Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Week 8 brings playoff stakes, quarterback chaos, defensive surges, and upset potential across college football. Highlights include Indiana–Michigan, LSU–Auburn, Oregon–Illinois, BYU–UCF, Ole Miss–Texas, and Houston–Utah. Mid-recording, Maryland fires Mike Locksley, kicking off coaching-carousel season, while title hopes and conference races hang in the balance.

Rodger Sherman, a college football writer and analyst focused on coaching and program building, joins a lively discussion of Utah’s stunning undefeated start. They explore Morgan Scalley’s risky promotion, the team’s unconventional two-quarterback system, BYU’s rising pressure in the Holy War, memories of standout Utes, and Utah’s creative financial fight to keep pace.

College football descends into glorious chaos as five of the nation’s top seven teams fall. BYU escapes Notre Dame, Auburn overpowers Georgia, and Ohio State survives Indiana. Florida exposes Texas’ offensive woes, Miami outlasts Florida State amid controversy, and turnover disasters fuel Tulane’s win over Memphis. The Group of Six races also heat up across a wild Week 7.

A candid reaction to college football’s coming 24-team playoff, from its financial motivations to the fate of conference championship games. The discussion explores shifting coaching security, recruitment and fundraising advantages, fan fatigue, and whether the final spots will go to deserving teams or mediocre powers from the SEC and Big Ten.

Rodger Sherman, a sportswriter and college football analyst, joins a discussion of Oregon State’s stunning revival. They explore JaMarcus Shephard’s unconventional rise, Jesse Legree’s leap from overlooked recruit to record-breaking receiver, Braden Atkinson’s pass-heavy offense, and the Beavers’ path toward a Pac-12 title and playoff contention. The big question: can they keep the magic, and their stars, together?

Week 7 brings a packed college football slate, from Texas trying to revive its run game to Indiana’s turnover luck meeting Ohio State. Rivalry tension builds in Kansas, Miami, and Penn State-Michigan, while LSU, Tennessee, and Nebraska face defining tests. Other featured clashes include Notre Dame-BYU in Provo, Missouri-Ole Miss in a potential shootout, and Oregon navigating uncertainty against Nebraska.

Steven Godfrey, a veteran college football writer and analyst, joins a midseason check-in on James Madison’s surprising leap into the American and the realignment dominoes it could trigger. They investigate whether NIL and the transfer portal have created a backup quarterback crisis, revisit new punt-formation rules, and examine Alex’s FOOTSHOT metric for teams’ self-inflicted mistakes.

Georgia survives Alabama behind Gunner Stockton, while Oklahoma upsets Texas in a chaotic Red River clash. The SEC’s depth takes a beating, Missouri rolls, and Kentucky exposes LSU’s flaws. Boise State rises in the Pac-12, Big Ten contenders stumble, BYU controls Iowa State, and UNLV shocks North Dakota State. Plus, a new metric tracks college football’s self-inflicted mistakes.

A subscriber mailbag explores why Lincoln Riley’s defenses keep faltering, whether Texas can revive its offense, and if Michigan’s struggles are really about culture. The discussion also weighs Penn State’s patience with Matt Campbell, Cal’s rocky coaching transition, Virginia’s uncertain outlook, college football’s coaching carousel, and the best college towns to call home.

Week 6 serves up a packed college football menu, from South Carolina’s buyout dilemma and Oklahoma’s Red River scoring drought to Ohio State’s run-game panic. Alabama and Georgia collide in potentially wild weather, while USC-Penn State, UNLV-North Dakota State, and Boise State-Fresno State bring plenty of upset intrigue.