The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joel Klatt On The Big 10's Issues With Wisconsin's Outbreak

Episode Date: October 28, 2020

Joel Klatt On The Big 10's Issues With Wisconsin's Outbreak

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Joel Clatt, Fox Sports, college football. Joel, you were in Big Ten country last week. It was the first game for everybody in that league. What did you think, what you saw in the game you witnessed personally and what you thought of the league overall? Yeah, I mean, I thought that Ohio State looked, you know, as good as I thought that they would look. They're having to replace a lot of guys on the defensive side. I think early in the game, I was expecting a little bit of rust. I was expecting, you know, them to not look, you know, great.

And that's clearly what happened. But they settled in, made some quality adjustments and ended up playing really well the rest of the game. And then from their offense, I really thought that we were going to see a better passing attack than we had last year from Ohio State. and that did come to fruition because they're talented on the outside. Young, albeit but incredibly talented, and then Justin Fields played such a good game. I mean, he was efficient. He was safe with the football, used his legs when he had to,

and I thought he was excellent. And then around the league, the other thing that stood out to me is that Penn State clearly is going to struggle without some of their players, like Journey Brown and Michael Parsons. They lose another running back today to injury. And Michigan looked really good. good. Michigan kind of combined the best parts of what Harbaugh's offense used to be, and then what

Josh and Mattis brings now is the kind of spread offensive coordinator in which they've got the spread principles. They can get out there in space and speed and attack you, and yet Matt, they still got big, moved a former defensive, oh, I was he was a fullback, then a defensive tackle. Now he's back to fullback. His name's Ben Mason. They moved him back to the offensive side. They got big, and they started running some of those power gap scheme things that Harbaugh has been good at for years. that pops some big runs. So now all of a sudden you can get big. You've got a good quarterback.

They defensively rushed the passer well. So I was really impressed with Michigan after last week. We found out the Nebraska-Wisconsin game has been just flat out canceled. And your talks with Big Ten people, they're not necessarily worried about who wins the league this year. They're just worried about getting as many teams if possible into the college playoff, correct? Well, you know, they're behind the eight ball without the off week. And I told you, and I've told it, I think I've said this on almost every interview I've done over the last couple of weeks, there's going to be cancellations, just period. And I don't think that a sky is falling scenario, but it's certainly not good.

And the problem is that the Big Ten did this to themselves. They did this to themselves because they punted on the season originally. And then now they had to go back. And in order to get back on the field, I feel like from an optic standpoint, they thought that they had to go, they had to go above and beyond what the protocols were in other leagues. that stayed the course and played basically or relatively on schedule. And so what they did is they threw out this 21-day period in which a player has to sit out, which is arbitrary and nonsense, to be honest with you, in particular if you've spent any time around some of the medical professionals

that around these leagues and these programs, which I have, by the way, and they've said that that is an arbitrary number that really doesn't mean anything, but they did it from an optic standpoint. Well, in order to, you know, Curry favor with that sector, of people that thought that they needed to do that in order to have football. Now, the seasons in jeopardy are ready for Wisconsin. It's an eight-game season with no off weeks, and they lose this one against Nebraska. I highly doubt they play Purdue next week, and Michigan is the week after that.

So depending on how many of their players actually test positive versus have to get contact trace, they might be decimated to the point where they can't play any of those games. and then we're sitting here in the middle of the Big Ten season and Wisconsin's 1 and 0. Like, what are we doing? It sounds patently absurd, which you just described to the audience. But, man, what you just said is going to happen.

There's going to be somebody in that league that plays less than three league games. And how do you even look at this season as being that serious that that's going to potentially happen? Well, I mean, I don't even know how you would crown a division champion. That's why I said. I don't think you even worry. about it. I think you worry about just playing the games and hope that one or two of your teams gets into the college football playoff. Other than that, this was a waste of time. I mean,

you know, if Wisconsin is 5 and 0, do they win the division and go play Ohio State who's eight and no? And then, I mean, you know, I mean, who knows? I don't have that answer. And, yeah, I think this is where kind of the dark, I don't know if it's dark, but the dirty little secret is is that this league is playing in large part because their best team and most influential administration pushed the hardest for that to happen. And the reason that that administration pushed as hard as they did is because they have a national championship caliber team. You can make an argument, although I don't like to do this often, but I will in Houston. you can make an argument the only reason we're seeing big 10 football is because

Ohio State has the potential to go to the playoff and win the national championship. And the fact that they pushed for that meant that the PAC 12 was boxed into a corner and basically like, well, we can't be the only lead that doesn't play football. So they came back as well. But that's kind of the subtext of what's going on right now. But like I've said, and then we've mentioned, it is a mess up there. And that's, by the way, right where the virus is kind of sitting in our country. And those of you in Houston, no, and in the south, and I'm on the west coast.

We know what it's like to live through kind of one of those waves. And that's what's happening right now in places like Wisconsin and Nebraska and Utah. And so it's going to be very difficult to play football. And to be honest with you, I think football should be secondary to make sure that we're doing the right thing so that we can get past this as a nation. Yep. So if areas of the country are handling it well, keep going. You know what, shutting it down would be the worst thing. Let's get to some games of regional interest here.

Sam Pittman, tell me about him and why people in Arkansas are so happy that they're two and two and that they may pose a little bit of a threat to A&M this weekend and college station. I think it's because there was zero expectation around Arkansas. Wouldn't you agree? Like people, they hadn't won an SEC game. I don't know the exact number. Maybe you know. Was it 20 games?

Well, they just couldn't get rid of Chad Morris fast enough. They just couldn't. Sure. And so they're excited, one, because of that, and two, like, they're seeing some success on the field. I think it's very similar to how Rutgers fans feel, right? And I know Greg Schiano is a little different than Pitman, because everyone knows Shiano, and Pittman is a bit of an unknown. But these fan bases are like, man, this is light years better than what we expected, what we thought was going to happen. and he's certainly done a nice job at Arkansas. And by the way, I think back to week one. And remember that the narrative after week one when they played Georgia tough

and everyone's like, well, maybe Georgia's not very good. And it's like, actually, Arkansas was way better than what we expected and should have expected. So I'm happy for them, man. I think that anytime guys have success and they can help build a program and kids invest and commit to being better and then our, It always makes me happy, and it's one of the reasons why I love college football. And that's the reason why you're on the number one team with Gus Johnson. You'll be on the Michigan-Michigan State game this week.

Another Fox game is the Longhorns at Oklahoma State. Do you give Texas much of a chance in that game? Yeah, I do. I think that they're certainly talented enough. It's not like Oklahoma State is just going to roll out there. They're not going to roll the helmets out there and beat Texas. Now, they're a good team, and defensively, they're very strong. Now, one thing to pay attention to is that Oklahoma State,

State, yes, they're strong defensively given up only 12 points per game. They have not faced the team that's in the top 40 scoring offenses in the country. They're going to face that this week with Texas. Texas, I believe, is sixth in the country scoring 45 points per game. Like, this is the best team that Oklahoma State has faced, even better than I think Iowa State from a talent perspective, and maybe even from an overall perspective, in particular with Sam Ellinger. But this is going to be a tough game for them. And this is the gauntlet for Oklahoma State. They've got this game. They've got Kansas State coming up.

They've got Oklahoma coming up. So we're going to know everything that we need to know about Oklahoma State here in the next few weeks. But rest assured, and I'm convinced about this, Matt, like, if they go undefeated, they'll go to the playoffs. The committee's not going to sit a Power 5 undefeated champion home. They just, they aren't going to do that. So I'm going to bring this back to your area. If I'm an Aggie fan, I'm really. against Oklahoma State. I am rooting against Oklahoma State. And I don't mean that I just want to bring

this up because I've been an Aggie, you know, antagonist. I really like Texas A&M right now and their position that they're in. Did you know, and I'm sure you do? Jimbo Fisher is 20 and 10 so far in his tenure as the head coach of the Aggies. People will be like, well, we paid $75 million for better than that. Yes, that's true. But did you know that eight of those 10 losses are against top 10 opponents. Last year alone, they faced three teams during the season that were number one in the country at the time of the game. Clemson early, Alabama in the middle, and then LSU late. That gauntlet was incredible. Now, here's a coach that is 18 and two against teams that are not in the top 10 in the country and the rest of his schedule. You're sitting there looking at it.

None of those teams are ranked. Now, maybe some of those teams are going to get into the top 25, but they're not top 10 teams. So I think A&M has a real shot. Maybe not at the playoff. I'm not sure. how the community is going to view them. But they've got a shot to be a one-lost team. And maybe they're not going to win the division. Probably not with Alabama sitting in that division. But what a difference a year makes in terms of the strength of schedule that they play a year ago and now the strength of schedule that they're playing this year

and the opportunity at least to maybe be just a one-lost team at the end of the year. And the only tricky game I'm looking to schedule right now, Joel, is a trip to Auburn. Other than that, nobody's fearing playing Tennessee anymore in Knoxville. No, and nor should they. that Tennessee team was a total force and an aberration. You know, I was like, eight-game win-strike, eight-game win-strike. That's not a very good team, and they've been proven as such of the last couple of weeks. So I agree with you completely.

I think that the only tough game is Auburn. I think the other ones, they should win pretty easily. I mean, I know that that sounds crazy with LSU on the schedule, right? But LSU doesn't scare me this year. Well, I would think, if anything, if LSU can win at Auburn, that probably gets them feeling a lot better about themselves. I know they were very disappointed on how things turned out at Missouri and whatnot,

but that would be the only team that can maybe get better as the season moves along. But other than that, there's nobody in that schedule that A&M should be not at least a nice favorite against. And frankly, this would be the year that, you know, I think Jimbo had basically said,

give me some time, let me have a recruit, two or three recruiting classes, and I'll get you to the 10 wins you need, which would be enough to, and ultimately maybe make that playoff. Yeah. So, you know, if I'm an Aggie fan,

I'm certainly encouraged. on the flip side, I think that obviously Red River was a must win for Tom Herman and Texas, and I think this game against Oklahoma State might be the same. You know, I have heard, I have heard from really reliable sources that the money is there in Austin. And so let's just put it down on the table. It has to turn around, period. And I don't think a loss this week would be survivable. I want to tell you one thing. I'm going to get Ross into conversations. We were talking about Urban Meyer, your colleague at Fox. He compared him to, and Ross jumping on this,

you compared him to Scarlett Johansson. Urban Meyer and Scarlett Johanson. Please explain to Joel how that got. I fail to see the comparison, but maybe that's just because Urban doesn't have blonde hair. That's true. Extremely hot, attractive,

exactly what you would want, but can be a little flighty. A lot of divorces seems to get latched on pretty quickly, and it's intense, and it's good and it's fun, but then it's over too soon. What do you think? Hmm. Hmm.

Is it worth it if it happens once? Probably. That's what I said. That's exactly what I told him. I would say yes to Scarlett Johansson right now. Just saying, just throwing it out there. That's all I'm saying. I'm just saying that does it work though, Joel?

Does it work? I ask me about like contracts, right? Like big, big contracts in pro sports. And they're like, oh, Is this a good contract? This is a bad contract? Listen, if you win one championship, those contracts are worth it. Have a great trip to Ann Arbor.

Tell Coach Harbour we send our best. All right. See you guys. Thank you. Joe Clack. Fox Sports with us here.