Bruin Source

Episode 139: The 2024 UCLA Football Preview (Inaugural B1G Version)

We're on the precipice of a new college football season and for UCLA, it's a season in a new conference, a season with new opponents and a season with a new head coach. There's a lot to follow here of course, but we got you covered with a complete season preview for UCLA's inaugural Big 10 football season! We chat about the strengths and weaknesses of the roster, how the 2-deep looks and make game-by-game predictions for the whole season. We also have a quick bonus Hawaii game preview as well. Check it all out right here!

Duration:: 1h 31m
Broadcast on:: 28 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Yes, well, what does happen, what will happen, all that good stuff is what we're recording on the 27. It's like three, four days away. So, yeah, we're back, baby. It's college football. It's back. I know it actually technically kicked off last week on Saturday, but that was week zero. It was a good game. It was a good game. It was an interesting game, but we're not here to talk about that. I guess where do we even start? You know, we talked a little bit about fall camp last week and maybe we can kind of pick up where we left off and jump into the roster a little bit. Jump into our too deep before we go into our season predictions and season preview. Let me ask you this. And I feel like I know the answer, but maybe I don't. Before we jump into the full roster and the too deep, which position group. Do you think is our strongest and which one is our weakest? I think, yeah, I don't know if I'm going to have a lot of surprises for you here. I guess you could make an argument between for strongest for wide receiver and quarterback. If we believe even garvers is that good, but I would go wide receiver right now. It's the one position where we have proven commodities on the team that have produced at a good level either here or elsewhere. The big question mark for the entire season, I think is defensive line, a drush in particular. Probably a close tie between defensive line and offensive line. Offensive line we've gotten some people in and we've. It sounds like it shouldn't be what it was last year where like again it was unsafe for quarterbacks to be back there so it doesn't sound like that's the situation this year, but we will see. As rush. We haven't heard anything in even like the positive coaches talk so far to make us think that that's going to. You know, not be potentially the question mark of the season. I largely agree with you, but I think I will differ a little bit in terms of the strongest unit. I think wide receivers definitely up there. I think a close second or you can even maybe argue a tie from a depth and quality perspective as linebacker. I think we are not probably not giving our linebackers enough praise here from, you know, Ken McDonald. There's a lot of depth and talent at this position group as good as maybe, you know, three quarters of the big 10. And that line backing core, there's going to be a lot of pressure on them, especially if the D line doesn't perform as we need it to. And so you mentioned it, D line's a big question and I think the place we can potentially, you know, get some edge rushing in is from the linebacker. So I'll give them a nod, maybe slightly over the wide receivers just for the sake of bringing them up. But yeah, I mean, depth chart wise, you saw the too deep now, any big surprises for you on kind of what we're seeing from a depth perspective or a depth chart perspective. I guess the one thing that kind of stood out to me and I don't know how much to read into this Logan lawyer is listed as a second slot receiver. Second to Rico Flores. Now we all know we've heard that Rico Flores has been having a good camp. You know, is that a situation where lawyers kind of a jack of all trades kind of across the receiving court where he can kind of slot into any of those positions that that was one I think that kind of stood out a little bit to me. And on the defensive line, you know, we know about J Toya and Keanu Williams, you know, coming back. It looks like Seattle to Packey. Big big boy, and has earned the trust of the coaches. If you let's just listen to how they've been talking about him. And the lawyers said, hi, has had high praise for him. Coming from offensive line. I thought that was, that was something to go and earn a backup spot, you know, obviously Gary Smith went down and we needed him to do that. And it looks like he's, he stepped up and done that so that's, that's good news. That is good news. The thing that stuck out to me like a sore thumb with this depth chart was on the O line. So obviously Ruben Uniges will come in and kind of secure that left tackle spot. We have some actually quality depth behind him right Jill and Jeff versus is a decent player Michael Carmody, you know, maybe slightly undersized but he's coming in with some experience from Notre Dame so we have some depth here. And here's me though is that two out of the five positions here on the O line. In our too deep at the number two positions. We have walk ons. Manning those spots, like the left guard behind Spencer whole stage. We have you Takamah who is a walk on red shirt junior behind right tackle behind Garrett, Georgia, we have Nikki Prongos who is a red shirt sophomore walk on. That to me is a little bit concerning considering. You know, anything happens to either of those guys we have very much unknown quantities manning the line and that is where it gets very, very dicey now. We know why this is the situation we're not going to get into why this is a situation we've we beat that horse dead. We're not going to get into that situation. Right. But when you look at this, this depth chart going into the season. O line really, really, really make those previous issues just scream at you. Like, that is insane to me that we have walk ons beating out other guys, you know, like, Noah Paul is a red shirt junior who's been here for a while and he has been beaten out by a walk on guy. Same with the right tackle right there. We only have a freshman coming in there so that is that's going to be something to watch out for. So we have, I think, quality starters here. What happens, though, if any of those guys go down, hopefully they don't, but O line is always a tricky position. There's always injuries. How can we weather that storm? Because if we cannot, you know, put quality O line play out on the field, this offense as good as all of our position players are as good as our running backs might be as good as our receivers are going to be. It won't matter. We've seen it before. So something that really was interesting to me and kind of scary. And we kind of touched on it yesterday or last week, but now you're looking at the two deep going into a game situation now and you're like, oh, wow, that is really the reality of this now. I mean, you're hitting on the point that I think we've talked about and many people have talked about it covered UCLA. But I think it's most pronounced on the O line as the depth chart sits in front of us now, which is the starters look serviceable the starters look like if they kind of stay the way they healthy and upright. You can talk me into a top half big 10 team this year. If anything happens to any, especially in some of these key positions like the line of scrimmage were in trouble. And I think it's most pronounced in the offensive line, which again, last year is still etched in my memory. What that was like watching quarterback after quarterback go down, get injured, the whole deal. And, you know, particularly if our strength this year is going to be quarterback and receivers. It don't mean anything if this group, you know, isn't able to protect. And again, you hope that the starters here are up to the task. If anything does happen, I mean, it is, it is disappointing that again, you have people multiple years in the program, you know, getting beaten out by by walk ons. Yeah, that's the one that definitely stares in the face. The other big question mark, I think, on this roster from a position group perspective and looking at the TV deep is the secondary. And I actually think when you're looking at the secondary corner back corner back looks okay. Right, we have Devin Kirkwood, who, you know, came in as a pretty highly touted guy. He's been decent. You know, I don't think he's lived up to the expectations that I think a lot of people had when he came in. Everyone thought he was going to be a superstar and he hasn't been. But he's been largely serviceable right and solid at times. And behind him, you know, we have Kanye Clark, who I was, I believe a former walk on who has apparently been playing very well in in fall camp. And then we have freshman Christian Dunbar Hawker. That is music to my ears because last year we had a guy who was basically like a tight end linebacker returning kick. So that's, that'll be, that'll be nice to return to some normalcy here to have a smaller, faster, shiftier guy there. Right, the other opposite corner back spot too, right? You have Jalen Davies, who will probably be our best DB this year. He was a pretty solid player last year, and we have a little bit of solid depth behind him. After that, it gets very, very dicey. Like you look at nickel, we bring in KJ Wallace, who's a transfer. You look at one safety spot Ramon Henderson, who came in as a transfer, who's a senior. The other safety spot, the free safety side, Brian Addison, who again came in as a transfer. Like, I don't know what to expect from these guys. Obviously these guys like, you know, I've heard good things about Brian Addison. We've heard pretty decent things about Ramon Henderson and KJ Wallace, but these are big, big question marks for key positions like safety on the defense. And I don't know what to really expect out of this position group. I think the secondary is going to be tested this year. We're going to need guys to step up, because again, we're not going to have the password we had last season. So looking at the secondary too deep, again, a little bit more concern here than I think we initially might have had. There's just not a lot of depth behind some of the quality. And there's just even question marks for some of the starters that we're expecting coming Saturday. So we'll see how they do and we'll get into this a little bit in a minute, but Hawaii will test our secondary. I think we're going to see them tested. So it'll be a good, good quick lit miss test. Yeah, I mean, back on your point about the walk ons and the too deep. As UCI calls it box safety. Got another one in there. That is a backup as a walk on beating out a red shirt junior, which, you know, I know we said we wouldn't talk about why we're in the situation. But when you're recruiting, you goes who's best other offer was college of minds, like, yeah, kind of get what you get here. Yeah, like, I know I sound surprised, but this shouldn't be a surprise. No, but when we said last week, right, like, you then you finally see it and you know these things and you see it in front of you. It's like, what? Okay, this is what we're going to the year with where if something does happen at any of these, like, bigger positions. There isn't bodies behind them. Like, there is not playable bodies. And, and, and we also have to keep in mind, look, there's always like depth chart deception going on there, there always is. Now, why, why would you put walk ons and then, and as this second string, just to deceive people. I don't know. But there is always depth chart deception that goes on. People always say don't take these released depth charts too seriously. I'm curious to see if this comes up at all because this I think was just released today, right, the, the too deep that this whole thing so I'm curious to see if this comes up at all. You know, in any future media session or whatnot, if coach Foster, I didn't say about why some of these decisions were what they were. But when you stare in the face it, yeah, it can be a little scary. It can be very scary. Now, you know, we mentioned the position groups that are that look deep, right? You look at receiver. Receiver looks good. You know, J. Michael Sturtivant, starting, and we have some decent depth behind the right is Avery Staples looked solid. It's funny the depth chart shows corner shots, the second guy behind him who was also a walk on. So I don't know what to make of that. Same with, with the Z spot, right? You have Titus, Quasi Gilmore coming in and then, you know, Braden Pagon, who, you know, has so shown some, some streaks and some flashes of vision. And then, like you said, Rico Flores, according to this slot, or to the depth chart, has beaten out Logan Loya, who has been a very, very solid receiver for UCLA, the past couple of seasons. So, depth chart looks pretty good. Like, these are good players here that we have. And same with, with linebacker. Like, you look at linebacker, Kayne Madrano, backed up by Jalen Woods. Pretty good at the Sam spot, right? Ola Dejo, Carson Sweshinger, Joseph Vaughn, like, that's a good depth chart there. We have guys here that, you know, we probably won't see a ton of drop off when they're rotating in. Same with the third spot, right? Ola Keho and John John Vaughn's, John John Vaughn's has been a very solid, instinctive player over his time here to sport athlete. And that fact that we have him as a backup to a guy like Ola Keho, who hasn't played in a while due to injury, but obviously has a lot of talent. If he can stay healthy, like, this looks good. Now, the real scary part, I guess maybe not the real scary part, but the other big question we mentioned is, is the D line, right? So, I think the middle of the D line looks good. Keanu Williams, next to J. Toya, you know, we have some depth there. Gary Smith is injured, but is expected to be back sometime this season. Siala Topaki, you mentioned, has been making some noise during camp. Like, the center of the D line, I think will be good. And this is why I think our run defense will actually be solid. Like, our runstoppers are going to be good. Our linebackers are going to be good. That is not going to be as big of an issue as can we actually hit the quarterback. And that is where it's a little, little dicey, like, Jacob Busek coming in from Navy. Pretty much an unknown. Drew Toizama coming in from South Carolina, you know, he hasn't, he came in kind of late in camp, but been hearing some good things about him. You know, he's, he's big and athletic. He has a good profile. Can we, can we use him? And can he actually get to the quarterback remains to be seen? Same on the other side, like Devin Alpuy. Who knows, like, he's played situationally, but can he take that next step and be a starter? Sharif Say coming in as a transfer from, you know, a smaller school. I don't know what if he's going to be able to make an impact. Colin's a shame-bong, same with him. Like, he was a, a four star recruit, but he hasn't played a lot, didn't play a lot at Miami. He looks athletic. He looks big, but, you know, that doesn't always translate to production on the field. Like, the edge of this D line is just full of question marks. And I, I sound like a broken record, I know, but this is going to be a key position to watch. Are any of these guys going to step up? Are any of these guys going to be able to get, get in the backfield and disrupt the quarterback? And can they stay, stay healthy? I didn't even mention, I think Luke Sherman from, did he transfer from Johns Hopkins? Yeah. Yeah. So, again, big question, Mark. Let's, let's, let's keep an eye on that one. Yeah. If we're going to achieve any of the things that we think we're going to achieve this year, we are going to have to be good against the run interior defensive line linebackers and then in situational pass rushing situations. You know, third and longs, you know, third and mediums. The linebackers are probably going to have to get involved in some, some capacity. So, on defense, that to me is, I mean, there are other things that, you know, can happen, but that is like the must happen to me, which is like interior and linebackers, they got to show up because that's, that's where our strengths are. And on offense, you know, if we're going to be the team that we, we want to be, it's going to be offensive line and Ethan Garvers, we've talked about that a whole lot. And I'm also say, you know, it's, it's going to be on Eric, the enemy and the staff to figure out if, if receivers really are best position. Do we play more three, why do we get more, you know, receivers on the field because that's our best position because it sounds like from the left, the sounds of it. We will be running a lot of pro style, a lot of two tight ends, a lot of tight end fullbacks, you know, all, all that stuff. And so that I think is, is a thing to watch, but the must have is offensive line. It's got to be relatively healthy and Ethan Garvers got a ball out. All right. I think before we move on from the roster, I do want to shout out the specialists real quick. Right. We have a new kicker coming in from Cal, Mattine Bagani. Looks solid. I think I'll spring. Blake Glessner got beat out for that job who is a senior. So, you know, I think there's some, some reason to believe we've probably upgraded a little bit at kicker here. Barry, who was a walk on, actually, I didn't realize he's a walk on. Yeah, you get out the scholarship guy, which you beat out the scholarship. You had the scholarship soon. So, yeah. We'll see what happens there. And then Travis Drosos against, again, another transfer coming in to be long snapper. This feels like a position group that's actually upgraded since last season. Pretty clearly to me. So, you know, good on. We paid attention to. Well, yeah, just you're right. By simply paying attention to it. We've improved it. So, looking at this roster, I think it's safe to say we have a lot of solid talent across this team, especially in the starting groups. You know, from top to bottom, I think I would say most of our starters are all pretty solid with question marks that safety and edge rush. But aside from that, I think we have a solid starting lineup. Good enough to be at least middle of the pack in the Big Ten. I don't think that's anything controversial to say. I don't think that's crazy to say. Big Ten fans will probably take issue with that comment, but I truly believe from a talent perspective, we have a good amount of talent on this team. It's the depth that is not there. Right. So, if any of this talent gets hurt, then we have even more question marks there. And in fact, I saw somewhere and I forget which site or service did this. So forgive me. If I find this later, I will properly cite you. UCLA has like the 28th rated team from a pure talent perspective in the country. It was probably a talent composite. It might have been. Yeah. Yeah. I'll go double check that. But anyways, like to me that signals. That kind of indicates like we're right kind of in the middle there, right? From a talent perspective. So we should have a decent to solid team. In the two fourth seven talent composite, I think UCLA was eighth in the Big Ten. And it was around that ranking that you said nationally, but eighth in the Big Ten, which means, you know, as you said. And we know where that talent is as people who follow the team, right? It's like mainly along certain positions that are starters that are really caring to wait for that. But there is, there are those players that are here. And so, you know, on the baseline, that's about where UCLA should be, eighth in the Big Ten, which is just above average in the Big Ten. When the eighth in the country, that feels about right, right? So a talent perspective. Yeah. Now, one thing about depth is, I mean, we're not one of those teams that are planning for a 15, 16, 17 game season here. Like we're trying to get to 13. And we'll be thrilled if we can get to a 13th game. So, there is that. I mean, some of these teams have really loaded up the two deep and three deeps because that's what they're planning for. We're not in that situation. So, there is that at least. That's something to worry about in a few years when we're worrying about it in a few years. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay, so we've covered the roster. We've covered some of the two deep here. Do we want to start looking at the schedule and start making some game predictions? I'm, I'm, I'm frankly scared to do this. But, Hawaii. Okay, we're doing it. Okay. Hawaii. Coming up Saturday, we go to Hawaii to play. We do our game preview while we're doing this. This is the whole game preview. Let's do it. I think so. I think, I think this is the time to do it. So, we're going to Hawaii. Hawaii is playing in a temporary stadium. Aloha stadium is currently under construction. Still, it feels like it's been under construction for. A decade now and I think it's still going to be under construction for a couple of more years. So, there's apparently a huge renovation going on there. And therefore, there has been some sort of temporary stadium that has been set up akin to what I have seen described as a high school stadium. So, that is the, the, the setting of this first game. Why we are going to Hawaii to play this game. I don't know. I don't know who agreed to this whole situation, but here we are. What do we know about one? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, so I don't know a whole lot about Hawaii. I know this. But they haven't been very good for a long time. I remember a cult Brennan Hawaii back in like 2006, where they made, I think it was a sugar bowl. They went unbeaten, made the sugar bowl and got trounced by Georgia. Never since it's ever really been that. But the identity of Hawaii always is throw it, throw it, throw it. So, that's, that's kind of been their mo for a long time. And that's probably what they're going to come out and do. They're going to come out and try to chuck it around the yard. It'll be a good test for our secondary. I think you mentioned some like specific receivers for them. What I'll say about Hawaii is this because I don't know like too much about their entire team and whatnot, but I saw some of the stuff against Delaware State. They play week zero, so they play week zero, won that game 35 to 14, I think. I think the last saw Hawaii, like I think Michigan played in like two years ago, and my impression of them then was like, these are just small people compared to like other D one schools. And the Delaware State game kind of showed the same tale, like those players, you know, once FCS team and once an FBS team, not very big. And UCLA should have a decided, you know, size, athleticism advantage as you would expect when you play a Hawaii. And so this is one where, you know, you hope that UCLA can just lean on that offensive line. Run the ball and call it a day. You're really hoping for that kind of a game here. It's only a 14 point spread though. It's only 14 points. It's not as if like UCLA's favored by 28, 31 points or something like that. What I'm really going to be looking to looking forward to is, you know, this is the Sean Foster's first game as a coach, like head coach period. So all the operational things, you know, special situations, third downs, you know, making fourth downs and decisions substitution patterns like all that stuff. You know, how sharp does that look? This is the first time out there. I think that's like something that all definitely looking at. Yeah, this is going to be an interesting game because I think one, one thing that will be tested here, like I mentioned earlier is our secondary and that is a big question mark. Like you said, Hawaii throws the ball a lot. They have one of the highest throwing percentages or percentage of playing calls as throws in the country and have had that they don't run it very often, which negates our strength a little bit right on defense. We should be pretty good against the run. We don't know how we're going to be good against the pass. And so I think this is a good opportunity to watch this secondary and see, are we in trouble here for the rest of the season or do we actually have some guys here that are going to step up. And the one guy on Hawaii that I would watch out for is the receiver Stephen McBride. Stephen McBride went for over 1000 yards last season. He is the only guy. I think like it, not the only guy. He is the 24th receiver in their program history to ever have done this. So he is a good player. He is going to, I think, give our DBs a test. And I'm interested to see how we match up against him and what we do to slow him down. Like you said, I don't think we should lose to Hawaii. We should have a decided this probably one of the only games, if not the only game this year, that we have a decided talent advantage over a team. Like, I don't think there's a question about that. Hawaii is not going to be a good team this year. Remains to be seen about UCLA a lot, but when you have the, you know, in the mid 20s, mid low 20s level of talent on a team, that is decidedly better than Hawaii. We should be able to take advantage of that. And we should be able to out talent Hawaii to a victory here. That should not, there should be no threat to that, I think, but stranger things have happened. The other thing is UCLA has never lost to Hawaii. We've played them three or four times. I was just looking this up earlier. UCLA has never lost to Hawaii. And this is not a good time to start when you have a head coach there who has only won nine games over three seasons for for a program. He's only one like 33% of his games. They're at a severe talent disadvantage. And we have a head coach here that should be hungry and looking to get, you know, first relatively easy notch under W notch under his belt. So I think we're in alignment here, Kevin. Hawaii is a, is a W here. Let's take a W. I would go why, because this gets into a dark place if this isn't a W. So. All right, want to know so far we're looking good here. Next game. Indiana at the Rose Bowl on September 14. After a bi week. After a bi week. So, assuming we, we, we have that W secured in Hawaii. Assuming everything's healthy, we get to come home and, you know, look at that game tape and start fine tuning hopefully that's kind of the, the goal here. So how are we feeling about. Indiana football coming to the, through the Rose Bowl. So first off, we have a bi week, India is going to have to play two games and come to the Rose Bowl. So we'll have some film on Indiana by the time they come there. So there's, there is that overall on Indiana football. It's been as dreadful of a program as there has been, like in power five. They had the Michael Pennics years, a couple of years and there that, that, that were, that were looking pretty good under Tom Allen. Otherwise it's been pretty bad and Kurt Cignetti. He's, I think, who said this, I think it was, I think it was David Woods on the podcast of champions like he said how he reminds him of Jim Harbaugh when he first came to Stanford. It's like this guy and this, in this program that's been like downtrodden and beaten up by everybody. And yet he's like acting so brash and so outwardly confident about, about the team. And I think, you know, I wonder if he's, this is one of the receipts that Deshawn has, you know, I think he said something to the effect of when asked about playing UCLA. Yeah, we're going to go to some old stadium and kick that team's ass. Like I think it was something around those lines, the, of what he said. So, yeah, success at the FCS level. And so it's Indiana making a good hire for, for what they are for sure. Now, with that said, you know, this Indiana roster has a lot of work to do. And, you know, is one coach going to make all the difference. It's probably going to be the one big 10 game where UCLA again is going to have the decided talent advantage. And if I look at the rest of the schedule, like this may be the last time we have decided like there'll be other games where we have on paper, a little bit more talent but this is going to the last one where it's going to be like, hey, decided, you know, advantage there. So, once again, I'm going to take UCLA on this one because if I don't, this goes to a bad place. So, I agree. I mean Kurt Signeti is as inter injected some, some life into this program he's brought some entertainment factor to it obviously and he's he's kind of firing up their fan base. I will say Curtis Roark is a solid quarterback. I mean, I think he had one of the best, if not the best season in Indiana football history, which is, I guess, I think a lot. He is a solid quarterback. They have a couple of very good receivers in Elijah Sarat and McCauley. Again, this might be a test for our secondary again but I think overall you're correct. I agree with you. This should be a victory here. I don't think it's going to be a walk in the park like many people think it will be, but I think it should still result in a net victory for UCLA, especially at home. It'll be interesting to see what that home crowd looks like, what all those factors are going to play into this game but regardless of that, I agree. We're two and O after September 14. All right, how do we want to do these next three games? So LSU at LSU. Look, I will say this LSU's defense questionable. Everything else about LSU not questionable. The path to victory against LSU is pretty, pretty simple. We're going to have to hold the ball and an E clock in this game. Move the chains, run the clock, keep our defense off the field because, look, LSU does lose the Heisman Trophy winner from last year, Jaden Daniels. But by all accounts, Garrett Nussmyer is supposed to be very good. This offense should be very good once again. So the pathway of victory, LSU is that sustained drives, keep the defense off the field, be opportunistic, see if you can get a game to the fourth quarter and even garbage makes a play. We're on the road though. We're on the road. I think it's unlikely. I think we lose this one. All right. So we're two and one after September 21. And we move back home. So we're coming home at least. But then we get the juggernaut that is Oregon coming in with their like $12 million roster or whatever the hell they spent on it this year, $20 million. I've seen, wow, I'll say it was 20 million. I bet they're close to there some somewhere there. So, do we do we upset Dan landing in the Oregon Ducks at home? Is there any chance here? I would never say never. But yeah, we're two and two. Two and two. Okay, fair enough. Yeah, I don't. I don't have a lot. This is the one game where like I don't see a pathway to victory everything up. Like there is a very like a 5% pathway to victory like LSU is kind of one of those like maybe if this happens and maybe then maybe we can get there and have a chance, but like most likely not this one I see no way that that it happens just personally. I agree. So two and two. Now we're getting in October. UCLA now flies completely across the country to state college to play Penn State. And I believe will be a stripe out game. That's the white out game, right? It's either the white out or the stripe out. I don't know which one they're doing. But either way, there's going to be a crazy crowd of Penn State fans in that stadium. And, um, I, I, so we've talked a little bit about this game before, right? There is a path to victory here. It kind of depends. Yeah. Yeah. Look, people have been waiting for Drew Aller to be like the second coming of Josh Allen for like a couple of years now. If you listen to people in the preseason, like they still think that that can be the jump. I myself am a little skeptical, but they brought in a brand new offensive coordinator this year brand new defensive coordinator. They'll be better for sure. And look like they're, by all accounts, it's a very healthy operation right now they're just losing the biggest games, the pathway to beat them is we have to have to have to stop the run. We cannot be in a situation there where, you know, Nick Singleton and Caitron Allen are running through us. And then maybe if it can turn into, you know, Drew Aller versus our offense. You know, maybe this, the hard one here is Penn State. I find it, I find it hard for up to see a way that we're going to score more than like 21 points up there. Really hard actually just to see that because that defense is probably going to be one of the three to five best in college football this year. So, all that to say, you know, there is a pathway. It means we need to stop the run and play really good defense. Probably going to turn over or something of that nature. Most likely doesn't happen. What I hope though is in one of these games we show some life. I don't know which one but one of them we show some fight is what I hope. I agree. Like, if we can just remain competitive. And by that I mean like, don't lose 50 zero. I think yeah, we can show a little life little fight. I think that's, I'll take that moral victory there because I don't think we're going to have any other sort of victory in these three games so. All right, we're on the, we're on the negative side here we're now two and three. But there's good news. We get to come home now. Like our chops a little bit and have the Minnesota Golden Gophers coming back to town at the Rose Bowl. Right here, I think is the key to the season like what UCLA team is coming back from this three game gauntlet potentially some blowouts in there. Like, what kind of team is coming back? Is this a beaten up team? Maybe got a couple of bodies down but just more or less demoralized, or is it one that still has a dog in the fight. And is right because this is now with one of the games that we absolutely have to win at home against a middling big 10 team like absolutely got to get it. And that to me is the question if UCLA is relatively healthy still at this point and, you know, not completely beaten down from that three game stretch I think we can beat Minnesota and, and right the wrongs. Yeah, we'll be interesting. So, Minnesota is an interesting team to me. I feel like there were a lot of big 10 fans over selling Minnesota to me. It's, it's a team that has a solid defense. It is a team that has a solid running game, you know, they bring back Darius Taylor and Jordan new bin, as they're to leading Russia's either they'll be good on the ground. This is also a team that is bringing in an FCS quarterback transfer and Max Brosmer. Big question around him jumping to the FBS level there's there's going to be a learning curve there. And to top that off. They I don't know what the receiving room looks like I think they there's a lot of question marks around the receivers to help out a guy like Max Brosmer is trying to make that jump. So, it's, it's, it's, it's a team that looks decent like they can definitely beat UCLA. I'm not saying that, but I think they're probably being slightly overrated by some big 10 fans when looking at at this roster and this team. I think obviously they're coming off like not a good season after last year. I think they went six and seven PJ flak is back we UCLA courted him briefly for the head coaching position so a little bit of an interesting dynamic there as well. But I will go ahead and say at home UCLA takes the W here because it's strength on strength here with our D line against the run at least, you know, matching up well against the run game and our offense being better than theirs. The theory on Minnesota is that there's supposed to be very strong in the line of scrimmage this year, offensive and defensive lines that's the theory on them. Look, they had maybe one, one of the worst quarterbacks, if not the worst quarterback and power five last year, it didn't, Nathan, Kelly, Kelly, Manus, who were about to talk about in the next game for because of where he went. But that's the theory there are supposed to be strong line of scrimmage they'll be able to ground and pound teams. So you nailed it right there, we, this is again like, why is this a key to the season it's because we have teams like this like we have to win these games must stop the run and then see where the game goes from there. If we do that at home, like our chances. Agreed. Okay, so we're, we're back on the, well, what are we three, three now we're right, even three going to Rutgers. We're going to throw Rutgers are good friend Rutgers. Thanks to Isaiah. So I'm thinking on principle. Fair enough. And Rutgers Rutgers is being kind of hyped up as this dark horse starlink of the big 10. Rutgers is going to be a solid team is Rutgers really going to be a team that is running the table in the big 10 maybe, but I don't think it's going to be because they're really good. I think it's going to be because they have a very weak schedule. And so, can you see LA throw a wrench in those plans, I think it's possible. It this game is a lot more difficult because it's in Rutgers so we got to travel again back across country to New Jersey but I think there's a path to when this game I don't think this game is a set in stone like some people are saying. Remember that bad quarterback I was telling about a thin kelleic manis yep he plays for Rutgers. So, right. So, like, I think they would have been better off keeping the quarterback from last year gathering one set or some, some similar style to that because they could at least run. This is going to be a statue and again, not not very good. And look, Rutgers scheduled, they avoid Oregon, they avoid Ohio State, they avoid Michigan, they avoid Penn State. But it's not as if the other teams on their schedule can't beat them. Washington, Nebraska, Wisconsin, UCLA, USC, you know, I don't see the 10 and 2 that some big 10 fans see. I do think they have a softer schedule and they've been improving their defense is legit. I absolutely do think that. And so I think I see a solid 7 and 5 or 8 and 4 season for Rutgers which will be a great achievement. Still, if you look at the schedule like yes, you avoid like the big 4 but you still have all these teams that are probably better than you on aggregate. And so, you know, for UCLA again, stop the run. And this is going to be one of those where you hope you get the game to the to a fourth quarter, one score either way. And Ethan Garber is going to have to make a play on the road. I think that's that's the way I see this one. Yeah, I mean, we sound like a broken record, right? Stop the run, stop the run, stop the run. Yeah, they're running. They have a good running back like Kyle Monon guy is a good running back. Yeah, that's great. So that's not an easy task to do. And they have a pretty solid defense as well. So I'm interested to see what happens with this game. I would put this. Yeah, I would put this up as a game that is almost a coin flip. I think they're kind of similar teams. There's a lot of question marks here. I will say, I think our quarterback is probably much better than theirs. I think our receivers are probably much better than theirs. So we'll we'll we'll see kind of what happens. But I think the road environment makes it tough as well. Kind of even some of those things out. So with all that being said, what are we, what are we putting this up? I say we pull off a close one here. Okay. A little poser. You're you're feeling frisky. All right. So we're four and three here. Four and three. Okay. Now we go stay on the east coast, I guess, and I know Nebraska's not really on the east coast, but we stay east. And we travel to Lincoln to play Nebraska. And I think you can you can sum up Nebraska's hype to one person right now. And that's Dylan. Yeah, Dylan, Iowa, by all accounts is doing well. Now, look, he's a freshman and we'll see how he goes. But, but generally speaking, I think it's Dylan, but also there is a trust because Matt rule teams generally year to they do turn it around and Nebraska. They started to at least look the part on the defensive line as such last year, Dylan, Iowa comes in and starts to get a little better. They lost again, a lot of those one score games and look every year people say they can't lose that many one score games again. But if you place a little trust in Matt rule to kind of turn this around be better. They also have a schedule. I think that's that's very favorable to them. You know, I think they're hardest games. They go to Ohio State. They go to the Coliseum. They go to Iowa. But that's it. And so I that environment in November in Lincoln going to be hard, I think. And so I would put this one of the last column. I agree with that. I do think that there's this is one of those coin flip games that we've talked about before. It's, there's a good path to victory here and really Nebraska's entire season sits on Dylan. So I think that's one of the most exciting things that I've ever had in my life. I think he was the highest rated quarterback recruit in their program history. They've had some good players there, obviously. And, you know, the kid is 19. Obviously a little harder to do at home at their home. But if you can shake them up somewhere, somehow there's a path to victory here and they have a good defense. But I think from top to bottom, I would say our offense is probably better than their offense regardless of Iowa being there. So there is a path to victory, but I agree with you. This is a tough task coming off a road game already in New Jersey going to Nebraska. Obviously, you know, Memorial Stadium is renowned for being a tough place to play with a massive, massive crowd of Nebraska fans that that show up to every game. So yeah, I think we do chalk this up as an L. Unfortunately. All right, so we are four and four coming back home for homecoming against Iowa on a Friday evening. Oof. I'm still mad about this, the scheduling for this game. Yeah, I mean, but, look, homecoming Friday at, what is it, six p.m. It's like the first 30 minutes is just going to be like Iowa fans in there as like everyone else like trickles in still like completely unfair. You know, it's just going to be maybe the Iowa fans might not know how traffic is. They might just be stuck forever. Iowa fans are going to just like sit in the golf course the whole day. They're just camp out. Okay. Yeah, don't do anything else. Do they work? No, they're out there on a Friday. So they're just vacationing. Yeah. Well, I don't know why I'm shooting on Iowa. Well, I'm definitely not going to shit on the game because like Iowa football is like a great meme to talk about. It's a great, you know, thing to always like admire or just or not admire whatever the opposite word for that is. But it works, whatever the hell it is they do it works. And like once again, I think on the Iowa returns a lot of their defense, which was an insanely good defense last year. And so like this is going to be. If I had to guess the second at worst third best defense will play this year because Penn State's going to have top five defense. I think Iowa is probably going to be right there once again. Oregon will probably statistically be like very good as well, but their offense will score so much that maybe the defensive playoffs, take a hit for that. It's going to be hard for us to move the ball in this one, but I'll say this. Some people are higher on Iowa's offense this year. It sounds like by all accounts, they're still a mess at quarterback. I mean Michigan people will be grateful for Kate for Kate McNamara for 2021 but largely he wasn't very good and I think Iowa people are starting to realize that. And so this is I think in my mind a true toss up, an absolutely true toss up that comes down to a lot of the same things we must stop the run. We must have good offensive line play not turn the ball over and get the game into a fourth quarter where, you know, maybe we can make a play. I'm going to say that this one's going to be hard. You know, the first time you play Iowa, just that still in wall factor, they get a punt return or a punt block or something like that. What's going on at home. I'm very interested to see this game. This game I think is going to be a little bit of a rock fight like it's it's going to be a slog. And I think it's going to be a slog because everything you said like their defense is going to be close to elite. My defense is probably going to be close to garbage. I know they brought in a new offensive coordinator Tim Lester, you know, they might be some improvement due to that. I don't know, but from a personal perspective like I'm not seeing a whole lot here that says, Oh, this offense might improve. But I did not not a whole lot there to suggest that. This is going to be a squeaker of a game either way. Like I don't think either team is going to score more than like two touchdowns here. And if somebody does manage to do that, that team is just is going to win easily. I just don't I don't know this game is going to be strange. I am okay with calling this an L simply because their defense is just so good. And I don't know if our offense is going to be good enough to withstand that kind of defensive pressure. Meanwhile, we might be able to stop that their offense. Only because they're going to be a disaster, but like you said, they make a special teams play or two. And I think it's going to be close curtains for for the Bruins here. So I will go ahead and also put this down an L with you here. We are in agreement here. And now we are at what four and five four and five and now traveling for another Friday night game this time at Washington. November 15 Friday night in Seattle. How's their traffic? Is their boat traffic? Do they get get traffic and I don't know it's probably raining all over the place. Right. Yeah, that's true. That's true. I guess the sale of gaining probably is impacted by that. I love to go up for this game, but Friday night is is brutal. Yeah, once again, a 6 p.m. kickoff. Thank you Fox. For the people at least over there trying to get to the game. But look, Washington is a hard team to predict this year. Lost. I think they returned. Three starters from last year's team. So, so they got pretty gutted from from what was a great Washington team a year ago. And that said, you know, they did very well in the transfer portal. Short up some holes. Seattle is going to be a hard place to go on a Friday night. You could see some rain, you know, affecting the game. I expect Washington to take a step back, but I'm going to, you know, just knowing what we know right now. I didn't say this can be a hard game to win on the road over there. And so. I'm calling this one a loss as well. Their defense, I think, will be solid. I have no idea what this offense is going to look like. Like you mentioned, nobody's there. Jed Fish was not able to bring over his offensive weapons from Arizona. I think a lot of people were expecting that, like to throw a McMillan and. And company coming over, they decided to stay in Arizona. You obviously don't have Michael Pennix Jr. or Roma Dunes anymore or Jalen Polk or any of those guys. And you obviously don't have Kalin Dabor anymore. Or Ryan Grab for as an OC. So I could see this offense being a little bit of a mess. And I think Jed Fish is a good coach. I think Jed Fish has shown to be a pretty good offensive mind as well. But at the end of the day, you got to have some good players here. And I think they have decent players on offense. I think that there's going to be a little bit of an adjustment and some growing pains with a new coach here. I think this is a toss-up game. God, this is a hard one to call for me because being on the road obviously makes it a little bit more difficult. You know, probably getting beat up in a pretty physical game against Iowa the week before on a Friday makes this a difficult game. This game itself being on a Friday makes it a difficult game. I, yeah, I don't think I can say anything but an L here. I wouldn't be shocked if UCLA won this game, but it's hard to predict a straight W here with all these factors at play. So now we are four and six and going into the rivalry game. You know my policy on this. Yeah, and look, I don't think it's like that far-fetched, you know, knowing what we know right now. Look, USC lost a lot from last year's team. Part of what's not being talked about in all the undercurrent of, you know, Lincoln Riley is a polarizing subject right now. You either are on the side of, oh, he inherited a mess and this year is going to be different and Miller Moss will actually run the offense better than Caleb Williams. Like that's one theory and then the other side of it is like they lost Caleb Williams, they lost a lot and the people that have come in particularly on on defense to make up for it. Not exactly, you know, the best quality of players that they would have been looking for over there. I think like some defensive tackles from like Wyoming are going to be starting for them this year, right? So, Danton Lynn goes over there. Again, theory for the pro SC folks is he's going to turn around the defense. I think he will. I don't know if it's going to be to UCLA 2023 levels because I don't think those level of players are there. I think it may be an overall deeper defense, but like the star power isn't isn't quite there. So I could see the defense jumping to be like a top 50 unit. I do think that because I think I think Danton Lynn's that good. But I expect this offense to take a slight step back. I think the offensive line. There's question marks once again. And I think there's a pathway for us to win this game, which is again, you know. Offense needs to be able to score points in this one. It's a little different. But on defense, if we stop the run, make them one dimensional. You know, you can see see this going through. So rivalry game at home. I'll go with the W. I just, I don't care how well Miller Moss played in the holiday ball. I find it insane for people to be like, he's going to be better than kale Williams based on one game. There's there. There's just, I think that's delusion. He could be very good. I'm not saying that, but is he going to be Heisman level good? I don't know. I think he will be good. I think their offense will always be good. They have so many good playmakers. They're going to have good receivers. They've improved their own line. Like their, their offense will be good. Will their defense be as good as ours was last year? I don't think so. Like you mentioned, they don't have a lie to a lot to waiting there for them to be unlocked. I don't think there's anybody on the, their team right now that has that kind of talent that that guy did or, you know, a guy like Jay Toya even on the D line to be able to, to hold down that D line. They have good players, but I don't think it's me that good. I think you're spot on like top 50, probably, you know, it makes sense. Top 10. I don't think so based on the roster. The other thing that I know you mentioned this a little bit about Lincoln Riley. You mentioned Lincoln Riley, but you didn't really mention this and I am a firm believer in this. There is something just fundamentally off about the culture of that program. And I don't know what it is, but in like big moments, big games, rivalry type things like they tend to just. There's a, there's a level of softness there that I think is hard to pinpoint, but only person I can point to is Lincoln Riley here. And I think in a game where we have a head coach who understands this rivalry probably better than Lincoln Riley. I would say he is seems like he is instilling a lot of toughness and discipline in this team as much as he can coming in. I think we will be able to probably be tougher than their them will probably be able to be more physical than them. And I think, you know, Deshaun Foster probably out of all the other games on the schedule wants to win this one. And so being at home, you know, being this rivalry game toss up and I think USC being frankly overrated this year. I think we win this. And I'm not just saying that because I always predict this to win because I refuse to, you know, put out an L into the universe for this specific game, even though, you know, it's might be likely in other years or other situations. I do genuinely think that this this game is, at least like at the bare minimum, a winnable game. And I think we pull it off at home. The other thing to say about this game, because we saw it last year, as he schedule is not very friendly it's, I think Phil Steele had us as the second hardest schedule in the country. And SC was third. And we could be at that point in the year where, you know, if they do lose this, this, I think the Sunday will be an interesting game because both teams can play defense against LSU. I think that'll be an interesting game. So I'm not ready to call that a loss just yet but but you know you got that game. The game state, you got Nebraska, you got some tricky games in there. Could this be a situation where once again you take a couple losses, you're not in the hunt for the things you want and then come to the rivalry game to show up and quit once again who knows, right. You could could see that. I'll say, I mean, so much of it said about Lincoln, I really like in Riley I mean I think I agree with you this something is off here. I don't, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. If we're starting to think that we needed a reboot from going four and eight with Clay Helton. We're in year three and recruiting is getting worse. Like it's not getting better it's it's actually getting worse and like you had a good transfer portal hall like for last season to defense. Didn't use it. And this year like got to have some players transfer out the guys you're bringing in. Are enough to that the offensive line. I mean it's young it's really young and not the greatest talent for a USC team so. You know. I think something's just off but if you want to get concrete about it. Defense has never been a strong suit every year they've got Lincoln Riley's been away from from Bob Stoops I think his best team was his first year at Oklahoma that was a physically tough team at the line of scrimmage. Push Georgia around and that Rose Bowl. But every every year since then I think the line of scrimmage it's gotten weaker and weaker recruiting getting worse. You know it's there are actual flags here for if people want to look for a see. This feels like a team I know a lot of. You know Southern Cal homers are predicting like a ten and two season here. In reality like they're going to shit the bed somewhere and it's going to become like an eight and four seven and five kind of season. And they don't have Caleb Williams anymore to just build them out as good as Miller Moss might be I don't see him being Caleb Williams. Like my view is saying that there's this talk that Miller Moss is going to run run the offense better than Caleb Williams I don't even know what that means like what does that mean. I hate Caleb Williams I'm going to put that out there I don't like the dude but the dude was really really good. The the plays he was making behind that O line and were sometimes jaw dropping like he was literally bailing that team out in game after game after game and for them to be like this new dude is going to be better at running the offense. Like okay what does that mean like I don't I don't I genuinely don't understand like that it's just like a phrase I feel like people are throwing out to make themselves feel better about this team. And that's like I think Miller Moss will be probably a pretty good quarterback. I think they're going to have a top 15 offense because I can't see Lincoln Riley not having a top right. But there's a huge difference between that and top five. A huge difference between that and top five and a huge difference between a very good quarterback and a quarterback that some people are calling like a generational talent. Big difference like you don't like I said Miller Moss is not going to be running around bailing you out like I'm sorry like he doesn't have that Caleb Williams ask talent and pop and athleticism. So I just like I find it wild to think that that is even being said in a serious manner like not as a joke. Anyways I digress. Yeah I think we beat them at home. I mean Lincoln Riley doesn't have a great record against UCLA right now anyways. I think we continue that trend here. The last thing I'll say about SC and Lincoln Riley I mean look I don't think this is a chip Kelly situation like they're trying it's it's nothing is nothing is the chip Kelly situation. But like there is some like fundamental like I'll just say not very smart recruiting strategies on his part. You don't have to go spray and pray in the south to go and get good defensive players. Yeah if you just look in California and the west coast you're not going to have a good as good defense is Georgia but isn't that the theory like you're Lincoln Riley. You don't need that you need a good and you can get that out here like it'll be a little light in the defensive trenches. You should be looking at Georgia right now. You just went seven and five. You're not supposed to be looking at Georgia and Ohio State right now like you got to get to get to build and the whole thing just screams of a coach that didn't actually have this responsibility on him. This was not the bird that was put on it. So, well that's it's part of their hubris right is like they went zone and five but they think they should be going 11 and one or they will be going at five and seven. Remember the Arizona and Cal games. Yeah there were multiple games they should have lost but again kill them out like I just I don't understand how you're looking at the steam and being like yes this is going to be better now because William's is gone. Like no you're not. And like they have good receivers like don't get me wrong I think they're they're going to be fine on offense but not that good and yeah so UCLA is an opportunity to throw a little bit more of a wrench into their season. So let's go to the final game of this season I just want to clarify saying this whoever scheduled this game needs to be fired. I don't know who decided this game needs to be the very last game of the season when they decided it. Someone needs to be punished for this. I hate everything about this game. I hate even talking about this game I hate looking at the opponents logo on my screen right now I have the worst memories from the Rose Bowl about this game. And I just have the worst feeling that is going to take your you should put you should tweet the week of this game with your socks from from your wedding. I will wear those socks to this game if I go with those you don't know what these socks are wait till the week of the Fresno State game you will. Yeah there was it's a it's a photo a legendary photo amongst our friends now. And family people people love love posting that photo of me but okay so Fresno State we are now what five and six going into this game. Yeah and we're still at home so that's good but this feels like the ultimate ultimate let down when we have a bowl game birth on the line. I think we lose this game is absolutely idiotic that this game would come after an emotional rivalry game like that. Unbelievable there's all I have to say about it Fresno State brings a lot of guys back. They do Jeff Tepper it's not going to be there but it's a very veteran team that comes back this year. And we don't need to we know all about them. I think we've lost two straight to straight three straight to Fresno State I think. I don't know man too many straight like yeah Fresno State is that team that comes to UCLA or Southern Cal or any of the big power five California team. With the biggest chip on their shoulder because it's made up of you know Central Valley guys or other guys in California that were overlooked by all these big teams and they want to come in and they just want to beat the living hell out of you. They are so driven and motivated to beat these teams like it's it's wild and you know good on them because they come in and they show up. And more often than not at least for UCLA we don't show up we overlook these types of teams we you know look at them and say okay yeah this shouldn't be a problem. And time and time again we get upset by the likes of Fresno State or even you know in the past not last season but the seasons before teams like San Diego State like Fresno State is presenting the biggest trap game of the season. And I think Fresno State is going to be the team that tanks are seasoned from being a bull eligible team to and that is the sad truth that is the sad prediction that I think we're both making here. And it sucks to say that but I am not betting against Fresno State in this one. So five and seven overall one and two in the non league, and that means we are projecting to go four and five in league play. Not great, not good. Not great, not, not the word I mean, this would be not bottoming out. It would be five and seven. If it's five and seven, a lot of it's going to depend on how some of these games went. You can't see signs of a coach that doesn't know what he's doing. And the other stuff we talked about with Hawaii. You can't lose a game because like a pool of Marcus Freeman from last year right like line up with 10 guys and lose a game. You can't lose 50 to nothing. Maybe outside of Oregon, like don't lose 50 to nothing like elsewhere be competitive. But you can't lose 50 to nothing like there's something that you're building up. And then I think there's something to sell there. But five and seven where like we make some stupid mistakes to lose some games and what you don't want is the narrative that Deshawn doesn't know what he's doing because that's how you kill recruiting. That's the main thing. And the number one thing, I think coming out of this year, whether we go five and seven, seven, five or two and ten, we need to raise some funds. And whatever the best way we do that is the best thing for the program. Five and seven is like, we're hanging on by a thread here going forward. That's the brutal truth of it I think because you might have something to sell to your point if there were some close games that we lost, you know, on by thin margins. I think that that's the story you can tell. But if you're five and seven and there's not a big story you can tell you've lost those games handling you don't have a, you know, a vision or a future that you can kind of show these the recruits and donors. Then I think, sadly Deshawn Foster kind of starts becoming that dead man walking, going forward. Now if we do be as see as we have predicted, that always has a way of giving some leeway. Yeah, the UCLA fan base always has a good effect. That will give him some leeway. And that's great. Like I think that'll give him some fan support, but that doesn't pay the bill. It's like that does not bring in the NIL money. Maybe you can drive a little bit of NIL money and maybe you can, you know, sway some local recruiting efforts to come our way. But I don't think that in and of itself moves the needle enough to build upon the season after. And we talked about this last week. The season after our roster is in shambles. So this, this season needs to be successful enough to one raise money and to be an attractive program for players to come in, both from the high school ranks and also to the transfer portal because we're going to need high level quality talent coming in from the transfer portal for year two of the foster era. And if we can't do that, we can't sell the vision for year two, like, year three might be his last I think they'll give him at least three years but fair or not, whatever you want to call it, like I think that's going to be his, his timeframe here if we can't, we can't start off decently in the season and I don't think six and six is asking for a ton and I'm not blaming this on him in any way with the roster deficiencies and what he's been dealing with but so unfortunately the reality of the situation. Like five and seven is, is, is, is not going to be, I think, not going to be great for for his future prospects here. There, there are some games that we called that could go the other way. There's enough of them to where, you know, like you said I don't think six and six is unrealistic, given health and some extraneous factors like it's not unrealistic. And, you know, we get that then then there's chance, I think, but our prediction. Our prediction is five and seven to your point looking at this schedule, even starting at the last game right Fresno State. I mean, I wasn't being facetious and calling this a loss but you know UCLA on paper should be the team like Fresno State. Washington toss up a lot of unknowns there, you know, being on the road makes it hard but there's a world we're washing into disaster and absolutely. They could be bigger disaster than we are and we can go in there and beat the hell out of them like I don't know that it even if they're not a disaster I still think it's a toss up game Iowa same thing right. They're defense is going to be really good but often sucks we said this toss up game, even Nebraska like you could see it. And so, you know you flip one of those games maybe even two of those games and you're looking at a six seven one season. And that is I think what Foster should be looking at and I think he is looking at that like the fact that he's out here saying he's keeping receipts the fact that he's out here. You know, not not shying away from building this program up I you have to respect that right he could very easily come out this this offseason this fall camp and the like look, I weren't a rebuild it's going to take us time like be patient with us. Blah, blah, blah, you know make all the excuses and part of me is like I wouldn't even fault him if you did that given the situation he was thrown into but he hasn't done that really he's come out and they're like look. We're we have issues whatever those are we're going to address them we need to go out one games like that's the end that's what our goal is. And people are discounting us people are doubting us and I'm I'm here to prove them wrong. And you got to respect that and hopefully that mindset is being translated to the team and hopefully that mindset helps overcome a couple of these losses that we've predicted and turns them into victories. But yeah, here you have it. Five and seven with a few potential coin flips that can go the other way. And yeah, that that is our 2024 season prediction. All right, quick quick rapid fire who do you got to win the league. Big 10. Big 10. Man, I feel like Ohio State is gone all in and then they might actually do it I know you hate to hear that but. I find it hard to believe it won't be the only thing that can hold Ohio State back from doing that is Chip Kelly and I think they've kind of over indexed to even get hurt by Chip Kelly. So I would say Ohio State right now. A lot of people pick in Oregon. I don't see Oregon winning the league in their first year. There's some some of this stuff I think is being unsaid which is like Oregon's got to scout the entire league this year. It's all new for them. Like they can pretty much focus. It's a two game season for them. It's Oregon, Michigan. And that's all they really got to focus on. So I find it hard to believe that it's not going to be Ohio State. Yeah, I agree. Plus, you know, Oregon has to travel to a bunch of new different stadiums not being familiar with them to your point. All the scouting of new teams. I think it's going to be an uphill battle for them even as good as they are going to be. So I think Ohio State is in pole position to win it. Right. What's next? What's your next one? Let's give our top four for the league. So I think it's Ohio State and Oregon. Oh, now after that, it gets a little dicey. I feel like Penn State, three, Michigan, four, maybe, depending on how Michigan ends up looking. There's a lot of question marks there, I guess. That's my top four right now. And Penn State to be too, I think their new offensive coordinator is going to have to be the difference because in any big game they've been dreadful on offense. So that would have to be a difference. Okay. Who are the playoff teams from the big 10? Ohio State, Oregon. Two teams. I think so. I think Oregon will be good enough to get in. So here's my hot take. I think Florida State losing this weekend and if Clemson goes and loses to Georgia this on Saturday, ACC could be looking at a one bid league. And if that's the case, that opens the door for a few more. So I don't know if four teams can get in, but maybe three. And if you throw a Penn State in there. So if it's three, obviously Penn State, but if a four team can get in, then maybe Michigan gets in. I can see that. I mean, the ACC is such a disaster. It shouldn't even be counted as a, it won't exist soon. Well, that too. But, yeah, I see, I could see that. I don't think it's likely, but I could see. Three teams going, maybe four. All right. What's the team that you think will surprise? Last one. I think, well, Homer Pickwood said be saying UCLA, right, because people are saying we're going to win like one game ever. So even saying five wins is a big slap in the face to some folks, but let's see. Who is going to be a big surprise? I will say USC, not because it will surprise in a good way, but I think people will be shocked when they predict a 10 in two or 11 in one season and they go like seven and five or eight and four. Even nine and three, I would say is like falling well short of what they expect. I think nine and three would be a great season for them, based on what their roster looks like, honestly, and their schedule. Yeah, schedule looks like. I'm going to say Nebraska, taking your mat rule. Very favorable schedule. Like the world, the weight of the world is on Dylan, Ryola, but I think their defense will be very good again. And so bring a lot back. Yeah, bring a lot back on defense. Again, this is a surprise team. So you're not talking about a team that's going to win double digit games or go to the playoff or anything, but can they get back to seven, eight wins? I think they can do that. I'd be interested to see in that seven and eight, eight win season. Do they ruin someone else's season? Yeah, probably have to pull off an upsetters or two in there. Again, their schedule is pretty favorable. If they can be Colorado, you know, which they'll get at home this year, you know, they can do that, then, you know, that maybe start to strangle wins for them. I mean, if they can't be Colorado, they have a bigger problem. Bigger problem. Well, then, yeah, then they will not surprise anybody. Well, yeah, definitely not. All right. I think we are all set for week one. All set for week one. Happy to have college football back. We will talk about more college football after the Hawaii game on Saturday. We will do our weekly kind of game previews. Obviously, we will hopefully be doing some fun clubs with some of the other college huddle folks, some of the big 10 podcasts. Look out for those. We'll try to get some of those lined up as the season goes on because those are always fun and informative. And I think people hopefully get a lot of value out of them. And then yeah, basketball season right around the corner to we have it didn't even talk about the new Mexico game finally getting solidified and all the rave reviews around the team coming out. So we'll, we'll jump into that next week. I think we've already talked for way, way, way, way too long at this point. If anyone's still listening to us by this point of this episode, kudos to you and thank you appreciate you all. Yeah, with that, I think we will go ahead and sign off. You know where to find us at Bruin Source on Twitter. You can find the show on Apple Podcasts Spotify. All other podcast platforms, we should be there. If not, let us know. We will get it to you there. We will, of course, catch you next week. And as always, go Bruins. Go Bruins. [BLANK_AUDIO]