Tom Luginbill, ESPN College Football Analyst

Alrighty, this is that Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll talk some college football. What a weekend it was.

Whenever people say it's going to be a down weekend in college football, I know no such thing exists and that's always the weekend where the most chaos does transpire and that's what we saw this past weekend. So we'll talk with Tom Luganville right now, does a great job covering college football for ESPN and he's kind enough to jump on board with us. Tom, thanks for the time. How you been? I've been great, man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So Vanderbilt and Alabama. It still won all these days later that I just still can't believe. I was at a wedding on Saturday and I was watching the game on my phone and even after having a few drinks, I was like, I know I'm drunk, but I'm this drunk to basically see that Vanderbilt is beating Alabama and taking it to them all these days later. How do you explain the Vanderbilt season where they beat Virginia Tech early on? They eventually lose to Georgia State. They lose to Missouri, who was perceived to be a good team.

And then after Alabama beats Georgia, Vanderbilt beats Alabama. It's really crazy. Before I answer that question, who in the hell is getting married during college football? Yeah. Hey, sometimes you have those situations pop up and I will admit, I will admit a buddy of mine.

He got married. I was thinking of not going. I looked at the college football schedule and it was a running joke on the show. I said, he should have thought of not going. And I said, this is going to be a great weekend because no one thought it was going to be a great weekend. Yeah, no doubt.

I tell you what, what a weekend it was. You're right. No, I think the thing that makes the Alabama Vanderbilt game even more shocking is it wasn't flukey. It wasn't one of those deals where Alabama goes out and turns the ball over five times and they, they allow a punt return for a touchdown. And you know, they throw a pick six and the other team takes advantage, right?

That's generally how these types of things happen from word go on that day. I don't think Vanderbilt the better team of full of athletes, two to three to pour deep on that day. They were the better football team. They were more physical. They were better prepared.

They had more energy, passion, effort. And by God, I've never seen an Alabama team tackle so poorly in my entire life. They had 17 runs where a Vanderbilt ball carrier gained four more yards after contact.

All right. And that that's not Alabama football, right? And on what planet should Vanderbilt be winning a game against Alabama when you, when you look at them athlete for athlete, but I, I, you got to look at this thing and you've got to credit Clark Lee. You've got to credit this program, their resiliency. I think a little bit was a, a bad recipe for disaster. When you have that emotional roller coaster the week before with Georgia and Alabama, and you somehow pull it off, you outlast Georgia, and then what do you do 18 to 22 year old kids? You take a breath, right? And then you look at the schedule and go, Oh, we got Vandy.

And it's just literally the kiss of death. And so I think that Vanderbilt deserves a lot of credit and we can't diminish their effort, their preparation and their execution. Cause it was outstanding. So from here on out for Alabama, they got South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, Mercer, Oklahoma, and Auburn. How many losses do you see Alabama have in authority one to their resume after losing a Vanderbilt by the end of the regular season?

Well, if they don't play well, maybe two, if they play well, I would probably say none because I would still call them the best team of a collective group of athletes, first year head coach, new offense, dynamic quarterback. Like I would be very, very surprised if what we just saw goes on and takes a field against South Carolina. But the question you ask is interesting because it doesn't just apply now to Alabama. It applies to Georgia.

It applies to old miss and it applies to Tennessee. So as we start seeing the carnage of cannibalization over the next six weeks or so, the month of November and the SCC is going to be absolutely crazy. And now the pressure goes on to Texas. Don't screw it up, right? Like keep winning. If you're the Texas Longhorns, stay healthy, keep winning, get the red river rivalry out of the way. And then you got, obviously you got a big contest versus Georgia. Georgia still has to play old miss.

So there's a lot of different things that could unfold here that could be really, really interesting. Who do you think is though, you know, we don't know how it's going to look at the end of the year, but right now, who do you think will end up being the best team in the SCC at the end of the season? I think barring another injury or two, it's probably the University of Texas. And I say that I'm not just talking about Quinn Ewers, I'm talking about the dearth of running backs that have been injured with this football team. And it just shows the incredible depth that they've got. They're just playing really good, clean football. I think top to bottom, they don't have very many deficiencies and their transfer portal additions have been strong ones.

They've been as advertised. I think those young backs have really risen to the occasion. I would put Georgia, Texas, and Alabama probably all in the same boat. If you're going to sit there and say, okay, we're splitting hairs on either talent or competitive depth or youth or transfer portal additions, you could probably throw them all up against a wall, have them all play and they're going to split games out of each 10.

Tom Lugenbill here with us right now on the Zach Gelb show. A&M, I have a weird relationship with A&M right now because I hate what their fans did to Mark Stoops, but I like Mike Elko a lot. Now, after what I saw week one against Notre Dame, I would have never thought we'd be talking about them potentially going to the college football playoff, but what they just did up against Missouri with Wegman coming back to outside of Vanderbilt, it was the most impressive performance I saw this weekend. Yeah, if Notre Dame and Texas A&M played again, I do not think Notre Dame would win that football game. And I think that's why we always got to remind ourselves, it's where you play, who you play, but it's also when you play.

Those two things are really big and important. Listen, I have felt since August that if you were dissecting the AP top 25 poll and you said, okay, who's probably the most over-ranked unworthy team of their ranking? I would have said Missouri without question. And I broadcasted their cotton bowl last year. I liked them. I thought they were good.

I thought they did a fantastic job. Eli Drinkwitz and the rest of that staff and that team, putting them in a position to beat an Ohio state team, but they snuck up on everybody last year and they're not sneaking up on anybody now. And what Texas A&M did is I think they proved that while Missouri is good, worthy of being ranked, they're not a top 10 football team. Now what was impressive about A&M was not just their ability to run the football right down Missouri's throat, but when you make that change at quarterback and Connor Wigman, who's won that job twice, right? Yeah. He's been injured, but he's obviously very, very talented. There's a reason why he's won the job. And then he goes 18 to 22, just starts slicing and dicing.

So you had all of the components working in your favor. I think it's exactly what Mike Elko and Colin Klein want to be on offense. They want to beat you up. They want to be play action.

They want to be RPO, but it starts on the ground with them. And dude, Zach, look at their schedule. Like we talk about schedule. You got LSU and Texas and everybody else. They're going to be favored by probably seven or more. If they beat LSU, I think they'll make the college football playoff.

Cause I'm not going to expect them to beat taxes. I'm not saying it's impossible, but as long as they beat LSU, they should be a team that's in the playoff. Yeah. I think, you know, most notably it's probably 10 and two, the threshold probably to, to ensure that you have a spot and, you know, a lot of that's dependent upon what happens in the big 10, what happens in the ACC, what happens in the, in the big 12. Um, so yeah, I think that, but what's made this whole thing so interesting is we've had losses by teams who everybody thought, well, that's a college football playoff team. Yeah. And they've all lost to somebody that people didn't think was a college football playoff team. So it's thrown a huge wrench in the works. Could Penn state, I know USC just lost this past week, but could you see Penn state going down to USC this weekend?

No, I couldn't. I think that, that aside from Michigan, Penn state's the best defensive team they will have faced to this point. Um, I really love what Andy Kotalnicki, the new offensive coordinator, Penn state has done. He has revitalized the run game. They're dispersing the ball to everybody.

I think two, two weeks ago, uh, two or three weeks ago, they had 10 different players, uh, have a reception and on the season they'd had like nine different players score touchdown. I mean, the dispersal of the ball is really good and drew our looks sharp. I was really surprised at the lack of explosive plays for SC on the road at Minnesota with that collection of wide outs, SC couldn't push the ball down field. They ran the football fairly well with what he marks and defensively. I think SC is, is back to being competitive. I don't know how good they are. Whereas last two to three years, they were just non-competitive. And so, uh, Penn state will be the better team.

I think going West is a lot easier than going East. Um, but a unique kick time, I guess you could say, and we'll see. It reminds me of an old Rose bowl matchup, you know, right now, a hundred percent, uh, Oregon and Ohio state.

Who do you lean on that one right now, uh, early on the week? Well, everything I've seen from Ohio state, I absolutely love, but there's like a 2% part of me that says, man, they haven't played anybody. You know, I get the, it's the same vibe I got after Kentucky beat Ole miss. And I kept saying Ole miss did themselves absolutely no favor scheduling that way because they were never put in a bind.

They were never challenged. They never faced adversity, never had to play from behind, never had to make some plays in a one possession game. I think Ohio state's as good as, as I believe my eyes are telling me they are, but they haven't had to do any of those things either.

So you go on the road to Austin stadium. Again, I think it's a lot easier traveling West and Oregon. My issue with Oregon is I still can't get their performance versus Idaho and Boise state out of my mind.

And not because the games were close, but why they were close. Idaho and Boise state pushed them around upfront. So if those two teams can do that, and I know a lot of that's mindset and preparation, you're playing Idaho, you're playing Boise state. That likely won't be the mindset versus Ohio state, but I am worried a little bit about Oregon in the trenches versus Ohio state. And I need to see Dylan Gabriel in this Oregon offense, create some more explosive plays that's really been lacking.

And so is the red zone production. Who's more likely to win the Heisman. Is it Ashton gente or Travis Hunter, in your opinion? It will all depend. And I have a Heisman vote full disclosure. I think it will all depend on what your mentality is towards whether or not the team is a good team. Meaning that, you know, even when, when RG three won it, they were nine and three. That's hard to win a Heisman trophy on a nine and three team. You're generally 11 and O or 12 and O 11 and one, maybe 10 and two you're in a new year six bowl, or you're in the college football playoff, or you're playing for a championship. What if Colorado finishes six and six, or what if they were to finish seven and five?

Do you have the mentality of the voter that, I just, I don't know. Well, I personally look at Colorado and while I think they are improved, if you took number 12 and number two off the field, they're a one and 11 football team. So take that for what you will. I think he's pound for pound the best football player in college football. Now he's got to stay healthy, still a lot of football to play, and it's all in conference going forward. But I think, you know, it's not just Ashton Gentia, it's Cam Ward. Like what if Miami rolls through? I mean, he's been lighting it up and they don't play Clemson during the regular season.

So, but I would probably lean towards Travis. He is Tom Lugan. Bill does a great job covering college football for ESPN. Tom always appreciate it. We got to do it again soon. Thank you. You bet. Thanks for having me, man.

There you go. Tom Lugan Bill joining us right there on the infinity sports network. Could be a good weekend in college football. When you look at these matchups, you know, even on Friday night, you got Utah and Arizona state, South Carolina, Alabama. This weekend, you got red river with Texas and Oklahoma. You got Penn state and USC. Obviously we'll see what happens between Florida and Tennessee. Maybe a last stand for Billy Napier, Ohio state and Oregon Ole miss LSU. Even Iowa state now undefeated at five and O up against three and two West Virginia, Kansas state, Colorado going to be a good one. Got some good games this weekend in college football. Take a break. How much longer will Alan Rogers play in the NFL? We'll talk about that next and also Craig card and we'll join us 25 minutes from now.