The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Joel Klatt's Top 10 Teams in the Country

Episode Date: September 22, 2018

-Joel breaks down his Top 10 teams -Why Alabama is the best team in the country, and it's not that close -Why 1st year head coaches are on the hot seat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up? Welcome back to Breaking the Huddle. Presented by Dr. Pepper. Remember at every home gate and tailgate, it is the one that fans crave and it's delicious, so make sure to go pick it up. Here's what we got going on today. Another version of the top 10. Boom, boom, boom. I've got some questionable top 10 picks, actually.

I'm actually kind of upset at myself in particular for number 10, but we're going to get through it together. Okay, so that's what we do on the internet. We support one another. That's what the internet is for. And then we're going to talk some schematics today. We've got a lot of other things coming this week. make sure to stay tuned, but right now let's dive into the top 10. Before I get to the actual 10th place team that I put there, and I really shouldn't have,

some like honorable mentions. Honorable mentions, TCU, I thought you played really well against Ohio State. I had you in the top 10 last week. You fell just short. It was going to, like that 11, 12 range probably should have included you. Washington, here's the reason you fell out of my top 10 because Auburn did, and Auburn beat you. So therefore, you're out. West Virginia, you've been playing really well.

very close. I didn't want to jump you in there after not playing a game. I thought that would have been weird. And then the only other one in this one is just kind of like hit me a little bit earlier today. Mississippi State. You could have been in there. I thought that could have been an interesting inclusion for you. Okay, let's go. My controversial pick, Notre Dame. Here's why it's controversial. I thought that the win against Michigan was really good. Obviously, their defense played very well in that game. Brandon Wimbush has not been very impressive ever since. In fact, they were outgained last week by 40 yards in their wins. So a precarious spot here at number 10.

They've got some tougher games coming up, though, so they can earn that spot. Like I said, that could have very easily been any of the four teams that I mentioned just previously. Okay, here we go. Number nine, Oklahoma State. Here's one of my more underrated teams in the country. I love what Oklahoma State has done in particular because they did get a new defensive coordinator. Jim Knowles, he comes over from Duke. By the way, against Boise State, they gave up 1.1 yards per rush.

That's right. A Big 12 defense, Oklahoma State gave up 1.1 yards per rush. Awful good in that game, including, by the way, leading the country in sacks at 16 so far in the season. So Oklahoma State is getting done. And offensively, there's still a juggernaut. Taylor Cornelius is playing really well at the quarterback position, and Justice Hill is one of my favorite running backs in the country. Stanford is at number eight.

Here's the reason I like Stanford right now is because I feel like they're balanced enough where they can beat you really with any phase of their game. They're going to be able to run the football. We saw that against USC with Bryce Love. He did not play last week. Their defense kind of carried the day. And in week one, when San Diego State took away the run game, what they do, they threw the ball to win. So this all of a sudden feels like a team that has a multitude of different facets that they

can beat you with. I like KJ. Costello. I like J.J.R. Sago Whiteside. We know love is going to get his. And oh, by the way, quietly, that's one of the best defenses in the country. In fact, they've only given up one touchdown in six red zone trips this season. That's number one in the country. So Stanford at number eight.

Okay. Penn State, you're at number seven. Talk about red zone efficiency. We talked about it defensively for Stanford. How about offensively for Penn State? 15 scores and 16 red zone trips. That's insane. Trace McSorley has been playing at a really high level.

and I feel like they're playing better on defense. It's still a lot to overcome as far as some of the players that they lost from a year ago. But there's something there. McSorley is just, he's just like a winner. He's like a poor man's Baker Mayfield. I know he would bristle at that, but like there's something about the way that he plays, the swagger that he brings to his team. I think he elevates Penn State.

As a roster, I just don't think they're the seventh best team. But with him, there's something about him that they just, just win football games and that's why they're there at number seven. Okay, LSU is at number six. I think this is the highest that they're gonna go. So kudos, you peaked, well done, LSU. You've had a nice start to the season. We don't know if Miami's all that great,

so let's not go touting that you have two top 10 wins because it was the first week of the season. We had not seen Miami play this year. Then you beat them, so they go from the top 10 out of the top 10, so was it really a top 10 win? If a tree falls on the forest and you're not there to hear it, you actually think it makes a sound. No one will ever know. So LSU is up here at number six. Would it shock you if I told you that they're dead last in the SEC and passing offense?

Probably not, right? What about completion percentage? What about passing touchdowns? None of those, right? Yeah, listen, they're going to get beat by Alabama, probably by about 30 points. So well done. Ed Ogeron, you get up to number six in my poll and it's going to come tumbling down from here. So good start to the season. Boy, that was doom and gloom. honestly, I mean, good start to season, but you don't really think it's going to last, do you? Okay, here we go. Clemsons at number five. Clemsons at number five, even without the wins that LSU has because they're just a better team. They're more explosive on offense, defensively.

We know they're a great team in particular up front, and they're just better than LSU, who has probably earned a higher ranking, but if you actually evaluate what they are as a team, they slide right back to number six. Clemson, you got a really easy schedule, probably going to go to the playoff, and I don't know if you will have proved anything by the time that you get to the playoff. A big test for Clemson is going to be a game that they don't even play in. What Bama does with A&M is going to be an indictment directly on the Clemson Tigers as a common opponent. So that's something to watch out for. Okay, here we go.

At number four, I've got Oklahoma. Now, you know that I'm a big fan of Oklahoma. You know that I love Lincoln Riley and Kyler Murray, but they've gone from two to four, even with a road conference win. That's not like you, Joel. That's right. It's not like me. But what is like me is evaluating the game that is in front of me. And what I saw the first two weeks was a defense that I thought was really improved.

And I thought, boy, if they can play offense at a high level and have a defense that is improved and plays better than what they have been in the last couple of years, then yeah, that's the second best team of the country. What happened? They stopped tackling. I mean, that was pretty bad, Oklahoma tackling. Now you can say, hey, we gave up less points than we did last year in a loss to Iowa State, but the same problems came up, namely your secondary does not tackle physical receivers. And going into big 12th play, that's an issue because guess what you see?

Big physical receivers that are going to be tough to deal with. So that's why you move down to four. I still really like Oklahoma. You're my favorite in the Big 12, but you move down to number four. Ohio State is at number three. Good win against TCU. You were down eight in the third quarter. might be cause for concern. You get a couple of defensive scores. I like the offense.

Second in the country in total offense. Second in the country in scoring offense. Now you get your head coach back. By the way, let's talk a little bit about getting Urban Meyer back. It's not a big deal. Why is it a big deal now? Well, he's going to be back on the sidelines on a game day. I can tell you from a playing perspective, the one day of the week that I had no even recollection of what the coach was doing or where he was standing was game day. The game is for the players and the assistants. During the week is when the boss has the say over the game plan. He has a say over the messaging and he has a say over the motivation of what's going into the week.

Coaches, their only real job is like, hey, should we call a timeout and should we punt or go for two? Outside of that, Urban's been with the team for two weeks, so this is not a big deal. The media wants to make this a big deal, like Urban's coming back to the sidelines. Who cares? Nobody cares. He's been there, and he's been the boss for two straight weeks. He's been the one saying, hey, Ryan Day, I like your game plan. Hey, Kevin Wilson, I like your game plan. Hey, Greg Shiano, I like your game plan.

This is how we're going to do it. I'm the one that's talking to end practice. I'm the one that's talking to begin practice. I'm the one that's addressing the team in the team meeting rooms. All of these things are having. happening when he's at practice during the week. Now he's just going to be out there on Saturday. Is it going to make much of a difference? No, they're still really good. Okay, and even though they didn't have like a great opponent, I put Georgia up here because they continued to do something

that's very impressive. Dominate. Every time they go out there, they dominate. They do exactly what they should do. All right, the run game is extraordinary. They've got, shoot, three guys that's averaging over something like eight yards of carry. Holyfield's got nine yards of carry on his own. a quarterbacks combined have like just over five incompletions more than touchdown passes. That's insane. Insane. Fields and Fromm have like 13 incompletions and they've got eight touchdown passes. What?

Wild. I really like Georgia. Defensively, I like what they're able to do. Kirby Smart's building a juggernaut there. And then Alabama. Shocking. They're going to be there for the remainder of the season. It's going to take an upset to beat Alabama.

Alabama is the best parts of last year's Rose Bowl. Think about that for a moment, right? They've got the explosiveness of Oklahoma and the defense of Georgia. Who's beating Alabama? I don't quite understand. Tua Tonga Vialoa has orchestrated 20 drives. 20. They've punted twice in those 20 drives.

What? Are you serious? What are they doing? I never know what she's doing. Where's the meatloaf, Nick? Alabama is insane. This could be Nick Sabin's best team. Just give you a sense of what's going on right now.

He's won five national championships at Alabama. He did that with Greg McElroy, AJ McCarran twice, Jacob Coker, and then a true freshman in the second half last year to Otonga Vialoa. The only other champions during that era have been Cam Newton, transcendent player, James Winston, transcendent player, Cardell Jones and Ezekiel Elliott, transcendent performances, in particular on that three-game stretch was maybe the best rushing attack that we've ever seen, and Deshawn Watson, transcendent performer.

So what happens when Alabama has the transcendent performer? Lights out! Lights out, folks. We might all be playing for second place right now. Nick Saban might have found his Deshawn Watson after watching Deshawn Watson two years ago carry that national championship off the field. So there it is. My top 10, I question it every moment of my life, especially you, Notre Dame.

especially you. So there are a lot of fan bases out there that are very upset with their first year head coach. And I'm just here, let's channel our inner Aaron Rogers. Okay, I'm not talking about being a great quarterback. I'm just saying relax. Just relax. No one's having a lot of success with their first year head coach. Let's dive into the numbers.

Let's all, you know. Take an Advil and just relax. First and foremost, there are 12 Power 5 coaches that are in their first year at their current school. Those 12 coaches have won a total of 18 games so far this season. They're 18 and 17, one game above 500. You might think to yourself, okay, well, that seems okay. Well, not really. When you dive into the numbers, do you know that nine of the 18 wins?

So 50% of those 18 wins have come against FCS. opponents. FCS opponents. All right, so let's dive a little deeper. What are they doing against group of five opponents? Only seven of those 18 wins, which means only two of the 18 wins have actually come against Power 5 competition. Those two wins were Herm Edwards and Arizona State beating Michigan State and Joe Moorhead and Mississippi State beating Kansas State. That's it. So all of you upset that you're not winning any games and oh my gosh, you know, buy out Willie Tassette. Haggart.com. Just relax. Nobody's having a lot of success at this point. Mario Cristobal and Joe Moorhead are the only two coaches that are undefeated so far with their teams.

Mario Cristobal was a holdover, and Joe Moorhead, he got a quarterback. Right? Nick Fitzgerald is a good quarterback. That was a decent roster that Dan Mullen had put in place, and their schedule hasn't been overly difficult. Neither has Oregon's, by the way. So both of those things, those situations have helped them out. Two of the coaches who I have no concerns with whatsoever have not won a game, period. Scott Frost and Chip Kelly. Now, you talk about getting dealt bad hands. Those two got dealt really bad hands. The rosters were not good. They're having to change a culture, and both of them are starting true freshman quarterback with a really tough gauntlet to start the season, including for Scott Frost having a game canceled, then facing

a veteran quarterback with a great wide receiver in Colorado, and then facing a Troy team that just beat LSU in Baton Rouge a year ago. That's a tough gauntlet to open up with, in particular when you get your true freshman quarterback, who's a really good player, hurt in the first game that you play and you're playing with a true freshman walk-on quarterback against Troy. Those are not easy circumstances. I'll get to Chip Kelly in a moment. There are three reasons why it's very tough for a first-year head coach at that school to succeed. One of them is culture change. A lot of them have to come in and change the culture. Some do, some don't. Mario Cristobol is a guy. are an example of a guy that doesn't, right?

He's been there and it's just kind of, let's just keep going. Lincoln Riley last year doesn't have to change a culture. That makes it so much easier. Is the roster quality? That's another factor in this. Sometimes you go into a place and they've recruited really well. The culture is pretty good and you can hit the ground running and you can start teaching schematics, which is going to be my third point.

Other times, your roster needs to be totally overhauled and you're going to be playing with 10, 15 freshmen on the field, some of them true freshmen. and in some cases, 9, 10, 11 true freshmen in and of themselves. Also, you're trying to save a recruiting class so you don't get the entire recruiting period. So all of that hurts your roster quality and roster depth. And then lastly, schematic differences. Are the players at that school aligned with what you're trying to do schematically? Different philosophies need different players, different skill sets, so on and so forth.

All three of those are reasons why it's tough to have success right away. at your new school. If all of those are lined up, then you can have success. If not, it's going to take time. All right. I know that this is the Twitter age where we want everything right now and we want it on demand. I get it. That's the new era. We want it now, but I'm just telling you relax. Now, let's go into a quick deep dive on two examples, because UCLA and Florida State seem to be the two schools that have the most angst about what's going on right now with their current coach. Chip Kelly at UCLA, Willie Taggart at Florida State. I feel like those two are different, and let's go through some of those bullets, and let's evaluate why one school should be maybe concerned,

and why another one should not. Let's evaluate Florida State first with Willie Taggart. Okay, first let's look at coaching acumen. So what's the history of success for Willie Taggart? Willie doesn't have a ton of success in his repertoire. In fact, in his last 13 games, he's 5 and 8. Did you know that if you look at his last, gosh, call it seven losses to power five opponents, six of them have been by 17 points or more, that can be alarming. Did you know that Willie Taggart right now, his offense, his defense, and the amount of penalties that they have per game are much worse than Florida State was? a year ago. Did you know they had eight starters back on defense and they were getting an injured

quarterback back as well? All of that leads me to tell you that like their performance might be a little alarming. Now, do I think that you should buy them out right now and fire him? No, I don't. I think that it's going to take time because of all the things that I mentioned prior. Am I more concerned for Florida State? Yes, and here's why. Let's look at Chip Kelly. Hasn't won a game and might only win one or two or maybe zero games this season. However, that's one of, if not the most least experienced roster in the country. In fact, they're 118 on ranking the experience chart in college football. They've had several freshmen play, including 11 true freshman play, including the quarterback, Dorian Thompson, and a center, and a running back, a lot of wide

receivers. They've got freshmen in the back end and the secondary. They're all over the field. They've faced one of the most difficult schedules in the entire country, including to open things up. Remember, they tried to start Wilton Spate, in part because of his game experience from his time at Michigan as a graduate transfer. He got hurt, and they're thrown out there with a true freshman that just has a limited package in the first game against Cincinnati. So Cincinnati wins. Yeah, it didn't look great, but that doesn't mean Chip doesn't know how to coach. This guy's got a great coaching acumen. He's 46 and 7 at Oregon. And did you know that this first year at Philadelphia, they went from 4 and 12 to 10 and 6 in division champs? I'm not concerned for UCLA at all.

Now, Michael Robinson, Dorian Thompson's father, he can be concerned all he wants and he can tweet gibberish and all the BS that he wants to. But all it is is hot air because Chip's going to win at UCLA. Stop focusing on the calisthenics on the sidelines and start focusing on the 11 true freshman playing in the most difficult schedule that some think anyone's anyone is playing in college football. They're going to be fine. I don't care if UCLA goes 0 and 12. I'm going to tell you they're going to be just fine. Casimir Allen, a true freshman running back. He's a D. Anthony Thomas clone.

Dorian Thompson is a really good player. They're getting better on the offensive and defensive line. In fact, their defensive statistics are way better than what they were a year ago when they were one of the worst defenses in all of college football. I'm here to tell you, UCLA, you need to calm down. Florida State? Maybe a little room for concern, but it's still early. Here's another reason to relax.

Did you know that Nick Saban, who is, I would consider the great. greatest coach of this generation. He was six and six at one point in his first year with Alabama, including a November loss at home to Louisiana Monroe. Relax. It's going to be all right. Pete Carroll was one and four to start his tenure at USC. Frank Beamer wasn't great in his start at Virginia Tech. Sometimes it takes time to build something great. All right, here we go. Matt Leinard is back. Let's start with a little Heisman talk. First of all, what's up, brother? What's up, baby? How are we doing?

Mm-hmm, looking good. It's just one of those days, man, midweek, hump day. You make my week better, Matt. Do you know that? I know. We will not be talking about Bachelor in Paradise this week. But we will be talking about the Heisman. All right, let's start here.

I want your three frontrunners front of Heism. Perfect. That's where I'm going to go. I'm going to give four because I have Kyler Murray as a four. And you want to include him. And I think he could be higher, and I think he will be right there at the end. So Kyler Murray. All quarterbacks.

Will Greer, Tua from Bama, and Dwayne Haskins. I love it. Is that the order? No, I actually have Haskins one. Tua, two, Greer three, and Murray four. And I just, I think literally they're all interchangeable in that. And it just depends how the season plays out. But I think this year, it's funny.

I thought going in with Love and Taylor. was going to be, oh, this is going to be the year of the running back. Love's already set out of the game. Taylor and Wisconsin lost. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm with you. And some big, I mean, they're going to be, I mean, these are some, the career's going to have big numbers.

Kyler Murray is on pace the same statistical season as Baker from last year and he won a Heisman. Dwayne Haskins, I'm just, I'm like, I'm following in love with him every single week. You know, you're Baker Mayfield. Yeah, for a Bachelor in Paradise term, that would be, we've made a connection with Dwayne. Yeah, we made a connection.

And we want to see. where this goes. We want to see where this goes. Dwayne, Dwayne will get my rose this week and we'll see what happens next week. Make that two roses. So now Dwayne, you're going to have to choose. I've got the exact same four guys in my Heisman list. And I think that that's a pretty concrete thing. There's only a couple of names that you would really throw in there. I'm going to throw my boy because I love him.

He's doing work for Colorado. Leviska-Cenault as a wide receiver. This is not just hyperbole. Dudes of Beast. He's putting up huge numbers. Very excited for them. They're off this week before they play UCLA next Friday, so he could have a big night next Friday.

That games on FS1. They're winning. They are winning. In fact, that's a team that when you look at the Pack 12 South, I mean, Colorado could easily win that division. It was SC and then like Arizona was a sleeper. Utah is kind of always there. No one was talking about Arizona State or Colorado.

Two teams who still, you know, Arizona State should have. could have won that game last week, so it's wide open. Here's what I want to do. Since we kind of agree on Heisman, right, and there's not much to add on that. Those guys are playing awesome, right? So kudos, Haskin. You get two roses from Matt and I. Will you accept this rose? And so let's play something else. Let's have a little fun. I want to play like real or fake or like, you know, real or frauds. Pretenders or contenders. Yeah, you get whatever, you know, however you want to say, man. Let's do it. All right, let's go. All right. So top of my head, let's pick some of the things that

have shown up this college football season that maybe we weren't expecting. Okay. Let me start with LSU. Okay. LSU at number six this week in the AP poll. They were number six at my pool. What are we doing? Real or fake?

You had them very high. Real or fraud. I would say, okay, I'm going to say this. I would say real based on, no, no, no, I'm going to, they're fake in my opinion, but real based on who they've beaten so far. So which is it, Matt? Well, I'm going to tell you, I think they're fake in the long term of things. I think, yes, they beat Miami and they beat Auburn.

I don't think they're here for the right reasons. I think they're like, they're like Leo. They come in and they're like, they take the all paradise by storm, and then they cheat on the girl with the other girl, and then they start making out with everybody. LSU comes in right away, big bold. They come in there. Miami's not very good. Auburn, as we know, what are they? They're like the camp, what do you say, the tent revival?

They pop up. They pop up over here. So, hey, we're good again. Listen, LSU, Dave Arand has done a great job. Defensively, they're good. Offensively, with Burrow, who I like him, I think he's got a lot more confidence than that. Their offensive numbers are still horrible. Oh, I have.

And they're not, look, I think Bama beats them by 30 points. I think Georgia beats them by 20 points. I agree. Right now, good resume. I'm not a believer in the long run. Next? Yeah. Next.

In fact, next song. Next song. We can actually incorporate BIP to every team we say. And LSU is Leo. Leo is LSU. Is that good? Yes, this is good. I would just, let me throw out there that here's how I know you're not here for the right reasons.

LSU Leo. Dead last in scoring offense in the SEC. Dead last in passing offense. Dead last in passing touchdowns. Dead last in rating. Dead last in completion percentage. your house is going to come crumbling down very soon. It's the same numbers we've seen in the last two or three years.

Only worse. All right. How about this one? Penn State. Penn State is real. Penn State is grocery store Joe. Okay? Grocery store Joe is as real, genuine, not a lot of personality, but just like, you know, just he's there for the right reasons.

And Penn State to me, that's a good one, right? Penn State, you could think of like Trace McSorley, Grocery Show, Joe, or Trace McSorley is more like, I don't want to say Jordan, but bigger personality. But the team itself, genuine, they're there for the right reasons. James Franklin is a good guy, good coach. I like this team, man, and I think, listen, the holes on defense we've talked about, they're there. Offensively, Sanders and these guys are playing better.

It's just one of those things. We saw it from Baker Mayfield elevate the players around him every week last year. Now I would say maybe Oklahoma's got some better talent last year for Baker Mayfield, but Trace McSorley is that guy, man. He is. They get some key games at home. In particular, Iowa State. And their schedule is favorable. You McSorley's undefeated at home? Again, there's something about, there's something about him. I'm with you. I'm still. Would you say they're the second best team in the East? I don't know yet. I don't know yet. And people will bristle at that, and I understand.

I still think if you look at Harbaugh's M.O. Don't roll your eyes at me when I bring up Michigan. All right? Who's wrong in there? All of them. All of them out there. Michigan is like, they're like the flywheel. You familiar?

It's like when you turn it, it's really hard to start turning, but then once it gets going, they're never great early. But then once the system takes hold, once their defense can start. start to get you in and you know lock the gates mentality they can beat you up i still believe in michigan i just i just do one last one are you ready stanford that's a good one i was hoping you wouldn't say that quickly i'm going to go first here's why i think stanford's real stanford can get into any style of game and still win that's a valuable thing yeah they might not be great at any one thing although i still think they can be a great rushing team they can get

into a low scoring affair and beat you with their defense they can get into a game where you stop them running the football like San Diego State. That's the added dynamic they've had. Then they can get into a game where they need to run it and they will run it. So that's a valuable thing when you've got like different tools at your disposal. That's my reason why I think Stanford is. Can they, the jury is still out on Oregon, right? And we'll find out about them this week.

They play Stanford. Do you think Stanford can, what, do you think Oregon's real or fit? Do you think Oregon, Stanford goes to Oregon and that offense, Levitt, your boy has done a great job, a better job. Stanford gets Bryce Love back. They're still not. They can throw the football, but they're not. Herbert's turning the ball over.

He's not playing like I thought he was going to play. And I think he's going to need to be at his best in order to beat Stanford. I would agree with you on Stanford. I think Stanford, San Diego State's a good team. USC is, you know, they're struggling, but still going to be a pretty good win, I think, at the end of the year. Easy. I trust that more. My man, it's always a pleasure.

Hey, do you know that? Let me tell you what is real. This. Almost paradise. Thank you, my man. Appreciate it. Oh, sorry. Bye-bye.

That's how we roll. That's how we roll. So a lot coming this week. So stay tuned because we're going to have all sorts of things. The monologue's coming out. I'm going to have a nice clat back for you. That'll come out later in the week. Saturday, Matt, you'll be in the studio all day.

along for all of our games, FS1 and Fox. I will be, are you just nodding along? I appreciate that. Oh, yeah, that's right. Don't worry about it. So we'll edit. Saturday, Matt will be in the studio. I'll be in the studio.

I'll be at Iowa. Wisconsin, Iowa primetime on Fox. Thank you. Thank you to Dr. Pepper. At every home gate and tailgate, it is the one that fans crave. We appreciate your support. And enjoy college football, everybody.

Yeah, you know it.