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Week 3 Recap & Reacting to SC Loss · The Saturday Slate Football Show

• Canon Stogner: And welcome back to our preview. I ain't cutting. ain't cutting it. Three, two, one. Welcome back to another episode of the Saturday Slate Show where we will be recapping our week three matchups that we highlighted earlier in the week during our preview. We have a lot to talk about. We're coming off a South Carolina loss versus Mississippi State. So we're gonna be covering a lot of that, and then we are going to recap. Rest of the games. me and Andrew were both at the game this past weekend. So we'll probably just be doing a lot of box score watching and just based off what we saw after the games. but yeah, we'll try to answer some questions and do a little bit of diving into those games. But like Andrew Wright: Thanks. Canon Stogner: we always do, let's go ahead and jump into the Mississippi State, South Carolina game that was played at Williams Bryce Stadium. Andrew, honestly, you can probably just look pretty for this segment. I'll let you talk a little bit at the end, but I have a lot to get off my chest, and this has been a long-awaited episode. A little new for us because it is the first loss that we've had to do. First podcast Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: that we've had to do coming off a loss. So yeah, I'm probably gonna let my feelings out and hopefully shut down some of the negative talk that's surrounding surrounding South Carolina right now. So Mississippi State wins the game forty-one to thirty-four. Camario Taylor showed us exactly who he is and showed us that he can play in the big games. completely dominated pretty much from late second quarter and the rest of the game. So two and a half quarters, he completely dominated and outplayed South Carolina's quarterback. and I am going to jump into a lot of how a lot of how he played and the defense and just a few other things. But the first thing I want to talk about are the fans and just the public opinion right now. So first of all, they announce a sellout crowd and for a four o'clock game, four fifteen kickoff. And you know, we we usually get there probably an hour and a half early or an hour early into the stadium. We run a little behind cause some ticket problems. Couldn't get the app to pull up, but Andrew Wright: Perfect. Canon Stogner: we got in there about thirty, thirty-five minutes before the game kicked off. And it was a little dead. Not necessarily that the fans weren't there or fans weren't filing in, but it just seemed dead. And then, you know, the lightning delay happens. So we're waiting. They ended up not kicking off till five thirty. Fans fill in. Most fans fill in. Except, you know, where we sit at, we have a perfect view, a perfect angle at the left corner, which is where the students sit. And I I had the same problem every weekend that I go, but I'm just disgusted with the student section, especially the upper corner. I know the lower half is usually incredible and loud and just energetic, but the upper section is embarrassing for South Carolina football as a whole. These students are, you know, few miles away from the stadium. They probably could walk. Most of probably get a ride or whatever it is. They're probably tailgating from ten in the morning at least, if not the night before. And these fans, it seems like these students, they're going into the stadium Andrew Wright: Okay. Canon Stogner: and getting pictures taken and then leaving. I mean, South Carolina was up sixteen to nothing and that upper corner looked like they were down twenty one to nothing. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: so just disgusted by the fa student section. in the upper corner. so yeah, not happy with that. But I'm gonna get into the rest of the fans, the rest of the however many people were there last night. Andrew Wright: for us. Canon Stogner: You know, South Carolina, yeah, they go up 16 0. They're leading at the half 23 to 14. And just walking through the concourse, a lot of fans were leaving. And it's just like like what are we doing? Like, I know we talked about it a little bit after the game. I can understand a noon game a little bit, but when you decide to buy a ticket and go to a game, you're committing your whole day to that game. Whether Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: it's a night game, middle of the Andrew Wright: Thanks Canon Stogner: day game, or whatever the case may be. When you buy a ticket and you walk into that stadium, you're committing to your whole day being taken away because of this game. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Yep. Canon Stogner: And that's for anybody, not just South Carolina. So it really bothers me whenever these fans are leaving. halfway through a game when South Carolina's leading or whatever the score may be. so Andrew Wright: or whatever. Canon Stogner: I have a problem with that. My second problem with the fans is they eventually go down by what, it was eight points at the time and then fifteen or something. Andrew Wright: Yeah, think 15 might have been the largest deficit, I think. Canon Stogner: Yeah, so I kinda goes down and it looks like there's maybe sixty thousand people there. Looks like twenty Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: thousand have people have left the stadium and it's like what what are we doing? And it's like they have no belief in this team to come back. And I'll call out Lucas and Will. So if y'all don't want to hear this, shut your ears. But Andrew Wright: Thank you. Canon Stogner: I it bothers me that like they would even leave early because we kind of hold them to the same standard that we hold to ourselves. Like We don't really leave Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: early from games, especially games like that. I can understand Kent State and Towson. And the fans had an excuse for those two games. But this is a SEC game. And fans are leaving and, you know, throwing shade at Beamer and everybody's yelling, fire beamer, fire beamer. Well, let me tell you something. If you fire beamer, who are you gonna get? You're gonna have to pay him milli $30 million or ha whatever the buyout may be. That's taken out on the players in I.O. That's taken out on the rest of the budget you can use for a coach that you think you're gonna get. Breaking news, South Carolina is not a high job. There's not a very like a lot of people don't want to come here just like South Carolina thinks they do. It's not I don't at it's necessarily the money or you know how tough the fans are on you, but it's not a hot job. And that's a there's a that's the reason why Kirby Smart was gonna take the job and then George or Georgia fired what's his name? Andrew Wright: Not great. Canon Stogner: Mark Rick and hired Kirby. And so, I mean, he had a choice. Go to South Carolina, go to Georgia. He chose to go to Georgia. And it's just like you're Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: not gonna get anybody. Yeah, Beamer's not an offensive guy. He's not a defensive guy. He is a special teams guy, but how much does that mean? Well, he's a very good recruiter, very good at retaining players, especially now during this day and time. He's not gonna I mean, he's not gonna beat teams off of his offensive mind. Or off of his defensive mind, he's not going to shut teams down. He is what he is, and I think he's done a very good job at what he is what he's called Andrew Wright: Bye. Canon Stogner: to be right now, which is a recruiter. I mean, if you go turn on the college football video game, you have four different coaching attributes. You can get a recruiter, you can get a strategist, you can get a motivator, and something else. And Shane Beamer fits the recruiter category, and he has done that part of his job. Andrew Wright: us. Canon Stogner: He's also brought in a very good coaching staff. He's Clayton White at defense coordinator, been there for this is his fifth or sixth year. He's got Kendall Browse. And it just bothers me when these fans are yelling things like fire beamer. News to you, buddy. They're two and one. A lot of teams would like to be in that same position they are right now. Yeah, they lost a game at home. Yeah, it wasn't pretty for them. Okay. And yes, week three is beamer's crypt tonight. But it's okay. They're not you know if you're expecting them to go undefeated, then It's on you. So it's stupid and immature and just not logical to do something like that. And it's just a whole th I last night was more on the fans for me. Yeah, the game was tough to watch and you know it just felt like you couldn't do anything. You just had to stand there and take it. But the fans were just absolutely embarrassing and can't have it. Can't have it. Yeah, I mean, what do you have anything a take on the fans before jump into the actual game? Andrew Wright: Yeah, definitely something that kind of bothered me too and feels like we kind of talk about it Not in this platform because we've just started this but every time we go to a game we talk about it We always make fun of the sellouts they announce because we always know what that looks like in person and there and yet the fire everything's Ridiculous like it's so it's so early in the season for that like now if we rattle off Let's say we lose six in a row you sitting there two and six. Okay, then we can have a different conversation Like that is a much different thing than two in one after three weeks. So yeah, I don't really have a ton else to add, but I'm kind of like you very disappointed with, like I I thought the turnout was great, especially the delay gave people more time to get in there and more time to fill it up and kind of the, I think the dead part you were talking about, I think it was just nervous energy, just really kind of sitting around waiting. It may just Canon Stogner: I know. Andrew Wright: been no nervous energy, just dead. Canon Stogner: Disagree. I think it was a lot of people that don't know what they're talking about when it comes to football or don't know what Mississippi is. And I think it was a lot of people just sleeping on the game because it was against Mississippi State. And I think those fans that were thinking that were also the same fans that were yelling that beamer sucks because they were losing losing to Mississippi State and leaving early. Andrew Wright: That's fair. Canon Stogner: And yeah, I understand the delay part, but It's not like they kicked off at eight o'clock and you weren't going to get home till two a.m. We live Andrew Wright: Right. Yeah, that was. Canon Stogner: an hour and a half and away. The game kicked off at 535. We got home at nine. Or no, excuse me, game ended at nine. We got home at like 10 30, whatever the Andrew Wright: You Canon Stogner: the time it was. We got home about 10 30. So I mean, and we had to wake up this morning, go to church, do whatever the case may be. So, I mean, it's not like you're arriving home late and going back to the students, you've had nowhere to be. You don't have a long ride back like a lot of these fans who have an hour, two hour, maybe even three hour travel back. So Very frustrating, very disappointed in them. but let's kind of jump into the game. So South Carolina's quarterback, he's I'm on no name basis right now with him. I thought his game last night was disgusting. I thought he has had his first game to really show that he's improved. This is a guy that wanted to bring Kendall Browles in. I don't think Kendall Browles is the problem here. I think we have a quarterback problem. and I don't want to say unfair to Lenorse. Because he was a three star coming in, but I think a lot of people are expecting the same thing they got from him whenever he turned it on against Clemson. And, you know, he made some big plays against LSU and Alabama in those games. I think a lot of people are expecting that, but he's he's I don't think that's coming back. I really don't. Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: He's a guy, he's not he's he's what l people say Lamar was, which is a running quarterback. He is a running quarterback. He is a perfect definition of a running quarterback. He can't read a defense. He has no confidence in his offensive line. I thought his offensive line played really well last night. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: And he doesn't trust anybody on that offensive side of the ball. so yeah. Hitting guys in the chest on the wrong team. Mississipp State dropped two picks that should have been picked off. They had another one that was called back because of a legal hands to the face. So he has got to get straightened out. He's got big games coming up the next several weeks and months, and he has got to play better if South Carolina wants to have a decent season this year. but until he doesn't, it's gonna be a long one. It really is. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: so but let's jump into the defense. So the defense gave up forty one points last night. I've been thinking about it since the game ended. I'm really having a hard time judging the defense. So I mean, you open up the game with the interception off Camario Taylor. first pass of the game, you get an interception. Sarina goes down there and scores, makes it 10 0. and then you get another three and out. So you've seen Camario Taylor for four plays total. And so you're obviously feeling good. I mean, the score was eventually 16-0. but in the second half, they were on the field a ton. They were put in bad spots because of bad punts or the two interceptions that put them ahead of the fifty. You've got the start the half. You got the kick out of bounds that put Mississippi State at the 40 or 35 or whatever it is. so really put in bad spots. And I really I think it's more credit to Camario Taylor and Mississippi State's offense. Andrew Wright: Thank you. Canon Stogner: I thought South Carolina's game plan to start the game was very good. They kind of the safeties were playing a little bit more shallow and playing in in the box a little bit more. And I think the two deep balls late in this first half kind of made South Carolina change their position a little bit, and the safeties had to play back, which turned into just Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: eating up South Carolina's defense because then they could run the ball a little bit more, getting five or six a pop, and just keeping that defense on the field the whole time. You could just tell the defense is worn out. They had been on the field for way too long and were just getting Andrew Wright: yeah. Canon Stogner: beat. but Defense also had two mishaps, two massive mishaps on the third downs. you go from a second 21 to a third or second and thirty-one to a third and twenty. You leave a guy wide open in the end zone. that keeps it a two possession game if they hold him to a field goal. then you go the next drive, it's like a third and fifteen, and then another guy in the flat is wide open, and he gets a first Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: down. And Mississippi scores touchdowns on both of those drives. So two big mishaps for the defense. Not necessarily worried about them a ton. I think those are things that will happen in those early season games that they can fix. Those are fixable mistakes. but they have to tackle better. I thought the D line and the pressure was very good on Mississippi State. but yeah. So what'd you think about the defense or Sarakolana's quarterback? Andrew Wright: I'll start with I'll start with the Norris. Yeah, very just very disappointed and kind of that output Especially considering the way he played in the first half. I thought that was the most confident. He had looked in a long time in the first half It was I thought it was and then kind of makes it running into Lucas and will at halftime and kind of talking to them about the kind of the totals He had put up at the half. It didn't really feel like it It was kind of just shocking to hear kind of the yard she had put up So was kind of like all right, like maybe he's feeling himself again. Maybe and he wasn't So that was very disappointed. like you said, he's Illinois. We've talked about it before, like completely broke them as a team as a whole, it seems like, and they kind of figured him out and exposed him in that game as well. And it's just not something that he's been able to fix since then. And like, like you said, I don't know if that's ever coming back. What we saw those last six games in 2024, like, I know we're hoping it's coming back, but I think we're both realistic enough to know that like, that's not something that just changes overnight. I don't think. It's like, I don't know if it's coming back or not. Would like it to, probably not. And then the defense, the one thing that bothered me was the miss tackles. And it was just something we kind of saw the whole game, just constant extra yardage that led to better play calls from Mississippi State, better field position, better down in distance. That was very upsetting. But like you said, not really too concerned with that. Fixable mistakes. We'll kind of see what that is next weekend with another big game coming up. So hopefully that's kind of some things that will get figured out. Be very disappointed in the Norris and then defensively very disappointed in the tackling and the extra yardage allowed on those plays. Canon Stogner: Yeah. and I will say obviously we're harping on Sarkon as quarterback for a little bit, but the one thing for him is yeah, he can run the ball. I think a lot of teams now are either sending tons of pressure or they're rushing for and spying with the fifth. And Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: when the teams are doing that, they're pretty much playing with one man down in the secondary. But South Carolina hasn't proven to Anybody that a receiver can go and get open. It's very rare that you Andrew Wright: Yeah, Canon Stogner: see somebody for South Carolina just make a one on one play the last couple of years. And you know, Donovan, Andrew Wright: Yeah, it's very worrisome. Canon Stogner: yeah, and Donovan Murph makes a very good catch, doesn't have another target. but I think the biggest thing, if I was the coach right now, I would the biggest coaching adjustment I would do is I would move Nick Harbour to tight end. Kind of like a trade trade as green style. Put him at tight end. If you're going to run the ball or you're in a running down play or whatever, I'd put Brady Hunt in. But Brady Hunt does not do it for me for at in the passing game at all. He doesn't do it for me. Andrew Wright: No, not at all. Canon Stogner: He had two costly holding penalties last night. He had two drops last night. He's I don't I don't understand how he's necessarily staying on the field as much as he is. I think South Carolina is just in love with. Playing with a one or two tight end package the last couple of years, even with Kendall Brawls. I think they need if they want to be more explosive on offense, they have to get away from that because they're not doing anything in the passing game. Running game's not great with them. So I think if you could just move Harbor to the tight end and you could put three or four quick receivers on the field, then you're You're kind of spacing everybody out a little bit. It just feels like they play on a much smaller field than everybody else that's playing against them when Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: they're on offense. So that's the biggest coaching adjustment I'd make. Nick Harbor has it proven to me and hopefully to anybody that he can go up and high point a ball. I'd love to see him just run down the field, turn around and high point a ball instead of he's always just expecting it in the breadbasket. And it's not gonna get there. I mean, he's six six, two thirty, or whatever his weight is. You got to be able to just out-muscle people at your size. You've got incredible speed, but you can't make anybody miss. So just go out-muscle people and catch the ball and high point it and you know, just be the bigger receiver. You don't have to be spectacular and you know just catch it and run. Just go make a play. Help out your quarterback. Instead of complaining about not getting a ball, go help them out. Make the catch. Andrew Wright: I really despise the first NCAA game that recently came out for the ratings they gave Harbor and the complete false sense they gave fans that started playing that game and, my gosh, Nick Harbor, 99 overall, best receiver in college football. And that just gave such a bad impression to people. like, hasn't, nobody's changed their mind on that, it doesn't feel like, which is crazy. We've had almost a year and a half now of results that should have drastically changed Canon Stogner: Yeah. Andrew Wright: minds. Canon Stogner: Yeah. but last thing on South Carolina, I don't I'm not necessarily worried about them as much as I think other people are. I thought with the team they have, they can definitely compete. I'm not Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: saying they're gonna win, you know, make it to a championship or anything, but they can definitely compete and Camario Taylor is gonna be the first or the best quarterback they play all year. I mean you obviously avoid Texas quarterback, Arch Manning. You got Trinidad at Ole Miss. You're avoiding Sam Levitt, LSU. I think the only two other quarterbacks that I think is in that same category that they might was struggle with is maybe Marcel Reid if he can throw the ball. But I don't think I'm worried about him. you got Gunnar Stockton that he's not as explosive or probably not as accurate at throwing as Camaro Taylor. And then Keelan Russell is going to be probably a tough matchup for them this year. but yeah, I think Camaro Taylor is probably the best quarterback they'll play. a little bit on Camaro Taylor, very impressed with him. He can run the ball. He knows when to run. He's not looking to run. And he throws a beautiful deep ball. It's just the flick of the wrist, flat footed most Andrew Wright: Nothing. Canon Stogner: of the time. And he stood in there last night and took some massive hits and was under a lot of pressure. And he kept making play after play. And you could just tell once he got settled in, it was over with. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: so and last thing, back to the fans. I got one more thing. Back to the fans. I'm really ticked off about that. That's the thing I'm most disappointed in. Fans booing and yelling and leaving. I would have laughed out loud if they would have got one of those two onside kicks last night and Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: came back and maybe even tied the game or maybe even won it. That would have made my day in South Carolina officials or whoever is in charge of the tickets should ban every single person that left that game last night because that was they l start fans were leaving the game when it was a six eight point game and then fifteen and then when they made it a eighteen point game even more fans left and I can understand maybe the eighteen point lead. I can understand that a little bit. Because you feel like it's over. But then South Carolina kind of slowly started Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: coming back. So we'll talk a little bit about how that game ended on Thursday and what to look ahead for Alabama. But yeah, disappointing the fans. But that's all Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: I got for South Carolina. If you want to add anything else, go ahead. Andrew Wright: Just one quick thing and I please nobody hear what I'm not saying here I'm saying I'm not blaming I'm not blaming reps for anything, but I thought was very poorly officiated football game last night To wait Canon Stogner: Yeah, to me ra to me flags on both sides. Andrew Wright: and honestly, it's been a theme of any football game I've watched this weekend. Just so many flags and just such a ratio Canon Stogner: Yeah, gotta get out. Andrew Wright: It's just there's a couple calls that went against South Carolina that kind of looking back on a bit ridiculous Would it ever change the game? We have no idea But that would be a very, very poorly officiated game by the SEC. Really got to clean it up, better. Canon Stogner: Gotta clean it up. Andrew Wright: Got to have to, no excuse. Canon Stogner: Horrible, horrible officiating this whole weekend. All games. They were bad for Mississippi State too. It was a bad it was it Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. yeah, it went both ways. Canon Stogner: was a bad crew. It wasn't a screwdrive of South Carolina or anything like that. It was a bad referee and crew. And they gotta get better. Have to get better. Andrew Wright: No. Mm-hmm. That's right. Canon Stogner: Cause last night they were horrible. Andrew Wright: Awful. Canon Stogner: Horrible. They yeah, it's completely sucked the energy out of the stadium right before halftime. You go up 23-14, and then you get the forced fumble to end the half Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: right there inside the 10-yard line. And you call it Kamaro Taylor wasn't even looking that way. And it was just a little slap to the face off the line of scrimmage because he was jamming them. Horrible, terrible, terrible officiating. But that's it. sorry if I was yelling in anybody's ears. let's jump into We're gonna fly through these. Let's jump into LSU versus Ole Miss. biggest game of the weekend. Maybe that's what all the fans were leaving to get home to. I hope they missed all of it. but Andrew Wright: you Canon Stogner: pretty good game from what we could tell. We got Andrew Wright: Thank Canon Stogner: I got to watch the last second or the second half. Ole Miss had four hundred and thirty yards on offense compared to LSU's three hundred and thirty. They won by score of thirty two twenty four. Sam Levitt throws a late pick in the end zone. that they needed to at least go for two to potentially tie the game and head to overtime. But I think Ole Miss was going to win that game regardless because by the time they would have scored, Trinidad would have had about 50 seconds to a minute and he was going to Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: take them down the field. Trinidad's the best quarterback in college football and it's not close. And he should be the first quarterback selected in the draft this year. LSU did run for 172 yards. Trinidad threw for 363. They had 25 first downs. They were nine for 15 on third down. El Su kind of cuts it close their late third quarter and early fourth quarter. They scored two touchdowns after an interception and going down the field and scoring after to start the half. So they made it interesting. And then Ole Miss struck back with another rushing touchdown for Trinidad. Very good game. I thought the fans had an incredible performance and not doing too much to make it embarrassing. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: a lot better than Tennessee several years ago. So very good game. Andrew, your thoughts. Andrew Wright: Yeah, kind of was kind of peeking over your shoulder watching the second half of that game on the way back last night looked like Trinidad played Fairly well outside of the one interception and kind of like you said he's the best quarterback in the country I kind of going into the week thought it was Dario Mensah and then just kind of there there We're not touching them kind of Miami's lackluster performance in the second half kind of moved me toward Chambliss after that game Saturday night see a really good win for them good for the fans good for Pete Golding and now that games out the way All the Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss, LSU drama, it's out the way. And I think that's best case for everybody. Canon Stogner: Now you Yep. Now you go. Andrew Wright: Yep, yeah, basically, yeah, it starts now. can forget all that crap now and it's just SEC football the rest of the year for both of those teams. Canon Stogner: Yep. yeah, so very good game. Let's jump into the Friday night showdown between Houston and Texas Tech. I was kinda going back and forth between this and the Miami Wake Forest game and also my hibachi dinner. But very good game. Tex Tech moves to three and They win twenty eight to twenty six against two and one Houston. Houston outgame them offense with four hundred and sixty yards compared to Texas Tech four hundred and twenty. I thought it was just a very high level game for the Big Twelve Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: and I thought Connor Wagman played good. I thought Texas Tech's offense looked pretty dang good to be Texas Tech. Both defenses just couldn't get off the field on some big third downs that eventually led to scoring drives. But very good game. Came down to a questionable knee call or a knee being down at the goal line on the two point conversion to tie it. but I do think it was the right call. Andrew, your thoughts. Andrew Wright: Yeah, I'm just so impressed with Connor Wagner, man. I know they lost and they fell out 2-1. Obviously, a game they would have liked to win. But his career was kind of on a very downward trajectory after some bad years at A and wasn't really sure what to think about him before the season. So just very impressed with him. It's almost 350 total yards in that game, kind of kept his team in it. So yeah, very impressed. But for Texas Tech, really good win for them. I wasn't sure what to think of them before the season. With all the Brendan Sorsby and Will Hammond stuff. And like I said, even picked BYU to win the Big 12 just because of the doubts. And as of now, you saw our tweet, kind of put that out. As of now, the Big 12 is still theirs. That was a humongous win for them to kind of maintain themselves atop as kind of the kings of the Big 12 until further notice. It's a very good one for them. I don't expect Houston to go away quietly at all. I think they'll still be around and just they need a couple of games to fall their way and a couple, a little bit of help on the outside and they'll be, we could see this game again. in December, which would be very, very exciting and another very high level. Canon Stogner: Yep. No, I agree. so SMU and Louisville, this game was an absolute shootout. You had a score of forty-one to thirty-one. Both teams are now two and one on the season. Louisville, I think, is very good this year. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: bear came down to the last drive against Ole Miss. and then you go and beat SMU after SMU has looked pretty dang good the first two weeks. very high level offense. You had 480 yards compared to 442 for Louisville. SMU ran for 260. Louisville ran for 265. So both teams were doing very good on the rushing side. And then I think this game pretty much boiled down to SMU's three turnovers they had against Louisville. but yeah, I Tough loss for SMU because I don't know if Louisville loses another game. so it's kind of looking like it's gonna be one of these two teams that's playing up against Miami. So very good game. What are your thoughts? Andrew Wright: so impressed with Louisville and that offense Lincoln Keyholtz kind of prioritized it at beginning of the season. Kind of thought the way he played and performed would kind of dictate how that team performed. And at this point he's performed outstanding and they look like one of the best teams in the country. I they look really, really good. And except 265 rushing yards, great performance from them. And like we've highlighted multiple times in our ACC preview and just kind of recently with those schedules. What was in the driver's seat now? Like they have everything in front of them to go down the stretch rest of the season when the games that they should and give themselves a shot at the end of season likely against Miami and in a game that hey, if they win, they're in. So yeah, very good performance from them and like they just, they look really, really good and a very sneaky team to watch the rest of the season. Canon Stogner: Yeah. I'm just looking at the schedule right now. I think their toughest game the rest of the way is this weekend. And I probably wouldn't have said this last week, but just based off how they played in the second half versus Miami, I think their toughest Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: game the rest of the season is against Wake Forest because after that you have NC State, you have Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm Canon Stogner: Florida State, you go to Syracuse, you play Stanford, you play Georgia Tech, you play North Carolina. And then you play pit. So maybe Pitt being the only other big matchup or tough matchup they Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: could potentially sneak up on. But other than that, yeah, Louisville looks really good. And you have to think the AP poll has been very tough on teams that have lost this year. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: And Louisville losing to Ole Miss, they didn't drop not one spot. They stayed at twenty four and now they're at sixteen. So Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: yeah, obviously the AP poll is very high on them and to keep winning games, they're gonna move up. So Very impressed with them. All right. Let's jump into the most overrated team in maybe not college football, but well, maybe not even the SEC because there's two teams we could talk about here. But Kentucky versus Texas AM. Kentucky wins this game by 10:31 to 21. And it was really a blowout in Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Aggie Stadium the whole time. Texas AM kind of came back towards the end to make it a little bit closer for the Monday morning crowd. But I thought Tex AM had the same problems they had last year, which they just can't win the games and they just don't know they can't show up and get all, you know, prepared for every game every week. they did out gang Kentucky. They had four hundred and twenty-three yards and compared to Kentucky's four hundred and ten. they did run the ball, had more rushing yards than Kentucky. They were nine for seventeen on third down. Fifty-three percent compared to Kentucky's three for nine on third down at thirty-three percent. But they did have two turnovers. And even Kentucky, they had six more penalties than Texas AM. So not really a hundred percent sure what went wrong with this game because obviously we weren't watching, but just not good for Texas AM. You can't lose that game at home. So Andrew Wright: Yeah, just kind of from box score looking at it, does Marcell Reed, two interceptions like that, that just can't happen against a Kentucky team that's kind of in their first year, what should probably be a multiple year rebuild. That we saw him last week jump out to that really good start against Alabama. And then they went just dead quiet in the second half and didn't do anything. So for them to march into what's supposed to be one of the hardest places to play in all of college football and to kind of dominate, like Mike Elko said, they got dominated from start to finish. Nothing positive like no encouraging signs to take from the game. They were physically dominated at their home stadium as three possession favorites that just that can't happen especially I almost think they may have been looking ahead potentially with the to a big game with lsu this weekend that definitely could have played a factor into it could have been just kind of this little old kentucky we're not worried about them and they should have been because that's that's a that's a humongous win for kentucky and for willstein they may not win a game the rest of the season but That's just such a huge like stepping stone and building block for that program to kind of start to kind of get back to where Mark Stoops had them there for a couple years, eight, nine, once a season. So very big one for them and a very, very bad loss for Texas A Canon Stogner: I agree with everything you said, but you kind of lost me whenever you said it's a huge stepping stone for them, even if they don't win another game this year. I think that's false. I think if they don't win another game this year, we're not looking back at this game saying, Kentucky did beat AM. but that is your opinion, so we'll let it go. Texas AM did drop all the way down to twenty-three, which we will talk about a little bit later. Florida State, Alabama, Florida State loses this game fifty to thirty-six. Alabama moves to three and totaled five hundred and seventy yards on offense. They are running the heck out of the ball right now. And Andrew Wright: And you're free. Canon Stogner: Keelan Russell looked really good. They are very explosive on offense right now, which kind of worries me for South Carolina this week. But Alabama looks really good. And I think any of the questions about their offense not being, you know, being able to handle this SEC or being able to, you know, keep up with everybody else because they didn't bring in a transfer class or transfer quarterback and they're starting at red shirt freshman. I think all those questions are now answered and Alabama has full trust in Keelan Russell now. He didn't turn the ball over yesterday, which is much better from this past week against Kentucky with his three turnovers. So you can just tell he's getting better and getting more comfortable with the system at the running and Getting better with the experience. So very good game. Florida State did score thirty six, Andrew. Your thoughts on that game? Andrew Wright: I'm not really not sure kind of what to take from that should we be more impressed that Florida State didn't manage to score 36 against an SEC team or more concerned that Alabama allowed? If 36 to one of the worst teams in the ACC, Like you mentioned the run game for Alabama. That was their biggest issue last year could not run the ball like program worst and A lot of Russian categories last year and then that has definitely been fixed Don't know what they did to fix it, but it is fixed and that's a great sign for them. I'm keenan russell Very good, he's just progressing each and every week and turning into a really, really good and scary SEC quarterback to face. See a tough, tough match up ahead with him. Yeah, just like some kind of weird thinking, like don't know how to look at 50 to 36 there. Yes, it's impressive, Bama got 50, but it's also impressive Florida State got to 36. So just kind of weird looking there, kind of see how the rest of the season plays out for both those defenses and offenses. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I'm just looking at the yards per play right now. And Florida State gained seven point four a play, which is a very high number. And Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Alabama gained eight point six a play and almost seven yards on rushing. So very big games and very little defense on this during this game. all right, let's jump into North Carolina and Clemson. So we weren't gonna talk about this, and then we thought we were gonna have a very fun time talking about this. The Clemson did kind of revive themselves and come back and win in the second half. They were down fourteen to three. I'm pretty sure it was fourteen to three at the half as well, right? Andrew Wright: 17 to 6 at half. Canon Stogner: Seventeen six at the half. so yeah, North Carolina looked really good to start off this game. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: I think they kind of got away from their persona, which is running the ball and just kind of playing the clock game and just banking on the defense, getting stops. I think they got a little too happy with Billy Edwards and throwing the ball way too much, although he didn't look really good throwing the ball. So I don't know why they did this. I mean, they ran the ball for two hundred and fourteen yards on Clemson, which is very rare. Clemson is usually very good against the run. And they didn't run the ball enough. I think they tried to start to get back to it late in the game, but it just wasn't enough when you had to throw the ball when you were down. but Clemson had a very good second half. you could see the emotion from Dabo. He looked very excited and you know, it kind of just felt like a huge weight was lifted off the show off the show off his shoulder. So yeah, very big win for Clemson winning this game twenty eight to twenty. Your thoughts? Andrew Wright: Yeah, really, really big win for them. Kind of obviously disappointed with the result because we were watching that first half like, man, they look terrible. Like they're done. They're checked out. They're going to start one and four. And then just they go into the weather delay with North Carolina up by two points. We kind of get into the stadium, kind of try to keep out rest of the game and just like a switch flipped and they come back and win. And like Debo said in his like post game, you could cure cancer with the the belief and the togetherness. And the camaraderie they have in that locker room right now see a very big win for them. And he definitely got a weight off his shoulders. I don't know, we don't like it. He's still corny. Like he put the weight there, but he got that team out and got it off of the shoulders. So they have a big week coming up as well. Very big and important win for them ahead of a really big game on Friday. Canon Stogner: Yeah, they do. they will travel to Cal on Friday night. So big game for them. All right, let's jump into probably the best non SEC or best non LSU O miss game, which was Florida and Auburn. This game was a shootout. It was the final score of Florida forty-four to Auburn's thirty-nine. Andrew, your team does move to three and on the year. They have looked pretty good. They almost gained five hundred yards on offense. They were five yards short. They're passing the ball. They're throwing for 250. ran the ball for 250. playing really good football. They had 24 first downs. They were 7 for 16 on third down and 4 for 4, or 3 for 3 on fourth down. They did have two turnovers. They also had 16 penalties against Auburn, Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: but they held the ball for almost 40 minutes of the game. So very big win for Florida in John Summer's first SEC game. And Auburn. loses this game at home, but not a bad loss for them, especially with the first year head coach and Alex Golish. But yeah, but I thought it was a pretty good game to just kind of see these two teams that have been a little bit off the charts the last couple of years or a little bit under the dumps last couple of years and kinda come back with these new coaches. So very good game. I wish we could have watched it, but Andrew Wright: Yep Canon Stogner: yeah. Andrew Wright: Yeah, think I think that's a very I think you go out as a fan of both of those teams very encouraged by what you saw even Auburn with a loss Like once the last time that we really saw Auburn put up 40 points against a like a high caliber SEC team It's probably been a long time since that's happened So even with the loss there you're still encouraged by that as an Auburn fan and that coaching staff Byron Brown played pretty well as seen from just looking at raw stats. He played pretty well And then for Florida, yeah, just really happy to see them get to 3-0. Kind of was really high on them. Wasn't sure how to think, how to really, how much I believed in that heading into the season. And then kind of proved me right. 3-0, Aaron Fowler looks great. Jayden Ball looks like one of the best running backs in the country. Some of us got those boys believing. And we'll repeat this every week the rest of the season, about half the teams we talk about. They have a massive game this weekend coming up against Ole Miss. So that'll be an even bigger test. then the game at Auburn will be. But yeah, really big win for them and like I they're 3-0 and they're inside the top 25 now. So very good for them. Canon Stogner: Yeah, very big win. Now, last game we're gonna be talking about is West Virginia versus Virginia. this was kind of a backyard brawl between two teams. V West Virginia won this game 38 to 27. And very surprised to see this result. West Virginia is now three and but I don't think a lot of teams were talking about a lot of people were talking about West Virginia, but I'm more focusing on Virginia here. we hyped them up after they beat NC State. And then, you know, look pretty dang good to start off the season. And then you go in and you lose this game to West Virginia. And it's just one of those games that cannot cannot happen for them. not a S ACC loss, but big big time loss for them regardless. they're expected to win this game and you go out and lose by more than ten. They did control the ball for thirty minutes. they hadn't More yards per play, more first downs, pass for more yards, rush for more yards. so not really sure what went wrong here. They did have two turnovers, but very big loss. What do you have? Andrew Wright: I think the only thing that makes you feel even okay about this as a Virginia fan is like you just said, it's not a conference loss. So it's not the end of the world. You're not behind the eight ball behind these teams in the ACC. You still got your full conference schedule ahead of you. So yeah, just really weird. They were favored by double digits. One of my spread picks actually. And say I was just very, very shocked to kind of see that result throughout the night and just kind of see the way it seemed like they just were behind the whole game trying to play catch up. So yeah, that's bad loss. Like, like we said, It's not a conference also, is not the end of world for them in that regard. Canon Stogner: Yeah. I agree. So let's jump into the top twenty-five AP poll recap or review. some pretty no notable moves on this list. the first thing that sticks out to me is Houston drops three spots after losing on a two-point conversion play at Texas Tech, who's one of the top teams in the country. I don't love that they dropped all the way down to twenty-five. And down three spots when you have Louisville who didn't drop down at Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: all at a neutral sight game and lost by more points. Well it was only by one point, but lost by three compared to Houston's two. so I don't really know the my their thought behind this. and I also don't love that they're still behind Texas A and So which we can also jump into that. Texan dropped fourteen spots and moved to twenty three. I think Texan should be out of Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: the top twenty five. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. That's so weird. Just like you have two teams and not that Kentucky is one of the top teams in the country or anything But I mean they're two and one Texas A is two and one one team just beat the other Like that that's still something that just head-to-head still has to matter at some point so it was very like if Texas A is gonna be in and like it's almost like Kentucky should be in too and If A is out, I'm okay with both of them being out because they play each other. That was the that was the Number one notable thing for me was A dropping all those spots. And it goes along with the theme we've seen all year. These top teams that are getting beat are getting punished and they're dropping down a lot of spots. And then the other thing that stuck out to me with teams getting in Florida and Mississippi State, both jumped into the rankings. And I think to your point of Houston dropping three spots, I almost think that the voters were so impressed with Florida and Mississippi State that Houston kind of just had to fall behind somebody. And that was not Not even that they were punished, just that these other two teams performed so well and have performed well this season that they got the nod as undefeated teams. See, those were my biggest takeaways, seeing A &M's fall and then those other two SEC teams with Florida and Mississippi State. I think SEC had 10 teams ranked, I believe, this week. Canon Stogner: Mm-hmm. I don't it's funny you say that because I was actually gonna say something about Kentucky. You said you thought maybe that they should be ranked. I don't I don't really understand the logic behind them being 27th, which is almost ranked. I don't think they should be that high. I mean, yeah, I know they just went into Tex AM and lost, but just last week they got blown out versus Alabama at home. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: So I don't love That they're 27th now. I guess I do love it for the fact of if South Carolina wins a game on the road, they jump back up that high. But Andrew Wright: Yeah. Right. Canon Stogner: confused by that a little bit. Miss Ole Miss moved up to fourth, all coming all the way down from eighth, which was a pretty big jump for them. Indiana, Miami, and Ohio State all moved down a spot because of that. BYU moves up to nine, coming from 11. LSU dropped three spots from seven to ten. And then I thought I was a little surprised of USC staying at the same spot, only went by a touchdown against the Rutgers. But that was all I have for the top twenty-five rankings. All right. Last thing, why don't you go ahead and give us our spread picks recap? So we what Andrew Wright: So I'll go ahead. Canon Stogner: we were four and six last week. Give us a last week's Andrew Wright: So heading into the week, me and Will were both six and four, eight points each. And then Cannon, you were four and six with seven points. So Will's first week with us, joining us, man, he had a good week. Will went four and one. So he was a game away from the first sweep on the program. Will nailed Duke minus nine and a half, Virginia Tech minus three and a half, New Mexico plus 22 and a half, Vanderbilt minus three and a half. What a lucky, fluky. cover that is for Will. And then the one game he did lose was Eastern Michigan plus 24 and a half against Wisconsin. They were boat raced. So that moves Will to 10 and five overall in the season and another big points weekend for him. So he's up to 15 points now on the season. Myself, two and three week was wrong on Miami. Very unfortunate there. Nailed Georgia, got Florida. And then was rolling on Virginia and North Carolina. And North Carolina was the game that I felt comfortable about almost the entire day up until those last kind of minute, minute and a half of that game. So that puts me overall at eight and seven on the season and 10 points. So I did gain two points this week, but not as good as week as I would have liked. And then big week for you in the points regard. You went three and two this week. Put yourself seven and eight overall in the season, but you did gain five points. So you are up to 12 points now, you jumped me. You missed on Miami, right about Georgia. You got a Michigan State cover at 29 and a half, nailed Louisville, minus one and a half. And then you were very wrong on Colorado plus three. Canon Stogner: Mm-hmm. Andrew Wright: So yeah, so after three weeks we have Will 10 and 5, 15 points, Cannon 7 and 8, 12 points, and then myself 8 and 7 at 10 points. Canon Stogner: Not a bad week for me. I'm I'm catching. Andrew Wright: No, first week of Ball 500, that's always something to celebrate. That's right. Canon Stogner: Catching Will. all right. Well, this was about a 50-minute episode. We are going to be previewing the massive Saturday slate this upcoming weekend. Will will be with us on Thursday as we talk about that. very excited to go through that. We'll give more picks, we'll talk about the biggest games, we'll talk about South Carolina versus Kentucky, and we'll keep it on moving. Make sure you're liking, subscribing, commenting. And following all of our social media pages where Andrew does such a great job. And we'll see you guys Thursday.