Always College Football: McElroy’s Top 10 takeaways from week 2

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1:02based on ingredients. All I'll say is still one of the best teams in college football. Now everybody's spent Saturday like we always do, riding the obituary. Hello and welcome in. It's always college football. I'm your host Greg McElroy. Happy to have you with us here today. It is September 13th. We will be breaking down the entire weekend that was week two of college football season. Look, week two is usually a body bag, right? 40 point spreads. You have starters that are in street clothes in some cases. Instead because of how we've rearranged the schedule, week one, maybe a bit down, week two, you get the number one team in America that is in cruise control, heading into the fourth quarter to lose the game.

2:02You look at the numbers. Historically, of teams ranked at the top, 197 and 0 with a 20 point lead in the fourth quarter, they are now 197 and 1. That happened in Austin. You have the number 16 in America. Losing on the road to a 23 and a half point dog in Stillwater, a program that hadn't beaten an FBS opponent in 728 days. We have the number 11 team going on the road to Ann Arbor, losing to a team that got destroyed last week at the court of public opinion. That's what's so great about college football. We just always know exactly what to expect. Don't we? We always know where it's going. It's so predictable. Is it not? It is so predictable. Look, everyone's keeping the conference scoreboard. It's a bit of a lazy lens. If you want me to be honest, you can look at leagues. You can look at teams. I think we need to evaluate these teams in a silo.

3:04I don't think the results of this past weekend tell me anything more or less about the big 10, the SEC, the big 12 and the ACC. But we will spend the next hour talking about some teams. We'll talk about some bodies of work. We'll talk about some quality. We'll talk about some quantity. We'll also talk about where teams are probably heading based on this past weekend's result. It's our 10 take away show. One of our favorites of the entire week before we get into it, if you don't mind, subscribe to the podcast. Just go ahead and subscribe there. Leave us a rating. Leave us a review. Whatever you want to do, it's all good. We support you. We appreciate you. Any love you show us is very much appreciated. If you can always check us out on the ESPN College Football YouTube page as well. Let's get into it with takeaway number one. Texas found the answers to the test. Texas 24 Ohio State 23 in Austin, 100,000 plus right there and join it all.

4:04Here's the shape of it. Ohio State was in control. They're sitting there 13, 3 in control, 20 to 3 at the break. They were in cruise control heading into the fourth quarter. And then boom, script flip, Texas scores 21 unanswered in the final 15 minutes. The largest fourth quarter come back against an AP number one team in the history of the poll. And that dates back 90 years way back to 1936. Second largest come back over a number one team in the poll era behind only Washington State coming back from 27, 6 against Troy Ackman's UCLA team back in 1998. It was a 115 game win streak. For Ohio State games were to buck guys led by 20. At any point it was Texas first win over a number one team so they beat Oklahoma back in 2008. So the part that matters, which is why it happened.

5:05Because Arch Mannings box scores probably going to lie to you. Now he finished the first quarter with negative passing yards, negative rushing yards, negative numbers in both columns through 15 minutes of football. I think they had like seven offensive plays and a half time just seven to 14 for 60 yards with a pick that pick was unique. But well, wild one where it bounces up in the air. That's not usually an interception that you put on the quarterback. Right. Texas had Crossman field exactly one time in the first seven possessions. They were booing in the third quarter. Well he finishes 23 of 37 for 196, which is a line you would put on a Tuesday night in October and forget about by Wednesday. No one would talk about it. But on the last three drives he was 12 of 17 for 152 in a touchdown. So the whole game lives inside of about 18 minutes and it lives there for a few reasons. Question number one is Steve Sarkeesian and the rule that he set before the game ever

6:07started and really the quarter ever started. Texas was in four down territory by default given the nature of the score. And Mannings was staying in four down territory until someone told you otherwise. Four to nine from their own 42 down three scores. Mannings finds a Mari Winston for nine first down six plays later. Ryan Wingo catches the touchdown makes it 23 10. And then from that point forward you started to feel the momentum slip away in their favor. Fourth and six from their own 32 11 minutes left to the two score game. Manning over the middle to evit moseley. That was a 12 yard game nine plays after that. Texas scores again. And then Mannings converted a fourth down on two of the three touchdown drives. And Sarkeesian was asked afterwards whether he ever thought about punning. He said, well, that's a losers line of thinking winners win, baby, which I appreciate. I like that. You throw that baby in there. It's always it's always softens it just a bit. You got to keep going for it. Don't want to keep it close who cares? It didn't hire him to keep it close.

7:08They hired him to win the game. That's not bravado. That's just strip, strictly acknowledging where things were. And the only way to lose that game slowly less than stellar fashion was to punt that ball away. And the punt in that spot was a more polite way of saying, yep, Uncle, y'all got us. Now the other thing is the red zone. And we've been talking about this for a while. And if you look back to the Ohio State game a couple years ago, that was in the cotton bowl in the semi final. And in the 2025 opener against Ohio State, Texas was one for four inside the red zone when it came to scoring points. One for four against this exact opponent in the last two matchups. Well, Saturday, Texas goes four for four. All three, fourth quarter scores came from inside the five. And the fix wasn't necessarily a scheme. It was really more of the way they approached it. They go jumbo on the goal line, multiple tight ends, reserved offensive line, and Jordan Coleman was there in the back field as the lead blocker.

8:12We're in 99 instead of 78 on the roster sheet. You get smothers who goes in from the one. Goes in from the one again. Three consecutive goal line plunges the last one with 25 seconds remaining on the clock. If you listen to some others, he said it can be described as a kind of a different light switch that had to come on of a goal line. And that's 100% true. That's what stopped them a year ago. They solved that problem this year. And the thing that had beaten Texas multiple times, multiple times in this matchup was not necessarily being super aggressive and not being exceptional in the red zone where being exceptional against a team like Ohio State is required. The staff identified the recurring failure, then they went and got bigger. They went and handled it. You also look at Jeremiah Smith in the second half when Ohio State was constantly kind of figure out where to go. Well, they took him away there in the second half of the football game at times, right?

9:13There's only so much you can do with Jeremiah Smith. The other thing is that Texas was really, really smart. They didn't get flagged. They didn't make huge mistakes. So in a one point game when it comes down to penalties and things like that and hidden yardage, well, face in the 20 point deficit and heat that was in the mid 90s, you got guys that are cramping in the second quarter, well, not putting yourself behind the sticks is massive. And you look at Manning and you talk about how he progressed. Now, it wasn't perfect far from it. But we know that this is a team that found a way to grind it out. But to have three points through three quarters against the defense that you might see again in a couple of months, let's be real. These two teams aren't going anywhere. Not necessarily problem solved, but clearly a step in the right direction. Sarkeesian was 16 and 14 against ranked teams of Texas. He was four and nine against top 10 opponents. He's five and nine now. And that was by far the best win of the season.

10:14Now, here's something you got to keep in the drawer. You look back in 2005. Ohio State's kicker missed from 50 with five minutes left. And a kick that would have put the buck guys up nine, right? That would have been big. Texas drove the length of the field and won Vince Young to line the suite. Well, Saturday, Ohio State's kicker misses from 45 with four minutes left. Kick that would have put the buck guys up nine. Texas drives the field, wins on the Smothers touchdown run. That 2005 Texas team, pretty good football team. So we're not calling this a prophecy, or it is telling you keep the receipts. Texas just filed one very, very impressive performance from the horns in the fourth quarter of that football game. Take away number two. Ohio State's still one of the best teams in college football. Now, everybody's spent Saturday, like we always do, writing the obituary. Everybody's wrong. Okay, start with what actually transpired because the final score might hide the

11:15quality that we saw from Ohio State through three plus quarters. They outgain Texas, 372 to 336. The buck guys defense held texts to 97 total yards in the first half. They allowed exactly one drive that was longer than 25 yards. They led by 20 on the road against a top five opponent in super hostile territory and heat that was in the mid to upper 90s. We know they are the best offensive weapon in the sport. And he had one of the best nights we've seen, by the way. Jeremiah Smith goes eight for one sixty four and a touchdown. That's his third straight game with 150 or more receiving yards dating back to last season. That's the longest such streak by an Ohio State receiver in 30 years. And it was the 13th 100 yard game of his career. That's the third most in school history. So we walked into that stadium. Seventh on the Ohio State all time receiving list. He walked out second. So this is a championship roster. That's not to be doubted.

12:16That's not to be questioned. The one thing though that we have to go back to and it's a little bit of a concern. Every single Ohio State receiver outside of Jeremiah Smith caught a combined two passes. Two all night. The entire rest of the room and I love Devon McEwan. I love Brandon and Dennis. They got targeted five times between them. They caught one. So when Texas drops a linebacker underneath Smith, brackets him over the top. Who is going to be the secondary guy that can step up? And Julian Sain kept trying to throw in that direction either way. In his second half, if you slice it up in a few different ways, kind of gives the same answer. On throws that were down field, he was just three of eight for 72 with an interception. Under pressure, he was just two of 10 for 67. From inside the pocket, four of 15 for 62 in a pick. Swimming wide receivers, three of 12 for 59 with a pick. So every one of those things come back to under 40% and that's not high level quarterback

13:20play. It's a quarterback that's got to figure out a place to look beyond the obvious. And that's at Jeremiah Smith. And there's a touchdown sitting there for the take in. Cuen's wide open for a walk in score, saying sales it. And that throw ends the football game before the comeback and never really materialized. Now the cost because it compounds Ohio State ran 39 plays in the first half and just 28 in the second half, six second half possessions. And in order, here's the possessions in the second half. Field goal punt missed field goal pick. That's a problem to punts in there, by the way. Punt field goal punt punt missed field goal interception, which leaves the defense standing outside of 10 minutes and seven seconds of a 15 minute fourth quarter, 27 snaps in the quarter, 47 and a half. And that defense didn't necessarily collapse. The defense did not get enough help from the offense and could not stay on the grass. Right.

14:20So here's where the panic is wrong. Ryan Day has already proven that he can make tweaks. He's done this before. One week earlier, he's benching a starting offensive lineman and going to the back up instead. And nobody's feelings entered into the conversation at that point. He tore his defense down to the studs after the 2024 Oregon loss. That team went on to win the national championship. Think of there's one thing that Ryan Day has done exceptionally well in the last couple of years is respond. And I believe that this year's case will prove that out as well because hey, it's a daftard die. And that's been Ryan Day's approach this whole off season. And the fix is already in the building, right? You got legend Bay. Didn't play a lot. Boate boy and Miley Henry, Chris Henry, like these guys all off season, they're going to get their playing time at some point. And there's precedent that should kind of maybe lower everyone's blood pressure in Columbus, right? 2024 Ohio State. They lost a couple times.

15:21It happens. All right. That team like this one, sure, dropped one of their final games of the regular season and went on to win the national championship. So these valuation, if we're going to live in a silo world without the conference conversation attached to it, Ohio State's one-on-one loss was on the road by a single point in a game that they control the vast majority of. And yes, that win by Texas, the best win in America by far. They still have the best player in college football, a defense that held a top five offense to three points through three quarters, and a head coach that has a documented history of fixing this exact problem. So the flaw is real, but the flaw is relatively small. Somebody other than Jeremiah Smith has to be able to step up. If you get that solved, then guess what? There's no problem whatsoever. And they himself said, hey, anytime we put a game plan together, everything goes to three, once it's on the call sheet, then we all own it.

16:21Ultimately, it's his responsibility. He's right. And that's exactly why it will get fixed because Ryan Day will fix it. He has before and he will again, I am not pressing the panic button on the Ohio State buck guys. Take away number three. Kyle Whittingham moved Utah to Ann Arbor. Okay, Michigan 17 Oklahoma 10. Michigan beat Oklahoma for the first time in the history of the program. They had been 0 and 2 in the series. What a long storied rivalry that we have there. Just two matchups, but hey, a big win for Michigan here. This is Michigan's first win as an unranked team over a top 15 opponent nearly 20 years. That dates back to 2008. Set an eight game losing streak in exactly those spots. And they were a five and a half point underdog after starting the week or a week and a half ago is a one and a half point favorite. Now here's the number that tells me what kind of football team Kyle Whittingham has built in the last nine months. Now Michigan, they've been held under 20 points in each of their first two games for the

17:24first time since 1967. However, they're 2 and 0. I don't care if they've scored 30 points in the process. Now they've allowed one touchdown in eight quarters of football. So one touchdown allowed in eight quarters. Feel pretty good about that. So it's not a new Michigan. We've seen Michigan win like this before. It's, but in a lot of ways, it feels a little like Utah, or at least the old school version of Utah relocated and with a bigger venue. That's it. So here's what I loved about it. Bryce Underwood, we asked for it. We said, hey, man, use his athleticism. That's what he does best at this stage of his development. He's not a pocket passer right now. That's okay. Still in year number two. He's an athlete though. Move the pocket. Change the launch point. He applies him as a ball carrier. He goes 18 times on the ground for 87 in a touchdown. What a beautiful run on the touchdown it was. Was it super efficient in the passing game? Just 9-17 for 111. But here's the key. No interceptions.

18:24No interceptions. Week one, he runs the ball nine times. Week two, he carries an 18. And that 38 yard touchdown run, that's the longest by a Michigan quarterbacks since 2018. The 18 rushing attempts is the most by a Michigan quarterbacks since Devon Gardner back in 2014. So it's a head coach and offensive staff. Clearly they're watching always called football. Naturally, why wouldn't they? They did exactly what we said to you. Hey, look, you got a five-star sophomore. And right now he's trying to figure out how to play the game from the pocket. Guess what? The guy is still a dude. Give him the rock. It's exactly what happened. And that I think is what ultimately decided it. The other thing too, how about the punt game? We don't talk about punning very much on the show nor should we. I don't intend to start. But think about how often Cam Brown was able to kick the ball inside the 20 on six of those kicks, six out of seven inside the 20, two inside the one.

19:27So producing that short field was massive, absolutely massive. So if you look at it, man, huge. Having them backed up on the road is massive. And in a seven-point game, field position is not necessarily just a throwaway stat. Field position might have been the most beneficial thing to your offense. And defensively, John Henry Dealey, we spent a lot of time talking about him this off-season. Utah transfer, follows his head coach up the Michigan, eight tackles, three TFLs, a sack. The opening drive of the game was beautiful. I mean, it's first incredible moment before Michigan. They finished with three sacks and eight tackles for loss. They held Oklahoma to just three of 13 on third down. Last year in Norman, Oklahoma went nine of 17 on third down and two for two on fourth down. They also limited Oklahoma's best skill player. That was Isaiah Titania. That was big. They held him to just two for nine. So the hinge was at corner two.

20:28Isaiah Hill had an amazing moment. One play, unnecessary roughness flag with Oklahoma backed up inside the row and five. The drive survives. Oklahoma ends up kicking a field goal as a result of that 15 free yards that they gave. That was with 1149 to go. The next Oklahoma possession, he undercuts John Matier, picks off the pass on third and nine returns inside the six. Jordan Marshall, of course, scored a couple plays later. So for him to come back and probably make the play of the game, that's pretty significant. He had toned for the, for the, excuse me, for the earlier mistake. Now here's the whole thing. Oklahoma outgained Michigan, right? But Michigan's running backs and at the quarterback, the actual running backs, just 22 carries for 50 yards. So that's two and a half a pop, which is not something that you want to live with. You want to see things better than that. You also saw a bunch of flags. I think it was 11 penalties for Michigan for 90 yards, probably the most penalized game

21:29they had. They had nine penalties last week. So that's something they got to figure out. They also missed a bunch of tackles, which is remarkable because this is a game they went on defense. And yet it can be better. It can be a lot better. So the whole evaluation Michigan is 2 and a with a defense that is as good as any area is in college football, a quarterback who they can protect. But clearly they have figured out how to unleash him and an offense that still remains a work in progress. Now it sounds a little bit more dangerous than you might think because the floor is already pretty impressive. We just haven't seen the ceiling yet. Now the question is whether a team that has scored 30 points in two games, can they score 30 in a game when they actually have to? And we'll find out, will they have to? A very impressive bounce back performance for Michigan. It was exactly the way they're going to have to win games moving forward against quality competition. Every game day starts before the lights go up.

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23:30Allstate North American insurance company and affiliates. Northbrook Illinois. Take a quick break to tell you how Saturday's game time can get a little messy. Your crew came over to watch, snacks on the table, drinks in hand and somebody celebrating with the just one the whole season and beyond. And when that energy gets going, your walls can end up taking the hit. Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where bare ultra interior paint comes in. It adds an extra durable stain blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season. It also delivers outstanding coverage and hide in fewer coats with easy application in a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass. Plus that easy clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer. So before the next kickoff, give your space game ready defense and coverage that goes the distance. Bare ultra only at the Home Depot. Take away number four.

24:31Oklahoma built an identity and never used it. Look, Oklahoma, they didn't get run out of the stadium. They kind of got in their own way from time to time. You start with the single most revealing split of the weekend. You look at John Matier in the third quarter lights out, right? Seven for seven, 125, a touchdown. It's like, all right, here he goes. First half wasn't great. Third quarter, it's like, all right, there he is. That's the guy. That's him. That's who he can be. You look at the other three quarters though combined, just 10 of 26 for 64 and a pick. So same quarterback, same afternoon, same offensive line. He finishes 17 to 33 for 189, a touchdown and a pick. The end of the game by going one for eight for three after completing nine straight passes before that in the fourth quarter with the season right in front of him, right? There's three of 10 for 12 yards with a pick that ultimately set up the game winning touchdown.

25:33Now the temptation is to make this about the quarterback. Everyone's going to make it about the quarterback and don't get me wrong. He can play better. But the real story is that the entire off season, Oklahoma had built this different identity, this new identity. They went and got tight ends. They talked all about multiple tight end personnel, 12 personnel with two tight ends in the field. They had two tight ends on the field, 83% of their snaps. Well, on Saturday with the quarterback kind of struggling a bit, here's what they did. You have Tory Blaylocks replacing the backfields, Aver Robinson. He kept getting carries. You got some other guys that is working, a Vant got five carries in the first half. Averging over six yards per rush, five carries, six and a half. Five carries, six and a half yards of crack, and a half for the quarterback was struggling a little bit. Meanwhile, one sooner who was consistently open was Rocky Beers.

26:36He finishes with six for 94 on nine targets. On a fourth and seven in the fourth quarter, he came open to throw misdom. You have the personnel, you have the plan, you just have a quarterback who needs that plan probably a little bit more. They got to continue to lean on this. Here's why this pattern is not something that's concerning. Because before Matthier's hand injury last year, he was at 970 yards, six touchdowns, 67 percent completion. In the eight game since he came back from that injury last year, he was sub 60 percent completion, eight to eight touchdown to interception ratio. It's not a slump, but this is 10 straight games where I want to see more from him. The run game that when he wasn't at his best like he wasn't yesterday, the run game is supposed to bail him out. That was a run game last year that wasn't great on a per carry basis. There wasn't a single back on the roster that went over 500 yards.

27:38You take Matthier's 45 rushing yards out Saturday, Oklahoma's backs manage just 65 yards. Oklahoma's 10 points, the second fewest they've scored as a ranked team against an unranked opponent since 2010. One more, here's the thing, this may be a little worrisome. You look at the tackling from Oklahoma's defense. That's their calling card, right? They did not tackle well. Even Venables said they didn't tackle great in the first half. That's something worth watching. In a couple injury notes as well, they're captain, they're senior off the ball linebacker, a guy that we all love as Kip Lewis. He gets hurt early, doesn't return. He's going to miss a little time. Left tackle, Michael Fassouci missed the game entirely. Hopefully that's a short term situation. Where does this leave them? Look, Oklahoma's one-in-one. They have a defense that's good enough to win a championship. Offense looks exactly like the offense from last year. They spent nine months and they've supposedly changed and we didn't see that.

28:43Really good offense, slightly shaky protection, inconsistent quarterback play. No truly dependable run game to lean on. And yes, it's New Mexico next week, but guess what? A couple weeks, you're going to Georgia. The identity is still there. If the identity is not leaned into, this could be a team that loses two, three, four games, even with a top 10 defense. That's pretty frustrating. So a lot to figure out on the offensive side for Oklahoma, but don't worry, that defense is going to keep you in every single game. Take away number five. Oklahoma State Oregon, the score was a lot closer than the game. I'll admit, I did not watch this live. We're getting ready to call our game between Alabama and Kentucky. So I watched briefly early and I'm sitting there thinking just like that sat there thinking the last week. Well, they're going to be fine. Oklahoma State, their hot start, really good, Oregon, slow start.

29:45That's what we saw last week against Boise. They'll figure it out. Nope. This time it's Oklahoma State 39, Oregon 31 had the lightning delay pushed kick off back a bit. So let's set the table because it's almost impossible to believe the table. Oregon was a 24 and a half point favorite. Oklahoma State had lost 12 games in a row overall. The longest active streak in the sport, 21 straight against FPS opponents, which is also the longest active streak in the sport. It had been 728 days since I last beat an FPS football team. One year ago, this exact same Oregon program beat Oklahoma State 69 to three. That was the worst loss that Oklahoma State had suffered since 1907. So the records and there's a lot of them. Oklahoma State became the first team in the history of the FPS to snap a 10 game losing streak by beating an AP top 10 team. It's the second largest upset win in the sport since 1978.

30:48It's the largest upsell loss Oregon has suffered since 1978. And it ended three Oregon streaks all at once. They had beaten 41 straight, unranked opponents, 28 straight wins when leading in the fourth quarter and 57 straight wins as a 24 point favorite or better. So in the entire poll era, only two FPS teams had ever lost a game by 65 or more and then beaten that same opponent the following season. Akron did it in 1996. I'm sure you remember that. And then Utah did it. Are you TEP? Did it? Excuse me. I mean, who wasn't watching the minors back in the mid 70s? Oklahoma State is the third. So here's the yardage. Guys, Oklahoma State outgained Oregon 554 to 281. In the first half by itself, 353 to 101. Oregon was outgained by 273 yards.

31:50It's the worst margin that Dan Laning has ever coached with. And last season, the only team in America that held Oregon under 300 yards was the team that won the national championship. That was Indiana. And I don't think Oklahoma State is at the same level as Indiana year ago. So why did it happen? It was the trenches, guys. I mean, Drew Mestemaker from North Texas was not sacked, not a single time. In Oregon is a program that has sold its offensive line and defensive line for a while. And the defensive line, really the talent on that roster to think that they were held in check all throughout the games remarkable. I mean, Oklahoma State on the other side, they had four sacks. And Oklahoma State did it without its weak one starting left tackle while losing the right guard in the exact same game. Oregon ran at 30 times for 90 yards as three apop. With the Cowboys making first contact, adder near the line of scrimmage all throughout the afternoon. Mestemaker was outstanding.

32:5226 of 43 for 317 and a couple touchdowns. He also added 109 and a score on the ground, including a huge play at the left side line. On the very first snap of the football game, he's out the gate for 75 yards. I'll be honest, I didn't know he had those kind of wheels. You also get Caleb Hawkins running back. He added 110, 23 carries. So the fairest thing we can say about the margin and it kind of comes from the winning side's math. Both of Mestemaker's interception came off tip balls. The first was returned 96 for a touchdown. The second was returned to the one yard line where Oregon scored on the very next play. So 14 of Oregon's 31 points came off two deflections, which is why landing's own description is probably harsher than anything we could talk about. He said the score was closer than the game was and it was not close in a lot of ways. And if you look at Oregon, they got their tail kicked in a lot of areas. A lot of areas. They didn't tackle well in week one. They didn't tackle well in week two.

33:53So once you do it once, fine, fix it. Once you do it twice, that's a pattern. So now the part that makes things even more concerning, Oklahoma State turned it over 92 of their players from last year. 92 new players. 92 out of 105. So you take a program that wouldn't one game, rebuilt it from the ground up in a single portal cycle and their first career win as a coaching staff over ranked opponent is against the top 10 team. Look, Oregon's got 33 coaches on their official website, 33 and the operations large enough that you probably need multiple airplanes for the road trips, 33 coaches, multiple planes, and they conceded afterwards that Oklahoma State's defensive quarter changed things up and Oregon had prepared for something else. That's a concern. So people are going to blame the coordinators and marrying her and Hampton. It's not necessarily those guys' problem.

34:56They got to go execute. So in a silo, Oregon has been outcoached twice in two weeks. They have arguably the most talented roster in the sport. And Oklahoma State just proved that you could flip the switch, bring in 92 guys, and all the sudden create a really impressive performance. So I love so much what I saw from stillwater, Oklahoma, from Oklahoma State. I don't know where that was week one, but what they showed at quarterback in particular was incredible. The biggest takeaway though, where did the physicality that we expected from Oregon, where did it go? And that's going to be something that's going to be really hard to get back going again. O'Line and D-Line got their tail kicked. That can't happen, especially knowing some of the teams they're going to face here in the weeks to come. Take away number six. This Alabama defense, the real deal guys.

35:57Alabama 45, Kentucky 17, Alabama trailed 17-13 and a half times toward 32 on answer points. The largest Alabama win after trailing at the half since the SEC expanded in 1992. And it was Caleb DeBoer's first win at Alabama after trailing at the break he had been 0 and 7. Now the easy version is that Alabama flipped the switch. The real version is a very different animal. In the first half, Alabama rushed for five yards on 16 carries. Now, lost in that 28 sack yards, so it did factor in a bit. But in the second half, Alabama rushed for 150. Now, that's not some scheme epiphany, right? It's not a half time speech. They simply didn't commit to the run. They didn't commit to the run. And sure enough, the second they did, that offensive line answered the biggest question we had all off season. And they were still in position to do just that because the defense was incredible.

37:02In the second half, Kentucky had 0 points, three first downs and 62 total yards. Two of those yards came on the ground. So for the game, Kentucky finished with 209 yards, 63 rushing yards on 32 carries, three turnovers, two turnovers on downs and four sacks allowed. So here's the trend line. And here's where it's worth watching. Alabama's run defense has allowed 65 rushing yards total through two games, 65 yards total through two games. Alabama has seven sacks through two games at the registering 0 sacks through the first two games of last season. He had to be impressive to see where they're heading. Tom Pkins, transfer from USC, he had two on Saturday, one in which he knocks the ball out of the quarterbacks hands. Caleb Woodson, a Virginia Tech transfer, 12 tackles, two sacks. And Alabama has scored a defensive touchdown in back to back weeks for the first time since October of last year, picks six in week one.

38:05Then Luke Metz, he takes back and stops the bleeding for the tide that was their first score of the afternoon. And when he listened to DeBoer himself, he said that it's probably the cleanest they forced them to throw a bit more and the pass rush got home. That's the identity. You take the run away in the first quarter, make them one-dimensional and third, get the lead, and then you get things going. Now you look at the offense, a lot to clean up. Now Keelan Russell, 16 and 23, 188, doesn't look bad on paper. The two picks were a big problem. He lost a fumble as well. He also had four sacks taken. And that's just sloppy mistakes. You can't spin it. He's got to play clean or football. And if you look at it, say, well, he's a young quarterback. And yeah, he's a young quarterback. He's going to grow. But while he grows, it's going to be very, very important for this offensive line in the run game to kind of bail him out to take the pressure off him. Daniel Hill, he goes 18 for 104 on the ground, his best performance that he's ever had.

39:10It's only the fourth 100 yard rushing game by an Alabama running back since the board got the job. Alabama had exactly one 100 yard rushing performance last year. So the evaluations that Alabama is 2 and 0, they have not allowed anybody to run the football. They have a pass rush that is real, that is clearly improved from a year ago, and the defense that continues to create points every single week. So the quarterback, that's going to determine the ceiling for sure. And the quarterback play right now, not where it needs to be. Guess what? Let's fast forward a couple of weeks. Do they need Keelan Russell to play at a high-sum level? Not yet, because everyone else on the team is stepping up and doing their job. This is a real Alabama defense. And Florida State comes Tusk Loose next week, and you know that that's going to be interesting. But I think this Alabama team, especially on that side of the ball, very, very real, very real. On the other side, Kentucky Will Stein, ninth consecutive head coach at Kentucky to lose

40:10his first conference game. The last one to win it was way back in the 60s. I think Kentucky's a better football team, but they have got to do a better job along the defensive front. They got pushed around in a big way. And the offensive line allowed the pocket to collapse far too often, especially in the second half. If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button, you see it check out. The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e-commerce in the US. From household names like Mattel and Jim Shark to brands just getting started. Shopify gives you a leg up with hundreds of beautiful, ready-to-go templates to express your brand style and forget about the code. Tackle all those important tasks in one place, from inventory to payments to analytics and more.

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43:18four touchdowns and that the ranking is not real. It shouldn't be acknowledged. The yard is real. Arizona State did outgain them. But the conclusion is a bit lazy in my opinion because once I watched it, I was like, okay, all right. Go look at who actually made the place that decided the football game. You have a couple of picks, sixes by Jordan Humphrey and Jones. Both those guys were back up slash fall. You got a force fumble from Impemba who played just 35 defensive snaps last year. You got a fake punt that Arizona State ran on 4th and won from its own 42. You got stuffed by Jones and a kid named Kale who barely played last year as a true freshman. The Muff Punt that set up anm's first touchdown was recovered by Norman and Norma was only on the Punt team because the safety got hurt and practice last week. The backup nickel Rogers, he got an extended look and came away with three tackles and a couple P.B. Use. The leading receiver was Terry Bussey who finished 5th on the team last year and receiving yards. Every single play that decided this game came from a player that was not a humongous factor

44:24last year and that's unique and that's not different. Usually it's portal guys and all this other stuff. No, anm clearly made it a point to make sure their backups, their second string, the depth on the roster is as good as the starters. So when you sub, no drop off and play whatsoever. You had to replace four offensive line starters and you bring in four SEC transfers which tells you the roster building has been going on. Now the turnovers themselves, it's not like they just fell out of the sky. You listen to a hand, look, they recognized formations, they recognized as a telltale sign what was going to be run. As soon as they broke the huddle, they lined up, they knew exactly where it was going to go. And these are guys that you didn't expect to be the difference makers in the ballgame. And if you listen to Mike Elko, what he said, said that time kind of in the middle of the third quarter, started playing a completely different defense than they were when the game started.

45:25From a check standpoint, from a leverage standpoint, they had to change pretty much everything throughout the game. They did. I watched it. It was very different the way they aligned, the way they adjusted and the way they moved. So those takeaways weren't gifts, they were produced. And here's the number that is really impressive as well. Anm committed one penalty. Just one all day. Arizona State committed nine. But one penalty next to four takeaways. And you can explain a 28 point margin without looking at the total yardage statistic. And the fourth quarter, outscore, and of 24 zip with two defensive touchdowns. That's the first time A&M scored multiple defense touchdowns at the games is 1999. So now this was a program last year that did not take the ball away as well. That was not their calling card. They were 114th. Guess what? A lot better now. A lot better now. Across 12 real possessions, every A&M drive ended in a score, a three-an-out, a turnover, or a turnover on downs. Right? So there was no middle gear.

46:26It was like Boomer bust, right? Boomer bust. Marcel Reed, 15-25, 163. The run game wasn't great. Just 92 yards on 35 carries. We know that Arizona State has a receiver. That's Reed Harris, the BC transfer. He went nine for 189 in a couple of touchdowns. You take Harris out, and every other Arizona State receiver combined for 10 catches and 50 yards and zero touchdowns. Which tells you the A&M secondary was pretty impressive. They played pretty well with the exception of one guy. So A&M is 2-0 with an offense that hasn't quite gotten it all together just yet, but they are deeper across the board. And yeah, the offense will get it fixed. But the depth is not a mirage, and depth is something that matters as things move forward, especially in the SEC. Take away number eight. Don't punish the team that scheduled the game. Just going to flat out say that. Because we have often seen teams shy away from big opportunities.

47:29We have seen teams shy away from these non-conference fights. But answer me this, whether you're an Ohio State fan or a Texas fan. How many of y'all were excited about that game last night? Just as a fan of College Football. How many of y'all were excited about Oklahoma and Michigan early in the day yesterday? How many of y'all loved watching Oregon and Oklahoma State, even though none of us expected that result? I look at Steve Sarkeesian, he gets to the podium on Saturday night. I mean, just beating the number one team in the country. And he didn't want to talk about archmaning. He didn't want to talk about the schedule. He said it was helpful because we can go play some, I think he said, Jones Jr. high tonight, who I don't know who Jones is. Maybe they're great. I have no idea. It might be a terrific football team. They might win 66 zip against Jones Jr. high, and it does nothing for them. What it does, and this game in particular,

48:29they found out they can go, be tested, play terrible, play less than stellar, and find a way to win big games. Now, before we go further, because let's be real, I mean Texas still plays Texas State, they still play UTSA in two of their first three games. So, and half the internet still pointed that out on Saturday. I get that. So, and he's not innocent. Doesn't mean he's not right, because look what else happened on the exact same weekend. Yeah, Georgia beats Western Kentucky 70 to 10. Or 20 or whatever it was. Houston beats Southern by 71 points. Indiana, how Indian Howard, they blank them 55 zip. Virginia beats Norfolk State 59-3. Notre Dame beats Rice 52 zip. SMU beats UC Davis, Louisville beats Villanova. And Georgia's win, by the way, their 50th consecutive win against an unranked opponent longsack district in the country, didn't teach us anything. It's not a schedule. It's just, it's kind of a policy. And we've seen these games all over the place.

49:29But here's the argument. It's really more about Ohio State than Texas. Now, Ohio State is the team that did this the right way, right? They go to Austin, they say, you know what? It's gonna be a hard game. It's gonna be a hard game. We don't have to do it. We can play three powder puffs, and it won't matter. And we'll be 3 and 0. And people will still look at us like we're 3 and 0. To go on the road to a top 5 opponent 97 degree heat and to lose a game by a single point on a night when maybe you make a field goal to different outcome, well, their reward is a loss. Congratulations on the resume. And yet, 100 other programs in college football play and nobody. So here's the format cleanly, okay? One time because this is where it matters. The automatic bids, we know they go to the ACC, the big 10, the SEC, and the big 12. We know that. One automatic bid will go to the highest ranked team from the G6. We know that, okay? Noter name gets an automatic bid if it finishes inside the top 12.

50:31And the four highest ranked teams overall, they get the buys, whether they won the championship or not. So just think about that with Ohio State in mind for a moment. The buy is a seating. It's not a trophy, which means everything about Ohio State season now depends on how the committee decides to price in a Saturday and September in Austin. So here's my tape. A one point road loss to what might be one of the best teams in the country is going to cost Ohio State the same as a one point loss to anybody else. And that's the way the schedule has played out forever. That should not be the case. It shouldn't. Every single athletic director in the country should be watching with a pen, the college football playoff committee should be watching with a pen. And Steve Sarkeeson made this argument before back when it was his own team that lost last year. Said, do you want us to schedule Ohio State? Because if we're a 10 and two football team, as opposed to a nine and three football team,

51:36Texas probably in the playoff last year. But they went up there and they played and they lost. That should not be his penal. As right now, the college football playoff committee for years has rewarded the teams that played Jones Jr. high using Sarkeeson's own example. So if you as a college football fan want more games like Saturday night, well, guess what? The committee better start giving credit to the team that was willing to roll the dice that was willing to play as opposed to scheduling down. I applaud Ohio State for playing the game. And I know they lost and it wasn't the result they want. Tell you what, they have my respect. And they will continue to as long as these games continue to be scheduled. Because guess what? They're good for college football. Take away number nine, three coaches, three, four, downs, one Saturday. The Saturday gave us three head coaches making critical four-pound decisions in three different stadiums. And the three of them together tell you that the analytics and all this other stuff keep

52:41going in different directions. So I said three different stadiums. It's actually two different stadiums. So you start with Ryan Day. And we'll go in order because that's a big part of it. Early in the game, Ohio State's facing fourth and two from the Texas 13. They decided to go for it. They said a kick in the field goal. They did not convert. They leave three points on the field. Late in the half, go for it on fourth down again. Did not convert. Opening in the second half on a march, eight yard run, then two 11 yard games. Ohio State's facing fourth and fourth. The Texas 39. They decided to punt. The punt traveled 26 yards. The final margin in that game was one point. So it was very aggressive when it cost them. And then when it really mattered later in the game, they decide, you know what, let's punt it here. Let's play field position. And I was pretty critical watching it live. I was sitting there thinking, I was like, I don't love the fourth and two early that they were complete control of the game. I'm in the game. I felt like taking the points there and making it 13 zip as opposed to 10 zip with momentum

53:45on your side, feeling good about that drive. Thought maybe of course, hindsight being 20, 20. I didn't like, I didn't like the play then. So if you're going to be conservative, be conservative, you're going to be aggressive, be aggressive. You can't be both at the same time. You got it aside. So that I think is something worth watching. Moving on to Steve Sarkieson, same night, same stadium, opposite sideline. He goes two for three on fourth down. And the two he converted both in his own territory down multiple scores on drives that ultimately won the game. The one he lost was a fourth and two reverse before half time, which was, I didn't love that play call. The results in a 10 yard loss gave Ohio State a touchdown a few plays later. So here's what makes it a little bit different. And he kind of took the bad one on the chin, didn't really change who they were. So they felt like they had a bit of momentum and they felt like you had to roll the dice. Same way they rolled the dice on fourth and one. It didn't have, didn't work in the first half, but that's the life. And that's just got to keep going. So failing early, did not talk him out of trying it again.

54:46And with Ryan Day, it might have, right? And then you go to Dan Laning in still water, third case, probably the most interesting one, trailing by five, six, 53 left, Oregon facing fourth and eight from their own 33. They go for it all three time out sitting in this pocket. The pass falls incomplete. Oklahoma State takes the short field, kicks a field goal, makes it a two score game. Oregon is now 0 for five on four thousand season. And if you look back at Laning's tenure as his as a head coach, four pounds kind of decide whether or not they win or lose. And he's super aggressive. I get that. So on that final attempt, though, at least one Oregon offensive lineman did not appear to know what the call was either. And it probably and Laning kind of owned it afterwards. He's a go type guy. He's a code type situation. And again, it kind of second guess and it will be second guess by all of us self included, probably not the spot to go for it there. Eric Morris on the other side, he kind of gave the sharpest reason. He said, look, Oregon goes for a lot of four thounds. And in the longer ones, felt a little ironic.

55:46You know, so here's the take and we'll defend it. Look, aggression is not necessarily a virtue. Aggression is not a vice. Okay, aggression is a read on the situation. And Sarkeesian read his team, right? Had an offense that he needed to go. I thought, day inconsistent with his fourth bound decision making. And Laning, did he make the right call? Maybe probably not on that yard line, especially with three time outs that never got spent. So I'm not saying that anybody on this list is gutsy and this guy's conservative. No, it's none of that. It's just be who you are. And it's three, four thounds, three different games, all different results. Take away number 10, new year, same, boys, close it out on the other end, right? Because under the 2026 format, remember the top G6 automatic bid does not need to go to

56:46a conference champion. It goes with the highest ranked team out of the American, conference USA, the Mac, the mountain West, the Pac-12, or the Sunbelt champion or not. In 2024 and 25, that bid went to the highest ranked conference champions. It's not the case anymore, which means the question is no longer about who wins the mountain West. The question is about who has the best resume. And resumes get built in September against people like Memphis and Oregon and others. And Boise took care of Memphis 3820 in a sold out home opener. Now, every outlet calls it convincing. But Boise trailed at one point in that game. Memphis was up at a half time. Memphis had a lot of big plays created in the first half. So you get four gains of 41 plus yards in the single half. That's not a defense having a bad day. That's a defense get torched. And then Boise shuts them out in the final 30 minutes. They scored 21 on answered. And I just love where things are with Boise, right? But they muft upon, they special teams coach.

57:49They didn't wait. They did not have any of these other things. I mean, baits said, hey, take the putt. Boom. Next Memphis putt takes 72 yards for touchdown. Then Boise blocks a field goal. So a 10 point swing created in four minutes by the unit that had been a bit of a liability at times throughout the last couple years. And happened because a position coach was willing to make a decision in real time. Dylan Rowley goes for 200. Sire gains out at 93 in the score. So Boise, yeah, one in one with that one loss coming on the road to Oregon, which doesn't look as good right now. But still, under the old rule, a loss is close. Used to be fatal because you had to go when you're league out right. Well, under the new rule, it's data point in your favor. So and remember Tulsa beat Oklahoma State in week one. The same team, the Oklahoma State just beat just being a top 10 Oregon team. Then Tulsa is trailing at same Houston half time. And one with a defense of life and taking a fake punt 56 yards for a touchdown. So either Oklahoma State's gonna teeter all season or Tulsa's one of the best G 16s in

58:50America. And we'll know Tulsa goes to Arkansas pretty soon. So the rest interesting Memphis got shut out in the second half. Navy, they lose to Florida Atlantic, UNLV, preseason Mountain West favorite. They lose to North Texas. North Texas, by the way, a bunch of new players in the Neil Brown era. Same roster construction story that we told you about at Oklahoma State, which won tier down North to go to state, which continues to just dominate their three and O now a win at Air Force. Their first season is an FPS program. They're in a really good spot. So be fascinating to see where the G six rolls because it's starting to shape out and you're starting to get a little bit cleaner picture about where the G six bid might go. And right now though, they all lies looking up at the boys, you Broncos. They'll do it for us here at always college football. We appreciate you being here. 10 takeaways. We'll do it every Sunday. It's super fun. We hope you guys enjoyed as much as we enjoy putting it together. Nothing I love more than doing the early show and then watching the tape, getting some

59:51takeaways, diving in a little bit deeper. So always subscribe to the podcast. Subscribe. Tell your friends about it. We're doing this every Sunday. Deep dive. Tell you the why. Tell you the what. Tell you why it matters. All these things. You can also go and check us out on the ESPN College Football YouTube page. For all of us here at ACF for Mark, Jake, Jack, the other Jack, intern Charlie, I'm Greg. We hope you have an amazing day. And remember, it's always college football. Hey guys, it's Greg McElroy. Thanks for watching Always College Football. Make sure you like, rate, and subscribe to ESPN's YouTube channel and wherever you listen to your podcast.