UTSA graduate Peter Burns previews this weekend's biggest games

Key notes from Peter Burns interview

• I will pull for the Roadrunners. They are excited about it. There was a chance Jeff Traylor of UTSA was going to get the A&M job in 2023. I understand why Mike Elko got the job, but there may be extra motivation for Traylor to show that he can coach football well.
   
• People at UTSA feel that they can play with anybody. It just comes down to depth when they get winded late in games. A&M can lean on a roster that is full of four and five-star guys, while UTSA has a roster that has been picked clean by the transfer portal. When UTSA has a good player, it will probably be for just one season. That is just the reality of college football now.
   
• Game analysts like Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic and Chris Doering, those guys are watching film. Those are the guys that can look at it and go, “Yeah, I like these guys.” I don’t. Rodgers went on Get Up and said, “Arch Manning is good, but the hype has gotten out of hand.” We are all guessing right now. Last year, after Week 1, if Conner Weigman stayed healthy, he could be a top guy in the conference, but then the dreaded A&M quarterback injury bug hit, and the rest is history. I feel we are more naked going into this season because there is so much roster turnover this year.
   
• There is more pressure on LSU, not like a job is on the line for Brian Kelly. Unless he has a full-Mike Norvell-type season, he will still be there. Kelly has struggled in Week 1, but they have put a lot of emphasis on this game. If LSU lays an egg, though, all of a sudden, people will wonder if LSU can do it. Then, in a few weeks, Florida is coming in. There is a lot of pressure. This year is different, though, because LSU has a defense. This is the best defensive roster they have had since 2017. Maybe even 10 years.
   
• With Texas vs. Ohio State, both rosters are elite. Ohio State always has a deep roster. Same for Texas. They’ve been there before. But Jim Knowles goes to Penn State. Matt Patricia comes in. He’s never coached as a coordinator collegiately. He was in the NFL for a while, but how much can you adapt that right off the jump? Brian Hartline, who has never called plays before, and a quarterback who has never started a game. Everything being equal, looking at small incremental things that change this game, and I look at the coordinators, Texas has continuity there. Maybe Manning is not worthy of the hype bestowed upon him, but he has started a couple of games. He has been there for three years with Steve Sarkisian. They know what they want to run. Julian Sayin has to come in and learn a new offense. It is very hard to call plays and to do it in a good rhythm. To think they can hit the ground running fast is shocking. I am very confident Texas goes up to the Horseshoe and wins.
   
• The Big Ten Media Days were like going to an accounting convention. There is a buzz around the SEC. There are fans, media and people walking through, players as well. But for the Big Ten, it felt like a banking convention. It was out there in Las Vegas. Out of the 18 teams, only seven teams actually care about football. The others just say we like football, but we have basketball and other sports we care about more. In the SEC, all 16 teams care. Yes, the Big Ten has some great brands to it, but only a few teams are pulling their weight. The rest is just schedule filler.