Jon Joseph

College Football News predicts SC will win a close game. https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/oregon-vs-usc-prediction-2026 Safety blanket McClellan is out. Will Jamari Johnson be able to play?

Pro Football Week 3 statistics are out. To date, tackles Addison and Crader have allowed 16 pressures and six sacks. Boise State and OK State collectively rushed for 330 yards, and Oregon for 209 yards. For those down on Moore. Notwithstanding being under pressure and his receivers dropping passes they should have caught, Dante has completed 68.5% of his passes with 9 TDs and no interceptions. However, to date, Dante is 51st in Quarterback Rankings. Jayden Maiava is ranked 10th. Archie Manning is ranked 40th. Georgia's Gunner Stockton has the No. 1 ranking. Other top10 B1G QBs: No. 4 Julian Sayin and No. 5 Josh Hoover. Hoover has yet to throw an interception. Portland State was a layup. Let's see how the O-line and the D-line perform on Saturday against No. 12 USC. SC has a 12-game home winning streak. Send the Linc Missing!

OK State is ranked No. 30 in the latest AP Poll. I'd like to think the Cowboys can compete for a B12 title, but even without playing BYU and Utah, the schedule is tough. Home against UCF, CU, Texas Tech, ASU, and Kansas. These are all winnable games. Texas Tech, ranked No. 11, is overrated. But the away slate starting at WVA on Saturday is not easy. OK State is also on the road against Houston, Iowa State, and K-State. I will be rooting for the Broncos and the Cowboys.

Nine conference games will be played in Week 4. Two of the games are Top-25 matchups: No. 17 Iowa at No. 18 Michigan and No. 20 Oregon at No. 12 USC. The B1G came up small in out-of-conference (OOC) play, going 4-9 against the ACC, B12, and the SEC. Our friends down in Dixie went 10-2. Hopefully, the B1G will turn this around in the postseason. It's the first day of Fall, and the season is one quarter of the way finished. 😧 The B1G rankings are courtesy of Sports Illustrated's Matt De Lima. I think Lima's rankings are full of beans.🤬 Oregon ranked 7th and SC 3rd? Because the Trojans won at Rutgers by seven points? Bad loss at Oklahoma State, but the win over Boise State was a better win than SC has posted to date. Iowa's home win against Iowa State by three points is better than Michigan's win over Oklahoma? (The Michigan 'win' over Western Michigan will haunt Michigan all season.) Indiana ranked ahead of an Ohio State team that lost on the road by one point to No.1 Texas? As Curt Cignetti acknowledged, Indiana consumed three cupcakes OOC, but the exhibition season is over. In Week 4, the first loss of the season will be suffered by one of Iowa or Michigan, and Northwestern or Indiana. And UCLA, Nebraska, USC, UW, and Penn State have undefeated records on the line. Later this week, football gods permitting, I'll be back with the odds and the broadcast information for the nine B1G games. CFB-HQ On SIBig Ten Power Rankings for Week 4: USC, Oregon Collide as...All 18 Big Ten teams are in action this weekend, and the latest conference power rankings heading into Week 4 set up two ranked matchups with Oregon visiting US If you are so inclined, please suggest a caption for the above photograph. "Linc, I don't mean to Nag, but I'm missing directions to the glue factory?"

Happy to see Kingston balling out. He was the reason that Cal won at Syracuse. Three picks; the third one returned for the winning score. It would also have been great to have retained all of the young D-line talent that portaled out. But in today's game, you can't stack a roster as you could before NIL and wide-open free agency. If the vets stick around, younger players will leave and get paid more by another program. Can you imagine the NFL with no restrictions on free agency? The billionaires who own NFL teams cooperate. In CFB? Ohio State paid $20 million for the roster that won a title in 2024. This season, the Buckeyes roster costs $40+ million.

NO, it's not. The bench was emptied, and would the opponent have been happier if Oregon took the foot off the gas up 40, 50, or 60 to nothing? Portland State received needed money, and a lot of players on the Vikings squad from Oregon were able to experience playing in Autzen Stadium. And after the Week 2 game, Dan needed to let the Ducks out.

Stinks, but perhaps OBD can find a Messiah? 😁

Huh? In less than five seasons, Dan Lanning has won 50 football games. What other head coach in Oregon history has come close to this accomplishment? Kirby Smart is 0-2 in the 12-team playoff. Dan is 2-2. If Dan were in it only for a paycheck, he'd be coaching at Alabama or somewhere else in the SEC and making $2 million or more a year. If in it only for the money, Dante would be collecting a 1st-round draft pick paycheck in the NFL. Bo Nix didn't win the biggest games. Gabe didn't win the biggest games. Marcus Mariota didn't win the biggest game. Dante Moore has won a lot of football games at Oregon. Raiola entered a 7-on-7 contest, or more like 11-on-Zip, and with what passed for an opponent on life support, he played well. Big whoop. In Week 1, Dante came through in the 4th quarter to win a game against a G6 opponent Oregon could have lost. He never lost his poise. Dante was terrible versus Oklahoma State. What Oregon coach and player was not terrible in this game? Of course, you are entitled to your opinion. But may I humbly ask, what coach would prefer to Dan Lanning?

He was in bits and pieces at Nebraska. In a loss to Minnesota, he was sacked nine times. He was running for his life.

On Saturday, SC is fini! 😁 My rotating screen saver just featured a beautiful Duck taking off to heights unknown! Shake a tail feather, baby! Traveler is toast!

Linc? The pressure is on. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-pressure-index-week-4-coaches-qbs-coordinator/

SP+ believes in No. 5 OBD and No. 8 USC - https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49868647/2026-college-football-sp+-rankings-all-138-fbs-teams

A lot of shootouts this season, including on Saturday? The D-line better be able to pressure Maiava. If not ... Has any certain draft pick who returned improved their draft stock? Losing a leader like Bryce Boettcher hurts the 2026 cause. But as others have noted, the D was leaky in the red zone all of last season. Great take, but can we count on even average play from this O-line against the Ohio State and Michigan defenses? Ohio State's D wore down in the heat and humidity in Austin. Nevertheless, Texas only scored 24 points, and Ohio State wins the game but for another big time miss from the FG kicker. The Michigan O has sputtered, but the defense has been solid. The competition has been far from stellar, but the Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan State, and UW defenses are playing well. Michigan State on Saturday was behind 17 to 10 to Notre Dame heading into the 2nd half. The Spartans held ND to ten points in the second half. Looking ahead, I see no easy days, including games against UCLA and a robust run game, and at Illinois. I hope Johnson and McClellan will be able to play on Saturday. Tired of playing big games with stars on the sideline. 🤬 Keep Traveler on the Sideline; Empty the Nag's Feed Bag!

A "D" for SC. But on home turf, Traveler's a thoroughbred. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-grades-texas-a-m-earns-f-mark-for-kentucky-dud-usc-gets-d-on-week-3-report-card/?eid=c7d8647c6247db8d08c59fe44bc30380a147aa90b9e33099045cd46ddc6

Per SI's Pat Forde, SC was one of ten teams 'exposed' in Week 3. SIForde-Yard Dash: 10 College Football Teams Whose Flaws Ar...The pretenders are running out of places to hide, with Texas A&M, USC and Arkansas among the teams facing harsh reality checks.

Gameday is headed to Knoxville for the No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee game. I think there will be more than one Manning in the house. On PO life support game. One of No. 23 Texas A&M at No. 10 LSU will have used its two PO mulligans. 2-1 NR Oklahoma is in dire PO straits if it loses at No. 2 Georgia. 14 points scored at Michigan and at home vs. New Mexico. And Venables was given a pay raise and an extension? Georgia, the best team in the SEC IMO, is flying under the Texas, Ole Miss, LSU radar, which I imagine is just fine with Kirby Smart. I believed both Oklahoma and A+M were overrated coming into the season. No. 19 Missouri at No. 24 Mississippi State could expose what I believe to be an overrated Mizzou. This year's Indiana? Miss State? The ninth conference game will result in several highly regarded preseason SEC teams finishing with three or more losses. (And a 24-team PO?)

2025 Penn State went 7-6. Off the roster, 15 players were drafted or signed as Free Agents. It wasn't a lack of talent. Many Nittany Lions veteran players did not step up. But when it came to assistant coaches, Jim Knowles was a $3 million DC?

Same SC, Different Day -😁 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/09/21/college-football-overreactions-trinidad-chambliss-heisman-week-3/91867285007/?utm_source=usat-path-to-playoff-nletter76&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spor Error: In 2026, the PO G6 representative does not have to be a conference champion. The highest-ranked G6 team receives the PO invite whether or not it won its conference championship.

Thank you, David. Charles is wise to caution patience. To summarize your insightful takes, can youngsters teach old dogs new tricks? In Weeks 1 and 2, the effort on the field and the sidelines did not look like a Dan Lanning-coached football team. I do not have enough Xs and Os knowledge to make judgments on player performance, but based on PFF grades to date, Dan missed the mark in player evaluations going into this season. And this overevaluation, at least considering performance to date, led to poor picks, and likely not enough picks, from the portal. We like to think of the program as having a blank check for a budget. But is this the case? Some guys who would have helped the cause, like OT Seaton, found greener pastures elsewhere. Players who decide to stay with the program instead of being certain NFL picks will command hefty revenue-share payments and NIL deals. How much money was there for the portal? As Charles asked in a post, have these experienced and well-paid players been coasting? Your article and many comments on the Forum have asked if the assistant coaches have the gravitas to get the attention of these experienced athletes. As you so noted, Moore's play seems to have regressed. To date, returning in 2026 has hurt and not helped his NFL draft stock. 7 on 7 vs. Portland State will not be what scouts look at. I'm disappointed that Riley's team on the road, once again, played down to the level of the competition. Rutgers could have won the game and arguably should have. I was hoping the Oregon players would have a better performance to watch on TV Saturday and to watch on tape. This will be a re-run of OK State at Tulsa. In five seasons to date, Lincoln Riley is 25-5 in the Coliseum. 10-0 in the last ten games. 4-0 versus the Big Ten in 2025, including impressive wins over Michigan and Iowa. Under Gary Patterson, the SC defense is still shaky. But this offense will put up points, especially if Maiava has time to throw. And the SC run game has looked good behind an OL that returned four starters. OBD will need every bit of the enthusiasm that we saw against Portland State. Will Oregon retain West Coast supremacy, or is SC ready to step up? Thanks again, David, for another fine Monday morning read.

Don't bLame me, bLame the players! CFB-HQ On SILSU Loss Puts Lane Kiffin’s Record Against Top 25 Teams U...LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin fell to 13-26 against Top 25 opponents after the No. 7 Tigers lost 32-24 at No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday in his first game back

Thanks, Will. Postgame, Will made sure to note that the SEC is a much better and tougher conference than the Big Ten.

$13 million a year man Kiffin is 1-9 on the road vs. Top-10 opponents. But he did win two G6 conference championships at FAU. 🤪

One more take on Lame. Against top-10 teams on the road, Kiffin is now 1-9.

Some of these Top-25 vs Top-25 odds will rock your pods! Six T-25 vs. T-25 games, and the lower-ranked team is favored in four of the games. No. 4 Ole Miss +2.5 at No. 21 Florida (🤪) No. 1 Texas -5.5 at No. 14 Tennessee No. 10 LSU -7.5 vs. No. 23 Texas A+M No. 18 Michigan -5.5 vs. No. 17 Iowa No. 24 Mississippi State -3.5 vs. No. 19 Missouri No. 20 Oregon -1.5 at No. 12 USC

Ain't That a Shame (😁) Lame's the One to Blame - https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2026/09/20/lane-kiffin-emotions-ole-miss-beats-lsu-football-score/91760394007/?utm_source=usatoday-sports-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=usatbaseline&utm_ter