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Get the coffee going. We have some things to discuss.
Ohio State lost, Lincoln Riley can breathe again, and somewhere in Lubbock, Cody Campbell’s blood pressure presumably returned to something a medical professional would recognize.
Meanwhile, one of my favorite conversations Saturday was with a quarterback who sounded grateful simply to have another chance to play.
That’s this sport. We spend all week talking about money, power and who needs to be fired. Then a kid reminds you why you fell in love with it.
Even the Buckeyes have a depth problem
Ohio State’s loss to USC was a pretty good illustration of how the transfer portal and NIL have changed roster building.
Think about Lincoln Kienholz. He could have been the experienced option waiting behind Julian Sayin. Instead, he went to Louisville for a chance to start.
Can you blame him?
Players have short careers. Asking a quarterback to spend his college years waiting for someone else to get hurt was always a tough sell. Now he has more freedom to find a place to play, and schools have more ways to make that opportunity attractive.
Good for the player. Complicated for the coach trying to build a depth chart.
With Sayin injured, Ohio State turned to a freshman in Luke Fahey. Saturday showed how difficult that transition can be, even with all the talent around him.
That doesn’t mean Fahey can’t play. But having potential and being ready to run Ohio State’s offense against USC are two different things.
Suddenly, the remaining schedule looks scarier. So does the path to the playoff if the offense stays stuck.
Sayin’s absence also changes the Heisman conversation. Missing a significant portion of the season means missing the production and the moments that build a winning case. A promising campaign can get away from you without another pass being thrown.
It stinks for him. It stinks for Ohio State.
But depth may be the great equalizer now. Even the richest programs can’t count on stockpiling experienced players willing to sit around and wait.
Give Lincoln Riley his win
None of that should become an excuse to dismiss what USC accomplished.
The Trojans beat Ohio State. That counts.
Lincoln Riley needed a night like this. Much like Shane Beamer recently, he gave the people screaming about him something else to discuss.
A loss to Wisconsin had everyone ready to hold a tribunal. Beat Ohio State, and suddenly we’re looking at the schedule and talking about a playoff path.
Welcome to college football.
USC gets a bye before Indiana, with an opportunity to rest, get healthier and prepare for a team that keeps surviving without always looking convincing.
The Hoosiers escaped Minnesota in overtime after that wild exchange of late field goals. Credit them for finding a way. But I still have serious questions about that offense.
There’s an opening for USC.
Imagine working in a profession where one bad Saturday convinces thousands of strangers you’re incompetent, and one good Saturday makes those same people start mapping out your postseason.
No thanks. I’ll discuss it into a microphone.
And while we’re talking about Los Angeles: UCLA is 8–0.
What if that game at the end of the year has real stakes for both teams?
That would be a hell of a development.
Florida State looks beaten down
I hate this for Mike Norvell.
Florida State was so close to something special just a few years ago. Now you watch the Seminoles against Clemson and wonder where all that belief went.
Getting handled by Clemson is one thing. Getting handled by this version of Clemson, while looking so beaten down in the process, is another.
From the outside, this looks like a program struggling to believe it can fix what’s wrong.
You know where I generally stand: before writing a gigantic buyout check, I’d like to see what investing that money in the roster might accomplish.
I still believe that’s a discussion worth having.
But there comes a point when you wonder whether the relationship has run its course. I don’t know whether Florida State makes a move this weekend. It wouldn’t surprise me.
That’s a lousy place for a program—and a coach—to be.
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Georgia will be there
As long as Georgia stays reasonably healthy, I have a hard time imagining this team disappearing from the national championship conversation.
I’m comfortable penciling the Bulldogs into a semifinal. Maybe beyond.
Yes, they lost to Auburn. Rivalry games can do that to you. One loss doesn’t erase everything a team is capable of becoming.
Georgia used its bye and came back with a clinical performance against Florida in Atlanta. The defense was stout. The offense did enough. The Bulldogs looked prepared, physical and in control.
Some teams spend these weekends raising questions.
Georgia answered a few.
Thomas Castellanos just wanted to play
When Texas Tech fell behind in the first half, I thought Cody Campbell’s head might pop off.
Fortunately for everyone involved, the Red Raiders responded.
Afterward, I got to talk with Thomas Castellanos on my Mad Dog show. I’m on most weekends in that stretch between the noon games and the night window, and these conversations are one of my favorite parts of the job.
His story has taken some turns: pursuing the NFL, trying to get another college opportunity, and eventually getting a chance at Texas Tech.
Then the Red Raiders made a quarterback change, and there he was.
He told me he was nervous. I appreciated the honesty.
We sometimes talk about these players as if they’re pieces on a board. Move this quarterback here. Pay that guy. Bench the other one.
We forget what it must feel like to stand out there knowing how much an opportunity means—and how quickly it can disappear.
Castellanos found his rhythm. He credited his offensive line for getting the running game going and making his life easier.
What stayed with me was how much this chance clearly meant to him.
He just wanted to play.
After all the arguments about who spent what and whether the return is good enough, it was refreshing to hear that.
Notre Dame and Miami: show me
Is Notre Dame elite?
I’m asking because I still don’t know.
The Irish pulled away from Navy, but the first half wasn’t especially convincing. Navy’s style shouldn’t sneak up on Notre Dame. These schools have been playing each other forever, with a relationship rooted in something much bigger than football.
Add in the questions I had coming out of the BYU game, with the Cougars missing LJ Martin, and I’m still waiting to be sold on Notre Dame’s ceiling.
Next comes Miami. We’ll learn something.
Of course, I have questions about Miami, too.
The Hurricanes are No. 1, but the close calls against North Carolina and Florida State leave room for doubt. The running game hasn’t convinced me this is an offense that can dictate terms whenever it needs to.
Somebody can win that game and make a statement.
I’d like to see one.
Why not Utah?
Could Utah be the team we’re going to wish we had spent more time discussing?
The Utes can score on offense. Their defense can score, too, and did it twice against Cincinnati.
That changes games in a hurry.
Utah’s defense keeps making life miserable for opponents. And Devon Dampier gives the offense a legitimate difference-maker at quarterback.
Morgan Scalley could finish this season as one of the sport’s biggest stories.
There’s plenty of football left, but I keep coming back to the same question:
Why not Utah?
Wake Forest needs to dig deep
Jake Dickert is 7–1, and Wake Forest ought to be thinking seriously about how to keep him.
He’s been one of the most energetic, likable coaches we’ve had on Full Ride over the years. His enthusiasm is infectious. You finish a conversation with him understanding why players would want to play for him.
I love the Walking Deacon, too. I still have the pin Wake gave me on my bag.
But this is bigger than my affection for a mascot.
Wake should look at Dickert and say: What would it take to make this our version of the Cignetti story? What do we need to put around him so he can keep building?
Surely there are some wealthy alumni who enjoyed Saturday.
Time to dig deep.
His career is also a reminder of how unpredictable all of this can be. If Nick Rolovich’s tenure at Washington State doesn’t end over the vaccine requirement, when does Dickert get that first opportunity?
Who knows?
He got it, and he took advantage of it.
That’s what stayed with me Saturday: Castellanos getting another chance. Dickert making the most of his. A freshman at Ohio State discovering just how difficult his can be.
We spend so much time debating the money that we can lose sight of the people trying to make something of an opportunity.
They’re why I’ll be watching again next Saturday.
A little honky-tonk with your Sunday coffee
Before you get swallowed up by another day of football, put on Kaitlin Butts’ Hello Honky Tonk.
Twin fiddles. Steel guitar. Storytelling that makes you feel something. This record gets right to the heart of why I fell in love with country music—and why Nashville meant so much to me long before I moved here.
I haven’t been this excited about an artist in a long time. If you love real, old-school honky-tonk music, give it a listen.
Read my full Kaitlin Butts review here.
Kaitlin Butts’ Hello, Honky Tonk Is the Country Music I Fell in Love With At Its Very Best!
As the kids say—or at least I think they do—10 out of 10. No notes.
A little sweet. A little heat. AR’s Hot Honey.
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—Chris