Transcript
Speaker: Welcome everybody in to another season of Warm Weather Fans Sunbelt Podcast. We are back to preview the 2024 season. Thank you for joining us if you are listening to this. I am your host, Brian Stone, joined once again by Zeke Palermo, ah current maybe former Georgia state affiliate coverage guy for underdog dynasty don't really know what the status of that is as of this recording and go ahead now a friend of Georgia state for now ah we're we're still trying to sort that out okay uh and Matt Mieges former writer for underdog dynasty covering the Louisiana raging Cajuns Matt how have you been
Speaker: Brian, man, Zeke, I've been fantastic. You know, media days in college football started this week, which means that it is just it's so close you can taste it. um I stand outside for 30 seconds here in South Louisiana and I need to change clothes. ah So that's how you know the football season is just right around the corner.
Speaker: Yeah, um, luckily for me, haven't really had to deal with that. I mean, it's hot, but it's not. I mean, I've been to New Orleans in like, may, and I, I wanted to die between like three and 5pm. So I, I totally understand what you mean. Um. So we are here in this episode. We are joined today to discuss ULM Warhawks, their outlook for the upcoming season. We'll go over offense, coaching change, defense, talk over win totals, predictions, things like that. And then we'll jump into doing Marshall as well. Same same thing goes for them.
Speaker: Um, let's start off with ULM here. They were the worst team in the conference last season. there There really wasn't any, I mean, there was minor competition, but I mean, clear in a way the worst team in the conference. ah They let go of Terry Bowden. bring in Brian Vincent ah from previously having coached at UAB. I think he is going to bring a difference of sort of offensive philosophy, mindset, things of that nature. um I can say having watched a Bryant Vincent coach UAB team a couple of years ago, they love to run the football, which is the
Speaker: the The philosophy under Terry Bowden seemed to change quite a bit and it was never really cohesive or coherent. Like it just felt like just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall and just hoping something stuck offensively. ah Defensively it wasn't much better, but that's, that's just kind of how that whole era felt. Let, let's talk about the new head coach before we jump into the personnel and things like that. Matt. You're based in Louisiana, so you're going to have more of kind of an insight on it than Zeke or I would. Do you think this was a good hire that you kind of expect? I mean, everybody knows this is a massive rebuilding project for Vincent, um but what do you kind of expect this season out of him?
Speaker: Yeah, you know, I think on paper that you you have to like the higher. I mean, you look at his resume and what he's been able to do. ah He spent some time as offensive coordinator at South Alabama this past season. He was the offensive coordinator in New Mexico. He was the interim coach at UAB whenever Bill Clark had to step down. um They went seven and six under Brian Vincent. So I mean, like again, like I said, you really have to like what the resume shows. um But I think he's got a massive. Ask here, right? um Not only do you have to try and turn this perennial loser around, which if you look back to 2019. The last five seasons, their best results is five and seven. I mean, look, you're you're definitely climbing uphill battle here. if If you're Brian Vincent and to make things worse, he didn't hire an offensive coordinator.
Speaker: He said, I'm an offensive coordinator by trade. I'll handle that too. and Okay, we'll see. um so So look, I think it's gonna be one of those things where you maybe give him two, three years before you really can make a judgment call. Or it could be a G .J. Kinney situation where he steps into Texas State and immediately turns them around. Now, I'm not saying that ULM is on the level of what Texas State was when G .J. Kinney took it over because Texas State wasn't that bad. But I think that, you know, if Bryant Vincent can create a culture in Monroe to say maybe they go five and seven this year and they match that 2019 total,
Speaker: if you're a fan of the Warhawks, after seeing them go five and seven again, after going oh and 10, four and eight twice, and then two and 10 last year, you gotta be feeling pretty good. ah So you can't really make a real judgment until they start playing and in September and October, but on paper, I really like this hire by you alone. Zeke, let me ask you this, and Matt kind of brought it up, so I wanted to ask this question of kind of both of you,
Speaker: I want to ask, do you think it is a harder rebuilding job than Texas State, given where Texas State was um before G .J. Kinney came on board? And the only reason I ask that is I want to add a little bit of context because we talked about it um before Kinney was hired. The previous head coach had done this thing where he took no, at Texas State, the previous head coach had done this thing where he took no incoming freshmen for a full year, took nothing but transfers out of the portal. I'd kind of, from what from what I had read, burnt a bunch of bridges with high school coaches in the state of Texas because of doing that.
Speaker: Now, obviously the talent at Texas State was better and and obviously is better as of today, so that's not really an argument. But given where Texas State started, when Kenny took over, and where Vincent's starting now, Zeke, which of these jobs do you think is a harder was a harder rebuild at the time they were started? The Texas State job without question. Um, the first guys that I met in like the Sunbelt world before I met y 'all, um, I, I was working with, you know, our old site. Um, but the first people outside of that site that I had met were two guys from Texas state. Um, and this was Spavital still had two years left. They, they told me two years before he was fired that like, you know, a good guy, they liked him, but.
Speaker: The the dude didn't like to recruit and that was the biggest hurdle. ah Texas State obviously was in a disarray as a team ah from like a a talent perspective who's on the roster right now. But like the talent then from Texas State is roughly comparable to what ULM has now. ULM lost a lot of guys graduation portal. They're bringing back I think like seven starters in total. So it's very bare bones. They won only two games last year, but they're only two years removed from like a four win season. This is not to say that this ULM job is an easy job or that, you know, uh, that they're good at Vince. It's going to come in and like read, you know,
Speaker: this is going to be like what Kenny did at Texas State to a higher degree. But I think what Jake Spavital did, and I don't think I or any of us have been shy about this, did at Texas State was so monstrously bizarre for someone that lacked the football pedigree to do something like that, that was, we've we've been beating around it. The guy didn't recruit out of high school for like two, three straight years. It was just transfers, it was just JUCO. He he was doing the Dion Sanders route before Dion Sanders, ah but he wasn't getting the five stars that Dion had.
Speaker: he he He was getting the rejects of Southern Miss and the rejects of Utah State, not the the cream of the crop ah FCS talent. So ah if comparing those two, it's not even close. That Texas state job was harder. um But this is going to be a tough task. Like I said, ah there's been an exodus out of the program after Bowden left. um And this is a coach that has guys, but he didn't bring a ton of like his guys from previous programs. Cause he had been bouncing around. He didn't have a ton of, uh, you know, I'm not saying he doesn't have connections, but he didn't have his guys that he brought into the program. So, uh, it'll be tough. I will, we'll get into wins later, but the it's uphill for sure. So just a couple of minor notes.
Speaker: into talking about fixed offense. You mentioned this, seven total starters, ah two on offense, five on defense. um No bowl game appearances since 2012. So it's we're going on 12, 13 years without a bowl game appearance, which is tough. The other thing too is just, do we consider, and Matt, if you want to jump on on this, you can. With how bad they had been the last couple of years, and I know they had that one four win season under Bowden, and we almost view the mass excess of players almost as a positive for them just because of how
Speaker: like underperforming they were, they they kind of lacked talent to really compete in the conference. Like, do we think that we might look back in a year or two years and say that this was actually a good thing for them that they had, you know, like Jaya Wright, people like that were like, see you later, can't do this non, non Bowden years thing. Should we, well do you think we'll look back and be like, this is actually a good thing that they did this? I mean, I mean, yeah, you certainly could. Um, You know, sometimes it it is a good thing for a struggling program to just, you know, completely start over. I mean, you're only returning 23 Letterman from last year. And I think when you look at what Bryant Vincent was able to do, the name that jumps off the page at you is General Booty. Now, everybody remembers when he was at Oklahoma with the the fun NIL shirts of him being on a army tank and
Speaker: You know, obviously his last name is Booty, so pop culture is going to run with that. But look, at the end of the day, this kid's got a football pedigree. His dad played at LSU, his uncle played at USC. And I think it's one of those situations where, you know, he goes to Oklahoma, doesn't really see the field because he's buried behind Caleb Williams, Dylan Gabriel, so on and so forth. Jackson Arnold. Jackson Arnold. um And so, you know, he's just looking for an opportunity. He comes back to his home state, not far from his hometown, and goes to play at ULM. This is a thing for general booty where there's nothing but a positive here. Because here's the thing. We we talked about ULM not making a bowl game since 2012. They went winless in 2010, which by the way, fun fact about that season, they didn't lead a single second. They never had a lead in 2020.
Speaker: Just throwing that out there. um This is a program that is desperate for anything. So General Booty sees the field and, you know, say they win four games. He will never buy another meal in Monroe. I'll never buy another meal. General Booty will be loved in Monroe till the end of time. Maybe not. I don't know though, but like you get my point. Like like there's, there's very little risk and very, a lot of reward here, uh, for general booty. But you know, if it's not him, where do you go? I think you go to Hunter Herring, uh, who is a raging Cajun transfer, by the way. Um, from the Monroe area is a dual threat quarterback that had like 70 touchdowns his senior year of high school. Um,
Speaker: got some playing time last year ah for the Warhawks. ah So if you want a guy that, you know, could offer you some experience there, ah Herring could be a good option. but But I think it's pretty obvious right now that unless something crazy happens in camp, it's going to be General Moody's football team.
Speaker: Yeah, old heads like myself will remember John David Booty, JDB, as we called them in the streets. The streets. and that I will say this, at the very least, they'll sell some General Booty uniforms, right? like Too bad he can't wear like 69 or something, that'd be sweet. ah So anyway, let's get you know you started talking about the offense. We talked about General Booty. um
Speaker: I could be totally wrong on this. He sort of gives me like Spencer Rattler going to South Carolina type vibes where same school buried behind some really talented guys on the depth chart. Now obviously Rattler got his shot and then Caleb Williams just took his job because he was flat better and I don't think anybody's going to argue with that. but Booty goes to a second team the way that Rattler did South Carolina and maybe, you know, obviously a smaller, smaller school, smaller conference, things like that. But you get a chance to start and, you know, cut your teeth at the quarterback position, which you really haven't been able to do at Oklahoma, barring, you know, action and blowouts, I would assume. So like, I haven't followed Oklahoma football very, very closely. So, you know, there's that. Zeke, I want to throw this to you since we're still on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker: Besides if you want to talk about general booty, you can. But besides him, who do you kind of see as as someone who could be a difference maker offensively for the Warhawks this season? ah It's going to be Hunter Smith. He's the only touchdown haver from last season that is coming back. ah He ran for five of the running back ran for five hundred nine yards last year ah and was I have 5 .4 per carry is very good. ah Although he was split in time with Isaiah, Isaiah Willard who.
Speaker: I don't know, I kind of liked Moore just as a running back. He has since graduated, ah not going to play pro, I don't believe. ah It's Hunter Smith. he He's the only ah heavy impact offensive player that's coming back ah from last season. And so I just, you have to default to him being the the the bell cow. There's something like, there's 130 something carries ah the up for grabs. I mean, think about how much Jaya Wright ran the ball. That guy loved to run. Um, so there are touches to be had. Um, and like you were talking about like Vincent, he he likes to run the ball. So I think Hunter Smith could put together a statistically very strong season. Um, and just be one of those running backs on a ah very subpar team that.
Speaker: by by nature of having no other options, gets 100 carries, gains, you know, 120 carries even, he gets 600 yards, something like that. um As I said, I mean, they are returning three touchdowns and they all came from him. ah So it's hunt Hunter Smith could have a really good year.
Speaker: I could be dead wrong on this and we could look back on what I'm about to say and be like what an an idiot he thought they were gonna run this ground impound type offense and instead they went to know a spread or something but I'll say this I thinks and this is all going to depend on and we can kind of transition to the offensive line here uh Matt I think this offense if it's run like the one that Vincent had at UAB I think he wants to play conservative
Speaker: take time off the clock open up some play action passing for booty and just kind of grind teams down and just kind of hope that defensively you get enough stops to make it a ball game and because you go you know you look at hunter smith obviously you know like zeke said one of the returning guys from last season you've got one returning offensive lineman now that way that may be a good thing that may be a bad thing we we don't kind of know where that stands yet but i will say the receiving options are pretty
Speaker: unproven as well. So you don't really know what you're getting out of them. So Matt, do you think that they're going to be able to kind of put together the offensive line to run this? Or do you think this is going to be like a like a test run to see if this offense works? And then if it doesn't, maybe you bring in ah an actual offensive coordinator to run something different than then Vincent is used to or or whatnot. But what where do you go to see that? So here's what's going to be interesting because you brought up the the one returning starter, which is a big blow. But then you look at a guy like Carter Miller, who who you brought in from James Madison. He's appeared in 15 games in two years, ah started eight games of this past season at right tackle.
Speaker: ah Now according to Phil Steele, he's got Carter Miller playing center for the Warhawks ah So what kind of center experience Miller has I'm not really sure But that's a guy with some experience So I'm going to give you LM the benefit of the doubt here and say that they have two returning starters on the offensive line, ah one from the Warhawks themselves and then another starter elsewhere, right? And then Vincent brought in a guy from New Mexico in Devin Smith um and then picked up a JUCO transfer as well. um Look, the the little bit that I have heard from Coach Vincent, he's really high on this offensive line group. Now, I don't have anything to corroborate that or, you know, back him up like, yeah, I agree with him. Like, we'll see.
Speaker: um but But look, you know if have a first year head coach builds this offensive offensive line in a couple of months and here in camp is talking about how he he's high on them and thinks they could be the strength of the offense. I mean, that's gotta stand for something. I think they're actually the most intriguing part of this offensive group. Because like you said, Brian Vincent does like to run the football and you can't run the football well effectively without a, Good offensive line. So that's going to actually be the group that I'm watching the most on August 29th when they take take on Jackson State. you know What kind of run blocking are they going to be able to pull off if Brian Vincent sticks to his guns and runs the football heavy with the Warhawks?
Speaker: Yeah, definitely agree with that. I mean, you know, we've had coaches go and just totally blow smoke at these media days and just be like, Oh, we're going to be the best team since the 07 Patriots. And then it's just like, yeah, they're all right. Six wins, you know, and you're just like, what was all of that? Like, I know you were trying to inspire confidence in your guys, but like, At a certain point, you kind of got to call it like it is because otherwise people are going to be like, this guy's just talking out of his butt, you know, talking out of his booty. Um, defensively, let's talk about, let's talk about this. So last year.
Speaker: not great. I mean, they defensively they have not really been good since I've been following the program. Like the two biggest holes to me since Georgia Southern moved up to the Sunbelt when I've watched ULM play is other than Caleb Evans, they've struggled to get a quarterback under center who was worth anything. And this is over 10 years now. So that's that's not like a short trend. And to their defense just usually gets gashed, like it's, it's tough for them to stop anybody. And, and we'll talk about the schedule after we kind of go through the defensive side of the ball. They don't have an easy schedule by any means. Like, well, we'll talk about this as well. The over -under on wins for ULA.
Speaker: two And they won two steer totally turning a roster. So we this could be a Texas state situation where we look back and go, why didn't we see this coming? Like they got these guys out of there that weren't worth anything and brought all these new faces in, or we could be looking back and being like, it didn't honestly matter whether they kept the same team from last year or not. So we don't really know at this stage, like what that looks like. They get, they get five starters back on the defensive side of the ball. um
Speaker: Zeke, I know I kind of asked you this on the offensive side, but I wanted to ask you this about defense as well. Who is somebody that you've got your eye on on the Warhawks defense that might be able to kind of step up and and make plays for them? Because going I can't remember the last time i I remember mentioning a difference maker on the defensive side of the ball for UON.
Speaker: ah For me, it's the nose guard Jaden Hamlin who transferred in from a JUCO southwest, ah Mississippi And I say that because last season Southern Miss had a Ridiculous nose guard he was second all -conference Aidan Huntington now plays for Tulane I just think that this group ah is geared for strong interior ah Lineman they've tradition last year. They played three down. I believe they're expected to play another three down Lineman this year um This defensive line as a whole has talent that was not on the roster last year
Speaker: ah But our interesting names a lot of juko a couple a couple like, you know rising up through the internal ranks, so ah I'm gonna single out Jaden Hamlin because last year ah They got eight and a half sacks out of their nose guard, ah which is ridiculous for like a true nose guard and But I think as a whole, this defensive line could be maybe the only really, really ah inspiring part of this team.
Speaker: So defensively, Matt, one of the areas that Phil Steele kind of singled out, he he talked about the defensive line as well. But the other area that he said that Vincent feels good about is the cornerback room. And he thinks that they are talented enough to play man coverage, you know, jam guys at the line, things like press stuff like that. Do you think that that could do you think that that's going to bear out? Do you think that that they will be able to play that sort of physical defense? Or do you think it's just one of those kind of platitudes that a coach gives out? And then you're like, in game seven, you're like, what what was he talking about? What does that mean? Well, you see, what's going to be interesting is we we talk about five returning starters. um But when you look at their numbers from last year, their highest tackle guy
Speaker: they get back rank sixth. They lost their top five tacklers from last year ah including Aiden Huntington the the Zeke mentioned who is at Tulane now an absolute freak of nature with eight eight and a half sacks last season. Look, I think that this is a group that is absolutely a work in progress. I am a fan of Jaden Hamlin, like Zeke mentioned. And then when you look at the secondary, I like Carlin Vigors, who comes back from last year. He's a JUCO transfer as well, started 10 games a season ago, 54 tackles. um This secondary is experienced.
Speaker: And I think that they will be able to press defense a little bit, ah because, you know, when when you look at their their depth chart, it kind of looks like they may run a four to five, um which is something that you don't see a whole lot anymore with five DBs. um And so I'm interested to see how they look to use that Rover kind of guy, you know, half linebacker, half safety. um You know, are are you using Blitz packages with that? Are you using him more as a safety? You know, how are they going to pull that off? um But look, again, talked about the the experience. You've got three juniors, a senior and a sophomore.
Speaker: ah So four of your five projected starters in the in the secondary are upperclassmen. So there's tons of experience there. I think that that's a positive ah for a new head coach. But I'm just, I'm pessimistic on CoachSpeak because it's one of those things that until I see it, I can't side with you on it. Um, so when you host Jackson state and UAB the first two weeks of the year, show it to me and then I'll believe you.
Speaker: I'll say this about their secondary. ah Maybe he is really impressed by what he's seeing in camp because this was a secondary that last year was among the worst in the country. ah They got better as the year went on, but like, you remember when App State hung 335 passing yards on him? South Alabama almost put 400 on him. I think Bryant Vincent might be telling the truth in that he's inspired in that they jumped from like the 130th best pass defense to the 112th. I think that might just be the case here. So talking about the secondary, I'm just gonna kind of talk about them as a group. One of the things that stuck out to me when I go and look at the projected depth chart that Phil Steele put out is kind of the size of a lot of these guys. Like they have pretty good size in the secondary, which makes me think,
Speaker: You know, if those guys can can be agile and kind of flip their hips and go with these receivers around the conference, like they might be able to play man. But it's like when you go down, you know, the Nickelback is always going to be 5 '10", what, at 5 '11", something like that. Like he's got to cover those quick, like twitchy guys in the slot. But when you go and look at their other guys, it's like Vigors is 6 '2", 193. ah David Godsey is about the only other one that's kind of undersized. He's 5 '9", 175, but Wydet Williams is 6 '2", 200. Karl Fontroy is 6 '1", 180. So, I mean, they all have fairly decent size for the DB spot. So we'll see, you know, if it turns out that
Speaker: these guys can get there and play man against some of these receivers like in the conference like yeah maybe maybe they will move up into the you know It won't be in the bottom third, but maybe they could kind of jump up. You know, Zeke, you said 112. If they could progress to, let's say, let's say, what what are there 130 FBS teams? If they could be in like the 90 to 100 range, I would count that as a a total win for this season defensively.
Speaker: So, and we've seen teams, you know, kind of flip their secondary in one season and then turn it all around and and not be, you know, dead at the bottom. So that would be, you know, kind of something to hang your hat on as well. um So let's transition off the defense. Let's talk about their schedule. ah I said this earlier, their team total over under is two and a half wins, which is not a lot. But when you look at the schedule, it's not an easy schedule by any stretch. You get Jackson State in the opener. So that you got that.
Speaker: UAB struggled with Trent Dilfer in year one and you could tell because, you know, I watched them play Georgia Southern head to head. They did not look good. They did not look like they were organized, that they knew what they were doing. It looked like a someone had stolen like a counterfeit version of the Clay Helton playbook and decided to hand it to Trent Dilfer and was like, run this and then that's what it looked like. So That was as bad as it got. There's a chance they might be able to pull an upset against UAB at home in week two just because I was not inspired by the UAB that I saw last season in the limited sample that I saw. But you go down pet at Texas, at Troy, James Madison,
Speaker: Southern Miss might be winnable depending on what what they kind of fueled as a team this year. And and who knows, like by that stage of the season, your six games end, Will Hall, if they underachieve again, he could be out. like he was already getting talkings to by the AD after games last year and they had to and Marshall who we'll talk about on the next episode did the same thing had to put out a statement and say no he's coming back like we swear it'll be different next time so but he seems like he's already walking on thin ice as is then you get South Alabama which is ah you know always a good you know at least competitive team
Speaker: Marshall, I just kind of talked about them. Texas State's going to be good. all but They have to play Texas and Auburn in the same season. like that's I know that these are these money games, but that's that's brutal. to like When you're trying to like win two, three games in a season, you've got to play all these money teams. Arkansas State and Louisiana round out their schedule, but their over under is two and a half. I'm just going to throw it out there. I would take the over on the win total of two and a half. yeah i i just don't I just don't know how, it would be really tough to win under three games and I just don't know. The the thing that I'm most interested about when looking at their schedule, um I think Jackson State's a win um just because they were only good because Dion was there with Shitter and Travis Hunter. um They fell off real quick once they left. So I think that's a win. UAB,
Speaker: Good be a win. um I'm interested to see what kind of team Trent Dilfer is able to field. But what's going to be interesting is those first four Sunbelt games. Because all four of those teams um outside of Southern Mess, so three of the first four, um they they all have something in common. They all have new coaches. So there's a ton of question marks about what, how good are they actually going to be? Cause we've looked at Troy and said, Oh man, you know, subbed out champs last two years. John Summerall's gone. Imani Vidal's gone. Gunnar Watson's gone. Jevon Solomon's gone. Like how good are they going to be really? Right? James Madison, kind of the same thing. Art Signeti leaves. Gorda McLeod is now in San Marcus.
Speaker: Who the hell is this Bob Chesney guy? and it is like There's a ton of questions there. Southern Miss, it's not a new coach, but there's still a ton of questions. like Is this gonna be Will Hall's last year? Is he finally gonna be able to figure it out? ah you know you've got You've got Tate Rotemaker. ah how How much does that help you? I don't know. We'll see. And then South Alabama. I've heard some really interesting things ah coming from Mobile. It might not be pretty in year one under Major Applewhite. I'm just gonna leave it at that.
Speaker: um I was going to ask you, did you mean interesting, good or interesting, bad? Because it can go it it may not be pretty ah under under Major Applewhite in year one. um So, yeah, the schedule is not easy. I will agree with you 100 percent going to Texas and to the plains. Brutal. um But two and a half with the question mark surrounding the teams on the Sunbelt side of their schedule, I think they can get three wins this year. Yeah, I see three wins as well. It's just like there are four or five games where it might happen outside of Jackson State. That's the only real lock I see here. um And, you know, i'm I'm not going to go too long because you guys already hit it. But it's like they've they've got to win like of those five, six games, they've got to win three. Right. Right. other Otherwise, why are we here?
Speaker: ah So, I don't know. i This is something that my money is not even touching. As juicy as a two and a half looks, my my money is so far away from this.
Speaker: Oh, I'm not, I'm not running to the, my phone and pulling up draft Kings and laying, you know, money on two and a half over two and a half wins. But if it's one of those where if you if I had to make a prediction, I would just take the over almost out of principle. And I, I kind of said this jokingly before we started recording, but we've seen so many teams in the Sunbelt just. hard around and win a game that they when you go back and look at the stats you're like how did that happen like the one that that springs to mind is i think it was two years ago or maybe it was last year southern miss won a game where they had like 117 yards of total offense and i was just like hot if any if they can win that any team can win like ah that is ah that's just pitiful so like if you can pull that off
Speaker: I mean, you know, who's to say that the offensive line doesn't gel in the second half and they rip off wins against. You know, we'll talk about Marshall ah in a minute. Marshall. pull Pennington at quarterback? Like, do you feel comfortable penciling them in for a win against ULM? I don't. So like, you know, it it kind of is what it is. It's like, and who's to say like Arkansas State could once again field one of the worst defenses in the country.
Speaker: Well, what if Texas State or sorry, ULM, what if ULM's offensive line like kind of coalesces and they just run for 220 yards and and have the ball for 45 minutes? Like who's to say that that that doesn't happen too? So I just mean there's there's a lot of outcomes that I can see that they could kind of luck into three wins or hey hey, maybe Vincent feels like a really scrappy competitive team and they you know they kind of come together by the end of the season and they can rip off like a couple of these Sunbelt games against
Speaker: you know, teams that frankly aren't projected to be very good, like in the conference. Also, one other thing, Matt, I know you have a copy of the Phil Steele magazine. You have two copies, actually. Zeke, I don't know if you do. I felt like Steele kind of copped out a little bit with his projected standings for the Sun Belt, because I looked at the East, and he's got like four teams tied for second. I was like, what is this? You got to take a stand, dude. You got to pick a team. like Yeah. I've got my own gripe with Phil Steele, and first of all, I don't i don't think coverage of G5 is possible without guys like him, without his magazine. What we do is not possible without like him and his team. I'm not going to tip for an ebook.
Speaker: who Who am I tipping? The author? This man didn't tip? I was asked to tip when I checked out as an e -book. I didn't go to the store. I bought it direct from his website as an e -book. It was not shipped to me. I'm reading it off my laptop right now. I am not tipping you for that. I am on the front lines. I'm on the front lines of defending the tipping. I am. What are we doing, dude? You gotta support the man's work. It's a $20 book. I'm buying the book. i that's Throw three bucks on the cost. Like call it a processing fee. Don't ask me to tip for your ebook.
Speaker: that was That was part of it. When I checked out, I saw there was like 70 cents in taxes. And I was like, this can't be right. There's no way he's selling this to me for like, you know, how on an infomercial, you're like, it's 1999. I didn't think it was actually 1999. I thought it was going to be like, it was actually 1999. Yeah, it was it was 2205 or something I was expecting. And then I and then and there was a tip section I go, brother, you just emailed me a PDF. Like, am I tipping my boss at work now? Like, what are we doing? Like, so I don't know.
Speaker: let's Let's transition. um We came to talk about two teams today. We're going to wrap up by talking about ah Marshall. ah I kind of touched on this, ah sorry, as I get to the Marshall page. um I kind of talked about this. So Charles Huff was already a little bit I say a little bit, he was on the hot seat. Like, it it anytime your AD has to come out and release a statement through the official Twitter channels and say, we fully believe him, we're backing him, he'll be back for another season, everything's going to be way better. Anytime you have to come out and say a statement like that, and I've seen Georgia Southern firsthand do this with ah Tyson Summers in year one when he underachieved, anytime you have to put out a statement like that, it's
Speaker: It's like the vote of confidence. Like you're a dead man walking basically, unless you totally turn this team around and we'll talk about kind of weird situation with the quarterback. Um, but as of today, Cole Pennington supposed to start, um, because we Mitch. Yeah, Zeke's back in love. He's got the giant, like, wolf heart eyes are going boom, boom, boom. I'm not to steal your thunder. Mitch Griffiths, I guess, stepped away from football. And I'm grateful because I was about to fall in love with another Marshall quarterback. Wake Forest, that just, oh, Wake Forest just feels like a quarterback school. Are you kidding me?
Speaker: ah yeah is what' what What's Sam Hartman doing these days?
Speaker: Wake Forest is a quarterback school. I'm not saying it is, but it feels like one. Noted quarterback factory, Wake Forest school.
Speaker: Okay. So Zeke talked about it. Mitch Griffiths has announced that he walked away from football. ah I didn't realize this until I looked him up. The guy was originally, I mean, he is 5 '11", 192. So even if he had come to play, he's not the biggest guy in the world or wouldn't have been. Now, obviously size is no indicator of ability or else Jared Lorenzen would be the greatest quarterback in the history of football. But you get Cole Pennington back.
Speaker: Fortunately? question mark like i don't I don't really know. I said this before Matt signed on, before we started recording and everything. Unless Chad Pennington found a way to like space jam his football talent into his son in the off season, like where he puts it in the ball and the son touches it, I just don't i don't foresee it going very well. Cause it didn't go well when he played last year and they were desperate for anybody to step up and make a play. Please take the heat off of Rachina Ali. Like we're begging you. but Could we agree that quarterback is their biggest issue? Like all the way around. Often without question. Like their court, if they had a competent quarterback, they're probably an eight win team last year. They're the mirror image of Southern Miss. No, no, Marshall has weapons. That's fair point. Add weapons.
Speaker: um Look, this team is so interesting because Charles Huff, you know, we're talking about him being on the hot seat, but it's funny. If you look at his resume, if you never watched a martial game and you just look at the paper resume, like how is this dude on the hot seat? He's got a winning record. He's coaching a bowl game every single year that he's been there. Well, he didn't have a winning record last year
Speaker: so but i' prove wrong yeah i think I think there is something to be said and and the AD of every school will deny this, but I think there is something to this of playing an unpleasing style of football to the eye to watch, I think hurts more than anybody will let on. Like you can watch a team that is exciting and bad, like Georgia Southern 2022 with Vantreese, not a good football team. I mean, defensively, they were a sieve, like it was it was tough, but they were exciting. They threw the ball down the field. They did a bunch of, you know, interesting things with the air raid. Marshall is not that. They do not run an exciting brand of offense. Now, things might change, ah you know, it gets,
Speaker: ah Sorry, Aggie as their new offensive coordinator. Now he's expected to run kind of an air raid style. So who, Zeke, I know that we make the joke that, and I'm going to throw it to you for this question. I know we make the joke that you're kind of been in love with Marshall quarterbacks in the past. How, how do you honestly feel about Cole Pennington in an air raid style scheme, which is going to require him to throw the ball 40 to 50 times a game?
Speaker: Not feel good about that, like at all? No, no. ah Mind you, Seth Daigy knew O .C. brother of former ah Sunbelt quarterback Jared Daigy and his illustrious career now playing for the CFL. ah No, I don't feel good. I think the running back situation at Marshall is obviously no longer have Richeen Ali, who for the past two or three years has been ah one of the premier backs in the country, not just the conference. um So I feel good about the running back room. I think there's enough talent to to scrap up. Like even if they don't have like a a standout guy, like their only returner, Ethan Payne was unspectacular in his appearances and they've got a couple transfers um kind of fill in that spot. But like even still like I think they're good enough to get the job done. It's this past game that if Seth Dagee does like to just toss the ball around and if that is how they go,
Speaker: It's just like who who's gonna throw the ball and who's he gonna be throwing it to? I'm not spectacularly wild like What you know, hey, it's tough. um I Like I think Marshall has and I know I'm jumping the gun here like they have the defensive infrastructure in line like they're they're losing some really really good defensive players Owen Porter um Micah Abraham, but like this team with a quarterback or even just a really good receiver could could scrap together like eight wins easy. um But they they just simply don't have that. So the other thing too. Oh, sorry. Just one minor thing real quick. The other thing too that we didn't talk about that I kind of wanted to throw in is how weird the situation got with Cam Fancher at the end of last year. So he enters the portal
Speaker: And then I think it was Huff that came out and was basically like, he just wasn't good or something like something to that effect. Like it was a strange thing to come out and say, and then Fancher or one of his family members or something came out and was like the coach, his sister was like the coach wasn't behind him. The fans like booed him like a lot and stuff like that. So that's just a weird situation all around. Like you don't, you don't hear about that. Like. at this level of football like I don't even think Davis Brynn as bad as he was for Southern last year like and he was the worst quarterback statistically in it in the NCAA or FBS level I don't even think he dealt with that so that was just like a weird situation all around but Matt go ahead no I was just gonna say I think the quarterback situation is pretty fluid um and what I mean by that is like if they have to go with Cole Pennington
Speaker: and so be it. ah but But I think Charles Huff and his coaching staff is probably still attacking the portal um because I think all their eggs were in the Mitch Griffith basket until he decided to step away from football. um So I think I wouldn't be surprised if they're still searching the portal to try to maybe find a late addition there. But yeah, I can't say that I'm confident about Cole Pennington throwing it 40 times a game. I don't think that that's going to end well ah for for Marshall. And in reality, I don't think that's going to end well for Charles Huff, because if the season doesn't go well, no. Am I saying I think he should be fired? No, because I don't think he should. I mean, this is again, we're talking about a coach that was nine and four. 18 months ago. um But in this day of college football, it's what have you done for me lately? He was six and seven last year. They have a similar season.
Speaker: It's just, he's, he's going to be out the door. Um, so I'm really intrigued to see how that's going to play out. Uh, because again, Cole Pennington's just, we'll see. Unless he took like a real step forward in the off season or in camp or something like I, and the fact, that the fact to that he is. you know, a a notable alumni's son. played a lot last year when Fancher was kind of in and out of the lineup with like underperformance and I think Fancher got injured at one point so Pennington had to play kind of out of necessity like the fact that he has all of that in his favor and they still looked at Mitch Griffiths going it before he stepped away from football and was like that's the guy like we're not playing Cole Pennington that should I think tell you quite a bit about how they actually feel about Cole Pennington where this is a
Speaker: This is an escape hatch. This is not like a... This is not what we intended, you know? Look at Pennington's numbers. He completed 57 % of his passes for 695 yards and had a 0 to 6 touchdown to interception ratio. And then you're like, oh, well, maybe he could run the ball. No, his net was negative 69. Cat lost 88 yards. and Granted, I'm a proponent that sex should not hurt your rushing yards. I think that's the stupidest rule in college football. um but like the The numbers are horrible. They're so incredibly bad. um So yeah, i mean if he took if he took a step forward and can actually lead this team, then great. So be it.
Speaker: But I think if you're Charles Huff, you're looking for a portable quarterback and you're looking for him quick.
Speaker: So Zeke, let's talk about, you you mentioned that you kind of like what they've got going with their running game. Talk a little bit more about that because frankly, I feel like there's not a lot to kind of grab onto with the receiving core. so like And we've made ah allusion to that already. But kind of talk about what you like about the run game versus, you know, ah obviously it's hard to replace someone like Ollie and even going back two years, Kalen Layborn, guys like that. Those guys were very highly productive and were the engines of the entire offense. Uh, and now you don't have that luxury. So, you know, if.
Speaker: Jordan Houston doesn't perform or AJ Turner or Ethan Payne and these guys, they don't step up and kind of anchor the entire offense. It could get even uglier than it did last year because if you don't have Ali, what does last year's Marshall team look like without Ali on the roster? you know And that's kind of what you're looking at this year. So talk a little bit about that. Uh, I think you, uh, you obviously can't talk about the run game without mentioning the offensive line, uh, which is still strong. Uh, obviously like there's there's no major overhaul going on there. Uh, Marshall's bringing back their center and left guards. Um, but the guys that they brought in to fill in the, uh, right guard and the tackle spots, like their guys that have played.
Speaker: ah Jeremy Jones played 11 year 11 games for Tulsa last year Elijah Ellis played five for Baylor, which is not not notable um So I think there there's good guys in front um And it comes down to Jordan Houston who I like I'm not gonna sit here and blow smoke to either of y 'all and tell you that I've watched Jordan Houston film and But I mean, he he was at NC State previously, which I think, again, is like not not notable. um I think of the guys on the roster that I do know about, it's Ethan Payne, who ah with Rashina Lee gone, was serviceable. Four yards a carry, only one touchdown, but he did like very well as the second second back for this offense. um
Speaker: And, you know, I know this isn't the sexiest answer, but it's like it's going to be who is and what is Jordan Houston. And that's an answer I just simply don't know because I don't watch NC State football.
Speaker: Um, yeah, that's going to be interesting to see. Uh, you know, you mentioned the offensive line. We'll, we'll kind of see how that all shakes out. And again, it's, it's really tough to kind of project this offense with a Cole Pennington lead offense without. a strong running game and questionable receiving talent is really tough to kind of look at and and find anything to like because you go through the receiving core and the three guys that ah Phil Steele has projected are Elijah Metcalf,
Speaker: um Demarcus Harris and Charles Montgomery and none of those guys I believe cracked 300 yards receiving last year. Like eat any of them. So you're you're betting on a lot of unproven guys. ah I wish for Marshall fans sake that Charles have spent as much time reloading at the receiver position as he does running back. Like that seems to be kind of a focus for him is we need a strong running game but you're neglecting the things. It's really tough to win at the college level.
Speaker: if you're scoring like 14, 15, 16 points a game, it doesn't matter how good the defense is. Unless you're fielding, you know, the new 01 Miami Hurricanes defense, like, it's gonna be really, really difficult to look at this and say, no, it's cool, guys. Defense will hold them to two touchdowns. We only have to score more than, ah you know, three touchdowns. We have to score more than that. Where is that coming from? Who's giving you that production? So, Matt, do I wanna kinda hand it off to you, to talk about the defensive side of the ball, which has been their bread and butter really other than the running game the last couple of years. But do you have any sort of wrap up thoughts on the offense before we kind of get into defensive side of the ball?
Speaker: The only thing is is you know we we talk about their weapons. DeMarcus Harris is probably their best option in terms of weapons in general. um I'm interested to see what Jordan Houston can do. um But again, if it's an air raid ah offense, how much is he truly going to get the football? um But now DeMarcus Harris, 396 yards last year, one touchdown, 24 catches. um Not great numbers. It's a good average, 16 and a half yards per catch. um But you know can he be that number one guy that gets you 40, 45 catches a season? that That's going to be a big question for them. ah But no, defensively, look, you return five starters from last year. ah You get your number two tackler back in JJ Roberts.
Speaker: in in your secondary. ah Nine starts last season, 73 tackles, had two interceptions. AJ McGee is another guy that you come back with a lot of experience. The the thing that I like about this group is that you're bringing back experience at every level. you' got a You've got a returner in the defensive line, you've got a returner at linebacker, and then you've got a returner in the secondary. um And I think that that's critical experience for a group that like you mentioned Brian. Defense has been a calling card over the last couple of years right Eli Neil Abraham bow plane. Micah Abraham, you've Owen Porter.
Speaker: You've had some beasts on Marshall's defense over the last couple of years. So I'm really interested to see how they continue to do that with their second year defensive coordinator and Jason Seymour. They had a decent defense last year. but It didn't jump off the page at you. ah Can Marshall get back to controlling the line of scrimmage offensively? um Because if they can do that, I think ah i think you're looking at an 8 -1 football team. um Get back to dominating teams defensively, find you a quarterback. If they do those two things, I think Marshall can turn things around and you know maybe Charles Huff's seat isn't so hot at the end of 2024.
Speaker: I think one of the things that and this is like really hard to quantify without like PFF analytics or whatnot is I at least feel like the martial offense put the defense in a lot of tough spots and bad situations last year and you you know you cited Cole Pennington's touchdown interception ratio You know, Fancher, to be frank, was better, but he wasn't like, oh my gosh, you know, this guy. Like, he's he's putting us and in such great positions. like It's been a real struggle for them offensively. It was last year, um the year before they got away with having a lay born and kind of a rotating cast of quarterbacks.
Speaker: um but last year it was kind of like the the chickens came home to roost a little bit which is you're investing all this time in these running backs and defensively and stuff where are the points going to come from so that's that's really been the question i think defensively for me and and Phil Steele uh the guy that he has his eye on is uh defensive end Michael Green kind of pick up that Owen Porter role as a pass rusher uh played at Virginia uh the last two years um
Speaker: You know, he expects him to have a big big season. He seems a little undersized at 238 pounds to be playing a defensive end Especially when you look at the other one and the other defensive end they have is Jabari Ishmael and he's 257 Like that seems about the size you kind of want your defensive end to be at this level But but I mean 238 maybe you can get away with that that sort of thing Zeke defensively It's always tough to replace a player of Micah Abraham's caliber.
Speaker: um But secondary wise, do you think they'll be able to kind of bring these pieces together, maybe not have that one guy that is like an absolute shutdown corner, but maybe they can kind of, I don't want to say crowdsource, but that that seems to be an applicable term here. Kind of crowdsource a defensive like secondary strategy to say, hey, you know, we don't have the guy that we can just put on an island and leave alone anymore, but maybe we can kind of figure this out with the pieces we do have. ah Yeah, i so Marshall, it's kind of interesting like where the pieces that they lost to graduation and transfer fall out because they lost both of their D ends, both of their linebackers and both of their corners.
Speaker: So it's kind of weird like matt you mentioned that there is experience at each level and there is but the defense is on the and The experience is on the interior line or the experience is on like, you know 15 yards deep instead of 10 I think from a secondary perspective. I'm not terribly worried um The two safeties both can't come back Jacobi Henderson who played. Briefly, I'm trying to see. Steel says he played 11 games last year, so like he's not a returning starter, but the guy played football last year, so I'm not terribly worried about the secondary. My concern is like can you replace Owen Porter? ah Can you replace the edge rushers? Because to quiz legs and Isaiah Gibson were both great last year. Great on the interior line.
Speaker: um But, like, with how Marshall played last year and Jason Seymour's first year as defensive coordinator, like, who cares how good your nose tackle is? ah This is not a scheme where, ah you know, a 318 -pound, like, 6 '4 nose tackle, like Isaiah Gibson, is gonna get seven sacks. So, I have no concerns about this secondary. I think it'll be i don't I don't want to say it's going to be better because without Micah Abraham, who was just ridiculous, um I have concerns, but the their concerns are going to be in the front seven. And just like, do they have the guys to get the job done? Oh, we've talked about the offense. We've talked about the quarterback situation and the uncertainty there. We've talked about the defense weeks to kind of continue on the trajectory.
Speaker: You know, they they had been on, you know, it was a little rougher last season. ah Well, I mean, statistically it was a lot rougher defensively points per game wise. They jumped from 16 points per game allowed in 2022 to 28 per game in 2023. Even with all of those guys that we mentioned, the Micah Abrahams, the Owen Porters of the world, they were still giving up, you know, four touchdowns on average a game. oh You know, you kind of take away a weapon another weapon from the offense and Cole Pennington's still there and you're like, hey man, you got to keep us in games because if you keep throwing picks like giving them out like candy on Halloween, like we don't have much of a shot no matter how much talent or scheme wise we do things well on defense. But let's get into the schedule here. So obviously there were six and seven last year, three and five in the conference. Um,
Speaker: They start off with Stony Brook, which feels like a free win. Virginia Tech. These Virginia schools, the Virginia and Virginia Tech, they feel like they could give the Sun Belt a win any week. If the Sun Belt schedules them, it feels like not like a certainty, but it feels like if we have one of these two schools that have been underachieving for years on our schedule, we have a shot at getting a Power Five win. Now, nobody's going to be floored if they beat Virginia Tech because Virginia Tech has not been good since
Speaker: you know, Frank Beamer retired, but and beat them last year as well. So and I think Old Dominion, Virginia. So like both of those schools. like What?
Speaker: Anyway, I think Old Dominion beat Virginia, right in game two.
Speaker: Yeah, I think they beat him without without like, I think they scored one touchdown. So I mean, you know, who who knows? ah Both of those schools give up. You know, well we'll have to see. They do have to play Ohio State. Western Michigan feels like it could be a winnable game for them. um I don't know what kind of team. Western Michigan was pretty awful last season. I feel like that could be an easy a win at home. App doesn't feel great. Like that just that feels like a disaster waiting to happen. so You play Southern and State five days apart.
Speaker: know Who knows? ah And then you close. yeah ULM is a winnable game. Southern Miss on the roads, a winnable game. Coastal, Old Dominion are all winnable games. So you have a little bit of relief in the back half of that schedule. Maybe that gets you to, Matt talked about eight wins. I don't i don't know that eight wins is really in the cards of Cole Pennington's your quarterback. But they do have the the easy schedule on the back end that might help them help them out. ah So they're over under for this season according to DraftKings is six wins. Where do you guys kind of sit on that? I would say I would just save my money, honestly, because I could see them winning six exactly. And then you're like, why did I have money tied up in this? And you push.
Speaker: This is tough. ah like As I look through the schedule, Stony Brook, as you said, Western minute Michigan, I think are both not gimmes, but like those two, I feel comfortable saying Marshall will win. State and Southern, like I think Marshall should win both of those games, but that second game on Thursday against Georgia State on a five days rest is kind of weird. um I don't know. i I like seven wins for Marshall feels right. um They kind of have the opposite situation where that ULM has where like ULM just got a tough schedule and like, you know, um obviously a first year coach is going to get leeway. um Charles Huff.
Speaker: I don't remember what I said last year about his job security. Hindsight, I don't think he should be in danger. um But if his job is for whatever reason in danger, like he should he should be happy. cause like he he He's gonna win seven, eight games, and that's gonna be more than enough to keep Marshall happy. um Or at least it ought to be. And if you're not happy at Marshall with eight wins right now, I don't really know what would make you happy. So I like seven wins here. Matt, let's let's play devil's advocate for a second. Let's say they win exactly. They hit their over under exactly bowl game aside. You know, seven and six, six and seven aside, if they win six games exactly like they did last season, do you think Charles Huff is back for twenty twenty five?
Speaker: It truly depends on the bowl game. If you go six and six, it all comes down to the bowl game ah because, you know, I talk about they've played in five, but they've played in a bowl game each of the last five years. They've only won one of them. So look, if it's another six and six season, do you win the bowl game? Because, you know, no, you're not going to be pleased with seven and six, but it's going to be really hard to look at a guy who has had success at your program, um has shown you what the football program can be under him coming off of a bowl win. And you go, oh, look, thanks. But, you know, we're going to move on.
Speaker: Like that's not great. Um, so if he wins a bowl game, I think he stays, but if you go six and seven with a bowl loss, I think it might be the end of Charles off. What if they go seven and five in the regular season and then lose the bowl game? He's fine in that case. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Really bad seven and five.
Speaker: but Like there, there is, there is such a thing, right? Like if you lose to ULM Southern Miss and Stony Brook and you're seven and five, then yeah, you might be in trouble. But if your five losses are to Ohio State, Virginia Tech, App, Coastal and James Madison, then, you know, I think, I think you probably look at them with some grace and go, okay, you know, we'll give you another year.
Speaker: I just feel like after the way that they treated their six and six season last year, and I know they lost the bowl game. I just feel like after the way that they treated the huff thing after last season, I think if he goes to six and six in the regular season, I don't think he has to worry about the bowl game. Cause I don't think he's going to be there. I think if they go six and six again, he's gone before the, I think he's gone before the bowl and they're getting a jump on hiring someone else.
Speaker: Because think about it. I mean, if Matt, I know that you're like, if I was the AD, I wouldn't do this. But the fact that they had to come out with a letter at the end of last season and say, we promise better results to the fans and people on you know on on Twitter are very much a minority. But I can't imagine people were overly thrilled and in West Virginia about going six and six. and not really having a passing game to speak of and and struggling to do anything, much of anything offensively. So I just don't see a world in which we're getting another one of those statements at the end of another six and six season where we're like, hey, I know I said it the first time and it went the exact same way I did before, but we're doing it again in 25, four more years or whatever. the whole The whole thing is that last year was such a big step back.
Speaker: Right. Cause he comes in and 21, you go six and six, but you play in a bowl game against a really, really good Louisiana team and you were competitive for three quarters. Right. And then 22, you go nine and four with a win at Notre Dame. You're like, holy crap. Like Marshall's back. This is Randy Moss kind of days. And then you go six and seven. Like I get it. Last year was a a step in the wrong direction for Marshall. But also you have to realize what Charles Huff did for you in years one and two. Like I'm i'm not ready to throw the guy out just because of one bad season.
Speaker: um He had quarterback issues last year, though we've well documented ah between Cam Fancher and Cole Pennington. So look, I think if you're a fan of Marshall, you just got to give him the opportunity to continue building what he had in years one and two when he actually had competent quarterbacks.
Speaker: Order back issues that have yet to be resolved. Still still lingering. but So we'll see. Which is part of the problem. yeah and I don't know, man. I think if, I think it's more likely that we look at 22 as being an outlier season and him being and him just being a 500 ish coach and being like, you know, nine and four in 22, everything broke. Right. And we got, you know, this Florida state transfer running back and we crushed it and we didn't need to throw the football that efficiently. And now it's just like,
Speaker: I don't know, man. Again, if he goes six and six and three of his four seasons, he's five hundred or below like that's going to be tough to to just chalk up to variance at that point. That's for sure. Um, before we close, I do want to say one thing, and this is not Marshall related. I'm moving on to a new topic. um I've got beef with the two of you. How have we recorded for an entire hour now? but Open the college football preseason and not one of us has discussed The fact that EA Sports College Football 25 comes out in a week So I've been thinking about wait time a week away So I'm this Georgia State Brian's Georgia Southern Matt, Louisiana. I imagine we're all gonna start with those teams, right? Yeah
Speaker: Who's the second team? Who's the second team that you're going with? How how about this? Can I just mention one thing before we answer that? This will be the first time Georgia Southern is in a college football game that has been released because we were not in the last right. Yeah, because that was made for the 2013 season the year before us and at moved up. I guess apps in the same boat. So apps never been in the game either. Neither is coastal, right? Yeah, that's true. I mean, there's other teams out there, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw, they're all in the same deal. um I think for me, I think.
Speaker: I would just have to go through and see ah who a bad team is that has a cool color scheme. So I was thinking like Maryland or something, you know, that red, red, yellow and black, like I think might be. And plus they're in the ACC and it's kind of fun to to be in that big. You want to be a big conference team, but I second secondary. I just want a team that's got a sick like color scheme uniform color. So that's that's just me. See, my second team, and neither one of you will appreciate this. No, actually. act Completely in factual. It's another Sunbelt team. um My secondary dynasty is going to be with Abb. Really? And the reason that I say that is because I'm a huge fan of Abb's uniforms.
Speaker: I think they're solid. And then I've seen a shot of what Kid Brewer Stadium looks like in NCAA. Bro, it's awesome. Oh, I bet. It's awesome. So, cool uniform, solid team, cool stadium. I'm in. Yeah. I'm in. i think I think I'm going to go Kennesaw. A lot of people are going to do that this year. um But I'm particularly drawn to it. I grew up and my family lives eight exits down from Kennesaw State.
Speaker: Um, so before they were an FBS team, like most of my buddies from high school went there. Uh, you know, I applied KSU like K KSU is home to me. So I, plus they got like the triple option history, which is going to be fun to putts around with. Like you really can't do that in Madden. Um, and you know, not having to do that at army, like where army's independent, and then you gotta have to like role play that you're a military academy. I don't want to do that. So i it's gonna be KSU and it's just gonna be see how far we can take the triple option before I get fired for going 7 and 6. Yeah. I think Kennesaw would be thrilled if you went 7 and 6. So no, well hold on. Do y 'all start as head coach? At first, yeah. For the first couple, yeah. Okay, you see, because I've always started as offensive coordinator.
Speaker: i prefer to I prefer offense over defense right for obvious reasons. but Can I say one thing real quick that made the last game unplayable from that perspective of playing as a coordinator? And this even went to the road to glory mode where you created a player. The Super Sim before was awful. So like if you were an offensive coordinator, your defense is giving up 70 a game. like I went through that with the road to glory mode too because I was like oh I'm gonna make a quarterback and he's gonna play the same styles like Johnny Manziel at the time and and stuff like that I think my defense averaged like 73 a game they gave up I was winning games like 81 like there were basketball scores and I was like what are we doing here like every time they go down they score a touchdown like we can't stop anybody
Speaker: That's 100 % true. um But yeah, ah for some reason, like on 13 and 14, I always started as an offensive coordinator and like at ah like at UL or you know a small school and would always try to work my way up to a head coach at a big time program. um So that's probably what I'll do again. I'll probably start as offensive coordinator. but This will be my first NCAA game I've ever owned.
Speaker: I was, I was like 12, 13. So I was like just about the age where you start buying your own video games when the last one came out. I didn't grow up in a college football house. I've never owned an NCAA game. Oh my God. This is insane. This is, this is the new version. This is the version of Zeke. How old were you in? We're back baby. Uh, i just I never own even a how how old were you when it's like what was it like living in Mormonism for growing up? I was playing like Madden. I was playing 2k bro Don't look my birthday's in August. Mm -hmm. So every year for my birthday My parents would buy me NCAA in July. I'd get it as an early birthday present
Speaker: was it was a root it was a thing that we had every year. when I got my birthday present early. And then I would take the money that I got from like my grandparents for my birthday and buy Madden because Madden always came out like three days after my birthday. And I was set for the year. Because when you were 10, what more did you need than to play Madden? That was it. Maybe a basketball game if you were a big basketball guy. Like that was it. um Oh, dude, the I'm trying to think the earliest NCAA game I can remember. Oh, eight. Oh, nine. Maybe the earliest one that you guys can remember. I mean, dude, I was born in 97. That no way was the first video game I ever owned.
Speaker: My first one was 98. Holy. And they had and they had multiple college football games at that point. It was not just EA Sports. They had it was the same thing with the NFL when they had like ESPN 2K5 like NFL game. I remember. two case remember Yeah, so like you had multiple options for all of these sports like there was a there was a 2k college basketball. There was an EA college basketball. There was a it was the same thing with all of them. So yeah, 1998 was the first one that I bought for the PS one. I want to say.
Speaker: ah So there's that. We got a wrap up here. This has been going really long. ah we We still ah have some stuff to do. But Matt, send us home here. Tell everybody where they can find you on social media. And and I'll close. We'll wrap this up. You can find me on social at me as Matt both ends capitalized looking forward to another great year of some Sunbelt content. um And if you're a fan of the Louisiana age of Cajuns, you can find all kinds of stuff on my social media covering the Cajuns here in 2024. I'm also on Twitter. ah Find me at Zeke Palermo. z e k e p a l e r m o Also on LinkedIn. Recent college graduate looking for work so.
Speaker: if you're hiring, look at my LinkedIn. ah As always, you can find me on mostly twitter x whatever you call it these days uh at watch the stone follow us the show on twitter at warm weather fans like rate subscribe apple podcast spotify wherever you get your stuff we will be back next week to talk georgia southern and southern miss on the warm weather fans sundial podcast
