The Solid Verbal College Football Show

Mike Norvell is out at Florida State, and ESPN's David Hale joins us for a full ACC whiparound as college football's coaching carousel heats up.

We start with Norvell's firing, the massive buyout, and what comes next for Florida State. Then David Hale joins us to assess the Seminoles' coaching search, the surprising collapse at NC State, the future of Dabo Swinney at Clemson, and whether Bill Belichick is finally making progress at North Carolina. We also dig into Wake Forest's remarkable season under Jake Dickert, Miami's rise to No. 1, and the teams across the ACC that have exceeded expectations or fallen well short of them.

Then, with a monster Week 10 slate looming, we're winterizing 14 college football teams. What vulnerabilities need patching before the season's final stretch? We examine Alabama-LSU, Miami-Notre Dame, BYU-Utah, Texas-Missouri, Kentucky-Tennessee, Georgia-Ole Miss, and Oregon-Ohio State, identifying the weaknesses each team needs to address before the biggest games of the weekend.

Plus, a spirited discussion about the ESPN mobiler app, some lingering Halloween costume questions, and a little home maintenance advice nobody asked for.

Support the show by signing up at https://www.verballers.com/join.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 9 delivered another round of upsets, close calls and big questions about the teams at the top of the rankings. Seven Top 25 teams went down, including Ohio State in an upset loss to USC, and we're back to sort through the fallout from another unpredictable Saturday.

We start with USC's statement win over the Buckeyes and what it means for both teams moving forward. Then, we turn to Georgia's impressive showing against Florida, Miami's narrow escape against North Carolina and the growing questions about how to evaluate the nation's top contenders. Is Georgia making the strongest case for No. 1? How worried should Miami fans be about their defense?

Elsewhere, Indiana finds another way to win, Texas Tech makes a statement against Arizona, and we dig into the teams that deserve more respect as the College Football Playoff race takes shape. Plus, more Week 9 takeaways, our latest Dude Alerts and a look ahead to an enormous Week 10.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 9 has the look of a quiet weekend before the November madness begins, but we're not buying the idea that everything will go according to plan. With quarterback injuries, vulnerable contenders, tricky road games, and conference races getting tighter, there's plenty that could go sideways.

In this college football podcast episode, we preview the biggest games of Week 9 and make our picks against the spread. We start with Arizona traveling to Texas Tech, where the Red Raiders are trying to recover from a disappointing loss to Cincinnati. Can Texas Tech get back on track, or is Arizona capable of making things even more complicated in the Big 12?

We also dive into Georgia-Florida and Ohio State-USC, two games with very different kinds of intrigue. Can Florida make life uncomfortable for Georgia in Jacksonville? How much does Ohio State's quarterback situation change the equation against a USC team with plenty of questions of its own? And what should we make of Oregon as the Ducks prepare for another challenging Big Ten matchup?

Then we shake up our usual Quadfather format with a draft of the most interesting games from each Saturday viewing window. We explore potential upsets, intriguing matchups, and teams that might be running out of answers as the College Football Playoff race heats up. Plus, Dan unveils his wonderfully ridiculous nickname for Week 9, we discuss Halloween logistics, and we close with our weekly locks.

Follow and subscribe to The Solid Verbal for more college football previews and reactions. Visit Verballers.com for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and our weekly Run the Board pick'em contest, where this week's prize is a $500 Dick's Sporting Goods gift card courtesy of Newegg.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The college football coaching carousel is picking up speed, and we've got another round of major changes to unpack. Dave Aranda is out at Baylor, Drew Mehringer has been dismissed as Oregon's offensive coordinator, and the speculation surrounding openings at NC State and Maryland is getting more interesting by the day. We discuss what went wrong, where these programs go next, and which names could emerge as potential replacements.

Then, it's our final installment of Bill-toberfest! ESPN's Bill Connelly joins us to make sense of a college football season that refuses to settle down. Which contenders are for real? Are there warning signs for Indiana? Is Miami as good as its record suggests? How interesting is the middle of the Big 12? And how chaotic could the SEC's championship and College Football Playoff races become?

We also dig into Kentucky's surprising success, Georgia and LSU's championship prospects, Utah's ceiling, Arizona's emergence, and the teams whose underlying numbers tell a different story from their records. Plus, Bill reveals how this unpredictable season has influenced his SP+ model.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 8 delivered another round of chaos, with major upsets, shaken playoff contenders and an increasingly difficult question: Who can we actually trust?

We start in the Big 12, where BYU and Texas Tech both went down in stunning fashion. Just when it looked like the conference was establishing a clear hierarchy, UCF and Cincinnati threw everything into question. What do these losses mean for the Big 12 championship race and the College Football Playoff picture?

Elsewhere, Miami continued making its case as the best team in the country, Indiana survived an ugly battle with Michigan, and Oregon suffered another frustrating defeat. Is Miami the only truly elite team in college football? And has the Big Ten taken a bigger step backward than anyone anticipated?

In the SEC, Texas survived a wild finish against Ole Miss, LSU continued its ascent, Alabama got past Texas A&M, and Tennessee stumbled against South Carolina. We dig into which SEC contenders are gaining momentum, which teams still have serious questions to answer, and whether the conference's playoff picture is finally coming into focus.

Plus, we run through the rest of Week 8's most interesting results, check in on fan sentiment around the country, and wrestle with a new AP Top 25 ballot after another weekend that turned the rankings upside down.

Support the show at Verballers.com.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 8 might not have the biggest headliners of the season, but after another wild Saturday, there are plenty of opportunities for things to go sideways. Which teams can build on emotional wins, which ones are heading for a letdown, and which supposed contenders are running out of answers?

We make our picks for Ole Miss at Texas, Indiana at Michigan, LSU at Auburn, USC at Wisconsin and Houston at Utah. Can Texas fix its sputtering offense against a surging Ole Miss team? How does Michigan's quarterback change affect its chances against Indiana? And is Utah ready for its toughest test yet? We also discuss Julian Sayin's injury and what it could mean for Ohio State's Big Ten and College Football Playoff hopes, plus the coaching change at Maryland.

Then we go window by window with our Quadfather picks, including Tennessee-South Carolina, Texas A&M-Alabama, BYU-UCF, Texas Tech-Cincinnati and plenty of games beyond the marquee matchups. There's a particularly bold upset pick, a late-night showdown between North Dakota State and New Mexico, and an under-the-radar game whose abbreviated name practically writes its own jokes.

Follow and subscribe to The Solid Verbal for our college football previews and reactions, and visit Verballers.com for ad-free episodes, bonus content and our weekly Run the Board pick'em contest.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a wild Week 7, we're back with ESPN's Bill Connelly to make sense of a college football season that keeps getting stranger. With five of the top seven teams losing and quarterback questions piling up across the country, is there actually a great team in college football right now?

We dig into the fallout from Julian Sayin's injury at Ohio State, the struggles at Penn State under Matt Campbell, and the increasingly fascinating Big 12 race between BYU, Texas Tech and Utah. Plus, Bill weighs in on the Group of Six playoff picture, the Heisman race, and which teams might be better than their records suggest.

Then we tackle more of your questions, revisit some preseason expectations with a little trick-or-treat, and identify the teams lurking in the shadows that could turn November upside down. Plus, your Week 7 Reverbs!

Support the show and join the conversation at Verballers.com.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College football's Week 7 was absolute madness. Eight ranked teams lost, including Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, Alabama and Texas, leaving us with a completely scrambled AP Top 25 and a whole lot of questions about who's actually good.

We react to Auburn's stunning upset of No. 1 Georgia, Tennessee's dominant win over Alabama, Florida's comeback against Texas and BYU's statement victory over Notre Dame. Plus, Ohio State survives a top-five showdown with Indiana, but a potentially significant injury to Julian Sayin raises serious questions about the Buckeyes' future.

We also dig into Miami's wild double-overtime escape against Florida State, Ole Miss's impressive performance against Missouri, Kentucky's continued rise, Texas Tech's demolition of Arizona State and Michigan's quarterback change against Penn State. And yes, Ty has some feelings.

Then we try to make sense of the new college football rankings, debate whether the SEC is really a gauntlet, check in with fans around the country and hand out our Week 7 Dude Alerts.

Support the show by signing up as a Certified or Premium Verballer at Verballers.com.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 7 is here, and the schedule is absolutely loaded. We've got top-five showdowns, historic road trips, heated rivalries and a Saturday where survival might be the name of the game. We're making our picks for more than 20 matchups, and things could get wild in a hurry.

We start with Ohio State at Indiana in a massive Big Ten showdown. Are the defending champion Hoosiers still the team to beat, or can the Buckeyes expose some cracks? Then it's Notre Dame at BYU for a historic top-10 matchup in Provo. Can the Cougars turn their home-field advantage into something special, or will Notre Dame's increasingly dangerous offense be too much? We also break down Alabama-Tennessee, Missouri-Ole Miss, Mississippi State-LSU and Oklahoma State-Houston, with some strong opinions and a few surprising predictions along the way.

Then we work our way through a packed Saturday schedule, including Florida-Texas, Penn State-Michigan, Kentucky-Oklahoma, Florida State-Miami and Nebraska-Oregon. We debate which favorites are vulnerable, which underdogs have a fighting chance, and which games could get downright ugly. Plus, our Locks of the Week, under-the-radar games worth watching, and a new Saturday nickname inspired by the animal kingdom.

Join us for our Ohio State-Indiana watchalong and Saturday night reaction stream! And head to Verballers.com to start a free seven-day trial and play Run the Board for a chance to win a $500 Home Depot gift card.

Subscribe to The Solid Verbal wherever you listen, and get ready for a wild Week 7.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dan is back, and after Oregon's stunning loss to UCLA, we've got some questions about which college football fan bases are having the roughest time in 2026. Is Oregon's disappointment worse than what Texas A&M and Michigan fans are experiencing? Where do Oklahoma, Arkansas and NC State fit on the misery scale? We debate the difference between a frustrating season and one that leaves a fan base looking for an entirely new direction.

Then ESPN's Bill Connelly joins us for another celebration of Billtoberfest, this time to call out the teams giving their fans reasons to believe. How real is undefeated UCLA? Can Kentucky keep winning close games under Will Stein? What's changed at Wake Forest, and how much should we trust the sudden rise of Purdue and Northwestern? We also get into Utah, Oregon State and other surprising stories, along with the underlying numbers that might challenge what we're seeing on Saturdays.

Plus, we react to the new Verballer Top 12, revisit more of the wildest moments from Week 6 and look ahead to a massive Week 7 slate, including Ohio State vs. Indiana and Notre Dame vs. BYU.

Listen to the full episode, subscribe to The Solid Verbal and join the community at Verballers.com for the weekly poll, bonus content and Run the Board.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College football Week 6 delivered a little bit of everything, including a new No. 1 team, a stunning upset in the Red River rivalry, and another brutal Saturday for Oregon. With Dan away, Ty welcomes Tim Murray from VSiN to sort through the biggest results and what they mean for the rest of the season.

We start with Oklahoma's win over Texas and the questions surrounding the Longhorns' offense, then turn to Georgia's hard-fought victory at Alabama and the race for the top of the AP poll. UCLA's upset of Oregon raises even bigger questions about the Ducks, and Dan checks in from the wedding with his own reaction. Plus, Indiana escapes Nebraska, Kentucky pulls off another overtime thriller against LSU, and we try to figure out which teams are actually moving in the right direction.

We also hit USC's win at Penn State, Missouri's rout of Texas A&M, Florida's sudden slide, Wake Forest's rise in the ACC, and Oregon State's impressive run. Then it's your Week 6 Reverbs, Dude Alerts, and a spirited debate over Ty's preliminary AP Top 25 ballot.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 6 is packed with matchups that could confirm everything we think we know about the 2026 season, or force us to reconsider. We preview Georgia-Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where two SEC heavyweights face a major test, and Texas-Oklahoma in a Red River rivalry featuring plenty of questions about both offenses.

Can Indiana keep rolling against an improved Nebraska team? Is UCLA ready to challenge Oregon in Eugene, especially with questions surrounding the Ducks' quarterback situation? And what happens when USC travels to Penn State for a White Out with both teams looking for answers? We break down the matchups, debate what matters most, and make our picks against the spread.

Plus, we run through more than 20 games across the weekend, including Texas A&M-Missouri, LSU-Kentucky, Ole Miss-Vanderbilt, Iowa-Washington, Florida State-Louisville, and Iowa State-BYU. We've also got our Quad Fathers picks, under-the-radar games, locks of the week, and the Window of Opportunity.

Don't forget to enter Run The Board this week for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Bass Pro Shops!

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five weeks into the 2026 college football season, the easy answers are disappearing. We unveil the latest Verballer Top 12, clean up a few things we missed from Saturday night, and then bring in ESPN’s Bill Connelly to help us figure out what we can actually trust as the season moves into October.

How good is Missouri? What does the top of the Big 12 actually look like? Who belongs behind Miami in the ACC? Is there a clear second tier in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Indiana? We also ask Bill about the teams and units outperforming expectations, the ones falling short, the Group of Six picture, and how this season’s early chaos compares with some of college football’s stranger years.

Then we turn to the quarterbacks. In honor of October, every situation gets one of two confidence levels: full-size candy bar or Milk Duds. Tennessee has a decision to sort through. Michigan has to figure out what it has in Bryce Underwood. Penn State’s passing game is under pressure. Oregon suddenly has an interesting Dylan Raiola question while Dante Moore works his way back. And Oklahoma heads into Red River with John Mateer, Ben Arbuckle and a season that could move in a very different direction depending on what happens next.

Support the show by signing up at https://www.verballers.com/join.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 5 gave us another reminder not to get too comfortable with anything we thought we knew in September.

We start with Missouri’s emphatic win over Florida and what it means for both teams after a month of wildly shifting expectations. Then we get into Alabama’s dominant performance against Mississippi State, another ridiculous day from Keelon Russell, Ohio State handling Iowa, and Northwestern’s statement win over Penn State in the debut of its new stadium.

From there, we run through the rest of a strange Saturday: Notre Dame finding something on the ground, Minnesota taking back the Little Brown Jug, Florida State showing signs of life, Wake Forest pouring it on, USC surviving Washington, Kentucky winning a thriller, and one of the strangest in-game coaching changes we can remember.

Plus, Reverbs, Dude Alerts and the increasingly challenging task of putting together our AP Top 25 ballot after five weeks of college football.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 5 is here, and a bunch of teams are trying to figure out whether the good vibes are real or just another mirage.

We make our picks for Alabama-Mississippi State in Starkville, Ohio State-Iowa in Iowa City, Florida-Missouri, Miami-Clemson and a pair of fascinating Friday night games with Pitt-Virginia Tech and Penn State-Northwestern. Can Mississippi State prove it belongs in the SEC race? Is Iowa’s offense actually evolving? How much should we trust Florida after its breakout win over Ole Miss? And can Clemson make things uncomfortable for Miami under the lights in Death Valley?

Then we work through the rest of the Week 5 slate with Michigan-Minnesota, Notre Dame-North Carolina, Auburn-Tennessee, Virginia-Florida State, Louisville-NC State, Kentucky-South Carolina, BYU-TCU, Washington-USC, Baylor-Arizona State and more. Plus, our Locks of the Week, the Quadfathers, Under-The-Radar games and a very important discussion about finding water.

Join us at Verballers.com for ad-free episodes, bonus shows, our Run the Board pick’em game and more.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

September is almost over, which means we finally have enough evidence to start wondering who has actually taken a meaningful step forward, who has gone backward, and which teams are still making us wait for a real answer?

We run through a wide range of teams that have changed the conversation around themselves over the first month of the season, including Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Iowa, UCLA, West Virginia and Missouri. Some have found new life. Others have made their early optimism much harder to defend. And a few are still sitting in the uncomfortable middle, where one good or bad weekend could change the entire read.

We also catch up on the biggest news we missed after Saturday night, talk through the latest Verballer Top 12, and answer a few listener questions about College Football Playoff dark horses, how much head-to-head results should matter in the polls, and whether offensive continuity still means what it used to in the transfer portal era.

Then, because we somehow forgot them on Saturday night, Dude Alerts return with the standout performances from Week 4. And, as promised, an extended cut of Reverbs for our esteemed Patreon community. Shout out to Shae for putting these together!

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 4 gave us the kind of Saturday that starts changing how the season looks.

We start with Florida’s emphatic win over Ole Miss and what it means for a Gators team that suddenly has to be taken seriously in the SEC race. Then we turn to Oregon’s wild road win at USC, where an early injury changed the entire shape of the game and forced the Ducks to find a very different way to win. Iowa stunned Michigan at the gun, Texas stymied Tennessee in Knoxville, and several teams that entered the weekend with real expectations now have much harder questions to answer.

From there, we run through the scores that made us ask, “Am I hearing correctly that…?” Wisconsin erased a 17-point deficit at Penn State, Mississippi State moved to 4-0, Wake Forest pulled off a road upset at Louisville, Cincinnati kept pounding people on the ground, and Northwestern pushed Indiana far harder than expected.

Finally, we sort through a major reshuffling of our AP Top 25 ballot. Six teams drop out, six new teams move in, and the middle of the rankings gets messy fast as we try to separate résumé, projection and what we actually believe after four weeks of football.

Plus, Week 4 Reverbs, listener reactions and all the usual late-night chaos.

Support the show by signing up for our Patreon at https://www.verballers.com/join.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 4 is absolutely loaded, and we’re breaking down as much of it as humanly possible.

We start with Texas traveling to Tennessee for its first true road test, then turn to Oregon-USC and a major prove-it game for both programs. Plus, why Ole Miss-Florida has all the makings of the mother of all letdown games, whether Michigan can create enough offense against Iowa, and what to make of Oklahoma State-West Virginia.

Then we bring back the Quadfather to rip through the rest of a massive slate, including Oklahoma-Georgia, Utah-Iowa State, Wisconsin-Penn State, Texas A&M-LSU, Missouri-Mississippi State, South Carolina-Alabama, Clemson-Cal and much more.

Plus: our Week 4 picks, locks of the week, the Window of Opportunity and the games flying under the radar.

Support the show by signing up for our Patreon at verballers.com/join.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three weeks into the college football season, how much do we actually know?

For our September Mailbag, we turn the show over to questions from the Verballerhood and try to figure out which teams have given us enough evidence to trust what we’re seeing. We talk Ole Miss, Texas, Miami and the ACC, then dig into whether early stumbles from the Big Ten and SEC could open the door for the Big 12 to land multiple teams in the College Football Playoff.

From there, we get into some of the coaches who have impressed us early, what to make of Florida and Northwestern, and why Oregon and Texas A&M have both looked flatter than expected. How much responsibility falls on the Dante Moore and Marcel Reed? How much falls on new coordinators and rebuilt offensive lines? And when does the grace period officially end for teams still trying to figure things out?

Plus, we take an early look at a loaded Week 4 featuring Texas-Tennessee, Ole Miss-Florida, Oregon-USC, Texas A&M-LSU, Oklahoma State-West Virginia and plenty more.

Subscribe for more college football coverage, and check out https://Verballers.com to join the community and send in questions for future Monday shows.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 3 delivered the kind of Saturday that forces you to reconsider a few things in a hurry. We start in Oxford, where Lane Kiffin returned with LSU for a game that had been circled for months, and Ole Miss had a chance to prove just how much of the program survived his departure. We get into what the night told us about Trinidad Chambliss, the Rebels, LSU’s still-developing offense and where both teams fit in the bigger SEC and College Football Playoff picture.

Then comes the result almost nobody saw coming: Kentucky went into Kyle Field and beat Texas A&M without needing a fluky turnover fest or some bizarre special-teams swing. What does that say about Will Stein’s early progress at Kentucky, and how worried should A&M be about an offense that still seems to be searching for another gear? We also dig into Louisville’s big win over SMU, Texas Tech surviving Houston, Mississippi State’s comeback at South Carolina and the other Week 3 results that changed how we see the season.

Later, we go through your Reverbs and “Today I Learned” responses, then turn to our AP Top 25 ballot. How far should Ole Miss rise? What do we do with Texas A&M after the upset? Where do Louisville, Mississippi State, Florida, Texas Tech and BYU belong now? We finish with Dude Alerts and some of our favorite individual performances from the weekend.

Support the show at https://www.verballers.com/join.

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.