KillerFrogs writer Tori Couch joins Brett Gibbons to preview TCU's Week 8 opponent, the Kansas State Wildcats. TCU got back on track, but now face the toughest stretch of their 2023 schedule.
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00:00 Welcome back to the Killer Frogs College football podcast,
00:04 a fan nation show brought to you weekly by KillerFrogs.com.
00:07 I am Brett Gibbons, and again,
00:09 I am joined by Tori Couch, all reliable,
00:11 joining me here this afternoon once again
00:13 to talk Kansas State.
00:16 Tori, thanks for joining me again.
00:17 How are you doing this week?
00:18 - I'm good.
00:19 Ready for another round of TC football here.
00:23 - Yeah, probably better than we were last week.
00:25 If you listen to our doomsday pod,
00:28 we were very wrong about that.
00:30 And you know, I'm happy to be very wrong about that.
00:33 If we're gonna be wrong in a direction,
00:34 I'd rather be wrong about a team taking it to TCU
00:37 and TCU coming out with victory.
00:38 So I think they pulled off a fantastic win.
00:41 It wasn't even a squeaking out.
00:43 It was a no doubter from pretty much,
00:44 geez, the second drive of the game.
00:46 But I do wanna start with takeaways from that game.
00:49 You know, it was an awesome and I think necessary rebound.
00:52 What are your initial thoughts,
00:53 just on the game in general?
00:55 How did it make you feel?
00:57 - It have made me feel a lot better
00:59 about where this team is
01:00 and what they can potentially do this season.
01:03 You know, I watched that game and I was like,
01:07 this is what I,
01:08 going in what I thought this team could do from the start.
01:12 And so that was really encouraging to see them do that.
01:17 I did see kind of a shift in attitude,
01:19 just a shift in their approach, just all the way around,
01:22 which was kind of interesting,
01:24 but hey, they did it and that was good to see.
01:28 I think the big thing for me moving forward is,
01:31 can they build on this game
01:32 or was this just a one-time thing?
01:34 And I don't think it was by any stretch,
01:37 but I need to see that consistency of,
01:39 we're gonna build on this game moving forward.
01:42 - Yeah, let's talk to quarterback, Josh Hoover, first start.
01:45 Impressive, I think, to sum it up in one word,
01:48 but I'm curious to know your thoughts on what you saw.
01:50 - Yeah, no, I agree.
01:51 I think he definitely passed the eye test.
01:53 He looked very impressive.
01:54 He was very poised and confident for his first start
01:58 at the collegiate level.
02:00 And that was something that I just,
02:02 you know, it was nice to see.
02:04 You just don't know how quarterbacks can react
02:06 in their very first start when all the pressure's on them
02:08 and they know it's on them.
02:10 So it was really nice to see.
02:11 He had a lot of receivers in stride.
02:14 He didn't, he just didn't look uncomfortable
02:17 and I will give the offensive line a lot of credit for that.
02:21 There were no sacks, hardly any pressures or hurries.
02:24 I mean, that was by far the offensive line's
02:26 best performance of the year too.
02:27 And that's part of why Hoover looked as good as he did.
02:31 I still think Hoover will look good
02:33 even when the line is not necessarily
02:36 having an A plus game,
02:37 but that definitely helped out, you know,
02:41 what he was doing and he threw the two interceptions,
02:44 but that didn't seem to, I mean, he learned from them,
02:47 I'm sure, but he didn't let those bother him
02:50 or get in his head or anything like that,
02:51 which was something that I really, really liked to see.
02:55 - Yeah, and keeping them clean is,
02:57 I mean, obviously rather every quarterback,
02:59 he kept, be kept clean and rather than not,
03:01 but when you're a starter and you're new to the game
03:04 and you know, yes, he's been on the team for,
03:07 this is year two now, I believe, right?
03:10 Two.
03:10 And so he's been able to see the speed of the game
03:12 in practice, but it's still not game speed
03:15 that you have in college.
03:17 In the step up from high school to college,
03:19 the speed of the game is 10 times faster.
03:22 So for him to be able to be back there confident
03:25 that he's not gonna be getting hit from all angles
03:28 because offensive line has things handled,
03:30 that's a big confidence booster.
03:31 And yeah, like you said, we saw that.
03:33 And final takeaways from the defense.
03:35 - I mean, what can you say from the get-go?
03:39 They set the tone, like on the third play of the game,
03:41 you run back an interception for a touch-in
03:43 and I think that was what they needed.
03:45 They needed some sort of punch in the mouth
03:49 type of play from the defense,
03:51 whether it was early in the game or some point,
03:54 they needed that and the defense gave that.
03:55 And with the secondary,
03:57 I didn't see really any missed assignments or confusion
04:00 or things that we've seen at points this season.
04:03 They played a really clean game.
04:04 The tackling was pretty solid.
04:05 The line, just, they dominated BYU's offensive line.
04:10 There's no way around it.
04:11 Slovis, Keaton Slovis was very uncomfortable.
04:13 He threw that pick that was very ill-advised.
04:16 So just, I mean, what else can I say about the defense?
04:21 They just never let up in that game.
04:22 And that was really nice to see,
04:24 see them not take the foot off the gas,
04:26 even when things got out of hand.
04:28 - And boy, if your first exposure to BYU
04:30 was listening to us talk about BYU,
04:32 you would have thought that we've never watched
04:35 BYU play before.
04:36 I can assure you this was maybe not necessarily
04:40 like an outlier game.
04:41 I'm not making any excuses by any stretch,
04:42 but everything that I had said about BYU,
04:44 they don't turn the ball over that much.
04:46 They don't make a lot of mistakes.
04:47 That got blown up.
04:49 They had a very mistake-prone game,
04:50 and Keaton Slovis did old Keaton Slovis things
04:53 they did at USC, throwing picks.
04:55 But you know, you take your lumps with them.
04:57 He's a quarterback that'll throw it a bunch,
04:59 get you three, four touchdowns,
05:00 but yeah, he might throw two or three picks in the game
05:03 along with that.
05:04 But let's move forward.
05:06 I think to surmise, a lot of momentum from last game.
05:10 And boy, does TC Unita this week,
05:12 because they've got a tough opponent on tap.
05:14 We're talking the Kansas State Wildcats.
05:15 We all remember the last meeting between these two
05:17 is in the Big 12 Championship game.
05:19 Objectively, if you're looking at it objectively,
05:21 all-time classic game for the Big 12 Championship game,
05:24 even though it didn't go TCU's way.
05:25 I'm sure TCU fans probably don't agree as much,
05:28 just like me looking at the Ohio State Georgia playoff game
05:31 from last year.
05:32 I did not see that as an instant classic,
05:33 but the rest of the world did.
05:34 So that's really what matters there.
05:36 And then earlier, of course, in the season,
05:38 TCU did win at home there.
05:40 Kind of inadvertently kicked off the Will Howard era
05:42 by injuring their like eighth quarterback of the year,
05:44 or what would be their eighth quarterback of the year.
05:47 But is it still the Will Howard era?
05:49 We'll get to that.
05:50 We'll get to that in a minute here.
05:52 Kansas State also rebounded last week.
05:53 They took a shocking loss.
05:54 We talked about, I think, to Oklahoma State.
05:57 They rebounded, beat Texas Tech 38-20.
05:59 They climbed to four and two on the year.
06:01 But as always, I want to start with the defensive side
06:03 of the ball, talking TCU's defense
06:05 versus Kansas State's offense.
06:07 There is a new sheriff in town,
06:10 potentially for the whole game.
06:11 We'll see what the snap split is here,
06:13 but everyone should know his name.
06:14 His name's Avery Johnson.
06:15 He's a freshman quarterback,
06:17 the highest rated recruit in Kansas State football history.
06:20 What did he do last game in his first time
06:22 out snapping Will Howard on the season?
06:24 Five rushing touchdowns.
06:26 Five rushing touchdowns.
06:28 He took over the game,
06:29 looked like that high rated recruit that they brought in
06:32 and hoped he could be.
06:33 I mean, boy, if that's not a ceiling, I don't know what is.
06:37 And it is important that he did out snap Will Howard.
06:40 We could see that maybe roll into this week as well.
06:43 But Will Howard's a lot more confident.
06:46 He's a lot better.
06:46 He's a lot more poised at home.
06:48 So I don't really know who we're going to see
06:50 more of this week.
06:50 Maybe they'll shift it up, play a two quarterback system.
06:52 Maybe they'll just play one.
06:54 Now, for those that haven't kept up
06:56 with Kansas State football this year, from last year,
06:58 no Deuce Vaughn, which I'm sure a lot of people are like,
07:01 "Oh, thank God, don't need to see any more of him."
07:03 But DJ Giddens is now the leader in the backfield
07:06 and he's complimented by Florida State transfer
07:08 Treshawn Ward.
07:09 Giddens is second in the Big 12 in rushing yards
07:12 for those that have played six games
07:13 and fifth overall for those that have played
07:15 six and seven games.
07:16 The offensive line still has multiple NFL prospects on it.
07:19 Two names to note, Cooper Beebe and Christian Duffy.
07:22 Those are a couple of guys that are NFL players,
07:25 potentially high NFL draft picks.
07:27 Duffy had just returned a couple of weeks ago from injury.
07:31 Now, when we're looking at advantages for TCU's defense,
07:33 where do you think that they have the advantage
07:36 against Kansas State's offense?
07:38 - I'm looking at the secondary.
07:41 Kansas State has some good receivers.
07:43 They have tight end Ben Sinnott,
07:44 who is their leading receiver.
07:46 He's a good blocker.
07:48 He's a really good route runner.
07:50 He's going to be a problem.
07:51 There's no way around it.
07:52 But they don't have that kind of other elite receiver,
07:57 go route guy down the field, just toss it up to him.
08:01 So I think the secondary for TCU has an opportunity
08:03 to cut off some things
08:05 and just make things a little bit harder
08:07 for whoever is that quarterback,
08:09 whether it's Johnson or Howard,
08:10 when it comes to that passing game.
08:13 - Yeah, so you said it, Sinnott's a problem.
08:14 He's 6'4", 245.
08:17 Just with a quick Google search, he runs a 4'6", 40.
08:20 That would be in the upper 15 percentile
08:23 of draft prospects over the past five years
08:24 at the tight end position.
08:25 So he's fast, good hands.
08:27 Of course, that's why he's the top target.
08:28 Phillip Brooks is another receiver to know.
08:31 He's all right.
08:33 I thought he was going to be a lot better than he really is.
08:35 I think I would actually almost classify him as a jag,
08:38 just a guy where, yeah, you know his name
08:40 and he is going to get his targets,
08:41 but he's not somebody
08:42 that's going to completely melt your secondary.
08:44 I mean, Josh Newton, back there,
08:46 he's probably got it handled if he has lined up a cross from.
08:49 Now on the other end, where may there not be advantage,
08:53 maybe even disadvantages for TCU's defense
08:56 against Kansas State's offense?
08:57 - I think the biggest disadvantage,
09:00 and it's not really anything TCU can control,
09:03 is just who's quarterback.
09:05 Kind of like you alluded to,
09:06 are they going to roll out one quarterback,
09:08 whether it's Will Howard or Avery Johnson,
09:10 are they going to roll out both?
09:11 Are they going to do, Howard gets 90% of the snaps
09:16 and Johnson gets 10%, it's very specific packages.
09:20 That's a disadvantage for the defense
09:22 because they're such different quarterbacks.
09:26 Johnson is, he's a runner, he's more of that dual threat.
09:29 Will Howard can run, but he's going to be more pro style.
09:31 So it just, that's means a disadvantage
09:34 totally because you have to be prepared for both
09:36 and you don't know what they're going to be doing.
09:39 So that stands out to me.
09:41 And then also Kansas State
09:43 usually has a pretty good offensive line.
09:46 Like you mentioned, they have two NFL caliber
09:49 guys on their line.
09:53 So that's, that's an area where could,
09:55 we could see some potential problems for TCU,
09:57 maybe a potential disadvantage
09:59 is trying to get a little bit of a push
10:00 and get into the backfield,
10:02 get those tackles for loss, those sacks
10:04 and those disruptive type things.
10:06 - Yeah, I would almost go as far as to say
10:08 the Kansas State has an elite offensive line nationally,
10:11 but one of the best for sure in the big 12,
10:13 if we're not talking Oklahoma or Texas,
10:15 it's probably Kansas State.
10:17 And then to harken back to what you said about the,
10:19 it's a disadvantage for TCU
10:20 not to know the starting quarterback is,
10:21 I usually scoff it when coaches are like,
10:25 we're not going to reveal the starting quarterback
10:27 because that's a strategic advantage
10:28 when really they have two of the same quarterbacks.
10:30 Like, yeah, okay.
10:31 But no, you're absolutely right.
10:33 And that Kansas State
10:33 is two very different football players
10:35 that play two different styles.
10:37 The offense runs very differently
10:39 when each one of them in there.
10:40 And as we've seen, they're both very capable.
10:42 So I do think that it is a disadvantage for TCU
10:45 to have to prepare for both these guys
10:47 because you know Joe Gillespie's in there talking about,
10:49 well, here's an adjustment we're going to make
10:51 if the freshman kid's in there
10:53 or versus if Howard's in there
10:55 and not to give them bulletin board material,
10:59 but I'm going to set you up
11:00 so that you can give them some bulletin board material.
11:01 Who would you rather see more of
11:04 at quarterback across the way?
11:06 - I think you want Will Howard
11:10 'cause you have a lot more tape on him.
11:12 You've played him before.
11:13 You kind of know, you know his strengths and weaknesses.
11:16 And he's had some,
11:19 he hasn't had a fantastic start to the year.
11:21 It's been solid, but that Oklahoma State game,
11:23 I watched that entire thing.
11:25 He looked so uncomfortable.
11:26 - Not great.
11:28 - No, he had three interceptions
11:29 and every time Oklahoma State got pressure,
11:31 even if it didn't result in a sack or something,
11:33 it just, Howard got happy feet.
11:36 So you know what you have with Will Howard, good and bad.
11:40 You have half a game of film on Johnson.
11:45 That's not a ton to go on.
11:46 - No, and it's kind of like Pandora's box.
11:49 Like, do you really, do you really want to open up
11:51 and find out what Avery Johnson's really about?
11:54 I think if this game was in Fort Worth,
11:57 I'd rather see the freshman
11:59 because you go into a difficult environment.
12:01 Although he did it last week,
12:03 Lubbock's not an easy place to play.
12:05 I still think I'd probably rather see the freshman
12:07 if this game were at home for TCU,
12:10 but on the road, yeah, I'm probably with you.
12:13 You know more about what you're going to get
12:14 with Will Howard.
12:15 You can game plan a little bit more for it.
12:18 I'd expect to see both though.
12:19 I really think they'll play both.
12:20 - Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
12:22 - In different situations.
12:24 Flipping to the other side of the ball,
12:25 we have TCU's offense going up against
12:27 Kansas State's defense.
12:29 Kansas State, this isn't last year's defense,
12:31 that's for sure.
12:32 I'm not saying they were elite by any stretch
12:33 on the defensive side,
12:34 but they're not nearly as good as they were.
12:36 And that's what'll happen
12:37 when you lose multiple NFL players
12:39 like Julius Brent, King Felix.
12:40 They definitely took a step back,
12:42 but they still have NFL talent,
12:44 especially in the secondary on this team.
12:46 Kobe Savage is a safety, definitely worth noting.
12:49 He's a preseason all-conference A-lister
12:51 and he's playing like it this year.
12:53 He leads Kansas State in both tackles and interceptions.
12:57 Jacob Parrish at corner.
12:58 He's also a name to note.
13:00 He's gaining a lot of notoriety.
13:01 I've seen him in a lot of NFL draft circles,
13:04 a bit of buzz around him kind of playing off
13:06 that Julius Brent stereotype that he has there,
13:08 or archetype, I should say.
13:10 He returned to the lineup last week after missing a game.
13:13 He is the third most pass breakups in the Big 12.
13:16 However, like I said, it's not last year's defense.
13:19 They're the second worst tackling team
13:20 according to pro football folks' grades in the Big 12.
13:24 And also they only have the eighth ranked pass rush.
13:26 They're really missing King Felix,
13:27 who ended up being a first round NFL draft pick last year,
13:30 but not having the same game breakers on this defense,
13:33 it definitely helps out TCU.
13:35 So where do you think that TCU leans this week?
13:38 Who do you think that they end up leaning on
13:40 to beat this defense?
13:41 - The easy answer is Josh Hoover,
13:44 because like you said, their pass rush is not great.
13:48 So I feel like Josh Hoover is a great option,
13:52 an easy answer.
13:52 I want to see Amani Bailey get going.
13:55 That's what I want to see him do.
13:56 'Cause a lot of that talent you talked about
13:58 is in the secondary.
13:59 Well, if you can start running that ball,
14:02 if he's getting to the secondary,
14:03 you've picked up 10 yards, you've picked up 15 yards.
14:06 So I think they can kind of push on that line a little bit
14:09 and start breaking the run game open
14:11 'cause they didn't need to last week.
14:14 But I think let's go back to that
14:16 and see if we can get that going.
14:18 - I think, I agree with you with Amani Bailey.
14:20 I think I'd rather almost not lean into Hoover
14:22 like they did last week.
14:24 For Pete's sake, 58 passing attempts.
14:26 I don't want to see 58 passing attempts this week
14:28 'cause I know last week it resulted in a 44-11 win.
14:33 I think if he's throwing 58 times this year,
14:35 it's not in the same situation.
14:37 I don't know if they were just getting them going
14:38 or just taking where they could,
14:39 but BYU, I don't believe,
14:41 has any NFL players in their secondary.
14:43 I don't know if they have any NFL players
14:44 in their defense at all.
14:45 That's not the case of Kansas State.
14:47 Kansas State is multiple.
14:48 And if you're making mistakes with their corners
14:51 and safeties, though, they're going to make you pay for it.
14:54 - Do you think that we're going to see
14:56 the same amount of opportunities from Hoover?
14:58 - I really don't.
15:00 - Okay, good.
15:01 - I really don't think.
15:02 Really, the feeling that I got was
15:04 that's what BYU gave them.
15:06 They sacked the box,
15:07 and that's kind of what BYU does.
15:08 They like to stop the run.
15:10 And then they kind of went on that again
15:12 because of Amani Bailey.
15:14 So it's just the opportunities were there
15:17 for him to throw the ball that much.
15:19 So I really don't think you're going to see him
15:21 throw the ball that much.
15:22 I don't know that that's really what TCU should do,
15:27 rely on him that much.
15:29 Because you have so much talent in the backfield,
15:32 you got to stay two-dimensional.
15:33 - I'm with you.
15:35 And sure, if you're really results-oriented
15:39 and you just look at the final score and say,
15:40 "Well, it didn't work out for BYU,"
15:42 but going into a game,
15:43 if I'm playing a first-time starter
15:46 and they have a good running back,
15:47 of course I'm going to stack the box
15:49 and say, "Beat me with the arm."
15:50 And you know what?
15:51 They sure did, great.
15:52 And if you're BYU and Jay Hilly, say, "Okay, all right.
15:55 "He beat us.
15:56 "That is what it is.
15:57 "We took our lumps."
15:58 That's kind of how you go.
15:59 But we're for sure not going to let Amani Bailey,
16:01 who we know will bulldoze us over in between the tackles,
16:04 like we're not going to let that happen.
16:05 We're going to take that away from you,
16:07 force his first-time starter to beat you with his arm,
16:10 and he sure did.
16:11 Now, can he go on the road now and do it again
16:14 against, I think, a tougher opponent?
16:16 We'll see.
16:17 I'm with you.
16:17 I don't think they should throw the ball 58 times again.
16:21 If you're not a first-time listener to this podcast,
16:24 you'll know I don't have a lot of good things to say
16:26 about TCU's offensive play calling.
16:27 So if they come out and throw the ball 58 times,
16:29 TCU loses.
16:30 You can bet I'm going to be on here next week
16:32 during our bi-week assessment talking about that
16:34 potentially being a major issue.
16:37 I guess, I'm going to throw something at you.
16:41 I didn't have it here on the notes,
16:42 but I don't want to discredit Joshua
16:45 for his amazing first performance.
16:48 Not like we haven't seen amazing first performances before
16:52 from quarterbacks in TCU, a very recent history.
16:55 Do you think it's repeatable?
16:58 Did what you see strike you as,
17:01 oh, this is a player with a lot of talent
17:03 that can absolutely move forward and be a star for this team,
17:06 or is it, ah, he had a good matchup,
17:10 had a really nice outing, would like to see it again,
17:12 or is it somewhere in between?
17:15 - It's somewhere in between for me.
17:17 I think he has a lot of talent.
17:19 We saw just his arm strength, you know.
17:22 - Now he's got a rocket.
17:24 - In comparison to Morris,
17:25 I like his arm strength a little bit better.
17:27 So there are some things about him that I like better.
17:30 And so I think it's somewhere in the middle
17:32 because he's still inexperienced.
17:35 He has not started a game on the road
17:38 in a very hostile Big 12 environment like Manhattan.
17:41 He's not gone to Lubbock on a Thursday night,
17:44 like he will in a couple of weeks, and played there.
17:46 I know Texas Tech isn't as good as they've been, but still.
17:49 So it's one of those things.
17:50 I think there's a lot of potential here,
17:52 but I need to see more
17:55 before I'm gonna make a definitive statement of,
17:58 yep, he's 100% the answer.
18:00 He's absolutely the guy I'm leaning toward.
18:02 He's the guy, but I gotta see a little bit more.
18:06 And on top of that, that extends to the team.
18:09 They have to do what they did at BYU again,
18:13 as far as the energy they had
18:14 and the execution and things like that.
18:16 You're not gonna play a perfect game every single week,
18:19 but if you can at least be striving toward that
18:21 and be playing at that level,
18:23 you're gonna win a lot of games.
18:24 So I gotta see all those pieces come together again
18:28 before I really wanna make any declaration.
18:32 - Yeah, very happy for Josh on his debut.
18:34 It was incredible, absolutely terrific performance
18:36 that he can't take away from him, that he'll never forget.
18:39 If you can go on the road and do something similar,
18:41 even in the same stratosphere against a good opponent,
18:45 a great opponent, better defense, I'll be absolutely in.
18:48 Push my chips to the middle on Hoover there,
18:51 if he can go on into Manhattan and torch him.
18:54 Okay, winner, score prediction.
18:57 How do you see it shaking out on Saturday?
19:00 - I guess it's gonna be a really close game
19:02 'cause you've got two offenses
19:04 that we know can move the ball in different ways
19:07 and defenses that can get stops.
19:08 I'm gonna pick TCU, I'm gonna say 27-24,
19:15 but man, it's gonna be tight.
19:18 Part of me wants to pick Kansas State
19:21 just because it's in Manhattan, but I will roll with TCU.
19:25 - Well, good, I'll pick Kansas State for you.
19:26 I'm gonna go, Kansas State, 38-27.
19:30 I know TCU's defense has been pretty good this year,
19:32 but it's been against a lot of really bad offenses.
19:35 I think Kansas State's a little more put together,
19:37 a lot better at home.
19:38 I do worry about the factor of Will Johnson,
19:41 or Will Johnson's, pardon me there,
19:44 combining them, that'd be a scary quarterback,
19:46 you combine them two into one.
19:48 Will Howard coming back home and looking poised
19:51 and moving the football pretty well
19:52 'cause they're a good team, they're a very good team.
19:57 It's tough to win on the road.
19:58 I'm gonna take Kansas State, 38-27.
20:00 Let's go over four other games before we get outta here
20:03 as is tradition, just to catch people up.
20:05 Torrey, you were 13-7 picking on the year,
20:07 not so bad after a three and two week.
20:11 You were correct on Notre Dame and Iowa State.
20:16 I had you though on Air Force,
20:18 and we both agreed on Washington, so good for us.
20:20 Moving forward here, I'm 18-14.
20:22 I don't like to say that really publicly.
20:23 I've been doing really poorly this year.
20:25 Hopefully we can get some in the win column here.
20:27 Let's start with Penn State and Ohio State,
20:29 potentially the game of the day.
20:30 - I'm gonna go with Ohio State,
20:34 partially 'cause it's there,
20:35 but also they've got the better receivers.
20:37 They've got a few more weapons on offense.
20:40 But I agree, it's gonna be probably the game of the day.
20:45 It's gonna be pretty tightly contested.
20:48 - Yeah, ignore all of the stuff that you see on screen
20:50 if you are watching this on video.
20:52 I'm gonna take Ohio State, but I don't feel good about it.
20:55 The only reason being is James Franklin
20:58 turns into an absolute pumpkin
20:59 when he plays Ohio State and Michigan.
21:01 He's one and eight in his career against the Buckeyes.
21:04 Oklahoma State at West Virginia.
21:06 - You like to torture me, don't you?
21:10 - This one's a fun one.
21:11 I think this is a great one, actually.
21:13 - I'm gonna be at this game.
21:15 - Really, really?
21:16 Oh yeah, of course, sure, yeah, all right.
21:18 - Yes, I'm married to an Oklahoma State grad.
21:23 I know all about what's been going on this season
21:25 with Oklahoma State.
21:26 So sure, it's a little bit of a homer pick.
21:30 I'm gonna pick Oklahoma State.
21:32 That being said, man, Oklahoma State
21:35 has figured some stuff out.
21:36 The first three games,
21:38 I don't know what Gundy was doing
21:42 with the three quarterback system.
21:43 That was very interesting.
21:46 But once he picked Alan Bowman as a starter,
21:49 that offense is starting to click.
21:50 They're starting to take off.
21:51 The defense has been there the whole time.
21:54 Now they're not on the field all the time.
21:56 They're starting to show what they can do.
22:00 So I think I'm gonna pick Oklahoma State.
22:03 But man, Morgantown's a tough, tough place.
22:05 And West Virginia's coming off a really ugly emotional loss.
22:10 - Yeah, Oklahoma State, I was trying to look it up
22:14 'cause I'm like, what changed?
22:15 I tried to look at past attempts by the team or runs,
22:18 but none of that.
22:19 Mike Gundy said we had the bye week,
22:21 we had a chance to get healthy
22:22 and finally got our offensive line in order
22:24 in the way that they wanted to.
22:25 They were playing out of position and injured
22:27 for those first three games.
22:28 And boy, they look like a brand new team.
22:30 Couple of really big wins over Kansas State and Kansas.
22:33 That said, I think I have to take the hometown Mountaineers
22:36 there, just like you said,
22:37 Morgantown, difficult place to play, great college town.
22:40 Tennessee, Alabama, another great game on the docket.
22:45 - Yeah.
22:46 I'm gonna go with Alabama.
22:49 Joe Milton at Tennessee, man, he has not shined
22:53 when he needs to, you know, every time you think,
22:57 oh, he's gonna show it, he's gonna show it, he doesn't.
23:00 This is on the road.
23:01 Alabama didn't look great last week against Arkansas,
23:04 but they figured it out.
23:06 And their quarterback's starting to figure some things out.
23:11 He's still inconsistent too,
23:12 but I think I'm gonna roll with Nick Saban at home
23:15 with the opportunity to kind of get things back on track.
23:19 - Yeah, Tennessee has not won in Tuscaloosa since 2003.
23:21 So I'm gonna say that the tide continued that dominance
23:23 at home in the rivalry,
23:25 aptly named the third Saturday in October.
23:28 One of the better rivalries, I think, in the country.
23:31 Yeah, Joe Milton's not very good
23:32 and his receivers aren't helping him out very much.
23:34 And against an Alabama pass rush
23:35 that might be one of the top two or three in the nation.
23:38 Good luck, dude, have fun with that.
23:40 And then the last one on the day,
23:41 another blockbuster, Utah at USC.
23:44 - I'm gonna pick Utah on this one.
23:50 I know it's at Southern Cal,
23:53 but man, if Utah's defense can get rolling
23:55 and get, and rattle Caleb Williams,
23:58 Utah has a chance.
24:00 I know their offense is not quite as stout,
24:03 is quite as, can't put up the numbers like USC's can.
24:05 So if this gets into a shootout,
24:07 I like USC, but I'm gonna see if Utah can go in there
24:11 and put up a defensive stand.
24:13 - I don't like being on the opposite side of you
24:16 'cause you're picking way better than I am,
24:17 but I'm going with USC.
24:18 I think it's bad, not strength,
24:22 whatever the opposite of strength versus strength is.
24:24 We have a USC's defense, they're like two half teams.
24:28 Utah's offense is in the bottom 10 in the country.
24:30 Their defense is the top 15 in the country
24:32 and the complete opposite for USC,
24:34 a top 10 offense and a bottom 15 defense.
24:36 I guess at home, I don't know,
24:40 the Coliseum doesn't really strike me
24:42 as a home field advantage.
24:44 Certainly not Rice-Atkins.
24:45 If this game was in Salt Lake,
24:46 it would be Utah all day for me.
24:48 I just don't see how Utah scores a points
24:50 even with a pretty good defense,
24:52 USC probably gets there.
24:53 So I'm going with USC.
24:55 Hopefully it goes better than when I picked USC last week.
24:57 Absolute disaster.
24:59 Anyway, but thank you so much for tuning in
25:02 to another edition of the Killer Frogs
25:04 college football podcast.
25:05 Find us at killerfrogs.com, on Twitter @KillerFrogs.
25:09 I am @RoadToCFB,
25:11 and you can find Torrey @TorreyCouch_TX
25:15 and continue the conversation over on our Facebook page.
25:18 If you liked what you heard,
25:19 subscribe to us on your podcasting app of choice
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25:24 and drop us a review,
25:25 that's going to be the best way to help us grow
25:26 and reach more college football fans,
25:28 TCU fans, and Big 12 fans of the likes.
25:30 Maybe we made some new Kansas State fans this week.
25:33 Certainly made a lot of BYU fans probably angry
25:36 by jinxing them,
25:37 by saying they were going to walk all over TCU last week.
25:40 But hopefully you came back for another edition of this.
25:42 So check back next week for the next episode
25:44 of the Killer Frogs College Football Podcast.
25:46 I am Brett Gibbons, that's Torrey Couch,
25:48 and we'll catch you all next time.
25:50 (upbeat music)