Introduction to Next Sky Up Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome back to the Next Sky Up podcast, where we have a great weekend of football to break down for you. But we are recording this on Wednesday night. And so given what's happened today, we just didn't want to get into the show without just kind of joining the chorus of people around the country saying how sad we were to hear the news today about Charlie Kirk.
00:00:21
Speaker
I was a fan and I watched a lot of his videos and I was appreciated how he was outspoken and unapologetic about what he believes. We're praying for his family, loved ones and our country right now.
Clarification of Podcast's Focus
00:00:31
Speaker
With all that being said, we are definitely not a political podcast.
00:00:35
Speaker
We don't pretend to know anything about politics at all. And I don't think anyone wants to hear us talk about politics. So we're going to get into what we do know. And that's football.
Weekend Football Experience in Jacksonville
00:00:45
Speaker
Tens, how are we doing?
00:00:47
Speaker
Zach, we are doing, we're doing well. We're coming off a big football weekend. Um, sorry, I missed Sunday's episode. I was in the middle of a fake lightning storm in Jacksonville, Florida.
00:00:59
Speaker
Hmm. Um, kind of threw off the whole operations of my day. My phone, my planned on calling into the show. um ah big part of that would have been having a phone that wasn't dead. ah My phone was at, I think like 10% when you guys were texting me about what I wanted to add to the show.
00:01:17
Speaker
so um yeah, but no, it was a fun trip. We got to take Macy down to her very first football game. um She was kind of borderline excited about it until we got into the stadium We almost lost during the first quarter.
Challenges During Jacksonville Trip
00:01:32
Speaker
Parking was a disaster. um The Jags are re remodeling. the The new stadium will be or the steadidium will be done remodeling 2018. twenty twenty No, 2028.
00:01:45
Speaker
um 2028. There we go. Words are hard. um So lots of construction. We actually missed the opening kickoff because we were trying to get in. add we had to park very far, so we to walk.
00:02:00
Speaker
ah My daughter is not the most mentally tough um kid there was. She was crying about being, she wanted to be carried after about a block. I said, we got a long way to go.
00:02:13
Speaker
um The heat almost took her out. It's very hot. we found some Dippin' Dots and a slushie. And after that, the first quarter, they had us in the first quarter. And then we had good momentum.
00:02:26
Speaker
And then the lightning. the rain island Yeah. Yeah, it never rained once at the stadium. That's good. There was like lightning 10 miles out and their excuse was because of the new construction, we have so many cranes and areas of like open metal that they were worried about lightning. Yeah.
00:02:46
Speaker
So our 10 minute delay. They put red zone up on the scoreboards. So that was cool. So we watched that. And then the the Jags have like a little mini stadium attached to the stadium where they do concerts and stuff.
00:03:01
Speaker
And they had the big red, the big screen over there with red zone all over it too. So I was keeping up with some of the other games, but it was a great trip. um Ate a lot of very good food.
00:03:14
Speaker
that is my favorite part of going down to Jacksonville. I've, I've now got like a stable of restaurants that I always go to. Yeah. And I do think we're going to fly next time. If Macy goes, yeah, driving, driving's just, it's just kind of a time suck. I can do it. I love driving.
00:03:31
Speaker
I like the, the road trip aspect of it, but I, but I like to stop and like, check out stuff and and yeah, you know, waste time doing like side activities. and My wife's like, no, get one P break. And that's when we get gas and let's go, we have to get down there.
Upcoming Football Games and Stadium Updates
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. it's yeah And the Jags won and the Jags won. Yeah. Convincingly. Um, fun game. Not even in question really. No. After first quarter, it really wasn't that garbage time touchdown towards the end for Chuba Hubbard. Um,
00:04:07
Speaker
against all of our third string guys because we had to pick six and then they called it back. So our starting defense was a little tired. And then the third stringers let up a touchdown the very next play. um I text the guys this.
00:04:21
Speaker
After that happened, we got a Refuge Suck chant going in the stadium. And I i didn't join in because my seven-year-old daughter was sitting next to me. But she she joined in. um And Morgan was like,
00:04:35
Speaker
should we, what is happening right now? i was like, listen, she's excited about the game. I'm not going to stop her. So I don't know if that's a good parenting moment or not, but she, she would, she was chanting ref you suck.
00:04:49
Speaker
So that was, that was good. I mean, if it's a bad call, so be it. It was a bad call. I mean, she was right. The stadium was right. so But she's she seems she she's never really like taken much interest. She's actually shown the exact opposite ah when it comes to football. like She dreads football season.
00:05:08
Speaker
But she's asked me about when when we're playing this weekend and when we're going to go to a game next. So I think I think i got her. I think I got her locked in. Bingo. That was the goal. Yeah, that's ah that's important. got to get them young, you know?
00:05:20
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So we're planning on going to the game in Nashville um November 30th. So that'll be fun. I've seen some pictures of the new stadium in Nashville.
00:05:32
Speaker
It's going on pretty quick. they have Yeah, they are putting in work. um I'm excited to go see it in person because it is right next It's like right next to it, yeah. Yeah, but they're they're putting in work. they're doing They're working overtime over there. I've heard some rumors of some parking garages going up. That'll be good.
00:05:49
Speaker
The parking situation for the Titan Stadium, I mean, like walking the bridge is fun. until after the game when everyone's walking it and it's just a little bit chaotic.
00:06:03
Speaker
So that'd be good to have some more parking on that side of the bridge. But I'm excited to see you i'm I'm excited that the Titans are getting new stadium as someone who goes to ah game there every year.
00:06:15
Speaker
It's true. You're there way more than I am. When was the last time you went to a Titans game? Oh, boy. I went in college like my freshman year once. That was definitely the last. So it's at least 10, 12 years. You trying to go November 30th to see your boy Cam Ward? We could make a content content trip out of it.
00:06:37
Speaker
Maybe if the Titans are really bad and the tickets are really cheap, maybe. Tickets will be really cheap regardless.
00:06:45
Speaker
This is like the farewell tour of the stadium though. Will anyone be sad about the stadium? Are you in the new one next season? Oh, I have no idea. I don't think so. I'm not the right person ask about this.
00:06:57
Speaker
I think it's 2027. Okay. you guys get it the year before we do. Because the Titans are putting in bids for the 2028 Super Bowl.
00:07:09
Speaker
Because they don't have it announced out that far yet. ah Super Bowl in Nashville would be chaos. That's going to happen. But it would be fun. Oh, yeah. With that new stadium? Yeah.
00:07:21
Speaker
It'll be fun. um I want to go up there just to... I mean, it'll just be pandemonium in the streets. I did see a very funny tweet. um It was a picture of the new stadium like from in the stands.
00:07:36
Speaker
Uh-huh. It said... It was like, wow, that field looks practically unplayable. i mean Because it was just like metal and it was like all this construction equipment. It was pretty funny.
00:07:48
Speaker
Yeah. True. It's unplayable.
'Best of the Rest' Segment
00:07:53
Speaker
Well, we do have a big show for all of you. We are coming back to our new segment, Best of the Rest, where we highlight a game that no one else is going to be breaking down for you in the country, guaranteed.
00:08:06
Speaker
In fact, if you find a podcast that is um not these the actual like separate podcast for these two schools that are covering this game, i would be shocked. ah So we're pretty excited about that.
00:08:20
Speaker
We are going to be giving you some predictions. to be breaking down some of our favorite games of the weekend, our players to watch, awesome predicting some upsets potentially.
00:08:31
Speaker
and then we're going up in our new and our second new segment. We are going up against AI week two to see if we are better gamblers than AI is. Do we know more ball than chat GPT itself?
00:08:44
Speaker
So pretty excited. We do have a very fun weekend of football ahead of us.
College Football and AI Gambling Predictions
00:08:48
Speaker
ah think NFL's got a very fun slate. does Some yeah big games in college, including College Game Day coming to my city.
00:08:59
Speaker
Oh, you're trying stuff. No, definitely not. you knowt But I don watch dumb, dumb words weirdly. Yeah, I think I'm good on that.
00:09:10
Speaker
um I mean, if I did not hear that it, I will say that a lot of. i will say that i a lot of McAfee, I don't mind.
00:09:22
Speaker
Him like pandering to each crowd really just kind of gets on my nerves. I can respect it whenever there's some like obvious bias towards a college. like You're grad of that place. Like Herbstreet and Ohio State, like it's annoying, but I get it.
00:09:36
Speaker
You went there. you played there. like You should have a little bias, probably. But whenever McAfee just panders to whichever crowd they're I'm like, we get it. You're just like... You're the hype man.
00:09:48
Speaker
you just want everyone to like you. That is going to matter if he's going to something like that. He'll sing Rocky top or whatever. And yeah. Yeah. No, I, I'm um very much over the Pat McAfee stick.
00:10:04
Speaker
Sorry to our friend, Kyle. Yeah. Sorry. Who I know is listening. ah um Like that guy. i don't I don't mind him. i like I don't mind most of his stuff. That's the one thing he does where he does all the chants and things and leads it. and um that's That's just a little bit of a rant there. I don't know how we got to that.
00:10:21
Speaker
but I don't either. Okay. We're going to best of the rest first. Is that where we're starting? Yeah. Yeah. Best the rest. I like how when it's me... I apologize to Pat McAfee and all of his fans everywhere.
00:10:33
Speaker
I don't. ah I don't at all. just an all right punter turned into some guy I have to see on ESPN and my Twitter feed every day.
00:10:47
Speaker
Okay. I was going to real quick. I like how yeah Mason's the anchor of keeping us steady here. When it's me and you, we're there's a lot more. We're chasing side quest. Yeah.
Appalachian State vs. Southern Miss Analysis
00:11:03
Speaker
That could be true. That could be true. um But best of the rest. Yeah. The thing is going to eclipse is that Pat McAfee clip. It is going to go viral. while it's going brand um I just put my the note in my phone for the the time machine.
00:11:22
Speaker
Which is AI. I like how much we talk about we don't like AI. We use AI for some stuff. We do use it every now and then. It is what it is.
00:11:33
Speaker
Okay, so for this weekend in football, the Best of the Rest series is traveling to the great state of Mississippi ah where we have a barn burner on our hands.
00:11:47
Speaker
That would be Appalachian State perennial powerhouse traveling to Southern Miss University um in a Sunbelt matchup.
00:12:00
Speaker
um A couple of things. this This line, whenever we chose this, we try to pick games with really close lines because we want them to be competitive and fun to watch. Last week, we ended up hitting that one nail on the head. That was a very fun game.
00:12:12
Speaker
Oregon State, Fresno State. I think we that was a good pick by us. And here we are again. I think it's go to be a fun one. When we chose it, it was a one and a half point line. This line has moved in the last day to Appalachian State minus three.
00:12:26
Speaker
The over under is 56 and a half, which is up four points from when we chose this game as well. So a couple of the lines are shifting, um but we have a fun game on our hands. I think this is in Southern Miss.
00:12:41
Speaker
ah Two teams who are going through some pretty big rebuilds right now have had a pretty big influx of talent from elsewhere. So there are some similarities from from some of the teams we covered last week, I think.
00:12:54
Speaker
Tens, do you want to go first? you want me to go first? Yeah, can go first. Okay. all right. So I have Appalachian State. App State. ah They feel like a pretty big, to me, they're a very big brand.
00:13:07
Speaker
I feel like they're one of the more known yeah sunbelt schools. I mean, the Michigan game did a lot. Michigan game did a lot for them. Luke Combs famously from Appalachian state.
00:13:18
Speaker
Um, and I don't know that they've got the really cool walk in theyre there, their stadiums, like in the, the mountains, like it's a very, very cool.
00:13:28
Speaker
I like, I like playing there in NCAA football, the video game. Um, but enough that more on the field breakdowns here. Uh, Appalachian state is led by first year head coach.
00:13:45
Speaker
Um, Oh no, I lost that. All right. Anyway, I'll find that in a second, but they also have a, uh, transfer quarterback, AJ Swan, um, from Vanderbilt and technically LSU. He, he like,
00:14:00
Speaker
never played at all at LSU. I think he had like five passes while he was there. um But he played two seasons with Vanderbilt. um come Comes into the year that he has five touchdowns, over 600 yards, and no interceptions yet on the season.
00:14:18
Speaker
They, like Zach said, coming off of a five and six season, they fired their head coach um and huge rebuild. 49 transfer players.
00:14:30
Speaker
Um, they were picked third in the Sun Belt. I'm trying to find this head coach. I don't know. Dowell Loggins. Log. I had, don't Loggins. Loggins.
00:14:43
Speaker
Uh, he was the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets. Okay. Yes. That's, uh, he's now the head football coach at App State. Yeah. a lot of NFL experience then gets his first shot as a head coach in college. Um,
00:15:00
Speaker
I thought that was kind of a random hire, but they win their first game of the season, 34 to 11. and then last week's struggle against Lindenwood Lions, who is an OVC school.
00:15:15
Speaker
um Shout out the OVC. Shout out. 20 to 13. This is a team that's really dependent on quarterback play. They've got a guy who is a high recruit coming in and I think they're really just going to depend on him all year to kind of put up video game numbers um in a weaker Sun Belt.
00:15:36
Speaker
But really no returning. Oh, gosh. I almost just knocked down my whole setup. Not returning very much on either side of the ball from their team last season.
00:15:53
Speaker
Yeah, no, literally returning only two starters on both sides of the ball from last season, see which is crazy. 49 brand new transfers, and then a lot of freshmen from last year that didn't play are now going to be starters.
00:16:11
Speaker
Okay. Oh, yeah, there. Found it. Okay. Sorry. Yeah, there it was. Dow Liggins, head coach. That threw me off. Also, first-time defensive coordinator DJ Smith, who has been a position coach in the NFL his whole career, and then now gets a defensive coordinator job. how thats How does the NFL translate to college?
00:16:34
Speaker
Very interesting. Especially, i mean, especially a school like App State. I mean, i guess you got get your foot in the door somewhere. But this is a school that's always recruited well in the Sun Belt, has very good ah connections to North Carolina and South Carolina is when it comes to recruiting. So I believe there's good players on the team.
00:16:53
Speaker
And i think they'll go as far as AJ Swan will take them. And i don't know. I kind of am buying the hype on this kid. I was watching some highlights and looking at some stats. Might be a gamer.
00:17:06
Speaker
I like that. It may contribute to our conversation here in a few minutes. But with the bet we like here. um Okay. You anything else there? Nope.
00:17:18
Speaker
You feel good? feel good. ah Okay, so I am going to be breaking down Southern Miss. And Southern Miss' story actually is not that dissimilar from the story of App State, which makes it a pretty interesting storylines going on.
00:17:34
Speaker
USM also has pretty much a brand new team on their hands, almost 50 transfers or people who were not part of the program who are now. Head coach Charles Huff came over from the Marshall Thundering Herd who won the Sunbelt title last year.
00:17:53
Speaker
So um this was an in-conference switchover. ah He went from Marshall over to USM, where he signed a four-year deal on almost a million dollars a year. That feels pretty good for the Sunbelt.
00:18:07
Speaker
And brought pretty much all of his players with him. So there's a brand new team, a brand new coach in a system
Football Games Insights and Betting Strategies
00:18:13
Speaker
that works. He also brought his defensive coordinator with him from Marshall, Jason Seymour, who had a good defense last year.
00:18:22
Speaker
ah Blake Anderson is the offensive coordinator. um So, so far, the other big piece of the puzzle they've added in, um which he transferred from Marshall, is Kovac.
00:18:34
Speaker
Quarterback Braylon Braxton. So ah the last two weeks, we've had a lot of quarterback, big quarterback play as being a big influence on our teams. Braylon Braxton ah was nominated as preseason Sunbelt Offensive Player of the Year.
00:18:50
Speaker
um Last year, he had 1600 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 600 rushing yards. So he's a dual threat quarterback. He looks to make a big splash on this new team.
00:19:03
Speaker
There was a lot of other players who came over, um but he is by far the biggest one. It seems like while it is a brand new roster, unlike what happened at App State, ah most of the players are kind of coming from the same school. They all at least have been around. Most of them have been around the program.
00:19:22
Speaker
So it's a new school, but a lot of the same team, which is pretty interesting. um So, so far this season, ah They started off their season with Mississippi state.
00:19:34
Speaker
They lost that game 34, 17, not necessarily a surprise because that same Mississippi state team went on to be Arizona state in the next, the following week. um They're not as bad. I think as a lot of people thought they were going to be Blake shaping has had, has been pretty good so far. um And Braxton, even Braxton, uh,
00:19:54
Speaker
The quarterback for USM actually didn't have a very bad game. ah He still passed for 200 yards. He had two touchdowns, 60 rushing yards. um Their game two.
00:20:06
Speaker
Oh, I didn't mention this. ah Southern Miss literally went one in 11 in 2024. ah They won one game. I think it was their very first game because they lost 11 games straight.
00:20:19
Speaker
um And so they got their first win after an 11 game losing streak last week against Jackson State. They won 38 to 20. um Again, Braxton had a pretty good day. He went 20 for 30 for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
00:20:35
Speaker
ah They had some interceptions. the Defense looked much better. ah So it does seem like they're getting better. It seems like they're improving. I think the offense is going to be further along than defense just because um you have some veteran presence at quarterback who's going very good, I think.
00:20:53
Speaker
um And so similar to last week, I think Tenz and I both came to the agreement that it seems like we expect the offenses to outperform the defenses here. In a matchup like this, we're expecting the two quarterbacks to really show up, have big days. And I think if they both do that,
00:21:12
Speaker
um I think we're anticipating a lot of points being scored. And the series is quickly turning into which game can we choose and just bet the over on it.
00:21:25
Speaker
Yeah. Best of the rest equals overs. um i We're going to do here. Yeah. Yeah. I like, we really liked the over when we first looked at this line. That'll be the tricky part of this is kind of, we're still feeling out the but waters here.
00:21:41
Speaker
Yeah. like Zach said, when they opened up as app stays, um, one and a half point favorite, they're all the way up to a three point favorite. Now the over opened at 52 and a half. We're now at 56 and a half.
00:21:53
Speaker
That is, that's a four point jump is essentially you're needing a touchdown more than you originally did to cover that over. Um, I still like it. I don't see where, see app state hasn't like they, they let Charlotte score 11 points. Charlotte kind of, it,
00:22:10
Speaker
it was the fun team last year, but they lost their head coach. Who's now, uh, assistant coach from Michigan. Um, the dude with the cutoffs, who's a self-made millionaire from being a hedge fund manager, but decided he liked coaching football more instead.
00:22:25
Speaker
I can't think of his name. He's got a really weird name. Um, And a lot of their their guys left. um They only scored 11 points, and then this OVC school scored 17 on App State. So I don't think App State's defense is anything to write home about, but I think this is going to come down to a lot of times the quarterbacks. and We're looking at a team with two two guys that have a lot of college football experience.
00:22:53
Speaker
Mm-hmm. App State's quarterback, A.J. Swain, played two years at Vanderbilt. Like I said, um in those years, he threw for 198 passes one year and 196 the next year.
00:23:08
Speaker
Already through two games at App State, he has thrown 80 passes. This is a team that is – They want to throw the ball around the yard. um i don't say They do not have a ton on the running back side of things.
00:23:22
Speaker
ah They're going to lean heavily on this kid. Yeah, I'm not sure USM does either, to be honest. So at that clip with... Like I said, he's already thrown 80 passes. I don't see that slowing down against a team. that Like, he did that against two really bad teams.
00:23:38
Speaker
I think this will be a game that's, like, a little bit tighter. So, um lots of passing. It opens up the opportunity for touchdowns. Either way, pick sixes are our big thing in college football.
00:23:48
Speaker
um Also, App State's kicker, highly recruited, six for six this season. Wow. um So, yeah, that's points. I did see a line.
00:24:01
Speaker
I didn't mention this to Tins yet. it was ah It was over one and a half field goals in the first half. I love didn't hate it. It was like plus money.
00:24:13
Speaker
Really? Yeah. Kicker props in college football. I love that. I love kicker props in the NFL. I take them all the time. Now that you said that about your the the App State kicker, it's like, oh. Yeah, he's six for six, and he's perfect on extra points. So um he's he's a good kicker.
00:24:30
Speaker
Might be something there. That might be something there. um ah That might That'd be kind of a fun bet to take. but I'm down. um um I'm getting it right now. Let me confirm that still is there. I'm just pretty sure it was earlier, though.
00:24:46
Speaker
Kicking props. Yeah, total field goals first half over one and a half at plus 130. Zach, let's.
00:24:56
Speaker
Two field goals. I mean, come on. That's all we need. Okay, so I think we are officially taking over one and a half field goals as our best bet for the best of the rest game of the week.
00:25:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I feel good. Two field goals in the first half at plus one 30, you know, where else you getting a bet like that and a breakdown of a game like this. ah I guarantee you that no other other podcast on the planet has given out that bet as their favorite bet of the week. So, um, we, yeah so we'll watch the game. We will will break it down, in our, in our review of the weekend podcast.
00:25:38
Speaker
Um, It's a little just a little fun way to get to watch football a little different way than maybe you would normally if you find yourself with a few extra minutes on Saturday night.
Game Predictions and Key Matchups
00:25:48
Speaker
You can flip over there and and see how the game's going.
00:25:52
Speaker
and But there are a lot of other games that will be watched by everyone probably this weekend. ah Yeah, probably. And so we are going to break down some of the games where we are most looking forward to.
00:26:08
Speaker
We are going to talk about some predictions we might have, some of our other best bets other than field goal bets in Sunbelt Games. ah And I think it's going to fun stuff. So um do we want to just start rolling through some of our ah games of the week categories?
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah, like that. Okay. ah Well, my game of the week, unsurprisingly to everyone involved, is... ah the Georgia Bulldogs visiting Neyland stadium at the university of Tennessee.
00:26:41
Speaker
um It's a, it's it's coming around to being a huge game for both these programs. Georgia has at times looked a little bit ah lethargic, I think, to start the season. Gunner Stockton has been up and down.
00:26:53
Speaker
The team as a whole has looked not bad, but also not great in some of their they're they're opening games, which were against a little bit worse competition than a lot of teams have faced so far. Tennessee, I think, has looked better than expected nationally.
00:27:08
Speaker
i think that the quarterback play has been a little bit better than expected. Overall, think most Tennessee fans are pretty excited about what they've seen so far. This line moved pretty dramatically.
00:27:20
Speaker
It was at 7.5 points in favor of Georgia over the weekend. It's now come down all the way to 3.5 points in favor of Georgia. So a 4-point swing, um which just means that a lot of the public is feeling like Tennessee has a chance to ja pull off of an upset here in England Stadium.
00:27:41
Speaker
um I think if you're looking at some things to watch, obviously um you're looking to see how Joey Aguilar responds in a big game, how he plays.
00:27:53
Speaker
ah We've not seen him make any really bad mistakes yet. What's going to happen if he does, which I feel like it's... The odds are that he will do something stupid probably when you're facing a team like Georgia.
00:28:06
Speaker
I think that's something to watch. I think the other thing is ah Tennessee's defense is pretty banged up right now. We have two cornerbacks who are out of the game, two starting cornerbacks. So I think there will be Tennessee's defense will be daring Gunnar Stockton to throw the football.
00:28:26
Speaker
I think, and beat him there. And we'll we're going to get to see what he's made of. If he rises to the occasion, I think Georgia could score a lot of points and win pretty big.
00:28:37
Speaker
Or if he's kind of mediocre, I feel like this could be a fun one.
00:28:44
Speaker
Tenji, any thoughts on that? Yeah, I mean, this this i mean game day is going to be there. feel like this is the game of the weekend. it's There's a lot of fun games and a lot of interesting matchups.
00:28:57
Speaker
But this is like a big battle, a big test for both these schools beginning the year. And this is UT's chance to kind of steal one early. And I've mean yeah i've ah i've been impressed with Aguilar so far.
00:29:12
Speaker
i know we haven't played. Yeah, I mean, say what you want. There's still – Syracuse is a power five school. um But I think Aguilar really has a chance to just kind of be the point guard of this offense.
00:29:28
Speaker
Well, Hypel has cooked up. And if he can do that with what we have, um, skillset wise in the running game, i mean, we, I think the sec is a little bit down this year in general.
00:29:40
Speaker
So who's to say we can't snipe a playoff spot and that would start right here. Who's to say, who's to say, well, the Aguilar former app state.
00:29:51
Speaker
Great. That's true. It all comes back. Tins, ah tens what do you got for your game of the week? All right, so I've got two. Our guy Mason's not here tonight, so I'm i'm covering. I got both.
00:30:09
Speaker
As we all know, I'm um a ball watcher. I love college football, and I also love the NFL. So
Potential Upsets and Players to Watch
00:30:16
Speaker
I'm out here. I'm just covering the people. um I'm going to start college.
00:30:21
Speaker
This one's going to be a little bit out of left field, but maybe not. I'm going with Vandy in South Carolina. Vandy is the new the new watch out for this team team. you know They knocked out Alabama last year. They're just a team that's kind of frisky and and kind of you know not taking anything from anyone in the SEC anymore.
00:30:45
Speaker
South Carolina comes in. ah Dark horse playoff team. Lenore Sellers is the Heisman favorite coming into the year. and they haven't shown it really.
00:30:55
Speaker
Uh, they're very sluggish against Virginia tech who could be very bad. Like old dominion could be Virginia virginia tech this weekend and, and that head coach's tenure at Virginia tech.
00:31:08
Speaker
Um, so for me, this is, this is South Carolina's like chance to show there for real. If they, if they want to, get all you know keep up all the hype they've had going into the season, they're going to have to show it to me against a decent Vandy team right here. like This is the game Sellers has to start his Heisman hype because he's gotten passed pretty quick.
00:31:33
Speaker
I did not put two and two together on that. that Virginia Tech has played both these teams already. Yeah. They played South Carolina week one and Vanderbilt week two. Yeah. So if you want to do some direct evidence there,
00:31:48
Speaker
The first game at South Carolina, 24-11. Second game at Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt won 44-20. Yeah. ah so um I'll chalk up a little bit of that. Neutral site for Virginia Tech against South Carolina.
00:32:03
Speaker
It was a neutral site. Yeah, they had a neutral site. But I don't know. That's the thing. Vandy's a dangerous team in a way. that They are, sure. They're just not scared of people.
00:32:18
Speaker
When the line reflects that, it was it's only like four and a half. Yeah. So I think this is this has a chance to be like the sneaky, like Twitter's buzzing about Diego die diego Pavia, like doing it again.
00:32:32
Speaker
And Sellers isn't the guy that everyone thought he was going to be, you know, like that's. So that's my game of the week as far as college goes. um And then my game of the week in the NFL is,
00:32:45
Speaker
you know You've got the Super Bowl champion rematch from the last two years, Eagles Chiefs. And I could care less. I don't care about either one of these teams.
00:32:56
Speaker
Count me ah officially done with the Chiefs. They're dead. He's over it. Their reign is over. We care more about Getting engaged and thinking we're just going to be there at the end of the year. like The division's going to get handed to us on a silver platter, and Justin Herbert came down to Brazil and diced you up.
00:33:19
Speaker
um Travis Kelce is out here injuring his own teammates. and Xavier Worthy's going to be out a while now. It's pretty bad. And I'm just done. And when they come to Jacksonville week five, I'm have a lot of things to say for Monday night football.
00:33:34
Speaker
um We'll save that for week five. Yeah. This could age poorly very fast. good Very fast. um So we'll save it for then. But so my my game of the week in the NFL is not that.
00:33:45
Speaker
That's going to be everyone else. Every other podcast. Oh, I can't wait to watch Super Bowl through rematch. No, don't care. We're going up north, baby, to the Lions. And Bears, Lions-Bears, little connection. Ben Johnson, never heard of him, is the head coach of the Bears now.
00:34:03
Speaker
Former offensive coordinator for the Lions, the whiz kid who had that Lions offense humming the last three years. so Lions look a little little ooh little pedestrian against the Packers last week.
00:34:16
Speaker
The Bears blow a huge lead to the Vikings on Monday Night Football. The Caleb Williams questions continue to get louder and louder. Who's going to win?
00:34:28
Speaker
Is it the Bears get a bounce back? Ben Johnson gets this thing rolling or the Lions who have never under Dan Campbell lost a game and then didn't cover the spread the very next game.
00:34:41
Speaker
Do they bounce back and show that they are better? You know, they're not just going to fall apart because they lost their two coordinators. So that is my most interesting game of the week in the NFL.
00:34:52
Speaker
My most intriguing, like, I think there could be some answers after this game, like how things are going to go. And I think if the bears, if Caleb Williams looks bad, the Tyson Baygent meter, ah it's is's going to start guilt going up.
00:35:08
Speaker
You know, the bears fans, they love their backup quarterbacks. They they think the backup quarterback is always the answer. um So that's my most interesting game in the week. I think that has the most, that'll be the most talked about thing come Monday.
00:35:22
Speaker
and Tuesday in the sports world is the outcome of that game one way or the other. I like that. That's fun stuff right there. ah lot of fun storylines there. Lions.
00:35:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's fun. Okay. i um Next category is going to be matt or player to watch of the week. ah Mine is pretty simple here.
00:35:49
Speaker
ah Coming off a big letdown spot, I'm just actually going to go ahead and give my player of the week to and my upset of the week potential because they involve the same program off of a horrible loss last week.
00:36:06
Speaker
um I think DJ Lagway has a lot to prove. He had a lot of preseason expectations. He has not lived up to them. He looks very bad against USF.
00:36:18
Speaker
And honestly, Florida season is kind of on the line here. i don't think you can go one and two to start your season and have and have a reasonable chance to make the playoffs with their schedule.
00:36:29
Speaker
um they're walking into LSU in a very, very tough environment. I think this will be DJ Lagaway's chance to say, you know, we're, we're not going away this season. We're going to be competitive. I still think this team has a chance to be competitive.
00:36:41
Speaker
They're fighting at this point for Billy Napier's job. I think if they hit three losses pretty early, there is a chance his job is in some pretty serious
Team and Player Performance Analysis
00:36:53
Speaker
i'm going I'm going to expect a bounce back from Florida. I'm going to expect that DJ Lagway kind of balls out in this game. um And I think LSU's in an upset spot where Florida could come in a little bit under the radar, beaten up, ah looking for some revenge, and could give LSU a really good fight on the road.
00:37:14
Speaker
Love it. I need it. I've got a DJ Lagway Heisman ticket floating around somewhere. deep down in the bet history from the summer. I'll say you can ask Notre Dame. People are willing to forgive early season G5 losses if you end strong.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I i mean, i kind of walked back some of my LSU hate after what they did to Clemson. But, you know, are we sure Clemson's good? Clemson did not look good against Troy.
00:37:42
Speaker
Yeah, they were down 16-0 at one point to Troy. um So maybe – LSU hate is back. i'm Maybe I'm unwalking some of that. If Florida can go in here and win, that would put Brian Kelly right back on the hot seat, which is where he belongs because he's a terrible coach.
00:38:01
Speaker
And a worse recruiter and an even worse fake accent guy um because you're not from Louisiana and I don't know why you have a fake Louisiana accent sometimes, Brian Kelly.
00:38:13
Speaker
I'm on you. You're not on All right, so that was Zach's upset of the week and player to watch. Yeah, that was both. You're good. I'm going to give my player to watch, and once again, I've got NFL and college.
00:38:28
Speaker
ah we're going to start We're going to start out west for my college player I'm watching this week, and that's going be Cal, true freshman quarterback. You're not going to get me to try to say that name.
00:38:40
Speaker
um Jaren Kawi Sakapalateli. I did try it. He did try. um I love this kid. he iss six He's a six foot four true freshman quarterback from Hawaii, was committed to Oregon, and then Dan Lanning lost him.
00:38:59
Speaker
um to Cal. And his first game of the year, i was up late watching the game against Oregon State, and he just he put up video game numbers. um Didn't have to do as much last week against Texas Southern because they won 35-3, and he only played like the first three quarters.
00:39:20
Speaker
um But this I think this kid could really – Like, Samit himself is, like, one of the the really good, like, bright future stars of college football and, you know, get his draft hype even going higher.
00:39:34
Speaker
he is a freshman, but and freshmen don't win Heismans. But you never know. He's he's playing ah Minnesota at home or in Cal. um Minnesota is always a good program, Big Ten.
00:39:48
Speaker
You know, they're always up there towards the top, good coaching staff, all that good stuff. So I think if he can come out here and just light them up, it would it would be so it'd be fun to have him start being considered for the Heisman as a true freshman. he just He's just fun to watch. He's very athletic, makes a lot of plays outside of the pocket. So he's my player to watch in college football. You're going to have to drink some coffee after the afternoon games to make sure you're staying up late watching this Cal game. I think it tip or kicks off at like 8 o'clock.
00:40:20
Speaker
Central time. I have a gnat flying right in my face. He's trying to distract me, but I won't let it happen. So if you're watching the YouTube or the, the tick tock clipper gets me, uh, I'm not swatting air. There's, there's a bug trying to bother me.
00:40:34
Speaker
Um, okay. And then to the NFL,
00:40:40
Speaker
have you ever heard of an LSU wide receiver? Absolutely dominating the NFL. Well, I think we might have got ourselves another one. And before you go, oh great, Tinsley's about to talk about Brian Thomas Jr. Not today, I'm not.
00:40:56
Speaker
I'm talking about Julian Boutte of the New England Patriots. Wow. um This is a kid who was very good at LSU, five-star recruit.
00:41:10
Speaker
His last year at LSU kind of and didn't play much for Brian Kelly, a lot of off-the-field stuff kind of. I don't know. Weird stuff. Comes out that he might have been gambling on himself.
00:41:21
Speaker
There were rumors that he was going to be arrested um because not only was he gambling on himself, he was also gambling under the age of 21. Just betting on himself.
00:41:34
Speaker
Betting on himself. yeah You can't fault the guy. i don't I would be lying if I told you I know exactly what happened with all of that. Um, but all I know is that he's still on the Patriots and he's their number one wide receiver.
00:41:47
Speaker
This is a team, a young team. That's like trying to search for their number one guy. They, they cut their fourth round draft pick Javon Baker from UCF last year. Um,
00:41:58
Speaker
And I think Keyshawn Butte is going to take over and be another one of these LSU wide receivers. He had six catches for 103 yards last week, was second among targets from Drake May with eight, only tying Hunter Henry. And this is a team who's searching for that number one wide receiver. They signed Stephon Diggs in the offseason, who's just kind of like a shell of his old self.
00:42:24
Speaker
And then after that, got mac hollands on the team a lot of check downs the trade on henderson so queshawn butte might be another one of these lsu wide receivers i mean he's a he's a fertile lot of them projected players whole his whole time in college five-star guy maybe he got his head on straight mike variable came in you know did what mike variable does good coach, and now this kid could blossom to a young star in the league with Drake May.
00:42:56
Speaker
So he's I'm definitely going be watching him. He's a big fantasy football waiver wire guy this week. And they're playing the Dolphins, who are just terrible. Which, if you've been listening all summer, I've been telling you since July that they're the worst team in the NFL.
00:43:12
Speaker
So you're all welcome. It's very true. ah You were your were first on the Dolphins might be really bad train. First, you might be hearing it from some bigger names now.
Final Thoughts and Next Episode Teaser
00:43:23
Speaker
Some people that do you know rankings every Monday and have a really big podcast are saying they're the they're the worst vibes team in the NFL. And I've been saying this since July. So you know who's to say? fact.
00:43:35
Speaker
And if that person's listening, the DMs are open. welcome want If you want to take takes, it's fine. Just ask for permission first.
00:43:45
Speaker
Love it. Okay, so our last category, I kind of already gave mine. Sorry. um We are doing upset potential of the week. um If you are a a person who likes who likes voting on upsets, I picked that Florida LSU.
00:44:05
Speaker
think that could be a fun upset spot. Yeah. What do you got? All right, so I've got college and NFL. i'll go college first just because this is a is a gut. And they had a have a promo for it on DraftKings for some reason, a 50% boost.
00:44:21
Speaker
Texas A&M, Notre Dame. Yeah. i I'm going to take Texas A&M. is the The only reason is the way Notre Dame was dominated on both lines of scrimmage um against Miami was very surprising to me.
00:44:38
Speaker
um Notre Dame, especially under Marcus Freeman, are built in the trenches, tough up front, and I didn't see that against Miami. um And so I can only expect a Texas A&M team under Elko, right? That's his name.
00:44:53
Speaker
I'm so bad at names. Until they get in the NFL, and then I know all their names for some dumb reason. But ah I can only expect a team coached by Elko, who's defensive-minded, is going to be tough up front.
00:45:07
Speaker
so And it's at Texas A&M, isn't it? Big environment, yeah. Yeah. ah Plus 210, I just don't see where they don't have the advantage. where i'm That would be my upset. ah like that's That one doesn't make sense. The the line should be flipped. Notre Dame should be the underdog.
00:45:28
Speaker
freshman Freshman quarterback.
00:45:32
Speaker
Yeah, A&M, I will say, has not looked 100% confident so far this season. um confident so far the season Yeah, no, I agree. They're 2-0, but they have not looked stellar.
00:45:43
Speaker
ah They beat Utah State and UTSA, but the UTSA game was pretty close for a while. Yeah. And so both of those games, think they just were a little underwhelming.
00:45:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they could have been keeping it vanilla. They know their first real game was going to Notre Dame at home. They say their home field advantage is good. don't know. actually, I'm sorry. This is at Notre Dame.
00:46:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's at Notre Dame. Hmm. Boy, I missed that one up. That makes Another game. Yeah, that's going to be tough. I still like my chances that this is my upset spot here.
00:46:18
Speaker
But I will say, so if it's your upset spot, I'll give you a couple more arguments, though. um Marcel Reed has looked very good. Yeah. Seven touchdowns so far this season. 41 for 62. He has also a rushing touchdown.
00:46:34
Speaker
eighteen carries for a hundred yards So while the team has not looked great, he's kind of carried. Marcel Reed is kind of entering that. Could be a top-tier SEC quarterback conversation of sudden.
00:46:47
Speaker
So I like my chances there. I just think Notre Dame's line play is just not what it needs to be to compete with an SEC school.
00:46:58
Speaker
Or any school in any conference. That's true, especially since they're too much of a coward to pick a conference. By week in week two. ah Imagine. Could you imagine? All right. My nfl upset spot of the week is going to be the Tennessee Titans.
00:47:15
Speaker
ah but I tonight's challenge. Zach is behind the curtains here. Zach said, let's try to get it over plus 200. um This was the closest one I felt confident about, and it was plus 190.
00:47:30
Speaker
But the Titans, for all intents and purposes, looked good against the Broncos. The Broncos have an elite defense. Cam Ward played well. If you're a box score watcher and just look at the stats, you're going to scratch your head at that statement.
00:47:44
Speaker
Yeah. Cam Ward had a lot of passes dropped, a lot of things that were not his fault. His coaching is absolutely abysmal. Callahan made some very questionable non-challenges.
00:47:57
Speaker
Very questionable. Very poor clock management. When you have the ball on your own seven-yard line with 47 seconds left, you run the ball three times and go to half. You don't throw three straight passes and then give them a chance to score touchdown.
00:48:11
Speaker
um Those are the margins. So I think Cam Ward's operating – um well. They're playing a Rams team who look just okay against the Texans. i know the Texans have a very good defense, but their offense did not produce much. I honestly think Cam Ward looked better week one than Stroud did.
00:48:32
Speaker
um So at plus 190 home game, this is an LA team who's flying across the country to come play in Nashville. um Yeah, give me the Titans at plus 190.
00:48:44
Speaker
Love it. Shout out Titans. Shout out Titan 10s. I see this. I'm not here. I've said a lot of nice things about the Titans here in recent weeks.
00:48:55
Speaker
Maybe not just that one.
00:49:00
Speaker
Okay. Maybe we wrap up with our AI competition. Yes, the AI competition of and ah we are We are competing with AI to build a parlay and if we can out gamble artificial intelligence itself.
00:49:18
Speaker
ah We have each picked a leg. It's pretty close to that like minus 100 line ah and so has GPT.
00:49:29
Speaker
Tins, would you like to give us what AI's bets of the week are? Yeah, so I asked ChatGPT to give me a parlay for this weekend. I did filter it out a little bit this week.
00:49:42
Speaker
I didn't want a Thursday night game um just because it's such a quick turnaround. And it, like, edited the line because they they gave out minus 7.5. The line was 8.5, so I told them to not be a coward. So here we go.
00:49:56
Speaker
ah Starting with their only college leg, Ole Miss minus 8.5 against Arkansas. I absolutely hate that pick.
00:50:06
Speaker
I think that one's actually like minus seven right now. I think that's wrong as well. Nice. Well, good. Well, AI is getting eight and a half. Sorry. um The second leg, they have Raiders plus three against the Chargers.
00:50:22
Speaker
I can promise you that's not hitting. The Raiders are a joke. I don't care that they won against the Patriots. um Geno Smith is not good, even though someone gave him out as an MVP candidate.
00:50:34
Speaker
That's crazy. Shout out. And then the final leg, the final leg of AI's parlay of the week is Bengals minus three and a half against my Jacksonville Jaguars, which is a crazy pick because that line opened up at minus five and a half.
00:50:52
Speaker
And now it's all the way down to three and a half. So if I was the Bengals, I'd be really afraid of what's about to happen. One of the worst performing offensive lines of the week went to the Bengals this week. Hmm.
00:51:04
Speaker
That would be really tough if one of the best pass rushes in the league for the last three seasons were to just go up there and absolutely wreck havoc on Joe Burrow. That would be tough. It would be tough.
00:51:17
Speaker
would be really tough. And if the Jags win Sunday, I'm going to have to get myself under control. Someone's going to have to talk to me. Yeah.
00:51:29
Speaker
because there's i've seen it before it's true it's it's it becomes it becomes a thing because dangerous i get very dangerous with the draft kings with the futures with the futures because the future could be now so um that is ai's parlay it comes out in a nice round plus 600 wow nice yeah And then now for our parlay, the one that's actually going to win.
00:51:59
Speaker
Now, did we go 0 for 3 last week? No, we didn't actually. um But did we go 1 for 3? Sure. Shut Mason's leg. did a Did AI i go 2 for 3?
00:52:12
Speaker
Sure. But guess what? It's still an It's all losses. it's yeah We're still tied up, All or nothing. doesn't matter. ah Yeah, it's not straight bets of the week because I'd smoke them in that.
00:52:23
Speaker
Don't even try me, AI. But I plugged in our parlay. We're actually the cowards this week. We went a little under it, plus 573. Oh, that's pretty close. I'll give Mason's pick.
00:52:35
Speaker
ah He didn't give me any breakdown on it, but we're taking Seahawks plus three against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I guess he's hoping for a little less Aaron Rodgers magic against ah a solid Seahawks defense and a bounce back performance from Seahawks. And they didn't look dominant over the 49ers, but divisional games are always tough and the Seahawks should be getting um know I don't know. see some Jalen Milrow this week. I think they're going to release him a little. and they They said they had some packages for him. think this would be good.
00:53:09
Speaker
um The Steelers really struggled with Justin Fields' ability to run the RPO. um So that would be fun if they do that. Sam Darnold can run a little bit too. So I like Seahawks here at plus three.
00:53:22
Speaker
And that was Mason's pick. Love it. All my pick, I went under 40.5 points in Saints and 49ers. And I'm just going to give you two names. I should tell you all you need to know.
00:53:37
Speaker
that would be Mr. Spencer Rattler and Mac Jones. If those are the two starting quarterbacks, which they are this week for this matchup, 40 points seems impossible.
00:53:52
Speaker
I really like that pick. um I've done a lot of research into the the new quarterback bump um of it all. I think Spencer Rydler had that last week.
00:54:03
Speaker
Yeah. There's a certain amount of juice you pull when it's your first week as a starting quarterback. ah The thing about it is it goes away. And I think that's happening. I mean, not that he had like a stellar week, but it was not a bad game. Spencer Rydler, I think, was a little better than a people thought he might be.
00:54:19
Speaker
I anticipate that completely coming back down to earth. Yeah. And being pretty terrible. Yeah, definitely I definitely agree with that. I don't see... Yeah, I mean... Am I crazy? He had a decent week, right? It wasn't bad.
00:54:34
Speaker
I couldn't tell you the stats. I know they covered the spread. um People were expecting them to get killed, but the Cardinals are just not... like Who are the Cardinals to come in and wreck anybody?
00:54:49
Speaker
um This a 49ers team who's always going to be solid defensively. This Saints offensive line has questions, and when you have questions against a pass rush that features Nick Bosa and um has Fred Warner running around at linebacker, I just think they're going to cause havoc all day long.
00:55:09
Speaker
Saints defense is still a solid unit, and so I think they can hold Mac Jones. Really all it is is is Christian McCaffrey going to score three touchdowns and put a little pressure on this over.
00:55:20
Speaker
um That being said, this this game was ah last week's Saints-Cardinals overrunner was 43.5. We didn't even get close to that final score. 33.
00:55:32
Speaker
Yeah. How many times, if you had to guess, because I'm looking at the box score now, yeah how many times do you think Spencer Eiler threw the ball last week? um I think it was like 42 times, wasn't it?
00:55:44
Speaker
Yeah, 46. 27 for 46 for 214 yards. twenty seven for forty six for two hundred and fourteen yards That's a recipe for disaster. No touchdowns. No touchdowns. Okay. Yeah, that's pretty bad.
00:55:55
Speaker
No underceptions either. Yeah. 46 passes. And I know what Mac Jones is capable of. It's not good.
00:56:05
Speaker
So, um under 40 and a half, that feels pretty good.
00:56:12
Speaker
I like that. Okay, my pick then to wrap it up. I'm sticking with the... the fun team i am going, but also the team that kind of screwed me last week by completely dominating Florida.
00:56:27
Speaker
I'm picking you USF to cover against the University of Miami. Uh, the line 17 and a half. I've seen all need to see.
00:56:38
Speaker
Um, I don't think that USF wins this game. I said the same thing last week though. I don't think USF wins this game. I think Miami is not, is not going to be surprised by anything they see.
00:56:48
Speaker
Um, I do anticipate, that winning, but 17 and a half is a lot of points against the team that has proven they're competent defensively. And we all know that their offense has a potential, um,
00:57:01
Speaker
i haveve I've been pretty high on Carson Beck. I'm not certain about Miami's defensive abilities right now. um I know they beat Notre Dame, but again, we're not really certain about Notre Dame's abilities either.
00:57:14
Speaker
i think USF comes in, um doesn't get the win because everyone kind of knows who they are now, but I think they're doing enough to cover 17.5 points. Yeah,
00:57:24
Speaker
yeah i'll just I think head coach-wise, Adam Golish is really good. They have a very good quarterback.
00:57:33
Speaker
They play good defense, and I think they can score. So 17.5 points a lot. That's a lot of points. I think we still got a little magic, a little Cinderella magic here. I think they cover. 17.5, like we said, lot of points. Maybe they win in their top 10 ring next week.
00:57:50
Speaker
Top 5. I think honestly this is one of the rare times where like Miami – even though they're the home team, they're a huge favorite. they I think they have more pressure. think UCF is playing with house money at this point. Yeah, this is tough for them, for sure. I mean, USF has now won two games. They were pretty big underdogs in, two ranked opponents, and they are in the front runner spot for the G5 playoff spot at this point.
00:58:16
Speaker
um Even if they lose this game, i don't think it really affects anything for them, I think. But if they win, I mean, imagine comparing that to the resumes of – other teams, G5 teams around the country, who just did not have that same quality of wins. I mean, as soon as you can say we beat Florida and we beat Boise State and at least we played competitively against Miami, yeah I mean, I think all of a sudden you're it's hard not to have you at that spot.
00:58:42
Speaker
so And Cristobal, I just don't trust him in game. He is not a very good game manager. like he He did some things. like he He tried to lose that game to Notre Dame. He really did.
00:58:54
Speaker
Yes, agree. He's a little bit of a liability. Yeah. Call place. I like 17.5 for sure. And it's definitely a game I'll be watching live this to feel the vibes. And if the vibes fill off, we're going to be hitting that money line live. feel The old South Florida Bulls.
00:59:15
Speaker
Fun team. They're fun. they They're really fun at NCAA too. They have cool jerseys. The playbook's fun. You get to recruit South Florida but kids, so they're all five stars, super freak, fast athletes. It's fun. It's a fun school to play with.
00:59:32
Speaker
There you go. Okay. You got a pod? That's a pod, yeah. um Take our parlay. We feel good about it. Plus 573.
00:59:44
Speaker
plus five seventy three Pretty good. Tens is going to be posting on TikTok and getting some of our picks out there. ah Be locked in with him there. he has given out some great picks. We have been getting hot on the gambling trail. So be with Tens on TikTok.
01:00:01
Speaker
ah We have been having some fun there. And we are excited for this weekend of football. We will be reviewing all of the action come next week. So stay with us here.
01:00:12
Speaker
Make sure that you subscribe and do all of those things that you know to do. And we will see you next time.