Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to 700 Pelham Road Podcast.
Speaker: This is week three, officially.
Speaker: We had some problems with week two posting.
Speaker: We're not sure what happened there, so for all intents and purposes, this is week three.
Speaker: We're going to go with that.
Speaker: I am one of your hosts, Jalen Cooper, and over there is my buddy Caleb Williams.
Speaker: How are you doing today?
Speaker: Man, I've been jam-packed the last few weeks, so it's good to slow down and just kind of talk ball for a little bit.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Always nice to take a little break.
Speaker: You know, talk some football, especially since we had about, what, four or five days straight of college football there.
Speaker: That was nice.
Speaker: Yeah, Thursday through Monday.
Speaker: It's beautiful.
Speaker: Beautiful.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: You're not going to see that often, so I'm glad we were able to enjoy it, especially with it being Labor Day weekend.
Speaker: Just kind of sit back, you know, kick your feet up, watch some college football, have a great time.
Speaker: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, we had some good games.
Speaker: Obviously, I think the one everyone's going to talk about is Colorado TCU.
Speaker: I don't think anyone's – no offense, I don't think anyone really saw Colorado going in and winning that game, and they did.
Speaker: And as we're recording this, the rankings just came out.
Speaker: Colorado is now, I think, 22nd in the AP poll.
Speaker: I mean, they earned it.
Speaker: Yeah, they're going on the road to the national runner-up,
Speaker: Not just win, but win flawlessly.
Speaker: I don't think they had any turnovers.
Speaker: I think Shador Sanders threw for 500 yards.
Speaker: I mean, it just – you couldn't have asked for a better start to the Deion Sanders era at Colorado.
Speaker: So, you know, obviously that's not the school you would have ever seen him at.
Speaker: But, hey, they – he made it work there.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean –
Speaker: no matter what people were saying about Colorado, they went in and, I mean, at least on the offensive side of the ball, straight firepower.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, but Shador threw for 510, that's not including the yards there on the ground.
Speaker: And then you had Travis Hunter playing both sides of the ball.
Speaker: I think I saw somewhere he played 129 snaps, brought in 100 yards.
Speaker: They had four 100-yard receivers in one game.
Speaker: And then he had one pick on the other side of the ball, easily could have been two.
Speaker: That team set up for success.
Speaker: So, yeah, that was definitely a game a lot of people didn't see happening.
Speaker: Also, Duke might be legit.
Speaker: Clemson did shoot itself in the foot, you know, with two blocked field goals and two red zone fumbles, you know, the one in the five-yard line somewhere around there.
Speaker: But Duke still had to capitalize and score off of those, and they did.
Speaker: They might be legit.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, they got a pretty good QB, which always, you know, modern football, you've got to have a quarterback.
Speaker: And Riley Leonard is the real deal.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think a lot of people, a lot of Auburn and Alabama fans, and even, you know, Troy and JSU fans are looking around wondering, you know, how did we not keep this kid in the state of Alabama?
Speaker: And, I mean, he goes to Duke.
Speaker: I mean, I think they won nine games last year.
Speaker: You know, he beat Clemson on a Monday night in primetime.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's – he's a pretty good player.
Speaker: I really am looking forward, you know, in a conference that really doesn't have a lot of great defenses.
Speaker: I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, how he shines the rest of the year.
Speaker: Yeah, same.
Speaker: But, yeah, I mean, overall great football this weekend.
Speaker: Not a lot of marquee matchups.
Speaker: You know, a lot of your heavy hitters were playing those pay me schools for week one.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So we didn't have a lot of marquee matchups this week, but a lot of great football.
Speaker: JSU had somewhat of an easier week this week.
Speaker: We kind of knew that going into it.
Speaker: It's weird playing in FCS school, not being an FCS member anymore.
Speaker: Yeah, it is.
Speaker: As far as it's concerned, that was our cupcake game.
Speaker: And looking ahead to the rest of our schedule, it's probably going to be –
Speaker: Might be the easiest game left.
Speaker: There's a couple teams later on down the road I think we can steamroll, but that's for later on.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, we've played these guys once before in the playoffs, I think five years ago, and they gave us a few fits in.
Speaker: I mean, we have an FCS-sized roster.
Speaker: You know, we got, obviously, the scholarship bump the last two years, so we have a lot more, you know, scholarship players.
Speaker: But, you know, it felt good after week one where you have such a dogfight, you know, from start to finish.
Speaker: It felt good to come out and just kind of blow the doors off of somebody.
Speaker: Passing game, I mean, Patty, I know you saw the highlights.
Speaker: I watched them afterwards.
Speaker: I wasn't able to watch the game live, but the passing game was a lot better.
Speaker: Logan got the start.
Speaker: Logan Smothers got the start over Zion with Zion being sick.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: We didn't really know what he was sick with, but we know he was out sick.
Speaker: And Logan stepped up.
Speaker: He played really well.
Speaker: I think he only missed two or three passes, threw the ball down the field really well.
Speaker: Definitely built off of the running game, which was kind of the issue, I guess, the last year is we had a passing game to build off of the running game.
Speaker: So to see that, you know, this last week, really, really good, you know, building block going into the rest of the schedule.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: That's one of those games where if he is the quarterback that Rich Rod wants to rock with, which judging off of some of the interviews and from his radio show, it seems like he's the guy Rich Rod wants going forward.
Speaker: That was a good game for him to get comfortable with the playbook and really get this offense under his grasp and whatnot.
Speaker: he's a confident quarterback.
Speaker: That's what you love to see in a retro offense.
Speaker: Um, he's a guy that's not afraid to pull the ball down, use his legs.
Speaker: He does kind of get himself into a couple of situations where, you know, you don't necessarily want your QB taking a lot of hits, but Hey, the fact that he's willing to, you know, do whatever needs to be done.
Speaker: That's, that's something I don't mind seeing.
Speaker: Um, especially right now, just while, you know, we're trying to get this offense figured out.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: But he has a really good arm.
Speaker: We saw him flash a couple of passes.
Speaker: I'm really glad he could get Sterling Galvan involved because we definitely got to use him.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I'm glad he's able to get a couple of targets.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: I mean, I'm looking at the numbers now.
Speaker: I mean, we had nine guys carry the ball over 56 plays.
Speaker: over 56 runs anyway.
Speaker: So, I mean, they were spreading the ball around.
Speaker: And, I mean, Logan had 14 carries and two touchdowns.
Speaker: So, I mean, you can tell he's a willing part of the running game.
Speaker: I mean, 13-17, no, he only threw the – I mean, he only had 127 yards, but, you know, he was efficient.
Speaker: I mean, they didn't really ask him to do too much, and I guess part of that is who you're playing.
Speaker: You know, you can kind of slow things down once you're in control.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But, hey, 13-17 for a touchdown, no interceptions, I guess a job done everywhere.
Speaker: It doesn't matter how many yards you throw.
Speaker: You do that, you know, with a good running game, you'll keep the job.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: This week is going to say a lot, though.
Speaker: Going up against a better team, better defense.
Speaker: But I said all along, Logan was the most talented guy on the roster.
Speaker: It was just a matter of him taking control of the room, and it looks like he may have done that this week.
Speaker: Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting to see.
Speaker: where that quarterback room goes going into this week.
Speaker: Zion had a rocky first week.
Speaker: And then, of course, Logan wasn't playing the same level of competition this week.
Speaker: But the offense looked a lot more put together.
Speaker: So it'll definitely be an interesting conversation, you know, see how that goes down.
Speaker: Not sure when Rich Rod will announce who the starter is.
Speaker: So we'll definitely be looking out for that.
Speaker: But, um,
Speaker: I mean, as far as the quarterback situation goes, it's still up in the air.
Speaker: Running backs were looking pretty solid, though.
Speaker: The run game as a whole was looking really, really good.
Speaker: The O-line does a good job of opening up those holes, and the running backs do a really good job of hitting the holes at the right time and getting the most they can out of each run, each time they touch the ball.
Speaker: We're keeping those rushing averages high, which is something you definitely want to do throughout the season.
Speaker: I'd love to stay closer to five than three.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: You know, I made a note.
Speaker: You know, we talk about the running game, and with Anwar Lewis out, obviously we've had to go to some different guys at running back.
Speaker: And we all thought it was going to be Ron Wiggins, but this week, Malik Jackson, 12 carries, 100 yards.
Speaker: I mean, we knew he had the burst.
Speaker: It was just a matter of –
Speaker: if he's comfortable, you know, handling the majority of the runs.
Speaker: And obviously they spread the ball around pretty well, but I mean, you look pretty comfortable kind of being the guy.
Speaker: I mean, you average eight yards of carry, that'll keep you on the field a lot.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I mean, one thing I love about it too is whenever we do get Anwar back, that means we can keep three running backs super fresh.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That just helps me know that, you know, pretty much no matter what the running, we're going to have somebody that has fresh legs, you know, when it comes late into a game, whether it's, you know, we're trying to kill some clock and we just got to keep picking up first downs on the ground or, you know, we need a guy who can, you know, stand back there in the pocket and protect the quarterback.
Speaker: We're going to have somebody who's fresh just because we're able to rotate so much.
Speaker: So that's always good to see.
Speaker: Again, we hope Anwar is recovering, whatever's going on.
Speaker: We hope to see him back soon.
Speaker: Once we get all three of those guys together in the backfield with whoever the quarterback ends up being, I mean, that's going to be hell for opposing defenses right there.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: And, you know, one of the big things is we even saw guys, we saw Sterling get a run, so he's still getting the receivers involved in the running game and
Speaker: So, I mean, realistically, you've got – when Anwar comes back, you've got five, six ball carriers in your starting lineup.
Speaker: That makes it hard, you know, for a defense to defend the run because you really don't know who the ball is going to go to on any given snap.
Speaker: So, yeah, definitely looking forward once they get fully healthy to kind of see how this offense takes off.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I loved seeing the tempo.
Speaker: I think having the good running game and then having a quarterback who is able to, you know, keep the ball moving through the air and not just the ground, I think that helped a lot.
Speaker: Just kind of, you know, keep the foot on the gas.
Speaker: You know, keep that time rolling too.
Speaker: especially with a new role in the NCAA where, you know, a first down, the clock doesn't stop until the last two minutes of each half.
Speaker: You keep getting first downs and just positive yards in general, you know, you win the time of possession battle.
Speaker: Obviously, you want to turn that into touchdowns, which we were able to do this past week.
Speaker: I mean, time of possession is a huge – it's going to be a huge factor, especially, you know, as we go throughout the season and some of the shootouts we're possibly looking at against some of these teams.
Speaker: I mean, we're playing a lot of great quarterbacks, so you're definitely going to want to keep the ball out of their hands going forward, especially next week.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, we got a tough one coming up.
Speaker: Sorry, just got an alert for any of you who play fantasy football that Travis Kelsey hyperextended his knee in practice.
Speaker: So... I don't have him on my fantasy.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think I drafted him on any of my teams.
Speaker: But anyways, yeah, I mean, we got to... I argue it may be the toughest game on the schedule.
Speaker: You know, on the road...
Speaker: I tend to agree.
Speaker: You know, just because it's on the road and, you know, UCLA's got a good defense and Coastal still put up some good numbers against them.
Speaker: But, you know, we look at our defense last two weeks.
Speaker: Have they had some plays where they, you know, could have executed a little bit better?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But as a whole, we've been pretty fast to the ball.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: We got a lot of –
Speaker: We got a lot of really good guys on that D line.
Speaker: They are able to, if not sack the quarterback, they're definitely putting hands in his face, you know, altering throws or rushing throws.
Speaker: So, yeah, we got a pretty good defense.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, just looking at who we're playing this week, they've got a quarterback who can make every throw on the field, and they have a new offensive system that attacks every part of the field.
Speaker: They're not running triple option anymore.
Speaker: They're running power spread, throwing them all over the place.
Speaker: And so this will be a good week to kind of test the defense.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm really hoping that –
Speaker: the secondary can, you know, step up and support that defensive line because for anybody who watched that Coastal game, the Grayson McCall to Pinkney connection, that is a lethal one.
Speaker: And that could get us in a lot of trouble if we don't, you know, nip that in the bud real quick.
Speaker: So I'm hoping, you know, our DBs are, you know, ready to –
Speaker: Stand up, you know, answer the call and kind of shut that down.
Speaker: Because if we can shut that down and give our edge guys a little bit more time to get to the quarterback, I could see us coming away with a win.
Speaker: You know, it's going to be a hard-fought game no matter what.
Speaker: And I could easily see it being a shootout.
Speaker: But, you know, it'll be –
Speaker: hopefully getting a stop, you know, two or three times and then capitalizing on it on the other end.
Speaker: So, yeah, I hope our defense can keep that energy and that momentum up because, I mean, they've been stopping the run game.
Speaker: Nothing has been getting past them in the run game except for, you know, a couple of big plays here and there.
Speaker: You're going to have those.
Speaker: But as long as we can shut down those receivers, I give us as good a chance as anybody.
Speaker: You know, you talk about the run defense, you know, looking at Coastal's numbers against UCLA, they didn't even average two yards carry against UCLA.
Speaker: I think Grayson McCall got sacked a few times.
Speaker: They had, what was it, 34 carries for 56 yards.
Speaker: So, you know, stopping the run, yeah, it's going to be crucial, but this is not a very good running team.
Speaker: And for that matter, it's not a very good pass blocking team.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So we can probably – we can try to tee off on this – you know, on Grayson McCall pretty – I would hope pretty often just because, I mean, if you let him sit in the pocket, you know, four or five seconds, he's going to tear you apart all game.
Speaker: He's –
Speaker: I think he's the three-time Sunbelt Player of the Year.
Speaker: And he's only been playing for three years, so you guys can do the math.
Speaker: He's won it every year he's been on roster.
Speaker: I mean, he's that kind of player.
Speaker: So, yeah, we're going to have to tee off on him pretty regularly if we're going to want any chance to win this football game.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think one of the biggest things as far as Coastal goes with him being in the Sun Belt, which up until recently didn't get a lot of respect, I think a lot of people just kind of overlook him.
Speaker: We do not have that luxury.
Speaker: I don't think anybody should overlook him, but we especially do not have that luxury because all it takes is one or two plays here or there to,
Speaker: cheating a route one or two times and all of a sudden we're down three touchdowns wondering how do we dig out of this hole.
Speaker: Especially when we have the defense that is fully capable of sticking right there with them and helping us win this game.
Speaker: It's 100% a mental thing.
Speaker: You just got to lock in.
Speaker: He is going to be who he is.
Speaker: Um, it's similar, you know, like basketball, if you're going up against Steph Curry or LeBron, like they're going to do what they're going to do.
Speaker: The biggest thing is you got to lock in and still play your game, um, and play to your best ability.
Speaker: And, you know, just know that at the end of the day, when you're walking away, you did what you could do.
Speaker: Um, so that's the biggest thing.
Speaker: It's a mental game just as much as, as it is a physical game.
Speaker: And I hope we're able to, you know, stay locked in, um,
Speaker: you know, at least put up a fight.
Speaker: I, even if we don't win, I'm okay.
Speaker: As long as, you know, we put up a good fight and, you know, make sure they have to truly earn this win.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: You know, um,
Speaker: Coastal's won a lot of games over the last three years.
Speaker: And like we said, Grayson's been a big part of it.
Speaker: But you said it.
Speaker: It's all mental.
Speaker: You can't go in and say, oh, this is Grayson McCall, one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
Speaker: What are we going to do to stop him?
Speaker: You've got to go in with the mentality of
Speaker: hey, we're Jacksonville State.
Speaker: We're a great defensive team.
Speaker: Let's go do our thing and not let the outside noise about how good a certain player might be dictate what you do.
Speaker: Because at the end of the day, if you look at the numbers, they don't pass block well.
Speaker: They don't run well.
Speaker: So what can you do?
Speaker: You send five or six guys, drop the rest in coverage, and force them to get the ball out quickly.
Speaker: You don't want – I mean, that's all you have to do is just look at it and say, hey, this is what we're good at.
Speaker: This is what they're not good at.
Speaker: Let's attack it.
Speaker: And we – like you said, we've got a great front seven.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, you know, I like our chances this week.
Speaker: If we go in and put up a fight, even if, you know, I'm not a big moral victory person, but I mean, this is a game if we go in and lose, you know, by a touchdown.
Speaker: I mean, that shows us, not just as fans, but shows the players like, hey, we can hang in this conference.
Speaker: Because this is, I mean, Coastal is one of the best group of five teams in the country.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: I mean, they've won, I think.
Speaker: I actually think they're tied for the most wins.
Speaker: I'm trying to see.
Speaker: They've either got the most or they're tied for the most wins at the group of five level the last, I think, two years.
Speaker: I think they have even more wins in Cincinnati.
Speaker: Um, let's see here.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, I mean, it's, it's going to be a fun, fun game for sure.
Speaker: Um, Oh, 100%.
Speaker: Um, I think the biggest thing, uh, and this is our first true test because it's a road game.
Speaker: Um, our first road game as an FBS team, our first road game against, you know, a formidable opponent.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: they're not going to have the fans there, you know, to back them up and give them the energy and the momentum boost they need.
Speaker: You know, we have some Gamecock faithful that will be at the game, but it won't be nearly the same as, you know, being at home, having that home cooking.
Speaker: So, yeah, it's a road game.
Speaker: You're going up a team like Coastal who –
Speaker: is one of the better teams in the Sun Belt, which, again, is one of the better group of five conferences.
Speaker: So like you said, moral victories aren't something a lot of people like to even say.
Speaker: But comparatively with the Sun Belt and CUSA, if we can go in and, like you said, come away with a seven- or a ten-point loss,
Speaker: that has me feeling good for the rest of the season, you know, looking forward to some of our other opponents.
Speaker: And, you know, it also gives us, you know, a good reading point and a good, you know, jumping off point for like, okay, now we have two FBS games under our belt, one conference game, one non-conference game.
Speaker: this is where we got picked apart.
Speaker: This is what we've done really well.
Speaker: And, you know, it gives us time to go from there.
Speaker: Um, because after that we're heading to, into a gauntlet of a stretch, this starts a gauntlet stretch where, you know, we're playing coastal.
Speaker: Um, we're playing, you know, the other, uh, new member of the, uh, Sam Houston that just moved up from the FCS with us.
Speaker: We have Liberty and Western Kentucky back to back, you know, the two top favorites to win the conference.
Speaker: We got Eastern Michigan thrown in there too.
Speaker: So, like, we don't have an easy stretch by any means.
Speaker: But it's definitely a very manageable stretch.
Speaker: And, like I said, we'll learn a lot about how we can navigate that in this next game.
Speaker: Some of those games are on the road.
Speaker: Some of those games are at home.
Speaker: Luckily, we have both Liberty and Western Kentucky at home.
Speaker: But, I mean –
Speaker: This is a very big litmus test for us going forward about how the rest of our season will go.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: And I did look it up, by the way.
Speaker: They are tied with Cincinnati for the most wins at a group of five level over the last three years.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, since he went to the playoff one year, so that that tells you something.
Speaker: Yeah, they're not anybody to mess with.
Speaker: I believe Coastal has been ranked in the top five a couple of times in the last three years.
Speaker: Obviously, that's not the same team that is out there this year.
Speaker: But again, just goes to show they are somebody that has to be taken seriously.
Speaker: We can't just kind of waltz in there and just hope and pray that everything will go our way because that's just not how it works.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, I mean, it's going to be a good week.
Speaker: I mean, honestly, I like our chances.
Speaker: If it were not for Grayson McCall, I would have us picked to win this game.
Speaker: Right off the bat, without a question.
Speaker: He's just one of those X factors that you have to account for.
Speaker: And the biggest thing is, you know, you always want to root for your team.
Speaker: And I'm rooting for JSU.
Speaker: I want us to win.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But at a certain point, you also have to be realistic and kind of look at what's on paper.
Speaker: I do think we can win, but he's just one of those X factors that it's like if he is locked in and just has one of his normal games, it's going to be hell for our defense.
Speaker: It's going to be hell.
Speaker: And the biggest thing is just that mental fortitude.
Speaker: Like I said, it's the first big test in the FBS.
Speaker: Kind of glad we have the out-of-conference schedule that we do because, I mean, this is truly a welcome-to-the-FBS kind of schedule.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I wouldn't want it any other way.
Speaker: You know, some schools want the easy transition.
Speaker: No, I want to get, you know, down and dirty with it so that if there is something that's super glaring, you know, we're able to address it, you know, both in season and if it's, you know, a position problem, they're able, you know, go ahead and hit up the recruiting trail really hard, you know, right now while it's still very much open.
Speaker: Because, you know, we'll have early signing day and most of that will go to the big schools.
Speaker: And then after that, we'll be able to go, you know, get some of those, you know, three and four star guys that maybe didn't get the school they wanted.
Speaker: So, yeah, I like having these, you know, down, dirty, grinded out kind of games, especially early on in the season.
Speaker: But, you know, first season in general, just so we know, you know, what direction to look for going forward.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: So, I mean, it'll be good to look, you know, see how this game goes.
Speaker: Obviously, you know, if we lose by a touchdown or two, you know, it's not bad.
Speaker: If we win, we go from five or six wins to look and it's like, hey, we might can win seven, eight games this year.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: This is one of those games I've had.
Speaker: it could easily be a toss-up.
Speaker: But like you said, if we win this game and we start off our inaugural season 3-0 with, you know, one out-of-conference FBS win, an FCS win, and an in-conference FBS win, everybody else has no – they have no choice but to, you know, respect that we belong.
Speaker: I could easily see us, you know, coming out of this win and going on a stretch like Coastal's –
Speaker: um, Sunbelt, uh, mate JMU, James Madison, you know, they came in, people were kind of doubting where they belonged and they ripped off.
Speaker: What was it?
Speaker: Eight wins.
Speaker: I think they went eight and four or 83, something like that.
Speaker: Um, and I think if I remember correctly, they would have won the conference if they had been eligible.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: So, yeah, I would love for us to come out and do something like that, kind of just, you know, make sure that people have to respect who we are and just know that we're not somebody that, you know, can be played around with.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Well, I think we got to have a conversation about the quarterback room.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: That's one –
Speaker: That's one we've already kind of touched on earlier this episode.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Between week one and week two.
Speaker: I just kind of want to make some last hits on it before we move on.
Speaker: Look, for those of you who are at the game or maybe watched it live, you saw Logan was phenomenal.
Speaker: 13 of 17.
Speaker: Just a buck 27.
Speaker: You know, he wasn't pushing the ball down the field too much.
Speaker: But –
Speaker: 13-17, that's almost 77% completion.
Speaker: He had a touchdown, no interceptions.
Speaker: He had two rushing touchdowns.
Speaker: And, you know, you look at the last game, there were a lot of throws that Zion was making that were just, you know, whether he was air mailing, comeback routes, you know, missing some – missing just flat out missing some wide open guys and checking it down.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I like Zion.
Speaker: He's a great athlete.
Speaker: He's fought so hard.
Speaker: But you have to look at the bigger picture of who's performing best in the offense.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We know Rich Rod wants to run the football, run his own read.
Speaker: But if you look at all of his best offenses, they've also thrown the ball about 40 times a game.
Speaker: I mean, it's been – they have aired it out even when they've had good dual-threat quarterbacks.
Speaker: And so you've got to just think that Logan –
Speaker: You have to think that this last week he kind of took control of the game, took control of the room.
Speaker: I mean, if he comes out and has a big week against Coastal, I don't see that he looks back.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like you said, God loves Zion.
Speaker: He's been around for, you know, this is the seventh season.
Speaker: I think he's a great guy.
Speaker: Uh, he is, he has provided us with a lot of, you know, big play moments.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And, yeah, that first game was shaky.
Speaker: Now that could easily be equated to, you know, first game of the season of Russ, those jitters, which is why they very well could, you know, go with some kind of dual quarterback system for this game, you know, kind of to see if that truly was just first game jitters or, you know, if maybe we just need to go with Logan.
Speaker: Like you said, Logan looked really good.
Speaker: He looked pretty comfortable.
Speaker: There were some shaky moments, but, I mean, that comes with learning a new playbook.
Speaker: Um, there are some shaky moments and that might be the reason why maybe he doesn't get the start just quite yet.
Speaker: Um, but he, like you said, he looked really comfortable.
Speaker: 127, 13 of 17.
Speaker: He didn't throw it too much.
Speaker: So of course the yards aren't going to be super high.
Speaker: The biggest thing is he was pretty accurate and on point.
Speaker: He put it to where the receivers could get it pretty much every time.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And like you said, we just have to kind of put emotions aside.
Speaker: I respect Zion for coming back, you know, for a seventh season.
Speaker: But, I mean, if they both play in this game or if he plays in this game and he looks shaky again, or if Logan comes out in this game, if they choose to go with Logan and he, you know, is looking like a superstar,
Speaker: We just got to kind of put emotions aside and go with what we see on the field and what's on paper and kind of rock with who our best guy is.
Speaker: If it's Zion, we rock with Zion.
Speaker: If it's Logan, we rock with Logan.
Speaker: I like both guys.
Speaker: Obviously, this is pretty much Zion's last chance.
Speaker: We'll see Logan again next year.
Speaker: I like both guys.
Speaker: I want them both to be wildly successful.
Speaker: But, I mean, we just got to go with what's been given to us.
Speaker: So this week, depending on whatever decision is made, there are people that get paid way more than us to make those decisions, whatever they decide.
Speaker: I will be very interested to see playing out this week.
Speaker: And like you said, I think this week is the performance of either –
Speaker: whoever starts or maybe if both of them play, that will go a long way in determining how we go moving forward.
Speaker: Because I don't know about you.
Speaker: I don't like the dual quarterback for the whole season system.
Speaker: We've already done that at JSU multiple times.
Speaker: Never really turns out good.
Speaker: Um, the offense never really finds a rhythm, especially when you have two quarterbacks that play differently.
Speaker: I don't like the dual quarterback system.
Speaker: So I'm hoping this is the last week before we just lock somebody in and say, this is our guy.
Speaker: We're riding with him.
Speaker: Yeah, I just don't want to see that dual quarterback system.
Speaker: It doesn't work out for us.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: I mean, we've all heard the phrase, you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks.
Speaker: And that's kind of where we're at right now.
Speaker: It's got to be the onus is on Coach Rodriguez to say, hey, we've got a guy who, yeah, we didn't ask him to do much, but he made the throws we asked him to make.
Speaker: And that's the big thing is, you know, you go 13-17 for 127.
Speaker: No, that doesn't jump off the stat sheet anymore.
Speaker: But he did everything he was asked to do.
Speaker: Everything he was asked to do.
Speaker: Plus he ran for two touchdowns.
Speaker: Here's the thing.
Speaker: Logan has the size to kind of stand up to these better athletes that we're facing now.
Speaker: Zion's a smaller guy.
Speaker: I think Logan's around 6'3", maybe 215.
Speaker: He's got some size to take some hits.
Speaker: Knowing Zion's health issues that have kept him out of the game in and out the last couple seasons, it
Speaker: I mean, it's just – it would be tough to see, unless Logan looks absolutely awful this week, which I don't think he will, it's tough to see Zion ever really being the guy this season.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker: Like I said, from all the interviews and whatnot I've heard, it seems like Rich Rod wants Logan to be the guy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's just a matter of him being comfortable in the offense.
Speaker: So, I guess we'll see what it comes down to this week.
Speaker: That's just a hard conversation as a coach that you have to have.
Speaker: I don't envy being in that quarterback room, being Rich Rodger or, you know, whoever our quarterback's coach is, you know, having to have that conversation because you have two really good guys who really care and really want to be there.
Speaker: But I know, you know, whoever doesn't get, you know, get picked, I know they will be right there, you know, supporting.
Speaker: mentoring, doing whatever they have to do to help the other guy out.
Speaker: So I'm not worried there.
Speaker: Both of them are very good guys.
Speaker: They will make sure, you know, they are A-plus teammates.
Speaker: But, yeah, I definitely don't envy having to have that conversation at all because it's been a fight for the – ever since Logan announced he was transferring in, the battle started before he even stepped foot on campus.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, it's been a fight for some months, and it's going to be emotional when it comes down to who gets and who doesn't.
Speaker: So, yeah, I wish the best for both of those guys.
Speaker: We just got to do what's best for our offense and for our team.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: All right, I guess we got one last thing that we really need to talk about.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's the women's golf team, actually.
Speaker: They went down to Mobile this last week, played in the USA Intercollegiate against nine other teams, kind of the big hitters being Memphis and Troy, it looks like.
Speaker: And they finished second, just five shots out of first place, with the winner of the tournament being Louisiana Monroe.
Speaker: So that's a pretty good –
Speaker: Pretty good week to open the season.
Speaker: I mean, I didn't even look at the numbers now.
Speaker: They actually shot the low round for the final round of the day, for the final round of the tournament.
Speaker: The team shot the low round.
Speaker: Hey, that's good.
Speaker: Hey, they beat Troy.
Speaker: As always would Troy, as always.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, we finished second.
Speaker: Troy finished seventh.
Speaker: We beat them by 29 shots as a team.
Speaker: So won't complain about that at all.
Speaker: I'll take that for sure.
Speaker: For them as the season goes on.
Speaker: We got some pretty good, like, like we said last week, a lot of our second secondary sports, we, we got a lot of good teams.
Speaker: We got great tennis teams.
Speaker: We got great golf teams, volleyball, beach volleyball, you know,
Speaker: And they don't get enough love.
Speaker: I hope that changes, especially as, you know, we're moving up to FBS.
Speaker: I hope people decide they want to show up, especially to some of these home games, you know, support all of our athletes because they all deserve it.
Speaker: We are truly blessed to have, you know,
Speaker: we may not be an everything school when it comes to our accomplishments now, but I think looking back on the history of all of our sports, we can definitely declare ourselves, ourselves in everything school with all the conference titles and national championships that we have accumulated throughout the years.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Obviously, we're going to get a chance to showcase it pretty soon.
Speaker: I mean, we obviously got football now, volleyball, golf, and soccer going on.
Speaker: Basketball start in a little less than two months, I think.
Speaker: Summer.
Speaker: I think it's October.
Speaker: Yeah, so definitely got some big things going on.
Speaker: I do have one note on basketball.
Speaker: It's really the only news we've heard.
Speaker: Conference USA media days are going to be in Huntsville, actually at the Space and Rocket Center.
Speaker: Oh, nice.
Speaker: That's pretty nice.
Speaker: I love that Conference USA, at least for basketball, is operating a lot of stuff out of Huntsville.
Speaker: And there's a conference tournament going to be in Huntsville, which is great for, you know, JSU fans from Jacksonville.
Speaker: That's like an hour and a half, two hour drive up the road.
Speaker: So very manageable.
Speaker: you know, to drive up there for a day, you know, cheer on our teams.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: I am excited to see, you know, how everything goes as far as basketball, because especially on the men's side, we have been pretty good.
Speaker: Under Coach Harper, we have made the big dance twice now.
Speaker: You know, one time a lot of people will say there's an asterisk next to it.
Speaker: But, I mean, rules are rules.
Speaker: Yeah, that was our Mickey Mouse tournament appearance.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But, I mean, rules are rules.
Speaker: It's the same as if we go eight and four this season.
Speaker: We're not going to get a ball game.
Speaker: But we know that going into it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, we definitely were gifted that one.
Speaker: But, again, we've had some pretty great success, especially conference-wise in men's basketball, women's basketball just the same, especially the last couple of years.
Speaker: They've really picked up a lot of steam.
Speaker: And, you know, they were playing hard, especially with teams like Liberty last year.
Speaker: So, I mean –
Speaker: I'm very excited for basketball season and then obviously always excited for the Diamond sports.
Speaker: Like we said two weeks ago, baseball and softball are both very dominant in conference and both very sneaky if they manage to get the
Speaker: the either automatic bid or an at-large bid into, you know, the World Series tournament.
Speaker: They're very sneaky teams and can easily pull off an upset in the regional.
Speaker: So I'm ready to get to that season too.
Speaker: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker: By the time we get to November, it's going to be busy.
Speaker: So we're going to have a lot to report on.
Speaker: Hopefully in just a few weeks, we'll start to really have a lot to start talking about.
Speaker: Oh yeah, give ourselves a little bit of a lengthier episode and not have to necessarily fill in a lot of stuff.
Speaker: Yeah, we won't have to fluff as much once basketball starts.
Speaker: Because by that point, we'll have a couple games a week to talk about in the spring.
Speaker: So that'll really help.
Speaker: Podcast schedule will get a little weird then, especially with our October midweek games.
Speaker: Yeah, you might see a lot of episodes coming out on –
Speaker: Sundays and Mondays.
Speaker: We might be recording a lot on Thursday and Friday, but it is what it is.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I think we've hit everything.
Speaker: Any last things you got to say?
Speaker: I think we have to.
Speaker: I mean, not really.
Speaker: Looking forward to this week.
Speaker: Like you said, it's a big week for football.
Speaker: This is our barometer for the rest of the season.
Speaker: I believe in these guys.
Speaker: I know Rich Rod and
Speaker: Rick Trickett and, you know, all the other coaches will have these guys fired up and ready to go.
Speaker: And they're really going to have to be their own cheerleaders this week because they're not going to have nearly as many fans sitting on the sidelines.
Speaker: But, you know, from watching the energy on the sidelines the past couple of weeks, I think these guys will be ready.
Speaker: They'll be locked in.
Speaker: I'm excited to see it.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: So, all right, man.
Speaker: Well, I guess we're going to sign off here from the 700 Pelham Road podcast.
Speaker: I am going to work on, for those of you who, like we mentioned earlier, have been wondering about episode two, I'm going to work on figuring out what happened after we sign off.
Speaker: As for this episode, it will be...
Speaker: produced and released either Thursday or Friday.
Speaker: I will make sure of that if it's the last thing I do.
Speaker: Hopefully, after this little debacle with our recording mishaps, we'll have everything figured out.
Speaker: From the 700 Pelham Road Podcast, peace, everybody.
Speaker: See ya.
