Are Michigan & Oregon ranked too high & what games to watch in Week 2 | College Football Power Hour

Check in on your local Florida State fan. [Music] start the clock because it is the college football Power Hour we are officially in week two of the college football season I am Caroline Fenton he is Adam brenaman and that is Jason Fitz hope that everyone had a great Labor Day hopefully better than the Florida state seminal in your life because man does that seem kind of stink um week one is behind us guys how we doing I'm great it was fun watching Bill O'Brien last night come back come back to life college football at Boston College and and and lay one on Florida State we'll see we'll see how big of a win that is at the end of the season depending on how Florida State finishes out but uh but I played for Bill O'Brien at Penn State so good to see him back in college football where he belongs building building Boston College yeah and here I am a couple of weeks ago in an event with a bunch of Boston College fans that are all like what do you think Boston College gonna sneak up on Florida State I laughed at them so my phone just going nuts because like let's be honest we've on this show we've got attendant here like we'll own our mistakes don't know how to prepare Crow but I got a whole bunch of it to eat based on what I thought would happen in that matchup so the wheels have falling off for Florida State the wheels are obviously rolling for Boston that's a big win for BC that's one of those identity wins like while we're talking about how bad Florida state is we do need to tip the cap to a little bit to what Boston College was able to do yeah for a program that I don't think anyone expected to do anything in the ACC this year that coaches have left because they've just viewed Boston College as kind of a deadend job you look at Bill O'Brien coming in week one game one in kind of slaying the dragon that maybe doesn't look as intimidating of a dragon as we thought just a few weeks ago but Boston College and Georgia Tech two of the top teams in the ACC just like we all expected just like we drew it all up at the AP pole rankings come out on Tuesday let's play some Goldilocks rankings as we know Goldilocks and the Bears too too warm too cold just right Ranked too high: Michigan? let's look at the AP poll who is ranked too high too low or just right Adam will start with you who's too high on the AP pole rankings man this one was tough it's tough to do it after week one but I'm gonna have to go with Michigan as being ranked too high and and it's hard for me to do that as a big 10 guy but but hear me out Michigan barely gets by Fresno State I try not to look too much at these week one results when you got a Powerhouse playing a lower tier team uh just because you're working out the wrinkles but it's more about how Michigan played in that game really on the offensive side of the football and just their talent on offense we know the defense is a lead at Michigan but in the Big 10 you got to score points to win to win football games especially after what we just saw from USC and what we saw from Penn State this is a offensive Big 10 football league you got to be able to score points in Michigan I don't think he's going to be able to do it their quarterback situation is a total mess a former walk-on Davis Warren was named the starting quarterback uh was the starter for for week one against Fresno State getting the nod over Alex orgy their four-star recruit who every has been excited about in that program just the fact that Warren C for orgy tells me the coaches don't feel great about the quarterback room they don't feel good about the talent that Alex orgy has they don't feel good about orgy leading uh Michigan to wins into to a big 10 Championship so that's concerning and then Warren goes out and play and and goes 15 to 25 100 some yards and throws an interception uh that that was good enough to beat Fresno State but it's not going to be good enough to beat Texas it's not going to be good enough to beat uh USC and Ohio State not going to be good enough to win those games so if you don't have a quarterback in the Big 10 you don't have a chance and on top of that Donovan Edwards the Run game was poor Donovan Edwards was R had 11 carries for 20 some yards so I'm not sure Michigan's even a top 15 team right now and they're ranked number 10 on the AP pole I think that I think we'll see those rankings shift around after a couple weeks a big 10 play I think the most surprising part about look I went back and rewatched that game to try and figure out what I missed and you want to talk about a line of scrimmage that never moved like there was never a spot where Michigan was reasserting and reestablishing where the line of scrimmage was which I thought was a problem and you mentioned orgin not being the starter I think even the bigger part of it is at some point they didn't make a change when that that offense had absolutely no rhythm and for them to have not made a change told you that they don't believe in the guy that's sitting there behind him so I was stunned by that I went back and rewatch to to try and feel out whether or not it felt as Awkward on the second watch and it did man like it just it felt like the entire thing was just out of sorts for them and we've talked already about culture and identity two words that like on the power hour you can take a shot every time we mention line but this team right now does not have any offensive identity I have no idea what they're trying to accomplish so I I actually agree with you Adam I think they're a little too high I I don't disagree with that and I saw a tweet that made me laugh and I thought it was the perfect kind of encapsulation of Michigan's game on Saturday and it was um Chiron Moore on the sidelines like looking just like very confused very just shocked at what was in front of him and the Tweet said where's that little bald guy that gave us all the answers because you know like that really was Michigan's calling card last season not just Conor sallans but being so physical and bruising at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and we knew that Michigan was going to go through I don't want to say rebuild but a little bit of a retooling you lose your starting quarterback you lose Blake Korum in the Run game you lose so many pieces defensively and obviously you lose Jim harau your head coach so I knew that there was going to be a little bit of a learning curve but to go from Michigan being so dominant in the trenches to then kind of getting pushed around a little bit not asserting their will against a Fresno State team whose calling card is not being as tough as Michigan is in the trenches I think that was a little bit of a of a shock to me so I'm with you there and kind of in that same reasoning Adam that you think that Michigan is ranked too high I'll go ahead and say that I think Oregon is Ranked too high: Oregon? ranked too high just for reference Georgia gets the top spot Ohio State 2 Texas 3 Alabama 4 Notre Dame rounds out the top five ol Miss 6 Oregan is at 7 Michigan is ranked 10th behind Penn State in Missouri that did not look like a seventh ranked team in the country to me a team that struggled to beat FCS Idaho organ beat Idaho 24 to 14 on Saturday and if you're just looking at the box score like Dylan Gabriel has very impressive numbers 40 of 49 380 yards two touchdowns zero interceptions like that should be on paper enough to beat Idaho by much more than just 10 points that should be more than enough than to just put up 24 points but Oregon did struggle that offensive line did struggle a bit in terms of run blocking so I don't I didn't see anything that elicited the seventh overall team in the country like if you ask me today to put money on an Oregon Penn State game I'm going to bet on Penn State and Penn State is behind Oregon in the rankings I would take Miami USC even Tennessee at 12 13 and 14 respectively over what I saw from Oregan on Saturday I I got to disagree with you on this one Carolina I think and it comes back to what I just said about Michigan it's about the quarterback play to me I I I agree that that the the performance by Oregon was embarrassing I mean to be that close in a game I turned that game on TV I wasn't even following it and I'm like wait Oregon could lose to Idaho uh so definitely embarrassing for Dan Lanning but this Oregon roster is one of the most talented rosters in the country I think fourth or fifth in the composite R uh rankings for for talent Dan Ling is one of the most elite coaches in college football uh this team is so well coached and is going to keep getting better and better from a discipline standpoint but the factor that that makes them so Elite is Dylan Gabriel uh Dylan Gabriel is a winner he's a special quarterback he's won his entire career was 41 of 50 on Saturday and he's got a great offensive coordinator in will Stein who coached and developed B Knicks so I still think Oregon is a top five team in the country and I really don't think there's many coaches in college football who want to play Oregon despite what they despite what just happened I mean I I think they they they were number three before before uh before week one dropped four spots to number seven I still think they're top five um and I think this close call is what they needed to make sure they don't they don't listen to their own press clippings I asked Dan landing at Big 10 media today I said coach a lot of hype around your program right now and he said the good thing about hype is that it has nothing to do with the people inside of our program and that we got to go out and win football games they clearly listen too much of the hype but I still think they're a top five program it sounds like you don't agree though I think that they can be a top five progr absolutely I mean I picked Oregon to be in the national championship game at the end of the season but rankings are based off of what we have seen rankings aren't based off of what we think a team can be rankings aren't shouldn't be shouldn't be I will add should not be based off of what we think a team can be shouldn't be based off of well we like your quarterback the best or your quarterback completed the most the most passes it's about what we saw on the field on Saturday and look I know a PO college football playoff rankings all incredibly flawed like they're all incredibly biased and a lot of is motivated by pre-season perception and that's not always necessarily fair but I'm looking at it from what I saw on Saturday compared to preseason rankings and what I saw on Saturday was not a top 10 Oregon team do I think that Oregon has the horses and the coaching to be able to be a top five team at the end of the season a top 12 team to get into the playoff absolutely yes I do but that's based off of nothing except my expectations rather than what I saw against a drastically inferior opponent Idaho yeah but okay a couple of things here number one I'll I'll admit that people listening might think okay what a hypocrite I just sat here and talked about the eye test for Michigan and I'm not going to talk about it for Oregon I think the difference is the carryover right like there are things that we know about Oregon that we don't know about Michigan yet so we do know the coaching staff we do know some of what that offense is going to look like we do know Dylan Gabriel we know all these things and also wasn't it just a year ago right now that Alabama struggled against a lesser opponent and we all use that as a reason the sky was falling and Bama wasn't going to the college football playoff like th this just sort of happens I mean that Oregon game to me felt like a team that just didn't care and at some point you have to have that little extra charge you have to have that little extra something in your tank they they got through that game I'll give you that all day long but it doesn't change the way I feel about Oregon Ohio State I mean Ohio State watched their quarterback get hit over and over and over by akan I'm not going to turn around and say that that suddenly means the sky is falling there were fatal flaws for several teams and if the rank rings are based solely on what we saw well how can I judge a team that played a cupcake that that absolutely has no meaning in any of this so I I know that's what Oregon did also but it just it feels like week one is just impossible to take anything too too seriously from that Adam and and I think the difference for me between the Michigan win and the Oregon win is that I can't see a scenario where Michigan goes out and consistently scores 35 40 points a game after watching that I can still see how Oregon goes out and does it like it's clear to me Dylan Gabriel balls out like he did they converted a couple of those fourth Downs they convert in the Red Zone a little bit better the offensive line steps up I can see that happening I can't see it for Michigan I still think and Caroline you think Georgia right now would rather play Penn State or Oregon like they would rather play Penn State would or would Georgia rather play Michigan or Oregon they'd rather play Michigan I Oregon is not a team anyone in Colwell wants to play right now and I think that tells you more about where they should be rank than anything and that is fair but still I will go back to the tangible versus the intangible sure yeah we all think that that Georgia would rather play Penn State today over Oregon I'd rather play Drew all no disrespected to Drew all but I'd rather play Dreer over Dylan Gabriel but the tangible things that we know the actual quantitative data that we have to go off of is Oregon's game against Idaho where they did struggle and look week one I believe is a fallacy or very much so can be sometimes you need those tuneup games hat tip to LSU maybe consider that once in a while tuneup game week one a thought but you know you need those tuneup games especially I mean you could if you're LSU you could just win the tough games every once a while goe they can't win the tough games Fitz my bad they can't they're physically un to win those games they can't do it I and maybe it's a good thing that they schedule tough teams week one because if they schedule the cupcake I might lose that one too because you just can't win week one if you're wearing the purple and gold but my original point so you know week one is a fallacy you can drop 75 points and end up not being a very good team at the end of the day or you can struggle against a Fresno State or in Idaho and still find yourself in the college football playoff but just based off of what we saw I know Oregon is going to end up being a good team but I still need to see more I still feel unsatisfied from what we saw on Oregon on from Oregon on Saturday that's too high Fitzy who's too low okay so this Ranked too low: Penn State? one's easy and we were just talking about Penn State I asked on Yahoo on one of our Tik Tok reactions the AP Top 25 what the hell is the point of playing anybody like because last time I checked Penn State went to West Virginia a true Road game against a team that is supposed to be good and they went in there and they dominated and they showed us this level of offense we've been waiting years for Drew Aller pushing the ball down the field it was beautiful like we saw the new magic of a new offensive coordinator for a team that looked absolutely great and for that they got a net zero they didn't move at all like at least Notre Dame put their you know what's on the line and they moved up a couple of spots like Penn State got no benefit for actually beating a Bonafide opponent and I can't make that make sense in my mind like what's the point of having these polls if you go out and you win a valuable game and you don't move up at all Adam I think Penn State was wildly disrespected this week I'm with you and I'm with you and I think if they if they go out and do it a couple weeks in a row the committee is going to recognize that and everyone's going to stop thinking of Penn State as the team that can't win in the big moments I mean that that's what everyone thinks about Penn State right now when you think Penn State you think of good team wins the games their favorite in and then loses to Ohio State of Michigan so I think it's going to take a little bit more to get to get that out of people's mind out of the AP voters mind but the reality is what you just said Fitz to me Drew Aller and the way he played is the biggest the biggest boat of good news that pen State fans could possibly possibly have I mean at quarterback you need someone who has confidence in Swagger and injects that confidence in in your program I don't think daler did that last season at Penn State I think when deller had the ball in critical moments and fourth down on two-minute drives everyone kind of looked around and is like are we going to score here like you know what what's going to happen where now seeing him in that game the biggest play of the game and I heard James Franklin talk about this in the press conference was Drew Aller ran the ball down the down the Penn State sideline and he stiff armed the defense a linebacker and lowered his shoulder running over a safety and got up and kind of started pounding his chest and talking crap to the to the to to West Virginia that moment I think is where everyone on that pen State team said that's our quarterback that's our guy and that's that's the kind of confidence Drew needs and he needed to give Penn State confidence I think now moving forward having a quarterback that everyone believes in in that program and that the whispers are kind of done with having that kind of performance is going to be critical moving forward I can I can I pull up a soap box because you know I'm not very tall so I'm gonna pull up a soap box I'm gonna get on my soap box for a second and I'm gonna yell this to the top of my lungs in sports and I don't care if we're talking about college football the NFL the NBA because I yelled this over the summer too in sports I do not care what you did last year two years ago five years ago this narrative that they just can't win the big game the people on this roster have nothing to do with where that narrative was created I said this to Celtics fans it's sat there say well Boston just can't win it yes they can turns out guess what they did right like at some point we have to realize that even though we as fans and as media come in and we say same old Penn State we say same old whatever we assign that like it's real it is not real in a locker room it's not real for those guys play it's not real for the players it's an entirely new group so for me anytime somebody says well Penn State's going to choke cuz that's what they always do that is the laziest softest narrative we can have in media in sports and as fans because this year's team is nothing like last year's team and I don't entirely disagree with you Fitz because I am always under the impression that the expectations of last year shouldn't always be the expectations of this year if the same roster or coaching staff doesn't match but also perception is reality like Ryan day will have this brand on him that he can't win a National Championship until he does every coach in the SEC who has played against Nick Sabin will have this sign on them that says can't beat Nick Sabin but until you do beat Nick Sabin then that conversation will continue so it it's not fair do I think Ryan Day can win a National Championship yes I do but he hasn't done it yet but there's so much Randomness to that like I lived in Tennessee for the pton Manning era and when he was drafted there were people said I don't know if you can take him number one he couldn't beat Florida how stupid is that then he gets to the league and it's like well I don't know maybe he can't win a Super Bowl he can't beat Brady how stupid is that like we assign this annual thing that just goes with players or with coaches or with organizations is can't win the big one when every one of these losses is different like I'll go back to the Celtics every way that the Celtics lost in the Years leading up to this year was different than the year 4 so simply saying well the Celtics can't win the big one is dumb because that's not real in any way that can be applied every single loss has its own context and so to me like we we can't just universally apply some rule here without acknowledging that every time Ryan day has failed has been for a different reason and by the way every Ryan Day failure means nothing to will Howard and to this Ohio State team yeah I think I think the one area I'll disagree with you on is I think it does apply to coaches I think I think when talking about a team or you're talking about a program it's tough because a program so much turnover whole new team new quarterbacks everything but when you talk about James Franklin I love James Franklin like he's been great to played for him but the reality is he hasn't beaten Ohio State or Michigan so every single game people are going to say James Franklin can't beat Ohio State or Michigan he can't win the big game uh I think that will be I think I think that will stop this season I think pen State's going to win big games and think they had the quarterback to do so but I understand where the national media and where fans get frustrated when coaches consistently I mean we talk about Brian Kelly when when cons when coaches consistently don't have their teams play their best when their best is needed and ultimately that's what you're judged as for as a coach that's the exact reason the Philadelphia Eagles fired Andy Reid and last time I checked the Kansas City Chiefs are pretty damn happy they do like there that's the problem is they're not all playing with the same group of dominoes like they're not playing dominoes against each other with the same numbers like every single time the rosters are a little bit different maybe this guy has a bad game maybe this this Talent team just isn't as talented like I hear you that we want to do that with coaches but man I don't understand how we can because at the end of the day it's not all Level Playing Field not every situation is the same and like I said Andy Reid's over here making my life hell as a Raiders fan every year I wish he was still in Philly go ahead but you know but Andy Reid had that moniker until he broke it can't win the big one until he did and look it was a fair moniker because it was the truth and sometimes things just run its course run their course it gets old we're tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride we're tired of always getting their Ohio State into the playoff conversation and tired of not being able to pull out a national championship game so it's true it like those monikers those maybe stereotypes they're true until they're not anymore but continuing along with our Goldilocks rankings what about the baby bear rankings the porridge that's the perfect temperature the bed that's just perfectly comfortable who is placed exactly where they need to be fit uh Georgia look I I I I wanted to get this in here because this is what we're Ranked just right: Georgia & USC? all doing we're all so worried about Ohio State we're also worried about Penn State we're also worried about Oregon we're also likeget all Georgia did all Georgia did was go out and kick the snot out of somebody and just remind us in a game that really wasn't their cleanest again I went back and rewatched that and I was really stunned rewatching it yesterday and how dirty some of the first half felt for Georgia it just was a little out of sink everything was a little out of pocket and then all of a sudden it clicked and I'm sitting there thinking man one good half of football is enough for Georgia to do that to somebody so I just I know it's obvious to say the number one team in the country is sufficiently ranked I just need to remind everybody that right now in this conversation of who's good and who's not there is a team that without question deserves to be number one and it is Georgia there's no doubt it's easy to forget how good Georgia's defense is every single year when they have to reload as much talent as they do when as many guys get drafted I I rewatched that game too uh f I didn't get to watch it live and man I'm like georg's got an elite defense again also I don't know I don't know I don't know if Clemson's gonna be that bad this season like I I I they hung in there for the first half I mean so I I think that that that win by Georgia was a really big one and I agree with you the the the other team fits that I have kind of just right on where they're ranked is USC moving up 10 spots to number 13 uh the fifth ranked team in the Big 10 I thought you know that the 10 the 10 spot jump is felt really appropriate to me for kind of where they're at and also for what we saw on on on TV on Sunday night USC played really well right and looked like a completely new team the question to me has always been what will Lincoln Riley do if he has a defense right will he ever have a good defense he's never had one he's never had a good defense he still won Conference titles he still won a ton of games now he has one so watch out Big 10 you know people didn't give the USC a ton of credit in the pre-season now they are every Big 10 team is not counting USC as kind of a a win anymore in their schle but I think 13 is the right spot for them I want to see him play a few more complete games on defense before we anoint them as you know a top three four team in the Big 10 but they're certainly making noise and you know I think that people before the season started the Penn States the world the michigans kind of thought the USC game would be you know tough game but a w people are watching that game from Sunday and saying USC is a real team I asked myself after that LSU USC game is USC's I'll just say defensive front for now is the defensive front as upgraded as it we're talking about or is LSU's offensive line just not as good as everybody sold it to be it was sold to be one of the top offensive lines in the country with two experienced tackles that are expected to go in the first round on Emy Jones and Will Campbell and so I kind of went back and forth on this and I rewatched that game and I thought okay what is it is the offensive line overhyped or is USC's defensive line that much more upgraded from last year to this year and frankly I think it's USC I think it has more to do with USC than it does maybe overhyping LSU which is incredible to think about with how bad USC's defense was specifically at the line of scrimmage last season I think LSU's offensive line is as good as advertised because it's essentially the exact same offensive line that we saw protecting Jaden Daniels last year a Joe Moore award finalist to offensive line so I'll give all of the credit in the world to Lincoln Riley and that entire defensive coaching staff because in game one they looked night and day difference from last season I do want to point out though and I'll credit my buddy Mike gock Jr we all know Mike uh Mike was the one that told me this years ago about great offensive line playing I'll never forget it he said if you get five people it doesn't matter how big they are if you get five people to walk they they lock arms and they're going to walk in a straight line they're going to walk together and they take every single step of that straight line together with their arms locked in tight good luck trying to get through them I don't care how big you are I don't care how big they are if they are walking lock step you can't break through now if one person gets a little behind one person gets a little a little bit too far wide one person gets a little bit off all of a sudden you can break through like that and I think about that with offensive line play because one thing we have to remember in the first couple of games in the season brenman is that frankly a lot of these guys are still getting used to actually communicating and playing as one unit so I don't want to freak out too much right now when defensive lines beat offensive lines because I think it takes longer for an offensive line to gel together and be one than it does for a defensive line where frankly they just need a couple of good moves and they can break through that 100% there there's an old saying in in training camp with in football programs that the defense is always ahead of the offense right because it's just it's easier for the defense to get together than the offense the offensive lines communicating much more um but I I I I agree with you Caroline I think when I watched LSU I thought their plan on offense wasn't very good they weren't they they they kind of didn't have any any wrinkles in the Run game uh they weren't able to execute they they didn't they didn't put their players in in good positions I thought they you know they they just were were lacking a little bit of creativity a little bit of a little bit of spice in the Run game for me so uh I think that's that's true but at the same time the thing that was exciting about USC there's tons of Warriers for improvement on that defense like they're they're still not an elite defense let's make that clear but they made stops and played extremely physical when they had to in the most in the mo the biggest moments of that game and for a long time we just haven't seen that at USC you know like when I was at when I I spent two years at Arizona State coaching we always talked about when we played USC they're they're not tough they're not physical and they're going to quit that's what we said the whole room said it they they're not tough the guys in La aren't tough but they proved that that's not the case and when they had to Bow up they bowed up but Caroline I think your Point's a good one that that LSU did not play very well on the offensive side of the ball either yeah specifically in the Run game and yeah I think you bring up a good point that I'm not willing to say today that USC is a top five defense in college football but the defense was so bad last season that the bar is on the floor when you can get stops when you can limit that LSU Run game to I don't have the box square up in front of me but just watching in that game limited them very much so what they wanted to do in the Run game that any sort of kind of little bite that you can take of improvement you were going to take that so absolutely Improvement uh on use USC's defensive line and the defense as a whole we're going to take a quick break coming up next raise a glass and pouring one out we'll explain what that means after just a quick word from our sponsors all right welcome back to the Pod the college football Power Hour for those who are not familiar our Nam sake Raising a glass for Riley Leonard, Marcus Freeman & Notre Dame the power hour is in fact a game you know Power hours for me look a lot different now than they did maybe a few a few years ago so in honor of our namesake we're going to play a game of raise a glass or pour one out now Fitz doesn't drink and Adam has the physique of someone who's never even looked at a carb so me as the L wait wait wait debauchery on the show I got nothing for that I will explain wait wait I don't drink and Adam looks great that's what I just what are we doing I am down to I am down to 133% body 12 and a half% body fat Carol my God what we like oh you look great too fits everybody looks great everyone looks amazing everyone looks good everyone's great I swear to God I would have abs before The Season's done when when my abs have abs I'm not even wearing a shirt when we tape this anymore just because of that Pro yeah I was going to say you should show them shirtless to the next episode just just show off the I'm not quite there yet I'm not quite there yet but the gram will show it when it's ready go ahead Caroline buing board M material fits clip that you you have no idea how hard I'm going to work in the gym put in the airpods over and over again and just repeat how I was not talking about your physique and then you're going to come back next week and you're going to be a changed man you're welcome by the way for being the source of your motivation here in the coming future but we are going to raise a glass or pour one out raising a glass to a performance a coach a player a game as a whole that we think deserves a shout out deserves a nice little toast and pouring one out to H the ones that you just have to say bless your sweet little heart I'm so sorry that that happened to you so Fitzy we will start with you who were you raising a glass or pouring one out to I'm gonna raise a glass to Riley Leonard uh because the more time I've gotten away from that Notre Dame game the more impressed I am with Riley Leonard's ability to keep his composure not just on the road but keep his composure behind an offensive line that had a lot of change going on against a defensive front that was pretty substantial and I look back at a couple of those drives in the beginning Adam and just watching Riley get hit and let's also remember he's coming off of an injury right so you watch Riley get hit and pop right back up I just the mobility was so key and I really do feel like we watched a quarterback take control of the situation take control of his team and really show the that he is the best that they could be asking for right now so I view Notre Dame differently today than I did a week ago and that's because I'm raising a glass to Riley and I know that you're you're hype for Notre Dame overall yeah I love it I I love Riley leanard I I'll add in Marcus Freeman to raise raising the glass to to just the whole Notre Dame program what Marcus Freeman has done to me that Notre Dame performance was the most impressive team of the weekend uh to go in to the most hostile environment in college football one of them uh my Penn State fans will will get mad for me for saying one of the most hostile environments to go on the road there and to play the way they did and dominate that game uh was just a testament to how Marcus Freeman's building that program and remember when Mar he Marcus Freeman there was some chatter around him last year I mean like he got that job hadn't been a head coach before uh the players wanted him to get it but the boosters and there was a lot a lot of noise around him and whether he was the right fit or whether he is the right fit there at Edward Dame I think he proved he is and and when you look at it you just said it fit Riley lard is exactly what they need at quarterback he he Freeman knew he needed a quarterback that could make throws and manage the game and just keep that that that program in that offense on track he did he did it Mike demock is the differentiator I think at offensive coordinator for for Notre Dame he did it at LSU the year before he he was with Jaden Daniels I think he's perfect for Den Brock's perfect for for Riley Leonard the defense is Elite they held what A&M to under 100 passing yards Conor wigman couldn't do anything in that game and then they have an easy schedule like not even like a favorable schedule their schedule's easy until the last game of the year they should be undefeated so Notre Dame looks like the five seed in the playoffs to me um you know we'll see how the rest of the season plays out but you got to give Marcus Freeman Notre Dame a a ton of credit that defense is Elite or at least has looked Elite in week one um I I'm going to need Riley Leonard to learn how to slide because he went oneon-one with a Defender way too many times for me to feel comfortable and Notre is going to need Riley Leonard to stay healthy throughout the season but I talked a lot about before that game how Kyle Field is a really intimidating environment and it is Texas at the end of August if you haven't been it's really freaking hot a lot hotter than gets in South Bend Indiana I thought okay the conditioning and the environment that's going to play a really big role in this is that an advantage to Texas A&M and frankly I thought that Notre Dame looked like the better prepared and better conditioned team I thought that Riley Leonard and the rest of this team really for the most part handled the crowd noise very well and there were a couple of you know jumps here and there and that's going to happen especially week one in an environment like that but I thought overall All Things Considered this Notre Dame team looked so prepared and it looked like it made those leaps that you're going to want to see in year three for a coach but speaking of a Notre Dame coach year three I'm gonna have to pour one out uh for Brian Kelly Pouring one out for Brian Kelly's LSU decisions and I initially wrote Brian Kelly in big games and after I kind of thought about that marinated on that a little bit I realized that that's probably not fair to say Brian Kelly in all big games because I'll give credit where credit is due Brian Kelly's won some big games at LSU he beat Alabama at home in year one and that really kind of solidified a trip to the SEC Championship game for that 2022 team they lost in the SEC Championship Game to Georgia and it wasn't because of anything that Brian Kelly did or didn't do it was just because Georgia was the best team in the country but I'll narrow it down to Brian Kelly continuing to make the same mistakes in games one in the first game of the season it comes down to Tactical errors that in all three of the home openers Brian Kelly has won the coin toss and has elected to receive why he does that frankly I do not understand because in all three of those games Florida State in 22 and 23 and then now USC in 2024 they had opportunities to they back-to-back scoring opportunities at the end of the half and at the beginning of the half that is such a momentum killer and maybe we're looking at a different second half if USC just doesn't boot like a 25 yard field goal at the end of the first half I felt like a lot of Brian Kelly's game planning decisions or maybe just game planning in general all three years LSU didn't look like a team that was ready to compete against one of the top teams in the country so not necessarily Brian Kelly in big games because he's won big games or even in big games that they've lost I can't say it was because of Brian Kelly decisions but I will say Brian Kelly maybe being too stubborn to acknowledge that the things that he's continuing to do over and over again specifically in game one frankly aren't working I I I was just going to say Brian Kelly with the word stubborn and then you you you you said it first I mean I it's that's the truth like you Brian Kelly likes to do things his way that's very very clear and what you just made a great Point Caroline I didn't even know that stat that Brian Kelly has took the ball those three games I mean it is not even close the analytics are not even it's not even a debate on that topic it's why every team around the country defers when they win the toss like the analytics tell you 100 times out of 100 to K to kick when you win the win the coin toss and go what you just said the two for one you try to get a drive end of the half and then get the ball back after the after halftime um so the fact that he refuses to do that and thinks that like his way is better because he's going to outsmart the analytics he's going to outsmart everybody this is you know he's going to play for the momentum in the beginning of the game that's an issue and I think we said it before when we talked about transfer portal nil same with the data and the numbers in college football if you don't adapt you're going to get left behind and I think there's areas here where I look at this LSU team and it doesn't look like the team the Notre aame teams that were Elite during his tenure there they don't look disciplined at times there's there's bad penalties there there's bad clock management I think it's disappointing for LSU fans but I will say let's just remember that Ryan Kelly's in year three um you know two two seasons in one game in at LSU like let's give him some time they've been really good he had a Heisman Trophy winner defense has to get better but I don't I don't think the sky is falling at LSU yet but I want to see those things improve because Brian Kelly is a better football coach than what we've seen uh from LSU and and what we've seen those openers what do you think Fitz yeah well I would say this though and Caroline knows this better than anybody LSU's fan base of boosters are not patient let's remember no patience that not not not that long ago they' fired a coach that won 86% of his games because he couldn't beat saving so that's like that's a real thing right so you got to look at this from LSU standpoint and say I think the thing that bothered me the most is something you mentioned earlier no wrinkles in the in the running game I looked at this game and I thought what did LSU come to the table with that felt different or new or freshh or was a surprise to their opponent if if super fans watching it feel like you know what I know exactly what this team is doing in this moment then so does the other team and I think really the surprise early in the year is that there isn't a big surprise in the game plan from LSU it's just always sort of the same thing that they always do so I think there's lost opportunity you have all summer to come out and show somebody something new and this offense particularly with the different quarterback had a lot of opportunities to come out and really unveil a new different thing that everybody would have to keep up with and I just I didn't feel like there was a lot of creativity in that game game plan Caroline and they have every tool at their disposal to have a creative game plan you know a quarterback that has the ability to make surgical throws placing them in the exact position with the exact touch that needs to be on it you've got receivers that are incredibly talented you have an experienced offensive line really good offensive linemen you've got three starting caliber running backs you should have every tool at your disposal to be throwing things at these defenses that they don't expect uh but last but not least final pouring one out Adam yeah I thought about this one for a long time and and after after what I saw last Pouring one out for Colorado and Deion Sanders Thursday night I'm poring went out for Colorado uh they won the game 3126 against against North Dakota State but the things that I wanted to see out of Colorado I didn't see I saw the same Colorado that we saw last year and that's um bad clock management not disciplined in the biggest moments and bad situational football like when I watch Colorado it's really Superstars playing football right it's shadur Sanders it's Travis Hunter Jimmy horn those guys are stars without a doubt first round NFL draft picks but then there's everybody else and I think there's a couple issues it's it's the the issue of just not knowing how to win football games and put teams away um I look at Colorado same issue not being able to run the football averag two yards a carry um clock management was brutal in that game uh last Drive of the game colado had the ball with about a minute 30 left uh should have drained the clock with the lead right minute 30 left with the lead should have drained the clock made North Coast State use all their timeouts sh Sanders throws the football for an incompletion the first play I'm like what that's like football 101 and I would bet that Shar Sanders did that on his own that that wasn't what the OC called but I mean that stuff just cannot happen or you're going to lose a lot of football games the other issue I see is just Travis Hunter for as good as he is is playing too many snaps played played 130 snaps out of 140 I mean that's just too many plates there's 30 snaps in there that are meaningless that he shouldn't be playing um so I just want to see those things improve there's so much talent in Boulder I love what Dion's done for college football like there's so much excitement around that so I'm not taking that away but when I watch Colorado I want to see a complete football team because that's what the talent on that team deserves they deserve to to be well coached and be disciplined and know how to win games at the end um and and you know they just they didn't show me that that much improvement in week one and I I I hope it changes throughout the year but that very the very way that Colorado has been built is the reason that their Superstars are going to be in Heisman contention they can't stop anybody they can't run the football so the only way they're going to win is by scoring a ton of points which means their electric wide receivers and their electric quarterback are going to put up video game numbers and in the process I'm going to be a snarky jerk for a second and raise the glass to every Colorado apologist that has tried to shove down my throat for the last week how good North Dakota state is North Dakota state they're coming and saying Oh but you know that they're different in North Dakota I've been there y they are and they're still not able to compete at the highest level you cannot tell me for a single second that the best teams in the country would struggle with North Dakota State in that opening game I don't care Colorado did struggle they could have and maybe should have lost that football game it's fine just admit that you somehow got through it tuck your tail between your legs and get ready for a big game next week against Nebraska stop trying to tell me that somehow North Dakota State's a juggernaut that the world is sleeping on good God yeah don't pee on my my leg and tell me it's raining I know what I saw I know what I saw thank you you can you can use that keep that that one down yeah absolutely and and also this is not the North Dakota State of a few years ago that was winning the FCS National Championship every single year the trands Carson Wentz North Dakota state that maybe we've come uh accustomed to like this is a North Dakota State team that lost four five games last season so to your point fits yes you probably have two Heisman caliber players on that team and shador Sanders and Travis Hunter I saw on Twitter you know this is a Patrick Mahomes Travis Kelce kind of connection and yeah that's hyperbolic but I understand where that's coming from and college football this is not college basketball where you have two elite players and that can get you to the National Championship shador Sanders and Travis Hunter cannot win a National Championship on their own and I don't know if they actually truthfully can be Heisman Trophy contenders because I don't think that Colorado is going to win enough games to punch one of their tickets to New York I understand that the Heisman should be an individual award but we also know that two to three losses very much so can disqualify you from get being in Heisman contention so the talent is there Elite Talent between the two of them but I'm with Adam on this one I got to pour one out for Colorado because woo might be in for a a little bit of a difficult season there in Colorado we're going to take a quick break let's look ahead to week two a whole lot of talk about week one now let's put that behind us let's look ahead to week two the games that we are binging the games that we are streaming and the games that we are skipping we'll get to that after just a quick break all right week two is ahead of us in college Week 2 Preview: Tennessee vs. NC State football a game that I'm binging this week and you guys feel free to tear this one apart but this has been a game that I have circled on the schedule since before the season I am binging all of the Tennessee North Carol Ina State content that I can this weekend and and it's because it's two very interesting teams in my opinion two teams that I think are very much so Darkhorse college football playoff contenders I think if Tennessee and niik yava really does end up being the guy that we saw on Saturday against Chattanooga that Tennessee can be a you know an at llarge playoff bid kind of team the ACC is wide open it is wide open it is anyone's conference so I think North Carolina State can absolutely be in the playoff uh conversation as well just because of how open the conference is and because they I think they have a good team and they did struggle a bit I think they had Western Carolina last week and they were down at the half or struggled a bit in the first couple of quarters and I get that I understand you have a new quarterback that's coming in that's learning the receivers and learning the offense but one thing that I'm looking at in this game in particular Grayson McCall and the Casey concepion connection that's real I think Casey concepion had 120 130 receiving yards last week I would say the biggest weakness on Tennessee's team is their secondary wasn't very good last year I think they lost maybe 10 players in the secondary in this past off season so they've got a lot to replace they don't have as much depth as maybe they did over the past couple of years that's the one wart that I would say today is on Tennessee's team so I'm looking at that I'm also just looking at Nico yam Ava's first true test in the 2024 season so give me all of the ten Tennessee NC state in Charlotte I I like it I I think the the exciting part about that game for me and I agree with you in your points but just the quarterback battle in that game between Nico and Grayson McCall specifically like those two quarterbacks show you the two methods for how you build a program in college football one is you go get the five-star quarterback and develop them in your system spend everything you can recruiting them get the high school guy the the second NC State is to go get the group of five starter who dominated at a lower Lev level and bring them up and I'm excited to see how those two how those two strategies kind of compare and compete the other thing is it's a neutral sight game both fan bases are going to travel in it's going to be a fun one to see so that that I'm definitely I'm definitely watching that one I'm also I'm also going to binge the kyado Nebraska game for somewhat of the Colorado vs. Nebraska of the same reason of just kind of like the the talent versus culture battle right like they you've heard a lot of the battles in the media between Matt Rule and Deion Sanders they've been they've been uh they've been going it and I know I just used the buzzword culture again but you know that's what's out there and that's what Matt Ru is telling his players Deion Sanders is telling his players the same thing Lincoln's going to be Mayhem um you know this game could could be The Floodgate to Nebraska's 7-0 start that I predicted uh on on episode one of the show so Dylan Rola against Jer Sanders two NFL caliber quarterbacks the winner of this game is going to be a top 25 team um and if if colado were to pull this off they then play colado State and Baylor next and could be 4-0 and everything we've been saying about Colorado is is you know out the window in Colorado is the top 15 team then so this game's got got big implications what do you think Fitz I see your face man you're like you're you look you look like you're stressed out shot every time say culture talks about NE when we become hipsters on this show when okay look couple of things talk about Nebraska I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna bring a shot glass next time and I'm gonna fill it with Liars this company that makes this fake alcohol I'm I'm take a shot every time we talk about Colorado or culture on this show that's what we're going to do uh because look I'll buy Caroline's Tennessee argument because I picked Tennessee to make the college football playoff I think they are going to the playoff I think this is going to be a statement win for them as an organization as a program Colorado Nebraska Nebraska's gonna kick the snot out of them right and like there's no and and now you both have have mentioned games that you're GNA binge and nobody has mention the actual game of the week like the game that every TV channel is going to like big noon and game day are not sitting there saying guys should we go to tennessy NC State no they're all going to be at the big house for Texas against Michigan and all Texas did was Texas vs. Michigan go in and look like might be the best team in the country and and through that whole process then they sit down Quinn yers who had a great half to show the world how stink and good Arch is going to be and you want to spend your time binging Colorado Nebraska instead like look as somebody that partakes in a lot of Edibles I'm going to need those Edibles before I watch Colorado Nebraska if I'm picking that over Michigan Texas like I get the brand I get the big house I get the TV hype I get like game day all morning is going to be fired up for it you guys are giving me Colorado what what are we doing here guys deny ourselves of good things here on the show um I think that one's a stream for me and for the same reason I thought that Clemson Georgia was a skip I was like I don't I don't need to see Georgia whoop Clemson's butt I already know what's going to happen um I think Texas is going to wax the floor with Michigan we saw Michigan just struggle against Fresno freaking State we just spent the beginning of the podcast talking about how Michigan was overrated and doesn't belong in the top 10 anybody think that Texas shouldn't be in the top three anybody anybody I think they very much so belong in the top three give me Quinn yours against this kind of Michigan team that's trying to figure out what their identity is Texas knows exactly who they are and what they want to be I think Texas wins this game by at least two touchdowns if not more yeah and I think this is a game where Texas can really make that statement for this season of like like they are in the not not just in the tier of like the top four that they are going to going to bre breach that kind of won two teams in college football if they come in and win this game by 14 points like you just said tons of Texas fans will be traveling an arbor this will be one of the best environments in the country um if Michigan plays the way they played on on Saturday on offense the game will be ugly but um but there's still a less than seven-point Underdog for a reason in this game this is going to be a good football game um Michigan's defense is still one of the best in the country one of the top three defenses in college football they're going to get stops um and then we'll have to see if Michigan can run the football they they didn't on Saturday we just talked about it top of the show but it was one game as we as we said and and maybe are we going to see Alex orgy more for Michigan um but what we saw you know they didn't play them they didn't play him at all on on Saturday so uh it'll be interesting to see if Michigan kind of has a new plan or new strategy after seeing how much their offense strugg struggled um but if this is a close game in the fourth quarter it's because Michigan will will create a couple takeaways on defense and keep this game close um they simply don't have the pieces on offense uh to make it a game but it is it is a statement game for Texas to go out and dominate this the way they should would would be would be huge for for Steve sarkeesian yeah I just love J right and I'm going to get that no matter what in this game because if Texas somehow falters as good as Arch looked if Quinn goes in and just absolutely lays an egg in the big house oh everybody's going to be calling for it right if Michigan gets absolutely decimated and I'm With You Caroline I think like if if you're asking me I think it's about a 20-point win and if that that happens now we're going to have is the sky falling is Michigan football now not going to be a prominent program like all of the yelling and screaming that will happen about that is a beautiful thing plus it is still Texas at the big house which in my mind the college football playoff committee I can already hear it in my head when at the end of the year we're talking about Texas's schedule and they're going to say well that's still a valuable win going to Michigan early in the season like so there's all of these layers to all of it so I I you guys both lost your damn mind if you're trying to watch either of those games before it uh Caroline that that being said what about a skip is there a game that you're just to other than this one that you're barely streaming is there a game you're just out on there's a lot of what I will call uh gummy games this weekend which are games that I need to watch a gummy before just to be able to get through like no disrespect to East Carolina at Old Dominion but probably won't be tuning into that one one game though in particular outside of all of these gummy South Florida vs. Alabama games I feel the need to call out USF at Alabama and the reason why is because I think there's going to be a lot made of USF or excuse me Alabama at USF last season when Jaylen milro got bened Tyler Buckner started that game the game was tied at three all at halftime where it took two USF turnovers for Alabama to even find The End Zone after that game we're all asking ourselves like is Bama cooked did Sab lose his fast ball like the sky was falling in Tuscaloosa I think a lot is going to be made of this game because of what happened last year but I don't buy into any of that this is a completely different team this is Jaylen milro who now has very much so a command on this team it's in Tuscaloosa which is a much different ball game there and I understand that you're still kind of getting acclimated into the kayin dbor I understand that there's still going to be a lot of changes that take place maybe a few growing pains in Tuscaloosa but I think that this game against UCF this matchup is a completely different ball game that last season's matchup has zero bearing on so I feel like I can skip that game when last season it may have been the juiciest game of the week Caroline I agree with you that Alabama's going to win this game handedly but if you love college football and you're excited about the future of college football I would recommend watching USF play because I am bullish on South Florida and what their head coach Alex Alex Gish is doing it's kind of a sleeping giant in college football listen this game's not going to be close but it is exciting because South Florida soon will be in a a power four conference tons of rumors around college football about them moving up to the big leagues they're building a new stadium um I was out there this summer there's a lot lot of hype around that program right now so I think it'll be cool for fans just to see South Florida Play a team like Alabama and look at what the future of college football could look like you think about a place like South Florida in Tampa like there's no reason that shouldn't be a Powerhouse program but to your point Alabama has looked ridiculously good you guys know how I feel about kayin dor and being a winner and Jaylen milroe played over 15 freshman in the season opener I mean it's a young team that that I think will play at a really high level this season and don't doubt kayin dbor he's going to win a lot of football games I think I I got him winning the SEC uh I I'm with you by the way that that game is skippable but I think we could also just acknowledge that most of the rest of the Slate is skippable I'd rather just go eat a bunch of cupcakes although now that Carolina said that I need to work on my physique I can't like I'd rather eat a bunch of cupcakes and watch a bunch of these cupcakes these cupcake matchups this weekend are just tread like there's a lot of bad football games out we're all starving enough for football that we're going to watch these games but we're also going to feel dirty about it Sunday when we look back at and we think God did I really watch that matchup yesterday that's going to happen I'd rather watch Old Dominion the band then Old Dominion the football team this weekend I'm just yeah I'm a sicko but I am not so much of a sicko that I'm going to take part of my Saturday to watch Marry Mack at Yukon okay like yes that that's a skiable game the road do that's a good game J Jim Mora at Yukon I mean you got that's that's good football maybe I'll you guys be my guest and report back because I cannot wait to hear the riveting stories and story lines that come out of that game it's got to be free for that God I mean at least free Waters and free beers outside of the stadium to to bring the people in that's enough you know we're we're we're simple creatures as we mentioned earlier in the show the college football Power Hour our names sake is a drinking game so we'll end every show with our Chaser a little something sweet to make the burn go down a little bit easier and uh guys I think we need to put out a little bit of an amber alert for someone in our community and his name is 321 n on Twitter you see this after Florida State lost to Georgia Tech 321 null on Twitter just you know Florida State fan tweeted if Florida State loses to BC this weekend I will eat dog dooo out of a red Solo cup with a spoon and Posta video of me doing it book it and in like the third quarter of that Florida State Boston College game 321 n's account was nowhere to be found nowhere to be found so I think that we need to uh find our friend 321 null and see if he will actually uh pay his debts this is a is a valuable lesson though like Adam this is a valuable lesson for the world right never make a bet that you can't win like The Chaser: Florida State fan's wager goes wrong essentially you're saying okay if Florida State loses I'll do this awful thing well where's your gain in if they win you get nothing other than watching the win like this doesn't make any sense anytime somebody have to eat dog poop out of a red Solo cup that's that's the win there if you're going to if you're going to at least have somebody on the other side that's going to also have to eat dog poop if they win like now we're talking about a bet like anybody that's like I'll give you five bucks to do this like that doesn't make if the Raiders lose what are you going to do like I no that none of this makes any sense like there has to be skin in the game on both sides otherwise you're just setting yourself up for failure if I'm like oh the Raiders lose that game you can kick me in the No No places that doesn't make any sense we can kick each other in the No No places depending on the outcome Adam that is a bet I just want the world to learn from 321 n that you have to play Both Sides if there's no skin in the game on both sides you should not even make the statement ju just think about how confident you have to be in something to make the bet that you're going to eat dog doooo out of a Solo Cup if it if it happens I mean that that you got to be extremely extremely confident just think about three just think yeah or D just think about 321 null as he was like watching the game unfold and the first half was going and Florida State couldn't do anything on all that just think about what he was feeling and then when he started to see that his tweet was picking up steam uh I mean that could have been a good feeling I just I can't imagine no matter how confident you are ever betting anything that has to do with eating dog dooo out of a out of a Red Solo Cup I can't imagine what what like what would go through your mind to make you do that I love I love the way that this show has tried to handle the word instead like doooo Po I know I can't believe I said that we're all saying we're all saying these all like we are children this show is children like other shows on Yahoo they would just say the word over and over again it would be beeped out say we're Jun can we say dog on this show I think then they have to come in and they have to beep that little word out like so like Charles Robinson not always let go out you know like we always he always gets beeped out you know so now it's just dog dooo that it just shows how kind we are dooo to watch your team give up 200 rushing yards to Georgia Tech and watch DJ OU young do DJ OU young glay things against Georgia Tech and then say that you would eat dog doo it's uh it's bold it's it's stupid and all wrapped up into a nice little college football fan sicko little little present what a what treats we we have been given over this past week but the fun continues officially in week two we will be back here on Saturday night and Sunday morning with a full week two reaction that's going to do it for us today he is Adam brenaman you can find him on Twitter at Adam brenaman one that's Jason Fitz over there at Jason Fitz he's going to come back next week with an even better physique I'm Caroline Fenton you can find me on Twitter at Caroline fenton1 like the podcast review the podcast subscribe to the podcast you can find us on YouTube and of course you can find us on your preferred podcast platform do all the great stuff we will see you back here on Saturday night and we are out e