CFB Week 2 Power Rankings, LSU vs USC Reaction, Tennessee vs NC State Preview

Introduction e [Music] we are live welcome back ladies and gentlemen I am one your co-host Blake rafino alongside me is my co-host on this great Labor Day Joe Deon good evening good sir it's great Labor Day we are past week one oh no wait we're not past week one yet we've got another game going on tonight with Florida State and Boston College but yes Blake I know we're going to get to it later it's a little bit of a disappointing day for LSU I picked LSU as well and I was a little bit disappointed last night and I think that that is probably the dumb down way of how you and the rest of the LSU faithful feel after that performance I'm I'm I'm tired I'm gonna gloves off now gloves come off gloves come off now no [ __ ] footing around anymore gloves are coming off um listen bottom line is Joe Sloan versus deanon ly deanon Lyn kicked his ass that is the bottom line story here both both teams defensively showed how much coaching and scheme matters Dean Lyn and Blake Baker both had really good call games yesterday Joe yeah that that was and when we get to this this recap we talk about it that's like the clear separation here that constantly goes for gone when we have these conversations when you have a premier defensive coordinator you can take a quality group of players and you can be a shutdown defense I mean Iowa is the perfect example of that that they don't recruit a bunch of four and five star Defenders yet they statistically typically have one of the best defenses in the country so when you have all these athletes that were poorly coached on both sides they showed up they were they set the tone that was exactly why those games played out the way that they did I was very surprised how good USC looked uh it's going to reflect in my Power Rankings today but they looked a lot more more potent offensively and strong defensively than I was expecting not me oh yeah I mean not me I mean we did a preview we did a preview of them and what did I say it bro we came in here in the preview and what was my exact words to you about USC they're they're better than I thought that they were which is funny some of the comments on that video were acting like there was some homerism happening no was any homerism I mean did I what did we talk about in the preview which we'll talk about here today Joe at some point Talent is going to Prevail with a good scheme when you have four defensive linemen that were top 100 guys you're you're gonna hit secondly the way that they disguise things and the level of knowledge that they were able to to go with a a very difficult schematical scheme was able to push him over the top but here's what I'm going to tell you now this is going to sound homerism but I'm going to defend what I mean when we recap this game I don't think USC won that football game I think LSU lost it absolutely I stand by that take LSU had every reason to win that game I'm Gonna Save my thoughts on Brian Kelly for when we get to that segment but we go it was a game that was purely in their hands to win I I went back and rewatched the highlights just to to jog my memory on it so I didn't think I was missing anything and after that spot where they got that fourth down stop a defensive lineman almost leapt and picked off Miller Moss's pass there were multiple batted balls on that drive I was thinking to myself how the hell did they lose this they had all of the momentum and they didn't capitalize on having the energy and everything flowing in their Direction it was typical Brian Kelly and I'm I'm going to say what I have to say when we get to the segment but they lost the game they had a chance to win it Elks sends a $2 Super Chat says SEC went one and three in big game sorry Blake well here's the thing did last year too okay thank you they did last year too thank you so and and by the way Elks I love you and you send us money all the time that helps us and promotes us and all that kind of good stuff you played [ __ ] akan yeah who the Big 10 had a couple tough games like we can't act like who Penn State played West Virginia and us that's not a tough game for a top 10 opponent us did okay West Virginia is not a tough opponent for a a playoff written team like Penn State sorry you can't you cannot schedule acurate and come in and come in the show and say oh we're a better conference because when the playoffs come here and you get your cheeks cut by the way all I'm gonna say Ohio State you look clunky so before you come in here don't mess with me today I'm on edge you poke the bear the bear is gonna come out in this [ __ ] now all right so I'm just saying well on on a ligh on a lighter note Vanderbilt is somehow one and0 amongst all of these teams I it's still the most insane takeaway from all this is all right I got an all 22 copy sent to me today of Vandy Virginia Tech Joe you better go look at that schedule okay what are you projecting here you think they go eight and four six and six but here's the thing though if they go seven 58 and4 Vandy okay Clark Le's the the coach of the year I don't know if he's going to win that but the argument could definitely be made vandy's dookie water all right I mean he's turning dookie water into a Gourmet Chef Mill all right it it only points out my correct take that I had on Shane Beamer even more that Clark Lee can produce results at Vanderbilt and Shane Beamer can't do [ __ ] itself Carolina I'll well I can't wait to talk about that South Carolina Kentucky game that is going to be a bloodbath when we this week that's this week that's this week okay all right so we'll do power rankings and at the end we'll preview Tennessee and NC State niik I say his last name say it Nico I don't know how to say his last name I'm just I I'm alivea how you say it um dude here's the thing about Tennessee I know that they play dookie water State they they scored 31 points in the first quarter yeah enough said NC State struggled with a comparable FCS team it that is going to be a blowout that game anyway all right let's get rolling excuse me everybody do us a favor by hitting the like and share share to all those groups if you're on Facebook to all of those social media Pages you're watching us listening to us on YouTube like subscribe notification Bell wherever you listen to podcast rate review And subscribe I hope that my co-host gets the joke this week but let's talk about our good friend Chris gains AKA Chris Gates Joe PR Chris Gaines the king of gains Chris Gates uh his online Fitness training camp has been an amazing resource for anybody who's trying to keep up and stay focused on their fitness goals despite all the Plenty distractions that we're going to have during the football season training camp is is an online fitness Community designed specifically for sports fans to help you get results with your health and fitness without cutting out everything that you love like drinking beer and tailgating for football games in the fall in training camp you'll get all the support that you need to build muscle burn fat and stay consistent with your workouts and at the same time you'll instantly join a community of like-minded people doing the same exact thing visit Chris Gates fitness.com trining Camp Chris Gates fitness.com trining camp or click the link in the description and use code rafino Joe also Chris wanted me to pass a long that they have coming up in September two three and 4 day options for you and they're also launching a step count challenge that the winner is going to receive a free walking pad this a huge hack if you can if you can get that and they also picked their weekly pick them winner the winner went 8-2 so if you want to participate in the pick them and you're a football fan make sure you check out Chris Gates fitness.com also just to throw this out there his pit pants and Eli holin pretty good yeah look pretty solid yesterday talk about our good friends over bet online we come back breakdown USC LSU we do that next stay with us benol Lon is the fastest and easiest way for you to wager on all of your favorite sports contest events with the first to Market odds in lines F reviews for all the news for each league including Major League Baseball NFL NBA NHL Combat Sports college sports Esports and even golf bet online continues to be the top online resource for all of your sports information for live ingame betting props and Futures head on over to bet online today and use your mobile device to join and make your first sports bet use our promo code believe 50 that's believe 50 ble a v50 to receive your 50% off welcome bonus on your first deposit that's betonline.ag betonline.ag G by the way uh Texas has got a big one this week too now well I would flip that on you Michigan has a big one this week Michigan I there might be a tough that's gonna be a tough out for them I don't know if they're they're gonna be ready for that game I don't know if they're gonna be ready for that game either all right let's get to it Joe LSU LSU USC USC pretty much a really great game yesterday if that was the Standalone game regardless if I'm a fan of whatever team doesn't matter that game even in in and of itself was a really good game a classic came down to the wire both teams who struggled last year defensively both who had Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks by the way if you're Caleb Williams and jayen Daniels and you saw both of the defenses that you saw last night how pissed off are you today nevertheless that's neither here nor there but LSU gets trounced by USC 2720 your thoughts on what happened last night between the Trojan Trojans and tigers yeah the obvious thing that comes out of this for a lot of people is both defenses look vastly improved they dominated the games I thought that Blake Baker was being perfectly aggressive with the right timing to create confusion for that offensive line and then on the flip side of things I thought that USC's defense just looked far more Stout had much better intent moring to the football better um I think that USC proved me wrong that they're worthy of being a top four big 10 team and could be knocking on the door of the playoff but here's the real take Blake as a Notre Dame fan who suffered through plenty of Brian Kelly and who was not upset that he left and took the LSU job and I was excited to see what the future would hold for a new head coach now my gripes with Marcus Freeman and frustrations separate from this conversation what my problem always had been with him is the inability to finish in big games and to step up in big games he would always blow through the schedule and we against weaker opponents they would benefit from having bad teams that were unjustifiably ranked that they were able to bully but whenever Notre Dame had to step up in a tough environment they always struggled and he even pointed it out he said it in the postgame press conference that he's tired of this he's tired of than not finishing he needs to coach them better I don't know where the breaking point is though like I I I feel like and I I'm this is where I'm probably going to cause the most frustration from LSU fans and from you I think that he's at a ceiling I I really don't know where he breaks through and they they win a National Championship I understand that he's got a great crop of recruits coming in for the next two classes potentially but this is already a talented group your defense looked a lot better and the issue was your inability to finish offensive drives it wasn't your defense that was struggling where where is the the change in the intent in the intensity from your team in the end of the game I think it's a serious issue I'm not saying fire Brian Kelly but I think that this is proven yet again that the guy has a ceiling and I don't know if National Championship is truly on his radar all right then I I want to address that in just a moment so I'm probably G to be a little bit more longer winded pause okay than I normally do here's to the point that happened in the game that probably led you to this okay because if they would have won this game you wouldn't have been saying any of them that the problem the problem not clearly the problem was Joe is Mike Den Brock picked up and left and went to Notre Dame and then you promoted from within with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan who's not an experienced play caller at all okay LSU defensively shut USC down at times let's go to the third quarter and the fourth quarter LSU forces a three and out next time the defense is on the field they they hold hold USC to a field goal by the way after a very bad penalty that gets them down there right so they're holding USC to minimal yardage but they hit a field goal they get also forced a three and out then LSU on the fourth straight defensive possession in the second half to start off the second half you H have a turnover on Downs where Savon Jones who is a former top 40 player in the country who had two sacks bats the ball in the air the ball is almost intercepted so you're starting off the second half have really and truthfully pretty great defensively Joe if you're going 20 minutes or yeah about 20 minutes of a of a of a half and you're only giving up three points that's not good that's borderline Elite okay against a Lincoln Riley offense Joe regardless of what you think of UFC or Lincoln he's had a top 10 offense the last seven seasons wherever he's gone they've been a top seven offense or top 10 offense excuse me their inability to convert on crucial third downs and their inability to connect and do things offensively in the second half got them beat there there's nothing else their defense could have done nothing they were doing everything that they had to do to win the football game now you have people out there LSU people even former all-americans who saying the defense lost in the football game that's not true that's not true I mean you could see the debate I'm getting on Twitter with the former LSU all American who clearly has no idea what he's talking about the bottom line here is Jarrett NM had 24 up passing attempts that were 10 yards or less of the 38 total attempts that he had they weren't pushing the ball down the field they did in the first half and Joe we previewed our top five wide receivers I took a lot of heat and this is fine Blake you're Homer about kyen Lacy well kyen Lacy had seven catches for 94 yards in a touchdown down the first half you know what that is that's typical LSU wide receiver Louisiana wide receiver lining up and knocking your dick in the dirt now did he cause a very bad issue by getting the flag and poined a gun at a player that was dumb and I'm gonna come back to that in a minute about what Brian Kelly said in the postgame that's dumb in and of itself Joe the only time in the second half that they came to him were two throwaways Garrett's getting pressured he's got to throw the ball away and he throws it in the general area of Kiren Lacy nowhere to be caught how do you not go to your best playmaker Joe look there are things in college football Ohio State wide receivers and DBS Notre Dame offensive lineman Alabama defensive players under Sabin name the things and the trends that we see in college football LSU is receiver look what they did last year with Malik look what they did last year with Brian Thomas and now you have a young man in kyen Lacy who's coming out here going absolutely bananas b n Nas s bananas on them hoes all in the first half and you don't throw in the football on crucial third downs and then here I'm gonna get CR like absolutely abused for this everybody says that their o line was dominated not necessarily they didn't give up a sack but here's the thing that I thought Dean and Lynn out schemed Joe Sloan spread him out and run the football why are you bringing everything in so tight Joe second half I went back and looked at this today USC on third Downs had at minimum on eight plays eight players in the box and you tried to run the football eight plays with eight players in the box and you try to run and you can't convert you want to know why you only have seven guys in you're going to have a free rusher in there well wait this is what I said to you in the pre-show not not to cut you off I'll keep it succinct that's what I said to you in the pre-show is you had all of this momentum and you didn't capitalize on it you didn't attack you Dean L's not stupid he's one of the brightest defensive Minds in the country and you said Playmakers the number one Rush defense in the country last year at UCLA and they had it exactly they everybody at the line of scrimmage okay and he he forces you get quick reads out and he confuses you right I mean am I am I crazy here that's exactly what he did and they they they were smart enough to obviously know that the ball was coming up the middle they they knew that they were running the ball up the Middle with Emory and I don't know why Caleb Jackson didn't get more touches too like what the to deal with that that that's that's abysmal he gets six touches oh he's got 18 yards well you got to give him more touches you can't have a work back a Workhorse back and not get him touches Joon the second half they ran the ball for 6.7 yards per carry I I I I mean tremendous you know what instead of going up the middle you keep running that little toss play Joe it was an easy five yards Bam Bam Bam Bam John Emery was going off 10 catches or 10 carries for 61 yards he's gonna continue to go off give him the football give anybody of the football on the edges that's where you were winning and you didn't do it here's the bottom line I'm you brought up something about Brian Kelly and I I'm I'm gonna let you as a Notre Dame man have your opinion on that I don't not I'm not gonna I don't agree with you at the current moment okay however I'm gonna let you have that opinion I'm not going to push back I'm gonna take an inverse I think Brian Kelly's got to get involved in play calling if LSU wants to make the playoff because I think that if he does and we've seen him even at Notre Dame when he gets involved in play calling he's better at that at times than just letting his coordinators coach if LSU if he is not more involved in play calling Joe they're gonna be in trouble and that's that look I'm not I'm not with that Brian Kelly doesn't know football I think he needs to be a little bit more in the weeds of what's going on offensively he's got a firsttime coordinator in this position Blake Baker let them go do what they do because they're G to be fine they're gonna do what they got to do Joe that team that we saw last year on defense did you ever think in a million years that you would have saw that defensive performance by either one of these teams no a year ago no you wouldn't all right let's get you I want to get to USC here I don't want to take a Victory lap on my Miller M take Joe he made some really good throws okay here's where I'm gonna get get scorned um yeah you're gonna get I thought that I thought that he had a great game but I think that the the lead has been buried by everybody obsessing over Miller Moss when the the real conversation is is that the weapon room that they have the receiver room the running back room all of those guys are in Elite category can I rudely stop you right there and ask you this question yes I'm not discrediting him by the way oh well okay it feels like you're discrediting because Jaden Daniels Caleb Williams all these great quarterbacks have also had big weapons too this group of guys Duce Robinson zachari Branch were freshman last year Kiren Hudson was a sophomore and wasn't a big- Time contributing receiver um lemon also I believe was a freshman last year those guys now as upper classman as sophomores their presence was felt like the fact that when you get on the line of scrimmage quickly and you connect with dece Robinson down the sideline because he's that fast as a big body slot receiver how they're going to use him that that's dangerous there are not many Big 10 teams that are going to be able to cover that kid more importantly Zachariah Branch took that goddamn game over I I think that Miller Moss played great and I think he made some great throws but I don't understand why we're not giving the real love where it belongs to go Zachariah branch is going to be the best player on this team and they're going to win a lot of games because he has some ridiculous plays he's going to have some 200 yard games that was all I was going to say he's going to have some stupidly big gy stat games where he purely wins it for him wouldn't shock me if it doesn't happen against a Michigan or a Penn State and he continues uh to to run up the stat sheet the only push back I would give you give that on you name I I worry about him running routes I mean because everything that he had was a screen or everything he had was at the line of scrimmage yeah but he's not forcing anything down the field the only reason is that Lincoln out schemed LSU on those screens and Zachariah Branch went off how many times do we see how many times we see these Premier athletes that aren't really established route runners or or like really dangerous a couple name a couple I off the top of my head I'm not goingon to remember off top my head but a lot of these guys early on in their careers have high impacts just because they're so much faster than everybody I'm not saying he's not a great weapon but look Miller Moss had some outright dots he had some good throws no Joe he he no that dude had some Elite throws and you know that I mean he also crumbled a couple of times when pressure was in his face he like really didn't know how to handle that he he was pretty weak in those situations that's that's fine I'm not trying to say he played bad I just I I think that we're acting like he's a Heisman guy now all the I'm not saying you are but the general public who's not typically a football fan that tuned into the game yesterday is acting like he's a Heisman favorite now Jo I'm sorry but the kid threw for 378 against a team that had a had a weak secondary last year like yeah but they weren't weak last night you didn't go in there and think that they were weak the the Kiron Hudson catch the thing the fade route in the back of the end zone for the touchdown I I mean listen I age that's my point though is these were plays made by his receivers yeah but he's putting he's putting like passes only where his receiver can catch it though I mean like this isn't I mean the McCree kid was going up here's another thing too if Blake Baker got struck that McCree kid the tight end for USC my goodness that kid can play that kid's a he's a really good football player he gave Perkins and Penn a lot of problems last night the five catches 50-some yards doesn't do him Justice here's what I here's what I'll say okay look UFC fans are going to hate me for this and this is fine I don't think that they I still don't think they won the football game I think LSU lost it LSU's got a lot in front of them so does USC I mean Joel you know I'm asking are we looking at two really good teams that can be borderline contenders of a 12 team playoff I don't know um but look I I'm going to talk about this at 5:30 on ays because we got to go early too but I I I'm just so dumbfounded at the offensive play calling here here's the last thing I'll say on LSU you got it I know that Chris Hilton you're wide receiver was out your deep ball threat and he stretches the field but Kiren Lacy was unguardable when he was getting the ball down the field and why they got away from that I don't know that that in of itself is the situational awareness that Brian Kelly and Joe Sloan didn't have is abysmal and I'm GNA talk about this at length at 5:30 you have Joe Sloan the offensive coordinator on the TV copy yelling at his quarterback run and he I'm quoting here run the effing play that I'm giving you what the play that he checked out of was a touchdown and I I don't mean this in a wrong way or anything to Joe Sloan I like Joe I've interviewed Joe I've been around him if your quarterback is checking out of a play and it goes for seven you better shut the up because he's he knows what he's seeing on the field if it's resulting in a touchdown so look I think BK I'm GNA go ahead and call it BK's got to get involved in play calling if he doesn't they're in trouble or or go back to the offensive schematical things that you were doing a year ago you this Joe it's the same philosophy I talk to somebody today same same philosophy same wording same everything well then go back to the system of ball that you were trying to play last year too because you have the talent on the outside to do that I um I I actually agree with that that thought that it would be to LSU's benefit to try and have Brian K like all the plays I think that he is successful and and smart enough as an offensive minded coach that it would be a better result than allowing Joe Sloan to do it it's clear that he does not have enough exposure to enough circumstances to know how to handle certain situations but to answer your qu to go back to the point that you brought up with USC though I just want to round that thought out with I think LSU has a lot of work to do still to prove that they're a playoff team uh because they have a tough schedule I think for me USC I feel pretty good as them being a third Big 10 team in I think that they could beat Penn State I really think that they can I think that they have such Why do you always pick Penn State I I'm picking USC a team that I really don't like to beat Penn State I really think that their a athleticism that they have and their ability to play defense better than expected is going to help them they can finish the year 10 and two and it's the fourth best Big 10 team and four teams could get in them and Penn State could both get into the playoff I think there's a a possible world with one ACC team team getting in and one big 10 team getting in we'll see man we'll see penalties I I see Chris H's commenting there we're talking about nus you know needing to check the ball down more well he checked it down a little too much they coached him too a little too hard on that all right um let's get to this so Joe you want to get to our power wreckings very quickly really all right so Joe after College Football Week 2 Rankings week one we go to week two and we give our power rankings every single week when we do this um we're going to do our top 10 so I want to make it very well known because we got ripped in the show last week about this our power rankings are not what we would rate teams right like not this isn't a rating this is a ranking a power ranking in reference to what we think that we've seen so far through week two Joe here's your top 10 read it off let the people know who do you have one through 10 in your power rankings yeah first of all a lot of Bama fans are mad because I didn't put them in the top 10 I I I'm high on Bama I think Bama's great but like y'all beat up on on Western Kentucky which is awesome I'd put you guys at 11 I just think that uh Tennessee was was freaking scary I had to put them in there number one Georgia number two Ohio State number three Miami number four Texas number five Oregon uh number six Old Miss number seven Notre Dame number eight Penn State number nine Tennessee and number 10 USC so here's m not a lot more different number one Georgia number two Ohio State number three Miami number four Old Miss number five Penn State number six Oregon seven Texas number eight Notre Dame number nine Tennessee and then at 10 we have USC where you want to start off here for good sir uh I mean we there's really not much separation here because we we kind of leaned in on the teams that had tougher matchups well how about this both of us did not put Bama in our top 10 go first why don't you have Bama in there I don't think it's it's not an indictment on them I think that the minute that one of these top team 10 teams lose I would put them in there I just they beat Wester Kentucky the conversation I had with myself is do I put Tennessee in or do I put Alabama in and I was really freaking Blown Away with how good Nico looked which we're going to talk about in the preview in a second they're going to smoke NC State and they're going to continue to drive up their stock as a top team this year um it's something against Bama I I just want to give the shot to another team every year Bama is a top five team God forbid I want to go with somebody [Music] else the question becomes this early in the season about teams is who are you gonna take out now we could have taken out Tennessee we could have taken out USC but look USC had a very tough game and a tough opponent and they won then you have Tennessee who scored 31 points in a quarter and then only gave up like two total yards in the first quarter which is absolutely ridiculous look I think Bama to some extent they feel like that they don't have to prove anything when it comes to um because they have been one of the they have been the Pinnacle of college football for two decades I feel that their fan base thinks that they don't have to prove things under Kaylin deore and I think that they do okay and I think that there are other teams in here that just look better in week one now clearly Bama in week three I mean they play South Florida this week what are we going to learn abama and then in week three they have they go to Camp Randle and play Wisconsin in reference to Alabama I think both of us are pretty high on them right like I I think both of us are still very very high on them but I think that they have some other things that they have to prove and I don't think that's an indictment on them we're both really high on them now here's the conversation that I had about Bama and why I should have put him in and wanted to put him in over this team I almost overreacted to Oregon okay so you have Oregon on your list here yeah at number five and I have them at number six Oregon this weekend okay against Idaho did not look good man they I mean they just didn't and I think some things were clunky offensively some things looked bad Jo I gotta be honest I don't even know if I like my pick at Oregon in my top 10 but I put him in there cuz because I didn't want to overreact I think it would be a step too far to completely take him out of it um I think Oregon's still going to be a top Premier team by the end of the season they just look like they're still figuring things out I think that their offensive line gave up too easy of pressures against an Idaho defensive line that's good for an FCS team but should not be one that's giving you fits if you're Oregon thought things were a little bit sloppy there were some just bad late penalties Laport execution in the um in the Red Zone they're going to rebound but yeah they should drop I mean you you struggle with a team like Idaho who's not even a top five FCS team it's a problem it it's an issue he you say that well I mean he'll I I gave Idaho their props on the FCS show that I did this morning so Idaho fans could be you know as happy as they need to be but Oregon my whole point is here a bad week one game against an FCS opponent isn't everything to me but yeah the the red flag does need to start to move a little bit because you can't play like that in your big 10 schedule here's the thing that I look at Oregon too you mentioned one thing about pass rush Kon James nubby had six tackles for Idaho two of those were sacks now do you know anything about this kid as a a draft prospect I mean you cover the FCS too do you know anything about this kid no n okay so he's he's not like a big Riser coming up in the the NFL okay then Dallas aala also or lava excuse me um also had a sack Joe they generated 13 pressures in three sets that's that's terrible here's the thing on those 13 pressures are you ready uh Dylan Gabriel got hit 10 times and he his hand got banged up at one point two because he because he took a pressure the they can't they can't do this like this if there's an early fraud watch it might be Oregon I'm going to I'm going to be a little aggressive Rive in in saying that that that's a problem way they they got they got banged up along the offensive line right their right tackles out they you know they've been banged up a little bit there it is what it is but man you're getting pushed around by Idaho and no I'm not a ho you to Ho but IAH ho I mean it's just it's just the truth man I mean 13 pressures Dylan Gabriel gets hit 10 times and look Dylan is an absolutely Elite processor he doesn't have the talent but he's an elite processor anytime that you have to go in a game against an FCS opponent and throw the ball 49 times that that is a cause for concern but here's what I didn't understand Jordan James had 95 yards rushing why did they they not continue to run the football is a big time question mark for me you got a team that was not able to stop the run all right y oh you want to keep on well the the only thing the only other thing I had to to add there I still feel really good about the the prediction that we had in the offseason I think that Ohio State's going to be at Oregon when they play them at Oregon I think that they're going to push them around up the middle especially very very well could Joe let's talk about Penn stake here I have him at five you have them at eight uh I I know that you I I know that you have a lot of strong opinions about Penn State your thoughts on the nitty Lions well they they proved me wrong a ton I didn't have them really as a top 10 team for me in the preseason um all came down to how much more does Drew allar look comfortable and how much more can they stretch the field with their receivers which was a huge huge concern and I felt pretty good about it I would love to see how they're going to match up when they play other top Big 10 teams but they've got a really easy schedule that's super favorable for them and their defense their front sevens pretty aggressive Dennis Sutton and and and um oh oh Jesus Christ they they reloaded on defense they they did and I I I feel better about Penn State I feel good enough until they falter and they miss a step I feel like they've locked themselves into being like that eighth ninth or tth team for most of the rest of the season I had him at 10 I had him at 10 in the playoff mainly due to that what is Pinn State Joe look call James Franklin overrated call him whatever you want what do we know about him they're going to be 10 and two they're going to run the football moderately effectively okay and they're going to do some good things defensively actually some borderline Elite things defensively let me tell you why I'm a little bit higher on Penn State than than maybe you Andy codal necki okay good reason and look man I I think that just offensively they have a really good running game I thought their offensive line got serious push not just on the exterior but the interior am I freezing up here no okay no you're good on the on the interior not or they got a lot of on the interior and then Drew look man I know Drew all had a good game and against him last year but it was it's a completely different feel though Joe right like let me and let me say it like this they had a two-hour weather delay it's like a pitcher having to come back and throw in a game after you're sitting for two hours and by the way he goes out there and dots them up in the second half absolute absolutely dots them up so for that reason look man I'm I'm going to be a little bit higher on them they're going to have to prove me wrong we'll see about Penn State all right who else on your list do you want to get to here I know we'll talk about Tennessee in just a minute you want to get to Notre Dame or Old Miss where you want to go uh I mean Old Miss played Ferman so we we shouldn't really react to to that I I think Notre Dame let's get to Notre Dame let's get to Notre Dame then I I want to go higher on Notre Dame I think that we need to take their win over Tennessee with it has a high impact but with some or Texas A&M Texas A&M the win over Texas A&M is huge it's a good resume piece we got to take it with a little bit of a grain of salt this could to be a backend top 25 ranked team for most of the year if they play as good as they could um I I think that Notre Dame though proved to me that there's only one direction for them to go and that's up they got to improve a little bit more offensively and I think that as they start to get more comfortable with themselves and Riley Leonard starts to build chemistry with Den Brock and with the receivers they're going to continue to get better I feel pretty good about Notre Dame and I almost went as far as to put them at five I just didn't want to get caught up in the uh you know you you call me out for being a homer even though you know my my some of my predictions so far have kind of come to fruition I tweeted this and Notre Dame fans were all over me all weekend and it's fine I don't care you I literally have like two-thirds of your fan base muted on Twitter so it doesn't really matter um here's what I'd say I I I question Joe if they get in a game against a team that's been all been together and has more cohesiveness like if you go up against I I don't know the team like pick a team but it's been together for a while has more cohesiveness maybe not as talented as A&M that's only like two it's only like two teams that's Georgia and Ohio State like most of these teams are kind of still figuring their [ __ ] out name would play in the in a playoff you're saying no I'm just mean in general like I mean I I I don't like I said and like I said yesterday I don't want to take away from their win however I also don't want to look at A&M who's been Joe they they haven't had a winning season in three years that's not true they had a winning season last year no they didn't yes they did no they didn't what five and seven they wait they've wi five and seven last two years if I'm not mistaken no they were seven and six okay so seven and six and then five and seven what were they the year before wasn't that the year that they had the the the crazy they were five and seven in 2022 and then 2021 they were eight and four okay so a team that has not gotten over eight wins and we're considering that you get what I'm trying to say here it's a it's a good win I didn't say it wasn't a good win but Joe if you if you didn't beat a team that doesn't have double digit win I mean come on let let me give the compar let me give a comparison here you ready before Harbaugh and Michigan got really good they'd be like a sec team going up to Michigan and beating them lot of hype around Michigan but if you beat them I mean what have they done okay okay but okay so what's your what's you think that you don't think that this Notre name team is as good as everyone's defensively they're Elite look I'll go ahead and tell you I I I I've been making a joke on my other shows to mess around with you saying don't tell my co-host Joe that their defense is Elite I think their defense is Elite I worry about them offensively I I do I I I think for a guy that missed his entire spring I I think that there's only Improvement that's going to come from it they're not going to get tested on their schedule there's no defense that's like really going to strain them on the schedule maybe George attack I'm going to throw this out here at you you know how crazy everybody was Louisville stunk maybe they don't stink I mean Louis Louisville suffocated dudes the other night who do they play againa it was an FCS team I think the real challenge is going to be when they play USC and I like that when both these teams are comparably good and I hope that they're both ranked in the top 10 because they would make for a momentous battle at the end of the season but I think Notre Dame wins that I think that Notre Dame's defense is that much better than maybe not that much better than USC's offense but I think that they could put together a huge game here's what I'd say about that game the wide receivers of USC versus the DBS of Notre Dame is NFL level quality content absolutely absolutely all right um Joe I want to go to Georgia here both of us have Georgia at one look man I'm just going to call it like I see it Georgia is the best team of the country in my opinion I thought they were the best team in the country in my opinion look I I I know that they have a very tough schedule and they got some some injuries they got some guys banged up but Trevor uh but ATN comes back the the Fraser kid at running back I thought looked really good they got another wide receiver another white kid from off the street like they I mean they pluck white receivers out of anywhere like this kid was at the local Waffle House and then he just comes out here and then Landon Humphrey comes out here I I I just think from top to bottom they are the most talented team in the country and they're both number one in our power rankings they're the only team that's never had a question and last year the only questions they had was Health which is the only thing that ever slows down a team this good and a in a program this good they are going to go on the run that everyone thinks I think so many people overthought who the best team in the country is I've seen some people think that Oregon was going to beat Georgia that's not going to happen Georgia is on a different level it there's going to be some hardfought battles that they have to go through they're not going to blow everybody out but they are so freaking well-rounded at every single position group it's the only to look at it the only thing here now I have Texas in my top 10 I have Texas at seven you don't have a in your top 10 power ranking no no no I did I had him at four oh did you okay never mind yeah um that test in and of itself is going to be really good right like I think them going to to Austin is going to be a really tough battle but I I just don't I think they're like you said they're better than everybody pretty much every position yeah and for that reason it's why we're going to keep him in one all right any other team you want to get to before we get to this preview here no let's get to Tennessee all right Joe Tennessee NC State this Tennessee NC State upcoming week I think everybody was somewhat maybe not necessarily because week one was so big but Tennessee absolutely destroyed it offensively this past Saturday Nico makes his second start he's now got the keys to this Josh hole offense and they went absolutely crazy lot of Buzz flying around Tennessee but on the other part NC State really struggled coming out of the gate this past weekend in week one how do you see this game going between NC State and Tennessee yeah NC State fans this game is going to be a bloodbath I mean you can't look at the way that you played against Western Carolina and Western Carolina is a comparable level team as Chattanooga is you can't look at that game and feel good about yourself knowing what Tennessee just did to Chattanooga it took you until the fourth quarter to create separation Grayson McCall threw a really bad pick uh the Run fits weren't consistent they gave up a number of long rushes Cole Gonzalez of Western uh Western Carolina had some long rushes and scrambles that he was able to utilize to keep them moving forward and to really stress NC State Nico showed us though I think why I think this game is going to be so lopsided I mean that's the next coming of the next great quarterback in college football that kid is unbelievable to the point where he could end up being a Heisman finalist this year I wanted to wait and see it I'm not going to crown him after beating Chattanooga but the throws that he made in an offense that's built literally for his skill set he is going to throw up some stupid stats against NC State I don't think that they have the secondary or just the general defense to keep up with that team and I think James Pierce J uh could end up teeing off on on Grayson McCall I'm not trying to completely act like NC State's a Sitting Duck here but there is separation between a top SEC team and a and a above average ACC program considering what happened between Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech that's all the evidence that we need to know the separation of these two conferences right now for NC State it is you know look Joe in a in a way I'm not trying to compare stay with me on this I think the same comparison in reference to Riley Leonard and Notre Dame okay of the cohesiveness when you got a guy like Grayson McCall coming in I think that they were just clunky like Grayson McCall went 26 of 40 but man they they just looked clunky though it I I don't know how to really describe it other than they were clunky this past Saturday but McCall did throw for 318 three touchdowns in a pick problem is Joe is that Nico's on the other side of him and I I think when we look at Nico and we look at who he is as a quarterback probably a potential number one overall pick in in next year not this year's draft but next year's draft I I Joe I I don't know where their deficiencies are right now at the current moment offensively Now Blake they play Chattanooga Chattanooga is no good you're right they're not Joe that offensive line absolutely dominated looks good Dylan Sam yeah look very good Dylan Samson had 12 carries 124 yards and three scores Deshawn Bishop also had 60 yards and a touchdown the thing about hypo that people don't realize is man they're going to run the football too that that's the biggest misconception in all this is that they'll run the football here's the thing though you ready I I I also need to see them do it against FBS opponent like I need to see Tennessee do it they did now I look at what they did putting up 31 points in the first quarter versus any opponent is very elite like that's not good that's Elite and I get that but I I I kind of didn't want to see another sample size out of Tennessee now NC State defensively is not as bad as people are you know like saying I saw some things today like what like I don't know what y'all were looking at I mean but I think it's a good challenge but I do think Tennessee by multiple scores here I I'm going to take them to win I'm gonna take them to cover and I think that it's just because n Nico is so good and that running game is so good now here's the thing that I will say when and if they beat NC State Joe we're gonna have to start having serious conversations about Tennessee and how this season may go for them that was why I put them in the power ranking because I think it's nice setup for what's going to be a big climb for them I I think if they splatter him this game's on the road this is not in Tennessee this is this is on the road I don't I don't know if it's at NC State or it's neutral site but I know that it's not it's in it's a neutral site it's in Charlotte that's what I thought but this is still considered to not be a home territory area for um for Tennessee people travel Tennessee people about to travel my my point is is that if you come and you splatter NC State this way that to me is a ranked team that to me is a a really Prime indicator that this team is going to be in a special categ or that there is a lot of separation between them and NC State though I I have never felt this good coming into a ranked on ranked matchup of how lopsided it could be man I I really think that this Tennessee team is is ready to to show everybody hey we're we're legit Chattanooga was one thing we're about to show you how we do against a a power four team what what do you consider a splattering 17 plus points okay um well is that not a splattering to you yeah I I I I for how hard it is to score points these days because of how goddamn short the the games are and how little action there is on the goddamn field sorry I got to stop saying that uh for how little action there is on the field um 17 points is a pretty handed Victory no that's fine I I I agree with that why why why do I why am I a little skittish on saying it's an outright splattering because we don't want we don't want the NC State fans to clip this and to and to share around I don't care about that what no no let me let me reframe this in another way why why do I have a gut reaction not to overreact to to to this like I look we've seen Nico in two starts and he's looked fantastic Iowa and look that Iowa defense doesn't suck it's great I it was a great defense that that didn't really not a lot of guys were out of that bowl game for them because a lot of them came back this year that kid is special man like I I I don't like overreactions I hate them but when you have when you pull on the film and you watch the highlights and you see the throws that some of these kids make you have to recognize it you can't be skittish just like I talk about with quarterbacks where you can't be skittish in your decision- making where you're afraid to take risks I think when you see something and you're trying to have a take on how how special a kid could be make the take I think that nio is a gunslinger and he's just the perfect pairing for what hypo needs him to be yeah I I mean Tennessee might be backed more towards the 2022 form that they've had here's another thing we haven't talked about Tennessee's defense look if Grayson McCall's going to this is more than Nico I want to talk about this before we get out out of here okay the the big thing too is that front seven of Tennessee is legit and if Grayson McCall and that offense is going to struggle the way that they did this past week this Tennessee front s is not who you need to face like they are very talented and very good what does James Pierce look like what do the these other guys look like that Jo more than Nico because everybody wants to talk about hyping their offense more than all of that I just want to say don't sleep on that front seven of Tennessee yeah like you just said you can't have the inconsistencies that you had last week and then to step into this game against Tennessee's front seven I this could be also a coming out party for them man I I will say Anthony Belton versus James Pierce Jr is going to be a really fun match up to pay attention to because belton's going to be a top uh Prospect to watch this year I was very high on him but James Pierce Jr is just an unreal athlete this could be a big big day for very much well could be uh we do have a couple of super chats here Elks with a $2 Super Chat says Hammer Texas to cover the Michigan offense is booty cheeks it's a big line I don't know if I'm gonna go I think it's like seven points or something like that right now it's like crazy lopsided so I don't know if I'm going to take him to cover um but I I mean I don't hate that I don't completely hate that I'm going to take I would take Texas to win I would take Texas to cover at the Cent yeah I I don't I mean they they didn't look anything special against Fresno I think Michigan's a good team but like I don't know if they're they're in the same category as Texas right now I'm gonna have a couple more days until I have to pick that one so we'll we'll we'll see lean there beef stick with a $2 Super Chat says sorry for your lost Blake love you guys oh man thanks beef stick he left us a nice comment too he said that uh something along the lines that he loves our show so I thought that was very nice he dropped that on the the comments of the last video we forgot to he had a Super Chat the other day too we forgot to forgot to read it well I just hate that his name's beefstick I I hate somebody I hate somebody saying they love us and that their name's beefstick that's all all right okay well see y'all again on Wednesday are we doing picks and more game previews we have two to three more game previews and then game picks we might have to do some we might have to go longer that's what you said all right all right we'll see y we'll see you on Wednesday man youall have a good one peace