Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
2025 Sun Belt Football: Week 7 Recap, Week 8 Preview
71 Plays6 days ago
Brian and Zeke are back with a double episode, recapping both week 7 in the Sun Belt and going over week 8!
The two break down Marshall's destruction of Old Dominion, Southern Miss holding off Georgia Southern, and Troy rallying down 28-7 to defeat Texas State in overtime.
Week 8 is headlined by the biggest #funbelt conference game of the season, as James Madison hosts Old Dominion to determine which team controls the Sun Belt East.
Check us out on YouTube!
Follow us on X:
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome everybody into a new edition of Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt Podcast. I am your host, Brian Stone, joined once again this week by Zeke Palermo. Zeke, it was a weird week in the Sunbelt. There was a lot of things to talk about.
00:00:30
Speaker
um You mentioned before we started recording that you almost got into a fistfight at the Bills-Falcons game on Monday night. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that? Yeah. So, ah I was rolling about 10 people deep, mostly my dad's from Buffalo. And so all of his buddies can't, you know, had the excuse to come into Atlanta, uh, and spend the long weekend with him.
00:00:55
Speaker
So, uh, I tagged along with like my girlfriend and, you know, cousins and whatever. So I mean, the whole family's there. And when we get to our seats, There's a guy in front of us with, it's called a watered buffalo hat. It's like a Flintstones thing, I guess, that's way before me.
00:01:12
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, it's like a cat in a hat, Dr. Seuss type thing. And he's sitting right in front of me. So ah initially, you know, at kickoff, my girlfriend, very, very politely, Hey, do you mind taking off your hat? You know, we can't see some of the field.
00:01:27
Speaker
And he starts grumbling about it, but he takes the hat off. The Falcons go down, score on the first drive. And as we're lining up for the kickoff, he puts it right back on. And I mean, he is blocking from, we're on the away side. So he's blocking from about the 50 to the 10 of my vision. That's 40% of the field.
00:01:47
Speaker
right And so, yeah, so I'm like, all right. So I lean over. Hey, man, ah I don't, you know, we asked you to take the hat off because you mind keeping it off. And he starts chirping at me.
00:01:58
Speaker
And I'll be honest. I got so hot about this. I don't remember what happened. I don't know how it devolved. just saw red. But all of a sudden, I'm going at it. His wife is going at it with my aunt.
00:02:09
Speaker
His son, who's my age, is going at it with my dad. my God. So, I mean, it is just a family, like, shouting match. That's so weird. And so the guy ends up – the guy in front of me ends up cooling. His wife cools him down.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah. And so we've kind of settled the beef. He's still, you know, bitching and moaning. Every time someone stands up for a first down, he, you know, turns around like, you're going to say something, whatever, jackass.
00:02:36
Speaker
um But the guy in front of my dad is making it a point to stay standing up. So he blocks the view. So my dad's like, all right, well, screw this. And he goes and gets security. I don't know if that was the right move, but he's like,
00:02:48
Speaker
The guy's standing up. I can't see the game. And so the lady, the, I mean, you know, the security lady comes, he's like, you need to sit down or we're going to ask you to leave. Um, this is all within the first two drives of the game.
00:02:59
Speaker
I can't. So then, you know, second quarter starts pretty much the whole group leaves and we think, all right, they're getting food or whatever. Um, yeah. A couple of them come back, but the dad the of the family, the guy that I was arguing with initially, never came back, never came back at all.
00:03:15
Speaker
And the kid that was in front of my dad that was being a jerk ah only came back at the start of the fourth quarter. I have no idea where they went. It's the Benz, so it's big. you know They could have gone anywhere in that stadium. there's so many It's so corporate-friendly places for you to eat or watch or whatever. But i mean this place was packed. It was like 50% Bills fans.
00:03:37
Speaker
So I have no idea
Podcast Format and Episode Coverage
00:03:38
Speaker
where he went, ah but he eventually came back, and i mean he still had the the temple ah blood vein was still bursting. absolutely.
00:03:48
Speaker
ah And look, I've tried to self-reflect and really like, what did I do to escalate it? But I think this guy was just so attached to his hat. And it was hurt that we asked him to take it off.
00:03:59
Speaker
It was crazy. That's nuts. It was crazy, the Okay, I'm going to keep this really quick. This did not happen to me. This happened to my wife's master's professor. ah being hit Her master's professor knew a guy that wrote a movie.
00:04:15
Speaker
And he went to the premiere and he was at the movie premiere and he's sitting, you know, watching, trying to see the movie. yeah And there's a lady with a big floppy hat in front of him. And he's like, hey, ma'am, can you take the hat off? Like you're impeding my ability to like see the screen.
00:04:31
Speaker
And this woman doesn't respond. And so he he goes one more time. He goes, ma'am, we're inside. You don't have to wear a hat. Like, can you just take it off? Like it's dark in here. Nobody can see anything anyway.
00:04:43
Speaker
Doesn't respond. He kicks the back of her seat, goes, hey, lady, take the hat off. She turns around. It's Sandra Bullock.
00:04:56
Speaker
That's crazy. Was she in the movie? No, she was just there for the premiere. Was it her premiere? ah Okay. No, she wasn't in the movie. ah But she was just there, I guess, to see the movie. I don't know. You know how random celebs so show up to other stuff?
00:05:12
Speaker
that's ah Yeah, that's funny. Yeah. So we've so we've told our hat stories or individual hat stories. ah Let's get to we're doing actually like a double episode for this one. So due to ah my travel schedule, I had to go to a wedding this past weekend.
00:05:29
Speaker
Zeke went to Monday Night Football. So we did. We actually didn't have time to kind of sync up and record. ah We're recording this on Tuesday. We're going to knock out what our week seven takeaways from the Sunbelt were and then talk a little bit about week eight.
00:05:42
Speaker
Week eight is headlined by one gigantic game and then kind of just some smaller ones sprinkled in. So we'll we'll probably spend most of our time of the preview section on JMU Old Dominion because that feels at this point kind of like the de facto conference championship as it sits today. But so let's start off with week seven.
00:06:03
Speaker
I'll go ahead
Georgia Southern vs. Southern Miss Recap
00:06:04
Speaker
and start off. my My team played on Thursday night and totally stunk it up. ah Georgia Southern was down 28-7 to seven Southern Miss at halftime. I know they eventually lose by like just three. They had like a little bit of a false comeback.
00:06:19
Speaker
I know we had talked about Southern Miss' red zone struggles in recent weeks. Turns out red zone offense doesn't matter when you're throwing touchdowns of 50 and 30 yards the way that Braylon Braxton was ah to put the Golden Eagles up big over Georgia Southern ah Braxton finished with 239 and two touchdowns. He had the 13th best PFF grade in the country in week seven, ah which kind of illustrates how poor Georgia Southern's defense is.
00:06:49
Speaker
Um, Georgia Southern's offense and defense, I guess by extension, look totally inept in the first half. And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game. um I think. This boils my my issues with Clay Helton down a little bit to kind of one singular thing.
00:07:07
Speaker
There was an interview with Helton after the game, and they asked him at one point. JC French threw three interceptions in the loss. ah They asked him after the game. They were like, did you ever consider making a change at quarterback? And he says, yeah, when he threw that third pick, I considered it.
00:07:23
Speaker
But I wanted to see the way that he came out for the next drive. And I'm like, this this is why this guy can't win. Like, because he literally, he can't get out of his own way.
00:07:34
Speaker
So when when you watch a guy, and he watched Davis Brin do this through all of 2023, when you watch a guy throw interception after interception and you're just standing there going, what can you do? Like, you're a person in the stands, but you're the head coach and you make these calls, these decisions.
00:07:51
Speaker
I mean, i don't know, man. that I've said to you, I'm probably not going to be super glued to Georgia Southern games from here on. I think I'm this game pretty much solidified that fact for me because Regardless of whether they win in week eight and they beat a Georgia state team that looks just as bad as they are.
00:08:14
Speaker
um I simply, i can't bring myself to get to care about, about how this team does until Clay Hilton's no longer the coach. I, I, I simply can't, I can't muster the emotional energy to get upset.
00:08:28
Speaker
Really. i kind of just shrug and laugh. Like that was all I did. I watched the finale of Peacemaker season two at halftime and I missed parts of the third quarter, but I didn't miss anything really.
00:08:40
Speaker
So I was just kind of like, that was where I am with the team, which is this show that's on that I could watch anytime. I just cut it on at halftime and I was like, whatever I miss of this game, I'll catch up to it later.
00:08:52
Speaker
Yeah. um What is really perplexing to me among many things about Georgia Southern right now is, um or maybe not perplexing, but definitely makes me even more sympathetic to the cause is that i Southern still has not made the scapegoat move of firing the defensive coordinator, which is obviously equally as dysfunctional as Clay Helton.
00:09:16
Speaker
But you know when you do that, You know, it buys you several more weeks. It lets the head coach keep going. And again, I think maybe I'm wrong, but my perspective, ah what I've observed is that a lot of Southern fans have kind of come to terms with the fact that Clay Helton is unfortunately going to be here like at least another year just because of the volume of his buyout and how severely that would cripple the athletic department um in paying how much they owe him.
00:09:43
Speaker
Did you hear about the contract stuff that came out like a couple weeks ago? ah I mean, I saw that it was numbers. I didn't see too much outside of that. Okay. um So on a previous episode, I made a point about Jared Bingo was the previous AD at Southern who hired Hilton.
00:10:00
Speaker
um Nobody knew this. This was not reported anywhere until last year. bko And then I guess this net last year, ah ah Davis had secretly been signing Clay Helton to five-year extensions every year after the year ended.
00:10:19
Speaker
So after 2022, they go six and seven. He signs him to a five-year extension on top of the deal he already had. 2023 even, the Davis-Bren year where they look totally hopeless and hapless,
00:10:32
Speaker
They signed him to another five-year extension that wasn't ah reported. And then last year he wins eight games. So they signed him to another five-year extension. And then that gets reported because he won eight games. So it's more palatable to the rest of the audience.
00:10:46
Speaker
ah The only way that we found this out was that a Georgia Southern fan foiled the school. Um, this was not a reporter that did this. This was a fan because this is how shoddy, I guess, the reporting on Georgia Southern is from like a media perspective.
00:11:03
Speaker
So, I guess ah the fan base will continue to foyer the school after every single season and see if he gets five-year extensions indefinitely. But yeah, this is what I mean. like i'm out I'm out until Clay Hilton is is not in Statesboro any longer. Whether he gets an offensive coordinator job at a P5 or whatever, I don't know why anybody would take him.
00:11:25
Speaker
But until he's out, like I can't bring myself to like get... upset about this any longer. Like it kind of is what it is. um One more, what one more point on this to the clay Helton, uh, side of it.
00:11:38
Speaker
Uh, second highest rated recruit in school history. Weston Bryant does not take a record and offensive stat, uh, but does make the tackle after JC French's third interception. So he's on the field.
00:11:53
Speaker
They threw a fade to him in the corner of the end zone. Yeah. They threw a fade to the backup quarterback in the corner of the end zone.
00:12:02
Speaker
it This is what I mean. like I mean, nobody there uses any sort of logic. And I guess it doesn't matter when you keep getting extended in perpetuity, because like what are they going to do, fire you? like You can't.
00:12:15
Speaker
So a couple of other things here. i feel I feel the worst for Camden Brown, this Auburn transfer, because he has been an animal for Georgia Southern on maybe the most dysfunctional team that we've had in a minute.
00:12:31
Speaker
ah The only other thing I can see that comes close is Chad Lunsford's final season where he kind of just threw the towel in and was like, whatever, I don't care anymore. Fire me. um Brown had 12 catches, 158 and a touchdown.
00:12:45
Speaker
um Southern Miss had five sacks. Chris Jones had three of those. ah And then, you know, Georgia Southern scores in the second half to make make it a three-point game.
00:12:57
Speaker
And then, the again, this is another illustration of, like, the whole team is just dysfunctional. So they do a kickoff. Southern Miss goes to return it. If they stop them, I think they had two timeouts at that point. So they would have called both.
00:13:12
Speaker
and then had to wait for the runoff for a potential punt. Instead, what happens is a Georgia Southern player commits a personal foul, which moves it up 15 yards and basically means if Southern Miss gets a first down, it not only means the game is over, but if they found a way to stop them, then they could kick a field goal because they'd basically be in field goal range at that point. So it's just dysfunction like all the way down.
00:13:37
Speaker
I want to give credit to Southern Miss. They obviously played great, but there was I didn't learn anything about Southern Miss in this game. the And I guess I didn't learn anything about Southern either because I knew Southern was a train wreck.
00:13:49
Speaker
But Southern Miss looks as good as advertised, but you... If you're going to compete for a Sunbelt title, you cannot let a team like Georgia Southern come back and almost tie it up late in the game. Like you've got to put your foot on the gas.
00:14:03
Speaker
And that was the one thing Southern Miss didn't really do. Yeah. And for Southern Miss, again, i don't think we on learned a ton about this, but they've now ah beaten Southern and App um with a relatively soft ah West division. It looks still early. like I think Troy is still in the mix. I think if Louisiana...
00:14:27
Speaker
If lunch continues showing up, they could make a run at the West. um their Their defense, we'll get to it, but their defense just isn't good enough. but i mean Right now, Southern Miss is kind of in that pole position for um in the West. and that could i mean they're They're set up well for the rest of the season as they play ULM, Arkansas State, South Al, teams that we're not super high on.
00:14:51
Speaker
Sure. um All right. So you mentioned ah Louisiana.
JMU vs. Louisiana Analysis
00:14:55
Speaker
Let's get to the JMU Louisiana game. So Alonzo Barnett really struggled last week against Georgia State in that seven point win on the road.
00:15:04
Speaker
ah He bounced back pretty nicely in this game to 290 yards, three passing touchdowns. Um, this may have been a Landon Ellis breakout game, uh, as he had one 20 and all caught all three touchdowns, um, from Barnett.
00:15:20
Speaker
Uh, I actually did the take away your longest run game with Wayne Knight, their running back. Yeah. on On paper, you look and go, oh, 20 carries for 111. That's pretty nice.
00:15:32
Speaker
Except he had a 49-yard run at one point. So when you take that away, it was 19 carries for 62 yards, which is bad. ah that's That's like, what, three yards a carry and change? Sure.
00:15:45
Speaker
You texted me about this. At the very least, what you have in Lynch Winfield for Louisiana is a guy that's willing to throw the ball down the field, which is something we did not see at all when Daniel Beal was in there.
00:15:57
Speaker
so Yeah, so so i i looking at this per PFF, in what, he played probably four games, four or five games, Daniel Beal did this year.
00:16:08
Speaker
ah unpa He only attempted 13 passes over 20 yards in those five games through... what, like a two and a half full games, not even um lunch. Winfield has attempted 16 passes ah that deep or longer. So he's he's showing to some degree, the same issues that lunch Winfield did, or I'm sorry, Daniel Beal did in the sense that sometimes it feels like you have to beg him to complete a pass.
00:16:36
Speaker
ah But whereas Daniel Beal, you had to beg him to complete a pass with lunch, it's he he he he's pushing the ball downfield. They're asking a lot more out of him. And therefore, those completion percentage numbers are a lot lower. And that's without considering the obvious ah mobility addition that he has, the leg up that he has in that sense um over...
00:16:57
Speaker
ah over Beal or really over Walker Howard, the quarter and a half that we saw out of him. But, you know, what we knew about Walker Howard coming in, ah lunch is just pharma or mobile.
00:17:07
Speaker
But, man, this defense – um that that This is a JMU team that, what, last week really struggled and to score points against Georgia State.
00:17:18
Speaker
um We know Alonzo Barnett's a coin flip. He's kind of like what we talked about for a long time about Darren Granger, where it's like one week he looks like he could be the best quarterback in the conference, but sometimes he just disappears for 120 yards on like 55%. Yeah.
00:17:32
Speaker
fifty five percent yeah um I mean, i i JMU is still firmly, firmly in the pull out of the East. this This team is really, really good. The defense continues to really, really strive because we've seen Louisiana, even with the reduced numbers, like, um I mean, we've seen even under lunch, this team,
00:17:54
Speaker
a is good, but I mean, i don't know. I, again, i what I learned most is that JMU, um, is really, really that guy against really their first competent opponent in a while.
00:18:07
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, JMU's ah defense is obviously stifling. It won them the the Georgia State game because they only allow seven points. it It really helped them in this game as well. I mean, frankly, you know what you said about lunch, pushing the ball down the field, really throwing the ball down the field with lunch and scrambling are really the only two things they can do offensively. Like they really, really struggled to run the ball in this game. And I think that is a testament to JMU's defense.
00:18:35
Speaker
I mean, JMU, according to PFF, had four linebackers with a grade of 75 or higher. um And those guys were Trent Hendrick, Amar Thomas, Drew Spinegati.
00:18:47
Speaker
And then I don't want to butcher this guy's name, but I think it's Emmanuel Eziagu, I think is is his name. Uh, yeah. So they, I mean, their defense is nasty and they're the reason why they've remained even with the the hiccups that the offense has had.
00:19:03
Speaker
I mean, the defense almost won them the, the Louisville game, uh, by the way that the, the front seven played specifically, if it wasn't for that long run that they gave up right at the end, which was kind of just a backbreaker.
00:19:17
Speaker
Uh, they were firmly in that game, despite how the quarterback situation was going. Um, um, Yeah, i mean I mean, good for Barnett for for showing back up. ah he'll He'll need to make it two games in a row next Saturday, and that's that's where the the difficulty comes in is like the consistency is really just not there with him on a weekly basis.
00:19:38
Speaker
So yeah you just never know what you're going to get. Like you said, he's a coin flip. So... we'll We'll see. They've got a big showdown with, ah I guess, an angry Old Dominion ah team next Saturday, but it's at it's in Harrisonburg.
00:19:53
Speaker
JMU's at home, so they've got the advantage on that on that front. So we'll just have to see how it plays out because... You know, JMU goes from looking like a team that could represent the G5 in the playoff one week to a team that can barely beat Georgia State and and switches back and forth kind of on a win. So i I don't really know.
00:20:15
Speaker
But ah yeah, good win for JMU. ah Louisiana, it might be just time to pack it in this season and work for 2026. Cause this, this defense is not it.
00:20:27
Speaker
They've had defensive issues all year. ah Even in that game that they beat Marshall in overtime where Lynch Winfield really took over, their defense was bad. um And that's kind of been the name of the game for a lot of teams in the Sunbelt this year is like bad defense is sinking a lot of pretty productive offenses. I think what's ah what's the heat check on Michael Desermal.
00:20:49
Speaker
I don't think you can really put the heat on him this year because think about it this way. He went to a Sunbelt title game last year. Last year, he had the Sunbelt player of the year ah with the quarterback. I can't think of his name. Not Fields, but... Woldridge.
00:21:05
Speaker
Woldridge. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, his quarterback got injured in the first game of the season. Like, he's been he's been fielding two backups the whole season. Now, does that excuse the offensive line problems in the defense?
00:21:18
Speaker
Absolutely not. But who knows if you finally let, you know, the the entrenched starter settle in after the first game. Who knows what the offense looks like if you're not constantly switching back and forth between lunch and Beal.
00:21:33
Speaker
so Sure. I don't know. But ah no, i don't i don't think I don't think a year after going to the Sunbelt title game, you could put the heat on him like that. I think it's too early.
00:21:44
Speaker
um All right. So let's get to your game here. So Appalachian State beats Georgia State. I mean, no surprise here. 41 20. Uh, JJ Cole looks like the, the answer, uh, for Dowell Loggins, that quarterback, they, they had been struggling with him injured starting AJ Swan and Noah Gillian was getting some time and Billy Wiles was making some appearances here and there.
00:22:07
Speaker
Uh, Georgia state. I I'm sure you're aware of this. Georgia state to this day has still never beaten app head to head. They're Owen 12, uh, all time. Uh, and Cole through for three Oh nine and four touchdowns.
00:22:22
Speaker
So, So there's a lot to like if you're if you're an app fan, you know, a couple of weeks ago, it looked really dire after that ah Southern Miss loss. And now, you know, they're not going to probably beat like a JMU, but they're going to be firmly kind of in that third position behind Old Dominion and and James Madison.
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah, ah from an app perspective, there was a lot to like. ah They spread the ball out really, really well. A bunch of different guys getting long receptions of 15, 20 yards. um Defensively, they forced three sacks, seven tackles for loss, ah had the interception. so there i mean And then obviously J.J. Cole, who was as Good a quarterback as I've seen from App um in several years, um at least in this game. He ended up going 21 for 32 for 309, four touchdowns ah to four different players.
00:23:18
Speaker
ah Georgia State, the only positive is that they only committed two penalties. Yeah. Uh, going coming into this game, the most penalized team in the country, I would imagine they probably still are even with the two penalty game.
00:23:30
Speaker
Um, but that's really the only bright side out of this. Um, we're still playing hinky finky with Cameron Brown and TJ Finley. Um, if Brown took a majority of snaps. I probably for the first time this year, it's, he's been one B to TJ Finley's one a for most of the season.
00:23:48
Speaker
Uh, Brown, took a lot more snaps than Finley did. So I'm optimistic that we're moving in that, what I believe to be right direction with a guy that's younger and has just frankly played better than Finley up to this point. But the run run game still isn't there.
00:24:04
Speaker
um that You know, there are guys making plays, but it's like, it's really just Ted Hurst. um And it's what's, I think, Finley, frustrating above all else is that it's pretty apparent Del McGee is not going to work here and that his time is limited. I don't know. like Unless they turn it around right here, I'm not certain he makes it through the offseason.
00:24:28
Speaker
um And it's really frustrating because there is talent, especially on the defensive side. I think that goes underrated about ah Georgia Southern or Georgia state. Rather um there, there are some really, really talented guys on the defense. Funches Lewis is one guy that I've liked for two years now. Um,
00:24:45
Speaker
ah So there's there's talent on that side of the ball, but I mean, there they're going to be scared away. yeah They're going to i you know attract, even if it's conference on conference violence, they're going to be attracted away ah to teams that have an established head coach, have a running game that will allow your offense to do anything.
00:25:05
Speaker
um So, you know, we'll talk about it, but I think... you know we're We're still trying to figure it out with Clay Helton, but there's a world where whoever loses the state Southern game, their head coach gets fired.
00:25:19
Speaker
I don't think there's a world where Clay Helton gets fired this year. He's owed 75% of $3 million Unless they... seventy five percent of a three million dollars buyout and i unless they have some secret donor who is like willing to fork over the cash. Like I just don't see, I don't think it's weird that they price themselves out of a buyout.
00:25:39
Speaker
Like they made a buyout so high that they can't get out of it. um But yeah, I think Dale McGee truly is, you know, vulnerable as far as like he could get fired any week and like I wouldn't really be that that surprised I do want to ask let's imagine that he sticks around and God forbid Hugh Jackson doesn't become the interim coach uh when do when do you think he just hands finally just hands the keys over to Cameron Brown and goes hey TJ this this isn't working man like one week i TJ is okay and then the the next week he turns in a performance like he did against app
00:26:17
Speaker
that That's kind of what's perplexing about it. It's like at this point, you're one in six. what What more are you really waiting for? I guess we're only two games in the conference play. So there's an argument to be made there because you played Ole Miss and Vandy in the first four weeks. And then you had an FCS, Murray State, and then also Memphis.
00:26:36
Speaker
So there's maybe the argument of, you know, we're waiting for conference play to really – do what we're doing. But I mean, we've now seen the offense for two weeks under both guys. ah You really, because they're each only playing half, you have one full game sample size.
00:26:51
Speaker
um And they could have beat a better, any better offense, any competent offense would have beat JMU last week that scored only 14 points.
00:27:01
Speaker
um And ah again, the the defense, did you know, favors allowing 41 points against app, but they they put up another stinker against app So yeah, If he is not, it's kind of like with Clay Helton, if he's not given the keys over yet, if we don't go into the Southern game or, you know, at the very latest, the South Al game the week following, um I don't know if that transaction will ever happen because what are you waiting for? What what do you need to see out of him?
00:27:29
Speaker
Or what are you waiting to see out of TJ Finley that you haven't gotten yet? I really, really don't understand that part. I don't either. And just last thing on this, um this was why I gave Charles Huff so many ah props last year when he made the move with Braxton, because there's a lot of coaches like Dale McGee, Clay Helton, who will watch their guy just stink it up week after week and like won't make a move for reasons that remain unclear.
00:27:57
Speaker
um And I know that some of these guys have NIL funds that are, that are sunk into them. So I guess they, they don't understand the concept of sunk cost fallacy, but at a certain point it's like you're cutting off your nose to spite your face. Like you are making a bad decision and sticking with it just for the sake of doing it is almost what it feels like.
00:28:19
Speaker
um All right, so let's move on next here. This is probably, i guess, the most surprising outcome of any game that we'll see in the Sunbelt this year. Marshall...
Marshall vs. Old Dominion Upset
00:28:31
Speaker
kills Old Dominion. ah forty eight twenty four In fact, it was forty eight to ten in the fourth quarter with 9-07 left to go. ah So those two touchdowns were in total garbage time.
00:28:44
Speaker
ah This was a classic trap game for Old Dominion. They looked ahead to JMU. They almost made the mistake that James Madison made against Georgia State, but JMU was good enough to and playing a low enough competition team in the Sun Belt to take advantage, even if they didn't bring their A game.
00:29:02
Speaker
ah Five turnovers from Old Dominion, two picks from Joseph. He threw a pick six to open the game or in the first quarter to boogie Trotter, ah who returned it for a touchdown for Marshall.
00:29:13
Speaker
And that kind of set the the tone for the rest of the game. ah They had two other fumbles. um Yeah, the Old Dominion got stuffed on two fourth down runs inside the Marshall's five yard line ah in this game.
00:29:28
Speaker
So... Yeah, ah Old Dominion did literally everything you could think of to lose the way that they did. Because it's one thing to lose by like a field goal or by seven points. It's another to get absolutely housed the way that they did.
00:29:41
Speaker
And, of course, I texted you this. Of course, the week we give them their flowers, finally, we're like, hey, you know we'd like to be contrite and say, hey you know we'll we'll go ahead and give you guys the benefit of the doubt.
00:29:54
Speaker
They turn in a stinker like this, and I'm like... Yeah, if they can do that, then why could they could lose two games in the back half of the season? Like after the after this one, they could lose the JMU and they could lose to two more teams. And I'd be like, yep, that's the Ricky Ronnie in in Norfolk experience.
00:30:12
Speaker
Yeah, ah I mean, the keys here for Marshall were, for one, obviously the turnovers, right? that that That's a given. ah But they, for the first time, became the first team maybe ever to really contain Colton Joseph, 12 rushes for 50 yards. And we've been saying for weeks that there are not options around ah Joseph to pick up.
00:30:33
Speaker
When that becomes the issue, when Joseph is throwing two interceptions, when he's ah only rushing, you know, only rushing in air quotes for 50 yards. That's great out of a quarterback, but they've been so reliant on those rushing yards.
00:30:45
Speaker
Traquan Jones had shown up and ah in recent weeks. This week, it's Marky James, but they only give him the ball 12 times for 83 yards, right? so ah This is the issue that, again, last week, splendid timing. We kind of, to some degree, say we were wrong.
00:31:01
Speaker
there aren't There are some real guys around ah Joseph. Well, they didn't show up here. They didn't show up here. Trey Brown, who's been you know one of their best receivers all year, only one catch.
00:31:14
Speaker
He takes it for 71 yards and a touchdown, but only the one catch. Naeem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, three catches. Again, 71 yards off of that is really, really impressive. but only three catches. You need more out of him in these big games.
00:31:26
Speaker
And this is all not to speak about the defense that allowed 48 points to what we had criticized in the past as a very ah checked out merchant, merchant reliant Marshall offense um that really doesn't look like the Marshall offenses that we've seen in the past last year with Braylon Braxton in previous years with some of Urshin Ali, some of the best running backs in the, in the conference. So i I'm very, very frustrated at myself ah for for giving Old Dominion the benefit of the doubt and letting them prove me wrong because this is what we were concerned about. When you shut down Colton Joseph, you either do not have the options to to utilize around him or you have not game-planned
00:32:09
Speaker
for the situation where Colton Joseph can only gain 50 yards on the ground, who are we going to go to? What are we going to do to make sure that that is not knit it not doesn't impact our game? or that There is no contingency plan.
00:32:23
Speaker
There's no contingency plan, and we saw that. And so when we come up against – I don't know if Marshall hat is the smartest defensive coordinator in the conference, but like when when you come up against good defensive coaches, good defensive coaching, and they say, if you just keep Colton Joseph in the pocket, you make sure that he can't step up and find that seam.
00:32:44
Speaker
um You know, they run like a very Georgia techie type offense. When you figure out how to ah handle that third back option in a quarterback, who are they going to look to?
00:32:56
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I will say, like what you said about the running game, it's hard to utilize a running game when you're down as many points as they are. I mean, their defense just didn't... Nobody showed up on the defensive side of the ball. I mean, yeah you know, we we had talked about Del Rio Wilson being risk averse throwing the ball. This was one of the first times where he actually was kind of pushing the ball down the field. So he finished with 9.1 yards per attempt and his a dot was almost 10 yards.
00:33:27
Speaker
So he was throwing the ball down the field. yeah It it's not a great sign when Marshall is in a what 48 45 shootout with Louisiana.
00:33:39
Speaker
And then you guys turn around and are like, we have we have no offense that can score against that Marshall defense. And it's like, Louisiana didn't have any issues. What what happened then?
00:33:50
Speaker
so yeah that's what I mean is like, i know that everybody in the preseason was like, you guys are morons for doubting this team. And I think... By and large, they were correct, but they still... I mean, if they lose to JMU this Saturday, they're going to be two games out of the division race for the East.
00:34:12
Speaker
They're going to need JMU to lose three in the back yeah stretch. Yeah. Now, if they win, they control their own destiny as both teams with one loss. So this game becomes huge for Old Dominion because it's basically their season in a nutshell. There's no way JMU's losing three more games down the backstretch, like conference games.
00:34:33
Speaker
So... It's huge for JMU, but it is it is literally the season on the line on Saturday for for Old Dominion. because you And you also never know whether you're going to get one of these performances. They could go play, i don't know, Coastal and be like, ah, we only scored 10 points today. And it's like, why? And there's no there's no real answer as to why.
00:34:56
Speaker
That's what I heard. That was kind of the crux of our argument in the preseason. um And again, we were we were off base in that there are no playmakers around Colton Joseph, but we we were it would appear that we're right in that there's no plan outside of Colton Joseph. There there is...
00:35:14
Speaker
when he is contained, which, you know, is not easy to do, right? You're not planning for something that's going to happen every week. Not every defense ah has really the speed or the the coaching to to be able to stop him. I mean, that's what we're seeing at Georgia Tech right now. Like, Haynes King is not the best quarterback in the entire world.
00:35:33
Speaker
um He's not the best running quarterback in the country even, but – Because, you know, it's so difficult to stop and defenses just aren't as quick. You can't stop it. But when you come up against these teams and trust James Madison will know how to stop Colton Joseph, trust they will.
00:35:51
Speaker
24, you know, 24 points against a really bad Marshall defense. 14 in total garbage time when Marshall had totally been like, yeah, we don't care. We're up 38 in the fourth quarter. Like what you guys aren't going to score 38 points in the fourth quarter.
00:36:10
Speaker
um Yeah. So this sets up, like I said, like a huge game coming up this Saturday and Marshall feels like they're getting more and more of, we found a quarterback that we can actually make work.
00:36:22
Speaker
um I think their biggest thing is defensively, there's no consistency on a week weekly basis. Uh, they can give up 40 to anybody.
00:36:32
Speaker
They could hold a team to 10 and force five turnovers. Like there's no in between. you just kind of, I guess, kind of ride the ride and see where it goes weekly. yeah,
00:36:44
Speaker
All right. Getting to the next one here. ah Coastal Carolina defeats ULM 23 to eight. ah Coastal, this is the quintessential Sunbelt experience here.
00:36:55
Speaker
Coastal beats ULM with a quarterback, Samari Collier, that completed 30% of his passes. He was five of 15. And they won by double digits.
00:37:06
Speaker
ah He profiles, I guess, more as like a pure running QB. um He cashed in basically the game winning score in the third quarter, 39 yard run rushing touchdown when they were up 16 to eight.
00:37:21
Speaker
ULM, this is this is what we say every single week. you You cannot put it in Aiden Armenta's hands and expect it to go very well. They scored eight points. ah They couldn't move the ball at all. They were one of 13 on third down. They were one of four on fourth down.
00:37:38
Speaker
Armenta was 6.1 yards per attempt. He completed under half of his passes. this is This is everything we say about Armenta every single week. He... He has been the easiest person quarterback wise to nail down because there's almost no surprises with him. There's never a game where he'll show up and throw for 330 and two touchdowns and or three touchdowns. And you'd be like, wow, he really took over this game. It's like, no, we rely heavily on the running game. And and we hope that Armenta doesn't have to throw more than 21 times in a game.
00:38:10
Speaker
Yeah, Armenta on the year, his highest yardage total, 185. He did that on 17 completions, 26 attempts. and that's That is just the Aiden-Armenta game, 160 on like 55%.
00:38:21
Speaker
um Samari Collier, I want to talk about him. A guy who... I didn't know. I'd never heard of him until Saturday. He's not a guy. He transferred in this year from Hutchinson Community College ah in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
00:38:39
Speaker
ah Hutchinson last year won the NJCAA. ah He was the conference co-player of the year ah and first team all-conference.
00:38:49
Speaker
Shout out to this guy. He's a senior. He's never taken. ah he He played a little bit, or I'm sorry, he Played for Illinois but never appeared. ah Redshirted in 2021 as a true freshman. Has played the past two seasons ah in community college at Hutchinson, where, again, last year they won the ah JUCO National Championship.
00:39:09
Speaker
And then comes out, I mean, this is as good as anything we've seen from a coastal quarterback. right That's not a high bar to clear. Again, like yeah even on 30%, what you're giving us ah is a running option that did not exist previous. And so um it it would be hard to imagine that they don't look to ride that hot hand. Again, 5 for 15 for 37 through the air, um but leads the team in carries and in rushing yards. ah that That's a really cool story, and I hope that they keep looking to him, and I hope that he can find more success than Ted Hudson.
00:39:46
Speaker
I mean, that's it he would he would have to, right? Like, I feel like, you you know, I don't know that a guy that completes 30% of his passes is good long-term for winning games.
00:40:00
Speaker
But if you're Tim Beck, like, what's your other option? You're going to go back to Tad Hudson? Like, no. So, you know, like you said, he gives you that option with his legs.
00:40:11
Speaker
He even more... This is obvious because he's not as good as Colton Joseph, but he probably even more than Joseph is islam like, if you kept him in in the pocket, he would just probably crumble.
00:40:21
Speaker
Because if you complete 30% of your passes, like you're barely a quarterback. like There are running backs, wide receivers that could complete 30% of their passes. I mean, it's that's not a hard number to to hit.
00:40:33
Speaker
um two notes last lastly before we moved on from this game two uh coastal linebackers graded out very well in this one you had marcus ross with an 84 uh pff grade and noah flemings with a 72 uh really contributed to to defeating ulm um Yeah, I mean, like I said, this is the quintessential Sunbelt game.
Troy vs. Texas State Breakdown
00:40:57
Speaker
It's like, what other conference can you see a quarterback come in and go 5 of 15 and they win by two scores? I can't name i can't name another major conference where that but takes place. So, yeah, good for them.
00:41:10
Speaker
um All right. Last game of the night on Saturday, it was Texas State and Troy. ah I have a lot of talking points for this game. So strap in because you can you can jump in you can jump in whenever you feel like. But I had a lot of takeaways from this one.
00:41:27
Speaker
Number one, Brad Jackson, according to PFF, had the highest passing grade in the country this past Saturday. It was 91.9. threw for 248 yards.
00:41:39
Speaker
Tucker Kilcrease was fourth in the country in passing grade this Saturday ah with a 90, 415, five touchdowns. Both of those have to be career highs for him because he never approached anything like that last year.
00:41:54
Speaker
um It is encouraging he can win games like that where the defense just absolutely doesn't show up because more often than not, Troy's defense is not what it was when John Summerall was there. So you're going to have probably games closer to this than not.
00:42:10
Speaker
On the Texas State side, this is the last thing I'll say and I'll hand it off to you. Sure. This is the G.J. Kinney thing that we always talk about. So they started the season 3-1. They're now 3-3. They blew a 28-7 first quarter lead and this game overtime.
00:42:22
Speaker
They 31-17 lead at halftime. first quarter lead and lost this game at overtime they had a thirty one seventeen lead at halftime This is the same thing they did against Sam Houston last year when they had a 22 to nothing first quarter lead and blew that and lost on a game winning field goal by Sam Houston's kicker.
00:42:42
Speaker
They were 10 of 17 on third down and they still found a way to lose. They don't have a defense. And this is why we were always questioning, like, what is this win total before the season started? Because it's like mostly a brand new team and no difference makers on the defensive side of the ball.
00:42:59
Speaker
i Yeah, i mean that no I mean, we'll start with Texas State, and then I'll move back to Troy. ah Yeah, this has been the script for them for several, several weeks. ah yeah ESPN has Texas State at a 97% win percentage at the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter.
00:43:16
Speaker
um And they just fold. They just fold. i I think... I don't know. Enjoy the Pac-12. I mean, that's really all there is to say, right? Like, enjoy... i mean, you've tweeted this.
00:43:29
Speaker
Enjoy whatever, like, Big 12 team wants to take a shot at you, G.J. Kinney, because he's in that... um
00:43:41
Speaker
i don't I don't want to say James. verre are ah ah James where he's, well, he's in like the, ah almost a Butch Jones zone now where it's, you are doing more than good enough to keep your job on a year to year basis, especially when Texas state looks back at Jake Spavadol and remembers what they had with him.
00:43:59
Speaker
Right. Well, he is more than good enough to keep this job for several more years. um But I, I really feel that, It might have just been last year when they had Jordan McLeod that we saw the pinnacle of this Texas State team.
00:44:13
Speaker
um They ah exhibit some of the same frustrations that you've said about the Clay Helton defenses ah for several years now in just like an inability to play 60-minute game.
00:44:28
Speaker
Um, yeah a a real inability to show grit, uh, in the back half of the season. I mean, Texas state huge slide, uh, last year, it looks like they're in the midst of one right now, if it'll extend the whole season or if they'll come out yet to be seen. But, um, I think you this is the GJ Kinney experience.
00:44:47
Speaker
Um, so either this is good enough or this is, yeah, this is what you're stuck with essentially. Unless you kind of realize whoever AD, whoever realizes that this is the ceiling. Troy Tucker Kilcrease has put together three really good games back to back to back against Buffalo. He threw for one 48 on 60% against South Al. He threw for 200 on 60% then goes 30 for 39 for 15, on 76%. yeah,
00:45:14
Speaker
and then goes thirty for thirty nine four fifteen as you said on seventy six percent um Troy over the past three weeks has looked really, really good.
00:45:26
Speaker
And um um I've been very impressed by, because it all starts with that Buffalo comeback where they score 21 unanswered, forced three consecutive three and outs to beat Buffalo 21-17.
00:45:40
Speaker
They then come out and beat South Alabama. ah It takes you a little while to get started and then beat Texas State. Troy looks really, really good, and that they're a team that I think um i think understandably so.
00:45:55
Speaker
You and I and a lot of other Sunbelt people um really didn't look at with a ton of confidence. um It's obviously difficult because, as you mentioned, you're always going to have the comparison of – whereas G.J. Kinney gets the benefit of being compared to Jake Spavadol.
00:46:13
Speaker
ah Here at Troy, Gerard Parker has the downside of being compared to John Summerall. um so So you kind of get the opposite impact, but they're a team that i I just did not expect this out of.
00:46:25
Speaker
um However, we'll say, i don't love 41 points against Texas State. I don't love 24 against South Alabama. There's still like the defense is now kind of the point of interest, whereas...
00:46:37
Speaker
in previous year or point of concern, whereas in previous years it may have been the offense. um Because again, in the past three weeks, 48, 31, 21 points out of this Troy offense, um they're surging, man. And i again, it it kind of depends on how the back half of this ah slate shakes out, but we might be looking at a final week Troy versus Southern Miss winner goes to the conference championship.
00:47:01
Speaker
um in the final week. i i I just think with with Troy's defense, you can't... like There's a real ceiling on this team. like a you know it was It was really good to to win this game as well as, like you said, Buffalo and South Alabama, but when you play another competent Sunbelt team, like Southern Miss can score points.
00:47:23
Speaker
They can also get some stops. Troy can do one of those things. They can score points. Getting stops... I don't know. um well especially I would say I really do think it's going to come down to that final week though.
00:47:38
Speaker
um yeah Because as you look at the rest of the Troy ah schedule, and as you say, the the problem is if a team can put up points, you're in trouble. ULM,
00:47:49
Speaker
You know, jury's still out on Louisiana, but ULM's not doing it. Jury's still out on Louisiana. Arkansas State, it's like a 50-50 whether or not they score 50 or 7. um Old Dominion is tough, but it seems like maybe we found a recipe to stop them. And then you get Jordan State.
00:48:05
Speaker
That's what I mean. like they don't I don't think they have the game planning or the personnel to to do what Marshall did to Colton Joseph. I think that's reasonable, um but I would argue that before this week, we would have said that Marshall was in the same boat, that Marshall didn't have the game plan nor the personnel to start stop Colton Joseph.
00:48:25
Speaker
Well, they have a defensive-minded head coach, so I'd at least give them the benefit of that. Sure. Who has coached for years at like West Virginia and stuff, but Gerard Parker's an offensive guy. It's great that the offense looks good, but realistically, one of these games, Louisiana, Old Dominion,
00:48:44
Speaker
Southern Miss, they're going to probably lose two of the those three. And so like I don't even necessarily know that the last game of the season will matter because I think Southern Miss might be either undefeated in the conference. based I don't know who else is on Southern Miss' schedule, but ah They'll either be undefeated in the conference or probably have like one loss.
00:49:06
Speaker
Like I just don't, i I don't see another team in the West really holding a candle. It's nice that Texas state has done the work for everybody else and taken themselves out of it. um Because Early on, it kind of looked like, oh, we may have underestimated these guys in the last two weeks with the loss to Arkansas State and the loss to Texas State or Troy, where they in the last two games have allowed a quarterback to walk down the field at the end and either win the game or tie win.
00:49:38
Speaker
I don't know Like, Texas State, again, best of luck in the Pac-12. Like, you're going to go 8-5 probably most years, 8-4 with G.J. Kinney. Don't look too hard at the 4 and how those games are lost, because if you do, you're going to pull your hair out.
00:49:53
Speaker
um We, in the coming weeks, I think it's going to be after Halloween, are going to have... Looking at Southern Miss just right now. Oh, sorry. We're going to have an old Texas State underdog writer on the show.
00:50:06
Speaker
um And yeah he he tweeted on Saturday that this team makes him grind his teeth. And I'm like, this is the G.J. Kinney experience.
00:50:17
Speaker
So...
00:50:19
Speaker
Yeah. So just real quick, wanting to look at Southern Miss, because you said um that they could come into that ah last game against Troy undefeated or with one loss. And that really does look likely. They paid played their non-division games early ah with App and Southern winning both.
00:50:34
Speaker
ah They play Louisiana. i mean, so they just have the rest of the West. um And i you know, we've we've said it ad nauseum and we're going to continue saying it for the rest of the like six weeks of the season or however many is left.
00:50:47
Speaker
um There's not a ton in the West. Like there are really good parts, but if you would have to put the six non Southern Miss teams together to get a team that is like, all right, yeah, they could beat Southern Miss in the West.
00:51:03
Speaker
Yeah, because none of the other teams have defensive pieces. So you would literally have to probably take 11 individual players from the other, what, seven, six teams in the West? Six teams, yeah. And you would have to create like a super defense to even give yourself a shot.
00:51:20
Speaker
Because think about it. it's it's I guess ULM, their defense has come crumbling down in in recent weeks. like They played okay against Coastal, but they they let a guy that completed 30% of his passes ah beat them.
00:51:33
Speaker
Arkansas State, zero defensive playmakers. Texas State, zero defensive playmakers. Troy, not a ton of defensive playmakers that we know about considering the way that like this game went.
00:51:44
Speaker
I mean, you can go through and reel the South Alabama has nobody really on their, on their defense that makes any sort of difference. They, you would have, like I said, you would be scraping to find 11 guys throughout those six other teams that could do it.
00:52:00
Speaker
I just don't know. um All right. I guess real quick as a quick transition, actually, I kind of, to that point,
00:52:11
Speaker
I don't think we've ever talked about this. Your stance on divisions. We don't have to stay here long. Maybe we do a ah longer thing about it in the future, but your stance on divisions. We're the only conference left with it. um Good, bad, indifferent.
00:52:24
Speaker
I like them, actually. I think it creates like a sense of... okay, we know on a week yearly basis like who we need to beat and who stands in our way. um you know i I remember when Southern joined the division, like this conference didn't even have a ah ah so a Sunbelt title game.
00:52:46
Speaker
like It just went to whoever had the best conference record at the end of the year, and there were multiple years where teams were splitting the conference championship up because... Um, they, again, they didn't have a game because they didn't have enough teams to like qualify. So I remember like Southern's first year, they went eight, no, in conference play and Arkansas state fans were pissed that year because they didn't play us and they will lost one conference game. And we're like,
00:53:13
Speaker
Well, if only we had a Sunbelt title game, like we'd be able to resolve this. um I think also it protects against what we're going to see this year out of the East, which is JMU and Old Dominion feel like the two best teams easily.
00:53:29
Speaker
I don't think what you need is them playing in the regular season and them playing in the Sunbelt title game like a couple weeks later. sure i think I think that that protects against that, so I would like to see like a style matchup that I didn't see.
00:53:44
Speaker
You may get a rerun in the from the regular season to the postseason, but we don't need to see the same two teams play each other like three, four weeks apart. I just think that's yeah worthless at that point. Like I would rather see how Southern Miss stacks up against the winner of JMU Old Dominion rather than watch.
00:54:02
Speaker
Okay. Southern Miss, uh, or think about it this way. Southern Miss drops a conference game somewhere. They have one loss. JMU goes undefeated therein.
00:54:14
Speaker
Old Dominion loses one conference game to JMU. or Or I guess they would have two at that point. Or or whatever. you know Everybody has one loss. Somebody's getting left out. and With divisions, it it all games itself out. like Again, is going to play Old Dominion. The winner is presumably going to the conference title game based on the results of this past weekend.
00:54:38
Speaker
Whereas I i hated when back when the Big 12 did this. We have three teams that all have one conference loss, so we kind of just draw names out of a hat to decide who plays in the the conference title game. like I hated when they did that. It was the but Colt McCoy, Graham Harrell,
00:54:56
Speaker
ah Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech team, and then there was an Oklahoma team that was really good as well. And all those teams finished with one loss, and they literally, I think, flipped a coin to decide who played in the Big 12 championship that year. yeah Like, I hate... ah One of the D3s, or the D3 football team that I cover, ah Barry...
00:55:15
Speaker
ah They play in the Southern Athletic Association, um most notably with Sewanee, former SEC team Sewanee. ah And last year, they were in a rock, paper, scissors with Trinity of Texas. And I think it was center where they were all seven and one in conference.
00:55:33
Speaker
and's just like, oh, we have three conference champions now.
00:55:38
Speaker
Okay. i i see that that I think the way that it's set up now works perfectly. And then after this year, you just slide Louisiana Tech into Texas State spot and then just keep plugging and chugging.
00:55:51
Speaker
so Yeah. All right. um So let's go ahead and get to week eight. We, like I said, are doing a double episode. um So starting on Tuesday, October, i guess tonight, October 14th, when we're recording this, ah Arkansas State is going to take on South Alabama.
00:56:12
Speaker
ah We didn't think this game was one that required like a ton of, oh my gosh, we got to get an episode out before this game is played because frankly, it doesn't affect a lot as far as like West standings.
00:56:27
Speaker
ah I think Arkansas state wins fairly comfortably ah just because I, South Alabama is not a good football team. And at least Arkansas state has Rainer and Rucker.
00:56:38
Speaker
um That's, that's basically all I have on that one. Yeah, South Al at seven and a half point favorites in this one, actually. um I really don't like that. I think Arkansas State, as you said, at least has Jalen Rayner.
00:56:51
Speaker
um Like you could argue South Alabama, well, at least they have Contrell Bullock, like at least they have Devin Voysin. But I mean, Jalen Rayner just really changes the, really the out offensive outlook of any team.
00:57:02
Speaker
And so i think I think Arkansas State wins this like probably thirty five twenty one something like that.
00:57:11
Speaker
All right. Starting on Saturday ah at 3 p.m., we have Troy taking on UL Monroe. UL Monroe is starting their backslide that they had last season.
00:57:24
Speaker
um At this point, they are struggling once again to score points. Their defense is suffering because of the lack of ah being able to keep drives alive on offense. ah And they take on Troy, who's hot right now coming off of a three game win streak.
00:57:40
Speaker
I think Troy just keeps keeps it moving. I don't think I don't think you on Monroe's defense is good enough to to totally shut them down. And they're not going to if Troy puts up more than 24 points, this game is basically you can go ahead and wrap it up because our mentor and the crew are not not doing that.
00:57:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they're more than likely not to follow this trend, but they scored 21, then 31, then 48. They're just going up every week. um They're, ah again, unlikely to... Yeah, ah they're they're bound for, you know, 56 points based on that trend. But ah Troy Tucker Kilcrest in recent weeks has just really, really impressed me. And I think he's going to um not out-duel Aiden Armenta because it's like Aiden Armenta isn't even picking up the sword.
00:58:26
Speaker
Um, but you it'll be a, it it'll be a de facto win by forfeiture in that department. He's bringing a spit ball to a gunfight. Let's put it that way. Um, all right.
00:58:38
Speaker
So another, uh, a three 30 game. Coastal Carolina is traveling to Boone to take on Appalachian state. Uh, app States, another team that's hot as of late JJ Cole, really powering them to some, some wins.
00:58:52
Speaker
Uh, This is where I think the Samari Collier thing is a nice story, like you said, but Frankly, are you going to beat Appalachian State if you go 5 of 15 again? No.
00:59:03
Speaker
so No, especially especially not if J.J. Cole plays like he did. i mean, he, through one week, would be on pace for um probably conference player the year. may Maybe, maybe edged out by Colton Joseph just because of ah the volume. But, right, I mean, J.J. Cole right now looks as good as a quarterback, as I good a quarterback as I've seen from App State in several years.
00:59:25
Speaker
um And so... I really like App here. Another 3.30 kick. This one actually made it onto ESPNU. This is pretty much what I said is like the game of the year the Sunbelt. Old Dominion travels to Harrisonburg to take on James Madison.
JMU vs. Old Dominion Preview
00:59:43
Speaker
ah We will have someone from JMU Sports News, ah that podcast, on next Sunday with us when we record to talk over the result of this game, win, loss, or draw.
00:59:54
Speaker
ah So it'll be good to talk over this game with them and also bounce some questions off of them number one in my mind is what happens with Alonzo Barnett randomly throughout the season where he'll, he'll just throw for sub 100 yards.
01:00:09
Speaker
Um, I want to ask those questions as well and get kind of their insight. But, um, Yeah, I just like James Madison in this one. I think they do absolutely have... They can they have the defensive personnel to to do what Marshall did, but I think they have they're even better.
01:00:28
Speaker
So they can make it even harder on Old Dominion. Plus, it's a home game. James Madison plays better ah at home than they do on the road. And i think they put some some daylight between them and and Old Dominion. And I think ah James Madison just keeps...
01:00:45
Speaker
chugging along, and I think Alonzo Barnett is good enough to to kind of will them to a win here. so These are two really good offenses. Granted, JMU, again, kind of struggling as of late with Louisiana and Georgia State wins, um but the defense is really going to set them apart, set them miles, miles apart, I think.
01:01:03
Speaker
um I'm really interested to watch this one, obviously not just because of the implications, but to see how ah James Madison and Bob Chesney kind of learn from what Marshall did and see if there's now a recipe for Colton Joseph. If, um, like we've seen with other quarterbacks in the conference, you know, at some point you just get figured out.
01:01:23
Speaker
Um, and I'm curious to see if Marshall had lightning in a bottle or if that's something that teams moving forward will be able to can replicate. I'm interested. I think the way to combat him is just to play contain like with your edges and just force him to just kind of sit in the pocket and maybe put a spy on him as well and just force him to throw the ball every single down because I don't think...
01:01:49
Speaker
I don't think the the receivers for Old Dominion, as good as they've been this year, are going to win against James Madison's secondary on ah on ah on a down-to-down basis. I think you might get loose for like one long touchdown here or there, but it's not going to be, hey, I'm peppering Naheem Abdulrahim Gladding with um you know nine nine catches, 150 yards, and two touchdowns. like it's It's a lot of like big play guys, but not...
01:02:19
Speaker
you don't have a Corey Rucker who it's like it's third and six. Who's the ball going to? I don't know whoever's open, I guess. And if they're not, then I guess I just scramble and get three yards and then we call it a day.
01:02:31
Speaker
um So that's my big thing for old dominion is like, if the defense is going to be as bad as it was last weekend against Marshall and you're not going to get the help around Joseph, that's that's a recipe for disaster right there.
01:02:48
Speaker
So, I mean... It's pretty simple. Yeah. Another 330 kick. Texas State is taking on Marshall. Texas State is...
01:02:59
Speaker
went from in, in a race with Southern miss for the West to being winless in the sunbelt. Uh, Marshall is, it looks like they've got ah legit offense now, uh, with Del Rio Wilson, you know, they're one in one, the last two with Louisiana.
01:03:16
Speaker
Um, and then the win last week, I think Marshall takes this one, man. I think that, Texas State, I always had doubts about. um i My two like bets in the preseason were ah Texas State under and ah Southern Miss over.
01:03:36
Speaker
So both of those look like they're going to hit. I think Southern Miss only has to win this weekend, and they hit their over for the season. ah Sure. Yeah. ah The big thing here is just like, you got to see Del Rio Wilson keep pushing the ball downfield because ah he had a lot of really empty numbers earlier in the season. and We've talked about this in previous episodes where it really was check down screen merchant, um which is valuable, but not when, again, this is a Marshall team that doesn't have the running ah offense that it has in previous seasons. They need a guy at quarterback.
01:04:07
Speaker
And Del Rio Wilson also last week, mind you, led the team in rushing yards as well. So I want to see them keep pushing the ball downfield. And if they do, I think they beat Texas State pretty clearly. And if Texas State takes a lead, the the belief that they can hold on to that lead is like next to zero. Yeah.
01:04:26
Speaker
That's the other thing, too, is like no lead is safe if you're Texas State. Like your your defense can give up points ad nauseum, and it doesn't matter.
01:04:37
Speaker
um So i think I think Marshall wins this one at home. I think this one's going to be a good win for them. ah Five o'clock, Southern Miss is traveling to Lafayette to take Louisiana on.
01:04:48
Speaker
um Southern Miss's defense will get some stops. Louisiana's will not. um I think Louisiana is pretty comparable to Georgia Southern at this point. And so I think Braylon Braxton will continue to be able to air it out down the field and just kind of hit guys wherever he wants and and throw touchdowns. So ah Louisiana's best hope is this one's a shootout. I think like Southern Mrs. offense is going to move the ball.
01:05:14
Speaker
Yeah, your best hope is just that you get another superhero day from lunch and, you know, push it late over time and give him the opportunity ah to go on a big drive like he did. I think it was two weeks to ago against Marshall or they had the bye. So it would have been three weeks ago against Marshall. ah That's really your best hope. But I'm not confident that the defense gives them that opportunity.
01:05:37
Speaker
um Bradley Lynn Braxton is just going to dice him up. What I need to see, though, out of Southern Miss, especially as we consider looking forward um at, I believe, possibly Troy, but realistically at Old Dominion or James Madison, the winner of that game, ah we need to see a run game. they They showed it against the really, really poor Southern defense last week.
01:05:57
Speaker
ah that For the first time all year, they had a 100-yard rusher in Jeffrey Pittman. um I need to see them continue that against, again, another weak defense, um but I need to see you even able to do it against bad teams.
01:06:09
Speaker
Sure. um And then the last game of the night, 7 p.m. ah ESPN+. I'm going to be honest, man. I'm probably not going to be paying close, close attention to this
Georgia State vs. Georgia Southern Outlook
01:06:20
Speaker
game.
01:06:20
Speaker
ah Georgia State is traveling to State's Berto take on Georgia Southern. I saw... a Georgia Southern podcast called this the Georgia grown bowl, but it was spelled G R O A N, uh, both teams are, I think just kind of both fan bases, probably both teams as well are just kind of over it. I feel like this season, like normally this would be a point of like, let's get up for this game. Let's let's, you know, all this stuff. And both teams are just kind of like, can the season just be over already? Like we're six games in and we're both just kind of tired and, and ready to be done with this.
01:06:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, luckily for Georgia State, it's much closer than it is for Southern, but both fan bases are are at this point just ready for, all right, who's the next hire? You know, everyone, we are when you know we're six games into the season.
01:07:06
Speaker
ah Southern, you you still have four years on a contract. I don't know how long Dale McGee is, but you know he he's not here for too much longer. Sure. both Both fan bases are already scouting FCS and trying to figure out who do we want to poach? What coordinator do we want to give a shot to? um I think someone gets fired after this game, if not a head coach.
01:07:25
Speaker
And as you said, with Clay Helton, almost certainly not him. um And I'm unconvinced that it'll be Del McGee. It could be. I'm unconvinced. Somebody gets fired after this game. A coordinator gets fired after this game.
01:07:35
Speaker
ah It's just a matter from which side. Right. Well, that is week eight in the belt. ah Like I said, we have a pretty unexciting Tuesday night game between two kind of middling to bottom feeding teams in the West. And then, you know, you've got one kind of crown jewel game between JMU and Old Dominion. But Zeke, as we wrap up here, let everybody know where they can find you on socials.
01:08:02
Speaker
Yeah, man. You can find me on Twitter at Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O. ah Right now, I'm in the heat of ah Georgia High School ah athletic administration um because they we recently really the GHSA recently really reshaped how the playoffs are going to look. um Previously, you had eight regions in the state, and the top four from each region make state playoffs.
01:08:27
Speaker
Uh, they're going away from that. Now it is the region champion and then power rankings for, uh, the rest of the 32 slots. That's 28 automatic playoff bids, uh, or I'm sorry, 24 automatic playoff bids that have now disappeared. So, um,
01:08:42
Speaker
that That's really lighten up my world as I cover high school athletics in Northwest Georgia. um And it's interesting. i think it's probably ah overreaction. I think it's an overcorrection um to appease your Metro Atlanta 5A, 6A schools. But what are you going to do? That's just kind of how it rolls.
01:09:02
Speaker
Yep. ah As always, you can email the show warm weather fans at gmail.com. Make sure you follow us on pretty much every social platform, ah YouTube, Twitter, ah TikTok.
01:09:14
Speaker
We are at warm weather fans on all of those platforms. You can follow me on Twitter at watch the stone. We will be back next week. Like I said, with someone from JMU sports news to talk over the,
01:09:26
Speaker
the outcome of this JMU Old Dominion game, and then all of the rest of the action from week eight. This has been Form of the Fings.