- 2 days ago
John Talty joins the show to preview a fantastic weekend of college football.
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00:00Welcome in our friend John Tolte, National College Sports Reporter for CBS Sports College Football.
00:06Heating up, another big weekend coming. John, what's up, dude? How are you?
00:11Good, man. Appreciate you having me on again.
00:13Yeah, dude, we're always happy to have you. I love talking college football.
00:16There's nothing that I bet on more consistently and lose than college football.
00:22It's one of my dumbest but favorite hobbies.
00:26Where are we at right now? I think Miami looks excellent. Notre Dame looks excellent.
00:32Georgia looks excellent, even if they got helped out a lot Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
00:38Who looks excellent to you?
00:42I think you might have covered it right there.
00:44Those are the ones that stand out.
00:47I think there's, and this is not necessarily a new development,
00:50but I do think you're seeing and feeling more of the parity,
00:53especially in the SEC, where it feels like week to week anything can happen.
00:59So I think if you kind of pull out those three teams, you know, Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami,
01:07I think Alabama is just maybe a tad below.
01:09I actually came away very impressed with how they played,
01:12especially with everything that happened, some of those calls going against them.
01:16So that's another team that I think is right there.
01:19And then, you know, you've got some of those teams in that similar line,
01:23maybe a bit below Ohio State's in there, Indiana's in there.
01:27We'll see how those two teams face off against each other.
01:30You know, you've got some, what is Utah?
01:33Are they for real? Is BYU for real?
01:35Those are kind of more in that next notch below.
01:38But I think that Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, and probably Ohio State,
01:43that's probably your top group.
01:45And then, so you've got some big matchups this weekend.
01:49Ohio State, Indiana is this weekend.
01:52The Hoosiers, you know, and that, was it the Big Ten title game?
01:55The Hoosiers kind of took it to them.
01:57Do you think Indiana's as good as they were last year?
01:59They're undefeated.
02:00They've had some close calls.
02:01They had to come back in Nebraska.
02:03They kind of had a tight game against Northwestern a few weeks ago.
02:06What do you expect to happen in Bloomington this weekend?
02:09Yeah, they're not as good as they were a year ago.
02:12And that's not, you know, it's not even a knock on them.
02:15Like, they won a national championship last year.
02:16They were really good.
02:17They went undefeated.
02:18You know what I mean?
02:18But they're clearly, they're a step below.
02:20And I think this is not necessarily a super, you know, complex point here.
02:27But, like, their QB is not as good as he was a year ago.
02:29I mean, they've nailed the transfer QB a couple times in a row.
02:33And not that I think Josh Hoover is a bad quarterback by any stretch,
02:37but he's clearly not Fernando Mendoza.
02:39And even, like, when you talk to NFL scouts and people like that,
02:42like, he's not anywhere near that same stratosphere as Mendoza.
02:45And you're seeing some of that play out.
02:47He's not as accurate.
02:49The QB as Mendoza and some of the things that they had a lot of success doing
02:53a year ago are just not coming as easily as, you know,
02:57as you mentioned against Northwestern, against Nebraska.
03:00And then now they're facing their toughest test yet against Ohio State.
03:04So I like Ohio State in that game.
03:06You know, it is on the road, but Ohio State might have the most talent
03:11in the country.
03:12They've, you know, they've got a pretty good connection there
03:14between Julian Zane and Jeremiah Smith.
03:16But there's talent up and down that roster.
03:18And I think losing the early game that they did to Texas,
03:22sometimes that helps crystallize some things for you.
03:24You realize you have to walk in a bit more.
03:27And I think Ohio State will be able to pull it off against Indiana.
03:31So I think Indiana is a tad below where they were a year ago.
03:35And so much just because of all the guys that they lost, you know,
03:38to the NFL, including, of course, Mendoza.
03:40Yeah, you mentioned Mendoza, but the other players around him
03:44were very good, too.
03:46How far did they draw back with those people there?
03:50Yeah, I think you're seeing that on defense for sure.
03:52That's a factor.
03:53I mean, they lost two very good wide receivers,
03:55but they have two very good receivers as well.
03:58And then I think one of the areas where, yeah, I mean, Nick Marsh is awesome.
04:03Charlie Becker is awesome.
04:04You know, like, they lost two guys, you know, highly drafted NFL.
04:07They have two guys who will be highly drafted again.
04:10I think where you're seeing an impact more, and, you know,
04:13it hasn't gotten them in a ton of trouble yet,
04:17but their running game is not quite as good as it was a year ago.
04:20And you definitely saw that against Nebraska,
04:23where they really struggled to move the ball.
04:25And that's something that I remember talking to, you know,
04:28Kurt Signetti about this in the spring.
04:30Like, you know, when Josh Hoover, their quarterback, was at TCU,
04:33I mean, he had to throw the ball a ton.
04:35And Signetti explained to me, he's like,
04:37we're not going to make him throw as much.
04:39We're going to run the ball more.
04:40We're going to be more effective moving the ball than what he had at TCU.
04:42So he won't have as many interceptions and fumbles and things like he did
04:46at TCU once he's here.
04:47And that, to this point, has played out as true.
04:50But, you know, they certainly were not able to do what they needed to do
04:54in the ground against Nebraska.
04:55And you could just see that being another challenge, you know,
04:59for them against Ohio State.
05:01So that's one of the areas where I feel like,
05:03even though the stats have been pretty good up until that Nebraska game,
05:06you can just see that they are not as good as they were a year ago
05:09in that department.
05:11Talking with our buddy John Talty from CBS Sports here on the Rude Guest Hotline.
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05:31John, another big game this weekend out in Provo, Utah.
05:35BYU hosting Notre Dame.
05:37Game day is going to be out there.
05:39Notre Dame looks excellent.
05:41They've got maybe my favorite coach in college football.
05:45Marcus Freeman, there's a lot to like with him.
05:47Is BYU up for this challenge of what looks like a really good Irish team?
05:53Yeah, I think that's one of the big questions of the season so far, honestly.
05:59And I think you can – Notre Dame has looked great.
06:01And I think that Wisconsin win has also aged pretty well because Wisconsin is better
06:07than maybe we thought when Notre Dame beat them the way they did.
06:10But I think there's, frankly, both of those teams, there are questions of like how good
06:16are they really given the level of competition that they've faced.
06:19And BYU has not really played anybody either.
06:22And so we're going to learn a lot about these two teams coming out of that game.
06:26And, you know, if Notre Dame wins this game, especially when you look at the rest of their
06:31schedule, I mean, they're basically a lock to make the playoff at that point.
06:34BYU would also be in very good position if they're able to beat Notre Dame.
06:39If BYU loses, then it's going to start getting a little tricky for them just based on what
06:44they still have down the stretch, including, you know, the famous Holy War against Utah.
06:50So there's a lot at stake, I think, for both of those two teams coming into this game.
06:55I mean, Notre Dame has been great even without Leonard Moore at times.
06:58Like, they still have been very, very good.
07:00This will be a tougher test than what they're getting against Stanford and some of those other
07:04teams that they've beaten up on.
07:05But to this point, they've been, you know, terrific.
07:09And there's, you know, a reason why a lot of people, including myself, like them as a
07:12possible title contender coming into the season, just the amount of talent they have on both
07:17sides of the ball.
07:18What are your thoughts on Miami Hurricanes?
07:22I mean, you can kind of say the same thing about what I just did about Notre Dame.
07:25Like, they're great, but who are they beating?
07:28You know what I mean?
07:29And so they've done a terrific job of going into the portal every single year and getting
07:34a great QB.
07:36And they did that.
07:37Cam Ward, Carson Beck, now Darian Mensah.
07:39Mensah's been terrific for them.
07:41They've got a great offense.
07:43Shannon Dawson is a guy who you're going to hear mentioned for head coaching jobs again
07:47this cycle.
07:48He's their offensive coordinator.
07:49He does a terrific job.
07:51They're doing what you want them to do against the level of competition that they've faced.
07:55But they have not played a lot of very good teams.
07:58So you still have to take it with a little bit of a grain of salt.
08:02I'm intrigued to see what they look like this weekend against Florida State.
08:06Florida State has not been good.
08:08As you guys know, Mike Norvell is on the hot seat.
08:12That's an important game for him to at least look respectable against Miami.
08:17So I could see that game maybe being a little tighter than people expect.
08:21But to this point, Miami's just been blowing out everybody and looking great doing it.
08:25And so I love what I've seen, but I also I'm super excited to see what Miami looks like
08:30against Notre Dame when they play in November.
08:32And I think that's going to be Miami's one really true test of the season, at least the
08:36regular season.
08:37Dude, anytime you get Catholics versus convicts and it's got a lot of juice to it, that rivalry
08:43is so good.
08:44And we're still like three weeks out from that.
08:47But if both those teams are undefeated in that game, it's going to be special.
08:50A lot of juice.
08:51I am starting to pay attention when I hear hot coordinator names in the coaching circles.
08:57My man, Shannon Dawson, the Canes OC.
08:59Clinton, Louisiana, Brian.
09:01All right.
09:01I don't know where that is, but maybe you do.
09:03Yeah, I do.
09:04Okay.
09:05Two teams to me that have been a little schizophrenic.
09:09Texas loses to Oklahoma in a fashion that like really could only happen with Arch making
09:15some disastrous decisions late.
09:16And he did against Florida, who everybody was so high on.
09:20Now, Florida's lost two in a row.
09:23Florida, if I recall, beat Texas last year.
09:26What do you make of that Gators-Longhorns game?
09:29Yeah.
09:31Both those teams are kind of coming in from interesting places.
09:34Like, Texas to me was wobbly for weeks.
09:36Like, I was not particularly shocked to see them lose that game.
09:40I picked Oklahoma to cover that spread.
09:43Like, I just thought that game was going to be tight just because Texas just did not look
09:48good for weeks.
09:49The Florida thing is honestly kind of shocking to me because they looked so good against Ole
09:53Miss.
09:54They could do whatever they wanted, moving the ball up and down the field.
09:57And I don't know if, like, they only had one move and they showed that one move against
10:01Ole Miss and everybody's figured them out since.
10:03But, like, they just do not look good, like, embarrassingly at times.
10:07And so, I don't really know what to make of that Florida team because I was, you know,
10:12not as hyped as some people.
10:14But I came away feeling, you know, very impressed by them against Ole Miss.
10:17And then back-to-back weeks now, they've just put up total duds.
10:20And so, you're kind of in a desperation game, frankly, for both of these two teams.
10:26Florida cannot afford another loss if they're going to stay in the mix.
10:28And Texas, you know, relative to what they have down the stretch, like, they can't really
10:33afford another loss knowing they still have to play teams like Ole Miss and some of
10:37these other top SEC schools.
10:38So, Texas is in a precarious spot here.
10:42I didn't love what I've heard from Steve Sarkeesian this week.
10:45I'm not hearing a lot of, like, we recognize we've got to do things different.
10:49It's a lot of, like, oh, we think we've got good coaches and they'll figure it out.
10:53And I didn't love that because it feels like there need to be changes of what we've seen
10:57with this Texas team.
10:59So, for this game, I picked Florida to cover.
11:02I think Texas wins.
11:03But I think both these two teams are coming in in not great positions, and they're both
11:07desperate to get a win.
11:09Last one for me, LSU.
11:11I mean, they're the same place I was going.
11:14I mean, you wrote the book on Lane Kiffin.
11:16Literally, you wrote a book on Lane Kiffin.
11:19I don't think any program created more off-season excitement and hype.
11:23And now LSU, you know, they've lost two already.
11:27They dropped one to Ole Miss in an emotional charge battle.
11:29But to lose at Kentucky is a tough loss.
11:32They've got Mississippi State coming in.
11:35I don't know why that spread's so big.
11:37Maybe that star quarterback for the Bulldogs isn't playing.
11:41What do you make of where LSU is now, probably about halfway through the college football season?
11:47Yeah, I do think it's unlikely that Kamario Taylor plays in that game at this point.
11:52He's questionable, and he's going to try to go up until the last minute to try to play.
11:56But I would guess, as of right now, he will not be able to play.
12:00So I do think that's why that line is bigger than it should be.
12:03It would come down, I think, a good bit if he were able to play.
12:06The star running back is also questionable and probably unlikely.
12:09But, yeah, I mean, LSU came in with massive expectations, right?
12:13And it's not only just the fact that they invested, you know, what I've been told,
12:16in the $50 million range on that roster.
12:18But it's all the off-season stuff.
12:21It's Lane Kiffin doing the Vanity Fair profile that blew up in his face.
12:25It's the lawsuits that continue between the SEC and LSU.
12:29It's trying to bring the pro players.
12:30Like, he just brought all of this attention around him.
12:35And if you win, that's great.
12:37If you don't, it gets thrown in your face.
12:39And you're starting to see some of that happen.
12:42It's one thing to lose to Ole Miss.
12:45And I think as upset as LSU fans might have been, they lost.
12:49Like, I think they understood it.
12:50Like, you've got to go back to a place you were there for a long time.
12:53It was a wild environment.
12:54That's a tough place to win any time.
12:57But especially given the outside circumstances, there's no excuse for Kentucky.
13:01I mean, you probably have spent $20 million more on your roster.
13:05That's not only a first-year head coach.
13:07That's a first-time head coach in Will Stein.
13:10And he's also inheriting a 5-7 team that needed a lot more work than the LSU program that Lane
13:17inherited.
13:18So, you're starting to see the fan base already getting pretty upset about that one.
13:21So, there's not a lot of wiggle room for him down the stretch.
13:24And, you know, he's still got to play Bama even after this Mississippi State game.
13:28So, he's going to have to pull it together.
13:30And, you know, it just has not played out the way fans have expected to this point.
13:37And I'll tell you one thing.
13:39There was a controversial decision.
13:40He didn't go for it on fourth and one, which was very much not like Lane.
13:44And that blew up in his face.
13:45And I talked to somebody down there this week who was like, he will never not go for it ever
13:49again.
13:50Like, he's going to go so far in the other direction.
13:52He's been going for it on fourth and one everywhere on the field.
13:54So, it could be fun to see how aggressive he's going to be given the criticism he got for not
13:59going for it on fourth and one.
14:00I mean, B, LSU still has Bama.
14:02They still have Texas.
14:03They still have a road trip to Tennessee.
14:05I'll give White Bryant a little credit.
14:07They still have to go to Auburn next week.
14:08They'll be to Auburn.
14:10Yo, what's up with Auburn, Talty?
14:12Are they just a mess?
14:13Please say so.
14:15It hasn't been great so far, right?
14:18I like Gullish, but, I mean, it's a tough spot.
14:24Again, look at how good the SEC, all the SEC teams we've already talked about.
14:27I mean, you've got to play those guys week in, week out.
14:29So, that's hard.
14:31But what makes it especially hard is that you look at Will Stein getting a big win first year.
14:39Like, there's just no leeway anymore.
14:41It's like, you expect results right off the bat, and it just has not happened so far.
14:46Big opportunity this week, as you guys know, Georgia.
14:49But, like, I don't even know if they cover that game, to be honest.
14:54I mean, I think Georgia is just so good right now, and Auburn is just not at that spot.
14:58So, you know, we'll see what he's able to do moving forward.
15:01Recruiting is obviously going to be critical.
15:03But he brought a ton of South Florida guys with him, and they just –
15:07there's probably a reason they were at South Florida and not in the SEC before he brought them with him.
15:11Yeah, one of our producers, a proud Auburn alum,
15:14maybe Auburn should just switch to the American or the ACC or something.
15:18Maybe that's a better plan for him.
15:20John, thank you for the time, man.
15:23Really appreciate you joining us, dude.
15:25Appreciate you guys.
15:26All right, John.
15:27It's our boy, John Talti.
15:28Man, you just kill him right, Brian, man.
15:31CBS Sports.
15:32Listen, I'm a Terps football fan.
15:34If I'm going down, you're coming down with me.
15:36That's how it's going down.
15:37Appreciate John.
15:38Give him a follow at JTalti.