CAMP BUZZ: Alabama, Florida & Tennessee Name Starters, Other QB Battles, Injury Updates & 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 Tom Fernelli, that's Danny Kennell. I'm Chip Patterson, coming to you live, youtube.com/cover3, and everywhere you get your podcasts on the man. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that subscribe, smash that like and come and join us in the chat. Hey, hey, the Cover 3 tailgate, we're there so excited, they even wish it was a week, negative one, you know? Like, wait, we're just busting at the scenes, baby, we are back! That's right, college football season will begin in about five days, because on August 29th, this Saturday, it is a week zero, it's a week zero that has a top 25 team in action, it's a week zero that has a conference game, multiple power conference opponents playing each other, and maybe even some college football playoff, group of six, dark horses, we are going to be doing our game breakdown, our very first big game breakdown of the season, a 11 a.m. Eastern time, that is a reminder to you, bgb, big game breakdown, Tuesdays, that is a little bit of a change from our last season schedule. So Tuesdays will be getting you those big game breakdowns, and look, that, but Ellie is not with us today, but I can already imagine, he said, I don't think these are big games. Okay, every game is a big game, it's week zero, come on! So we are breaking down week zero. We are breaking down week zero. I might be more in line of buds camp on this one, are we going, are we doing two games? You can argue there are better games this week than there are next. That might be cool. Okay, all right, well listen, Tuesdays, 11 a.m. throw it on there, just like you do with that Thursday, 11 a.m. it's going to be where you get your X's and O's, your storylines, your stakes, and then come back and get you your picks with the locks on Thursday. People have been asking for it, and you know we were going to bring it, and just a little bit we'll be running through camp buzz, that's going to include an opportunity for us to weigh in on some of the starting quarterback announcements that we've had over the last couple of days. Look at some of the position battles, not just quarterback, but position battles, and other injury news from around fall camp as teams begin to prepare for their own week one. But the news throughout college football continues to move, continues to shake since the last time we were here, Jack Pibern was the name to know, but right now we've got a lot more movement when it comes to dayquan right now right was a tight end for Ole Miss, and he was a tight end for the Cleveland Browns. And now thanks to a temporary restraining order, he is attempting to join his old head coach down in Baton Rouge, by the way, I mean there's already a great tight end, maybe one of the best in the country who's playing it LSU, Danny Dayquan right is, is this panic time? Is this something? I know you've been mentioning on social media a line that we had here on the podcast and I've tried to give to friends, family and otherwise, that we think this is just a class of 22 situation, we think, is this alarm bells time, Dayquan right NFL to CFP? I still think this is an anomaly. I don't think, you know, I saw Danny Rolowski say the floodgates are going to open, acting like as soon as the roster cuts we're going to have hundreds of players back in college football. That at least that's what floodgates open means to me. I think it'll be a smaller number of players, maybe Dayquan right is one of them, maybe is not, but sure appears that he's got a deal in place to go back to LSU. I don't like it, I don't think it's great for college football, but if it is just this year because the NCAA screwed up by waiting till after the draft to announce the new five for five rule where these players maybe would have stayed in college if they didn't think they were going to get drafted, then I'm like, it's an inconvenience. It's optically, it looks horrible, it's a great chance to pound the table about how horrible college football is and for some coaches to say, this isn't what we got into coaching for. Other coaches say, screw you guys, I want to get more depth on my team. I do think and I hope it is a one year anomaly with, you know, a select group of players that are kind of a unique position because as we've talked about, I don't know how many coaches in college football are going to be willing to take back players. Do they have the money to pay them to take them back? Do they have the roster spots to take them back? So I think it's going to be a smaller group than, you know, this guy is falling and all of a sudden we're going to see players shuddling back and forth from the NFL to college football. I think this is unique. I hope so and that's kind of how I'm approaching it where I'm not going to lose my mind just yet. Yeah, I think it's a Pavlovian response at this point that anytime something strange happens in college football, we have to scream about how the sport's broken and how this is the last straw. And like I look at things that have happened this off season, like you can pair this to the Soresby situation. To me, this is an entirely different thing like the Soresby situation was calling into question the of the game integrity of the sport. Yeah. Yeah. This is just a weird thing that is happening at a time when a lot of weird things are happening in college football with rosters and players and eligibility. And this has been happening for seven years now, like COVID is what started all of this. Everybody getting that extra year of eligibility with the COVID year just kind of was that first domino that got pushed, which then set a precedent. So now everybody gets to keep asking for more eligibility because if we were able to give those kids an extra year, why can't I get an extra year? And so on and so forth. And as I've discussed, like so many of the quote unquote problems that this sport has and the things that we need to fix would be solved if we just had a uniform eligibility rule that they can enforce. And if the five or five becomes that then yet, this is just a one time kind of weird strange thing where some guys will be able to come back. But as Danny mentioned, I don't know how many spots are available for these guys. Like if you're really good enough that, you know, you're going to be a guaranteed starter and teams are going to pony up the money for you, you've probably got a decent chance of making an NFL roster too. So like with the current coming back to LSU, like you mentioned, like he might not even be the starter there. He might not even number one tied in. So it's a weird thing. I think what I'm rooting for is just hilarity in that this is all contingent on on right clearing waivers. The crowds put him on waivers. He has to clear before he can transfer to LSU, although saying the word transfer is funny. So to me, I hope there's a general manager out there who's an SEC grader. I wish Ozzy Newsom was still running the Ravens with totally put a claim in on right and keep him in camp until they have to make their final cuts, which would be after the regular season has started for LSU. So he wouldn't be able to join the team to like week two, which would put him way behind. So I hope that there is an NFL GM out there with a sense of humor who and an open roster spot who just puts in a claim on right to kind of throw all this, you know, make just keeping from doing that. So yeah, whatever, it's to me, this is not a big deal, but you know, this is a it's a clip economy where you have to say things and you know, like like when you, you have to say things like this is this is the last star, like I think fine bomb said that this was like a disastrous thing for college football, it's like, no, it's not. It's just an odd thing that's going to happen. There's going to be a few players that are packed on rosters, which honestly, if the, you're not going to believe this, but this is all the NCAA is doing. They've, you know, stepped on a rake yet again. If they would have just, they were too late to get this put through. And if they'd have just made 2022 players eligible right from the start and gotten this stuff done on time instead of running to Congress and asking them to solve all their problems for them, this wouldn't be an issue. These players would have never left. They would have stayed for another 50 year and we'd all be fine. So yeah, it sucks. It's kind of annoying. And it really does suck for any kids who maybe you were thinking that they were going to start this year and might lose their spots on the, you know, number one on the depth chart because some kids come back. But at the end of the day, that's just, you know, that's football, like you're competing for your spot all the time. So I feel bad for them. But even then, it's like, well, that's the job, kid. Okay. But isn't it a little bit perfect that it is Lane Kiffin that's tied to this? And as if we did not, they're doing it with their basketball team, too. Like this is, this is the brand of the program, the athletic department. They're trying to be, you know, the, the bad kids on the, the renegades. Yeah. Wasn't it, wasn't it cute when we thought Texas tech was going to be the villains of college football for like a month? And then now we realize it's very, it never, it always was and it always will be on SU. Yeah. At least this season anyway. When your governor hand picks the, the head coach of the football program, you know, India. Yes. You have got that kind of roster portal. I mean, that transfer portal spins to build the roster out. You invest so much in your head coach. And now you're willing to even go to any, any steps imaginable to be able to pursue the, the great goal down in the state of Louisiana, which is to get the Tigers back to being national champions. We'll see. You know, this is a, this is still an evolving storyline and something to keep an eye on. The basketball side of this took an interesting turn. Did you see one of those, the Colorado ruling, I think ended up going the NCAA's way. And so now about 15 players, like a guy going to Louisville, guy going to Texas tech, I mean, players who thought they were going to get that extra bit. That's now frozen as where I'm going to need billable hours here is, is day one right good? Does he have one of those 90 day windows? We can all of the sudden get him nabbed where his injunction runs out. These are details we still need to work through. And we will continue to monitor the situation all the way through. That's, go ahead. That's the one thing that I really don't want to happen. But I think it's almost inevitable because in basketball, we saw Charles Betty Acko play six games for Alabama. And then that case was looming over the season. Like, I want the season just to be about the sport. I don't want to have to be, I mean, because, and remember, who was at Texas A&M's head coach, he was complaining. Like, we lost to them while they had Betty Acko, what, and they have 30 plus games to build a resume. I mean, can't you just envision a scenario, a FLSU wins a game and Dayquan ride is playing and catches the winning touchdown pass. And then he's ruled and eligible. Like, that could create a whole mess that I just don't want to have to deal with. I just want to be able to talk about teams on their merit. Who do we think is good and bad? Not, oh my gosh, they had two players that were deemed ineligible. Just because they had a TRO, like, I could see a perfect storm. I don't want it to happen. But I do think it's a possibility. I will mention, like again, it's, it's an odd situation. Dayquan ride is 22 years old. He'll turn 23 in September, but 23-year-old still playing college football. Not exactly out of the ordinary. Who was named the starter at Georgia Southern yesterday? Max Johnson. And he's in what, his seventh season? It's a lot. I mean, it's not like this is the only weird thing is that he was in Brown's training camp. And I know that that feels like a weird kind of third railed across. But we have also talked about how we wish that in the NFL and in college players could declare for the draft. And if they don't get drafted, they could come back like they do in baseball, like they do in hockey where even after you're drafted, you can still go play in college. It's not like this is something that doesn't happen in a bunch of other college sports. It just hasn't happened in football until now. And I think that is causing a huge overreaction to what's actually happening here. Because, hey, it was one thing when players weren't getting paid and they had, quote-unquote, amateur status. And then they went and got paid and then they would come back and your amateur status is over. They're getting paid at both places. They're just jobs at this point. He's got, he went the one job market, couldn't cut it. He's coming back to college to play in the job market where he can make it for at least another year. It's not a big deal. I hear you. We will have much more on this. Our plan to break down some of these quarterback battles is falling apart, boys. These are turning into starter announcement reactions because since we've gotten started, we've had two SEC teams minimum already named new starters. So let's get into it. What are we going to see from Florida, from Tennessee, from Alabama and more? Next. This episode is brought to you by PNC Bank. If you've ever watched a football game with someone who doesn't normally, you might have been asked, like, what's the point of running the ball up the middle? In short, to the uninformed eye, these plays are boring, but they result in a lot of short reliable gains while managing the clock. It's just like why PNC uses a boring methodical approach because reliable gains while keeping an eye on the time are just as important for your money as they are in football. PNC Bank brilliantly boring since 1865 brilliantly boring since 1865 is a registered mark of the PNC financial services group Inc. PNC Bank National Association member FDIC. Back here on the cover three podcast, there have been many jingles on the cover three podcast over the last six or seven years. Some of them, they, you know, the count them up, the locks jingle, they, they reverberate just in everyone's skull. But if you're a day one, you remember Barton Simmons unleashing this one until we have to always make sure that we get at least one full camp bus play every single preseason. And with not much time left in that, I need to ask you, you all ready to buzz it up? I've never been asked if I was ready to buzz it up. I don't know. All right, let's talk about some quarterback battles. Let's talk about some quarterback starter announcements. We will start down in Tuscaloosa, we're killing Russell. According to Matt Zinnett's and others, we'll be the starting quarterback to get Alabama's season going. He beat out Austin Mac for that job. Tom, we talked about, we've, we have discussed this battle a lot. Now that you have advanced your vision for Alabama's offense, the way you're going to be breaking this team down, what changes with Russell being named the starter? I don't know how much changes overall. I, I think your ceiling is probably a little higher just because of what Keel and Russell could potentially be. But it is like, to me, the interesting part of the situation, whether it was Russell or Mac, like you look at Alabama's schedule this year, and you could argue it's backloaded. Like they've, they start with ECU Kentucky, then some cupcake Florida State squad, South Carolina and Mississippi State, before they really get to the meat of the schedule in the back end. Having an inexperienced quarterback, I think adds a little layer of complexity to those earlier games where, you know, they might make more mistakes. They might make some of those games closer, which could put them in peril when it comes to the back end of that schedule as far as, you know, winning games and you think of the playoff competing for the SEC. But I think overall, Keel and Russell, based on everything you heard, everything you've read coming out of camp, is the more talented quarterback in that room. And I think that the fact that he won is a good sign. And I think the fact that Alabama is naming him the starter was still time that, like nobody's forcing them to do it at this point. So the fact that they have, I think is a good sign of how he's performed and how they feel about him and how they think going into the season. So, yeah, I mean, we're watching the pretty video right now of him buzzing the ball down the field. Like, this is, I think it's encouraging. My bigger concerns with Alabama are on the other side of the ball. Like, I think the defense is going to be good. It's just, I don't know if it's going to be an incredible defense. So I feel like Alabama is going to have to score a lot of points. I worry about the offensive line a little bit, but I'm not, I don't have any giant issues with this team. I just think Russell increases the ceiling or at least elevates it. But he also probably lowers the floor a little bit because even if Mac is not like a high end QB because, you know, he's been in the system for a while and hasn't won the starting job and like coming into this year, he was facing a freshman or a bread shirt freshman and he couldn't win the job. So that kind of gives you an idea of where Mac is. But I also think that his familiarity with the system probably could be more game manager, whereas Russell's probably more likely to make mistakes that hurt you. But even that might not be the case. Russell might just be better than him in every aspect. I totally agree with you. I think it gives you a higher ceiling, but I also think it opens up the floor. We've seen first year starting quarterbacks do what is kind of typical where in a big crunch time situation, you try to do too much, you force the ball and you kind of kind of have that's the only way to learn how to make those mistakes is on the biggest stage. Sometimes you avoid them, but sometimes they're there. But I also think that's where the floor comes in too. Like he might, I have played with so many guys who were incredible in spring practice and OTA, OTAs and camp, but when the lights came on was what happened to that guy and all the suns a completely different player. I don't think that'll happen with Keel and Russell, but there's also that what if he struggles? I mean, what if he's a player? I mean, Florida fans were really excited about DJ Lagway and then all of a sudden he struggles with turnovers. I think the best part about Keel and Russell is I think he's a hybrid between the last two quarterbacks. He's a little bit of Jalen Milro, and he's a little bit of Ty Simpson. You blend those together. That could be an absolute nightmare for defenses to stop and try to defend. I think that's the best case scenario. And that's where I think you have to trust the evaluation of the coaching staff and that Caleb DeBoer will build a system that is built to his skill set just like he's done with every quarterback he's been and who he's coached. So I think this to me makes me more bullish on Alabama that they're comfortable enough not to have to go into the regular season and see how it plays out. I think if it's clear, they wouldn't have made this decision if it wasn't clear cut and they feel confident that there's not going to be a short leash on them, but that they'll be ready to go with Keel and Russell. So I think this makes me more bullish on Alabama, especially offensively. Okay, unfair negative side of this. It means that they're offensive line and they're run game ain't fixed and they need somebody who can get out there and scoot because they're going to be under pressure or actually be a factor in the run game. The positive side, if you're now a Bama fan, is that this is a coaching staff, offensive coordinator Ryan grew up head coach Caleb DeBoer that are saying we don't care. We'll take the higher, we will take risks. If we think that we're going to be able to get potential playmaking that playmaking here was the difference maker that we have a special player. I mean, look, I am not the tech, we have a million people, not a million, that's way too many. The Texas high school love within the CBS Sports editorial brain trust is so strong. Anybody that does anybody scores a touchdown gets a first down in Texas high school football. We got editors and writers. Everybody go and tell you everything about him. They're going to tell you where he likes his barbecue. They're going to tell you who he dated his sophomore. They can tell you everything. I love that. It has given me a unique window. Duncanville, is a football like you don't get to be the starting quarterback at Duncanville high school at the 6A level and have the kind of success that Keelan Russell had and have it be fraudulent. You know, like this is a player who is a real game changer at the quarterback position, not a game manager, not a bus driver. He is a fighter pilot as we continue to tip our hat to Barton Simmons for the second time today. So I think we'll go ahead. I was just saying his entire high school offense is like a power four starter right now. Yeah. I mean, I just think that you are tapping into the tools that you recruited. You know, you are saying, look, we have invested in this. And if we do have questions about this offensive line, if we have injuries at the running back position, if we are concerned at all, then we just need to, we just need to put down our best cards and let them go play ball. And so if I'm an Alabama fan, I'm encouraged, right? If I'm a fan, forget, worried about floor. I'm sealing, sealing, sealing, sealing, sealing all day. Keelan Russell definitely feels like a ceiling play. So I'm excited. I think he's been a good talent. I haven't gotten a chance to watch him with my own eyes, except on a screen. So we'll get to chance to see it play out this fall, looking forward to that. Anything else on the Bama side of things? Then we can keep this racking and rolling. Yep. Through to court. Yeah, through to Decorian Moore and handed off to Kaden Durham. There's a pretty Texas starters with two Texas longhorn starting defenders on the defensive side of that Duncanville team, I think, too. I hope they won state as a state champions. Yeah. Like if they didn't win state, like if they lost to like, I don't know, the Permian Panthers or something, then we've got like a Friday night lights movie coming out. Listen, sometimes, sometimes it's that squad that it doesn't have all the D1 players, right? My alma mater. Nevermind. We're not going down there. We got stuff to do. Face on Brandon, name starter at Tennessee. He beats out George McIntyre. This one, Danny, feels like if you're a Tennessee fan. Oh, okay. But I mean, I think it's probably similar. Right? I mean, George McIntyre's been around a little bit longer. Face on Brandon has a little bit higher upside. He's somebody that was highly recruited. I think you're in a mutton. I think this is another one where Josh Hyple has been great with quarterback evaluation, quarterback talent, playing in a system that is really quarterback friendly. So yeah, I think you have, and you've seen a little bit of George McIntyre, and it's probably left you wanting a little bit more. So I think they're kind of similar where there's probably more upside. Now, I think the floor was probably the same with George McIntyre because we haven't seen too much out of them. So I think it's kind of similar what Tennessee is doing. Shout out to Control and the chat for no one real ball and being a long time loyal listener of the show for understanding what I said months ago in this quarterback battle. Nobody named George is going to be a starting SCC quarterback. All right. George is not a quarterback name. He had to, if he, unless he changed his name during the offseason, he was never winning this job. And he didn't do it. And that is just bad poor decision making skills. Face on is an awesome quarterback name. Like that's just like the phase in laser. I don't know something, anything like that. But yeah, no, I think that most of the buzz in all reality of coming out of the camp like it was reading notes and practice kind of like, you know, reports from Tennessee the last few weeks, you kind of understood that this is probably where it was going because even when it was close, there were more like while moments with Brandon than there were with McIntyre and you just kind of thought that this is where it would end up going. And also as we've discussed, well, it's never easy for any like inexperienced young kind of freshman quarterback. If there is an offense where you feel more comparable with a kid picking it up quickly, it's this offense because it's basically do this or do that. And that's really the only options they have on any given play. I love the Quantrell had that on lock. I appreciate you. The tailgate never, never fails to deliver. And that is just, I mean, name advantage from the start as you correctly called, you know, never wrong just early. And then this one extremely early, literally just look at the roster. We could tell you a George, that angle be George. I'm with Kyle by the way in the chat who said he's going to accidentally say Brandon phase on 1500 times the season. I put me in that camp as well. I've had to like try to rewire my brain to say phase on Brandon as well. Listen, we've made it. We made it through Jiren key off a psychopath telly. All right. We can we can we can get these things. And I know it's Keelon Keelon Russell Keelon Russell. Yeah, emphasis on the key. If it's this on the key because he's the key to success. That's going to lock Alabama's off. That's how you want lock Alabama's on the gallon show. Here we go. Tom to echo what you said that sometimes beat riders. They can be fan boys and ways that I don't think is a bad thing. They're just football fans. And when they see talented players, they get giddy, you know, and they understand it's not all going to come together right away, especially with young talent. But there's a reason why this guy was a five star like deemed early in his high school career is a blue chip. I mean, he's a special player when he gets it all moving in the right direction. And he made some wild plays that the Tennessee reporters were able to see. And like you said, that they got giddy. And now we'll get to see what it all what it all looks like on the field. I mean, look, much respect to Joey Jagalar. But if you've been watching Joey Jagalar and then you watch a five star advanced on brand. I mean, you know, like just look all different. Those cloud scrapers. So also, as I said, during this show, we've got the announcement. John Someral indicating that Aaron Philo that will be the starting quarterback. And this one is another one where I think it would be easy to parachute in not paying attention to college football all through fall camp. Like, well, yeah, duh. I mean, he got Buster Faulkner, Aaron Philo transfer. This is right where we were. DK, my understanding was, Tremel Jones was pushing for this job. And what reporting we had from Gainesville had this one? Maybe even could keep going, right? I mean, they've got FAU for week one. Well, is this one done? Or do you do you think that this is putting everything to bed? John, John Someral is moving forward. The quote from press conference, Monday's press conference was he's going to be the starter. And he will get a quote, I think lion's share of the first team reps here all through practice. That's not exactly the ringing endorsement that you would want if you're Aaron Philo, right? I mean, you kind of want to be like, you're our guy. I think he's our guy. I don't, I don't want to miss miss, you know, I do think ideally you would want to see both quarterbacks play great. You don't have an issue. But all of these quarterback battles, I don't think there's a guarantee for any one of them that they're just going to write off and start 12 games. Like, there's going to be some guys that struggle. We don't know which one it's going to be. I do think this one probably was easier for the reasons that he's more comfortable in the system for the reasons that I'm just guessing, but I'm guessing he makes more money than Tremel Jones. You see that happened in the NFL all the time. But I think it's probably a good sign that Tremel Jones was pushing him. But this is probably in all of these, but this one probably more than most for Florida. I think it is just such the wild card of how good or bad they could be because I think Florida has a really good roster that could be a really good team. And if they get close to elite level player, at least in the SEC, if they get one of these players, maybe it's Philo and he's top three or four at the end of the season in the SEC. Tom sees the upside. Hey, why couldn't they be undefeated? I don't know if I'm going to go that far. But I think this is one of those ones where I think the roster is talented enough to make that type of jump. What do you get from the QB? And I you better figure it out though by week three at Auburn. That was one of the reasons why I was on the overall Auburn is because I think they have an advantage knowing that Byron Brown is their guy. That will be whoever it is, whether it's Aaron Philo still and he plays great in the first two games or if it's Trimelle Jones, their first true road game in the SEC. I'd love to go back and put a compilation of first time starters on the road in the SEC. The stats and the returns probably aren't great. You know, it's just it's it's a hard acclimation process for them to make. So we'll see. I am not surprised. I'll be here. I'll read my notes. You got to read between the lines, boys. When it comes to these competitions, you can talk about how the the competition is close and Jones is pushing Philo for the starting job and they're both playing well in practice. But you got to listen to what the coaches like how they say and what specific things they talk about. And here in my notes, reading between the lines, Philo is earning more outward praise from the coaches and also coaches are mentioning his pre-snaps strengths compared to Jones. So they're talking about his command of the offense, whereas both were performing well after the snap. Coaches had been saying talking about how before the snap, Philo was being a little bit more commanding of what they're doing and what they need to do as far as reading defenses and all that kind of stuff. And you know what a coach is going to look for when it comes to that job. I mean, the performance is one thing, but they want somebody who understands the offense too, especially when Buster Faulkner is your new offensive coordinator that you brought in from Georgia Tech and he brought Philo with him. So I am not surprised by this whether this means Philo it's Philo's job on lockdown or not. I don't know like this is still I think going to be an open situation as the season goes on. If Philo struggles and Jones is still practicing well, they might say, hold down. We could teach him about pre-sniff, reaching all that as we go along, look what this kid's doing after the snap. So, yeah, I am not surprised. File 01, I expect he will hold on to the job, but I am not saying that this is a clear cut. He's a starter all year long. Robby in the tailgate said, who's running the rock? I think that's one of the reasons why you're bullish on Florida. They get Jaden ball back and we're able to retain him after another kid to have two. He's got 1100 yard season. You talk about London Montgomery? I haven't prior transfer. Whoever the number two is on their depth chart. I've been hearing good things about. Also, in the passing game, Eric Singleton comes over from Auburn. That's a good player right there. Vernille Brown has been a little banged up. Keep your eye on that one. It's like we've been talking about Florida injuries for the last four years or so. Do Clark. I've heard some decent buzz about. Let's cut players that are buzzing. That is what that's why we are buzzing. The one more before we hit a break and keep it moving with the quarterback announcements and also some of the battles. This one is on the battle front. Lays burlowitz, Jared Curtis, what's our latest feel here? Vanderbilt, by the way, for those not paying attention. Well, I don't, I'm not going to name sources, but there was an inside source who told all of us a couple of weeks ago that Jared still has to win the job. So it was still a competition that was going on. You talk about names like Blades burlowitz. That's an awesome quarterback name. That's not a name that you could just dismiss. That's a great name. But the ports I have read, burlowitz was the better at the start of camp and has been more consistent since the start of camp. But over the last few weeks, Curtis is really improved and it's just, you know, like the beat reporters who are covering this are saying that there are definitely moments where you're watching and practice that Jared Curtis is like, oh, that guy's a five star. Whereas with burlowitz, it's mostly about consistency and just, you know, efficiency. Whereas Curtis, it's more like, wow, moments. So I think the way this one is trending, it will be Curtis, but I wouldn't be shocked if this is a two QB situation to start the year where they bring Curtis along slowly. And they play Austin P and Delaware star. You have that luxury of getting them some experience. And if he goes out there, again, I've seen so many guys in camp look great lights. Come on, they don't look great. You know, you can let this one breathe a little bit and see if it clears up in live game action. One thing that I love from this battle is the, Clarke Lee is just so consistent with this message and he's so strong and he's like, he does such a great job of getting everybody at the university community in line. And buddy, he is waffled on this. He made the mistake of trying to set a deadline, you know, like kind of trying to signal that maybe they'd be coming out of, I think the August 15th, I guess last Saturday's scrimmage, I'd like to have an answer coming out of that one. And he came out and he was like, I don't have an answer. And then it's like coming out of this, I guess the twain second would be Saturday. All right, we're going to do Saturday scrimmage. I'd like to have an answer coming out of that one. And then it's then how about this latest update? Okay, before I leave the office on Monday night, I would like to be able to have an answer for the depth chart. I'll communicate it to the team on Tuesday and then people will start to find out. So my expectation, unless we've got another deadline delay in this process that that Clarke Lee is should be giving us an answer on Jared Curtis blaze burlowitz, but great point with the opponents in those first two games, Vander should be seeing both quarterbacks, no matter what happens. And then that'll give them even more tape to be able to analyze that moving forward. All of there have been some, I was just looking back on Ryan Day's comments when Julian Sain was named the starter over Lincoln keenholtz. And I just wonder with all of these, do they know all along? And they just, you know, do they just play it up to make the guys earn the job, which is a good thing. And like competition is good, but like all of these announcements, like did they really know for the past month? And they're just kind of waiting. And then, you know, of course, we'll still get some that we won't know until week one, but they always pump them up to where it's such a close battle. I mean, that was saying, Lincoln keenholtz, Julian Sain, just separate himself this week. And it was this week that we're talking right now. You know, was it really that close? Or did they really know? And then there are coaching staffs who don't want to release a depth chart ahead of the New Mexico State game. That's always a great sign. You got to do. I'm guessing, baby, I like it. Big game breakdown for our state, New Mexico state coming up to say, how are we supposed to do the big game break? Now we don't know. Mike, Mike, come on, Mike, um, yeah, I, Danny, do you know what I think that it is more about the message to the players than it is to the fans? Yeah. And I don't think it's about hiding it from your opponent. I think that especially in this era with the, the, the headspace of the college football player, coaches don't have a lot of leverage. You know, like sometimes if, if we're going care at stick here, I feel like coaches don't have a ton of carrots, you know? And if, if you've got some carrot that you can be able to do to get a little bit extra, a little bit more focus, a little bit more edge when it's a hundred dagum degrees outside. And I need you to be like really getting that mental toughness to be able to be locked in on stuff, whatever you need, man. I'm, I'm cool with it. So our eyes on the Vanderbilt battle as well. Coming up on the other side, more camp buzz takes a look on the latest from Clemson, Iowa, North Carolina and some disappointing setbacks, some questions at South Carolina, Texas and more. >> Thanks. >> Back here on the cover three podcast, let's start with our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes, Jeremy Hicklinksky, Hank Brown. Tom, what's your, what's your best guess of how this plays out for the Hawkeyes? >> It's a 50/50 coin flip at this point for everything I understand. Like Hicklinksky had the good practice that everybody know, like when they had the kids day last week, I think it was. And Hicklinksky balled out and had like four or five touchdowns where Hank Brown was like six for 17 or something. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And since that was like the first, you know, practice everybody saw, like you kind of run with well, Hicklinksky's killing this kid. But apparently ever since, like Brown has been the better player in practice and they had another scrimmage this week and Brown outplayed Hicklinksky by a bit. From somebody I talked to that covers the program, half the coaches are in Hicklinksky's camp, half the coaches are in Brown's camp. >> Oh no. >> So this is the one that is going to come down to, you know, the start of the season. And I would suspect that I have mentioned, like one of the reasons I took the under on I was win total this year was just because of how good Grinowski was in the red zone and how important that was for Iowa finishing drives. I wouldn't be shocked if we see a situation where Hicklinksky is the starter, but there is definitely a Hank Brown package like in the red zone specifically that they used last year to great success. So I wouldn't be shocked if both of them started. I can't remember who their first game of the season is. I don't know Iowa states the second game, but their first game isn't that northern Illinois. >> There you go. So that's like you'll probably see both of them play. And I think that game could end up deciding who starts against Iowa State. That's a possibility too, but this is a battle that I don't think is settled yet based on what I've heard. >> Does it matter? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> I don't know. I feel like they've had such average quarterback play, even Mark Grinowski. >> No, that's the thing they haven't had average quarterback play. They've had below average quarterback last year. >> Well, yes. >> They finally had average play and they won a bunch of games. If they- >> Almost average 30 points per game. I mean, I see disrespect in the tailgate, they're throwing out the drive to 325 and Brian Farenc, like this Hawkeye's team didn't average 29.4 points per game last season. >> If you give Iowa like top half of the big 10 QB play, they're a playoff team, like the way that they usually operate. >> I think they'll be fine. I'm going over the wind total. I didn't even pick it, but I would go over because Iowa 8 and 4 is like the biggest lock every single year. You just have to go over. But I do think seeing what Mark Grinowski brought as a mobile quarterback, I think that's something, everything including Tim Lester, the offensive coordinator. A lot of these battles, I do think you're going to trend if they are tight, you're going to go with the more mobile quarterback every time because he can bail you out and it opens up a lot more options. >> Yeah. And while the Iowa offensive line might have like two top three round NFL draft picks on it, it also has some positions where there's sort of cycling some bodies trying to get everything ironed out. So there could be some mobility there as well. >> And another reason why the Iowa quarterback battle might matter, they actually have a guy receiver. Tony Diaz, watch out. They need somebody that can get that guy to the ball. >> Yeah, figure out the way to get your best players the ball. 100%. This is an interesting battle because we've got some history with the head coach when it comes to your established veteran and your potential blue chip freshman. We also have a very interesting week one that very much sets up for week one starter might not be the week four starter, but maybe that's lazy of me to lean on history. But the Clemson Tigers do start week one in Baton Rouge playing against a very, very talented and dangerous LSU Tigers team. Christopher Bozina is the established veteran there. He was the backup to Cade Clubnik for multiple years. Tate Reynolds, blue chip quarterback talented freshman has emerged from the rest of the pack [BLANK_AUDIO] tenders, Danny, I know you are buying in on, don't sell all your Clemson ain't dead yet, right? Yeah. Yeah, there's still a heartbeat there for the Tigers. How do you imagine this is going to end up playing out either over the course of the next two weeks, but then also maybe into the first month of the season? What's one of Davos biggest, I think it's one of his biggest compliments, but also one of his biggest faults loyalty loyalty. He is loyal to the guy, and I love that trait. I think that's why Christopher for Zena will get the first opportunity. Now, I'm not saying he wants to win, right? And I also think he realizes, can we talk about first year starters, what would the track records say of them making their first start on the road in the SEC? Now you're compiling that with throwing somebody on their first start at Death Valley, like at LSU, which is probably one of the toughest places to play against. So I think you'll see Zena start the first game of the season, but if it doesn't go well, then I think you might see, and this is probably the worst case situation if you see sort of a revolving door of the first few weeks to try to figure it out, but I feel like Clemson will roll out the veteran as opposed to the upside play, which we saw Tennessee and Bama go with the upside, go with the ceiling over the guys a little bit, been there a year longer, or been with the coaching staff longer. I just feel like you'll see Davo go with Zena. And to be honest with you, I think this is one of the most under talked about quarterback battles, races in the country. There's just not a lot of juice because even tape Reynolds was not a five star that everybody was after. It was kind of, okay, he's a good player and he's flashed in camp, but similarly with Zena, no one really like has high expectations for him. Yeah, I guess technically not a blue chip, but we just saw the graphic on the screen, youtube.com/cover33starprospect. That was, that was e-me, my fault, I'll put a dollar in the jar. Clemson fans are going to think I'm only going to say what I'm about to say because I hate Clemson and I don't blame them for it because I've been very down on Clemson this off season. But let's remove Clemson from the situation, let's remove all of it and we'll just look at it this way. We've got a quarterback who is in his fourth year in the program who has waited his turn. And he is battling for the starting job, this is finally his chance. And his primary competition is a three star freshman who barely played last year in high school because of a hamstring injury. And you haven't been able to win the job. So there are either two things going on here. The coach is full of crap and is just doing the kind of thing he always does where he's just pretending it's a competition. And one of them has won the job or your fourth year quarterback has not been able to beat out the three star true freshman who barely played a senior year of high school. Not a great sign. In my eyes. It could also be what we were talking about. Like it could also be dabbo and the staff know that the scene is the guy but they want to make them earn it. They don't want to give anything. You know, I like that. I could be. Yeah. But I wanted him to win the job just because he's been loyal like he's been there for four. He's waited his turn. He's done the quote unquote right thing and what we've told kids that they should do for years. So if he doesn't get the starting job, I think that would kind of think for him because he sure he had opportunities to leave if he wanted to. So I hope he wins a starting job and I hope that this is just coach speak because like dabbo also said after their practice, there's scrimmage the other day that it was the worst practice they've had all year but they sat a lot of their starters for that one. But I just, to me, like this is one of those things where I had been assuming Vizena was going to be the starter all off season because of the competition in the room. And the fact that he hasn't won the job to me is a, it's a giant red flag unless again. This is just coach stuff and I hope it is because if it's not, and especially with LSU, like it is a big opponent like they don't want to let them know anything. Let's keep it under wraps like I was going to, I was going to say this. I think this is easy enough of like I don't know if tape can like get them lined up in death Valley on a Saturday night of week one of lane kiffens opening like like give me just, I mean, just age, give me the 22 year old, you know, just to be able to go out there and just structurally not be a negative, you know, and if if there's some decisions that can be made later, that's fine. I think that the battle continues because Tate has shown talent that excites people around Clemson football, maybe in ways that Christopher Vizena does not, but to me putting myself in Debo Sweeney shoes in Chad Morris' shoes, there has to be in the back of your mind what we are walking into for that week one game and that just having the experience be a more of a factor than it would be in a lot of quarterback battles. The other thing since we're on Clemson, this big burly situation, yeah, where do you think there's a possible, I mean, suspended indefinitely, right? He's off the team indefinitely for a disorderly conduct arrest, correct. Do you think that's done, I mean, because that's another short means starting defensive tackle against LSU, you sure would like to have, do you think he's back or do you think he's gone? I know, no host, real quickly, very clearly, no sources reporting on this. I got the same statement from Clemson University as everybody else that was reported. It would not be surprising to me if he turns this into a real punishment, you know. Right. I think that just makes that a bit unique, and he's principled, you know, and it might just be one game, right? Yeah. It just is a disorderly conduct arrest on a Saturday night by the Clemson University police, whoo, buddy, that just sounds like poor decision making to me. We'll find out if there's more details to come from it. But yeah, Vic Burley projected starter along the defensive line, who look also someone might have said some of us thought that Vic Burley would have been drafted when Peter Woods was and that he wasn't even going to be at Clemson for his fourth season. So there was a little bit of, you know, he's part of that old guard, really, not necessarily some of the youth movement that I think we're going to see come to light. So the tiger's strength is at the wide receiver position, but can they even unlock that unless they get difference making at the quarterback position? One last, unless there's another quarterback announcement, please correct me after this. But while we're in the ACC and other team on Clemson schedule, it's the North Carolina Tar Heels and we'll hit them with big game breakdown treatment in terms of the specifics and the matchup against TCU, Billy Edwards, Jr. set to be the starting quarterback here. Tom, you've obviously, he's a two time big 10 legend. He's a legend and a leader. Either as Tom, it was constant laughed about, lasted, you know, about as long as one of those old like two minute, 15 second hits from the 1962, but but he's he is going to set to be the starting quarterback for a Bobby Patrino lead Tar Heels offense. What'd you make about from this competition and this announcement? I will, I mean, I trust that a Bobby Patrino quarterback is probably going to do pretty well. I think that Bobby Patrino knows how to put together an offense and call plays that suit his quarterback's strengths. So I think you're going to get the absolute most out of Billy Edwards. I don't know what the most out of Billy Edwards is. I don't know if it's like North Carolina is going bowling most. Like it's going to be North Carolina, but you know, be more competitive this year than it was at certain times last year. But I think that like when he was like, we didn't really see him at Wisconsin. So it's hard to really judge anything that happened with the badgers because he got hurt so soon. But when you got good tape at Maryland, we got like a decent profile. Yeah. When he was at Maryland, they were like high moments and then there were low moments. And that's typical, I guess, of most cornerbacks. Like your basic, if I could put this in cover three terms, he's his ceiling is Jag plus his floor is Jack, you're hoping that Bobby Patrino can get the most plus. Yeah, it's not. It's not a lot of variance in what you're going to get if he stays healthy. He's got he's able to use his legs to extend plays, which I think always helps in a Patrino offense. We saw what he was able to do with what's his name at Arkansas last year, Taylor Greene, who, you know, was I think more physically gifted than Billy Edwards was, but it's just it's a situation where you're going to need a lot of moxie out of this kid. You're going to need him to just kind of keep things going. But I think if you get a Jag plus North Carolina, you can get to a bowl game. If he's just a Jag, then he might not finish the season to starter and you're kind of maybe looking towards next year by the second half of the schedule. Decade. Yeah. I think that's probably, I mean, when he played well at Maryland, you probably don't have the best talent around you. I'm just wondering how much of a better situation isn't. I don't know if it's better. I think it's probably the same, you know. Because this was two wish weeks ago. So what, you know, what he may or may not have shown in the last two weeks could obviously change some of this, this, this thinking, but the thinking in terms of what Billy Edwards needed to show what they felt good about. They liked Billy Edwards in Bobby Patrino's offense as, let me change today. It is believed that Billy Edwards in Bobby Patrino's offense is going to be able to move the football into scoring range. The last piece and the question mark was how the he does in the red zone. And it's made me think you want to talk about floor and ceiling, Tom. It's made me think that this UNC offense this year is going to put up a lot of yards. but that their struggle might be settling for field goals. And they might just be one of these teams that when the field gets small, they just don't have either at the quarterback, the offensive line, skill positions, that if they start to struggle to capitalize on those opportunities, it's gonna be a lot of yards and points that don't line up to it. We spent a lot of time talking about Bill Bellagic and like the big, like that is some real Carolina football. Like we're gonna be watching in week zero. I do think Carolina's gonna be able to move the ball. And we're gonna be able to tell whether or not Billy Edwards is gonna be closer to that ceiling or closer to that floor by what happens when they get red zone opportunities. Again, last couple of weeks, he might have shown that. Maybe that's why he gets named the starter right here. But a big factor of this coming out of spring was in the back of the heads of the North Carolina brain trust. We need somebody with starting experience who can get this team with 40 freshmen and 30 portal additions lined, damn up, you know, like this, like truly, we are gonna be in Dublin. We are taking a team with 40 true freshmen to Dublin and we're gonna be out there. And I don't know if you've seen the weather forecast for this one, we'll get into big game breakdown. Well, buddy, it, it's gonna be like 109 and Fort Worth today. I think we got like 64 and sideways rain coming in Dublin. I mean, it is, it is gonna be like open championship potential conditions. Last I heard, we will obviously update the weather as part of big game breakdown. But North Carolina coming out of spring was hoping that Billy Edwards would seize this job because whether it was Miles O'Neill, whether it was Travis Burgess, whether it was a Tory New Kirk, none of these other options had the experience that Billy Edwards is able to offer with a young team in an extremely unusual scenario. So Billy Edwards takes that job and buddy, he's gonna get his licks as he has to go up against TCU and Clemson and Notre Dame as his first three power conference opponents. So maybe we see Travis Burgess late in the year. You know, like maybe this does end up with the season, they take a lot of losses, somebody else emerges. But Billy Edwards winning this, I think is experience. And I think is also what you're talking about with that floor. Where that floor is still at least gonna get them lined up and be respectable. Keep your eyes on the red zone performance. - Gotta have every shot in the bag if you're playing that links football. Gotta be able to hit a stinger. You got, you know what I mean, you can't just be, this isn't just, you know, spraying prey and then hope you get that short wedge in. You gotta have it all. - Another one where I'm just guessing he probably is making the most money out of the quarterback room. - Mm, yeah. - I mean, I think that does factor into a lot of, if they're tight and even if they're even, you might not even be even. But they're gonna play the one that they paid the most. - Any other quarterback battles or position battles that have got your attention? - We haven't even talked about the biggest quarterback battle of them all, which was a side in fact, not just figuratively, literally, ball state. Or as I'm calling them now, bowling ball state, named Keldrick Luster, their starter, transfer from Texas state. My man is 510 and listed at 250 pounds. All right, he is listed at 510 to 50, which means in reality, he's probably like 59 to 65. My man is a bowling ball quarterback. You know, I love two kinds of quarterbacks. Really tall, long, athletic freaks who might not be able to throw, but damn, do they look good in practice? And two, bowling balls. If you're looking for a team to watch, they're playing Ohio State in week one. You think Ohio State's defense is ready for that man, rolling down the field, bowling over their linebackers and their tiny little defense attacks. You got Maxian coming in November. You're gonna be watching a lot of bowling ball state for Keldrick Luster, just a unit. - Oh, I love a fire hydrant quarterback. - They make me so happy. - All right, Lustin for Luster. Glad we got that one on record. As I was going around looking for just other general camp bus style updates. I wanted to at least even pose to you as we're all on the same page here. Did you guys realize this Dylan Stewart back injury is not having the most encouraging signs in terms of his full return to play. Something that's bothered him throughout his collegiate career. I mean, Ed Drusher's back issues. We do not like to see that Dylan Stewart fully healthy, all American caliber player. And unless you all have any threads that you've pulled on, I have not gotten an encouraging sign in terms of his availability. - No, I think the update was that there's availability in doubt for week one. And like back stuff, like as somebody who golfed for the first time in six weeks last week and then was dealing with back spasms for like the last five days. It's not something you want to mess with. It's an issue that seldom goes away 'cause it's not really something you could fix. So it does cause some concern going into the year that if he's playing, this is probably something he's just going to be dealing with all year long. - Got it, and you carry his peak also as a big transfer offensive tackle who has been dealing with some things as well. I just don't love to see it just one sort of thing piling up after another right now around this GameCuck squad. - I would wanna ask the question of Shane Beamer. If this was Mississippi State, your first home game, if this was bound, if this was like Woody play. And they probably wouldn't even give you an honest answer. But I do think you have the luxury at least, you never wanna openly admit it, but you feel like you don't have to have starters, a couple of them in this situation. I think the thing that's more concerning is if he was like, no, they really aren't ready to play, but you never will know that information. - We've got, remember Trevor Goosby had that issue that we talked about a little bit 'cause I think it had happened right before we came on here to do win totals. There was a Jordan Davis in entry, a while ago at Oregon's practice, but I haven't seen any overly negative follow-up one way or the other, maybe not a multi-week issue like it was initially reported or initially feared. A mod hearty, that means you suffered a gunshot wound. If you're not ready to go, you're not ready to go. We had encouraging signs from Eli coming out of the beginning of fall camp, but just something to note as we prepare our depth charts for upcoming week one. Any of those are another one that stand out to you? - A mod hearty is another one though, like where it said his timeline is mid-September, you know, like I wonder as well, if they were playing a big game and SEC conference opponent, would he be able to go? 'Cause I think they wanna be as cautious as possible to make sure you don't think he would be. - No, like, Drink was talking over the weekend. He said, you know, like, when he said that he was medically cleared, that just meant that the doctor said that he could practice and it's not, you know, detrimental to him. Like, he's physically capable of practicing. But they have been, they said they haven't even like brought him up, take anything close to full speed in practice yet. So I don't think he'd be ready at all. I think that they are very much trying to take it slow with him to make sure that he is physically. 'Cause I mean, this is like, there's not a lot of roadmaps for this for dealing with players who are covering the gunshot wound recovery of an all-american running back. - Yeah, so I think that they are taking every kind of precaution and making sure that he is a physically capable of doing it and then be 100% before they're gonna send him back out there. So I think it will be a few weeks at a minimum before a mod hearty place. - And let's see, go Black 45 in the tailgate, offering a good bit of context here, which I'm gonna double check. Pine Bluff, Kansas, Troy, Mississippi State. - I wouldn't call that easy for a no. But, you know, you've got a little bit before you find yourself as an obvious underdog, certainly, in terms of a mod hearty. And Jamal Roberts is right back up there, right? - Let me double check. - Come on. - Sorry. - Travel a lot, a lot. - Kill time, kill time, kill time, kill time. - Yes, Jamal Roberts. - There we go. I told a friend recently, I don't know if most of my predictions will probably be wrong. I don't know if my predictions are wrong, but I think I've at least got the names right. Okay. - My favorite thing that happens is when like, the fans of a team will get mad at us for not knowing the name of their backup. It's like, guys, there is no question that you know far more about your favorite team than we do. - Yeah. - We've got to follow 100 different teams. - I love talking to people about their teams and doing more listening than talking. - Yeah, you want to ask me, I'll tell you what I think, but I'm almost always flipping it back. Like, hey, no, you tell me. Tell me what you're thinking right there. Always get good stuff. Okay. Big important reminders, we're going to have to continue to just drive this home and make sure y'all know. And honestly, I should just say, if you do subscribe on youtube.com/copy3, actually we need to do a little YouTube subscriber push. We'll come up with something. You subscribe on youtube, you get an alert, cut the notifications on anytime that we go live. But if you want to set your calendar the same way that we do, here's the way it's going to look like in the season. And this is the beginning of our regular season schedule. Mondays 11 a.m. will be a pun further review. A great chance for us to take one last look at the weekend that was react to the changes in the AP Top 25 poll and set the stage for the week ahead. Then Tuesdays 11 a.m. and AM big game break down. That means going inside the matchups, X's and O's, players to watch storylines and more than Thursday. That's our best bets, baby. The weekly locks 11 a.m. Eastern time, then Saturday night, instant reactions. It is during a regular week about 11, 30 p.m. Eastern time. And then this week tentatively, let's say half time of Florida State, New Mexico State. It'll give us a chance to get first look at the seminoles and react to that as well as what we see out of North Carolina, TCU, what we see out of USC. I think that San Jose State game is an afternoon kickoff over there on the West Coast. There's a pretty good Memphis UNLV game. I would like to give some time to tomorrow and big game break down, but we're not going to stay up till 1.30 a.m. for week zero. We're not. I'll stay up to watch it, but I'd like to watch it cozy. I want to have the studio lights cut off. I want to have my show has gotten soft. I want to have my, I want to have my cap, I want to have my curtiff and my cap. I want to be tucked in and snuggled up. That's how I want to finish Memphis, UNLV. But we know that you'll be here. So again, Saturday night instant reaction shows start week zero. Yes, Tom. Since the wife is watching, can you just go over again and then say that actually we will be doing a live reaction show until 1 p.m. 1 a.m. You mean, whatever. Yeah. Tom solo pod following Memphis, UNLV, brand new and Chris is at the tailgate saying we'll see you tomorrow. Chris, we look forward to seeing you and everybody else in the tailgate as well. And you can follow him on Twitter at Tom for now. You can follow him. And Danny can now follow me @chip_patterson. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Your backups all suck. And you can follow him on Twitter at Tom. And you can follow him on Twitter at Tom.