The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Upset Saturday in College Football as Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, USC and Missouri go down

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt breaks down a crazy week in College Football where 5 of the Top 11 teams in the AP Poll went down. He discusses #1 Alabama’s shocking loss to Vanderbilt and why this Crimson Tide team reminds him of the Lincoln Riley Oklahoma teams. He explains why Tennessee and Missouri’s losses should be viewed very differently. Klatt explains what he saw from Michigan in their loss at Washington and why the change at QB is just one of several areas that need to improve for the Wolverines. USC blew a 4th Quarter lead for the second time this season and Klatt explains the issues plaguing the Trojans. He also points out teams that stood out for the right reasons on Saturday as Ohio State rolled through Iowa in the 2nd half. He discusses what makes this Buckeyes team so good and the one question he still has about the team. Klatt finishes with the incredible Miami comeback then considers whether that win changes how he views the top of the ACC with the ‘Canes and Clemson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tide fans, like, I'm telling you right now, this team is going to be in several more shootouts. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. Remember, every time that we feel like it's not a great slate of games, upsets. So keep that in mind.

Keep that in mind. Something drastic is going to happen this weekend, and that's why we love college football. Well, lo and behold, what do we have here? Upset Saturday in college football, almost like someone knew something about it. How about that weekend in college football? Welcome into the Joel Clatt show. I am Joel Clatt. This show is presented by Hampton, by Hilton. And that was quite a Saturday after that Penn State game that I called against UCLA. We all start heading to the airport. We start checking phones. We start looking at scores. And it's like, holy cow, what is going on?

Now, during the game, I had the A&M game up with Missouri. So I see Missouri getting absolutely thrashed. And it just kind of continued. Five of the top 11 teams in the country go down on Saturday. Number one, Alabama at Vandy. Number four, Tennessee at Arkansas. Missouri got absolutely housed in College Station against the Aggie. Michigan lost at Washington, and USC in the nightcap loses at Minnesota.

My goodness. And I loved it. I mean, I loved it. Listen, I'm not rooting for any of those teams to lose, but my goodness, that was incredible. And this is just another example of why college football is so phenomenal. And I think that a lot of people just immediately start thinking to themselves like, well, you know, it's road games and everything. And yes, that's that is an easy. target to just go out there and say, oh, it's just road games and that's why teams lose.

But let's dive a little bit deeper here because I'd love to talk about the why of some of these types of instances. And so let's talk about the why of a Saturday like we just saw last week. All of them were conference road games. Okay. And I want you guys to think of this from from this perspective. In life, failure is the driver of growth. Okay. And it's no different in college football. And once you kind of reframe the way that you look at and think about the way teams develop from week to week, I think that will help you put into perspective what a Saturday like that was. Okay, so failure is the driver of growth.

It is very difficult for teams that we talk about glowingly and win every single game. It's very difficult for them to go back to the drawing board every single month. Monday or Tuesday when they get back onto the practice field and strain and fail in practice. It's hard to get them to the point where they're working hard enough in order to grow. That's human nature. It's complacency. Every coach will tell you that the greatest enemy to success in their locker room for any great team is complacency.

And on the flip side, what you have from other programs is guys that are still on scholarship, still getting NIL, still getting all the things that everybody get at the top of college football, and yet they've gone through some failure. And so they're straining, there's teachable moments, they're getting better, their coaches are holding them accountable. And you know what? Practice sucks for them because they're going out there and practicing their butts off. And it's not always easy. And guess what? They get better. So in college football, every team has a bell, excuse me, a bell curve. All right, at their worst, they're over here on the left. At their best, they're over here on the right.

But those two things are rarities, okay? Those are anomalies, really. You rarely get to see a team's worst game or just worst possible performance, I think, is a better way to put it. And you rarely see a team's best possible performance. You're always chasing, you know, the ceiling, if you will. I've set it as floor and ceiling, however it is. But it's also a bell curve.

And generally speaking, your team performs in the bell, right? in the middle of the majority of performances. And here's what you have, is that you've got teams that are straining to get themselves better, and what they will do when they're straining in order to get better is they will play on the plus side of the bell curve. And what you get with teams that are complacent and have a lot of success, and if they don't hold their own standard within their locker room,

they will play on the left side of their bell curve. And all of a sudden, you get two teams that you don't think are very even, and yet at some point, their bell curve is going to match up with one another. And you get Saturdays like this. We just happen to see five of them for teams in the top 11. Okay, so like it happens. And again, failure is the driver of growth. And so we see these teams and it's like, this is not always just about Bama losing or Tennessee

losing or Missouri losing or Michigan or USC losing. It's also about these other teams and their coaches and their coaching staff and these players straining to get better. And this is why I love college football because for a Saturday, the center of the college football world is in Nashville at Vanderbilt as they're carrying down the goalpost down Main Street. It's in Fayetteville at Arkansas. It's A&M. It's up in the great northwest and at Seattle and Husky Stadium in a great environment there. It's at Minnesota and there's charging the field because those teams are getting better and credit to all of those coaches and players. So it's not always just about the better teams playing poorly,

as much as it is those other teams straining, failing, and getting better. That growth, I think, is really important to just keep in perspective when we're talking about these games. Because remember, the rarest of traits in life and in college football, maybe even more specifically in college football, is to push through your limits even when you don't have to. That's the rarity for all of us. Okay, so you're the college football fan.

For me, for any of us, that's the rarity to push through our limits when we don't feel like we have to. This is why coaches like Nick Saban are so rare is because there was a reckoning at Alabama with Nick Sabin every single Monday, whether they won or lost. There was a reckoning. His standard was so high that they had to continually, whether they want or not strain to reach the standard.

I'll bring up just a quick lifting analogy. For those of you that weight lift, and certainly I don't do it very hard now, but I can remember back in the day, you have to go and do sets to failure in order to really get stronger, right? Okay, so like if you're just going in and doing the exact same weight for the exact same reps,

then that's all you're going to be strong enough to lift. In order to get stronger than that and to grow, you're going to have to put more weight on the bar and do sets and reps until you can't. So you've got to reach failure in order to push through and find some growth. It's the same thing for us in life, and it's certainly the same thing in college football. One other point that I think is important when we're talking about a Saturday like we had is that the overwhelming majority of Power 5 schools do not play matchup games. When I say matchup games, that means playing games with at least similar talent.

in a conference game, it's a match-up game for the most part, because those schools have similar talent, Power 5 talent, SEC talent, Big 10 talent. So a match-up game, you almost never see a Power 5 team, or Power 4 team, excuse me, play one of those games in the non-conference. And so what you generally see is that these are the first times that these kids, 18 to 22, 23, 24 years old, It's the first time that they're having to go on the road that season and play a game in which there is similar talent looking across from them.

That's very difficult to do. They just don't do it all that much. It's so much more of a rare thing in college football as opposed to in the NFL. Think of it this way. There were only 15 games in Power Conference football, 15, where one Power Conference team played another Power Conference team on the road in the non-conference. There was only 15 of those. So you get these unique instances that are much more difficult to perform. So in those non-conference games, you've got the whole offseason to focus on them.

Your team is probably a lot more healthy than they are now. And now all of a sudden you just jump into a game week. It's on the road. You're not dealing with the crowd noise very well. Maybe you're drinking some of the rat poison or taking some of the rat poison. You're complacent. They're getting better. And then all of a sudden you don't have the focus.

Maybe your team is not quite healthy. And guess what? You get beat. And that's how we wind up with five, the top 11 teams going down on a Saturday like that in college football. So let's get to the games. Let's get to these games. All right. Let's start with Alabama. So Alabama loses to Vandy. Wow. I mean, did not see that coming, but again, everything that I just said is true. Alabama loses 40 to 35. Vandy scores 40 points on Alabama. And I immediately started thinking to

myself when I was thinking about this Alabama team, which I've covered, by the way, and we'll get to all that. And I went back and watched. some of this film from the Vandy game, specifically on the defensive side. And you know what it reminded me of? You know what this team reminds me of? This team is the Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma teams. They're a team that is elite on offense and the defense is not very good. Not even like not playing well or the defense is just not very good. And we're starting to see that come to fruition.

I tried to ring these alarm bells all the way back when I was preparing for the Wisconsin game. If you remember those shows, and if you're like a fan of the show, and one, you would be subscribed to the YouTube channel, which you should do that right now, by the way, if you haven't. Or you would be following us and rating and reviewing us wherever you're listening to your podcast. That would be awesome, too.

You'd be leaving a comment down below. And if you've been listening since then, I told you that the problem in question for Alabama was on the defensive side. And I said all the way back then, I said, listen, this team is going to be in some shootouts that are going to be surprising. And that's going to happen during the course of the season.

I didn't expect that against Vanderbilt, but that's exactly what's happened this season for Alabama. Look at what they've done defensively, or not done, I guess, more accurately, in the last six quarters. Look at the last six quarters. They've given up 67 points and 784 yards.

in the last six quarters of football. Alarm bells. Alabama's defense is not getting better. And here's the thing. The same things that were happening on the film against South Florida and then on the field against Wisconsin are happening still. And they happened in the second half against Georgia. They happened the entire game against Vanderbilt.

So this is not a one-off. Tide fans, like I'm telling you right now, this team is going to be in several more shootouts. Good thing you have Jalen Milrow. Good thing you have Ryan Williams, who's spectacular, by the way. I love watching that guy play. He is so graceful on the football field.

I absolutely love it. Watching film of Ryan Williams is just a joy. That offense is spectacular. And guess what? There's only been one game that they haven't scored 41 or more points and they lost. This reminds me, so much of those OU teams, and I covered those OU teams constantly.

And it was always the same thing. It was Baker and C.D. Lamb and Rodney Anderson and then Kyler Murray and then Jalen Hertz. And they always had to outscore people. And that's the direction that this Alabama team is going. They remind me of those Oklahoma teams. And guess what? Those Oklahoma teams, if you remember, they would get to the playoff, first of all, and then we would all say the same thing.

They don't have a good enough defense to win the national championship. And guess what? At this point, that's the truth about Alabama. And this is the exact reason why last week when they lost to Georgia, or excuse me, when they beat Georgia, I said even in a loss, I believed more in Georgia than I did Alabama. Because of all of these truths. You know, when you turn on the film, like, it's troubling for the Bama defense. You pull up some of these notes right here. First and foremost, when you look at them in passing,

defense. They constantly are out of position or exercising poor technique, specifically at corner. They're in man coverage and the wide receivers can create all sorts of separation. They do not play picks very well. And credit to Clark Lee and this Vanderbilt staff because they had a great game plan. It was creative. They did a lot of things on the outside that made it difficult on the Bama defense, but Bama's defense did not play it well at all. They didn't pass off pick routes. They weren't communicating in the secondary, which is exactly what I was telling you earlier in the year.

When I saw it on film against South Florida, when I saw it against Wisconsin, it showed up against Georgia, and then it certainly showed up against Vanderbilt. So yes, the past defense is a problem, but that wasn't even the main problem of what we saw in that game against Vanderbilt. They could not stop Vanderbilt from running the football.

And you talk about a defensive front being out of position constantly, Alabama was constantly out of position up front. They were not gap sound. They, I cannot tell you how many times they had two players chasing the quarterback and then he would shovel underneath. I can't tell you how many times I saw then two people chase the running back and then all of a sudden the quarterback keeps it.

I'm like, do you guys not know who's responsible for which player or which gap? because it certainly looked like on film, they didn't know what they were doing. Whole masses of people chasing, it was like little kid's soccer. It was like four guys would just like race out with the fake and then just like, oh, there's, there's Pavia, just right up the middle.

I'm like, dang, man, this is not what I'm expecting. And then late in the game, they couldn't get off the field. They could not get off the field. It was shocking to watch them late in the game. Poor run fits against quarterback run. and then late with two minutes to go. Really poor technique. They're catching the blocks.

So they're not taking anything on at the line of scrimmage. They're catching the blocks. They're trying to run around blocks. So they're getting blocked in their chest. They're playing with no leverage whatsoever. And the safety is sitting back there at 18 yards. There's two minutes to go. What are you?

They're not throwing it deep. And if they do, tip your cap. Like, this happens all the time. was happening in the Minnesota-Michigan game. Last week when I was calling it, and I was losing my mind in the booth, and I'm starting to do it all over again because I'm watching this film. I'm like, what are you doing? Like, get up to the line of scrimmage.

You know exactly what's going to happen. And not only are not, are they not playing with gap integrity, so they're out of position, they're not playing with good fundamentals because they're playing high, getting blocked and receiving the blocks in their chest. And the structure is wrong. Man, like, folks, Bama's got an issue. and it's not going to get any better anytime soon. It's been the exact same issue for four straight games.

That means it's going to continue, which means, I think at a minimum, at a minimum, you're looking at two, probably more like four or five absolute shootouts the rest of the year. This offense is going to have to be one of the best offenses and most explosive offenses in college football, which it is, which it is. Don't get me wrong. Remember, those OU teams still went to the playoffs. Those OU team still won their conference.

In fact, the Baker team probably could have beat Georgia in that overtime game. I mean, it was close. It's right there, right? It's a play here or there. They had the ball with a chance to win in that overtime. But I'm just telling you, like, it's harder. They still have to play at Tennessee. They still have to play at LSU.

Both of those offenses are pretty good, even though Tennessee didn't play well offensively this last week. So this is going to continue. And then one other troubling trend, and this is following, by the way, Kaelin DeBore from Washington now to Alabama. they're 114th in penalty yards per game. 114th.

And did you see the temper tantrum that Malachi Moore threw at the end of the game? Like, what are we doing? You can't. Bro, you're a leader. Like, you've got to hold the standard. Well, let's go back to like, hey, you've got to hold the standard. All right? You're either the refrigerator or you're the gallon of milk.

The gallon of milk turns into whatever temperature it's around. The refrigerator turns everything in it to, it's temperature. You've got to be the refrigerator. And at that point, Malachi Morris shoving guys. He's thrown his mouthpiece. He's kicking the football. He's got to be better than that. I know he is. I know that he is. I told myself and Steve, as we were preparing, like, I didn't want to just focus on the teams that lose. And so I know that this is going to make this go a little bit longer.

But kudos to Vanderbilt. Okay? You can tell, one, they played their butts off. Two, their game plan was outstanding. And I love that they weren't trying to just... I've covered games where you can tell that the team that thinks it's going to lose or is a big underdog, they're basically just trying to make it respectable. So they're doing things throughout the game and making decisions throughout the game

that are designed only to make the margin less significant in a loss. I've done games like that. Vandy put it all out there. Their game plan was terrific. So Clark Lee, way to go, man. Like that was awesome. It was a great scene, even though it looked like it was about 70% Alabama fans in that stadium.

Diego Pavia, the interview at the end was wild. I love that. I love that they took the goalposts out. Did you see? I saw this post where the fire department had to fish the goalpost out of the river. What is it with people from Tennessee, by the way? They beat Alabama and it's just immediately, like we got to throw it in the river. Why do we have to do that? Why'd you have to copy Tennessee?

I mean, I don't know. You know what else is funny? And I saw all these memes out there on social media as well. Do you know how many Bachelorette parties were probably ruined as they're marching the goalpost down the streets in Nashville? That's what I'm here for. And I absolutely love it. They had the ball for 42 minutes. Bama had no sacks. Vandy ran the ball 54 times. They controlled the game. They were 12 of them. 18 on third down. This was not a fluke. That was a great game and a great performance. and kudos to Vandy. Way to go. Clark Lee. What did I tell you at the beginning of this show? Sometimes failure is the driver of growth. Who'd they lose to? It's like Georgia State or someone like that. Guess what? They went back to the drawing board and they got better. So kudos to them. Let's stick in the SEC and continue on this upset Saturday.

Tennessee and Missouri go down. Tennessee loses to Arkansas. Missouri didn't just lose. They got their doors blown absolutely off against Texas A&M. That wasn't even a contest. Not even close. Not even close. Tennessee loses 1914, game that they had a 143 lead in in the third quarter, and then they let it slip away. Missouri loses 41. but they trailed 34-0 at one point. They got doubled up in yards, 512 yards to 254. Like I'm saying, like one of these is not like the other. I'm just here to tell you that Tennessee and Missouri, I came into this week feeling different about them and I feel very differently about each of these losses. I'm not as worried about Tennessee's loss.

And I'll get to that in a moment. This is evidence of what I've been trying to tell you about Missouri all year. This team's record and projection was always, always since the offseason, much higher than what the team's actual ability is. They really only have elite ability in one area, and that's throwing the football, and that's not going well with Brady Cook and Luther Burton. Everywhere else, like, they lost too much.

They lost too much. this team was never going to be this good. The fact that they were ranked in the top 10 is the AP's fault. It's no one's fault, but those that vote them and put them there. And it was a projection of their schedule and what they did last year. But this team is not anywhere close to a top 10 team. So we can say like five of the top 11, oh, look at these upsets. This was not an upset. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, A&M was favored in that game. So Vegas knew what was up. And by the way, Washington was favored in the Michigan game. So, Vegas knew what was up. Oh, by the way, someone picked that. I don't know. Was someone 5 and

oh? Hello? Hello? That's right. We were 5 and 0. We'll get to that later. This is my top 10, how I look at it now, because some of the teams are going to stay. One's going to move up ahead of a team that already beat them. I know it's going to be crazy, but my top 10 goes, Texas 1, Ohio State 2. I've got Georgia at 3 and more on that in a moment. Oregon at 4, Penn State at 5. That's a tough one. I just kind of have to like slate them. Bama 6, Clemson at 7 ahead of Miami, even though Clemson has lost. And then I've got Tennessee 9 and Iowa State. That's right.

Matt Campbell is undefeated. Folks, watch out for Iowa State. They're jumping in my top 10. Now, why is Georgia all the way up there at 3? Well, because of last Saturday. I'm not talking about the Saturday in which they lost, but last Saturday. Isn't that evidence of how difficult it is to win on the road, in particular in conference play? specifically when it's the first road game that you have that year.

And yet they played great, at least for one half against Alabama. So in that scene against that team with that explosive and offense, they, like they were right there. They were right there. And I'm going to go back to the point of like Carson Beck, he woke up Sunday morning thinking to himself like, just give me one more shot. Give me one more shot.

Why? Because he knows that that defense of Alabama is not it. And the fact that they played that well, even in a loss, is much better than the way that Bama played in a loss on the road at Vanderbilt. So that's why I have them still up there. And then when it comes to Tennessee, here's the thing about Tennessee. I'm less worried about this because of all the things I opened the show with, I still believe that Tennessee is going to be a very good team.

That I still believe Alabama is still going to be a very good team. I still believe Georgia is going to be a good team. I think Clemson is a lot better and they've gotten better after that loss clearly in the first week to Georgia. And this Tennessee team is going to grow through this. See, Nico Iomale avid did not play well. He did not play well. And to be fair, he didn't play well at Oklahoma either. So we've got a road conference game issue with Tennessee,

at least from their course. perspective. But the difference is, is that we've seen that now twice, and they've won one of the games, and they haven't won one of the games, and they had a hell of a good chance to win this one against Arkansas because the supporting cast around the young quarterback is so much better than, let's say, Missouri. Missouri's just not very good. I've been telling you that since the offseason. They have been overrated since that time. This Tennessee team has enough around this struggling young quarterback where they're going to be fine. will still win games. This defense is still outstanding. Okay, they can still run the football. That's going to allow him to grow through this. What did I see from Nico on film? I saw a guy that

was spooked. I saw a guy that held the ball far too long. I did not think his footwork was all that great. There were things there. There were plays to be made. I think that there was some criticism maybe from people who work on this show that Josh Heippel was too conservative. But when I watched the film, I'm like, there were throws to be made. Nico just didn't pull the trigger. He's got to go, he's got to learn how to anticipate.

Okay, so when you're a young quarterback, one of the most difficult things to do is to become an anticipatory thrower when you're not playing your best. It takes guts to do that. Okay, so he's clearly not playing his best. the offense is not in a great rhythm. It's a road game.

It's loud. A lot of things working against you. That's when you have to, you kind of have to like pull yourself up from your bootstraps as a quarterback, and you just got to be like, hey, I'm just going to go make a throw. And I'm going to hit that back foot in the pocket,

and I'm going to let it rip. I'm going to trust what I see. I'm going to trust my preparation. And I'm not going to do what a scared quarterback does when he's young, which is wait to see it in order to throw the football. That's what I see on film from Nico. You see some moments that he's great and then some moments that you just want to pull your hair out. So when he's on the run outside of the pocket, everything is, you can see everything.

And so, man, he lets it rip. And it's beautiful. He makes a few throws and you're like, yes, yes, that's it. One of them was right at the end, by the way, to put them in position to actually score late in that game. He rolls out to his left and just unleashes an absolute laser beam. And you're like, yes, yes, I love it. And then there's other times that you're like, no, what are we doing?

This is why I can't coach. I would have a heart attack. I would have a heart attack. And then I would choke a kid. And then I'll get fired and I'd never coach again. So you know what? I just talk about it. And it's a lot better on my blood pressure.

He holds it too long. there's deep in cuts that are there on the second and third man in the progression. A lot of what they do is like a choice route to the front side and then two in cuts to the wide side of the field. And so you're like read the choice and then it's like, boom, two, three. And he would never get to three. He would just hang on the choice and hang and hang and hanging around.

And Teddy KGB ain't going to be there for long. So it's like you got to get back to the deep in cut, man. A bro, like, hey, let's go. And sometimes as a quarterback developer, and this is what I would do if I were Josh Hypo is I would sit behind him and I would create stress for him in practice. I can remember this happening to me. So I was sitting there and I had the same issue as Nico is having.

And I would hang on like a reed and be like, I just want to see it. And my coach started like clapping in rhythm behind me and shouting. And then he would just yell late. You know, it's like, one. two late. And it's like, oh, you know, and you've got to learn how to play with that pace and that urgency. And I don't see that from Nico. He can learn that, though. So this is, again, another reason why I'm not as worried about Tennessee is because the things that he's struggling with, he can improve on. And the structure around him, the supporting cast around him, is still an elite group.

I still really like this Tennessee team. In the fourth quarter, he made some poor decisions. Obviously late, like, bro, you've got to understand the clock. And what's more worrisome about that is that a similar situation happened at the end of the first half. I'm watching film. There's eight seconds left when they snap the football at the end of the first half and he holds it and he holds it and he rolls out of the pocket. It's like, dude, like read the room. There's eight seconds left. You can't roll out. As soon as you leave the pocket, you've got to think to yourself, I got to heave it down the field or something along. So he kind of made the same mistake in the second quarter. And then in the fourth quarter,

six seconds left and fourth down. You can't run. You can't run. Learning moment. Learning moment. Let's go back to what I opened with. You've got to fail sometimes in order to grow. And guess what?

This is going to be the hardest film for Nico Iamale of to watch. And in the film room, he's going to look at all those in cuts. He's going to look at the second and the third man of the progression. He's going to be like, dang, man, I got to get the ball out of my hands. Dang, man, I got to know what's going on with the clock. and now when he walks back out there the next time he's on the road, guess what? He's going to be better. I guarantee it. I absolutely guarantee it. So that's why I'm not as concerned with Tennessee and I'm basically riding off Missouri.

Missouri's not a very good football team. They've been overrated since the off season. And all you fanboys for Missouri that want to take off on me on Twitter about like, Joel hates Missouri. No, I don't hate Missouri. They're just not a very good football team. And that's that. Michigan loses at Washington in a national championship game rematch, 2417. And again, let's credit where credit is due here. Washington played a great game. Jed Fish is a very good football coach.

And he's in his first year. He's got a lot of transfers. He's had to rebuild that roster after all of those veteran players left that under Kaylon DeBore went to a national championship game. So this was going to be a little bit of a slow process. and you're starting to see, though, why Jedfish is such a good coach. Will Rogers is a good quarterback, by the way. I like what Washington does.

That environment is an elite environment. There are elite environments, by the way, two of them in the Northwest. It is going to be, and Big Ten teams are going to learn this. It is not easy to go to Washington and Husky Stadium and win. It's not easy to go to Otson Stadium in Oregon and win. It's just not. In fact, when you look at Washington, their last loss in Husky Stadium was 2021.

That's pre-Kalin DeBore. So, like, that's not a place that you just roll into. Ask Dan Lending and Bo Nix and the Oregon Ducks. They went in there and got beat last year. And now Michigan rolls in there and they get beat this year. So Michigan drops their first Big Ten game since 2021. And I guess if you're Michigan, there's some, solace in the fact that did they find their quarterback? Did they find somewhat of their identity

even in a loss now with Jack Tuttle at quarterback? It's pretty clear early in that game. They fall down 14-0 and Alex Orgy is the quarterback and it's like, this ain't working. And Sharon Moore makes the change and he goes to Jack Tuttle. And Tuttle goes in there and in his first three series, you're like, well, geez, did they just become a playoff team? You know, I mean, that's kind of, it's like the Michigan of last year. And all of a sudden you get a completion over the middle and you get a wide receiver catching a ball and you're like, oh man, I haven't seen O'Marion Walker show up yet and I've thought he was going to show up, but it kind of fell apart down the stretch. So no, it's not a team that's going to probably go to the

playoff. But now all of a sudden they've got a higher ceiling with Jack Tuttle. I believe that they expected Jack Tuttle to be available at the start of the year. This is the only way that I can reconcile what's been going on through the first month of the season at Michigan. The fact that they've looked, so lost and trying to find their way offensively. It's like, hold on. Something happened in the offseason, and I think it's that they expected Tuttle to be ready,

which is why they leaned into this style of system, which is why Davis Warren goes out there as a starting quarterback. Then they clearly have to move because of turnovers and they go to Alex Orgy because Tuttle is not ready. And Orgy is just not ready to be a quarterback at this level. He does not throw it well enough. It's painfully obvious. He's a great athlete and a true.

tremendous human being. I love sitting with Alex Orgy. He's got such a great perspective, but it wasn't working at quarterback. So now Jack Tuttle goes in there and you're like, okay, well, this looks like it's going to work. And then the fourth quarter starts. And Michigan reverts to a version of Michigan that, quite frankly, I haven't seen for the last three years. And it was a team that was undisciplined. They were not fundamentally sound. The structures and schematics were bad. And the decision-making was bad. It was all bad in the fourth quarter. They've given up now, and by the way, this is not the only game that this has happened.

In the fourth quarter, this year, they've allowed 63 points in six games. That's sixth most in college football. Something is going wrong in the fourth quarter. I immediately thought to myself like, well, maybe it's a depth issue on defense because they don't have the depth on defense that they did a year ago. And that's true. And that would make sense, although they're not facing a ton more snap. So I'm like, well, hold on.

Like maybe that's not it. Like what else is it? Because this is a team last year that only gave up 47 points in the fourth quarter in all 15 games. What's going on? And then I'm thinking to myself, hold on. It's right on the film. When you walk through that film, you see a team that, quite frankly, plays three quarters instead of four because of the offensive system that was going on early.

They spot them a 14 point lead. And then they come back and they take the lead. It's 1714. And I've told you before, this Michigan team does not have a margin for error. So they've got to play sound, everything. They've got to do things right. And when I say things, I mean kind of like everything right. You've got to play with great technique.

You've got to play with great game management, decision making, fundamentals, all of it. And all of that fell apart in the fourth quarter. When you walk through the film and you watch that, here's what you see. You see a team that structurally on some of these defensive blitzes is not sound. I've been saying this and it's imminently true again. Let me give you an example. Okay, so Washington lined up in a three by one structure with the three wide receivers in a bunch to the short side of the field.

Okay? Unless you're driving, just close your eyes and picture that. Kind of a bunch set of wide receivers, short side of the field. It was to the right side of the offense. A single receiver to the wide side of the field, okay? And one running back. So that's their set.

Okay? I would have called it like triple right. Okay, whatever. Who cares what I would call it. The defense lines up. And before the snap of the football, I paused the film and I'm like, well, that's wrong. So they have a single high safety.

They have two corners. And then they have three linebackers. And one of the linebackers is walked out towards the single receiver, towards the wide side of the field. So there's two linebackers, I would say, in the box, four down linemen. And one linebacker walked out to that single receiver towards the wide side of the field. So I'm looking this and I'm like, well, this isn't very good. because now all they have is one corner and kind of a linebacker over the three receiver structure.

And then they blitz. Six guys. So the two linebackers that were lined up inside and the four down linemen all blitz. And I'm like, wait a second. And there is a support player walked out to the field. a nickel or a lineback or whatever you want to call him with no one to defend. And there's only two players that are possible left to defend the three receiver side. And they just have a nice completion there because they can't get to the quarterback in time.

And he just throws it over there because no one's defending them. And I'm like, one, you can't play a zone if you're going to blitz six guys. You better be in man-to-man defense. And you have two players over three. it blew my mind. Maybe it's just a misd assignment, but that's not a structure that you can win with. It causes a first down and new set of downs.

And then right after that, guess what happens? A bad leverage play and you miss a tackle. And then all of a sudden, you give up points on that drive. Then the offense goes out there. Jack Tuttle doesn't make the right read. He's got to go route open. He decides to run the football and he fumbles. And he gives up what?

A short field. So here's things that didn't happen last year. They didn't give up short fields because they didn't turn the football over. If you turn the football over and you lose the field position battle, as a Michigan team, you will lose the game. And they did. They gave up two short fields in the fourth quarter and gave up 10 points because of it. And they walked into that fourth quarter with a 1714 lead.

You can't win like that. So after one of the turnovers, they lose the edge on defense. And run a bad route on the internet. Coulston Loveland is drifting down the field. And I'm like, none of this is right. None of this is right. Bad structures, bad fundamentals, bad decisions, all of it bad. That's why they got beat in the fourth quarter.

They don't have a good enough team to do that. And last year, I will just tell you this. Last year, that team was insanely detailed, insanely fundamentally sound, and they had J.J. McCarthy to bail them out on third down when needed. and they had Roman Wilson and some wide receivers that could actually go get it, which is another big, like, third down thing. This team doesn't have that. So they better be buttoned up, and they weren't, and they got beat.

And Washington's a good team. Husky Stadium is a tough place to play. Haven't lost in that building since 2021. That's prior to Kalin DeBore, and you get beat. And now you got two losses. A team that did not struggle was Ohio State. Ohio State pulls away in the second half. They beat Iowa 35-7.

Now, a lot of people I heard saying like, well, it was only 7-0 at half. Okay, that's true. And a couple of turnovers were sloppy. They failed on a fourth down, and that's what kept it at 7-0. The difference is that Ohio State owned the line of scrimmage against Iowa, owned the line of scrimmage.

They ran it for over 5 yards per carry, which doesn't generally happen against Iowa, just doesn't. In fact, when you look at the amount of times that actually happens against Iowa. It happened one time last year, and maybe like one time the year before. Like teams don't just win the line of scrimmage.

They have those levels of defense. They're incredibly tough up front. And Ohio State just kind of handled them. Five yards per carry. Defensively, they had four sacks. Defensively, they had nine tackles for loss. And Iowa State didn't have, or excuse me, Iowa didn't have any of that.

They had one sack, two tackles for loss. So the line of scrimmage was just a massive win for Ohio State. And I start with that because that's one of the questions that we all have is like, what is their offensive line going to do? Well, one of the only offensive lines that can really win it against an Iowa team in the last couple of years. And then you get all the weapons on the outside. I think that's a given. Even without Carnel Tate playing, which is precautionary and he'll be back against Oregon,

you've got the best skill position players in the country. Jeremiah Smith, again, with my, like, another Moss get off me touchdown. Just insane, dude. Like, this guy is ridiculous. Watching Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith, I continue to say, like, what high school kid was defending them last year? And then you realize like, oh, that's right. Nobody was because nobody in college is defending these guys.

They're insane. And Abuca goes off, by the way. Remember him? The one that we all forget about. Oh, that's right. He's still a top wide receiver in college football, top five wide receiver in college football. He goes for three tuddies in the third quarter. He's like, oh, hey, let's welcome Abuca. I think a mecca is a great, great person. I really enjoy talking with a meca abuka. He has a great perspective. He wants to do something special with this group at Ohio State. He reminds me, although a different position and a different style of leader, he reminds me a lot of Blake Corum.

You know, it was like neither of them were quarterbacks, but their offensive skill position players, but kind of the heartbeat of the team is within these guys. He reminds me of Blake Corum in that respect a little bit. I know he's not going to be wanting to be compared to a Michigan Wolverine, but that's kind of what it reminds me of. The question for me still with Ohio State is going to be Will Howard. I think Will doesn't have to be great. I think that he can be a game manager and go win a national championship with this group, to be fair.

And we're going to find out the answer about, how well he can play over their next three games. Their next three games are insane, by the way. If you've been waiting to see what Ohio State will do against better competition, one, look at Iowa because Iowa is no slouch and they beat them 35-7 handily in that one and owned the line of scrimmage. And then now they're going to go to Oregon, number three in the country. They're going to be home against Nebraska, who's right now 27th in the country,

just a couple of spots out of the top 25. And then they've got to go to Happy Valley and face Penn State, who's ranked number four in the country. So they've got to visit two top five teams before the election. Hello, that's going to be tough. Those three teams have a combined 15 and one record. And so all the questions that we have, whether it's offensive line related or Will Howard related, those are going to be answered over the next month.

USC loses in Minneapolis. My goodness. It's like you just can't even take a break. It's just like fast and furious in this show. This was the classic trap game. Classic trap game. Minnesota is getting better and better and better. And they're finding their identity along the way of the season.

They lose a game that they shouldn't of to North Carolina early. They lose to Michigan in a game in which they find themselves in the second half, and in particular in that fourth quarter. Brozmer, their quarterback, is starting to emerge. as this like leader for them. He comes in as more of a passer. And yet they lean back into what has made PJ Fleck successful at Minnesota. They went back to their blueprint.

And I think this is where they need to live. All right. Play solid defense, physical on the defensive side, do what you can on that side. And then lean into the run game. That's their blueprint, right? They need to lean in. And Darius Taylor, they're back who I like.

I think he's a really good. good player. 25 carries for 144. Minnesota ran it 40 times for 193 yards, three touchdowns on the ground against USC. It's like, that's the blueprint for Minnesota. So this is where it's a trap game. It's like there's this team that's tough. They're at home. They're an underdog. They're getting better. They're getting better. They're straining. They're failing. They're growing. They're doing all the things that I was talking about early. For a coach that's been really successful there. And he's a regimented guy. And he holds his own state. and he's going to hold them accountable.

And USC rolls in there and they feel really good about themselves because they played sloppily and still kind of handled a Wisconsin team the previous week, had turned it over three times, still beat them pretty easily. We're really good. And next week we've got Penn State and that's the big one. And we'll just kind of clean up with these Minnesota Golden Gophers. And then they didn't. And USC did not play well.

And guess what? Their weakest spots are exactly where Minnesota exploited. Their offensive line and defensive line. So turnovers have been an issue. The offensive line and defensive line have been an issue. And so now they've been in games in which they can't protect Miller Moss against Michigan and they lose the game. They've been in games now where they can't defend the run and lose like Minnesota. So now all of a sudden, both sides have shown a deficit and you've got Penn State coming to town.

And guess what Penn State is going to do? They're going to run the football and they're going to rush the quarterback. And probably as good or better than any of the teams of the team. that they've faced. I don't know if they rush quite as well as Michigan does, but it'll be close with Abdul Carter. So USC is in a bit of trouble right now. They've got to clean up the turnovers, another three against Minnesota. That's eight over the last three games, and you're not going to win if you turn the football over. This game against Penn State is a matchup that I don't love for them. Penn State is going to run the ball, and they're going to do it with reckless abandon. Andy Codell,

will be creative. He'll get extra alignment on the field. They've got two of the best backs in the country and they will lean on the run game. Meanwhile, nobody in college football over the last three years has sacked the quarterback more than the Penn State Nittany Lions. That's a pass rush that you do not want to deal with. They get off very quickly. They're athletic and they get after it. Abdul Carter. Deny Dennis Sutton. These guys are good players. I do not like this matchup for USC in particular with the way that they have been playing. I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the nightcap. For one, I was still up. Why? Because the landing gear in our flight from United wouldn't go up

from the Chicago to L.A. on Saturday night. And so we had to fly around for two hours in a circle with the landing gear down in order to quote, and I'm quoting, burn fuel in order to get back and be under the landing weight. And I'm like, are you burning fuel? so that if we crash, there's not like a fireball. That's what I was thinking. Will someone leave a comment down below? Is the whole like landing weight, an actual thing? Like, can they not just land?

Do they really take off? And are they heavier than like, can we not land? Like, what if there's an emergency? Couldn't a plane land? I don't understand. What do you mean burn fuel? Aren't you just burning fuel so that when or if we crash, we're not a fireball?

that's why I texted Sarah. I was like, hey, babe, by the way, like, I just really love you and kiss the boys. And she's like, wait, what? And I'm like, well, we have a landing gear issue. But don't worry about it. Everything's fine. Got back home at 3 a.m.

But guess what I got to do? See the end of the Miami game. That was a wild comeback. Candidly, the internet was going in and out. So at one point, I'm like, okay, that game is over and Cal's going to win. And Justin Wilcox is the best coach that nobody talks about. And then all of a sudden, guess what? Cam Ward comes all the way back and he wins the game.

So here's what I know about what happened in Berkeley with Miami and what it says about the ACC. Exactly what I thought about the ACC and all the parties involved before the game. I still think Cam Ward is incredible and he probably deserves to go to New York and would be in my top three of a Heisman trophy vote if I had to vote today.

This guy's sensational. Again, over 400 yards and three total touchdowns. So that's number one. Number two, I do not trust Miami. Second straight week that I just don't trust them, that the officials have bailed them out in particular on some reviews. And again, we can't do this conference officiating thing. Like there's some things in that game that happen,

whether it's targeting calls or the review against Virginia Tech that it's like, wait, what? Like, wait, I'm sorry, what's going on? Anyways, Miami's going to continue to play games like this. I fear because I just don't trust them. This is kind of Mario Cristobal's M.O., excuse me. and so I love Cam Ward and he's incredible, and yet I don't really trust Miami,

and in particular, their defense, they're giving up far too many yards and too many points. And then the third thing about the parties involved, in particular in that conference, I still like Clemson. So everything that happened, whether it's Clemson beating Florida State handily or Miami coming back and Cam Ward being sensational,

it's exactly what we all thought. Why am I giving Trump hands right now? I don't understand. If you're watching on YouTube, I'm doing like the, I don't understand. It was incredible. Cam Ward was incredible. I don't trust them at all.

And Clemson's still going to win the ACC. Didn't learn anything. Didn't learn anything from that game. It was just entertaining. It was just very entertaining. I'm going to have my updated Heisman list on Wednesday. I'm also going to talk more about Boise State on Wednesday. You're going to want to tune into that because I think we all need to be prepared

for something that's, I think, not just like could happen, but might be imminent with Boise State. I still don't know why I'm doing Trump hands. I've got them out right now. You guys got to get to YouTube. I don't know what's going on. It's going to be a good show on Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Love college football. And I love you for loving college football. Be blessed. See you on Wednesday.