Latest / College Football Nobodies / Texas STUNS No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 | Oklahoma State Upsets Oregon | Week 2 Recap

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Texas STUNS No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 | Oklahoma State Upsets Oregon | Week 2 Recap · College Football Nobodies

• Erich: Welcome to college football, nobodies. Week two happened. Clearly the best week of the year thus far. We had upsets. We had teams fighting for their lives. Kevin and I were right and wrong about several things. I feel like I did a little bit better this week with my predictions. Kevin Gore at least felt 50%. I don't know if you feel the same, but it happened. We're excited to talk about it. We have a great show. We're gonna get into our main games. We'll jump around from conference to conference. We'll hand out our recap awards and our categories. And first, we're going to talk about the Cold War. The Cold War is, of course, the narrative as to which conference is best. We're going to use actual data to talk about it, Kevin. We're not gonna talk about college football like it's the pre NIL world or what it used to be or what it was twenty years ago because none of that matters. So the Cold War, Kevin, why don't you lead us in and tell us who is the best conference right now, or which, should I say, is the best conference right now? Kevin Ivers: Yeah, and I just wanna start before we get into that. This was that week it truly felt like, yep, we are immersed in the college football season. That two thirty window hit, even at eleven, it was just like there there's not enough not enough channels. there is enough channels, but Just not enough time to flip to everything that's going on. And that's the best feeling where you can't even keep up with all the great college football going on around the country. So week two was a blast. So many things happened. But to your Cold War point, yes. Popular debate. I do feel it's a tad early for it, but it is a thing where you can see. Maybe how the season is going to play out. So right now the SEC is in front. Of course, those people are super thrilled about that down there. They are 29 and 3 overall, but more importantly, they are 8-2 versus the other power 4. And then blemish free. the ACC is also blemish-free versus the non-power four, but Their record versus the power four is not as strong. So 29 and 3 overall, 20 and 0, non-power 4, 8-2 versus the power four. They have the lead right now over the Big Ten, who is struggling out of the gates, as we'll touch on in a minute. 3 and 6 versus the other power four. Of course, couple big results there. You know, Minnesota just getting flattened by Mississippi State at home. So you know. That had the SEC's attention about what they always talk about, right? The middle of the conference or the middle to the lower tier is simply better because it's deeper level of athlete, better fan bases, better resources. You know, Mississippi State's always gonna be sold out no matter who they play. Minnesota's not quite like that. You know, so all those types of programs when you're talking your Illinois or your Minnesotas or your Purdue's and you're debating Mississippi State or Arkansas or Kentucky, all those types of programs, that's really kinda where the debate's at because most people right now would say the top is pretty even, you know. And the Big Ten certainly had that advantage the last few years. So we shall see. Big 12, just to round out the stats, they're at 24 and 8, 4 and 6 versus the other power four. ACC 24 and 10 overall, 5 and 6 versus the other power 4. Really, the only stat that matters here that we're giving you is what you are versus the other power four. No one cares when you're beating. Some directional school or Mount St. Mary's Union state. The SEC is the only one with a winning record versus other power four, and it's not even close right now. So those are the data and the stats out of the gates. Time will tell how this goes, but could be back on top for the SEC this year. We shall see. What are your early thoughts? Erich: Coming out of week two, I think you have to say right now the SEC is the best conference. That's just what the play on the field is telling us. I think the top of the ACC in terms of who's your top team. You know, Miami might be better than Ohio State in the Big Ten. obviously, the Big Ten's top took a little bit of a hit this week, and we'll talk about that in Our game recaps and perhaps in some of our categories. But for me, I think there's two games that well, we'll say three games that stick out. So Michigan beats Oklahoma, Ohio State loses by one point to Texas. And then if we're and and again, this is if we're talking Big Ten versus SEC, and then Minnesota gets thrashed by Mississippi State. If you look at those results, that would tell you. And I think is a microcosm of where the conferences are right now. Now it is early in the season. But I do think I want to touch on this as we go. What does this look like? What does the top of each conference look like? What does the middle of each conference look like? And what does the bottom of each conference look like? I would say the bottom of the Big Ten Rutgers, they're as bad as the bottom of of any of these teams in this conference. And I I think the reality is what would Rutgers versus Arkansas look like? I think Arkansas wins that by two to three touchdowns. From what I've seen on the field, right? So there's a disparity at the bottom of the SEC right now, I think, compared to some of these other conferences. and I think you can argue too, right now, the Big Ten outside of maybe at the top, doesn't have a lot of separation between the Big 12 and the ACC. I mean, 20 and 8 overall in the Big Ten, 24 and 8 overall in the Big 12, and 24 and 10 overall in the ACC. That's not a big difference. And the Big Ten has the worst. in terms of percentage three and six record versus the other power four conferences. So we'll look at this every week, but right now I think there's a little bit of separation between the SEC and everyone else. However, it's week two. And as we had saw this week, week to week, things change quite a bit. And speaking of things changing week to week, why don't we get into our games? Let's just go right into the big one. A game that I felt Kevin felt like it was like a five hour game. This thing in the second half seemed to run on forever. I got a Texas fan texting me throughout in the beginning of the second half. what do you know, Sark blowing a big one again? But as I want to remind everyone, you don't break through as a coach in a team until you break through. So yes, everyone is bad in the big games and can't get the big one until they do. Texas this time, you and I predicted them to win. We predicted the home field advantage would matter. It mattered down the stretch. It's a game of four quarters. It's not a game of two quarters. Yeah, Ohio State won the first half. But Texas equally won plus a point the second half. Ohio State obviously misses the field goal late to essentially put away the game, which would have put away the game based off how much time was left. But they missed. And Texas comes out on top. Great performance. I think Arch Manning really went street ball a little bit towards the end, and that was a a huge problem for Ohio State to hold up in coverage. Because one thing I would say is Texas's offensive line did a pretty good job giving Arch Manning time. It was just the coverage that gave him problems in the first half. That and the mistakes, the drop passes, but that happens. Ohio State didn't have the mistakes in the first half. Texas did. Texas didn't have the mistakes in the second half and was able to capitalize. And as great of a game as Jeremiah Smith played for Ohio State, Texas comes ahead by one point. Incredible win for them. Your and my pick or picks to at least be in the SEC championship look strong. This was a non-conference game. I think both these teams were whichever team lost by one point. I don't think it affects one versus the other. I still think these are either one A or one B in both both of those conferences, and they both looked like it throughout. And I would I'm you know, looking at it as now I'd pick both to be in their conference championships at the end of the season. How about you? What'd say you, Kevin? Kevin Ivers: This was simply a shocking result, Eric. Not of course because of Texas won, but obviously because Ohio State blew a 23-3 lead. I don't like to use that term, you know, blowing a lead so much, because Texas, as I'll get into a second, deserves an incredible amount of credit for that. So maybe that's not what I should say. But you just do not see Ohio State lose 20-point leads in the fourth quarter. Could not tell you the last time that happened. I'm a pretty good historian usually that way. I definitely would have to look that up. I know it was the first time an AP number one team blew a fourth quarter 20-point lead since 2004. so obviously that is a long time ago. You're right, that second half seemed forever. Credit Texas for fighting, as they like to say, Texas fight. And Arch Manning, who say what you want about him, I agree this was a defining moment for him, as you alluded to. He never lost his cooler emotions in this game. When you look at him, he just kept playing the game. And in the second half, wow, the game was on the line. When they were down 23-3, I believe they were around like their own 40. It's fourth and nine. And Sark decides to go for it. You don't get that, it's it. There was a couple minutes left. Ohio State's probably gonna score there, and that's lights out. They get that, and it wasn't easy. Sark was scrambling around to his right, had to find his tight end over the middle, barely gets the first down. Complete that drive, and it's like, okay, we have life. 23-10. They did the same thing on the following drive. It was fourth and six from like their own 32. Great. Slant route. So two times Ohio State could have theoretically ended this. So Gotta give it to Sark, but more, gotta give it to the players for executing. You know, they went on drives of 15 plays, 91 yards, 13 for 72, 12 for 73 on the game-winning drive. And to your point, they made adjustments in the second half. As good as Jeremiah Smith was, they did a better job on him in the second half. Colin Simmons, of course, the elite edge rusher. He was able to get more pressure on Saiyan. And they just made it tougher for Ohio State on third down. There's a narrative out there that Ryan Day and Ohio State throttled down in the second half. But if you look at the numbers, Ohio State and Julian Sane attempted the same amount of passes in the second half as they did the first half. So I don't really agree with that narrative. I didn't see a ton of that, to be honest, in this game. It was just Texas started to play and look how they should. And the biggest thing for me, Eric, is the reason that I took Texas in this game is I wondered about that young, albeit super talented defense for Texas. Can they hold up? Can they hold up in week two when they have not been in the a war yet? They haven't had that defining moment in their career. Obviously, they have dudes on that defense. like that little John guy, just incredible how some of their players look. Or Petagon, excuse me, Petajon. But that mattered when Texas had that momentum. Those young players, they haven't been in a position to close a game out in the fourth quarter. And also the heat doesn't help it as well. They ended up being on the field a little bit too much in the second half. So I truly believe that was the difference. I thought that would show up a little earlier in the game, but hey, it showed up when it mattered in the fourth quarter. And the other thing I'll say is really surprised that Ryan Day did not let Texas score down on the goal line. Erich: Insane. Insane when what Kevin Ivers: With Erich: all you would have needed is a field goal to win. I I just I Kevin Ivers: Yes, that's Erich: don't understand that equation in your head. Okay, I could have let him score with a minute left. A minute to get into field goal range when you have Jeremiah Smith versus now 20 seconds to basically throw a couple Hail Ma Hail Marys to get in field goal range. It it made no sense to me. It it still surprises me. Because if you remember, Kevin, after you know, Day finally broke through and won the national championship with Sabin retiring, my quote to you was Is Ryan Day just gonna kind of run college football now? Because he finally broke through and he he seemed to really grow as a coach that year. But he still seems to make these mistakes where it's just like, you know, who wouldn't want that matchup? Like, what's more likely to let them basically run the clock out and get in when they're on the half yard line or w what's more likely them to stop that or me Kevin Ivers: Yeah. Erich: to get the ball with over a minute left and get into field goal range and kick three to get out of here. I don't think anyone with Ohio State's roster and wide receivers and running backs would not have taken that option to try to get three. And you would Jeremiah Smith, who knows? He might just get behind the D and score. You know, because when you when you're pr in that situation Texas couldn't just sit back and keep everything in front of them. Because you can just pick up chunk plays over the middle of the field, you know, ten yards at a time. It's gonna take you three to four plays maximum to get in field goal range. So the whole field would have been wide open. So yeah, I think this one for me, if I'm an Ohio State fan, I'm disappointed that Ryan Day still seems to be making these situational coaching errors. almost oblivious to situation. Like I understand that yeah, maybe we can get him for a penalty, this, that, whatever, but your pass rush wasn't getting home. Your defense is exhausted. Ex acting like they're gonna make a play here to make a stop when they're on the half yard line with over a minute left. That made no sense to me. Kevin Ivers: I have nothing to add to that because that's that's where I was at. Especially like your Ryan Day, like he's cocky, like he knows how good of a play caller he is in those situations. Like that they were scoring. They were going to get a field goal if if they had like 50 some seconds to go. I firmly believe that. The funny thing too about this game is all that said, if Ohio State just makes that field goal to go up twenty six seventeen, it's Erich: Yeah, it's it's literally over. Kevin Ivers: literally over. Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: And it's all the talk on can Sark get Texas over the hump? Can Archie Manning get over the hump? When Archie Manning ran around the field at the end of the game, his face looked like the weight of the world fell off him. He had to be happy for a kid that you know he takes a lot of heat. That is really hard to be the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning. That's nothing profound. That's nothing profound, I'm saying, but it's probably not mentioned enough what he has to go through. And for him to have that breakthrough, I really think Texas needed that. Yes, they're the Texas Longhorns, but they're trying to become an Ohio State or a Georgia. And you have to win those games to be to be one of those teams. Erich: You have to beat one of those teams. And they haven't. Kevin Ivers: And they haven't. And so they did that and you could see that. And not only were they gonna lose this game, I mean imagine what was an arch's head down 23 to 3. This would have been a debacle with that roster, the money spent of epic proportions, where maybe you don't recover from it. And that's what's so fun about college football is that in that moment, who knows, Texas may look back on this and be like, that's what spurred us on to the national championship. And they were this close to being like the laughing stock of college football today. That's what's just beautiful about this sport. But yeah, kudos to the Longhorns. What a gutty effort. gutting for Ohio State, no doubt. But they'll get off the map. They're Matt. They're too well coached by Ryan Day. And obviously, I mean, look at look at the debacle, the 13-10 Michigan game a couple years ago, and they go on to win the national championship. So Erich: Yeah, exactly. I I believe that, especially a one point outcome, whichever way it would have went, I think either of these teams is still probably the best in their conference. But let's keep the focus on pre season favorites. What a tremendous treat this early in the season to see I I mean, I I don't think I've pumped my fist and Been this excited for an upstate an excuse me, an upset that I have for a long time. A program you and I love, colors that we love. Oklahoma State gets it has to be in terms of a home and home, one of the biggest revent revenge tour point differential turnarounds from one season to the next, especially having lost a Tulsa the week before, and not only beating Oregon State, but looking like the better team. From kickoff Kevin Ivers: Oregon. Erich: to the final whistle. And this was tremendous. Drew Mestermaker looked everything like we thought he might look like last week. This week. Their receivers looked great. Their defense made stops when it needed to. Dan Lenning looked like he got outcoached at times. Oregon looked like they didn't want to be there. But Kevin, I just want to tee this up for you and then I'm gonna you talk about this game because I know Oklahoma State was a darling of yours going into the season. The bottom line is if there's not two tipped pass interceptions that goes in favor of Oregon, this one might have been a blowout. And that's how lopsided it actually felt throughout. It was just those two tipped pass interceptions that really it was really the only thing that made it close. What are your thoughts? Kevin Ivers: No, that's and Dan Ladding to his credit admitted that in the press conference. That this was an ass kicking as he said. Thirty-one points You know, they make that that Oregon scored makes their performance look much better than it was. Devon Jackson had the 96 yard pick six. And then yeah, U Youngalay set him up at like the one yard line. So 14 points. We're looking at 3917, perhaps, Oklahoma State in this game. Cannot believe with the talent on Oregon's defense, U Yungale. Brandon Finney Jr. The list goes on and on. And the Pokes roll for 554 yards. Their offense looked shockingly pedestrian as well. The Ducks. They only had 281 yards. They could not rush the ball. Dear Hell had a rough day, of course. He had the fumble late. That sealed the deal for the upset. But We saw this versus Boise State and we gave him a pass because of the program Boise State is. There's clearly problems going on in Eugene. You know, is there internal stuff or is it just how how could this roster be overrated? I I don't know. So many players came back. It's this was unbelievable. Like you said last year, this was 69 to 3. Out in Odson. And then Oakie State turns around and wins it. If you were ever looking for the power of what the portal can do, a coaching change, this is the example that you look back to. What of an amazing job by Eric Morris. Really cool interview after the game. He was emotional. he he knows what this game was last year. They get off on the wrong foot last week and get just embarrassed by Tulsa at home, losing by two touchdowns. My darling pick, as you mentioned, just looks absolutely dumb. And now, a little bit of indication for the Cowboys and my pick to show up in the Big 12 Championship. So I feel really good about this, of course. MestiMaker looked exactly like we thought he should. They got the running game going with Caleb Hawkins. And yeah, they protected really well. They protected really well in this game versus Oregon's front. So, and then kudos to them, too. You know, Oregon looked like, all right, they're gonna escape. Evan Stewart scores that touchdown. It's 31-30 ducks, fourth quarter. And Oklahoma State responded again. What a fun game. Shame on ESPN too. We're in the middle of college football season. I know that the US Open's important to a lot of people, but get out of here. That that's you know, to throw this game on ESPN News. I'm sorry, but US Open should be on ESPN News. And then when this game does put on ESPN, Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: that that was a joke. Erich: That was I mean to change it for and again not to make light of of women's tennis, but to change this game and how it was going over to ESPN News is a shame. And the Big 12 needs to mark that down when they're turn when it comes time to renegotiate their TV contracts because that's ridiculous. You know, Big Ten two should be involved with that. You have a marquee team from the Big Ten, you know, a game that's going on the wire. I mean, that was insane. to do, especially considering how long I mean, they cut to the point where the the women's match hadn't even started yet. They were cut to it just to do the pre match stuff. Insanity. Kevin Ivers: It was the last thing I'll say about this game, and and I don't know if it's gonna be a trend moving forward, but you just wonder about this new era and predictions in general. When we're reading magazines, you're we're listening to stuff in the off season, we're consuming all the information we can. And I know personally for myself, I might be a little bit more on the wait and see mode on these like super rosters, if you will, like Oregon. Because it all comes back to that locker room. What's that like? You're making this money, who's making this? Is he making more than me? we brought these stars in from this school. Do they gel? Do they fit? And I wonder if we just see more and more. early on in college football seasons of name your program that spends a ton of money and not saying Oregon's gonna collapse the rest of the year, but I have a feeling they might be heading towards a couple losses with the way they a couple more losses in the regular season with the way they looked. And I think it's gonna be harder and harder to predict these top teams based on the NIL and the transfer portal because on paper How is Oregon playing like this? It just continues to be a mystery. I just wonder if something else is going on there to just get shredded like this. Erich: Well let me leave you with this narrative that I'm starting to see before we go to our next game. What does Dan Lanning's Oregon look like the further removed from Mario Cristobal's players and with losing coordinators who could have been very, very important to his success and having to go through that? You know, we've seen in the past guys like Nick Saban go through coordinators like it didn't matter. That's really hard to do. And it's an important aspect of head coaching that I think gets it really gets overlooked is your staff matters. Especially at the defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator positions. Those are essentially head coaches of their units. Dan Lenning's gone through some change now, and now he's really kind of to the point where this is his team and his now second coordinators and who knows what position coaches. And unfortunately, when you are a great program and coach, that happens. You have turnover there, but maintaining excellence through those changes is is part of the deal. So we will see. Obviously, Oregon has plenty of time to to rebound and go through this. Another one we got wrong, Kevin. Big noon game! We thought Oklahoma was just gonna walk in to the big house and who didn't after last week the way Michigan looked against Western Michigan. Arguably not winning that game, but it is what it is. They get the opportunity to take on a sneaky, trendy playoff pick for many in Oklahoma. Brett Venables comes in and Just defensively gets dominated. It was a defensive game, and Michigan was better defensively a little bit than Oklahoma was. John Matir looked pedestrian for most of that game. High throws, missing targets. you know, Michigan comes in at home as a five and a half point dog and and ends up being the team that gets two touchdowns and wins 17 to 10. We were wrong about this one, Kevin. I'm happy to be wrong, but I will say my Sleeper playoff pick with Michigan appears to potentially be still still live. What do you say? Kevin Ivers: Yep, you have that going for you, Eric. Yeah, early on in this show, this is a lot of Crow just p Erich: Ha ha. Kevin Ivers: pil piling it on for us here. I mean, going back to the Oregon-Oklahoma State game, we didn't even have that game on our preview last week. Not because we didn't want to. It was a really cool game, but there were so many games to discuss, and we couldn't have a team on there that had lost to Tulsa on there. And then Michigan, Oklahoma, you know. We buried them and left for them for dead. I I had an article written on Bryce Underwood being benched at halftime if this doesn't get turned around anyway. Erich: And that still might be a right take. I I Bryce Underwood didn't play great. He just had some scrambles. So you might not be wrong about that. Kevin Ivers: No, but I'll give him his flowers this week. Yeah. The the passing, of course, nine of seventeen, 111 yards. That's kind of the same story. Those numbers will have to improve as the season goes on. But he didn't throw picks. He was able to rush for 87 yards. He had the huge scramble to get him on the board early. and he didn't cause them to lose them the game. And for right now, for him, that's a step. So I piled on him last week. I'm gonna keep it positive with Bryce Underwood. I apologize to you Michigan fans out there. this is a hundred percent on me. I ignored the fact of all the swirling stuff this week and clock gate and and then they just got shredded for that all week. And Bryce Underwood was getting shredded and you know, we talked about his poor press conference that he had last week and and all these things. Credit to Kyle Whittingham for getting this team ready to play, showing up with number Oklahoma in town. No one was picking them to win this game, rightfully so. They came out, they won a dogfight. You knew it was gonna be a defensive game. This was right up Kyle Whittingham's alley. right up Jason Beck's alley and the coordinators that he brought from Utah, Jay Hill coming over from BYU. So this is a game that they're used to being in. It was impressive the pressure that they got on John Mathir, as you mentioned. Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: John Henry Daly, all-American from Utah. That guy's an animal. He didn't forget how to play football and he brought it this week. Looks strong coming off that ACL injury that finished his season last year. Dom Nichols looked like a problem off the edge. So we knew this Michigan defense was probably still real after last week. They showed up in a big way, and it was just surprising how Oklahoma had no answers for that pass rush. But it goes back to our biggest question about the Sooners coming into this year is that they just seem to not be able to run the football. They have to get production out of those running backs, and that puts too much pressure on Matir. He can look special, but he is not a quarterback that can put everything on his shoulders and and carry this team. He needs that ground game with him. And that's got to be disappointing for Sooners fans, because they got Georgia in a couple weeks, and they could be staring at two and two right in the face. And I thought they were a pretty good bet to make the playoffs. So Those are my initial thoughts. Erich: Quick little tip tidbit on Dom Nichols. He was actually a silent commit to Wisconsin before coming off a visit. And you know, the old who visits last, who gets the official visit last bit, goes to Michigan, is like, yeah, I'm gonna go here, which I'm not gonna blame the guy for making that choice. He looks great. I think he's only a redshirt sophomore at this point, or red shirt freshman. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, he's young. Erich: He's like he's class of 2024, I believe. He looks great. he's probably just gonna get better every year. So really, really impressed with Michigan's defense. We had said that we believed their defense would hold up against Oklahoma and would be why they were in this game, but ultimately they were the reason why they won the game. Michigan rushes for over 150 yards to I think Oklahoma barely had a hundred. I thought John Matir would be more of an impact rushing with the running attack. He he just really could not handle Michig Michigan's defensive line. And Michigan having a great defensive line is no surprise. That's pretty much a year in and year out thing with them. But they look great. And the Big Ten is wide open. I think we'll talk about that more when we do our conference whip around. But let's go into another SEC Big Ten clash. One that you and I thought the team that would win would and did, and that was Mississippi State. But they dominated Minnesota. I mean, this is if this is supposed to be a representation of the middle to bottom of each team's conference. And I don't know that I'm willing to say that Mississippi State is anything but middle of the conference or better at this point with the talent that they have on both sides of the ball. But this one wasn't even close. 38 to 13 isn't really even a good representation as to how lopsided it looked. this looked like The dark days in Minnesota, PJ Fleck afterwards did his usual, like trying to celebrate him for taking on this monster opponent that other teams aren't doing in the makeup of college football right now. It's like, dude, that is not what you took on here. This should have been an even game in terms of like where you are. You know, you're year what, seven or eight at Minnesota. Jeff Levy's in year three. And you got absolutely trounced. I mean, this just this was a this looked like Wisconsin at Alabama last year. That's how different it looked in terms of talent on the field. Mario Taylor looked great. Fluff Bothwell, you know, just looked like they couldn't even keep up with them. And this just looked like teams that are in two different trajectories right now. really hope that Minneapolis, you know, gets it together and starts investing more into the Gopher program because Right now, this just looks like you and I thought they would take a step back this year, and that looks like the way it's trending. Now, obviously, PJ Fleck has shown the ability to rebound from losses in the past, and certainly it's early. But boy, the home team looked like the away team here, as far as I was concerned. And if I'm a Mississippi State fan, I am absolutely just juiced right now because Camario Taylor is. Clearly a special talent. His legs, his arm, the way he sees his the field, the weapons they have at running back and at wide receiver. Boy, does the trajectory arrow look like it's pointing upwards for Mississippi State. What do you think, Kevin? Kevin Ivers: Yeah, could not agree more, Eric. The hype train for Camario Taylor is off and running. We talked about him last week. You know, seeing him last year was like, okay, wow, this this kid could be special. He's only improved and carried that into a sophomore year. Like you said, this was never a game. I mean, this was going on the road against a Big Ten team that's been winning eight or so games year after year under PJ Flack. And the Bulldogs went in there and averaged seven yards a play. Four touch first four possessions, four touchdowns. The game was over. You mentioned Fluff Bothwell. Anthony Evans, we touched on last week, is a really good SEC wide receiver. He went for over a hundred yards. Minnesota was overwhelmed by Mississippi State's tempo in this game, too. The Gophers were only four of thirteen on third downs. They could not stay on the field. And then the big thing in this game 12 penalties for 115 yards for Minnesota. Fleck cannot be happy about that. It looked like a disaster. That's a concerning at home performance. Vers yes, Mississippi State's getting a lot of hype. We love Camario Taylor. But at best. you know, is gonna be a middle of the pack SEC team. They made them look like Georgia rolled in there. And so yeah, I just looking at their roster this year, Minnesota is just one of those teams where, like I said last week on the preview show, th those margins are so close for a program and they credit to them, have been winning those close games, you know, like the US C game last year and bounces have been going their way. I don't think it's gonna be one of those years. And also, I just can't get into the Drake Lindsay hype. I know there are a lot Erich: Agreed. Kevin Ivers: of people out there and there's late first round potential. I've just never been one of those guys because if he was, this is a game where, hey, you need him to show up and be a gunslinger and match another really good quarterback and It just doesn't seem Minnesota's capable of playing that way. They have to play the muck it up game three yards and a cot of dust. And this is where you need L Lindsay to step forward. And he did not. So concerning times in the Twin Cities. And the flip side of it, Starkville is excited. I'm a big Jeff Rebey fan, and it was fun to see them have a breakout performance. So we'll see how they build on it. Erich: Yeah, I'll I'll just close with Minnesota had like thirteen yards rushing. Kevin Ivers: Yeah. Erich: They were, I think, either the worst or second worst rushing team in the Big Ten last year. And it looked to be like that back to back years, it's just you're really going to struggle to win games against anyone decent if you can't run the ball. And even the bigger, you know, the more powerful teams, the blue bloods that struggle to run, that's when they get in trouble on the road, is when they just have to go in those tough environments and run the ball. So we'll see if flat can work some magic. and turn things around. But let's go into a game that I kind of made a bold prediction on. I'm not gonna pat myself on the back too much, but I said Utah was gonna absolutely trounce Arkansas. And they did. And this one, boy, it wasn't even close. And folks, if you haven't turned into Kevin Ivers: Who Erich: some Utah football with these two QBs they put on at the same and the field at the same time, the way they use them to a point where it like makes them more dangerous. They're such a fun team to watch offensively. Devin Tampier is one of the most electric quarterbacks in the country. He's like a running back that's he could play running back for probably any power four team in the country if he wanted to. He moves just like this really fast, you know, side to side gazelle running back, but then he can throw the ball well as w two I mean, they're just so much fun to watch. Their defensive line is deadly. I mean, they got these defensive tackles just doing spin moves, looking like a running back carrying the ball and just running right at the quarterback up the middle. This one could have been 60 to zero if Utah really wanted to wanted to. I mean, it was just fun to watch. And and I'll say too, like, I guess kudos for to Arkansas for taking this game. 8 30 mountain time start. I mean this game ended close to midnight where, you know, Central Time and Ark where where Arc where they're from in Arkansas, so not even close. I didn't think it was gonna be based off the way Arkansas looked against FCS opponent the week before. Utah looks to be, you know, and we'll talk about the big twelve here more a little bit, but you know, based off the way especially Texas Tech looked again this week now and back to back weeks, really kind of struggling to get it done. Utah just looks like to they're the class of the conference right now. They're right there with BYU and it's gonna be fun to see them go as we get into the meat of the the Big Twelve schedule. What did you see, Kevin? Kevin Ivers: Well, Eric, you said you don't want to pat yourself on your back, but it doesn't s doesn't mean that I can't. So I'll give you your kudos and your pats on the back. I I had Utah winning as well, but not in this fashion. I gave you know, I I said thirty six sixteen, thought the hogs would play a little bit better and show up thou out there in in Salt Lake. but I bought way too much into the I thought the hog helmet was good for like ten points. That was Erich: It's a great helmet. Kevin Ivers: Great helmet, not the case. It's gonna be, I think, a long year for Ryan Silverfield in Fayetteville, but this one is all about Utah. And it's fun to see a new coach like Morgan Scaly. Yes, obviously he was there for two decades. He waited his turn. And Kyle William, of course, is at Michigan now. Fun to see him put his own stamps on this because Utah, my friends, might have an explosive and like legitimate offense. And not just Erich: Yes. Kevin Ivers: grinding things out and playing physical defense, ball control, and all those types of things. I really liked the Bird Ficklin package, the backup quarterback. So Erich: It's so fun. It's so much fun to watch. Kevin Ivers: that is a lot of fun. They had some neat plays without that. That's going to cause a lot of confusion for defenses, just like it did with Arkansas. But yeah, this team averaged over seven yards of play. That Noah Benny kid went for over a hundred yards. Weyshawn Parker's one of my favorite backs in the country. I don't think he gets enough love. He did his thing as usual going for over 100 yards. So this looks like a scary offense out there in Salt Lake. Your pick of Utah winning the Big 12 looks fantastic. So What a statement. This is still versus SEC athletes. Erich: Correct. Kevin Ivers: And Utah came to play. You're spot on. It was not even as close as the 43-10 score would indicate. So kudos to Morgan Scally and the Utes Faithful has to be really excited about what they have in him going forward. So that one will make tremors across the Big Twelve with how they played. Erich: Yeah, we'll put a pin in that because we'll talk about the Big 12 here in a second. Let's get into Kevin Ivers: Hmm Erich: our trip around the conferences. Conferences here, Kevin. And why don't we start with the SEC? I'll start rattling off some scores, and you just stop me when you want to talk about someone. And I'm gonna just stop myself right away. Alabama 45, Kentucky 17. This is another one where it was closer for. long it that score looks worse than it was for most of the game. But Kevin Ivers: Mm-hmm. Erich: when you're the f underdog, not just on s from score, but also on paper in terms of just roster talent, and you make these mistakes, you do the other team's just gonna eventually run away with it. And that that was this wasn't the only game where that happened. but any other thoughts there? Should I keep going? Kevin Ivers: No, I wanted to talk about that because, Erich: Okay. Kevin Ivers: you know, you had Herb Street on game day calling Kentucky to win outright. We had Kentucky covering, concerns about Alabama and the Debore era, excitement of Will Stein, Minchie at quarterback coming over from N D. They have some pieces and it looked like that early. The crowd was fired up there, they lead 17-13, and then Bama goes just a little 32-0 second half. So kudos to them. The tide completely flipped the game. They ran all over him in the second half for I believe 150-some yards. Keelan Russell still has some freshman mistakes to clean up. You know, he had the two first half interceptions, although I will say that one play, that that was just a phenomenal play by Kentucky's Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: defensive end. But he settled down. First SEC road game, he took control. So the encouraging part is that they didn't unravel when when things went awry. So and then the other thing I'll say is fans sometimes forget, you know, Kenny Minchie comes from ND. Anytime you get a transfer quarterback from a blue blood school and you're a lesser school, you're excited. But I hate to be the bearer of bad news. There is a reason that those kids transfer from Blue Bloods is because they weren't good enough to win that starting job at that school. And that might be what you have with with Minchy there at Kentucky. I know it's early to say, but he looked a little outmatched at times in that game. But that'll get the Alabama crazies off of Debore's back for at least one week in SEC country. Erich: Agreed. Kevin Ivers: The next games or I'll let you roll down the list. Erich: Yeah. So we had Auburn forty three, Southern Miss eight. You know surprises there. Florida fifty two, Campbell three. You know, Florida's continuing to score points, although they really haven't played anyone yet. Georgia 70, Western Kentucky 20, you know, maybe in a Brian Brahm, Western Kentucky year. That could have been a a little closer back in the day, but not much of a matchup there. One that was close, kind of competitive early, LSU versus Louisiana Tech. That one was interesting in the first half, but again, I think LC got over the hangover of celebrating the Clemson win and and ran away with it there. We already talked Kevin Ivers: Can I pause? Erich: about Mississippi State Okay, go ahead. Kevin Ivers: Yep. Wanted to talk about LSU La Tech really quick. LSU definitely gets a pass here. The sandwich game of all sandwich games, with everything that was Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: the circus leading up to Clemson. And then that pales in compares to what the circus will be this week as LSU, Erich: Correct. Kevin Ivers: the lane kiffin home coming to Oxford and and all that. So they get a pass for looking like that. Sam Levitt threw three picks. That's not great, but he owned it. He got better as the game went on, threw for 344. they had 10 penalties. You they just those kids weren't into that game. You know, that's why, like you said, it was ten seven and a half. but they left no doubt in the second half. And these are 18 to 23 year old kids, you know, sometimes a 24-year-old. And and that stuff happens in college football, so ultimate letdown spot, not really concerned, 'cause the yardage disparity was still wide. Erich: Yeah, agreed. And then you had Mississippi State, Minnesota. We already talked about Missouri 38, Kansas 21. Great win from Missouri. again, I think Kansas what's really interesting is Lance Leipold is such a fundamentals guy, clean football, and Kansas just seems to shoot their own foot all the time. And Missouri took advantage of those mistakes and they just started running away with it and their running backs look great and they're gonna only improve once Ahmad Hardy gets back. So I had this one wrong. I'll talk more about that in a moment. some Missouri fans let me know on one of our short videos that hey, this didn't age well. Your prediction that Kansas is gonna win. but border war, Missouri sweeps the last two years. I hope we can make this an every year thing at some point. anything you wanna say about that one? Kevin Ivers: No, we've covered that pretty extensively. Mizzou did win by more than I thought as well. I wanna touch on Tennessee Ja Tech. Good win for the Vols. I'm not super high on them this year, but they went into Atlanta and smoked the Yellow Jackets by twenty-one. Although I will say the Yellow Jackets look like a mess. They they're just not the same team this year. It's understandable. It's hard to win there. Brent Key, I think, is a good coach. Hard to duplicate that success, losing your OC and Haynes King. And then that defense looks rough. I mean, Tennessee Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: rumbled for over 300 yards, so kudos to them. They look legitimately dangerous on the ground. Deshaun Bishop went for 147, a couple touchdowns. Dwayne Morris added nearly 100 yards. And that's going to be important for. Them going forward. They're certainly going to play face better defensive tests in the Southeastern Conference. But if they can have a solid running game. You're not gonna run for that every week, but if it can be solid, that takes pressure off a Faison Brandon, the young QB, who his numbers weren't spectacular, but he looked composed in his first row game versus a power five or excuse me, a power four team. So kudos to the Vols winning easily in Atlanta. Erich: Yeah, kudos there. Alberto Mendoza does not appear to be the answer for Georgia Tech. last names don't always matter. I'll leave that at that. South Carolina, you know, 49 over to 45, 9 over thousand. Texas, I said we talked about already. Texas AM, Arizona State. this is your upset of the week. I think Dillingham said it best. He had a great quote in his postgame interview where he said, I think we have a really good team and I think we can beat everyone in the country. But When we turn the ball over four times, I also think we can lose to every team in the country. And I I think that's the challenge of a tough road game is you have to not make mistakes when you're playing a team that has a really good roster, top 10, top 15. If you turn the ball over four times, yeah, it doesn't matter how talented you are, you're probably gonna lose. And I love that he owned that. But yeah, I came away though, impressed with the potential that Arizona State has. Because yeah, if those turnovers were limited, it's a different game. So that one I think it looks the score's a little inflated as a result, but turnovers are part of the game. Texas A and capitalized on them and they look alive and well. Kevin Ivers: Imagine Mia saying what I'm about to say, but I'm still not high on Texas AM, even though they won forty-eight twenty over ASU. So Age fans are gonna hate me this year. I have them seven and five. I am sticking to that. They got out gained three hundred and sixty-nine, two fifty-five. Imagine scoring forty-eight points on two hundred and fifty-five yards, to your point. The Aegis had two pick sixes off of ASU quarterback Cutter Bowley in the fourth quarter. And that just that's the game. The Sun Devils played right with them in Kyle Field. It was 24-20 AM, and then the pick six party started, and you're not gonna recover from that on the road versus anyone. So the Sun Devils getting fourteen and a half points was alive and well. On college football nobodies, I can't predict two pick sixes in the fourth quarter. So if I had a crystal ball, maybe, but you know, kudos to them. They won, but I think that is one of the bigger fools gold scores of the week. Erich: All right. Well, we'll make sure we put that in a on a short and tag as many Texas AM accounts that we can so we can see if they have anything to say to you about that. Michigan Kevin Ivers: They will. Erich: or Oklahoma, we talked about that. Utah, Arkansas, we talked about that. Vanderbilt 35, Delaware 26. Vanderbilt does not look anywhere close to where they were last year at this point. I guess they got the win, but that's the SEC Big Ten. Kevin, you want to take us through and then I'll I'll stop you when I want to talk about a game? Kevin Ivers: Perfect. Indiana Howard. No. Uh-huh. the Cyhawk trophy. I'm sure you have some words. Iowa 16. Iowa State 13. Erich: Look, Iowa State. Wow. I did not expect you to make this seem like Matt Campbell never left. Great job. I love that that rivalry is I guess that's the most Kirk Ferriss thing ever. The team that has a new coach and 86 new players. You you made sure it was a close game. But wow, great work. IS I I know if I'm Iowa State, you want the win, obviously, but like I'm like, okay. Like if we can still play in this game, there's no reason why we can't win some games in the Big Twelve and perhaps people shouldn't have just picked them to finish last. But we'll see what it looks like next week for them. Kevin Ivers: Kudos to Jimmy Rogers. Yeah, I had the boys playing hard. I had 26-13 here, so I was somewhat in the neighborhood of a weird Iowa-Iowa State score. Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: But my my first mistake was having the game in the 20s. Iowa looked Erich: Yeah. Big mistake. Kevin Ivers: big mistake. Diaz did put up numbers at the receiver spot, but it didn't turn into a lot of points. Iowa threw the ball 30 times. Erich: They couldn't run. They could not run the ball. Kevin Ivers: in this game. They couldn't r could not run with Kamari Moulton. I know they were not getting pushed, so like you said, Cyclone fans can be happy about that. It's just Iowa State had like eight yards, I think I remember hearing in that game in the fourth quarter. So just couldn't make enough plays and of course Iowa wins on a field goal. let's see here. Next games. Maryland, Yukon, no. We touched on Michigan, Oklahoma. Mish State Eastern Michigan, Nebraska, Trounst Bowling Green, Penn State 27, Temple Nine Erich: I'm gonna just stop here and for your sake and for all Penn State fans, chill out. It was a road game. It's a new coach. And you get this three-game ramp to get it right. that's all I'm say. You're allowed to have a misstep. If Michigan is allowed to technically lose to Western Michigan and then go on to beat Oklahoma, Penn State can win 27. to nine against Temple on the road in Philly. Kevin Ivers: Well thank you. Yeah. The biggest concern, of course, that you're alluding to is the running game. The running game does need to get going for the Kitty Lions. Not sure where Quentin Martin was in this game. Carson Hansen just I like him. He just looks different. He's falling forward too much and and getting tripped up. I know that's part of his style, but he hasn't looked great. James Peoples has a lot of juice. I would expect he gets more carries next week versus Buffalo. Everything else looks great for the Nittany Lions. I do have faith in Matt Campbell and Ryan Clanton, the offensive line coach, of of getting that figured out. That's one thing you usually don't question with the Matt Campbell team. But it is a bit of a concern, no doubt, as we get closer and closer to Big Ten plays. So we'll be monitoring that for Penn State. UCLA San Diego State. I imagine you have some comments there. Erich: Dog fight. I think UCLA looked more like UCLA in the in the second half than what I was expecting. They did end up running the ball well, ran for over 200 yards again. I I'm still high in UCLA and nothing about this game changes. I think San Diego State's pretty good. they just they're well coached. they came in with a good game plan and yeah, so I'm not concerned at all about this one. More concerned about the other one. In California, unless you have something to say about UCLA. Kevin Ivers: I don't, yeah. USC giving up thirty points to the Raging Cajuns, what do you got? Erich: What version of USC are we getting? Now I will say they've been on this three game stretch because they did play in week zero. However, these have all been at home. All been all against lesser opponents. And the one thing I'll say is this is, you know, we'll go through this, but the Big Ten to me is this might be as wide open as it's been so far after after two weeks. I don't see anyone who's dominated the competition, even the ones that have only played lesser opponents in the way that you'd want. So this could fall into that. I still think there's a lot offensively to really like. obviously Louisiana, the Raging Cajuns, they're no slouch, they've had, you know, real really good teams over the years. but they're you know they're traveling a long way to come play at night. so I was I was a little disappointed after what we thought we s were seeing last week into this week. Just you know, the LA distractions, d how much do we really care on the defensive side of the ball to close out those games. But that being said, with how open the Big Ten is, in some ways I'm even higher on USC because I just you know, their schedule, we thought after those first six games with Washington and Oregon looming. Well, right now those look like really doable games for them potentially. You know, especially Washington, which you'll get to here in a second. Kevin Ivers: Perfect segue into the Huskies. There's legitimate concerns with their offense right now. I don't know what's going up there, going on in Seattle. Jedfish has to figure this out quick. 16 points versus a Utah State team that just lost to FCS Idaho State that last week. Convincing that's not good. Obviously, I know they were without their top two running backs. That should not matter. Erich: Should not matter. Kevin Ivers: offensive line has struggled to create movement in the first two weeks. They looked like that last week in the Apple Cup. Damon Williams isn't looking like the preseason version people are expecting. And it might just be what you said. Like a quarterback that's gonna put up numbers, but is he a winning quarterback? I I don't know. It's to be determined. So they had a Erich: And an offensive line that wasn't good last year that doesn't look like they're good this year. Like Kevin Ivers: No, you should not be surviving a Hail Mary at home versus Utah State. Their fans have to be really disappointed. You know, so we'll see what is in store for the Huskies, but it's not looking good out there on Mont Lake. Next. Wisconsin Western Illinois. Would you like to discuss that? Erich: yuck. Vomit. Keep going. Kevin Ivers: Discuss Texas, Oklahoma State. Mr. BC. Boston College Rutgers. BC wins 28-21. Erich: Look, I had no doubt after what we saw last week that they were gonna lose again. I think right now Greg Shannon's probably the first co coach, at least in the power four, that's fired. Yeah, it it's possible UMass and Boston College are better or a little better than what people had anticipated. But the reality is Shannon's recruited decently well. They've brought guys in in the portal. You know, they have one of the better wide receivers in the country on their team who's putting up monster numbers despite these losses. There's just no excuse for this. And if I'm a Rutgers fan, you know, look the quote unquote birthplace of college football, boy am I disappointed. they're clearly the worst team in the Big Ten right now. I mean, I put them behind Purdue, I'd put them behind everyone. And, you know, they're maybe one of the only teams I think that I mean, who are they gonna beat in the Big Ten right now? I I think they lose to everyone. And the question is going to be, unless they figure this out and turn it around, for me, it's just they look terrible on defense. Regardless if they figure out the offense, they look horrible on defense. We saw it against UMass last week where they can't put pressure. On the QB. They can't stop the run. Like they look awful from front seven Kevin Ivers: And that Erich: to back four on defense. It is it is horrible. And Shina, who is supposed to be a defensive coach, and that's where it's just like, what are we doing? So I don't see it getting better for them. I I you know, if we're betting on who's gonna be the first coach that's fired, for me it's Greg Shina. Kevin Ivers: You made the point that I was gonna jump in with there when you're known for something, like you said with Shiano and defense, and that starts to crumble, that's when you know it's over. So I think he's I just think he's lost belief and everything in that locker room. Credit to my guy, Bill O'Brien, love him. The bandana game's a cool thing they do for nine eleven. Kudos to the Eagles. Duke Illinois, I do wanna talk about that game. Manny Diaz is doing a nice job down there in Durham. That's an impressive power four road win. I know Illinois were not super high on them this year, but Duke found a way to win. Yep. Erich: I'm definitely not and haven't been for years, but continue. Kevin Ivers: It was a sold-out champagne. There was excitement, of course, because of the success they've had there lately. They came back down from seventeen seven down, which is impressive to do. Nate Shepherd was the story of the game. A hundred and forty seven rushing yards. He caught it out of the backfield well, had three touchdowns. Illinois let this one slip away though. Caton Hauser and Colin Dixon were terrific early in this game, but they had opportunities they just could not finish in this game. And speaking of finishing, they did not finish a lot of tackles either. The aline looked rough. They had mistakes. B. Lima talked about the tackling afterward. Duke took advantage. For a team with Big Ten expectations as the alignment I have. I think there was long stretches of some significant red flags that the folks in Champaign and Urbana, don't forget. I think I think they know maybe this is gonna be a bit of a regression year. So that's a perfect segue for I know where you wanna go. Erich: Look, they've been a scheduled darling for the last two or three years. And eventually that's gonna run out. They won this game at Duke last year because Darren Mensov turned the ball over five times. Had that not happened, they would have lost that game as well. And Bielama's stabilized Illinois. but the reality is is his best team with Illinois was when he was coaching an Illinois team with players he did not recruit. so similar to other guys, eventually you have to sustain success with your guys. And the nature of the makeup markup makeup of these conferences, you're gonna not have to or you don't you aren't gonna get to avoid the better teams every year. So as other teams improve, you gotta deal with that. but I just I'm not high in Illinois at this point. I think they're solid. but you know, I don't know that there's much difference between playing Illinois, playing Wisconsin, playing Minnesota at this point, I just think these middle of the pack Big Ten teams, there's just a lot more questions than there are answers for them at this point. Kevin Ivers: I think that's fair. Last one on the dock in the Big Ten was Wake Forest goes into West Lafayette Lafayette and escapes with a thirty-eight thirty-six double overtime barn burner. What do got? Erich: Hopefully Purdue, I you know, maybe it's a sign of them improving. I don't know. That wake force is is very good. I did not watch that game. I'm just gonna be honest, but hopefully it means that they're at least just not getting blown out in their competitive. Kevin Ivers: What I the only thing I'll say about this game is Wake Forest's official football account on Twitter or X. It it's these schools are so off the map for a lot of people, and they showed the coordinators celebrating the winning two point conversion overtime like they had just won the national championship Erich: Ha ha. Kevin Ivers: and the players going crazy. And I think that's awesome for a program like Mike Force because the How much it means to these coaches that put all that effort in and these players and they want a road game at Purdue and and they don't care. They're excited about that. There was genuine joy there, and it was like that that's college football. They're not gonna do Erich: Agreed. Kevin Ivers: anything in their conferences, we think, but hey, for that day, they are so excited that they get to celebrate an exciting win. And so I thought that was pretty cool to see. Moving a long we have our Big Twelve whip around. How about you take us through, Eric? Erich: Yeah, we're gonna stop at the first game, BYU 28, Arizona 17. This is a great win from BYU, Kevin. I think I want to highlight here coaching decisions in these games. It's 21 17. There's over eight minutes left in the game. It's fourth and four. Not quite chip shot field goal range, but it would have been about a 30 to 35 yard field goal for Arizona. They go for it. They don't get it. You know, they at first they get it, but then it's it he clearly was short and they reviewed it and they gave the ball back to BYU. The momentum difference between that and getting the three points and now being down one is tremendous. And here's the thing even if BYU goes down and scores a touchdown, it's still a one score game on the kickoff. But your defense coming out on the field after a failed fourth down conversion, giving good field position to BYU, you know what's coming, the emotions of that. BYU goes down and scores. It's now twenty eight seventeen. BYU's stadium is just now rocking. The crowd's into it. The defense flows off that energy. They get a bunch of sacks. And that just was all she wrote for that game. So great win for BYU over Arizona, who I think is probably still in the top four, five, or six in the Big 12. but we've talked about this. It's not just mistakes that the players make. And yes, Noah Fafita did have a costly interception early for Arizona, but the coaches have to manage these games better. And I don't care what the analytics say in that situation, the emotions matter, especially when you're the road team. Don't give the home team a free pass for momentum. And that swung the game. And it's too bad because that could have been a nice, it could have gone to overtime again, or who knows what happens. If that's 2120 and you're now just kicking off and it's just the normal flow of the game, the fans are probably holding on tight. They're not as into it. But yeah. That just turned the game for me. Great win for BYU though. Kevin Ivers: I'm with you. This feels like a missed opportunity for Brent Brennan in Arizona. They showed they could compete with a ranked Big Twelve team on the road, a favorite and a really hard place to play. Beautiful day out there in the Wasatch Mountains, Erich: Gorgeous. Kevin Ivers: by the way. That setting just there's nothing you can say about it. But yeah, Arizona had it rolling early. This was my road dog. I had winning outright. Fafito was balling like I thought he would. It's seven-zero Wildcats. They lead by three at half, seventeen four. 14, but there's a difference between competing for a little while versus a top dog in the conference and finishing. And it's that BYU depth that we talked about on the preview that showed up and won the game. LJ Martin had most of his yards in the second half. He played volleyball, one of the more underrated backs in the country. And then with Arizona, the flip side of it is I think they had minus two rushing yards in the second half. And it doesn't matter how good you are at quarterback, you have to have. That ground game to complement your offense, especially on the road in a tough environment. So credit to BYU. I took maybe the sexier pick of Arizona, which sometimes has flash and sizzle, but it was the meat and potatoes of the Cougars that got the job done. So that's a good early Big 12 win for them. Erich: Yeah, some nasty defensive front sevens and front you know, backs excuse me. Some nasty front sevens and front fours in Utah right now at at Utah and at BYU. Really, really, really, really good for both those teams. Kevin Ivers: Okay. next one. Not touching on Baylor, Cincy, Colorado, Houston. Those are all mismatches. FCS opponents. K State took care of Wazoo, thirty four seven. We touched on Oak Oakie State, Oregon. TCU's not worth it. not Not TCU, the game. They played Grambling. So don't be confused, Hornfrogs, I like your program. trying to think. We touched on a lot of these, so it'd only be if you had any Erich: Texas Tech, Oregon State. Kevin Ivers: Yes, that's your thing that's the Erich: So Texas Tech, Kevin Ivers: one I want to talk. Erich: this one, you know, they pulled away away late. I I just the auto favorite pick of Texas Tech in the conference this year has not beared fruit yet. And I'm not saying it never will, Kevin Ivers: Yes. Erich: but I I don't know that they're definitely not in my top two. And I would argue past your top two, there's a bunch of other teams that look pretty similar at this point. but we have a potential freshman sensation in Cordallis. At Oregon State and I hope they can keep him there. I hope University of Nike just doesn't pluck him and bring him over next year in the portal. But Oregon State looks like they're at least somewhat heading in the right direction. And I like what I saw from them against a team that on paper has a lot more talent than they do. So kudos to them. They it was a competitive game and actually fun to watch. and hopefully that continues there and they keep building. Kevin Ivers: I loved it. They've been more than competitive these first two weeks. It's a full rebuild there for Jamarcus Shepard. He's had the Beavers ready to go. Classic Corvallis weather. It was a torrential downpour in the first quarter at times. You touched on the freshman, Jesse Legree, 240 yards, receiving, couple touchdowns, looks like a stud. The main problem with Texas Tech is that secondary is alarming. It gave up over 400. Yards. Abilene Christian last week moved the ball. I touched on that. How they came nowhere near to covering that 45-point spread. The Beavers outgained Tech 472 to 352. That is not a good sign. They averaged almost seven yards per play. So I'm with you. It's why I did not take Texas Tech. It's hard to hit portal gold two years in a row. Plus the swirling stuff with all the Soresby news in the offseason. I just didn't think, you know, bodes very well for what they're gonna do this year. I'll give Will Hammond credit. He responded late, made the plays he needed to do. But for a college football playoff team, you shouldn't be talking about surviving Corvallis. you know, if you have aspirations to do that, which they obviously do, take nothing away from Corvallis. Beautiful environment. They've had some great, but this is a full rebuild. The rosters aren't even close. And so this is I think pretty close to a five alarm fire in Lubbock. And now they got the Houston Cougars rolling into town next week, which will of course touch on our preview show. The only Erich: Agreed. Kevin Ivers: other Only other game here would be if you have anything to say about Pittsburgh winning twelve seven over Central Florida. Wow. Erich: Nothing to say other than, all right, moving on. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, that was ugly for Narduzzi and the boys and their crowd, man. It's they need to get it on campus stadium. That is that is bad. Erich: I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon, unfortunately. Let's Kevin Ivers: No. Erich: go to the ACC. Miami obviously destroyed Florida AM. I'm not gonna even mention to score. It was a pathetic spectacle of a game on TV. Boston College Rutgers, we already talked about Louisville, handled Villanova as they should have, 59 to 13. Clemson beats Georgia Southern 22-7. Boy. I just are we in for a really ugly season for Clemson as we go forward. I I don't know, but it did not look better this week. If anything you could argue that's worse than what they did at LSU last week. In fact, I wouldn't even argue it. I would say that is worse to look like that against Georgian Southern with just you know, and despite the talent they lost last year, you look at their recruiting classes, I don't know what's going on there. I think the kids are tuning Dabble out more and more every week, and I think it's gonna get worse and worse every week for them. Anything additional to add? Kevin Ivers: No, I think everything you said is right. Clemson looks to be in for a long year and sad to see it the end this way for Dabble, but it it does not look good. Erich: Duke 31, Illinois 27, we talked about that already. North Carolina beats ETSU 20 35-3. NC State 73-0 over Richmond. Pittsburgh, UCF, yuck. We already mentioned that. SMU 56, UC Davis 10. Virginia 59, Norfolk State 3. Virginia Tech 44, Old Dominion 21. Wake Forest, Purdue, we already talked about California 21 over Syracuse 18. good bounce back win for Cal. that's all I gotta say there, unless you want to add anything. And then Tennessee 45, Georgia Tech 24. We already talked about that. kind of a boring week in the ACC overall. A lot of FCS opponents mixed in there. some power four opponents mixed in there as well, which we had already touched on. but ultimately Miami's still the class of the ACC and nothing has changed there. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, I'll touch on the Hulkies. James Franklin's 2-0 there. Ethan Gronkemeyer, good for him. He had a strong finish this season at Penn State last year. He threw for over 300 yards, was throwing it all over the yard versus Old Dominion and Ricky Rani, the old offensive coordinator under James Franklin for a couple years at Penn State. They do have to be excited about his accuracy and decision making early. The bigger story might be Vatek's defensive front to buy into. Malachi Williams was a stud. Had three and a half tackles for loss, couple sacks. He's a Penn State transfer. It gets overrated how many Penn State transfers they got. A lot of them were depth guys outside of Grunkemeyer and Malachi Williams. So he's certain certainly showing the part, but across that whole front, the edge group has been a problem. Yes, it was old Dominion. I don't think they're gonna be as good this year without Colton Joseph. I think they won ten games last year under Ronnie. So I'm not getting too excited but they certainly look much better and there is a lot of excitement right down there in Blacksburg to get back. As far as California goes, yeah I'm with you the slate wasn't super exciting. Anytime you travel across the country though and you you get a win in the carrier dome or whatever the sponsor is now Sega Batulli was steady, not super spectacular, but they won the game and they bounced back from that loss at home versus UCLA. So my thoughts on the ACC as we roll into the group of six now. With of course the headliner. Let's start there. Erich: Yeah, let's start there, group of six, and we're not gonna go by game by game here, guys, like we did the others, but Boise State, Memphis. you would obviously went Boise State. I went Memphis on this one. I looked great early. Boise State, though, really pilot on and just really found their rushing attack and just ran all over Memphis, which surprised me a little bit, just with how Memphis has played. I do think though, we have to call out if you look at, you know, Memphis has you know, they traveled out west to UNLV early, then they travel back home and then they travel out west all the way out to Boise again. So as much as people want to say, that's that for them is like you know, for the opponents they played, I mean, they basically played two of the however many favorites in the group of six on the road in their first three weeks. That's tough for any team that's trying to build what they're, you know, what they're trying to build there. But competitive game early, Boise pulls away late. Great Great bounce back win for Boise after the emotional loss at Oregon the week before. I still think Memphis can bounce back from this and and have a a solid season. but you would have to say right now Boise State in the driver's seat, especially with both military academies losing this week. We'll see with North Dakota State, though. We'll talk about them in a second. but Boise State certainly in the driver's seat right in the group of six after this win. Kevin Ivers: Yeah and This came down to why I took Boise in this game. I it was so close to taking Memphis because we've loved what they've done. But they are just so good at home. They're so well coached. I cannot believe, though, that they mauled that defensive front for Memphis for 357 yards. Dylan Riley went for 206. It got ugly for Memphis in the second half, which to your point started so well. 17-3 lead. They were explosive. They led at half. Time and maybe that's the game plan going forward versus Memphis to slow down their edge rushers, you just run right at I was impressive by Boise's offensive line. But Memphis had been stout against the run too. But this just shows, you know, UNLV, Arkansas State, solid programs, but Boise is a different level. If you were Charles Huff and said Marcus Stokes is gonna throw for 384 yards. You would not guess that you would lose by 18 points. Erich: Correct. Kevin Ivers: So. But that is. Boise stayed at home through the years. They do this to teams. Memphis, to your point, with all the travel and everything. They just gotta dust themselves off. And regroup. But One of the other big games was Florida Atlantic upsetting Navy at home. And I know some people talked about that. It was a close spread. And that can be one of the problems with Navy with that option attack. You get down early to a team that's has explosive playmakers, that's when you can put them in a bind and they can't dictate the game. And that's exactly what FAU did early. So that was a big score to see in the group of six land. Those are your two biggest storylines for sure. Erich: Yeah, and then going along around the league a little further, obviously North Dakota State, I believe was at air at Air Force. That's a big win. Air Force supposed to be pretty solid this year. Two and for North Dakota State right now. And to go from FCS and make that jump and to play a couple pretty solid opponents. you know, right out of the gates in terms of just how they perform in or expected to perform in the group of six this year. Really impressed with them to be able to do that. It's gonna be interesting to see how much further they can take this in the Mountain West as they get into it. You know, with teams like New Mexico and others in the Mountain West performing really, really well. But really impressed with what they've done so far in that transition. Fun team to watch. that was a tough road game to knock off right away. And the only thing I want to say is New Mexico 70 to 7 over Mercy State, or excuse me, Mercy Hearst, the quarterback transition that they've dealt with and how they've handled it. And it really looks like they have not missed a beat there. so good kudos to them. And then North Texas dominating UNLV. Boy, did everyone perhaps have it wrong with Dan Mullen, the QB whisperer, and you know, Jackson Arnold transferring to UNLV. I mean, they're they're just out. Right now. They're not going to be the G six playoff representative at this point. So that was that was shocking to me to see them get dominated by a North Texas team that lost a lot of players in the transfers portal. and with a new coach and a bunch of new players there. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, their entire team is on Oklahoma State. North Texas settings. And to just lay a beat down to one of the favorites for the playoff for the group of six was jarring to see. I'm with you. And yeah, what can you say about Tim Polisek and North Dakota State? The bison, two and two quality wins to start. They look the part. There was never a doubt. It's great to have them at the FBS level. They belong and could have a special in office. Erich: Agreed. Well, let's move to our categories. So first one up, most impressive team of the week. Who do you have, Kevin? Kevin Ivers: It wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing team. So I am going with Michigan, but I'm going with most impressive, just with all the noise they had to deal with this week. And in true Kywoodian ham fashion, he gets his team ready to play. He got out the pads a little more this week. Said we need to ramp up the physicality. There was a players meet and everything, and sometimes that stuff works. Sometimes it's just talk. Well, guess what? It worked. They took out the number 11th ranked team of the country. So huge win for the Wolverines. You would it seems like they're one and one, but no, they are two and and all their goals are right in front of them. So kudos to the Michigan Wolverines. Erich: Love it. For me, I'm going Utah. I know I've spoken about them quite a bit, spoke about them in our previous show last week. But simply from the standpoint of SEC team traveling, is there gonna be a conference disparity that shows up on the field here? It did it. In fact, it went like a game. If you would have slapped Georgia jerseys and helmets on Utah, you would have thought that this is just Georgia beating the crap out of what is probably gonna be one of the lowest, you know. One of the lower teams in the SEC this year. So Utah looked like a blue blood stomping on an SEC team in Arkansas. really impressive, both sides of the ball, you know, all aspects of it. In fact, if it wasn't some weird officiating, it could have been worse than it was. But for me, Utah really impressed. That's my most impressive team of the week. Kevin Ivers: Next, we got where Kevin and Eric went wrong. Eric, lead us off. Let's start with the positive. Where were you right this week? Erich: So I was right about Utah bold prediction that they would dominate and they did. I was right about BYU. I said they would pull away late and cover and they did. And was right about Mississippi State going on the road and beating Minnesota. In fact, they did it in a fashion that was even more lopsided than I thought. I was wrong about Kansas. They let me down. Boy, was I wrong about Oklahoma, Michigan. I thought Oklahoma would pull away, win by at least 10 like they did last year. I thought Bama would struggle more than they did against Kentucky. Obviously the mistakes w kind of helped that happen. Without those mistakes, maybe would have went the way I thought it was going to go. I still thought Bama was gonna win. I just didn't think they're gonna win as by as much as they did. And I was wrong about Oregon. and I'm saying this not from the game. We didn't talk about that game too much last week, but I was just wrong in terms of them looking like and having the best roster in the country right now. That's just not the case. And I picked them to be my national champion. And it's not impossible. It could happen. We've seen teams lose a game or two and do it. But as of right now, I am wrong about Oregon and Dan Lanning right there at this point in time. How about you? Kevin Ivers: Alrighty, so teams I am right about. Boise State was happy about that pick, but with the program win there. Texas took three quarters to get there, but ended up being right about the Longhorns defeating Ohio State. Right about Mississippi State in store for an exciting year. As far as being wrong, the Arizona schools let me down. They showed well for Erich: huh. Kevin Ivers: large portions of the game. I can live with Arizona's result. ASU I feel I would love to see that game again. They outplayed Erich: Mm, me too. Kevin Ivers: A and in a lot of ways, but at the end of the day I said outright, you know, or not outright, but I had that down to the wire. 4820, so AM did what they needed needed to do. And then Oklahoma, Michigan, we were all over the Wolverines after last week, and they got off the mat, like I just said. So and I would add Oregon to that as well. that is just shocking that that's what they look like with that roster. Dan Lanning has a big week ahead of him to start figuring out what some of the ducks issues are. let's see. We have Who's Up and Who's Down? Erich: So obviously Oklahoma State's up, you know, an upset like that. You can't be anything but up. And I'm sure Drew Mestamaker had his pick of the litter, if you will, during celebrations that evening and in terms of who he wanted to celebrate with. Texas is up. You're getting over the hump. You're getting that win over a top five team. yeah, I'm sure those parties were fun in Texas and down in Austin there celebrating. Utah's up, BYU is up. They're top of the Big 12 right now in terms of just how they're look, how they look and how they play. Mississippi State, big road win against the power four team. That's another sign. Things are heading the right direction. They're up. Bama, I think, has to be considered up too. You know, good win. They're young QB is learning and gets to have a game where, yeah, it wasn't pretty all the time, but they pull away and run the ball really well, which I think. So if I'm Bama, I'm feeling up. You have to love that. Texas AM, you know. People we're saying you're down this year, but yeah, you get out gained, but you get the win. So yeah, Texas AM is up. For who's down for me, OSU, Ohio State, obviously you're down. You had that game, you kind of blew it. You blow a 20 point lead. Anytime that happens, and regardless of the game, you got to feel down. Oregon, down. What does the rest of their season look like? How do they bounce back? Arkansas, boy, to get trounced like that against the Big 12 team, you're down. And then Rutgers. No one's more down in the country right now than Rutgers and Greg Shino. We'll see if how many weeks he gets, but I have to imagine that the conversations are being had. It's about a seventeen and a half million dollar buyout if they did it right now. Are they gonna just let the season run its course? You the you really have to have some conversations to decide what the timing looks like there. Kevin Ivers: Great selections, I love it. Up team for me, no surprise, Oklahoma State, they were the story of the college football Saturday, in my opinion, outside of course of Texas. But when you have an upset like that, twenty-four and a half point underdogs, one of the largest, you know, spread victories in college football history, restoring a proud program that's been so awful the last two years, but under Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State beating Oregon would have been a pretty normal thing. Very short time ago, so good to see them back on the map when the country watching, taking down a national title favorite. Utah, of course, is up. A game they were expected to win, but how they looked, the explosion on offense might be a new era for the Utes. Mississippi State, Kamario Taylor, they are the buzz team right now. They fall in this category. Boise State being the leader in the clubhouse now and asserting their dominance as always as the group of. six favorite so I could have more in there but they'd kind of be redundant so those are my four as far as down of course it's Oregon national title favorite go down in a big way and still water Georgia Tech think it's going to be a rebuild down rebuilding year down there in Atlanta and then my last two teams Washington and Texas Tech I know they're 2-0 but with the competition they have faced they do not look the part they do not look like ranked teams ready to surprise or contend at the top of their conferences so we will see what they look like when the rubber really meets the road and conference play. So that is my list. And now it's time for letdown of the week. Eric, who do you got there? Erich: Yeah, I had two kind of marked with this, but I'm just gonna reiterate reiterate Oregon. Just I can't believe like is this this year's Clemson where everyone's high in them talking about national championship last year, one of the best rosters in the country, one of the best quarterbacks in the country. I I don't know, we'll see, but it's just so disappointing because one in the in the first week against Boise, you at least kind of saw what their roster can be in the second half. You didn't see it at all in this game. So yeah, let down of the week, Oregon. I don't know where they go from here. I'm ex interested to see how they bounce back, but that's my letdown of the week. Kevin Ivers: I'm going Minnesota here. This was a game you were only underdogs by a point and a half. Yes, Mississippi State was getting buzzed because of Camario Taylor. But for an SEC Big Ten matchup, that is your Quintessential middle of the pack teams going at it where you can really make a statement for your conference. Minnesota really let the big ten down in that regard. It was never a game. And Drake Lindsay, I don't know. I'm just I'm not seeing it. And I'm sure Gopher fans have questions about him as well. My runner-up's Kentucky. I know that's a little harsh for Alabama. The Will Stein era is just getting underway. But that was such a rough second half and a game that had so So much promise that maybe that's just your second half letdown of the week, but those are my teams there. Erich: Good picks. Well that is the week two recap. College football nobodies. If you want to like the video and subscribe. We're having fun doing this. So if you don't want to, that's fine too. Thank you. Kevin Ivers: Thanks everyone for listening. We really appreciate it. Can't wait to preview next week's of games for week three. It's gonna be awesome. We'll see you later.