The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Oregon takes down Penn State & Alabama beats Georgia again plus Klatt’s Top 10

Episode Date: September 29, 2025

Fox Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to the Oregon’s huge win in the White Out at Penn State as Dan Lanning’s Ducks look primed for a National Championship run. Klatt breaks down why Penn State can bounce back from the heartbreaking loss but recommends a big change in their offense if they are going to finally win one of these big games against a marquee opponent. He then reacts to Alabama’s win in Athens as they ended the nation’s longest home winning streak with another win over Georgia. Klatt marvels at the change of this Alabama team to bounce back from the early season loss to Florida State and discusses the opportunities missed by the Bulldogs including Kirby Smart’s decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in the 4th Quarter that ultimately backfired on Georgia. Klatt then reveals his latest Top 10 and gives his reasoning for his rankings – will Georgia and Penn State stay in the Top 10 after losses? Was Ohio State’s impressive win at Washington enough to get the #1 spot? Klatt wraps up the show with thoughts on his game from Saturday as Illinois knocked off USC as time expired – giving credit to Illinois’ ability to bounce back while also discussing USC’s long-term prospects as they continue to grow under Lincoln Riley. Chapters0:00-2:58 Intro2:59-20:32 Oregon upsets Penn State with walk-off interception in double overtime20:33-31:12 Alabama upsets Georgia in Athens31:13-45:48 Joel Klatt’s new top 1045:49-52:22 USC falls to Illinois Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Lannning is rolling right now. This is a program that has come in and put itself right on the top tier in this Big Ten conference. It's going to have to happen for Penn State. If not now, then when? They're going to have to do something that they have not done since 2016 to achieve their goals. They're going to have to beat a top 10 opponent. I do see buy-in. I do see effort.

And I do see a championship team with Alabama. Today like today is why we love college football. Welcome into the program, everybody. I'm Joel Clatt. This is the Joel Clatt Show, and this show is brought to you by The Graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support. Hey, if you have not subscribed to the show, go on over and subscribe to the show on YouTube. We'd really appreciate it. We're getting really close to 250,000 subscribers. So if you could invite a friend and, you know, do the things. And if you haven't subscribed and you listen, go ahead and do that. That would be awesome. And if you want to jump into the comments below, please do that as well. I like to jump in there and answer questions and comment with you during the course of the week.

So that's available. And then wherever you like to social media, we're there. All of our content's going to live there at Joel Clatio, and you'll find all of our content. And it's cool and it's shorter and, you know, wherever you like to social media. TikTok, we're there. X. Yep.

I think we even have a Facebook page. I might be wrong on that, but who knows? Might even be up there. There's so much to get into today. I mean, so much to get into. And that comment that I have in the open, it's so appropriate because, yes, a day like Saturday is why we love college football. That was an incredible day of college football and culminated in a fantastic night.

Those two finishes, finishing close to one another, Penn State, Oregon, Alabama, Georgia. Those games were so good. I'm sitting on the airplane flying back home and I'm just like going back and forth and thank goodness that the internet on the airplane was strong enough so I could go back and forth between the games. It was phenomenal and such great football, great for performances, great competitive character being shown. So we're going to get into all of that. Plus my brand new top 10. That's right. You guys spoke last week and really liked this and wanted more of it. So we will continue to do this where we're unveiling my new top 10 every Monday right here on

the program so that I can give you my thoughts on each team rather than just throw it out in a tweet on Saturday night, even if they don't call it a tweet anymore. I don't know what do they call it an X. I'm not going to say I'm going to throw out an X on Saturday night. Not going to say that. I'm not going to do that. Change it back to Twitter, whatever. Okay, here we go.

Let's start, though, with the two big games, and then that'll lead to the top 10. I think that would be a better way to do it just because those games were so incredible. And let's start in Happy Valley with Penn State going down again in one of these big games to Oregon. And how about Oregon? The Oregon Ducks have taken the Big Ten by Storm.

They have not lost a regular season Big Ten game. Dan Lannning is rolling right now. This is a program that has come in and put itself right on the top tier in this Big Ten conference. Very similar. I guess you can make an argument that Texas is doing the same in the SEC, but man, this has been so impressive from Oregon. And here's one of the things that I was so impressed with is that there was a clear question about their team coming into this game based on some of the performances prior during the

course of the season, and in particular one that I actually saw firsthand, when they played against Northwestern and did not do a great job against the run. Now, it might have just been because they were playing in a tent stadium, and maybe weren't totally motivated. I mean, think about the juxtaposition between playing in the tent stadium in front of Northwestern and then you play in front of $11,000 in the whiteout. A little bit different. And the level of focus in particular on defense was there.

And that was a complete performance from Oregon. It really was. facet of their team had to be quality and had to be really great at some point during the night in order for them to win, and they were. And they were. And that's impressive. You see, to be a great team in college football, you have to have answers. You've got to have answers because very rarely is a team going to be able to just lean on their strengths every single game, all game, and win every game. It just doesn't happen. Somebody is going to be good enough to take away what you do best to attack you in an area of weakness and you have to adjust. And you have to have balance.

You have to have balance to win. And I'm not just talking about rushing and passing. I'm talking about overall team balance. When something pops up, what is your answer? If they start running the football, what's your answer? If they start throwing the football, what's your answer? Vice versa, offensively, if you can't run the football, how do you combat that? If your quarterback is struggling, how do you get them started? What are your answers on your team? And we know now that Oregon has answers. And they have answers everywhere. Their best answer is that their quarterback is point blank, one of the best players in college football. There's not a doubt in my mind. The calm and poise that we saw from Dante Moore on Saturday night in front of that environment

was remarkable. This was the biggest environment that he's ever started a game in front of by quite a margin, I would just say, and I know that there's been some good ones, but this is a different animal, as we all know. He handled the operation of that really well with the offensive line. His poise throwing the football down the field. His poise in all of those fourth down efforts where he had to carry the football, he had to scramble. He was terrific. He made great throws. He made easy throws. He threw with touch. He drove the football. He did it all. He had answers. Dante Moore proved that he is on a very short list for the Heisman Trophy. 29 to 39, 29, 248, three touchdowns, 10 carries for 35. He was phenomenal.

Dante Moore makes them a team that can go and beat anybody in the country on any given Saturday in any given location. He really is. And they have talent everywhere, by the way. Deer Hill is terrific, the true freshman back in the backfield. His explosiveness and I would say short area quickness is really remarkable. Their offensive line, which they built in the transfer portal is fantastic. Remember now, folks, this is what's so amazing about this game is that this was supposed to be a year that Dan Lannning was rebuilding a little bit. This was not technically supposed to be just a, hey, plug and play and let's go with the Oregon Ducks. They had to replace so much for offensive linemen. They get it done. They've got young players everywhere.

They're starting two freshman corners, one red shirt, one true. Transfer at safety. Transfers an offensive line. And they have come out and melded early in this season into one of the best teams in college football. And I will tell you exactly where I put them in my top 10 just a little bit later. By the way, this is not a team that Dan Lanning, this is not a program where Dan Lanning entered the fray and got that job and said, okay, like, how do we win the PAC 12? He went there to build them into a national title contender and that's exactly what he's done. That's the way they're constructed. That's the way they play. So it doesn't matter that they're in the Big Ten or what conference they're in.

They're constructed to go out and beat the best teams in college football because they've got size, they've got speed, they've got answers, all right? And that's what Oregon has done. So a lot of flowers their way, man. Dante Moore was terrific. The competitive spirit late, even after their defense started giving up some yards to get that interception from Dylan Thineman was pretty remarkable. And then there's the Penn State side.

and oh my gosh the disappointment on that side before we get into Penn State let's first go to the postgame press conference because I actually thought James Franklin was as good as I've ever heard him in a post game press conference right after the game here he was I kind of look at the entire pitcher I get that narrative and it's really not a narrative it's factual it's the facts I get I get it, you know, but I try to look at the entire pitcher and what we've been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we got to find a way to win those games. I totally get it. And I take ownership and I take responsibility. At the end of the day, I wanted that for those kids in that locker room. Man.

By the way, coaches, like, put that on a coaching tape. That's how you answer questions at the end of a loss. ownership, extreme ownership from James. Even like when he first says narrative, there's part of me that is like, oh, you know, like, is he going to call this a narrative? And then he's like, no, those are the facts. It's factual. Extreme ownership.

That's the only way to combat this and to get through this because that's exactly what Penn State is going to have to do is take extreme ownership of what's going on. That was their 15th straight. And I know, listen, the players can't do this because they didn't contribute to all 15 of these. but that was the 15th straight, regular season loss to a top 10 opponent. Now, what makes this one, I would say, more disappointing or harder if you're a Penn State fan, is the fact that in all of the 14 prior, Penn State was not the higher ranked and favored team.

And that was the case in this matchup. Plus, it's at Penn State. Plus, Fox didn't select it, so it's a whiteout. I mean, everything is there. Plus, now you look at the construction of the two rosters, and I just touched on this with Oregon, but Oregon is largely a rebuilt team this year, whereas Penn State is largely a team that came back and came back with a purpose. And that's why this is so disappointing because there's this sense and this question now floating. It's like, well, if not now, then when?

If it didn't happen Saturday, then when is it going to happen? Because here's the issue for Penn State. It's going to have to happen for Penn State. They have to fix this. There's no other way around it. And the reason is they have two more of them on their schedule. And nine and three will not get them into the playoff. You see, last year they didn't have to win a game like this

in order to even go and compete for a Big Ten title. and then get a home game and go to the playoff and go to the national semifinal. Their schedule was built in a fashion a year ago where they didn't have to beat a top 10 opponent to get to all those places. This year is different. You see, of the Big Ten contenders, if you look at Oregon and Ohio State and Indiana and Penn State, that's kind of really the class of the Big Ten up at the top, Penn State's the only one that has to play all the other three.

Okay, so now, like, you have to beat either Indiana or Ohio State on the road if you're going to want to go to the playoff and be a 10 and 2 team. So at this point, here's the thing. There's two things that are true about Penn State right now. One is that this is going to be an incredibly tough road, and they're going to have to do something that they have not done since 2016 to achieve their goals. They're going to have to beat a top 10 of points. And we'll see if Indiana or Ohio State are still top 10 opponents by the time that they play.

We assume that they will be because both of those teams are very good. So that's just kind of the assumption. So that's one area. And then that becomes very difficult because you're like, well, heck, man, if we don't beat one of those teams, then we're not going to be in the CFP, and that's going to be a devastating season. And then if we are able to split those games, let's say we beat Indiana and don't beat Ohio State or vice versa, whichever one it is. let's say we split those games, which are going to be very difficult.

Well, then we're going to be 10 and 2, and then it's not really a guarantee that we're in, although we would probably be in. And then it's not a guarantee that we would have a home game, although we would probably be close. And if we didn't have a home game at Penn State for a CFP, then you start looking at what happened a year ago, and you start actually looking at the home field advantage

that was so massive in the first round, which Penn State, by the way, was the beneficiary of when they hosted SMU. So you're looking at this playoff this year. If they don't get a home game, even if they're able to split between Indiana and Ohio State, even if they don't get a home game, they would be going to a, I don't know, shoot, Miami, Ole Miss, Alabama. And it's like, oh, gosh, you know, versus hosting one of those games, which would be just so much different.

If they don't win both of them, they almost assuredly, will not be in the Big Ten championship game. If they're not in the Big Ten championship game, they are not going to be getting a buy. If they don't get a buy and they can split, maybe they get a home game. So you're seeing what I mean, it's a tough road now. It becomes much more precarious. They're going to have to do something that they have not done since 2016 in order to get to the college football playoff. So that's hard.

Now, there's also this other truth, which is it can absolutely happen. We saw it last year. We saw Ohio State with a veteran-laden team that came. back with a purpose that won, or excuse me, lost a game to Oregon, and then they went on a run to win the national championship. And even in the middle of that, got stung by their rival at home. So it can absolutely still happen. That doesn't mean that it's going to be easy, so it is going to be very hard.

They're going to have to do things that they haven't done before. But it is possible. Okay, so there is both available for Penn State, both roads, if you. You could call this a fork and a road. I just call it two truths at this point. And so if you're going to make this happen, you do have to look at, well, what's the way you work through this? And now, we're going to talk about this at times during the rest of this episode. It comes down to competitive character and honesty with yourself.

Do you have enough in you to evaluate yourself honestly? By the way, that's a question for all of us, as individuals, as groups, families, you know, whatever you're involved in. Churches, teams, college football teams, all of us. Do you have enough integrity and character to evaluate yourself honestly? Well, Penn State's going to find out. They're going to find out. Because here's what I think happened last year with Ohio State is that they were able to, evaluate themselves honestly. And they got better because of their losses, which led to the

national championship. You see, what has not happened with Penn State over these 15 losses over the last, what is it, nine years dating back to 2016 to top 10 opponents in the regular season, is that we haven't seen anything change. Now, again, a lot of players have changed. And so now let's just talk about this year, this cycle, maybe this last couple. Maybe this last couple of years. And here's what's going to be, I think, paramount for Penn State is that they evaluate themselves and they come out of this as a better team. So how do you become a better team? How do you prevent this from happening again? If you want it for those kids in the locker room, you know, Coach Franklin and Andy Coddlenicki and their new defensive coordinator,

Jim Knowles, well, how do you make it happen? You know, what do you do? And the fact that Jim Knowles is there, by the way, he knows the blueprint because he used it last year. Here's what happened with Ohio State a year ago. When they lost to Oregon in the middle of the regular season, I won't say it was a total rebuild, but they evaluated what they had and how they were using it, and they rebuilt their defense more specifically to be a much better defense from that point moving forward. So it was no longer a system that the players ran, but it was a system that was built around what the players had.

All right. And that was an important piece because Caleb Downs was right at the middle of that. And the way that they rushed the passer was right in the middle of that. And they changed things, whether it was the way that they rushed the passer or the way that they played in the secondary.

And so now all of a sudden, they became a better defense because of that honest evaluation. All right? It comes with the humility and that ability to do that. What are they going to need to evaluate? They have to evaluate the offense at Penn State. state. This offense has to get better if they're going to win one of these games. Now, it was better late in the fourth quarter, but it can't be dormant for the first three.

It just can't. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. Every great offense has an ability to have great quarterback play in it. And I'm sure that this system from Andy Kodalnicki, at times with the right guy at quarterback, can have great quarterback play in it. And I'm sure that there's a system that could feature the skill set of Drew Aller and allow him to play his best football. But unfortunately right now, the marriage between Alar's skill set and Kodlnicki's system is not right. And it needs to change. And I'm not saying there needs to be a change from a personnel standpoint. That's not what I'm calling for at all. And I want to be crystal clear about that. What I am saying, though, is that this system needs to morph and be a system that has catered more for Drew Aller

rather than Drew Aller trying to execute this certain system. See, right now there's far too much short area RPO stuff going on in their passing game. He is not a quick release passer. He doesn't have terribly quick feet, but that doesn't mean that he's a bad player. It does mean that because he doesn't have those features, he's not going to be as accurate when you're asking him to do those things. things. Now, when you actually sit him in the pocket and you let him fire the football down the

field, deep overroutes, deep down the field, straight down the field, guess what? Look to what? It's like, well, that looks beautiful. Yes, because it fits the skill set of the quarterback. You see, if your quarterback is, excuse me, if your system is not quarterback friendly, then you need a new system. And if your system doesn't fit the quarterback that you have, then you need to change it. Not wholesale, not wholesale, but tweak. Absolutely. This is where they need to go. I'm convinced of it. I do not think Drew Aller is a bad player. I do not think Andy Codalnicki is a bad coordinator. I think that some of the things that they do don't mix because the skill sets are not quite what they need to be. Again, like for me, as great as that fourth quarter comeback was, it was a lot of creativity and misdirection. You're having to use Drew Aller as a, a runner. See, he's fine as a scrambler. In fact, you know, straight up the field as a scrambler, he does just fine. But that's not how you're going to go and win a national championship or a

Big Ten championship. You can't do it with misdirection and you can't do it with smoke and mirrors. You can't. You've got to have a system that features him. It needs to be more downhill running. It needs to be more down the field passing, letting him do that and threatening the defense, getting the safeties away. If those things start to happen, then I think that they can they can play a lot better. Now, you might disagree with me, and that's totally fine. But at this point, what they're trying to run offensively and the quarterback they have, it doesn't actually fit together.

And that's going to need to change for them moving forward. Let's take a look at that Bama, Georgia game. That was a classic. Oh, my goodness. How about Bama coming out just absolutely on fire? For the second straight year against Georgia, by the way. You talk about like this idea of self-evaluation and being honest with yourself. like working your way through it, developing your way through it, having the competitive character,

I keep saying that, but the competitive character to kind of like own up and then get better and do the things necessary in order to change. I have not seen a team improve as fast as what I saw from the Florida State tape and the Alabama loss to now this win for Alabama against Georgia. It's like two different teams. I know the uniform's the same and the point. players are kind of the same, and the coaches are the same, but the tape is vastly different when I watch it. Vastly different. The offensive line is vastly different. I know there's some guys that were banged up and maybe are now back, but that doesn't explain it at all. Like something happened in that team. And I just want to like praise that. It's actually what

I love most about college football. You see, like if Penn State can grow through this and become better because of their loss to Oregon, I will love that and celebrate that. just like Ohio State a year ago with some of their struggles during the course of the year and developing through that. Like those are really great stories. And you learn a lot about yourself and the character of the men around you. And I guarantee you that Alabama team is looking around and they're like, we know what we've got. We know the men that we have in this locker room because of what we just went through. We just went through a period where everyone jumped off the wagon.

Me included, I'm sitting here being like, I'm panicked. You know why? Because the film I watched, there was no effort. When there's no effort, there's no buy-in. And when there's no buy-in, you don't have a championship team. But it's very different now. I do see buy-in. I do see effort.

And I do see a championship team with Alabama. This team and this quarterback can go and beat anybody. They just ended the longest win streak in college football. 33 games. No one's beating Georgia and Athens since before COVID. I even hate saying that word, COVID. Ugh, whatever. I loved their growth.

It stems from the quarterback. And by the way, like I was saying, like the marriage between Andy Kodalnicki and Drew Aller has got to come together at Penn State in some way, shape, or form. Like, that has to look different. And now you look at Alabama, and it's like, well, that's the case study.

You see, the skill set of Jalen Milrow, and then marrying that to the Kalin-Dubom, Abor offense, talented people, both of them, but it didn't fit. It just didn't fit. Now you've got Ty Simpson and Kalin-Dibor, and then you include Ryan Grub, and it's like, oh, yeah, well, that fits. Kaylyn DeBore and Michael Pinnix. Yeah, yeah, that fits.

That fits. They are doing what they need to be doing with the skill set of the players that they have. And Simpson was tremendous in that game. Bama still has some concerns from me. They didn't run the ball particularly well, but they won the game. And if they're going to have those types of, if they're going to have Bernard on the outside, and they're going to have Ryan Williams on the outside and a quarterback that can spin it like Ty Simpson, then they're going to be in most games.

I was so impressed with Alabama. And again, I just want to reiterate this. It's my favorite thing in college football to see a team bounce back, answer the bell, improve. because it's hard. It's hard. I can just tell you this right now. I will tell you this right now. Okay.

I know most of you think that you have been criticized before. Or have dealt with, like, constructive criticism maybe at work. Dealing with your, you're like maybe passive aggressive boss or someone saying like, hey, you know, just wanted to let you know. remind you, we put cover sheets on our TPS reports. You know, and then you're like, oh, my boss was all over me about this and that. It's like, you should sit in a film room. I wish you could have all experience at some point sitting in a film room in front of your peers, these guys that you are friends with, that you live with, that all you want to do is play

hard for them. All you want to do is come together as a great. team. All you want to do is show your coaches that you're good enough, that you know what you're doing. You are giving everything in your entire soul to this program and this sport. And then every single day, every day, they turn on video and eviscerate you. What is this? Why do you do it? What's your job on this play, Joel? What's your job? Well, I need to read the boundary safety. Read the boundary safety. And you're like, they're shouting. At times there's belittling, even though I don't love that. The level of criticism that you have to go through in order to come out the other side as a football

player and a team, that's what I love. So that's what I love it. It's not just like, oh, man, this team like really answered the bell and they started to play better. No, no, no, no, no. You don't understand, folks. Those players went through athletic hell and came out the other side. and faced it and came out the other side. That's why I love this. That's why I love to see Alabama play the way that Alabama played, the way that Illinois played on Saturday as they beat USC. I want to see that from Penn State because right now they're going to turn on that film

on Sunday and Monday and go back to practice and it's going to hurt, like hurt deep in their soul because they're giving everything in them. themselves to this purpose. And then it doesn't go their way. And then you have to get eviscerated. What are you doing on this play? You can't make that mistake. I'm just telling you right now, I wish all of you could experience it one time in your life. It's unreal to sit in a dark film room and all you can hear is the hum of the computer as the video is playing. And it's dead silent and the only person talking is a coach absolutely crushing you. And you know what you do? You take out your pen, you write down the notes that he told you, and then you jog onto the field,

and you do everything in your power to correct the mistakes that he told you about. It's remarkable. And I love it. It's why I love the sport. I always think that I want to get back into coaching. And when I give a little rant like that, it makes me want to. But I would never see my family. And after recording this, I'm going to go see my family. I digress a little bit, but I will just touch on this from Georgia. What's going on early in games with Georgia? What are we doing on this?

Bama, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame last year, Tennessee, Alabama, this year. Like, we're going down multiple scores by halftime in all of these games. And then they have to try to climb themselves back out of this thing. I don't quite understand that. You know, and we see them climb back in these games, and some of them, they come back and win the games. But, like, here's the thing. It's not all the time. Last year against Texas on the road, they played great early in the game. So we see it. They need to pinpoint what's going on when they get jumped and they get down multiple possessions early in these games because it's too hard to climb out of. You cannot keep putting yourself in this position. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's the script on offense.

I don't know if it's the script on defense. Do they need to be more intricate, more pressure oriented early in the game versus not pressure oriented early in the game? They need to identify something so that in these big games, like I said, Alabama last year, jumped them, Georgia Tech, jumped them, Notre Dame last year, jumped them. Tennessee this year, 14 points. Bama this year, 14 points. Multiple possessions. That can't keep happening. Can't keep happening.

And then I know there will be a lot of discussion about the fourth and one in the fourth quarter. Listen, I don't hate the fact that he went for it on fourth down. I really don't. Would I have kicked a field goal? Probably. But that doesn't mean that it's like, oh, this is right. That's wrong. I'm fine going for it on fourth down.

I really am. What I didn't love is the call. The play called on fourth down was bad. It was just bad. And I think they would know that. And I think if the coaches were honest with themselves, and they were, you know, they had some competitive character. and humility and evaluated their play calling.

What happened in that fourth down moment, I mean, you can't, you can't do that. You can't give it to Cash over the right side behind two true freshman tackles with tempo. I mean, like, that can't be. Cash had two carries from minus seven yards. You had all those other guys. They ran the football so well. Dominated on the ground. Dominated.

How does that guy, I mean, it's not disparaging for the player. but again, like, this is football, this is what it is. How does that guy get the ball in that moment on that carry? They had been dominating them on the ground. They did not need tempo to try to trick them. They were the better team at the line of scrimmage. So line up and be the better team. Again, don't mind going for it on fourth down.

I hated the play call. I hated the play call. And now the SEC feels wide open, wide open. I told you last week, I thought that the SEC, ran through Georgia and someone's going to have to go beat Georgia, well, Bama just did it. Bama just did it. And I know Georgia's going to feel like they had opportunities

and let them slip through their fingertips. They could have kicked a field goal right there. They had that drop. Bad drop. That drop's going to put them up, and it's dropped right down the middle of the field. I'm watching in the airplane. I'm like, oh, no.

It's like, oh, my gosh. Painful. Again, wait until you watch that film on Sunday, or on Monday. Like, it's, it's not very fun. Not very fun at all. So those are the games and kind of my reaction to it. Now I want to get to the top 10 because the top 10 looks so different now, doesn't it?

I mean, the top 10 is, to be honest, this is like one of my favorite things to do now is try to put together a top 10 because they're all good. Normally you have like, oh, these two are really good and then, oh, these, you know, six or not. but that's not how I feel. So now, let's get to this top 10. Obviously, some teams are going to fall out, and this is going to look very different. Now, on X, I did throw out who my top three are going to be. You don't know which order yet, so that's coming up.

Let's go 10 to 1. My new top 10 in college football, here we go. At number 10, even though they lost at home, I still have Georgia. Georgia's still tough to beat, and they had great opportunities in that, game to win the game. They had the opportunity to kick the field goal. They chose not to. Again, I don't mind not kicking the field goal. The problem is the play call. The play call on fourth and one in the fourth quarter was borderline egregious, to be honest with you, with the way that they

dominated on the ground, to not dominate that way at that moment is something that they're going to want back. They had the big drop down the middle of the field, and they lose the game. And credit to Alabama, and we'll see Alabama in these rankings right here. but Georgia stays in there at 10. That's still a very good football team and it's still going to be very difficult to beat them. At number nine, another team that lost at home, Penn State. I've got Penn State at 9.

Now listen, double overtime thriller against a really good football team and we might have seen them figure some things out late in that game. You see, I think Penn State, as I was talking about earlier, I think Penn State is going to need to grow from this game. Obviously, they need to find a way to get their offense better moving forward and specifically in these top 10 matchups like they had on Saturday night against Oregon. Okay, how do you do that?

Well, you evaluate with clear eyes and you say, what is it that we are not doing? And right now, what I don't think is happening is a great marriage between the skill set of Drew Aller and the offense of Andy Codellnicki. And somehow that's going to have to marry up a lot better. I think they need to build the system around what Drew does best. their best series was when they were putting him back there in big heavy play action and letting him rip it down the field. Where he struggles at times is when he's in the short area, quick game RPO run pass option game because he doesn't have the requisite, I would say, foot speed or hand speed. Not a knock because he can throw it as well as anybody, but he's not really a point guard style.

So again, build an offense suited to him rather than trying to get him suited to your offense. I think that would be the way forward for Penn State. Number eight, Alabama. That's a huge win. I know they lost to Florida State earlier, but all of us that watched that game on Saturday night know that that team looks drastically different, drastically different.

The effort was different. The physicality was different. The game plan was different. I loved all of it. Ty Simpson continues to be elite at quarterback. What they did to start that game, I think it was eight for their first eight on third down, which was remarkable.

I believe it was nine of 11 or nine. of 12 at one point early in the third quarter, their level of execution was fantastic. Now, granted, they had to hang on in the end and didn't really run it that great, but it's there. The top end is there. If they play disciplined and they protect Ty Simpson,

that is going to be a very difficult team to beat. So Alabama is going to be at number eight. Seven is Indiana. Indiana went on the road and beat Iowa. Iowa is where top 10 teams go to die, and they were able to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in a gritty-style game. So now we've seen them win both ways. We've seen them win with just absolute, you know, shock and awe against Illinois.

And now we see them win kind of a grinded out game against Iowa in which, you know, Iowa had a quarterback injury to Grinowski and they missed a field goal late. But there's Indiana, huge play late in that game, little RPO. Bam, they get a blitz from Iowa, hit it. And I believe it was Sarat runs into the end zone. Yes, it is throughout. He's on YouTube right now if you're watching that. Beautiful job, Mendoza. And that Indiana team, excuse me, is now 16 and two over their last two seasons.

They are for real. They're only two losses since the beginning of last year. At Ohio State, at Notre Dame. Those two teams played for the national championship a year ago. So Indiana is in there at seven. At six, and this is where I have to eat a bunch of crow. So all of you old Miss fans, I'm going to give a big tip of the cap and say, no, no, no. it was not Ole Miss that was overrated.

It was LSU that was overrated. And it was Ole Miss that was maybe underrated because that's a good football team. I didn't love the way that they played against Kentucky and Arkansas. So I didn't know what I was going to get. But this version with Lane Kiffin and Shambliss is really good. This is a great story. Division 2 transfer from Ferris State.

And he comes in there. He's won Division 2 national championships. and now Lane is building a system around Shamblis. And Shamblis because he's got this dual threat and he can hurt you with his legs and his arm. Man, he's dangerous and this offense becomes dangerous. And then the defense played really well. Now, granted, I will say this.

I have no idea what's going on with LSU's offense. That team is not very good. And maybe the fly in the ointment game in all of college football was the opener between LSU and Clemson. Because maybe just maybe both of the. those teams are just like not great. And that's fine. That's fine. But at the time, we thought they were both elite. And now that's shaped the way that we have looked at and viewed the first month of the college football season. And now we're starting to see that maybe that game was a bit of smoke

and mirrors. And this LSU lost to Ole Miss might be part of that. By the way, Ole Miss nearly doubled them up in yards, not as close as the score would indicate. Ole Miss really handled that game. Thus, they're number six. All right. At number five, I'm going to go Texas. This is a little higher than most people, but here's the thing with Texas. Defense wins, and folks, that's a great defense. And so to me, Arch is going to be allowed time to develop. He's getting that.

He played much better against Sam Houston. Now, he's going to get much stiffer test. OU's defense is a lot better than Sam Houston. But Texas's defense is never going to let a game get away. And so I don't think Arch is going to have to put a cape on his back anytime soon. Heck, he didn't even need really a cape on his back to get them back in that Ohio State game because the defense is very good. So that's why I love Texas. They have answers.

And if Arch just gets a little better, then watch out. Watch out because that'll be a tough team to beat. And number four, I'm kind of in on this team. I really am. I talked about this idea that you have to be able to have balance in the way that you win to be a great college football team. What is your answer if someone takes something away from you? Can you win a low-scoring game?

Can you win a high-scoring game? So my number four team is going to be Texas A&M. I really was impressed with Texas A&M. Now, the score didn't help me because I lost by the hook. I gave you guys my pick last week that Texas A&M was going to win by over six and a half. And they didn't. But on paper, they dominated. the game. The only reason that we lost that, that bed, if you want to call it, that

was the fact that the turnover wound up on the two-yard line for Auburn. That's the only way that they scored. A&M was elite defensively after going up to South Bend and having to be elite offensively. So to me, what does that say? Answers. Answers, man. Competitive balance. Here we go. They held Auburn to 177 yards. Auburn was 0 of 13 on third down. So now in back-to-back weeks, Auburn has given up 10 sacks to 0.5.5. you and then gone down to college station and gone 0 for 13 on third down. Yikes. Hey, Auburn Tigers. Yikes. But for me, I kind of like what I'm seeing from A&M. And now you start to see it's like I've got all these teams from the SEC in my top 10.

What have got five of them? So I got what to A&M, Texas, that's to Ole Miss. Then I got to Alabama and Georgia. So that's five to five. Half of my top 10 is the SEC here. And any given day, I think any one of those teams could beat any other team. So that's like this is going to be an incredible race coming down the stretch in the SEC. All right. At number three, Miami, I still am a big fan of Miami. Ruben Bain more specifically. I think that Miami is going to be tough to beat because their offensive line is solid,

which travels. Their defense is solid, which travels. Bain is a game record, and they've got a good quality quarterback. So Miami is going to be number three, and that leaves the top two teams in the country. I was tempted to throw Oregon all the way up at number one after that incredible emotional, emotional wins Saturday night, but they're going to be number two, and Ohio State is going to be number one. So Oregon is going to be number two. I talked about them at length. I'm so impressed with him. Early in this year, I said that this is a team that could go and win the national championship.

Still believe that. I believe that our quarterback is going to be right now and should be on the short list, probably one, two, or three in the Heisman trophy race. He should wind up in New York. There's no doubt. I was thoroughly impressed with Dante Moore. I love what they do on defense. They were able to stop for the most part, the downhill running attack from Penn State, which was the concern coming into that game. They've got skill and speed on the outside. They've got a great coach. I'm in. I'm in.

Oregon is number two and number one is Ohio State. Why is it that the fastest runner looks like they're running the easiest at times? Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever watched like sprinting? I'm here turned on like Usain Bolt is like running and he's beating everybody. and you're like, why does you same bolt look like he's running easier than everybody else? And it's like, oh, yeah, well, he's, because he's just faster. And you're like, oh, and everyone else you can be like,

they're like straining to run that fast. That's how I feel about Ohio State right now. They don't look like they're running the fastest, but they are. They are. And that's why they're the number one team. I don't think that I've even seen like four. fourth gear from Ohio State, at least offensively. I've seen what they can bring to the party on defense.

Oh, buddy, that defense is good to say the least. They're fast, they're long. The defensive line was terrific against Washington. They gave up two field goals, two field goals, to the number two scoring offense in all of America. DeMond Williams is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the land, one of the quickest, one of the fastest. And this team swallowed him up.

Caden Curry was terrific. These linebackers are incredible. Sunny Stiles, Ravelle Reese. They've got good corners. Like, they're really tough, man. Again, that defense is the best defense in America right now. It just is. They were just going to sit there and spy DeMond Williams

because they're faster than him. that's difficult and they can cover. They still have downs as a safety. And then this offense is just like, have they hit fourth gear yet? Have they even given you like what they really wanted? That was a six possession game. Six.

They got six offensive possessions, never in doubt. Now you could say maybe it was in doubt. You're like, well, it was three nothing, Joel at one point late in the second quarter. It was like, yeah, but you know, was it in doubt? When you're like watching the game, was it in doubt? all due respect to Jed Fish in Washington, it was not in doubt for me. Ohio State goes down, they get stopped on fourth down, and it's like, okay, they're going to go right back down the field as well.

They can run it, saying is as accurate as anybody in the country. And I don't think we've even, like, seen it yet. Have we seen the, like, the full Monty from Ohio State? Probably not. It's like, oh, let's get to Smith a few times here. Boom, boom, boom. All right, okay, Carnell Tate, bam, Ennis, bam, Bo Jackson, bam. CJ Donaldson, bam.

It's like, oh, my goodness. They've got players everywhere. Oh, it's third down. Hey, Max Clair, bam. So, like, let's watch out. Let's watch out for Ohio State. The team's just on the outside of my top 10. And trust me, I fought hard.

And this is where I landed. I feel so highly about these teams. I wish I could have put them in the top 10, but I just couldn't get them in. Texas Tech, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma. Oklahoma, the primary reason. I know that I'm more down on Oklahoma. Oklahoma than the AP.

Not by much. And listen, it feels like, why don't, why don't you have them in the top 10? Their quarterback is injured. Their quarterback is injured. They're not. I just, he means too much to that organization and that program for me to put him up there above some of these other teams. Notre Dame I still consider up there.

I don't know. The pollsters can just sit there and look at their loss column, but I'm like, okay, well, they lost to my number three and four team in the country. and could have or should have beaten both of them. So if that was the case, they'd probably be number one. They're right there. Notre Dame is right there. So they're right on the outside.

And then Texas Tech, man, I wanted to get them in. And I just couldn't. I just couldn't put Texas Tech above Georgia. I couldn't do it. So that's it. And the team's falling out from last week. Oh, you, FSU, LSU. FSU loses that game to Virginia.

When that line came out last week and it's like Friday night, all of a sudden Virginia's only favorite, by like barely a touchdown. You're like, wait a second. Wait a second. Shouldn't that line be worse and sure enough? I'm just hoping, and I'm glad that I've heard reports, we're all, the wide receiver from Florida State

that was like stomped into the corner of the end zone. I hope there was a trap door in that end zone or something like that. That was wild. That was the fastest field storm that I've ever seen in my life. Hopefully everyone's okay. And Florida State goes down in that one. Real quick, before we get out of here, because I've got something really cool planned on Wednesday, which I'll tease in just a moment.

But I wanted to touch on the game that I called USC in Illinois. I talked about competitive spirit, and I've said it a lot on this program and this edition of the show. And just this idea of evaluating what happened and then answering the bell, getting better. How about Illinois? My gosh, they got beat 63 to 10. That was embarrassing. Embarrassing. Written off.

Dropped down. ah, it's Illinois, whatever, like that was horrific, blah, blah, blah. And they came out and played their best game of the year and beat USC. And really a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated. Because of the two fumbles that Illinois had at the goal line, one right before the half, one towards the end of the game, USC was able to force a couple of fumbles and make that a closer game because of it. Illinois largely controlled the game because their offensive line controlled the game.

And trust me when I tell you this, going into the game, watching the tape from each of those teams, that was not what I was expecting to see. Not at all. And this is why I've got to give Illinois and Brett Bilema a lot of credit. The tape that I watched, and specifically the tape against Duke and Indiana, was not good, in particular on the offensive line. They were getting shoved around. They couldn't protect the passer.

They could not run the football. They were trying to go laterally, you know, a lot of side-to-side stuff, wide zone RPO's and all this stuff. And I was like, this is not going to work. I'm watching the USC tape. They've got hard edges. They're playing well on defense. The offensive line was controlling the game. I turned the film off and I'm like, oh, no. I legitimately thought that USC had a good chance to go in there and beat them pretty soundly in this game based on the film. But it's why you play the game. And then the improvement that I saw from Illinois was drastic. The change in game plan. I give Barry Lundy, their offensive coordinator, a ton of credit. You talk about looking at film and honestly evaluating it, and I don't talk about

this stuff specifically a lot, because listen, I got to sit with these guys and like, but when I want to compliment a guy, hey, Barry Lundy, you were terrific on Saturday. You really were. Because what I saw trying to be executed in previous games, it was different on Saturday. And I know we talked about it on Friday, Friday, and you talked about going more direct than downhill. But to come out and actually do it and stay committed to it, that's the an honest evaluation of what was going on prior. The offensive line at Illinois was not very good before Saturday. And they changed.

They ran downhill. They allowed their guys to be better. And they put them in a position to do what they do best. They're not a very fast athletic offensive line. So they stopped going sideline to sideline. And they went straight downhill and it paid off. It paid off in a huge way. Luke Altmire was very good.

He showed impressive amount of courage and leadership during the course of the week. So that's the Illinois side. I was really impressed with that. From USC side, I know it's disappointing for USC. They continue to lose these road games, which is frustrating. I think it's hyper frustrating to feel like you're getting better and you're on the precipice of something special. And then you show up to a game. And then there's just a ton of injuries. Camari Ramsey out at safety and he's their best defensive back.

And sure enough, they didn't play well in the secondary. Elijah Page can't go at left tackle. Then you lose Killing O'Kalienel. or at center and you're down to offensive linemen, it becomes a different game. You know, that team that I saw on film, I largely didn't see on the field on Saturday, and in part because of the style of game that played out, it started being a throw game rather than a run game for them. They're better when they can be balanced.

I think they'll be fine. I really do. I think that the best days for USC are still ahead. I'm a believer in what is happening with Chad Bowden and Lincoln and everybody over there because what they're going to build and what they're going to be at the end of this year, next year, and then the year after is something really special. They are building something that is going to have some sustainability. I'm just telling you right now, I would be a futures better on USC at this point.

real quick, that last game situation. USC scored pretty early in the waning moments, if you will, just under two minutes to go. And during the broadcast, I said, hey, you know, you'd love to take a little clock down. I still believe that. But I also understand what Lincoln Riley was trying to say after the game when he was like, hey, well, we had to score a touchdown.

Yes, they did. They were down six. They had executed really well. They were down 14. They score a touchdown, go for two, so that that next series, they know exactly what they need. They come down the field.

You've got to score a touchdown. So I'm not saying that you don't want to score. I am surprised, though, with a fresh set of downs, inside of the two-minute timeout, that they didn't at least go back to the run game, which they had run the ball well on that series a few different times. Whether it was Eli Sanders or William and Jordan, I'm just surprised that on first down and maybe second

that there wasn't something more run-oriented rather than an actual shot to the end zone. If they would have just taken it down to 40 to 30 seconds, like they had a ton of time. I know that they needed to score, but I was surprised that they didn't at least run the football on first down, maybe second as well. Taking a shot right there,

calling something that had a shot to the end zone. I get it. I get it. You got to score. You're not going to not going to not take it. Let's just say that. But it ended up hurting them in the long run. All right. So on Wednesday, I know I just tease this for a moment, but on Wednesday, I have got my brand new.

That's right, because the calendar has turned, we are in October, it is officially fall. So I thought, you know, that bracket needs an update. So we're going to have a brand new bracket prediction for the CFP on Wednesday's edition of the Joel Clatch show. Follow us and subscribe to this show on YouTube. us on social media, wherever you like to social media at Joel Platt Show. We will be there. I can't wait to fill out this bracket on Wednesday. We'll be right back here. And I hope you are too.