Building the Beast: Loaded Week 5 slate—hello, Oregon-Penn State and Alabama-Georgia—will move draft boards

0:00Summer can smell like so many things. For example, citrus in the sun, spontaneous road trips, and warm backyard evenings that stretch on forever. It's a feeling you want to hold on to long after the season ends. With Pura's Summer Fragrance Collection, you can. Restore your sense of place, bringing the moments that define your summer right into your home, exactly the way you remember them. Clean fragrances, smart control, all from your phone. Visit Pura.com to shop the summer collection. Alienware's back-to-school event is the perfect time to score top gaming gear with incredible features and Intel Core processors to go beyond performance.

0:42Save big on gaming desktops, laptops, and more. Start your Alienware journey with the Alienware 15 gaming laptop featuring Intel Core processors. Smoothly game, livestream, and multitask for hours on end. Plus, play through every game exactly how you want with customizable AlienFX lighting across your Alienware ecosystem, creating your very own gaming profile, and more. Finally, pair your incredibly smooth gaming experience with immersive visuals and sound by saving on sleek Alienware monitors, headsets, and more. This limited-time sale awaits you now at Alienware.com slash deals. That's Alienware.com slash deals.

1:34Welcome to another episode of Building the Beast. I am your host, Dave Hellman, and oh my goodness, do we have a show for y 'all today. It was a fun weekend in college football this past Saturday. Lot to react to, a lot of big performances. Guys like Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza staking their claim in the early going of the season. Had a lot to recap with Dane Brugler about the weekend that was. But at the risk of minimizing that, holy cow, do we have a weekend coming up. The first truly titanic weekend of the college football regular season is upon us. We got Oregon, Penn State. We got Alabama, Georgia.

2:14We got LSU, Ole Miss, Ohio State, Washington, and half a dozen other big games in between. a lot of prospects playing big time games on Saturday and we are going to break it all down. So without further ado, Dane Brugler and myself, let's get to it.

2:36And I'm joined now by my friend, my co-host, the man who, as if he doesn't get enough football on Saturdays, followed that up with a trip to the Browns Packers game on Sunday. Dane, How we doing, bud? I'm good. It was that was an entertaining game for sure. Took my 10 year old to his first NFL game. He's a Packers and Browns fan. So I thought it was perfect timing for that. But yeah, it was a is a busy and usually because Sundays are so jam packed with a lot of NFL things to keep tabs on. But I'm also watching the tape from Saturday's games. And we had a lot of action on Saturday that, you know, we had to catch up on Sunday night because there was a lot of action.

3:16A lot of big matchups we talked about last week in the pod and a lot we need into today for not only this week, but then next week, which is another big slate of games chance for prospects to really show out. So, yeah, this is this is going to be a good podcast today. Let's let's do it, man, because look, I haven't been lying. I love college football. I love talking draft like this entire first month of the season has been fun in its own way. That is still true. but I woke up with some extra pep in my step this morning, dude. Like I bolted out of bed to finish my prep and finish my notes for this show because not only did we have a pretty full slate from last weekend where we got some, some really good information.

4:00We saw some prospects show out last weekend, but man, this, this is what it's all about here. The upcoming slate week five in the college football season. And we're finally seeing some Titans go against each other. There's going to be there are going to be a lot of matchups, probably half a dozen games where there are like a lot of NFL prospects on both sidelines in this college football weekend. So we're doing the show a little bit differently this week. We're still handing out game balls. We're going to go over the week for slate in detail, but we're going to spend a very healthy amount of this show just detailing all of the matchups coming up this weekend.

4:40It is a loaded slate. And if you want to follow the draft and get ready to learn about this draft class, we want to make sure we are arming you with as much knowledge as possible. So a little bit different of a show, but I think it might be our fullest show to date. So before we get into all that, let's hand out some game balls. Let's talk about what we saw in week four. We got a lot of game balls to get to because like I said, it was it was a pretty full weekend in week four, even if it's not quite as loaded as week five. But I think the only place to start, Dane, is, you know, last last week we talked about it.

5:15Maybe the top 10 of this draft class is a little hard to pinpoint this early in the season. But after Miami's demolition of Florida, 26 to 7 down in Miami on Saturday night, I think we got to start recapping last weekend with Reuben Bain Jr. and that Miami pass rush. simply put he's been the best all right i won't say best i will say most impressive defensive prospect that i've studied so far this year just full stop i mean he's ranked number two in the fbs with 22 pressures uh in the tape matches uh these aren't gimme pressures that he's getting elite run defender watching him on that tape against florida he just shredded both tackles with power, with burst.

6:02He has dynamite in his hands where he's going to go right through you, but he can also line up as a wide nine. And he has that burst off the edge where he doesn't look like a 275 pounder with that initial quickness and that dip around the arc. So he can win in different ways. And I mentioned this before, but he was such a tough guy to get a hold of to figure out this summer because the 2024 tape just it was very meh, but it was hard to figure out, OK, how much of that is injury related and how much of that is just he's not taking that next step. Turns out injuries had a lot to do with it because he's fully healthy now.

6:41And I don't care what tape you watch, Notre Dame, USF, Florida. He has taken over games and boosted his draft profile in a big way in the process. I know this is a cliche about pass rushers and all defensive linemen want to play with violence, but Ruben Bain just looks violent when you watch him like every single rep. He's trying to get his hands on you get inside of the of the offensive tackle and like it just looks like a Tasmanian devil the way his arms are flying around and he's just trying to bully the guy he's going against and the consistency with which he did it against Florida really stood out to me where every time I'm watching him on a pass rush rep.

7:24And you're right. He's, he's a good run defender as well. He's got 14 run stops per PFF this through this early going of the season. But yeah, particularly as a pass rusher, the violence just really, it really feels like it jumps out to me. Yeah. And so like you thinking about the body type and the way he can affect the backfield. So we're thinking like Brandon Graham, George Carl Loftus, like somewhere in that range of like a comp of a player where he's not the longest, but he's very densely built and he plays with power, plays with violence, a good athlete in terms of burst off the ball in terms of what he can win.

8:03He can win high side. He can win two way. He there's a lot of ways he can win. It's not just speed. It's not just power. So I think that there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic about him going to the next level and having a very high floor of a guy that you just, you want to make sure he's on your team because of the way that he goes to battle every single play. The motor is nonstop. Like show me the film of him taking a playoff because I haven't seen it yet. Just not in his DNA. It's not how he plays. So for and this is a game against Florida where Carson Beck wasn't at his best. The offense was fine, but it wasn't great.

8:37It was really up to the defense to shut things down. And can they do it the rest of the season? Maybe they've got Florida State coming up here in two weeks at Tallahassee. That'll be a fun one to watch, especially with a mobile quarterback. So this Miami team, we're still figuring things out about them. But I mean, it's hard to disagree with them being ranked so high in the polls at this point. And Bain is a huge reason why. Yeah, it was a rainy night in Miami. You're right. I mean, we talked about Carson Webb back at the end of last week and it was it was fine. I don't know. He had the ugly pick.

9:11It didn't look like he had good command over his throws. And maybe that's because of the wet weather. But yeah, I mean, on a night where the offense wasn't really anything to write home about having a pass rush like this is, is a nice thing to have, uh, that you can fall back on particularly, especially, you know, Florida tried to make a game of this in the second half. And, uh, you know, the offense, they did their part. You get to 26 points, but man, this defense was, was tough to go against. And I wanted to, we talked about this last time we talked about Miami. Ruben Bain is the headliner for sure.

9:45But another nice night from Akeem Mesidor as well. Batman and Robin, right? I mean, and we talked about it. I think Bain is seen as the more high upside, higher ceiling NFL prospect. But Akeem Mesidor, nine pressures in a sack on UF. He's got 19 pressures on the year. That is a hell of a tandem to fall back on if you need something to work every single week. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Mesdor is coming off the injury. He's going to be a 25-year-old rookie. So there are some things working against him just as a prospect. I don't know that he's going to be someone we're talking about as a top 50, top 60 pick.

10:25But you can't argue with what he's doing on tape and the production he's putting up. He's winning. They're lining him up inside, outside. He's able to win in different ways with that quickness, with that power. A little bit of a tweener where he's right around 275, 280. and so is Bain but Bain's clearly an edge where with Mesidor I think you could you know we've seen him line up in the middle inside in the past a few more questions to his game but I'm glad you brought him up because I was going to if you if you didn't because it's where I don't want him to get lost in the Bain talk because he is the way he has played this year he deserves the praise as well, even if there are a little more questions to his game.

11:08Very, let's not get ahead of ourselves because week five is loaded, but yeah, Miami, Florida state certainly going to be a headliner in a couple of weeks. If Miami is going to go where they want to, they will eventually need better performances from Carson Beck and the rest of that offense against top tier opposition. But again, I mean, you hold a, you hold an sec opponent to seven points in a prime time spot. Your defense looks like that. I think that's a perfectly nice place to be coming out of September and Ruben Bain very deservingly getting a game ball. No doubt. And we said last week, the top 10 this year is very looking very unsettled.

11:48Bain's one of the few guys that's making a strong flag plant to, hey, I deserve to be up here talked about with anybody else. And it's hard to argue with it. if Bain was the main headline grabber among draft people coming out of the weekend, the other one was the quarterback that played up in the shockingly lopsided game between Indiana and Illinois. I think Fernando Mendoza, maybe not the strongest statement of the season, but the first big statement of the season. I mean, he had a fantastic game. Indiana beats Illinois 63 to 10. It is the biggest win ever by a non top 10 team against a top 10 team.

12:31Hoosiers 12th straight win at home. And yeah, I mean, the stat line is phenomenal. 21 of 23 for two 67 and five touchdowns. But Dane, you actually, you wrote about this on the athletic today. We're recording this on Tuesday. So by Wednesday, if you're listening to this, you can go read it on the site. But let's contextualize this because I agreed with your piece very much. this was a strong statement from Fernando Mendoza, but also maybe not something we need to lose our minds about, at least not one week into this or one month into the season. Excuse me. Yeah. And Indiana, because Mendoza's played well this year, but Indiana's faced three inferior opponents.

13:11And so this, what would it look like against a better defense? Now, Xavier Scott was out for Illinois, arguably their best defensive player and prospect. Sounds like he's going to be down the rest of the year. Maybe comes back later. We'll see. But credit to Mendoza. Yeah. Over 90 percent completions. That's all right. Five touchdowns and like no turnovers. That's a that's a key part of this as well. He now leads FBS 14 touchdowns, no interceptions. And I'm not trying to throw cold water on on it. It's just, you know, some of the praise is over the top with with with Mendoza. And I get it. He looked great.

13:46He had one pass attempt over 20 yards and it was incomplete. 17 of his 21 completions were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. This was very much a take with a defense is giving us type of performance. And that's not meant to be criticism at all. The job of a quarterback is to move the sticks, not make mistakes and impact the scoreboard. And Mendoza did exactly that. So in no way am I criticizing him because he played a heck of a game. And I thought this there were a lot of plays that I think really summed up him as a prospect from this game. He's outstanding at layering throws. That first quarter touchdown that he had from the 11 yard line, which I thought was best throw of the night.

14:24It really showed the poise, the placement, throwing to the back of the end zone. I think that put them up 14 to seven at that point. And they didn't look back. I think what I love the most about what he did against Illinois was how he showed how he can handle pressure. He's really smart pre snap. And that gives him an immediate head start post snap. So he handles the blitz extremely well. And I think of the Morgan Freeman gift from the Dark Knight. He's smart enough to sense your pressure. He quickly finds vulnerable matchups. And your plan is to blitz this quarterback? Good luck. And these are the stats.

15:01Okay, just going away from the tape, just looking at the stats. Since the start of last season against the Blitz, Mendoza, 64 % completions, over 1 ,500 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 80 first downs, zero interceptions. And so far this year, he's just he's been sacked once on on blitzes. So he is finding answers to the test based off his pre snap reads and understanding how the defense is trying to attack him. So and I think there were some plays in this game where, you know, one of my big concern, not big concerns, but areas of his game that I don't love is he's just not a high end physical talent.

15:35His size is good. Arm strength and mobility are closer to average than above average. And that that does show up at times. But his poise, his football IQ, the accuracy, those are the type of qualities that you can bet on for him to be an NFL starter. I think you highlighted in your article as well. You know, he showed he showed some nice mobility in this game. You highlighted a play where he made a playoff schedule and dumped it off to his guy in the flat. He had another third and four scramble in this game that is like it's not impressive when you're talking about major college or pro football.

16:12But it was nice to see him be able to make plays with his feet and be like, all right, like you're doing this against top 10 opposition in the Big Ten. That registers with me, even if it's not the flashiest play to watch back. Yeah, and he did this last year at Cal where it's just like just enough. You know, I don't need you. The bar for a lot of people has become Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. Right. Exactly. That's not the bar for a functional quarterback play. Can you just extend plays enough where you're not going to be a negative in that area? And I think that he has shown he can do that more times than not, which is which is very promising to see.

16:52Um, but yeah, it'll be interesting the rest of the way with a very unsettled quarterback, um, situation at the top of this draft. He's a junior. So has eligibility left. His younger brother is his backup. So how will that affect his decision-making about, Hey, I don't, I don't, I, my brothers, he'll be going into his third year. Do I, does that affect, or does that affect his decision in terms of, well, if I come back and he's not going to go on the field for us until his fourth year in college. so there's some interesting things there by the way did you see the QB1 poll that ESPN had on Saturday I did and it was it was just as muddy as what we've talked about on the show well and no votes for Mendoza which is interesting and no votes for for Dante Moore Oregon quarterback which I thought was interesting and I mean I would agree that Lenora Sellers probably the front runner right now, just for context, Pete Tamel had a poll of 25 scouts and execs about who would be quarterback one right now.

17:57Sellers got the most votes, which I would agree with. But I was texting with a scout how silly a poll like this is in September. Area scouts are not watching other areas. So a Southeast scout, he might think Nuss is quarterback one, but he's not watching Sellers. He's not watching Mendoza. He has no idea about all these other quarterbacks around the country. And even the national scouts, they haven't been on the road enough to seat all these guys yet. So I get why ESPN does this. It draws eyes. Heck, we're talking about it right now. But I would take that poll with a pound of salt because it really means nothing.

18:30And it's funny. I remember they did this last year. And I remember, so I went back. At this time last year, so Thamel did the same exact poll. He asked 20 scouts for who would be the quarterback one, nine votes for Shadour, five for Carson Beck, four for Jalen Milrow, and then one for Quinn Ewers and one for Cam Ward. So out of those five guys, Ward is the only quarterback who was drafted top 75. Just something to remember when you see a poll like this, this early in the process. That actually that perfectly complements what I was going to say, too, is like, let's even let's just let's just say for the sake of argument that scouts and general managers have gotten eyes on everybody.

19:14Cool. You've seen them play four games and 80 % of those games have come against competition that is not worth mentioning. You know, like among the big time quarterback prospects, like let's say there's six of them, we probably have like four games to go off of that are worth giving a crap about. So like even if you've seen them all play, the picture is just so incomplete. And I think Cam Ward is a perfect example where like at this time last year, he had played an impressive game in the swamp. And, you know, maybe that stood out to people, but you haven't played the vast majority of your schedule by this point in the season.

19:55So, yeah, it's it's it's very premature. And the year before that is Jaden Daniels, who we weren't talking about this year at this time, two years ago, we were not talking about Jaden Daniels as a top two pick. That just, you know, he was trending to being maybe a first round pick, but we had not gotten there yet. And so, yeah, these things are very fluid. And it's, you know, I think that a lot of fans kind of think like there's a secret vault where the NFL keeps the quarterback rankings and everybody else is just trying to catch up to the rankings that are in that vault. Scouts and teams are trying.

20:31They're catching up to all this, too, because we're getting new tape every week. We're getting new examples, new evidence of what these guys can do. And that's why it's so important to keep an open mind with what Carson Beck is going to do this year, with what, you know, all these, especially these young guys, Lenora Sellers and Arch Manning. And these are very young players. And that's why, even though the early results have been disappointing somewhat for this quarterback class, part of the reason for that is so much of the promise was tied to young guys. And so with Sellers being a little bit up and down with the way that Arch has played with, you know, some of these other quarterbacks, whether it's Sam Levitt or, you know, all the promise that we were kind of hoping for with Nussmeyer and some people really like Cade Clubnick, you know, like a lot of these guys are young.

21:22And so there's going to be some volatility in their games. And we just need to keep an open mind as we get the full body of work this year. And to bring it all back to our game ball, it's not to hate on Fernando Mendoza. He played a great game, but I think right. I think we are. People are are thirsty. People are parched and crying out for a quarterback to get excited about. And this was this was the best game played by a notable quarterback prospect so far this season. It was a good game. I don't think it's going to change my opinion about a whole lot. Yeah, Indiana spams the hell out of RPOs and credit to Mendoza.

22:01He did a great job of hitting his guys in stride and finding the open man. But I'm going to pump the brakes on rearranging the quarterback rankings just yet, even though it was admittedly a very good game. So, yeah, if we're just looking at the quarterback rankings and let's let's just take Arch out of the conversation. I'm kind of sticking with what I had coming into the year, and that was sellers. Sellers, if we're taking Arch out of it, Sellers, then Nuss, then Mendoza, who were all kind of in that top 20 discussion for me in my early top 50, I kind of feel good about that right now. Now, obviously, that could change a week from now if Nuss goes out and struggles against Ole Miss or who knows two months from now what it's going to look like.

22:44Some of these guys might go back to school, but at least where we are right now, I'm not making any drastic changes to my quarterback rankings at this point. Plenty of time for that to change. Like I said, we got some big matchups to talk about heading into the weekend. We got a couple more game balls. Before we do that, let's take a quick break first. Are you always searching for that one hoodie you'll actually live in? The one that feels just right on the couch, on a plane, or out on a hike? I found mine with Paka, and now it's the only one I reach for. Paka makes outdoor and lifestyle apparel from Alpaca Fiber, one of the world's most sustainable natural fibers.

23:18Their best-selling hoodie is softer than cashmere, warmer than wool, and breathable. And this hoodie is built for real life, thermoregulating, odor resistant, durable, and made to last. Each one is made start to finish in Peru and features an Inca ID that's hand woven by artisans, honoring generations of knowledge and traditions and connecting you closer to where your clothing comes from. Over 250 ,000 people have already picked up the pack of hoodie. What makes it even better? Personally, I love wearing mine inside. Actually, I'm always someone who wants to throw like a blanket on when I'm bundling up.

23:51But sometimes other hoodies are a little bit too heavy. They're not as cozy as I want them to be. Not at all the case with Paka. They feel warm. They feel cozy, soft, just like a blanket. And for a guy like me, that's what I love. So if you've been thinking about leveling up your hoodie game, this is your sign to do it now. To grab your Paka hoodie, go to www.pakaapparel.com. That's www.pakaapparel.com. summer can smell like so many things for example citrus in the sun spontaneous road trips and warm backyard evenings that stretch on forever it's a feeling you want to hold on to long after the season ends with pura's summer fragrance collection you can restore your sense of place bringing the moments that define your summer right into your home exactly the way you remember them clean fragrances, smart control, all from your phone.

24:47Visit Pura.com to shop the summer collection. One thing I love about summer is how easy everything feels. Days are a little more relaxed and I find myself reaching for the same comfortable go anywhere pieces again and again. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. They focus on well-made essentials that naturally become those everyday staples you live in all season long. Quince's 100 % European linen pants and shirts are breathable, easy to throw on, and the summer upgrade your rotation needs starting at just$34. Their tees are soft enough to live in all day, and the lightweight cotton sweaters are exactly what you want when summer nights cool down.

25:24Everything at Quinn's is priced 50 to 80 % less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for exceptional quality, not brand markup. Let's rewind a little bit. Let's go back to those tees. Do a lot of different things in the summer. Go to the pool, go to the beach, play with the kids, go to work. Yep. Even in the summer, work is still a thing. And these tees from Quince, they fit all of those and more. Basically anything you can think about. In fact, just last weekend, I went to a music festival with my wife, had one of my Quince tees with me there too.

25:53So they fit every single situation you might be looking for in the summer. Make your summer wardrobe easier. Go to quince.com slash athletic football for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too. That's Q U I N C E.com slash athletic football for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com slash athletic football.

26:20All right, Dane, two more games, two more game balls. We wanted to highlight. We talked a lot heading in about the matchup between Utah and Texas tech in Salt Lake city. wanted to hit on that for a variety of reasons. Texas tech did get the dub 34, 10. I would just say 34, 10 implies that it was this beat down and the score didn't really, the score didn't really get out of hand until the last five or six minutes of this game. Very, very fun game between the red Raiders and, and Utah couple, couple of things that went out of whack. Honestly, it was disappointing to see Baron Morton left the game injured.

26:56You know, he had 149 path, 142 passing yards and two picks when he took a hit to the head. I thought true freshman backup Will Hammond made some really impressive throws, but that can be, uh, that can be for a draft show three years from now. Uh, but yeah, we, we wanted to highlight the Utah offensive tackles, Caleb Lomu and Spencer Fano, who even in a loss, I came away pretty impressed with what I saw. What about you? You and me both. I thought they their youth definitely showed at times. But overall, I thought they showed a ton of promise and why scouts and evaluators are excited about him. Spencer Fano at right tackle.

27:35He got himself in trouble with especially when his hands aren't right. They get a little high hooks rusher, especially when they attack his outside shoulder. He had that critical ineligible downfield penalty, which brought back a touchdown. That was tough. One of the few explosive plays Utah had on the day. Right. So to get that called back, it's just a miscommunication that you can't have. But I still feel pretty optimistic about him. He's a latch and drive bully in the run game, even if the sustained strength needs to be better. He moves well in his pass sets. He has the right demeanor. Overall, I thought it was a solid game, except for a few key mistakes.

28:10Lomu, it was similar. I thought that there was a play in the late second quarter. Lomu, the left tackles, line up against Romello Heights. He sets wide, even though he has outside help with the tight end. And that just the wide pass set invites the inside rush. Lomu cannot match heights quickness inside. It flushes the quarterback who then throws an awful pick. The interceptions on the quarterback is just a terrible decision and throw. But again, you can see Lomu's youth throughout this game where he's still figuring things out. And he's a redshirt sophomore. This isn't a reason to hit the panic button by any means.

28:46It's more just providing that important context when scouting these these young tackles who are going up against some some pretty athletic edge defenders and really a defensive line that's pretty good as a whole. I love when my notes sync up with the guy who writes the beast because I was watching this game back and throughout the game, Lomo's like speed to the edge is so impressive. Like he can just erase an angle very, very quickly. And the one time it didn't work. Yeah. He set himself up to do that and got beat inside and just a horrific play where I was like, wow, it kind of jumps out that he got, he got beat in this way, but over the course of the game.

29:28And I mean, look, I get it. You make a mistake that leads to an interception. You can't just hand wave that away. But over the course of the game, he looked pretty comfortable dealing with everything they were throwing at him out there. his foot quickness and i think the thing that just is the most impressive to me his ability to catch his balance which playing offensive line is all about recovery because you're you're playing defense you know you you are reacting uh in in pass pro you're reacting to what the defense is doing the pass rusher is doing to you and his ability to catch himself and to recover is remarkable so a lot of times he doesn't need to because again like you like you said his foot quickness to be in the right position is outstanding but his ability to catch his balance is fantastic um i both these guys just they need to get stronger and they need to see more reps so the players we saw in this matchup are not the same players we'll see on tape uh in november late november around thanksgiving because they will be that much better based on this experience that they've had so i again no reason to push the panic button at all i thought both showed the promise that, um, you know, we were all kind of hoping going into this one.

30:37Real quick. You mentioned the, the ability of the Texas tech D line and look, Hey, they got, they got a, at the end of the day, what you would call a comfortable win over a ranked team on the road, big win for them. David Bailey, he's credited with a sack in the box score. I thought that was more of a cleanup effort than anything. Um, but, but overall, I mean, what, what did you see from, from the texas tech front on on from their perspective of things right and obviously we don't think of defense when you think of red raiders right but uh they've invested in that side of the ball and this this game was a perfect example of that uh especially on that defensive line um and i throw jacob or rodriguez the linebacker in there too because he had a heck of a game but yeah bailey i thought was okay um i i worry about him as a as a run defender yeah There were several times in this game where he was able to be moved from a spot and there's really nothing he could do about it.

31:31But when he has a chance to rush with speed, that's really like, OK, yeah, I get why the scouts are excited about him, why he has a as a place at the next level. Romello Heights, again, he's a little more of that similar where he's a tweener. He's active and you love the play demeanor. But again, the fit and the role you're kind of worried about. But then I don't want to leave out the interior guys, too. Lee Hunter and all these guys are transfers Lee Hunter coming in from UCF six, three and a half, 330 pounds, not the most rangy. I don't love his ability to impact the pocket. He doesn't do it consistently, but his strength at the point of attack.

32:11That's what you like about him. He's a two down run defender. And I think he'll be part of some type of rotation in the NFL. And then Skylar Gill Howard, kind of the opposite from northern and northern Illinois. He's a hair under six foot, 290 pounds, a little bit undersized, short, squatty. But that initial quickness that he plays with, the lateral range allows him to knife through gaps and create those negative plays you're looking for. So this this front, really the front seven for Texas Tech, and they've got some guys in the secondary as well. It's going to make Texas Tech a contender no matter who's at quarterback.

32:43The Big 12 is very gettable, especially this year. So, you know, it's it's past due time. We talk about Texas Tech as a possible playoff contender. look the winner of this game was going to have a leg up by virtue of staying undefeated and now tech is on their bye week this week but uh they go on the road to play a currently three and oh houston team i mean you got you got a road trip to arizona state they got a game against byu who is in the top 25 now so i mean it's it's not all easy the rest of the way but if you can go into to salt Lake city and beat Utah fairly comfortably, then yeah. I mean, like this is a team that we should, I expect them to be in the playoff mix.

33:25I expect this to be a team. I mean, minimum of nine wins, maybe more than that. I'm, I'm excited to have an eye on these guys all year. Yeah. And we'll hopefully port, um, uh, Morton can come back healthy. Um, it was not a good first half for him. Both of his interceptions were under throws, not great passes. Um, and then he He didn't have the second half to kind of, you know, right to ship. And so hopefully he's able to come back and put better performance on film for scouts. Last, but certainly not least among the game balls, Oklahoma edge rusher, our Mason Thomas, man, who he was on your preseason on your preseason top 50.

34:06He was on your preseason watch lists. and I don't want to say I forgot about him, but there was a lesson to emphasis because he was suspended for the first half of this game against Auburn for a targeting penalty the week before safe to say he made up for lost time in one half of football. He finishes with four tackles, two sacks showed some impressive chase down speed dominated Auburn's offensive line when he needed to. One of those sacks was a walk off to get a safety on Jackson Arnold and basically put this game to bed. Sooners get a big win over Auburn. And I find myself wanting you to tell me more about our Mason Thomas.

34:50Yeah, after not playing in the first half to come out there, the first series of the second half and go get a sack, put them in a third and long situation that they couldn't dig themselves out of. And then the final series to go get that that sack safety was was huge. And look, our Mason Thomas is he showed up a lot last year. Would have been a top 100 pick if he came out after after last season. He goes back to Oklahoma and the size is what it is. You know, he's six one and a half, 249 pounds, just under 32 inch arms, under nine inch hands. That's a nonstarter for a lot of teams. but that first step burst the ability to affect the quarterback that's real and so even though he doesn't play long there's violence in his punch um so he's not only just like a wide nine type of rusher so but there is going to be a lot of debate about okay do we draft him top 50 if we don't feel 100 he could be a true every down player or is he going to be more of a sub package guy so there's going to be a lot of debate about that but there's no question this is someone that can play at the next level and his ticket's going to be his ability to rush the passer like he did against Auburn and it's it's painful watching Jackson Arnold hold the ball back there because it's just get out your sundial um it's and I even sent this message to you during the game was it's amazing how besides you know Cam Newton in that historic season like Auburn cannot get quality quarterback play like the last 20 years I mean I I know Bo Nix was there but it wasn't the Bo Nix we saw at Oregon or certainly in the NFL.

36:27No, it was not. Auburn has really strong. Jarrett Stidham was fine, but if Jarrett Stidham was the best quarterback you had, it's just, it's really unfortunate. And I know Auburn, it's not like they're not trying. They went after a lot of quarterbacks this offseason. Some of the money they were offering for guys like Brendan Sorsby at Cincinnati before he decided to stay put. A couple other guys, and they end up with Jackson Arnold. And Arnold's fine. and he could run around, but he just doesn't give you enough in the passing game. That's going to help you win games on the road against a good opponent like that, like, like Oklahoma.

37:03And so that, that was a, it's unfortunate to see for an Auburn team. That's got talent. The history of Auburn quarterbacks in the NFL draft. You've got Jared Stidham from a few years ago. Yeah. Then Jason Campbell's a first rounder. I mean, after, after Cam Newton, you jump all the way back to Jason Campbell, which Yeah, that was over 20 years ago. That's what I'm saying. You're talking 20 years ago. And then after before Jason Campbell, you got to go back to like 1990. You're right. It is. Sheesh. It is not a position that has produced much in the way of NFL talent, despite the fact that, you know, Auburn is usually a pretty good football team.

37:41That is that is kind of wild. And I did. I wanted to highlight the R Mason Thomas, the first sack where he likes Superman dives on Jackson Arnold. It's it's a really fun play. it's so much fun and you could see it coming but also I was like what am I supposed to take from that other than the fact that the quarterback held the ball for eight freaking seconds like I don't really I don't feel like I learn a lot about a prospect when that happens but it's still really fun I'm firmly in favor of it but Jackson Arnold we gotta let that thing rip my man yeah yeah this is gonna be a fun Ed Rusher class because there's there's all shapes and sizes you know Kedrick Falk's over 270 Baines is 275.

38:25Um, you know, there, there's a lot of bigger guys, but there's also some of the underside quote unquote undersized edge rushers too. So this is, this is going to be another, uh, pretty interesting edge rusher group in our Mason Thomas is squarely part of it. I also wanted to highlight our guy, John Mateer, who we gushed over a couple of weeks ago. And I'm going to shout out my guys over at the solid verbal podcast. when I say John Mateer, little bit of Baker Mayfield to him. Like we kind of, I said, I said that might be a lazy comp because he wears an OU uniform, but after watching his go ahead drive in the last five minutes, yeah, man, you drop a deep ball in the bucket to your receiver, 31 yards down the sideline.

39:09You know, he doesn't look impressive as a runner, but he makes people miss. He's not afraid to plow over a guy at the goal line. firmly willing to say little bit of baker mayfield to this guy it's too much on the nose right it just because it does fit in so many ways like guys that were doubted and overlooked at a high school um guys that transferred to oklahoma and became heisman contenders and you know we've talked about material before i think there's the two big differences obviously baker he went number one overall because of his accuracy. Matier doesn't have that type of accuracy. And so what I want to see from him the rest of the season is just, can he consistently show he can put the ball where it needs to be?

39:53And then I want to see him cut down on turnovers. He has at least one turnover in every game. And then can he stay healthy? This guy invites contact, which I mean, cool. Like that's, you know, Jane Daniels did this too in college, and he was able to stay healthy throughout that year at LSU, that final year at LSU. mature it just feels like he invites it a little bit too much like i get it man you're you're a tough runner i your play strength uh your finishing strength the way that you will uh get every yard and every inch i love it but man sec competition ain't no joke like you need to get through the season healthy and so you're helping your team and so hopefully that's not an issue for moving forward because it's it's a lot of he's a true dual threat weapon no doubt John we're all very impressed it is okay to slide or go out of bounds at least on occasion maybe not at the goal line with the game on the line but like you know what two or three times per game that is okay all right it was a really fun week four those are the game balls respectfully it pales into comparison to what we got on deck in week five we're going to preview all the big matchups real quick we're going to take our last break and we'll get to it on the other side

41:04all right dane like i said this is this is what you go to work for this is why we're fans of football it is an incredible slate of games there there's a lot of them we're gonna hit on quite a few but there are two big headliners we are going to talk about at the same time at the same time dude there's hey get your get your quad box ready if you've got a spare tv or a laptop lying around This is going to be a weekend where you're going to want to have multiple monitors running at once because it's not just the night games. Like there are several big games on at two thirty. There are two or three really fun ones on in the early window.

41:43So find a way to watch more than one game, preferably find a way to watch four or six because it is that type of weekend. But it does start with the six thirty games on NBC. Oregon goes to Penn State for the whiteout at Happy Valley. And at the same time on ABC, Georgia plays host to Alabama in a rematch of the frickin the thriller from last season in Tuscaloosa, the game that put Ryan Williams on the map. Now we get to see what it looks like at Sanford Stadium. I'm going to start with the Big Ten game, Dane. Start with Oregon, Penn State. first big big test for both of these teams really i mean oregon's been mauling everybody they've played like name programs you know northwestern and oregon state these are teams we've heard of but they have clearly outclassed everyone on their schedule this offers like the first true test margin of victory for the ducks so far 42 points this season but with a combined record of two and 10, just to give you an idea.

42:49And then on the other side, Penn state just has not played in anybody at all three games. They were off last weekend, average margin of victory of 38 points. They've played Nevada FIU and FCS Villanova. So we're about to find out this is, this is the first real test for two teams with very real national title aspirations. I'll leave it to you where you want to start because there's a lot of stuff to get to. I mean, I think the main attraction is the quarterbacks. And so Oregon's Dante Moore. He's been outstanding this season. He's gotten some of our game balls the past few weeks. 75 % completions, 11 touchdowns, one interception, several big plays.

43:33I mean, this looks like an NFL starter. But to your point, it's been against average competition. Average being the nice way to put it. So what will he do for his first real test against a respectable defense in a very tough road environment? This is the whiteout game at night at Penn State. So there's a lot we need to learn from Moore in this one. And this would be a fun one with with coordinators. You know, Penn State's defensive coordinator against Oregon's offensive coordinator. What kind of position do they put the quarterbacks in? Drew Aller, just like we said with Moore, he's been fine and not quite as good as Moore.

44:09but he hasn't faced anybody. So 65 % completions, only four touchdowns in three games. I don't know. I mean, it just, if you're going to be a legit contender for best team in the nation, top quarterback, I mean, you would like to see him beat up on some of the lesser opponents on the schedule. Cause now it gets against the better teams. And so it just, it, a little disconcerting that is his best game really going to come against Oregon as opposed to Nevada, FIU, Villanova, maybe. And if it does, good for him. But this is going to be Oregon will be one of the two or three best defenses that Aller will see all year.

44:49And this this is going to be there'll obviously be a lot of scouts and NFL personnel in the building. But this will be a tape that every single T every single NFL team watches for multiple reasons, but especially these quarterbacks. It's really funny the way you can be not impressed by the same thing, basically. Like for example, Dante Moore has turned enough heads to the point where like people are putting cut ups of him on social media and they're saying like, oh, look at this throw. This is an incredible throw the way he leads this guy. And we've talked about Dante Moore on this show and I kind of roll my eyes where I'm like, cool.

45:26In a clean pocket, he led his receiver who had three steps on his guy. Like, I'm just not impressed by that. If you are, that's totally fine. I don't really care. and then at the same time i'm like well drew aller why aren't you doing that though like i it's not impressive but i would like you to do it and penn state's passing attack look i mean they've won all these games comfortably they're absolutely loaded i'm not writing off penn state but like as somebody who puts the rundown for this show together i have occasionally felt a little guilty that this is the first time we're saying drew aller's name but then i look at what they've done and I'm like well why should I like at the very least why don't you have 11 12 13 14 touchdowns to one interception this year like what's what's not clicking with Penn State and am I supposed to believe that it is going to click into place against maybe the best team they'll play this year yeah I think the offensive line's been inconsistent bringing in a lot of new receivers Tyler Warren's no longer there obviously so I think there is some chemistry and just You want everything to gel the right way.

46:34And that's not to make excuses. I think that's just the reality of a lot of offenses that first few weeks of the season. But here is late September now. So, you know, we're not no more excuses. This is time to go out and produce. And so for both Aller and Dante Moore, this is a big game to show not just for playoff considerations, but to say to scouts like, hey, yeah, I'm a future NFL starter that you want to bet on. in the draft. And this is a big game to show that. So, um, it's not just the quarterbacks though. I think both left tackles. This is a big game. Um, Isaiah world for Oregon has, and drew Shelton for Penn state.

47:13Both have been fine. Like I, both were in my top, I think 30 of my, of my top 50. So I'm going to try to do this on a show like this, where we're going to say a thousand names, I'm going to try to give people at home a guide. So when you're watching, so Isaiah world was your number 28 prospect drew Shelton. The left tackle for Penn state was your number 27 Isaiah world wears number 76 and drew Shelton wears number 66. So just if you're, if you're watching on Saturday, trying to keep it all straight, I'm trying to be here for you. And I appreciate that too. because that's both these left tackles.

47:56You can see why they're ranked where they're ranked. Like you see the talent, but they're also both very inconsistent technically and just overall as as finishers, the ability to match speed in space, the ability to sustain blocks and finish in the run game. Like there's just these little details that they're just not there yet. But again, you see the talent, you see the size, the movement skills, You see why they're ranked where they are. But this is a game where you're facing really good edge rushers for Penn State. Danny Dennis Sutton and then for Oregon. Help me out with the last name. You you.

48:37Mateo Uyunglele. Perfect. Thank you. I'm not good with that one. I need to work on it. But these are good edge rushers who will test the offensive lines. And it's not just left tackles. I think Penn State's left guards really good. You want a Dawkins at center is a good player. Oregon's got a good center. So this is a the quarterbacks are going to be kind of the headlines, but the offensive lines are going to play a big part in whether or not these offenses find success. We are going to lay where's number 10. Just FYI, he was Danes number 18 overall prospect heading in three sacks in four games.

49:16Again, either one of these teams stats, just stats don't feel real for Penn State and Oregon because I'm just like, OK, cool. Like you've just been beating up on bad teams. Let's see what happens on Saturday night. A couple other guys like just going off of your listings, a couple other guys that felt worth. Highest ranks, highest ranked on my top 50 in this game. Tight end, right? That is correct. Kenyon Sadiq, who we have talked. We've talked plenty about him. He was 17 on your board. Number 18 for the Ducks, which is it's a fun number for a tight end to be wearing, but an incredibly fun mismatch kind of guy.

49:53He kind of he literally jumped on to the national consciousness in the matchup between these teams last year in the Big Ten title game where he leapt a defender on his way to the end zone. So I'm excited to see what he does for an encore. Oregon running back and Makai Hughes, number 20 for the Ducks is interesting. He's been MIA, which is, it's interesting because the Oregon running attack, they they're deep. They've got a lot of guys and Hughes is supposed to be Tulane transfer coming in, supposed to be a big part of it. And he hasn't been. So I don't I don't know what's going on with that situation.

50:28And are we going to see more of Hughes in this one? But that is and they haven't really needed him necessarily because they run games and very good. That's always something that I question when you don't need to kick into high gear to beat teams. Right. So I'm very interested if they've been what exactly the situation is with Mekhi Hughes and whether or not we're going to see him see more of a role in this one. Speaking of backs, Penn State has a couple as well. Nick Singleton and Katron Allen both figure to feature heavily in this game, too. yeah singleton's just a he is going to be a pre-draft darling with the way he tests like he's going to be 220 pounds might run a 4-3 um i mean it's just he's explosive as they get for that type of size uh katron allen he's going to be the opposite where he might run a 4-7 but man this guy knows how to play football like there is a spot in the nfl for him so a really good uh combination that Penn State has that's really going to test that Oregon run defense, which is led by one of my favorite players in college football, Brian Boettcher, the linebacker for Oregon, former baseball player drafted by the Houston Astros.

51:41Still hasn't quite said, you know, what is he going to play baseball? Is he going to go to the NFL draft? Scouts think he's going to lean NFL just because they feel like that's where his heart is. But, you know, he's already been drafted by Astros draft him pretty early, Like I don't maybe 13th round, something like that. So, you know, I love the 13th round is early for a baseball. I know. Right. Right. The thing I love about the baseball draft is there's no set rounds. They kind of just when everyone's kind of done, that's when they end it. And like, all right, I think we've 42nd round. All right.

52:16I think we're good. Everything about the baseball draft mystifies me. And like the money, the bonus pool that you have to like pay guys and all. yeah it it it it eludes me but fortunately we we talk about the nfl draft which is my saving grace yes yes but bryce betcher um yeah number 28 he he had an interception um uh but last week or against northwestern i believe it was um he is really smart he's a center fielder in baseball so you know he has range you know you know you see that hand-eye coordination with the way that plays. So I'm a big fan of his and the way he plays this, the temperament and the demeanor.

52:56So can what is how does he hold up stopping these two running backs? That'll be a big emphasis in this game from a scouting perspective. Penn State, a three and a half point favorite, which basically says, you know, the people that set the lines are viewing the home field advantage as a pretty deciding factor in this matchup, which makes sense. I, you know, it's cliche, but I think Drew Aller is the most intriguing piece of this whole thing because he's, I mean, the guy's six, five, two 30. He's got a rocket arm. I like, if you're just, if you're doing, if you're just going on measurables and how you look, this guy should be like the runaway favorite, or at least one of them to be like a top quarterback prospect, but he just hasn't looked that way.

53:41He hasn't looked that way to this point in the season. doesn't mean that he won't, but there is no time like the present. And if Drew Aller looks like an elevating difference-making sort of player, then like I said, people are desperate for a quarterback to get excited about. This is your chance, Drew Aller. Yeah. And I think this, I mentioned earlier how just keeping an open mind to quarterbacks is so important in college. So many times people see a quarterback like as a sophomore and they kind of make up their decision about him and they don't give these guys any grace that hey he might get better last year drew aller is a much better quarterback than we saw a sophomore year if drew aller is a much better quarterback as a senior than he was as a junior which that happens guys get better then i think people need to go back and you know kind of change their how they view this player now if he doesn't if he struggles mightily against this oregon defense then uh and if he's not helping them win, then all of those concerns will be amplified.

54:43And some of the criticisms, a lot of the criticisms will be will be warranted. But I just think it's important to keep an open mind with these guys, both Dante Moore, this being his first real test. And then Drew Aller, who a guy we've seen, this is his third year as a starter. It's time for you to have a big time moment in a big time game and show that you can put the offense on your shoulders and go create if that's what it calls for. And it might end this one against a really good opponent. you're so true. And I will do my best to keep an open mind, but this is, I mean, this is the first meaningful impression.

55:17And one of the biggest impressions of the year for both of these guys and whether it's fair or not, I know the way the football viewing public works. And if you make a bad impression on this stage, you can overcome it, but it's going to take, it's going to take some time. You know, Penn state gets Ohio state on the road much later on this year. a bad performance here is the type of thing that's going to follow you for quite a while. And I mean, it definitely pertains to Drew Aller, but it could pertain to Dante more just as easily. No doubt. And obviously we've seen it with, you know, it doesn't matter what Arch Manning does the rest of the year.

55:50People are going to remember that Ohio State first impression, and that's what they're going to stick with. Like that just I get it. That's the nature of how this works. But, you know, I remind people all the time, Jane Daniels, what he looked like in his third season or fourth season compared to now some guys it just takes time and so with with aller we'll you know just I'm not saying one way or the other like this is he's going to play great or he's going to be awful I'm just keeping open mind to whatever the tape says at the same time all of this is happening DeBoer is going down to Georgia as the Alabama Crimson tide do the return game against the bulldogs bama we know the score here they lost a shockingly one-sided game to florida state in the season opener they fell out of the top 20 for the first time in almost 20 years i was in college eating chicken wings in like a secondhand recliner that i found in a dumpster last time alabama was outside the top 20 just for reference uh life's changed so much for you over the years.

56:54I mean, I still have the recliner, but everything else is much nicer. I promise. Uh, yeah, I mean, Bama has handled their next two opponents. I mean, they beat Wisconsin and somebody whose name I already forgot by a combined UL Monroe by a combined score of one 11 to 14. They were on a buy last week. Georgia's undefeated. I would say they, they don't look like the fire breathing monster that I associate with Georgia, at least to this point in the season. Very unimpressive against their rental wins on the schedule. And then, I mean, they did beat Tennessee on the road. I get it. Bulldog fans, but you give up 500 yards of offense and 40 points and you go to overtime.

57:33That's not what I associate the Kirby smart Georgia Bulldogs with. So a lot of time left in the season, but yeah, two, two programs that I don't think have measured up to their very lofty standards, but getting a win against the other one, particularly if you're Georgia for what Alabama has sort of been to them during Kirby smarts tenure. I think particularly for Georgia, this is a great way to reassert yourselves. I'll say. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. And I, I mean, I think you're right because you think of Georgia and you think of multiple first round picks every year. Who's Georgia's first round pick this year?

58:12I'm so, I'm so glad you said that Dane. It's interesting to me, the, the spread. And again, home field advantage plays so much of a factor in college spreads. But Georgia's favored by two and a half. When I was previewing this game and like I'm looking at your preseason lists, I'm going looking at where all the prospects are. And I'm just I came away from it. I'm like, man, Bama Bama has way more talent, according to the experts, than Georgia does in this particular game. At least that's the impression that I got. Am I right about that? I mean, Georgia has talent. There's no question. It's just it's unproven talent, right?

58:47It's guys that were high recruits and can play talent wise. But what's the impact? And I think if you if the draft were tomorrow, their highest drafted player, maybe C.J. Allen, the linebacker, but he's not a slam dunk first round pick. But even honestly, I think of Alabama, too, like they don't have it. Then this is where so Caden Proctor. He's really starting to worry me. Like he is struggling this year and it's some stuff is coachable. Yes. But when you're just not getting better in certain areas in terms of understanding, timing your landmarks, like I just, it's, it's, it's fair and a bigger guy that you worry about weight management and him being able to hold up.

59:40It is fair to really worry about Kane Proctor who has not taken that next step like I was kind of hoping he would coming into this year he was a high on my or my preseason top 50 he has not played up to that level at all which kind of a theme for a lot of the guys in the top 10 this year uh but Proctor is a guy that I think it is absolutely fair to worry about he needs a bounce back game in this one in a big way to kind of right the ship a little bit um but Alabama is another team that again they don't have those easy slam dunk this is an easy first round pick lt overton he's been fine this season he's had he had a few moments against wisconsin i still want to see more from a player like this who has talent but again we think he has a shot to go round one all right let's see the first round tape and not just focus on oh he's got first round traits and we're going to trust that that'll eventually come out let me see it on film and especially against a really good opponent so alabama and georgia both these teams i think we're desperately wanting someone to step up and announce themselves as, Hey, I'm a first round pick.

1:00:48A lot of these guys probably have the talent, but okay, let's go see you do it on and put it on film and impact the game in a big way. What are your thoughts on a Georgia defensive tackle, Kristen Miller to this point in the season? I like just looking back. And like I said, I know Georgia gave up a ton of yards and points to Tennessee, but I saw, I saw some encouraging snaps there. Like he is a fun guy to watch, particularly as a run defender. that's his specialty as a run defender and they have such a heavy rotation in that georgia defensive line just like always um where you're just not going to see a high volume of snaps but when he's out there yeah he's good he's solid he's fine um i don't think he's making too many impact plays maybe one or two a game so he's another one especially with alabama supposed to get jam miller back in this one so the running back that's a that's important to watch this uh senior running back class.

1:01:40Jim Miller, I think was number three for me coming into the year. He's been banged up. And then also for Alabama, they're getting Tim Keenan back, the defensive lineman, who is a really, he's a draftable player. So getting those two guys back, hopefully healthy, big for their opportunity as well to kind of say, Hey, don't forget about us. We're, we're draftable players as well. I'm so glad you mentioned jam Miller, number 26 running back for the Crimson tide. I just think he's a, he's a fun fricking player, man. Like I love his decisiveness. I love his physicality. He caught a touchdown on a wheel route against Georgia last year in this game, which a nicer receiving play than you see from a lot of college running backs.

1:02:23I, if I'm looking for reasons that one team might have the edge in a game, I saw jam Miller's available for this. And I was like, Oh, I'm excited to watch that. Yeah. Especially in jail and Milrow, when he's throwing to the running backs, They're not exactly the most catchable balls. Some of those are missiles. And like, remember, he's a running back. It was a nice catch. Yeah, you got to finesse it in there. Yeah, Jim Miller. That was a good that was a nice catch. On the flip side for Georgia's offense, I want to see someone one of these skill players step up, whether it's one of the running backs, one of the tight ends with Lucky and Delp.

1:02:58What about one of these receivers? Colby Young is is a good player. But can he I'm not expecting you to take over the game like Ryan Williams did last year. But, you know, I want to I still want to see you be a more consistent weapon for that offense. Sakariah Branch, maybe with especially with the lot of those screens and bubbles and trying to get them in yak opportunities. London Humphreys, Dylan Bell. So which one of these Georgia receivers or skill players can step up? I'm glad you mentioned Branch. He was on everybody's radar when he was at USC. and I mean he is he is leading the Bulldogs offense right now 11 catches 181 yards to this point in the season the two tight ends you mentioned Lawson Lucky number seven for Georgia Oscar Delp number four it's just been a slow start I think they've combined for like seven catches so far this season so I'm I'm curious to see what that looks like I'm curious to see Zachariah Branch in another big opportunity against a team with as much talent as Alabama has who among those three big names in terms of like draftable prospects yeah like it would be nice to see one of those guys have have a noteworthy game i think they're gonna really want branch to be the guy in this one where you're gonna see a lot of quick throws get the ball in his hands let him go create and try to put stress on that defense and we're probably just set up the big play down the field by doing that enough um but this is an alabama secondary that uh has talent i mean bray Hubbard.

1:04:29We've talked about the safety who had the lackluster start against Florida State, but then bounce back in a big way against Wisconsin. Domani Jackson, the corner on the outside is a really good player. So this is going to be a good matchup of defense versus that Georgia offense. Bray Hubbard, number 18 for Bama. Yeah, I got to believe he's going to play with his hair on fire. How could you not after what happened week one? And like he took accountability for it after that game, I got to imagine he's going to be flying all over the field. Even like just, even if he's not doing a great job, like you just like, give me some effort this time around.

1:05:08I just got to imagine that's going to happen. Uh, you mentioned Damani Jackson, number one for Alabama key on sob is another one. The other safety number three. I mean, yeah, I guess it is a valid point on your part. Neither one of these teams is delivering on the amount of talent that they have on their roster. I think Alabama has a lot of guys that you've heard of. I'm curious to see if they play better than they did against Florida state and maybe getting guys like jam Miller and Tim Keenan back. I mean, Alabama shouldn't have any problem replacing injured players, but maybe getting quality players back in the lineup can help with that.

1:05:44It, I just, I think for a game like this and Bama played so well in the Georgia game last year, Like I expect to see like the full version of Alabama, not whatever we saw week one, whether that's enough to win the game. I don't know, but I just think I think this will look more like the Alabama that we're used to. And I'll be I'll be pretty disconcerted if they don't. Honestly. Yeah, I think that's fair. Two more players I want to mention. Jeremy Bernard, Alabama receiver, who is just he's going to be a good pro. I don't think he's a great pro because I don't think there's anything elite about his game necessarily, but he just does everything really well.

1:06:23That's going to translate to the next level. And then Daylon Everett, the corner for for Georgia, one of the better senior corners in this class. If the draft were tomorrow, I don't maybe he sneaks into the top 100. I think he's kind of right there on the cusp based on just the feedback I get from scouts with Daylon Everett. So this could be a big game for him just to kind of inch his way if he wants to be a day to pick. Jeremy Bernard, number five for Alabama, Dalen Everett, number six for Georgia. You have no idea how proud I am that the guys in my notes are the guys you're mentioning. We didn't coordinate this.

1:06:59Just happy for myself. That's why this works. All right. Those are the two big ones. There's plenty more we're going to hit on. We'll do it a little more quickly so we're not here all day, but there are so many good games on the docket for Saturday. Let's jump to the early window, 11 a.m. Central, 12 p.m. Eastern. USC goes to Illinois. Illini looking to bounce back after just a brutal loss to Indiana on Saturday night. We've talked about the USC receivers and wanting to see them play better competition. I think this would qualify. It sounds like Jacoby Lane doesn't sound like he's going to be available, but Makai Lemon, somebody to watch in this game.

1:07:41Is there anybody else that jumps out to you? well i mean yeah i think we're overdue to talk about jaden maiava the quarterback um 70 percent completions nine touchdowns no interceptions um you know somebody's got to get the ball into the hands of all these weapons that usc has um and and he's done a nice job of doing that limiting mistakes and just being a distributor makai lemon uh the the yak uh the ability i i think i was i don't know that any other receiver on that usc offense has more than double digit catches but then there's lemon where you know where the ball is going and he still is able to make plays so um again that illinois defense is banged up they're missing xavier scott um he hopefully we see him at some point later this year but he won't be playing in this one so the it's it's at illinois and you know we'll see if that home field advantage helps them at all but this is a usc offense i like to throw it around and you know credit to mayava and lemon and those guys i I think they need a little more pub as prospects.

1:08:41At the same time that's happening, Notre Dame faces Arkansas in Arkansas. Dane, do you want to know what the over under for Razorbacks fighting Irish is? Guessing it's high, right? So. 50. 64 and a half points. And I'm taking I'm taking the over all day on that based on what we've seen. from Notre Dame and Arkansas. Yeah, no, exactly. I mean, I've watched both of these teams play defense and I don't have much reason to believe like 42 points is going to need to be your score to get this thing over the finish line. Should be a lot of fireworks. We've talked plenty about Talon Green, another chance for him to do something with a national audience on him.

1:09:29But you wanted to talk, one of my favorite things in college football where you say like, okay, yeah, I know you're excited about the main guy, but, but this other guy is the one that we need to be watching. And it sounds like we might have that going on in the Notre Dame backfield. Yeah. Can we give more love to Jadarian price? Jeremiah love is awesome. He's a first round player, but price, I don't think is too far behind him. I mean, he's averaging 6.9 yards per carry this year. He's already had five touchdowns a little more unproven in the passing game than, you know, you want to see from a running back that you're getting excited about.

1:10:07But man, I love watching his balance, his tempo as a runner. And like we said, that Arkansas defense is basically Swiss cheese. And so I'm very eager to see what this Notre Dame offense can do. Like I said, I mean, points galore. I don't know. I don't know how good either of these teams are in the grand scheme of things, but there should be plenty of incentive. It's the perfect early window game. That is what I want out of an 11 a.m. game. Like, I don't have time for some 24 to 10 nonsense at 11. I need I need like a 42 to 40 shootout to get the day going. Hopefully that delivers Darian Price number 24 in your programs.

1:10:46If you're watching that one real quick about Taylor Green, you mentioned him. Someone we've talked about. I get why people are excited about him. I really do, because every game he teases big play potential with both his arm and his legs. And we saw it against Memphis just this last week, even though it was a loss. But it's the mistakes every game that just it's like an anchor on his the ability to get excited about it. It brings you down because it's yeah, that looks great. That's great. But then he throws a bad interception or makes a poor decision. And so Memphis, another multi interception game.

1:11:21This is a development player until he tells us he's not, you know, and he needs to take better care of the football. if he can do that against Notre Dame's inconsistent defense, it'll certainly help. But it's still something you want to see on film from a player who's an older guy has still, you know, played a lot of snaps. I want to see you cut back on these bad decisions and just show off your talent. So far, he hasn't been able to do that. God, very excited to see the point total in this game between these two teams. As far as like under, under the radar games go, Like if we're not counting the headliners, I think this is the game I'm most excited about on on the day.

1:12:02And we'll we'll see how right I am to feel that way. But Ohio State, number one in the country, talent galore, NFL dudes all over the place going out to Seattle to play Washington, who feels like the most under the radar undefeated team. And I understandably so like they haven't really played anybody. They play on the West Coast. A lot of their games are happening after a lot of the country has gone to bed. But I don't know. I think this could be a feisty Washington team. Jonah Coleman, number one for the Huskies, their star running back. He leads FBS football with nine rushing touchdowns. Denzel Boston, I think, is a guy that is going to jump off the screen to football fans because he's like six, four and a half and just attacks the football like he's the perfect.

1:12:51he's just a fun player to watch. He's the perfect like fade ball wide receiver. Who's going to go high point the thing and score a touchdown. So I don't know. I'm intrigued by this Washington team and I'm intrigued by what sort of test they can give Ohio state. And I I've been to Husky stadium. That is a loud place. That is a, that is a tough place to play as the road team. So not, not calling for the upset, merely just saying that I think this could be a good game. yeah i think so too especially um ohio state's coming off a bye so they've had time to um you know really prepare for this one washington's defense has really not been very impressive and so ohio state it's a young defense or a young offense and so their quarterback needs to you know scoring uh you know 21 points might not be enough in this one so they need to go out there and score put points on the scoreboard glad you mentioned jona coleman i mean he is he's played really well this year uh it has been against lesser competition or at least not top competition but short stocky really dense lower half um burst through the crease uh much better than what he at least what we put on the 2024 tape he's averaging almost seven yards a carry um and the vision and the jump cut ability at that size i think is just really impressive he his percentage of big plays is it's got to be among the best among all running backs in college football.

1:14:19So with Ohio State's defense, it's going to get a lot tougher and very eager to see that success rate against Sonny Stiles, Arvel Reese and everything that Matt Patricia's defense throws at him. I'm going to say if you want to watch college football like Dane Brugler zero in on Jonah Coleman and Arvel Reese, I have a feeling he's going to have a close eye on that. number one for Washington Reese wears number eight for Ohio state, I believe. Correct. Yeah, that's, that's going to be must see TV. If you're a draft nerd, no, no doubt. Plenty of other talent on Ohio state. I think we've, we've covered that well enough, but yeah, I think this one way or the other, this is an interesting game because it can show us just how good these players on Ohio state are, or maybe Washington.

1:15:03Yeah. Washington can, can leap onto the radar a little bit in a, In a game that people will be awake to watch for a change, which you can't always take for granted with the Huskies. Down in Oxford, Mississippi, 230 window, LSU and Ole Miss. You know I'm glued to this one. This is the game that gives me more anxiety than any other every single year. But plenty of reasons to watch if you're not an LSU fan. Obviously, Garrett Nussmeier. For me, Dane, though, I can't wait to see Ole Miss receiver Harrison Wallace go against pretty much everybody on LSU secondary, but preferably for our purposes. If we can get Harrison Wallace number two for Ole Miss lined up against Mansour Delane number four for LSU, that's that's what we want to see here on this podcast.

1:15:53No doubt. I mean, Delane's been Clemson Taint, Florida Tate. He's been outstanding. um and so this is a game where it always feels like fireworks um what was the final score of the game two years ago with jayden daniel like i mean that was it was something in the 50s it was i think it was it was 50 to 48 something just one of the one of the worst four hour blocks of my life was so stressful sorry i didn't mean to bring it up 53 to 48 excuse me i didn't do it justice oh wait no that oh god that was a different that was a different uh lsu all miss game yeah that that was the game where kashaun booty uh has scored like five touchdowns in a game 55 to 49 a couple years ago when jaden daniels was on the team just this is just the most bonkers rivalry and i hate it i hate that it has to be played the latest wrinkle did you see who lsu linebacker Whit Weeks is dating?

1:16:53I did. Yeah. I wasn't sure if we were going to bring that to this show, but yes, I mean, Whit Weeks is apparently dating Landry Kiffin, daughter of the head coach. So as if this needed any other drama, we got that going for us. It's amazing. I mean, only college football. It's just amazing. Like that's just, it's not that this rivalry type of game needed any more spice, but that definitely spices it up. We talked about it the other day. I mean, LSU has a draftable player or more at all three levels of the defense. So that is worth watching. I mentioned Harrison Wallace. I'm just going to selfishly actually as a draft nerd.

1:17:35I want to see Trinidad Chambliss continue to play for the rebels as an LSU fan. I don't really want to see him play like he looks really good and I'm a little afraid. So, yeah, there's a lot of there's a lot of angles here. I'm guessing. Yeah, it'll probably I don't know. LSU's defense has been so good. Maybe they can actually hold Ole Miss to like less than 40 points for what would feel like the first time in years. What's the over under in this one? Do you have that? I can pull it up one sec. Yeah, the history of this game tells us it's going to be a high scoring affair. But to your point, LSU's defense is playing pretty well.

1:18:13And Ole Miss held Tulane to what, like 10 points last week. So they got after the quarterback Ratzloff in that one. So two defenses that are playing a little bit better. But yeah, history says this is going to be a high scoring affair. Over under set at 55 and a half. So even with as good as LSU has been on defense, people are still expecting some points in this one. And I can't say I blame them. Yeah, I can't blame them either. We mentioned Fernando Mendoza. I don't know how much you want to talk about this game as a whole, but I do think it's interesting. one week after a huge home win that put them on the map, put them on the national radar.

1:18:50Indiana's going on the road to Kinnick stadium to face Iowa. It's a tough place to play. It is a tough team. Even when I was not good, they're just a salty team to go against. And I just, I want to see how Fernando Mendoza holds up in this matchup and how the Hoosiers in general sort of respond to such a big moment last week against Illinois. yeah we hit a lot on mendoza so just to see him against this defense will be interesting um max uh luellen number 48 edge rusher for for the hawkeyes he's kind of a spark plug off the edge someone to watch for he i think he's a day three draft pick uh for indiana on offense i you know that those pass catchers deserve a lot more love elijah surat's a good size athlete he has nfl starting potential but i'm a big fan of omar cooper jr the other again another theme of this the other uh receiver for indiana he might be the best receiver in the country with the ball in his hands his contact balance the toughness are outstanding the the forced missed tackles are all over the all over the tape he's averaging 12.1 yards after the catch which is uh among the best in college football.

1:20:04So he is, he's a guy, they want to get the ball into his hands and just let him go, go have fun. His run after catch on his touchdown against Illinois. He like kind of tight roped the sidelines. Very impressive. Omar Cooper, Jr. Number three for the Hoosiers top 10 in the country and receiving yards second in the country in receiving touchdowns. By the way, Indiana's got Oregon in Eugene after this Iowa game. So feels like a little bit of a trap game. I'm curious to see how the Hoosiers handle being a team with a target on their back, basically. I mean, they played nobody through the first three weeks, and now they follow up a big Illinois game with this.

1:20:46Yeah, I think this is an interesting spot for them. Last, but definitely not least, if you're sitting around on Friday night wanting to watch some football, I know I will be, you got TCU going to Arizona State. I kind of love the theme here. Arizona State was ranked. They fell out after a bad road loss. Now they get the chance to do the same thing to TCU, who is undefeated and now ranked number 24. So it's a spot for the Sun Devils. Obviously, we've talked a lot about Sam Levitt and Jordan Tyson. Spot for them to say, hey, we can do it to you too, the same way it happened to us. No doubt. Those two guys will kind of get the main attention of scouts for this one.

1:21:29But for TCU, Josh Hoover, that quarterback, has been awesome. 11 touchdowns, two interceptions. He'll attack every level of the field. His receivers are giving him windows. Eric McAllister had a huge game last week against SMU, over 200 yards receiving, I believe it was. Good size speed. He was better with his yak last week, which is a good development for him. I think he's got a shot to be drafted late. And it's a fun battle with McAllister and then Jordan Dwyer. Both those guys are transfers. and what McAllister's Boise State, Jordan Dwyer's Idaho State, I believe. And then seeing them go up against Arizona State's secondary corner, Keith Abney.

1:22:07He had his first interception last week against Baylor. He's kind of looked at as a day two potential guy at corner. So to see him go up against these receivers and this type of passing attack, that'll be a lot of fun. I don't remember if I've mentioned him on previous shows. What do you think about Arizona State running back, Relique Brown? you know i especially with the way that they want to play that arizona state offense where they want to it almost feels like they want to use the pass to set up the run at times with the because and i i get it with a sam levitt and when you have the weapons that they do but if they flip that maybe and really rely on that run game because i i just don't think the offensive lines helped them out enough in terms of opening holes but he has talent no doubt and so So in a running back class where it's very muddled and we're trying to figure out, OK, who's going to step up?

1:23:05He's in that mix where it's like, all right, if he goes out and has a big game, maybe we need to be talking more about him. He's listed at five nine one ninety five, which means he's not even that big typically. But man, I don't care. He's he is fun and physical like he he runs like a bigger player. and he runs angry. And if what has happened so far this season is any indicator, he's going to break a chunk play or two in this game. He's been very fun to watch. I got my eye on him. I got my eye on a lot of stuff. I mean, we just laid it out. We just did like 45 minutes of just talking about the prospects to watch in this one weekend.

1:23:48I'm geeked, man. Like I said, I was feeling it when I got up this morning and this is exactly why. There is going to be something to watch in every window of the weekend. I cannot wait. And that means there's going to be a lot to recap next week when we try to parse through all of these games and figure out, OK, this happened. What does it mean? Because, yeah, there's going to be a lot happening Friday and Saturday. And we'll be back next week to break it all down and try to figure out what it means. Absolutely cannot wait. Dane, enjoy the games. I will talk to you soon. If you're listening, enjoy the weekend.

1:24:26Hopefully it's everything we were, we're billing it to be. We're hoping it can be either way. We will be back to recap it all next week on building the beast. We appreciate it. We'll talk to you all next time.

1:24:48Summer can smell like so many things. For example, citrus in the sun, spontaneous road trips, and warm backyard evenings that stretch on forever. It's a feeling you want to hold on to long after the season ends. With Pura's Summer Fragrance Collection, you can. Restore your sense of place, bringing the moments that define your summer right into your home, exactly the way you remember them. Clean fragrances, smart control, all from your phone. Visit Pura.com to shop the Summer Collection. Thank you.