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College Football Week 1 Preview · College Football Nobodies

• Erich: Welcome to College Football Nobodies. I'm Erich with my co-host Kevin, and it's week one. We made it. Week zero was fun. Not as fun as we probably wanted it to be. It glorifies what we're really waiting for, which is what we believe to be the five greatest days of the year. That is week one, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Kevin, we get games on all of those days. Everyone's playing. Some teams are playing for the second time. And we get to see where they're at from where they started already from one week to the next. And we're gonna cover it all. What we're gonna do is we're going to go through some of the games that are happening on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We're gonna give you our takes on those games. And then we have some categories we're gonna go through as well. So we have the commissioner of Jersey Colors, me, Erich. I'm gonna give you my colors palette of the week. Kevin's going to give you his. Environment of the week. We're going to give you our point spread letdown of the week. We're going to give you our upset alert of the week. And we're going to give you our game of the week. Kevin, how excited are you? Kevin Ivers: Beyond ex excited, Erich, that's a tremendous table setter by you. I am so fired up here sitting on Tuesday as we record this. You have week one press conferences today with coaches. Was able to follow some of that. Just coaches talking about actual games and opponents and breaking it down is so refreshing. One of the longest offseasons ever, as we've touched on. It's just an amazing sport. It's why we love it. It's here, like you said, week zero, it was great, but it's an appetizer. And now all the big boys come out, all the programs come out. Yes, some played last week, but this is the real deal. And five glorious days of college football. Glue yourself to the couch as you said. Do not move. I there's nothing else to be said. I'm so excited for all these games. Starts off Thursday as we'll get into. And I'm fired up for this podcast and and to break it all down for everyone. Erich: Yeah, this is truly exciting. Everyone has hope right now. Everyone's excited to see if the beat writers they follow during the offseason covering their training camps, going to the practices where media is allowed. are those things accurate? Are the takes they've heard good? Are these transfer portal players going to perform? Some teams are gonna have a better test than others, and we'll talk about that. But let's get started with Thursday night. Kevin, you picked Colorado at Georgia Tech. what are your thoughts? Kevin Ivers: Yeah, great way to kick us off on Thursday night. So this is the eight o'clock Eastern ESPN kick. A lot of people will be glued into this one. You got two Power Four conference teams, two name brand programs getting things going for us. Georgia Tech comes in. The line is sitting anywhere from six and a half to seven and a half from what we've seen, total at 50 and a half. I I lean Georgia Tech on this one for sure. You know, Colorado is is one of those programs, I'll be just fully honest. I love, love, love them growing up and really have my whole life until Dion showed up. And I have nothing against Dion Sanders. Seems like a good guy by all accounts. Obviously, an incredible player himself, one of the greatest of all time. But you know me, I'm not into circuses. I don't do the circus scene with college football. I don't do what's mainstream and what's gonna be first take headlines and all that garbage and stuff or that casuals talk about. And that's that's really what sucks the oxygen out of the room these days with Colorado. i it's too bad I'm I look forward to him actually moving on just so things can be more about on the field and the players and Ralphie running on the field and and that glorious. Buffalo on the helmet. So awesome program with a lot of tradition. I just think they're gonna struggle again. I think Dion does too much of the portal. It kind of worked out in year one. I thought that year was overrated. they they didn't really play a lot of the big boys in the Big 12 that first year. So he was able to scrape together, what was it, nine wins, I think? And Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: and everyone lost their mind. And then of course, you just can't have this much turnover. year over year. I know they're excited about their quarterback. Kind of interesting enough, Julian Lewis almost transferred to Georgia Tech in the offseason. They they do believe in him. So we'll see. I'm not sold. Danny Scudero is a fantastic receiver pickup from San Jose San Jose State, along with Cam Perry as well. So they're always going to have a few stars that they pick up in the portal. But I'm not sure Having a completely rebuilt offensive line is good versus Georgia Tech's defensive front. I think the Ramblin' Rec are gonna have their way. And then on the flip side of things, I love what Brent Key is doing at Georgia Tech. He it's a that's a really tough job. Yes, it's in Atlanta. Yes, it's in one of the most talent laden states in America, but guess who's also in that state? The Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart. And also Georgia Tech is a phenomenal academic institution, so they fight that battle as well. And so what he's done there is incredible so far. Nine and four team last year. Tough physical brand of football. Of course we love that. And I just think they're gonna out tough physical and and fundamental Deion Sander and the Buffaloes. So those are my initial thoughts. I think an entertaining game for a while, but The yellow jackets too much too much in the end for Colorado and they start off one and in Atlanta. Erich: This one, the only thing that makes me hesitant to say that Georgia Tech wins this by 14 or more is we don't know a lot about Alberto Men Mendoza. He didn't play a ton last year. How good is he? The the quarterback's ability to run is really important for Georgia Tech's offense. it seems like he can do that. So we'll see. can he make those important passes on those third and longs to keep drives going so they can continue grinding it out and just overpowering teams? I think they will against Colorado. The one thing One of the things that's been common for a Dean Sanders Colorado team, even in the years where they the first year where they were nine and three, the teams that play physical football and run the ball well, they really, really, really struggle with. in fact, you even saw it, I think it was was it the second year or first year where they were playing North Dakota State. And North Dakota State almost went right there and upset them. And again, a Kevin Ivers: Yes. Erich: team that just plays physical football with way less talent top to bottom. really took him to the brink and and almost pulled that off. So I think if I'm a betting man, I I would say 31, 21 would be something like that. You know, maybe 27, 17. I think that Georgia Tech covers and I think they pull this game out. Kevin Ivers: I'm I'm with you on that. The final thing is we'd be remiss if we don't mention Haynes King for Georgia Tech no longer having him. And as you mentioned, that's they might have to find their footing with Mendoza a little bit, Fernando's younger brother. And so wait, that is, right? I'm like second guessing. Yeah, okay. I was I Erich: Yeah. Yep. Yeah, he was on Indiana last year backing him up. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, yeah. I wa exac yeah, I was worried for a second, that I I had that wrong. But yeah. The one thing though that they can lease into is Justin Haynes from Michigan is a big, big time back. Erich: Yes. Kevin Ivers: And geez, imagine if Michigan still had him. But I think he might have saw the writing on the wall. Like, yes, y you know, Jordan Marshall's fantastic for the Wolverines, but that Savian Heider kid coming in, the number one back in the nation for Michigan. It was too crowded of a room. So now Haynes gets to be the guy. they can certainly lean on him in this game and and I'm with ya, I think I think they cover. Erich: Agreed. All right. Friday, we're talking about Miami traveling about as far as you can travel, maybe outside of going to Hawaii or one of the Pacific Northwest teams to play at Stanford. It's gonna be our first time seeing somewhat of a new look, Miami. New quarterback, though they're returning some some really intel incredibly talented players and some players they brought in from the portal. What do you think? What are we gonna see in this one? Kevin Ivers: Well, despite all my Stanford Cardinal love in week zero, unfortunately that comes crashing down this Friday night. this is the nine o'clock Eastern ESPN game, so it'll be six o'clock out in Palo Alto. Should be a gorgeous night again out there. Yes, Miami does have to make that travel, but you know, this this game could be played in the middle of Europe or wherever Miami needs to travel. With talent wins. This should be a big Miami victory. The only thing that could slow them down is if they are a little sluggish with the travel, but you you know, I would hate this travel spot for them more if it was in the middle of the season or you know, a second week of travel in the row. You're gonna be hyped and pretty fresh, obviously, in week one. The other thing that Miami has going for them in this game is a stat that I looked up at Action Network. Colin Wilson over there does a great job. Week one opponents that are fresh, that face teams that played in week zero. Are 149 and 109 all time. So 40 games over 500, six ties. And so that's what Stanford's going up against in this game. I think that's a real stat that's bared out over a good sample size. So yeah, Miami's gonna win this game big. There's just really no n you know, there's nothing Stanford can do from a town perspective in this game. They can maybe pound Micah Ford for a little bit in the first quarter, you know, play a keep away, but that's only gonna last so long versus Miami's ferocious D. The the biggest thing, and I'm curious what you think, Erich, that I want to see is yeah, the obvious thing is is Darien Mensah at quarterback and how he meshes with his new look receivers. Obviously Bargett's Bargates coming over from Duke, so have that. But The defensive ends, like Keem Mesidor and Ruben Bain Jr. were absolute animals, and a huge part of why Miami got to the national championship last year. They're replacing those guys. And as you know, in this modern day of college football, edge pressure is everything. The the young guys are super touted after those guys, and Mario Cristobal have certainly recruited really, really well. And I think those cats can be phenomenal. Will they be as good? We'll see. I really want to see what their edge pressure looks like in this game. What say you? Erich: I think there's two things that could happen based off of we're I'm gonna say last year's changes from last year to this year that would give Stanford a chance. if we remember a couple years ago when Miami traveled out west, played at Cal at night. Some might say the got some gifts from the referee gods to help them get through that. I know, Kevin, you're not a big fan of saying. The refs are why a team won or lost. However, in that game, they played a pretty significant role down the stretch. Kevin Ivers: They did. That's fair. Erich: regardless if you think that's the end all be all. And and of course, when you're up big and you know, you just get let yourself get pummeled over and over again, there's also that component as well. But Darien Mensa, when he airs the ball out, he tends to turn the ball over. And Duke tried to do that a lot with him last year. And when the turnovers were reined in. Duke was almost unbeatable last year. But then when he would kind of get out of his comfort zone, it was just, you know, the game against Illinois is an example where he just throws, you know, these I was like four interceptions. And it's just not even a game at that point. I think Miami is going to run the ball a lot more than and Duke did last year. And that's going to help. And he's not going to have to air it out or be asked to win games like that. But yes, the other piece would be. Two new starters on the edge. I would argue that was the finding the running game later in the year and the edge pressure totally turned the season on a dime for Miami. After they lost those two games in the middle of the season, people kind of thought they were done. There's no way they're gonna run the table. And then they just found this running game late. and the edges just started taking over. Their front four just started taking over games. You can see it against Ohio State and the entire playoff run. I mean, how often do you see another team's front four look better than Ohio State's front four? I mean, that that's how good those guys were last year. And even against Indiana, those guys were just absolute terrors. Regardless of how good the recruits are underneath, I don't know that you replace those guys. So for me, it's okay, we're still good here. We're still gonna get production here, but they're not gonna be two first round picks. This coming year good, who else is stepping up on the D then to fill that void? And so that's what I think we get an opportunity to see. Ultimately, I think Miami wins this game, though. I don't know if they'll cover 24 and a half to travel that far on the road is a lot against a team that played one game already. But to your point, that might also be in their advantage because they're fresh. I'd feel probably a lot different about that number if both teams had played one game already. And it was the middle, you know, or they're play have played two or three games and now Miami's gonna go travel across the country. But with it being the first game, I think that helps them quite a bit compared to two years ago when they traveled across the country. It wasn't their first game. And that's it makes I think it makes a big difference traveling when you're fresh versus not, when you have whether it's a bye week leading into it or it's the first game of the season. So yeah, Miami I think wins. Do they cover it 24 and a half? I don't think so. But I still see something like 38 to 20 or you know, something like that to where I've I I'd be pretty happy with that if I was I'm a Miami fan. I would not worry if they don't cover, especially with a brand new you know, starting QB and some new starters on defense and at wide receiver and so forth. Kevin Ivers: I'd be ecstatic if I was Stanford at 3820. I'm going 3710 or 3813 going with the U. I think they barely cover that number. Stays just under the under. Stanford will be well coached. I believe in that. I just I think a little bit of Miami f finding their footing. The D will be pretty legit. But yeah, the spotlight will be on Damon Wilson and Armando Blunt, those big time D end rush etchers. we won't know everything versus Stanford, but you when you watch D ends, it can be similar to skilled position players on offense. Like you see a guy make a few moves and is twitchy, it can sometimes be like, Okay, yes, that's gonna translate versus a lot of teams. So we'll see. That's going to be really interesting. moving on, staying in Friday night. This one is very intriguing, of course, with a team we spent a lot of time talking about this past weekend. We got Fresno State rolling into the Coliseum, which we can only hope, please. For the love of God, USC fans come out to this game. You have a f you have a very talented team. You have a One of the greatest brands in the game. That's gonna be interesting to see. I'm s I'm sure it'll be better in the crowd, but how how much better? That'll be interesting. This is our Fox Friday night game, nine o'clock Eastern, and of course six o'clock out in Los Angeles. What are your initial thoughts on this game, Erich? Erich: So first on the crowd, I think more Fresno fans will probably travel to this game than San Jose San Jose State fans did. So let's go back to the stat you referred to a little earlier. Fresno State's fresh. Technically a short week for USC, because this game's on Friday instead of Saturday. Not a ton of travel for Fresno State either. so that's gonna be interesting. I still think USC wins this game. I mean, there's zero reason. Why they shouldn't. I don't even think I think they're favored by 21 and a half. I don't know if they'll cover. I mean, based off what we saw last week, I guess it depends on how long they keep their starters in for. but I do think by the end of the third quarter, I'd be surprised if USC isn't up by at least 17. I think they're probably more likely to cover this one than than last week's, just because I think they're going to be more likely to play their starters longer for this game against a team that. should be a tougher opponent on paper and and should give them more things to work on and provide more of a challenge. And I I think Lincoln Riley's gonna want to see his guys finish a game because while it's a short week by a day that means they're gonna have a little you know one extra day of what of rest after the game as well. so I could see I could very easily see like 42, 21 not quite covering by half a point, but getting really close to it. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, I definitely could see that as well. Before I dive into the matchup in general, I just want to say that I absolutely love Fresno State's program through the years. So much respect for them, starting with Pat Hill in the late 90s through I think 2011, his tenure ran through. Such a such a great coach and I loved his mantra back in the day of when they came on the map and they were very similar to Boise for many years. You know, the anywhere, anytime we're playing with you. And they are the Bulldogs, and they literally had that Bulldog mentality on them. You remember as Erich: Mm-hmm. Kevin Ivers: a Badgers fan that 2001 team Bernard Barrian Erich: yeah. Kevin Ivers: came in there and David Carr and all those guys when they came on the map, Erich: Fantastic team. Kevin Ivers: fantastic team. You know, they took out Oregon State that year as well. And they they and they continue to this day, no matter the coaches they've had through Jeff Tet Tedford and others, to play everyone. They're always in one of these cool games, playing a West Coast power or traveling across the country somewhere. So shout out to Pat Hill, shout out to that green V on the helmet that represents the San Joaquin Valley. They're all about the agriculture there. And it's just a neat program and a neat fan base that I think, like you said, will travel in this game. Small connection in this game, Matt Ents, of course, was the linebackers coach under Lincoln Riley just a couple of years ago for USC. So Riley's going up against a former co-worker. Just news recently for Fresno State, Jaden Mandel beat out Christian Martin in the QB battle. lot of folks out there in Fresno expecting Martin to win that battle coming over from Maryland. They're gonna have to lean in the run game in this game. And you know, through the years Fresno State's always had a good ground attack. they have decent r wide receiver production coming back, but to ease in a new quarterback, Ray Sean Luke is definitely their most explosive player and returner on their roster. So they're gonna have to play some keep away from USC. It's it's not gonna be like that two thousand five game where They lost 50 to 42 at Southern Cal, where they went up and down the field with that Reggie Bush Matt Liner team, which was incredible. It's it's not gonna look like that. They're gonna have to play keep away. And then off the edge, they they really are high on some of their edge rushers. Jason Jackson, Merhodi Zekpara. I'm interested to see if USC's tackles can hold up. There's question marks on that coming out of last game. So can Fresno maybe get to Jaden Maiava, make him a little bit more uncomfortable? I should correct myself. There weren't they more uncomfortable about that at USC with their tackle situation coming into the season. They performed well. In week one for for San Jose State. But this is a big step up in class. And I think a lot of college football ball knowers would know that with Fresno through the years. Some might not just think, it's San Jose State and then it's Fresno State. This is no, this is a big jump up. The spread indicates that. In the end, I do think USC's got too much firepower. That's no surprise. I expect them to win this game, but I am I am worried about USC covering in this game. I I think it could be 37, 17, 38, 19, maybe one of those weird late night scores. And Fresno just gets under the number. And USC is clearly the better team, but Fresno's a pest. They they rarely show up and get crushed. So I I think the Bulldogs will show well here. And maybe it'll be some more questions for USC. I would like to see their secondary play better, especially versus a new quarterback that Fresno. was breaking in. So those are my thoughts, but definitely an intriguing game. Erich: Should be fun. Two West Coast games out at the same time. One on Fox, one on ESPN. two big, big programs, one playing home, one playing away out there. So it should be fun. A fun, a fun Friday night to tune into those games. Okay, we're moving on to Saturday. Kevin Ivers: Made it to Saturday. Erich: Made it to Saturday. A lot of we're gonna call it not as notable matchups early. Even one for for for your team over there. You know, you never know though. Marshall sometimes they can pull some things out. But the first game we want to talk about is the completion of a home and home series from last year that was at Auburn. Excuse me, was at Baylor last year. Now Baylor will be at Auburn this year. I think this is the 230 central game on ABC. Kevin Ivers: Correct? Erich: So we have Aranda. maybe on his last legs here at Auburn, looking to at excuse Kevin Ivers: A baylor. Erich: me, at Baylor, looking to get looking to write the ship a little bit against a new regime at Auburn. How do you see it playing out? Kevin Ivers: Yeah, and to your point, we're not just totally glossing over that noon Eastern window. There are big teams to to monitor in that window that we'll be watching closely with Bama and Eastern Carolina. Or excuse me, East Carolina. Phenomenal helmets shout out. Course, that's why we've got that behind us. the defending national champions playing, which the Fox Big Noon game. That's that's what's so weird about that package in Fox is those games when they don't have when it's not in quite into the meat of the season. So no, there's definitely games in that window. But yeah, back to some of the more games we expect to be competitive. Baylor Auburn. I believe like You're similar to me, Auburn. We were very high on them. We're very high on Alex Goelish. Love what he did at South Florida last year, of course. Kind of going on the map when they upset Florida in Gainesville. but it was more than that. There was tons of things to like about him. seeing some of his videos in the off season and more recently in training camp, I I I can see why kids follow him and how he connects with them. He just comes off very genuine, but very intense. And this was a perfect hire for Auburn, a serious hire. They should, you know, they expect better and they absolutely should be better than what they have. And I I know they're excited to put Put some of these recent regimes in the rear view mirror. So they bring over Byron Brown, of course, is one of the biggest transfer portal ads around the country. The star at South Florida, passed for over three thousand yards, rushed for over a thousand. Anytime you do that, that's in that's incredible. some of the models we've looked at do like Auburn to cover here, and I agree. I I just don't like the direction of Baylor's program right now. And and Dave Aranda, I think this is gonna be his last year. They don't have a ton of momentum. They don't have a ton of talent in the program. I'm not super excited about what they've done in the transfer portal. I'm very excited about what Auburn's done in the transfer portal. Baylor went two and ten versus the spread last season. Of course, one of those losses. was to Auburn in week one. furthermore, Baylor's running back, Dawson Pendergrass is out for the season, injured his foot in camp. That's not great. Hopefully he see he heals up for next season. But yeah, I I don't have a thought on the over-under, but I I think Auburn can really run away from this. And this can be one of those games where you look on paper, SEC, Big 12 matchup, and you think it might be close. I really have Auburn as a surprise this year. And I'll I'll tease the series I've been writing for us this week of some of the teams that I'm most wrong about entering 2026. Which is translation for some outlandish predictions, but I think Auburn has a real shot at an eight and four season, which would be an incredible achievement for Auburn in year one under Alex Golish. So keep an eye out for that coming in the coming days. but those are my those are my initial thoughts with Auburn. I really like them and I know you do too. So what do you got for us, Erich? Erich: Yeah, I think that Byron Brown is a gamer, similar to how we talked about Bo Prabila during our week zero recap. I just think he's a really, really good college quarterback. He comes over with his coach. That's a formula we've seen work in multiple spots. I would say the the X factor for Baylor to maybe surprise us a little bit would be does DJ Legway go on a redemption tour? A little bit. I mean, a lot of pundits had him as a top five QB in the country last year. Everyone was really high on him, and his, you know, kind of second would be his first full seasons at a starter, but like, you he had started some games the year before in Florida and looked great. Kind of rescued them towards the end of the season the year before that. And then last year, just the wheels fell apart at Florida, a lot of turnovers. so Can Aranda put him in a position to maximize his strengths because he is a really, really, really talented individual. I don't know. That's a big unknown. we'll see. I mean, when it has come together for Aranda at Baylor, there's been moments of excitement where it's like, wow, look at that. but most times, it's been under underwhelming. so I'm curious to see how does DJ Legway look on the road. Playing somewhere. I think he's probably played at at maybe he hasn't played at Auburn before, but he's used to the SEC environments. That's not new to him. So there is that wild card component to this, but I still think Auburn covers covers the spread. I see them winning this like 24 14. that's where I see it going. I don't think it's gonna go crazy in terms of scoring, but I I do think at the end of the day, Auburn's probably the better team. Right now. They won this game on the road last year with Jackson Arnold at quarterback. I think Byron Brown is a big upgrade. I think Alex Golish is a big upgrade at coach. So you put those things together and I I just think that's too much for for Baylor to overcome. Kevin Ivers: I I personally like Auburn by 20 plus. I'm going big here. I Erich: Okay. Kevin Ivers: think it's a big splash statement where we're talking about Auburn a lot after this weekend. it is an interesting matchup with Dave Aranda, of course, being known for his defense and Goalish being known for his offense. I just love what Golish does with you know, he plays extremely fast. They create conflict with formations. he just he just puts a ton of pressure on defenses. So Randa's gonna be earning his paycheck in this one. And I don't think Baylor is the type of program this year that's ready to roll in to the planes and Jordan Hare, week one with the excitement Auburn has. I I really like them to to put it on Baylor and for the odds makers to look back and go. And we missed on this a little bit, but I get it. Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: Hard to make a week one spread. first teams that you know, there still is a lot of unknown there. So anyways w Erich: So the other game going on at the same time, really fun game, Boise State at Oregon. Kevin Ivers: Yeah. Erich: CBS, great intro music. Kevin Ivers: Huh. Erich: And what are we gonna see here? This one's interesting because a big spread for Oregon to cover. But they definitely have the roster to do it. And it's at home. It's their opening game. It's not a big road trip for Boise. So it's not none of that's going on here. Forecast looks really good for the West Coast on Saturday. So I don't there's not gonna be some weird rain or anything like that. I think we're gonna see how good Oregon might be this year throughout the year. as much as I would love to see a game like we saw, was that last year or the year before? I think it was two years ago where Kevin Ivers: Two years ago Boise went out to outsen and only lost thirty seven thirty four, but they had a a little known running back named Ashton Genty that Erich: Yeah, Ashton Genty puts on a show. In fact, Oregon, people forget, Oregon won that game because of two special teams touchdowns. Had those Kevin Ivers: Yes. Erich: had those not happened, they may have lost by 10 or more. that is not the type of Boise team we're looking at. They don't have that X factor at running back. They have some good players. Could they Maybe keep this one interesting to where it's like seventeen, thirteen at halftime and then Oregon pulls away in the second half. Absolutely. that's the type of program that Boise is. I don't think this is going to be I don't think we're going to see a Oregon versus Oklahoma State type game like we saw last year in Eugene. But I do ultimately think Oregon's going to cover the spread. They like to put up points. I think they're going to put up points. They're built to basically do this to most teams, other than maybe out those outside the inside the top fifteen. And I think they're gonna at the end of the day, we're gonna come away saying, yep, that's a reason why a lot of people are picking them to win the national title this year. That's what I think we're gonna see on Saturday. Kevin Ivers: I think this is a perfect game for Oregon to start their season with. You're not getting you're not playing Elkhorn State or some complete nobody. You're playing a legitimate program that everyone in the country respects, that has some talent, and but you're also not Playing a beast out of the gates. I love that, obviously, from a fan perspective, but from a team perspective or a coach perspective, this is probably what Dan Lanning wants. You know, it it's weird to see Boise as twenty-four and a half point underdogs with how much respect we have for them, but that's just a sign of how loaded Oregon is this year. So, you know, Boise State's path to hang around this game i is to run the ball, keep Dante Moore and and DeCorey Moore and those boys off the field. They have to protect Maddock Mattson, who's a very good quarterback for Boise, otherwise they stand no chance. Force Oregon into a a slower, more physical game. the you know, and even saying that, you know, Dan Lanning And and Cristal, to his credit, started this at Oregon, but realizing you gotta build teams from the inside out. And Dan Lanning has done a phenomenal job coming from Georgia where he was all about the trenches there. So I I don't even know if Boise has a path to like, you know, muck it up and out physically. Like Oregon's fantastic at that. They've proven that in the Big Ten. but they're gonna have to get the ball out of Mad Madsen's hand quick in this game. It's it's gonna be loud. It's gonna be it's obviously one of the hardest environments to play in. But yeah, Oregon has too much talent in this game for Boise. I I Boise will hang around a little bit. They have too much pride in Spencer Spencer Danielson's a is a good coach. They'll have something up their sleeve for But once Oregon gets rolling, they're just that team similar to Ohio State where You can be in it and then in the span of a couple possessions, you're just like, What what happened? So Yeah, that's that's kind of my take there. The spread seems about right, but Oregon could could certainly cover this and and send a wow statement out of the gates, which Would mean a lot 'cause this is you know, this is my group of six team. I know it's it's a lot of people's. This is a this is a real team, but this is it's a whole new ball game going up to Eugene playing what could be one of Oregon's greatest teams. Erich: Yeah, I think this is Dan Lenning's best roster, at least on paper, and certainly his best returning quarterback he's had since being there. Not a one-year transfer, a guy who took them to the playoffs last year, won a playoff game. It really is actually incredible. I what is it 12 and the first year in the Big Ten, 11 and one last year? They've only lost to one and one. They lost to Ohio State, but only in the playoffs. And then they lost to Indiana. boy, must be nice. Kevin Ivers: They really and sorry to cut you off, Erich, but they really don't have question marks this year, which is why we felt like Erich: No, zero. Kevin Ivers: they should have been the undisputed number one in the associated press poll. But you know, Ohio State always seems to get that a little bit of that bias. Their only question is getting over the hump in some of these playoff blowouts. Like you said, must you know things are tough. Erich: So let's move into the later games. we're gonna talk about one that you hand selected. You wanted to give some more love to Coach Huff at Memphis. I will keep my thoughts brief on this one, but my biggest thing is you had the great win. Now you're back at home. Here comes Arkansas State. Not a lot, not a huge travel game for them. You're playing a team that's probably on paper not as good. Now you're favored by eleven and a half. Are you seeing a letdown here? Or do you think Coach Huff has the culture to put in another strong performance? Kevin Ivers: I think he has the culture to put in another strong performance. And that's actually a perfect segue for what I talk about. At the same time with what I'm about to say, it maybe there is a little bit worry here. with all the love and attention that Memphis got and Charles Huff got, rightfully so. I think some people made fun of how crazy their locker room scene was and Charles Huff jumping up on the sideline and chest bumping a player and falling to the ground. And some people are like, you won at UNLV, what's the big deal? And it's like, well, this is a team that's, you know, won 30 games in the last three years, like, watch some college football. That was a huge win, especially in the group of six world and making the playoff. But the flip side of that is: is it too much attention for a program like Memphis? You know, his press conference afterwards went viral by saying, We don't have fun, we don't have ice cream trucks. Our fun is the celebration in the locker room right now. I'm paraphrasing, but that's pretty close to what was said. And I do love that. I'm all about that. I did like that he mentioned that he has nothing against coaches that do ice cream trucks because there are great programs that go to a water park or you know do an ice cream truck or fun things like that. That's okay to do for his program, they don't, and I love the serious nature of that, so I I get what he's saying, and he gets a Certain kid obviously there that buys into that. So yeah, is It's a good question by you. It is that too much? Is you know, they they they got a lot of attention in this week one, and now the the poor old Red Wolves roll into town and no one's gonna be talking about them on this. Even us. It's it's all about Memphis. One of the reasons I put this on the slate is because I felt like we looked at things a little too much from a UNLV angle last week and and didn't give enough credit to Memphis, but Yeah, Charles Huff is the real deal. You know, of course I know him well, the former Penn State running back coach when Saquon was there and brings ten wins to Marshall. Really hard place to win at. Does the same thing in Hattiesburg at Southern Miss, another one of the outposts of college football. Really hard place to win it. Only known because Brett Favre played there, but it's hard to win there. And then he's doing it at Memphis now, so Clearly knows how to coach. I I would think he's gonna be on a list for some power four jobs soon. but we'll see. This is an exciting season for Memphis. It's they certainly have talent. That D line is exciting. That I touched on the Kinseker kid last week. That Damon Tapp kid, too, is he's on Pro Scouts radar. When you look at him, it's like I He must really love Charles Huff, because how did he he had power four offers and he he didn't want to go and you know as much as anybody like D-lines what they can do, especially at a power four level when you have them and a lot of other teams don't. But they're gonna be an exciting watch. I I do think they get out of this. I'm I wouldn't touch the spread in this because it's I do worry with Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: the excitement level. But we'll be talking about them next week too and with the team we just talked about because them and Boise play next week. Talk about a group of six showdown. It doesn't matter really what Boise does in that Oregon game. But if Memphis escapes this one, which they should at home Pff, that's gonna have a lot at stake next week. So s a lot of fun group of six football to kick off the season. But yeah, I I like the Tigers here again. Erich: I do as well. So another game going on at that time that is getting A lot of attention that has nothing to do with the game, unfortunately, because of Lane Kiffin's tendencies to do the type of things that he does. LSU is hosting Clemson. Tiger versus Tiger. It's the conclusion of the home and home. LSU went to Clemson last year. They cracked open the rock and won that game. And after that game, everyone thought, okay, this LSU playoff team. Then obviously the year went as it went. LSU fired Brian Kelly. They then take Lane Kiffen and steal him right in the middle of Lane Kiffin's playoff run at Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss, his really his best team he's ever had as a coach to go to LSU. And so I'm gonna start with this because I think to me, regardless of the players, regardless of all these other narratives. if you remember last year, Clemson was one of the most common national championship picks by the pundits last year. I mean, most who didn't have them in their playoff. Everyone was like, look at all the players they're returning. Their QB's a Heisman favorites. This is Dabo's year to come back. I mean, he had gone to the playoffs with a lesser team already into the 12-team playoff. And obviously, his experience winning the national championships when it was a four-team playoff. I'm gonna take I'm gonna give you a take here and then I'm gonna let you pick it apart. LC's favored by ten. Some have it at ten and a half. Pretty much everyone's picking LC and win this game. It's a tough place to play. I'm gonna say Sam Levin isn't as good as everyone's expecting him to be. And I'm going to pick Clemson to win this game because of the distractions that Lane Kiffin is bringing into this game. And then here we go. There's no Dabo Sweeney. is he no one's talking about him getting fired this year right now? No one's talking about Clemson and all. All everyone is doing is talking about is LSU, these NFL players they're trying to bring in. You know, is is the SEC going to take drastic measures against LSU? So yeah, I'm going with Clemson. Just purely on that is Clemson just gets to play with house money and come in and play a football game. Whereas LSU is now trying to do this us against the world. They know they're trying to do some shady stuff and get away with it. And then they're trying to defend it. And they're trying to do everything but focus on this football game. So I'm going Clemson outright over LSU. Kevin Ivers: Wow. Well, you know, poor Dabble loves that. Little old Clemson, poor old Clemson. I mean Erich: Ha ha ha. Kevin Ivers: he recently said something similar on the ACC network on their camp training camp tour when they went around and You know, y they were asking about some players and he's like, it was I'm paraphrasing, but he said something like, You know, I don't know, we'll find out if we have any good players, you know, week one. So he's keeping things close to the vest. sometimes that's worked out for him recently. Not as much. Dabble's always good for those sound bites, of course. You know, to break down Clemson first, they've gone, I believe, four and four in two of the last three seasons in the ACC. This is an interesting nugget for you. I was looking at two four seven sports, shout out to them. They always have fantastic information. They were rated seventh last year. after returning 81% of their production. Which was first in the nation, which as you said, that's why us included mm-hmm. Erich: So everyone was high on them. Yep. Kevin Ivers: But I think you're only treading water with talent and continuity like that. I I do think the fall-off is coming, and it's hard for me to say that because there's a little part of me that's wants to get behind what you're saying, and it's it's little old Clemson and Dabo maybe has one last trick up his sleeve this year. You know, because people have been trying to end this Clemson reign and Dabo's reign for a while now. Their talent, though, does drop off considerably considerably this season. you can track that on the recruiting trail. Their last three high school classes have averaged a national ranking of twenty-seven. And their poorer work was worse, 69th in the last two cycles. Erich: And they lost a lot of players to the NFL last year, too. So it's not Kevin Ivers: They did. Erich: the n the thing was last year is people was were like, well, the NFL doesn't lie. If you're getting players drafted, that means your talent wasn't the problem. So Kevin Ivers: my gosh, yeah, it was Erich: I accept all those things. Mind you, I want to clarify something. I don't think this is a Clemson wins and then skyrockets to an ACC title game. I Kevin Ivers: Okay. Erich: think this is a Clemson wins and still falls off, as you're saying. Kevin Ivers: Interesting. That's even Erich: Yes. Kevin Ivers: that's even more intriguing. Okay, I like it. You're Erich: Remember, it happened to LSU last year. Kevin Ivers: right. You're right. and that yeah, that Erich: They won that game, lots of talent, quarterback returning, still fell off. Kevin Ivers: Still fell off. Yeah, no, that could very well happen with the distractions you've mentioned. And to touch on that point you were making, and the the pinstripe bowl with Clemson and Penn State, two teams people were picking to win it all. The amount of talent in that game, yes, a lot sat out, but some played, and and then what you saw in the draft. absolutely. You know, I do worry about Christopher Vizina in this. You know, he was named starting quarterback, you know. It took him a little bit to separate from Tate Reynolds and Camp from what I heard, and he doesn't have a ton of experience. We'll see. Chad Morris could be their key in this game. A guy that's coming back to Clemson. He was there during their glory years. he was the OC, I think it was like 2011 and 2014. they do have a great receiving core. You know, Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore could get loose in this game. But Morris hasn't been in that captain's chair for a long time as a play caller. the scary thing for Clemson in this game is they're replacing both tackles, and one of LSU's, of course, biggest coups of the Portal King, Lane Kiffin, was getting Prince Om O'Manlin, man. I I can never say his name. but we'll call him Prince Well. That That guy for Ole Miss is a heck of a player. You know, he had 13 for tackles, 13 tackles for loss last year. They bring in Jordan Ross as well as a four-star edge. So that could be the story of the game. Can Chad Morris game plan around those possibly susceptible tackles and one of LSU's strengths at the edge and and keep a young quarterback in Vasina upright in arguably the most hostile environment, Death Valley at night. All eyeballs are gonna be on this game. So we'll see. I'm not with you on this one. I'm I'm despite all the distraction I'm I'm rolling with Lane in this game, you know, we've been given no choice to trust Lane As an offensive guru from you know when he was rehabbed by Sab Sabin at Bama and then Then took over at FAU and of course brought that to Ole Miss. So I think they do enough. I think Clemson can certainly make it interesting. I don't think it's going to be some crazy LSU runaway splash. Clemson can certainly play. They've played in a lot of environments, but LSU gets the job done here in week one. Heck, I have them in my playoffs. So it they better get it done. They better get. Erich: Yeah, they better get it done. Can you imagine if they don't and then they go to Ole Miss two weeks later and lose that game? You know, Kevin Ivers: Yeah. Well. Erich: in a way, just for a sports media reading headlines, listening to people go crazy, I don't want to say I hope it happens. If it does, though, there's gonna be some incredible entertainment online. what I one little tidbit, Dylan Jones. Is I believe their kind of one A starting running back. obviously he was a redshirt freshman starting running back at Wisconsin last year before he got injured. really good, really talented player. Yeah. Kevin Ivers: The Maryland kid, right? I like him. He's big back. Erich: Yep. Really good player, just kind of an all-round back. He's not a burner, but he has home run ability, really tough between the tackles. I think he fits just that SEC running back build. You know, he was a top 10 running back. Rank at his position coming, I think was class of 2024. so really, really interested to see how he does at LSU. Hopefully running behind a better offensive line than what he had at Wisconsin last year, which was the second worst ranked offensive line in the Big Ten. so I'll be rooting for him to have a great year. was a great kid, and just will be fun to see how he does at LSU with Lane Kiffen. Okay, let's go to Another game that you picked, UNLV trying to avoid basically being eliminated, going from favorite in the G six playoff to now you gotta just try to have a solid season because two losses at this point, you're not gonna get in as the G six team, even if you run the table. The likeliness of you running the table and still being the top ranked G six team from there is very unlikely. So UNLV at Hawaii at about nine central. late game, a lot a long travel to get there against an air attack that my guess is going to give UNLV a lot of a lot of problems. Kevin Ivers: I'm fired up for this one. This game is fascinating to me. You know, the primetime games will be coming to an end. Not right at kick at this one, but we'll be able to see the bulk of this game. Tune into the CW. Wild things happen on this channel, just like the ECC. It's just really interesting because. Hawaii was so close to making that miraculous comeback for Stanford in week one. It's a solid team, nine win team a year ago, and they come up just short. So they've had to stew All week before this one kicks off, and they they come home to the islands to welcome in, as you just mentioned, a UNLV team coming off a bitter home loss in what is expected to be perhaps a magical run to the playoffs this year. So everything is on the line for Dan Mullen and this team. Yeah, imagine starting 0-2 and A city like Vegas, similar to Los Angeles. not hard to find the entertainment there. And they will go find other things to Erich: Empty stadiums. Kevin Ivers: yeah, other things to do, to say the least. And other and then with the Raiders kicking off other th other teams to root for. So Dan Mellon better get it done. This literally is a a must-win in week two, or there goes the playoffs, poof, and it's gonna be a tough one. Now they have to travel the twenty seven hundred miles. They're getting three points. I don't love this for UNLV. I really don't. Especially because Hawaii Micah Alejado, as we talked about it last week, is not the guy you want to be facing this week. Tough son of a gun. He is a good quarterback. They have skilled talent. They can go up and down the field with UNLV. I think the total is a little low. I see this as a classic late night shootout. you know, I'm just gonna say right now. I'm I'm going poof to the running rebs. I think the rainbow warriors get this one done. Give me give me 42-37. I really like 37 for scores. Like I don't know if it's three field goals. Did you miss an extra point? That's college football for you. Give me the Rainbow Warriors here. You know, Jackson Arnold, he better step up for the Rebels here. This is gonna be on his shoulders, I think, a lot in this game. And but on the flip side for running Rebels fans, if UNLV's defense plays how they did versus Memphis, where that's a good offense. Led by Marcus Stokes, who we really like at quarterback for Memphis. Held down to 27. With UNLV's offense, they should have won that game. That was the disappointment for them. But that was a game Memphis defense, as we talked about. Hawaii doesn't have quite that same defense. So, you know, maybe UNLV can do it. But I think it's the real hangover effect. No, make no mistake, UNLV is the better team on paper. That's why they're favored. But This is a tough, tough spot. So I think we lose one of the group of six favorites for the playoffs on Labor Day weekend. What say you, Erich? Erich: I I agree. I'm going Hawaii 35, 31, and that 35 points, that last touchdown happens in the last minute in the in the game. Hawaii airing it out, four touchdowns in the air. Just throwback to those air raid type offensive glory days. For Hawaii, we if you remember some of those teams, some really fun teams to watch back in the day. The other game going Kevin Ivers: my gosh, yeah. Erich: on, another West based game. this was actually my Commissioner of Jersey Colors palette of the week runner up, UCLA at Cal. Kevin Ivers: Interesting. Erich: kind of a coin flip game, one and a half point favorites for UCLA. I'm not gonna try to say Cal's quarterback's name, but I've heard some people. Claim that he's perhaps the most talented quarterback in the country, but I will butcher the pronunciate pronunciation of his Polynesian name. So I'm not going to try to do it. Kevin Ivers: Saga Pula Tele. Erich: Saga Puvatele, really, really. Yeah, well, I think we'll JKS. Kevin Ivers: And you can also just call him JKS if you want to. Jaren Kiawe Sagapulatele. Erich: I think we're gonna be saying his name a lot this year. He's really, really good. that's gonna be a really interesting game. Chesney coming in. At UCLA, their athletic director, I think, just left the program, the guy who hired Chesney. I don't know how much that matters. Now there's reports of UCLA having a lot of debt from their athletic problem department again. And I see some crazy people blaming it on the fact that they went to the Big Ten. Like, okay, so they're getting more money, and that's that's why they're in debt. I mean that I don't understand that logic. Oregon and Washington seem to be doing just fine in that regard. I don't know how more money equals more debt. That's just you're managing your finances impro improperly. Although you could say it's because of all the extra travel and expenses that have come along with that. but again, this is that's a balancing it out type thing. You know, you could probably could have just joined in football and basketball and not join in everything else. There's teams that do that. That's not unusual. Like Notre Dame is in the ACC for just basketball. Like, I I don't think that would have been a problem at all, or who knows, maybe. Back when Kevin Warren was negotiating all the stuff at the Big Ten, maybe he was just a douchebag about it and wouldn't let anyone do that. But that being said, some weird stuff going on there. I don't know how much that carries over to the field, but I'm gonna go with the home team here. If you're only a one and a half point favorite as a road team, that's you might as well not even be favored. That's a coin flip. Obviously, there's no way to score one and a half points and end the game of football. So yeah, true pick'em here. It's in Berkeley. I'm going with Cal. I think they have the better quarterback, and I'm picking him to win as a result. Kevin Ivers: I'm with you on the sturdy golden bears as well. Who who knew that this is a Big Ten ACC matchup? Like that. Erich: Hey, y y the Big Ten ACC challenge doesn't only have to be in basketball. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, that's that's the stuff where just craziness. So old Pac-Twelve game, rare that yeah, the loser of this game still has a flight home. Rare when you're playing an interstate game, but the Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: it's a c California f Captain Obvious here. It's a it's a it's a big state. So those are the facts I'm I'm bringing to the table this week. that's that reminds me of Deshaun Foster. It's perfect. explaining the UCLA and that it stands for University of California La Los Angeles. If you know, you know classic Big Ten Media Days moment. that is that was that was just a lot. That was so Erich: He may have been a terrible coach, but Deshaun Foster was he may have been a terrible coach, but he was an incredible had an incredible moment at Media Days and was an awesome running back. So Kevin Ivers: He did. he could run the rock. Yeah. Some fun teams with Cade Mana McNown and all those guys. Yeah, I'm with you on Cal. I not only with JKS, I think he could take another big step this year. That's gonna be scary for a lot of their opponents. They have a more established identity in week one. as much as I love Bob Chesney, and I think we both do, you UCLA is just undergoing a massive overhaul. That's gonna take a little time. I certainly think they can surprise UCLA this year in some spots. And I think they're gonna have a nice year in year one for Chesney, but this is a a tough spot in week one versus an underrated opponent. You know, Cal, like he mentioned earlier in the show, they they showed well versus Miami. Me last year with some big out-of-conference competition. UCLA strengths, though, is the secondary. I know they're high on that with Scooter Jackson, great name, Roderick Pleasant. Some of the guys their beat writers are high on. So that could certainly help versus JKS and Cal's attack. The big thing to watch, I think, in this game is, you know, just seeing the talent that Chesney's assembled in UCLA, what that looks like. I think he'll eventually get the program rolling. but The advantage at quarterback, the advantage of home field, sometimes it's sometimes it's just as simple as that. And so I'm leaning Cal here as well to get the job done in week one in this game. But fun game, great late night game. We love these. It's gonna feel like an old Pac-12 game at 10:30 Eastern on the ESPN family of networks. Erich: Yeah, one last thing I'll say is this would be this will be Nico's third coach in three years. We'll see how that meshes. and if it's a good if it's a good marriage or if we see a quarterback change in the middle of the year, or who knows? But he is talented and Chesney could be the guy that maximizes it. I just don't think we see it quite yet. So Kevin Ivers: Yeah, and and and to say one last thing about that, it seemed like Rick Newheisel's son, of course, started in the Penn State upset. Like he really seemed to unlock I Iamaliava in that game. And from that point forward, he really put together a nice season, threw up some big numbers. So yeah, does does that take effect? But I will say, yeah, listening to some assistant coaches talk about Bob Chesney this summer, and I forget the assistant's name. Now at UCLA, that, you know, of course, everyone followed him from JMU. But this guy basically told his wife, like, I will follow around this man for the rest of my career. Like, the guy, it was it was really moving. Like, he would like die for Chesney. Like, and I don't say that like to be ridiculous. It was just how much the staff believes in who he is as a person and who he is as a coach that it was like whoa it was definitely memorable for me listening to and sometimes you could get carried away with those things but sometimes there's a lot of truth to that and so I I I think he could be really a great hire for UCLA. We'll see. It'd be great if college football if they got back. Erich: Agreed. Let's go to Sunday. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, that's that's the fun thing about this first weekend. Erich: Yeah. So NBC has a great slate Sunday Kevin Ivers: They really do. Erich: afternoon. I don't know. maybe they'll have a better s slate of games. I mean, they'll certainly have some great games throughout the year, but the first game we're gonna talk about, the Apple Cup. Used to be a conference matchup. hopefully this is a game that doesn't go away just because in state rivalries exemplify a lot about what's great about college football. And the Apple Cup is a great rivalry. It's a great trophy game. Washington State at Washington, great forecast for Seattle weather wise. which if you've never been to Seattle, when the sun opens up, it's a it's a beautiful state. And hopefully a Washington state team that is better this year than they were last year and hopefully competitive game and a Washington team that people thought could be like a sneaky pick in the Big Ten last year didn't quite come to fruition. And they're kind of sitting on similar territory, similar grounds, a lot of people this year. they're returning their QB. We'll see what they do this year. Washington's favored by a lot. Kevin Ivers: Mm-hmm. Erich: 23 and a half. Talent wise, that might make sense, although I still have concerns about Washington's offensive line, which was a trouble for the struggle for them last year. I believe they're starting a fret true freshman, like a six foot eight monster, but still a true freshman at left tackle. Twenty three and a half seems like a lot to me. I more see this as like a twenty one fourteen type game. what do you think? Kevin Ivers: I agree. I and I'll first by saying the Apple Cup is such an underrated rivalry. just another great Pacific Northwest rivalry, similar to Oregon and Washington, and how fierce that is. This one's maybe not quite as fierce, but it it certainly brings a lot of intensity. This means a lot to these fan bases. This is quintessential college football. On one hand, I love that we're getting this game out of the gates and it's not on Rivalry Weekend. It's in a standalone slot before the night games that we're gonna get into after this. but one thing I'm gonna miss about this game is it it is gonna be beautiful fall weather there in Seattle, but this game was be meant to be played in the the rain, the sleet and the snow off the Puget Sound or in Pullman in the Paloouse as it has so many times. Where weather's impacted this game. It's a great uni combo. It's a great setting. But either where or either way, I'm not gonna complain. I'm glad we still have this matchup as some of these beautiful rivalries have gone away. to the game, I I do think that line is a little rich. I could I I thought maybe upper teens it could be in there. Washington is Really a mystery team. I I could see them falling flat on their face. I could see them living up to some people's surprise team. And you know, they they did embrace Damon Williams coming back after he flirted with the portal. It seems like Jed Fish did a good job of that this year with their locker room. he is a special talent. This game, even if Washington does win, which obviously I think they will and they're expected to by a lot, it's still not gonna tell us everything. Th this program is about can you take the next step on the road or winning tough games that you shouldn't or people don't expect you to. That's the next step for the Huskies to get back. To the program that they were with Don James in the 90s, where they were a dominant force and going to Rose Bowls year after year and winning a national championship. I think Caden Pinick for Washington State, you know, he has experience. he gets an another shot facing them, actually. Comes over from UC Davis, so he faced Washington last year in Seattle. I think that can certainly help a kid. Like I've I've played in this venue. A lot of quarterbacks. you know that come over for a smaller team maybe maybe they don't have that experience. So I think that helps them in this game. I do think Wazoo covers. So give me the cougs and the points here. Washington gets it done. But I I hope it's a a really close game because man, this game is fun when it's close and players are trash talking and the rivalry's at stake. So pretty cool we get this game on Sunday and it's in its own slot. So well done by NBC to do that. with that said, let's move into the Sunday night matchup, which I think you you might have a A little interesting, I think. We got the Wisconsin Badgers hosting in a way, since it's at Lambeau Field, the number four ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I will obviously defer to you first here. Give us your thoughts. It's a it's a big one out of the gates. What do we got, Erich? Erich: Yes, a big one out of the gates. And if people remember their history, 2016, the last time the Badgers played at Lambeau Field, great game against LSU, where Wisconsin beat what was then a top five ranked LSU team, although they were also a ranked team themselves when that when that happened. Kevin Ivers: That helps. Erich: and they also had a player you might remember his name, TJ Watts, rushing. From the edge, in that game. So sometimes those Kevin Ivers: Had the honey b had the honey badger in that game too. There was lots of star power both sides. Erich: Lot lots of star power on both sides. Vince Beagle, the other edge rusher on the other side who had some successful years in the NFL. So I'm not sure that we can say it's the same, but it was a pretty good environment last time. I I wish this would have just been a true home and home with Notre Dame. so people remember the let this first game was played, I think, pre-COVID 2020, I think, before the game was delayed. 'Cause I think the COVID season it was pushed back. So it was twenty twenty at Sho Kevin Ivers: I believe that is accurate. Erich: at Soldier Field, where it was a really competitive game until the fourth quarter, to where Wisconsin QB who were named remained nameless through just interceptions like crazy and that game turned on a dime. Notre Dame favored by 20 point 20 and a half points. They deserve to be favored by a lot. They're considered on paper to be one of the best rosters in the country. Top five by most pundit standpoint, a sexy pick for the national championship. some people think CJ Carr's either one A or one B in terms of you know best quarterback in the country, a Heisman favorite. So, yes, I think Notre Dame wins this game. if they Don't or if it's closer than it should be. I think the reason for that is they're trying to be something they're not. So one of the things everyone's saying right now is like, Notre Dame has the pieces. They should just air it out this year and be this high flying team that they've never really been with Marcus Freeman. I don't think that's what they should do. I think they should just be Notre Dame and let their better roster beat teams. You know, there's even the Andy and Ari and on three, and some of the other guys are saying. the playoff committee is gonna look at how many points Notre Dame wins this game by. You know, if you look at last year, they just fell short. And if they just would have won those games better, it's like, no, they fell short last year because they were the 13th best team in the country last year. And the team that got in over them beat them in their head-to-head matchup and beat the similar opponents they had by a higher score than Notre Dame did. And they just lost out because of that. So I don't think it matters how many. Points. And if Notre Dame goes 11 and 1 this year or 12 and no one's going to care if they beat Wisconsin by one or 40. They're gonna care that they went to Lambeau Field and beat Wisconsin. That's that's all they're gonna care about. Miami had a lot of low scoring game, one score game wins last year. Nobody cared. What they cared about is that they won 10 and 2 and then they beat Notre Dame. Right. That's that's what got them into the playoffs. So I think there's a lot of that going around that Notre Dame has to win this game by a lot of points. I don't think they do. And I don't think Marcus Freeman is falling for any of that nonsense. I don't think he cares that people think they should just air it out more this year. He's a great coach. in the years where they've had a misstep, every time what have they done? They've gone and just rattled off win after win after win after win and either gone to the playoffs or come up just short or or or whatever it is. you know, last year they lost their only two losses were by a what, a single score, a last second touchdown to two teams that went to the playoffs. One that won a playoff game, the other that went to the national championship. So there were disappointed they didn't get in. And I don't think he's the kind of coach to let that linger and distract them from what the real goal is, which is to go one and So that being said, I think Notre Dame wins. I think it's something along the lines of thirty-four twenty. They win by fourteen. And no one should be disappointed by that. I don't think anyone on the Wisconsin side should be disappointed by that. And I don't think anyone on the Notre Dame side should be disappointed by that. I think that's roughly what we'll see. Kevin Ivers: If if Wisconsin scores twenty points for s this defense, I I think you'd be ecstatic, right? That would be Erich: Yeah, I I I mean I just Sure. you know, or or maybe it's 24 10. I don't know. I I think it's somewhere in there and who knows what the pace of the game's going to be. I think both teams brought in new players and we'll see. maybe Notre Dame does throw the ball more, which means quicker possessions, which means more possessions for Wisconsin as well. so if that's the case, then yeah, I think it's likely that there's maybe a higher score than we're expecting. I think the total is 47 and a half. so thirty four twenty would be a little higher than that, but not much. Kevin Ivers: My take on this game is one we've talked about before. You know, obviously the hot seat couldn't be hotter for Luke Fickle. The only reason he wasn't fired last year as expected is because the program finally invested and has given him the resources with a great portal hall this year, including Colton Joseph at quarterback from Old Dominion, who I'll touch on here in a minute. But I truly believe Wisconsin has to have some sort of competitiveness in this game. You know, the fans have seen too many lopsided blowout scores. They're, of course, not expected to win this game versus a national championship contender. But for Luke Fickle and the momentum of the program and the belief and the confidence and all those things. This can't be like 42 to 6 out of the gates. I don't think it will be. I do think this is an improved roster for Wisconsin this year. But yeah, if it's your score or even like a 30 to 13 score and, you know, maybe Notre Dame scores late or it's a slug fest at times and Wisconsin looks respectable versus a team with way, way more talent. I think that would you know, theoretically you would think set up well when they're not playing a team of ND's talent. That's what you would think. So I think that is really important out of the gates. You know, it's gonna be really interesting to watch Colton Joseph in this game for Wisconsin. He's in my opinion, I think you would agree, the the most talented quarterback that they brought in in their recent portal hall classes. Yes, Billy Edwards was fine. the why am I blanking on the SMU kid's name right now? What's that? Erich: Tanner Mordecai. Tanner Mordecai. Kevin Ivers: Tanner Mordecai, thank you. Certainly talented. And would have won more games that year if he was not injured. But Colin Joseph's a different beast. 3,000 yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher at Old Dominion in an underrated Sunbelt conference. It's very dynamic. That can give you a lot of juice. For a a team that's, you know, there's some holes on the roster. You need that quarterback to make plays and cover up things, whether it's covering up you know, for defensive issues or offensive issues, but to that point, like Wisconsin's expected to field another solid defense this year. You know, it was a top twenty defense last year, which with the record they had, not a lot of people would have thought that. So That gives them a glimmer of hope in this game to hang around and hopefully muck it up. Colton Joseph making some plays, some broken plays for first downs, first the Irish in this game. The defense clogging up Andy's new ground game. It's gonna be interesting to see. You know, their O-line is Very, very strong, one of the best in the nation this year. How does Aeneas Williams look taking over for two first round NFL draft picks? You know, Jeremiah Love and even Janarian Price was a special tandem. I know they like their depth there with Nolan James and the the Kendron Young kid, but you it's still hard to replace two first-round running backs. So I want to see how those kids look in this game versus a pretty legitimate front seven that Wisconsin has. Also of intrigue to me this year is I know you've talked about Wisconsin has a more athletic secondary than they've had in the past. Bringing over a transfer from Ohio State included in that group, which normally they don't get. Going up against what I still have questions about. I know a lot of people are high on ND's receiving core. You know, they they bring in a couple of those kids from Ohio State, Porter and Graham, former five stars. Jade Jordan Faison is proven. I'll give them that. You know, Jaden Greathouse, they expect a lot of. You know, we'll see. I think one of the best points you made about N D and Marcus Freeman in this game is being who you are. Running the rock, pounding the football, and not trying to prove you know, hey, our weakness or our question mark is strong. And I know that's weird to maybe call CJ Carr a preseason Heisman favorite a question mark, but he is in my opinion. Did he have a great freshman year? Sure, it was. But to make the jump as now one of the Guys in Heisman consideration as a sophomore, like, okay, then a pretty considerable leap is expected. And a lot more is going to be on his shoulders this year, but still the core of what they need to be is running the ball. You saw with Penn State last year, James Franklin made that mistake of trying to in those first three games, let's air it out with Drew Allen because we have Singleton and Allen and supposed to be a good offensive line. Everyone knows we has that. Everyone knows we have that. We need to prove that we can pass to everybody. And that seems like, that that makes sense. But no. Be who you are and let the other things take care of themselves by just playing good, natural, complementary football and not overthinking it. So it's gonna be interesting to watch the dynamic in that game. And I is ever I know everyone's really high in ND, but I just think there's question marks still in this passing game that I gotta see. I still believe Wisconsin is going to field another top 20 defense this year with those edge rushers they have and some of the production that they've added in the portal. So I'm gonna go with the score I mentioned earlier. I'm gonna roll with 30 to 13 Irish. But I think your Badgers do a lot of decent to good things in this game that that gives some hope to the fan base. Erich: We will see. We will see. It will be a fun and unique experience to watch them on a Sunday because who knows when that will happen again. Let's move to the we have one more game on Sunday and we'll not Monday's game. So Louisville versus Ole Miss. obviously this one is interesting because you I think this is a neutral field game, correct? Kevin Ivers: It is, it's in Nashville. Erich: It's in Nashville, which should be about an equal travel time-ish. I think it's it's pretty close, maybe within 40 miles or so for each team. So no real advantage there. My guess is Ole Miss probably travels a little bit better than Louisville, but I would love to see this 50-50. Ole Miss favored by seven. this was a Backup choice for me for upset of the week. we'll see where it it lands where where it lands for you on that one. I'm gonna go with Ole Miss in this because one guy whose last name is Chambliss and he might be the best QB in the country. Not enough people are talking about how good this guy is. We saw it last year in those big games. He can just take over by himself. Probably the best two way dual threat QB in the country for sure. At least. I mean, he can beat you with his arm, he can beat you with his legs, and he's just he's just dynamic at times. And and I think that for that reason alone, I think that's why Ole Miss has at least another solid season, if not good to great season. And You know, when you have a guy like that, it's it's like you said, those third and long situations, he gets you out of it, and then you can go back to your normal offense. I think we're gonna see that a lot. Brahm is typically not a shutdown type defensive coach, and I don't think this is a great matchup, where that's not what you're known for. And I think you're gonna see Ole Miss win. I it could be close, but I think. There'll be points in this game. I think, you know, thirty-one, twenty-four, maybe thirty-one, twenty-seven, somewhere in there. I don't know if Ole Miss will cover, but I do think they come on on top. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, I really, really wanted to pull the trigger here with Louisville as a big week one upset. I am down on Ole Miss this year. But to your point, Chambliss is so special. He still doesn't get enough talk. he's could be the best. You know, Dante Moore gets tons and tons of headlines, as rightfully he should. CJ Carr is getting those and Jamless needs to be mentioned more. I'm with you. I do have Louisville in the ACC championship, losing to Miami. So that's part of where I was like, and and I'm also down on Ole Miss. I I think they can lose four or five games this year. I really believe that. I know people might think that's crazy, but they have a tough schedule, a lot of turnover, and they lost the lane magic. That matters. You know. Louisville's path in this game, they gotta make it a physical game and let its defensive front dictate things. Clev Lubin is a legit pass rush problem for Ole Miss in this game. You know, you mentioned Brahm, he's not a defensive specialist, but Louisville does run a lot of exotic blitz packages, sometimes to a fault, but They might they might come up roses in this game a few times with that. Ole Miss is young at the tackles. I that's part of the reason I'm a little worried about them this year on the offensive line. problem with that is Chambless can evade a lot of that. So Louisville's gonna have to be careful. They also have Keewon Lacey, let's not forget. You know, what a great running match running back matchup in this game, by the way. Two of the absolute very, very best. If you could say they're the two best, Keewan Lacey and Isaac Brown for Louisville. So the big matchup in this game to me is Louisville's defensive line versus Ole Miss's offensive line. You know, if Louisville can get to Chambus, easier said than dumb, they're in this game. I think this is absolutely a four-quarter dogfight. I think the spread personally should have been a little closer. I do think Louisville covers in this game. Loses a Barnburn like 27-24. I think this is one of the games of the weekend. but I do lean Ole Miss. A little too much proven offensive firepower. You know. I like Klein Holtz coming over from Iowa State. I think Braun will do great things with him. But Lacey just gives them gives them a way to punish Louisville if the Cardinals get too aggressive. And that's that's something really nice for P. Holding to lean to lean on. But, you know, that's the other factor in this game. You know, Pete Golding, big game out of the gates, doesn't get to ease into things. What does that look like for Ole Miss? Did a phenomenal job in the playoffs. No one can dispute that amongst that circus and all the drama swirling. So of course that gives the folks in Oxford a lot of belief, but it's It's different when you're in that captain's chair. It just is. And so this is a game I I am really, really excited about. And like we said, talk about these Sunday night games. The Apple Cup. Wisconsin and ND. And then a great flipper at the same time. You got Ole Miss and Louisville in a really cool non-conference matchup. So I can't remember a better Sunday like this in a long, long time. You'd have to go back to like those pigskin and kickoff classic days that ABC used to do. Erich: Yeah, Saturdays Thursday, Friday, Saturday are kinda like it's fun 'cause it's back and then it's like, man, Sunday. Wow, we get a we get a lot of great games Sunday, but Kevin Ivers: No doubt. Erich: Let's go to Monday. Kevin Ivers: Yeah, let's just keep going. Erich: so Monday is actually I think a fun game from a narrative perspective because is Monday where Novell's hot seat talk officially kicks in. Because it can't really kick in until he loses, right? And so this is the interesting great thing about college football is Florida State could win this game. And then it goes away for a little bit. So what are you what are what are your thoughts on this game? Kevin Ivers: Yeah, it's interesting because these are the games like last week we you know, we basically buried Norvell, like probably made it seem like they didn't even beat New Mexico State. But when we're talking about their standards, like you know, and reading and listening to some of their beat writers, they had the same feel as us. So we we weren't too far off from yeah. We were not alone Erich: We were not alone. We were not alone. Kevin Ivers: with how the folks in Tallahassee felt. Yeah. Saying that though, it's funny cause like picking SMU in this game or that they're gonna crush him or even that they're just gonna win, even though we said about all those things about FSU and how they looked Something I I still don't feel 100% about that. And maybe that's just because it's it's SMU and it's Florida State and the names. But part of it is that Florida State, you know, if you if you look at the talent in this game, it's probably still pretty even. maybe even a slight edge to Florida State. I don't know. SMU has brought tons and tons of talent in, of course, as we've talked about. They have the clear quarterback matchup, which is why I probably still do lean SMU, but This is not an easy game for the Mustangs at all. You know, college football is a funny sport. Everybody is hammering and ragging on Florida State all week and all that things. And that can certainly fire up a fire up a program, but I'm still gonna side with SMU here because I do believe the issues are real for Florida State and You know, everybody Everybody's motivated to play. Everybody can be excited to play or have bolted material. But when you get punched in the mouth by what I believe is a better team in SMU, then it's time to execute. And I don't think Florida State has the coaching or the players to out execute SMU for a full sixty minutes. I think it's really, really close. I know some people might pick SMU big here based off New Mexico State. And I wouldn't blame because I was leaning that way. But I'll give Florida State a little bit of respect for Dope Campbell and and making some week two adjustments. But SMU gets out of here and and escapes with a big week one victory. Erich: I'd love to say home field advantage matters here, but it didn't appear to matter at all the last two years for Florida State. So Kevin Ivers: the thing. I know that's the thing. Erich: I think SMU wins twenty eight fourteen, which is gonna be a big win for them. And I think this starts the Mike Norvell closing time music, and we'll see where it goes from there. Kevin Ivers: I I hate to say this, but I I hope you're right actually because Florida State should not be where they're at as a program. And Mike Norvell, like I'm sure he's a good guy. But it this just isn't the job for him. And so I would love to see this end sooner rather than later. And for them to get in the right coach because as we know, it's just better when the Seminoles are on top or one of the top teams in college football and Doe Campbell's rocking with Warchamp playing. So yeah, really interesting game though to close out week one in a a huge game for both programs. So what a fun way to end it on Labor Day night. Erich: Absolutely. So that is the preview of the slate of games. Now let's go to our categories. I'm up first. And this is a title I take seriously, Kevin, as the self-appointed, yet not confirmed by Congress Commissioner of Jersey Colors for all of college football. I feel it is important for me every week to at least point something out. Sometimes it'll be A trophy, other times it's gonna be a slap on the wrist. But this week it's gonna be a trophy. this was I don't want to say an easy pick, but it was a pretty pretty easy pick, especially when Oregon wears something more traditional than the crazy things they attempt to do. Kevin Ivers: Please. Erich: But this week, Boise stay at Oregon. The contrast of Oregon's green against Boise State's orange and blue is going to be incredible. It's going to be nice and bright, great weather, and it's going to look great. easy pick. there's a stripeout in Eugene. So Oregon is going with their more traditional green colors. Although I don't know about the logo. I hope we see, I don't think we're gonna see the traditional duck, But if that showed up on the jersey, boy, would that be great. but easy pick this week. That Boise's white jerseys with their blue helmet and their orange pants or the blue pants or whatever ends up being with Oregon's traditional green is going to look fantastic in Eugene. The yellow end zones, it's gonna look great. can't wait to see it. It's gonna be fun game to watch. So I will turn it over to you for your category next, unless you want to touch on those colors. Kevin Ivers: You know I have to. That's a fantastic pick, Erich: Ha ha ha. Kevin Ivers: Commissioner. I need to start crafting a letter to get that into Congress. it's one of the reasons we were meant to do this show together. It is gonna be a beautiful contrast. Those shimmering helmets just will look so beautiful in Austin. The mountains in the background. Great, great pick. Excellent. For my segment. So this is going to be your Kevin Ivers environment of the week. And so what this all entails is climate, weather, Plain surface. You know me, I I love natural grass fields, whether it's a Bermuda turf, a Kentucky bluegrass. Could be if there's breath involved in the game late November, other flurries falling, you know. Snow, rain, all that, and along with just the atmosphere. And the environment that the game's being played with. Some of that can be crowd, some of it can be the beautiful scenery. We just touched on the mountains in the background of Eugene, one of the best scenes. All of those things mixed up together. What's our best environment of the week? And I'm going right back to the Apple Cup. No, there will be no sleet or snow this year. But it will be a beautiful fall day in the Pacific Northwest, in the Puget Sound, in What in Husky Stadium. Also a phenomenal unif uniform combo in this game. The purple and gold, Erich: Yep. Kevin Ivers: the white and crimson. But you just can't beat that sailgating scene in Seattle. What a cool thing. Mount Rainier in the background. The lights on. Underrated stadium as far as crowd noise. That is the environment of the week. It's gonna look beautiful. And Husky Stadium's gonna be rocking for a very underrated and cool college football rivalry. So there you have it. Erich: I love it. I'm sure that was tough to pick over Death Valley. although Death Valley could obviously be a contender anytime they have a game. Kevin Ivers: Mm-hmm. Erich: but I think it's a great pick, especially with it being a trophy game. Our next category is going to be, we're gonna call it whether it's a point spread letdown or an accuracy of the week. So mine is going to be Iowa versus Northern Illinois. Now It's about a 31 and a half point spread. And I do think Iowa, if they cared about if Kirk Ferrens cared about scoring points, they could easily achieve this against this Northern Illinois team who made the decision to leave the Mac to go to the Mountain West. I don't even know if there's more money involved in that switch. Maybe there's a little bit more. I don't know what the exit fee or the entry fee that they had to pay was. It'd be interesting to look at those dynamics and let an economist tell us if this is stupid or not. But Northern Illinois coach leaves in the offseason randomly. They have zero starters returning on defense. They're projected to finish last in the Mountain West. Iowa's going to beat these guys, but once they get up 17, Kirk Ferris just might not care. so I think if I wanted to, they could win this game 42 0. I just think that once they get up 21, the backups are coming in, or they might just punt for fun and let their defense get reps. I'm not really sure. So I'm going with Iowa as your point spread letdown of the week. Who do you have, Kevin? Kevin Ivers: Classic Iowa. I love it. Mine is Auburn should be favored by more than Baylor. Should be no surprise if you heard our Auburn Baylor preview. I'm very high on Auburn and Alex Goolish. I think they're gonna have a really fun, surprising year. I think they could absolutely be eight and four. I am not high on Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears at all. I think Auburn lays the wood on the planes, Jordan Hare, Saturday afternoon to Baylor. And I think by the fourth quarter. Yeah, it's gonna be hot down there. I I think they're gonna just be begging to get back on that plane to Waco. So Auburn big. That's where I got. That leads us into your upseat excuse me, upset of the week. What do got, Erich? Erich: So there were rumors last year when this team was playing at Camp Randall that it could be an upset problem. And that's the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Now they're playing at Northwestern. They're 12 and a half point dogs. And I do think if Northwestern's new stadium was done for the start of this season. Instead of week five or six or whatever it is for when Penn State goes there. Kevin Ivers: Mm-hmm. Erich: I I don't think I'd have this on there. But I think there has to be something to that. South South Dakota State, usually one of your better FCS schools. Northwestern, I think outperformed last year. Can they do that again this year? I I'm not sure. I had this recommended to me by a friend and I I think it's a fantastic pick. And I would just love it, would just be such a northwestern thing to lose to the FCS school week one, looming a move to a really, really cool looking new stadium. Kevin Ivers: I'm a big fan of that. Jackrabbits, great logo. They play good sports there. And I like the angle with Northwestern's new stadium. That is a very interesting thing how it's opening up mid-season. I'm gonna hit you with the Tulane Green Wave over Duke. So this is a home and home, second year of it. So Tulane is heading to Durham. They are seven and a half point dogs. And I'm not even going to get into breaking down the matchups or talking about Darien Mensa leaving Duke for Miami, which definitely is a big deal. But all I know is that Tulane is a little fired up. A lot of people are picking them to win seven or eight games. Their linebacker Dixon Agu came out and said, we've been to the championship four years in a row in the America. in the American, and we're getting this disrespect. They return 68 scholarship players. That's rare in the portal era for a program that you know has some success and was just in the playoff. They still have a lot of talent. And so I just I like that. I like the chip on the shoulder. And I think the Green Wave are are still gonna roll. Maybe not make it to the American Championship for the fifth year in a row. But I think they got enough to get Duke with a with a new quarterback and Manny Diaz. as as good of a job as he's done down there, I think is gonna start the year 0-1 at the hands of the Green Wave rolling into town. Erich: Great pick. And if I was a betting man and I'm not, I would recommend you bet on Kevin's pick over mine. Because Kevin Ivers: Ha ha ha. Erich: it's a way more serious pick for a potential upset than I think what I presented. Sometimes you have to have fun, you know. As both of us are players of the video game, we tend to see things from a fun perspective rather than a serious perspective. for our game of the week. I I I think this was a pretty easy one. There's probably four games that you would most likely choose from. I think I went with the obvious one, which is Clemson at LSU. Just so many narratives around it outside of it just being two classic programs opening the season to start. So that's my pick. Kevin Ivers: No, I I think we went with the two obvious picks here. And sometimes the obvious picks are obvious for a reason. So I have Louisville and Ole Miss, of course. The Sunday night ABC game. Sean McDonough, by the way, on that call, just phenomenal. One of the few Hall of Fame broadcasters. Great play-by-play guys left out there. Love him. so rolling with the Cardinals and Rebels for that game of the week and should be a lot of fun. Speaking of announcers, wanted to mention it when you were talking about Oregon and Boise again. C B S, Brad Nessler, one of those other Hall of Fame announcers. Definitely will miss his partner though, Gary Danielson. We talk about the the late 90s when they worked together on ABC with that iconic music. And then they partnered up again because Brad Nessler then worked with Bob Greasy for a number of years. And but Brad and Gary joined up again for the SEC on CBS when Vern Lunquist retired. And I know people are are high on Charles Davis replacing Gary, but man, that Brad and Gary, that was just the sound of college football for so many years. And that will certainly be missed on CBS, but they still have the music. I hope Charles Davis does a good job. Ness will be bringing his A game, but you know me, I'm an announcer geek. Can't believe we've actually gone a few episodes without me getting into that, but but now that Erich: Yeah. Kevin Ivers: games have started I'm I'm I'm in midseason form. Erich: Well, I think it's a great pick. Louisville at Ole Miss for you, Clemson at LSU for me for games of the week. And that's all our Categories, folks. So we will see you in the next show post week one with this five game, five day of games schedule. We're not real sure when we're gonna be recording our recap yet, but we will figure that out and make sure we post that on our socials so you guys are all aware. But that's it. College football nobodies. Have a good one. Kevin Ivers: Good luck to all your teams in week one, everybody. Thanks for listening.