. I don't know about Clemson. I've got to be honest. Everyone, listen, they're getting a huge bump because they are defending national champions. If you look at the teams that they beat that they're supposedly was their great wins, I mean, what's Auburn doing right now? Nothing. What's Louisville doing right now?

A whole lot of nothing. hearing everybody. I mean everybody. George out. Petrino, who knows? Okay, Notre Dame is at number six. Guys, Notre Dame is underrated. Underrated. How does that happen? Literally. Like, how does that happen? Notre Dame has been overrated for 77 straight years. Like, straight, even in 88. They won the national championship. Overrated. Notre Dame is underrated this year. How in the world does the AP have them voted where they're voted?

And their wins this year, they're winning by an average of over 20 points. They're throttling people. They outrushed USC by 301 yards. Let that soak in. I'll be watching in L.A. I know it's super hot today. It's like over 100 degrees. You're super excited about the Dodgers.

And USC just got outrushed by 300. 101 yards. That team is for real. I don't know if they can throw the ball. I don't know if they're going to be able to run the ball against some of the teams that we're going to put up here. They clearly weren't able when they played Georgia early in the year, but they only lost by one. That's a really good football team and be prepared for this. Listen, I'm one of the people that think they should join a conference. It's 2017. It's not 1956. Notre Dame at 11 and 1 deserves to be in the playoff. Get ready for that.

Because I don't think there's a team on their schedule that can stop their run game. We'll see with NC State. Big high after beating USC. They face NC State this week in another ranked matchup. Josh Adams, by the way, putting himself with a little Heisman consideration. I'm interested in to see if Matt actually puts him in that top five. Winbush is going to have to throw the football a little bit better, though. They can't just run the ball and win this thing.

A couple of interesting stats. And let me nerd out with Notre Dame just real quick. Under Brian Kelly, they had never run the football more than 56% of the time in his history at Notre Dame. This year, their run percentage is higher than 62%. So clearly a shift for Brian Kelly. Remember that whole self-reflection. And then the defense, remember Mike Elko came in, and he's the new defensive coordinator. He came from Wake Forest.

Last year, the defense gave up almost five and a half yards per play. That's down to 4.8 yards per play, almost a full yard. That's a huge difference. Notre Dame is a very good football team, and the AP is undervaluing the Irish. Just saying. All right, my number five team, Ohio State. Cue all the Oklahoma fans writing comments. I'll give you a moment while you do it right now.

Hashtag boomer. Okay, here we go. Ohio State is number five. Why? Well, I've seen them twice. I saw them twice right before I saw OU. So these two eyes, which has been around football for, well, my whole life, really, but really since I can remember, it would be like three, four years old,

watching my dad's teams. He was a high school football coach. Let's call it 32 years. 32 years of football experience for me suggests that regardless of what happened in their game, right now, this team is playing better football. than this team. You can argue with me all you want. Any metric, any film study would show you that they're playing better football than them. I understand, and I think wins should mean something, but this is still a subjective sport. And while it's subjective, I'm going to have to say,

if they lined up today, who do I think would win? I think Ohio State would win. They have one ace in the hole, and he's the cool kid that has to drag along his nerdy friend. Like, this guy, It's almost like it's his nerdy brother. That's a better analogy. Like Baker Mayfield's the guy that always brings his brother that's three years younger and it's just like the most annoying guy, right? Mayfield and his annoying younger brother, aka the defense. Anyways, let's get back to Ohio State.

J.T. Barrett has been really good in the last five games. 18 touchdowns, no interceptions, 72% completion percentage. I understand the defenses have not been great. That's why I'm very excited to see what he does against Penn State this week. They've scored 50 plus points in four straight games. They've gained 500 yards in four plus games. That's the first time Ohio State's ever done that in their history. So they're doing something right on the offensive side.

They outgained their last two opponents in the first quarter, 390 to 35. Let that sink in. They outgained their opponents in the first quarter, 300 to 35 in the last two games. Is that good? That's good. Someone asked me if that's very good. That is better than this. shirt even, which is saying something. It's Pocodots. All right. Number four, I hear you frog fans. You

were very upset. There was a couple of TCU bloggers that actually blogged about where I had TCU last week. You were very upset. I thought Joel was on our side. Listen, I'm on no one's side. I'm on college football side, so don't get too excited about this either. Here's what I am excited about for TCU. I think their defense is better than what we're giving them credit for. I could be wrong, And they might lose a couple of games down the stretch. But TCU has got better play from their quarterback. Their defense is pretty salty. I really believe in Gary Patterson, in particular in bounce back years.

I think TCU has a really good football team. I mean, they held Kansas to 21 yards, but that's like Holden Jones Junior High School to 21 yards at this point. Kansas is really bad. I'm sorry, we put you on prime time. It was a bit of a scheduling thing. We had to. We understand that you're upset. But David Beatty's not going to get fired.

Why? Kansas doesn't have the money. Fewest yards, by the way, since in an FBS game since 2000 for Kansas. TCU is really good. I can't wait to see how they play against Oklahoma. They obviously already took care of Oklahoma State. They took care of West Virginia. We're going to get to this in subsequent weeks.

As you know, or you should know in college football, TCU is the playoff committee's punching bag. they have been since since it started they drop further you can do it you can actually go and study this i've already done it because i'm a football nerd um they drop more spots in the playoff rankings than any other team after a loss in college football they've also dropped two i think actually maybe three times after wins and dropped in the playoff rankings um so i am very interested to see what happens with tc u you already you already already here, there are people at other networks that are already starting to trumpet this

whole narrative that like the big 12 is so weak. Really? By what metric? Because the last time I checked, their non-conference win was better than any other non-conference win in the country when Oklahoma beat Ohio State. Last time I checked, they beat Arkansas, speaking of TCU. They beat Pitt, speaking of Oklahoma State. They've got a winning record in non-conference power five games more than you can say for the SEC. So the Big 12 is very not very good. I would I would now here's my analogy. When you're talking about conferences and conference strength, okay, in college football, stop conversating about the best teams in each conference. That's not how you do it. Throw the best out, throw the worst out, your conference is the bell curve. Okay, so you take the

two ends out, you take them out of the spectrum, and now what is your bell curve as a conference. Well, there's not a curve in the SEC. It's just flat. It just goes crappy, crappy, crappy, whoa, really good. They are so top-heavy, it's not even funny. The bad parts of the Big Ten, very bad. They've gotten much better in the middle this year with teams like Purdue. Illinois is clearly not there, but even Rutgers is getting better. You can't say they're good, but they're getting better. And then they're very, very good at the top end. I would say that the Big 12, They behave most like a bell curve because there's not really one great team. And if you throw Kansas out, everyone's right here.

Everyone. It's like they've got a tough road to win the Big 12. I know that's not a popular narrative on some of the other shows and networks that you hear. Their narratives are lazy. I'm just telling you, they're lazy. Do the research. Check it out. The Big 12 is pretty strong this year.

And this whole narrative that the Big 12 doesn't play any defense, that's also false. Because if you look at last year's bowl season, Big 12 defenses actually on average held all of their opponents under their average to a greater degree than any other conference. Again, I'm a nerd. Go do the research. You'll find it out for yourself. Okay, here we go. Georgia, number three. Was that enough soapbox for you guys? Was that enough soapbox? Thank you. I appreciate that. Keep the comments coming. Let's go. Let's go. Keep the comments coming. Keep the snark coming. Georgia at number three, I can hear the dog fans being like, well, but Joel, last week, we were, we were number two. What, whoa, what's happening to our dogs? Your dogs are fine. Just relax. You still are in a great position. I love your team. I love the fact that your quarterback, a true freshman, is seventh in the country in passerating.

Did you know that Jake Fromm leads the nation in passerating on third down? Critical stat, critical down. well done Jake Brom. I love the fact that the offense is pulling its weight. Four times they've scored over 40 points in the last, I think, five games. They hung 50 on Missouri in their last game. They gained 696 yards in that game. That's their most in a conference game ever. I tried to do this research.

I believe it's certainly the only time since 96, but they threw it for 300 and ran it for 300. Never done that before in terms of since 96 on. stats service only goes back to 1996. So that's the way that they're playing. By the way, their defense is still really good. I love me some Georgia. Don't get all been out of shape.

You're at number three. You're fine. Boldong fan. Speaking to you, Mike Buckland, there's a guy on Twitter named Mike Buckland. He always hits me up about Georgia. It's kind of annoying. I've responded to him a couple of times.

You're fine. Okay, relax. All right. And every day on Twitter, he's like, oh, do you think Yisen is going to leave? Yeah. I think Easton's going to leave. What if he goes to Florida?

That would be amazing. Jacob Eason, please go to Florida. I may pay you, and then you'd be ineligible. Penn State at number two. Love Penn State. Love what they did against Michigan. I think their defense might be a little overinflated for what they are. Remember, they're the number one scoring defense in the country.

However, they have not faced a top 50 offense yet. So we'll see this week against Ohio State. Love what Barclay has been able to do. They're outscoring opponents in the first quarter 90 to nothing. This is coming off a year last year in which they were outscored over the course of the season in the first quarter, 88 to 68. And ever since Iowa, this team had beaten their opponents by a combined 84 points. They're doing everything necessary to be the number two team in the country. I cannot wait to watch them play live.

I really can't. I'm interested to see them play on the road and not in the wide-out environment. This game is going to be epic. I'm just telling you that right now. And then the team that I might be most confused about in the entire country, and you're wondering yourself, why is this Gibroni confused with Alabama? I cannot decide.

Help me out. Just like, help me out with the comments. I cannot decide if Alabama is historically great this season, or the SEC just sucks. I can't decide. Because Alabama, if you go by numbers, it's like, they're never going to lose. This is the 0-1 Miami team. And then you look at the teams that they're playing, and it's like, eesh.

It's like Baker Mayfield's younger brother, right? I mean, the SEC is bad. They are bad. On one hand, Alabama is the only team of the country that has scored 300 points over the course of the season and given up less than 100. On the other hand, look who they're doing it against. It might be the softest schedule Alabama has ever played, ever. I mean, I don't know what to do with them. I don't know what to do with them.

I think they're phenomenal. All the numbers are amazing. 72 games they've won in a row over unranked opponents. 20 consecutive SEC regular season wins. Their average margin in SEC games this year is 40. 40. Everyone's like, oh my goodness, the Tennessee line is 37. I was like, Bama, Bama.

Bama's covering. Bama's covering. Bama's covering. Guess what they did. They covered. Thank you very much. Way to go, Tennessee. By the way, that was not embarrassing at all.

Not only your performance, but also your touchdown celebration. Way to go. Butch, take a hike. All right, there's my top 10 right there. I'm sure no one has a problem with it. I'm sure Oklahoma fans are nodding along and being like, yeah, that seems pretty good. So let's get to the comments. Here we go.

Comments, comments, comments, comments. All right, first one, this one came in when you put Oklahoma at 10, and it's from William. He says, man, that shirt is so tight. I think it's affecting your thinking. William, I think the term you're looking for is smearum. Shmedium. It is not affecting my thinking. Listen, all you have to do is watch, right?

This is a subjective sport, William. That is what we do. Oklahoma beat Ohio State. I saw the game. I watched the film. The film that Ohio State is putting out recently against Nebraska is so superior to the film that I just watched of Oklahoma's win over Kansas State. It's not even funny. So I don't know what you want me to do with that, right? They both have one loss.

I understand one team beat the other, and when it comes down to it, that's going to be a tie break at the end of the season. If they're close at the end of the year, obviously it's going to be Oklahoma because they earned it. I understand that. But at this point with a subjective ranking, William, unless you are died in the womb like crimson and cream, there is nobody in the country that would say Ohio State is not playing better than Oklahoma. That's all I'm trying to tell you. I'm not saying that they deserve to go into the playoff more than Oklahoma. We'll have that conversation at a later date. But at this point in time, Ohio State is playing better football than Oklahoma.

I don't think you can argue with me on that. I really don't. Next up is from Dusty. Notre Dame is so overrated because Georgia is overrated. SEC ain't what it used to be. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting, Dusty.

I kind of like that. I like that. I like the way that you're thinking. I don't think Georgia is overrated, though. And what's fascinating is it's exactly because of the team, I'm using Notre Dame for Georgia, and I'm using Georgia for Notre Dame. Does that make sense? But also remember, Notre Dame beat Michigan State by 20 or more points. They just hammered USC, both all ranked teams. And Georgia has done what they're supposed to do to weaker opponents, which is more than you can say for, let's say, Miami.

who is constantly in one possession games, which is why they're not in the top 10. I'm surprised no one brings up Miami. Miami's not in the top 10 because they're undefeated, but it's like the straw man's undefeated. They're in one possession games with Syracuse. I mean, you know, speaking of Syracuse, Syracuse beats Clemson. Georgia has not allowed that to happen. Everyone says, who have you beat? Well, who have you not lost to as well?

Just something to think about. Before we get to the next big board, we got a lot of, you know you give miami no respect yeah i was i was i was i was i was guessing that i was going to get some miami heat name me a team on this board that loses to miami next weekend if they play on a neutral field go anyone typing a team you're lying i'm just telling you there's no team up here that is not as good or or inferior to Miami. Miami's done a great job. See, this is, and I tried to do this a couple of weeks ago, basically I pump your breaks with Miami fans. You're not back. You're on your way. Just enjoy it. Enjoy the quality season,

but you're not back. You beat Florida State who's a two-win team at them. They're two and four because you basically caught kind of a version of a Hail Mary, kind of a late touchdown pass. Who they play the next week? BC? Why am I blanking this? Was it BC they caught off the face mask? The next week you play in a one possession game, you catch a ball off the face mask and you win the football game. I just don't buy Miami. I just don't. I thought you were going to lose last week. It almost happened. It didn't. There's not a team up here that loses to Miami next week on a neutral field. If you have an argument for that, bring it to me. I think you're wrong.

All right, here we go. This is just some good, clean fun. Here we go. Clatt, my one-year-old that I'm with right now can pick a better top 10 than you. That's on the big board right there. Oh, this one, this is this one. I thought it was just, oh, here we go. Let me, let's get this.

My one-year-old that I'm with right now can pick a better top 10 than you from Sean. Thanks, Sean. I appreciate that. If your one-year-old can do that, that's pretty impressive. I've got a son who, who is almost one right now. He's nine months. His name is Theo.

And he cannot put together a top 10. So I feel, I'm feeling a little of that parent envy right now. You've got a one-year-old that can put together a top 10, and I don't. I don't even think my kindergartner can put together a top 10 at this point, certainly not my 3-year-old. So you're touching on a lot of parent-in-be right now, Sean, which is making me a little little bit jealous right now. And you're wrong.

Your one-year-old cannot put together a better top 10. again, just bring me some evidence, bring me some film, bring me some metrics, bring me some evidence that suggests that this is wrong. I mean, the ones that have the best argument, and I'm going to give you this, the best argument is the Oklahoma argument. But I didn't see Ohio State lose at home to a 30 and a half point underdog, a team that they were 75, 5, and two against starting their third string quarterback the first time that he was getting a start, and also playing the water boy Bobby Boucher, K., Joel Lannning, linebacker, and Corbeck. So, I mean, there are circumstances, right?

I mean, you have to do something with Oklahoma's loss. You've got to do something with Ohio State's loss. In hindsight, Ohio State's loss is a lot better than Oklahoma's loss, right? All things being considered. So, Sean, your one-year-old can't do that. I am not going to have parent envy, and that is that. Thank you very much. some benign comments to have i thought we were going to get a little bit more snarky we didn't that's

okay though we've got more time during the course of the show right now matt and i are going to discuss some heisman but remember right after matt and i discussed some heisman hopefuls and his ranking of the top five heisman hopeholes i've got a great chalk talk on why saquan barclay is leading penn state and receptions why is he doing that has a lot to do with the golden state Warriors. Stay tuned for that. You ready, Little Heisman action? Let's go. Little Heisman action with Matt Leiter. I don't know if you know, but he

won the trophy. What year? Boom goes the dynamite. 2004. Who was runner up? Who cares? The first loser. No, but who was runner up? Let's see. 2004. Was it one of the running backs from... That was a running back. Arkansas. Darren McFadden.

No. No. Who wasn't? Agent Peterson. yeah what do you like me now all right i'm gonna go i'm better than you he was a beast and we beat them in the once bowl but it's fine um all right can we do this yeah you're ready for number five he actually hit one of our defensive backs that year i know he was a running back but he hit like with the ball and then he hit a defensive back and it was like one of those cartoons when the

feathers go everywhere it's like i was like oh i got a quick story real quick he's uh he was in Minnesota and Minnesota came and played us in Arizona and I was on the sideline watching and he turned the corner and I've I literally was cringing for our D.Bs because he's a big, fast, scary looking human being and he runs and he runs with anger. And I was like and the D.Bs come up and they ch- I'm like oh my God I was like oh my God dude I just never seen that anyways but number one the Heisman Matt did speaking of running backs here we go Number five, and I see he's down the list. I put Josh Adams for Notre Dame.

Oh, I like that. I like that. Flavor of the month? Flavor the month. He's got to get a little love after he just beat down Trojans. He's been great all season long, minus one game. Rush for nearly 200 against USC. Beat down my Trojans, like, I mean, an embarrassing game for USC.

But this is one of the best rushing offenses in the country. Obviously, he and Wimbush combined are really good. And the reason why he's a great player, but he's a great player, but he's a he's got the schedule to continue to build. He's got NC State this week, Miami, Stanford. So he's got some big games. Obviously, Notre Dame, I think we both agree, is a legit playoff contender for what they've done.

I think Adams, if he finishes strong, if they win, he'll at least be in New York for the ceremony. I love his consistency as far as yards per carry. 9.2 yards per carry. Crazy good. By the way, Notre Dame outrushed USC by 301 yards. Number four. That won't win you a lot of games.

Number four, Ohio State quarterback, J.T. Barrett, which you will be out there. We'll be out there for this game this weekend. He needs to get more love. Like, I know we're giving him love. Do you think he's getting the love he deserves? I don't think he is. And I think this game, hopefully, if he wins and plays well, it'll really, I think, cement his case, obviously with a big game against Michigan toward the end of the season.

Yeah. But you just look at what he's done in the five games since they lost, and we all know the stats with 22 total touchdowns. No turnovers. He's playing at a high level. The offense just looks different. I know the competition has not been great, but he's, I mean, we play the quarterback position.

I don't care who you play. It's always tough to go out there and play well every week, and he's done that. And I just think against Penn State, the number one scoring defense in the country, he's got a chance to make a big statement this weekend, especially going head-to-head against Saquan Barkley. I totally agree. If he, there's a good chance that you could have a legitimate, like Heisman, not just like, oh, he's in the race, but it's like, wow, JT could win, will win, should win the Heisman after this week.

I think that that's a possibility. I'm not saying that's what's going to happen. If he plays well, though, that defense is very good. The stage is there for him. And he's been playing, he's been on fire. Last five games, 72%, 18 touchdowns, no interceptions. He's run the ball for 232 yards, four touchdowns. He's playing really good football. All those people are, oh, JT sucks. It's like, you know what, you suck. All right, go right. Clap back. All right, number three, your favorite player in college football, Oklahoma quarterback, Baker

Mayfield. Dude, I love watching this guy playing. I love me some Baker Mayfield. I think he's also... I wish I was Baker Mayfield. True. He's also... Should I tell a funny story from last year?

Yes. If he watches this, which I'm sure he probably won't. Oh, I'm sure he does. But last year, we're at the Oklahoma game, Ohio State. Ohio State. And we're in the hotel, and I'm walking by. I think we're going to. to a meeting and they were staying at the same hotel and I'm walking by and Oklahoma's kind of in

the hallway, you know, before games getting ready. And Baker Mayfield opens the door, just perfect timing. I'm walking by, he opens door, he's in just a towel out of the shower, brushing his teeth in the middle of his doorway and I walk by, he goes, at Leiter, what's up? And I go, Baker, what's up? And I just kept walking. It was so funny. It was like that awkward moment because we never met and obviously like, shoot, I was playing when he was nine, ten years old, but it was like, he's just in his towel, brushing his teeth, getting ready for a big game. It's hysterical. Dude is like a gunslinger and yet he leads the nation in efficiency. I love it. I love it. Yeah, it's unbelievable. And obviously, we're both fans. I think when you look at

his schedule with Oklahoma State TCU, he's just got, he's kind of sneaking around. Obviously, we both think he deserves, he's had a type of season that he deserves to win the trophy. He's got to play well against those teams. And we'll see. But the backloaded schedule is allowing him to make a big opportunity. The numbers are there, like you said. And just, the knack for making the big play. I mean, he just, big moments, big plays every week. Like Penn State could win this weekend, win out without Barclay being great every week. Absolutely. That's not the case for Baker Mayfield in Oklahoma. He has to be great every single week with that defense in order for him to stay in this race. So if they continue to, you know,

march towards the Big 12 championship, if they win those games on those stages, trust me, it will be because of him and he will have a great chance in this race. I agree. Number two, Stanford back Bryce Love coming off the bye week. This week plays Oregon State. Should be a padded stack game. He needs to go off, National Intelligence, 300 yards. But the production will be there, I think, with him, too, because they have two losses, they have to win out. And obviously, we know the West Coast and people are not watching him late or play late at night. But you look at the Washington schools he has left, and then Notre Dame. I mean, he's got big matchups coming against really good football teams. He cannot

I mean, they could went, he has to rush for close to 200 against Notre Dame. Like, he's going to have to go off against Notre Dame to have any chance. Well, his last game, he rushed for like a buck 50, and that hurt his number. Right. I mean, that's how good he is. And he didn't even play, like, the second half. So he's, he just, he has to be, he has to have eye-poppy numbers every week. Honestly, nevertheless, he's going to be in New York for the Heism ceremony. I think he's having that type of year.

But he's got to be special in those games, which, you know, he may. David Shaw, just prepare yourself. This smells like another second place finish. Whoever wins it, it just seems like this is like the easiest guy to put number two. Easy. Like whoever you put up there. So you're going to go down the list, Toby Gerhardt, Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey, all finished second of the Hudson Trophy. The only one, they got Stanford fans.

They got Jim Plunkett. The Stanford fans are like sipping wine right now. Now they're like. Back in the day. What does this Heisman who speak of? I just saw an article. He wants to be a pediatrician or something, Bryce Love. Very smart.

I do know that. Very smart. He's like, that should win him, the Heisman, let alone. All right. Number one, your favorite player in college football who you'll get a chance to see live. Oh, can't wait to watch him. Sequin Barkley. And look, he's the real deal.

Yeah. I think the talent to lead your team in what, receiving, rushing, returning. He just got a rare blend. of talent that we haven't seen in a long time. Now, I do think the numbers are skewed at times because even against Michigan last week, the stat line was pretty good, but most of those yards came in the first series, the first quarter. There was that one long run. The one long run, and then actually didn't do much. He didn't do much, but he still does impact the game in a great way. But I think, I think like a lot of players on this list toward the end of

season, this is the game that can really almost win him the trophy. If he goes off against Ohio State on the road against that nasty defense. It's going to be tough for anybody else. It'll be tough. But if he does, then I think that's as good as argument as any of these guys. He runs hot and cold, namely because their offensive lines not great at Penn State. And so if they don't scheme a way to get him one of those long runs, they don't churn it out like Bryce Love does at Stanford. Or Rashad Penny or Josh Adams.

They're not churning out yardage. They're a big play, kind of feaster famine style of offense. unless they're throwing the ball down the field. Stat that jumped out to me in preparing for this game, he is the first Penn State player ever, ever, and this is a storied history, with 3,000 rush yards and 1,000 receiving yards in his career. Good on you, Seycquan-Barkley.

No doubt, and he's one of them, certainly. I can't wait to watch him play, in particular against that defense, and those defensive linemen, I think that McSorley's gonna have to throw the ball a little bit get the running game going because they're not going to just line up against Ohio State and be able to run the ball down their throw. Absolutely. It's going to be fun game. You're going to be there, right? I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll see you there. That games on Fox. I don't know if you've

heard Penn State, Ohio State. Check it out with us at that time. All right, so Matt's got his Heisman guys there. I didn't disagree all that much with Matt there. Good conversation. I love Maddie. Thank you for coming in. All right. Now I've got this great chalk talk ready for you guys because Penn State does some really creative things. And I got to give Joe Moorhead their offensive coordinator a lot of credit because he utilizes Sequin Barclay in every area of their game plan. Traditionally, what offensive coordinators will do is like, hey, I got a great running back.

I'm just going to give it to them 30 times. But that's not what Penn State does. They give Sequin so many different ways to affect the game, to affect the defense. They give them the chance in the kick return game, and then they throw the ball to him. And this is what I love about what they do in the passing game. is that they treat Sequan Barkley like Steph Curry. When you watch the Warriors,

Curry is constantly moving without the ball, right? And they're setting screen after screen after he's running the baseline, getting a double screen on each block. He's getting another screen on the top, all those different things. Well, they're doing that to free up a great shooter, right? To get a great shooter space.

Well, Penn State constantly runs Sequan Barkley off of screens, in the past game to get a great player space on the football field. Here's one of the ways that they did it against Michigan, okay? First of all, the set, what I would call is a three-by-one. So they put the tight end and two receivers out, and this is the wide side of the field. Okay, so what that is going to do is that's going to draw this free safety, the one free safety, and he's going to have to play towards the field or the wide side of the field. Now what you've got is you've got straight man-to-man defense.

Okay, so I'm going to draw this figure eight around all the first. man-to-man players. These two linebackers are in what's called a banjo technique, okay? Meaning like if the tailback comes out towards this direction, this linebacker's going to have him. If he goes that direction, this linebacker's going to have him. That's important because of what happens at the snap. At the snap, Barclay is going to immediately take off directly to his left. So he's going to get the eyes of this player, and this player is going to immediately start to funnel his way into that short side of the field. Now, the best part of what they do is that this X receiver, this wide receiver into the boundary, he doesn't try to run a route. This is what's so

brilliant. What you see is a lot of rub routes nowadays that it's like, oh, you know, we're trying to act like we're running a route and he's in a progression. This guy literally runs up two steps and then eyeballs this player right here and essentially just runs into him. Borderline when it comes to legality, but as long as he's not sitting there and actually setting a block or setting a screen, what is an official going to do? He just runs into him. It's brilliant. It's brilliant. This guy either has to come under that or go over the top, right? Genuinely, generally, because of the angle with which he's trying to cover, and then this guy attacking what I would call his upfield shoulder,

or that on this one it would be his right shoulder, he's going to go under that screen. Sequan Barkley uses his speed, and he just runs a wheel route right down the sideline. So as soon as he goes under, now he's in a chase mode, and he's trying to chase one of the best players in college football, and you can't do that. All Trace McSorley has to do is receive the snap, Put his eyes to this side of the field.

It takes the safety right over to this way. And now look at the space they've created. It's a beautiful play. They pick the linebacker and man coverage. They get Barclay running down the sideline, and he's able to go down there for a completion. Now, sad part is that he actually dropped that pass against Michigan. But they do it in another way as well.

So I'm going to quickly just kind of erase this and draw one more play for you. And this is the other way. that they screen for Sequin Barclay and they do it over the middle of the field. So it's not just into the boundary, it's not just screening the linebacker. What they do is that they get into an empty set like this. So here's the line. Then the tight ends right here. They've got these players, that same three receivers over here.

Now what they do is that they bring Sequin Barkley and not he's not in the back field, but he's actually out lined up as a wide receiver. If you've got the same man to man, I'm not going to draw the line, but if you've got the same man to man look like this, you've got the safety, you've got the corner there. What's so great is that Barclay is going to immediately start running a crossing route, and both of these players go and they immediately kind of start setting this moving screen. Now what Barclay does is he gets to that mesh point and then he flattens out. That flattening means that when this backer goes over the top, there's space creation. created right here. If he continued along this trajectory, he would make it easier for that linebacker to get over the top of the screen and then cover him. But because he flattens out,

all McSorley has to do is drift, drift, drift, and then he hits him right here and then he can run up the field. Again, man coverage, this is what they try to do against man coverage. And guess what Ohio State runs, not exclusively, but a lot of man coverage. So when you're watching the game, watch it with me, okay? Because this is what I'm looking at. for in the booth. As soon as Barclay is out on a route, watch for the pick plays, watch for the opposing wide receivers or the opposite wide receivers, kind of running a route, slowly looking to get in the way of that defender, just like the Golden State Warriors. Because when you've got a guy like Barclay that's great in space, like Steph Curry, when he gets

any space can light it up, you get him space at all costs. That's what Penn State does. That's what Golden State does. And that's what I'll be watching for on Fox Saturday is Penn state takes on Ohio State. Breaking the huddle has been brought to you, sponsored by, I should say, Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper's delicious. I've got some right here, and Dr. Pepper is our sponsor. At every home gate and tailgate, it is the one that fans crave. We appreciate you watching. We'll be back next week. Check out all of our stuff the rest of the week. We're going to have clad back coming out. We've got a monologue, as well as my top five coaching candidates around college football that are not named John Gruden or Chip Kelly. So basically I'm saying the

realistic ones. That's right. I'm going to have that for you. Check it out on social media. But for now, thank you for watching. We'll see you next week.