Dan, how are you, man? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm excellent. Thank you for joining us. We had a nice chat on Friday.
Both agreed that things were going to be relatively quiet over the weekend. And we saw some some big ol' upsets for both Tennessee and Alabama. What was the biggest surprise for you over the weekend? Alabama with a 40-year track record of beating Vanderbilt. To say the least, that was a stunning result that I don't think anybody could have seen coming. Well, when you look at Alabama, they've certainly received a lot of criticism over the past few days.
People are taking a look at Kalen DeBoer. They're looking at the behavior of Malachi and how he behaved at the end of the game. What are your thoughts on Alabama moving forward? We know they got the game, Cox. But do you think they need to get it together?
I see that defense needs some work, though. Yeah, I think the biggest takeaway I have so far from Alabama's season is that it's almost as if Kalen DeBoer transported all of the things from Washington, good and bad, to Tuscaloosa. And I don't think that's maybe a huge surprise because teams definitely take on the personality of their coach. That's a cliché, but it's true at all levels in pretty much every sport. And I think the idea behind Kalen DeBoer going to Alabama was, he's this guy who has won at every level, Division 2, FCS, FBS.
He has just been an unbelievable winner with an incredible record. And you put him at Alabama and the kind of talent and the resources that they have, and it's going to just be a rocket ship. And I understand that because he is an excellent coach, but you're also going to get some of the negative stuff. And at Washington, pace and tempo and play calling was all very bold, and the games got messy and sloppy, and he managed to win them all for the most part. But there was definitely some chaos there, and now we're seeing the chaos, Alabama uniforms, and it doesn't look quite so good.
I'm not going to write off Kalen DeBoer because, like I said, he's excellent and he's got a great track record, and I think he's smart and I'm sure he's going to adapt. But the way they play, I think, is a little loosey-goosey. It's a little sloppy. It's a little bit too kind of up and down, who's got the ball last kind of football. And maybe that's not going to cut it in the SEC week in and week out. Dan Welkin is joining us, covers all things college football for USA Today. You talk about a little sloppy, you talk about a little loose.
I'm going to pose this question to you. A caller hit us up yesterday and asked about the Hurricanes, asked about Cam Ward. And I said, man, there's too many comebacks.
There's too much up and down. Who have the Miami Hurricanes smacked around that I'm supposed to feel confident about them in the playoff? Yeah, they're going to go, but why would I feel confident? What are your thoughts on the Hurricanes? Yeah, look, I don't think Miami is going to win a national championship. I don't think they're that good, but they do have a lot of talent and Cam Ward is a tremendous playmaker. Every year you have a team that is kind of living on the edge but finds a way to get through these games.
Like I mentioned, last year it was Washington. This year maybe it's Miami, you know, and they've definitely had some close calls and gotten lucky. I think you could say that beating Virginia Tech on an overturned touchdown at the buzzer, there's a lot of luck that goes into that. Coming back from 25-point deficit like they did at Cal, there's got to be some luck that goes into that. Maybe they're the team this year that's just kind of touched by an angel, so to speak. But at some point that does run out and they're not going to win a national championship playing that way. But I do think for Miami and where their program is and where it's been, if they could win the ACC or if they could just get to the college football playoff, I think that would be a huge accomplishment and I think it would be something Miami fans will have no problem rallying around.
Yeah, I don't think so either. Well, Dan, we were looking for the big matchups, the big games last week. We didn't expect the big upsets. Taking a look forward to this week, we do have a big matchup. Taking a look at Oregon and also Ohio State, what should we look forward to in that game?
What should we pay attention to? Yeah, I mean obviously, Oregon started the year slowly, but I think the last couple weeks they've played more the way that they're supposed to play. I think they've tightened some things up. For Ohio State, they've been very dominant and yet they haven't played anybody. So this is going to be quite an important test for both teams in terms of not just the Big Ten race, but also the narrative. I think the thing that stands out the most for Ohio State here is when I watch that in play, and again, they have not played the best teams. So Iowa's not a bad program and they handled Iowa this past week very, very easily. I think what impresses me though about Ohio State just from the eye test is that they're doing it on both sides of the ball. I think under Ryan Day, the first couple years it was all offense. The defense needed a lot of work and they weren't physical enough and it showed in the biggest games.
I think right now, it's clear that they've upped the physicality level significantly. They're very good on defense. They still have tremendous playmakers on offense as they always do, but if they're as complete of a team as they have looked like thus far and they've held everybody in check, then I think they're the best team in the country and now they've just got to go show it in one of the toughest places to play in college football. Dan Wilkin is joining us from USA Today.
You want to talk about the current number one in football? It's Texas. We know they're getting ready for the Red River rivalry against those Sooners. We're going to see the return of Quinn Ewers. What is your confidence level in Quinn to kind of be healthy the rest of the way and keep Texas in contention? That's hard to predict and certainly for Quinn Ewers, Texas is best when he's healthy and available and playing.
I know the goal is going to be to keep him healthy, but I do think for Texas, the season always starts in this game. And the reason I say that is because I have covered the Red River rivalry many, many times. I'll be there this weekend, yet again, and that game never goes the way you think it's going to go. And there's been many, many years over the course of my career where one of the two teams looks like they're three touchdowns better than the other. And yet, when they hit on the field, in that environment, the 50-50 stadium and the hype and the build-up and the rivalry and all that, something happens that makes it go a different way. Even last year, everybody thought Texas was way better, and they were way better. But on that day, Oklahoma got a couple turnovers, they made some stuff happen, the game got crazy and chaotic, and they came out on top and got a huge win. And I wouldn't discount the possibility of them doing it again because that's just the way this rivalry goes. And I do think Texas is better, I think they're one of the best teams in the country, but I'm going to reserve thoughts on Texas until we see them actually get a win over Oklahoma and to do it in a fashion that shows how good they really are.
Yeah, they're sitting at number one. We saw Alabama fell all the way to number seven after their L. Is there anything else that took place over the weekend that caught your attention? I mean, Missouri getting beat was interesting the way they did because they had been kind of in that top ten range, and they went down to Texas A&M and got handled. And on the other side of that coin, you look at Texas A&M, and you know, the Jimbo Fisher thing didn't work. And a lot of people were rooting against it because it just seemed so, you know, they paid so much money for Jimbo, they were so big in NIL, there's so much hype around the recruiting, and it just felt a lot of style over substance. And they hire Mike Elko, and he is just a meat and potatoes football guy, and there's not much style, but there's a lot of substance.
And I think you see that in the way they play where it's just, it's very workmanlike, it's very focused, it's very down to business. I like the way they play under Elko, and I'm not saying that they're going to win the SEC, but I think they've got a chance to be 10-1 when they face Texas in that last game of the year, just because I think that that culture is now a very professional focused culture, and I think that's important. Okay. Well, Dan, you're setting us up for some potential surprises here in about a month or so, huh? Well, look, I don't know what's going to happen.
I'm just saying, you look at the way A&M's handled their business and the schedule they've got in front of them, I think they've got a chance to be in that playoff mix. Hey, anything to keep things interesting. Dan, I appreciate the time, especially coming off of what we thought would be a quiet weekend.
It was certainly a loud one. Where can people follow you in all of your work? At Dan Wolkan on Twitter, as you might call it, and then at usatoday.com. Hey, Dan, thank you so much. Have a good old time in Dallas, okay? Okay, thank you.
