The NFL season is finally here, so make sure you're ready with NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. It gives you the most live NFL games all in one place, exactly what you need to make your Sundays more magical. Sign up today at youtube.com slash sundayticket.
Local and national games on YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. I'm living my best life, yeah, yeah. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host Brian Weber.
Yeah, big shoes to fill. Eisen's a legend. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show. Do you know who I am? I'm a guy on television.
I have my own show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. It is the final hour of the program. Got a lot to get accomplished, but we'll always carve out time to get interactive.
You can pick up the telephone 844-204-7424 to be totally up front with you. Whenever I'm in the chair, doing my best not to destroy the brand that Rich has worked so hard to create. I move quickly. I have a lot to get to, especially since we're down to our remaining 60 minutes. So, if you want to chime in, the best way to participate is on social media. X me.
Head over to Twitter. B.W. Weber. Weber with two B's.
And, in fact, we really only have 40 minutes together because, coming up at 40 past the hour, we'll rack up the program with style points. We've talked a lot of college football so far, understandably, dominating this holiday weekend. Going back to Thursday with Colorado's near miss against North Dakota State.
We will get granular, strong opinions and the takeaways from the games that have mattered. And, at this point, essentially all the important games, unless you want to see if Mike Norvell's team can bounce back. After getting upset in Ireland, week zero, after all of the hand wringing and consternation that somehow Florida State got jobbed by the selection committee last year.
They get embarrassed by Georgia Tech a couple weeks ago, an opportunity to rebound against Boston College today. We will take you on campus, coming up at 40 past the hour, when we check in with Pete Vutek of collegefootballnews.com. In 20 minutes, we'll spotlight the AFC East. I think it's among the most interesting divisions in all of football, not just because of the New York connection.
I left the tri-state area a long time ago and prefer to be here in Southern California with Rich and the guys, enjoying one more day off and then back with you tomorrow. I'm sure Rich will start the countdown to kick off for a blockbuster in college football, as well as Alma Mater, Michigan, hosting Texas. Top 10 game in Ann Arbor, part of a good slate of games coming up this weekend, beyond what we've already seen, with a lot of thrilling finishes and some top 20 games that in the past would have had huge implications on the college football playoff. But now, with the expansion to a dozen teams, the meaning has been lessened. Let's head back to the NFL.
Spent a good chunk of the first hour getting you set for Kansas City and Baltimore. Just talked a little bit of Eagles football with Josh Alper, a pro football talk, and I thought he spelled out things interestingly from a macro perspective of Philly heading into the season. I wasn't just trying to be glib, and yeah, some of that is my brand, but the way we analyze things, and again, I am not an insider. I am not a former coach. The last time I played anything would have been eighth grade 1983. But I take my job seriously.
Hopefully I don't take myself too seriously, despite all of the big words and the over-annunciation. I watch a lot of games, I know, wow, what a great commitment to your profession. But you would be amazed if you listen closely how many people just don't watch games anymore.
And I don't have the name names. Plus, the red zone is the best invention of my lifetime. Now, to be fully transparent, I'm on team Andrew Siciliano, wish Andrew was still doing it, but Scott Hansen is serviceable, and it's not about the host, it's about the content. Give me a better way other than getting in touch with your spirituality to spend a Sunday. I wish college football had a version of it. I know it's wonky because of the tonnage, all the games on Saturday, but you can't tell me there's not a way to replicate what we enjoy on Sundays on Saturdays as well. So, watching games and coming up with firm conclusions about teams in the NFL is so tough because, forget about the massive swings year to year, we see it game to game, half to half. The margin between the premier teams and the lousy teams is so slim, it really is incredible. So we do our best to come up with summary judgments, a description of what we expect from teams based on past experience. But I think everybody who plays fantasy football, or at least is aware of it, has moved us as a sporting collective to a view that defense is, okay, let's just talk about who you got coming off the edge at a lockdown quarter. That's it, right? And again, I don't want to get too in the weeds here, and I will talk about the Eagles coming up.
I'm Brian Weber in Fort Johnson. In terms of offense, yeah, obviously it's sexier, and we're going to gravitate towards the elite quarterbacks, a handful of running backs, and then the greatest collection of talent at wide receiver simultaneously I've seen in my lifetime. It is the golden age of receivers. Did you watch the USC LSU game last night? How many spectacular one-handed catches were featured in that game? And I realized the gloves with their stickiness, not old school stick-em, Lester Hayes is not walking through that door. I realized that the gear and the equipment has changed, but these wide receivers are out of this world.
It's like watching Spider-Man do his thing. Now we never talk about the offensive line, so I thought it was interesting that Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com, threw out the Jason Kelce subtraction with his retirement, and the ripple effect that could have on the Eagles beyond the brotherly shove or the tush-push, whatever you want to call it. They'll still be able to execute, I think, with the humanity they have up front, but Jalen Hurts certainly has mobility as an asset, and the Eagles had proven in the past.
It was essentially plug-and-play at the running back position. Whoever you want to pick in the last few years, Boston Scott and the rest, now you have a featured back. You have the biggest free agent that was available in Saquon Barkley in his prime. Yes, he's dealt with injuries and a ton of carries. The workload would be a concern moving forward, but if we're just talking about present tense and what the Eagles could do this year, you throw Barkley into an offense loaded with playmakers. Think about that receiving core with Smith and Brown and all the rest. I think what we want to see this year from Philadelphia is some continuity, because something was wrong in that locker room, and we had the reports trickling out, and we've had it essentially acknowledged by Jalen Hurts and his head coach, Nick Ceriani, understanding the sanctity of the locker room, and they're not going to reveal the particulars, but there was a disconnect there. The reports, well-sourced, and you can read on Pro Football Talk and NFL.com, wherever you get your NFL news, indicate that Ceriani can run hot, overruling his play callers, and taking some of the freedom that Jalen Hurts feels like he's earned. And I would agree with the quarterback. We've seen it.
He's a top 10 performer that Ceriani rules with too much of an iron will. The question is, can coaches truly evolve? And we'll talk about this in 15 minutes when we get into the Dolphins and the fallout from Tuatunga Violoa, going public with his, not only concerns, his deep-seated animosity based on how he was treated by Brian Flores. Do coaches have the ability to evolve at this stage of their career, or, while they can tell you whatever it is that they think is going to put the public at ease and come up with all the buzzwords about being open-minded, and culture-driven, and collegial, we know a lot of these guys, and they're guys throughout the NFL coaching staffs, believe that they got those jobs by sheer determination, outworking the competition, sleeping in their office, and they're going to be damned if they do it any other way than their way, because they know they're getting fired at the end of the cycle either way.
So you've heard him many times in the past. Well, if I'm getting whacked, I'm going out on my own terms. So that's what I want to see from Philadelphia, or I want to pay attention to. Because I don't think you can question the talent on either side of the ball, and I agree with Josh Alper. They're the team to beat in the MCs.
Now that is not a hot take at all. I think Dallas sneaks in as a wild card. They have too much skill. I still believe in that defense. I want to see what they try to do with a run game, but there's too much talent for Dallas, even though they can't get out of their own way, not to be a playoff team. When they get to the postseason, what's going to happen? Same thing that's happened dating back to the mid-90s.
They're going to fall apart, because there's something amiss in that organization, and they just don't have whatever the it is needed to even make a conference championship game, because they haven't done it since the triplets. I'm Brian Weber. Aim for Rich Eisen.
Hit me up on Twitter. B. W. Weber. Weber with two Bs.
30 minutes from now. We talk college football. P. Futek of collegefootballnews.com. Have not gotten into the 49ers, and let me certainly acknowledge that it is great news to see what has happened in the news cycle over the last 48 hours or so. What a shocking story that was on Saturday to learn that Niner rookie receiver, their first round pick, Ricky Piersol, had been shot in a robbery attempt in Union Square. He is out of the hospital, according to his mother. The bullet went through his chest and came out his back.
My goodness, what a scary and frightening story. Just a wonderful development to hear that he's already out of the hospital from a standpoint of where the Niners are. First, they have to get Trent Williams back.
I don't care what it takes. Trent Williams, and I know this is a loaded term, has earned every dime that's coming his way. Because if you want to think about the amazing rise of Brock Purdy, some of it comes down to Purdy seizing the opportunity, some of it comes down to Kyle Shanahan coaching him up.
Remember Kyle? Other than, say, the second half of Super Bowls is an offensive mastermind. It's a cheap shot, but it's proven out by his track record. And Purdy has benefited from an amazing collection of talent around him. Just look in front of him. That offensive line has given him a clean pocket in most of the important games of his career. My issue with Purdy is this. I need to see more. And perhaps I overreact too much to the spotlight games when we're all watching in primetime, or maybe it's by virtue of my work cycle.
And I'm lucky enough to be in for Rich throughout holiday circumstances, and I'm here for the majority of Christmas week. Remember all the hype? Heading into quote-unquote the game of the century last year between the Niners and the Ravens? And what happened to Brock Purdy in that game?
He wet the bed. Go to the Super Bowl against a Kansas City defense that is just aight. I know Chris Jones can terrorize quarterbacks, but that's not the most formidable defense.
Far from it. Purdy had a couple plays that if things went differently, the Niners win that game in regulation. And am I being unfair to the quarterback?
Yes. But that's how it works in the NFL. Niners are gonna pay him, but think about the amazing flexibility they have gotten due to the fact that he was Mr.
Irrelevant. And it's not a coincidence that Brandon Aiyuk wanted his money and he wanted now, like Veruca Salt, I want Oompa Loompa and I want it now, and Trent Williams wants to get paid now. For Williams, it's because he's moving towards the end of his career, and they both know once Purdy gets paid as soon as the offseason, he's getting all the money. And with the restraints of a salary cap, other guys are gonna have to take less. So this is a monumental year for the 49ers, in addition to the psychological challenge of, can they break through?
And is there an emotional hangover? Now this was something that happened much more frequently in the past. The losing team in the Super Bowl often didn't even make it to the playoffs. That's changed for whatever reason, but I do think organizations, even though the players change year to year, so long as the coaching staff is mostly intact, franchises get an identity. And look, if you care about my background, I lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for the better part of 20 years.
If there's a place that I call home, other than my current locale in Southern California, it is San Francisco. And I think a lot of that's on Kyle Shanahan. He gets tight in big games, and let's find out if Purdy really is, as Niner fans tell me, their best quarterback since Steve Young. Talking about the team accomplishments, yeah. The guy just played in the Super Bowl and he lasted, what, 30 seconds in the MC Championship game the year before, before he got beat up. But from a standpoint of individual skill set, I don't see it.
And there's nothing wrong with being a high-end game manager. That's all the Niners ask him to do. Well, occasionally, when the margins are so tight, especially in a playoff game, your franchise quarterback is going to have to make the plays that determine the difference between winning and losing.
And I could isolate a couple major moments, second half, where Purdy had thrown a little bit more accurately in tight windows, Niners moved the sticks, get closer to kicking a field goal that would have won that game in regulation. Still, they're going to win that division. And as we look across the rest of the NFC, you know my belief in Philadelphia, love the pickup of Kellen Moore, been a creative play caller in his previous stops in Dallas and with the Chargers. Vic Fangio, respected defensive mind, there to bring that defense back together after the Matt Patricia implosion.
No surprise, because he's part of that rotten Belichick coaching tree. I think the NFC North, arguably, is going to be the best division, certainly in that conference, maybe in football. The Lions are for real. And I realize the pain of their inability to close things out in the second half of the NFC Championship game still stings in Motown. But for that franchise, after decades of futility and dysfunction, to be relevant again is a football miracle. The Ford family did such an atrocious job of running that franchise. We know Barry Sanders couldn't handle the losing anymore, he walked away.
Calvin Johnson did likewise. And for the Lions to have that kind of talent, offensively and defensively, and that kind of coach, Dan Campbell, who has changed the culture, one of the best developments I've seen the last 15 years in the NFL. Packers are ahead of schedule. Remember, they were the youngest team with the collective ages of any club to make the postseason last year. Jordan Love has already gotten paid, certainly trending in the right direction, and I've spent too much time talking about the Bears.
It's like I'm auditioning to work for the score in Chicago. If you see South, throw him in a hat other than the Panthers, who are still going to be terrible. And it just feels like the Atlanta situation to me.
I know the Bucks keep winning that division. But what's going on with Kirk Cousins and Michael Pennix Jr.? I heard an interview with Bijan Robinson, who of course is among the most versatile players in the league.
He has the potential to put up Christian McCaffrey-esque numbers. He says that Cousins is 100% in practice, coming back from his Achilles injury. But the Falcons handled things in an odd fashion with reps in the preseason. Remember, Pennix only played a handful of snaps, and they shut them down for the rest of the exhibition slate. I'm not sure what's going on there, but the presumption is a healthy Cousins, along with the coaching change, and if you can't play hard for anymore, you've got a problem. That guy could motivate this console here, which I'm going to pound like Brian Kelly. That's how much of a master energizer of teams he is. I'll go with the Falcons to win that division, although keep an eye on Kirk Cousins, because I think the minute, and I realize he's got all that guaranteed money, but the minute there are questions about his proficiency or his health, there is also a reason why the Falcons took a top 10 pick and turned it into Michael Pennix Jr., not addressing their needs on the offensive line, nor bolstering the defense, although they went out and got the disgruntled Matthew Judon to make them a lot more formidable coming off the edge. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen.
Last call for phone calls, 844-204-7424, or slide over to the X platform, B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs, coming up in just over 20 minutes. We spotlight college football with Pfutech of collegefootballnews.com. Next, as mentioned, we'll turn our attention to the AFC East. Already got Josh Alper's outlook on the Jets. He says a healthy Rodgers means gang green is in the Super Bowl mix. What about Miami?
It has been more than a minute since the Dolphins even won a playoff game. Plus, Artua, tongue out of the vial, lowers the tractors right, that he's created even more pressure on himself by his public takedown of his former head coach, Brian Flores. That's on the way. I'm the other Brian, Brian Weber. I guess I can go third person. B. Webb, some have called me. I'm in for Rich Eisen and the guys.
Great to have you with us live on this Labor Day here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's talk DoorDash, people. If your family's like mine, it probably is. You want something to eat, your kids want something else to eat. How do you handle it all? How do you make sure everybody's happy? DoorDash, that's how you make sure everybody's happy. The food delivery app is the most awesome on-demand delivery platform that you can go get to make sure that food comes to the places you like right to your table. It's awesome, especially now that football's finally back, which means it's time to order your favorite game day food, snacks, and drinks on DoorDash without missing a single play.
And here's how I can help you. Use my promo code, RichEisen24, for 50% off up to a $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your first order. Limited time offer, terms apply. Promo's not valid for orders containing alcohol. DoorDash, your door to game day greatness. Your door to more. Download the DoorDash app now to order your game day favorites and use my promo code, RichEisen24. Must be 21 or older to order alcohol. Drink responsibly.
Alcohol available only in select markets. Are you struggling to close deals? Business to business selling is tougher than ever, and that's why I want to tell you about LinkedIn Sales Navigator. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales intelligence platform that helps professionals effectively prospect and engage high value customers, drive higher revenue, and increase sales performance.
Sales Navigator helps you target the right buyers, surface key signals such as job changes or which accounts you should prioritize, and shows you hidden allies so you can find those buyers that are most likely to convert. Fueled by LinkedIn's 1 billion member platform, Sales Navigator gives you the most up to date first party data, enabling you to unlock conversations with the people that matter. Right now you can try LinkedIn Sales Navigator and get a 60 day free trial at LinkedIn.com slash direct. That is LinkedIn.com slash direct for a 60 day free trial. Let LinkedIn Sales Navigator help you sell like a superstar today.
Just go to LinkedIn.com slash direct and get started. This episode is brought to you by FX's The Old Man, starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow. The hit show returns as the stakes get higher and more secrets are uncovered. The former CIA agent sets off on his most important mission to date, to recover his daughter after she's kidnapped.
FX's The Old Man premieres September 12th on FX, stream on Hulu. Welcome back to The Rich Eisen Show Radio Network, I'm Brian Weber, and I'm proudly sitting at The Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call, click Grainger.com or just stop by. You can get at me on social media during or after the program. I'm heading home to get set for Florida State Boston College. B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's.
I might alphabetize my colognes. Big holiday. A lot going on in my world and I appreciate you spending part of this Labor Day with us. Rich and the crew back with you tomorrow. All their thoughts from a jam packed weekend of college football and they'll continue to get you fully lined up for week one of the NFL. More college football on our individual docket in 15 minutes. We will give you all the big takeaways from what has occurred already on campus when we check in with Pete Futak from collegefootballnews.com. We are still on Jamar Chase. Watch, watch, watch, watch.
After C.D. Lamb held out, got paid. After Brandon Auk held in, got paid. We got another wide receiver who wants to get paid. His challenge is he plays for the Stingy Bengals. Mike Brown, always tight with a buck.
And we know how it works. The only leverage that Chase has is to show up but not practice and create the illusion he's not going to play. But scouring Twitter just saw that he is present in street clothes. He's been in and out and he's still making demands through his agent for a massive payday.
I think we can all safely assume what will happen here. I would be shocked if he's willing to eat a check. Remember, NFL players do not get paid the way we do because, well, they're not like you and I. They are skilled athletes. They get paid per game. And whatever the number is, chop it up over 17 weeks. Some teams pay during the bye week.
Most don't. Is Chase really committed and willing to parting with 1 17th of his salary to try to hold the line and exert whatever leverage he might have? Now, the only positive for Cincinnati is they're going to beat New England with or without Chase. Most notably because Joe Burrow is back and if we're just talking MVP candidates, certainly he's on the short list of guys with a real chance to win that award. Josh Allen is fascinating to me. What is going on with Josh Allen's slander? If we're talking premier quarterbacks and it's hard to divorce what a quarterback does from his team's achievements. Remember, I do believe this one and it's almost become a parody that wins and losses are not QB stats. But when you look at Allen, numbers are outrageous. He has the ability to extend plays. He's often the leading rusher for the Bills, which is a challenge because he keeps putting his body on the line. Still, this franchise has never been the same since those dreaded 13 seconds in Kansas City.
And a lot of shows are just looking to kill time over the summer. So you get these polls from unnamed league executives or a collection of players. Josh Allen has gotten destroyed in both ranks. So you had the ESPN poll position by position of management types. One unnamed exec called him the most overrated quarterback in the league. And then there was a player poll once more going position by position. And this time it wasn't just a quote, it was the category Allen voted the most overrated quarterback in the NFL.
I don't see it. I do have concerns about Buffalo now because they've gone through a massive overhaul of the roster. And back to that fantasy football notion, we focus so much on the bright, shiny things in the NFL. Clearly, the departure of Stephon Diggs to Houston. And now Allen looking for a new number one wide receiver to step up in addition to all the optimism surrounding Keyon Coleman. After his solid college career at Michigan State, Florida State and his dynamic personality as a second round pick. I think the more glaring concern for Buffalo is on defense.
They said goodbye to a ton of guys with loads of experience and leadership like Jordan Poyer who landed in Miami. So if I got to slot the teams in that division and at some point you got to move on from just saying Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo. Although I just told you earlier in the show, I do think Casey makes it nine consecutive division titles in the AFC West. Remember, Buffalo has dominated things over the last half decade or so in the AFC East. I think that changes this year and it comes down to do you believe that Aaron Rodgers is going to stay healthy?
Remember, and I'll steal again from Josh Alper who joined us wrapping up the last hour of the show. The Jets, because of the strength of their defense, won seven games with some of the sloppiest quarterback play we've seen in the modern NFL. I'm not just picking on poor Zach Wilson. Mike White had a couple moments where it looked decent, but for that team to win that many games with that little production under center reflects just how steely that defense is. You throw in a healthy Breece Hall and I think the Jets are, if not the consensus to win the division, certainly going to give Miami all they can handle.
I will go with the Dolphins and, again, I try to be explicit with my leanings and my biases. I'm a Tua fan and I liked what he had to say going public with how he felt he was mistreated by Brian Flores. I know for a lot of you it's contrary to things we hold sacred like the locker room or, well, football, you have to be coached hard. You can be a demonstrative, driving, charging head coach and not destroy or attempt to destroy people's self-esteem.
It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. And Flores, according to Tua, and he's got no reason not to be accurate, went so far as to basically text him. It wasn't like he was getting ridden hard enough at the facility. He would text him saying, in effect, you suck. Well, it's hard to do your job when you know.
We all have an inkling sometimes your boss doesn't like you. When it's in black and white on your phone, don't you think that's going to impact your mindset? So it's not in any way a surprise that Tua went healthy last year and that's been the major concern. Although he took the time to work on his sliding and he's making better decisions and the mixed martial arts training in jiu-jitsu. Not a surprise that Tua has seen his numbers develop in a major way. Also, in a partnership with a bright offensive mind like Mike McDaniel, the issue for Miami is, you got to show us something in games that matter late in the year and you got to be teamed with winning records. I don't care that you're scoring 70 points on the Broncos and putting up 700 yards of total offense.
Do it when it counts. So as much as I am a Tua fan, remember how this entire narrative has shifted in South Florida. Remember when Tank for Tua was a thing? That the franchise was all in because they viewed him as their future. Then, went after Deshaun Watson and thank goodness from the Miami perspective they didn't get him. Flirted so openly with Tom Brady they got popped by the league for tampering.
Don't you think those things in addition to Flores being an a-hole would wear on Tua? So I think now with a reset, with that receiving core and a defense that has the ability to make plays, I need to see them do it when it matters. I'm going Miami not only the window division, I have Miami going all the way to the AFC title game. The problem for them most likely will be that's another trip to Kansas City and I'm not even getting into geography and climate, but we saw how Miami looked on the road in KC losing that game in frigid conditions.
I think we're looking at more of the same, but for Miami who has not won a playoff game in the better part of 20 years, just winning a game or two changes the entire dynamic surrounding that franchise and the balance of power within the AFC East, which I think is moving on from Buffalo and we know the Patriots are an absolute dumpster fire. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. You can tweet at me, B.W.
Weber, Weber with two B's. I will check out social media coming up during the break and straight ahead, we finalize with style points. More college football analysis. How many SEC teams are going to make it to the 12-team college football playoff field this year? We'll find out when we check in with Pete Futek of collegefootballnews.com. That is straight ahead.
Weber in for Eisen on this Labor Day edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Say goodbye to complicated, expensive and uncertain shipping and say hello to an advantage with USPS ground advantage shipping from the United States Postal Service. Every business faces challenges, but shipping shouldn't be one of them.
So keep things simple with clear upfront pricing and no unexpected surcharges for Saturday deliveries, residential deliveries or fuel. Keep things affordable with some of the lowest prices out there, helping you counter the rising costs of doing business with a budget friendly alternative and keep things reliable with on time ground shipping, ensuring your shipments get to where they need to go while maintaining your hard earned reputation. USPS ground advantage is your ticket to easy, cost effective and dependable shipping. It's the complete delivery service your business needs to rise above the competition. There's never been a better time to turn shipping to your advantage. Learn how at USPS dot com slash advantage.
USPS ground advantage. Simple, affordable, reliable. Listeners, please welcome a real finance nerd from our sponsor, NerdWallet. Hey, Sean. Hey, Rich.
Thanks for having me. We all know NerdWallet for their credit card comparisons, but there's more to it than that, right? So much more. Even for credit cards, it's not the basic this card versus that card. With us, you can filter for features you want, add your top cards to a comparison table and get access to exclusive offers. Smarter tools, smarter financial decisions. Exactly. Beyond credit cards, we research and review thousands of other financial products from high-end savings accounts to mortgage lenders so you can find the smartest products.
Hear that world? NerdWallet is not just credit cards. Thanks for that important PSA, Rich.
And where exactly should people go to compare and find these credit cards and savings account and mortgage rates and more? NerdWallet dot com forward slash learn more. Thanks again to NerdWallet, our paid sponsor of this segment. NerdWallet. Finance smarter. Hey, that's my line. Finance smarter, y'all.
NerdWallet Compare Inc. NMLS 1617539. Brian Weber back with you. We are winding down on this Labor Day here on the Rich Eisen Show. That means Rich and the guys are warming up back with you tomorrow. But we have a lot more content to produce. Let's talk football with one of the best in our industry.
Old friend, the Pete Viewtek of collegefootballnews.com. Peter, how much sleep have you gotten going back to Thursday when Colorado edged North Dakota State? Add another L or three to that old friend, the way you said that. I still have my fastball.
It might not have the movement it had before. But man, it's not quite as fast, but it's a lot of stuff happening. The first two weeks are always a killer, especially when you have 80 games and all of them blow out because they're all FCS teams getting just rocked. But it's fun. It's games again.
Finally, something fun to talk about. It's funny how narratives kind of go away fast. This whole Lincoln and Riley is going to get fired narrative is kind of quieted after eight months. And, you know, it's going to see all the, you know, the bull stuff that we deal with for all offseason.
Now it kind of comes in and kind of gets its butt kicked around a little bit. At the same time, some narratives are confirmed. So let's talk Clemson, Georgia. Now, no shame in losing to Georgia.
And that game was relatively tight at halftime than the Bulldogs assert themselves in the second half. Pete, explain to me the rationale of Dabo Sweeney not to use the portal at all. What is his logic? I don't know. I just think he's old school and doesn't want to deal with it. I will say that to defend it in a little bit of a way is that there's something to be said for being like the complete opposite of everyone else and being like, well, that's the Georgia stands approach from Seinfeld, right?
A little a little bit. Come to Clemson and you're not going to have to look over your shoulder. We're not going to we're going to you're part of our family. We're going to keep going. We're not going to replace you. You know, we're going to work out that you're built.
You're able to make a mistake and all that kind of stuff, which is fine. And here's the crazy part about it. You start off with this. You can't really dog them for losing to Georgia. We're killing time here. I mean, this is going to be fun. We're going to have a few laughs, but it's Georgia, Ohio State and everybody else. And it's not even close. And the crazy part about this, we're all going to have to kind of get used to it. Clemson could still in the ATC. I know everyone's having a. I know. And that's my problem with the 12 team format. But I'm a voice in the wilderness yelling to myself.
Yeah, you are, because it's fun. It's actually a more fair way. You can play your way in and like look at Alabama, Western Kentucky. What's your Kentucky is probably going to win the Conference USA title if it's not Liberty and even liver. And what's the Kentucky if they run the table could probably be that 12 feet. And they just got destroyed.
Sixty three. Nothing. So like we're going to have to kind of recalibrate. We think about all these games and what it means to lose these things. But to answer your question. Yes, Clemson could use a few more guys. It's kind of they just need a little more talent at certain spots. And look, you can keep up or, you know, it was adapter die to go moneyball on you. Look what I'll say. I mean, they just they just bought it.
This is this is the right way to do it, though. They bought themselves the right guys. You know, Miami, they bought themselves the right guy.
That's how the game's played now. Pete, you tech channeling Nick Saban with the 20 million dollar payroll observation in Columbus. Check out his great work. CollegeFootballNews.com. You mentioned Lincoln Riley, USC edging LSU.
Good watch. High drama. Did that game tell you more about the Trojans or Brian Kelly melting down to start another season?
Oh, everything can be good at once, can't it? It's not a bad day when Brian Kelly loses. But it's look, it's it's really about USC, you know, looking. And now that defense is the story because what's been the Lincoln Riley narrative? It's that, OK, we know you know, this guy's an offensive genius. But even his days in Oklahoma, you know, they were in a college football playoff one year with the statistic worst defense in college football.
I mean, now that deeds showed up. And I think that's probably what really burned Brian Kelly the most is that he's like, OK, look, I changed my defense up to the LSU defense, which didn't do anything last year was awfully good yesterday. It just so happened that the USC defense dialed it up a little bit better and stronger in key parts. And they were just more physical than they had to be. And that is the case for as much as everyone wants to say. Oh, these teams are so nice that they play week one.
You're crazy not to play Little Sisters of the Poor. And just in the week one, just to get your timing down, just to give it all because you don't have preseason games. And I think I'm sure it was Bernie Kelly left that with all the penalties in key moments late where you don't really have those.
Once you get a game under your belt and you kind of get, you know, you get to get to get the timing down, everything starts to work. I think that's I suspect there's gonna be a different LSU team weeks, two, three and five. It was going to be this week.
That's last night. But thankfully, some programs are willing to play those marquee matchups week one, namely Notre Dame because, well, you know Notre Dame's schedule better than casual fans listening. Beyond the Texas A&M victory looked great, Notre Dame doesn't play anybody over the next six weeks. So your takeaways from what happened at College Station and how shocked would you be if the Irish don't make the playoffs? So basically you just impugned the entire ACC.
Yes, I did. Georgia Tech's trash and Florida State, why show up? Louisville is just hot garbage. And then, you know, that thing at USC at the end. How many neutral side games does Notre Dame have coming up?
All of them. It's insane. I think they have like, I think they have like one pro game left. I mean, it's including the college football playoff game they're going to have. You're right. It really is insane how I actually think they have three, I could say.
Two of them are relatively easy and then there's the end game at USC, which might not actually matter. But look, this was it. This was, you know, this was the game they needed to have.
And, you know, it wasn't pretty, it wasn't great. But look, they were tough. The big question mark about Notre Dame was that offensive line. Their left tackle, Charles Jegesau, who's supposed to be the next great tackle, blows out at the end of the offseason. And they held up just fine. And what happened at the very end there?
This is, again, why do you play these games week one? These guys aren't in shape yet. And in the heat, in the conditions there at Texas A&M, those big old defensive linemen melted down. When the offensive line just got, just started to eat.
And what happened late? They just started blasting away. And those guys in game one, you know, these are some of the best athletes on the planet. But if you're playing in 98 degrees and 1000% humidity and you're getting beaten up for, you know, 45 minutes, those last 15 are tough. And Notre Dame was able to figure that out and get a little more tough late.
And the running game worked just a little bit better and that turned out to be the difference. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. We are taking you across the nation with our old pal, we'll hit the L's hard in both. Pete Butek, CollegeFootballNews.com. Pete, you were besmirching the schedule coming up. Well, we have Texas and Michigan, top 10 matchup in Ann Arbor, right? Yeah, keep going.
What else you got, son? And don't say Dion, don't say Brian. No, no, no, no, no. That's, I think our big afternoon, South Carolina and Kentucky. I mean, ugh. Well, how about Texas and Michigan? And Michigan is over ranked at this stage of the season, right, based on last year?
I guess. I mean, compared to, you know, what, I mean, they got the Jeff, Fresno State, you know, those guys are on some Nile Mighty too. That was, that was a pretty good win. And Fresno State is one of those teams that could, if everything sort of breaks right, win the Mountain West title and be that 12th team. So that's a pretty good win against the restaurant quality team. So it was all right. I'm not going to dog Michigan too much for that.
It's not like, you know, struggling to get by Idaho or something. But that's a win. The defense looked apart and, you know, they won by double digits, didn't cover. But they did all right.
They did all right for that game of now. Let's see. But there's the other part of this where you don't want to show the next, you know, what's happening to the next week's opponent or something, just in case Texas has its own stallions in the stands there or something. You know what, they didn't really show a whole lot offensively. But we'll see. We'll see if that defense dials up now with Texas coming into town. Let's wrap it up with your favorite topic, who's getting fired. So we saw Miami, Rott, Florida. Billy Napier could not open the bottle of water postgame. That seemed like a metaphor.
Who else is coaching for their job already here in the month of September? I mean, you're talking about hot seats. I always kind of put the hot seat a different way because you can't lose in college football.
You just can't. You can't drop a big game like that. And Brian Kelly's not getting fired. But that's that's a tough one because now you go from a team that, you know, they win that game last night. You look at their schedule.
That's ten and two. They're like a tenth feet or so in the college football playoff. So in that sort of way, again, a little bit of pressure on that was useful to play for national championships. And what's the fun stat on them now is that I think they've lost three straight season openers after their national four straight.
I think after the national championship year, they can't get off the they can't get off the launching pad there. And you actually alluded to the other one. There's no way, no how, no scenario, no chance that Davos when he gets fired. Oh, yeah. But like you said, there's a there's a hard feeling on what you can do if you're not if you're not able to play with the Georges of the world. And obviously they take a step back because they're not embracing the transfer portal.
And finally, again, not going to get fired. But Luke Fickle, that thing's got to start working a little better at Wisconsin. I mean, because that was too much of a struggle against Western Michigan.
I know it's week one, but they're trying this. You know, they went from the power style to this tippy tappy, you know, quick hitting thing or more finesse. And they couldn't pound when they needed to. And the run defense wasn't as good as it used to be. And now they got a little Alabama coming in town in two weeks.
So that that thing is very rock up fast. I love you through in the obligatory. Oh, you know how I know that you're all because you were tweeting about Labor Day Sunday should mean the start of the NFL in the U.S. Open final. And I was smiling, thinking about Pat Summerall sitting alongside Tony Trabert in 1983. Nice.
Yes. And I am I however, I am young enough to not use the old Washington football team moniker. And that's exactly what it actually should have been. But yeah, you know, the NFL should start yesterday. We should have been Pete is not going to kill college football, though. It's Sunday.
So no, no, no, no, no, no. They're going to go back. They're going to do Thursday, Friday, Saturday. They'll give college football Saturday. They're going to hijack the weekend because they're the NFL. I know, but it's figured I get it. I get that. But modern day, it's like Labor Day Sunday. You're supposed to be watching, you know, some NFC East battle, then watch Mat Zwielander play Yvonne, go for the U.S. Open title. And then here, you know, the promo for murder, she wrote.
And then maybe you think about doing your homework. But that's you know, that's forgetting all the old school references that completely outdated. Everybody's probably listening.
I digress. I have stepped on Edberg online to Pete. Always a pleasure for you and I to have contemporary references. Thanks for taking the time to join us.
Anytime. That's my pal, Pete. Few tech. Oh, that just means I'm all.
Although I over enunciate everything, you know, I get the D in there. Pete, not that enthusiastic about this late. The game's coming up this weekend. We do have, quote unquote, a top 10 game. Texas, folks, is back. I mean it this time.
Steve Sarkeesian and I admire anybody who can turn their life around the way he has. And Texas should always be that relevant. I like Pete's other clever line updating the old cliche. The other teams on scholarship, too. Well, as he alluded to with Fresno State, the other team has NIL money as well.
And I was being sincere. You know, as we discussed with Josh Alper, pro football talk and the last hour of the program, when the NFL goes to 18 regular season games, let's call it two years from now, they're not just going to have a couple games on Labor Day weekend. Everyone's going to play, meaning they're going to hijack Thursday, Friday. They'll let Saturday belong to college football, then a boatload of games on Sunday and then Labor Day games. And college football, which has owned this weekend since the NFL moved off it because ratings are soft.
Many of you actually get away from your TV. They're going to come in and obliterate college football as they did to the NBA on Christmas Day because the NFL crushes everything in its path, in part because Rich Eisen is the face of the league, holding it down not only this show, but NFL Network as well. Want to thank our guests. Pete Futak was outstanding. Check out his great work.
CollegeFootballNews.com, as well as the insights of Josh Alper from Pro Football Talk. A lot of people to thank internally, starting with Rich. Bruce Gilbert, all the good people at Westwood One.
Our technical producer, Art Martinez, did a stellar job as always. Rich and the gang back with you tomorrow. I'll talk to you down the road here on the Rich Eisen Show. I want to turn Bob Dylan into a simple character with a simple thing to unlock that then makes you go, ah, now I get him. First time I sat down with him, he said, what's this movie about, Jeff? It's about a guy who's joking to death in Minnesota and reinvents himself in a branded place, becomes phenomenally successful, starts to joke to death again, and runs away. And he smiled.
He was like, I like that. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen. The BiggerPockets portfolio of podcasts are worthy of your investment.
What is the path of least resistance with highest far away? New episodes available every day. People oftentimes are paying very close attention to what the Fed does to get signals on what's going to happen with mortgage rates, and it's completely wrong way thinking. Whether it's real estate, on the market, rookie, or money.
And you can make just 6% on a deal, you can retire next month. The BiggerPockets podcasts are on YouTube or wherever you listen.
