The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Week 1 Lookahead: What to expect in Coach Prime’s debut, Nebraska starts over & LSU-Florida St

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt previews Week 1 in college football by going around the country looking at the biggest games and storylines. Klatt starts with the two big Thursday Night matchups as the Matt Rhule era begins for Nebraska when they take on Minnesota on FOX and Utah hosts Florida in Salt Lake City. He then shifts to the FOX Big Noon Saturday matchup when Coach Prime takes his Colorado Buffaloes to Fort Worth to take on TCU. He breaks down what you can expect to see from Prime’s new-look roster and where their strengths and weaknesses will be. Klatt gets into what he wants to see from Penn State’s new QB Drew Allar in their season opener before finishing with his pick in the Top-10 clash between LSU and Florida State. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the Joel Class show, kidney stones are undefeated, and we've got actual games to talk about right now. 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. Oh, you can feel it. It is the Joel Clash show.

I am Joel Clatt. This show is presented by Hampton by Hilton. We're here. We're finally here. I know we saw games last week, but we're finally here. We're finally to a point where we can have an episode where all we do is break down games that we're about to see this weekend. And I am here for it. I'll talk about Nebraska, Minnesota, Florida, Utah, Colorado, TCU, Ohio State, Penn State,

Florida, LSU, all of those coming up on today's show. Good to be here. I've been in it. If any of you follow me on social media, you can follow me personally on social media at Joel Clatt on Twitter or X. Do I have to say both now? Do I just say X? Do I just say Twitter?

Do you understand? I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with my hands. Where do I hold my hands? I was battling kidney stones since Thursday. Those of you who have had kidney stones feel like you immediately have some empathy, first of all. So thank you for that.

I appreciate it. And you know that it's been absolutely excruciating. multiple stones since Thursday night. And yeah, it's, it's one of those deals where if you listen to the show on Monday, you probably are like, man, Joel, like, he got a little angry at the NCAA. Two things.

One, yes, because of course, two, I was hurting a little bit. So, like they got a little wrath from, from the pain that I was suffering from those stones. So by the way, if you've got any suggestions, like throw them to me on social media, you don't want to hear about my pain. You want to hear about games. And so I'm here for that. Let's get into it. Let's start here with Nebraska at Minnesota. Gus and I will be back in the booth with the All-American girl Jenny tapped on the sideline on Thursday night on Fox as Nebraska travels to Minnesota. Obviously an interesting game. We've got Matt Rule in his debut as the Cornhuskers coach and PJ Fleck at Minnesota trying to continue what is now been quietly one of the most

successful runs in all of college football over the last couple of years. Now it hasn't ended in a playoff berth or a lot of like marquee top end wins. So I feel like people haven't paid attention to what Minnesota has done over the last couple of years, but it's been pretty good, pretty damn good from PJ Fleck. Let's just start with this. And let's start. start with Nebraska because if you're like me, I'm 41 years old. I know I'm getting old, but I grew up in the Midwest. I grew up in the old Big 8 territory, right? I grew up just outside of Boulder, Colorado. And so for me, for my entire life, all my formative years, Nebraska was not just like, oh, yeah, they were, they were really good. They were the class of college football.

They were the preeminent program in college football. Tom Osborne, what they did. And especially in the 90s. I mean, wow, early 80s, 90s, those 90s teams for five years, they were easily the best team in college football. What Georgia is doing right now, what Alabama has done over the last few years, like that's what Nebraska football was.

Now, if you're half my age, and you are 20 years old, about to turn 21, and you think you know everything about everything because that's what 20-year-olds do, you think that Nebraska has been awful forever. Not the case. not the case. It has been two decades since this program has done anything. And they've tried, right? So they go from Solich and they went, what was it, Bill Callahan, and then Callahan to Pallini. But Pellini's nine wins a year wasn't good enough for them. So they fired Pellini. And then Mike Riley was in there. And then they went, you know, and they brought home and former player and Scott Frost. I thought it was going to work. It didn't. It just nothing has worked. Well, enter Matt Rule. And Matt Rule is an ultimate fixer. Look at what he did at Temple.

Not a place that you should win big, and he did. He went to Baylor in the middle of what I thought was going to be a death spiral for Baylor. What happened after that Art Bryle's era and what Baylor was at that time, when Matt Ruhle went there, I thought to myself, is this guy crazy? And he went there and built them into a Big 12 title contender into eventually a Big 12 title winner after he left for Carolina. So now he goes to the NFL, doesn't work out, comes back. You know what? No harm, no foul.

Because as we've seen throughout the history, whether it's Nick Saban or Steve Spurrier or others, it's really hard to take that leap. And it matters who you have at quarterback. And it matters, you know, what your roster is going to look like. It worked for Pete Carroll, didn't work for Matt Rule, whatever. He comes back now to college football and he's at Nebraska. And it's a similar feeling. It's like, okay, like Nebraska?

All right. But for 20 years, they haven't done anything for the last. decade. They have not finished in the top 10 in the final AP poll. And guess what? This is going to be a slow build for Matt Ruhl and Nebraska. So how does that relate to Thursday night? Because he has this unique understanding after talking with people around the program. He's got this unique understanding that yes, while it might be a slow build and he is here for the long run, that there still has to be the urgency around the program and within the program so that the fourth and fifth year players feel the urgency that this,

This season is as important as any. He doesn't want to roll out there and be like, don't worry. It's my staff's first year. Like, oh, you know, we'll be fine. So there has to be some urgency. And yet the fan base, I'm here and I'm with you on this. I know and you know that this is not going to happen overnight. So Thursday night, what are we going to see?

Well, from Nebraska, I don't quite know. There are some holes in this roster. There are. And then there's some really intriguing parts to this roster, namely their quarterback Jeff Sims. Jeff Sims transfers from Georgia Tech, very athletic player, by the way, first off the bus type of guy. I love it when I talk with coaches because they'll use that terminology quite a bit.

They're like, oh, yeah, he's the one that we want first off the bus. What does that mean? He looks like an Adonis. Okay, so Jeff Sims is 6-4-220. You want him off the bus first. He's going to be a physically imposing player. Now, at Georgia Tech, he completed somewhere in that kind of 50% range. that needs to increase.

It needs to get better. Should it? Probably. Although I will say that their wide receiver core is the one area that this team is lacking a little bit. That's the position that I think that they need to address the quickest. They're decent upfront. They've got some experience up front. Turner Cochran is back. Ben Scott played a lot at Arizona State.

He transfers in. Bryce Benhart, he's played a lot for them. So there's guys up front. And I do think that they're going to be able to run. run the football. A guy I want you to keep an eye on is Gabe Irvin. Gabe Irvin Jr. And his true freshman year was a starter for Nebraska. They went into a game in the non-conference against Oklahoma, a game that Gus and I did actually. I remember Oklahoma was throwing a fit about playing in the marquee window on Fox at 11 a.m. Central. And it turns out that like they also

didn't show up and didn't play very well, squeaked by and got a win. But Gabe Irvin Jr. the show for a bit of that early section of the game. And I really loved what I saw from him on film and what I saw that day until, unfortunately, he blew out his knee. That knee injury has slowed him ever since. And he's never gotten back to the point where I thought he was playing that year. I think he's back to that point. I believe he is healthy. And this run game should be pretty good. They've also got Anthony Grant, who was productive for them. Ramir Johnson is a guy that can be a back, also a slot possible guy, and then they like their tight ends.

That's what you'll see on the offensive side from Nebraska. Defense, not quite sure. That defense was not very good. They were bottom 100 in offense and defense last year. We'll see. A couple of guys that I like, Luke Reimer, Nick Henrich. Those are some older players that I really like. Now, for Minnesota, by the way, when I say Minnesota,

I want the O gets long because I work with, Jenny Taft, who's from Minnesota. And so when she says Minnesota, like, we get the, like the Minneapolis girl comes out in her. And so now every time I hear Minnesota, that's all I can hear in my own head is Minnesota. So the whole game Thursday night,

that's going to be in my head. It's like, how am I saying, and I might just say gofers, but the problem is, oh, and gofers. So I'm going to be like, all of mine would be gofers. I'm sorry, sir, but if there's no,

golfers who's going to be left with. Golfers! Those of you that are old like me, you know, that's a Caddyshack reference, and you're welcome. Minnesota has quietly had just a really successful last couple of years. And quickly on Minnesota, here's what I like about PJ Fleck and what he does

with this program. He looks at his roster. I believe he evaluates his roster with clear eyes. He sees where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are, and then he leans into his strengths. This is not a guy that is rigid in terms of the style he will play. Now, from the outside looking in, I think people would presume falsely that he is rigid.

And it's PJ's way or the highway or whatever. That's not the case. This guy is fluid and flexible in the way that he is going to operate, the schemes that they will run and the type of philosophy that they will have in particular on the offensive side. Here's how I know that. Back 2018, 2019, they were great at wide receiver. And what did they do? They threw the ball quite a bit.

A couple of Big Ten, all Big Ten wide receivers on those teams. Rashad Bateman was one of those guys. Then what happens? Well, those guys leave. They're not as good at wide receiver, but their offensive line becomes veteran and physical and very good. They've got a back that can really run it. Mo Ibrahim. So what do they become?

the most run heavy team in Power 5 football over the last five years, or excuse me, the last couple of years. Leans into what their strengths are. So what are these, what is this team's strength? This team's strength is going to be back to the passing game. They're really good at wide receiver. I look at these guys like Chris Ottman Bell, really good player, Daniel Jackson, really good player, Elijah Spencer, Corey Krooms,

LeMecke-Brockington. These guys can play on the outside. they've got a quarterback replacing Tanner Morgan who might be more talented. Okay, Tanner Morgan deserved to play. He was the program's all-time winning as quarterback. He was the leader. But now Athen Callie McManus,

Cali-Eckmanus, excuse me, he's probably a little bit more talented as a passer, which means that this is going to be a passing-oriented team. They like their tight end a lot, and I expect them to come out and throw it a little bit. Their defense quietly has been statistically one of the better defenses out there, although they play in the Big Ten West, so those numbers could be a little bit inflated, but a good match up there.

So that's going to be Thursday night. Also Thursday night, Florida at Utah. Now quickly on this game, Utah is favored and rightly so. Now, let's remember, this Utah team goes down to Florida a year ago and they lost. They lost that game. That was a major problem for the entire conference. because we all knew that like Florida wasn't going to be a top end SEC team and yet we expected Utah to be a top end PAC 12 team, which they ended up being. And so here we are in a situation where one of the best Pac-12 teams lost to middling SEC team and that's not going to help you in the modern four-team playoff.

It's just not. This needs to change this year because Florida is again picked what? I finished like fifth, fourth, fifth, and the SEC East. This is not a team that anyone thinks all that highly of down in the SEC. And rightly so, rightly so. Meanwhile, Utah is still considered one of the better teams in the PAC 12. Now, there is a major caveat in this game, which is who's playing quarterback for Utah? Is Cam Rising going to be healthy after that knee injury in the Rose Bowl?

Or is he not going to be healthy? Now, I don't expect him to play. I don't know that to be for sure, but I don't expect him to play in this game. With that being said, Utah needs, and the PAC 12 needs them to believe that they are the better program. Don't worry about what logo is out there, what conference is out there. Utah is at home. They are better in terms of overall roster. They're tougher at the line of scrimmage.

They can run the ball, they can play defense, and that's a tough place to play. They've got to take care of business against Florida. The PAC 12 desperately needs them to take care of business against Florida. This is a game that will resonate throughout the rest of the season in terms of how we view not only Utah, but the rest of the Pac-12. And there's a few of those games, by the way, in the non-conference. Utah's got this game. They've also got Baylor, I believe.

You've got Oregon and TCU. You've got Washington and Michigan State. USC is going to have to play Notre Dame. These are the games that I'm looking at this, this Pact 12, and I'm like, I think highly of the Pact 12. I've got five of these teams in my top 15 in the preseason. Every one of those games that I just mentioned, the Pact 12 team should be favored to win.

You've got to go win those games. If this conference is finally going to get a breakthrough playoff appearance here in the last year of its existence and the 14 players, They've got to start winning these games, and it starts Thursday night with Utah over Florida. By the way, Jaquindon Jackson, he's a guy I really like for them. Hey, it's my favorite time of year. It is football season. As you know, I take it very seriously.

So when I'm traveling on the road to watch my favorite teams, I can't risk calling the wrong play with where I stay wherever I go. I know that I can count on Hampton by Hilton. I can depend on their comfortable rooms and their warm and friendly service and their free hot breakfast is a game changer. So whether you're cheering on your team from the stands or never leaving the tailgate, Hampton by Hilton will always give you that win. Let's move on here a couple of more games that we need to wrap about and talk about. Let's get to the one that I think is most interesting. Maybe you would agree with me, maybe not.

I think that the most interesting game of the entire week one slate is Colorado at TCU. Now, TCU is favored by 20. I think that that's too much, but I always think that the games that I'm going to call are going to be better. Let me just tell you what I know about these two teams, because there's a lot that we don't know about these two teams. But here's what I know about these two teams. Let's start with Colorado. Coach Prime's debut for the Buffaloes. I know that they're going to look really good.

You heard about the new Unis, all white, apparently a bunch of new gold trim, the throwback Dion Sanders cleats. I mean, come on. Of course, right? Of course. They're going to be wearing shades. And listen, I get it.

I get it. But we're going to finally see what is the actual product. What is the actual product on the field? And from what I know about this team, this is a product that is going to be talent rich at the skill positions, both sides of the ball. He has said before, and this is not an old school philosophy. This is kind of a new style of wanting to build this way. He wants to build outside in. And you know what?

They're really strong, really talented. fast, athletic, and explosive on the outside. Their wide receivers are really good. Led by Travis Hunter, who will play both ways, by the way. Their running back room is deep. They're as deep at running back as they've been in a long time. I know that's not saying a ton, but remember this is a team that played for a Pac-12 title.

What was it? Back in 2000, I want to say 16, 17, something along those lines. Their quarterback, Shudor Sanders, is a very good player. So they have elements here, in particular on the offensive side. They will be able to score points. The biggest question mark is who's blocking for them. And are they going to be stout at all up front? Can they protect the passer?

Can they provide running lanes? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. And I don't know if they know either. Do you know there's 58 transfers on this team? 51 of them on scholarship, seven walk-ons. There's 68 new scholarship players, 51 transfers, 17 freshmen. That is staggering.

Staggering. I believe there's only nine scholarship players returning from a year ago. Out of 85, they cleaned house. And by the way, I've defended that and will continue to defend that because the level that they were playing last year was egregiously bad. And they had to do something. So enter Deion Sanders. he changes the roster over completely,

they will be much better at the skill positions. Their safeties, quality, with good depth, corner position, pretty good with good depth. And Hunter will play both ways, like I said earlier. Now, in a game that's going to be north of 100 degrees in Dallas with some humidity, I don't know if they've got the depth to stay with TCU, because here's what I know about TCU. While they went to the national championship game last year,

and while they're missing some key contributors, namely their offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley, their quarterback Max Duggan, they're running back Kendry Miller and their wide receiver, Quentin Johnston, they feel that they are better because of their depth

this year than they were a year ago. They got incredibly fortunate last year with the run of luck that they had in terms of staying healthy with their starters. Now, you can make an argument that that didn't start early because the guy who will start in this game, Chandler Morris, at quarterback, went down with an injury against Colorado in week one, but stepped in Max Duggan, the rest is history.

Their wide receiver room, they believe, is deeper and faster and more explosive than it was even a year ago. And remember, they had two guys drafted. I think that running back is probably a position that they feel like might be a little bit of a wait and see because Kendry Miller was just so good in terms of a slashing runner for them. offensive line, I think that's a bit of a wait and see, although they're confident in their depth in what they've brought in, both in recruiting and in the transfer portal.

Defensively, they've got some veteran guys and in particular, one of the best corners in the country out on the outside. They like their safeties a lot. This team is confident that they're going to come back and they will not just replicate, but be the same team that they were a year ago. Now, remember, this team won a ton of close football games, and they did it namely because their quarterback played so well in big moments late in football games. I believe they're going to take a little bit of a step back.

This line suggests that Vegas believes TCU is what they were a year ago and Colorado is what they were a year ago. Both of those are false assumptions. That's why I think that this line is too big. Colorado is going to be much better than people think TCU, I'm not sure. It's a wait and see. I can't wait to see that wide receiver room though. and I can't wait to see Chandler Morris. And again, that's going to be the most interesting game

in all of college football in week one. And Gus and I will be there. We're going to fly down from Minnesota and to DFW. And we've got that game on Saturday. It's big noon Saturday. Big noon kickoff will be there early. A few more games that I want to hit on before we get out of here. West Virginia at Penn State, Penn State,

20 and a half point favorites. I believe it's going to be Drew Allen's first start. I think he's a better fit for the Mike Yurchitch offense. I believe that they're going to have the ability to really run the ball effectively with those solid backs, Alan and Singleton, and then throw the ball over the top. Their defense is athletic and fast with good length on all three levels. This should be a heck of a team. This is a team that I've got right up there with the best teams in college football. And I can't wait to see them play.

And again, this is a team in West Virginia that they really should beat and they should hand. handle. Remember that, that like, they've played two straight openers. Two years ago, they opened at Wisconsin and got a huge win and just like a gritty road win. They intercepted Mertz shocking inside the like 10 yard line late in that game, kind of defensive oriented. Last year, they went on the road to Purdue. Chuck Sizzle went off in that game. Charlie Jones for Purdue and Penn State somehow found away kind of a gritty win. They need to come out in this game and just like, okay, like we're better. Let's go.

We're at home. Put the hammer down. Last game. LSU, FSU. It's going to be a good game. Two stud QBs. Pass rushers, talent, a lot of NFL players on this field, Jane Daniels and Jordan Travis.

Then I love this Harold Perkins and Jared Verse type of pass rushing battle between FSU and LSU. I think that this game goes a long way in the CFP. Both of these teams believe that they've got CFP aspirations. This is going to set the tone between the eventual ACC champion and the eventual SACC champion and the eventual SACP. West champion. We both believe that these two teams are going to vie for those two titles. SEC West champion and maybe even SEC champion and the ACC champion. Right.

Okay. So this game will tell us everything we need to know if we have a debate late in November and early December between, let's just hypothetically say, a non-SCC champ West division winner and the ACC champ. If it comes down to a debate, guess what game we're going to be looking at? This one, this one. I have put my flag in the ground and said that I believe that LSU is the better team, and I believe that. Remember, they were the better team a year ago.

The six-game winning streak that Florida State had late last year was against a lot of bad football teams, very average football teams. And while I like Florida State, I just don't think that they're better than LSU. LSU did a heck of a job in the transfer portal. Really good job in the transfer portal. They've got better. They got deeper. It's now Brian Kelly's second year. He's got his quarterback for a second year.

They're not going to make those silly mistakes that they made in the opener a year ago against Florida State, which allowed Florida State to go out there and win that game. LSU is a really good football team. They are going to have a lot to say in that SEC West, even with a Bama team that I think is very good. Remember, they won the West a year ago. This is a quarterback that I believe in, a coach that I believe in, and I like LSU in this game. They're favored by two and a half. They should be favored.

I believe they cover that, win by a score, and beat Florida State in the opening week. All right, that'll do it for today's show. Cannot wait for college football. Remember, folks, if you're listening or watching this, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on all the social medias out there at Joel Clash Show. and most importantly, go to our new YouTube channel, the Joel Class Show on YouTube, subscribe there. We're going to have unique and exclusive content during the year on YouTube. So even if you're subscribed to the podcast and you're a listener and a faithful listener,

I appreciate it, number one, and you're awesome. And also go over to that YouTube channel and subscribe because we're going to have some breakdowns later in the season that are more video-based and X's and O's based for you over there. All right, I'm off. got to go catch a flight. I'm headed to Minnesota, Nebraska, Minnesota on Thursday night on Fox. Saturday, noon Eastern, big noon Saturday, Colorado, TCU, Gus and I will be there. Jenny will be on the sideline because it is finally here. College football awaits us on Saturday.