GoJo and Golic College Football preview: Can Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies get right vs. USC?

Another weekend college football slate awaits, and Mike Golic Jr. and Jason Fitz have you covered with a preview of the action!

The guys start with the battle of Heisman hopefuls, as Michael Penix Jr. and Washington take on Caleb Williams and USC. GoJo says it is interesting going into this game to see Washington as the first team on the outside looking in after the first round of College Football Playoff standings. GoJo points out that it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Huskies since their marquee win over the Oregon Ducks, limping through a couple of wins. Washington being only a three-point favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook has sirens going off for GoJo, but he wants to know: Is Jason concerned about the Huskies?

Yes. Jason thinks the offensive part is concerning as both Washington and Oregon are more balanced teams than they get credit for, but Penix has looked a little off of late. Jason thinks last week’s performance wasn’t that great and you start thinking about what you expect in this matchup. Williams has to face a good defense in Washington, but Penix gets to face a USC defense which is NOT that good, so he was surprised to see the number that low. He says what that speaks to is that right now people don’t have a lot of faith in this Washington offense to get back on track. He does think this should be a get-right game as it’s fair to say that against USC’s defense almost anybody can have a get-right game.

GoJo says he had similar thoughts for the Fighting Irish going into their game against USC a couple of weeks ago. But a funny thing wound up happening — the defense ended up dominating a lot of that game. So GoJo will be curious to see if Washington goes out and manufactures those points. He thinks they will and he thinks Washington will get right in this game as the USC foundation is too cracked at this point.

Moving on to No. 14 LSU at No. 8 Alabama, the Tigers won this game last year and GoJo says it was this win that jumpstarted the expectations train for Brian Kelly in Baton Rouge. GoJo says they haven’t lived up to those national championship expectations in large part due to the defense.

So GoJo wants to know how Jason sees the Tigers faring against an Alabama team that has gotten dialed back in post-Texas. Jason says he keeps saying that Alabama is like the Undertaker — everytime he leaves them for dead they just sit up.

Jason says he wants to count Alabama out of this game but it’s hard to do because every single time he’s tried to do that with Alabama he’s been wrong. He also says this is the weird thing about LSU — defensively, they don’t belong in the top 25 but their offense is so good that it doesn’t matter. So the question becomes what do they do against an Alabama team that has actually begun to find some rhythm? He says this just feels like one of those games where every possession ends in a touchdown and whoever gets the ball last is going to win. He says when he thinks Alabama-LSU he thinks of a 9-6 score, but this one feels like it could be a 63-61 final.

GoJo points out that the number for this game is 61.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook, and he says if the over hits he thinks this is an LSU victory. He says Alabama is this weird cognitive dissonance where their defense is still a Saban-standard defense but their offense has not exactly gone to that ground-and-pound style that we’re accustomed to. He says it’s been about hitting big shots at the right time and he thinks there will be enough opportunities for that. He also thinks this Alabama defense against some high-powered offenses has shown what it’s capable of, so if this game stays south of the 61.5 number that’s the formula for Alabama.

Jason says he picked LSU in this game because he’s in a spot where great offenses beat great defenses in college football right now, so he thinks this LSU offense will show that while the Alabama defense has been very good it’s easy to do that against some of the offenses it’s faced.

Meanwhile, Jason is not happy that Tyreek HIll is not going to have to walk that walk after talking all that talk against KC ...

SHOW BREAKDOWN

Hour 1: Mike Tomlin is giving wins while Will Levis is giving hope, Jason Fitz on airplane seat etiquette and life as a Raiders fan rn, and Victor Wembanyama is here and he’s a problem

Hour 2: Levi Wallace, Steelers DB, on beating the Titans, Diontae Johnson’s TD, and Mike Tomlin Quotes + NFL Week 9 Acrostic, how LSU beats Bama, and more GoJo Possum Takes

VIDEO:

Watch GoJo and Golic every weekday on Samsung TV Plus, Roku, Xumo Play and DraftKingsNetwork.com from 8 to 10 a.m. ET. The show will also be available via audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Mike Golic Sr. on X at @golic and Mike Golic Jr. on X at @mikegolicjr.

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