Texas Shocks Ohio State, Michigan's Revival and Oregon Flops in Stillwater

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes, overreaction Sunday edition, and wow, there's a lot to overreact to.

Pat 40, joined as usual by my SI colleagues, Brian Fisher and Kevin Sweeney after a wild week two.

We had uh goalposts in a pond in Stillwater.

I don't know why everybody wants to throw the goalposts in water after they tear them down.

That, that, that mystifies me.

But anyway, we had that, we had a, a revival in the big house after an embarrassing pseudo win the week before.

We had an incredible comeback in Austin on the 40 acres, plenty of other things happening elsewhere.

But, uh, gentlemen, let's start, let's start really with those three kind of tentpole events, I thought, um, Shocking results in various ways and iterations, I think, uh, for Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, Oklahoma State, and Ohio State, Texas.

Um, I'm gonna start, let's start with you, Brian, you were in the big house.

What's the most shocking result out of those three?

What surprised you the most?

Well, I, I mean, in terms of shocking, uh, I, I will go with Oregon, Oklahoma State, but, but I, I, I think the surprise was definitely how Michigan bounced back.

I mean, they were, they were pushed around by Western Michigan, like they were out physical, you know, and, and they did not look anything.

Any, any sort of the Michigan team that we kind of expected, especially out of, out of Kyle, uh, Whittingham, and, uh, you know, to, to have that response, uh, I, I thought it was maybe one of the more impressive, if, if we'll go that way, performances of the weekend.

Um, you know, you look at Bryce Underwood, he bounced back.

It, now, this was not, you know, the cleanest of games.

I mean, this was straight out of the 1970s in terms of, it looked like wing offenses, you know, out of the Shotgun there.

Um, you know, it was, it was very much ground and pound.

Let's play some, some defense.

Uh, I think the score kind of reflected that in terms of, uh, Michigan winning 17-10, but, uh, I, I, I thought this was a, a very impressive bounce back for, for the Wolverines, and, uh, you gotta give a lot of credit to, to Bryce Underwood, uh, for, for using his legs, uh, carrying Michigan at times.

I, I think this was, uh, you know, eventually.

Kyle Whittingham, you know, you kind of start slow, maybe you have a little bit of setback early on, but you , you do end up, uh, getting some scouts at the end, and, uh, this was, uh, you know, uh, once again reaffirming, I think for a lot of folks there at the big house that, hey, the, the program is OK.

Uh, last week was a little bit of an overreaction, and, and we can kind of move forward now.

And so I think there was, um, you know, a lot to take away from that win, uh , there in the big house.

Kevin.

Uh, I mean, I can't be more shocked still by Oklahoma State, and maybe I, maybe I'm victim to week one overreaction, right?

And, and that had they looked the way a lot of people thought they would look against Tulsa, then this would have been like, everybody's sneaky trendy upset pick, here comes the superstar quarterback and the dynamic offense, and you're going on the road, and it's a little dicey, like.

I understand that we probably took too much stock in a really poor performance, but it was all we had in terms of a data point for this Oklahoma State group, and Again, you talk about response, right?

I, I mean, you give Eric Morris all the credit in the world for the way that his group got up off the mat after last week and, and played fearless football, right?

At the end of the day, those dudes flied around, they made plays, uh, on both sides of the ball , like, their defense was excellent.

I, I think there was a a a a a conversation, again, if you're talking about the preseason Oklahoma State conversation, it was Man, Messmaker is gonna toss the ball around the yard and they're gonna score some points, but this might be like old school Big 1261 to 58 every week, and I mean, again, if you, if, if you don't give away two touchdowns offensively by Oklahoma State, this is a blowout, because of the way their defense played, and there's a lot to, you know, talk about with Oregon, and they have, they have a lot of work to do, seemingly, um, the, the, the, the struggles against Boise certainly are magnified now that you play extremely poorly yet again, but, man, uh, to, to see a top 10 team.

Get just handled by an Oklahoma State team and program that has just been so miserable for, you know, what, the better part of 3 years, that was, that was a shock to me, and uh he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never did.

It was, it was a, it was a quintessential college football upset.

Yeah, I mean, it's pretty wild.

The guys you, the teams you mentioned, Michigan and Oklahoma State with new coaches last week, total disasters.

And maybe the #1 and 2 teams in the country should be Western Michigan and Tulsa, but probably not.

That's probably not the way it's gonna work out.

Uh, it is, uh, to see the week over week turnarounds that both those teams made was, was astonishing.

And yeah, Oklahoma State's program had just been, Brutal.

I mean, they had not beaten an FBS team since September 7th, 2024.

2 years Uh, in a few days .

Uh, so, that is a really long time for a program that had been in really good shape under Mike Gundy.

So, um, Amazing there.

And yeah, they, they, the, the goalpost ended up along with a lot of other people.

Um, in Like a sorority pond or something, I think.

Um, and I do, I, I would like somebody to explain that to me, like in Tennessee, they win, they tear down the goalpost, they immediately go throw them in the Tennessee River.

I think Vanderbilt did the same thing.

Don't, don't throw your goalposts in the river or the lake.

I mean, keep them, cut them up, get your self a hacksaw, cut off a, a 1 yard or 13-foot or 2-foot of section of yellow goalpost and keep it, as opposed to trying to sink it like buried treasure or something.

So, I, I would like to, to have a discussion with the young people of America, what they do with their goalposts.

But you guys hit on two of them.

I'm gonna hit the 3rd major shocker.

I was there.

Uh, Ohio State blowing a 20-point lead, Texas rallying to beat them 24-23.

Immediately, I asked Bill Rabinowitz, who does an excellent job covering the Columbus Dispatch, the last time.

Ohio State had blown a 20-point lead, and he knew, you know, it was against uh Nebraska in 2011.

Uh, Braxton Miller was the quarterback, he got hurt during the game.

So there were extenuating circumstances.

It was also the Luke Fickle interim year when they went 6 and 7.

It's really the only time this century that Ohio State hasn't been excellent.

This team, for this team to blow a 20-point lead, maybe says something about Ohio State, and we'll get to that.

But it also says a lot about Texas, I think, to rally, to get up off the deck when there was no hint that they were gonna come back and win until all of a sudden they started coming back and winning.

And then when they did, the most impressive thing to me, like, they didn't need turnovers, they didn't need an onside kick.

They went for 24th downs, they got them, both huge decisions and huge plays by Arch Manning.

Um, They didn't have 50 yard plays, they just executed for about.

35 consecutive plays offensively, might even have been more than that, might have been over 40.

And, uh, and, and Ohio State wilted late in the game in the heat.

It was really, really hot.

And terrible loss for Ohio State, but um, but a just a hugely validating win, I think, for Texas.

Arch Manning, you know, we all know all the storylines.

And he had been, you know, arguably the most hyped recruit ever.

Last year, he was pretty bad, and then he was pretty good, but he was not anybody's idea of a savior.

This year, start off in this game, these guys are dropping balls, they're fumbling, just looks like it's a, it's, it's a mess.

He starts missing some players, and then all of a sudden, he turns it around and makes all the plays.

And afterwards, his, his reaction on the field, I thought, said a lot about how much it meant to him, uh, given, I think, everything surrounding being Arch Manning.

And uh it was fun to see the, the absolute joy on his face as that was uh trans trans.

Whatever it was, it was unfolding.

Um, anyway, so, 3 stunning games there.

We talked a fair amount about the winners.

Let's talk about the losers for a minute.

Uh, let's talk.

First of all, let's start with Oklahoma.

That was the earliest game.

And What, Brian, what are, what are we gonna do with John Matier?

Uh, it's, it's not working very well, uh, in, in the Oklahoma offense.

No, no, it was not.

And, uh, I, I mean, that was a, that was a rough watch.

And, and, you know, I, I thought coming into the offseason, you know, like there was a lot of talk, you know, around the Sooners, like he, he was an improved quarterback.

He, he was going to be better as a passer, but this, this was the same old Oklahoma that, that we saw last year, unable to run the ball, uh, you know, struggled at times just to have that consistency offensively and, you know, a lot of it does come down to John Mati.

I mean, you know, he, he throws the interception late that, you know, basically was the nail in the coffin.

Uh, for Oklahoma, and look, I, I, I, I just, you know, I, I think it's, this is the overall issue with the program, and I, I think it's, it's concerning too if you're a Sooners fan, uh, and, and there were quite a few of them there in the big house, uh, this past weekend.

Um, it seemed like they, they took advantage of a few Michigan fans selling their tickets, uh, judging by the amount of red there at the stadium.

And I, I, you know, like they, they gotta be scratching their heads at this point in terms of like, why did we extend Brent Venables if this is the product that's gonna be put out on the field.

You know, it, it, it, there, there's no change from last year.

Yes, they can, they can play decent defense and yes, they can get after the quarterback at times, um, but, you know, the, the offensive issues under Ben Arbuckle, um, I, I mean that, that, that is a consistency thing at this point, you know, they, they just cannot run the ball, um, you know, John Mattier, whenever he gets pressure, um, you know, he either holds on to the ball too long, ends up taking a sack, or, you know, he, he just gets rushed in terms of his decision making, and that, that ends up being an issue in terms of the passing game and And making, uh, some of those consistent plays.

So, I, I, I think for Oklahoma, there's , there's some real concern moving forward because, look, this was a game you kind of had to win.

Looking at that SEC schedule that you have for the Sooners, man, that it, it, it is a brutal one.

That's the one thing that I think everybody said, all right, maybe this is an improved team in, in terms of the talent level, but getting through that schedule, getting through that gauntlet in the SEC, you're gonna have to win a game like this.

And now there, now there's no margin for error moving forward, and I think that's gonna be, uh, you know, a real concern there, Norman.

Mattier was their leading rusher, both in attempts and yards, and I think that is probably as big a concern as anything with this offense, because, again, like, you, you mentioned the schedule, Brian, like, I mean, all right, New Mex you get New Mexico next week, hopefully you can not run Matier quite as much, but like, the hits he is going to take at Georgia, home Texas, like, good lord, man, like, like, I, I'm not sure what what we're saving at this point, but like, He is going to be so beat up by November when they're trying to play their most meaningful games, and that, that to me is, is a huge concern beyond the fact that their offense uh can't seem to move the football, is that they are so reliant on his legs right now, and again, in part, that is because he is not making great decisions with the football, not getting it out of his hands quick enough, and he's taking unnecessary hits, but, uh, yeah, I mean, look, I, I, I do think that.

I think Michigan's a a very good defense.

Um, we saw that last week in, in, in the surprise at the end, but they were, they, they, they were in the game because of their defense, and they're gonna have to continue to be that way, but, yeah, not the step forward offensively you were expecting or hoping from Mattier in this offense for Oklahoma, and as you said, Brian, that the, the playoff stakes are massive because of what they still have to come, and I , I, I just don't see this offense being, you know, having enough firepower to go win you a football game.

So, The idea of having to rely on your defense every single night in the SEC.

Good luck.

Uh, yeah, that, I mean, major problem.

That's for the, for the record, um, Brent Venable's six-year contract extension average of 10.5 million per season in August.

That was based off of getting into the playoffs, and then losing a two-touchdown lead at home to Alabama in the first round, I guess, I mean, I'm old enough to remember when Oklahoma won national championships under multiple coaches, Bob Stoops, Barry Switzer.

Uh, go all the way back to Bud Wilkinson.

I thought they over-rewarded a guy who's been OK, pretty good, and now, they're, they're hitched to Brent Venables.

Maybe things get better, but the, the offense is a train wreck.

Uh, Matira, his last 8 passes, he was 1 for 8 for 3 yards, and as Brian noted, served up the devastating interception that basically gave the game to Michigan.

So, You know, the, the storyline, he got bigger and bulkier in the offseason.

Well, great.

To help him throw.

Last year, a lot of his second half of the season struggles were written off to the thumb injury, um, and surgery and recovery from that, which I thought was a legitimate thing.

This year, I don't know, man.

He's not accurate, he's indecisive.

And yes, he looks like a single wing quarterback, uh, you know, that is run first, pass if I have to, hope I don't throw it to the wrong team.

So, it's, uh, it's a tough watch right now for him and for Oklahoma.

Ben Arbuckle, the offensive coordinator is gonna hear a whole lot about, uh, that performance for sure.

Speaking of coordinators, Oregon, two rookie coordinators, replacing Tosh Lupoi, who went to be the head coach at Cal, and Will Stein, who went to be the head coach at Kentucky.

And they looked like a team with two rookie coordinators, um, got, I mean, just shockingly gouged, uh, defensively by Oklahoma State, and then couldn't come up with enough plays offensively.

Combine that as uh Kevin alluded to with the, the struggle against Boise State, what are we to make of the Ducks and where they stand, Kevin?

Yeah, I think the concern level has to be pretty high, um, just how discombobulated they looked offensively at points, um, you know, Dante Moore not being on the same page with receivers, um, even just, like, some difficulty, I thought, getting plays in, getting organized , like, pretty elementary stuff that you expect your veteran quarterback and, you know, a team with, with all this talent and, and a lot of experienced talent, uh, to not run into, and, and, and that was where they were, um.

That it's a, it's a huge concern for me.

Um, I, I, I.

I give Lanning a little bit of a benefit of the doubt in the sense of, I think these, you know, they've had a lot of success promoting coordinators, right?

Will Stein was, you know, had been in the building and, and, and they, they, they trusted the people that had worked through and worked in the building in the past, it's worked.

It, it just looks really sloppy right now, and this was the type of game that you really can't afford to lose, if you want to, uh, if you want to roll into the playoffs, because they still have at USC, uh, they still have at Ohio State, those are two massively important games, you know, you probably need to steal one to feel at all comfortable on Selection Sunday, and, uh, I don't think they will be favored in either of those games at the moment.

Yeah, I, uh, that's just, that game was so perplexing to me.

I, I, and again, it, it reinforced some of the surprise that I had with the Boise game, where I just was like, wait.

Why can't Oregon, which was really high on its defense, get stops?

Why is the offense not quite as cohesive as it should be with all the veteran pieces?

So, some uh questions that need to be answered there.

They will beat Portland State by like 100.

And then, as you said, they're at USC, UCLA no means a cupcake.

Um, and then they get down, they have Ohio State and Michigan back to back later on.

So, They're, they're in, in a position where they need to show something.

Uh, Ohio State showed plenty in the first.

Three quarters, uh, I thought played.

Quite well, mostly, didn't finish some drives, which turned out to be a, a sign of what was to come.

And then Arthur Smith, new offensive coordinator, they could not figure out how to sustain, how to keep the ball.

Uh, keep their defense off the field.

And do anything in their last, like, 4 possessions, maybe 5, and One thing that it it it like it always comes back to this with Ohio State for good reason.

Why doesn't Jeremiah Smith have the ball?

Cause he destroyed uh Texas for the first half, and even into the second half, and then he got no catches in the 4th quarter.

They did try, they tried to throw to him, they couldn't get them to him.

I was surprised they didn't just run a simple bubble or something to get him going.

Uh, and it never happened.

So, Julian Sayan started to look.

tentative and stressed out as things went along.

Will Muschamp, I thought did a great job of just continuing to, to come with the different coverages and with pressures and, and to make saying uncomfortable.

But for Ohio State, you stopped being able to run the ball, you stopped getting it to Jeremiah Smith.

And I think Ryan Day is an excellent coach, but every once in a while, his teams do things that make you, you wonder, like, what, what the hell is going on there.

Like, obviously, the Michigan loss in 2025 was inexplicable.

This one, the last quarter was, seemed similar, like, we are just falling apart and we don't know what to do about it.

And I didn't think they did a very good job of just finding something just to get one first down.

Uh, could have really changed, I think, the tenor of things and certainly changed the clock.

So, Ohio State, they're, they're very rational fan base, they'll handle this extremely well, of course, very calm.

And uh it was pretty wild.

They had a lot of fans in the building, as they always do everywhere they go, and they were pretty loud for most of the game.

All of a sudden, you, and you could even hear Texas fans booing either themselves or, or booing the Ohio State fans or whatever.

And then watching the Ohio State fans watch this slow motion collapse was, uh, was wild.

Um, any thoughts on Ohio State, guys?

Well, you know, you, you hit, hit upon the, the nail on the head there with, with Arthur Smith, and I, I think he deserves, you know, the, the lion's share of the blame at this point, you know, you, you look at not only not feeding Jeremiah Smith, I mean, like, I, I feel like his stat line, 8 catches, 164 yards, and a touchdown almost did him a disservice because like he, he, he looked like the number one overall pick, you know, for, for long stretches of that game, and then they just kind of went away from him, and, you know, and then not even that, like, you know, where, where was, you know, his supporting.

Pass too in the passing game.

Uh, you know, like Bo Jackson was the, the 2nd leading, uh, uh, receiver in, in that game.

Nothing for Chris Henry Jr.

Uh, you know , Brandon McGinnis, uh, only had one catch, uh, you know, in that game.

Like there was not much of a supporting cast.

There was just, just Jeremiah Smith and as good as he was, you know , you, you would have thought, right, Texas would have devoted some more resources to him.

Uh, they did bracket him at, at times during the, the second half in that game.

All right, somebody should have stepped up and nobody stepped up for Ohio State, and I think that would.

Probably be a little bit concerning if you were a Buckeyes fan and kind of looking, watching this, this, this, uh, this game back is saying, we, we have a really highly paid and really good wide receiving corps.

Where was everybody else in that second half?

And, um, you know, Jeremiah Smith is going to grab a lot of attention at times, and, uh, you, you just saw, you know, nobody really stepped up after that.

And, uh, you know, some of that is on Julian Zan.

I think a lot of it is on, on Arthur Smith, the new OC, um, but like this is , this is a, a, a game that, let's face it.

Ohio State should not have, have, have blown.

I, I mean, to, to score 20 points in the first half and only 3 in the second, um, you know, that, that points to some serious concerns I think you would have moving forward if you're a Buckeyes fan.

And, uh, you know, as much as you could probably survive this loss in terms of the bigger picture of the playoffs, um, you know, I think there's still some of those the undercurrent of issues there, uh, you know, in Columbus in terms of is Ryan Day ultimately the, the kind of, kind of coach that can get us to another national title and, um, you know, as, as much as you could say, yeah, he, he has one ring on the.

Finger, maybe those are some unique circumstances a couple of years ago.

And, uh, you know, for, for all the talent that he's assembled there, you know, putting it together and making sure that uh this team in particular, uh, is right back there in terms of the national title chase, um, you know what, there, there's some more, more doubts about that, I think, you know, in, in the Ohio State fan base than there were, uh, before Saturday started.

Yeah, I mean, it was a shocker.

I mean, I do think they're waiting for one of these younger receivers to step up and be the Carnell Tate, be the Abuka.

I think that's a big reason their offenses have been so good, um, the last couple of years, is it's just been hard to, it's been hard to lean on one guy, and I think it was very obvious, uh, in, in this game that there was not a second weapon that you trusted, you know, in the run game.

Longest run of the day for Ohio State was 11 yards.

It's gonna be hard to win a lot of football games against elite teams if you can't generate anything explosive in the run game, 3 yards per carry.

That was concerning to me, maybe more concerning than the receiver situation, cause I'm such a believer in the talent in that, in that room.

Um, and then the last thing.

I mean, the kicking, we, we haven't talked about the fact that they had a very makeable field goal to win the game, essentially.

I mean, it's not over, but it would have been essentially over had Connor Hawkins made that kick.

It feels like there have been a lot of very visible, very important missed kicks in Ohio State, uh, Laura in the last several years, and, like, I, I just don't know what you do, like, Connor Hawkins was, was very good at Baylor last year , I don't think one kick should define him, but that.

That was, that was a game, as soon as that kick missed was the, the moment you realized, like, oh man, Texas, Texas might actually have a chance to do this thing.

Yeah, yeah, that was surprising, and he, he, look, he made some, some big kicks earlier in the game, but, but that one, yes, was to, to end it, basically.

Uh, Brandon Innes, in particular, one catch, 18 yards.

Chris Henry Junior is a freshman.

I I expected more than we've gotten from him.

I'm not, I don't think he played very much Saturday night.

Um, they certainly didn't target him.

But Innis was supposed to be a strong number 2, and, and he was almost invisible throughout that game as well.

So, uh, definitely some work to do there.

Uh, Texas, I , I do think it should, I point, I, I think Texas saved Arch, saved Sark, saved itself, to a degree, saved the SEC.

I wanna talk to you guys briefly about this.

We saw the Oklahoma flop.

If Texas had lost at home and especially gotten thumped as they were for quite a while, that would have been a tough one too against um The Big 10 Uh, Mississippi State did go route Minnesota, uh, in the Twin Cities.

That was impressive.

But these were the games that people had as yardstick games, kind of a mixed bag for the SEC and the Big 10, uh, on the weekend.

You guys, would you, who, which, which league are you putting on top right now if you had to rank them, uh, Kevin?

I, I think the SEC um has earned that spot just in terms of the big performances, certainly the Ohio State comeback by Texas is, is, is going to be defining, but I think if you look big picture at some of the results, I mean, Mississippi State dominating that game is, is a great sign for, for Mississippi State.

Um, you know, I think I, I just think overall, the top of the SEC.

Now that Oregon looks a little bit dented, the top of the SEC looks as strong as the top of the Big 10, and I think we know that the bottom of the SEC is probably has a little bit more teeth than the bottom of the Big 10.

I mean, again, Mississippi State routes Minnesota, Rutgers is in deeply dire straits.

Well, uh, Illinois lost to Duke at home yesterday, that was not a great result for the Big 10.

Uh, the league has just not been awesome so far in these powerful matchups, so, I, I think the SEC has to have the edge early on.

Certainly the, the Texas result solidified that for me, but, uh, I, I think I would have leaned SEC even before that, despite the two very visible, uh, potential results there on Saturday.

Yeah, I'm, I'm not gonna disagree.

And, and I, I would be kind of curious, you know, for, for the Texas game in particular if, if, you know, they, they did not commit those turnovers early, you know, if, if, if the, the helmet, you know, interception does not happen and Texas ends up scoring and this actually becomes a little more convincing if, if we're actually really talking, uh, you know, about the SEC having a great weekend because, uh, you know, as much as the issues were, were there in the Big 10, um, you know, you're, you're right, Kevin, I like.

I think the, the upper class, you know, kind of the upper half of, of the SEC, uh, you know, had a pretty strong showing and even the teams that maybe didn't or were, were taking it easy, I mean, LSU, I mean, look, look at their struggles at times, you know, against, uh, Louisiana Tech at, at home and especially in the red zone, like they, they looked like a team that was looking ahead at bigger picture things, Ole kind of the same way, um, you know, Texas A&M, you know, I, I think that was another surprising result in terms of the margin of victory that The, the Aggies had, uh , down there in College Station, I, I, against a pretty good, I, I think Arizona State team, uh , you know, that pushed them for, for probably 3.5 quarters until that defense really took over.

Um, you know, yes, the Oklahoma win or the Oklahoma loss was, was disappointing to, uh, to Michigan, but, you know, outside of that, you know, Alabama, certainly in the second half looked, looked much better.

Uh, you know, it looks like another contender that can add to that group there at the top of the SEC, uh, you know.

I think Tennessee is going to be a threat, uh, to knock off somebody every kind of, every, every week, you know, especially given the style of play that they have offensively.

And, and yes, you know, the, the bottom of the SEC is probably as, as bad as it has been, uh, in the last couple of years.

I mean, Vanderbilt has not looked good.

They struggled against Delaware.

Arkansas got, uh, got raced there in Utah, uh, you know, like the, the bottom of the SEC probably is not as good as it has been these last couple of years, but, you know, I, I think that Pack, you know, the upper half of the SEC is a lot stronger.

Consequentially, the Big 10, uh, you know, that, that kind of section of those standings, uh, I think has gotten, you know, you know, pretty noticeably worse, and I think that's, yes, it's, it's a small sample size.

We only got 2 games to go on, but, um, I think that's kind of the difference in the two leagues.

Um, yeah, the, the top has kind of come down from the Big 10, and then also that middle class in the SEC looks a lot stronger than it has, uh, you know, these last couple of years.

Yeah, some, some bad losses for the, the Big 10.

Uh, the, obviously, the Oregon loss, Rutgers is a disaster, but Kevin, I'm glad you brought up Illinois.

I mean, that's the kind of game, Illinois won easily in Durham last year.

You take out Darian Mensah from Duke, and then they still go to Champaignne and Beat, uh, beat Illinois.

That's, that's not a good result.

Iowa did get past Iowa State, but that was dicey, and Iowa State is basically, the entire team is in State College.

So, uh, very little expected from them.

I, I, you know, we'll see.

I think Indiana is gonna end up being damn good, not too worried about them.

The California schools may be good.

Um, Washington was not great against Utah State.

So, Right now, I'm a little underwhelmed by the Big 10 and uh pretty impressed by the SEC.

No, you know, like nobody that I expected to be.

Good, doesn't look good so far .

We'll see there, uh, obviously, Georgia hasn't played anybody yet, but I have a pretty strong feeling Georgia is gonna end up being really good again.

So, uh, we'll see how it plays out a little further, but, but a, an important weekend, I think, for the SEC to, to re-establish some credibility.

Uh, one other SEC team played in a game, uh, of some note, Friday night, Missouri, Kansas.

resumption of a, a truly ancient rivalry that does indeed, in terms of the states go back to the Civil War, and Kansas decided to take it there, specifically the Kansas athletic director and the Kansas Football Social media X site account.

And uh went into at least part of the history of Jayhawkers and Quantrill's raid to burn down Lawrence and all kinds of other Civil War history.

Uh, I will say this, uh, yes, I'm a Missouri alum, and I am well aware of the history of the, of the, the entire thing, right?

Um, The, if, if you, among, between the fans, if you're a Missouri fan, you've probably been called a slaver by a Kansas fan, because that's part of fan talk is, you know, for some reason, what happened in the 1860s is applicable to the 21st century.

When the AD starts up with it, I got a problem.

I got a little bit of a problem because that to me is a cheap shot and it is.

Bringing to bear things that have absolutely no relation on the current status of either school.

And I, uh, that bothered me, and it sure bothered Eli Drinkwitz, who threw into the end zone in the final seconds to try to add one more touchdown while up 17, and then afterwards said that he thought it was embarrassing what Kansas did, and he was trying to embarrass them.

Uh, guys, I, I, I'm gonna take off my alum hat now, and I'm gonna let you guys who are perhaps better removed from this, tell me.

Bad move by Kansas, and what about the reaction from Drinkowitz, Kevin.

I will say this, first off.

I think that is the first hype video I've ever seen that has significantly increased my chance of watching the game.

Like I, I, I, I've watched so many of these, I love them, it's usually not the the thing that's moving the needle.

That was actually, that was the first time one of these videos has been like.

No, this, this is different now, like, this is what I'm going to have to watch, and I'm going to have to see the scene, and it seemed like it was quite the scene.

I saw there was, you know, Missouri players flipping fans off before the game, uh, they stole the drum, that was awesome, like, it was, it was perfect rivalry football.

Does it go a little far?

Probably, maybe, but.

I, I thought it at this, like, to, to me, the one thing I would say is like, I do think it really captured the energy of the rivalry, and captured the energy of the game, and I think in a college sports world that increasingly feels sort of corporate and removed.

I appreciated that there was a little bit of extra edge to it.

So that that that's my thoughts, but did it go, go far?

Yeah, I, I, it, it probably went a little far.

Well, I, I, I think somebody tweeted this, that, uh, you know, I don't recall who it was, but like this might have been the only hype video that could not be shown in a classroom in either state at this point, uh, given, given the nature of, of things, and, uh, you know, it, it was a little bit far, uh, and I, I am surprised given the, uh, the nature of college athletics nowadays that, uh, the necessary approvals, uh, ended up happening there for Missouri, but I, I do like.

There's, there's a bit of venom.

Like there is a bit of venom in this, this rivalry.

It was good for that to at least come out a little bit, you know, especially given that this was kind of the, the last on the docket for the next couple of years.

Like, I, I, I, I'm glad that, you know, Kansas leaned into it .

I don't think Lance Seipel was, was probably particularly happy, uh, about things in terms of, um, you know, the school kind of writing some checks that he had ended up cashing and, uh, ended up not doing that, uh, in this game.

I thought it was, uh, you know, I, I think it probably.

Did give Kansas a little bit of a juice early on, but, um, you know, I think the better team did end up winning.

Um, you know, it was fun to see Isaiah Marshall.

I mean, like, every scene, like every play, you know, it was, was dazzling in both the, the good and bad respects there for the Jayhawks, um, which, you know, kind of, is gonna probably add to the intrigue, uh, you know, around this program moving forward in, in Big 12 play.

But, um, you know, I do like, I, I do wish, you know, fans would, not, not.

fans, but even the, the programs themselves would lean into, uh, rivalries like this.

Maybe, maybe they took it a little bit too far, uh, you know, to, to Pat's, uh, to Pat's point, but, um, you know, I, I do like that there's, you know, a little bit of animosity and some angst, and, and that's kind of reflected in terms of both sides leading into this game.

And, um, you know, I, I, I'm glad we, we had it.

I, I, I wish we would have, uh, rivalries like this happen more often.

Um, you know, this, this shouldn't be a series that You know, has, has fits and spurts here and there.

Um, you know, this, this should be an every year thing, and I think, um , seeing, seeing that, you know, seeing the passion from both sides, you know, hopefully, that does allow the schools to, to themselves say, hey, we, we need to make sure that we are playing this every single year and, and it's every single year on campus.

They're not going to Saint Louis, they're not going to Kansas City, they're gonna play this on campus every single year, and uh I think that should be good for college football if they end up doing that .

Yeah, I mean, look, it's, it's, it's a bitter rivalry, clearly, clearly, I think some people had, had.

Didn't have a full appreciation of that necessarily before, maybe you do now.

So, great, great job, public service there, Travis Goff, by uh associating a 2026 college football team with slavery.

Uh, excellent, excellent move.

So, anyway, uh, Eli Drinkwitz got the last word, Missouri got the win, and it was another good moment for the SEC.

All right, fellas, uh, We had these major happenings, right?

Uh, and happenings, so, the events or results that will probably resonate all the way through Selection Sunday in the playoffs.

If we have a 2014 playoff next year, which appears to be increasingly possible, if not likely.

How much does that ruin what happened yesterday, Brian?

I, I, I think quite a bit, you know, maybe not necessarily in the moment of a, of a game like Texas, Ohio State, but, uh, certainly kind of the lead up and, uh, you know, kind of coming out of it.

I mean, and, and, and, you know, you look at the game that I was at in terms of Michigan, Oklahoma, like that would have had like zero impact, you know, on, on the, the national title picture, on the playoff picture, you know, yes, you could say, all right, it was, it was for seeding, you know, uh, potentially, but like Oklahoma.

would have had , you know, that, that was a get out of jail free card, you know, in a 2014 playoff era.

Now, you know, in, in the 212-team era, that, that game had real stakes, um, you know, I think that's probably still the case, you know, in terms of, uh, you know, some of these other games that, that, that we've talked about, and we'll talk about, uh, you know, on.

Saturday, but, uh, you know, I, I, I, I understand that ADs, that the conference commissioners, they, they wanna say, you know what, if, if we do end up expanding, yes, it will reward the teams.

I , I don't really believe that in terms of they've spent a lot of money, they, they should get the, the, the taste of the playoffs, uh, you know, some sort of reward.

Uh, uh, you know, I'm not sure if fans kind of look at that and I think we'll, we'll see that reflected in the NCAA tournament, uh, that has expanded coming up, you know, the teams are still gonna want wins.

The teams are still gonna, gonna want, uh, you know, your, your program to get deeper into the tournament, uh, they're in March Madness.

Um, yeah, I think the same thing will happen if we do end up expanding in, in, in the, in the playoffs, but I, I, I just I, I'm not sure that these mega matchups will have as much teeth in this era because fans will come to be accustomed to saying, all right, well, you know, that that that that loss was great.

All right, we'll move on, you know, because our, our goals are still out there.

They're still alive, and, and I don't think that's.

Uh, you know, that, that the stakes, uh, uh, in, in college football, I, I like that, that is what has built the sport these last couple of decades, you know, having stakes in every single game, you know, trying to be perfect for, for every single weekend, um, you know, I think that was, that was something that a lot of teams strive for, uh, and, and produced some, some really good national champions.

In the past.

I, I just, I don't see that happening, uh, you know, and in the 2014 era.

And so I think, uh, you know, a week like this where let's face it, there was not a, a whole lot of, uh, the, these big-time matchups, but the ones that were there, um, you know, I think there could have been a little bit of shine, uh, taken off of them if, if we had a 2014 playoff instead of a 12-teamer.

Let let me play devil's advocate here, Brian, um.

Ohio State, Texas was amazing.

The stakes were huge because it was a massive, you know, just a massive game, every, every part of it, the celebrities on the sidelines, the crowd.

I think it would have still still felt really big, and I don't think that game felt like a playoff eliminator by any sense, like, this isn't the four-team era anymore.

Both those teams, I think we both, we all still expect to be in the college football playoffs, and if they don't, it's cause they lost again and again, right?

And you go down the list, I think there's a lot of games where all of a sudden, like, Yeah, 24 would have meant a lot.

Yes, Oregon losing wouldn't have been as significant, but Oklahoma State winning would have been huge, right?

Oklahoma State having this win, they're still not making the 12-team playoffs.

Like, Oklahoma State fans could wake up this morning in a 2014 team playoff world thinking they have a chance to be in that party, right?

Arizona State, or excuse me, Arizona BYU was an awesome football game, there was a lot going on in that window.

I watched a lot of it.

That that that both teams probably are on the outside looking in in 12, they're in in 24, but, like, that game would have been for everything.

Iowa would have been fighting for its life, not just because they don't wanna lose to Iowa State, but because they are right on the edge of it, right?

And I think every week you would have that.

So I, I do, like, I, I, I fully get, and I totally agree with the idea that, like, urgency is everything in college football, and I don't love the idea of 8 and 4 teams reigning supreme and getting into the playoffs, no matter how disappointing they are.

But I do think when you watch a full slate like yesterday.

I, I, I, I think, get the zoom out the picture beyond the 2 to 3 biggest games of the day and think about all the games that would have had serious impact.

Well I, I don't, I don't think 24 would, would ruin, and I think it would make a lot of those games a lot more entertaining, a lot more interesting, um, even if, yes, maybe a little less juice for Oklahoma, Michigan, but look, Oklahoma Michigan may well be like a 214 team playoff playing game at this stage, with the way that they've played.

We're like, we, we don't really know where either team is at, so, uh, I, I don't, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm not rushing to 24, we've talked about this on the pod.

Uh, that is not my, my prerogative, but I do think on, on a day like yesterday with the way that slate laid out, I, I don't think I would have minded having more teams feel like they were, they were playing for something really, really serious.

Well, yeah, that's good devil's advocate work.

You're completely wrong, but it's good devil's advocate work.

Uh, I just, I look, I, I hate 24.

Oklahoma State is absolutely in the playoff picture.

They lost the team win the Big 12.

Win the Big 12.

Go to the playoffs.

If you think the extra bids are going to the Big 12, I got bad news for you.

That's true.

That's true.

I mean, maybe they end up getting two teams in.

Maybe the ACC gets a second team in, but more than likely, who's getting in?

Iowa.

Uh Tennessee, you know, maybe, I mean, and some of those teams may be fine, maybe good, but I, I do think like, I think both Oklahoma and Michigan are pretty mediocre teams.

And There should be bigger stakes when two mediocre teams play than if, by, by the way, they come out of this and like, hey, we might be fine, we're going to the playoffs.

We can, we can, we can scrape around and get 8 and be 8 and 4, Oklahoma and get in the playoffs.

Don't get, don't reward them.

Don't reward mediocre teams or slightly above average teams with a feel-good bid that is the Relia Quest Bowl dressed up as a playoff.

You know, that's, that's the thing that kills me.

And then the, the reasoning from the ADs and the commissioners as well, yeah.

As you know, the, the, the expenditure is so big to try to be good in football.

Well, OK, so there's a little risk involved.

You're gonna spend money and guess what, not everybody gets to go to the playoffs when you spend money.

I'm sorry, but that's, this is this, this mentality of like, we deserve it, because we, we just threw money around.

Kills me.

So, anyway, we will, uh, we'll see where this thing goes.

It sounds like 24 is coming, maybe coming soon.

Obviously, not for this season, but for next year, but we'll follow that story as it goes.

Uh, real quick, one other thing, and then we're gonna get to, uh, we're gonna hand out the Heisman, we're gonna fire some people.

But first, who do you rank number one right now, Kevin, who, who's your number one team?

Texas has the best win, Texas has maybe the most talent, I got Texas.

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing.

That's, that's who I put on number one on, on my ballot.

Um, you know, look, you, you talk about The resume, you talk about the talent, you talk about the team, you talk about being in one of the power 2 leagues, uh, you know, all the boxes are checked, you know, they're for Texas, and, and this is a, a team that, let's face it, you know, like, this is a team that could be number one for the rest of the season.

Um, and, and I'm not gonna say they're, they're gonna run the table by, by any stretch of the imagination.

We saw, uh, some of the issues in that first half, and, and that will probably come to bite them.

I, I know, uh, Stark, Stark talked about, we, we cannot play that way, uh, you know, when, when we're playing in the SEC.

When we're playing Oklahoma or Tennessee or Ole Miss or Florida, uh, or LSU, uh, but, uh, I think for right now , this, this program, this team, uh, you know what, it, it's one of the most expensive rosters in the country.

It looked like that, uh, during that second half, and I think, uh, that they've definitely earned that number one ranking moving forward.

Yeah, best win, I'd put Texas 1, I think I'd put Ohio State 2.

You lose by 1 point on the road, uh in that environment, and you, you're ahead most of the game.

I'd go them 12, and probably LSU 3 at this point.

But on September 13th, it really doesn't matter.

So that's the good news there.

All right, fellas, uh, who won the Heisman this weekend?

Uh, give me one player that, that, if, if you had to give it out today, who are you giving it to, Brian?

I, I, I think I might go Drew Mestemaker.

Uh, I mean, like you, you talk about nails, you know , in, in that game against Oregon.

Like it seems like every time they needed a big play, uh, you just heard Masammaker makes the play, you know, like, uh, I mean, it was, it was, uh, impressive, you know, he was just an entirely different quarterback from, from last week against Tulsa, uh, you know, in terms of the throwing, in terms of his ability to scramble, um, like, uh, I mean, you, You want to talk about, uh, meeting the moment there, uh, in, in Stillwater, and, uh, you know, like it was funny after the game, he's like, this is the best moment in my life and, you know, all, all of like 19 years old and, and, and he's saying that and, um, you know, I, I can't understand why he got swept up in, in those kind of emotions afterwards and, you know, truthfully, he, he earned it in terms of the plays that he made.

Um, he, he was a big reason he solidified that win and so I'm, I'm gonna give it to Drew Messmaker.

I will say the two postgame interviews of the weekend were Mess to Maker, who looked, I mean, straight off the farm, uh, just loves my love my boys, greatest day of my life, probably had a great day afterwards, if I had to guess, and then Arch, who like looks like he's from a Hollywood movie.

Standing up there, it's gonna be a great night in Austin, boys, we played great, it's gonna be a great night in Austin.

I mean, those were both, like , just incredible college football images.

Like, the only way it could have been better was if Arch was playing for USC instead of Texas.

Like, it just looked a little more USC than Texas, but it was, it was, it was great.

I think Arch is the Heisman of the week.

I mean, you talk about a Heisman moment, the way that he led that comeback, uh, the confidence that he played with, how free he looked in the 4th quarter, he was excellent against a, a, a, a defense that was terrific.

I mean, look, yes, we talked about the Texas mistakes early in the game.

Ohio State's defense looks very, very good, uh, probably better than I expected early in the season, and Arch just caught them up in the 4th quarter, and yes, they have a lot of skill around him, but, uh, he, he earned it this week, uh, kudos to Arch, it was a heck of a performance.

Yeah, I agree, and I think the, the weirdest, uh, postgame interview was Sark with, uh, Holly Rowe.

I, I don't really get that.

I don't know, no idea, and I didn't know what happened, you know, I.

Here in, in the, in 2026 coverage of college football, could you get on the field afterwards?

Hell, no.

You couldn't get anywhere near anything.

And so, I didn't even know that transpired until, you know, after I'd filed my story, and I was like, seeing all this, so I, I don't know what was up with that, but Well, and he blew off the interview at halftime too.

Like it was, it was, it was just bizarre.

Like, it was like Sark, and, and he went on game day in the morning too.

And so like, you know, I, I don't think it was like a, an ESPN relationship type of thing, you know, it, it, it was like Sark in, in the broadcast.

He, you know, he, he was like anti that booth, it seemed like because he, he blew off the interview at halftime.

He two words to Holly at, at the end of the game, um, like that, that doesn't seem, uh, that does not jive with, uh, the Steve Sarkisian that, that I've known over the years.

And, uh, so I, I'm gonna be very curious to see if he will address that, uh, moving forward because it was just, it, you know, like that was out of character, you know, by, by a, by a big time, uh, you know, head coach that you thought would have used that opportunity to Sell his program, sell, um, you know, what, what his big win was, uh, you know, for, for him and his, his team, but, uh, that was not the case, uh, there in Austin, uh, by any stretch of the imagination.

And, and I am gonna be curious, uh, you know, if he will address that in the, in the coming days because it just, it, it was a bad look, number one, but also it, it was just, uh, you know, strangely out of character , uh, for someone like Steve.

Uh, but, uh, producer Kent dropped this in, uh, he said that, that they messed up the halftime interview and Lauren Rutledge, Laura Rutledge apologized because they messed it up, and then Sark apparently was waiting to do the postgame with Holly, and they had a technical error or whatever, and then he had to leave.

Um, there was, uh, I mean, it was weird, like, There had been some byplay, it looked like before they actually went on the air, so maybe that was, maybe that was the case.

And I know this, like he was jacked up after the game, clearly.

And he was jacked up at halftime because they played so bad.

So, uh, you know, we'll see.

I, I'm, I'm not gonna.

Tar and feather Sark for one postgame, uh, interaction there.

I'm gonna give the Heisman to, to Austin Simmons, Missouri quarterback who led the, uh, led the team back, led him to 38 points overall, 24 in the second half, Transfer from Mississippi.

He got Trinidad Chambliss, uh, Wally pipped him.

And so he moves on to Missouri and he played really, really well, 19 out of 29, 292 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

I was throwing absolute bullets across the middle to Donovan Ogbode and to Kayden Lee, and, uh, came through in his first big moment, uh, for Missouri.

So I'm going there for my Heisman, uh, who are we firing this week, Kevin?

Uh, I, I'm stepping away from the, the biggest games that I'm firing PJ Fleck.

Uh, they got absolutely destroyed by Mississippi State.

The final score, maybe not entirely indicative.

Um , this was not competitive, really from the jump.

I think Mississippi State's improved.

I've, I've, I've sung the praises of Kamario Taylor.

I think we will continue to do that on this podcast.

He is a, a capital D dude, uh, but, like, You're just uncompetitive at home in a game that you probably were, you, I think they were favored in very slightly, but probably should be, like, comfortably beating Mississippi State at this stage in the program .

You have to go to Washington, you have Michigan coming up, I mean, again, I know Michigan is not very good, but It just, it just felt like a where are we going game for for PJ and the and the Ghosts, so, uh, interested to see what the the rest of the year looks like, but not, not encouraging signs for a team, but there was a lot of excitement, right?

They brought back one of the best defensive players in the league, a lot of excitement on that side of the ball.

Obviously bring back Jake Drake Lindsay, there's talk about him being a first round pick.

I mean, again, the, the, these games separate who's the, like, serious dudes.

Coo Taylor is the serious dude, not sure Drake Lindsay is yet.

Uh, uh, you know, I, I think it's too, too low-hanging fruit at this point to, uh, to fire Greg Schiano after, uh, the, the state of the program there at Rutgers.

I, I'm gonna go with, uh, I'm gonna go with Oregon, and we could, we could just fire the whole staff, you know, at this point, you know , Dan Lanning, Drew Maringer, uh, Chris Hampton, the DC, um, like that, that was for, for, for the amount of money that that program has spent.

On this team in particular to, to look like that.

And I, I get it's first road trip of the season, but like this was a veteran group and, and they look nothing like the talent level suggests, you know, they're in Eugene.

I, I mean, you look, the defensive line that we thought was one of, one of, if not the best in the, in the country, um, has been pushed around for two games now.

Like that, that's coaching.

That's not just talent, that's coaching.

Right there.

Um, you know, to, to lose a game like this, to go from, you know, I, I, I don't remember what the, what the score exactly was last year, but it was like 66 to 3, like, you know, completely uncompetitive to end up losing that game, uh, this year, like that, that is all on coaching and so, um, you know, I think there's some real questions for Dan Lanning, um, in terms of, yes, I understand that, you know, you want to promote from within.

Uh, I'll take the easy one and fire, uh, Brent Venables and his offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle.

I mean, it was just a, a brutal performance.

The, the running game is, is OK when it's John Matt in the single wing, but otherwise, bad struggles.

Uh, Isaiah Centena, who's probably their fastest, best playmaker, got nothing done, long play from scrimmage of 7 yards, uh, returned 3 punts, one of them for 12 yards.

There's just nothing there.

They're, like, they, they are wildly dependent on tight end Rocky Beers at this point to be the, the receiving target that, that John Matier can connect with.

And that was not the way this team was uh supposed to be built.

So, I don't know what is going on there, but this is not the first year that Brent Venables has had a struggling offensive unit.

Uh, but he has gotten two big raises out of his time at, at Oklahoma.

So, good for him.

If he's a good thing, it's a good thing I'm not the AD.

I'd be looking for money to buy him out.

So, all right, fellas, uh, That's it for this week's show.

Thank you all for listening.

Feel free to subscribe, uh, leave us comments, do all that sort of thing, reviews, and, uh, we'll be back and overreacting again next week after a certain game in Oxford, Mississippi, where Lane Kiffin is gonna see himself a hostile crowd.

Thanks for listening.

We'll talk to you all later.