Jon Joseph

When you run the ball 42 times and are never called for holding, including an SC DL's jersey nearly being torn off on the game-clinching TD, you're doing something right, right? 15 Louisville at 16 Notre Dame on Saturday will let us know if the Canes will play a top-25 team in the regular season. Take a loss in South Bend and how far will Louisville, the only ranked team currently on Miami's schedule, will fall? Miami had a game outside of the normal ACC rota scheduled with the Domers that the Canes canceled. Clemson is not on Miami's 8-Game (SIGH) regular season conference schedule. 3 of 17 ACC teams ranked and the winner of the ACC gets a top 4 seed and a first-round bye. The six ranked B1G teams, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Michigan, USC, and Illinois with 9 conference games mostly play one another in the regular season. 2026 will see changes made to the PO format.

Hell of an agent. Mr. Agent, I have been promised orally by an assistant coach, nothing in writing, that I will be paid $100K to transfer from Holy Cross to UNLV. His agent didn't check with the UNLV NIL collective to confirm the offer and get it in writing. Well done Sir! When Tark was at UNLV there was no problem paying the players, other than a few nudges from the NCAA. 😁

And Lane County and small business people lose $6-8M when you give up a home game vs a P4 opponent to play folks who called you everything including a red-headed stepchild. Is someone, anyone, in the Athletics Department looking at the bottom line? A road game at "Pac-7" Utah State? And 4 games vs B12 opponents with no connection whatsoever to OBD. One game in Waco is not going to convince a recruit from Texas to play ball for Oregon. OK State and its horror show stadium in Stillwater? Why? Because Rob met the Bears and Cowboys ADs when he was on the PO Committee? Making room for H+H series with Cal and Stanford makes sense. Tripping to Oklahoma and Texas when you are doing enough B1G tripping is senseless. And Logan, Utah for a game? Money Matters. (DUH!) Especially if the House settlement is approved.

If you don't like playing on Friday night, please return the Money to CBS, FOX, and NBC and ask for an invite to the Scrap 12. 11 PM KO Eastern vs. UCLA is part of the B1G deal. And as Charles so noted, Illinois at Nebraska drew better viewer numbers than if squeezed in on Saturday.

But I am thrilled that DJU's younger brother is with OBD.

It's already Week 5! Does anything go slower than College Football's (CFB) off-season or faster than the CFB season? I am reminded of the time Albert Einstein visited FDR in the White House. 'Doctor Einstein,' the President inquired, 'please help me to understand why Time is relative to the observer?' 'Mr. President,' Einstein responded, 'have you ever attended a boring lecture where one minute felt like an hour?' FDR smiled and nodded his agreement. Einstein continued, "Mr. President, have you ever spent an hour with a beautiful woman that felt like a minute?" To this interrogatory, the President of the United States not only nodded his consent but LOL while doing so. Close to half of the regular season is gone for many CFB teams. Hard to believe, is it not? To date, Puddles Playoff Flight Path has encountered unexpected turbulence. Week 1 - 'The pump don't work because the Vandals stole the handle.' Week 2 - You never, ever, NEVER, schedule Boise State! Week 3 - Pac-2, 6, 8, or 12, it's still G5 so what the hell? Week 4 - Please, respect the Do Not Disturb sign on Puddles Nest. Week 5 - A flight to LA for Puddles' first B1G game. Against a team that OBD has played 72 times! Have to love the irony attached to these mega-conference schedules. OBD 32 - 40 versus the Bruins all time but 4-0 against UCLA in the last four meetings. Thanks to Darren Perkins, 30 Duck and other Forum Friends who have previously looked into B1G conference and other Week 5 Games with a Playoff impact. No. 19 Illinois +10.5 at No. 9 Penn State - 4:30 (and all other game times) Pacific - NBC. The last time Illinois visited a Top 10 Penn State team was in 2021. A record was set when the Illini won the game in the 9th Overtime! Beer and Pretzels were long sold out and a MASH Unit helped both team's players off of the Beaver Stadium field. 3-1 Maryland +7 at 4-0 Indiana. 9 AM Big Ten Network. If the B1G COY was decided today, Hoosiers HC Curt Cignetti would win hands down. Indiana is in the Top 5 nationally in all key offensive categories including 5th in points scored - 50 points a game. Defeat Maryland and Indiana will be 5-0 for the first time since 1967 when Indiana went to the Rose Bowl and lost a close game to USC and Heisman winner OJ Simpson. 4-0 Indiana has punted the ball 4 times this season. Keep a B1G eye on - 3-1 UW +2.5 at 3-0 Rutgers, Wisconsin +14.5 at No. 13 USC, No. 3 Ohio State -24.5 at 3-1 Michigan State, and of course, OBD -24 at UCLA. The Biggest Game of the Weekend is No.2 Georgia -2.5 at No. 4 Alabama. 4:30 ABC. 2007 was the last time UGA played at Alabama. The Dawgs won the game in Overtime. The Tide has won 5 of the last 6 games played between these CFB behemoths with every game being oh-so-close. In 2008, the No. 8 Tide paid back No. 3 Georgia with an upset win in Athens. This is the first of Georgia's three tough SEC road games. UGA will also play at No. 1 Texas and No. 6 Ole Miss. UGA also will play No. 5 Tennessee 'Tween the Hedges. Georgia got one of the shorter ends of the SEC scheduling stick; a schedule but for the game venue will be repeated in 2025. No. 15 Louisville +6.5 at No. 16 Notre Dame - 12:30 on The Bird (Peacock) This game resonates in the Playoff seven at-large selections. A two-loss Irish with a less-than-impressive schedule and with a 2nd home loss could be all but Playoff done. Louisville is the only ranked team left on Miami's regular season schedule. Louisville drops this game in South Bend and Miami's strength of schedule will be rank, not ranked, especially for a possible ACC champion that will be rewarded with a top 4 Playoff seed. Holy War in the B12! Undefeated No. 10 Utah and 4-0 No. 22 BYU (who knew?) are the front runners for the B12's champ Playoff top 4 Playoff seed. GO DUCKS - RUIN THE BRUINS!

H is for Hypocrites. E is for erroneous Evaluations and L is for Larcenous Losers. Hell of a conference. 😁 I wonder when Linfield will get its invite. I expect these Wildcats would not sully its reputation by leaving The Northwest Conference for the Northwest Loser Left Behinds. Unlike Oregon State and Washington State, Linfield has won college football championships. Shout out to Charles for 'The Scrap 12.'

Gabe, Blow Your Horn! UCLA’s key weakness should help Oregon Ducks’ offense and Dillon Gabriel continue to find success WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The Oregon Ducks come out of their first bye week with a matchup against a Big Ten team that they're quite familiar with from their long run together in

Thanks, Darren. Good take on upcoming games. I disagree that Oregon State defeating Purdue was a good thing. As a fan of a team in the B1G, I do not want to see B1G teams losing to G5 programs; especially, a team on the Ducks schedule. No one knows how the Playoff (PO) Committee will parse the Playoff's seven at-large selections. But overall conference performance will likely matter. No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn State is a B1G game. Illinois is 4-0 and one of only two teams nationally with two wins over schools ranked in the Top 25 when the games were played, Kansas at home and Nebraska in Lincoln. If Illinois played in the SEC it would be a Top 10 team and an SEC 3-0 Penn State with a road win versus West Virginia would also be ranked higher. A+M at No. 24 is laughable. Another interesting B1G game sees 3-1 Maryland at 4-0 Indiana, 9 AM Pacific on BTN. Indiana is another team that could be ranked instead of a 3-1 A+M that defeated Bowling Green by six points last Saturday. Win this game and the next game at Northwestern and the Hoosiers will be 6-0 when Nebraska trips to Bloomington. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti to date is the B1G's COY. OBD is 32-40 vs. UCLA and 23-38-2 vs. USC. However, Oregon has won the last 4 games vs. UCLA and the last 3 games vs. USC. Without the Pac-12's Cali scheduling agreement, OBD will play the two LA schools more often in the B1G than in the Pac-12. Thanks again, Darren. Hard to believe it is already Week 5.

His Dad Tom, played at Michigan from 1938 to 1940. Tom was an All-American 'Halfback' who led the nation in scoring in 1940. When I think of UCLA I think of the much-missed head coaches Tommy Prothro (also the Beavers HC before UCLA) and Terry Donahue.

Nevada Dawg, thanks for your thoughts. To the list of coaches you named, I'd add Curt Cignetti at Indiana whose Hoosiers are 4-0. As a head coach, Cignetti has never had a losing season. Noteworthy for the B1G is a 'basketball school' stepping up with millions to buy out Tom Allen's contract and to bring in Cignetti. The SEC has a built-in advantage over the B1G, with more and better players in the Southeast footprint than in the B1G footprint. And with it just meaning more from the university presidents and trustees on down, the SEC has placed a greater emphasis on football financially and institutionally and in other sports than the B1G. The investment in athletics has paid off. Applications for admission are up across the SEC including out-of-state applicants who pay full tuition. Institutionally, the B1G like many of the Pac-12 presidents, takes perhaps excessive pride in academics and at least in part, continues to do so today. All four Left Coast newbies are AAU member institutions. Nebraska was an AAU member when it was invited to join the B1G. Nebraska would not be invited today. However, every SEC school from Vandy to Mississippi State has produced graduates who succeed in every facet of life. When Urban Meyer was hired by Ohio State his recruiting style which was the norm in the SEC shook up the B1G. More B1G schools are 'getting it.' If you want to compete at a championship level in the Moneyball sports you have to invest in CFB and Men's CBB from the coaches on down. The B1G is strong in volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and diving, and other indoor sports but has a geographic disadvantage when it comes to spring outdoor sports like baseball, softball, track and field, and golf. In 2023-24 the New B1G defeated the New SEC in both football PO semifinals. An aberration but also possibly a trend? I think the B1G will produce more competitive football teams at the top. Never the top-to-bottom strength of the SEC but teams able to go toe-to-toe with the best of the SEC. Ruin the Bruins! And Go You Hairy Dawgs and Win on Saint Nick Field!

As many a B1G pundit has asked: 'Where does all of that money go?' Nebraska is 3-1 and if in the SEC an OT loss to a top 25 team would not have knocked it out of the top 25. Illinois is one of two teams nationally that has two wins over ranked top 25 teams when the games were played and has another top 25 game Saturday at Penn State. If the Illini was in the SEC it would be ranked at least in the top 15. 3-1 TX A+M defeated Bowling Green at home by 6 points and moved up from 25 to 24. Rutgers is 3-0 with a road win at VA Tech, a tough place to play. Indiana is 4-0 and not ranked. Maryland is 3-1. Iowa is 3-1. BC is 3-1 this season and gave Mizzou a tough game in CoMO. 3-1 MI State had BC on the ropes in Chestnut Hill but was not able to hang on for the win. Ole Miss is No. 6 and has played against thin air. Penn State is No. 9 with a win on the road at W VA. Michigan played Texas this season and Wisconsin played Bama. Ole Miss misses Bama and Texas in the regular season. Only 5 B1G teams have Blue Chip Rosters. More than half of the SEC have blue-chip rosters. And 9 not 8 conference games means 1 more loss for half of the B1G. Northwestern is Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State is putrid. South Carolina has never won an SEC title. A+M has done less with more than almost any team in the nation. Kentucky hasn't won the SEC since Bear Bryant was the head coach. Auburn lost a home game to Cal. Arkansas was not bowl-eligible last season and may not be this season. That's 7 of 16 SEC teams that are not all that. The SEC deserves praise based on titles won. The SEC has football budgets that dwarf most of the B1G schools and the SEC, even the weaker schools, have well-run NIL programs. In this respect, it does just mean more. The SEC is the only conference that the B1G is behind in football. The B1G top to bottom is better than the ACC and the B12. In last season's PO, two "B1G" teams defeated two "SEC" Teams and played for the title won by Michigan. Not a trend but a sign of hope for the B1G. One place the B1G is No. 1 and the SEC No. 2? $ MONEY $. Which is nice.😍

The Pac-6 made an offer that could be and was roundly refused. A Bronco's head in the AAC commissioner's bed would not have made a difference. 😁 CBS, ESPN, FOX, and NBC own P4 inventory in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain time zones. They have the Power Late Night inventory and they are not going to pay for inventory they don't need? Will the 'MW 4' beg to come back home? How much additional money will Boise, already with a 'special' MW deal make out of hanging out with Pac-12 left-behinds and a group of teams they already play? Does San Diego State, Colorado State, and Fresno State move the media's needle? No one watches these teams if they aren't playing a popular P4 opponent. The Pac-2's "consultant" convinced the Pig-2 otherwise? How much money besides $113M of "Our Money" did this sterling advice cost? The ACC is in the process of making a deal to keep Clemson and FSU on board. A deal we will see more of with the bigger brands in a conference receiving a bigger slice of the media pie. The ACC will IMO hold together. Cal and Stanford have signed a grant of rights deal with the ACC through 2036. They weren't coming back to play ball in the Pac-Whatever regardless and had no inventory to sell if they wanted to join a conference with UNLV and Utah State. All the Pac-2 had to do and should have done was reverse merge with the MW. Long ago Bobby Bowden knew he had an easier path to the postseason playing in the ACC instead of the SEC. What sense does it make to get every competitive G5 team in the same conference chasing after one PO spot? 13-0 Liberty played a weak schedule last season and was rewarded with the NY6 dough along with a paddling from Puddles. A merger of the best teams in the MW, MAC, AAC, Sun Belt, and CUSA would not create a 5th Power conference or materially increase the money the media will pay for G5 inventory. A PO spot for the G5 is not a certainty beyond 2025-26. The Power teams could give the G5/6 some PO money and send them off to a playoff of their own. Stupid Is As Stupid Does. Right, Teresa?

And after one bad half vs Georgia in Atlanta Clemson is kicking ACC butt. Miami's 'Big Win' is against FLORIDA, right?

A bird in the hand ... $113M and counting for THIS? Is anyone surprised the AAC teams told the Pac-6 to buzz off? Why would any network pay significant money for late-night inventory when Fox, CBS, and NBC already own Oregon, UCLA, USC, and UW inventory, and Fox and ESPN have inventory in Arizona and in the Rocky Mountain time zone with CU, Utah, and BYU? I think the Pac-2 hired the same consultants who recommended hiring Larry and George K. For goodness sake Rob, cancel the game scheduled in Logan, Utah now and never, ever, again schedule Boise State or any other Pac-Whatever team. The AAC invitees did not wait very long to say: NO!

Three ACC teams are ranked and Clemson is not on the Canes regular season schedule. No. 15 Louisville +6.5, and friend Tyler Shough play at No. 16 Notre Dame on Saturday. Miami could play zero top-25 teams before possibly playing Clemson in the ACC champ game. Win the ACC and Miami will have a top 4 seed and a 1st-round bye. With an ACC champ game loss should a 12-1 Miami be an ipso facto at-large PO team over 11-1 and even 10-2 teams with more difficult schedules? Cam hasn't been tested and may not be tested before the ACC title game. 17 teams in the ACC and 8 conference games. The SEC has the resume to kind of justify 8 games. The ACC?

Both Maryland and Wisconsin are idle the Saturday before the Ducks game. Maryland will be OBD's 6th conference game in a row; Wisconsin the 8th game in a row. Michigan, game 7, has an excellent D-line and a shutdown corner. November in Michigan and Wisconsin means a chance of bad to very bad weather. Simply having to travel to Michigan and Wisconsin in November is difficult on its own. No. 19 Illinois is 4-0 and one of two teams in the nation with wins over, at the time, top 25 teams. This Saturday's game at No. 9 Penn State should be very interesting. 4-0 Indiana, Duke, Pitt, and 3-0 Rutgers are not ranked. 3-1 Nebraska loses to a top 25 team in OT and drops out of the top 25. 3-1 A+M beats Bowling Green by 6 points and moves up a spot to No. 24. It's the AP and not the Committee but I do not expect B1G teams to have the same margin for error as SEC teams. 3-1 Sparty, about to host No. 3 Ohio State, needs QB Chiles to stop throwing the ball to the other team. 3 Ints in every game so far. MSU on Friday night before tOSU visits Eugene is a dangerous 'looking-ahead' game. Oregon played inexplicably bad football vs Idaho and Boise and defeated a mediocre Beavers team. OBD is ranked 107th in the nation in big-yardage, chunk plays. Does anyone have a handle on this Ducks team from the coaching on down? UCLA is not good but -24.5 seems like a generous spread with Dan + friends having to play on a short week vs Sparty and likely looking to rest starting players. 12-0 would not surprise me but neither would 9-3. No other team in CFB faces an 8-game, Power 4 grind with 2 of the last 3 games requiring travel to Eastern and Central time zones. RUIN the BRUINS!

Oregon's 1st B1G Game is B1G After Dark. The B1G storylines for Week 5: Can Illinois do it again? SATURDAYTRADITION.COM We break down the key storylines for the B1G's best games in Week 5.

Ducks Wire has a slightly different but still 3 TD+ spread for OBD. Oregon Ducks open as three-score favorites over UCLA Bruins DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM The Ducks are sizable favorites going into their Big Ten debut against the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins put up a good first-half fight in Baton Rogue but lack of depth and talent showed in the 2nd half. Oregon should wear down the Bruins but I don't like a line this large for a team going on the road that has not covered twice this season. With Michigan State coming to Autzen a week from Friday followed up with a visit by the Buckeyes, I think Danno will want to play more guys and rest his starters rather than blow out UCLA. Blast the Bruins!

Not That It Makes Me Smart, That's Too Difficult For Anyone to Accomplish. 😁 But Trojans Wire Has the Same Beefs With Lincoln Riley, and He Makes $10M a Year. 😒 Lincoln Riley, USC football lack precision and overall discipline TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM The reality of USC football is that while improvements have been made, the overall product is far too inconsistent and unclean. Precision is lacking.

Give It Up For Boise State. AP Top 25 Reality Check: Boise State returns to rankings 3 years after 19-season streak was snapped APNEWS.COM For two decades, Boise State has been the most reliably sucessful program outside major college football’s power conferences. Big game on Saturday when Wazzu visits Boise. GO BRONCOS!

Thanks, Alex, fun one to ponder. Stewart was a 5* recruit. He flashed as a Frosh at A+M and was injured in his second season. He also played on a dysfunctional team led by a dysfunctional vastly overpaid head coach. Stewart was a 5* in the portal rankings, the top-ranked WR in the portal. I have yet to see Stewart play like a 5* for OBD. Compare him to Ohio State's Frosh phenom receiver Jeremiah Smith and veteran WR Emeka Eubuka at Ohio State (the Ducks toughest on-paper opponent) and Stewart's play is not close to the level of these 2 Buckeyes. And Evan is playing with a better QB. In fairness, I'm not sure that this version of Oregon's O under Stein fits Evan's game. Until Stewart steps up, I'll put my money on Tez to be OBD's top receiver in 2024-25. And YES, I hope this team will be playing ball in 2025.

USC took the lead, held Michigan, and got the ball back. I haven't produced Heisman winners like Lincoln Riley but I didn't get the play calling when 2 1st downs could have iced the game. Running the ball 3 times would have forced Michigan to call TOs or left little time on the clock for Michigan. Having a TO before running the 4th and goal play helped Michigan. And if the clock had run down, would Michigan have had time to run the ball on every play of its walk-off TD win? I know shovel passes are considered to be almost automatic completions, but not as automatic as handing the ball off. Back-to-back incomplete shovel passes by SC took next to no time off the clock. I do think SC's beef about the former Pac-12 crew calling this game was legit. The crew missed 2 Michigan delay of-game calls, an obvious facemask call on one of Michigan's sacks, and a late below-the-wast hit after Moss had released the ball. SC's WRs did nothing to help Moss out. Every contested catch went the way of the Wolverines. I think Branch in particular played an uninspired game. On the pass returned for a TD by All-American Will Johnson, the SC receiver waited passively for the ball instead of moving back to the ball to make the catch; a fundamental error at this level of football. SC's O-line deserved the 'D' grade from Trojans Wire. You lose both LOS and you will not win many football games. Unlike SC, Texas dominated both LOS and shut down Michigan's run game. It was a great 'fistfight' of a game to watch.

30, Kentucky has rarely defeated Georgia but has been a pain in UGA's butt. The week before Georgia traveled to KY, South Carolina had whipped Kentucky. These young men have a lot going on in their lives besides football and will not bring their A-game every weekend. Not sure about the viewer numbers but my betting buddies and I are down on UGA winning by at least a FG. With a 7:30 KO I'll be one of the viewers. 11 PM for OBD I hope I can manage the 1st Q.

It will be very interesting to compare viewer numbers for UGA at Bama with SC at Michigan, 3:30 kickoff compared to UGA at Bama kicking off at 7:30. Georgia is 1-5 in its last 6 games vs Bama. Saint Nick had Smarty's number; the game will be played on Nick Saban Field. Georgia is a -2.5 road favorite. Texas at Michigan drew 9.35 million viewers with a noon kickoff. Gameday and Big Noon were both in Ann Arbor. Gameday will be in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Last season, Ohio State at Michigan was the most-watched regular season game. Go You Athens Dawgs!