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00:00It's not just a full football Friday here because the NFL
00:07season has kicked off and we have week one continuing on
00:10this Friday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil or our first full
00:14Sunday of the year. It's also a full football Friday because
00:19it's week number two of the college football campaign in
00:222024. He's Geronery. I am Ben Stevens. We get you set for the
00:27marquee matchups dotted across the Saturday slate. Joe, did
00:31you know there are seventy-five FBS college football games
00:35tomorrow for week number two. It is our largest Saturday of
00:39the entirety of the college football season. So, be
00:42prepared my friend. I cannot wait. Uh college football is
00:49uh it's a different kind of sweat, man. Is it not in the
00:52NFL? It's a different. Amen. Totally different sweat than
00:55what you get on Sunday with the pros but college is so
00:59unique in its own way that it's uh it's a different animal
01:02altogether and I love it. Yes, it is. I will see you later in
01:06the day for some first quarter and first half updates
01:09following college football today on a Saturday slate as
01:13well in the marquee matchup in the early window. Noon Eastern
01:17time, a big noon kickoff inside the big house. A top ten tilt.
01:22It is Texas now ranked third in the country against the
01:25reigning national champs. Tenth ranked Michigan. A line that is
01:30now seven and a half. Oh, in favor of the team that won a
01:32national championship and has twenty-three straight home
01:34wins. No, in favor of the visitors from Austin. North of
01:38a touchdown. Now, in favor of the Longhorns with a total at
01:43forty-two and a half. Joe, when this line opened up in the
01:45summer months, it was Texas already a road favorite at
01:49three and a half. That caught the attention of some after the
01:52Longhorns hammer and shut out Colorado State in their opener
01:56last week in Austin. Fifty-two to zip and Michigan seemed to
02:00struggle with Fresno State. Only winning thirty to ten
02:04thanks to an icing pick six from Will Johnson. This line
02:09has ballooned. Is it an overreaction or is it the
02:12correct movement? Oh, it's a gross overreaction but it
02:16certainly feels like a total setup here, doesn't it? Uh as
02:21if the books are just daring you. God, I dare you to take
02:26Michigan uh here. I want you to take Michigan here. It really
02:31does feel that way but listen, uh the reality is this is a this
02:36is a big spot for Texas. If they are as good as we expect,
02:40let's go. I mean, we only have five returning starters on
02:43Michigan. One of them was a punter. So, this is a
02:46different Michigan team that won the national championship a
02:49year ago. This is pretty much the same Longhorn teams only
02:53they got more potent somehow on offense. So, they should win
02:59this game. They should be the favorite in this spot. Having
03:02said that, going into the big house, fought in Michigan over
03:05a touchdown. It's only happened twice since the 90s I believe
03:09so uh and usually it's reserved for teams like Wisconsin or
03:14Ohio State that are usually doing that uh but not with that
03:18defense of Michigan. I I think this is a field goal game at
03:21best. I have to bite. It's Michigan or pass for me in this
03:25one. Forty-two and a half is the total for two really good
03:30defenses. Both ranking top fifteen in the country a season
03:33ago. The Maize and Blue is still the best and yeah Fresno
03:37State scored ten points but it wasn't an easy ten. If the
03:41total is correct and it stays around forty-two, forty-three,
03:44forty-four, even forty-five for Texas to cover by more than a
03:48touchdown. That's two scores would require that cover or a
03:51touchdown and a two-point conversion is a very very tall
03:56order. Michigan has won twenty-three straight games at
03:59home. I know Davis Warren was not great earning the starting
04:02nod. I know there is quarterback confusion for the
04:05Maize and Blue. I expect to see Alex Orgy in a more athletic
04:10running attack against a Texas defense that did allow
04:14Colorado State to have over a 100-yard rusher last week
04:18against the Rams despite the Longhorns pitching the
04:21shutout. Michigan has only been an underdog four times in the
04:25last three college football seasons since 2021. They are
04:28three and one straight up and against the spread. They're
04:31only non-cover and loss as a dog to Georgia in the CFP
04:36semifinals now three years ago. We have two ranked versus ranked
04:41matchups on this week to Saturday. The second one is in
04:46Charlotte. It is NC State taking on Tennessee. Technically
04:50a neutral site football game but it is in Charlotte not all
04:54that far from Raleigh where the Wolfpack play. The line is also
04:58working in favor of the volunteers. Now, a nine and a
05:02half point spread against the Wolfpack. Sixty and a half is
05:06the total. What do you like in this matchup? It feels like
05:11Josh Heupel and company are going to go in there and do
05:14exactly what Western only they do it better because you know
05:17Josh Heupel loves to hurry up and get on the line of
05:20scrimmage and run as many plays as humanly possible which is
05:24exactly what Western Carolina did and gave NC State all sorts
05:27of issues here. I do think points are coming in this game
05:31here, Ben. I think with McCall under center, NC State, I think
05:35they're going to be able to score some points here. I think
05:38Tennessee is going to be able to score. I think this is a good
05:41old-fashioned shootout between the SEC and the ACC. Sixty-one
05:45and a half somewhere in that ballpark I think was the total
05:49and if Tennessee, if you like Tennessee, there's no way this
05:52thing stays under. NC State has won eight plus games in each of
05:57the last three full seasons of college football. Dave Doran is
06:00consistent as the head coach for the Wolfpack in that three
06:04year span eight and seven against the spread as a dog
06:07same three year span since Josh Heupel became the head man on
06:10Rocky Top starting in 2021. Tennessee is twenty and nine
06:15twenty and nine against the spread as the favorite side.
06:18That's the sixth best cover percentage as a favorite
06:22nationally in college football. The last three years the battle
06:26for the Cy Hawk trophy and the lowest total this week in FBS
06:31College football. Thirty-five and a hook is the number for
06:35Iowa and Iowa State. The seventy-first all-time meeting
06:38between the Clones and the Hawkeyes. A three-point spread
06:41in favor of Iowa inside Kinnick Stadium. Quickly here,
06:45Ranieri, what do you like in this matchup? Over. Absolute
06:50over in this one here. What I saw, yeah, I think this one is
06:54gone. I think it's way. Listen, we're playing in Iowa in
06:58September. This is not November. There is no reason in
07:02the world. Campbell and company along with the offense now of
07:05Iowa can't put points on the board to get this thing to
07:08forty. That's almost blasphemy. However, Iowa did score forty
07:13last week against Illinois State. Put up nearly 500 yards
07:17of total offense but five straight unders in the Cy Hawk
07:20rivalry series. More around college football now. A couple
07:24of rivalry games in week number two of this college
07:27football season. There is hate in the Cy Hawk rivalry between
07:31Iowa and Iowa State. There is a ton of vitriol in a former big
07:36eight rivalry between Colorado and Nebraska. The seventy-third
07:40all-time meeting between the Huskers and the Buffs on
07:43Saturday night under the lights inside Memorial Stadium in
07:47Lincoln, Nebraska. A seven and a half point spread in favor of
07:51the Huskers. A total in the upper fifties. These two teams
07:56are an area met every year from 1948 until 2010 when both
08:00deported for new conferences. See you to the Pac twelve
08:03Nebraska to the big ten. They have met three times since 2018
08:08and Colorado has won all three including the home opener last
08:12year to debut the Deon Sanders era in Boulder. Colorado won
08:16big. Thirty-six to fourteen covering easily as a two and a
08:20half point favorite. It's year two for prime. It's year two
08:23for Matt Ruhle. What happens on Saturday night in Lincoln?
08:28Uh I think points are coming here. I I love Matt Ruhle. I
08:33love Nebraska this year. Listen, Matt Ruhle's a guy that
08:36comes in and turns programs around, right? We saw him do
08:40it. Rutgers, we saw him do it there at Baylor. This is what
08:43he does and it's usually always he takes over a organization
08:47there and a school that is a hot mess. The first year is
08:52miserable or though when you look at how many losses he had
08:55by one score, less than one score last year, he was close.
09:00Now, he's got the quarterback that he wants. He's got the
09:02players and everywhere he's been been year number two has
09:07been that year where they take it to another level and I think
09:10that's exactly what we're going to get this year from Nebraska
09:13at home. Listen, who is Colorado stopping? I'm just
09:17curious. Uh that defense. Did anybody see any defense in fact
09:21in that first game for Colorado? Uh no. I I think
09:25points are coming here. I think ultimately this is a very
09:28winnable game for Nebraska and it wouldn't shock me if not
09:32only do they cover the spread but they fly over the team
09:35total as well. Right now on the FanDuel Sportsbook, Ramir
09:39Johnson is the only player listed with a rushing yards
09:42prompt. Not even sure he's going to start the game for you
09:45in the backfield. I think it could be Emma Johnson
09:48regardless. I would keep an eye on the rushing yards numbers
09:51for Nebraska tomorrow against Colorado. A Buffs team that has
09:55the most star power in college football perhaps at two very
09:58important positions. Quarterback in whatever position
10:01you want to talk about for Travis Hunter. Two top five
10:04picks more than likely in the 2025 NFL draft but the same
10:08issues that plagued the Buffaloes last year protecting
10:11Shador Sanders keeping him upright and avoiding hits and
10:15stopping the run reared their ugly head against North Dakota
10:20State. Now Nebraska has not been a great favorite. Under
10:22Matt Rule just one and four against the spread. One and
10:26five in single score games. Three and eighteen in one score
10:30games the last three years. We'll see if it's a one score
10:34game on Saturday night against the Buffs. Ken Clemson after
10:39getting throttled by Georgia bounced back in week number two.
10:43The home opener in Death Valley for the Tigers against the
10:47really good Sunbelt team and a team often known for being the
10:51David to many Goliaths. It is at state. It's a seventeen
10:55point spread. Is Clemson even going to score seventeen points?
10:58That's my question for Saturday between the Tigers and the
11:01Mountaineers. Listen, there's no shame in losing to Georgia
11:06but if it was an anomaly, Ben that Clemson offense looks
11:11exactly like the version we've seen the last three years,
11:15which is putrid. They got dominated in that Georgia game.
11:19They totaled 189 yards from scrimmage. I mean, that's just
11:23terrible, especially given the fact that yes, Georgia's
11:26reputation on defense is one thing, but that's not a defense
11:30loaded with five-star guys again. This was this is not one
11:34of the better more experienced Georgia fronts and yet they
11:37bulldozed this Clemson team and you mentioned it there. I think
11:42Garrett Riley's in trouble. I think Davo's in trouble here. I
11:46think heads are going to roll. No way am I trusting them to
11:50win by more than seventeen points. This was an easy bet for
11:53me. I took as many points as you're going to give me with
11:56App State who will be around in the fourth quarter in this
11:59game. Kate Klobnik is the worst quarterback of the two in this
12:03matchup. In my estimation, Joey Aguilar for App State seventh
12:06most passing yards last year, 326 in the opener, albeit
12:11against East Tennessee State. We understand that, but also
12:15keep an eye when the receiving yards props come out on his top
12:18target, Caden Robinson, eight grabs for 103 yards last week
12:23in the Mountaineers opener. Does Oregon bounce back? The
12:26odds starting to expect it. The Ducks a three touchdown favorite
12:30against Boise State. Oregon won last week, but by only ten
12:34against Idaho. Good one in Salt Lake between Utah and Baylor.
12:38Joe, the pokes. Touchdown favorite against Arkansas.