THE LOOKBACK

The 8 things to know before Week 10

1) ANNNND WE HAVE HELMET HACKING ALLEGATIONS! Back in the preseason we drafted “Helmet comms go haywire!” as one of our fantasy storylines for the coming season. Welp, we’re gonna chalk this one up as a W.

On Tuesday, Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt brought up the concern of possible helmet hacking at a Big 12 meeting of athletic directors. Why? The new coach-to-player communications system has apparently been happening all season on unencrypted frequencies. Naturally, as is ever the case with this crowd, a bit of paranoia has crept in.

It’s important to note: There are no specific allegations of helmet frequencies being taken over, but coaches and staffers have raised the question of a competitive advantage. But, folks are still on edge after the whole Connor Stalions saga last season.

Today’s Update: The Big 12 came out and said they found no direct evidence of helmet communications being compromised, and you can see Texas Tech’s response here:

2) INDIANA FOOTBALL: THE FORCE A-ROURKENS? Wow, that’s a terrible lead-in. Anyway, all signs point to the Hoosiers getting their quarterback, Kurtis Rourke, back from injury this weekend for a road tilt with Michigan State. You may recall that Rourke injured his thumb a few weeks in a big win over Nebraska. After some initial uncertainty, Rourke had surgery on his thumb and optimism started to grow.

Curt Cignetti confirmed that Rourke is ready to play on his weekly radio show. Massive news for the Hoosiers as they prepare against Michigan State. Also, shout out to the kids who are doing incredible things in the medical field these days.

3) THE ROOF IS STILL LEAKY. UCF announced a complete overhaul of its staff this past Monday and fired defensive coordinator Ted Roof after the Golden Knights allowed at least 30 points in four of their five Big 12 games, as their record fell to 3-5. Addison Williams takes over play-calling on the defense after being last year’s defensive coordinator.

But wait, there’s more. On offense, the Golden Knights are using a different play-caller, Tim Harris Jr., who is taking over Darin Hinshaw's duties.

4) JACK TUTTLE CALLS IT A CAREER. Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle made it official on social media this week that he was retiring from football. Tuttle played seven years of college football through a combination of redshirts and the COVID year. Tuttle started his career in Utah before transferring to Indiana and then, eventually, Michigan. This decision comes after going through UCL surgery this past year and then suffering a fifth concussion. We wish him well in whatever comes next. Football’s a rough sport, man.

5) FEISTY LANE KIFFIN IS SO BACK. Lane Kiffin is known for being both outspoken and an expert-level troll. Well, this week, he did a little of both. At his press conference on Monday, Kiffin called out the SEC scheduling department. Here’s the clip:

This are interesting times in college football, with the usual network time slots being completely reshuffled due to conference realignment and new media contracts. Disputes over which teams do and don’t get night games, which some view as a competitive advantage, are likely to be a more frequent occurrence.

6) BIFF POGGI STILL RULES. Charlotte coach Biff Poggi might be the best character in all of college football. We already know that the man barely believes in wearing sleeves. His public comments are almost always gold. And now let’s add this to the pile, thanks to the intrepid ESPN graphics department, which flashed this gem during Charlotte’s game on Halloween against Tulane:

Expelled from 8 schools before 11th grade???

7) OKLAHOMA STATE THROWBACK ALERT! The Pokes are trotting out these beauties for their homecoming game this week against Arizona State. The jerseys and helmets are great, but this is all about the stripes. We steadfastly approve of whatever sort of Waldo/Hamburglar hybrid is going on here.

8) THE LATEST ADDITION OF THE BATTLE FOR THE HEARTLAND TROPHY IS HERE. Iowa and Wisconsin meet this weekend to renew their rivalry and play for the Heartland Trophy, a brass bull given to the winner. With the newest addition happening this weekend, we present our yearly video of the game in the form of a nature documentary. We created this back in 2011 and have posted it every year since. Enjoy!

🔥 WIN FREE SOCKS IN WEEK 10🔥

You’ve got a little over 24 hours to join our pick’em game, Run The Board, for a chance to win a $100 Bombas gift card. Just sign up for any of our paid Patreon tiers (starting at just $5) and pick winners (against the spread) for these games and props:

• Ohio State vs Penn State

• Ole Miss vs Arkansas

• Virginia Tech vs Syracuse

• Vanderbilt vs Auburn

• Indiana vs Michigan State

• Florida vs Georgia

• Texas Tech vs Iowa State

• Minnesota vs Illinois

• Oregon vs Michigan

• Coastal Carolina vs Troy

• Louisville vs Clemson

• TCU vs Baylor

• Texas A&M vs South Carolina

• Pitt vs SMU

• Wisconsin vs Iowa

• Georgia Southern vs South Alabama

Sign up now to play Run The Board and reap the other benefits of our Patreon perks, including ad-free episodes, bonus content, unfettered access to our Discord community and much more!

The game locks at 11:59 AM ET on Saturday!

ON THIS DAY IN 1997…

THE LOOKAHEAD

Our Week 10 Locks are…

But there’s more to Week 10 than our questionable locks…

Your full Week 10 Preview Pod is live!

It's Halloween and some of these point spreads are tight! In this episode, we break down the big matchup between Ohio State and Penn State, wonder whether Oregon-Michigan can get cheesy, debate the possibility of South Carolina dumping Texas A&M, and bask in the glow of what should be a great game between Pitt and SMU. Plus, we wonder whether Florida can keep it close with Georgia, if Manny Diaz can exact revenge on Miami, if Ole Miss is in danger in Fayetteville, if Diego Pavia can stick it to Hugh Freeze again, if Michigan State can give Indiana a run, and much more.

▶️ Listen on Apple Podcasts

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▶️ Watch on YouTube

Also, don’t forget that a new episode of our video series, Big Ten Breakfast, is out now with a spicy game to get you ready for this week’s Big Ten slate: