- Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. - Mint Mobile unlimited. Premium wireless. - Have it again 30, 30, 30, but again, 20, 20, 20, but again, 20, 20, but again, 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month. So. - Give it a try at Mint Mobile.com/switch. - $45 up from payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes of detail. - Hello and welcome in. It's a Sunday edition of Always College Football. I'm your host, Greg McElroy. Thanks for being here. A lot of exciting things that we need to talk about yesterday was a tremendous day of college football. It was such a fun day with the matchups that we got. All right, the noon window, eh, not great. But from 3.30 on, it was about as good as you could possibly ask for, including a little big 12 after dark. Tipped the cap to BYU, well played in dominant, dominant display against what I think is a really good Kansas state team. So the big 12 is excellent, but that's not where we're starting today. You know where we're starting today. We're going to the big 10, and we're gonna talk about the Michigan and USC game. And it was an old school slug fest. I mean, there was not one second of that game that wasn't highly entertaining. People that now have kind of morphed into the idea that we have to see passing attacks. We have to see great offense. We have to see grinded out plays are not necessarily as satisfying to some. To me, they couldn't be more satisfying. That game felt like a pitchers duel in the World Series in the bottom of the ninth with one of the best pitchers in the world on the mound. Like that's what it felt like. Every single yard was of the utmost importance at some points. And to think too, that you have a Michigan team that essentially said, all right, we're done. We're done trying to be this balanced attack. We're just going to bludgeon you. I mean, they have a converted linebacker that has become their outside of coastal Loveland, potentially their best offensive weapon. You have Alex Orgy, who's passing attack in passing game is not going to be something that scares a lot of opponents. But they basically turned back the clock and said, come and get it, we're going to go. I love what I've seen from Killel Mollings. I absolutely love what I've seen for him. Really dating all the way back to the beginning of the season. There was this real emphasis in trying to get Donovan Edwards, make him the featured guy. And just Killel Mollings is just a better fit for what they want to be. And I'm very impressed with what I softened them. The defense too, opportunistic plays. Will Johnson's pick six. And really, I mean, Miller Moss did some good things on the SC side and you got to give credit too. Tell me this. If SC plays in that game yesterday, last year, okay, last year's team plays in that game yesterday, how badly do they get run out of the gym? How badly do they get absolutely bludgeoned along the line of scrimmage? Well, this year's version of USC has taken some significant strides towards being a group that is built from the inside out. And you got to give credit to Dianton Lynn's defense. Yes, they gave up a couple big plays for sure. Yes, they gave up a couple runs, which they got gashed. And it was on a fourth down where they were able to plunge in and ultimately get the game winning score, but it's still just an amazing, amazing game. And just thoroughly loved it. And credit to Michigan too, man. Like bouncing back in a big way, I don't think they're going to win a bunch of games this year. Just, I don't know if there's that many teams that are going to be able to, that you're going to be able to beat when you're that one dimensional. Now defensively, that was the Michigan of old, which was nice to see. But I think when you're that one dimensional, your ceiling's not very high. I'm just curious if Orgy can maybe just give the threat of the pass every once in a while. Maybe the return of Colston Loveland will help that when he gets healthy. But still, I think their ceiling's still a little high, but it was a tremendous performance and a gotta have a situation to think that you could be staring at two and two after, gosh, the first four games of the season would have been a backbreaker for the defending national champ. So, great win, gutsy win, and just a tremendous performance across the board. Awesome game, really loved it. The next game that is obviously top of mind, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Now, there are a lot of takeaways from this one. What I think Tennessee is the real deal. I've felt that way for a while, thought they had a chance to be the real deal coming into the season, had them in the top 10. We put out our top 25 two months ago and everyone said we were crazy. Tennessee is who we thought they were. I think the offense is still a little bit of a work in progress. Gotta give a ton of credit to what we saw from Oklahoma's defense. I mean, my goodness, those guys played their hearts out, the Oklahoma defense. They had no threat offensively whatsoever. Their quarterback was a mess. They, until the, I mean, there were some bright spots, actually, when they put the backup into the lineup. But man, I mean, there was not, I mean, bad decisions, turnovers, just bad plays altogether. Bied Oklahoma's offense and time and time again, Oklahoma's defense was put into the game with their back against the wall and they held up as long as they could. Couple takeaways though for Tennessee. One, I think they're super physical. I mean, super physical. The way Samson, like, Sam runs so hard to where it feels like every time he initiates contact with the defender, he's going to win that fight whether he breaks the tackle or runs over the guy, they ran with a lot of intensity last night. Other than the offensive line played pretty well under the circumstances. I mean, they played against a really good defensive line, a really good defense altogether at all three levels and thought the defensive performance was highly impressive. The other aspect of what I saw, I thought Nico did fine. A couple of big plays. Like, Tennessee is going to be a team that no matter what, even if your defense plays great, they're going to hit three or four big plays. And that's exactly what happened. So Nico hit the plays that needed to be hit, whether it was the touchdown of Thornton, whether it was the slant to Broom McCoy, making a couple of plays with his legs. I thought he played well. I thought the defense though was outstanding. And I'm still trying to figure out, I'm trying to figure out how much of that was because Oklahoma's offense is completely inept. And how much of it is because Tennessee made them inept. I don't know the answer to that just yet, but I am highly impressed with what I've seen from that group now through four weeks. They are tenacious along the defensive line. I think Peely at the linebacker spot has been playing out of his mind. Did think that he might have gotten away with a hit on, Jackson Arnold where he kind of like drove him into the ground and then kind of edged his helmet up into the chin. Thought he might have gotten away with one there, but that guy's an intimidator. And I thought for the most part, he did a really good job throughout the game. He could just feel his presence on the field, whether it's as he brings pressure or as he stops the run, like he brings an extra thump. And that really is a great thing to have there in the middle of your defense. So an awesome performance, Tennessee, is who we thought they were. I don't think there's a whole lot of second guessing that after this performance. You don't have to love Oklahoma, but you can still acknowledge that Tennessee is gonna be around for quite a while. And I think when we fast forward to the end, they'll be in the mix potentially for a playoff spot. College football fans, what's the best part of being at a game live? The color, there's nothing more exciting than seeing an entire stadium completely decked out in your team's colors. So why not add to that? And put yourself right in the middle of it all, because that color encompasses everything. From the tailgating in the fight songs to the marching band halftime shows, let your true colors show and get ready to yell and cheer until you're blue in the face by scoring tickets today at Ticketmaster. Get tickets today at ticketmaster.com. - This episode is brought to you by Microsoft Azure. Turn your ideas into reality with an Azure free account. Get everything you need to develop apps across cloud and hybrid environments, scale workloads, create cloud-connected mobile experiences, and so much more. Discover what you can create with popular services free for 12 months. Learn more at azure.com. That's azure.com. And sign up for a free account to start building in the cloud today. - Let's go to a couple other big takeaways. Clemson, Clemson early in the game. Now, there was a moment leading into the Tennessee Oklahoma game, where I'm sitting there thinking, I'm like, golly, is NC State really that bad that made Tennessee look that good? Or are Tennessee and Clemson just that good? You know what I mean? You have to have that quite that, and we don't know the sample sizes on these teams, still a little bit light, so you don't know, but you try to draw conclusions, but the transitive property is never really that successful. All that being said, Clemson's back, guys. Now, whether you want to consider them a powerhouse or not is completely up to you. I think their defense is human, very human, frankly. They got gashed a bunch by NC State. I know people will point to, well, it's the second half when it really got a little bit more sideways for Clemson's defense, and a lot of backups were, and all that can be accurate. There were still moments early in the game, where NC State was able to create some things offensively, and if not for a timely fumble, sack fumble, maybe the outcome would have looked a little bit different, but Clemson's offense is the real deal. Their receivers are starting to play at a high level. I think the offensive line has done a decent job. I think they have more than one good back. I think they have two or three good backs. I really believe that. And I think we're starting to see the best version of Cape Club Nick at the moment. He's been accurate on the downfield throws. There was a hesitancy all throughout last year, and even against Georgia, man, don't throw it deep. You know, not throwing it deep. Now it's like, I don't care, we're throwing it deep. We're going to be aggressive. We're going to push it down the field, and it's really, really been met with pretty tremendous accuracy. I mean, I've been really impressed. Even some of the incompletions yesterday were well-thrown footballs, really well-thrown footballs. So I think Clemson is going to be one of those seasons. You look at their schedule, look at Clemson's schedule, and tell me where they're going to lose. There's not a lot of speed bumps on the schedule for Clemson moving forward, especially considering that Florida State might have been the toughest game on paper coming into the season. Florida State's not what we thought they were. Other things of significance. Utah gets a win. This was an interesting game, by the way. First of all, I am so irritated. I'm so irritated with Utah and the lack of information that we get coming out of Utah on a weekly basis. Like, I want to know when cameraizing is playing or not playing. Now, I want to know for me. I want to know so I can educate the listener. I want to know so we can just at least properly set up and preview the game. I'm not saying we need it for gambling purposes, but I'm just want to know. And yet, here we are again, wondering before the game, almost every game it feels like for Utah, it's like there's some type of secrecy and that's what we had in this case as well, but you got to be impressed with what you've seen from Utah's defense. Just completely keeping Oklahoma State in check there in the first half of that football game to the point in which they actually bench the seventh year senior quarterback, Alan Bowman. Now, he eventually came back in, but they gave him a little bit, you know, gave him a little bit of time to watch from the sidelines, but really an impressive performance from Utah's defense. It was not a great offense, offensive performance from Utah. Really, you look at Micah Bernard, though, and the fact that he was able to elevate his play nearly 200 yards on the ground. And if they have to center the offense around him, that's perfectly fine. They will be perfectly fine with Micah Bernard. And Wilson, I think it's a tough spot. When Cam rising gets back to be able to go on the road and win the way they won defensively, completely shutting down the opponent. An opponent that, by the way, has looked really good offensively. It's just impressive to me to see that they can do that. Even without their star quarterback. So going to be interesting to watch that. I'm sure we'll continue on with the soap opera of whether or not Cam rising will play next week or the week after that. But out this week, didn't make a difference. Utah's defense is still the real deal. Let's go to Colorado. Colorado is sitting there and honestly, turn the channel. Going to be honest with you, turn the channel. Did not think at that point that it was a game thought, "Hey, all right, Hail Mary time behind." Like it's, I'll switch the channel. Next thing you know, I'm getting notifications, getting text messages. Oh my goodness, did you see what just happened in Boulder? No, no, I didn't see it. Didn't want to admit that, but I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "Oh my goodness, what did I miss?" Switchback, clearly find out that Colorado hits a Hail Mary. And we're going overtime. So just wild, absolutely wild there for Colorado. It's a great, great catch. Terrible, terrible defense there by Baylor, allowing a guy to be, I mean, wide open. And frankly, in a Hail Mary situation, Western was wide open. Like it does not get more wide open than that. He seals it, puts it on ice though, a little bit later with the touchdown on the first possession and then Travis Hunter forcing the fumble that goes out of the back of the end zone against Dominic Richardson. He was about to go in, he was about to go and then boom, Travis Hunter hits him with shoulder, just a perfect hit, dislodging the football, rolls out of the back of the end zone, games that match Colorado survives yet again. One of the crazier moments. Like, and everybody, you know, the initial reaction was, well, we've seen this before and you see Cornell Stewart and the amazing plays back in the early 90s. My goodness, that was as big of a Hail Mary as humanly possible because it felt like Colorado's season was kind of on the brink, didn't it? Felt like it was on the brink. You lose to Baylor, a team that's not expected to do a whole lot. And then next thing you know, you're kind of an afterthought in the court of public opinion, but winning that game keeps them in the limelight a little bit longer, but they are certainly a flawed football team. No doubt about it, but man, they have some great players on that flawed football team, that is for sure. Arch Manning, first career start. And I'm, it's sick to think how excited I was for a Texas ULM game. I mean, for a game that you knew would not be competitive, I could not wait to have that on one of the TVs last night. Like, just had to have it if they're in the quad box being one of the TVs, like, I'm watching that game. Now, I might have my buddies that might have come over. They're not going to be super excited about saying Arch Manning, I can't imagine, but I was. I thought it was fine. I didn't think he played amazing. I think he played like a first time starter. He clearly has God giving gifts, but there were some great throws and there were a couple questionable plays as well. But that's what you should expect from a guy that's starting his first game. It's not Peyton out there. It's not Eli out there. It's a guy that's starting his first game and is still a young player. He's a red shirt freshman. And there could be in the event in which he has to play against top-tier competition. There could be some growing pains, but he's got a very bright future. And you can just tell, he's got decent command of the offense already and it's going to be awesome to watch him continue. Just continue to progress because there are going to be moments where he makes a throw and you're like, whoa. (laughs) And then there's moments like all freshmen where he makes a throw. It's like, yeah, that wasn't the best decision. So very encouraged by what I've seen from Arch and a really optimistic about what we might see from him in the future. Other things of significance. North Carolina, whoa, like whoa. 70 points, 70 points to James Madison. I mean, don't get me wrong, like I love Mac Brown. Jeff Collins, their defensive coordinator is a really good defensive coach. Now, you can tell me all you want that, oh, North Carolina is not gonna, like Jeff Collins has fielded great defenses at Mississippi State. He's fielded great defenses at Florida, had a pretty good defensive temple. Granted, didn't work so well at Georgia Tech, but Jeff Collins had a lot of positive moments as a defensive coordinator. Well, he's the DC there and he also had a positive moment last week against NC Central, who they held in the last 200 yards. Well, didn't matter. To go and to give up 70 points to a G5 team is absolutely impossible to explain. Impossible to explain. Can't justify it, can't wrap your head around it. It was, and I didn't get to watch the game. I was on TV at the same time as that game was going on, but looking at the box score, there are a lot of issues on that side of the ball. No doubt about it. James Madison, they entered the G5 conversation. Memphis lost, by the way. Memphis, now on the outside looking in, unless they win their conference, which can certainly still happen, but a week removed from beating Florida State and they fall at the hands of Navy and give up 50 plus in the process. Miami, they're a juggernaut. Cam Ward continues to be amazing through for 400, three touchdowns in the interceptions, his receiver, by the way, dropped that ball, I think. He's been amazing. And I love what I'm seeing right now from their receiver core. They have a deep and talented core of wide receivers. Sam Brown, Damien Martinez at running backs, amazing. Restrep has been there a while. Isaiah Horton has done some good things as well. So Cam Ward isn't doing it all by himself. He's got some playmakers at his disposal and they are really helping elevate this offense. That's a tough defense to play against. If you watch USF, that is a tough defense to play against. They have good players. They have athletic players and it didn't matter. Yes, it was close for a minute, but eventually they distanced themselves a little bit in Miami did and it was highly impressive. BYU, how about this? Four, no, BYU knocking off Kansas State in remarkable fashion, 38 to nine. You have a fumble return to the house. You have a punt return by Parker Kingston. If you have not seen this play, go and check it out. He drops a punt and kind of runs around versus all the way back and somehow outflanks the punt unit, catches the sideline and takes off to the house. It was honestly amazing, absolutely amazing. He ended up, by the way, throwing up on the bench because he ran so far and so fast on that play. It was an amazing, amazing performance. So them sitting there, four, no, BYU, Jake Retsloff, laugh, and that team, the way they defend, man, I'm telling you, look out, look out for BYU. That defense is the real deal. They gave Avery Johnson tons of fits. They were able to bottle up that rushing attack. BYU might enter the conversation here pretty soon. You got BYU, you got UCF's undefeated. How about Cincinnati's 3-0? The big 12's gonna get interesting in a hurry here very, very soon. How about Vanderbilt's going on the road to Mizzou? Over time, Mizzou ends up kicking the game winning field goal and Vandy ends up missing like a 20-yarder. Now Mizzou is 4-0, but man, it hasn't been great, okay? Slow start a little bit against Boston College. They ended up doing a good job of surviving against Boston College, flipping the script and kind of flexing offensively, moving forward. But defensively, there's still some things, I think they got to clean up. Nate Noel, who's good to see him, kind of take off, goes for nearly 200 this past weekend. You look at Brady Cook though, the big plays, they just haven't been there as much as they were a year ago. So that's gonna be one to watch. Mizzou, 4-0, undefeated unscathed, but definitely have some things they need to address here very soon or else they could get got. Auburn's a mess. Quarterback, Hank Brown gets yanked. They end up pivoting to him after they lost faith in Thorn. They should have never benched Thorn. It was ridiculous. If you look at the 4-interception performance against Cal, one of the interceptions on him, the other three I thought were circumstantial. But Hank Brown gets a quick hook. Thorn gives him a chance at least. He's got some athleticism to be able to get you out of a jam because they can't block. But it's not good. And Bo Wallace, I mean, Hugh Freeze's former quarterback weighing in and just crushing Hugh Freeze. So bad situation right now going on at Auburn, it is not good. And they have Oklahoma come into town who, by the way, have their own quarterback mess that they need to solve, but still, not a good situation for Auburn. Starting league play 0-1 and that 1 coming at home against a team that everyone thought you were significantly better than in the pre-season. Illinois is 4-0. That was a great win on Friday night. It feel terrible for Nebraska. Feel terrible for them. They had it wrapped up. Rayola misses a throw. They miss a field goal. Like there were a million ways for Nebraska to put that thing on ice and they just couldn't get it done. It couldn't get it done feel bad for them, but you got to give credit to Illinois just weathering the storm and somehow pulling that thing out in victory. I've lost count of how many games Nebraska's gift wrapped and given to the opponent in my career. But another one there, this particular case, had to have been especially heartbreaking given that they were ranked and certainly had some momentum. Rutgers is 3-0. They go on the road, win, kick a field goal there at the buzzer against Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech, one of the most disappointing in the country so far through the first four games. They're two and two, not good whatsoever. Florida bounces back, beats Mississippi State. Northern Illinois, they beat Notre Dame a couple weeks ago and now they lose in overtime to Buffalo, which is pretty amazing. And then Toledo loses to Western Kentucky. So the two teams that we were giving tons of love to, NIU and Toledo, they're gonna be in the great spot. The Mac is back, all this other great stuff. Yeah, they go on and lose the fall of a week. So that Goodwill lasted about seven days. And then SMU, 66 points scored against TCU, 66 points there in the game that would give the iron skillet to the SMU Mustang. So an incredible Saturday. If there's a game or two that I've missed, check in with us tomorrow. Mondays are 10 takeaways where we kind of go through and really dive in. So I'm about to dive in, I'm about to look at the tape, I'm about to watch a bunch of games. This is our streaming consciousness. This is our, this is our just 30,000 foot perspective what went down yesterday. So check back with us tomorrow. Show will be posted tomorrow afternoon, when we have a little more time to review everything that went down here in week four of the college football season. So check back with us, like, rate, subscribe. We appreciate you guys. And remember, we really appreciate all of you that could subscribe, like, rate, subscribe on the podcast, on the YouTube channel. And remember, we'll be back again tomorrow. So for all of us here at Always College Football, from Mark Jake Jack, the other Jack, I'm Greg. We hope you have an amazing day. And remember, it's Always College Football. (upbeat music) Hey guys, it's Greg McEnroy. Thanks for watching Always College Football. Make sure you like, rate, and subscribe to ESPN's YouTube channel. And wherever you listen to your podcast. (upbeat music)
