Jon Joseph

It will be TOUGH sledding in Seattle with Oregon and UW looking like the most complete teams in a deep Pac-12. Arizona fought tooth and nail and pushed UW all the way to the wire in Tucson. No TD throws for Penix. But UW has a history of struggling in the desert and last night was no exception.

I had to send the spouse out on an emergency Mylanta run!

Looking around the CFB Nation on Saturday, I couldn't help but think of old takes regarding the P5 conferences that now, for the most part, ring hollow. ACC - The ACC is a basketball conference. Coming into Week 5, 6 ACC teams were undefeated with FSU ranked in the top 4. B1G - The B1G is slow. After the top 3 B1G teams, this still has more than an element of truth. But watch out this Saturday when an athletic 5-0 Maryland team and Tua's kid brother visit Ohio State. Coming into this game The Terps have the edge at QB. B12 - No team plays defense in the B12. They are both leaving town but to date, both the Texas and Oklahoma Ds have been salty. Should be a great Red River Rivalry Game, with GameDay in town, this Saturday. (Thank you Texas Tech for coming back against Houston and winning the game without Tyler.) Pac-12 - Is soft! OK, USC is soft (Grinch must have photos) but on the whole, the Pac-12 is balling out this season. Arizona held Penix to ZERO TDs Saturday night and the Arizona game at SC this Saturday could be interesting. Oregon - CU 199 total yards of O. USC - CU 564 total yards of O. SEC - Plays a brand of defense like no other in the history of the sport! Ole Miss - 55 LSU - 49. 1,343 total yards of offense. And the game did not go into OT. Ironically, it could be an O-challenged team, Alabama, with a D that could carry it to the 2023 SEC title. The Tide's game at A+M this Saturday should tell us a lot about both teams. Other games of interest while Puddles takes a nap - Notre Dame 4-1 (Mike Elko, you are smash-mouthing ND and you drop 8 on 4th and 16?) at 5-0 Louisville. Kentucky at Georgia - Auburn put up a lot of rush yards vs. UGA and Kentucky comes calling after running roughshod over Florida. But UGA has Superman a/ka/ Brock Bowers on its side. Washington State at UCLA - Can the Little 2 and 3 stars keep it going about as far from the Palouse as you can get? As Stewart Mandel wrote Saturday night: I could not say this without a smirk before but I can honestly say that in 2023 the Playoff race is wide open.

DUCati855 - Hats off, Man! That is some kind of super predicting.

UGA has not looked great through 5 games. The fallacy with the polls especially early on in the season is too much weight is placed on the past. Not enough weight is given to the current season's performance against teams that are not thin air. Based on the record and SOS to date, the top 3 could be: 1. Texas - Win at Bama keeps looking better. Beat down of top 25 Kansas on Saturday. Blow out win at Baylor. Big game next week vs. undefeated Oklahoma. 2. FSU - Helped by Clemson's big win at Syracuse but dinged by LSU's shoot-out loss at Ole Miss. 3. Penn State - With 4-1 W VA's win at TCU on Saturday, the Penn State win over the Mountaineers is looking better. A complete evisceration of Iowa last Saturday. UGA #1? Based on the last 2 seasons' triumphs and nothing on the field, other than all-world Brock Bowers, to date in 2023. Next week's game in Athens vs. what will be a ranked Kentucky team could be very interesting.

Terrific smash mouth win today but many teams would have been 4-0 playing Kentucky's first four opponents. Still a good accomplishment and at least at home, Kentucky will not be easy. A sneaky big game might be the year-ender against undefeated Louisville.

UW has historically not played well in the desert. I hope de Laura can play. I think this game could be closer than UW -18.5. I'm going with Texas here. FSU has been impressive but Clemson handed FSU the game last week. Texas' win at Baylor was one of the few times in recent seasons that UT has not played down to B12 competition on the road. Next week's Red River Rivalry game will tell us a lot about both UT and Oklahoma.

On paper, the win at home over A+M is an impressive win but The U has not defeated a team currently ranked in the AP Top 25 and the schedule is going to ramp up. I think 2023 will be another season Miami does not win the ACC.

Great take. But this is the 3rd season in a row that the Orange has been 4-0 before playing better competition.

Wazzu won in Mad City in 2022 but defeated the Badgers in Pullman this season.

For both Texas and Miami, the back is so far back how will you know if either team is back? 44 points a game for MariO is impressive. But other than A+M the competition has been rank, not ranked, and A+M has yet to defeat a solid team. GA tech is not a pushover. At UNC will be tough. Clemson could be 4-0 at this point in the season and not 2-2. At NC St will be a tough game as will be playing FSU in Tallahassee. And I expect Louisville after the win at NC State to move into this week's Top 25. I'm giving The U the UVA and BC games. Like the Pac-12, the ACC is a tough conference in 2023 with lots of good QB play.

DUKE. But it likely ends today in Durham. Wazzu is a close 2nd.

Good thoughts, but I don't think not practicing hard can be laid on NIL any more than players being followed since Junior High makes some guys not ready to play. It's vice versa for some of the other guys who have been all-stars since 9th grade, are being NIL paid, but show up and ball out like 2* and 3* wannabees. If pay-for-play was the be-all and end-all, Manning, not Ewing. would be starting for Texas. Yet, from what I have heard, Manning is putting out in the weight room and at practice. Ultimately, it comes down to the individual. Plenty of guys who are being NIL-paid are balling out. Some are not. Thus be it ever. And never ignore a program's whiff on 5* and miss on 3*. See 2023 Wazzu; not a 4* or 5* in sight.

Terrific take! Hopefully, the young man and his advisors will recognize 'this' and not decide to do the portal shuffle.

Saint Nick. Have a Coke (or a Dansani) and smile. Sorry Nick, DL is the real thing. Unlike the QBs on the Bama roster in 2023. BUT, Bama could still win the SEC. How about DL lining up against Saint Nick in the Rose Bowl? Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream.

Thank you, Charles! Love to see your takes on OBD and it's special to find an article like this later in the week. It's not hyperbole when it's the truth. #5. DL plugged holes from the portal. Jon Wilner did not have Jordan Burch, now rounding into form, in his preseason top 25 most impactful transfers but he did have SC's Bear Alexander on his list, a guy who has yet to have a major on-field impact. Cornelius at OT was a great get. Ditto, the DB transfers. #11 - Hayward's great comment. DL's mentor, Kirby Smart, made a number of bonehead decisions before 'getting it.' DL's first job was as a graduate assistant at Bama under Saint Nick. Will anyone ever forget Saban's 'Kick-6' decision versus Auburn? [BTW, Nick liked what DL said before the CU game but did not like the timing of the comments. Saint Nick knows that you should never make comments like this unless you are behind a bottle of Coke or Dansani and getting paid, right? Nick, go back to your rat poison.] Players improve with game experience. Improve when the game 'slows down.' As the Navy Seals say: 'Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.' The game will slow down for DL and the rookie coaching mistakes will disappear. I like the man, no doubt, but thank goodness Wilcox decided to stay in Berkeley. The Ducks roster would be gray and not blue chip. Go Ducks! TCB on The Farm.

Why not! You have no idea? I'm .500 versus Vegas to date. The folks in the desert are good.

Steven A - They gave me DAT's uni to try on and it was far too big. But, I am good with towels and dirty laundry (no, I'm not an ex-con) so maybe I can find a spot in the locker room?

Great take. I'm pretty sure the NCAA no longer tests for grass.

Winner - Ducks Score - 52-10 (What was the 3rd thing?) OK, now I remember - 3 TO - 1 pick 6 4 Sacks 260 Passing yards Bonus - Pac-12 Networks Not in the locker room for Danno's pregame pep talk.

THIS would be a lot of fun! I know it's double OT, but Utah is going to put up 21 more points ( 7 of the 14 came on a pick 6) than it did at home vs. UCLA. Cam Ward will not be there to light up the Beavs pass D.

Wow! Way Over the Over for this game; 44.5.

Bring big pliers. Beavers have big teeth. Spot on take. The Utes no O on an ffense focused on the run game and excellent D has returned CFB to Woody Hayes and 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Add in DJU looking like he did at Clemson and this will be a taffy pull. Now, we'll probably see a shootout, right?

Beavs win. Utes +4, cover.

It always helps to have a JJ on board, right?