Trotter: Quinn Ewers Is Heisman Front-Runner

Jake, how are you? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm amazing. Thank you for taking the time to join us.

I know that this is something that you covered and shared as well. What are your thoughts on these four Michigan players looking for back pay from the NCAA for NIL? Yeah, well listen, I mean, student athletes haven't been able to generate revenue from NIL since it's only started happening since 2021. The NCAA house lawsuit, which created opportunities for athletes of the past to earn money, that only goes back to 2016. And so these Michigan players, which played before 2016 kind of in the, you know, Braylon Edwards was there through 2004. Dennard came after him.

All four of them were kind of in that decade. And they're claiming that the Big Ten Network and the NCAA profited off of iconic moments that they generated for Michigan. And they are seeking 50 million dollars in damages in restitution. So we'll see what happens next.

It'll be interesting to see if we have more of these lawsuits come out. But yeah, I mean, it's a different world in college athletics than it was when all these guys played. And most definitely. Well, Jake, if we take a look at Michigan right now, we saw them take that L to Texas, not a surprise, not a shock. Based on everything that's surrounding Michigan and has surrounded Michigan, outside of winning the national championship, Connor Stallion, Star Harbaugh and suspensions and what have you, is this too uphill a climb, not just for this year, but following the years for Sharron Moore?

Yeah, it's a question. You know, Michigan is not the team it was last year. It doesn't mean they can't get better. But there were some major question marks coming out of that Texas loss, especially like what are they going to do to generate points offensively? They just have not been very impressive to this point. You know, they've rotated quarterbacks. The offensive line is not what it's been in terms of controlling the line of scrimmage.

There's nobody at the receiver position that strikes for your opponent. They have a fabulous tight end in Colston-Lovland, but just not much else going offensively. You know, they were counting on being able to win games with their defense. Well, you know, that went out the window in the first half when Texas scored on four straight drives and really should have been up 31-3 at halftime if they weren't for a holding penalty on a Quinn-Ewers touchdown pass.

So where do they go from here? You know, they're going to have a couple weeks to regroup. They've got USC coming to town in two weeks. You know, you lose that game and all of a sudden the season started to look a little bit different for them. You know, the 12-team playoff, you've got a chance to bounce back and get back into contention in the past.

You lose a game or two and you're pretty much toast. I don't know if this Michigan team is playoff caliber, but you know, the thing to keep in mind long-term is their best players are all going to be draft picks next year. You know, Mason Graham, the defensive tackle, Will Johnson at corner.

I mentioned Loveland. I mean, these are first-round picks next year. And what do they have coming in after them?

I mean, I don't know. You know, we haven't seen much from those guys yet. So this is a fork in the road moment right now for Michigan with everything else you outline. New head coach in Sharone Moore.

You know, how are they going to respond? You know, this USC game is going to be really interesting. Now, every game is going to be interesting for Michigan. This is going to be a wild ride. Jake Trotter joining us from ESPN.

You talk about Texas. We know that they're going to get into the playoff unless something crazy happens. Quinn Ewers, is he kind of leading the way for the Heisman? And on a side note, man, I'm just waiting to see Arch Manning, not in garbage time. Yeah, they might have two first-round picks at the quarterback position.

Only one is playing right now. I would put, it's early. We've only had two games. If I had to vote for the Heisman today, I probably would vote Quinn Ewers, number one. He was that impressive in that game. And he's the only quarterback since the start of last season to throw three touchdowns with no interceptions against multiple top 10 teams. Remember, he led Texas to that win in Tuscaloosa last year. I mean, clearly the guy, when he's on the road in tough environments, it brings out the best in him. You know, we've seen that multiple times now.

And it's not just Ewers. I mean, they've got talent everywhere. They have an offensive line that's ready for the SEC in a way that Texas hasn't had lines in the recent past.

So yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot to like about Texas and Texas. And you go into the big house and you play the way that Quinn Ewers did, you got to be on the Heisman shortlist. Well, you want to talk about someone who had some big expectations this year as well.

And we saw him fall into a bunch of coolers. Cam Rising, what's the status on him? Is he going to be available to play versus Utah State or he going to get a game off?

What does it look like? Yeah, I don't know the answer to that, but he's had a great start to the season and it's good to see him back out there again. And you know, the Big 12 is super interesting this year. It's probably the most wide open conference of the power four.

I think Miami clearly is the class of the ACC. You know, it's looking like Ohio State, Oregon in the Big 10, maybe Penn State, you know, Georgia and maybe Texas are in the top tier in the SEC. Big 12, you know, we'll see what happens. Oklahoma State and Kansas State both looked a little bit shaky in their wins over the weekend.

I think right now you've got to consider Utah to be the favorite. Right now, I have them winning the Big 12 and making the playoffs. And, you know, it'll be interesting to see how they adjust to the, you know, the offenses in the Big 12 week to week.

But yeah, I think that they're a very good team. Jake Trotter is joining us, senior college football writer for ESPN. Thinking about the Big 12, it's hard for me to listen to the teams that you rattled off and not think about your Mark, who is now a commissioner. He has always been about money in every business aspect that he's in.

And that's what it's about. Is the Big 10 real, excuse me, the Big 12 really going to lead the way with some of these, you know, wacky, dare I say, money making schemes, QR codes, sponsorships? Are we going to have the Big 12 sponsored by Dr. Pepper?

Is this what we're looking for? Is Big 12 going to lead the way in that? You know, when I covered college football, before I covered the Browns in 2019, you know, I was based out of the Big 12 footprint in Oklahoma City. And it was always very frustrating to watch the Big 12 be stagnant and kind of reactionary instead of creative and proactive. You know, they thought, well, we've got 10 teams, we're going to be okay.

Let's just ride it out. And, you know, if you're not at the SEC or the Big 10, you know, you got to be aggressive. And the Big 12 to its credit under your mark, you know, they've been aggressive. And that's why they are still around and probably better positioned than anyone at this point outside the SEC or the Big 10. And the Big 12, especially after losing Oklahoma and Texas, but even before that, you know, they're just not going to generate the TV revenue that the Big 10 and the SEC is going to command.

And that gap is probably only going to widen moving forward. So if you're the Big 12, you've got to get creative, or you're going to get left too far behind financially. And that's why you've seen them look at, you know, things like let's rename the conference and get a sponsor. You know, I think at this point that the Big 12 as a brand is not that strong, given the programs that have left the league over the years.

So that's one idea. QR code was open to state, the NCAA vetoed it. But that's the type of thinking you're seeing in the Big 12. And that's what's allowed the Big 12 to overcome a lot of obstacles and position itself to be like their premier alternate conference to the Big 10 and the SEC, despite losing programs to both those conferences over the years. So the Big 12, you know, they're guaranteed a playoff spot, they might get two. And I think that they have a chance to be maybe not the best conference, but year to year among the more interesting ones, especially with the number of programs, I think year to year that can win the league. Now, you know, Jake, let's talk about an independent that is raking in tons of money and is no longer guaranteed a playoff spot. I'm talking about Notre Dame. I mean, after losing to northern Illinois and now falling, what, about 13 spots? Yeah, of course, there's still an opportunity for them to get into the playoff. But aren't they going to be looked upon at last if they get into that back end of the 12?

Well, they have two problems. Number one, that is probably going to be the worst loss of any playoff contender. That's all credit to northern Illinois. But you lose to a Mac school, especially one that wasn't projected to even win the Mac. I think that's going to be tough to overcome. But also, on top of that, like their schedule is not a normal Notre Dame schedule. It is a pretty soft schedule in comparison to the schedules they've had in the past. I don't know how good that A&M win is going to look at the end of the year. A&M kind of feels like a seven and five type team to me at this point. And then you look at the rest of their schedule and they really don't play anybody, at least anybody ranked, other than USC. They need USC to be like number one in the country when they play them. You know, otherwise, their resume, especially compared to some of these Big Ten and SEC teams that maybe don't win the conference, but are going to have two, three, four really good wins. You know, that's going to be really hard for Notre Dame to stack up again. So they need USC to be good. But even then, like you said, if they do get in, they're not going to be in the five, six, seven range.

They're going to be toward the bottom. But I think at this point, I don't know how their resume is going to stack up. They got to be very impressive going forward. And we'll see how they bounce back from that NIU loss. But that was pretty catastrophic for their playoff chances.

Oh, big time, big time. I want to ask you about Miami. The Hurricanes are kind of climbing there. I'm not all that enthused about who they've beaten so far. They were supposed to beat down an HBCU in Florida A&M and they got Ball State coming up next. They beat the Gators. And I guess by default, you know, they might win, probably are going to win the ACC. What are your thoughts on the Hurricanes? Well, Florida is not very good, but to go down to the swamp and beat them down the way that they did, I thought was really impressive.

It just has the look of a different Miami team. They've got experience at quarterbacking Cam Ward. And then, you know, you look at the rest of the ACC, I mean, who are you picking to beat them? And if you win the ACC, you're guaranteed a top four seed in the playoff. And I think right now they would probably be the three seed given how they've looked so far.

So, you know, there's more work to be done, but because of the new playoff format, if they just win the league, they're going to be in really good shape. And again, you look at the rest of the ACC, Florida State, you know, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech loss, you know, we'll see what happens with Boston College. You know, they have an impressive quarterback at Castellanos, Bill O'Brien there, but, you know, North Carolina has got injury issues.

You just go down the list. And I don't know, I don't know who's beaten them. I don't see anybody in the ACC, even Clemson, you know, as great as they are defensively, they just, I don't know that they're going to be able to move the ball enough this year. So yeah, Miami to me is the clear pick in the ACC right now. And they've been impressive too.

Well, Jake, last question for you. Is there a team that you think could win the national could win the national championship, get into the playoff for, or make some noise that, that you haven't heard a lot about? You know, one team that I did not have a lot of optimism for, but was really impressed with in week one was USC. I think LSU is a good team.

That was a really nice win. You know, USC with Lincoln Riley is always going to be able to score points, but last year, and really since he got to USC, they just haven't been competent, forget good or average. They have been incompetent defensively and they look competent in that LSU game. Like, you know, if they could just have the 60th best defense in college football instead of the 110th, you know, they got a chance. I don't know that I'm ready to say, you know, they're a playoff team or they can win the national championship, but that was a team I was really impressed by. And, you know, Texas to me, Michigan again is not the same team, but the way that they look, I think you got to put them right now in the same tier with Georgia and Ohio state in terms of teams that should be favored to win the national championship. So, you know, we'll see what happens. You know, the great thing about the 12 team playoff is, you know, more teams have got opportunities to show what they can do. Another team that I think has been really impressive is Tennessee. Keep an eye on Tennessee playing some good defense there too. It's going to be a lot of fun to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. Hey, Jake, I appreciate the time.

I lied. One last question. When the hell are they expanding the playoff again? They got to move from 12 to what are we getting? They're going to make it bigger again.

College football ain't done changing. So stay tuned on that and other issues. Oh, my goodness. Hey, Jake, where can people follow you and all of your amazing work with ESPN?

Yeah, Jake underscore Trotter on X or Twitter and ESPN.com. Hey, we appreciate you, Jake. We'll catch you on down the line, okay? Okay. Thanks, buddy. See you.