BIG GAME BREAKDOWN: Biggest Storylines + Keys To Win For Clemson-LSU, Louisville-Ole Miss & MORE!

Welcome back to the Cover 3 Podcast with your host, Chip Patterson, Tom Fernelli, Danny Kennell, and Bob Elliott. It's your call for the best college football coverage from National Signing Day to the National Championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the Cover 3 Podcast. And welcome back to the Cover 3 Podcast here on CBS Sports, that's fun Elliott, that's Danny Kennell. I'm Chip Patterson. Come to you live at youtube.com/cover3 and ever get your podcasts on a man, thanks for hanging out. Smash that subscribe, smash that like and come and join us in the chat, aka the Cover 3 tailgate where they need to set some reminders, alright? You need to get on it, alright? Season started, alright? We told you that it was going to be Tuesdays for Big Game Breakdown, it is something we are doing for you, that's right, on Tuesdays, 11 a.m. Eastern Time, youtube.com/cover3, that's where we are going to be gathering together to go inside the matchup, the X's, the O's, the storylines, the stakes, all of those to be able to give you the context before we give you our locks coming up on Thursday, new Big Game Breakdown day, Tuesday 11 a.m. Eastern Time, make sure you've got it adjusted, throw that calendar meeting on. We are going to be taking a look inside Clemson LSU Ole Miss Louisville SMU Florida State Notre Dame Wisconsin, we've got an upset alert brought to you by Draft Kings, very excited to tell you about, plus at least a word on UCLA Cowboysie State Oregon Baylor Auburn Miami Stanford and much, much more tailgate feel free to fill up the chat with the games that you want to hear us discuss that I wanted to start with a question of the day for the gentlemen and the question of the day is, would you take out a short position on your own head coach to hedge their performance bonuses? This comes as there are reports that short positions essentially, they are essentially short positions that individual games and some of the futures markets in the prediction markets, so we're not even talking about our traditional sports books. The prediction market have allowed for a third party reportedly to take out short positions that essentially would provide the payouts that could pay Lane Kiffin, the performance bonuses he is contractually owed, should he hit them? Does that be a long position though? Aren't you betting on LSU to win the national championship? I think that if he wins, it's $3 million you would win, I thought that was, now that could be wrong, because I just kind of glanced at it and I was like, not surprised. I mean, essentially what these people are doing is becoming Mattress Mack, who is the famous better that always bets on the Astros and all things Texas, the Houston mattress guy, and he hedges his business because he has the giveaway, right? He says, if the Astros win the World Series, I'm going to give away every piece of furniture that you brought during this month or whatever, so he always, that's how he's always hedged his bets and kind of had insurance. But I could be totally wrong, it could be the odd, but I thought it was to protect against the $3 million bonus that Lane would get if they won the national championship. So, I thought it was multiple positions, that this is, I'm sure there are multiple positions. Yeah, that it's like, we are identifying individual prediction market opportunities to be able to jump in on, and this is the way that we are going to fund if we have to pay out. This is the same LSU program that has already met with its important boosters and stakeholders to discuss the involvement of private equity. This is clearly a creative bunch when it comes to the way that they're handling their finances in the new era, where at one hand, we are decrying large payouts and then also backing up tens of millions of dollars to be able to set up the kind of contract that would have large buyouts. Yeah, I think this is a pretty good business for the company offering essentially the middleman between the school and the prediction market, right? What does LSU really get out of this? And LSU is not the only school of doing this, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of schools that are doing this, and honestly, there's a lot of schools that do this for player contract bonuses. The way that some of these schools do this for player contract bonuses. Schools do this for player contract bonuses, correct? Yeah, a lot of these contracts are written to where if you play X number of snaps, you get a bonus, right? So there's essentially a bonus pool that the school holds back and spreads around a bunch of players who might be eligible for if they do play starter number of snaps or what I have you, they get the significant more amount of rev share in IL type stuff. What does LSU get out of protecting itself from these contractual bonuses? I think the main thing they get is cost certainty, right? From an operational standpoint, okay, like we know this is going to cost us this, but we're not going to have to come out of pocket if he hits these or not, right? Because ultimately, LSU, over the moon, to pay these bonuses to Lane Kippen, right? It's of what it means because it means the success has gotten there. Right, exactly. So it's not like they can't come up with the money. I think what they're just achieving here is essentially like a form of stability, insurance, getting some cost certainty as to what their books are going to look like in short order. That's my read on it. I don't think this is like some huge money maker for the Tigers. Oh no, I just think it looks gross. I mean, I just thought that we were in a world where you sign up for a contract and like, I didn't think we needed these high level financial schemes to be able to do either. Okay, I think they're unnecessary. Yeah, but athletic departments do a lot of stuff that is potentially necessary. True, but like people do all kinds of things. Like there's a lot of people who probably shouldn't take insurance, but do, right? Like people value certainty at a certain cost and there's going to be a provider to provide an certainty at a cost. The question was, would you, if you are an athletic director, if you are running the operation, would you engage in some of these financial, and I don't mean scheme to necessarily make it seem predatory or nefarious necessarily, but it is a scheme, you know, it is a plan. It is an operation. Would you, would you engage in these kinds of financial tools to create that cost certainty for your athletic department? I'd certainly look into any kind of like edge, like that potentially, you know, comes along, right? I don't know that I for sure would do it. Like this is kind of a lawyer answer, but like it would depend on the actual details of the contract. Like what fees am I being charged here, right? You know, like there's certainly a middleman fee here to put this stuff out and execute these private contracts. It's not like they're like offering, you know, just a ton of liquidity out there on Polly or Colchey, right? Like ultimately, like these, from reading the article, these were private contracts executed that then Colchey, you know, held, right? So it's not like they're just going and offering this to the public. Like if you're going out on Colchey and betting, LSU, no, for the Nadi, like you're not like taking a position that is directly opposite of the contract entered into by all issues athletic departments, right? Like it doesn't appear so. Okay, so, but there and there's, is it just the current environment of the prediction markets and their regulation that just allow this to not have any kind of oversight? I don't know the you need oversight for this really like like what's there between this and like an oil company, you know, engaging in oil features or private public university of the state versus a private company? I mean, it's it's it's already like a separate entity, right? What that's what I'm saying is I think they're reorganizing all these athletic departments into LLCs for this to be able to engage in these types of corporate high jinks. And I, I think, and again, I might sound like a dinosaur here, I think it's a little weird to have the athletic department of the state to engaging in in these types of, we're talking about a state where the governor got involved in the head coaching search, okay? Where he said President Trump should do the coaching search, who just set out a statement said, don't hate the player, hate the game, we're think of consider the state that we're discussing. I mean, like, okay, let's let's take another state entity, right? The state of Florida, we're Danny and I live, like, would you engage in taking essentially like hurricane features because some of your revenue is tourism based, right? Like, is that what insurance is? In some ways, yeah, but like what, what asset are you ensuring if you're the state of Florida, you're, you're projected tourism revenue, right? But like if you could do that on prediction market, sir, I think I would look into that. Like, it's just, it's part of your business. A lot of you just hedging some of your risk. Yeah. That's just interesting, interesting stuff. And again, the interesting question becomes when you decide not to take it. You see what I'm saying? When you don't trust the success of your football coach. Right. I feel like that happens with the donations when we talk about cutting off the faucet when donors stop writing checks, like UCLA athletic director, Martin Jarman is out. You know, that happened late on Monday, Brandon Marcello's reporting was like, yeah, they they had already started to indicate to the university that they were going to be putting the squeeze on on the athletic director. I'm not cutting checks until you get somebody new around there. Tim Harris, longtime executive of the Los Angeles Lakers, former UCLA athlete, he comes in, says he's working pro bono to be able to fix their financial situation, but their financial situation probably could have been helped by donations and by gifts that according to the reporting was basically iced out based on their current leadership. Yeah, I mean, like South Carolina, I think was also also mentioned in the in the report that I read, like, you know, for them, their odds of, like, I think they were looking into make the playoff or win more than eight games, right? And those are the Shane Beamer, like big money. I think so, yeah. But also, like, if you're South Carolina and you win more than eight games, or if you make the playoff, you also have a cost savings of kicking that biop can down the road. If you think that's a can, you're gonna turn over at some point, right? Oh, like, if he messes around and makes the buyout bigger, triggers some automatic extensions, that kind of thing. No, I'm just saying, like, like, I don't think Shane Beamer's on the hot seat at all, really, but at the same time, like, mess around this year and have another bad year, go five and seven, right? Last year of sellers, you know, like, like, are you gonna have to hit the reset button? What's that gonna cost you? So, but there's all kinds of different things that you could look into potentially insuring against. And a lot of it just depends on what your internal, internal model is saying, right? I am curious as to whether some of these companies are actually laying this action off, or if they're just taking it themselves. Like, just as their own IOU loan sharks with the universities. I mean, no, like, like, they're essentially, like, acting as a market maker, as opposed to just a middleman, right? You know, like, I don't think some of these schools are probably not like dog over at Lambda Chi is essentially what we've become. Right. Yeah, like, I don't think some of these schools are particularly good at knowing if they're going to be good or not. Yeah. Right? Like, some certainly do. And some know, I think when they're going to be bad, but like, you know, internally, they all seem to kind of run fairly optimistic. Okay. So this is the other. Yeah, I went to the for those watching along live youtube.com/cover3. It's we're starting to get back functions are back in the tailgate. Always, always stressful. I mean, listen, I know that we've got a great, huge loyal audience that is still riding with us on the audio side. We and we appreciate you. But man, it is prayers, prayers up for the tailgate when they're not able to get that chat rolling. So it does seem like we are back in action. We do love to see it. That's just like one piece of the the LSU story right now. We're going to be breaking down LSU Clemson on the field in a little bit. But we we're getting real contentious with the southeastern conference after the SEC and the big 10 and the power conferences are putting in rules to prevent pro players from coming back. Lane Kiffin is putting up signs about being the villain. You know, I don't know, man, Danny, I don't want to get to distracted. It feels like they're trying to get me to walk away from the the fun of the games with something that I don't think. Like, I don't think we're kicking out LSU to bring back Sawani. I don't think that. I don't think that. But it's just it's getting a little bit a little bit weird. Are you taking anything away from the way that LSU continues? I mean, this this other, you know, hedging your your performance bonuses. Let's set that to the side. What about the makeup of this roster and whether or not we're going to be following the conference's rules? I think this fits right into Lane's wheelhouse for a bunch of reasons. One, I mean, we talked about think about how the search went down. The criticism that Lane took leaving old miss. Think about the governor the way he got involved. The criticism that they took. So they kind of like this role. They like being this hated person. But I also think Lane, I thought it was very interesting yesterday that he specifically said, I'm always going to be a player friendly coach. I'm always going to take the side of the player. I think this probably plays well in his locker room that he's defending the players that got screwed over and like, I'm sure that's what he's telling them. The fact that he let them vote on it. I think these are all things to try to ingratiate yourself to the roster that there's a lot of new pieces on a lot of moving pieces. He's always been the player forward portal friendly coach that kind of has bucked the trend. And I think this fits right into his wheelhouse. I don't I don't think we say I think a lot of it's save rattling. I think the rest of the SEC is pissed off because I bet there were some backroom meetings and channels that like took place that said, Hey, if none of us sign it will be okay. We don't have to deal with this. And Lane was like, why do why do I have to not sign one? You guys might not have the options that I do. And so I think it's just a mess that you're seeing some dirty laundry air out. But I don't think anything comes of it. Hey, he stepped on real quick, but he stepped to that microphone and he said, I asked every guy on our leadership council. You know, do you want him to be here? He said, if they can help us, we want him. And they're like, you know what, every guy on that leadership council is a transfer. Yeah, you have about that too. You know, like somebody who just showed up a mercenary, we got a team full of mercenaries. And they're like, sure, more mercenaries, bring them on in. I mean, this is a link if it might be a player friendly coach. And you're right. He was the original portal king. Remember like Tiger Kings coming out and he was getting himself photoshopped as the portal king. I just thought that was funny to invoke the leadership council as though the leadership council was a bunch of four year starters that have been there and been like leading the charge for their brothers when those relationships are far more new than that. Yeah, I think LSU is far less likely to win in an appeals court setting or in a federal court setting. And even if they do, like, they have to kind of figure out the risk or award. I talked to another SC head coach about this year of the day, right? And he was like, these guys are good players, but like, our best players in the SEC are not struggling to make an NFL roster when they turn when they turn pro. Yeah, right? So are we going to go through all this trouble to get guys who are like our 11th or 12th best player? And maybe, but like, it's not an automatic risk reward calculation, you know? So yeah, the other thing is they're not going to kick out a little shoe out because that would require, I think, quite a few votes. And then you got teams like Mississippi State and Arkansas and pick a couple more who might be signing their death warrant. Like, you sure you want to you want to sign something that says, yeah, we're going to go ahead and rearrange this conference because there are certain teams in that league that are givers or certainly that are like that are takers, right? And you got quite a few teams that are kind of takers, not real additive, you know, I, I, the way it was reported and like credit to Delanger for getting the story, but like, have discussed. Yeah, sure, they discussed it. We've discussed a lot of crazy stuff at the show. We're never ever going to be on the show, right? Like, yeah, they discussed it. Cool. Yeah. It's the old socializing. They socialized the idea. Socialized it. Yeah. What if we kick them out? Yeah. Yeah. What would it be like reporting that the SEC will comply with court orders? Yeah. Of course. You'll watch any city council meetings recently. I feel like city counselors are great at listening to the constituents complaint. And then they look down at the city attorney and they're like, thank you. We hear you. Can we do that? No, no, we cannot do that. You know, and it's like they're going to internalize. They will listen, but no, I don't, I don't see, I don't see us getting to that nuclear option. But man, it is certainly fitting in to the distracting case. I mean, he, Lane held the whole damn sport all through Thanksgiving in the palm of his hand. He had the SEC in the palm of his hand. We weren't even talking about rivalry weekend games. We were talking about where Lane Kiffin's going to go and whether or not the private jet had to go pick up the dog before they had to go check out high schools in Gainesville. Let's get to football. All right. Coming up on the other side Tuesdays 11 a.m. Eastern time. One more time. I'm going to remind you Tuesdays 11 a.m. Eastern time. That's when we break these games down. So coming up on the other side, let's get it started in the battle of Death Valley, LSU Clemson, names to know and more. Next. The weight is over. Football is here. And so is DraftKings. DraftKings is now live in all 50 states. One app, every sport nationwide. 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All right. Every single Tuesday 11 a.m. Eastern time this season, we are going to be giving you our spotlight on some of the biggest and most interesting games of the weekend. We call it big game breakdown. Clemson makes the trip. Chris Vazina will be our starting quarterback. I believe that news was official, right? Right as we went live. But feel free to take this nitty-gritty. You know, we've talked about these two teams and this game, even from a lot of big picture storyline perspective, when we get into mid October, sometimes we got to remind you the storylines and the stakes, if you've been listening to cover three podcasts, you don't need that at this point. What are you watching wear on the field? Are you paying the most attention? Once we get into the full swing of things, first couple of possessions for the Tigers and the Tigers. Yeah. So I'm confident that Clemson has a good defense, right? Like maybe a very good defense, and I know it has good receivers. How's this rebuild offensive line? Right. Like how does that match up against sort of rebuild LSU defensive line with a lot of young guys who I think are really talented. Doos Gerald make a lot of noise in fall camp for LSU. I think Alexander is another guy like really sorry, Anderson Richard Anderson for for LSU. I think it's a guy who's going to be like a major impact as a run stuff for the LSU secondary is kind of sneaky loaded. So like that's a really fun match up there, but if Clemson has any shot to win this game, they have got to just get the same levit like crazy against the LSU offensive line, right? Like that's a bit of a question mark to me like seating on the left side is rock solid right side of that offensive line. Maybe kind of suspect. I could see Clemson's defense, putting up a real fight here, but I feel like I still have trust in lane to get to a certain number, right? 27. Yeah, I think so, but I do not have trust in Vazina and this Clemson offense at all. Like I, I, I don't have him as like a top half quarterback in the ACC and I have some real questions about the offensive line, I don't know if the OC was an upgrade to be honest and I, yeah, I'm very suspect of the Clemson offense here and I just suspect that LSU defense is going to give. Like going to give its offense enough chances to get to a number that just don't think that Clemson can hit a couple things, reacting kind of agree with a lot, the only thing I'll say with Vazina, I don't know how we grade him, like we have a very small body work. I mean, maybe based on people you're talking to based on what's coming out of practice. Maybe it's based on a quarterback competition with tape Reynolds, you're like, what, what does that mean? I think it's pretty small body of work, though, I think he's probably one of the most unknown commodities of the top 40 programs where you're just not really sure what you're going to get. So I don't know how to slot him. I'm not certain. The other thing that I totally agree with, so going back to when Clemson's like when their downfall started like to start coming their way, I saw this note from our research team. So the last eight game versus ranked SEC opponents, they have, they're oh and eight against the spread, oh and seven straight up and the last seven and that goes back to 2019. One of those games in 2019, they were a favorite, so they didn't cover as a favorite, but then mostly their underdogs and I think the offensive line is a place that even towards the end of their run. They were kind of getting dominated by some of there's not been a position that Clemson has been really strong as producing NFL talent to the next level, especially top tier first round, second round offensive line talent. Now you've got to replace a lot of those pieces, that to me is probably the biggest question mark where it doesn't matter if it's Vizina, it doesn't matter if it's Reynolds. The offensive line cannot get overwhelmed by this, you know, incredibly expensive defensive line that by the way does have some really good players and a defensive coordinator who's been there last season that already had a pretty good, you know, feel for how to get teams slowed down. So I think it's the offensive line is the biggest question me for Clemson by far. I think Cade Klobnik was a talented college quarterback, I think his performance left something to be desired. I think there was a consistency issue, I think that sometimes it just wasn't all coming together. Sometimes it did not look to my eye like he was either seeing it or the communication might not have been there and that might have been as we've learned kind of a breakdown all the way up to the top of the food chain from head coach to offensive coordinator to quarterback. So maybe those things can get corrected, but if Chris Vizina was not pushing Cade Klobnik for the job, what are your expectations? How do we grade him? Like I don't know, maybe I think he might be another Cade Klobnik. Like a jack plus, you know, like, but that ain't going to get it done in Baton Rouge, that ain't going to get you back to a national title. When Cade looked good, Cade did look good. He did not look good in this game. Certainly when LSU came to Clemson to start last season. And he did not look good against Georgia in that season opener when he just looked totally overwhelmed by their inability to reach the lines of scrimmage. I think there are some similarities in Kirby smart and dabble, like I don't think Kirby like he doesn't major in the portal. He dabbles in it, but he's not he just didn't wasn't vocally against it, but he's in house. He doesn't, he wants to build culture. He wants to develop with them and the other thing is I think too, I mean, could could Vizina be a gunner Stockton? Now I think maybe he could at Georgia with those weapons and that defense on the other side. And that offensive line and that offensive line. Yeah, so like I don't think I'm not predicting Vizina to be a Heisman trophy winner, but I would hope they have an adequate quarterback or else they're going to get waxed. I mean, he was a guy who was ranked high early as a recruit, got worse as a senior, looked terrible in the spring game, three out of four games that he's played at Clemson. Now granted, like the three of the four, like we're really small sample throws, but terrible. And then he had a big game against SMU last year. Which it has to stay in for something it does. Yeah, you know, thrust into that starter's role against an ACC championship contender and he, you know, he handled himself obviously not necessarily with the result that they want. If LSU's for real, I think they should smoke them to be honest, like the Clemson has not recruited that elite level in like four years. Those old like Clemson top five top 10 classes are gone. Do you know what's really sad about this from the Clemson perspective? Is there are still a few and they almost seem like spirits of Clemson of old like Sammy Brown, five star player coming out of high school, who's been an impact linebacker from the moment he joined the team is like a player used to see at Clemson all the time. I mean, there used to be more Sammy Browns Bryant West go we had about a decade of Bryant West goes and you know, and TJ Moore's and and they're still there, but we're wondering if they're going to be able to get the quarterback play and we're looking at a young running back room. That everyone's been asking and everyone's got their favorite on who's going to be able to emerge and who's going to be able to be the game changer. But we're still looking for whoever's going to be that next Travis ETN or Andre Ellington, you know, the next player in that line, I think will help will help against Jordan Seaton could be awesome. And I don't know if defensively they try to move health around to take advantage, but of what you looked at, but there are players on this Clemson team that if they joined the 2020 Clemson Tigers would still be starters. But the problem is there's not maybe more than five. Yeah, I mean what West going more are like legitimately really good at receiver right. Here's the problem. You don't snap the ball or throw the ball from wide receiver. Yeah, so we got to figure out how we're going to be able to get the rest of that. You mentioned LSU secondary, but can I ask you to sort of elaborate on the way you see that group coming together because I know they kept PJ and they kept a few players from last year's defense, which is kind of adds up. It had a lot to deal with because the offense was so damn inept last season. They got put in a lot of tricky situations, but they did still go to the portal during the off season to try to pick some pieces as well. How do you see that group coming together? What excites you about that group? Because on my notepad, I was like, okay, I think they're going to be able to get after the passer. They've got some really, really nasty edge rushers, and that could be a lot of problem for Clemson. But now I was also trying to think about defending against more in West go, and I'm just sort of wondering about where LSU is at there, something I'm looking forward to learning for sure. I feel like they're actually sneakily underrated there. The benefit of the guy they got from Boise State can really play like they loved him when they got him and like people who have been through there. Also think he's a stud like that. That's that's a name you'll start to see on some his NFL draft boards. I suspect. Yeah, I can see that. Anything else match up wise that you want to make sure we highlight here? Um shoot Jackson Harris, the receiver for LSU from Hawaii. Yeah, like that's kind of a room like we we know about the tide end like LSU's got a freak there, but it chase brown from Kansas state. No, they're the existing guy that like six foot seven dude. Oh, no, I'm talking about other I was just mentioned another wider. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think like that's an open question with all the shoe Like do they have a one like like who is gonna step up there to be like their guy or is it just lane kiffin scheme and stuff up? You know, you were talking about trade as green. Yeah, I tied in. Yeah. Yeah, I think that it is I've got to trust lane kiffin because I think lane kiffin even if he's got four twos It's still more overall talent than he might have had most years at Ole Miss Yeah, I think so, you know, and what what will this run game look like? Yeah They have not run the ball worth a damn in a while Here's Kaden Durham again to see if he can get it was three straight years of Kaden Durham running back one, right? I mean Good game does like to run the ball like his offense as much we think about him as a quarterback guru quarterback Whisperer offensive play car. He likes to run the football That game is going to be Saturday night 7 30 p.m. Kickoff time down in Baton Rouge The debut of the lane kiffin era and maybe dabbo's dynasty trying to get a little death rattle in death Valley on Sunday one of just a couple games on Sunday But certainly one of the ones is gonna have the spotlight is some ranked on ranked action Ole Miss taking on Louisville this game will be in Nashville in Nissan Stadium the home of the Tennessee Titans Danny first word to you here We've got a lot that we feel like we know about with Ole Miss in terms of Pete Golding did lead this team to the final four and Trinidad Champles is back and Qon Lacey is on the damn sphere in Las Vegas I mean we're buying Heisman stuff all over the country time square Las Vegas. I feel like I know the rebels Louisville maybe a little less so what's the what's got your attention trying to break this match up down? So I think Jeff Brahm is one of the more innovative offensive minds in the game I think Lincoln Keenholz is one of those quarterbacks that maybe just was really good But wasn't good enough to beat out Julian Sandrohio state I do know he's gonna be more mobile than what Jeff Brahm has had probably in his last decade So I'm kind of curious to see how he uses Lincoln Keenholz I also think maybe it opens things up for Isaac Brown. Do we have a? We have a status update on Isaac Brown. I think he's good to go Okay, that's what I'm like I think he is the most important player in this game because he is a dynamic running back Burst out his freshman year last year banged up It's a draft year coming up This should be a showcase game for him, right? I don't want to see him Limiting reps or I mean if they want to win this game They need to get Isaac Brown going and I do think Lincoln Keenholz being mobile will help him with that They run some sort of that quarterback run game that could keep the defense on us somewhat But I think he's probably the most important player if Louisville is to win this game Yeah, like I think we know we haven't tried it ad we know we have in Lacey I think LSU or sorry, I think Ole Miss has done a pretty good job at Receiver we'll see on the offensive tackles, right? I think the offensive continuity should stay pretty similar coaching staff wise like it's not laying calling it But it's very similar concepts to what they were running and I'm sure he's pretty familiar with what Trinidad Chambers You know felt comfortable doing I Think honest like both these defenses are are pretty underrated guys like I think Louisville has some real players on defense I know Ole Miss like like I think they have one of the most underrated lineback in course in the SEC I think they're really good up front and they brought in like a lot of veteran experience to help bolster a secondary It was kind of like kind of questionable times last year, right? And so I I think their defense a little bit underrated. I think I really trust Louisville's defense for the most part You know secondary wise will we'll see like if Ole Miss is way better at Receiver than I project That that may be a real problem for the Cardinal, but also I I think Danny hit on something really important here the mobility of licking kindles, right? Like is the canals are kindles. What I'm I was just about to ask you. He knows. Sorry. I thought I'll get you go ahead I'll double check. Yeah, I mean Like I'd be a little probably I think they're gonna I think they're gonna have to run him a pretty good bit Honestly, and like that that's something you know You wouldn't have seen in the spring game stuff But like I bet you if they got a chance in hell to win this game He's gonna have to really do some stuff with his legs and You know Because I don't know if I really trust him as a passer. I like try Richardson I think Lewey McCoy was kind of an underrated signing in the portal like obviously they paid up a lot for him But at the same time like he did show some nice flashes when healthy last year at FSU You know, I Wouldn't be surprised this game's a little bit sluggish Yeah, you know think about to Louisville. I think is underrated From a physical standpoint. I there are always fishermen. They pushed around Clemson the last couple years It's not just I mean maybe three years They have gone toe-to-toe with Clemson who has been at the top of the class of the ACC Now can Louisville do and they dominated Kentucky but I get Kentucky was down But how do they physically stand up to Ole Miss? Think they'll I think it could be a little bit more of a rock fight with you on that I don't trust man Trinidad's a playmaker too. I don't trust Louisville's defense at all Really okay at all Ron English steps away The other co-coordinator was not retained. We're promoting Mark ivy. This is his first game as a play caller At the college level and you're going up against this offense and that quarterback I'm I thought just think it's a little weird, you know, I just I think it's a little bit because on paper The group, you know, like you've still got Lubin right like you still got a couple the great edge rushers in terms of defensive talent in the ACC I don't know man. You got you got a good defense last year and One coordinator just going to step away from football for a year the other coordinator was not retained But we're just going to promote internally. I don't know man. Not a This this one might take this one might be a group that takes a couple games to really find their footing and everybody gets settled into all of their new roles and new responsibilities And I think this is a bad opponent To be able to be facing in that kind of scenario. So the Other side of it, you know, you were talking about oh missus defense I that's a great like on paper or reality if they show up and they're awesome Then I'm like, okay, that makes sense because on paper it looks great But it is all like pieces that have been put damn fantasy football roster, right? And if the fantasy football roster hits and all your draft picks are good congratulations You're competing for a league championship, but still got to go out there and prove it before I'm ready to go I'm not all I'm not like I'm not tackling the betting side of this necessarily But in the sort of matchups and looking at the way these groups stack up against each other The change in coordinators the change in play callers has me hesitating to copy and paste defensive expectations from one season to the next when it comes to the Louisville Cardinals Turning our attention elsewhere How about Notre Dame Wisconsin? What do you want to see from CJ car, bud? Uh, well, I want to see how he plays without a run game to lean on You know, uh, I think that that's gonna be really really important for them Um, I want to see like do they have a legitimate number one emerge, right? Like like I think You know, I look at that That group and I think there are a lot of good players in that group But do they have a guy who come play off time other defenses are really scared of individually? Mm-hmm collectively, I think it's a really nice group and you know generally I'm not a fan of receiver by committee in college But it can work if you have like sometimes you have this like legitimate NFL quarterback who can really see it fast Distribute the ball most college teams like the vast majority college teams That doesn't work right or at least not at like a high level But maybe car is that good and like so maybe they don't have That guy as a number one who really really scares you, but maybe he distributes the ball extremely well And I think immediately you want to see these running backs right like like how How will they run the ball now? You know, I think probably still pretty good But they just lost two first round running backs like that hasn't happened in quite a long time I think they'll be fine running it. It'll be interesting to see who steps up I'm I mean, I think Luke fickle. I think Wisconsin is better this year We saw some of those pieces on the defensive side of the ball show up late Colton Joseph His legs me we talked about it with key holds and some I think Colton Joseph They're gonna like they have struggled to keep quarterbacks healthy. They've struggled to generate offense They've struggled with offensive identity I'm very curious to see if Colton Joseph can orchestrate some points against this Notre Dame defense, which I think is really good I think it's gonna be a struggle like I think if Wisconsin I think the recipe for a cover not I don't know if there's one for a win Is another ugly game where Wisconsin can kind of extend some drives play slow You know Notre Dame's offense is figuring out some things figuring out who the back is You know, they're not running it as well as you know against Wisconsin defense, which I think is better But I just I'm very curious to see what they can do offensively with a with a mobile quarterback I think Colton Joseph was he a thousand yard rusher close to it last year last year at Old Dominion Yeah, yeah, and it They got to figure out how to use him. Like what they ran at old DOM is what you essentially saw Memphis run on Saturday night late. And that's going to lead to a lot of third and 11. That's not close to what Wisconsin has been running. It's in some ways more similar to what Wisconsin was running before they made the coordinator change before last season. My main concern here actually is, Fickles comments yesterday, right? Fickles says they don't know yet on Emerson Mandel or Kevin Haywood. I believe those are two starting offensive linemen. Excuse me. Hold on a second. I got to do it. Yeah. Further, he says, worthwhile to mention, and this was from Zach Hill-Prentice saw this who covers them for the, who we got here, the sports director at Zoo Madison, worthwhile to mention that Fickles said they need to do what's best for the entirety of the season. Who does Wisconsin have on deck? Lentable games. Correct. Where's my white flag? I mean, I don't carry myself that way. I have my white flag. They have Western Illinois and then Eastern Michigan coming up. I have no idea how banged up those guys are. Maybe this is all smoke, but you know, if you're Wisconsin, you don't need to win 10 games, but you do probably need to win six games to avoid getting fired or at least seven, right? I don't know. But, man, as a face. I mean, it's kind of like, like, just like Chip said, that, that, the messaging to your fan that it's like, hey, we're going to pack it in against Notre Dame to make sure we're healthy for Western Michigan. That's not great. To make sure, like, we don't suffer setbacks and we are healthy for at Penn State, Michigan State, at UCLA, USC, which is our October slate. Oh, so it's like, we think that these guys, we could have them back now, but we'd rather wait two weeks to bring them back. And that way we don't lose them for the whole season. That's how I read the comments. Yikes. I already thought that Wisconsin was going to struggle to score 17 points in this game. I think Notre Dame, okay, well, everybody agrees with each other. Apparently, obviously, I think that this is going to be a great spot for Notre Dame to flex as muscles as one of the best defenses in the whole Dame country. And I think that CJ Carr is going to give us as much as he needs to give us. And I think that it does get a little bit into, you know, Graham and Porter come over from Ohio State. You know, there are a few new additions to be able to see, where do you fit into this mix? Are you perhaps a candidate to emerge as that alpha? I'm not ready to declare that yet. I haven't heard anything along those lines. But there are some other pieces around here, in addition to the way that, you know, is a neus Williams just going to step right into a heavy load or is that end up being more of a snap share? I think I'm scouting Notre Dame's offense. And I'm expecting Notre Dame's defense to dominate in this game against Wisconsin. Well said. I'm curious to see what receiver, like you said, the two Ohio State transfers. Which is there a true number one that steps up, you know, for CJ Carr? I'll also go back to this is the first time we've seen them since they got left out of the playoffs. That's Freeman's motto to his players, let me know how is that Porter Porter is definitely out. Okay. Oh, he is. Yeah. So what's what's Freeman's motto? It's like leave no doubt like they want this could be like, Oh, we got screwed last year, the whole year. There's a campaign to, you know, their company has no decision. And like big spotlight game state, like I mean, this and there's some big statement statement win opportunity there for yeah, like because look, Wisconsin could lose this game and still go on to be a seven and five football team, right? And like Notre Dame schedule is weak enough to where they don't have any opportunities. They can point to and say, Hey, we had we, we smoked a big two conference team that has a winning record. This might be the fourth toughest team on their schedule. And it could, it could very well, if they smoke them, it could very well be like their third best resume bullet, yeah, we'll see probably fourth, but yeah. And now it's time for upset alert brought to you by draft Kings. The draft King sports app is live in all 50 states. And this September, draft Kings is giving customers the opportunity to get boosted every football game day. New draft Kings customers can sign up with the code cover three, spell out three T H R E E, spend five bucks and get 200 in total rewards within 21 days, including all markets. That's code cover three in partnership with draft Kings. The crown is yours, scanning the week one slate for an upset alert opportunity. We don't have to go that deep into the weekend. No, there might be one on Thursday night, Danny canal, we got coach prime and the buffs and they are headed to Atlanta to take on Georgia tech. And as Juju Lewis and Brennan Marion and the go go offense, take a Colorado flavor, I guess the big question is to ask, do you believe? I think this one has a lot of similarities to TCU versus North Carolina, and you gave a couple of them. Now, this one isn't neutral. This is in Georgia tech's backyard. So they'll have that going for them. But you mentioned new offensive coordinator, Brennan Marion, who I think is really good. And Lewis is super talented as a five star. I also think on the flip side, Alberto Mendoza taken over, like we don't like, I think there's a lot of cachet that comes with the last name. But if he was that good, don't you think Indiana would have kept him, you know, like and he would have been the guy there to replace Fernando Mendoza, talk to a couple of people around Indiana's program. They said there is a pretty significant drop-offs that he wasn't the same level of talent. I know Justice Haynes comes in there and they want to run the ball. But think about what Haynes came into that program as a duel threat and watch me. He is. I thought he was one of the more underrated talented quarterbacks in the entire country. You have to replace him. I'm a little bit nervous for Brent Key and the Georgia tech yellow jackets for this game. You got same upset alert sirens, bud? Yeah. I mean, Colorado is a way more experienced football team than Georgia tech is. If you look at like all the players they brought in the portal who can legitimately, like say, like, I've played a lot of snaps, I think there are, uh, Kim and I'm saying this. Some similarities to Virginia as far as like how experienced they are, not quite the same level. And I don't think Colorado is quite as buttoned up of an outfit as UVA is. But Prime did say that Scuderio, the receiver from San Jose is healthy so that that's that's pretty big, obviously for Colorado. And you know, like, I've down, I've downgraded Georgia tech a pretty good bit on the loss of King and Faulkner. I think those two guys together at coordinator OC combo with QB there really won a lot of gains for them over the past couple of years. And to me, they're in proven mode, you know, I, what's their win total, like five and a half, I think? Yeah. I think it's for a reason. There's a, um, there's an aspect of this too as I'm looking at the potential of this being an upset by the way, here is where on big game breakdown on Tuesday, Colorado currently a six and a half point underdog at draft King sportsbook. The crown is yours. And that is Georgia tech put out its depth chart yesterday. They had three starting running backs on the depth chart, three different starting running backs. We got like six running backs on the depth chart. If you are going to get out there and run the ball, you're going to suppress scoring. You're going to keep the clock running and you know what that means. That means it's going to come down to two quarterbacks in a one possession game and who can go and make some plays. And if you've got more confidence in Julian Lewis, the former blue chip quarterback to be able to go out there and be a difference maker, well, then certainly I understand that angle there as he takes over again with that new offense, new coordinators, new quarterbacks, lots of changes that is always right for the unpredictable. And yes, even an upset, that's why we have identified Colorado six and a half point underdogs at Georgia tech is your upset alert of the week. You two playing at home too, coming back home to Georgia, yeah, there you go. And that was upset alert brought to you by draft Kings. Once again, new customers can get the code cover three on sign up, spend five bucks and get 200 in total rewards within 21 days. Remember, the draft King sports app is now live in all 50 states. And that means from Texas to California to Florida, every fan is in on the excitement in partnership with draft Kings, the crown is yours. Coming up on the other side, rapid fire across the country, more of the matchups to watch and more next back here on the cover three podcast tailgate. Once we're refreshing break and don't worry, the snapples coming ladies and gentlemen. But right now we've got to go around the country, make sure we hit on some of the other games that have our attention. UCLA cowls what the tailgate was buzzing about. It's 10 30 p.m. It is the end of week one. It might be the best game of the whole damn day. We might have two first round NFL draft pick quarterbacks in this game. And maybe you can say we do. I don't know. Jaren Kiyave, Saga Polatelli, Nico Eamalliava, massive game, former Pac-12 in state rivals. And a game that is the true swing game for both of their win totals, you know, like this This is a spot where we could see dreams, sort of start to take all dream season starts to take off here. Or maybe you start a little bit behind the eight ball. Is it, is it just quarterbacks, DK or we got even more that we were new head coaches too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of different storylines in this one. First, I mean, this and both, it sets the tone in a game that both your fan bases probably feel like you should win, no matter what the point spread is. A lot similarities. Both have really good quarterbacks. I'm curious to see kind of Tosh Loupoy as a defensive mind. Are they, you know, but they have this incredibly talented quarterback. I'm more curious to see what their defense looks like. Looks like against Nico and company. I think it has a lot of intriguing matchups. Yeah. I mean, like, is there a game that's going to be a better watch than this one? I think I was thinking about it. I was like NFL arms throwing ropes against questionable defensive backs at 1 a.m. I mean, this is kind of college football. And like, this is, this is college. Wow. This is. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. I do think both offenses have a pretty good advantage here. If UCLA's offensive lines up for the task, you know, I, I think Cal may have hit on some of the starting transfers they brought in. I do not think they're very deep defensively at all. Just looking at my notes back from summer school was like, yeah, some of the backups are kind of sketched. You know, some of the starters might might work out. I'm very confident that Bob Chesney and that staff is going to unlock Nico and they're going to be able to score. And I also, like, just getting, getting JKS reliable targets in the portal, like guys who are proven good college wall players who can be on the same page with him and catch the ball. Like, he didn't have as many drops last year as say, I'm like Washington at Maryland did, but he had quite a few drops that he suffered. And I think that's kind of one of the reasons I was so impressed with him in Washington is like they just, they just kind of persevered through it, right? And they just kept, kept chucking. And I think sometimes that can kind of, you know, throw a freshman off his game a little bit. I, yeah, I'm expecting points here. Yeah. Also curious to see with Nico getting Wayne Knight from James Madison, Russ for over 1,300 yards is he have that same type of success in the backfield. Every quarterback would love to have a run game to benefit him. I'll be curious to see if they can run the ball as effectively as they did not get James Madison. But it Bob Chesley with, I mean, the game's going to have like a million points, right? He's like, oh God, I hope God. He was, he was not ready, he was not ready to commit to 45, 42, even if the rest of the world is very prepared for 45 to 42. All right, we've talked a lot about sort of the, the fallout from Florida state. But what about the X's and O's? What about the matchups? But what do you think SMU is going to present in terms of the, the, where are the places where the seminals are going to be tested based on what you saw? And what we think we know about the 2026 Mustangs. Yeah. Well, I think the force that we tested, like, do they have a past rush at all? Like I said, just across the board, terrible effort from those guys in the opening game against the bad Namesco state team, like everybody's past rush grade 55, 56 are worse on PFF. Communication between the backers and the secondary, only white defense coordinator cited that in his Monday press conference. I mean, got to agree, like just pretty unacceptable bus and, and like, not, not playing good team defense. And then offensive line wise, like, how much longer are you going to run out, uh, Chimde, a, a right tackle? Like, are you, are you going to have to move an interior guy out there? And if so, uh, what's your solution on the interior? Um, I thought Daniels was actually pretty bad going back and watching that thing. Um, and like, just looked like, honestly, looked like that. Daniels, he's been for the entirety of his career and, and maybe, maybe he was a camp Coleman merchant for seven quarters last year. Um, like, like, and so, you know, tied end, like, again, I, I think you probably can't keep running desire riles out there because he can't block anybody. And he's really more of like, like a flex offset guy and you already have better slot options than him. So yeah, I, I don't have super high hopes. But again, you do have playmakers on offense. I mean, Chroma looks really good despite poor blocking. And you do that. He's coming along. Like, it's not impossible that they spam those guys. I think you have to run Ashton with, with intention. Like he's not a good passer, man. Like, he's just not good at playing quarterback. So can you use his legs, find a way, maybe I do. He said he was a camp Coleman merchant. I wonder, I wonder if he becomes more of a Duce Robinson merchant because he did not during that game. You know, I think I would, if I was him, I'd be fine in Duce Robinson, no matter what. I mean, there was a drop pass in there from Duce. It was a little tightly defended. But I wonder if they'll, if they game plan, that's the one thing, too. Did they hold back much? Did they do, did they hold back some things? I think so. I think so too. I hope so. But like, there's no holding back on the defensive side of the ball for some of those busts and just flat out beats on the defense side of the ball. Yeah. And that's probably what I'm more worried about is the defense. What's going down Kevin Jennings company? Last 10 years, if you blindly bet all the teams that didn't, that have not played yet, I guess the teams that have played yet, you're profitable. Yeah. All the teams that have not, yeah. Cause they got a game on, they got a game of film on you and you don't have a game of film on them. And everyone thinks the, the, the thought is better week one to week two, but the stats say that's not true. Yeah. So that's how you're jumping on the other side. Well, what about the SMU side of this? I mean, there's, there's a lot of commentary in the tailgate. Oh my god. I can't believe it's only three. And then that's having everyone ask about Kevin Jennings Fingy. And all right. Look, I heard Kevin Jennings Fingy is going to be a hundred percent. Okay. Wet Ashley came and told me about his Fingy said he's going to be all right. He jammed it in a locker room door. They just kind of shut him down for about a week and a half. But you know, he's back. He's good to go. And to be fair, two Kevin Jennings, he is an absolute warrior. I saw that man on one leg win games against some of the best teams in the country. So I don't want to, I don't, I don't want to be caught as somebody who questions his toughness. What are we going to get from the SMU side of this? This is very easy just for our own cover three world. And also, since we have seen them to be very Florida state coded here, what do we think we get out of the mustangs in this game? I mean, I think Jennings is a really good passer. I think this is a nice receiver room. They have some good corners left side of the offensive line is really damn good, you know, right side. We'll see. I mean, like that's probably an area like like both right sides of the offensive lines are probably spots that the opposing coaching staff wants to try to attack. You know, I think Duce is better than SMU's best corner. But also like I think SMU's better coach that they've done a nice job of retaining the talent that they do have. I think they're probably much more cohesive and played together more as a team just based on what I've seen out of them. So I think they'll just come out and play their game. Honestly, they should be able to get after, get after every shoe's quarterback pretty easy, I think. Like I think they'll get a lot of pressure on him. You know, like if you're them, it's like, Hey, how do we lose this game? It's, you know, like the episodes receivers, okay, and the QB running on us, basically, like episodes. Daniels, if Daniels runs a bunch and a bunch and there's a bunch of busts and miscommunications in the back half of SMU's defense, where I think that I think SMU has made some decisions and how we talk about SMU like they got all the money in the world, but they also choose where they invest and they try to find good fits that are not necessarily walking off the bus and into Sunday football, but can be very good, capable players within the SMU structure. And those players might not be able to match up with Duce Robinson, right? Those players might not be able to catch Danzy if Danzy gets loose and, you know, shake somebody. I think that the reason that the line is smaller is that on paper, Florida state is closer, but vibes and coaching have SMU going this way and Florida state going this way. SMU does have to replace their defense coordinator. He left with Dallas Cowboys. They got Maurice Crumb calling the place for them. I think that's something like again, that's where the first game kind of helps you that Florida state had that kind of warm up preseason game, but I mean, there's no doubt about it. Florida state has to play cleaner if this game's going to be competitive. You ask what it means for SMU. I think if SMU wins this game comfortably, you know, seven to 10 points or more, then I think it's, oh, there's the second best team potentially in the ACC. If they win, it's a little bit of a struggle or they lose, then I think that kind of opens up that door. So, here comes Virginia. We'll see what Louisville does against Ole Miss. It kind of just opens things up because I think justifiably so, SMU has been picked by a lot of people as the second best team in the ACC. You realize the combination of an Ole Miss blowout win and a Florida state victory is just devastating for the ACC. Yeah, that's your one-play-off team scenario. Yeah, you spend all off-season talking about Louisville and SMU as the time is still alive. Virginia's still there. You and me will be out. I mean, you're already on viral sensation on Bo Pribula, who I would take over Ashton Daniels. I would take you think Grunkamiro of Ashton Daniels, you know, like that. You just threw him in the ACC. I started to run that clock in my head. Yeah, he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the portal. Like, there's a reason he was the fifth guy they brought in. Like, they didn't target him. He was an emergency panic take for a staff that miscaged how much quarterbacks we're going to from the cost. I had a lot of fun for that one HQ hit when I just got to propose what a fashion Daniels is good I don't think I can propose that anymore. I think that you know questions been answered We got to put that one to bed. But yeah, we'll see we'll see about that. Oh, we got top of one more real quick Baylor and Auburn speaking of fashion Daniels What's what do we what do we know? I mean look like They swung big in the portal at quarterback because they they need a guy to be a a star for them They being Baylor. Yes. Yeah, right like DJ lightweight coming in. They didn't go for a game manager They went for a guy that if we get this guy right if we get him back to what he was in the second half of 2024 Then he can carry us and we can save our jobs You know, I think up front Baylor is probably a little bit underrated actually I think it's a line or defensive line. Yeah, I think they can probably cause a little bit of problems for Auburn up front You know, I I like the go-lash higher. I just don't see Auburn as a team that is like pushed all the chips in on this year You know, I think they're trying yeah, I think they're trying to build towards something. I you know like Browns fine, but it was also we have seen that offense put up obscene numbers With pretty much anybody playing quarterback in these g6 leagues So I I think there's real reason to wonder if some of that translates We think Danny. I think Auburn's defense is probably gonna be might be kept DJ dark in to have some pieces a couple pieces coming back I think that side of the ball was pretty physical I am all eyes are on DJ lightweight for me like what's version are you going to get as but alluded to you know Is he going to be consistent? Is he going to be careful with the football? Or is he going to try to do too much trying to win the game for them and come up with them some of the mistakes that he made at Florida, so I'm very curious to see that. I think by Aaron Brown I think you'll see him run the football man. I think he'll try to do the same things he was against bailer I think he should be able to do that I think the question for me comes what what is happening to get the better teams in the SEC Yep We are going to be continuing our conversation looking ahead to week one on our time on CBS sports network wins day Yeah wins day new eastern time cover three back on your televisions If you hit that series record on cover three like we told you before our show up in midtown manhattan Well, then it's automatically going to record but hang out take your lunch break watch us live We'll be breaking down inside big game breakdown inside the matchup of Oregon Boise State the big time game on CBS for week one three 30 p.m Eastern time and so much more from around college football the trends we are tracking a but Elliot playoff Hypothetical should be a lot of fun again that is Wednesday noon eastern time on CBS sports network Then Thursday we are back here for week one locks set that meeting 11 a.m. Eastern time and come hang out in the tailgate You can follow him on Twitter but Elliot three you can follow him at Danny can out follow me at chip underscore Patterson Gentlemen, thank you very much. 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