Welcome to the solid verbal.
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I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy.
You want to be happy for.
Day Edith State?
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Whoam?
And now Dan and tie.
Oh hi verbals. This is your captain, Tye Hildebrandt. I am joined as always by my Lieutenant Dan Ruvenstein. Welcome aboard this college football experience that we like to call the Tuoes Cruise, don't forget. If you like the solid verbal, subscribe to the show out on Apple, Google, Spotify, stitch, Er, Tune, and overcast, all the usual hotspots wherever you like to find your podcasts. We are a college football show. We
do three shows a week. This is the one where we look back, try to put it all in perspective, figure out what all the results mean. We've also got a Thursday preview show as well as a Sunday afternoon recap show where we try to really give you the full holistic picture. Lieutenant Dan, what's going on in and around the world of college football?
How are you, Tye? I want to de stock this salary of performance that we're doing right now. After I peeled back the carrot of digital Audio on Sunday. I'm good we started our connection. I guess I'll keep it on theme. I went down to your stateroom, I went down to your cabin, and you had been struggling with your voice, yes, traustion, and then you hit record and you go, oh hurry, and you are fully in. So I want everybody to know that the sacrifice that Tie
is giving to you. All systems, go man your battle stations, oh fore boting. It's very real, Tie. You are dedicated to the craft, and I appreciate it. I am dedicated to the craft. I have so much tazzo wild orange tea swimming at meat that we might have to go over to the side of the boat. Not a sponsor, not a sponsor.
Yeah, drain the old lizard into the international waters that surround us here on the two's cruise Neah, where we talk about college football. So, as you know, we've been playing mini games all throughout our previous versions of this Tuesday Show. Today we're gonna give one more a chance to breathe. Okay, we got some suggestions about this. We honestly had it in the Q long before anyone suggested it.
But since since this is more of a nautically themed show, since we talk about being on the open seas, we decided that we would play a game of battleshow.
That ship Milton Bradley's great game of strategy. It's loaded with action and suspense.
So here is what we are doing to keep this within a college football context. Okay, what we've done is you've got a board. It's a smaller board than the actual battleship board. Otherwise we would be here all afternoon. Yeah, four by four ABCD one two three four, got our own little grids and randomly played on each of our respective boards are four preseason assumptions that we made that
are really on the verge of sinking. And so part of this game is sort of just to do the humanitarian thing and put it out of its misery.
Oh man, yeah, our bad preseason takes.
But also we're competitive individuals and we're trying to win the game and sink the others first.
Oh, very true.
So what you're gonna do is, I hope you've got your board ready. I haven't seen it.
I do.
Okay, what we're going to do is we're going to guess we might have to flip a coin here to see who goes first. I've got the sounds queued up. We're ready to go. We're going to make this as close to the real thing as we can. You and I are quite literally going to play college football battleship, Dan.
Yes, and what should we call a college football version of battleship?
You, I can't take credit for this. You have to unveil the official name of this.
So it's the best name that either involves ship or battle. So we're playing our nasm Arnaz battleship, right. Yes? You were you a fan of his Notre Dame career, pro career? He was. He was a tim Rette era forty nine ers for everybody following at home, Arna's battleship battleship. Did you like him? I like the name. Oh man, you didn't like watching him? I like the name.
He was a receiver, wasn't he he was once he got to the pro game?
Correct? He was a dual threat quarterback in college.
Correct, played quarterback, played receiver, played more receiver once he got to the league.
And the name is cool. It is very cool. U double major. It looks like with a three point two gpa. Now that is one more major than I had, and he went to a better school than I did, So much respect, Daniel. Are you ready to play Arna's.
Battleship, Battleship Milton Bradley's great game of strategy. It's loaded with action.
I guess we could have gone with Bill Blanken Battleship something like that, but we could have. Yeah, it's okay, let's go. I'm not a huge A one sauce fans. Let's go A two, tie A two? All right, No, no, no, Dick didn't hit anything. Ding means he didn't hit anything. Ding means it. Okay, let's go. You get to guess now, or do I get to go again? I get to guess.
Okay, I am gonna guess A two. I'll go far corner D four.
Yes, there's a hit. Yeah, that's officially what do we got. So I thought Miami would win the Coastal end up in the ACC Championship game. It's not looking like that'll be the case. Tie. I thought that defense, which returned a good amount of guys and an offense that was talented enough, and we didn't know before the season and when we recorded our AEC previeould be Nikos Perry or
Jared Williams ended up being Williams. But I guess I just did not foresee the offensive line and the mistakes and the catastrophes on both sides of the ball, the big play errors coming. And so I am officially singing year one Manny Diez hopes of going to an ACC championship game, and I don't know if the prognosis is amazing, but they should recruit well enough. He obviously deserves time to establish a culture. But I feel very wrong in
thinking that Miami was going to be the team. So Miami's ACC championship game hopes you are officially at the bottom of the ocean.
Well, if you look at Miami so far, three and four on the year, they've lost to Florida North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech the overtime one that we saw back in in week just a few days ago, one in three in the ACC, one and three in the ACC. On the schedule right now, we've got road games against pitt and Florida State.
We've got a.
Home game against Louisville, home game against Florida International, and then they close out the year on the road at Duke. At least according to some projections, they are favored to win all of those games. I think the hardest, I guess would be at Pitt, maybe rivaled by Florida State, you know, both those games feel kind of the same to me.
But does something excellently well And we'll get to that. Maybe maybe not. And I think you're right at Pitt. We saw what you happen to UCF there. I think that's the answer the thing.
That I look at Miami and say, And it isn't all that different from my own preseason projections, which, by the way, I mean, you take the hit for this one, but I was right there with you.
Now.
They needed to get more consistent quarterback play, and of course they bring over Tamar. Tell you Jared Williams gets the start. There was a lot of praise with some of what he did early on. Manny Diaz got the hype stirred up down and Coral Gables just has not materialized, has not materialized at all.
In fairness, there are moments for Miami defensively where they look absurdly good. It's just that we're describing it as moments and not quarters or series is strung together, or games or has it's moments. There are times where they just look otherworldly on defense. And that's I mean, as up and down and as weird as the coastal is not good enough to be that moment to moment.
The one thing that I will point out and then I promise, Saul, let you have your turn. Yes, Miami has lost all four of those games by one score or less. Four points against Florida, three points on the road at North Carolina, seven points against Virginia Tech, and of course the overtime game that they lost is past
weekend to Georgia Tech. Second order wins, which is something that our friend Bill Connolly tracks has Miami at five five point four, meaning if things go a little bit differently, this could be a five win team as opposed to a three win team.
Could obviously be a lot different of a story. Ifs and butts tie, ifs and butts, bigger picture as we look forward, now, where does Miami go from here?
How do you feel about Miami's prospects?
Well, the offensive line has to improve. We're talking after the season, talking next offseason. The offensive line has to improve. There have been really nice again, the word is moments for Jaron Williams. I think they're going to continue to recruit well, and it's it's a year zero one. It was an unexpected retirement from a head coach, and so there is something that is incredibly deserving about saying, okay, this all happened unexpectedly, was all thrown together sort of
last second, unexpectedly. Again, it's going to be okay. I think losing to Georgia Tech is completely indefensible. Losing in the way that they lost to Virginia Tech late also sort of indefensible. So I don't know what you know. There's like win expectancies and stuff like that. If Miami can get to the point where they just win where they should, they're like a nine to three team, They're just not there yet.
All right, your turn. You guessed A two incorrectly. See if you could do better this time.
All right, let's stick with the two theme and we'll go B two. You got me mono a mono here?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, playing Arnez Battleship.
M hm.
I have here maybe my most controversial opinion. It was certainly one that I was very confident about going into the season, and that was that this Michigan team was not only going to win the Big Ten but also make the College Football Playoff. Wow, you doo, okay, lot to peel back here, A lot to peel back here. This has not worked out well, no, suffice to say, but Michigan is five and two. They're five and two, at least in terms of a win loss record. That's
better than Miami. You could do worse than five and two.
Correct.
Of Michigan's five remaining games, though, given the way they look on offense, you could see like four of them being competitive. I don't think that's too big of a stretch. The issue that we say that is because the new offense has yet to click. That may still happen. There were moments down the stretch against Penn State where yeah, I kind of clicked. They didn't give up, they played hard. They probably should have tied it if they don't have a drop pass in the end zone. They just need
more of those clicks. You need to get it together earlier on in some of these games. Right now, they are fifth in the country, and this is something that I know you and I have texted about fifth in the country and starting field position. Yeah, yet it's just that their offense is super inefficient at the moment, not getting any bang for the buck there. They need to find a way to correct that, and they need to start by at least looking a little bit more organized
on offense. Maybe the defense hasn't been quite up to the level that we've seen in past years. It's still really good and still more than good enough to give this offense good field position. It's just a shame they can't turn it into more.
Yeah, And it's one of those things too, Where on first downs are they can they get a six yard run. It's not complicated complicated things. It's not cracking this giant mystery that is football. It's basic things that they can't consistently string together. They find themselves in third and long a little bit too often, and even though they've been okay on third and long, they're just they're finding themselves there far too much. It's not like they're playing opponents
on their skill level. Penn State is, Ohio State is, but the rest of the year they're more talented than a team like Wisconsin. At the very least, they should be losing that game last second that they should be in that game for four straight orders, and so we've sort of talked ad nauseum about the Michigan issues this year, but it's self inflicted. It's the turnovers, it's the fumbles
I think they have. You know, they're they're comparable in terms of turnovers already to where they were last year all year, and so you can only give the ball away so much before you just say, I guess we're just doomed. I guess we're just doomed. And I don't think Michigan full. They may well beat, you know, the back half of their schedule until Ohio State in an
exciting way, but something is just off. And I was with you in the optimism, and I'm not going to say that we should be tearing down the Michigan season because they could go nine and three and win a bowl and go ten and three. That's not, you know, a crazy, crazy thought, but they're way behind Ohio State, and that was what the change was meant to affect the distance, then close the gap between Michigan and Ohio State. And that's just it's not a reality.
That was part of the reason for the optimism because of course Ohio State bringing in a new coach, even though he was already on the staff. Dudes, right, Whenever you swap out a legend, it's it's tough. It's a coin flip to begin with when you swap out a coach, and especially when you're replacing a legend, it's just you never know what kind of traction you're going to get on that front. And they have not done much to close that gap. On offense, They've looked very disorganized. Here's
what they look like now. I mentioned that four of the five games are competitive. The big Notre Dame game this weekend, it's at home, it's at night. They're around a point and a half favored in that game, which, okay, a little confusing to me, but fine, tough game, easily losable. They're at Maryland the week after Notre Dame. I think I think they should have that one in the bag. But then final three weeks of the year home against Michigan State. That's a rivalry they should have. Wait, but
yes it is. Who knows at Indiana in between Michigan State and Ohio State. That's a letdown look ahead spot that we've been talking up since June. And Indiana ain't bad. That's a losable game right and then obviously Ohio State to close out the year. Obviously thought maybe will be a little bit of a closer scenario when we got to week fourteen, when we talked about it again back in June. But right now Ohio State does look like their leaps and bounds better and.
In terms of ifs and butts at the same time, they go to the wire against Army and what do we know now about Army. Yeah, not particularly great this year now, so that looks worse. They might be a top seventy eighty team that looks worse right now. They blow out Rutgers. They have a great defensive game against Iowa, and i was a tough team Illinois, even though now in retrospect we've seen Illinois beat Wisconsin Penn State. If Ronnie Bell catches that ball, you have what a tie
game lay against the James Franklin team. That's a good spot to find yourself in. Yeah, it is. Well, it's just it's IF's and butts again, and it's it's It could go either way from Michigan at this point, and I am I'm still excited to see which direction it goes. I'm not fully willing to give up on an exciting Michigan, but we should sink those playoff hopes down to the bottom of the ocean.
What do we think about Michigan now moving forward? Because if we after the season big right, if we focus in, if we focus that periscope in on the future state of this offense. Shaye Patterson gone after this year, but elsewhere on the offense, maybe aside from the line, which we know as a veteran group, there's a lot of young skill talent on this roster, so a lot of
those guys will be back. Presumably Dylan McCaffrey will be back as well, and the new starting quarterback in Junior twenty twenty, he will have had a year in this system now under Josh Gaddis. Provided they hold on to Gaddis, Where do we like come down on this Michigan offense moving forward.
I think they'll hold on to Gaddis. I think it'll go up. I do I have high hope they've recruited well enough. Zach Sharboney seems pretty promising a bigger back as a true freshman thrown into it. I think fumble issues can be dealt with, you know, a big toss up will be what happens with the junior receivers to replack Nico Collins and Donovan People's jones, and see, you know, they're obviously not maximizing their value. So I imagine a couple of them at least will be back just in
hopes of proving that they have NFL draft potential. So I am I'm going to remain bullish on Michigan, and I know they're in Columbus next season, but the schedule should be I don't do you have their their schedule twenty schedule in front of you. It seems like it'll be okay. I still am hopeful that when you consistently year over year have an excellent defense and all you need to do is produce and above average off with talent, there's a lot to still be hopeful for.
Well, maybe we'll talk about LSU in a little bit. Perhaps, maybe we'll talk about LSU in a little bit. And it was a similar story there for.
A long time at Washington Michigan September fifth in the twenty twenty season.
All right, so who's up? I guess I'm up, Yes, I am up to guess I'm going to go? Where was I was D four last time? Correct, I am going.
B four crap?
I thought maybe you did the corner thing where you stacked them all in the corner.
No, I'll give you another shot, though, Tay.
I feel bad, okay, D three.
Ah wow, Like Shaye Patterson, I'm just a miss after a miss that was great.
I'm trying to work my way out from the corner. I'll give you one more shot, tie another one. I feel terrible. Yeah, all right, let's go. We'll go D D one. Yes, I knew you had another one in that D column.
I knew you would do that. I do. Yeah, I'm deeper Dan. Your hit and my miss, really, and this is very specific, is an actual miss is Mississippi States. I was very high on year two of the Joe Morehead experience. Moving past there, what I thought was going to be the end of very bad quarterback play. I thought they'd have a complete team, returning the receivers that they did, returning an underrated running back in Kylon Hill,
returning a pretty experienced offensive line. And I know, you know, losing Montes Sweat and Jeffrey Simmons was huge, but good linebackers, upperclassmen on the line, some experience in the secondary, not a lot. I knew that was gonna be a question coming in, but I didn't fully see how they could
fall off the way that they have. Obviously, you lose to Tennessee and you have to have a sit down, you have to have a conversation, and so Keithon Thompson leaves and comes back, and Tommy Stevens comes in, and you know, he and Joe Morehead have this rapport, and Garrett Trader, this blue chip quarterback, starts getting time. I still felt pretty good about them two three weeks into the season, but the mistakes on offense and god, the
last I mean I was saying the last. The entirety of that Auburn experience has me so soured on the twenty nineteen season for the Bulldogs that I have to write it off. I have to sink that take to the bottom of the ocean. Just the picks against Tennessee and coming out of a bye week, and to look that listless on offense, just mistake prone. And even when they have completed passes to their own team, they've been okay, they've been pretty good, but that's that's a pretty big qualifier.
When you throw the picks that they do. So, Yeah, they've been thrown on and have had, you know, the continued struggles throwing where this was the best pass defense in the SEC last season. Yeah, and they did actually have some success even though the score would indicate otherwise against LSU. I thought they did a pretty good job. They tightened up in the red zone against LSU early and it was a close game for that first half.
But I just I didn't see it. I had a lot of faith that the Mississippi State team would build on last year's experience and they haven't.
Yeah, the Tennessee game on the road, granted, on the road in Tennessee not the easiest place in the world to play with that offense. Oh, but offense was abysmal. Ten points against Tennessee is.
Just not good enough. Three picks.
Yeah, you look at the schedule now, they've already got four losses. They've lost three in a row at Texas, A and M. This coming week, there's a road to bil against Arkansas in there, which should hopefully be a win for their sake, a bye with then they come back home against Alabama. They've got a game in there against Abilene Christian they should win that one easily. Then they close out with the Egg Bowl. Yeah at home.
So I don't think it's a foregone conclusion at this point that Mississippi State's making a bowl game at all, which is not a good look for Joe moorehead in year two. Certainly, the line has not helped these quarterbacks much, but no, you could argue the quarterbacks haven't helped the quarterbacks much either. True, So it's just not really been a great situation. We talk about Michigan's disorganized offense, this
is sort of on a whole different level. It just feels like they don't know at all what's going on, and the quarterbacks in particular have not helped.
I've liked Garrett Schrader some. I think there is promise there, you know, being thrown in as a true freshman freshman truths, as we've talked about, they're just going to be lumpy moments. Ah. I just thought everything else around him would be okay. Well, just thought they'd be led by defense and Kylon Hill. But now you can just stack the box. You can stack the box that the passing threat just doesn't really exist.
It doesn't. And to further your point, Garrett Strader. You look at the way he's built, the way he can move, got a pretty good arm. He would be should be the prototypical Joe moorehead quarterback. He would seemingly fit exactly what they're.
Trying to do. Definitely, why it hasn't clicked.
I don't know. I don't know if it's the line. I don't know what's going on, but it certainly has not clicked. And we can sink this one to the bottom of the ocean. Dan, I don't where do we come down on Joe moorehead twenty twenty and beyond at Mississippi State, because right now we've got rumors about the whole Rutgers opening. Maybe he'd kind of a weird rumor to begin with, but we know he's got familiarity with the Northeast.
Yeah, if he has familiarity with the Northeast, that's why he shouldn't go to exactly. And as as much talent as they're actually is in New Jersey, there isn't talent overall running the Rutgers athletic department. It's just a terrible situation. So I think he's smart enough not to jump to Rutgers. I like Joe Morehead. I like his ability. I think
he should resonate with recruits. He should be able to improve a culture if it needs improving, which obviously, after the way they've lost this year, Mississippi State probably does. He's resonating with recruits. They have a top twenty class at the moment they have. It looks like six or
seven blue chip guys committed verbally right now. And I'm still going to say because of that home environment, because of his intellect, I'm willing to write it off as you know, whiffing on the Tommy Stevens thing, and see that's pushing the chips in with Garrett Strader and hoping for the best in terms of developing guys on defense with what I still think is a pretty good defensive coordinator in Bob Shoot.
Yeah, if Tommy Stevens thing didn't work out, this was always a risk. Yeah, the defensive component is quite troubling, but yeah, you know, it is what it is at this point. So we're gonna sync that to the bottom of the ocean. You gave me three shots at you before I hit one, so I'm just gonna let you go until you until you get one.
Dan Okay, I guess A two before. Uh let's go C two because I got a B two last time. Nope, all right, now gotta get away from two. Uh C one. You got it, You got it, all right?
This, I think will be an interesting discussion between you and I. I came into the season and I don't know if I ever formally verbalized this.
I think you when we when we talked about tears. Yeah, I think that's right.
We talked did nauseam before the season, even during the season about the tiers of college football programs in twenty nineteen, and I sort of came into the season with it being a foregone conclusion that it was gonna be Alabama and Clemson playing for the national championship, and that one of those two teams is gonna win. And obviously if they play, someone's got to win. But I didn't really give anyone else a chance. Ohio State starting over in
some respect with the new coach. Oklahoma, the defense has been mud the last couple of years. Hasn't really mattered how good they.
All light is actually a little bit better than what Oklahoma's defense might put them teams through. I think that's right.
Yeah, there have been other teams right that you could throw in there as well, just like I didn't give anybody else a chance LSU. LSU plays in the same division as Alabama. I didn't give them a chance. Well, now, Dan, here we are through eight weeks of the season, and you can make a really good case for Ohio State, certainly with where their offense is and how their defense has improved from a year ago. I think they're number
one in the SP. Plus if I look correctly, you've got Oklahoma playing as good, if not better than they ever have on offense, with an improved defense now that they brought Alex grinchover from Ohio State, and the LSU story, which again hint, nudge, nudge, we may actually talk about here momentarily, but the offense has been dynamic. Defense sad defense hasn't been as good, but offensively they've been light
in the world on fire. I think you can make a really good case for those five teams as your top tier of college football in this twenty nineteen And that means no disrespect to Alabama, who has been outstanding behind to a tongue of Iiloa Naji Harris, and of course they're incredible wide receiving core and a really good defense has some injury but are still a really good defense. And the Clemson Tigers, which honestly, Trevor Lawrence has let me down a little bit this year. You know, I
still think he's incredible. I still think he's got to be the top pick of the twenty twenty one draft, but has left me a little bit underwhelmed so far this year. The defense is good, obviously, the skilled talents out there, they've been killing teams. But I think right now that is my top tier. I'm willing to sink that previous assumption to the bottom of the ocean and say that I think, legit, we've got a five team race through eight.
So what's more pronounced to you the fact that Alabama and Clemson haven't distanced themselves on their own tier, like something that they've done to themselves that they've been able to control, or the fact that the teams that you mentioned Oklahoma, LSU, and Ohio State have impressed you so much that you have to put them on. It's definitely Alabama Clemson thing or the other three things.
It's the other three thing. It's the other three thing. With what LSU has been able to do on offense, taking the college football world by storm. They've got the second best offense according to some of the metrics we look at. Nobody saw that coming. I don't care how much you believed in what they were going to try and do this year. Nobody saw this for Joe Burrow big school record halfway through the year.
No one saw this offense producing at this clip. So literally showing their butt to the.
World, literally showing their butt to the world, Oklahoma. I think we expected the offense, but as we said the last two years, just marginal improvement on defense would take them to a different stratosphere. Yeah, I think they've done that. And in Ohio State. Look, Ohio State's playing next level. Justin fields has been, as rabal Or Daine has told us time and again, maybe the best quarterback in Ohio State history ever through like seven games or whatever.
Yeah. So yeah, I'm very impressed by what I've seen from those three teams. So I think it's both. And I don't think you touched on some of the conarning parts of Clemson and Alabama enough. I think those three teams that you mentioned, I think are instilling a lot more confidence at this point than either Alabama or Clemson. Now, neither one of those teams has been tested by a top tier, uber talented team. They both played Texas A
and M. I believe that's a common opponent. But Alabama has given up more on defense than we're used to, and honestly, it's such a tight rope. The margin for air is so slim when you're basically revamping a coaching staff every year, dealing with injuries and playing freshmen. And now it's a great problem to have if you're Alabama that you're still Nick Saban hiring who he wants and recruiting who he wants, not a matter of who's going
to go there. And Clemson, I wonder if there's an element of what's the line from social network, like do I have your attention like you have the minimal amount of my attention. I wonder if the medium size of Clemson's schedule has Clemson minds wandering like you just you're not going to get the focus. We've seen them have to take on what Lamar Jackson. We've seen them had to take on a good Virginia Tech team that was within what a touchdown in the a SEC Championship a
few years ago. We've seen you know, Miami, Miami teams, Florida State teams, and there's just I don't think there's anybody that is captivating to Clemson in the acc that. I think it starts affecting the way that they're focused. I think it starts affecting the way that you get punched early on in the season and it wakes you up and you're really locked in, right, and I did. Clemson's not there and I don't know if they will
be until they make it to the playoff. It didn't really affect them last year they beat Notre Dame by twenty said.
Yeah, and that's the cautionary tale because we said the same thing almost verbatim about Clemson a year ago. And how do they have the killer instinct? They they've been killing teams simple that one point victory on the road at North Carolina destroyed Florida State. Just beat Louisville by thirty five. On the remaining schedule, Boston College, Wafford, anc and Wake before a more interesting game than you might have expected to be honest against South Carolina.
Yeah, and the Clemson. The The Clemson roster, though last year was filled with dudes who had been through those wars. Look, you look up all three levels of the defense. You look at some of the offensive lineman Mitch Hyatt. These guys that you know are are leaders that are able to keep a team locked in, and it's just it
feels like a transition here for Clemson. Doesn't mean they can't win the National champions no, exactly, but the feeling that the moment we're recording this, there is a different feel there is you know, the coaches are trying to work in as many players as possible in close, closer games, you know, against North Carolina in the first half, or Trevor Lawrence is going a little bit rogue to see what he can get away with throwing into coverage that it just it feels like there's a little bit of
boredom until they can get onto a bigger stage. Yeah.
And by the way, just to clarify the reason I say South Carolina is a little bit more interesting than I think, it's because they beat Georgia and I didn't think South Carolina had that in them. Now.
I don't know if they're going to beat Clemson.
The game is at home, but I know let me, let me let me ask you this and then we'll move on here.
Yeah.
Is this the new norm now in college football? Where we've been used to talking about Alabama Clemson the last couple of seasons, Is it the new norm now that we're going to talk about Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, we can throw Georgia in the mix as well, in that very top tier of college football teams.
Yeah, I think so. I don't think there's a team right now that I see as being a full time threat for years moving forward, just because of the level of talent, and Georgia is sort of teetering right now, at least at the time we're recording this. But I would certainly have Ohio State right there. I would certainly have LSU right there. And here's the thing about LSU, and maybe we'll get to LSU later.
I don't know.
I haven't seen the board, but there's something if you're looking long term at the Tigers, you go to Alabama, You're like, Okay, you can be the next to uh great, they have a five star quarterback, they've got to his little brother. You can be the next Dwayne Haskins. Justin Field's transfers there, you can be the next Marcus Mariota. You can be the next Matt Lioner. You can LSU finally has that they have never had that in the modern era of some guy who's there multiple years producing
on a high level. You can be the next Joe Burrow is a selling point that LSU has not had in the modern era, and that to me feels very dangerous. Okay, shall we move on? Sure, you can be the next Kyler, you can be the next Maker Mayfield, great Jalen Hurts is there? All right? So is it my guess or you're okay?
I guessed D one last time. We'll move off the D comn. We'll go to I'll go I'll go A one. All right, you missed it? Look in, look in.
What have I already had? I've already had a C. I'll go D callum D three D three?
Huh no, no, no, okay, I am going B three.
Yeah.
What do we got? So the take that I'm going to send to the bottom of the ocean I had and this was I'll qualify it. This was a worst case thing for me. Pitt may win as few as four games. Hey, we caught hell for this one.
Well, they just won their fifth We caught hell for this one from some fans who actually listened to the show.
Yeah we did, and I am wrong. I am. I mean, the worst case has now been eclipsed. Now. Pitt has had a very strange season. They lose late, but with a chance to beat Penn State right with a hail Mary that in the back of the end zone to tie it, they lose light there they demonstrably lose to Virginia. They win in very strange fashion to an underwhelming Duke team. I think that was on the road, strange game, but a decent enough win at Syracuse and the Carrier Dome
always tough on a Friday night. And their defense has been the best thing in the coastal. It's either their defense of Virginia's defense, their defense especially doing one specific thing well, which is just causing havoc, which is an actual status, you know, tackles for loss and sacks and force fumble stuff like that. They are riddling teams with havoc and the defensive front is so strong, especially on
the inside. I'm gonna stand by my doubts on the offense because I think the offense is still full on bad. But if you do something really really well in the coastal it goes a long way. And I was also down on this defense. It has been an underwhelming defense these past few years with you know, a defensive a successful defensive coach and Pat nardoozy, and they now look like a top twenty five, top thirty defense nationally. And
again they harm teams. Yeah, that's good enough, and I didn't see it coming.
Here's what I find interesting about Pitt other than the reasons that you just outlined. Yeah, maybe the most eclectic named wide receiver corp and all of college football.
We got Maurice French leading the way.
Yeah, with fifty six catches. That's French with two f's at the double yep, Tay, Sir Mack you Mac to seer Mac, excuse me, Nikiyah, Griffin Stewart, will grag, Dontavious Butler, Jenkins, Shocky, Jacques Louie. Mm hmmm.
Got some interesting names in there, Yeah, DBJ, SJL NNGS and GS is it tight end by the way, good team on defense.
On defense, playing a lot of close games, a lot of close times.
It's gonna be a weird back half of their schedule. I see a lot of thirty to twenty nine's a lot of nineteen eighteen's a lot of you know, the acc regrets the error kind of games. The back five games of their schedule, it's Miami at Georgia Tech should be Georgia Tech, even it's on the road. Virginia Tech on the road should be tough for them. North Carolina
feels like a toss up. I also think that they've already played three times and Boston College without Anthony Brown, so I winning two or three of them seven eight.
Wins not bad race, seems realistic. All five of those games are projected as one score games. Wow, okay, all five projected as one score games, and they've already played in one, two, three, four five. Five of their seven games so far been one score games.
Yeah. And that Delaware game, that close call against Delaware, I think was with Nick Patty, their backup quarterback playing. But yeah, right, this is pit games are just me entertaining all year long, like South Carolina last season, where they're just it's going to be competitive one way or the other. Might get a Kenny Pickett like three hundred yard game. Maybe not, maybe not. Okay, my turn to guess.
I believe your turn to guess. Yes, right, let's go a four, A four not you know what, I'll give you another one.
You're sniffing, though, you're getting rid am I you're oh, you're sniffing, you are sniffing.
Let's I think I did a two N a four. So let's do a let down, look ahead, sandwich here with a three. There it is. He got it.
You got the LSU one. Oh, you finally got it. God bless you finally got it. So you The preseason assumption for me was that LSU's offensive upgrade that we heard about, right, the shiny new offense that opening things up. Yeah, that was opening things up. It was gonna be new and revolutionary and different in the Bayou. And yeah, I
just felt like it was BS. I felt like it was BS because how many times before have we heard about some sort of LSU offensive change or upgrade or a new twist or wrinkle that was gonna make it better? And how many time I'm gonna lose the weight This time, ty, I'm really gonna do it. I'm gonna get back together, I'm gonna eat better, I'm gonna work out all the time, I'm gonna get off the couch. This is the year my new year's resolution of a wide open offensive life
plan comes together. Previous attempts at this had left a lot to be desired. So the skepticism I don't think was unwarranted. They've had issues on offense for a long time. It's been a thing, it's been a thing, and it's just the defense has been so good that you you can paper over the offense right. Well, Coach O makes the decision, gonna make some renovations. Hurt a lot about it.
Every now and then, Dan, we have pleasant surprises like this in college football where we do some grandiose plan works. If you told me before the year that we'd be midway through, Joe Burrow would have twenty nine touchdown passes instead of school record Joey Dirt, by the way, completing eighty percent of his passes seventy nine point four percent. Excuse me to be exact, filthy, seventy nine point four percent of two hundred and eighteen attempts have been completion so far for Joey Dirt.
That's like two thousand and eight Colt McCoy level.
Yeah, his receivers have been money justin Jefferson has caught ninety percent of his targets.
Oh god, I don't know what the advertise.
Yeah, I don't know what the averages in college football, but that ain't it?
Okay? Right?
Five hundred and thirty yards a game. I believe I might have saw at least fifty.
Points a game. I don't know if that's right or not, but it could be.
This has been by any measure, any metric, and incredible success. So I hereby sink all of that skepticism to the bottom of the sea. Bury it in the Marianas Trench, whatever it's called, in the middle of the Atlantic.
Good call. Just bury it down there.
And I am happy to progress in this new world where LSU has the offense. Their receivers are finally being tapped into in a meaningful way, and suddenly we've got a new contender that has risen in the SEC West.
Well, it always seemed like they had the talent to do this, and maybe it's not specific for this style of offense, like you're not going to take Leonard Fournette and turn him into a full on, all purpose back and split them out. And you you know, when you have a talent like that perhaps you have to run a power centric offense. I get that, but you'll always have speed. You should always be able to recruit linemen. This is an LSU program that consistently, through thick and thin,
is recruiting top four, six seven classes. Right. Sure, So this wasn't an overhaul like Michigan was so entrenched in older offensive ways and Michigan has struggled to move the ball like LSU has. But just the amount of team speed does not feel like it's equal in ann Arbor. This was always lurking ty, much like isn't it Godzilla sitting under the trenches under japan AfOR all these monsters
are always there. You know that they're there to I guess, protect humanity, and I guess the same way Joe Brady is here to protect our eyes and give us fun football to watch. Yeah, but it wasn't an overhaul. It was simply, let's do something that makes a little bit more sense. We have it looked what looks to be a pretty good quarterback. We saw Joe Burrow show flash is last year, make plays. We've recruited well along, you know, into the receiving corps. You know, Clyde Edwards Hilaire showed
flashes last season as well. They look balanced. The big thing is it's just LSU committing to it and everybody getting on the same page. The bringing in this guy. We're overhauling. We're going to ride or die with this offensive plan, and so far it's a lot of riding tie.
So to bring it full circle, it's like LSU realize that their family is entirely made up of personal trainers, that maybe they should just do the right thing and lean on the expertise and speed of everybody in their house because it always made sense.
It will be interesting to see what happens moving forward into the future into twenty twenty. Yeah, so Joe Brady and Joe Burrow, Yeah, you know, we'll have to see if this is sustainable. But at least in this present iteration with Joe Burrow and a really good receiving corps, young receiving corps at that, Yeah, they've been dynamic and yeah, there are no two ways about it.
And they've been healthy too. They've been healthy, arras Marshall has missed some time, and I know they've been beat up, uh defensively a little bit. But the offense by and large has had a pretty good run of health, and so I am. I'm encouraged because, as mentioned before, you can be the next Joe Burrow, you can be the next Justin Jefferson, you can be the next Jamar Chase, you can be the next Clyde whatever that they're going
to be able to recruit, not necessarily better, but more accurately. Yeah, okay, so let's bury. Let's bury that take new year, same old LSU promises unkept.
I'm I'm happy to bury that one. All right, my turn here? Yeah, I will go Where was I B three last time? I will guess C one this time? That the win you're inching, But no, not quite that would have been for the win, all right? You go?
Oh okay, so I did I got the A three sandwich last time? Let's go see four because it's explosive.
Tied three three here, drama on the high seas. I guess I'm gonna go see.
Two? Yes, yo, sonk my battleship. What do we got here? Okay? So I was skeptical and this is a team we've already mentioned a couple of times. I was skeptical of crowning Ohio State before the year, and I think I was more on board with the Michigan thing. I may even picked Michigan to come out of the Big Ten. The fact that in ann Arbor experienced quarterback, you know,
bringing a lot of guy back on offense. But Ohio State in hiring a new coach, in bringing in a couple of new defensive coaches, Jeff Haffley as a co coordinator, losing Greg Cchiano, bringing in Greg Mattison now Washington from Michigan. I was just thinking to myself, it feels like a lot of change, especially with throwing a transfer quarterback who's going to be immediately eligible, decorated as he was as
a recruit. That I almost felt like assuming Ohio State as another ten to eleven twelve win team with all those changes, with a quarterback thrown in without any time in the system. It was a lot to ask and almost underappreciated how good Dwayne Haskins was last year to assume that there can just be another Dwayne Haskins or
another great quarterback at Ohio State. So I was skeptical and I was wrong to me, because right now Ohio State looks like they're the best alley oop team that the offense is doing their own defense so many favors. The defense is doing their own offense a ton of favors. We talked about the speed and competence and just laying integrity on every play and the experience of the secondary. Damon Arnette coming back. We saw how they were affected a little bit losing Browning this past week and not
playing against Northwestern. But they're just all over the place. The defense doesn't have to get all that sweaty, and that just softens up the other team's defense. And you can't say enough good things right now about where Ohio State is at just because they look like the most
consistently complete team in the country. The opponents aren't there yet. No, they were not tested in a big Power five way like they had been against Oklahoma those couple times, or even TCU last season at least when we thought tc was gonna be pretty good. So I am very curious about the back half of their schedule with you know, some seriously good defenses. But they've passed every test with
a plus plus colors justin fields so far. Yeah, seventy percent of his passes, seventy point seven percent of his passes excuse me, have been completions twenty two touchdown passes to just one interception, which is amazing first year as a starter. And he's also run for a little over seven yards a clip and eight touchdowns. That's a pretty
big footprint, especially when combined with JK. Dobbins, who's also rushing for over seven yards at a clip with seven touchdowns of his own, especially when you look at some of these wide receivers who are doing their part to catch most of their targets. Yeah, no standout, There no standard way that they've had these past couple years. No above and beyond number one option and you know.
But very consistent, but very consistent. And part of that is obviously due to what Justin Fields is able to do and his accuracy throwing the football. But it's just a really consistent effort across the board. To your point, it's not just the offense, it's not just the defense. It is both of them working in tandem, which I think has been so impressive to me.
If they are the most complete team in the country, how would you game plan? What does a win over Ohio State look like? If it is a team that is not Alabama or Clemson or Oklahoma that you know the team's remaining on their schedule, which I'm sure you have in front of you, because this is an item of yours. Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan are the big ones. Yeah, what is that recipe? What is the guideline to beating a team this complete?
Well, you've certainly got to have a power defense, and there are three of them here. There are three of them in Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan. You got to do something to disrupt that timing that Justin Fields has right now, mm hmm. You've got to have enough speed as a defense that you can contend with his legs, and I think all three have that as well. So I think it starts up front. You've got to do something to create this disruption, and you also have to
be very thrifty with the football. I don't think Jack Cone is that quarterback. Shaye Patterson probably isn't that quarterback, And to be honest, I don't know if Sean Clifford is either. I don't know how much I trust any of them to not make mistakes against a really good, really fast defense. Can you run the football effectively against Ohio State Michigan hasn't been great running the football. Now, Wisconsin is pretty good in most cases. Penn State still
a work in progress. We don't know what kind of voodoo they're working on. So I have questions about all three of those opponents. I think you got to create some disruption though on defense, otherwise you have no chance.
I think the answer is Wisconsin, and this is this week, so we'll preview it. It's slowing the game down. It's getting to third and two and getting every single one of those third and two's. It's wearing down defenses, getting them frustrated, keeping the offense off the field, and making honestly making justin field see ghosts. My favorite phrase from last season. It's having a defense that can show one thing and then drop into another. And not that Wisconsin
necessarily plays the most convoluted, complicated defense. I think Jim Leonard's done an incredible job. And you see the teams that they're able to shut out, which to me, even though they're not all great teams, they shut out Michigan State. That's not insignificant. And there's so much focus and there's
so much tenacity to this Wisconsin defense. Even with the Illinois loss in the way that they lost, I still think the high end of Wisconsin is probably the most likely upset candidate because of the way that they can limit possessions potentially, and if they can get those third and shorts, No, that's dangered. And like we saw what Army did against Oklahoma last season, where all of a sudden you have seven possessions to win instead of your normal fourteen. That to me is the interesting way to
beat Ohio State. And it's a hard it's an impossible tightrope, but that's the tightrope.
I think we're both in agreement that based on their blue chip ratio, their number of just really highly regarded recruits that have come through Columbus, combined with the fact that the new coach isn't going anywhere and Justin Fields has got at least another year, I think we feel pretty good about Ohio State and the health of this program in the foreseeable future.
Yeah.
Absolutely, All right, Dan, So, I guess technically I've won. But there's one more here, all right, one more for you. We're completests. Yes, I did see.
Four last time for explosives B four because it's a word. Now, this is just getting embarrassing. This is garbage time.
Just start plowing through all the rows, now, okay, D four D four.
Here we go close to d fod. Here we go going out on a high note. Here across the finish line. Everybody's given me sympathy, applause. I am burying to the bottom of the ocean my long standing relationship with TCU. Oh, don't do it. I am burying it. Dan, I'm out. It's a setback, Tie, it's a setback.
I went pretty close to the line of saying that TCU is back. Of course, we all remember their legendary cheese at Bowl victory over Cal.
Yeah, and.
We knew the stat going into this year that TCU usually follows up seasons like last year with something like ten or eleven wins.
Right, they get their act together, they.
Get it together, and especially this year with seven starters back on offense. Plus, they were really banged up last year to the point where they didn't even have a spring game this year.
Because average out things, you know, health would have suddenly progress to a reasonable level.
So there was a lot to be excited about there. Plus in terms of yardage allowed on a per game basis, and per play basis. Last year, TCU was the best in the Big twelve conference, so there were signs there.
Yeah, they finished with the top twenty five to thirty defense something like that.
They have three freaks on Bruce Felman's annual Freak list, like there was there was a lot to be excited about this year.
Yeah, their frea quotient was quite high.
Well, Daniel three and three at the moment. Yeah, the defense has given up a ton of big plays.
On offense. They cannot throw. We saw that skillet matchup, Tye. We all saw it. We all saw it.
You might say, well, they don't They don't throw because they've got really good running backs and it's not an offense based on the pass. And sure, maybe maybe I agree to an extent, but when they have to throw, they really stink.
They're just not good at it.
No, they've got five losable games left against Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. I could see any one of those being a loss.
I'm not saying they're going to lose all of them, but eight losses. Eight losses is very much a at least outside.
Chance at this point for TCU. That's that's the depths to which we have unfortunately now progressed.
Yeah, you can't wait fun quarterback. You just this is the most obvious statement that perhaps we'll ever make. But they've had what one and a half good quarterbacks since Yeah, Andy Dalton, you had a really high level Trevon Boykin, and I think a definitely good Kenny Trill. But they I mean the Sewn Robinson thing, Justin Rodgers and his injury. They've recruited it seems well, but it's just you can't whiff.
And I know they're starting a true freshman. I know that they are going to be issues, but they still have two really good running backs Darius Anderson and Shawo alone Shawoh Alona Lua got it, I got it, you got it. And this is not a tough big twelve year. This is not loaded for bear with like, oh this quarterbacks and over four thousand yards this quarterbacks and throw four thousand yards. Well, Greer's gone, Alan Bowman's hurt at Texas Tech. Sam Ellinger is still good, Jalen Hurts is
really good. Brock Purty dropped fifty on them, but the rest of their schedule Spencer Sanders, Charlie Brew is good. Austin Kendall, Like, this is a schedule that should not have been a navigation issue. Losing to Kansas State year one of Chris Clemon, Skyler Thompson. It shouldn't be happening with the with how complete in terms of talent they look at times, but at times is not. The problem is also they're devolving into a pseudo half team. Tie.
Exactly are they? Exactly? Is I just thought of something so mean, but I have to get out of my system. Tie are they fort Western? I'm a bad person. I regret it, but I had to. I had to expunge it from my brain.
All I know is I look at what this team has done, and I hate to focus too much on the passing game. I look at what this team has done, and I see that Max Duggan has nine touchdowns to zero interceptions, Alex Delton only one interception on the year.
Maybe the ter quarterback run of the season Max Douck.
Their quarterbacks have a nine to one ratio. Why does it feel like they're not getting enough out of that passing game? And I know they're focused a lot on Darius Anderson and what's his name? Shawoh on Alulu Alua. Yeah, I got it, sort of. I know they're focused on that, but it does feel like they're almost evolved into a bit of a half offense as well, and sure, that's just no way to go about winning games. TCU for a long time was sort of like my favorite Big
twelve team. They've let me down so much now that I don't know how I feel about them moving forward, and I'm very disgruntled.
I'm sorry, ty, but I'm glad we got to talk it out. Bury that love to the bottom of the sea, and it's time to move on. We have we have abandoned all Central Time Zone purple teams. Yes, we have a certain ETCU and Kansas State's got Actually they're a good story, all right. There we go down.
Battleship, great game, Barnez.
Battleship now officially in the books here on the twos cruise.
Did you see the Battleship movie?
No?
I didn't. I did not either. I looked up the Wikipedia plot and that was enough. Yeah.
No, not not not, definitely an appointment movie.
Types of spent two hundred and twenty million and domestically made fifty six. That is not good. I think it made up some money internationally, tie, but it was like five people from Friday Night Lights, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, a guy from True Blood, and the movie involved aliens and force fields, proposals being dishonorably discharged, and war games. So okay, yeah that was battleship apparently, well.
This was our NAZ battleship. Yeah, way better. Thank you to each and all for downloading the show. I am your captain, Ty hilden Brand. He is Lieutenant Dan Rubinstein. We will be back on Thursday to preview all of your week nine action. In the meantime, Daniel, enjoy the next couple days. I'll talk to you soon, okay, I hope so fair sees may tees. I'm Ty, He's Dan. Catch you all on Thursday morning and meant stance up peace