WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Four Man Front: Happy Valley Heated Seat

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

Franklin can’t win, Sarkisian won’t change, and the rankings are always wrong. Lewis hedges his emotions, Marc, Patrick, and Paden do not.

Alabama finally beats Diego Pavia. Miami survives in Tallahassee. The AP preseason number one and number two teams are no longer ranked. It's week seven, and the coming slate promises complete chaos. It is Bedlam in college football. We're going to cover it all. I'm Lewis Thune, and this is the four-man front, the show about college football and nothing else. So good to be back with you on the show, folks. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101 points. 7 FM. We were hoping against hope and against all precedent this college of football season that we'd be able to sit down here and tell you that we were right. And everything unfolded as expected. Payton Hughes. That didn't happen. This should have been a simple week. This was a prove-it week. Show us that you're real. Far as we know, there was like one prove-it this week. And that would be Miami-FSU, 28-22. A great game, all things considered. Miami really proved themselves. There's a lot of speculation they ought to be the number one team in the country.

Is that right, Mark Ayers? I mean, right now they have probably the best wins in the nation over Notre Dame, South Florida, and Florida State, all three currently ranked teams. Ohio State doesn't have three ranked ones. They have shown dominance throughout the season and show dominance again in this game against Florida State. They took a physical game to an opponent's stadium and really were able to move the ball around, stifle Florida State's great offense. It was very impressive.

two great games against Notre Dame and Florida State where they jumped on their opponent early. They left themselves exposed toward the end, but it just wasn't enough. They played strong through three quarters. They could let off the throttle a little bit in the fourth and still come away with the win. But speaking of jumping on one's opponent, we had been mocking the UCLA Bruins for the first six weeks of the season. Relentlessly. As the biggest disaster in all of college football. This last week goes to show you that anything can happen as the UCLA Bruins managed to knock off the number seven Penn State Nittany Lions.

Patrick Hamilton. How did that happen? I am just as shocked as everyone else is because I have been relentless with slandering them. But what I saw from UCLA, the way that they played, this looked like a top 25 team. It is crazy to think what we just witnessed. Not even UCLA's fans believed in UCLA. There was no one at that game, which says a lot more about UCLA and a lot more about Penn State. This wasn't the crowd getting to Penn State.

This wasn't a tough road environment. This was the easiest layup you will ever have in college football against an O-N-4 team that got spanked by New Mexico. Without a doubt, it was eventful in all of your conferences, but the SEC had what everyone assumed would be the centerpiece. Alabama Vanderbilt. This game was 30 to 14, not a terrible loss as far as the score is concerned, but we were watching it.

It never seemed like Vanderbilt had a chance in that game. It was Alabama dominant through all four quarters. Diego Pavia, Bugs Bunny, the man no one can catch, finally got licked by the Alabama Crimson Tide at home. They did not come out hot against Vanderbilt. I know we kind of all agreed that it felt like Alabama had this game from the start. You got to remember that it was Vanderbilt's game 7-0 at the end of the first. If you were watching, you thought Vanderbilt at least could put some points on the board compared to Alabama.

But from that point, Alabama owned the game. Ty Simpson looked electric. He looked elite. He looked like a good Alabama quarterback. You needed one man to be that difference maker for Vanderbilt. You needed Diego Pavia to come out and have the game he had last year. But the Alabama defense, which lost them that game at Vanderbilt. about last year, they came out and they said, not again. They were after Pavia all the game when they weren't sacking him.

They were tripping him up as he was trying to scramble one and two yard gains. That Vanderbilt offense couldn't get anything going. Certainly. Speaking of individual excellence, though, Carson Beck and the Miami Hurricanes, after going down in flames the previous year with Georgia, losing some disappointing matchups and injuring himself in the SEC championship. Carson Beck has come out this year and probably established himself

as the best passing quarterback in the nation. A flawless game against Florida State, Mark. 20 for 27, 241 total yards, averaging nine yards per pass, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Phenomenal showing by Carson Beck, who has found a real connection with the freshman receiver Malachi Tony.

He had seven receptions for 100. seven yards against Florida State, averaging 15 per catch with two touchdowns to boot. Carson Beck and Malachi Tony, along with C.J. Daniels, the number two receiver. They've shown real chemistry this year, and Carson Beck has been able to put the ball wherever he wants it all season. You go from Cam Ward, the best pocket passer in college football last year, and probably the trustiest set of hands in college football and Xavier Restrepo to Carson back. Almost a discount version of Cam Ward, though this year he has looked the part. He is every

bit of Cam Ward six games into the season. And then you have this Tony kid, not at all a pass catching wide receiver, an absolute speed demon. Insane to tackle. He was making some cuts, made me think back to that Tavon Austin highlight reel that we all grew up watching. The dude knows how to rack up yards after the catch. And honestly, that's exactly what Miami needs right now because that running game wasn't getting going. You needed someone that could make a defender miss and Malachi Tony provided them that. Mario Cristobal there in Miami has given Carson Beck everything he needs to succeed and Carson Beck has made the most of it.

Over in Iowa in Ames, Rocco Becked, well, the same can't be said for him. He is the sole star in this Iowa State offense right now, Peyton. That's exactly right. He can't get too much help. I know you're already saying it. I've talked to Patrick a lot about this outside of this show. Iowa State has been so on and off. Rocco tries to make something work.

He had 48 passing attempts because they could not run the ball against Cincinnati and they got behind early. So everything was down to him. His receivers couldn't catch things that were close to them. He had so much pressure on in the entire game. He ended up making a couple bad passes, but when you're throwing the ball as much as he is, there's only so much you can do.

He needs some help. This Iowa State team did not come out like we know they could. The kid, there's no doubt in my mind he's going to the NFL. A massive ceiling. So much potential there for Rocco Beck, and he's shown himself more than capable of passing the ball, of running the ball. He doesn't make dumb mistakes.

He doesn't put the ball in danger. He trusts his wide receivers. They just don't deliver for him. Contrast that with what they saw on the other side, 3830. Cincinnati played a spectacular game, offensive defense, special teams. That's a complete team.

So that's a team that can upset just about anyone. in the Big 12. You've said it earlier. They are an absolute bear trap of a team, so to speak. There were two other trap teams playing this week in Mississippi State and Houston. Both of them could manage nothing. Texas Tech and Texas A&M are the top two schools in the state of Texas. A&M 319 over Mississippi State and Tech 3511 over Houston. Exactly. Texas Tech, I have said it every single week and I will continue to say it has looked tremendous on both sides of the ball. They're already the number one defense in the country right now when it comes to stops. They're getting a stop on 85.5% of all drives against them.

Their running defense is top three in the country. Texas Tech looks real, and they had Baron Morton back this week. He put up 345 passing yards. He was doing whatever he wanted with Houston. Texas Tech is for real, and it really makes me happy that the University of Texas, the Longhorns, are maybe not even a top half team in the state of Texas. and there are 13 FBS schools in the state of Texas. I love to say it as an Oklahoma fan now that UT has shown themselves absolutely fraudulent with a loss in the swamp this week.

2921. A&M lined up and they ran that ball for 299 yards. I loved seeing it. It was beautiful. Ruben Owens, Levy on Moss, one of the best one-two punches in the country behind Penn State, even though Penn State didn't use them. excellent excellent showing staying in the state of texas as we pivot from looking backward at week six to forward at week seven probably the biggest matchup this week not due to rankings but due to history

one of the biggest rivalries in college football is the red river showdown shootout rivalry game they change it every single year it feels like whatever the case texas oklahoma Texas coming off a humiliating loss in the swamp to a one and three Florida team. Oklahoma number six in the country with their starting quarterback fresh off of thumb surgery and looking like he's going to be back for the game. Gentlemen, what are you expecting in Dallas? To be completely honest, Lewis, I'm expecting a beat down. I am expecting Oklahoma to absolutely run rampant over this Texas team,

despite the fact that it's a rivalry game, anything can happen in a rivalry game. We know this. unbelievably, ESPN has Texas with a 60% chance to win, according to their FBI predictor, which as we all know by now, is completely broken. Don't believe your lying eyes, folks, because this Oklahoma team is absolutely the better team, especially if John Mateer is back, which it's looking like he will be. Regardless, I don't think that Archmanning and this Texas offense are going to be able to do anything at all against the stellar Oklahoma defense.

So even if Mateer isn't back, you're going to have a slothel. plug-fest, and Oklahoma's going to come out on top. When I mentioned Texas Tech is having the best defense when it comes to stoppage rate, do you know who's second? It's Oklahoma. They're getting a stop on 85.1% of all drives. You know how many points they're allowing per drive? How many?

Less than one. Oklahoma. To put this in perspective, is top three in every single defensive metric. Top three in the country. Brent Venables has created an elite unit. The offense hasn't been there. The run game has been atrocious. We finally had a kid break 70 this week.

Well, your running back game has been terrible, but your running game through Mateer has been fantastic. And I think that with Mateer being announced to come back for this game, I think Oklahoma's got this one. I mean, Texas, with this loss to Florida, horrible. Archmanning, they were always like, just wait, just let him develop throughout the year. He has just gotten worse every single solitary game.

I don't think he's had one step. game. You put a lot of pressure on this kid because of his last name and he's not performing. I think that Oklahoma is going to have themselves a top five season. The early season injuries are waning for this Oklahoma team. If you all want to know a fun fact of 22 offensive and defensive starters, when Brent Venables has more than 12 of his 22 starters active, he's never lost to Texas. The two years Sarkesian beat Venables. Venables was down half. of his starting lineup. Good grief.

We saw those injuries earlier on in the year, Oklahoma right off the bat, losing four offensive tackles and a wide receiver. They're back. Mateer, by all indications, is going to be playing. And I think Texas wins. Crazy things happen at the Cotton Bowl. I've seen witchcraft before. I will be delighted should Oklahoma prove me wrong.

You did not just say Texas wins. Guys, I think this Oklahoma defense is good enough to lock down Texas. I think this Texas defense is better than Oklahoma's defense, but they're not ready for a quarterback who can hurt them that much on the ground. Give me Oklahoma and Red River. I'd be delighted if Oklahoma proves me a Oklahoma fan. I am an Oklahoma fan. I'm hedging my emotions. I'm hedging my emotions. This Texas team? Really? They struggle putting up double-digit points, and now you put them against arguably the best defense in college football, and you think Arch Manning is going to do anything besides throw three picks?

I'm hedging my emotions, okay? If I am wrong, I will be delighted. If I am right, I will be able to say I was right. Every single Red River, it is a rule I do not pick Oklahoma because I have seen the best Oklahoma teams lose to the worst Texas teams. It scarred my childhood, watching Baker Mayfield lose to Texas. Texas and then Kyler Murray lose to Texas watching Sam Bradford and Landry Jones lose to Texas. You want to know the difference between those Oklahoma teams and this Oklahoma team?

You're going to say the defense. I'm going to say the defense. You have Brent Venables calling your defensive plays. Oklahoma didn't used to have a defense. Now they do. They can rely on their defense and they can rely on their offense to put up 30 points. I'm still going to go with Texas. Very weak confidence in that pick.

I hope we can sit on the couch on Saturday, and you can look at me as the last seconds tick off and say, I told you so, and I'll be happy when I hear that. But we got to get moving. There's three more games on the slate, two in the Big Ten, one more in the SEC. We got Bama versus Missouri. This game's in Columbia, Alabama,

coming off a win against Georgia and then against Vanderbilt. Now they're heading to a sneaky good atmosphere up there in Missouri to play a team that is undefeated. and looking unbeatable right now, the best running game in the FBS. Who you got? I picked against Alabama last week with the Vanderbilt Pick. That was one of those that I talked about, you know, not really fully believing, but hoping what happened.

Well, I'm going to pick with what I believe, and I believe that Alabama is done losing to teams that have less talent than them. I believe that Alabama is on the revenge path ever since that season opening loss to Florida State. Missouri is a good team. Don't get me wrong. In fact, they're a very good team. They have a great passing game. They have a phenomenal rushing game, as you've already mentioned. However, I just don't think it's going to be enough to beat Bama. I'm not seeing anything on this Missouri schedule so far that really gives me enough confidence to pick them over Alabama, especially that

South Carolina win, 29 to 20. That's big in the focus for me right now. on the other hand, has had three convincing wins against decent opponents and the last two against outright great opponents. I'm picking Bama here. I don't see Alabama losing this game. I think Missouri, they're a great team. Don't get me wrong, the thing that worries me the most, I look back at that Kansas football game and how they got down really early on. They have to prove that they're not a fraudulent team. The burden of proof is on them. I think we're going to see Missouri get absolutely wiped. Wow. Well, I'm going to be the first to disagree here. Missouri has looked great. Like I mentioned earlier, they're very run heavy. When they go down early, they should be down and out for the

count because they don't have the passing game. You brought up Missouri, Kansas. I'm going to use that for evidence the other way. Do you know what Missouri did the rest of that game? They put up over 500 total yards. Bo Probula put up 334 passing yards. This is a Missouri team that can beat you on the air or in the ground. And if they start getting you on the ground, they're going to run away with it. There are glimpses of the Sabin era on this current Alabama team,

and I just don't think that there is a world that I can imagine where Missouri wins this. Missouri's offensive line is going to dominate the Alabama defensive line, just like Florida State did. Alabama has not scored twice in the first quarter yet this season. They have not scored twice in the first quarter. If Missouri can put up two scores in the first quarter,

in the first quarter, take an early lead and run and run and run that ball, they could run away with this game. Missouri ends up pulling out just because that running game is going to take so much possession time from Alabama. The fact that they're able to run the ball well without Bo Perbula is kind of scary because Perbula is a mobile quarterback. He's scrambleable. We've seen it multiple times this year.

I respect Missouri. I respect them infinitely more than I did last year because this is not a one-dimensional team. Columbia is a snake pit. But watching this Alabama team, I don't think morale has ever been higher in the Kalin-Dabor era. Ryan Grubbs finally is playing to his offense's strength. That Alabama defense, it's heating up. That offense, it's everything it needs to be right now. I think they're going to walk into Missouri. I would not be surprised if Missouri hops on them early in the first half, early in the second half. I wouldn't be surprised if Alabama's trailing in the fourth quarter. But I think there's just too much composure down the stretch.

Ty Simpson playing too well right now for Missouri to be able to pull this game out. Eli Drinkwitz has the Tigers going. They're going to be a good team this year. They'll have a shot at the SEC Championship. We talked about how easy that schedule is last week. But I think this is the game they're not going to be able to win. Even at home, as great an environment as Columbia is, Bama. So we got to go hurry up offense here, a little quick in the pace.

We've got two matchups in the big time. We have Ohio State, Illinois. We have Indiana at Oregon. Let's go Indiana at Oregon first. Games in Eugene on the road, Signetti versus Laning. Who you got? I've got Oregon. I've seen too much. They're convincing and it's in Eugene. Yeah, I can be the ducks all day. Yeah, this one's really tough. I picked my Oregon ducks all week long, all season long, and I picked them against Penn State. I'm going to have to stick with Oregon in this one. Yeah, I think I'm going to agree with you there. I don't think Indiana should, I think they're a good team. I don't think they should be quite. wide as high as they are. Oregon's been complete. They haven't looked excellent, but they have been complete on both sides of the ball. Dante Moore only has one interception on the year. They're going to

play good, clean football. They're going to maintain possession. They're not going to make stupid mistakes. Kurt Signetti's not going to have a lot of opportunities to make something happen. Oregon's going to walk away with, I don't know, a 10 point, 10 point win, something like that. It's going to be interesting to watch, but not great. Gunn aside with Oregon, Dan Landings showed last year he's capable of pitching a perfect game in the regular season. You give him the home environment, you give him the crowd, he feeds off of energy, and he gets that crowd going better than any Oregon coach ever. They love that man up in Eugene. They have money. They have recruits. I don't think Signetti's got it quite yet. They're in Indiana,

but it's coming pretty soon. Oregon in this game. All right. Ohio State, Illinois, I will go first tier. I don't really believe strongly in either of these teams. This game's in Champaign. Brett B. Lemma is a great coach. Ohio State just has a better roster right now. I'm going with Ohio State. Low scoring game. Surprisingly close game. Maybe comes down to a field goal, maybe 24-24 kicking that game-winning field goal, but Illinois just doesn't have the stuff right now. I'm going to disagree with you on the low-scoring part. I also think that Ohio State runs away with this game, and I do say runs away with it because Julian San throwing to the absolutely dynamic duo of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, both of whom I think are probably going to be first rounders. They had a slow showing in the

14-7 winning in sexis. That's in the past. They're heating up, especially with the dynamic running offense led by Bo Jackson and James Peoples. I think Ohio State is really going to catch some fire this game, run away with this one. Give me the Buckeyes. Yeah, I'm going to side with Ohio State simply because of how unimpressive Illinois actually is. Yeah, I'm going to go Ohio State here. I think it's pretty safe. Illinois's not that great of a team. They're a decent team. They're going to be top half in the Big Ten, but they're not that great of a team. This Ohio State defense, I've already mentioned the number one and the number two defenses in the country in Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Guess who's number three? It's Ohio State. As much as I love high-flying.

offenses because I love them so much, I really respect defenses that can lock them down. And Ohio State just does that. Their offense isn't all there, but they're going to have more than enough to beat Illinois. It's going to be a low-scoring game, probably under 50 points, but Ohio State's going to win by two scores. We're going to have to leave it there. We're rapidly running out of time here in this first half. In the second half, we're going to get to coaching hot seats and week seven pickams. Stick with us. We'll see you in six minutes. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 1.1.7 FM, and this is the four-man front. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM, and this is the four-man front,

the show about college football and nothing else. I'm Lewis Thune, as we welcome you back for the second half. We got 22 more minutes with you to prepare you for week seven of this college football season. To my left is Mark Ayers. Just trying to survive the season, Lewis. Florida State needs to win out if they're going to make the playoff. To my right, Penn Hughes. I'm also just trying to survive the season, but I guess I've already given up at this point.

Across the table, Patrick Hamilton. Run the ball, Patrick. I agree. Good. We're on the same page. I only wish Oklahoma could do it as well as Michigan. But, you know, I'll take the head-to-head win. In this second half, we're going to be talking about some week three pickams.

But before that, there are two coaching hot seats that came as surprises to everyone. Well, well, yeah. No one saw Mike Gundy getting fired this year, but as if that weren't enough, Steve Sarkesian and James Franklin have steered two programs from the preseason number one in Texas and number two in Penn State

to unranked in the span of six weeks. There's plenty in college football media telling us to relax. There are plenty of fans calling for the men's heads. What is the right course of action? James Franklin cannot win big games. I've been saying that since I came out the womb. Actually, my mom and dad can confirm that was the very first thing I said.

I think it's time to move on. He got out-coached by interim head coach, Tim Skipper, and... I'm just going to call him Jerry, because his last name is really hard to pronounce. I'm going to guess New Heissel. Jerry. I just wanted to call him Jerry. My man Jerry, former quarterback of UCLA, former tight-end's coach who was promoted to offensive coordinator the first time he gets headphones for play calling

duties out coaches James Franklin. Jerry put up a gem of a play calling job. Jerry put up 42 points on Jim Knowles. That's pretty hard to do. That's a task. That's a task. That Jim Knowles is a stud of a defensive coordinator. It's crazy to say that the Penn State defense lost them that game, but they did.

You have a Jim Nulls defense, which is three of the scariest words for any college football team to hear. and he just got nothing. It had me just wondering how good is I Amaliava? Because he was just running around the entire game. I think he was the leading rusher, right? No. Nico's still not that good.

It all came down to the coaches calling a good game. Nico, I am a bummo, is not that good. I was watching that game. Yes, Mr. Jerry did an excellent job playing to his team strengths. UCLA is losing by multiple scores if they don't have Nico Yamaliyava in that game. He led their... team in just about every regard. I was convinced he was going to go out wide and start catching his own passes from a man who

looked awful four games into the season. I think he just decided he'd had enough of it. Well, we've seen with James Franklin and with Mike Gundy to an extent. People are okay if you're going nine and three, ten and two. Fans are never going to complain when you're near the top. You're going to get your shot eventually. but when you start dropping these games, when you start losing to UCLA, when you start losing to South Alabama, there start to be questions, Mark.

Yeah, that's absolutely right, Lewis. James Franklin, by all metrics, has had a phenomenal tenure at Penn State. He has a 0.703 overall win percentage. He has not had a losing season except for the 2020 Mickey Mouse season, but we're not going to count that. He's 104 wins with 44 losses total in 12 years. Since 2017, he has not had less than five players in the draft. He's had a first rounder, five of those years, and multiple first rounders, three of those years.

He has the best offensive and defensive player in the NFL right now in Sequin Barclay and Michael Parsons. Absolutely. He's absolutely, he's drowning in talent, and he can't ever seem to do anything with it. Because with all of those accolades, all of those great. You know, that great winning percentage, those 11 and two seasons, those 10 and three seasons, those 13 and 3 seasons, he's 4 and 21 against top 10 teams in his tenure. He has eight bowl wins and seven bowl losses. That's not acceptable for a program as elite as Penn State with the talent that Penn State has year after year after year. Eventually, you got to start winning those big games.

You've got to beat Ohio State. You've got to beat Michigan. You got to, apparently, UCLA is also on that. list. People have talked for a long time about his percentage against the top 10 teams. He absolutely cannot afford to start losing to bottom tier teams like UCLA because that's really the only rock he has to stand on right now is, well, at least he wins the little games. If he starts losing little games, he's out. No questions asked. The Penn State job is different from a couple of the other high profile jobs because Penn State fans don't need you to be great. They're not used to

being great. They don't win a lot of national championships historically, but they're consistently one of the best teams in college football. James Franklin has them like that. They're finishing top 10, top 15 every year. They're that consistent 11 and 2, winning a bowl game every once in a while. But at a certain point, and especially in an era of a 12-team playoff where you can be competitive and you can play for a championship without having to have that perfect season, people are going to start expecting more. Changes the game. Exactly.

I think if I were to budge in here, James Franklin is not on the hot seat this year. I think next year when he no longer has Drew Eller, the fans do not like Drew Aller. He just cannot make the right play when it comes down to choke time. At least James Franklin can rely on the fans hating Drew Aller. By next season, when they no longer have him,

James Franklin is the only one in the hot seat. Now contrasts this with the other hot seat, the biggest surprise, Steve Sarkie, at Texas. Now this is a place you can't be just good. You can't go nine and three every year. Texas fans are delusional. They are fanatics. It's the reason Texas is the largest brand in all of college football. They want to win every season. And what's more, they're convinced you have the talent to win every season. In this case, Steve Sarkesian actually does have the talent on this Texas roster to win a national champion. And he's opened up the year three and two with losses to Florida and Ohio State.

I saw a graphic the other day. It boggled my mind that Steve Sarkesian at Texas is about as close a comparison as it gets to Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. You remember what a disaster Fisher's tenure at Texas A&M was with how much talent and money he wasted. Through 60 games as head coach, Fisher was 39 and 21. Sark is 41 and 19, difference of two games. Jimbo Fisher, however, had three more top 10 wins with five. Sark has two. They've each started five different quarterbacks and had one top recruiting class. The difference here, of course, is that it cost Texas A&M $76 million to buy out Jimbo Fisher. If Texas chooses to buy out Steve Sarkesian, they'll only, only be down $45.4 million. Yeah, Lewis. And it's interesting that you mentioned the fact that Texas kind of is that program that expects to be great, considering that they really haven't been great since about the same time, maybe USC, is it fair to say? Was in that conversation? And we don't talk about USC as being a program

that, yo, we're back. USC's back. It's funny. We have this conception of Texas as a program that's just waiting to be reawoken. Well, are they? Sark was supposed to be the answer. Sarkisian is not, delivering and if he doesn't, if they lose another game or maybe two games this year, I think he's on the hot seat. So keep in mind, he was on the hot seat three years ago when they go eight and five in the big 12. Then he had the two good seasons. He turns things around and you think, okay, Steve Sarkisian might be the best play caller in college football. He always lines up 60, up to 60 calls in the game in order. He has the plan. The players know what they're doing. And so you think you're going to have consistency for a few years. Now you have what's supposed to be

Heisman winner Arch Manning, who can work within your system. He's been sitting there for two years watching this Texas team perform well, and Sarkeesian hasn't been able to make it work. The offense has looked awful. This is the one thing that he's supposed to be able to do. If they don't win, I don't know, let's say nine games this season, which is already going to be tough in this difficult of an SEC. He is definitely on the hot seat.

Yeah, I think the thing is that, like, at the beginning of the season, we talked about how Sarkesian is a great play caller. I don't think that's the problem. We talked about how Arch Manning is he wants to be an improv style quarterback, and that just doesn't work well in Sarkesian's system. And I think that's still true. The thing that I am really curious to see, and this is kind of what I'm leaning towards,

is Sarkesian almost found out in the sense of like, because he has the system and he sticks so close to his system, he cannot change. He cannot Ebenflow. And I think that once you start getting to the fourth quarter, especially. I see Texas panicking a lot. I saw this last year, especially in games against Georgia. I don't want to say Sarkisian is a really good first half coach. I still think he's a really good play caller, but I think the biggest thing is downfall is that he just cannot adjust to the flow

of the game. He establishes something, but the game is going to constantly change. That's why people love football. He just cannot adjust to the momentum swings. I agree. I think that in a world of NIL, Well, if he can adjust, then he shouldn't be coaching in the modern college football. What I wonder more to your vein, Patrick, is if defenses are starting to figure out Steve Sarkesian. In his time at Texas, he has been the best offensive play caller in college football. That seems to be changing. I'm not sure if it is more his fault or it is more to the credit of defenses. You always have to be adjusting.

We see Sarkesian using the same gimmicks over and over and over again. You have all the misdirection. You have the tight end motion on the read. You have the RPO. You have the fast wide receiver, which we run crossing routes with all game before breaking him off deep on third and long and throwing the deep ball. You know, Adonai Mitchell, I mean Xavier Worthy, I mean Trey Wingo. Once you've done it enough, people start to figure it out.

I didn't think it was possible. Sarkesian was that good. We're seeing defenses just flat out beat him now. They're not blitzing straight up. They're pushing the linemen inside and then making sure the tackles keep a nose up in case the quarterback wants to slip. They're pushing the corners down and keeping two high safeties. They're anchoring those linebackers close to the line so they can stop up run plays and it's working. Either Sarkesian just doesn't have the talent that he's had before on offense, which I don't for a moment believe, or he's gotten a little too cute and a little too stagnant in his play style. Now, I'm not going to go so far as to call him Lincoln Riley. You all know how I feel about Lincoln Riley. But he's being paid too much and given too much talent to only beat two good teams in his tenure at Texas.

And I touched on it in the first half. Two wins against their biggest rival in Oklahoma came against backups. The one time he's played Brent Venables straight up, he lost. It almost makes you wonder how much of Steve Sarkesian is just straight myth. With that, I'm going to get us to the week seven pickums. We have seven matchups, seven teams that could legitimately make the college football playoff, all of whom should be on upset alert this week. Going to send this around.

Tell me the team you're picking. Rapid Fire. Arkansas at Tennessee, Bobby Petrino, the interim head coach at Arkansas. If you recall, the Bobby Petrino experience, a top-tier college football coach in the early 2000s, went to the NFL, ended up coming back to college football, and turned the Arkansas football program around 2008 to 2011, gave the team their third 11-win season ever, and then promptly got in a motorcycle accident with his mistress, was fired for misconduct. and then Arkansas brought him back as offensive coordinator in 2024. Sam Pittman was fired last week.

So now, Bobby Petrino is once again the head coach of Arkansas football, and he's looking to make a statement. Can't Arkansas upset Tennessee? No, they can't. Give me Tennessee. The Vols are playing at home. Give me the Vols. Now, if you'll recall, when we talked about this three weeks ago, I picked Arkansas.

Arkansas here. Really? Wow. Tailin Green is a football. phenomenal quarterback, Sam Pittman is fighting for his job. Bobby Petrino is fighting to take it from him. This Arkansas offense is going to want it. This could be the upset of the year in college football. I picked them because I thought Coach Pittman would still be fighting for his job and Petrino would be fighting to take it from him. That dynamics change now. Pitman is unemployed and Petrino is the interim H.C. I don't think Arkansas's got what it takes now.

They just don't want it enough. Give me Tennessee and that. this game. Probably their toughest remaining test of the year. We got Notre Dame hosting NC State. Now, we also talked about this game three weeks ago, and we all selected Notre Dame at the time. Curious to see if anyone has changed their mind. Notre Dame. Yeah, I got to go in Notre Dame on this one. Notre Dame has looked great. Give me Notre Dame. Florida visits A&M. A&M. A&M. Give me Texas A&M. Yeah, this isn't close. A&M. Full agreement, A&M, team to beat. Gets interesting here. Georgia goes to Georgia. hair to play Auburn. Oh, here we go. Now, this is a good one. Good old-fashioned hate down south and

Auburn, Alabama, and give me the Tigers to upset Georgia. Come on. Georgia. Gummer Stockton, I know he's going to be in the jungle. The jungle's not going to get to him. It's Georgia here. All right. Michigan goes to the Coliseum to play the USC Trojans. You know what? I think I'm going to go USC here. High-flying offense. I know. I know. I'm getting crazy looks from across the table. but I think they might outscore them. Lincoln Riley never wins games because he has a good team. He wins games because his offense hangs like 106 on people and no one can do anything about it.

That's going to be why. Give me Michigan. I'm never picking against this team. Go Blue. Surprised by that one. Yeah, this should not be USC's game. This is Michigan by at least two scores. I was surprised that the Michigan fan took Michigan.

Just kidding. He was also the correct pick. Michigan is the far better team and Lincoln Riley can't stop the run. You've got to believe a little more. I believe, I believe, I believe. BYU, I believe BYU. Give me the Mormons. Yeah, give me BYU, the only other big 12 team that's undefeated.

The defense looks great. BYU is a playoff team. I'm going with BYU here. All right, last one, Arizona State, Utah. Arizona State, outside looking in, but could potentially make the playoffs after dropping a game to Mississippi State. Utah, unranked, only one loss.

Did not look good against Texas Tech. I think this is Utah's bounceback. game. Give me Utah. I have talked many a times with our Big 12 specialist, and he believes so much into this Utah team that out of pure respect for him, I'm going Utah. Thank you, Patrick. This is Utah's game. It's in Salt Lake City. Utah's going to run the floor. Mets Arizona State. All right, let's get to the intentional grounding, boys. You know the rules. Get the ball out of your hand. It does not matter what you have to say, whether the people. people want to hear it, whether they don't.

Something that must be said and is not being said enough entering this week of college football. Mark, go ahead. Since we're doing our conferences, I'm looking at the Big 12. I have been pretty up and up on a lot of different teams, especially Texas Tech in Utah. Not so much on BYU. I think BYU is great. But right now I'm looking at Cincinnati.

Comes off the top 15 win at Iowa State. Cincinnati has one loss against Nebraska, who should be ranked right now. now. They've looked awesome too. They only have one loss to a ranked Michigan team. Cincinnati should be ranked right now. In fact, Cincinnati doesn't even play Texas Tech this season. So because they don't play Texas Tech and you know how high I am on them, they only play BYU. If Cincinnati can pull out a win against BYU, I think they're looking at a Big 12th Conference Championship game and maybe then a bit in the playoff. You know, I'm actually going to look at one of your teams from my intentional grounding. I don't love the rankings, BYU.

I think it's terrible that a 5-0 team is so low-ranked, especially considering like Illinois had a horrific loss, Notre Dame's 3 and 2. I am really struggling to see teams like Georgia Tech and Missouri not ranked above. Teams like LSU, I think it's ridiculous that an undefeated Georgia Tech and undefeated Missouri, all putting up good points. They're putting up just good stats overall that they're that low in the rankings. I don't think Ohio State should be number one team in the country.

I think Miami deserves that spot. I've said it since the beginning of year. Their swagger, they've got the best wins this season, and the fact that they haven't earned that number one position is ridiculous. If Georgia Tech and Miami meet in the ACC championship game, I think Georgia Tech wins, and I think they will represent the ACC in college football playoff. The way you beat the pass is you take the air out of the ball.

I don't think that's a crazy pick. Georgia Tech has the run game to remove Carson's, back as a factor for Miami. And if that happens, Lewis, before you get into your intentional grounding, can I ask you a question? Sure. Do you still think Penn State

is going to win the national championship? Yeah, so my... Cue the clip from last week. It's for that reason that I have Penn State is my national champions. My intentional grounding this week is a public apology for picking Penn State to win it all this year.

I once observed a trait that the past four national champions were all derided because they couldn't win the big game and then they finally did James Franklin can't win the big game he can't even win the small game get rid of the man please

if you recall Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois last year and stuck it out all the way to the college football playoff I picked Penn State to win it all this year and I'm here to tell you Penn State is not going to do with Notre Dame did last year. The folks of Heavy Valley are very used to disappointment. I'm here to tell you, even as an Oklahoma fan, that level of disappointment is not normal. Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm sorry for misleading you. I genuinely thought Penn State had the roster to do it this year. I thought they had the coaches who wanted it enough. Heck, at this point, Penn State could finish with a losing record. You had the best roster in college football, arguably. You have the best defense coordinator in college football quite possibly. You have one of the most experienced quarterbacks in college football, one of the best backfields in college football, and you blew it. What's worse, I said you wouldn't, and you did. It reflects poorly on me. Penn State's been through too much. We're going to be lamenting them for the rest of the season. It's all over in Happy Valley. James Franklin will be an excellent coach in the group of five.

going to have to rename it to Sad Valley. Sad times. Not even Whiteout can save them now. On that somber note, we're going to have to leave off. Thank you for joining us on yet another edition of the Four Man Front. Week 7 is going to be spectacular. We hope you'll be watching alongside us. And we'll be right back here, same time, same place next week, to recap everything that happened.

Talk about week eight and everything else that clutters the college football lands. We love it all, and it's all we talk about. For Peyton Hughes, Mark Ayers, and Patrick Hamilton, I'm Lewis Thune. Happy football.