Check it out college football on the West Coast. This is Get Off My
Pylon Look at the PAC twelve and more, part of the College Gridiron Coast
to Coast podcast network. Here's your host, Matt Zimmy. Welcome to the
Get Out of My pim College Football podcast. This is your co host Pat
Zenecall co host Alex Flow. And it is bull season. Uh, you
know, it's it's Christmas season, but it's also bull seasons. Let's let's
unwrap the Pactol present under a tree. Let's let's look at what's in store
for for Santa Claus uh and the rest of us during PAC twelve football Bull
season. Let's start with the undercards. Let's start with like the smaller gifts,
you know, the smaller little things that you hang in a stocking before
getting to the really big shiny boxes with the high end items and so um.
You know, let's do the pre Christmas bowls first. So they were
really intriguing pair of matchups. On Saturday, December seventeenth. You have Fresno
State and Washington State in one bowl game that could be really interesting, and
then you also have Florida and Oregon State in another one of the pre Christmas
Bowls. That's in Vegas, so you know, interesting matchups there. And
then when you get on the other side of Christmas Day, Ucla in pitt
in the Sun Bowl, and also Oregon in North Carolina. What could be
a really explosive, really fun Holiday Bowl. And of course the Holiday Bowl
has not been played each the last two years, one because of the pandemic.
The next year one was because UCLA had a COVID nineteen episode, so
you really haven't had a Holiday Bowl since twenty nineteen. And then you also
have Washington against Texas, so steep Occasion used to be the head coach at
Washington going up against the Huskings. So you know, we'll get to the
Cotton Bowl and the Rose Bowl later, but you know these five December Bowl
games, you know that kind of the appetizers. Maybe Washington Texas is a
main course and not an appetizer. Oregon North Carolina could maybe also put it
put it put it in that category as well. What are you looking for
in these tactful bowl games? Like do you think one Pac twelve team is
under unique pressure to get the job done in one of these bowl games?
What's your overview of the landscape, you know with each of those matchups.
Okay, yeah, in my opinion, Oregon State's definitely got to get it
done. Out of the bat. Florida is a team that has shown their
struggles. You know, they're already questioning their head coach chapter one season and
their top their top two qbs on planes, so you're playing the third streaming
signal caller. Oregon State is a team that I think can slid a by
is. Hey, the PAC twelve was good this year. People around the
country need to take note. Oregon State is a win. I think the
pressure is on them because frankly, there's no excuse for them to lose.
You mentioned right out of the gate. Actually, the Texas you Dub game,
I'm very excited for sure. I know Texas is going to be without
Bjean Robinson, a few other big star names, him being probably the biggest.
But still, you know, Quinn Yours, Michael Pennocks, let's see
what you guys got sling it out. I think that's going to be a
QB showdown, especially with implications going into next season. That is my favorite
pre Christmas Bowl game. And the other thing about Quinn Yours against Michael Pennocks
is that you get it in the Alamo Bowl. So that's in a domed
stadium, so like you don't you're not going to be playing that game in
snow, You're not going to be playing that game in wind or rain.
You get the perfect climate controlled to let it fly, exactly made for a
shootout. Um and and it's and I think we're going to see something similar
in the Holiday Bowl. Interestingly enough, first, it's also the first Holiday
Bowl in Petco Park, home of the Padres there there. Um, you
know, the last Holiday Bowl was in you know, the ballpark known as
Qualcom but really for older guys like me, you know you're not old,
but I am. I will always call it the Murph for you know Jack
Murphy Stadium. You know that that the ball that ballpark was demolished since the
twenty nineteen Holiday Bowls, so they haven't had a Bowl game in San Diego
since. This is the first Holiday Bowl in three years. And it looks
like one of those classic Holiday Bowl shootouts you know from back in the day
by U against SMU or Iowa San Diego State, you know both, you
know, super duper shootouts. Plenty of other ones over the years interesting le
like Texas in Washington had had a had a Holiday Bowl shootout. Texas in
Oregon also had a wild Holiday Bowl game. You know, just it doesn't
I feel like the Holiday Bowl if you don't have a ton of points bow
next against Drake may insane, Like that just seems like all sorts of fun.
Hopefully hopefully Santa put a lot of touchdowns underneath a tree for that.
So yeah, between the Holiday Bowl and the Alamo Bowl, those could just
be extraordinarily fun games. And the one one really good, especially good point
you make, like you always make good points, but the especially one,
especially a good one you made is that yes, leading into twenty twenty three
Texas in Washington, like this is a classic Bowl momentum game, carrying carrying
into the off season on a high note, you know, establishing an identity,
establishing a culture for spring ball for the off season, you know,
stamping ourselves as hey, we're a top ten team, We're gonna be a
frontline contender for the playoff next year. That Washington Texas Bowl exactly because North
Carolina not going to be a contender nationally next season, Um, nobody but
Washington, Washington Texas both teams you can absolutely say like that they are going
to expect to contend for big prizes next year. Yeah, them in their
qbs. Their qbs individually I think have a lot to go up for next
year. But to also speak on a broader point, I know I mentioned
you know people are gonna watching Oregon State no one if you dub and Organs.
These are two teams that are staying no matter who leaves the Pack twelve
ten. So these are two teams that can do a lot for the conference
as well. That's right, You like twenty twenty three is going to be
the last year or with USC and U silly in the PAC twelve. So
yes, like if you're trying to form an identity and make sure that like
you are the destination program in the PAC twelve, yes, that's suddenly Washington
and Oregon are definitely playing for in these PAC twelve bowl games. More on
the Bulls in just a moment, But first, hey, you know with
college bowl season underway, you know, so you're looking for the best bowl
game seats at the most competitive prices, and we want to make sure you
take advantage of ticket Smarter in their mobile app, So buying college football bowl
tickets online requires trust. Ticket Smarter is partnered with more than one hundred universities
and twenty four conferences is their official ticket resale marketplace. They've also partnered with
ESPN Events as an official ticket resale partner and so for the best selection of
NCAA football Bowl game tickets and boy Oregon, North Carolina and Texas Washington figured
to be a whole lot of fun, ticket Smarter make sure fans from all
over the country traveling to a bowl game at a neutral site experience the power
and excitement of college football live. So purchase your bowl game tickets quickly,
securely, and at the best prizes on the secondary market who with the ticket
Smarter mobile app or at ticket smarter dot com. And we have an additional
offer for those listening to all our podcasts on College grid Iron Coast to coast.
Take five percent off your purchase of one hundred dollars or more with our
promo code grid Iron twenty two. That's grid Iron two two for five percent
off your order of one hundred bucks or more. And that code isn't just
for one time use, It's for as many times as you want to use.
For this college Football Bowl season to check out the selections in pricing now
with ticket Smarter and remember our code grid Iron twenty two carter at ticket Smarter.
So now let's get to the main courss. So, Penn State,
you taught in the Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of the mall and a very
intriguing Cotton Bowl, not one anyone expected, but it is an intriguing matchup
between USC and two Lane. So let's let's tackle the Rose Bowl. And
the big breaking news from recent weeks is that Utah's Clark Phillips, the elite
cornerback, and elite tight end Dalton Tak they're not playing in this game.
So you know, Alex, when I saw this matchup, I'm thinking,
okay, Sean Clifford of Penn State against cam Rising. Like Utah has a
significant advantage at quarterback, so I was firmly putting this game in the utes
column as my prediction. But whoa, these are two really big absences for
the US, and now I would have to give a slight lean to Penn
State with Utah two big pieces. Yeah, so they're definitely two massive losses
and constantly Yeah, so they're they're definitely two massive losses, and there's no
doubt they're going to play a eug impact. But constant listeners of our program
will know that Utah's calling card this season has been next man up, has
been playing through adversity of your starters frankly not being available. When I look
at Penn State, I see a team that first off, has a terrible
history in January. Uh. Secondly, a lot of the teams they want,
especially in this big stretch over the last four games, have been some
five hundred opponents, nobody really highly respectable in the NCAA football landscape. So
despite these losses, I'm not worried. I think Utah's games plan and the
key pieces like qv came rising they have in place can propel to pass the
Nitney lines. I do think that if Utah does win, it's going to
be because Sean Clifford's limitations a quarterback from penns State are just, you know,
too pervasive, and he's just not going to do enough to expose the
limitations that that Utah does have on defense. And let's let's let's also keep
this in mind that you know Utah is Pectrow champion and Utah kick USS,
but but you know, if you don't have Kayleb Williams getting hurt. Kay
Of Williams was electric in that first quarter of the Pac twelve changing game,
and if he doesn't get hurt, you have to think that USC puts up
a lot more than the twenty four points it ultimately ended with. So you
know, that is that is something just to keep in mind as kind of
a tempering, cautionary kind of note about the Utah defense, Like this was
not a great Utah defense this year. You know, obviously gave up forty
two to USC and the regular season gave up he gave up thirty five to
UCLA. U S won that game forty two, thirty two, but five
points or seven points we're on a fumble return for touchdowns. So USI's offense
scored thirty five, not forty two against Utah. But still like UCLA's offense
had a very good day game close to five hundred yards against Utah, Florida
had a good week against Utah. In Week one, Utah was able to
play well on defense against Oregon, but of course that's when bo Nix was
not fully healthy. He was not one hundred percent for that game. So
it's really good advantaging to see how the limitations of Sean Clifford defense State against
the limitations of Utah on defense, and especially now without Clark Phillips. You
know, you would think that James Franklin is going to try and hunt the
matchup at cornerback with Clark Phillips out of there. And of course, what
did the Seahawks last year from Utah or last season from Utah in the Rose
Bowl? Utah was undermanned in the secondary. And you know, now Penn
State does not have a Jackson smiff Najigba who's going to catch over three hundred
yards of passes. But Penn State does have stand a much better chance now
in the passing game being able to pick on a backup Utah cornerback. And
it's going to test that next man up theory, that next man up principle.
You know, can Utah's backup corners hold up on an island with Clark
Phillips no longer there to save the day. I mean, personally, I
think this is going to be a game that Penn State plays their way out
of. I just I don't think from what I've seen, especially down the
run from Penn State they're a team and a roster that can compete with Utah,
even if they have some second guys up. Now, yeah, the
defense, it's going to be questionable, especially I feel like we judge all
Utah defenses with a little bit of criticism given that they've been so dumb in
the past two years. Uh, this clearly isn't that case. But I
think they're good enough to get the job done. It's gonna be fascinating.
I think, you know, basically with with Utah's opt out for Phillips and
what's Dalton Kincaid suffering an injury, I don't really I don't think if you're
dealing with an injury that that's a hop out, because you're really just trying
to protect your health. I think that's that should be viewed. Sure to
play, yeah, sure so, But with I think that game is pretty
much a point flip at this point, with Utah's main losses, you know,
kind of evening out the edge that I thought that you's originally had.
It's going to be interesting. I don't know. On January second, the
other Big Pack twelve game Bull game on January second, USC in Tulane.
Of course, Kyle Williams playing stats and he suffered the hamstring injury against Utah
on December second. One note here, so the first New Year's six Bowl
game is the Orange Bowl between Tennessee and Clemson. That's on Friday or thirtieth.
This Cotton Bowl is on Monday, January second. So like if this
New Year's sixth game the Cotton Bowl was on December thirtieth, that's three fewer
days that kayleb Williams would have had to rehab that hamstring injury. He gets
three mstra days as part of a four week break. And he said right
after, not right after, but a couple of days after the Pack twelve
changed the game. He said he intends to play. He intends to rehab
himself to the point where he thinks to play in this game. And so
that tells me Kylen Williams wants this. Kayle Williams wants to win this game.
It's important for him. And we were talking earlier about Washington versus Texas
in the Alamobile creating momentum until the follow league season. So Caleb Williams seems
to have that same mindset, and I think Lincoln Riley does too. This
is a really important game for them. A lot of USC fans might go,
oh, Tulane, big deal, you know this is this is you
know, we could have been in the playoff, never were playing Tulane.
You know, as though it's it's such a disappointment. Well, hey,
this is a New Year's sixth Bowl game. And Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley
have the attitude which, more than anything else, I think is going to
shape this game. Does us care and we get on ut We get on
these teams from the SEC when they don't make the playoff and they grumble and
grouse and sak. Well, this is a chance for USC to show that
it takes the Cotton Bowl seriously, that it values it and it's not gonna
grumble and seak and let Tulane win this game. And that is the biggest
key for you off. Yeah, you hit the nail. You hit the
nail right on the ahead. I think this whole season, you know,
the winning was great. I don't think that was expected. It was great.
I think the players said we could do it. But it was about
building that culture and building a program where you get people to buy in,
because that's ultimately what USC's has been lacking. It hasn't had the proper motivators.
It seems like they've gone on to have great success elsewhere and tremendous for
them. We'd love to see it. But now as somebody who says,
I have a clear vision, I have an identity, and Kyle, he's
getting the players to buy in. You know, just the other weekend we
saw Caleb brought his entire offensive linement to the Heisman ceremony in New York.
It's more about not the individual player, but the program. And that's coming
important, isn't This is a game that USC says, all right, let's
impose our will against Tulane and show the fan base and show the nation.
You know, sure we didn't get to the College FOOTBA playoffs, but we're
not going anywhere. And this Heisman guy, he's coming back Heisman Trophy winner
playing against Tulane in a New Year's sixth pole. Who would have amagine that
storyline before the twenty twenty two PAC twelve seasons. Would it began? Yeah?
No, I don't know. I don't I don't think there were many.
I think you know, everyone knew what Caleb was. I think people
have an idea what Caleb was capable. Bull of this year has really really
taken him to another level. Um but but yeah, no, this is
this is a big game for USC. I know Caleb says he hopes to
play if he can't and it comes down to Miller Moss time. You know
the pieces are around him. Let's let's see what Moss can do. Well,
we will see if we get to see what more could do. Could
be not semic, it could be Miller time. That is why Alex Blow
is my co host here on the Get Off My pylone college Football podcast,
part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast Network. All right, so,
uh you have to say that with college football bull season year, you need
a sportsbook with integrity and longevity that you can rely on like bet Us.
So did you know that bet Us has been pioneers in the sportsbook industry for
over twenty five years, thriving and paying their loyal customer base quickly and securely.
We want you to go to beetus dot com and take an advantage of
an offer we have on our shows from College Greater and Coast to Coast.
You'll receive a one hundred twenty five percent sign up bonus by using our code
Coast twenty two that's Coast two two. Put one hundred dollars in, get
an additional one hundred twenty five dollars to play with. Put two hundred dollars
in, you get two hundred and fifty dollars back, and so on.
And bet us also has the NFL, NBA, NHL, college basketball,
any sport you can think of, also the you know, the World Cup
just ended, but you know there's always other events just around the bend in
twenty twenty three. So your college football fans, we want you to be
with us all Bull season long on bet us. Check them out at beet
us dot com. And remember our one hundred twenty five percent match bonus for
initial sign ups with our code Coast two two bet us. You bet you
win, you get paid. All right, Alex, just final thoughts on
the Bull season, and actually let's just give some predictions for each of these
PAC twelve games. Let's let's start with Budible Oregon, North Carolina, Oregon,
North Carolina. I think this is gonna be, you know, just
the qv showdown. As we mentioned, I expect big offensive play. That
being said, you know, when you throw the ball forty times. I
think you could see some turnovers. Um, I expect both teams to get
over twenty one points, but I'm gonna call it an organ Ducks win thirty
five thirty one math Semic your thoughts. I think Oregon's gonna win. I
think that you know that the bitter taste of choking away the Civil War against
Oregon State not making the factor up change the game, like the Oregon has
something to prove about where it is in North Carolina fell off a cliff late
in the season. You're not going to see North Carolina's best football. Oregon
is going to expose win this game pretty comfortable, all right. Washington Texas
in the album Washington Texas, this one is known to be a high scoring
affair. But I don't know if Michael Pennocks and you dub can keep up
with Texas. Um, you know, Quinn Yours was that guy for a
reason, and I think he's just gonna started. Sure, there's no b
John Robins, and that just means more pressures on him. I don't know
if it's going to be as high scoring. I'm gonna call that a Texas
win. Twenty eight twenty four give me Kaylen DeBoer over Sark any day of
the week and twice on Sunday, Washington. Okay, all right, sun
La and Pitt. An interesting part here, Keaton Slovis was gonna play in
this game for PITT against UCLA, so you could have had a uth USC
Ucla action here. But Slovis No, he's transferring from PITT. So you're
not going to get Slovis against UCLA. And el passo is their word on
DVR. He set to play, correct, haven't heard. Haven't heard that
he's opting out as of yet. That could change, but haven't heard as
of this time. You know what I'm going to take, not Pit,
which means I'm not going to give a prediction on this game. All right,
all right, usc, I see the Bruins. We'll take the Bruins.
That there you go. You can you can utter the word. It's
okay, it's okay, utter the all right. Somewhere between twenty four to
Penn State Utah, Okay, this, I do not think it's going to
be a high scoring game at all. I think ye the missing factors on
offense for Utah mixed with just the inconsistency and lack of production from the Penn
State offense eighteen thirteen. Yeah, I'll I'll called sixteen thirteen, maybe twenty
one thirteen, somewhere along those lines, Utah win. All Right. I
did say I was leaning toward Penn State earlier in the show, but you
know, now it's prediction time, and do I really want to pick James
Franklin over Kyle whitting A big game. You got to put your money where
your mouth is. Yeah, so I was leaning toward Penn State, but
no, I can't take James Franklin over Kyle Winningham. So I'm going to
reverse myself. And maybe that's weakness here on the Get Off My Pile on
College Football podcast. I know that's not why you listen to this show,
but yeah, when it comes to prediction time and you know you got to
put up or shut up, I can't bet against Kyle Waitingham going up James
Franklin. Whittingham is done better coach here riding with the youths. Sorry,
folks in Salt Lake City. I really shouldn't have doubted you on the air,
but I did. But I'm gonna come around before it's too late.
I'm gonna make my conversion. I repent of my sins in Salt Lake City.
I'm taking Utah over Penn State. All right, Cotton Bowl USC Twaine
for me, I asked pretty easy. If Caleb Williams plays and he's you
know, reasonably mobile, USC wins. If he doesn't play, nor Moss
is not ready to win this game and Tulane wins. Any any different take
from you on that one, I wouldn't. I think Miller Moss could keep
it close. It's just because the team around him. But yeah, I
think it does all come down to Caleb Tethyn be a blowout or it's gonna
be a tough, close, gritty loss. All right, Hey, Alex,
you know this is this is our last broadcast for twenty twenty two because
obviously during the Christmas week, you know, that's the time to be with
friends and family the holiday season. Alex co host Matt Matt, I get
it. Are you are you not inviting me to Christmas? Because that's cool?
Whatever? Am I it? Over the air? You know, you
know, by not having a podcast on Monday, December twenty sixth, I'm
allowing you to celebrate Boxing Day or Saint Stephen's Day with with your friends and
family. That's that's what I want for your open my thanks for the eight
you for absolutely absolutely so Alex, thank you for everything in twenty twenty two,
and for those listening here to Get Off My Pylon College Football Podcast,
we'll be back in twenty twenty three for our Bowl review in the Pac twelve.
So we wish you a happy holiday season, and we invite you once
again to check out all our podcasts from College greater on Coast to Coast.
Find them at Red Circle, find them at Spotify, Google, Apple,
wherever you listen to your favorite college football podcast, check out all of these
podcasts with they're going to be previewing and reviewing bowl games along with the rest
of us. Do you want to check them out? College Gridiron, Coast
to Coast, Red Circle, Google, Apple, Spotify. So for Alex
Blout, this is Matt Zemmick wishing you and yours very happy and safe holiday
season here on the Get Off My Pylon College Football Podcast