
Lacie's Line-Up: NFL News
Lacie's Line-Up: NFL News
College Football's Unpredictable Path Ahead
Are the Alabama Crimson Tide feeling the ripple effects of Nick Saban's departure? Join me on Lacie's Lineup as we unravel the unexpected twists in college football this season, starting with the Oklahoma Sooners' rollercoaster journey. Injuries have been a thorn in the side of their offensive line and wide receivers, complicating their transition to the SEC with formidable foes like Ole Miss, Alabama, and LSU on the horizon. As a diehard OU fan, I offer a candid reflection on the challenges ahead and the glimmer of hope for a brighter future with promising recruits. We’ll also take a peek at Alabama's surprising stumbles this year, hinting at a growing restlessness in their fanbase as they navigate the post-Saban era.
But the drama doesn't end there. We'll explore the buzzing controversies that have fans debating rankings as Oregon claims the top spot, followed closely by Georgia, Penn State, and Ohio State. Is there bias at play in keeping certain teams playoff-relevant, or are these rankings deserved? Come along as we dissect the quarterback quandary facing Texas amidst their matchup preparations and consider potential dark horses like LSU and Notre Dame. With the new 12-team playoff format looming, the landscape of college football is rife with excitement and unpredictability. Whether it’s the influence of the transfer portal or the unexpected thrills of a student kicker stealing the spotlight, this episode promises to feed your passion for the game and offer fresh insights into the week’s biggest stories.
Welcome to Lacey's Lineup College Football Edition. I went back to audio. I'm gonna keep switching it up. I've kind of missed just doing some audio stuff. So this week is gonna be all audio Doesn't mean that I'm not gonna have some, you know, youtube shorts or things like that, just to keep things interesting.
Speaker 1:But I wanted to go back where it all started and just talk to you guys about college football, and do we have a lot to talk about? So let's not waste any more time and start Lacey's lineup college football. All right, guys, let's just get down to the meat and potatoes of college football. Can we all agree that it has been kind of a wild ride? On top of having a 12-team playoff this year, it's just been kind of nuts. It's been a lot of upsets, a lot of crazy stuff happening from the beginning. Injuries are definitely playing a big part in this. Quarterbacks are on high alert, heisman Trophy candidate front runners are really showing out, the pressure is on and some people are rising to the occasion. So there's just a plethora of things that we need to discuss, but I'm going to try to cover as much as I can today on some of these topics. So let's start with and I got to get it out of the way. Let's just get. Let's just get my thoughts on this, because we all know I'm an OU fan and it has not been a good season for us. Talk about injuries and I'm not putting excuses out there because I'm not one to have excuses but it's been a very, very hard injury year for us. We lost our offensive line, which, going into the SEC, is just not a good thing for us. If we don't have anyone that can give us time, then it's just not going to happen. We know that good teams start on the line and we have all rookies or people that have never played before, so it's just been a struggle that way. And on top of that, I mean, have you guys heard of a team that is on their sixth wide receiver? I don't know what is happening in Oklahoma right now and why we have these injuries. I don't like that. They're being very vague with it. Now I'm starting to think that, because of where our season is going, these players aren't planning on returning back. You know they're wanting to probably hold their eligibility because it's just we're not going to be a playoff team this year, but you have six top five-star wide receivers who were out for this entire year, outside of Berks, who has been out, but he played a little bit for us in the beginning. So it's just been hard. Welcome to the SEC.
Speaker 1:I think we really would have competed well had we been healthy. I hate to see our defense because they are a playoff caliber defense. Just not have the offense that can put up points. We were in some games, but this past weekend, guys, it was hard, it was hard to watch. I mean, south Carolina was one that I thought we would win. They've been struggling themselves and our quarterback room is not good. We keep going back and forth rightfully so, because we don't have anyone that's kind of defined. I think Jackson Arnold probably is more consistent, but we don't have an offensive line for him to stay in the pocket. Hawkins brought us really good momentum for a little bit, but you can tell he is a freshman and he lacks that experience and it showed I mean, the South Carolina game and the Texas game for that matter he just really struggled and showed that he's not ready to carry this team on his back. So here we are. I mean, we got destroyed by South Carolina at home for homecoming and it is just getting uglier and uglier. We go to Ole Miss this week, then we have Alabama LSU. I mean, I think the only winnable game we have left, unfortunately, is Maine.
Speaker 1:So pray for my OU Sooners. I know we put together a great program. I hope our recruits stay with us and realize that it was just an unfortunate, injury-prone year and that we can get back and have a really good year next year. But crazier things have happened which we will get to. So I guess you can't really count anything out until the game happens. So OU will play 11 o'clock in Ole Miss against Jackson Dart, who's been a very solid quarterback for them and has really taken this program up. So it's going to be a tough hill to climb. Can OU do it? We will find out. But it has been a sad, sad year for us so far.
Speaker 1:So that's what I'm going to say about my Sooners. Obviously I got to give them talks. I got to kind of talk through. It Helps me, it's kind of like therapy. But that's where we're at with them. So we'll see what the future brings. Hopefully, recruits, if you're listening, stick with us. We build a program. We're loyal, we're going to get our quarterback figured out and we will take it from there.
Speaker 1:But let's jump to some interesting things. With what's happening, I mean, there's been some crazy upsets and it's been consistent. It's not just one upset and then it was just a bad game. It sounds like it's more of like a bad sign, and that team that I'm talking about is Alabama. They've lost Nick Saban. They don't have him anymore and I think the fans are starting to get a little frustrated. Not only did they lose to Vanderbilt which was not something that they should have ever done, not taking anything away from Vanderbilt, because they are playing really well this year but they turned around and Alabama lost to Tennessee. This weekend Tennessee has had its highs and it's had its lows and it's just kind of been back and forth. I think Alabama, on paper, was the better team, but for whatever reason, when things go south with Alabama, no pun intended there, but they just can't figure it out, and if they're trailing at the end outside of the Georgia game which is crazy, because you would have thought that would have just skyrocketed them to just not look back after that. But they lost to a Tennessee team and Tennessee came, they played hard and Alabama just never looked to be in a rhythm and now has taken Alabama out of the top 12 playoff teams.
Speaker 1:Is this something we worry about, guys? Do you think Alabama? Are we tired of seeing Alabama? Are a lot of us happy that this is happening? I know I'm tired of seeing the roll tide all the time, nick Saban not being there. So Alabama is definitely struggling at the moment. Still a good team. I still think they will make the 12 playoffs. I think it's kind of destined. You can't really have a playoff without Alabama in it.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, I think that's the bias that they lean to, because they've lost to two. Well, tennessee's ranked but Vanderbilt was not, and they've still managed to. Just they stayed in the top 12 when they lost to Vanderbilt and now they're just right outside at number 15. So we will see if Alabama can turn it around. Not sure if they've really taken to their new coach. The culture obviously has shifted since Nick Saban has been gone. Props to Hypo and the Tennessee for coming out and taking care of business, but Alabama, I think it's a little. It's okay to say that we are a little concerned right now, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens with that. So Alabama is on my watch list to see if they can overcome. I think the rest of their schedule is favorable, so we will see how this all pans out.
Speaker 1:But coming off of this week, the biggest game that we were all looking forward to and not really me, because you guys know I'm an OU fan and don't like when Texas gets all this attention but they were number one in the polls and Texas was welcome to the SEC Everybody be scared, this is our year. We're going to lead everybody to everything. Well, here's my OU side, but it's also my football side, knowledge of, you know, being a student of football. Up until this point, has Texas played an offense? I don't think they have. They've played offenses that weren't put together, obviously, ou being one of them. They had not faced, I mean, michigan graduated 12. They only had one running back and they played them early on in the season. So I just don't count that they had gone against a team that was the full package of the SEC. So all this hype of them saying, oh, we're taking over the SEC, this or that, I was really hoping that it was going to be a challenge for them on that Saturday night and it proved to be. I mean, georgia came in and they've kind of gone back and forth this year, obviously, but they have a complete offense. Carson Beck, I will say, has been up and down. I'm not a Carson Beck fan, which is Georgia's quarterback, but they came in to Texas number one team in the nation listening to all this smack and they answered the call.
Speaker 1:And it wasn't easy either. Anybody that watched this game I got to tell you guys real quick. Did you guys see this controversy that happened? I mean, at the end. I'm happy that it happened the way that it happened, because I think there would have been excuses for Texas losing, had it not? But anyone that didn't watch?
Speaker 1:Let me just tell you a recap really quick. Let's start. Georgia was dominating. I mean it was 23 to nothing in the first half. Texas came out with a little bit of a burst. They scored right away, held Georgia to a field goal, so it looked like this was going to be the run or done type situation. Well, georgia throws and they intercept it. Texas intercepts it and they call pass interference. Now I'm with you guys, when you do the replay, it does not look. It shouldn't have been called. It's clearly not a pass interference. They were both kind of pulling on each other. There was a release, no straight arm. I thought it was great defensive play and it was a run they ran it back with inside the 10. The crowd's going crazy. Right, it's our time. Texas is coming here, we come marching, but they call it.
Speaker 1:The refs gather, they call the personal or pass interference and they give the ball to Georgia or back to Georgia and they're all lined up. Well, the fans go crazy. They absolutely go crazy. They start throwing I think it was water bottles, beer cans, I mean insane Like where the game stopped because it had to be cleaned up. Sark was mad. He went over and talked to them, told them to stop. It was, you know, unsportsmanlike conduct. I'm actually shocked that they didn't get any type of flag for a delay of game or something for their fans. But anyways, it took four and a half minutes to clean this mess up. In these four and a half minutes I've never seen anything like this. The refs got back together because I think they had time to sit there and re-watch the replay. Reverse the call.
Speaker 1:Now I get, if you throw the flag and you huddle and you decide, oh, we're going to pick up the flag, but it had already been confirmed called huddled ball back to Georgia and because of this delay, of the fans throwing stuff onto the field, they gave it back to Texas. I have never seen anything like that. I didn't even think you could do that. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's something that, but you can't even challenge anything like that because it's a you know opinion or this is what I mean. He threw the flag for a reason, because he believed it was pass interference. So I don't know, it was crazy. I mean you got to think that, hey, fans are going to be like, hey, if we don't like a call, we're just going to start throwing stuff onto the field and give them more time to look at it and maybe overturn it. So I just don't think it sent a really good message to the SEC or to football fans in general. But, like I said, I'm happy that it did go back, because I do think that was the wrong call at the end and Georgia held them and didn't let them score and went on to win this game. So I think if they wouldn't have overturned it and Georgia would have ultimately won, I think we would have had a lot of crying Texas fans complaining that we would have scored here, we would have made it a game and this was the reason that we lost. So I'm happy that we silenced that, but never saw that ever. So I'd be curious to hear what you guys think about that and, if you, what your thoughts are and if you think that is right and how they did that, or if that was even something that they could do. Obviously it could, because they did so, just thought that was interesting.
Speaker 1:But Georgia beat Texas and took over. I mean they let them know who was in and first test for Texas and they did not do well. I mean they even benched Quinn Ewers. They brought in Arch Manning. He didn't do anything. Then they went back to Quinn. So now you got a quarterback controversy happening in Texas right now. So it seems like there's some ruffles in this dominant Texas team that everybody's talking about. So I don't think that they do have a couple of favorable games. I mean they have to go to Vanderbilt this week. So Vanderbilt has upset Alabama, they've upset more people and I don't think it's just going to be an easy win. So we'll see what that week brings.
Speaker 1:So here's your polls. Let's leave it at that. New rankings came out. Your top 12. You have Oregon. Oregon is really dominating and like I, I know I keep, I'm going to keep going back to OU. That's my passion. But because we're linked to that, I mean that's Dylan Gabriel who I think if he could have stayed with us one more year probably would have helped. Maybe not because we don't have wide receivers, but he wanted to get closer to home. He's from Hawaii. Not sure if that is closer, but that is the reason that he gave us and he is rocking and rolling with Oregon right now.
Speaker 1:They have taken over the number one spot. Obviously they're undefeated. So Georgia could not hop them because they had lost to Alabama. So they take the number two. After their victory over Texas. You got Penn State still rocking and rolling at number three. Ohio State obviously dominant at number three. Ohio State obviously dominant at number four. Texas only drops to five, which don't get me started on this, guys. I don't understand how Alabama can lose to an unranked team and they drop from one to seven. I think it's a little rigged. I think the BCS wants what teams they want and maybe have like a couple of surprises that they can't work around to be in this top 12, but they're determined to make sure that Alabama, texas and Georgia are in the playoffs, because it makes for good football. So Texas loses and they only dropped to number five. Six is Miami. Tennessee is on the rise again for sure. After winning against Alabama, they are in number seven. Lsu I think LSU is kind of a dark horse right now.
Speaker 1:They opened up their season losing to USC. It looked like it was going to be trouble. They squeaked by against South Carolina, but I mean, sec games are hard and they are finding ways to win and they seem to be on a really good roll right now. So they're kind of sitting silent at number eight, but I think they're gonna really surprise some teams when it comes to playoffs because I think they're gelling at the right moment and I think LSU is definitely. I don't think Brian, I don't think it has anything to do with Brian Kelly no offense, never been a fan of him, but they are sitting at eight and they are happy where they're at and they are okay with the media not really focused on them at the moment.
Speaker 1:Nine is Clemson. Debo is figuring it out and he, you know, is against the NIL. He doesn't get any players. He doesn't get any players. He doesn't believe in buying them. We thought this program was kind of going down because that's just the way that the cookie crumbles now. But he is a coach that gets his players to believe and creates a really, really good culture there and he's got his team sitting inside of playoff contention. So they're sitting at number nine.
Speaker 1:Then you have Iowa State. They're obviously winning in the Big 12. They're at 10. Then you have BYU right under them. They are going to have to play each other soon, so that'll get interesting. And then rounding out number 12 is Notre Dame. Notre Dame obviously had a terrible loss to an unranked team. I think it was like Missouri Southern early on, but they're another LSU type person. They had their loss. People kind of wrote them off Not really a lot of media coverage, and they are getting into their rhythm too and they're staying in that playoff top 12. So they round out at 12. Like I said, right now Alabama is right outside sitting at 15. I think they will win there. I think they could possibly win out what they have left, maybe drop one, but I think they will get back into the top 12 because that is what the BCS gods want. So right now they want it to feel, you know, exciting, or, oh my gosh, what if Alabama doesn't get there? They're just making it a dramatic finish, but Alabama, I think, will be in the top 12. But right now they are sitting outside.
Speaker 1:So a lot going on in college. I mean college is so fun to watch. I mean NFL is frustrating to watch. College can be frustrating. I think it's trying to be more like NFL now, which I hate. But there's a lot of good teams and a lot of things. I don't like the transfer portal. I hate even thinking about people entering it and some people trying to do it or sit out and redshirt because they want to switch while they're on a team midseason. I don't like that camaraderie, but it is what it is.
Speaker 1:But college football, man, we are getting into the thick of it. It is, you know, almost November. We are pushing into that last stretch of games and then playoffs. I'm excited to cover the 12-team playoff this year. I think it was a long time coming. I think it needed to be done a long time ago, but it's going to be an interesting finish. So I cannot wait to watch it and talk to you guys about it as well. So thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1:I know that was like a lot of rambling off of what I thought and I only covered a couple of teams. It was just my hot hitters. I just wanted to make sure that we talked college football this week and I will make sure to bring you back the biggest news of the weekend, Any big matchups, any big upsets and any shocking news. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy another great weekend of football. I hope we get to see more exciting things. Maybe on college game day we will get another student kicker who will kick the field goal and win more Pat McAfee money. So so many interesting things to do, but I thank you guys for listening. I hope you can feel my passion for football and I look forward to seeing you guys next week. Until then, your girl is signing off.