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2024 Sun Belt Football: Week 12 Recap, Week 13 Preview
68 Plays5 months ago
Brian and Zeke return to talk over all of the week 12 action around the Sun Belt, including James Madison's big win over Old Dominion and Louisiana's upset loss to South Alabama.
All episodes are now available in video form on YouTube!
Email the show at warmweatherfans@gmail.com
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Warm Weather Fans' Podcast
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome everybody into another edition of Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt Podcast. My name is Brian Stone, joined this week by Zeke Polermo. Maybe one day we'll get all three people back on the show at the exact same time. As of right now, I'm not 100% sure when that would be. ah But Zeke, how are you doing? How's it going?
Transition from Football to Basketball in Georgia
00:00:37
Speaker
Good I'm well ah we are transitioning in Georgia were transitioning out of high school football season into basketball. ah Which is kind of created an odd dichotomy in my life because.
00:00:52
Speaker
In my work, in my day-to-day, I'm focusing a lot on basketball, wrestling, swim, but like we're still in the middle of the NFL season. and We're still in the middle of the NCAA season, um which has been good for me because i you know I'm able to separate work and pleasure a little bit. um But that that's been what's going on. I didn't watch last week's episode. I've determined that I have difficulty watching the episodes I'm not on.
00:01:16
Speaker
because I want to chime in. It's conversations that I'm typically privy to and I hear you guys talking and you're making good points, but there's things I want to say and I'm just in my car and I can't say them.
Fantasy Football and Listener Engagement
00:01:30
Speaker
there's a There's a pretty prominent ah fantasy football podcast I listen to. ah The Ringer actually puts it on. And they ah refer to people who listen as ghosts because someone one time said the closest thing you could get to being a ghost is listening to two people have a discussion about something they have no clue about and you're just screaming at the top of your lungs, actually it's this. And they're just like, I don't know. a I guess we just guess we'll just have to go without figuring that out.
00:01:59
Speaker
And so that's not the case for us. No, not to
Encouragement to Switch Platforms with Humor
00:02:03
Speaker
jump your gun. But if you're watching on Twitter, hop over to YouTube YouTube dot com slash at warm weather fans, as you can see on the screen. And you can join our conversation. You can stream at us and maybe we'll listen. Maybe we won't. Depends on if you're stupid or not.
00:02:20
Speaker
ah All right. Well, that's a hell of a way to start off the show this week.
Georgia Southern's Loss and Podcast Absence Discussion
00:02:25
Speaker
um yeah so there were a lot of uh interesting i want to say results in the sunbelt and i'm gonna say this uh you guys gave me crap because i missed the episode after george southern lost to old dominion matt's not beating the louisiana just lost the south alabama allegations i'm just gonna i'm just gonna put that out there right now because
00:02:51
Speaker
Inside baseball, he messaged us 15 minutes before we were supposed to record and was like, actually, I can't be there. And I'm like, interesting. We'll we'll we'll see how that goes. um All right, so let's start off with ah with Saturday's slate. um Didn't have a Thursday night game this week, so that was ah a refreshing change. I can actually remember all of the things that happened that got stuffed down under the like NFL games that I watched the day after.
00:03:20
Speaker
ah This will be a quick one.
Auburn vs ULM Game Analysis
00:03:22
Speaker
So Auburn defeats ULM just to start 4814.
00:03:29
Speaker
ah Me and Matt litigated this and and we've talked about it. You and I and you and Matt and Matt and I have always have talked about Aiden Armenta is just not, he's not it at the quarterback position. It's going to be difficult for them to do kind of anything of note with him back there because it limits that they have, you know, Ahmaud Hardy in this running game. And, you know, when the defense is, is when the offense is playing complimentary football to the defense, it looks great.
00:04:00
Speaker
But are meant to like, there's just no consistency throwing the football he kind of struggles with like easy throws. He'll make a couple of of tough ones but not enough to say, hey, this guy is definitively kind of the answer for us at the quarterback spot.
00:04:15
Speaker
so and And I mean, frankly, they were just kind of outclassed by Auburn. I mean, Auburn had been really struggling and I had been kind of joking ah in weeks past about how they were going to get upset against ULM. Well, when Cam Coleman, the freshman at a receiver for Auburn comes in and catches three touchdown passes and your quarterback, Peyton Thorne, goes 22 of 32 for 286 and five scores with no turnovers. Like, yeah, that the that's going to help, obviously.
00:04:46
Speaker
Yeah Auburn for for what it's worth on the Auburn side. ah They found a quarterback in Peyton Thorn. He's been pretty solid over the past several weeks. Five touchdowns in a game is absurd and to your point about Armenta. He was so bad that.
00:05:03
Speaker
a guy that I thought we were maybe never going to
ULM's Losing Streak and Personnel Issues
00:05:06
Speaker
see play again. We saw General Booty get some snaps at the end of the game there. ah ULM is in the same tailspin that Texas State ah is in right now and experienced last season where all of a sudden this team is good and this team that was previously in the bottom of the conference ah is stringing together wins in the beginning of the year. um And then all of a sudden, like ULM, all of a sudden is on a four game slide after looking at ah early on to be the favorite out of the West. ah And if they were second, it was to you Louisiana by only a small margin.
00:05:48
Speaker
Um, this trend, I feel confident in chalking up to teams that were previously underperforming, uh, just get, you know, don't have film on them. Don't know what, uh, these coaches are going to do. Don't know what, uh, Brian Vincent is going to do at ULM, for example, or the year before GJ Kinney at, uh, Texas state.
00:06:12
Speaker
I think we're kind of figuring out where ULM sits they like to play like Troy has in several years but they're not quite at the personnel level to do that they don't have a guy like Carlton Marshall who's the NCAA all-time tackle leader they don't have a guy like ah Jevon Solomon who's perpetually in the opposing backfield. So I think ULM ah and you know granted you have to consider what my thoughts about Texas State were at the beginning of the year. ULM is in a such similar situation to where Texas State was around this time last year where you can see they're on the up and up. They over performed in the early season and once they get the correct personnel it might start to come together.
Quarterback Struggles and Suggested Changes for ULM
00:06:57
Speaker
Again, granted, Texas State got Jordan McCloud and you know we're still unsatisfied with their performance ah given their personnel. ah But, you know, the reminder, this is an SEC Auburn team. No matter how poor of an SEC team they are, there is that discrepancy that ULM had to make up. I don't know. they they They were always going to lose this one no matter how hot they were coming into this. um So, you know, not much to say.
00:07:28
Speaker
I think ULM's backslide this season has been a little bit more palatable just because there were two main reasons why it kind of went the way it went. Number one, I think we identified very early on, even before they really started kind of racking up wins and beating, you know, like JMU and teams like that. I think we kind of all saw and mentioned multiple times this Armenta at quarterback thing, like isn't sustainable. You can't ah go every single week and have your quarterback be 11 of 16 for 112 yards and win every single week. Like they're just going to be weeks. You're going to run into defenses that are not going to allow you to run the ball.
ULM's Expected Decline and Comparison to Texas State
00:08:15
Speaker
And I think the other thing too is, um, you know, the thing with Texas state and what makes it so baffling to me is that,
00:08:25
Speaker
It's not the way they lose, it's the week to week just inconsistency. Like one week they'll just smash a team and you'll be like, okay so are they back and then the next week they lose and you're like no they're not back. So the the thing with ULM is they started hot and they've like just kind of gradually went downhill but all of it is very like understandable as to why it kind of happened the way it happened. So I mean again
00:08:57
Speaker
I don't have the stats right in front of me. General Booty came in and threw a like a 50 yard touchdown with his like only pass attempt, correct? Yeah, he was one for one for 65. Okay, ah I think you have to make him the starting quarterback. I think you've seen enough of the Armenta stuff, and he just, he holds this offense back. And I don't know what it could be with Booty. You know, I'm not Brian Vincent, I'm not seeing him in practice every day. So maybe there's something there that's preventing him from being the full-time starting quarterback. But you know now what you have in Armenta, and I don't know how you can keep
00:09:35
Speaker
in good faith, rolling him out every single week and just being like, the results are going to be different this time, but there's no real reason why as to that would be.
Coaches' Reluctance to Change Underperforming Players
00:09:45
Speaker
So well you can only do that in any weeks in a row. ah How much of that is you projecting your own quarterback frustrations at Georgia Southern?
00:09:56
Speaker
I think it goes for any quarterback that's just, there's no juice. like you know um let's I was going through, so like, Another example of this was, you know, Valer at Georgia State. How many weeks can you watch him throw, throw multiple interceptions before you're just like, let's see what else we have. Like it it can't be worse than this. And like, yeah, Georgia Southern falls a hundred percent into the same bucket and has since the beginning of last season. But I just don't understand these coaches being like, I'm going to beat my head against a wall.
00:10:37
Speaker
because it feels so good when I stop. And it's like, well, then what are what are we doing? like what Are you trying to win games? Are you trying to like prove a point? And so that's where you lose me is when you're like, I'm going to be stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. I don't really have a reason to do it. And then you get like the Charles Huffs of the world who that they They are willing to change, but it literally takes almost like an act of God in order for them to be like, maybe Stoneril shouldn't be starting our games. It took a five ah five minute, 21 point comeback for him to decide, to decide hey, maybe Braylon Braxton's actually the right way to go.
00:11:15
Speaker
so Again, i I just don't get it. like How many below kind of average performances can a quarterback turn in in consecutive weeks before we'll just try something else? It's not working. That's a question I don't have the answer to.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah, i mean I mean, I don't know.
ULM's Offensive Limitations Against Auburn
00:11:35
Speaker
And, you know, you all Monroe was getting shut out 24 to zero at a half. I mean, it was it was pretty much over at that point. They they scored two kind of garbage time touchdowns. They weren't really in contention to win this game. But, you know, like I said, I think you keep starting our men's every week and you're putting a concrete ceiling on this team.
00:11:57
Speaker
And you're preventing yourself from making a bowl game, which you're very much on the precipice of and now looks like more of an uphill battle unless you beat.
ULM's Crucial Game for Bowl Eligibility
00:12:08
Speaker
I don't remember who they play this week, but ah or if they're off or whatever. But, you know, one of those teams is Louisiana and they can't really afford to lose another time. So you might be getting their absolute. They get Arkansas State where the season is over.
00:12:24
Speaker
Well, even that now doesn't look like a, you know, that's not a layup. A couple of weeks ago, we would have probably favored ULM, but the way that they've played as of late, I don't know how you could do that. um But anyway, so Auburn improves. Wow, this is depressing. Improves to four and six. Wow. Great guys. ah Hugh Freese has saved the program. UL Monroe falls to five and five with the loss.
00:12:49
Speaker
um getting into the next one here. So Marshall defeats Coastal Carolina. um Marshall, they you know they had a blocked field goal return for a touchdown. They were kind of generating offense and stuff in like ah starts and fits. Like it was it was inconsistent. um i think ah I think one part of that was apparently AJ Turner was not only not playing but wasn't even on the sideline people said for this game which you know who knows what that means for them because frankly he's been there kind of a break glass in case of emergency offense type player and if he's out
00:13:36
Speaker
For like an extended period of time like that's going to be a real issue for them because, frankly, the the Jordan Houston. ah Ethan pain like just don't really have to bring the same level of like explosiveness to the table so.
00:13:50
Speaker
We'll,
Marshall vs Coastal Carolina Game Recap
00:13:51
Speaker
we'll see how that all pans out, but I thought this was a good win for Marshall. Um, they face another Sunbelt East team. I've, I've said for weeks now, I still think that they're the second best team in the conference and, uh, you know, behind Louisiana and I still feel that way. So, you know, it was, it was a good statement when for them to kind of put their foot out there. I, I struggled to say that they're the the second best team in the conference only because it's It's quite a gap, right? You'd know what you'd expect, especially in a conference like the Sunbelt where there are divisions, you kind of expect a 1A, 1B in each conference. But the gap between UL and Marshall is so great that it it makes me uneasy to call Marshall.
00:14:43
Speaker
and What I am very comfortable saying is that they're the most consistent team or the second most consistent team in the Sunbelt their only loss came in ah that.
00:14:55
Speaker
i I would call it maybe a fluke. I don't know really. It was a fluke. Fluke. It was a fluke. Right. The fluke lost to Southern. um And like outside of that, they're they're winning their conference games fairly comfortably. After, after obviously, this loss, they've only played one one possession conference game. Breland Braxton is the key here.
00:15:23
Speaker
ah i I'm again cautious to award much credit to Marshall considering just how poorly Coastal played here. They turned the ball over four times. I believe it was four times. um Three. You know, three ah had had opportunities late in this game ah to at least bring it closer. Had several, you know, medium to long drives late in the game that ended on fourth downs.
00:15:53
Speaker
um I mean, with without AJ Turner, Marshall's run game is abysmal, ah which is a little shocking. I kind of expected Braylon Braxton in the absence of AJ Turner to take a larger role and kind of put on like the Colton Joseph type cape, where he is obviously passing for 200 some odd yards, but then also just leading leading the team with 80 some odd ah rushing.
00:16:20
Speaker
ah so So that was a shock. um I think most interesting to me is just how dysfunctional Coastal's offense appears to be. They cannot seem to st string together two good offensive games, let alone two good offensive drives. um i you know we've They've been very reluctant to turn to Noah Kim.
00:16:44
Speaker
They've been a little better under him, but like I, you know, it wasn't such a great discrepancy with Noah Kim as opposed to Ethan Vasco that like it really constituted a change. ah Unlike, for example, the stone are all Breland Braxton change where it was so stark, you know, there was a you could reasonably stick with Vasco. um I think this is a ah similar to Louisiana Monroe offensively. They're being held back by their quarterback and almost and exclusively their quarterback.
00:17:12
Speaker
because Coastal for several years has had some of the best weapons in the conference ah receiving-wise and always seems to have one or two very talented backs. um But they Ethan Vasco is simply not of the caliber ah that a team with the aspirations Such as costals needs to be at because I mean we you know we have to frame our Sunbelt conversations within the context of like – at the end of the day, this is the Sunbelt. This is not the SEC. This is not the Big Ten, but coastal.
00:17:47
Speaker
um Based on their recent success, has a very high bar, much like App does, although App's standard it you know extends back to its FCS days, same thing with ah
Coastal Carolina's Struggles Under Tim Beck
00:17:58
Speaker
Southern. Southern has an expectation of excellence, albeit it extends back to the FCS days and not necessarily the FBS days.
00:18:06
Speaker
um This is not an Old Dominion vibe coastal team. This is not a Georgia State vibe coastal team. ah This isn't a Texas State vibe coastal team where 6 wins, 7 wins is acceptable. This is a team that has built a reputation of being ah among the best in the conference.
00:18:25
Speaker
Maybe that's just all clouded by those Grayson McCall years, Jimmy Chadwell years, and it's a recency bias. ah But through two years, as we're coming to the conclusion of two years of Tim Beck, it feels like a ah disappointing hire. That has just kind of been my takeaway is that.
00:18:47
Speaker
Maybe he was not the right guy for the job. You've talked a lot about you know where guys come from and how you know that may not have been the best hire just based on background. um What do you think of Tim Beck? as you know We still have two weeks, but as we enter these final.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah. sorry i No, i no, I was I was waiting. I didn't know if that was the end of the sentence or not. No, i I looked like you were ready to jump in. So I just kind of trailed off my bed. Well, I am. I mean, I will say I think I said.
00:19:21
Speaker
People can go back and listen to this. All of our podcasts so are available on Apple and Spotify. ah not Not all the video is available. That just started this year. But I believe at the beginning of last season, when i was doing we were doing the Sunbelt previews and Coastal came up, I said before last season, I don't i didn't think last season was gonna be an accurate representation of Tim Beck as a head coach because he had presumably one year of Grayson McCall just fall like kind of into his lap.
00:19:51
Speaker
And a lot of times when you just award a new head coach the best quarterback in the conference, presumably heading into the the season, you're like, unless this guy is a total disaster, there's no way like he's going to win fewer than like six games, seven games. And I think they finished eight and four when it was all said and done.
00:20:13
Speaker
And I will give him credit. He did make ah Vasco toward the end of last season actually look like somewhat of a competent ah starter, ah which now we know to not be the case. So I think this season is is a more accurate representation of his ability as a head coach. And I think one of the big complaints that I had about him when he was hired was He came from NC State as the offensive coordinator. Has NC State ever run an exciting offense? Has anyone ever been thrilled? Like been like, man, you got to tune in on Saturdays to watch the NC State play. Like I've never felt that way in my lifetime. Like even, you know, I i was at the, uh,
00:20:54
Speaker
the Southern NC State game in 2014 when Jacoby Brissett was the quarterback at NC State like actually you know what I take that back when Russell Wilson was at NC State they were a must-watch team other than that and maybe Phillip Rivers but like other than that it's been like I don't know. I've watched some of the Mike Glennon games. I watched the Jacobi Brissett games. They've all had Dave Doran as the head coach and they kind of all looks the same to me and I'm not really, not really jazzed about any of it. So if I was a Coastal fan coming in and they announced that NC State's OC was going to be my head coach, I would have been like, yeah, no, thanks, dude. I'm good.
00:21:33
Speaker
um And it's kind of played out that way where they, they don't really have a quarterback. Like you talked about Vasco and Kim, they're kind of, they seem to be interchangeable of like, although I would have liked to have seen more from Noah Kim than, than I have. I mean, I thought he played kind of well on the Louisiana game, all things considered. Um, but I mean, this game was like a perfect example of.
00:21:58
Speaker
They start really hot. Braden Bennett, they get a four minute drive to start the game. They marched down the field, 9.75 yards. Braden Bennett cashes it in from four yards out and they didn't score again until 13 minutes left to go in the fourth quarter.
00:22:13
Speaker
like that's you just can't you can't do anything with that when you turn the ball over and you're losing the turnover margin three to nothing like they did in this game and your quarterback is super shaky and you know defensively coastal with or a Marshall was giving coastal a lot of issues.
00:22:29
Speaker
um there's just what do you what can you build off of like we need to find a brand new quarterback okay so does two-thirds of the conference like crazy and what are we gonna do we're gonna run
Marshall's Defensive Strengths
00:22:42
Speaker
the spread like everybody else does okay are we gonna throw any new wrinkles in no not really and so you just you're just kind of left with like i think the the further removed we get from it we're gonna find that the jamie chad will Grayson McCaul thing was more of lightning in a bottle that you're not really going to recapture. And so Marshall, just to be frank, has better players. They have a better defense than Coastal does. they Their quarterback is not doesn't go from being like a disaster to serviceable but to back to unplayable from week to week basis. like Braxton has been fairly like even healed across the board. so
00:23:22
Speaker
I just, yeah, I mean, I watched this game up until, uh, when Marshall scored in the third quarter to make it 24 to seven. And then I just kind of flipped another game on and was like, ah, this one's, this one's a wrap. A lot of Vasco's yardage came in garbage time when they were down like multiple scores. So I was just like, yeah, this is what you've come to expect from Coastal. They're a five and five team. They play like a five and five team.
00:23:49
Speaker
They're they're totally average, which is fine, but that's not a lot of coastal fans have to be frustrated because that's not what they've come to expect having watched the Jamie Chadwell years. So that's just kind of my piece on it. um Do you have any last minute notes before we move off of this game? That was It was a lot of talk about that game, but it was a good win it was a good win for Marshall. I think they kind of state their claim as being like, hey, like you said, consistently, we're one of the best teams in the conference. um we Again, the one loss now, you're just kind of like, I think we can write that off. like They finally made the right choice at quarterback and it's it's paying dividends.
00:24:30
Speaker
um All right, so Marshall is now seven and three and five and one in the Sunbelt. Coastal drops to five and five and is now two and four in the conference. Let's talk about Georgia Southern and Troy. um I tweeted this, I'm sorry if for anybody who follows me and doesn't want me to hear me repeat myself things I've tweeted. I tweeted this on Saturday night The best thing about doubting Clay Helton is you're never wrong, you're just early. and that's where That's the way I feel about it. is is like you know I expected them to crumble last week when they played at South Alabama, and it was just off by a week. That was it. so and We'll talk about this when we get into coastal Georgia Southern than this upcoming weekend, but I think this is the beginning of the end of their season. they've
00:25:16
Speaker
They've done this every year that Clay Hilton's been the coach through three seasons. He still has two wins in the month of November, and it's I mean, it's approaching Thanksgiving, so it's not like he's got too many more chances um for the second time in two weeks. We've had a player leave the team.
00:25:35
Speaker
So that's fun. ah They're posting on social media like Instagram like hey I really wanted to win but people in the locker room don't aren't kind of out for the same reasons. That's great and something you love to see. ah So I think I think what's going to end up happening and they're they're the master, Georgia Southern through numerous, we're on our third AD in the last like 10 years. We're masters of doing this. Here's what's going to happen. They're going to bring Clay Helton back for 25. He's going to start the season like 0 and 5, and then they're going to fire him and basically have next year just be like a total waste. And then we're back to square one where we were
00:26:14
Speaker
post summers, post Lunsford. We just have an entire season that's basically just dead on arrival. And they love doing it. I don't really understand why. But I feel like if FAU can pay Tom Herman $4 million dollars not to coach like they decided to do today, that Georgia Southern can find a way to defer Clay Helton's payments of 1.7 million over time to not totally cripple the athletic department budget. Sure. That's just kind of where I am with it. Is And again, this this is going to be broadly sweeping is Georgia Southern, the worst bowl eligible team in the conference. If not the country. No, not in the country for sure. Not um in the conference, probably, but it's, it's, that's more of an indictment on the conference than anything else because.
00:27:10
Speaker
I, so I have said for the last couple of weeks, I'm like, the only reason they're in this position is because all the other teams have taken a step back. Like South Alabama is not as good as what we, and what we anticipate, you know, they've been ah again, 500, they're, they're whatever. Coastal's 500. They're not bowl eligible yet. The bowl eligible teams are like James Madison, who they beat Marshall, who they beat. And, and then it's Arkansas state.
00:27:40
Speaker
Okay. I think you could flip a coin between Southern and Arkansas state and come up with a winner. I don't, I don't think there's a definitive answer so there either way. And Texas state who I think is better than Georgia Southern at this stage. So no, i no, I think that's a little hyperbolic, but I, this is just, it's the same thing every year. Like how many times can you do the exact same thing and expect different results? Like Clay Helton will win six games. And then the minute that happens,
00:28:10
Speaker
goes off of a cliff. yeah He like kicks the the leg out from under himself. And now now we're just flat on our butt. so
00:28:19
Speaker
Nothing's going to change until they find a new head coach. I mean, that's frankly what it is. Cause you know, to quote, remember the Titans attitude reflects leadership. So when everybody is just kind of okay, getting run over by a two and seven Troy team at home, Clay Hilton comes out after the game and says, that was a heck of a football game. And everybody's sitting around going, I'm sorry. What? We just, we just lost to a two and seven team and you're just, you're clapping it up. Like that's strange to me. Yeah.
00:28:49
Speaker
Which are you more concerned about? just Let's just say over the next two weeks, offense or defense, which scares you more from Georgia Southern's perspective?
00:29:04
Speaker
ah the offense and it's more it's it's less that I think they're good it's just more that the defense I think has always been a mess in my mind so for them to continue being a mess is not really a huge shock to me I mean they they have been bad pretty much all season except for ah the JMU game inexplicably they decided to become the 2000 Ravens all of a sudden overnight and then they went back to the next week you know they played Old Dominion the week after and lost by like a thousand so it that has not affected me you know me at all but
00:29:45
Speaker
Offensively, there's a number of different things. Number one, you chose JC French over Dexter Williams, so Dexter Williams is no longer with the team. Okay, so you're stuck in your quarterback choice because you can't pivot now to anybody else. Number two, you're on your second offensive coordinator in three years.
00:30:04
Speaker
Okay. So clearly it's not probably the OC at this stage. It's who's hiring the OCs. Where's he getting them from? They're not fits for whatever. They don't adjust. They don't add throughout the season. They don't try to play to strengths and weaknesses. So that's, that's more my issue is like.
00:30:26
Speaker
offensively, I didn't expect them to be world beaters, but that's kind of where their bread and butter is supposed to be. And it just hasn't, it hasn't panned out that way. So I, I don't really, again, I don't, I don't think anything's going to change until Clay Hilton is out of a job and we're looking elsewhere.
00:30:45
Speaker
Right. And then from the Troy perspective, I don't think this is the start of a massive turnaround for them. ah Do they win either of their two games to end the season, which are Louisiana and Southern Miss? I think it's I'll just go ahead. I think they win one. I think they lose one. And I think both of those games are by a fairly wide margin.
00:31:12
Speaker
Yeah, I think they lose to Louisiana and they beat Southern Miss. You know, I will say, again, I don't know if this is more of a wild look at Troy or an indictment of Georgia Southern's terrible defense, but Caldwell showed up, showed out in this game. He completed 80 almost 82 percent of his passes, which is insane.
00:31:35
Speaker
He finished 26 of 32. He had all day to throw. They had open throwing lanes. He threw for 288 and two scores. Damien Taylor, their running back, had 92 yards. Gerald Green, the former Georgia Southern player, ah ripped off a ah big chunk game in this game. I don't know where his final stat line was, but Devontae Ross had 10 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. Other than there were two drives where the refs basically like led Georgia Southern into the end zone. Like the first drive, Troy stopped Georgia Southern like twice and they kept getting like defensive holding or a pass interference call or an offsides at at a at a perfect time for them. They Georgia Southern despite like being this game could have easily been way more out of hand than just eight points. You know, and then a perfect microcosm of this was ah
00:32:32
Speaker
You know, Georgia Southern gets the ball down 2820 with like two minutes to go. JC French throws an interception, I think on the second play of their last drive.
00:32:44
Speaker
And Georgia Southern I think either had all three or two of their three timeouts and Troy just ran the clock out like Georgia Southern is just not physical on either side of the line of scrimmage. And again, I think that that's a reflection of Clay Hilton and his mindset is just. It's weak, it's just being weak is is all I guess he's he's he's pushing because he frankly has just not shown to be a very high level coach and.
00:33:13
Speaker
Again, they're just going to kind of go through the motions until they can justify buying them out. But um again, I hope they don't spend all of 2025 just for your test run. But realistically, that's exactly what's going to happen. But Troy.
00:33:29
Speaker
I will say there was a moment that Troy ah Parker, the coach, again, disappointed me. ah They were like manhandling Southern in this game. And there was a series. I can't remember what quarter it was in exactly. But, you know, we called it. We called him early in the season, the field goal king, because he was like so willing to just pull up and settle for three um early in the game. I think it was their first drive. It was it was pretty early. They went down and basically had like a fourth and three.
00:33:59
Speaker
like on the 20 yard line and they were like let's let's kick it and their guy just shanked the crap out of it um'm i'm like he wasn't even close and it was like close to an extra point like that was that was how close it was so Again, though the the things that Souther did well were not things that they were actively doing. It was getting getting bailed out by the refs because Troy ended up with like 13 penalties for over 100 yards. And stupid coaching decisions by Troy's coach, like kicking it there, kicking it period, you know, things like that. and So those were the things that really kind of kept them in this game. They had no business even being within eight points of this game.
00:34:41
Speaker
Okay, so um with the wind, Troy improves to three and seven and is now two and four in the Sunbelt. Georgia Southern drops to six and four. They are now four and two in the conference. um This one, I wish I had watched this one. i ah This was on at this James Madison beats Old Dominion 3532. This was a very competitive game. um Again, if Georgia Southern Troy hadn't been on at the same time, I would have flipped it over to this one in a heartbeat. Alonzo Barnett played fairly well. 18 of 26, 192 in a score.
00:35:15
Speaker
ah Young the running back for Old Dominion played really well as also 17 carries for 116 in a touchdown This was just I was kind of keeping up with it on my like mobile score tracking app This was just seemed like a track meet like these two teams were just going up and down and up and down the field the whole whole day um I mean they combined for almost 800 yards of offense or Yeah, real, really close. So yeah, there was just no defense played and offense ruled the day, basically. Yeah. The, uh, the first, uh, seven or eight, I guess, do we have a word in football for like.
00:35:57
Speaker
Each team gets a set of drives. I guess you would just call it like a set of drives, right? Pair of drives. Right. The the first five or six pairs of drives of this game all started with a score, ah whether it was from Old Dominion or James Madison or both. But then it really petered out back half of the second into the third ah and even into the fourth. ah Each team only scored once in the fourth quarter.
00:36:25
Speaker
ah Old Dominion will for one I feel like this is the first game we've seen from Colton Joseph since he's been the starter where he has come down to earth. Finish nine for twenty one still had you know what a hundred twenty some odd a hundred ninety yards ah on only nine completions.
00:36:45
Speaker
and then also ran for 35 yards so this is the first game we've seen from him ah back down to earth and frankly seeing the offense move fairly well even without him doing both roles is something we've not seen from Old Dominion at all this year.
00:37:04
Speaker
ah They absolutely flubbed this one though. I thought they had every chance to win this And ultimate because james like I said James Madison opened the game with scores on all three Maybe even four first drives of the game ah And Old Dominion brought it back. They had all the momentum and then they fell back down to James Madison's level Uh, for James Madison, I think this is an impressive win, impressive in quotes, uh, or as impressive as it can get, uh, because they they've needed a win. They they've had difficulty really establishing any semblance of, uh, consistency. And, uh, you know, despite the, you know, this is their third one in a row, but the previous two came against Southern miss in Georgia state, which congrats you beat FCS, Mississippi and FCS Georgia.
00:37:55
Speaker
Uh, so I, and reminder, Kennesaw state is also in Georgia. Uh, so if this was good for James Madison, because at eight and two, they don't feel like an eight and two team. Uh, they don't play like an eight and two team. Uh, they, I think ever since even maybe even predating that Southern game, they've kind of taken a step down, uh, in terms of quality.
00:38:24
Speaker
Big thoughts on Old Dominion is they need to start winning games when Colton Joseph isn't. The guy or else he is going to find another job at some pack school or some you know big 12 school where they're just going to let him run amok and do whatever he pleases ah with with some skill positions and. He frankly he may have already made that decision that this is just going to be a one year thing for him.
00:38:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, just I think I said this ah early in the season, we were talking about some quarterback and I can't remember who it was, but you guys asked me, you know, do you think there's a P 14 watching? I think it was. um What's his South Alabama's quarterback? Oh, Gio Lopez. Yeah. Yeah. I think one of you asked me that. And I was just like, I don't know. He doesn't put up like eye popping stats. And I don't I don't think a lot of these big, big time schools are watching tape to see like, oh, this guy's doing really well at South Alabama. Colton Joseph is putting up those eye popping stats. So I feel like if you are
00:39:33
Speaker
I don't know, an Oklahoma State or something. And you're like, or hell, he could stay in Virginia and start at Virginia Tech or whatever. Like one of those teams could just come to him and be like, hey, man, we've got like legit NIL funds and we're desperate in need of a quarterback. Like, why don't you just come here? Virginia Tech's kind of already got the ODU to Virginia Tech pipeline set up a little bit ah with the the receiver that they had a couple of years ago. It ended up at Virginia Tech as well. So I just feel like, yeah, that this is almost like an NFL team having a rookie quarterback and being like, this is the time you need to cash in and get some contributors before this before the cap hit kicks in. But instead of the cap hit and a second contract, it's, oh my God, he's going to be out of here in a couple of years and we're going to have
00:40:23
Speaker
We're either going to lose him to a ah bigger school with more funds that can afford to pay him, or we're just going to like waste, however, for three or four years of him him playing here. So that's, that should be their number one concern is like, I said this last week, this isn't basketball. You can't just put one guy out on the the field and go, all right, man.
00:40:45
Speaker
offense is all you like we don't really have anybody for you to throw to and you know some some weeks you're gonna have to lead the team in rushing in passing and throw for over 300 yards he he didn't have to do that this game and they still came uh close ish i mean the the final score was kind of garbage time they were down 11 points when they scored a touchdown at the end of the game but this is this is what I what we harp on all the time is you can't just put the entire offense on the back of the quarterback and say hey man like if you don't win us this game like we're just not we're not gonna win so that that's sort of been the real conflict is like are they gonna be able to put guys around him next year two years from now before another team like I said comes calling and says hey we actually have guys that can catch passes and block and stuff maybe you should come over here
00:41:37
Speaker
i I'm not confident that they'll be able to do that. um Just- They haven't yet. but they they They never have. they They've not done that since they've been in the Sunbelt. I can't vouch for- were they CUSA before? I can't vouch for if they were doing that ah when they were Conference USA, but I imagine not. like This team has been- very barren for skill players for several years now. um They've had a couple, like Ollie Jennings would have a good game every every couple of weeks. He would be like, hey, I'm here for 110 on, you know, nine catches. But they like Watson sets like the Sunbelt single game record against Coastal a couple of years ago and then just falls off the face of the earth. And I think he transferred to like an ACC school or something.
00:42:26
Speaker
So I'm not confident in Old Dominion's ability to um maintain that talent. They've got to decide if they're okay with that. If they're okay with being the school that if they're okay, be in the farm system. Because as as we're going to talk about in a second, some teams are okay being the farm system. ah And ah Old Dominion's got to make that decision like right now, whether that's the situation they're in or not.
00:42:56
Speaker
Well, the the end of the season is going to be very interesting for James Madison and Marshall because they play one another, I think, in the season finale. And that game might single handedly determine who goes to the Sunbelt title game because they both have a common loss ah to Southern.
00:43:14
Speaker
And one of those two teams will have the head to head tiebreaker over the other. So that might be like a de facto, like who ends up going and representing the East. So we'll have to see how that that goes. That'll be really interesting at the end of the year. But yeah, I mean, do we've talked about it? Old Dominion has like zero expectations. Like any time they win, it's like great. And any time they lose, they're kind of like, like, again, they'll they might finish the season five and seven with one of the two best quarterbacks in the conference. And it feels like everybody is just kind of like shrug and move on. So I. I mean, if y'all don't want coton Colton Joseph, I'll take him, you know, i like seriously, like I'm like, if if you are fine winning five to six games or fewer every single year, send them over my way. You guys could notch out for wins with just like a dude back there. Put Grant Wilson back in, you know.
00:44:12
Speaker
um I mean, i I'm serious. like yeah You need to strive for more when you have a quarterback of that caliber and not just be like, I don't know, man, you just gotta we're just going to hang you out in the dry and hope hope it all works out. um With that, James Madison is now eight and two and is four and two in the conference. Old Dominion falls to four and six and three and three in the Sun Belt.
00:44:33
Speaker
um OK, so getting into this next one here, ah you watched or kept an eye on this one at least. Arkansas State beats Georgia State 27 to 20. I picked Arkansas State straight up in this game last week. I was just like, I don't really understand why anybody would favor Georgia State unless they were playing Southern Miss. But I'm just like, I truly don't I don't really get it. Like what?
00:45:01
Speaker
what is What is the deal with both of these teams, really? but like is sure i I read the quotes from Del McGee, I think it was before this game, and he was kind of like, love to have some fan support, and everybody was just kind of like, I don't know, man, just shut up. I don't want to hear it.
00:45:18
Speaker
so There the conversation around Georgia State right now um Is very much like an outside of football one pertaining to the quality of facilities the quality of fans ah the just general like why number of fans the general like quality of the program and whether or not Georgia State frankly deserves to be an FBS team um and. That's my take on it. Del McGee did he you know he said something this past weekend after the game that I'd never seen. ah I hadn't seen him do yet and I didn't see Sean Elliott ever do and that was just kind of throw up his hands and say as you mentioned like.
00:46:13
Speaker
What do you want me to do? I thought, I've always thought, and I've been very vocal about this um with when Kirby Smart came out and was like, Oh man, our fans gotta do better. I think it's in very poor taste when players and coaches come out and speak against their fans because like, bro, you coach football and you are the highest paid employee at the state university and you want to, you're mad at me.
00:46:39
Speaker
Um, so I think that's typically in poor taste, but what Del McGee also said, which I did think was a legitimate concern was talking about how Georgia state lags behind not even like Georgia and Georgia tech, but Georgia Southern and the other teams in the Sunbelt in terms of facilities and in terms of, uh, you know, excitement around this team, uh,
00:47:06
Speaker
this was supposed to be their homecoming game and Georgia State couldn't even sell it out. Are you there or are you just making that face?
00:47:18
Speaker
Okay folks, I think we may have lost Brian for a second. um So I'll keep going I guess on my tirade. ah Let me actually shoot him a text. One second folks.
00:47:49
Speaker
Anyway, so ah I may reiterate when he plugs back in. um But Del McGee said something I hadn't heard a Sunbelt coach say.
00:48:06
Speaker
You good? Yeah, sorry about that, I. something Something happened. I don't really understand what the issue was. like it just started The video just started circling. and Anyway, sorry. Get back to the the point you were making. I'm sorry. No. I was just kind of rambling about the general point that Del McGee brought up some very interesting points. and you know i would He didn't really delve into them, but he touched on things that folks, myself included, have and even your most staunch Georgia State defenders have brought up in that.
00:48:40
Speaker
They're not getting the the support from the school. They're not getting the you know the finances to upgrade things like practice and facilities and you know generate any sort of fan interest. I heard a story.
00:48:54
Speaker
um from this weekend's game where, you know, folks are just trying to mill about, again, this is their homecoming game and folks are just trying to mill about, you know, talk to folks in different seats, not necessarily move up or, you know, but just, and like security is really hunkering down on that and saying like, Hey, you got to get like, let me see your ticket. You can't, you can't even be chatting here. And so stuff like that does drive away fan interest, which as you brought up, Del McGee is displeased with.
00:49:26
Speaker
fans are also going to be displeased with, uh, when you have to pull your quarterback who had already, uh, who's already, you know, your backup playing, uh, in place of Christian Valer, it's at Gibson because you've been displeased with Valer. Uh, you have to then pull Gibson before the end of the second quarter because he's playing so poorly and Valer blows a lead.
00:49:53
Speaker
and then has an opportunity to make it alright, send you to overtime, final drive of the game. Three plays in, it's first in ten, around midfield, you're starting to put together one of your best drives of the game.
00:50:07
Speaker
Brian, I have not seen a worse interception in the Sunbelt, maybe in football this year than this pick that that Christian Valer through. I am dead serious. If you've not seen the clip, you and all of our listeners, i I need you to go see it. It is just absolutely abysmal. He overthrows the guy, I mean, by three height, three players worth of height. And then also it's like five yards to the left. It it is obscene.
00:50:37
Speaker
Georgia State needs to make a decision. The athletic director, the you know president or whomever has to make a decision whether or not they want to be an FBS and a Sunbelt team.
00:50:53
Speaker
because there is ah a real discontent, a valid discontent among both coach and fans ah of the lack of support for this football team from it allegedly from higher ups. And here's the thing, this could be Del McGee crying because he's not winning games. the you know That's something we are not privy to.
00:51:15
Speaker
But i'm I'm led to believe that there was a tweet from a backup quarterback. Yeah. Can I ask a question just real fast? You can tell me yeah the tweet. No, I'm sorry. I guess this is rhetorical. But given that McGee coached at Southern and kind of knows what the deal is in the Sunbelt, I guess my question is and I'm not even trying to play devil's advocate, but like, what did he expect?
00:51:42
Speaker
Did he think that things were just going to turn on a dime the second he got the job? Like you can't undo a decade plus of apathy in like six months. So like I don't understand what he was expecting to come into. I'd i'd love to be inside his mind because Well, you know, he definitely you he had to have known that there was going to be a difference in culture between Southern in and Georgia and then state. Right. there's There's clearly tears here like Georgia football. We both know it. State and Southern fans will forgo their own games to go to Athens.
00:52:21
Speaker
Unfortunately, yeah and unfortunately is you know, and then there's, you know, i I can't speak to tech fans, but like Southern fans take football very seriously. Like that is a legitimate part of Georgia Southern's culture as a school and as an athletic program. That that is something that takes eat they take very seriously.
00:52:44
Speaker
I have to imagine that Dale McGee was anticipating. Somewhere in that Georgia Southern range, not, you know, he's he's not stupid. He knew it wasn't going to be Athens. But ah his complaints based on what he was saying, and again, he's not going to really hammer down on the AD or the president in press conferences, especially after a game, like that's not going to happen. But he, he seems to be of the belief that, and I, I understand this to be a wide held, widely held belief that.
00:53:14
Speaker
like they're not even matching Georgia Southern in terms of support from folks above in terms of finance in terms of facility ability but again they never have so I don't understand like what he expected did he think it was I mean, again, he coached at Southern when we went to state when Willie Fritz was the coach, when they were playing in the Georgia Dome still. And I know it was the Georgia Dome, but you could look around and be like, they can't even fill a lower bowl of the Georgia Dome. This isn't to say that he's shocked. This isn't to say that he's shocked, but he is the first coach to point it out.
00:53:51
Speaker
Right. I guess my question is, but he's saying as if like, this isn't something I anticipated. And I'm like, why not? Have you not watched any, any of their games? Like, again, look around at the games before you even came on board. When they were eight and four under Sean Elliott, no one cared. So like, I think.
00:54:13
Speaker
I think it's right to be frustrated with like lack of funds and like support in that way, like revenue type support. But I think, I think as the head coach, especially when you've only been there six months, I think you need to start winning before you can start complaining about like no one comes to our games. Yeah, probably you're two and eight. You haven't won a Sunbelt game yet. So like that's probably part of it is Again, you guys don't have the history of fan support, which is fine. You know, a a lot of those teams like don't like ULM and stuff like that. Like they don't have these huge fan bases, but also you can't complain when you're two and eight and you're in your first season. If you were Sean Elliott and this was your.
00:55:02
Speaker
five and you had won like the first bowl game in Georgia state history and then people still weren't showing up I would be like yeah you got it you got a right like you earned it dude McGee you don't even have a full recruiting class in the books like what are we talking about Like that's more what I have an issue with. Yeah. i Just to put a to put a bow on the the, you know, athletic director side of this story and the, you know, non football side of it. The tweet I was going to mention came from Michael Calisurdo who sat behind Darren Granger for several years at Georgia State. And part of, he has a couple of tweet long thread. Part of it is him just going to bat for Sean Elliott.
00:55:47
Speaker
But the point that I really took away was this quote, given the resources we had compared to most of the fund belt, we overachieved massively the last four years. And ah and I mean that i that to me is just saying like, how bad has Georgia State been? They've peaked at eight wins, and that was their absolute pinnacle, and that was considered an overachievement.
00:56:13
Speaker
um so i Again, this this is not like a, oh, here's more money, Del McGee. Here's a better practice facility. here's ah But this is the first time anyone from within the program, since I've been ah following it and been around it, has pointed and said, hey, this is not up to standard. ah Even with our peers, you know we're we're not asking for the ceiling, we're asking for our peers. um I'm curious to see if that
00:56:45
Speaker
make if that creates any change uh i don't know well okay let's let's talk about the other side of this because we've been doing a lot on yeah just my bed um has what did you think of how jaylen rainer played in this game did you think he was kind of back to what we had kind of anticipated he was going to look like preseason i mean he ran in for 114 yards so Did you think he looked better than what we thought kind of preseason? Do you think he's getting back to that or do you think he's still like underachieving for what we kind of predicted? I mean, he's getting to that spot. He was not asked to do a whole ton here. I mean, only 17 pass attempts, 16 carries, but that's kind of the status quo for him. ah I saw Arkansas State more so than I maybe ever have.
00:57:36
Speaker
And granted, um I'm not a fan of that program. I've been very outspoken in my case for Butch Jones and my disbelief in that program. So I tend not to watch their games. I'll concede that. But I saw them rely on the run more than I've ever seen them. And.
00:57:55
Speaker
At the very least, what that means is that opens up Jalen Rayner more as a runner because that that's his greatest asset. he He's a fine quarterback that can throw the ball well, but he you know he is superhuman in how he runs at times.
00:58:11
Speaker
yeah and By adding more carries to the overall run game that are outside of Rainer, it makes him even more effective. ah And like I said, that's just something I've not seen out of Arkansas State up to this point.
00:58:29
Speaker
Uh, which gives me hope for them in that. Like now, you know, if you consider this, yeah they had something like 40 some odd carries. If you consider continue that trend, you're going to allow Jalen Rayner to utilize his best asset, which is his legs, uh, more efficiently and in situations where you need him to, instead of just kind of on first and 10. Right. All right. Well.
00:58:54
Speaker
Uh, you know, a good, uh, come back when I guess for Arkansas state, then, um, six and four now the season four and two and sunbelt play Georgia state drops to two and eight and is oh, and six in the conference. Um, again, would have been nice to have the Louisiana guy here for this, but South Alabama beats Louisiana 24 22, uh, South Alabama was up 24 to three, uh, at half.
00:59:23
Speaker
um And this game was pretty much a wrap like I don't I again I didn't watch a lot of this game because the frankly the southern Troy game was still took forever to get through so like it was just like I didn't really have an opportunity. um But you know you will.
00:59:42
Speaker
didn't lose the turnover battle. They just got, I guess just got down early and just couldn't recover. You know, Gio Lopez had those two touchdown runs, uh, in the first and second quarter, you well, couldn't, it seemed like string together offense. Um, you know, they got a field goal from almond dearest in the second quarter. Uh, but the rest of it was just,
01:00:05
Speaker
Defensively, they I have brought up each week that their defense gives me real pause. And if you look at the scoring drives for South Alabama, you'll see why. First scoring drive, 74 yards on nine plays. Second one, 90 yards on five plays. That's ah that's alarming, 90 yards on five plays. ah And then the the third touchdown drive before half was 10 plays 75 yards again. So again, defensively,
01:00:35
Speaker
It was like last week was the perfect storm of like they played complimentary football on both sides against Arkansas State offense helped out the defense offense defense would hold them offense would go and score and this is. Like the nightmare scenario of kind of what they've been doing all year, which is they seem.
01:00:54
Speaker
to be reacting to what the other team is doing rather than trying to go out and and put their foot on the gas from the jump and you can't always just flip the switch like you can't play like that if you're a good team and we we anticipate that the Cajuns are one of the the really you know like you said there's a big gap between them and and Marshall at number two so I don't know. I mean, you know, they had to pull Waldridge out fields ended up scoring the two touchdowns, um, for Louisiana. And so, yeah, I, I frankly, I, I just don't know. Like I, I think that this is a one off, but something in the back of my mind has, has almost been like the chickens have come home to roost a little bit where again, the office hasn't been.
01:01:41
Speaker
Hey, let's go out and kill the other team early and jump on them. And the defense has been reluctant to tackle guys. And I think that that kind of all came to a head in this one. Yeah. Um, for one, we won't know whether or not like these are real issues for Louisiana until the conference championship, because they end the season against Troy and UL Monroe, uh, Troy, you know, we and ah anticipate that to be a cakewalk.
01:02:08
Speaker
UL Monroe I would imagine Matt no longer feels as he said ah several weeks ago around You know when UL Monroe was looking like the best team in the conference He said that he was most scared of Monroe as he's been in maybe the past 10 years or some odd I'd imagine he no longer feels that way. I I think he I think he's always a little Hesitant to play them. I don't think that he I don't I even know I remember doing the podcast with him and ah for like underdog dynasty and like even Even on their worst years. He would always be like
01:02:44
Speaker
You know, this could be a field goal game like we just truly have. I mean, he he one year he took me through like the series history and and Louisiana ended up crushing you all in that year. But it was just kind of like all these games are kind of really close. And like you can say you all in place up in these games, you could say you all place down. um But either way, they usually end up being close. I wouldn't say that he still thinks it's a cakewalk, even with kind of the Warhawks backslide. Sure. But I.
01:03:12
Speaker
that That point aside, we won't know. like Even if that ULM game is a tight game, it's reasonable to posit that it would be a close game because of funkiness and not necessarily because of team ability. So we won't know if this these are like legitimate concerns for Louisiana until they play Marshall, or this is just like Marshall's loss to Southern, your fluke conference loss.
01:03:38
Speaker
um Something again, I could have done my research ah better ah In preparing for this because this was initially going to be posed as a question of Matt But I probably should know I should have ah prepared the answer They took two field goals ah from five and eight yards and so the Louisiana scored on its four final drivers of the game and um And two of those were a fourth and five from the five and a fourth and eight or from the eight. I am very, very curious to know.
01:04:20
Speaker
if that's the trend, if that's just what DeSormo does, or if that was very poor decision making at that point in the game. Because by the time UL Monroe had scored, or I'm sorry, Louisiana had scored its field goal, ah the first one, which came from the 8-yard line, ah yeah South Owl was already up.
01:04:45
Speaker
24 to 24 to three. Yeah. So what what what are you doing? Because you've yeah, you've turned a three possession game into a three possession game.
01:04:57
Speaker
i Congratulations. ah There was just simply not enough because that was in the third quarter as well. And that was fairly into the third quarter. I don't think that was like the first drive of the third. So like do you anticipate scoring three touchdowns?
01:05:15
Speaker
In the fourth quarter, is that your plan? Is that what you anticipate? Well, because that that felt like a major lapse in judgment to me is first of all, ever kicking a field goal. From that close ah down 21 when you're down 21 like that.
01:05:35
Speaker
That, that always really bothers me. And like, I, again, you know, it's easy to say when you're on the internet and not like on the sideline, like, Hey, I would have went for it there. But like you said, what do you gain by cutting a 24 to three lead or 24 to three deficit to 24 to six? Like what, what does that do for you? You can't come back and score Touchdown two-point conversion twice. You're still down two even if you nail that so and and I mean I've given Parker the the head coach for um Troy a bunch of grief for this even on this exact episode for this reason like what are you doing? Are you trying to win games or it's one thing when you're like the Steelers Ravens game yesterday like points were at an absolute premium like you could not
01:06:29
Speaker
sit there and say hey the Steelers need to go forward on fourth down here like the final score of that game was like 18 to 17 or whatever 19 to 17, 19 to 18 whatever it was in this game when you're down three scores you cannot afford to just say Let's trot the kicker out from the two yard line or whatever it was. Like that just seems like coaching malpractice to me because it's like, are you trying to win the game? Are you trying to cover the spread? Cause you're not going to do either. So you might as well go ahead and put the second one out of your mind. Cause you guys were touchdown favorites coming into this one. So I, I just, I never really understand it. Like.
01:07:08
Speaker
Again, maybe there was something in the press conference after the game that that alluded to that. I would have liked to have. I think Matt kind of would have been on our side a little bit of like, what are you doing? um But unfortunately, we won't know. um But yeah, I truly never understand those decisions like you need points. We've established this. So kicking it here does not help you in any way, shape or form. So why would you try to kick her out?
01:07:38
Speaker
I couldn't tell you. it's like those games It's like those games where like a team is getting shellacked by an SEC school and they're like, hey, it's 66 to nothing. Let's get the kicker out there and kick a field goal so we don't get shut out. And I'm like, who does this benefit? like No one's going to care on your resume if it's 66 to three or 66 to zero. No one's going to be like, well, at least you got three. like So you might as well go ahead and put that out of your mind right there.
01:08:05
Speaker
um But yeah, disappointing performance for Louisiana. I'm sure Matt would agree. ah But South Alabama um you know corrected their brain fart from a week ago, ah where they just basically handed Georgia Southern the game in the in the fourth quarter ah and got outscored 20-0 in that quarter. ah South Alabama improves to 5-5 this season and is now 4-2 in the Sun Belt.
01:08:30
Speaker
Louisiana drops to eight and two and is now five and one. um Getting to this last one here, we we don't have to talk a lot ah ah lot about this. Texas State just runs through Southern Miss. It's 58 to three. um They've already fired Will Hall. This seems like I don't know how many guys are on a roster 85. This seems like 85 guys that just want to go home and want to be done with it. And this is, this is like the street fighter meme, like go home and be a family man. Like this is, this is not anything that you can't build anything off of this. You don't know who your next head coach is. You have no consistency on either side of the ball. You don't have a quarterback.
01:09:12
Speaker
You don't you know Rada maker or Ethan Crawford. It doesn't matter. So I just ah there's nothing to glean from any of these Southern Miss teams. They've been fielding lately. How disappointed are you because I'll concede that.
01:09:28
Speaker
I anticipated Tate Rottamaker to make an impact on this team. I don't believe that I ever thought ah that he was going to turn this team around, but Southern Miss is kind of in a situation that is the opposite or was recently in this situation opposite to Old Dominion, in which they had at least a weapon, that being Frankour, and all they needed was like a guy to throw the ball. And they couldn't find that. Granted, Frank Gore has graduated Tate Rottamaker and he never overlapped at Southern Miss. But I anticipated Rottamaker, if only because he was of good enough quality to have played in some capacity at Florida State.
01:10:16
Speaker
to make an impact on this team. And he has simply not. He has fumbled as bad as every Wilkie or I like if yeah I can't even start to begin to name Southern Miss quarterbacks. Brian Berger. They each are. No, that was no, that was absolutely. Yeah. ah Billy Wiles. Like why these are these are guys that like play two games.
01:10:40
Speaker
And then, I don't know, fall off the face face of the earth. Disappeared of the shadow realm, basically. i i like i i'm dying There cannot be a team that is started or has had more players attempt to pass in the past three years than Southern Miss. That feels impossible. ah It's simply impossible. And Tate Rottamaker, thanks for coming and trying. He's going to go into the animals of history in the same same regard as just like, really? You couldn't even get over 52%.
01:11:22
Speaker
Well, I you can go now 14 one game I don't know if you remember me saying this but I I said on the preview show You guys were like well Tate automakers coming over from Florida to State and I was like I didn't really see a lot out of him at Florida State and then we kind of had the discussion back and forth like I Would being mid at a P four school like Florida state contribute to being better at a G five school? And the answer is like, not really. So I, I didn't really have high expectations for him. I mean, he was not good last year at Florida state. Like I know they finished the season undefeated. I can't remember. Was he the guy that started the ACE, the, the ACC title game and got concussed?
01:12:09
Speaker
And wouldn't have been available for the playoff or was he the guy that played in the bowl game where they got murdered? I can't remember. I don't think it was too. They had two quarter. weekend They had with three quarterbacks. Travis Travis was their starter. He got hurt and was out for the year. Then one of Rottemaker and another guy.
01:12:28
Speaker
Rottamaker I think played the Florida game. Yes, and the eighty championship and got concussed and wouldn't have been available to play in the playoff anyway, but he wasn't really very good in either of those games the defense kind of won them those games.
01:12:43
Speaker
and so i don't I don't know. I don't think there's a lot you can expect when a guy goes to Southern Miss because frankly, they just don't have contributors at any position at any level. And their coach was clearly a dead man walking before the season even started. But I just didn't have high expectations for him period. Like I watched him play in those games and I was like,
01:13:05
Speaker
You could replace him with probably the majority of the Sunbelt quarterbacks that were in the conference last year and probably get roughly the same results at Florida State. And that should tell you pretty much all you need to know. so teams Teams historically I forget.
01:13:24
Speaker
I forget, there's a ah coach ah coach that was fired earlier this year, non Sunbelt. And there was just a lot of talk about the juice a team gets and how after a coach is fired and how that can, ah you know, secure jobs for interims. ah Safe to say that's not happening at Southern Miss. And I, we kind of had this discussion like,
01:13:51
Speaker
and I wouldn't say last year as they were looking for a coach, but before the Bowden hire for ULM, where it was just like, who on earth would want this job? Yeah. Like the who? I think it would have to be somebody who wants to you know, obviously shape a team. And, you know, if you want to FBS paycheck coming up from the FCS level, like that's one thing like that makes sense. You can. bring we've We've talked we talked to earlier this season about ah what type of coaching archetype you would want to kind of be elevated. And I think we all or at least I put the case out there that I want a head coach that can bring an entire staff over and like maybe some players from their previous stop.
01:14:40
Speaker
um But I want some money. If I'm looking at for Southern Misses next head coach, I'm looking for an FCS coach with head coaching experience that has a good FCS team currently who can maybe even bring some talent from that school, as well as their staff, the majority of their staff and That's what you don't get when you are these, some of these other teams where you're like, Hey, I'm going to hire a Gerard Parker. ahh I'm going to hire a Tim Beck because those guys are now like, well, I can't just poach the defensive coordinator from NC standard Notre Dame. So what are we going to, what are we going to do on that side of the ball? And then it turns out, Oh, I actually don't have as many guys lined up to want to coach defensive coordinator coordinator in the Sunbelt as I thought I did. So.
01:15:32
Speaker
I think you have to have someone who's willing to kind of embrace the challenge the same way that like Bryant Vincent for all, you know, for the backsliding that they've done, he's he's basically been, still in my estimation, like one of the coach of the year candidates just because of what did we expect ULM to look like this season? what do they What did they look like through six games and with no quarter with no discernible quarterback? So I think you need to find somebody like that who is willing to come in and just put their imprint on the team and build a culture. like as far as i don't As far as I know, like Southern Miss doesn't have like a strong built-in culture. like They did
01:16:16
Speaker
for a while and then I think Ellis Johnson kind of when he came in for that one season where they went oh and 12 just kind of. Cleared all of that out from what I remember and I I just feel like they've kind of been floating trying to decide kind of what to do with the programs future. So I think you need to find somebody who's got a strong footprint either offensively or defensively. Bring that guy in from the FCS level. Make sure he can bring an entire staff over and maybe some players and.
01:16:45
Speaker
kind of let them build from there because the Will Hall era clearly was an absolute abject failure and they don't they don't have Again, a lot of these other teams get bumped when they fired their head coach and are like, Hey, we get at least a one game, like, Hey, our team's not dead. There's just nothing here. Like there's nothing to grab onto. So I think you just, you have to find someone who's willing to just be like, I'm going to have to take this FBS program up from like, the you know, the foundation of a house and we just have to start over. So I guess that's kind of what you got to look at.
01:17:26
Speaker
um But with that, Texas State is now 6-4 and is 4-2 in the conference. Southern Miss drops to 1-9 and is 0-6 in the Sunbelt. Before we get to our week 13 games picks, I want to remind everybody, make sure you're following us on X. We are at Warm Weather Fans.
01:17:47
Speaker
ah check out our YouTube page. We put not only these streams go up on the page, um but also we have bonus content that's only available on the page. So you can see the link here in the description at the bottom, youtube dot.com slash at warm weather fans. Please make sure that you've gone and subscribed to that as well. We are also available on Spotify, Apple, pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. So, you know, if you can't, if you can't make a stream or, you know, don't have time to watch video, you can always find us on your pod catcher of choice. All right.
01:18:16
Speaker
So week 13, let's get into it. Kind of a late start for, frankly, the Sunbelt games. Like, we don't have a noon game this week. First game's at 2.30. ESPN+, James Madison is traveling to Boone to take on, frankly, an AppState team that I don't know if they've quit.
01:18:34
Speaker
or if they just don't have the horses. um But they've looked really bad. And and like I kind of thought, hey, maybe you could build off the ODU win a couple of weeks ago. And they just haven't. So ah James Madison is a seven-point road favorite over under 60 and a half. Give me James Madison. like i App just seems like they're they're also in the Southern Miss boat a little bit, where they're just kind of ready for this to be done this year.
01:19:03
Speaker
Yeah, I like that pick give me the over here 60 and a half ah James Madison has shown it can put up points ah And I've been very underwhelmed by the App State defense this season. So give me the over The other thing too, Matt and I touched on this last week, but um because the Liberty game was canceled, App is only going to play 11 games this year. So if they don't win this game and at Southern in the finale, they won't make a bowl game. They will finish the season below 500 because they won't have 12 games played.
01:19:41
Speaker
that so be the worst thing in the world if you are uh if you feel unrest yeah if you feel unrest towards uh sean clark or sean ellie sean clark sean clark chk um it's gonna be interesting to see what they do with him because it seems like everybody's pretty much done with him but i don't know i don't know how much they're gonna pin the hurricane stuff ah on this season, but i I frankly don't think that the two are really connected all that much. like that It was very unfortunate and obviously we felt bad for a lot of the people in that area, but I don't think that connected meaningfully to the way that this team is underperformed. Like I said, the backslide for them started in that South Alabama game like the Thursday before all that went down.
01:20:28
Speaker
So you don't really, you know, and they were losing by a ton. um All right. Three o'clock. We've got you on Monroe traveling to Jonesboro to take on Arkansas State. Arkansas State is a three point favorite. ah Over under is 52 and a half. um Give me the under in this one. um I think.
01:20:47
Speaker
UL Monroe obviously really struggles to score points with their their quarterback situation that we talked about. And frankly, Arkansas State's not really been lighting up the scoreboard either. And I still think UL Monroe's got a some good defensive pieces. So I could see this the final score of this one being like 17 to 14 or something like that. ah Give me ULM here. I had to cover and to win straight up. I think, what are you laughing at?
01:21:16
Speaker
that you just don't. I was like, is this how much you don't like Arkansas state that you're just like, give me a ULM team. It's on a backslide in the second half. No, they're on a backslide, but they're on a backslide against teams that are.
01:21:29
Speaker
i I think better than Arkansas State. ah I mean you got Marshall, Texas State and then Auburn, right? All teams I would feel fairly comfortable saying are better than Arkansas State. um I think there's an absolute world where ULM ends the season with like five or six losses and missed the bowl game despite starting five and one.
01:21:55
Speaker
um But I think they clench a bowl game here against Arkansas State.
01:22:02
Speaker
Well you know this would be the week to do it because I think taking it down to the Louisiana game is very very dicey considering Louisiana's now had their one kind of free check the box conference loss off and not that anybody not that anybody in the west is really I mean technically South Alabama is still there like if if they win If South Alabama wins out and Louisiana slips up against you know either Troy and or ULM in the finale, South Alabama could take their spot in the conference title game representing in the West because they're 4 and 2 in the conference. So I guess that potential is still there. They really need to like shape up.
01:22:49
Speaker
um So three o'clock, another yeah ESPN plus game. We got South Alabama traveling to take on Southern Miss in Hattiesburg. South Alabama is a 22 and a half point favorite over under 55 and a half. It's a lot of points, but give me South Alabama. If there's one thing that so Southern Miss is doing, it's letting other teams cover the spread against them.
01:23:10
Speaker
Yeah, and we've seen South Owl lay the hammer. Obviously, they did so against Northwestern State when they put up like 87 points, but even against AP the following week, they won by over 30. They beat Monroe by 30 some odd points. ah So so ah South Owl, the Jags, don't hesitate to lay the hammer down in games that they're winning.
01:23:35
Speaker
Uh, so I, I hate 22 and a half. That is such a stupid number to put on a game, but, but give it to me. Texas state covered, I think, 26 and a half zero problem last week against Southern Miss. So that's the only thing I was hesitant because I thought that was a huge number. And again, 58 to three. And you're like, I actually dumb, dumbly pick the under because I thought, well, Texas state's finally going to take their foot off the gas, right?
01:24:05
Speaker
Wrong. ah All right, another 330, a 330 kick ESPN plus Georgia Southern. ah Talk about a backslide is traveling to Conway to take on Coastal Carolina on the surf turf. Coastal Carolina is a two point home favorite over under 56 and a half. Give me Coastal Carolina minus two all day. This is the beginning. Like last week, it was the signal that we are approaching it's like It's like being on a subway. It's the Clay Hilton Express. you're You've now reached your stop. Get off. So like here's here's where here's where it all starts to fall apart. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to um Coastal and App in the season, to be quite frank, because this is this is how it happens. It's not a gradual decline.
Southern Team's Potential Against Marshall
01:24:50
Speaker
It's a like a rapid shot to the bottom of the mountain.
01:24:53
Speaker
Yeah, if this were if this team were coached by anybody else, I think I would take Southern um because they' they're still in the hunt for the ah with the win against Marshall or I'm sorry, the loss to Marshall, but the win over James Madison, they're still like kind of in the hunt for the East here. I could really see like this Southern team putting on the gas, but Clay Helton has burnt this team before going to continue burning this team until he's fired.
Troy vs Louisiana Game Analysis
01:25:23
Speaker
uh give me uh give me coastal here all right uh five o'clock kick here Troy is traveling to Lafayette to take on Louisiana uh Louisiana's 11 point home favorite over unders 53 and a half um i'm gonna take Troy plus 11 this is gonna be like a show me game for Louisiana show me that you guys that last week was a total fluke and that you guys can go back to Well, okay. So this is the thing too. Pre Arkansas state, they were not beating teams by like more than 10 points on a, on a regular basis. Like even teams that you'd be like, wow, they're going to outclass Southern miss. That wasn't like a huge blowout. They beat app in a really ugly game that was closer than it had any reason to be. So I think that one of two things happens.
01:26:17
Speaker
Either Louisiana goes back to the playbook of we're going to beat this team by 10 points and everybody's going to be like, wow, it's a double digit dominant win, but it's really not. Or Troy has figured some things out. They're offensive lines, for finally healthy. ah Caldwell has come along as of late. We'll see which one of those things is true.
01:26:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think I still like Louisiana here even with the spread. Troy's put together two wins in a row against fairly unimpressive coastal in Georgia Southern teams and I think after the loss like.
01:26:55
Speaker
I don't anticipate Louisiana to lose another game this season. At least, you know, barring a bowl game or, you know, barring God forbid some miracle CFP nonsense. um I think last week put that out of the cards. Oh, yeah. I don't think I don't think you can spin it now. No. um But I don't believe that.
01:27:19
Speaker
last week for either of these teams was a true reflection of these teams. I don't believe that Troy is in its current state capable of winning three in a row. And I don't think Louisiana in its current state is capable of losing two in a row. ah So give me Louisiana.
Texas State's Predicted Dominance Over Georgia State
01:27:36
Speaker
Okay, seven o'clock kick ESPN plus Georgia State is traveling to San Marcos to take on the Bobcats of Texas State. Texas State is a 20 point home favorite over under 57 and a half. Give me Texas State. If they Texas State is one of those teams if they win they cover and it's almost like a rule of thumb like If they don't cover, it's usually because they found a way to lose, but I just, Georgia state is so untown. This has got to be like a conflict of interest for you. Almost like you're like, I like, I i keep up with Georgia state, but I picked Texas state to make the, the playoff to start the season. And it's like.
01:28:17
Speaker
Texas State is going to hammer Georgia State like there's just kind of no way around it. Yeah, I think I think that's true. I think 20 is definitely a lot like I a 21 point win for Texas State is certainly feasible and you know ah Not not completely out of the question I wouldn't even say it's out of the question a little bit. I think that's completely reasonable. ah But that won't be my pick because 57 and a half is way too low for this game's over under, in my opinion. As you said, when Texas State wins, they hammer teams. ah But it's not because they're putting up 35 and holding the other team to three. It's because they're putting up 58 and letting the other team score two or three touchdowns. ah Georgia State has had no issue
01:29:10
Speaker
I won't say no issue, but it's had little issues scoring like 21 points a game this year. It's just been anything after that seems at times impossible to get impossible to reach. ah So give me the the over here.
Review of Texas State's Strong Season
01:29:25
Speaker
I think there are a ton of points scored in this game.
01:29:29
Speaker
So I just want to read off the margin of victory for each of Texas State's six wins so far this year. And this is this is what I'm talking about about covering. OK, so you had the season opening win against Lamar. That seemed fairly out of character. It was thirty four twenty seven again.
01:29:46
Speaker
They they've I feel like they've improved since then on offense and maybe regressed on defense since since that. OK, they beat UTSA 49 to 10. They beat Arkansas State 41 to 9. They beat ULM 3817 and Southern Miss 58 to 3. Georgia State feels more in line with like the Southern Miss Arkansas State type of breed where I just feel like.
01:30:12
Speaker
Texas State is going to get up on them and just keep hammering them because they don't they don't take their foot off the gas when it comes time to to really put the hammer down. So I think that's kind of the way that that one ends up.
Marshall's Strategic Advantage Over Old Dominion
01:30:26
Speaker
And ah again, so 730, we have a really interesting game on ESPNU Marshall.
01:30:34
Speaker
is traveling to Norfolk to take on Old Dominion. Old Dominion is a two-point home favorite over Under's 52 and a half. I'm taking Marshall. like I still think Marshall is the second best team in the in the Sunbelt and until they don't the I can't emphasize enough how Georgia Southern, the game the loss to them was such a fluke that it just won't happen again. they They are in the driver's seat. They have everything to play for. I don't think they overlook Old Dominion in this game. um And then I believe the finale, they play JMU, right? So they have to win both of these.
01:31:13
Speaker
So I just think Marshall Marshall has the mindset of we have everything to play for and that's the exact opposite of Georgia Southern where it's like we have everything to play for. Let's just pack it in for the season. So I think Marshall wins this game straight up.
01:31:27
Speaker
ah I yeah it's hard to disagree with that we've said really nothing. But negative things about old Dominion kind of all year outside of Colton Joseph ah and I anticipate that to continue ah Marshall again I don't. I'm hesitant to say that they absolutely outclass the monarchs.
01:31:51
Speaker
but they are without question a more consistent and more reliable team and will, you know, there, there's like a 50, 50 shot. Old Dominion puts up 10 points in the entire game. Right. Uh, so, so give me Marshall.
01:32:07
Speaker
It feels like there is a, ah like, there's a 25% chance that Old Dominion scores 10 or fewer. And there's also a 25% chance that they put 45 on the board. And there's like, you could really go either way with them. You truly don't know, like, is Colt and Joseph really going to be cooking? But I, I'm just of the mindset, like,
01:32:30
Speaker
I don't think Colton Joseph and Braylon Braxton are that far apart in the quarterback department, which makes me think that Marshall will know exactly how to defend him because I think Braxton plays in a very similar fashion. So keep him contained, force him to throw the ball from the pocket, make it really tough on, you know, frankly, outside of Paige, not a great group of pass catchers um and just you know double what double one guy and stop the run is pretty much all all ah how it goes because they don't do a whole lot other than that so that's that's pretty much it yeah it's pretty straightforward all right zeke as we wrap up here we've got 97 people watching we appreciate everybody who tuned in on either x or at youtube um zeke let everybody know where they can find you on socials and i'll do the same and then we'll get out of here
01:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, uh, on the screen, you can see, uh, you can find me on X on Twitter at Zeke Palermo, Z E K E P A L E R M O about a week and a half, two weeks ago, I pulled the trigger. I'm paying eight bucks a month. I am verified. Um, but here's the thing. They're letting me write community notes now. I told you this a couple of weeks ago, they're letting me write community notes. And for that, I'm willing to pay eight bucks a month.
01:33:50
Speaker
I might need to send Elon a DM and be like, hey man, maybe, ah maybe revoke this don't maybe this wasn't the best idea. No, I've just played. it ah So, as you can see on my side as well you can find me on x at watch the stone. um We appreciate, again, everybody that tuned in, everybody that watched. ah Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll be back to do this next week. We want to make ah broadcasting actually on Sunday nights now our kind of standing appointment. ah So if you guys aren't tuned into SNF, Sunday Night Football that night, ah necessarily, come on, come on to our YouTube page, come on to our X page. Join us. We'll be talking about Sunbelt football each Sunday night from here on out. ah This has been another edition of Warm Other Fans.