Syndicate Week 1 Review, Week 2 Preview

Dominick & TJ review all the action from Week 1 in the Sun Belt and then jump right in on what to expect in Week 2!

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SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome back into the Sun Belt Syndicate where we are going to wrap up week one and jump into the preview of week two with you from the first kick to the last pitch. Myself, Dominic Croseto, to my right or to my left, I guess, on this this screen, uh, Mr. TJ Corman. And other than uh football, playing a little golf today. How'd that uh how'd that score look?

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Yeah, not good. Not good today. But it was a practice round, so I'm not terribly mad about it. Tomorrow we'll you know, we'll get in and and make sure all the looks like all the trash is out of the way.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

There we go.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Now we can play some golf tomorrow. So we'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

There you go. That's a great segue because we've got some teams that hopefully are thinking along those same lines after week one. Uh, luckily, most of our teams came away with the W, so we had a good overall win-loss record. Uh, jump into that first game Friday night, Georgia State downs NCANT 59 to 10. Uh, Cameron Brown looking pretty good. I think they just say it Cameron Brown, but it's hard for me to read it any other way. Um, but yes, 15 of 20, 190 yards, two touchdowns. Uh, TJ was the better matchup in the stands with the bands.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Yeah, I I think um I think in a situation like this, you always try to look for a silver lining. Both bands played well. Uh, but the reality of it is though, no, I mean, uh North Carolina ANT is they're they were outmatched, uh, and and it it showed almost initially up front. Um, you know, running the ball, it seemed to be something that the AT just could not stop. And uh, and and you know, and you talk about being accurate, you know, in the passing game, but all of that is set up by how well you run the ball initially, and North Carolina AT couldn't stop a couldn't stop a Nova League. So um, yeah, it was it was bad all the way around. But again, it's one of those things where um it's a nice little, if you want to call it tune-up game. And uh, you know, so the better team won, which I think you and I both predicted. So yeah, it kind of went as we as we expected. My son had a field day with it. He was like, How do you lose by that much? And I was like, I don't know, man. It happens.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Well, there's a worse one that we'll get to here in a bit, but uh before we do that, you were perfect on the week. I do want to give you credit. Our first weekly pick'em in football. We've been doing it in baseball. Uh, please tell me you put a parlay together, man.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Because I didn't, and I'm upset about it. When you texted me that the other day, I was like, Holy cow, man, I should have done that. Um, but no, it it it kind of was just a lot of it too was I don't want to say common sense. Um, you know, my heart wanted to go with the upset with Marshall. I I knew that they were gonna be overmatched in the interior. It's and that's kind of how those these games go. Like every now and again, you'll get a one-off situation like Western Michigan and Michigan, where you just get out-athleded, right? And the and the better team just wins the game. Um, but in this in this situation, Marshall, they just didn't have enough. And and I I kind of knew that going in. I think you were hoping for maybe a miracle.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Um, you know, well, it looks it looks a lot worse now. Well, I was pretty confident going in that we'd at the very least see a very competitive game, right? And I thought if that did happen, when you came down to the wire, right? What now we know Penn State, number 18 in the country, maybe even a little bit better than that after this score. Uh 45 to nothing. They they kept Marshall from really doing anything offensively. Yeah, exactly. And it was just a a rough game every time I checked in on the scoreboard, because of course I was at a game live while that one was happening. So uh yeah, I didn't really go back to watch too much of that one yet. We'll we'll be going back for those uh tuning into this. We'll give you the little secret sauce a little early. Uh, I'm gonna try and put down a touchdown montage of every touchdown from the Sunbelt play. And obviously that'll get easier as the weeks go on and it's just conference games. Uh, right now it's a lot. So we are working in the background to do that. Uh and so hopefully it will come out before week two happens. But uh yeah, 45 to nothing. There won't be any Marshall touchdowns on there.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

No, no, no, no. And Marshall won't make the highlight real.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

No, unfortunately. Hopefully soon, because uh I did, and I guess you picked them to who'd you have? No, you had JMU in the east, right? JMU in the east, but I had Marshall Strong second and then App State third behind him. All right, perfect segment. You're nailing the segues today. App State five, main three. Uh I think you got to watch a pretty good amount of this, or at least went back and and kind of heard and saw some stuff. Um, let's see. I want to cover, you know, 647 total yards in the victory. Malachi Singleton was nearly flawless, competing. I was gonna say 22 of 24.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, yeah. It doesn't get much better than that. I mean, I think it was 291 yards and three touchdowns. Um, was what he what's what he threw for. He he looked the part, and and listen, you don't want to ever put too much stock into uh you know a team like Maine, right? Like it's you know, winning those games, but there's something to be said for doing what you're supposed to do, right? Like you're supposed to win that game, you're supposed to win it convincingly. Um, they did that, and it it looked good. I mean, they they look good all the way around. I'm hopeful, right? Um, you don't want to get your hopes up too high, but like I said, the running game looked good, defense looked great. Uh, defense looked really, really good. Um, again, main, but defense looked really good. Um, offensively, we look like we got some weapons on the outside. Um, it's it's gonna be, I think it's gonna be a really good year for us. Like I said, I'm holding on to that third place prediction. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's better than that. Um, but we look we look good, especially in comparison to last year. Malachi Singleton uh can't say enough about how well he did. Um, you know, you completing what is it, 92% of your passes or 89, whatever it is, percent of your passes. Um, you you know, that that's gonna bode well for uh your offense.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yes, I I will say I was underwhelmed by the rushing capability that he he showed, but I did not know this until after the game he was in a walking boot. However, not a big panic. Apparently, he's been in a walking boot, he's kind of recovering from something. So I would say not 100%. And if that's the case, then I'm okay with him not running much and not running efficiently. Uh right. Because I was texting you, I said, I man, I I don't I don't really think he's got it with the running thing. Like I thought he was gonna be more of a dual threat. Uh he may be, he may become more of that, kind of like we saw with AB3 at James Madison last year. It wasn't 100% to start the year, whenever there was a rush by the quarterback, it was the other guy. Uh, so you know, we'll see if that kind of comes to fruition. We did see Hasselback, uh, yes, that hassle back. Uh the hassleback son, yeah. Yeah, he came in and rushed for I think 80 plus yards for a touchdown, ran away from defenders, unfortunately. Flag on the play, brought it back for a hold. Uh, but he did show some capability. So I would say both quarterbacks, TJ, better outlook than what we had all of last season, just as an early outset, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Yeah, I mean, if you look at it early on, uh, in comparison, like you said, to let what we have to litness test is what they looked like last year, right? And that's all you can kind of compare it to. Um, if you're talking about you know both quarterbacks based on what you know what transpired last year, I think in both directions it's trending up. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, and that tight end that we got from Lindenwood, the team that kept it close with us from the FCS last year. Yep. I'm telling you, TJ, I don't know how much you watched him on and off the ball. Like being there live, it was easy to see a lot of that. Sure. This kid was this kid was missed by power programs. And and I'll go ahead and say it because there are nobody that there is no one that can come grab him. He is a fifth-year player, so he this is it. So comfortably saying that this kid is, you know, could have been on a big time program and part of one of the national leaders. If you if you're asking me, just looks the part every bit of what he did physically on and off uh the playing surface. Well, not on and off, but uh, you know what I mean, when the play was on his side or not. Like he was he was legitimately blocking every play, and then he was catching passes and making it downfield. So uh really, really he goes about 246, right? Yeah, he's he's a big kid, not a small guy. Yeah, I would say the other thing too is, and TJ, you probably know this having played the game, there's some guys that are you know coming into their own with their bodies from the college, and and obviously the ones that are helping to make it to the pros are probably taking it to another level. This kid looks like he could play in the pros next week. I'm not I'm not saying like necessarily the talent, I'm saying the body uh right, yeah. The frame. Yeah, he looks yes, he looks like what you'd see on Sundays for sure. Exactly. Exactly. He just looks a little different than some of the other guys. And I'm like, okay, legitimately, this is a target for the rest of the season. Uh and they weren't afraid to use him. AppState hasn't been the greatest with using the tight end over the years. Uh, but this kid looks like he's gonna be a feature uh after they had a good tight end to feature last year, but then he got injured in that ODU game and of course never saw the field again, unfortunately. This kid uh could make that look pretty good. All right, enough on App State. I know a lot of people want us to move on to the next team. So West Virginia 31, Coastal 24, but one heck of a comeback. They were down 24 to nothing at the half, TJ.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Listen, I when I turned it on, and it so admittedly, I didn't watch the rest of the game because I thought it was going to be a blowout. And so I go back through and I'm looking at college game day final and I'm I'm seeing you know what Coastal did to come back, and I'm like, holy cow, I should have been tuning in and watching the game. It looks like everything started clicking for them defensively. They start playing really well. They played the run better in the second half, much better in the second half than they did in the first half. Um, you know, it it for me, um, it was a really good sign, but it's also we talked about this a lot last year when it came to Coastal. It's a tale of two teams, right? Because a lot of times they'll play really well in a quarter or half or whatever, and then they'll give you just uh not good stuff. But you know, I don't want to say what I was gonna say. Um, not good stuff uh to kind of to you know to write home about. And so for me, it was um while I was impressed with the way they played in the second half, it leaves more to be desired. Can we put in a whole game together and be the coastal that I'm used to playing against, right? That App State is used to playing against. And and I think I think it'll start to come to fruition more and more because now I think they have sort of that mental block out of the way. Like it's something to be said when you go back to the locker room and say, man, we should have and could have beat this team, right? Like, not from a luck standpoint. Had we played better in the first half, we would have beaten this team. And so you take that with you going forward, and I think it it you know it really can bode well for uh the way you you know see the rest of your schedule.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Absolutely. I think that's one thing. Uh Deuce Bailey, obviously, uh Sunbelt player of the week, very easy to see why. I don't know if you've seen the clip going making the rounds, he just kind of wrist snaps one crossbody uh to the back of the end zone for one of their touchdowns. I mean, you you can't teach much of that, that's just natural ability. Uh, I think it was his dad that I saw had had sent that out or retweeted it, and then uh I think we retweeted it from the account as well. One heck of a throw. Uh and and then we saw uh Rich Rodriguez talking to him afterward, some people speculating that he may be trying to re-prote him. Little little potent. Yeah, you never you never know, right? You never know. But uh if if that is, that's a that's a good sign for Coastal, right? If someone is trying to take your quarterback, that means you got one who's very talented. And that's worth taking. Yeah, exactly. I I side with you though. Like to me to me, if you saw this type of game last year, not necessarily an indication on Tim Beck, but just as a team, it it was like the game was over, right? Like we saw this against South Carolina, we saw this against uh Virginia at the beginning of the year, but this is different. So, whatever they were doing, uh whether it was mental or they were getting pushed around more than they they should have been, there was a coaching change at halftime that helped them come out differently and play better in the second half. And we didn't see that kind of adjustment last year. Um, so I had went I had gone back and set out that clip that I had said about Beard uh before last week's games. So it actually looks pretty good, right? Like I said, I think this is the guy, I think he's trustworthy. I now trust him to make game adjustments when needed, yep, to have his team come back. And he's done that. So yeah, like you said, TJ, had they played a little bit more like that in the first half, you're talking about a whole different aspect uh and a big surprise win that uh Sunbelt really needed when we when we break it down. Um, but yeah, uh good things for to come for coastal, I'd say right.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Yeah, I think they're on the way up. I think they're on the way up. We're we're and like I said, we just got to get more consistency on both sides of the ball for a full game. Once we see that for the next few games, I think we can start to believe in them. They've the talent has always been there. The coaching is there, they've got a really good football team. We just got to get them being consistent.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Yep. Uh speaking of consistent, James Madison's been the master of consistency over the past several years. I think you and I, and a lot of James Madison fans thought that they would win pretty comfortably at home against Liberty in week one. Turns out they win the game, but it's only 20 to 13. Now, weather a small factor uh downpourred before that game was supposed to kick off, so that was delayed. So obviously, you've got a little bit of a wet field, maybe a little bit more of an equal playing surface. They totally switched quarterbacks. JC Evans started the game, played the first half, then went to a different quarterback in the second half. I mean, this is kind of what they did last year with a whole different coaching staff. Do they need to stick to one quarterback and let him progress through a game, TJ?

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Yes, it drives me crazy when when teams and coaches do that because you don't allow your quarterback, your starting guy, right, enough time to find a rhythm, right? Sometimes it takes a quarter, sometimes it takes a few drives, sometimes it just varies depending on the person and also depending on the team that you're playing. So you've got to let the guy that's in charge, so to speak, uh run the offense, let him run the show and give him enough time to get his feet wet. It's the first game of the season, right? Nobody's gonna be 100% good at what they do. So let's find a way to find, you know, to have some consistency and let, I mean, I'd have been fine with them letting him play an entire half before pulling and going in a different direction. But it's it's the constant flip, and like you said, it happened last year. Like, let the boys play, let the guy who you want to be your starter, you've named him a starter for a reason, let him play and and let him get some reps under himself and let's find out who he really can be. You can't be anybody if you don't find a rhythm.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Would you have felt different with a different opponent, right? Like if they're playing a low-line FCS team that they're beating 45 to nothing, is that more okay? Because this this is this is a G5 or G6 or whatever the hell we're calling it now. This is a team that's challenging for their conference championship, supposedly. Uh a team that could obviously challenge for college football playoff with it comes to that at the end. Uh, would you have done that in a game like this? Or do you think like that's something you say for an easier opponent, I guess?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

I don't think you do it at all. I just don't think you do. I I think you I think you let your your starting quarterback ride it out. You he's one guy's a backup for a reason. If he can play somewhere else, he'd be somewhere else. So, you know, let him let him let the starter play and let him get reps, let him get quality reps and build a rhythm. You can't I I just it irks me so much when coaches try to run this dual quarterback system. It is an old saying that goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Let let the boys play.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Yeah. Yeah, we'll see if that uh happens this week. Um, they do have an easier test. We'll get to that. Uh, one that was a very easy test, Southern miss. Kind of a big question mark coming into the year. They got a coach that leaves again. Blake Anderson's kind of returning to the Sunbelt, although again it was all on the staff last year. Uh, but they open with Alcorn State, they win the game 49 to 3. So not much of a challenge uh here in this one. Steven Robinson rushed for 123 yards. Love that step. One, two, three, uh, and three touchdowns. But I think the story coming out of this is the defensive player of the week. So surprise, surprise, Kobe Albert grabbed three interceptions. One of them was really dang good. Uh, he made that one work. The other two were kind of, you know, you kind of better better make that catch because it's kind of thrown more to you than the receiver. Uh but is this a sign of things to come or is this an easy opponent that Southern Mist should have done this against?

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Uh mixture of both, right? I I think um, well, let's let's start from the beginning. It can't get worse for Southern Mist than it was last year, right? Like, so they have to be trending in the right direction. Uh, so two things can be true. It could be a sign of things to come, and also is you know, Alcorn State is not, you know, they're they're not beating down the door for challenging anybody that's worth winning a title. So um, you know you you did what you were again, a lot like what we talked about versus you know, App State versus Maine. You did what you were supposed to do. Now let's carry that over and and let's see if we can have some some of that staying power for uh you know the conference. And and like I said, it is trending. Like I said, two things can happen, two things can be true. You can be trending in the right direction and also just not have a good opponent, opponent, but sometimes those tune-up games, if you will, I hate to call them that because we were once considered a tune-up game for some teams. Right. Um, you know, sometimes you need those to kind of get your feet set and and understand where you are. Um and I I think uh, you know, again, without the what running the risk of being repetitive and facetious, it's you know, it's about time Southern Miss, you know, have some have some success.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Yeah, and they they actually filled the stadium up pretty good too. So that was also good to see. Because like when all that changeover happens, you're wondering, you know, do the fans continue to show up, right? They they had a terrible season two years ago. They had a they actually had a decent record last year, uh, until the the very end of the season kind of fell apart there, right? Um, but but you you know, like how long can you go through this as a historic program that has has been towards the very top and it's kind of fallen off as of late? Uh, this is a good start, good uh step in the right direction in game one. Another uh good step in the right direction for game one. Old Dominion beats Norfolk State 31 to 10. Um, I I said to watch out for Devin Rocher having a big game running. Well, I was a little off on that, uh, because Quinn Hannikle is the one who accounted for four touchdowns uh in that game. So he was really the uh the big go-to guy, which you know is not ultimately surprising. He was kind of that guy in the bowl game last year. Uh, is this kind of the same thing we just talked about with Southern Miss? I mean, not to re recap too many of these games that were kind of blowouts, kind of the same type of thought process here.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Yeah, I don't think it was as big a blowout as it was as it was to be expected. Um, and I think that's a tribute to we talked a little bit about this last week, Michael Vick and that you know Norfolk State team. Um, I don't think they're gonna be a pushover. I think and they're I think they're gonna get better. I know this isn't about them, this is about the Sunbelt, uh, but I think I do think that that's a team that's on the rise and on the come up. And I think um ODU caught a little bit of a taste of that, right? I mean, 31 points is a lot of points. If you score 30 points, you're supposed to win the football game. However, 31 against an opponent like a quote unquote Norfolk State is kind of low, quite honestly, uh, in terms of what the expectation level is. So I think again, this is one of those things where two things can be true. Is Norfolk, or excuse me, is Old Dominion, you know, good? Can they play and compete in our conference? Sure, absolutely. But I do think uh they got they got a little bit of what they weren't necessarily expecting uh against Norfolk State. And um, I think you know, both teams are gonna do well uh in their respective conferences.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yep, I think that's a very fair assessment. Uh this week's focus is gonna be a little bit on South Alabama. They beat South Southeastern Louisiana 39 uh to 14. Uh let's see what's standing out here. They allowed zero third down conversions and forced two interceptions. Uh so the South Alabama looking good defensively to start it off with. Offense scoring 39 points is not too shabby. Like you said, anytime you score over that 30-point mark, you should be winning the game. Sure. Um again, we'll kind of go back to this. Do you expect them to hold Southeastern Louisiana to even less points, or do you expect them to score more points? Or is there an aspect of this where you almost don't want to have a perfect game because you do want things to find and look at on film going into week two?

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Um, a little bit of a mixture of both. Like, I mean, there's nobody that's ever going to tell you we don't want a perfect game. Everybody wants a perfect game. Um, you sure you want there to be things to work on during the film, but it's a much easier to find things to work on when you're perfect than it is when you lose, right? It's a whole lot easier to go back and watch game-winning film uh where every drive was a touchdown. Uh that said, though, I I think it's about where it should have been, right? I mean, you know, you and I haven't done uh dubbed South Alabama any sort of world beaters, um, especially in the past few years. So I think the game, you know, ended where it should have.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Yeah. Yeah, I'd say exactly the same thing. Like this is kind of the outcome you hope for. Right. Sure. Do you want them to shut them out? Of course. But like the in the end, you got the W, you won comfortably, they didn't challenge to win the game against you. Uh, you know, that's kind of what you want from them.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Uh now, the one that did surprise me uh a little bit, although we did have um Red Wolf Syndicate in the Pick them. I was just about to say it didn't it didn't surprise somebody. Didn't look didn't look too bad of a pick in the end. Uh Troy, 24, Sam Houston, 21. Now, this is to be fair, a Sam Houston state team that had a massive roster turnover and a coaching change, I believe, at the end of last season. Uh, and the new coach came in after the portal had already opened and been open for a week or two or something like that. So he was behind the eight ball from the very start of his tenure. This year, better positioned. This year they were expected to be better, but this is also Troy, who won the West last year and is you know a favorite to win it again this year. Did the 24 to 21 score here surprise you?

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah, it did surprise me. I thought Troy defensively was going to be much better. Now, that said, I didn't expect Sam Houston State to be as good as they were, right? Like I expected them to be good, but based on what you just you know noted, I won't repeat it all for I know everybody heard it. Um, I I didn't expect him to be that them to be this good. Uh, I think Troy, I think Troy is still who we think they are. I just think Sam Houston State is better than what we thought they were going to be. And that and two things can be true, right? We just talked about two things being true a minute ago. It's, you know, I think they're a good football team in Troy. I think they're a really good football team. I think they could 100% represent the West again. Um, I also think Sam Houston is a is, you know, likewise a really good football team, despite having as much roster turnover, turnover, um, coach coming in late, all those things. And not like to your point, it they did build a little bit of traction going into this year. Um, that said though, um, they're a lot better, I think, than you and I both thought they would be. I don't want to speak for you.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

Well, no, yeah, I I agree. I I do think they're better than what I thought they would look like. Uh, this is you know, you can you can say this about every team in Texas, but like Texas football teams aren't gonna stay down long, right? Like every once in a while they're gonna be loaded with talent that was under uh examined or under-recruited, uh, and they're gonna find their way to Sam Houston. And and that's probably even more so the case now uh with the transfer portal. This is also a team that has kind of more recently jumped up from the FCS ranks. So this is obviously a team that's going to try and continue to build upward with that trajectory uh that they kind of came in with. Uh, but I guess my only surprise here is Troy only scored 24, right? I thought this offense uh maybe not even as powerful as last year, but I thought there might be some underlying guys that might show up here in the first game and really jump out and be like, okay, so they do have a number one clear, number one wideout. They do have a stud at the running back position. And I I'm not saying they don't, but they didn't necessarily show themselves in that light in game one. So we'll see if that can you know stand out a little bit more as we go through week two and further into the season. Uh, Memphis and Arkansas State. This is a close regional rivalry, about hour, hour and a half apart from each other. Memphis ends up winning this one 42 to 24, close at the half, and then Memphis kind of just I guess just showed depth there, TJ. I mean, uh third quarter, 75-yard tiger touchdown that really swung the momentum for good. Trey Owens gave up four interceptions in his debut as the rep. Are you we don't have to get into it specifically with that team, but four interceptions game one. And I to be fair, I haven't gone and seen exactly how all these things happen. So, you know, were two of them tipped off receivers' hands and not really the game.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

There's there's certain things we don't know yet for sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Exactly. But just on the statistic aspect, are you are you kind of leaning like maybe we go to somebody else in game two? Or is this kind of one of those things that you really do have to examine exactly how these things happen before you're making that decision?

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Yeah, you got to watch game film. You gotta watch game film first. Every quarterback or every interception is not always on a quarterback. That's first thing. Um, second thing is even if they were all his fault, there's you know, there's a legend in the name of Peyton Manning who led the league in interception. Now, am I comparing with Peyton Manning? Absolutely not. But there was a time when Peyton Manning led the league in interceptions, right? His rookie year. You got to give people time to be who they're going to be. Um, so I I wouldn't make a roster change to your point. I guess to your question, I wouldn't make a roster change unless this carried over into the second, third, maybe you know, third, fourth game of the season. Um, I think we give people a chance to become who they're going to become. Uh, because like I said, teams don't really know who they are until the third or fourth game. And individual players don't know who they are until the third or fourth game of the season as well. So we don't know what we have until we know what we have. And making a change this early, I think, you know, doesn't necessarily but well, number one, for confidence, because what if you got to go back to that guy, right? Yeah, that's a good point. You got to think about those things as well. So um, I think you know, we need to be careful about making changes super early uh in the in the season.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Yeah, probably even more so now with you know transfer portal and and gelling and chemistry, like sometimes those things take time, especially in in game time situations. Uh Georgia Southern shuts out Charleston Southern, the battle of the Southerns there, uh 31 to nothing. They they raced out to a 21-0-quarter lead. I mean, is there any better start to a season than being up 21-0 real quick at home?

SPEAKER_01 27:28

No, but it concerns me that they couldn't finish. Right? Like it concerns me. Jumping out to a 21-0 lead is great in the first quarter, but then you score 10 points the rest of the season or the rest of the game. It's all the same thought from fans. Yep. Yeah, I don't feel good about that. That does not make me feel good at all. And against a team like Charleston Southern, no disrespect to Charleston Southern, but nobody's ever ever tooted their horn, right? About how good of a football team they were in terms of competitive. Now, again, not me. That's not me saying anything negative about them. It's more of who we thought Georgia Southern would be. We what we talked right. Um, but you and I talked about what our expectations were for Georgia Southern were. We talked about this last week, last Tuesday. We we thought Georgia Southern could be one of those, you know, top three, four, five teams, you know, in the east, that certainly three or four in the east, um, that could be you know right up there with the rest of them, like a JMU and like a Marshall and like an abstract and those, you know. So I don't feel good. I a win is a win. That's the first thing. I don't feel good about how they played the rest, and I think coach is gonna go back and watch some film, and he's gonna find out where some mistakes were made, and hopefully we get this shit turned around in week two.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah, Munz uh has his defense collect six sacks and two takeaways, which is a much better you know statistic than they were seeing most of the time on the defensive side. So that part is exciting. Again, you're talking about an opponent that's not quite as powerful, so don't get too high up on that. Like TJ said, maybe we've got some concerns here, but on the scoreboard, looks great. On the scoreboard, LaTeX crushes Northwestern State 826. They scored on their first 11 possessions, uh, and 63 points.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

726 total yards. I mean, I'm sorry, no, I'm not 726. Uh uh yeah, Blake Baker threw for 232, but that was before um being pulled out of the game. It's for me, um I don't know. I I I I I think I sent you a text and about this, and I said that maybe I was wrong about listen, 80 points? Are you kidding me? I don't care who you're playing, 80 points is 80 points. And we all right. No, no, no. I was gonna say we have to start giving respect where it's due. Now, a lot will this will a lot of these scores and things change as we get into interconference play? Sure, of course it will. Uh, and it'll start to even itself out, and we'll find out who people really are. Week three, week four, like these things they start to level themselves out. But I don't care who you play, you can be playing a high school team. 80 points is 80 points, and that's something you do on Madden. That is insane.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Yeah, it is a lot of points. Uh Jalen Mickens, three catches, just three catches, 133 yards. Yeah. Uh, so that that's really impressive. Again, Lattex coming into a new conference. Why would you not run up the score and show and make everybody think, whoa, these guys are here, like they're ready to play. So I love it. About the only disappointing thing is the attendance number. I didn't think it was very high. Uh, for uh again, opening night opponent, not the greatest, uh, but it is an in-state team. You so you thought, you know, maybe the other team will bring a bunch of people. Um, so we'll see if they can pump those numbers up. 80 scoring 80 points probably brings some people in that uh weren't otherwise gonna come check you out. So hopefully that can change there. Uh Mississippi State kind of does the same thing, but backwards to one of our teams in ULM. 62 to 13. They scored 21 in the first quarter, and they had the uh I think that's where you were seeing that 762 total yards. Uh now that's a lot of yards.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

That's a lot of yards.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Yeah. The quarterback for Mississippi State was at the uh Manning Passing Academy, uh, and was you know, fireworks while he was there, apparently. Like it wasn't just a kid who kind of got an invite, you know, just kind of out of the blue or just by chance. Like the kid is talented. Uh and that was very evident by the way he threw the ball. And and a couple of those throws were absolutely effortless and went 60 some yards in the air, probably. Um absolutely phenomenal opponent that they played. Uh, you hope ULM scores a little bit more and keeps Mississippi State from scoring 62, of course. But uh yeah, hopefully ULM can kind of flip the script this week, right, TJ?

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Yeah, ULM's got to get it. I mean, listen, you're playing against Mississippi State, right? It's the SEC team. Um, you know, it's one of those things where you kind of got to take it with a grain of salt, right? I I think Mississippi State would have done that to a lot of the teams in our in our conference. Uh, not all of them, certainly, but uh, you know, definitely a few. So we got to kind of take it with a grain of salt, right? And it's no different than you know, getting beat 80 to 6 or whatever it was. Uh you know, you nailed it 80 to 6. Yeah, so it it you know, you take it for what it is. It's an SEC team. The difference is always gonna be in the trenches when it comes to things like that. We'll see at uh we'll talk about it here in a minute. Uh if if ULM can write the ship going into next week.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

Yeah. Uh, someone who doesn't need to write the ship, just keep the ship going in the same direction. Louisiana, the Cajuns, 38. Lamar, just uh, excuse me, just seven. They scored five rushing touchdowns, forced four turnovers. Uh Daryl Smith and Lunch Winfield each rushed for 84 yards and a score. Um, I'm sorry, Smith scored twice. Winfield scored a touchdown of his own. Uh I mean, this is kind of are we we're just repeating ourselves at this point with like an expected outcome versus a lesser opponent, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Yeah, yeah. I mean, again, Lamar is and Lamar has been respectable for sure in the in you know in the past few years. So I I will give them that, but you know, these are the kind of things that you expect. I mean I what I like for the most part is that who the teams who should have won won. Yes. And I think that is uh, you know, I think that bodes well for our conference is winning the games that you're supposed to win. So it was another one of the classic case of that. Nothing more, nothing less.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

I think you're exactly right. We won every FCS game that we were in, a couple G6 games that we were in, uh, and the only games that this conference lost were all double-digit favorites to the other side. So it's not like I can't believe we didn't win any of the power conference opponent games. Like, I mean, guys, 20 or yeah, I guess in most cases, 20 plus points to the opponent that you're giving up there. Uh, as the line is concerned, that's not easy to overcome. Uh, unless you're at state versus Michigan in 07, where they didn't even put a line on the game because they thought it was gonna be so bad. And then uh, you know, some guy that we know that does this podcast uh helped prove it.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

It was supposed to be worse than what it was, just in the opposite direction, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Yep. Oh man, yeah. Uh, and then Western Michigan, you know, they almost pulled off something too. Um I don't think that one would have been as big, but you know, there was at least a whole bit. Yeah, would have been pretty good. So let's jump into uh I mean there's not any other major news or notes from week one that you're just taking away. I mean, I don't really have anything else than kind of we broke down most every game, so yeah, I don't think there's much left.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

But uh no, I like I said, I think the teams that were supposed to win won. Um, I think we got for the most part what we expected. Again, I was a little disappointed, and I think you were too with Georgia Southern um in the you know second half of that football game, and how you know I don't want to say couldn't close. I mean you you win the game again at the end of the day, a win is a win. Uh, but it does give me some cause for concern um that we score 21 early points and then we score 10 in three quarters. So yeah, uh apart from that, um, I think it it went kind of how we expected it to go, all except Marshall for you. But that was a team. I think that was this is not me bragging. That's a they may that was more of a hope for you than it was a reality.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Yeah, I mean, definitely a little bit of a hope. But I I had trusted in the fact that I thought they could be a favorite in this Sunbelt conference, and now I I will be honest, I am a little concerned that maybe maybe that was a bad take to start with. But you know, there's also time to fix that. There's time for them to totally flip everybody else's opinion. Um, I'm still thinking they're gonna be a pretty good team, but they also played. I I I underestimated Penn State, okay? They uh they typically have been overrated, they got a new coaching staff, they brought in the street.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

I still think I still think they're overrated. I live with that's fair, and she's she's not high on them at all. Okay, she always but kind of brings me down to reality because I always have high hopes for Penn State. So, and I live with like I said, I live with a Penn State fan, my wife, she loves them to death, and uh she always says the same thing every year. We get highly ranked, and then something happens. So, yeah, but to that point, the game is won on the offensive and defensive line, and I think Marshall just didn't have enough, and that's okay, it happens, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Absolutely. Uh, and yeah, just kind of wipe that one clean uh and and move on from it. And we will also move on to the week two matchups. We've got a good one, Old Dominion versus Virginia Tech, an in-state series uh that's probably tighter than most people understand or remember here. Virginia Tech holds only a four to three advantage in the series overall. Old Dominion won 45 to 26 in Blacksburg last season. So this time the Hokies are coming up. No, I'm guessing I'm sorry, but they did win in I guess it was ODU last year, then. So they're playing this year in at Blacksburg at Virginia Tech. It's a noon kick on CW, which is you know everyone's favorite football channel, by the way. Uh but the Hokies are an 18 and a half point favorite. Uh, quick thoughts on this one, TJ. Are we gonna see another little surprise here? Do you think uh James Franklin's gonna have Virginia Tech ready?

SPEAKER_01 37:48

Uh, I think James Franklin will have Virginia Tech ready. I've always been a fan of James Franklin. I think he's a really good coach. I think he kind of got a raw deal over at Penn State. Uh that said, though, Old Dominion is not anything to sneeze at, and they haven't been in the past few years. I it wouldn't surprise me if this game's I'm I'm gonna take Virginia Tech before I say finish the rest of my sentence, but it wouldn't surprise me if this game was close at all. Uh just because of the way these two teams play each other, the way that they know each other. Again, different coaching staff uh over at Virginia Tech. So there is to be, you know, something to be expected and or desired uh from that team. But I don't think it's going to be uh so overwhelming for O Dominion that this game gets out of hand.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Yeah, I think that makes sense. I think it's a fair assessment, but hopefully uh ODU can can jump up there and surprise him a little bit again. Uh with Quinn Hanickle at the at the helm there. All right, AB State at East Carolina. I'll be at this one. 12 noon kick in Greenville, North Carolina, not South Carolina. Uh AB State has won the last three in this series, including a 21-19 victory in Greenville two seasons ago. Uh, but East Carolina did does lead the all-time matchup. Uh, the Mountaineers now bring this offense from Maine into this one. East Carolina got hammered by Alabama. Does that just mean App State's gonna walk in here and win? Or we got a heck of a game on our hands here, TJ?

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Uh, does not mean that at all. Uh, I think we've got ourselves, I think we're gonna have ourselves a barn burner. I think um, and and most times when App State plays against really any state, any any in-state rival, Carolina, we'll see about NC State this year. Um, ECU, we've all we we play all these guys tough, right? And it's always a tough matchup um going both ways uh for both teams. I do think App State has the edge. Uh now again, we're going back to talking about uh you know Malachi and and what he was able to do. And I I uh you know a lot of it is the expectation, right? It's main. That's what we expect to happen. But a lot of it too is you did what you were supposed to do, and it's a lot to be said for winning the games that you're supposed to win. So I say that to say app state's gonna have some confidence coming into this game. ECU is gonna want to write the ship, so they'll have a point to prove uh against app state. And also, too, again, in-state rival, uh, you know, power g6 or whatever we're calling ourselves these days, G6 rivals. Um, I these two these two teams know each other well, and and both of them have a lot of pride in terms of how they want to win.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

Yeah, absolutely. Hey, check out who's joining the show. Artie cat enjoying the show as always, man. We enjoy the fact that you know you're now gone from the conference as far as the school is concerned in Texas State, uh, and still tuning in, man. Uh, real true uh friend of the show, um, not just a fan. I think friend of the show is a good way to describe Mr. Artie Cat. So hopefully he sticks around uh whether Texas State is intimately involved or not. Uh ULM, we talked about that. They're getting a little bit of an easier matchup. UAB, not really uh you know a power anytime here recently. Um, they do lead the short series. ULM does two to one uh and dominated the most recent matchup 32 to 6 two years ago. Um, but you know, I think they say the matchup favors the Blazers by 10 in this one. What are you thinking here? You agreeing? You think you're gonna have a pretty close game?

SPEAKER_01 41:15

I don't know. I think confidence-wise, we got to see where ULM is, right? Like we gotta we gotta figure out what kind of team they are and how resilient they are and how they you know how they they're able to kind of put on a performance in week two. So um I'm not ever gonna pick UAB for anything. So I'm gonna roll, I'm gonna roll with you uh ulm for sure. Um, I don't care about the 10 points. To me, that's just uh, you know, that's a the ball.

SPEAKER_02 41:41

That's a toss out though, right?

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Yeah, I was gonna say that's the ball bouncing the right way or or a call not going a certain way. I mean, that could go either way. 10 points to me might as well be three points. I I don't care about that spread. Uh I'm taking ULM.

SPEAKER_00 41:53

Yeah, I'll take ULM too. Like I said, I took them to make a bowl game. At this point, I expect them to start their run with a couple of wins here in a row. I think it starts at UAB. Uh Bryant Vincent was, you know, um thought to be considered for the UAB job at one point, uh, then goes to ULM instead. And uh I think he's gonna come out with these guys ready to play after how it happened, what happened last week. Uh and like we talked about older team, more mature team. I think they recover and rebound very well. I think the same thing happens. Not a lot to be said about this one, I don't think, TJ. Wagner goes to James Madison. Do we see one quarterback? Do we still see two? Uh, but I think we see a W either way, right?

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Yeah, I think it's gonna be uh kind of a dog walking, quite honestly. Um I I think, you know, like you said, not a whole lot to say about it. You know, James Madison is just they they are who they are, and uh we expect them to win these kinds of games, and I think that's what will happen.

SPEAKER_00 42:49

Yeah, uh, and also on that fact, James Madison, uh 24 consecutive home opening victories after last week. So uh playing again at home, I think we'll take the Dukes in that one pretty easily. All right, Alabama State at Troy. This one's got to be easier than how last week went, right? Uh, for sure. Taking the Trojans easily in this one.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

Yeah, I think another easier at I hate calling football games easy. It's not easy to go out there and get hit and run around. But I do think it's a decisive win. I think much like James Madison, uh, we're we're um you and I have a lot of respect for Troy. Um, and I and I think they pulled this one out pretty convincingly.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Yeah, uh they do lead the all-time C all-time series 14 to 2, which I'm actually kind of surprised that uh Alabama State's won any of those. Uh but there must have been some down Troy years in the past where they uh got surprised a little bit. All right. South Alabama, Troy's favorite opponent that they play, uh is traveling to Tulane. Very interesting. They're seeing head coach Will Hall at the helm over at Tulane after he used to be at Southern Miss. And Got fired from that job, quite frankly, because he wasn't winning games. Uh, but while he was there, Southern Miss had beaten Tulane. So is it a little interesting to see now South Alabama getting a shot at a former Sunbelt coach now at Tulane with the other rivalry that's involved with this one? Um, Tulane has won the last three here, though.

SPEAKER_01 44:23

Yeah, I think it'll be interesting. Um, I do think Troy wins it. Or excuse me, uh Tulane wins it. Um just because just based on track record, I don't have a lot of faith in South Alabama. I mean, uh you want to, right? I want to love them because you know of the you know just the way that they've played in the past, but these past couple years have not been great. And so for me, I think Tulane, uh, they're super well-coached football team, they're well disciplined, they always have a good front four almost all the time. Um, and I think that'll be the difference up front in in how this game is played and won. Uh, I'm I'm taking Tulane here.

SPEAKER_00 45:01

Yeah, nine and a half point favorite. Uh, but we do have to note South Alabama won this game. Well, I'm sorry, no, no, no, they didn't win it, but the Tulane Green Wave uh won this game by only two points last year. So there is a precedent here that these two teams could play a close matchup. Uh RD Cat saying Colt McCoy on the hot seat. I think he means major apple white there at South Alabama. Uh uh I would say he he should be. Uh if you want me to be quite frank about it, uh you gotta win, right? At some point you have to win. Mobile is a hotbed for football. TJ, I'm sure you probably either played with or know people that came from that area of the country. Uh, and it's known for you know a football prowess across you know the South, the deep south, I guess, but also just the southeast in general. And uh you got to start winning with some talent from the the area, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:55

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you gotta think Alabama has Alabama, Auburn, and you know, and that's essentially it well, Troy, and then that's it, right? And so um, you know, you you think when it comes to recruiting, those are the two teams that or two schools that you're recruiting talent again, and quite honestly, uh Troy sometimes has better talent than Auburn. So, you know, for me, it's I I think you're right. It's about getting those those teams where they're supposed to be and putting on that level of performance year after year. And so you're right, you got to win football games in Alabama.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

Yeah. Uh the one that I think will be a win, a very easy win. I know you said it's not easy to win uh football games, but Arkansas State's playing at home. They're playing against West Georgia, who has yet to win a game and has scored only 10 points across those two games. Uh, so I I think the Red Wolves should dominate in this uh night matchup on ESPN Plus, right?

SPEAKER_01 46:55

Yeah, I agree. I think it'll be um much like James Madison, much like Troy. I think this will be a pretty easy. I don't want to say cakewalk because again, it's football. Um, but I I think talent-wise, uh it shouldn't really be that close.

SPEAKER_00 47:11

Yeah. Uh no, we do have to mention there's a couple guys on Arkansas State who have already been ruled out for the season. Uh, I think they're both defensive players. So that's not that's not a good thing. But again, like you said, TJ, the talent depth at Arkansas State better be better than what we see at a West Georgia team. So uh let's hope the Red Wolves can get back on track after that. Uh, I would say disappointing loss against Memphis, especially with how it happened. Uh, but next, I got a really underrated game here in the Sun Belt this week. Georgia State, Kennesaw State. I meant to look up exactly how much of a distance is between the two state uh colleges, universities. I did not do that, but it can't be very much. These two teams are very close. This one is in Kennesaw, not in Atlanta. Uh, but is this a little bit of an underrated maybe rivalry that we could focus on? Again, it's not two Sunbelt teams, uh, but we've seen Kennesaw against some of our other teams in the past.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

Yeah, I think Kennesaw State is a really good football team. Uh, I'll be looking forward to to watching this one and seeing how it goes. Um, I I'm not I'm never gonna be super confident in Georgia State, and I'm never gonna I won't say never, but um, it's not one of those teams that I just go up and and and pick blindly, um, especially not against a team like Kennesaw State, who year in and year out puts up some really, really good football. And like Artie Cat is saying, it could have the makings of being a really good rivalry football game.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

Yeah, uh the the heat here comes from, and I just found it, the 23 miles, less than 23 miles, or just over 23 miles, I guess, uh, between the two schools. So uh Kennesaw, the Owls over there. If you don't know their mascot, the Owls uh come in as a as a nine and nine and a half point favorite has been you know pretty pretty much the norm here, uh, which is kind of weird. I feel like that's not a number I see a lot of, but I guess, you know, maybe this week it's just the number to use. Uh Middle Tennessee and Marshall. These two teams played last year. And if not mistaken, I think this is the game where CDRW, uh Mr. Carlos Del Rio Wilson, got his most playing time and kind of came on strong for the Herd and was the starting quarterback from there on out. Uh the Herd also lead the overall series seven games to five. They snapped a two-game skid against the Blue Raiders just last season. But again, they won that game 42 to 28. We see a little bit of a repeat here, or do you think this one, you know, after what we saw out of Marshall last week, maybe some struggles early on until they can kind of win this one?

SPEAKER_01 49:54

No, I think Marshall bounces back. I think they know that they have to. Um, you know, it's one of those times where you know you lose a game that maybe I don't want to say you're supposed to lose. No, you never think you're supposed to lose any football game, but you lose one of those games in kind of the the fashion that you you lose it, you got to do something that'll build confidence. I think the coach of staff will have Marshall ready. Um, and I think they'll come into this game with kind of their hair on fire, quite honestly. I'm expecting really an offensive explosion in the first half. I think they'll I think they'll put it on them, quite honestly, in the first half. I think maybe they temper things mid-third quarter, but I think they come out and and show because it's it's more, it's a lot psychologically for them too, right? Like it's one of those, it's not necessarily a prove it game, but it's one of those I need to make sure what happened last week doesn't happen again, and that we're not a product of what just took place. So it's kind of proving yourself right. It's less about Middle Tennessee, it's more about who who do we think we really are, and I think that's what Marshall gets back to.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

Nice. Well, getting back to it, does LaTeX get back to 80 points against LSU this week?

SPEAKER_01 51:02

Uh that's gonna be a hard no, a very hard no, especially what uh what LSU just did to Clemson um after a two-hour rain delay. Uh I mean, just absolutely bludging them in every facet of the game, outside of that initial, not that we're talking about the SEC, uh, but outside of that initial interception, LSU just went nuts on Clemson. So no, I don't think Louisiana Tech quite honestly stands a chance. I, you know, I I'll I'll be first to admit, and I think I did already via text, and and I said it on here earlier, I might be wrong about Louisiana Tech. I'm not wrong this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 51:40

Yeah, uh LSU holds a 20-2 all-time series advantage.

SPEAKER_01 51:45

When was the two?

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Yeah, uh, exactly. I I don't know. Um, I don't have that part in front of me, but they are a 35 and a half point favorite. So it's a little bit more than the nine and a half that we've been talking about here recently. Easy to see why, like you said, what what they did against Clemson. Now, look, Clemson may not be great, uh, but this is a perfect segue. Because guess who gets a shot at Clemson this week is Georgia Southern. So this is perfect. LSU, now we're going into Clemson. Georgia Southern, uh, one of their defensive players quoted today as saying, I'm sorry, let me say the question first. Essentially, the question was, uh, after you know what you've looked at, what what do you feel like your chances are uh against Clemson this weekend? And he said, uh, yeah, when I was looking at the film, uh smile came across my face, and uh, I really liked what I saw. Uh, I think it's gonna be an opportunity for us to make a lot of plays this weekend. Now, does that go back to the Clemson Rock locker room and get them fired up? Or is Clemson really shown that much bad footage on film uh for Georgia Southern's defense that again had a great weekend last weekend uh to do that type of thing again and maybe get a win in the other Death Valley?

SPEAKER_01 52:59

So listen, we're talking about upsets. Now I know we had Marshall or you picked Marshall last week. I think Georgia Southern beating Clemson is a real, real, real possibility. Uh Clemson is not a good football team. They don't their quarterback play is terrible. They're not good up front. They've supposedly got some weapons on the outside, but what does that matter if they the offensive line doesn't give the quarterback a chance to throw the football? Um, I I think you know you've got a quarterback essentially in in Clemson who's been on the roster for three years, kind of waiting his turn and kind of biding some time uh to become the starter. And that's just not how you win football games in college football anymore. Um, you got to hit the transfer portal. Dabbo Sweeney's been late to the party as it relates to that. Um, I think everything lines up. Now, I will say this: Georgia Southern is going to get a pissed-off Clemson. They will be upset about getting absolutely rocked against LSU. That said, though, one or two things are gonna happen. If Georgia Southern kind of jumps on them early, I think they revert back to taking their heart, if you will, and kind of, you know, uh letting Clemson kind of be, woe is me, we're maybe we're not a good football team, and maybe taking taking their heart and and maybe stealing whatever gumption they have left to play football. Um, that said though, I think Clemson's gonna come out maybe the first couple drives tough. If Georgia, if if Georgia Southern can withstand that storm, especially in the first half, I think we set ourselves up for another upset, man. I'm not, I don't want to call it just yet. Right. But I I I I would not be surprised at all.

SPEAKER_00 54:42

Yeah, I think they found a couple guys that you know they were hoping would you know make some plays and be some of those name guys that are gonna come on stronger as the season progresses. I think they started to find them last week. Again, you do have to be concerned, you know, jumping out early and not kind of finishing strong on that aspect. Um, and I will say, you know, App State went into Clemson a week after they got beat by Georgia a few years ago, and uh pissed off Clemson manhandled AB State. So it this one really is like I think you're right, TJ. It it could be a great shot at an upset, and it also could be like you you caught this team at the wrong time because they were gonna prove prove a bunch of stuff. But that's one again. I have it circled for sure. I think it's gonna be a good one to check in on and see what's happening early on. Uh, we saw Troy hang close with Clemson uh just recently. So should have beat him. Yeah, yeah. So Clemson, yeah, not the top dog they used to be. So we'll see what happens there. Uh Coastal Carolina in Fordham. This kind of goes back to a lot of the matchups that we had seen last week. This one just Coastal, you've now shown what you can do against a team like West Virginia. You better just handle Fordham, right? I mean, I don't think there's a lot to talk about here. Just continue what you did in the second half, and you're gonna coast a victory in this one, right?

SPEAKER_01 56:01

Yeah, I think they coast a victory pretty easily in this one. I think, like you said, it's gonna be more of uh what Coastal did second half against West Virginia. I think they found themselves on defense uh offensively. They were able to score some points pretty quickly, too. Um, and so I I think there's more of that, and this is more of a facelift uh for for joy or excuse me for Coastal going forward.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

Yeah, all right. A little bit more question marks on this one. Can Southern Miss stand any shock or surprise uh at Auburn? Um War Eagle versus the Golden Eagles here.

SPEAKER_01 56:37

No, I I don't think so. I think Auburn is under sort of new management. Auburn, um, you know, they've kind of started to reinvent themselves. Um, and I think I think Southern Miss is gonna catch them just at a at a bad time, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 56:54

Yeah, uh 33 and a half point favorite for the uh Auburn Tigers there. Auburn Tigers, but they say War Eagle. I'm whatever. They just go they make up whatever mascot they want to use in the moment. Uh I think it's kind of funny that they have so many of those different things that just don't really make sense at all.

SPEAKER_01 57:12

Like War Eagle or Tiger Pick one.

SPEAKER_00 57:15

Yeah, exactly. Uh all right. Now, the one that's cut off a little bit for those of you watching this visually. Uh, but Louisiana ends the night. Now, if you're gonna stay up for this one, don't drink alcohol throughout the day, drink caffeine because this one doesn't even start until 11 p.m. Eastern time, 10 central. Uh, but this one, Louisiana at number 14, University of Southern Cal. That's not South Carolina, that's Southern California. Uh, first ever meeting between these two teams, so zero history to go off of. But even if there was, we know nowadays two teams can play in back-to-back years and have completely different rosters. Uh, let's see, 30 and a half-point favorite for the Trojans over the Cajuns. Any shot for the Cajuns to jump up and surprise number 14 team in the country.

SPEAKER_01 58:06

My heart tells me so much that because I you know how I feel about Louisiana. You, I mean, I I've talked about them a lot over the over the past few years. I just don't see it happening, man. Um, how many hundreds of USC fans show up? Um, no, you're right. I mean, they haven't won and they haven't garnered the I guess respect of the fans in that area. And there's and to that point, there's a lot to do in LA. So um, you know, having to go and watch a mediocre football team for four hours may not be at the top of the list if you know if you're not an avid football fan. That said, though, um, I I don't think unfortunately, I don't think this one is close. I I think USC will pull it out pretty easily.

SPEAKER_00 58:49

Yeah, I mean, I I I probably agree with you. Again, we've talked about him, we'll talk about him more as the season goes on. Lunch Winfield is a factor that if he's on and and on fire, this game could be close all of a sudden. Um, but I I I still just think it's hard to travel out somewhere like that and play at a totally different time than you're used to, than your body clock is uh used to. Um, and yeah, they're not gonna have many fans, but TJ, you've talked about this. Sometimes it's better to have fans who hate you and we're chanting stuff at you. Sure. Yeah. The atmosphere is better. So it's almost not helpful that they're probably not gonna have a full house there for this one, right?

SPEAKER_01 59:31

Exactly. I think it um I think it does the opposite for Louisiana because you want to go into a stadium where people telling you you suck, and there may not be enough people telling you that at USC. So I don't know. We'll see, man. I you know, I don't I don't uh I don't anticipate it being relatively close, but I will say um anything's possible. But I I just think right now, especially you know, with the way USC played last week, I just think I think they're gonna be too much.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:01

Yeah, uh I I'll probably agree with that again, because of those outside of just the football aspect, the timing and everything else gotta change when you eat, all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:12

Yeah, I mean, everything everything's in question. I mean, you're talking about two-hour time zone difference for Louisiana, you know? I mean, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:19

And three for us, I'll be totally honest. I'm probably not staying up for that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

Oh, I can guarantee you I'm not staying up for that one.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:24

Yeah, uh, I will try, but that there's just no way I'm staying until what, two in the morning for us, probably the would end.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:31

Yeah, no, yeah. My pillow will be very much talking to me at 2 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:35

Yeah, Sunbelt after dark for sure. Artie Cat saying, great show as always. Go Sunbelt. Now he gets to root for all teams. We will continue to do the same as all 14 teams continue to play out of conference games up until uh I think what do we got? Week three this year, or is it week four this time around? I think it may be week four before we see our first conference matchup. Uh, but we'll continue to go through everything for you guys. Stay tuned, stay streaming. Again, we've got the video aspect on Apple and Spotify as well now. Uh, and until next time, we'll see you guys later.