The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Ohio State beats Arch Manning & Texas, LSU & Miami rise while Alabama falls plus Klatt’s Top 10

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to a great Week 1 of the college football season. He explains what impressed him so much about Ohio State in their win over #1 Texas and how concerned he is about Arch Manning following the loss. Klatt details why LSU’s win at Clemson proved they should be the favorites in the SEC. He discusses Miami’s best win of the Cristobal era as Carson Beck showed he’s still an elite QB in the sport in the win over Notre Dame. Klatt then breaks down what he saw in the most stunning game of the weekend as Florida State beat Alabama by 2 touchdowns and why Tide fans should be very concerned about what they saw. Klatt also reveals his new Top 10 following Week 1. 0:00-1:19 Intro1:20-5:20 Joel’s takeaways from Week 15:21-20:24 Ohio State beats Texas20:25-25:23 LSU Beats Clemson25:24-31:00 Miami wins in a close one31:01-40:59 FSU stuns Alabama41:00-46:34 Klatt’s top 10 after Week 1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a week one. Slow clap for college football. All these top 10 matchups, they were phenomenal. More of those, please. I'm not that panicked about Texas. Starting on the road, your first time is hard. Doing it against that Ohio State team and in that environment, almost impossible.

Relax. He's going to be just fine. It's going to be hard not putting them at number one in the country. After that, Carson Beck looked like the guy we saw a couple of years ago. But what happened to Alabama? Where was the effort? Day like today is why we love college football. Hey, welcome into the program, everybody.

This is the Joel Clatt Show. I am Joel Clat. The show, as always, is brought to you by the graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support, as always. If you're not a subscriber, please go subscribe to the show on YouTube. That would be awesome. Leave a comment down below. I'll try to join you during the course of the year as time allows.

And then wherever you like to social media, you can find us on social media at Joel Clat Show. We are there and all of our content lives there throughout the season. and the season is finally started. What a week one. Slow clap for college football. That was awesome, folks. That was absolutely awesome. I loved every one of those big matchups.

I loved finding out about these teams because, as you know, in this industry, let me just give you a peek behind the curtain. The toughest thing to do, in particular in modern college football, is to have any real good idea about what these teams are going to be from a season to the next. and you can see that come to fruition as these games unfold. And we're starting to see these teams with all these new faces and more specifically at the quarterback position and all these questions that we had during the course of the offseason.

And what are the answers going to be to those questions? So it's insanely hard to evaluate these teams with any amount of accuracy in the offseason, which is why I love week one so much because now we have tangible evidence. We can see it. We can watch the film. We watch the games. and now we know what these teams are, what they can be, what they need to fix, where they need to develop. So if you're sensing some of the excitement in my voice, it's because of that.

The tangible feel now that we have with some of these teams. And let me just tell you, all these top 10 matchups, they were phenomenal. More of those, please. As we are here for you, the college football fan, we love this sport, you love this sport. More of that, please. That's what we want is more of those games. They did not disappoint. Hey, before I get into those games, just a quick shout out to everyone that came out to the live show in Columbus.

That was awesome. There was a lot of people there. We had a great time. All the guests, Cardell Jones, thank you for coming out, Trivian Henderson, Lath and Ransom. Our man, Andy, that got the tattoo. Andy, you are an absolute trooper. We gave away tickets. I mean, it was a really fun time.

So thank you for coming out. And if you haven't seen it, you can go back and check it out. it still lives up on the YouTube channel. So what do I know after week one in college football? Well, I know I saw seven really good teams. And, you know, three of them lost. And that's okay because some of those games were just fantastic games between two really good teams.

And those seven teams are Ohio State and Texas. I think both of those teams are very good. LSU and Clemson, both of those teams are very good. I thought that we looked at teams like Miami and Notre Dame. Both of those teams are very good. And then Florida State, very good football team. So I know that those seven teams are very good. Now, there can be more.

There certainly can be more. I don't know for a fact. I think I know about teams like Penn State and Oregon and Georgia, but I don't know for a fact. And that's why I love seeing these matchup style games early. these top 10 games is because then we know. We know. And again, you can lose those games, but I still know you're really good. Texas, I still know Texas is a very good football team.

Same with Clemson and same with Notre Dame who lost last night, Sunday night, to Miami, down there in Miami. So that's the first thing that I learned during week one. Really, the second thing, and I'll stop it to just the two, the second thing is, is that quarterback experience just continues to be so important in our sport. And we see the difference between teams that have experienced quarterback play and teams that don't. Even teams with guys that we know are talented, that were highly recruited. And we see the conservative nature of the game plans that have to be installed for some of these guys early in their career with these teams.

Meanwhile, we got experienced quarterbacks. And it doesn't have to be at the same location. It can be Castellanos from Florida State, who's an experienced guy who comes in there and he plays like an experienced quarterback. So that's the next thing that I know after week one. And that's what I saw. That's what we witnessed in week one of the college football season. I know seven good teams are out there,

and I really know that quarterback experience is going to carry the day. So let's get into the actual games. Let's start with the game that I called Gus, Ginny and I and Tom on the sideline, had the call when Ohio State, the defending national champions, welcomed in the preseason number one team, Texas Longhorns. And I'll tell you this, man, that was a really fun game to call, in particular because of the cat and mouse nature of what was going on. And the most specific thing that I enjoyed about calling the game

was watching Ohio State's defense try to attack Texas's offense. And that's where I'll start because the Matt Patricia defense is still excellent. all of those starters that they lost, and they were really experienced starters, three-year starters. So many of those players that went on to the National Football League, and they left big shoes to fill. And yet the young players, the new faces, some of them had some experience, but not starting experience. And they came out there, and that defense is still elite. I know that that Ohio State defense is going to be one of the best defenses in the country. They were pretty stout up front, maybe not great up front, but pretty stout up front.

their linebacker court as a duo between Sunny Stiles and Arvel Reese, probably the best duo in the country. And their secondary was outstanding. Absolutely great in the secondary. Jermaine Matthews, a new face at Corner. He was fantastic. Jalen McLean, a new face at safety. He was terrific. You still have Downs, the All-American.

You still have Igbenosin, a starter from a year ago. So, like, that defense is not going anywhere. and then the new face at coordinator, Matt Patricia, he made life miserable on not only the new quarterback Arch Manning, but also the play caller Steve Sarkeesian. In fact, Steve Sarkeesian even was talking about that in the postgame. This was Steve after the game. I think that they have a very good secondary,

and I thought their ability to disguise coverages in the first half was at an elite level. I wouldn't say a good level and elite level. And I think that starts with, you know, they got Caleb Downs. He's very savvy, he's very smart. They're able to hold coverages, and whether it was a two-deep shell, you know, rolling to one high, one high, playing too deep. The variations of cover two, they played against us.

They minimized the explosive plays. They stayed on top. I thought both secondaries are good. Both fronts are good. These are two good teams, you know. I wouldn't be surprised if we see them again, you know, December, January, down the road. I won't be surprised if that's the case either. I think Coach Sark is exactly right.

Those are two really good teams. And again, that's the major takeaway. But the defense for Ohio State was a bit of a question mark because of all the players that they were trying to replace, all the new faces there. And they came out and they played outstanding football. Matt Patricia deserves a lot of credit. I thought that there was some wrinkles in the defense. I remember having conversations with some of the coaches from Ohio State during the course of the off season, even coached day. And I would ask them questions like, am I going to be able to notice schematic wrinkles with their defense?

and he would say, maybe not big differences, but there definitely will be differences. And that was absolutely the case. It was tough to pick up just during the game. I knew that they were disguising and they were doing things that were making life difficult on Texas and specifically their quarterback Arch Manning, but specifically going back and watching the film. So I went back and I watched the coach's date. And the way that they changed up not only the front, but also the coverage.

So Sark and the post game was talking about how they disguised just. the coverage. Well, that's just the back end shell. But what he didn't talk about is all the variation of front structure that they played. I'll go through hopefully a defensive front scheme video. I know you guys have been asking me about these scheme videos that I've got up on the YouTube channel and go check them out. There's some really good ones and some of them gotten a lot of traction. I'll do a front video as well. So I'm going to use a couple of technical terms right now. They were jumping in between an odd front and an even front. What does that mean, Joel?

Well, an odd front means that you're going to cover up the center. So you're going to have a true noseguard or a defensive lineman lined up right over the center. And that's a true odd front. Now, an even front is different. Usually it's just a four-down defensive lineman look and you don't have someone lined up just right on the center. Sark wasn't really anticipating a lot of odd front defense. and Matt Patricia rolled in and out of odd front, even front. They were doing something that I call Nickel 33,

which means that their defensive tackles were both in the three technique, which means that they were both on the outside shoulder of the guard, which is rare. Normally one of those guys is going to be inside of the guard to defend against, you know, right down the middle run. So again, a lot of variation in wrinkle. I'm not going to bore you with the technicalities as much as I just think that Matt Patricia kept Texas on their back foot most of the game. They didn't know what they were getting.

whether they were trying to protect Arch or throw the ball down the field into coverage. And then the coverage was elite. Now, Arch got going a little bit late and you could see, you know, you can see the talent. So from my standpoint, I'm not that panicked about Texas. But I would say on the flip side for Ohio State offensively, their quarterback showed more poise, more accuracy, and was much more solid with what he was asked to do. and I'm talking about Julian Sane. So Julian Sane comes out, and I thought he played a very solid game.

He didn't have to be great. And this is what Rinday kept saying the entire offseason is he doesn't have to be great. He just needs to be one and no. Go out there, utilize the players around him in order to create situations where they can score a few points and then rely on the defense. That's exactly what he did. Only 13 of 20 for 126 and a touchdown. It's not going to blow your mind with his numbers. But he did make some plays when it was.

necessary. And he made some big throws. He was accurate. Like I said, he was decisive. He took care of the football, didn't make any mistakes. And in large measure, played much better than Arch Manning, who made a lot of mistakes and was very inaccurate with the football. Even to the point where I thought that Ohio State left some things on the table, they were playing pretty conservatively. The only real shot they took down the field was to Carnal Tate. He caught that ball. That was terrific coverage. He still caught it. If you're watching YouTube, you're watching it right now. excellent catch. And how about that for having Carnell Tate as just your number two weapon? They didn't even have to go to Jeremiah Smith all day long because they still have Carnell Tate.

And I thought that they played fairly conservative because their defense was playing so well. And that's kind of what I would say even Coach Day alluded to at the end when he was talking with Jenny Taft after the game. Here he was. How about your quarterback? Let's talk about his debut, Julian Sane and his composure. What impressed you? I really like this composure. We probably could open it up later in the game. But, you know, his first start, we don't want to do that to him.

You know, we want, but I think he could have handled it. You know, this is a great start for him to win a game in his first start to beat the number one team in a country. Big time play over here. I thought he took care of the football. And then, I mean, yeah, what a start for him. But, you know, just a gutsy win for our team. It's a long season. So we've got a long way to go.

But I'm just proud of these guys. Gutsy win here to start. I mean, he's right. I mean, you think about Julian saying, is now the first quarterback since the mid-80s to beat the number one team in the country in his first start in college. The last person to do that was Jim Harbaugh back in I think it was 85. So, you know, like he's doing things that are very difficult to do. And he's got greatness around him. So he doesn't always have to be the reason that Ohio State wins as much as he can

just like operate the car, just drive the car. And if you don't get out of control, control, then good things are going to happen. And that's exactly what happened for Julian Sand. And, you know, even he didn't even have to, again, I alluded to just rely on Jeremiah Smith because he's got other weapons. Max Clare, you can see he's a good player. The backs played okay. They didn't run the ball great. I think there's some probably some questions on the offensive line still. But part of that is that you're playing Texas's defense. And as you know what we've talked about in the offseason, I think Texas's defense is elite. So like, This Ohio State team is really good.

And in a lot of ways, now you're sitting there and you're thinking yourself, okay, so Ohio State just won the national championship. They're replacing 14 draft picks, and all they do is come out there and with a brand new quarterback beat the number one team in the country. Now they've won consecutively five games against top 10 opponents. That's pretty good. Wouldn't you say? I mean, Ryan Day has figured it out.

Every big game, they are, I mean, since their last loss, every big game, they've come out and done exactly what they needed to do in the moments that are biggest in those games in order to win. And that's what they, now that's what I expect moving forward. This is only going to embolden that team and those young faces on that team. Okay, let's get to Texas and let's get to Arch real quick. I think that it's important when talking about Archmanning that we throw out the last name. Because if you throw out the last name, then you lessen your expectations a little bit. And I alluded to this even before the game.

These were unfair expectations. He had never thrown a pass outside of Austin. So he had never thrown a pass in his college career on the road. This was his first true road start. I can tell you from experience that starting on the road for your first time is just a different animal. I remember my first road start in college was at Kansas State, and this was a really good Kansas State team. They actually ended up going, this is 2003, they would go on to win the Big 12 championship that year. And we started, I started the game there.

That was my first true road start. I remember I set three formations wrong, didn't even realize it, because of the commotion and the noise and everything that's going on. I didn't even realize I was making mistakes in real time because my adrenaline was too high. I couldn't think straight. It was a totally new experience that I couldn't prepare for until I did it. Well, that's the same thing for Arch Manning.

I go to like the not the first fourth down of the game that they snuck and got it, but the fourth down on the first series that they ended up not getting. they ran a run-pass option on the right side. I'm watching the film. Arch makes the completely wrong decision. He hands the football off and there's two unblocked defenders sitting there ready to tackle the ball carrier. All he has to do is pull that ball out and the tight end is perfectly open in the flat.

There's another tight end perfectly open for a corner route or he could have run it. And he just handed the football off and they got stopped and there goes the series. That's like a turnover. I think he's going to watch that film, and he probably hasn't made that poor of a read on that play. Maybe his entire college career in practice, but he did it in that moment, in that game, and in that environment. He makes a bad throw in that game that ends up getting picked off by Jermaine Matthews, which you're watching on YouTube right now. So did he play well? No.

No, he didn't play well. But that's to be expected. Starting on the road, your first time is hard. doing it against that Ohio state team and in that environment, almost impossible. We talk about this all the time on this program. You genuinely don't beat top five type programs on the road often, if ever. This is what makes the LSU win so impressive that we'll talk about later in the show. So what do we actually think?

I'm on the plane going back to Houston. I was connecting through Houston to get back home to Southern California on Saturday night, so a lot of Texas fans on that flight. and we all get on the flight, and every single person that walked by me that had a burnt orange shirt on was like, well, what'd you think of Arch? What'd you think of Arch? What'd you think of Arch? What'd you think of Arch?

Here's what I think of Arch and his performance. Relax. Relax. He's going to be just fine. Take the name off his back. Take the expectations down a couple of notches. He will be just fine. They got it going late in that game.

They made some tremendous plays against a great defense in order to get themselves back in a game to the point where they had the ball driving to tie it in a one possession game at Ohio State against the defending national champions and a defense that might finish the country, one, two, three in the country and total defense. So when you just give it that perspective

and just frame it just a little bit differently, you start to think to yourself like, Texas is going to be just fine, Arch is going to be just fine. I didn't think the game plan was great. If Sark goes back to the drawing board, he's probably going to say, you know what, I didn't give him enough motion and eye candy in order to distort the defense's responsibilities. Because really, when it comes down to offensive play calling, what you want to do is you want to put defenders in stress.

And I didn't think the defenders for Ohio State were under much duress or under much stress the entire day. The people under stress were Texas because of the distortions and the manipulations that Ohio State's defense was using. that'll be fixed. Sark is too good as an offensive play designer and caller. Arch is a heck of a player. You saw glimpses of that, and he will learn from those mistakes. I'm just telling you right now, zero panic for Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns. Zero.

They are going to be just fine. Did he play great? No. Did he throw the ball accurately? No. Did he make a lot of poor decisions? Yes. Am I worried?

Absolutely not. Texas is going to be just fine, partly because he doesn't have to be great. The defense was tremendous and will be for the rest of the year. I thought their defensive line was better than advertised. Their secondary also very good. They just ran up against the team that was a little bit better in a few different situations. Their quarterback played a bit better, and they ended up winning the game. So am I worried about Texas?

No. Am I worried about Arch? No. They're both going to be just fine. Let's get to LSU. LSU was the most impressive team of the weekend. And their win against Clemson was gutsy. It announced themselves as true national championship contenders.

It's going to be hard not putting them at number one in the country after that. I don't know where I'm going to go, whether it's Ohio State or LSU, stay tuned. I have not decided on that one, but I will. will make my decision by the end of the show, and I will give you my top 10 teams at the end of the program. They were the most complete team of the weekend. The D-line was suffocating against Clemson. They played so well on that defensive line, and they were fast, and they were physical. Their secondary was long.

They were fast. They were terrific in the secondary. The offense fixed a lot of some of the, well, a lot of the issues. Well, first of all, let me go back. The defense fixed a lot of the issues that they've had. That was a question mark coming into this year. It's not anymore. That's one of the better defenses I think that we're going to see this year.

Baker, their new defensive coordinator, did a tremendous job mixing up the blitz looks. And Kate Klubnick had zero time all game long. So that defensive line was winning. They were fast. They were excellent. I thought that some of those transfer portal additions panned out in a big way for LSU. And in a lot of ways, you know, that's my new favorite in the SEC, just because of the way they looked at a really good team.

Offensively, the question was, could Garrett Nussmeyer cut down on some of the mistakes? The answer is yes. As advertised, he made some big throws, some big plays. The wide receivers are really good. The tight ends are really good. They've got to be the favorite in the SEC at this point. I mean, it's hard to say like we really know everything we need to know about Georgia yet based on their competition or even Florida based on their competition or Oklahoma based on their competition.

But of the games that we saw, like LSU clearly looked like the best SEC team. And Garrett Nussmeier put himself right now, I mean, he's kind of leading the pack. I know it's too early for Heisman talk. But that game and that stage is going to go a long way for him, you know, come November when we're talking about that award. Yeah, I was impressed. And Brian Kelly now clearly has a team that is his best, most talented team that he's ever had. And so his whole objective was to get down to Baton Rouge so that he could win a national championship. They've spent a lot of money in the right ways.

This is not a knock. They've built a really good team. And that's a team that is everyone in that conference is going to have to reckon with. I imagine that defense at home with their home crowd, that could be the best defense in the country. So I tell you, that LSU team, like I said, most complete team so far of, week one. I thought they were tremendous. Clemson was right there, a lot like Texas. They just made a few too many mistakes. Their quarterback made a few too many mistakes. And then the biggest question for me was this experienced offensive line that was coming back for Clemson, I thought was going

to be a strength. And they got manhandled by LSU's defensive front. Now, do I think there are a lot of defensive fronts that can mimic what LSU did? Probably not. So is Clemson going to be just fine? Yes, because guess what? Just like Texas, they're driving with the ball. late to tie the game in a one-score possession. They get stopped on fourth down. Kudos to LSU. That was a great game. Great game. Both of those teams, really good teams. And both of those teams should be in the playoff. I still think, even based on everything that we saw in the ACC over the course of the weekend, with a big win from Miami, with a big win for Florida State, I still think Clemson's probably the best team in the conference. They just ran up

against what was the most complete team in college football in week one, the LSU Tigers. So I'm not too scared about Clemson. I still think they're an elite team and they could still certainly make a deep run into the playoffs and potentially play for a national championship. That was an excellent game and a great environment. More of that. Please, athletic directors and coaches, do not cancel these home and homes in the future in college football, these non-conference matchups, because they're amazing. And guess what? I'm trying to. trying to lead the charge. It's like, this is not going to hurt you if you lose. Let me just tell you right now, the three teams that lost the top 10 matchups that we saw

this last weekend in college football, they're not leaving my top 10 because in a lot of ways they proved they're really good. Whereas I don't know if that's the case of some of these teams that played, you know, such and such state directory, Southwest, whatever. LSU, very good. Clemson, very good. Both of those teams, not worried about them, LSU Most Complete team.

Let's go to Miami, Notre Dame. What a game Sunday night. That was a great game Sunday night. And the biggest takeaway is like, okay, Miami can do this. Miami can do this. And in a lot of ways, what we see is they've got this,

this experienced, mature quarterback that did not panic when they needed him to be at his best. And he puts together a drive, speaking of Carson Beck, late in that game in order to go, get a field goal, and ultimately win the game. This was a team that was very talented, and you could tell Mario Cristobal was trying to build something

and building more momentum towards something. But in order to really capitalize on the momentum for a program, you've got to capitalize with a marquee win. You've got to get a top 10 win, and that's something that Cristoball had not done. He had not done that. And now they finally have that. That was a marque win for Miami and a marquee environment, by the way,

because Hard Rock sounded loud. It sounded like a really good environment. And if Miami is in fact back with a fan base that is going to go out there and really support them to the level that we saw on Sunday night, that's going to be a tough place to play. And that's going to be a tough team to beat. Because, you know, LSU, Ohio State, Miami, that's a good win. because I thought Notre Dame was and still is a very good team.

Let me go back to Carson Beck because this maturity that he brings, you know, maybe not off the field, but certainly on the field. He's an on-the-field football adult for Miami. And you saw that his experience mattered when it came down to it in the end of that game. Let's not forget. He's 25 and 3 as a starter. And my question for Carson Beck coming into this year wasn't a Carson Beck ability thing. It was a Carson Beck health thing.

I didn't know if his elbow was going to hold up. That was my whole question the entire offseason. It was like, well, he hasn't thrown in the spring. I kept saying over and over, you can go back and check all of these videos. They're all on the, my question was about his elbow. Is his elbow going to be okay? Can he throw? Does he have enough time to develop the rapport with his wide receivers

in order to be good early in the year? That was my question. And guess what? He was really good. Carson Beck looked like the guy we saw a couple of years ago, which is why he was the Heisman front runner entering last season. And last season didn't go his way. And you know what?

It wasn't his fault. And I also said this last year. I came to his defense because that wide receiver core for Georgia was terrible. and they led the country in drops. And they did not help him out. They did not help him out. There was a lot of times that he played just fine. And those wide receivers dropped everything.

And if you want to take a look at some wide receivers that didn't drop things, how about C.J. Daniels on the goal line and that incredible little, it was almost like a little Hail Mary, he kind of like leans back, he throws a fade away. And it's like, that's going to be picked off. and C.J. Daniels just goes up one-handed and it's just like, yack, bam. I was like, whoa. Tell you what, man, that was one of the best catches I've seen in a college football game in a long time.

And there was a safety behind him. So think about this. He's stretched out like that. You're seeing the picture up on YouTube right now if you're watching. He's stretched out with his right arm, extended, knowing that there's a safety behind him. So you've got to understand if you're on the football field, in that position, he's got to be thinking to himself,

I am committing for this ball, regardless of if I get hitting the ribs or not. That takes some serious courage, man. So Miami, heck of a win for Miami. They are really good at the line of scrimmage. I thought their offensive line was solid. Their defensive line made life difficult on CJ Carr most of the night. They were fast.

They were physical. They made those catches on the outside. So Miami, very impressed, 27, 24. They get the win over Notre Dame. Notre Dame, consequently, like, not overly concerned. They bring in a brand new quarterback who leads them down the field, comes back from a 10-point deficit, 17-point. He brings them back to the point where they're tied on the road

against a really good team. So I'm not worried about Notre Dame. Now, does this present some pressure on the rest of their schedule? Yes, namely that game against Texas A&M. And A&M did not look great in week one. Now, obviously, that can change and they can develop. But this puts some pressure on that game against A&M because if they lose to Miami and then A&M, there's not a lot left on their schedule where they can point to and be like, well, see,

we of course deserve to go to the college football playoffs. So again, a little bit of pressure on Notre Dame, not something that they're unfamiliar with. Remember their bad loss? What was it, Northern Illinois, I want to say? Yeah, early last year and they were able to rattle off the rest of those wins, get to the playoff, and then ultimately play for the national championship. I was impressed with Carr. I think that they need to fix some things in their past protection.

Jeremiah Love is an absolute star. Their wide receivers need to play a little bit better, and the defense is excellent. So am I concerned about Notre Dame? No, no, I'm not. Again, give me more top 10 matchups because I'm not going to punish these teams. Not if you play well, not if you play well.

Which leads us to the last game that I'm going to talk about. Florida State absolutely clean. the mat with Alabama. 31-17 in a game that wasn't as close as the score. It was not as close as the score. Probably the most shocking result that we saw. And in particular for the way that it played out, like I said, not very close.

This was not a game that all of a sudden Alabama outgained Florida State but turned it over five times. No, no, no, no, no, no. That wasn't the case. Florida State beat the doors off of Alabama. and Alabama was lucky to be in the game. In fact, the muff punt from Florida State in that game is really the only thing that gave Alabama life. After the first series, which Alabama had to work really hard to score, long, lengthy drive.

After that, they didn't do anything. They didn't do anything. And it was all Florida State. This is a perfect marriage between Gus Malzahn and Castellanos, the quarterback. Perfect marriage. short area quickness, Castellanos, was elite. It reminded me of Kyler Murray. Now, he's not Kyler Murray yet. He doesn't throw it like Kyler Murray did at Oklahoma. But when I would cover those games, those Oklahoma games, Murray had this short area quickness that I had never seen

before. And Castellanos reminded me of that. He was elusive in some moments that I was like, whoa, whoa. And then you couple that with Gus Melz-on. And his knowledge, his knowledge and commitment to the run game with a quarterback like that, and that can become an elite run game, which it was on Saturday. That was fun to watch. And you got to give Mike Norville a lot of credit because even before the game, I was hard on Florida State. And I said, like, I don't get it. They're trying to rebuild the staff and the transfer portal. You can't build a team through the transfer portal. But guess what, man, Mike Norville went out and did the things that he needed to do. And he found a guy and a quarterback that perfectly fit one enough.

other in order to go out there and play really solid football. And that's exactly what they did. That's exactly what they did. I compared them to late Mac Brown, Texas when they were kind of panicking and hiring a lot of different assistant coaches and bringing in a lot of different defensive coordinators and offensive coordinators. I remember one year, Texas, like, all of a sudden brought in like this young Mani Diaz and young Brian Harsen as their coordinators.

And it was kind of like, wait, what? They weren't the other guys here for like 10 years? And so that's what I was comparing it to. but Malzahn worked. Guess what else worked? Tony White, because that defense put a ton of pressure on Ty Simpson. The defense was really good. They were fast. They were physical. They made a lot of plays. They played with a lot of energy. They tackled well. Florida State was hands down the better team. Hands down. Not even close, actually. Not even close. Like I said, the muffed punt is the only reason why Alabama was really in the game. So now all of a sudden,

I look up and it's like, hey, Florida State is an elite team again. I know that they've been up and down and up and down, and we're going to ride that roller coaster, but guess where they're at right now? On the way up, Florida State, on the way up on that roller coaster. And credit Mike Norville, Castellanos, Malzahn, all of those players. That was fun to watch. It really was. So it's now time for our weekend check-in presented by graduate by Hilton, hotels made for fans

in all your favorite college towns. And guess what we're going to check in on? That's right. Alabama. Let's check in on Alabama. If I'm Alabama, I am panicked. Panicked. I'm not worried about Texas. I'm not worried about Clemson. I'm not worried about Notre Dame. All three of those teams lost. I am dumbfounded and panicked about Alabama, mainly for three reasons. Three reasons. Florida State was the more physical team. than Alabama. And not all that close.

They were more physical. Florida State was the faster team than Alabama. Not all that close. The last one is why I'm most panicked for Alabama. Florida State beat them badly in the effort game. Where was the effort? where was the pride. This was a program that had the best players in the sport

playing as if their life depended on it for 15 years. They would play like they were desperate for their next breath of air. They played hard, hard, all the time, because that was the standard. That Alabama team on Saturday, that was a shell of its former self. Where was the effort? Like, where was the pride?

That offensive line was supposed to be good. They got manhandled by Florida State, manhandled. This was not a top 10 matchup. This was a Florida State team trying to pick themselves up out of the gutter. They won two games last year. Two. Most of their losses, they lost by 10 or more.

This was not Miami, Notre Dame, Clemson, LSU, or Texas, Ohio State. No, no, no, no. You go, listen, if Alabama went in there and they lost to a top five team, and it's like, okay, maybe they just need some more time to rebuild. No, no, no, no. They went in and faced a team

that was trying to drag themselves out of the gutter. And they did, and credit to them. And Florida State looks to be an elite team in the ACC once more and that quickly. But what happened to Alabama? Where was the effort? There were all Americans on that offensive line getting dominated. Dominated. Where was the defense?

Ty Simpson didn't have a chance. There's zero way. I would sit there and watch. that game and watch some of that film and say like, oh, man, Ty Simpson wasn't good enough. No, no, no, no, no. This wasn't a Ty Simpson problem. This was an everybody else problem. They got beat up and down the field at both lines of scrimmage. Their defensive line wasn't good enough. Their offensive line wasn't good enough. And what was the game plan? Why is Ryan Williams all the sudden in the slot? Ryan Williams is an elite outside receiver.

elite. When he's in space, not many people in the country can cover him, if any, if any. To that point, he only took 20% of his snaps last year in the slot, 20%. On Saturday against Florida State, 90% of his snaps were in the slot going over the middle in order to get hit? No wonder he got beat up so bad. He couldn't affect the game because he was in the slot. I was shocked. They kept dragging him into the safety, dragging him into the safety, and he kept taking shot after shot, after shot until he couldn't even finish the game. What was that? I, like, shocking, shocking. If I'm a Bama fan, I am panicked right now, because this isn't even close. It's not even close. Bama has now lost four games versus unranked teams in the

Kaelin-Dabor era. They've only lost one game to an unranked team the previous 16 years. Like this is, man, it's just so, it's hard to watch a program go through this. It really is, an elite-level program. We watched USC go through this and programs have gone through this. And Alabama went through this at one point. Texas went through this at one point. Texas went through this at one. point. Penn State went through this at one point. Michigan went through this at one point. Georgia went through this at one point. The really only elite blue blood program that has never had to go through this in any extended period is Ohio State. Now, we'll see what happens with Alabama the rest of the year. But look at the schedule. Look at the schedule. Based on what we saw on Saturday, with their

O line getting decimated, their defensive line getting decimated, with their plan being what it was, with Ty Simpson running for his life, with the lack of effort that we saw from Alabama, they've got to go to Georgia, they've got to play to Tennessee, they got to South Carolina, they got LSU, the most complete team of the week in college football. They've got Oklahoma. They still got the Iron Bowl. This could very easily, very easily be a four-loss team, very, very easily a four-loss team, maybe five.

And I'm just putting out the alarm bells right now. That doesn't change in a hurry, in a hurry, then this program, they are going to be in a dip, man, in a severe dip. So our weekend check in right there from graduate by Hilton checking on those Bama fans. And the panic meter for me for Bama is at 10, absolute 10. All right. Let's end on a positive. Let's end with just the top 10. All right.

So let's go in my new top 10 after week one in the season. And here's the deal. The most change I'm ever going to have in the top 10 is week one. And let's just start right there at number 10. Florida State jumps in to my top 10. Absolutely. Again, perfect marriage, perfect fit between Gus Malzahn and Castellanos, the quarterback. Love what Tony White was doing on defense.

They were fast. They were physical. Love the defensive line play. So they're number 10. They easily can compete for an ACC. title. Number nine is going to be Notre Dame. I know they lost that game, but that was a very good Miami team. They went down there. They had the ball late. They went down and tied it up and Miami went and kicked a field goal. That's a great game. There's still a top 10 team. There's no doubt in my mind. I do think

they need to clean some things up on the offensive line, but Notre Dame is number nine. Another team that lost Clemson goes to eight. I still think Clemson is an elite team. They just ran into an absolute complete, athletic, motivated team in LSU, and Clemson's going to remain at number eight. Clubnik's got to play better, he will. At number seven, Miami, three ACC teams in my top 10.

Miami goes into number seven. I was really impressed with Miami. And like I said, a football adult on the field, of course, Carson Beck, the quarterback, he was poised, he was composed, his elbow is healthy, and now you've got a defense to go with it. That defense was excellent and a lot of pressure on the quarterback C.J. Carr, Miami's going to be tough to beat.

And by the way, kudos to those fans. Kudos because the Miami environment is an elite environment when it's elite, when it's good. It can be bad. You know, it's a low floor, high ceiling type of deal, the environment for Miami football. And that high ceiling, it showed itself on Sunday. I'd also love to go back. The environment at Florida State was amazing. If you're my age, I'm 43.

So, like, when I'm coming of age in college football, it's during that run that Bobby Bowden had at Florida State. And when Florida State plays great defense, there might not be a better, like, just soundtrack in all of college football, then Florida State's defense dominating a game, like a big game, right? It can't just be, you know, little sisters of the poor or whatever. whatever. But when it's a big game and the crowd is into it and they're getting, you know, stops, whether it's first down or second down, and after every play is a, it's like, oh, wow, that is,

that's elite. So I loved watching that. Okay, let's get back into the top 10. Six. Another team that lost, still an elite team, Texas. I'm not worried about Texas. Zero panic for Texas. Zero panic for Arch Manning. They will fix the game plan. He will get better. He will not make the same mistakes that he made against Ohio State in the shoe. Five, Georgia. I, just because, like, I think, I'd love to see, you know, them in a matchup style game. We will see them in a matchup style game. They blew out Marshall.

They're going to stay in my top five. Same thing with Oregon. They're going to still stay in there. They're number four. Do I know about Oregon? I think I know. I know about seven other teams, but I think I know about. Oregon. They killed Montana State. Penn State. They're going to be at number three. Again,

experience at quarterback. That's always going to help their experience on their entire roster. That's going to help as well. They beat up on Nevada. At number two, I'm going to go LSU. And number one, I'm going to go Ohio State. Ohio State is the defending national champion. They beat the number one team in the country. And now they've won five straight games, straight games against top 10 opponents. I should say consecutive games. Five consecutive games against Top 10 opponents, they've won. LSU goes down there with that rebuilt roster, in particular on defense. They get the massive win on the road against Clemson.

They're number two. Garrett Nussmeyer certainly made a case and a statement in his trip to what he hopes is a year that ends in New York and ends with a ring on his finger, and we shall see if that happens. There were some teams that I thought about in the top 10. I thought about Michigan. I thought they were in my top 10 preseason, but didn't love the way they played. I thought Bryce Underwood was good, maybe not great.

Defense concerned me a little bit. I thought about Illinois, but we don't really know. Thought about Florida. I even thought about Utah, by the way. We'll get into Utah on the Wednesday edition of this show. I don't know how many of you stayed up late on Saturday night to watch Utah play UCLA, but Utah is really good. I'm feeling very salty about that dark horse playoff pick, the Utah Utes and the Big 12,

because that's a really good team. We'll be back on Wednesday with another addition to the program. I'll talk a lot more about Michigan and Bryce Underwood. I'll get into some of that Utah stuff and obviously whatever else comes down in college football. I love doing this. I hope you enjoyed week one as much as I did. And I got to tell you, this is just the first of many. The first of many.

So we'll be back on Wednesday. And until then, enjoy your week, everybody.