The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Is the Playoff Committee showing an SEC bias? Plus Klatt’s Heisman Rankings

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to the latest College Football Playoff rankings as Georgia jumps ahead of Ohio State into the top spot. He questions the rankings of SEC teams like Missouri and Tennessee and considers the impact that those inflated rankings could have at the end of the season. Klatt also discusses Texas’ precarious position at #7 as they look poised to be boxed out of the Top 4 even if they run the table, even potentially by an Alabama team that they beat earlier in the season. Next, Klatt examines the Heisman race and ranks his top contenders, including Marvin Harrison Jr and Jayden Daniels. He also lays out the paths for each candidate to end up holding the Trophy in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up on the Joel Clad show, we've got playoff rankings and Texas, yikes. Texas might get boxed out. 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 just one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. Hey, welcome into the program, everybody.

I am Joel Glad. This show is presented by Hampton by Hilton. Man, we've got a lot to get into because we've got rankings release, but we also need to break down the Heisman Trophy where it's at. I've got four guys that I think can win the Heisman Trophy. I'm going to break down that after we get through the playoff rankings. So that'll be a little bit later in the program. First and foremost, though, wherever you're listening,

go ahead and subscribe to the program so that you get all of those episodes downloaded right when we release them. Rate, review us, do all that fun stuff. We would really appreciate that. say that. On YouTube, if you're watching, first of all, thank you. You're going to have some exclusive content on YouTube. Subscribe to the channel. You're going to get all of that content right there, and you can leave us a comment on any of those videos, like them right below. That always helps out as well. If you're on social media and you want to catch some of our

content in shorter form, go ahead. Wherever you like to social media, you're a youngster, you're on TikTok, we're over there. You're on Instagram, we're there. at Joel Clatio is where you can find us on social media, and let's get into the program. Okay, college football playoff rankings come out. I like, by the way, I always like this week because you get some college basketball in there. So Duke beats Michigan State, and then all of a sudden it comes into the rankings release. It's just all very collegiate, and I love it, right? I love college basketball.

I love college football, as you know. So change at the top. So Georgia moves to number one. Ohio State moves down to number two. And then Michigan stays at three, Florida State, stays at four. And Washington and Oregon remain where they have been at five and six respectively. All right. So let's pause for a moment and just say like, yeah, Georgia moves to number one.

Totally fine with that. Georgia looks healthier. They look much better than what they did early in the season. They look more dominant, more consistent. and they've evolved a little bit. I thought Greg made a good point on the show talking about the way that they can throw the football because Carson Beck does give them a little bit more in the passing game

than what they've had in previous years. So they've evolved a little bit. Bauer's quietly back from his ankle surgery and he's back on the field. So that's a dangerous team who's got a heck of a wind streak going. They've been number one in the country in the AP poll for, I think it's 22 or 23 straight weeks right now, which is second.

only to USC's streak, which was in the mid-30s back there in the early 2000s. So Georgia moves to number one. Great. You know, I'm totally fine with that. I think Georgia is a fantastic football team, a great football team. It's going to be hard to beat them come down the stretch. Ohio State resume-wise, still better than Michigan, even though Michigan now finally played somebody on the road against Penn State.

So they're two and three. Can't argue with that. Florida State, I thought, might get dropped to five, only because their lack of consistency has shown throughout the year. They've got good wins that happened early, and those wins don't quite look like what we thought they were at the time, right? Let's just face it. The win over LSU is not what we thought it was at the time. The win over Clemson is not what we thought it was at the time. So Florida State's resume, as it diminishes, they're not dominating on a week-in-week-out basis. I don't really care. I could totally disagree with

Boo Corrigan. I get it. Miami, Florida State is a rivalry game. You've got to play better at night. A freshman's making his, what is the second start? And he's not playing very well. They need to start dominating football games to show me that they're as good as Washington is. Washington is in a slug fest with Utah, which is a really good football team, and played outstanding in the second half. Now, as I'm sure I'll get into a little bit later, when I'm talking about Michael Pinnock, Washington's defense is a concern, okay? And that's something that that offense, and namely their quarterback, is going to have to overcome down the stretch. But that's still a team that has been more dominant and more consistent

and still isn't undefeated. And I would say has as good or better wins, because beating Oregon is better than beating Clemson or Florida State. So I still think that Washington should be in the number four spot, but it really doesn't matter because both of those teams have a path and they control their own destiny because of the OSU Michigan matchup next week on Thanksgiving week. Okay. So that's kind of the top six. And then we move down from that. And this is where the rankings get a little wonky, to be honest with you. Not really right there at 7, 8 and 9. Well, really 9. 9, it gets very wonky. 7 and 8 remain the same. So Texas and Alabama are still sitting there. Texas is still getting the benefit of the doubt, if you want to call it that,

because, you know, they beat Alabama in Alabama's home stadium by double digits. And apparently that doesn't mean a lot to those that are talking about these rankings or it's just one factor. Like, what are we, what are we doing? Then Missouri pops in there at number nine. And I was like, whoa, I'm sorry. Like, how does that happen? Oh, because, Tennessee is still at 18. What is going on? And this is when you realize it's like, oh, of course, it's still going to have that narrative. It's still going to have that SEC narrative. It's still going to have, even though the conference has been proven this year to not be as strong as it has been in the past. And that can be a truthful statement. They're great at the top. Georgia and

Alabama look to be great teams. Everybody else, ah, I don't know. Just look at the the non-conference. Please, somebody, look at the non-conference. And yet we get into these weeks and we get into the league schedule and then the narrative just starts and the propaganda just starts to fly. I mean, wow. Okay, so Missouri goes to nine on the back of a great performance against Tennessee. Good. Good for them. And I think Missouri is a good football team. I really do. And they've gotten better. They've got talent. They've done a nice job. I like Missouri. I don't think that they should be number nine. Two reasons. One, Tennessee is vastly overrated staying in the top 20. They've lost to Florida. Like, come on. Florida? They lost to Alabama and got stomped by Missouri.

Their best win is Kentucky, for goodness sakes. Like, what are we doing? But they've got to stay there. Why? So that you can prop Missouri up. So then that Missouri being propped up then allows you to move Georgia up, which I don't have a problem with. This is not about Georgia, but that's how you get Georgia to number one as you start inflating things below them. Right? Like, I mean, come on. Come on. And then all of a sudden you sit there and you look at a Missouri team that beat Middle Tennessee State by four, survived at home against Kansas State on a 61-yard field goal, beat Memphis by 7, and I'm supposed to believe that there are three spots better than Penn State?

Listen, I understand Penn State didn't play well offensively against Ohio State and against Michigan. Name the teams that have played well offensively against Ohio State and Michigan. That's right. There are none. There are none. Now, maybe there's a couple of offenses that can do that at the top of college football, but let's not make the mistake that Penn State is all the sudden awful on offense because they're not.

In fact, they're 15th in the country in scoring offense. Did you know that that's 16 spots higher than Missouri? Bet you didn't know that based on the propaganda slung at us all the time. it just, it drives me nuts. And I'm trying to react to this in real time without getting upset. But things like this drive me insane. And then you hear what is said about, you know, Missouri and about Penn State by the people over there. And it drives me insane.

Just watch the games. Just do a little research. Just watch Penn State's defense, which is fourth in the country in scoring defense. Fourth, that's one of the best defenses in America. Not many people, not many teams can do what they did against Ohio State, can do what they did against Michigan. They lined up against two of the best offenses in college football and held their own the entire time. By the way, in every other game that they've played, they've stomped people out, save for maybe one. And that was what, Indiana, they win late?

Fourth in the country and scoring defense. guess what Missouri is, 44th. So there are 40 spots higher than Missouri in scoring defense. There's 16 spots higher than Missouri in scoring offense. But sure, you know, that win by four over Middle Tennessee State really swings things in the Tigers direction by three spots. Give me a break. Give me a break. This is when I go off the cliff and I realize like this is a farce.

And then you hear the propaganda being slung behind it and it drives me in. Now, let's get off of that tangent for a moment, but it's still going to apply because of what the real story of this rankings are. And I'm sorry that I buried the lead, if you will. Texas is in a bind, a real bind. When you start looking at these closely, you start realizing that Texas is being boxed out probably three different ways. And it's going to be really tough for them to overcome this. Texas needs help. Texas needs help. And I know that you already knew that, Longhorn fans, because there is a path where there's four undefeated power five champions, and you'd be left out in that sense. And so you're like, okay, well, I get that.

We're going to need some help. You would need some help because Florida State looks like they can remain undefeated. You've got to at least imagine that Ohio State or Michigan will be undefeated. So that's two spots. Then you're looking at Georgia could remain undefeated and Washington could remain undefeated. So that's the first way. And that's the most obvious, right? And in that case, it's like, okay, you tip your cap if you're Texas, you had a great year and you move on.

You wish it was the 12-team playoff, but it's not. So that's the first way that they could be boxed out. Here's the next way that they could be boxed out. Florida State wins. You've got the Big Ten winner, Ohio State or Michigan. They went out. They're 13-0 and Georgia wins out. They're 13-0.

Then Oregon beats Washington, just straight up. And they're 12-1 and a champ, and the committee has. shown now week over week that they think Oregon is better than Texas. So that's number two. So now all of a sudden, like, I just don't believe Texas is going to win an argument over Oregon in particular if Oregon is able to avenge their lone loss of the season against Washington in a Pac-12 championship game. I don't think that they're going to win that argument based on what the committee has given us. But then now there's a third way as well. And that third way, you can hear it. You can hear the drumbeat. You hear it every Saturday. You see it on social media.

You heard it last night in the rankings release. You hear this drumbeat for a 12-1 Alabama that it's like, well, it's different and they're so much better now. And hey, if they beat number one Georgia and they end that win streak. And so now you're sitting there. Florida State remains undefeated. The Big Ten champ remains undefeated. Oregon goes 12 and 1 or Washington goes unsteak. undefeated and Bama beats Georgia. Guess what? Guess what? There are going to be a lot of voices, not mine, but a lot of voices,

spewing the propaganda that Bama deserves to be in the playoff over Texas, which is patently absurd. And yet, you can hear it. You can hear it. They're not even hiding it. It's in plain sight talking. about how good Alabama has been. And yes, they have been. And good for them. Good for them. Jalen Milrow has been outstanding in the second half of the season.

That's a really talented team, one of the most talented, if not the most talented rosters in all of college football. They've got the best coach in the history of the sport. They're going to be a really good football team and tough to beat. But the drumbeat for them to get in over Texas is not so. faint anymore, starting to pick up steam, and just wait. Just wait until early December. If they're able to beat Georgia and there is a legitimate debate between Texas and Alabama, regardless of the fact that the Longhorns beat Alabama by double digits in their home stadium, it's going to be there. That drumbeat will be so loud. The propaganda will be so thick from that side. I'd tell you

what, I think that would be an absurd notion, but look at what they're doing. And now we go back to my original point, which is the propping up of a team like Tennessee and propping up of a team like Missouri. Why do you need to do that? Well, because you might have a nice little debate at the end. You might have a great little debate at the end where you're going to need to give someone a nudge and get them over that pesky little head-to-head game that we saw earlier in September. I'm telling you, if that happens, I'm going to lose my mind. I'm going to lose my mind. Texas is a good football team. I know that they've played poorly in a couple of fourth quarters. I know that Jonathan Brooks has his knee banged up, but they rolled into Alabama and they beat that team by double digits.

They walked onto the field with about seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter and called nine straight runs and ended the game on the field with their offense. That has to mean something. those of you that want to spew the propaganda that Alabama needs to be, I don't know, taken seriously in some debate against Texas, you just hear. You don't hear the word Texas, but boy, the Alabama backing, it's there. Oh, and it's thick. That's why Missouri is number nine, folks. That is why. That's why Tennessee is number 18, even though neither of those teams have any business being in those spots. That's why. That's why. Before I get too upset, let me move on. Hey, as you know, it's my favorite time a year. It's November. We're almost to Thanksgiving. It's the best.

It's football season. And as you know, I take it seriously. So when I'm traveling on the road to watch my favorite teams, I know that I can't risk on the wrong play with where I stay. You know that, I know that. So wherever I go, I know that I can count on Hampton by Hilton every time. I can depend on their comfortable rooms, their warm-friendly service, and their free hot breakfast, as you know, is a game changer. Send me your pictures, by the way, of you eating waffles because the waffles are so good. They are really good. Listen, whether you're cheering on your team from the stands or never leaving the tailgate, Hampton by Hilton, will always give you that win. All right, so as I teased earlier, we got to talk about the Heisman because it's really getting down to it

here. As we are boiling it down, I've, I've always maintained, and we have always talked about on this show that Heisman is about stages and path. And we're starting to figure it out. And right now, I do think that we're down to four. It doesn't mean that there's only four guys that have had great seasons. I just think that when you take path into consideration, performance up to this point under consideration. And then the stages that are coming up in the next couple of weeks, I think that there are really four guys that can win the Heisman Trophy. And there's only four because I believe there is a clear backstop.

All right. Pending what happens in some of these huge matchups here down the stretch, there's a guy that has done enough that regardless of how poorly some of these guys play, three of them, he'll win the Heisman Trophy. I'm going to go four to one in my order of, you know, I feel like how I would rank these four right now currently. Okay. Number four, Bo Nix. Bo Nix at Oregon is playing outstanding.

He leads the nation in completion percentage at 77.7%. Oregon's leading the country in scoring offense, number one. and he has not had that one game that you would like, even against Washington, he played really well. They outgained Washington by 100 yards. You know, in previous seasons, you could say or you could argue that Bo has thrown out the stinker every now and again. But he really hasn't this year.

He's been so consistent. He's been so efficient. When I watched his tape leading up to the Utah game, which we called, I was just so important. impressed with the quick decision-making, his accuracy, and everything that he's in charge of of at the line of scrimmage. See, this is what I love about seeing a guy that's played this much football. And remember, he's played more football than anybody in the history of that position in this sport, started more games than anybody. And you can see that. It's not just a guy

that's out there, you know, clapping his hands and looking over to the sidelines. He controls a lot of things. If you've watched any of these, you know how it's very in vogue right now to have those. those, what do they call it? Cinematic trailers. Every week, like every team, all the good ones are like, oh, here's our trailer from our big win. And it's Tuesday,

and it starts out with a drone shot and like really, you know, moody music. Boom, boom. And it's like, and then it's, and then it gets all the inside stuff. So it's got all the audio from within the team. Well, if you've watched some of the Oregon ones,

they're fantastic, by the way. I watched the one, the cinematic trailer after the Utah game. What they do is that they incorporate some of the coaches headset sound, which is outstanding, by the way. If you haven't watched that, you should go watch it. And on the headset, you can hear the coaches and they're like, what's Bo checking to? And I love that because there's way too much today in college football of handholding for the quarterback on the field. And I get it in some respects.

When you've got a guy out there that is cutting his teeth, and is super green, then yeah, you've got to hold his hand because you want to put your team in the best position possible to succeed. And you do that by getting into the right play. And so I understand it. I don't love it because I want to move. If I was a coach, I would want to move towards the quarterback controlling things on the field. And he does that. And if you've watched any of those cinematic trailers, you will hear on the headset, the coaches, whether it's Will Sine, Stein, the coordinator. Getting tongue tied there.

Dan Laning himself, and they'll be on the headset, and you can hear them say like, wait, what's he checking to? What are we got? What are we running? And I'm like, yes, I love it. I love it. Bonix, number four on my Heisman list. And when I'm done discussing these four guys,

I do want to give you their path to how they take home the trophy. Okay, so that's number four. Number three on my Heisman list right now, as we're getting down to it. I've got Jaden Daniels at number three. And you look at what he's doing. He's coming off of one of the great performances, individual performances that we've ever seen, in particular from a production standpoint.

He was sensational last week. I had to go back and watch some of the coaches tape just to see, like, how did he do this? Over 600 yards against Florida. He threw for 300, ran for 200, well over each of those. He was incredible. And I love his story. I love the fact that he kind of leaves Arizona State, finds a home at LSU, and that he's playing as well as what he's playing. 76 plays of 20 or more yards this season. 76. 19 more than the next closest, which is Michael Pennix. So this dude has been explosive. And let's face it, if his team was better,

I think that he would probably walk with this trophy. But as we know, that's not always the case. And it wouldn't be the first guy that would be a three-loss quarterback to win the Heisman trophy. We saw Lamar do it. We saw, let's see, I think Manzeld. did it, Robert Griffin the third did it. Like, it's happened. It's happened. So it's not unprecedented. And he's going to have a chance. There's no doubt. You look it up,

38 total touchdowns this year. He's second behind Caleb Williams. And he's had to be great. And this is one thing that I think is actually a feather in his cap is that he plays on a team that has a terrible defense. And I'm not just saying, like, LSU plays terrible defense. They're 97th in the country in scoring defense. 97th. And he's had to overcome that. One of his three losses, they scored, what was it, 49? Like, come on.

The guy has played incredibly well. There's one half of football that I didn't feel like he played in particular very well. And that was the second half against Florida State. And Florida State handled him in that one. And Jordan Travis handled him. By the way, you're not going to see Jordan Travis on this list, but I'll discuss why in a little bit. So Jaden Daniels is going to have the numbers, and he is going to be my backstop.

Everybody else has matchups and stages and a path that if they falter or if things don't go their way, Jaden Daniels is going to win the Heisman Trophy. And this is what happens when it goes that way. How did Robert Griffin the 3rd win the Heisman Trophy? Well, Andrew Luck stumbled down the stretch. And so guess what? They had to find somebody else. And that's how a guy who's the quarterback of a team with three losses,

ends up winning the Heisman trophy. So Jaden Daniels is the backup, backstop. I'm sorry. The backstop. Losses to Florida State, Alabama, Ole Miss. I mean, and let's face it,

yeah, he's going to put up great numbers this week. He's playing Georgia State. Gosh, can we stop with this SEC? It's just maddening to get down to this point in the season, to see teams playing such like difficult schedules through the month of November, and the SEC is sitting there playing little sisters of the poor. It's so dumb.

I hate it. I hate it. Period. Period. LSU's playing Georgia State. Number two, Marvin Harrison, Jr. Marvin Harrison Jr.

is the best player in college football. Maybe not quarterback, but best player in college football. Now, there's been some out there that have said, like, Keon Coleman is better than Marvin Harrison. No, he's not. That just means that you don't watch, that you don't watch. That doesn't mean Keon Coleman's not incredible because he is. But there hasn't been as well-rounded of an explosive monster on the outside in a long time in college football.

Marvin Harrison's body control, the smoothness with which he runs routes, his catch radius is outstanding, his flexibility. his nuance to his route running ability, his ability to create space, and even when, when there isn't space created, all of it is outstanding. His production is incredible. He's the best player, regardless of position, in college football. He was close to it last year,

and he is again this year. Since he came back from that ankle injury against Notre Dame, so the last six games, he leads the country in receiving touchdowns with nine. They've leaned on him heavily, okay, with 67. targets over the last six games. That's the most in college football. And he's got seven 100-yard games this year. That's tied for second most in the sport. He's been without Abuca for three games,

including Penn State, when it was all on Marvin. He had to go for 16 catches on like, I don't know, a million targets. And he's had a quarterback that hasn't been that great. McCord has been up and down all year. So Marvin's the best player in college football. He's the best football player in the sport. He's still in this and he still has a path. And then number one is Michael Pinnock's. Michael Pinnock is a guy that is doing everything he needs to do. He leads the country in passing. He's on an undefeated team, and he's been excellent.

He's, by the way, leading the country and passing by a lot. 353 yards per game. That's 37 yards higher than the next closest, which is actually Jaden Daniels. He's leading a top five offense. Washington's defense is not great. Very similar to Daniels in that respect. This Washington defense is 50th in scoring, but a hundred and second in total defense.

A hundred and second. Like, wow, that's not very good at all. And so you realize that to be undefeated, he's had to be great all the time. There's no room for him to be bad. He's played one poor game. It was against Arizona State. They were still able to win the game.

In his biggest matchup to date, Oregon against another Heisman contender, he played great. That's another reason why at this point, he's in the lead over Jaden Daniels. When he got into the biggest games against the best teams, he's been able to play really well. And let's face it, the guy has put up enough production, and he's important enough to the undefeated Washington Huskies that if they remain undefeated, they will be in the playoff and he will win the Heisman trophy. So let's start talking about path because that's where it starts. And that's why Michael Pinnock's is number one. Okay, so all the things that I love about his game, he's an unbelievable passer of the ball.

Okay, there are guys that are great throwers, and then there are guys that are great passers, you know, and passing has to do with leverage. Passing has to do with ball placement, along with timing. And when you, when you watch Pinnock's, play, what you see is a guy that constantly understands where to put the football to give his receiver the best chance to win. His ability to throw with proper leverage is uncanny. It's the best in the sport. Okay. So that's what I love about what he does. He's got great wide receivers on the outside. Kalin DeBore does an excellent job with their passing game. So what is his path? Well, his path is simply

if they remain undefated, that means he probably beats Oregon, I would guess, in the Pac-12 championship game. It means that he gets a win over Oregon State on the road. That means that he's going to win the Heisman trophy. If there's one guy that you could say controls this entire deal, it's Michael Pennix. If he can stay undefeated and win this thing and win the Pac-12 and go to the playoff, then he's taken home that trophy. so. He's been outstanding for two straight years. You can go back to the preseason. This was my Dark Horse pick

to win the Heisman Trophy, was Michael Pinnix, because of all the things that we're just talking about right here. Okay, so then what's the path for a Marvin Harrison? Well, for Marvin, they've got to win out. That's pretty clear, but he's also got to play

great in those games. And Pinnock's will still have to play great to win those games, but that's almost inherent to the way that they play. So that's why I didn't give the caveat there. Remember, 102-2-ranked total defense in the country for Washington, so if they do remain undefeated, you just assume that he's going to play really well. With Harrison, in theory, Ohio State could win and win out, and he not have kind of a hair-on-fire-style game. He needs to produce, and he's going to need to produce, namely against

Michigan. If they can go up to Ann Arbor and win that game and he's the best player on the field, well then now all of a sudden you're going to get the momentum. But here's the hard part is that I don't think it's totally in his hands. Even if he does that, he's still going to need Michael Pennix to lose. All right? Now he might need Bo Nix to also lose, but he's going to need a little bit of help. So the path for him is remain undefeated, produce at a high level, in particular in the game on the road in Ann Arbor,

and then he's going to need Pennix to lose, and he's probably going to need Knicks to stub his toe along the end. way because this is where we get to the path for a guy like Bo Nix. And this is where I'll talk about Nix before Jaden Daniels, is that Nix, like Pinnix, kind of controls his own narrative. If they went out, he would then avenge the only loss that he has, which is Washington. He would have to play well. You would assume because of what I was talking about with all of his responsibility at the

line of scrimmage, and you would think that he would produce really well. and then all of a sudden, now you're sitting there with Bo Nix as your Heisman Trophy winner. So if they can win out, he's got a great chance. They've got the stages. They've got the path. All right. Now, I would just say for Knicks, beating Pinnock in the rematch is number one. It would help if Michigan were to beat Ohio State.

That would kind of knock Marvin Harrison out as well. So that leaves just Jaden Daniels at that point. And then this is where we get into my favorite discussion when we talk about the Heisman Trophy, the Southern vote. The Southern vote is real. And there have been years, Christian McCaffrey comes to mind, where there's too many voters for the Heisman Trophy. I think there's almost 1,000 voters.

And what you would see is like when you see the actual numbers come out about where guys put players on their ballot, generally speaking, you will get some rogue southern voters that will actively submarine a candidate's chances. Let me give you an example. In the year McCaffrey did not win the Heisman trophy. there were several, I mean several, a lot of ballots from Southern voters that just didn't have McCaffrey on the ballot. Whereas in every other part of the country, Derek Henry was always number two, maybe even number one, but he was there, he was there.

And there was no doubt about that. The Southern vote, what happens with the Southern vote? Because here you're going to have Oregon and you're going to have LSU. It's going to be Jaden Daniels against Bo Nick. but here's what's interesting. Bowenick started his career at Auburn. It's from Alabama. I think that would help him.

I think that he would probably get a lot of second place votes because of that, which means that he's one of the guys that can actually overcome kind of the southern issue in the Heisman trophy voting. So that's something to at least pay attention to. And then we get to Jaden Daniels and like I said, his path is being the backstop. Okay, so if, like, let's say Oregon State beats Washington this week and then Washington beats Oregon and then Michigan beats Ohio State and it like everything kind of happens where like these guys, you know, Knicks, Pinnock and Harrison don't play well. Guess what? Jaden Daniels is going to walk with the trophy because he's going to get a ton of second place votes, a ton.

All the regions will be a little bit different, but he's going to get a ton of second place votes. and that could lead to a Heisman trophy. He's got the numbers. There's no doubt. And he's been absolutely sensational. And I wouldn't disagree with that because Jaden Daniels is outstanding. And I've loved his story. Like I said, I've absolutely loved his story.

But he's the backstop, okay? I think he needs a little bit of chaos, to be quite honest with you. But if there is just a little bit of chaos, then Jaden Daniels is going to be your Heisman trophy, which is why I don't have anybody else. on this list. All right. Like Jordan Travis has had a really good year,

but he's not going to win the Heisman trophy because Jaden Daniels is the backstop. And that's the case with anybody, even if they play well here down the stretch. And that's why this is coming down to four guys. J.J. McCarthy's not going to win the Heisman trophy after not throwing a pass in the second half against Penn State. He's just not. Plus,

there are enough voters out there that are stubborn enough and hard-headed enough to hold Jason. J.J. McCarthy accountable for what's going on at Michigan. I already hear it from some voters. So that's why, like, JJ's not going to win the Heisman trophy. And I don't think he cares about that, to be honest with you. But that's why I don't have him on this list. And yeah, I mean, like, this is, this is where it's at. These are the four guys. This is, this is the path and the stages that we have for this Heisman trophy race here as we get down to the end of the year. Real quick story, by the way, as it relates to Heismans. So,

my boys, in particular, my middle son, loves football, loves football. His name's Sam. And I think I've mentioned Sam a couple of times. All my boys kind of love something a little bit different. Like my oldest son, Henry, he is a reader and he is smart, man. Love science, loves to play golf, loves to swim. He likes individual sports, right? Like, he's on the swim team.

Sam loves team sports. He loves flag football. I think he's going to try lacrosse. Theo is just kind of a bulldozer. he's my six-year-old. He likes anything. You know, like when he's swimming on swim team, he's like punching to water like this. He's hilarious. So, but anyway, Sam is a guy that anytime that I'm like, hey, you know, I'm going to go up to the Steve Clarkson passing camp. He's like, can I come? Yeah, absolutely, buddy. And so last year, we went up to L.A. in the summer before

the season or in the springtime. And there were a lot of these quarterbacks around. You know, is when it's like Bryce Young, Caleb Williams, let's see, who are some of the other ones, all the ones that you could think of from that kind of era, Cam Rising. So it's the modern style. Okay, well, keep in mind that because I worked with Matt Linerd, he plays in the Matt Linerd football league, you know, so he's met Matt, who's won a Heisman Trophy. Reggie worked with us, and he's met Reggie won a Heisman Trophy. Now, Mark Ingram has worked with us.

It works with us, and he's met Mark Ingram. Well, now we go up to this passing camp, and he's like, hey, have I met more Heismans than my brothers? And I'm like, yeah, bud, you have. You've met more Heismans than your brothers have. And he is so proud. So then I take him over and he meets Bryce Young. Bryce could not have been nicer. And before, like, we can get to him, you know, Caleb's tossing the ball around.

with a couple of the guys, and he throws this ball, and it kind of goes over the fingers of one of the guys that he was throwing to, and it hits the ground, and it takes this funky bounce, and it bounces up, and it hits my son in the face. And he's like, stunned like this, you know? And he's like, oh, it looks at me, and I was like, hey, man, you're, you know, you're okay.

You're okay. And I've been down, and I'm like, hey, buddy, guess what? And he's like, he's like kind of stunned. He's like, what, what, dad? And I was like, you know, through that? And he's like, who? And I was like, Caleb Williams. He won a Heisman trophy.

And he's like, a Heisman hit me in the face. And I'm like, yes, yes, he did. And he loved it. So now we've been able to go and meet Kyler Murray. And he's met all these guys that have won a Heisman trophy. It's a perk of the job. There's no doubt. But I thought you'd get a kick out of the story.

He was more impressed with the fact that he wore it in the cheek. Bam, bounce right up into his face from a Heisman winner. So on this, this Heisman episode, of the Joel Clats show. I thought you would enjoy that story. That'll do it for tonight. Can't wait. Tomorrow we got game previews.

I've got a couple of upsets, by the way, for tomorrow. So stay tuned for that. Remember to subscribe to the pod, wherever you're listening. Subscribe to the YouTube channel right there on YouTube, the Joel Clats show. And like, comment, all of those fun things, and then follow us on social media at Joel Clatshow

wherever you like to social media. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.