QB Battles, Eligibility Chaos & Our Week 0 College Football Preview

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It's the best way to support our little independent operation here, over at the Solid Verbal Dan. What are you waiting for? Okay, now let's play the intro. Welcome to the Solid Verbal. Solid Verbal. Come after me. I'm a man. I'm for you. I've heard so many players say why I want to be happy. You want to be happy for a day? Eat a steak, it's that wolf, wolf, and down and tie. Dan Rubinstein, I have good news for you, good news for all of the verbolars. Can't wait. We have games this weekend. What? I have a proposal for you, Ty. Okay. I want you to really think on this. I think we should, and we talk a lot about pacing ourselves. I think we need to throw everything at week zero. Okay. Pacing be damned. I think it was in San Diego with the barge launched all of the fireworks at the same time. I want locks, I want guarantees, I want upsets, I want energy, I want you up at 3am earlier than you're usual 4am on Saturday morning, right? I want historical data on Eastern Michigan ahead of North Dakota State. They're playing each other, right? It's not Eastern Michigan against North Dakota. Oh no, it's Sacramento State, excuse me. It's Jacksonville State. Listen, if you want energy, you're going to have to bring the energy too. This can't be a one way thing. I'm washed up, Ty. You have youthful vigor that I can only hope for. Everybody watching this in 1080p agrees, Ty, we got to throw everything at week zero because we have actual flip and football. I am very excited. I am saving the primal scream for week one, but I got to be honest, I went through. I looked at this slate of eight games, we're going to talk through all of them in some way, shape or form. It's a pretty good slate of games in week zero, like it could just be that we have been months on end without games, report on and watch and enjoy as a group, but also it could be that there is a really good slate of games. I look through. There are three on here that I think could be potential bangers. There is one that maybe I am just very interested in. Then there are four other ones that I think are going to give us a very interesting proof of concept for what the season means as we get a little bit deeper into this thing, i.e. week one, a week from now. So I'm pretty damn excited. This is going to be a nice little amuse bush, as it were of college football in week year. Look, I'm already myself in mid season form, screwing up who's playing each other, saying Eastern Michigan, North Dakota state, when obviously it's Jacksonville state playing Eastern, the sex state, right, sex their first game as an FBS team, correct, this weekend. I think I appreciate your enthusiasm, Ty. But if you're going to say this week features bangers, what is your studio going to look like? Come week five, week eight, week 11, whatever, Ty, I think you need to, I'm saying we should throw the fireworks at everything, but even I am like, all right, let's, like, let's see what your, your reaction is to NC State, Virginia next year is like, if that's a bang or once again, but relative to what we had last week, that's true, which was nothing. There. Yeah. We got three bangers this week. Yeah. I'm very excited. Let's dive in. Let's talk some news. You will get to the games in a few short minutes, but as we've been very busy doing previews and interviews and all the things we usually do to get you ready for the season, we've also been sitting on a little cache of news, things that are going on in and around the world of college football. Most notably among those would be the resolution on some of these quarterback battles that we've known about, that we've talked about, I've got a bullet point list here, like 10 different guys, all of whom won the job. We got Keelan Russell at Alabama, not necessarily a huge surprise, but they made it official. Faizon Brandon is going to be the true freshman starter at Tennessee. He won the job over George McIntyre. First, I think first SEC true freshman to start an SEC game since I had seen some talk about Bo Knicks. I think it's technically Ken Seald Honda, at Vanderbilt with the last true freshman. Is it Honda? It was in a Suzu. Ken Seald's a Suzu? That's a lot of Suzu, Suzu, Suzu, Suzu. We need to adjust something on our compressors here. It's a lot of D.S.ing that might be needed. Yeah. Fair, but it was Ken Seald's. Aaron Filo is getting the nod at Florida over Trimell Jones Jr. That was another one of those contests that went for. Why we expected Filo, but Michael Van Buren getting the nod at USF, the Van Buren boys back together this time now for Brian Hartline to see him barks on things with the USF bulls. Billy Edwards Jr. who we will talk about here in a few short minutes gets the nod at North Carolina. Dylan Lonergan is your starter at Rutgers. I've got a couple other ones here that I think are very interesting, maybe not as interesting to the Verbalor Hood, but it's my show. Blaze Burlewitt's going to be your starter at Van Buren. He wins a job over Jared Curtis, although it does sound as if Jared Curtis will get some time in week one if I read that correctly. Yes. We've also got a gentleman by the name of Keldrick Luster at Ball State. I bring up Keldrick Luster because we talked about him in the preview because Keldrick Luster's vitals are very interesting at 510-258 bowling ball with eyes at quarterback. Solid tie. Did you see? I think I want to credit correctly here. I think it's our friend Michael Lick Jr. had a nickname for him. He either created it or passed it along. I don't know if you saw it. I saw it. I don't remember it. Beef Throganoff. Oh, perfect. That's it. Great. Love it. Terrific. And then the one that actually caught me by surprise was Braden Atkinson winning the job by believe up at Oregon State over Malik Murphy, who has been in and around college football circles forever now. What feels like forever went up to Oregon State, of course, before last season. Did it work? Did it not work? I don't know. That's a longer conversation. But Braden Atkinson was the transfer from Mercer. My beautiful Mercer Bears. Yeah. Mercer Bears, yeah. And I want to say it's Wazoo's quarterback is the UC Davis transfer. So both of the returning Pac-12 teams and the new look Pac-12 both starting FCS transfers. Hope it works out for both the Cougs and the Beaves. I saw that there was some scuttle about Christopher Vazina at Clemson, not necessarily locking up that job. I don't know how much you saw. I think it's what Tate Reynolds is who he's competing with at Clemson. So that's at least something interesting to monitor at the moment. I don't know what's still outstanding in terms of like, you know, will it be this guy? Will it be that guy? Would it's great to have some clarity around those jobs. The phase on Brandon thing is fascinating, right? Especially because of, you know, obviously who's on Tennessee's schedule. And they have what, Georgia Tech early on, I believe. So he'll see a real team pretty early on in his tenure there. So hope it works out because it seems that his physical gifts and his ability, you know, and his ceiling seem to be tantalizing. We'll see how quickly that works out for Tennessee, but certainly the track record is there. So yeah, Philo at Florida is great. Lawner again, I think was expected after, you know, he had some success at Boston College. It seemed like it kind of went away quickly when teams had seen some tape on him. But yeah, some, some fascinating names. If there are any other changes, we will do our part to bring you up to speed before we get into week one. Mother News, Dan, please. Have you been following this? eligibility circus that is going on around College Football right now. Yes. It's a lot. So the big name, I guess, tied up in in this from a more controversial standpoint is De Kwan Wright. De Kwan Wright was waived by the Cleveland Browns. It looks like he has committed to play for LSU. Meanwhile, while all of that was going on, both the SEC and the big 10 and I would say in addition to them, Notre Dame, all have either passed rules or stated publicly that they will not be accepting players coming back from the NFL to play in college, even if they are given eligibility. Right. This has created a whole circus. It should come as no great surprise that Lane Kiffin is taking part in another circus in the span of a calendar year before the first game. Yes. Frankly, I don't know where it's at at time of recording. Frankly, I am afraid to put anything on tape at time of recording because every time I look at feels like something new has come about with respect to this whole NFL player thing coming back to the pros or coming back to college to play for one more season. So we're just going to have to wait and see if in fact De Kwan Wright suits it up with LSU this year, whether or not he's allowed. I again, it changes every 24 hours or so. It has certainly sparked a much broader discussion about where college football is at. I saw some people online commenting about, we finally found rock bottom. It seems most people are agreeing that this should not be a thing and we need to try and nip this in the bud. But for sure, there will be much more to follow on this one. Again, the name is De Kwan Wright, way of by the Browns. So yeah, there's, there's a lot here and there's a lot sort of going on all over the country because there are certain players who were who got an a temporary relief injunction type, such a temporary relief order than type of injunction. Again, my legal ease may be completely, yeah, tiaro. So there are certain players from 2022 now that the rules have changed that you have five years to play five years that, you know, obviously the class of 2022, this would be their fifth season. If my math works out, two, three, four, five, two, three, four, five, six. So we have the situation with De Kwan Wright and he had signed an NFL deal, right? He had signed a deal with the Cleveland Browns. And then you have guys who did not sign NFL deals who have gotten injunctions and court rulings. And I think one of them is junior to E. Alamaca, who was a Notre Dame rotation defensive end edge type player. He was not a star player for Notre Dame last season. And so now he's hit the portal and is going to LSU. You have Xavier and Harris. You have, I believe Texas has a guy. Thomas Castelano's name has come up whether or not he would actually start for Texas Tech or not. I don't believe he signed an NFL deal. No. So there's the parsing situation, sort of related, but like Stephen Daley and Kellen Wyatt are trying to return to Indiana, but a judge recently sort of, I think, stayed the NCAA ban and they are, again, my legal ease is probably backwards. The NCAA doesn't want them to play a judge agreed with the NCAA's attempt at least temporarily. And they have been ruled ineligible as of a few days ago. Right. So they are currently able to practice, I believe, but not play in games for Indiana as of time of recovery. Everybody getting this at home? Are you glad we brought this up? No, we're not enjoying it either. There's a lot. There's a lot going on. There's too many moves. But that has, that has major right. Like so the situation with LSU is interesting somewhat because these guys, I think would be rotation type players for LSU like trade as green is better than day one right. Sure. In terms of like, you can play two tight ends at the same time of course, but like LSU has a legitimately all SEC caliber starting tight end already. So depth is great. Talent all over the place is great. Experience in the SEC is great. But in the case of Kellen Wyatt and Stephen Daley, Stephen Daley, I believe, led the big 10 in tackles for loss last season. If you were to play on Indiana's team this season, I would imagine you'd have a pretty sizable role because he has proven to be pretty excellent for the Hoosiers. So different situations, different injunctions and lawsuits and different states and different team situations everywhere. Here's my bottom line. Whole thing is a bummer. Whole thing at the bummer like happening a week and a half before, couple of weeks before the season starts and guys have been through spring practice and summer and I understand like, yeah, there's a ruling guys want to take advantage. This wasn't the rule when they entered college. So I think there's a conversation worth having there as well. But at the same time, I understand why they'd like to exhaust their eligibility if possible and make some money if possible. If the NFL is not willing to pay them money. So I understand it from their standpoint. It puts coaches in a weird spot. It puts everybody in a weird spot. It kind of seems loose, loose. Then you have the story about Lane Kiffin and LSU allegedly encouraging these dudes, allegedly, encouraging the use of the law to play once more. I was going to say, stop piling on Lane Kiffin, Dan. I'm just saying this was a story that that was reported. I know that Lane Kiffin and LSU and Lane Kiffin went on TV and said, well, if we didn't do it, somebody else would, which is you know, the way you want to morally stand and walk through life. So here we are. Here we are. I have nothing bad to say about LSU. I'm very excited to watch LSU football this season. The whole act of like this being a deal in the sport and the big 10 in the SEC scrambling to put in place these last second rules is I just the most college football thing ever. It really is. So you brought up Tommy Castellanos. He was part of a separate lawsuit that went through. I believe the state of Kentucky. I could be botching that as well. But it does appear as if he is eligible. Perpetenaco's over it on three. It looks like he is headed to Texas tech. At least that's the prediction. Probably not as QB one, but maybe as QB two and some other positions. So we'll see what that has in store for him on the eligibility front. One other point before I get to our final story before we jump in and actually start talking games. Did you see this about Aryan Carter, the Tennessee linebacker? He's down to one game in terms of his his suspension, correct? Correct. So the reason why Aryan Carter was suspended for two games is because his agent paid for a $427 flight after he declared for the NFL draft. After that, he ended up withdrawing his name to return to Tennessee. He reimbursed his agent, but the NCAA suspended him anyway, right? So kind of caught up in this whole big circus about eligibility is this which to me feels like a bit of a ridiculous suspension to say the least, especially given what else is going on around college football. But at least they reduced it to one game and hopefully he'll be back out there before long. I kind of think that's a crappy ruling, but he did the right thing, right? He's doing, he did everything he could to say like, okay, let me be above board and let me, you know, try and make this right. And the two game suspension kind of seemed like BS. And I think those were the letters that Josh Hyple chose specifically. So now he will be back for the aforementioned Georgia Tech matchup. Correct. Correct. So that's good. I think that's a good eligibility story. Yeah. The final news bulletin, Dan, did I mention that Lane Kiffin's been caught up in a circus here? A little bit. Yeah. Oh, Miss supposedly swept its football building for bugs after Lane left. It was, it was stated that that comment and that reporting was overstated in terms of how seriously they swept for bugs. But I will be clear. As far as I can tell, when they said that that comment was overstated, they didn't say, yeah, that was a joke and completely false. Right. They didn't say that. They just said, well, it was sort of set in jest, but it sort of overstated the seriousness of it. But also they swept for bucks. They swept for, they definitely were checking underneath desks. And it was something like you don't know Lane Kiffin like I know Lane Kiffin, right? That was one of the quotes. So if Lane Kiffin is caught up in some sort of mission impossible surveillance operation, the sport would melt down on top of all the other Lane stuff. So essentially combining the Michigan storyline from a few years ago with Lane Kiffin leaving his team before the college football playoff, but bugging that team, right, bugging his enemies in a Nick Sonian twist to make this all the most explosive possible meltdowny story. I'm just envisioning like Pete Golding in one of those like Faraday cages that you saw Gene Hackman enemy of the state trying to keep out the outside signals from peering in and getting the goods on what's going to go down in week three because that's going to be a huge matchup. By the way, here's the other thing. The the whole alternate universe of this whole thing is Ole Miss finding bugs, not saying anything. And trying to work this against Lane Kiffin like you remember like the sort of attempted sabotage that Mike Leach had when he was the Oklahoma offensive coordinator and throwing down the fake laminated like play sheet of the the opening drives or whatever ahead of Red River and it confusing Texas. Briefly before they stomped Oklahoma, I imagine that if Ole Miss really wanted to, Lane Kiffin seems like the perfect, the absolute perfect. I don't know what like college football fishing or cat fishing potential we have with Lane Kiffin here, but in terms of a mark, I don't think it gets better than Lane Kiffin. - You could probably get Lane on one of these. You could take him for a ride, yeah. - Oh, I mean, Lane can be swayed, so I think it would have been incredible that if this story were to come out after the fact, and we saw like a 77 to 14 Ole Miss win over LSU, but you know, a boy can dream. - I'm Mungus, you together, and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about, and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science. - I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. - Here's some hard truths. - I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five-year acceleration. - And get myself into a world of trouble. - I'd say probably start bone smashing. - That doesn't work. - Make you look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. - Listen to Skyline Drive, how to live forever on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. - Hey, this is Hayes Davenport, and Sean Clements. - We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook, on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, AKA The Biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. - We've had a lot of great guests, like Sarah Sherman, not that great. - Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head? No, how about we flip this around? Okay, what is the surprise one, man? Who actually you think is the straight man, is actually the one who's acting weird. - Adam Scott, this entire time, you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. - I would never let go of that. - I have, I would never set expectations for something like that. - It sounds like if the universe allows for something like that to happen. - I am open to it. - I'm always going to accept, okay. - Danny McBride, fine. - Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity, exuding. I could smell it walking on the hallway to be honest with you. - I was like, I was like, is that what you need? - Nope, it's fragile masculinity. - Ben Stiller, no. - I think there's a lot of times out of context, people don't get it, or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? Like you're like, "Oh, it's so stupid." - Everyone's so dumb, it's for you. - And fake. - Right, fake and also not interested, or just like, "Oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life." - And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. - Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show, and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Our town is small taters by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. - What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? - Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. - The first thing you see when it pops up is high nears and apple at you, but they weren't just planning houses. - We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life. - Stop right there, is that normal? - A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. - God need men to rule, great. - And decides to fight back. - Do not use my hard work to sell your bull (beep) - They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. - Our hometown is not a test too. - They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. - I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? - Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Should we do it, Dan? - Let's do it. - Dan, time to help, any picks of the week. - The siren call of a week of college football games. Ooh, ooh, ooh. - Yeah, buddy. The hair's standing up on the back of my neck. We got eight games here that we're gonna talk through. Some more than others, but all of them at least a little because we are excited, we are celebrating that we actually have football to talk about. No longer do we need to invent things to talk about. We have games that we can talk about and it starts at high noon on ESPN this Saturday. It is the game that they are playing over in Dublin at Aviva Stadium. TCU squaring off against North Carolina. They are a seven and one half point favorite at time of recording. You may recall, these two teams played last year. TCU crushed them by a 48 to 14 score. That was after North Carolina scored on its opening drive in the Bill Bellicic era and Skip Bayless took to the Twitter sphere. - I've seen enough. - To declare that North Carolina had a national championship caliber offense. Do you remember the Halcyon days? - Yes, absolutely. - It was a brief, memorable moment in time. - TCU then went on a 41 point scoring bench. They outgain North Carolina by 320 yards. They scored twice on defense. They basically suffocated the tar heels. Again, your final score was 48 to 14. - So, going to this year, there have been some changes to note. The TCU offense is gonna look different. New offense, a coordinator Gordon Samus. Probably more under center stuff, a little more pistol, more tight ends, a little bit more of an intentional running game. At least that's my opinion. Part of why I like TCU this year is because of that, I really like Jeremy Payne. They're running back. And I like their offensive line. Even though there are some questions up front, I think the ground attack could have a pretty big year, love the pain game. I'm excited about your-- - Love the pain game. - Yeah, okay. - The bigger question for me though, on the TCU side is Jaden Craig. And we talked about it in the run-up to this game, in the run-up to this season, the transfer from Harvard, I believe in him, but it clearly is a step up then. Going from FCS now into-- - Definitely. - FBS, how do you feel about this game? - I think it should be a pretty fascinating game, because we get to see at least in week one for North Carolina and TCU their first game. It's not, it's week zero of the season obviously, but in their first attempt to win a football game, we get to see what's new, what's changed. Obviously, North Carolina has made the biggest hire of the offseason in terms of what these two teams have done and bringing in Bobby Patrino to run their offense. So, if you are going to like North Carolina in this game, you have to kind of ignore last year, which I think is a smart thing to do for most teams in the sport, given the changes that all these rosters and coaching staves go through, and then you're gonna have to say, not only do I believe in North Carolina's changes, I believe in them figuring out how to effectively travel to Ireland to play their first game and have everything in working order that they have a quarterback who has basically hurt all of last year in Billy Edwards. I think he threw like 11 passes for Wisconsin. He was beat up and was unable to play. When he played a couple of years ago, he showed flashes at times for Maryland, played some very tough games on the road. I think they had both Indiana and Oregon on the road a couple of years ago. And you have to believe in Bilbelicek, self-scouting, figuring out everything that went wrong in 2025 and is able to take all of that immediately to Ireland, once again, to beat what TCU is, which is more of a real winning college football team, it seems than North Carolina in this moment. Not to say TCU doesn't have their own questions traveling to Ireland to play their first game. Well, I'm saying it like that because it's not just that these two teams are opening the season up after a bunch of changes and new offenses and new quarterbacks for both of these teams that like, it's hard enough to just be a new team year over year. But then to travel like they're traveling, by the way, not to give away the game too much, could be a pretty soggy affair once again, in a Viva Stadium. Okay. There's rain in the forecast. - To Ireland? - Well, can you believe that it's going to rain in Ireland? - Shocker, I won't try to use shocker. - So I'm just saying, this feels like a classic Hildenbrand, a Shanti game. Not that you can clearly trust TCU more, but you don't have a ton to go on beyond last year's team looking more effective as the year went on, but it's a different team this year for North Carolina. So I just, if I'm going to simulate this game a thousand times in the spread is what seven and a half points seven and a half points. Yeah. I would have to just be a semi blind believer in Bill Belichex ability to make over and inspire a North Carolina roster with basically no evidence that he can beat a real team let alone where tie in Ireland. So I'm, I'm happy to give the points here just because there's more to trust about TCU and the frogs in this spot. You kind of took the words right out of my mouth and I'll get to it in a second. I have questions about TCU. I like TCU though and I do a faith in Jaden Craig. I do think it's a step up. I also am a little bit cautious about just hand waving North Carolina. I'm not hand waving because I still think the Belichex defense says we saw a year ago. I think the Belichex defense has some juice. I think they're going to be better on defense this year. I think for a good chunk of the season there's a decent chance that the defense is going to carry the team. And so if you're telling me we've got a situation here with a first time starting FBS quarterback in Jaden Craig going into a defense that I think is going to be half decent. That's an interesting matchup to watch. I also think North Carolina is going to be better on offense. Speaking of trust. Same. I actually trust in Bobby Patrino words that have never been spoken. I trust that Bobby Patrino is going to be able to reassemble this offense in a way that makes it a little bit better. Like Billy Edwards juniors and upgraded quarterback. I really like Demon June. I think Patrino is going to find a way to make these guys better. He's going to put in a lot of quick game and RPOs and stuff that puts Billy Edward Jr on the move because he's good at that. Yeah. Certainly not the strongest arm quarterback. So they're going to have to be really deliberate about how they stretch the field vertically. It's going to be more about schemes than I think him taking shots. But you know, I just feel like there's going to be more juice on the offense as well. I am worried there could be a little bit of pickleball to that offense if Billy Edwards juniors not out there. Again, not the strong. He's not a pop gun arm, but he's not the strongest arm quarterback in the world. We'll see what type of shape this takes on when these teams play on Saturday. I don't know like Vegas is expecting a one score affair. I'd also add that these games in Ireland and maybe the rain is something to do with it this time around, but they tend to go under not always the highest scoring affairs. We've seen some really good games in Ireland. I've got TCU winning, but I don't have them covering. I think it's like 24/17. Okay. Yeah. I'm going to say 28/17, something in there. I think they're 10/11 points better. I'm not sold on the Jaden Craig thing for TCU. I just think there is an interesting enough track record and more around him at TCU to set him up for success. Definitely. Definitely. I agree with that. I do keep saying that like in Ireland thing, but there is something about not only is it like their first game of the season, but like to me, it feels like and it seems like a lot goes into from like an administrative like when are we getting there? When are we doing the walkthrough? Like there's, there has to be kind of a good deep understanding of where you are as a program to be able to weather that kind of unique situation. And Sunny Dykes has just been through more as a college coach and has built up a roster and is more familiar with his guys. And at least some of his position coaches and coordinator situations, they're like, I just feel like they're going to be better prepared to succeed than North Carolina. And so, could see North Carolina starting quickly again, could see all sorts of encouraging moments for North Carolina. I'd be terrified if I'm a North Carolina fan that everybody's going to be watching this game. Don't screw it up. Don't screw it up. Don't screw it up. So it's nerve-wracking, but yeah, I think I'm just trusting more about the TCU ceiling right now. Let's move the three PM Eastern time. This one on NBC. It is San Jose State on the road at USC. The Trojans are a 38 and a half point favorite to big number. USC went nine four year ago. They were seven and oh at home. San Jose State went three and nine. They were oh and six on the road. This game is on the road. No one is expecting San Jose State to be USC. But I do think that we've got some points of intrigue here on the USC side in particular. We voted them ninth in our AP poll. We both clearly agreed that this is going to be a pretty good team. It's going to be a team that's to some extent at the mercy of its schedule. But there are definitely points of real intrigue here that I think require us to watch on Saturday afternoon. Like I don't really give a rip about the final score. I care about Gary Patterson playing defense or him getting USC to play better. No, hold on. Let's let's pull on that threat. It's Gary Patterson like an obvious three technique because he runs out of linebacker. Patterson out there playing defense. But my hunch is that his eligibility has been exhausted. I want to see what his defense looks like and I want to see nobody get hurt. Beyond that, Jade Mayavo with his White House has anybody step up. And beyond that, they lost their center for the years. There are any kind of confusion or communication issues up front along the line. Anything that we can take with us as we move now into week one and deeper into the season. But like this should be a win going away for USC. I just want to see how smooth they look in the process. I think that's all reason. Well, they have four games before their gauntlet. And so they are also down, I believe, Jakeem Stewart for a little while, but he seems like he'll be back. He was a rotation, but flashing freshman defensive lineman last year. And I think he's been counted on to be a big time playmaker this year up front. So they're without him. I think you nailed it. I think a bunch of it's going to be, look, they're going to win this game 65 to 10. Right. Like there's no universe in which I think San Jose State covers in this game. Jade Mayavo should be basically automatic against this defense at home. You know, I think a lot of USC fans are looking forward to seeing which new names are getting snaps and are flashing in those snaps. You know, there's freshmen on both sides of the ball or first year starting types or contributor types who didn't really play last year, especially when you look at receiver. It's yeah, it's who's getting the reps, who's getting in and how organized they look in this new defense. And so yeah, I imagine this is going to be a 50 point USC win. And you know, on top of, you know, what you mentioned with San Jose State and losing on the road and going three and nine, they did lose their starting quarterback in addition to Duke. He's that you didn't mention that in the news. Yeah. Well, I mean, announced starters, but yeah, San Jose State has to replace their quarterback Walker. You get who's as you say going to be the starter at Duke in addition to their top Russia and their top four receivers. Yeah. So yeah, there's going to be a nice and up a nice little opportunity here for USC to ramp things up on defense. And it's going to be one of those years for San Jose State trying to pick up the pieces and reassemble with a new cast of characters. I've got this game at 55 14 USC. Yeah, I mean, I think I have it at like 63 to 13. If I said a 50 point win, something like that. I'm curious to see, by the way, it's just speaking of like seeing the guys and the number of reps or if they're even getting reps at all, John Tez Williams, who has been limited all off season long coming off. I believe a torn ACL that he suffered early on in the season last year for Iowa State. And he was one of the big portal grabs for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans, you know, what does he look like? Is he even, you know, playing in this game or they sort of making him sit out a little bit more to get as healthy as he can because look, the secondary took a hit after last season. They brought in new guys. They're going to be counting on some new guys, including John Tez Williams, because the schedule does get real in a few weeks in terms of the passing attacks they'll be facing. So we'll see what the past rush looks like. I suspect it's going to be incredible against San Jose State because after all tie, the USC championship window. We all agree. And my guy Scott does as well. So yeah, 63 to 13. I think Jamie Ab is going to look terrific. The window is open. They get healthier running back. My wife and Jordan got hurt last year. And so he'll be back with King Miller. It's great. We know is open to windows open. 330 ESPN. A game that was originally supposed to be played in Rio de Janeiro. NC State is playing this one at Virginia. Virginia is favored at home now by five and a half points. I never got the full story and why they pulled the plug and move this one back state side. But I was getting some real fire fest vibes. At some point, I'm assuming we'll get the full story, but they just very quietly pulled the plug and moved back to Charlottesville. I think it was probably a ticket situation that perhaps the tickets weren't moving as quickly as possible. And they may have mentioned something about the turf on the field because I think it was was the Rio turf that at the NFL had some issues with, but yeah, it didn't work out. - It did not. - It were concerns. - Workout. - Yeah. These teams did play last year. It was a fun game. NC State won at 35-31. They were trailing by 10 and a half. This is a game that featured over 900 total yards. UVA ran for 257 on the ground, but then NC State scored touchdowns on their first three drives. It says here in the second half, ended up sealing the game with an interception in the end zone. I have no idea how to feel about this game. - Okay, next game. - Can you provide some clarity, please? This is your cue to maybe help me. - There are things about both of these teams that are encouraging and facts to enjoy. And like about NC State going into the season and Virginia heading into the season, but there are, there's obviously good reason when you look at NC State's defense last year, what Virginia, Virginia didn't lose a ton, but they're moving from a quarterback who seemed a little bit more dependable than where they stand right now with Bob Rubula. The game was in Raleigh last year, yes. NC State, not as good on the road, or at least they weren't last year for whatever that's worth. I think I like Virginia here. I think there is something about Virginia. NC State has usually, I think they started last year pretty in an encouraging fashion after two years ago. I didn't think it just like absolutely bludgeoned early on by Tennessee. I think I liked the continuity of Virginia. Last year's proof of concept that it's at home. I tend to favor home teams in week zero, week one, just because I think comfort goes a long way when there is so much uncertainty. So I think I'm gonna go Virginia here. I think right now, NC State appears to need to win on the arm of CJ Bailey. Right, and they were very explosive team last year at times. I just think I trust if you're starting point for Virginia is a good proof of concept on defense and a lot returning on a good offensive line, I think I like their starting point a little bit better. I think NC State's gonna have a decent season, but in this spot, I think I like Virginia by a touchdown. I think both teams are gonna try to run and I see this one devolving into some sort of ball control affair that probably swings on a few big plays that flip the field. I think those big plays will come when NC State's on offense. I don't know if it will be the NC State offense creating the place though. Right, and like to that end, I am watching to see if CJ Bailey, who is clearly the more proven quarterback in this matchup, can hit a few of those big plays through the air against a really good Virginia defense. The reason I say I don't know if it's the offense creating the big plays or not, it could be a Virginia defense that is forcing mistakes, forcing some turnovers. This is an NC State team that has not necessarily been the most dependable, even though they've been a pretty good team over the years. So I'm just curious to see what that looks like. You may recall we talked through NC State in our preview. We mentioned how they certainly put a premium on building their offensive line, maybe not as much in the wide receiver room. We had a bunch of people comment and they are like, listen, you don't understand. They went out and think guys that that CJ's played with before that he knew back in pop Warner. Great, great. Like I like this team too. I've already said they're kind of my pet ACC team, but can those guys get open against a good defense like Virginia? That's what I'm waiting to see. And I think if they're going to win, that's what's going to need to happen. So fascinating match up to me, like I like the same things about Virginia that you do. I think in the preview, we called them Iowa East, right? Offensive line and defense. Don't know how Bo Pribula fits in. Don't know if they've got enough skill talent around him. Bo was certainly not the same kind of quarterback as Chandler Morris, but I like him. It's just going to be a little bit different. I think this is a close game. I think this is a fun game. I've got 27, 20 NC State because of course, I've got NC State. Why not? Yeah, we disagree. Me, disagree. Yeah, there's something about, look, last year was last year, this year is this year, but I do look to certain elements of where Virginia was able to succeed, especially on defense. They were incredible at preventing those big pass plays on obvious passing downs. They were the number one team in America on passing down play explosiveness allowed. If that's at all a big deal to you, their pass rush was terrific last year. And so in terms of recent track record of development and execution, Virginia's defense, really good place. Now obviously NC State with even those stats, NC State beat them last year early. So there is something to be said about NC State's quality, which I think is absolutely there. I have Virginia winning this one, 31-23. Five 30 on CBS Sports Network. We've got Jacksonville State squaring off against North Dakota State in the Fargo Dome. - And Fargo. - Hell yeah. Hell yeah. North Dakota State is now up to a seven point favorite at home. This will be their first game in the FBS. They went 12 and one last year in their final season of FCS play. They were dominant most of the year. They lost by one in the playoffs. Now they're making the move up into FBS. And presumably are one of the teams worth monitoring in the Mount West. - Is there a team in the Mount West? You're just like, I'm not monitoring them. You won't catch me naked monitoring them. No, I monitor everybody, continue. - We've been to the Fargo Dome. - It's terrific. - That place is gonna be friggin' allowed. I like North Dakota State here. I like him at home. I think their home field advantage is going to be felt enormously throughout the course of this year. I don't know if teams fully have baked that into the K care. But North Dakota State I think is strong enough on both lines. I do have questions about what the rest of the team looks like notably at quarterback and at the skill positions. But I think the strength of their lines will be enough to take them a pretty good ways through this season. Jacksonville State has a dual threat running quarterback in Caden Creole, but they did lose camp cook who we talked about going over to West Virginia with Rich Rod. So a lot will be on Caden Creole to see if he can move the ball against what should be a good enough bison defense. A bison defense that by the way was averaging something like 74 yards per game on the ground. So it was good rushing defense. We'll see what they can do now with the new cast of characters jumping up a step. But I feel pretty confident that they're gonna win and cover here, especially in the Fargo Dome. I've got it at like 31 20 bison. Okay, that's fair. I think I'm with you. I think North Dakota State with again, it's a comfort thing with as much new as there is for North Dakota State that they're at home against an opponent who was obviously good last season, but they weren't nails at any one element of things, especially in conference play, whereas I think there is something with North Dakota State and the continuity and the culture and the program's strength. I'm just, I'm going with the bison at home to cover in this one. I think Jacksonville State will have a good year and they have become an impressive program. I like Jack State a lot. It's under the other Charles Kelly. Previously Rich Rod. I think North Dakota State is stronger here. I'm Mungusher together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity of session is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I can make a brain for you and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, a suppose to his brain. Here's some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration and get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make you look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, how to live forever on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. - And Sean Clements. - We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook on the big money players network. Our show is extremely accessible to first time listeners. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. - We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. - No, no, no, no. - Okay, how about we flip this around? How, what is the surprise one, man? Well, actually, you think it's the straight man, it's actually the one who's acting weird. - Adam Scott, love. - This entire time, you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. - I would never expect that. - Next go to that. - I have, yeah. - I would never set expectations for something like that. - I am open to it. - I'm always going to accept, you know. - Okay. - Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking on the hallway. to be honest with you, I was like, "Is that what you need?" Nope, it's fragile and masculinity, yep. Ben stiller, no. - I think there's a lot of times in out of context, people don't get it, or even know what a circle is, you know what I mean? Like, you're like, "Oh, it's so stupid." - Uh, everyone's so dumb, it's for you. - And fake. - Right, fake, and also not interested, or just like, "Oh, I've got my life, "I don't care about your life." - And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. - Oh, and by the way, Will Farrell told us personally, he loves the show, and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. - The first thing you see when it pops up is high nears and Appalachia. - But they weren't just planning houses. - Do not use my hard work to sell your bull (beep) They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. - The other new FPS team plays at 6/30 on ESPN Plus. It's Sacramento State on the road against Eastern Michigan, Eastern Michigan now at 10 point. Home favorite. Eastern Michigan brings back a lot. It's really the tale of two cities here with respect to returning production for whatever you make of that. Eastern Michigan brings back 62% of its production from a year ago. If you look on the Sac State site, a lot new, but notably only 21% of their offensive production is returning, they're going to be led by Carson Conklin, who is their quarterback. But I feel like there is just so much different, including the coaching staff. I like Eastern Michigan here, like 35 to 17. I'm watching to see how their defense holds up 'cause they could stop anybody. - I was gonna say, they bring back so much and their defense was so bad last year. - It was so bad on the ground last year. So, can Sacramento State run the ball against that type of defense? You know, will the defense be better? That I think is sort of the game within the game. But bigger picture, I am not liking Sac State's chances here on the road against the team that is gonna have its fair share of veterans. So, like I said, 35 to 17 for me. - I'm gonna take the points. I'm gonna take the points in this one. I'm not confident in these defenses. I think it's gonna be weird and ugly. I'm happy to take, you know, now that it's up to double digits, I think there's value there. - 7 PM on the C-Dub. - New Mexico State at Florida State, Florida State favored by 38 1/2, 31 something in that neighborhood. - Total problem. - Yep. You may recall Florida State opened up last season by beating number eight Alabama by a 31 to 17 score. - Yeah, yada, yada, yada, they finished five and seven. - That did happen, can confirm. Yeah, they're gonna rip New Mexico State apart. This is not Jerry Kill, New Mexico State. This is not Diego Pavia, New Mexico State. They have a lot of issues. Florida State has neutral vibes right now. Obviously, the vibes overall aren't great for where the program stands. But in terms of this season and the rhythm of the season, they can go in with a fresh start and score a ton of points. So we'll say 55 to 13. I think Florida State will be in a good spot. There's enough to like about both sides of the ball for Florida State, not love. But in this spot, I think they're gonna be all right. - Yeah, I've got 45 to 10. Florida State could move the ball a year ago, but it was turnovers, it was stuff in the red zone, the mistakes in the close games, stuff like that kept popping back up. So like, I know I said in the preview that I was 80% of the way out on Florida State, I am still hedging a little bit because there are aspects of this team that I really like. My guy this year is Usman Chroma at running back. I love that guy. - Okay. - I think could really be a force. Duce Robinson, I think we voted Duce Robinson on our all American team. - Yeah, he was up that caliber. - Out wide for Florida State. Just a big dude who's gonna be a force this year and probably moving forward in the NFL. I think Florida State will be better. The bigger question for them is seven and five is seven and five good enough to keep Mike Norville at a traditional power like Florida State, probably not. I wanna see in this one in particular, Ash and Daniels is he playing a clean game. How does the line in front of him look 'cause the line's been rebuilt? There's just a fair amount here I think that we don't really know who our guys are yet. Maybe outside of Duce Robinson and it's gonna take a few games to maybe gain some confidence in new names, frankly. - By the way, speaking of our guys, this game is on the CW and it's Tom Brennan who I guess you're boys with, right? - I am boys with them, yes. - You and Tom, the thing you didn't mention that shame on you. So the Jacksonville State North Dakota State game is on CBS Sports Network. Who's in the booth for this one? Well, Rich Wallace is calling the game Adam Brennan is doing color, but it's a three man booth. It's the premiere of the Brian Kelly experience in Fargo. Shame on you, Ty. Shame on you. - On CBS Sports Network. - Okay, so that was the game before, six, no, no, sorry. - 530 Eastern. - 530 on CBS Sports Network. - Yes, that's all. - Wes Durman, Max Brown on the call for ANSI State Virginia, Max Brown now in the, I think the top seat in the ACC network booth. - I think I needed to merit for forgetting that Brian Kelly bit. - Do you think Brian Kelly will go curling? Like we went curling when we went to Fargo. We hope so and want evidence thereof if that's the case. He'll have sort of that upper plane's accent by the time he gets done. - Of course he will. - Yeah. - 7pm, we've got on ACC network Hawaii at Stanford. When I made this doc, the point spread was five and a half in favor of Stanford at home. And I jotted down that I didn't understand the point spread. And then I looked this morning and it's down to Stanford minus four, which makes me feel better knowing that I wasn't crazy. - I'm seeing down in some place at three and a half. - Three and a half, yeah. - Yeah. - I still think four is too much if it's even there at this juncture. They played a year ago for whatever that's worth to you 'cause there's so much new on the Stanford side in particular. But Hawaii won that game 23 to 20 on a 38 yard field goal, but it was a fun game. Like you had a bunch of lead changes. Stanford had a 20 play drive in the fourth quarter and then Micah, Elahado, the starting quarterback for Hawaii led a game tying and a game winning drive down the stretch. 23 to 20 again, it was your final. Hawaii's got the better offense. Hawaii should be able to throw. I know this is a new regime and everyone likes to be a pritchard, but this was the worst passing defense in the nation a year ago. Even with a new regime and better vibes and different coaches and different players, stretched to me that you're gonna be able to fix that overnight. So that's a great sentence. Look, the past defense was bad last year, but with all new coaches and all new players, I still don't like. I still don't, no, because no, I got it. But here's why I say that. You're right, we read all these preview publications and whatnot and it hopes brings eternal. Yeah, new vibes, new philosophy, new scheme, new players, new everything. Yes, but also you're not gonna be able to fix that overnight. You're 136th, so TLDR, Micah, Elahado, still gonna be able to throw the football. If we see a jump from Stanford, I think it's on offense. I think they can definitely run on Hawaii. Their starting quarterback is Davis Warren. I am not expecting Davis Warren to go out there and throw up for 350 yards. I think it's gonna be a lot of handing off the Micah word. I could see this being a really good game just like it was a year ago. A question to me of how much defense we see, really on both sides of this. So I'm taking Hawaii. I think they went outright. I've got something like 27, 24. This should be a good game though. Like there's a reason that point spreads going down because everyone else is seeing it too. It, this would be a fun game to watch at 7pm on HCC network. Which side of this one are you on? I think I'm on Hawaii as well. I'm not positive that they actually win this game, but there has to be so much trust in the unknown with Stanford even though it is at home. And Hawaii is even though it's close in terms of like, it's very close to the state of California compared to other states. It's still a hall. You just have to have belief in so much with the Stanford team right away that like the combination of Tv to Pritchard and Davis Warren is gonna work out immediately against. Hawaii's a quality team. They're not excellent, but they're quality. Timmy Chang, I think just got an extension, right? He got more years tacked on. Vibes are really strong and Honolulu. I don't trust Stanford in this moment. And here's the other thing to that bothers me about liking Stanford. at least this week, I can understand why Stanford would improve as a program over time. Think about what Stanford fans have been through. Yes, there are Stanford fans. But you're talking about having like four coaches in five years, kind of like the Troy Taylor, David Shaw, Frank Reich, and now Tavita Pritchard. Like, it's a lot to go through. And so while I think there's a good feeling about Tavita Pritchard because he was a quarterback for the school that he's had success as a coach, he was with the commanders recently. Yeah, with Jane Daniels, and he's done a good job. That there is a certain amount of time that's going to need to transpire before like everybody is so excited about Stanford football again. Even though Andrew Luck is running the show, they've been hurt these past few years. They've been terrible. Like, you need to convince people to show up. So they're not going to have like a raucous environment. I mean, they very rarely do, but like even still. Like, you got to prove it. And so I think there's just more to trust about Hawaii in this moment. All right, what final game then? 10 PM on Fox, you get a full day worth of bangers, Dan. (laughs) This is one of them. I'm really excited about this game. This is a low key very big game in week zero. 10 PM on Fox, Memphis on the road at UNLV. This is another game where the point spread's gone down. When I made the doc five and a half in favor of UNLV at home, at time of recording, I think four and a half. That's come down a little bit. This is a pretty big game, okay? I think these are two teams that could be, I emphasize could be part of that G6 playoff conversation depending on the way this whole thing works. Well, you said it too. UNLV, I didn't say about Memphis. You could squint and see it with Memphis. Okay. We've got a brand new situation at Memphis. 50 new players, Charles Huff is the new coach. This is after Ryan Silverfield left and took a bunch with him to Arkansas. We've also got year two now at UNLV for Dan Mullen. They went 10 and four in year one, made it to the conference championship game. Average 34 points of game, Dan Mullen teams 10 to score. Dan Mullen teams 10 to run. I think they're going to probably do that again. New quarterback this year, Anthony Kalandria, transferred away from UNLV. He's going to be the starting quarterback in Nebraska. They bring in Jackson Arnold. Remember Jackson Arnold? Of course. Jackson Arnold. Jackson Arnold might be the best Dan running back on the team. Can he throw? We'll get to that. So I think this game is supremely interesting. I hate that it's at 10 p.m. for those of us old timers here on the East Coast, but my hunch is that after a day of football we'll probably have some adrenaline flowing through us. So where are we at here, Dan? How do we feel? I guess UNLV, I mean, Memphis is completely new. They haven't even named a starter yet, right, at quarterback. Right. I don't believe, as time of recording, they have not, that news has not come out, whether it's like what Air Nolan or Marcus Stokes. Right. Yeah, I think UNLV in as much as they are suspect on defense, I think there's more to know, more to like. I don't, I'm curious about the Jackson Arnold thing because Dan Mullin just gets results out of quarterbacks and it's what, it's both Jackson Arnold and Alex Orange you're gonna play. So I think there's just much more known about UNLV. It's at home. I think it's gonna take a little bit for Memphis to get its sea legs under it. So what's the number again? The number is four and a half in favor of UNLV. It's a weirdly low line. I thought it might even be higher, but if there's not like a ton of confidence in the UNLV defense immediately being solved and fixed from last season, I'm still gonna take UNLV here. I think they win this game 37 to 27. We know what we're getting from UNLV. Yeah, and that's what I kept coming back to. We don't know what we're getting yet from Memphis. I like their new offensive coordinator, Kevin Decker, who came over from Old Dominion. If you are a Memphis fan, you're used to seeing a spread offense that incorporates some no-huttle, get used to seeing much wider formations and playing at a much quicker pace because that's Kevin Decker. That's what they're gonna do. I think this game's gonna feature a lot of points. The over-under right now is 56 and a half. That's not the highest in week zero, but I would say among the games that I'm interested in, that's the highest, 56 and a half a lot. Should be great. I'm on UNLV here. I was really close to picking them to make the playoff over New Mexico, but I like UNC. I like New Mexico's schedule. I like their quarterback situation. I like their defense. - If he's playing, yeah. - Yeah, if Jacqueline is-- - Jacqueline's healthy, yeah. - I tend to like that a little bit more. I'm not sure about Jackson Arnold. I don't know if he's gonna pop, but I think he can run. And I think in a game like this, certainly in a system like this, Jackson Arnold is in a good position to succeed. I also think in this one, they're gonna run a lot with Jaden Thomas. And they're gonna be able to control the football a little bit more than Memphis, assuming they don't give up a ton of big plays, and that is a big assumption given what we saw a year ago. I have them winning in a fun game with a lot of points, 38-30. - Okay. So there is hope that Jackson Arnold, on some level, is the new Anthony Kalandria, or Matthew Sluka, or Haj Malik Williams. - I liked him. He was good. He was fun. He was really good. - I don't know, man. I hope it works for Jackson Arnold. I've been rooting for Jackson Arnold ever since he came out of high school. And it seems like it's been one thing after another. You can clearly see the potential. You can clearly see the flashes, but we just haven't seen the consistency. So if he's gonna succeed anywhere, given his skill set, and what we know he can do as a runner, it would be at a place like a UNLV. I'm taking NFL stuff and throwing that out the window, but just as college quarterback, that could be productive and successful and help a team to get to some meaningful games. Jackson Arnold's probably in the right spot for that. I think this will be a fun game, and I think this will be a nice early test for both these schools. We kind of don't know what we're getting with Memphis. We have proof of concept with Charles Huff doing it elsewhere and some of the names that he's assembled. But I think we trust to some extent that he'll be able to do that again. I just don't know if he's gonna be able to do it on the road week zero at a place like UNLV that should be able to put up some points. - Yeah, okay, that all makes sense. We agree. - Eight games. Eight games coming at us here in week zero. As we said at the very top of the episode, go on out to verbolars.com if you wanna support what Dan and I do. We are an independent operation over here. Your support truly goes a long way. We're gonna have people chatting it up all day long in the Discord server talking through these eight games in week zero. As I said, as sort of an appetizer to get us started and get things moving for week one, we've had a bunch of new people sign up. If you wanna be part of the community, if you wanna support what we do, if you wanna play in our games, via our brand new verbolar portal, we've been doing a lot of work here in the off season, trying to cater to the community, and we'd love to have you with us throughout the course of this 2026 season. So check it out if nothing more of verbolars.com, V-E-R-B-A-L-L-E-R-S.com. You also get the ad free episodes, the bonus content, the works. Everything we have to offer, everything more that we have to offer, we put out there at verbolars.com. If that's not for you, please rate, review and subscribe. That helps too. Okay, so even if you're not in the market to do the subscription thing with the Patreon, that's cool. Rate review, subscribe, it goes a long way as well towards helping us out. - And if that's not for you, Ty's always open to receiving a foot massage, not like a dainty one. Like, he likes it when you really go for it. - I mean, so, I don't know, get a hold of Ty and figure out a time you get to meet. - That's not entirely true. You like a foot massage? - I don't like when you really go for it like that. - Oh, really? - Very sensitive feet, yeah. You have sensitive feet? - I do, they're very sensitive. - Do you have you used a foot massager before? - I have and it caused my feet to swell up. - It was too hard. - It's high. - You're falling apart. - In my elders, yeah, in my elder years here, this is what we gotta deal with. - Before we started the show, Ty said the only thing that I require, we gotta end this show with feet. This is what we did. - We did end it with feet. - I came through on my promise. - All right, so what's your watch situation? This weekend? - Couch TV, maybe for some of these games on a little bit of a delay because kids' sports are starting up and I'm just trying to like institute a strong culture in this household. And so I love showing up and watching my kids participate and dominate whatever they're gonna do. So that's what's happening this weekend. When there are larger games in those like 11 a.m. local, 12 a.m., 2.30, 12 a.m., 11 a.m. noon, like, I will be watching some of those are basically all of those live, you know, sometimes it's on a phone on a soccer sideline or a flag football sideline. But yeah, this weekend, a little bit of delay for sports sun is still out, but I'll be watching all of them. You know, by myself on a couch eating something probably boring for week zero. I am fired up, baby. I'm, uh, I'm, I'm ready to go down here in the lab and be watching all day long. I got the date of myself. It's all wife Kate's time could be here. It just could be where's the misses off to me in the pub. She's going to be watching football day. Be fun. Okay. She like going parasailing or something. I have something fun with her time. I also get away from me on game day, man. Yeah, and I say that lovingly, I'm probably not fun to be around. Okay. Oh, man, but you get Brian Kelly to get Brian Kelly, which by the way, you know what? We're quick to rag and that's okay. You know, there's, there's a time for ragging. I'm telling you right now, he's going to be very good at that job. He loves talking. He will be very, he's always been very good at talking. The problem has always been, does he mean what he's saying? What's that level of authenticity like? That's the problem with Brian Kelly, but as an announcer doing like these transactional type things as he's getting from first to second down and explaining things, he's going to be very good at that job. He will. Here's, here's where I'm going to credit him. So Brian Kelly is an a list coach at Notre Dame. Takes another a list coaching job at LSU. It obviously goes wrong like it does for basically everybody. Basically everybody ends up getting fired. You have your guys who become like heroes in that town and become legends there, whatever. But Brian Kelly, it works out terribly for him at LSU, but that's what happens. There's the SPN. There's network TV, you know, CBS and NBC and Fox sport. Like there are all these like huge places that employ big names. Brian Kelly is a big name. Brian Kelly's first week as a media person is in Fargo North Dakota. This is nothing that I am slinging at Fargo. Fargo is a great time. The campus is great. The games are great. The towns seem really fun in our limited time there. But like he is off the beaten college football path. He is paying dues and he is doing it on a small cable network in CBS college sports. Seems good. Seems fine. We've got a lot of friends who've done stuff for CBS sports network. But this is going to be a little different of a season for, and before that, it's Cincinnati. Big place. I enjoy that like, all right, he's paying his dues for the new gig. I like that. Let me get you out of here on this Dan. ESPN is apparently getting rid of their bottom line during college football games. Whoa, really? This breaking from our friends over at front office sports. I saw a new score bug, at least for the NFL. I didn't know if it was going to be for college football as well, getting rid of their God awful score belt. ESPN will not feature the ticker for regular season games that are on ABC, ACC network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News and the SEC network. Whoa. Huge. There will still be score alerts during times at specific times during each quarter. There will also be updates in places like above the score bug or in the top right of the screen to help viewers navigate various schedule changes that occur. Is that score alert going to be yellow to make it seem like there's a holding call or something? I hope not. If we're really doing the reset here, guys, don't make those alerts yellow because everyone thinks it's like pass interference. Please don't do that. There is something great about at least the possibility that ESPN hired a designer. The possibility that ESPN hired a real designer, channeled some of the McAfee money away and gave it to you. Yeah. Look, you watch, you do, you watch the masters and I know the masters controls, right? They, they, it's their television broadcast that ESPN airs. Right. And it's beautiful. Every graphics is so, it's like tasteful and minimal and it just lets the scene of sports tell the story. This key is always tasteful. The key is always tasteful. And so you watch other sporting events, you watch the World Cup, you watch, and there's just like a tiny little score. Everybody's got, like, it seems everybody's got big TVs or they have a phone and the phones are gigantic now or the iPads or whatever. And if you could just put up a clean frame of sports without the God awful score belt and a bunch of yellow blinking lines. Oh my God. ESPN, it's only taking you, let's see, they launched like the late 70s. It's only taking them this long, but look, progress is progress. Good for the worldwide leader to figure out, you know, let's have a nice, simple, engaging design. It's great. Well, we made it. We did. It has been a long cold off season before you know, at football, we'll be here for ballers.com. Again, is where you can go if you want to support the team. If nothing more rate, review and subscribe, we will be back in short order. We will not have the recap stream on Saturday night, but there will be a show up on Sunday. And then we're going to launch into week one this time next week. Let's get it. Whoo. Let's do it for that guy over there. My good friend Dan Rubens team from myself over here. Ty Hildenbrand, enjoy your first Saturday of games. We'll catch you on the flip side. Let's face on peace. I am talking to a felon right now with face tattoos, and I cannot decide if I like him or not. Listen to Therapy Gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we pull apart the story behind the image, discovering forgotten interviews that change exactly how we see these giants of our culture. I'm Immanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Wright, and this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my love. I'm Ryan Weiss, and for the past 15 years, I've been an emotional intelligence coach and a spiritual guide, and I'm sharing with you my new podcast, Waking Up With Ryan. Waking Up With Ryan is a daily audio video podcast here to help you connect with yourself before the noise of the day takes over. So let's start our days together with a moment of calm, that's just for you. Listen to Waking Up With Ryan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.