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

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. All right, you know the plan. It's tailgate season. The grill's going, the captain is flowing, the whole crew showed up, and somehow four quarters turns into where are we going next? Chartered plans say head home, uncharted plans say not yet. That's Captain Wow You Can in action. Grab a Captain and Cola and go wherever the day takes you, because the best game days don't come with a map. Captain Morgan, enjoy responsibly, Captain's Orders. Captain Morgan Rum Company, New York, New York. Hey, Kirk Herbstreet here. During the college football season, my golden retriever Peter and I are constantly on the road. Yep, Peter knows ball. When you travel this much, you want the gold standard. That's why Peter and I partnered with Hertz. Brand new fleet of rental cars, a great app, and the best loyalty perks in the biz. So if you're traveling to cheer on your favorite college team or kicking off a different road trip, book direct at Hertz.com slash Peter. 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? Mm-mm. I'm so excited. That's Squidbillies, everybody. Anybody ever seen Squidbillies? Mm-mm. You look like a Squidbilly. Dude, that was not cool. No, it's a cool show. Okay, I can't look at you. You can't look at me? Do I have mascara? Yeah. Yeah. I thought I got it all. I had the makeup artist get it all. So we did a, uh, we filmed Yaks Wild today. Brandon left the Yaks before 2 p.m. 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. No, no, no. You look like you're getting ready for a little wrestling. Yeah, 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 would 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. 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 Blutman's first SEC game ever. We'll be going to Alabama at Mississippi State. I'm very excited, Brown 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. You've been to two college football games in the last 10 years. Because I'd be on the couch, man. I'm dedicated to my crap. 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. I think that's. 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. Andrew Zufeltz. You're killing me, Lukey. I just want to see the chat, man. You don't have to vote on your own poll. Vote Wednesday. Do you like Wednesday? I do. We're numbers guys here at this company, right? Yeah. You lose a few of the numbies on Thursday. Football. NFL's king. All right. College football's better. NFL's king. Is it early so you don't miss the Scrubs premiere? I'm probably going to 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. And I'm not a steak guy, so I'm not getting the Cajun ribeye to the guy who asked that in chat. It's Creole ribeye, but that's okay. Well, he said Cajun. I know he said Cajun, but it is the Creole ribeye. Gotcha. Is this pre-recorded Hogger McCoskey? Yes, it's pre-recorded. What time did we record this? 3.30 a.m. 3.30 a.m. Central Standard Time. It's not eyeliner. It's just he's tired. We do have the chat up. It is eyeliner. I had to be – what would you say to my character? I don't know. I thought of it for an hour. What were you? What would you – pull up the rock band Gwar. I think that's – is that their name? Gwar? Gwar? I told you I'm not a music guy. I'm not asking you. I'm asking – Okay. That's what I think I was? I was some sort of character for Yax Wilde. Is that what I was? Looks like it. Okay. Yeah. So I was Gwar. I have no idea why. It 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 Ahmad Hardy's better. Kiwan 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 that's – 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've got to do some things here and we've got to go ahead. After we got done Monday night, the SEC – It might have happened before. It happened before. I forgot to bring it up. 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. Yeah, rained all over that field. 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. Yeah, I was thinking about it. He runs like he's taken four strikes at once. He almost runs a bit like an angry, violent, I'm taking you down for a yard touchdown here run, Nick Chubb. He's running dangerous, violent with malice intent. Did you see the all-22 footage of him chasing down John Mateer? I got scared. It looked like a gazelle in a lion's body. Oh, my gosh. Right? Yeah. That's pretty good. Yeah, with like eagle wings. Yes. Yeah. And an alligator's teeth. He – oh, my God. Yeah, he's unbelievable. Like, he should not have won SEC Player of the Week. That should have been Colin Simmons' award. But he's something else. But he's a specimen. 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. 100%. If you put up 10 sacks in two games. Yes. And you're dripping urine everywhere. Yeah, you're in the Heisman race. Those are Heisman moments. 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 – no, no, no. That is Texas. They play Oklahoma. You know, that's a rivalry game. That'll be a big game. They play Texas A&M. Oh, my gosh. A rivalry game. They play LSU. They might not play one of those teams I just said. Surely they don't play all those teams. They play so many teams. So, if at the combo, at Red River Rivalry, he pulls out his unit and starts spraying half the side of the stadium, it's out in the New York City. Oh, you mean if he pisses on the Oklahoma side of the stadium? Yeah, that is. If he pisses on the entire Oklahoma fan base, I think I would make him a Heisman contender. He'd be the favorite, in my opinion. Could you imagine? Is Hoggart McHogsky the stupidest person? In the world. He just posted again. It says, I said pre-recorded or post-recorded, actually. The question remains unanswered. Post-recorded? How would the question remain unanswered if I read his comment? Greg, are you on the wrong account, buddy? Sign into your other account. Greg, fuck, Greg, get off the computer, Greg. Post-recorded. We're post-recording. We're post-recording this. We record. Hold on. How do you post-record something? - You post recorded an interview though, two of them. I'm a better person than Josh Pate. We all know that. I just need to tell you all something about Josh Pate. Tell me. 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, no. You're not going to tell me sorry, kid. Pate, you're not going to tell me sorry. You're going to get your ass on a plane and get to fucking Starville. And that's how it happened. And I'm not going to show you the text, but trust me, that is how it happened. That's a fair question from someone in chat, CLW719. I like that we can interact with chat. No bed bug worries in Mississippi? The last Barstool, no bed bugs in Starkville. That's an Oxford problem. No, brother. First of all, I'm not staying at no motherfucking Super 8. Oh. I got P. I got houses. I got houses. Don't worry about us. So I have a concept here I would like to talk about. Yeah, we actually got a talk ball. 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. So, this football season is heating up, and every week feels bigger with DraftKings. The DraftKings Sports app is now live in all 50 states. There goes my voice. That means from Texas to California to Florida, every fan is in on the excitement. Follow the teams you love. Keep up with the biggest games and experience the excitement of football all week long. No matter which game you're watching, you're always connected with one app. One app, every sport, all 50 states. New DraftKings customer. Sign up with CodeWalker. Spend just five bucks. Get 150 rewards within 14 days. It includes all markets. That's CodeWalker in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. 1-800-MY-RESET. Connecticut, call 888-789-7777. Visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, FedTax Pass-Thru may apply in Illinois, 21 and over, Void in Canada. Bet with DraftKings Sportsbook to get bonus bets that expire in seven days or trade with DraftKings Predictions to get predictions dollars that expire in one year. Event contract trading involves risk of loss. Predictions offer Void in New York. Non-withdrawable rewards issued as $50. Click to claims every seven days for 14 days. Terms at dkng.co slash offer. Limited time offer. Nationwide based on sportsbook predictions and free-to-play sports contest availability. Varies by state. All right. The pump the break teams. Jack Studio says, Don't you dare even say Florida. You're goddamn right I'm going to say Florida. Here are the pump the breaks 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 one, 51-10. Destroyed them. And they jumped up and all of a sudden, oh my God, they're, oh my God, they're a national title contender. Oh my God, you're not going to believe how good they are. Whoa, pump the breaks. 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 breaks. 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, 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 breaks 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 giving Florida fits lately. But I, I think there are three teams in the top 25 that fit the profile of the pump the breaks teams. I think there are three teams. Liam, I'm about to do exactly what you think I'm about to do. Yeah. Here are the three teams that need to pump the breaks 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 breaks on Mississippi State. I'm going this week. Now, if we win this week, fuck all y'all. The breaks are gone. I'm cutting the breaks out of the car. But for right now, just pump them. 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? We go and win in Eugene next week if that happens. Well, that should give us a break. If that happens, you will not. I mean, if you thought the Georgia Bulldogs players have been driving faster on Athens, I'll be driving faster and I don't got a license. You're just getting rid of the breaks altogether. And we're heading downhill. Going uphill. Only up from there. Certainly. Certainly. UCLA winning at Oregon would be a get rid of the breaks game. Yeah. And Florida's got their get rid of the breaks games coming soon when they play Texas, when they play Georgia, when they play all those teams. I think they could beat Texas, not Georgia. Yeah. Texas is going to be tough. I don't know where that tech game is. Is that in Austin or is that in Gainesville? I believe both on the road. Well. Or not. No, road neutral. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Although, is this the year? Oh, shoot. Did they start that? When are they doing that? When are they doing that garbage? That's not this year. It can't be this year. I'm talking about Georgia. Are they in Jacksonville? All right. You don't take the cocktail party and put it at a home venue. 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. Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz? Like Mercedes-Lewis? The old UCLA tight end? Do you not know how to say Mercedes? Like they're playing in Atlanta. Oh. I don't like that. Somebody says, Pitt, pump the brakes. Is Pitt speeding? I like the chat being able to. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Is Pitt speeding right now? Is Pitt going 40 in the 35? Yeah, Pitt's going 36. Pitt's going 36 with their flashers on. What are we talking about, pump the brakes on Pitt? And then the chat says. He's like, all right, go ahead, go ahead. Go around. Who's talking about Pitt? They're not even ranked yet, right? Hold on. Everybody, hold on. Guys, guys. I got one. Stop crowning Pitt. Pump the brakes, okay? Yeah. I can't even think of one. Like, well. UCF, let's pump the brakes. What the? 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. Just jumped up and now they're here and how incredible. Louisville was a pump the brakes. Louisville was a pump the brakes team. And I am guilty. And I. 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. I'm saying about my own team. Let's all relax. Let's all enjoy this. I agree. I got no issue with it. I. I do think all three teams that you want to pump the brakes on are going to win their next game, though. Well, that means we beat. Yeah. That means you beat. We're going to keep doing this thing where I'm propping up Mississippi State and saying. You're a reckless driver is what you are. You're a reckless driver. I got a need for speed play. I don't got a license, so I'm getting pulled over. Like, well, I like all three of those teams immensely. I like your team a lot. I like the offense that they've got. The passing attack. The tough, brute run. Oh, 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 in this verse? What? Reverse. You're taking a U. Oh, you're just you're pulling over and turn around. Wait, what? Where are we going? I think you pump 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. Well, average might be a stretch, but they look closer to average than you expected them. They look like elementary. It was far from the norm. Yeah. So you pull over. All right. Let's go with. That's the pump the brakes teams defending national champs. No saying UMass pump the brakes. Oh, no. You let them go. Like, yeah, you let UMass drive as fast as they want. You let them go. Eighty eight and then time travel. That's a movie reference. Any idea what the movie is? I'm going to guess back to the future. Boy, I've never seen it. That a boy dot talk. Indiana needs gas on a road trip says Carlos G. We're just way too far on the. Should we pump the brakes on some role? Not on a not as a complete program builder. He's obviously a great coach. So over the next five, 10 years are going to be incredible. But as a they're they're a national title contender now. Yeah, I would like to just check up on Florida a little bit at Missouri at Missouri is kind of terrifying. So that line opened at two and a half. Yeah. Yeah. You know, is that now? Five and a half? It's all right up there. five and a half that which means that people are big on florida um again i'll get to the stinkiest line ever because it's coming up in a minute and it'll be in the draft kings ad in just a second all right we're gonna 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 yeah i'm to re-enchant uh rocket money can track subscriptions and has the ability to cancel unwanted ones within the app with just a few taps giving users an easy way to stop paying for things they don't use automatic transaction categorization across accounts plus customizable categories and tags to reveal spending patterns describe you can set budgets and goals get personalized insights and regular reports and receive real-time alerts for large transactions upcoming bills refunds and low balances the app consolidates checking savings loans and investments into a single dashboard to give users a clear view of their financial picture automated savings that grow towards goals with adjustable amounts and frequency set it and forget it approach you don't have to worry about it uh rocket money reminds you rocket money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel unwanted subscriptions monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings let rocket money help you reach your financial goals faster join at rocketmoney.com slash brandon b-r-a-n-d-o-n rocketmoney.com slash brandon rocketmoney.com slash brandon 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 the day after the yak we had to do yaks while which is a a game show that we're doing for uh for the yak that'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 uh i had makeup all over so uh 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 yeah yeah we gotta go no no no but i haven't even mentioned the interviews we got coming at the end oh including my favorite interview squall of 5452 says pre-recorded you're right buddy post-record um 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 i didn't know brandon that's not a good interview charles davis were together this is amazing i love charles davis i think charles davis is amazing and fantastic and our guest our guest booker josh who helps this 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 uh this weekend over penn state luke fickle 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 we're going to fall out brandon instead of fall out boy i'm fall out brandon that's pretty good thank you hogger mcags uh brian max says charles davis ruined madden i disagree i think he's incredible on madden i think he has one of the best voices in human i think he is what has one of the best and and liam i don't know if you saw it lukey i haven't seen it yet he might be the classiest nicest guy i have ever met in my entire life he is so damn great charles davis has all it 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 keep throwing suggestions in chat too what chat chat's throwing suggestions keep going you're reading a lot of chat by the way are you not i am reading the chat i support our people breezy tide says brandon i've laughed out loud a billion times because you're so damn funny lol i am fucking funny when did you pull your phone out to put in the chat 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 uh when it really gets down to it when georgia and texas roll through and colin simmons is standing over there uh and 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 yeah i'm not playing player comp guy but i think the best way to say 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 all right so let's do the uh let's do the ball watchers guide let's uh let's dive into it because i really do believe and he does speak to you know week five right now it ain't the strongest week i've ever seen no you know you got you got mississippi state and alabama which is is a pretty good match up there uh and then you've got ohio state iowa i 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 16 13 game but this this ohio state offense i just don't know with jeremiah smith operating at the way he's operating that i was going to be able to keep up like can they keep ohio state from scoring two touchdowns i don't think the answer is yes yeah the the answer is probably no yeah i don't think the answer is yes at all i 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 receiver room step up and make a difference i'd love it 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 so let's bring up the ball watchers guide right now is it on screen lukey so we got the early the early afternoon games and uh this is uh the the big three i think here and it's not a great slate but you've got uh 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 be i think anybody can beat michigan actually like michigan is is their first tough game on the road it's their first game on the road period right yes it's the first time leaving uh they're they're playing a minnesota team that went out to washington now washington is not great but they still went out on the road and won i 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 beat everybody i think minnesota is real alive to win this football game 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 gonna say it again i'm gonna plant my flag first to 17 wins and drake lindsey is the better quarterback in this match drake lindsey all down ball down seattle not even close no i mean way better drake lindsey was ripping that thing against washington by the way so so i believe camario taylor uh bryce underwood in the same recruiting class camario taylor was ranked like way down oh yeah it's a big political game that recruiting game i know it's fucking stupid and i hate it really the two 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 camario taylor camario 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 he can throw it he's got great receivers ryan coleman williams has been fantastic the running game is okay it's certainly not the 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 three of them are going to be the best players in the world and they're going to be the best players of it um so i think those two will put on a show in starfall this weekend yeah it's easy to talk about the core backs i am locked in on mississippi state's pass rush against the alabama offensive line if you look last week keelan russell it felt like had eons to throw every single every single rep every single drop back how can mississippi state apply pressure on him i thought mississippi state did a really good job against mizzou of 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 are we missing a game in that early window let me bring up the early window too uh because i know vanderbilt george is playing and that won't that one doesn't do anything for me that doesn't do a goddamn no my my note is what's the spread like 24 and a half yeah uh 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 um i don't know if that's wise financially uh and i'm embarrassed at how much we would still need to raise uh to to keep him uh but still that it is what it is i i told mississippi state i will give you every single dollar i earn next year if camario will stay because he's even worst case scenario he's going to the draft in 2028 so so it's two more years oh and you gotta claim them forever so i can i can afford four million dollars i mean that's that's nothing i'll pitch i'll pitch in you got it i'll pitch in not everything lukey did you raise your hand what the fuck are you gonna pitch in i got pennies somewhere like the shoes we're in yeah what we're a nobles company i was gonna say that i'm not wearing nobles yeah well i am so yeah exactly i got us i got us baby boy um we got let's see let me let me go through that early window just to see if we're missing something something. West Virginia, Iowa state. I'd do anything for you. I like, I would say like, again, I think I would say. sneaky underrated i think that they're a really solid football team coached by jimmy rogers i think rogers and their dc jesse baba are incredible bright future ucf at houston do anything for you no nothing okay all right excuse me i'm sorry um i like houston i like her too now you hate america so navy air force doesn't do anything for you navy air force doesn't for me someone sneaky look out on navy army sneaky bat this year after thinking that we were gonna be good army hasn't really impressed me and navy had dod last week but they were missing their quarterback one brax woodson is there any world bill belichick puts together a decent defensive game plan for notre dame at north carolina probably not but i have a question for you when's the last time you saw jordan i don't know that i've seen her this year i'm getting worried about what my player to watch this week is jordan hudson where is she genuinely where is she i don't know the fucking answer to that question why would i know we're jordan hudson where is she i don't know the fucking answer to that question why would i know where jordan hudson where is she i don't know the fucking answer to that question why would i know maybe 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 ursa gordon every week every week every week and she's doing an incredible job where are you jordan is carly ursa gordon out jordan and jordan is she the new like like jordan wishes she was as good as like there was larry bird magic johnson right they came along sudden michael jordan came and was even bigger and better is is carly ursa gordon the new jordan and it's taking it to the heights we've never seen yeah all right yeah sure that was easy uh-oh carlos g says more like jord off wow that yeah hadn't happened just now um look you can high five me i thought you were going too slow me i honestly i thought you were going to i almost did to za i can't that's a hate crime brother i can't do it that's i can't do it our boy you and za are the two most hilarious looking people to ever do anything together i love i also love soccer together um how many hours do you work a week brandon i feel like you're always on a live show oh come on come on come on stop girl uh let's see syracuse yukon doing you anything for you uh michigan state was wisconsin do anything for you luke fickle coming up at the end of the show i wouldn't rule out michigan stay in that game i guess that could do something for me i feel like pump the brakes on wisconsin maybe maybe but you know 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 yeah yeah like if we're sitting at the city limits and we're we're we're eating donuts and coffee and we're we got our feet up but we got the radar going out the window and wisconsin drives by going 70 yeah we just kind of like ah good for that yeah rascals just let them go 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's let them let them do it nobody gets a ticket for that wisconsin hadn't even been driving on this road in a while it's it's amazing they still have they still know where to go they found their old keys they did that's actually kind of what they did been looking around in the house for years he's been patting his chair where's my offensive where's my keys and he finally got some bigger boys in there what the heck where'd the keys at i checked everywhere where the keys at luke where my keys at oh there's some big corn fed offensive line let's run the ball again he was in the shower drain how'd they get there why are the keys in the shower drain what the heck uh you know that thing that little thing on top of the toilet that you pull off sometimes the lid the lid the i'm not talking about the lid though you know the other thing no the lid on the the the back top lid right yeah that's still called a lid all right fair the second lid on toilet the keys was in there what that's where keys were the keys in there i don't know um always remember two things am i wearing makeup yes and did i bully josh pate coming to star world this weekend yes somebody says uh chalute says bfw is notre dame the best defense in the country talent wise top to bottom um no they're top five but i would 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 i think it's fair to put iowa in it iowa i think it's probably fair to keep michigan in there i mean i think that's very fair as well the defense is keeping them in the state i don't say it might be one three their defense is fantastic um georgia though what think you like georgia you think georgia's the best defense oh uh i think miami's got a real good defense true chris cole's just one specimen i know they got dude they got beasts man elijah griffin and the cornerbacks that they have like i'm gonna keep saying that about georgia they are double digits better than i think everyone is anybody in the country i think i take them double digits against anyone they may lose in a playoff or something but still stand by that i love them 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 uh 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 them and now ole miss is on top and then florida got them 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 god damn it that's scary spot that is a scary fucking spot if i'm a florida gators fan yeah it is and yeah 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 i think that billy napier built a terrific roster and i think that they finally have a chance to win the game the coaching in store to take this thing very far i think they are a real force to be reckoned with i gotta disagree with the ball watchers guide okay that's okay well did you put it together me and jeff did so you got 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 i i believe we went florida mizzou because of your upseller smelling salts seeing that that's a good thing i think that's a good thing i think that's a good thing i think that could be a more competitive but that's upset alert i mean yeah fair but we put number one because of that i would say ohio state iowa has potential ohio state iowa has potential to be the game of the week okay if you want to do a little change if iowa can drag ohio state down and and get them in the muck and get them in the mud if iowa can do that you've got potential for them to to to do something huge now even if they don't if i would just compete here loses by a touchdown or two you look at the back half of that schedule this this is a it's you know it's almost like just don't embarrass yourself just don't get hurt because it's playoffs are very on the table for the 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 they're in every game for better or for worse yep i like that i like that a lot uh then auburn tennessee that one does absolutely grab ass nothing for me yeah i i think the worst watches in football not even the tingle on the balls i i really don't i think byron brown's just a bad sec quarterback great kid fun player not built for that conference yeah and i think now tennessee needs to bounce do a little bouncing back here you got to get phase on brandon some wins under his belt i the goalish hypo thing could be fun this is a super chat uh 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 uh to oklahoma state everybody dumped them everybody got rid of them but i think uh i think oregon was a great buy stop team i think uh i think lsu's a great buy stock team like going forward right now in in the context of making the playoffs this year i'd rather be lsu than omiss and lsu agreed i think lsu is a better football team than omiss going forward i completely agree and i'm not going to overreact like you get room to lose in this in this new era like i'm 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 do you think you can still get oklahoma state stock at a decent price i i i think it's at a price right now where you wouldn't want to touch it or you think it's already gotten back up i think it's too high right now and you want to try and find a sharp wrangle to buy low because i can't anyone's liable to win that conference can you get texas tech stock as cheap as you'll ever get texas you can get it pretty cheap right now but if they lose you get even cheaper yeah that team would buy stock and who's your buy stock team you buy stock in oregon state you like oregon state if oregon state competed with houston and texas tech pretty much till final was i know both those games are double digits at the end of it that kid bray and atkinson i hate that we have to do this i hate that happens to your quarterback i hate that happens to him and their receiver jesse legree they're gonna get a bag this offseason and like they 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 someone to look out for in their head coach terrific boise state pack 12 championship versus oregon state could be really fun in the group of six do you think you could get jmu stock knowing that boise state has this marquee win already i don't think you how are you gonna buy jmu stock it is really high yeah uh i was thinking one team that 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 i just i'm not like moved by that i i i know they're susceptible to stinky games everything that game against syracuse leaves a really bad stand well you can make money off penny stocks too you can you think their acc championship like to get their good okay 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 oh god smu i know you don't like them no i don't trust the quarterback louisville i mean like you stop yeah but they are so poorly you stop me when the team that's going to play in the in the conference championship game is miami duke it might be the word wake forest i love their coach i don't think it'll be virginia tech no i don't think it'll be them virginia i don't think it'll be them shoot like why didn't then then why couldn't you buy pitt stock right now because there's nobody there's nobody in the cc that has grabbed that thing correct i thought louisville had and then they didn't this is very true okay all right that was easy um let me do some re-opening exercise and then we got the night buy stock in arizona's not bad call here by that guy in chat i don't think buying stock in either of those arizona teams is a terrible i like the arizona state so 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 oh my you'd be you'd have enough money to fund texas tech's next roster you'd be t-bone pickings but alive goodness gracious that would be amazing being t-bone pickings alive especially in this office with gino yeah are you kidding me um pumpkin loaves from his wife all time what did you say you would get pumpkin loaves from gino's wife who's gino oh our gino i'm saying you're t-bone pickings 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 hell are you talking about you're so lost bro get the read if you're looking to maintain your home field advantage this fall check out ryobi my home is chock full of ryobi in my garage i have this beautiful four-pronged tripod that can't be right it can't be a tripod if it's cut four four legs this quad pod i got a quad pod i got a quad pod with four lights on it i can make it high i can make it low i can make the lights turn up i can make the lights turn down i keep it in my gym because that's where i work out i have my misting fan right beside it i have all manner of little things little ryobi products that just make life easier i was liam i have a staple gun what i have a staple gun uh a ryobi staple gun i should have brought it in it actually is my truck but i'm not gonna go get it boom i have a staple gun i don't want to see i want to catch you with what i'm trying to say is i got anything that you can make more convenient around your house anything they help you i got it and ryobi is the one that got me they've got over 400 cordless solutions across their 18 volt one plus 40 volt and usb lithium platforms ryobi has what you need to tackle diy projects clean up around the house keep your yard looking its best even power your tailgate as the number one diy brand and cordless outdoor power brand ryobi has you covered this fall all year long ryobi available only at the home depot this football season put your finger down it's game on with ryobi with over 400 cordless products for your house your yard the tailgate and beyond ryobi has the products you need to power your everyday ryobi is only available at the home depot go to ryobitools.com slash walker to learn more jeez asia i was just gonna say you got a leaf blower too what'd you call me asia you got mad at pointing my finger at you why'd you call me oh i was just saying you got a great leaf blower right asia um let's do the last uh the the last one of the night games and then lukey or liam i'll i'll turn it up to you and you can talk about any game that you would like uh 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 yeah let's just call a spade a spade saturday night in week five sucks it fucking sucks there's two sec games and i'm calling out the sec right now i'm calling out esb i'm calling out anybody that's scheduled that you put alabama mississippi state keelan russell camario taylor at and then you've got at night texas a&m arkansas gross and you got lsu mcneese state in the 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 there clemson at least makes miami have to show up and have to play well and i'm excited to see uh malachi tony in a spot like that darian minsa if darian minsa does what he's been doing numbers wise he's just right up in the top of the mix for the heisman now 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 we learn something about miami too that they're not we thought they were so it's at least going to be a telling game yeah it's a big game for minsa and tony going up against ashton hampton is one of the best dvs in college football he's been playing at pro level so that'll be fun to watch yeah washington usc that game has really taken a beating over the last couple of weeks with with usc expired we have our first expired game of the year doing what they did and then washington we thought was going to be a nice fringe contender in the big 10 a spot that maybe other teams are jumping up to try to grab but washington has absolutely just been disappointing even when they were winning they just didn't look good i don't know how we didn't see it coming i think you call it out their 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 will buy stock in washington idiot cincinnati and arizona cincinnati just a low-key four and oh very low-key four and oh 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 they were down 28-7 i think uh they were part of a moneyline parlay and i i'd uh i'd 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 womp womp and then they bounced back from that like scratch and claw win and then scratch and claw and beat k-state really impressive they very much did um well chat i'll do a couple of chat things then i'll then i'll read the draft kings ad we'll get to our interviews uh jed fisher 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 kalen deborah 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 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 because summer all did so it's like if he did stay in arizona he had been gone last year he wanted to stay for a long haul one last time before i read the last ad am i wearing eyeliner no 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 um draft kings and here's here's gonna be my pick of the week and i i just i don't i love my pick of the week so much i don't even know what to say but anyway um with draft king sportsbook the number one sportsbook for live betting college football saturdays are not exactly subtle noon kickoffs night games rank matchups and a board full of ways to build your parlay all customers can opt in every saturday and get a stepped up boost for college football parlays build a parlay with four more legs apply your token at the best slip and watch your profit boost step up and get a step up up 105 with each additional leg on draft kings download the draft king sportsbook app use code walker opt in to get a stepped up boost for college football parlays that's code walker in partnership with draft kings look the crown is yours i think a couple of times this year the lines have just picked the bet for you one of them i whiffed on when oklahoma was was king of the world and michigan was coming off to Western Michigan, the line told you Michigan was going to either win that game or it was going to be ugly and close. Michigan should not have been a five and a half point favorites or five and a half point dog based on what we knew at the time. And then Michigan beats them. Now last week, you've got Ole Miss coming off beating LSU, going to Florida. They're three and a half point dogs. The line was telling you, you have to bet Florida. You have to, I don't care what you think of Ole Miss, what you think of Florida, you got to bet Florida because of the line. And then Florida dog walked them. And I think right now there's a game out there that fits this profile. And the line is telling you, you got to bet it. The line is doing the work for you. Don't think about it. You tell me a world where South Carolina should be a two and a half to three point favorite over Kentucky. Dylan Stewart is suspended indefinitely. They're, you know, everything's going wrong. Lenore Sellers looks terrible. Shane Beamer doesn't have the team. They want to fire him. Kentucky goes on the road, beats Texas A&M a couple of weeks ago. Texas A&M. We have since found out just not very good. And everybody is on Kentucky right now. I think Kentucky snuck into the AP top 25, right? Yeah. You tell me why South Carolina should be a two and a half point favorite over Kentucky. Why? Because they're telling you, you got to bet South Carolina. That's my pick. South Carolina minus two and a half. Do you have one? Yeah. Does Georgia play this week? They do. Okay. Minus 20. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. Or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over in most states. Void in Canada. Restrictions apply. One single boost per customer valid for select games. Traditional parlays only. Minimum four legs. Minimum odds and max bet vary. Max boost requires 11 or more legs. Terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com slash promos. Number one sportsbook for live betting based on available live market data. Only four and a half they are, so I'll take Georgia again. Also, you know they play Vanderbilt. Yeah, 1145 AM. Right, so why would you say that? Make sure to keep you on your toes. Quaggish Simjim says. Oh, wait, what? It's at Q-A-X-C-G-Y-U-J-M. Quaggish Simjim. Quaggish Simjim says, would you and Blutman storm the field if Mississippi State beats Alabama? No, that's a win I expect them to get. Okay, but what if I storm the field? Good for you. I'll record you maybe. That means you storm the field. Right. You can't record me if I. I saw someone say Starkville's great ice cream. I want ice cream. Oh, Mississippi State has the best ice cream. It's right around the corner from the stadium. Oh my gosh. Yeah, we'll get you some ice cream. Get you some cheese too. You want some cheese? Nah. Okay. Ice cream. You don't need to eat cheese. I ain't ice cream. We're going to go to Commodore Bob's too. I heard. Yeah. Who's he? Huh? Who is he? He's Commodore Bob, brother. All right, man. Might get some blue Delta pants. It's going to be a big weekend in Starkville. Might get you by the facility. That's a big deal. You want a cowbell? That's a big deal. I got earned that. No, no, no. That's not really how it works. You got to be. You're gifted your first cowbell. Exactly. It's actually the onus is on me to gift you the cowbell. Cody. Right. Sure. Can you imagine what Cody gives me? Oh, that one. 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, on, on, on Friday. Maybe two bro, probably two brothers. Uh, and then Starville cafe for breakfast. All these places have terrific names. Yeah. And I judge a place off the name. If a restaurant has a name, I'm like, Oh, that's terrible name. I'll never eat there. So Commodore Bob, you like that? I like all these names. Correct. All right. What did you like? Obie's? Yeah. Obie's. Yeah. Like Garfield. Bulldog burger. Solid. That's solid. That's generic. That's very generic. Lost pizza company. I don't like that at all. They had new exactly. Yeah. Uh, it's such a bad restaurant. Tyler who restaurant Tyler. It's so good. Tyler, you can't name the place. If your name's Tyler, you can't restaurant. What are we doing? Uh, would love to see Brandon Walker and Eric Morris interview. Well, Josh, there you go. Get to work. Give me a Eric Morris and Brad Nestler. That's who I want next week. So speaking of we're done with our business, right? Yeah. I want to be out here. I want to be out here by six 15 at six 23. Shoot. So, uh, I want to tell you guys, we've been doing this for about a month. The subscriptions are up. Please subscribe. The views are up, uh, over 80% year over year. I believe a podcast lessons are up 80% year over year. So, 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 them. That's a 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 it doesn't matter, but we got Luke fickle coming up from Wisconsin, fresh off the big win, uh, 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. 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 he's good in both. Also one of the voices of Madden. What are you? What a life that is. My God. Anyway, it's Charles Davis from CBS sports, Charles Davis. Thank you for joining the show, Brandon. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Oh man. That, that voice. I just, uh, 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. 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 at 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 them, you know, the big full, Hey, you got to do this. All right. And it got done questions. Why are you yelling me all the time? I'm mad. And I said, that's what you got out of this. Yeah. Why are you so mean to me when I, when I don't know how to play football on Madden, uh, 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 a week one. And, uh, we had just watched Oregon and Boise state. And I said to everybody, listen, I don't look at the broadcast assignments pre-season. I don't really, um, you know, 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, that's it's, it's been awesome so far. What's it been like for you, for working with Brad Nessler and the whole thing? Well, thank you for being so kind, uh, right off the bat. And for me, it's a dream come true, getting to work with a Brad Nessler. And I told you this off air and I'll be very brief about it. When I first got into broadcasting in the late nineties, I met Brad Nessler 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 Ness 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, our, our sideline reporter extraordinaire, the exact same thing. And Gary Danielson, who, who sat in a, 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. So we've been all nice and everything and, and, and, you know, back slapping and everything, but this is where I get selfish. Uh, in week two, in week two, you did Minnesota, Mississippi state, which means you got to get eyes on Camario 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? We saw it all. We really saw it all. And in the timeframe of the getting ready for that game, I had watched him let the previous year when he got his start in the egg bowl, announced himself, you know, 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 a 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. Yeah. The way the ball comes off his hand, Michael Vick, remember Michael Vick would just flick it and be 50 yards downfield. Camario, that throw he made against ULM where he butted up against his own pocket and didn't even step and just flicked it. Boom, hits his receiver, touchdown. Cam Newton size. You know how it is, Brandon, as we say on the hoof, when you see him and they're like, oh, my. Yeah. 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 Bryles. 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 whole 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. Sure. That was a, what, mid to high 50 percent thrower at Wyoming. Three years into the NFL, Josh Allen was a 70 percent 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 improve 16 percentage points as Josh Allen did yeah I think Mario'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 you're just not willing to give credit and he is slaying giants already I mean Lenora Sellers was supposed to be a first round pick South Carolina was a trendy pick last year go to college football playoff and be better this year no and here comes Bama I think he and Keelan Russell that's gonna be one that we're all going to watch this week it's gonna be amazing I might just shut the interview right down right now I got everything I wanted I I got I I got exactly what I wanted out of this but listen uh you're you're Brandon real quick the best part is every game whether it's home or away yeah he's riding with Everett this man's calling out the bus driver okay 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 this man is coming on here dropping the bus driver from Mississippi State Sports oh wow uh shout out Everett Kennard uh so uh you're you're what four weeks in uh to to this season you already have an all-time or an all-time finish that happened right in front of your eyes the Iowa Michigan finish you know we expected an ugly nasty Big Ten Street fight where it's going to be sloppy it's gonna be a lot of punts and then for the last two minutes Iowa just puts on this this this drive out of nowhere goes 91 yards and then the catch in the end zone what was your viewpoint on that game it was a lot of what you described and going into it we all had the same thought process didn't we I mean that the way they were matched there 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 in the 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 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 yes for two I should have been and 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 sure right and off you go from there and whatever that number was I said you know I kind of had it off a little I would have wanted to make them 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 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 going to 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 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 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 can bounce back and get back to that level we had him on to begin the season I do I would not take 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 that's right oh was it a 24 point spread yeah when will we learn and they never beat about 24 ever right when 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 the dreaded players only meeting because Brandon I'll know what your experience is but most time when it's a player's only meeting it doesn't usually go great work in terms of they went to USC and when I watched them against you look the Portland State game was just you know okay let's get right and everybody feel good about themselves right right even before the hit the Dante Moore absorbed that 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 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 that's right 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 I'll one year I'll learn because Dante Moore did what sat behind Dylan Gabriel learned came up 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 if 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 yeah you can win a national championship with him as your quarterback this isn't your normal backup quarterback situation because it's not a backup it's a starting quarterback a seasoned starting quarterback in the Big Ten two years of starting and and he was willing to sit that's that's fine but when you you know when you when you go out and invest in the backup quarterback like that you you you buy yourself a little bit of security and now you buy and and boy I think having won that at USC look out because this train might start rolling down the tracks 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 agreed here they have a chance to be the team that you predicted in preseason so you uh you'll go down this this this road this year watching uh you know you'll be doing the the biggest games of the week 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 to get in there and really really see them on the field well look we got to see coach sig and program redo meaning coach Chez Bob Chesney yes same model same formula JMU to the big time but even before JMU smaller school right so Holy Cross JMU the whole deal Nico Amaliava the quarterback numbers may not be outstanding but he's producing for them and the the running back night heck of a player oh I want to make sure I get this right Osamago Osamago the linebacker Sammy this is where I need this is where I need Liam Blutman right here to sit beside I want to get it right because I don't want I don't want him or his parents mad at me I'm getting a thumbs up from the producer by the way thank you he is a tackling machine wait say it again say it again producer Sammy omisego 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 game 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 Ron I want to see the new stadium I'm not gonna lie sure yeah they have bailed this Friday I think against Penn State but have you seen that have you seen Brayden Turner uh the the safety of course yeah good player really good player goes under the radar but he's got my attention and last but not least gotta see the Huskers I want to see Anthony colandrea who's come in and play quarterback and remember they thought they were getting Kenny minchi that's right yeah the last minute went to four of both squads um 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's done it in in a month of game action he's done it in one off season that's pretty crazy and that's uh that's something to be said but then again like you said from the sig tree sig did that in Indiana immediately changed the way they play Chesney at UCLA 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 there's some magic dust sprinkled on these guys but there's also a ton of hard work and if you ever get to UCLA practice Brandon that's what I've heard oh yeah because 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 okay all right 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 because 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 and this is where they're trying to get back to being yeah my uh co-host on the show liam blutman is a ucla lifer and uh just wears ucla stuff and he won't shut up about ucla's practices so i'm the eight clap are you doing the eight lap now one two three four five six seven eight you i'm trying to get away from that and here you go and now 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 um this is a this is a unique question i mean you take it wherever you want to go but you did nfl games for so long you know 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 and they is there a difference in the way they approach you is it more relaxed i don't know i'm just wondering oh 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 two o'clock meeting they're going to be there probably between 2 and 2 15 all right 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 camp oh my goodness you're the emperor you're the king right and people around you there's not a lot of people telling you no okay sure how do i help coach what i need to do with coach when i go to 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 yeah it's 53 for the nfl after you get out of preseason which is 90 and out of the 53 you got seven scratches on gaming down you know 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 your oklahoma state is 91 new guys that's a little bit you got no thousands of players it's a whole it's a whole different deal double numbers you know he just transferred in you know he oh 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 that's how life goes uh so charles davis is the lead analyst for cbs sports college football coverage you catch him alongside brad nessler and jenny dale 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 he's good i i would not be surprised brandon if he's 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 lies 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 with his skills he's a freshman trying to make the team go 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 yes i remember a lot of julio jones 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 reflection of julio jones find route running that's coming from jeremiah smith now i'm seeing better routes did you see illinois last week you see that in and out move that 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 and and by the way it's not like you didn't know he was coming so 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 because you know brian harline was his receivers coach got the job at u.s. south he's head coach they could not have made it better higher and cortez hankton is a wide receivers coach sure he's connected with these kids and they're 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 agree i get to watch him on saturday and i'm looking forward to it and it's going to be a great year for him matchup because iowa and phil parker's defense they're always up for a challenge yeah they're not sitting there in their locker room saying yay we have tickets to the jeremiah smith show like they're coming up with ways to knock knock him in the face uh last question uh and i'll let you get out of here i know your time's valuable i appreciate you um what's the best game you've ever broadcast oh boy well i think most people will you know how can you beat boise state oklahoma in a fiesta ball sure everything to happen with that i was lucky to be there tom was played by play coach barry alvarez and i were the analyst 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 yeah i think chris myers and her are married today it's like chris wrong guy i was fortunate enough to be part of big 10 networks opening broadcasts how it came on air at the same time i was fortunate enough to be part of big 10 networks opening broadcasts how it came on air if you're a trainer and you're a doctor yeah get your rest that week because you're on call when those two get together that's football 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 yeah and he 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 i mean two of the maybe top 10 and i think most people remember the boise oklahoma and probably app state michigan college football games of all time and you were on the call as you will be this saturday with uh iowa and ohio state again paramount plus cbs sports it's charles davis lead analyst for cbs sports charles this was a pleasure for me i really thank you for doing this and the pleasure is mine and listen let's let's meet at the golden triangle yes right get over to little dewey's yes we'll get some barbecue we'll go to anthony's for a steak play around the golf what what a weekend and we're gonna go to duty noble weekend series yeah no i'll do all of it you know you and we'll and we'll get everett to hang out with us 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 honey the honeybee art davis arthur davis all american there my god i didn't know you had that many ties to mississippi state you got more ties to mississippi state than i do i might as well have a cowbell sitting here right now i can make that happen charles thank you very much success to you and and you as well that's charles davis cbs sports all right now one of the big wins of the uh of the season and the big 10 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 what in the heck happened and this guy knows what happened because he had a big smile it's coach luke fickle of the wisconsin badgers coach thank you for joining us for having me and i'm not sure what really happened either so um i was actually there yeah listen uh first question is actually courtesy of big cat and he said big cat you know uh barstool big cat that works here obviously a wisconsin guy oh yeah 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 well i don't know if everything's completely turned around like i said like that's why i kind of with some of these things i'm like hey let's let's let's find a way to to continue to get this i i would say yeah you know what big cat had some encouragement on you know maybe uh maybe going to something a little different you might be the only person in the history of humankind that got fashion advice from dan 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's just something that happened uh you know as we were waiting for a game about seven years ago with all the time when you get to the stadium um it just kind of happened my second question is what's your question is i was watching the end of that game the other day you know penn state had the final drive and then once you guys did win that game you you're you're not somebody that i i think really shows all that much emotion as a coach on the sidelines you're pretty put together and you know stoic might even be a word but my god the smile you let out and the emotion uh what were you feeling in that moment to let it all out like that well it was probably about 10 seconds after the final play because i couldn't uh couldn't completely take it all in just yet because i field. There was no, they weren't 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 a complete joy. Let's just say that. Like 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 wouldn't say a relief, but it was a true joy and excitement for a lot of people. Yeah, so you build a team in the offseason, 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 a half. The 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 had? Yeah, there's been some steps along the way. There's no doubt about that. But like we all know, we see better than we hear. And that's no different than a lot of us, you know. And so for us to actually see it, for us 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. Yeah. 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 that gives us a chance to play 60-plus minutes. Yeah, you know, when you're down on the road like that, you know, being down at home is one thing, but being down on the road, you know, you kind of face a choice. Is this going to be who we are or are we 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've got eight more games and there's going to be a lot of spots where you've got to fight and fight and fight. And you just saw some fight out of your team. 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 you know your team, like there's a lot of guys on the team that don't know me, you know? 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. Yeah. Hey, 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. I think that's, to me, been the biggest change for me in college football. Yeah. You know, it's not something I've ever been a part of. You know, I've always been a part of building programs. And even when I was an assistant coach, I was seeing a program that's built from within. And I think where we have, been in a little bit of the landscape, I'm going to say it has to be that way. Like, 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've got to have wins. You've 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, 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. 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, 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. 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, you know, that's really not your gig. So I don't know that the celebration, you know, 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 a, there's definitely a joy from within that maybe doesn't get shown quite as much in the, in the midst of that third to fourth quarter. 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, to, to be an idiot like me, but that's what I would do. That's all I'm saying. My, my next, by the welcome to come enjoy it. 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, has something to him that just feels like no matter what has happened in the game previously, we still got a fighting shot. Cause we got this guy. You talk about him and just what he, what you've seen out of him in the first month of the season. 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 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, 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, you know what happened a couple of plays before. It doesn't completely affect him. You know 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, you know, a couple of turnovers, three turnovers, and still seeing that there's not a, you know, a, a hangover from even what has happened the series before. Now there's a part of that that has to be a growth too. But you know what? He's got the right mindset. He's a competitor and all, in all aspects of the game. And so to me, we know who we're running with and we know who we're riding with, but we still had to grow. I've thought about your previous offer of coming to Madison and I I've decided I'm going to take you up on it. Provided you buy me a steak at the tornado room. You got it. I don't, it's hard to get in, but if big cats coming with you, I'm sure his name, you know, after a few more of these, these weekends, then I'll be able to get us in there as well. 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. Cause it's the same with him. Like, have you gotten used to this expanded big 10 team? Cause you get to Wisconsin or this expanded big 10, you get to Wisconsin, you're competing with the Minnesotas of the world, Michigan States 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? Cause it feels like you old school, big 10 guys are, are, you know, again, you got to worry about the Minnesotas of the world, the Iowa's of the world. And now you've got to worry about UCLA. No, it's definitely different. And I can't say I had envisioned to this by any means, even when, you know, four years ago that, you know, I came back to the big 10. I don't, 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, what, what is to come. To right. I mean, like anybody that's stuck in the old traditions and the old ways, you know, there's some things that, that are going to hold you back in, in your ability to grow. And so no, it's still different traveling to the West coast playing, you know, late, 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. Be, you know, in the world today. I mean, like there's a lot of transfer guys that don't know the history of Wisconsin football. So, you know, we have to teach them that not to learn what the big 10 history is that, you know, 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. Did you have an idea in mind as, as the program builder and the head of the program, what success looked like in 26 to start the season? And has that changed at all after a month of games? 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. You know, 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. But going on the road in the big 10 and trying to come away with a victory to, to be down three to one in the turnover margin and, and to be down by 17 points is not exactly what you would say is the script for success on the road. This Saturday, you got another big one, you know, and you know, I guess it's all, it's all big in that league or are your next games, another big one, you know, 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? It is. I think that that's what sometimes when, 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, you know, we've been preaching since fall camp about our ability to handle, you know, whatever's thrown at our way, right. That there's a, there's a consistently good that we're looking for as a kid, as opposed to occasionally great and consistently good can handle, you know, 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're, come off a really, really big win on the road. Like, consistently good means you've got to be able to come back. back in on Sunday. You got to be able to come back in on Monday. You got to be 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. 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? I don't know what you're talking about, but as long as it's somebody else's blood, I'm fine. You know, I, you know, being a, being an old wrestler, that doesn't bother me one bit, but I'd rather have it be the, the, the blood of my opponent, as opposed to, you know, my own. I love football coaches, man. Cause 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 still locked in on, on his team. But anyway, coach, I appreciate you. Thank you for your time and good luck this Saturday. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for having me.