Speaker 1: It is the Big Twelve Xstency breakdown, top of Jump
to Bridge as You're with you and they come Francis
book at Hope, the Big Twelve in the Southeastern Conference.
As we do each and every week, we begin with
our hot takes, as we always do. And my hot
take this week, Tom, I'm not one for moral victories,
but I gotta tell you, Tom, call me crazy. I
know Tennessee lost to Georgia at home, but I came
away more impressed with Tennessee than I did Georgia because
let me explain. Let me explain, folks, before you think
I sound like a moron. And all this hear me
out on here. Joey Aguilart has only been there since
what May June, coming over from UCLA, an app state,
and is still learning this offense. And the offense looked
fantastic and he threw two interceptions in that game. I
think aguilar is only going to improve. I think Georgia
we kind of know who they are. They remind me
of the Philadelphia Eagles in that sense of they're a
physical football team that plays good defense. I mean, I
can't imagine Georgia getting better than what they are right now.
And I very well could be wrong on this. Tennessee.
I still think there's another mountain for them to climb.
I think they're going to get better as the season
goes along. They nearly won that game, probably should have
won that game if you ask their kicker, based on
how that ended up finishing out. But I think Tennessee
is still in really good shape. They had a good
non conference win against Syracuse a few weeks ago. Tom,
I know that that sounds bizarre to say, but I
think that Tennessee is We could be having a discussion
maybe in December or January, where they're actually the better
team than what Georgie is, even though they lost them
at home. Am I crazy for saying that?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: I don't think so, I mean help.
Speaker 4: Kirby Smart even said after the game he kind of
felt like, he said, he felt the need to apologize,
or maybe he said he felt a little dirty because
of how well Tennessee played and thought Tennessee should have
won that game. Then he just finished his comment with,
you know, that's kind of where it goes sometimes. So
I praise there for Kirby Smart And yeah, I thought
I thought Georgia was was you know, gonna maybe smack
him around a little bit more. But uh, Tennessee even
you know that, whatever you want to call it, it's
a good loss, a quality loss, and you move on
to the next week. I think Tennessee is going to
be just fine. I think you're right. In December we
might be talking about him saying, hey, are they going
to be somewhere in the playoff race?
Speaker 1: Right? And did they upgrade the quarterback position? When you
see Nico struggles at UCLA there owing three, they fired
their head coach to Sean Foster and Joey Aguilar the
life that he's brought to that offense. If he can
cut back on the turnovers, then they're gonna be in
really good shape. I will say, even though I came
away more impressed at Tennessee, even though they lost, I
think Tom we had to give credit to Gunner Stockton
for one moment. The George quarterback. There was a lot
of concerns about him entering twenty twenty five, after not
playing great at all in that playoff game against Notre
Dame and barely holding on to beat Texas. There in
the SEC Championship, Gunner Stockton looked really good and made
some fantastic throws, put up some really good numbers here.
I don't think he's as good as Carson Beck, but
I think what we saw from Gunner Stockton is that
he I believe is good enough for George to get
the job done. And we've seen that Kirby Smart has
been successful not always having the best quarterbacks. When you
look at Jake from Stetson, Bennett and others, they've won
without having superstars. Remember they chase Justin Fields out the
door to Ohio State and kept Jake from hindsight being
twenty twenty. That was a mistake, but it's still ultimately
worked out okay for Georgia here. I think Gunner he's
not gonna be winning the Heisman by any stretch of
the imagination, but they got enough talent around him. I
think they're fine.
Speaker 3: No, I think they're fine. That This is how they
kind of operate, right.
Speaker 4: You don't need a you don't need the Heisman quarterback
back there for Georgia to win, uh and you never
really have. So, I mean that's like their m you know,
they're they're really good at all other positions, usually really
good at running back and wide receiver, and they have
the quarterback that's you know, it sometimes can be that star,
but it's more or less a little bit better than
a game manager and it works out for him.
Speaker 1: All right, where do you want to go for your
to this week?
Speaker 3: You know, I'm gonna stay away from the big twelve.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna stick in the SEC and I'm going to
just say how disappointed I am in South Carolina.
Speaker 3: Uh, you have this game at home.
Speaker 4: Versus Vanderbilt, and I know credit where credits due to
Vanderbilt started to come around more on?
Speaker 1: Uhh uh? Is diego?
Speaker 4: The real real deal is Vanderbilt? Was last season a
flash in the pan or not? I'm starting to believe
it it was not. But you lose on Family Weekend
in Columbia, South Carolina to Vanderbilt thirty one to seven.
Wasn't even close. You just get your ass handed to you.
Everybody was riding high on South Carolina. I was riding high.
I was believing in the game Cocks. And you go
out and just like a fucking gamecock chicken, you lay
an egg.
Speaker 2: And now.
Speaker 4: You you were in Columbia, South Carolina, and now you
go to Columbia, Missouri, and it doesn't get any easier
for you, and they have to play a game versus
Missoo at night. If I'm a betting man, I'm slapping
a fifty spot on Missoo to cover.
Speaker 1: You're looking at their upcoming schedule Miszoo Kentucky. Kentucky's not
that great, but they hung in there with Old Miss.
You know, a couple of weeks ago at LSU, who
might be the best team in the country, Oklahoma and
Home Bama, Old Miss at A and M Coastal, and
then they finished the year with their arch rival Clemson.
I mean, is it crazy to say, Tom that it's
already timed right off South Carolina? I mean, you see,
I mean, Sellers, is you supposed to play this week
against Missoo? So that certainly helps, but you lose thirty
one to seven. That doesn't make me confident that you're
gonna get out of the rest of that schedule without
more losses coming.
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, I'm gonna say they're gonna lose this
weekend against Miszoo. You're gonna lose versus LSU. Oh, who's
looking real good Alabama? Well, I don't know that that
might be. That'll be a very interesting game. Old miss
Man at A and m hard to play Coastal. You
probably win Clemson. Who knows where the season goes. I mean,
we have a long way to the end of November,
but so uh so we're talking about it.
Speaker 1: At least we're talking about at least three losses, if
not more. And I think that a three loss team
in the SEC is probably not good enough to make
the playoff.
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so.
Speaker 4: And it was all that hype, all that hype they had,
you know, all that hype they got, and now it's
just like the balloon is a little deflated.
Speaker 1: I will say credit, and I am skeptical about how
far they can actually go. I know Klay Travis has
them as the number one team in his SEC power
rankings this week and one of the top teams in
the country. I think that's a huge reach. The credit
for credits due. They looked awesome. Uh Diego Pavilla looked great.
I do love the side bet he had going with Theo. Vaughn.
By the way, Tom THEO now gets to go on
a date with Diego's mom, and now THEO is trying
to set up uh Diego with Tate McRae. The pop singer.
Funny enough, I was actually supposed to go to a
Tate mcray concert in Dallas tonight with with one of
the uh the Phoenix ladies, but uh, you know, things changed.
Uh but uh, that was gonna be an interesting weekend.
Zona State's Planet Baylor. But you know I digress.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: But David Ray and Diego, if if that's the next
power couple, and if THEO can score Diego's mom, then
if all those things can happen, then I'll buy Stock
and Vanderbilt.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, Taylor Swift shows up for Travis
kelcey and the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. Tay McCrae
shows up for Diego Pavilla and Vandy's going to the playoff.
Speaker 1: I'm in.
Speaker 2: I like.
Speaker 3: I like Diego and Tate better than Taylor and Travis.
Speaker 1: I do, too, Swift.
Speaker 4: He's may kill me for it, but really I like
Theo's mom. Ur THEO with Diego's mom. That's that's that's
my power couple.
Speaker 1: She's a nurse and THEO wants to be with a nurse.
I think that sounds great. That's a big one. I'm
here for it. Uh. Tapac Ray stunning by the way.
I know she's only twenty and that almost counts weird,
but hey, you know she's legal. You know she can.
I can buy our beer, So Tay, I'll put the
same extend, the same extension that Diego and Tale win.
If you want to go on a date with me,
Tate mcraid by all means, I'll drive back up to
Dallas right now. I'm supposed to go to Tom's karaoke.
I'll ditch those plans, and he'll understand. If you've got
nothing going on after the concert tonight.
Speaker 3: I would ditch. I would ditch karaoke for it too.
Speaker 1: Let's move on now and talk about a couple headlines
going on some news coming out today.
Speaker 4: Tom.
Speaker 1: Kansas and Arizona State are going to play in London
in twenty twenty six, and I have a couple ideas
on this. Tom. Number one, I know that it doesn't
seem like that it really helps college football to do
too many of these international games, because it's it's not
an international sport. The NFL, you know, they've been trying,
and they're not getting nearly as much progress as they
would like you to think. It seems like a waste
for college football to do this, But then what it
involves your team, Then my mindset starts to change a
little bit, Like you know what. I like the idea.
It gives me excuse to go to London. I can
see my team play, great experience with these players. I'm in.
I'll go. I'll make the trip to London conference game
against Arizona State. That sounds great. And then I think
for a moment, Okay, they announce what the date looks
like and they're talking about not playing this week zero
but during the middle non con play and then come
back the very next week to play Miszoo at home.
That's dumb. Okay, Miszoo's been winning ten games every year
the last three years. Maszoo just beat him a couple
of weeks ago as well. I like the idea theory,
but I don't like the execution process surrounding this so far.
I think this is this is great for Kansas in
Arizona State when it comes to building their brands, especially
two programs that think they're ascending. I think it's great
for the Big Twelve and Brett Yormark who wants to
build this Big twelve brand all of that big picture,
it sounds good but the other factors of oh, yeah,
these teams are trying to win a Big twelve title,
they're trying to win the playoff, and you're getting the
College for All playoff and you're gonna play Miszoo the
next week. That's where I sound the alarm a bit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the execution is the part that's not good. I mean,
it's kind of like a equivalent of an NBA back
to back right after a road trip just doesn't bode well.
Speaker 3: It's exciting, sure, but yeah, I mean if I was you,
I would I would go to London.
Speaker 4: Well I say that, I say that Oklahoma State's gonna
have to show me a lot more before I would
even travel to the next fucking town to see them.
There's gonna have to be some changes there before that.
And I didn't even fly to Eugene. Thank god, I'm
so happy I did. That's one of the best decisions
I've ever made in my life. But yeah, I mean,
you wouldn't obviously ascending programs. You know, Arizona State was
in the playoff, kuh has those aspirations. If that was
my team, I would I would fly to London to
see that.
Speaker 1: Tom I would put it this way a tough pill
to swallow. I think that as the plans are right now,
if you don't put a bye week in place, you
pretty much have to accept that you are going to
lose one of those two games, whether it's too Arizona
State there or coming home home the next week in
plaguing Maszoo if things stay as is. I think that's
what's kind of a tough pill to squad, is that
it's hard to imagine winning both those.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and then just think of the nightmare coming back
where you lose the first one mm hmm and you
have that hangover and then you have to play again.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you go into your season's done.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we'll see. There's still time they can figure
some things out. I like the idea in theory, but
I have some concerns. But I would love to make
that trip and see if we can potentially make that happen.
We'll see how that goes from there. Tom One more
note before we get to the schedule. This week, the
NCAA officially removed the spring transfer portal window, so there's
only gonna be one portal window now. It's gonna be
in December. Before the college football playoff, So that's not ideal.
Think about last year Penn State lost their backup quarterback
before the playoff to Miszoo, and he's bawling out by
the way. He's done a really good job this season,
and it's like, oh shit, we don't have our backup
quarterback and we're about to go compete for a championship here.
What if something happens to Drew Aller here? That situation
is still there. I was listening to Pat McAfee talk
about this today. Tom. It's one of those deals where
it's a step in the right direction, but it's still
not a perfect science yet. This is going to one
portal window is a good idea, but we still have
the timing of this off. I would like to see
this after spring ball, sometime in April and May. You're
finishing up your semester, and then you make the move
from there. I think this also will discourage more of
the transfer portal by not having two windows. This is
a good thing, but it's still not where it needs
to be.
Speaker 3: Right. I think it's a step in the right direction.
I'm sure, I'm sure you know.
Speaker 4: As it goes, they'll see how it all works out
and see who goes where, and and maybe tweak it
again if necessary. So you know, I'm happy with it.
Small process changes, you know, get it right. You know
it didn't have to be all right all at once,
just as long as we're getting in the right direction.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Let's roll through the Big twelve slate of games this week,
starting tonight with Tulsa in Oklahoma States. The Cowboys eleven
and a half point favorites. Here, Tom, Oklahoma State's got
to win tonight. I don't know how the quarterback situation
all that's gonna play out, but for anybody to have
any hope whatsoever, no excuse to lose.
Speaker 4: Tulsa, Yeah, there's there's no excuse. I think they go
as she wins, but I don't think they cover.
Speaker 1: Texas Tech taking on Utah Top seventeen matchup, maybe the
two best teams in the Big twelve conference. Early start
in Salt Lake City, ten am local time for this one.
Two very good teams, and the winner of this game
Tom might have a leg up on winning the Big
twelve race.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1: Who are you taking here? I'm leaning towards Utah, but
I feel like this is close to a fifty to
fifty contest.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I would. I would only go money
line on this. I don't know what the line is,
but I'd lean towards Utah as well.
Speaker 1: Utah so two and a half point favorites. SMU in
TCU the last time these two teams will be meeting
for the foreseeable future. Ashamed to see this rivalry go away.
TCUs at home their six and a half point favorites.
Two very good quarterbacks going up head to head in
this game between Hoover and Jennings. TCU two and zero,
SEMU two and one lost our heartbreaker to Baylor a
couple of weeks ago. Tom I leaned towards TCU, but
SEMU is a very good football team in their own right.
I think we're gonna see a lot of points.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 4: This seems like a classic what we what we knew
is a classic Big twelve shootout.
Speaker 1: I think we could see that here North Carolina taking
on UCF. North Carolina two and one, u c F
two and oh UCF at home their seven and a
half point favorites. I haven't liked what I've seen from Belichick.
UCF under new head coach Scott Frost. Here, I think
I lean towards UCF, but I don't think it's gonna
be a pretty game for either team.
Speaker 3: No, I don't. And I think what's the weather forecast,
and I think there's a lot of rain.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's gonna be a be a tough game
to watch. I think I do like UCF though.
Speaker 1: Here can you take it on West Virginia. West Virginia
with a big win last week at home against pitt
in the backyard brawl. They're sitting at two and one.
Can you two and one? Their first game since the
loss against Missou. You know Daniels has played good high
show's running the ball well coming off that bye week,
tom kay you at home? I expect this team to
be refocused and rejuvenated. Home crowd at night at the booth.
I think, k you could win this wins decisively.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 4: I think we'll see what, you know, if West Virginia
can maintain focus after you know, that rivalry game, and
if this was in Morgantown, I would be a little spooky.
I think they'll be safe in Lawrence.
Speaker 1: Arizona State and Baylor Baylor two and a half point favorite. Tom.
I think everybody at the beginning of the year would
have said that Arizona State probably wins this one with ease.
But Baylor's offense has looked really good. They're one loss
at home Auburn doesn't look so bad now. Arizona State
had that bad loss to Mississippi State a couple of
weeks ago. Sawyer Robertson looks fantastic at quarterback for Baylor,
Levitt doesn't look like his normal self at this point.
I think Baylor could be catching Arizona State in a
good spot. I still lean towards Arizona State, but wouldn't
surprise me if Baylor wins at home.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there what I think. I think Arizona State's good.
I think it's time to figure it out. I think
Arizona State not a maybe he must win. I think
after get embarrassed against Mississippi State, I think you have
to win. If Arizona State here b.
Speaker 1: Yu taking on East Carolina on the road BYU six
and a half point favorites in this one BYU. They've
looked good, but not great the first couple of weeks.
I expected more against Stanford than what they did, but
I think that if BYU does what they're supposed to,
this could be a blowout.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think too. I think I think BYU is
a good team.
Speaker 4: I don't think they're great, but I like to see
I'd like to see them win decisively year.
Speaker 1: Colorado at home against Wyoming. They're going back Salter at
the quarterback position. QB. Spot's been a revolving door for them.
They're sitting at one and two. Dean's got a lot
of things that they got to work through for that
Buffalo's team right now.
Speaker 4: Town Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's there's some
growing pains here without his former crew, and I think
I still think they beat Wyoming.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the SEC slate, Arkansas taking on Memphis.
Arkansas seven and a half point favorites. I think this
is gonna feel like a home game for them, just
up the road there in Memphis. Taylor Green's been fantastic
to start the season, only favorite seven and a half.
I would expect a big day from Arkansas and Taylor
Green here.
Speaker 4: Tom, Yeah, I think so too. I think Pittman keeps
the old cold Beer train rolling. It's like the Coors train.
You know, people all over the world join in. I
think he'll be drinking cold beer after this one.
Speaker 1: Tennessee takes on UAB at home. They're almost forty point
favorites against Trent dilferd squad. I think Joey Aguilar in
that offense is gonna go off. They'll bounce back after
that loss against Georgia. Oh You taking on Auburn oh
U seven and a half point favorites. Good quarterback matchup.
Job Butteer taking on Jackson Arnold. Tom. I know that
everybody's gonna be talking about Jackson Arnold trying to get
revenge and all this. But for as much as the
conversation has been about John Butttier, for me, it's the
defensive matchup for Oklahoma here. They know Jackson Arnold as
well as anybody, and the way that defenses look one
of the best in the country, maybe the best in
the SEC. Here. I think there's a bad spot for
Jackson Arnold. I think that you know, Brent Vinnibles is
going to have his number on on Jackson Arnold here.
I like Oe You to have a solid win at
home on Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think they'll be okay. I don't solid, but
I think they could win by two touchdowns. I think
al bernalill keep it it closer. I think Jackson Arnold
has something to prove and I think he'll do fine.
But ultimately I think, oh he gets the win.
Speaker 1: Old Miss taking on TWU Lane Ole Miss thirteen and
a half point favorites at home. They're sitting at three
and oh. I would like to see more from their
quarterback Simmons four touchdowns, four interceptions. I know they're three
and oh and they're ranked thirteenth, but Old Miss has
not really impressed me, even with that undefeated record.
Speaker 4: Right now, Yeah, it seems like the seems like their
time maybe coming.
Speaker 3: I think they could get upset here.
Speaker 1: Mississippi State taken on Northern Illinois. Blake Chapin's looked pretty good.
They had the win against Arizona State. We mentioned they're
twenty one and a half point favorites. Really good job
there from Jeff Levy's team to start off the season.
A pleasant surprise. Miszoo taken on South Carolina, and we
have been told that Sellers will play Miszoo's still favored
by nine and a half at home in this game,
Tom Sellers, he's got to be one hundred percent. I
think for South Carolina have any shot.
Speaker 3: Yeah, night game in Columbia, I don't. The optics are
not great.
Speaker 1: Miami eight and a half point favorites against Florida. Florida
at one and two College game Day Saturday Night football
are both at this game. It makes no sense. Florida
is not a good team already with two losses to
USF and to LSU. Miami at three and oh their
physical the light of scrimmage, Carson Becks played really well
to start the season eight and a half Tom, I'm
thinking this is blowout city. I think this might be
curtains for Billion Napier here if Miami can get a
blowout win on Saturday night.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Does Napier join the carousel with the Sean Foster
after this week?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And Brent Prye, I think this might be it. Maybe jover.
And then we got Vandy taking on Georgia State twenty
eight and a half point favorites. They should win. That,
LSU takes on Southeast Louisiana Garrett Nessmeyer chance to pad
some stats a bit. And then Texas takes on Sam
Houston Texas thirty nine and a half point favorites there
against Sam Houston, Tom real quick on that game. I
think if you're Texas, you're just hoping can Arch show
us something? Can he look like a serviceable quarterback? Because
right now you get a couple of weeks before you
play Oklahoma here, Arch is closer to the bench than
he is the heisman right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I don't you know.
Speaker 4: I think maybe Sark probably knew that all the hype
was gonna be for not. I mean they got to
watch him, you know, and kind of know who he
was gonna be potentially. But I think they're still up
for him to should still be a good quarterback. I mean,
he's still young, you know. I think I think if
you're Texas and you get up some scores on Sam Houston,
I think you just let Arch keep doing it. I
think you just let him play. He needs all the
reps he can get. You mentioned red River coming up.
You let him take all the snaps he.
Speaker 1: Wants more to come, all the Jones support. We will
be hearing from Bill Hasten to the Tulsa World coming
up in just a few moments, so stay tuned for
that as we continue. Join us now in the program.
This week please to welcome in. I think he's one
of the best writers in the entire country. It is
Bill Haston of the Tulsa World. Enjoins us right now
as we have plenty to discuss with everything going on
with Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Bill, let's
jump right in. Oklahoma big game coming up against Auburn
this weekend. What do you think of the matchup as
Jackson Arnold mixes return to Norman.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's kind of a perfect SEC opener.
It's not like you have to go to Baton Rouge
or Tuscaloosa. You're right to open the league. It's kind
of a perfect mid level opponent to gauge where you are.
I think through three games, I'm convinced that Oklahoma has
a legitimate SEC defense. I think they're really, really, really good.
They play with violence and verocity, and they're physical, and
I think they're ready for that schedule. I'm not suggesting
they're ready to go win ten games with this roster,
but I think the season is going to look better
than maybe we were expecting on the whole, mostly because
of the defense, and obviously Matier Jeometiers fantastic what I'm
not so confident about Tyler is the Ou run game,
which I think to be a complete team and to
be a real NCC contender, they've got to have the
ability to run football, and I just I've got to
see that against the better defenses in the league. And
if I do see that, then they are a complete
team and it could be, you know, a special season.
But through three games, man, I just say, you can't
do better than three and zero. You handled business really
well against Michigan. I thought the most impressive part last
week of that game at Temple was that there was
no Michigan hangover right. They came out. It wasn't a
perfect game by any means, but it was pretty good
and it went forty two to three over a team
that kind of felt like it had a chance to
make it interesting. Temple was is, I think, a lot
better than they were a year ago when they just
got mangled at Norman. But I'm encouraged and fired up
to see what what uh? And then the Jackson Arnold storyline,
Holy cow, I mean, you couldn't You couldn't draw up
a more interesting for this point in the in the
college football schedule for you? You know, before all of
this went down, you two years ago, if you'd just said, well,
it's Auburn to open the SEC schedule, he said, all okay,
But now you like, it's Jackson, Arnold and Arburn open
at Noran, which is it doubles the pressure on ou
to perform well and win. And you know there's great
pressure on Jackson Arnold and it's a beautiful matchup. Love
it great, great sidebar to the big picture of the
game itself.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. We'll talk about the quarterback match up here
in just a moment. I do want to bring up
something you discussed the running back situation, and we saw
them run the ball pretty effectively against Temple, I felt like,
but not so much in the previous two weeks. And
there's one thing in particular that stands out, where in
the hell is Jed not. This is a guy that
was a premiere running back in the PAC twelve and
the ACC, a big galas offense. There was high hopes
and expectations for him and he can't even get on
the field. And I know there was the injury, but
one of that solve a lot of their running issues.
But just give not more time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it would, but it just feels like
to me, there's got to be more with his medical
status then we're aware of. I guess I don't know,
and I keep hearing that OU has it's so important
for you to have a clearly defined number one running back.
I don't know about that. I just think it's important
to get consistent production from whatever combination of guys. And
if it happens to be if Aught happens to emerge
as that guy, that's great. But from a combination of
two or three guys they've got to get I mean,
if you're looking for a magic number in the SEC,
if you could rush for one hundred and sixty yards
a game to give material a little balance and to
keep defenses guessing a little bit, that's good enough. I mean,
you'd like to rush for two hundred plus. But if
they could get to one hundred and sixty hundred and
seventy yards a game, whether it's Ought or any one
of the other guys or a combination of the other guys,
that's so important for you. And it would be a
nice statement for an offensive line that couldn't block anybody
last year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And with that said, job Matier looks fantastic, looks
like a Heisman candidate, the way that he's played and
done in a variety of ways, not just the passing game,
but his rushing ability as well, played in this offense
previously under Ben Rbuckle there at Washington State. Are you
surprised that job Mattear's looking this good this quickly here?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, I am. I mean it's been six years
since Jalen Hurts was at Norman, and the quarterback room
at OU since that time has been really up and down,
and there's not been I mean, obviously, you had a
Heisman level guy there with Gailen Williams, he just didn't
stay very long. And you had Spencer Rattler before him,
who was the number one quarterback in the country coming
out of high school, and that didn't quite get to
where people expected, or certainly where you expected. So now
here's Materer and he does have a lot of Mayfield
about him, kind of the whole leadership vibe, the whole
energy of the guy. Here's what concerns me about him.
Beyond I'd like to see him complete seventy percent and
I'd like to see him maybe not get intercepted quite
so much. But more than that, I just hope he
has the good sense to know to avoid getting blown
up and not to try. You know, he's a dynamic
athlete and there are going to be times when he
can read the field. You saw Baker Mayfield Monday night.
Tampa won that game because of two scramble situations that
Baker Mayfield got big yardage and extended those drives. Baker
Mayfield won the game for them with those two run
plays in the fourth quarter. But and Materia is going
to see some openings where he can go make a
big play. But I hope once he gets past the
first down marker or something whatever, I just hope he
has the instincts to get down or get out of
bounds and don't expose him because it would be potentially
probably catastrophic if he gets hurt and misses time. But
with a healthy I mean, you say, is he am
I surprised that he's emerged to be this good this immediately?
Did I expect him to be the Heisman front runner
by mid September? Nope? No, So yeah, and he is that.
He is literally the front runner on the Heisman board today.
So I think he's great. But he shows you the
value of an alpha person at the quarterback position because
it lifts the whole program. Everybody in the program is
uplifted and energized when they have a quarterback. You saw
it in twenty fifteen. My goodness, twenty fourteen, Sooners really struggled,
really a great inconsistency at the quarterback position. Everybody thought
Trevor Knight was going to be an All American, a great,
great player, and he would be one quarter and wouldn't
be the next two quarters. And there was great, he
was very erratic. Of course, he did beat Alabama there
at the end of that fourteen No, no, that was
thirteen season. Yeah, it was twenty thirteen season. But anyway,
Trevor Knight just had such great potential. But you're just
ump and down and then here goes Baker Mayfield from
Texas Tech. And even in that red shirt season, he
was the leader of that football team. And so I
think Materia has that sort of people skills, leadership or
all of that. But it's just you cannot overstate the
importance of keeping him healthy and on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no question about it. And you know, before
the season, the national pundits were all talking about how
good Arch was gonna be and not giving Matier the
real love or attention. And here we are three weeks
into the season, and I think anybody with a brain
knows how much better John Mattier is than Arch Manning
right now. Not saying that's gonna be long term or
that Arch can't improve and get better, I think.
Speaker 2: It's long term toler I just think my tears a
better quarterback.
Speaker 1: I agree with you, you know I'm with you. But
with that said, I'm not saying that Arch won't be
good at some point, but you know, it's it's pretty obvious.
Did he was watching who the better quarterback is? And
and I think we're gonna see that on full display
here in a couple of weeks when we get there
in Dallas. Uh, with this quarterback matchup going up against
on the other side, Jackson Arnold. I was listening to
Inventables this week and one of the things in Vnables
was talking about was he was asked, you know, why
is jacksonall look so good to start writing? And he said, well,
they got a lot of good going around him compared
to the situation he was in last year. And I
saw a lot of that Baylor game bill, and one
of the things I noticed was how effective they were
at the line of scrimmage and in particular their ability
to run the football there. And if you're Oklahoma, I
don't think it's so much about being Jackson Artill. I
think it's really about stopping Auburn's run game here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. It's so I wonder what kind of
talks the Auburn staff is having with Jackson Arnold and
whether he'll, you know, playing at Norman on the other sideline,
that's that's pretty intense for a young guy. And so
is he going to feel like I've got to be
a superhuman quarterback. I've got to make I do have
to expose myself to some risk here on some run plays.
And that's if that's the way, if that's what we're
gonna need to win the game, is for me to
you know, keep the football and keep them guessing. And
he's you know, he got popped a couple of times
by Baylor. But I just wonder if you'll feel like
great pressure to be the reason why Auburn wins this
game instead of a reason why Auburn could win this game.
And you know. I'm just telling you, if he gets
in the open field and if an OU player has
a reasonable chance to blow him up, they're gonna do it.
And so I think there's great pressure, just like there
was on my tier for Jackson Arnold to stay on
the field and stay healthy. But I do think that
Auburn has maybe uh maybe a deeper quarterback room than
know you. But still he has shown to this point
that Arnold has shown that he's the best quarterback they got.
So I think there'll be a lot going on in
his mind with regard to wanting to prove people wrong obviously,
and then there'll be a lot of going through his
mind possibly with regard to I'd like like if I
were him, I mean, young guy'd be thinking, I want
to shock the world today, and I want to be
on the Sports Center Top ten tonight and I want
to be, you know, the most talked about guy in
college football tomorrow. So let's go. And so with that
sometimes comes trying to do too much. So we'll see
if he tries to do too much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if if this is personal to him.
Speaker 2: You know, think yeah, right, Well, and you and I
both seen him make throws that you know, everybody would
carenge and say, what the heck is is he? Who's
he throwing to? And what does he see there? So
you know, it's see if the OU defense can force
him into terrible decision making and some and giving the
football away.
Speaker 1: Uh. You look at what's coming up for Oklahoma their
next two SEC contests ahead. You have this game of
course against Auburn coming up on Saturday, and you play
Kent State, of course, and then another SEC game after
that against Texas. And if if Oklahoma can beat Auburn
in Texas in those two games in a three week stretch,
I know, Bill that much has been made about how
tough this schedule is, but you know, South Carolina kind
of got exposed last week. We saw what happened Alabama,
you know, to open up the season against Florida State.
I feel like, if you win these next two SEC games,
despite how tough it is, there's no reason to think
that Oklahoma can't manage this schedule and find a way
if they stay healthy, to get in the College Football Playoff. Here,
what's so you right? Well? Right?
Speaker 2: Because well, I mean so a year ago or a
few months ago, let's just say, coming out of Okay,
the last time everybody saw oh you played football, they
lost to Navy, right, and then you look at this
year's schedule and you say, oh my lord, look at that,
and it looked unmanageable, it looked daunting, right. Well, but
we were basing our perception of that schedule. Tyler was
based on what we saw coming out of the bowl
game of a loss to Navy. So b he is
way way, way better than they were. Defensively, outstanding, probably
top eight defense in college football right now, and we've
already covered it. Materier, Nobody saw him coming in, saw
him when he came in as being the early Heisman
front runner. Well, maybe some did, but I didn't, not
this quickly. No, But I didn't see Archie Manning kind
of falling off the table this early either. But you're
so right. I can't wait for the Texas game. Can't wait.
I think it's a very winnable game for you. I
do now. Ninety days ago, I wouldn't have said that.
Now I've gotten enough of a sample size from both
sides of that game that I feel great about, Oh
you going into that. But once again we got Auburn
can overlook Auburn. The Kent game is a contractual obligation.
You've got to play it. I hate those games. I
hate those meaningless schedule fillers, wedged right in the middle
of the most important stretch. And I get it. It's
a scrimmage and it's a chance for venables to rest guys.
And I'm but, man, it's so anti climactic. But it
gives O you a chance to kind of almost get
a week off before the Texas game. So I guess
there's value in that. But I cannot wait to see
the Texas game and how you looks coming out of it,
and it'll it'll just say so much with regard to
what their second half of the schedule is going to
look like. Yeah, but it did look like an unmanageable,
horrific draw for you, you know, even just eight six
or eight weeks ago. It did. But now that ou
has proven itself to be so much better a football
team than a year ago, I'm not suggesting that an
it's an easy schedule, but it's not one. And people
on the other side of that schedule looking back this
way or saying, oh boy, oh he's pretty good.
Speaker 1: One more thing, I'll say this I know you, and
then we move on talk about Oklahoma State. Bill, I
would also say OU fans out there, you got to
change your expectations to an extent. There was a point
in time when this team dominated the Big Twelve and
the thought was to win the Big Twelve every single
year and make the College Football Playoff. And now with
as tough as the SEC is in this schedule and everything,
it's I think Ohio State showed last year. Bill, It's
just about getting there and then figuring everything else out right.
It would be great if Oklahoma won the SEC and
did all of that, no one would complain about that.
But I think the number one objective is just find
a way getting the playoff and then let your season
continue for there. That's what I'm looking at. If they
win the SEC, by all means, fantastic, but just get
in there and then kind of restart your season from
that point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. Well, I mean, I wondered, like I'll
never forget the day of the and when it leaked
that Ou in Texas were heading to the SEC, and
I just thought, and my immediate thought was, Okay, that's
going to be a big adjustment for the OU fan
base because they're used to winning eleven or twelve every
year every year Lincoln Bob before that. And then but
you think, Okay, how is the fan base going to
feel about eight and four being considered an outstanding season
depending on the schedule. But that's a really good that's
a really good record in the SEC. So I mean,
I just but it would be just to get on
the bracket this year, like you say, I mean, what
an amazing bonus and what an amazing statement it would
be for Venables to go from the hot seat to
standing on the stage with the SEC championship trophy. Right
That'd be amazing and right now, who's to say they
can't do it? I'm not gonna say that, But like
you say that, the more realistic did you watch Georgia
and Tennessee?
Speaker 3: I did?
Speaker 2: Moly? Is oh you ready for a ballgame like that
against a team like one of those teams? I mean,
they're coming up, so let's and maybe the Cotton Bowl
is that kind of game. I don't know, But I'm
just so pleasantly surprised and unexpectedly fired up for the
rest of this OU season because the last three have
been in the ten win season. In there with Gabriel
at quarterback. I mean, they lost Bedlum, you know, and
there was some and then you know, and then Gabriel
leaves and they lose to Arizona in the bowl game,
and it just wasn't as satisfying as most ten win
seasons would be. So this would really really for frintable
for Venables to jump up off the hot seat and
to you know, to have that kind of a special
season of nine to three and get on the bracket
and win a game in the playoff. That'd be a
damn good, really fun second season in the SEC for you.
Speaker 1: All Right, let's shift gears talk about that. We want
to stay Cowboys. Now, Bill, what the hell is going
on in still Water right now?
Speaker 2: Well, man, it's just I don't even know where to start.
So this this kind of sneaked up on everybody. It
certainly sneaked up on well, it kind of sneaked up
on me because sometimes you know, you just something's happening,
but you don't really take inventory. You have to kind
of take a step back and take a look at it.
And so, but over the last thirty six games, Tyler,
the oklhom state program has lost twenty times twenty games.
They've lost twenty games in thirty six, sixteen and twenty
in their last thirty six and ask well, I mean,
how did that happen? Why? Before that issue was winning
a lot of games they'd beaten, not Trae Dame. They
had a twelve wins season. But it was a variety
of factors. I think the previous staff got soft on recruiting,
didn't hustle like they should have owned recruiting. They haven't
been They have not had a consistently reliable quarterback since
Mason Rudolph in twenty seventeen, as well as eight years ago.
It's a long time. They have not been consistently. They've
either been average or way below average on the offensive
line for about twelve years. Thirteen years was the that
was the hallmark of good Gundhy teams early like six
through twenty twelve. They were always really good on the
offensive line. They would lead the Big twelve in rushing
or finish second, or they would lead the Big twelve
for finish second and few of sacks allowed all those years.
For seven years, that's gone. That culture's gone. They had
this amazing defense of twenty one, that great defensive culture
left when Jim Knowles left to go to Ohio State.
Now he's at Penn State. But so and then last year,
of course, they just weren't very good and they get hammered.
They lose five times in conference played Tyler by at
least twenty one points. They get smoked week after after week,
and then Mike Gundhy makes unfortunate comments that are critical
of fans. In November, they finished the season with a
fifty two or nothing, the loss at Colorado. Mike. Mike
Gundhi's employment status is the subject of a December sixth
board meeting. It's still order. Day later, Mike accepts the
terms of a revised contract and a pay cut, and
I felt right then, oh baby, how do you market
to your fans? How do you sell season tickets to
a fan base now who is aware that there's that
your football coach and your university leadership are at odds?
How do you sell season tickets to a fan base
after you've gone zero to nine in the Big twelve
and you weren't even competitive, and you don't know what
you're going to have at the quarterback position. You have
sixty two new guys on your roster. You have an
entirely new coaching staff. I believed all along that this
would not go well this season because I didn't think
Mike Gundy would forgive certain people at the university for
what happened in December. I think Mike's still upset about that.
I don't know what they are or what they have
a quarterback. Don't know what they've are or what they
have it on the offensive line. They host Tulsa Friday night.
I think Tulsa has got a chance to go in
there and win the game. I do, But yet two
years ago o Issue gets beat by South Alabama at home,
got smoked by thirty three to seven. It was Tyler.
And then they hosted on a Friday night Kansas State,
and I remember saying and writing, oh, baby, won't there
will be fifteen thousand empty seats there on a Friday night.
And this just ain't good. And you know what, it
was packed Boone Pickensadium was jam packed. Oishu played really
well and they got hot after that and won six
or seven in a row. So is this team coming
off of that Oregon disaster? I kind of buried the lead.
Holy Cow lose by sixty six at Oregon and that's
a disaster, and they did it. Among the people in
the building that day were a planeload of Oklahoma State donors,
the regents, and the university president went up there with
the athletic director to watch that game. And then they
lose sixty nine to three. So does this team have
the wherewithal to come up with a special performance Friday
night to get it self esteem kind of restored or
at least get started on that, and then to go
into the Big Twelve schedule. Baylor is the opener in
the Big Twelve. Baylor has beaten OSU nine of the
last fourteen. That's another stat that sneaked up on me.
So I don't know. I mean, I still kind of
I have written on this a couple of times this year.
I still kind of I stand by my belief that
this is Mike Gundy's final season. He's twenty first in
final season to really show. I just think he's going
to reach a point, or if he hadn't already, where
he looks around and says, I don't like college football
the way it is now. I don't like the fluid
nature of the rosters, the inability or it's almost impossible
now to it's all about money and attracting talent to
your roster and then the challenge of retention and all
of that. So I just think Michael will get a
later in the season and decide I'm going to ESPN,
and then he'll go do a TV gig and then
you know, we'll see who the next coach is at
Oklahoma State. They're not going to fire Miken season. You
don't do that to a guy who's been in the
program thirty five years. Stupid and dirty. Don't do that.
And his name should be on the Ring of Honor
immediately after he's finished coaching. However, you don't want to
see it be a really ugly parting of the ways
here at the end, whatever that looks like, because Mike does. Yeah,
I think they should put Mike's name on the field,
Mike gundeyfield at Ben Picken Stadium. Put his name up
in the Ring of honor. He's the most accomplished football
person in the history at school and he should be
honored as such. But so I hope it doesn't end badly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we saw Gary Patterson have an ugly end at TCU,
and the only why things well, I'm so glad championship
the next year, Tyler.
Speaker 2: Thank you for reminding me about that, because that might
be something I need to weave into a column. Cone up,
because you're exactly right. He's a stat Gary Patterson was
a statute guy for that school.
Speaker 1: It was more successful at TCU than Gundy was at OSU.
Speaker 2: Well, right, you ride that well I did. Yeah, you
could argue that. I mean, one a Rose Bowl, he
was on the brink of some great stuff. Man, you
could argue that very comparable either way.
Speaker 1: Yeah it work.
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's a great comparison. And yeah, yeah, yeah,
he did in badly for Gary Patterson and at TCU,
and I don't want to see it. I would hate
to see that at all issue.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I mean, if if they had not literally
been to the playoff of the National Championship, we're having
a whole different conversation about the exit of Gary Patterson
TCU than we are now. Those deals were winning. I
guess cures everything, and I don't think it no matter.
They could hire Nick Saban tomorrow and that team's not
going to a national title next year. With that said,
with the state of the Oklahoma state program and where
they potentially go from here in a post Mike Gundhi
era that has been made about the money concerns and
the lack they're off and things of course have been
different since the passing of t boone Pickens, of course.
But what I wonder Bill is is the donor base
holding back their pockets because of Mike Gundhy in the
state of the program or is this going to be
a issue that persists no matter who the head coach
is in long term money issues at Oklahoma State. I mean,
you look even within the rest of the Big twelve
schools like Texas Tech, Kansas and others seem like they
have all more money than Oklahoma State does.
Speaker 2: Right now, well, I don't buy that. Now They've had
big moves lately at those schools where like the Giant
Gift at KU and then the I'm looking forward to
getting up to see the new stadium at Lawrence. I
bet it's Have you been to it yet?
Speaker 3: I have.
Speaker 1: I went a few weeks ago. It feels like a
small NFL stadium that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it looks really cool and I'm so happy for KU.
I'm so happy for coach Loiphold, one of the best
guys in the league, one of the best guys in
college football. I really like him. So, but see, I
don't know. See, I mean, first of all, the money
piece of this is a problem everywhere. The list, the
list of really super wealthy superpowers is not very big.
It's Ohio State, and it's Texas, and it's A and N,
and it's a few others. Most schools are right there
in that that next level down on resources with Oklahoma State,
Texas Tech, the Kansas schools, Iowa State, and so I
know that the OSU fan base has some very very wealthy,
very loyal people, very loyal to that university. So the
resources are there now. Boone obviously was his generosity was historic.
Boon gave over six hundred and fifty million to that school. Yeah,
and obviously his names on the stadium and so, but
there is there's a healthy number of a list donors
at Oklahoma State now who are at a great enough
level of ability, I guess is a word that they
could really really, really really lift elevate OSU to a
competitive level on revenue.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I keep hearing over and over that there
are some of those donors who are you alluded to it,
and you're right that some of them are not willing
to give that money until there's a coaching change. So
the politics of what's going on ont o issue are hideous,
and there's got to be some real leadership. Somebody's got
to provide some real leadership, stand up and steady everything.
And they need to be very transparent about this too,
and there has to be a plan on what they're
going to do to be compared in this new environment.
I say, no, it's really not new now. It just
is what it is now. But Tyler, I don't sense
that there's any real leadership over there right now. It's
like there's no there's no Holder Mike Holder type of
leadership figure. And without that, uh, the athletic director at
oways she has been working for two and a half
months without a contract. Right. Not a good look. It
just it stinks of indecision and infighting and whatever else.
But they got to get they got to get uh,
they got to get a plan in place, and they've
got to get you know, it's going to be difficult.
I'm just gonna be listen. I'm the first one that
I've covered it all. I know what I'm talking about
I've seen it. What Mike gund He's done in still
Water is miraculous. It's so impressive. But uh, it just
feels like from Mike's I just think Michae will be
a happier guy when he gets out of that situation.
I think OSU will be a happier place when it
kind of reboots in the coach's office and just it's time,
you know, I mean, nothing lasts forever, nothing so anyway,
but if it ends badly, it's going to be really unfortunate.
That's my greatest hope pro issue that it doesn't in
badly and then don't screw up the higher go get
you the right next coach, because they haven't had to.
They have not had to search for a head football
coach there in twenty five years. They they found less
miles good higher, but then they promoted Mike Gundy from
a coordinator job, so they haven't had to go ahead
and look for a coach Tyler in twenty five years.
What are you about twenty five years old?
Speaker 1: I'm twenty nine, So well there you go. Okay, it's
been a while, it's been a long time.
Speaker 2: You're in pre K, you were in pre k the
last time they had to.
Speaker 1: I'm keeping my fingers crossed that John Gruden makes his
way to steal water. I want to see the crazy.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, the most the most mentioned name is
Zach Robinson, former Cowboy quarterback who now is the coordinator
at the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 1: And he's not doing a very good job. Might I add,
by the way, Zach, Yeah, I mean that offense was
terrible last year.
Speaker 2: Well, but the last couple of weeks they're starting to
show some stuff. And Pinnix is a nice quarterback to
work with. So I think Zach, I think, Zach, We'll see.
I mean, it's but I think the Falcons other night
were very impressive. And I know that Zach Robinson is
a very very popular person in the OSU universe. Yeah,
and there's a lot of people. He's thirty eight, the
same age Mike was when he got that job. But
he's also like one or two good years away from
being a head coach at that at that level. So
does he want to roll the dice and go back
to the madness of college football now? Or Stan pat? He? Probably?
He probably, I'm just putting. I shouldn't speak for him,
but if I I got to think maybe he just
feels better off to stay in pro football and let
that run its course.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think you know, Kevin Moore was offered
the Boise State job a couple different times, got fired
from multiple OC jobs, and still landed, you know, after
finally breaking through winning Super Bowl with Eagles, that Saints
head coaching job. I think even if it doesn't work
out for Zach in Atlanta, he would get another shot again.
They recycle all these coordinators over again, that eventually, if
he proves himself as day could come Bill before we
go plug away. I know you got some exciting coverage
football season going on with ou OSU TU as well.
The high school scene right now amazing. I saw something
about Bigsby and Jinks both being top twenty five teams
in the country this year. I mean, so much going on,
and the Thunder is just another month away from us
starting their title.
Speaker 2: Actually, they're like, let's see here, Tyler. I think it's
three weeks, less than three weeks to their first preseason game.
I think, like, oh, baby, like two weeks away from
media day over there. So, I mean, so the beauty
of it is you have that deep, deep postseason run
and you win it all and then but the only
drawback is you sure don't have much of an off season.
At the same time, the youngest team right, so they
don't quite have as the recovery challenge isn't quite as
great as if they were a bunch of thirty year
old guys. Yeah yeah, oh man. But you know, Tulsa County,
You know this, Tulsa County High school football is off
the charts. It's phenomenal. The facilities, the commitment to these
these big school programs around here. And it's either depending
on how you view it, it's either amazing or it's
unhealthy or vote you know what I mean. But it's
fantastic football. I mean, it is stordinarily good football. And
if here's a stat you'll appreciate being a twenty nine
year old. If a Tulsa County team wins the state
championship this year in Class six A, won the largest
class in Oklahoma, it'll be thirty years in a row
that a Tulsa County team has won the title in
the state's largest class. It's been since nineteen ninety five
Midwest City that anybody outside of Tulsa won the largest
classification championship. So you say it just means more, NANCYC.
For sure, it just means more up here in Tulsa County.
So yeah, our readers have a tremendous appetite for high
school football content, so we prioritize that and we do
it very well.
Speaker 1: Bill appreciate the time of front. We'll talk in down
the line. Thanks for join us. Check him out Tulsa
World dot com for continuing coverage and we'll see it
down the line. Appreciated. Join us, yes, sir.
Speaker 2: Thanks doctor