WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Four Man Front: Whose Heisman is it anyway?

Episode Date: September 13, 2025

Lewis, Marc, Paden, and Patrick discuss Georgia vs Tennessee, fireworks out of Florida, and John Mateer’s Heisman campaign.

My Oklahoma Sooners shine in Norman. The Florida Gators fall in the swamp. And week three is hours away. Welcome to the four-man front. I'm Louis Thune. And we're going to talk about college football and nothing else. That's right, folks. The four-man front, back for week three of college football,

will be with you the whole season. We love this game. We love Saturday. We don't love a lot else, which is why this is all we talk about. I'm going to send it around the room. Mark Ayers to my left. Them Florida State Seminoles are looking spectacular. How about them noles, Lewis?

77 points is hard to do for any team, especially teams that rest their starters. Breaking 70 points is truly amazing. To my right there, to my right there. Payton Hughes, born and bred in the Big 12, faithful throughout all the twists and turns, the realignment, the W.E. What's up, Payton?

I'm surviving last week. And then across from me at the table, the man I watched go through nine circles of hell on Saturday night. and every single stage of grief as the Michigan Wolverines fell to my Oklahoma Sooners. But all around, not a terrible week in the Big Ten. Not at all. Not to be encouraged by, even in that Michigan loss, Patrick Hamilton.

What's up? How you doing? I'm doing all right. Sadly, I have to report that Alex Orgy is out with a season-ending L-C-L-L-Hamstring tear. Horrible. UNLV quarterback. Dan Mullen had been using him in running sets. a team that legitimately has a chance to make the college football playoff as a group of five bid.

You hate to see that from Alex Orgy. Sad to see. Lots of press for speedy recovery. Silver lining is, yes, Alex Orgy will probably be eligible for a medical red shirt and we'll probably see him again next year. And then, of course, you have myself, the SEC defender because it just means more and it meant more in Norman this week as I watched my Oklahoma Sooners defend their home turf. against a Michigan opponent. They're in Norman.

Great win. We're going to talk about it. We're going to talk about everything else. Gentlemen, let's get into it. As we recap what happened in week two. Now, we got a lot right. We did get some stuff wrong. The biggest story coming out of last week

was the University of South Florida Bulls. We are going to get into them in detail in the second half of the show because they are the subject of the hottest debate in college football. It's going to get spicy. What we are going to talk, about is how last week looked for each of the conferences. Let's start over to my right. Payton,

the Big 12 actually had a pretty good week, a nice win there from Baylor, Iowa State holding its own turf there in the Seahawk rivalry. The Border War didn't go Kansas's way, but overall, I mean, an encouraging week from the Big 12 in interconference play. Things definitely could have been worse for the Big 12. I mean, it's been highest highs and lowest lows. you have Oklahoma State, my team losing 69 to 3. I thought they were going to pull something, but I guess we're just not back this year. You had Arizona State losing to Mississippi State, Arizona State being the reigning Big 12 champs. But then you have teams like Iowa State beating Iowa in a game that we had contested last week.

I was high on them last week. I'm not so high anymore. Rocco Beck's didn't have the game that we thought he would. Iowa State wins the Sihawk Trophy, 16 to 13. They look all right. You have Baylor coming back in two overtimes to beat SMU. after going down by two touchdowns. Fantastic game.

That was a wonderful game to see Baylor bounce back from last week. Then you have Texas Tech and Utah demolishing Kent State and Cal Poly. 62, 14, and 63 to 9. Then you come to the state of Kansas. My birth state, a state that I love, it's sad to see. Kansas loses the border war. There was a lot of energy on both sides there. It's an amazing rivalry game.

It was a great game, a great game all around. I would not be at all disappointed as a Kansas run. I thought Kansas was going to run away. I thought Jalen Daniels had it after the first half. But Missouri shut him down, ended up winning 4231, and my Wildcats beat by Army 2421. They are literally three points away from being 0 and 3 with Avery Johnson at QB. It's kind of sad. Those Kansas State Wildcats paid Army $1.2 million to come to Manhattan and beat

them. But the Big 12 has some highs that we can focus on, and I'm excited moving forward. Iowa states hanging on still 3 and L. Let me shoot things over to the Atlantic Coast, however. This was an interesting week on the Atlantic Coast. Clemson looked bad up until the fourth quarter against a Sunbelt team in Troy. And elsewhere, the ACC, broadly speaking, held serve. Is that not correct, Mark? That's right, Lewis. This is, this is. This past week was pretty uneventful for the ACC. We had a couple nail biters. Baylor, SMU, SMU falling 45 to 48 in double overtime.

NC State pulling on a close one against Virginia, 35 to 31. And then with Michigan State beating Boston College, 42 to 40 again in double overtime, not much to speak of down the line in the ACC. But let's take a look at the big three. As you already mentioned, Clemson with a really close one against Troy. I mean, they were in a real scare there for a minute. Going into halftime, down 16 to 3 on your home turf against a Sunbelt team,

when you're ranked number eight in the country, no team wants to be in that position. That's a really bad look for Davosweeney. Thankfully, he was able to get the offense to put some points on the board in the second half, but, I mean, man, that took a long time, and Clemson is not going to be able to sit on their laurels and wait for that long in order to start scoring points. as they go into the season.

I can't say the same from Miami, who looked very good against Bethune Cookman. Carson Beck, 22 for 24, 267 yards, and two touchdowns. Looked very clean game, impressive game, what you expect to see from top five team. Same with Florida State,

my own home team, who scored 70 points within the first three quarters. They had their starters out, I believe what, at the end of the first? It was very quick. They put on an absolute show against East Texas A&M. Listen, that's the sort of game that you expect to see when a top-tier team plays a very bad team.

They did everything right. There weren't any dumb mistakes. It's hard to score 77 points against any team. Then, of course, we have the Big Ten. Michigan, as I mentioned, tough loss there in Norman. I'm happy about it. But elsewhere, the Ohio State offense looked good. Michigan State pulled out a nice win against Boston College.

High scoring offense there for Jonathan Smith. Jonathan Smith, excuse me. Patrick, what else is going on in the Big Ten? What should the people know about last week? So, I mean, I'll get to the Oklahoma Michigan game later on, but I want to look at this Washington Huskies team real quick. 70 to 10 win against the UC Davis Aggies. Demon Williams Jr. 16 for 25.

Desmond, excuse me. Des Moan, I've heard it said. There's some college football talking heads really high on Demone Williams. They say he's got demon in his name, and that's because he brings all hell with him. I mean, 628 yards of total offense, right there. That's what you love to see. Minnesota also putting up over 500 yards of total offense, just around 500 yards. And they put up 66 points against the Northwestern State demons.

That was awesome to see. Oregon Ducks really prove their dominance. I mean, just like I'm looking at this overall, 69 to 3. Ohio State in Illinois, both two top 10 big 10 teams. I think Illinois struggled. I mean, they were only, it was 14 to 13 going into half. Now, granted, they had a 31 to 6 run in the second half. But man, Duke almost had that.

And so, you know, that's a little worrisome for Illinois in the future. Now we move over to the Ohio State. I want to say something real quick. Guess what the running back, freshman running back for Ohio State. Guess what his name is? What? Bo Jackson.

You're kidding. I'm dead serious. Bo Jackson, freshman running back, nine carries 108 yards. Does he play baseball? I don't know. We've got a running back named Bo Jackson. How did we allow this to happen?

And I'm just saying. Who let this kid commit to Ohio State? A dominant 70 to zero win for Ohio State butkeyes. And I had trusted my Michigan Wolverines. Ah, yes. Pour it all over me, Patrick. Tell me the good news. Oklahoma Sooners take down Michigan. Oh, it's beautiful. He Wolverines 24 to 13. I want to say Michigan offensively really struggled. Defense aside, I was very happy. I mean, we, offense was not producing. So it was really all down in the defense. And the defense only held you guys to 24 points, considering how much offensive possession you guys had. And honestly, how you

guys were on our side of the field. That was a hard fought 24 points. You saw what John Mateer had to do to get that Oklahoma offense scoring. He scored and he had two of your guys' touchdowns. I mean, other than that, your running game was not that strong with your running backs. Your passing game, it was dangerous. You guys had a lot of dangerous throws. And honestly, two, penalties killed Michigan.

I really would love to have seen more out of Bryce Underwood. 9 for 24, 142 yards. But Justice Haynes, 19 carries 125 yards, 75 of those years. yards was one carries. So, I mean, you sit there and you see, okay, in 18 carries, you only have 50 yards. But I think that there's a lot we can work from. It'll be interesting to see because Sharon Moore is now going through his suspension for the next two weeks. And so we're missing on Central Michigan and Nebraska. And you watch out for that Central Michigan team. Yeah, that's a Michigan team paid him. But I think there's big news in the SEC, isn't there?

Yeah, I'll keep it short on the SEC. Obviously, a good bounce back week for Arch Manning. Did not look great. There's some concerns over Indieccichmanning. He might be playing injured. We're not sure. But elsewhere, Ole Miss pulls out a close win against Kentucky. SEC matchup to schools with some bad blood. Missouri, I wasn't believing in him yet. I thought they were going to be a formidable opponent late season,

but Kansas pounced on him early. Missouri showed some resistance. Bo Probula looked just as good as I thought he would. Obviously, Florida falls to USF. We'll get into that. Oklahoma, love to see it. An amazing win over Michigan. State. Wow. Can I just say wow. Blake Shapen. Please say it again. What a throw against the Arizona

State Sun Devils. College football playoff team last year, reigning Big 12 champions. Mississippi State took the Sun Devils down to the wire and pulled it out 2420. Lastly, Vanderbilt. A very impressive 24-point win against Virginia Tech in a game where they were two and a half point underdogs. That Virginia Tech team kept it close with South Carolina last week, who was ranked number 13, I believe. So all around a good week for the SEC, a solid showing. And I'm content to leave it at that. I think the SEC is doing just as well as anyone was expecting them to.

But we're going to have to leave last week at last week because we've got some great ranked matchups. So first off, we've got Georgia, Tennessee, a border battle between two of the greatest fan bases in college football. Rocky Top, Knoxville, Neeland, against the mean machine in red and black, Georgia Bulldogs. Let's talk about it. So, Georgia, Tennessee.

Now this game is in Knoxville. Josh Heiple brings Joey Aguilar his quarterback in. Aguilar, not looking too strong, but the Hypole offense is doing a great job of masking his Zofville. weaknesses, then you've got Kirby Smart, the run game hasn't quite been there, however, Gunner Stockton has looked okay, and the Georgia defense is as good as ever. Give me your thoughts, who you got, why? I'll start us off here. I'm going to be completely honest. I'm taking Georgia here all day. Listen, every time that Tennessee in the last three years has played Georgia, they lose, and they come in

with the high-flying offense. Everybody talks about how they're going to score a whole ton of points. They don't. They have been held to less than 200 yards and no passing touchdowns each time. And I think it's going to be the same story. Dalen Everett, Zion Branch, and KJ Bolden lead an elite secondary for the Bulldogs. They're more than capable of holding their own on an island against all the Tennessee receivers. I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on the QB. I think he's going to make a bad decision. And George is going to run away with this one. I'm going to agree with you there. I believe in the Georgia defense.

I'm not sold on the offense, but I do think Gunner Stockton has the full confidence of Kirby Smart. I think his offense trusts him. I think we saw that last year in the postseason, the SEC championship, even the college football playoff. Even when it's not working, this Georgia team wants to trust Gunner Stockton. He's a Georgia kid. He was Carson Beck's backup.

He came in when they needed him most, and he won a game against Texas. I've got Georgia, but I know I'm looking across the table. I know Patrick disagrees with me. Patrick, why do you have the Tennessee volunteers? I'm looking at Georgia's last game right now against this random guy named Austin. We need to get him on the podcast some time because Austin did pretty well for himself. Mr. Austin P.

Mr. Austin P. and here's the thing. I heard he's a governor. Austin P. had three big power plays receiving wise against Georgia. Three big lapses. Those are against a no-name team. No offense, Austin P. I mean, I got respect to your governor. But against, and then also you take an actual proficient team at offense like Tennessee,

and you have receivers that are the best talent in the nation. This is not a bad year. I think Georgia is a great team, but I just think that Tennessee, I think they got it this year. I think I trust in Joey Aguilar. 286 win against the Austin P. governors of the United Athletic Conference doesn't look great for a top 10 team in college football. It's more specifically a top five team.

This is a great point. But that's talking about the weaknesses of Georgia. Now, Payton, I know you're from a big 12 background. You love that passing offense, those high-flying teams. I know you love watching Josh Heipel. So I have a strong suspicion that you're going to talk about the strengths of this Tennessee offense as opposed to the weaknesses of this Georgia team. That's exactly what I'm going to do.

Tennessee, I've loved watching them in the past couple of years, especially Hinden Hooker a couple years ago. I love Josh Heippel in this offense. What I want to highlight is Chris Brazel coming in. He's a wide receiver. Already has two touchdowns on the year, 14 receptions. I think he's going to carve up this defense. I'm calling two more touchdowns for him as the Vols take a 35-24 win over Georgia. The Georgia defense can't stop it, just like Patrick pointed out.

Now they're playing the Vols in Knoxville. I've got family in Knoxville. It's an electric place. Everyone there is in orange. They are going to be loud. They're going to be rowdy. The bulldogs do not have it. I've been reliably informed that there ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top or telephone bills. Could your relatives confirm that? They can. Wow. That's legit. We might need to check out Rocky Top at some point. Texas A&M, Notre Dame. Now this game is in South Bend. Notre Dame lost their season opener against the Miami Hurricanes and then had a buy last week. Texas A&M looked pretty bad through three quarters against the University of Texas at San Antonio and then recovered to a certain extent week two

against the Utah State Aggies and an Aggies on Aggies matchup. Give me your best guess, Payton. I was silent for a lot of the last game pick. I stayed silent until the end. I said my peace. I am high on Notre Dame right now. They looked good against Miami. I guess I'm not so much high on Notre Dame as I am down on Texas A&M. This Texas A&M team is going to be happy to finish six and six at the end of the year. They haven't looked very good. They're a middle of the road SEC team. They're number 16 for no reason. Notre Dame's going to dog walk. Patrick, taking Notre Dame this week. Mark. I am not high on Texas A&M at all. I think that Texas A&M is a paper tiger. I have seen absolutely nothing from them to warrant their 16 ranking. I think that's

absurdly high. Texas A&M just does not have what it takes to hang with the big dogs, and they're going to get exposed in South Bend. Say it with your chest, Mark. Love to hear it. Texas A&M, I think they might actually be competing for an SEC championship this year, but I do not think this matchup against Notre Dame is good for them. Now, Casey Concepcion might be the best wide receiver in college football there for the Texas A&M Aggies, but against this Notre Dame defense, I don't know if he's going to be able to hook up with Marcel Reed. I'm certainly not convinced that they're going to be able to get this run game going.

Moss and Owens splitting carries, they should have been able to run the ball with those backs a lot better. Marcel Reed is the leading rusher on this Texas A&M team. I think Texas A&M is going to get exponentially better as the year improves, but Notre Dame is the better team right now. They're probably the better team for the rest of the season. and so I've got Notre Dame. We've got a clean slate here.

Real quick, we do need to touch on one last game before we had to halftime. Clemson, Georgia Tech. Clemson has looked bad for two weeks. Georgia Tech has looked pretty good. We have to hurry here. Clemson, Georgia Tech, who you got? Georgia Tech has been this team throughout the ages that has just pulled off these crazy upsets.

And they looked good. Their last game, they put like 59, held their opponent to less than 10 points. They looked good overall. And I just see Clemson. They're struggling this year. They've always been a great program. But man, I just see them struggling this year. And I think we're in Atlanta for this game. Am I right? I think we're in Atlanta. This game's in Atlanta. I think that Georgia Tech fans, it's going to be an absolute showout for the yellow jackets. And I really think Georgia Tech is taking this game. Baden, who you got? I got to agree. I love Georgia Tech at home. I'm going to say Haynes King is fantastic. They're electric. Georgia Tech took Georgia

at eight overtimes last year against a far superior Georgia team. They have the dogs in them that Georgia themselves don't even have. Georgia Tech by seven. Mark, you're the ACC expert here. Are we missing something? No, honestly. I mean, we've seen Clemsons, like honestly, anemic offense struggle throughout the season. Down 16 to 3 at halftime against Troy, you can't afford to do that against a team as dynamic as Georgia Tech.

I think Georgia Tech has what it takes to win this. And honestly, it being in Atlanta, this might not be close. Clemson may be exposed in this game. The correct answer, Mark, was that we are, in fact, missing something. Payton, you mentioned the dog. Let me tell you, a corner dog always fights. And Dabo Sweeney is a dog. We've seen him fight.

We've seen his back to the wall. We've seen the same in Kade Klubnick last year. Clemson rallies, even if their team all around isn't good. Like last year they rally and they rally hard. This Clemson defense can keep them in games. We certainly saw that with LSU, and it's probably the only reason Clemson did not lose Week 2 to Troy. I'm riding with Clemson here,

two and one and fighting for their lives for the rest of the season. That's where I'm going to have to leave this, boys, because it's halftime. Six minutes before we enter the second half, which is where we talk about all the hot topics, awards races, rankings, everything that's on the college football fans' mind. Take six. We'll see you back here.

You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, and this is the four-man front. This is the second half of the four-man front. If you missed us in the first half, welcome. If you're back from more, also welcome, because we're here to talk about college football and nothing else. I'm Lewis Thune and I'm joined by three ball knowers around me. These boys love college football about as much as we love our parents.

Don't tell my parents that. You know what? Maybe we'll cut that. Maybe we'll leave it in. I'm not sure. I'm just feeling jacked and tan. We love college football. So amped up for what we're about to talk about because the South Florida Bulls weren't a lot of talking about.

But I do need to reintroduce the. panel before we do that. Lewis Thune, SEC defender, to my right there. Payden Hughes, Payton, are you ready to talk about these AP polls? I am so ready. There's so much wrong with this. Patrick Hamilton, Mr. Big Ten following Mr. Big 12. Dude, what is going on? Dude, everything's going on. I do want to say, I love that we are one with the ball knowledge. And so I'm really excited to talk. I want to go outside my conference. I'm excited to talk about those USF Bulls. I was hoping for something a little more substantive than everything is going on.

But you're not wrong. We are going to have to fit an insane amount of content into this second half. Did I just catch a stray? Can we do it? Isn't that our job? Who better than four ball knowers like ourselves? We are one with the ball. But talk about college football.

I mean, I'm not getting paid to do this for you. We're getting paid in good times. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Do you guys know something I don't? I mean, I plead the fifth. Okay. Wow. I did not expect to open up the second half like this, but that's how it's going to have to be. Gentlemen, the University of South Florida Bowls out of Tampa Bay beat back-to-back ranked teams in week one and week two, absolutely destroying the Boise State Broncos top 25 team. And then they came into Gainesville this past week.

And 1816 in dramatic fashion, you couldn't have written it any better. Field goal win against the Florida Gators. They're getting set to play the Miami Hurricanes, a top five team in college football in week three. what everyone assumed would be a walk through hell for the USF Bulls has turned completely around. The devil himself is screaming and there is a bull on his tail. Ladies and gentlemen, do we believe in the South Florida Bulls? I believe.

I believe. When I toured their campus, December 2024, I knew that there was something special getting cooked up there. And let me tell you guys, I did not believe last week. I think I was on the record and I said, you know what? I love my USF Bulls, but I got to take Florida because I believe that DJ Lagway hype. I will not fall for that same trickery. USF.

I think that, you know what? I want a Cinderella story. So I'm taking the USF Bulls. What a great win. And lastly, one thing I want to say, I knew that they were going to win the game when I saw a guy recording the game winning field goal on a Nintendo DS. Yes.

You saw that? I knew immediately. I was like, this is going to win because I know this is a sci-up. Everything, everything about that win was just picture perfect. You had a grammatica whose dad and uncle were NFL kickers. One of the most infamous NFL kickers of all time I might add with my insane ball knowledge. And a guy recording the game on a Nintendo 3DS. USF establishing themselves as one of the superior brands of Florida football. kind of insane. Patrick, I see broad agreement across the panel. I think we all believe in the USF Bulls, but there is one thing about this Bulls team that has everyone talking this week, and that is the fact that they're ranked number 18 after beating ranked teams in back-to-back

weeks. Mark, what is happening in the AP poll? Man, listen, I understand that AP voters are not willing to drop teams and put teams way above. of where they used to be, but come on. What are we doing? Who has a better record right now than South Florida? You could probably argue. Ohio State, Penn State, LHSA, Oregon. No, they don't.

And that's about it. We're talking record like wins versus losses or record like teams we just beat and where. There is one team in the country, one that has two ranked wins. It is South Florida. And the fact that they are not at least in the top 15 and above them we have Ole Miss Texas A&M, Iowa State. Hey, Tennessee, I'm going to throw in there as well. And Clemson, come on.

What are we doing? Give my Bulls some respect and bump them up to the top 15. But hey, they're going to have the chance to do that this weekend as they try to stay 3 and 0 against number 5 Miami Hurricanes. Mark, I do have to ask, did you ever think you'd see the day that the Florida Gators are a bottom for Florida team? Yes. Good, because I'm glad because I am so grateful. I must say, I know Payton believes in the USF Bulls more so than just about anyone on the planet right now. The man is insanely high on Byron Brown and this USF Bulls team that came into the swamp and put a whipping on the gators.

We love to see it. Payton, 18 is obviously pretty low, but even looking forward to. this week. If they beat the Miami Hurricanes, I want you to weigh in. Do they deserve to be a top 10 team or do they deserve to be a top 5 team? I love this Bulls team. I don't know how you can keep them out of the top 10 period. That shouldn't even be an argument. I don't know how you can keep them out of the top 10. If anyone in the top 5 loses besides Miami, they should 100% be in the top 5. This Bulls team already has the best record in college football, meeting not only a top 25 team,

then going on and beating a top 15 team in the country. This is Dan Lagoway who had... DJ Lagoe, sorry. He was going to be a Heisman candidate. Everybody was hyping him up. He was the preseason favor. We were talking about him last week. And then the Bulls go in and they went 1816.

They were the better team. Byron Brown was looking fantastic. He already has 470. three passing yards on the season. He's 39 of 60 against two top 25 teams coming from South Florida himself. What more can you ask of this? Miami doesn't even have Cam Ward anymore. I think USF deserves everything that they have earned so far. On experienced teams, you expect to see poise. We know Florida has been in big games before. We didn't really know that USF had this degree of poise that we saw down late in that game against Florida.

Florida. And what do they do? Bits and pieces down the field. They line themselves up for that field goal. They put themselves in that place. Great decision making. Great play calling. Great improvisation from Byron Brown. They were hitting everything. I think what's even more impressive is they held the Florida Gators to 16 points in the swamp. The last time, I'm not even sure the last time Florida scored less than 17 in the swamp. Normally that environment is electric and the gators thrive on their fans' energy, but they got absolutely gored, so to speak. And let's remember coaching. They maintained their energy and they won the game by playing smart. Alex Golish has proven himself as a head coach with that win. He is going to be in so many coaching conversations when inevitably the slate of firings that's bound to happen

when the season wraps up at Power 5 conference teams, he could end up in Wisconsin, he could end up in Cincinnati, he could end up in the ACC, heck, he could even end up in the SEC with how bad Kentucky is looking, but Alex Golish has done an insane thing with this USF Bulls team.

I do need to kill the USF discussion there because we need to talk about the way too early state of the Heisman race. Now everyone is high on John Matisse. as we enter week three, because what John Matier did to Michigan was very impressive. Oklahoma should not have scored 24 points in that game. That is a one possession game, if I've ever seen one. John Mateer's ability to break tackles, to extend plays, and to find receivers downfield

was insane. I don't believe, personally, he put way too many balls in danger. I saw batted balls galore. Let's turn that around, Lewis. change our perspective. You say he put balls in bad positions. No, he put balls where his receivers could catch them. He's trusting in his offense. He's making plays. He's breaking tackles. And he's saying, you know what? I have practiced with my receivers. They're not going to let this get intercepted. I watched that third and nine where we sent seven guys. And Mityer broke two tackles through an

absolute perfect pass into a double coverage defense. And he managed. He managed to, it hit his guy putting you guys into the end zone to ultimately have a John Mateer touchdown running in. You can make arguments that Michigan didn't have the greatest performance, whatever. The fact that he scored two rushing touchdowns and we were able to find solutions for everyone else on the field except him, he scored two touchdowns himself. I mean, that is hard to say, and Michigan's not some crappy team. Like, I really believe, and, you know, I'm partial, but I really believe that we're going to be a pretty good team. We got a couple of things to shake out. Meteer, he's proven the fact that he was

one of the most highly ranked transfers and he proved that in that game. And I mean, like, yes, there was a lot of times where Michigan should have intercepted the ball where they had just a lot of drops, a lot of misopportunities. You got to clean up. If you can clean up half of those, it's a different game. But also too, look at that Oklahoma defensive line. I mean, Michigan has always been known for having one of the top two, top three offensive lines in football. And, Bryce Underwood was scrambling so much, or he was sacked so many times. Justice Haynes didn't have that high performing of a game. He had one 75-yard run.

Other than that, it took him 18 carries to go 50 yards. Yeah, that's what I'm most encouraged by as we head into week three. We were one big chunk yardage play, a Justice Haynes breakaway run away from Oklahoma holding this Michigan team to six points. Now, Michigan's offense is no slouch. Obviously, it's better than it was last year. But that Oklahoma defense looked ferocious. But to tie this back to the Heisman conversation, obviously the ACC's golden boy in Cade Clubnick has not looked his part this year.

But as I understand it, there's another quarterback in the ACC who's already making his case for the Heisman. After an absolute signature showing in week one backing up so much smack talk, and then a nice showing in week two against a very bad opponent. But a nice showing nonetheless. I'm, of course, talking about Tommy Castellanos, the starting quarterback, all 5'10 of him for the Florida State Seminoles, a dual threat's dual threat, Kyler Murray Jr., maybe. Does this guy actually have a chance at the Heisman mark?

Man, I mean, Lewis, from what we've seen so far, maybe. we've already talked about how electric he can be on the ground. I don't think that's in dispute at this point. I mean, he, like you said, he looks like the second coming of Kyler Murray when he's forced to run out of the pocket. But one thing that's always been in question has been his deep ball. Can he throw, can he step up in the pocket in a pro manner and throw an accurate deep ball?

And I think with this last game against East Texas A&M, that question was answered. He had two absolute dimes, both to Deuce Robinson, for long, long touchdowns, and he appeared to throw them with ease. So I would say it's too early to say he definitely has potential. He has the weapons around him to put up great numbers this season. He's already putting up better numbers than any of his previous seasons. So if this trend continues, yeah, you absolutely could see a Heisman potential coming from this guy.

I will tell you, I'm never in the business of doubting a quarterback in a Gus Malzano offense, because that man knows how to move the ball and he loves his dual threat quarterbacks. Tommy Castellanos is looking like Nick Marshall, circa 2014. I mean, he legitimately looks special. He's zipping that ball in a way we didn't see last year with Boston College, mostly probably because he was running for his life all of last year.

I mean, the clips that are now resurfacing of him breaking four tackles as his offensive line can't stop a sneeze. It's kind of insane. Everything about him is just screaming sleeper pick for the Heisman right now. It's clear he has a great trust in chemistry with his receivers, with his backs, with his line. This is the recipe for success. I will say there's one other guy. Air raid quarterbacks have been notoriously good,

Heisman contend. You think back to Ryan Leif with Peyton Manning, nearly taking the Heisman from him and Randy Moss that year. You think of Gardner Minchu, who went on to be a decent NFL quarterback. If Baker Mayfield doesn't have an absolutely prolific season, he not only beats out Baker Mayfield, he beats out Lamar Jackson there at Washington State. The last Air Raider, we saw a glimpse of him this week, Mike Leach's final product, Sawyer Robertson and the Baylor Bears.

Baylor, an incredible comeback at SMU against a team that went to the college football playoff last year. Sawyer Robertson against both Auburn and SMU in these first two games has proven himself. Payton, tell me about Sawyer Robertson. Sawyer Robertson was fantastic to watch this last week. I was down on Baylor after last week's loss. I wasn't looking forward to this SMU game, ranked SMU, but Baylor was fantastic late.

What I loved about him was that he stayed poised and the Baylor offense stayed poised. Going in the last five minutes of that game, Baylor was down two scores, and they come back, send it to double overtime, and he has just enough to get them down. They had 50 passing attempts. They trusted Sawyer Robertson with the ball 50 times.

This is exactly what you're talking about. This is air raid offense. This is 440 yards passing and four touchdowns. I love seeing this in the Big 12 once again. The question is your team has to win 10 games in order for you to be in the Heisman conversation. The worst teams that have had their player win the Heisman trophy was Robert Griffin the 3rd's Baylor team and Jaden Daniels LSU team. Do you think Baylor can hit that mark of 10 wins?

Honestly, they're in a weaker Big 12 this year. I think they have potential. I'm looking at their next few games. They have a TCU team that could be tough, and they have a Utah team that could be tough. If they can win one of those games, they should be home free for the rest of the season. They can give up one more loss, like you said, go 10 and 2.

They have real potential. I think it's there. We're telling you, folks, the preseason favorites for the Heisman Trophy have turned out to be all wrong in these first two weeks. keep an eye on Tommy Castiano's, keep an eye on Sawyer Robertson. But we do have to kill the third quarter there because the fourth quarter is upon us. And it's time for the intentional grounding, boys, be it fair or foul, be it good or bad.

You might complete this pass. You might get penalized. The goal of this segment is to get the ball off your hands. And Patrick has been looking at me like a madman for about five minutes now because there is an absolute righteous fury burning. and this man's soul Patrick, tell me. Do you know what I'm going to say? I have a sneaking suspicion that I do.

How the heck? Just Notre Dame, week two by, move up. I just sit there and see like South Carolina is 2 and 0, Iowa State is 3 and 0. South Florida deserves to be up

and we still have this 0-1-N-1 Notre Dame team could potentially be fraudulent. I don't think that they are. And they managed to go up in the rankings despite, and you know what, I know Mark might disagree with me, even though he's a Florida State fan. I think that Notre Dame should be at most 10th. You know, they lost in week one, but apparently not losing in week two was enough to move him up a spot. And you know what? I mean, we could go on for a long time. I've always been against the AP. It is nice to know that the

AP poll will not matter at the end of the season because we will have the college football playoff rankings. Mark, this is the intentional grounding. I know you've got something on your mind this week. Mark, tell me, tell me. What do you need to get out of your hand? I do have something on my mind, Lewis. We had a dominating victory against that same Alabama crimson side that kept us out of the playoffs and probably from a chance at winning a Natty in 2023. And I'm telling you, man, this is the team. Tommy Castiano's in this offense, they have what it takes. This defense with Mantrault DeSier with Earl Little Jr. They have what it takes.

And I'm going to say it right now for everyone to hear. Florida State is going all the way. We're winning the ACC. We're beating Miami. We're beating Clemson. We're beating Florida. We're going to go to the playoffs. And I'm telling you,

they ain't ready for us. They ain't ready for us. I had my time to be patient. I had my time to wait in the back. Our time is now. Florida State is taking it all. You heard it here first, folks. I think he's in it.

You got to believe more, Payton, what are you into this week? I need you, I need you to put us back on track. I'm not going to say anything quite that crazy. Although I am going to make it claim. I am disgusted at the AP poll rankings this last week. Let's hear it. At not only putting in 11 SEC teams.

SEC glaze, but only putting in three big 12 teams. I know that I was saying isn't what they're cut out to be. Brother. I was wrong last week. Three Big 12 teams. Look at TCU, 4814 win over North Carolina. What the heck is Texas Tech doing at 21?

They have a 102 point differential over their last two games. Show me anyone in college sports who has that same. Why is Texas A&M who has done nothing this season at 16? I am saying the Big 12 should at least have four, maybe five teams in the running for top 25. Ladies and gentlemen, when the battle takes place later this season. I'm of course talking about the game of Michigan and Michigan State. When this game takes place, it will be the Michigan State Spartans. Who come up and beat down the Michigan Wolverines.

Sell it to them, Lewis. I watched Aidan Childs, who I did not be. believe in and this Michigan State team go up this past week and beat Boston College in a high scoring game. Strange things happen in this rivalry game. Watch Aidan Child's

shock the world. And if that isn't college football and nothing else, I don't know what is. I love this energy. I love this sport. I love the game. Let me remind you. It's only week three.

We got a lot more football. We'll be here all season, folks. Gentlemen, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you did as well. And for those of you listening, we will see you next week here on the four men front. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Happy football.