The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joel Klatt Gives An Inside Look At What The 2020 CFB Season Will Look Like

Episode Date: September 9, 2020

Right now is we are back, I believe this is our fourth season with one of our favorite people. He is the lead college analyst for Fox Sports. He was busy on his phone talking to his travel engine because you're going from Waco to Manhattan, Kansas, in a very short period of time. Which trip were you looking forward to now? I guess the one that you're calling, actually, right? Any game. Any game. Jones Jr. High School.

I'll be there. Yeah, I mean, weird year, but this is kind of what we expected. And to be honest with you, with the Big 12 trying to be the first of the power fives out there and playing, in particular against non-conference opponents, I think that this, to some degree, could be and was expected that we would have some of this. And I know Oklahoma State had to shut down TCU had to shut down LATC now that's had to shut down. And Oklahoma State probably more so because of Tulsa. But I digress. So, yeah, Matt, I mean, listen, I'm, they told me late last night.

I was like almost done with my boards and everything. And then sure enough, they're like, oh, hey, by the way, that game's not happening. I'm like, awesome. That's fantastic. So I've been on a crash course. I was up most of the night. Just got off a call with Arkansas State. Talked with Blake Anderson.

Unbelievable guy. If you don't know a story, go check it out. And, you know, getting ready for this game, man. But like I said, I'm ready to call any and all football wherever. And I think most fans are with me that they just. just want to see some games being played. Well, selfishly, and again, I would rather you have a full schedule, but I felt like you and I talked every September. You were doing games against Ohio State versus somebody. So I think we're going to get a steady diet of you doing

Big 12 games this year, it feels like, right? Well, that's all that's all I'm going to be doing, because our only conferences at Fox were the Pac-12, Big 10, and Big 12. So that's all I've gotten to fall. And by the way, sneaky, sneaky, Matt, I could be doing games for like 30 straight weeks. Because think about it, the Big 12th place. Then all of a sudden, the Big 10 starts up, like, let's say end of November. And then all of a sudden, the Pac-12 starts up, let's say, like, beginning of January or such. And I'll just be working all the way through that. So it's going to be a wild year, but I'm here for the ride. All right. What do you make of these last second cancellations? It feels like to me, they're COVID-related in some respects, and they're also

related to, and I think this is in Tulsa's case, if I'm not mistaken, we're didn't have enough practices, we're not ready to go, and maybe Navy should have done that against BYU this past Monday. Yeah, and listen, I think that if I'm not mistaken, Navy and Temple moved their game because Temple said, hey, we're not ready, was not COVID. I mean, somewhat covert related, like you're saying, but they, you know, they saw what Navy rolled out there and their coach, Ken and Matalolo said, listen, we had basically tackled bags and weren't ready to go. And Temple thought, well, that's what we've been doing. So why don't we hit the pause button as well?

So you're seeing some of that pop up. It's interesting. And I think one of the reasons why you're seeing that more prevalently now is because it's these kind of non-league games that clearly don't really matter. I mean, obviously they don't really matter. And in particular, in the Big 12 cases, you know, they're just. thinking themselves, well, if we can get to our league schedule and play through that, then we're going to be all right. So it's a fascinating time, though, I've got to tell you, because all these programs, some of them have had to deal with a few positive tests,

and then they've got a quarantine because of contact tracing, you know, let's say 25 guys, and then go out there and try to practice the next day, which is nearly impossible. So that's why you're seeing teams that are claiming, at least, that they're just not ready to play. All right, so let's do this now, since you're going to be doing a lot of big 12 games, What is your early gut feeling on maybe the top two or three teams in the conference this year? Well, I still, it's hard not to say Oklahoma, right? I mean, they've won five straight Big 12 championship games. So I think if you look at it objectively, you've got to put them at the top.

Quarterback seems to be a revolving door for them in the sense that it doesn't matter who walks through that door. They're going to play outstanding football. Three straight Heisman finalists, three straight draft picks, two of them, number one overall. all three transfers. Now he's got a guy that he actually recruited and Spencer Rattler. I'm nervous about their running back room because Kennedy Brooks has opted out. Trace Serman transferred. Ramadari Stevenson is dealing with potentially a suspension. So, you know, they're going to be thin at running back. And this is a running oriented team. They've been one of the best rushing teams in the country, much less the Big 12 over the last few years. So we'll see how that impacts them. But as the five-time

champ, you've got to start with them. I'm a big fan of what Texas could be this. year. This is a year that many of them had pointed to anyways. I thought two years ago they arrived a little bit early. Then you have the Sam Ellinger, you know, on the stage with Holly Roe that they're back, making everyone in Aggie lands puke. And they fell on their faces last year. In large part, due to inexperience on defense and then just a rash of injuries as well. So now they've got so much more experience on defense. They've got that quarterback back. Tarique Black comes in as a wide receiver transfer. That's going to bolter that outside. They should be better as a run game team.

Sam Cosmy is sitting there. He's a first round talent at tackle. I think Texas has got a really good chance to potentially win the Big 12. I think that they're a really, really good team. And everybody rolls their eyes when you say Texas is going to be really good because we've been trying to say it for seven straight years now. They haven't won a Big 12 title in over 10 years. So, Matt, I get it.

You can all, you know, all the Aggies out there, please roll your eyes. You're the one dodging the longhorns. Anyway, and then I would say the team would be the team. Well, it's true. I just love, it's just the subtlety of the dig is what I appreciate it, because I just love a good subtle dig. And you just went right at it, but continue on, my friend. I mean, listen, is it a dig if it's true?

Look, I don't have a dog in the fight. I want them to play. I grew up, Joel, watching those two teams playing Thanksgiving night. I need to happen, but I'm over it. If they can't get it done, it's like, remember when Packing, out and Mayweather were supposed to have this amazing fight when they were both in their prime, and we waited and we waited and waited and waited and we finally got to see them play, and it sucked.

That's someone for Texas and A&M is going to be because by the time we ever care about them again, maybe both programs will be in different spots. Who knows? Yeah. I just, you know, I think it would be, listen, the sport would be better if they can figure it out. Thanksgiving week would be better if they can figure it out. I think all of us would appreciate that. Jabs aside.

All right. So going to A&M. But in all seriousness, A&M, there's a lot of folks. I would just say, go ahead. They love A&M as a sneaky pick, especially with the fact that LSU is the sexy pick to lose four or five games this year. Yeah, I mean, I don't dislike A&M by any stretch. I think that they have a really good chance to be a good team. The problem is I just don't see them being better than Alabama.

I think Alabama, I think that they very well could be the second place team in the division. I just think Alabama is better than A&M. they're stronger, their defense should be better. But I'm a big A&M guy. I think I would have them right about that 11, 12, 11 in the country right now. And I think with Kellyn Monde as a returning guy, Jimbo Fisher as your head coach, the way that they've been able to recruit, they really should expect to see a little bit of a bump this year. And let's face it, now everybody is going to have a bit of a gauntlet as far as the schedule goes in the SEC,

because they'll all have to play those 10 games. Whereas last year, when you looked at A&M schedule and we talked about it, like I told you they're probably a way better team, but I don't think it'll be reflected in the record. I remember saying that almost verbatim on your show early last year. And it was because of just the absolute schedule nightmare that they had sitting in front of them as far as who they were getting from the East and how they were playing the games through the SEC.

Now that that's evened out just a little bit, I think that you could see A&M take that jump. So listen, I like A&M a lot. I think that that's a really good program, and they're on the cusp of doing something special. The problem is getting over the hump of Alabama is going to be incredibly difficult. How ultimately good do you think Kalamond will be? I mean, I would say to describe his college career would be inconsistent,

would be a fair assessment. Yeah, I think that that's a very fair assessment. I think that he is very talented. I did his first significant action, actually. The last A&M game I did was the UCLA Josh Rosen comeback. You remember that game? Oh, yeah. I finished that game going,

Josh Rosen is going to be this amazing quarterback in the NFL, and now he's, what, four teams removed from his first one, I guess. I know. Crazy. I know. Unbelievable. But the guy that was overshadowed in that game was this freshman quarterback that kind of came in and started to win the job named Kellyn Monde.

And I liked him then. I still like him now. One of the things that Jimbo quarterbacks dating all the way back to even James and prior, one of the things that they've struggled with at times is turning the ball over. Brian Kelly's quarterbacks have struggled to turn the football over. And Ian Book kind of righted that shift last year a little bit up there in South Bend. But there's been two bugaboos for Jim's offense.

And that's been their lack of ability to protect the passer. and the turnover-prone nature of the way that their quarterbacks play. And I don't know why. I really don't. But if they can clean those two things up, I think Mon could have a great season. I really do. Because I'm a fan of his ability.

He's athletic. He's got a good arm. I think he's accurate for the most part. And here's the one thing that people might not understand unless they really dive into the numbers. Yeah, they lost a bunch of games last year. he played really well in the games that they lost against the best opponents that they played go check out his splits against some of the better teams and better defenses that they faced

he wasn't necessarily the reason they were losing those games he played great in a lot of those games didn't turn the football over so i think a next step jump for him might be in line this season all right before i let your run because you obviously with their fox commitments with big ten and pack twelve have to hear about it what how often are you going to getting updates about their future and what they might be doing here, say, late October? The Big Ten? Both of them. Pack 12, too.

Yeah, okay. So let me just, I don't know anything. This is not reporting. This is not factual. This is just my hunch based on the conversations that I've had. My hunch is that in the next 15 days, you're going to get a flag in the sand from the Big Ten, stating a date in which they intend to. return, I believe that that date falls somewhere between November 1 and Thanksgiving.

Maybe October 24 right in there, but that would be really pushing it. There's two factions. We've got the coaches and ADs want to play as soon as they possibly can. The presidents are sitting there and they want to save face because they kind of punted on this thing a few weeks ago. And I think that they're going to meet in the middle and there's going to be sometime in November, they're going to put a flag down and say that's the date that we're targeting to get. back to playing. So that's the big 10. In the PAC 12, there's a whole different set of issues. And that set of issues really begins and ends with the political climate and political affiliation. I shouldn't say that. It's just really just the state of California.

What the state of California is going to allow those schools to do and not do is what's going to prevent the PAC 12 probably from playing football until January 1. So I think that the PAC 12 doesn't play until January 1. And in large part, due to the fact that the schools within California are just not going to be able to get ready, come back, compete, work out, do all those things necessary that a season would require. On that note, safe travels, my friend, to Manhattan, and we'll visit again next Wednesday. Looking forward to you and Gus on the call. Again, I don't care if you called Junior High School games. I mean, seriously, Gus Johnson involving who's Kansas State playing again?

Arkansas State. Do you think that Arkansas State kids ever thought in a million years that Joe Clot and Gus Johnson be calling one of their games? Seriously. You know what? I don't know. I had never thought of that. I did just get off the phone with their coach.

We had a Zoom call with their coaches. And that's one of the things Blake Anderson said. He was like, well, I went to bed. We were playing Kansas State. I woke up and we're on Fox at noon. And I was like, well, good luck. I would think of it too. All right, great to have you back with this

this season. We'll talk again next Wednesday. Absolutely, bud. Have a great day.