Latest / The Craig Way Show / Red River Reactions, SEC and Big Ten Tiers, Texas A&M's Woes with Shehan Jeyarajah

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Red River Reactions, SEC and Big Ten Tiers, Texas A&M's Woes with Shehan Jeyarajah · The Craig Way Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome back on this Texan Tuesday edition of the Craig
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Way Show. Jay Kerman here in for the voice of
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the Longhorns, Craig Way, as we welcome in Shahan Jayarajah
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: from CBS Sports, who was at that State Fair Street fight. Shahan,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: thanks so much for taking the time to join us
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: and break it down here today.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Well, look, it was certainly a loss that is sticking
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: with Texas fans. Our text line was pretty busy yesterday
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: as it has been the entire season when it comes
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: to concerns about the Longhorns and this offense based on
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the struggles they had against that Brent Venables defense. But really,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: over the course of the last few weeks as a whole,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in your mind right now, how concerned do Texas fans
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: have the right to be when it comes to where
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: this offense is at the halfway point of the season?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: No, I think the concerns are fair, right? You do
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: have to contextualize. They played three of the best defenses
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: in the country in Ohio State, Tennessee and Oklahoma. But
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: they also have looked hapless at times. And, you know,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I know that Steve Sarkeesian keeps pointing to the total
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: offense numbers, the scoring numbers and all that. But that's
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: not really telling the story. It's their inability to stay
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: on the field. It's their inability to put drives together.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: You know, obviously something that's been pointed out is their
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: three and out rate. It's just not good enough for
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: what is just frankly the most expensive offense in college
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: football led by the most high profile quarterback.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: In college football.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: So again, if Texas manages to string together a couple
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: first downs in the second half, this isn't a ball
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: game at all. They don't even need to score in
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: that case, but they go three and out three times
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: to start. They go four and out the second time,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: and then they throw the interception. So I do think
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: that there are very legitimate concerns, and I think the
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: big reason that this has led to so much consternation
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: is because people saw it through the first four games
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think the frustrating part for for Texas fans,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: when it comes to this game is you knew you
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: were going up against an offense that wasn't going to
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: be able to do much. And really Oklahoma, just the
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: one offensive touchdown in the game, you get the bow
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and pick six, you get the block punt. And it
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: felt to me, I don't know how you felt about
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the game coming in. It felt to me as though
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: that was the only way Texas was going to lose
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the ball game was given up non-offensive touchdowns. And They
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: did kind of give up two of them. I liked
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: what you said on X after the game was over.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Oklahoma's transformation into SEC Iowa is complete. It was a
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Hawkeye-like win for Brent Venables, guys.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: A hundred percent.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: And by the way, I think that people thought that
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: that was an insult. No, that's just a compliment based
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: on style of play.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: That's how Iowa has won so many games over the years.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: But I did say heading into last week, like if
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Texas loses this game, it is 100% going to be
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: on the back of Texas. And it was 100% on
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the back of Texas. You mentioned two non-offensive touchdowns. I mean,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: you pay a special teams coordinator a million dollars and
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: you can't block in the end zone? That just can't happen.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: You have a pick six on a broken play. That
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: can't happen. You have the interception where, again, everybody's seen
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: the replay. There's so much space in the middle of
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the field. Why are there no receivers there? Instead, Arch
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Manning has to try to thread a pass.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: And ultimately, it sets up a game-winning field goal.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: So essentially, 17 points were almost directly gifted by the
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: offensive Texas. And by the way, even when you talk
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: about the defense, it was penalties.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: It wasn't actually breakdowns.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Whenever they went and scored their touchdowns. So just a
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: very disappointing effort. And again, these are the kind of mistakes,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: just to be frank, we don't see Georgia making these mistakes.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: We don't see Alabama making these mistakes. We usually don't
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: see Ohio State making these mistakes. And that's the class
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: of team that Texas should be in and deserves to
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: be in for the most part. They have to clean
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: up these mistakes and not beat themselves.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: And unfortunately, sometimes when Georgia makes those mistakes, the officials
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: turn around and make a mistake. Like we saw in
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Tuscaloosa on Saturday night, Shahan Jayarajah from CBS Sports is
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: with us talking college football, talking Texas Longhorns.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: To the extent that the AP poll.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Even matters right now, do you think Texas is properly
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: ranked at number seven? I do.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: And again, everybody's going to kind of point to like, well,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: you know, we have the big win and we only
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: have the one loss. I think that it's also about
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: the body of work, right? It's also about not looking
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: great against a Tennessee team that might be number 14,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: but I don't think it's regarded all that highly. It's also,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: you know, again, a little bit of a lackluster effort
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: against UTSA. It's having three bad quarters against Ohio State,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: even though you have the fourth good one, right? So
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: I do think that it's fair for them to be
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: kind of in the middle range of the one-loss SEC
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: teams at this point. And again, when you compare them, like, again,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: I think that Alabama at this point has looked like
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: a better team than them for more of the year.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I think that obviously you look at the Notre Dames,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: the Miamis, the Georgias, those are kind of no-brainers. So
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: I think that where they're at is just about right
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: right now, and they're going to have plenty of opportunity
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: to play their way back up.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're going to get to next week and
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: looking ahead at some of these matchups.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: I'll put you on the spot, though.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Who is the team that you feel like is best
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: in the sport right now through seven weeks?
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I think it's Georgia. I'm not going to overthink it, right?
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: I think that Miami, Notre Dame, really interesting teams in
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: that conversation. But the difference with Georgia is now they've
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: gone and done it against one of the best. And
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: I do think Alabama is one of the best, officiating
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: miscues aside. But I do think that Georgia looks like
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Georgia again. And that was something I think even in 2025,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: you saw the up and down, you saw the breakdown,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: you saw the mistakes.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Well, those are gone now.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: This is a Georgia team on both sides of the
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: ball that is really just playing impressive football they've been
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: able to get efficient quarterback play from gunner stockton defensively
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: they've shut teams down again alabama had scored 45 points
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: in every game leading into that game where they're held
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: to 17 and i think georgia's defense looks like a
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: georgia defense i mean it was it was kind of
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: a an underrated factor like georgia in 21 and 22
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: was you know top five defense and they really hadn't
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: been at that level almost since that 2022 team. Well,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: they look like they're back at that level, especially when
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: they play the run. So I think Georgia's the best
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: team in the sports. Again, I think that they're probably
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: right now, maybe even in a class of their own
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: right now, and we'll see if other teams are able
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: to play their way back up into it.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if winning in Tuscaloosa and slowing down Keelan Russell
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: was that easy this year, I think more teams would
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: do it. So I'd agree with you right now. on
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: the Georgia Bulldogs coming in at number one. We've got
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: plenty of teams in the top 10 that are facing
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: tough tests this week. But before we get into all
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: of that, I want to come back to a couple
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: of SEC stories, specifically another team that joined Texas on
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: the loser side of your winners and losers column over
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: at CBSSports.com, and that's Texas A & M. I mean,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: I got to get your thoughts on what's going on there.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: After the 27-6 loss at Missouri, Mike Elko said, asked
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: some version, for those of you that missed it, of
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: what can fans be excited about when it comes to
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: your offense. He proceeded to take a shot at Texags,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the popular and powerful fan site, and its editor-in-chief, Billy Lucci,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: calling it Billy's cesspool. He's since apologized. What was your
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: reaction to this, and what has the fallout been like
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: among A & M people that you've spoken with about it?
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, if.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: You're the head coach of Texas A & M, that
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: is the one enemy that you really cannot afford to
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: make because that is a very powerful figure in.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: That market and a very powerful site.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: And, you know, you can't even almost compare it to
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: even some of the Texas sites.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: Like Texas is an entity all to itself.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: But, you know, I think that it shows the level
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: of frustration there is right now, not just by Mike Elko,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: but by everyone, right? This was a team that made
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: the college football playoff last year that was 11-1, that frankly, again,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: up until the very second half of that Texas game,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: looks like they might have been 12-0 and cruising through
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: the national picture. And so I think that it's frustrating
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: and a bit stunning for people to see how things
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: have changed since the second half of that Texas game on.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: And again, look, the other part of this as well
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: is that they're obviously not going to fire Mike Elko.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: They don't want to fire Mike Elko. And so I
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: think that there's this understanding that this is what we
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: got right now. And this is what we're dealing with.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: And we might not even have answers on this roster
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: despite bringing in a really talented portal class and a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: really talented recruiting class. So, I think that people are
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: just trying to deal with that. Now, I think that
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: A & M fans are, to some extent, I think
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: they understand what this year is probably going to be.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: That it's probably a bit of a lost cause. But
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: I think they're trying to figure out, like, how can
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: we find any positives in this? And when your coach
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: is kind of throwing the fan base under the bus,
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: it doesn't feel good.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: No, and you look across town a few states over
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: in Lexington, and you see that Will Stein might have
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: kind of been the secret sauce for that offense all along,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: all the success that he's had so far with Kenny
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Minchie at Kentucky.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Staying on that loser.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Side of that column, though, the winners and losers you
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: did over at CBS Sports, Florida's there because they've been
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: beaten handily two weeks in a row, got trucked by Mizzou,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: then you lose by three scores at the Swamp to
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: South Carolina, a team that was winless in the SEC.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: So it makes you wonder, right, which results, is it
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the big win over Ole Miss or is it the
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: home loss of South Carolina that's more indicative of the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: way you see this Florida season unfolding here over the
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: second half?
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Well, this is what's interesting about the SEC this year
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: is that I think that, again, we have the Georgia-Alabama tier.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: We'll maybe figure out if Texas can get back into
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: that tier. The second tier, though, like it is really tight.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: And it's a little messy, frankly, right? Because you have, again,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: LSU goes and wins big against Clemson, and then they
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: lose against Ole Miss. Then Ole Miss goes and loses
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: big to Florida. And then Florida goes and loses big
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: to Missouri and to South Carolina.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Like, I think that the.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: Distance between these teams is closer than it's been in
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: a very long time. And I think that makes things
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: really complicated for this level of teams. Because, again, like
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: if you can be above that, like Georgia is right now,
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: like I think Alabama might be again, you can kind
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: of cruise through them.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: But if you are Florida and you're in the middle
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: of it.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, again, that means that there's a lot of
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: losable games in your nine game conference schedule, by the way.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, I do think that Florida is
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: really good. I do think that offensively, they still have
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: more answers to come. I expect that Jaden Baugh isn't
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: going to be shut down every single week like he
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: has been the last two.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: But I think also your defense has gotten exposed.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: This is probably one of the bottom three defenses in
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: the SEC. I know we'll talk about it, probably a
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: get-right spot for this Texas offense. But I think that
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: also teams are starting to figure out if we shut
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: down Jaden Baugh and really try to press these receivers,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: they've got great receivers. I mean, Aaron Files is a
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: good quarterback, but he's also not a playmaker necessarily either.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: He's more somebody who, who wants to be in structure.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: So I think they're getting a little figured out right now,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: but I do also think there are more answers on
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: the roster than what they've had the past two weeks.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's some element of this with the
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: new coaching staff, Sumrall and Buster Faulkner. Once the film
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: is out, it's a little bit easier to kind of
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: react to it. I kind of think about how Dylan
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Raiola looked in relief versus coming out to play against
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: UCLA once the Bruins figured out, okay, this guy's not
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: going to hurt us in the same ways that Dante
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Moore can. I I wonder if there's some of that
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: going on with Florida. And I wonder how you hinted
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: at think this matchup kind of hinges between Texas and Florida.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Is it as simple as the Longhorns being able to
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: do what Missouri and South Carolina did and stop the run?
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's stopping the run on defense, and
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I think offensively it's being explosive, right? This is a
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Florida defense that just frankly has not been very good
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: through the first couple weeks of the year. They haven't
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: stopped the run at a high level, and they've gotten
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: bullied in the secondary specifically. So if you're Texas right now,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: this has to be, again, the get-right game for your offense.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: You need your receivers to show up. You need Arch
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Manning to play mistake-free football.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: And I think on the other side, like you said,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, Texas has done a really good job against
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: the run for the most part. And again, Jaden Ball
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: is a different kind of challenge, but it's more about
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: eye discipline, I think, than even talent or disruption. Because,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: you know, that's the thing that Buster Faulkner brings to
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: the table as Florida's offensive coordinator is he likes to
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: attack angles. He likes to catch you off guard. He
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: likes to create favorable matchups in his blocking schemes. If
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: you can avoid those and play complimentary mistake-free football, I
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: think that you have a really good chance to pull
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: out a win.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, keyword there is discipline.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I think it's being stressed in more ways than one
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: inside the Longhorn building right now defensively with Will Muschamp.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: We're talking with Shahan J.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Arraja from CBS Sports for just a few more minutes.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: What a slate. We've got this weekend.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: There's plenty of other SEC games we could get to,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: but I want to get your thoughts on Ohio State
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: and Indiana because the Hoosiers found a way to knock
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: off Nebraska down two scores on the road. I think
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: those two receivers are special, but Ohio State, they've looked
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the part, I believe, since losing here in Austin.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: No, they have.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: This is a heavyweight matchup. This is a battle for
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Big Ten supremacy. And again, outside of really one quarter,
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: like Ohio State and Indiana have really managed to take
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: care of business through these first couple of weeks. I'm
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: going to be really curious to see how Indiana matches
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: up because this is the first time that they're playing
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: against an elite level team. I think that Nebraska and Northwestern, frankly,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: are top 25 caliber teams and they found ways to
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: win those games.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: But both of them were a little messy.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: And they needed a fourth quarter comeback against Nebraska specifically
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: in order to pull it off. Well, this is a
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: game where I think you need Josh Hoover in that
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: receiver core to be at their best from the word go.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Because when you look at Ohio State, not just the
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: text game, but in the week since that, Their secondary
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: has not been.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Playing to the best of their ability at this point.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: I think that you always just assume that you can
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: replace all these pass rushers and all this stuff. I
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: don't think it's quite happened to the level that Ohio
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: State fans were hoping for. I think that on the
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: other side, too, if you're able to at least slow
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: down Jeremiah Smith and blanket him and force other guys
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: to beat you, which I think Indiana has the defensive
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: talent to do, That's going to give you a chance
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: in this spot. So again, it's really going to be,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: I think, who can shut down the opposing passing game
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: and who also can control the pace of play, hold
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: on to the ball, give themselves a chance.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a really interesting matchup. Yeah, yeah.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: A big key for me in that one, Indiana pressuring Sayan.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: I feel like when you pressure him, it's led to
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: some less than desirable results in these big games for
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Ohio State.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: But you're right.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: And I'm curious if you view the Big Ten kind
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: of the way you broke down the SEC.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Are Ohio State and Indiana.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: in that top tier above, or is a team like
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: UCLA or some of these other middling Big Ten teams
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: that are in that 10 through 25 AP ranking, are
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: they pushing towards being in a tier with those two?
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: No, I think this one's really interesting, too, because I
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: think that, like you said, there are more teams pushing
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: for that top tier, I think, in the Big Ten.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: But I think that top tier is a little less
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: high right now and is a little bit more accessible
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: than it is in the SEC. Like you said, Ohio
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: State has moments of looking a little mortal.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: Indiana as well.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: UCLA, like you said, has maybe been the best team,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: you know, quarter by quarter in the Big Ten to
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: this point.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: And that game finished, I think it was 17 to
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: 15 last week.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Well, if they just managed to not turn over the ball,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: this probably should have been a 25-point victory for UCLA.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: So I think that UCLA absolutely is knocking on the
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: door of that top group as well. And again, I
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: think Ohio State and Indiana have shown moments of looking
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: mortal as well. So it's probably a little bit more
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: muddy even at the top of the Big Ten than
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: it is in the SEC this year. And look, Georgia
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: has a long season to kind of prove that they're
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: above the rest of the field as well. But I
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: do think that the top is less separate in the
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Big Ten than the SEC.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know what to make of the top of
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the Big 12, but we'll talk about one of its
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: teams first, BYU. Who needs that game more in Provo,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: BYU or Notre Dame?
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Well, look, I mean, I think it's a big spot
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: for Notre Dame, but this is the biggest spot in
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: program history for BYU. This is a game that they've
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: wanted for decades. You know, I've been doing some reporting.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: I've got a story hopefully coming out Friday. I'm still
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: writing it. But basically, I mean, BYU set up a
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: series with Notre Dame back when both teams were independent
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: in 2012.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: And they never got the return game back to Provo. Well,
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: now for the.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: First time in program history, BYU is playing at the
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: highest level of college football. They're a top 10 team
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: in the country, and they're finally getting Notre Dame back
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: to town. Notre Dame represents so much of what BYU
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: wants to be. And from a pure football perspective, right,
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: we talk about BYU as a team that's maybe just
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: on the outside looking in, right? Like, yeah, they're really good,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: but not quite that level, right? This is the game
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: where that can change because we know that Notre Dame
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: is at that level. And you get them at home,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: you get them in a big spot. It sucks, I'll
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: just say, that their running back, LJ Martin, is out.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: He's their best player. But I think that they're going
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: to compete hard on defense. I think that they have
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: ways to generate offense as well. So I think that
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: this is a game-changing spot for BYU, not just this year,
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: but as a program long-term.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: The lingering idea of Martin coming back to join BYU
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: in a potential postseason push, that makes me think they've
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: got the highest playoff ceiling out of these Big 12 contenders.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: But would you say Texas Tech or Utah takes that
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: crown instead?
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: Well, it's interesting.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: I think that all three have had very different pathways
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: to get to where they are right now. All three
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: of them are top 11 in SP +, all three
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: are top 12 in the rankings. You know, for BYU,
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: they're a little bit more battle-tested. They have a really
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: good win against an Arizona team that I think should
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: be top 25. You know, Utah has been awesome. Like,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: they've been perfect, essentially, but they haven't played anybody to
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: this point. And Texas Tech has the one big win
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: over Houston, but they've also probably looked the shakiest out
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: of all three of these teams overall.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: In all of their other games.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: So I think that BYU is the surest thing of
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: this group, I guess you could call it. You know,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: I think though that Texas Tech might have the highest
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: upside and Utah might be the most dominant team of
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: the bunch. So right now I'd probably take Utah of that,
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: or sorry, I'd probably take BYU of that group, but
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: they're very close together.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: I'd agree with that.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: He's Shahan Jayaraja from CBS Sports. And yeah, it's an
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: awesome slate. Thank you so much for stopping by. We
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: didn't even cover half of it, but we've got to
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: get to a break. Thanks for stopping by.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll be back with more in a few
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: moments here on Sports Radio AM 1300 The Zone.