Jerry, how are you? I'm all right. How are you?
I'm very well. Thank you for taking the time to join us. Let's get to a good game. We got a lot of people who have heavily invested and interested in Tennessee taking on Oklahoma. Oklahoma's been smacking around the two lanes and Houston's and temples of the world and Tennessee is really blasting everybody. What are your thoughts heading into that game tomorrow? Yeah, it's gonna be a real test first, you know, real good test for both of them. Tennessee played NC State when they were ranked and just annihilated them. That's probably the best win that either of them has.
The defenses are probably in the film rooms just going, oh boy, what are we gonna do? You know, it's hard not to like Oklahoma at home, but man, Tennessee has really been way in the woods. So I think we're gonna see some points and it's gonna come down to which team can, you know, maybe make a stop, you know, get a stop, get a big play on defense, get a turnover or something to flip this game because I think the offenses are generally gonna have their way. So no 71-0 blowouts.
A little bit closer, just a little bit closer, right? Yeah, it might be 71-70. 71-0.
I gotcha. Jerry Palm is joining us here from CBS Sports, another big matchup that people are going to look forward to and I think this has more to do with USC as opposed to Michigan, maybe what Alex Orgy can do. What do you see happening with Michigan the rest of this year and where can USC go? Yeah, this is a big game obviously for both of them, for USC it's, you know, their first test in the Big Ten going into the Big House.
They're feeling pretty good about themselves. They've already got a big win over LSU this season. So, you know, they've been in tough games even though that was neutral, not like going into the Big House, but still and then Michigan has struggled offensively and is switching quarterbacks and I think this is the right move at quarterback.
I don't know that he's going to be enough to get by USC, but I think in the end their offense will function better with Orgy at quarterback, even if it's not necessarily in this game. So for Michigan, obviously this is huge. For USC, this is a big game in the conference and the winner gets a leg up and a chance to really stay in the race and have something to say about it. The loser's got, you know, an uphill climb and they both have difficult games ahead because this is a pretty good league. So it's a big game for both of them.
I like USC, but I think Michigan in the end is going to be better on offense, but it may not be this week. Knowing that Sharon Moore, we heard about the contract extension he received. We know this is a program in transition, also potentially down the line could face some punishments here. Do you think Sharon Moore is also kind of a transitional coach or is he going to be able to take them back to championship beat up on Ohio State Heights? Well, we'll see. He's going to get a chance to do it. He'll get a proper chance to do it. If things don't go completely sideways for him, you know, he'll get a few years to get it put together. It's not like he's starting with a bare cupboard.
I mean, it's Michigan. They've got players. It's not the team they had last year, but they lost a lot off of that team. They're going to need to recruit and back go a little bit to get it back to that level, but he's going to get a proper opportunity to do it.
There's no reason to just think for sure he can't. He's going to get a chance and we'll see if he can, but I don't think there's any reason for a real pessimism. It's just that this year may not be because of the transition, not just in the coaching staff, but the players. This year may be a kind of a difficult start. Not like we're not going to make a bowl game, but more like we're not going to win the league. Difficult start, but I don't see any reason if you're a Michigan fan that you have to be pessimistic right off the bat. Jerry Palm is joining us here on the JR Sport Reshow covers college football for CBS Sports.
This is Michigan adjacent. We heard earlier in the week last week about Braille and Edwards, a couple of other Michigan players. They're looking to get some NIL money retroactively with the way that college football continues to change. Do you think some of the older players are going to get a piece of the pie some way somehow?
No, I don't think so. They had their rules when they were in school and the rules are different now, but the rules have changed over time. All the rules have changed over time and you don't go back and retroactively get a piece of the pie here. It's going to be hard enough to be able to take care of the guys that you need to win now without going back and giving a bunch of money to guys that Ed played years ago. So no, I'm sure that won't happen. They won't have a legal standing for it if they try to go to court. And the boy you talked about opening a Pandora's box in NIL, if you have to start playing players from the past.
No, there's no way that's going to work. No, it's talking about a lot of money. There's a coach in Gatorland who's making a lot of money. They're going to have to pay him a lot of money if they want to give him the boot. We got the Gators and Billy Napier taking on Mississippi State. I don't know whoever loses this game, they're going to come out on the positive sides of things, especially for Billy Napier. What are your thoughts on how much rope he has, if any?
Oh, it can't be much. I certainly can't afford to lose to Mississippi State. That's another team in this league that's struggling and then you got to be better than that.
His rope is really short. They're probably just trying to figure out how to move on from him as opposed to whether to move on from him. But if they win, it's probably not going to be this week. But he's got a big contract buyout, so it's not easy. But they're Florida, they're in the SEC, there's money to be had.
It's just a matter of putting it all together and that might take a little time. Well, outside of any interim coach they have that takes over, what are some realistic options for the long term to try to get the Gators back to prominence? Yeah, they're probably going to look for someone with head coaching experience, maybe a current head coach, but I guess it could be someone who has coached in the past that might be looking to get back in the game. Like a John Gruden, for example. I don't think personally, if I'm Florida, that's the route I would go, but I've heard that he wants to get back into coaching and maybe even in college and boy, would that be an arrest. John Gruden ends up somewhere. But if not necessarily him, somebody in a similar situation, not currently coaching, but looking to get back in, that's been successful before. But really any successful head coach would get a chance. You would think anybody successful at the power four level that might be looking to maybe move up or even maybe somebody not at the power four level, but in the group of five that might be able to move up. So those guys that have been really successful, Florida can chase pretty much whoever they want. They're going to have the most attractive open job and especially if they're first in line by making a move on Billy Napier early.
But man, the money to do that is pretty high. Well, Jerry, I have a guy who calls about once a week and he swears that Lane Kiffin is just going to wake up tomorrow and just go coach the Gators. I tell him, can we get through this year first? Can Lane Kiffin beat somebody else in the SEC before you just kind of slap him over to Gatorland? What are your thoughts when I say something like that? I mean, he's winning at Ole Miss. They're not winning the league winning, but that's a team that could be a playoff team this year. He's got something going there that could be pretty good.
You go to Florida, you're starting over. Now, maybe he can build it quickly and maybe that's a more attractive job in the long term and they could probably come up with more money. But that's a coach who's, like I just talked about, who's been successful somewhere else in a power four. And it's not like it would be unusual for one SEC school to raid another to get a coach. There's plenty of precedent for that.
But yeah, I mean, sure. He would be fine. He'd do well at Florida. He's done well everywhere he's been. He's a bit of a character, but I don't mean that in a bad way.
It's just that his personality is a little different. But his offense is, man, they moved the ball. But Ole Miss looked really good this year. So I don't think you're getting him, obviously you're not getting an active coach in the middle of the season, but that's probably a name that they would try to explore.
Jerry Palm here with us as we start to wrap things up. There's a game tomorrow not a lot of people are talking about. Utah and Oklahoma State, these are two ranked teams and they seem like they're flying under the radar.
Yeah. And they're two of what would probably be four favorites in that league. So that's a huge early game in conference play to try and get a leg up, you know, going forward. And it's bigger for Oklahoma State because they're at home. I think Utah's quarterback is going to be back for this game.
It sounds like he's going to play. So that obviously helps a lot. But these are two of the favorites. I like Utah to win this league and if they're going to win this league, they've got to win games like this. In Oklahoma State, they've got Ollie Gordon, one of the best running backs in the country. And Utah likes to run the ball too.
So a little bit of ground and pound. But I think if Utah can throw the ball the way that we know that they can, I think that's a big advantage for them. And I know Cam Rising, he's basically a senior citizen in college football. I think I read somewhere that the combined age of these two quarterbacks is like 29. It's like the oldest maybe that's ever been to the combined age of the starting quarterback. It's that COVID year thing that's still hanging on.
It's got to be almost gone by now. But some of these guys are pretty old still playing college football. Yeah, if Cam Rising takes another fall, they're going to tackle in two more years.
You better be careful. Yeah, and I think I also heard that I was 49 with the combined age and the starting quarterbacks in the Texans-Bears game was 42. Those guys were younger than the guys that are playing Utah, Oklahoma State football. It's wild.
Well, I got one last one for you. This guy is still young. I wish we'd see more of him. Arch Manning is going to get the go ahead. What do you think the rest of his college career is going to look like when he gets the reins?
And what do you think he could project to? I know it's early, but we know he's going to end up in the NFL. Do you think he's the type of guy that will get thrown right into the fire or will he have to sit or too soon? Well, I think it's too soon to say, but especially since he's really played, you know, he came in what in the last game and, you know, filled in and filled in admirably, did really well. So let's see what he does when he starts and we need to see a little bit more of him to know for sure what he can do.
But obviously game one was pretty impressive and especially coming in cold. So, you know, that's, I mean, look, he was a top recruit for a reason and he showed why in the last game. So now we'll see what he can do when he starts, but he's got to get some, he's got to get some playing time. You know, he's not going to get a great chance just because of his name if he never plays. So you've got to get playing time, whether it's a Texas or if he has to go somewhere else to get playing time. In the end, he's going to have to show over the course of a full season, what he can do. And then, you know, I think for him, this guy is probably the limit. He seems like a very talented kid. Yeah. And the way Quinn Ewers gets hurt, I mean, he may have some other chances and opportunities as the year goes on.
We'll find out. Hey, Jerry, where can people follow you and all your work with CBS Sports? Yeah, cbssports.com is the best place to follow everything. I'm on Twitter at JP Palm CBS. I'll post up there sometimes too. But cbssports.com is where you're going to find all my stuff. Jerry, I appreciate the time on a Friday afternoon and evening. You enjoy the rest of it and the weekend as well and all the football. All right. Thanks. Thanks for having me on.
