Latest / College Football Nobodies / #2 BYU Falls in 2OT, Oregon Is This Year's Clemson & Week 8 Chaos | College Football Nobodies
Transcript
- Erich: Welcome back, everyone. Kevin, week eight is in the books and dangerous amount of hope for me, Kevin. Wisconsin sports, we'll see what happens today and was to close it out, but has had an incredible weekend overall. If you factor in the the Brewers and the World Series and then the upset we got to experience at Camp Randall, but week eight is in the books. And Kevin, one thing that's interesting is the coaching carousel is officially. Here. And that's a result of these games as they start piling on. And guys that were on the hot seat coming into the year that we've maybe talked about the last year or so. But right now we got three power four jobs open, Kevin. And we're not going to spend a ton of time on it right away. but we just want to make note of it. So Maryland's job has been open. NC State came open after their loss to Stanford, and then Baylor came open as well, which I'm not. too surprised on that one, but I also think it's an interesting job from s the perspective of I could see Baylor like really going hard after a guy like Jason Eck just because of like the regionality of where he is and all those other things. But we'll get into that another time. We just want to make note of it because it reflects the results just over halfway through the season. And you already have three power four jobs open. And I think did anything else happen, Kevin, in the coaching world did I cover it all? Kevin: No, we'll get to Oregon's OC being let go just a little Erich: Okay, yeah. Kevin: while while ago. But no, you got the head coaching jobs right, Erich. And I'm I don't want to use the word excited. I'm I'm not excited that Dave Doran lost his job. That's not what I'll say. But it was time and he did some really good things there in Raleigh. But you know, I I've talked about that job a lot of times. I just think that's a program based off regionality and resources and the conference that they play in, that there's an opportunity for NC State to be a consistent top twenty five program and and win some of the bigger games always rather than always coming up short and going seven and five or eight and four. And so I think with the right coach, they could certainly do that and rally. So that's all I'll say about that for now. Erich: Fully agreed. Well, let's get right into it. And selfishly, Kevin, we're gonna start with the Big Ten this week. And I say selfishly for obvious reasons and leave my thoughts to about the Wisconsin USC game for the end of the Big Ten here. I wanted to why not I'll just go through the scores quick, Kevin, and then we'll highlight some games. So obviously Indiana started the day, they beat Michigan thirteen to six, Illinois beat Oregon twenty one to ten. Minnesota 13 to 10 over Iowa. Northwestern. Boy, do they keep humming, Kevin? We probably got to start talking about them a little bit more. Northwestern 42 records 14. UCLA continues to hum 28-10 over Michigan State. And then the Big Ten closed out with Wisconsin 24, USC 7. Kevin, early on, it was interesting. Michigan, we talk about how coaching manners. Michigan should have beat Indiana. Full stop. The points left. On the field in that game is atrocious. And I think even though we know that Michigan's just kind of a mess on offense, it's like every week they continue to show us how much more of a mess they are on offense that we didn't even realize. And kudos to Indiana. They hung around, they got the win. Great for them. But to me, this one was way more about Michigan one playing tremendously on defense, and then two, just leaving. You know, the two miss field goals, the play calls at the one yard line multiple times, to put you in position to miss field goals or not get points or only get three at the end when a a touchdown wins you the game. Like all those little things. just it just was like and it's not everything's just going against you with the rafts, the bounces, fumbles, drop passes, you know, stepping out of bounce by accident. It's coaching. Like the coaching at Michigan right now. Outside of on the defensive side of the ball is horrific. Kevin: Yeah, I'm with you, Erich. I texted you after this game saying that if you're a Michigan fan, you'd rather get blown out than lose in that fashion because it's Erich: Yeah. Kevin: painful with all those missed opportunities they had and could have picked off a a huge win versus versus Indiana. I'm in the minority here. I really like these ugly low scoring games. I I don't I don't know what it is. I I just like seeing six six in the middle of the fourth quarter in a thirteen six final. I just Kind of brings me back. There, there's just something about those types of games. But no, you're right. The the third and goal play fake, bootleg with Tommy Carr, who started this game for Bryce Underwood, just wasn't the right call in that situation, especially when Indiana had been protecting the edges in that game. And instead you lose like 15 yards, you have to get a field goal, which of course they miss. But then Josh Hoover throws a bad pass and Zeke. Barry picks it off later in the game. And once I thought it was a pick six, and once it wasn't a pick six, and he got pushed out of onset the 13-yard line, I was like, that's gonna be a field goal. 13 yards is way too much for the Michigan offense to go. And of course, that held to be true. And then the Bronx cheer from the big house as Michigan finally gets on the scoreboard late in the third to cut the margin to six-three. And then they had the drive at the end of the game, too, right down there. I think first and goal inside the 10. And they just cannot generate anything. I mean, they can't generate anything on the ground. That's what's getting lost in the season. The play calling is Kyle Whittingham the right fit, or he's not. I've already predicted he's going to step down at the end of the year and just retire and say, hey, this was a mistake. But they can't run the ball. Jordan Marshall doesn't quite look like the same guy, but Erich: No. Kevin: It's also the offensive line is a mess. I know there's injuries there. I predict Savian Heider, the top running back in the country last year coming out. Five star, he's an incredible talent that unfortunately is not being showcased. I could really see him leaving after this year for greener pastures if they can't get this figured out. But yeah, they they force it into overtime six six. And then I thought on the Indiana side, I thought Kirk Signetti was a a little conservative at times of this game, which you can't blame him because Erich: He was. Kevin: you knew Michigan or he knows how bad Michigan's offense was. So let's just win it with the defense. But Josh Hoover wasn't great, but there was times where they were just plotting into the line on third and three, where it's like, okay, you could still throw the ball. Like you got to trust your guys. Well, he did an overtime, and that was a great first down play call where they hit the tight end down the seam to get First and go at the four, and then once they went up thirteen six, you kind of knew that was it. And Michigan would struggle to respond. So old school physical game. Yes, ugly at times. I enjoyed it. It was competitive. It was hard hitting. But you know, Jason Beck is he's not a popular guy in Ann Arbor. I would stay inside. If I were you, Jason, today, And that poor Michigan defense, god god bless them. Do not Erich: Yeah. Kevin: if you're in Ann Arbor, don't talk to those guys today. They're gonna be a little ornery. Stay away from them. Cause that is a fantastic, just an incredible defense that is being wasted. Mm-hmm. Erich: It's a championship level defense. Full stop. This is championship level defense. Kevin: Yeah. So that is the situation at in Ann Arbor. But kudos to Indiana. They found a way to win a road game for the first time in fifth fifty-two or fifty-seven years. It was something like that. That the Hoosiers. Erich: Yeah, Michigan. Kevin: Yeah. So if you're an Indiana fan today, knowing the background of your program, who cares if it was if you thought it was ugly or this or that? You're in you're still I know you won the national championship. You're still Indiana and you won a game at Michigan and be be very happy. Erich: Absolutely. I mean, look at the results around college football if you're an NEA fan. You should be very happy. You got the win, road game. Even with Michigan being wounded on offense, it's still not a place you want to go play games and you can see what their defense can do. But yeah. Kevin: And and I want to say this as well. The offense, there is a disconnect there, as we talked about with Jason Beck and and the scheme and the players, because some of these players look like they've regressed really good players, like you know, Jordan Marshall or Andrew Marsh. Tommy Carr, don't write him off yet. But he is in a really bad situation. He had to play a great defense in Indiana. Erich: Yeah. Kevin: He did look like Bryce Underwood at times, and and you could have I know that argument was out there, what was the difference? And that's fair, but he did do some nice things as the game went on. Let let's let's give the youngster so Erich: Totally. Kevin: some some some time here and we'll we'll see what it looks like down the road. Erich: I agree. Another one that was kind of off our radar a little bit, Kevin, but really summarize what we had been talking about with Oregon. So Illinois beats Oregon 21 to 10. Illinois got had some really nice long runs to get them not only like back in the game, because I believe they were if I remember watching it correctly, I think they were down 10 0. and then they get some long runs, some chunk plays to get them back in the game and to go ahead. Oregon's a mess on offense. It doesn't help with Dante Moore being out. But they are officially this year's Clemson. We've mentioned that last year. And then I think you're just kind of waiting for that third loss to happen to where you can say, okay, the expectations are never going to be hit at this point. I I think their defense has played better. Just their offense, it just it is Dylan Rayola, my my lord. If I'm a Nebraska fan, I am so happy that he's out of there. We didn't waste more NIL money on him. I mean, he just the way he casually turns the ball over and just makes horrific mistakes. They should be very happy that they don't have to deal with him and his attitude anymore. And frankly, if he was gonna be this heir apparent to Dante Moore next year for Oregon, I I don't know. And you have to wonder, Kevin, now that three losses are there, if Dante Moore could come back, does he? What's the benefit? Like there's he has plenty of starts and tape under him now. Where why would I risk coming back for an injury? I'm getting ready for the NFL draft at this point. So Oregon is in an interesting spot going forward because it's possible a three loss team could get in. Them remaining a three loss team as we go forward from what we've seen is probably pretty low. but so that one was an interesting one for the afternoon for me. I'm gonna cover kind of two at once here, Kevin, so we can keep this efficient. Minnesota 13, 10 over Iowa. Obviously, I had that as my upset of the week. Another like smasher. And then explosive at the end in the last two possessions. This is like you know, Iowa's receiver just gets gets open, almost takes it to the house for like 95 yards. but then they have another like 25 yard play on a post over the middle to get the score. And then Minnesota's got the ball. They have a chance, and then Minnesota has an explosive pass play that takes him to like the 30 or the 25. And then Minnesota gets the three points. And again, this is PJ Flex second time. in his career at Minnesota getting the Floyd Rosedale win over Iowa. Huge win for Minnesota. Obviously a rival of my team, Wisconsin. But I had fun watching that game. Just again, you talk about old school Big Ten West scores, thirteen ten. That's old school Big Ten scoring right there. Kevin: yeah, it couldn't have been more Floyd of Rosedale in that game with everything happening at the Erich: Yeah. Kevin: end and that score. And we talked about that. It lived up to it. I'll touch on that in a second here. But back to Oregon. The game really started how, as an Oregon fan, you would want it to go at Erich: Perfectly. Kevin: perfectly first drive seven-zero right down the field on the road. You know, then you're up 10-0, you're you're kicking off. Before halftime, and you're just gonna, you know, you're not the same Oregon this year. The coaches aren't blind to that. And you just need to go on the road and beat a team that you have more talent than and win an ugly game and get out of Champagne. Instead, they allow that 75 yard touchdown run to Illinois when they had done nothing in the first half. Erich: Yeah. Kevin: Now the place is juiced up. As poorly as Illinois had played, they're thinking, okay, we're down 10 7 at half. And everything changed from there, Erich. Obviously, because Oregon didn't score score again and they lost 2110. Oregon has an in game adjustment problem, Erich. That was very clear in that game, and that falls squarely on the shoulders of Dan Lanning. And he's in the spotlight right now at Oregon. There's some folks not too thrilled with him this year. so his instead of a counter punch in the game that never came, but Dan Lanning's counter punch is the firing of offensive coordinator. Drew Maringer. So that happened about a half hour before our recording. And so he's the the first one to fall at at a huge school as far as a coordinator hire this year, I believe. And they really miss Will Stein. We've talked about that. And and that has Erich: Yeah, tremendously. Kevin: that has shown up. I just wonder the game script. changed for them and I don't know why because Jordan Davison and Deere Hill were running the ball really effectively. They both they combined for and it wasn't on a ton of carries, you know, it was like 14 carries for Hill for over 80 yards. Davison, I think had over 90 yards on 13 carries. And I know Evan Stewart and McClellan and a a whole host of receivers were out for Oregon. But no one feels bad for you, Oregon, with the talent that grows on trees out there. With Mr. Phil Knight and all that Nike money. So you you gotta you gotta get the job done. there was no adjustment made. Brett Bielema, credit the allianni, they made them and they won going away 2110, like I said. So if you would have told me Illinois would beat Oregon this year twenty one ten at home, I I don't even know what the words would be for my response to that. I really don't. So that that was shocking, even knowing. Oregon's position. And as you mentioned Dylan Royola, but I I think it's it's deeper than that. And Dan Lanning clearly thought that. And so we'll we'll see moving forward, but ugly loss for the ducks. And you're right, they are this year's Clemson. I never would have imagined that. Erich: Agreed. Kevin: Floyd of Rosedale, like you said, you you know, you touched on it. Exciting game down the stretch. Like PJ Flex said, you know, they Iowaed Iowa. And Iowa's defense, similar to Michigan, has to be so frustrated. You they had, you know, Iowa's offense had four turnovers. You and they got a punt block, which led to three Minnesota points. Like Kirk Friends said after you're just not gonna win those low scoring, big ten rivalry games like that. And Minnesota made the plays at the end. They just they they hang around and I thought the Vanderzee kid for Iowa who caught the game time touchdown at 10, Reese Vandersee, Vanderzee, he caught the game winner at Michigan. Now he's tying it up in the flow to Ro Floyd of Rosedale. He's probably not gonna have to buy maybe another meal again in Iowa City, but now he might have to because it didn't matter in the end. And I'll just say this Tim Lester, don't know what's going on there. offensive coordinator of Iowa. Tony Diaz, that's all we heard about in the fall and his electricity. And he only gets like three or four targets. He had the long 57 yarder to get him in position before the tying score on their ninety-eight yard drive. And you just have to get him the ball more. I don't care what it is, a screen or reverse, something. You're your Iowa you know, you and they struggled to sup some something, Erich: Draw up a slant for him. Look what he can look what it can do. Yeah. Kevin: but there's some issues there because they they can't run the ball either. They were held the ninety yards rushing. So Tough loss for the Hawkeys. They really shot themselves in the foot there a lot, but the Gophers win a lot of those games. So you got to give PJ Flattock credit. Erich: Gotta him credit. He's got two trophies that he normally doesn't carry in his trophy case this year, which Kevin: Hundred percent. Erich: selfishly I'm fine for Minnesota to have those as long as they don't have one that I want a little later in this year. But we'll get to that when that actually happens. Kevin, UCLA twenty eight, Michigan State ten, Michigan State. I'm not gonna talk a ton about this game. I I didn't think UCLA played particularly well, Michigan State played particularly bad. Which they have pretty much all year. And I'm just I want to tie this into I'm so happy for Aiden Chiles at Northwestern. Pat Fitzgerald. We thought, maybe this could fit in Michigan State, maybe when he was hired. I don't like Pat Fitzgerald. I've never liked Pat Fitzgerald for obvious reasons that we won't get into just in terms of they used to be the only team that gave Wisconsin issues in the Big Ten West, but Just his attitude. The stuff that went down at Northwestern while he was there was really weird. I know early in the year, I think it was it against Purdue where he's he's like flipping off the other sideline and stuff like that. I I I don't like that. Like the coach needs to be the moral compass for the team. And I don't think Pat Fitzgerald has a moral compass. And so that's all I want to say about Michigan State. I don't want to revel in their misery, but I don't I don't see Pat Fitzgerald in the modern era. Doing well at Michigan State. And I could be wrong about that, but what a year Aiden Childs is having at Northwestern continues to dominate. We saw him, we've seen him in multiple spots this year now. And yes, it's just lowly Rutgers, but 42 14 over Rutgers. So they're not they're dominating a lesser opponent in the Big Ten. And that's a big step for Northwestern. And here's Northwestern sitting there, they're ranked. No one's talking them about them. They're Really, really good at running the ball. And then Aidench at Chiles is very dynamic as a two-way quarterback. We'll see how far they can go, Kevin. But Northwestern is, I think, a legit top twenty-five team at this point. Kevin: With you, they go to Oregon next week, which I don't think they'll be favored in, but hard to pick against them right now with what we just discussed with Oregon. So that's a chance to really put the nation on notice. And people might, you know, say, what how's beating Oregon a big deal? That would be a very, very big deal for Northwestern when you look at just the composite ratings of recruiting talent on the field in that game and to go into Audson Stadium. So I'm getting my ahead of myself, but that's what's next for the cats. And I'm with you. It's a shame that no one showed up for that game. I realize it's Rutgers, but I think you're gonna see a lot of that moving forward. You know, they didn't even feel it for the opener versus Penn State. That's just kind of how that city is dominated by pro sports. But little old north northwestern is a great team to watch. And yeah, Rutgers, even though they're really, really bad. Shiano has a way of sometimes just showing up in a game randomly, like he did versus USC. Although maybe that says more about USC. We'll get to them in a second. But Rutgers showed up at the big house, I remember, one one year when Michigan was really good and gave them a game. So Northwestern clocked them and they're very, very good. And they're a little bit more talented and have some playmakers. And I'm with you on Aiden Childs and UCLA. Continued to be workman-like, got down 7-0, but Ty Diefenbach has been really, really good in Nico's absence. And that's just a well-coached team by Bob Chesney. Really excited to see them moving forward. And they remain one of the three undefeated teams out there. It's only them, Miami and Utah who had that. Erich: Yeah, I forgot in my ex post I forgot to include UCLA. I'll have to edit that. yeah, so no great for them. And then let's stay in the state of California, albeit via a trip to Camp Randall. Kevin, I picked this game. maybe slightly 51% Homer, 49%. I actually believed it could happen. but I I did believe the way it could happen happened, right? The way the the methodology behind the game, which is Wisconsin just physically beats up on USC because Wisconsin's been a physical team all year. And if the nation doesn't know Sebastian Sheik's name by now, you should. He is, I think. a top five edge player in the country. He's always around the ball. Even when a blitz gets through, he's one of the guys that's there with the middle linebackers, sacking the quarterback. And USC Kevin had negative, I think 18 yards rushing, though fifty five minus fifty seven yards because of all the sacks. there were spots where USC was able to move the ball and get to like the 30 yard line. And then there'd be that third and long and then here they come. so you really have to be Wisconsin's a team that if you can't get yards running the ball and you find yourself in third and medium, third and third and long, you better have something dialed up with like you better be chipping Sebastian Cheeks just because I don't know how many tackles can block him. USC's success really came when and Sebastian Cheeks is kind of a very aware player. What I mean by that is he covers screens and things like that. So one of your best things you can do to him is like fake a screen. And then like look for a player over the middle of the field because then he'll actually like bite on that a little bit. But if you're just doing a standard drop back, like I I'm sure there are a few tackles that could have success, success against them. Notre Dame did pretty well against him. He really only got home for one sack in that game and not a ton of pressures. But that's one of the better offensive lines in the country. I don't know how many teams have the ability to do that, but Wisconsin not particularly great in offense. I mean, I think they had just over a hundred yards pat rushing. And I think they only had like 50 or 60 yards passing. But Colton Joseph didn't turn the ball over. So nine of eleven, like 50 to 60 yards passing. they the key to I thought the key there was like three key moments to the game. The first key moment was when USC went up seven to three because Wisconsin had two interceptions and only got three points out of it. And that that was really the only quarter they didn't put a nice drive together and score. the response drive from Wisconsin where it was like 13 plays, a bunch of time off the clock. So now they're up 10 to seven, and there's only like a minute 52 left. they or whatever it was, and then they they get the stop and then it goes into halftime. And then the score coming out of the half for Wisconsin, that that was the that's the second most important moment because now they're up seventeen ten. and then the third most important moment was the blocked field goal to prevent USC from cutting it down to a one score game. And that was kind of all she wrote from there. So it was just incredible pass rushing and just defense overall. Mason Posa, one of the better linebackers in the country. You know, he had a sack and a half. He's electric. Cooper Catalano had a bunch of pressures, and those two guys just really dominate the middle of the field. And Wisconsin is just this team where they don't have to load up the box to stop the run. Which makes them really tough to play. their defensive tackles are really good at holding their lanes. I was w watching with one of my buddies and Sebastian Cheeks comes, he kind of did an inside move of stunt and really pushed USC's QB. I'm sorry, I'm blanking on his name. He pushed them wide to the right. Kevin: Jada Mayava. Erich: Yes, thank you. He put pushed them wide to the right. But what the d what happened is the defensive tackle understood his assignment and ran with him. And just kept forcing them outside. And that's that's really good coaching. Where oftentimes you see that, Kevin, where the defensive tackle just crashes down and doesn't hold their lane. And yeah, you're not you're you're too slow to sack him, but you are if you are intelligent, you can be fast enough to force them wide. And so then that forces the QB to keep running wide, and they're just never able to set their feet and make a good throw. So I thought this is one of Wisconsin's better games defensively because holding USC to seven points, you know, I I don't think you can take much away from beating USC this year. I think it's a solid team, but no one's held that I mean this is Rink and Liley, Riley's never been held to seven digit single-digit points in his career. And you and I talked about how many weapons they have on the outside to make those big plays. So clearly kudos to Wisconsin. Great defensive win. I think kind of they're finding their identity a little bit too. Which is interesting and a really great bounce back win off of just a really sloppy win the prior week against UCLA. So obviously I'm riding high. I don't want to belabor the point too much here, but I think this is Luke Fe Luke Fickle's best win, Kevin. earlier in the year, maybe you could have said, the win at Penn State, but we look back at that now, you're like, it's not that great of a win anymore. I think this is Luke Fickle's best win by far in his time there. Kevin: No, with with without a doubt it is. And I want to start with what you were saying there at the end, Erich. Holding USC to seven points, it doesn't happen, period. And it's never happened to Lincoln Riley. It doesn't matter. Lincoln Riley's a coach, Clay Helton, Pete Carroll, USC forever in their history. They're a program that's explosive, they score, they pass. You gotta you gotta put up points. I just can I knew Wisconsin's defense was legitimate, but I still had USC scoring 31 points in this game. I was wrong. I cannot believe the thorough dismantling of USC that took place by Wisconsin's front seven. USC was just embarrassed up front. You mentioned the negative 17 yards rushing, complete inability by Lincoln Riley's office to establish any identity. I know Wayman Jordan didn't play. It won't matter. King Miller was out there and he's a co starter. They they there was no no room to run. Wisconsin's the first team to put consistent pressure on Jada Maiava, which you have to, you know, when he was at Penn State, he was back there reading the book, and you're gonna get picked apart. Even early on when it was still a game, to your point, the methodology the methodology wow, I butchered that word, but Erich: Methodology. Kevin: yeah. The methodology, excuse me, was playing Erich: Yeah. Kevin: in their favor. Because USC, they never go three and out in the first drive. Like just in general, when USC doesn't score, they they always move the ball or they they have to go for it on fourth and short. It's really hard to stop them. And it was a bad omen for the night for them right away. Like their first pass, it's like classic USC drop back, 10 yard hitch to nuke hines. It's gonna be a first down, hits them right in the hands, dropped. If you're a USC fan, you know, you didn't realize it at the time, but that didn't set up well and then they went three and out and they had a couple picks early like you mentioned and Wisconsin only got three off of it but even when USC went on their scoring drive to go up seven three it was hard it was fifteen plays it was nine minutes Erich: It also required a personal foul on Wisconsin's sideline to keep the drive going. I won't Kevin: Yeah. Yep. So Erich: even want to talk about that, but yeah, no, it wasn't an easy drive. Kevin: It wasn't in it wasn't an easy drive. And that's not like USC doesn't want to play that way. They want to play high flying. They couldn't get Trent Mosley going. Wisconsin ZBs did a good job sticking with them and and there was no ground game either. So that that helps. They they knew the the pass had to come once USC trailed. And that's the ironic part of this loss in the in the Lincoln Riley area era era is USC's defense, you you hold a team to about like two hundred yards, you The QB to 58 yards passing. Yeah, Wisconsin ran the ball at key times and I think ran for about 140, which is solid, don't get me wrong, but it's not like USC lost 34-31. They gave up 500 yards of offense, like typical Lincoln Riley. If if they only had a defense, the their defensive line came to play like Jakeem Stewart and Luke Waifel and Ebbasi, they got some real dudes up there. That's why I picked them to go to the playoffs this year. I I don't think that's gonna happen anymore. and this is just a a really bad loss for them, but a really good win for Wisconsin. And USC has to really look at the mirror and Lincoln Riley's got to look in the mirror because it is it is ugly out there in Hollywood right now for them to really not show up in this game and and get thoroughly dismantled by which a lot of people don't realize. Like this is a gr maybe a great defense, you know, or Whatever you want to say. so kudos to you. I know you're fired up. This is definitely the biggest win in the Luke Fickel era. And I was completely wrong. So I I missed on this one in a big way. I I didn't see it after the UCLA game. Erich: Well, rightfully so. And I think we're gonna get into more of the who rebounded who let down here as we keep going. Let's jump into the SEC, Kevin. I'll go through the scores. So South Carolina gets the win over Tennessee 27-24. Tennessee an upset from the rankings perspective. but however, Vegas did favor South Carolina by a three and three and half or whatever it was. Bama puts some stuff together late and gets pulls ahead of AM 3120. Kentucky Boy, what it must be nice to be a Kentucky fan this year. man, are they humming 34 17 over Vanderbilt? Kentucky was down early, but then ran away with it. LSU just dominating Auburn 38 17. Kevin, you were all over that one. I was I was wrong about Auburn can keep keeping things going there. Oklahoma 23 and Mississippi State 15. Boy, Mississippi State's just not the same team without Camario Taylor at quarterback, unfortunately for them. but kudos to Oklahoma for getting the road win there. And then Texas gets the win over Ole Miss, which I think is, in my opinion, probably the biggest win of the conference. Similarly from the standpoint of both these teams had to have it, right? Ole Miss had to have it to stay as that one like that lone one loss team in the SEC and and keep keep themselves moving. This was everything was on the line for Texas here. You know, you're about to be another, another three loss team this year with a 'Cause remember, Texas's last four, three of them are road games. And that's what Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: we're creeping up against. So they are getting to they're just now getting into the hardest part of their schedule after this. so huge win for them there. Kevin One only thing I want to say about South Carolina, Tennessee is you know, I feel good for South Carolina fans in the standpoint of the they go up 14-0 and then all of a sudden Tennessee's in front. And it's like, boy, is is South Carolina gonna blow another 14 point early lead in a big SEC showdown? And that's what it felt like. I do feel for Tennessee a bit here. Two touchdowns taken away from Pretty soft penalties, in my opinion, especially the one Kevin: Oops. Erich: with the ineligible receiver downfield was such a soft call. It had nothing to do with an it did not impact the play at all. It wasn't like a rub route or anything like that. And I hated that call. But at the same time, you have the ball late and you fumble. and so and South Carolina capitalizes it. You fumble in your own zone. And, you know, it is what it is. Those bad calls happen. I mean, they've they happen in every game. believe me. And I'm sure you saw it as well. but I I do feel for that there. So kudos to Shane Beamer. However, if you're a South Carolina fan, you have to ask yourself like, is Shane Beamer your answer long term? Right. He's been there for a while now. And a lot of these things where he blows leads and other things like that seem to keep presenting themselves. But kudos to South Carolina. They get to win. I still I still like a lot of what Tennessee's doing. I think the change at quarterback has worked well for them. Just some things didn't go their way with the officiating in the fumble late there. and then I want to touch on Kentucky before I let you go here. because I don't think we need to spend a ton of time in the SEC this week, but Kentucky, I mean, Will Stein, coach of the year at this point in my book, by far. Like, how many teams are having emotional letdowns after big wins the prior week into the next week? Pretty much all of them. Where they've been in the spot to do so, except Kentucky. Doesn't matter if the game goes to overtime, doesn't matter if they gotta travel on the road to just a sleepy place that can be tough to get off get going and get off the mat. Kentucky just shows up every week. And again, we're one sloppy half a away against Bama from them being undefeated. So I don't know what their ceiling is in the SEC, Kevin, but I mean they beat LSU. And if you're doing power rankings in the SEC just based on what your eyes are showing you, I think LC you'd put LSU in the top three or four in the SEC. And Kentucky beat him, went toe to toe with them. and really with missed field goals, didn't even need to go to overtime. And so it was like LSU was kind of fortunate to go to overtime against Kentucky. So boy, if I'm a Kentucky fan, I am just in Hope Central right now, Kevin. And I'm hopping on that train and I am riding it as long as I can. Kevin: no doubt. Yeah. I mean, normally it's normally basketball talk in the bluegrass state right now, but football's Erich: Yeah. Kevin: taking up a lot of oxygen in the air down there, which is awesome for those folks. And it's it's so exciting to see a program. When you get a new coach, you get the right fit and it takes off immediately. That is just can't be that, especially like a program like Kentucky. Wanted to talk about Tennessee, South Carolina. So fun to watch games at William Bryce Stadium. Really enjoyed this one. Beautiful color palette game, by the way. South Carolina punches Tennessee right in the face to start the game. 14-0. Tennessee doesn't look ready to play, but really give those guys credits credit. They get themselves right and they got a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter, and they had been controlling the game from there. They got Dwayne Bishop going on the ground. And they were patient, they didn't panic. George McIntyre, you know, is being a game manager. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it comes with a bad connotation, but Erich: Nothing wrong with that. Kevin: it's not turning it over. That's what they need him to be for this team. All those calls, you're right, some were not great. And you could see McIntyre on one of those plays. He mouthed like, every every time we score, they just throw a flag and take it away from us. And totally get that frustration. Thought they could have ended the game. They were at, I think, the South Carolina 38-yard line, Erich, fourth and one. Give the game cocks credit. They step up and get a huge stop. And that opened the door for more of the Norris, Sellers heroics, which we need to talk about the time touchdown play, because Dusty Dvorchek called that special, and that's exactly what that touchdown was on the goal line. I have seen an insane amount of college football in my life, but I don't know if I've ever seen a particular play just like the one that Sellers scored, like on the goal line, to race towards the pylon, barrel over a guy. Then take a crushing blow from another Tennessee defender. His knee is like an inch off the ground. He's twisted and now facing the goal line as he absorbs that hit, has to keep his balance and reach the ball over as he's taking this hit backwards over the goal line. If you have not seen this play, it Erich: It's incredible. Kevin: it is an Just an absolute incredible, or as Dvorchek said, I'm like, yeah, that is a special play. You just do not see balance and athleticism like that every day. The willpower to get in. Lenore Sellers is a special athlete. Fun to see him having some huge moments this year. I rewound that play like three times there. Cause I I am just like, that is an unbelievable play. So really fun. They tied up and then Tennessee's got another chance, but They fumbled away and that sets up Cocky to hit the winning field goal. I really felt Tennessee would go in there and get the close win, but kudos to Shane Beamer, who was on the hottest seat, arguably in the country. And now, if you look at their schedule coming up, they got a very winnable three games, Erich. They they go to Norman, which that I know they won this week, but that offense is really rough. So South Carolina. We'll feel confident going in there. They host a bad AM team. And then they go to Fayetteville to face an awful Arkansas team. So three very, very winnable games for Cocky. And that would get them to seven and three, I believe. And who thought that earlier in the season? So kudos to Shane Beamer and rallying the troops. And I was worried with them with Dylan Stewart a few weeks ago, refused to come back in the game. What's the culture like? But seems to to be okay for now. For Tennessee, they get a week off, and then what a Tennessee Kentucky game. That's gotta be I can't remember the last time that rivalry game was that big. So November seventh, that's coming up for those Erich: It's gonna huge. Kevin: for those squads. one I did get right. Yeah, that's no Erich: That's gonna be a great week in college football in general, by the way, November seventh. But yeah. Kevin: November seventh is crazy. One of the games I did get right, I was really happy with LSU. And I I felt super confident to fade Auburn after taking out Georgia. And Kirby Smart had a great quote after that game when Georgia got it taken to them by Auburn. And he said, The humility is only one week away in the SEC. And boy Erich: That's great. Kevin: was he right. and it, you know, Georgia was off, but that humility came for Auburn this week. It was just never a game. And I I felt LSU would win by two scores. I didn't think it'd be that. I said Sam Levitt would throw for over 300 yards. You almost had that at Erich: He did. Kevin: half. Erich: When Sam Kevin: And Erich: Levitt doesn't make the bonehead throw, he's really good. and he did Kevin: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Erich: he did get one. He was fortunate the ball hit the ground where he just made one stupid throw deep. But he's when when you rein him in, boy, is he good. And just not just like accurate, but just like dynamic in the passing game and the running game. It just a really good fit. for what else he likes to do. Kevin: Yeah, besides that, his only other mistake was when LSU scored another touchdown. He went for the through the legs, like windmill dunk on the sideline on the basketball hoop, and he he got the through the legs right, he just couldn't finish off a dunk. That was about all that went wrong for the bayou Bengals on the day. Jackson Harris is a problem too out wide. He's having a great year. He went for almost 200 yards receiving, had that really fun 70 yarder to watch. Dylan Jones was tough on the ground and It was 31 ten at half on the planes, and these Auburn fans who are still probably cleaning up Toomer's corner on their way in from last week had to just be like, wow, what a difference a week makes. Cause Erich: Yeah. Kevin: the second half, LSU just kind of played with their food. They looked bored almost, and it just Erich: yeah. Kevin: ended up being 38-10. So great win for LSU. They're rounding in the team that we thought they would be. what else? What else? ol Miss Texas. because Bam Bama beat AM. There's not a lot to say there. I I don't I I don't think there's Erich: No. Kevin: really anything really learned out of that. I was surprised AM actually hung in for a while there. Texas Ole Miss. I I was really I was happy with my SEC picks this week because Erich: Yeah, you were on. Kevin: I I I thought picking Texas could be really dumb, but I I just felt something there. Sometimes when when you've lost a couple games and you're a roster like Texas, that was my reasoning. It just seemed impossible they were gonna lose three in a row. Although they certainly looked like they were trying to. They got off to the twenty-four-three lead. Arch Manning looks like the Arch Manning, you know, people had hoped for dropping dimes in there. But then he fumbles and it's 24 10 and Ole Miss starts to get back in it. Trinit Trinidad Chambliss is rolling. It's 24 up all of sudden. But you gotta give the Longhorns a lot of credit to respond and Instead of fold and go here we go again. And their winning touchdown drive was six runs, Erich. Erich: Yeah. Kevin: It was it was really impress really impressive. Relique Brown had a big day. Finally, Texas ran the ball, which you can run on all miss, and and they did. He had a big day, and that six runs to go up 31 24. And then it came down an onside kick, though. And of course, Texas couldn't get it. The weird, you know. Ball placement on the T for Ole Miss. They put it sideways, they squibbed it. And I'm thinking, geez, Texas, he it was yeah, Erich: It was a beautiful onside kick. It was beautiful. Kevin: they couldn't corral it. Ole Miss is driving. It's you could see how nervous Sarkeesian Erich: yeah. Kevin: and Arch were on the sideline. Like, are you kidding me? Nothing has been easy for that program this year, but they get it done. Here's what I'll say: I I don't think it means anything big picture though, for Texas. I think they found a way to win. They got off the map. It was an entertaining game. They still had 14 penalties, which is just brutal. And and so I I think it's like, hey, great win, but I'm it you know, at Texas, it's it's not like, this is gonna mean this going forward. That's just where I'm at with them week to week. Erich: Yeah, I mean it's great that you were able to get off the mat and get the win against a team that was ranked in the top ten. How are you going to be when you got to travel somewhere where now there's a little bit of the monkey off your back and you gotta do it week to week, which they just haven't been able to do last year and this year. So we'll see. And like we said, they're coming into the toughest part of their schedule where they're gonna have a lot of road environments. They still have not looked great on the road and and we'll see how that looks. But let's let's go to the Big Twelve, Kevin, if you're ready. Kevin: I'm more than ready. There was just a lot to talk Erich: so a lot happened there. Kevin: about. Erich: A lot happened there. we, you know, two of our three undefeated went down. Our late game was a great game down to the end. UCF upsets BYU 3931. some assistance from the refs late, but ultimately BYU did not play well. I did laugh, Kevin, during the week I heard Josh Pate say. He was talking about this game as a letdown spot. He said, if I'm the Big 12 commissioner and I see the schedule come out, the first thing I would have done is I would have redlined this game. Said, You want BYU to go to all the way to Central Florida after playing Notre Dame? No, do better. And I was like, Okay, yeah, from a SEC, let's rig it perspective, I understand that dynamic. But this is what makes college football great is you get this huge emotional win. Now you gotta go travel. you know to arrival or across the country or whatever it is and play this game where this crowd is chomping at the bit to get their shot at a top five team. Like that's what makes college football great. So no Josh Pate, I don't want commissioners to rig schedules to try to force Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: like that's not how college football is supposed to be. But anyways, I digress. another undefeated goes down since he this score is closer than it looked Kevin 37 24 since he just dominated Texas Tech from beginning to end. Wasn't as close as that score resembles. Kansas gets the fired coach, gets Aranda fired, beating Baylor 25 24. Oklahoma State bounces back 57 24 for Colorado. How long is Colorado gonna wait to pull the trigger on Dion? We'll see. Arizona, Kevin, sitting there, one loss, 39 3. You called this one too. I thought they weren't gonna cover. You no, they're gonna not only cover, they're gonna dominate, and they did over so Arizona 39 over Iowa State three. No one talking about Arizona. They're just sitting there with one loss and they've just played better and better every week. Arizona State over Kansas State, 28-17. West Virginia in a normal scoring game, Kevin. 24-20. if I'm a West Fan, my God, we finally could win a game without having to score 40 points. That had to feel good. And then the great game. You and I had it as game as the week. You had it as an environmental week. Game day was there. Utah 21, Houston 13. Kevin. I'm gonna start there before we go back there. Did you see Pat McAfee like letting his emotions get the better of him? And you know, I guess there was some back and forth with Utah fans at him where he does his pick where he picks Houston and he says, I hope I never come here again. Kevin: Yeah, I guess I guess it was because some lady that they picked for his kicking contest put Erich: Yeah. Kevin: her nose up at like, it's only a million dollars and BYU is three million. He goes, Well, there was a couple billionaires i in the crowd. And so that he got he got sensitive to that. But then like, yeah Erich: Yeah. But Pat McAfee, you just signed a hundred million dollar contract with ESPN and you're gonna let a fan get under your skin. Are you a professional or not? Like I I don't understand, Kevin: He's not, no. Erich: like, and I like Pat McAfee a lot, generally speaking, but you're gonna let a fan get the best at you and you're gonna try to throw shade. Like like what are you a a kid in high school right now? We're like, I'm gonna use My platform to get back at you. Like, come on, dude. Like, what are we doing? Like, this is why I love girls, guys Herb Street. Like, there's been plenty of situations, even his own alma mater, where the fans throw him shade, and he never lets it get the better of him. It's like, that's what a professional looks like. Pat McCaffey, you were a child, like I mean, you were a child in that moment, which is just a disgrace. That's not what the that's not what that show was for. That show is to celebrate the environments. Not let little comments get into your skin to influence what you're saying. I hated that, especially because I think he's better than that. so that's where the frustration comes from. But don't love that at all. Hopefully he doesn't do that again because you I hope I never go there again. You never want to go to that environment again. That environment was electric from beginning to end at a game that ended at at past midnight mountain time. So give me a break there. but I digress on that, Kevin. let's start with BYU UCF. I don't want to spend a ton of time on it. BYU just never showed up. I guess kudos to them for getting it to overtime from the get-go, but UCF looked like the team that was more interested the whole time. Kevin: Yeah, and don't let me get started on Pat McAfee, because we're on we're opposite there. I I think he's ruined the show, as many people would agree with. I ooh, I'm not not a fan, but that's this Erich: Yeah. Well it's just Kevin: let's let's touch this. Let's get let's get to the games. yeah, it's weird to say they didn't show up, and and I think you're right on that. Like if you watch the game, it's like, it's close throughout, so maybe it doesn't look like that. But everything looked hard for BYU. You know, I think I think. The athleticism is of Central Florida bothered BYU on both sides of the ball. I was clear clearly wrong here. It's the ultimate situational spot for BYU to lose after you beat ND and you travel cross-country. You asked me about this last week. I knew it had all those factors. I just personally thought Scott Frost would get in the way. I don't have a lot of belief of him as a head coach, but kudos to him. His nights got the job done. And in the mist and humidity down there, that BYU's not. used to play in with. I think there was also some fatigue as the game went on. they're used to playing of course in the elevation. Wild, wild game. A lot of stuff happened there. That's been discussed ad nauseum. I'm just gonna discuss the game itself. I want to give a shout out to Central Florida and their roster construction, which I guess it means I have to praise Scott Frost, but you know Keywon Jenkins, you know, threw for almost 300 yards in this game. That wasn't their first choice at quarterback. You know, they went after the James Madison kid, Alonza Barnett, who got banged up a couple weeks ago, I think a hamstring injury. And he's out for the year. So it's gone to the Florida International transfer, Jenkins, who Penn State played against last year. And I remember going into that game, not that thinking we were going to lose, but reading about him and then watching him play. And he was talented and he just didn't really have anything around him. And now that he's around a Duke Watson, for instance, and other talent at UCF, you can see what he can do versus the number two team in the country. So it really, really is important, especially in this era, to have a backup quarterback. Not a lot of teams do because of the transfer portal and the world that we live in. So that really paid dividends for Central Florida and is a big reason why they won this game. And they They really just were more physical than BYU. You mentioned off air BYU's tackling, and I think some of that was the speed of of Central Florida. You know, Duke Watson was tough for them to get down. And I also think this is where LJ Martin's absence caught up to the Cougars. It's too much on Bear Bachmeyer. You can only survive that for so long. The home environment pushed them over the edge for ND, and they were able to. Get away with that a little bit more in this game. But as time goes on and you could teams continue to watch film and game plan, you need your horse in the backfield. And they missed him. So what a game by Central Florida. Tyron Horns at receiver was a problem for BYU. Another guy that just looked quicker than BYU secondary. And then lastly, BYU, every time I was watching this game, they could not get off the field on third down, Erich. There's nothing worse as a fan when you Get it to third down, and your team can't get off the field. And I think that contributed to BYU's fatigue. So we won't have an undefeated holy war. It can still be a huge game, but Erich: Yeah. Kevin: moving into a kind of segue, I guess, since I mentioned that with Utah. Interesting game. I thought there'd be a lot of points here. You know, Utah can really score at Houston, obviously incredibly explosive, but low scoring. The Uts get it done 21 13. It wasn't looking good early. They were down 10 0. Houston was dictating terms. And even though Houston w didn't put up a lot of yards running early on, they were getting kind of four or five yards with Makai Hughes and and just having enough. But as time went on, they didn't get enough. They averaged 230 on the ground, Erich. And I think they only had 86 yards rushing. And Connor Wegman, who I really, really admire and like as a quarterback with his journey. He was tough and he played solid, but when Houston's not able to marry both of those things, it just doesn't make them as diverse. And Amari Thomas did all that he could in the passing game for them. But Utah, the whole game shifted in the second half because man, Devin Dampier was Erich: Devin Dampier was like, let's go. Kevin: let's go. He unleashed it, and that's where Houston's defense is susceptible. Yeah, they're normally a pretty good run D, but really hard to deal with a dual threat quarterback. The stat they put up at the end of the game was insane. I don't know if you caught that, but he's the first Big 12 quarterback since, excuse me, I'll start the stat over. He's one of three Big 12 quarterbacks all time in a ranked on ranked matchup to throw for over 150 and rush for Over 150. And the other two are Big 12 royalty. Erich Crouch of Nebraska Fame, Heisman Trophy winner, and Vince Young of Texas. Enough said when you're with those two guys. So it was a special performance. He single-handedly willed them to victory. And Houston had the ball down one late, another chance to go on a drive, but what a blitz that Morgan Scally Erich: Incredible. Kevin: and the youth styled up. I mean, he came in there. Fast, nailed Wegman. They got the fumble. And then that was smart by Willie Fritz. Told his defense, let him score. We can still be down eight with the ball. And they they made a move, but it was just fun football. Two ball coaches. Morgan Scaly gets his first signature win for Utah, replacing Whittingham. Willie Fritz had a game Cougars team and and they played well. I think they would have told you if they held Utah to twenty one, they would win, but the Utes defense really shined and buckled down. in the second half and they g and Dampier, you know, he ran wild and won it for Erich: Yeah, I think there was this moment in the game where defensively Utah decided we're gonna start blitzing and we're not gonna let Wigman just sit back there and and make these completions deep over the middle. So that I think was the change. And then Devin Dampier just putting the team on his back and just I mean, that first touchdown drive, I mean it was like you blinked your eye and they were in the end zone. And I think that was you could feel that in the crowd too, in that moment. They're like, okay, he's here, we're gonna be okay. and so I think for me, Kevin, if I would sum up the Big 12 this week, because I do want to go through this quickly and I I want to hit on one other game, is you had three teams with opportunities to establ like cement their status as a top 10 team BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah. And Utah had the toughest of those teams, of games of those teams. And Utah was the one that did it. The other teams had, I mean, BYU, the issues you talked about with the tackling. Going into the week into the Notre Dame game the other week were was really there. I I think they're like you said, they really need to get their running back healthy and get back because it's just too much for Bear Bachmaier to do on his loan. Texas Tech Unit have been skeptical all year. That really showed itself in this game. And then Utah, I mean, Houston's a talented team. They're they have a you know, especially on offense at wide receiver, their running back, their QB, and Utah limited them and got the win. So Utah is alone. I think if you had to do your power rankings right now, you're gonna put Utah at the top for obvious obviously one, they're the only undefeated team left, but just a body of work now with this game is there to justify their ranking. I still think they'll only be ranked like nine or ten, but I think they've earned it now, officially at this point. Kevin, another team that keeps earning it, Arizona dominating Iowa State is significant. And if you go back to their only loss at BYU, You and I talked about this, just a really poor coaching decision that led to that game just getting away. Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: And if if that is handled differently, that could have been a different game. No Fafita has been incredible all year. And Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: I'm really curious to just see how this season goes because they keep getting better every week, right? You know, and you know, that's what you're looking for is which teams are regressing, which teams are getting better. They're in the getting better. week. So it'll be really interesting to see how it goes. And look, we maybe we should look at their schedule, but you know, anyway, it it's up for Grams now. There's only one undefeated team and that's Utah left. So Arizona, who knows? They could go and run here. Maybe they make a run to play in the the Big 12 championship. Kevin: No, I'm with you. Arizona goes to Lubbock this week. I think they're getting four and a half points in that game. I'd probably lean Arizona just because, like you said, we've thought Texas Tech is a fraud all year long, but then tried to give them kudos for their big ASU win. And hey, they did beat Houston, which we really respect. But since he took care of what we thought with the Red Raiders, which I'm mad at myself for that one. I I'll get to Arizona in a second. I hemmed in Hawaii literally live on the show of switching to Cincy, but I stuck with tech. That was so obvious. And Texas Tech just feels the reason why that's that game's kind of buried on our show. And it kind of was nationally like on the halftime reports you could see yesterday is because we weren't alone in thinking that it Texas Tech felt like the 23rd ranked team in the country, and they went on the road to face a decent Cincinnati team and lost. Well, teams in the 20s lose on the road all the time, and that's really what Texas Tech seems to be. They they miss Jacob Rodriguez as a as a leader. They miss David Bailey off the edge. They're just simply not the same team. And what revenge for Cincinnati with the whole Brendan Soresby thing. And Erich: yeah. Kevin: what the mega booster Erich Campbell of Texas Tech said that we're going to be, you know, running it up when we're up 40 on you. Well, pride comes before the fall, as they say. And that didn't go well for Texas Tech and Nippert Stadium. But I we we had to discuss that for a second. I I do love this Arizona team. It's a it's a team we thought could be really intriguing in the Big 12 race. They're right in the thick of it now. And a lot of people wrote them off after that road BYU loss. They looked like the better team for large majority of that game. Erich: Yeah. Kevin: People question the physicality of their front seven. Well, they just held Iowa State, who's run the ball on some teams this year to 52 yards rushing. That defense is coming along. They're improving. Noah Fafita, enough said. He gets all the headlines anyways. He's a magician. their receivers, they've gotten healthy there, are really talented. This is a dangerous football team. And I mean, I thought they'd win by three touchdowns. I didn't think it'd be five touchdowns. So what a what a beatdown. And I'm really excited for that game next week where they go into Texas Tech. So it's interesting because the Red Raiders will be looking their wounds now and and Arizona's riding high, so kind of be intriguing to see what happens there. But yeah, I'm glad we're talking about Arizona still. And like we said, for a huge basketball school, that's fun for those types of teams like them in Kentucky. Erich: Absolutely. Well, I'm sure we'll talk about that in our preview in a few days. Let's go to the ACC, Kevin, where you and I said Miami would dominate Pitt. They did. Obviously, Pitt not with their starting quarterback for the rest of the year, which that happened earlier in the year. And Miami sitting there kind of that whether, you know, it's easy to say they're the true number one team. But at the same time, Kevin, the ACC is just it's the worst conference. Right now, and Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: that's just the way it is. I mean, you have to use your eyes and let them tell you what is true. And what is true about this conference is it's just set up for Miami to dominate. And so, as much as people say, Miami should go independent, they should do this, like, why? They should just dominate this conference and have a path to the playoff every year. Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: I mean, Clemson's no longer what they were. Virginia Tech gets the win over them. So why not go through the score? So Duke 19 over Virginia 16. Virginia just continues to tailspin after their 2-0 start. unfortunate there. Miami 52, Pitt 23. Boston College 42, 49, Georgia Tech, 27. Your boy there at Boston College, Kevin. And they're playing good ball. Virginia Tech 20, Clemson 16. You had that one right. I had that one wrong. Stanford 31, North NC State 28. Stanford Obviously, it's been just dominated by a lot of teams this year. That the Nancy State 28, they lose that game. That leads to Dave Dorn finally getting the nail in the coffin to get let go. SMU Kevin Zoning team, that's kind of sitting there still with that one loss 59-20. I know people are calling them a fraud. Well, if you're gonna be a fraud, you might as well be a fraud in the ACC because they're sitting there with one loss in the driver's seat to go to the ACC championship game if they just keep doing what they're doing. And if they just didn't have a lot of turnovers in that Louisville game, they'd be undefeated. So you can say they're a fraud if you want. They're winning games and they're only, you know, we're going into week nine next week and SMU only has one loss. So kudos to them to continue to move forward. And then Syracuse, the overtime game thirty one thirty over North Carolina. I don't know how long this Bill Belichick experiment is gonna last in North Carolina, Kevin. I don't know what their expectations are, what his contract looks like, and so forth, but I I think it's pretty clear at this point he's not the answer there. so I don't know if there's a ton to say or if you want to talk if there's any game you want to focus in on. we were asked by one of our more conversational guys who follows us on X about the Duke Virginia game. We both said we'll take Duke and you know, some cool stuff from him there about his his relationship with Manny Diaz and other stuff. That was fun. so I'm glad we got that one right. That was kind of a supplemental pick of yours and mine going into the week. Kevin, we were both seven and five this week. We'll get to that in a second. I will with that. I guess we're both eight and five if we wanna we wanna pad our stats, if you will. So yeah, I mean Miami's the clear team in the ACC right now, but I would say there's they still are not what they were last year defensively. Kevin: Yeah, I'll touch on our our friend that we've been talking about, Duke with on X. And yeah, we we all had Duke there. And just a feeling. I I think Manny Diaz is is a better coach than Tony Elliott. It's just where I'm at on it. I think Tony Elliott's fine. I I think last year was it was a one hit wonder. I I really do for Virginia. That's showed itself. Virginia outgained Duke in this game, they won the first down battle. They out possessed him by like 17 minutes, and Virginia still found a way to lose this game. I remember the end of the half, the the boo birds came down on Tony Elliott because they were they had a third and three. They were in field goal range. He had a timeout in hand. Duke's secondary is awful. There was no momentum. Duke's playing with a backup quarterback, and he just elects for the kick. It's conservative decisions like that. So they could have gone into the locker room. Up more. He was conservative in the second half again with some decisions. Bo Prabula, of course, I love him. I'm pulling for him, but he's struggling to throw the ball right now because there's no ground game for Virginia. Bo Prabula Erich: Yeah. Kevin: is not the type of quarterback that's got the arm to carry you, and they can't get that going. Manny defense, Manny Diaz's defense started to clamp down on that. So Duke gets a good road win for them. 19 16 in Charlottesville. Those folks were not happy. Miami, of course, number one team in the country. They rolled, they looked sweet in those 2001 unis. It's Erich: Yeah, they did. Kevin: looking like Andre Johnson out there, Ken Dorsey, Portis. All I mean, I can name like 30 guys. Erich: It looked great. Kevin: They looked those are so sweet. What a what a beautiful era. Feel bad for Pitt. You know, the the quarterback situation hurts, but Narduzzi cannot be happy with the defense. Fit 52 points is not what Pittsburgh gives up. So That's an issue, but Miami rolled. Good for my boy Billy OB. Yeah, Boston College, signs of life. I know Georgia Tech's really, really bad, but hey, you smacked them in Atlanta by 22. And they got BC, I believe, is they're four and three, if I'm not mistaken. Erich: Yeah. Kevin: And are any of the wins fantastic? No, but Boston College has lost to anyone and everyone they've played in recent Erich: Totally. Kevin: years. So it doesn't they're winning football games. And They almost got Virginia Tech as well in the the deluge of rain a few weeks ago at that nor'easter. Virginia Tech, James Franklin gets it done down there in Death Valley, gets the win over Dabo. That was a fun game. I was watching that for a decent amount. Physical game. Both front sevens played really well. Brent Prize defense for the Hokies had four sacks, 13 tackles for loss. They Really rattled Tate Reynolds and the young quarterback for Clemson. Virginia Tech, if you would have told me that you're not going to run the ball literally at all from the running back spot, Evan Grunkmeyer, or excuse me, Ethan Grunkmeyer is going to have under 200 yards passing. That'd be like, you probably didn't win that game. But their defense played well. They were down 16-10 in the fourth quarter and they hung around. And then surprising decision from James Franklin. Obviously. Knowing him well and his decisions, the Hokies trailed 16-13 late in the game, a little over a minute to go. The game's on the line. And I thought he was gonna line up for a field goal on fourth and one from the five-yard line to tie it and get it into overtime on the road. Goes for it, play action, and the Penn State kids that came with them made them look smart. Grunkmar hit the great tight end, Luke Reynolds, who Clemson completely forgot about in the back of the end zone. I don't know how that happens. He's one of the best tight ends in the nation and caught the game winner. So it was good to it was good to see those kids celebrate. And is it a huge win? No, but these are the games James Franklin like has proven he can win. Like still good beat a good team on the road. There's not like a number three next to Clemson. So he got that done, and they're six and two, and good momentum for them to be the name program in year one. And then one other thing I wanted to mention in the ACC, North Carolina had some momentum this year with Bill Belichick. They've done some nice things. You have to find a way to beat Syracuse at home. I don't care how you do it, you can't lose. And they lose on a two-point conversion in overtime. And Fran Brown hasn't won a ton at Syracuse yet. He's somehow five and in overtime, which was a crazy stat. to see so not good for the tire heels you you can't lose that one and yeah like you said smu just rolled cal put up basically 60 so inch interesting spot but yeah there it's definitely it's definitely the the worst of the power four but still some intriguing storylines there for sure Erich: Agreed. Well, that's a good segue, Kevin, talking about going for two in overtime. Let's get into a group of six real quick. So Appalachian State, James Madison, Friday night game, if I remember correctly. And Kevin: Yeah. Erich: JMU gets the drive late to tie it, to take it to overtime. So couple things. You could go for two there. You have the momentum, you're the road team and not go to overtime. Billy Napier, just not a very aggressive coach, never has been. And he says, nope, let's go to overtime. Your offense just gets throttled on that first drive. You don't even get three out of it. And the Appalachian State just needs to get three as the home team. I I just, you know, I wonder and when coaches are gonna stop playing scared and start following analytics. Cause I don't think there's a world where the analytics would say, Yeah, take this the overtime as the road team. Right. I think that's a very home team thing to do because you have the crowd. Your kids are at home. It's if it's a late game, like they're not thinking about getting on the bus to get to their airplane, to get home. And so I do think, especially, you know, JMU, that might have just cost you your ability to even be considered for the group of six playoff team right there because you were undefeated. Now you have that one loss. And you know, you don't. If you don't have opportunities to get that big win, like it it's these games matter a ton in the group of six. So I do think that is worth you know, we've seen Kentucky do it in back to back games in overtime where they're the team that won second, they get the touchdown, they for two and they get to win. And I I do think it's an analytics driven situation to where it's like, what increases your odds to win? This one two yard play to get the extra point and ends the game. Or to take it to another 50-50 situation where each team gets the ball. And I know it's a risky thing to do, but it's it's a two-yard play, right? And I do Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: think the better coaches are going to be the ones that start drawing up and having really good what when we need two yards, what's our go-to plays? And they have like five to ten of them that are just rehearsed over and over again. And so JMU on the road, Appalachian State, they lose, fans rush the field, and now JMU's got a Tougher trajectory to be cons to being considered for that group of six playoff team. So that was one of the bigger group of six games, Kevin. I wanted to touch on Wyoming Air Force. Wyoming kind of had a rough start to the year, but they are now sitting there four and one in the Mountain West. so they have kept playing ball. Big win for them over Air Force. You and I were both on Air Force with this game. And and so Wyoming has been playing every better every week, which has been interesting to see. Boise State keeps cruising, Kevin. They're 31-10. They're still the favorite right now. But I I don't know what week it is, but we are building into a Pac-12 showdown between Boise State and Oregon State. And the winner of that game, I think, is gonna just really be in the driver's seat, but it also might just be setting up towards a rematch for a conference championship game if they have one in that conference. I'm not really sure. I'm assuming they do have a conference championship game because I think every conference does. Memphis, Kevin took a took a shot in the mouth early against ECU. Pirates and they came up, came back and came roaring back and they went 41-34. so they're still, you know, they have that loss to Boise, but you know, they're still sitting there kind of alive. And you know, you know, you never know. We'll see what happens with these games. But they've continued to play ball since suffering that loss in like week three or whatever it was. The glass bowl, you and I talked about this one, Kevin. Toledo just too much on the outside through the air for Western Michigan. Western Michigan did a really good job to come back and make that a game and Obviously, you and I are big fans of Coach Lance Taylor, but we thought that one might be just a a road matchup problem with and boy, Toledo, I'll tell you what, if I'm any team, I don't want to go to Toledo and mess with that air attack. That air attack is really, really good. They have legit weapons on the outside and their QB is really good. And then New Mexico 21, North Dakota State 16. Kevin, I am so impressed with North Dakota State and how they've done in year one. Their only two losses are what they lost 13 to 9 or whatever it was at UNLV. And now they lose 21-16 at New Mexico. You know, those were the two favorites, UNLV and New Mexico in the Mountain West. And yes, North Dakota State would like to get those wins, but to be in year one in the FPS, and those are your only two losses, and they're by a combined like seven to eight points between both games. Just really impressed with how not only how good they've been, but how competitive they've been against the teams that are supposed, you know, the powers in that conference, if you will. so if we're summing this up, Kevin, I think it's still New Mexico, Boise State, and my other for the top three would be Oregon State as my top three, with some teams like Memphis lurking on the outside looking in from the group of six for the what the group of six playoff picture is gonna look like as we keep going. Kevin: Really exciting group of six week, Erich. Tons to talk about. You touched on a lot of it. Where to begin? I'll go to the Glass Bowl. Toledo, Western Michigan. Yeah. Pulling for our guy, Lance Taylor. Appreciate the follow once again, coach. Pulling for you in this one, but still a little too much, a lot of much Rockets offense in in this game, to your point, as you said. John Allen Richter, quarterback not talked enough about enough, went for well over 300 yards. I mean, the Rockets put up almost 600 yards in this game, Erich. They it's you know you're rolling on offense where looking at the stats, Richter was electric. He threw the ball for 41 times, but then CJ Miller was able to run the ball for 33 times. When you have the ball that much and you're able to put up those numbers. That's ultimately that was just too much for Western Michigan. And I really like the CJ Miller kid from Toledo. He's from Alabama. He's one of those kids where it's like, yeah, it's not quite good enough for your Alabamas and Auburn's of the world. So you head to a max school and part of a really good six and two Toledo team, it gets a huge win at home. They dictated the game early. It was 17-0. And that's not. How Western Michigan wants to play. They want to control it on the ground and they wanted to keep that explosive Toledo offense off the field. They didn't want to be chasing Agiday Dabs and Hammer around, who both went over 100 yards, receiving kudos to them. They fought back. I didn't think they Erich: They did. Kevin: they I mean they got a big kick return. Erich: Thirty eight thirty eight. Kevin: Yeah, 38-38. They got that huge kick return to start the second half, so they found ways. But Brock Lowry had a couple picks, one on a possession where I think it was 38 31 Toledo. And they could have tied the game a little earlier. And he had a costly pick in the red zone. But really fun mat game. A lot, a lot of points. Rockets get out of there. The CW late night game flipping with Utah Houston, New Mexico, North Dakota State was a lot of fun. Quality football teams. Coaches like we talked about with Tim Polisek for the Bison and Jason Eck for New Mexico. Tons of respect for those guys. I imagine they will be at power four jobs sooner rather than later. Key when this game, as it often is, is the turnovers on the road. Nathan Hayes has a chance to be, I think, what, the fifth or sixth quarterback in a row drafted from North Dakota State, but he had a tough night. He got picked off twice. He only ran the ball. Or excuse me, North Dakota State only ran the ball for 53 yards on you know on 28 carries. That's where when you're playing these top level teams in the group of six like New Mexico, that's where North Dakota State, and I have no doubt they will, but now that they're in the FBS, they'll be able to get a little bit more talent in the offensive line room to still be able to run the ball first to the likes of New Mexico. so that that hurt them in this game. The bison they rattled late, but the fumbled snap, the couple picks they had hurt them in this game. And once New Mexico got that 21-9 lead, they they kind of had some breathing room and and were able to hang on 21-16. But we knew it'd be low scoring. Two top scoring defenses in the country. And there was a lot of really, really good defense in this game. If you like defense, and we certainly do. So that is exciting to see New Mexico right in the hunt for the Mountain West title. Wyoming Air Force didn't see that one. We were really high on Air Force. We knew it'd be a tricky spot in Laramie. By the way, Wyoming, never do that again. Don't hurt us like that. Erich: Thank you for Kevin: We give you so much praise for your logo and your colors, and then you wear all black. you Erich: Terrible. Kevin: actually I can't believe that you played well in those. but don't don't do that again. Erich: You look at those glorious colors and the end zones they have, and then they're wearing and Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: not even a good black alternative jersey. Like it was just like matte black the entire and was just Kevin: Yeah. Erich: horrific. Kevin: It really was horrific. Jay, I I have trust Jay Sovell, good old Wyoming coach. He'll get that fix. Yeah, Wyoming just controlled the controlled this game. Tyler Hughes, underrated quarterback for Wyoming. He played really well versus Northern Illinois last week. And I thought, hmm, is that just northern Illinois? Well, he showed it versus a game Air Force team. And I, you know, looking back at their schedule, I was concerned about them because they They, meaning Wyoming, had played North Dakota State and they got hammered 28-0. They lost Erich: Yeah. Kevin: to another triple option team in central Michigan, 24 10. So I worried how they would handle the triple option of Air Force, but hey, they got in the film room. They learned from their past mistakes. And I know, you know, the Falcons had almost 400 yards, but it wasn't they got them off the field a lot. And Air Force lost three fumbles. That's always gonna hurt. A triple option team and Wyoming really just controlled this game from from the outset. So kudos to the Cowboys quietly having a a really nice season out there in Laramie. So we got some exciting conference races moving ahead. And then of course, love Boise State. They continue to roll. That was a closer game than the finals score would indicate. It was Erich: It was ten ten for a for a bit. Kevin: Yep, in the second half. And that's what I said about Wazoo going into this game. That is a that is a I don't know how you'd word it, but most one and seven teams are horrible. They're like not a bad one in seven team. Like Kirby Moore out there at Wazoo, they've played a really hard schedule and they have shown up every week and made teams fight and earn it despite what the final score has looked like. So they fought Boise and Boise had to earn that one on the Paloose. But they did and came away thirty one ten. Erich: Love it. Well, it'll be interesting to see how these results go for the group of six. You and I do love, especially when we get those games on Thursdays and Fridays, to give them some attention. And obviously the JMU Appalachian State game was a was a great example of when it's the main game on a Friday night. It can be a lot of fun to watch. And the impact is significant on the playoff as we go forward. But let's go to our categories. Let's start with where we were right or wrong, Kevin. So You and I both seven and five this week just kind of flipped some of the ones we were we were wrong about, which is I guess how it's always going to be, because we're not going to pick the same for every game. But I was obviously wrong about Auburn, emotional letdown and just getting thumped by LSU. Ole Miss, I kind of went with my best QB wins and it was really the best roster. won that game at Texas. kudos to them fighting back and making it close down that stretch. Tennessee loses a close one to South Carolina. Could have went either way. They fumble late. Air Force, we just talked about that. We were both high on them. And then Clepson, I was wrong about them getting it done at home. Where I was right though, in the Big Ten, Wisconsin and Minnesota, I had those upsets correct. Toledo over Western Michigan, Indiana not looking great, but getting it done on the road in Michigan. I was right there. Miami, that was an easy pick. New Mexico was right about that. And then Utah. again, a true top ten team to my friend Matt. Utah getting it done over Houston. Kevin: Yeah, nice picks, Erich. I was really happy with my LSU and Texas picks, like I said. I think it'd have been really easy to go Auburn all miss. So I went a maybe a little against the grain there. Indiana just felt they would come through at the big house. Didn't expect it to go exactly how that game did. That was kind of a weird, interesting game to watch. Miami, that was easy. New Mexico, tough pick. The Lobos protected home field. Like you said, I think if that's in the Fargo dome, the bison get that done. Utah Houston was a really, really tough pick, but I'm glad I went with the home team. It's so hard to win in Rice Eccles. That was the environment of the week. Erich: You were almost second guessing yourself though, the day of. You're like, I should have changed it, but it Kevin: I know. I was like, is the wind blowing again? Like the Oklahoma Texas pick. I just Erich: Yeah. Kevin: I haven't I'm glad now Utah's finally beat a team with a winning record. You know, that was the one concern going into that game. It's not about ranked wins. You know, sometimes that gets overrated. There's tons of really good quality teams outside the top 25, but they finally got one of those. And then yeah, old James Franklin, the Hokies. Get a gritty win in Clemson, where I was wrong. Tennessee, I want to change that one. It's just sometimes how it goes on the road in the SEC. Iowa I felt really confident in. I was fooled with their offense being a little better than most years. And here we go. Four turnovers. They tried both quarterbacks. It didn't matter who was out there, 10 points, and they didn't score a touchdown until very, very late. So They lose at the gun in Twin Cities, and the pig goes to the gophers. USC completely wrong on that. Just Wisconsin thoroughly dismantled them, and they they did not show up in any anyway. Air Force didn't show up. Well, I shouldn't say that they played hard, they always do. Wyoming just played a really good game, so I was wrong about that. They protected home field. And then Western Michigan. I knew that would be tough going up against a team that can really air it out, but they came back, showed well, and those Mac games are tough to predict. So I I can live with that. But yeah, I had a I had a couple. I was certainly really, really wrong on, especially USC. Erich: Well, that's what happens when we pick games, but both seven five this week, so that's pretty good. I think we both have the same letdown team of the week. And BYU. I I don't know how it could be anyone else. yeah, kudos to Scott Frost for putting some athletes on the field and getting it done. But you get the win over Notre Dame. Yeah, you got to travel across the country and go play Central Florida. Central Florida is a solid team, far from the quality of a roster, what you just saw on the field the week before. And you just players weren't ready to play. And this is one Kevin. I picked BYU in that game. Or what no, we didn't pick that game, but I thought BYU would win that game just from the standpoint of like I trust Kalani Sataki to like not let that happen to his team. And so that was the most shocking thing there was that his team just was up against it the whole way. Even when they finally I think at one point they did have the lead and then they just lose the lead right away. There was never just that moment to where they're like, okay, we're taking control of this game now. and so that was surprising to me. And it I think is legitimately. rightfully a concern for BYU fans going forward. Kevin: Yeah, I think I think UCF is better than they get credit for, but I just didn't think they'd win this game. You know, the Knights they hung around in Stillwater versus a good Oklahoma State team this year. They were up 17-0 on Houston before they collapsed in that game. So they've they've done some good things, haven't been able to finish. And kudos to them for finishing this game. But yeah, BYU just shows they weren't ready to have that number two on their back. You know, not a lot of teams are. Were they the number two team in the country? Probably not, but they deserve to be ranked there based off, you know, what they had done. And yeah, I I thought the same. I just thought the discipline, the fundamentals, the culture, Kalani Sataki would would travel and and just find a way to get it done. But they found themselves in a tricky spot down there in Orlando. And that's that's the nature of college football. Erich: It is the nature of college football. Well, let's talk about our team of the week, Kevin, or as we like to call it, most impressive team. Who do you have? Kevin: I went with the Bayou Bengals of LSU. Look like Erich: Good pick. Kevin: looked like the team that we all thought that they were going into this year. And Lane Kiffin always sucks a lot of oxygen out of the room, but how about Blake Barnett's defense in this game? This is an Auburn offense that looked really, really good versus Georgia last week and goes down on the planes and holds them to 10 points. Byron Brown. Yeah, he had one nifty touchdown run, but he had like 19 carries for 20 yards, like average like one yard per carry. And that was without Wit Weeks, who's really good at chasing down players like Byron Brown. So hopefully they get him back soon. Just even adds to more talent on that defense. But looking ahead, I'm calling it now. I had LCU in the playoffs, and I know it's a a murderer's row schedule coming up. their next three games, but I I I think they get all. Alabama at home, Texas at home, and then they go to Tennessee. None of that's going to be easy, but I think LCU has a chance to be favored in all three of those games. And I I think they get it done and they finish ten and two. Erich: Yeah, I I could really see that happening to your point. And I would say if you're ranking like who's the best two loss team in the country, I think it's LSU by far. I mean, the overtime loss at Kentucky, Kentucky's really good this year. And then the just the emotional early season loss against Ole Miss. And I think if they played that game today, I I would be picking LSU just in terms of what we've seen and how the team has grown. So yeah, tough three games coming up, but absolutely, especially with two of them being at home. I definitely like the way they look as they go forward. For me, Kevin, I'm going Utah. I'm gonna throw some more shade at my friend Matt, who hates when I glaze them, but game day was there. Houston came, they wanted Houston needed this win to really keep themselves in a potential driver's seat position, especially with Texas Tech losing earlier in the day. Houston absorbed the blow, excuse me, Utah absorbed Houston's blow and came in with the win. And Like I said, I think Utah is a true top ten, top twelve team. They're in the driver's seat in the Big Twelve and one of the three remaining undefeated teams. Kevin: Can't argue that. No, it's Utah's a really, really good football team, and they and they proved that Saturday night. I wanted to close things with this, Erich. And this is a a shout out to BobbyFootball at Rob underscore Paul on X or Twitter, whatever you want to call it. But check out these stats from this past weekend that he posted. The 11 losses by AP top tens. The 11 losses by AP top 10 teams over the last three weeks are the most in any three week span in AP poll history. And it's the first time since 2007, if you recall that year, that a top two team has lost to an unranked opponent three weeks in a row. And of course, 2007 was that insane year where you had South Florida was ranked number two at one point, Boston College was number two, West Virginia. Kansas played in a top five showdown versus Missouri. It was like unbelievable, some of those programs that were in two. So to have a stat since 2007 shows you how wild it is. And then lastly, he said fewer than four undefeated teams are left in college football this early in the season for the first time since 1977. So it has been a wild few weeks of college football. And as we head towards Halloween weekend, It could only get spookier, Erich. That was low hanging fruit, but it had to be said. Erich: Well, I love it. We will, Kevin, I think probably be recording our preview episode for week nine. if it works with your schedule, probably on Wednesday this week, just with what my schedule looks like. but we will do that and get that out for you all as soon as we can. And that's it. Week eight preview, week eight recap in the books. Thank you all for watching. Would love more likes and subscribes if you guys can. We really want to keep doing this every week as we go because this is my and Kevin's. first love in regard to sport. So thanks everyone. Kevin: Thank you everyone. We appreciate you and we'll talk to you soon.