The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Can Coach Prime & Colorado keep it going vs Nebraska? Alabama-Texas & more

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt breaks down the major matchups in Week 2, starting with the Big Noon Saturday game in Boulder featuring Coach Prime and #22 Colorado against Matt Rhule and Nebraska. He then provides analysis and picks for the other marquee matchups on Saturday, beginning with the heavyweight clash in Tuscaloosa between #3 Alabama and #11 Texas. From there, he weighs in on whether #10 Notre Dame will continue their hot start and if the Pac-12 will continue their early season success as #12 Utah travels to Baylor and #13 Oregon heads to Texas Tech. He wraps up with a look at the matchup between #23 Texas A&M and Miami. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the Joel Clad Show, we coming to Boulder, Colorado with Big Noon Saturday and the Texas Bama rematch we've all been waiting for. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. Welcome into the program.

It is the Joel Clad Show, presented by Hampton by Hilton. Joel Clat. Can't wait to get into this show with you here today. Lots to get into. We're going to preview all the games for what is certainly a busy week two. And my goodness, so much better than the week one slate of games. So we're actually going to get some answers to questions that we've had all offseason about some of these teams. I'll get into Nebraska, Colorado, where I'll be with Gus and Ginny. We'll get into Bamma, Texas, those two big pack 12 matchups and some other ones as well, including Notre Dame. Remember to follow us and subscribe to the show, whether you're listening, wherever you get

your podcasts or on the YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe, like the show, and we appreciate everyone going over there. And again, there's going to be some unique content on YouTube. So even if you listen to this show, like if you're in your car and you're commuting, first of all, thank you. Love to be with you on your commute. And second of all, when you get the chance, go to the YouTube page and subscribe to the show and we'll have some unique content there during the course of

This season. You can follow our show anywhere on social media at Joel Clatt show. And then you can follow me personally on X or Twitter if you still want to call it that at Joel Clat. Let's get into it because it's going to be a busy day. We've got to get to all of these games. And to kick off the breakfast blitz, I'll share some of my favorite morning breakfast spreads from Hampton by Hilton. And when I go to Hampton by Hilton, I go with their fall apple cinnamon waffles with eggs and bacon because that is amazing. It is delicious, fresh, hot, and it's one of the reasons why I love staying at the Hampton by Hilton. So we thought it would be a great week for breakfast blitz because Big Noon Saturday is coming for you, Buff Nation. We're going to be in

Boulder where the game locally is going to kick off at 10 a.m. So we got to get up and have breakfast. So let's do it together. And I always start with that fall apple cinnamon waffle with and bacon at Hampton by Hilton, which is delicious. And then I get a little coffee and they, you know, a little coffee mug in there. And it's delicious. All right. Let's get into some games. The old rivalry, which I grew up on, Nebraska, Colorado.

And now Colorado jumps into the AP poll. They're ranked 22. Now, after that win over TCU, Nebraska, another close loss, heartbreaking loss for cornhusker fans. And just an aside, this is the game of my youth. When I think of college football, this is the game I think about. I grew up about 20 minutes south of Boulder. Those of you know, I played there at the University of Colorado,

but it was a dream of mine to play there in large part due to this game. In fact, as much as Nebraska fans won't want to hear this, the game in 2001, the 62-36 victory for Colorado, changed my life completely. I was a fledgling minor league baseball player sitting in the stands with my best friend and I thought to myself, boy, it seems a lot more fun to go and be a student at the University of Colorado

than be a failing minor league baseball player. It was that day that I made the decision I probably needed to turn my life around, leave minor league baseball and go back to get a degree. It was that decision that then led me to go to the University of Colorado where I then walked on the football team because I thought it would be cool to run behind Ralphie, and behold, I was fortunate enough and lucky enough to play for three years. And now I get to do

this for a living. That day, this matchup changed my life. I love this game. It is college football to me. And I can't wait to see it and call it. To call this game is an absolute bucket list item. There's only a couple of more for me. Basically, it's a national championship game and a Rose Bowl someday. I mean, those are those are the two bucket list items for me in this profession. But you guys don't care about that. Let's get into the game. Okay. There's been a huge swing and spread, obviously, since a week ago. Colorado was the underdog for most of the offseason. Nebraska was favored by about seven and a half. Remember, TCU was favored by 20. And then Colorado goes in there and wins that game. So that line changed immediately. First, you saw it down to

like, you know, Colorado was a dog by one. Then all of a sudden they were favored. favored by one. Now they're up to three at this point and could be going higher than that as the money starts to flow in on Colorado. So there's been a major swing and rightly so. Why has there been that swing? Obviously it's the performance of week one. What happened in week one? Nebraska loses a close game to Minnesota. Colorado goes on the road and plays lights out and gets a win over TCU. Now let's get into some of the matchups. The main, the main point for Colorado on offense, has to be to keep Shador Sanders clean. Okay? And as much as you can say like, yeah, we got to get Dylan Edwards the ball.

Yes, you do. Jimmy Horn and Xavier Weaver, were they terrific? Absolutely, they were. Travis Hunter, we got to get him his touches and chances down the field. Yep, absolutely. But really the key is keeping Shudor Sanders clean. This dates back, by the way, to his time at Jackson State. When clean, this guy is surgical.

Surgical at the quarterback position. and he was again on Saturday for TCU. When he was kept clean, he was 30 of 35, that's 86% for 347 yards and two touchdowns. Now, that doesn't mean that he was bad when they had pressure on him, but when he's clean, man, it's lights out. This guy had one of the best performances I've ever seen from a quarterback in a Colorado uniform and I've seen a lot of them. He made clutch throw after clutch throw.

He was able to manipulate the pocket at times, get himself loose, buy time and get the ball down the field. He was accurate. The ball was on time and on target. And he's got some really good wide receivers on the outside to throw to, one of them being Jimmy Horn. That's the key for this offense. As much as you want to say like, yeah, we'd like to get the run game going a little bit more. Yeah, that would be great.

And, oh, boy, I hope we throw the ball as efficiently. Yeah, that would be great. How does that start with time? What does the run game give you? It gives you the element of at least. least some surprise throwing it when you want to rather than when you have to. And that allows you to keep the quarterback clean. I think it'll be more difficult, by the way, than it was against TCU. I thought TCU's pass rush was going to be more dynamic. It wasn't. Even though they got to

Shudor a couple of times, it wasn't that dynamic. For the most part, he was kept clean. Like I said, 35 pass attempts when he was, quote, clean in the pocket and he shredded them, absolutely shredded them. should be noted there was a targeting in the second half of the Minnesota game and Ty Robinson won't be in the first half now of this game.

He is a really good defensive lineman and that's not going to help Nebraska because if they can't get to Shador that's a problem. Their secondary is not as good as TCU. It's not as athletic. And so if Shador is clean, Colorado's going to score a lot of points

and they're going to throw for a lot of yards. There's not a doubt in my mind. that's the foremost matchup in this game and what you have to be watching for in this one. Now, on the other side of the ball, Nebraska will not make the same mistake. And how many times have I said this? They will not make the same mistake that TCU made. TCU threw the ball way too much. That's playing right into the strength of the Colorado defense, which is their secondary.

Their skill positions, throwing it at Travis Hunter and the safeties I felt like played pretty well. That's a problem that TCU brought upon themselves with the way that they called the game. Nebraska's not going to make that mistake. You go back to what they were able to do against Minnesota. They ran the ball fairly effectively and they did it with their quarterback. Jeff Sims. He ran it 19 times for 91 yards. That's almost five yards to carry against Minnesota. And remember, that Minnesota defense was a top 10 defense last year, both scoring in total. Gabe Irvin, He only got seven carries. That should increase.

If I'm the Nebraska coaches and I watch that film, I'm looking at Gabe Irvin and I'm thinking to myself like, he's got to touch the ball more. I don't know why he wasn't in the game on the last series. He's their best option at back and he's big and powerful. He's over 200 pounds. Sims is over 200 pounds. And that's an area where Colorado really struggled against TCU

was trying to stop the run in particular in the second half. Colorado came into this season and I think one of the knocks or one of the things that we would all say from the outside looking in is that one of their deficiencies as a team was going to be their defensive front seven how light they were.

There's questions at linebacker and I didn't know how well they would stop the run. You're about to get a heavy dose of run. I think Nebraska is going to run the ball well over 50 times. I think Sims is going to carry the ball over 20 times. Irvin over 12, 15 times. It's going to be zone read,

quarterback power. that's going to be really difficult for Colorado to stop. I don't know if they're going to be able to do that. So we might be in a situation where this is last team to touch the ball again. It might be the exact same scenario that we were in week one when Colorado was at TCU and neither defense was getting a lot of stops. Now, Colorado's defense made the important stop at the end on fourth down. Good, good on them.

However, the guy who made that stop, Miles Slewcher, not in this game. So he's banged up and won't be in there. And depth was always going to be a question when they were going to turn over the roster like they did 68 new scholarship players. Depth is always going to be a question. Depth is going to affect Nebraska. Just like Colorado couldn't afford to lose defensive players. Nebraska couldn't afford to lose wide receivers. They don't have much on the outside. And really, their best guy probably Isaiah Garcia Castaneda. He had five targets in week one. is ACL. So he's out of this game. Again, heavy dose of run from Nebraska. If I'm Colorado, I'm putting my outside guys in man coverage. I'm letting Travis Hunter run around in man coverage. And I'm committing every resource to stop the run. I would force the game onto the shoulder of Jeff Sims. If they do that, I think that they've got a decent chance. I won't make a pick in this game since I'm calling this game, but that's really where it's at. This game is about Colorado

focus level. If they come out and if they're focused like they were and motivated like they were in week one and play clean like that, I think that they can win the game or they should win the game based on what we saw in week one. But this is going to be tough because Matt Rules group will fix the problems that popped up against Minnesota and they won't make the same mistakes that TCU made. So everybody telling Colorado and all their players and all their coaches how great they are all week. That is like kryptonite to success. All right. A team's focus and energy and urgency and practice is why they play well on Saturday. It's really tough to get a team to focus, have energy and have urgency during the week when everyone's telling them they're the greatest thing since

sliced bread. Okay? That's the challenge for Dion and his staff this week. So that's that game. Let's move on. Big one. Texas going to Tuscaloosa. I can't wait for this game. We called it last year and it was a phenomenal game in Austin. In a lot of respects, I felt like Texas was unfortunate that they didn't get to win. They were unfortunate because a couple of calls went against them. They got banged up at the most important position, quarterback position. And then they had to play against Bryce Young. And Bryce Young single-handedly brought Alabama back and won that football game. And now we get the rematch. And I know Texas is.

has been looking forward to this ever since that day, even though they went on, played down the level of their competition a few times. Listen, there's a lot of pressure on Texas. There's a lot of pressure on Steve Sarkesian in this game. If they go out there and lose this game, in particular if they are, quote, like, handled, or if it's by more than a touchdown, more than a possession,

man, I know that Texas fan base. They're not going to handle that all that well. and there's going to be a lot of chirping surrounding Steve Sarkesian. Now, do I think it would be warranted? No, I don't actually. But that's the nature of Texas. It's very much the same nature of like Ohio State. A lot of chirping about Ryan Day.

Should there be? No, of course there shouldn't be. But there will be because of the insane nature of those fan bases, the unrealistic nature of those fan bases at times. BAM is favored by seven and a half. I personally think that's too high. That's too high. When I turn on the film,

and I watched Bama play last week against Middle Tennessee, I see a team that was just so dominant up front that all they had to do was run the football. And then everyone's like, well, yeah, Milro made a couple of nice throws. Yeah, he did. He made a couple of nice throws.

But when you really look at that game from the first quarter, early second quarter, when they're still in the game and needing to establish dominance, they didn't have him throw much. And the throws that they were having him make were easy, simple throws. And frankly, he missed a couple of them. So I still have major questions about Jalen Milrow and his ability, in particular in a game in which he's going to have to go make plays.

Can he do that? Now, I trust his legs. Obviously, you know, he fumbled the one snap and runs for a touchdown. That's quite impressive. And the ability to threaten a defense with your legs is important. important in particular when they've got such a stout running game, which they do. It's going to be tough for Texas. It's going to be very tough. But the game really is about Quinn Uers.

The game is about Quinn Uers. Here's a guy that has all the talent in the world. In that game last year, he was the reason why Texas had come out and played so well and with so much energy to begin that game. Taking shots down the field, throwing it accurately on those shots. And Bama was reeling. They were reeling.

If yours stays healthy in that game, it's probably a different story, but you know what? He didn't. He didn't stay healthy. Can he recreate that same magic? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. And that's the question for.

me. His ability to throw the ball down the field that day, exquisite. Since, not great. In fact, if you look at his struggles, they, they seeped into this year. So they face Rice last week. He goes 0 for 6 on 20 yard throws. It just hadn't quite like, I thought like after that game last year and then what he did against OU, I'm like, okay, like here we go. Like they're, they're on their way. And they might be, they might be. But it just hasn't quite come all the way, away around. And that's frustrating.

Ewers is one and four against ranked teams. That's going to have to change. Sarkeesian knows that. He's got, and I know this sounds crazy, I know this sounds crazy. He's got the team that should win this game. Whether they do that or not remains to be seen. Uers, this is all over them.

This is all over him. If they can put this game on the arm of Milro, they'll be in a great spot. Texas will be. All of that being said, do you guys know how difficult it is to beat a top five team, excuse me, on the road in their building?

It's almost impossible. It's almost impossible. Here's some numbers to back that up. First of all, Alabama has won their last 52, 52 home games when they didn't have to face Joe Burrow. So if you throw Burrow in there, it's 52 and 1. Joe Burrow is one of the best players on the planet. Okay?

Ask everybody in the NFL. Like this guy's a, and he had the greatest single quarterback season I've ever seen. That's the only home game that that team has lost in the last 53 games. That's staggering. Is yours as good as Joe Burrow? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Now, he's not going against Tunga Vyloa. He's not going against Hertz. He's not going against Mac Jones. He's not going against Bryce Young. All right. So this is a little bit different Alabama team,

but 53 games and only one loss is staggering. Teams that were ranked in the top five a year ago, 30 and one at home. The only loss was when Michigan, who was a great team, rolled into Columbus and beat Ohio State. Teams ranked in the top five are 20, 4 and 3 at home against top 15 opponents since 2019. Only three games where we've seen a top 15 team roll into a top 5 team and win. LSU, borough over Alabama, Oregon over Ohio State, Michigan over Ohio State.

Buckeye fans, stop it. Just stop it. Just stop it right there. So that's where we're at. I want to pick Texas. You don't overcome that. I think that the line is too much. I think BAMO wins a close one, maybe by three.

Hey, it's my favorite time of the year. Football season, and as you know, I take it seriously. So when I'm traveling on the road to watch my favorite teams, I can't risk calling the wrong play with where I stay. Wherever I go, I know that I can count on Hampton by Hilton. I can depend on their comfortable rooms, their warm and friendly service, and their free, hot breakfast is a game changer.

So whether you're cheering on your team from the stands or never leaving the tailgate, Hampton by Hilton will always give you that win. Let's move on. A few more games that I want to get to quickly. Notre Dame NC State, sneaky game. Irish favored by seven and a half. This should be Notre Dame's last test if you want to call it that before they see Ohio State in a couple of weeks. They play Central Michigan next week.

They've been really good. Now, albeit against, what is it, Navy and, uh, Navy and, uh, Tennessee State. You know, so these stats and these, this, what I'm about to say, like grain assault here, but Hartman has been lights out for the Irish. He's completed over 80% of his passes for 11 yards per attempt, six touchdowns, no interceptions through two games. Now, if this was against better competition, I would be jumping on the table and be talking

about, hey, this is why Notre Dame is actually for real. This is why they can make a playoff push. In reality, it remains to be seen. This is a good test. Dave Dorn has got a good thing going at NC State. They did get through their opening week 2414 over Yukon. They've got a transfer quarterback and Brennan Armstrong. He threw for 155 yards.

Rushed it for almost 100 in that one with a couple of touchdowns. This is going to be their first test. Speaking of Notre Dame, I can't wait to see it. They're favored by 7.5. I actually think that this is more real than it is hype. even though their level of competition has been not great to say the least. I think they go in there and cover this seven and a half. I love their offensive line.

I like their ability to run. And what Hartman gives them is the ability to feature what has largely been an overlooked skill position group. They've got size and speed on the outside and now they can go out there and they can accentuate that. All right. Next up, last two, a couple of Pac-12 matchups. Pack 12's got to win these two games. both of these two games. I'm going to start with number 12 Utah on the road at Baylor. By the way, it's going to be a future conference game in the new look Big 12 coming up.

Cam Rising was cleared this week. Unclear though, however, whether he's going to actually play in this game or not. So this is a team in Utah that has won the Pack 12, back-to-back years, gone to the Rose Bowl. Like, they're a really good program. What did I say in the preseason? death taxes in Utah football. I'll say it again right now. Although, although, and if you see this, Utah football Twitter, you guys photoshopped my face on a different body for the graphic you made using that quote. I noticed, I know other people probably didn't.

It was a good body double, but I don't own that shirt, sweater, or watch. So that was definitely a different body. Listen, nice job, nice job. And I appreciate the love. There's no doubt. But if you need a picture, like just email us. Joel Clatshow Mailbag at gmail.com. And like, we can send you a picture if you want.

Death taxes and Utah football. I'll say it again. Why? Because Kyle Whittingham's got something really special going at Utah right now. This is the golden age of Utah football. This is a team that should beat a Baylor team that struggled in week one and won't have their starting quarterback. I actually don't mind.

Like, I know that Utah is short-handed. They were short-handed against Florida. and handled them. Absolutely handled them. That defense, you can't run the ball against Utah's defense. Florida ran the ball for 13 yards on 21 carries. 13 yards. Doesn't bode well for a team in Baylor that's going to be going with their backup quarterback who struggled and had some turnovers.

Utah needs to win this game, both for themselves and for the conference. You can't go and lose to Baylor after Baylor struggled and lost in week one. like I said, Sawyer Robertson is going to be starting for Baylor at quarterback. And I'm, I don't mind the Utah lineup. They beat Florida without like Brandkeithy in there at tied end. They didn't have two offensive linemen. They were down a few defensive linemen. They had their top linebacker banged up.

And it didn't matter. They dominated the game. So even on the road, you've got to go dominate this game. Is it going to be more difficult? Yes. But Utah's favored by seven and a half. They should win the game. Not sure it's going to be by seven and a half.

because you know that Baylor is going to feel like they're backed into a corner. It's a must win for them after that poor performance in week one. And Dave Miranda's crew is going to give you their best shot. But Baylor's best shot in week two with a backup quarterback should not be good enough to beat Utah. Period. Utah is a superior program right now. And so I think that they win this game. Another Pack 12 Big 12 matchup is Oregon, number 13, traveling to Texas Tech, also coming off a loss.

Now, Oregon is favored by six and a half. This one's going to be more interesting, though. I love what Oregon did in week one. They hung 81 points on Portland State. Poor Portland State. Like, I'm sorry. Bo Nix is, he's played 178 games in college football. That would be a record.

It's actually started 48 games in his career, which is a lot. Okay, I was impressed with the new offensive line for Oregon. I was impressed with their ability to continue to run the ball. Bucky Irving picked up right where he left off. When I wrote this down, I was like, wait, is this real? Four carries 119 yards and two touchdowns. Have a day. Bucky, have a day.

One, I love his name. Two, four carries for 119. Texas Tech better come ready to play. They better come ready to stop the run because that's what they're going to have to stop. Tech's coming off that double OT loss at Wyoming. 3533. They blew a 17-0-0 lead. I'm not as concerned for tech as I am for Baylor.

They got a couple of things going for him. Namely, Tyler Shuck, their quarterback, this is like the revenge game for him. He started his career at Oregon. Two years ago, transferred away, and now he gets a chance. And it's in Lubbock. Texas Tech is just a different team at home.

It's a tough place to play. Oregon's going to find that out. I won't be surprised at all if this is a really tight game late and Oregon's thinking to themselves like, what's going on, what's happening? That's what happens at Texas Tech. They were six and one a year ago at home with wins over Texas and Oklahoma. They're going to be in this game. They will be in this game. Joy McGuire is going to fix some of the stuff that went wrong. They should have won. Laramie is a weird place to play, by the way. So they lose to Wyoming. They feel like they're a lot better. trust me, I hear from tech fans all the time. So that's six and a half.

I won't be surprised. Like, I think Oregon's going to win. They should win. They're the better team. That's a tough place to play. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was a really tight game, like a really tight game in particular late. All right.

Last one. I think I lied. This is the last one. A&M at Miami. How about this one for intrigue? And how about this one for losers' coach is just in the crosshairs. That's what this one feels like to me.

A&M is favored by four and a half. Miami should have won this game a year ago at Kyle Field. They were awful once they got into scoring territory. Do you remember that? Like they just, it's like Clemson against Duke on Monday night. Could not handle it. Cristobald's in his second year.

He was five and seven a year ago. It didn't come together. They looked better in week one. By the way, so did A&M. I don't know about either of these teams. I know that we rank A&M, and this is purely based off their talent acquisition, because nothing they've actually shown on the field the last couple of years suggests that they can take that talent and develop that talent into anything close to

what I would consider a good product. A&M is largely what they have been throughout their history. They just have better players according to the recruiting rankings. they are kind of a middle of the pack in their own conference team. That's what they are. I don't know what Miami is. Now, the ACC has played well up to this point. This would be a huge feather in the cap of the ACC.

They already got a couple of huge wins. Florida State over LSU, North Carolina over South Carolina. If Miami were to take care of business and beat A&M, all of a sudden the ACC's chest is going to be out. I mean, they'll be peacocking around like, hey, hey, look. at us. We're the best conference in the country. If Miami wins this game, you look at their schedule, they're probably going to be 5 and 0.

When they go to North Carolina and host Clemson, those are back to back in the month of October. I like Tyler Van Dyke. I did not understand the struggles a year ago. Remember, in 2021, he threw, what, 25 touchdown, six interceptions. Now he's got a new coordinator, Shannon Dawson. Dawson was with Dana Holgerson for a long time. those offenses tend to be very quarterback friendly, very easy for the quarterback.

I kind of like Miami in this game. Even though Connor Wegman played well and Bobby Petrino, that start from offensive coordinator perspective, got off to the right start, 52 points granted against New Mexico. Wegman threw five TD passes. I kind of like Miami is more desperate in my mind. I still don't know what the culture is. what the program is all about at A&M.

They've recruited really well. They've lost a lot of guys to the portal. Now they've got Patrino in at offensive coordinator. That's a wait and see. Now, if they win this one, yeah, like, I think that that would be a huge feather in their cap. There's no doubt. But something tells me that this Miami team is going to be,

defensively, they're going to be a problem for A&M. A&M is going to have a hard time blocking that front seven. and that athleticism, I think, could pave the way. So A&M favored by four and a half, I would take Miami in that game. I would take Miami. It's going to be a great week, too. I can't wait.

Okay, so just to reiterate here, this is what you need to do. If you're listening to the show, subscribe, wherever you get your podcast. If you're not listening, excuse me, if you're watching the show and or listening to the show, regardless, go to the YouTube page, subscribe to the Joel Class show on YouTube,

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So you can go check that out as well. You can follow me at Joel Clat on Twitter or X. Remember, the Joel Clat show is presented by Hampton by Hilt. It's going to be a great week. Big noon Saturday, live in Boulder. Gus, Jenny and I have the call for Nebraska and Colorado. Big noon kickoff live from Farron Field. Okay, Colorado fans, Ferren Field is where kickoff is going to be.

That show starts at 8 a.m. There will be breakfast there. Get there early. It's going to be quite the day as Coach Prime makes his home debut in Boulder after that big win a week ago at TCU. Thanks for listening, everybody. we'll be back on Monday morning with a full reaction to week two. I appreciate you for listening to the Joel Clashio.