Hour 2: ‘Overreaction Tuesday,’ plus ESPN CFB Analyst Josh Pate

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0:52Rich Eisen:and may vary based on ingredients. This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen. Snacks. A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys, you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. See paypal.com slash protection terms. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern.

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1:53Rich Eisen:This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Jackson Darks took a shot. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Devontae brings it in. Earlier on the show, Bengals head coach Zach Taylor. Coming up, ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate. Steelers defensive tackle Cam Hayward. 49ers tight end George Kittle. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:26Rich Eisen:Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Great chat with Zach Taylor, who, when I asked him, take us in a meeting room with you and Joe Burrow, what's it like? And he walked through the entire week from one game day to the next game day and had no idea the Saturday night before the game, the quarterbacks all get together with the coaching staff and play a game of Jeopardy that's put together by Sean Clifford, the lowest man in the quarterback totem pole. That's pretty cool. What a great story. And how they play Jeopardy based on the upcoming opponent. And they all want to win. It's competitive.

3:04Rich Eisen:Who knew? At any rate, George Kittle and Cameron Hayward in our number three. Cameron is one of our usual Tuesday guests. Same thing with Josh Pate, who's back here on the program. Good to see you, Josh. How are you, sir? I've never been more invigorated, Rich. A lot of really weird slash awesome things happening in the college football world right now. I'm looking at the schedule down here on my bottom, bottom screen. If you look at the SEC this week, do you know you can make an argument that the sixth highest profile game on their schedule is number 19 versus number 24, which would be Missouri versus Mississippi State?

3:40That is a loaded weekend down there.

3:42Rich Eisen:Well, I imagine because a lot of teams in every conference, right, have mostly made it through undefeated, or in the case of Oregon, not, but, you know, as just one. And so rankings are high, and we're trying to see who's real and who's not, and conference play is going to start setting it up. Let's put it this way, very excited for conference play to start after. as Dick Vitale might call it, Cupcake City for so many different organizations, Josh, right? I was reading, I think it was Scott Dotterman's work this morning about how radically different next year will look because week zero doesn't exist anymore.

4:24So like week one becomes what week zero was. And he was writing about how different conferences are taking different approaches to how they move the games around. I think a couple of these leagues are just going to flat out jump into conference play, like right out of the gate early in the year. I don't know that the Big Ten or the SEC have to do that necessarily, but that weekend the Big Ten threw at us last week was ridiculous. Can't happen. We cannot have big noon kickoff at Kent State, Ohio State again. We got to mix that.

4:55Rich Eisen:Yeah, I know. That happened. And then Western Kentucky against Indiana. And let's start here because we'll obviously get to LSU and Ole Miss in a second. but since you mentioned some of these Big Ten cupcakes, Indiana really hasn't played anybody just yet and there's still some folks who are getting on Josh Hoover at least enough to get Signetti to say this from the podium. I think there's too much scrutiny on Josh Hoover right now. Unfair scrutiny. After watching the game tape, he missed one throw. The one he missed to Becker, we did a bad job picking up the blitz at running back, and he had a guy in his face, the one he overthrew early.

5:42He missed Marsh. The one to the right, it was his third progression. We didn't run a good route to the field. Should have been open, but wasn't because of the route. Came back to number three, who didn't run a great route either, and the ball got overthrown. and the only other one would have been the one to Marsh maybe down the sideline. But, you know, really that read there should have taken them to the field dig, which was open. So, and we had to kind of hash that one out as a staff to make sure that we were all on the same page, what was going on. So, you know, I'm glad he's our quarterback.

6:31Rich Eisen:Other than the heavy fingered typist that was making sure that we got a transcript that was accurate. You speak fluent Signetti. Where did this one come from? Why are you hearing this? You had the big takeaway there. I hope we never lose the keyboard tapping. That is the modern day flashbulb because we don't get those anymore. That's right. Good one. Yeah, that's good. I love that. So you remember when you and I were talking before the season and I told you I went up there in spring because you had Signetti on your show later. that day and I said I remember talking to him about Hoover and he had this grin on his face and he just said we got what we needed at quarterback that's kind of the same attitude he has right now and unlike some of these teams like Indiana came into the season knowing they're playing nobody like it was just no we weren't really going to see Indiana on the national radar until several weeks into the year probably Nebraska in a few weeks if not later so I don't you cannot possibly know what's going on there.

7:29Like you cannot possibly know what they are and aren't showing. Like he said, like, like six said, I don't doubt him. It may just be that there's a lot of blame to go around and it's not just Josh Hoover. Here's the beautiful thing. We'll find out eventually. I mean, they play good teams eventually. Here's what I'm waiting on. And this is not just an Indiana thing. This is like a number of teams. We came into the season, rich, believing something about Oregon. As an example, with all the reason in the world to think that about Oregon. And then we found out we were wrong, at least in week two, when they went and played at Oklahoma State.

8:02So there's like the trust but verification process in college football. It's always been that way, but now more than ever, because of how thin the rosters are just compared to a generation ago and how much churn there is in the sport overall roster-wise relative to a generation ago. So I think it'd be foolish to believe the same thing doesn't apply to Indiana. Granted, they built up a whole bank of equity last year with what they did and how many people they proved wrong, including me. But what if all that's said and all that sounds good, and then they go and it's 30-27 on the road at Nebraska in the fourth quarter in a few weeks.

8:38Maybe they come out with a win, maybe they don't, but we're kind of looking at them saying, wait a minute, that feels a little different, which we're not supposed to be able to say about Indiana right now, but that actually would be in line with what's happening in the rest of the sport. We got a do or die game happening in Baton Rouge, Louisiana this weekend already. Some would argue we've got kind of a quasi playoff elimination game out in the L.A. Coliseum with USC and Oregon. USC is undefeated. But if they lose that game, who's to say they're going to be able to beat Indiana, beat Ohio State?

9:08So my point is, if Indiana is a little shaky coming off a national title run where they had the number one overall pick in the draft at quarterback, that wouldn't be the most insane concept in the world.

9:20Rich Eisen:Yeah, right. So while we're waiting for Indiana to get tested, we saw Texas and Ohio State test one another. And then obviously what went down in Oxford on Saturday, you mentioned about what's coming up for LSU. But what did you learn from LSU and Ole Miss? Just an epic battle in a quintessential college football environment. Yeah, dude, before the game or before you talk about the game, I had a couple of different instances where buddies of mine sort of circled that game to bring their non-college football fans into watch. They brought in their pro sports minded fan into watch. And they said it was so captivating and it was so funny to watch these people have college football sort of dawn on them in the realization that this sport extends so far beyond the field with all the soap opera, the drama, the storylines.

10:15And it's better than you could script if you've got a team full of script writers. But the beautiful part for me, like I told you last week, is all that's great for them. But these are not seven win caliber teams. These are top 10 caliber teams. So there's a ton of football pieces that you could spend your time talking about. And one of them was I was curious whether we were maybe getting a little bit ahead of ourselves on Sam Levitt after we saw what they did against Clemson in week one, because it turns out Clemson is just not a good football team. So they blasted Clemson, put half a hundred on him, and Levitt and those guys looked incredible in the process.

10:52And I think a lot of people got ahead of themselves in thinking, he is another of several elite quarterbacks in this sport this year. I don't know that Sam Levitt's on that same shelf. Certainly it's Trinidad Chambliss, but a number of these other guys, they're criticizing Arch this way. And I think there's a lot of justification to sort of hold back on Sam Levitt, too, because everybody watched the game. When you watched him, I just asked this. How many times did he look settled? How many times did his feet not keep chopping around? How many times did it look like the structure of that play was what was being carried out?

11:28Now they're facing a dude who knows them back to front in Pete Golding, so that could play into it. It's a hyper-charged environment. You've got really high-level defensive personnel on the other side, but Louisville had just put 38 on Ole Miss a couple of weeks before. So it's not like you can't move the ball on them and score and credit for him in the second half. They eventually did, but I thought Ole Miss had to have the game. I thought LSU would have liked to have won the game, but in the end, what it showed me is there are a lot of pieces up front for Ole Miss that still have game takeover potential.

12:01Will Eccles was just a nightmare all evening for LSU. I think it showed LSU still got a ways to go on that offensive line. It's just, it's a tale as old as time. There's a result in week one that ends up being pretty misleading and it falsely inflates the expectation bubble for a team that still has a fair amount of questions about it in LSU. Now everyone falls back to earth with LSU. In reality, you probably have two results that have properly calibrated what the expectation should be, but that fast forwards to Saturday night because they're facing another team in wounded animal mode. So it's just two wounded animals going at it in Death Valley Saturday tonight and either A &M or LSU is about to be a two loss team before October and that's going to

12:44Rich Eisen:be uncomfortable oh man right like that is some big huge stakes Josh Pate here on the Rich Eisen Show and you mentioned how you had some friends call some non-college football nuts into the room for this game I'm learning uh Josh with you uh who your friends are and who your friend circle is as we're getting to know one another here on this show and um uh clearly I had no idea your friend circle included Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire. Roll it. A couple guys I'd like to thank before we get into questions. I'd like to thank Josh Pate. Keep it up, Pate. He's my buddy and everything. Keep picking against us, man.

13:22I appreciate that you say that he's watched us the last couple weeks and we don't look the same. We don't look the same, but we're 3-0. Okay, there you go. A little shout out. A little shout out. could someone ask Maguire where I was wrong Joseph where was I wrong they don't look quite like they did a season ago it's true they are three and oh here was my crime Rich my crime was going on public live internet and saying I thought Houston was going to cover and Texas Tech was going to win it plays out exactly how I thought it was going to I go to bed like a normal person does after that on a Friday night big Saturday ahead I wake up phone's blown up Maguire has texted me as well oh really he was so proud of his work at the podium there and he was so proud of the win as he should have been uh yeah man i got like a dagger to the ribs when i didn't even have my contact lenses in yet keep it up pay keep it up keep it up see we we cut this drop if you

14:23Rich Eisen:want it for for your college football show or whatever here you go here keep it up pay there you go yeah we can i could send that i can send that drop to you if you want well can we can we do him a favor okay so you recorded a drop for me let's record this for joey mcguire because if we're going to carry this out we got to carry it out to a conclusion i don't think texas tech is what they were a year ago i do think the big 12 is wide open houston texas tech could be a rematch down the road for that matter utah and brigham young look pretty good i'm not ready to write off oklahoma state just yet arizona state i'm not sure if they're back from london where we inexplicably played a conference game last Saturday, but they could be in the mix as well.

15:02So it is anyone's ball game in the big 12 cut. That's about 30 seconds. That should be good to show to the team. Keep it up.

15:09Rich Eisen:Keep it up. Josh Pate's college football show. And of course his Friday show with the bus and boys at two o 'clock Eastern on the road on campus every Friday on ESPN. So Ole Miss next up Florida. And this is a great sound by John Summerall was told. Vegas has them as favorites in this game against Ole Miss. Who's got his favorite against these guys? Everybody. Do they? There's a lot of good drugs out there, huh? I mean, yeah. I did talk to our team about rankings in week four mean nothing. nobody posts anything up in the building about this year's team where you're ranked in week four. Nobody cares.

16:00And the same pats in the back you're getting, if you go out and lay an egg, you're going to be the same hands hitting you in the back and you're just going to have a knife in it.

16:08Rich Eisen:Has Ole Miss proven with that win and also what they potentially can do? Best team in the SEC, can win a national championship, Heisman Trophy, for you the whole thing? Josh, what do you think? Yeah, I'm totally fine with Heisman. I'm totally fine with they can win the national title. I don't know that I would look past Georgia yet. That's kind of a TBD because Georgia hasn't played much of anyone. I mean, they were taking practice reps during the commercial break in Arkansas's building because according to Kirby, they weren't getting enough work during the game. That's something that actually happened Saturday.

16:42So until further, that's a good clip, by the way, until further notice, let's say Georgia is number one but I'm fine with Ole Miss and them being 1A. I will say I was there. I was on the field for Florida-Auburn Saturday. They took the fight to Auburn physically, and that's been a really, really tough place for Florida to play in historically. That used to be an annual rivalry game, but tradition, people can't even spell it anymore, much less adhere to it. So they haven't been up there in a while. But Byron Brown and that Auburn offense, they did some work against that Florida secondary. Now, we've got results just ping-ponging all over the place, so there's like no consistency week to week in how these teams are performing right now.

17:24But what I had echoing in the back of my mind as I saw that point spread open was, one, of course, drugs. So Summerall and I are on the same page there. Number two, it's what could Trinidad Chambliss do to that secondary? Because I know why the line is what it is. This is the biggest letdown spot in the modern era of college football. I don't think we've ever seen anything like it. But if Ole Miss goes down there and it's 14-0 early, I don't care about letdown anymore. I care about Florida having to keep up with the best quarterback in the game. So it's a crazy, crazy Saturday, just league-wide in the SEC this week.

18:00Rich Eisen:So before I let you go on with the rest of your Tuesday, what are you looking forward to seeing this weekend, Josh? What do you want to see? I want to see your boys. I want to see Michigan take care of business against Iowa. You remember last year, Oregon goes on the road to Iowa. It was probably a little bit later in the year. It was like a cold, rainy day in Iowa City. Low-scoring game, not a flashy box score, but I thought Dante Moore in Oregon got a win that probably buoyed his confidence as a quarterback a little bit. I mean, that total for Michigan, Iowa's in the 30s, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what Bryce Underwood can do, what that offense can do.

18:38If it takes throwing the ball 14 times and running it 22 times, so be it. Frankly, I'm comfortable with that game plan. I'm looking forward to that. I'll tell you another one off the radar, Rich. Virginia Tech is going to Boston College. They're a double-digit favorite. They should take care of business. There is a looming game next Friday night in Blacksburg. It's Pitt at Virginia Tech. Pitt plays Bucknell this week, so they should win. That could be undefeated versus undefeated Friday night, kind of primetime standalone treatment for Virginia Tech. So we may get to see that whole James Franklin enter Sandman for the first time in front of the world treatment.

19:19Unless, of course, they screw it up this week and then no one cares.

19:22Rich Eisen:That's entirely possible. Yeah. And then Big Ten play happens. It's exciting. You're spot on about all of this. Josh Pate's college football show. Everybody check that out. and then bussing in Pate on campus 2 p.m. Eastern every Friday on ESPN. Keep it up, Pate. We'll send you that drop. Keep it up, Pate. Great to see you. That's Josh Pate, everybody. He took one in the chops before his contacts were in. That's funny. Great line. It already feels kind of epic. Does this football season feel more epic, college and professional because we've waited so long for it? Yeah. Or it's just, it's wide open in both aspects here.

20:08I think any, you could, a dozen teams in the NFL and a dozen college teams that you feel like could win their respective championships.

20:16Rich Eisen:And I think that just has everybody just a little more sitting up in their chairs. I kind of think so. And certainly since, I'm wondering if anybody's out there, you can call at 844-204-RICH, number to dial, that your survivor pool is already down to like five people in the NFL. it's true that the or or some survivor pools have been won yeah call us if you're still alive i'm out of mine two weeks well i think listen see ya i i should have just done the smart thing and taken um san francisco against miami i just did i try to get cute right try to get cute you're trying to save teams right when it's literally just survive in advance i know and every year i swear to myself i'm going to do it differently than this year nope you don't then i don't no Can't confirm.

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