Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Richard, Alex, and Rodger Sherman talk through a huge Week 12 in college football, highlighting a few dozen games that should be fun! Among the many topics discussed on this episode: * Texas-Georgia, the real push-comes-to-shove spot for Arch Manning* Iowa-USC, the ultimate test of what Lincoln Riley is building in L.A. * Oklahoma-Alabama, where we think the Sooners have a good shot * UVA-Duke, in which a backup QB stands in the way of Duke mounting a serious playoff push and creating a doomsday scenario for the ACC * Is Miami back in the playoff race now? Might be! Why? Don’t know! * Florida-Ole Miss, which the Rebels have to be glad is not in Gainesville* UCLA-Ohio State, which is really just a chance to talk about the legal battle unfolding now between UCLA and the Rose Bowl* Tennessee Tech-Kentucky, in what some are calling the most captivating Week 12 matchup ever between an FCS team and SEC team * Richard’s big debut as a CBS Sports sideline reporter for UConn-Air Force* Kennesaw State-Jacksonville State, CUSA game of the year? * Boise State-San Diego State, MWC game of the year? * THE MAIN COURSE, presented by Modelo: Pitt hosts Notre Dame for the Panthers’ biggest home game in many years … unless you’re Pat Narduzzi, who does not seem to think the game is that important And much more! Produced by Anthony Vito. Thanks to our subscribers and partnersSubscribers get about twice as many SZD podcasts during the season. Now, during the coach carousel, is a great time to join. Thanks to everyone who’s decided to become a subscriber over the past few weeks! Thanks Dad Water. Code SZD for 20% off, or just click https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZDThanks to Nokian Tyres: https://www.nokiantyres.com/szdModelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex and Richard take a big handful of subscriber questions after Week 11, starting with actual football and then moving to coach business: * Which plausible title contenders are most overrated, and which are most overlooked? (This part of the episode is the free preview that all can hear.) * Is Notre Dame’s ACC relationship helping ND more than it helps the league?* How sustainable is Virginia’s surge—real progress or lucky break?* What do we think of this particular SEC reffing conspiracy? * Why do close Bama wins get our approval while others are framed as “getting away with it”? What does the latter mean? * Could Haynes King actually win the Heisman? Assuming note, what is a better way to honor this memorable player? * When should a mid-tier Power 4 or G5 school sit out the coaching carousel, and what’s the real value above replacement for a 6-6 coach?* What do we make of UNLV’s rent-a-coach strategy, if that’s what it is? * Should South Carolina be done with Shane Beamer? * Can we recreate a post-House settlement tiering structure for what makes a good job? * If Colorado opens, how much shine remains post-Deion?* How have Alabama boosters responded to the DeBoer era so far?* Do early firings at blue-blood programs hurt their odds of landing top coaches? We are skeptical but let’s hear the theory. Producer: Anthony VitoThis episode and the Q&A opportunity included in it are for paid subscribersThis is a great time of year to join us as a paid subscriber and roughly double how many podcasts you get from us. We’d love to have you.

Richard and Alex take you through dozens of Week 11 college football games, highlighting the most interesting stuff to get you all caught up:Oregon’s grits out a win at Kinnick Stadium after Iowa pulled the Ducks down into a literal puddle and threatened to keep them thereOmar Cooper makes a historic catch at Penn State, which Alex says has a case for the best of all time and Richard is just trying to tear downTexas Tech sits on BYU, making clear that the Red Raiders are the best team in the Big 12Sonny Dykes loses the TCU fanbaseTexas A&M treats Mizzou’s third-string freshman QB very rudelyVanderbilt stays alive by beating an Auburn team that changed its on-field identity overnightWake Forest beats UVA, Cal beats Louisville, and the ACC continues to be a mess. Could this conference miss the playoff? There’s a path!Boston College devolves into a bad situationFlorida State brings nothing to the table in yet another lossNotre Dame overwhelms Navy and keeps marching toward the playoffTulane beats Memphis, making another disappointing year for the TigersUTSA games keep ending up in wars of words between the coachesArmy’s latest endless drive to close out the Temple OwlsTennesaw State UniversityOregon State’s special teams reach new levels of ignominyMontana survives on a SPIKE FUMBLE?? We’d never seen it, eitherAnd a lot more. That’s just a sample. Producer: Anthony VitoThanks to our partners and subscribers20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZDJoin Homefield, Steven Godfrey, and Ryan Nanni in Athens on Friday.Enter to win airfare and lodging for a trip to New York City on conference championship weekend at https://www.nokiantyres.com/SZD This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Richard and Alex take a bunch of subscriber questions about the state of the coach carousel, about three weeks before things start to come to a head. Among the questions covered here: * Should you actually keep an eye on Lincoln Riley at USC? We’ve got a bit of disagreement here, but anything is possible * Could Lane Kiffin be waiting for the USC? Would that be possible anyway? * What’s up with UTSA’s Jeff Traylor? * Why did Nebraska extend Matt Rhule? Do we like it? * Could this coaching cycle finally bring some sanity to contract structures? (Do not hold your breath.) * Is Jeff Brohm a better candidate for bigger jobs or an extension? * Who is the darkhorse candidate for the Florida job? Speaking of that …* Jedd Fisch would leave for Florida, but UCLA?* Is Brent Brennan in over his head at Arizona? * Could Brent Venables’ success or failure at Oklahoma shift hiring trends back toward G5 coaches, rather than P4 coordinators? Why aren’t coordinators being mentioned more for major jobs?* What should we make of Clay Helton at Georgia Southern amid a decline? * Will Pat Narduzzi keep his OC and stud freshman QB? * Why do people bring up the idea that Auburn should’ve hired Cadillac Williams? * Is Chris Klieman’s seat hot at Kansas State? (No.) * Non-Petrino division, which possible Arkansas hires would qualify as clear whiffs? * What is the pulse check on Fran Brown’s long-term future at Syracuse?* How much influence do GM-type roles have in this year’s coaching hires?* How high could coaching salaries inflate this cycle? Producer: Anthony Vito. This episode and the Q&A opportunity included in it are for paid subscribers This is an amazing time of year to join us as a paid subscriber and roughly double how many podcasts you get from us. We’d love to have you! Everyone can listen to our big preview of Week 11.

Welcome to Week 11. Alex and Richard preview the most interesting games coming up this weekend and also discuss other big CFB developments:* The initial playoff rankings release* The ESPN-YouTube TV standoff and what people are getting wrong about Disney’s motivations* The American race heats up, with UTSA-USF and Tulane-Memphis on tap before we even get to Saturday action* Is this the end of Deion Sanders at Colorado? Good luck guessing* Indiana-Penn State and Ohio State-Purdue won’t be close games, but they will be Heisman platform builders for Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin* Oregon-Iowa has us very intrigued about the Hawkeyes, though we’re split on what’s going to happen at Kinnick Stadium* Auburn-Vanderbilt: Be careful, Commodores* Louisville has a major injury problem as it tries to win the ACC* Dabo Swinney faces a crossroads at Clemson* THE MAIN COURSE, presented by Modelo: CBS Sports national college football reporter Shehan Jeyarajah stops by to discuss BYU-Texas Tech. Read Shehan’s big feature on Tech’s roster build.And much, much more. Producer: Anthony VitoThanks to our subscribers and partnersSubscribers get about twice as many SZD podcasts during the season. Now, during the coach carousel, is a great time to join. Thanks to everyone who’s decided to become a subscriber over the past few weeks!Thanks Dad Water. Code SZD for 20% off, or just click https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZDThanks to Nokian Tyres: https://www.nokiantyres.com/szdThanks to Homefield Apparel: Join them, Godfrey, and Ryan Nanni in Athens next week! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phantom-island-live-in-athens-tickets-1825198310279?aff=oddtdtcreatorModelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comHugh Freeze is out at Auburn and probably done forever as a top-level college football coach. Richard and Alex do a postmortem on his Auburn tenure and his broader career, then discuss what Auburn could and should do next:* The brief good times Freeze had at Ole Miss, and how we’d remember him if not for the recruiting class that later got him into trouble* A weird dude whose firing wasn’t weird at all* Failures of QB development and Freeze blowing what turned out to be his only chance to do the thing Auburn dreamed he could do: Beat Nick Saban* A masterclass in ineffective communication by a head coach* Auburn’s infamous donor/administration alignment, currently better than several other SEC programs in the coaching market* Jon Sumrall, the name that will be on everyone’s lips in this search* How Lane Kiffin’s decision-making affects Auburn’s options* Why it’s time to just hire a normal football coach, please* Why Freeze’s firing feels like a party for college football fans of all different ideological persuasionsProducer: Anthony VitoAdditional reading and listening* Steven Godfrey’s 2023 episode about his dealings with Freeze* Jason Kirk on Freeze: “Rub some church on it”

Rodger Sherman joins Alex for a big ol’ rundown of Week 10 of the college football season. Among dozens of games discussed, we go over: Miami’s faceplant at SMU, which keeps the Canes out of playoff contention unless something really drastic happensOklahoma’s kicker-led victory in KnoxvilleUtah manhandling Cincinnati in just the way we expectedNC State knocking Georgia Tech from the land of the unbeatenSomething cool that Rodger noticed about the MSU-Minnesota endingUSC’s huge win in Lincoln, with help from Matt Rhule and some injuriesDuke staying in the ACC race and taking Clemson from bad to worseThe American race becoming even more chaotic with UNT beating NavyHugh Freeze’s emphatic likely ending at AuburnThe Jeff Sims Legacy Game for Arizona State over Iowa StateDeion’s Colorado and Frost’s UCF looking just terribleSyracuse putting a true freshman walk-on lacrosse player at QB for a game against Bill BelichickBoise State getting embarrassed by a team with 35 passing yardsAnd much more! Producer: Anthony Vito. Thanks to our partners and subscribers20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZDVisit Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/Enter to win airfare and lodging for a trip to New York City on conference championship weekend at https://www.nokiantyres.com/SZD This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Alex and Richard preview Week 10 of the college football season, with notes, observations, and predictions spanning lots of games. Just a few include:* Tulane at UTSA: The Green Wave are playoff contenders and their coach is one of the hottest candidates of the cycle. Are they actually good?* UNC at Syracuse: Are the Tar Heels about to experience just a little bit of joy, finally?* Navy at North Texas: Is this just one of those years when Navy has a special QB and thus a special season? Or can UNT put a stop to it?* Penn State at Ohio State: The Nittany Lions aren’t a threat this year, but Ohio State has several offensive red flags to sort out* WVU at Houston: That’s “Big 12 contender Houston” to you* Florida vs. Georgia: What does a post-Billy Napier Florida offense look like, and why can’t Georgia get off the field on third downs?* Texas Tech at Kansas State: Are the Wildcats just good, despite having four losses? We think they’re a real challenge for Tech* Mississippi State at Arkansas: Someone’s gotta win* Kentucky at Auburn: Someone’s gotta lose* USC at Nebraska: Can Matt Rhule finally win a big one?* Cincinnati at Utah: Are the Bearcats physical enough to compete in this one? And is Kyle Whittingham being honest about his QB’s medical situation?* For THE MAIN COURSE, presented by Modelo: Through the Keyhole podcaster and writer Allen Kenney joins us to talk about Oklahoma vs. Tennessee, a true playoff elimination game, as well as the state of the Sooners under Brent Venables and Jim NagyProducer: Anthony VitoThanks to our subscribers and partnersSubscribers get roughly twice as many SZD podcasts during the season. Now, during the coach carousel, is a great time to join. Thanks to everyone who’s hopped onboard over the past few weeks!Thanks to Nokian Tyres: https://www.nokiantyres.com/szdThanks to Homefield Apparel: https://www.homefieldapparel.comThanks Dad Water. Code SZD for 20% off, or just click https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZDModelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comBrian Kelly is out at LSU after three and a half of the odder seasons in recent memory. Alex and Richard discuss his ouster and LSU’s future options:* The $54 million buyout is probably not a $54 million buyout* Kelly was an awkward cultural fit for LSU. Did that affect his ability to do his job, or did it just speed up his downfall once he was flailing?* Speaking of that: Why couldn’t the winningest coach in Notre Dame history get things revved up in a job where he thought he had more upside?* Congratulations to LSU AD Scott Woodward, whose ability to spend other people’s money on blockbuster coaching flops is without parallel* The coaching carousel, shaping up to be the wildest ever, is on its way to a major mismatch between supply and demand* Why it’s time for Woodward to eat his vegetablesProducer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comShortly before Texas kicked off at Mississippi State, The Athletic reported that Steve Sarkisian’s reps had “let NFL decision-makers know” that Sark would be interested in NFL jobs. Sarkisian and his agents were mad enough about the report that Jimmy Sexton and Ed Marynowitz issued a denial on official letterhead. Richard wants to talk about everything that’s happening here.This is an episode of Split Zone Duo OVERTIME, an occasional add-on to our Sunday recap in which we go deeper on one weird topic from the weekend. It’s a subscriber special, and you can subscribe if you haven’t at this button: The Week 9 Hurry-Up presented by Dad Water is out now for everyone: Producer: Anthony Vito