"Snake In The Toilet Saturday" + Win A PS5 Or Xbox

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Ty Hildenbrandt & Jake Faigus
October 18, 2024

🐍 BEWARE OF “SNAKE IN THE TOILET SATURDAY”… around these parts, it’s a holiday that we celebrate once a year. Just when you think you feel confident about sitting down and watching a college football Saturday… BAM! That’s when the unexpected happens. Week 8 has a loaded slate of high-profile matchups and the potential for a sneak upset that changes the conversation is very much a possibility.

Don’t worry, we embedded our goofy intro below so you can enjoy the sound that Dan put together for the occasion. But first…

In today’s college football newsletter:

  • The 8 things to know before Week 8

  • A random Kyle Orton reference to make you feel old

  • 🚨 How to win a Playstation 5 or Xbox in our Week 8 pick’em game

  • Our Week 8 locks

  • A full menu of audio and video preview content to get you ready for the weekend

-Ty Hildenbrandt & Jake Faigus

THE LOOKBACK

The 8 things to know before Week 8

Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images

1) A PENN STATE FAN PULLED THE ULTIMATE TROLL JOB ON USC. It turns out that the Trojans offer a fun perk to fans: You can run out onto the field with the team by paying somewhere in the $1450-$1800 range. Notably, there were no restrictions, which a Penn Stater just happened to notice. And, well…

Yes, USC has now updated its requirements to ensure that “USC apparel” is present.

2) SPEAKING OF LOOPHOLES, DAN LANNING FOUND ONE. Perhaps you’ve read about Oregon receiving a penalty for having 12 men on the field in the waning moments of last week’s win over Ohio State? The penalty allowed a few extra seconds to tick off the clock on the Buckeyes’ final possession, making it harder for them to mount a game-winning drive.

Did Lanning do it on purpose? It sure sounds that way…

Whether it was intentional or just one of those things you claim after the fact (which was my argument on our Thursday episode), the fact remains that it worked swimmingly. So swimmingly, in fact, that the NCAA stepped in to put up some guardrails.

3) CAM RISING IS INJURED AGAIN. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham put out a statement earlier in the week announcing that Rising suffered a “lower leg injury” against Arizona State and would again miss the remainder of the season. It’s a terrible break for Rising, who has been perpetually snakebitten over the last couple seasons.

Of note: Rising is eligible for an EIGHTH year because he played only three games for the Utes this season and would qualify for a medical redshirt. It’s unclear at this point whether it’s something he’s actively considering.

4) THE HALFWAY HEISMAN IS A TWO-MAN RACE. Are you for Ashton Jeanty or Travis Hunter? Now at the halfway point in the 2024 regular season, the conversation has raged around water coolers and message boards. Jeanty, the Boise State running back, is currently chasing history and is, at a minimum, on pace to have the best rushing season since Barry Sanders in 1988. Currently, he’s running slightly ahead of Sanders’s record of 2,628 single (regular) season rushing yards.

Meanwhile, when healthy, Colorado’s Hunter is playing both ways as an elite wide receiver and cornerback. There’s some talk in NFL Draft circles that his best position might actually be wide receiver. He spoke with RG3 and made his case…

5) SO, MIKE GUNDY GOT HEADBUTTED BY A COW. Oklahoma State had the week off this past week, but Gundy still found a way to make headlines. Per Gundy: “I had a little run-in with my cattle over the weekend .. I guess they’ve been watching us play.”

It sounds like the coach has a pretty gnarly eye injury as a result of the encounter: "…it's full of blood, and I get dizzy. So it's not easy to be upright and be in a normal function. But other than that, I'm doing great."

Cowpoke: Gundy injures eye after run-in on ranch

On the heels of three straight losses, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy took another hit during the Cowboys' bye week, suffering an unusual eye injury that forced him to move his weekly, in-person news conference to Zoom on Monday morning.

www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41798106/oklahoma-state-coach-gundy-injures-eye-ranch

6) THE OKLAHOMA OFFENSE IS DOWN BAD. We’ve been talking for weeks about the Sooner offense, trying to figure out exactly what’s going on. With numerous injuries, an ineffective ground game and inconsistent quarterback play, there’s more than enough blame to go around.

The quarterback battle has gotten the most attention, though. Brent Venables addressed the situation this week between Jackson Arnold, the former starter, and Michael Hawkins, Jr., the redshirt freshman currently getting his shot.

7) HERE’S YOUR ONE-MINUTE EXPLAINER ON THE ALABAMA-TENNESSEE CIGAR TRADITION. Yes, Dan’s voice has a nice midseason husk to it, but that should only add more gravitas to his history lesson. Enjoy!

@solidverbal

The story you didn't know behind the Alabama-Tennessee Cigar Tradition

8) A NEW CHALLENGER HAS EMERGED FOR BEST ALTERNATE UNIFORM. With Michigan coming to town, Illinois has stepped up to the plate with this look to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Red Grange’s six touchdown game against Michigan. Are you a yes or no on these?

Do you like the Illinois alternate uniforms?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

ON THIS DAY…

In a thrilling showdown back in 2003, the No. 13 Purdue Boilermakers defeated No. 14 Wisconsin 26-23 with a last-second field goal by Ben Jones. Purdue QB Kyle Orton threw for 411 yards, leading the Boilermakers to victory, despite a late-game 63-yard punt return touchdown by Wisconsin's Jim Leonhard. Purdue finished the season 9-4, while Wisconsin ended at 7-6.

🚨 WIN A PS5 OR XBOX IN OUR WEEK 8 PICK’EM GAME!

You’ve got a little over 24 hours to join our pick’em game, Run The Board, for a chance to win your pick of a Playstation 5 or Xbox and a copy of the new EA Sports College Football 25 video game. Just sign up for any of our paid Patreon tiers (starting at just $5) and pick the winners (against the spread) in these 15 games:

  • Nebraska vs Indiana

  • Miami vs Louisville

  • Virginia vs Clemson

  • East Carolina vs Army

  • Alabama vs Tennessee

  • Notre Dame vs Georgia Tech

  • LSU vs Arkansas

  • Georgia vs Texas

  • South Carolina vs Oklahoma

  • Michigan vs Illinois

  • Colorado vs Arizona

  • Kansas State vs West Virginia

  • Kentucky vs Florida

  • North Texas vs Memphis

  • TCU vs Utah

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!

THE LOOKAHEAD

Our Week 8 Locks are…

🔒️ Ty’s Lock: Alabama -3

As noted on our Tuesday episode, this game between Alabama and Tennessee could end up being a College Football Playoff elimination game. Though both teams have shown weakness over the last month, Tennessee’s inability to score will ultimately come back to bite them against the Crimson Tide. Bama wins 34-21.

🔒️ Dan’s Lock: Arkansas +2.5

The inability to consistently run the ball with a lead is a troubling trend that could bite LSU in this matchup. In addition, the Arkansas defense is one of the best blitzing defenses in college football, so look for the Hogs to force a Garrett Nussmeier mistake or two. Arkansas wins a late, dramatic game by a 28-27 score!

But there’s more to Week 8 than our ironclad locks…

Your full Week 8 Preview Pod is live!

Is College Football Week 8 just waiting to jump up and bite us? In this episode, we do our business cautiously, breaking down the biggest games of the week — Georgia vs Texas, Nebraska vs Indiana, Alabama vs Tennessee, Miami vs Louisville, LSU vs Arkansas, and Notre Dame vs Georgia Tech — while wondering if a monster upset is lurking below the surface. Plus, a discussion over Dan Lanning’s rules loophole, a look at the most interesting games in each Saturday early, afternoon and late windows, picks for ‘Nell Classico and much more.

Also, don’t forget that our new video series, Big Ten Breakfast, goes live every Friday morning at 9am ET out on our YouTube channel:

Thanks for your continued support! Don’t forget to give our Reverb Line a call throughout the day on Saturday at 855-VERBAL3 to let us know your hottest college football takes. We’ll play our favorites on the Sunday recap pod.

If you’re a regular listener to the podcast, please consider leaving us a review out on Apple Podcasts and giving us five stars wherever you listen to the show. It really helps!

Stay solid!