My game, Big Noon Saturday. Here we go-- Gus, Jenny,
and I are going to be in Morgantown, West Virginia. And I know that they are
absolutely jacked about this. Penn State travels
to West Virginia. Penn state is an
8.5-point favorite. They start this year ranked
number 8 in the poll. Here's some questions--
as you know, I don't make a pick in the
game that I'm going to call-- but here are some
questions and themes that I just want to
lay out for you as you prepare to watch this game. The first and foremost is the
fact that this Penn State team has been an elite team outside
of playing against Michigan and Ohio State. And one of the reasons that they
have fallen short in those games is their offense just
doesn't have another gear. It's fine versus the regular
teams in college football, but when they get up against
the elites in college football, they fall stagnant. And so that offense has
got to move forward. So what did they do? They brought in a new
offensive coordinator. Andy Kotelnicki
comes in from Kansas, and he's going to spark
this offense at Penn State. Can he unlock what I think
is one of the more talented quarterbacks in
the entire country, Drew Allar from Penn State? I think they need to push
the ball down the field more. If you take a look at
what he was doing in terms of like air yards
per attempt, it's near the bottom of the Big 10. It's near the bottom
of the country, and, certainly, the power
five from last year, they've got to push
it down the field. That's his skill set. That's what he's best at. I think that they've got some
of the talent on the outside in order to do that. That's what Kansas did. And I thought Kotelnicki
did a great job as their offensive coordinator
unlocking that offense, in particular when
they had Jalen Daniels healthy in that offense. And then on the other
side, West Virginia, they were the surprise team
in the Big 12 last year. There was not much expectation
for West Virginia last year. In fact, if you were to rate
the hot seat meter, Neal Brown, their head coach, was
probably on the hottest seat in the country. And what did he do last
year in the Big 12? They were picked to finish last. They won 9 games and finished
sixth in the conference, including getting hot late. So this West Virginia team
is coming into this season with a lot more
confidence in who they are and what they are than
they did even a year ago. This is a dangerous
game for Penn State-- to be this highly ranked, to
have this amount of expectation, be going in with not only a
new offensive coordinator, but also a new defensive
coordinator-- because, remember, Manny Diaz was the defensive
coordinator, he moves on. He's the head coach at Duke. Tom Allen, the former
head coach at Indiana, now comes in to kind
of go back to his roots as a defensive coach and
coordinate the defense for James Franklin and Penn State. All this newness for
Penn State, and they're going to walk right
into kind of a trap because that place is
going to be on fire. And I cannot wait
to experience it. The Mountaineer fan base is
one of the great fan bases in all of college football. And they are going to
be pinned on Saturday. And I'm here for it. I can't wait. West Virginia, their
ability to run the ball is going to be
tested, because Penn State last year had the top
rush defense in the Big 10. West Virginia needs
to run the football. Garrett Greene,
their quarterback, had a great year last year. And their two backs, Donaldson
and Jahim White, those guys can get it done on the ground. That's where the game is
going to be won and lost-- Penn State's ability
to stop the run and force the game onto
the arm of Garrett Greene. That's what I'll be
watching for from the booth. Abdul Carter, the
defensive edge player, moves from linebacker
to edge for Penn State, he's one of the elite
pass rushers in our sport. Penn State led the country
in sacks a year ago with Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac. Now, they've got Danny Sutton,
they've got Abdul Carter. They feel like they've
got an elite pass rush, but it's going to
need to prove itself. And then finally,
for Penn State, it's, can you get that
run game going along with the downfield
passing attack? Can one help the other? Can you get the run game going
in order to help yourself throw the ball down the field? Nick Singleton,
he's coming back. He's a big play
threat, obviously. Kaytron Allen, those backs--
they are really good players. Wide receiver for Penn State
is going to be a question. Remember, they got
Ohio State transfer and Pennsylvania native Julian
Fleming from the Buckeyes. So he comes in, and he's
going to be paired with Trey Wallace, or Harrison Wallace. Trey Wallace is a really
talented guy that has missed time in each of the
last two seasons, and they feel like he's going to
break out and be one of the best wide receivers in the country. So I can't wait for this game. I cannot wait for this game. Again, Penn State
8.5-point favorite on the road at West Virginia. Big Noon Kickoff,
big Noon Saturday, we're going to be
there and we're getting things ready to rock. Thursday night, North
Dakota State at Colorado. Colorado is a
9.5-point favorite. Prime bringing his
bunch in, and they will be much-improved from
what they were a year ago. If you've listened to this show
for the course of this preseason and leadup to the
regular season, you know that I'm
high on Colorado. And it's not just
because I went there. I think there's reason
to be high on Colorado. Namely, I think they've got
one of, if not the best, quarterback in their
conference in Shedeur Sanders-- maybe the best quarterback
in the country, maybe the top pick in the draft. They've also got a guy that I
think can be, in a lot of ways should be considered the best
non-quarterback in college football, and that's Travis
Hunter because of what he does in a variety of different ways. This guy is, I think, in the
conversation for the top corner in the sport, along with
guys like Will Johnson, and the top wide
receiver in the sport just because of what he can do. So his impact is
going to be giant. We saw that early
in last season. And if he can stay healthy,
then watch out for Colorado. Meanwhile, North Dakota State-- watch out for the Bison. They won 9 of the last 13
FCS national championships. Now, they did that
with Craig Bohl, Chris Kleiman, and Matt Entz. All of those head coaches
have since moved on. Matt Entz, of course,
joining the staff at USC on the defensive side of the ball. North Dakota State is going
to start the preseason in the FCS ranked number 2. They lost in the
semifinals a year ago, and this is a team that's
going to be really good. This is going to
be an incredibly tough game for Colorado. This is not a
pushover whatsoever. And I believe it's going
to be a very close game. North Dakota State
was fourth in the FCS in rushing last year with
over 235 total yards. So this rebuilt defensive
line for Colorado will be tested right away. Their quarterback, the Bison's
quarterback, Cam Miller, he started 25 games
in his career. So he's an experienced guy. Now, they lost their two best
wide receivers, but that run game largely comes back. They can also use a second
quarterback, Cole Payton-- he's 6'3, 230 pounds, and
ran for 600 yards last year. So this run game is
going to be potent. And I think Colorado is going
to have to buckle it up and see what they really have on the
defensive side of the ball, in particular up front. North Dakota State defense
was top-20 last year, but this offense for
Colorado is better. We know that. We know when they're
playing to their potential that they're going to
put up a lot of points, they're going to
gain a lot of yards. Colorado started hot last year. We'll see where they go. A couple of things that I'm
very interested in seeing from the Colorado side-- the rebuilt offensive line. Five new starters,
including Jordan Seaton, one of the top recruits
in the country last year-- chose Colorado in part to be
part of the rebuild up front. My contention is that
this offensive line doesn't have to be great. They just have to be better. And those are two
very different things. Last year, Colorado
gave up 52 sacks. 52. That's an astonishing amount. If they give up 30 sacks, which,
by the way, is still not good-- but 30 sacks is 22 fewer sacks. That's 22 more opportunities to
push the ball down the field. That's 22 more opportunities
to convert on third down. That's 22 more opportunities to
get the ball into the red zone and potentially score. That translates and, in my
estimation, into victories. That's what I'll
be watching for. And then a guy that's getting
not much pub, but Buckeye fans who listen to this
show, they're going to, as soon as I say this name,
they're going to be like, yep, this guy is totally underrated. Dallan Hayden, the
transfer running back who comes into Colorado
to potentially get the run game going, which was virtually
nonexistent a year ago, that's going to be
interesting for me. 9.5-point favorite is
too much for Colorado. I believe that they win a close
game, fairly high scoring, at least for week one-- 35-28, Colorado wins the game. North Dakota State covers.