KillerFrogs writer Tori Couch joins Brett to preview TCU's Week 3 matchup against the SMU Mustangs. The Frogs take on the Mustangs in the 102nd Battle for the Iron Skillet.
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00:00 Welcome back to the Killer Frogs Killer Minute, a Fan Nation College football podcast brought to you weekly by KillerFrogs.com.
00:07 I am Brent Gibbons and I'm joined by a familiar face, Tori Couch. Thanks for joining me again to break down yet another game, Tori. How are you doing?
00:15 I'm doing good. I'm excited to talk about SMU-TCU Iron Skillet. It's going to be an interesting game for a lot of reasons.
00:25 Yeah, it's rivalry week. We saw our editor-in-chief, Barry Lewis, change his profile picture to what he annually does.
00:32 For those that don't know or don't have Barry on Facebook, it's definitely worth looking up his annual profile picture that he changes.
00:39 But yeah, like you said, we're here previewing TCU's upcoming matchup against SMU.
00:44 Before we get into it, just a real quick question. Do you have any parting thoughts, I suppose, with what we saw last week against Houston?
00:52 I think we're going to get into a lot of what I kind of thought, you know, as we kind of think about what can carry over from the Houston game.
01:01 But I was impressed with what the defense did on third down. They definitely let Houston move the ball between the 20s.
01:08 That was a little concerning. It got better as the game went on, but I did like to see that they got off the field on third down.
01:16 Houston went for it four times on fourth down, didn't convert any of those, so I thought that was really, really big and really important.
01:24 Offense didn't look bad. I thought there was some improvement. There was some growth.
01:29 Houston's not the best marker as a defensive team, but at least you're seeing growth and you're seeing improvement from that Colorado game,
01:37 which is, I think, going to be a theme throughout this season is growth week to week against each team.
01:43 Even if they don't win that game, are you seeing growth? I think that's going to be a common theme this season.
01:49 Yeah, if you want to talk about concerning the Houston Cougars, my goodness, that they're bad, really bad.
01:55 They are a healthy quarterback to UTSA away and he played in the game, but Frank Harrison not played 100 percent.
02:01 They're a healthy, half competent, half mobile quarterback away from being a very bad 0-3 right now.
02:07 This is a team with a lot of flaws, so it's not that we can't take data points from that win. We definitely should.
02:13 But I really don't think that Houston tested TCU all that much. I think they'd be a mid-level G5 program.
02:18 They were still in the American. I have them ranked outside my top.
02:23 Yeah, outside my top 90 in my rating. So dead last in the conference. Yeah, they're they're bad.
02:30 They're really, really bad. We're here to talk the SMU game, specifically the 102nd battle for the Iron Skillet.
02:38 This rivalry, it's an expiring commodity. It's going to be ending after the 2025 edition.
02:44 And with scarcity comes demand. So I think this is going to be a very public, very in the public eye, national eye rivalry for the next three editions.
02:54 While we still have them here for SMU goes to the ACC. We'll see if they pick it back up.
03:00 It was paused indefinitely on TCU's part of all teams. Pretty surprising to me, especially since the Horned Frogs lead the all time series 52, 42 and seven, seven ties there.
03:11 But they're 24 and eight since 1989. It's not like this is a team that they're going into and getting crushed by playing.
03:18 Even though SMU has taken two of the last three, we've seen better than the last three years. But I yeah, I just to kind of go off of that.
03:26 I was a little surprised when that news broke. That would have been, I guess, late, late August was when that news broke, because it was before SMU announced they were joining the ACC.
03:37 Again, it's one of those rivalries that's so old, so historic. It's been played. It only wasn't played mainly because of war and COVID.
03:44 Like it's withstood a lot. So there's not really a specific reason as to why there's no official reason.
03:56 I would say probably conference realignment played a role in it, just with everything that's going on.
04:02 But we don't know the full story. So it was kind of surprising when I saw that news come out, just because it's such an old rivalry.
04:11 Yeah, it's a shame. It's just a downright shame. And conference realignment, like you said, may have had something to do with it, but it's not Bedlam.
04:20 It's not the Civil War, Plattett Post Cup, whatever they're calling it these days between Oregon and Oregon State.
04:25 It's not a rivalry being lost to conference realignment. It was a simple fact of at least that we know that TCU is like, we don't really want to do this anymore.
04:34 And I don't know if it's because they didn't expect SMU to be in the new dawn, the new age college football in case the Power Five did break off away from the NCAA.
04:44 You know, rumors that have been flowed out there, but jokes on them. SMU's in the ACC now had a one way ticket to being part of this new era of college football should that happen.
04:52 Yeah, it's just a darn shame to see that go. College football is built off of rivalries and especially cross metro rivalries like this one, a super regional thing there.
05:00 You know, we'll talk about it, but they have players from each other's rosters. They have coaches from each other's staffs on there.
05:06 So that's too bad to see it go. But hey, we still have it for another three years. So let's enjoy it while we got it.
05:13 The 2023 edition, it's going to be a windy one, especially for the standards of North Texas.
05:18 Now, do keep in mind for those that are either betting in the betting space or prediction space or whatever you have here, you look at the weather and it does affect the game, especially scoring.
05:28 But rain and cold don't really affect scoring as much as you think. Wind affects scoring when it's windy.
05:35 There's a direct correlation between higher wind and lower scoring. It could be a monsoon.
05:40 But if it's not that windy, it's really not going to affect scoring all that much, at least not as much as you think it was.
05:46 But yeah, this one's going to be a windy one. We're talking about sustained winds 15 to 20 miles an hour with gusts easily into above 20 miles an hour.
05:53 So this may be affecting the game in some respect here. But I want to start like we have the past few weeks talking about the TCU defense against their opponent's offense, in this case, SMU.
06:04 SMU fields a really good quarterback. His name is Preston Stone. He's a blue chip quarterback transfer from Oklahoma, sat behind Tanner Mordecai for all these years.
06:10 And when he steps in, I didn't really see much of a difference between him and Mordecai, to be honest.
06:15 He lacks the experience that Mordecai does, of course, but he still got the big arm.
06:19 I think he's actually a tad more athletic than Tanner Mordecai is. And yeah, so he good, good player.
06:24 Come, you know, he should not be taken lightly. But like TCU, not many usable data points.
06:29 They did play Oklahoma. SMU lost that game 28 to 11.
06:33 I think the point total on this was supposed to be like 76 points and they combined for 39.
06:38 Well, and if you look at the box scoring kind of way that game played out, SMU was within three points, I think like 12 minutes left to go in the fourth quarter.
06:46 They it was a game going to fourth quarter.
06:49 And then I think, oh, you just kind of had a couple of breaks, wore them down a little bit there at the end of the fourth quarter.
06:54 But yeah, this was that game in particular was not at all how how people thought it was going to go.
06:59 No, it's 22 of the 39 points are scoring the fourth quarter. It was 14, three going into the final frame.
07:04 So very tightly contested. And I think a testament to SMU's defense that we'll get into by TCU defense.
07:11 I'm getting a little sidetracked here. They also played two terrible teams. Louisiana Tech, real bad perviering them.
07:17 That not even a top half of CS team. The coverage is going to have to be better for TCU in this one or Preston Stone is going to pick them apart.
07:23 That's what he does. It's what he can do. A familiar name to those that are in the know with TCU, Jordan Hudson.
07:28 He did transfer. Well, I shouldn't say transfer back to SMU, but he had originally committed to SMU, came over to TCU with Sonny Dykes.
07:36 He's a four star receiver. And they transferred to SMU after one year.
07:41 But he did not play last week for the Mustangs. He sat that one out, but he's going to be back and ready to play this week.
07:47 TCU, they've been really bad on early down defense and a lot better on late downs.
07:52 He talks about when we were talking about Houston, they were doing good. Good job getting off field on third and fourth down.
07:56 But the problem is, if you're letting teams get into third and two, that is not sustainable season long for good drive stopping defense.
08:05 We saw it against Colorado. They're able to pick up seven, eight, nine yards on first and second downs.
08:09 And that is really important. Now, maybe it's a bend. Don't break a post from Joseph Gillespie.
08:13 And, you know, with the three, three, five that he runs, that is kind of the deal with that defense there.
08:18 But I just need to see a lot better production on early downs.
08:23 You know, it's a pretty good matchup here because SMU, they're actually bad on early downs themselves.
08:27 They have not been very successful. I think that state is a little bit skewed from that Oklahoma game so far.
08:33 But they're they're nails when it comes to late down, though.
08:35 So they will convert those third and fourth downs no matter what distance it is.
08:40 Biggest problem, in my opinion, for TCU, I didn't really know where to put this one because it's a little bit of both offense and defense.
08:45 But the Frogs are the 13th most penalized team in the country through three games so far.
08:51 And SMU, on the other side, the 12th least penalized team in the country.
08:54 So that's a big disparity. We're talking about TCU cannot come in here and shoot themselves in the foot.
08:59 They have to be far more disciplined or I'm be honest, they're going to lose this game outright.
09:04 Yeah, I. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I would say the penalty thing is interesting because outside the Colorado game, you didn't you haven't noticed it really affecting games.
09:13 So it's kind of interesting to note that they've had that many penalties.
09:17 And like you said, against a team like SMU, that can tip the scales potentially.
09:23 Yeah. And we touched on the Houston game a little bit, but what do you want to see continued defensively that TCU did really well last week?
09:31 What would you like to see that continue into this week?
09:35 Well, I talked a little bit about earlier, but it's like getting off the field on third down.
09:39 Now, granted, TCU put Houston to a lot of third and eighth, third and ninth, some of those longer downs and distances.
09:45 But there were a few three, 32 things like that getting off the field.
09:50 You've got to get those stops.
09:54 I think that's going to be so key so that they can get some rest, get the ball, the offense, take some time off the clock, you know, just put yourself in position to score.
10:05 I did like what the defensive line was doing against Houston as well.
10:09 Like we've talked about, Houston's line isn't great, but they TCU got six sacks, like three or four quarterback hurries.
10:16 It just felt like Donovan Smith was running for his life the entire game.
10:22 I don't know the SMU's line is going to be quite that porous, but if you can get to Stone, get him a little uncomfortable, just kind of continue that approach of we're going to get some pressure.
10:33 It might not result in six sacks, but it's going to give our defense a chance to get off the field and give the DBs and linebackers a chance to make plays when he does throw the ball.
10:46 And we talked about third down. I subscribe to the theory offensively that the best third down you can have is the one that you never play.
10:53 So if you're moving the chains on second down and you don't have to deal with the third down, that's the best way you can go.
10:58 But in TCU, unfortunately, is allowing opponents to avoid third downs by their early down success rate or lack thereof, I should say.
11:06 So, yeah, I'd like to see them be a little bit more buttoned up, a little bit more, you know, getting those stops at two to four yards instead of six to eight.
11:14 It's not like they don't have the linebacking core to step up and make those kind of tackles.
11:18 They've been very sound so far. But yeah, I don't know. We've had a Jekyll and Hyde type of deal from this TCU defense.
11:24 We've seen Colorado eat them alive. And I think a lot of that was being taken by surprise.
11:28 And I've harped on it before. I thought they were really, really poorly prepared for that game.
11:33 But then, you know, they play against Houston and they look really, really good.
11:37 But Houston is is a complete dumpster fire football team right now. So I don't know if we can really say that.
11:42 So, yeah, yeah, no, they're back to it. But yeah, early down defense, early down success rate, getting them in third and ten, not third and two,
11:50 I think is what I really want to see early on in this game.
11:55 Moving to the other side of the football, the TCU offense against the SMU defense.
12:01 I have it written down here. This is not your granddaddy's SMU defense.
12:05 These guys can downright play. They've held Oklahoma to just 28 points.
12:10 And, you know, those came late. There was a lot of points that were scored late in that game.
12:15 Like we talked about that, you know, Oklahoma's been dropping 73 points on teams.
12:19 Right. I know Arkansas State's hapless, but they've scored 66 and 73 and then SMU held them to 28 at home.
12:26 So this is a very good defense. This isn't the one that gives up 63 points to Houston and has to score 72 to win the football game like they did once last year.
12:35 And one thing I've been worried about is Chandler Morris.
12:39 You know, it wouldn't be a podcast without talking about the starting quarterback.
12:43 I think he's been way too indecisive and he lets pressure get to him.
12:48 I have some numbers. If some folks here aren't numbers people, I hit the 30 seconds scrub ahead a couple of times because I'm going to be throwing a lot of numbers at you.
12:56 This is how I operate. This is how I work. So the average time to throw for Chandler Morris when pressured, 3.55 seconds.
13:04 Keep in mind, about two and a half seconds is the internal timer that a quarterback should have.
13:10 It's a thousand one thousand two. By the time you finish saying a thousand three, that ball's got to be out, especially at the division one level.
13:16 When you're facing a decent pass rush like SMU has, it has to be in your hands and out.
13:21 You cannot be holding on to the ball for over three and a half seconds, especially when you're being pressured.
13:27 He's allowing himself to feel the pressure and make errant throws, bad throws.
13:31 He's completing about 44 percent of his throws when he's pressured.
13:35 That's a bottom 30 number nationally. Bottom 30 of the 150 or so FBS quarterbacks we've seen play meaningful snaps.
13:42 He's in the bottom 30 of those, so he cannot be hanging on to the football as long as he has been so far.
13:49 SMU, if you're looking at pro football folks, his grades, which they're a little vague and ill-defined, probably on purpose.
13:57 They're a little subjective, but they currently feel the best pass rush.
14:00 They have the highest grade of pass rush of anybody in the country right now, and they looked really darn good against Oklahoma's offensive line.
14:06 Dylan Gabriel is able to throw for four touchdowns, but really they kept them in check.
14:09 They were putting a bit of pressure on him, and if TCU's offensive line isn't ready to play, they're going to allow pressure to Chandler Morris.
14:18 I still don't think we have a very good data point on the offensive line for TCU.
14:22 Even in the Colorado game, their competition has been downright terrible.
14:25 Houston doesn't really feel any sort of pass rush. Colorado's line has been pushed around all year as good as they've been.
14:31 Their lines on both sides have not been good, but I think we're going to figure out a lot about this offensive line after this game,
14:37 especially since all those guys departed the NFL.
14:39 I still don't know what this unit looks like because we're watching Avila and all those guys up in the NFL right now.
14:46 I don't know what the remnants of this offensive line really looks like.
14:49 Like I said, I'm worried about what happens if Chandler Morris gets pressured.
14:52 It results in bad throws, errant throws, and a really low completion rate.
14:56 And then the other point that I want to see is Imani Bailey. Can he keep creating his own big plays?
15:01 I've dropped it on here a couple of times. He's up near the national lead in yards per contact, or yards after contact per carry.
15:09 But it's going to be a lot tougher against SMU than the other opponents he's seen so far.
15:14 This is TCU's biggest defensive test yet. I don't think it's particularly close.
15:19 Where does your confidence stand on this unit to continue to be able to score the football?
15:26 I'm not overly confident, but I'm confident that they can.
15:31 I think they have pieces to be able to do that.
15:34 Like you said, they're going to have to overcome some things that they've been doing to make corrections to be able to keep moving that ball.
15:41 I think Imani Bailey is going to be a huge part of that.
15:44 Now that obviously comes back to the offensive line, them being able to create holes, and then him breaking tackles and things like that.
15:50 But I think establishing a run game is going to be pretty important.
15:54 Because it's so hard when you have a back like Imani Bailey who can take off after he's been contacted.
16:01 You can't teach that at a certain point.
16:05 It just opens up the offense for you. It takes a little bit of that pressure off of Chandler Morris.
16:11 I felt like he was better against Houston. He had a little more confidence, a little more poise.
16:16 He had that really nice throw down the sideline in stride for a touchdown.
16:20 He's improving.
16:22 But like you said, this is going to be probably the best defensive line that he's seen.
16:27 And so if he's indecisive, that's going to cause some problems.
16:31 So I have confidence they can move this ball and score, but I'm not kicking my feet back and having no worries, if ever.
16:42 My confidence only goes as far as Kendall Brown's ability to call a sound game, which I still don't believe he can.
16:48 He hasn't shown that he can.
16:50 When you're able to run the ball as effectively as you could on Colorado, and then you abandon it in the red zone and set your quarterback up for a pick,
16:57 are we going to get that again?
16:59 Are we going to be an offensive coordinator that absolutely needs to use all the tricks in his bag, or is he going to do what works?
17:05 That's what I need to see.
17:07 I think Amani Bailey is the running back that you can hand off to, and the absolute number one proven for decades way to negate a ferocious pass rush is to run the ball in between the tackles effectively.
17:18 They can't pin their ears back and get to the quarterback as fast as they can because they've got to worry about the run game.
17:24 And TCU's very capable of ripping off explosive runs, especially in between the tackles, and being able to run through contact and keep going with Amani Bailey.
17:32 So I need to see them do that even if it's a tough opponent, even if they're not getting 7, 8, 9 yards of carry.
17:38 If they're getting 6 yards of carry, 5.5 yards of carry, 5 yards of carry, I want to see the consistency to stick with what works and not feel like you have to pull all the tricks out of the bag.
17:48 And I know that's asking a lot of offensive coaches.
17:50 It's not just Ken O'Brien.
17:52 Every offensive coach in the country wants to use every single gadget play and everything that he's got and wants to be the smartest guy in the room instead of just doing what works.
18:00 But I have not been impressed with play calling on either side of the football offense or defense.
18:04 I need to see that improve significantly before I can even be confident in a TCU victory.
18:11 And, you know, they're only 6.5, 7-point favorites at home.
18:16 That's a low point spread.
18:18 I'm not the only one not confident in TCU running away with a victory here.
18:25 But I want to talk about your ultimate confidence score, your ultimate where do you stand on this game.
18:31 Can I get a winner from this game?
18:33 And I'm going to make you make a score prediction this time.
18:36 [Laughs]
18:39 Yeah, I think this game is going to be a lot closer and a lot more uncomfortable than TCU fans might like.
18:47 Even last year's was a little uncomfortable.
18:52 Just TCU was still trying to find itself.
18:55 That was early on in the season and I think it's going to be kind of a similar deal where I think TCU ultimately pulls out, but it's going to be really close.
19:02 It's going to be really uncomfortable at times.
19:05 Because like you said, this is probably the best all-around team as far as each facet of the game that TCU has faced so far.
19:15 I'm going to go with kind of a lower scoring game.
19:19 I think I'm going to go probably 28-25 TCU.
19:24 Now that's counting that the defense is going to make some plays.
19:30 That means that the offense has to move the ball.
19:34 It's also a rivalry game so you're going to have some emotions flying both ways.
19:39 Maybe you get a penalty here or there that sets you up for a score or a big return on special teams.
19:46 I will say that's one thing against Houston that kind of brought some concern to me was special teams giving up the touchdown and then another long run.
19:55 I think it was like 50 yards or something on a return.
19:59 You're doing that against Houston. You cannot do that against SMU.
20:02 And you cannot do that against some of the other teams in the Big 12.
20:05 So I think there might be some of that at play as well.
20:08 It's just some of those plays that you just don't count on.
20:11 I think we might see some of that too.
20:13 There is nothing more that SMU would like to do in the next three years than to beat the team that canceled their rivalry on them.
20:21 There's going to be a lot of fire, a lot of drive, a ton of motivation for SMU to beat this team.
20:28 And they came really close last year.
20:30 Well, the final score is not quite indicative of how that went, but they came pretty close to a team that ended up making the national championship game.
20:39 I wouldn't take them lightly. I'm going to go to TCU for victory here at home.
20:45 I'm going to go 34-28. I'm with you. I think it's going to be a very tightly contested game.
20:49 I think we're going to get a lot of fire at SMU.
20:53 Good defense. I don't know if their defense is as good.
20:56 Maybe the underlying numbers say right now, you know, let's play Oklahoma 10 times.
21:01 How many times you hold them? Twenty eight points. Probably not. Probably not very.
21:06 Yeah. TCU 34-28. This one's going to come down to the wire one way or another, in my opinion.
21:11 Yeah. All right. Before we close out, I got four games on the docket here that I would like picks from as we are continuing to do this all year long.
21:22 Let me pull up our records really quick.
21:24 I am not doing very well. I must say I'm not the one picking the games that we pick.
21:29 So it must be on me. I'm currently eight and nine on my picks. Tory, you went three and one the last time you were on here.
21:35 We both incorrectly guessed TCU, though. So if you wanted to fold that into there, the one that I counted you wrong.
21:42 Well, I guess we'll say three and two, but I didn't count the TCU one. Yeah, I'm eight, nine on the year.
21:47 So we've got four more. We both pick TCU to win the SMU matchup.
21:50 So I've got that locked in there, but I'm going to go with Oklahoma playing at Cincinnati.
21:55 This is Cincinnati's first ever Big 12 conference game in Nippert Stadium. Who wins this game?
22:02 I'm going to pick Oklahoma. Cincinnati has had a pretty good non-conference.
22:08 They've had some decent wins, but they looked. They did not look great against Ohio, Miami of Ohio.
22:16 That was a game where if you're going into Big 12 conference play, that's your statement game of we're ready.
22:23 We're here. We're going to, you know, and I get it. That one's a rivalry for them as well.
22:27 That should not have gone to overtime. That should not have gone the way that it did.
22:31 If you're like, we're ready for the Big 12. And then you've got Oklahoma, who, like we talked about, has been dropping 60, 70 points on inferior opponents.
22:41 I'm going to go with Oklahoma here. I just think they're the better team.
22:44 Yeah, I'm with you. Nipper Stadium is very, very difficult place to play for those that have not been to it.
22:49 If you're a TCU fan, you get the opportunity to travel to Cincinnati. You see a game there in the coming years.
22:55 I cannot recommend it enough. It's an awesome school. I think you're going to fit in really well with the Big 12.
22:59 Just the spirit of football around that program. I'm going to Oklahoma.
23:03 I just think they're too good. Cincinnati. I was really impressed with their win over Pitt.
23:07 But then Pitt goes into Morgantown and gets just killed by a West Virginia team that I maintain is not very good.
23:12 So Pitt might be just really bad. And then, yeah, they lose to Miami, Ohio. So Oklahoma.
23:17 UCLA at Utah. We're heading out west to the current Pac-12.
23:26 Yeah, this is one where I think it could go either way.
23:29 I'm going to go with Utah because they're figuring it out even without Cam Raisin.
23:32 I think he might be back. I haven't heard for sure if Cam Raisin is back, but they're figuring it out without him.
23:40 Their backup and their third string quarterbacks are both solid.
23:44 They're making the plays that they have to do. They're not trying to do too much.
23:47 And they've got receivers that can make some plays. Their defense has played really well.
23:53 I'm going to go with Utah here.
23:56 UCLA is starting a freshman quarterback, Dante Moore. If you don't know the name, learn it.
24:00 He is a stud. He's playing out of his mind right now.
24:03 That said, a freshman walking into Rice-Eckel Stadium. Good luck.
24:08 One of the best home field advantages in the country. I'm taking Utah as well.
24:12 Will we disagree at all on these? We'll see. I don't know.
24:15 Ole Miss at Alabama. A very vulnerable Alabama, should we say.
24:21 And that's why I'm going to pick Ole Miss because Ole Miss can score points.
24:26 That is Len Kiffin's MO. Let me drop 40 and let's see if the defense can hold you to 39.
24:31 We'll figure it out.
24:33 Can Alabama score 40 points?
24:36 They pulled their starting quarterback. Now he's back as a starting quarterback.
24:43 Alabama can win games. Saban will figure it out.
24:49 I think there's too many questions right now on both sides of the ball for Alabama
24:53 for me to be as confident as I would in past years with Alabama.
24:57 We are going to disagree. This is probably me just being dumb.
25:00 I'm 8-9 on the year, picking, so don't take this as gospel.
25:04 I can't see Nick Saban losing to a former assistant at home.
25:10 That's what it comes down to for me. I'm going to take Alabama.
25:14 I don't feel great about it. If this game was in Oxford, I'd probably lean with the Rebels.
25:20 But because it's in Tuscaloosa, I think I'm going to go with the home team.
25:23 A game that's very near and dear to my heart, before I pick it,
25:26 let me go ahead and cover this up over my shoulder for those watching on the video.
25:30 Yes, I am an Ohio State born and raised fan. I do have a jersey above my shoulder here.
25:34 They visit Notre Dame for the college game of the week.
25:37 Who are you picking, Tori, to win this game?
25:40 I'm going to go with Notre Dame.
25:43 They're looking really good on offense with Sam Hartman.
25:46 He's kind of like taking a fish to water in that setting there at Notre Dame.
25:52 Granted, they haven't played the best competition yet, but they're looking so dominant doing it.
26:00 In Ohio State, they've got some questions, too.
26:05 You're obviously very well-versed with it, but it's just not clicking like it normally does at the start of the season.
26:13 They're not as dominant as they've been, and South Bend is a hard place to play.
26:18 If you're not firing in all cylinders coming in right away, that's going to be a hard place to play.
26:22 So I'm going to go with Notre Dame.
26:25 I have to go with Ohio State. How can I not?
26:29 I was actually at Notre Dame's game last week against Central Michigan.
26:32 I went there with my dad. It was a great time. I really enjoyed it.
26:36 And boy, Sam Hartman just throws a great deep ball. Oh my goodness, he's just nails.
26:40 And this game, to be honest, scares the absolute crap out of me.
26:43 But there's two things I think Ohio State does really well that Notre Dame doesn't.
26:47 Notre Dame allows some receivers to run deep and open.
26:50 Unfortunately, the teams that they play, Central Michigan, Navy, and Tennessee State, have not been able to complete those passes.
26:56 NC State couldn't either in a weird monsoon game.
26:59 But Ohio State will complete those passes. They have the best receivers in the country.
27:03 The other thing is Notre Dame's a little bit susceptible to giving up explosive runs in between the tackle box.
27:08 And Ohio State is one of the most explosive backs in the country, and Trey Henderson.
27:11 So Ohio State for me, but this game has me very nervous.
27:16 I could see Ohio State going in there and not just losing, but losing emphatically.
27:21 But I could also see Ohio State walking in there winning emphatically.
27:23 Either way, I don't think this game is going to be close one way or another.
27:26 No matter who wins, I think it's going to be at least a score, if not 10 or more points.
27:31 Interesting. I mean, yeah, because I could see Ohio State winning as well. I just think…
27:35 You don't have to squint very hard, that's for sure.
27:38 Gosh, Notre Dame has got something rolling there.
27:40 Yeah, they're very good.
27:42 They've got something rolling.
27:44 Yeah, their back, Audrick, I estimate is explosive too. 80-yard runs are routine for them.
27:49 This game scares me a lot as an Ohio State fan, but I think I'm going to take the homer pick in South Bend.
27:56 Okay, but that's a wrap. That's SMU and four other games that we briefly previewed for you here.
28:02 Thanks so much for tuning in this week.
28:05 You can find us at KillerFrogs.com on Twitter or @X or whatever the kids are calling these days @KillerFrogs.
28:11 I am @RoadToCFB and you can find Torrey @TorreyCouch_TX.
28:17 And continue the conversation over on Facebook.
28:19 It's Rivalry Week, folks. Give us your score predictions. I know you got them.
28:22 I know you care about this game. Everyone's got some sort of opinion on there.
28:25 Let us know if our opinions are right or wrong, depending on where you stand on this.
28:29 And if you liked what you heard, please subscribe to us on your podcasting app of choice, be it Spotify, Apple Podcasts, whatever you use.
28:36 And drop us a review. That's going to be the best way for us to grow and reach more college football fans, TCU fans, Big 12 fans, maybe even some SMU fans,
28:44 if they enjoyed what they heard over here, even though we both picked against them.
28:48 And check back next week for the next episode of the Killer Frogs College Football Podcast.
28:52 I am Brett Gibbons. That's Torrey Couch, and we'll catch you all next time.
28:56 you