College Football Believe it or Not: Joe Burrow, Jeremy Pruitt and Texas

Every week, college football will give us some incredible hot takes and FanSided college football experts Michael Collins and Patrick Schmidt will either believe them…or not.

We’ve completed two weeks of the 2019 college football season, and already the hot takes are stacking up like all-you-can-eat pancakes at IHOP. Each week, we’ll guide you through some of the biggest narratives of the week with our own edition of, “Believe it or Not”, with FanSided college football experts Michael Collins, and Patrick Schmidt.

5. Believe it or not, Texas is back

Schmidt Says – Believe It: It’s become a running joke in the last few years, but Texas is indeed back. This isn’t judged by national championships but rather impact performers, marquee primetime games and an optimistic and enthusiastic fanbase. Texas has all that back.

The Longhorns didn’t beat LSU in Week 2 but Sam Ehlinger, Collin Johnson and Tom Herman can easily get back to the Big 12 Championship Game like they did last year.

What was really encouraging was the overwhelming outpouring of support from the Longhorn leading up to their showdown with LSU. The stands were packed. The tailgating was insane. Even Matthew McConaughey made it to the 40 Acres. Texas will be in the Top 10-15 teams all season and if that’s not considered back, we need to reevaluate the standards by which teams are judged.

Collins Says – Believe It: Look, we’ve seen this whole “Texas is back” thing before. and we’ve seen them come up oh so short in season openers and then stumble through the season before. But this team is different.

Sam Ehlinger and the Longhorns offense absolutely had their way with what will likely be one of the stingiest defenses in the nation when this season is over, and they’ll probably look even better against some of these Big 12 defenses. This offense is going to score, and score a lot this season.

Speaking of Big 12 defense, the Longhorns didn’t look great against LSU, but for a shot at the Big 12 title, they’ll get better as the year progresses. Keep the faith, Longhorn Nation, for Texas is indeed back as a national power.

4. Believe it or not, Maryland is the second-best team in the Big Ten

Schmidt Says – Not: Sure, Maryland looked scoring a bunch of points vs. Howard and they backed that up with a convincing win vs. Syracuse in Week 2. But I’m not going to go that far and say they are better than Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State or Michigan State.

Maryland is much better than I think anyone expected as new, old head coach Mike Locksley is drawing up some fantastic plays like he did last year for Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama. Virginia Tech transfer quarterback Josh Jackson looks strong under center and the Terps can make some noise this fall.  However, it’s a Stretch Armstrong-like reach to say they’re second to Ohio State in the Big Ten.

Collins Says – Believe It: Nobody wants to doubt Alabama when they score 79 points against the local intramural team, but when Maryland does it against a cupcake college football squad, everyone scoffs. Maryland has been on the verge for a few seasons now. They’ve had some quality teams completely derailed by injuries, bad coaching and other chicanery.

Enter Mike Locksley, who inherited what some viewed as a dumpster fire but in truth was a roster full of unpolished gems, and a 63-20 win over a pretty good Syracuse team should be evidence to that. Locksley has already brought more from his time at Alabama than just playbook ideas, he’s instilled discipline and confidence in his team.

But why are they the second-best team in the Big Ten? Assuming (right now) Ohio State is still the best team, I’d venture to say Maryland could outduel any of the other pretenders or flawed conference favorites. Barring major injuries, Maryland and Ohio State could be battling it out to represent the Big Ten East in the championship game.

So right now? Yes, I think Maryland is the second-best team in the Big Ten…but things can change quickly.

3. Believe it or not, USC is the team to beat in the Pac-12 South

Schmidt Says – Believe it: Expectations were all over the map for USC this season. Clay Helton is at the top of every hot seat list and then they lost starting quarterback JT Daniels to a season-ending knee injury.

But in comes true freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis who throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns in the best debut for a freshman quarterback in USC history. He’s the real deal and the team seemed to respond to him in the dominating win vs. Stanford.

Utah is the top contender in the Pac-12 South but they have to come to USC in two Fridays. Because the Trojans will have home-field advantage and the promise of Slovis, the Trojans are the team to beat in the Pac-12 South.

Collins Says – Not: Congrats to USC for a nice win over a Stanford team who will probably reside near the middle to the bottom of the Pac-12 South. Freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis had a nice debut, but one game does not measure much in the Pac-12.

USC still has a lot of issues before they proclaim themselves the team to beat in the Pac-12 South, starting with their defense. They’ve surrendered over 20 points per game in the first two games against teams who aren’t exactly offensive powerhouses.

Utah is a complete team with a solid defense and a much better coach than USC has right now. The Utes are still the class of the division and until someone proves different, they are the team to beat.

2. Believe it or not, Jeremy Pruitt is on a hotter seat than Willie Taggart

Schmidt Says – Believe It: I don’t think either coach will be in their current job this time next year. Pruitt’s Vols lost at home to Georgia State and in double overtime to BYU after giving up a 64-yard pass with six seconds to go. That’s a total collapse and the fans are dead inside.

Florida State collapsed vs. Boise State to lose at home to a true freshman in his first career game. Then, they followed that up with a near-loss to UL Monroe. The Seminoles were taken to overtime by the Warhawks who missed an extra point that would have forced double overtime. Instead, Florida State gets a gift of a win and avoids a total embarrassment. But that’s very much like when a win feels like a loss.

Taggart’s buyout might make it so he lasts the rest of the year but Tennessee AD Phil Fulmer might get the itch to pull the plug on Pruitt before Halloween.

Collins Says – Believe It: At the start of the season, everyone mentioned two names when it came to the coaching hot seat – Clay Helton and Willie Taggart. USC’s decent start has taken some heat from Helton, but Taggart is still squarely in the fire with FSU’s two indescribably bad performances.

But in jumps Jeremy Pruitt who says “Hold my beer, Willie”, dumping two home losses on the Vol nation and bringing Tennessee to an 0-2 start for the first time since 1988. Pruitt wasn’t the Vols first choice, in fact, he probably wasn’t even second or third choice. Tennessee exhausted every resource in their 2017 coaching search and got turned down by a number of candidates before they even came to the bargaining table.

Tennessee AD Phil Fulmer probably feels no real allegiance to Pruitt, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the surreptitious coaching search had already begun.

1. Believe it or not, LSU can compete with Alabama because of Joe Burrow

Schmidt Says – Believe It: For years, LSU was held back by their quarterback and passing offense. That may not be the case this year with the development of Joe Burrow and the addition of Joe Brady to the offensive coaching staff.

Burrow has been sensational with nine touchdowns through two games and a 471-yard performance in the win at Texas. Competing with Alabama is a tougher task for LSU who has had difficulty scoring vs. the Tide in recent years. To make the leap from not scoring to competing with Alabama is feasible because of the spread offense and weapons Burrow has.

The scheme will test Alabama’s defense that was exposed vs. Clemson in last year’s national championship game. Their depth will be tested and their edge rushers will be tested. I’m not picking LSU to win the SEC West, but with this new-look offense, the Tigers can finally be considered contenders and not pretenders.

Collins Says – Not: Let me qualify this by saying that I completely believe LSU (and not Auburn) will compete with Alabama in the SEC West this year. However, it’s not because of Joe Burrow.

Burrow has put up some incredible numbers to begin this season, and the LSU offense is rolling (god, that was really weird to type). But Burrow’s performance is in large part based on the offensive scheme which is now being employed by the Tigers, and the weapons he has at his disposal.

I’d go as far to say that you could insert practically any of LSU’s quarterbacks from the last four years of quarterback ineptitude in Baton Rouge, and get similar results with these formations, these receivers, and this offensive line.

If you want to point to one reason LSU will compete with Alabama this year, it’s when Ed Orgeron and Steve Ensminger agreed to bring Joe Brady in to employ the spread offense.