

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast
Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner
An independent college football podcast that covers the whole sport, led by Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner. Free episodes each week (twice per week in season), plus frequent subscriber episodes. Featuring co-host emeritus Steven Godfrey and friends. www.splitzoneduo.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 3, 2024 • 17min
Single Wing: Wisconsin's big oops, Louisville's value and the Sac State come-up
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIt’s the latest Split Zone Duo audience Q&A with Steven Godfrey, who got a LOT of Phil Longo- and Sconnie-related angst in the inbox, so let's do that. Also, are we set up for more and better non-con games in this weird reality? Also, Godfrey is ON BOARD for Friday Night Green Lantern Lights. Producer: Anthony Vito.

Oct 3, 2024 • 16min
Overtime: How the SEC and Big Ten could *actually* wreck the regular season
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey wrote for the Washington Post about the SEC and Big Ten’s effort to monopolize more of the College Football Playoff. In this episode, he and Richard discuss the Power 2’s latest leverage play, which may not even help those two leagues at all but could hurt a lot of teams (including their TV partners). Producer: Anthony Vito

Oct 2, 2024 • 1h 20min
Week 6 Tasting Menu: Stay woke
Our previews of dozens of games in Week 6. Highlights include: * Things getting bleak at several ACC schools* Navy’s chance to dunk Air Force * A sneaky great SMU-Louisville matchup * Indiana is still happening* Go get ‘em, App State * Could Auburn-UGA not be a blowout? * OKST’s impending turnaround * The G5 Hipster Game of the Week * Clemson has FSU on a tee * Ashton Jeanty Heisman Watch * “The worst 5-0 team in college football” * Michigan: Run it back * Cal: the center of the CFB universe, at least until game time* Texas Tech is a mid-2010s Big 12 time machine Production: Anthony VitoWANT TO WIN FREE TIRES AND SUPPORT SZD? Head to NokianTyres.com/SZD and nominate a Road Trip of the Week for next week. When you do, you’ll be entered in a monthly tire drawing. This week’s featured nominee is Miami at Cal, which will be a great football day in the Bay. Thanks to Nokian Tyres! SPLIT ZONE DUO SHIRTS, COMFY AND FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Our code for 20% off your first order at Homefield is SZD20. Our shirt collection, in partnership with Homefield, is at homefieldapparel.com/szd.This season, 100 percent of the profits from SZD shirt sales at Homefield will go toward a fund to help a close friend of our show and his family as they deal with a medical crisis. Further information is here: https://tinyurl.com/wesboling This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Sep 29, 2024 • 40min
Week 5 Hurry-Up: Dawg Days
Richard and Godfrey lead a 30-minute (ish) recap of the weekend in college football. Alabama beats Georgia in an instant classic. Oklahoma comes back on Auburn. Kansas State establishes itself as the Big 12 favorite. Tulane crushes USF. Ashton Jeanty and Travis Hunter keep making Heisman arguments. And much, much more from a busy Week 5.Programming note: We will be conducting a comprehensive investigation into who could have left Texas Tech-Cincinnati off of the rundown.Producer: Anthony Vito. THE NOKIAN TYRES ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEK: Every week all season, head to NokianTyres.com/SZD and enter your pick for the most enticing CFB road trip of that week. When you do, you’ll be entered into a monthly drawing for free tires. This week’s Trip of the Week was Washington State at Boise State. SPLIT ZONE DUO SHIRTS FOR A CAUSE NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR HEARTS: One of our great friends is Wes Boling, the man responsible for our Nokian partnership. This season, 100 percent of the profits from SZD shirt sales at Homefield will go toward a fund to help Wes and his family deal with an extremely difficult and expensive medical situation. More details are here, and our collection of shirts is at homefieldapparel.com/szd. And if you’ve never ordered from Homefield before and are shopping around the whole catalog, use our code SZD20 for 20 percent off your first order. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Sep 26, 2024 • 12min
OT: The truth about TV timeouts, plus the state of CFB TV with Bob Thompson
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAre TV timeouts really longer this year? The answer has two parts. SZD obtained years of documents outlining how media timeouts work in SEC games on ESPN. There’s been no short-term change. (That LSU-South Carolina game was just a weird one, our analysis shows.) But the long-term trend tells its own story about viewers losing more and more of their time to in-game advertising. Then, to help us parse what we’ve learned, we welcome a guest: Bob Thompson, a sports media consultant and the former president of the Fox Sports Networks. Bob talks with Richard and Alex about the forces shaping our viewing experience, whether there’s any way to lighten the commercial load in a world of ever-growing rights fees, and if the Pac-12’s fight with the Mountain West will wind up worthwhile for Washington State, Oregon State, and their friends. Producer: Anthony Vito ALSO THIS WEEK AT SPLIT ZONE DUO* The Week 5 Tasting Menu: Representations Were Made

Sep 25, 2024 • 1h 25min
Week 5 Tasting Menu: Representations were made
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex preview Week 5, a schedule led by Georgia-Alabama but with dozens of other interesting games beyond. Plus: What should we make of undefeated UNLV’s QB leaving the program amid a payment dispute? There hasn’t been anything quite like this in the history of the sport. Let’s also talk more about Mack Brown’s bizarre week at UNC heading into a rivalry game. Producer: Anthony VitoTHE NOKIAN TYRES ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEK: Every week all season, head to NokianTyres.com/SZD and enter your pick for the most enticing CFB road trip of that week. When you do, you’ll be entered into a monthly drawing for free tires. This week’s Trip of the Week? Heck yeah, it’s unbeaten Wazzu at Boise State. SPLIT ZONE DUO SHIRTS FOR A CAUSE NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR HEARTS: One of our great friends is Wes Boling, the man responsible for our Nokian partnership. This season, 100 percent of the profits from SZD shirt sales at Homefield will go toward a fund to help Wes and his family deal with an extremely difficult and expensive medical situation. More details are here, and our collection of shirts is at homefieldapparel.com/szd. And if you’ve never ordered from Homefield before and are shopping around the whole catalog, use our code SZD20 for 20 percent off your first order. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Sep 22, 2024 • 58min
Week 4 Hurry-Up: UNCredible
The Week 4 Sunday Hurry-Up! Tennessee handled business against an Oklahoma team with a QB problem. North Carolina’s defense did not defend. BYU put a dominant showing on Kansas State. Miami and Clemson flexed their muscles in the ACC. Colorado delivered a psychic blow to Dave Aranda. Appalachian State and the MAC are both in a world of pain, while Southern Miss looks like a matter of time. Plus an incredible Friday night slate when teams made a bunch of weird decisions. We cover it all in 30 minutes—or more. Producer: Anthony Vito THE NOKIAN TYRES ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEK: Every week all season, head to NokianTyres.com/SZD and enter your pick for the most enticing CFB road trip of that week. When you do, you’ll be entered into a monthly drawing for free tires. This weekend’s Road Trip, as voted on by the people, was UCLA-LSU. SPLIT ZONE DUO SHIRTS FOR A CAUSE NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR HEARTS: One of our great friends is Wes Boling, the man responsible for our Nokian partnership. This season, 100 percent of the profits from SZD shirt sales at Homefield will go toward a fund to help Wes and his family deal with an extremely difficult and expensive medical situation. More details are here, and our collection of shirts is at homefieldapparel.com/szd. And if you’ve never ordered from Homefield before and are shopping around the whole catalog, use our code SZD20 for 20 percent off your first order. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Sep 19, 2024 • 25min
The Single Wing: FSU's actual temperature and UF's actual list
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey's dipping a bit into coach gossip, mainly because Florida State is winless and Florida's even worse. But let's poke around on a few other places, including Arkansas, of course, before stress-testing the narrative on bowl sites for playoff rounds and extolling the virtues of physical media.Producer: Anthony Vito.

Sep 18, 2024 • 11min
Overtime: The Pac-12, MWC, and AAC situations
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comOregon State and Washington State lopped off the top of the Mountain West to create the beginnings of a new conference. The move has marginal benefits, but we’re skeptical it will change much about the pecking order outside the power conferences. Meanwhile, the Mountain West has limited options, and the American Athletic could find itself doing some WEIRD things. We play fantasy conference commissioner and chart some paths forward. Production: Anthony VitoThis episode is for paid subscribers, but everyone can hear a free preview. Free subscribers can still hear the Week 4 Tasting Menu, our preview of the games ahead. Paid subscribers get another show this week, and everyone gets the Sunday Hurry-Up recap after games have been played.

Sep 18, 2024 • 1h 6min
Week 4 Tasting Menu: Get Heuped
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex preview Week 4. Meet some freshman running backs at Baylor and South Alabama. Prepare for the return of Josh Heupel to Oklahoma. Consider USC beating Michigan by multiple scores. Marvel at how ridiculous a Friday night Stanford-Syracuse conference game is. And try to figure out a big question: What happened to Oklahoma State’s running game? The Pokes need to figure it out quickly with Utah coming to town. Producer: Anthony VitoTHE NOKIAN TYRES ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEK: Every week all season, head to NokianTyres.com/SZD and enter your pick for the most enticing CFB road trip of that week. When you do, you’ll be entered into a monthly drawing for free tires. This week’s Trip of the Week? It’s UCLA’s visit to the LSU tailgate scene. SPLIT ZONE DUO SHIRTS FOR A CAUSE NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR HEARTS: One of our great friends is Wes Boling, the man responsible for our Nokian partnership. This season, 100 percent of the profits from SZD shirt sales at Homefield will go toward a fund to help Wes and his family deal with an extremely difficult and expensive medical situation. More details are here, and our collection of shirts is at homefieldapparel.com/szd. And if you’ve never ordered from Homefield before and are shopping around the whole catalog, use our code SZD20 for 20 percent off your first order. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe


