Speaker 1: You are now listening to the Big Ten Paradigm podcast
here on the College Gridiron Coast to Coast Podcast Network.
Speaker 2: Please welcome in no A. Drury's We covered.
Speaker 1: The Big Ten throughout this whole entire twenty twenty five
college football season, and welcome into the Big Ten Paradigm Show.
My name is Noah Drury, doing the show for the
Big Ten Paradigm this twenty twenty five football season. A
little bit of background information on me. I am a
graduate of spex Howard Specs at LTU now in the
class of twenty twenty four. I have done play by
play commentary for radio station out here in Michigan called WHMI,
doing high school football broadcasts, also doing various universities like
my community college, Davenport University, Cornerstone University, and along with
a network called the National Soccer Network doing some soccer
play by play there. But I've also done some shows
in the past of my free time on college football,
and I'm head to be on here covering the Big
Ten this whole entire season on the College Gridiron Coast
to Coast Podcast Network. And what I wanted to do
to start off this show talking in the Big Ten
is kind of talk about the contenders and also the
quarterback situation. We will have Sports Illustrated writer Tom Cavanaugh
joining us on the show here in a little bit
to talk some Michigan State football preseasons for all our
fans in East Lanson and across the country that represent
the Spartans, get a little bit of a deep dive
into that team. But let's start off here with the
Big Ten, and they're three major contenders, and they're like, no,
I think I know all of these major contenders, but
I wanted to specifically talk about Ohio State, Penn State,
and Oregon. Penn State ranked at number two and the
Ape Pole that just dropped a couple of days ago.
And Penn State's a team with a lot of continuity
returning on this roster. They're one of the few teams
in the Big Ten to have their quarterback return and
Drew Aller and also you have Nick Singleton and k
Tron Allen returning along with nine total offensive starters returning
five on the defensive side fourteen total. And with Drew
Aller this season, I think he's poised for that big
breakout campaign. A lot of people are very hyped about
what he can do this season and Penn State in general.
They got a lot of returning pieces on the offensive
line as well as we mentioned in the running back room,
but they really hit the transfer portal hard trying to
look for some playmakers on the outside to get the
ball to. And Kyron Hudson from USC, He's a guy
where I think he could be really good. He had
its moments at USC, especially more with Kayleb Williams. He's
kind of a guy that's just gonna on the outside
and be able to play make Devontae Ross from Troy,
He's a guy that had over a thousand yards last season.
I think really step up on the other side. And
then Trebor Penya from Syracuse. He was one of cal
Becoord's favorite targets and you're gonna call him crazy for this.
I watched a lot of Syracuse football last season and
he was one of the main and playmakers along with
le Quinn Allen in the backfield that kind of shine
on the Syracuse team in a really surprised season for Syracuse.
Not that we're talking the ACC here, but he's a
guy that I think really could step up. And it
looks like they're gonna have him slotted in the slot,
and I think he is someone that could be a
really big difference maker and Penn State's kind of been
missing that true playmaker on the outside. We had Trey
Wallace last season, you know, kind of have his moments
and thinking, especially in that West Virginia game last season
in Week one, that he could be this breakout star
and just kind of never really showed this team. They
went to the semi final play Notre Dame lost, We're
able to be SMU and Boise State and the other
two playoff games where the runner up in the Big
Tens behind Oregon losing in that championship game. And then
defensive side, why Zane Durant and Deny Dennis Sutton are
gonna be two guys on the defensive line that they're
gonna have to look out for. They do have Amari
Campbell from North Carolina. It looks like he's gonna slot
in that middle linebacker position, and then Zion Tracy on
the outside. He's someone that I really liked in that
nickel position and I think will do really well for
this team. But a decent amount of returners James Franklin.
They also get the higher up Jim Knowles on the
defensive side from Ohio State, and he's someone that's been
really good coming into coaching.
Speaker 2: He was good at Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: State, struggled in his first year at Ohio State, but
he was able to build a solid defensive foundation in
the years following. And they also have the second year
under and he coled to Nicky who really did a
really good job of scheming up Tyler Warren and also
the running backs. And I think you'll see more of
the same and even more you know, progressions in the
offensive play calling in College Station Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: The second team.
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about number three team in the
eight people, Ohio State, the twenty twenty five national champions,
and they have a little bit of an interesting quarterback
situation right now happening. You have Julian San who was
looking like he was gonna be the slotted starter, and
then Lincoln Kineholes, you know, a red shirt sophomore that
you know, he's been in this quarterback battle before, kind
of you know, on the latter end when it was
Devin Brown and Will Howard and then when he was
a freshman, he was kind of just talked about as Hey,
this guy might be a nice developmental project, a kid
from South Dakota that was a nice MIT multi sport athlete,
and there's a real chance between him and San Right now,
I do think sand does get that job, but I mean,
you never really know what can happen, and he might
be slotted in, you know, at certain points. I know
what they did with Devin Brown and Kyle McCord where
he might come in in search certain situations to run
the ball in the red zone. And I will have
to wait and see, obviously, but it'll be interesting to
see what Ryan Day does. This is a receiver room
that returns pretty well with Jeremiah Smith, take Carnell or
excuse me, Carnell Tate, and then Brandon Innis as well.
You do have to replace a decent bit on the
offensive line. They have a transfer at tight end for Purdue,
Max Claire. I think he's someone that's going to be
a nice offensive weapon put in for this team. He
was one to produce bright spots last year. A Purdue
team that only returns one starter in the running back
in mcobe.
Speaker 2: But Max Clair was.
Speaker 1: You know, someone that was able to play make and
I think he'll have a nice suited role on this offense.
On the defensive side, there's a lot to replace for
Ohio State. A few bright spots Davison and Butnosen is
someone that I thought played really well on the outside,
Jermaine Matthews, this whole secondary as a whole. Obviously, you
have Caleb Downs as well, and I know he's technically
not a secondary guy, but the weak side linebackers, Sonny Styles,
I think he's someone that could be very important, you know,
to this team as well. But the whole pass rush
is going to look a lot different this year. Obviously,
with Sawyer and t JT. Tuomolaw and Ty Hamilton and
a bunch of guys just simply off this defensive line
doing to go play at the next level, there's gonna
be a tough replacement. And then also losing Jim Doles
as well. It will be interesting to see how this
Ohio State team does going into this next season. You know,
can they get back into that playoff, can they win
the Big Ten this year? A lot of questions to
be answered. But I think Ryan Day, you know, finally
not having the pressure on him. Obviously, you have the
whole Michigan situation and him not winning in the twenty
twenties against that team. That's something that they're obviously going
to try to achieve this year. But just having that
national title is I think gonna relieve some of the
pressure off of him. Obviously, you still have to compete
in this season. And then Oregon at number seven and
the eight people, they're a team where I don't know
necessarily how they're going to finish. You lose Evan Stewart
to injury, you lose Jordan James last year to the draft,
you lose Dylan Gabriel obviously one of the main playmakers.
You have three offensive line transfers in Isaiah World is
a guy where he's probably going to be, you know,
and he'sn't out of this world prospect in terms of
getting a transfer tackle from Nevada. All the skill there,
and he's someone that could be, you know, a high
NFL draft pick if all things work out. But they
have a quarterback in Dante more locally here in Michigan.
I'm from the state of Michigan. He played at Detroit
King High School has also turned out players like Sauce
Gardner as well to the NFL. He's someone that they
he could look He looked good at UCLA at times.
He took a year off to sit behind and kind
of learn.
Speaker 2: They have.
Speaker 1: Austin Novias said, I don't think he's really going to
compete for a spot there and then going into the
wide receiver room a freshman. I don't think he has
Jeremiah Smith potential. That's not what I'm trying to say here,
But to Corey and Moore, is someone that could really,
you know, be that freshman sensation of this twenty twenty
five class, kind of how Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith
were of the twenty twenty four I think to Corey
and Moore does this in twenty twenty five. You also
have Kyle Casper and Gary Bryant junior as well trying
to step up in there for Evan Stewart. On the
defensive side, you have Matteo Ugly, someone that I think
is going to be a very impactful edge rusher this season,
but also a lot of people to replace on the
defensive side of the ball as well. You lose Jordan Birch,
someone that was really helpful on the defensive side. You
replace a decent amount in the secondary and a lot
of juniors on this roster. When you look at the
depth chart, it'll be interesting to see, you know, what
they do this season on the defensive side, because they
were pretty sound last year, but they run a four two,
five and four to three mix, so it will be
interesting to see what they do. And talking more about
the quarterback situation, obviously we know Drew Allery, we know
Luke Altmeyer from Illinois, which we'll talk about them in
the back end of this show. Yeah, Fermando Mendoza from Cal,
who's someone that I really liked watching on tape and
watching Cal games personally, just because they're typically late on
at night and they're in the ACC as well.
Speaker 2: It was someone that I really liked.
Speaker 1: Demon Williams looks like he can be a sensation for
Washington if needed to be. I think he will be
that player. He gives me big Jan Daniels Vibes did
really well in that Bowl game that they played in
over in well Bull season. But yeah, there's there's a
lot of interesting quarterback situations. You have Dylan Royola, He's
gonna be with Dana Holgerson talk a little bit about them.
Speaker 2: For the Trojans. It sounds like it's.
Speaker 1: Going to be Jade and Mayeva for them and just
Bryce underwe and Mikey Kean what does that quarterback room
look like and the moral of the story as we
continue to talk about these quarterbacks and where they are, Like, yes,
you have Adan Chiles from Michigan State, he's going to
be one of the return few returners actually back to
their team. But there's a lot of change at the
quarterback position in the Big Ten Conference this season, and it'll
be interesting to see how this plays out, just because
there's unfamiliarity and we see a lot of the times
that you know, first year systems. Obviously, in college, you
only have four seasons to compete. It's not like you're
in the NFL and you have years and years under
the system and the same coaching staff and the same coordinator.
You know, a lot of change happens at the college
game in terms of players leaving and going coaches flipping
from going to coordator to head coach, you're taking a
different coordinator job at another school. It'll be interesting to
see with a bunch of a new Big Ten quarterbacks
this season, you know who's gonna rise to the cream
of the crop. Obviously there's a team game. You gotta
play all the other positions as well. But I think
this team, or these teams in the Big Ten, you know,
quarterbacks is going to be a very important position that
they have to take into consideration and really have to
evaluate throughout the rest of fall camp and even in
those early weeks if they need to make a switch.
There's a lot of new but I think it will
be interesting to see how all these quarterbacks play out.
And I'm not going to give any projections of oh, well,
this quarterback is going to be better than this quarterback,
but I will say two qbs that I am very
excited to watch this season stepping into a new role
or Demond Williams and Fernando Mendoza, and those two guys
I think will be so when you want to especially
see in the early season. As I know Indiana, everyone
keeps knocking on them for their reschedule across social media,
especially on the Twitter fan base of college football fans.
And then I think also Demond Williams for Washington, I
think Washington's gonna have a nice bounce back season. Am
I saying they're going to make.
Speaker 2: The College football Playoff?
Speaker 1: Probably not, but I do think Washington is a great
team that I think they could do a really good
job this season, have a nice bounce back for Jedfish.
They didn't finished bad last year. I think they could
continue to take those steps. You know, keep in mind
in the twenty twenty three season, they were competing at
the top of the Pac twelve. You know, they made
the College Football National Championship. They beat Texas. The team
ranked number one in eight people.
Speaker 2: But I digress.
Speaker 1: We will be joining Tom cavan all to talk about
the Michigan State Spartans and kind of what's the expectation
of that team. You know, who are some transfer guys
and kind of all Michigan State, you know, all the
talk in East Lansing. What's going to happen with the
team in green and white? And welcome on the show,
Tom Cavanaugh here on the Big Den Paradigm.
Speaker 2: Tom, how are you doing.
Speaker 3: I'm doing well. No, good to be with you, man.
Good to talk some Spartan football.
Speaker 1: I'm excited for the people that do not know you.
Give yourself a little bit of a background on where
you come from and why you're here on today's show.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent Detroit native, grew up here my whole life.
Recently a writer for Sports Illustrated with Michigan State, got
to meet you, Noah through doing some sports broadcasting, so
partial writer while also you know, being behind the microphone
doing some stuff like this, either on the radio or
calling live games. I know, me and you both work
together at a Mott Community College out there in Flint, Michigan.
But you know, great family, two younger brothers, great parents,
and you know, just a big sports fan all around,
and football, even though I come from a baseball background
a little bit more, football just grabs me a little
bit more so. Talking MSU football today with you, you know,
it gets me going.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get into some Michig State business. A
team that you know doesn't have necessarily high expectations, they've
been doing a better job in year two in terms
of the recruiting department under Jonathan Smith, nine projected returning
starters five on the offense, four on the defense, according
to CBS Sports. I wanted to ask, first off, what
is your expectation for Jonathan Smith under him in the
tenure for his year two?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a big question asked
around all of East Lansing and anybody really questioning, you know,
that middle to lower tier the Big Ten, because I mean,
just to give it to you straight, just progress. I
don't think this team, and they have some great talent,
we'll get into it. I don't think this team's going
to be competing for a Big Ten title because it's
so top heavy when you look at the Ohio States,
the Penn State, Oregon, so of the world inside of
this conference. I just don't think Michigan State is there
right now talent wise, and just the beginning of Jonathan
Smith's tenure, as you mentioned, his second year. So I'd
like to see some progress. You know, you're coming off
of five and seventh season. I know melt Tucker led
them to that eleven win year, winning the Chick fil
A Bowl behind Kenneth Walker, but this is a whole
new regime that Jonathan Smith has brought in. So I'd
love to see a Bowl game this year. I think
that's kind of, you know, the spot you need to
get to six seven wins and also be competitive within
the Big Ten. I mean, you take a back look
at last year. This team swept their first three games,
and one of them was a big ten win defeating
Maryland twenty seven to twenty four. So you start one
to zer one conference play, which was very impressive. You
also knock off Florida Atlantic and Prairie View A and
M games you should win, and then you lose six
out of your last seven after that Boston College. Then
you take on a gauntlet in Ohio State and Oregon,
those two pretty unwinnable games just because of how darn
good those teams were last year. You know, you beat
Iowa and then a Michigan, Indiana Illinois losing streak there
three in a row. You get one back on Perdue
and finish up with Rutgers in a blowout forty one
to fourteen loss. I think you need to be more
competitive with a lot of these middle tier teams. Looking
at this season, you know you don't play Ohio State,
you only play Penn State. You don't have Oregon on
the ticket, but you do have Michigan, obviously, Indiana, Nebraska,
who is supposed to be pretty darn good, Penn State
around there. You stay competitive in a lot of these
one two score games, but you also pick up three
big ten wins, maybe four if you could surprise some people,
because I think this team is better than advertised right
now when they're kind of ranked in the lower i'd
say bottom half, lower nine teams of this eighteen team conference.
I have some hopes and some optimism for him. I think.
So so get to six seven wins, show some progress,
and I think this team will be a lot better
off in the coming years.
Speaker 1: When taking a look at this team, you see a
lot of transfer acquisition. If you look a lot of
the practice reports and projected depth charts, there's a lot
of transfers from you know, FCS, MAC, you know group
of five schools that could have an impact on this
Spartan team. Name one or two guys you think that
will have a big impact in this twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3: Oh man two. I mean I look up and down
this roster and I see three or four, But if
I had to pick two, We'll start off on the
offensive line. That is a position that I think is
going to grow a lot this season, and it starts
with Connor Moore. He's a red shirt junior coming over
from Montana State. You mentioned the FCS, They're a powerhouse
over there, and he was regarded as one of the
best offensive linemen in the country last year inside of
the FCS. I mean you could compare him to Will
Campbell type of emergence this year, the kid out of
LSU that was drafted by the Patriots in the first round.
He's that big at six and sixty five pounds, has
maybe even gotten a little bit more. That's just what
ESPN is saying right now. But you know, through those
first couple of weeks of practice and training camp they're
going through leading up into the season, he's going to
be a guy to watch on that offensive line. They're
going to move him around a little bit. Right now,
they have him slotted as a right tackle. I think
he'll stay there, but obviously, with injuries last year, that
was a position that was jumbled up. A lot guys
had to move positions. So I'd say Connor Moore for
won the red shirt junior offensive tackle, and then Omari Kelly.
He is a Bolitanikoff watch list member given to the
number one receiver in the country, something that I think
Nick marsh the returning wide receiver for MSU, the number
one star there, he should be on that watch list
he was not. But Amari Kelly, he's a senior He
comes over from Middle Tennessee, spent his first two years
at Auburn, did not play very much. He only caught
five passes, but he tore it up for the Raiders
at Middle Tennessee fifty three total catches, eight hundred and
sixty nine yards and four touchdowns. He was their highlight piece.
And when you take him, you put him with marsh
and then I'll throw in another wide receiver there in
the transfer portal. Kreshan McCrae coming from Kent State. No,
as you know, I mean we both know that Mack
pretty well. How many games did Kent State win last year?
Speaker 2: Two? Three?
Speaker 3: Let me double check, But I didn't think they want
to game last year. This Krashan McCray is going to
be hungry. He's a junior and you take McCrae, Omari Kelly,
and Nick marsh Aiden Childs has a myriad of different
options to throw to and when.
Speaker 2: You call they yeah, they went going to twelve last year.
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: I think it was nothing. So he is extremely hungry
to compete at the highest level and get a college
football win after last year was such a struggle. So
Krashan McCray, Omari Kelly on the outside working with marsh
and then also Connor Moore on the inside, pass pro
and also run blocking for a couple of transfer guys
we'll talk about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was looking at the twenty four to seven
and all the you know on three and all these sites,
you know, just seeing Michigan State, you know, kind of
stockpiling on the transfers this offseason. They have twenty three
total coming in. How much will make an impact probably
anywhere from like ten to fifteen with this Michigan State team,
whether they'll be starting or you know, be you know,
key role players. Try to rotate players on the offense
and defensive line. I think this Michigan State team, you know,
with a bunch of guys not being in there for
that twenty four season and having guys departing in twenty
twenty three, just trying to rebuild and get quality pieces
on the field to try to establish something in a program.
I think that's something that should be very important to
this coaching smat staff and Jonathan Smith as well.
Speaker 3: Extremely And there's another guy you talk about the defensive side,
Jordan Hall. He took a major step back last year
just because of Cal Holliday and you also had Jordan
Turner who were the main linebackers. He barely played last
year and didn't make many tackles. He's going to be
thrust into that middle linebacker position, going to command that defense.
So you could kind of take him, not really as
a transfer, obviously he's been in this program, but he's
a guy that I think is going to have upwards
of forty tackles this year, maybe a couple of sacks,
because that's one thing MSU needs to improve on is
their pass rush and get into the quarterback. They were
the worst team in the Big Ten last year in
sacking and pressure.
Speaker 1: What position group do you think will have the most
improvement from last season? Obviously a bunch of different routes
you could go just in terms. I think special teams
is one that you won't name, but.
Speaker 3: Ryan Eckley he's supposed to be darn good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jonathan Kim was pretty good last year. But what
position group maybe on one side of the ball, even
both that you think you'll you think we will see
tremendous improvement from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I'm gonna stick with the offensive side
because I mean, this team really struggled offensively last year,
and it wasn't all on Aiden Chiles, and I'm gonna
give you two because they work in tandem together, and
I've already kind of mentioned and prefaced players in those positions.
It's gonna be the offensive line as well as the
wide receiver group because it was Nick marsh and a
Lante Brown last year and Jack Velling who only had
one touchdown catch last year, as that, you know, a
big tight end piece coming from Oregon State. But you
add as we mentioned McCray and Kelly, there's a lot
of pass catching options and then obviously that offensive line
bolstering up. It is extremely veteran. And when you look
up and down, you have three transfer starters on the
offensive line, including Connor Moore, you got Luka Vincich he's
a red shirt junior, and Matt Gulbin along with Christian
Phillips and Stanton Rammel. That is an extremely veteran group.
I think Rammel is the youngest out of that as
a red shirt sophomore, and he was played a little
bit of an injury last year. That also kind of
factored in Christian Phillips as well. He got hurt very
early in the season. You keep those guys healthy. I mean, Noah,
Aiden Chiles was sacked thirty times last year. That cannot
happen if this tame.
Speaker 1: He's a guy that can evade, evade the pocket and
make throws outside of it as well. So I mean
for him to take thirty sacks is right, it's something
you don't want to have happen. I mean, that's equivalent
to that's about four sacks a game, which could really,
you know, change a ballgame.
Speaker 3: So yeah, and you saw it in the Iowa game
that they won on homecoming in Spartan Stadium. He shows,
I mean some incredible flashes of just being able to
you know, make impromptu plays, use his feet, throw on
the run, even run the ball himself. But I think
if he's got more time in the pocket, his offensive
line sustains a little bit longer. And with all the
different options in the wide receiver there, and you add
in Jack Belling, who I think is going to have
a much better season at the tout end position, Aiden
Child is going to throw for a lot of yards.
If he brings the interceptions down, this team could average
anywhere from twenty to twenty four points per game. Just
because of the raw talent they have on the outside
and on that front.
Speaker 1: Four way to foreshadow this next question, how much of
an improvement does in Giles need to have.
Speaker 2: For an order from MSU to take that next step.
Speaker 3: It's a great question. I think he's got to take
a huge step forward. I mean last year the one
thing that really rung true with people was the turnovers.
I know he only lost two, maybe three fumbles, but
he coughed it up four or five, maybe six times.
And it was that along with the decision making when
letting the ball out of his hand. A lot of
costly interceptions. I remember one back against It was actually
a fumble against Oregon at the goal line, right on
the one yard line, and I'm probably not going to
win that ball game, but still it's moments like that
where in big games, you're playing in Michigan and you
give up a costly fumble like that or an interception,
that needs to be the turning point. And I think
a huge hire that Jonathan Smith made this year was
quarterback coach John Boyer, who's coming over from Oregon State.
He worked with dj Uyjungalalay and Childs together when Chiles
was a freshman with the Beavers. So you bring Boyer
in along with a couple other Oregon State former coaches
that worked with Smith now on this spartan coaching staff.
I mean that is going to be so big for
him because we've seen, as I mentioned, ability to make
plays with his fee. He's so athletic, he has an
incredible arm, and I think he could be a top
five quarterback in the country. Maybe not this year, but
give it to his senior year. If he's able to
take steps in the right direction and just progress a
little bit this season, next year I think is a real,
real breakout season for Raiding Chiles. I'm optimistic about him.
A lot of people have their doubts, but give the
kid a little bit more time and work in as
a starting quarterback, because you have to remember last year
was his first year as a starter in one of
the toughest Big Ten Conference schedules that you could have had.
Speaker 1: So right, and I think people forget that he was
nineteen playing and I think eighteen at one point playing
last year because he was a he enrolled at Oregon
State when he was seventeen, I'm pretty sure and reclassified.
So I mean he's still a really he's gonna be
like twenty years old, and you know, playing this year
like he's still a young quarterback. And we had guys
like Tyler Shock who just played at Louisville and got
drafted at the age of twenty five. So it just
it's gonna be a development process for him. And he's
someone who hasn't had a lot of game experience at
the college level until last season. And I mean, he
was thrown into a fire with the team that you
know wasn't completely put together. If you watch it, they
had their moments against like Ohio State, you know in
that first half, you know they were competing back and forth.
Iowa win was huge, but in obviously the Maryland game,
like they had some good moments last season, but I
think just being able to do it on a consistent basis,
where like you mentioned, this is probably gonna be you
hope for a seven win season, but we'll have to
wait and see on that. It's really gonna come down
to how else the Big Ten plays out, because I
think across the Big Ten, I think you could attest
to this that this is gonna be one of those
wild card years just in the sheer fact that there's
a lot of inexperience at quarterback for a lot of
these teams in terms of first year starters.
Speaker 2: So it will be interesting.
Speaker 1: Do you think the recruiting strategy of going out of
state primarily in this class of twenty twenty six is
it a short term thing or is it something we
could see for a long time.
Speaker 2: With Jonathan Smith.
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna happen for a while. I mean,
you look over and you mentioned two four seven Sports,
who gives a lot of good context on recruits MSU
For the twenty twenty six class twenty six total commits,
twenty two of those are out of state. Now, we
love our guys from in state, you know, the homegrown talent.
That's awesome, but you got a branch out. You remember
back to Charles Brantley, who was one of our top
quarterbacks in the last couple of years. He came from Siasota, Florida,
and so being able to recruit on all corners of
the United States and even beyond. I mean, I think
Smith is really is a national guy. He has great
relationships and recruiting tactics out there on the West Coast.
You just name drop a couple of guys here. You
had four star offensive line Colin Campbell, He's coming from Arizona.
I mentioned Florida. This four star wide receiver in Tyrone Worthen,
he's going to be a stud. And then from New Jersey,
three star linebacker and Spartan legacy Adamshaw. Those are just
to rattle off a few guys from out of state
that I think are going to be big pieces for
this program next year and then moving forward. MSU does
not get the credit they deserve right now. Looking back,
I think it was about a month or so ago
they were ranked eleventh in the Big Ten in recruiting rankings,
which was appalling just because of how well they had
done grabbing twenty six recruits. Their month to June was incredible.
I feel like every single day I was covered.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I follow a good amount of Spartan pages
and I saw like this kid's committed today, you know
that commit.
Speaker 2: I think there was like four commits in one day
over the off so yeah, and there were guys too, Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's impressive to see, you know, just winning those
battles where Michigan State obviously you're not going to probably
get into that blue chip ratio where you know you're
having the sixty percent amount of kids you know that
are four and five stars, like you're going to really
have to be homegrown and kind of just build the
talent the way Michigan did when they went on their
successful run. Like, yes, they did get high recruits, but
a lot of those players, you know, they were three
low end four star guys that you know, they had
to develop over time and they got transfer portal acquisitions
that they needed. So if Michigan State not saying they
have to follow the same philosophy as our rival, because
I wouldn't want them to do that, I would say
that just being able to establish that culture and get
some sort of player development, and also just have continuity
in the coaching staff I think are going to be
really key three key things going forward for this team.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I think MSU, even back to the
D'Antonio days, they thrived in situations where they had, as
you mentioned, the high three star, low four star players
and they're going up and knocking off Ohio State at
the shoe. That's something that just this program, you know,
it resonates in them because when you think about football
in the state of Michigan. Everybody thinks about the Wolverines.
That's one of the number one brands in all of
college football, as it should be with their historical success,
recent success, and just the brand name itself. So when
you look at a lot of five stars, high end
four stars, they're usually picking Michigan to go there. And
I think Michigan State, as you mentioned, you build that culture,
you make the facilities top notch, rivaling even better than
what Michigan has, and make East Lansing feel like a
home to a lot of these guys that are coming
from out of state. Bringing back to your original questions,
So I think this team going forward in the future
years is going to be better, and I think that
Jonathan Smith is definitely taking them in the right direction
and building that culture and having that, you know, high output,
low ego type type of mentality, and they're gonna surprise
some people, not only this year but in the future.
So I got some high hopes for the next several years. No,
it's gonna be good.
Speaker 1: Well, Tom, we appreciate you joining us here on the
Big ten paradigm, and coming up next, we're gonna talk
about some of the other people or other teams that
will not necessarily be contenders, but we will see going
on to try to contend for a playoff spot here
in the twenty twenty five season. And welcome back to
the Big Ten paradigm here special thanks to Tom Cavanaugh
here for joining us this lovely preview episode talking about
the Spartans, and we shall see how the Spartans do
and who knows, if they continue to have a good season,
have a big upset win maybe across the schedule, maybe
they'll have to bring them back on. But for now,
we're gonna talk about teams that necessarily aren't listed as
the can tenders, but teams that I think have a
pretty good shot of maybe making some noise in the
Big Ten and being in that college football playoff push.
So we are still in a twelve team playoff. Let's
talk about the Michigan Wolverines to start out here in
this second part of the episode, Bryce underwo the main
guy for this Wolverine squads, the big headline, the big
commitment in recruitment, getting him to flip from the LSU Tigers.
It's one of the best things that could happen for
this program if.
Speaker 2: It all works.
Speaker 1: Out obviously a young freshman, you know, an eighteen to
nineteen year old kid getting ready to play potentially QB
one snaps now while they go with Mikey Keen, the
transfer from Fresno State, he did a pretty good job
against Michigan, was really solid. Also played at UCF as
well earlier in his career. Someone that you know, he's
just gonna go out and sling it. Not necessarily you know,
quarterback that is going to kind of keep it SAME's
someone that likes to get after it, and I just
don't think necessarily Michigan has the play style for that.
Like Mikey Kean went to let's say Ohio State, he
might be more suited there with the weapons that they have.
Not to say that the Michigan receivers are bad, just
not the level of playmakers that you would have at
like an Ohio State or you know, even like an
LSU Alabama this season. But nonetheless, I think Bryce Underwood,
you know, he's a great dual threat quarterback option. A
lot of people don't realize, but he's one of the
really good runners. If you look at some of his
high school tape, a lot of his highlights are him
in open space. That's a guy that could get it done.
I'm also a big fan of Justice Haynes. You know,
thought he was gonna get it going at Alabama last year.
Didn't necessarily have that breakout that you want, you know,
a sophomore running back, but a lot of talent, great
speed and agility. That's one of the things that I
watched some of their spring tape last year and a
few of the games in the beginning of this season
for Alabama. He's someone that I think could have a
big impact in this ground game for the Wolverenes. Offensive
line wise, they're starting a sophomore red shirt Evan Link
at left sackle and at right sackle. They're starting a
red shirt freshman and Andrew Sprague. Two seniors and Giovanni
el Hatty and Greg Crippen and the Nathan o'fabi at
the right guard position. Not a lot of seniority on
this offensive line, so it'll will it will be interesting
to see how they performed throughout this season. But we
know Michigan they're really good at developing on the line
of scrimmage, and I think Sharon Moore, you know, being
an offensive line oriented guy before he became an offensive coordinator.
I think he'll have these boys in good shape in
the receiver room. They got the transfer Donovan McCauley. McCauley
did not play for the Hoosiers last season, opted into
the transfer portal before the season started, but wasn't able
to make a mid season transfer just because it's not
allowed to happen. A big, physical guy that I think
has has a chance. Uh six' five two fifteen and
twenty twenty three put up six hundred and forty four
yards with six touchdowns for The hugers and a year
that wasn't so great For, indiana not obviously this season
like they had last. Year, though someone will bring up
as we've brought Up Formanda mendoza in the show. Already
you also Have Frederick moore In Shamage. MORGAN i Think,
morgan you, know he had his moments where he just
didn't really look.
Speaker 2: COMPLETE i think he's someone that could be a.
Speaker 1: PLAYMAKER i watched him in decent bit in high school
as well At West. BLOOMFIELD i think he could be
a really solid. Guy and defensively.
Speaker 2: There's a lot to.
Speaker 1: REPLACE i Like Derek, MOORE i Like Ernest, hassman the
transfer they got a couple of years ago From. Nebraska
Jay Or hill is another guy THAT i really. Like
but there's a lot of Replace you will Get Rod
moore at some point in this. Season obviously he went
down with the end last year that had him sidelined
for the rest of the. Season two defensive transfers at nose,
tackle you have the transfer From Kalents, Clemson Trey. Williams
and then also at the nickelback, position they have the
transfer From ARKANSAS Tk, metcalf who had a pretty solid
twenty twenty four. Season there's a lot of development to
be made on This michigan team on both sides of the.
Ball also a lot of development from year one to
year two With Sharon. Moore as we talked about it
With Jonathan. Smith you, Know michigan still ended up having
a solid season last, year ended up winning a Good
bowl game Versus. Alabama they were still able to beat
the buck. Guys they just had those games against you,
Know illinois where they just kind of came out flat
and really didn't do anything game Against. Oregon BUT i
think just the, transition everything that happened With michigan in
that twenty twenty three season from winning the national championship
and The Conner stallions and also losing you, know your
quarterback AND jj McCarthy a decent amount of playmakers too
In Roman. Wilson you Had Colston lovelin last. Season BUT i,
mean this team's got to kind of revamp and find
their own. IDENTITY i know there's The michigan program identity
of we're toughly built and we're going to do great
things and we're a. Team but you gotta, find you,
know what makes this group, Special what is going to
take this team to the next step and get them
to that promised. LAND i think that's what you really
want to see from This wolverine. Squads talk about the next,
team the finding a LINE i ranked twelfth in THE Ap.
POLL a lot of, hype and it's because they have
a lot of returning talent on this. Team they have
sixteen total starters returning And Luke altmeyer the quarterback returning
for his red shirt senior. Season he started his career
out At Ole. Miss now with The Fighting. LINE i
had a pretty good twenty twenty four. Season he's someone
THAT i did think impressed in his career twenty two,
touchdowns six, interceptions round sixty one completion percentage twenty seven
hundred and seventeen, yards and the seven point eight yards per.
Attempt pretty solid, stats AND i think they could continue
to go. Up you, Know Brett, bielomo he's gonna try
to be a physical, team have physical guys do their.
Job but on the. Outside they Lose Pat bryant this.
YEAR i think he was someone that was a nice
playmaker for This illinois. Team same With Sakari. FRANKLIN i
thought he did really well last season for This alignied.
Team now to be League Malik, Eisley Hudson, clement And Colin,
dixon who are gonna really have to step. Up they
have a lot of returning on the offensive, line four,
seniors one, junior and even some depth with some sophomores
and also a couple of seniors and transfers as. WELL
i think This illinois team just the amount of. Experience you,
Know it's kind of like that college basketball team that
has all. Seniors you, know a nice mid major or
you know a team in The Big east or a
team in The big twelve that just has a lot
of experience playing together with each. Other and you're, like,
yeah we can go out make a. Run on the defensive,
side they Have Gabe. Jackets the kids been all over
the preseason All american. BOARDS i think he's someone that
could be a special playmaker on the defensive, side you,
know coming off the, edge also being able to drop
back and, coverage AND i mean the rest of their
defense they return a lot as, well and they also
have a lot of.
Speaker 2: Experience, experience, experience.
Speaker 1: EXPERIENCE i think that's going to be the most important
team and the most or the most important thing for
this team and the most thing talked about for this
LION i team when they continue to go down and
through their, schedule AND i think the last team we
have to talk, about WHICH i don't know IF i
really believe they should be in this position or. Not
and Then i'll throw a couple of a other teams
out here THAT i think could also make a push as.
Well But indiana being ranked at, twenty ended off the
season really.
Speaker 2: Good last.
Speaker 1: Year you make a playoff appearance in a year where
you have a first year head coach and you know,
things you know they're supposed to be, exciting but they're
not necessarily supposed to go well as a first year,
coach especially at a school Like, indiana a team that
prior to last SEASON i think made six bold appearances
in thirty, seasons team that doesn't put out a lot
OF nfl, guys a team that's considered a basketball.
Speaker 2: School they did the. Unthinkable AND.
Speaker 1: I listened to a lot From big ten media. Days
Kurt signetti is very high about this team and they
have a very exciting quarterback In Fernando. MENDOZ i watched
them play At. Cal really good kid in terms of
throwing the. Rock three thousand, yards sixteen, touchdowns six interceptions
at A cal team WHICH i know they had the.
Calgorithm and you, know all this hype and stuff first
year in THE, acc they weren't bad last. Year shout
out to coach Will cox, there and, YEAH i Think Fernando.
Mendoza you, know he's got a good, frame he's got
good pro, potential but you, know being a red shirt
junior last year's first real year of, PLAYING i think
this kid's got the talent to keep This indiana offense
Because curtis work he was injured last year when he
was at my or Not Miami, ohio, sorry when he
was in the mac At. Ohio he did a really
good job of being an improviser and being able to make.
Throws really didn't show off that mobility last, year and
we come to find out that he was playing on
some sort of torn. Lookment i'm pretty sure it was
a torn meniscus the whole year and didn't opt in
to get, surgery which is. Crazy BUT i, think you,
know Having Curtis work now To Fernando, mendoza just an
experienced quarterback that your confident can make the, throws because
that's one Thing Curtis work could, do was make the.
Speaker 2: Throws If Caitlin.
Speaker 1: Black, returning you, know a guy that got some, touches
forty six touches for two hundred and fifty, yards it'll
be interesting to see how he does With Roman hemby
in the. Backfield offensive line, lies you, know they have
a couple of transfers projected to start on this. Team at,
center it's going to Be Pat coogan From Notre, dame
and then on the right tackle it'll Be zen mcgowski
From Ohio. State so some big obviously two national championship,
players you, know Both redcherd seniors didn't see much playing
experience at their prior. Schools they look going to make
an impact on This huger's, team along with Three Red
schard juniors And Carter smith at the left, Tackle Drew
evans that left, guard and Then Bray lynch at the
right guard. POSITION i Like elijah sharrat. Here he almost
had a thousand yards last season eighteen point one yards
average on receptions with eighteen, touchdowns a transfer From James,
madison which a lot of the guys that stepped up
last year came From James. Madison on the defensive, SIDE
i really Like DiAngelo. Pons he was someone that was
really good on the outside for this team and had
his big moments three, interceptions nine pass. Breakups, kid that's
also From James. MADISON i think this team is going
to do. Good you, know on the defensive, side they
weren't necessarily, bad BUT i think we could, see you,
know even more physicality up on that front. Line BUT
i really liked how this secondary looked last, year AND
i think they have a chance to.
Speaker 2: Do that again this.
Speaker 1: Season you Got Amar farrell who was in that safety.
Speaker 2: Spot he ended up having four. Picks was nice in
the running lanes as.
Speaker 1: Well it'll be interesting to see how This hoosiers team
does throughout the whole. SEASON i think a team Like
nebraska could also surprise some. People, YES i know we
say that here and, there kind of like How texas
is going to be. Back we Expect nebraska to be
back at some. Point i'm just concerned what's gonna happen
on the defensive side of the. Ball there Obviously Tony
white going To Florida. State you, know how does that team?
Look but on the offensive, side they get a couple
of impactful, transfers one in, Particular Dane, key THAT i
think is going to do pretty. Well you also HAVE
usc With Lincoln. Riley you, know how do they. Look
they've been really focusing on the defensive side of the,
ball As Jade mayeva do along with you, know a
lot of older players transferring. Out you still Have Jacobe
lane and Mackay, lemon two guys THAT i think could.
Good you also Got prince stratchin From Boise. State how
does he fit in with this? Team got a lot
of young guys to be excited as. Well, DEFENSIVELY i,
mean you Return Eric, gentry BUT i mean for the most,
part his team's gonna look a little bit. Different Kamari
ramsey was on this team last year. Too it'll be
interesting to see what they do with their defensive identity
BECAUSE i know that's something That Lincoln riley and his.
Staff they're really trying to set the tone there on
The trojans defensive side of the. BALL i Think, washington
while they might not be big ten, CONTENDERS i think
they'll surprise a lot of. PEOPLE i really like What
jedfish did and year one kind of with the cards
he was dealt. Obviously, yeah, well they love their transfer
quarterback And Mark renownski From South Dakota state a lot
of hype around. Him it'll be interesting to see what
they do with The Caleb johnson.
Speaker 2: Replacement will they be able to throw the ball?
Speaker 1: Around will it kind of just be This iowa team that's,
gonna you, know, stay stay ground and pound and win
the field, position do all those things, Defensively it'll be
interesting to see who's gonna be the. Star you Lose
castro on the, outside you Lose higgins in the, Middle
it'll be interesting to see who's gonna step up on
the defensive. Side BECAUSE i was good for turning out
a few defensive players in an offensive lineman or. Two
other than, THAT i don't have too much to, Say
Like i'm not gonna talk About purdue In northwestern just.
Yet that's something WHERE i want to see some tape on,
them Especially perdue considering they only have one returning starter
For barry Odom. SQUAD u See la With nico is
gonna be interesting and you'll see How rutgers will do this.
Season ant they And Klai, ycmannus you, know they provides
some ability there at the quarterback. Position, wisconsin that's Something
i'm gonna need to see played out because The Luke
fickle experience has not gone particularly. Well let's say so,
Far minnesota will be an interesting. Team and Then maryland
With Mike. Loxley you, know is this going to be
the last season For Mike's. Locksley we shall. See but
that is the end of the episode here of The
Big ten preview here on The Big Ten paradigm show
hosted By Noah.
Speaker 2: DRURY i want to.
Speaker 1: Say thank you for listening to the preview AND i
cannot wait for the college football season to. Start we're
only so Close week. Zero we don't have Any Big ten,
action but at the end of the. Month i'm pretty
Sure Michigan stay plays on That august twenty, NINTH i,
KNOW i have that game. Selected they'll Play Western. Michigan
and we'll look at the week one, schedule you, know
how is it all gonna. Play just for those who
are not gonna be, familiar this show will be coming
out either On mondays Or tuesdays during the, week you,
know so.
Speaker 2: We'll provide a lot of, recap you.
Speaker 1: Know following the days after the, games and then wall
as to talk a little bit about the.
Speaker 2: Previews it's gonna be a one time a week.
Speaker 1: Show i'm. Excited i'm excited for this college football. Season
everything should go. Well enjoy the rest of the summer
while you still have it if you. DO i, know
school is starting for a lot of. KIDS i know
my little sister her school starts On august. EIGHTEENTH a
lot of kids are gonna be going back to college as. Well,
yeah but it's gonna be a great college football season
coming up here in The Big.
Speaker 2: Ten and cannot wait to see how this season.
Speaker 1: Unfolds but until next, time we'll we will see you
here on The Big Ten paradigm