Welcome to the solid verbal hull ah for me.

I'm a man, I'm forty.

I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy.

You want to be happy for day?

Edo State?

Is that?

Whoo whoom?

And now Dan and Tie Dan Robertsteiny twenty twenty five College football season at long last is upon us.

Good sir, welcome back to the show.

How are you?

And I couldn't be better?

Tie, I could not be better.

The season we have are about to start five straight days of college football.

You know, not all day, of course, but we have Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, and I think afternoon and Monday evening as well.

There are thirty thousand narratives that are finally going to see the light of day.

I am so excited, Tye.

I don't know if you want a nickname now.

I don't know if you want a nickname later.

I have a lot of thoughts and I kind of just want to if you will grant me this, I kind of want to talk.

Half of this show is yours, so sure that's true?

At least very least half.

I want to talk about waiting, Tie, What have we been doing since the National championship game.

Essentially, we've been waiting, waiting.

We've been waiting to see how rosters would shake out, how transfers would shake out, how coaching movement would shake out, Spring football, summer moves, fall camp lines, predictions, everything that happens over the course of an off season really is an exercise in waiting.

For now, we are waiting to see what will happen.

We're keeping our eyes peeled on what's going to happen.

And it's a lot, you know, it's a lot of teams taking chances with their rosters, with their coaching moves, with their schemes, with their scheduling.

It's a lot of chance taking Take.

A chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan.

It always is, it always is.

But we're waiting, and I'm waiting no longer tie because welcome everybody to steak out Saturday call in.

Things are happening.

You take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan.

Sticking your face in a fan, beautiful.

Thank you very much.

Leslie Nielson Naked gun.

I think that was from two and a half if I'm going to be accurate here, pretty.

Good steak Out Saturday.

Well, look, wonderful name off to a hot start here, thank you.

In week one.

In terms of what we are talking about here to help you get ready for steak Out Saturday, we've obviously got a bunch of previews ahead of us.

We did some of them on Tuesday.

We'll revisit parts of those as we go through the course of the next hour hour and fifteen or so.

Going to take a look at some of the under the radar games that maybe are get enough love.

Of course, we have sort of our public service announcement section of this episode.

Yeah, coming up in a little bit here with Windows of Opportunities.

We'll talk about quads later, we'll get into all of the usual stuff that keeps people coming back for more.

And at the very top, we're going to at least I don't know, put our heads together more on the topic of waiting and thinking and ingesting all of these narratives throughout the course of the off season.

Going to take a quick run through which teams have the most to prove yes in week one, which is I think a very very important angle that needs to be discussed a little bit further and.

You might be asking yourself prove to whom exactly these two super handsome dorks.

And the answer to that question is yeah, absolutely, absolutely so we got to do a segment.

Yeah, absolutely so.

If you're new here, hit follow, hit subscribe.

I will give more details as we go through the course of this episode how you can get in our big run the board pick'em game.

Every like half second, my phone is thrown a notification that somebody knew is joining the game, is signing up at verbowlers dot com.

We are thrilled with the influx of new community members who have decided to join and support the show.

I will give you all the details on that as we go through this episode.

But I don't want to burn any more time.

I know people are here to listen, and.

Well, if there's a grouping of people not afraid to compete, ty.

It's a great we beat.

I don't want to burn any more time.

I want to get into the meat of this year episode.

Just know, if you do sign up for a paid here at for bowlers dot com in week one, you're playing for a five hundred dollars Visa gift card just by picking against the spread like ten games, sure, five bucks to win five hundred Like, that's a move that I would probably make.

You could go all out throwing a watch party or tailgate in week two just by picking game one.

Super well, no brainer to me.

Hit foll hit subscribe again.

If you are new here, we'd love to have you aboard, even if you're not signing up at verbowlers dot com.

Every little bit helps.

We are getting oh so close to twenty five thousand subscribers out on YouTube, which would be a nice number to hit here.

I think we're going to hit it before long.

But if you are number twenty five thousand on the nose, give us a holler at soliverbe at gmail dot com.

That would be cool.

That would be very cool.

Where are we going?

All right, So we've been waiting around for a long time for Week one to get here.

We had Week zero last week.

We've got a couple weekday games, but for all intents and purposes, when it really hits the fan, it's Saturday at high noon.

We're going to go into all of those games here momentarily, but we cannot move forward without offering I think a little bit more context in particular, the players, the coaches, the teams, all of these things that have been bouncing around in our heads.

Who needs to prove what in week one?

Dan?

That is the question.

Who needs to prove the most in week one?

In this lifetime, you don't have to prove nothing to nobody except yourself.

We're just rolling with this.

This is still just gonna keep playing.

You don't like that sound?

Oh god, no, it's horrible.

It's truly bad.

I mean I had maybe ten minutes before we hit go Here to put that together, and I just thought, we don't have a whole lot of horns on the show, and maybe we could incorporate the hornet.

You don't know, you're shaking your head.

I don't know if you did that as a goof or if you did that to make my skin melt.

It's about time.

We've been doing this all this like seventeen years now, Is that what it is?

Yeah, usually you're the one making my skin melt.

It's real tough.

I think it was intentional, like you thought it was good.

You're like, oh, here's an interesting way to arrange audio.

And people are pulling off the road and throwing their their stereo.

Do people still have.

People are throwing their dashboards out there when they're ripping it out of their car.

After hearing that audio arrangement, I thought it.

Was a very poignant horn.

But okay, that's fine.

Listen, we can evolve that sound over the course of the year if anybody out there has better ideas or the soundbite's fine.

The horn quote from Rudy is great.

But if you've got other ideas for a prove it sound that we can play at the top of these episodes.

Soliverblotgmail dot com.

If you've got any sort of creative audio background, give us a holler.

I'm sure there's like a kids sports movie.

We're like, oh yeah, prove it.

I'm sure there's something like that out there.

Dan, Who has to prove the most to you in week one?

So I use this assignment to figure out not like who has the most pressure on them or what is the most exciting national narrative, but rather who needs to prove that they are something that they haven't been very clearly.

Who out there is saying, man, we haven't been able to figure this element of college football out.

And now it's Week one, and now we're in a situation where it would be really nice if we could prove that we are this thing we want to be.

I have number one Nebraska's offense.

Yeah, So Nebraska's playing Cincinnati in Kansas City, Yes, neutral site, Arrowhead, YEP.

There will be a considerable amount of attention on this game.

Not the biggest game of the weekend, but I think there's rightfully going to be a lot of attention on this game.

They haven't been able to figure out an explosive offense during Matt Rule's time there.

And because they're invested in Matt Rule, because they're investing in Delan Royola, because they're now invested in a couple new receivers that they hope bring some pop to the offense, because they're paying Dana Holgerson, former high profile coordinator and head coach, a bunch of money to run this offense.

Now, I think there is an extremely large amount of pressure on this Nebraska team to figure out offense.

Now this is they're not paying for this program to be a Stripe Bowl team.

All due respect to the pen Stripe Bowl, Arthur Avenue shout it out, but I am positive that if this team shows what it has shown these past couple of years on offense, things are gonna start collapsing in Lincoln, and so I think it has to be week one show me.

They showed it a little bit last year the first half of that Colorado game, but it just sort of fizzled out pretty quickly.

This needs to be an even bigger step forward for this offense.

I think there's an immense amount of pressure on this offense to show a lot more.

Yeah, that game is Thursday, so tonight as many people are listening to this at nine pm.

Apologies in advance to anybody listening to this on Saturday.

But it still holds.

Yeah, it still holds.

Whether you're listening to this early or late, it doesn't matter.

There's a lot of pressure on Matt Ruhle and Nebraska to make it go.

I'll give you some quotes if it works out, and if it doesn't work out, so you can pre hear my reaction.

You know what, good for Nebraska, right, They really needed to show it and they showed it, and that makes the Big Ten more exciting.

That makes the ability to watch Nebraska football more exciting all season long.

All Right, that was pretty good, right.

Yeah, Now authentic here's the other one.

Man, you couldn't figure that out against Cincinnati.

Like Cincinnati, events should be fine this year, but to come out that flat and unable to address what clearly needed to be addressed.

I'm not saying they can't do it these next few weeks.

That was pretty disappointing.

Did I cover?

I think you're good.

I think you're all set, all right.

I think Miami has a lot to prove.

Give me something specific.

I think, in particular, Mario Crystobaal needs to prove that not only can he go out there in an advantageous spot just having this Notre Dame game at home in Week one and prove that he can win a game like this, but I think throughout the course of the season he needs to prove that they're not going to have some of these rain farts late game situations, not going to find themselves in a situation later in the year on the road at pitt lose a game like that that could essentially kick them out of the playoffs.

All of that is very forward looking, but I think with respect to what we've got in week one here, they've got this Notre Dame game at home.

Notre Dame comes into the state of Florida with a brand new quarterback.

Again, it surprised some folks that they even named him starting quarterback, despite the fact that he had the name attached to him and that there was a lot of assumption in the Notre Dame world that it was always going to be CJ.

Carr.

Miami's got a very very good front, Miami's got a very very good offensive line, Miami's got a seasoned quarterback.

The offense might look different, but it's all there for them.

And so if they find themselves in a close game situation against Notre Dame, which I think is likely and I can talk through a little bit later, Miami has to prove that they're not going to fall victim to some the stuff that's jumped up and gotten them in the past.

They have to find a way to win this game.

I think it means more to Miami than it does to Notre Dame.

Sure, that's all understandable.

I have this and more specifically the Miami defense in one of my dannerable mentions that wasn't in my top five, but specifically, like I want to hear, it's Sean McDonough I believe doing this game.

Mcdonna and McElroy.

Yeah, I want to hear third quarter, fourth quarter, if it's a tight game.

I want to hear something along the lines of like crucial stop there for the games, like something we're like good for Miami again off the field when they needed to something in that realm of like in Miami's defense started out pretty well last year when that Florida game was particularly impressive, but against Notre Dame, like prove that you can make CJ.

Carr feel like a first time starter in a hostile environment.

Right, That's what a team with Miami's hopes and aspirations should be doing to CEJ Carr and not a new look Notre Dame offense, but a new look starting quarterback and what is going to be asked of him.

I think Miami's to prove they can do that.

Who else you got?

All right?

Number two?

I have LSU's defense being prepared for the task at hand.

Yeah, so of all of the things on the field, we have a good handle on what Clemson's offense should be at its best and what Clemson's defense should be at its best, what LSU's offense should be at its best.

LSU having to prove that again they've addressed what needs help on this defense and that they can actually come out and get off the field in a crucial like that's it's I'm pretty aligned with that, although it's a more difficult task because LSU is on the road here.

But Brian Kelly not winning those openers.

LSU's defense another year disappointing given what LSU's defense should be basically every year.

I think there's a lot.

To prove from this LSU defense in Week one.

I can't believe we made it three items in.

We haven't mentioned Florida State yet.

I don't even have them down here.

You don't think Florida State is I think Florida State has something to prove to you against Alabama in Week one.

I do, actually, yeah, okay, I do, because you know this game and again we'll talk through this one a little bit more.

But this game is like the ultimate contrast between where one program's at versus the other.

Florida State tried the transfer thing before last season.

It didn't work.

Famously, it did not work.

Or infamously, I guess this year they went out, They again took to the portal, and I think Mike Norvell just needs to prove that even if they find themselves a two touchdown dog at home against Alabama in a game that I think we all expect they're going to lose, and losing to Alabama, this version of Alabama certainly is not a black eye.

But they need to prove pretty much right out of the shoot that this is going to be an offense that feels like it's going somewhere, that the players that they have now added to this offense are going to make it better than it was a year or ago, that Gus Melson coming up from UCF is going to make the offense better.

I don't know if Florida State fans out there are expecting that there's going to be like a three point spread between these two teams when all is said and done, but I think what they are expecting, what they're hoping for is competency.

There needs to be a base level competency on display that can prove just serve as like a proof of concept that when they play some of these other teams in the schedule, this is going to be a team that's prepared.

It's going to be an offense that has some pop and they're not going to find themselves in the same situation that they were in a year ago.

So again totally separate from the result, we need to at least see and feel like this is going somewhere with Tom Castellanos, with Gus Melson and with whatever version of this whole thing that Norvell's put together.

I see where you're coming from.

It's not unreasonable.

But here's the unreasonable part of what you said.

Florida stat Inco seven and five last year, Florida State t Inco six and six last year.

When you go to and ten, you have basically nothing to prove against an excellent team.

You have to prove something against Virginia.

Listen, if you proved something against pat if you're.

An annual to in ten team, if that's always who.

You are, buddy, same coach, if that's always who you are, then I think you can make the case that they don't have anything to prove.

But this is a blue blood program, Okay, they're not used to going to intend.

That was very very hopefully hopefully a bug, not a feature.

And so Mike Norvell's got a lot to prove.

There's a reason that I think he's on the hot seat, and rightfully so.

Because what happened last year at Florida State is not acceptable.

They need to get better in a hurry.

He understood that assignment, but now he needs to prove that he can put this cast of characters together and actually get something more out of it.

So we'll see.

I think they've got a lot to prove.

You don't sprint out of comas ty.

You ever see somebody do that?

I can't say have So.

You gotta get to You got to prove that you're a six and six team.

And I just don't think, you know, for better or worse, whatever at Florida State looks like against Alabama, it's not going to be in any sort of indictment or like, yes, if they beat Alabama, great, they have proven to me that they have done something extraordinary this offseason.

But to ask them to sort of look competent after what they did last year and there's new players in here, still the same head coach, same locker room, same practice fields, I don't know.

It's more of a pit Miami type situation, not even Miami Pitt and Virginia situation.

We were for Florida State.

I don't know.

We disagree.

Give me a next item, give me one more, I'll rifle through a bunch I have.

Let's go with Jackson Arnold.

I mean this goes without saying right.

Obviously, in a terrible situation with regard to offensive line injuries and receiver injuries and general offensive malaise and you know, emotional injuries incurred at Oklahoma, but this opportunity and Baylor may have addressed situations successfully on its defense in the back half and defend the pass and give up fewer big plays.

Jackson Arnold from the jump is expected to go on the road and prove that he is the guy to take Auburn to a level that we haven't seen under Hugh Freeze at Auburn, and that is finishing games, being boringly competent, not making huge mistakes in the passing game in the red zone they're downs, whatever that.

I think there's an enormous amount that Jackson Arnold and Auburn's offense need to prove this week because it's only going to get more difficult with this schedule.

So because of the shortcomings that he's had, some self inflicted, some just situationally, I think Jackson Arnold and Auburn and this passing attack have a ton to prove against Baylor and in this specific spot as well, which is also pre Saturday.

Right, it's a Friday night game, so I think there's a ton to prove there.

My Dannerbill mentions, by the way, I have A and M pop against Utsa's not so great defense from last year.

Text is picking up where they left off Syracuse, proving that that they're more than just Kyle McCord covering up for defensive issues.

Uh Minnesota not playing a close Week one.

The shape of Colorado's offense needs to be obvious.

Bryce Underwood processing power I need.

I need to learn the Nvidia Intel take your pick qualities of Bryce Underwood against I think New Mexico.

That's approve it.

Malik Murphy being a worthwhile investment for Oregon State, Like, there's a ton here that I mean, we'll get to it in the preview, but I can't wait.

Why don't we wait no longer, Let's do picks.

If you're ready, ready, damn time they need the week.

I am ready to hear it.

It feels good.

We played it on one of our earlier shows, but this is when it really has the gravitas.

So look going out to for bawlers dot com.

Forballers dot Com is where you go to sign up if you want to get in on Run the Board.

Run the Board is our pickam game.

You can play for a five hundred dollars Visa gift card in week one.

If you play the full year through and finish in the top five, you get a seat on the coveted board of trustees here at saliverbal headquarters.

It's up to you at that point do you want to give Dan and I a vote of confidence?

I suspect that depends on how the season goes.

To our credit, we have unanimously gotten votes of confidence each time we have done this, but there's always room for a dissenting vote.

If you're interested verballers dot com, if you're just interested in supporting our community, supporting what we do, you can sign up.

You can also get access to ad free episodes, bonus content.

Vote in the Verballer Top twelve poll every Sunday.

We'll talk about that on the Tuesday episodes.

Our premium tier is going to have an outsized influence on what we talk about every Tuesday.

You get access to the discord and much much more.

I love the idea of an activist board member that was like, all right, now that I'm in, I got a lot to say.

My old company, we had an activist swoop in.

They like, redid the whole thing.

It was crazy, love it.

Verballers dot com is where you can go if you want to support what Dan and I do.

This is like our big push.

This is the final time you will hear us talk about it before the game locks at noon on Saturday.

Yep.

So, uh, if you like what you hear, if you like us, if you want to support what we do, help us keep the lights on, help us keep pushing the envelope and what we can do.

Help us afford more T shirts so that we don't always look the same on camera.

And domains and domains, yes, domains.

If you want a different sound, maybe for the proven thing at the top, I don't know.

Verballers dot com is where you can go to support Dan.

We talked about two of these on our last episode, but we can revisit them briefly because two of the three biggest matchups.

Two of the three matchups this weekend between ranked teams are Texas at Ohio State, LSU at Clemson.

Dan Yes, now you and I differ on at least one of these, notably that is the Texas at Ohio State game.

Yeah, now, having given yourself maybe forty eight hours to think it over, more or less confident in your pick of Ohio State.

Equally confident, not not any more, not any less.

I feel good about Ohio State.

I think the defense is going to be quality.

They're playing at home.

The crowd is going to be frenzied at what is it a four am kick local?

They're doing four am.

No, I think Texas is going to be very good.

I'm the thing I'm most excited to see is if Texas just keeps belonging, you know that, Like Texas beat Alabama by ten.

I want to say in Week two, two years ago on the road, they beat the defending champs in Michigan on the road.

Now they once again get this year's defending champs on the road, and they looked more than ready to compete in those two games.

Do they come out and just look at ease in the fire?

I can't wait.

Yeah, I think I'm most excited to see what Texas looks like using arch Manning's legs.

Okay, and I gave a little bit of voice to this when we did the Texas preview and when we did the Deeper Dive, which you can go back and listen to on our Tuesday episode.

Like, I just feel like there were so many opportunities last year for hard yards down in the red zone where they just did not have that element of.

Quilt with the red zone.

Yeah, Quin, youwers.

Being a scrambling quarterback.

This is not to say that arch is a scrambler.

I don't think that's so much as pedigree can He's definitely a lot fleeter of foot then Frankly his uncles or then the predecessor at Texas and Quinn.

I feel like Archie could move though maybe it's just a skip a generation.

I didn't say it's grandfather, I know, but definitely more fleet of foot than both Peyton and Eli for sure.

So I'm excited to see if they use that aspect of his game, if they use that in critical situations, if that is the kind of thing I mean, it was sort of my whole theory of this game that they will find a way to utilize this to spring them for a big game on a third and long or a third and crucial and that will ultimately give them enough cover to win this game.

I think I had it at like twenty seven to twenty three somewhere in that neighborhood.

So you're sticking with your big road pesticula in Texas.

The other headliner that we did our full preview for was LSU Clemson.

I feel just as good in this moment about my Clemson pick.

I'm really excited to see what Clemson looks like, and I'm really excited to rejoin our community out there on the club level.

I do need a club level sound if anybody's interested, so at gmail dot com.

This is the year like he's still there.

He's finally growing into all of that hype that he came in with when he was recruited out of high school.

I am excited to see if he takes a step forward as a passer.

I think we saw that last year, but I think as the receiver room around him has continued to grow and improve.

In showcase why everybody was excited about then, we saw flashes of that.

I think this could be a really big step forward, and frankly, if that happens, we're talking about kay Klubnick in New York sure, that's what I'm most excited to see, and this is going to be really good opportunity for that.

Like they might have to score thirty some points in order to beat LSU.

So I'm curious to see.

I'm excited to see what he looks like.

Most importantly, one of these down on their luck opening coaches has to win.

They do.

Brian Kelly has never won an opener in his time at LSU, and.

Tough few years for Clemson and dabbload opening the open the season up.

Yeah, so I've got this one still at thirty four to thirty one Clemson again.

Go back on Tuesday and listen to the full deep dive of this one, but.

So not covering LSU covering now, I've got LSU.

Plus the points right now, it's Clemson minus four time of recording.

I've got a tight one here, but a fun game.

Next headliner, let's go ahead in time to Sunday night at seven thirty on ABC.

Yeah, this game's at seven thirty Eastern.

I'm gonna be breathing into a paper bag around two pm Eastern in preparation for this one on Sunday night.

It is Notre Dame minus two and a half on the road at Miami.

Crazy way to open up this game, open up this season with this game.

Yeah, I am on the record stating that Notre Dame is the better team and that they're going to win this game.

I'm also on record saying that Miami is an eight and four team.

I am not backing down on either front.

Okay, I can't at this point.

I am too invested in both sides of that argument.

I actually think that this one looks a lot like Notre Dame's game last year, their opener on the road at Texas A and M.

Yeah, and I don't know how much of that game you remember.

I don't know how much of that game the for ballerhood remembers, but I.

Do It was a lot of Riley Leonard in this offense, sitting on a lead late six.

Of twenty five combined on third downs.

Between those two teams, we had seventeen total penalties, eleven of which went against Notre Dame, just thirty six total points.

The final score was twenty three to thirteen.

The final the score was tied until late in that game when Jeremiah Love broke one.

So I think that's the kind of game that Notre Dame would like to play here.

Like for as much as everybody has talked about this quarterback contest at Notre Dame and how they're looking to get more pop out of the passing game, which is still very very true, and I hope it's true.

M H.

Marcus Freeman would be thrilled.

He would be jumping up, he would be clicking his heels together if this devolved into a battle of defense and field position and time of possession and big dumb Mario crystal ball football, frankly, Mario, because I think if that's the way that this game goes, that's big time advantage Notre Dame.

Sure.

Now, unless they had CJ.

Carr out there throwing interceptions in the preseason as like some kind of propaganda thing, I don't know.

I would expect that this game plan is going to be really conservative.

It's going to be a lot of emphasis on Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price.

You get them going, you're somehow able to open it up a little bit down the field, maybe take a shot or two with Jayden Greathouse, Malachi Fields.

I don't know, but I'm gonna put the over under at twenty two and a half for passing attempts for CJ.

Carr in this game, okay, because I think they're going to play it close to the vest I think they're concerned about a backbreaking pick, some sort of freshman mistake.

This should be a really good Miami defense.

At a minimum, it's going to be a very good front.

I think Notre Dame is going to do everything within its power to try and minimize the effect of a new full time starting quarterback.

And I think Notre Dame respects the best of what Miami can look like upfront in rushing the passer and attacking the run.

I think there's a lot of good defensive linemen that they're pretty deep there.

We'll see how successful they are.

But in terms of raw talent and ceiling, I think Miami's going to the front seven especially is going to look quite good.

We'll see if all these transfers work out.

We see if a new defensive coordinator gels and Corey Heatherman with Miami.

I'm going to take Notre Dame here, and I hate it.

I absolutely hate it.

Okay, But because of how Notre Dame looked in icing that Georgia game, in icing the Penn State game.

And yes, they did not win a very crucial game against a MAC team mid season, but because of how that Notre Dame team grew, if you're telling me that Notre Dame pretty co it clearly has the big game coach and defensive advantage in Week one.

I think it travels well enough.

And what Notre Dame did on the road against Texas A and M last season as an opener, I think Miami's gonna be really good this year.

I think to ask them to arrive in Week one even with a home field advantage, but with a quarterback coming off of injury.

Because of a new look receiving corps, the offensive line should be great for Miami.

But I think it's a tall ask in Week one against Notre Dame.

And I think Notre Dame will have a better ability to dictate, as you've mentioned already and alluded to the rhythm of this game, and so I think Miami has a great opportunity to win this game playing Notre Dame ball, right, you know Mario christ Baul wants to do that.

He wants to push Notre Dame around upfront with an experienced, very talented offensive line.

Good running back room quarterback who can take advantage in play action.

But I just think Notre Dame is better built for it completely.

But again, if you're telling me the final score is thirty eight thirty four, I'm going to take Miami.

I think that I think they're they are better built right now with what they were able to do on offense last year, with Carson Beck's experience, I think they are a team that can get to thirty five faster.

But I think Notre Dame is a team who can keep a team to seventeen more effectively.

So I have what's the final spread as of this recording, two and a half in favor of Notre Dame.

In favor of Notre Dame.

Yeah, I'm going to give those points.

I'm going to say twenty four to twenty Notre Dame.

Yeah, I'm And by the way, I think we're kind of along the same lines here.

I hate it.

I think the matchup that ultimately decides this one is exactly what you pointed out.

It's Miami's offensive line against Notre Dame's defensive line.

Because my theory all along has been that Miami has to look different on offense this year.

They don't have cam Ward.

It's just a different style quarterback, and I expect them to look more like the Georgia offenses that we saw when Carson Beck was at Georgia.

I'm not saying it's a perfect replica, but to your point, this is Mario Crysto Baal's default state.

He wants to line you up, he wants to push you around.

And I think he'd be wise to use his running back room this year because I do think they've got a lot of depth.

It's new guys.

It's not Damian Martinez anymore, but they've got enough depth back there to be pretty good.

So I think it looks different.

I think Carson Beck is pretty good.

I'm luke warm on him being the type of quarterback who can go out there and single handedly win the game for you.

I think that's something he needs to prove this year.

Sure.

My theory this year is that, especially in this game, Miami needs to establish a ground game and I just think it's going to be tough sledding.

So my theory if this one devolves into a defensive slugfest, I think we see a couple turnovers one way or another.

I think the difference much like it was last year in a big spot.

Is Jeremiah Love just getting a sliver, or maybe, like we saw in the playoffs, Jaden great Hoouse finding some space.

I think Notre Dame plays it close.

I think Notre Dame uses one of their playmakers.

I think they get a big play in space to get enough separation.

Twenty six twenty one.

Notre Dame wins on the.

Road twenty six twenty one.

Okay, by the way, third and medium is gonna be incredible when Miami has the ball.

Oh yeah, they were the best third down team in America, not just at avoiding three and out, but actually, like their success rate on third down was incredible.

So when they can't just count on a yard and a half from a back, when they are going to have to make tougher choices on third and four at midfield or in their own territory, that's to me, that's gonna be everything.

We talked about this one a little bit at the top.

This one is Saturday at three thirty on ABC.

It's Alabama minus thirteen and a half points.

See my brows go up when I said that's a lot of points.

Sure, thirteen and a half points on the road at Florida State.

Now, I think there is a chance here that Alabama's looking to make a statement because for as big of a disappointment as it might have been for Florida State, Alabama definitely internalized the fact that they did not make the College Football Playoff last year, and they internalized it to a great degree.

They brought back a number of starters from last year's team who had the option to go pro but decided they wanted to stick around here and see if they could do a little bit more at the college level.

That's a credit to Kaylen de Borr.

Another thing that's a credit to Kaylen de Borr is that he understood again that they needed to get better, they needed to figure out their offense to a greater degree, and he brought back Ryan Grubb.

So I like that pairing.

I like the fact that Alabama has an unusual amount back from last year's team, which was still pretty good, it just didn't fire on all cylinders.

And I like the fact that they're catching Florida State at this time moment.

Yeah, this is the right time to catch Florida State.

Now.

I know we may not be crazy hig in Florida State, but it's still a tough place to play.

I gotta believe they're going to be better.

And if if this is a very big if, if they are able to put an offense together, if they are able to realize all the upside of Tommy Castellanos, then at some point down the stretch, this could be a team that's a tough out because there still is a lot of talent on Florida State.

I just think this is the right time.

There is no chance with all that they have new it's suddenly going to click at home week one against the top five team.

I don't see it.

Yeah, I'm searching for reasons to take Florida State, and I feel good about Florida State maybe scoring an early touchdown and it's seven to three after the first quarter, Florida State's up, and then it goes pay wire.

But yeah, over the course of four quarters, with what the ceiling of this Alabama defense should be with if we're going to assume Simpson is ready to just hit that throttle hard, then there's every reason to think that this is a you know, thirty four to ten game Alabama wins.

I'm not there with Ty Simpson yet.

There was something to me about like he's competing against a true freshman and a guy who hasn't played any meaningful snaps, and like the competition went deep into fall.

Now I like, no, maybe he's just pretty good but not amazing.

I still like you just you have to have faith in Florida State after going to and ten that they've dramatically gotten better.

I think the defense will be more organized with Tony White.

I think the offense will have a different vision.

I don't know if it's a better vision with Gus Melson.

I don't know about hiring this version of Gus Melson in twenty twenty five as like a big fix.

But there will be a plan, and so I think early on Florida State will look like they have that plan.

I just over four quarters.

Yeah, I think Alabama's three touchdowns better, So I'm going to give those points.

Really searched, but I'm not there.

I'm just really drawn to the contrast between these two schools right now because Alabama, like I said, internalized a lot, almost a little bit of zombie Alabama if you think about sure, a little bit of taste in their own blood after what went down last year.

Now coming into this new season, loaded for bear and on.

Like the Florida State side, they like, they basically unplugged the router for thirty seconds.

They unplugged it, they let it cycle through, they plugged it back in, and that this is what you have now.

Yeah, this is what it is in twenty twenty five.

I'm excited to see how they use Tommy Castellanos.

I hope we can start calling a big Tom Callahan again like I did in the previous But I've got real questions about this being the dude.

You know, if quarterback was an issue last year with DJU.

I know Tommy Castellanos here talks a good game, but he had a propense to kind of dance around in the pocket and take a drive killing sack or commit a big turnover or something that will not serve Florida State.

Well, it did not serve him well at Boston College.

Even though he's athletic, he's fun to watch, he can make plays all that.

I'm just not sure.

I'm not sure about that.

So, like bigger picture, it's gonna be really interesting to see how this transfer class looks for the Knowles if it pops more than it did a year ago.

They're basically doubling down on the approach.

I agree.

If he's not the guy for Boston College, right, why is he the guy for Florida State's.

And we've seen guys get benched before and come back strong.

I watched it with Bo Nicks got benched at Auburn came back strong, or at Auburn came back much stronger at Oregon, like it happens.

But those two programs are sort of on par.

I would love nothing more than to do our show on Saturday night at midnight.

By the way, subscribe to the YouTube channel.

You can watch the Saturday and out live stream if you're interested.

As we talk through all of these.

Games, smell tieshair dot com.

Right, we can link.

Smell tieshair dot com.

Back up with that.

Okay, you have all these domains.

We gotta do something.

I know, I know.

I would love nothing more than to talk about this one as a close game, a fun game, or Florida State got it together and the crowd got into it, and I've got it at thirty five seventeen Alabama.

Okay, I think light away.

Yep, let's go to Sunday at three pm Eastern time.

Okay, Virginia Tech at South Kakilaki sneaky fun, South Carolina favored by eight points.

Where are you at?

Here?

Where you at in this game?

I had to prove it.

Danni Will mention that Virginia Tech, with the way they've started the last three seasons, so that I think is losing to Old Dominion and then losing to like Purdue Marshall Rutgers.

I think Vanderbilt last year, which was not that's a defensible loss with how Vanderbilt season went, but in the moment richly did not feel super fun for Virginia Tech fans.

So Virginia Tech and Brent probably have a lot to prove in a game.

I believe this is a neutral site.

Right, neutral site game of playing in Atlanta and.

Atlanta, Ah, they have a ton to proof.

Virginia Tech.

To me, I think I'm gonna go South Carolina here if you're giving me a quarterback advantage, a momentum advantage, and as much as anybody can have momentum in week one, but program momentum the best of this defense with a lot of unproven full time guys, I just think culturally, South Carolina is in a better place to come out and win this game.

And they haven't been the best September team either, for sure.

But I just think there's more to like in this moment about South Carolina on the road, So I'm gonna need to see it before I believe it from Virginia Tech still in this moment.

So this is like the Beamer Bowl, isn't it?

It absolutely is.

Yep.

This is one of those season openers where I feel real weird about taking chalk.

And the more I thought about this, it's like everyone's talking about Leonora's Sellers.

Leonora's the creators creator creator.

Yeah, Dylan Stewart, who I love, might be the best pass rusher in the country.

South Carolina finished strong.

They do have that momentum six game winning streak.

But I think I've come around to the idea of Virginia Tech covering and maybe even pulling an upset here, and I can tell you why.

Okay, I think South Carolina is going to have some growing pains on defense.

I agree, like you lose Kyle Kinnard, It's not easy to backfill all four interior linemen, three long.

All American caliber safety.

Yeah, there's a lot that's missing.

You're basically asking a bunch of new faces, albeit very talented new faces who are not entirely new like they have played.

Granted, but you're asking these guys to step up, take on more responsibility in a big week one neutral site game against a team that you know is looking to prove something.

This is a team in Virginia Tech that I think should be significantly improved.

It was not a bad team from a year ago.

And that's the thing that I think is missing from much of the commentary I've heard.

Did they underperform, yes, but it wasn't a bad team.

They were just very inconsistent and they had injury luck that went against them, basically like Auburn North Okay, in some way, shape or form, they just could not translate production into wins.

They had trouble in close game situations.

They couldn't stay healthy.

Those three things will kill pretty much any team.

So you're going with Virginia Tech a team who starts poorly and does not finish close games.

Well, I am, actually, yeah, I am, And I can't explain why.

I mean, I'm trying to explain why, But yeah, I just think Kyroen drones back and healthy.

A revamped roster a new offensive coordinator who should get more out of the quarterback position.

They did pick up Terry and Stewart from Bowling Green the running back who I love, but he was seen in a walking boot last week.

I don't know his status at time of record.

That's super helpful before our football game, right, It's not ideal.

Yeah, I hope he's able to go.

I think he could have a real impact here.

The matchup that you you gotta watch here is the Tech offensive line, which is rebuilt the South Carolina front seven, which also has a bunch of new faces.

I think we could be on track here for a South Carolina freeducation from Fred Johnson the linebacker if they show out on defense.

But I don't know.

This one was kind of giving me the willies.

Like I think Carolina wins.

I think it's a slugfest, and I think it's something like twenty four to twenty.

South Carolina wins, but Virginia Tech keeps it close.

I would not be surprised if we come on the air Saturday night Virginia Tech wins in an upset.

Yeah.

I have Virginia Tech losing this one thirty three to twenty four.

South Carolina.

Let's go to another one, Syracuse at Tennessee, another neutral psyche game.

This one's on Saturday at high noon.

Yeah, Tennessee favored by thirteen and a half.

How confident are you in Tennessee winning this game and covering?

It's a big number.

Yeah, a lot of new on Tennessee, right, at least on the offensive side.

I'm not super confident in them covering.

I think Tennessee wins this game because I still think the best thing in this game should be Tennessee's defense.

But I'm not confident that number.

You're talking about a lot new on this Tennessee offense, including Joey Aguilar.

It's right, I think.

Even if so, what you're saying is if you're setting this line to get action on both ways, but if you think this is about where this game lands, what you're saying is Tennessee should get to thirty ish points against Syracuse.

Correct, because the Syracuse offense, if Steve Angeli is quality, which I think we think he is.

Sure, it's all just a guessing game in week one really more than anything, I just don't think they get to that number.

So I think it's something like twenty seven Tennessee twenty four to seventeen Tennessee.

So I have Syracuse covering this game, but Tennessee winning just because I think there's gonna need that.

There needs to be a little bit of time for Tennessee to get its act together gelling on offense.

So I don't love the Syracuse defense and where it was last year and where it looks like it's going to be, albeit improved, this year.

I don't love the ability for Syracuse to continue what it was doing on offense with Steve Angeli.

I think they're gonna be good.

I think they're gonna be decent.

But no, that number is still too big for me.

So Syracuse keeps it close enough.

Tennessee lock of the week, Wow.

Luck of the week Lim from Lim then Yeah.

The matchup to watch here is Tennessee's defensive front against Syracuse, which has a rebuilt offensive line.

I think the balls get pressure.

I think they change up Steve Angeli's timer.

In his limited action, we saw moments where he was like slow to process, where he took a sack, he made a bad decision.

Again, very limited sample size, but I think this is a kind of game where that could be a factor here.

Yeah, I feel very confident about laying the points here because everyone's talking up Tennessee, like new quarterback Joey Agilar.

But truly, this is a story of defense, and that defense is loaded.

It should be very good.

And the other thing on the Syracuse side, I did get some pushback to this.

I stand by what I said, cuse lost a ton.

They might be worse at every offensive position this year.

Okay, it's just a really tough ask to expect them to just click in Week one against one of the better defenses in the country.

And their defense too, they lost a bunch.

Seven of their top ten tacklers are gone from a year ago.

I think they're going to get pushed around by Tennessee upfront.

By the way, you know who else rebuilt their offensive line Tennessee.

I know they did, but I just like their talent better.

And I think when you contrast that with Syracuse also losing a ton on defense, the meat of this Tennessee offense, in my view, is still in the running game all right.

Whether or not they're rebuilding their line.

It's a very very deep group of running backs, and I think they're going to be solid.

I also would not put it past Joey Aguilar to actually end up being better than Nico was a year.

Ago, which Tennessee fans will tell you is not a terribly high bar.

It may not be a high bar.

But for as much as people are talking up Agalar and new quarterback, and we'll see and everybody expects to step back from Tennessee.

And I do think we will see a step back because the line is concerning as they get a little deeper into this thing.

Sure not in this one.

Not in this one.

I think the favorite pulls away.

I think it's a second half game where we see Tennessee start to show what it's made of, show where that talent gap is.

Forty one seventeen Tennessee wins going away here.

So you're not just in love with Tennessee here, you're doing ghost style pottery.

Yeah, but Tennessee a little bit?

Yeah, okay, fair enough, Okay, we also to be fair, you know who else has rebuilt their offensive line?

One hundred and nineteen teams.

Everybody's rebuilding their offensive line outside of like Texas, A and M and Alabama.

And Notre Dame in Penstate.

Yeah, for sure, there's I know there's a handful, but like, this is where we are as a society right now.

Everybody's got offensive line questions.

We're going to talk about some under the radar games here in a moment rip through them.

But one that's I think a pretty significant non con game.

And it's weird to call it a non con game.

Mind you sure hasn't been talked about at all.

Eleven pm, Old School pac twelve after dark on Fox, Utah minus six on the road at UCLA.

This is a great one.

Does that line surprise you at all?

No, UCLA's talent level not great in this moment, and their rosters not great dealing with coaching turnover.

It's just it's tough to see.

Even if Nico gets closer at UCLA than he was at Tennessee, real unlikely, but closer to what we perceived his ability and ceiling would be who's he throwing to, who's he handed off to, Who's he protected by h who is bolstering everything he does defensively?

That that to me is weird.

Utah.

They're getting a little bit of respect here because of the mysterious nature of their offense with Devin dan Pierre and with a Jason Beck now calling the offense.

They're like doing the mini Kittlization of their offense coming up from New Mexico.

The Kittlization.

No, we could call it that.

We can call it an r buckling.

We can call our buckle.

Was He's a branch on the Kittley tree, right, Well, this is true, and it's a big tree because Zach Kittley is six seven.

That's true.

It's a mighty edwood.

I think this is a fascinating game, absolutely fascinating game for Utah specifically, it's not this is at UCLA, right at UCLA, so their road favorites.

You know, I don't think the environment's going to be that crazy because it basically never is in the Rose Bowl for this team.

Yeah.

I like Utah here, but a fascinating matchup for sure to see if you know stage one of Utah's journey goes well.

Yeah, I mean on the UCLA side, Nico's going to dominate headlines.

I think he's one of the only upgrades on this team.

And I know that there was some chatter about, well he wants to go somewherehere we can get a better supporting cast or maybe just more money.

I don't know.

This is not a better supporting cast.

It's a largely unproven cast of characters on offense, and it's a rebuilding defense.

So you combine that with the fact that Utah is going to have one of the better offensive lines in the country.

They've got that coordinator quarterback tandem, which should hopefully speed things up.

I think it's notable that Kyle Whittingham is going to give Jason Beck quote complete autonomy to run his version of his system.

I just think that's a good situation.

It's not so much a guy learning a new system.

He's going to have new people around him.

But this is a proven now combination of guys getting a chance to cook at a little bit of a higher level, which I like.

Yeah, it just sort of goes against everything we've believed Utah football to be over time.

I know, but you got to evolve, I guess.

But they're much more proven, and at this stage of the game, that's really all we have to go on.

I like their line.

I like the quarterback offensive coordinator pairing.

I like Wayshan Parker, who's another name, yeah that comes down from Wazoo.

Feels like one of those to me where the veteran team with the continuity finds a way to take care of business.

Twenty eight to seventeen, Utah covers something a lot of points for Utah lately.

Okay, yeah, I have Utah covering, but it's a mystery cover.

We've gotten fifty some minutes without talking about Bill Belichick.

Not talking about this or excuse me.

Hulu and Instagram present the University of North Carolina football at Chapel Hill.

Yeah, eight pm ESPN on Fox.

TCU minus three against North Carolina.

How the f are we supposed to handicap this?

No, there's no way.

It's just like, hey, I'm interested in this TV show.

I'm interested in the TV show very much so because I think the Bill Belichick story is going to be crazy fascinating.

We have no idea what to expect there and TCU, like, we both like TCU.

TCU's got a brutal schedule, but TCU's got a great offense, got to get better on defense.

Many the same questions that we ask about every Sunny Dykes team, Like, I kind of think it's thirty seven thirty one, somebody wins.

I think TCU comfortably wins this game.

Okay, I think there's gonna be a lot of excitement.

I just to assume twenty thirteen, Bill Belichick, with the roster he had with the New England Patriots when they were rolling, is going to use that same pixie dust in Week one against TCU.

Might not be great, but a power Conference eight and four type team, I just don't think North Carolina is there.

And maybe they get to an interesting place this season, and I think there's going to be an electric atmosphere early on, but I still think you need the players.

I think TCU has his act together and North Carolina doesn't even know what its act is.

So yeah, I have TCU in my mind doing something like thirty one to seventeen here.

I think it's going to be a random shootout.

Okay, I am believing the hype.

I think North Carolina will be better, maybe not right away, but I think they'll be better at least on defense as the season goes on.

And I think it's an advantageous schedule.

So this could be a situation where you look at the final record and they're maybe not as good as the record would indicate.

But I'm going to give Bellichick the benefit of the doubt.

Thirty seven thirty one.

TCU wins, but Carolina is surprisingly feisty.

Okay in this week one game, we disagree, we do disagree.

Look, I'm not going to go back through.

We talked about all of the earlier games this week on the Tuesday episode, so you know, like Auburn Baylor is super interesting.

Georgia Tech Colorado, we talked about that one again here a little bit on this episode.

But Boise State playing on the road at South Florida, Nebraska, Cincinnati.

A bunch of these early week games are a ton of fun.

Go back and listen to the Tuesday episode if you are ever so inclined because we went into a lot more detail on those games.

Then agree.

For those of you wondering out there, given all of these big games, when can I go out and just do something with the family, we have a segment for you on the show called Window of Opportunity.

Yeah, it's a good slate of games this week, Dan, it is very evenly distributed.

Whoever was in charge of putting this schedule together hit us up Solid Verbal at gmail dot com.

Dan and I need help organizing our lives, please, sure we need this.

The goal of the Window of opportunity is to figure out when you can safely leave the house, step away from the TV without missing too much of the action on the college football Saturday.

If you are listening for this segment with anticipation like you would a weather forecast that is squarely on you.

You had months to get ready for Labor Day weekend.

I can't save you if you're listening to this gritting your teeth right.

But if you're out there, if you're wondering, why can I step away?

We are solutions oriented.

If you got to do it.

I'm targeting somewhere between four and eight pm Eastern time.

I think that's your window to go to dinner early.

Chuck E Cheese?

Is Chuck E Cheese still a thing?

I think it's still a thing, not as people getting fights at Chuck E Cheese all the time.

If you're one of our German listeners, there are good tickets still available to catch the famed Broadway show Cats, which is doing an international tour right now in Berlin.

So grab some donor go see Cats.

Sure, go Seekats whatever.

You're into a bunch of games.

In that block with big point spreads, so you can play catch up afterwards, but no later than eight pm Eastern time, because I think you're gonna want to see some of these night games.

I've got the premiere of the twenty twenty five Oregon Ducks season right in there against Montana State, very very good FCS program right now.

Oregon favored by I think nearly thirty points, but Oregon should win.

I feel good.

All right, let's put a bow on this one.

Let's talk about some under the radar games, please.

I got a couple here that I'm interested in.

Tell me.

Saturday high noon, Mississippi State minus thirteen and one half on the road against Southern Miss.

Yeah.

So Mississippi State goes really hard in the portal.

They definitely made their roster better.

But Southern Miss did a little bit of a hold my beer moment?

Did they not?

They absolutely did.

They brought down basically the championship roster from Marshall along with Charles Huff and they're at home in this matchup.

I'm taking the points.

Would not be surprised by an upset.

Wow, no belief in Blake's shaping coming on back.

Saturday at twelve forty five sec Network Toledo at Kentucky Dan Kentucky favored by seventeen twenty seven thirty seven.

Clearly they're playing a Mac team.

Seven and a half points is to spread.

Yeah, I like that.

There is always one of these token Mac games early in the year.

Where's my button not talking about this?

That scares the Bejesus out of a power for school?

Right?

I think Kentucky's a mess.

I don't know, man, They're a mess.

Ok.

And Toledo is actually quite good.

And to be fair, there's always a Mac team who loses by thirty eighth.

Yeah, Toledo plus the points here on the road in Kentucky.

So the way I'm looking at these under the radar games is I'm galloping onto the Zesti Ranch.

We did a zest Ranch show a few years ago.

I'm looking for teams just to show me something, and like Mississippi State is a good example of that.

Show me that zest.

I know the defense probably is going to take a minute, but show me some zest on that offense.

Northwestern Tulane.

Tulane gets there starting quarterback late in the process with Jake Rehetz laugh and Northwestern trying through the portal even more, they're my local team.

Here, so I'm always curious about that.

That's in that noon window as well on espn U Tulane favored by four and a half at home.

I'm looking for zestiness there, especially from Northwestern, but just in general as well.

I've got Cal at Oregon State Saturday night.

Oh that's super zesty yep.

Oregon State minus two.

Catastrophically bad Oregon State defense last year.

Yeah, they were beat up like crazy.

I'm giving you take a moment, just take that pillowy breath right now, and tell everybody the name of Cal's starting quarterback, true freshman, true fresh making a road start against Malik Murphy, new starting quarterback for Oregon State.

Two A's Malik.

Two a's Malik.

I'm going to prove there, I guess from Oregon State that that investment was worthwhile.

Cal is starting a true freshman quarterback.

Cal did not go to Devin White.

They went to Jaren.

They went to Jared.

Oh that's pretty good, ty, I like that.

It also takes you away from pronouncing the following four hundred and fourteen letters.

Frankly, I am the best in college football media at pronouncing this one.

Maybe second only to our friend Brandon Hoffman who listens.

To the show right and knows him and his fans knows him.

It's Jaron Kave Songapoola Tela.

There it is.

That is how you say it.

I practiced it a thousand times in front of the mere Brandon.

Yeah, that's the only reason why.

That was your like rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane.

Kate thought it was nuts down here.

It's like, what do you do, Jaren Kave Somopoulo Tela.

That's how you said it.

Yeah, really bad.

Oregon State defense a year ago.

Col's going to Jaren.

They're winning this one outright.

Wow, true freshman quarterback.

I think he makes a mark.

I'm excited to practice one a couple other ones here under the radar very quickly, very quickly, UNLV.

Remember I talked about that point spread on our last episode.

They were favored by thirteen on the road at Sam Houston, it's down to ten.

I like Sam Houston at thirteen.

I still like him at ten.

What the hell?

Why not?

UNLV No defense five hundred and fifty five yards to Idaho State.

Didn't like that.

Didn't like that at all.

Also Friday Night Western Michigan at Michigan State.

It's early.

It's the Michigan State Championship Game Part one.

Wow.

I think Western is going to be fun this year.

I think Michigan State is going to blow the doors off of them in this matchup.

I like Sparty a lot.

Two more for you, Okay, two more, all right?

Just two more doing the side of the horns here.

Wake is gonna beat Kanisau State.

This is more of a curiosity than anything else.

Friday night, seven pm ACC Network.

Kennesaw is doing the thing where they switch from the option to any other offense, and that almost always goes poorly, but it can be fun to watch.

Going from an option to an up tempo spread is very difficult to do.

I feel like Clay Helton actually had a lot of success with this at Georgia Southern.

Right, So you combine that with the fact that Wake Forest is starting our old friend Robbie Ashford still in college football.

Honestly, still a bit underwhelming.

They are favored by eighteen points at home against Kannessaw.

They will win, but there are interesting things to watch there.

Dan, I agree, And last but not least for me, Thursday night, eight pm, Fox Sports One, Buffalo at Minnesota already pre scheduled the Minnesota Zoom call for December, when we're all going to gather and be disappointed together that it didn't go better for Minnesota.

Yeah, I'm just excited to see Drake Lindsay.

Drake Lindsay is now my Minnesota quarterback that I am all in on.

By the way, Max Brosberg made the team for the Vikings.

I don't know if you saw that.

Local boy had a really good preseason with the Vikings, so bros Before nos, I have not yet come up with my Drake Lindsay nickname.

I'm still workshopping that.

But okay, I mean you have the word Drake to go with a huge international musical artist.

Yeah, I mean sure, Okay.

Those are my under the radar games.

I think UTSA, Texas A and M is fascinating.

UTSA had a catastrophically bad defense preventing big plays, and A and M had a very difficult time generating those big plays.

So in terms of prove it, I think I'm there with Texas A and M, which has every opportunity, especially and we talked about this like slowly crock potting a team with two good running backs a really good offensive line should open things up and play action from Marcel Reid.

So hopefully it's an opportunity for UTSA offensively to see what they are and are not.

They struggled with Arch last year on defense, so I think that's pretty fascinating.

How about deep below the radar, South Dakota on the road against Iowa State in a huge letdown spot for the Clones.

South Dakota a really good season last year.

Yeah, a lot different, but I wouldn't put it, you know past Matt Campbell and Iowa State in a letdown spot in early September to struggle.

I don't know if they're losing this game, but yeah, they won thirteen to ten, and that's good enough to go to and O.

That to me is interesting.

I'm trying to think if there's anything else below the radar here.

I mean, I'm always gonna watch Oregon, but I think those are the ones that really stood out to me.

Oh the other one.

We mentioned this on the earlier show, but it's worth mentioning once again.

App State and Charlotte with two you know, not high profile but very interesting new head coaching situations, I think is worthwhile.

Yeah, and dal Loggins, who's the coach for app State, has not tried to temper expectations at all.

You know, some just come in and do that.

But there is just like a lot new.

App State's one of those teams where there's so much new, much like another team in North Carolina where you kind of don't know what to expect.

Agree, and the other North Carolina team in this one, Charlotte, also has a new coach came down from Ohio.

I'm on app State minus the number, but I think this could be a weird game.

Yeah.

The only other request I have.

Ty, get that finger ready, Tie, get that finger.

Ready, get those those digits ready.

Just a personal favor if you could drop that big, stanky, surging, sumptuous s shicking at drum and fife.

Baby, oh baby, baby baby.

We've got a loaded slight of pat League games.

DAN starts on Thursday night on ESPN, plus your Lafayette Leopards on the road at Bowling Green, possible upset.

A lot of people are talking ty Vegas does not know what to do with this line.

No, is there a line, by the way, I don't I'm clear.

I don't think they even put lines on these.

No, no, not usually.

I'm going Bowling Green, Okay.

So this is Eddie George's debut.

Yes, with that surging, sumptuous, shaking Drummond Fife.

Good luck, mister George.

You do not know what is what is arriving down there in Bowling Green, Okay.

Friday, seven pm ESPN plus Monmouth on the road at Colgate, the Gators getting a big one at home here to start off the twenty twenty five season.

Yeah, I don't think the mouthis have a chance here, So I'm going Colgate with a nice bounce back year.

Saturday high noon, Richmond, a new entrant into the Patriot League.

On the road at yours at Mine Mountaine Lee High, mountainh Hawks.

Dan, who you got?

This is kind of the game of the season.

Early on Spiders Mountain Hawks.

But Staum.

Yeah, how's the weather right now?

Beautiful?

Ah, cool, crisp out this morning.

The dogs are running about.

My little pup tried to get through the fence.

Not talking about I'm not going to play the sound here, but right yeah, it's beautiful.

I'm gonna go.

I'm gonna go to the home team.

Just a lot of energy happening in that Lehigh Valley.

I'm gonna kill the music for a second.

Lehigh Football's Twitter account x account was randomly suspended a couple weeks, a couple months ago, okay, just a few days now before the game.

It remains suspended.

The biggest college football story that nobody's talking about.

You hear it here in the cliverb.

What do you have to do anybody on that site to get suspended?

Now?

Well, yeah, that's the question, right.

Nobody has told them why the otherly High sports accounts are tweeting desperately because they can't get it unsuspended.

So if anybody out there is listening, who's got a little bit of pull, or if you're another podcaster or another media member, help me out.

We're starting a movement here.

We got to get this unsuspended, all right.

You definitely can't put enough turgid drum and fife on there suspended.

So somebody do something, is what I'm saying.

I'm bringing the music back up here.

Please.

Next Saturday, one pm, the Georgetown Hoya is away from Multi sport Field oh Man traveling down to Davidson, Dan to Charlotte.

Steph Curry's Davidson that's right.

I think Georgetown is going to take a really really successful off season on the road with them and take it to Davidson here.

I'm going Davidson, give me David Wait, it's a great Saturday two pm.

Fordam on the Road at BC.

Is this a real Fordham against Boston College Dylan Lanergan's debut Spicy.

Boston College by seventy.

I think Boston College is going to hammer them.

Yeah yeah, Bucknell at air Force and CBS Sports Network three point thirty pm Eastern Time on Saturday.

I gotta go air Force here right, air Force Large.

My friend Jordan Kent is calling this game.

Okay, have fun at the Academy.

Next and last, but not least, it is Holy Cross on the Road at NIU.

I'm going Cross Saders outright, Cross Saders outright outright n IU by eighty.

Thomas Hammock is on it.

So look, if you're out there, if you've listened this whole way through, thank you for your support.

Verbowlers dot Com is where you can go to get in on the game.

We've had so many people trying to sign up for this game that the game has at times broken truly, So if you are one of those folks that want to support the verbal.

If you do sign up, if you do try to play in the game and you get a weird message, you can leave a comment and you can send me a message.

We will make sure that you're set up in time.

Because everybody wants in on this thing.

That's what's going on with it.

Basically, it's just there's so much demand.

But you get other perks if you sign up to support us again.

For ballers dot com is where you can go to find out more, if nothing more.

If you've made it this far, hit follow, hit subscribe.

We're trying to get to that twenty five thousand number out on YouTube, which would be a big milestone number for us.

Many have said, how haven't you gotten there already?

We just started posting YouTube.

Let's just build together, guys.

Let's hear it is.

Here's the sound.

Let's just build this thing together.

Support the show, support tie.

If you want to support me too, that's cool, but man.

Let's build.

I've got one final thing.

Okay.

My question to you is how bad do you really want place?

It's a good question.

We didn't play the quad Father at all.

I do want legs.

Where's the best squad this week.

Best quad this week's at noon.

If you're one of those degenerates like Dan and I who like to watch a bunch of games at once, or at least like to dabble in watching a bunch of games at once until we lose our attention span.

New in Eastern Time, here's what you got.

Texas against Ohio State, Syracuse versus Tennessee, Mississippi State, Southern miss Toledo, Kentucky the games that I mentioned before.

You can also sub in with Northwestern against Tulane could be interesting.

FAU Maryland, which could be interesting to give you a chance to look at Malik Washington if he plays, and Ball State versus Perdue.

A lot of new players in that one, A lot of new players in that one.

You got options.

That's all I'm saying.

If you want to be the quad father at your particular watch party noon Eastern times, your best shot for it.

Are you eating anything good?

Anything special on the menu.

I'm not sure I'll be able to keep food down on Sunday with that Miami Notre Dame game.

Yeah, big in the window.

I don't know.

I haven't decided.

I'd like to make it an event.

But you know, I'm going to be in front of this TV most of the time, so I'm not sure if I'm going to do anything too extraordinary about yourself.

I'll probably make pizza for the Sunday night.

I'll probably have some sad dad meals on Saturday.

Okay, some weird room temperature noodles happening on Saturday.

Wherever you are out there, enjoy Week one.

Thank you for hanging with us.

Hope to talk to you out on our discord.

If nothing more, hit us up on social media.

You can find us at solid Verbal.

That's the handle across pretty much every account.

Then yes, dude, it's here.

Oh man, No longer are we inventing episodes at the end of May.

We now actually have games to talk about.

I am thrilled, I am excited.

I'm excited to do this right again with you guys.

I no longer have to pretend to know what K Pop Demon Hunters is.

Oh that's great for.

That guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein with myself, Tie Hilton Brand, thanks for hanging with us all off season, for bearing with us through our Week one preview episodes, and for popping back on the horse with us here in the Year of our Lord twenty twenty five.

As always you know the drugs stay solid.

Peace