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Week 2 Preview of Massive Weekend · The Saturday Slate Football Show

• Canon Stogner: Welcome back to another episode of the Saturday Slate Football Show. Andrew, we have a huge weekend of college football ahead of us. we're going to focus on some of the biggest games on the schedule and break down what we're expecting to see. We've got some really good matchups this week. We've got ranked teams going on the road, SEC teams taking on some tough opponents and a few games that were that could have a pretty big impact on the playoff picture. Later in the season, we're going to look at quarterbacks those teams, some of the biggest storylines, and what each team needs to do to come away with a win. So like every week, let's go ahead and start with South Carolina coming off a 57 to zero win versus Kent State. They will face off against Towson this week. The game kicks off at 7 30. It will be a lot cooler at the stadium. Won't Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: be as hot and with it being a night game it will hopefully cool down a little bit better. Towson is 0-2 They have not been able to stop the run their first two games. They have given up six hundred and thirty rushing yards in two games, which comes out to 315 game. And they're giving up six yards a carry. So just not been able to stop the run. They were a little bit better last week versus Maine, but their game against Navy, they gave up 500. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: so South Carolina should be able to feast again this week. their biggest thing I think going on to going into this week is keeping everybody healthy. some big pretty big news yesterday is Dylan Stewart and Takarius Peak were in full pads practicing. So it does look like they are going to return next week against Mississippi State, which is massive for them. I know Will kind of said it other day, but you didn't have your arguably two best players on the field and you beat Kent State fifty seven nothing. So very positive for them. hopefully it is another one of those games where they do dominate and it's not a close one like we're used to, but should be interesting. all right. Well let's go ahead and jump into the biggest game of the weekend, maybe the biggest game of the entire season, which is number one Ohio State at number five, Texas. this game will kick off on Saturday at 7.30 p.m. It is the second consecutive season where both teams will be matching up. Ohio State won the game last year in a defensive showdown by a score of 14 to seven. the starting QBs this weekend and Julian Saiyan and Arch Manning also started last year's matchup. Arch threw for 170 yards and had a touchdown and an interception. And what was his third start in his career? So he now has a full year under his belt. So Andrew Wright: you Canon Stogner: a lot more experience going into this game. And Julian Saiyan threw for 126 yards and a touchdown. in what was his first career start. So that was a huge game last year. I think if you were to go back and watch that game and then watch the game Saturday, you will just see a major difference in both of the quarterbacks' confidence and just all the experience they've gained over the past year. one interesting thing was Texas did outgain Ohio State by 150 yards last year. so they really dominated the box score and all the stats that come with that, but they did lose the game, which is the most important thing. Steve Sarkeesian, he is twenty-five and nine at home since becoming the head coach at Texas, and they are favored by one and a half as of today. Ryan Day is twenty-three and three on the road, with those three losses coming to only Oregon and Michigan twice. So that is pretty big. I mean Which one are which one would you take for that? Andrew Wright: I would have to just based off kind of the way we've the way I felt throughout us doing this. I would have to lean Ohio State and Ryan Day here. Just kind of still don't trust Arch and I'll kind of get to that a little bit later when we talk about some things, but I would as of now I would lean Ohio State. Canon Stogner: Yeah. both teams are one and they both dominated their games last week, but obviously this week's a much tougher challenge. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: I think the it'll be college game day is gonna be there. I think it's gonna be heavily focused around Arch Manning and Julian Sayon and you know, Cam Coleman and Jeremiah Smith. But I the biggest thing for me is which team can dominate the line of scrimmage. And I truly believe the team that does that is gonna win. Now, if it becomes like an even matchup between the two, then yeah, it's gonna boil down to which quarterback plays better. But you know Ohio State's gonna have a massive front seven on defense. Their offensive line is always very good. Texas is the team that really beefed up their front seven and their offensive line in the offseason. So it'll be interesting to see. So yeah. all right, well let's get into our second Game this week. Arizona State will be playing against number 10, Texas AM. they will kick off at noon in college station. It is only the second matchup ever between the two teams. Texas AM is favored by 14 and a half. obviously being at home is probably helping that number a little bit. Both teams are one and A only gave up sixty-seven yards over the entire game last week. but I do think this game will be much more competitive. than that. Arizona State has their new QB and cutter bully who came over from Kentucky last the last two seasons and he threw for 360 last week with six touchdowns, which was the second most in school history. And they also scored 70 points as a team, which was tied for the most in school history. So they had a very good offensive output. I mentioned he came from over from Kentucky. He did not play against Kentucky or not play against AM. while at Kentucky, but he does have the experience and tough challenges of going over to an SEC stadium. So let's just talk about Cutter Bowley. Do you think his week one performance is a sign of what's coming this weekend, or was it just a product of playing a team like Morgan State? Andrew Wright: could be a little bit of both. the latter. It's definitely, I would say more of a product of playing against a Morgan state, like that's something to build on. Like that's this guy's first start with a new team, new head coach, new system, new teammates. And it comes out there and he has six and he had the many incompletions as he did touchdown passes. Like that's definitely something to build on. If he can kind of come out firing early in that game against A like that can definitely be more of a confidence builder and maybe a sign of things that come. Don't know if he will. But it's definitely possible and he could definitely kind of carry some momentum from that first start at his new school into the A game. they can kind of get some momentum going early and kind of quiet down that stadium. Canon Stogner: Yeah, we didn't really talk much about Arizona State. obviously with Dillingham coaching, they didn't really have a great season last year. I know Sam Levitt was hurt and then he moved on to LSU. They lost Cam Scattaboo two seasons ago after he went to NFL. So I think Arizona State's trying to get back to the top. We didn't talk much about them, if at all, when we talked about the Big Twelve. but if they were to pull this game out, which I don't think they will. I'm not predicting that they will win, but if they were to pull this game out, then I think we have to kind of revisit our Big Twelve discussion. Because Andrew Wright: Right. Yeah. Canon Stogner: we still don't know who that number three team's gonna be, or that Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: number four team. We obviously have Texas Tech and BYU, but outside of that, we think maybe Utah Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: and then I thought another team that I'll get into a little bit later. Yeah. all right, well Here is what I think is the second biggest game of the week. Now it was probably for sure the second biggest game of the week. obviously with a lot of the stuff that happened in their past game, it's kind of died down a little bit because I think people are expecting a blowout now. but number eleven Oklahoma will travel to Michigan, who was ranked number sixteen last week, won allegedly, and dropped out of the AP poll. So they are now officially unranked heading into week two. obviously their game was a controversial ending where maybe we s they didn't win. We still have no idea. so I r I think I genuinely think it's Andrew Wright: you Canon Stogner: not going to matter at the end of the day or end of the season. But if Michigan were to only win or lose one or two games, I think we revisit that game. But other than like just feeling bad for the Western Michigan players and coaches, you know, we talked about the other day. They're they went ten and three last year in the group of six, like, and they retained most of their players and all of their starters. So like they're expected to have a pretty good season this year. So I I really hope I hope Western Michigan has a good year, but I really hope like this game's not gonna be what ends up costing them or killing their season. Andrew Wright: right yeah Canon Stogner: but anyway, so back to Oklahoma and Michigan. They did face off last year with Oklahoma winning 24 to 13 at home. It will kick off at noon, where Oklahoma is only favored by five and a half at Michigan. I thought that number was going to be a little bit bigger, but it is five and a half. but I also think Michigan will look much better this week. It remember it was only Kyle Winningham's first game as a head coach at Michigan. it's a lot more of a pressure job than he wa it was at Utah. he's probably still trying to get to know a lot of his players and coaches and getting them to understand the system that he wants to run. But I think they also could have had a case of looking ahead to Oklahoma. Obviously they Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: fell in that game last year, twenty four to thirteen and which was a close game for most of the game. and I just think they could have been looking ahead, looking past Western Michigan and Looking forward to Oklahoma. But I mean their defense was still pretty good last week. They didn't give up a touchdown. Andrew Wright: Okay. Canon Stogner: they only gave up twelve points, four field goals. So it's hard to blame them for how the game how the game went last week. But I just think Oklahoma's defense is just gonna be way too good and overwhelming. But Bryce Underwood needs to play much better if they want to win this game. What do you see here? Andrew Wright: Yeah, kind of like you just said, just not so much a lack of trust in the Michigan defense. It's more a lack of trust in the Michigan offense being able to stop Oklahoma's defense for me. That was kind of like the first thing in everybody's minds after kind of the way that Western Michigan game played out was man, like their defense kind of looked good against Michigan's offense. Like what's Oklahoma and Brent Venable's defense going to look like? That defense can stop really anybody it feels like any given day. It's like, yeah, Bryce is going to really have to step it up. It's very weird that you feel like a team is gonna have to come out fire and instill momentum in their home stadium and get their crowd fired up. like this should be a game where that place to big houses jump and it should be full by 1145, 1130. But it almost feels like there's gonna be a nervous energy in there. I've never seen a team win a game and drop 11 spots in the eight people, that doesn't happen. Canon Stogner: Yeah. Andrew Wright: It's a very weird situation for them, but they're really gonna have to come out fire and get some energy. and get some momentum in that place. Otherwise, you go in there, let's say you wanted to toss, you want to get started, you want to take the ball, and then they go three and out. That's worst case scenario there is if they get the ball first and they don't go down and do something. Because then that sucks all the energy out of that place and then Oklahoma can just roll from there. So yeah, really, really concerned about what Michigan Canon Stogner: Yeah Andrew Wright: is going be able to do on offense. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I think this is I think this game is going to have I think it's going to matter the most with the field position. I Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: I mean I Michigan's defense will be very good. I think. we know Oklahoma's defense is going to be very good. I just it could be a game of field goals. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Whichever team can get to the thirty five, the opponent's thirty five and whichever team could, you know, maybe if they have a fourth and two or so Are they going to go for it or are you going to punt it and put it back on your defense? Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Canon Stogner: so yeah, it's interesting game. I would not be surprised if Michigan were to win this game or even like come close. I do think a lot of people are expecting a blowout just because they're basing it off of Western Michigan. But I think if you Andrew Wright: You Canon Stogner: talk about before the season started, we're saying this Oklahoma Michigan game's going to be massive and Michigan could even win this game 'cause it's at home. Andrew Wright: yeah. Canon Stogner: So yeah, it's going to be good. But Bryce Underwood He's probably being very hard on himself right now. And if he could have a big game, that's going to be massive for them. Andrew Wright: You Canon Stogner: all right. Well, let's talk about our first SEC matchup of the season. It's not necessarily our tier one SEC matchup, but it is an SEC matchup that officially matters for both teams. Number twelve, Alabama will travel to Kentucky, kicking off at three thirty, with Alabama being favored by ten and a half. Alabama leads the all-time series 39 and 2, which I was a little surprised. They've only Kentucky's only won two games against Alabama, but I think just because Kalen DeBore has been there, you just kind of forget about the previous Alabama teams. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Will Stein will have his first test as a head coach after running his mouth all offseason. But his transfer QB Kenny Minchie had a very good start last week who came over from Notre Dame. The tide ran for two hundred and twenty-seven yards. And five touchdowns in week one. So they ran the ball all over East Carolina, which was more rushing yards than they had in any game last year against the FBS opponent. Keelan Russell played very good in his first start. He went eighteen for thirty, two hundred and fifty six passing yards. But he will be going on the road for the first time where Kalen DeBore is six and five in true road game since coming over as head coach. so what do you see happening in this game? Andrew Wright: I think, I think I see a, an excited Kentucky team, maybe. Like you said, only two wins ever in the series. That last one came in 1997. So they haven't beat Alabama in almost 40 or 30 years. And then before 1997, that's that first win came Kentucky had against Alabama. They came in 1922. Canon Stogner: Oof. Andrew Wright: They've only beat them two times in 104 years. It's like. Will Ston's got his first chance to really prove himself. I don't see Kentucky winning. I just think Alabama's too good. They looked too impressive last week, I think. Really didn't know what to expect from them with Keith and Russell and the struggles on the run game. And they kind of proved like both of those may be fixed. So I definitely see Alabama going in there, getting the win. Kentucky might hang around for a little bit. Should be a pretty juiced up stadium, juiced up crowd. I think they can hang around for a while, but I do eventually see Alabama kind of running away with this in the fourth quarter with Keith and Russell in that run game, staying pretty strong. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I agree. I think Alabama will pull it off. I think Alabama is they have a loaded roster. They really Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: do. so yeah, it's be interesting. All right. Well, let's talk about another SEC team in number eighteen, Tennessee, who will travel to Atlanta and face off against Georgia Tech. Now, Georgia Tech is coming off a dud in their very first game with Mendoza playing starting at QB, which I thought he played pretty well. He did get a little banged up towards the end of the first half. I don't know if that had anything to do with his how the second half went, but I thought he played well. They just couldn't get the ball in the end zone, especially for it to be his first career start. but Georgia Tech did have a chance to win that game last week. but Colorado blocked the potential game-winning field goal. but obviously Tennessee is a much more talented team and is trying to prove that they are a legitimate playoff contender. I'm not sure winning this game proves to people that they are a legitimate playoff contender. Maybe dominating it will kind of, you know, set people back. Okay, well, maybe this team can play a little bit. But this is their first real test of the season. They're coming off a game where they scored 56 points versus Furman. For Georgia Tech, I think the biggest thing is going to be whether they can control the game with their rushing attack and keep Tennessee's offense on the sideline. Although Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: They are starting a true freshman. and can you tell me that stat again? I like hearing it. Andrew Wright: First true freshman quarterback to start in this at Tennessee since 2004. First true freshman quarterback started week one in the SEC since 2019. Canon Stogner: Yeah, so obviously it's Faison Brandon's first big start, but you know Tennessee's gonna they're gonna score a lot of points, they're gonna play fast. So keeping their offense on the sideline is going to be massive for Georgia Tech. So they just need to control the clock, make it a physical game. I do think they have a chance to make it interesting in the first half or second half, but there's also some history between these teams. Tennessee leads the all-time series twenty-five and and 17 and the last time they played was in twenty seventeen where Tennessee came back and beat Georgia Tech 42, 41 in double overtime. What do you think about this one? Do you think Georgia Tech has a real chance to keep this close at home? Or do you think Tennessee is going to show us the difference between what is a perennial SEC team and a pretty good ACC team? Andrew Wright: Yeah, I do think Georgia Tech has a chance to keep it close at home. I know like you said, it kind of came off a dud last week, but I don't think we've seen very many back-to-back duds in the Branky era. I think that's usually a team that when they do kind of perform poorly and kind of get beat, they'll bounce back in a pretty good way. I've kind of made it known I'm not as high on Tennessee as other people are. I didn't have them in my preseason top 25. And I think this is huge for Faison Brandon. Like I that's good place. I keep saying it, but these stadiums are going to be jumping this weekend for these big games. big environments. I think a night game makes it even harder for Tennessee to go in there and really dominate. Like you mentioned about Georgia Tech kind of needing to make it physical and keep Tennessee's offense off the field. Tennessee, like I they blew out from, they did allow for almost five yards per carry, which feels kind of poor against a team like Ferdman. Like you should be able to kind of shut that run game down a little more than Canon Stogner: Yeah. Andrew Wright: that. So yeah, Georgia Tech does, definitely if they can do that, they do have a chance to kind of make it a long. drawing out slow game where they can stay on the field, milk some clock. And I think Rick He will find a way to get that team motivated and kind of keep them in there hanging around with it. I don't see any world where Tennessee goes in there and just blows their doors off and wins 38 to 10. I just don't see that happening. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I'm I'm like picturing the game right now, like going into halftime. It's like twenty one to ten. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: But Georgia Tech would need to receive the kickoff to start the second half. For this for Andrew Wright: Yeah, yeah, correct. And score. And score. Canon Stogner: Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. But they just need to if if it's twenty one ten going into halftime, they need to receive the kick and go score for this game to be close. Andrew Wright: Right, yeah. Canon Stogner: but we'll see. I I really d I really did think Mendoza played really good. I thought he made some big time throws. Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: I dun I I don't know. I dn I thought Georgia Tech looked much better than Colorado. They just collapsed on that final drive on defense. Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: and they r and Mendoza really took down the field on offense. They Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: just they were set up for a field goal. It was like what, forty nine, fifty two yards? Andrew Wright: It might have been a little, yeah, about 49. Yeah, I thought they played that too conservative at the of that game too though. Yeah, I might man, yeah, man, if the guy doesn't Canon Stogner: Yeah, 'cause they started running it when they got down, yeah. I hate that. That's my least Andrew Wright: trip over the turf, he might get six, seven more yards and make them a little closer. But yeah, I didn't like how conservative they got in that game, keeping that football that long. Canon Stogner: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. all right. So yeah, that's gonna be a game we'll be looking out for. Let's talk about another SEC team as they will face a Big Twelve, one of the teams that we think can contend for the championship, Big Twelve Championship, in Arkansas versus Utah. So this is another interesting matchup. Both teams are one and going into this week. Arkansas opened up the season last weekend with a thirty one to fourteen win. over North Alabama, while Utah absolutely dominated Idaho sixty-six to fourteen. so their offense was moving the ball really well. Utah is ranked number twentieth in the country, and they are currently favored by twelve and a half points. So they are expected to win this one. But I do think Arkansas is an interesting team. Then their one and a record might suggest this is a their first road game for new Arkansas head coach or Ryan Silverfield. So it's going to be a pretty big test for him right away. Utah is very loud. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: so that the home field advantage is massive in this game. And it's also a mountain time kickoff, so it's at 8 15. And it's going to be a late night game for Arkansas. but the interesting thing is these two teams have never faced off before. So we're getting a brand new matchup between the SEC and Big 12 team. What do you think about this one? Andrew Wright: For me, it's going to come down to whether or not Arkansas can stop the run or not. Utah in that week one game ran for 364 yards for touchdowns, averaged seven and a half yards to carry. So for me, if Arkansas can't limit that, then it's going to be a long, long night for Brian Silverfield. I mean, they can just hang around, man. You never know what could happen with these weird mountain time out west games that teams aren't used to going and playing. Like, Arkansas can show up one of two ways. They can show up and be rattled by the moment, or they can kind of go in there and think like, man, like, As crazy as this environment is, it's nothing compared to some of these SEC games we'll have to play later this season. So it's almost like a really good, kind of almost a win-win. You never want to lose a game like that, but that's kind of getting you prepared for later in the season with a young team and a new roster and a new head coach in the SEC. So yeah, just very interesting one. Not sure exactly what to think about it. If Utah's as good as we think they are, I think they'll kind of run away with this against what's one of the bottom teams in the SEC. But you never know, man. You're an injury away or a couple... Rolls of the ball away from this thing being a completely different game than we think. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I mean r Silverfield coming over from Memphis, he brought over his QB with him, who ended up not s getting the starting job. He's Q B two. they are starting K J Jackson, who I think is a pretty good quarterback. I don't think he's one of the top Q Bs in the SEC, but he's getting more experience and you can kind of see he's getting better as he's playing more and more. I mean, I think I can't remember who it was against but Last year he threw for four hundred yards against somebody in his first career start and like didn't play again or something. It was weird. I remember talking about it. Andrew Wright: Talk about you. Canon Stogner: and then they also have Braylon Russell who's been there for a couple Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: of years now and he's a pretty good back. So it's gonna be interesting. And obviously they have Utah as their new head coach as well. So we'll see. I don't know if I like Arkansas to win this game. But might be taking them in the spread. Andrew Wright: Haha. Canon Stogner: I don't know yet. all right. Well let's talk about probably the biggest rivalry of the weekend. We have Iowa and Iowa State playing. They will kick off at 7:30. It is an in-state rivalry, obviously. Iowa leads to all-time series 46 and 25, but Iowa State has won the last two games. Obviously, they are without Matt Campbell and Rocco Beck. So do you think I will finally get it done this week? They are favored by thirteen and a half. Andrew Wright: Yeah, I do think they finally get it done. Kind of when we did our Big Ten stuff, really big on Iowa, and they're kind of softer schedule kind of helping them. And like you said, no Rocco Beck, no Matt Campbell for Iowa State. Just really hard to envision them walking in there as a two touchdown underdog and kind of pulling it up set off. So yeah, I really like Iowa. Canon Stogner: Yeah. me too. all right. Missouri versus Kansas, which is another rivalry. Ahmad Hardy has been ruled out for Friday's game versus Kansas. they are Missouri is ranked number twenty three coming in, but both teams looked really good in week one. Missouri beat Arkansas Pine Bluff fifty four to fourteen, where Austin Simmons played really good. And then Tanz Kansas took care of LIU fifty one to six. The big storyline here is that this rivalry is finally starting to feel like a rivalry again. it's kind of trans it was always basketball. And basketball's still a dang good rivalry now. 'Cause Missouri's pretty good now. but Kansas has been very good or pretty good the last several years. so it the rivalry was went away for more than a decade when Missouri left the Big Twelve for the SEC, but they brought it back last year. And now we're getting the second straight year of the border war. So what do you think about this game? Andrew Wright: This should be a really fun Friday night game. Like said, only the second time these two teams have played since Missouri left. So yeah, really old school robbery could be really physical. And like you said, also Simmons played really good last week. Noamon Hardy, very curious to see how that'll look against what will be a much better Kansas team. Kansas last week ran the ball really good, 51 times for 280 yards and five touchdowns. And that'll be tough to replicate obviously against an SEC caliber opponent. But these rivalry games are always weird, man. We never know what can happen in these rivalry games. Michigan, Ohio State three years ago, Michigan's six and five. Ohio State looks like the kings of college football, Michigan knocks them off. So these rivalry games are always crazy, never know what can happen. And it should be a very fun Friday night game to kind of hold us over until all the big stuff on Saturday. Canon Stogner: Yeah, no, I agree. and last game I want to talk about. Well, I'm not necessarily talking about the game. I just want to talk about one thing about a player in that game. So we do have Oregon versus Oklahoma State this week. starting QB for Oklahoma State is Drew Mestamaker. And if you're listening, I don't know if you remember or not, but I did say Drew Mestemaker was my number one QB in the Big Twelve. Not a QB heavy conference. But he was my number one QB of the top five list. and he put up an ad s absolute dud this past weekend. He threw three interceptions. so he's trying to bounce back from that, but it's gonna be tough for him bouncing back from Oregon. If he plays good, give me all the flowers. If he plays bad, you can come at me. But yes, I did have Drew Messenaker. And I do think he will bounce back. I don't think Oregon's gonna win. I don't think he's necessarily gonna throw for four hundred yards. But I can see him throwing for two fifty, three hundred and playing pretty well against Oregon. So you can write that one down for me. all right, Andrew, what's a sneaky game you're looking for? Andrew Wright: Gotta be Memphis and Boise State on Saturday night. I get I've talked about knows if you had that when I put a couple more down here. this one I've got to get to I give you Old Dominion in Virginia Tech. Kind of old in state rivalry that's been going on for the last five, six years and Old Dominion always seems to kind of hang around in these games. Virginia Tech dominated last year last week in their first game under James Franklin. But last year Old Dominion won this game by 20 points. I believe they marched. into Blacksburg and win this game by 20 points. And what was a weird year for Virginia State with Brent Key getting fired. See, I'm just really curious about that one. Kind of see what that in-state rivalry looks like with James Franklin now there. And then second one, this one's just for more entertainment purposes. We got Robert Morris on the road at Akron and I want to watch this game for one single reason. Canon Stogner: Yes. Andrew Wright: I want to see my man in a long time season take a hold or draw that first drive of the game. Very like that'll be the most watched drive in Akron football history, I believe. Canon Stogner: yeah. yeah. Andrew Wright: So yeah, I give you Old Dominion, Vatek, Robert Morris Akron. I'll you take the floor on Memphis and Boise State. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I I was I'm very excited to watch Akron this week. yeah, I just wanna see how funny it's gonna look. Now they did I think they did kinda kill the buzz down a little bit whenever I mean it was the right move to give it to a seasoned ticket holder Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: because I like Big Cat from Barstow and a lot of other like famous people were doing it just to try to win that thing. Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: But I did think they raided the made the right decision giving it to this guy. But one thing Andrew Wright: you Canon Stogner: that kinda killed my buzz for it was they said the coaches will give this guy a series of plays that they run and he just calls it from he's Andrew Wright: I see, didn't, Canon Stogner: Yeah, so he's calling it from the list that they giving they're giving him. So I thought he was going Andrew Wright: Never mind. I don't care nothing about that game anymore. Never mind. Take it off the list. I'm done. Canon Stogner: I thought yeah, I thought they were I thought they were gonna run like a double pass or you know, like something crazy. But yeah. Andrew Wright: Man. I wish you would have told me that. Canon Stogner: Yeah, so it still could be interesting. I would definitely watch it. I'll definitely watch Andrew Wright: It could be. Yeah, I'll flip it on, I reckon. Canon Stogner: it. But anyway, so the sneaky game I'm looking forward. I don't know if it's really a sneaky game. we just didn't talk about it, but I did have Memphis and Boise State. Boise State is favored by eight and a half. they're obviously and one right now coming off a Very close game against Oregon where they could have won. I don't want to say should have won, but they could have won the game. Memphis is two and we I think we had them in our group of six predictions, maybe Memphis. Andrew Wright: think a little bit, yeah. Canon Stogner: Yeah, so I definitely talked about but they beat UNLV two weeks ago and then they beat Arkansas State this past weekend. I think this is going to be a massive game Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: for both teams playing in the group of six. I know we definitely talked about this when we talked about the group of six, but we said that said like the winner of this game is going to be in a great position to make it to the playoff out of the group of six. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: So yeah, I had Memphis and Boise State. It is at Boise State. So it'd be a good game to watch. I I'm really in I wanna see the color combo. Cause you're gonna be Andrew Wright: Yeah, it was a... Canon Stogner: on a blue turf and you got two teams that are wearing blue. So is Memphis gonna come out in all white or are they gonna wear blue pants? Andrew Wright: I would have to think they come out in the all white. Have to. yeah, mean, we'll just real Canon Stogner: Yeah. All right. So let's Andrew Wright: quick on that. Like for Boise, just real quick, if they lose this game, kind of just with the way they scheduled Oregon at beginning of season, if they kind of out flat and don't bounce back very well, they're kind of done in the CFP conversation. You can't really start O and two as the G-16 and kind of still have any kind of life for that playoff spot. So yeah, really, really big game for them to kind of win and keep themselves on a path towards CFP. Canon Stogner: Yeah, they'd have to win out and then they need a lot of help Andrew Wright: Yeah, a lot of help. Canon Stogner: from other teams. but all right, predict your offensive player of the week. Now I did not see who ended up winning it. Andrew Wright: I have no idea. I got a pretty good idea, but... Canon Stogner: I don't yeah, I don't know. Let me find that real quick. Go ahead and give us your offense player of the week. Andrew Wright: feels kind of cheap, kind of like easy to say, but it's almost impossible not to say Darius. Just with the way he played against now, I know it's not one of the upper echelon ACC teams, but he did play a conference game on Friday night and he dominated him and Malekatoni. And then they go from a game against an ACC opponent to a game against Florida A So yeah, really, really hard not to stay away from the chalk pick there and go Metsa just because of the matchup and what he already showcased. Canon Stogner: Yeah. I'm trying to find sorry. Andrew Wright: And also through Trinidad, Chambliss down on here as well. plays against Charlotte, really big bounce backs. Canon Stogner: so they they have still not announced it yet. Don't know what's taking so long. Don't know if they're going to announce it, but they have still not announced it yet. But I was all over it last week. I did say Darien Minsa. I do think Tony would would have gotten the nod over him, but unfortunately, there was a what's the guy's name that played good? Seven touch. Andrew Wright: Mason Heichnell from Pitt, 450 and seven touchdowns. Canon Stogner: Yeah. So my offense player of the week is Jaden Maiava for USC versus Louisiana. They will play on Saturday. and they are only favored by thirty and a half, which I keep laughing and I'm gonna keep picking them for my spread because their defense is a lot better this year, and their offense is hard to stop right now and they're JD Mayava's seeing the field so well right now. He's completing a lot of passes. He's playing with a lot of confidence. So I'm going to say JD Maeva for Louisiana as my pick. Now, Arizona State's QB, he did win Big 12 player of the week for offense this past weekend. So he's coming off a very big week. I know we talked about that for the AM game. JD Maeva did win player of the week for the Big Ten coming off his game versus Fresno State. So pretty big game. Now let's do our upset predictions. Andrew Wright: So I had two, first one, I'll take Mississippi State over Minnesota. It was a little shot to see Minnesota was favored in this game by one and a half, just the fact that it's an SEC team coming in. So I'll take Mississippi State there and then for the second straight week, I'm going back to them. I'll take Cal over Syracuse. Was also a little surprised to see Syracuse was favored by three and a half points. So yeah, I'll take Mississippi State and Cal as my upset picks this week. Canon Stogner: Yeah. I feel like when we think of upset, we're thinking of like these games that teams like nobody's even thinking of. But it is technically an upset. I did have Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: Cal beating Syracuse as well. Syracuse is favored by three and a half. they're really Syracuse They look really good. I didn't watch them much last year. They beat Clemson and then didn't win another game, but they're they did lose their starty QB during game. so I could see why they're favored, especially after the weekend Cal had, but I don't think UCLA's that bad and it kind of just got away from at the very end. But I'm going to pick Cal to beat Syracuse. And then another game, I'm not gonna put this on my spread, but I'll call it an upset. I will say Ohio State will beat Texas. So those are my two upset predictions. all right, last thing before we hop into our spread picks, let's talk about which player is under the most pressure going into week two. Andrew Wright: For me, I had it in all caps, took up two lines because I wrote it out so big. It's archmaining. I don't even think it's a question. Maybe you could argue somebody else, but just for me and kind of the way we view them and the way we talk about them, is unquestionably archmaining for me. Canon Stogner: Yeah. I I also said Arch Manning. but I'm going to say Austin Simmons as well at Missouri. You're going up against Kansas, big rivalry for them. You're without Ahmad Hardy. Now you did look good last week without Ahmad Hardy, but you're not playing a power four team like you are this week. So I'm going to say Austin Simmons. what can he do before they head into SEC play? 'Cause he's I think he still has question marks around him. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: And then let's talk about our coaches under most pressure. My coach for this week was Will Stein. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: And it's not necessarily under the most pressure that if he throws a dud out there, he's going to get fired because he just got hired right before the season started. But I will say Will Stein, are you you're playing at home, you've got Alabama coming into town. SEC's gonna be hard to win. can you prove yourself that you're gonna compete with these teams and that The reason that your teams are winning is because of you? Or Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: is all this talk at SEC Media Day and whatever else he's been saying, is it going to bite him in the butt? 'Cause you got a Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: very tough matchup. You've only had one week to get your players ready for this game. And we'll see. So who who do you have? Andrew Wright: This is another all caps took up two lines wasn't even a question for me Kyle Whittingham Gotta show up on Saturday and it's so crazy. I feel like we're talking about Michigan like they lost on Saturday Which once again, we don't know still don't like it just it just feels like they lost Just like we said never seen a team drop 11 spots in the rankings after winning a football game So yeah, it gets gotta be Kyle Whittingham Like you said about Stein like if Michigan loses Kyle Whittingham is not getting fired. They just hired him He's not gonna get fired but that could really be a loss at derails their season this early. If they come out flat like they did last week and barely sneak that game out and then they lose it home against Oklahoma, especially if they get boat raced. Like yeah, that's that would be almost a season killer in week two. So yeah, Whittingham would be my coach running the most pressure this week. Canon Stogner: Yeah, here one thing about Whittingham is kinda he's kinda giving off the like Frank Reich situation with the Panthers. Andrew Wright: yeah, 100%. Canon Stogner: Like or maybe the like Bill Belichick with North Carolina Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: kind of like okay, he's old, he's obviously heading into retirement. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: You barely beat Western Michigan, could have lost, maybe should have lost. Andrew Wright: Yeah, should have lost. Canon Stogner: if you get blown out this week at home and the whole seas I could not I don't see if their season just goes completely downhill, I don't know I do not see him coaching against Ohio State at the end of the season. Andrew Wright: Yeah, that's definitely a real possibility because Michigan is one of those schools, like they got the money. Like Canon Stogner: They already have the money. Andrew Wright: they can go get really whoever they want if it really came down to a CA. If they get blown on this one, then their players kind of stop believing this early in the season and that thing goes south. Yeah, that's not crazy. A vision of World War II, he's not coaching. Yeah, they could, they could. Canon Stogner: Yeah. But we don't know. We'll see. We'll see. They they could be Oklahoma this week. so game of the week. I'm sure we both had the same answer here. So I'll say the obvious. I'm saying Texas and Ohio State doesn't really mean much in the aspect of conference play, but it is a massive game just to see where both teams are at. I think everybody's Andrew Wright: Mm-mm. Yeah. Canon Stogner: more confident in where Ohio State is as they're returning Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: a lot of guys and don't have as many questions with the quarterback. But yeah, biggest game of the week. Did you have a different one or not? Yeah. Andrew Wright: Nah, it's definitely, definitely that game right there. Canon Stogner: All right. So let's move into our five spread picks that we will be doing every week on our preview show. last week I did tally three points. Andrew Wright: Yep. Canon Stogner: So you get a point. We're doing a point system where you get one point for if you get the spread right, if a team covers their spread. And then you get an extra point if that team also wins, regardless if they're the underdogs or the favorites. So I got three points. what was my record last week in games? Andrew Wright: Your record last week, went 2 and 3. Canon Stogner: I went two and three. Okay. And you went three and two? Andrew Wright: And then I went three and two and tally it up four points. Yep. Canon Stogner: Yep. So Andrew has four points. I have three points. We're going to carry this out through the whole season. my first prediction of the week is Oklahoma five and a half. They will cover. Andrew Wright: I also had Oklahoma at five and a half as well for my first pick. Canon Stogner: Okay. Second pick, I will go BYU favorites by seven and a half versus Arizona. I have covering. Andrew Wright: My second pick, I'll go right back to him, went to the well last week, didn't work. I'll go back to him again. I'll go cowl to cover, not only cover their three and a half against Syracuse, but pull off the outright upset. Canon Stogner: Wait, what game last week did I win but I only got one point? boisey. So what did I go and three in? Andrew Wright: Boise, yep. Boise. You had Auburn to cover, you had Tulane to cover, and you had Cal. Canon Stogner: so we're not getting just one point for the team winning. Andrew Wright: What you mean? where, Canon Stogner: Auburn one. Andrew Wright: where they didn't cover. Canon Stogner: But we just said we're given two points. Andrew Wright: But no, but you can't. I mean, I guess you could. I still think you can give a point when you don't cover but still win. That doesn't seem right. Canon Stogner: All right. Andrew Wright: Yeah, you took them as a touchdown and a half favorite and they barely won. You don't get a point for Canon Stogner: All right. Andrew Wright: that. Canon Stogner: Third pick. I am going to go SMU twenty four and a half versus UC Davis. Andrew Wright: My third pick, one of your upset picks. I'll take a high state plus the one and half and to outright win. I guess I'll eat crow of Texas ones. Canon Stogner: Well by the way, I'm glad you said that. We have not decided what our punishment is going to be for a an Arts Manning Texas ten win season, which now they only need nine. Andrew Wright: All right. Canon Stogner: Memphis covering eight and a half versus Boise. Andrew Wright: I'll go with Georgia Tech to cover 13. I believe it's 12 and a half now. So Georgia Tech to cover 12 and a half against Tennessee. Canon Stogner: And then my last one I have LSU versus La Tech, thirty five and a half. Andrew Wright: Mm. And then my last one, have Iowa State to hang around and cover plus 14 against Iowa. Canon Stogner: Okay. It's an interesting pick. Andrew Wright: Just think those rivalry games, man. Not many blowouts. You see a team hanging around there and who knows, I might score eight points. We have no idea. Canon Stogner: Yeah. all right, so we'll keep y'all updated on how these picks go. we will be popping in next week for our preview show as we head into conference play for most teams. please just make sure you're like, subscribing, commenting, keeping up with our TikTok and all the other social media pages. and what was I going to say? I am also we will also be posting on our YouTube. separate clips of previewing and recaps for each specific game. So instead of the hour long or 45 minute long podcast, I will also be clipping up the short versions of each game that we're talking about. So you'll be able to have access to those as well. Just so you don't have to go through a whole podcast to find like a certain game that you're wanting to hear about or listen to. So anyways, that is the end of our Thursday preview episode. Cosmo Ball is back. NFL starts tonight. We're not NFL podcast, but Stuby did decide to wear his commander's gear. Andrew Wright: Yep. You're You're lucky I didn't put the Taylor Hanke jersey on. Shout out Taylor Hanke getting this number retired at Old Dominion. Canon Stogner: Yeah. so yeah, that's the end of our podcast. Thank you all for listening and we'll see you next week. Andrew Wright: Yep.