Week 5 Preview + 1 on 1 with Charles Davis and Luke Fickell | The BFW Show 9.30.26

Kicking Off: Wednesday Show & Makeup Mishaps What's up, Brandon Walker College Football Show fans? You can find every episode of the Brandon Walker College Football Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Bang! The Brandon Walker College Football Show live on a Wednesday. On a Wednesday! Can you believe we got to go to work on a Wednesday? That's Squid Billies, everybody. Anybody ever seen Squid Billies? You look like a Squid Billy. Speaker 2 Dude, that was not cool. Speaker 1 No, it's a cool show. Speaker 2 Okay, I can't look at you. Speaker 1 Can't look at me? Do I have mascara? Yeah. I thought I got it all. I had the makeup artist get it all. So we did a, we filmed Yaks Wild today. Brandon left the Yak before 2pm. No fucking shit, Watchdog Express. I'm just telling you, we had Yaks Wild today. I had to get in a lot of makeup. I had a quite interesting outfit that I had to get into for Yaks Wild. Took 45 minutes of makeup and about 15 taking it off and apparently I didn't take it all off. Speaker 2 No, You look like you're getting ready for a little wrestling. Speaker 1 Yeah, So there it is. But we are live in our studio or in a studio right now in Chicago. We're doing some college football talk. The reason we're going early, I've been wanting to try Wednesday nights for this whole time. We started the show. We did Saturday nights, of course, Monday and then Thursday. Thursday makes a lot of sense, but I've been wondering with football on Thursday, is Wednesday better? So chat, if you'd love to tell me if Wednesday is better or if Thursday is better, I'd be willing to listen to you. It doesn't really matter to us. We just want to know which one's better for our audience. So there we go. Heading to Starkville: SEC Player & Heisman Debates We go from here. We're sitting here live in the studio. Got a lot to talk about, but we're also going a day early because tomorrow this time we'll be on a plane headed south and we'll be going to Liam Bluntman's first SEC game over. ever, we'll be going to Alabama at Mississippi State. Speaker 2 I'm very excited, Brant Walker. This will be my first college football game since the 2022 Texas Bowl, featuring Texas Tech and Ole Miss, coached by Lane Kiffin. Before that, 2018 UCLA at Big 12 Oklahoma. Speaker 1 You've been to two football games in the last 10 years. Speaker 2 Because I'd be on the couch, man. I'm dead. You're a ball watch. Speaker 1 And I am worried about you losing some ball watching this weekend, but you're going to sacrifice it so that you can go to a game. Speaker 2 I think that we're going to the best game of the day, the best game of the entire slate, and I'm ready to dive into it. And then, you know, we'll find time to watch college football after. It's fine. Speaker 1 Andrew Zufeld. You're killing me, Lukey. I just want to see the chat, man. You don't have to vote on your own poll. Speaker 2 Vote Wednesday. Speaker 1 You like Wednesday? Speaker 2 I do. We're numbers guys here at this company, right? Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 2 You lose a few of the numbers on Thursday. Football, NFL's king. Speaker 1 All right. Speaker 2 All football's better, NFL's king. Speaker 1 Is it early so you don't miss a scrubs premiere? I'm probably gonna miss it. I hope to get there, but you can always watch it the next day. Are you going to Hardy BFW? I sure am. I'm getting there early so I can go to the Hardy show. Liam, not going to the Hardy show. Says I'm not a music guy. Speaker 2 And I'm not a steak guy, so I'm not getting the Cajun ribeye to the guy who asked that in chat. Speaker 1 It's Creole ribeye, but that's okay. Speaker 2 Well, he's a Cajun. Speaker 1 I know he's a Cajun, but it is the Creole ribeye. Gotcha. Is this pre-recorded? Hogger McCartsky. Yes, it's pre-recorded. We recorded. What time did we record this? Speaker 2 3.30 A.m. Speaker 1 3.30 A.m. Central Standard Time. Speaker 2 It's not a liner, it's just he's tired. Speaker 1 We do have the chat up. It is. eyeliner I had to be what I. Speaker 2 Don't know I thought of it for an hour what were you what would you um. Speaker 1 Pull up the rock band Gore I think that's is that their name G war Gore. Speaker 2 I'm not a music guy. Speaker 1 I'm not asking you I'm asking okay that's what I think I was I was I was some sort of character for for Yax Wild is that what I was looks like it okay yeah so I was Gore I have no idea why I took 45 minutes of eyeliner makeup. Okay, football. We got football. We got college football. Brandon, do you want to sign Marcus Dupree mini helmet? Of course I want to sign Marcus Dupree mini helmet. My God, my God. Brandon, it's time for you to admit you were wrong about Jaden Ball, says the tool. I just wish college football fans weren't such pathetic crybaby bitches. What did I say about Jaden Ball? I said, I think he's the top five running back in the country. I would say Ahmaud Hardy's better, Keywan Lacey's better, Mark Fletcher may be better. So at worst, I had him the fourth best running back in the country. And that might be what he is. Who knows? We got a lot of games coming up where he's not going to play Ole Miss. He's a very good running back. But these Florida fans are just such crybabies. It's unbelievable. Now, Chad, I'm not going to play with you for a while because we got to do some things here and we got to go ahead. After we got done Monday night, the SEC, it might have happened before. Speaker 2 It happened before I forgot to bring it up. Speaker 1 Yeah, we didn't see it. Colin Simmons, who had five sacks and a pissing at Tennessee, did not win SEC Player of the Week. Speaker 2 We had rained all over that field. Speaker 1 And when I saw it, I was like, no, that's wrong. That's you're lying. That's Poppycock. That's Hogwash. That's Malarkey. But he didn't win it. You know why he didn't win it? I don't know if you guys have watched Chris Cole at Georgia. And you could call him a middle linebacker. I don't care what you call him. He's just always there. I think this is, Colin Simmons gets a lot of shine. Leonard Moore at Notre Dame gets a lot of shine. There's a lot of great defensive players. I think through three or four weeks, this might be my scariest, best defensive player in the country. Speaker 2 Yeah, I was thinking about it. He runs like he's taking four strikes at once. He almost runs a bit like an angry, violent, I'm taking you down for a yard touchdown here, Ron. Nick Chubb. He's running dangerous, violent with malice intent. Speaker 1 Did you see the all 22 footage of him chasing down John Metier? Speaker 2 I got scared. Speaker 1 It looked like a gazelle in a lion's body. Speaker 2 Oh my gosh. Speaker 1 Right. Speaker 2 Yeah. That's pretty good. Yeah, with like eagle wings. Speaker 1 Yes. Yeah. And an alligator's teeth. Speaker 2 I'm so, I'm, he, oh my God. Yeah, he's almost like he should not have won SEC player of the week. That should have been Collin Simmons award. But he's a specimen. Speaker 1 So we're four weeks in and we've talked a lot about the Heisman and Jaden Ball's played himself into this thing. Kamario Taylor's played his way into this thing. You know, Chambliss is up there. Jeremiah Smith certainly had this huge game last week. What do you think there's a world if Colin Simmons does that again, he gets in this race. Speaker 2 100%. If you. put up 10 sacks in two games. Speaker 1 Yes. Speaker 2 And you're dripping urine everywhere. Yeah, you're in the Heisman race. Those are Heisman moments. Speaker 1 They're Heisman moments and they've got so, that team has so many games. They have so many games that are big. They play Florida. They play Georgia. They play Ole Miss. They play Texas. No, that is Texas. They play Oklahoma. And you know, that's a rivalry game. That'll be a big game. They play Texas A&M. Speaker 2 Oh my God. Speaker 1 They play LSU. They might not play one of those teams. I just said, surely they don't play all those teams. Speaker 2 They play so many teams. If at the combo, at Red River rivalry, he pulls out his unit and starts spraying half the side of the stadium. Speaker 1 You mean if he pisses on the Oklahoma side of the stadium? Speaker 2 Yeah, that is. Speaker 1 If he pisses on the entire Oklahoma fan base, I think I would make him a Heisman contender. Speaker 2 He'd be the favorite in my opinion. Speaker 1 Could you imagine? Is Hogger McHogsky the stupidest person in the world? He just posted it again. It says, I said pre-recorded to post-recorded actually. The question remains unanswered. Speaker 2 Post-recorded. Speaker 1 How? How would the question remain unanswered if I read his comment? Speaker 2 Greg, are you on the wrong account, buddy? Sign in to your other account. Speaker 1 Greg, fuck Greg, get off the computer, Greg. Speaker 2 He post recorded. We're post recording. Speaker 1 We're post recording this. We record, wait, hold on. How do you post record something? Speaker 2 We, you post recorded an interview though. Speaker 1 You know, I'm a better person than Josh Pate. We all know that. I just need to tell y'all something about Josh Pate. Speaker 2 Tell me. Speaker 1 He outed my text messages earlier. And then today he tweets out, guess who's going to Starville? Me, Josh Pate. He only did that because I texted and got on his ass the other day when they announced they're going to Virginia Tech. Who gives a fuck about Pitt and Virginia Tech when you got Mississippi State and Alabama playing in the game of the decade. And I was like, what the fuck are you doing going to ACC school when Mississippi State's got the game of the decade? And then he said, sorry, Mr. Brandon. And I said, no, you're not going to tell me sorry, kid. You're not going to tell me sorry. You're going to get your ass on a plane and get to fucking Starkville. And that's how it happened. And that's I'm not going to show you the text, but trust me, that is how it happened. Speaker 2 That's a fair question from someone in chat. CLW 719. I like that we can interact with chat. Bed bug worries in Mississippi. The last barstool. No bed bugs in Starkville. That's an Oxford problem. Speaker 1 No, brother. First of all, I'm not staying at no motherfucking Super 8. I got I got people. I got houses. I got houses. Don't worry about us. Who Needs to Slow Down? The "Pump the Brakes" Teams So I have a concept here I would like to talk about. Speaker 2 We actually got a talk ball. Speaker 1 We do have a talk ball. We're about to talk ball. And I'm about to introduce the concept of the pump the brakes teams. Okay? You work on the concept of pump the brakes teams and I want you guys in the chat to think about your pump the brakes teams and I want you to think who they might be. All right, the pump the break teams. Jack Studio says, don't you dare even save Florida. You're goddamn right I'm going to save Florida. Here are the pump the brakes teams to me, Liam. And you're going to feel stupid when I say it. But if you go through the first four weeks of the season, LSU destroyed Clemson in week 1, 5110. destroyed them and they jumped up and all of a sudden, my God, they're, my God, they're a national title contender. my God, you're not going to believe how good they are. Whoa, pump the brakes. They got to go to Oxford. And then Ole Miss beats them in an emotional game, even though the defense isn't good. They beat them. And then boom, Ole Miss is a top five team. Boom, they're a national title team. Pump the brakes. That defense is garbage. They're not that legit. And now Florida kills Ole Miss. and they leap up to the top 10. And here they are. And they haven't won this huge game in a while. And now they're in the top 10 and everybody's telling them they're going to win the Heisman. Everybody's telling them they're a national title. And everybody around college football is saying Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida. That means right now, Florida is in the group of pump the brakes teams because Florida is going on a road trip to Missouri this weekend. A Missouri team that lost on the road last week by a touchdown were right in that game. They lost on the road, but Missouri has given Florida fits lately. Now everybody's given Florida fits lately. But I think there are three teams in the top 25 that fit the profile of the pump the brakes teams. I think there are three teams. Liam, I'm about to do exactly what you think I'm about to do. Here are the three teams that need to pump the brakes a little bit. The Florida Gators, the UCLA Bruins, And the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Let's just all relax. Let's all take it one game at a time. Camario hasn't won the Heisman yet. This feels amazing. It's incredible. It's awesome. It's fantastic. 4-0 is 4-0 and my God, it feels great. We got Alabama coming up. We got a trip to LSU coming up. We got a trip to Texas coming up. We got all of these things. I would pump the brakes on Mississippi State. I'm going this week. Now if we win this week, fuck all y'all. The brakes are gone. I'm cutting the brakes out of the car. I'm cutting the brakes out of the car. But for right now, just pump them. I'm not saying stop the car. I'm not saying stop the car. I'm saying, hey, just hover, hover. Let's just make sure. And then Florida is an obvious one. And then UCLA is another one. Thoughts. Speaker 2 We go and win in Eugene next week if that happens. If that happens, you will not. I mean, if you thought the Georgia Bulldogs players have been driving fast around Athens, yeah, I'll be driving faster and I'll got a license. Speaker 1 Just you're just getting rid of the brakes altogether and we're heading downhill. Speaker 2 Going uphill, only up from there. Speaker 1 Certainly, certainly UCLA winning at Oregon would be a get rid of the brakes game. And Florida's got their get rid of the Brakes games coming soon when they play Texas, when they play Georgia, when they play all those teams. Speaker 2 I think they could beat Texas, not Georgia. Yeah. Speaker 1 Texas is going to be tough. I don't know where that tech game is. that in Austin or is that in Gainesville? Speaker 2 I believe both on the road. Speaker 1 They, well. Speaker 2 Or no, Rd. neutral. Speaker 1 Yeah, Although, is this the year? Speaker 2 Oh shoot, did they start that? Speaker 1 When are they doing that? That's not this year. I'm talking about Georgia. Are they in Jacksonville? Speaker 2 You'll take the cocktail party and put it at a home venue. Speaker 1 Actually, I think that's pretty awesome, but I don't think they're doing it this year. I think it is in Jacksonville. Anyway. Speaker 2 Marcedes-Benz. Speaker 1 Marcedes-Benz? Like Marcedes-Lewis? The old UCLA town end? Do you not know how to say Mercedes? Speaker 2 Like they're playing in Atlanta. Oh, I don't like that. Speaker 1 Somebody says pit pump the brakes. Is Pitt speeding? I like the chat being able to. Speaker 2 Wait, wait, wait. Speaker 1 Is Pitt speeding right here? Speaker 2 Is Pitt going 40 in the 35? Speaker 1 Yeah, Pitt, what's going on? Pitt's going 36. Pitt's going 36 with their flashers on. What are we talking about? Bump the brakes in a bit. And then the chat says, Narduzzi's left. Speaker 2 He's like, all right, go, go ahead, go ahead. Go around. Speaker 1 Pitt! Who's talking about Pitt? They're not even ranked yet, right? Speaker 2 Fred, hold on. Speaker 1 Everybody, hold on. Speaker 2 Guys, guys, I got one. Speaker 1 Stop crowning Pitt. Speaker 2 Pump the brakes, okay? Yeah. I can't even think of one. UCF, let's pump the brakes! What the? Speaker 1 I mean, Virginia Tech could be a candidate. Virginia Tech could be a candidate. But anyway, it doesn't matter. I think it's the ranked teams that have just jumped up and now they're here and how incredible. Speaker 2 Louisville was a pump the brakes team. Speaker 1 Louisville was a pump the brakes team and I am guilty of speeding on. I'm guilty of speeding on Louisville. I saw him play Ole Miss tight and then I saw him beat SMU and I'm like, well, they're in the ACC championship game and I should have slowed down. I should have pumped the brakes. Guys, it's not hating on a team to say, let's all just relax for a second. It's not running. I'm saying about my whole team. Let's all relax. Let's all enjoy this. Speaker 2 I agree. I got no issue with it. I do think all three teams that you want to pump the brakes on are going to win their next game, though. Speaker 1 Well, that means we beat Alabama. That means you beat. Speaker 2 We're going to keep doing this thing where I'm propping up Mississippi State and saying. Speaker 1 You're a reckless driver is what you are. You're A reckless driver. Speaker 2 I got a need for speed play. I don't got a license, so I'm getting pulled over. I like all three of those teams immensely. Look, I like your team A lot. I like the offense that they've got, the passing attack, the tough brute run game, the conference. Speaker 1 Somebody says a good one. Somebody says a good one. Now this is a different kind of brakes. Do you pump the brakes on Indiana? On where you thought they were going in this reverse. What? Speaker 2 Reverse. You're taking a UE. Speaker 1 No, you're just you're pulling over and turn around. Wait, what? Where are we going? I think you pumped the brakes on Indiana considering what you thought they were. They've got to, I think in the one game they played against a decent power five team, they look very, very, average might be a stretch, but they look closer to average than you expected them to. Speaker 2 They looked like elementary. Like it was far from the norm. So you pull over. Speaker 1 All right, let's go with, that's the pump the brakes teams. Defending national champs, no. Speaker 2 Saying UMass pump the brakes. No, you let them go light speed. Speaker 1 Yeah, you let UMass drive as fast as they want. You let them go 88 and then time travel. That's a movie reference. Any idea what the movie is? Speaker 2 I'm going to guess Back to the Future. That a boy. I've never seen it. Speaker 1 That a boy. Speaker 2 Stop talk. Speaker 1 Indiana needs gas on a road trip, says Carlos G. We're just way too far on the should we pump the brakes on Summerall? Not on a not as a complete program builder. He's obviously a great coach. So over the next 5-10 years are going to be incredible. But as a they're a national title contender now. Yeah, I would like to just let's check up on Florida a little bit at Missouri at Missouri is kind of terrifying. Speaker 2 So that line opened at 2 1/2, yeah, you know, is that now 5 1/2? All right up to 5 1/2. Speaker 1 That which means that people are big on Florida. Diving into Week 5: Key Matchups and Players to Watch Again, I'll get to the stinkiest line ever because it's coming up in a minute and it'll be in the DraftKings ad in just a second. All right, we're going to do the ball watchers guide real quick and talk about the games, the players to watch, the upset alert, the close your eyes and the game of the week and all that stuff. You all right? Speaker 2 Yeah, I'm going to try. Speaker 1 So we have another guy that just joined the chat. Does Brandon have makeup on? Once again, I will tell you guys, we are recording in studio because today after the Yak, we had to do Yaks Wild, which is a game show that we're doing for the Yak. It'll be coming out in a month or two. I don't know when it comes out, but I had to leave the yak at 115 because I had to put makeup on for my character I was like a kiss character I was I had makeup all over so I thought I got all the eyeliner apparently I haven't gotten all the eyeliner and this is not the first time this has ever happened and I just realized we are to this point we're already what are we what are we 20 minutes in? Speaker 2 Yeah we gotta go. Speaker 1 No no but I haven't even mentioned the interviews we got coming at the end including My favorite interview, Squala5452 says pre-recorded. You're right, buddy. Speaker 2 I'll record. Speaker 1 My favorite interview we have ever done on this show is coming up in just a minute. It's Charles Davis from CBS. Now I came in week one and I was like, hey guys, I didn't know Brad Nessler and Charles Davis were together. This is amazing. I love Charles Davis. I think Charles Davis is amazing and fantastic. And our guest booker, Josh, who helps the show, unbelievable job. He got me Charles Davis. We talked for about 20 minutes and it is amazing. And after that, we got Luke Fickle. We got Luke Fickle fresh off that big win this weekend over Penn State, Luke Fickel joins the show and he talks a little bit about it. So we got about 38 minutes of interviews coming at the end of the show. Right now, we're going to Fallout Brandon. Instead of Fallout Boy, I'm Fallout Brandon. That's pretty good. Speaker 2 Thank you, Hogger McCoskey. Speaker 1 Brian Mack says, Charles Davis, Rue in Madden. I disagree. I think he's incredible on Madden. Speaker 2 I think he has one of the best voices in human history. Speaker 1 I think he has one of the best. And Liam, I don't know if you saw it. Speaker 2 I haven't seen it yet. Speaker 1 He might be the classiest, nicest guy I have ever met in my entire life. He is so damn great. Charles Davis has long been one of my favorites. But now, Josh, if you're watching, I gotta get Ness. I gotta get Ness. I love Ness. I haven't had Ness yet. Wouldn't mind Uncle Vern. Speaker 2 Keep throwing suggestions in the chat too. Speaker 1 You're reading a lot of chat, by the way. Are you not? I am reading the chat. I support our people. Breezy Tides says, Brandon, I've laughed out loud a billion times because you're so damn funny, LOL. I am fucking funny. Speaker 2 When did you pull your phone out to put in the chat? Speaker 1 I am fucking funny. What's your opinion of Philo four games in? Jack Studio, good question. I think he's good enough. I think he's been solid. I think he's been really good. Now we'll see when it really gets down to it. When Georgia and Texas roll through and Colin Simmons is standing over there and Chris Cole standing over there, we'll see. But you know, it is what it is. I think the early returns on Philo are If not an A plus, at least like an A, a solid A. I'm. Speaker 2 Not a player comp guy, but I think the best way to say it is that I think he's the Brock Purdy of college football right now where he's not the most gifted, not the most talented, but he's super smart and you throw him in his scheme with a great genius offensive mind. He just knows what to do. He takes what defense gives him very smart. I like him a lot. I love him. Speaker 1 All right, so let's do the let's do the ball watchers guide. Let's dive into it because I really do believe and it does speak to, week 5 right now. It ain't the strongest week I've ever seen. You know, you got you got Mississippi State and Alabama, which is a pretty good match up there. And then you've got Ohio State, Iowa. I just I just I think about it. I want to I want to make myself believe Iowa can do this thing and they can make it ugly and they can make it a 1613 game. But this Ohio State offense, I just don't know with Jeremiah Smith operating at the way he's operating that Iowa is going to be able to keep up. Like, can they keep Ohio State from scoring 2 touchdowns? I don't think the answer is yes. Speaker 2 Yeah, the answer is probably no. Speaker 1 Yeah, I don't think the answer is yes at all. Speaker 2 But like I want to see Ohio State find more success offensively outside of Jeremiah Smith. I want to see more of the guys in the receive room step up and make a difference. I'd love it if Brock Boyd, the freshman got more time, more targets. I don't know if he will. And then Julian saying the narrative will continue to be there is just throwing intermediately over the middle. It's never happening. Speaker 1 So let's bring up the ball watchers guide right now. Is it on screen, Lukey? So we got the early afternoon games. And this is the big three, I think, here. And it's not a great slate, but you've got Mississippi State, Alabama, you got Vanderbilt, Georgia, and you've got Michigan, Minnesota. I don't know if I'm just a Kool-Aid drinker, but I think Minnesota can, I think Minnesota can beat. I think anybody can beat Michigan actually. Like Michigan is, this is their first tough game on the road. It's their first game on the road period, right? Speaker 2 Yes. Speaker 1 It's the first time leaving. They're playing a Minnesota team that went out to Washington. Now Washington's not great, but they still went out on the road and won. I don't know that Michigan's offense is going to travel to the level that they're just a, you rubber stamp them that they're going to go on the road and beat everybody. I think Minnesota is real live to win this fucking football game. Speaker 2 Yeah, I don't think either team is particularly good. I'm sour on both of them. I think it's just another Michigan, Iowa type game, not to the same level of defense, but lower scoring. I think again, I'm going to say it again. I'm going to plant my flag first to 17 wins and Drake Lindsay is the better quarterback in this match. Drake Lindsay, ball down, ball down Seattle. Speaker 1 Not even close. Speaker 2 No, I mean, Drake Lindsay was ripping that thing against Washington. Speaker 1 By the way, I believe Kamario Taylor, Bryce Underwood in the same recruiting class. Kamario Taylor was ranked like way down. Speaker 2 It's a big political game in that recurring game. Speaker 1 I know it's fucking stupid. It's fucking stupid and I hate it. The 2 players to watch this week in all of college football I think will be facing off in Starfall on Saturday. I think it is Keelan Russell, Kamario Taylor. Kamario is somebody that has taken the sport by storm and has had a huge, but Keelan Russell is just plugging along very steadily. He's been incredible. He can run it. He can throw it. He's got great receivers. Ryan Coleman Williams has been fantastic. The running game is okay. It's certainly not to Alabama standards, but it's better than it was last year. And that's a little bit because of Keelan Russell's legs too and the threat of it. So I think those two will put on a show in Starkville this weekend. Speaker 2 Yeah, it's easy to talk about the quarterbacks. I am locked in on Mississippi State's pass rush against the Alabama offensive line. If you look last week, Keelan Russell felt like had eons to throw every single, every single rep, every single drop back. How can Mississippi State apply pressure on him? Mississippi State did a really good job against Mizzou. If they weren't getting pressure, they're down, they're forefront down line and we're still batting balls and making it tough on Simmons. How can they disrupt Keelan? Speaker 1 Are we missing a game in that early window? Let me bring up the early window too, because I know Vanderbilt and Georgia is playing and that one doesn't do anything for me. That doesn't do a goddamn. Speaker 2 No, my note is what's the spread? 24 1/2. Speaker 1 Yeah. Brandon, how much money will you put up to keep Camario? I legit told a Mississippi State employee yesterday that texted me about something and I said, you can have my entire salary for as long as Camario is at Mississippi State. So I don't know if that's wise financially. And I'm embarrassed at how much we would still need to raise to keep him. But still, It is what it is. I told Mississippi State, I will give you every single dollar I earn next year if Camario will stay. Because he's, even worse case scenario, he's going to the draft in 2028. So it's two more years. Speaker 2 Oh, and you got to claim them forever. Speaker 1 So I can afford $4 million. I mean, that's nothing. Speaker 2 I'll pitch in. Speaker 1 You got it. Speaker 2 I'll pitch in. Not everything. Speaker 1 Lukey, did you raise your hand? What the fuck are you going to pitch in? Speaker 2 I got pennies somewhere. Speaker 1 Like the shoes? Speaker 2 I did have a pen. We're in, yeah. What? We're a nobles company. I was going to say that I'm not wearing nobles. Speaker 1 Yeah, well I am. So I got us. I got us baby boy. We got, let's see, let me go through that early window just to see if we're missing something. West Virginia, Iowa State, that do anything for you. Speaker 2 I like I was saying again, I think I would say sneaky underrated. I think that they're a really solid football team coached by Jimmy Rodgers. I think Rogers and her DC Jesse Baba are incredible, bright future. Speaker 1 UCF at Houston do anything for you. Speaker 2 No, nothing. Speaker 1 OK, all right. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Speaker 2 I like Houston. I like her too. Speaker 1 Now you hate America, so Navy Air Force doesn't do anything for you. Speaker 2 Navy Air Force doesn't for me someone sneaky look out on Navy Army sneaky bad this year after thinking that we're going to be good. Army hasn't really. impressed me and Navy had dubbed last week, but they were missing their quarterback one back to Woodson. Speaker 1 Is there any world Bill Belichick puts together a decent defensive game plan for Notre Dame at North Carolina? Speaker 2 Probably not, but I have a question for you. When's the last time you saw Jordan? Speaker 1 I don't know that I've seen her this year. Speaker 2 I'm getting worried. Speaker 1 About what? Speaker 2 My player to watch this week is Jordan Hudson. Where is she? Genuinely, where is she? Speaker 1 I don't know the fucking answer to that question. Why would I know where Jordan is? Speaker 2 Maybe time to start putting her on the milk cart, because it's getting concerning. I'm pretty concerned. Yeah, she's a fixture in the UNC program. She does everything when we haven't seen her. I see Carly Ursay Gordon every week. Speaker 1 Every week. Speaker 2 And she's doing an incredible job. Where are you, Jordan? Speaker 1 Is Carly Ursay Gordon out Jordaning Jordan? Is she the new like? Speaker 2 Jordan wishes she was as good as what she is. Speaker 1 Like there was Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, right? They came along and then all of a sudden Michael Jordan came and was even bigger and better. Is Carly Ursa Gordon the new Jordan and has taken it to heights we've never seen? Speaker 2 Yeah. Speaker 1 All right. Yeah, sure. That was easy. Uh-oh. Carlos G says more like Jord off. Wow, that hadn't happened just now. Speaker 2 You can high-five me. Speaker 1 I thought you were going to slow me. Honestly, I thought you were going to slow me. Speaker 2 When Zar was on mostly yesterday, I almost did. Speaker 1 To Zar? That's a hate crime, brother. Speaker 2 I can't do it. Speaker 1 That's... Speaker 2 I can't do it with Zar, boy. Speaker 1 You and Zar are the two most hilarious looking people to ever do anything together. Speaker 2 I love Zar. Speaker 1 I also love it. How many hours do you work a week, Brandon? I feel like you're always on a live show. Oh, come on. Stop, girl. Let's see. Syracuse, Yukon doing anything for you? Michigan State, Wisconsin doing anything for you? Luke Fickel coming up at the end of the show. Speaker 2 I wouldn't rule out Michigan State in that game, I guess. That could do something for me. I feel like pump the brakes on Wisconsin. Speaker 1 Maybe, But what? It's like if I were to pump the brakes on Mississippi State after their first big one when they went to Minnesota, I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't dare say, because our first big win in a while, this is the first big Wisconsin win in a while. Let them, let them know. Like if we're setting the city limits, And we're eating donuts and coffee and we're got our feet up, but we got the radar going out the window and Wisconsin drives by going 70. We just kind of like... Speaker 2 Good for that. Yeah, rascals. Speaker 1 Just let them go. Speaker 2 It's like it's like when there's one guy in the car and then they go into the lane where it says only four people to be in, that's what Wisconsin says. Speaker 1 Let them let them do it. Speaker 2 Nobody gets a ticket for that. Speaker 1 Hey, Wisconsin hadn't even been driving on this road in a while. It's amazing they still have they still know where to go. Speaker 2 They found their old keys. Speaker 1 They did. That's actually kind of what they did. Speaker 2 Luke Fickle had been looking around in the house for years. Speaker 1 He's been patting his chair. Where's my offensive line? Where's my keys? And he finally got some bigger boys in there. Speaker 2 What the heck? Where are the keys at? Speaker 1 I checked everywhere. Where are the keys at? Lukey, where are my keys at? Oh, there's some big corn fed offensive line. Let's run the ball again. Speaker 2 Keys was in the shower drain. How'd they get there? Speaker 1 Why are the keys in the shower drain? Speaker 2 What the heck? You know that thing, that little thing on top of the toilet? That you pull off sometimes? The lid? The lid? The lid to the toilet? I'm not talking about the lid though. You know the other thing? Speaker 1 No, the lid on the top lid. That's still called a lid. Speaker 2 All right, fair. The second lid on toilet. The keys was in there. Speaker 1 What? Speaker 2 That's where keys were. Why were the keys in there? Speaker 1 I don't know. Always remember two things. Am I wearing makeup? Yes. And did I bully Josh Payton coming to Star Wars this weekend? Yes. Somebody says, Chalut says, BFW is Notre Dame the best defense in the country talent-wise, top to bottom? No. They're top five, but I would say any discussion of best defense in the country has to go, Notre Dame can be in it, Georgia's got to be in it, Texas has got to be in it. Speaker 2 I think it's fair to put Iowa in it. Speaker 1 Iowa. I think it's probably fair to keep Michigan in there. I mean, I think that's very fair as well. Speaker 2 Defense is keeping them in the state. I don't say it might be 1-3. Speaker 1 Her defense is fantastic. Speaker 2 Georgia though. Speaker 1 What? You like Georgia? You think Georgia's the best defensive? Oh, I think Miami's got a real good defense. Speaker 2 Chris Cole's just one specimen. Speaker 1 I know they got dude, they got beasts, man. Speaker 2 Elijah Griffin in the cornerbacks that they have like. I'm going to keep saying that about Georgia. They are double digits better than I think everyone is. Speaker 1 Anybody in the country? Speaker 2 I think I take them double digits against anyone. They may lose a little playoff or something, but I'd still stand by that. Predicting Upsets: Which Teams to Buy Stock In Now I love them. Let's go to the middle slate where I have my upset alert of the week. Now upset alert doesn't mean this team is going to lose. It is just the conditions are favorable and you better watch out. And like I said earlier, LSU beat Clemson to sleep, went straight to the top of the mountain. And then Ole Miss got him. And now Ole Miss is on top. And then Florida got him. Well, now Florida's here and how great they are. Florida's here and how incredible they are. Florida's here and how wonderful they are. And now they got to go on the road to Missouri. They got to go on the road to Missouri. That is an upset alert if I've ever seen one. Will they win the game? Yeah, I think they're better, Missouri. But goddamn it, that scary spot. That is a scary fucking spot if I'm a Florida Gators fan. Speaker 2 Yeah. It is, and I still think Florida goes in there, takes care of business and wins by double digits. I'm very high on this team. I was high before the Ole Miss game, as you know. I will continue to be high on them. I think that Billy Napier built a terrific roster, and I think that they finally have the coaching in store to take this thing very far. I think they are a real force to be reckoned with. Speaker 1 I got to disagree with the Ball Watchers guide. Speaker 2 Okay, that's okay. Speaker 1 Well, did you put it together? Speaker 2 Me and Jeff did. Speaker 1 So you guys did pick in the middle window the top game is Florida at Missouri bigger and better than the Ohio State at Iowa game. I would say Ohio State Iowa is up there. Speaker 2 I believe we went Florida Mizzou because of your upsell or smelling salts. Seeing that could be a more competitive. I mean, fair, but we played number one because of that. Speaker 1 I would say Ohio State, Iowa has potential. Ohio State, Iowa has potential to be the game of the week. Speaker 2 Okay, you want to do a little change. Speaker 1 If Iowa can drag Ohio State down and get them in the muck and get them in the mud, if Iowa can do that, you've got potential for them to do something huge. Now, even if they don't, if Iowa just competes here, loses by a touchdown or two, you look at the back half of that schedule. This is a, you know, it's almost like just don't embarrass yourself, just don't get hurt. Speaker 2 But it's like every game that they are punching above their weight class, they're in. But every game that they're playing lower than their weight class, they're susceptible to an upset. Like they're never safe. They're in every game for better or for worse. Speaker 1 I like that. I like that a lot. Then Auburn, Tennessee, that one does absolutely grab ass nothing for me. Yeah, I think Auburn is one of the worst watches in football. Speaker 2 Not even the tingle in the balls. Speaker 1 I really don't. I think Byron Brown's just a bad SEC quarterback. Speaker 2 Great kid, fun player, not built for that conference. Speaker 1 Yeah, and I think now Tennessee needs to do a little bouncing back here. You gotta get Faison Brandon some wins under his belt. Speaker 2 The goalish hypo thing could be fun. Speaker 1 This is a super chat. Outside of opposite of pump the brakes, who are your buy stock teams? I think Oregon's been the most obvious buy stock team for the last month after they lost to Oklahoma State. Everybody dumped them. Everybody got rid of them. But I think Oregon was a great buy stop team. I think LSU is a great buy stock team. Like going forward right now, in the context of making the playoffs this year, I'd rather be LSU than Ole Miss. I think LSU is a better football team than Ole Miss going forward. Speaker 2 I completely agree. And I'm not going to overreact. Like you get room to lose in this new area. Like we can't, we shouldn't overreact to losses. Like it's fine LSU lost that game. They're going to grow from it and get better. I agree with you there. Speaker 1 Do you think you can still get Oklahoma State stock at a decent price? Speaker 2 I think it's at a price right now where you wouldn't want to touch it. Speaker 1 Or you think it's already gotten back up. Speaker 2 I think it's too high right now and you want to try and find a sharper angle to buy low because anyone's liable to win that conference. Speaker 1 Can you get Texas Tech stock as cheap as you'll ever get Texas Tech? Speaker 2 You can get it pretty cheap right now, but if they lose, you get even cheaper. Who's your buy stock team? You buy stock in Oregon State. Speaker 1 You like Oregon State? Speaker 2 If Oregon State competed with Houston and Texas Tech, pretty much till Fine was. I know both those games are double digit to the end of it. That kid, Brian Atkinson, I hate that we have to do this. I hate that happens to your quarterback. I hate that happens to him and the receiver, Jesse Legree. They're going to get a bag this offseason. And that like this. Oregon State did all the work here. I believe he's transferred from Mercer. This kid is throwing beam after beam after beam after great defenses. He's someone to look out for in their head coast. Terrific. Boise State Pac-12 championship versus Oregon State could be really fun. Speaker 1 In the group of 6, do you think you can get JMU stock knowing that Boise State has his marquee win already? Speaker 2 I don't think you. How are you going to buy JMU stock? It is really high. Speaker 1 Yeah. I was thinking one team, the stock you maybe could buy right now today. If you bought Pitt stock today and they were to beat Virginia Tech Friday night, I think Pitt shoots straight up. Speaker 2 I'm not like moved by that. I know they're susceptible to stinky games and everything. That game against Syracuse leaves a really bad stench. Speaker 1 Well, you can make money off penny stocks too. Speaker 2 You can. you think they're ACC championship like to get there good. Speaker 1 Okay well let me ask you a question somebody's got to make the correct hold on somebody's got to make the ACC championship game you tell me when a team tickles your titties okay SMU I know you don't like them no. Speaker 2 I don't trust the quarterback Louisville I mean like Speaker 1 You stop me when the team that's going to play in the conference championship game is Miami. Duke. Speaker 2 It might be the word. Speaker 1 Wake Forest. Speaker 2 I love their coach. I don't think it'll be them. Speaker 1 Virginia Tech. Speaker 2 No, I don't think it'll be them. Speaker 1 Virginia. Speaker 2 I don't think it'll be them. Shoot. Speaker 1 Like why then why couldn't you buy pit stock right now? Because there's nobody, there's nobody in the ACC that has grabbed that thing. I thought Louisville had and then they didn't. Speaker 2 This is very true. Speaker 1 Okay. All right. That was easy. Let me do some reality right now. And then we got the night. Speaker 2 Buy stock in Arizona is not bad. Collier buy that guy in chat. Speaker 1 I don't think buying stock in either of those Arizona teams is a terrible idea. Speaker 2 I like the Arizona State so long. Speaker 1 In fact, there could be some stocks on sale in the Big 12 that you could imagine if you'd have bought the Oklahoma State stock after the Tulsa game. You'd be rich. Speaker 2 Oh my, you'd be, you'd have enough money to fund Texas Tex next roster. Speaker 1 You'd be T. Boone Pickens but alive. Speaker 2 Goodness gracious. Speaker 1 That would be amazing. Being T. Boone Pickens alive. Speaker 2 Especially in this office with Gino. Speaker 1 Are you kidding me? Speaker 2 Pumpkin loaves from his wife all the time. Speaker 1 What did you say? Speaker 2 You would get pumpkin loaves from Gino's wife all the time. Speaker 1 Who's Gino? Oh, our Gino. Speaker 2 Our Gino. I'm saying you're T. Boom Pickens, but you're alive. You and I both work in the Chicago office. Gino is a massive Oklahoma State fan. His wife bakes. She would make pumpkin loaves for you all the time. Speaker 1 The hell are you talking about? Speaker 2 You're so lost, bro. Get the read. Jeez Asia, I was just going to say you got a leaf blower too. Speaker 1 What'd you call me? Speaker 2 Asia. You got mad at pointing my finger at you. Speaker 1 Why'd you call me? Speaker 2 I was just saying you got a great leaf blower, right? Speaker 1 Asia. Let's do the last, the last one of the night games. And then Luki or Liam, I'll turn it up to you and you can talk about any game that you would like. Where's the last games? Okay, so we have, oh, that's the early games. That's Mississippi State. We've got, oh God. Yeah, Let's just call a spade a spade. Saturday night in week 5 sucks. It fucking sucks. There's 2 SEC games, and I'm calling out the SEC right now. I'm calling out ESPN. I'm calling out anybody that's scheduled. You put Alabama, Mississippi State, Keelan Russell, Kamario Taylor at noon, and then you've got at night Texas A&M Arkansas gross, and you've got LSU McNeese State in the marquee spot. What the fuck are we doing? What the fuck are we doing? You got in this window, Miami at Clemson. Now Clemson can't beat Miami. I don't believe they can beat Miami. But I am interested to see Miami having to go on the road at a place that's not just going to phone it in. Miami going on the road to a team that talent-wise can at least make them have to exert energy, right? Clemson at least makes Miami have to show up and have to play well. And I'm excited to see Malachi Tony in a spotlight that. Darian Mensah, if Darian Mensah does what he's been doing numbers wise, he's just right up in the top of the mix for the Heisman. It is a fascinating game in that sense. I don't think Clemson could beat him, but also if we look up in the fourth quarter and Clemson's up 24-17, Maybe we learned something about Miami too, that they're not what we thought they were. It's at least going to be a telling game. Speaker 2 Yeah, it's a big game for Mensah and Tony going up against Ashton Hampton who's one of the best DBs in college football. He's been playing at pro level, so that'll be fun to watch. Speaker 1 Yeah, Washington, USC, that game has really taken a beating over the last couple of weeks with USC. Speaker 2 Expired. We have our first expired game of the year. Speaker 1 What they did. And then Washington, we thought was going to be a nice fringe contender in the Big Ten, a spot that maybe other teams are jumping up to try to grab. But Washington is absolutely just been disappointing even when they were winning they just didn't look good I. Speaker 2 Don't know how we didn't see it coming I think you called out there their head coach don't want to be there and a quarterback didn't want to be there and we were like hey yeah I'll buy stock in Washington idiot. Speaker 1 Cincinnati and Arizona Cincinnati just a low-key 4 no. Speaker 2 Very low-key 4 no you can't pump the brakes on because they are so low-key I don't like how did they win that Miami of Ohio game I don't understand. Speaker 1 They were down 28 7 I think They were part of a Moneyline parlay and I had given up on them and I'd lost the parlay and then they won. I was like, yes. And then I looked at the rest of the parlay and there was Texas A&M and I was like, God damn it. Speaker 2 And they bounced back from that like scratch and claw win and then scratch and claw and beat K-State. Speaker 1 Really impressive. They very much did. Chat, I'll do a couple of chat things, then I'll read the DraftKings ad. We'll get to our interviews. jed fisher have never left arizona says good memed uh absolute lateral move to washington you know it's hard to call that a lateral move looking when it happened because washington was coming off the kaelin deboer but like in this day and age what you can do at washington you can do at arizona and i'm not sure that it was the step forward that jed fish wanted it to be And if he had stayed, if Jed Fish had stayed at Arizona, had another year or two, he could have picked a much better job than Washington. Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, Jed is always just kind of looking for that next job to get up to. He was obviously prying for Florida all off season and then doesn't get it because Summerall did. So it's like if he had stayed at Arizona, he had been gone last year. He wouldn't have stayed for a long haul. Speaker 1 One last time before I read the last ad. Am I wearing eyeliner? Speaker 2 No. Speaker 1 Yes. I left the Yak at 1.15 because we were filming Yaks Wild today. They're filming Yaks Wild in their episode 2 where Mark Titus is in makeup. I had to wear makeup for Yaks Wild. I was a Gore character. I don't know why, but I just was. And I thought the makeup lady who applied the makeup said she got it all, but apparently I still got some eyeliner on. Okay? But I do it Because I'm fucking 10x, all right? I'm a member of the Yak. That's what, 10x. Oh my goodness. Game Picks, Starkville Delights, and Interview Teasers DraftKings, and here's going to be my pick of the week. And I just, I don't, I love my pick of the week so much, I don't even know what to say. Speaker 2 24 1/2 they are, so I'll take Georgia again. Speaker 1 Also, you know they play Vanderbilt. Speaker 2 Yeah, at 11:45 A.m. Speaker 1 Right, so why would you say that? Speaker 2 I just want to make sure to keep you on your toes. Speaker 1 Quaxy Sidjum says. Speaker 2 Oh, wait, what? Speaker 1 It's at QAXCGYUJM. Quaxy Sidjum says, would you and Blutman storm the field of Mississippi State beats Alabama? Speaker 2 No, that's a win I expect them to get. Speaker 1 Okay, but what if I storm the field? Speaker 2 Good for you. I'll record you maybe. Speaker 1 That means you storm the field. Right. You can't record me if I... Speaker 2 Saw someone say Starkville's great ice cream. I'll go find ice cream. Speaker 1 Oh, Mississippi State has the best ice cream. It's right around the corner from the stadium. Speaker 2 Oh my gosh. Speaker 1 Yeah. We'll get you some ice cream. Get some cheese too. You want some cheese? Speaker 2 Nah. Speaker 1 Okay. Speaker 2 Ice cream. Speaker 1 You don't need to eat. Speaker 2 I eat ice cream. Speaker 1 We're going to go to Commodore Bob's too. Speaker 2 I heard. Who's he? Who is he? Speaker 1 He's Commodore Bob, brother. All right, man. Might get some blue Delta pants. It's going to be a big weekend in Starfall. Might get you by the facility. Speaker 2 That's a big deal. Speaker 1 You want a cowbell? Speaker 2 That's a big deal. I got to earn that. Speaker 1 No, that's not really how it works. Speaker 2 You got to be. Speaker 1 You're gifted your first cowbell. Speaker 2 Exactly. Speaker 1 It's actually the onus is on me to gift you the cowbell. Speaker 2 Or Cody. Speaker 1 Right. Sure. What? Speaker 2 Cody gives me, oh, that one. Speaker 1 What's the food plan for the weekend? I'm sure we'll do Anthony's. I'm sure we'll do Commodore Bob's. Might do Obie's for a lunch. I don't know what lunch is on Friday. Maybe 2, probably two brothers. And then Starville Cafe for breakfast. Speaker 2 All these places have terrific names. And I judge a place off the name. If a restaurant has a name, I'm like, oh, that's a terrible name. I'll never eat there. Speaker 1 So Commodore Bob, you like that? Speaker 2 I like all these names correct. Speaker 1 All right, what did you like Obie's. Speaker 2 Yeah, Obie's, yeah, like Garfield. Speaker 1 Bulldog Burger. Speaker 2 Solid. That's solid. That's generic. That's very generic. Speaker 1 Lost Pizza Company. Speaker 2 I don't like that at all. Yeah, and Lukey laughed because he knew exactly what. Speaker 1 Very good. Speaker 2 It's such a bad name. Speaker 1 Restaurant Tyler. Speaker 2 Who? Speaker 1 Restaurant Tyler. It's so good. Speaker 2 Tyler, you can't name the place. Speaker 1 If your name's Tyler, you can't. Speaker 2 Restaurant Brandon. Speaker 1 What are we doing? Would love to see Brandon Walker and Eric Morris interview. Well, Josh, there you go. Get to work. Give me Eric Morris and Brad Nessler. That's who I want next week. So speaking of, we're done with our business, right? Yeah. I want to be out here by 615 at 623. Shoot. So I want to tell you guys, we've been doing this for about a month. Subscriptions are up. Please subscribe. Views are up. over 80% year over year. I believe podcast lessons are up 80% year over year. So all of that is good. Thank you very much for watching. Thank you for doing this. But we've been doing interviews for a month and I was never an interview guy for the necessary reference. I just I don't really I just didn't believe interviewing coaches was all that interesting. But then I forgot I'm so fucking good. It doesn't matter. But we got Luke Fickel coming up from Wisconsin, fresh off the big win over Penn State. He'll be at the end of the show. But right now we go to, I'm just going to say it, my favorite interview since we've been doing this. It's CBS Sports analyst Charles Davis. Charles Davis on Madden, Brad Nessler, and Kamario Taylor He joins the show right now. We'll see you Saturday night in Starkville. All right, so we get to meet some of the greatest in college football right here. And that can mean coaches, it can mean players, it can mean announcers, it can mean everything. And some guys fit multiple boxes. And right now, I've got one of my favorite announcers that's ever done NFL or college. He's good in both. Also one of the voices of Madden. What a life that is. My God. Anyway, it's Charles Davis from CBS Sports. Charles Davis, thank you for joining the show. Speaker 4 Brandon, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Speaker 1 Oh man, that voice. I just, you know, anytime I throw a pick in Madden and you chide me for it, I just really, it really just grinds my gears, man. Speaker 4 As well it should. I've heard that from a lot of people and I tried my best to get, but I think that the people in Madden said now we're going to keep letting you say these nasty things to people because I actually spoke to a high school football team once and gave me, you know, the big bull, hey, you got to do this right and it got done. Questions? Why you yell at me all the time on Madden? I said, that's what you got out of this? Yeah. Speaker 1 Why are you so mean to me when I don't know how to play football on Madden? So I told the story to you off the air. I've told the story on the air, which coming into the season, one of my first episodes, it was week one and We had just watched Oregon and Boise State and I said to everybody, listen, I don't look at the broadcast assignments preseason. I don't really familiarize myself with it. I just go straight into the ball and I look up and Brad Nessler and Charles Davis are doing the CBS games. My God, how lucky are we? Man, it's been awesome so far. What's it been like for you for working with Brad Nessler and the whole thing? Speaker 4 Well, thank you for being so kind to right off the bat and For me, it's a dream come true, getting to work with a Brad Nestler. And I told you this off air and I'll be very brief about it. When I first got into broadcasting in the late 90s, I met Brad Nestler and he asked me what my aspirations were and what I wanted to do. And in a nutshell, I said, I just wanted to be good enough to one day have a chance to work with you because Brad Nestler was already on top of the food chain, right? He's top. I was just this little whippersnapper trying to get in. And all these years later, from the late 1990s to 2026, and now I get to stand next to Brad Nessler. He has been incredible to me right from the word go. Jenny Dell, our sideline reporter extraordinaire, the exact same thing. And Gary Danielson, who sat next to Brad for all those years. He retired and was incredibly gracious and welcoming. and supportive of me and has continued to be. None of them had to do any of that, but they all have and I'm appreciative. Speaker 1 So we've been all nice and everything and backslapping and everything, but this is where I get selfish in week 2. In week two, you did Minnesota, Mississippi State, which means you got to get eyes on Kamario Taylor. Now, in the week since, that was kind of his, hey everybody, here I am moment. In the week since, he just keeps going, what did you see out of this guy, man? Speaker 4 We saw it all. We really saw it all. And in the timeframe of getting ready for that game, because I had watched him let the previous year when he got his start in the Egg Bowl, announced himself, people weren't fully paying attention because Ole Miss is getting ready for the playoff and they were going to win the game. But you saw it all on display then you just knew it was going to take more refinement, right? More practice, all those things that go with it. And then I got to see him in person. So the week of the game, having watched him, I watched him against ULM on tape and I watched the Ole Miss game on tape the year before. I did a little breakdown comparison. of different people. I think he is. He's like a composite. Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 4 The way the ball comes off his hand, Michael Vick, remember Michael Vick would just flick it and be 50 yards downfield. That throw we make into ULM where he butted up against his own pocket and didn't even step and just flicked it. Bo hits his receiver touchdown. Cam Newton size. You know how it is, Brandon, as we say on the hoof. When you see them and they're like, oh my, oh, Cam Newton size, the dual threat abilities of Robert Griffin III, who of course was coached by Jeff Lebby and others at Baylor, Jeff Lebby's father-in-law, Art Briles. So he understood what they did with RG3. He can do that with him. And the last guy I put up there was Josh Allen, because it's the full picture of the size, the arm, the running ability. But what was the number one thing we talked about with Josh Allen coming out of Wyoming? Accuracy. There were question marks about that. Josh was a what, mid to high 50% thrower at Wyoming. Three years into the NFL, Josh Allen was a 70% thrower. And we've not seen something like that, Brandon. The adage is what you are in college, you're not going to be much different in the NFL because the NFL DBs are too good, too quick, too fast. You don't prove 16 percentage points as Josh Allen did. I think Kamario's already made strides in the accuracy department. I mean, we're seeing it already and we're seeing him blossom in front of our eyes. If you don't understand that this is one of the best quarterbacks in America, then you're just not willing to give credit and he has slaying giants already. I mean, Lenora Sellers was supposed to be a first round pick. South Carolina was a trendy pick last year to go to college football playoff and be better this year. No, and here comes Bama, I think he and Keelan Russell, That's going to be one we're all going to watch this week. Speaker 1 It's going to be amazing. I might just shut the interview down right now. I got everything I wanted. I got exactly what I wanted out of this. But listen, you're what? Speaker 4 Brandon, real quick, the best part is every game, whether it's home or away, he's riding with every. Speaker 1 No, that's a deep cut. This man's calling out the bus driver. Okay. Speaker 4 Hey, listen, Everett's one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life. And I got to see him the week we were in Minnesota and it just made my time. But if you get to hang with Everett, you're good. Speaker 1 This man is coming on here dropping the bus driver for Mississippi State Sports. Oh wow. Shout out Everett Kennard. So you're what, four weeks in? to this season. You already have an all-timer, an all-time finish that happened right in front of your eyes. The Iowa-Michigan finish, you know, we expected an ugly, nasty, big 10 street fight where it's going to be sloppy, it's going to be a lot of punts. And then for the last two minutes, Iowa just puts on this drive out of nowhere, goes 91 yards, and then the catch in the end zone. What was your viewpoint on that game? Speaker 4 It was a lot of what you described and going into it, we all had the same thought process, didn't we? I mean, the way they were matched with each other and a decent portion of the game was like that because Michigan really kind of went up and down the field with them. But as usual, Iowa will limit you into places that you can't be limited. Michigan goes forward on fourth and one, they try to sneak, he tries to jump over the top, Cam Buffington meets him, no first down and that was field goal range, that's three points gone. Another one, third down, deep in territory. interception, six points off the board at a minimum. Those go off the board. This is where it happens. And one of the things I'm still kicking myself about Brandon is when Michigan scored to go up 1913. Speaker 1 Yes. Speaker 4 Or two. I should have been I should have been Hey, kick the extra point, go up seven and make them drive the field and make a decision on you. Because all they did was open the door. and off you go from there and whatever that number was, I said, I kind of had it off a little. I would have wanted to make a little bit different decision there, but that's about the only thing. The rest of it was very simply, don't get in the way of Ness making this call. Speaker 1 Okay, yeah, I can see where that. Now, Michigan did, Michigan had that game in the fourth quarter where like they kept walking by the door with the opportunity to slam it and they're like, I'll slam it in a minute. Well, I'm not gonna worry about it. And all of a sudden you look up and I was standing in the door and they're in your house. So you've, oh, I want to ask about Oregon because you saw him first. You saw Oregon against Boise State. Oregon didn't exactly look like we thought coming in. We had them on a pedestal. And sometimes in college football, when you do that, I had to pick to win the national title. When you do that, you open yourself up. If they're not quite ready to start the season, but now they've gone to USC, they've got Raiola stepping in when his opportunity came up. Do you think, I know you saw him once, do you think Oregon can bounce back and get back to that level we had him on to begin the season? Speaker 4 Them totally off the pedestal yet, Brandon. I really wouldn't. I thought that obviously we talked about Boise State. One of the things that we don't do is ever give Boise enough credit. Speaker 1 That's right. Speaker 4 Oh, was it a 24 point spread? Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 4 When will we learn? Speaker 1 And they never been about 24 ever. Speaker 4 Right? What will we learn? Okay. So that's the first thing. Second thing is Oklahoma State happened. They had the team meeting, right? The players only meeting. I always call it the dreaded players only meeting because Brandon, I don't know what your experience is. But most time when it's a players only meeting, it doesn't usually go great after that. Speaker 1 Sure. Speaker 4 But this one seemed to work in terms of they went to USC. And when I watched them again, look, the Portland state game was just, you know, okay, let's get right. And everybody feel good about themselves. Right. Speaker 1 Right. Speaker 4 Even before the hit, the Dante Moore absorbed that horrible hit from Desmond Stevens, they were locked in. It came to play that night. That looked like the Oregon I was used to seeing. Now, obviously it got galvanized after the hit by Dante now was doubled and tripled in terms of resolve and they played well. Here's the other part. If Dylan Raiola chooses anywhere else in the country, he's starting quarterback. Speaker 1 That's right. Speaker 4 He chose to go to Oregon understanding that Dante Moore may very well come back. And if he does, he will be our quarterback. And he's like, cool. One year, I'll learn because Dante Moore did what? Sat behind Dylan Gabriel, learned, came out, came through. So he was willing to do that and he comes off the bench. That's the best backup quarterback in college football. So I don't take, look, Dante Moore doesn't play another down and I hope that that's not the case. I hope he recovers, is able to play, but his health is first and foremost paramount in my mind. Whatever that is, just get healthy, young man. Dylan Raiola, You can win a national championship with him as your quarterback. This isn't your normal backup quarterback situation. Speaker 1 Well, because it's not a backup. It's a starting quarterback, a season starting quarterback in the Big Ten, two years of starting. And he was willing to sit. That's fine. But when you, know, when you go out and invest in the backup quarterback like that, you buy yourself a little bit of security and now you buy. And boy, I think having won that at USC, look out, because this train might start rolling down the tracks. Speaker 4 And very quickly. Not only did he accept the role, but he accepted it and still prepared like a starter because you don't play that way. If you just been kind of hanging out, not doing your homework, not doing your stuff. He came in and he was sharp. He was decisive. He was ready to play the game. Give him credit. If Oregon plays with that same passion. Speaker 1 Agreed. Speaker 4 They have a chance to be the team that you predicted in preseason. Speaker 1 So you'll go down this road this year watching, you know, you'll be doing the biggest games of the week. Charles Davis on College vs. NFL & Jeremiah Smith's Talent Who are the teams and players you haven't seen in person yet, but you can't wait to get your eyes on them. You can't wait to get in there and really, really see them on the field. Speaker 4 Well, look, we got to see Coach Sig and program redo, meaning Coach Chez, Bob Chesney, and he's a laugh. Same model, same formula, JMU to the big time, but even before JMU, smaller school, right? So Holy Cross, JMU, the whole deal, Nico Imaliava, the quarterback. Numbers may not be outstanding, but he's producing for them. The running back night, heck of a player. Oh, I want to make sure I get this right, Osimago, Osimago, the linebacker, Sammy. Speaker 1 This is where I need, this is where I need Liam Blutman right here to sit beside me. Speaker 4 I want to get it right because I don't want him or his parents mad at him. Speaker 1 I'm getting a thumbs up from the producer, by the way. Speaker 4 Thank you. He is a tackling machine. Speaker 1 Wait, say it again. Say it again, producer. Sammy Omasego. Speaker 4 Omasego, thank you. So we want to get this right. Tackling machine and they're playing at a high level. You've seen them, Brandon. They put up 50 plus in two Big Ten games already. They're undefeated. They're off this week. They go to Oregon next week. And by the way, we're going to be there. I want to see Indiana. I want to see Nick Marsh at receiver because he's not just a good receiver. He plays hard without the football, which tells me a lot about his character. And they got a couple of linebackers that are pretty good too. And Hardy and Jones, Northwestern. I'm crazy about Coach Braun. I want to see the new stadium. I'm not going to lie. Speaker 1 Sure. Yeah. Speaker 4 They unveil it this Friday, I think, against Penn State. But have you seen that? Have you seen Brayden Turner, the safety? Speaker 1 Of course. Yeah. Speaker 4 Good player. Really good player. Goes under the radar, but he's got my attention. And last but not least, got to see the Huskers. I want to see Anthony Colandrea, who's come in and play quarterback. And remember, they thought they were getting Kenny Minchey. Speaker 1 That's right. Yep. Speaker 4 Look at the last minute went to Kentucky. It's worked out for both squads. Speaker 1 Just back to UCLA real quick and I'll move on to the next question. But one thing you mentioned, you know, UCLA is a team that when people think of West Coast football, they think of a certain style, but they will run through your face. They will run through your face. And that is not something you're used to seeing out of UCLA. And this guy has done it in a month of game action. He's done it in one off season. That's pretty crazy. And that's something to be said. But then again, like you said, from the Sig did that in Indiana, immediately changed the way they played football, and so has Chesney at UCLA. Speaker 4 Those guys are special people. Like, I have a feeling you've met both of them and been around both of them. It takes no time to figure out there's something there, right? There's some magic dust sprinkled on these guys, but there's also a ton of hard work. And if you ever get to a UCLA practice, Brandon? Speaker 1 That's what I've heard. Speaker 4 Watching them go about their business, the organization, how they get to it. And you know who's there every day? Coach Chesney's dad, senior. Speaker 1 Okay, all right. Speaker 4 Coach Chesney senior. And seniors there every day and it's one of the coolest things to see dad watching son do what he taught him to do 'cause son played for dad in high school. It's a really cool story, but just as you said, they will line up and smack you. It reminds me of Terry Donahue's teams when UCLA was really good. And this is where they're trying to get back to being. Speaker 1 Yeah, my co-host on the show, Liam Blutman, is a UCLA lifer and just wears UCLA stuff and he won't shut up about UCLA's practices. So I've... Speaker 4 Are you doing the 8 clap now? One, two, three, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, you. Speaker 1 I'm trying to get away from that and here you go and now he's never going to shut up about it. He's never going to shut up about it because Charles Davis came on the show and did it. This is a unique question. You take it wherever you wanna go, but you did NFL games for so long. You get the preparation, you get there, you sit down in the meetings, you talk to the coaches, and now you're kind of doing the same thing in college. Is there a difference in the tenor of how you talk to the coaches? Is there a difference in the way they approach you? Is it more relaxed? I don't know, I'm just wondering. Speaker 4 No, it's a great question, and there is a difference, absolutely there's a difference. The NFL, I would guess the word clinical would come to mind. The coaches know this is part of the business, as part of the deal. If it's a 2 o'clock meeting, they're gonna be there probably between 2 and 2:15. All right? College coaches have become more like that since the advent of NILs and all that. But it's a different feel because you know what it's like on campus. If you're a winning college coach on a college campus, oh my goodness, you're the emperor. Speaker 1 You're king. Speaker 4 Right? And people around you, there's not a lot of people telling you no, okay? Sure. How do I help coach? What do I need to do with coach? What do I do with coach? It's a little bit different that way. Now, in my past iteration, kids were mainly off limits on college campuses. You didn't talk to the kids much. NIL, now it's more like the NFL. You get to talk to them, you do all that stuff. The major difference is roster size, Brandon. Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 4 It's 53 for the NFL after you get out of preseason, which is 90. And out of the 53, you got 7 scratches on gaming down, it's 46. And if they move from team to team, you kind of already have them. But free agency and college football is transfer portal. Get your Oklahoma State and it's 91 new guys. That's a little different. Speaker 1 You got to know thousands of players. Speaker 4 It's a whole different deal. Double numbers. he just transferred in, he's on his fourth school. In the old days, if you were on your fourth school, the red flags were waving with the NFL. Now, just part of business. Speaker 1 That's how life goes. So Charles Davis is the lead analyst for CBS Sports College Football coverage. You catch him alongside Brad Nessler and Jenny Dell every Saturday at 3:30 Eastern on CBS, streaming on Paramount Plus. This Saturday, he'll be in Iowa City. where Ohio State visits Iowa, meaning the Jeremiah Smith Show comes to town. Thoughts about him? Speaker 4 I would not be surprised, Brandon, if he's the highest rated receiver, meaning graded receiver going into the NFL draft that we've ever seen. Now, does that mean he's better than the guys we've seen in the past? I don't know that I'd say that just yet, but in terms of grading coming out of college, what we've seen for three years, I wouldn't be, I would not be surprised to hear people say he's the highest, highest guy I've ever graded, you know, in terms of all that. But when I watch him, I see Larry Fitzgerald, eyes and build, but professionalism. If you go to an Ohio State practice, you talk to people, they talk about how he goes about each drill like he's a freshman trying to make the team. He plays hard without the ball away, right? He will go block people, try and get his form down correctly. I see Julio Jones, that wild Mustang who could big body guy, make the tough catches and run away from you. Because Julio, you remember the combine he ran like a 439 on a broken foot. Speaker 1 Yes, I remember a lot of Julio Jones. Speaker 4 He was amazing, right? So you see that, okay? Randy Moss and his ability to go up, play over the top of you the whole deal. But I've seen also a refined route running that's coming from Jeremiah Smith now. I'm seeing better routes. Did you see Illinois last week? Did you see that in and out move? Speaker 1 Did I see Illinois last week? Oh my God. It was one of the guy puts on a route running clinic, a yards after catch clinic, a Randy Moss clinic, all in one game, Charles. Speaker 4 All in one game. And by the way, it's not like you didn't know it was coming. So he's doing that, knowing people are going to defend him. The one thing I will say, and he's been working hard on it 'cause, you know, Brian Harlan was his receivers coach, got the job at USF, he's head coach. They could not have made a better hire in Cortez Hankton as a wide receivers coach. Speaker 1 Sure. Speaker 4 He's connected with these kids and they were playing hard for him. It's yards after catch has been a major emphasis for Ohio State because their numbers were rather pedestrian in that category. If those numbers keep increasing, you'll keep seeing things from other people besides Jeremiah Smith. But he's the best player in college football. I get to watch him on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. And it's going to be a great matchup because Iowa and Phil Parker's defense, they're always up for a challenge. Speaker 1 Yeah, they're not sitting there in their locker room saying, yay, we have tickets to the Jeremiah Smith show. They're coming up with ways to knock him in the face. Last question, and I'll let you get out of here. I know your time's valuable. I appreciate you. What's the best game you've ever broadcast? Speaker 4 Oh boy. Well, I think most people will, you know, how can you beat Boise State, Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl? Speaker 1 Sure. Speaker 4 Everything that happened with that. I was lucky to be there. Tom Brenneman was played by play. Coach Barry Alvarez and I were the analysts. Chris Myers was on the sideline. We saw the whole thing happen, two points, Statue of Liberty, ball goes in the stands, same guy goes and proposes to his girlfriend. Although I think Chris Myers actually asked her to marry him instead of Ian. Speaker 1 Yeah, I think Chris Myers and her are married today. Speaker 4 I was like, Chris, wrong guy. He spoke. I was fortunate enough to be part of Big Ten Network's opening broadcast, how it came on air as a network, Appalachian State at Michigan. Tom Brennaman, Krista Thompson and myself. Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 4 In the NFL, I did back-to-back weeks with Kevin Burkhart and Pam Oliver. San Francisco at Baltimore, San Francisco, New Orleans regular season games, back-to-back, two of the best games I've seen and been able to be a part of. Did a playoff game with the Chargers in Houston that I thought was one of the better games that we were able to broadcast with Iron Eagle. And then there's a Baltimore Pittsburgh game by one of my, you know, you know, those games are If you're a trainer and you're a doctor, get your rest that week because you're on call when those two get together. Speaker 1 That's football. Speaker 4 That was Justin Fields was the backup. He came into the game and I said, whatever you do, just go to him. Do not play the fake run. Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 4 And they played the fake run and he sealed the game with a run. I'll never forget that one, but there's a bunch of them. But I think most people remember the Boise, Oklahoma and probably app state Michigan. Speaker 1 I mean, two of the maybe top 10 college football games of all time. And you were on the call as you will be this Saturday with Iowa and Ohio State. Again, Paramount plus CBS Sports is Charles Davis, lead analyst for CBS Sports. Charles, this was a pleasure for me. I really thank you for doing this. Speaker 4 The pleasure is mine. And listen, let's meet at the Golden Triangle. Speaker 1 Yes. Speaker 4 Right? Get over to little Dewey's. Speaker 1 Yes, we'll get some BBQ. We'll go to Anthony's for a steak, play a round of golf. What a weekend. Speaker 4 And we're going to go to Duty Noble. Weekend series. Speaker 1 Yeah, no, I'll do all of it. You know, and we'll get Everett to hang out with us. Speaker 4 And we'll call Everett. And we'll also call my cousin Doug Davis, who was a tennis player there and the son of the honeybee, Art Davis, Arthur Davis, All-American there. Speaker 1 My God, I didn't know you had that many ties to Mississippi State. You got more ties to Mississippi State than I do. Speaker 4 I might as well have a cowbell sitting here right now. Speaker 1 I can make that happen, Charles. Thank you very much. And you as well. Coach Luke Fickell on Wisconsin's Big Win & Team Building That's Charles Davis, CBS Sports. All right, now one of the big wins of the season and the Big Ten, one of the big wins we saw on Saturday was, and listen, I am a rookie college football fan apparently. I'm only 47 years old, but when I saw Wisconsin was down 17, nothing to Penn State, I started looking elsewhere and I was like, and then I look back and all of a sudden, Wisconsin's celebrating and I'm like, what in the heck happened? And this guy knows what happened because he had a big It's Coach Luke Fickle of the Wisconsin Badgers. Coach, thank you for joining us. Speaker 5 Thanks for having me. And I'm not sure what really happened either. So I was actually there. Speaker 1 Yeah, listen, first question is actually courtesy of Big Cat. And he said, Big Cat, you know, Barstool Big Cat that works here, obviously a Wisconsin guy. He said he got you to stop wearing the vest and everything turned around when you stopped wearing the vest. Is there truth to that? Speaker 5 Well, I don't know if everything's completely turned around. Like I said, that's why I kind of, with some of these things, I'm like, hey, let's Let's find a way to continue to get this climb going to say it's turned around. But I would say, yeah, you know what? Big Cat had some encouragement on maybe going to something a little different. Speaker 1 You might be the only person in the history of humankind that got fashion advice from Dan Cass. Speaker 5 Well, believe me, if it wasn't for my daughter, I don't know that he would have got his way. But look, it was never something I was completely tied to. It was just something that happened as we were waiting for a game about seven years ago with all the time when you get to the stadium, it just kind of happened. Speaker 1 My second question is, I was watching the end of that game the other day, Penn State had the final drive, and then once you guys did win that game, you're not somebody that I think really shows all that much emotion as a coach on the sidelines. You're pretty put together and stoic might even be a word, but my God, the smile you let out and the emotion, what were you feeling in that moment to let it all out like that? Speaker 5 Probably about 10 seconds after the final play because I couldn't completely take it all in just yet because I wanted to make sure there was no flag on the field. There was no, they were going to put a second back on the clock. You know, I mean, you never know in college football. So it took a little while, but no, there was There was a complete joy, let's just say that. This game is all about winning, but there's some different ways to win. I'm not sure I would script that as the way to win. But when you go on the road, in particular in the Big Ten and in that place in Happy Valley, there's a little something different that comes with it. And to be honest with you, I've been that place many times, especially at night, and it has not felt that way for me in the final countdown. But it was, I would say a relief, but it was a true joy and excitement for a lot of people. Speaker 1 Yeah, so you build a team in the off season, right? And you hope when you get to the season, they're ready to go and they're ready to have these big moments like that. And I know against Notre Dame, you know, there was you guys, the game was close for 1/2 and Notre Dame kind of created some separation. But was this the first moment you felt like this team showed what you guys have been building and showed the potential you guys have? Speaker 5 There's been some steps along the way. There's no doubt about that. But like we all know, we see better And that's no different than a lot of us. And so for us to actually see it, for us to actually to do it, I tell you what, there's a lot of things that has to happen, but that's one of them. And so yeah, there's some definite giant steps that we saw. The thing I love the most is, look, we've learned a lot in just four games. And I'm not sure everybody knows who we are, and I'm not sure we know who we are. But what we were in week one was a team that had some energy, had some emotion, but didn't have a true emotional toughness to be able to play 60 minutes. And in just a few weeks, I think that we've grown up and we've generated and created some emotional toughness. It gives us a chance to play 60 plus minutes. Speaker 1 When you're down on the road like that, being down at home is one thing, but being down on the road, you kind of face a choice. So we're going to, is this going to be who we are? We're going to fight back and then you guys fall back and won the football game. You know, how does that bode for, you know, going forward with this team? You got eight more games and there's going to be a lot of spots where you got to fight and fight and fight. And you just saw some, you just saw some fight out of your team. Speaker 5 That's what you have to learn and that's what you have to feel. I mean, A lot of us today and where we are in college football, you said it, when you're building a team. Like I've always envisioned in college ball, you build a program. And in building a program, you have really good teams. But you don't usually have the ups and the downs because when you build a program, there's some things that are, you know, I think have roots and build in different ways. And to be honest with you, for us here in the last few years, I think a lot of college football teams, it is more like building a team. And when you're building a team, to say your team, there's a lot of guys on the team that don't know me. And so there's a lot of guys that are learning me. And I'm doing the same for a lot of our guys, in particular our quarterback. And so we know it's a process. We know there's a long journey that has to happen in a short amount of time. But these are kind of steps along the way that you have to be able to have. Speaker 1 You say building a team instead of a program. Is that kind of the balancing act you guys are doing right now in this era? Trying to build a team on a year-to-year basis, but also maintaining a program and maintaining the standards throughout the years with guys, you might have 50 or 60 guys that weren't there last year. Speaker 5 I think that's to me been the biggest change for me in college football. It's not something I've ever been a part of. I've always been a part of building programs and even when I was an assistant coach, seeing a program that's built from within. And I think where we have been and a little bit of the landscape, I say it has to be that way. I hope that we continue to do the climb and I hope we continue to grow. And then I can literally truly say we are building a program, which yes, we're building a program. We've been building a program for three and a half years, but it's felt like each and every year we've had to build a team. And so at some point in time, you got to have wins, you got to have success to feel like that program is being built. And to be honest, that's where the last part of last year, I know it wasn't good, but there were some things that happened that for the first time felt like we were kind of gaining some roots in a program. Speaker 1 Have you ever caught yourself, this is switching gears entirely, by the way, have you ever caught yourself wanting to jump around between the third and fourth quarters? Like the music hits your mood right and you just start jumping because the day you do that is the day you go viral, Mr. Coach Fickle. Speaker 5 Yeah, I don't know that that's going to happen. I think there was a little celebration after the game and I think when I came home, I don't know if it was my boys or somebody kind of warned me like, that's really not your gig. So I don't know that the celebrations in the dancing is right up your alley. So I think I'm going to leave that to a lot of the youth. But there's definitely a joy from within that maybe doesn't get shown quite as much in the midst of that third to fourth quarter. Speaker 1 No, I mean, it's like contagious, right? Like, especially if you're winning on the scoreboard, you look around and everybody's going crazy. Like, yeah, okay, I'm feeling this. You're far too professional to be an idiot like me, but that's what I would do. That's all I'm saying. My next question. Speaker 5 You're more than welcome to come enjoy it. Speaker 1 I'm coming. I'm definitely coming. Big Cat says I have to, so I don't really have a choice in the matter. So you mentioned mental toughness. And when you mentioned mental toughness, I just thought to your quarterback, I know he hasn't been there long, but like this guy, Colton Joseph has something to him that just feels like no matter what has happened in the game previously, we still got a fighting shot because we got this guy. You talk about him and just what you've seen out of him in the first month of the season. Speaker 5 Yeah, I mean, like I said, he's been here since January and we've learned a lot about each other. And in particular, you were waiting to see how that was going to translate played onto the football field because there's a lot of things that happened there. You can't replicate whether it's winter conditioning or spring football, but he's continuing to grow. He's a guy that, you know what? I'm proud that he doesn't get rattled. I'm proud that what happened a couple plays before doesn't completely affect him, what happens the next series. And that's why we've been able to, I think, grow past some of the things that's happened even in the first half last week, couple turnovers, three turnovers and still seeing that there's not a hangover from even what has happened in the series before. Now there's a part of that has to be a growth too. But you know what? He's got the right mindset. He's a competitor in all aspects of the game. And so to me, We know who we're running with, we know who we're riding with, but we still had to grow. Speaker 1 I've thought about your previous offer of coming to Madison, and I've decided I'm going to take you up on it, provided you buy me a stake at the tornado room. Speaker 5 You got it. It's hard to get in, but if Big Cat's coming with you, I'm sure his name, after a few more of these weekends, then I'll be able to get us in there as well. Speaker 1 So you've been around this league a long time, you've been around college football a long time. I was actually talking to PJ Fleck this morning because it's the same with him. Have you gotten used to this expanded Big Because you get to Wisconsin, or this expanded Big Ten, you get to Wisconsin, you're competing with the Minnesotas of the world, Michigan State's of the world, everybody in the world. And all of a sudden, you also got to worry about going out to Oregon and Washington and UCLA and USC. Is it still an adjustment period for you guys within that league? Because it feels like you old school Big Ten guys are, you know, again, you got to worry about the Minnesotas of the world, the Iowas of the world, and now you got to worry about UCLA. Speaker 5 Can't say I had envisioned this by any means, even when four years ago that I came back to the Big Ten, I don't know that I would have really envisioned where it is right now. But I think that's just kind of a sign of what is to come to, right? I mean, like anybody that's stuck in the old traditions and the old ways, there's some things that are going to hold you back in your ability to grow. And so no, it's still different. Traveling to the West Coast, playing late night games and things like that are still very unique and different. But to me, what it really matters is I don't know how much different it is for most of our kids. Like most of our guys, they don't know anything different. B, in the world today, I mean, there's a lot of transfer guys that don't know the history of Wisconsin football. So we have to teach them that, not alone what the Big Ten history is. I don't know that it bothers them nearly as much. So If it doesn't bother them, we got to make sure it doesn't bother us. Speaker 1 Did you have an idea in mind as the program builder and the head of the program, what success look like in 26 to start the season? And has that changed at all after a month of games? Speaker 5 No, it hasn't changed. Yeah, there's a vision of what success looks like. And I still think there's a hell of a lot of growth that has to be done to continue to grow that vision. It doesn't always just mean what's on the scoreboard or what reads at the end of the year. Like we try to tell guys that's not how we evaluate us from within our own program. But the truth is we all know and understand like that's how we're ultimately going to be evaluated. So a part of that is something we don't shy away from. We talked about, hey, we know we have to find ways and we have to win. But what that really looks like, there's many different ways as you see on Saturday. That's not exactly how I would have scripted up going on the road in the Big Ten and trying to come away with a victory to be down 3 to 1 in the turnover margin and to be down by 17 points is not exactly what you would say is the script for success on the road. Speaker 1 This Saturday, you got another big one. I guess it's all big in that league or your next game is another big one. How do you get them to come down and get ready? I mean, you've been doing this for a long time. This isn't new for you, but you still got to get college kids to come down, get ready for the next one. Is that a challenge? Speaker 5 It is. I think that that's what sometimes when you're building a team, You don't know everybody. And so how to all these guys handle. We've been preaching since January. We've been preaching since fall camp about our ability to handle whatever stone it our way, right? There's a consistently good that we're looking for as opposed to occasionally great. And consistently good can handle the situation that happened to us in week one, that we can handle that. The situation that happened to us in week four where you come off a really, really big win on the road. consistently good means you got to be able to come back in on Sunday, you got to be able to come back in on Monday, you got to come back in on Tuesday and find a way to get back to work and do the things that you've done. And we've preached it. Now we've got to be able to see it happen. Speaker 1 Well, I'm very appreciative of your time. I just got one last question. I'll let you get out of here. After a game, have you ever smeared the blood from one of your players onto your own face? Speaker 5 I don't know what you're talking about. But as long as it's somebody else's blood, I'm fine. Being an old wrestler, that doesn't bother me one bit, but I'd rather have it be the blood of my opponent as opposed to my own. Speaker 1 I love football coaches, man, because there is a chance he hasn't seen it. I'm pretty sure he has, but there's a chance he hasn't seen it because he's so locked down on his team. But anyway, Coach, I appreciate you. Thank you for your time and good luck this Saturday. Speaker 5 I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for having me.