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Week 9 College Football Review Texas A&M Shocks LSU, Vandy Rises, and Playoff Dreams Ignite
41 Plays8 months ago
Buckle up for our Week 9 recap of the 2025 college football season! We dive into Texas A&M’s dominant victory over LSU in Death Valley, Vanderbilt’s stunning emergence as a playoff contender, and Alabama’s heart-stopping escape against South Carolina. From BYU’s wild comeback to Memphis keeping G5 hopes alive, we break down the thrillers, standout players, and what it all means for the 12-team playoff race. Plus, we look ahead to next week’s must-watch matchups.
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Transcript
Introduction and Key Games Overview
00:00:00
Mike Bell
Welcome back to another episode of Blown Coverage. I'm Mike Bell with my co-host Caleb Schwerer. Caleb, it was another great week of college football. and For this week, it was a big week for both our teams. and you know We have a lot to get to, a lot of storylines. I feel like there was a lot of separation this week.
00:00:23
Mike Bell
You started to see within the SEC, Big Ten, and we're going to get to all that. ACC as well. But You know, we cover all the teams, and this isn't just an A&M Texas show. We've been pretty good about that. However, I feel like two of the biggest storylines this week are going to come from the Texas game and the A&M game. So let's just start there.
Texas vs Mississippi State Analysis
00:00:46
Mike Bell
I know we're both probably going to have a decent amount to say about both those games. Let's start with the Texas game. and know that's your team. What happened? How did you pull it off, and how do you feel about ah Texas at this point?
00:01:02
Kaleb
Well, like you said a few minutes ago, the both of our teams had pretty big weekends for different reasons, I feel like. You know, y'all went out there, and regardless of how you feel about LSU, they still have some playmakers.
00:01:16
Kaleb
They just haven't shown up at the right time, but you guys went out there and dominated them. Texas, however, ah listen, I don't think Mississippi State's a bad team by any means.
00:01:28
Kaleb
But, I mean, for all intents and purposes, Texas has the players to go compete and definitely, like, you know, beat them for sure. And for a long time, it looked like we weren't going to do that. I mean, I was a couple – was one or two drives away from probably going to, like, grill chicken and kind of prepare for the LSU-Texas A&M game.
00:01:49
Kaleb
And, you know, then we started, like, a huge comeback. You know, 24 points in the fourth quarter. The last time we did something like that was, want to say, like, maybe – 2018 or 2019, and I forgot who it was against. but um Throughout that game, though, I really thought it was like the definition of a culture win because it was just like the previous week, sloppy, ugly, but we got it done.
00:02:14
Kaleb
And it's frustrating that we have been in those situations the past couple weeks, for sure. But
00:02:25
Kaleb
At the same time, though, like when it's a time crunch and time matters, we have been playing like some of our best football games or best football during that time period.
00:02:37
Kaleb
And i guess you could say like that's somewhat reassuring because honestly, I think it's just like within a matter of time.
00:02:49
Kaleb
before arcs kind of gets a little bit more consistent, given that there is at least some improvement with the offensive line. um so once those things kind of start firing on all the cylinders, like in just slight improvements are made, I feel like we'll be a you know a decent team. I don't know how decent, like as far as going into the playoffs or whatever, but it all hinges it's all it all hinges on how the offensive line plays.
00:03:21
Kaleb
Because listen, we we were talking earlier. So literally Mississippi State is two plays away from being six and one going into this game. Really the only game that they have lost like by a big amount, pretty much.
00:03:36
Kaleb
Let me actually who it was. I just forgot off the top of my head. i almost want to say you guys, but yeah.
00:03:41
Mike Bell
It was probably us, 31-9.
00:03:43
Kaleb
Yeah. thirty one nine Okay. That's what I was thinking. yeah, Anyway, i mean, they in Florida, I know it's the record doesn't necessarily show it. I do think they have some good players, and if they show up, they can beat anybody.
00:03:59
Kaleb
um And then the Tennessee game, you know, final over or it was an overtime game. and They just didn't get the touchdown on the last play of the game. So, in other words, it was a great culture win just because it was very sloppy.
00:04:14
Kaleb
And how easy would have been for us to have given up in that game with being down 24 points leed going into the fourth quarter? I mean, it would have been very easy in the old Texas, like before Sark's tenure, we would have just given up and it would have been chalked up as an L right then and there.
00:04:32
Kaleb
Especially being at Mississippi State, and know that's not necessarily maybe one of the top stadiums to play in in the SEC by any means, but it wasn't necessarily a easy crowd to go play in, especially in that moment, you know?
00:04:46
Kaleb
So does my heart wish that it ah the game didn't end like go the way it did? Sure. But I'm glad that we were able to go in there, declutch, pull it out.
00:04:58
Kaleb
Arch had a really good game. um I'm kind of – I'm curious to see, like, how long he's going to be out because – You know, on that last play, or the second to last play before um Matthew Caldwell came in there, scored that really clutch touchdown to CJ Mosley.
00:05:18
Kaleb
He, you know, left the game, and it turns out he had a concussion. So... We'll see how that that could be an important thing, ah especially going into this week because, you know, we've got Vandy at home. Thankfully, I think this is our first game in like four weeks or something like that, which, yeah I mean, that does take a toll if you're going to an away game every single week for, you know, a month.
00:05:40
Kaleb
So, I think it was – I think it was a good overall win. Um, defense, man, there's definitely, there's definitely some stuff to work on for sure.
00:05:52
Kaleb
especially in the passing game. Um, I think some of that is ah just, just attributed to just some youth because we do have some youth in the secondary and especially Michael Taff was out, um, which is like basically a quarterback of our defense. Um, he was out and he's going to be out for the next couple of games, unfortunately.
00:06:12
Kaleb
Um, I think the young people that like filled in in those positions, filled in quite well, and then Grayson Littleton,
00:06:23
Kaleb
um you know, he's a true freshman. He's been playing pretty solid for a true freshman all year. It's just, you know, Jeff Levy's got really good offensive scheme. Blake Chapin is a very tenured quarterback. I think he's in his fifth year.
00:06:38
Kaleb
um And he actually won Baylor the Big 12 championship whenever it was Dave Aranda, think that was his name, in 2021. So, I mean, Blake Chapin, it's,
00:06:52
Kaleb
I think he's a decent quarterback too. And the a little concerning thing was at times our defense was also kind of giving up some big time runs to their running back. And, you know, that's definitely a strength that of the defense. So anyway, I'm curious to see how we will stack up against Vandy this coming upcoming week. But I guess I probably – I went over that.
00:07:14
Kaleb
But – or went over pretty much everything. um What were your initial thoughts, I guess, just from the perspective – of an unbiased A&M fan.
00:07:26
Mike Bell
Well, you know, there are are two sides to every game. There's the winning side and the losing side. And look, at the end of the day, Texas won game.
00:07:37
Kaleb
right
00:07:38
Mike Bell
And you're right. They could have quit. They could have quit. And I know you said that you were close to just basically turning off the game. I was close to turning off the game and being like, okay, let's see what else there is to watch.
00:07:50
Mike Bell
And you have to think the players, they may never admit it publicly, but you know that there were plenty of players on the sideline that said, yeah, this this one's gotten away. But to their credit, they remained in there and kept going.
00:08:00
Kaleb
you
00:08:03
Mike Bell
So that's the winning side of it. And Texas deserves credit it for that. They pulled it off. They won. But you also have to give plenty of criticism to Mississippi State for allowing Texas to come back and win because Mississippi State, their mistake was realizing that they did have the game won.
00:08:23
Mike Bell
They really did. They were up, what was it, three scores? What was the score? 31-17 or something like that? 31-14. They had the game won, but you're not allowed to play like that.
00:08:36
Mike Bell
And I give, i mean, the team,
00:08:37
Kaleb
they left the foot off the brake or ah off the gas.
00:08:41
Mike Bell
Yes, and the team deserves plenty of criticism, but so does the coach. And you said it, they're a few plays away from having a much better record. And there was a decision, I don't know exactly at what point in the game, I know it was like later in the game, I think it was the fourth quarter.
00:08:57
Mike Bell
But, you know, Texas at this point was not moving the ball well at all. And I think this really changed the game is when Mississippi State like went for it midfield. Like just just pump the ball.
00:09:07
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:09:10
Mike Bell
Texas hasn't moved the ball all game. And then I think once Texas got back to within 10, Mississippi State kind of didn't know what to do with themselves. It kind of reminded me of what Ole Miss did last week
LSU Struggles and Coaching Future
00:09:22
Mike Bell
against Georgia.
00:09:22
Mike Bell
Like they just started to feel the comeback happening.
00:09:23
Kaleb
yeah
00:09:26
Mike Bell
And they played more so not to lose rather than to win. And it was just too passive. from on both sides of the ball because they were getting at their arch all game long. You know, every Texas game to me, including this one, really, other than the last like seven minutes of the game, every Texas game has looked the same. Like every game, it's that arch doesn't have time to throw.
00:09:52
Mike Bell
And when he does throw, it can be decent.
00:09:52
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:09:54
Mike Bell
Wingo always has some great catches. And then he throws like an interception that's bad, whether that's his fault or the pressure. And then the defense is pretty good, but then they'll allow us a pass.
00:10:01
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:10:04
Mike Bell
But like, it's honestly the same game every time. But what Mississippi State did is they just started to play really soft in coverage.
00:10:08
Kaleb
It is.
00:10:12
Mike Bell
They stopped rushing the way they were rushing. And then on ah offense, I'm looking at right now, Blake Shapen threw for 381 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions. They were doing really well.
00:10:23
Mike Bell
And they kind of just shut that down and went one-dimensional against a really good Texas defense against the run. So it was just bad. you know, bad teams don't know how to finish games.
00:10:35
Mike Bell
And that's why Mississippi State is 0-4 in the SEC. That's why they're foreign for That's why they're not a great team. they Should they be better? Sure. But they're not. And – yeah,
00:10:46
Kaleb
I think they're on a verge of kind of moving up.
00:10:50
Mike Bell
yes. Yes, but, I mean, moving up to where?
00:10:51
Kaleb
Like next year.
00:10:53
Mike Bell
Moving from the very bottom to, like, a mid-tier. Okay, that's where they're at. They're not from the mid-tier
00:10:57
Kaleb
and I'm not
Oklahoma vs Ole Miss Game Analysis
00:10:58
Mike Bell
team.
00:10:58
Kaleb
saying like, Oh, give us more. I'm just, I'm just saying like, trying to be unbiased in there.
00:11:01
Mike Bell
I understand what you're saying.
00:11:03
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:11:03
Mike Bell
Yes, that's not. Well, but yes, Mississippi State, though, look, they've been at the bottom of the league for however many years and they're at the bottom of the league now. They're 0-4 in the SEC. So, i look, I've watched them play. I've seen them nearly beat all these teams. But you know who else has nearly beat all these teams? Arkansas, Auburn.
00:11:22
Mike Bell
They're at the bottom of the SEC. There's a reason they're at the top. So, ah yeah. So, give credit where credit is due. The guy I continue to be impressed most with on Texas is probably Wingo.
00:11:36
Mike Bell
I mean, he had 184 yards. And the guy you did not mention is – ah is
00:11:40
Kaleb
Anthony Hill.
00:11:42
Mike Bell
No, no, Nimble it. ah How he keeps – really, i mean we can talk about Mississippi State and all this stuff and how they were playing soft coverage or how Texas arched through the ball well.
00:11:46
Kaleb
Oh, yeah. yeah
00:11:54
Mike Bell
Just like last week, the guy that really saved you guys, and it maybe it's not just one guy, it's the entire unit, but the special teams.
00:12:00
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:12:01
Mike Bell
Those big returns really have won you guys both those games.
00:12:06
Kaleb
Oh, for sure.
00:12:06
Mike Bell
And that – so that's –
00:12:07
Kaleb
That's another example of just the
00:12:12
Kaleb
So I think it was a display of like two different cultures, right? And I think for the most part, I don't want to say like Jeff Levy doesn't have like a good culture yet, but this is just a second year. So it's kind of young. It's kind hard to have that like championship mindset in his second year, you know, especially with, think they brought in 70 players this year alone.
00:12:29
Kaleb
So that's extremely hard to just build a culture like that. But, Like you said, they took the brakes off and there's always that debate on if a team is that like that far ahead in the fourth quarter, you take the brakes off or do you take the gas off or and put the brakes on, try to control the clock, or do you just keep going?
00:12:51
Kaleb
And I think last night kind of answered that in some circumstances, you know, you got to just keep the foot on the gas and keep going. And if they did that, they probably very well could have beaten us.
00:13:02
Kaleb
um I mean, other players like that, i would like to... Yes, Ryan Niblett has come up like extremely clutch for us in this special teams unit. um I mean, it was complete all-around team win.
00:13:16
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:13:19
Kaleb
I mean, like a couple of other players, you know, CJ mostly had two really good touchdown catches. Anthony Hill, I mean, the dude is just a beast. He's going to a first-round linebacker. And, you know, I almost selfishly would want the Cowboys to take him because we suck at um linebacker. And, you know, he's just – he's an absolute beast. Colin Simmons too.
00:13:44
Kaleb
um But, yeah, I mean, that's really all I have to say. and exciting upcoming week, Vandy. I think that'll be a good test, too, to kind of see like where mentally our team is. just The only question I have is, I think we can go in there compete as long as we have Arch.
00:14:02
Kaleb
I don't really know too much about what this backup quarterback can do, Matthew Caldwell-Forest, although I do want to kind of shout him out, too, because that's an extremely tough situation to go into, and he just, you know, I won't say it was a perfect lob to the corner, but it was good enough to get us that touchdown. So anyway.
00:14:21
Mike Bell
I do wonder, you know, if he performs well and he ends up starting, if there's going to be any sort of like controversy there. You know, I mean, there already has been a lot of call from Texas fans and other fans like, hey, Bench Arch, even though I think that's what we've talked about.
00:14:27
Kaleb
So
00:14:33
Mike Bell
it
Missouri vs Vanderbilt Defensive Recap
00:14:34
Mike Bell
That's unfair because of the O-line. But if he does go out and perform well, you know that there's just going to be a little bit of pressure there um in terms.
00:14:42
Kaleb
so And for reference, I think the best offensive line play that we have seen was but this year. I mean, I guess it could maybe be a little – little bit of an argument like the second half of the OU game in the fourth quarter in the in this game, the Mississippi State game.
00:15:01
Kaleb
Arch was like dunking you know, throwing the ball everywhere, like zipping it in there. Did he have a couple couple like off throws? Yes. And then actually some wide receivers dropped the ball too. But, you know, if you give Arch time, he's actually really good. It's just he rarely has enough time.
00:15:19
Kaleb
So, anyway.
00:15:22
Mike Bell
Well, while we're still talking about Texas, obviously the news that came out right before the game Steve Sarkeesian potentially being linked to the Titans' job.
00:15:26
Kaleb
Oh no that yeah, that was, yeah.
00:15:31
Mike Bell
I always wonder when I see that, is that the Titans putting that out there to gauge his interest? Or the other way around, is Sarkeesian putting that out there to gauge their interest say, hey, I might be interested?
00:15:45
Mike Bell
ah Don't know. what What are your thoughts just on that situation?
00:15:51
Kaleb
Well, I hope that I personally hope that doesn't happen. um But I thought this a person like ah ah on a halftime show said something very interesting and, you know, maybe agree with it.
00:16:08
Kaleb
He was saying how for to come out this early in the season, there may be some smoke to the fire because what other, like how else would this come about? But then again, there are some pretty shady media individuals that just want to, you know, to get credit for the story or something like that, you know. So there's always some shady people, but...
00:16:29
Kaleb
um Yeah. And then, like, actually in his press conference last night, I don't if you saw this or not, but he was like, yeah, let me address it because it really pisses me off. And ah because, like, one person could just say one thing and then the whole entire media goes to flames with it, which is so true.
00:16:46
Kaleb
I mean, sometimes the media is just so bad. But anyway.
00:16:51
Mike Bell
Yeah, I pretty much agree with that. That would be very, i mean, what's happening in coaching is pretty amazing. These jobs that are opening up, who's being linked to where. Lane Kiffin obviously is kind of like maybe the top name right now. We'll get to him probably a little bit later, but it would be interesting to see you know if that job opens up for Texas, if LSU opens up.
00:17:12
Mike Bell
It could just be like a crazy coaching carousel this year. But speaking of LSU, we have to get to this next game. And of course, I'm very excited to talk about it. A&M beats LSU 49-25.
00:17:28
Mike Bell
And yeah, what can I say? This was one of the top games of all time for me as a fan to watch. We had Notre Dame or earlier in the year and that was great.
00:17:41
Mike Bell
But I would say this was the game for me.
Texas A&M vs LSU Game Insights
00:17:45
Mike Bell
I've been hard on A&M all year. But now i would say, okay, this A&M team is legitimately a great team.
00:17:54
Mike Bell
How great? I don't know. But for them to do what they did in Death Valley, you know they were twenty and one even under Brian Kelly in these night games.
00:18:07
Mike Bell
And A&M had not won there since 1994. I mean, you have to give major credit to A&M. And like I was saying with the last game, there were two sides to all of it. And what's sad about this game to me is there will be a lot of people, maybe even more people, talking about the LSU side and what happens with Brian Kelly than the other side of giving a and m credit. I think you'll get both, don't get me wrong.
00:18:34
Mike Bell
But listen, just absolutely amazing. The star of the game to me was KC Concepcion and what he was able to do both as a receiver and as a punt returner.
00:18:47
Mike Bell
And to do what A&M did in the second half, I think they outscored them. What was it? 25 to nothing in the second half. I'd have to go back and see. i guess I can look right now. In that third quarter, it was, okay, 21 points. They scored.
00:19:00
Mike Bell
It was 35 to zero run in the second half. And, you know, Marcel Reed, he was dynamic. He kind of did Marcel Reed things where A&M could have gone up 21-9 in the second quarter. And honestly, that kind of looked like classic A&M at first. Like, okay, like you can tell A&M is the better team, but they just give points away.
00:19:24
Mike Bell
Bad penalties, allowing a punt block for safety, and then just stupid interceptions. I mean, we're in the end zone. Why don't we just run the ball? We're doing passes. Marcel Reed is not the most flawless quarterback ever. He's dynamic, but he can make mistakes like that.
00:19:41
Mike Bell
And somehow we were down in the first half, played as bad of a second quarter as we could ah But we how are we responded in the second half was maybe one of the best things I've seen from A&M since a joining the SEC.
00:19:57
Mike Bell
Again, lsu was a team fighting like for their season. And that is the one thing about A&M and m in their schedule. All season, they've had to face teams coming off losses. By the way, our next game is going to be at Missouri.
00:20:12
Mike Bell
Missouri, coming off a loss, needing to win to save their season. Notre Dame, to start this whole run, they were coming off a loss of Miami, and they really didn't want to start out off on two Same thing for Auburn.
00:20:24
Mike Bell
They needed the win. Mississippi State, if they wanted to make anything of their season, they're coming off the loss to Tennessee. Florida coming off the win to Texas. They got to run the table. We beat Florida. And then now LSU.
00:20:37
Mike Bell
How good are all those teams? I think Notre Dame is pretty good. They're all good. I wouldn't say any of them are elite other than Notre Dame, but all very tough spots. And A&M, complete win, offensively, special teams, defense, seven sacks.
00:20:54
Mike Bell
And yeah, i'm just I'm so happy for a and m Now I feel like truly deserving of that number three ranking. We're probably going to have a good chance to run the table.
00:21:05
Mike Bell
The tough games left are at Missouri and at Texas, and that will be a challenge of its own. But it pretty much locks up a playoff spot. I hate to say locks up because so many things could happen, him but here's the deal. I mean, it would have to be a disaster for A&M not to get in the playoffs.
00:21:22
Mike Bell
It's actually a harder road to get in the SEC championship game than to get in the playoffs at this point. if we lose one, the way the tiebreakers work out, we basically aren't going to be in the championship. so But honestly, whatever. And by the way, side topic, I don't want to get off on a tangent here, but they really may need to figure something out with the way they're doing seeding, bracketing. Again, because it's weird to say, I would almost rather, I want A&M to win the SEC, don't get me wrong.
00:21:49
Mike Bell
But I'd almost rather them not make the championship and get to host a playoff game. Because that to me is like a bigger deal, like to see ah a home game at Kyle Field versus a... ah The home field advantage in college football is so much more than say in the NFL.
00:22:06
Mike Bell
There's a good chance that we're not going to see a visiting team go into any of these big stadiums and win in the playoffs because the home field advantage in college is just so...
00:22:19
Mike Bell
big so i'd almost rather see that but don't get me wrong i'd want a and m to go and try to compete for the sec championship but it's just amazing what elko is doing he's you know to go into lsu to get our first our first time being eight and no since 1992 It doesn't look like eight and four is going to happen, which is what a lot of people have said. you Oh, A&M is always eight and four. And that's been true.
00:22:46
Mike Bell
Just the job by Elko has truly been amazing. A&M not flawless. And then the other side of the coin away from A&M, LSU. i would have told you if LSU, I had this all thought up in the second quarter. If LSU would have found a way to win that game,
00:23:03
Mike Bell
I would have sat here and told you that I am not impressed by LSU because I watched them in that first half and like they're just not that good really on either side of the ball.
00:23:15
Mike Bell
Like they're not horrible, but like they can't block well. Nussmeier is maybe okay. Maybe he just doesn't have enough time. Maybe he's injured.
00:23:26
Mike Bell
They can't run the ball that well. They, you know, defensively they have problems. Like they've been thought of as this kind of like elite defense. I don't know. I don't really see it. They're good.
00:23:37
Mike Bell
i don't know if they're an elite defense. They had no sacks in this game. By the way, A&M had, what was it, seven sacks? So, or maybe, sorry, six sacks.
00:23:49
Mike Bell
And, yes, just a complete performance by A&M. Where does LSU go from here coaching? I don't think they're going to fire Brian Kelly, but I do think LSU is is looking at a 7-5 season. they just They're about to face Alabama next at Alabama.
00:24:06
Mike Bell
Just don't think they're winning that one. And who else do they have? They have OU. And who who else do they have here? don't
00:24:14
Kaleb
Let look. Uh-oh.
00:24:15
Mike Bell
I'll look. But, ah these is okay oh, okay, OU's the only game.
00:24:17
Kaleb
They play Arkansas too.
00:24:21
Mike Bell
Yeah, yeah, Arkansas.
00:24:21
Kaleb
And we...
00:24:23
Mike Bell
they're They're probably at best going to be 8-4. But at worst, probably like 7-5, maybe 6-6, which for LSU standards is unacceptable.
00:24:31
Kaleb
Yeah, wouldn't that be insane? Yeah.
00:24:34
Mike Bell
it It would be. It's crazy after that week one at Clemson, how far this team has fallen. You know, it just shows, you know, Clemson just wasn't that good, obviously. But,
00:24:43
Kaleb
yeah
00:24:43
Mike Bell
But I would just say,
00:24:46
Kaleb
number got up to number three.
00:24:47
Mike Bell
up
00:24:49
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:24:49
Mike Bell
yeah yeah. I would just say yeah LSU fans expect so much, and I get it. You should expect more than what they're getting right now. I don't think they're going to get rid of Brian Kelly, but you know they're now thinking about it.
00:25:04
Mike Bell
To lose at home like that and to see the stadium empty the way that it did, that's not going to sit well with the boosters, the alumni, all those
00:25:12
Kaleb
That's not the best fan bases, if not the best fan base in the country.
00:25:15
Mike Bell
Yeah, and their fans hate Kelly. And last thing I'll say on this, is it does have the feel of, even if Brian brian Kelly is a good coach, it really just reeks of him not fitting there. Like just even watching him on the sidelines, his demeanor, just the way he walks, which is a weird thing to say.
00:25:37
Mike Bell
Like he just, he's not LSU. He's just not. So it's hard to imagine him really turning things around The whole thing is just weird, but that's kind of my thoughts. What do you got for me?
00:25:53
Kaleb
I think you said everything and then some on that. So, um, Is this Brian Kelly's third year LSU?
00:26:02
Mike Bell
Fourteen.
00:26:02
Kaleb
I don't. Fourth. Okay. So I always try to give coaches grace, like within the first two seasons, maybe even three, just depending on what, you know, what school it is, what circumstances, whatever, you know, but ah a school like LSU by the fourth season,
00:26:21
Kaleb
you pretty much kind of see what you're going to get out of that coach. and Especially like just the amount of boosters, the amount of players that he has access to. i mean, LSU is, man, probably a top five job.
00:26:34
Kaleb
And whenever LSU hired him initially, I was like, dang, this is, that would actually be a really good hire for LSU. And I'm just very shocked. And i don't know if you saw his press conference last night after the game, and but he was like, yeah, you know, ah basically saying he does not blame the LSU fan base for being pissed at him and being disappointed, you know? And I feel like once the press conferences start, you start saying that kind of stuff, I feel like, uh, it kind of goes downhill from there.
00:27:02
Kaleb
Um,
00:27:04
Kaleb
LSU would be an interesting team to kind of do a deep dive on just because haven't studied them. So it's just kind of like not necessarily surface level per se, but I like just taking a deep dive. Okay. Like what's really going on here? You know where, how old are the people playing that kind of thing?
00:27:22
Kaleb
don't know. But, um, So like you said, on one flip of the coin, I think that is, I think it is a good win for A&M. um Just because playing the Art night and I, and like their first win since 1992 or whatever, and you guys are eight now.
00:27:39
Kaleb
On the flip side of the coin, I mean, this LSU, how good are they or how bad are they? I guess it's still a question. So that's kind of where i would leave it at. I think y'all's best win on the season, like by far, is Notre Dame.
00:27:57
Kaleb
I don't know if I would put the A&M game over this game or not. or Sorry, the Arkansas game over this or not. Because I guess at least Arkansas, they have been somewhat consistent as far as like being really good on offense and really poor on defense, whereas LSU, you have no idea what you're going get out of them.
00:28:19
Kaleb
But yeah, I mean, anyway, that's really all I have to say about it, to be honest.
Texas vs Vanderbilt Preview
00:28:25
Mike Bell
Okay, well, um I guess, you know, the LSU job opening up and we kind of talked about Texas, if there's something happening, maybe we should transition now into the OU Ole Miss game. Obviously, there's a lot of talk around Lane Kiffin.
00:28:42
Kaleb
Well, potentially both. Well, more so Lane Kiffin and Brent Venables, but there for a little bit, people are questioning Brent Venables and his safety at OU too.
00:28:51
Mike Bell
I think, yeah, I don't really see anything happening there, at least not this year. they just need to figure yeah i mean they should to figure out the offense there.
00:28:56
Kaleb
I don't think this should happen. I don't think it should. think it should.
00:29:01
Mike Bell
But, yeah, let's talk about this game. i thought this was one of the better – well, I say one of the better games of the day, but I tell you, this was, in my opinion –
00:29:12
Mike Bell
I wanna it's not as close as the score indicated, but maybe I should say shouldn't have been as close as the score indicated because it felt like Ole Miss on really both sides of the ball was doing really well.
00:29:18
Kaleb
Thank you.
00:29:27
Mike Bell
And honestly, i don't know if Lane Kiffin already thinks he's coaching for Florida, but it was almost like he he was like sabotaging Ole Miss. He was kind of doing like stupid, kind of like the Mississippi State thing where going forward in weird spots when OU wasn't moving the ball well, putting in ah Simmons, the backup quarterback, used to be starting quarterback, ah in at the goal line after Shambliss had been doing really well, costing him a score there.
00:29:57
Mike Bell
And yeah, I thought this was, as we've talked about this week, there were separation games and this was one of them. Ole Miss kind of needed a win like this. and But to me, like i think I think you can say both like this was a great win for Ole Miss, but also ou kind of exposed themselves as being frauds.
00:30:18
Mike Bell
i really i really think that. I think they're kind of frauds because I talked about it going into the week. 213 yards per game allowed on defense, but they hadn't faced a good ah offense yet. They faced Texas, Auburn, and somebody else.
00:30:35
Kaleb
Michigan yeah and
00:30:35
Mike Bell
South Carolina.
00:30:36
Mike Bell
Yeah, Michigan. And that was early in the season for Michigan. Freshman. Right.
00:30:41
Kaleb
heavily relies on the run. so They're not necessarily one-dimensional, but
00:30:43
Mike Bell
Right.
00:30:46
Mike Bell
Right, so i was curious to see this matchup, and Ole Miss offensively just did whatever they wanted. i mean, credit to that offense. I mean, it is very, very good. I think they can just score. They can score on just about anybody.
00:30:57
Mike Bell
And, yeah, oh you the thing is, if their defense can't keep them in the game, their all offense has serious issues. I mean, Matier is good, but that's just a limited ah offense. They're pretty one-dimensional. They don't run the ball that well outside of Matier.
00:31:13
Mike Bell
yeah, Yeah.
00:31:16
Kaleb
And that's with going against Ole Miss' defense, which is suspect.
00:31:20
Mike Bell
Right. Right. that And that was the thing last week that Georgia took advantage of is they could run the ball very good against Ole Miss's front seven. But OU just couldn't get it done. So to me, OU's kind of done.
00:31:34
Mike Bell
Their schedule's still brutal going forward. Tennessee this week. They still have Alabama. ah LSU. So yeah, it's tough tough for OU from here. But anyway, any more thoughts on this game?
00:31:49
Kaleb
Not necessarily. mean, I
00:31:55
Kaleb
i don't know. it Well, okay. I guess if you're saying frauds from the standpoint that OU is like a top five team or whatever, then you're yes, they're not probably a top five like college championship contender for sure because their defense is basically what glue holds every or holds the glue together for them.
00:32:14
Kaleb
My only question is, What defense could really hold up against Ole Miss' offense at this point, just because Ole Miss' offense has done really well? Chambliss is like every week the guy is good.
00:32:27
Kaleb
It's really the only question I have for Ole Miss is like,
00:32:33
Kaleb
when can they just make their defense –
00:32:41
Kaleb
I think the only thing that is holding Ole Miss back this year from like going really far in the playoffs, and they still could, but just their defense, right? Like basically it's just going to be offensive thing. Score 35, 40 points, you have a good chance of winning, but you don't ever want to have to like put your offense in that situation, of course, because most of the teams that are in the playoff at that point will have really good defenses because defense travels, defense wins your championships.
00:33:11
Kaleb
um But, I mean, it was a good win because it was at Norman, Oklahoma, too, which Norman can get really loud, too, depending on the game. So, that was a good win, especially with, I think, like all the noise around Lake Kiffin this week and the Florida and stuff like that. You know, that could have been an easy distraction to kind of derail the team, the focus and everything like that. Because, man, I feel like –
00:33:35
Kaleb
not like this is but particular with Ole Miss, but Lane Kiffin, I think, has like kind of made this with like a turned Ole Miss like completely around from the Hugh Freeze debacle that happened you know almost 10 years ago now or whatever. If he leaves, man, a majority of their talent will be leaving as well.
00:33:54
Kaleb
So anyway...
Weekend Reflections and Highlights
00:33:57
Mike Bell
It'll be the probably end of Ole Miss for a while.
00:34:00
Kaleb
For Oh, yeah, until they get like a younger coach that's trying to prove himself. That's actually really good. You know, or somebody else is more tenured and they've lost a little bit and they have like a chip on their shoulder and it's like a pretty job kind of thing.
00:34:15
Mike Bell
Yeah.
00:34:15
Kaleb
But
00:34:15
Mike Bell
um Well, by contender for Oklahoma, I meant playoff contender. And I don't think that that, I don't mean top five, I mean like top, 15. I don't think they're that.
00:34:29
Mike Bell
I think they're going to continue to lose. I think this is a team that they're 6-2 now. And the moment they started facing good teams, look, the Michigan wins looking better and better. Give them credit.
00:34:40
Mike Bell
But they lost to Texas. They've lost to Ole Miss now. They're about to – I mean, they've got Tennessee. We'll see where that goes, but that's at Tennessee.
00:34:50
Kaleb
And then at Alabama, too, man.
00:34:50
Mike Bell
And Alabama. So i just think –
00:34:54
Kaleb
I'd say after those three games, they'll be the telltale sign to see like what how their defense really is. Just because Tennessee, I mean, no question, great offense.
00:35:06
Kaleb
Alabama, I think they're also a great offense. It's just to two different kinds of offenses, too.
00:35:13
Mike Bell
Well, but I was just going to say, it's not just their defense, but like their offense.
00:35:13
Kaleb
I'd put Tennessee. Go ahead.
00:35:19
Mike Bell
Like, so if their defense even be like next level elite, I'm talking like top three in the nation, their offense is just so limited.
00:35:19
Kaleb
Yeah, they're – yeah.
00:35:25
Kaleb
Yeah.
00:35:26
Mike Bell
It's just not a good offense. So,
00:35:28
Kaleb
Well, it is. yeah mean, it really is just because they have – and I said this like two weeks ago, but just the amount they have to use John McTier in the run game and he's coming off that surgery on his ah throwing arm.
00:35:45
Mike Bell
Yep.
00:35:45
Kaleb
or strong hand, excuse me, ah which is something you don't really hear people doing, you know? So it it kind of shows you that they're extremely desperate to have that. And, I mean, if they could, if they could figure something out, then, hey, by all means, you know, OU, I mean, here's their last four games, which we kind of already said, but at Tennessee, at Alabama, and then versus Missouri,
00:36:10
Kaleb
um I think Tennessee, like, is – I don't know, maybe a toss-up potentially. But then again, i don't know. I don't necessarily want to say who will win the game.
00:36:22
Kaleb
I don't think OU matches up well against them. i think Alabama kind of –
00:36:29
Kaleb
I don't think the OU kind of stands a chance, to be honest with Alabama, Missouri. They may match up a little bit better there, especially because we don't know how Missouri's quarterback is going to do since they're starting quarterback. I know we'll get to this in a moment, but um Missouri's starting a quarterback out and had to put a true freshman in there this week with against Vanderbilt so well we'll kind of see um depending on how these last four games go for Brent Venables I think it'd speak a little bit of a credit to him just the question is like man you pretty much have every resource you could ever want like go get some more offensive guys it's never the defense that's the issue it's the
00:37:11
Kaleb
It's always offense. And the only year that he was really successful, honestly, was when he had Jeff Lebby as his offensive coordinator and Dylan Gabriel, who was there for one year, had great success, left to go to Oregon and did pretty well with them because he thought Jackson Arnold was better than Dylan Gabriel, or maybe not better, but he just needed to do that so he wouldn't have lost him. And,
00:37:33
Kaleb
Anyway, he ended up losing anyway. So anyway, that's really all I have to say about that. um good i think it was a really good win for Ole Miss, though, for sure.
00:37:43
Mike Bell
Well, Ole Miss, I think, is in an interesting position now to – I think I saw, according to the tiebreakers, they'd have a really hard time making the SEC championship. But looking at the remaining schedule, they host South Carolina.
00:37:56
Mike Bell
Then they have basically an FCS school. Host Florida, which you never know about that game. And then at Mississippi State, rivalry game, you never know. Point being, Ole Miss has a very good chance to win out.
00:38:08
Mike Bell
And they're the type of team that could really make a run in the playoff. And by the way, host a playoff game if they only have the one loss. They're a dangerous team. I would watch out. But the reason I wanted to bring that up wasn't so much just that Ole Miss is a dangerous team.
00:38:22
Mike Bell
They are. But that kind of complicates things for Lane Kiffin as far as like the coaching stuff. Because, you know, Florida or if LSU opens up or if anywhere else wants Lane Kiffin, they will want him to commit to that job as soon as possible or they'll hire somebody else.
00:38:44
Mike Bell
I mean, that's the way these things are working.
00:38:45
Kaleb
yeah
00:38:46
Mike Bell
they're They're not waiting anymore. Like they want the hire done before the season's like over. So a couple of questions for you. i know you're not exactly in the know on this, but do you think Lane Kiffin is going to leave? what What do you think is going to happen there?
00:39:04
Kaleb
Honestly, both of us need to watch that documentary that just came out with Lane Kiffin. I honestly would be very surprised just because like, especially with his history, you know, he left the Tennessee job to go coach at USC.
00:39:17
Kaleb
And he's always brought that up kind of about how that was a mistake because he had it so good at Tennessee and you know, which that USC or, uh, he had it so good at Tennessee, but he went to USC and that's where his dad had coached for a long time. And that's kind of where he was raised, so to speak.
00:39:35
Kaleb
in the coaching realm. And so he wanted to go back there and I i don't necessarily blame him, but um I think he's just at a good point in his life. And I think his daughter goes to school there. And I think what he's done with Ole Miss is like really good. And sometimes the grass isn't always greener, especially like, you know, because he could go to Florida. Yes, but you never know what's going to happen. At least here you, he, you have like a track record to say, okay, here's what he's done. He's actually a really good coach.
00:40:04
Kaleb
So I'd be surprised if he left.
00:40:09
Mike Bell
um I slightly disagree. I would not be surprised if he left. and i My prediction will be that he does leave. I think it'll either be Florida or LSU. i don't really think there's any other spot that he'd be interested in.
00:40:25
Mike Bell
think he'd be less interested in the Penn State job. But...
00:40:29
Kaleb
Oh, yeah, I think you, think, If he were to leave, it'd have to be for another SEC job. I don't think you would go to a different conference.
00:40:36
Mike Bell
Yeah, and again, that Steve Spurrier thing I brought up last week, I think that's kind of a big deal to him. And then, ah look, Florida is just a better job than Ole Miss. The only thing Miss has is that he's already there. He kind of already has things set up.
00:40:53
Mike Bell
But especially if the LSU job opens, I do think he's gone. We'll see, but that's just my prediction. So, okay, let's move on now.
00:41:05
Kaleb
Do you think that would be a wise choice or not?
00:41:08
Mike Bell
I do think it would be a wise choice. I think he's done everything he can do at Ole Miss. Look, I mean, the season he's having this year is spectacular. But I imagine there's also something about, like, legacy. You could probably have a better legacy if you go turn it around at Florida or LSU.
00:41:27
Mike Bell
And it's just got to be a little bit easier to probably do what he wants to do in terms of, like, recruiting and things like that, having the fan base support that you just don't have at the Ole Misses.
00:41:41
Mike Bell
The only way i think he should stay at Ole Miss is just if he's like really, really happy there. Then it's like, okay, well then fine. But he's still, you know, a relatively young guy.
00:41:54
Mike Bell
and I just think Florida, LSU, those are better jobs. So.
00:42:00
Kaleb
Yeah, that's another interesting thing, too, because even – because, listen, in at out I would give the notch LSU over Florida in a heartbeat, though, to be honest with you. um
00:42:14
Kaleb
If both of the schools schools come calling at him, I think it would be very hard for him to say no to –
00:42:22
Kaleb
Because I kind of forgot about LSU, but it's like, dang, okay, there's definitely a clear distinction and where LSU's at and the resources they have and Ole Miss, I think. I think it's a little bit closer than people want to give it credit for with Ole Miss and Florida, okay?
00:42:37
Kaleb
Florida might have some bigger money, but I don't know. I just don't see as much of a separation there as some people claim. But with LSU, I definitely think it's there. yeah. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see and for sure. and But, yes, you guys are at top, and then Ole Miss is next, I guess, or is the next team in the SEC.
00:42:57
Kaleb
um And i I would have to – like, who –
00:43:04
Kaleb
Okay, i was going ask you, I was going to say which out of the two of you has a better chance of going undefeated? But really, Ole Miss does not necessarily have a difficult schedule at all. So let me preface that to say, like, okay, I think Ole Miss does just because their schedule, their schedule is really not that hard.
00:43:14
Mike Bell
Yeah.
00:43:21
Kaleb
So anyway... and
00:43:24
Mike Bell
Yeah, I agree. Okay, well, let's move on. So let's see. So next game I wanted to go to was Missouri Vanderbilt. Was that taking place at the same time as the Texas game or was
00:43:33
Kaleb
It was, unfortunately. It was.
00:43:35
Mike Bell
It was. Okay. So I don't know how much of this you got to see. it was a more of a defensive battle than I think people imagined. One of the big storylines come out of this obviously is that Perbula got hurt.
00:43:48
Mike Bell
And that is a loss for them. I will tell you, look, he's, he's been good. I don't want to say he's been bad. You know, he's kind of got that dull threat ability, but looking at the stats, this is by the way, going into the fourth quarter of the game, when he got injured, he was nine for 14 for 68 yards passing, you know, on the, on the ground, he had four carries for 10 yards. So, I mean, give Vandy credit for that too. Sure.
00:44:15
Mike Bell
But, This other guy came in, went 14 for 23, 138 yards, and one touchdown. So, you know, I don't know what's going to happen there. i don't know how serious the injury is.
00:44:27
Mike Bell
But this next guy, he might be better than Bolper Bula. Very small sample size. I'm just telling you, and I said it coming into the week, that I trusted Pavia more.
00:44:40
Mike Bell
And I think ultimately that that's probably what this game came down to is, you know, Pavia didn't really make any big mistakes. He did have the one interception. He had the phenomenal play that was called back. I know you were mentioning to me earlier, but to be honest, this isn't a game too much about the quarterbacks.
00:44:58
Mike Bell
or even the running backs, although Hardy did have a good game, Missouri's running back. This was about the defenses, and both defenses look very stout. And I was wondering that just because from a matchup perspective, Missouri's run D has been so good that proved to be pretty legit.
00:45:14
Mike Bell
And Vanderbilt's run D was also not bad. So pretty big for Vandy to get this win, being that you know they hosted game day. They're coming off a big win to LSU.
00:45:26
Mike Bell
No letdown performance. they They've got Texas next week, and that's going to be interesting to see what they can do with that kind of spotlight. And then i don't know if you caught this. You probably saw the replay. But the Hail Mary at the end of the game.
00:45:39
Kaleb
Oh, for Missouri.
00:45:39
Mike Bell
ah Yeah, they nearly came down with it. In fact, he did come down with it. It was just at the one-inch line, so quite the way to lose it.
00:45:46
Kaleb
so I did not know that actually. Holy crap.
00:45:49
Mike Bell
Yes. yeah No, no. They threw it, and the guy caught it, and they went to review. This is as time expired, so they made both sidelines wait.
00:45:57
Kaleb
where was some Where was Missouri at though when they threw that?
00:46:01
Mike Bell
Like the 50-yard line, 45-minute.
00:46:02
Kaleb
Oh, okay.
00:46:03
Mike Bell
Yeah.
00:46:04
Kaleb
Sorry. For some reason I was thinking like they were at their goal line. They threw a Hail Mary and it got to the, I was about to say holy crap.
00:46:08
Mike Bell
No.
00:46:11
Mike Bell
No, no, but but no. So he was one inch away from potentially tying this game. doesn't happen. And now that I think about it, I guess that slightly skews the stats a little bit in terms of this new guy this new quarterback's yards, but not much. He was still decent.
00:46:28
Mike Bell
But, yeah, credit Vandy, what they've been able to do. Truly, you know, top 10 team, great story. And, yeah, those are just kind of my general thoughts. Missouri, they've got a bye week now, and then they've got A&M.
00:46:42
Mike Bell
And yeah.
00:46:42
Kaleb
Which can be interesting. You know, I think so the kind of season that Vanderbilt's having, I think, is magical. I think they're definitely, you know, there's still some of that, like, sparkle, like they're a Cinderella team, you know.
00:46:55
Kaleb
um kind of like Nick Saban was discussing last week. Like it's just hard to put like think of them in that way. So I hate to say Cinderella team, but they do have some sparkle about them because it's just like, you're still not used to them yet being this good. And, but they, they are, i think it was just an impressive defensive game for the most part. and I think it's hard to contain Kovia any week, you know, and the only time he's really been contained, I guess could argue is this week in the Alabama game.
00:47:24
Kaleb
um So credit to Missouri's defense. And also i would like to, I can never pronounce this guy's name, Drinkowitz or whatever, Missouri's head coach.
00:47:32
Mike Bell
Mm-hmm.
00:47:34
Kaleb
Honestly, the guy, what he's been able to do at Missouri is pretty good. Missouri is just like, they have had a couple of fluke years, you know, but under Drinkowitz, I think he's done a really good job with them.
00:47:45
Kaleb
And considering, like like you were saying earlier, Pribola, or however you pronounce his name, is he an okay quarterback? Sure. But is he going to be a quarterback that propels your team? No. So I think for the large part, it's definitely the play calling that Drake Woods has.
00:48:02
Kaleb
in his arsenal that, you know, I think he's a better offensive mind than what people would want to expect or give him credit for, excuse me. And so just will like to give Missouri a little shout out in that sense, just because I don't want to necessarily say like, oh, Vanderbilt's going go and win the SEC championship.
00:48:22
Kaleb
But Missouri's still hung around there and playing – not necessarily a half without their quarterback, but close to it in a sense, you know. And you've got to give that freshman, like you said, credit because, you know, that's a hard situation go into too. Very emotional game, home game at Vanderbilt, which is that hard to say to play in compared others? No.
00:48:44
Kaleb
But Vanderbilt right now is just one of those teams where it's going hard to beat just because, number one, the team's mentality, but also just like – They have the belief that they can go out there and do that.
00:48:55
Kaleb
So, um like you said, and I think this – I think it could be very interesting ah for Texas because they're coming back to – they're coming to Austin, the first home game we've had in several weeks.
00:49:08
Kaleb
I think we match up good enough with them because our run defense is – I know we were a little leaky this game, but throughout the season, that has been the strength of our defense.
00:49:23
Kaleb
The past game, which is not necessarily Vanderbilt's bread and butter, they can definitely Pavia can throw it. I'm not saying you can't, but they really like to use the run to set the pass more so um so. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see um ah that game will go.
00:49:42
Kaleb
I think it was a great game, and I'm glad that game day went to went there. Just because i ah don't know when the last time game day went to a van well went to Vanderbilt. to see.
00:49:53
Mike Bell
I think it was only one at a time, and I think that was like 2008 that I was looking at that. it's been a while. But, yeah, ah so i am excited for the text I am excited for the Texas game because I do think – I don't know if excited the right word because I actually think Texas is probably going to win that game.
00:50:03
Kaleb
one
00:50:10
Mike Bell
And it's just – the thing is about Vanderbilt and this was kind of exposed in this game, if they can't run the ball – They really can't do anything.
00:50:20
Mike Bell
like they you'd Like you were saying, they got to run the ball or pass the ball. If you force them to throw the ball, that's not their game. In Texas, you're probably not.
00:50:28
Kaleb
I think it's just more so like the weapons that Pavia has to work with, not necessarily Pavia himself.
00:50:33
Mike Bell
Yeah, I mean.
00:50:34
Kaleb
He's got a really good tight end. Really good tight end.
00:50:38
Mike Bell
Yeah. Okay, let's just open this up in general now to other games that we watched and saw. I think maybe the first one we have to start with is probably Alabama-South Carolina, just because, you know, South Carolina nearly had this game won.
00:50:52
Mike Bell
it was you It looked like we were about to have some crazy upsets, you know, South Carolina beating Alabama and then Mississippi State beating Texas.
00:50:56
Kaleb
Oh, yeah.
00:50:59
Mike Bell
And then what can I say? That's what bad teams do. They cannot finish. South Carolina, I mean, they really had this one. They had a bad fumble at the end of the game.
00:51:10
Mike Bell
Bama was kind of a classic letdown spot. Bama was kind of due for one of these coming off their schedule and now at South Carolina, a team that really wants to get a win at this point.
00:51:21
Mike Bell
And anytime a team faces Bama, you're going to get their best shot. And look, South Carolina, they moved the ball fairly well on them. And this was the first game I've been wondering this.
00:51:32
Mike Bell
if Alabama's one-dimensional play style was going to cost them. And that's kind of what was happening because Simpson was not great this game. He was having trouble hitting hitting his receivers, missing some open guys.
00:51:48
Mike Bell
It was maybe one of the worst games I've seen from him this season.
00:51:51
Kaleb
He only had 26 rush.
00:51:52
Mike Bell
Exactly.
00:51:53
Kaleb
Their running back only had 26 rushing yards. So they literally, he literally couldn't do anything or yeah, like could not run the ball at
00:51:58
Mike Bell
Yeah.
00:51:59
Kaleb
Excuse excuse me
00:52:01
Mike Bell
Yes, and that's that's a problem. I wonder, it may not matter because Bama's Bama, but you know at some point, I wonder if that's going to really cost them. But give credit to Bama. They survived. They pulled it off. They didn't give up.
00:52:16
Mike Bell
And what can I say? South Carolina is not talked about enough for being one of the more disappointing teams in all of college football. Don't forget, they were ranked, I think it was 11th to start the year. and Everyone was talking about them.
00:52:31
Mike Bell
And they just, yeah,
00:52:31
Kaleb
And Lenore Sellers as the, I believe, the number one quarterback.
00:52:35
Mike Bell
yeah yeah. They just, they can't get it done. And yeah, I was kind of excited to see it. And I was like, oh, South Carolina is going to get this done. And then they just couldn't pull it off.
00:52:47
Mike Bell
So yeah, that's my thoughts.
00:52:49
Kaleb
think you've got to give some credit to Alabama, Kalen DeBoer as well, just because, you know, it was a crunch time. that came back and won. Um,
00:52:57
Mike Bell
Mm-hmm.
00:52:58
Kaleb
But, you know, I'm really curious, what's South Carolina going to do with Shane Beamer? ah You know, I'm really curious because I think that is a hard place because it's like, yes, players want to go to the SEC, but where's South Carolina at?
00:53:14
Kaleb
You know, and I thought he had a really good season. know they went eight and four last year, but believe little more sellers is a true sophomore this year. But so it would have been a freshman, true freshman last year.
00:53:26
Kaleb
Listen, I think the guy's a good coach. South Carolina is just going be a hard school to kind of get some like just all around talent. You can maybe get a five star here or there every couple of years, but just to be able to have a good consistent recruiting class that's going to propel you to that next level, i think it's going to extremely hard. And honestly, I think it's goingnna be a little bit of a shame because how much can the guy accomplish there?
00:53:50
Kaleb
i don't know. to be honest with you, maybe that eight and four season is about the best as he can do there. And I don't say that in a bad way because I think South Carolina, is it the worst job in the SEC? No, but it's probably towards the bottom half,
00:54:06
Kaleb
if I'm thinking correctly off the top of my head. But, I mean, i would hate for that guy to not get another chance at head coaching.
00:54:08
Mike Bell
Oh yeah, for sure it is.
00:54:14
Kaleb
I'm sure he would, but anyway. and I mean, it was good. It was a good game. I think that was also on at 2.30, if I'm not mistaken.
00:54:24
Mike Bell
Yeah, I think 315.
00:54:25
Kaleb
Unfortunately. Oh, yeah.
00:54:27
Kaleb
yeah three
00:54:27
Mike Bell
you
00:54:28
Mike Bell
These bottom half of the SEC jobs, I think you kind of got to give these guys an extended period of time. Because if you are going to get recruits, like one of the things that they're probably going to be looking at for is stability, because they don't want have to play for a new coach every year.
00:54:35
Kaleb
Oh, for sure.
00:54:43
Mike Bell
and South Carolina just isn't going to turn into even an LSU or you know at Georgia. That's not going to be them. Also to their you know credit or to put things in perspective, they do have one of the tougher schedules in the SEC this year.
00:55:05
Mike Bell
I imagine it won't be this bad every year. in like They still need to be better than this but because a they've looked bad since game one. But let me just run through this really quick.
00:55:14
Kaleb
Yeah, it is.
00:55:15
Mike Bell
they had They hosted Vanderbilt, and we see what they are now. At Missouri, hosted Kentucky. They won that game versus Kentucky. At LSU, host Oklahoma, host Alabama, at Ole Miss, at A&M, and then host Clemson at the end of the year. I mean, that's a pretty rough stretch of games.
00:55:35
Kaleb
yeah it is
00:55:36
Mike Bell
So you've got to put that in perspective as well.
00:55:39
Kaleb
Yeah, you do. Because, I mean, literally the majority of those teams are like pretty decent and ranked, you know,
00:55:48
Mike Bell
yeah yeah agreed what is there another game that you kind of catches your eye team you want to talk about
00:55:59
Kaleb
um I would maybe just like to give ah Haynes King a little shout out. The Georgia Tech Syracuse game First time Georgia Tech's been 8-0 and I forgot how many years it was. It was kind of crazy.
00:56:12
Kaleb
ah they've They're getting a lot of first time things happening for the football program there this year. And honestly, that's pretty cool, obviously because Haynes King is from where we live.
00:56:24
Kaleb
Haynes King had another great game throwing over 300 yards, three passing touchdowns, 91 rushing yards, you know, um, whenever they start really coming out with the Heisman odds and whatnot, he's got to be up there at the top.
00:56:39
Kaleb
Um, good one for them. um, ah Briefly, i think I thought the Virginia-North Carolina game was interesting. Bill Belichick making it like, yeah, it was so close.
00:56:50
Mike Bell
So close. so close
00:56:54
Kaleb
I think Virginia has been at three overtime games, which is like, I don't know if it was the most in just the ACC or the country, but they've, you know, three overtime games in eight games.
00:57:08
Kaleb
Talking about heart attacks every Saturday. ill already say that with Texas, you know, and we've been in
00:57:16
Kaleb
what uh i guess two so just one game behind them um i know you were wanting to talk about the south florida memphis game i don't know how much what okay go ahead
00:57:24
Mike Bell
but i Hang on, hang on. You're really going ahead of me here. I want to jump back to Georgia Tech real quick. And Haynes King, yeah, I think he's not getting enough attention for Heisman.
00:57:36
Kaleb
yeah yeah
00:57:37
Mike Bell
I mean, in a year where you're not – there is still no clear Heisman favorite other than maybe Mendoza at this point. And I think maybe that's the next team I want to get to. But is – I mean, Haynes King has been awesome.
00:57:48
Kaleb
I'd almost have to, between the two of them, though, I'd almost have to give Haynes King the nod because Mendoza's good as a passer, yes, and he's probably okay as a runner.
00:57:53
Mike Bell
Yeah.
00:57:58
Kaleb
But, I mean, just Haynes King is – I mean, the dude's averaging almost 100 yards and, like, close to 200 – or 100 yards on the ground every game and at least 200 passing.
00:58:10
Kaleb
And, mean, the guy's the entire team and they're undefeated. So, I – and What's going to suck, though, is is just how – like if Georgia Tech loses a game, how will that affect his Heisman chance?
00:58:25
Kaleb
You know, just because – do what?
00:58:29
Mike Bell
probably be done be done won't be in the race anymore if they lose I agree
00:58:31
Kaleb
but yeah But see, that's – I think that's – I think that's so ridiculous because in in his circumstance, he's literally the entire team. You know, i know he's not out there on defense, but –
00:58:40
Mike Bell
Yep.
00:58:44
Kaleb
Man, just sometimes what you can do on offense directly affects how your defense plays and like just the amount of belief he instills on the team. It's just insane. um and but Listen,
00:58:59
Kaleb
the only game that they have left that ah i'm like, okay, that could be a little – like maybe chalk that up as a loss, but that would be an interesting game, the Georgia-Georgia Tech game.
00:59:11
Kaleb
Georgia Tech's got – go ahead.
00:59:12
Mike Bell
Yeah.
00:59:14
Mike Bell
No, I agree.
00:59:15
Kaleb
Yeah, because the next game they play at North Carolina State, at Boston College, Pitt, and then Georgia. And sometimes that all three of those schools can be sneaky in the ACC. Like I think Georgia Tech will do fine against them.
00:59:29
Kaleb
so But every once in a North Carolina State will have an upset, Boston College will have an ups update ah upset, and Pitt will too. So I'd be surprised if Georgia Tech lost. But, hey, crazy crazier things have happened.
00:59:41
Kaleb
Now if that – do what?
00:59:44
Mike Bell
Well, Pitt has been playing well. so And that's the game before Georgia.
00:59:46
Kaleb
Yeah. Yeah.
00:59:49
Mike Bell
So I'd watch up for that game.
00:59:49
Kaleb
Oh, yeah.
00:59:50
Mike Bell
But Georgia Tech knows they need to run the table to be in the ACC championship and really to make the playoffs. I am telling you right now, i don't no one should be overlooking that Georgia Tech-Georgia game.
01:00:00
Mike Bell
I think that's going to be – because Georgia is not flawless by any means.
01:00:01
Kaleb
yeah
01:00:04
Kaleb
Oh, yeah. and Wouldn't that be kind of a crazy – that'd be like – I mean, this is obviously heading towards a historical season for Georgia Tech already, but just to be able to – I don't want to say dethrone, but be able to beat Kirby Smart.
01:00:06
Mike Bell
Don't forget the – you know what?
01:00:17
Kaleb
Because literally, you know, it's like little brother versus big brother kind of thing, right? And –
01:00:28
Kaleb
I don't know. I mean, it'd be pretty remarkable because it's like Georgia has everything and then some, whereas Georgia Tech doesn't. It's like they got to kind of fill in the pieces the best they can, you know? So anyway, discredit to them for sure.
01:00:42
Mike Bell
Agreed. And then quickly on the North Carolina thing, hated it for Bill. I mean, just so close to winning that game would have been so massive for him in the program being what has been said about them. i see them making progress every week. They're still not very good, but just I really hate it for them.
01:00:59
Mike Bell
But whatever. I don't have much to say on that. I think the next place you were going to go was South Florida-Memphis. That was a great game. What was it, 31-17 at one point, and Memphis comes back.
01:01:12
Mike Bell
Memphis, man, they just had this random loss to UAB of all schools last week, and if it wasn't for that and they win this game, they're undefeated imp prime position.
01:01:23
Mike Bell
Now there's kind of a – There's a few teams that could be that group of five team between still South Florida, who I still think very good, Memphis, and now Navy, who is undefeated.
01:01:37
Mike Bell
Navy faces Notre Dame next.
01:01:39
Kaleb
And that'd be very interesting.
01:01:40
Mike Bell
And yeah, yeah. So it's to be interesting you see what happens there, but credit to Memphis for not quitting. And they now have some pretty good wins. I still consider that Arkansas win good.
01:01:54
Mike Bell
Beating South Florida, good win. so And then they'll have the American Championship. So credit to Memphis. And I don't know if you have anything on that game specifically.
01:02:04
Kaleb
No, not in particular. um
01:02:08
Kaleb
Yeah. Not particular, i guess something that we could briefly go over is the Houston, Arizona state game, Houston, uh, defeating Arizona state 24 to 16, especially off.
01:02:19
Kaleb
Who did Arizona state play last week? And I just left my mark.
01:02:21
Mike Bell
Crisis tech, they just beat him.
01:02:23
Kaleb
Yeah. Texas tech coming off a huge win. Um, it may be, that's what it was. They, they were just still thinking about last weekend's huge win for them. And, ah Houston came in, which Houston, by the way, seven and one now.
01:02:38
Kaleb
Connor Wegman playing pretty decent, to be honest. like He actually led the game in rushing yards for Houston, 111, threw for 201 in a touchdown pass.
01:02:50
Kaleb
ah So Houston's kind of and another team to watch in the Big 12 for sure. So you've got – there's like three, right? and um yeah So you've got Tech, BYU, Texas.
01:03:03
Kaleb
Houston, and you were kind of thinking Arizona State, but yeah, Cincinnati too.
01:03:06
Mike Bell
Mississippi.
01:03:09
Kaleb
So anyway, it's interesting. You've got one team that's 8-0, BYU, then the next three teams are seven and one Cincinnati being in conference, so they're number two in the conference, Tech being at three. so Listen, I think it's just going be chaotic from – I think that's only reason why, in my opinion, the Big 12 is as interesting, you know, because really out of all those teams, how many could really go compete for a championship? I don't really know yet.
01:03:37
Kaleb
um You know, everyone was really – one.
01:03:38
Mike Bell
One.
01:03:41
Kaleb
Okay. Yeah.
01:03:42
Mike Bell
To compete, probably Tech at their best.
01:03:46
Kaleb
Yeah.
01:03:47
Kaleb
ah
01:03:47
Mike Bell
Because don't forget their only was when they did have the backup quarterback.
01:03:51
Kaleb
Yeah, that's true. And who played actually pretty decent too. So Tech in two weeks will play BYU. Okay.
01:03:59
Mike Bell
Yep. Yep.
01:03:59
Kaleb
um So that will be an interesting game. ah and know Tech is like three or four, but for all intents and purposes. ah to the top Two top teams in the Big 12 will be playing against each other. okay And next week they play against Kansas State, which can be a sneaky game.
01:04:15
Kaleb
Listen, I don't really think too highly of Kansas State, but they just beat the crap out of Kansas, which ah do I think that Kansas is like a great team by any means? No, not necessarily, but I did not expect that to happen.
01:04:27
Kaleb
So i don't know. It could be a little sneaky game for Tech. um plus I don't know.
01:04:35
Mike Bell
I think another team you have to shout out is Iowa. And they have a ah big gang coming up in two weeks hosting Oregon.
01:04:39
Kaleb
Mm-hmm.
01:04:44
Mike Bell
Iowa, you know, their their quarterback, Gronowski, believe is his last name. He, the first few weeks of the season looked like really bad. And people on social media just like trashing him, saying like he may actually be the worst quarterback they've ever seen.
01:05:01
Mike Bell
And give credit to Iowa because they have somehow completely turned it around. They've blown out now two opponents in a row, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
01:05:12
Mike Bell
They beat Minnesota 41-3. I saw Minnesota last week play against Nebraska, beat Nebraska, who, by the way, Nebraska had a good win this past week. And i tell you what, that game now at Iowa, especially if it's a night game, kind of like you were mentioning earlier,
01:05:29
Mike Bell
That is going to be a fun game to watch because we haven't seen Oregon kind of in a primetime game in a while since the Indiana game. There's still kind of like a little bit to learn about Oregon, I feel like.
01:05:41
Mike Bell
And that's the next time we're going to see Oregon in that situation. So credit to Iowa. They look legit. We're still looking to see that fourth team in the Big Ten is going to be. And i want to say like a lot of these teams at the top kind of face each other in the last few weeks of the season for the Big Ten.
01:06:00
Mike Bell
Like I want to say Iowa faces like – so they face Oregon. And then I'm trying pull up their schedule here. So, yeah, they've got Oregon at USC and then to end the season at Nebraska.
01:06:12
Mike Bell
And all of those teams are kind of in the running for that, you know, fourth spot.
01:06:17
Kaleb
On the flip side of that, I would like to say Oregon.
01:06:17
Mike Bell
So – Penn State.
01:06:22
Kaleb
Who is their best win right now?
01:06:27
Mike Bell
Penn State.
01:06:28
Kaleb
Exactly. which what what does What does that tell you
01:06:31
Mike Bell
i kind of I get what you're saying, and I've heard Josh Pate talk about this. I hear you on that, and you absolutely have to take that into consideration. But if Penn State finds a way to win that game, they're not sitting here at 3-4 right now.
01:06:45
Mike Bell
You have to kind of give credit to Oregon for doing that to Penn State.
01:06:48
Kaleb
Listen, I think that was it was a great environment, right?
01:06:50
Mike Bell
Took a lot more.
01:06:51
Kaleb
It was at Penn State.
01:06:52
Mike Bell
Oh, yeah.
01:06:52
Kaleb
was a night game, wide out game. So no discredit to Oregon. But kind of almost like you were saying about OU, like they were exposed as frauds. I don't think – Oregon has been put to the test necessarily like some of the other teams have. Now, they lost against Indiana, okay, which I feel like a lot of teams would have lost.
01:07:13
Kaleb
um But who else does Oregon have to play? Like, you know, the at the iowa or at Iowa, I think that's going very interesting. I hope it's a night game, okay? USC, that could be an interesting game as well. And then that the washington or at Washington, that could be an interesting game, okay?
01:07:30
Kaleb
So, As far as the Big Ten goes, you know to I think they may maybe have gotten – I'm trying to think how I would rate their schedule.
01:07:45
Kaleb
I still think, like you said, there's a lot to be learned from Oregon. I just don't know if they have literally had their feet to the fire yet to really test them and kind of see what their deficiencies are, to be honest with you.
01:07:57
Mike Bell
I agree. I agree with that.
01:08:00
Kaleb
That's not me saying, like, I don't think that they're a top five team or worthy to be a top five team because at the end of the day, they're seven and one, their lone loss being against number two, or Indiana. So um I think the biggest, I think what will be interesting is at Iowa because Iowa six and two, if i Iowa were to win against Oregon, right, they're going to top 25 team.
01:08:23
Kaleb
Iowa is sitting in ah fifth place or excuse me fourth place in the Big Ten. If they were to beat Oregon this upcoming week, you know that would propel them to being third.
01:08:36
Kaleb
um Being third in the Big Ten. and
01:08:41
Kaleb
i don't know. Let me go look at Iowa's schedule. I think it could be me go look here real quick. I'm kind of curious to see now. Iowa, they play Oregon ah at home at USC, like you said, Michigan State, Nebraska.
01:08:55
Kaleb
um I don't know. Big Ten could be kind of an interesting conference as well.
01:09:00
Mike Bell
fish sure For sure, sure. You know, it's going exciting to watch over the next few weeks. So let's see if there's anything else I want to talk about. ah Just quickly, ah' you know, BYU had every opportunity to lose that game to Iowa State, and they came back.
01:09:18
Mike Bell
You know, got to give them credit. I still don't know how good they are, but at this point, they're good because they're undefeated. They've beaten teams now that were supposed to beat them.
01:09:29
Mike Bell
They're coming off a big emotional win against Utah. a game that they were supposed to lose, and now facing Iowa State off a bye to win that game. Credit to BYU.
01:09:41
Mike Bell
I think their schedule is still pretty tough. like They've got Tech, and they' still going have an opportunity to prove it proved they're that good. But at Tech, at Cincinnati remaining, and yeah, you to give them credit.
01:09:54
Mike Bell
I don't know how they're doing it, but they're doing it. so And that was a fun game to
01:09:57
Kaleb
So I just i just got an notification on my phone. Headline, LSU discussing Kelly's future, university execs having talks on head coach's potential departure and buyout.
01:10:08
Kaleb
So, yeah, it's not looking good for Brian Kelly because there's still four to five games left. I mean, if they're already discussing it, it's like, okay, how much of a leash does Brian Kelly have, even if he does stay there, you know?
01:10:21
Kaleb
Because if, like, let's say theoretically he stays there for the next year and they lose, like, a game maybe they shouldn't have, is he already done or, you know, what's the deal going to be? So that's not looking good for him or, honestly, the university.
01:10:32
Mike Bell
yeah
01:10:32
Kaleb
Because how long or how far –
01:10:33
Mike Bell
well
01:10:35
Kaleb
How far back does this set LSU? You know, because whoever they hire, you know, they' it's not going to be like an overnight success story. I mean, maybe. Okay. I don't want to say never say never, but more than likely it's going to, you know, it's going to take you two years to get back to, okay, all right, this is at least a 10-win team or whatever, two to three.
01:10:56
Mike Bell
Yeah, I would expect in this kind of what everyone's reporting there to be changes But it may not be at the head coach spot. Like they may do something with the offensive coordinator, all that.
01:11:05
Kaleb
coordinators. um
01:11:07
Mike Bell
But also like what does LSU know, like in terms of like their boosters, like do they think, you know what, no, we have good connections with Lane Kiffin. That's the guy we want. And if we're going to do it, we need to do it this year or else Florida is going to grab them. So I wonder if that like goes into their thinking at all.
01:11:25
Mike Bell
So I asked you if you'd be surprised Lane Kiffin leaves. what do you think is going to happen right now if you had to bet it one way or the other? that you think they're going to fire Brian Kelly or does he stay?
01:11:35
Kaleb
I'd probably say firing because, i mean, up to this point, what has LSU done? i mean, I think the best victory he's had is against Alabama, like, a couple years ago, like, on that over – or I don't can't remember if it was an overtime win or not, but – or I think it was just a last-second play with Jaden Daniels on the tight end.
01:11:55
Kaleb
I think that probably firing because, like you said, just the combination of what has happened since he's been there – and just People just seem to not like him. He just doesn't fit in there.
01:12:06
Kaleb
and always like Every time I think of Brian Kelly with LSU, I always think about that. like First thing, he was in the gymnasium and he had that fake Southern accent. you know so i don't know. and He's had some interesting like press conferences his entire year.
01:12:21
Kaleb
Like, really and truly, like, half this stuff that we've seen Brian Kelly do at LSU, he did not do up to this point. Like, you never really saw these weird press conferences from him, like at Cincinnati, at Notre Dame. You never really saw that. But then all of a sudden, it's almost like we're getting a different but Brian Kelly here at LSU.
01:12:39
Kaleb
I don't know. So...
01:12:41
Mike Bell
Well, there could just be more pressure at LSU, but, you know, I was leaning towards they're probably going to keep him just because that's what a lot of people were saying. But honestly, I think especially the way they lost last night probably changes things for them. i actually think they probably are going to fire him.
01:12:57
Mike Bell
And it's not just that he's losing. It's the way he's losing and just how much people around him seem to hate him.
01:13:03
Kaleb
Well, here's the question I think is more so.
01:13:04
Mike Bell
Like he's almost got to have undefeated seasons for them to.
01:13:05
Kaleb
like Are the LSU boosters, are they willing to set the school back two years in football potentially before having some real success potentially?
01:13:19
Mike Bell
But they may say they they may think, well, if we don't do it now, technically we're setting it back three years if we do it next year. so So, yeah, I don't know.
01:13:30
Mike Bell
We'll see. It's going to be a fascinating so storyline. Does that worry you as a Texas fan, though? Because they may call Sark. I didn't think of that, but they might call Sark.
01:13:40
Kaleb
Listen, I think, you know, depending on like where you grew up or whatever would factor that mainly. Okay, the one edge that I'll give LSU is definitely the, I guess you say the fan base in the night games or whatever, but that's it.
01:13:54
Kaleb
You know, I don't think Sark would leave for LSU. I wouldn't be too worried about that.
01:14:01
Mike Bell
Okay. um All right. So we've been doing this now for our 15 minutes. I'm kind of done with what I want to say. Was there anything else you wanted to mention before we signed off?
01:14:11
Kaleb
I'm good.
01:14:12
Mike Bell
Okay. All right. Well, thank you for listening to another episode of Loan Coverage. Caleb, I'll see you next time.
01:14:20
Kaleb
All right. See you.