Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Week 6 preview! Richard and Alex talk about what’s interesting to them in the big college football weekend to come, while stopping to cover a handful of big stories along the way.

32:43: Is South Carolina actually too broke to fire Shane Beamer?

47:31: Can Oklahoma score an offensive touchdown in Red River?

1:07:27: When it comes to Cal coach Tosh Lupoi, Richard is … vindicated?

1:10:35: Are Ohio State fans in the “Lunatic Fringe” right to be worried?

1:18:47: Is UNLV a genuine trouble spot for North Dakota State?

1:21:05: Are we fully aligned on Alabama being all the way back, before the Tide host Georgia in a potential hurricane game?

1:27:50: Who wins: Penn State’s stoppable force or USC’s movable object?

1:30:54: Could Fresno State spoil Boise’s run to an unbeaten Pac-12 slate?

Producer: Anthony Vito

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Subscriber episode! Join us to hear the whole thing.

The Charlotte 49ers are quite possibly the worst team in FBS in 2026, so why should you care? Rodger Sherman joins to explain. Part of Charlotte's story is the actual cautionary tale of moving up from FCS to FBS and the old thing Richard never shuts up about: Winning is not a business model. But there are nearly 1:1 examples of Charlotte-style programs that have found success. We dive into what gives in the Queen City. In this episode:

0:00: Why Charlotte gets the nod this week despite being so bad

5:15: A rapid climb from startup program to the American

16:31: “Winning is not a business model”

30:33: What UTSA got right that the 49ers very much did not

Producer: Anthony Vito

TEAM OF THE WEEK is a subscriber series where Rodger Sherman and SZD hosts talk about a college football team doing something no one else is doing

We’ve already covered the following:

Week 1: North Dakota State

Week 2: UMass

Week 3: Oklahoma State

Week 4: Arkansas

Week 5: Mississippi State

This series will continue all season.

Richard and Rodger Sherman take you on a 30(ish)-minute journey through Week 4 of the college football season. We begin with Missouri beating Florida to a pulp and waltz through the rest of the CFB schedule.SEC

* Missouri 45, Florida 17

* Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 14

* Alabama 56, Mississippi State 23

* Tennessee 24, Auburn 14

* Kentucky 35, South Carolina 34

BIG TEN

* Ohio State 31, Iowa 14

* USC 25, Washington 21

* Purdue 24, Illinois 17

* Michigan 20, Minnesota 14

* Nebraska 48, Maryland 23

* Northwestern 34, Penn State 13

* Wisconsin 31, Michigan State 3

BIG 12

* BYU 17, TCU 10

* Texas Tech 29, Colorado 7

* Houston 27, UCF 17

* Arizona 34, Cincinnati 7

* Baylor 55, Arizona State 19

* Iowa State 45, West Virginia 42

ACC

* Notre Dame 37, North Carolina 26

* Miami 41, Clemson 13

* SMU 25, Boston College 16

* Florida State 38, Virginia 7

* NC State 31, Louisville 28

* Pitt 35, Virginia Tech 33

* Wake Forest 57, Stanford 3

AMERICAN

* Memphis 59, Charlotte 8

* UTSA 16, Rice 14

* Temple 17, USF 13

* North Texas 45, Tulsa 44

MOUNTAIN WEST

* Air Force 14, Navy 9

* San Jose State 20, Hawaii 16

* NDSU 28, Wyoming 0

* UNLV 39, Cal 31

MAC

* Toledo 39, Ball State 24

* WMU 20, Buffalo 17

* Ohio 13, Kent State 10

* Eastern Michigan 35, UMass 14

* Bowling Green 24, Miami (OH) 20

SUN BELT

* James Madison 45, Marshall 17

* Louisiana 23, Arkansas State 20

* Louisiana Tech 31, Army 29

CONFERENCE USA

* New Mexico State 34, Western Kentucky 13

PAC-12

* Oregon State 56, Colorado State 26

* San Diego State 31, Texas State 29

FBS INDEPENDENTS

* Syracuse 42, UConn 41

FCS

* Idaho 35, Montana State 34

* Harvard 20, Colgate 17

* Yale 41, Merrimack 28

Producer: Anthony VitoTHANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS

* Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link

* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires

* Shop for college sports apparel at Homefield

Mailbag time! Alex and Richard answer subscriber questions on three broad topics, which sometimes meander into new areas:

0:53: Oklahoma has two losses heading into Red Vier. Who do we blame, and what would we do about it?

11:43: What keeps college football fresh for us, given that it’s now “work”?

17:19: How much has College GameDay changed? And how much of our shifting perception about the show is because we have changed?

29:54: What do we think about the current Protect College Sports Act?

Producer: Anthony Vito* What do we think about the current Protect College Sports Act?

Producer: Anthony Vito

The regular season is somehow one-third finished. Host emeritus Steven Godfrey joins Richard and Alex for a discussion about nine teams that have really surprised us and, in some cases, caused a big shift in opinion:

* 6:09: Michigan

* 15:30: Texas

* 19:41: Georgia

* 23:12: Wake Forest

* 26:42: Oregon State

* 32:14: Cal

* 35:04: UCLA

* 39:28: Washington

* 43:08: Oregon

* 53:46: Texas A&M

Producer: Anthony Vito

THANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS

* Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link

* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO

* Shop for college sports apparel at Homefield

Week 5 preview time! Richard and Alex look at dozens of games and also talk about some messes around college football:

6:28: Two good Friday night games (Pitt-Virginia Tech, Penn State-Northwestern)

14:45: Alabama at Mississippi State: We think the Tide are good, but for obvious reasons, Alex wants this to be State’s time

26:09: Houston is angry at the Big 12 over the scheduling of the Cougars’ game against UCF, which leads to a long talk about Friday night college football and how TV is causing fights like this in all kinds of leagues

32:13: Auburn vs. Tennessee: Richard does not believe in the Auburn offense

36:25: Is UMass about to win 10 games?

39:16: Florida vs. Missouri is one of the games of the week. Alex is trying to figure out the mystery of the Mizzou offensive line

48:16: Could Kirk Ferentz do “it” to Ohio State one more time?

52:39: Will NDSU, JMU, or Boise State eventually lose a shocker?

56:32: Dead cat bounce in Kentucky vs. South Carolina?

1:01:02: Oregon State has one of the most exciting players in the country

1:06:20: Deion Sanders’ Colorado program is falling apart in new ways

1:08:44: USC is poised to have a nice rebound against Washington

Producer: Anthony Vito

The Mississippi State Bulldogs have the most exciting young QB in college football and are about to play their biggest game in years. Rodger Sherman joins Alex to talk about Kamario Taylor, the stroke of luck that led a QB of this caliber to State, why it’s exhausting to talk about the transfer portal, and why a longtime SEC bottomfeeder should go ahead and make the playoff right effing now.

Producer: Anthony Vito

TEAM OF THE WEEK is a subscriber series where Rodger Sherman and SZD hosts talk about a college football team doing something no one else is doing

We’ve already covered the following:

* Week 1: North Dakota State

* Week 2: UMass

* Week 3: Oklahoma State

* Week 4: Arkansas

This series will continue all season.

Richard and Alex take you on a 30(ish)-minute journey through Week 4 of the college football season. We begin with Iowa’s stunning win at the Big House and meander through dozens of games from there, in this order:

Iowa 20, Michigan 19

Oregon 41, USC 27

Wisconsin 24, Penn State 20

Notre Dame 49, Purdue 10

Indiana 29, Northwestern 23

Ohio State 42, Illinois 19

UCLA 54, Maryland 3

Nebraska 31, Michigan State 13

Minnesota 27, Washington 24

Texas 20, Tennessee 17

Georgia 41, Oklahoma 13

Florida 52, Ole Miss 28

Alabama 49, South Carolina 18

LSU 35, Texas A&M 6

Mississippi State 31, Missouri 24

Arkansas 34, Tulsa 6

Auburn 21, Vanderbilt 15

Kentucky 45, South Alabama 21

Texas Tech 49, Sam Houston 14

Utah 31, Iowa State 17

Baylor 23, Colorado 13

Cincinnati 31, Kansas State 26

UCF 21, TCU 13

Oklahoma State 41, West Virginia 24

Wake Forest 30, Louisville 27

Virginia Tech 21, Boston College 14

Clemson 24, California 10

NC State 41, App State 31

Stanford 34, Georgia Tech 27

Army 21, Temple 17

UAB 24, Navy 20

Tulane 24, Southern Miss 21

UTSA 59, Colorado State 45

Oregon State 33, UTEP 7

Wyoming 27, Hawai’i 10

USF 14, Bowling Green 6

Kent State 26, Ball State 13

Miami (OH) 24, UConn 21

UMass 35, Sacramento State 6

Toledo 41, San Diego State 16

Boise State 32, Western Michigan 7

Houston 42, Georgia Southern 28

Georgia State 35, Northern Illinois 14

James Madison 46, Old Dominion 20

FAU 45, UL Monroe 17

Liberty 34, Coastal Carolina 17

New Mexico 42, New Mexico State 18

Arizona 34, Washington State 24

Producer: Anthony Vito

THANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS

Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link

10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires

Shop for college sports apparel at Homefield

Producer: Anthony Vito

Our big preview of Week 4, with little notes and things to watch in dozens of games that we find interesting. Included but not limited to:

Clemson faces a pivotal moment in … Berkeley?

Texas visits a different kind of Tennessee team

Boise State visits Western Michigan with major playoff implications (plus Boise’s coach stirs the pot over the Michigan Hail Mary)

Iowa and Michigan prepare to play an ugly one

Why is Florida favored to beat Ole Miss?

A huge list of coaches face their old teams

USC’s latest chance to change its trajectory under Lincoln Riley

Texas A&M and LSU: Someone’s going to be miserable

4-0 UMass?

Producer: Anthony Vito

THANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS

Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link

10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO

Shop for college sports apparel at Homefield

Three games into Ryan Silverfield’s coaching tenure, Arkansas fans are in open revolt against their athletic director. The team is bad, and the university overlords are already running a “review” of the athletic program. How did the vibes get this bad this quickly? It’s a long story, and it’s only somewhat about the coach who was under pressure from the second he took the job. Rodger Sherman joins Alex for our latest TEAM OF THE WEEK episode, where we finally focus on a program where things are not going well.

* 1:05: Ryan Silverfield’s honeymoon never started

* 7:22: The coaching hire, and the cost of waiting another year on Sam Pittman

* 15:25: What Arkansas gained and lost by joining the SEC

* 18:59: The Waltons, the chicken money, and Arkansas’ billionaire relationships

* 28:59: Hunter Yurachek’s mounting problems

* 39:52: What would success even look like for Arkansas now?

TEAM OF THE WEEK is a subscriber series where Rodger Sherman and SZD hosts talk about a college football team doing something no one else is doing. Scroll for episodes on NDSU, UMass, and Oklahoma State.