The McShay Show - 10 Truths from Week 4 of College Football. Plus, Finding the 2026 NFL Draft’s Mendoza Line.

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

Welcome to The McShay Show! The guys are back after a weekend of college football to recap the slate and plant their flag on 10 things they believe heading into Week 5. Then, they break down Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza’s season and discuss where he ranks among quarterback prospects in the 2026 NFL draft. 0:00 Welcome to The McShay Show 2:10 Week 5 is LOADED3:55 10 Truths from CFB Week 44:35 3 ACC Teams are Headed to the CFP10:00 The SEC has Established Dominance17:22 (4) LSU's Drop in Rankings is Good For Them19:37 (2) Miami's DC Corey Hetherman is the Real Deal24:40 (11) Indiana is Even Better This Season30:25 (12) Texas Tech is For Real36:23 (7) Oklahoma's Defense Is One of the Best in the Country40:53 (19) Michigan's Defensive Front is Different44:34 Arch Manning's Performance is Encouraging49:00 Jayden Maiava is one of the Best QB's in the Country 52:35 What is the Mendoza Line?56:50 QB Draft Prospects Ahead of Fernando Mendoza59:00 QB Draft Prospects Below Fernando Mendoza1:11:10 Week 5 AP Poll Takeaways Subscribe to The McShay Report for access to all of Todd’s mock drafts, big boards, scouting reports, and more throughout the college football season.The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShayGuests: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Jon Roemer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Man, do we have a show for you today? Our 10 truths after a full college football week four slate, plus we're unveiling a new list today. It's the Mendoza line, the 2026 quarterback class. Are you above it or below it? It's a wild week five in college football and just 213 days until the NFL draft. Metsch you good? I'm good, man.

All right, roll that thing, Tucker. There are a lot of different ways to go, Metsch, on a Monday, morning after a full slate with like one of the most incredible slate of games you could ever ask for in week five. I'm going to rip off some of these games. You ready? This is the McShay show presented by Fanduel and college football Saturdays are already delivering. Every game means something right now. Ranking shift, upsets hit, and the best place to stay on top of it all, Fandual. Whether you're riding a noon kickoff or betting the late games, Fandulul lets you bet it your way. Same game parles, live betting, player props, alt lines, whatever your angle is,

it lives in the app. So if you're watching the action, bet on it with Fanduel. So download the app or head to Fanduel.com slash McShea and make every Saturday count. The ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit RG-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older in present in select states or 18 and older and present in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-88-78-8-9-777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.

Starting at new. Two games at noon. Notre Dame, Arkansas. USC, Illinois. 3.30. LSU at Ole Miss. That's four versus 13. Auburn at number nine, Texas A&M.

Ohio State, Washington. Washington's pretty damn good. Indiana, Iowa. Indiana might be like a top 7-8 team in the country. Tennessee, Mississippi State, Oregon, Penn State, Alabama, Georgia to round things off. Those are 415 and then 730 games. Wow.

Excited. We get our hands full this week. It's going to be incredible. It's going to be a nine-hour show on Saturday night. But we're still recovering from a great, like, kind of wild week in week four in college football. And so talk to Dan Comer, our trusted producer on this show and editor and like 10 other things. I'm trying to kind of find out what he thought. How do we frame all of this?

Because I feel like everyone's doing all the AP poll came out. Maybe we'll come. I think they're starting to come to their senses a little bit. Maybe we'll touch on that a little bit later. And then, and then Connor. I love Connor Nevins, by the way, our executive producer. It feels like sometimes he just kind of sits back and then popcorn, maybe have his cocktail, watches the show and then we'll like pop in an idea, right?

The truth is he's like the executive producer over multiple big shows here at the ringer and has guided me and us through this entire thing. But he just kind of shoots off this text, the Mendoza line. Brilliant. We've got to do it. Out of nowhere. Quarterbacks in this year's class who are above Mendoza. who's rising, who we predicted early in the season,

and quarterbacks who are below. And we've had a lot of guys not play up to standard. So we'll get to that today. But let's just start with the 10 truths from college football week four. Things that like you and I believe in that we've seen, we've studied tape, we've watched games like everybody else on Saturday. And now we've had a day to kind of digest.

I watched a lot of tape yesterday, trying to figure out certain players, certain units. So five things each. 10 truths for us in college football that we believe in now that we've seen four games, you know, four weeks of games plus the week zero. I will throw it to you, Steve. You can take it anywhere you want in college football. Start off with one of your truths that you believe in right now in college football.

I believe that three ACC teams are going to the playoffs. I think, and by the way, none of those three are Clemson. Unthinkable to begin the year. I look at Georgia Tech, right? They get the Clemson win. Now you look at their schedule. The only game that they probably won't be favored in going forward, in my opinion, is Georgia. They could go, they could lose one game this year.

And you look at that schedule, that favors them. I don't think there's a game that they're not in. So Georgia Tech, I think, is the one that's the most interesting, but I think it's in. You could make the argument that what about Florida State having to go to Clemson and Florida, those games don't look like they did before. I'm a believer in Florida State. I think Florida State loses the Florida State Miami game, which means that I think Miami goes undefeated. That means three ACC teams are in. That's interesting in itself. What's more interesting is now who is the 12th team?

If you get three from the ACC, you get three from the Big Ten, three from the SEC, I think those are all locks. Then you add Texas Tech. That gets you to 10. And then let's say Memphis, that gets you to 11. Who's the 12th team? Where are they coming from? I thought, no, Notre Dame still had a road back into this thing. If this plays out the way I don't know anymore, man. I think they're toast. And it's brutal. It's brutal to lose like that to two outstanding teams to begin the year with a freshman

quarterback. I think no. Surprisingly for me, if you had told me in the beginning, at the beginning the season, after talking to people in South Bend, surprising to me is that it may be the defense that costs Notre Dame and maybe not the offense. how it plays out. But I've been really encouraged by CJ Carr. I've been really encouraged after that first game

against Miami about the run game. Jeremiah Love and Price. But on the flip side, this defense is especially secondary and I know they've been nicked up and all, but the defense has not played to the level. And all the reports out of South Bend were this defense

locked it down all the summer camp, you know? So that's interesting. Go ahead and finish. I- Notre Dame's got to go to go score. to Earth. Earth. They've got to destroy everyone. They need Texas A&M and Miami to basically win out. They need to

especially handle USC. That's the biggest game for them. That's the only real game that I think they can make a statement. They're in real trouble because if you put them in, you're not getting a fourth team from the Big Ten or the SEC. And that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, especially the SEC.

I just think there should be. But that's the hardest part for me is trying to unravel all of the different scenarios this early, in the season with all those big time SEC teams playing each other. So I know three will be there. Will there be a fourth that doesn't have too many losses for the committee to consider? That'll be interesting.

But again, I just can't imagine a world where you're not taking a least one of the two, one, either the big 10 or the SEC is going to get a fourth team in. I would be stunned if they didn't. I couldn't disagree more. And I see the path. In fact, like, I can't allow the A, CC. Hold on. Hold on.

You said that you think Georgia Tech is a top 12 team, right? I believe they're right in the mix of top 12. What I did say definitively is that Georgia, no, I said this and I want you to hear me. I would be shocked. This is exactly what I said. I'm going to quote myself,

which is worse than even, you know, third or first person. That I would be shocked if Georgia Tech was not playing in the ACC championship game, given its road and the way it's performed so far. And I like to bounce back this week and what could have been a letdown game and didn't show a whole lot of letdown. I think Georgia Tech will be in that game.

I think if Miami's in that game with Georgia Tech and Miami wins, I think it could be significant enough that Georgia Tech gets knocked out and Florida State gets in. The committee won't do it. The committee didn't do it to SMU last year. They won't do it. The committee won't do it. But what's different, what's different was that SMU team, it's ranking, it's record. Listen, it's ranking, it's record.

And also the fact that I think you're going to look at this thing when we get to that ACC championship game and say, yeah, Georgia Tech got in because it's a damn good football team. And it's, and they certainly belong in that game. But if Miami or Florida State were to be, beat them in, let's say 10, 12, 14 points. And the other team didn't get in, but had a really good road and kind of deserved, but because Georgia Tech had the lesser schedule, I could see that occurring.

The committee said before the ACC championship game last year, no matter what happened, SMU was in. That's what they said. Right. I would have to reverse. I think it could be a different circumstance. Should they? Should they?

I think you have a strong argument for that. They should play it the way you're saying they should play it. I think you're right, but I don't think that's the reality. I think whoever's in the conference championship games for the Big 4, for the Big 10, the ACC, and the SEC, they're all going. You want to know what the difference is this year from last year? And it leads me, this is perfect. It leads me to my first truth, okay?

Let's go. This is truth number two. The biggest difference is that the SEC has reestablished its dominance in college football. football this year. The SEC through four weeks of the season and take your fucking records and take all the like they lost this game again. Take all that Arkansas with a tough one. Wrap, like do this to it. And and then throw it across the room. All right. I hope you need that later. I probably will. It's kind of a touch pass. It was a weak throw. I've meant more like like this. Like take your the records and who they've played and then that. Okay.

The SEC has reestablished dominance. And I say that and I'm just, I'm looking at this. And the Big Ten is still damn good. The Big Ten still have, if you, if you look at it right now, the Big Ten, right? Ohio State number one. Penn State, I don't know, the AP poll, it's somewhere in the top three or four, right? Oregon is up there. Indiana, and I think we'll get to Indiana a little bit more.

I think you and I have a great deal of respect. I don't think I know we have a great deal. deal of respect. In fact, respect Indiana a lot more than we did a year ago. That's four teams right there. Then you got these two sneaking around the chicken coop, right? USC Washington. Way better than people think. Okay. Now Washington plays Ohio State this week. And that's going to be interesting. USC's got a pretty decent task in Illinois. But there's a drop off after that. And the difference I've said in years past is that there's a drop off and I think the top of the big 10 is as good or is caught up and maybe in the last three years like the very top of the big 10 has been better

than the SEC but there's a significant drop off like even teams that are near that they're good records in conference like Iowa right not they're just not that good no Minnesota UCLA's garbage Illinois Illinois just got dragged I think they get whacked by USC too, by the way. I think they could too. Michigan State just got handled by USC. Nebraska valiantly. Nebraska is actually one of the better teams that I just mentioned.

But there's a drop-off. The reason I say, and I want people to understand this, the Big Ten has found a way with its scheduling where not all the top teams are playing the top teams. Every year we do this. We're like, well, Penn State only has to play Michigan and Ohio State, but the rest of their schedule. Ohio State doesn't play this team or that team.

And it's the case again this year. And so it's very helpful that we're the big 10. We've reemerged. We're the best conference in college. Look at the national championships. Look at the college football playoffs. But what goes overlooked is that you're seeing these games with the top teams with Oregon and the Penn States and the Ohio states and the Michigan's.

We're seeing a lot of games against. Iowa's and Minnesota and UCLA and Michigan State. You know what I mean? And get down to the real nitty gritty, Rutgers, Purdue, Wisconsin, Northwestern. There isn't that in the SEC. So there may be a cannibalization in the SEC this year. But last year there was a cannibalization of what I thought were a lot of teams that were good, but weren't above that line.

Like Ole Miss was really good, but never. could, you know, we love South Carolina. Very, very good. But maybe didn't do it. You know, so, but this year, LSU sitting up there, two impressive wins. Less impressive, yes, Clemson's not. Yeah, we'll talk about that, yeah. But LSU, Georgia with that win at Tennessee. Oklahoma, one of the tougher schedules so far, and it've looked really good. And that Auburn team is good. And we'll get to them a second. You still have Texas. Let's see if Texas now gaining some confidence. Yeah, I get it.

Not a big opponent this past week. But like, let's see if Arch and that Texas team kind of carries over a little swagger. Texas A&M beat Notre Dame on the road. A game they never seemed to win as a program. Old Miss is better than we thought. Tennessee's better than we thought. That loss against Georgia felt like a win for that program. Alabama, do not count Alabama out.

Then you've got this next tier. That's eight teams I just rattled off. I hear you, brother. And I'm not done. This is that next tier. When we talk about that next tier in the Big Ten, I was talking about Minnesota and Nebraska and Illinois and Michigan State. The next tier for the SEC is Missouri.

Auburn. I know Auburn lost, but they played. No one wants to play. those teams. No one wants to play those. Vanderbilt might be a lot better than we thought. Scary team, man. State is a lot better than that garbage I saw in defense a year ago. Arkansas just lost a Memphis whore 18 point lead blown, the worst since like 2016 for that program and a losing effort. And by the way, some of the bottom teams in the SEC right now, you want to go play Florida's

defense? No. You want to go play Lenora Sellers? No. They're dangerous. So that's 15 teams in the SEC that you just don't want to play. The SEC is reestablished dominance in college football. So you can't tell me after I just went through those eight teams at the top and those six teams at the top of the for the Big Ten, eight in the SEC, 15 competitive for the top of the Big Ten, six like maybe maybe all together with USC and Washington. You can't tell me the ACC's getting three. Why not? I totally agree with everything.

I disagree with everything you said. And if you and I were picking the playoff bracket, it would look, it would reflect that. We don't live in that world, McShay. This is an imperfect system, my man. And this committee is going to, it went by wins and losses more than anything else last year.

It didn't matter that Alabama should have been in SMU. It didn't matter that South Carolina should have been in SMU. Anyone with eyeballs who watched those teams, leg could tell you that they should have been in. If we don't have eight teams between the Big Ten and the SEC in that college football playoff, something went really wrong. I agree. But it's going to go wrong, my man.

It's going to go wrong. I am telling you right now, you're looking at this as how normally I would. This is like a script flip for me. You would generally be like, yeah, manch, that's true. But this is the system. Yeah, you're right. The SEC is way better. Correct.

It is way better. The Big Ten is way better. But when you look at the wins and losses and you look at the path of how you get into the playoff and what the committee did last year and I wanted to pull my hair out when the way they were doing it, tell me that those three teams don't have a path to get in. All right. Let's move on. What's your truth number three? Ellis, you dropped the spot in the poll this week. I think it might be good for them.

I do. We just mentioned it. You look at those wins. You'd be Clemson by 10. You'd be, what was it, Clemson by 7, Florida by 10? you looked not great against Louisiana Tech, 23 to 7. Kind of a little underwhelmer performance there, better this week against a team that really doesn't have the talent to hang with you.

This is, I think LSU is for real, but we're going to find out. This is going to be an interesting game because they're going to Ole Miss, and you could find out if they're Paper Tiger. And the biggest thing for me is Blake Baker, the defense coordinator for LSU has been awesome. It feels like this difference is different, but the thing that killed them last year was the mobile quarterback, right? I mean, what was it?

Jalen Mill Road went for 185 yards and four touchdowns against them last year. That's insane. And Marcel Reed, when he came in of relief last year against LSU and took that game over, they're going to have to exercise that demon because we'll see what happens. Austin Simmons was hurt last week and didn't play most of the Arkansas game, which allowed this kid Trinidad Chandles to come in. And he's gone for 174 rushing yards over the last two weeks. So it'll be interesting to see how Lane handles that situation.

and Kiffin handles that situation if Simmons is healthy. But I think LSD is going to see a healthy dose of Chamblis. So they're going to have to be able to handle that mobile quarterback, which was just a problem for them last year. And that offense better not be stale. Nussmeyer better get out of the gate. They better put up some points because I'm telling you, the rebels are going to put up some points.

I think they're going to score some. As good as that LSU defense has been, I think that Ole Miss offense is a lot to handle. So going down a spot, in the poll for LSU is probably a good thing this week. Yeah. You got me fired up. Good.

I mean, I'm not going to disagree. I don't know that it's like affecting their practice habits, but, but yeah, I hear what you're saying. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a inflection point in their season. Like, this is the next test for LSU. This is, are you guys really for real or are we, or we, are we? No, I don't disagree with that. Yeah, because Clemson wasn't as good as we thought and Florida is having a tough one. Yeah.

my second truth is that Miami defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman is the real deal and he's the perfect fit at Miami. This is the Cory Heatherman pod now. Good. I'm all for it. Good. When you grow up in like Western Mass and you coach over in Europe and you grind it out at JMU and Old Dominion and Maine in Minnesota and you bring.

a level of discipline. But with that discipline, freeing up these Miami athletes and top tier four and five star guys to play free, to play with juice and to play violently. And it's like this perfect blend

of X's and O's and Jimmy's and Joe's. And like it's been a treat to watch. I went back and watched some of that. Ruben Bain Jr. is one of the, has been playing like, I'm not. saying he's going to be a top 10 pick has been playing like you'd expect a top 10 pick at the edge position to play.

And it's not with speed. It's with power. It's with relentlessness. It's with effort. It's with toughness. It's with like grinding through as a pass rusher. It's like it's been a beauty to watch. You got Toray linebacker.

Love him. Just all over the field. He's got a sack. He's got a pass breakup. You got Messador along the defensive line. and a half sacks leads the team, besaint at linebacker, like Aguilar,

Blay, like Thomas, like they just got dudes flying to the ball. And the thing that I noticed on their tape, as much as any program out there so far, when the play is whistled dead, good luck finding me one, unless it's a rare, like, you know,

good luck finding me one where there's not at least six canes around that football. they haunt, man. The way they swarm to the ball is impressive. And it all goes back to coaching. I mean, that's just effort. I mean, he's, Corey Hedman is,

he's like the human version of Red Bull to me. Even when you see him, he just looks like energy. Like he, and it's not just that. I mean, he's putting all these guys in great positions to see with the, with the scheme.

It's just, I don't know. I'm with you 100% on this one. He's great. And, like, they didn't have their best stuff on offense. Right this past week? Nope.

Didn't have their best stuff. But you go back and you kind of look at what they relied on. It's the defense. And Florida's defense played great in that game, and they wore them down. They're just built in the trenches. And so we talk about Malachi Tony, and he's awesome, right? As a freshman ride receiver, he came out early. He just turned 18 the other day.

That's the new Ryan Williams story in college football this year. If you mention Ryan Williams, he had to mention 17 years old a year ago. And if you mention Malachi Tony, you got to mention that he was an early entry and should be a senior in high school right now and just turned 18. I get it. And then you talk about like at the running back position with Fletcher, right? And then you talk about, you talk about obviously Carson Beck and the transfer and that story. And they're all great things. But it's really the offensive line.

it's really their ability to impose their will late in games, and it's really Heatherman's defense. And that to me is why this Miami is different. They had the number one overall pick at quarterback last year. They had all the weapons. They had an early second round pick in Arroyo at tight end. They had receivers for days. They had running backs, right?

And they had a good offensive line. This offensive line's better. and they had a defense that they had to overcome. Yeah. The defense was liabilities. So now all of a sudden, you still got weapons, you still got a good balance with the run game. You got a quarterback who's not as talented, right?

He's not the number one overall pick, but he's rising, he's playing better. But you've got a defense that can carry you in games like this. I think this Miami team is different. And I think Heatherman and that team, they're average at 11.5 points per game, allowed. That's like 15th in the country. And I know it's a small sample. And I know Florida is not very good offensively. In fact, they're flat out terrible. But a year ago, they were averaging 25.3.

And I got to be honest, like I was surprised it was as low as that. I thought when I looked it up, it was going to be in the 30s or like 29 or something. There was almost 70th in the country and points per game allowed last year. And yeah, those stats are great and they back up everything, but it just looks different on tape. Totally. When you put it, When you put on the tape, it just looks different. So, yeah, I'm with you, man. What do you got? I believe in them.

All right, we kind of hinted at this. Indiana is better than last year. That is a truth. My question now is how much better and can they handle that success? Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback, is a perfect fit for their scheme. He is going to be so good for them this year. We'll talk about him more later on. We've talked about their weapons at wide receiver and Elijah Serrat and Omar Cooper, got weapons there.

surprises me how quickly they reloaded at running back, though, McShea. They, you know, I love Justice Allison and Tyson Lawton last year. Kaelin Black was there last year. It looks awesome in an increased role. And getting Roman Hemby from Maryland is going to be one of the steals, I think, of the transfer portal. He looks explosive. And then you look at that deep. And Kobe Martin had 107 rushing last week.

Yeah. They're deep at running back, man. They have not skipped a beat. The offensive line's better than this year, I think. I agree. I'm glad to hear you say that. So I think the offensive line's better this week. I mean, this year, I look at that defense.

They got leaders on every level. You got Mikel Camara at Edge on the defensive line. You got Aidan Fisher at the linebacker position. And you've got DeAngelo Pons at corner. And then that doesn't go to mention the talent there, too. They have a talent all over the place on defense. Seven sacks against Illinois. I don't think that's a mistake.

I think they're going to be able to get after the quarterback. I think they're going to stop the run. Now, what's this all mean? They're better than they were last year, man. but they got at Oregon and at Penn State left on the schedule. And if I'm being honest, I don't see them winning those games. Now can you handle the success? Go ahead and finish.

I know. I love that you think this. I get it. And it's cool. It's great. But maybe Penn State, Oregon, I think, is a freight train. But I think, let's say those are two losses. Can you manage the rest of the season?

It looks good in terms of schedule, but do you have that hiccup at Maryland or at Iowa? Teams that you are significantly better than I think. but Indiana traditionally hasn't had this kind of success. Can they manage the expectations? Can they play up to the level now that people are looking at them, not as poor old Indiana and are looking at them as this is a team that could compete? I think Oregon's really good. I don't know that they're as good as you think they are.

I know. And I think I'm fine with that. I want to table it for later in this week because I spent a lot of time yesterday. Like an embarrassing amount of time while NFL games are going on and watching both Penn State and Oregon. And I think they're both really good. I think Oregon's better than Penn State. I think we're going to get some answers this week. And I'm pumped to see that game.

Can't wait. We'll talk a lot about it on Thursday show. But I do want to say this. I don't think Al are playing into the level. I don't think I don't see any improvement. And we'll talk a lot about it later. and we'll talk about Aller today on the show with the Mendoza line. And I think Dante Moore's playing really good.

I think he started really slow against Northwestern, but he got going and he, like, I see it. But is it Evan Stewart, right, the wide receiver? Yeah. Yeah, they miss him terribly. And this decorian Moore is more awesome. But he got better. Yeah, but he got nicked up.

And we got to keep a, We'll watch on that. Okay. There was, he played great last week. So there was like a report about practice, but I, but my point is like he's a star,

he's a freshman, but they're missing that, like that other guy. The most important point I want people to take away from this, and I went back and watched Mendoza, and I went back and watched that offense, and I saw the defense in the game. Indiana is legit.

I agree. Like, I think they're actually, I was, like, I had to go on with Dan Dockich, and I had people like riding me all year last. I thought they were, I don't want to say fraud, but I thought they were a little bit of a paper tiger last year. It was inflated. They were a little inflated. It was super inflated last year.

And I was watching some SEC programs. And I'm like, I just know they're better. And I watched them against Ohio State. And then we watched them in the playoff against Notre Dame. They weren't at that level. I think they're a lot closer. this year to like top seven, eight teams in the country. I think their efficiency is off the charts.

I think I'm watching guys like Clubnik and I'm watching guys like even sellers. I'm watching guys like Nussmeyer, super talented quarterbacks. I'm watching guys across the board where it looks difficult. I'm watching Aller struggle against shitty opponents, Villanova, FIU, Right? Mm-hmm. And then I put on the tape of a guy like Mendoza, and it's like, no wonder why they had him bottled up.

No wonder why he's not allowed to go to Manning Passing Captain Me. No wonder why he needed every single minute that's Signetti I'm talking about in this off-season with him. Because he is playing so efficiently in that offensive system. And he, like, it's easy for him. It looks easy compared to these other guys who are grinding it out. and the system's efficiency and the offensive line play together as a group. I don't know, man. I'm starting to buy stock in Indiana.

I like it. All right. I just went on a rant and it was your truth. No, you're supposed to go down on it. You agree with me, so that's good. I'll tell you another truth. Texas Tech is for real and I did not buy it coming into the year. this Texas Tech team, they won me over.

That defense going to Utah and putting up that performance against that quarterback and how hot that Utah offense was. And to have that drive where didn't it feel like, all right, Baron Morton's out? It's about what, nine, ten minutes left. Yeah, I don't remember exactly. But it was, it was like four or five minutes into the fourth quarter. Utah drives down and it's all right. Hopefully, hopefully, I'm like watching the clock and I'm like, you know,

I'm like if they can just maybe get a couple first downs here and punt, talking about Texas Tech's often. And instead they come in with Will Hammond, their backup quarterback, and they're better offensively. And not only are they better, they have the confidence in him where they, they like actually press the accelerator more. And so you got this defense, and we're talking about Bailey, obviously, at the edge position, but there's a bunch of dudes on the defensive side, and they're playing hard.

And the thing with Texas Tech, you always think, like the screen game, quick game, and then we're going to pop one over. This is a balanced team, man. I'm watching Jacoby Williams as a receiver at the running back position. He's a dude. He's a dude. I'm watching Cameron Dickey. I'm watching balance in the run game.

I'm watching Hammond come in and rush the ball eight times for 61 yards. I think it was the first playing. He just, hey, I'll take it. Quarterback draw. Watch this. Hey, watch this, Utah. You want a 10 a.m. start us with big noon kick there and all this hoopla and all this madness. Toughest play, one of the toughest places to play in college football, bleep off.

Here's our backup quarterback home for 30. the confidence they played. That tight end, spitting all over my mic now. I'm so excited. That tight end, Terrence Carter. I love him, man. Oh, love him. Team high 17 catches.

You get Coy Eakin at wide receiver. You get this Caleb Douglas cat, averaging over 20 yards per catch. This Texas tech team is for real. The two epiphanies I had this weekend, my two true truths, the biggest ones were, oh, okay, Indiana and Texas Tech are like our legitimate top 10, top 12 teams in the country. And if it keeps tracking this way, should be in the college football playoff.

Yeah, it feels like the defense front is the top five defensive front in the country right now. I mean, I don't want to, I don't want to get into hyperbole, but that defense front looks that good, especially when he had Jacob Rodriguez, who we mentioned at lineback or just flying around the field. They're deep, they're talented. They got guys in the middle. They got guys on the edge. I think that's, I'm all in on Texas Tech. I'm a believer.

The thing I really loved about that game, there was a lot of things to take out of the game. And by the way, I'm not sure who the starting quarterback should be anymore. I said they should go back to Morton, I think on Saturday night. I'm not convinced that's a case. I'm kind of coming over to your side. That being said, the thing I loved about that game, they never took their foot off the gas.

They could have easily made that a 10-point win or whatever. They kept going. They went for the jugular. against Utah. And I think that sends a message to that entire roster of we're not here to win a tight game at Utah. We're here to tell people that we're one of the best teams in the country. And if you let us, we'll take your head off. I said it the other night, and I know we did social clips on it. And I think people are well aware, so I don't want to beat a dead horse. But I think, I think Texas Tech has a real, to me, I think Texas Tech has a real problem on their

hands. And it's a good problem, but I think it's still a problem. in that how can you watch that tape and watch a tale of two halves and not come to the realization that our backups better than our starter? And here's the human part of it, man. Baron Morton's done everything. He's transferred, he's grinded. He's done, like he's worked his ass off. He overcame injury in fall camp.

He's out there. He's giving you everything he's got. And this is his last year, and NFL scouts are talking to him. and he may be a day three pick. And how do we ruin this guy's opportunity when he's done nothing but give us everything he's got as a leader,

as a teammate, as a worker, as our quarterback? How do we do that to him? And that's why I don't want to be in Joey McGuire's shoes. No, it's a tough one, man. Because I also got this, I also got the Matador club that just invested, Lord knows how much they really did to bring in all this talent.

22 transfer guys is the last. report I read. And we get this window, and that window is this season. And Hammond is better than Morton, period. I agree. I agree with everything. He's a better runner. He's an accurate passer.

That offense opened up when he came in the game. I don't want to be McGuire. I don't want to be that staff because it's a brutal decision. Are you worried about the smaller sample size? Of course. But here's the thing. I'm going to talk out of both sides of my. mouth right now. I am too, but it wasn't like he was going against a sub like subpar competition.

He did it at Utah and that's what makes me feel more confident about it. Yeah. Talk about being ready for the moment by the way. Being ready for the moment, unbelievable job by that kid. Like being ready to step in camp, I talked about the injury with Morton. He got a, he was working first team quarterback. Right. So I think there's a difference. No, I know. Difference between. Yeah. Okay. I know. We got it. All right. Go ahead. Next. if Oklahoma is going to run the gauntlet of number 10 Texas, 13 Ole Miss at 15 Tennessee, at 17 Alabama, man, this is crazy. 20 Missouri and 4 LSU,

its defense will have to play as bigger role as Matir does. And I love it, Mature, and everyone's talking about Meteer carrying this team. But that defense is going to have to continue to play at a high level, and I think it can. I think that that defense is for real, and I think it can keep Oklahoma in the type. hunt as much as Mateer does.

So for me, a little good tie for the FBS leave with 16 sacks. And I look at that and that's, you know, that's interesting and all that. What I really like is they have guys who can get to the quarterback off the edge. We talked about, R. Mason Thomas, Taylor Wean. Marvin Jones Jr. doesn't even have a sack yet. That's going to change. But they have the guys on the inside, too. Jaden Jackson and Grayson Holton are problems for interior offensive alignment.

They're going to make it hard for these quarterbacks to step up. They're going to make life difficult. They're already against the good against the good against. the run. You got Kip Lewis at linebacker flying around like a maniac. This is an interesting staff for me. They have not interested in the past or recovered a fumble yet. They have no

turnovers. That's a glitch to me. That seems like one of those stats that yeah, well, maybe they can't cause turnovers or they need to do a better job of that. I think that's going to change too. I think those numbers, it's going to start to come to them. They're too good. They're too fast. They're too smart on defense. And then, of course,

you add in Brent Venables. Like, a genius, a master motivator. defense, I think, is going to keep this defense for Oklahoma, we could talk about the difference that Mateer has made, but as good, and the defense was good last year, this defense is different. This defense is one of the best country. I agree. Yeah, I'd add to it, but like, we're a lot of steps on that. No, no notes.

No, I, honestly, I was glad you sent me your notes on, because I didn't know where to fit Oklahoma in because I talked about Miami's defense, and I had to talk about Texas Tech and that whole team, and especially Will Hammond. And I had to start with the SEC, not to counter your ACC. I had already gone through my notes, and that's what I was going to say, but it worked out perfectly.

But the one thing I was missing when I was done with the five things I wanted to say, my truths from this weekend is, like, I believe in Oklahoma's defense, more than I thought coming into the year, and I have really good resources or sources and intel to know it was going to be a good defense, and it's even better than I expected.

Speaking of defense, let's just transition to my next truth. The McShay Show is brought to you by Fanduel. FanDuel is changing the way you live bet football. And it starts with Next Drive SGBs. That's Next Drive same game parlays. You can bet what's happening on the next drive. Will it end with a touchdown?

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This episode is brought to you by Duluth Trading Company. Ready to give rival tailgates the foam thing Duluth trading company crafts Hall of Fame game day gear to help you grill hotter, cheer louder, and tailgate longer. Trust me, like, I'm a scene at the grill. I know what this is all about. They've got bibs loaded with pockets, gusted in pants so you can crouch without snuffing out your coals. And free swinging shirts tailor made for beanbag tossing,

or some like to call it cornhole. Stay comfortable from preseason to playoffs in the toughest tailors. in the toughest tailgate attire around, only at Duluth trading company. Michigan ain't there yet, okay? And I know there was a close game and the Hail Mary and you can go through all the minutia you want. But the one thing I feel really good about right now

is that this defensive front can carry Michigan to a one-loss record going into Ohio State. and that's saying a lot because they got to play at USC and I just told you I think and I'll get to USC in a minute all right and I've kind of hinted

where I'm going with it they play against Washington and that's a I mean and I'll get to DeMond Williams but if you look no further he's got the top QBR and all of college football but this defensive front and NFL scouts aren't stupid man

in fact I have an unbelievable level of respect for NFL scouts the vast vast vast vast majority of them. Because they go into programs and they're looking ahead a year and they're evaluating the talent and they're watching the tape even when guys aren't starters and rotating in. And they're getting prepared to present to their general manager and to their college scouting director who's going to be the best for coming up next year.

Maybe some guys are transfers. Maybe some guys were backups. But they always know they've got a range. And I've talked talking to scouts in the preseason. This Michigan defensive front is different. and I know they lost a bunch of dudes. They lost two first round defensive tackles, but this defensive front is different.

And then you look at like the national list and the Bresto list, and you talk to people in the league coming into the year, Michigan had more senior defensive front guys with high grades. I'm talking high grades, first, second round, maybe trickling into early third than any other program in the country. Now, it doesn't mean the most talented, because there's sophomores and juniors and a couple freshmen here and there.

But I'm saying of the senior guys, veteran guys who've been around the program, I'm talking Derek Moore, J. Sean Barham, Ray Benny, Ernest Hausman, T.J. Guy, okay? This group is loaded. And then you watch, like, you look at the numbers, right?

Hausman at the linebacker position, 29 tackles in a sack. You got that Reuter cat, 21 tackles and a sack Sullivan at lineback they just like they've got nine linebackers because their edge guys are outside backers they're off the ball linebackers

right they're going around Barham has been awesome leads the team with three sacks is an edge rusher okay this team and so as you've got a young quarterback in Underwood who's going to continue to develop and we're starting to see that development

in the last couple weeks but we're also still seeing he's got a ways to go as a passer. But you've got an offensive line. Michigan is not there yet, but I can see this Michigan team because of that defensive front and the way they play as a group offensively towards the end of the year going into Ohio State

where we're like, they're one of the 10, 12 best teams in the country. And now they get this shot against Ohio State and we know how that thing's gone for the buck guys. Watch Michigan because of that defensive front continue to go and ascend as the year goes on. Two things. One, you're preaching to the choir and two, typical McShay, you have 35 teams making a 12th team playoff. Okay, keep going. No, what's up?

My last truth. My fifth and final, oh, you want me to go on about Michigan? No, no, no, no, no, I want to keep it moving. Okay. Because you're also that run game. I'll just say that. That run game is awesome. Yes. Anyways, my last and final truth is, and there are a bunch of caveats here. I understand that. But mensch, but mensch, but mensch. Arch Banning's performance. this past week against Sam Houston State is encouraging to me. I get it. It's Sam Houston State. I also get that it didn't look great.

But everyone on the internet is trolling and saying he's acting like a prick, a spoiled little jerk. And oh, it's Sam Houston State and all that stuff. Like, no, not for you? I actually don't love him trolling kids who were like one-star players who are out there competing against him. I don't love that, but I don't really, I'm not here to like, I don't really care about that.

you know like i just don't care about it that being said i am concerned about some of the things on tape like the throwing motion still looks a little funky his foot works a little off at times and he missed low a couple times or a couple throws that weren't great but he built confidence clearly over the course of this game he got better clearly over this course of the game i thought his timing and again the confidence in his delivery throwing outside the hatches on some of the timing stuff all looked better to me he did what he's got to do if he's going to be great which is extending plays making off off platform throws, making plays with his feet. He's going to have to get a hell of a lot better.

But this was a step forward. And let's just take that for what it is right now. Let's take that as, and here's a couple of things that jumped out to me in terms of numbers. Ryan Wingo, four for 93 and two touchdowns in this game. DeAndre Moore, five and 79. Those are two dudes that he's got to get going. The Wingo thing to me is huge because it wasn't an opponent thing. It wasn't him getting locked down.

it was a connection thing and I detailed it last week. Part of it was on Wingo, part of it was on Manning, part of it was timing, all of it. I will respond to this to you and this point by saying, I tend to lean in your direction here. I don't think that's the behavior. No, I don't mean, whatever, though. But whatever, though.

I think, honestly, because it's easy to sit back and have never played, you've played the game. But it's easy to sit back and just watch and be like, yeah, he's a manning, a few million dollars and I, maybe six million depending on reports, all that stuff. She's acting like a spoiled little, you know, all that.

And the opponent and it's, but you know who needed that, like who needed to see that more than anything? His teammates, man. Yeah. And I think somebody, and rightfully so got to him this week, and I don't know if it was a teammate, I don't know if it was Sark,

I don't know if it was his dad or his mom or his uncles or who it was. Like, would just stop caring about being a manning. Would just stop caring about how people perceive you? Would just stop caring about everything that doesn't matter and just be you? And you know what? His dad's a riot. His dad is a stand-up comedian. and his dad beats by a different, different drummer.

Different guy, yeah. Different drummer than the Eli and the paint. And, you know, his dad is a little bit out there. And I fucking love his dad. Cooper Manning is awesome. And he's got a little bit of Cooper in him. He's got a little bit of his mom in him. And it's okay.

It's actually great. And I think we saw he's a little bit of a prick. And you know what? I don't know a great quarterback out there who isn't. Now, how they externally show it and all that. But I know so many stories about quarterbacks and the meetings and what they do to the backup quarterbacks and all that, including his uncles.

Right. Especially Peyton. He ain't the commercial funny guy when he's at business. And Tom, complete a-hole to deal with. Robot. Like, they all are. So, like, so he's letting it out, man. I think it was good to see.

We'll see. If he does, it's all about the opponent. If he does that, if he's doing that to Oklahoma in two weeks, if he's flexing on Oklahoma like that in two weeks, I am going to be fired up. But I think it's more about just get it out of your system, man. Like, let your teammates see, I'm good, so we're good.

Now let's move on. All right, the final truth, this is taking way too long, but it's been a lot of fun. Screw it. Jaden Mayava. Jaden Mayava at USC is the best quarterback in the country that nobody's talking about

because they really haven't played great competition yet, and they play late at night and all the other reasons. But Mayava is completing almost 71% of his throws. It was averaging 12.7 yards per attempt, dude. I'm glad you brought that up. That is a big part of the number that you're saying, because a lot of guys who have that kind of number, you're looking at 8.9, 9.4,

you're looking at a smaller average. That's an important, to me, that's an important number to bring up. And I think when people think of Lincoln Riley, they think of a nine touchdown, zero interceptions. Anyone could read stats. But like, I think those stats are worth noting, okay? He's also rushed 15 times 55 yards forward. But his game is play action and striking.

And he has done that at an unbelievably high level so far, albeit against competition that's not great. And we talked about USC and what's coming up and they got a lot of work to do. And I'm excited to see them do it because I think I think USC's vastly underrated. I think they could wind up being in the playoff picture at the end of the year. Put them as team 17 in my top 12, munch if you want. Good luck. They got Illinois coming up.

They got Michigan coming up. They get at Notre Dame coming up. They get at Nebraska coming up. It's brutal. But I think this team. Later on. Yeah. In the second to the last regular season game.

But I think this team is going to wind up being a lot better than people think. Okay. And I think Mayava is a big reason why. But when you think about Lincoln Riley, you think about the passing game. You think about the Baker Mayfields he's had. You think about the Kyler Murray's, and you think about the Caleb Williams, right?

And you think like, but the thing that people never quite understood, and the reason why coaches around the country, including NFL, were flying into Norman for a long time in the summer to try to pick his brain is that run game set it all up. And the reason why you had the best offensive line coach in college football for a long time. And I'm surprised that Bied and Bow didn't go with him from Oklahoma to USC and people in Norman should be thrilled that he didn't.

Their run game is critical and it's now working the way it worked for Kyler and for Baker and not really for Caleb and Caleb was awesome, but they didn't want a lot. It's back to that. And this tandem for USC at running back, the Wayman Johnson and Eli Sanders, 693 rushing yards averaging 7 yards per carry. this USC team is a little different. And I think Mayava is the most underrated quarterback in the country because no one's really seen him so far.

Yeah, it's, it's tough. I think it's William and Jordan, by the way, not Johnson. But I would say this. I love his efficiency. No, that's right. I love his efficiency. Correct me. I feel like you, it's better.

It's like telling some. No, no, I always said in TV, like I would say when we get down on a set and you haven't worked for something like, if I say something stupid, like correct me so we can laugh about it. Don't let everyone be sitting. at home being like, McShay just said this. No one's correct. You know what I was talking about. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

They want to jump on you. He's efficient, man. There's a lot of good quarterbacks out there that we haven't talked about in depth, I think. But he's up there. He's great. He's fun to watch. And I'm with you. I'm not sold on USC like you are, but they put themselves in a good position to shut me up. Defense is a lot better, too. Not great.

Not great. But they can get after the quarterback. But they can get after the quarterback. And they can turn the ball over. They're pretty good. All right. Let's transition. We promise the fine folks supporting this show.

And by the way, thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching us on YouTube. Hey, by the way, the numbers were awesome Saturday night, the YouTube live show. I love the interaction. I love the interaction. The interaction is my favorite. If you haven't been part of it, you got to jump on.

We're going to jump on. We got those late games I talked about Georgia, Alabama on Saturday night. What was the other one? We got Oregon Penn State. Yeah, Oregon, Penn State on NBC. I'm talking to Blackledge this week. I might actually ask him to come on the show. We'll see what a schedule is like.

But we're going to jump on late in those games and come watch them with us. Have the big game in the background, but you can kind of interact with us. We'll be talking. We'll be yelling and screaming just like you at the TV. And we don't even look at the screens. I'm looking at the game and mentions doing the same. But thank you for supporting us on YouTube at the McShay Show channel.

Apple podcast, obviously Spotify, taking care of our business for us. Yeah. So, but we got to transition here because we're running out of time as if we have a clock on us. The Mendoza line. Thanks to Connor for his great idea. And thanks to Dan again for his great 10 trues from college football week four. I do.

This is interesting. I think what spawned this, Munch, I don't think I know, was that Pete Thammell, our good buddy, came on game day the other day and did a report where he talked to 25 different NFL executives, personnel people, scouts, all that, and ask them, who's your number one quarterback for the 26 NFL draft right now? And the numbers, the responses and the numbers attached to some of the names were a little bit interesting. I'll read them to you, okay?

Lenora Sellers played this past week after being questionable after the injury, had the most votes with eight. Garrett Nussmeyer had seven just behind him. Then there was a drop-off. There were two other names that had three. That was Carson Beck, John Mateer. Obviously, Miami and Oklahoma, respectively. Then, I guess, so that's one, two, three, four, five.

And then fifth on the list with two, just behind Beck and, and Matier, was Drew Aller from Penn State. And then just behind that, behind Aller were two more names. Sam Levitt with one and Arch Manning with one. So it begged the question for Connor, and I think it's a great question. We're here to answer it today. What is the Mendoza line?

Because Mendoza wasn't on that list. No. Which I found interesting, but go ahead. We're talking NFL draft, correct? We're not talking about a quarterback. 26 NFL draft, yes. Because right now, if we were doing college football rankings with quarterbacks, Mateer is number one,

like, no, It's a different thing. Right. It's a different thing. Yes. This is for the NFL draft. Where do you want to go with this? Because I could just rattle off what I think my list is.

Do you want me to do that first? And then you can respond or, or. Yeah, let's do it that way. All right. Okay. If I had to say right now and re-rack him, and I think Dan and I talked about this, maybe it'll be next week after these big games where I feel like I have enough

of a sample size to officially release my new 2026 updated quarterback rankings. And we gave the fine folks who showed up in Chicago for our live show, you know, a kind of an in-between update on that. It's what happens when you show up to live shows. I'm not, you know, we're not at Pack McAfee status.

We don't have $500,000 to give away to, for one kick. But I give away an updated QB rankings when you come and show up. Awesome crowd there, by the way. Thank you to everyone who's watching who was there that night. Like you guys hung out to meet us afterwards. They were weak and like the energy. And like it wasn't this massive.

massive crowd, but it was more people there than I thought. And the venue was amazing. It was a special night for both of us. And I can't thank our crew and the folks who showed up like enough. Anyway, here are my rankings right now, kind of off the cuff. But I'm going to update it next week after we have, after we have like another full. This is going to be a big week for guys like Aller, for guys like Adonte Moore, for a lot of these top guys, LSU, Nussmeyer.

I would start there. Garrett Nussmeyer is still my QB one. And I recognize that that offense hasn't clicked the way you want that offense to click. I think that they're playing complementary football. I am so damn impressed with the way he's managing games, how he's reeled it back in. I think he understands the onus is on him to allow that defense, which is light years ahead of where it was a year ago and to create more balance at the run game and all those things. He has a role to play in this offense.

and it will continue to increase, and he will show up in the big moments, I believe, we'll find out. But I still, I just trust Nuss. Number two would be Lenora Sellers, even though I have not budged an ounce off my stance that my man, Lenoris has, like,

I desperately want to see him come back and play another year of college football. I desperately want him to be closer to 40 starts than 30 starts when he goes in the, NFL for his sake, not for his agents, not for any people in his circle that want the money and the fame and all that stuff for Lenore, not even for South Carolina. True. And you know, I love Shane.

I love Shane Beamer. I love that a lot of people there in Columbia, but for Lenoris, that's what we're talking about the player going to the draft. I want to see that. But I understand how he got eight votes. He's dynamic. He's different. But he's got to continue to develop as a pass.

After that, I would put Mateer slightly ahead of Beck. But I would have a bang, bang, bang of Mateer, Beck, Mendoza. And I want to see more from Mendoza, but Mendoza could very easily become three on that list, depending on the way he plays. So if the Mendoza line for me is at five, then that means I got him ahead of a bunch of other guys. I want to explain to people there are some national scouting lists.

There are scouts across the country that do this in the preseason. I just talked about in Michigan. Tailing Green from Arkansas was rated higher than a lot of other big names on this list and on other lists. He's a guy that would be below Mendoza for me, but I'm saying keep an eye on what he does. Dante Moore, I just watched a lot of. his tape. Oregon. I think he's got a chance to really be good. I'm seeing a guy who in, not flashes, but in certain areas of his game, it's outstanding. I don't think he's that fast, but I do think he's mobile and quick and moves around. I think he throws really well in the

run. I think he throws a really nice deep ball. I think he can drive the ball down the field, but I think there's a lot of line drives. I think there's some trajectory and some layering stuff that you can improve upon. I think he's. his game is just not refined because he hasn't played a lot of ball. Played in 2023. He didn't play last year. He's with Will Stein. Like, Will Stein is the QB whisperer right now in college football. Look no further than Bo Nicks, right? Look at what he did last year.

Dylan Gabriel, right? And Bo Nix had two years. Think about what Bo was that first year coming from Auburn, a wounded duck. and then, I mean, ironically, right? I didn't even, there was a play on words, but then took off flying, right? Fly, Dux Fly, yeah. Fly, Dux Fly, as much like to say. So I think Dante Moore,

I see what people are saying. Like, I see those things. And I finally sat down and watched the tape. And I studied Northwestern. He got off to a slow start. Then he kept getting better. And then I watched last week against Oregon State. And he was dealing at times.

But I think that he's going to continue to improve and Stein's the guy to help him do that. So I don't want sellers in this class. I don't want Dante Moore in this class. I don't want Arch Manning in this class. And he's not going to be, as we said, going back to May. And it's not because I don't think they're talented or good enough. I don't want them in this class because I don't want that for them.

Right? Yeah. And then other names you have to include, Clubnik, not playing to the level, really has hurt his draft stock this year. He's falling below the Mendoza line. I agree with you. He's below the Mendoza line. And that takes a lot for me to say,

because I believe in that young man and the leadership and the way he cares. But he's not played to the level. We've seen some more blemishes in his game than I expected to say. I thought he was going to do this. Like take it to another level. Instead, he is taking a step back.

And that happens. Sam Levitt needs another year of college. Put him in the list with sellers and Dante Moore and Arch. True. Super talented. So I would have Taylor Green, Dante Moore, Clubnik, Levitt, then Aller.

Wow. And I want to remind people. Don't come after me, man. I hope you heard that. I mean, that is, I'm blown away. I don't have a, listen, I'm with you. I am lower than, I think, almost everyone else. I don't know if I'm that low.

But that's interesting. I hope he proves me wrong. I'm excited to see him against Oregon. I hope that they've just kind of been vanilla. And they, I hope he's got to, he's got a lot of new faces at wide receiver, and we're going to get into this a lot more on Thursday. I watch the guy who has the same problems,

and I'm wondering why did, why those other receivers go off to, um, was Ole Miss and, and, uh, somewhere else, I think in the SEC and, and they're, they're thriving or projected to thrive.

Right. Because may, and why would you leave a program that is legitimately a contender for the national championship with a quarterback who's, who by a lot of NFL scout standards is, potentially a first round pick, one of the top two or three quarterbacks in this draft. Yeah. Why would you leave?

And by the way, Andy, their offensive coordinator, like, they're never going to say it, but I just see some of the play calling. The play calling versus the play calling on third down and six when they need it. When they need a play, it's over the middle, it's receiver coming back to him. it's a quick out which he can throw not ironically but it's interesting but the swing passes the post corners

what is going on running away from him it's the fades it's a lack of visualization and or lack of touch and being able to layer it and just feel as a passer I'm seeing the same thing is concerning and if it's concerning against Villanova and concerning I think it was FIU

is the other tape I watched yep Nevada FIU in Villanova, the teams they've played. I'm concerned what that's going to be against Oregon, and we'll see. Okay. I am going to, I want to make this very clear. I agree with you on the quarterbacks that you think should go back, and I want to make that clear because there's going to be some names in here that I think are very high.

Lenora Sellers from South Carolina is by far the best quarterback in this class. It's not even close. He is the best runner. He is the best deep ball thrower. And when you look at his intermediate passing, it's not even close. Lenora Sellers is an elite quarterback prospect who was only going to get better. I feel, I, after watching him watching all of his tape this year, I went back and watched it, I feel better about him now than I did coming into the year and you know how he felt about him.

I don't think it's close. And then I looked at the rest of the list, and I'll be honest with you. I just said to myself, have some balls, Mitch. Like, you can do this and you can sit, you can do all the math and all the mitigating factors of why Nussmeyer should be, you know, two, maybe even one, I get all of that. understand where you're coming from. He's not for me. He's not. I'm going Meteer, too.

He just played too well, and I get it. I know it's a roller coaster ride. I understand the flaws. Meteer to me has put himself in that position. He's the second quarterback available. Next. I don't, yeah. I see why.

Yeah. I see why. I've seen enough from Dante Moore to think he's three right now. I, the frame, the accuracy, I see a guy who's trusting his reads. I see a guy who's trusting his production. protection. He has not faced a high level of competition yet. We'll see how that goes this week. I love Dante Moore. And I said it in the beginning of the year that I said, and I'm going to beat this drum for as long as I can, that I thought they could be better a quarterback this year than they were last year. And I still believe that right now at this point in the season. I think this kid is that freaking good. I would agree and say, I don't know that he's, I thought Dylan Gabriel was like getting the ball out and process. and all those things really, really quickly and had a unique understanding of that offense

and, like, could could orchestrate that offense way better than you would expect as someone who just just transferred in. Love Dylan Gabriel last year. I just, I just think this kid's an another level. And Dylan Gabriel, like, he won the battle for Cleveland. He's the backup quarterback. Kenny Pickett's gone. Shador, like, whatever.

Like, watch from the sideline. So, like, there's, obviously, it was a third round pick. Yeah, good player. But this cat's different talent-wise. I totally agree. And I'm kind of, I gave you a real, you know, 30,000-foot view of what it was. But I'm excited to talk about Aller versus, I'm excited to talk about Aller and the Penn State offense versus Oregon. Yeah.

And I see some real differences. And I don't want to steal your guy because he's been your guy from the beginning. Will Stein, the offense coordinator from, from. Morgan is your guy, but he's my guy now too. Like I absolutely believe in what Willstein could do. So I'm going sellers, but here more. Then I got Nuss. I love Nuss.

I love Nuss. I do. I love the brain. It's just a matter of him. If you look at the three guys ahead of them, it's clear what he's missing compared to what they have. He doesn't have the physical tools that they have. Great quarterback, though.

And I think he's going to be a really good quarterback in the league. Then I go back. I think Carson Beck's played his way into that, you know, that top five conversation. And then when I get after Beck, I'm going, I think that Aller and Mendoza are both there. I think Aller's got a strong arm. I will say this, for a guy who's got that much arm strength, he's a shitty deep ball thrower. And I don't get it. I just don't get why.

Anything with touch is a problem. He can, he's got a laser when he wants to drive the ball. Yes. I was encouraged, by the way he moved in a Nevada game. I thought he grew, but it goes back to what we've been saying all along. against subpar pass rushes. He's been very good in terms of moving. And then when he gets into these elite athletes,

so we're going to see something different against Oregon. And I'll say this about Mendoza. I really like Mendoza. When you get him off his first read and can keep him in his pocket, it starts to be a problem. Because Mendoza's, it's not that he can't get two seconds. He's going to be a tough evaluation.

I meant to say that. I meant to lead with that. You said that Saturday night, and I wasn't, I don't know whether I was tired or what. I wasn't understanding. what you were saying, 100% correct. Because he is in the perfect system that give him those reads. He is a surgeon on RPO.

He's release, timing, and accuracy make him a surgeon on RPO. And he can throw the deep ball if it's there. If he gets that first read, you can throw the deep out, all of that's good. But if you take away that first read and the footwork and the accuracy starts to get a little more shaky, it's not a mobility thing. He can move around. No, he can run. It's not a, it's not a.

And he throws really well on the run, too. Right. It's just, it's almost like he speeds up his process a little bit. I don't know what it is. I think it's something you can fix, but right now that's a weakness in his game that I see. But yeah, let's just say this too. Some damn game quarterbacks in that group. It's an exciting group. We'll see who comes out and who stays. I think sellers can be the first overall pick. If he comes out, I still hope he stays because I'm with you. It's not about being that that first overall pick or wherever. It's about being the best quarterback that you can be. And I think he will benefit from staying in school longer. and getting more, more experience. This is awesome. Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. And the beauty is, honestly, week five, like we've had a lot of good individual games. It feels like the season starts in week five.

Yeah, we're going to learn so much. Do you know what I mean? It's like conference matchups. It's like critical games. Even the teams that don't have a ranking next to them, like Arkansas for Notre Dame is scary. Illinois for USC, Illinois just got dumped on and they've got injuries on defense

but like this is kind of the next step up before things get really hard for USC. LSU Ole Miss. Ole Miss is dangerous right now but is Ole Miss really legit is LSU as good as we think they could be because of the defense? Can Nuss shut you up?

Yeah. Yeah. Ohio Washington's dangerous for Ohio. Ohio State, I mean. A&M, Auburn's dangerous. That Auburn team is scary. They're getting a pissed off Auburn team. Iowa always kind of, it's like the snake in the weeds, and they'll do little things,

and they'll take you off your game. And they will get Mendoza off of that first read a lot. They are so disciplined and, like, consistent defensively. I'm excited to see that. Mississippi State, not a team you want to overlook this year. and Tennessee's got them. I think at Mississippi State, right? Cowbell's going. Is that right?

Oregon Penn State. Alabama, Georgia. Like, we're going to find out a lot about these dudes. This is a great weekend. It's a great weekend. All right, I wanted to get to the AP. I think the AP, put the AP up real quickly, talk.

I'm going to give you 30 seconds. I am not an AP fan at all. Outside of Iowa State, though, if you watch back at the show that we did the live reaction show, Saturday night into Sunday morning. This is what I was talking about. I said to you, I need Indiana in the top 12 and maybe top 10.

There they are sitting at what, number nine. Texas Tech. I said, I need them in the top 12. Those are going to be two jumps. I think one was like 16, one with 19 or something like that. They got to be in the top 12. There they are, nine and 10. I love that.

I said, Ole Miss is right behind those teams. Right there, yep. With my 14 teams that I put in the top 12 the other night. Ole Miss was right there, the next one up. I said, get Iowa State out of here. They were in the top 12, and now they're out, not far enough for me. And I said Tennessee's got to be right behind Ole Miss. So this list, while it's not perfect, is a hell of a lot better after we.

And again, it's not the committee, so it doesn't matter. I'm just saying, I'm starting to see some common sense and people actually studying what's going on rather than just throwing up the names that they thought in the preseason. So it's the only point I wanted to make. We're back on Thursday. We've got a monster show. A monster show.

We've got all those games I just talked about. Monster Week in college football. So pumped, it might be a two-hour show when we're done with it. But I hope you enjoyed this one. Five stars, match. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem?

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