The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Ohio State & Michigan on collision course, Pac-12 CFP hopes take a hit

Episode Date: November 14, 2022

Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt discusses the biggest games and storylines from Week 11 of the College Football season. Joel opens with his main takeaways and questions on both the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines as they grow closer to facing each other in 'The Game'. Joel admits being impressed with the Buckeyes' run game against Indiana, but has a few other questions he's pondering about the team. Then Joel takes a look at Michigan including praising their defense and run game, but has other questions about the Wolverine offense. Next, Joel discusses TCU’s big win over Texas and Washington’s win over Oregon, and explains what they mean for the CFP race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stroud sprits out, throws on the move and another touchdown. This time it's Cameron Babb. Oh, that is a great story. Cameron Babb, fifth season with the program, highly recruited player but could not get on the field. Knee injury after knee injury. And now finally gets on the field. And that was his first career touchdown. A really cool moment in the shoe there on Saturday for Cameron Bab. Welcome in, everybody. I'm Joel

Klad. This is the Joel Klatte show. Lots to get into. It was another great weekend of college football. Loving the season that we've got in front of us because it's a little unique. You know, we've talked about that over the last couple of days, I guess, or episodes because of Alabama and Clemson's loss. and just kind of the new blood and the freshness that we've got in college football. So it was another great Saturday. Gus and I and Jenny were in Ohio for that game. Ohio State and Indiana. They took care of business.

I'll discuss Ohio State today. I'm going to discuss some other things today why the PAC 12 can't have nice things. So there's a lot to get into. But first and foremost, I appreciate you being a listener. So if you would for us, please subscribe to the podcast. And go in there, make sure to click that automatic download, rate and review us. You can follow us at Joel Clatt Show on any of the social media is out there, constantly updating content and posting different content. So, yeah, get out there and we have some fun.

And obviously, I try to interact with you during the course of the week. You can follow me on Twitter at Joel Clat. Let's get into it, though. Let's start with Ohio State in the game that I was at and the things that I may maybe learned and maybe still need to learn. from the Buckeyes. Well, Coach, so many questions about the run game going into this one. And it was a huge win. 3 to 45 total rush yards, right?

But you lose Mayan. So how do you assess where you're at with your death? Oh, I think one of the things that's been our strength is our depth this year. You look at early on, it was the corners. We lost Jackson early on. We've had a couple guys hurt it running back. You saw Xavier step up. You saw Downplay.

So I think that's been one of our strengths this year is our depth. So he's dead on, dead accurate about that. He mentioned the corner position. And I just brought out my chart just so that those of you that are watching this, you can see me. I've got my game chart out. So there's the Ohio State offense. And I'm just going to try to kind of like walk through the depth a little bit. And he's exactly right.

So you come into the season, you think Travion Henderson is going to be your featured back. And he just can't stay healthy. He's been healthy at times, but can't stay healthy. You thought Mayan Williams was definitely going to be a clean number two. He's had a hard time staying healthy. So then all of a sudden you're into Dallan Hayden, a freshman from Memphis. They've got other guys like TC Cappy. He was injured and he hasn't been available.

They brought in a transfer from Arizona State to help him at linebacker, a thin position in the spring, Chip Trainum from Arizona State. And he also had running back in his history. So they brought him back over this last week to try to help with depth. He gets nicked up in practice. Xavier Johnson, who he mentioned, is in his fifth year in the program. And, you know, it's just been, he's had a time at running back on wide receiver and corner. It's been one after the other.

And so the depth has been affected at that running back position, as he was saying. But they are deep. And I thought that they answered the bell incredibly well. So I want to go through really quickly, like, here's the things that I know that they've answered over the course of the last couple of weeks and maybe even specifically Saturday. And then maybe some questions that have popped up. Okay, so let's start with that. We were wondering, I was wondering on this show, and there were others around the country, we were wondering about Ohio State's running game and exactly how effective they were going to be. because while they were running the ball really effectively in the first six games, it had tailed off.

Leading into Saturday's game in the previous three for Ohio State, they were averaging 124 yards per game on the ground and about four yards per carry. Those sound average, good, not bad, right? Like, oh, okay, you know, what does that mean? Well, the problem is, is that in the first six games of the season, they were averaging 228 yards and six yards per carry. So it had fallen off drastically and there was some cause for concern. And there was some concern within the fan base. I mean, guys like me, we were pointing it out about like, hey, they got to run the ball better. And you could tell really early in that game on Saturday that there was going to be a strong emphasis to have a quality day on the ground.

Right. And I love that about Ryan Day and this coaching staff is that they attack problems. and they clearly saw an area of their team that needed to be addressed last week, and they attacked it. And they came out, and they were fantastic running the ball. I get it. It's against Indiana, but you don't control who you're playing. All you do is you control your own effort level,

and you control what you emphasize. Because generally speaking in life, you achieve what you emphasize. And I could tell that they emphasize the run game. On Saturday, 340 rushing yards at just under 8 yards per carry. It was a dominant day on the ground. And dominant day overall, yes, but specifically on the ground. And you could tell right away. Second series of the game, boom.

They come out and they started really hammering with the run game. It wasn't just that, though. And I think that you could get that on any podcast or show in America. Hey, Ohio State, they came out and they wanted to run the ball better and they did. Yeah, I get it. Like, we all can look at the stat sheet. Let's dig deeper, though. What actually happened with Ohio State's run game?

Well, the other thing that I love about Ryan Day and his coaching staff at Ohio State is that they don't just attack problems, but they address problems. And I think those are two different things. Okay? So, like, you can attack something with energy and emphasis, but you address them when you actually face them with clear eyes. Okay? And you evaluate what's going on and then you try to make a plan for how to make it better. They did that. They did that. Their run game changed on Saturday. Just a little bit, but there was a change. And the results were actually significant. Small change, significant result change. So what was that change? Well, going into the game, you heard me saying things like, hey, you know, this is a team that really relied.

on the wide stretch zone play. And that was the case. And you looked at the numbers and going into Saturday's game, that was easily the most prevalent run concept that you saw from Ohio State was the wide stretch zone. The inside zone and any sort of like man scheme

or power scheme, gap scheme, those were less prevalent. Okay? So then what happened on Saturday? It totally changed. totally changed. Now, this is an offensive line that is really big, powerful, and I thought that on film, they were better when they were moving forward rather than when they were moving side to side. And I said that on the broadcast. I mean, Paris Johnson at left tackle is 6-6-3-10. Matt Jones,

the left guard, or excuse me, the right guard is 6-4-315. Donovan Jackson, 6-4-300. Luke Whippler, 6-3-300. DeWan Jones, even though he didn't play Saturday, 6-8, 360 pounds. Josh Fryer came in and played right tackle. He's 6-6-320. They are massive, massive human beings. I thought on film they were better when they were moving forward rather than moving laterally. And part of the deal is, is like to really be effective at that stretch zone, you've got to have more athletic linemen that can get out run and then chop down at least one person in the defensive line to create a gap and then hit that gap. Okay. Lots of technical speak to basically say they needed to get down to. Hill more often.

And they did that on Saturday. Really nice job of the coaching staff addressing that run game. And here are the numbers. They ran downhill runs. So I'm talking about inside zone, man scheme, power scheme, gap scheme, counter scheme, anything like that. They ran downhill runs 27 times and the outside stretch play only 13 times. So it totally changed.

All right? They evaluated the scheme and it worked. Here are the numbers on those. run plays. When they ran downhill in those 27 rushes, they ran for 240 yards at just under nine yards per carry. They were dominant in those style of runs. And it's not that they ran the outside zone play poorly. They ran those 13 attempts for 87 yards just over six and a half per carry. But it was clear to me that they were better going downhill. Okay. So what does this tell you about this coaching staff and this run game moving forward? Well, let me just tell you a quick story

a conversation that I've had with Ryan Day throughout the years. He evaluates his program with clear eyes and I think as well as anybody in the country. And he says it's very clear to him. Anything that's going on in his program, he's going to evaluate it in three tiers. Is it a personnel problem, the players? Is it a scheme problem or is it a coach problem? okay and he's going to evaluate each of those really well and he does it time and time again. This is not the first time that they've addressed something in the middle of the season and really reap the benefits because of that.

Think about it. In the COVID year in 2020, they were not running the football all that well. They had Master Teague and Trey Sermon, the transfer from Oklahoma. They addressed the schematics of what they were doing. They put those two guys in the pistol because they felt like they were outrun. running or running too quickly in terms of the phase of the run game. So they adjusted the formation and the style of run game that they had. And guess what? Trey Sermon all of a sudden,

went off and the tail end of that year. In fact, set an Ohio State single game record in the Big Ten championship game. In 2021, last year, he had a defense that was clearly falling short of expectation, made a change with the coaching staff. Remember, Kerry Combs, he was now all of a sudden not the defensive play caller, and it all changed up. And then he changed up in the offseason and brought in a totally new defensive play caller and Jim Knowles. And that's worked out.

He's constantly evaluating his program and is it the personnel? Is it the scheme or is it the coach? And it's that sense of urgency that has really helped them. And I think it helped them on Saturday and we'll see if that continues moving forward. Again, I think that this offensive line, this run game is better when they're moving downhill and not laterally side to side. Now, having said that, they do come out of. Saturday's game with a couple more questions. And I do want to address those because the health of the running back room is going to be a source of, I guess, worry for those of you that are Ohio State

fans. My and Williams goes down just before halftime. The good news is that I've seen on social media that he's actually said like, hey, I'm good. Ryan Day said it doesn't look like it's long term. And he does think that Trayvion Henderson is going to be back maybe as early as next week. So their running back room might be getting much healthier than what we saw, certainly in the second half against Indiana on Saturday. My question would be, they've got five games left potentially. The last four are monsters, right? The game, a Big Ten championship game, and then potentially the playoff. So they're playing Maryland this week. I don't want to disparage Maryland, but can, do you think they could get by with Dallin Hayden and Xavier Johnson? Because, like, would you really, even if

Trevion was ready to go, would you really want to play Travion Henderson before the game? If he's, if his foot injury is, you know, as touch and go as it seems, and he's trying to get back, trying to get back, why wouldn't you maybe just suit up Travion Henderson and say like, hey, if we, if we need him, maybe we'll go to him. But let's see if we, if we need him. but let's see if we can get Dallin Hayden and Xavier Johnson up to speed. Maybe chip training can come back after tweaking something last week in practice. Maybe we can get by and get to the game because health in the game is going to be much more important than anything else. So that's just something to pay attention to is the depth.

That's a question moving forward. And then another question. And this is one that I think is under the radar. Marvin Harrison is an unbelievable player. You've heard me say it. He's one of the best players I've ever covered. And as far as non-quarterbacks, I think he could be the best that I've ever broadcast.

Non-quarterbacks. I said that and people went wild and they think it's hyperbole. But if you actually just like watch him, it's pretty unbelievable the way that he plays in particular for a young player. Marvin Harrison right now, though, is way, he's shouldering way too much of the passing game. See, in the first seven games, Marv was about 27% of the production throwing the football. But in the last three, that's gone way up. 49%.

Okay, so like Julian Fleming and Emeka Abuka have got to start coming around a little bit. They were really good early in the season, in particular Abuka, but Abuka's only had, I think, four catches in the last couple of games. Fleming has struggled with drops. Those guys need to start stepping up because I can tell you this, every defensive coordinator that's going to turn on the film for Ohio State and watch number 18, they're going to be like, we need to stop him. Every obvious passing situation, he's likely to be covered,

I'd say two over one, double covered, bracketed, in some sense. He's not going to get single covered anymore. Okay, so if I know he's the best player on the field, the opposite defensive coordinator is going to know he's the best player on the field. And that's who you have to cover. If I know it, Michigan is absolutely going to know it. You think Jesse Mentor isn't going to start rolling coverage to Marvin Harrison, Jr. in obvious passing situations?

He's 49% of the receiving production in the last three games. So they've got to start getting some production from Abuka and Fleming. and maybe, just maybe, they could get Jackson Smith and Jigba back in time for that last game. So that's what I know is that they've addressed the run game and they did it really successfully. And then those are the questions that still kind of popped up for Ohio State. Running back depth and then wide receiver production where they go with Marv's shouldering too much of the load, at least in the last three. Let's move on to their rival, Michigan.

Three, two, one. And ball game. It's a final for Maine Harbor, Michigan. defeats Nebraska 34 to 3. So a couple of things for Michigan. And listen, we are hurtling towards November 26th, right? I mean, these two teams, they are so good. And you have to, and I probably should have done this before talking about Ohio State.

When you hear me talk about these two teams, the bar is really high because they have to play each other. And each of them are as good as anybody out there. You know, I think Georgia's number one right now and then these two teams are right there, right behind them. And Ohio State and Michigan, they're both 10 and 0. They're both really good, really good. And so when I'm posing these questions, they are small questions about these teams because they are really good teams. Best team that Michigan, you know, has had, well, I mean, obviously with last year as well, but boy, this one is really good. And let me start there.

What do I know about Michigan? There's a couple of things that I know about Michigan. One of them is that their defense is better than I anticipated. So in the off season, I remember having a lot of discussions with people about Michigan. And I said to them, I was like, you know, that was a magical team. It was a magical chemistry. and in particular some of those defensive players, like there's a lot to replace on the defensive side of the ball.

And I look up and I'm like, man, this defense in 2022 is a little bit better than last year's defense. And the numbers even bear that out. This is the number one scoring defense and number one total defense in America. This is the number one, number four passing defense in America. They're really good. And I wasn't expecting that. So pleasantly surprised, this defense is way better than I anticipated. Think about what they lost,

first of all. They lost their coordinator, Mike McDonald. They lost Aidan Hutchinson, first rounder. David Ajabo should have been a first rounder wasn't only because of that Achilles injury. Josh Ross, he led them in tackles. Daxton Hill, he was a first rounder. Brad Hawkins, he was a great leader up there in tackles. That's a lot to miss. You know, I mean, you don't just replace all of those guys. It's hard to replace one of those guys. You lose your coordinator, and it's like, boy, we got to bring in another defensive coordinator. And so now all of a sudden you enter into the mix. You've got Jesse Minter. You've got guys like Mike Morris, Mazzis Smith, Mike Saineris Still, the entire defensive line, by the way, getting the job done. And they've gotten

even better. This is the number one defense in America, statistically. I tell you what, They get after the quarterback. I did not anticipate Michigan having a better pass rush in 2022 than they did in 2021. They don't have an individual that's better than Aidan Hutchinson or David Ajabo, but their pass rush as a whole is much more productive. Does that shock you when I say that? Yeah, it does. Why?

Because I was floored when I looked at the numbers. I'm like, well, wait, that can't be true. I started hitting the filters. I'm like, hold on a second. 2021, Michigan, two and a half sacks per game. 2022, Michigan, 3.1, sacks per game. So that means in 2021, last year, with Hutchinson and Njabo, when they won the Big Ten, when they went to the playoff, they were fifth in the Big Ten in sacks. Fifth in the Big Ten.

This year, number one. Best pass rush in the conference. That's a really good defense. That is a really good defense. And yet in the back of my mind, all I can think about is, like, have they been tested? That's the question that everybody asks when it comes to Michigan. Have they been tested? And obviously, you can throw out the out-of-conference opponents and whatever, right?

And I'm going to get into some schedule, make-up stuff during the course of the week as we start to look at, like, resumes and the CFP in this 14, you know, subjective invitational that we have right now. but it's actually true. So Michigan has not been tested by a very good offense yet. Best offense that they've faced so far as Penn State, probably the next best offense that they've faced is probably Maryland. And, you know, there's not a lot of quarterbacks that they've faced that all of a sudden you look up and you're like, wow, I mean, that, you know, that was a really good passing game.

That was a really good quarterback. They haven't seen that. And so should they be number one? Yeah, at this point. I mean, if you look at their schedule, that's a concern. Having said that, they've totally dominated. And they've done it because they've maintained their architecture and the way that they're built. And they've actually added to it. The way that they're built, I really love. They're built and basically four prongs, if you will. Number one, build or run wall. That means being really stout and large and physical. on the interior of your defensive line. They've got that with a guy like Mazi Smith. You've got to have hard edges that can rush the quarterback and set the edge. They've got that with a rotation of guys out there

that are playing really well. You've got to have hybrid-style middle-of-the-field players like linebackers and safeties. They have that. And then you've got to have really good cover corners, and they have that. Their architecture is very good and it's specifically built to go face a team like Ohio State.

So that'll be interesting as we're moving forward. What's another thing that I know about Michigan? There's another thing that I know about Michigan. And that's, hey, we get it. You can run the ball. Oh, man. I will tell you this, though, when I'm watching Michigan, there is something beautiful in this sport.

And maybe I'm just nostalgic about it. And a lot of teams fit into this category, by the way, and I'll mention a few of them. But it's like, I think that there's something really beautiful about a team that has a really strong identity in scheme. And that scheme still works. Like, everybody knows what's about to happen. And then it still works. There's something really beautiful about that to me. It's, it's, there's, there's something like, it's really hard to explain.

I think the best analogy would be like if, if you're, you're putting a puzzle together and it's like, the feeling when you've got just the last few pieces and you know exactly which pieces are going to go where and they just fall into place and they're the kind of the quickest pieces that you put together the entire puzzle. Like that's, it's, it's really difficult. It's really hard. and yet all of a sudden it's just like, oh man, it just like unfolds before you. That's what their run game does. It just kind of unfolds. And it's so methodical.

It's so methodical. They just beat people to death, right? This Michigan run game is really beautiful to watch. I mean, think about Blake Corum's Day against Nebraska on Saturday. He didn't even have a rush. longer than 12 yards and still averaged over six yards per carry. That's just like, it's astounding. What he's been doing ever since Big Ten play opened up, seven straight games of 100 yards. He's got 1100 yards over those seven games. That leads college football,

193 attempts. That's 27 and a half attempts a game. You know it's coming. They know that what they're going to do. And here's the, they know that you know. And they don't care. They don't care at all. And they're still successful. There is a really beautiful rigidity to this run game. Their offensive line is fantastic.

I think that Olu, Olua Timmy, the transfer from Virginia at the center position is one of the better transfer pickups of the entire cycle. He's made that offensive line better. It was an offensive line that was really good a year ago and they're better now. Corum has taken his game to a totally different level. It's really good. And it's like, hey, we get it. We get it.

It's really good. And by the way, it may be great at the expense of their quarterback. And that's at the back of my mind. So defensively, they're unbelievable. They've number one defense in America. And it's like, have they really been tested? by a quality offense, I don't know, I don't know. It's just kind of in the back of your mind. Well, this run game, this run game is unbelievable. One of the best run games that I've seen in America,

right? Again, they know they're going to run the ball. You know they're going to run the ball. They know you're going to run the ball. And it's like, and they don't care. And it's still successful. But have they done that at the expense of their quarterback? It's just lingering in the back of my mind. See, the whole year last year, we were talking about J.J. McCarthy getting some of those snaps in those games for Cade McNamara. And we were thinking to ourselves like, boy, if they needed to go to a different gear, if the ceiling needed to be raised on Michigan as a team as an offense, then they would maybe need to go with J.J. McCarthy. He gives them just a little bit something else, something extra that they didn't have under Cade McNamara. A higher ceiling.

But they've never tested that. I don't know if they have the higher ceiling or not. So in all these games that they've been slowly bludgeoning people to death, which has been highly impressive and in some ways beautiful, they haven't developed their passing game. So in the back of my mind, I'm like, okay, like, if they get into a game where, like, you know, there's some obvious passing situations, can they do it? I don't know. Because Saturday, they had a chance to, in colder weather, in weather that they might face, like, let's say November 26th against Ohio State, they had a chance to allow their quarterback in a game that was well, you know, in hand, in particular way their number one defense in America is playing. It's like, hey, maybe you can take a series or two and develop your passing game. Didn't do it.

J.J. McCarthy threw four passes in the second half. So listen, I think he's a really talented player. But everything about their passing game, and even him specifically as a player, at this point, is just speculation. Because I haven't seen it. It's just potential. I haven't seen it. And in the last two games, we've seen him complete under 50% of his passes.

This was a guy that was early in the year. completing a high percentage, almost up there near 80% of his passes. So is he getting worse or is our defense is getting better? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. So lingering in the back of my head is that there's this dominant, beautiful, physical run game for the Michigan Wolverines. And it may be that way right now at the expense of the development of their young quarterback.

guess who else knows that, by the way? Ohio State. So just like Michigan knows exactly what's going on with Marvin Harrison Jr. and his 49% of the receiving production in the last three games as the season has gone on, guess what? Ohio State knows exactly what they need to come in and try to stop when they face Michigan. So the question then remains like, what happens when Ohio State gets Marvin Harrison taken away from them? What happens if Michigan gets Blake Corum taken away from them? Where do they go after that? So the reason I moved Ohio State back up to two is that they've proven some things outside of Marvin Harrison, like 340 rushing yards, where I'm like, okay, like they may have some answers.

Michigan might have some answers outside of their run game. I just haven't seen them yet. And I think that that's at least a little, a little concern in the back of your head. All right, let's move on. Let's go down to Big 12 country. was a heavyweight battle here in Austin. But tonight, the man of the purple trunks won. TCU, 17, Texas 10.

You know how in prize fights, I'll just tick off on the prize fight analogy. Sometimes it's like how the guys enter the ring and you're like, oh, he's going to get beat. Well, all week I'm like, yeah, Texas is going to win. And then I saw a Sark's suit that he wore the game. and I was like, oh, TCU's definitely going to win. So TCU goes to 10 and O. Man, that's a fun program. And I got to tell you, after last week, so last week's game,

when we actually did the TCU game against Texas Tech, it was so great to be down there around their fan base and around their program, you know, talking with Max, talking with, we talk with Kendry Miller, their offensive lines really good, love their coaching staff. Talking with Garrett Riley, by the way, is like, you close your eyes and it's like, oh, is Lincoln in the room? Nope, it's Garrett Riley.

And yet, like, all of that positive sentiment, and you know that I've defended TCU on this program, right? You guys know that, that have listened to this. And yet even now, I'm sitting here, and after Saturday, and that went over Texas, my feelings about TCU have changed just a little bit. Just a little bit. I always loved them, right? And I loved how well they were playing. I loved the gritty nature with which their quarterback Max Duggan played, a rugged style of quarterbacking, coming back in games, getting it done, in a Big 12 that there was no great elite teams.

They were out there getting it done, right? All this stuff. And my feelings have changed a little bit in a positive direction. I got to admit, there was a feeling of Cinderella around TCU for me. And there was a feeling like, this is awesome. What a great story. But I don't know if they can actually finish it. And after Saturday, that changed because they showed some things to me and I think others that should make us sit back and believe in them long term.

I don't think that this is a Cinderella anymore. I think TCU is much more legit than we maybe gave them credit for. I know that I argued that they deserved to be ranked higher. Right. And I've always argued for teams that deserve to be ranked higher. I've always believed that you should be able to earn your way to the college football playoff and that it should not just be a beauty contest. But let's face it, right?

Like in a beauty contest, they weren't going to win. But when you put them on the field, like they're developing into a great team. Offensively, we know that they're a great team. I know that they didn't blow the doors off of. Texas offensively, but I know that Max Duggan can take care of the football, come back in games, run, throw it down the field. He's throwing it down the field for explosive plays as well as anybody in college football. Quentin Johnston, he's one of the best receivers in the sport,

okay? Down the field, he's as good a target as there is out there. Kendrae Miller, he's an NFL back. He is a great player, slashing style back, hard to tackle, catches it well out of the backfield. their offensive line is big, physical, veteran offensive line. And in the back of my mind, I was like, someone's going to beat them because the defense is just, you know, I mean, the defense is just not that great. And then all of a sudden, Saturday happened. And the defense, they pulled something out of themselves that we just haven't seen so far this year. I don't think it's an anomaly, though, and I'll get to that in a moment.

But think about what they did against Texas. Texas is a good offense, folks, and they scored 30. three offensive points. TCU held him to under 200 yards. And when you look at the best player on the opposite side, Bejohn Robinson, a guy that I think is one of the better players in the entire country, he was held to 29 yards on 12 carries. 29 yards. Wow. Right? Quinn Ewers looked in Upt. Awful. That's probably a whole other podcast in the offseason. for Quinn yours. So here's this team in TCU that has an offense that I know is really good.

And now they have a defense that has that in them to go in there and play to that level on the road. I think we need to start to legitimately wrap our heads around the fact that TCU could likely be in the college football playoff. because they're not a Cinderella anymore. This is not a team that is on a great run. After Saturday, in the way the defense played and what we know about their offense, we need to start wrapping our heads around the fact that they are the best team in the Big 12th. They will be and should be favored in the rest of their games. And if they are undefeated and a Big 12 champ, they're going to the playoff.

And rightly so. And rightly so. Sonny Dykes has done a marvelous job with the Hornfrogs. Max Duggan has done a marvelous job. They've got really good talent on that offense. And now a defense that is starting to stretch out their quality play. Here's why we maybe have undersold their defense. Is that you've seen during the course of games,

they would get three, four, five, six stops in a row and allow their offense to come back. So that's how they were able to overcome a lot of those double-digit deficits that they had earlier in the season, right? To teams like what Kansas State, let's see, Oklahoma State, those type of games. So the defense in moments and stretches during the course of the year, they had it in them to go get stops. But what we hadn't seen them do is put that together from start to finish, right? From Jump Street to zeros. And they did that on Saturday.

And so now that it's like, okay, you've got that club in your bag? Well, then you're the best team in the Big 12. So now you've got to go take care of business and what can only be stated as your rivalry game on the road against Baylor. You've got to take care of business in the conference and then go into that Big 12 championship game and you got 60 minutes to go to the playoff. And anybody in the sport would take that. You take it. From Georgia to Alabama to TCU, you tell a team. and their head coach and their fan base at the beginning of the year,

that you're going to be in a conference championship game. You got 60 minutes of football. If you win, you're in, you're like, absolutely. Sign me up. And that's where TCU is likely going to be, because they are the best team in the Big 12th. And we should have seen this. Quick thoughts on the other side, Texas,

stop me. Just stop me. Somebody, like, hold me down. Like, I don't know. slap me. Please don't slap me. Like, especially if you're a stranger, that would be awkward in an airport. But just be like, just be like, don't do it. If you see me out anywhere, don't do it.

Like, don't do what, Joel? What are you trying to? Please prevent me from getting on the Texas bandwagon until it actually happens. Okay? Like, what are we doing? What are we doing? like year after year I do this and I'm like well it's a talented roster

I believe in the coaching staff I believe in a lot of their players and it's like they they don't even they don't protect their home field they're now what is it 11 and 6 on their home turf in the last three years come on so just stop me

just be like don't do it don't do what don't buy into Texas I'm done I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. I'm the guy, right? Like, listen, I can say this because I've been at this point in my life where it's like, and I am like 11 years sober, but it's like, you know, you wake up in college, you're like, I'm never drinking again. And then that night, you're like, hey, you know, like, who's picking up the 30 pack of stones? I've been there, right? I've been there. But this one, it's like, nope, I'm off. I'm swearing off the hard stuff forever. Unless you prove it, Texas, I'm sorry. I'm just not, I'm not going to go there. Let's move on. Pack 12. Let's go out west. Speaking of what are we doing? Why did Oregon go for that fourth down? I still, I don't know, man. I don't get it. Oregon goes down. Their 23 game win streak at home is snapped by Washington.

Great game by Washington. And by the way, just a great game in general. That was an awesome game to watch. I was watching it in the plane when I was flying. Oregon goes forward on fourth down tied with their backup quarterback in. I was like, wait, I'm so, what, what's going on? Then back my mind, I'm like, okay, like live by the sword, die by the sword. Because they go for it on fourth down and I get it. Okay, so it's a part of your DNA. Then Washington's trying to give the game away.

So then Washington gets the ball. Run the ball. I mean, you're going to be. kicking a field goal to go up and if you do it right, Washington's going to kick that ball with like well under 30 seconds left in the game. But no, they start pitching it around and all of a sudden Oregon has a lot more time to play with and they come down and then the end of the game is drunk. Oregon has a cramp. It's the greatest timing of a cramp in the history of cramps, which, yeah, that's suspect.

Then there was the whole, like, you know, illegal touching with the out of bounds. I mean, it was the last two minutes of that game was drunk. I don't know what was happening. Washington ends up winning. Oregon had played so well since that opening loss to Georgia. And they had garnered such positive sentiment from around the country. Okay, Bo Nix transfers in. Dan Lannin comes up from SEC country.

And everybody was looking at Oregon. Could Oregon get into the playoff? Nope, they lose a week before they host Utah. Then in the nightcap, you go on to the Rose Bowl, UCLA facing Arizona. UCLA is a really good football team. They've got a veteran quarterback. They've got a running back that is an absolute workhorse. What do they do?

Lose at home to Arizona. And the only conclusion is, you should, start to like rip your hair out and you start to think to yourself the pack 12 can't have nice things they just cannibalize themselves all the time so i mean Arizona has no business beating UCLA in particular at UCLA and and i get it they're college age kids but a couple of things are true about the pack 12 the pack 12 took a major step backwards in their hopes for a college football playoff team. And part of that is, is that they just don't have an elite program in the conference. I know that that sounds bad,

but they don't. And I'm talking about a program that recruits at a level and plays at a level that is so high that they're able to withstand a tough conference. schedule and still be elite. You see, in the PAC 12, that's not the case. There's nobody like that yet. No, will USC get there? Who knows? Because they only got one more year left. So probably not. But the middle of that conference is too close to the top of the conference. You see, in the other conferences around the country, in particular in the SEC and in the Big Ten. And I think this could probably be said in the ACC, obviously, with Clemson and maybe even this year. year with TCU. But the best team in those conferences, and in many cases, the best two or three

teams in those conferences are much better than the middle of the conference. Because their teams are elite, like some of the best in college football. When you don't have that separation and you couple that with playing a nine-game conference schedule, you're going to cannibalize yourself. It's just going to happen. Like, it's, it's, it's, too hard for a team to go through a schedule of nine conference games and come out unscathed. Okay, at least one loss and in several cases, as we're seeing too. So the evidence bears this out, by the way. Of the conferences that play a nine conference game schedule and a conference championship game,

so you've got the big 12, you've got the Big 10, and you got the Pact 12. of those three conferences, all the years that they've done a nine conference game regular season, do you know that there's only been one instance, only one of a team going 10 and O through a gauntlet like that, nine conference games in the regular season and a conference championship game? That team was an elite team. It was the 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes that lost the epic game to Trevor Ler, Lawrence in the college football playoff semifinal. That was a great team. Chase Young was on that team. Justin Fields was on that team. J.K. Dobbins was on that team. That defense was amazing with

Fuller out there. The corners were great. That was a great football team. They're the only ones that have done it. Now, in the COVID year, Bama also went undefeated through their conference play. And that team, by the way, also not only just an elite team, an historically elite team with Mac Jones and Devante Smith and Najee Harris and those guys. So that's the level of team that it takes to get through a season undefeated of a nine conference game regular season and a conference championship game. It just doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen.

So the schedule makeup does not help. And the fact that you don't have a team at that elite, elite level. Like it's just going to happen. You get an injury here or there. You get the wrong day. you get the wrong bounce and you get beat. And so that's what's happened now, and now the playoff chances for the PAC 12 are on life support.

Why are they on life support? Because it's down to one. There's only one team that can possibly be included in the college football playoff, and that's USC. So then you start looking at USC's chances. And I got to tell you, I don't know. I don't know. USC's defense needs to improve,

and it needs to improve drastically if they want to even win this week. against UCLA. They still have Notre Dame, and that's a Notre Dame team that's getting much better, in particular run in the football, and that's exactly where USC is weak. And then they would have to go in and win a Pac-12 championship game. Uph uphill battle for the Pac-12. Uph.U.S.C. is a really good team with a really good offense, but that defense is a bit of a struggle. The last thing is this conference was this close to having a showcase week like they haven't had. had in years. I can't even remember, I can't remember a time in which the PAC 12 had two matchups on the same weekend that featured top 12 teams and maybe top 11, top 10 teams

caliber. Can you remember? I mean like a showcase. We were about to have it. USC, UCLA this weekend, Utah at Oregon this weekend. This weekend. Utah at Oregon this weekend. weekend. Up and smoke. Oregon goes down at home. UCLA goes down at home. Man, can't have nice things. I tell you what. By the way, USC and UCLA, it is a little bit of news because it won't be on, Gus and I are not going with Big Noon this week. We are going to L.A. We will call the USC UCLA game in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. That's 5 p.m. local 8 p.m. on the East Coast.

Gus and I will have the call of USC and UCLA. One last thing before we get out of here. LSU favored by 3 at Arkansas? I'm sorry, this feels like a trick because I just saw LSU beat Alabama and I just saw Arkansas lose to liberty by 4. 2117 I'm not smart

but like three does Vegas know something that we don't know because this feels like a trick yes yes Vegas knows something that we don't know

Vegas knows all the things that we don't know Vegas runs thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of computer simulations simulations and they they're they're quantum mathematics.

So every time that I sit there like a goofball and I'm like, what? What does Vegas know? LSU by three? Yep. Actually, exactly LSU by three. Oh my goodness.

And now I feel, I don't even know what commercial it's for, but you know that commercial where it's like, oh, don't be like your parents. you know, and it's the guy that's trying to train everyone not to be like your parents. Now I'm feeling like that person because I'm going to be like my dad would be like, well, you know, son, they don't build those buildings for nothing.

Thanks, dad. I appreciate it. It wasn't even do you like this sweater. LSU at 3 was like your wife being like, oh, isn't she pretty? The answer is no. The answer is no. That's going to do it for the Joel Clash show today. Come back on Wednesday.

We'll have full reaction to the college football playoff rankings. I've also working on something, all of us here at the show, and we've got a great staff here at the show. We're working on something that's going to be really cool. We're going to give you a snapshot of what it would mean in the last couple of weeks of the season if we had a 12-team expanded playoff. How many teams would be ready? relevant right now. How many more games would be relevant right now and how much better would it be

as a college football fan? We'll have that on Wednesday. I'm really excited for that because I think that's going to be a snapshot that's going to open everybody's eyes obviously really wide. That's coming up on Wednesday. Thursday, obviously, we'll have game previews. That's coming up as well. Remember, subscribe to the show, download the show, share it with a friend because college football is always better when you share it with a friend. It's becoming kind of like my kid. Someone was asking like, do you say something every show? What's your catchphrase? And I told them that. And I was like, that's kind of lame. But it's still true. So share it with a friend because that's cool. And then hit me up on social media. I'm Joel Clat. At Joel Cloud on Twitter.

At Joel underscore Clad on Instagram. Follow us at Joel Clashio on social media. I'll be back on Wednesday. Enjoy your week.