QB Disappointments + Heisman Dark Horses
The Audible with Stew, Bruce & Ralph: A show about college football
The Athletic
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The 2025 QB class was supposed to be special, but Bruce’s recent story reveals major concerns about Arch Manning, Cade Klubnik, and Drew Allar. The guys break down why Manning is pressing at Texas, Klubnik's alarming regression at Clemson, and whether Allar is the next Christian Hackenberg.
On the flip side, Dante Moore is blossoming at Oregon after leaving USC, and Garrett Nussmeier still has NFL believers despite LSU’s struggles. Plus, Ralph and Bruce debate Heisman contenders: Can Diego Pavia actually win it if Vanderbilt stays ranked? Is Fernando Mendoza the real deal at Indiana? And why Rueben Bain Jr.’s defensive dominance at Miami might not be enough to get to New York.
Timestamps approximate:
0:00 Intro
1:00 Transfer RBs who haven’t lived up to expectations, and why transfers sometimes struggle
6:33 The Disappointing QB Class
19:25 Heisman Race: Moore, Mendoza, Pavia, Bain
32:38 Breakout Players of the Week: BYU, Michigan mentioned
39:07 Mailbag: Coaching Fit, Authenticity vs. Credentials
43:10 Mailbag: Will All College Football Show Replay Conversations Like the ACC?
45:56 Mailbag: Why has the JUCO pipeline declined?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Audible, presented by Trader Joe's. I'm Ralph Rousseau, joined as always by my colleague Bruce Feldman from The Athletic. |
| 0:24.6 | Not joined this week by Stuart Mandel, our other colleague. |
| 0:29.1 | Stu is on assignment, as they say, in the business. |
| 0:32.5 | Don't forget every episode of the show is on YouTube at Audible show. You can join us live on Sundays at |
| 0:41.9 | 8.30 Pacific a.m., Pacific time, 1130 Eastern time to wrap up all of Saturday's great games. |
| 0:51.5 | And again, get us there live. Later on, we will get into the mailbag, |
| 0:57.5 | and we will hit on what the hell happened to this good quarterback class that we were supposed to |
| 1:02.3 | have. Bruce did a whole bunch of writing about that this week. But first, little news out of Oregon, |
| 1:09.8 | Bruce. You know, Mackay out of Oregon, Bruce. |
| 1:21.1 | You know, Mackay Hughes, the Tulane transfer, a lot of people thought he was going to step in for Jordan James and be the lead back for one of the best teams in the country. |
| 1:30.9 | Instead, he's sort of been passed up on the depth chart and now at dan landing uh confirmed today that use is going to set out the rest of the season take a red shirt hopefully come back next year you know |
| 1:36.5 | the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the transfer portal bruce now not always and |
| 1:42.0 | look nobody i feel like has done better in the portal than Oregon has you know |
| 1:47.7 | a lot of guys who you know start with Bo Nix bo Nix was pretty good at Auburn but not like he was at |
| 1:52.4 | Oregon Dante Moore has looked fantastic you know in his second act uh you can go down the list of |
| 1:58.6 | guys who have really blossom there but you know again it's a talented |
| 2:03.1 | running back room i mean i feel like i feel like every week it's another running back like last year |
| 2:07.1 | last week when you were in happy valley we have a freshman who looks like he's i don't know the next |
| 2:12.3 | kenyon barner or le michael james yeah d'air hill uh Hill. That might be their guy. |
| 2:19.5 | I think the other guys are good. |
| 2:23.4 | Jayden Limer, no, Wittington's the veteran there. |
| 2:27.3 | And I think they thought Hughes and Whittington were going to be the one-two punch. |
... |
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