Top 25 Preseason Reaction + Camp Buzz from Florida, Tennessee & Ohio State | Always College Football

Intro schedule's brutal and if they can't get quarterback right for whatever reason they struggle on offense tell me they couldn't possibly play their way out of the top 25 it could absolutely happen hello and welcome it's always college football today's Monday August 12th and we hope that you've had a terrific weekend knowing that we're just 12 days away from the college football season getting underway that means we'll be heading to Dublin we'll have college game day we'll have a bunch of games week to look forward to and there are some contenders I'll be playing in that week Zero game slot as well I'm Greg mroy along with me as always Mark kuak Jack Foster Jake Garcia for those that are looking at us right now on the ESPN YouTube channel I have totally gotten rid of the beard uh had a beard going for like a year I've just finally looked in the mirror like what are you doing like I not that it looked that terrible just didn't look that good either so got rid of the beard going clean shaven this year we'll see I I feel like I look a little younger maybe uh I feel older but look maybe a touch younger but I'll tell you what's also young is this AP poll this AP poll came out just a couple minutes ago uh we are taping it with fresh reaction and there's some I think some things to take away from this not saying that you need to put a ton of stock into it but there is value to looking at the AP poll and assessing Trends from previous years it's all I'm saying you don't have to sit there and treat this as if it's the Ten Commandments it's not it's just a list of starting points based on offseason narratives we'll tell you some they got right some they got wrong teams they're overvaluing teams they're undervaluing and why and there's always a team or two that start in the top 10 and finish outside the top 25 can we potentially identify those teams this year we'll try there's also some Camp Buzz a lot of Camp Buzz right now a lot of teams that were on the field this weekend for scrimmages some fan days that we're had so we'll give you kind of a wrap around what went down on campuses the past few days and what's really happened here in the first half of Camp so let's not put it off let's go into the AP pole breakdown next on always college What do preseason rankings mean? football you don't have to acknowledge it as something that's really important every year it's rinse and repeat I listen to Talking Heads self-included either hyping up the AP Pole or diminishing its value I can already tell you right now those that are associated with certain you know places are going to diminish its value because it doesn't reflect well on some of their early matchups some that are favorably represented some leagues that are favorably represented will basically Elevate the importance of the preseason poll no matter how you feel about it it dates back to 1936 the preseason poll was launched in 1950 so the AP poll has mattered it's it's a part of our historical significance here's the problem with it it has not been super acculate accurate when picking future national champions only 11 of the 74 previous preseason number one teams went on to win the national championship and there hasn't been a single one that have done it since 2017 that was Alabama they came in the season that year number one they won the National Championship that's the only one in the last handful of years that has actually done it only three AP preseason number one ranked teams in the last 25 years went on to win the national title that was 1999 Florida State 2004 USC and 2017 Alabama so they're three for the last 25 in being able to accurately pick the national champion so bad news I guess if you're the George Bulldog you are the AP preseason number one for the second straight year they are the sixth team to top the preseason charts in consecutive seasons and this is only the third time that they've been the AP preseason number one back in 200 8 didn't really go their way came in with Matt Stafford noan Marino a bunch of really talented guys and they went on to have not a disappointing year but not a year that was won with a championship at the end and then last year of course so they're 0 for two in the two years that they've been the preseason number one when it comes to cashing it in for a championship Ohio State's number two new Big 10 member Oregon is number three this is the third time that the Big 10 has had two teams in the top three of the AP preseason poll last year Michigan was number two and Ohio State was number three right behind Georgia and then the other season was back in 1961 when you had the buck guys number two right behind Iowa it was actually number one of course a million years ago 63 years ago in fact and I think Iowa might be running the same offense or at least they were last year Texas comes in as the number four team it's the preseason AP poll highest ranking it's The Big Ten and SEC dominate the rankings an open number two back in 2009 they finished 13 to1 last that year and almost won the National Championship they got all the way there lost to the Alabama Crimson tied Michigan is ranked number nine in the AP pole that's the second lowest pre-season rank for a defending national champion in the BCS or college football playoff era so dating back to 1998 that is the second lowest Auburn is the only defending national champ that was ranked lower that was in 2011 where they were ranked 23rd so of course they won it in 2010 bam uh they then Michigan won it last year Michigan's nine Auburn was 23 and Auburn at 23 was about right Miss is in at six that's their highest AP preseason poll since 1970 the SEC gets nine teams in the poll that's the most by a single conference in in a preseason AP poll the previous high was eight held by the SEC in three different years 2011 2014 and 2015 couple other outliers Clemson comes in at 14 that's their lowest AP preseason rank since 2014 when they started the season 16th so all things considered couple historical things there you need to just take into account I actually think the list was pretty good there's not a whole lot that I can point to and say yeah that was egregiously bad um there are some things it's if you really look at it our top 25 is kind of been kind of in unison in some ways with this top 25 our top five are comparable we have Ohio State one Georgia two we have you know Texas and or and Oregon three and four we have bamama five uh I had ol Miss at seven I had Notre Dame at at six you know Penn State was right there as well Penn State Notre Dame old miss you know in any3 that's kind of how we had it as well we had Michigan outside the top 10 they have them at nine it's really not that far off we had Florida State at 12 they had them at 10 so if you really look kind of down the list there's not that much that we disagree on where our lists start to disagree is actually in the 20s uh Utah they have Utah a little higher than I anticipated uh they have a couple other teams in there as well that I don't at the moment having my top 25 but we're splitting hairs frankly when we're in the top 20 top 10 top five that's a little bit different League when you get down to 21 through say 35 is there that much really separating those teams not right now they all have major question marks and they all are kind of in provent mode but one team that I felt like is ranked a lot higher than they probably should be is Iowa and Should Iowa really be ranked because of their weak schedule? it's not because I don't think Iowa is going to finish the season ranked it's not because I don't think Iowa is going to be a good football team they're always good football team but the reason why people have them in the top 25 is because of their schedule and I don't think we should look at say Liberty from last year Liberty was undefeated Liberty was what they were they got to the new year six they got blasted why did Liberty get ranked where they got ranked because they had a really nice record Iowa might have a really nice record but will it reflect quality look at their schedule Illinois State Iowa State Iowa State I think is going to be pretty good so they get that win that's nice win but it's at home you have Troy at home at Minnesota they could theoretically start three and one and that would be somewhat of a disappointing start to the season you get Ohio State on the road that's a game that will probably be a real challenge Washington comes to them big changes going on for Washington at Michigan State tricky game but I think Iowa matches up well in that situation Northwestern Wisconsin at UCLA they're going to probably be in a good spot with those three at Maryland tough game Nebraska comes with them tough game we could be fast forward to the end of the year and Iowa could be 10 and two doesn't mean they're going to be great though because what will their best win be that would be my Challenge and based on what I'm hearing we'll go into Camp Buzz here in a little bit doesn't sound like the offense is making the progress that we had hoped for Iowa this off season so we're kind of banking on a team that is GNA win the SEC West when the SEC West doesn't matter anymore the SEC West doesn't exist anymore and yes their schedule's manageable but are they really one of the 25 best teams in America we'll find out I wouldn't have them in the AP does one team that right now is not getting enough respect is Miami Miami is's at 19 Miami feels underrated and a lot of media members that are voting in this poll have probably been burned by Miami in the past probably have I have probably been burned by Miami I don't remember off the top of my head maybe it's this year but Miami when you look at their roster I I'm not like we just talked about with I I don't I'm not going to look at the schedule in this exercise not in this exercise schedules will matter when we know what these teams are that's part of the problem is we draw conclusions about teams based on where they're ranked in the pre-season without acknowledging oh yeah you know what that team's actually a whole heck of a lot better than we anticipated so you deserve credit for that win over a team in week two that is now a top 10 team well at the time they were unranked it doesn't matter we have to adjust and evaluate these teams as their story gets told and Miami coming into the season has as good of a roster as 98% of the sport so their roster from a talent standpoint across the board yes they're not in Ohio State territory they're not in Georgia territory I'm not putting them there but there's not that many teams that are ranked say three through 15 that I would say oh yeah they're roster is way better than Miami's or oh yep you know what Penn State their roster is way better than Miami I think Miami can actually hold up roster wise against just about anybody ranked right now between like six and 18 and in some cases I might actually prefer Miami because I think they're really good at quarterback I think they're really good along the offensive line I think they're really solid along the defensive line I think they have game changers I think they have difference makers they have highlevel All-American candidates at multiple positions whether it's right tackle with Francis Maui NOA whether it's defensive end with Ruben Bane whether it's cam Ward at quarterback who accounted for 74% of his team's offense last year whether it's the addition they made it running back that no one seems to be talking about but we will when we get into Camp busz I think when you look at Miami they have many many pieces that if they come together they can beat anybody now you're going to say well they didn't kneel on it against Georgia Tech that's just loow hanging fruit if you want to focus on that fine ignore the positives but when the Miami train leaves the station do not try to jump on the bandwagon we told you so right now this team's going to be good and I'm telling you I think they're gonna be a real problem for just about everybody in the sport one team that currently is unranked but will finish the season ranked I'm going with the Auburn Tigers Auburn is not ranked, but probably will be by season’s end I have them in my top 25 coming into the season and the negatives on Auburn is well they didn't go out and get a GameChanger quarterback well pton Thorne pton Thorne yes that quarterback he's won a New Year's six bowl game in the past he's been on really good football teams one was at Michigan State when he was surrounded by a ridiculously talented Supporting Cast and while people say well he can't Elevate those guys well those other guys can Elevate him and he might end end up having a heck of a year I've heard pretty good things about what's gone down the planes the last few weeks with where he's at where the receiver core is the depth of that group the weapons that they have how they'll run the football the offensive lines coming together and then you look at the schedule like I said with Iowa a second ago we're not going to assess the schedule Auburn has a lot of big opportunities to make some noise I would have Oklahoma in the top 16 17 just like the AP does Oklahoma comes to Auburn right after they play Tennessee at home in a very emotional welcome to the SEC game then you go on the road to Auburn that's a massive opportunity for Auburn you don't think they can get that win they might be favored right now if the game was played tomorrow so if you look at just the amount of opportunities that Auburn has to solidify a big time program defining win they're all throughout their schedule which is why I think Auburn at the end of the year will Fast Forward they'll be eight and four but they'll have a great win maybe two and that will Elevate their perception so I think Auburn will finish the season in the top 25 I mean goodness gracious they have two points right now in the poll two that's right behind Kentucky who has three and above Colorado who finished 4 and eight last year one team that is ranked right now correctly but people are going to be mad about is Michigan now a lot of people are really Michigan is perfectly ranked to start the year up in arms well Michigan's owned the Big 10 for the last three years and Michigan has this and Michigan has that and their defense their defense their defense their defensive line their their corner I get all they have good weapons they have quality pieces along the defensive line I think they're really good at all three levels defensively I think they have solid offensive line as well even though a couple of those guys there are some question marks about that group and whether or not they'll be as good as they were the last three years that's a question mark but there's still questions of quarterback like I don't know right now about whether or not Alex orgy is going to be capable of beating you through the air I don't know that now I'll change my tune week two against Texas if he goes out and starts lighting them up on incredible throws if he does that then sure we will adjust Michigan where they need to be adjusted to but as of this moment today August 12th Michigan has major question marks at the biggest position which is why I think they need to be in the top you know top 12 not the top four so we'll evaluate them but right now they're appropriately ranked even though I think a lot of Michigan fans are a little frustrated with how they're being evaluated heading into the season now told you earlier there's always one team that's in the top 10 in the preseason that probably isn't there if you want to go back 2023 Who from the Top 10 might fall out of the rankings? that'd be number six USC 2022 number six Texas A&M number 10 Baylor 2021 number six Texas A&M number seven Iowa State 2018 number four Wisconsin number eight Miami number nine Albert 2017 number three Florida State number four USC 2016 number 10 Notre Dame 2015 number six Auburn that's was the Jeremy Johnson year 2014 number four Oklahoma number nine South Carolina there's always a few teams every year that start the season in the top 10 that ultimately aren't playing as ranked teams at the end of November couple of teams that could very easily be this year what if Alex orgy Mak mistakes throwing the football what if the offense sputters and if they have some turnover woes what if that happens and you look at Michigan schedule I mean they could in theory be an eight and4 football team Vegas for the record just so you know ESPN bet nine and a half was a win total for Michigan that's now moved down to eight and a half schedule's brutal and if they can't get quarterback right for whatever reason they struggle on offense tell me they couldn't possibly play their way out of the top 25 it could absolutely happen what about Florida State we look at Florida State and we're banking a lot on DJ oui young they're in at number 10 djay had a great year last year really nice year tons of yards per attempt or air yards per attempt I think his actual qbr was better than Jordan Travis's was last year there's a lot to like about how DJ U young has progressed but the last time we saw him playing the ACC it wasn't pretty it was far from it I think he's matured I think he's grown I think he's a better player today than he was two years ago at Clemson but you're putting a lot on his shoulders and there's really unproven weapons on the perimeter there's big question marks at wide receiver I think they'll be able to run the ball I like their o line I like the tandem of backs that they have I think they're really good at running back they lost a key piece at tight end but I still think they'll be good there as well but receivers a huge question mark and if this passing game isn't necessarily clicking on all cylinders are they a top 10 team team they have a tough schedule too I mean you got a lot of really good teams on that schedule that you're going to have to deal with if you're Florida State you know you're going to get everyone's best shot too based on how things went last year so those are a couple teams that I'm looking at Team nine Michigan team 10 Florida state is if things don't fall into place will No Group of Five teams for the 1st time since 2014 in preseason rankings they be as good at the end of the year as they're perceived to be here in the preseason then no G5 teams in the AP preseason poll they got it right guys with where these G5 programs are at right now it's not taking anything away from them but with realignment and the best most reliable G5 teams have now really shuffled up into the power five ciny UCF Houston uh SMU BYU these are some of the most reliable G5 teams well they're now in the P5 and then you have the Boise states of the world which I think Boise is still going to be a really good football team we're going to find out week two when they play or right now they're kind of in see it to believe it mode I cannot feel confident enough based on the way the portal has worked out for a lot of teams to tell you right now Boise belongs in the top 25 now they'd be probably the highest on the list them and Memphis would be the highest on the list Liberty perhaps but Liberty lost some key pieces as well you look at those three maybe four teams if you want to add a two lane you want to add some others but right now we're still still kind of all wondering what are things looking like for the G5 as we progress so I think it's appropriate at this point to not have any G5 teams in the top 25 big weekend this past weekend for a lot of teams a lot of teams out there scrimmaging they're 10 practices in or so here on the 12th of August summer eight summer 15 16 if you're playing week zero you're a little ahead naturally but ton of Buzz circulating right now so I figur we'd just go through and just kind of give you some things that we are hearing right now okay we'll start with Ohio State there are number one ranked teams so we'll start at the top it's sounding like the Camp Buzz - Ohio State QB, Penn State WR, Iowa QB issues & Nebraska turnovers offense is starting to hit it stride a little bit all right it's also sounding like we know how this offense goes this offense is going to go how the quarterback goes okay so they're going to put a lot on will Howard's shoulders and it's sounding more and more after the spring was very much up and down bit of a roller coaster in the spring it sound like he's kind of settled into the offense and it started to figure out all right this is where I need to go when my feet talk to me and I'm getting through my progression this is where I need to be looking you can tell he's starting to get a little more comfortable he also is kind of DED kind of kind of demonstrated that he can move he can run and has been able to avoid the rush and we know we'll get to their defense in a moment but it's looking like if they wanted to today they could name Will Howard the starting quarterback he's already getting endorsements from wide receivers uh he's already getting an endorsement from Chip Kelly from Ryan day they're not all saying well he needs to be the starter or anything like that but when you start having defensive backs All-American defensive backs coming out and putting their name in quotation saying hey this guy's playing his tail off you know things are going pretty good quote from Denzel Burke this past Friday will Howard's been gaming end quote that's all I need to hear when when opposing players that I've been going against all Camp are now singing my Praises he must be doing pretty well so will Howard closing in on being named the starter here in 24 for the Buckeyes but the defense look we know the defense is going to be a really good group okay based on what we've heard it sounds like they've been dominating at times and the defensive line in particular the defensive line in particular have been really tough to block I've heard that by the the way about six or seven different names too whether it's Tua Al Sawyer I've heard TI Lake Williams uh has been somewhat unblockable from time to time I've heard Tai Hamilton has been a handful as he's starting to fill in I've heard a lot of positive news about what's going on defensively now that's a bit concerning I know the defense going to be good we've seen that before the one thing we've been concerned about in and of our own right for Ohio state has been their offensive line and if they're having a hard time protecting and if they're getting beat badly by their own defensive line maybe that's an indictment on them but look give credit where credit is due no reason to be concerned right now because there's no games being played today but you already know you have some dudes on defense and it's sounding like they've been dominant at times in Camp let's go to Penn State based on what we're hearing they're still awaiting a weapon to emerge on the outside and know the story and The Narrative of Penn State last year that they can run the ball when their backs hit the open hole they plenty of opportunities for them in the Run game but if you want to load the box you can shut them down that's the story they go out they hire Andy codal Nikki from Kansas hoping that he would inject some creativity hoping that he would kind of do some things to make life a little bit difficult on defenses to to maybe get receivers that are not crazy freakishly talented Superstars maybe they do some things with stacks and bunches and motions and shifts to create favorable matchups that's probably not going to come to fruition in training camp you're not trying to out scheme your own defense they might want to consider it considering how good their defense is and it just sounds right now their defense is just completely dominating Camp up to this point it's still early but you would like to see the offense maybe coming along a little bit more and the things that you were concerned about the fact that they're still concerns that's something that I'm a little worried about if I'm just going to be completely honest this team has playoff aspirations they have National Championship aspirations if they can't manufacture big plays on the outside that's going to be a huge problem for them especially when playing against the likes of Ohio State and some of the teams they'll see when they get into the 12 team playoffs so please someone emerge someone to emerge outside of the running back in tight end room for Penn State that would be awesome let's go next to Nebraska hearing that there are some turnover concerns there were some turnovers last year but last weekend by the young quarterbacks and Matt rule basically came out and said hey we can't let one mistake in impact our future decision- making and and it sounds like based on what I've heard what I've read listening the Matt rule reading between the lines it sounds like you have young quarterbacks having been in those shoes before as a Young quarterback when I made a mistake let's say I threw a pick in the first quarter I'm probably going to try to make up for that interception in quarters 2 three and four the problem is when you're going against a great defense like Nebraska has if you try to force it if you get greedy if you try to make it all back on one play you're probably going to end up in a tough spot again by making another mistake you can't let one mistake turn into two and two to turn into four these things have a way of compounding themselves here's the other thing I'm hearing don't rule out in the preseason Hinrich harberg on being the starter early in the year he's a veteran he granted doesn't have the upside of some of the other guys that's to be expected but what killed this team last year that was turnovers 31 turnovers young players are probably prone more prone to turning the football over so they just can't beat themselves this Nebraska team has beaten themselves how many times in the last 5 years so if we don't see better decision- making from The Young quarterback backs much to the srin of the fan base you might see the veteran Hinrich harberg out there before riola is more comfortable as the season goes along so keep an eye on that but turnovers continue to be a bit of an issue so far in Camp from what I've heard from the Nebraska Corn Huskers let's go next to Iowa uh seeing a lot of Buzz about the quarterback not great open practice at kinnick last weekend to see Brandon Sullivan thoroughly outplaying Cade mamera is not great here's the other big problem it's not like Sullivan lit it up in the open practice period he went 10 of 21 for 76 yards and a couple drops but it's the fact that mcnea who's going into his sixth season struggled so mightily where he went just eight of 24 for 20 yards and threw a pick that was returned to the house that would be concerning quarterback has already been an issue you're only going to be as good offens as your quarterback and to see Iowa still having challenges at that position is of concern so hopefully they can iron that out the other thing I'd say too look it's oneop practice they have a ton of practices where you evaluate thousands of reps so just because it wasn't his day doesn't mean M Nero won't be better moving forward but it doesn't sound like things are all fitting together in the early portions of training camp the way you'd want them to be under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester USC I'm hearing so much Buzz about these wide receivers I me I am hearing so many Camp Buzz - Wisconsin QB and USC WR depth positive reviews and we understand what was lost off last year's team really good players quality pieces I keep hearing four sophomores at wide receiver that can go with anybody we already know who Zachariah branch is I don't think I need to tell the college football world who that is the guy's electric okay but the three names I continue to hear are jacobe Lane Duce Robinson and McKai lemon now jacobe Lane 6'4 has some length couple of touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl against Louisville Duce Robinson 66220 okay he's got some big big catch radius long arms had a 44 yard touchdown in the Holiday Bowl against Louisville and then McKai lemon who hasn't been used as much but I'm hearing a lot of Buzz about him as well so that's a four receiver quartet that's going to be a huge problem in the Big 10 just saying remember those names Lemon Lane Robinson and of course Zachariah Branch they might have a ridiculous ridiculous group of wide receivers that they're just everyone's sleeping on just keep an eye on them that's all I'm telling you Wisconsin sounds like they found themselves a quarterback now I know heard so far in the spring Tyler van djk up and down not great but it sounds like even the first week of Camp nothing feel great about at the moment but in the last few days sounds like some special things are starting to happen he's made some great throws to the perimeter he's fitting them in between Defenders and tight coverage over the middle it sounds like the defense as they're starting to ramp things up with their pressure packages he doesn't seem bothered by any of it he talked openly in a media period a couple weeks ago about a knee injury that really hindered his Mobility last year sounds like things are moving in the right direction for Tyler van djk and this Wisconsin offense so that's really optimistic let's go to the SEC Florida all I'm hearing about is the Camp Buzz - Florida RB room, Georgia tight ends, Texas DT depth running backs I'm hearing about jacobe Jackson Joo transfer I'm hearing about tryan Webb who we've already known is has some crazy shiftiness and might be a problem hearing about the Freshman Jaden ball who seems to be carrying over some of the momentum created in the spring that's carried over through the summer and he's going to have a place at the table now with the injury to Montreal Johnson he's been out it's opened the door for jacobe Jackson for Jaden ba for Treyon Webb like these guys are going to be in a good spot running the football I've heard the offensive Line's jelling I've heard the defensive backs are looking pretty good safety was a position of question sounds like both safeties Devon Moore and ASA Turner have shined at times this fall Camp they got to stay healthy because they're thin but there's a lot to feel good about right now it sounds like hey Florida Gator everyone in that that camp down there in Gainesville saying hey we're going to be a little better than people realize so not surprised to hear it by the way Georgia sounds like the tight ends are going to be a positioned of massive strength it's Georgia right the the home of Brock Bowers you're telling me they're going to be good at tight end well I'm I'm just from what I've heard Brock Bowers was incredible this will not diminish whatsoever how good Brock Bowers was will be past and future the guy's insane like one of the best pound-for-pound football players I've ever covered but I continue to hear the name Ben urasek who's gonna play a huge role this year I'm beginning to hear more and more the name that we were talking about last year as the complimentary piece to Brock Bowers we knew Oscar Delp would be there Oscar delp's going to be rock solid as well but we had heard the name LW and lucky as hey don't sleep on this kid L and lucky well there's a ton of people that were excited about him and then he had the high ankle sprain it sounds like he's had another great off season it sounds like Oscar delps continued to get more comfortable and Ben Urus has a chance to be a star so Georgia the rich get richer they might have three possible difference making tight ends so that's something to keep in mind sounds also like the defense has been really good so far which is encouraging considering how many guys have been on the lineup I mean Warren brinson's missed some time Chaz Chamas has missed some time CJ Allen has missed some time so they've been kind of without a lot of their guys in the middle to early part of fall camp but as those guys start to get healthy and the defense already looks pretty good that is only going to make the strong stronger so that's something worth noting Texas everybody's been talking all off season about their defensive tackles I've been talking about them you've been talking about him experts that follow the sport really closely have been talking about him how do you replace tandre sweat the Outland Trophy winner and Byron Murphy well you just probably can't do it with two guys it's not going to happen to find two guys that are that gifted to fill those voids independent of each other not going to happen but what you can do is create ridiculously competitive depth well good news Texas right now along the defensive line at defensive tackle in particular seven guys that are currently in the rotation you heard that right seven guys at defensive tackle most elite teams have four maybe five like that's Elite for Texas to have seven currently in the rotation up front goes to show you that that is ridiculous depth and these guys only have to play 15 20 snaps a game maybe 30 snaps a game at most think about how much they're going to be able to continually give great effort in quarter 1 quarter 4 game three game eight game 17 so the depth emerging at that position is huge we knew that Alfred Collins and Vernon Bron were going to be pretty good but you continue to hear the name Aaron Bryant you hear the name Alex January you hear about the transfers from Arizona and Bill Norton and tia sea you hear Lay's name from Louisville I mean when you hear seven guys that's legit good for Texas being able to fill what was a question mark coming into the off season wide receiver that's another group that has turned over drastically from last year there's been a lot of inconsistencies from what I gather catching the football bunch of drops uncharacteristic drops so that's something they can hopefully get cleaned up as they move forward in Fall Camp Camp Buzz - LSU defense, Texas A&M RB depth, Auburn WRs going off let's go next to LSU don't shoot the messenger here the defense from We Gather is starting to show signs of life okay there a group that allegedly is playing more free there's a group that is playing with great aggressiveness they've been super inconsistent but they also have had some pretty good moments as well now they've gotten gashed right at the middle a couple times they've given up way too many plays downfield in the passing game but you also have to take into account who they're going against it's a great offense they're having to face I mean a really really good offense sounds like the secondary though is starting to come together and the name that I continue to hear is Ashton stamps who has been one of the bright spots in Camp so far so keep an eye on that name Ashton stamps he's might lock down one of those Corner spots and if he does that'd be really beneficial to the back end of that defense Texas A&M Ruben Owens was lost for the season after a lower body injury in the scrimmage on Saturday which is disappointing because this is a thin group already they had four scholarship players now they're down to three they have Stanford transfer EJ Smith who is EMT Smith's son and he has spent the last four years with Stanford but he's had tough time kind of remaining healthy he's missed 24 games out of 42 in his career so he has had a tough time staying healthy but here's hoping that he can build on last year because last year he's able to play more than seven games in the season for the first time in his career hoping that he now is acclimated to to the punishing blows that you're going to take as a college running back and he'll be equipped to handle that role that he's going to have in kind of taking some of the pressure off Daniels and Le'Veon Moss so we'll see where things go but losing Ruben owens's a big blow for A&M and I hate that hope he can come back and be at 100% let's go next to Auburn I continue to hear a ton of stuff about cam Coleman and Keandre Lambert Smith now Keandre Lambert Smith has missed a little time here in the preseason and we already know what they have with revaldo Fairweather at wide receiver but the names I'm hearing right now are Bryce Kane Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson okay those are all super talented guys that are likely going to be in position to make some big plays now malcol Simmons crazy crazy top end speed I mean he can just take off and it feels like he's out of there Bryce Kane crazy reliable and then Perry Thompson has a chance down the road to become a legit game breaker if he's in there alongside cam Coleman they're going to be in a great spot so it's sounding like the wide receiver cord they might even have some young guys that we didn't anticipate having a huge role this year they're carving out a little role for themselves already in the defensive line sounds like the defensive line is really playing great eight or nine different defensive linemen that have been in the first group so they have stablish some depth at that position and that has to be really really encouraging let's go next to Oklahoma by all accounts the defense is dominating dominating all Camp Buzz - Oklahoma defense, Tennessee offense, Miami RB right that's a huge problem not necessarily because I think their defense is really good their defense is really good and I'm not at all concerned about the possibility of that group being Rock Solid they give just one play in the scrimmage that went over 20 yards and that was a long run by by a walk-on they allowed just one touchdown on their Friday night scrimmage the concern for me though is that Jackson Arnold has continued to kind of turn the football over turned it over three times on Friday including a pick six to Danny stutzman but he turned it over three times in the bowl game as well there were some turnover issues in the spring as well you become a turnover guy it's hard to kind of Coach yourself out of that and you look at some of the teams last year whether it was Nebraska whether it was Miami whether it was Clemson when you start turning the football over with crazy regularity the likelihood of your team being consistent goes down drastically so they got to figure out a way to make Jackson Arnold comfortable and not force the ball and Make Mistakes by turning the football over because I think U's path to success exists but you can't be giving that defense the short field over and over and over again that defense is too good to be put in a position where the offense is already in field goal range before they even take a snap so hopefully things can get ironed out for Oklahoma with their turnover let's go next to Tennessee the thing that I keep hearing about all offseason for Tennessee is they're going to go as Nico IAM malava is going to go which by the way might still be 100% true now it's hard to get a gauge where they are right now offensively they're without three offensive lineman Dylan Samson have been dealing with with the minor knee injury and hasn't scrimmaged they've also been without some of their top receivers whether it's Brum mcoy Dante Thorton they they've had I think Mike Matthews The Freshman out brilin Staley's been out they've had a ton of guys that have been in and out of the lineup offensively so there hasn't been a ton of continuity there but we continue to forget that this defense has a chance to be one of the best in the league I mean their defensive line might be the best in the SEC and the one question mark for Tennessee has been the secondary and I continue to hear germon McCoy name mentioned the Oregon State transfer is one of the standouts in Camp so far so you now have a standout at one of the positions that was a significant question they're moving in the right direction like I'm feeling better about the pre-season predictions about where Tennessee might ultimately be and it might not be because of the offense it might be because of the defense early on that can really get after the quarterback and create a lot of issues for the opposing offense and them kind of carrying the water until that offense is ready to take flight and that might take a week or two let's go next to Miami and the ACC couple more here Miami we've talked so much about cam Ward and and what he's going to bring to the position how he's going to steady the position the way his the way he can run his his good decis decision making that he displayed at Washington State the last couple years how he makes everybody better by creating and allowing guys to uncover in scramble drill we know cam Ward's going to be amazing but do not sleep on Damen Martinez okay the guy ran for almost 12200 yards nine touchdowns and 12 games at Oregon State just last year and by all accounts he is the physical bcow back that Miami desperately needed think about the running back rotation last year how many guys were in and out of the lineup they had quality pieces but they didn't have a super reliable guy Daman Martinez is that guy so while everyone's going to focus on the addition of Cam Ward we will too he's a great player I think he'll make an instant impact do not sleep on Damen Martinez heard nothing but rave reviews about him in Camp so far let's go next to Clemson I've heard some real Camp Buzz - Clemson defensive line concerns, Notre Dame offensive line taking shape positives about their offense a lot of positives about their offense we've talked a lot can Kade kumnick take that next step will Garrett Riley's group be able to grow in year number two with him as the offensive coordinator have heard they're really bullish on what they've seen from their wide receiver position sounds like their offense is looking exactly the way they need to look here's the problem I've heard there's been a ton of inconsistency along the defensive line now supposedly they've had guys jumping off sides they've had a defensive line that's getting pushed around quite a bit by the offensive line that's not something I expected one thing that I have not done a crazy deep dive on this year is Clemson's defensive line because I've think back to last year think about how many guys were returning and how many guys have a chance to potentially make huge seconde leaps like a TJ Parker like a Peter Woods sounds like the defensive line still has a lot of room to grow and you have Georgia week one if that defensive line isn't ready to handle the physical presence that is the Georgia offensive line and look out I know they're relatively thin at defensive end but this defensive line needs to take a big big leap here in the next couple weeks because they have a huge test coming up in week one I've also heard there's been a couple muff punts in Camp as well so either way Clemson offense right where they need to be defense def still room for improvement but the good news is when was the last time Clemson had issues on defense seriously it's been a while they're going to be good on defense I'm not worried about that just seems like that deep at the front seven maybe there's a little bit more room to grow they need to grow a little faster as that first game approaches and then Notre Dame finally uh we talked last week about Charles jagas saww who is out for the year he was the projected starting left tackle it sounds like they've kind of settled in right now we told you it likely be Tosh Baker at left tackle that's who it is at the moment pack hugan will be at left guard Ashton Craig will be there at Center Billy shra will be there at Right Guard and then on the right side Emil Wagner who will round out that offensive line Rocco Spindler continues to battle at that left guard spot alongside Pat cougan but that's kind of where they're at right now so just want to give you a slight update with what was going on there with jagas Saw's loss it's officially official Tosh Baker's going to get the first crack at that left tackle spot hey thanks for being with us it's awesome to be with you guys always college football would not be where we're at as far as downloads viewership support people growing and downloading the podcast at a record rate we would not be at this point if not for you please continue to tell your friends that we are previewing the season as well if not better than anybody we love what we do here but we do it for you we love the sport but we do it for each other sure we would i' do it for Mark i' do it for Jack i' do it for Jake because we love ball but we do it for the fans man we love the game just like you guys love the game so continue to check in with us we'll have two more shows this week so a lot to look forward to and continue to tell your friends about what we're doing here at always college football like rate 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