Should Tua Have Been Allowed To Play? (Hour 3)

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That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. And we're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there for home loan solutions that fit your life well.

Rocket can. Five questions, five answers. Let's not even waste five more seconds. It's time for Onside's Offside. Hot take hickey. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside, defense number 69. It's Onside's Offside's with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio.

All right, hickey, what do you got for me? Zach, biggest news in sports to a tongue of Aloha suffered a concussion on Thursday night and immediate questions right after asked why he was even on the field to begin with. Going back to last Sunday to a stumbled after a hit against the Bills, but he was clearly both a team doctor and independent neurologist, according to NFL Network's Tom Palacero, that allowed him to not only return for the second half of that Bills game on Sunday, but also allowed him to play on Thursday night. Now, many media players and media criticized the NFL and the Dolphins for allowing to to play in that game against the Bengals on sides are offside. Zach, the NFL and Dolphins deserve blame for to us suffering a concussion on Thursday.

Here's the tricky part with this question. So what we saw on Sunday, I thought for sure was a concussion when it happened. Then afterwards, we're told it was a back injury. He was cleared to return. No concussion. Then last night, clearly a concussion. So if you're blaming the Dolphins, am I supposed to blame Mike McDaniel because he was told he's allowed to play him and then he did so?

And then if I'm blaming the NFL, what exactly am I blaming the NFL for? Is it the independent neurologist that they hired? Is it the team doctor that's employed by the Dolphins? Because they're doctors. I'm not. And I consider and go, I thought it was a concussion on Sunday and then tell me it's not.

And then maybe the protocols have to get heightened and pick up in intensity. But for what they are and the way that it's worded, it's like, yeah, it makes no sense that he was allowed to play on Sunday. But once he gets onto the field and returns on Sunday, I never thought he was not going to play on Thursday.

So Ryan, I'm stumped on this one because part of me says, yeah, stupid that he returned on Sunday and then it's a quick turnaround, but he was on the field on Sunday. I don't know who to blame here. And the only people that could be of blame are the doctors and maybe they misdiagnosed him.

But the protocol is the protocol. So I'm going to lean slightly on offsides on this woman. When I get asked, the NFL Dolphins are blamed for two is suffering a concussion on Thursday. Why would you go on that one?

Same offsides. I think there's no real one person or thing to blame the situation. I think just sometimes bad things happen. Unfortunate events happen.

And that's what we saw yesterday. The thing on Sunday, though, I still don't get how he was cleared. And once again, I am not a doctor.

I don't try to pretend to be a doctor. But when you see him stand up like that and basically fall down and can't even walk off the field, how does that guy not have a concussion on Sunday? And you say get back in the game?

I agree. The one thing we don't know, I'm just throwing out that I'm not saying this is the case or not. We don't know how truthful Tua was in answering, you know, the questions. Andrew Whitworth yesterday said he was able to basically get through a concussion test. If you're a player and you want to get out there, maybe. Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. And if you're the NFL, there's nothing you can really do. Unless if you see the obvious sign that he has a concussion, you say, no, you're out, dude.

You have a concussion. But if he passes the test, I don't know if there's a way to make the test stricter. Then it's in the hands of the player. You could say, yeah, I passed the test, but I still don't feel right. I'm not going back in the field. Now, I don't expect players to do that because when you leave it in the hands of the player, players play.

Alrighty, next one. The best game of the NFL slate on Sunday, Zach, pitched two of the best quarterbacks against each other right now as the Bills meet the Ravens in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson has been unstoppable so far this season, combining for 12 touchdowns while posting the highest passer rating in the NFL currently at 119. Josh Allen on the flip side has been equally as good, throwing nine touchdowns through three games, and he leads all quarterbacks with 1,014 passing yards through a quarterback's first three games. Buffalo, our three-point road favorites.

Onsides are offside Zach. The Ravens will win on Sunday. Tough game to pick. I'm taking Buffalo, though. And this is just more so, I think the Ravens are a tremendous team. I picked the Ravens to go to the Super Bowl this year. But if Buffalo's the team that we all think they are, which everyone's like hands down the Super Bowl favorite, and statistically, other than what's shown on the scoreboard, they were like better than Miami last week.

In almost every statistical category, they didn't win the game. I trust the weapons around Allen more than I do the weapons around Lamar Jackson. That's why I'm going Buffalo in this one. I also think the Buffalo defense is vastly better right now than the Ravens' defense. So I think Buffalo's defense makes an extra player, too, even though Buffalo's really banged up.

You know, Micah hides out for the year problems in the secondary. This seems like a Von Miller game where Von Miller goes out and makes a big play. The Ravens will win on Sunday. I'm going offside. I'm taking the Buffalo Bills. The biggest game in college football this weekend is No. 10 NCC going down to take on No.

5 Clemson in Death Valley. After much scrutiny to start the season, DJ Uyungelei had the best game of the season last week against… Are you nervous to say DJ Uyungelei? No. Okay, because you wrote on the sheet in front of me that has the question DJ U. I was, I'll be honest, lazy. I don't know 100% how to spell it. I knew I could say it, so I'll just, instead of saving the Google search, I'll just say DJ U. So DJ Uyungelei, no problem with that?

No problem. Spelling is a different situation. Well, let's do this. If you had to take a guess, and to be fair, I have no clue how to spell his last name, but if you had to take a guess on how to spell DJ Uyungelei, the last name, how do you think it's spelled? I would go U, I, A, G, A, L, E, A. Close. You got the U right, the I right, the A right, the G right, the A right, the L right, the E right.

And then what did you say after that? U, I, A, G, E, or A, L, E, A? No. It's U, I, A, G, A, L, E, L, E, I. Yeah. I'm not going to hold that against you.

That's good. That is hard, especially when I'm going to have it even written down, like trying to spell it in the air with my brain. When I have to spell things, I have to write it out. If I just have to recite it verbally spelling it, then that's problematic. Now can you say DJ Uyungelei five times fast?

DJ Uyungelei, DJ Uyungelei, DJ Uyungelei, DJ Uyungelei, DJ Uyungelei, DJ Uyungelei. Very impressive. Okay, continue. You can ask me this question. You earned the right to ask me the question. Past the test.

He had the best game speech ever speaking of DJ Uyungelei. Let me tell you, you would pass concussion protocol. Maybe that's what it is. Say it five times fast. That's a tongue twister. I think that was the eagles, now maybe lions or whatever. Lions? Is he a lion still? Vytise is his last name, right? Yeah, I just remember. I think it's how you say it. You take that one.

That's the one I don't have yet, for sure. Speaking of DJ U, had the best game of the season last weekend in this week. Forest throwing five touchdowns in the win. The flip side, the Wolfpack coming with one of the best defense in the nation, allowing just 11.7 points per game.

Onsides are offside, Zach. The winner of NC State Clemson will make the college football playoff. They could. More so Clemson than NC State. But for the rest of the year, I don't know how much I believe in either of these teams in terms of talking about being in the Final Four. Now Alabama's going to be there, Georgia's going to be there, Ohio State or Michigan, everyone's a Big Ten's going to be there.

That's another spot. If you win this game, it goes a long way. And the ACC, if you have one loss, you'll be in the hopper. Now if you're undefeated, you'll get in. But I just don't know how that's going to stack up against the Big 12 and then also the Pac-12.

So just based off this game, it enhances your resume. But I can't say that team will definitely make the college football playoff whoever wins this game, so I'm going offside. Jameis Winston is listed as doubtful to start for the Saints when they take on the Vikings in London. Which means Andy Dalton is slated to start.

Now he won't have the services of Michael Thomas who has been ruled out for the game. Now Jameis Winston so far this season, without Sean Payton, has struggled. Four touchdowns, five interceptions, is 26th in the league in passer rating. Onsides or offsides, Zach, if Andy Dalton plays well on Sunday, he should be the starter for the Saints moving forward. Now your wording of this question was that he struggled without Sean Payton?

Yes. Hasn't he struggled in like his entire career? Even when he was with BA and was leading the league in passing yards and had 30 passing touchdowns, he led the league in interceptions with 30-something interceptions. 30 interceptions and they died, you're right.

Now last year you got off to a good start before the injury and that was unfortunate, but did anyone think that it was all going to come together last year with the Saints? Actually, yes. You did? Not me. At least I've taken calls and there's a lot of belief in social media that Jameis was going to be as good even without Sean Payton this year. You took calls about that? Yes, on social media. I know the calls are always... Calls are very reliable.

Yes, and they're always the accurate depiction of the pulse of the people. If Andy Dalton plays well on Sunday, he should be the starter moving forward. Offside.

Offside! I don't want to see Andy Dalton starting games. You want to start one game, fine. At this point of his career, I don't need to see him starting games. And if I had to say who was more upside at this stage of their career between Winston or Andy Dalton, probably or. But if I had to give you an actual answer, I would go it's Jameis Winston compared to Andy Dalton. So that's why I'd rather see Jameis Winston even if Dalton weathers a storm and plays fine. Because you could use the excuse right now for Jameis, he's playing with fractures in his back. So how much of that injury is affecting maybe his play on the field?

Neither option are good whatsoever. Imagine going to London for this game. As a Saints fan? No. Kirk Cousins against Andy Dalton. No Michael Thomas. At least Crystal Lave is playing.

That's tough. And you get to see Dalvin Cook, you get to see Justin Jefferson, Thielen. But the quarterback matchup, like quarterbacks really is what sells the matchup.

Tune in. Kirk Cousins against Andy Dandy Dalton. You've been seeing Blake Bortles like a lot of the Londonites used to get.

I think you need to market this game. Justin Jefferson, Saints I guess now Alvin Kamara. Look at the great skill positions that both teams have. Ignore the quarterback. You play fantasy football, don't start a quarterback. Go to the game, running backs and wide receivers. That's the way that you market it.

That's it. Imagine the poor guy in London who doesn't really watch NFL. And he goes to that game and he's like, Oh yeah, it's great to be there. NFL football. There's Andy Dalton fella.

He looks decent and warm. I'm sorry. I'll throw 15 bucks on him. Or euros or whatever it is. Yeah, euros.

That's right. Come on. The pound. A few pounds. A few pounds on Andy Dalton. No, I'm good.

No? And I got a few, throw a few pounds on the Saints? The Viking, the Viking should, if the Vikings don't win this game, I will be concerned about the Vikings. Leave Kevin O'Connell at Heathrow airport? That would be a brutal fight.

No, that would never happen. It's first year for him. But that would be a brutal fire if he ever got fired after the London game.

That's a tell. Imagine getting fired on the tarmac there. Like at least term Edwards got fired on the field at Arizona State.

Walks to his car and drive home. Get fired in London. At least link hip was in the continental US. We got fired in the tarmac.

Had to be at London Heathrow. That's tough one. Final one.

Go ahead. Speaking of getting fired, Brian Harsin's Auburn Tigers. They're three and one in the season.

Sent to London this week. Yeah, holy cow. But his job security has been a very hot topic recent. There's reports as early or as late as last week that cited that if Auburn lost to Missouri, Harsin would have been fired the next day. This week, as Auburn didn't win that game, which is why he's still coaching this week, Auburn welcomes three and one LSU to town in which Brian Kelly's squad is eight point favorites on the road.

Onsides or offsides there, Zach. Brian Harsin will be fired on Sunday if Auburn loses to Brian Kelly and his family. First off, I think he should get the entire season. But if he loses, I think where there's smoke, there's a fire. And if he loses, I think since he was dead man walking head into this year anyway, it felt like that he's going to be done after the game. So yeah, I'll go onsides on that one that he'll get fired if he loses tomorrow. That is onsides offside. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

Come on back. We'll preview this weekend of college football with Cole Cubley. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations. Coverage of your favorite teams. Live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations. Coverage of your favorite teams. Live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations. Coverage of your favorite teams. Live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. And you can think of O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. We should have Cole Kublick coming up in a few seconds here as we have to preview another weekend of college football. Now joining us is Cole Kublick.

Cole, appreciate the time. How you been? Hey, I've been doing great. How about yourself?

Well, I'm doing fantastic. So when we get to the state of the Auburn football program, it seems like Brian Harsin is a dead man walking. There's been a lot of conversation this week about his job status. Did they lose to LSU?

Do you think that could be it for them after this weekend? I mean, I think the volatility that is there, it's tough to really get an idea on what to expect. Because also there's a lack of leadership right now. You have an interim athletic director that's most likely not going to be named the permanent athletic director. You have a president that's been there for just a couple of months. So who's actually in charge? Who's actually pulling the strings?

Who could actually make that kind of decision and does that person want to do that without leadership in other places? So I wouldn't rule anything out, Zach. I think it's feasible. I think it's possible.

I will tell you this. I spoke to somebody as close to the situation as you can get and he has not been informed that he will not be retained at the end of the season. I mean, listen, I'm an Auburn guy, you know that.

We have a lot of dysfunction and we operate in a lot of dysfunctional ways at times, but not to that level and not to that extent. I don't think that there's really a college football program in America that would operate that way regardless of how much you want to keep or want to get rid of somebody. And here would be the other thing, and I know you're referencing that AJ McCarron report that was out there. If you're going to fire the guy at the end of the year, it's like why would you then just not fire him now? You're going to have to pay him regardless either way. It would make no sense if they already told them, hey, we're going to fire you, but you're still coaching the team. Yeah, I mean the only thing would be legally behind the scenes trying to find someone else and whatever repercussions that might have if you wanted to get a head start on it. Obviously, that would give you the clarity to be able to go and do that, but you know just like I do, Zach, how this works. You know all the back channels that are involved with agents and friends and people who talk to other people, former people that they worked with. You can get your message across.

You can feel people out before you make a decision like that if you wanted to. Cole Kublick here with us. Whenever they do get rid of Brian Harsin, what do you think the likelihood is that Deion Sanders is coaching Auburn next year? There's really no way to tell because I don't really know exactly what Deion's looking for in his next move and the Auburn job comes with complications. I hate to say that.

That's my mama mater. I want him to win every game. I love Auburn, but let's be real. We've seen how things have been handled and it's not always above board. That's why we're having the conversation about Brian Harsin right now. Which is not really a fair one because he's still the sitting head football coach, who by the way is 3-1 on the season last time I checked.

So another thing that just makes this completely ridiculous. Is this still an attractable job? Absolutely. I think the first thing that I would bring up to you is that, I mean obviously we could go history, we could go players, we could go NFL, we could go championships, SEC. National title in 2010, played for it in 2013, was on the brink of getting to the college football playoffs in 2017. They've been in the mix and they've shown that they can get there quickly even when things are bad. You've got a passionate fan base, you've got a beautiful campus, you look at the success in other sports. What's happening with Suni Lee in gymnastics, what Bruce Pearl is doing with basketball, Butch Thompson is the baseball team at the College World Series.

There's going to be support all around it. And Auburn fans are as loyal as any in college athletics. But the main thing that I would point to you is that the folks that are behind the NIL collective that's affiliated with Auburn University right now have things headed in the right direction. And if Brian Harsin were to be let go, and when a new head coach would be hired in, there would be a war chest in place to be able to utilize to try to attract talent. And I think any head coach in college football, that's going to be one of the top things on their priority list for any job that they're going to take. And we know Gus Malzahn wasn't a bad football coach. They have to get someone that creates some excitement because when Brian Harsin was hired, nothing against him. I didn't think they'd really upgrade their head coaching position. No, I mean that was one where you brought in a football guy.

And we hear so much just about what is wanted, what is needed. And I think what you brought up, Zach, is more than relevant in today's college football. Maybe even today's college athletics just in general across the board. I thought Matt Luke and his staff were doing a pretty good job at Ole Miss. A lot of the guys that Lane Kiffin won with initially, they had brought in and they had exceeded expectations coming back from a pretty dark place. And all of a sudden you go out and hire Lane Kiffin, a guy that some people, if you really dug into the program and look at it and say you didn't necessarily need, and look how the profile has been raised. Because exactly what you just mentioned, excitement was brought in. Go across that state and look at Starkville, Mississippi. You know, Jordan Warhead wasn't running that thing into the ground because they were still a competitive football team, got a couple quarterbacks hurt, maybe didn't live up to expectations, but you go get a Mike Leach, someone who everybody knows, someone who everybody likes, someone who can generate noise because of his personality, who he is and his offense.

And guess what? Mississippi State fans' excitement goes through the roof. So I used to not like to look at it that way, but reality has sort of hit me in the face that that's just a real part of where we are. Whether it's getting people in the seats, whether it is generating more likes and retweets for recruits on social media, as dumb as that may sound to some people, that's a real part of where we are today. And that excitement, that noise, I'm going to tell you, I'm in meetings every Friday with college coaches preparing for games, and one of the things that continues to be brought up both in a negative and positive way is player brand. And they want to highlight their brand, they want to increase their brand, improve their brand. Well, when you get a coach that brings more attention, when you get a coach that brings more of a following, well what does that do to the player's brand? It's obviously going to increase it and it's going to make it more high profile.

So yes, that does bring a ton of value. Yeah, I didn't think about this until now, Cole Kublick, and I know he's at Ole Miss. He's not happy that his fans aren't showing up to start games. Could Auburn go get Lane Kiffin inside the SEC? Listen, I think almost any, I think 80% of college football programs would love to have Lane Kiffin. And I understand that there are some things in the background, either with how certain jobs ended, or what he has been personally and how he's rubbed some people the wrong way, but I've done a complete 180 on Lane Kiffin off the field. I think he's grown up a lot.

I think he's strained a lot of his life out. And I think he's become a better person and a better football coach. So I think Ole Miss is lucky to have him. I think they'll probably do whatever they can to try to retain him.

And I think if anybody else could get him, they'd be thrilled to have him. Kentucky, Ole Miss this weekend, who do you like in this one? Because I see Ole Miss as a 6.5 point favorite. It's like Vegas is begging you to plus the points with Kentucky, I feel like. And it's strange how many people are so confident in Kentucky that I talk to about this game.

I'm riding Ole Miss, speaking of Lane Kiffin, I'm going to go with Lane on this one. I love their run game. I love what they're doing with their run game, the creativity that they bring with it. It is as unique and diverse as any rushing attack that you will see right now in college football. I don't think they're as capable at quarterback as they have been, but I think Jackson Dart can do enough to help them win.

You still have weapons on the perimeter like Mingo at tight end with Trigg. Even if Zach Evans is not banged up, they've got a freshman tailback that can slack, get it done. The offensive line is playing good ball, the defense is improved, and I think this applies to both teams.

There are warts on both of these teams that we're going to find out about tomorrow morning. I think Kentucky has a tackle issue. Their offensive line is not what it's been in the past. They still have a little bit of an issue with giving the ball back to their opponents. And defensively, I think that there are some areas that are not necessarily what they've been before.

I think the linebackers are strong secondary, strong defensive line still coming around. So with Ole Miss, same thing. We don't really know exactly what that defense is.

Tulsa is the only one that's tried them. They haven't played a great schedule. The two strength of records for these teams are 102 and 122.

So we don't know a ton about what both of these teams are. Being at home, being that I think Ole Miss is going to score about just about anybody that they play against, and being that that Ole Miss rushing, the Kentucky rushing attack is 13th in the SEC right now. The only team that averages fewer yards per game is Mississippi State, and they're about a yard below. I mean, the tight end Brock Bowers at Georgia that I'm going to be covering tomorrow night has as many rushing touchdowns on the season as Kentucky does. They're dead last in yards per carry, dead last in rushing touchdowns. That's not a prototypical Mark Stoops coach football team, and I think Ole Miss will be able to take advantage of it.

Talking to Cole Kubelik. So Michigan has played no one this year. They get Iowa. So we know that's a big test for the Michigan offense going up against that great Iowa defense. I just don't see how Iowa scores enough points in this game, and maybe if their defense gets a touchdown or two, that's a different story. I like Michigan, but how close of a game do you think this is as Michigan goes to Iowa? I think it's going to be tight, because I think when you get in games like this where you talk a lot about turnovers, both teams have the ability to take it away, there's not going to be a lot of explosive plays through the air, I think things calm down. I think guys sort of throttle back on their offense and their play calling and try to settle in a little bit earlier before they even take any risks, and they might not take many risks the entire game. So pretty low scoring.

Obviously a game that's going to be pretty quick, and that means your possessions are going to be extremely valuable. So I would imagine neither offensive coordinator wants to take high risks with what they're going to do when they have the ball. I still think Michigan gets it done. Love Blake Coram, love that offensive line, won the Joe Moore award last year. They're right on pace with where they were then, and I don't think they have to worry, now it's mainly because of injury, they don't have to worry about the juggling of quarterbacks.

You know you have your guy now. I don't think the defense is on par for what it was last year regardless of what Coach Harbaugh says, and I agree with you that there's a lot that we don't know about Michigan, but what we do know about Iowa is that they have a hard time moving the football, and they have a hard time finding points regardless of who the opponent is, and I think Michigan can squeak out a few more. The tough one on this, Zach, is if you're into history and you like numbers and trends and analytics, it all points to Iowa. They've been great against ranked teams. They've been great against top five teams at their place in the last decade. It's wild what they have done in the last five to ten years against top five teams and top 25 teams. So if you go back and look at that and that's how you like to decide who wins games, you're going to go Iowa, but I still think Jim Harbaugh and Michigan find a way to get it done.

Cole Cube, I really like Sam Pittman. Last week, though, after they went up 14-0, I was really discouraged by the effort against A&M. Is this a Bama blowout when they go up against Arkansas?

I do not believe it is. I think this is one that a lot of those folks in Fayetteville have had circle for a long time. I think they understand what this game means, what this game's about, and how could you not be deflated when you have an opportunity to slam the door on one of your rivals, put the game away, and on first down your quarterback extends the football and you are staring down the barrel of a 14-point swing. Instead of putting seven up for you, you put seven up for the opposition, and then they're really just not able to find their way from that point on. But when I go watch the film of that game, the Arkansas offense did not look like it was missing much of a beat. I mean, they still operated at a very high level. They outgained A&M, outrushed A&M, outpassed A&M. They just had a missed field goal and some silly turnovers, and next thing you know, Texas A&M's hanging around and finds a way to squeak out a victory.

I know this. They will be a problem for Bryce Young up front. This is not a great Alabama offensive line yet.

Could develop into it, but they're not there just yet. There's a reason that true freshman Tyler Booker is getting reps and they want to try to get him into the lineup before the end of the season. This team leads the country in sacks. Speaking of Arkansas, Drew Sanders tied for the late Nations lead in sacks. I think they're going to be active up front. They're going to force Bryce Young to move around a little bit, and Alabama flat out is not as dynamic as they have been at the wide receiver position.

They're still kind of trying to figure that out. I think Jameer Gibbs tailback is their most dynamic player offensively outside of their quarterback Bryce Young. I think physically, Arkansas is not going to get bullied by Alabama, and that's been a problem for them in the past.

So physically, if you match up, all of a sudden you can change things around. Kendall Briles calls plays as well as anybody in college football. He has a mobile quarterback who can also hurt you between the tackles. He has a physical bowling ball of a tailback that he can roll in, and then a dynamic tailback in Rocket Sanders that he can alternate. I think they're good enough outside with Hazelwood, the Oklahoma transfer, Matt Landers, the Georgia-Tulsa transfer.

Yeah, we're getting to that point. Now we're going to have to start visiting two teams that guys have played for before where they are now. I think they find their way offensively. I think they understand, probably don't mess with the edge defenders, try to stay away from them, but find some other holes in that defense that's not extremely deep. Watch for a lot of tempo from Arkansas to try to wear that Bama defense down. I think they hang in.

I think they keep this thing tight at home. Cole Kublick, is it all about timing in NC State and Clemson? Clemson's coming off a bad defensive performance. I just kind of feel like they're going to bounce back defensively, and then offensively, finally DJ Uyengal-Ile started to look like the DJ from two years ago. It's amazing how it just felt like for a year and a half, all we got were quick screens, quick throws, check downs to the backs, and now all of a sudden, somehow, somewhere, some way, DJ Uyengal-Ile has found the ability to push the ball down the field and be successful with it.

He's a totally different player in the last four or five quarters of football than what we had seen in the previous probably 55 quarters of football. I do think that that's going to make them more difficult to defend, but I think NC State can take advantage of an offensive line that's also not great. The difference will be NC State doesn't have the guys downfield like Wake Forest does. I think that wide receiver core is vastly underrated, and then obviously the way that Sam Hartman manages that offense, that sort of walk the dog, zone read, slow developing offense, can freeze your linebacker. So guys like Trenton Simpson are going to have to have a big game, not get sucked down like they did last week, and I think they'll have a chance to be more effective. I just don't know if NC State has the athleticism, the speed, the twitch down the field to be as problematic for that Clemson secondary, and I think that Clemson defensive line probably has their way, and that gives Clemson the W. Is Spencer Sanders the difference?

Does he have a Heisman moment when Oklahoma State goes up against Baylor? Yeah, unless that Baylor run game gets going, which obviously with Jim Knowles last year, that Oklahoma State defense was liked out. They're a little bit different this year, maybe not as good as a season ago, and Baylor, they're not as dynamic defensively, so that's where Spencer Sanders, they don't have the playmaker second and third level, maybe where he does have a big game, but I think Coach Grimes and that Baylor offense have a chance to get going.

They run the stretch play as well as anybody, and once that thing gets rolling, the play action opens up and you're able to take advantage down the field. This is a really interesting game. I'm glad you brought that one up, because not a lot of folks are talking about it, and I think those are two teams, kind of like we mentioned with Kentucky and Ole Miss, that we still need to find a few things out about. Baylor, you could essentially say, outplayed BYU a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't come up with a win. Then we see BYU struggle with Utah State last night, so a chance for Baylor to sort of bounce back in the big picture of things, because I think after the first three, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, we're all sort of searching for who that next group of teams are. We may feel like we know that Michigan Clemson are there, but we're not certain. Kentucky, Ole Miss, we might feel like we like one of those two teams, but we're not certain. This is a chance for one of those two teams to maybe get right back into the mix and be discussed with those teams in tier two. If you had to tell me right now who that fourth team would be for the college football playoff, Cole Kublick, who would it be? I would tell you that there's a lot of uncertainty in my answer, but I'm just going to go ahead and go Michigan, because I understand they haven't played anybody, but they have also been more dominant than almost anybody else in college football with who they have played. Therefore, I'm always... Do we get two Big Ten teams in to the college football playoff this year?

That's a great question. I'm going to say I doubt it, because I think the two teams that would get in are going to be from different divisions, and they'll face off in the Big Ten title game, and I just don't know if individually they'll have enough clout like Georgia and Alabama did last year entering that game. And it feels like there's going to be other teams that are right there poised to get in as well for whoever loses that game not to be able to find their way in. So let's just say that only one gets in, and it's Ohio State, it's Georgia, Alabama. Those are the three teams in. Let's just say Ohio State beats Michigan this year.

Then who would be your fourth team, just wondering? Probably Clemson, based on what I'm seeing from DJ right now. You're going to bring a dominant defensive line that almost... I haven't seen a lot of great offensive line playing college football right now, just to let you know that.

Especially not in the ACC. That Clemson D-line is going to be a difference-maker against anybody they play. They are going to be a flat-out problem against any team in college football. So not only are they going to be in every game, that's going to give them a chance to win every game. And if this is real, if what we saw last week against Wake Forest is sustainable, all of a sudden that Clemson offense is not only different, they're dynamic, because Will Shipley can get it done on the ground. So now you have a quarterback with decent mobility that you can utilize, a running back that can get it done, an offensive line that's okay, they're not a liability, but they're not dominant, and you can push the ball down the field.

You force people to defend you in a very different way, and I'd probably lean Clemson right there at that point to be the other team that gets in. Great conversation, Cole Kublick. Always enjoy your insight. Thanks so much. Appreciate the time.

Let me throw one more at you real quick. Southern California is ahead of schedule. That's all I'm going to say. I didn't believe in them coming into this year. I thought they were going to be an eight- or nine-win football team. But where I thought they were going to be and where they are right now, I didn't think they would get out of September unscathed, because of the physical nature of that schedule. They pulled it off, and they did it. So that's sort of the sleeper pick to keep your eye on for the college football playoff. And last week I thought was impressive, even though it was a sloppy game, because they found a different way to win. And I thought that will end up helping them out later on during the year.

Look at you, Zach. You're such a smart football fan. Great teams find different ways to win. If you do one thing well, and that's why you win games, somebody somewhere is going to find a way to take it away, and you better have an alternate way to get it done. And USC showed they can get punched in the face and still find a way to go win an ugly football game. Here's the bottom line, and this is another cliche.

Good teams find a way to win when they don't play their best. How many times have you heard it? There you go. Colt Kublick, appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Zach. Get excited and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. This season, for the first time, you can hear every Westwood One NFL broadcast stream live for free.

Mondays, Thursdays, Sunday nights, the international series, holiday triple headers, and every postseason game. Catch all the action on the Odyssey app on westwoodonesports.com, via Westwood One station streams, or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports, all sponsored by AutoZone. Free battery testing, free battery charging, and replacement batteries that fit your needs. That is what makes AutoZone America's number one destination. Get in the zone, AutoZone. Great chat with Cole Kublick. I really did enjoy that. Always enjoy when he joins us on the show. Coming up at the top of the hour, we will give you one thought on each and every game for this upcoming weekend in the National Football League. But right now, we did have Drew Tranquil on earlier in the show in the first hour, and we were talking about the Tuatunga Vailoa situation from last night, and really, it extends back to Sunday. Because you can listen to me each and every Sunday, regular Sunday, regular NFL.

Why can't I say this right? NFL regular season Sunday game, right? Basically what I'm saying here, if there's a regular season game in the NFL on a football Sunday, you could listen to me for eight hours. And man, hopefully I talk better than the way that I just talked the last eight seconds for the eight hours that I'm on each and every NFL Sunday.

You could listen to me for ion football starting at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. And last Sunday, we saw Tuatunga Vailoa go down with an injury, and he couldn't even stand up and walk off the field, he was stumbling. So we all thought it was a concussion. I never thought he was returning back to the game. He did, they win the game, and then there was not even a thought that he wasn't gonna play last night, because he returned on Sunday. And last night, we saw him suffer a concussion, and with his hands locked up, it was just awful. So in the aftermath of that last night, and Tuatunga did fly back with the team last night, everyone's saying, how the heck did he play in the game last night, how did he even return on Sunday? And I understand the question, because I'm not a doctor, you're not a doctor, the doctor's cleared him to play, but it didn't make sense on Sunday. And since he played on Sunday and came back, it was like, oh yeah, he's definitely gonna play on Thursday, but I was surprised last night, I know he went to a trauma center, a level one trauma center, they did allow him to leave, he discharged, and he flew back with the team. But I was surprised he flew back with the team last night. So there's been a lot of conversation afterwards, we had Drew Tranquil on earlier in the show from Los Angeles Charged, and I asked him for his reaction to what he saw last night since he's a player in the league with all that did go down with Tuatunga by low.

Yeah, Zach, it's really sad. We all saw what happened the week earlier, and from a player's perspective, it's difficult. Anytime a guy gets hurt, you feel for him. We play a high impact game where injuries are inevitable, but specifically when it comes to the head, it's tough to see that they let him go back on the field last week after what we saw.

As a player in the heat of the battle, your instinct, it's fight or flight, you're gonna want to go back in, you're gonna want to say I'm good. But it's unfortunate that they let him go back in after seeing an obvious head impact, seeing him stumble around, and then we see the aftermath, what can happen when that is left not taken care of. Unfortunately, he went down last night. Supposedly the news is he's got feeling in his extremities and he's feeling well, and certainly that's what our hopes are, but you just feel bad for the kid. So, I'm not a doctor, obviously, and I would never try to pretend to be one, but as a fan and just watching this, or just any human being, like last week, I was shocked when he returned to the game. What do you especially have to do to clear concussion protocol, because I was shocked how quickly he got back on the field last week. Yeah, honestly, I'm not super familiar with the concussion protocol, and like you said, I'm not a medical expert either.

I've never had to go through that in a game. From what I understand, they take you in the tent, and there's a baseline test we take as players coming in with our entrance physicals, and I think you do a quick test and they compare that to your baseline. I think the doctors look at your eyes and see how they're dilating, and there's just a few standard probably balance tests that he went through, but a lot of it, when it comes to concussions, is so subjective, and so the player is saying, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, and the doctors are saying, well, these things seem to be checking out. He's not having a ton of sensitivity to light right now, and you can get players that end up going back in the game with head injuries. I know he returned last week like we're talking about. He clearly played in the game last night in a Thursday night game. Were you surprised that he played on Thursday last night?

I was, Zach. After watching the video of him stumbling after getting hit last week, I was surprised, I guess not surprised, at the fact that Tua seems to be a really tough kid, and obviously desires to be out there and be playing with his teammates, but I was surprised they let him go, for sure. So that was Drew Tranquil who joined us earlier on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio from the Chargers talking about the Tua-Tunga-Wailoa situation. I'm still shocked he returned to that game on Sunday. Now, they said he passed concussion protocol, that's why I asked Drew about concussion protocol, and he gave you the answer that he did.

The part where I guess if you had to put any blame on the NFL, or any blame on the Dolphins, and this would be more so the NFL than the Dolphins, maybe we need a stricter return to play protocol. Because you could tell me that the doctors cleared him and that's the protocol, and they thought he was good enough to return. When you watch the way he stands up and stumbles and grabs his head, it does not add up to me. This is like Jerry Jones telling you 1 plus 1 equals 3.

What you saw does not add up to the answer. Because what we saw on Sunday definitely looked like a concussion. And if they missed that, and then he plays on Thursday and suffers another concussion, which he did suffer a concussion, we don't know if it was another one, for sure, but he suffers a concussion, man, one concussion can ruin your life, ruin your career. Two, potentially, from Sunday to Thursday?

That's just absolutely brutal. So maybe after the year, and I'm sure the NFL will just sweep this under the rug because this is what they do, they will reassess the concussion protocol. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio one thought on each and every NFL game this upcoming Sunday next. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand.

Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today.