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But before I get going, folks, do me a favor, hit that like button, hit the subscribe button, hit the notification bell, share this podcast, give us a five star review on whatever platform of your choice that you're using. And as always, make sure you sign up for the message board of boards on our breakdown.com. Bill, you're ready to go? Bill Bender, my guy from Sporting News, everybody. Last week, Bill came on us. We told you he'd be back again this week. And there were some good games in the docket last week, Bill. There's some good games in the docket this week. We're going to preview four games. First of all, Bill, how you doing today, man? Well, man, you know, we have week two, it sneaks up on you. It goes quick. It's a quick transition from week one to week two with plenty of stuff at Sporting News. I know Bill and I had Chris Hummer from 24/7 Sports on our podcast this week. Good stuff on the Longhorns. CFB Nation, guys. That's where that's at. That episode got published today. And you guys also had a really good week one recap, where you talked a lot about Notre Dame as well. Anthony Knapp was one of the freshmen that you guys discussed is also on that. Yeah, so I think, and we'll have our prediction show yesterday, tomorrow. And you and I are going to hit on some of these games. I will see. I mean, week one was fun. I think it told me, as I've said all week, we need more matchups between power four schools and power four schools in Notre Dame. And you know, the best games of the weekend, Notre Dame A&M, USC LSU, Florida Miami in a different way because you learned. And even Vandy, Virginia Tech, I would take it all the way down to that. You know, it's school like Vanderbilt with Clark Lee, when in 34 to 27, beating a Virginia Tech team that many people thought was going to be an ACC sleeper all the way to Monday. Well, I mean, me too. I'm going to be honest. Like, it's good. I didn't have a winning it, but I thought they were team was going to make some noise. And if you think it feels good to be accountable, then I had Florida State when in the ACC and watching Bill O'Brien wear them out on Monday night. So Brian, I'll let you take the wheel, man. We can go wherever you want. Um, week one was fun week two. I mean, this game, the slate of games, we're going to preview. They're good. I think there's kind of regional rivalry factor to three of them. And then we get a top 10 game. Well, we also have some big 10 versus big 12 games. It should be three games that were previewing today. That is big 10 versus big 12. But one of the teams sold out and decided to go join the SEC. So, but that's going to be a big one. I'll say this bill. I think that last week's game had more of the very intriguing Georgia Clemson, you know, and, and note Miami, Florida, and Notre Dame, A&M and LSU, USC. But I think this, the one game we will preview is Texas and Michigan. And I think that's as big of a game as, as there is, I think in the text I sent I put Texas in Colorado. So my old big 12, my old big 12 mindset was still there. But there are some important games this weekend, Bill, and we're going to dive into we're going to do Iowa Iowa State. We're going to talk Colorado and Nebraska. I think those are very important games. No, they're not two ranked opponents, but they're very big games for all four programs. Number three, Tennessee, NC State also big for both teams. But that's a big conference battle. And we'll talk about that one as well. And then of course, we'll spend most of a lot of our time at the end talking Texas and Michigan. And that's going to be a huge game because there's a lot we don't know about both teams. And we're going to learn a lot about both teams in this game, Bill. So, you know, and there's some other games that, that, you know, that we could have discussed, but I really felt these are the four games they're going to have the biggest impact on. And it's not just on those individual teams, but these are the type of games, Bill, that can impact the perception that we have of different leagues. And in week one, ACC had some games where they took a hit, when they had some games, you're like, Hey, that was a good win for the ACC, right? And, you know, and then there's some games. The big 10 had a couple good wins in the in the opening week, obviously with USC beating LSU. There's more of that conference bragging rights on the line, which I think matters beyond just fan talk on social media. It also factors into when you're trying to determine who are we going to take a fourth big 10 team or a second ACC team a fourth SEC team or a second or third big 12 team, right? Those are where thick games like this can really have an impact. And so that's where I what I think is also at stake this weekend. College football nation. What's going on? Marking in a second here, get inside access to the college football world and beyond every week as three time national champion head coach Urban Meyer announced a Rob Stone and I take you from the field into the locker room and beyond discussing the top moments in college and pro sports. Plus conversations with the biggest names from every corner of entertainment delivered to you at home or on the road. Watch triple option on YouTube or listen on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. At King Super's pharmacy, care is making it easy to get vaccinated. Care is helping you stay protected from flu COVID and RSV seasonal vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours. Care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season. Walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local King Super's pharmacy. So come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you King Super's a world of care is in store. Visit king supers.com slash vaccines for more restrictions and exclusions apply seaside for details. I call them separators. You know, LSU USC was like a subtle separator. It I was texting back and forth with Bill Troci on Sunday night. That had playoff atmosphere about it with a Nussmeyer and Miller Moss, you know, and those are the games though, like you said, matter when it could show up at the end of the year where USC's maybe 10 and two with losses to Notre Dame and Penn State or Michigan take your pick and then LSU sitting at their 10 and two and maybe they beat Alabama but they don't get in because of that USC game. And the Big Ten had a great weekend. Let's not you know, I'm going to pump that up and be the Big Ten's official propagandist 17 and one should be 18 and oh if not for a miss field goal. So huge weekend for the conference. I don't know, you know, how many of those games were amazing but, you know, the USC game did open my eyes. The Penn State game opened my eyes. We were both on to that. Yeah, we both got that one, right? We were on to Penn State making life miserable in Morgantown and Drew Aller playing very well. Second year starter. So, you know, getting into this Iowa Iowa State game. This is one of those I was going to ask you. How many plays do you watch Iowa before you turn the channel? Good Lord. Do you get through five series? Maybe. I mean, it's it. So, like, let's just get into that game. Iowa Iowa State. Let's just dive into it because I think this is a this is a very important game for a couple of reasons. Number one, if you just look at the individual teams, obviously, there's always in-state bragging rights that, you know, that you have to look into and those type of things. But I also think there's a lot more to it than this than this. There's a lot of people that have convinced themselves that Iowa is going to be a better team on offense this year. And if they're a better team on offense, maybe they're a team that can make some noise in the Big Ten. Whether that's, you know, getting one of the three or four at-large bids or whether that means maybe they knock off somebody and prevent someone else from getting in. And so Iowa obviously has a lot to prove. If you just if you didn't watch the game and you just look at the numbers, you're thinking, Hey, Iowa might have an offense finally. I've got some thoughts on that that we'll dive into. But, you know, and then for Iowa State, like Iowa State is not perceived to be as high up in the Big 12 as Iowa is in the Big Ten. But I do think that there's a there's higher expectations for Iowa State this year than in the past. They've got a quarterback coming back, some decent skill. A lot of guys coming back, you know, can Matt Campbell get them back on track? So there's a lot of those storylines. But but also the Big 12 is fighting for respect and because there's just this assumption that the ACC and the Big 12 are probably going to get one team in each maybe two maybe one of them gets two and going into the season. The perception was that ACC would it would be two of Florida State Clemson or Miami. Well, one of those teams is, I mean, yes, Florida State can still make the playoffs. If they win the rest of their games, they get an at large, they get an automatic bid. That's don't see that happening right now. But the Big 12 is one of those leagues that right now people say, well, you know, they're only going to get one team. Whoever wins a league's going to get in. Well, this is the kind of game and other games like it will have another one coming up where if you can win some of these games, maybe you can get a second team in over a fourth big 10 or a fourth SEC, depending on how those things go. So I think there's a lot of that at stake too, right? Bill in this game beyond just the individual matchup of the two teams, right? And this game typically close last six games, one score games, close and ugly, ugly, fumbled punt here, pick, you know, drop one, literally 20 games or one play, you know, you hate saying, I know you're a former coach and I've tried to be one on the youth sports level. But like you say, like every play matters, like literally this is one where that one play will matter. I'm curious to see in your good quarterback guy, Kate McNamara, 251 yards, three scores last week, you know, we've he's played, we know who Kate McNamara is. Rocco Beck, they seem to be a little more placed on him, you know, 267 yards, two TDs, NFL bloodline, all those things. I'm wondering if for Iowa State to win, I feel like he's going to need to play out play McNamara more than McNamara needs to outplay back. If Kate McNamara just does for Iowa, what he did for Michigan in 2021, Iowa's a dangerous football team. And that is just manage the offense, get the ball where it needs to go, make the occasional third down throw, don't screw it up, right? Like, just don't suck. Like, that's literally the new standard for Iowa quarterbacks. Don't suck. And if they do that, they they got a shot to win a lot of games, Bill. What I think Iowa needs from him, or what I saw from Iowa is, is a lot of the same old, same old, if I'm just being honest. And people point to the, the 40 points and they scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. They, they were winning six to nothing and half them. Now, that could have just been first game. You needed some time to get back into rhythm. Kate missed a lot of games last year. You've got some new faces, new system. So it could just be look, they needed some time to get going and they are going to be a better team. But, you know, the numbers were, were good against a decent FCS team, right? But I still, I still have a lot of debt. I still, I'm in still, let me see, like wait and see mode with this offense. But look, Bill, the reality is, is they had 492 yards of offense and 6.93 yards per play. You know what their season high was last year? 300 maybe? 402 against Rutgers. And then they had 387 in 5.95 yards per play against Western Michigan. That was it. Yeah. And that was all rushing. They had 254 rushing yards. They actually made some plays in the past game. So I'm very curious if it's going to be legit. And here we're going to find out this week, because this is a good, not a great, this is a good Iowa State defense. But your point is, is absolutely spot on, Bill. I like this Iowa State defense with all due respect. Rocco Beck is facing a much tougher defense than what, than what Kate McNamara is facing, especially in the secondary. And they, just the way they run their offense, they need him to carry it more. I was all run game last week, did well. You know, Caleb Johnson averaged over 10 yards a carry. You know, Camari Moulton was the grinder and they had, you know, Kate McNamara just, he was efficient throwing the football, which is really all you need him to be. Iowa State on the other hand, really struggled to run the ball last week. And they needed Rocco Beck. Now, I will, I will say that they also played a much better FCS team in North Dakota, who's a perennial, you know, deep run in the college, in the playoff type of team. You know, but, but Iowa State's defense was pretty salty last week, but Iowa State is a team that, I mean, they had what 370 some yards, I'm looking at last week, at 353 yards last week, only 86 on the ground. They almost got doubled up by, actually, they did get doubled up actually on the ground by North Dakota. That's where I kind of get a little bit nervous for Rocco Beck, because if, if you're asking your quarterback to go out there and carry you against Iowa with not a lot of help from your run game, it's going to be a long day for you. Right. I think so. And I think, um, for me, it's, it's, this is a Matt Campbell, like kind of pressure game. Remember when he was the front runner to be Michigan's coach? Yeah, and, and what kind of name people? Notre Dame people. It's Kelly leaves, Matt Campbell's. Yeah. Yeah. That he's been on everybody's thing. And I like Matt Campbell. He comes from Mountain Union, great division three program. I coached against him when he was a player, but, yeah, good guy, good player, good, good dude to talk to probably could have, but that tells me he's, he's fine there. You know, he's fine to be at Iowa State and that's fine. Um, Iowa State's never beat a ranked Iowa team at Iowa, at Iowa. That's the stat that got me this week. It's, I did not know that. So they've never won this. And, and you know how these sibling in state robberies work where one has to be the little brother, in my opinion, um, you know, that's probably Iowa State in this situation. I don't want to imagine my Iowa follower people, but it's just true. Like the Hawkeyes, I think, and so my way, Tonya, I must have had a sense of humor when I made this prediction. I put Iowa 20 to 12, uh, we're close, like 20 to 13, 20, this. And if you look at some of the past scores, 13 to three, 18, 17, 10 to seven, 20 to 13, we're probably there and they'll probably play field position. And you know, the one thing that can alter that is, like I said, I remember one year, one of these teams had a fumbled punt or a pass off somebody's back that lands in somebody's hands. It's literally flooky. And it's not in Ames. So I'm going to take the Hawkeyes. I went Iowa State by 10. I went 20 to 10. Is my score. And if you look at my prediction bill, I have where the 10 is, the last number, I have scratched off because I originally had 13. So we're very close from this one. That's funny. I'm going to give Iowa the benefit of the doubt that their slow start last week was related to Kate McNamara's time off and rustiness and learning a new system under Tim Lester. Right. And that this what we saw in the second half is, is, is more of what's to come. I'm going to assume that I am doing so while kicking myself while saying that, like, dude, you're seriously banking on, I would have get better on offense. Right. You said that last year and look what happened, right? And, you know, so I just, I think they were just so god awful at quarterback last year. And I just think, you know, Kate is what he is. And that's a perfect fit for the Iowa offense. And I think this year we're actually going to start to see it. So I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt. I think it's going to be a 20 to 10 game. I think Rocco Beck's going to make some plays early. I could see this being a game that, that maybe even Iowa State has a 10 to seven lead at one point. And then they just, Iowa figures it out. Phil Parker gets rolling and there's just not a lot that Iowa State's going to be able to do. And they pull away late or I could see it being a game where it's just a slugfest where, you know, Iowa does something early in the state's way. But I think the, I think the Hawkeyes win this one. Yeah, by 10. That's a good call. And we're, we're on the like minds there. So I guess we move on with, yeah. Can you pronounce Tennessee's quarterback's last thing? Well, we're going to go Nebraska, Colorado, Nebraska, Colorado, Colorado. Yeah, because this is, this is going to be, I want to, that's going to be, because that's a battle of ranked teams. I'm very, very curious, curious of wherever you want to go. Let's go Nebraska, Colorado. This is a, this is a battle of unranked teams. But I think it's also two teams that expectations are, are higher for, for both compared to where they were last year, more so Nebraska, I think than Colorado from a realistic standpoint, not the national let's hype up Dion so we can then, you know, tear them down if they fail kind of thing. I do think when I look at Colorado, I see a team that's their improvements are more balanced where, you know, Colorado's still a team with a really good skill players and not very good in the trenches. So, but this is a game that last year, Colorado won and dominated and, and looked really good. This is, this is the game that really created the hype machine last year because the TCU game was big, but then when they went out and enrolled in Nebraska, it's kind of like, okay, Colorado's legit. Well, they weren't, but this is another opportunity for Colorado to say, hey, look, we are that good of a program. We, we can do those things. And this is an opportunity for Matt rule to say, hey, we're, we're back. We're rolling like, you know, we've got this thing going. And so there's a lot at stake, not just beaten, not only the big 12 versus big 10, but just for these two teams. This is big because I think the winner of this game has a shot to vault into the top 25 in the next couple weeks. Well, I had Nebraska in our top 25 this week. I, I'd maybe for promotional purposes, sure, but I, I think this will be more entertaining than Michigan, Texas for entertainment value, not for maybe execution football stuff, probably some sloppiness in between. But you're watching Shador, who I think could be a top five, if not number one pick, you know, that'll get picked apart later. And you're watching this Dylan Rayola, who I think is a program changer. I was very impressed with him last week. I watched quite a bit of this Nebraska game, his poise, throw it. He's given Nebraska something they haven't had in about a decade, a guy that can throw the ball down the field. He had two touchdowns on passes of 20 yards or more last week. And as I found this tweet, and I wish I give this person's credit because I literally embedded it into my story, his best throw was off the fingertips of a guy. So he could have had three touchdowns of 20 yards or more. Took a sack. I, regardless of how you feel about how you switched high schools or decommitted and went to this school, high state Georgia to Nebraska, he's a legacy recruit, he's given them hope. This is the best quarterback match up of September. Am I wrong? I'm trying to, I mean, otherwise, I'd have to, I'd have to think through, it's in the conversation. Like the next big one will be Milro and Beck and or yours and Beck, but I, I'd rather watch this honestly because I think Shador, Bobby Carpenter, who I do his show all the time tweeted this last week, it's almost like Dion's giving the NFL good tape of Shador because he's constantly under the rest making plays. And he doesn't turn the ball over. And he only took one sack. And I don't know who this game means more for, I'm gonna say Nebraska, because we, they've tried to announce their return on the stage for so long. This is their best primetime stage until they play Ohio State in about a month. That's, it's, I wouldn't know, because it's, it's, I'm, I'm thinking like there's, there's so many different ways my head goes on that response bill, but I think at the end of the day, I believe Matt rules trying to build a more long term program than Dion's handers is. That's kind of what I think. And a game like this is of course going to mean more to the guy that's trying to build a more long term success. And so I, but I also think that for Dion, it's more about a game like this. And then hopefully springboarding into some success in the big 12 could be the thing that gets him a, because I, I used to think Dion was, was maybe in this and want to do something in Colorado, but his actions the last six months makes me realize once his kids are gone, I think he's gone at the first chance he has in a good job. That's just kind of where I'm at. I don't know him personally, but this is a kind of game, but that's more for him from a program standpoint than the Nebraska, Nebraska program needs this kind of win. Right. It's also an old rival. And it's a team that honestly doesn't get a lot of, like, like nobody takes Colorado seriously anymore. They're now like an entertaining, like, okay, I know I can, if I talk about them, I'm going to get clicks, but I don't know that a lot of people necessarily respect their football program right now, right or wrong. It's more of the show. They're the reality TV show. You can't stop watching. They're the Kardashians of college football. Yeah, I can't. I don't watch reality TV. I'm trying to think if I have ever watched a reality TV show, but if I did, they're the show that everybody watches because maybe it's not good quality, but you leave it. I watched every play in North Dakota State every play because it rather it was. And here's one thing in this game, Brian, that I'm wondering, I think Nebraska's gonna have a lot of success running the football they did last year. They ran for over 200 yards. So they're going to support Riola in that way. I thought he handled the Blitzwell last year. He stared down. There was one play. He stared down a receiver too long, got clocked by a defensive tackle. And I didn't know if he was going to get up, but that happens with young quarterbacks. So what do they do about Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn, Jr.? Can they, those two guys, I think they keep Colorado in the game because I'm not sure Nebraska has an answer in the back end for either one of those guys. Well, number one, I don't know that the answer that for those guys is on the back end. I think the answer for those guys is upfront. That's a big thing for me is you've got to get him off his launch point. You've got to, you've got to harass him. Is he show last week in North Dakota State was missing, I was told this, they were missing their best defensive back last week. And so some of those blown coverages were due to write it where he would have been. But look, they're going to make place. I mean, that's a reality that when teams shut Colorado down last year, it was for Shador to get the ball out as quickly as possible. And then that we can rally to the football because if, because I'm not as high on Shador Sanders as a quarterback as you are. But one thing I think why not like tell me why because I respect your opinion about quarterbacks and I would love and I've heard other. I feel so I feel like the two of us know, see the football game, you probably, I think you see the game better than I do because you're coach and I respect that. So I kind of want to hear why, like what, what is it about? And I've heard this from others too. And I'm like, what am I missing? So tell me what I'm missing. Well, number one, I, I'm someone who puts a lot of value in leadership and character. And I don't know how well a guy like Shador Sanders is going to go in a locker room as a leader. That's part of it. The other part of it is I think he's got good skill. I don't think he has a elite skill. I think he's got a good arm. He doesn't have an elite arm. He's got good accuracy. He doesn't have elite accuracy. He'll put himself in some situations where maybe he thinks his arm is a little bit better than it is. And that'll get him into a little bit of trouble and against better defenses. That's going to result in more incompletions and potentially some turnovers. I do like that he doesn't turn the ball over a ton. He's pretty good at protecting the football. He's a good processor. He's not an elite processor. There's just nothing that Shador does in my opinion that's special. He does a lot of really good things. So when I say I don't like Shador as much as others, it's not that I think he's like, I'm not, I'm not one of those people that believes in like, you're either good, you're what people say or you suck. Right. You know, it's not, he's a good quarterback. He's not what in you and I've had this. It's, I feel about him a lot how I feel about Carson Beck, right? Good college quarterback, good system, you know, good town around him, does some really good things, not an elite talent in my opinion. I felt better about Carson Beck after last week, honestly, though, I want you to get some second half. He was like, he's manipulating the pocket. He's, you know, he's settled in. He's made, he's, he's a minimum accurate. Given the choice between these two, I might take Shador. One thing I, one criticism I heard from somebody was, well, he's, it's like he's running a high school offense. I mean, that's not his fault. That's not on him. Like, look, look, if you're running a quote, quote, quote, high school offense, if you can read it and do what you need to do, then do it, you're going to do it. That's not your fault. I think someone said, I think that's just more of a let's take a shot at Colorado, Conrad, more than a, I mean, but he ended up a coach running that offense. He throws the ball down, feel well, he extends plays. He, I, you know, I think the fact he's doing all this without the benefit of a running game has been pressed me the most because a lot of quarterbacks, you give them, if you give Shador Sanders in college, 180 yards per game on the ground on top of what he's doing, you know, then you can blame, you blame his dad for that. But, you know, through Jackson State and I had this stat this morning. Let me take this up really quickly. He threw Jackson State in two years of Colorado. You're talking about a guy when I talked to Dion a couple of weeks ago, he pointed out, you know, this guy has started every game since high school. But if you take his college stats through Jackson State and Colorado, 97 touchdowns. This is Jackson State in Colorado, by the way, 97 touchdowns, 14 interceptions. When I see those numbers, he's doing something right. Sure. So I mean, here's a number that I look at though. Okay, that's great. Did that at Jackson State. He averaged 7.5 yards per temp last year. That's very average. Right. Right. I mean, Sam Hartman was around nine and he wasn't that good. It comes down to this. When I think of a guy who people are going to talk about being a top five draft pick, I think of Jane Daniels, I think of Drake May, I think of CJ Stroud, I think of Caleb Williams. And this kid's just not in that conversation, in my opinion, any physical skill set. And I don't think he has, like you can make up for that if you're really sharp mentally, or if you have great character, great leadership. And I just don't see that from Shador Sanders. I see a really good college quarterback. That's not an elite college quarterback. That's really what it boils down to. And I don't think there is an elite college quarterback and college football this year either. That's the other part of it. What's your early? Did you get a chance to watch Royale at all? I did. Yeah, I actually was impressed because his ability to process information was one of my biggest criticisms for him in high school. And that was one of the things that I just, I never felt like he was great throwing the ball on time. I never felt he was great, like, you know, picking apart defenses mentally. And I actually was impressed by what I saw from him in the spring game. First of all, I thought he did, he started to show some of that stuff in the spring game, and then of course against UTEP now again, it was against UTEP. But you know, I thought his ability to kind of handle the offense to manage the offense was better than I thought it was going to be. This game isn't about the two quarterbacks for me though. This game is about, I think one team is going to be able to run the ball and one team plays better defense in the trenches than the other. And that's really, look, if Colorado could play seven on seven games, they'd be at a top 10 top 15 team. But unfortunately, football is not a seven on seven sport. And I mean, we saw it last week. I thought they just got pushed around in the trenches by North Dakota State. Nebraska is going to be a lot better there on both sides of the ball. So I think Colorado is going to have a really tough time. And when you look at when Shador struggled last year, I mean, even against some teams that weren't very good, Arizona State, you know, you look at struggles against UCLA and actually had a pretty good defense. Arizona didn't have a very good defense. He had some struggles in that game. When you looked at it, it came down to those teams were able to get pressure on him and force him to get the ball out and get the ball out quickly. And the more you make them run plays on offense, the more you have a chance at hitting something big on Travis 104th quarter. Right. That's the other part of it. Well, I got Nebraska 34 color out of 26. Hey guys, are we, are we right on target? It is a seven point spread, which I always, whenever I see the seven, I always go, I just commit one school. Hey, technically, that means Nebraska would improve in a one score game where they're two and 19 since 2021. No way, you have the same thing almost one point off. I can't wait to see her. Well, I know it will be disagree on the last one, but that's amazing, man. Yeah, that we have it that close. But yeah, I'm going to go the Huskers. Yeah, same here. Let's get to the next game, Bill. This is a game and as far as how to pronounce his name, I don't know how to pronounce his name. Some people in the chat have tried to help out with that. So it's a Nico. Let me find it here. Somebody had it in the chat. Let me Irish. It doesn't do me any good to read a pronunciation off of off like a word. Right. He actually. So no, I don't know. I just call him Nico. And I know how to pronounce Nico. And I think I've I've tried yama leva yama yama leva. There's a couple extra syllables in it that I expect. There's a lot of eyes in there. Yeah. Well, a lot of times you pronounce was like to us last name is actually tongue of a loa. It's not at all how his name is spelled. Right. Well, actually, there's only one eye in this kid's last name, but I'll tell you this. He's good. And they're good. And they they're they're starting to creep my head a little bit like Texas did last year where I'm like, they're going to be around at the end of this thing. Look, Chattanooga's a quality FCS team. But here's the deal, Bill. They didn't just, you know, beat up on an FCS team. They absolutely obliterated an FCS team who won, I think, seven games last year. And, you know, honestly, the offensive part didn't really surprise me. I mean, I kind of expected their offense is going to be better, especially against a team like that where they just kind of outathleteed them. I was a big Dante Thornton fan. I thought Oregon did a poor job of using him. So I thought that was a great pickup. You know, the crisp Brazil kids, a talented young player, Broome McCoy's a really good sort of like a Juju Smith type of possession receiver that can do some good things for them. They got hold and stay from Notre Dame who caught a couple balls last week. So I like this team. I mean, their offensive line is still a question mark for me because I don't care what they did against Chattanooga. But there's a lot of skill there. What impressed me was how good and how stingy their defense was last week. Again, FCS team, I get it. But you can only control what's in front of you. And I thought last week, their defense was absolutely outstanding. Last week. And that was really the thing that says maybe this this Tennessee team has got a shot to actually be something because they can not that they're going to be a lights out defense, but they're going to be they don't need it though. That's the thing. Tennessee doesn't need a lights out defense. They just need a good defense. And if they have a good defense, they're a dangerous football team. I can see it. You know, I really like Josh Hyple's offense in general when they have the right guy. They remind me of two years ago where they were and then hooker perfect fit and then hooker. Perhaps at some point we'll get to play in the NFL. This kid's a five star kid. Nico, you know, and he's under control. He set a record for passing yards in a half, but the single the most passing yards in a half by a Tennessee quarterback. He said that in his second start. There's a little regional tie to this. I mean, it is in Charlotte. I feel like we haven't we've talked about Tennessee all week to the point is like NC State. Yeah, because we're holding it their first half against Western Carroll. If we're pumping up Tennessee based on beating Chattanooga by a thousand points, we're holding NC State down because sometimes against the FCS team with your new quarterback takes a minute to click and it took a minute with Grayson Call last week. When you are this early in season bill, what you're going to have is a lot of confirmation bias. Right. And I'm not someone who was very high on NC State coming into the season. And so when they play the way that they did, it just confirms that, hey, they are what I thought they were. And now they did better in the second half, but their defense to me is is an issue that that's really what it comes down to for me. They lost a lot from their defense last year, not just losing, you know, Peyton Wilson to the NFL, but CJ Clark transferred out. They lost some good football players. I do like their offense. I think that they can move the ball to a degree on Tennessee. I just don't think they're going to be able to stop Tennessee. And I'm a big Tony Gibson fan, but his defense usually needs and requires veteran players to run at its best. A lot of those really kind of like Brent Venables was that way when Brent Venables has a veteran defense. It's usually pretty good. We saw that at Clemson. I just don't know that NC State can can stay up in this game. And I don't see Grace. I'm not a huge Grayson McCall fan. To be honest with you, I feel like he's been in it in college football for nine years. Maybe he's that good. He'd probably be in the NFL right now. But he's a smart kid, you know, who get the ball out where he needs to get to. I just you're going to need someone to kind of go out and make a lot of plays against it in a game like this. And I just don't think he's that kind of guy. And so I actually have Tennessee winning this one pretty convincingly. I have this as a 38 21 football game. I almost it's actually I have the same scores their last their game last week, but reversed. OK, how many we were how many points were we separated by in the first game to you say 2012, right? So we were two points off one last day one. And we're still in the neighborhood here because at 35 21 Tennessee, like they tack on a NC State of Play. And it's in Charlotte. I've done games at BOA with Bank of America at Stadium before when I lived down in Charlotte. I bet you 20 bucks. There's more Tennessee people in that's there will be there will be there will be and that's when Tennessee and there were ACC SEC type games there when I lived there and the SEC fan base would show out. So I do like Tennessee to roll here and I do like their appeal as you know we're going to talk so much about Texas, Georgia, Alabama and even Ole Miss to some extent that Tennessee getting mixed a little bit. This is a game to me also bill that if they if Tennessee can win the way that you and I have it, this is one of those games that helps helps the helps the SEC recover from the the national media. I thought ESPN. I'll just say it. You don't have to get into this because I know you have a different level of respect for them than I do. Yours is higher than mine is I believe. They did their darndest to try to convince people that last weekend wasn't a really bad weekend for the SEC because it was they went one and three against ranked opponents and they're going to ignore that. This week these next two games are what they need to kind of just say hey that was week one. One of our ranked opponents lost to one of our teams lost to a ranked opponent. They were unranked. You know what I mean? Like Florida was unranked. Yeah LSU tell you it was a good game. A&M Notre Dame is a good game. Crushed Clemson right. These two games are big and I think Tennessee whooping NC State because I like beating NC State's not going to get them a lot of credit because they're supposed to beat NC State. I think if they beat NC State the way that you and I think they do this is something that can help the SEC somewhat recover because if you have another bad weekend where NC State pulls off the upset now the conversation is a hold on a second. Now SEC you're hanging on to what? You know your best team beating Clemson. Okay great. What's your next best win? Hey but Vandy beat Virginia Tech because Miami just went out in spanked Florida. You know LSU just got beat by a big 10 team and now if Tennessee goes down to NC State like hey guys what's going on here? You know it's so crazy you said that Brian like I it just dawned on me like when you said one and three I I hadn't heard that said all week and I think it's because sometimes I'm not saying anything but I do like ESPN. I have so many friends that write for them and so I'm not putting this I'm putting it on my own. You have friends that write for them. I'm talking to talking heads on this. Oh yeah like I like but I have you know so I have tremendous amount of respect for Heather and Andrea and David Hale and so many over there. Brian McGee's good friend. They but my thought is okay so I was running down these teams at Las Texas A&M LSU whom I'm at Florida. That's your like middle class SEC team that that we trump up as better as a better middle class team than can't say that about USC anymore. Turgeons came to play last weekend. That was impressive. Can't say that about Notre Dame right now. They went down to a place where now they went down one by 10 at a place where we we trump that up to be the greatest hardest place to play in college. The Notre Dame managed that very well. Florida got embarrassed in their backyard by an in-state rival. I got that one wrong. I that's the one I got last week. I did. I think I was on here last week. I thought Florida was going to compete in that game. But you know what? That forces me to reevaluate not myself so much as yeah I was wrong. I'll tell you that. I was wrong but yeah whenever you I just believe in program should be able to stand up like at home and they didn't. Now they're going to go to DJ Lagway this week because Graham Mertz has heard a lot of questions about the Gators. When they start talking about Wanton Lane Kiffin you know there's some things wrong there but great great point about the the how we treat the middle class of college footballs. I would say there are certain teams that are hammers that yes I know Georgia and Alabama are good and really good but after that you know you don't get to South Carolina doesn't get to say we're really good because Jalen Miller is awesome. That's always been one of my intentions with that conference. And that matters and that's been my that's been my I'm not going to get on the soapbox I'm just going to say this that's why it's for a long time right that the SEC gets way too much credit because of how good it is at the top. And there's an assumption about the rest of the league. And I've pointed out go do an NFL draft study and compare first round draft picks a by conference come to all pro teams by conference and you're going to see a very different story from what the draft says compared to what conferences say. And and I'll point to you know Notre Dame or Alabama guys in the NFL where they're drafted coming Alex Leatherwood is already on his third team and he's in his third year and guy well he played anywhere but Bama he's not a number 17 overall draft that's a different conversation for a different day. But here's the interesting point though Bill you're not going to be you're going to have a tougher time justifying your middle class getting over somebody else's middle class for those third and fourth spots if you keep catching L's at a conference that so it didn't affect the 14 playoff because at the end of the day a lot of times that second SEC team was as good as anybody else but now when you're trying to convince people to get that third and fourth and when you're trying to negotiate automatic bids when you expand a 14 people that are going to be against them but ACC presidents will be holding on a second we just kicked your behinds out of conference this past this past season second year in a row we've had a ton of success against you out of conference maybe we shouldn't be giving you I mean so these things matter in a lot of different ways and if the ACC and the big 10 are taking the big 12 are taking it to the SEC in these non-conference matchups that's going to start coming into play when you start talking about those third and fourth spots in those leagues and that's why I say games like this matter and that's why Tennessee not only needs to win but I think they need to win kind of convincingly because they're a team that's 10 spots higher than NC State and the expectation is going to be you're supposed to do that to them right and and it's the same thing with A&M and Notre Dame last week you and I both picked Notre Dame to win but a lot of the national media was it's going to be A&M because why oh they're SEC they're athletes they're this they're bad it's hard to play there blah blah blah blah so I do think Tennessee needs to win this game convincing and I think that they will right you know NC State is a team that I've just felt gets a little bit too much hype in recent seasons and Dave Dorn just is not able to take them over that hump of being anything better than an 8 and 5 9 and 14 this is the kind of game that could do that though and and you know we'll see if they get it done let's get into the last game bill because this is this is the big one right this is not time this is you know save the best for last man this is the big game of the weekend this is the one you'll be attending as well I believe correct don't be there I'm driving up tomorrow are you gonna tomorrow I'm driving up tomorrow I'm gonna watch the Packers with Dave Briggs of the Toledo blade another one good friend and then we'll head up together in the morning can be fun man it's uh I'll let you start like I I mean here's here I'm just gonna start I'll actually I'll lead off of this I don't know when Texas got the big game reputation they did they get that that's what I said they're one and four in top 10 games under start okay but the assumption is they're going to just go up there and dominate even though and it's based off one game it's based off the fact that they went to Tuscaloosa and put one on Alabama last year and it's probably based on what we've watched with Michigan's quarterbacks of course but let me take Michigan out of this conversation for a second let's do Texas I have been saying this for a while I like this Texas team I am incredibly annoyed by some of the the big picture hype about Texas I think this team is legitimately good I had somebody on a Notre Dame message ward a Notre Dame fan tell me Notre Dame's not on tier one with teams like and this was the list Alabama Georgia Ohio State and Texas okay I and my Texas like Steve and then I see people with all due respect to my my beloved sporting news released these top coaches list and Steve Sarkeesian is in the top five to top 10 based on what where did that let me say I did that so I got to I got to see where I've been you had him in the top 10 I think you had him close to the top five and my answer is based on what he has the same record in the big 12 as sunny Dikes there's one difference sunny Dikes has a playoff win Steve Sarkeesian does not sunny Dikes beat Michigan and so why doesn't he get the same benefit that out for quote-unquote big wins that see Steve Sarkeesian does and so my thing is I thought Sartre did a great job last year with that team and won multiple games against good teams with this backup quarterback he did a good job but why is the guy that's a 10 year NFL or a 10 year power five head coach who's had one 10 win season all of a sudden considered a top five coach so national media can't can't say well you know what has Texas done well you guys are the one that are putting these guys up that you know you're you guys are the ones put him in the top three foot six right based on what why is he a better coach than sunny Dikes I think well I think same record yeah I got you sunny Dikes has beat him just as many times as he's beat sunny Dikes I think he did a quick rebuild at a place where you should be able to win at Texas and he's won there I'll give him that like and I think sunny Dikes didn't inherit a TCU team coming off of a phenomenal season I think they had a charm season very charged they did they did but how do we know that Texas didn't have the same thing that that's now that's where I'm coming from right is why is he getting the benefit of the doubt why is Texas getting the benefit of the doubt that we don't give to other teams like Texas has how many playoff births and since it started one how many playoff wins zero right right I mean so so what what what why is now I think offensive mind clearly top five right I think that by the end of the year I'll probably be on that bandwagon with him because I actually like Sark as a coach I'm like how about we have to improve something other than going on the road and beating a Bamba team that struggle with South Florida the week before to in my sense if you look at everything after five it you can we can rip everybody we can rip Ryan Day sure if you want or three if you want um where was he in your list three we ripped that bow at two I mean the top 10's hard because like you can even go down to Lincoln Riley and then I always thought when I do those coach rankings I always tell people it's it's almost like we should probably do three separate list honestly you should do the group of five lists by itself which CBS did this year that's smart to get them out of the way then you do the coaches that are coaching at big pro like quote unquote big programs and then you do the coaches who are doing more with less type deal right so because I know why basically who has the best record at the best perceived programs you know what I mean because like that's what how winning ham has done it or what what Mike Gundy's done the last three years of Oklahoma State or what C Sarkisian's done the last three years at Texas and I'm admittedly this is where you and I differ a little bit I'm admittedly a guy when I do these lists where I was like okay uh I'll give more credit for the guys that win at the big programs than the guys that do more with less I admit that because I think if you go to a place where they win more with less you're forgiven more for losing and I think that's harder right like Matt Campbell loses like we talked about Matt Campbell earlier for years that was I had a long running you know my my college roommate my quarterback in high school my best friend J.D. I'm actually going to send him this podcast after I said this for years it was Pat Fitzgerald with me and him he was Pat Fitzgerald's great I was like I'm sure he is but they went five and seven yeah so he's that he that's where he's opposite he likes those coach he sent me a picture of the old Fresno coach Pat Hill last weekend I was like why do I care about a Fresno state coach from 15 years ago man right because he he liked the guys that win more or less well like a guy like that coaches out in Utah that wins back to back pack 12 championships but keeps being ranked below Dan Lanning right and I think so Texas they've inherited this and that's what I've kind of saw all week is like I read a prediction file I'm not picking on somebody they're like yours is going to throw for three touchdowns in a blowout victory I'm like dude Michigan hasn't given up three touchdowns in a game since like 2021 right like we're in if if we're getting on program reputation I think people are itching to see Michigan get their their tails their tails kicked because they want to do the whole it was all Connor Stalin can you at least understand where where they're coming from on that I mean kind of but like people people love it it's the same but it's the same people that love posting Texas's back memes when they lose so make right you know that's where I get annoyed I always got annoyed with that meme anyway because I'm like Texas is back that no they've never left because they're always in your head right they're one they're like what's like Notre Dame's always Notre Dame's irrelevant then why do you talk about them so much that's what they say about tech if there's a program other than Notre Dame that people love to say is irrelevant it's the two programs that are going to be coming out of the tunnel at Michigan Stadium on Saturday people love saying Michigan's irrelevant yeah well that they aren't and then Texas they all Texas is just irrelevant what have they done well they're coming off the playoff parents they got a first round quarterback pretty good roster and we're gonna go see and play at a big 10 state in which we don't get to see much and let's let's get into that matchup because I think to a degree we're on the same page with some of this conversation Texas to me still has a lot to prove this game is a step towards that but we're gonna learn a lot about both of these teams in this matchup bill and and let's so let's dive into the matchup let's first talk about this Michigan team obviously there's a lot of overreaction to week one that always happens and that's a that's very I don't know that any team is getting a negative overreaction against them more than what Michigan did against Fresno State and to some to a degree I get it Michigan's offense looked really bad in the opener against against Fresno the quarterback situation is one thing I didn't think their offensive line played very well either they did that's that's and that was the bigger concern for that's what they should be talking about more because regardless of how your quarterbacks looked you know Michigan's accustomed to punking you up front bill they beat Penn State on the road last year with their first round draft pick quarterback throwing a grand total of zero passes in the second half right like like so let's not act like oh Michigan right for 115 yards their starter they can't win games guys that's 30 yards more than they threw against Penn State a couple of yet last year when they beat Penn State on the road so if the offensive line's the bigger concern for it yes and they and if we're at and for those that actually watch the game like when Fresno State cut it to a one-score game the Michigan offense had its best drive of the game they start blowing the offensive line blew them off the ball a little bit Khalil Mullings got going Donovan Edwards is a total mystery to me because he will have games like he had Saturday and then they will go play Washington or Ohio State and he'll be the best running back on the field I think I'd love to get your opinion on this I think with the quarterback situation they should either alternate series on some level don't just bring an Alex orgy for two plays give him a series right you know Davis Warren that's fine I think he was fine all things considered he locks in on Colston level and pretty bad and I'm worried about does Michigan have actual playmakers at receiver and I'm not sure they do not that are going to at least in this game I'm not sure they test Texas on the perimeter and that's their own fault because like when I watch Ohio State Notre Dame and then I'll text buddies I was like how does Michigan not have at least one of these guys right you know they haven't had a first round receiver since Breyland Edwards well and they don't even have a Roman Wilson right now right they're the second round guy right so if you think Tyler Morse is that guy so they I don't know how much they test Texas's secondary on the perimeter I do think they will test Texas up front regardless of you know I don't Texas did lose two defensive tackles they played well against Colorado State they flew around still Michigan offensive line at home still a Michigan offensive line that probably got taken a little bit by surprise by Fresno State Fresno State was pretty physical but you're you're absolutely right to be concerned because they just didn't play well right and you don't have the excuse like Notre Dame has for example where hey man started six career starts you know what I mean and and when Notre Dame takes the game over in the fourth quarter against A&M it's gonna have a lot more impact it's gonna be like hey look what they did where it's like finally about time you guys figured it out I think that's my that's my thing and but here's here's what's interesting about this game is I actually am someone who who has Michigan taken a big step back this year I'm not not six and six taking a step back but more eight and four nine and three I kind of sell them on eight and four because I just don't think that their offense is going to do enough for them they had a lot of clutch guys last year plate corn Roman Wilson coordinates Johnson this year it's kind of like they're tied in and they're just a bunch of complimentary pieces and they don't have a quarterback that's going to be able to make the plays if Davis warns their starter all year that because like if the offense was struggling last year they JJ was good to take off running and do something and that's what they're missing that and I think that's something that's going to hurt them and they're going to they're going to fall victim to what Notre Dame has in the past which is good teams are just going to say we're just going to stop you from running the ball because we can because we can outnumber you and do all these kind of things and you don't have a quarterback that can make us pay for it the way that JJ could at times last year well it's well and it's like kind of what you were talking about Limbaugh's last week when we were talking I think yeah I'd almost in this game use orgy more agree I just go I just say start them yeah and just lean into I mean power reads and you know and he averaged six yards of carry last week and so did Mullins do that right throw when you have to I would honestly that's what they should do is you just nailed it right there and I'm glad you said that they should be studying Notre Dame's 2017 football team and say we're going to do that we'll do that right I mean Notre Dame had an offense that scored 45 46 points over a seven game stretch against several ranked teams beat a 10 win top Michigan state team that year by 20 had Michigan state fans piling out in the third quarter you've been to a lot of games there Bill right it doesn't happen very often you know beat an 11 win USC team by five touchdowns and you just you beat an NC state team who's all starting defensive line was drafted in the fourth round or higher and their middle line back it was a third round pick that starts for the Bengals you know right now and you ran for over 100 yards against them because you had a quarterback that could really be dynamic as a runner and you just said hey we're leaning into this we're going to throw the ball down the field and run it down your throat that's the only hope that I think Michigan has in my opinion and then on the other that and let's do the fun side of this game where I think they need three turnovers two or three to win two to two to compete three to win they're going to need three turnovers or or if they only have two they have to lead to touchdowns whether it's right defensive touchdown or kind of like you know what it has to be for them it has to be a lot like the Notre Dame Clemson game from 2022 where Notre Dame gets a blocked punt for a touchdown an interception of Kade Club Nick where they get the ball at the 12 and then a pick six Notre Dame's offense through for like 80 some yards and like 1520 of that was on that late third 28 14 put the game away right touchdown them like they need they need two to to make it if they get three turnovers I think they win I'll be I think they could they could steal this one and and what I'm interested in is I I don't think Texas can run the ball on them maybe like as a novelty but I don't think they will I think it's Michigan defensive front is as good as advertised you we can debate that versus Notre Dame no no both interior guys Bill I don't care to get into that conversation no let's just stay it's a day are a very good defensive line Jay Sean Barham seems to have somewhat stabilized the line backing core so there's we're we're good there yeah they're they're they're going to make play and they're going to make it really difficult for Michigan Texas to run the ball especially early because it's going to be loud because real quick just for all the struggles they had let's just use some context Fresno State Rushford nine yards 92 carries last 22 carries nine yards and where they hit Michigan and where I'm watching this game is middle of the field Mikey Keene warmed up a little bit when viewers can work the middle of the field last week he's borderline flawless they've got receivers that can do it so to me the game is yeah Michigan will get some pressure on New Year's but he can flush out and make throws what's that coverage look like against these Texas receivers is Will Johnson that dude he looked I this is where I'm starting to get annoyed with social media on part 1,852 is like Will Johnson got beat last week on one play and all of a sudden he's trash you know people on Twitter he's trash he can't they don't understand that corners get beat sure it is the most probably one of the most thankless jobs in football and it's usually games like that where they get beat right and then he sneaks a pick six where he he's around the Gadson beat Benjamin Morrison for a touchdown but Martin Harrison couldn't right I mean you know what I mean like so this is where it goes like that and if you're in an NFL corner like a Benjamin Morrison or a Denzel Berg or a Will Johnson in this case this is the game where the NFL guys are watching your take so I expect any he'll be at it I think I Michigan hangs around I do because they're defense I I think the the big game factor will be there I've been in Michigan stating for plenty of these huge games I'm excited from that standpoint that I haven't seen one quite like I've been up there from Notre Dame and um high state games obviously Michigan State this is a little bit different though because they haven't had some I'm trying to think of the biggest like I should go look this up after I get off here like who is the last team Michigan had up at the big house that wasn't Notre Dame or um oh I think I just figured out the answer in my head or a big 10 opponent this is coming from some of the members watching Florida State March in there and beat them 55 to 27 back in the 90s so they don't have that kind of feel at least I'll kick off if it's 55 to 27 at four o'clock we're gonna have a different discussion and effort unfortunately some some recent opponents that I thought would have been great games those teams were down Washington in 2021 would have been they went down yeah but they were that was a bad Washington team like like they didn't get that was like I think what the year after Chris Peterson left or something like that but like when you signed that game it was expected to be a big game but we haven't seen a lot of these games no not in not at noon either so like I was at the the last Michigan Notre Dame game at Michigan stadium at least that they've played that was a fun atmosphere so I think the atmosphere is going to be jacked out and but in a game like this Brian when you know what the margin is you kind of trust the team with the better quarterback so I picked Texas to win the game close I gotta go ahead don't go to your prediction just yet because because here's the key here's some keys for me is Michigan's defensive line was phenomenal against the run last week against the team that only ran for 105 yards per game last year I now Texas has a I think Texas is all offensive line perhaps correct me if I'm wrong perhaps you're just saying that's how good you think Michigan's D line is I actually like this Texas offensive line I think this is a good offensive line it's not super super super talented but it is it's got some talent but they're very experienced they've got some size running backs obviously you're you're missing you know a couple of your top running backs I still think that they've got some talent they're running backs to work with but Texas is a team that their run game is is you know I thought they ran the ball okay in the first game they're but they're not a team that needs the running game to really roll what I'm curious to see is will they at least be able to do enough to keep Michigan sort of in the box or can Michigan just kind of hey if you're D line because here's the key for Michigan if you're D line in your mic can dominate the Texas run game then you have more resources you can commit to some of the bad secondary matchups and that's the biggest difference for me between this Michigan defense this year and last year is especially with Rod more being out they don't match up well in the other secondary positions opposite will Johnson that's my concern and I think that that was part of why I because it wasn't just the one I mean he got he gave up according to pro football focus five completions for 83 yards right and and I felt watching this tape I kind of thought he's pressing a little bit to be honest with you because maybe he's thinking I've got to be more of that guy you lost your nickel from last year you lost the u-mass transfer from last year keon sab transfers to Alabama and then rod mortgage hurt and now you're seeing bill in my opinion some of the not great recruiting that harble did his last couple years this is where it's hurting them up front they did well this is the position where it's hurting them and but you know but then you look at at Texas and their receivers played really well last week they've got talented receivers but this is a different this is a different atmosphere right you're on the road I like jonte cooks an incredibly talented guy is he gonna be able to play well in this environment it's a lot of the same stuff the people asked about Notre Dame for last week you know is Isaiah Bond gonna be able to play consistently yeah he did good last week but Isaiah Bond's always done this his whole career he's flash game Michigan Michigan Michigan saw him last year right they're not gonna be like all right it's Isaiah Bond yeah right they spent an entire week ago freshman in a against Colorado state Matthew Golden's a good football player from Houston he he was a nice pickup but like the thing that concerns me about Michigan is I'm not as worried about will Johnson because to your point will Johnson's gonna be locked in in this game this is the game where NFL scouts are gonna be watching him right he'll be fine can Michigan have answers at the other spots that's gonna be the key to this game and the other one is as good as their D line was against the run last week I didn't think they did a very good job put pressure on the quarterback and that's gonna be a big one in this game in my opinion is like they had fewer pressures on Fresno's quarterback than Notre Dame had on A&M's quarterback and so are they gonna be able to get after yours because if yours gets comfortable in the pocket it's gonna be a long day for Michigan if he started if he's gonna have to get the ball out quickly if he's getting pressured if he's getting hit that's when Quinn yours gets in trouble is when his rhythm is thrown when his timing is thrown off when Quinn yours is comfortable back in the pocket he can rip anybody up and most good quarterbacks can do that right he especially he but he's also especially prone to big mistakes if you get after him so can Michigan's front get pressure on Quinn yours without them having to dial up blitzes because that's where I'm worried about this if I'm Michigan if we have to dial up pressures to get to Quinn yours we now expose our secondary right to some match-ups we don't like when they're lined up against someone not named Will Johnson right and I looked that up so yours has played four top 30 defenses ever he's played Alabama twice he got knocked out of one of those games which this is something to watch for right away in this game I'm gonna get to that but I always state in Kansas State or the only other two I was state in Kansas State aren't this defense I would argue Alabama is not this defense so um but what did all actually that early in the season what Alabama was not playing well early in the season and what did Texas do against those two Alabama defenses they went right at him and I think Texas is gonna go right at him I think that I would say I'll make a fearless prediction um four plays in they take a deep shot oh yes maybe three oh like right out of the goat maybe second play they maybe they run for sure there is one they are doing a Quinn throw it as far as you can we'll see if we hit John Tay or Wingo two plays tops they're gonna do that and they're gonna run some sort of perimeter screen within their first five plays yes and and just no question let's test out both and you know it'll probably I would say second play that they'll come out and try to hit it right away to see if they have it and Steve Sarkeesian is aggressive in this conversely and I'm gonna get to this real quick I think Shuram Moore is hasn't found his way as a play caller very conservative some goofy run action I don't think you know the Penn State game I was kind of wondering is he scared you know and here's something Michigan can't afford to do in this game last week Davis Warren takes a shot deep early they throw a pick um then then it was like if you've watched Michigan as long as I have uh it was like oh they're not gonna let the quarterback throw it down the field the rest of the game it's like that Bo Schimbeck that's like a Bo Schimbeckler thing you know so they've got a they've got a trusted hey our quarterbacks are gonna make some mistakes but we got to let them play throw um I said the same thing about DJ you though so so maybe I was wrong but that's where I'm at on that but that's what he did well early right isn't that what Clemson did with him against BC and no name back in 2020 let him throw the ball down the field I that I've said this the the Kade Kluben I this is an interesting point Bill that will get into it another another time perhaps Kade Kluben that can DJ Uyongolay's best games were both as true freshman right the longer they're in that system the worse they get and that's not a coincidence but that's a different conversation for a different day here's the interesting part about this I mentioned earlier about missions gonna have to be able to get pressure on Quinn Ewers and do so without having a heat Texas up because you'll get to him sometimes but there's gonna be two or three times he gets a ball out and you're and you're you're get beat as Texas didn't get any pressure on the quarterback last week either and it's Colorado State only had seven pressures in the entire game so that's gonna be another thing is is in another reason why I think they should just lean into Alex Orgy because what Michigan's gonna have to do to have any shot to win this game bill is go on long sustained drives where you are big you're physical you've got Khalil Mullins in there because Donovan Edwards to me is a change of pace back right and when he's hot you ride him when he's not hot you let him get the ball eight times and and makes him big plays he was always best as a complimentary piece to Blake quorum in my opinion whenever he's had to be the the guy so hopefully for them Khalil Mullins's breakout is there and then Donovan can kind of be that complimentary slasher big play guy right you can hammer Texas between the tackles with Mullins and Alex Orgy you you've got a quarterback that can get to the perimeter with his speed and then hopefully that can then get Texas to have to bring some of their safeties down and then maybe you can get a shot down the field to your tight end one of your receivers because like that's that's a big concern for me is who's there Cornelius Johnson this year right because it isn't isn't that kind of where they all they're Michigan in the big games will do two things to break a game open and to win a game first they would find ways to get Colston level in the football in the throwing game the second thing they would do is they'd hit some deep play action shot to Cornelius Johnson that broke open the Ohio State game two years ago right and I don't know who that got Tyler Morris is not that guy Morgan is not that guy they're the shifty short get the ball in space kind of guys good route runner type of guys not having that to me is gonna it could potentially be Michigan's undoing and not being able to develop some of those guys that they brought in in recent years like a the the Clemens kid from Oregon that they weren't able to kind of get going I think he transferred out this that pass-off season that's my concern but if Texas is going to have a shot to win this game they need to play Orgy they need to keep him in the game they need to let that offense just use the misdirections use the shifts use some of those things to try to gash Texas and then create some big play opportunities with your back and your quarterback and then maybe catch a couple shots down the field but if you try to play a a traditional offense with Davis Warren at quarterback you're going to get steamrolled in my opinion because you're just not going to move the ball that way and and that would be my biggest concern if I was Michigan because I think they're defense unless they give up a couple big plays early I think their defense can keep this in the game for a half but once Texas comes out of the break they're going to have found some holes to hit some big plays you're not going to shut this this offense down I mean Washington couldn't do it for four quarters last year Bama couldn't do it now they have a little bit different personnel this year they have some guys that are a little bit more get him in space then maybe last year was just all vertical so it's going to be a fascinating game and and pressure the quarterback control the clock with the run game that's really what this game is going to be about if Michigan do that they're going to win if they try to start David if they try to go with the same plan they did last week Bill mm-hmm it's not going to be close in my opinion now they'll get they'll get B I have Texas 27 Michigan 24 I get some drama to it I just did just past experience I know we're 30 years removed from uh Cordell throwing the Hail Mary there um games like this with Michigan tend to lead themselves with something dramatic happening I could see Michigan leading at halftime I should I could see them leaning on that one weapon the kicker 250 yarders last week I defense shows up early but again like to me the separators quarterbacks when one team has that big of an advantage at quarterback big game like top 10 game like this it's hard to take you mentioned like that Notre Dame path the victory that they had against Clemson it would take something like that goofy things happen road game and like I said Texas isn't the this big game like dude I was telling my Bill Troce this week I was like dude you know what I mean top five of high state teams I've seen rolled through Michigan like you know it's not that's not that it's it goes back to what you said earlier it's the Bama game yeah people will ignore the fact that after they lost to after they beat Bama they lost to Oklahoma on a neutral field right they struggled to beat Houston on the road they struggled to beat TCU on the road they didn't play great on the road against Iowa State this is not a Texas team that has necessarily lit the world on fire away from home two years ago same deal lost at Texas Tech lost at Oklahoma State barely beat Kansas State on the road did have a good win over Kansas but that was after Jaylin Daniels was out all right so what but he goes back to it just you know here no evil see no evil with those other games because I'm just focused on they went into Tuscaloosa and beat Bama one Bama right there that's what you know that counts as seven road wins right there so as whereas Michigan beat to high state three times in a row you know takes care of their business in just every big game but that was Connor's lines that was Connor's style so that's all Connor's style is apparently so I I but I got Texas 27 Michigan 24 you're not going to be happy with me Bill I think there's one thing you and I haven't have we agree on I do think the defense keeps him in that game early I have a 30 to 13 I think it's me a game where it's it's again the big caveat is if Texas can hit a couple big plays early I think they blow Michigan out I just don't know that they're going to be able to do that right I think this is going to be more of a game where it's a it's sort of a field position game early Texas is going to put a drive together early I think Michigan counters with maybe a field go drive it's going to be like a 10 to 6 10 to 3 game at halftime at 13 to 6 something like that and then Texas is going to be able to go in at halftime yeah where on a little bit and they're just going to hit a couple big plays in the second half and then once Michigan falls behind they're done and that's that was the weakness for Notre Dame in 2017 when Miami jumped on him early and Notre Dame had to go away from running the football it just got worse and worse and worse and worse because that's just not who Notre Dame was right and and so I see this game being similar to that I have Texas winning 30 to 13 I do think it'll be a competitive game for a while because when you're that good in the front seven it's going to keep you in some games and when you have an elite corner like a Will Johnson at least gives you some early options I just think Texas has too many good they don't have a the elite level top weapons in my opinion that they had last year a receiver they've just got more of them this year that's what makes them kind of dangerous to be completely honest and this will be the first of several for for Michigan where we almost have this conversation because they'll have USC coming in there in two weeks and they have a working coming in in about a month so I it may allow them to reset and reassess what they really want to be offensively depending on if the worst I'm not even saying the worst thing but if they read the same formula they did last week and somehow squeak out of victory it might actually work to their detriment later in the season because of the way you're thinking like they hey we can just keep doing what we're doing we're good we're good and then they then they can well I said this in response to a lot of LSU fans like we shouldn't schedule tougher games and my whole point is losing to USC in that way is the best thing to happen to your football team because if you would have played nickel state in week one and then you know somebody terrible in week two you'd still be the same team that had those same problems you're just not going to get exposed until you play Ole Miss in conference in a month right you find those whole those weaknesses out early on out of conference and now you have time to fix them hopefully you know Michigan it's kind of it's going to be quick turnaround because you got USC coming to town in a couple weeks but at least you okay we can't do this you know like like you said if they play Davis Warren and squeak out of 17 to 13 victory yeah that's great they worked against Texas that's not going to work against USC and Oregon and Ohio I mean right somebody's going to catch him or it could catch at the worst time is if it happens like if they go to Washington and lose right now or like Sparty Illinois Illinois is a circle to date game that's a tricky one that's one of my potential trap games for Michigan this year it is a huge trap game because it's like the red green game and Illinois is not afraid of Michigan because they they've battled them recently right yeah that's going to be that's going to be a tricky game for them so so yeah but I you know and what that does for for the Plath picture that is an SEC separator they they'll get they have the big marquee one leads into week three when they have Alabama Wisconsin which is not necessarily a fair one but oh it'll be it'll be hyped up as one they'll make it one yes oh 100 bill they're they're gonna they're gonna treat that with hey this is a this is a vintage Wisconsin team and boy they're just they're a really good team and and this is one of the one of the quote unquote best of the big 10 against one of the you know they're absolutely going to spin it that way there's no question about it this is a very mediocre Wisconsin football team for very mediocre this Wisconsin football team but oh that was a good win over Western Michigan and they beat South Dakota and this is a you know right yeah it's it's it's it's they're they're bad that's coming yeah oh it's definitely coming that's why I think some of these other games are huge that's why that Iowa Iowa state game is big that's why Nebraska beating Colorado all those things kind of compile up but the thing that Michigan looking at it from a big 10 standpoint you just have to hope that if Texas wins that it's competitive right you can't get rolled because then it it's for the big 10 it's not just about Michigan now it's about the league your quote unquote best team and the only hope you'd have then is for Michigan to fall apart like if you're just not looking at this from the Michigan State which is the big 10 standpoint bill right you're going to need Michigan to lose four or five games in the comp so wait of course you beat Michigan so did the rest of our league right but if Michigan loses to Texas and it's like my score and then Michigan rebounds and figures it out and goes and goes on a run and competes for the big 10 again it's going to be can say yeah well you know that's one and that's where you start that third team versus your third team your fourth team versus their fourth team for those for those playoff births that's when that stuff starts kind of factoring in so at the very least Michigan has to keep this game competitive if they're not going to win it has to at least be competitive because then you could say look you got this Texas team with the playoff they had everybody coming back we've overhauled our entire roster entire coaching staff and we still took you you know down to the wire for 60 minutes right that's going to be an important part of us you have 27 24 Texas I have 30 13 Texas so that was the only game where we were really off yeah and those four bill any other storylines for this weekend that are catching your ride before we we wrap this up not I mean not really I mean there are a ton of great games after no and and it's just the the week the one week to turn around I do think DJ Lagway starting it at Florida you know we mentioned them getting punked I think we covered it there and can he be a guy that is he the guy that saves Billy Napier from the hot seat um top 25 wise not a lot right on the bone either and the bad news is they're really not on the bone it's even worse next week getting into some early well I hate doing that though I had a boss once tell me you don't ever want to sell it as man there's nothing on there because then you'll convince people not to watch it but um I don't know I think we'll we'll see how some get teams go to week two Oregon Boise State could be a lot of fun in the evening as you wrap up the day Ashton Gente was amazing Dylan Gabriel didn't look Oregon looked like they're missing pieces they're running game isn't great and then uh real quick on that game worst thing to happen to Boise State was Oregon looking bad yeah yeah because now you're getting gonna locked in kind of ticked off version of Oregon and they and that could go either way obviously um you know and then we go from there so I think week two will be a lot of fun I'm really looking forward to the trip Dan Arbor uh you got NFL on Sunday as well tonight even so uh excited about that but yeah I don't think there'll be any major surprises outside of what we already talked about my only other storyline and it's a a somewhat middle of the road storyline we already talked about Tennessee NC State right outside of that this is an important weekend for the ACC because everybody's ignoring the good wins that you had and the good games you've had and they're focusing on Virginia Tech losing and they're not talking about North Carolina going on the road beating a big 10 team right it's a it's well yeah but look at Vandy the Virginia Tech but you got SMU host and BYU Friday night game you've got Duke going at Northwestern so ACC big 10 there you've got Pitt playing at Cincinnati so ACC versus big 12 you've got Cal playing at Auburn so ACC versus SEC and then Virginia Tech has to have a bounce back game against Marshall so there's that this is a very interesting weekend for the ACC there's some potential for the ACC to make some noise if they can pull off a couple upsets right this weekend and and have a good weekend and if they have a bad weekend that's going to make it very hard for the ACC to get a second team in unless you've got two you know like let's say Miami's 12 and 0 Clemson's 11 and 1 and you know Clemson knocks off Miami or you know what I mean something like that's going to have to happen to get a second team in so they're gonna they're gonna it that's going to be very interesting how the ACC handles this weekend outside of that there's not a lot of intriguing story lines I think next week is when things are going to ramp up a little bit a little bit more and then think you know we'll get into Wisconsin Alabama and those kind of things next week there's a Friday night game next week that I'm looking forward to. Oh yeah there's a Kansas state yeah and we're trying you know we're keeping down to Troy McMillan who if you haven't watched him best receiver in the country yeah he's pretty good six five runs 300 yards last week anytime you have like well it's funny as you know um I looked I was like okay is he even in the near I knew Troy Edwards record 405 yards a single game receiving yards record it's like Wonderwood 304 or 303 gets in there he's like 21st yeah so many guys have thrown out three hundred three bills on a college. I remember that Edwards game when he's at Louisiana Tech. I don't remember watching I remember watching the highlights on sports. Yeah like 28 catches. Yeah it's ridiculous. So uh it wasn't him or Tay is quarterback. Yeah you Tim or Tay is feeding him uh you know so it's amazing Troy Edwards uh you know he he may put that on watch this weekend so that's another one I mean he could be that one of those guys that has like 700 receiving yards in two weeks and you're gonna be like uh why didn't we get him so when people say like Travis Hunter Jeremiah Smith now the best receiver right now in the country guy in Tucson. Yes it's gonna be one of the games we talk about next week Bill so we'll have a lot to talk about. Thanks for joining us today as we've told you all this is going to be a uh uh block off an hour a weekly feature all the rest of the year. I actually think us going at 118 Bill was actually for us was pretty good. Yeah like block off an hour and uh you know get into that and I do appreciate all the opportunities here at Irish Breakdown and other listeners. I know a couple loyal ones are uh in school with Grant so uh we got a big football game this week and he was team captain. Nice. He's one of the team captain. So uh he's a football handle across guy right? Yeah so Grant will have uh we have big tests with St. Brigid this week and they're pretty good by the way. Uh so it'll be fun to see but uh nothing but happy. I enjoy this hour. I almost look at this is when I get off with you it's like all right week two's here. I've done all the prep I need to do and we'll get to it. I have the best for last. Well if you guys want to hear more from Bill not only this show but we've got two of the episodes they recorded on CFP Nation podcasts so go subscribe to CFP Nation. Uh you guys did a week well your week two preview is going to come out tomorrow morning but you guys did a sort of a recap of week one winners and losers. There were some Brian Kelly talking there which you guys always know I love. You had some Notre Dame talking there stand out freshman Anthony and App was in that conversation then you also previewed Texas and Michigan. So we want to get you know not just Bill's thoughts but also Chris Hummer from 247 sports joins you guys and you guys talked about that matchup. So you can get even more from uh from Bill on that matchup and then of course tomorrow your guys as you guys recorded today the uh preview for the rest of your previews for week two correct. So you'll get more from Bill on that. That'll be up tomorrow at the CFP Nation podcast. So if you guys are Irish breakdown listeners you definitely want to check out the CFP Nation uh podcast feed as well because we're going to get that. And I did bring up the the winners the week one review I did pull over to the Irish breakdown channel because there were some Notre Dame talks so you guys will get a chance to listen to that today. Uh but you guys get that every week from the Bills man. Bill Trotri, Bill Bender um we appreciate the work you guys do for that and doing a little bit more this year than you guys did last year. Yeah it is good. Now I'll leave you on this one uh Brian uh gonna finish my last article of the week for everything starts and uh did not know this. I'm writing about uh Derek Jeter being the honorary captain and all the you know the the fun fact that he attended Michigan technically took some classes in the fall. I did not realize that he chose Michigan over Notre Dame and that his mother Dorothy was a huge Notre Dame fan. I did not know that either. So that was a fun little factoid along the way that it broke his mother's heart that you could tell your kid you know guys can tell your kids down the line is that uh hey Derek Jeter broke his mother's heart when he picked Michigan over Notre Dame. He never played on their baseball team. Never played on their baseball team. Oh it's still true that the best shortstop to ever play at Michigan is still Barry Larkin. Oh one Barry Larkin with Chris Sabo there as well on those 90 Reds. I knew that one and uh so uh very very yeah that's one way to to get your kids to choose Notre Dame over Michigan for all your listeners out there. But uh say Derek Jeter's mom wanted him to go there. But that's right. Another fun story and you know McConaughey will be on this sideline. I'm gonna try to get down there and do one of those shameless like getting a lot of cameras on. But my wife did that a little bit of Vince Vaughn last year at the Ohio State game. I don't blame her right. So he does my photography so when he walked my she's like taking pictures of him. She's like well I wasn't in it but I took the picture of him so I was like yeah I'm gonna shit my buddies are funny about that. I'll be like they'll be like they're like you were in that camera close. So if I see McConaughey and you see me on the camera you know what I'm doing and on purpose. But uh I appreciate the picture of Shane Gillis. She says who Shane Gillis. I was a little disappointed in it. Like I didn't know who he was until recently. But I'm like he's a Notre Dame fan. You gotta sport him. I don't is he funny? I'm not sure. I don't assume a whole lot but he's a Notre Dame fan. So we got to give him love. He has moments. He's fun and I think so uh but uh Trump stuff is really funny though. He actually does a really good Trump voice. It's spot on. It's hilarious. But yeah you know it'll be a good weekend and I definitely appreciate all you guys do. So I'm gonna get to it. Safe travels Bill. Enjoy the game and we'll certainly be back next week. We may talk a little bit about this Texas Michigan game before we kick off our previous for next week. Maybe we'll see how it goes. So anyway for Bill Bender I'm Brian Driscoll. Ryan Roberts was with us earlier. Y'all thanks so much for being with us today. Sign up. Subscribe to CFB Nation. Of course you need to make sure you're subscribed to Irish Breakdown. And if you have not done so join our message board at boards@arshbreakdown.com. Have a great rest of your week everybody. IB Nation Sports Talk tonight at five. We'll be back for mail back tomorrow at one. Bill I will see you next week my friend and a problem Ryan. Thank you. Take care everybody. Thanks for joining us on the Irish Breakdown podcast. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Did you know a 2018 study showed half of prenatal vitamins tested had unacceptable levels of heavy metals. I'm Kat, mother of three and founder of virtual. When I was four months pregnant I couldn't find a prenatal I could trust. So I created my own. Ours is matraceable third-party tested for heavy metals and recently earned the purity award from the Clean Label Project. But don't just take my word for it. Get 25% off at virtual.com/podcast.
