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2025 Sun Belt Football: Week 1 Preview
83 Plays1 month ago
Brian and Zeke are here to talk over week 1 in the Sun Belt, including debuts for new head coaches like Dowell Loggains and Tony Gibson, as well as a brand new Southern Miss team taking on Mississippi State at home.
Which teams will exceed expectations in week 1 and which ones will come up short?
Email questions to the show at warmweatherfans@gmail.com!
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Warm Weather Fans' Podcast
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome everybody in to Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt
Podcast Format Evolution
00:00:20
Speaker
Podcast. My name is Brian Stone. Joining me this week is the very sneezy Zeke Pelerbo. yep Zeke, this past weekend was almost like a trip to Costco where you get a little sample But now we're dropping a giant palette of Sunbelt football on your head, all la the way that Costco works and wholesale.
00:00:41
Speaker
But other other than that, we'll get into all of that action. We're trying to mix up the format a lot for these previews because, frankly, they were kind of dragging in in the past two years. But Zeke, before we get all that started, how are you doing?
Fantasy Football and Sunbelt Players
00:00:54
Speaker
I'm good, man. we get We finally have our slate. I know to you know a lot of other college football fans, um the some of the games that we have and that we're going to talk about today are going to be as disinteresting as some of the Week 0 slate, um but that that's what we enjoy, and so I'm glad to be here.
00:01:15
Speaker
ah Actually, as you and I are talking, i had my... ah You know, my longstanding fantasy league draft today, so I'm still riding the high of that. It's good to see a lot of those guys. um didn't Didn't make out with any of the Sunbelt guys. I guess, I mean, it's really just Isaiah Likely ah if you're not doing defensive players.
00:01:36
Speaker
If you're doing defensive players. If you really want to reach like
Mississippi State vs Southern Miss Preview
00:01:40
Speaker
late. you're really looking for that guy, i think i um I fell for the Jalen Tolbert, ah you know, high volume thing for a couple years Yeah. um Frank Gore, there's still something there. If James Cook and ah Ty Johnson fall down and there is Davis and Ray Davis he the roster, is he a, is he a practice squad guy?
00:02:05
Speaker
Ray Davis is there. Yeah, no, no. I mean, i mean, Gore. um He's on the roster at the moment, but he will probably not make the 53. That team likes the bills like to carry a fullback. So that puts it up.
00:02:18
Speaker
um Okay. Yeah. But yeah, a good time. um Jamari Thrash, that's a guy, though, who went in as soon as the draft was over and put a little, hey, flag next to him in ESPN.
Game of the Week Selections
00:02:30
Speaker
Browns? Yeah. If they can figure out the quarterback thing, I'm hearing good things. Hearing good things about thrash for the quarterback situation in Cleveland. Certainly Jamari thrash. Certainly not the quarterback situation in Cleveland.
00:02:44
Speaker
Fair enough. um Yeah, no, I, like I said, going back to getting a taste, I, I know that we're not, this isn't Sunbelt talk, but I, I actually stayed up and watched the rest of the Stanford Hawaii game last night. That game was great.
00:02:58
Speaker
ah Hawaii kicked that walk off field goal. And then, Off the field, the K-State thing, apparently Avery Johnson's dad was fighting his brother, which is an interesting storyline that I i still need to get. I need Pablo Torre or somebody to get to the bottom of that one because that was a strange video to wake up to this morning.
00:03:18
Speaker
All right. So like I said, we are... Working on week one previews, we are going to mix up the format just a tad. So let's break into it here. So the way that we're going to start doing this is each of us, if Matt joins us in the future, ah will bring a game of the week that we are looking forward to and kind of talk about why.
00:03:40
Speaker
um So I can go ahead and start, Zeke. i don't I know I kind of sprung this on you right before we started recording, but I'm going to stay away. ah you know You and I talked about kind of staying away from the biases of our our respective teams, mine being Georgia Southern, yours being Georgia State, Matt's being Louisiana.
00:03:58
Speaker
I think the game... that personally I'm looking forward to the most this week, I think is Mississippi state and Southern miss. And there's a couple of reasons why number one, obviously looking at the, the, the start of this Charles Huff, Braylon Braxton era in Hattiesburg game is in Hattiesburg.
00:04:23
Speaker
Mississippi State is only 12-point favorite, which I know Mississippi State is kind of in the doldrums each year of the SEC. They pretty much have a standing reservation for the basement.
00:04:36
Speaker
um But... on the flip side, Southern Miss does get to see ah player they saw last year in fluff. Both. Well, the running back who was at South Alabama.
00:04:47
Speaker
So there's just kind of a lot of interesting things going on around this
Southern Miss Early Season Challenges
00:04:50
Speaker
team. um I fully don't know what to expect that in Mississippi state. ah They, they, it seemed like for a couple of years they tried to emulate the, um, who was it? The Mike Leach thing.
00:05:03
Speaker
And that kind of came back and bit them and they weren't able to kind of replicate what made his air raid offense go. So now, ah Last time I checked there, they have more of a defensive minded head coach.
00:05:16
Speaker
I don't know if that has changed or whatnot. I fully don't keep up with the Bulldogs, but it's going to be an interesting opening game for them to kind of see where they are, get a barometer on this one.
00:05:27
Speaker
And hey, if you're feeling bold, maybe throw a couple dollars on the on the Southern Miss money line and just kind of see where it goes. Because if there's one SEC team that's going to eat crap, it's going to be so Mississippi State.
00:05:42
Speaker
So we'll see how that goes.
Georgia Southern vs Fresno State Analysis
00:05:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think Southern Miss and then... I think an honorable mention as we talk about games of the week of interest is also Marshall UGA because that's the flip side of that coin.
00:05:56
Speaker
um Certainly far lower expectations. um Sorry, Marshall fans. We we heard you ah and we still don't believe in you, ah but we did hear you. Yeah.
00:06:08
Speaker
ah on the flip side of that being how does Marshall rebound against a Georgia team that we've seen in recent years, really not blow guys out um at a 39 and a half point spread.
00:06:19
Speaker
You know, that that's a little juicy on the Marshall end just because Georgia doesn't beat teams like that. ah But to the Southern miss. Yeah, this is their opportunity to start greasing the wheels.
00:06:29
Speaker
um I, I, No matter where your ceiling is for Southern Miss, these first weeks are important. They play Miss State. ah They play Jackson State. And then they start really early.
00:06:40
Speaker
they They play App State September 13th. They have a very, very early conference slate um before then going to Louisiana Tech, which is not yet a conference game, will be soon. um And then Jacksonville – yes, Jacksonville State – um this is an important This is their hardest test um and and probably will be the hardest opponent um i mean will be the hardest opponent they play all year.
00:07:05
Speaker
But this prepares you well for an App State game. I'm very excited. I think this is a good grease the wheels opportunity. um And I know across all three of us, we have kind of different expectations for Southern Miss.
00:07:18
Speaker
um I know I'm on the lower end of that barometer, but we all, you know, see the potential there. And we're just going to figure out if it translates.
00:07:29
Speaker
So I'm really
Old Dominion vs Indiana Discussion
00:07:30
Speaker
looking forward to that. My game of the week, I teased the Marshall UGA game. it It's certainly not because that will be ultimately a stomping, um although you know you might see some interesting things at Marshall.
00:07:43
Speaker
ah It's Georgia State, Fresno State. um I think Georgia State is— Georgia Southern, Fresno State. I'm sorry. It's Georgia Southern. We'll get killed for making that mistake. i I will, and I should be.
00:07:54
Speaker
ah Georgia Southern Fresno State, apologies, um which does not fall into our Homer rule ah because Georgia Southern's not mine. I think that's just the most interesting game of the week. We have a lot of these SEC games. We have a lot of these FCS games where ULM is playing like Stephen F. Austin or like, ah you know,
00:08:16
Speaker
ah We've got who else Weber State against James Madison. so There are a lot of disinteresting games in that regard in that you really can pencil in a Sunbelt team. You also have ah in the state of actually Georgia State who plays No. 21 Ole Miss.
00:08:30
Speaker
um and Lane Kiffin's been
Arkansas State vs Southeast Missouri State Expectations
00:08:32
Speaker
on Twitter, as he always is, and puffing up his guys about the last time a Sunbelt team or Georgia State played an SEC team, they beat Vanderbilt.
00:08:41
Speaker
I don't expect a repeat there. ah So I'm really excited for Georgia Southern Fresno State. I think these are two good G5 teams that um ah at a 930 kick will have opportunity to play in whoever is still awake.
00:08:56
Speaker
um But if you are still awake, I know you will be. I will be as well. um But, you know, for the non-Sunbelt, the non-whatever conference Fresno is, the Mountain West soon to be the pack, I think. Yeah, I think so.
00:09:12
Speaker
so So that's a really good opportunity for them. um I think Georgia Southern has a good, I mean, to me, they're second out of the East outside of James Madison and have a real, real good chance to ah unseat James Madison from that spot that they've kind of been holding or reserved in the preseason for the past several years. So that's the game I'm most looking forward to is seeing Georgia Southern actually start playing.
00:09:37
Speaker
So i I actually watched a decent bit of Fresno and Kansas this past weekend. um I tweeted this out, and this is the way I feel about it. The spread, I know that typically you get X amount of points being the home team and Fresno, you know, is getting is the favorite, but they're only a one and a half point favorite at home.
00:09:59
Speaker
And there are a couple of things that stuck out to me from the game against Kansas. Number one, they they flat couldn't run the ball. And to me, that's. that was Georgia Southern's Achilles heel last year was their inability to stop the run, whether it be a quarterback that has the scrambling ability or ah just Ashton Janty you know, whoever you want to throw out that torch them on the ground last year.
00:10:22
Speaker
um I think too, I actually kind of liked what I saw out of EJ Warner, who is the son of Kurt Warner, NFL Hall of Famer. ah The only problem was the rest of the team did not help him out at all. I mean, he was getting, he was getting pressured a lot ah all over, you know, internally on the edges, you you know, what have you.
00:10:45
Speaker
And, and frankly, none of his guys really caught a lot of the passes. I mean, it felt like there were a lot of drops, at least from what I saw. So I think it's going to be definitely a really interesting matchup.
00:10:56
Speaker
And i and i I mean, again, I tweeted it out. I was like, I don't know who's going to win this game, but I will be taking the over if I have to make a pick because you've got Georgia Southern, who's got a pretty good offense returning.
00:11:08
Speaker
You got Fresno, who seemingly and I know Kansas is a better team than Georgia Southern at this stage. Maybe I don't know. It's apples to oranges, but. Fresno State didn't stop a lot on defense. It seemed like misdirection, play action, all of those things really threw them for a loop defensively. So I 52 and a half. I was expecting up in the 60s for an over under.
00:11:32
Speaker
And I mean, we saw last year Georgia Southern, you know, at least early in the season can bring it offensively. So I I feel
First Week’s Game Overviews
00:11:40
Speaker
pretty confident, but I will if I had if you put a gun to my head made me take a pick I would I would take the over because that feels the most comfortable for me sure I want to correct something I said earlier i said ULM has ah Stephen F. Austin that's not correct I have them in my notes playing SF they're actually playing St. Francis I'm missing the A in SFA team that sounds like a hospital more than a college
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's... ah um Apologies, St. Francis fans. That sounds like a really good hockey and or basketball school. One of those sports you're certainly good at.
00:12:18
Speaker
Yeah, they're they're they're just outside the Frozen Four at the end of the hockey season, for sure. ah I don't know how else we wanted to structure this, but I wanted to take you through another game that kind of caught my eye, I think, from...
00:12:31
Speaker
like a betting perspective and I just kind of want to see what what this team brings to the table in game one Arkansas State is playing Southeast Missouri State who I believe is an FCS team because I don't think they put gambling lines up on D2 schools Arkansas State is playing at home and is only a 10 and a half point favorite and the over under is 59 and a half and I know we lambasted their defense.
00:12:58
Speaker
ah However, they, I feel pretty confident they should be able to win by more than 11 points at home against a team that frankly, I've never heard of like, and and I've heard of a lot of obscure teams.
00:13:10
Speaker
Southeast Missouri state has never come across my radar. So I feel pretty confident that the, walle Wallace, ah Rucker,
Georgia State vs Ole Miss Challenges
00:13:20
Speaker
you know, triumvirate that they have on their offense is really going to be able to kind of lift them up. And I think they they win this one pretty easy.
00:13:30
Speaker
That's one that really caught my eye. I'm like, what what are we doing here with this this line? I don't understand. Well, I hope for their sake that you're right because you know I'm willing to jump on Butch Jones at the drop of a hat, really.
00:13:44
Speaker
ah if If that offense goes three and out even once, you know I'm going to bring it up. So, for their sake. They can't even go want three and out once without you getting on them?
00:13:55
Speaker
Not against an FCS school, you can't. I mean, i feel like most of these teams would would go three and out at least once or like, you know, somewhere around there might be knocking the rust off in game one. Hey, man, I'm digging you.
00:14:10
Speaker
Well documented. My thoughts on Arkansas State and Butch Jones' tenure there. Another game that caught my eye is going to be Old Dominion-Indiana, not because I think it's going to be particularly, particularly interesting. um We are, again, well documented, as we are with Marshall fans, on where we stand versus where they stand about the future of that team. But we get to see in Indiana.
00:14:33
Speaker
old friend, Kurt Signetti. Uh, I know a lot of the guys that he brought over from James Madison have now graduated or taken a step even further than Indiana. Uh, but it's going to be good to see an old friend.
00:14:46
Speaker
Um, a guy that, I mean, just did really, really good things, I guess, unsurprisingly, uh, at JMU after the transition, um, and set that team up really, really well to be a perennial, um,
Louisiana vs Rice and Walker Howard's Debut
00:15:00
Speaker
I mean, since since their first year in the conference when they were, I mean, robbed of ah of a spot in the title game, have been the premier team in the East. um And even in years where, like last year where it's Marshall, James Madison, it still deserves to be in that conversation. So...
00:15:18
Speaker
ah Looking forward to seeing that game. ah Let's run through just so we have a full accounting of everybody. we um Again, because a lot of these games are not super, super interesting um from just an on-paper matchup standpoint, we won't spend a lot of time, but let's run through them.
00:15:36
Speaker
ah Starting Thursday with St. Francis at ULM. ah That game is on a Thursday on ESPN+. plus I don't know how you get a Thursday game, but still get shafted onto ESPN+.
00:15:48
Speaker
You'd hope that with that comes some sort of national televised. um But at 7 p.m., if you're really itching for some ah football instead of... Do they pick play week one Thursday night football in the NFL?
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, because it's ah it's the opener. It's Cowboys-Eagles. well If you're real, if that game for whatever, if you're not willing to entertain Jerry Jones for even a minute.
00:16:14
Speaker
But here's here's the thing. It's not until next Thursday. it's Oh, I haven't. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah That's twice now. My bad. But if you are a ah true diehard Sunbelt sicko, like, yeah, dude, just, you know, start start ah clocking where where the runs go for ULM and Brian Vincent. Because if there's one thing we know about
Texas State's Rebuilding Efforts
00:16:40
Speaker
Brian Vincent, he wants to run the dang football.
00:16:43
Speaker
And I assume after what he saw last year, take the ball out of their quarterback's hands. Um, so in theory, I mean, they should be able to put up in theory, video game numbers on the ground against St. Francis, a team that again, I'm not familiar with in the slightest. And I mean, okay, let's, let's let's put it in perspective here.
00:17:06
Speaker
um, so This game does not have a line on it. And a lot of these other ones do. So I think that kind of says what everybody's thinking about the this from like a gambling or just preview perspective is like, we have no clue what to expect from either ULM or St. Francis. But I want to see them run the football. I mean, you know, they made a living off of it last year. They had to.
00:17:34
Speaker
ah So it it'll be interesting to see what they look like. Is this new this year? i i was under the impression, and we've definitely said this in previous episodes, that... Sweet.
00:17:47
Speaker
And then, ah well, ah this is shocking to me. I'll be honest. I didn't think we did lines for the FCS games at all. I really didn't think we did. um maybe Maybe they came out like days of, but I certainly recall last year having lots of FCS games that there were just no lines for at all. Is that...
00:18:06
Speaker
I know you're a little tapped into the gambling world more than I am, um particularly because your proximity to legality. um what what ah What am I missing here? is that i I think they only put a line on these games if they
Georgia Southern's Travel Strategy
00:18:20
Speaker
feel confident that they can handicap it.
00:18:23
Speaker
Um, because like I said, you know, some of these you're looking at them and it's like, uh, James Madison and Weber state. Like maybe they, maybe Vegas feels like they've got a handle on Weber state that they just don't have any sort of inkling on St. Francis.
00:18:40
Speaker
That's the only thing I can come up with. Okay. Well, that's your early Thursday slate. And then we actually get another primetime-ish game.
00:18:51
Speaker
Friday, October 29th, App State travels to Charlotte at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Another, like, seriously? You're going to make me play on a Friday, and it's not nationally televised.
00:19:03
Speaker
um It's on ESPNU.
00:19:07
Speaker
I would be willing to bet 70% of sports fans don't know that they get ESPNU. Probably, but i you know it's on television, and that that is something I will grant them.
00:19:22
Speaker
Also, this being the Duke's Mayo Classic, I'm pretty sure the winner gets dump Mayo dumped on their head, unless they only do that strictly for the bowl game. I'm i'm not 100% sure.
00:19:33
Speaker
Dowell Loggins, welcome, man. um This is not a great Charlotte team line. It's App State 6.5, and Charlotte has not been great for a minute. Biff Pogge still there his cutoff shirts? i believe so.
00:19:47
Speaker
All right, well, maybe maybe I'm pulling for the Niners then in that case because I'd like to see that guy covered in Mayo. ah That wraps up the early games. We go to Saturday. We do have a noon kick. This one is for real, for real.
Sunbelt Teams Predictions
00:20:00
Speaker
Can't miss on national television.
00:20:02
Speaker
We've got Miss State at Southern Miss. That kicks off at noon on ESPN. We've already touched on that. Followed by another game of interest that we touched on.
00:20:13
Speaker
Old Dominion at Indiana at 2.30. That is on Fox Sports. followed by, again, another game that we briefly tapped on, Marshall at number five UGA, 3.30 p.m. Biff Pogie, not the head coach at Charlotte. Biff, where'd he go?
00:20:31
Speaker
He's at Michigan.
00:20:35
Speaker
I think he's a positions coach. He's certainly not the head coach. Their head coach now is the former head coach of Ohio, ah Tim Albans.
00:20:47
Speaker
tim albin does he look like he would be good in mayo uh i don't know because frankly this photo i was on wikipedia looking it up and frankly this photo looks worse than the zaprooter film footage so this looks like it was taken from like a satellite that was orbiting the earth uh so i don't know but all right well mountaineers you have my support Again, sorry for that brief blip.
00:21:14
Speaker
ah Yeah, we we then go to Marshall at number five UGA, 3.30 p.m. on ESPN. ah The first game we've not talked about really at all, Coastal at Virginia, 6 p.m. on the ACC Network.
00:21:27
Speaker
In Charlottesville, the line is Virginia minus 12.
00:21:33
Speaker
Can we talk about this one a little bit? Yeah, of course. i I have said this, I think,
Podcast Closing and Social Media Engagement
00:21:40
Speaker
in an earlier preview. Maybe it was about a different head coach. I think it's kind of shit or get off the pot time for Tim Beck.
00:21:46
Speaker
Uh... you know We talked about this, me and Phil Steele, in that that interview that went up ah last week. Obviously, if you haven't watched it, we went over a lot of the Sunbelt teams, youtube.com slash at warmweatherfans.
00:22:00
Speaker
ah We talked a lot about Coastal, and frankly... I told him I thought that year one was kind of a ah write-off, like a mirage. I don't think you can take a lot away from year one when you've got Grayson McCall and some of these players that were left over behind from Jamie Chadwell.
00:22:18
Speaker
And last year, i mean, would you agree? I said it. I thought the quarterback position was a disaster ah with... you know? Yeah, no, i mean, that that was a really bad coastal team.
00:22:30
Speaker
I mean, there was no real way around it. And and do guys like that. Yeah. I mean, I think we were in pretty consensus in the, the postseason kind of reflections that Tim Beck did not take the direction that Jamie Chadwell had really, i mean, he put a team made teams or the nation aware of coastal Carolina made people know that this team even exists.
00:22:53
Speaker
And, Tim Beck has not progressed that. So I'm in the same spot. um Is Virginia a team? Like, what do you want to see against a team like Virginia where, you know, what are we getting out of Virginia? I want to see a quarterback that doesn't look like the reincarnation of Will Levis.
00:23:14
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Let's start there. but Yeah. I mean, I'm like, ah again, Vasco was, you know, good luck to him at Liberty or whatnot, but like he was all over the place last season.
00:23:27
Speaker
Like he would have a game. He played pretty well early. If I, if I remember correctly against Jay, uh, Jacksonville state in the opener last year. Now Jacksonville state looked like garbage early and then went on to win the, win Kusa.
00:23:41
Speaker
So I, you know, I don't know what happened to them. if They had like a turnaround, but, I need to see functional quarterback play. I need to see that this, you know, one of the things that Phil steel talked about when I interviewed him was he talked to Tim Beck and Tim Beck's whole thing was simplifying the offense.
00:24:00
Speaker
He said that the offense had that they had called and, and put in place last season was too complicated. Um, I don't think in my heart of hearts, I believed it was more complicated than what Grayson McCall ran under Jamie Chadwell with like the option stuff.
00:24:17
Speaker
Uh, I felt like last year, i mean, Please correct me if I'm wrong. I felt like it was a little vanilla, like what they called. I mean, it was it was strictly like a normal, standard spread offense.
00:24:30
Speaker
and but There was no no real wrinkles. I didn't feel like they did anything like out of the box, out of the ordinary. It was exactly like what, again, NC State has run in years past where you're just like,
00:24:42
Speaker
Yeah, this this looks like 80 other teams in the country to me. like therere there but you could run They could run what Ohio State ran, and it wouldn't matter because the talent differential is just so vast that it doesn't matter.
00:24:56
Speaker
But I feel like when you are at a team at a school like Coastal, you got to bring a wrinkle or something that somebody hasn't seen. And and frankly, I didn't get any any inkling of that from them last year.
00:25:08
Speaker
Yeah, these teams played last year. Virginia won Out of the quarterbacks, it wasn't great. Ethan Vasco, 10-21 for 222, which is of note, but consider that he had 50- and 65-yard passes. He went 1-for-1. And then Noah Kim ah had a chance as well.
00:25:27
Speaker
He went 6-for-12 for 80 yards. The rush game was not much better. 24-for-82 yards. ah And again, consider the Trey Taylor one carry for 22 yards as a ah outlier that really inflates that number.
00:25:43
Speaker
um As we said, Virginia, a 12 point favorite there 6 p.m. Also at 6 p.m. is Weber State at James Madison. James Madison, 25 and a half point favorites.
00:25:54
Speaker
This will be on ESPN plus um pretty cut and dry. i don't i don't know what to make of the line. I don't know it to much about Weber State, um but Jamie crushed them. Yeah, I mean, this is this is your chance to show us that the on-paper hype is deserved.
00:26:11
Speaker
um You get Louisville and Liberty in the following two weeks. So there's um you know this will be your only real, real lighthearted tune-up game before taking on Georgia Southern.
00:26:22
Speaker
um so so i want to I want to see what Sluka looks like in this offense because – I mean, in the things that I've read, Barnett's just not going to be ready for a couple weeks, if not the majority of the season. And frankly, I mean, if Sluka plays well, especially early, like I could just see him kind of making the job his and he gets Barnett gets Wally pipped ah the same way that Jordan McLeod did or or that Jordan McLeod did to him, um you know, two years ago.
00:26:52
Speaker
So, I think, I mean, you know, this is the same team in theory that put up 70 or whatnot on UNC last year. And I've got to assume that Weber State is a worse team that than even North Carolina was last year. So they, I mean, they should run them out of the stadium.
00:27:09
Speaker
Right. That brings us to seven o'clock where we've got another trio of games, Southeast Missouri at Arkansas State, as we touched on that game at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
00:27:24
Speaker
all right, I'll take over. morgan say um Morgan State traveling to Mobile to take on South Alabama. No line on that game. ah South Alabama doing you know trying to figure out between the Georgia Tech transfer and Bishop Davenport, who's going start there.
00:27:39
Speaker
ah you know First game without Gio Lopez. I think this is a really good one to whoever your pick your poison of of quarterback is going to be. This is a good one to kind of get your feet wet. You're not thrown into the fire immediately.
00:27:53
Speaker
ah Yeah. So that's basically all I have on that game. I don't know. Yeah, i've I've got a buddy who's real tapped into ah the Georgia State stuff. He is a ah and like ah georgia you know Georgia State reporter. or I'm sorry, Georgia Tech reporter, Georgia Tech insider.
00:28:10
Speaker
And I got a chance to talk with him probably a week and a half ago. i was just asking him, like, what's up with Zach Pyron? What do you like? And he said he really liked him, said before Haynes King really broke out. ah He told me, shout out Alex, there's no world you're listening to this, but shout out regardless.
00:28:25
Speaker
ah He told me that before Haynes King broke out, he thought Zach Pyron was going to be the guy that took that long-term starting position that we now know Haynes King has um because Haynes King is just a bulldozer that does not care how many times you tackle him.
00:28:42
Speaker
um but Yeah, it's bishop it's obviously Bishop Davenport or Zach Pyron, but Just anecdotally, i know a guy who really, really likes Zach Pyron based on his time at Georgia Tech.
00:28:55
Speaker
And we've got a lot of coaches this point in the year are still playing it very close to the vest as far as who's going start, you know, things of that nature. um You know, i but I'm looking it up on Google News right now. I don't see any updates as to the quarterback battle.
00:29:13
Speaker
So we may we may come down to like a game time decision. But. But yeah, I mean, it's going to be really interesting to see how this offense works without Gio Lopez because it felt like he was kind of the steadying force for them with a lot of like personnel changes going on. And so, like like like I said ah earlier with the Southern Miss thing, you lose Fluff Bothwell, you lose Gio Lopez. How does this team kind of respond and look in game one, even you know even playing down to a team like Morgan State?
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah, nothing to really add there. ah Third 7 o'clock game, we've got Nichols traveling to take on Troy in Troy, Alabama. ah Troy is a 20.5 point favorite.
00:29:59
Speaker
point favorite ah I've got to see an answer for the quarterback conundrum that they have now that Matthew Caldwell has moved on. um Just to be clear for all of our YouTube listeners, I do know that Goose Crowder started the season last year.
00:30:17
Speaker
ah That seemed to be a point of confusion during our Troy preview. We know. we We know ah Tucker Kilcrease played as well, but Matthew Caldwell was the one that ended the season as the starting quarterback. And he was the one that won them the majority of their what four games.
00:30:32
Speaker
So we know, but they looked bad under goose Crowder and Tucker Kilcrease. So who wins that job? What's it look like against Troy or ah against Nichols at Troy ah game one, 20 and a half point favorites. Nichols is already one and oh,
00:30:48
Speaker
Um, so they've gotten their feet wet in, in early season action. So there's a lot of teams that are kind of on this same level where it's like, you lost your quarterback and we we really have no idea who's playing and you need to figure it out pretty soon. Yeah.
00:31:02
Speaker
Uh, yeah, that's the, that's the big thing here. They don't have a ton in the running back room, uh, that we love either. ah this, this is a team that actually has a wealth of receiving talent for whoever, ah figures it out, whoever whoever emerges as the starter.
00:31:17
Speaker
um and ah emerges as the long-term solution there there. There is a wealth of talent. We talked about Rah-Rah Thomas, who's a Georgia transfer. ah Mojo Dorch did some interesting things last year. that There are some guys in that receiving room, um and they will have the opportunity to play and shine against Nichols.
00:31:37
Speaker
Yeah. 745, you get Zeke's Georgia State Panthers traveling to Oxford to take on ah you know Lane Kiffin and the blustery-ness online. ah yeah They take on Ole Miss.
00:31:52
Speaker
ah You do get to dodge not having Jackson Dart there. Who knows what that team now looks like because Jackson Dart was obviously a first-round pick in the NFL draft and has looked pretty good in preseason action ah for the Giants. So...
00:32:06
Speaker
you know Who knows who they roll out there at the quarterback spot? I do remember Georgia Southern played them last year, and they were competitive for about a quarter and a half, and then it all just kind of went out the window.
00:32:19
Speaker
ah can Can Christian Valer cut down on the amount of turnovers and just kind of frankly boneheaded plays that he turned in last season is going to be the big question for me because there were a lot of plays that he – you know, balls he threw, decisions he made, things like that, that I i was like, this isn't conducive to winning football.
00:32:40
Speaker
So can we get past this? He gets a year to grow in kind of the system. And then we, you know, again, we want to talk about being thrown into the fire. You get to go to play. ah You get to go play in Oxford week one. What's that look like?
00:32:52
Speaker
Yeah. Hey, man, get the check. Got to find the other sports somehow. especially with the sec cutting down to doing nine game, uh, in conference scheduling from now on. So those are going to, those paychecks are going to get further and fewer and far between.
00:33:07
Speaker
So we'll see, uh, eight o'clock. We've got rice traveling to Lafayette to take on Louisiana. UL is a 13 and a half point favorite. Uh, I know Matt was like spooked from the the previous time that rice has played Louisiana.
00:33:24
Speaker
ah I feel pretty confident Louisiana is going to win this game by two touchdowns or more. I mean, you get to see the debut of Walker Howard. ah You've got that running game with Bill Davis and Zylan Perry, a new receiving room.
00:33:40
Speaker
It's going to be very interesting to see how this all works out, what kind of tweaks they make to the offense. If any, maybe lean on the run a little bit more, but that, you know, This might be one of the games that you look at and go, it's not a conference game.
00:33:55
Speaker
Frankly, like unless we're looking down the barrel of being the G5 rip, maybe we get Walker Howard some more ah reps in this game and kind of get him loose and and ready for the rest of the season.
00:34:07
Speaker
Yeah, this isn't a great Rice team. Obviously, we'll take the G5 versus G5 matchup as something that's interesting, but this is Rice without now EJ Warner, who, ah as Brian, you said earlier, now at Fresno State. um This is a four-win team, ah Rice, last year against...
00:34:27
Speaker
USF, Navy, Texas Southern. So not a whole lot moving there. um Yeah, just just so show that you're still Louisiana, please. um we we there was That conference championship game is was still a scare um and and still haunts some of us, ah myself included, ah to this day. So it's just, you know, show that that was a fluke and was due to the fact that you were down to your bare bones ah quarterback-wise.
00:34:56
Speaker
Yeah, you were down to QB three at that point. And, ah you know, hopefully Walker Howard stays injury free and healthy for the remainder of the season. ah You know, they they got bit by the injury bug pretty bad, especially at the end of last year.
00:35:10
Speaker
Another eight o'clock kick. You've got Eastern Michigan, who, frankly, I don't know a lot about. I'm sorry. ah Mac heads. I don't know what you call yourselves. Yeah. We call them like Sunbelt fans, Funbelt fans. Mac, what what do you call an Eastern Michigan fan?
00:35:26
Speaker
Don't really know. Orchard.
00:35:29
Speaker
Fair enough. ah Eastern Michigan coming into San Marcos. It's the last year in the Sunbelt for Texas State. it's ah It's a good way for them to kind of start the season off with a bang.
00:35:41
Speaker
I will say, though, we talked about it on our preview app. I don't really, I'm kind of with Matt. I don't really like the Texas state roster this year. I feel like this is a real rebuilding effort to try to get back to respectability after going eight and five the last two years.
00:35:58
Speaker
And it seems like in order to kind of buoy that and remain at an eight win pace, they're going to have to score close to 40 points a game. And frankly, like, unless they just have multiple guys break out,
00:36:10
Speaker
I don't um don't really see the path to that happening. Either that or the defense has to be locked down, and they they haven't really shown that either yet. So one of those two things has to happen for them to get back to eight wins.
00:36:23
Speaker
Yeah, ah we're we're all pretty tepid on Texas State, ah but I think we both agree here, and I'm sure Matt would as well, that this this is a winnable start. um This is an Eastern Michigan team that, again, last year won four games, or make sure I've got that right, ah five games, I'm sorry,
00:36:43
Speaker
um You can't slander Eastern Michigan, okay? butn itt i I'm sorry that I forgot about your thirty seven thirty four double overtime win over Jacksonville State. That one is my bad.
00:36:56
Speaker
They did beat the Conference USA champion. They did, um but then they also lost. But then you finished the year on a five-game losing streak, so ah give and take. ah Yeah, ah very winnable, should win for Texas State, um but this is the start of a pretty so-so year for them.
00:37:17
Speaker
And then in the finale, 9.30 p.m., you know, I will stay up and I get guarantee I'll regret it Sunday morning as somebody with two kids under the age of five. ah Fox Sports 1 Georgia Southern at Fresno.
00:37:30
Speaker
We talked over this one, you know, Fresno. didn't exactly blow my socks off, uh, watching them on Saturday. ah so I hope the same things that, that they saw on tape from Kansas that they're able to take, uh, advantage of and yeah and get a win on this West coast homestand, which I found out the other day, they're actually staying in California for this week after this week, because they have to turn around and play USC.
00:37:57
Speaker
Uh, so they're not actually flying back to Georgia between the two games. So, Yeah, we I think we i mean we made a joke about that. during Do you know where they're staying or where they're gonna be practicing? i No, i don't I don't have any idea. But somebody somebody who's like around the program, I believe, told me that and was like, yeah, they're not they're not coming back. They're just staying in California for a week. And I was like, I mean, it makes sense from a logistics perspective, especially when you've you've got a Sunbelt traveling budget. It's not not exactly the the Big Ten over here as far as Yeah.
00:38:29
Speaker
so Yeah, looking forward to that one. As I said, Georgia Southern ceiling really is best team in the conference this year. um I don't know how likely that is, but that that is ah a ceiling, a rollable ceiling ah for them. So I'm excited to see what they how much of it is hype, how much of it is smoke.
00:38:49
Speaker
Is J.C. French actually, actually the guy? I'm ready to buy the hype, but you know until Saturday, it's still hype.
00:38:59
Speaker
Yeah, um I'm still a little weary on on him ah just because of how last season ended. I've seen Davis-Bryn stuff, and frankly, it seems like all of their quarterbacks get bit by the interception bug at some point in the year, and they just decide to just start throwing pick after pick after pick.
00:39:19
Speaker
So I need to see him kind of rebound from that bowl game last year where he he really looked bad against Sam Houston to end the season. Mm-hmm. yeah All right.
00:39:29
Speaker
So how how do you want to handle kind of wrapping this up? Do you want to make you have any picks that you you lean ah that you want to make or or you just want to sign off? Like, how do you want to handle this?
00:39:41
Speaker
Uh, that's a good question. I hadn't thought that far. Uh, I know previously we've given picks, uh, and I don't imagine that changes, but we've, we've been pretty, pretty upfront about all these picks. A lot of these spreads are pretty decisive. Uh, and you know, you can infer where we stand on those based on what we've said.
00:40:00
Speaker
Um, for example, Marshall, I like them to cover, um, But, you know, take take that as you will, especially once we get into FBS versus FBS, like versus like, Sunbelt, Sunbelt. We'll definitely start talking more, ah put planting more flags, pick and win-wise. But, again, this this is a find him ah you know wait and find out type week, as will the next week.
00:40:22
Speaker
And for most teams, will be the week after. um So let's wait and find out. All right. Well, I have a couple. I don't mean to step on your toes or anything. I have a couple i actually kind of like, yeah, let's hear it.
00:40:37
Speaker
Uh, again, i think, uh, I think Marshall plus 39 and a half, ah frankly, like you, you're a, you're a UGA fan historian, you know, however you want to kind of position yourself. You have said UGA does not blow out teams like this.
00:40:57
Speaker
Now they'll, they'll lay the wood in the national championship game against TCU, but they won't beat down a G5 team in the, in ah the first week of the season. I will jump in. i would not call myself a historian. I just woke up for far too many noon kickoffs against Chattanooga that were too close for comfort. It could have been 35 points, and it was still too close for comfort. So they they've just hurt me too many times on that.
00:41:24
Speaker
I really like Arkansas State minus 10.5. I think they're going to have to really lay a total stinker to not cover that spread. ah they Their defense is going to have to be generationally bad for them not to be able to cover an 11-point spread against Southeast Missouri State.
00:41:43
Speaker
I like... Who was it? ah I like Louisiana minus 13 and a half. I think they cover that one. I like the Georgia Southern Fresno State over 52 and a half.
00:41:54
Speaker
um Let's see here. And I think I like Virginia minus 12 as well. ah Coastal, I'm sorry, Coastal fans, if you're if you're offended by that.
00:42:05
Speaker
Coastal is a big wait and see for me. um If they... do what they did last year in week one and they absolutely just run through Virginia somehow the same way they did James, uh, uh, Jacksonville state.
00:42:19
Speaker
I'll, I'll eat crow, but until I see it, I, I'm not going to forecast it. and I really need to see the progression on the field. So that those are kind of just a couple. I like, I mean, I'm, I'm kind of staying away from like the old dominion, Indiana game, because frankly, I don't know what Indiana is going to look like. And,
00:42:40
Speaker
everybody's very bullish on old dominion and i'm i'm like maybe i'm missing something but also a lot of these guys like haven't produced like at the college level now i know both phil steel and the odu fan base are like well ricky ronnie told us this is the best team he's ever had and i'm like
00:43:03
Speaker
My coach is Clay Hilton. um He says a lot of things he doesn't believe. ah you know Again, he will tell you there's a rainbow outside, and then you go look, and you're like, it's hailing.
00:43:14
Speaker
how's that How's that going to happen? He's like, ah, screwed up. My bad. So i I would like to introduce you guys to coach speak in case this season kind of doesn't go the way that everybody is like, Old Dominion's going to be right in the mix with Georgia Southern and JMU. And I'm like...
00:43:30
Speaker
let's let's pump the brakes on taking coaches right at their word and and hope that they are you know telling us the absolute truth. So I really doubt he came to press day you know in previous seasons it was like, ah I don't know, we're going lucky to get the six wins this year.
00:43:46
Speaker
like I really doubt he was coming to Sunbelt Media Day and being like, I don't know if we're going to have a winning record. Probably not. So again, pump the brakes a little bit on the on the believing coaches right at their word.
00:43:57
Speaker
Um, that's about all I had. Uh, there's a couple of these that are just to, um, app States kind of another wait and see for me too. I, I, I do like minus six and a half on the road against Charlotte, but I, I don't know what that team's going to look like. I don't know what a Dow logins non Lenore sellers offense is going to look like.
00:44:17
Speaker
So I, that's a, that's another kind of stay away for me in week one. Yeah, I mean, ah ultimately, it's an interesting slate of games. We get games that ah are going to be, as they always are, blowouts against the Sun Belt, blowouts for the Sun Belt.
00:44:34
Speaker
ah And there's a handful of games that are going to be real interesting that that could be four quarters worth watching. um And I think as far as week one slates go, this is about as good as it gets. Pretty content all in all.
00:44:49
Speaker
ah This is not... These could have all been money games. um Instead, most of them are. Yeah, but I i will say, i do feel like we're getting a larger contingent of G5 versus G5. Yeah.
00:45:04
Speaker
and We have in years past where it was like, It feels like in years past, we'd be lucky to get like one or two or three. ah But I do feel like... I don't know whether this is intentional or not, but with the way that the college football playoff has developed and now the G5 team representative is now kind of wide open, I do feel like the the athletic directors a little bit when they come to schedule are like, maybe we put a more competitive team on our our radar for week one than just putting...
00:45:34
Speaker
you know, the sisters of the poor, and then we beat them 70 to nothing and and everybody just kind of shrugs and moves on with their Saturday. Like maybe we throw a Mac school on there. Maybe we throw a conference USA school. Maybe we throw, out you know, something like that.
00:45:47
Speaker
So yeah. Four, 14 games this week against power or group of four, group of five, group of group of whatever group of X ah teams this week or this year in week one. So After this episode, we'll go back and um have a look and throw up a tweet, probably alongside this episode to let you know. ah Speaking of, you can find the show on Twitter, at Warm Weather Fans.
00:46:14
Speaker
You can find that at X, at Warm Weather Fans. You can also email the show, warmweatherfans at gmail.com. ah If you are an audio listener, be sure to head over to our YouTube, um Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt Podcast on YouTube.
00:46:29
Speaker
ah You can get video. um Sometimes we we put bonus content up up there. um If you really dislike my taste, it's been very hot ah to compare me to AI generate clown makeup or compare me to World of T-shirts Joshua Blocks.
00:46:48
Speaker
ah You only get that opportunity if you're a YouTube watcher. You can't do that if you are a Spotify or Apple podcast listener. So ah that's some incentive. We're really growing there. Really excited. You can find me personally and tweet at me when you disparage my name, please at Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O.
00:47:09
Speaker
And if you're going to criticize Zeke, make sure you're accurate when you do it. Like we want we want it to be as as accurate as possible. We don't want you to just lazily be like, he looks like whoever like we like some of these are very like specific niche. Like I've I don't know who world of T-shirts is.
00:47:28
Speaker
So like you're probably here's the thing. I'm on the upper end of age for it to be appropriate to know who he is. So I'm like the grand, like grandfather. Like I can't, yeah I probably wouldn't know who that is.
00:47:41
Speaker
All right. Fair enough. I'll accept that. ah As Zeke said, you can find us on all of those platforms, TikTok, etc et cetera, et cetera. ah Usually at warm weather fans, you can find me on X at watch the stone.
00:47:55
Speaker
We will be back next week to talk over all of these Sunbelt games, give you the rundown of our you know best games of the week that we watched, kind of our general takeaways. And then we will also get into previews for week two.
00:48:08
Speaker
um So this is really exciting. We're in the swing of football season. ah you know It's finally here. So make sure you stick with us, whether you're a video watcher, listener,
00:48:20
Speaker
rate, review, subscribe, you know, all of that jazz. This has been another edition of War Mother Fantasy.