Forklift Systems Football Saturday

104.5 The Zone
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Football
  • Updated Weekly

Not many analysts in the midsouth have as much football expertise as Doug Mathews brings to the microphone every Saturday morning. It’s Forklift System’s Football Saturday on 104-5 The Zone. Mathews, best known for his 10 seasons as Running Backs Coach and Defensive Coordinator for the University of Tennessee, tells it like it is and lets you take show where you want to go every weekend. Forklift Systems Football Saturday covers all the big games across the nation, including all the action within the Southeastern Conference. It’s the perfect preview before you catch your favorite team play Saturday afternoon. Featuring long-time college football writer Tony Barnhart and NFL analyst Charles Davis.

  1. 3d ago

    Forklift Systems Football Saturday 09-12-26

    Coach  kicks off Week 2 of the 2026 college football season with a lineup of top analysts, breaking down a marquee slate of games as SEC and Big Ten powers collide, the College Football Playoff expansion debate heats up, and conference realignment politics take center stage following the LSU eligibility standoff. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. 3d ago

    College Football Breakdown with Dennis: Big 12 Reshaping, Playoff Paths, and Week 2 Marquee Matchups

    Dennis joins the show to break down a pivotal slate of college football action, opening with why Kansas doesn’t fit the mold for SEC expansion before recapping Missouri’s victory over the Jayhawks and the controversial postgame barbs traded in the rivalry. The conversation turns to the Big 12's heavy non-conference tests and the looming College Football Playoff math, highlighting how little margin for error exists outside the SEC and Big Ten. Dennis also unpacks his "Stats of the Week"—including historic rushing dominance from Army and Navy—and previews high-stakes clashes across the country, making bold calls for Ohio State vs. Texas and Michigan vs. Oklahoma while putting a Kansas City steak bet on the line. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  3. 3d ago

    Dennis & Tony on SEC Self-Governance, the $227M NIL Surge, and Powerhouse Struggles at FSU & Clemson

    Coach  is joined by regular contributors Tony and Dennis for a wide-ranging, hard-hitting breakdown of the shifting landscape across college football. The conversation opens with an evaluation of Missouri’s quarterback play and the real value of the transfer portal following their clash with Kansas, before turning to a major regulatory power struggle: how the SEC and Chancellor Donde Plowman drew a hard line against LSU over roster rules, signaling what true conference self-governance will look like moving forward. The panel also dives into recent officiating and replay controversies in non-conference matchups, the eye-opening report showing $227 million in approved NIL deals over just two months, and Dennis’s take on whether enforcement can realistically keep up with third-party spending. Finally, the guys examine the sudden unraveling of Florida State, the mounting pressure on Mike Norvell, and why Dabo Swinney’s resistance to the transfer portal has left Clemson in a precarious position See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  4. Sep 5

    Forklift Systems Football Saturday 09-05-26

    College football's opening week has turned into a legal and competitive free-for-all — and this episode has it all covered. With LSU locked in a roster dispute with its own conference that's spilled into federal court. Coach, Tony Barnhart, and Dennis Dodd break down a power struggle that could reshape who's actually eligible to play. Dodd unpacks why LSU ultimately backed down, what the Texas Tech precedent signals, and why the sport is fast approaching an unavoidable question: what really separates a college athlete from a professional? Barnhart brings the SEC's perspective, while Coach  digs into the pressure now facing university presidents, athletic directors, governors, and commissioner Greg Sankey. From there, the crew races through the weekend's biggest storylines — whether Georgia and Texas truly separate themselves in a wide-open SEC, why Ole Miss might deserve more buzz than LSU, the heat on Florida State's Mike Norvell, Arch Manning's debut and Heisman implications, and whether Vanderbilt's Jared Curtis is the next breakout freshman quarterback. They also dive into Miami's early claim as the ACC's team to beat, Colorado's statement road win over Georgia Tech — with notes on Deion Sanders, Juju Lewis, and former Tennessee defensive back Boo Carter — and how Boise State can bolster its playoff case against Oregon even in a loss. We round out the hour with the SEC's transfer-portal-driven landscape, a rundown of first-year coaches at Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, and Arkansas, and the growing question of whether NIL spending is actually translating into wins. Dennis previews the renewed Missouri-Kansas rivalry, Missouri's rise under Eli Drinkwitz, the Big 12's knack for late-game drama, and the Group of Six programs still churning out head-coaching talent. Finally, Charles Davis joins from Eugene with a national lens on Oregon and Boise State, the shifting value of conference titles in the playoff era, and why just reaching the postseason has become the sport's new benchmark — plus his read on Michigan under Kyle Whittingham, Penn State under Matt Campbell, and USC's early defensive progress under Gary Patterson. With the sport evolving faster than its own rulebook, this episode is essential listening for anyone trying to make sense of the personalities and power plays shaping college football in 2026. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  5. Sep 5

    From Courtroom to Kickoff: Dennis Dodd on the SEC's Roster Showdown and a Border War Renewed in Kansas

    Coach And Dennis Dodd opened by unpacking LSU's decision to withdraw two former NFL-affiliated players from its roster at the midnight deadline after the SEC sued the school in Alabama court to enforce its eligibility rules — while clarifying that the underlying 2022 class eligibility questions are legally distinct from drafted NFL players trying to return to college ball. That dispute fed into a broader debate about amateurism in an era of European professional imports in college basketball and multi-million-dollar NIL deals for current athletes. From there, the conversation turned to Friday's Missouri-Kansas rivalry renewal at Kansas's newly renovated stadium, with both teams coming off blowout wins and the hosts tracing the series' roots back to Civil War-era hostilities and the 2007 "Armageddon at Arrowhead" clash of top-three teams. They dug deeper into Missouri's rise under Eli Drinkwitz, pointing to a $250 million stadium expansion, sellout crowds, and portal additions like quarterback Austin Simmons as signs of major investment, while noting Drinkwitz still needs a winning SEC record to take the program to the next level; running back Ahmad Hardy, recovering from an offseason gunshot wound, is targeting a mid-September return for the Florida game. The hosts then reviewed early-season action, including Colorado's 13–11 upset of Georgia Tech sealed by a late blocked field goal from former Tennessee defensive back Boo Carter, and flagged widespread sloppiness across Week 1 — pre-snap penalties, bad snaps, muffed punts — as typical growing pains before the customary jump from game one to game two. They closed with a broader look at the Big 12, which has produced more final-two-minute go-ahead scores than any conference over the past two seasons, and the Group of Six playoff race, where Boise State enters as the favorite ahead of tests against Oregon and Memphis. The segment wrapped with a nod to Group of Six programs as coaching "springboards," highlighting Memphis, Tulane, and James Madison — where new head coach Billy Napier is looking to rebound after his exit from Florida. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  6. Sep 5

    LSU Blinks, Saban Speaks: SEC Chaos, Courtroom Drama, and a Save College Sports Push Headline Week 1 With Tony Barnhart

    Coach, Tony Barnhart, and Dennis Dodd opened the show tackling college football's off-field chaos, with Matthews noting that in 58 seasons around SEC football, he's never seen an opening week defined more by courtrooms than kickoffs. The panel broke down the standoff between LSU and the SEC office over roster eligibility, which saw LSU back down after pushback from conference leadership, Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman, and Georgia's Attorney General. Dennis Dodd tied the episode to Texas Tech's earlier legal retreat, framing it as part of a bigger question in the NIL era: what actually separates a college athlete from a professional. From there, the hosts shifted to on-field storylines, recapping Colorado's road win over Georgia Tech behind JuJu Lewis and UMass's upset of Rutgers, while noting how the transfer portal has reshaped rosters nationwide — with roughly half of SEC teams starting transfer quarterbacks, including standouts Darian Mensah at Miami and Mateer at Oklahoma. They also previewed a high-stakes Monday clash between No. 19 SMU and Florida State, with heavy pressure on Mike Norvell. The show then flipped format as Tony Barnhart quizzed Coach Matthews on Week 1's top storylines. Matthews pegged Louisville–Ole Miss in Nashville as the weekend's most competitive game over higher-profile matchups like Clemson–LSU and Baylor–Auburn, and confirmed Vanderbilt will start Blake Boro-Wits against Austin Peay while freshman Jared Curtis works into a larger role by midseason. Among first-year coaches, he singled out Florida's Jon Sumrall as facing the most pressure given fan expectations, and called Arch Manning primed for a big year under Steve Sarkisian at Texas. On Florida State, Matthews said Mike Norvell's buyout buys him some patience, but a win over SMU is critical to slow the program's decline since its 13-0 season. The episode closed with Matthews and Barnhart discussing Nick Saban's new role fronting ad campaigns for the Save College Sports Act, which pushes for congressional oversight of NIL and the transfer portal, and reflecting on Saban's dominant 17-year Alabama tenure and seamless move into a leading media voice for the sport. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  7. Aug 29

    Forklift Systems Football Saturday 8-29-26

    This week on Forklift Systems Football Saturday, Coach kicks off the college football season with a packed show centered on the biggest storylines in the sport. The conversation opens with Tony Barnhart breaking down the SEC’s changing landscape, from transfer-heavy rebuilds at Arkansas, Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, and LSU to the pressure facing Alabama, the rise of LSU under Lane Kiffin, and the challenge of the SEC’s nine-game conference schedule. Dennis Dodd follows with sharp analysis on coaching shakeups across the country, including Matt Campbell at Penn State, James Franklin at Virginia Tech, Kyle Whittingham at Michigan, Pat Fitzgerald at Michigan State, and the growing influence of NIL and the transfer portal in places like Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, SMU, and Notre Dame. Charles Davis closes the show with his national view of the Big Ten, the pressure on USC, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, and Michigan, plus a look at Tennessee’s true freshman quarterback and the Vols’ early-season test at Georgia Tech. It’s an action-packed season preview with insider analysis, bold takes, and the start of another unforgettable college football year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  8. Aug 29

    FSFS- Charles Davis

    Coach is joined by Charles Davis to break down the current state of college football. Big Ten Depth and Competitiveness: The discussion challenges the narrative that only the top few teams in the Big Ten are elite, asserting that the conference is deep and that claims of its lack of depth are unfounded. Top Conference Contenders: Analysis covers major programs like Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Penn State, and Michigan, evaluating their rosters, scheduling challenges, and potential playoff positioning. True Freshman Quarterbacks: The segment touches on the rare occurrence of starting a true freshman quarterback at Tennessee, contrasting modern player readiness with past eras. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Not many analysts in the midsouth have as much football expertise as Doug Mathews brings to the microphone every Saturday morning. It’s Forklift System’s Football Saturday on 104-5 The Zone. Mathews, best known for his 10 seasons as Running Backs Coach and Defensive Coordinator for the University of Tennessee, tells it like it is and lets you take show where you want to go every weekend. Forklift Systems Football Saturday covers all the big games across the nation, including all the action within the Southeastern Conference. It’s the perfect preview before you catch your favorite team play Saturday afternoon. Featuring long-time college football writer Tony Barnhart and NFL analyst Charles Davis.

Information

  • Creator
    104.5 The Zone
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 104.5 The Zone

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