Cardale Jones knows what it's like to be thrown into the fire on the big stage. The former Ohio State star started his career third on the depth chart behind Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett, but when injuries popped up, he stepped up and led the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title and national championship during a historic three-game run at the end of the 2014 season.
Jones is back on the big stage these days, handling analyst duties on CBS Sports' "College Football Pregame," which airs live Saturdays starting three hours prior to kickoff of the biggest games of the week. The season is nearing the midway point, and with upsets popping up more often and epic quarterback battles set across the sport in Week 7, especially in the Big Ten, we sat down with Jones to discuss the season and gather his insight on No. 2 Ohio State's historic trip to No. 3 Oregon.
"College Football Pregame" airs Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on CBS Sports HQ, and is available on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports app and over-the-top devices.
Brandon Marcello: Which teams have impressed you the most heading into Week 7?
Cardale Jones: The naval academies — Army and Navy — have been very impressive this year. Indiana, out of the Big Ten, has been another impressive team this year. The one that's kind of on the tip of everybody's tongue as well is Pitt. With so many things they had to do the last couple of years in the portal and losing key guys to the portal, and doing some cool things. Those four, right there, have been the most impressive teams so far.
Marcello: When you look at national title contenders and playoff contenders, which teams have proven to be the strongest and most consistent so far?
Jones: Ohio State's there. Texas is another one. I know Alabama and Georgia both have one loss, and Alabama losing to Vandy this past week has put a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth, but I think those are two top contenders when you're talking about the playoffs. I know one of those can only get the bye by winning the SEC Championship Game.
Texas A&M is another team that is a very strong contender for the playoffs. If you just look at their last victory (against Missouri), things they were able to do on both sides of the ball. The remainder of their schedule is the most enticing part for why I think they are definitely a contender. Clearly you have to play those games, but having one ranked opponent left on the schedule in a winnable game at the end of the season versus Texas, for them, the way their defense is playing, I think teams better be on notice when it comes to [Texas] A&M.
Marcello: You're an Ohio State guy, so you know the Buckeyes well. What are the big keys to watch when No. 2 Ohio State visits No. 3 Oregon?
Jones: Just to continue dominating up front on both sides of the ball. I know the last couple of years, the knock on Ohio State has been the offensive line and, at times, the defensive line, as well at maintaining and getting a consistent pass rush. Clearly, Oregon is going to be the best offense they have faced up until this point this year ... [Ohio State QB] Will Howard has been sacked fewer than five times this year, and there hasn't been as many pressures or hits as well. When you get to this part of the season, especially in conference play, this is when you're going to need your guys playing their best.
Marcello: What do you make of Penn State so far this season? The offense seems to be a bit more explosive than previous years. Are they a legitimate threat to finally break through and win the Big Ten?
Jones: I was just talking some smack about those guys on social media this past weekend because I didn't think they looked as great versus UCLA, a team I thought they should have pounded from the jump to the end, especially knowing UCLA's circumstances and the other issues they have on the offensive side of the ball. I just thought it would have been a prime opportunity for Penn State to really put the country on notice, but I'm not 100% ready to say that yet.
Clearly, they have the talent. They're always going to have talent. They're always going to have the individual players and the team overall, but I'm just not 100% sold on the coaching staff and their coaching job thus far when it comes to be being in those big games and winning those big games -- beating teams like Ohio State, Michigan. I know they had a good win versus Illinois, but when you talk about the three teams you now need to beat to make that conversation a reality with Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon — and a big one for them this weekend with USC — I know the players are going to show up. I mean, the players always do, but you can date back [to] a lot of those situations these coaches have been in where they made a lot of questionable calls or they were just out-coached.
Marcello: Penn State travels to USC this week for the CBS game of the week. It's a huge moment for both teams with USC losing two straight and Penn State in need of an impressive win. Interestingly, Big Ten teams are 1-8 in conference play when traveling two or more time zones, so that has to be a factor. What do you expect Saturday?
Jones: That's a real factor. I don't want to downplay it because, like you said, traveling not just two or three, but just one time zone, there's a difference. Thank God it's not a noon game for them, where they'd be playing against body time. At the end of the day, it's a part of the game. This goes back to my point of the front-office people, coaching staff included, of managing that situation so you can have your guys as fresh as possible and have their bodies feeling as good as possible in this new time zone. The weather is going to be a little different out there. It's a lot different in Happy Valley than Southern California this time of the year, right? So you have that element as well, on top of the travel, on top of playing another great team. I'm really more anxious to see if the coaches in the front office are going to have these guys ready to play this game
Marcello: Quarterbacks have led big turnarounds in the sport this year. Both Vanderbilt and Arkansas upset top-four teams last week thanks to the play of first-year transfers. I'm not sure there are three happier teams after the portal season than Kansas State, Ohio State and Syracuse, who swapped quarterbacks and seemingly improved thanks to the domino effect of Kyle McCord leaving Ohio State for Syracuse, Will Howard leaving Kansas State for Ohio State, and Avery Johnson being elevated to starter at K-State. What do you make of the moves in the sport?
Jones: That's what I love about the portal -- you give guys an opportunity to find what's best for them. You get that opportunity through recruiting as well, but in recruiting they're gonna tell you what you want to hear to just try to get you there. And we all know that picture, that story, is completely different once you get on these campuses. So now, when these guys have two or three years under their belts at these universities where they thought they can call home for the next three to five years ... when they're back in that recruiting process with the portal, they know the red flags, they know the cues, they know what's going to better fit them. Especially with the quarterback position, these guys are bringing you in to be the guy, right? It's completely different. ... It just worked out best for all these guys.
Marcello: What do you enjoy most about being on the "College Football Pregame Show" for CBS Sports?
Jones: Oh, I love it all. The fact that it's a three-hour show, we're hitting it before all the big games that you see around noon. The atmosphere and the vibe of the studio with Damien (Harris) and Jordan (Giorgio) and [when] Danny (Kannell) is in sometimes, McKenzie (Brooks) doing our sports betting thing, and then everybody behind the scenes, they definitely made this feel like a homelike atmosphere off camera. It's also the different aspects everybody brings to the show. Damien's bringing crazy things I didn't even think about from the running back's perspective. I think you have a great group and a great mixture of experiences. Everybody is looking at it from a different lens, to ultimately give our viewers a different point of view. We're trying to give them a little bit deeper understanding on the game of football.
