Josh Perry, NBC Big Ten Analyst

Alrighty, we continue. This is that Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network, a massive weekend upcoming in college football after what was a tremendous weekend, a weekend to go. And now joining us, one of the best analysts in the country.

He does a great job at NBC, is a former Ohio State Buckeye linebacker, won a national championship. And that, of course, is our guy, Josh Perry, kind enough to join us once again. Josh, appreciate the time as always. How you been? I've been good. I appreciate you guys having me back on.

I appreciate you coming on. So a wild weekend coming up in college football. We know Oregon, Ohio State should be a doozy. Let me start you off, though, with your alma mater, with Jeremiah Smith.

We all know, right, Ohio State, no shortage of wide receivers in their history, especially as of late. How about what the youngsters been able to do through the first few games of the season? I mean, he's been amazing.

It's been phenomenal to watch just from the outside looking in. I actually had an opportunity yesterday to catch up with him. I was in the building and just like first off, first impression, seeing him in person. That's what I look like as a freshman linebacker physically is what he looks like right now.

I mean, he's rocked up, super lean. He's got big hands. He's lengthy.

So just from a physical standpoint, he won the lottery. But then you get to know him a little bit. You get to spend some time with him. There's a seriousness about his approach. He's very quiet, a little bit soft spoken, extremely thoughtful. When you ask a question, he pauses, thinks about the answer before he gives you one. And you can tell, like, that's the reason why he's had success so early on. Now, I paired that with the fact that he walked into a room that had a veteran like a mecha buka in there. And those guys spent a lot of time together in the off season.

It makes a ton of sense. And it shows up on Saturdays, whether, you know, he's making the contested catch, whether it's, you know, holding somebody off and then just palming the ball with one hand, like he's had so many of those crazy catches, but he puts in the work and he's got the serious approach to match Marvin Harrison Jr. The last few years was the standard. And that says a lot with how many great wide receivers, like I said, Ohio State has had.

What do you think is the ceiling for this youngster? I don't think we've seen anything like it, if I'm being completely honest, like Marv was amazing. And, you know, you had Garrett Wilson, Chris Alave and some of the guys that came through before that. I played with Mike Thomas, who was a really good one. Devon Smith was great for us as well.

You go back to David Boston, Joey Galloway. There's nothing like it. And I'm telling you this right now.

He's got every physical attribute, but just watching him go to work is totally different. So I, you know, I asked some of the people around the building, what do you think the ceiling is? They said there is no ceiling.

The ceiling is not there. And it's crazy to hear, but when you put your eyes to it, you can definitely feel it. It's going to be fun to compare the next few years, Jeremiah Smith with his start and then Ryan Williams at Alabama as well, because what they've been able to do through the first few weeks of the season, just I throw my hands up and say, I don't know what else they could do after this.

Yeah, I wish I was blessed like those two guys. I mean, Ryan Williams out here, 17 years old, man. Like, I mean, dude, go, go to prom. Like, like, you know, go, go do it. High schoolers are doing it.

He's out here dunking on people like it's his job. And again, like, you know, I'm not as familiar with that program, but you hear the same things about him and the quality of the work that he puts in. These two guys are on a different path. Right. And they can they can write their own check.

They'll be they'll be paid as much as anybody's ever been paid playing the game. But it's like it's super fun to see it from its inception and then what they can do into the future. Josh Perry here with us. I'll go back to Ohio State and Oregon in just a second. But moving forward with Alabama, two weeks ago, they beat Georgia.

Then they follow it up. And I still can't believe that they lost to Vanderbilt. I still think they'll make the college football playoff in a 12 team for another schedule. You know, it has like two, two tough games, two, three tough games left on it. But how do you kind of evaluate Alabama now? I mean, it's it's one of the wild things that happens in college football. Start by saying this. You know, I've been a lot to make about Kalen DeBoer. And there, you know, when a guy who didn't grow up coaching ball in the south starts coaching ball in the south, everybody's like, oh, he doesn't fit. He doesn't know what it's about. And you lose to Vanderbilt, obviously unacceptable.

And you start to hear some of the narratives. I'll put it like this. Guys want everywhere he's been right. Took Washington to a national title game. I don't think any of us had that on our bingo card for what that program was going to do. He's a really good ball coach.

I think he's going to have these guys on the right track. One of the things that happens in the sport of college football, you go get you a big win, right? Like you go, you beat Georgia, who is the the current dynasty.

If there is one, Kirby was the era parents to Nick Saban is the best coach in the sport. You get back on campus and all the young ladies are telling you how good you are. And you got your mom and your dad, your aunt and your uncle telling you that you're going to the league and it's your year to win national title. You start flipping on all the morning shows and they're talking about Jalen Milro in this offense and he's going to win a Heisman. You let your guard down.

You take a deep breath. I've been there before as a player. We watch Notre Dame do essentially the same thing earlier this season, go on the road, beat Texas, A&M who people think it looks like right now could contend for the college football playoff and lose that home to NIU.

We're dealing with young people who ride the wave of emotions and I think that's part of it. I think there's an X's and O's part where defensively they have to be much better. We saw what their defense looked like in the second half against Georgia. That's not championship standard. And I think Vanderbilt and their offensive staff created a really good game plan to take advantage of an Alabama defense that doesn't do a ton in terms of variation.

Diego Pavia, really good player. I think people are starting to figure that out. So you put all of those things together combined with like, you know, a sleepy stadium. It's small.

It's under renovation. Like all the factors can create this chaos. I think Alabama is going to be fine. The sky did not fall. Everybody woke up in the morning and things were fine, but it definitely is a rough start to the tenure for Caitlin DeBoer in that sense. Joshua Perry here with us. Getting back to your alma mater, going up against Oregon. We know what is expected of Ohio State this year. We also know what's expected of Oregon. Oregon, even though they're undefeated, got off to a little bit of a slow start, but now they're finding their groove. Put the football cap on here. What do you think this game comes down to on Saturday? So I'll say this.

I think it's a unique game for every storyline that's involved. And from the time I spent yesterday, you know, there's a tightness, I think, attention that existed in the Ohio State program. And especially last year, Michigan lost the, you know, common core transfers out.

You have the bowl game loss to Missouri. The off season was very tense. These guys were focused, but they weren't tense. Like, I think they understand why the veteran players came back. I think they love what the roster looks like. Ryan Day is very happy with the addition of Chip Kelly.

So that's that for the preparation. I know Oregon feels a very similar way in terms of the way that they prepared for this game. These are two head coaches who I think that they're they they're passive mirrored each other.

I think they're the same guy in a lot of ways. Dan Lanning, young hotshot coach, everybody saying he's a top five coach in the sport. Then you start to dig into the metrics. Where are the big wins? That's the question we're asking. Ryan Day at that juncture in his career was a top five coach.

People don't say that anymore. The question they ask about him are where are the wins? So I think there is a narrative that's at stake here for either coaches. It's higher for Ohio State and Ryan Day.

This game is decided in the trenches. And I know that's like a cliche for football. But we saw Oregon's offensive line early in the year. Certainly didn't look like a group that could be a championship group. They've gotten a lot better. Ohio State's defensive line has looked better. But this is a game where you prove it.

JT Tui Molowow, Jack Sawyer. They say your first round picks. This is a game where you make the money.

Flip it around. Ohio State. I said all offseason. Their offensive line is going to be the indicator if they can win a championship. Well, Howard's been throwing out of clean pockets.

Both of the running backs have been they've been getting gobs of yards on the ground unabated to the second level a lot of times. And for Oregon, again, defensive line. That's the game where you got to show up. You know, it's going to be one of those with Mateo and they got Burch out there who's an alien. That's where they make the money.

So all the skill, I think those are the shiny toys and everybody knows about them. Oregon, their wide receiver room with Dylan Gabriel, similar thing. Ohio State will Howard the wide receivers. The trenches dictate this game to me.

Let's get to Red River. Deon Burks I just saw not expected to play this weekend for Oklahoma. We know Oklahoma has made the quarterback switch. Texas, right, is the team. And this is their year after making the college football playoff last year. When you look at Red River, can you make the argument outside of that, hey, it's just a rivalry for Oklahoma to pull off the upset? Yeah, and I think it was announced that Quinn Ewers is for sure to go. So that'll be a lot of fun to see him return there here.

This is it. It's hard for me to create the path outside of it's a rivalry. Oklahoma is there. They're a flawed football team. I think defensively they have enough to be able to make plays. One of the big issues I find with them, though, is the defense is out in the field too much because their offense struggles really to sustain drives.

And those guys can get worn down pretty easily. All the firepower for Texas makes that so much more difficult. I do think for Texas, though, as good as they are, I still have the question about how good is their defense really? Like, I know it's a good unit, but the offense is that they've faced so far haven't really been a test, right? Like, Colorado State was not one. We know Michigan's got their issues. Like, you start looking down the schedule and you say, okay, Texas, good defense, but how good? So I don't know. If Oklahoma is able to create some momentum swinging plays, they can get some trick plays in there.

Maybe you get them up against the ropes that way. But I mean, they're in two completely different spaces as programs right now. Let me hit you up on two more games quickly with Josh Perry. USC, such an up and down season for them. We know what transpired last week, and now they have Penn State. And Penn State, I think they've looked good this year.

I want to see if they could look great. Can USC pull off this upset at home up against an Indian Lions? Yes, they can. You know, there's a stat out there about Big Ten teams having to go over two time zones. I think one in seven with Indiana being the only one.

Shout out to my guy, Sig. But, you know, it's, I think Penn State's a better football team here. So for USC, their defense certainly has to play better, make the tackles they need to make. I think their offensive line has been exposed a couple of times. They were against Michigan. Minnesota was able to take advantage as well.

And so if they can shore up those two spots, which is difficult, certainly, I think there's a path. I agree with you fully on Penn State, though. I think that Andy Kotalnicki has elevated them from a scheme standpoint, and that's allowed guys to play better. I think Tyler Warren's a legit NFL draft pick.

Drew Aller, certainly talented. Still question about the wide receivers. I like the running back room. I don't know if I love the offensive line there. And defensively, they're really good unit, but they play aggressive and they like to be in single coverage.

And if you can get a quarterback who can spin the rock out to some good weapons, you might be able to take advantage of the back end there. And I'll also be fascinated to see how Ole Miss and LSU play on out, because it's kind of like the last life for both of those team, the loser. You're not feeling good about them potentially making the college football playoff. And LSU, man, I got a question. Just like, I don't think they're that good of a football team. I think they're fine. But, you know, it's hard for me to say that I believe that they're going to make a run into the postseason.

Blake Baker was a splash higher, two and a half million dollars or whatever the number was. And the defense doesn't look like it's taking the strides that they need them to. Lane Kiffin for all of the, I feel like I can't trust him. The one thing that he'll be able to do against the defense that has been exposed before is expose them. And they've got, you know, great quarterback Jackson Dart. Wide receivers have played really well. And I will give them credit on defense. They've been able to bow up this year better than in years past. So I would give the edge to Ole Miss here. I do think it's like kind of two coaches where you ask the question of, you know, they're really good coaches and they deserve credit. Neither one of them has been able to capture that greatness.

And so you're kind of battling with that thing, too. Last thing I'll ask you, Joshua Perry does a great job. The former Ohio State defensive player won a national championship.

Great job now on NBC with all their coverage. I look at the Heisman. No disrespect to, you know, Jalen Milro, whose name was hot for a week. Cam Ward, who's going to be a finalist in New York City, assuming Miami gets the ACC championship game.

You take a look also at Quinn Ewers when he's coming back from the injury. But to me right now, this is the two man race between Travis Hunter and Ashton Gente. And who would have thought we'd be saying that Colorado and Boise State, the two teams with the Heisman Trophy front runners right now. And I'm with you on that 100 percent of the way. And I like the fact that it's a couple of teams that aren't the Blue Bloods.

And I also like the fact that it's not just quarterbacks that we're talking about right now. I would give the edge personally to Travis Hunter. I know that sounds crazy based off of what Gente has done.

This has nothing to do with the level of competition. He's face he tore up Oregon. He's on a historic pace. I love watching him play.

I stay up to see his games there. Travis Hunter is doing something that we have not seen. That man is averaging like one hundred and twenty snaps a game. He's playing at an elite level on both sides of the football.

Makes game changing plays on offense. And we saw he had that interception against UCF. Boom, hit the Heisman pose like he understands the moment that he's in. And I think to me, he's the front runner for the award. Hey, Gente's at the Heisman pose a few times this year as well. He has that man.

I'm gonna do my Stephen eight. He's a bad man. I got a chance to talk to him two weeks ago and I wrote down three names of running backs that he reminds me of. And I said, Alvin Kamara, Marshawn Lynch and Derek Henry.

And I go, who do you model your game after? And he goes, Alvin Kamara and then also Marshawn Lynch. So when I watch him, he just puts on a highlight, about six highlights each and every week. The explosive runs are crazy. Like, dude's got to be tired. His legs got to be hurting because he's just running away from everybody. Well, he runs away so quickly early in the game.

They don't even need him for the second half with those scores. Wild. Hey, keep kicking ass with the big tense coverage on NBC. We appreciate the time, Josh. I appreciate you. Thank you.