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COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 4 RECAP · Mike Check - A College Football Podcast

• Jackson: Hey everyone, welcome back. My name's Jackson, that's Davis and this is the Mic Check Podcast. What's going on? How are ya? Davis: I see I see that the record button's going, so I think we're off to a better start than we were last week. Jackson: Yeah, last Sunday was was brutal. I did hit the record button this time, so we should we should have two episodes out this week. I it was like hard for me to stomach after I realized we didn't push the record button. Like I I went downstairs, finished watching Sunday night football and like was s kinda sick to my stomach. I talked to Macy, I was like, How do I like fix this? Like, can I make this better? I mean it is what it is. I was sitting there and I was like, let me just Vidmo, let me VIMO twenty bucks. But Davis: It was all good. I do I do appreciate the Vinmo. Jackson: You're welcome. You're welcome. Davis: Yeah. Yeah. Jackson: decent bit to get into this week. Big weekend. I feel like the weekends are starting to get like bigger and bigger, like more a lot more better games are on. I know there's a big week coming up this week too, so ready to jump right into it. Yeah. Davis: we had it all this weekend. Yeah. Five ranked matchups I believe, couple upsets. So it was really the first weekend that I was able to just sit on the couch and have as many screens as I could, you know, put up there and watch all. Had a couple TVs, couple laptops, phone. I I was trying to consume as I was trying Jackson: You were all out. Davis: to consume as much football as I can given the fact that I had weddings the previous two weekends. Jackson: Alright, well that that means you should be ready for a a good recap show. So let's let's Davis: Yeah, let's get into it. Jackson: get it rolling. All right, from the top. Let's let's roll ben biggest winners and losers. So you had you had three winners. You wanna let's knock one off. What what you got? Davis: So for the second week in a row, my big winner is Buster Faulkner. I'm just so impressed every time I watch Ford a play in that offense. I know I hit on it last week, just the amount of misdirection and eye candy and pre-stamp motion and play action and it it he just puts on a clinic every time he gets out there. And so I had to put him up as a winner. Florida's offense is legit. He's gonna become a a new head coach next year. here's some stats that just emphasize or really reiterate how well and how how he has that Florida offense rolling. So Florida is second in EPA per play, fourth in rushing yards per game. Obviously the rushing gets, you know, all the headlines, rightfully so. And then you take a step back and since the r the the running game is doing so well, it's really allowed the pass game to really excel as well. They're third in EPA per drop drop back, 99th percentile in explosive rate. It's just it it doesn't matter what stat you look at, that Florida offense is humming right now. And then you look Jackson: Yeah, they're unreal. Davis: at and then you look at what Georgia Tech's doing right now, and l last year they were 11th in yards per game. This year they're 104th. Last year Florida was 102nd in yards per game. This year they're third. Jackson: Yeah, I would Davis: So shout out Buster Wagner. Jackson: Yeah, he he's he's incredible. He's definitely, I think, the best coordinator in the game in all of college football, any side of the ball. it would be nice to have him as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer next year, so fingers crossed that that Buster Faulkner gets the gets the new H H C job at in in Tampa Bay. So Yeah. The offense today was brutal. Today we're filming on Sunday and and three. Owen three for the Tampa Davis: Yeah. Jackson: Bay Buccaneers, so Buster Faulkner could Hopefully turn that around. Davis: I don't know if he'll get an NFL head coaching job, but he will have his pickings in the college football head coaching search. Jackson: I will take him. I will take him in Tampa as an FL head coach. But yeah, Davis: I mean it Jackson: you're right. He he will have his pick in college for sure. Davis: I'm gonna I'm gonna go ahead and guess FSU right now. I don't have any insight, no nothing. I just that's that's my guess. Jackson: I hear they're I hear they're kinda in on many Diaz a little bit. Some of the FSU buzz, but I mean yeah, Buster Faulkner would be a good fit anyway. Davis: I heard Jimbo Fisher too. That'd be a disaster as well. Just run it back with some guy that Jackson: That would be a disaster. I yeah. That didn't work in the first place. I mean, h and all the talent he had at A and I don't know if we've talked about this yet, but he had so much talent and so much money at A and Davis: Yeah. I mean he worked at Florida State but he got fired for a reason and then Or Jackson: Yeah. Davis: did he get fired from FSU? Jackson: Yeah, he got fired. Yeah. Pretty sure. Pretty sure. I don't think he left Davis: Yeah. Jackson: for AM. I think he got fired. I could be wrong though. I'm not sure. Alright, Davis: Mm-hmm. Jackson: we'll move on. My first winner is Luke Fickle. Obviously they had the big win, comeback win at Penn State. I know his job was kinda talked about as like being on the line and he gets the big win going on the road at Penn State. So happy for Luke Fickle. Someone getting that Wisconsin program turned around, so we'll see if they can keep it rolling in the next few weeks. Davis: Yeah. my next winner was Colin Simmons. He what was it? Simulated using the restroom. Jackson: Yeah, that was something. Davis: that was something. He he was he was on track to be Jackson: something. Davis: he was on track to be on the loser list and then and then rattled off five total sacks. So he changed that game. It's hard hard to hard to justify those actions, but I think you did and I think you just you you let him do whatever he wants if he's gonna get five sacks a game. Jackson: Why would you do that? Like why why? I mean i I don't know. I don't get it, but whatever. Yeah, he was unreal in the Tennessee game. So Davis: Unblockable. Jackson: Yeah, completely unblockable. He he was a game changer. Five sacks in one game is is pretty incredible. So you Davis: Yeah. Yeah. Jackson: know, well deserved. All right, my first loser is Oklahoma. Obvious I mean for my two losers is there's not much commentary to go along with with this narrative. They just got killed by Georgia. I think a lot of the Oklahoma fans kind of see the writing on the wall with how the season's gonna play out. John Mateo looks awful. that's kind of a lot of what your team rides on. I know the defense is, you know, pretty dang good too, but Georgia put Davis: Yeah. Jackson: up forty one points. I I realize Two or one or maybe two of those were were defensive touchdowns, but still. You get smoked in a in a in a game against Georgia that was supposed to be a big SEC game for them. and you just had no chance coming out of the gate. I mean, as soon as that ball slipped out of John Mateer's hands, that game was over. So Davis: Yeah. Jackson: not looking good for Oklahoma. I think I think going back to our panic meter, that that that bar should be shifted to it's time to panic. I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah, honestly. Davis: Or it's already over. Well Jackson: I mean I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and their schedule's not getting any easier as we've as we've gone over in the past, so Davis: Yeah. Jackson: one of the big losers for me this week. Davis: I had a I had a stat for Oklahoma just to kind of rub some salt in the wound. Last three games, Michigan, New Mexico, and Georgia, they've had 36 offensive possessions. Of those 36, they've had six scoring drives and nine turnovers. So they've turned the ball over more times than they've scored points on drives. Just insane. Jackson: Yeah, it's it's rough. It's it's rough. So not much to do now, I guess. I mean, maybe quarterback change, but I g that's all you can do, I think, at this point. I mean I know they're payment here a good chunk of money, but shoot you can't you can't keep doing something over and over again and expecting things to change. So it'll be interesting Davis: Yeah. Jackson: to see what they do going forward. Davis: At least they have an easy matchup il in two weeks with Texas. I think they have a bye this week. So they won't lose this week, but it doesn't get easier after that. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it does not get easier for them. Davis: It'll be a seventeen point underdog. Jackson: Yeah. Davis: All right, my next winner is the Bolitnikov race between Jeremiah Smith and Malachi Tony. Two guys that are just bawling right now. And it seems like that they're cognizant of what the other is doing and trying to one up each other. so Tony put up six, one twenty and one yesterday against Central Michigan. Which puts him at thirty-four receptions, five hundred and sixty-four yards, and six touchdowns through four games. Jeremiah Smith had himself an even even bigger day with twelve, two seventeen, and four. And that puts him at thirty-three, six, seventeen, and seven. So just two guys that are unstoppable. And it's gonna come down to the wire who wins the Blitnikov. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think it's a it's a two man race already. W I know we're only in week week four, but those guys are are are by far to me the best receivers in college football and like two of the best receivers we've seen to me in in the in the last few seasons. I mean those guys Davis: yeah. Jackson: are are generational talents and and they're showing it. I they're putting up crazy numbers, so Davis: Yeah. Jackson: All right, my next big winner's Iowa. I think I think it's Iowa and the rest of college football kind of seeing Michigan go down at the last second there. good for them g getting the win on the last play of the game. Their first win on the road against a top twenty five team in like ten years or something like that. I don't remember how many years it was, but I saw the stat somewhere. So good on Iowa getting the win on the road, beating Michigan in the final seconds and give a little bit of Taste our own medicine. So Davis: Yeah. Love to love to see it. my big loser of the week was USC and Lincoln Riley. You come into a game, home game, you really need it to set the tone for the rest of the season. Dante Moore gets hit late and we can have that discussion later, but essentially knocked out of the game. knocked out in general. and really if you're USC you have to take advantage of that. You have to take advantage of it being a home game. You're the higher ranked team, the offense is humming and you just aren't able to win it. And just really doesn't look good for Lincoln Riley. So through fifty eight games, he is thirty nine and nineteen, which is the exact same record that Clay Helton had. the previous head coach through fifty eight games. And I believe that he's won less ranked games than than Clay Helton did. So just it's it's the same Jackson: That's shocking. Davis: stor yeah, same story every year. Offense looks good and then they lose a game that that, you know, they probably shouldn't have. I know that Oregon's a a good team, but Dante Moore goes out and you really need to you really need to win that game. Jackson: Yeah, you gotta capitalize with a backup quarterback, especially as early as it happened. I mean it wasn't like a fourth quarter Davis: Yeah. Jackson: thing. It was early in the game, so yeah. Yeah, it's Davis: Yeah. Shout out Dylan Rayola though. Jackson: yeah, he looked fine. We'll we'll get into that later, but he he was okay. Got the win. That's all that matters, I guess. So All right, my next loser was Louisville. You get a big win at home against El against SMU last week. You kinda control your own destiny in terms of getting to the ACC championship game. And then you blow one to Wake Forest at home. I mean, like you just you can't do that, especially in a conference like the ACC. I it it just it's inexcusable. I know it's maybe a letdown spot, but you can't lose at home to an unranked team, especially a team like Wake like Wake Forest, who's not really projected to finish in the top half of the conference. So it sucks for Louisville. I mean it it's gonna be tough to to get back into the race in the ACC. I know it's only game what, it's probably their second game in the ACC, but still it's hard to afford a a second loss this early in the season if you're if you're expected to make the or you want to make the college football playoffs. So they're my next big loser of the week. Davis: Just two weeks ago we thought Louisville was good, SMU was good, Virginia was good, and all three of those, you know, second tier of ACC teams have lost in the last two weeks. I dunno I don't know who's the second best team in the ACC. Jackson: I don't either. Davis: maybe it's still Louisville and it's just Jackson: Maybe it's Duke. Davis: a slip up. Who? Pitt? Jackson: Duke. Dude, Duke's killing teams, aren't they? Davis: Yeah. I mean they played William and Mary or something this week in Stanford last week. Jackson: Yeah, I guess that's a I guess that's a bad take, but I mean a team like Duke, I Davis: Yeah. Jackson: guess not not maybe not Duke specifically, but a team like Duke that's just gonna win the ACC games they have on their schedule and then get lucky and not have to play like Miami or or any of the other top teams. So I don't know. It it's wide Davis: Yeah. Jackson: open. I think it's Miami and somebody else, but I feel a lot better Davis: Yeah. Jackson: about my Miami to win the the conference take. I don't think there's any Davis: Yeah. Jackson: team that's really even close to them in the SEC. So we'll we'll get into the next games. we'll move on to the breakdowns. Alright, game number one, Texas 20, Tennessee 17. this game was controlled for the most part by Texas. Davis mentioned Colin Simmons getting the five sacks. I to me, I just thought the defense was too much for Faison Brandon. I know we talked about it in the breakdown show that this would be his first game against a real, like, top defense. He coming out of high school, he's a true Davis: And it showed. Jackson: freshman. Yeah, it did show. He had a lot of freshman moments. He didn't play like just horrible, but he he showed that he was a freshman in that game, and I think that's why Tennessee lost. Davis: Yeah. Jackson: Could just they never got anything going. Davis: Yeah. Colin Simmons had five sacks. Texas had ten sacks as a team. Faison Brandon really just struggled to get the ball out. wasn't anticipating throws and and sometimes tried to play hero ball and ended up taking some some bad sacks. But I wasn't impressed with Texas's offense at all either. You have the I I haven't yeah. Jackson: I haven't been really all season. I mean I I know you have the comeback against Ohio State, but to me that's kinda speaks just as much as to their defense as it does their offense. I mean their defense sh basically shut out that second half. Ohio State took the foot off the gas offensively and I mean Davis: Yeah. Jackson: I don't know. I I just Texas is kinda squeaking by wind, so it's hard for me to throw under the bus. They beat now Tennessee on the road, Ohio State at home. So there's definitely something to say to how they are performing and how good they are, but Davis: Yeah. Jackson: I think they're due for y I guess to get exposed against a team that has a high powered offense and they just can't keep up. 'Cause right now I think their defense Davis: Yeah. Jackson: is keeping in a lot of these games and and really pushing them over the finish line and getting the win. Davis: Yeah. And their defense was so good in this game. Tennessee had a punt return touchdown, so that's that's seven points that isn't on their defense right there. And outside of kind of a a late drive as time expired, that was really the only real drive that Tennessee had. They did get the onside kick, which, you know, gave Texas a scare. But watching this game live, I you just had no confidence that Tennessee was able to move the ball. I also had no Jackson: Yeah. Tennessee Davis: confidence that Texas was able to move the ball either. They had a a couple explosive plays, but really was not able to, you know, consistently get yards throwing the ball or rushing the rushing the ball. I mean, they only had sixty one total rushing yards. Arch Manning didn't look great, only two hundred and one passing yards, but they continue to squeak by. so hard to hard to at least fault them as a as a whole. Jackson: Yeah. Another thing that we talked about on the on the preview show was that if Texas could make Tennessee throw the ball and make that offense one dimensional, then this game wouldn't I mean wouldn't Davis: Mm-hmm. Jackson: be close. It really wasn't close. Like you said, they had a punt return and then a that last drive they scored that touchdown, which they got the lucky face mask on fourth or third and thirty that that gave them the first down. So Davis: Yeah. Jackson: it really wasn't close. and I think that's a a lot of that is due to Davis: Yeah. I was sweating the the I was sweating the plus five and a half here. Kinda got the backdoor Jackson: Got it. Yeah. Yeah, we're both work. Davis: Yeah, kinda got the backdoor cover and then almost you know, got once they got the onside kick, they they could have had a chance to to get the outright win. But Jackson: Yeah. Davis: yeah, hadn't been impressed with Arch Banning. Jackson: Yeah. I I neither. I think it's it's coming for Texas. I just we'll see. You know, Oklahoma's not who we thought they were, so th someone will get down the road. Do they play Florida? Davis: Steve Sarkeesian's pretty good at the scripted drive, so I will give them that. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah, it's true. all right, we'll move on. Next game, Ole Miss 28, Davis: Ooh. Jackson: Florida 52. Man. Davis: And Vegas made a lot of money. Jackson: Florida just jumped on from the beginning and then they did not let their foot off the gas. I mean w we Davis: Mm-mm. Jackson: we said that if Florida could run the ball, that was their chance to win this game and they ran the freaking ball. And they did not stop. Davis: Three hundred and two yards rushing, had time of possession of almost thirty-seven minutes, didn't turn the ball over, and scored touchdowns on their first five possessions of the second half. Like it's hard it like it's hard to be better than that. You can't be better than that. Jackson: I mean, i that's like i if you're John Somerville, that's exactly how you want this game to go. You want to control time Davis: Yeah. Jackson: of a session and you wanna run the heck out of the football. And I mean they had a hundred and Davis: Yeah. Jackson: ninety six passing yards and they scored fifty two points. Like I mean, they just Davis: Yeah. Jackson: ran it down their throats and there was nothing Ole Miss could do about it. I mean, ball had Davis: Yeah. Jackson: one hundred one something and then the other guy had one something. Like they had two running backs Davis: Yeah. Jackson: rush for over a hundred yards and there was not a dang thing Ole Miss could do about it. So Davis: Yeah. Jaden Ball had 142 yards and three touchdowns. Duke Clark, the backup running back, had a hundred and twenty-six yards and a touchdown and on on on only twelve carries. So they got a two-headed monster back there, and they don't ask much of Aaron Filo, but when they do it's it's it's easy. Very easy. Jackson: Yeah, I if you're Ole Miss, you gotta address the run thing. Like Davis: Mm-hmm. Jackson: you could make the argument or the excuse that they were dinged up, they played LSU last week. It's hard to get at for a big game on the road for a second week in a row, but I mean you just got killed. You got killed on Davis: Mm-hmm. Jackson: the road. I mean, running the ball, they just they just Davis: Yeah. Jackson: ran it down your throats. You can't win games if you if you're giving up that many rushing yards. So Davis: Yeah. Jackson: that's definitely an area that teams going forward are gonna try to exploit for Ole Miss. you gotta be able to stop the run and and give Chambless time. Because if other teams are able to run the ball, that means they're also able to control the clock. And which takes Davis: Yeah. Jackson: the ball out of your, you know, Heisman Trophy Caliber quarterback's hands. And also I think it's kind of a I don't think people think it's as big a deal as I think it is, but I think not having Kewan Licey is a big deal for Olness. I think they obviously struggle to run the ball without him and not having him their offense just doesn't look the same. So, I don't know what the timeline is on his return, but he needs to get back ASAP if you're an Ole Mess fan. Davis: Yeah. Yeah. La last point here. Jaden Ball has eleven touchdowns in the four games, which ties him with Najee Harris and Leonard Fournette for most touchdowns by an SEC running back through the first four weeks. So he's balling. Jackson: He's a stud. He's a stud. I'm excited Davis: Yeah. Jackson: for the the Florida George game here in a couple weeks. That that'll be interesting to see that Florida Davis: Mm-hmm. Jackson: offense against the Georgia defense. And honestly, we'll get kind of get a a better understanding on how good Georgia is, how good their offense is. But all right, moving on. Davis: Yeah. I think Old Miss sorry, one second Jackson: Go ahead. Davis: last point. The Ole Miss also took a a loss with the fact that Louisville lost. Jackson: Yeah. Davis: Kinda went back and forth with with Louisville and and then they had a bad loss, kinda kinda, you know, diminishes your resume a little bit and so I don't know. Still a lot of football to be played, but did want to make note of that. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah. Good point. All right. Oregon forty one, USC twenty seven. We talked about it earlier. Dante Moore goes out. USC cannot take advantage of you know not having what we thought was maybe a Heisman caliber quarterback. I still think he's you know, Dante Moore's pretty dang good, but he hasn't, I guess, lived up to all the expectations this year. Still, you gotta take advantage Dylan Arillo. I know he's experienced, he's not your typical freshman sophomore backup quarterback that doesn't have a lot of experience. He was a starter at Nebraska for what, two years, I guess. so he has played some Davis: Yeah. Jackson: some ball, but he looked w he looked decent. Davis: Think he has twenty three starts under his belt. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think he did what he needed to do. He didn't turn the ball over and he kind of just gave the ball to his playmakers and let them let them go. he had a decent touchdown. Davis: Yeah. He finished with nineteen of twenty-five, two eighty-nine, two touchdowns, no interceptions. I I thought he was impressive. I I thought that once Dante Moore went down, I was I did not think that Oregon was going to be able to keep up with USC. Well what was your take on the the hit? You think it was I Jackson: That was dirty. I mean Davis: th it was dirty, it was also kind of a late slide. It didn't help the fact that you start taunting them and celebrating and doing whatever shenanigans you were doing after. He did get suspended. Jackson: Yeah, the the aftermath he was suspended. And the and the aftermath of the slide I think was was kinda the the dirty part of it. I mean Davis: Yeah. Jackson: it's unfortunate if you slide late, like you you gotta know that they're they gotta make sure you slide. I mean, Kenny Pickett a few years ago had that fake slide for a touchdown in in a game, but i if if quarterbacks are gonna fake slide, you gotta make sure that he's gonna go down. Davis: Yeah, state actually jumped out to a fourteen-o lead here, and then Missouri kind of went on a run themselves to go up twenty four-seventeen. I was really encouraged by the way that Camario Taylor responded, kept his composure, led a a big touchdown drive, 14 play, 73 yard drive to tie it. and then Mississippi State forced a three and out. And then Camario Taylor had two beautiful throws and one was aided by an Anthony Edward Evans diving catch. But just really when you needed it most, Camario Taylor stepped up with his arm too and re really sealed that game and kind of cemented his his status amongst the SEC quarterbacks. He's good. He's really good. Jackson: Yeah. He is good. I'm I'm impressed with Mississippi State. I kinda thought Missouri would maybe be the step back. I know they've had some they had a good start to the year. They beat Minnesota, they go on the road to beat South Carolina. Thought Missouri would kinda ground them a little bit. but but they got it done. I mean, it was kind of a back and forth game, but you get the win. Mississippi gets Alabama next week at home. That'll be a big game in Starkville. I think we'll find a lot Davis: Mm-hmm. Jackson: more out about how good they really are. I mean, is this like a playoff team or is this a you know eight and four keep ranked kind of team. So it'll Davis: Yeah. Jackson: be interesting to see this week against Alabama what how they do. I mean, I it's a huge game. You know the fans will be up for it. It's eleven AM kick, which kinda sucks for Mississippi State, but we'll Davis: Yeah. Jackson: see. It'll be fun to watch. Davis: Yeah, Mississippi State four and against the spread this year as well. Jackson: No, you're very familiar with that, Davis. Davis: Picked him this week Jackson: All right. Davis: or last. Jackson: An ugly game. Iowa twenty, Michigan nineteen. Iowa gets the win on the last play of the game. Put up thirteen points in the fourth quarter. It's not something you see every day from an Iowa team. Michigan, I mean, actually, you know, move the ball through Davis: Move the ball. Jackson: the Yeah, they move the ball well. I mean, their their top two receivers I think had over a hundred Davis: Yeah, Bryce Underwood looked good. Jackson: yards receiving. So like that's Kinda wild to me that they lost this game. If you would have told me those those stats beforehand, I would have I would have taken Michigan all the way, but I would get to done. Davis: Yeah. Given the given the defense that Bryce Underwood was going up against, I I think that this was the most impressed that I've been with him. You know, I w I was defense is very good and and he he played well. I mean they outgained Michigan outgained Iowa by almost a hundred and fifty yards. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah, I I was quarterback was I mean, he made some throws when it mattered most and you know, they get the they get a couple breaks on the last drive and then get the touchdown on the last play of the game and I think that's really not all there is to it, but that's just kind of the way some of these low scoring games like this go. I mean, you get a break here and there and it's like Davis: Yeah. Jackson: tha that's how you win the game, especially on the road like that. So special teams is Davis: Yeah. Jackson: obviously big in this game. I know we mentioned that in the in the pregame preview. But yeah, tough loss for Michigan. I think things are balanced out and and we can move forward with Davis: Yeah. Jackson: w with Michigan now. I don't think they're the most hated team in college football anymore after after the way that game ended. Davis: That was about as as like an I will win I've ever seen. You know, you get out gained by a hundred and fifty yards, you have fifty eight yards rushing, and you win a game and I think that that was their first ranked road win since twenty fifteen. So Jackson: Yeah. Davis: date dates back a while and the game hit the over. Jackson: I know. I saw that. It did. It did. Alright. Anything else to add from this one or gonna move on? Davis: now I'm good to move on here. Jackson: Alright, some other notable games of the week. Obviously we mentioned Wake Forest taking down Louisville. UCLA just beat the brakes off of Maryland. That was shocking. I think UCLA Davis: Yes. Jackson: could be for real, honestly. I mean Davis: I I think Jackson: They're good. Davis: that they're gonna I think that they're gonna get somebody one of one of these powers in the in in the the Big Ten. I think that Jackson: Yeah, I I haven't looked at their schedule, but like they could definitely sneak up on on somebody. I don't know how much sneaking up they're gonna do actually. I mean they they've they've handled teams on their schedule. I mean beating someone fifty Davis: Yeah. Jackson: four to three on the road going across country like that is that's that's pretty dang good. So Davis: They're an interesting team to watch out for, no doubt. Jackson: Yeah, absolutely. Bama takes care of business against South Carolina. Wisconsin, we mentioned. Yeah. Dude, he's taking the next step. He is taking the next step. Davis: Keel Kaelin Russell. It's it's unfortunate how good he looks. It's unfortunate. Jackson: I I kinda nitpicked a little bit and talked about his, you know, pocket presence and how he needed to kinda hang in there and make some throws last week. But Davis: Nah, he's legit. Jackson: dude, he he's fixed all that this past game. Davis: Easily yeah. Jackson: Like he looks good. Very good. Davis: Alabama lost a quarterback to the first round and they upgraded. Jackson: I know. It's it's crazy, but we did. Davis: Yeah. Jackson: Auburn gets the win. Twenty Davis: Yeah. Jackson: one fifteen. Any any quick comments on that? I didn't really watch much of it, but I had it in the top left corner of the quad box while and watched while I could. Davis: Yeah, Auburn's defense played a lot better. responded compared to last week against Florida. Offense still long way to go. Long way to go. Off offensive line is not getting any any push. I think I saw that we ran the ball on like eight out of the first or eight out of the thirteen first and tens and averaged like two yards per carry on those first down runs. So And you know, just just starting off behind the chains and second and eight is not gonna get it done. Especially when when we're kind of struggling to throw the ball as well. So got a big test against Tennessee this week. Jackson: Yeah. another notable game. Minnesota gets the win against Washington on the road. That's something I did not see coming. I know we were both high on Washington before the season started. a little bit of a resume Davis: Yeah. Jackson: booster for Mississippi State, I guess, if it matters down the road. So good win for Minnesota on the Davis: Yeah. Jackson: road. Davis: Yeah. Yep. And then I guess you kinda covered it with Wisconsin, but that was a big big win for Wisconsin. A game that they were down fourteen nothing, seventeen nothing, something. They had a they had a big comeback there. Jackson: Something like that. Yeah. I 'cause I kinda you know, tuned that game out of my mind once I saw it was seventeen nothing. I didn't think you know, Wisconsin and there they're not exactly known for their offensive firepower. So I figured when it was seventeen nothing playing on the road I figured that was over, but Davis: Yeah. Jackson: yeah, come back, get the win. At Penn State's tough place to play. So Luke Fickle with a big win. Maybe maybe buying him some time with the with the head coaching job. So Davis: Yeah. Boise State with a blowout too over western Michigan. I know these were two teams that were vying for that group of five spot. Boise State really standing out as as the team that that looks like it's gonna be them. Jackson: Yeah, I think it's their I think it's their spot to lose at this point. I'm not Davis: Yeah. Jackson: super in tune with the G five schools if they're not like I guess on the map. And it seems that Boise State's the only one that's on the map, other than, you know, Western Michigan had the close win loss thing against Michigan and UNLV's kinda falling off the face of the earth, but Boise State's really the only team that you're hearing from when it comes to the G five level. So it looks like they're gonna be the team to beat in the G five cultural plateau freeze. Davis: Yeah. Jackson: All right, you went four and two this week in the pick six. I did not have a good week. I went two and four. I'll go first and run down my Davis: These games could have gone either way. I like Jackson: Yeah. Davis: Mississipp State really came down to the last possession. Tennessee came down to the last possession. Texas A and got blown out. That was just a bad call. Ole Miss also just got blown out. That was a bad call. But the other games are kinda back and forth. Jackson: I feel like a lot of these games for me, like especially Missouri. I gave so many reasons. Like when I was doing my preview, like analysis on the podcast last week, I was reading off, reading off, reading off, and in my head I was like, I'm about to like say I'm gonna pick Missouri plus five. But everything I just read says I should probably pick Mississippi State to cover. But and every time I was like, but Davis: Which is exactly the reason why I switched live. Jackson: Yeah, it's like I would say all this stuff and I'd say, but I'm taking Missouri. Why? I mean, I Davis: Yeah. Jackson: literally just listed off ten reasons why Mississippi State's gonna win this game. Same for for the Texan game. I mean, I was like, their offense sucks, they have no O line, LSU's gonna be pissed off, they're playing at home at night in Tiger Stadium, but Davis: Yeah. Jackson: gimme A and Like why? I mean, gosh. Gotta just go Davis: Yeah. Jackson: with my go with my my analytics here, but tough week for me. Like you said, a lot of the games could have gone either way. Tennessee, we catch the break there, but don't catch the break with with any of the other games. But move Davis: Yeah. Jackson: on. New week this week. Hey, we should have a you know, all this fantasy punishment stuff that you've been talking about's got me thinking, we need to do Davis: Ha ha ha. Jackson: we need to do a little prize for for the for the pick'ems. I mean, it's like that's more oppressive Davis: Yeah, we do. Jackson: than when in fantasy, so Get your mind get your mind rolled on some some punishment ideas or or a prize for the for the pickems. We'll we'll talk about that later, I guess. Davis: Yeah. We we both need to do a little better. We had one week that was just a tro or I had one week that was I think I went one in five, so that was I I it it's gonna it's gonna take a couple of weeks to Jackson: Other than week zero, this is my first Davis: recover from that. Jackson: this is my first losing week other than week zero. So I've just been Davis: Yeah. Jackson: right on the you know, four and two, three and three, four and two, three and three, three and three. Like it's been super super close, but anyways. Davis: Yeah. Jackson: Davis, you did better this week. In the in the plays of the week. Davis: Yeah, thanks. Jackson: Central Michigan, did you not get that one? Davis: No, Miami Jackson: Fifty it was forty one and a half. I thought it was I thought it was thirty nine and a half. I was thinking about that. But other than that, I mean, you were kinda right on it. I mean Miami did kind Davis: Yeah. Jackson: of open it up, but Davis: Yeah. I mean the whole premise around Central Michigan plus forty one and a half is that I thought that Kadarius Toney would be a little limited and that their Jackson: No, okay, totally. Davis: offense wouldn't score fifty. Kadarius Tony wasn't limited at all and their offense scored fifty. So you Jackson: Yeah. Davis: gotta you gotta take your L's when when you get Missouri State, they gave SMU a scare. I think they only lost by like Jackson: Yeah, they gave him a run. Davis: ten. And then Texas Tech, I mean Will Hammond threw three first half interceptions. He did just about everything for them not to cover. They they still did. So that was I got was fortunate there, but the the analysis was spot on. I said Sam Houston wasn't gonna be able to run the ball. They they couldn't, was forced to pass the ball. They did. And then they had two back to back pick six pick sixes right off the bat. So I I think I think I know I went two and one, which is pretty good, but from a kind of justification standpoint I I liked where I was at on all three picks here. Jackson: Yeah. Yeah, good week. I went one one and one. Illinois plus twenty eight looked yeah, pretty good right out of the gate. They they hung in there with them. I didn't think Ohio State would blow him out of the water. And you know, they didn't. Colorado plus ten. I thought I was gonna get the win there. early and then kinda went back and forth late in the game. I was I was I was sweating a little bit there at the end with that one and then Georgia Tech minus three. I think I'm I'm I'm I'm done. I'm done with Georgia Tech. I thought they were better than than they were. I thought they would go to Stanford and it's one of the few wins. If you're not a great team, it's one of the few wins that you can maybe count on getting against the Power Force School. But I mean, how do you not win that game, man? Like, come on. Georgia Davis: Yeah. Jackson: Tech. W you you said it earlier. Brian Arbuckle's a was a big reason for their success last year. So and I think that's showing a lot more right. Sorry, not not Ben Arbuckle. Not to be confused with Oklahoma O. C. Ben Arbuckle. But yes. I think he was a big reason for their success and that is showing a lot more Davis: Uh-huh. Jackson: with a loss to Stanford like that. So one one and one this week for me. We'll we'll get it turned around next week. All right, so I know these upset checks are in green. Neither team got the win, but we both got the cover. Davis, that brings your total to four forty five, and I am at one ninety. Boston College and Georgia Southern both cover the spread this week. Davis: Yeah. And I don't think any of these teams had an outright win. Jackson: Big Force. Davis: yeah, yeah. So that would have been the only one that we could have chosen that did have the outright win. But we got two covers, so we'll we'll take it. Jackson: Every single week that we've done this, one of us has either had an outright win or a cover. So something to Davis: Yeah. I mean that's i i if I cover every week then I'm happy. I mean you're not the the outright wins were not expected and then we've already hit two as a as a show. So I I think that's pretty damn good. I I didn't Jackson: Yeah, yeah. Davis: I didn't think we'd get two for the entire season. Jackson: Yeah, I was we we were talking that we may not even get one, so yeah, we have two already for the season. Shout out Davis Sarah, Matthew. Good job, guys. I'll get one soon. Alright, so our last segment here, we're gonna go into some power rankings. Davis, you want to lead off? So this is power rankings. Let's let's let's make this crystal clear before we get rolling. So this is the teams that we think are the best teams in college football, not the most deserving. Davis: Yes. Jackson: So, for example, Davis says Ohio State ranked over Texas. Obviously, Texas Davis: Way ahead of Texas. Jackson: yeah. Texas beats Ohio State. Obviously, this is not a a deserving from a deserving standpoint rankings but Davis: Yeah. Jackson: just kind of who's better so Davis: This is even playing or even like all things equal from a location, from a timing, like who I think is the better team between all of these teams. And so right now I think the best team is Georgia. Up up until this past game they haven't really played anybody good, but Oklahoma's I know they haven't lived up to it, but Oklahoma's defense is legit. They looked great. You know, they have the talent. I know this isn't a bold statement, but one thing that I've been really impressed with Georgia so far is their explosiveness on offense. You know, they've kind of had the the stain on them is that they've just been a old fashioned offense and hadn't been able to put up big points against good defenses. Well, that's really changed this year. They've been very explosive. Gunnar Stockton is is really settled in, so I think that they are the best team in the country right now. Jackson: Yeah, I agree. You hit it. The th they're I mean, they're smoking teams, so until I see someone put up a fight against Georgia, I I will ride with them. it's not a situation like not to beat up on Indiana, but Indiana a few years ago, you know, they hadn't played anyone and they they they hadn't shown that they could beat anyone either. So, Davis: Yeah. Jackson: I know you're not really supposed to take into account years past and and stuff like this, but It's it's hard not to. So I I think Georgia looks like, you know, the Georgia they've looked like in the past five years when they won those national championships in twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two. I think they're the best team in college football right now. So I agree with you. Davis: Yeah. Well I think the best way to probably do this is just to run through my list, run through your list, and then try to talk through some differences, hit some things that may come as a surprise to some people, and then maybe highlight some teams that got left out in one person's list and and we can talk f from there. So we just talked about Georgia. Have them number one. Number two, I have Ohio State. Yes, I know that they lost to Texas. This isn't how I would rank them if this was an AP poll or or anything. This is just a power ranking. I think that Ohio State is better than Texas. I think if they played ten times, Ohio State would win six or seven of those. I think that They have probably the second best offense-defense combination right behind Georgia. number three, I have Notre Dame, 4-0. next I have Miami at four, and then I have Indiana at five, Texas at six. I know that that's a huge difference, and we can get into that in a second. Alabama at seven, LSU at eight, Oregon at nine. U Utah at ten, Florida at eleven, and Texas Tech will round it out at twelve. Jackson: Alright, I'll I'll do mine and then we can argue or or you know, discuss afterwards. Number one, Georgia, as I mentioned, they're the best team of the country. Number two, I still have Texas. I think the wins on the field still can't be ignored. You beat a top twenty five team on the road, you take care of Ohio State at home. I know those games or at least the the Ohio State g came could have gone either way, but you know, in the end Texas does get the wins, so I have them slightly edging out Ohio State who I have at number three. I think they are one of the more complete teams in the country. Their defensive line hasn't looked good. I think that's kind of the hole there. I think you know, especially in the Texas game when they were able to come back in that second half, they were really able to exploit some of their some of the runs between the tackles. kinda like in Illinois did this weekend. I mean, Illinois found some success running the ball up the middle against Ohio State, so I think that's a big weakness for them. Number four, Miami. Number five, Notre Dame. I have Alabama at number six. I think they've looked well. I don't think they're necessarily there yet, but they have a dynamic quarterback, pretty good defense. I think the ceiling's high for them. I have them just right above Indiana. I I think Indiana has not looked impressive. Personally, I think if they don't win the national championship this year, this Indiana team is ranked closer to like nine or ten, maybe eleven in the AP poll. I think they're getting the defending national champion bump a little bit. They've looked really not impressive in a lot of their games. Number eight out of Florida. T kind of speaks for itself. They've looked great taking care of business in in in every game they've had. Nine is Ole Miss. Ten is LSU. Eleven, Oregon, and number twelve I have Utah. So one team I noticed that is not on your list, that is on mine is Ole Miss. So What's your what's your reasoning there? You taking ol you taking Utah against Ole Miss on a neutral field? Davis: So here's what I'll say: is I think that there's some pretty clear and defined tiers here. I think that eight through twelve and really it's eight through like fifteen. I could reorder it in a completely different order if you asked me to do it again. I went back and forth on which teams should be included, which teams shouldn't. so definitely a tier break between seven and eight and I think that there's a tier break after after Miami. So I think Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Miami's in a tier. And then Indiana, I agree, hasn't looked as great, but they're in there with Texas and Alabama. And then to Jackson: Yeah. Davis: get to your to get to your point, I'm I'm very concerned with Old Miss's defense. I know that the offense is is really good. Jackson: Fair. I mean after what we saw this weekend, that's it's fair. Davis: Yeah. And then I know that I I think I was giving them more credit for the Louisville win a couple of weeks ago and then Louisville kinda came out and and had a dud against Wake Forest. And we're at that point of the season where I know teams have off days and I'm struggling to toe the line of do I just throw that out or do I devalue Ole Miss's win against Louisville? Because that was a close game. That was a back and forth game. That was a game that could have gone either way. And so that Ole Miss is a team that I'm struggling with, no doubt. I I think I bumped them up too much after the LSU win. And then now I kind of bumped them down after the Florida loss. Maybe they're somewhere in the in the middle. I don't know. Oldmouth is a team that I am struggling with though, I will admit that. Jackson: Yeah, I mean I I get that. the defense looked terrible. I'm not kind of on the same boat I was on with Ole Miss before this weekend. I think how bad they looked against the run is Davis: Yeah. Jackson: concerning. Especially when you play in like a really good team with a really good offensive line. Like it it's hard to it's hard to win games, like we said, when you can't stop the run, so That's something that's gonna have to be fixed with them. They have a win against LSU, which that game had a lot more to it than just what was on the field. and then the Louisville game, like you said, is kinda devalued a little bit. So I can understand, I guess you leave them out at the top twelve. I still think with the dynamic duo of Trinidad Chambliss Key One Lacey, they are a force to be reckoned with. So if if they can't iron out that defense, I think they are one of the top twelve teams in the country. If they come out Davis: Yeah, and I think if you made me go to thirteen they'd probably be thirteen. I was really juggling like all these teams from eight to eight on. Jackson: Yeah, I agree. I I think there's a serious drop off after, you know. Eight for me, seven or eight. I think you have a a real top seven and then after that it's just a kind of a free for all. I think some of those eight, nine, Davis: Yeah. Jackson: ten, eleven teams are kind of interchangeable and then, you know, twelve through fifteen, sixteen can also be interchangeable. So it's still early. At this point last year it's kind of funny looking back, like John Mateer was a Heisman favorite. Davis: Yeah. John Mateer was a Heisman betting favorite this time last year. Jackson: Yeah, so there's still a lot we don't know, but it's always fun to do rankings, so it's it's what I got Davis: Yeah. Jackson: for right now, but still still a lot of ball to be played. Davis: Yeah, I think our biggest disagreement here is the Texas ranking. And that's also my biggest difference with the AP poll. They're the AP poll number one team as they should be. So I think that they should be the AP number one team. The AP poll isn't a power rankings. The AP poll is what you have done on the field. It is not intended to be predictive. It is intended to be, you know, look in the past, what have you done? Power rankings are supposed to be predictive. So going forward, this is what I this is what I think the best teams are now. So that if any of these teams played on a neutral site, most likely, like matchup agnostic, this is how I would think that the teams would fare. all that to say is If the expectation is that Texas is the number one team in the nation, then I'm fading that. I don't I I struggle getting on board with what the offense has looked like recently. Arch Manning has not impressed me. I was not on the Arch Manning train before the season. the defense has looked good, but I mean th they haven't been able to get explosive plays. They haven't been able to run the ball at the clip that they should. Arch Manning is I mean, I don't think that he's taken the step forward that everyone thought that he has and I think Jackson: Not yet. They've had a few tough games though to to to be fair. I mean they you Davis: Right. Jackson: play Texas, I mean sorry. Play Ohio State at home and then you have Tennessee on the road. That's that's two pretty tough defenses to go against, but I agree. I I think defense can only get you so far in the modern day of college football. I mean their defense is elite, but like there's so many explosive offensives that can just get out there and and outscore you i if you're just relying on defense to win the game. So you would think With Sark being an offensive guy, like in my mind, if I'm Steve Sarkeesian, that is exactly where I want to be. I want my defense to be thriving and I want my offense to be the downside of the team because that's what I have control over. That's my specialty. So I can I can make the adjustments and I can fi fix the offense. But if the defense is bad, I can't do anything about it. Kind of like what we're seeing with Lincoln Riley. Like the defense sucks and he there's nothing he can do about it because he does he's not a defensive Davis: Yeah. Jackson: guy. So Davis: So it's funny that you said that because that was going to be my exact, rationale for where I ranked LSU. The LSU's defense is carrying them, but I trust L Lane Kiffin on the offensive side to get to get that side of the ball rolling. And so for LSU at eight, I I kind of I kind of made that sound like it was the pro argument, and then I made the Texas case. the bull argument, but I really view Texas and L SU I think pretty similarly. It's just that one's the AP ranked number Jackson: Really? Davis: one team and the other one is AP what, tenth ranked team? Jackson: Yeah, something like that. I I personally think Texas's defense is loads better than L S U, but Davis: I mean I think I think Jackson: Yes. Davis: Texas is better than L S U, but I don't think that it there's leagues between them. Jackson: Maybe. I don't know. I I'm not really salt. I think like to be fair to Texas, I think if Texas played like a Mississippi State and handled them not handled them, but like beat by ten and scored a good chunk of points. Like I think we'd be thinking differently about them. But since they struggled against Davis: Yeah. Jackson: two really good defenses, I think we're more concerned about the offense than maybe we really need to be. Davis: Yeah. Jackson: I mean, I'm on the I'm on the concerned side. Don't get me wrong. Davis: Yeah. Jackson: I'm I'm concerned about the offense, but maybe that's a little bit of a a little bit of a overreaction. But Davis: Yeah, I c I could see that maybe I'm not adjusting for who they've played so far. Enough. Maybe I'm not adjusting enough. Jackson: And you Oklahoma next, so like or I guess in two weeks. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I I touched on it with the Ind Indiana thing. j I just don't think they've looked very good given the the opponents they faced. Miami, Notre Dame, not much from them. kinda just Davis: Yeah. Jackson: r riding with the preseason expectations. Haven't really faced a good team yet. and then the rest of my stuff's kinda self explanatory. I still have Oregon ranked at eleven. I think I I think the t the talent being there, I I just don't think they're done yet. and I don't think there's a team that I have ranked below them that's that's better than them. I do have Utah ranked at twelve. They are my new pick to win the big twelve at this point in the season. They've taken care of business. They've looked well. I like Utah a lot. Davis: Yeah, I had Utah ahead of Texas Tech. Texas Tech is one that I that I'm really struggling with too. I know that the offense has not looked as good as it should have should have. Will Hammond has struggled. They do have so much talent. I I I think that if I'm yeah, I I I am struggling to make the case for Texas Tech, but i I mean it's really between Ole Miss and Texas Tech here. Jackson: L a lot of football left to go. Th the the these conversations will get a lot easier. You know, they they've they've gotten easier from where we were before the season and they don't they will continue to get easier with more data points to to go off of. So that's all I got for this portion. Davis: Well the good Yeah. The the good thing about this is that we're gonna get Georgia, Alabama in two weeks. We're going to get Notre Dame, Miami in a couple weeks after that. We'll still have Florida, Georgia. We still have LSU, Alabama, and then Indiana plays Indiana plays Ohio State, right? I know Indiana plays Oregon. So a lot of these teams still match up and it'll make everything. Cleaner, but we did try to give a first go round of quarter season power rankings. Jackson: Yep. Alright. Well we decided to do the mic drop once a week, right? So so we're we're skipping that this time. Right? Alright. Alright, I guess Davis: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jackson: any anything else you got for this one or Davis: Nope, just be on the lookout Jackson: Yeah, for the right. Davis: for the week five preview and predictions