Latest / College Football Nobodies / Week 0 Analysis and Reactions

Transcript

Week 0 Analysis and Reactions · College Football Nobodies

• Erich: Welcome to College Football Nobadies. I'm Eric. Kevin: And I'm Kevin. Erich: Let's get into it. Week zero. We're gonna go through all the games. We'll tell you the upsets, we'll tell you which dogs covered, we'll tell you which favorites covered. we'll go through game by game, and then we're gonna give you our most impressive team from each of us. We're gonna give you our least impressive team for each of us. We're gonna give you the worst game and the best game, and it's gonna be basically in the exact opposite order, what I just said there. So, apologies Kevin: Ha ha. Erich: for that, but that's what we're gonna do. so let's let's get into it. some upset city early on, Kevin, UNC versus TCU in Dublin. TCU's favored by nine and a half. They lost in an ugly, rainy game across an ocean, 15 to 10. Any tidbits for us? Kevin: Well, first just have to come out and say we were very, very wrong about this game. So healthy dose of crow for us off the bat. Credit to the UNC fans that did travel. They were able to see a victory. Credit to Bill Belichick with all the swirling things they had going around with this program. We just thought there was gonna be no chance they were w gonna win this game versus a fringe top twenty-five team in TCU. Did they play exceptional? Was it pretty? Absolutely not. But at the end of the day, they got a victory across the pond versus a solid power four team. it's a lot more than other teams will be able to say after week zero and week one. So Gotta give them credit. Sonny Dykes and TCU certainly played a big hand in losing this game and and helping Carolina get the victory, which we'll touch on later. But yeah, it was an ugly game. It was it was great because it the first FBS college football game of the season. It was close. there was drama down the end, so all that stuff was great. But yeah, not a great look for TCU, but credit to Carolina. They played strong defense and they made the winning plays to get the job done. One-and-o for the Tar Heels. Erich: Yeah, a a game that as evidenced by the spread, and no one was really picking UNC. So good for Bill Chel Belichick and his players to get that done. okay, the next game, USC 42, San Jose State 26. USC did not cover. so not an upset, but the underdog did cover their spread. USC led by 28 0 at half. any tidbits for us on this one, Kevin. Kevin: Yeah, we talked yesterday how this one would be a little tricky to evaluate because like you said, it was twenty eight zero and a half, it was thirty-five three USC. at the end of the third quarter. Lincoln Riley pulled Jaden Mayava maybe a little earlier than than people might have thought. A couple minutes left in the third, as well as putting a lot of second and third stringers in there for the Trojans. And you know, San Jose State, as we talked about, has a pretty strong offense at the group of sixth level and they took advantage. You know, able to rattle off twenty three points from there, once again, albeit versus USC's backups, making the score closer than the game. I did like Lincoln Riley's quotes after the game. He goes, let's let's call it what it was. He goes, it was 35 3. We dominated the game from that point forward, but we need a lot more out of our depth, you know. So he acknowledged it that and he's right. They dominated the game. They did what they need to do. and then yeah, there's gonna be some questions about USC's depth moving forward. But at the end of the day they they looked they looked pretty dang good. I'd say they looked like a top fifteen team. Super talented of course It's it's just tough to to take away from that opponent. You know, San Jose State's a weak defense, but you know, USC did what they need to do. And you're gonna see this, I think, more and more from coaches going forward with the new really wrong excuse me, the long season potential for USC. I think that's at play. It was 91 degrees in LA with two points in the upper 60s. They don't deal with that a lot in Los Angeles. The humidity, of course, that lens. we we will discuss the crowd there a little bit later. yikes is all I have to say on that. but yeah, those are my thoughts on the game. Erich: Yeah, I think you're covering pretty much everything. I would say based on how the first half went, it was shocking to me. You know, let's just pretend there was some weird rule that USC would have had to play their backups versus San Jose State. Those backups would have lost that game. And when you look at USC's recruiting classes under Lincoln Riley, who they're bringing in the transfer portal, that doesn't make sense to me. Like their two should be able to beat San Jose State's ones. And let's be honest, the first half score was aided a little bit by some bad decision making on the behalf of San Jose State, not taking the Kevin: Toloi. Erich: three when they could have. And you know, that really kind of turned the game, especially when you're already struggling defensively defensively to go the other way. So I agree with you. I I would say top 15, fringe top 15, solidly top 20 looking team. In terms of just the way they played. My narrative for this is going to be going forward, and we'll go to the next game here in second. Can Lincoln Riley win enough games this year to keep people happy to see this obvious talent he has at you know at the freshman and sophomore level come to fruition in a year or two? That's kind of where I'm at with USC right now. And maybe that talent blossoms this year. but from what I saw yesterday, I'm not sure about your Big Ten championship pick for USC, but it is a long season. we will see. Next game. You and I had this as the game of the week. And let's call it what it is. Very impressive win by Virginia. 34 to 8. Looked like one team was ready to play a conference week zero game, which you and I love that that happened. Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: the spread was four and a half. You Virginia dominated. Across the board, yards defensively, and you know, yards on offense, defensively, the score. It just these were team two teams and two different just aspects of their journeys right now. And maybe we should have given Virginia more credit, bringing Bro Bo Pribula in, who you and I are both fans of. what do you think of that game? Kevin: Yeah, credit to Virginia here. Tony Elliott clearly had his guys ready to play, as you said. Dave Doran for NC State, that's an embarrassment. there's no other way to say it. The the talent they have on that roster. CJ Bailey, I I don't know what the heck was going on there. That was a flat out disaster. It's just You know, I hate to go right into the negative, and here we are, like not praising Virginia for crushing them 34-8, but I'm sorry, but North Carolina State fans, the diehards, really have to be disappointed with this program. Sure, Dave Doran's gonna win his 7-8 games every year, but every time the bill comes due and there's a big game, a meaningful game. NC State doesn't win. They simply do not. And that's unacceptable for the talent they have on their roster. You know, look at a couple years ago with Hollywood Smothers and KC Concepcion on their roster. They didn't make any f you know, waves with that team and then Concepcion goes off to AM, lights it up last year. Hollywood Smothers expected to do that for Texas this year. The I mean, the they always have to have they're in that region of the country and it's it's just not good enough. Step up and win a game that someone doesn't think you're going to once in a while. So Yeah, that was an abject disaster in preparation for them. And on the flip side, credit Tony Elliott prepared, tough physical. They didn't make mistakes. I love how they tailored the offense to Bo Pribula, of course, former PSU quarterback, tough kid from York PA. Love that kid. Super efficient. They ran him a lot. Which, like they talked about in the broadcast, he when he gets hit first, that's that's when he starts to throw the ball better. And they mixed in some play action for him and what a debut. for him and the Cavaliers in front of the home crowd. my only worry would with him, and I know he's a tough kid, he's he's durable, but, you know, just r they're gonna run the ball out with him this year. So just staying healthy. But what a statement for Virginia that, you know, I I thought it could be a in aberration, a one-year wonder, 11-win season, but, you know, they s they avoid Miami and Clemson, and now they get a big matchup win. You pfft, who knows? They could maybe repeat Erich: Yeah, and I I do want to hit on one thing you mentioned here. The way they use Bo Pribula, I think is a testament to their coaching. And I love when we have coaches who say, This is what I have. This is what we can do well with what I have. So this is what we're going to do. Whereas you have a lot of these teams, and I think this was a little bit with Bo Pribula and Mizzou last year, is they're trying to turn him into something he's not. Like Bo Pribula. Let's be real, he's probably not an NFL starting quarterback. He's not a guy that's gonna sit in the pocket and go through five reads and win you games that way. He's a gamer, like he is a Tim Tebow with like better throwing ability, maybe not quite as good running ability type player, right? Like that's who he is. Get him out of the pocket, get him running that gets him into the game. And I I mean, I think the sky's the limit for Virginia. You know, we weren't really sure how the Pribula fit was gonna be. But it was probably a mistake for us to not give them a chance. Because again, we talked about this a little bit with the Big 12, so those teams that are avoiding two of the top teams. Well, they are too. And so I think, yeah, I mean, I know everyone was kind of penciling in Miami and Louisville, but I, you know, I don't know that they should be doing that. And we'll see as the week goes on here. my favorite game of the week, North Dakota State. The glorious just Basketball arena converted to a 19,000 seat football stadium, the best green and yellow colors and all of college football against Jacksonville State, North Dakota State. Again, Jacksonville State, you and I didn't hit on this last year, but they've been pretty good the last three years. They've been in the FBS for three years now. They have all the experience. They come into an electric environment. USC fans take note, that's how you fill a stadium and Actually create a crowd that your team can feed on. And they end up just kind of crushing Jacksonville State 33 to seven. for me, the turning point of the game was the late touchdown at the end of the first half for North Dakota State. Incredible throwbite from Nathan Haynes, who was efficient, not dominant, but did what he needed to. important to note out, I think the past five starting QBs for North Dakota State have been drafted in the NFL. Nathan Hayes Kevin: Yeah, heard that. Erich: has been sitting there for four years waiting for his time. And a good, efficient start for them. What are your thoughts? Kevin: No, you hit the nail on the head. I I think I got that right this week. So Erich: Got it right. Kevin: so stepping up on my idioms here. just so impressive. That's what we love about this program. First drive at the FBS level. Let's just go right down the field, do what we do, mash it in for a touchdown. First, as you said, a strong Jacksonville State program that's had a seamless transition from FCS to FBS. Three straight bowl games. They've won two of those. Tons of athletes. tough quarterback. And they were just able to dominate them. You know, close early, Jacksonville State responded. It was seven seven. But then yeah, costly play before the half for Jacksonville State. And yeah, what an atmosphere in the Fargo Dome. that you know, the bison, not bison. They prefer bison and Fargo. Erich: Bison Yep. Kevin: That logo, it's just I'm really excited to watch CBS Sports Network at night. They of course carry the Mountain West a and to catch North Dakota State those late those late night games, whether on the road or they're in the Fargo da Fargo Dome's gonna be a lot of fun. And we talked about this too that was quite It was quite fun to hear Brian Kelly in the booth. Like you said, Erich: It was. Kevin: that that might be his spot. He sounded terrific. I know a lot of people were tweeting about that and thought the same. He felt at home. His insight was terrific. you could just feel an ease. I I think all the stress and pressure that has followed him and scrutiny in his career. He kind of seemed like a different guy up there with Rich Waltz, terrific play-by-play guy, and Adam Brenneman. that was a that was a fun crew, and that's gonna be fun to listen to for Mount West football this year. So those are my takeaways. The bison, they're ready as we expected. They might be. So they're off and running one and with a dominant week w week zero victory. Erich: Yeah, some great moments from Brian Kelly. And I think people like to kind of crap all over him. It's and it's not really fair. And what really Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: bothers me is a lot of Notre Dame fans do it. And it's like they forgot where they were before Brian Kelly came and essentially rescued that program. yes, Marcus Freeman's a great coach, but Marcus Freeman does not have Notre Dame where it is today. Without Brian Kelly, that's the reality. Like Brian Kelly took a program, a blue blood program that was just in the dumps. It it was a it was a laughing stock by anyone who wasn't a Notre Dame fan. And he turned it around. And yes, it didn't quite work out with him at LSU, but he wasn't terrible at LSU either. So yeah, he's great in the booth. Obviously a tremendous knower of ball. And you could hear that though by the way he talked about it. So good call-outs on that. Kevin: Well said, well said. It's I'll just add, it's like he got him to a national championship game. It's almost forgotten. I d I don't care what Erich: Yeah. Kevin: the result was that. They're playing the Sabin, right in the the dynasty of Alabama. No one would beat those teams. And but yeah, I know people how quickly people forget. Erich: I'm not gonna lie. This next game, I didn't watch it. Eastern Michigan 28-17. They were favored by nine and a half. They covered. they beat a lesser opponent who traveled 2,000 miles to play them in Sacramento State's first game in FBS. So kind of the opposite of North Dakota State's first game in FBS. I didn't expect Sacramento State to win, and they did not. any tidbits there, Kevin? I'll leave that to you and then we'll move on to the next game. Kevin: No, wasn't able to catch this one either with all the other really good action going on. And might check out some highlights and read up a little bit on that. But yeah, we we figured that'd be a tough trip to Ypsilanti for Sacramento State. So with that said, let's dive into Hawaii Stanford that had a lot of juice in that game. Incredibly fun game. I'll let you kick this one off. What were your thoughts on that game? Erich: So my first thoughts were this is the game I was listening to and keeping up with on my phone while I was at my son's soccer game. they won 3-2 in a last second goal, by the way. Shout out to Utah Utah Surf. my son Kevin: Hey. Erich: had an assist for the final goal. So there we go. Kevin: There go. Go surf. Erich: horrible refereeing, by the way. we had a lot of Hispanic families on my son's team, and it's a it's a blast listening to them just. yell Spanish during their games and one of the moms was almost got kicked out of the game that's how bad the refereeing was so it's it's always fun to see the see the moms get angry at these youth events but while that was happening and they literally scored the last second scored the goal ref blows the whistle it's game's over you know I'm following this game on my phone I get home Hawaii has the ball I turn on the TV as I sit in my recliner strip sack Score the other way, game's over. So to all you Hawaii fans that may or may not catch this, I blame myself. I shouldn't have turned on the game for you. Clearly, I ruined it. the butterfly effect launched itself as I sat in my recliner and ruined the game. But that's where I was. game of the week potential here, and we'll see what you and I Kevin: yeah. Erich: pick. But what were your thoughts? You watched the whole game, so I'm more interested to hear your thoughts. Kevin: Beautiful color palette in this game, first of all, with the uni combos Erich: Gorgeous. Kevin: out in Palo Alto. Also the Bermuda Turf like USC has in the Coliseum. the Hawaii uniforms never never disappoint. That white, that green and black trim, the the islands on the helmet. Erich: Great helmet. Kevin: It it is a fantastic helmet. One of the best. And yeah, Hawaii got off to a a slow start. it was, you know, Stanford scored first, it was tied at seven. And Stanford really just controlled this game leading twenty-three seven. And then fourth quarter, Hawaii just Timmy Chang, head coach of the Rainbow Warriors, started just like he did back in the day when he was setting records, just, hey, let's let's just start going aerial assault here and made some adjustments. They started to really attack Stanford's linebackers who aren't the most fleet afoot. And it wasn't that they were going deep, but you know, Ali Hado's a stud for Hawaii at quarterback. They were a nine-win team last year, and so you figured they might wake up and sure enough, 20 unanswered, they go crazy. and take the lead with a little over three minutes to go, 27-23. And then Stanford, what a response, what a drive for them. You know, Davis Mills, you know, whatever, it's like his twelfth year in college, the former Michigan quarterback, he delivered. You know, if if you're not throwing to the tight ends at Stanford, what are you doing? Had some critical throws to the tight ends on that final drive, and then they were able to pound it in to go up thirty to twenty-seven with a little over a minute to go. And what's key looking back is Hawaii had missed the extra point prior, which really, if they didn't turn the ball over on the ensuing drive where Hawaii fumbled and Sanford returned it to end the game at 37-27, they could have been driving to kick the wit the the winning field goal instead of the tying field goal. But was it meant to be really fun game, fun offense? Tavita Pritchard, what a first win as Stanford head coach. We talked about last podcast. I I'm really high on this marriage of the two former big name quarterbacks at Stanford from some of their glory years. Luck at GM. Pritchard, he called a great game, and it's just I know it's Hawaii and people may laugh, but that's a nine-win team. This is a good win versus a team with some athletes. Stanford was able to get the job done, and I'm also impressed that you know they mentioned on the broadcast that, you know, Pritchard's, he's not stubborn. It's a program that, of course, wants to get back to that ground and pounded, big offensive line. We're gonna run the football. But They don't quite have those players at all the spots necessarily, particularly at offensive line. You know, they don't have that talent yet. So they have to be a little modern. They gotta be creative Erich: Yeah. Kevin: and throw the ball and find different ways to move the ball and find their playmakers. And I like I like that they did that. But sometimes you can't quite get fully back to that and you're one. So I thought that was really smart by Pritchard and kudos to Stanford. exciting week one victory for the fans. Not you know, of course it's Stanford not a ton there, a lot at the library and stuff, but there there was some good juice in the crowd there for for the folks that were there. And Eric, I'd be remiss if I didn't correct my mistake. I accidentally called Stanford's quarterback Davis Mills for some random reason. Davis Davis Warren, I meant to say. When you have a fantastic game and throw for over three hundred yards, I should probably get your name right. So wanted to mention that before we move to the next game. Erich: Solid correction. Very solid correction. be interesting to see how both these teams do going forward. Florida State, New Mexico State. This is one you and I had kind of have our eyes on. Well, we definitely had our eyes on it. And we will see where this lands in terms of the categories we're going to go through here in a minute. What did you think, Kevin? Florida State did not cover. New Mexico State did. Florida State outgained them, outgained New Mexico State 419 to 319. what did you see out there? Kevin: It's it's everything that we thought it would be. I I do not see Mike Norvell lasting through this season. This is not a good Florida State team. I knew they would not cover in this game. It's they are just not they're not a program trending in the right direction. You could see it from the start. New Mexico State gets the ball and and they came in last. Not one of last. Dead last in rushing the football last year. Able to run the ball early. Doing what they want in the passing game. Doe Campbell opener. They just it was nothing to him. They just plowed right down the field. If it wasn't for an ill-advised interception by Trey Hedden, who didn't play bad. He he he had a solid night, the quarterback for New Mexico State. and then Florida State, they drive down, and it was it was a microcosm of the Mike Nov Norvell era. So now Florida State has it. It's 0-0 and they're down near the goal line and they rush in for a touchdown, but of course it's called back lack of discipline for a like a trip and a hold on one play. Just terrible. Sets them back, and they get sacked on third down, have to settle for a field goal. And this is versus New Mexico State. And the final ends up being 34-17. It was ugly all the way around. You know, New Mexico State was down 10-7 deep into the second quarter. and I believe even at no, it's Florida State scored late before half. So, but 17-7 at half, it's a ball game. Ashton Daniel Ashton Daniels, the Florida State quarterback. I I do not love what he brings to the table. Doesn't throw a great ball. You know, he had some poor decisions. He had a really bad interception on the sideline. they got why they brought in Weisner, Quintravian Weisner from Texas, who had a phenomenal year for Texas a couple years ago. He got four carries for thirty-four yards. That's a terrific average. Well, let's let's not go back to him. So Erich: Yeah. Kevin: no no clue on that. You know, New Mexico State, like you said, outgained him, new moved the ball most of the night, and and that's that is not even close to one of the top group of six programs by a long shot. And Yeah, f if you're a Florida State fan, you cannot be encouraged by what took place in that game at all. Just the same same issues, lack of discipline, lack of playmaking all around. So so much to say on that, but I'll cut myself off there. What do got? Erich: Well, I think there's a good chance this game is gonna land in one of our categories. I'll save most of my thoughts from there for that for then and there. what I will say now is we looked at this game s in a similar fashion to how we looked at the USC San Jose State game, which is do we see some physical dominance? We could say until USC benched their starters, we saw it with them. We never saw it with Florida State. And that's just the way it is. So we'll we'll end there. we'll not end there. We'll move on to the next game. so another game where I was a little disappointed in the favored team. Memphis, UNLV UNLV, a quote unquote sexy pick for your G6 playoff, especially after the injury news at QB at New Mexico. And early on, it looked like okay, like. Jackson Arnold, he comes to UNLV. Dan Mullen, kind of the quarterback whisperer, right? He just gets the most out of his QBs. I think that's what everyone thought. You know, his second year, they had a good year last year. They're going to take a jump this year. and they were leading 14 7 and a half. And then the the third quarter, you and I are texting, like, boy, looks like the defense is gonna go away here because now all of a sudden it's 2114. And then UNLV just shuts down and Memphis scores the last thirteen points. And that was all she wrote. What did you see? Kevin: What I saw is I'm glad that I took Boise State as the group of six representative in Erich: Yeah. Kevin: the playoff. Yeah, disheartening performance for UNLV at home. You know, if you would have said that UNLV's defense holds a Memphis to twenty-seven, obviously that's their weak side of the ball. You would have thought that UNLV came away with a victory, assuming they're gonna be in the thirties or maybe forties. Not the case. Jackson Arnold, you know, while his stats Looks solid with, you know, twenty-five of thirty-seven, almost three hundred yards passing. Man, he took some shots in week zero. Welcome to the college football season, Jackson Arnold. He got lit up, sacked six times. Their offensive line got absolutely brutalized. that kid for Memphis, If I look here, Elijah Kinsler at number 15 on the defensive line. I think he had two and a half, maybe three sacks, depending on how they credited that. But they were just after him all night. I thought Charles Huff coached this game really well for Memphis. We, of course, mentioned him coming over from Southern Mist, brought some of his players from there. Looked like strong continuity from them out of the gates. They they knew what they were doing. Marcus Stokes, who I know you mentioned, that's a really good quarterback for them. one-time Penn State commit. Then he decommitted, went to Florida, and then with the coaching change there with Billy Napier being let go, he decided to transfer to Memphis and really solid game. 223 yards passing. He ran the ball well on the ground. Jalen Carter had a really nice game on the ground. That You know, people you know, Memphis is always in play a as one of the top group six teams, but they really showed in this game. That's an impressive, impressive week zero victory on the road versus I would probably say most people's favorite to to go to the playoff out of the group six. You know, definitely one of those top two, so Erich: Yeah, they just looked more efficient. I mean, I I know technically UNLV outgained them by like 40 yards or something like that. But UNLV just you know it's one thing to put up yards, it's another thing to put up yards and fizzle out more times than not once you you know you get across the 50 and you know into the 30 and so forth. And that's where UNLV was yesterday. Again, not a death sentence for for UNLV, but certainly a big setback if you if you're Goals were playoffs, which I'm sure for that team it was. This is going to be a tough one to overcome because you're gonna have other tough games, and to go 11 and 0 the rest of the way, which is probably what you'd have to do, and then win your conference championship game to be that G6 team, that's gonna be really difficult. And frankly, I don't see it. So Kevin: Yeah, and just to add on that, Eric, you know, really tough turnaround. Now they have to add to the islands versus Hawaii. A team that's gonna be felt one slip away from them that we just talked about. That is one of the tougher week two turnarounds and yeah, w I mean they also had eleven tackles for loss that they gave up. cred all credit to Memphis, but they have to figure out that O line in a big hurry. Erich: Agreed. So that's the week zero games. So again, two upsets North Carolina over TCU, Memphis over UNLV, and the underdog versus favorites covering the spread was a 500 record of four and four. So I'm sure those who gamble, it was probably not a great week in terms of earning if you went with the spreads. and the unders were six and two, so lower scoring. In fact, I I mean way lower scoring even just in that last game than we we thought we talked about. let's go to our categories. Worst game. Go first. Kevin: Worst game would have to be TCU. Erich: I agree. Yeah. TC North Carolina agreed. I don't even want to spend a lot of time on it. It was the worst game. Sometimes rain games are fun. This one was depressing. It's rainy. These kids are thousands of miles away from home. No one wants to be there. It's an ugly game. Unfortunately, probably the worst way you could kick off the couch football season in terms of your first game. Sometimes those doubling games have been fun. This time it was not. So let's go to best game. Who's your best game? Kevin: Best game, I'm gonna go back to that Stanford Hawaii game. That was just a blast to watch. Offensive fireworks. You know, Stanford gets out to the big lead. Hawaii and Alihada, who's really fun to watch at quarterback, leads them back. It looks like Hawaii's gonna win. Stanford responds. Then Hawaii's moving the ball a little bit on the final drive. Fumble Stanford scoop and score to win it. Had everything that college football's about. And those kids played hard. It meant a lot to both of those programs. Well coached with Timmy Chang, of course, being of Hawaii ru royalty with all the records he broke there at quarterback years ago. Tavita Pritchard. Same thing with Stanford before Andrew Luck replaced him and now his boss or one of his bosses. So cool dynamics and and just the aesthetics of that game. It was West Coast football when the sun is setting. Of course, that makes it even more fun. Erich: To go for some variety here. And even though it turned into a blowout, I'm gonna go Virginia, NC State. That was our game of the week going into it. And yes, NC State did not show out. And yes, Virginia's choice of jerseys was horrendous. Looked terrible on TV. I don't care if it looked good on the field. Please, Virginia, never wear those jerseys again. And it was just a fun game. I mean, I enjoy. Seeing teams that are clearly well coached, clearly have a game plan, they execute. And to me, a lot of coaches don't do this. And I think you can say the opposite of a team like Florida State right now is Virginia is just clearly in a different spot than a lot of the other teams in the ACC. And I don't think it's like they're way more talented than NC State from top Kevin: Mm-hmm. Erich: to bottom. It's just everyone's bought in, everyone knows what their job is, and you can see it on both sides of the ball. So for me, I'm gonna go with that for my game of the week. Kevin: I like that pick and yeah, when you're playing a red and white team in your Virginia, you you gotta go with your blues in that game. That's that's not the game to wear orange. If you're playing Duke, okay, you could go orange, you know, the contrast, but yeah, po poor decision, Erich: Sure. Yeah. It looked horrendous on TV. It looked horrendous on TV. Kevin: but they certainly didn't look horrendous in in the in Erich: No, they do not. Kevin: in what they accomplished. what's our next category, Eric? Erich: I agree. least impressive team. And I think you and Kevin: Least Erich: I are gonna be the same here. Kevin: Yeah. It's for me it's a hundred percent Florida State. Erich: Yes. Kevin: That yeah. basically just touched on that. It's it just goes back to there's no identity at Florida State, there's no toughness. It it seems like a lot of fake tough guys out there to be honest. living off the Florida State name. I saw them just trash talking New Mexico State players at time. It's like you're up Erich: Artificial. Kevin: yeah, it's you're you're up ten seven on New Mexico State. Like if I was, you know, pick a great Florida State player, I'd be so upset at my alma mater watching that. So yeah, I I think tough times are ahead in Tallahassee. I'll I'll let you say what you're gonna say on on them. Erich: It's just it's so interesting. And I go back to last year, which I think they were week zero last year, if I'm not mistaken. Their game against Alabama was August 30th So I think that's usually a week zero game. but I I Kevin: Thought it was a part of week one. It was just a really early Saturday last year. Yeah, for week Erich: Yeah, maybe that's what it was. But they they go into that game and they do what they need to do. I mean, it wasn't a great offensive game by either team, but they beat Alabama at home, 31 17. Great win. And then they go crushed. It's East Texas AM. I'm just looking at it right now, and Kent State, and they just dominate them, like physically dominate both those teams, run like crazy. They throw the ball well. And you're you know, everyone had them as a playoff team at that point, and then the wheels just fell off from there. And so when I watch this game today, I'm like, do we get to see a little bit of that again? And no, we didn't. Not the the entire game. And then you got the players, like you said, they're trash talking when they don't they shouldn't be. And I don't think the culture's there. I think Norvell is just in this point, and it's just so wild, you don't have to go back that far to when they were thirteen and in the regular season. I d I just don't know what to make of this because clearly he knew how to coach at some point. And I don't know if it's just the NIL stuff. I'm sure that plays into it a little bit. what else is going on behind the scenes at the university? But it's usually not just one thing. you're in such a talent-rich area and there's such a historic program. We'll see. I always like to remind people, Notre Dame lost at home to Northern Illinois and went on to run the table and go to the national championship. So it's not like Kevin: Great point. Erich: we're talking about, you know, there's no chance here. It's just if you look at the way Virginia looked, and we're gonna get a look at next week at Louisville and Miami and some of the other teams that are are were supposed to be better in the conference. I just have a hard time seeing this not be a long season. And they gotta go to Alabama here really quickly and that's probably not gonna go well for them when that happens, if I'm not mistaken. I believe they play at at Bama this year. So Kevin: They do, yeah, they complete the home and home. Erich: yeah, great home and home series. I'm awesome. It's gonna be fun to watch that. But boy, that looks like that could be ugly because you couldn't really outphysical New Mexico State. I just I don't I don't see it going well there. And then how does the rest of the season go as a result of that? So I mean you can kind of say that the Virginia, Miami over time, you know, close losses kind of broke them the rest of the way. I can't imagine that we're not gonna see something similar here. So again, I still think our prediction is correct. I think Mike Norvell's seat is scorching hot and gets hotter every time another loss shows itself. So Kevin: The the other thing from that game that really stood out Is multiple times in key spots where Florida State could have maybe turned the game a little bit more and and got out to a bigger lead. There was third and eight, third and nine plays for New Mexico State. And they would just sit back in the pocket Erich: Yeah. Kevin: all all day. Receiver gets open. Like when you Erich: Terrible sign. Kevin: when you have a lower level team that's able to do that, like, you know, like a lower level team, third and long versus the big boys, like that's p that's Erich: It should be over. Kevin: It should be over. It's it's a sack like in two seconds, you know, something like that, and it just wasn't the case. So that was pretty alarming to see. Erich: Yeah, it's one of those things where I can give a pass if you dominate the trenches, but like there's just some weird stuff that happened off offensively, maybe you're just not in rhythm, but your defense still dominates. That's not what we saw. So high alert for Florida State going forward. They have opportunities to write the ship, and we'll see if they take advantage of those or not. Okay. Most impressive team. I'm gonna go first this time. I think you know who I'm gonna pick. I'm going with North Dakota State, the Bison, a team I really, really enjoy. Was so happy to be able to play as them in the video game this year, without having to download a custom made team by somebody. Fantastic. They look great. I just think that their home field is going to be such a challenge for everyone who has to play there. It's just such an awkward place to play. They feel it. There's not much going on in Fargo every time they play. So everyone's there. And it was just a great performance. Efficient. They ran well. They threw efficiently. They defended incredibly. They really adjusted in the second half to some of the speed that Jacksonville State showed. And as we saw with that UNLV how they look today, I think we'll see how New Mexico handles their quarterback change situation. But the the Mountain West, as far as I'm concerned, is wide open. And I'm really curious to see how far North Dakota State is going to go. Let's see what happens when they play some of the other steam these other teams. But for me, that was my most impressive team. How about you? Kevin: Solid pick for sure. I'm gonna switch this up for you on the fly, Eric, because we we've touched on Virginia a lot as impressive. You took North Dakota State. I'm not gonna say USC as a team most impressive, because that's not the case, but I am gonna go back to that incoming freshman class as far as being perhaps the real deal in that game. Erich: Very impressive. Kevin: You know, you had Terrell Anderson and Tanu Kines. Tanu Kines was their only productive receiver, brought back over five hundred yards last year. Both were out. So the young kids, the stud receivers, you know, Trey Mosley, over a hundred yards receiving and a touchdown in his debut. High four star recruit from Chicago. He he looked incredible. go figure. USC just go plucks a receiver out of a tree, and there we go. the Caden Dixon Wyatt kid from Matter Day, just another kid they've produced. He had his moments, had a touchdown. So watch out, Big Ten. You know, Mikai Lemon and Jacoby Lane. Might not have been replaced overnight, but it it might not be long with those kids' bright futures. and then def on the defensive line, which of course it's all about physicality with USC, like we talked about. I did like what I see. Yes, there's times, and I'm sure I know there's some videos that surfaced out there, like, wow, here there were some moments where San Jose State had some nice runs and blew them off the ball. But there was also some moments where Luke Waifel, top five, top six recruit in the country, no matter who or wherever Erich: Yep. Kevin: you subscribe to for your services for recruiting. I mean that Yes, I I think Erich: A bidding or of cash to land him. And you could see why. Kevin: You could see why. I think they four or five million to beat out Ohio State and Penn State for him. They got him from the East Coast. That was down to the final moments in his recruitment. He looks like he's chiseled out of a rock. I mean, he just went around the tackle for San Jose State on one play and just bull rushed the running back. Nearly got a sack. He was impressive. the Alex Van Summerin kid from Michigan State, you could see just bringing some experience, bringing some toughness of how to play there. And then the one kid, I don't know if you saw that number 97. I'm probably gonna butcher his name, but it was like Jide Abasiri, so something like Erich: Mm-hmm. Kevin: that. He had a play where he flexed, and I'm like Ooh, USC has not had a guy that looks like that on their defensive front in a long time. Looked like he'd been cut out of a rock. Now he's not a freshman. he's a junior, but I just wanted to mention him s talking about the defensive line. But a lot of youth, I know sixteen kids played in that game from They're number one class in the nation, according to both 247 Sports and On Three. And they lived up to it. So there's for sure some depth issues that will be addressed. You made a very fair point about that earlier in our show. Excited because they have a real opponent next week as well. They have Fresno State, speaking of the Mountain West. So we'll see. Can they take another step forward? And but yeah, Lincoln Riley for for all the criticism he's taken there so far. He looks like he hit on this class. And then the last thing I want to say, because we we said we were gonna touch on it, but that that crowd needs to be addressed. that is a an absolute embarrassment for USC in the Coliseum to just have I mean Erich: It's terrible. Kevin: it that's I don't care about 91 degrees. I don't care about humidity. Look at the SEC. And Erich: Yeah. Kevin: and all the teams are gonna open up with that are gonna be not great opponents for the most part. And they sit in that and it's LA, it's different, all that stuff. Like i this is a top 15 blue blood program. Like at least get 70 out of your 90,000 there. Like it it looked like a spring game. I'll I'll let you go. Erich: Someone posted a video of the same opponent playing at the Coliseum in 2010 or 2009 and the USC stadium is full. So similar time of year, same opponent. And I don't they're not the only team that's dealing with this issue, but I think a lot of times USC gets compared to Notre Dame just 'cause that classic rivalry rivalry. Notre Dame would never do this. Kevin: No. By its up. Erich: You know, I don't care. You could say, it's South Bend, there's nothing else to do. That stadium is filled by people traveling on average 100 miles or more to get to those games. Like the alumni don't live in South Bend. Like, trust me, you don't want to live in South Bend if you don't have to. So, my point Kevin: Tons in Chicago. Yeah. Yeah. yeah. Erich: is there's no excuse. LA is a huge city, it's a great stadium. Yeah, it's 91 degrees, some humidity, Crimea River. Most of the country deals with similar conditions the first couple weeks of the season, except for like the very northern based teams. So I don't know what UECA has to do to fix it. It was a really bad look. It doesn't look great for the Big Ten. It doesn't look great for them. I don't know if it fed into the players' energy a little bit here when the backups came on, just because there's no one really there cheering you on. Everyone's leaving. I'm sure it'll be more full for their bigger games. you know, I remember when Wisconsin was there the other year. It was full. But if they have to rely on these Big Ten teams traveling there to fill their stadium, or they can only fill it when it's a top-tier opponent, I don't know what to say about it. And I don't know how they fix it. I just hope that they do. And my guess is the best way for them to fix it would be to actually make a run. And hopefully that takes care of it. Because it Kevin: Yeah. Erich: is a fun place when it's rocking. And it wasn't. Kevin: I know Penn State in their playoff year, the the overtime game there, phenomenal crowd rocking exactly how it should be, but it it shouldn't take that, like you said. And and I don't get it. They went seven and two in the Big Ten last year. You have the number one recruiting class, you're ranked in the top fifteen. This is Lincoln Riley's best roster. You have a lot of positive momentum here. you know, go go do you know there's so many things to do in LA. It's a three, three and a half hour game. Like, if you wanna do those things, go do that later. Go do that at different parts of the week. I I Erich: Yeah, I agreed. Kevin: though those arguments just really tick me off. And so yeah, like there was thirty would you say thirty thousand? I I Erich: They claimed it got up to 50,000 at one point. I don't buy it. I never saw 50,000 fans, nor did I hear it. So maybe Kevin: Yeah. Erich: that maybe there was 50,000 tickets purchased, but I I, you know, if someone was doing a manual clicker, I I would have a hard time seeing that. But Kevin: Yeah. Erich: that's the show. We're gonna record again here in a day or two for previews for next week. Thank you for listening. That's College Football Nobodies Kevin: See you later, guys.