Speaker 1: Checking out college football on the West Coast. This is
Get Off My Pylon, a look at the Pac twelve
and more, part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast
podcast network. Here's your host, Matt zemon.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the latest edition of the Get Off My
Pilon college football podcast. This is your host, Matt Zemik
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Coast to Coast. So get Off my Piland. Of course,
covering western college football in the United States. You know,
not a huge Week four, and this is gonna be
a little bit more about the preview of Week five.
So let's uh, let's go through Week four. The main
story looking back at Week four, Utah hosting Texas Tech
and a Fox Big Noon Saturday game that was one
of the more significant games of the day for Western
college football teams in Utah comes up short and really,
you know, some people will say that Texas techs and
i O investments are now paying off, and that's kind
of the big story of the game, and that is
certainly a big story. Texas Tech definitely a player in
the Big twelve. But to focus on Utah, you know,
we don't really focus too much on Texas Tech. That's
you know, kind of a Southwestern program more than a
Western program. So we really don't consider that part of
our natural coverage umbrella here at get off my pylon
in focusing on Utah, which we regularly do focus on.
We regularly do cover you know, we covered Utah in
the Pac twelve, so then we shifted over to the
Big twelve. We're staying in touch with the youths. Big
story from Utah's vantage point is that after the game,
coach Kyle Winningham said quarterback Devin Dampier really didn't feel
all that great, was a little banged up, not entirely healthy.
They felt they had to go with him. They were
kind of caught in an in between position. You know,
a lot of Utah fans will pretty reasonably say, you know,
if he was that banged up, why did you play them?
And why don't you have a backup? And this is
this is this has been a persistent issue for Utah
the past few years, you know, with Cam Rising being
hurt and the backups not being ready or able to play,
and you know, the health status of Utah's quarterbacks being
a point of uncertainty, the program not being very clear
about what it wants to do or about the actual
status playing status of its quarterbacks. This has been a
thing for three years, and so the frustration for Utah
fans goes far beyond just losing the game to Texas Takets.
You know, how come the the information surrounding the health
of our quarterbacks is so hard to get out? How
come it's so hard to get clear, honest, transparent information,
and and why don't we have a QB two who
can do a serviceable job. Now, I know that in
the nil and transfer portal era, you have players who
want to be QB one. They want to get their snaps,
they want to get their reps, they want to build film.
But you know, there is certainly a place for a
backup quarterback on a roster, and one would think that
the NIL compensation, while not at the level of a
QB one, can still be reasonably good for a QB two,
you know, to be our guy in waiting to be
our plan B if our QB one gets hurt. You
would think that, you know, if you're trying to play
ball at the top level of the Football Bowl Subdivision
the FBS, and you're competing for conference championships and College
Football Playoff berths, which you know that was certainly the
expectation for Utah. I'm not saying Utah was the Big
twelve favorite or should have been, but like Utah was
in the mix in this game with Texas, Tech was
one of the first Big dominoes to follow in the
Big Twelve title chase. So you're certainly in the conversation
not having a good enough QB two that you can
put in there instead of an injured Devin Dampier. You know,
this has bitten Kyle Whittingham in the backside for three seasons.
You know, Cam Rising good enough, healthy enough to win
the Pac twelve Championship in twenty twenty one, in twenty
twenty two, but then he gets hurt in twenty twenty
three and twenty twenty four, hijacking those seasons because Utah
didn't have a good enough a secondary option. So the
roster construction and the quarterback plan not having something ready
to go when the QB one gets hurt, that is
a rough go for Utah and Kyle Whittingham. And so
you have to wonder if Kyle Wadingham was just thinking
to himself inwardly, do I just want to keep going
through this same groundhog day of quarterback injuries and not
having a good enough backup? I mean this, this, this
boomerang just keeps circling around and hitting Utah in the
back of the head, and it's costing the Utes dearly.
What they built in twenty twenty one in twenty twenty
two not being sustained and has to be a very
sore spot for everyone in Salt Lake City. We'll just
stay in the Big Twelve and the Western programs there,
the four corner schools. Colorado beats Wyoming, not a whole
lot to say there. Wyoming is not very good. And
Arizona State skates by Baylor, wins it on a field
goal at the very end of the game. I mean,
it's a road win in the conference. But Arizona State
does not look particularly impressive. Sam Levitt, the quarterback doesn't
look especially great. You know, without Kim Skataboo, it's a
it's a diminished offense. And that was the great fear
going into this season. That is the reality right now.
Now it is early in the season. There is certainly
a chance that Arizona State can evolve, but right now,
you know, through week four, it really seems as though
Arizona State is a lot less than what was expected
by many. You know, Arizona State ranked number eleven in
each of the two preseason polls. Arizona State was ranked
well ahead of anyone else in the Big Twelve, and
notably the team ranked after Arizona State. The next Big
Twelve team ranked after Arizona State in the preseason polls
was Kansas State and Kansas State is cratered, so that
tells you that no one really had their finger on
the pulse of the Big Twelve. Arizona State had a
large margin compared to Kansas State, the team basically picked
to be second in the conference. But Arizona State's not
playing at a top twenty five level, not even close,
and that could change, but right now it doesn't really
seem like it. And Texas Tech beating Utah Texas Tech
makes the first really big statement in the Big Twelve
Conference this season. We thought that Iowa State beating Kansas
State in Dublin in August might be the first statement,
but seeing how bad Kansas State is that makes the
Iowa State win look a lot more diminished. So Texas
Tech probably the inside choice, the inside team with the
inside track in the Big twelve conference. While we're talking
about the Big Twelve, a reminder that you want to
follow our friend TJ. Reeves for his three hour Big
twelve preview show Saturday mornings before all the game starts.
That is going to be a weekly Saturday morning resource
for any Big Twelve fans, for any college football fans.
Big Twelve Preview Show from TJ. Reeves that's not an
official college gridiron broadcast, but nevertheless it's a broadcast that
we're happy to promote here on our show. Arizona you know,
under under Brent Brennan. Moving along, you know, it's gonna
be interesting to see how Arizona follows up to Kansas
State win a couple of weeks ago with with you know,
the next act. But as we've just said, that Kansas
State has cratered Arizona beating Kansas State by a not
very large margin. That's something we talked about last week.
What does that mean for the Wildcats going forward? That's
gonna be an interesting question. So that's the Big twelve
part of Get Off My Pilon. Let's briefly touch on
the Mountain West. Boise State wins a shootout over air Force.
Boise State and air Force not a lot of defense
in that game. Forty nine thirty seven for Boise State.
Maddox Madson for Boise State throws for two hundred and
seventy six yards. I mean, are you happy that Boise
State's offense did well or are you a concerned that
Boise State allowed thirty seven to Air Force. We'll see
if that becomes the kind of game. Boise State plays
on a regular basis this season. Elsewhere in the Mountain West, UNLV,
the other team which alongside Boise State received a lot
of preseason publicity, not very convincing. Once again, UNLV trailed
Miami of Ohio for most of this game. Now, the
Rebels did scramble late. They were down thirty eight to
twenty four. They scramble late and rally to win forty
one thirty eight. So it's a win, and that's good.
Wins in September when you're not playing at your best,
like they can really matter later in the season. They
can often become moments that, you know, when a coach,
a coaching staff, and a team look back on the
full body of work, they can point back to late
September and say, hey, that was a turning point. We
survived a bad defensive performance and we learned how to win,
and we grew a backbone and we got better. Maybe
this will be a catalyst for UNLV, But really for
the Run and Rebels, not a very good September. They
beat UCLA by seven. Ucla is horrible. Beating UCLA by
only seven, that doesn't look very good. Now, you know,
UCLA lost to New Mexico by twenty five points, so
that makes UNOV look a lot worse. UNLV struggled with
Idaho State of the FCS in Week one, and we
haven't really seen UNOV under first year coach Dan Mullen.
We have not seen this team get consistently better. It
did improve from the Idaho State game in late August
to the UCLA game a few weeks later, but this
game against Miami of Ohio no continued improvement. UNOV continues
to be a sis on defense and there were mistakes
on offense as well. UNLV still searching for really its
first complete performance of the season. It played twenty really
good minutes at the start of the UCLA game, but
then allowed the Bruins to come back in. So you
and LV struggling to put together a full sixty minutes
of football. So at the top of the Mountain West,
or at least the teams expected to be good in
the Mountain West, we're not seeing it. We're not seeing
Boise State UNLV playing at an elite level. And just
you know, one of the points of conversation in the
Mountain West is you know, what are the chances of
getting the Group of Five championship and the College Football
Playoff berth which it did last year with Boise State.
What are the odds about doing it this year? Really?
Really low? It certainly looks like the American with Navy
South Florida and a few other contenders, that the American
seems to have the inside track to the Group of
five championship. The Mountain West has really dug itself a hole.
Neither Boise State nor UNLV playing particularly well. One intriguing
Mountain West story to round out our look at that conference,
San Diego State. San Diego State blows out Cal thirty
four to nothing. We did talk about Cal last week.
You know in Sagapolu tele at quarterback, he's a young,
promising signal collar hype was beginning to build. Well, he
runs into a brick wall in San Diego thirty four
to nothing loss for the Golden Bears. On the other hand,
San Diego State, well pitching a shutout That kind of
speaks for itself. So Sean Lewis, the head coach of
the Aztecs, he's getting improvement out of his team. San
Diego State whacked Washington State earlier this season, so San
Diego State might be working its way back into the
conversation in the Mountain West after this very surprising game.
But is this more about San Diego State? Is it
more about Cal? That That is certainly an interesting question.
You know, Cal under Justin Wilcox regularly serves up a
big league clunker. Antonio Morales of The Athletic who cover
he covers usc football, he also covers college football. He
laid out a tweet over the weekends noting that Cal
has lost to a team with three or fewer wins,
you know, for the whole season, a team that eventually
finished the season with no more than three wins. Cow's
lost to one of those bottom run teams UH in
multiple seasons over the past a few years, so you know,
Col's Cow's pensant for just stepping on a race and
completely cratering in a game that it was expected to win.
Cal was a solid favorite going into this game. It
was like minus six hundred, maybe even six fifty on
the money line. That means you're a really heavy favorite.
Losing thirty four to nothing as a favorite, that that
was pretty shocking from week four. So it'll be interesting
to see was this more about Cal and Cal is
Cal about to you know, descend and plummet in the
ACC schedule that's coming up. Or was this col having
a one off bad night and was this a rare
good game for San Diego State? Or are the Aztecs
here to stay and are they going to be a
factor pushing UNLV and Boise State in the Mountain West.
That's gonna be interesting. Stanford, the other ACC program, gets
wiped out by Virginia. Stanford non competitive in that game.
It really makes that win over Boston College kind of
an eye opener. You know, how did Stanford beat Boston
College thirty to twenty? If you know, it just got
wiped off the map by Virginia and a coach Tony
Elliott in Charlottesville who's on the hot seat. That it
really is is a curious case, as a detective might say.
So Stanford back down to Earth, back down to reality,
the Cardinal with an abysmal performance. They they live in,
you know, certainly the bottom tier of college football. So
the win over Boston College was not an indicator that
Stanford was on its way back up. That seems to
have been a one off, and that leads into the
big ten portion of Get Off My Pilot In our
Week four review, Boston College took Michigan State to overtime
earlier this season. That game ended forty two forty for
Michigan State, and that made me, as so one who
blogs about USC football, That made me very confident that
USC was going to put up a big number against
Michigan State. The Trophans were going to score plenty of points.
That's exactly what they did. USC wins forty five thirty one. Now,
it was not an impressive team performance, it was a
good offensive performance. Jaden Mayava continues to be a stud
for USC. He's not turning the ball over. He gives
Lincoln Riley the dual threat athleticism that Riley expects. USC
struggled last year on offense, partly because Lincoln Riley didn't
call plays really well, but mostly because Miller Moss was
not that dynamic dual threat quarterback that is typical for
Lincoln Riley. You know Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams.
Those are the guys that Lincoln Riley knows how to
work with. He knows how to maximize their skill sets.
Lincoln Riley knows how to use their playmaking ability with
their legs as well as their arm. And he's able to,
you know, fake the run and use the pass. He's
then able to use option pitches. He uses quarterback keepers,
you know, read option concepts. You know. It's a big toolbox.
It's a big playpen for Lincoln Riley when he has
a quarterback who can fake the ball, manipulate the ball,
use sleight of hand, get outside the pocket, do so
many different things. Miller Moss is just a fact of
the matter. He was a seventh step drop back, pro
style quarterback, a much more limited skill set, a more
narrow box that he operated in. He did a few
things really well, but only a few things. He didn't
give Lincoln Riley a lot of different options that we
are seeing and we are being reminded. That's why USC's
offense struggled last year. That's why USC's offense is humming
this year. We're back to having the complete, well rounded
quarterback with a lot of different capabilities. That makes the
Lincoln Riley playbook and the Lincoln Riley scheme come alive.
Michigan State was just pulled on a string all night long.
Lincoln Riley goes with an option to the outside and
then hits him with the inside run up the a gap.
Lincoln Riley goes with a screen pass to the outside,
then another thrust up the middle. Lincoln Riley throws the
ball down field, then he has Jaden Mayava keep the
ball on a running play, and then defenses think that
Jade Mihova is going to keep the ball. No, he
fakes the run and he throws a little pop pass
to his tight end for an easy touchdown in the
red zone. Like that is just Lincoln Riley manipulating the field.
He stretches you out horizontally, did this all the time
at Oklahoma. He makes defens's account for the full width
of the field, all fifty three yards sidelined the sideline.
And then once he stretches you, why Vinnie goes up
the middle. Defenses pinch inside up the middle. Once you
know that power running game is established, Lincoln goes back
to the outside. He was just toying with Michigan State.
But it all a lot of this goes back to
just the fundamental difference between Jade and Mayava and normals,
but it also there the other element of this is
that you know when we talk about Stanford beating Boston College,
scoring thirty against Boston College and that same Boston College
team basically tying Michigan State, Technically, you know there's no
no ties in college football. Someone eventually has to win.
But when Boston College scored forty on Michigan State and
basically played the Spartans to a tie, that was an indicator.
Michigan State's defense is in no shape to keep up
with USC, and the Spartans did indeed get roasted. Now
let's stick with USC for a bit. USC's still committing
tons of penalties on defense. The secondary is still a mess.
There are multiple guys in that secondary who are banged up.
Danton lynn USC defensive coordinators playing Kamari Ramsey, one of
his best defensive players, in the nickel position. A lot
of USC fans I talk about this on the USC
shows that I do USC fans want Kamari Ramsey out
of nickel, They want him back at safety. Danton Lynz
making the calculation that with a short handed secondary room,
he can't afford to have Kamari Ramsey at safety. He
has to have him in the nickel position. So USC
not playing with all of its resources in the secondary.
It's gonna be interesting to see how that problem gets
addressed and will it continue to manifest itself or will
it get fixed as the season goes along. UCLA had
the week off. UCLA prepares for Northwestern this coming weekend.
Washington hangs fifty nine on Washington State. The Huskies did
what they were supposed to do. Washington State is a
bad team, which as Oregon State is as well. Oregon
State gets pounded by Oregon. So really two uneventful rivalry
games in the Pacific Northwest. Obviously those rivalry games now
being played in September because Oregon and Washington are now
in the Big Ten. They're no longer conference games, so
they just have to be moved up on the schedule.
Not a whole lot to pull from those games if
you're a Washington or an Oregon fan. So you know,
that really is our review of week four, and I
said we're gonna focus on week five because week five
looking ahead, well you have some really big games, and
we're gonna get to the big one in a bit,
but let's get to the the not quite as big one,
not quite as big games for so Big ten. This
is where you have the showdowns involving Western teams. In
Week five, Ohio State at Washington. Ohio State goes to
Husky Stadium in Seattle for a midday game. It's gonna
be on CBS. Washington statistically has one of the top
scoring offenses in the country. But and here's a connection
to make with the Michigan State USC game that I
witnessed this past weekend. Michigan State going into the USC
game had a top ten rushing defense. And some people
will say, well, gosh, USC just absolutely chewed up that
top ten Michigan State rushing defense. Wow, USC must be
really good. Hold on, folks, Michigan State was playing that
terrible Boston College team that lost to Stanford. Michigan State
played Youngstown State as well. We really need to get
away from top ten, top twenty rankings in September for
just about anything in college football. These things don't mean
jack squat all. Right. If you're playing Cupcakes and you're
ranked in the top five statistically, that doesn't tell me anything.
I mean, you're doing what's basically expected. You're not doing
anything special. If you're top ten going up against elite competition,
that matters. That's special that tells me something. But don't
give me this stuff about Michigan State at a top
ten rushing defense didn't play anybody, all right, beat the
C teams go up against good opposition. If they demonstrate
they can play well against quality opponents, then you have something.
Then the rankings begin to mean something. I just whether
it's polls and votes or whether it's statistical top tens
whatever like. We should just wait until at least the
middle of October, if not early November, to toss around
these rankings, because that's only after we've played several weeks
do these things begin to mean something. And you know,
we're at week four going into week five. It's right
now when we're when all teams are moving from September
non conference games into conference play, and now we're beginning
to learn things about teams. Now the games begin to
be a true revealer, a true window inside who these
teams are, what these teams are, what they're all about.
Only now are we beginning to get the full picture
of teams. And this really informs our analysis of these
upcoming Week five games, such as Ohio State versus Washington
and Ohio State with the elite defense statistically. Washington with
the elite offense statistically, but Washington hasn't played anybody in
Ohio State. You know, Ohio State beat arch Manning. Arch
Manning's not good, so just how good is Ohio State's defense?
Washington will offer probably a better test than what Ohio
State got from arch Manning in Texas. So everything is
just relative at this point. Teams have not played good
enough competition to really be seen as elite, like like
we expd. Let me put it this way, I would
expect Ohio State to be an elite team over the
course of the season. But do I know Ohio State's
an elite team right now? Not? Not right now because
arch Manning's not good. You know, if if arch Manning
played well in Ohio State's defense still found a way
to stop him, you know, that would be so different.
That would be very different from arch Manning not being
good like Ohio State did the bare minimum. I'm not
trying to dump on the buck, guys. I'm just saying,
if you're playing an opponent who's not good, well, of
course you're of course you're supposed to limit his point total,
his overall production. Really good defense manifests itself. When you're
going up against good offense and you're still shutting it down,
and you're going up against an offense a quarterback who
has proven itself, and you still shut it down, you
still get the result, you still get the outcome, you
still get the production we have. We're not there yet
with Ohio State. And that's not the Buck guy's fault
in any way. It just means that the opponents they've played,
they haven't been good. And it's simihere for Washington. Washington
hasn't played anyone of note. So now we begin to
learn about the Buck guys and the Huskies in Husky Stadium,
and so, you know, Julians say, and Ohio State's quarterback
going on the road, you know what, let's see if
Washington's defense can force some turnovers and really swing that game.
In UW's paper, I think, I think Washington to win
this game is gonna have to make the game messy
and ugly. For Julian saying, because I do think Ohio
State's defense is going to be good, and I've just
tried to make the point that I don't think Ohio
State's defense is a fully formed product. I think we
need to see Ohio State's defense in this kind of game,
this kind of situation before kind of putting that final
stamp of yes, this is this really is an elite defense.
I'd like to see Ohio State do this on the road,
you know, against an opponent that, as we saw against
Washington State, certainly has the capability to put up a
lot of points, Washington scoring fifty nine in the Apple Cup.
So let's see Ohio State go on the road across
across the country and put the clamps on U DUB.
If Ohio State does that, like that will just I'm
expecting Ohio State to do that, but let's see it
happen just so that we can confirm this and then
we can begin to elevate Ohio State's defensive identity and
reputation this season. So I think that, you know, I
am expecting Ohio State's defense to do well, but I
do want to see it happen first. So, you know,
if I'm expecting Ohio State's defense to do well, that
means Washington's defense is going to have to muck things up.
For Julian saying pass rush disguising looks, you know, just
Washington has had really good defensive back play over the
past several years, like Washington has a claim to being
DBU defensive back university, with the NFL players it has
churned out the draft picks. So Washington's secondary against Julian saying,
I think is the central matchup in this game and
Litz see if Ohio State's young and unproven quarterback can
go into one of college football's greatest settings and when
the Huskies are good one of its toughest environments and
deliver the goods. That's gonna be the the featured plot
point of Buck Guys at Huskies as Washington tries to
strike a blow through the West Coast portion of the
Big Ten. The other big time featured game other than
are our main presentation. We're gonna get to that in
a bit. The other high profile game involving the West
Coast Big Ten team USC at Illinois Fox Big Noon Saturday,
and this game has USC is a six and a
half point favorite early in the week. That's an eye opener. Now.
Brett Bielima, the Illinois coach, said his team was missing
several defensive backs against Indiana, and Illinois has picked up
a lot of defensive injuries that is definitely a point
of concern for Illinois. It's definitely a point of optimism
for USC going to this Fox Big noon game in
week five. So I think the six and a half
point line is really a reflection not so much of
Illinois losing to Indiana by fifty three, though I mean
that obviously helped, but it's also a reflection of just
Illinois being really banged up, really shorthanded on defense. You
put that short handed Illinois defense against Jade and Mayava,
who's playing some really good ball, and it's easy to
think that USC is going to be able to score
a high number of points, something that Illinois's offense will
be hard, will find it hard to keep up with.
So the Illinois injury situation that's going to be the
thing you'll you'll want to monitor all week leading up
to kickoff Saturday morning or Saturday at noon on the
East Coast. Can Illinois get healthy and can Illinois's secondary
do some damage control so that it's not completely at
the mercy of the USC passing game. Notable for USC
is that one of its top two receivers, Jacobe Lane,
did not play against Mission in State. Lincoln Riley said
It's not something he envisions as a long term problem.
So one would think that after a week off chance
to fully heal, Jacoby Lane should be back in the
lineup for USC. Mkayle Lemon is a dude. Mckaye Lenvion
flourished for USC against Michigan State. He's been flourishing all season. However,
let's pump the brakes just a little. USC has been
playing inferior teams Missouri State, Georgia Southern perdue a Michigan
State defense which, as I explained earlier in the show,
is not very good at all. So, you know, can
the Illinois defense provide a standard of play and a
level of resistance which is much better and much more
significant than anything USC's offense has seen to this point.
That's going to be interesting. But you know, if USC
can put Jacoby Lane on the field alongside Makayle Lemon
against the shorthanded Illinois secondary in USC might be able
to throw the ball very very successfully. H USC might
be able to throw the ball early, you know, establish
the pass, and then hit Illinois with the running game
midway through. I think it's I think it's really important
that USC, from a US standpoint, US. He needs to
get on top of this game so that it's not
chasing the game and its offense can can operate in
a comfortable time and score situation. If Illinois gets on
top of this game of the first quarter, you might
see USC panic because USC has just had it very
easy on offense each of its first four games. USC's
offense has had dramatically better personnel than each of its
first four opponents. If Illinois offers robust resistance and strength
in the first quarter, in the first half of this game,
and USC just doesn't find early success, you could see
some hanick set in for this untested USC offense, you know,
just breezing through the first four games. What happens when
a defense provides a better level of opposition. So, you know,
looking at this game from USC standpoint, I want to
get that early ten to fourteen to nothing lead. I
can then have my elite defensive line, or let me
let me rephrase that, I can have my elite pass
rush get after Illinois quarterback Luke Altmeyer. You know, USC
getting up early means that the pass rush for USC.
The pass rush is by far USC's best defensive component.
USC's pass rush has been fantastic over fifteen sacks so
far this season, regularly getting to the quarterback, regularly causing
havoc in the backfield. USC getting up early means that
the pass rush is in position to continue to have
a major impact on the game. But if Illino get
off to a lead and can then can control the
ball draine clock, Illinois doesn't have to throw in the
middle and ladder stages of the game. It can play
a very patient defensive style. It can force USC to
move the ball slowly down the field, take away the
home run, and Illinois can dictate that the style of
the game with the way that it's played. So to me,
this is a this is a game where the first
quarter is really gonna matter. And you know with the
fox big noon carnival atmosphere in Champagne, and I think
if Illinois gets off to a good start, it could
really just create an avalanche of momentum for the ALIGNI
that carries through the rest of the game. But if
USC can hit Illinois with a couple early haymakers, then
that Illinois team, which just lost by fifty three to
Indiana might not be able to stay in the fight
the whole way. And USC's offense can just have, you know,
a free run through the open fields of Memorial Stadium
in Champagne. So a fascinating encounter between USC and Illinois
and an extra little plot point. Kurt Signetti, the coach
of Indiana, who you know, they just you know, tossed
around Illinois like a dirty old rag. Kurt Signetti was
asked on Monday about the Iowa game and he said, well,
it's definitely gonna be a bigger challenge than the last one,
that's for sure. So Kurt Signetti throwing elbows at Illinois
after discarding the Aliini what was a very big, very hyped,
and very important game for the two schools. So Illinois
could be a paper tiger. But it's up to USC
to go to Champagne, go on the road and win
that high profile game. You know, people are uncertain, you know,
what to make of USC. If USC goes to Champagne
and wins convincingly, that should begin to change the conversation
about USC. But it could be that Illinois is just
so decimated by injuries and it has been overrated that
you know, if USC wins a close, ugly, sloppy game,
that might not really cement any idea that USC has
really turned things around. It'll be more. The story might
be more that, oh, Illinois just plummeted. Illinois has fallen
like a rock. So you know, watch for that level
of degree of difficulty. How difficult is this game? How
difficult will it turn out to be? The conversation surrounding
USC as well as Illinois. It's going to depend a
lot on this very big game. All right. So in
our week five preview, we now arrive at the big one,
and I am talking about Oregon going to Happy Valley,
Penn State, nighttime, prime time to face the Nidneyllons. It's
the first really huge, huge Big Ten Conference game of
the season. You have two teams expected to be in
the college football playoff race, expected to be competing for
the national championship. They met in the Big Ten Championship game.
Last season. Oregon won the Big Ten title, beating Penn State,
but Penn State, interestingly enough, made the semifinals and therefore
made a deeper run than an Oregon team which went
thirteen to zero in the regular season last year, but
then ran into the juggernaut from Ohio State in the
Rose Bowl and the playoff quarterfinals. So Oregon and Penn
State two teams which if you were to say right
now you know they're going to be in the college
football playoff semifinals, You'll say, hey, that could very realistically happen,
very legitimate chance. But the Ducks and the Nitney Lions
could be battling for a spot in the national championship game.
So this is the big one. You also have Alabama
and Georgia in Week five, but you know Alabama already
has that loss over Florida State. So Oregon Penn State
is the best and biggest game on the board. So
let's dive into it, and of course, get off my pilon.
We're focused on the western team, so we're looking at
this game mostly from Oregon's point of view. Most of
the conversation and most of the reality of this game
begins with, of course, quarterback Dante Moore. Now he has
looked fabulous in the first few weeks of the season.
But to continue a theme, a theme that has run
through this show here and get off my pilon. You
know who is Ohio State played? That's been so good
on offense? You know Ohio State's defense I think is
really good. But we need to see Ohio State play
a good offense and contain that good offense before we
elevate the Buckeye's reputation. Washington has scored a billion points,
but against Tomato Cans. I need to see Washington's offense
do something against better competition before I elevate the reputation
of the Huskies' offensive attack. USC played easy opponents thus far,
It's been easy for USC's offense. I need to see
USC's offense do it against better defense, better competition. That's
the theme here between week four and week five. At
this you know, basically one third of the way through
the season. Now that we're getting into the bigger games,
the bigger conference battles such as Oregon Penn State, now's
when we begin to rip the mask off. Now's when
we lift the veil. Now's when we begin to see
the true face of these teams, of these programs, how
good they are right now? So, Oregon, you know that
six sixty nine to three win over Oklahoma State, It
sure looked pretty, But we're seeing, folks, right Oklahoma State
is atrocious. Oklahoma State is right there with UCLA the
worst power for conference team in college football. Like Stanford
would beat Oklahoma State. Right now, Stanford has actually shown
more than Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State UCLA might be the
bottom two in terms of all the power for conference teams.
So of course Oregon's gonna beat Oklahoma State sixty nine
to three. You know, this is not a good Mike
Gundhy Oklahoma State team. Gundhy's probably gonna be fired, He's
probably not gonna be coaching and still water next season.
So you know that sixty nine to three. It's certainly
looked good on television. That game was a CBS game,
but Oklahoma State is just atrocious, So that is a
little bit of context like that that was just a
glorified scrimmage for Oregon. And you know, Mike Gundy was
running his mouth about Oregon in the lead up to
that game, so Oregon was motivated to really put it
on Oklahoma State. You add that to the fact that
Oklahoma State's abysmal, so like no one should be getting
carried away about how good Oregon and Dante Moore looked
in that game. And Oregon State another opponent that Oregon
easily dismissed last week. Oregon State's terrible, So Oregon Oregon
eight played no about it, Paul, you know, as an
SEC talk radio program might go. So, now we see
Oregon against one of the big boys, and Oregon has
a Big ten win. But Oregon played Northwestern, and Northwestern
might actually be almost as bad as UCLA and of
course Ucilia. Northwestern they played this weekend, So the two
teams expected to be at the bottom of a big
ten go at it this weekend, and then Oregon Penn
State are going to play just a few hours later. Well,
Oregon did not crush Northwestern. Oregon was a few touchdowns better,
but that was not sixty nine to three. Oregon did
not even score fifty in that game. So Dante More
has basically had one big preseason tune up, warm up
stretch of games, and only now will he face a
really good team. And you know, it's just notable Oregon
goes from playing Tomato Cans to the opposite end of
the spectrum Penn State. It's not as though Oregon's moving
slowly up a ladder. You go from playing the total
Tomato Cans too. Let's say, you know, Nebraska like a
mid tier Big ten team and then gets to play
Penn State after that no, Oregon goes from absolute tomato
camp right to the top of the college football food chain,
and a Penn State team, which you know, under James
Franklin with Drew Aller coming back like this is supposed
to be the year if not now when for Penn
State and the Nitney Lyons have looked very ordinary in
their first few games, but they have been cupcakes as well.
They've been tune ups. Andy kotel Nikki, the Penn State
offensive coordinator, certainly not showing a lot in his playbook.
Penn State's been very vanilla, and you know, why would
you show too much of anything against the cupcake opponents
in the first few weeks of the season knowing that
you have that Oregon game on September twenty seventh. So really,
Oregon and Penn State, they have jogged through easy games
against opponents who posed absolutely zero threat and now they
both of meat and so you know, Drew Hour certainly
faces a proven moment of his own, but like he's
been through this rodeo. He played in the College Football Playoff,
won a couple of playoff games, you know, played in
a very high tension, high stress semi final that he
lost against Notre Dame. So like Drew Hour is supposed
to be good in this moment. I say that not
in the sense of the matchup against Oregon. I'm saying
it just in terms of like he has all the
experience in the world, and there are frankly no excuses
for Dante More It's a little different like this. This
is his first go ram and this will be his
first major college football challenge. And he's not just facing
Penn State. He's facing Penn State at night, so that's
a more intimidating environment. And this is another layer to
the drama that's going to unfold and Happy Valley. Penn
State has Jim Knowles, and Jim Knowles is the defensive
coordinator who last season smothered Oregon and Dylan Gabriel, and
Dylan Gabriel is a proven college football quarterback. You know,
Dylan Gabriel had all the experience in the world. Jim
Knowles in that Ohio State defense shut down the Oregon
offense in the Rose Bowl. So Jim Knowles now at
Penn State, he goes up against Dante Moore. You know,
Jim Knowles is gonna throw a lot of disguises, a
lot of different looks at Dante Moore. So how is
this young and untested quarterback going to fare at night
against Penn State in a game of the year type
of setting and situation. That that's really where the conversation
for this game starts. The conversation continues with the other side,
Drew Hour. You know, this is Drew Hour's time to
live up to the hype, to live up to the expectations.
What's he going to bring to the table against the
Oregon defense. And if you're the Oregon d defense, like
you've been playing Oregon State, you've been playing Oklahoma State,
You've played an FCS team, Montana State, you've played Northwestern.
So what's true of Dante Moore is also true of
Oregons defense. Havn't faced you know, strong competition, and now
you get thrown into the pot against Penn State. So
Oregon's defense, as much as Dante Moore certainly has a
lot to prove against Penn State, everyone has a lot
to prove here because these teams are really coming at
the game from similar situations. You know, Penn State tested
itself early last season with a road trip to West Virginia.
Penn State hasn't had that kind of test this season,
so like for both teams, this is the first It's
not just a huge game in its own right, of
course it is, but it's also like the first big test.
Neither team has had a kind of a quote unquote
warm up test the way other schools do, Like there
wasn't like the big Week two game to kind of
prepare these teams for Week five. No, they've both had
a very easy go of it, and now they both
face their first big challenge. So we begin to learn
about both Oregon and Penn State, and in addition to
that obvious storyline, the whole Big ten really exists in
a context of just how good are these teams. I
don't know how good Ohio State is. I don't know
how good Penn State is. I don't know how good
Oregon is. I don't know how good Washington is. I
don't know how good USC is. I don't know how
good Illinois is. I think Indiana's pretty good when Indiana
puts a sixty three to ten on Illinois, but you know,
Indiana goes to Iowa. Indiana's gonna play Penn State later
this season. There's still gonna be a lot. There's gonna
be a lot more for Indiana to prove. But at
least Indiana, you know, in contrast to the other ten
teams I've been talking about, Indiana's put a big result
on the board. Like Indiana has made a statement in
a notable, high profile conference game. Now we need to
see if Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, usc Illinois, will
they put a big statement on the board as the
Big Ten race takes shape. So Oregon versus Penn State
cannot wait for this game. It's obviously a quarterback centric game.
But you know, if the quarterbacks play to a draw,
what about the depth on these rosters? What about the
role players and the other pieces of the puzzle. Thinking
about Penn State just for a brief bit, you know,
Tyler Warren was that amazing do it all tight end
for Drew Hour last season. Drew Allard doesn't have Tyler
Warren this year. Warren's now in the NFL with the
Indianapolis Colts. Who steps up for Penn State in the
passing game? And can Oregon's secondary really pounce on Drew
Hour and that Penn State passing attack With Tyler Warren
out of the mix, you know, Tyler Warren was part
of the Penn State roster that went against Oregon in
the Big Ten title game. Now that he's out of
the mix, Dan Lanning and his staff might see points
of vulnerability in the Penn State offense. And so maybe
it gets to a point where, you know what, Dante
Moore doesn't have to be the hero. He can just
be a game manager, and Oregon's defense can snuff out
Drew Hour. You go into happy Value, you play a
twenty to ten game, you get the win just the same,
and you're on your way to the Big Ten championship
game and the playoff. Maybe that's how it plays out.
But whatever the matter, Oregon and Penn State are very
mysterious teams. They haven't played anybody, and now they both
play each other early in the season. You don't get
that scenario all the time college football. Now, Ohio State,
Texas that was a Week one game right out of
the shoot with no prior tune ups. But this is
a scenario where Oregon and Penn State have just basically
played glorified scrimmages in tune up games, and instead of
having kind of mid tier Big Ten games to kind
of settle into the season. No, they both go to
the top of the pyramid, the top of the food
chain right away. So can't wait for Saturday night at
seven thirty Eastern, four thirty Pacific, and it is the
featured game of the week in college football, and we're
obviously can have so much to tell you about on
Get Off My Pilon next week as we review that
Oregon Penn State game, also those other big games Ohio State, Washington,
and USC versus Illinois. So that's the week for Get
Off My Pilon. You know, a little bit of Week
four review, but a lot of Week five preview, Like
this was the first week of the season in which
we spent I think more time previewing the next week
than reviewing the past week. And that's just because the
bit there, you have some really big games coming up,
and those really big games, as I mentioned earlier in
the show, we're going to finally begin to reveal these
teams for what they are. We're finally going to see
how good a lot of these teams truly are. And
that is the excitement of the college football season, is
we get past those non conference games, we get past
those cupcakes, those paycheck games, now's the nitty gritty, now's
the real deal, and so Oregon and Penn State the
ultimate centerpiece in college football Week five. That is what
we're going to be focused on here on Get Off
My Pilon part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast
podcast network, Grid and Coast on Twitter, listen to Apple Speaker, Spotify,
the other places where you listen to your podcast, and
of course Oregon Penn State being a huge game, follow
Noah Drury and Big ten Paradigm for continued and developed
coverage of that game. You also want to follow Yards
and Stripes for the Service Academies. You want to follow
the All Sports Discussion acc podcast, Jason Powers with the
Florida Football Insiders podcast, and the rest of the family
of College Grade AIRN Coast to Coast podcast coming at
you every week giving you the full college football experience
from all the different corners of the United States and
the Football Bowl Subdivision. This is Matt Zenweg for Get
Off My Pilon. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next
week on the College Grade Iron Coast to Coast Podcast Network.