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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid. Do you believe that we are just about one week
00:05away from the beginning of the college football season? Folks, week zero is almost here. So let's
00:10go around college football right now. We'll hear from Rich Rodriguez as he is back at the saddle
00:15at West Virginia. Sherron Moore talking about Michigan. And we'll begin with Kirby Smart as
00:20they get ready for their season opener as well here on the Sports Grid Sound Off.
00:30All right, let's begin with weather around the country, right? Like here in South Florida,
00:37I don't know anything except for it being hot and raining. That's pretty much my day every single
00:42day here in South Florida. And it seems like that's the case also a little bit to my north
00:46in Georgia as well as Kirby Smart as the Georgia Bulldogs getting ready for their season opener,
00:52which is coming about two weeks away for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. He talked about the
00:57last couple of days of training camp and just the heat and pressure and how hard it is to get
01:03these kids in great shape with temperatures approaching 100 degrees in Georgia. You look
01:09back over the years and the first scrimmage is always in a lot of heat and also they're coming
01:16after hot practices. So it's not just that day. It's what's happened the previous three or four days
01:22and the totality of practicing in 110, 105 heat index a couple of days in a row can take its toll
01:28in that scrimmage. And that, that wasn't the case this time. I don't think that's any indication that
01:33we're in any better shape. I think it's just an indication of the weather. So they're really
01:38competitive drives, several long drives. You know, I was pleased with the effort for the first scrimmage.
01:47We didn't tackle exactly great, which is the first time we really tackled live. We've done
01:52a little more live tackling than we have in the past. So we did do some prior to the scrimmage.
01:58But I was, I was really pleased with the effort on special teams. I think that's
02:02where we set ourselves apart in scrimmages because we do the special teams within the scrimmage.
02:07And we didn't have, you know, we, we have guys competing for spots on those units.
02:12And I thought they competed really hard. So I was pleased some silly, uh, procedural penalties both
02:18ways. Um, but pleased with the effort of both groups are just not where we need to be yet.
02:26Now let's check over at the big 10 where Michigan, again, one of the favorites to win the national
02:32championship and get to the college football playoff. They have a lot of work ahead of them
02:36and a tough schedule as you would imagine as always, but Sharon Moore head coach says that he really
02:41likes what he has seen in the month of August from his Wolverines.
02:45I love this team. I love the passion. I love the energy. Um, I love the togetherness
02:51that we're going to be really physical football team. Um, I love our coaches, love our staff,
02:59uh, learn that we're going to be explosive on both sides of the ball and, uh, it's going to come
03:05from different positions at different times. And, uh, when they'd like to have fun together,
03:10you know, those are the things that we learned about our team and there's different intricate
03:13details of, you know, the scheme and position battles and all that. But, uh, overall for me,
03:20when I looked at it, I expressed to the team, how much I love them, how much I thought, how good I
03:24think this football team can be and where we can climb to. And, uh, yeah, that's what I learned.
03:31And what are more bizarre suspensions in college football this season? Moore
03:35will coach the Wolverines for games one and two, and then be suspended for games three and four.
03:40Well, you may remember Rich Rodriguez went from West Virginia to head coach at Michigan,
03:45and that did not go well. Rodriguez has bounced around a little bit. He's back
03:49in Morgantown now and says he's excited for this new challenge. What is old is new again.
03:56Well, we still had some, uh, self-inflicted penalties today. We had two procedure penalties
04:02when we went live. I think we had two holding penalties on the offense when we went live. And
04:09those are like turnovers. So those, um, those kinds of things we can't, we, we got to get fixed in a hurry.
04:16Um, I think we threw one or no, I think we threw two interceptions, not maybe in live, but two
04:24interceptions during the team period, which were just, uh, uh, weren't bad throws or bad decisions
04:32kind of deal. So you got to get all that cleaned up too. So it's, uh, still our problem. It's not a
04:39problem, but the thing I wrestle with is that if you get better running your plays, you got to run your
04:45plays, but we also have a lot of fundamental work, uh, to get done too. So, uh, but I'm not a believer
04:53in a three hour practice to get it done. I think you got to get your work in and then, uh, evaluate
05:00it and then fix it the next day. And anybody who watched West Virginia during those rich rod years
05:06knows that was a really good college football team. We'll see if he can bring them back to greatness
05:11this year. Welcome back to Newswire here on sports grid. We're going to be joined by Joe
05:16Lisi talking some college football coming up. So make sure you stay with us here on the grid.
05:20Meanwhile, we got week zero to get to, and of course games begin next week in college football.
05:25And then of course we dive into the very latest in week one as well. So let's bring in Joe to talk
05:31some college football here as we get closer to, uh, not just week zero, but Labor Day weekend,
05:37Joe, it's going to be huge here on sports grid, lots of coverage as well. Thanks for coming on the
05:41show. Oh, my pleasure. It's going to be an electric night, all action across the board,
05:46top 25 battles for that Labor Day weekend. And we sprinkle in a little pro action with
05:51Bill Belichick making his debut against the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night. So it's electric
05:56come week number one of the college football season. Yeah, it definitely will be. So let's
06:01get started here and talk about the big showdown between LSU and Clemson at night on August the
06:0730th. Right now, Clemson three and a half point favorites. We've seen this open up at two and a
06:11half and it seems to be the steam going toward the Tigers here, Joe. Certainly all eyes will be on
06:17Garrett Nussmeyer because of the injury that he had in practice. Of course, Brian Kelly says no big
06:22deal. Is it a big deal at all? And do you see Clemson being able to take care of business in their
06:27own version of Death Valley on opening night for them? Yeah. Battle of the Tigers, Craig. And when you think
06:32about it, this line got up to four and a half earlier in the week, we saw some money come in on
06:37Clemson and the home team, Craig Klubnick. And you're talking about a team in the Clemson Tigers that
06:42have been basically dominant at home for an eight year span. They only lost three home games. We saw them
06:49get knocked off at the end of the regular season by Lenora Sellers in South Carolina, but they're
06:54deserving to be favored, especially when you look at LSU. They've lost three straight week one matchups
07:00in Brian Kelly's tenure. And it all hinges on Garrett Nussmeyer. He needs to be healthy in order
07:08for the Tigers to put up points and win this matchup. Early on, I'm inclined to take the points
07:13in the ballgame, but it's not going to be easy for LSU, especially if Clemson can run on the front
07:19seven of the Tigers defense. Yeah. And he's practicing right now with a sleeve on his leg, but he's back to
07:25fully practicing. And the good news for him, Joe, is that there's still a few weeks until this game
07:30begins. It's not like it's this week, so it should be okay. And by the way, week one is going to
07:34feature two players that could potentially win the Heisman. As we know, Joe, the Heisman Trophy
07:38Award in the last few years, seemingly it hasn't been determined until October, November. So I don't
07:43know that anybody right now I could honestly say should be the favorite. I mean, Arch Manning is the
07:48popular name, so he's seven to one on FanDuel, followed by Cade Klubnick, Garrett Nussmeyer. One of
07:53those two will move up and the other one will move down after week one. And then Jeremiah Smith of Ohio
07:57State is 11 to one. But I got to tell you, I don't know, Joe, maybe something tells me
08:01could be somebody not on this list that wins the Heisman too. Oh, it's possible. We always talk
08:06about the late season push from November straight through the college football playoff. Can a
08:11quarterback potentially steal it or another outside player, even the Notre Dame running
08:16back Jeremiah Love? Can we go back to the rushing attack and just how dominant running backs have
08:23been? I'll just say this about all three quarterbacks, Arch Manning, Nussmeyer. And when
08:28you look at Cade Klubnick, they have an opportunity in week one to really, I want to say, separate
08:34themselves for the Heisman race. Because when you talk about Manning at 17, seven to one going up
08:39against Ohio State, if he lights them up and puts up over 300 yards and they win that ball game as a
08:45two and a half point road underdog, he's definitely going to be in the area of about three to four to
08:51one. And when you look at Klubnick and Nussmeyer, depending upon how that matchup plays out in
08:56Death Valley, whoever wins and by margin, if they have a dominant game, they could potentially
09:02be in front of Arch Manning come week number two. So that's where the odds are right now.
09:08I do give the inside edge to Arch Manning because of the name and because of the team,
09:13Texas, the AP and coaches number one. But if they lose that week one matchup to Ohio State,
09:18look for Klubnick and Nussmeyer to jump Arch Manning after that game.
09:24All right. Now, Alabama staying true to their school here. And again, going to somebody that
09:29came up with the team, the backup quarterback, Ty Simpson, becomes the starter in Tuscaloosa.
09:34And this should be a monumental opportunity for a player that I don't think the country knows a lot
09:39about, Joe. Do you think that, you know, he is certainly the guy to take that next step for the
09:44Crimson Tide this year? Well, he has experience, Craig. And when you think about a 56% completion
09:50percentage, he did rush eight times last year for 55 yards and a touchdown. But he has to take over
09:56for Jalen Milrow. That was one of the most explosive, dynamic, dual threat quarterbacks,
10:01not just in the SEC, but all of college football. When you look at Jalen Milrow's performance last year,
10:06he rushed for over 700 yards, had 20 rushing touchdowns, and was handily responsible for
10:13two big wins in the conference against LSU and against Georgia. So if you take that out of the
10:19equation, Ty Simpson has to be elite in order for Alabama to duplicate the success that they had
10:25under Nick Saban. I just don't see it. I think it's a tough week one battle, even though it's Florida
10:30State. They're going on the road with a team that has their back up against the wall.
10:35I like the points where Florida State, but Ty Simpson needs to play a lead in that matchup,
10:41and more importantly, throughout the regular season for Alabama to make the playoff.
10:46Almost unfair for Kalen DeBoer to have to follow Nick Saban. I mean, how could it be any tougher
10:51on any coach in the history of college football than what he is being forced to do? Their win total
10:57is set at nine and a half, but anything less, I think, Joe, than maybe, I don't know, would you say
11:02getting to the championship? Anything less than that is going to be looked at a failure for DeBoer,
11:06and I don't even know how that's even fair.
11:08Absolutely, but Brian Horson had the same type of success, and I know it's a different animal
11:13across Alabama and Auburn, but he basically had two years to get it done and get that program to
11:20an elite level. Coaching in Alabama and Tuscaloosa is like coaching for the New York Yankees,
11:25and when you look at Aaron Boone taking over for Joe Torian, Joe Girardi, and all the great
11:31coaches that led those teams to World Series, it's the same thing with Alabama. It's college
11:36football playoff or bust. He did get one year, they were nine and three, but if they start to regress
11:41nine and three, eight and four, he's going to be on the hot seat. It's a standard in Tuscaloosa,
11:47and they're going up against dominant teams in the conference this season.
11:50Now, going into every college football season is now different because of the college football
11:56playoff. This was five years ago. This game between Texas and Ohio State, Joe, could determine
12:01the early number one team in the country. Now, the dynamic has certainly changed. Both teams could
12:05easily get into the college football playoff with a loss, but I think whoever wins this game
12:10between the Buckeyes and Longhorns could potentially be a top seed in the college football playoff,
12:16and the odds makers are telling us it's a coin flip. Ohio State just a two and a half point
12:20favorite, total 47 and a half in this game. Rarely do you see such an evenly matched team
12:26with both squads going at it in week one. It's interesting. It's a rematch of the semifinal
12:32playoff loss. Quinn Ewers couldn't get it done. They lose that game 28 to 14. What's more important
12:38for Texas on the road with Arch Manning is they're going to have to run the football consistently.
12:42Texas averaged 158 rushing yards per game, but the two games that they struggled in the college
12:48football playoff against Arizona State and against Ohio State, they only rushed Craig for 1.7 and 2
12:54yards per carry. They're going to need a better effort on the road against a defense that only
12:59allowed 87 rushing yards per game. Jim Knowles is gone. Chip Kelly is gone for Ohio State, and Julian
13:06Sayan is basically an inexperienced quarterback, so you give the edge to Arch Manning in that
13:12aspect, but playing at home, we saw this line creep as high as three and a half. It's down to
13:18two and a half. I give the inside edge early on to Ohio State, but we'll see how it plays out.
13:24We're also so far away from the NFL draft next go around here. It's sort of incredible for me to
13:30make any prediction as to what Arch Manning is going to do. I mean, simply put, I mean, Joe, if he's the
13:35best player in the country and he's as good as everybody says he is, he's going to be the number one pick
13:38and he's going to come out. But, you know, go sideways sometimes. This is tough to predict.
13:42It is. And if he has, let's just say, an average or an above average season, does he stay in school
13:49for an extra year to potentially lead Texas to a national championship and elevate his draft status?
13:55Because right now, he is the quarterback. He's a Heisman frontrunner. He can only go down at this
14:01point. And that's the concern if you're a Texas Longhorn fan.
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