Lane Kiffin Returns To Ole Miss; Ohio State-Texas Aftermath

All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes, uh, Sports Illustrated SI.

com.

I'm Pat 40 joined as always by my friend Gene Wojaowski and Gino, before we get to the ultimate Lane Kiffin psycho drama, we've had many psycho dramas with him, but this is the ultimate.

And before we get to a very unhappy Arkansas fan, and another round of the trust meter, and another round of game picks, uh, by the way, mine were pretty good last week, uh, we have to address some stupidity deep in the heart of Texas.

All right.

Well, then, I will yield the floor to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Thank you.

Sorry, we got a little bit of a stemwinder setup here, but a couple of things to get to on this, um.

Uh, we, we kind of have a, an unfortunate dynamic happening here in sports, it seems like in 2026.

Uh, American society, American social media, especially, has once again, Uh, hijacked a great sporting moment and sucked all the joy out of it.

First one I'm referring to was the, back in February, the aftermath of the Olympic gold medal men's hockey game, which I covered, which is one of the best events I've covered.

Uh, US triumph for the ages was ruined by a culture war hissing match over Kash Patel and Donald Trump, and an unfunny joke about the women's gold medal team.

Well, the best, most exciting , most impactful football game of the year so far was Ohio State, Texas.

I was lucky enough to be at that too.

Classic thriller, and that has taken a similar turn for the worse in the aftermath here, I'm afraid.

So obviously, Texas roars back from 3 touchdowns down, wins a huge game, vaults to number 1 within 36 hours.

The two storylines from the game are a racist monster running for the Texas Railroad Commission, who sees a picture of brown people cheering for the Longhorns and thinks that the world is coming to an end.

And an AI slop video showing a fake Steve Sief Starkisian slapping a fake Holly Rowe and a real Arch Manning, making a stupid comment about it and everybody laughing along, like the men's hockey team did with Trump.

And here we are sucking the fun out of everything again.

Uh, Gino, like, quick thoughts on, especially, let's start with the, the railroad commission guy.

Well, I'll say this, uh, this is my 3rd year, uh, as a professor of practice at the University of Tennessee.

And on my list of favorite things about this experience as a, as a uh teacher there.

Uh, and I'm not even sure there's a number 2, but number 1 is walking that campus or being in the classroom, and, and Uh, getting to know the names.

In the faces and the backstories of each of these students and what's great about it is.

That the faces aren't the same, and the backstories are completely different, and the backgrounds are completely different.

And you meet students who are first-generation college students and their family from small towns in Tennessee.

You meet students that are from California to Connecticut.

Uh, you meet students that are from, uh, uh, China.

Uh, uh, Africa, Australia, South America, all parts of Europe.

And when I see those, just absolutely disheartening comments about the makeup of, of just kids at a ballgame, having a great time at the University of Texas, I, I just wanna scream because The those different faces and those different backstories.

Enrich uh the university experience.

They, uh, I'm a better teacher because I've met them and, and learned, uh, their stories.

Uh, I'm not, uh, it's not in spite of them, it's because of them.

And so, I, I just want people to understand.

That, that, that, that cross section, that, that universities are a crock pot, and we put all sorts of ingredients in it, and we just let it cook, and it always turns out great.

At least it's been my experience that.

So to me, it, it strengthens the university experience.

It, it doesn't diminish it.

Thank you for that.

Uh , and that is coming, that is a voice of experience on campuses who gets to see a diverse student body, uh, and I think that's, that's part and parcel of what American universities have been, should be, and hopefully will be, but we'll see.

It depends who, who's in charge of, uh, various aspects of things like admissions policies.

And one of the things I've learned in the aftermath of this is, uh, like Texas, if you're in the top 5% of a Texas school, public school, you get into the University of Texas, which is a good university, really good university, yeah.

A lot of those faces that this person was seeing are meritocracy admissions of Texas high school students.

United States citizens and Texas high school students, but because they look a certain way, let's take a picture and manipulate it and try to turn it into a threat .

And to your point, diversity on campuses isn't a threat, it's an education, in my opinion.

It is an ability to learn from other people in other walks of life that come from completely.

Different backgrounds and maybe look at things a different way and can help all the rest of us see things in a different way.

Yeah, it's not supposed to be Pleasantville.

It's not, you know, so it's OK that.

That it's different.

That's how you learn.

Yeah, yeah.

So like, that was, that was appalling, the, the, in, in comparison, I think the Sarkisian Holly Rowe Arch Manning thing is, is.

Far less troublesome.

It's, it's, there, look, it wasn't handled well, that's for sure.

Uh, I didn't really like any aspect of, of it other than Arch Manning apologizing and, and Holly Rowe accepting the apology, both of them in graceful fashion.

For those of you who didn't see it, who don't know, Uh, there was, you know, at the end of the game, Holly was trying to get Sark for the postgame stand-up interview on the field.

There had been a kerfuffle, or not a kerfuffle, there had been a snafu with the halftime interview between Sark and Laura Rutledge, and Laura Rutledge apologized because they left Sark waiting, and coaches hate to be left waiting at that point when they went in to get to the locker room, especially when they're trailing 20 to 3.

Um, so, perhaps that set the stage for this, but, uh, very awkward interaction.

Holly tried to ask him a question, Sark just kind of barked, hook him, go Texas fight or whatever, and then walked off.

Um, anyway, there was an AI video showing a Sarkisian slapping Holly.

It was, it was again, it was all manufactured.

Uh, Arch brought it up, he was asked what he had seen video-wise after the game that, you know, maybe caught his eye, and he said that was hilarious, very bad look, not a good look, and then he, I think, realized that , he apologized, he spoke to Holly, she accepted the apology.

Uh, was this bungled badly?

What, what were your thoughts?

First of all, let me say this, Gene, you have been, you have been on the field in those postgame interviews settings.

I have too, but you've got more experience than I do.

Kind of explain how those things work and then tell us where this thing maybe went wrong.

Well, I'll preface it by saying, um, uh, I have very limited experience as a sideline reporter.

It was mostly in basketball, but I have interviewed.

Uh, coaches in those settings.

I have interviewed players after, uh, uh, majors, victories in golf.

Uh, I've done live to tapes with coaches before bowl games.

Uh, so I have a little bit of experience, nothing like Holly Rowe or, or Laura Rutledge.

But, uh, from a general point of view, um, this was an unusual set of circumstances, and I'm going to Absolve Sarkisian, uh, for the most part in this.

Uh, this had a national championship sort of quality to it.

Normally, you might, you would have one sideline reporter for a game.

They had 2, ESPN had 2, which is great.

Um, the more the better.

But, uh, when you have 2, it's a, a little bit of a different dynamic.

Uh, secondly, it, there was a lot of emotion, a lot of, uh, uh, uh, tenseness in this game.

Again, a national championship kind of atmosphere in a way.

And what happened at halftime, um, my best educated guess is, um, uh, Ryan Day did the first interview, and I think that interview went just a touch long.

Maybe just a little longer than uh uh Sarkisian thought it would, it would be.

And he's waiting, and he's waiting with Laura, and he just, at some point, there comes a, he has to go.

And so he left.

And uh was it a bad look?

Yeah.

But I, I feel as if he probably had waited the requisite amount of time.

And the way that Laura handled that situation seemed to indicate that there was no wrongdoing by Sarkisian in that.

So now, fast forward to the end of the game, and generally, with about 4 minutes to go, You know, the assignments are made.

So in this case, Laura, you're gonna get a player, Holly, you're gonna get the head coach of the winning team.

And so Holly got Sarkisian, as it turned out, uh, Laura was gonna try to get Arch Manning.

So, now, game ends, Holly and her team, which was a producer, camera person, uh, sound person, I'm sure, maybe an additional crew member, they go out, they try to get Sarkisian immediately.

I think they were in position again, just my best educated guess, they were in position right after that game.

And it took just a little too long for the production truck to send it down to Holly on the field.

And I think by that point, Sarkisian still had the memory of that halftime show in his head, uh, what happened there with the halftime interview or non-interview.

They're getting ready to play the eyes of Texas, which , as you know, Pat, is a huge deal to a coach and his players after a win there.

He wanted to go, and I think he just felt like he'd waited long enough, and he was gone.

And so, it was just a confluence of unusual circumstances, fans storming the field , uh, a heightened uh emotion and tenseness, I think.

And I, I really don't think it was anybody's fault.

Yeah, uh, you know, and they, they.

Uh, the thing that, uh, I, I'm glad you explained some of how this stuff works, right?

That, um, the dynamics of these things are, are not easy.

They probably should be, uh, they're not always easy.

It sure helps when you're the rights holder, everybody goes out, you know, bends over backwards to make it work for you.

For some reason, this, this didn't work out very well on either occasion, halftime or postgame.

Um, I, I was a, a sideline reporter one time.

I've done the postgame stuff like that where with the great Jonathan Wiley from ESPN he'd set you up and you'd talk to the star of the game and get something.

But one time I was an actual in-game sideline reporter.

Uh, for an Illinois, Indiana basketball game in like 2008, because Aaron Andrews got sick and couldn't make it, and they asked me to fill in.

And let me tell you, you've never seen a more disappointed student body than the Illinois student body when not Aaron Andrews, but Pat 40 shows up to work the sideline.

Sorry.

Um, but anyway, this was, this was my education on, on, hey, this is a little bit harder than it looks.

It's live television, man.

It's live TV.

Things live TV.

I'm interviewing Kelvin Sampson after a double overtime victory.

He's the coach at Indiana.

It's unbelievable game.

I can't hear crap.

The band is playing.

I start the interview before they're ready for me to go.

And this Bart Adams is the, the, the director, producer in the truck.

He's yelling, Stop! No, no, no, wait, wait.

And so I tell Kelvin mid-sentence, I go, stop, stop.

He's looking at me like, what?

I said, OK, now we gotta start again.

And we do it again, and we get done, and Kelvin, he's just won the game, so he's in a good mood, but he looks at me and he goes, have you ever done this before?

And I said, no.

He goes, oh, that was pretty funny, and walks off.

So, I have an appreciation.

It's not an easy job.

You get two questions, heat of the moment, with somebody that may or may not want to talk to you.

You know, stuff can happen, so I, I respect a lot of people.

We don't need sideline reporters, and there are times you watch the reports and you're like, uh, but there are times you really want them there .

Right, when there's an injury, when there's a controversy, those sorts of things.

So, uh, I have empathy and I have great respect for Holly Rowe, who's just damn good at her job.

Yeah, Holly and Laura are, are the best of the best, you know.

I mean, there's a lot of really, really great sideline reporters out there, and, and they're in that upper echelon, of course, but, you know.

That's fine.

OK, that happens.

It's live television.

It happens, but what happened afterwards, yeah, uh, is on Monday is the really just reprehensible, disappointing part of this equation.

It is, right.

And that's again, that's where, and again, social media playing a large role in just sucking the fun out of some, out of a great sporting moment and You know, it's not going away, but I, sometimes I, I kind of wish it would, not to, not to be the old man yelling at clouds here.

But, well, to, to Arch Manning's credit, I mean, first of all, he's a college kid.

Did he think it was funny that, that Steve Sarkisian in an AI video was hitting Holly Rowee?

Uh, of course not.

Did he think the, the, the idea of his coach reacting in a way like that somehow was hilarious?

Apparently so.

But to his credit, um, he apologized publicly.

He reached out to Holly, who obviously took the high road in all this, said, I, I accept the apology, we're gonna keep the conversation private.

And we're all gonna just move forward .

So lessons learned by all.

And there was also a reporter who had originally posted part of this and who had asked the question, and to his credit, uh, he explained and apologized, uh, for his part in any of this.

So, uh, our old buddy Rick Majerus, uh, the, a former Utah coach, used to tell me all the time, the world turns every 24 hours, and, and it was his way of saying, Mistakes are made, we learn, we move on.

This is a perfect example of that.

It is.

Everybody keep moving.

Uh, I'm afraid, I, I tweeted something to the effect that Holly Road took the high road as she always does, and oh my gosh, the responses to that.

There's a lot of people that have no interest in the high road, let me just say that.

All right, let's move on to the game of the week, the drama of the year, Lane at Ole Miss.

Uh, if you thought it was bad back when he went to Neyland Stadium and had a mustard bottle and a golf ball thrown at him.

Wait till this one starts to bubble, and it's already bubbling.

We, we've got our, our first, uh, in-week shenanigans here.

Well, first of all, we got, we have the governor of Louisiana saying, maybe joking, maybe not, that they need to fly Lane in on an F-16 and put the team on a C-130 and have the National Guard on standby.

Well, uh, yeah, the, the latest thing was, uh, Tuesday at the, at the uh facility, the LSU facility.

Uh, I'm, I'm calling it up here, uh.

Papers, court papers were served to stand out LSU defensive end, former Ole Miss defensive end, Prince Will Uman Melen, who had played for Kiffin.

At Ole Miss and now plays for Kiffin at LSU.

Uh, Ole Miss is suing to get back NIL contract money from him and another Ole Miss player who transferred.

And you think, oh, the timing's pretty cute about this, and I'm sure there is some of that, although there's something I read where there was a 30-day notice given like, August 14th, which ran out September 14th, so September 15th would have been the first day to serve him, and apparently he was.

Anyway, discovery papers, but still, uh, I don't know whether it's a genius move or a terrible move to serve the nation's sack leader with court papers the week you play against him, because Further motivation and or fury might not work in your favor, but, uh, anyway, this, like, I'll be at the game, this is going to be a wild scene.

We've both been to a lot of very charged college sports environments in our careers.

What's the most heated you've seen and will it compare to this?

No, I, I can't think of anything that's going to compare to this.

Uh, I mean, maybe we'll be surprised, maybe everyone will be civil, uh, but I'm not counting on it.

Um, you know, Pat, my first thought.

When, when I read that story about the papers being served, and this is how crazy this is, this all is, it's like, wouldn't it be hilarious if Kiffin was the guy who told them where to find him, to serve the papers?

Uh, I, I mean, like, wouldn't that be, I mean, I'm, of course he didn't do that, but, um, uh, no, I, I think back to maybe some of the Florida State, Miami, Florida State, Florida games had this kind of intensity, uh, but nothing like this.

I mean, I, I'm sure you've, you've run into something, but I just couldn't think of anything that would be close to this.

Maybe when, um, Philip Fulmer went back to Bama in 2005 after, uh, after it became public that he had been a, a witness for the NCAA basically, uh, testifying against Bama.

Uh, maybe that was, uh, uncomfortable for him, but nothing like this.

What do you got?

Yeah, uh, it's funny, um, you know, I think Spurrier probably brought on some of that Florida, Florida State stuff, uh, and then I was at a Florida State, Miami game one time where the fans were so antagonistic to each other before the game.

I thought, man, there's gonna be 20 fights in there.

And there, I don't know whether there was or not, but, uh , the one that, that seems similar to this to me because it is directed at one person for reasons of spurning us to go to them.

I, uh, when Rick Pitino went back to Rupp Arena as the Louisville coach in 2001.

The difference there being there was a four-year laundering of emotion that it didn't work.

But, but he went to the NBA for four years with the Celtics after taking Kentucky to the national championship game, after winning the championship in 191996, championship game in 1997, then going to the NBA and then coming back and taking the job at their most hated rival.

Uh, and I, I distinctly remember in March, when I knew Pitino was getting the job, and being with Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.

And the Kentucky people, like, it was happening that day, and the Kentucky people still couldn't believe it.

He wouldn't do that .

He wouldn't do that.

So he's doing it.

He's doing it.

And they were like, well, wait till he comes to Rp.

And I was there when he came to Rp, and it was vicious.

I mean, 24,000 people hating one person as much as humanly possible.

This is going to be 60+,000 hating one person as much as humanly possible, and it's much more fresh.

So, I think this will be worse.

I, I hope, you know, it's gonna be bad.

I just hope it's not violently bad.

We'll see about that, but this, this is gonna be unlike anything I think we've seen, uh.

Kiffin, rather preciously this week, said, because of course, he has to say something, you know, that, that further damages his credibility, I guess you would say.

To say he told his team the pressure is on them, meaning Ole Miss.

We won 7 games last year, they won 13.

They returned 2 Heisman candidates.

You guys get to go play, the pressure is not on you.

This is also another way to aggrandize his own record at uh at Ole Miss, but whatever.

Uh, what do you think about Kiffin trying the reverse psychology there?

Well, I mean, you gotta give him credit.

I mean, for trying.

Uh, who's favorite in the game?

LSU, OK, so I mean, please, but I, I mean, if nothing else, he's inventive.

And he's doing his best, and um Uh, you know, we've heard this sort of thing before, but, uh, you know, I'm, I was amused.

I'm trying to remember which player it was for, uh, for Ole Miss who said, uh, this is just another week.

Um, it's not another week when a player gets served papers, uh, at LSU who just happened to play for Ole Miss.

It's not another week when the governor of Louisiana is pleading.

With the Ole Miss people to show, quote, Southern hospitality, uh, good luck with that.

And it's, it's not another week when, whenever, uh, Lane Kiffin is involved.

So, this is gonna be off the charts, great.

I just hope it's off the charts , entertaining, and nothing stupid or tragic happens.

Yeah, I mean, it's SEC football, so you're gonna take it.

Take it past 10 to 11 and see and hope that that total mayhem doesn't break out.

But, you know, the other part of the dynamic, which I, I think most people have figured out by now, but they, I mean, Ole Miss and LSU traditionally, historically have hated each other.

It's become a little less of a fifty-fifty kind of rivalry, um, because it's in the last, Half century or even a little bit more.

Cause LSU has kind of just taken their trajectory up to a level and, and Ole Miss has hit spots, but not been consistently as good.

But it goes back to the 50s.

I, I did a little bit of, of looking and research between like 1958 and 1962 or something like that, Ole Miss was 48-5-1.

And 3 of the losses and the tie were all against LSU.

Like they were breaking their heart when they had their best teams.

And since then, LSU is winning championships, and Ole Miss never even went to the SEC championship game, they were the only team in the SEC West.

That didn't go.

So there's that dynamic as well.

He's leaving us for a neighboring rival that used to be our one of our most bitter rivals and has gotten better than us.

So you're, you're slipping 40.

Yeah, yes, because that was a perfect opportunity when you mentioned 1958, 19962.

Just to slide in your usual snarky thing about, you covered that game in '58.

Uh, what do you remember about it?

You were there in '59, Billy Cannon's punt returned, right?

You knocked it out on your typewriter.

I guarantee it.

No, no, no, Western Union.

Yeah, right, yeah, you were wiring in the story.

All right, one more element to this, uh, to the Lane Bitter Bowl.

Um, Obviously, the timing of this was disastrous.

It was before the college football playoffs, which was one of the main reasons that I think just spiked this .

Nobody had ever left the team that still had a chance of winning a national championship to go to another team.

Uh, that has sparked a Uh, a part of the, the Protect College Sports Act.

You thought we might get through this whole podcast without talking about that?

Sorry, sorry.

We'll keep it brief, but, uh, that it's, it's winding its way through the Senate.

It looks like it might get through the Senate now.

Um, early votes, there's like 3 rounds of voting that have to happen.

I don't fully understand all of this.

Follow Ross Dellinger, he'll figure it out for you.

But 74, I believe, or 76 votes for, and they only needed 60.

So, it's moving along.

But anyway, there's language in there that would prevent in-season job changes for coaches in the future.

You could, they're even calling it the Lane Kiffin rule.

Is this a good rule, a bad rule?

Is it possibly enforceable?

I think Its heart is in the right place, yeah.

But Kiffin, as absurd as it was, Kiffin did want to coach that team, correct, last year.

So, uh, but to me, the alternative makes no sense.

I mean, we've been in, we've been through enough of these coaches searches and changes.

Let's say you can't.

Change jobs in the middle.

Let's say you, you can't leave in the middle of the season or, or late in the season.

Do we really think a team is better off with a lame duck coach?

Because it's never gonna stay a secret.

If a coach is gonna get fired or leave for another job, it always comes out.

Is that a great situation ?

And, and is this rule saying that A school can't fire a coach then?

During the season and replace him with, uh, with another coach.

I, I mean, I, I don't know all the details of it, but if that's the case, if you simply can't get rid of a coach or if a coach can't leave under any circumstance during the season, well, we know something's going to happen.

That that's going to render that moot.

And so I enforceable.

I have no idea.

Good idea.

Yeah, in a way, but is it?

Is it going to work?

No, I have serious doubts that's ever gonna work, mostly because there's no way you can keep coaching changes secret.

Yeah, you can't keep them secret.

And if, even if there's an agreement behind the scenes, where's the coach's focus?

I, I mean, I, I can't count the number of teams I've seen absolutely dog up the, the last couple of weeks of the season when the coach is leaving, um, and I think that plays a great part in it, so.

You know, uh, it's funny, actually, John Summerall, who went from Tulane to Florida, but insisted on coaching the team absolutely hard in his right place, I think it was the right thing to do, but he said if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't.

He said, I just wouldn't even go because he said, I, I really believe I owed it to Tulane, but it was impossible basically to do.

And you're looking for staff, you're looking at, uh, you know, to hire to fill out your staff, you're looking at players.

Uh, that might be available to you.

There's just no way you can do both.

Yeah, the biggest, the, the only way you could possibly address this would be to move the calendar so that The portal is in the spring, as opposed to in January, and signing day is back in February and not in December, or even put the signing day in March or April or whatever, uh, and you just, you, you alleviate the pressure to get things done in January.

But that makes too much sense, Pat.

Yeah, it does, it does.

And even then, um, The player, the same thing, players are like, well, I.

If I know in December I'm leaving, I have to sit around until May to actually do it, you know, so.

It's, it's a difficult situation, and nothing bothers me more really than watching seasons just fall apart because of coaching changes, but I, it's a tough one to fix.

All right, Gene, other SEC outrage.

We, we gotta get to this before we get to the trust meter, before we get to the picks.

Yeah, this is great.

Uh, SEC outrage is the best.

When fans, when fans lose it and call the local radio show, uh, this is tremendous.

Uh, Miss Lisa, Arkansas fan who called into the Chuck and Bo show on ESPN Arkansas.

Producer Kent, please play this video and audio for us.

I don't know, but we, we're in trouble.

We will not win another game the rest of the year.

And if we do, I'll die of a heart attack of disbelief.

We are terrible.

I, and, listen, I like KJ Jackson.

He's a sweet kid, but I'm gonna quote somebody I heard.

He couldn't make it on Fayetteville High School's list of top quarterbacks.

There you have it.

Miss Lisa, who she, she said at one point, she's 67 years old and 62 of them have been as a Razorback fan, and this was after they got just bludgeoned by Utah.

Uh, we don't want her to die of disbelief, and I personally think she's safe.

Uh, they got Georgia this week.

They ain't winning that one.

And I've looked at the schedule, I think she's right.

I don't think Arkansas is gonna win another game.

Tulsa's the last non-league game, and have you seen Tulsa?

Pretty good.

Uh, Gino, do you have any advice for Ms.

Lisa on coping with the rest of this season?

First of all, one of the many reasons I love the SEC or football in the South, is it's Miss Lisa, not Lisa.

Lisa's calling in from wherever.

It's Miss Lisa.

I, I , I, I just love that uh uh uh about the South.

Well, look, I would tell Miss Lisa it could have been worse.

You could have been an Oregon or Ohio State fan.

All right.

I would counsel her to maybe just put that week one win.

What was it, North Alabama, is that Arkansas, just put that on a loop, maybe, uh, or.

Just stay in state.

And turn to your friends in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

And become a fan of the Red Wolves.

Of Arkansas State.

Now, Arkansas, Arkansas State's gonna have a tough time, uh, against TCU in their next game.

So that could be a little rough.

But I do think that they're gonna win some games down the road where, to your point, I think it's gonna be tough for the, uh, Razorbacks to do the same.

Yeah, I, I, she said she's from northeast Arkansas, which is near Jonesboro, so maybe, you know.

Things are lining up for her.

My advice for her is to become a fan of the indoor track and field team and the outdoor because Arkansas is like a juggernaut in that.

All right.

And, uh, me as a, as a constant supporter of the Olympic sports, uh, razorback track and field team, save Miss Lisa from her misery.

All right, trust meter time.

We did this last week.

Seemed like it worked.

We're suckers for a reliable gimmick, so let's go.

I'm going to give Gene a series of either or questions, and he will tell me which he trusts more, then I'll tell him when he's wrong.

OK.

Yeah, yes, OK.

Which holds up longer on Saturday, Fan decorum in Oxford or Florida State in Bryant-Denny Stadium?

What time is the um the Bama FSU game?

I think it's an afternooner.

OK.

What time is the Ole Miss LSU game?

That's at night.

OK.

And where is it?

Uh , that is in Oxford.

You've been on the grove, yeah, yeah.

Large amounts of alcohol.

Oh yes, adult beverages.

Just do the math as far as, uh, kick time.

So LSU Ole Miss gets the extra 4 hours of, um, a pregame festivities, we'll put it that way.

So yeah, decorum is, is gonna get boat raced in Oxford.

So I'll, I'll go with FSU Bama.

Yeah, in terms of, in terms of actual game time, there's no way decorum lasts longer than Florida State.

But in terms of clock time chronology, we're going there.

I mean, Florida State kicks off at 3:30.

They could be down 2 touchdowns by 4.

And, you know, before that, like LSU might not even be in the stadium yet.

So it depends which way you look at it.

Uh, they're both in trouble.

Let's put it that way.

All right, which do you trust more, the chances of Mike Norvell, we're speaking of Florida State, getting past midseason or Greg Schiano getting past midseason at Rutgers?

Oh, this is a tough one.

This was yours, right?

This was a good one.

well, We just saw the athletic director of Florida State get fired.

So if that guy had Norvell's back, uh, Norvell has some issues.

Norvell has the huge buyout.

What is it?

Something in the 40s, 45 million, million, I believe, after this season, OK.

And Schiano has 18, something like that, I believe.

I mean, that's no small amount of change.

Both of those programs have huge.

Uh, the athletic departments have huge debt issues, so they're both gonna leave major bruise marks on, on the financials of those programs.

But given what Norvell is facing here in their, in their coming games beginning with Bama, then they, they end up, they play UVA.

Uh, Louisville, Miami, uh, I, I might have the order wrong, but, uh, coming up in this stretch, I, I, I just think Norvell's sadly the, the more likely candidate not to make it through the half-season.

Yeah, I think, I think so too.

Simply like Seano has, has built up at least some reservoir of goodwill there with two good, two stints as the coach like, The second stint, he at least got them back to being respectable, but now they have backslid badly.

Obviously lost the opener to UMass, and then they've lost to, lost to BC this week.

They got USC, USC team coming in that looks really good.

If you, I mean, if you want to make all this go away, somehow beat USC or at least stay competitive.

But you got Indiana later on, you got Michigan later on, you got Penn State.

There's gonna be a lot of losses there.

$18 million in Rutgers dollars is a lot of money.

$45 million in Florida State dollars is a lot of money too, uh, but I, I think Norvelle's probably in bigger trouble of getting an in-season dismissal.

I don't like there's also, there's also a fan site.

I read this last night.

Florida State fans basically kind of like a GoFundMe to put money toward the buyout for Norvell.

I mean, that's just not a good thing.

I mean, at some point, there's just, there's a tipping point, and I, I, I just think it, it's almost impossible for Norvell to recover from this, but, but maybe he will.

Maybe they beat Bama again.

Yeah, that's they, they somehow did, uh, was it last year?

Gosh, yeah, yeah, the, yeah, yeah.

All right, Ohio State, no concern or tangible concern.

Which, which are you feeling there?

Tangible concern.

I mean, Ryan Day made it pretty clear now, it might just be coach, coach speak after a loss.

But he made it pretty clear, uh, I think his direct quote, quote was, uh, you know, we were built to win these games, and it's really disappointing that we did what we did in the 4th quarter, which was, you know, give up the lead and give up what, 21, 21 straight points, right?

Uh, and lose that game.

And he said, I'm gonna, there's gonna be some hard decisions made around here.

That doesn't sound like a guy who's unconcerned.

So if Ryan Day is concerned, I'm concerned.

Yeah, yeah, I, I have to think so, and I, I, I like one, there's several things I like about Ryan Day, but one of them is the fact that When Ohio State loses, he acts like the fans act as far as like, this is terrible.

We are never supposed to lose, you know, the Ohio State fans, there's no acceptable loss.

And he kind of projects that as well.

He doesn't give you the, this is fine , everything's fine, we're good, you know.

Uh, he gives you the, oh my God, that was really bad.

So, uh, and yes, losing a three-touchdown lead, the offense just breaking down.

Defense really didn't.

I, I.

I went back and looked at the stats.

It was, it was impressive.

Like, they gave up no plays of long, they gave up one play longer than 20 yards.

And other than that , they made Texas earn it, and Texas just did play after play after play, averaged 5 yards per play over 40 plays on their 3 touchdown drives.

No major breakdowns, no turnovers, no special teams debacles, they did miss a field goal.

But, like, I still think Ohio State's defense is darn good.

I think the offense, they got some things to figure out, and if I were Arthur Smith, I'd be watching and saying, all right, when is Ryan Day taking over play calling from me?

That would be, that would be, I'd be what I would be watching out for.

I did , I did not see a lot of defensive line pressure, especially late in that game.

I'd love to go back and look at the numbers in the 4th quarter, what Ohio State was, uh, defensively against Texas on 3rd down, and I, uh, 3rd-down plays and even.

Sark went forward on 4th down too, correct?

Yes, twice, twice twice they converted two big 4th downs.

Yeah, so, you know, there are some issues, but you're right, Pat.

There is no in-between in Columbus .

It's either the sky is falling or, you know, rose petals are, are coming down from the heavens.

Yeah, right now, sky falling.

Uh, all right.

Most likely to recover, Oregon or Oklahoma.

Who do you trust more?

Jeez, do I have to pick one?

You do, because I'm not sure .

I, I, I think we're gonna find out real fast, right?

So, Uh, Oregon, let's see here.

They play Portland State.

We assume they're going to beat Portland State at home 100 to 0, but then they're at USC and then home against UCLA.

That's going to answer a lot of questions.

Oklahoma is home against New Mexico.

Which, you know, has a great coach and could be, you know , a sneaky challenge.

Then they're at Georgia, and then they play Texas in Dallas.

So, I think we get those answers here in the next few weeks or so.

If I have to pick one, I'm gonna go with Oregon because I think I trust Dante Moore a little more than I do Mattier.

I love both of them, don't get me wrong, but uh I, I, I just think I, I, I trust Oregon's ability.

To, to get up off the floor.

Yeah, I'm with you there .

I just, I think, Oregon, I, they have two rookie coordinators who I think will get better at their jobs.

I think that's been a big thing, and the talent level is there.

Oklahoma , like, we, they were a known commodity coming into this season, and the commodity just hasn't been very good.

Uh, I, I have grave concerns about their offense.

John Mattier.

Plays hard and does some good things, but he's kind of a single wing quarterback at this point.

I just don't see the passing ability.

And you, you've said they're playing Georgia and Texas, probably the two best teams in the SEC in the coming weeks.

That, that's, you gotta get better in a hurry for those games.

All right.

Better bully of bad teams so far, Georgia or Indiana.

They both played nobody and they have just beaten the daylights out of nobody.

Well, this one's easy.

Uh, UGA has outscored opponents 107 to 16.

IU has outscored teams 133 to 23.

What does it mean?

I have no idea, but I know how this is gonna go, so I'm gonna go ahead and take Georgia.

And you'll take your beloved Hoosiers, and we'll move on to the next topic.

You're right, I'm taking the Hoosiers.

How did you know?

I told you.

Here's my, here's my great Hoosiers stat for you today.

Um, they , they, they produce an endless supply of great stats.

They have attempted 32 passes this season.

10 of them have been touchdowns.

It's preposterous rate.

OK, unbelievable.

Josh Hoover has attempted 27 and thrown 8 touchdowns back up.

Grant Wilson's attempted 2 passes and thrown 2 TDs.

Charlie Becker, I mean, there are a lot of great receivers in the country.

Do not leave Charlie Becker out of the conversation.

7 catches on the year, 5 touchdowns.

He's just, he's, he is uncoverable in the red zone.

I wouldn't wanna play either one of them.

No, no, I would not wanna play either one of them, especially, it does look like Georgia's got some more offensive swerve than they, than they've had in previous years.

All right, we have been touting CJ Carr for the Heisman here.

Are you still trusting CJ Carr for the Heisman, or do you like Arch for the Heisman?

Well, nothing has changed for me.

I'm still on, on the CJ Carr train, but if you told me, I'm gonna get 4th quarter against Ohio State version of Arch Manning, well, then the calculus is going to change, and it's gonna change pretty fast.

He For much of that game, I just felt as if.

You could, you could feel his brain trying to think.

I, I mean, it, it was like, he was working so hard to think and think, and then, in that 4th quarter, he just played.

And that version was fabulous to watch.

But, uh, right now, until I see more of that, I'm still sticking with Carr.

Yeah, I agree.

That's, I mean, Arch was phenomenal when the chips were down.

He had to be, but he was not good in the 1st 2.5 quarters.

So, well, he did, uh, in fairness to him, he had a couple ball bounce off of the chest of one, I mean, 22 drop passes, basically, yeah, yeah, 40 yard pass to Cam Coleman that really actually, if Arch had put it directly on the money, that's a walk-in 60 yard touchdown.

But still, it should have been caught and then Ryan Wingo just flat dropping one in the end zone.

So his numbers could have looked different for sure.

All right, this one gets to the heart of, of, uh, the coach versus fan base feuds that, that tend to linger after somebody leaves a job.

2-0 Virginia Tech or 2-0 Penn State?

I will say Penn State.

But if the fighting Franklin's.

Can win at Maryland.

I think that game's at Maryland, right?

I think so.

Um, then I'm moving Virginia Tech ahead for the moment.

That would be, that, that would be a really good win.

It would be a big win.

Uh, James Franklin of reasons, yeah, James Franklin usually gets his , his backup a little bit playing Maryland where he was an assistant coach to Ralph Frieden.

Um , he'll, I think he'll have his team ready.

For now, yes, I'm, I'm cool with Penn State, but, but keep an eye on that one, and I guarantee all Penn State fans will be keeping an eye on that one as well, because they want very much to win the divorce here with James Franklin, and James Franklin wants very much to win the divorce from his old school.

Yeah.

All right.

Best shiny new coach, Oklahoma State's Eric Morris, who's coming off a shocking upset of Oregon, or UCLA's Bob Chesney, who has the Bruins 2-0, uh, 2 very impressive fourth quarters in beating Cal and San Diego State.

It's, I mean, they're both fun.

Uh, I mean, they're both, they're both difference-makers.

And, and Chesney has, has breathed life into that UCLA program.

But how can you not go with Morris on this?

I mean, I, I, I saw this quote, he go, uh, after the game, you know, they just, they just beat Oregon, and he says, I don't know if I can top this.

I'm not going to retire, but I might think about it tonight.

I mean, that's just a great quote.

And so, um, uh, you know, I, I toast both of those guys, but just on the strength of that quote after the game, I'll go with Morris for the moment.

It is a great quote, and I, I'm gonna sidetrack us here for a second, but this reminds me, I covered back, back in the days when you would have a 4-team tournament to start a basketball season, that was in Rupp Arena, Kentucky was hosting this, and the first game was Marshall against somebody.

And Marshall's like down 20 at halftime and comes back to win the first game with new staff.

And I'm in the back hallways in Rupp Arena, and the coach, like, 3 of the assistant coaches were standing there and they're like, what should we do?

Um, you know, and then one of them coaches goes, go home.

And the guy starts laughing.

He goes, no, like, we should just quit.

It's never gonna be this good ever again.

We just came back from 20 down to win our opener and Rupp.

Let's just retire.

So I get where Eric Morris is coming from.

Uh, but I also know this, Eric Morris lost his opener to Tulsa, man.

I'm rolling with Chesney.

I, I am very impressed by the start there.

They've been turnover reliant, but I, I don't look at that as flukey.

I look at that as, as probably coaching and opportunism and being, when the chips are down in the 4th quarter, they've punched some teams in the mouth.

So, I give them credit.

All right, uh, week, which week 1 Cinderella are you buying after week 2, Tulsa, who I mentioned, or Western Michigan?

Which is either 1 and 1 or 2-0, depending which side of the clock situation you want to land on.

Which one do you like at this point?

I would love to take both again, but I'm gonna go with the team.

That beat the team that beat Oregon.

So I'll go with Tulsa.

Yeah, hard not to at this point.

If Western Michigan beats Boise when Boise comes in there, I think it's in 2 weeks, uh, then we're really talking, but.

All right, last of the, of the truth meters.

After what we witnessed Saturday, which do you trust more, want more?

A meaningful regular season or a 2014 team playoff.

I wish I made Pat 40 money and I could I could afford to buy like a, a, a commercial, a TV ad.

And just replay some of the moments from this past weekend.

And just to another, another reminder of why the regular season in college football is sacred, and how we shouldn't screw around with it by expanding the playoffs.

And did you, did you happen to notice that Greg Sankey, uh, when interviewed earlier this week , I believe, Left a little bit of a door open he did for the, for the possibility of maybe we won't have a 2014 team playoff.

He didn't rule out a 16-team playoff, but he didn't necessarily say that the 2014 playoff was, was a done deal.

I'm, I'm holding out hope.

I, because I totally agree with you, and that's the thing, the scene in Austin , the scene in Stillwater, they're tearing down the goalposts and taking them out there.

Uh, the scene in the big house is Michigan gets up off the deck, you know, all the losing teams in all those situations in a 24 team scenario can all walk out and go, yeah, no big deal, we're fine.

And they may still be fine in a 12 team, but they just cut their margin for error down very small.

And 24 teams, you double the size of the playoffs, you absolutely cheapen the impact of these huge games, so.

All right, winners in steak dinners , time to make some picks.

Uh, I should note, I was 5 and 1 last week, but probably the, the , the thing that stood out was me mocking Gene for laying 55.5 points in the Miami, Florida A&M game.

Kent, I think we've got some uh video audio from this as well.

Do you have a lock of the week?

I do, my friend.

Uh, my lock of the week.

I'm actually giving 55.5 points.

What?

And it, and it actually might have gone up by the last time I looked.

Florida A&M.

At Hard Rock against Miami, they just lost their starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

Does this sound like something that Miami could, could beat them by more than 55.5 points?

Yes.

So that's my lock of the week.

I'm going with the Canes.

I'm sorry, but I think you're crazy.

They're, they're winning 56 to 0, and the 4th string is in, and they're not even paying attention, and some, you know, some kid runs a 30 yard, 40 yard touchdown, and you, then, then you don't cover.

Meet me here next Thursday and we'll discuss.

Here we are, we're discussing good calls, 77 to 7.

And, uh, by the way, I'm watching that thing, that utter debacle unfold, knowing what I had said, and I'm texting Gene during the game, you know, this is just, it's not humanitarian, it is, you know, I'm, I'm glad you're taking some pleasure in this utter crushing of a poor FCS school.

Uh, I don't think you had any any remorse over that, did you?

I did not.

I believe I sent you the screen grab.

Yeah.

And then you sent me a screen grab of your.

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, because I took, uh, uh, Georgia laying like 40.5 against, uh, Western Kentucky, and they won by like 50.

So, yeah, so you, you had no issues.

You know, giving up your big number, but for me, Western Kentucky, first of all, is Western Kentucky is an FBS program, so I didn't feel like I was picking on a defenseless program.

Uh, and secondly, 55 and 40 is a pretty big difference .

I gotta say.

Well, I, I'll say about it, first of all, uh, you know, Coach Corso always used to say, um, when you lose, say little.

And when you win, say less.

So, I'm gonna say less.

I'm gonna congratulate you on your 5 and 1 week, and, uh , and wish you the very best moving forward.

All right, well, we're gonna find out who's gonna have a better week right now.

Let's, uh, let's make some picks.

All right.

Friday night game, interesting Big 12, Houston getting 7.5 at Texas Tech.

Tech, not great against Oregon State last week.

Yeah, well, there's gonna be panic on the streets because they gave up the 24 points.

I would remind everyone that Oregon State, that game was at Oregon State.

Oregon State, uh, uh, played well.

I mean, they had, they had emotion, spirit.

They also have a wide receiver that, uh, you know, you're gonna know about, uh, Legree by the end of, well, you should know about him right now.

I mean, he's gonna create problems for everyone.

I am not panicking.

I will, uh, I will take Texas Tech.

Uh, all right, I'm, I'm going the opposite side of that one.

I'm taking Houston.

I'll, I, I might be being lured in by the hook, but, but I like it.

I feel it.

And, uh, Cougars are good.

I, I really do.

I've, I've kind of been on their bandwagon.

And I'm, I'm, I'm taking them in this one, getting that 7.5. All right, the centerpiece game of the weekend, we've discussed it a bit here.

Obviously, LSU laying 3 on the road in an absolute snake pit at Ole Miss.

Well, uh, I don't know who leaked the, uh, locker room talk of Kiffin.

Uh, but if you thought that one was spicy, can you imagine what's gonna go on in that locker room this time?

I, I was ready to take Ole Miss until I saw the news about these papers being served at LSU, and it's like, yeah, I'm done.

I'm, uh, that, that's just too good of material for Kiffin to use.

Uh, I'll take LSU and I'll give the 3 points.

I wonder, uh, how this, uh, the news of the papers being served was leaked to ESPN.

I, Lane might have wanted that out there too.

Anything is possible.

Anything is possible.

I'm taking LSU as well.

I really like everything they've put on the field.

I know they weren't very good against Louisiana Tech.

I don't think that matters at all.

And I saw the Ole Miss defense in person, and I think they're gonna be a bit susceptible here unless they tighten some things up.

So LS Levitt has to tighten some things up too, right?

Yeah, after last week, yes.

All right, ACC game, big game, ranked two ranked teams, top 25 teams.

SMU at Louisville, SMU getting 1.5. I think this one will go a long way to Deciding who is the 2nd-best team in the league and possibly playing against Miami in the ACC championship game.

It's early , but I think these two are right up there.

Uh, of all the games that you picked, and it's a great list, this was the one I had the lowest amount of confidence in.

I, I'm gonna take your hometown Louisville Cardinals.

I don't feel particularly great about it, but, um, Keen Holtz has made me a believer.

Uh, Brahm's always made me a believer in the games at home, so, I, I'll take the Cardinals.

Yeah, um.

I, I'm taking the Cardinals as well.

I, I think SMU was so sloppy against Florida State, and maybe they cleaned that up here, but they just, they tried so hard to give that game away.

And if you got a team that has that sort of proclivity, uh, that's trouble going on the road here against a better opponent in Louisville.

Lincoln Kienholtz, keep an eye on him and the receivers, holy moly, they got some skill players and running backs at Louisville.

All right.

SEC game, two first-year coaches trying to get their programs up off the mat.

Uh, this one really interests me.

Florida, getting 2.5 at Auburn, on the plains, John Summerall against Alex Gole.

Where do you land?

It feels like a complete pick em game.

So I'm gonna take the complimentary 2.5 points, take the Gators.

And, um, and I'm not sure it'll be that close.

I, I Uh, I'll take the Gators in this one.

I feel pretty decent about it.

I agree.

I, I, I'm, I mean, both again, both teams haven't really played anybody.

I mean, Auburn played Baylor.

Give them credit for that.

But, uh, I, I like what the Gators have put on the field through two games.

Some fascinating consistency statistically for them.

Aaron Philo, quarterback, first game, 16 out of 21 for 275.

2nd game, 16 out of 21 for 242.

Jaden Ball, leading rusher, first game.

14 carries, 160 yards.

Second game , 14 carries, 136 yards.

I think John Summall has figured out how he wants to do this, this season.

He's gonna need more from both of those guys in this game than they did the first two, but, but I like the way they're putting things together there.

All right, good stats.

Yeah, uh, this game shouldn't be close, but the spread makes it interesting, and we need to get one Big 10 team mentioned in here.

Big Big 10 schedule is horrible this weekend.

Michigan State getting 29.5 at Notre Dame.

Well, uh, Pat Fitzgerald said in his presser earlier this week that, um, he wishes this was a rivalry that was played every year as it used to be.

I think this is the first time they played since 2017.

Is that correct?

I think so.

So, I mean, it, it is a great rivalry, and it's too bad, and Notre Dame's probably thinking, be careful what you wish for, my friend.

Yeah, but 29.5 seems excessive to me.

And I think Michigan State is going to treat this like.

You know, kind of a bowl game in a way, cause it's, you know, they're rebuilding there.

This is their chance to make some kind of statement.

Will they win?

No, I don't think so.

Will they keep it within the 29.5?

I, I do think they'll do that.

Uh, I'm with you.

I'm old enough to remember when Pat Fitzgerald was in uniform in 1990.

5 and.

Northwestern beat Notre Dame, uh, when he was the star linebacker there, and Gary Burnett was the coach, and they went to the Rose Bowl.

So, uh, I think he's got a little extra, a little something something for Notre Dame in his soul, and, uh, I think they at least cover.

Notre Dame has been very impressive so far, but I, I think they can at least put up enough of a fight to, uh, To win the game.

All right, do you have a lock of the week?

I do.

I do, sir.

Well, first I looked up, uh, Steve Sarkisian's favorite program, Jones Junior High.

And I couldn't find who they were playing this week.

I thought about taking South Carolina.

Against Mississippi State.

I changed my mind at the last second, and uh I'm going with uh Texas A&M.

Um, given the, let's see, what is it now, 16.5. At home against Kentucky.

I've just got a feeling that Bama beat them up pretty good, especially in the second half.

Bama is a better team than A&M, I think right now.

But A&M at home, still a pretty good team, has some issues.

They're figuring it out, but I like them to cover, uh, that point spread.

OK.

Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm impressed by A&M so far.

We'll see where that one comes out.

I'm going to the ACC and believe it or not, I'm riding the Belichick bandwagon.

I, I thought you might.

Yeah, they're getting North Carolina getting 3.5 at Clemson, and I don't think Clemson's very good.

Certainly nothing Clemson has done so far indicates Clemson is very good .

So we'll see if North Carolina can go into a true hostile environment and execute.

They, they were good in Ireland, then they had a walkover against East Tennessee.

Uh, I'm trusting the hoodie, especially defensively, to make things hard for Clemson.

So, well, it, it's not a bad, you know, I thought about that because they're coming off a shutout, right, against East Tennessee.

And then, uh, uh, Belichick against a, A freshman quarterback for Clemson, that's gonna be interesting.

7 straight scoreless or 7 straight quarters without giving up a touchdown for.

North Carolina.

Yeah, that's a good one, which means you'll lose, probably, probably so.

But for the record right now, my picks are slightly better than your picks.

Neither of us are good.

I'm 7 and 8.

Gene is 6 and 9.

We're really hoping somebody gets over 500 this next week for credibility's sake.

Well, you were 5 and 1, so that was good.

Yeah, yeah, we're coming back.

All right, uh, point after real quick.

Got to get this story in.

Uh, I know we're running a bit long, but, but this is.

This is, this is college football, man, um, like, D3 level, I think the University of New England is playing Worcester Polytechnic.

Sure.

Yeah, I taped that game.

Saturday.

Uh, University of New England.

Has a 5 point lead with less than 10 seconds to play.

University of New England somehow lost.

So what they did, they outsmarted themselves tragically.

They took an intentional safety, they were backed up, didn't want to risk a punt disaster, took an intentional safety to make it 21 to 19, putting it within a field goal's range.

They squib, kick the kick.

They got a kick from their 20, right, after a safety.

They squib it.

They do not squib it successfully, it goes 13 yards.

I don't know whether it was poorly kicked or whether it just hit somebody and they fell on it.

But they got 6 seconds left for Worcester Polytechnic.

They throw a pass incomplete, they bring on Nathan Napier, kicker, for a 50-yarder at the gun, and he makes it.

And Worcester Polytechnic comes out with a 22-21 victory over University of New England.

I'm glad Ms.

Lisa is not a fan of University of New England.

The calls there would be bad.

Would you fire the coach, Gene?

No, man, if you're, if you're coaching at that level, you're doing it for the love of the game.

God bless them, tough loss, they'll bounce back.

They'll be back, they'll be back.

I'm sure the message boards were on fire at the University of New England, but, but we're not giving up on them yet.

Congrats to, to Worcester Polytechnic on, on the win.

All right, that's enough of this show.

Thanks for listening.

Enjoy the games this weekend.

We will be back next week.

Talk to you later.