The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - 11/2/17 - Notre Dame, Alabama & College Football Playoff reaction

Episode Date: November 2, 2017

Joel Klatt reacts to the College Football Playoff rankings and gives his own top 6 breakdown. Klatt discusses Georgia vs. Alabama, why he loves the Buckeyes and Baker Mayfield. Plus, Matt Leinart is here to give his Top 5 in the Heisman Trophy race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in, welcome in. Breaking the Huddle. Here we go. A little college football champ for you after the college football playoff rankings are released. So a little new format. We're just going to go through six teams. We're going to do it in playoff format. It's going to be very exciting. I'm Joel Clout, your host. This show is sponsored by Dr. Pepper. One, because it's delicious. And because at every homegate and tailgate, it is the one fans crave. Let's get into it. Now, the best part about this show is you guys watching. Okay, so share it with your friends and make sure to give me all the comments that you can. snarky comments. If you're mad at my rankings, which I'm sure you will be mad, then go ahead, because this is going to be my playoff format, not what we're talking about with the committee, Joel Klatz's playoff picks. This is my space. Here's what I'm going to do today, and if you're an Oklahoma fan, I can't wait to see you in Stillwater. First of all, really love your quarterback, really love your team. You're probably going to be mad at me. So get ready. Get the hate going here on Facebook. Remember, share it with your friends. I already said that, but share it with your friends. It's just better when we all hate each other. That's what I'm talking about. Share the love.

You know, one of my favorite comments ever, who is this from? It was like, if you have hate in your heart, let it out. Sounds like a Chappelle show. That's what we're going to do right here. If you have hating your heart, let it out. Here we go. Number six, I'm going to go with Penn State. Penn State. Saw them obviously against Ohio State. And listen, I really like Penn State. I loved meeting with Jason Cabinda on Friday night. This guy was phenomenal to meet with as a player. I love Sequin Barclay. I like Trace McSorley, their coaching staff, everything. There was some limitations that you clearly saw play out against Ohio State. Ohio State was the better football team. Ohio State overcame those mistakes in order to win the game. They got way too conservative

in that game, but they still have a solid resume. Think about what they've done with three wins over power five teams that are above 500, five wins overall over teams that are above 500. The defense, I'm not going to say that they're going to continue to struggle because remember, they were the number one scoring defense coming into the week against Ohio State. But then to give up 39 like that, that has to be a little bit demoralizing in particular when they have the lead, in particular when you know it's going to be on JT's Barrett's shoulder. They did not get to the quarterback. But Penn State's still at number six, and although they don't control their own destiny, they're still in the mix. Okay, here we go. Oh, you.

I've got you at number five. Okay, oh, you? Listen, I'm a big OU fan, namely because of Baker Mayfield. If I could, I would include you into number four because of

Baker Mayfield. This guy is like, if I died and got to come back as one person in college football, it would be Baker Mayfield. I love his swagger. I love his game. What doesn't get talked about enough about his game, see, everyone focuses on like,

oh, the flag planning or the shirts that wears or this and that. The guy's game is ridiculous and I love it. He's great with accuracy on the run. The guy brings his team back in big moments. Remember in the last two games that they've played, they've actually been down. He's brought them back. He plays through injury. He plays hurt. I love what he does. I think he's the most important player to his team in all college football. Now, Oklahoma's resume is just okay. Now, remember, that Ohio State game is going to have to carry them because they've got two wins, Utep and Baylor, against two of the three FBS teams that are winless.

That's not going to go a long way with the committee. That game against Ohio State is going to have to carry them. They're going to need to win this week in Bedlam. They're going to need to win against TCU. If they keep winning, I think they're going to be in, but we'll see with Oklahoma that defense is going to need to get better. This is where Oklahoma fans are going to just go nuts. Are you ready?

Here we go. At number four, I've got the Ohio State University. Listen, I saw the Buckeyes now three times. I've seen Oklahoma once. I've seen the Buckeyes three times. That is a damn good football team. I'm not joking. Now, Buckeye fans, you've got one of the best teams in America out there,

and you've got one of the best quarterbacks in America. He's playing out of his mind. J.T. Barrett, where have you been for the last two years? My goodness, this guy that has showed up now for Ohio State, he is drastically different. Do you know in the last six games, he's averaging over nine and a half yards per attempt? That's crazy. That's very good.

I love what they're doing on the defensive side of the football. Remember now, when we played football, I imagine you all playing football at home when you were kids. I certainly did it, whether it was snowing in the backyard. It wasn't snowing in the backyard. Man, we were out there. We were playing ball. What's the first thing you establish when you're playing backyard football? Write the comments.

What's the first thing you establish? The Mississippi, right for the rush. What is it? Is it a two Mississippi game? Not for quarterback. No, no, we wanted a five Mississippi game, right? Well, for Trace McSorley, Saturday turned into a one Mississippi game because that defensive line was insane.

Come on, it was like one Mississippi Sack, one Mississippi Sackwan. At one point, Sam Hubbard just tackled both Trace McSorley and Saquan Barkley on the same play together while they were trying to have his own read. It was like just a party in the backfield, Sam Hunter was like, I'm invited. Boom, here I am. That was pretty impressive. Loved what they were able to do. Their quarterback's been fantastic.

All right, here we go, Notre Dame. I wanted to put you in the top two, but you're not undefeated. You lost to Georgia. I love what you're doing running the football, though. Josh Adams, you need to be in the Heisman race. I would encourage people to put Josh Adams in the Heisman race. This team, there's one, two things, maybe three truths I really like believe in down to my core when it comes to football. And remember, my dad was a high school football coach for 30 years.

I've been around in my entire life. There are a few truths about this sport, okay? It doesn't have to do with ingenuity or tempo or this and that. Running game travels. Running game lives in November. Guess what Notre Dame can do? Run the rock. I mean, they run the, you know what, out of the rock.

Love Josh Adams. Six in the country and running the ball. 318 yards against NC State. 300 and what was it, 31 yards against USC outrushed them by 300 yards. This defense is better than people will give it credit for. Wimbush can throw. They don't lean on him, but he can throw, and he's throwing much better here in the last couple of weeks. Love Notre Dame. I think they control their own destiny, and we'll see what happens here towards the end of the season because the team they lost two, I'm going to have it number two, a little different from the committee. Here's why Georgia is number two for me and not number one. They're not as balanced as Alabama has been.

When you're getting up here and you're splitting hairs between the two best teams in the country, and you're saying to yourself, okay, why would Alabama be number two? why would Georgia be number one? I understand pointing at the resume, and I certainly think that Alabama hasn't played anyone of any substance. Remember, the team with the best record that they've played against is Colorado State. That's a group of five team that's six and three. That, by coincidence, is also the best offense that they've faced. I think they're at 37th in the country when it comes to total offense.

Speaking of Colorado State. But the hairs that you're splitting here, what are these teams doing on specials? What are these teams doing on defense? What are these teams doing offensively? And while Georgia is great running the ball and all the things I just said about Notre Dame are certainly true about Georgia, here's the X factor. The most important position on the field is still quarterback. And between the two, I don't think anyone out there, even with the most tongue-in-cheeked snark you can possibly have,

would say that they would take Jake Fromm over Jalen Hertz. right right be honest with yourself even Georgia fans Mike Buckland I'm looking at you you know who you are Georgia is a great team I think the quarterback battle is in Alabama's favor so if you're just down to it it's like where are you going to go where are you going to flip the coin Alabama's outscored their SEC opponents by 200 points they've got the better quarterback that's why I went with Alabama in the one spot I understand their resume is not great I understand their schedule hasn't been that But listen, this is the way that I've got it. Okay, so who's the first clown that's going to ask me,

how do you have Oklahoma rated behind Ohio State? I'm going to answer that question first right off the bat. How? Because I did it, idiots. Ask me why, and we'll get to that in just a moment. Let's get to some Facebook comments here. I'll answer them as best I can, whether they're questions, even if you're trying to be nice.

We probably won't pick your comment. I'll try to get to them later. But really, we look for the snarky comments, because it's more fun. Here we go. Someone read it out. I don't understand. Like, what do you?

I'm nuts about, so Notre Dame should be higher? Lower, they're saying. Lower. Yeah. Notre Dame should be lower. I'm sorry. Their only loss is to undefeated Georgia

who's splitting hairs at the top spot of the country. They're sixth in the country running the ball. They took Michigan State a ranked team, beat them by 20. USC between the meat grinder, beat them by more than 20. They put NC State in the meat grinder, ran it for 318 yards, and you want them lower? What are you talking about?

That's the dumbest, well, no, no, it's not. No, it's not. It's the internet. It's just really dumb. It's not the dumbest thing I've seen today, but it's close. It's one of them. What do you mean lower? What do you mean lower?

Who you put it? Uh-oh. My badgers get no love brownie face from Tyrone. True story. Your badgers are at the kids table with Miami in the corner. Thanksgiving's coming up. Everyone knows about the kids table. Wisconsin is certainly sitting there. Listen, I don't disagree with that, right? I mean, Wisconsin doesn't have a great schedule. It's not helping them any that BYU is terrible. I don't think it's all their fault. It's just the reality, which is fine. Now, I just don't think if I put any one of these teams up and I say, do I think they would beat Wisconsin? The answer is yes. That's generally. generally how I end up ranking teams, right? You can throw out all the criteria you want. You can throw out all the metrics that you want. You can do all the eye tests and this offense and that offense and strength the schedule and blah, blah, blah, blah. When it comes down to it, who wins the game? Who wins it? When you go kick off in the parking lot,

yeah, parking lot, that's what I said. Who wins? And I just, like, who is Wisconsin beating up here? I'm sure you were joking around. I know you're not getting on me because even every Wisconsin fan I know is like, yeah, that's about right where we're at. But guess what? Here's what's great about Wisconsin. I still think you control your own destiny. If you're an undefeated Big Ten champ, you are going to the playoff. Bottom line, I don't, I don't care. I don't care. You're going to pass a one-loss big 12 team. You're going to pass whatever's going on in the Pac-12. You're going to pass a one-loss ACC team. I know Clemson right now is in the top four for the committee, but Clemson's not in my top six. Why, there's a

trending in the wrong direction. Did you know since they're a win against Virginia Tech? They're the 73rd ranked scoring offense in the country? That's not going in the right direction. I think Clemson could end up falling out. Remember, remember, folks, all you're getting been out of shape about these rankings, don't. Just stop, pump the brakes, just take a deep breath. Why? Because of the 12 entrance into the playoff that we have had in the three-year era of the college football playoff, seven have come from outside of the original top four in the initial rankings. That's over 50%. Okay, so seven. So we're seeing seven teams come from that five and lower range. Remember, two of them have come from outside the top 10. Looking at you,

Virginia Tech. You never know. You never know. Oklahoma State looking at you, one loss. You could run the table and wind up into the playoff. Just pump your brakes. Of the seven teams that started out in the initial top four and then ended up falling out, five were SEC teams. Five. Georgia, are you going to stay? We know Alabama has the staying power. We don't know about you. Clemson, you're trending in the wrong direction. Are you going to get passed by Oklahoma? Maybe even Penn State? Looking at you, Wisconsin? Can you run the table? You know why I'm not looking at you, Miami? Four reasons. Four one possession games in your last four games against teams with a combined record of 11 and 20. I know I threw that stat right in the end. You know why? Your chain has no swag.

Matt Leiter, a Heisman winner. I don't know if you've heard. How you do? What are you doing, man? I'm great, man. Take a bow, take a bow. Let's talk a little Heisman this week. Why wouldn't we? I think we're on the same page. I think.

Finally. Come on. Come on, Jack Peterson. What do we got? What are they doing this? What is this? This is what they do. Chris Taylor, that's her thing. Like the Yankees were doing this.

It's all sort of. It's cool, man. Baseball. You're baseball. You'll probably be watching this after game seven. But that's okay. Let's get into Heism. And I think, I want to start by saying, and we've talked about this, and I think we're in agreement, there's a lot of great players this year with Heisman-worthy seasons.

I don't think there's one guy right now that you can say it's a lock. I think there's four or five guys that to this point are just having phenomenal years. Would you agree? I don't know. We'll see. It's hard to talk to you because you're a hater on everything. Why am I a hater on everything? Number five.

I feel like I'm more of a realist. I'm a truth talker. I'm just trying to give love to some guys here. Well, I would love to hear your love. I would love to see all five of these guys. In New York? In New York. We'll see.

I mean, we'll see which five they are. And then I'll discuss. Okay. Number five, this will make Brady Quinn happy since he's had a rough week on social media, but it's okay. Notre Dame running back Josh Adams. This kid has obviously been fantastic all season long. I thought last week running for over 200 yards against NC State was a big deal. He's been good, man.

He's been really good. And no one's really talking about them. They're in the top four this week, which at the end of the day doesn't really matter at this point. But he's been the best player on one of the top four teams in the country all season. And unstoppable. You know, I mean, listen, when you look at his yards per carry and what they're doing, not just like, oh, they're rushing the ball well, controlling the game, controlling the line of scrimmage. Yeah, I like that a lot.

He would be in my top five. I think Josh Adams has done a heck of a job. Number four, Bryce Love. Hasn't played in two weeks. He's got a bi-week a couple weeks ago, sat out against Oregon State last week. As a team, they rushed 27 times for 81 yards without Bryce Love. This is what's crazy about that Oregon State game is that, you know, you could say like, well, does it hurt, does it help?

He didn't play. Clearly it would have helped more if he went off on a nationally televised stage. Okay, so that's the caveat. However, when you look at how bad Stanford was without him, that just ratchets up, not only his importance, but his value to that team. So I'm with you. He's still certainly in my tough time. And he's still leading the country in rushing and hasn't played in two weeks.

Well, 190 some odd yards again. He's been incredible. Sick. They got Washington State this week, which is a big game. Washington, Notre Dame, the closest season. The Washington one, I think, is huge because Washington's rush defense is very good. And then obviously Notre Dame will be a big stage for them on a nationally televised game. And I'm finally drinking your Kool-Aid, number three, Penn State running back, Sequel and Barclay.

Oh, you're moving down to three? That's exactly where I have him as well. And we didn't even talk about this before. Oh, look at this. You had the pleasure of calling the game. Yes. Our studio crew had the pleasure of being there. Obviously, the atmosphere.

It was so good. It was so good. And he's really good. He's really talented. So at this point, whether he's one, two, three, four, or five, there's no denying how great he is in a football player. If they were better around him, he would kind of run away with this. The offensive line has struggled.

It's a problem. I just, I think people are so enamored with literally one to two great plays a game. That's all we get from them. And it's not all his fault. I mean, I think the offense line, all these things. But he had the kickoff return to open the game. And I'm thinking, all right, here we go. I mean, this is his stage.

He had a great touchdown run. And then he didn't do anything the rest of the game. Nine and 21 carries, negative yards, 18 carries. I mean, that's the thing. If we're talking about the Heisman trophy, it's consistency. It's doing it every single week. It's doing it for four quarters, every game. On the biggest stage.

On the biggest stage. Like when you've got a two-scan? score lead and you're supposed to win the Heisman trophy as a running back, close it out. That's when you give the ball to your horse. Yeah, like, you give him the rock and it's like, okay, he's going to make a guy miss, he's going to get a couple first downs, so he's going to shorten the game, and he didn't do that. Yeah, he didn't. And it feels a lot like Leonard Fornett. Probably the best running back in the country, most talented guy out there, but just didn't do it on the steps. Absolutely. And then how about his, his boy on the other side of field, J.T.

Barrett number two. Bro. Was that not great quarterback play? I get so, like, giddy when quarterbacks play well in particular. He's out there. He's, like, dropping dimes, and he's like, what? You know what? I just, I've criticized him this year.

I'm sure you have criticized him at some point in his career. Someone had him rank number two in their preseason quarterback. And he just answered, I'm sure we could roll back some tape of you criticize him at some point in his curb. Maybe, but not in the I mean, to play perfect. I mean, he literally played perfect in that game. He was so good. He was so good. And I think I know you've played huge in big moments

like National Championship in 04. You guys demolish Oklahoma. You had a phenomenal game, right? You played really well against Notre Dame late in that game, the fourth down throw in 2005. I mean, you've been there. You're down.

It's national championship or bust, and it's like, you got, You have to do it. What does that feel like? I've never... To be honest with you, I've never been in that position down by, what, 20, whatever it was. 18 twice. Against one of the best, I said Penn State's one of the best teams of the country.

Number one of the game. It's like Notre Dame, I think, is the only thing. Because I actually really played poorly in that game up until the last, really, one play. Drop the dime on fourth down. I mean, dropped a dime, but it's fine. It is to keep... To keep your composure and poise in a game like that, whether you're home or away, obviously, it's more difficult away, but that's what I love most. I mean, you're talking about, you know, a guy who's been criticized who's up and down.

People were calling for him to lose his job, and he just continued to make play after play, throw after throw. It is really hard to do, even if you're at home. It's just really hard to do. And it takes a different type of mental toughness, I think, and he showed that. And that's what I loved about his performance. And I think that moved him right up to one of the front runners in this thing. And a really special performance by J.T. Barrett. So number one, it's your boy.

It's your boy. Baker. Do I even need you have to say the name? I'm kind of in love with you, Baker. Baker Mayfield. I can't quit you. I will, I will, you've said this every week. He's so good.

We've said just what he's done with everyone losing, with everyone he lost last year to this year. I think that's his biggest case. He's so consistent. He's the best quarterback in the country all season long. Even in the loss to Iowa State, he still played pretty well. I don't like good losses, but that's a really good football team. And he's just got, I think, with Oklahoma State this week, you'll be there, and TCU, the following week.

He's got two big, big games center stage to really, I think, I don't want to say wrap it up, but to solidify himself as the guy. There's no doubt. Like, he's been brilliant outside of being, like, valuable to his team, right? We've seen brilliant performances on great teams, like Reggie and 05, right? I mean, he was going to put up a lot of numbers. Right. And it might not have mattered because you had Lendell.

I mean, but if Baker's not brilliant, they don't win. Right. Like, the level of importance that he has in each and every game that he plays is, more important than any other player in the country. It's a lot of pressure, and he consistently goes out there and delivers. Great completion percentage. He loves the pressure, man. The shirts that he wears, do you see the trader shirt he wasn't? He's just, he's got it, man. He's got that I'm so jealous of his swagger. Like for two minutes, I would love to just like feel. What does that even feel like? I don't even know. We need to work on your swagger. I think that's the one thing that

We need to work on my swagger? Yeah. You got to work on your swag. You got swag. You got like the nerd geek swag. You know what I mean? Because you're like a good athlete. You're really smart. You know, you're handsome. But your swag is just, it's just not very good. Oh, you're so true.

We're going to call our next, instead of Eisenberg, we're just going to call Joel, Joel Klatt swag. Bro, I love this. This is my favorite thing I do every week. Thank you. It's talking Heismet with you. It's so good. Hey, the show, as always, is sponsored by Dr.

at every home gate and tailgate. It is the one that fans crave. Thank you to Matt. Thanks for having me, buddy. Be back next week talking all things college football. Baker Mayfield. Swagger.