Football is back! - ESPN SHOCKED Georgia Tech beat Florida ST on a walk-off field goal by Aidan Birr

the the pictures you were seeing there live in Dublin this isn't January 2nd or January 3rd after a big bowl game it is what August 2 August 24th I mean that's how big of a game this is to set the tone for the rest of the season we'll get back to Georgia Tech in a minute I do want to talk to Florida State side of this because this was a program that was put in the National Spotlight for all of the right and wrong reasons 13 and0 a year ago they lose Jordan Travis at debilitating injury that in most people's eyes knocked them out of being one of the best four teams in the country in the college football playoffs that's a chip on your shoulder moment for your program to go into an offseason albeit a lot of those players gone but you regroup with some guys in the portal you want this win to prove to everybody that what we saw last year was not an aberration it's what Mike norell has built well not necessarily because you you made a great Point Matt Barry in that yes there is that history from last season but a lot of the players who were there last season are gone Jared verse Braden fist they're in the NFL Keon Coleman's playing for the Buffalo Bills right now there are 17 new transfers on this team and so though there's there was that feeling from the players who were there a lot of those players are gone Jordan Travis quarterback is gone a lot of the defensive Stars kayin D do Del gone andon Johnny Wilson yeah correct and so there wasn't this sense of well we got to go proof to the world no this is a new team and that new team on the defensive side of the ball wasn't able to get it done foundationally though it's still Florida State football it's one of the biggest brands in the country this is not how they needed their season to start and and my sense in their first drive was that they were trying to do that now it is a new team you're totally right about that but they got the ball first Florida State drove the ball up to the 50 yard line and then five straight runs straight down Georgia Tech's throat opening touchdown and then a swinging gate trick play for two points and a two-point conversion to go up 8-0 and when I saw that I thought you know what this program wants to show that they are dominant in every way right well Georgia Tech had something to say about that when they came back and answered that touchdown but I think that they wanted to do that but this is where I think the playoff there you go with 12 teams you're not out of it by any stretch of the imagination this is a Florida State team with a new quarterback a whole bunch of new receivers and it'll take time for them to get rolling Michigan similar situation they new head coach new quarterback a whole bunch of ranked a lot L last year but they played Texas in week two they play USC in week four and if they stumble early this 12 team playoff still allows them to stay in the national race and still make the playoff if they don't win their own conference you look at Florida State schedule and what they have coming up again 12 team play we think 10- two is going to get a number of teams in the playoff but when you look Boston College Memphis that's a big game for Memphis out of the group of five I think they're a team that could win the group of five bid you got Cal SMU when you look at the schedule big picture as of right now this is my soapbox moment I cannot stand preseason rankings I think they are absolutely worthless I think they are teams that are ranked that aren't going to be ranked I think they're are team teams that are on that schedule that may be ranked Higher by that time but when you look at the schedule Florida state has enough good quality games in their way they can play their way back into this to Trevor's Point week one of who you are isn't necessarily who you're going to be in week 10 and let alone week one this is week zero so there's only a few games going on right now and so part of the committee's job is to look at who a team is and right now and where they're going to be people are going to say okay maybe that was a tough loss but who knows in a few weeks you get a chance to beat some ranked teams like Clemson or at least face some ranked teams and then also with that 12 team playoff there are more slots more opportunities even if you don't win the ACC you may get one of those at large bids and so though this is a somewhat of a devastating loss because you're a top 10 team it's definitely a loss you can recover from based off an expanded playoff format and teams that you play Down the Line based off your strength and schedu let's go big picture ACC because they did a great job of it on on college game day this morning we were talking about it we believe that the ACC is wide open a lot of people thought that Florida state was going to be the toast of the ACC and that very well may still be the case as we get to the end of the season Clemson's a really good team Miami is a really good team I'm big on Virginia Tech because of their schedule who they've got coming back I think they're going to be a threat to win this conference and now Georgia Tech they go to another country and beat a team a lot of people thought was the favorite in the ACC you got to throw Georgia Tech into a conversation now where we could go six or seven deep and say hey this conference is going to be fun to watch and and that'll be good for the top of the ACC to maybe get more than one team in because as the committee looks at the the quality of the depth in this conference they'll say look there's quality wins in here and we don't just have to take the conference Champion just based on the rule I think that's important but I also think that the ACC has some really big games with Miami at Florida with NC State at Tennessee sure you know these are are Clemson at Georgia uh these are massive games for the acc's perception and what a great start it was I don't know why they call it week zero because zero is not really he's building in the program that if you Underdog Us by double digits we're going to have a chip on her shoulder we're going to come out there and kick you in the mouth for four quarters well for me it's more consistency it is an attitude but that attitude says I don't care where we're ranked I don't care how we're underdog if we're if we're favored we are going to be a physical football team Brent key a former offensive lineman Brent key a former offensive line coach when it comes I'm sitting next to a a a BYU National Champion offensive line and there's a mentality that comes to playing offensive line a lot of teams want to be pretty Georgia Tech is not one of them and that mentality goes all the way through this team the offensive line brings it but the coaching step Fosters it you talk about the attitude right normally if you would think we're playing against a team that most people think will make the playoff and maybe win the conference and you know last year we were seven and six and what are we going to do Brett key the head coach of Georgia Tech attitude is we're gonna hit them in the mouth we're going to attack them and that's what the defense did they attacked the receivers by playing close to them they didn't ear the receivers and the Big Arm of DJ yalele and play them soft they were all over them up and down the field and then the Defenders up front would slash they attacked the line of scrimmage when they saw blocking schemes develop they would fire in behind blockers and tackle for loss after tackle for loss made a huge difference and early on after that first drive we're sitting there watching the game we like oh hell like Florida State came out here the plays probably scripted coming in probably working on those for three weeks in Camp they came out there executed at a high level and you're thinking what's Georgia Tech defense going to do credit the coaching staff new defensive coordinator they made the adjust early and other than those fourth down conversions I don't know that we saw many chunks out of Florida State the rest of the way and that's a great point because Georgia Tech was bringing bringing pressure often times when you're bringing pressure we saw a few safety blitzes that's when big plays can this running game in the offensive line you never want to take a sack especially when you're that close to to the red zone so now you go from college football led by Barrett Carter who could have gone to the NFL one of the best linebackers in football and name everyone needs to know I think their defense is going to help lead the way but I think that quarterback play is going to be significantly and I think it's it's irresponsible to look we got it DAV Sween had two generational quarterbacks on his way to a college football playoff and a national championship Kate k club Nick's a good player hasn't shown his potential as of yet but they're still winning double digit games in Death Valley it's not like they've fallen off a cliff but they haven't been at the top of the ACC for a bit well what's falling off the cliff is production at wide receiver you know who do they have that scares people back when Trevor Lawrence was there you know Justin Ross and T Higgins and they just had so many great wide receivers at Clemson and I think that production has fallen off in recent years and it's made the quarterbacks look less Dynamic than they could be and to me from a standpoint of transfer portal yeah this is the position group for Clemson that I'm really watching to see if the idea of developing your own guys instead of bringing in some quick fixes is going to work for them because this year they have a team that's good enough to make the playoff and make noise there if the wide receivers can scare people especially deep and the quarterback Club Nick needs to connect with them of course but if that development of wide receiver tells us that he didn't need to bring in a a transfer then I think you'll see some good things from Clemson we could do a whole conversation of the transfer portal because I think the transfer portal is good to plug a hole here and there but to build your roster and most of your starters on the transfer portal and try to get it to Jael in time for the season that's a dicey way to go about it I mentioned some of the new teams coming in Cal Stanford out of the Pack 12 because sure why not and then SMU was actually the first in that realignment conversation that got in and Rett lassley has that thing huming SMU plays Nevada tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern they're a good B now we talked about this they've got talent but it comes about depth when you're coming up to a conference as big talk to me about SMU and their chances well so you talk about depth and chances there's been 21 transfers that have come into SMU 13 of them have been on the offensive or defensive line what do I mean you talking about guys from Oklahoma guys from Alabama guys from Georgia that's what you're going to see and so yes the skill position players for SMU are super talented starting with quarterback Preston Stone but it's in the trenches where they have to get better I think that's where they are getting better and so I'm excited about SMU I think they're going to be able to make some noise in the ACC an underrated team that people aren't talking enough about two things about SMU one it's situated right there in the DFW metroplex there's a lot of money behind SMU and dfw's got more high school football Talent you can argue than any place in the country those guys might go away initially but they're going to want to come back home especially with SMU now in a power four conference impact transfers we see it all the time we'll start with Malik Murphy he is a really good player that transferred in he's going to be named the starter he's going to make an impact right away for Manny D as a new head coach at Duke no that that'll be absolutely critical because Malik Murphy is a a dynamic playmaker and that's what they need right now there are some holes on the Duke roster I me you got a quarterback that can help to uh fix some of those problems paper over some of those problems while you're getting guys up to speed it's a massive difference because now you win a game or two that you may have otherwise lost and that does everything for your confidence and don't like Mike Elco he made Duke football a thing for a minute he's off to Texas A&M in comes Manny Diaz he had a stint at Miami as the head coach the Manny Diaz higher I think was viewed as interesting he's got head coaching experience he was recruiting well at Miami but Duke as we know Duke football is a different ball game but at least he knows he's got a skilled quarterback to help him but it's not just a quarterback think about what what Mike Elco did at Duke it was defense that's what was a strong point what does Manny Diaz do as well Manny Diaz does defense he was a Penn State defensive coordinator had one of the best defenses in all of college football that's what does that's who he is and so that defensive mentality that defensive mindset is going to stick now you have a quarterback that needs to elevate the offense R Leonard did it last year he's transferred out now he's at Notre Dame now hopefully new quarterback can make a make a change and Malik had on the Bon ofi his head got a couple starts in Texas when he did he quitted himself quite well when Quin yers was out another impact transfer we want to talk about because this team in and around has always been a quarterback for some offensive way and that's Miami and cam Ward initially it entered his name into the NFL draft pulled it out came from Washington State down to Miami and and Miami Trevor they're a trendy pick to click coming out of the ACC especially with how Mario chrisol recruits right because he he recruits first of all lineman you know he's an offensive lineman at heart and what he wants to do is is create that line of scrimmage league but he also brings in a lot of fast guys on the perimeter and if your quarterback can't distribute the ball to them on time then those guys are diminished yeah yeah well just to that point of lineman Francis maoa one of the top players in all the college football at least at least in high school is on that offensive line they're big they're strong I think they average like 330 on the offensive line and so that'll actually allow Ken Ward more time to make plays he's a very athletic quarterback he can move around in the pocket so a better offensive line is going to give him chances to make even more plays year three of Mario chrisal look I get it college football is a microwave Society now get in and win but you have to have time to build your foundation year three for Amy's got a loaded team at a quarterback in cam Ward we'll see if Miami can get back to dominating in the conference and talk maybe 10 11 wins to find themselves in a college football playoff now the ACC rightfully so sometimes they they get a little bit edgy about their teams being left out of the playoff that's going to change this year with the 12 team but guys I've always said if you want your conference to be able to brag you have to win your big outof conference games and right out of the gate the ACC has an opportunity to do that Clemson Georgia being the big one that's right in Clemson a lot of people think could win the ACC and if they can play with Georgia maybe not even beat him but if they can play with Georgia show they belong on the field with Georgia then that tells the college football world but especially the committee that the top of the ACC is a match for the top of the SEC but even to your point we talk about microwave Society look at that Miami vers Florida game yes Mario Chris Ball needs to have success at at Florida there needs to be some Su success there as well and so I think that's a huge game that people aren't giving enough credit or Credence to Mario chrisal when they play Florida has to be they have to find a way to win that one I equate what Mario is going to have to do with Miami in week one almost to what Brent key just did today against Florida State completely different program completely different history in that we know they're building something and to get one out of the gate for a season where a lot of people think Miami could be a college football playoff Contender you got to go get it against Florida and a rivalry right but here's the risk if they get it great side of relief now they continue on with the season if Miami loses to Florida you got to expect that Florida will probably finish in the bottom half of the pecking order of the s country schedule is miserable but then if Miami goes on to play in the ACC Championship Game the committee is looking at that going okay well gee you had all these ACC teams that you beat but you couldn't beat the team that's eighth in the SEC four team playoff that matters 12 team it won't that's a problem oh no if they win it right but what what it tells you about the rest of the ACC is that maybe the competition there isn't as good that's why for the conference Miami needs to win this game it's got to be fun we're in week zero what whatever the hell that means but week one is loaded especially one of those games we were just talking about Miami and Florida the notable week one games [Music] Alabama [Music] for for Fore spee [Music] spee speee for spe spee [Music] [Music] spe [Music] [Music] e e [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] spe foree speee speech speee foreign look good for spee speech speech that fore [Music] speee [Music] fore foree speee spee spee gra give is [Music] foree spee spee foreign fore