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GameDay Saturday: Here's What ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit Said

There was a lot going on Saturday as the college football season tries to get through another week. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit had plenty to say after the Big Ten released its schedule.

Tom Brew

ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit has become the face of college football these days, and he's always got something great to say on college football Saturdays. Here's what he had to say all morning.

Keep refreshing and we'll keep you updated all morning.

Ohio State back in thick of playoff picture

Herbstreit is all in on Ohio State being one of the best teams in the country — if not THE best team in the country — and now that the Big Ten is ready to start playing again on Oct. 24, he's convinced they are a playoff team.

"It's going to be ebb and flow, and how are we going to be able to evaluate teams?'' Herbstreit said. "For Ohio State, this is a team before COVID and games being delayed that Ryan Day thought was even better than last year. And they have a chip on their shoulder. If they can stay healthy and keep their players on the field, they are going to be right in the mix to make the playoff.''

UCF is better than Florida State

In breaking down Saturday's UCF-Georgia Tech game, Herbstreit spent a lot of time comparing No. 14-ranked UCF to once-mighty Florida State, which lost to Georgia Tech last week in Tallahassee.

"As odd as it sounds to say, UCF is a better team with better athletes. They have a quarterback (Dillon Gabriel) who can spin it, and they've got receivers that can fly. UCF is much more dangerous today than Florida State was last week.

Big Ten's new schedule

The Big Ten released its third fall football schedule on Saturday, and it starts on Oct. 24. Ohio State opens its season with Nebraska. Herbstreit thinks that Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields had a lot to do with football coming back, and OSU rans will remember that forever.

"For Ohio State, now it's getting ready for Nebraska. Someone at every facility is putting up those new schedules. As a former Ohio State player and captain, 20 years from now we're going to look back at Justin Fields. He stayed, he kept battling and he kept fighting to give his team a chance to play. We're never forget him for his leadership.

"Penn State traveling to Bloomington to play Indiana. That's a sneaky first game.''

"And Penn State on Oct. 31, the second week, that's early. There won't be a whiteout at Penn State, but it will still be something.''

Big Ten consideration for the playoffs?

The Big Ten is scheduled to play eight games in eight weeks this season, but because they are starting more than a month after the SEC and the ACC, there's been some talk about how they will be considered by the College Football Playoff committee, which makes their decision on Dec. 20.

"I think eight games is plenty to show the committee a good body of work,'' Herbstreit said. "Even if it's only six games and they're blowing everybody out by 50, shouldn't that be good enough? We really don't know yet how many games the SEC or ACC are going to play yet either. There's still a lot that go wrong.''

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren joins the show

Herbstreit asked Big Ten commissioner about what his last few months have been like.

"I start each and every in prayer and try to be positive. I remain positive and energetic, and I get my workout in every day. I was in a very severe car accident when I was 10 years old, so I have a very different perspective on life.

"We're in a time of struggle, but we have incredible student-athletes and incredible fans. Although we have gone through challenging days, this will all make us better as a league. 2020 has really been an aberration. I'm looking forward to watching them compete.''

Miami-Louisville preview

"You'd like to think the winner (of Saturday night's primetime Miami-Louisville game) could compete with Clemson, but they're not. They can't compete with Clemson right now, neither of them.''

 

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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