1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: Check it out college football on the West Coast. This 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,519 is Get Off My pilone, a look at the PAC 3 00:00:07,639 --> 00:00:11,359 twelve and more, part of the College Gridiron Coast to 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,960 Coast podcast network. Here's your host, that's Zemmo from the. 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 2: Latest condition of to Get Off My Pilon college football podcast. 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,640 This is your host, Matt Zemick Get Off My Pylon 7 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,320 covering college football in the Western United States, part of 8 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:29,280 the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network. Follow College 9 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,439 Gridiron Coast to Coast on Twitter at Gridiron Coast, go 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,280 to Apple, Speaker, Spotify the other places where you listen 11 00:00:36,359 --> 00:00:39,920 to your podcast to find all of the College Gridiron 12 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Coast to Coast network shows, whether it's Pigskin and Burnt Inns, 13 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,240 Yards and Stripes on the Service Academy's Big Ten Paradigm 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,200 with Noah Drury, Florida Football Insiders with Jason Powers, and 15 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,520 of course Billy Napier fired at Florida Miami losing another 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:01,960 Merrio Crystobaul Special, Mike norvel In deep trouble at Florida State, 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,159 South Florida preparing to play in Memphis. Jason Powers has 18 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,680 a lot to talk about over at Florida Football Insiders 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,040 All Sports Discussion with the ACC Georgia Tech beating Duke 20 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,680 in addition to that Miami loss to Louisville. Plenty going 21 00:01:18,719 --> 00:01:20,400 on in the ACC as well, So check out the 22 00:01:20,439 --> 00:01:23,719 guys at All Sports Discussion. There's just there's something in 23 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,120 each corner of the country in this wonderfully diverse sport 24 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,000 of college football. With all the parody in the sport, 25 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,799 you know it's not the Alabama Clemson. You know it's 26 00:01:32,799 --> 00:01:36,840 going to happen before the season starts. That's so twenty sixteen, 27 00:01:37,079 --> 00:01:42,640 very different open ended sport this time. So you want 28 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,000 to be catching all these shows, capturing all these different 29 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:51,439 slices of the full college football experience at college gridiron 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,280 coast to coast. So you know, we hit our big 31 00:01:55,359 --> 00:01:58,359 story several minutes into the show. First we do the 32 00:01:58,439 --> 00:02:03,159 just the Quick Lightning ram overview of the previous weekend. 33 00:02:03,239 --> 00:02:06,560 So in week eight we had in the Mountain West, 34 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:08,439 and like the Mountain West has just been such a 35 00:02:08,439 --> 00:02:12,360 nothing burger this season, this past weekend we affirmed that 36 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,479 j Norvel getting fired at Colorado State. So a Norvel 37 00:02:16,599 --> 00:02:19,800 did get fired, just wasn't Mike with Jay at Carlile State. 38 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,000 Eighteen and twenty six and four seasons. Yes, that will 39 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,199 get you fired. Will be interesting to see where the 40 00:02:25,319 --> 00:02:30,159 Rams go from here. Such an active coaching carousel. You know, 41 00:02:30,159 --> 00:02:32,120 at least we have at least ten jobs open, and 42 00:02:32,159 --> 00:02:34,080 it's the middle of the season. Where are we going 43 00:02:34,159 --> 00:02:37,080 to be at the end of the regular season, Like 44 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,879 we could have close to twenty five jobs come open, 45 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:46,360 and that means twenty five coaching positions switching hands. It's 46 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,759 going to be absolutely crazy. So j norvel out at 47 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,520 Colorado State and then undefeated UNLV undefeated no more. And 48 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,560 the Rebels didn't just lose, they lost by twenty five. 49 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,479 They give up fifty six points. You know, they gave 50 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,479 up forty eight to air Force, So that kind of 51 00:03:01,479 --> 00:03:08,039 told you USC UNLV was begging for a loss. And 52 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,240 not only did it lose, but you know, Boise State 53 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:16,080 was favored by I believe twelve points covered very easily 54 00:03:16,159 --> 00:03:19,240 in this game. So like UNLV was not an elite team. 55 00:03:19,319 --> 00:03:21,319 I think we all knew that. And now it's official. 56 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,319 The Rebels have a loss. You have Boise State with 57 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,599 two losses, Like the chances of the Mountain West having 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,960 the Group of Five champion are virtually nil. It's gonna 59 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,120 come from one of the top dogs in the American 60 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,240 though it's notable that Memphis did stub its toe against UAB, 61 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:41,560 taking a little bit of the luster out of that 62 00:03:41,599 --> 00:03:44,759 game against South Florida, and the loser of that game 63 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,319 is almost surely out of the mix. At least it's 64 00:03:48,319 --> 00:03:51,919 going to be in pretty deep trouble, especially if it's Memphis, 65 00:03:52,039 --> 00:03:55,400 because Memphis losing to UAB, that's a conference game anyway, 66 00:03:55,599 --> 00:03:59,439 I'm not talking about teams outside the West, but just 67 00:03:59,479 --> 00:04:03,159 to re reinforce the point about UNLV, UNLV is not 68 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,240 going to the playoff. Un l V, even if it 69 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,120 did manage to win the Mountain West championship, that that 70 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,879 ugly loss to Boise State, you stack that up against 71 00:04:12,919 --> 00:04:17,240 the American champion. Whichever team that eventually turns out to be. 72 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:19,920 The American Conference is going to have the Group of 73 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:25,160 Five champ and the playoff representative. The mount West. Just 74 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,680 it's a year that's gone south in this conference and 75 00:04:28,759 --> 00:04:32,240 before next year's restructuring. So once again, the less set 76 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,920 about the Mountain West, the better. Here on, get off 77 00:04:35,959 --> 00:04:40,279 my Pilon, Stanford and Cal. The Western teams in the ACC, 78 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,000 they both won and Stanford over Florida State. Now, you know, 79 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,759 Stanford was a very big underdog in that game, a 80 00:04:48,759 --> 00:04:52,360 double digit dog, and manages to beat Florida State outright, 81 00:04:52,399 --> 00:04:55,560 and so you know it was it was said by 82 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,319 a lot of people who are watching that game that 83 00:04:57,839 --> 00:04:59,959 a lot of Florida State players just seem to be 84 00:05:00,079 --> 00:05:03,800 going through the motions, and Mike Norvell has lost this team. 85 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:07,519 It does make you wonder why Florida State didn't bring 86 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,759 down the hammer right away. Florida State is saying it's 87 00:05:10,759 --> 00:05:12,480 going to review this at the end of the season. 88 00:05:13,079 --> 00:05:17,639 Maybe that's just kind of giving Mike Norvel a bone 89 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,959 since Florida State went thirteen to zero in the regular 90 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,720 season two years ago. Maybe it's that it could all 91 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,279 just also just be the buyout math and Florida State 92 00:05:27,319 --> 00:05:31,120 needs time to find out find a restructuring plan. But 93 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,759 you know, when you lose to Stanford, and you lose 94 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,759 four straight in the a SEC this season, and it's 95 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,759 now eleven of twelve for Florida State in the ACC 96 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,600 over the last two years under Norvell, it's pretty shocking 97 00:05:45,879 --> 00:05:50,920 to see Florida State continue to be this bad. Stanford 98 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,560 was there, Stanford was ready for the fight for sixty minutes. 99 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,040 And Frank Reich has now multiple ACC wins this season, 100 00:05:58,199 --> 00:06:01,240 you know, going to Stanford late at night, and Stanford's 101 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,879 ACC wins have come in these late games, late at 102 00:06:04,959 --> 00:06:08,079 night on the farm in Palo Alto. You know, Frank 103 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,199 Reich has Stanford playing hard, and those kids could have 104 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,079 packed it in for the season under this temporary arrangement. 105 00:06:16,079 --> 00:06:18,759 We know Reich's not going to be there next year. 106 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:22,240 All in all, Stanford, which looked absolutely horrible at the 107 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,439 start of this season, has improved and has shown that 108 00:06:26,879 --> 00:06:29,319 you know, you got to take the Cardinal seriously, you 109 00:06:29,319 --> 00:06:34,279 got to. You gotta take the trees with with some respect, 110 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,360 and Florida State didn't do that. Floria State gets an 111 00:06:37,519 --> 00:06:42,600 L so a very satisfying win for Stanford, and a 112 00:06:42,639 --> 00:06:44,759 lot of eyes were on that game because of Mike 113 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,040 Morvel's hot seat, and Stanford did not shrink in the spotlight. 114 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,759 The Cardinal continue to make this season not necessarily memorable, 115 00:06:53,759 --> 00:06:56,240 but like although Stanford players can say, you know what, 116 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,720 we carried ourselves well with dignity, with pride. We kept 117 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,040 fighting the whole way. You know, general manager Andrew Luck, 118 00:07:04,079 --> 00:07:08,160 who's gonna make a new coaching hire soon. He can 119 00:07:08,199 --> 00:07:11,199 say that, like the spirit of the players in the 120 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,120 locker room, you know, has remained strong, and that's no 121 00:07:14,199 --> 00:07:17,560 small thing going forward. And Stanford might have a small 122 00:07:17,639 --> 00:07:20,439 core of players that can build around. There's obviously gonna 123 00:07:20,439 --> 00:07:24,839 be a lot of portal changes to this roster, but 124 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,920 at least the culture seems to be in the right 125 00:07:27,959 --> 00:07:32,920 place for Stanford. Cal and North Carolina, Oh my goodness. 126 00:07:32,959 --> 00:07:36,160 If you watch that game late on Friday night, you 127 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,439 saw one of the worst games of the year. This 128 00:07:38,639 --> 00:07:43,959 was absolutely atrocious football. You know, Cal almost lost to 129 00:07:44,439 --> 00:07:51,000 Bill Belichick's horribly coached North Carolina team at home. Cal's 130 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:56,160 receivers are just an absolute disaster, and Jion kave Sagapolu 131 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:01,639 like he needs a massive upgrade with his receivers. Now, 132 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,560 this has been said, this has been written by a 133 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,839 lot of people. I'm kind of coming in late to 134 00:08:06,879 --> 00:08:08,759 the party. I'm not going to deny that. Like I'm 135 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,160 certainly not first in line to say this, so I'm 136 00:08:12,199 --> 00:08:15,199 not giving myself any credit. I don't deserve it. But 137 00:08:15,399 --> 00:08:20,319 just being able to see this game extensively, Cal dropped 138 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,800 close to ten passes in this game. It was absolutely 139 00:08:23,839 --> 00:08:28,160 wild that Saca Polo tele kept putting throws, you know, 140 00:08:28,319 --> 00:08:31,720 on receivers hands. Now, were they always accurate? Were they 141 00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:34,519 always thrown in just the right spot with exactly the 142 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:39,360 right touch? No, but there's still catches that should be made. 143 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:42,480 Those were catches that should be made. Almost every time, 144 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,320 it was the catch attempt, which was faulty more than 145 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,960 the throw. And yet just clang clang, clink clank again 146 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,000 and again and again. And so you know, if you're 147 00:08:56,039 --> 00:08:58,240 looking this from at this from a North Carolina point 148 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:00,559 of view, you're saying, hey, the other side dropped close 149 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,080 to ten passes and we still couldn't beat him. And 150 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,919 it happened because North Carolina fumbles on the one yard 151 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:10,600 line in the fourth quarter. Cal recovers, So the Bill 152 00:09:10,639 --> 00:09:15,039 Belichick nightmare continues. Cal's record is five and two, and 153 00:09:15,519 --> 00:09:18,840 you know, clinching Bowl eligibility would make this a good 154 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,000 season for Cal. But boy, you look under the hood, 155 00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:26,200 Cal has won some really ugly ducklings and has benefited 156 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,759 from its opponents being really bad. Like Cal is not 157 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,679 playing good football. No one would say that Cal is 158 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:37,240 playing good football. But Bill Belichick's North Carolina tar Hills 159 00:09:37,279 --> 00:09:40,080 have set the bar very low this season. They are 160 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:44,000 one of the worst teams in the Power for Conferences 161 00:09:44,639 --> 00:09:47,120 in the United States. So CAL gets away with one, 162 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,200 but hey, it's one step closer to Bowl eligibility. That's 163 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,559 a good thing. But CAL really needs to be better 164 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:56,960 over the course of this season. Like CAL has not 165 00:09:57,799 --> 00:10:01,720 really put its best foot forward this season, that really 166 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:06,080 tells you something about the other teams CAL has played. 167 00:10:08,279 --> 00:10:11,639 Moving along on get off My Pilon, we continue with 168 00:10:11,799 --> 00:10:15,720 the Big twelve and this now we had a lot 169 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:20,720 of action here. BYU beats Utah in the Holy War, 170 00:10:21,639 --> 00:10:24,440 and I thought BYU was the better team coming into 171 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,440 this game. And yeah, BYU was a three point five 172 00:10:28,039 --> 00:10:32,200 point underdog. So boy, if you if you had BYU 173 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,039 plus three point five and on the money line, congratulations 174 00:10:35,039 --> 00:10:37,559 to you. You made a smart bet. The thing about 175 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:39,840 this game is that you know, it's not as though 176 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,960 BYU was dominating people. If you listen to previous editions 177 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,600 of get off my Pilon, you know we talked about this. 178 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,840 BYU scrambling late to beat Arizona, come from behind win 179 00:10:49,879 --> 00:10:54,600 in overtime. BYU scrambled in the second half to beat Colorado, 180 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,960 was down fourteen to nothing early, but managed to rally 181 00:10:58,039 --> 00:11:01,600 like beat this BYU team is not dominant, you know, 182 00:11:01,639 --> 00:11:04,600 it's not an elite team, but it is persistent and 183 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:10,679 you better be ready for sixty minutes against BYU. Utah's 184 00:11:10,919 --> 00:11:15,480 two best performances of this season, uh and we alluded 185 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,559 to this last week came against a UCLA team that 186 00:11:19,639 --> 00:11:22,879 was coached by Deshaun Foster, you know, before the turnaround, 187 00:11:22,919 --> 00:11:28,200 under the interim staff tim skipper Jerry Neuheisel and defensive 188 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,120 coordinator Kevin Coyle. And we'll obviously have more on UCLA 189 00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:34,320 in a little bit later in the show. But Utah 190 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,919 got Ucla when the Bruins were horrible because Deshaun Foster's 191 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:42,679 UCLA was absolutely horrible, as bad as it gets. And 192 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,039 then Utah's other really good performance, it's other, you know, 193 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,840 blowout win where everything rent went right and the Utes 194 00:11:49,919 --> 00:11:52,360 did everything well came against an Arizona State team that 195 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,159 was missing Sam Levitt, and Arizona State without Sam Levitt 196 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,120 no bueno, Like that team just can't tie at Shoelace 197 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,159 as if Sam Levitt is not on the field. We'll 198 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,360 have more on Sam Levitt just a bit so Utah's 199 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:11,000 best games came against uniquely bad, uniquely weak opponents, and 200 00:12:11,039 --> 00:12:13,879 so that did not seem to set up Utah well 201 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,159 for the trip to Provo and the rival game against 202 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,480 Bu Yu, and you know, BYU was the better team. 203 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,120 Utah briefly took a lead in the second half, but 204 00:12:26,399 --> 00:12:30,320 it was all BYU down the stretch, and so it 205 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:36,039 reinforces that you know what Kyle Whittingham, ever since Cam 206 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:40,399 Rising not only left, but since Cam Rising got hurt, 207 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,840 like Devin Dampier was the you know, new transfer portal 208 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,799 quarterback who was you know, it was hoped in Salt 209 00:12:48,879 --> 00:12:51,159 Lake City that Devin Dampier would be the answer, that 210 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,200 he would be able to get Utah back to the 211 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:57,960 top tier of college football, you know, and do what 212 00:12:58,039 --> 00:13:01,600 Cam Rising had done. We're not seen it like that 213 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,960 BYU game was a real test of where Dampier and 214 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,679 the Utah offense are. You know that Utah offense was 215 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,679 shut down by Texas Tech in a high profile game 216 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,799 several weeks ago. So like this game against BYU was 217 00:13:14,879 --> 00:13:18,440 kind of the second chance failed against Texas Tech. Well, 218 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:23,679 can you get it right? Can you bounce back against BYU? 219 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,320 Clearly the answer is no with Devin Dampier. So Kyle Whittingham, 220 00:13:28,519 --> 00:13:31,039 who is a good coach, like he got Utah to 221 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:34,240 two straight Rose Bowls, that's never going to change. It remained. 222 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,639 It will always be a monumental feat Kyle Winningham is 223 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,759 a good coach. But you know, if we take a 224 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,960 forty thousand foot view of his long tenure at Utah 225 00:13:44,279 --> 00:13:47,360 when he didn't have the quarterback, we go back to 226 00:13:47,399 --> 00:13:50,000 Brian Johnson in two thousand and eight, that team which 227 00:13:50,039 --> 00:13:52,919 beat Nick Saban in Alabama in the two thousand and 228 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,720 nine Sugar Bowl. If he didn't have Brian Johnson or 229 00:13:56,799 --> 00:14:00,759 Cam Rising at quarterback, he has really ruggle to develop 230 00:14:00,799 --> 00:14:03,200 the quarterback position to help out the defense. You know, 231 00:14:03,279 --> 00:14:08,360 sac of Lake City, the Utah has missed, it has 232 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,519 whiffed so many times at the quarterback position. Uh. And 233 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:15,320 it just it needed that special guy. And only when 234 00:14:15,399 --> 00:14:19,159 Utah has had that special guy has everything come together. 235 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,120 You think about Urban Meyer. Uh. You know, with Kyle 236 00:14:23,159 --> 00:14:27,639 Whittingham on that staff as an assistant, you know Alex 237 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,679 Smith was able to put it all together for Utah 238 00:14:30,919 --> 00:14:34,919 when the Utes do not have their great quarterback. And 239 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,679 that great quarterback seems to be only once every now 240 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,000 and then. It's not an annual thing. Only when Utah 241 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,759 has the great quarterback can the youtes fully max out. 242 00:14:45,759 --> 00:14:48,720 When they don't have the great quarterback, they look very ordinary. 243 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,559 And that story continued against BYU. And as for BYU, 244 00:14:52,679 --> 00:14:56,720 Kalanie Sataki, like the past several years, he has been 245 00:14:56,759 --> 00:14:59,879 a better coach than Kyle Weddingham. Whittingham had the two 246 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,919 back to back Rose Bowl seasons in twenty one and 247 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,600 twenty two, but past few years it's been Sataki. He's 248 00:15:06,639 --> 00:15:09,360 had the upper hand in that rivalry. BYU has been 249 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:12,600 the better program than Utah and that continued on Saturday. 250 00:15:12,879 --> 00:15:16,399 So BYU, you know, now at the top tier of 251 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,480 the Big twelve for real, Like BYU is going to 252 00:15:19,559 --> 00:15:22,639 be in that race until the end. That seems pretty 253 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:29,120 safe BYU, Texas Tech and also Cincinnati. And as we 254 00:15:29,159 --> 00:15:33,200 turn to our next really big Big twelve game Arizona 255 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:38,120 State and Arizona State, without Sam Levitt mentioned it earlier, 256 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,360 gets gets its doors blown off by Utah as which 257 00:15:41,399 --> 00:15:44,559 seemed pretty predictable because that's a hollowed out team. It 258 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,039 has no leg to stand on without Levitt. So Levitt 259 00:15:47,039 --> 00:15:49,279 comes back and it's not as though he played a 260 00:15:49,279 --> 00:15:54,000 great game against Texas Tech. This was a defense first, fistfight, 261 00:15:55,679 --> 00:16:00,320 and you know Arizona State, Arizona State's defense was amazing 262 00:16:00,399 --> 00:16:03,120 in this game. And you know, if you followed the 263 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,000 Big Twelve closely and you followed kind of the the 264 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,600 bigger games in this conference, and you were looking at 265 00:16:10,639 --> 00:16:15,000 Texas Tech Arizona State and sizing up this matchup before 266 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:20,120 kickoff in TMP on Saturday, you knew that Arizona State's 267 00:16:20,679 --> 00:16:24,399 injury reported red light. You know, the Declaration of Independence, 268 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,879 Like this was a long, long list of players who 269 00:16:28,879 --> 00:16:34,120 are injured. It was, it was easily over a dozen players. 270 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,240 You know, Texas Tech had some guys out, and you 271 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,240 know Baron Morton, the quarterback, being out definitely had an 272 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:42,679 impact on this game. But like, it's not as though 273 00:16:42,759 --> 00:16:46,639 Texas Tech can complain about injuries. Ariona State had this 274 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:53,360 extremely lengthy injury report. Having Levitt, though, really mattered, and 275 00:16:53,399 --> 00:16:56,320 you compare that to Texas Tech not having Baron Morton. 276 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,000 That was obviously important, but still ASU's depth was really hard, 277 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,679 followed out a lot of starters, missing, a lot of 278 00:17:03,759 --> 00:17:07,440 bodies in the infirmary, and so for Arizona State to 279 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:12,000 be this shorthanded at having to plug in this many players, 280 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,079 backup players at so many positions in terms of the 281 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,559 All twenty two offense and defense, and to find a 282 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:24,519 way to overtake Texas Tech. And you know, Texas Tech 283 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,920 scrambled late to take the lead. Arizona State could have wilted. 284 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,240 No Sun Devils come back. They have the answer. They 285 00:17:30,279 --> 00:17:33,240 score at the very end and they beat Texas Tech. 286 00:17:33,279 --> 00:17:36,759 And so massive win for Kenny Dillingham for all the 287 00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:39,640 obvious reasons, right, Like Arizona State won the Big Twelve 288 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:44,240 last season, so you're obviously expecting to take everyone's best 289 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,079 punch in the conference this season. You don't have Cam Scataboo, 290 00:17:49,559 --> 00:17:51,880 and he continues to crush it in the NFL with 291 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,640 the New York Giants, so you know how valuable he 292 00:17:54,839 --> 00:17:58,200 was this Arizona State team. It's not as good as 293 00:17:58,279 --> 00:18:01,000 last year. That's to be expected by like Arizona State 294 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,880 is certainly staying in the ring, and Arizona State continues 295 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:08,920 to win close games. Has won at least three Big 296 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,359 Twelve games by you know, under five points, won a 297 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,440 couple of twenty seven to twenty four games against Baylor 298 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,240 and TCU. Now this four point win over Texas Tech. Like, 299 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,279 even if Arizona State doesn't win the Big Twelve this season, 300 00:18:24,759 --> 00:18:27,400 like the Sun Devils have shown a measure of staying power. 301 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,160 They've shown a considerable degree of resilience. You know, they 302 00:18:31,279 --> 00:18:35,319 beat BYU at home last season in a really important 303 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,000 conference game. They now beat a Texas Tech team that 304 00:18:39,079 --> 00:18:41,680 came in in this game unbeaten and you know, the 305 00:18:41,759 --> 00:18:45,559 favorite to win the conference. So like Kenny Dillingham, if 306 00:18:45,599 --> 00:18:48,599 people were worried that he had lost his fastball, he 307 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,480 showed at least against Texas Tech. No, he still has it. 308 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,519 And this Arizona State program is not cratering. It's not 309 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,640 falling off the map. They're you know, the injuries have 310 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,519 played a part, the loss of Skataboo has played a part. 311 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,039 So it's not this is not the very very best 312 00:19:06,039 --> 00:19:10,559 Arizona State can be. But Arizona State is still I 313 00:19:10,559 --> 00:19:13,799 would say, you know, achieving results which reflect a program 314 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:18,359 that is steadily good, is staying in contention in the 315 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:23,039 Big Twelve and is poised to remain relevant long term. 316 00:19:23,079 --> 00:19:25,799 And if you followed Arizona State football in the history 317 00:19:25,839 --> 00:19:29,240 of this program, you'll realize that's been the challenge that 318 00:19:29,279 --> 00:19:33,759 Arizona State does come up with really good seasons once 319 00:19:33,839 --> 00:19:36,279 every several years. You know. That was the Todd Graham 320 00:19:36,319 --> 00:19:39,960 team which made the Pac twelve Championship game in twenty thirteen. 321 00:19:40,599 --> 00:19:43,160 There was the Dennis Ericson team in two thousand and seven, 322 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,240 which many people thought should have gotten a BCS all bid, 323 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:52,960 but lost out to Ron Zook's Illinois team in that competition. 324 00:19:54,279 --> 00:19:56,680 There was the Jake Plumber team which finished, you know, 325 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,960 the regular season number two very nearly won the nation 326 00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:03,880 for championship. Ohio State beats Arizona State in the final 327 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,640 minute of the nineteen ninety seven Rose Bowl. So that 328 00:20:06,839 --> 00:20:09,079 was one of the great ASU teams of all time. 329 00:20:09,519 --> 00:20:12,920 But you know, great seasons have existed on an island, 330 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,960 and so ASU would do something really special one year, 331 00:20:17,319 --> 00:20:20,599 but then it would all fizzle out the next five seasons. 332 00:20:21,319 --> 00:20:25,559 So the challenge for ASU is maintaining that consistent relevance, 333 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:30,279 consistent quality what we're seeing this year. You know, again, 334 00:20:30,519 --> 00:20:34,279 ASU might not have the trophies this year that it 335 00:20:34,319 --> 00:20:39,640 did last year, but Kenny Dillingham, with his resourcefulness, is 336 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,200 showing that. You know, if he sticks around, and I 337 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:47,079 think you will that Arizona State's going to remain a 338 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,119 major player in the Big Twelve. That's really the value 339 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,799 of the win over Texas Tech. Obviously, the Red Raiders, 340 00:20:53,799 --> 00:20:55,839 they're still in the hunt, and if Baron Morton comes 341 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,720 back healthy, they're probably still the team to beat in 342 00:20:58,759 --> 00:21:01,240 the conference with their defense. But you know, b YU 343 00:21:01,319 --> 00:21:07,119 and Cincinnati, Cincinnati a real surprise under coach Scott Sadderfield 344 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,519 who's no longer in the hot seat there. And BYU 345 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,599 coming off the win over Utah. Uh, it's pretty clear 346 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:19,559 that Texas Tech, BYU, Cincinnati, and I would add Arizona State. 347 00:21:19,599 --> 00:21:23,319 That's those are probably the four teams most centrally in 348 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,440 the Big Twelve title race. You could add a few 349 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,839 others as well, but those four teams, like in mid November, 350 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:32,920 we're going to be talking about at least three of them, 351 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,799 if not all four, as frontline contenders for the Big 352 00:21:36,839 --> 00:21:42,680 Twelve championship. All right, Now we go to the Big 353 00:21:42,759 --> 00:21:47,640 Ten and you know, Oregon crushed Rutgers. Not a whole 354 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:52,960 lot to say, they're not like, nothing really newsworthy from 355 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,559 that one. UCLA over Maryland. Now, this was an interesting 356 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,400 game in that you know utile is able to win. 357 00:22:01,039 --> 00:22:03,440 But this wasn't the offensive joy ride that we had 358 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,920 seen the previous two weeks. Previous two weeks, UCLA had 359 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:10,079 a twenty seven to seven first half lead over a 360 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,400 shell shocked opponent. Ucl just steamrolled in the first half 361 00:22:14,319 --> 00:22:17,200 and was able to consistently do what it wanted on 362 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,279 offense throughout the game. This was not that UCLA trailed 363 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,279 Maryland ten to seven in the fourth quarter, Nico Iamaliaba 364 00:22:25,319 --> 00:22:27,880 throws a pick six like this was a nightmare for 365 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,759 the UCLA offense in the first three and a half quarters, 366 00:22:32,279 --> 00:22:36,079 but the defense kept the Bruins in the game. So 367 00:22:36,279 --> 00:22:39,200 Jerry Newhisl, the offensive coordinator, has been getting the pub 368 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,319 over the past few weeks, and rightly so he earned it. 369 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,440 He deserves it. But this was the game for Kevin Coyle, 370 00:22:46,319 --> 00:22:54,519 the new UCLA defensive coordinator who replaced Ikaka Malow in 371 00:22:54,559 --> 00:22:59,960 that position earlier in the season. And so Kevin Coyle 372 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,839 now has his moment. So Jerry new Heisel really was 373 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,319 the star of the show. But now it's Kevin Coyle 374 00:23:07,079 --> 00:23:10,160 who has a star turn. So it really tells you 375 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,880 how good Tim Skipper, the head coach has been not 376 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,920 only in selecting his new coordinators, but you know, part 377 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,359 of the job of a head coach is coaching your coaches, 378 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,400 making sure that the quality control is good in every department. 379 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:30,079 And so Jerry new Heisel was was the star previously. 380 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,519 But we're showing that Tim Skipper can field a really 381 00:23:33,519 --> 00:23:36,519 good UCLA defense and that he and Kevin Coyle have 382 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,920 a really good relationship as well. And so you know, 383 00:23:41,079 --> 00:23:46,119 UCLA's defense has held each of its last two opponents 384 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,880 under eighteen points, Maryland to seventeen and Michigan State the 385 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,960 week before to thirteen. So you know, Marylyn and Michigan 386 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,440 State aren't very good. And that's part of the conversation 387 00:23:57,519 --> 00:24:00,759 with UCLA because obviously the Bruins now go up weight class. 388 00:24:01,279 --> 00:24:03,839 They go to Indiana this coming week. More on that 389 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,480 game in a bit. But even though you can say 390 00:24:07,519 --> 00:24:12,480 that Maryland and Michigan State are highly flawed and fundamentally mediocre, 391 00:24:12,519 --> 00:24:15,799 if not bad teams, nevertheless, this UCLA defense did not 392 00:24:15,839 --> 00:24:19,839 look very good at all in the first month five 393 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,079 weeks of the season. Are we really seeing a defense 394 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,160 that is emerging? Are we seeing a defense that is 395 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,920 not only not terrible but might actually be somewhat good. 396 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,920 I mean, you have to at least ask the question. 397 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,759 I'm not fully convinced, but you do have to at 398 00:24:36,839 --> 00:24:40,680 least ask the question. Is this now a good defense? Like, 399 00:24:40,799 --> 00:24:44,759 you know, more good than bad? Is it not just 400 00:24:44,799 --> 00:24:49,559 a matter of shutting down weak and flawed opponents? But no, 401 00:24:50,039 --> 00:24:52,599 this is actually a good defense on its own terms. 402 00:24:53,759 --> 00:24:57,880 You at least have to entertain the question. But Indiana 403 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,279 is going to be the revealer of that. We can 404 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,960 we can, we can agree on that point. That Indiana 405 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,319 and then a few weeks later Ohio State, they will 406 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,359 reveal the true measure of where Ucle's defense stands. But 407 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,079 at least for now, UCLA being able to win a 408 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,359 rock fight against Maryland, a very low scoring game. You know, 409 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,240 if you had told me ut is going to score 410 00:25:21,319 --> 00:25:25,000 just twenty, I would have said, is losing US is 411 00:25:25,039 --> 00:25:29,039 losing this game. I mean, uc can't score twenty and win. 412 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,000 This team is not built to win that way. Kevin 413 00:25:33,039 --> 00:25:37,279 Coyle's UCLA defense had a real surprise for a lot 414 00:25:37,279 --> 00:25:39,960 of people. Uh, and that was it was just really 415 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,640 impressive how the UCLA offense struggled and struggled and struggled 416 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:50,519 VA with multiple turnovers. He had a bad game. Uti 417 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:55,559 could not finish drives. Uh. It was a very frustrating 418 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,160 night for this offense which just couldn't get out of 419 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,599 its own way. And you know, Ustilia had begun to 420 00:26:01,759 --> 00:26:05,680 expect this offense to thrive. It would have been easy 421 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:11,279 for the team to sag its shoulders and really just 422 00:26:11,319 --> 00:26:14,200 you know, lose faith in the larger collective effort. It 423 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,079 would have been easy to say, well, this is just 424 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,599 not our night. Things aren't going our way. But that 425 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:24,519 defense kept getting one stop after another, and then Iamaliaba 426 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:28,039 finally able to throw a touchdown pass for the lead 427 00:26:28,079 --> 00:26:31,799 in the fourth quarter. Ustilla then gets an interception, tacks 428 00:26:31,799 --> 00:26:35,079 on a field goal, gets a seven point lead, and then, 429 00:26:35,519 --> 00:26:38,640 you know, unexpectedly, the UCLA defense, which had been doing 430 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,720 the heavy lifting all game when it gets that seven 431 00:26:41,759 --> 00:26:44,480 point lead at the two minute warning at the end 432 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,799 of the fourth quarter, finally lets down its guard. Maryland 433 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:52,000 quarterback Malik Washington gets loose for a long scramble. It 434 00:26:52,079 --> 00:26:55,359 sets up a time touchdown. So this defense, which carried 435 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,079 the load for this team through the first fifty eight minutes, 436 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:04,880 finally slips in the final two minutes. But UCLA gets 437 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,920 the ball back with close to forty seconds left, and 438 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,119 that was enough to drive down the field. Anthony Fries 439 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,519 a running back who had kind of been under the radar. 440 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,480 He had a fifty five yard touchdown run early in 441 00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:21,640 this game. He gets another long run late. It sets 442 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,039 up a chip shot field goal with two seconds left. 443 00:27:24,039 --> 00:27:26,799 And this UCLA team wins three in a row. And 444 00:27:27,079 --> 00:27:31,400 it's not just the winning, And what really impresses observers 445 00:27:31,519 --> 00:27:33,720 about any sports team is that you can win in 446 00:27:33,759 --> 00:27:36,440 different ways, and you can win in the mud. You 447 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,039 can win when it's really a grind, when it's difficult, 448 00:27:40,079 --> 00:27:43,960 when it's hard, and UCLA showed that. So it's not 449 00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:47,480 just the tactics which have been so much better for 450 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,200 UCLA offense, defense, and special teams under head coach Tim Skipper. 451 00:27:52,519 --> 00:27:55,319 He's also created a culture of toughness, like this is 452 00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:59,519 a truly resilient group. The belief remains intact. The team 453 00:27:59,559 --> 00:28:04,759 doesn't get up a total one eighty from the absolute 454 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:11,000 no shows under Deshaun Foster. The team just quit, did 455 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:16,160 not you know, finish plays. We got absolutely demolished on 456 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,839 both sides of the line at scrimmage. No heart, no fight, 457 00:28:19,319 --> 00:28:21,160 and it has just been a total one eighty and 458 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,839 it continues in many different ways under Tim Skipper. And 459 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,480 now we go to this Indiana game where all right, 460 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,680 Ucla now plays a heavyweight. No more Maryland, no more 461 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,799 Michigan State. Penn State came in at number seven when 462 00:28:36,839 --> 00:28:40,039 it played Ucla, but like this, this was an ordinary 463 00:28:40,079 --> 00:28:42,839 Penn State team just in terms of how piece is fit, 464 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,359 in terms of how poorly it was coached by James Franklin, Well, 465 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,799 Indiana is none of that. The pieces do fit. You 466 00:28:48,799 --> 00:28:50,799 have an elite coach at the top of his game, 467 00:28:51,279 --> 00:28:54,240 Kurt Signetti. It's gonna be a Fox big noon Saturday game, 468 00:28:54,359 --> 00:29:00,759 so publicity an extra spotlight for UCLA football. People are 469 00:29:00,799 --> 00:29:02,559 going to be talking about Tim Skipper, They're going to 470 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,440 be talking about Jerry Newheisel is going to be talking 471 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,519 about Nico Iomliava. Here's a center stage moment. Let's see 472 00:29:09,559 --> 00:29:13,039 what UCLA can do. And I would say, just in general, 473 00:29:14,039 --> 00:29:16,960 no one's expecting UCLA to win, and Indiana's favored by 474 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,759 close to twenty four points. But if the Bruins just 475 00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:23,680 make it a fight and they make Indiana really work 476 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,440 hard to earn this win, that would certainly move the 477 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,440 needle in the direction of you know, hey, Tim Skipper, 478 00:29:30,559 --> 00:29:34,400 Jerry Newheiseel, Kevin Coyle, they should be retained by UCLA. 479 00:29:34,799 --> 00:29:37,599 So this in many ways, like the audition for the 480 00:29:37,839 --> 00:29:40,319 UCLA head coaching job is already underway, but like this 481 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,759 is now the really big test, as well as the 482 00:29:42,759 --> 00:29:46,200 Ohio State game two weeks later. These two games they're 483 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:52,400 gonna determine. Really I would imagine what UCLA ultimately chooses 484 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,559 to do. If Skipper and his staff can do a 485 00:29:55,599 --> 00:29:59,200 really good job against Indiana and Ohio State, that might 486 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:03,880 earn them retail as permanent head coaches. Will be fascinating 487 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:08,440 to see what happens with UCLA next. On our Big 488 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:10,920 ten West Coast Review and here on, get off my pilm. 489 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,359 The Washington Huskies, and you know, Jedfish has been mentioned 490 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,880 with the UCLA job. He's also been mentioned with the 491 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:21,839 Florida job after Billy Napier got fired. Well, it's really 492 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:26,319 hard to trust Jedfish right now, given that the Huskies 493 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,400 were dog walked by Michigan. And we talked about USC 494 00:30:30,599 --> 00:30:34,480 versus Michigan a week ago and I said Michigan's not 495 00:30:34,519 --> 00:30:37,279 that good. I stand by that Michigan is not an 496 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:42,200 especially good team. That offense is not consistent, that offense 497 00:30:42,319 --> 00:30:46,200 is not especially potent. Wide receivers aren't very good. Brice 498 00:30:46,279 --> 00:30:49,960 Underwood is a multi year project as opposed to a 499 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,519 finished product. And you know, most of that game, both 500 00:30:54,599 --> 00:30:58,720 teams were struggling. Both teams were squandering scoring chances, both 501 00:30:58,759 --> 00:31:01,880 teams were stepping on a race. And the game turns 502 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,279 around because Washington throws an interception deep in its own 503 00:31:06,359 --> 00:31:10,200 territory and that just creates a snowball effect which enables 504 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,720 Michigan to break open a close game on the third 505 00:31:12,799 --> 00:31:15,480 quarter and pull away for a win. That was you know, 506 00:31:15,519 --> 00:31:18,519 it was comfortable in the end, but middle of the 507 00:31:18,519 --> 00:31:22,079 third quarter like this was a toss up. And it 508 00:31:22,119 --> 00:31:24,440 was a toss up not because both teams were playing great. 509 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,200 It's because both teams were playing poorly. It's a lot 510 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,839 like a tennis match. You know, neither player has a 511 00:31:30,839 --> 00:31:33,640 good return of serve, so both players are just you know, 512 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:39,240 holding serve all the time, like the opponents might have 513 00:31:39,799 --> 00:31:41,599 might have had a chance to break serve, but no, 514 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,240 his return is crap. And that's why a match goes 515 00:31:45,279 --> 00:31:49,240 on and on and on, and it goes into five sets, 516 00:31:49,279 --> 00:31:53,720 just no one can really establish any quality to separate himself. 517 00:31:53,759 --> 00:31:56,960 That's what Michigan Washington was for the first two and 518 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,559 a half quarters. And it didn't turn based on Michigan 519 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:05,359 being excellent. It turned on Washington being bad and Washington 520 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:09,759 making the big blunders to turn that game negatively, you know, 521 00:32:09,839 --> 00:32:13,559 against the Huskies. And so you have a reality with 522 00:32:13,799 --> 00:32:18,559 Washington here. You know, Washington showed you know, some spunk 523 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,079 and some backbone and that comeback at Maryland a few 524 00:32:22,119 --> 00:32:25,920 weeks ago. But like Maryland's blown fourth quarter leads three 525 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,440 straight weeks, I think that's more of a commentary on 526 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:34,440 Maryland than Washington. Washington scoring twenty one points in the 527 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,039 fourth quarter on the road to win a game it 528 00:32:38,119 --> 00:32:41,519 trailed twenty to three. I think that says more about 529 00:32:41,519 --> 00:32:45,759 Maryland than Washington. And that Washington offense was shut down 530 00:32:45,799 --> 00:32:48,559 for the first three quarters of that game before the 531 00:32:48,559 --> 00:32:52,240 fourth quarter explosion. And now you have Washington, you know, 532 00:32:52,319 --> 00:32:55,480 getting shut down once again by Michigan. And let's remember 533 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,839 that Michigan, Washington got shut down by how State. Washington 534 00:33:00,559 --> 00:33:04,880 against Michigan Ohio State just absolutely smothered on offense. Has 535 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,839 brought nothing to the table, scored three points in three 536 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:12,319 quarters against Maryland. Like, this offense has been consistently below average, 537 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,440 and Jedfish is supposed to be an offense first guy. 538 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,519 He's supposed to be a quarterback developer. If you're Florida 539 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:22,000 and if you're you Cla, are you really all that 540 00:33:22,119 --> 00:33:26,279 impressed with Jedfish? You know, Let's keep in mind, Washington 541 00:33:26,359 --> 00:33:29,559 got taken to the top of college football national runner 542 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:32,279 up two seasons ago with Kaitlin de Boord, you know, 543 00:33:32,359 --> 00:33:35,559 working with Michael Pennix, took the Huskies to the pinnacle. 544 00:33:36,359 --> 00:33:38,920 And so you know, when Jedfish came in, like one 545 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:43,279 of his most important tasks was maintain the standard of 546 00:33:43,359 --> 00:33:47,200 quarterback play on Montlake. He has clearly failed to do 547 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,119 that last year with Will Rogers, now this year with 548 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:55,279 Demond Williams. Like this is supposed to be Jedfish's specialty offense, 549 00:33:55,559 --> 00:33:59,200 quarterback play, the passing game. None of that's coming up, 550 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,359 None of that's a none of that, none of that 551 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,319 is rising to the surface as a strength of this 552 00:34:04,599 --> 00:34:08,400 Washington team. So that is ample cause for concern. And 553 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,280 as we turn the page two Week nine coming up 554 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:15,519 this weekend, Washington hosts Illinois. It's another big game, It's 555 00:34:15,559 --> 00:34:18,920 another major test of the Huskies. I think you have 556 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,519 to lean to Illinois in this game. Like Luke Altmeyer 557 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:26,159 and the Aliani. You know, they got their doors blown 558 00:34:26,159 --> 00:34:29,199 off by Indiana and they also got handled by Ohio State. 559 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,119 But you know, Indiana, Ohio State, they're the top two 560 00:34:32,119 --> 00:34:34,719 teams in the Big Ten and the top two teams 561 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:38,960 in the national rankings with Miami losing and falling out 562 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,239 of the top three. So you know, Illinois did beat 563 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,800 USC and Illinois has you know, shown some quality and 564 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,159 its other games this season. You know, a road win 565 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:53,559 over Duke also looks pretty good right now. So you know, 566 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:56,360 Illinois has shown me a lot more than Washington has, 567 00:34:56,559 --> 00:35:00,239 and so it's less about Washington the full team. That's 568 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,840 a decent defense. You know, Washington's defense is not getting 569 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,480 blown off the field in any game it plays. It 570 00:35:05,519 --> 00:35:08,960 actually held Ohio State, and Julian's saying to just twenty 571 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:14,480 four points, that's pretty respectable. This Washington offense needs to 572 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,480 step up like it's now or never. This Illinois game 573 00:35:17,559 --> 00:35:19,920 is a now or never moment for the Washington offense 574 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,960 and for Jetfish, Like you got to produce. It's time. 575 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:27,079 It's late October. You have fooled around for the better 576 00:35:27,079 --> 00:35:29,519 part of two months. You now need to help your 577 00:35:29,519 --> 00:35:34,360 teammates on defense and get it done. And so it's 578 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:38,800 a home game, it's in Seattle. This is a massively 579 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,039 important game for Washington. And you know, whether or not 580 00:35:42,039 --> 00:35:45,880 the Huskies make the playoffs, they're unlikely to do so, Like, 581 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,480 this is a pride game, and this is like, hey, 582 00:35:48,559 --> 00:35:50,320 you know what, we might not be the best team 583 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,519 in the Big Ten, but like we deserve to be 584 00:35:52,559 --> 00:35:55,400 in that top tier. We deserve to be in that conversation, 585 00:35:56,519 --> 00:36:00,000 it's very important for Washington to win this game because 586 00:36:00,559 --> 00:36:03,519 if not, where does Jedfish turn to and how can 587 00:36:03,519 --> 00:36:08,119 he convince himself and the other people in the program 588 00:36:08,599 --> 00:36:11,039 that Washington is heading in the right direction of Washington 589 00:36:11,039 --> 00:36:14,639 loses this game to Illinois, it's a real mess. It's 590 00:36:14,679 --> 00:36:16,440 a real mess for the Huskies and they will enter 591 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,719 twenty twenty six without a whole lot of confidence that 592 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:23,840 they can become a top tier program in the Big Ten. 593 00:36:25,519 --> 00:36:28,960 All Right, last, but certainly not least, the featured story 594 00:36:29,159 --> 00:36:32,159 you know of Western teams in the United States USC 595 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:35,199 because US he was playing Notre Dame. And we don't 596 00:36:35,199 --> 00:36:38,599 know about the future of this rivalry, but USC Notre 597 00:36:38,679 --> 00:36:41,320 Dame prime time under the lights in South Bend took 598 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:46,960 center stage. And as someone who covers USC regularly, you 599 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,280 know that I'm at Trodan's wire. I think what just 600 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,440 the immediate thought about this game, more than you know 601 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:59,000 that dumb trick play which failed, is that, you know, 602 00:36:59,519 --> 00:37:03,360 USC just always seems to lose in this fashion. And 603 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,000 when I say in this fashion, like you can always 604 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:09,280 count on a Lincoln Riley USC team when it plays 605 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:12,480 a big road game against a good opponent, you can 606 00:37:12,519 --> 00:37:17,840 always count on these things happening. Turnovers, really bad mistakes, 607 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:23,639 generally soft play and Lincoln Riley getting too cute with 608 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:28,079 his play calling. Like those things seem to happen in 609 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:33,480 every important moment for Lincoln Riley on the road as 610 00:37:33,519 --> 00:37:36,800 a as a as the USC head coach. You know 611 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:42,280 USC's offensive line got blown out a year ago at Michigan. 612 00:37:42,519 --> 00:37:47,159 You know the Trojans were soft. Other really big road 613 00:37:47,199 --> 00:37:50,599 games this team is played, you know, like the defensive 614 00:37:50,599 --> 00:37:54,039 line just can't do anything. You think of the road 615 00:37:54,119 --> 00:37:57,760 loss to Utah in twenty twenty two. You know, the 616 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:02,440 defense gives up forty three points. I mean, every big 617 00:38:02,559 --> 00:38:07,519 road game under Lincoln Riley at USC just goes in 618 00:38:07,599 --> 00:38:13,039 the wrong direction. And the common threads, the points of commonality, 619 00:38:13,199 --> 00:38:17,400 they're they're in the mix nearly all the time. And 620 00:38:17,519 --> 00:38:21,119 when USC went to Notre Dame two years ago, offensive 621 00:38:21,159 --> 00:38:24,840 line got absolutely trampled. Kaylev Williams had no chance through 622 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,280 a bunch of picks. You know, it's it's pretty much 623 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:33,559 always that same general collection of qualities. So in this game, 624 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,800 Notre Dame was without its starting center. He got injured recently. 625 00:38:38,039 --> 00:38:41,440 This was the first game with the backup center, so 626 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:43,360 like it's not as though he had time. The backup 627 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,320 center had time to ease his way into the rotation 628 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,920 and get a rhythm. Note this was the backup center's 629 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:53,440 first game as the starter for Notre Dame this season. 630 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,800 All right, that's point number one, Point number two. CJ. Carr, 631 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:59,960 Notre Dame quarterback didn't play well. Like he was inaccurate 632 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,239 the running the running game, you know, making plays with 633 00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:05,880 his legs. That was not an element. Like he was 634 00:39:06,039 --> 00:39:08,760 just off. It was an off night for him. He's 635 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:11,719 been really good this season, but in this game he 636 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:15,599 was off. Notre Dame missed a field goal. Notre Dame 637 00:39:15,639 --> 00:39:19,559 committed a lot of pass interference penalties Notre Dame. Notre 638 00:39:19,639 --> 00:39:22,920 Dame could not cover Jacoby Lane. Now, Leonard Moore of 639 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,599 Notre Dame locked up McKayle lemon and that was a 640 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:29,559 very big and positive development for Notre Dame in this game. 641 00:39:29,559 --> 00:39:31,840 But the other side of the field, the other matchup, 642 00:39:32,079 --> 00:39:36,519 Jacobe Lane was too big, too tall, too strong for 643 00:39:36,599 --> 00:39:39,960 his matchup in the Notre Dame secondary and so you know, 644 00:39:40,039 --> 00:39:42,679 he kept getting open and when he wasn't open, it 645 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:47,679 was because Notre Dame was committing pass interference penalties. Notre 646 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,960 Dame was also missing one of its important defensive linemen, 647 00:39:51,119 --> 00:39:56,199 Gabriel Rubio. He was out in this game, so that, 648 00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,440 you know, should have improved the matchup for USC. And 649 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:03,639 you know, and in truth, USC's offensive line was not great. 650 00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,639 You know, it wasn't able to hammer an order names 651 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:09,119 defensive line in the ground game. But the pass protection 652 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,599 was fine. Jade and Mayava had a clean pocket for 653 00:40:12,679 --> 00:40:15,280 the vast majority of the night. He got pressured a 654 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,840 few times, but he was able to sit back and 655 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:22,320 throw the vast majority of the time. So many things 656 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:25,679 for USC should have worked really well in this game, 657 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:29,079 and at times they did, but then USC was not 658 00:40:29,159 --> 00:40:32,239 able to finish drives bogged down in the red zone 659 00:40:33,079 --> 00:40:36,599 zero of two on fourth downs, and what you saw 660 00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:40,400 on those plays in the red zone and on fourth 661 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,559 down was one way or another, USC just making a 662 00:40:43,599 --> 00:40:47,320 really bad mistake or Lincoln Riley getting cute with a 663 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,119 play call. You know, Lincoln Riley, he likes to stretch 664 00:40:51,199 --> 00:40:55,880 defenses horizontally. He likes to make defenders cover the full 665 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:58,239 width of the field so that then he can go 666 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:02,239 vertically up the middle down the scene between the tackles. 667 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:07,280 But this was a game where just one reality was 668 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,480 very clear, they can't cover Jacoby Lane. So instead of 669 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:12,880 trying to do a run pass option or a fake 670 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:16,360 handoff and throw a flat pass to the tight end, 671 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,440 this was a game where Lincoln Riley needed to keep 672 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,559 it simple. Just have Jade Mayava drop back five or 673 00:41:22,599 --> 00:41:26,320 seven steps, throw it to Jacoby Lane, get your first down. 674 00:41:27,079 --> 00:41:29,480 It didn't need to be more complicated than that. But 675 00:41:29,559 --> 00:41:31,679 he did the funky stuff with the with the read 676 00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:34,960 options and the and the throws to the tight end 677 00:41:35,199 --> 00:41:39,760 and trying to get you know, using fakes and play 678 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,239 action and sleight of hand and trying to get an 679 00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:44,960 Notre Dame off balance. This was just not a game 680 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:49,679 for that. Notre Dame made good reactions and reads going 681 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:54,360 side to side. This was just about step settling down 682 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,679 in the pocket for my ava and throwing the ball 683 00:41:57,719 --> 00:41:59,800 to Jacoby Lane because Notre Dame did not have an 684 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,320 for him And as much as the ball was thrown 685 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,360 to Lane us, he didn't really throw the ball to 686 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:10,800 him enough. And yeah, ironically, in the first half, Lane 687 00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:14,159 drops a touchdown pass. He also drops another red zone pass, 688 00:42:14,199 --> 00:42:16,840 so like he made some crucial mistakes. So he did 689 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:19,760 a tone for them with his touchdown and two point 690 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:22,760 conversion to take the lead. But you know, if Jacobe 691 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:26,280 Lane makes catches in the first half, USC is not 692 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:28,239 up twenty four to twenty one, it might be up 693 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:32,639 thirty one twenty one. As the game continued and both 694 00:42:32,679 --> 00:42:35,920 teams left a lot of points on the field, both 695 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:41,400 teams squandered red zone trips, trips into scoring range you know, 696 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:45,360 inside the other the opponent's thirty five. Like, this was 697 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:48,920 not Notre Dame's best game. This was not Notre Dame's 698 00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:53,079 best team under Marcus Freeman. Clearly, like you can see 699 00:42:53,119 --> 00:42:55,960 why Notre Dame lost those two games early in the season. 700 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,599 This was not a heavyweight bout. This was more like 701 00:42:59,639 --> 00:43:04,360 a middle wait fight with two flawed teams that were 702 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,960 leaving points on the field. They traded a number of mistakes. 703 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,480 I mean, midway through the third quarter, if you were 704 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,519 a fan of either team, you're you're just thinking, gosh, 705 00:43:14,599 --> 00:43:17,559 we're gonna regret all the mistakes that we made in 706 00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:22,880 this game. And from that point midway through the third quarter, 707 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:26,679 it was USC that made far more mistakes. In the 708 00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:29,679 final fifteen to twenty minutes down the stretch, it was 709 00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,400 USC making the mistakes. Notre Dame, you know, wasn't one 710 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:37,440 hundred percent spotless, but certainly made far fewer mistakes than USC. 711 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,360 Jade Mayava, who is excellent in the first half, and 712 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,599 this is a parallel to the Illinois game a couple 713 00:43:43,639 --> 00:43:46,360 of weeks ago. Mayava excellent in the first half, but 714 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:48,800 in the third quarter, for whatever reason, you know, he 715 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,920 finally lost his edge, makes a couple of mistakes. And 716 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:58,599 once again, because USC's defense was not able to rise 717 00:43:58,599 --> 00:44:01,719 to the moment. If the offense is leading points on 718 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,559 the field, it's hard to expect USC to win. This 719 00:44:04,679 --> 00:44:08,280 offense has to be very close to perfect, and if 720 00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:11,000 it's not, the defense is not there to back them up. 721 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:14,760 And I mentioned that CJ. Carr had an off night. 722 00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:18,039 You would think that USC's defensive line would be good 723 00:44:18,119 --> 00:44:21,920 enough to contain the Notre Dame ground game, not smother them, 724 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:25,679 but certainly not give up over three hundred yards. And 725 00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:27,960 yet that's what happened. Notre Dame rushes for over three 726 00:44:28,039 --> 00:44:32,679 hundred yards. Notably, Notre Dame ran the ball on third 727 00:44:32,679 --> 00:44:36,880 and seven and later on a third and eight and 728 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:39,320 was able to convert, was able to get first downs 729 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:44,159 in third and long situations multiple times with the ground game. 730 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:48,519 That's just an embarrassment for USC. It's an embarrassing performance 731 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:53,440 and it points to Lincoln Riley once again his USC teams. 732 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:58,119 They come up soft in big road games against good opponents. 733 00:45:00,079 --> 00:45:05,559 It's it's impossible to avoid this particular big picture note 734 00:45:06,119 --> 00:45:09,320 about Lincoln Riley that he and Brian Kelly are basically 735 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:13,519 living parallel lives at this point. They both are several 736 00:45:13,559 --> 00:45:17,840 games under five hundred against ranked teams. You know, they 737 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,960 both have gotten into the College Football Playoff a couple times, 738 00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:25,320 but not with their current employers USC and LSU. You know, 739 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,280 Kelly did it with More Dame Riley did it with Oklahoma, 740 00:45:28,679 --> 00:45:32,800 but neither one ever won a playoff semi final when 741 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:38,039 they did make the playoff, and they are both currently 742 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,039 loathed by their fan bases. USC fans definitely want Lincoln 743 00:45:42,119 --> 00:45:46,920 Riley out, I can't blame them. LSU fans really want 744 00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,719 Brian Kelly out, and I can't blame them for that. 745 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:53,719 Like they've they're both in their fourth seasons at their 746 00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:57,880 current schools and no playoff appearances. And it's that playoff 747 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:01,679 drought is going to continue this year barring something improbable 748 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:03,559 for both teams. I mean, they both have to win 749 00:46:03,599 --> 00:46:08,360 out and maybe also get help as well. Like the 750 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,440 chances are ninety eight ninety nine percent that both USC 751 00:46:11,639 --> 00:46:15,079 and LSU will miss the playoffs this year. So you know, 752 00:46:15,199 --> 00:46:17,159 you're not paid to be nine and three, you're not 753 00:46:17,199 --> 00:46:20,119 paid to be eight and four. And yet Lincoln Riley 754 00:46:20,119 --> 00:46:23,079 and Brian Kelly, who were hired, you know, a day 755 00:46:23,119 --> 00:46:26,920 apart in November of twenty twenty one, and they both 756 00:46:27,119 --> 00:46:30,880 left Cadillac jobs to go to other places. It's something 757 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:34,880 that's very rarely happened in the history of college football, 758 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:39,599 Riley leaving Oklahoma for USC, Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU. 759 00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:43,400 Like who leaves Oklahoma? Who leaves Notre Dame when you're 760 00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:47,639 doing well there, as both men were, But they did, 761 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,719 and you know, so USC fans as well as LSU 762 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:55,800 fans had a right to expect big things this decade, 763 00:46:56,079 --> 00:46:58,559 and it just hasn't happened in either place. And so 764 00:46:58,639 --> 00:47:02,719 you have KELLYLSU losing to Vanderbilt and then Riley and 765 00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,159 USC losing to Notre Dame on the same day. And 766 00:47:06,199 --> 00:47:09,480 so these two coaches hired one day apart four years ago. 767 00:47:10,079 --> 00:47:13,039 Here we are. They both seem to kind of flame 768 00:47:13,039 --> 00:47:15,079 out on the same day. Like this felt like a 769 00:47:15,599 --> 00:47:19,039 final nail in the coffin for each coach. Now will 770 00:47:19,079 --> 00:47:24,239 they be fired? Riley's not getting fired at USC. You know, 771 00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:27,159 I do have more proximity to that program than I 772 00:47:27,199 --> 00:47:31,119 do to LSU. And you have that twenty twenty six 773 00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:35,199 top ranked recruiting class. US He's gonna give Riley the 774 00:47:35,239 --> 00:47:38,199 twenty twenty six season because you know, you just have 775 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,159 some high end groceries coming in and so you're gonna 776 00:47:41,199 --> 00:47:44,519 get They're gonna give the school's gonna give Lincoln Riley 777 00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:47,880 the chance to coach up that twenty twenty six recruiting 778 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:51,400 class LSU. I don't know, but I know that if 779 00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:54,159 I was in Baton Rouge, I'd say, you know what 780 00:47:54,239 --> 00:47:58,119 Brian Kelly like, we never liked you. And I'm when 781 00:47:58,159 --> 00:48:00,199 I say we, I mean the LSU fan base. I'm 782 00:48:00,199 --> 00:48:05,559 not really talking about administrators, but LSU fans hate Brian Kelly. 783 00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:07,760 They didn't like it when he coached their team. The 784 00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:09,760 only way they were gonna like Brian Kelly is if 785 00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:12,960 he won big, and he hasn't. So I think LSU 786 00:48:13,079 --> 00:48:17,440 fans just the fan base has reached its limit with 787 00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:20,039 Brian Kelly. They would love to see him go. And 788 00:48:20,079 --> 00:48:24,280 whether LSU administrators see things the same way, I'm not 789 00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:27,440 so sure. But in many ways it felt like, you know, 790 00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:31,239 I've had enough of this. USC fans with Lincoln Riley, 791 00:48:31,599 --> 00:48:35,079 LSU fans with Brian Kelly. It seems like a pretty 792 00:48:35,599 --> 00:48:40,239 widespread shared sentiment in each of those two locations, and 793 00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:43,559 so it's really striking how Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly 794 00:48:44,159 --> 00:48:48,280 have similar careers and similar trajectories on a lot of 795 00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:54,719 levels at USC and LSU. USC season in tatters. The 796 00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:57,880 only way USC can salvage the season is by winning out. 797 00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:01,679 But winning out means having to go to Oregon in November. 798 00:49:02,199 --> 00:49:04,159 Good luck with that one. I'm certainly not going to 799 00:49:04,239 --> 00:49:08,480 take USC in that game. So us see another failed 800 00:49:08,519 --> 00:49:12,360 season almost certainly under Lincoln Riley. That's part of the 801 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,079 picture for the Trojans. So you know, looking ahead to 802 00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:19,559 Week nine, UCLA at Indiana is going to be a 803 00:49:19,599 --> 00:49:21,079 game a lot of people are going to be paying 804 00:49:21,119 --> 00:49:23,079 attention to. And it's not just because it's a Fox 805 00:49:23,119 --> 00:49:27,039 Big noon Saturday game, but because you have Kurt Signetti, 806 00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:31,599 the wonder worker of college football, guy who's just transcended 807 00:49:31,719 --> 00:49:36,760 everyone's expectations by many, many miles, up against this interim 808 00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:41,920 UCLA coaching staff that's worked wonders. But now the quality 809 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:45,320 of competition really rises for UCLA. It's going to be 810 00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:49,519 fascinating to see what Tim Skipper, Jerry Neuheisel and Kevin 811 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:54,280 Coyle can do against the great Signetti and an Indiana 812 00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:57,360 team which is number two in the country. So UCLA 813 00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:01,000 is going to face number two Indiana and in number 814 00:50:01,039 --> 00:50:04,880 one Ohio State in the next three weeks. We're gonna 815 00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:09,880 get the measure of this UCLA team. The Big Twelve 816 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:13,840 race continues and Arizona State has stayed in contention with 817 00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:16,960 that upset of Texas Tech BYU at the top of 818 00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:20,360 the standings with with a great shot to make the 819 00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:23,960 Big Twelve championship game. So that's going to be really 820 00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:29,239 fun to watch. Oh I missed this in my roundup, 821 00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:31,320 so let's just make sure we touch on this before 822 00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:35,239 we go. Washington State had Virginia, was leading twenty to 823 00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:37,960 ten on the road at Virginia in the fourth quarter, 824 00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:41,519 the Cavaliers scored twelve points and the game winning play 825 00:50:41,719 --> 00:50:44,880 was a tie breaking safety. That game was twenty to 826 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:47,599 twenty in the fourth quarter and Virginia wins it on 827 00:50:47,679 --> 00:50:50,760 a safety. So a brutal loss for Washington State. But 828 00:50:51,199 --> 00:50:55,119 if you've noticed, Washington State lost to Ole Miss on 829 00:50:55,159 --> 00:50:58,960 the road by three points. Loses to a ranked Virginia 830 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,039 team on the road by two points. This team was 831 00:51:02,159 --> 00:51:05,400 horrible earlier in the season, losing by forty nine in 832 00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:09,920 North Texas. So quietly Washington State has improved. The wins 833 00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:14,159 aren't coming, but the performance is Washington State might actually 834 00:51:14,199 --> 00:51:17,639 be really good next season. The Cougars have made dramatic 835 00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:21,679 forward strides over the course of this season. And then 836 00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,599 Oregon State. All right, they beat an FCS team, Lafayette, 837 00:51:25,599 --> 00:51:28,159 but hey, it's a win. It's the first one of 838 00:51:28,159 --> 00:51:30,800 the season for Oregon State. So over there in the 839 00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:35,000 two pack and the Pacific Northwest, some teams are showing 840 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:39,119 a measure of improvement. But UCLA, Indiana is going to 841 00:51:39,119 --> 00:51:42,760 be the really big story in week nine. We're all 842 00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,559 going to be watching the Bruins. Who thought that Ucile 843 00:51:45,679 --> 00:51:49,239 football was going to have such a high profile position 844 00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:52,079 a month ago, you know, when the Bruins were zero 845 00:51:52,079 --> 00:51:54,239 to four and heading for you know, it seemed like 846 00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:59,920 an oh to twelve season. So UCLA takes Centers State 847 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:03,960 in Illinois. Washington is also going to be a very 848 00:52:05,039 --> 00:52:09,119 prominent game for the Big Ten in week nine, So 849 00:52:09,159 --> 00:52:11,480 that just about covers it. For Get off my pilon 850 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:15,199 here at the College grid on Coast to Coast podcast network. 851 00:52:15,199 --> 00:52:19,079 Be sure to check out Gridiron Coast on Twitter and 852 00:52:19,119 --> 00:52:22,800 then go to College Football College Gridiron Coast to Coast 853 00:52:23,079 --> 00:52:27,480 on Apple, Spotify, Speaker, the other places where you get 854 00:52:27,840 --> 00:52:31,320 your podcasts for Pigskin and Burnt Ends for Yards and 855 00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:35,079 Stripes on the service Academies for All Sports discussion on 856 00:52:35,119 --> 00:52:40,840 the ACC, Florida Football Insiders with Jason Powers, Big Ten 857 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:44,239 Paradigm with Noah Drury, who will have more on that 858 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:50,880 UCLA Indiana game for sure. Whatever slice of college football 859 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:54,000 you enjoy, College Grid on Coast to Coast has a 860 00:52:54,079 --> 00:52:57,519 podcast for your tastes and for your interests. And on 861 00:52:57,639 --> 00:53:00,239 Get Off My Pilon we cover college football on the 862 00:53:00,239 --> 00:53:04,400 Western United States. So that concludes our survey of Western 863 00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:08,159 football free another week. This is Matt Zemeck. Thanks for listening. 864 00:53:08,199 --> 00:53:10,559 We'll see you next week here on the Get Off 865 00:53:10,599 --> 00:53:14,440 My pylone college Football podcast and the College gridarin Coast 866 00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:17,360 to Coast podcast network. We'll see you next week.