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00:00:01
Season 1 Episode 3
93 Plays2 years ago
On this week's episode, the guys talk about JSU's blowout win over East Tennessee State. They also have a conversation on the QB battle and then preview the Coastal Carolina game.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction and Hosts
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to 700 Pelham Road Podcast.
00:00:05
Speaker
This is week three, officially.
00:00:07
Speaker
We had some problems with week two posting.
00:00:10
Speaker
We're not sure what happened there, so for all intents and purposes, this is week three.
00:00:14
Speaker
We're going to go with that.
00:00:15
Speaker
I am one of your hosts, Jalen Cooper, and over there is my buddy Caleb Williams.
00:00:20
Speaker
How are you doing today?
College Football Weekend Highlights
00:00:24
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.
00:00:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:00:30
Speaker
Always nice to take a little break.
00:00:32
Speaker
You know, talk some football, especially since we had about, what, four or five days straight of college football there.
00:00:38
Speaker
That was nice.
00:00:40
Speaker
Yeah, Thursday through Monday.
00:00:41
Speaker
It's beautiful.
00:00:43
Speaker
Beautiful.
00:00:44
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:00:46
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.
00:00:51
Speaker
Just kind of sit back, you know, kick your feet up, watch some college football, have a great time.
00:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:00:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, we had some good games.
Colorado's Victory and Deion Sanders Era
00:01:02
Speaker
Obviously, I think the one everyone's going to talk about is Colorado TCU.
00:01:07
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.
00:01:15
Speaker
And as we're recording this, the rankings just came out.
00:01:17
Speaker
Colorado is now, I think, 22nd in the AP poll.
00:01:23
Speaker
I mean, they earned it.
00:01:25
Speaker
Yeah, they're going on the road to the national runner-up,
00:01:31
Speaker
Not just win, but win flawlessly.
00:01:35
Speaker
I don't think they had any turnovers.
00:01:36
Speaker
I think Shador Sanders threw for 500 yards.
00:01:39
Speaker
I mean, it just – you couldn't have asked for a better start to the Deion Sanders era at Colorado.
00:01:47
Speaker
So, you know, obviously that's not the school you would have ever seen him at.
00:01:50
Speaker
But, hey, they – he made it work there.
00:01:54
Speaker
So.
Impressive Performances by Shador Sanders and Travis Hunter
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:58
Speaker
I mean –
00:02:00
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.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:10
Speaker
I mean, but Shador threw for 510, that's not including the yards there on the ground.
00:02:17
Speaker
And then you had Travis Hunter playing both sides of the ball.
00:02:21
Speaker
I think I saw somewhere he played 129 snaps, brought in 100 yards.
00:02:23
Speaker
They had four 100-yard receivers in one game.
00:02:31
Speaker
And then he had one pick on the other side of the ball, easily could have been two.
00:02:36
Speaker
That team set up for success.
Duke Football's Rise and QB Riley Leonard
00:02:39
Speaker
So, yeah, that was definitely a game a lot of people didn't see happening.
00:02:45
Speaker
Also, Duke might be legit.
00:02:52
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.
00:03:01
Speaker
But Duke still had to capitalize and score off of those, and they did.
00:03:07
Speaker
They might be legit.
00:03:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they got a pretty good QB, which always, you know, modern football, you've got to have a quarterback.
00:03:15
Speaker
And Riley Leonard is the real deal.
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:21
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?
00:03:32
Speaker
And, I mean, he goes to Duke.
00:03:35
Speaker
I mean, I think they won nine games last year.
00:03:37
Speaker
You know, he beat Clemson on a Monday night in primetime.
00:03:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:45
Speaker
It's – he's a pretty good player.
00:03:48
Speaker
I really am looking forward, you know, in a conference that really doesn't have a lot of great defenses.
00:03:53
Speaker
I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, how he shines the rest of the year.
00:03:57
Speaker
Yeah, same.
00:03:59
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, overall great football this weekend.
JSU's 'Cupcake Game' and Logan Smothers' Role
00:04:04
Speaker
Not a lot of marquee matchups.
00:04:06
Speaker
You know, a lot of your heavy hitters were playing those pay me schools for week one.
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:13
Speaker
So we didn't have a lot of marquee matchups this week, but a lot of great football.
00:04:19
Speaker
JSU had somewhat of an easier week this week.
00:04:22
Speaker
We kind of knew that going into it.
00:04:25
Speaker
It's weird playing in FCS school, not being an FCS member anymore.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, it is.
00:04:33
Speaker
As far as it's concerned, that was our cupcake game.
00:04:38
Speaker
And looking ahead to the rest of our schedule, it's probably going to be –
00:04:43
Speaker
Might be the easiest game left.
00:04:46
Speaker
There's a couple teams later on down the road I think we can steamroll, but that's for later on.
00:04:53
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.
00:05:06
Speaker
I mean, we have an FCS-sized roster.
00:05:08
Speaker
You know, we got, obviously, the scholarship bump the last two years, so we have a lot more, you know, scholarship players.
00:05:13
Speaker
But, you know, it felt good after week one where you have such a dogfight, you know, from start to finish.
00:05:20
Speaker
It felt good to come out and just kind of blow the doors off of somebody.
00:05:28
Speaker
Passing game, I mean, Patty, I know you saw the highlights.
00:05:31
Speaker
I watched them afterwards.
00:05:32
Speaker
I wasn't able to watch the game live, but the passing game was a lot better.
00:05:37
Speaker
Logan got the start.
00:05:39
Speaker
Logan Smothers got the start over Zion with Zion being sick.
00:05:43
Speaker
Um,
00:05:45
Speaker
We didn't really know what he was sick with, but we know he was out sick.
00:05:50
Speaker
And Logan stepped up.
00:05:52
Speaker
He played really well.
00:05:54
Speaker
I think he only missed two or three passes, threw the ball down the field really well.
00:06:01
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.
00:06:09
Speaker
So to see that, you know, this last week, really, really good, you know, building block going into the rest of the schedule.
00:06:17
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:06:19
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.
00:06:34
Speaker
That was a good game for him to get comfortable with the playbook and really get this offense under his grasp and whatnot.
00:06:46
Speaker
he's a confident quarterback.
00:06:47
Speaker
That's what you love to see in a retro offense.
00:06:50
Speaker
Um, he's a guy that's not afraid to pull the ball down, use his legs.
00:06:55
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.
00:07:06
Speaker
That's, that's something I don't mind seeing.
00:07:10
Speaker
Um, especially right now, just while, you know, we're trying to get this offense figured out.
00:07:14
Speaker
Um,
00:07:16
Speaker
But he has a really good arm.
00:07:19
Speaker
We saw him flash a couple of passes.
00:07:21
Speaker
I'm really glad he could get Sterling Galvan involved because we definitely got to use him.
00:07:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:28
Speaker
So I'm glad he's able to get a couple of targets.
00:07:31
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:07:32
Speaker
I mean, I'm looking at the numbers now.
00:07:34
Speaker
I mean, we had nine guys carry the ball over 56 plays.
00:07:43
Speaker
over 56 runs anyway.
00:07:44
Speaker
So, I mean, they were spreading the ball around.
00:07:47
Speaker
And, I mean, Logan had 14 carries and two touchdowns.
00:07:52
Speaker
So, I mean, you can tell he's a willing part of the running game.
00:07:58
Speaker
I mean, 13-17, no, he only threw the – I mean, he only had 127 yards, but, you know, he was efficient.
00:08:05
Speaker
I mean, they didn't really ask him to do too much, and I guess part of that is who you're playing.
00:08:08
Speaker
You know, you can kind of slow things down once you're in control.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:12
Speaker
But, hey, 13-17 for a touchdown, no interceptions, I guess a job done everywhere.
00:08:18
Speaker
It doesn't matter how many yards you throw.
00:08:20
Speaker
You do that, you know, with a good running game, you'll keep the job.
00:08:23
Speaker
So, yeah.
JSU's Running Game and Anwar Lewis
00:08:25
Speaker
This week is going to say a lot, though.
00:08:27
Speaker
Going up against a better team, better defense.
00:08:29
Speaker
But I said all along, Logan was the most talented guy on the roster.
00:08:34
Speaker
It was just a matter of him taking control of the room, and it looks like he may have done that this week.
00:08:39
Speaker
Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting to see.
00:08:44
Speaker
where that quarterback room goes going into this week.
00:08:48
Speaker
Zion had a rocky first week.
00:08:50
Speaker
And then, of course, Logan wasn't playing the same level of competition this week.
00:08:55
Speaker
But the offense looked a lot more put together.
00:08:58
Speaker
So it'll definitely be an interesting conversation, you know, see how that goes down.
00:09:05
Speaker
Not sure when Rich Rod will announce who the starter is.
00:09:09
Speaker
So we'll definitely be looking out for that.
00:09:11
Speaker
But, um,
00:09:12
Speaker
I mean, as far as the quarterback situation goes, it's still up in the air.
00:09:17
Speaker
Running backs were looking pretty solid, though.
00:09:20
Speaker
The run game as a whole was looking really, really good.
00:09:26
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.
00:09:38
Speaker
We're keeping those rushing averages high, which is something you definitely want to do throughout the season.
00:09:45
Speaker
I'd love to stay closer to five than three.
00:09:49
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:09:50
Speaker
You know, I made a note.
00:09:54
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.
00:10:01
Speaker
And we all thought it was going to be Ron Wiggins, but this week, Malik Jackson, 12 carries, 100 yards.
00:10:08
Speaker
I mean, we knew he had the burst.
00:10:11
Speaker
It was just a matter of –
00:10:13
Speaker
if he's comfortable, you know, handling the majority of the runs.
00:10:17
Speaker
And obviously they spread the ball around pretty well, but I mean, you look pretty comfortable kind of being the guy.
00:10:22
Speaker
I mean, you average eight yards of carry, that'll keep you on the field a lot.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:27
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.
00:10:35
Speaker
Right.
00:10:37
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.
00:10:58
Speaker
We're going to have somebody who's fresh just because we're able to rotate so much.
00:11:03
Speaker
So that's always good to see.
00:11:05
Speaker
Again, we hope Anwar is recovering, whatever's going on.
00:11:09
Speaker
We hope to see him back soon.
00:11:11
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.
00:11:22
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:11:25
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
00:11:35
Speaker
So, I mean, realistically, you've got – when Anwar comes back, you've got five, six ball carriers in your starting lineup.
00:11:44
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.
00:11:52
Speaker
So, yeah, definitely looking forward once they get fully healthy to kind of see how this offense takes off.
00:11:59
Speaker
Yeah.
JSU's Defensive Challenges Against Coastal Carolina
00:12:01
Speaker
I loved seeing the tempo.
00:12:04
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.
00:12:14
Speaker
Just kind of, you know, keep the foot on the gas.
00:12:17
Speaker
You know, keep that time rolling too.
00:12:21
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.
00:12:29
Speaker
You keep getting first downs and just positive yards in general, you know, you win the time of possession battle.
00:12:35
Speaker
Obviously, you want to turn that into touchdowns, which we were able to do this past week.
00:12:42
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.
00:12:54
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.
00:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, we got a tough one coming up.
00:13:08
Speaker
Sorry, just got an alert for any of you who play fantasy football that Travis Kelsey hyperextended his knee in practice.
00:13:14
Speaker
So... I don't have him on my fantasy.
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think I drafted him on any of my teams.
00:13:22
Speaker
But anyways, yeah, I mean, we got to... I argue it may be the toughest game on the schedule.
00:13:30
Speaker
You know, on the road...
00:13:33
Speaker
I tend to agree.
00:13:35
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.
00:13:46
Speaker
But, you know, we look at our defense last two weeks.
00:13:50
Speaker
Have they had some plays where they, you know, could have executed a little bit better?
00:13:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:56
Speaker
But as a whole, we've been pretty fast to the ball.
00:13:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:14:01
Speaker
We got a lot of –
00:14:02
Speaker
We got a lot of really good guys on that D line.
00:14:07
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.
00:14:15
Speaker
So, yeah, we got a pretty good defense.
00:14:19
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.
00:14:34
Speaker
They're not running triple option anymore.
00:14:36
Speaker
They're running power spread, throwing them all over the place.
00:14:39
Speaker
And so this will be a good week to kind of test the defense.
00:14:45
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really hoping that –
00:14:48
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.
00:15:03
Speaker
And that could get us in a lot of trouble if we don't, you know, nip that in the bud real quick.
00:15:08
Speaker
So I'm hoping, you know, our DBs are, you know, ready to –
00:15:13
Speaker
Stand up, you know, answer the call and kind of shut that down.
00:15:18
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.
00:15:28
Speaker
You know, it's going to be a hard-fought game no matter what.
00:15:32
Speaker
And I could easily see it being a shootout.
00:15:34
Speaker
But, you know, it'll be –
00:15:36
Speaker
hopefully getting a stop, you know, two or three times and then capitalizing on it on the other end.
00:15:43
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.
00:15:50
Speaker
Nothing has been getting past them in the run game except for, you know, a couple of big plays here and there.
00:15:54
Speaker
You're going to have those.
00:15:55
Speaker
But as long as we can shut down those receivers, I give us as good a chance as anybody.
00:16:05
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.
00:16:13
Speaker
I think Grayson McCall got sacked a few times.
00:16:17
Speaker
They had, what was it, 34 carries for 56 yards.
00:16:24
Speaker
So, you know, stopping the run, yeah, it's going to be crucial, but this is not a very good running team.
00:16:29
Speaker
And for that matter, it's not a very good pass blocking team.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:33
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.
00:16:50
Speaker
He's –
00:16:51
Speaker
I think he's the three-time Sunbelt Player of the Year.
00:16:56
Speaker
And he's only been playing for three years, so you guys can do the math.
00:16:58
Speaker
He's won it every year he's been on roster.
00:17:02
Speaker
I mean, he's that kind of player.
00:17:04
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.
00:17:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:16
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.
00:17:29
Speaker
We do not have that luxury.
00:17:31
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,
00:17:42
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.
00:17:51
Speaker
Especially when we have the defense that is fully capable of sticking right there with them and helping us win this game.
00:18:00
Speaker
It's 100% a mental thing.
00:18:03
Speaker
You just got to lock in.
00:18:04
Speaker
He is going to be who he is.
00:18:06
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.
00:18:13
Speaker
The biggest thing is you got to lock in and still play your game, um, and play to your best ability.
00:18:20
Speaker
And, you know, just know that at the end of the day, when you're walking away, you did what you could do.
00:18:26
Speaker
Um, so that's the biggest thing.
00:18:28
Speaker
It's a mental game just as much as, as it is a physical game.
00:18:32
Speaker
And I hope we're able to, you know, stay locked in, um,
00:18:37
Speaker
you know, at least put up a fight.
00:18:40
Speaker
I, even if we don't win, I'm okay.
00:18:43
Speaker
As long as, you know, we put up a good fight and, you know, make sure they have to truly earn this win.
00:18:49
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:18:50
Speaker
You know, um,
00:18:52
Speaker
Coastal's won a lot of games over the last three years.
00:18:56
Speaker
And like we said, Grayson's been a big part of it.
00:19:00
Speaker
But you said it.
00:19:01
Speaker
It's all mental.
00:19:02
Speaker
You can't go in and say, oh, this is Grayson McCall, one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
00:19:06
Speaker
What are we going to do to stop him?
00:19:08
Speaker
You've got to go in with the mentality of
00:19:11
Speaker
hey, we're Jacksonville State.
00:19:12
Speaker
We're a great defensive team.
00:19:13
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.
00:19:22
Speaker
Because at the end of the day, if you look at the numbers, they don't pass block well.
00:19:25
Speaker
They don't run well.
00:19:27
Speaker
So what can you do?
00:19:28
Speaker
You send five or six guys, drop the rest in coverage, and force them to get the ball out quickly.
00:19:36
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.
00:19:41
Speaker
This is what they're not good at.
00:19:42
Speaker
Let's attack it.
00:19:43
Speaker
And we – like you said, we've got a great front seven.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:48
Speaker
So, you know, I like
Significance of JSU's Match Against Coastal
00:19:49
Speaker
our chances this week.
00:19:49
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.
00:19:59
Speaker
I mean, that shows us, not just as fans, but shows the players like, hey, we can hang in this conference.
00:20:05
Speaker
Because this is, I mean, Coastal is one of the best group of five teams in the country.
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:20:12
Speaker
I mean, they've won, I think.
00:20:15
Speaker
I actually think they're tied for the most wins.
00:20:18
Speaker
I'm trying to see.
00:20:21
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.
00:20:27
Speaker
I think they have even more wins in Cincinnati.
00:20:30
Speaker
Um, let's see here.
00:20:34
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I mean, it's, it's going to be a fun, fun game for sure.
00:20:39
Speaker
Um, Oh, 100%.
00:20:43
Speaker
Um, I think the biggest thing, uh, and this is our first true test because it's a road game.
00:20:49
Speaker
Um, our first road game as an FBS team, our first road game against, you know, a formidable opponent.
00:20:56
Speaker
Um,
00:20:57
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.
00:21:05
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.
00:21:17
Speaker
So, yeah, it's a road game.
00:21:19
Speaker
You're going up a team like Coastal who –
00:21:23
Speaker
is one of the better teams in the Sun Belt, which, again, is one of the better group of five conferences.
00:21:32
Speaker
So like you said, moral victories aren't something a lot of people like to even say.
00:21:37
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,
00:21:47
Speaker
that has me feeling good for the rest of the season, you know, looking forward to some of our other opponents.
00:21:53
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.
00:22:09
Speaker
this is where we got picked apart.
00:22:11
Speaker
This is what we've done really well.
00:22:12
Speaker
And, you know, it gives us time to go from there.
00:22:15
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.
00:22:24
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.
00:22:32
Speaker
We have Liberty and Western Kentucky back to back, you know, the two top favorites to win the conference.
00:22:39
Speaker
We got Eastern Michigan thrown in there too.
00:22:41
Speaker
So, like, we don't have an easy stretch by any means.
00:22:47
Speaker
But it's definitely a very manageable stretch.
00:22:52
Speaker
And, like I said, we'll learn a lot about how we can navigate that in this next game.
00:22:58
Speaker
Some of those games are on the road.
00:23:00
Speaker
Some of those games are at home.
00:23:01
Speaker
Luckily, we have both Liberty and Western Kentucky at home.
00:23:06
Speaker
But, I mean –
00:23:08
Speaker
This is a very big litmus test for us going forward about how the rest of our season will go.
00:23:16
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:23:17
Speaker
And I did look it up, by the way.
00:23:19
Speaker
They are tied with Cincinnati for the most wins at a group of five level over the last three years.
00:23:25
Speaker
Yeah.
JSU's Tough Upcoming Schedule
00:23:27
Speaker
You know, since he went to the playoff one year, so that that tells you something.
00:23:32
Speaker
Yeah, they're not anybody to mess with.
00:23:34
Speaker
I believe Coastal has been ranked in the top five a couple of times in the last three years.
00:23:41
Speaker
Obviously, that's not the same team that is out there this year.
00:23:44
Speaker
But again, just goes to show they are somebody that has to be taken seriously.
00:23:51
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.
00:24:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:03
Speaker
You know, I mean, it's going to be a good week.
00:24:07
Speaker
I mean, honestly, I like our chances.
00:24:10
Speaker
If it were not for Grayson McCall, I would have us picked to win this game.
00:24:15
Speaker
Right off the bat, without a question.
00:24:18
Speaker
He's just one of those X factors that you have to account for.
00:24:22
Speaker
And the biggest thing is, you know, you always want to root for your team.
00:24:25
Speaker
And I'm rooting for JSU.
00:24:26
Speaker
I want us to win.
00:24:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:27
Speaker
But at a certain point, you also have to be realistic and kind of look at what's on paper.
00:24:32
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.
00:24:44
Speaker
It's going to be hell.
00:24:46
Speaker
And the biggest thing is just that mental fortitude.
00:24:48
Speaker
Like I said, it's the first big test in the FBS.
00:24:54
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.
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:03
Speaker
And I wouldn't want it any other way.
00:25:04
Speaker
You know, some schools want the easy transition.
00:25:07
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.
00:25:28
Speaker
Because, you know, we'll have early signing day and most of that will go to the big schools.
00:25:32
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.
00:25:41
Speaker
So, yeah, I like having these, you know, down, dirty, grinded out kind of games, especially early on in the season.
00:25:47
Speaker
But, you know, first season in general, just so we know, you know, what direction to look for going forward.
00:25:55
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:25:57
Speaker
So, I mean, it'll be good to look, you know, see how this game goes.
00:26:01
Speaker
Obviously, you know, if we lose by a touchdown or two, you know, it's not bad.
00:26:06
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.
00:26:13
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:26:16
Speaker
This is one of those games I've had.
00:26:21
Speaker
it could easily be a toss-up.
00:26:23
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.
00:26:40
Speaker
I could easily see us, you know, coming out of this win and going on a stretch like Coastal's –
00:26:48
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.
00:26:56
Speaker
What was it?
00:26:57
Speaker
Eight wins.
00:26:57
Speaker
I think they went eight and four or 83, something like that.
00:27:02
Speaker
Um, and I think if I remember correctly, they would have won the conference if they had been eligible.
00:27:10
Speaker
Um,
00:27:11
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.
00:27:25
Speaker
No.
00:27:28
Speaker
All
JSU's Quarterback Dilemma: Logan vs. Zion
00:27:29
Speaker
right.
00:27:29
Speaker
Well, I think we got to have a conversation about the quarterback room.
00:27:35
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:27:36
Speaker
That's one –
00:27:38
Speaker
That's one we've already kind of touched on earlier this episode.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:42
Speaker
Between week one and week two.
00:27:45
Speaker
I just kind of want to make some last hits on it before we move on.
00:27:48
Speaker
Look, for those of you who are at the game or maybe watched it live, you saw Logan was phenomenal.
00:27:57
Speaker
13 of 17.
00:27:58
Speaker
Just a buck 27.
00:27:59
Speaker
You know, he wasn't pushing the ball down the field too much.
00:28:03
Speaker
But –
00:28:05
Speaker
13-17, that's almost 77% completion.
00:28:08
Speaker
He had a touchdown, no interceptions.
00:28:10
Speaker
He had two rushing touchdowns.
00:28:13
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.
00:28:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:30
Speaker
I like Zion.
00:28:32
Speaker
He's a great athlete.
00:28:33
Speaker
He's fought so hard.
00:28:36
Speaker
But you have to look at the bigger picture of who's performing best in the offense.
00:28:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:42
Speaker
We know Rich Rod wants to run the football, run his own read.
00:28:45
Speaker
But if you look at all of his best offenses, they've also thrown the ball about 40 times a game.
00:28:50
Speaker
I mean, it's been – they have aired it out even when they've had good dual-threat quarterbacks.
00:28:57
Speaker
And so you've got to just think that Logan –
00:29:02
Speaker
You have to think that this last week he kind of took control of the game, took control of the room.
00:29:08
Speaker
I mean, if he comes out and has a big week against Coastal, I don't see that he looks back.
00:29:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:18
Speaker
Like you said, God loves Zion.
00:29:21
Speaker
He's been around for, you know, this is the seventh season.
00:29:26
Speaker
I think he's a great guy.
00:29:28
Speaker
Uh, he is, he has provided us with a lot of, you know, big play moments.
00:29:33
Speaker
Um,
00:29:35
Speaker
And, yeah, that first game was shaky.
00:29:37
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.
00:29:57
Speaker
Like you said, Logan looked really good.
00:29:59
Speaker
He looked pretty comfortable.
00:30:01
Speaker
There were some shaky moments, but, I mean, that comes with learning a new playbook.
00:30:06
Speaker
Um, there are some shaky moments and that might be the reason why maybe he doesn't get the start just quite yet.
00:30:15
Speaker
Um, but he, like you said, he looked really comfortable.
00:30:20
Speaker
127, 13 of 17.
00:30:21
Speaker
He didn't throw it too much.
00:30:24
Speaker
So of course the yards aren't going to be super high.
00:30:27
Speaker
The biggest thing is he was pretty accurate and on point.
00:30:30
Speaker
He put it to where the receivers could get it pretty much every time.
00:30:34
Speaker
Um,
00:30:36
Speaker
And like you said, we just have to kind of put emotions aside.
00:30:43
Speaker
I respect Zion for coming back, you know, for a seventh season.
00:30:47
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,
00:31:01
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.
00:31:08
Speaker
If it's Zion, we rock with Zion.
00:31:10
Speaker
If it's Logan, we rock with Logan.
00:31:14
Speaker
I like both guys.
00:31:16
Speaker
Obviously, this is pretty much Zion's last chance.
00:31:19
Speaker
We'll see Logan again next year.
00:31:23
Speaker
I like both guys.
00:31:24
Speaker
I want them both to be wildly successful.
00:31:27
Speaker
But, I mean, we just got to go with what's been given to us.
00:31:30
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.
00:31:40
Speaker
I will be very interested to see playing out this week.
00:31:44
Speaker
And like you said, I think this week is the performance of either –
00:31:50
Speaker
whoever starts or maybe if both of them play, that will go a long way in determining how we go moving forward.
00:31:56
Speaker
Because I don't know about you.
00:31:57
Speaker
I don't like the dual quarterback for the whole season system.
00:32:01
Speaker
We've already done that at JSU multiple times.
00:32:04
Speaker
Never really turns out good.
00:32:07
Speaker
Um, the offense never really finds a rhythm, especially when you have two quarterbacks that play differently.
00:32:14
Speaker
I don't like the dual quarterback system.
00:32:16
Speaker
So I'm hoping this is the last week before we just lock somebody in and say, this is our guy.
00:32:23
Speaker
We're riding with him.
00:32:25
Speaker
Yeah, I just don't want to see that dual quarterback system.
00:32:28
Speaker
It doesn't work out for us.
00:32:30
Speaker
No.
00:32:30
Speaker
I mean, we've all heard the phrase, you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks.
00:32:34
Speaker
And that's kind of where we're at right now.
00:32:38
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.
00:32:49
Speaker
And that's the big thing is, you know, you go 13-17 for 127.
00:32:52
Speaker
No, that doesn't jump off the stat sheet anymore.
00:32:58
Speaker
But he did everything he was asked to do.
00:33:00
Speaker
Everything he was asked to do.
00:33:01
Speaker
Plus he ran for two touchdowns.
00:33:04
Speaker
Here's the thing.
00:33:05
Speaker
Logan has the size to kind of stand up to these better athletes that we're facing now.
00:33:11
Speaker
Zion's a smaller guy.
00:33:13
Speaker
I think Logan's around 6'3", maybe 215.
00:33:16
Speaker
He's got some size to take some hits.
00:33:19
Speaker
Knowing Zion's health issues that have kept him out of the game in and out the last couple seasons, it
00:33:29
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.
00:33:41
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know.
00:33:43
Speaker
Like I said, from all the interviews and whatnot I've heard, it seems like Rich Rod wants Logan to be the guy.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:52
Speaker
And it's just a matter of him being comfortable in the offense.
00:33:54
Speaker
So, I guess we'll see what it comes down to this week.
00:34:00
Speaker
That's just a hard conversation as a coach that you have to have.
00:34:04
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.
00:34:19
Speaker
But I know, you know, whoever doesn't get, you know, get picked, I know they will be right there, you know, supporting.
00:34:26
Speaker
mentoring, doing whatever they have to do to help the other guy out.
00:34:32
Speaker
So I'm not worried there.
00:34:33
Speaker
Both of them are very good guys.
00:34:35
Speaker
They will make sure, you know, they are A-plus teammates.
00:34:40
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.
00:34:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:55
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.
00:35:03
Speaker
So, yeah, I wish the best for both of those guys.
00:35:07
Speaker
We just got to do what's best for our offense and for our team.
00:35:12
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:35:15
Speaker
All right, I guess we got one last thing that we really need to talk about.
00:35:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:20
Speaker
That's the women's golf team, actually.
00:35:23
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.
00:35:37
Speaker
And they finished second, just five shots out of first place, with the winner of the tournament being Louisiana Monroe.
00:35:44
Speaker
So that's a pretty good –
00:35:48
Speaker
Pretty good week to open the season.
00:35:50
Speaker
I mean, I didn't even look at the numbers now.
00:35:52
Speaker
They actually shot the low round for the final round of the day, for the final round of the tournament.
00:35:57
Speaker
The team shot the low round.
00:35:59
Speaker
Hey, that's good.
00:36:02
Speaker
Hey, they beat Troy.
00:36:05
Speaker
As always would Troy, as always.
00:36:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah, we finished second.
00:36:09
Speaker
Troy finished seventh.
00:36:11
Speaker
We beat them by 29 shots as a team.
00:36:16
Speaker
So won't complain about that at all.
00:36:19
Speaker
I'll take that for sure.
00:36:23
Speaker
For them as the season goes on.
JSU's Strong Secondary Sports Performances
00:36:26
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.
00:36:34
Speaker
We got great tennis teams.
00:36:36
Speaker
We got great golf teams, volleyball, beach volleyball, you know,
00:36:42
Speaker
And they don't get enough love.
00:36:44
Speaker
I hope that changes, especially as, you know, we're moving up to FBS.
00:36:47
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.
00:36:58
Speaker
We are truly blessed to have, you know,
00:37:01
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.
00:37:21
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:37:23
Speaker
Um,
00:37:25
Speaker
Obviously, we're going to get a chance to showcase it pretty soon.
00:37:27
Speaker
I mean, we obviously got football now, volleyball, golf, and soccer going on.
00:37:32
Speaker
Basketball start in a little less than two months, I think.
00:37:39
Speaker
Summer.
00:37:39
Speaker
I think it's October.
00:37:41
Speaker
Yeah, so definitely got some big things going on.
00:37:46
Speaker
I do have one note on basketball.
00:37:49
Speaker
It's really the only news we've heard.
00:37:52
Speaker
Conference USA media days are going to be in Huntsville, actually at the Space and Rocket Center.
00:38:02
Speaker
Oh, nice.
00:38:02
Speaker
That's pretty nice.
00:38:04
Speaker
I love that Conference USA, at least for basketball, is operating a lot of stuff out of Huntsville.
00:38:10
Speaker
And there's a conference tournament going to be in Huntsville, which is great for, you know, JSU fans from Jacksonville.
00:38:18
Speaker
That's like an hour and a half, two hour drive up the road.
00:38:21
Speaker
So very manageable.
00:38:24
Speaker
you know, to drive up there for a day, you know, cheer on our teams.
00:38:29
Speaker
I love it.
00:38:30
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.
00:38:43
Speaker
Under Coach Harper, we have made the big dance twice now.
00:38:46
Speaker
You know, one time a lot of people will say there's an asterisk next to it.
00:38:50
Speaker
But, I mean, rules are rules.
00:38:51
Speaker
Yeah, that was our Mickey Mouse tournament appearance.
00:38:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:57
Speaker
But, I mean, rules are rules.
00:38:58
Speaker
It's the same as if we go eight and four this season.
00:39:01
Speaker
We're not going to get a ball game.
00:39:02
Speaker
But we know that going into it.
00:39:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:07
Speaker
So, yeah, we definitely were gifted that one.
00:39:09
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.
00:39:20
Speaker
They've really picked up a lot of steam.
00:39:24
Speaker
And, you know, they were playing hard, especially with teams like Liberty last year.
00:39:29
Speaker
So, I mean –
00:39:33
Speaker
I'm very excited for basketball season and then obviously always excited for the Diamond sports.
00:39:40
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
00:39:53
Speaker
the either automatic bid or an at-large bid into, you know, the World Series tournament.
00:39:59
Speaker
They're very sneaky teams and can easily pull off an upset in the regional.
00:40:03
Speaker
So I'm ready to get to that season too.
00:40:09
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
Podcast Future Plans and Technical Issues
00:40:12
Speaker
By the time we get to November, it's going to be busy.
00:40:14
Speaker
So we're going to have a lot to report on.
00:40:16
Speaker
Hopefully in just a few weeks, we'll start to really have a lot to start talking about.
00:40:22
Speaker
Oh yeah, give ourselves a little bit of a lengthier episode and not have to necessarily fill in a lot of stuff.
00:40:29
Speaker
Yeah, we won't have to fluff as much once basketball starts.
00:40:36
Speaker
Because by that point, we'll have a couple games a week to talk about in the spring.
00:40:43
Speaker
So that'll really help.
00:40:45
Speaker
Podcast schedule will get a little weird then, especially with our October midweek games.
00:40:53
Speaker
Yeah, you might see a lot of episodes coming out on –
00:41:00
Speaker
Sundays and Mondays.
00:41:04
Speaker
We might be recording a lot on Thursday and Friday, but it is what it is.
00:41:11
Speaker
All right.
00:41:12
Speaker
I think we've hit everything.
00:41:13
Speaker
Any last things you got to say?
00:41:15
Speaker
I think we have to.
00:41:17
Speaker
I mean, not really.
00:41:18
Speaker
Looking forward to this week.
00:41:19
Speaker
Like you said, it's a big week for football.
00:41:23
Speaker
This is our barometer for the rest of the season.
00:41:27
Speaker
I believe in these guys.
00:41:28
Speaker
I know Rich Rod and
00:41:30
Speaker
Rick Trickett and, you know, all the other coaches will have these guys fired up and ready to go.
00:41:37
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.
00:41:44
Speaker
But, you know, from watching the energy on the sidelines the past couple of weeks, I think these guys will be ready.
00:41:52
Speaker
They'll be locked in.
00:41:55
Speaker
I'm excited to see it.
00:41:58
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:42:02
Speaker
So, all right, man.
00:42:03
Speaker
Well, I guess we're going to sign off here from the 700 Pelham Road podcast.
00:42:07
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.
00:42:20
Speaker
As for this episode, it will be...
00:42:24
Speaker
produced and released either Thursday or Friday.
00:42:26
Speaker
I will make sure of that if it's the last thing I do.
00:42:33
Speaker
Hopefully, after this little debacle with our recording mishaps, we'll have everything figured out.
00:42:43
Speaker
From the 700 Pelham Road Podcast, peace, everybody.
00:42:46
Speaker
See ya.