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2024 Sun Belt Football: Week 6 Recap, Week 7 Preview
73 Plays7 months ago
Brian, Zeke and Matt return to talk UL Monroe's huge upset over a previously undefeated James Madison team, how much longer Shawn Clark has left at Appalachian State following another humiliating conference loss, and whether Marshall has turned the corner offensively by identifying QB Braylon Braxton.
The three then get down to picking week 7 games, with some upset picks sprinkled in.
Email the show questions and we'll read them on air to warmweatherfans@gmail.com!
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts' Greetings
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome in everybody to another edition of Warm Weather Fans The Sun Belt Podcast. I am your host, b Brian Stone. Once again, join this week by Matt Migas. Once again, joined by Zeke Palermo.
00:00:27
Speaker
What's up, boys?
Chaotic College Football Week Analysis
00:00:28
Speaker
ah It was a crazy week around the entire nation as far as college football went, and the Sunbelt was no exception. Honestly, the way that things went, all in all, I was actually very glad that Southern did not play on Saturday, personally, um just because there was so many wacky things that happened. I mean, they could have they could have blown a lead to you know Northwestern State or whoever it was that South Alabama beat by 811 points a couple weeks ago. So yeah, i i was I enjoyed watching a lot of the games, but yeah, it was ah it was a crazy week all in all. But Zeke, how's it going? And then you can throw it over to Matt.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'm doing pretty well. um I'm in the same boat I'm glad Georgia State didn't play because it freed me up to watch some of the other although I'm gonna just cut it straight if State was playing at the same time as Bama Vandy like I don't care how close that game is. You're cutting over to that game regardless. um But, ah you know, i got I got the opportunity to watch other Sunbelt games I normally wouldn't have had the opportunity to. I'm also flying high because I remembered that I can make my own chocolate milk. So I've had like three glasses of chocolate milk in the past hour. And I am, fellas, this is awesome. This is great. You're such a child. ah This is awesome. This guy.
00:01:52
Speaker
um I'm doing well, ah you know as well as a ah Saints fan could be. um after After the last night, now Derek Carr is gonna miss multiple weeks with an oblique injury, which you know just add it to the to the novel that is the New Orleans Saints injury report. Today is the six year anniversary though of Drew Brees becoming the NFL's all time passing yards leader, which you know that was a great day.
Top College Teams Upset
00:02:18
Speaker
um In terms of college football, though, what a what a wild weekend. I mean, five teams in the top 11 get beat. ah If a college football playoff poll was coming out today, it would look absolutely wrecked. Just a really fun weekend, and this weekend might be even better.
00:02:39
Speaker
um Zeke, I don't know if you're seeing the same thing. Matt is either very stoic or is doing ventriloquism because he has not moved in, like, eight minutes. So, ah Matt, you might want to refresh your video there, bud, because... He's also... he I mean, it also looks like he's in the Matrix. i Matt, usually you've got a pretty good lighting setup, but today everything is greenwashed.
00:03:06
Speaker
Yeah, I'm expecting code to start falling. All right. well Well, we'll start the discussion, and hopefully he can pop back in here and rejoin us. But yeah, it was it was very funny. It was like an Easter Island head ah was just talking to us. um Yeah, Zeke, if what is you want to put him back on the thing, we can do. OK. All right. Yeah, we got him.
Texas State vs. Troy Discussion
00:03:28
Speaker
All right, sweet. So let's start off ah with last Thursday's game.
00:03:32
Speaker
Not really a surprise the way that it headed. We all kind of saw this coming. ah Texas State, you know, just walks over Troy. Troy just doesn't, they don't have the contributors on the offensive side of the ball to even begin to kind of scare a team like ah Texas State. And Texas State was up 28 to 10 at half. They're up 14, nothing in the first quarter. ah Jordan McLeod tore them up through the air 20 of 29, 252 yards, three scores.
00:04:01
Speaker
um Yeah I mean this this one it kind of encapsulates all of the issues that Troy has which is their defense is not anywhere close to where it has been the last couple years and offensively kind of the same deal but I would say honestly to a greater extent because they are having trouble scoring three touchdowns each week and Again, we've we've talked about their issues. Their offense is just frankly not that exciting to watch. Their head coach is very risk averse, which is a bad combination when you also don't really try to do anything outside of kind of the box offensively. So yeah, I mean, the I hate to say it, but you know, Troy doing exactly kind of what we anticipated. and
00:04:47
Speaker
Mm-hmm. They got a pretty good performance out of Tucker kill crease, which I thought was interesting ah Still trying to a goose Crowder can't simply can't stay healthy for more than two games in a row um But I I think that's that's that's something they can take away from this game is that he went 17 for 28 249 two touchdowns no interceptions I'm curious to see if they ride that hot hot being a very loose term relative relative relative but i'm curious if they run that hand because i don't know what is uh goose crowder is a a senior isn't he
00:05:31
Speaker
I believe so. Let me I'll check that. But I mean, at a certain point, you know, you get to a point in the season. No, he's a junior. OK. So there goes that argument. I don't know. I'm curious to see where this quarterback position goes, though, because Goose Crowder, again, has been unable to stay healthy for even four straight quarters. And Tucker Gilcrease had a pretty good game. That's what stood out to me from Troy's perspective watching this game on Thursday.
00:06:00
Speaker
sure Yeah, I mean, I thought it was a solid performance from Texas State for them to rebound after that loss to Sam Houston. And look, Troy is obviously not a great football team. um I think we can all agree that they're even worse than we had them coming in.
00:06:24
Speaker
um And look, that happens sometimes with new head coaches, it's gonna take time ah for for things to kind of get ironed out and get his players in, get them to buy into the culture, you know things of that nature. um But yeah, I mean, a really solid performance on on Texas State's part to get back into the win column and and start some belt play one and up. Speaking to that kind of topic, Matt, that you brought up, getting his guys in there,
00:06:51
Speaker
I'm really interested to see kind of long-term what that looks like at Troy, because again, you you come from a place in Notre Dame where you're kind of getting you're competing for the cream of the crop in college football recruit wise. And Troy, I mean, you just don't frankly have that leeway. So again, the I think that goes back to the scheme you know concern I have a little bit is You know if he wants to run something similar to what he ran at Notre Dame you want a dominant offensive line a really strong running game You know all those sorts of things are those things? You know kind of attainable without kind of having to find the diamonds in the rough Like and you didn't have to really deal with that ever at Notre Dame like you had NFL caliber players on the offensive line and that running back and like tight end and all that so
00:07:43
Speaker
I don't know. Frankly, Zeke, I do agree. I kind of want to see what happens with the quarterback position this year, but I wouldn't be shocked if we came into the next season and their quarterback room was just completely brand new. like None of these guys seem like they can be difference makers long term and I think you just need somebody more dynamic frankly like all of these guys are kind of built out of the same type of mold and None of them really pop like when you watch them. They're just kind of like I
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah, they're like, you know, those stereotypical, you know, run, run pass offenses where it's it's two runs and then it's a play action on third down and, you know, rarely it hits, but there's just no, there's no real variety that none of these guys are like that dynamic of players. So i would again, I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of those things where like Marshall did where all of a sudden, you know, one of these guys is still on the team and he's like the third string quarterback at that point.
00:08:42
Speaker
and we try to find somebody in the portal or we get like a early enrollee or somebody to come on and and figure it out at all at the quarterback spot. But I mean, do we have anything else on Texas State? I mean, it was it was a good performance, but again, they they're beating a team that's currently in the kind of the doldrums of the Sunbelt, so cool.
00:09:04
Speaker
i Well, ah we talked about it ah right before ah this news came out, but Texas State ultimately not moving to the Mountain West and we all kind of kissed them goodbye. ah Well, they haven't ruled out moving to the Pac-12 if that's an option.
00:09:24
Speaker
So that's still potentially on the table. It's more like the way that I read their whatever news piece or release or whatever they sent to reporters was, hey, if Pac-12 wants to come calling, we're definitely gonna listen, but the Mountain West just doesn't seem like a fit. And I'm like, that kind of was the highlight of all of the concerns that we talked about last week, but it sounds like they're very still open going out West if the Pac-12 comes a calling. So,
00:09:53
Speaker
they there They're not a lot to stick around yet, but it's looking less and less likely kind of by the day because the Pac-12 has kind of moved quickly to grab a lot of those Mountain West schools, the the ones that have been kind of the cream of the crop, you know?
00:10:09
Speaker
um But if we're good on this, then we can move
App State's Challenges and Sean Clark's Future
00:10:12
Speaker
on. Texas State is now 3-2 with the victory. 1-0 in Sunbelt Play. Troy is now 1-5 and is 0-2 in the conference. ah Let's get to Saturday's games. ah Marshall.
00:10:26
Speaker
beats the crap out of App State. um App State has been outscored the last eight quarters 100 to 51. So they are getting beat by an average of 25 points per game the last two games. Matt, I know you you talked about the kind of situation in Boone and, you know, the Hurricane Helene and like all of that sort of stuff.
00:10:50
Speaker
But with each one of these types of games, it just feels like people are getting louder and louder being like, we understand all of the outside stuff, but Sean Clark's got to go at the end of the day. Yeah, look, this was not a great performance by any means from App State. I mean, in the first quarter, you only put up three points. In the third quarter, you only put up seven.
00:11:19
Speaker
I mean, you did a nice job to hang in there late, but the 21 points you gave up in the second quarter was kind of the nail of the coffin early on. um Look, I'm willing to continue to give App State the benefit of the doubt for another week. um Because again, I agree this was not a great performance and this is not the standard that App State is used to. And and I will say that Sean Clark's in trouble. He's in a lot of trouble.
00:11:45
Speaker
now
00:11:48
Speaker
If they come down to Lafayette and have another performance like this, where they just kind of look lackadaisical, you know, they put up a couple of points because they've got weapons because they do, they've got a wealth of weapons. Um, and they lose, you know, by 15, 17 points, then I'm going to sound the alarm, uh, because that would be now three in a row.
00:12:16
Speaker
if that that doesn't happen by accident. But yeah, clearly everything that's going on there, their their minds are clearly at another place. So like I said, willing to give them the benefit of the doubt one more week. ah But yeah, app states in ah in a really tough spot right now.
00:12:37
Speaker
So Zeke, I just had like two cents I just kind of wanted to put in. and ah And I tweeted this the other day kind of as a joke, but it's not a joke. App State is now getting the full, their defensive coordinator's name is Scott Sloan. They're getting the full Scott Sloan defensive experience here because he was previously the defensive coordinator at Georgia Southern before he went back to App.
00:13:00
Speaker
this scheme when it works and you're getting pressure consistently it looks great there's no you know 10 out of 10 no notes when it when you don't get pressure this scheme is very tough on the safeties and one of the complaints that i often had before he left uh you know when he used to coach under lunchford was our our guys deep in the secondary just looked lost at times and now you're kind of seeing you know the chickens come home to roost a little bit where those safeties in the deep third or whatever of the field get lost a lot and it makes it very difficult when you also are having trouble stopping the run ah so but but i'm gonna go ahead and let you go
00:13:43
Speaker
ah Well, I was curious Brian because you have been ringing the Braylon Braxton Bell For a couple weeks now, they finally give him the reins only 14 pass attempts ah Completed eight of those so pretty solid efficiency, but a big deviation from what Marshall has done Offensively they let hit Braxton instead just kind of run the whole game. He led the team in both teams in rushing yards and he carries ah this is a big win for you you've been on this boat for several weeks now um do you guys think they stick with this because i can't put it past marshall to not just try stone earl next week i i think it would be a huge mistake if they went away from this he he's been the most
00:14:35
Speaker
a dynamic player at the quarterback spot that they've had in a minute. I don't i don't even know who who else would be in contention for that, but he he just gives them a different element that the other quarterbacks on the roster, whether it be Earl or Pennington or whoever, they just don't have the the mobility and the kind of the playmaking freelancing ability that Braylon Braxton has. Here's the thing. like I think AJ Turner, their running back is is pretty talented. And I've kind of been, I haven't said it on this show, but I've kind of been surprised they haven't been, they've been reticent to give him more volume just because of how efficient he's been. But when you have
00:15:19
Speaker
a lack of kind of receiving talent that Marshall does a little bit. Excuse me. It makes it a little more difficult to stomach. Hey, we're just not going to play Braylon Braxton because like you need a dual threat guy who can do a bunch of stuff and extend plays, wait for these receivers that, you know, frankly aren't aren't.
00:15:41
Speaker
top of the line, you know, Sunbelt type talents, you need time for them to get open because they're not going to win one on one like you would want a ah regular receiver to. So you need as much help as you could possibly get. And so after I saw him play can't remember who they played it was like the second game of the season it was like all kind of all of them kind of got some run he looked like the best by far and then they were like right back to stone earl so i i don't know but i i i think he would charles huff if he really wants to keep his job and it seems like he wants to i think he would be foolish to go away from brackston a second time because he's already done it once so
00:16:23
Speaker
yeah No, I agree with that. Yeah, I just wanted to hear your spiel on that because I know you were itching to talk about it. Well, i again, i I just think like you have to at certain point, you have to do something different. If the thing you've been doing is not working, you know, what's the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results and pocket passer, you know, five step drop guys that they've brought in under Huff. I mean, frankly, just haven't haven't really panned out except for that one season that they had nine wins. So you just have to do something different.
00:17:03
Speaker
So I mean, Zeke, I want to get your take on Sean Clark. Where where do you kind of stand on him? Are you are you ah still wait and see? Because I'm if ah again, I'm not an app fan, so I have no skin in the game. But if I was an app fan, I would be like.
00:17:21
Speaker
I understand with the hurricane stuff But like this started before that like the the South Alabama game preempted that so like we can't just sweep everything under the rug of It was the hurricane for us like I said last week that I that I had a I think I established that I had a shorter temper than both of you with him ah and I I think to this point about like the hurricane and the you know totality of the circumstances, you had the game against Liberty cancelled. I understand like an argument to be had about not doing it quite yet.
00:18:01
Speaker
But ah you need a real big turnaround when they play at Louisiana, which I don't foresee happening. um i don't either like When you get into the end of October, they play Georgia State. The week after that, play Old Dominion. like Those are games where Sean Clark could feasibly you know save his job or something to that effect. But I worry it'll have been too late in the season.
00:18:26
Speaker
um i This is a gut call, I have no source on this, but I get the sense that they're just waiting for a loss to Louisiana to cut him loose. um Which is a shame. i Sean Clark's one of the best coaches in the Sun Belt, from a historic perspective at the very least, say what you want about him actively. But i as I said last week, like
00:18:53
Speaker
He hasn't done enough for what this program should be should be able to do what this program has done in the past. um And so it's just it's just a matter of time whether they wait it wait out the contract or cut him loose. So I don't know. ah I understand why you don't do it quite yet but times running out.
00:19:17
Speaker
I don't remember the exact number, but somebody posted what his buyout would be if he was fired this year, and I think it's close to a million dollars. So I don't know sort of where hit where the App State Athletic Department's financials sit today, but I think his buyout's kind of significant, because didn't they just extend him? Like recently-ish? right It's been in kind of the last year or two.
00:19:45
Speaker
um i think like twenty two it It was a couple years from ah at this point, but it's, you know, within the grand scheme of things relatively reason recent. It wasn't like it was pre COVID or something. Yeah. Yeah. ah So I'm looking, I'm not seeing a million number again, as I just quickly searched this, I'm seeing.
00:20:08
Speaker
in the half a million dollar range. ah But again, oh I'm just gonna quickly glancing. I'm not gonna say that with certainty. I guess the Twitter. So i I just searched his name after this game because I was wondering if people were willing to kind of give him. No, I wanted to see if people were kind of on the mat side of things. And I don't even mean that like in a mean way or whatever. I i just legitimately kind of wanted to see where everybody stood with the hurricane stuff with him and all of them.
00:20:36
Speaker
The sentiment that I saw was basically, hey, yeah this was really unfortunate this happened to us, but we can't like we can't tolerate this this level of play any longer. like You're doing damage to the AppState brand by keeping him around.
00:20:51
Speaker
so i I don't know like it's gonna really be hard to stomach two and four Potentially two and four oh and three in the Sunbelt last place in the east if that happens this weekend Yeah, I think I think you have to make a move like on Sunday like I just simply don't think there's any I Don't think there's any spin you can put on. Hey guys This season is just gonna be a wash and he's gonna be back next year. I Like, I just think that's really difficult. And this is Joey Aguilar's, I think, last season, right? So you're going to have to start over at quarterback. He is a senior. year So, I mean, that just seems like a perfect kind of chance to break and be like, hey, next year we start off with a new head coach, new quarterback, just start fresh, kind of wipe the slate clean and go from there. I think it's like a ah the best possible outcome for them.
00:21:51
Speaker
So I can't find anything on his buyout, but I did find that he made $925,000 last year. I don't know. I just saw somebody tweet that. like i don't Again, I didn't know if that was correct or not, but like I honestly wasn't going to go digging. I i wasn't going to FOIA the state of North Carolina to try to figure out what his contract looked like. So I was just like, I'll take this. yeah
00:22:21
Speaker
but for it like he tweeted it.
Braxton's Performance Highlights
00:22:23
Speaker
um But we we talked about it. Braxton, 15 carries, 140 yards, two touchdowns. He scored three five touchdowns in total. um Yeah. I mean, it was 28, 17 and a half and I was like, yeah, this is going to be another, you know, kind of, uh, uh, you know, South Alabama type performance. And what, what happened? And I know I brought up the thing with Sloan. What has happened to their defense? Like it's one thing for the offense to just not click. It's another to allow like 50 points every week. Like what, I don't understand what went wrong there. Did they get a coordinator change?
00:23:02
Speaker
I don't think so. Because they they lost a fair bit of talent. ah You know, second, third, maybe from a defensive perspective to probably James Madison and Troy. But Marshall lost a lot of that production that they had last year. um And I would imagine it's just.
00:23:23
Speaker
We talking about app. Oh, I was i I couldn't tell if you which team you were talking about. I was talking about Marshall ah because actually like mar Marshall has lost a ton of defensive. What's wrong with app states defense? I don't know. They just suck.
00:23:41
Speaker
there you have it it's putting it as simply as you possibly could um well if we if we're good on this one uh marshall is now three and two the season one and oh in the conference again app two and three oh and two in conference play and was the presumptive favorite to win the East and now is in last place in the East. ah Matt just put it in our private chat. His buyout is $500,000 before January in 2025. I think they'd be crazy to let him survive to 2025. I think that would be a... Let's just let him sink this ship totally type situation, especially bringing in a new quarterback after Aguilar. So let me so let me rephrase. January of 2025.
00:24:31
Speaker
But even that you missed the early signing day period. So all of those guys, all of those guys get cleared, get freed up to transfer, right? If that happens. Yeah, that's a, that's a fair point. So I think you benefit from making a move.
00:24:49
Speaker
not um It doesn't have to be like immediately, but like sooner than later, you need to get on on the search for your next head coach so that these recruits that he's currently talking to or have already committed know who that that's going to be and kind of know where they stand with that new guy. And there's not just like a mass exodus immediately after signing day. But yeah, I think they would just kind of eat the extra 250K just to kind of stick around with some of these players. but um Yeah, this is a rough, this has been a rough season for app both on and off the field. And, you know, again, we feel for the people that were affected by the hurricane, but football wise, it's just the results have just not been there. um All right, getting into this next one, Coastal holds off Old Dominion, Old Dominion tried to tried to rally late.
Old Dominion's Consistent Struggles
00:25:36
Speaker
but Coastal held off 45-37. Ethan Vasco, again, showed up this week randomly. And next week he'll be back to completing less than 50% of his passes. 19 of 26 through for 367 and three scores. ah Right, their receiver four catches 148 in a score. ah Yeah, this kind of,
00:26:00
Speaker
Old Dominion put up a nice fight, but this is kind of what we talked about last week, which is they get up, they kind of build, build, build, build, build, upset, and then they just go right back to square one. And later in the season, they'll find another team to upset, but this this is what they do. they They get up for like one or two games a season, and then the rest of them are just kind of whatever performances. So so yeah defensively, they just have a lot of issues once again.
00:26:26
Speaker
they They got up for this one as well. I mean, they they were step for step with Coastal, really the whole game. um They just kind of missed out on a touchdown. Coastal scored two in the third. They only scored once, they being Old Dominion here. um This was maybe the best. Despite the loss, I would say this is the most legitimate offensive performance we've seen from Old Dominion.
00:26:51
Speaker
I am I've been you know we've we've all said that this team just kind of picks points out of thin air short drives um you know the yardage doesn't typically match the touchdown numbers, which um you know which is typically a good barometer of whether your success is sustainable. This is the first time I've looked at an old Dominion game and said, shoot, they actually played pretty well, at least from an offensive perspective. um you know They let, as you allured to, the the Cinderella
00:27:25
Speaker
ah you know, Fairly Godmother strikes 12 Ethan Vasco to have an excellent game, but he's just gonna do that every other week. um I think Old Dominion should be really happy about this. They're 1 in 4 in, you know, bottom of the Sun Belt, or of the East, ah head of Homily, the disappointing app, ah but they they played pretty well, and that shocked me.
00:27:54
Speaker
the The issue that I have is there with them is there's never any guarantee that they're going to capitalize on like too strong performances. You know what I mean? like that That's always the the drawback for me is, OK, they've had two really good performances back to back. But how shocked would you be on a scale of 1 to 10 if next week they came out and put up 16 points in their next game? like I wouldn't be shocked at all.
00:28:21
Speaker
that feels more likely than not right so that that's kind of what i mean is like a normal team you know improves each week and at an old dominion will go from you know point a to point z faster than your head can turn and and we're back to square one with them so i that's always been my issue is ricky ronnie's job on the line I don't know because they always they seem fine regardless of the results. So how how could you tell? Right. that that's what i'm That's what I'm kind of asking. i can't get a I can't get a vibe. So I didn't know if either of you had any kind of thought on that because I feel like it probably should be. But but but like you said, I think they're okay with just competing.
00:29:11
Speaker
In three seasons, he'd made two bowl games, which again, like we've said, that's good enough for Old Dominion. I'm sure Old Dominion fans let us know, but that's kind of good enough for Old Dominion, making two bowls in three years. ah If he can get out to four or five wins, which looking at the rest of the schedule doesn't feel absolutely absurdly out of the question,
00:29:38
Speaker
um i I think he's, at the very least, not fired. Whether he's safe or, you know, not on the hot seat, that's a different concern. But, you know, I think at this point he's... It's not as imminent as Sean Clark. Which is funny to say, because they've let won less games. I get the vibe, and I don't know that I can say this about another team in the Sunbelt. They're the only team that I'm aware of that has zero expectations.
00:30:08
Speaker
like they just they're fine with whatever they receive like I've never heard anybody say hey we expect to be better than this I've never heard anybody say they're disappointed in like the the overall results and Zeke I know you were what you were saying about the bowl game but they've never been you know and they've only been in the Sunbelt for a couple seasons but they've they've never been within striking of being in the title game in the east Like, you're always middle to middling to bad. So they always just kind of seem like, yeah, whatever we get, we're we're happy. We're happy to be playing football on Saturdays is the vibe that I kind of get.
00:30:45
Speaker
So if you're if you're happy with that and and Zeke, like you said, if if you're happy being you know in one score games, but you're one in four and you just want to be competitive, fine. but it ah you know And i'm not I'm not knocking them, but i even ULM last year was like, hey, Terry Bowden, enough's enough. And we're we're not a good football team historically, but enough's enough. And you Old Dominion just kind of seems like, yeah, as long as we're not getting blown out 12 straight weeks in a row, like we're cool.
00:31:16
Speaker
So, you know, teach their own, I guess. i guess. Like, I remember when we did our ah Old Dominion preview, we have one very passionate Old Dominion fan for sure that listens to this. And he was very upset by the way that we kind of categorized the team, mostly because apparently one of the games they played last year, we got the scores flipped, what the horror, but it was just like, he was very upset about that. And then he was like, we're in all these one score games. And I was just kind of like, yeah, dude, if you're cool with being in one score games and being
00:31:51
Speaker
You know, but but you're dealing with six and six, go for it. But the problem with constantly being in one score games is that nine times out of 10, they don't win them. Right. that that's That was kind of the flaw in the logic that I saw. and i was just like you If you went six and four in one score games, then, I mean, solid, good job. But like, if you're two and eight, one and nine, like, okay, figure out how to execute better down the stretch.
00:32:19
Speaker
i think being in one score games like that should not ever be a team's calling card like because look at look at the actual good teams like the legitimately good teams that played this week okay texas state won by 21 marshall won by what is that ten fifteen points uh coastal you know there whatever but it's like Louisiana won by two scores. So like, the really good teams are being able to kind of close these games out and Old Dominion. Again, they're always in one score games but but nine times out of 10 like Matt said that doesn't fall their way. So, if you just want to be competitive and you're fine with
00:33:04
Speaker
You know, six and six being your ceiling. Fine. Like I'm not, I'm not here to tell you to live
Old Dominion's Mediocre FBS Record
00:33:09
Speaker
differently. Since they were FBS, uh, they joined conference USA in 2014 fellas. Just throw me a guess. How many more than six wind seasons old dominion has had one zero, right? One. They went 10 and three in 2016. Other than that, no more than six.
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So the last, they're perfectly content with being a 500 program. Yeah. Fine. No, be fine. You know, for, again, for a long time, ULM would have been fine being a 500 team. Of course. Like they're playing a lot better this year, but they would have been like, Oh, thank God we went six and six. Like, but again, ODU just seems to be like, yeah, fine with us. And I'm like, all right, i fine. but good for all One time at one time UL was there too. Yeah.
00:34:01
Speaker
I remember when I was a kid, if UL went sixes.
00:34:10
Speaker
He's gone. it Okay, so closing that out Coastal Carolina ah moves to four and one ah with the the victory one or no in the Sunbelt Old Dominion is now one and four and oh and one in the conference um This next one here. I'm gonna. I'm gonna be totally honest with you guys, and I don't know know it's South Alabama, Arkansas State
00:34:32
Speaker
Okay, so I'm gonna be totally honest with you guys I don't know if this goes against my like journalistic integrity or whatever I watched the first half of this one and I switched games because I was bored out of my mind This was so boring. Neither one of these teams could convert on third down. I think each of them finished worse than like 40% on third down. So it was like, if it got to third down, there was a punt coming the next play. It was just, they would move, move, move, move, move down the field. And then they would get right outside of field goal range and have to punt. That was how both teams played. And I was just like, this is so boring, dude.
00:35:13
Speaker
it it doesn It doesn't matter because at the end of the day, Sunbelt quarterback god Jalen Rayner got back to doing Jalen Rayner things through for 3.50, 3.45, my apologies. 172 of those yards to Cory Rucker. And with this win, proves my point from the beginning of the season, Arkansas State and Texas State have the same exact record. So eat it Zeke.
00:35:43
Speaker
Bro, they scored 18 points. What do you want me to eat? Winners win, baby. It doesn't matter how many points you score. You scored more than the other team. All right. Yeah, I again, I wasn't the biggest doubter of Arkansas. say Now, I will say the the one thing I do want to give them credit for, they did get stops defensively. And that was the big concern that I had coming into this one. And the reason I took South Alabama was I was like,
00:36:09
Speaker
this team historically does not get stops defensively so that that was my big issue they actually did very good job ah containing like Gio Lopez and and all of those guys fluff Bothwell but like and keeping them out of the end zone particularly because ah again they were coming off of a performance where they put up what 48 against app state the week before so I mean this could have easily went south in that same direction but I was I flipped it over to James Madison ULM because I was bored out of my mind I can only watch a team two teams punt so many times and it wasn't even like oh man this is a really fun like intense defensive matchup I was just like both of these teams can't convert on third down
00:36:52
Speaker
it was six to three at half uh i couldn't do it dude i tried the game started punt punt punt punt field goal interception punt turnover on downs field goal field goal was the first half i don't blame you this was not an exciting watch uh Except it kind of was because Gio Lopez played very well Jalen Rayner played very well um But like though as you just said Brian the whole shtick was neither of these teams could convert on third down
00:37:25
Speaker
Uh, which long-term gives me worry. Jalen Rainer, as good as he is, is not going to complete 30 of 39 every week. He's not going to go for three 50 every week. He's going to hang in the high twos. You know, he's going to play exceptionally, but that inability, uh, comes down to an inability to run the ball from Arkansas state. Uh, was very unimpressed by that.
00:37:50
Speaker
South Alabama, on the other hand, did run the ball well. They just, for whatever reason, couldn't convert. ah And ultimately, I was shocked South Alabama didn't win this game because i I thought they played better than Arkansas State over the long run of this game. ah But I don't know. edge in Inability to turn, ah you know, third and shorts into first downs is are is going to kill both of these teams if they can't figure that out.
00:38:16
Speaker
Let me put this in perspective, if I was in a Saw movie and Jigsaw was like, hey, I'm gonna torture you, just put this game on and force me to watch it. like i I can't do it, dude. like a It's one thing, again, I used to watch in the old Steelers Ravens games when they were both like huge, hard-hitting defenses. This was not that. This was just two teams that got the third down and couldn't do a thing.
00:38:42
Speaker
So I was just like, Oh God. And then I saw what the score of the next game we're going to talk about was ULM James Madison. And I was like, Ooh, I kind of want to flip over and see what's going on in that one. So I I missed the end of this one because I was watching ULM try to throw that game away. getting Yeah, but Yeah, again, Arkansas State played well defensively, forced a bunch of third, you know, third and three and outs or whatnot, you know, forced South Alabama to punt a bunch and, you know, they ended up grinding out a win, which is not very typical of the Butch Jones Arkansas State teams thus far. So this is a real kind of change of script for them.
00:39:26
Speaker
but Yeah, so Arkansas State with the victory is now 3-2, 1-0 in the Sunbelt. South Alabama is 2-4 and 1-1 in the conference.
ULM's Surprising Victory over James Madison
00:39:36
Speaker
And then, yeah, let's talk about it now. U.L. Monroe, 4-1 U.L. Monroe, whose only loss is to the number two team in the country, or I guess number one now, Texas.
00:39:48
Speaker
they their defense is for real like the offense is is not dynamic like they have they really do have trouble like generating consistent like production either running or throwing the football like arminta or who general booty or whoever they throw out there in quarterback they really have trouble throwing the football like it's it's really tough to watch but They run the ball well enough with like guys like Hardy and I don't know who their defensive coordinator is, but he probably needs to be considered for like a head coaching job or something after this season, the way that they've played. They've been great for defense. And I'm joking here, but ULM fans are probably sitting here saying, stop the count.
00:40:32
Speaker
Because, yeah, why not? Well, because if you take a look at the Sunbelt standings, if the season ended today, Monroe would be representing the Western Division of the Sunbelt Conference championship game. They said stop the count. We're done. We're done. We've done it. um Look, another I'm not going to say really good, ah but look, I mean, they they did everything that that you asked of them to, right? They they fall behind 10-0. They score 14 points in the second quarter to make it 14-3. It's a stalemated third quarter, and then they get just enough done in the fourth to to walk out with a 21-19 win.
00:41:16
Speaker
It's not pretty by any stretch of the imagination. The stats aren't going to wow you. ah But now we're sitting here saying, Christ almighty, ULMs four and one, they just be JMU. And yeah now, we're good. Go ahead.
00:41:33
Speaker
ah Well, I was all I was gonna add was Alonzo Barnett came back to earth Finally like he was playing out of his mind against UNC and stuff and Ball State But he again he finally faced a defense that was semi-competent and now it's like hey guess what? I completed less than half of my passes. Hey, I threw You know, a bunch of really errant balls that like shouldn't have probably even have been attempted, but I did it anyway. So, ah you know, again, but, but credit to ULM's defense because they, they forced those things to happen. And you know, what's crazy talking about ULM and and the start that they're off to, if you look at the rest of their schedule, like there is a would legitimate possibility that ULM wins eight games.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah. Like a legitimate possibility that they win eight games. I mean, Southern Miss, they might beat Southern Miss at home this weekend. So that's five. You're on the road to South. You're on the road to South. Who knows? Who knows? Very plausible. Marshall, that's a winnable game. That's a coin flip to me. Depending on which Marshall team shows up. um Texas State's probably going to beat you.
00:42:55
Speaker
Probably. But i I don't. Here's the thing. Here's the thing with the Texas State game. I do think Texas State will ultimately win, but I do not think it's going to be pretty or easy for the Bobcats. They're going to make them earn it the whole time. Do do we think that Auburn beats ULM?
00:43:11
Speaker
Yes. I think ULM beats Auburn. There's some issues on the planes right now. Just, they look really bad. Y'all thought I was kidding last week. I was not. I was kind of kidding. I wasn't really though. They look really bad. And then you've got Arkansas State and Louisiana. Out of those last seven games, like again, and I have to say it again to wrap my mind around it as a longtime Cajuns fan that has watched ULM be in the dungeon.
00:43:41
Speaker
There's a legitimate chance Monroe wins eight games. Matt, can I ask you a question that actually kind of transitions into a question I wanted to ask? Let's say for sake of argument for some reason, like I just want to set this up. I haven't gone through everybody's schedule and parsed out the wins and the losses. Let's say ULM and UL have identical West records at the end of the season and the winner of that game. I don't know. Let's just hypothetically say it's determined who goes to the Sunbelt title game representing the West based on the results of that game. What is your what is your worry level on a scale of one to ten now having seen UL ulm through five games? Nine. Damn.
00:44:34
Speaker
yeah Look, um I'm the type of I have seen the UL ULM rivalry game. And look, there are some Cajuns fans that will sit here and say that it's not a rivalry. It is. It just is. um It's two teams that have been in the same conference for a long time. And I get the whole, well, you got to be competitive to be a rival. I get that. There's some bad blood between these two schools. There just is.
00:45:03
Speaker
um I have seen this game go sideways one too many times. I mean, two years ago, not two years ago, three years ago, 2020, the year before the Cajuns won, won it all. ah If ULM doesn't miss a field goal as time expired,
00:45:30
Speaker
UL doesn't go to the Sunbelt Conference championship game that year to play Coastal. Well, of course, that ends up getting canceled. But, like, you don't you don't go to the championship game if they don't miss a field goal at the end of the game. ah So, we've been in this kind of situation before with UL. But, yeah, no. it If it comes down to Monroe and Louisiana and the winner represents the West and it's in Monroe, yeah I don't like that at all.
00:46:00
Speaker
What does this do to the like you're your Sunbelt power rankings? Because James Madison last week was probably top of my mind. And I don't i don't think youl over er ULM rather overtakes them for that one spot. But where like who are your top three teams right now from a power ranking perspective?
ULM's Defensive Success and Potential
00:46:28
Speaker
because they I mean this shit I would have to say I would have to say Louisiana one I would say James Madison to and then I would say ULM three sure or or you can flip those even because ULM has the head to head victory but I just It didn't really get exposed in this game, but one of the things we talked about last week was Jamie's defense could be a real problem for them like when it comes time and they hadn't really been Again, they they let up 50 points to North Carolina like they scored 70 and that was all pretty and fine and great and dandy but in reality
00:47:11
Speaker
people that were realistic about JMU's outlook that had to be in the back of their mind being like, Hey, you know, if Ball State was a more serious team that could actually convert some of these like third and longs or whatever, or get to a third and manageable, we could have been in some real trouble despite what the final score is of that game, because it got ugly because of how many drives JMU just scored like that.
00:47:35
Speaker
and now it's like you see like yeah if ULM had a more talented offense and frankly offensively they're kind of challenged like Arminta is very limited in in what he's able to throw as far as routes go and like the timing just doesn't seem to quite be there but if ULM had a better offense I mean I think this is like a two score victory because JMU simply they could not figure out where the pressure was coming from when ul m decided to send blitzers
00:48:06
Speaker
it was like Again, Alonzo Barnett's eyes look like the big like cartoon dog eyes. like He was like, oh, shoot. They're bringing five again. Where are they coming from? There were guys that were delayed blitzers. There were guys that were coming and then dropping out. It looked like they were going to play defensive line and dropping into a zone. And he just seemed like lost. So like again, their defensive coordinator crushed it. Now, i I do want to say I brought this up before we started. like,
00:48:34
Speaker
ah they They really tried their hardest to absolutely blow the end of this game because ULM had a play, they had four minutes, I believe, to kill at the end of this one. So all they had to do was run the ball, every opportunity that they had, and they kept getting, it was like penalty, you know, negative run for yards, and then they would, you know, convert or do something to to keep the drive going. They decided to throw the ball at one point,
00:49:00
Speaker
And if JMU's defender, if the ball, it got reviewed and eventually overturned, but it was initially reviewed as a rule to interception. If the ball doesn't touch the ground, I think JMU gets the ball like midfield with like three minutes left. And all they would have had to have done is drove down and kicked the field goal. So like, ULM got bailed out by that, but defensive, they played great. They just, that they were doing some boneheaded stuff at the end of the game offensively.
00:49:29
Speaker
But yeah, I can't give them enough credit. I mean, the this turnaround Bryant Vincent's put together has been ah nothing short of amazing. Truly. How many wins did Bowden have in his first year? Was it three? Did they reach four?
00:49:48
Speaker
I think he peaked at four. Yeah, I think their first season was like two or three. Let's see. Under him.
00:49:57
Speaker
Um, they had four in the first game, uh, or first year under Bowden. Uh, which, mind you, they were coming from. Oh, and 10 the year before. 21 and 21 and 22, they each one, they won four games in both of those seasons. Right. And then in 23, they went to intend. That's when they fired him. Right.
00:50:23
Speaker
cover But it's ah yeah again, I I tweeted this from the at warm weather fans on X I tweeted this from our account Should they be like receiving votes? Like in the top 25 they're only also the number one. They're only losses to the number one team in the country But but you got to think about where they started They probably started in the 120s. I I hate the preseason shit dude. Like it it's the worst. I mean I i have i agree I agree with you, but they they haven't beaten anybody. They just beat an undefeated James Madison school. Yeah, but that that school James Madison wasn't getting recognition. They were getting they were also receiving votes after last week. I mean, all I'm saying is I don't I didn't say that put him at 25. I just said, should they also be receiving votes? And I think it should kind of be in that mix until they lose.
00:51:27
Speaker
Because as you say if you if you say, hey, ULM can't be, if you say ULM can't be receiving votes, my issue is, okay, then no Sunbelt team should, because it's not like they're in the SEC and they get to play Georgia and Alabama and and Texas every week. Like they played one ranked team. They probably don't play another this year. So they don't have a chance to make up, you know, that ground.
00:51:57
Speaker
they they were i was sold luther in texas I wasn't sold at first, but i looking at it, guess who's ranked number 17? A team whose only loss is to Oregon, a team I wasn't high on to start the year, and admittedly they have the Heisman winner for sure, but it's Boise State. Who have they played? Their only loss is to Oregon, which is ranked lower than Texas. I was not sold on this argument at first. But they only lost to Oregon by two.
00:52:27
Speaker
that That is the argument, yeah. But again, i'm not I'm not advocating that they put them in the top 25. I'm just saying like at the end of also receiving votes, they should be at the very end of that list. like if there was If you map that out past 25, they should be like 38th or something. But they should kind of be in that mix a little bit. like They're not as good as the service academy schools, which should probably both be ranked.
00:52:56
Speaker
But they they're right at the tail end of that kind of group because again, they're only losses to the number one team in the country. Other than that, you know, I don't know. So.
00:53:11
Speaker
But yeah, no, great great
Louisiana's Methodical Victory
00:53:13
Speaker
win for ULM. Brian Vincent's been basically a miracle worker for them. ah So they are now 4-1 and 2-0 in Sunbelt Play sitting atop the the west. ah James Madison is now 4-1 and 0-1 in the conference. Getting into this last one here. So Matt, Louisiana beat Southern Miss 23 to 13. I was keeping up with this on like the game cast, but i I wasn't watching it, obviously, because I knew you you'd be on top of it. I have to ask.
00:53:41
Speaker
what Was you all just having trouble like ripping off big plays because it seemed like every time they had the ball It was like the drives were just incremental like down the field There wasn't like a hey, this is a 78 yard touchdown pass or so, you know a big a big throw down the field It was kind of like we're marching every time but it's just it's just methodical. It's not like ripping off big plays and Yeah, no, they they didn't really rip off big plays at at all on Saturday night. it It was very, you know, methodical run the clock. um I mean, they had they dominated at the time of possession. Forty one to eighteen. um Seriously. Forty one eighteen. Forty one. Forty one thirty five to eighteen twenty five. That is obscene. Yeah, just absolutely dominated the time of possession. I mean, you had one
00:54:34
Speaker
to three scoring drives that were five minutes or longer. just Just absolutely did whatever you wanted. I don't think that it was so much of a inability.
00:54:47
Speaker
to get big plays, I just, I think they, I think the game went exactly how they kind of planned it to. I mean, Southern Miss got some stops, don't get me wrong, ah that they were able, they were able to get some, ah get get our running backs to the ground. And I think they did a good job of downfield coverage. But but I think if the Cajuns would have, you know, called shot plays,
00:55:14
Speaker
that they could have gotten so some deep balls. But look, in the end, I think that this game went you know pretty well. ah Ben Woldridge was phenomenal again. Draylen Washington coming out finally. This season was nice to see.
00:55:30
Speaker
ah Ben looked a little nicked up late in the game. There was a shot of him on the sidelines kind of messing with his shoulder. We'll see you know if that comes of anything. But ah look, ah the the biggest thing with the Cajuns, and and I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts on this, I'm ready for them to play a complimentary football game. and and And what I mean by that is you have games where the offense plays really well.
00:56:00
Speaker
and you have games where the defense plays really well. I'm ready to see them have a game where they both play solid.
00:56:10
Speaker
Right? Right. i was disappointed that they were unable to put this game away sooner I am.
00:56:24
Speaker
the game plan was to go out and hang forty on a really bad southern miss team but i and I anticipated this to look a lot more like the Kennesaw State game or the Grambling game. you know Southern Miss is definitely not Grambling, but is flirting with the same tier as still winless as an FBS team Kennesaw State than it is with like Wake Forest. So i I think that was my biggest disappointment was like, the of all the games you're gonna play all year, of all the conference games,
00:57:01
Speaker
Southern Miss should be the biggest beat up that you have on the schedule. um And regardless of game plan, I think that was disappointing. Am I looking too far into that, Matt? No, I don't think that you are. oh You know, because I think largely from from ah from a fan perspective, that was also the expectation.
00:57:25
Speaker
Sure, you know, go go to go to have this bird beat them up. Um, you know, work out some kinks offensively and then, you know, see where, see where this kind of stretch run of a really tough Sunbelt games take sheep. Um, and look, but before we we move on from this game, I really want to give a shout out to Cam Whitfield.
00:57:47
Speaker
ah Junior linebacker, he had he had a three-sack game last year against South Alabama that got him Sunbelt Defensive Player of the Week. ah He once again was named Sunbelt Defensive Player of the Week this week after getting four sacks in Hattiesburg on Saturday night. Six total tackles, four sacks, just a dominant performance again from KM. So I had to ah had shout that out because we got, how many times DC affords that game?
00:58:18
Speaker
Matt, I actually wanted to take an opportunity to kind of answer your question. I mean, from from my perspective about the complimentary football thing, I think they certainly have the that in them. And I think that once they kind of put the pieces together, they're going to be a really good football team.
00:58:33
Speaker
But I think it says a lot that despite not having those types of performances where both sides are playing well at the same time, that you're still able to win these types of games or, you know, Wake Forest or whatever. I think that says a lot about the team. yeah Now, again, you're only lost to Tulane, which is nothing to hang your head
Texas State's Defensive Concerns
00:58:52
Speaker
about. they're They're a really good football team. So, yeah, if you put together a full performance i think ah again i think that that makes them the favorites in the west as it sits today because we've talked about texas states defensive woes and did you i i forgot to mention this when we talked about did you guys hear texas state's best defender like took a redshirt and like is transferring like that was yeah he's he's pulling he's pulling the same move that everybody else is
00:59:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Ben, Ben Bell had 10 sacks last year and he had three to start the season already this year. And yeah, he he said, you know what? I'm going to go get a payday somewhere. Yeah. See, I'm going to go work out on my own. Take a red shirt. I'll transfer in the offseason. I'll see you later. I'll see what P5 comes P4 comes calling.
00:59:50
Speaker
That yeah did you guys read the story about ah this proposal for a 70 team?
Future of College Football Speculation
00:59:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's going to save everybody except for half of the FBS. College football is dead as we know it. Yeah. scream man As a doornail. oh college College football is dead as we know it. But hey, look, ah keep keep stacking that paper, baby. That's all that matters.
01:00:18
Speaker
That's all that matters. Hey, ah also, ah both of you guys on this this game, the last little note, I checked in, I think I want to say early second quarter, mid second quarter ish to see how both teams were performing. I think Tate Rotomaker had eight yards passing.
01:00:35
Speaker
ah like midway through the second quarter. So that should kind of tell you why this game kind of went the way it did and why they only had the ball for like 18 minutes of the entire game. They literally couldn't complete a pass. I want to ask a serious question and I know we're going to get to it when we preview this week's games. If Southern Miss loses to you all, which we said a second ago seems very likely.
01:01:04
Speaker
Is that the nail for Will Hall? Is he gone at that point? or you know like what What's Southern Miss gonna do? What's their plan? What are they gonna do? but You think they have a plan?
01:01:20
Speaker
Well, I mean, that's that's that's a fair assessment. That's fair. I mean, I've I've been out on Will Hall before the season started. i I've been of the I've been of the opinion that any time at the end of a season that you have to release a statement from the athletic department saying we expect better, but art this guy will be back next year. That's you might as well go ahead and you might as well go ahead and fire the guy now because you're basically just delaying the inevitable.
01:01:49
Speaker
or do you wait three more games wait out the month of october and then fire him at the bye week who knows i don't think it really matters if it hasn't happened now it really matters they're just gonna pick it at random they're they're spinning a wheel at and every week this the don't fire section gets slimmer and slimmer and every week they just spin it
01:02:12
Speaker
And it's also not like, hey, this is a talented team that's underperforming. Like, this is an app state, you know what I mean? Where you're like, the pieces are there are on paper, but like, just something seems disconnected. This is not a talented team at all. So like, even if you fire him and you bring in the interim, like, what are they going to do any differently? is it Yeah, it's even going to get better.
01:02:35
Speaker
yeah no because it's like you still can't throw the ball and you lost your best weapon offensively in the draft last year and he's not coming back and right defensively I mean you're still you're still getting gashed and you can't get stopped so at the end of the day like Yeah, I guess you fire him at the bye. We can get a jump on on looking at potential candidates. And I think that both from like kind of a monetary perspective and for like the good of the football team, I think they need to look at ah FCS head coaches that are really performing right now.
01:03:07
Speaker
um But I again, I don't think anything's gonna fundamentally change if you wait if or when you thought you know what point in the season you fire and whether it be after the last game or During the bye week like nothing's gonna change. This team's gonna win like one football game this season so But so Brian the set you were talking about I've just been looking rhoda maker started the game ten for ten But after one quarter he had eight total yards right
01:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I mean. is like he He literally can't push the ball further than the line of scrimmage. like It's insane. Five for 11 on passes beyond five yards.
01:03:55
Speaker
But 11 for 12 within five. He was exceptional in short situations. Yeah, because they're going to let you have that all day. Oh, yeah. They do not care. Louisiana is like, yeah, we'll come up and make the tackle. And then what? And then Southern Miss is like, I don't know. We're out. We fold. It's like, yeah, it's like a guy. It's like a guy in poker. He's like, I got a pair of twos and you're like, all right.
01:04:20
Speaker
And you're like, what what now? I'm bold. All
Coastal Carolina vs. James Madison Preview
01:04:26
Speaker
right. So let's get to ah let's get to week seven here in the Sunbelt. We've got a Thursday night kick, which we'll be kicking off tonight as you're hearing this.
01:04:36
Speaker
Coastal Carolina, who's shockingly four and one. I don't know if you guys are surprised by that as well, ah but they're four and one. They're going to Harrisonburg to take on a James Madison team that's licking their wounds coming off of a loss to ah ULM as we talked about. ah JMU is a nine and a half point home favorite over under 60 and a half. ah Give me the over. ah At the very least, I know JMU scores points and Coastal doesn't play a lot of defense.
01:05:06
Speaker
so give me jmu i think they're going to be pissed off after losing to munro and uh coastal carolina is going to be the unfortunate victim i like jmu here as well uh ethan vasco's due for a bad game uh jmu minus nine he's had his quarterly good game and now it's back to regularly scheduled programming is what you're saying ah week Week after next, he's he's bound for 250 on 70%, but... Hey, captain can I just say that in my dynasty mode on College Football 25, I'm in the year 2026, and I just played Clemson in my season opener. ah Ethan Vasco is the quarterback at Clemson in 2026. Things that will never happen in the history of the world. Ethan Vasco leaving the Sunbelt.
01:05:58
Speaker
just thought that was something something worth sharing. All
Old Dominion vs. Georgia State Preview
01:06:04
Speaker
right. ah Starting on Saturday, 3.30 E.S.P.M. plus, Old Dominion is traveling to Georgia State. ah Georgia State is a one and a half point home favorite over under 54 and a half. um Give me Old Dominion. Like, I i don't know. confident No, I don't feel good about either of these teams, to be quite frank. I mean, we we talked about Georgia State last week when we were recapping the Southern State game. And Old Dominion could just as easily show up, like we like I said earlier, and score 16 points. So I don't feel good about either of these teams. But I'll just take Old Dominion and close my eyes and hope for the best, I guess. I'll take Georgia State.
01:06:55
Speaker
I like Georgia State here too, ah but this is about as close to a pick'em as you're gonna get this week. Yeah. These two teams are very much on equal footing despite, you know, one, you know, one having a ah slightly better record than the other. ah Five o'clock.
01:07:16
Speaker
yeah ESPN Plus Southern Miss is traveling to Monroe to take on the ULM Warhawks.
ULM vs. Southern Miss Preview
01:07:22
Speaker
ULM is a six and a half point home favorite over under is 41 and a half. I'm gonna take ULM. I think the games that they've played very closely have been really good teams. Southern Miss is not that.
01:07:41
Speaker
as they As they say in Monroe, Talon's out baby.
01:07:47
Speaker
Talon's out, I suppose. ULM minus six and a half. All right. All on the same page. Seven o'clock here, ESPN plus Arkansas State is traveling to San Marcos to take on Texas State. Texas State is a two touchdown, 14 point home. Favorite over under is 63 and a half. That's a lot of points. That's a lot of points.
01:08:11
Speaker
You guys go, I need to think about this. Cause I don't, I don't really love any, any side of this or the total at this point. Uh, give me Arkansas state to cover.
Texas State vs. Arkansas State Preview
01:08:21
Speaker
I think, I think 14 is just too high. Um, considering Texas state's defensive efficiencies or inefficiencies, I should say. Um, I don't, I'm not going to say Arkansas state's going to win the game, but I think it's closer than 14 points.
01:08:41
Speaker
I can I say it's gonna push Texas State wins by exactly 14. This is a tough one. I think I'm going to take the under on this one. Both of these teams are more than capable of scoring their share of points in this game. ah But we've seen from both of them that they are equally as likely to just drop dead and score 20 points and call it an evening. ah So give me the under because I feel like odds are one of them's bound to just kind of crap the bed. I can't wait till Arkansas State wins and I can come on here next week and just roast you.
01:09:19
Speaker
i i there I mean Matt would have you in like hell in a cell like it would be like I'm far more slammed the door should I'm Texas state has severed all emotional ties I have to that team. They did me far too dirty in the first couple of weeks of the season. So I will take it if I have to, but it's not going to be as emotionally distressing as it previously was.
01:09:54
Speaker
Matt's gonna be like, I'm not in here with you, you're in here with me. um I'm gonna take the under of and a half as well, just kind of for the same reason, Zeke. I have found that when these totals are super high and you expect both of these offenses to pop off as the second they don't.
01:10:12
Speaker
like again Arkansas State South Alabama last week I was like wow this is gonna be a shootout and neither team can convert on third down so you know so I'm gonna I'm gonna take the under also Zeke if you had taken Texas State and it would have pushed that doesn't count as a loss just a heads up so okay so just just a heads up um this man's about to take a push every week Well, they have what has to be what it has to be a solid number. If it's 13 and a half, you're going to get a result either way. Sure. All right. 730 ESPN plus at Cajun Field app state.
Louisiana vs. App State Preview
01:10:53
Speaker
lips into Lafayette to take on Louisiana. Louisiana is a 10 and a half point home favorite over under 64 and a half. you Matt, you were doing the Undertaker taunt before. I think Louisiana has Sean Clark rest in peace after this game. I'm taking Louisiana. I think i think they crushed them. And the streak of, yeah again, Undertaker, the streak of App State finding a way to lose ah bigly ah is going to continue.
01:11:21
Speaker
so i won't be covering this one so it does not violate my journalistic integrity to uh to to give a pick cajuns by 90 let's let's freaking go dude ah cajun field is going to be rocking app state hasn't been to cajun field since the um if ah If I, if I'm correct here, since the championship game in 21. And so Cajun field is going to be absolutely rocking Saturday night. The weather's supposed to be great. Cajun's big.
01:11:57
Speaker
Uh, I like that pick as well, but give me the under 64 and a half. I cannot fathom where those points are coming from. Like app state isn't going to go out and, you know, do what they did to UNC. No, but here's the thing. app Consider that app state has given up a hundred points over the last two weeks. That's the only, that's the only counter that I have. Yeah. Uh, give me the under, uh, consistency reigns supreme.
01:12:28
Speaker
Continuing with the the Undertaker metaphor, Matt, this is a casket match and Sean Clark already has like his whole body in the casket and he's just got his hand on the door trying to keep it from being shut on him.
01:12:40
Speaker
yeah oh Yeah. Buried a lot. ah All right. Last game of the night, eight o'clock, ESPNU, Georgia Southern's doing a whiteout for this game.
Marshall vs. Georgia Southern Prediction
01:12:53
Speaker
ah just to Yeah, they are. not that Not that that means anything, but that that's what they're doing. Is that not all Georgia Southern games?
01:13:03
Speaker
Huh? Look at their demographics.
01:13:11
Speaker
oh no comment oh god was that oh god like can can i can i excuse myself i feel like that was a pretty innocuous thing to say i hope that didn't cross the line no comment uh marshall is a one and a half point road favorite over under 61 and a half i I used to watch em MMA and I'm a big believer in the the phrase styles make fights. I think that Georgia Southern is a very bad matchup. Sorry, let me flip that around. I think Marshall is a bad matchup for Georgia Southern. So I'm going to take Marshall minus one and a half. I think their ability to run the football, if Braylon Braxton starts, he's dynamic and they already had issues with a running quarterback ah and their
01:13:59
Speaker
not inability, but just straight up outright refusal to put a spy ah on a quarterback against Nevada. That is not going to fly if Georgia Southern just decides that Braylon Braxton gets to run when and where he chooses, ah like like it did at Nevada. So I just think this is a really bad matchup, Georgia Southern wise, they they can't defensively, they really have their issues. And we've talked about those. And it seems to change by the week, whether they can't stop the run or can't stop the pass. So I just think I think Marshall beats them, despite the whiteout and whatever else they try to get up for, i I just don't think they have it kind of in them at this point defensively to get any stops. So I'm taking Marshall.
01:14:45
Speaker
That shocks me I was ready to give my pick is southern to cover and win outright um And Brian you're not the type of fan That's just gonna always pick southern but for you to not pick southern in this matchup Has thrown me into a spiral. I I felt pretty confident that I Southern was gonna maybe not beat up on a poor Marshall team But you know, I I think there there are distinct tiers between these two teams um So give me Marshall just because you just absolutely put me in a tailspin I'll be I'll be the one oddball. Give me give me Georgia Southern. I think JC French has a big game here Jalen white has another strong performance on the ground as well like he did before the bye week I'll take the Eagles
01:15:39
Speaker
i I'll say Zeke, if if I knew Stone Earl was starting for Marshall, I would have taken Southern and probably not even thought twice about it. sure But again, I watched the Nevada game and I literally tweeted, how many times are they going to let Nevada's quarterback just run free with no spy? And everybody responded to me, well, that's what happens when you don't have a real defensive coordinator. So I think that Georgia State lacked that dimension to their offense, especially Valer by air I don't remember how his name is pronounced but he he just he's not that dynamic with his feet and so I think this gives Georgia Southern defense another thing to think about and they can't keep two thoughts in their head at the same time as far as what they want to do for a week-to-week basis I Just I don't I don't think this is a good matchup for them. So I'm taking Marshall
01:16:33
Speaker
That does it. That is the end of of of our ah slate here. we've We've talked about every game from last week.
Conclusion and Social Media Handles
01:16:39
Speaker
We've previewed the ones from this week. Guys, Matt, we'll start with you. Let everybody know where they can find you on socials, and then we'll kick it to Zeke and then over to me to close out. You can find me on all social media platforms at megasmat. I'm looking forward to what's going to be an incredible weekend of college football, Red River rivalry, Ohio State Oregon, LSU Ole Miss, um and then, of course, some great Sunbelt games like we like we touched on. So it should be an awesome weekend of college football.
01:17:09
Speaker
I'm on Twitter as well. at zig palermo z e k e p a l e r m o I don't do a whole lot of fun stuff there. I'm bad at tweeting. I previously said and was then clowned for ah saying that I wanted to be funny on Twitter. I'm just not. I'm an unexciting follow. the guys The guy's got a great TikTok though. Go follow him. Yeah, alright man.
01:17:34
Speaker
a lot of I only noticed I only noticed this when I signed the account like the the the warm weather fans account up a lot of relationship tiktoks for you Zeke I noticed oh no and know well yeah i'm not trying i'm not I'm not trying to blow your spot up I'm just saying like a lot of relationship content on your feet no there's two there there's one really good funny one and then there's one Talk to a girl, if you want to co-host, where we're looking for guests. Talk to a podcast, number two podcast in the country. I'm going to view that. Mandos is demographic.
01:18:17
Speaker
I'm gonna veto that. You can find the the podcast on pretty much any social platform except ah Instagram. I didn't really see a reason to set up an Instagram for the same stuff we're posting on Twitter and TikTok to be quite honest with you. so ah You can find us everywhere at warm weather fans if if if that pops up then we're on there and if not so Too bad so sad ah you can email the show warm weather fans at gmail dot.com You can find me on x mostly at watch the stone We will be back next week to talk about all of these week seven games and get into week eight this has been another edition of warm other fans and