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2025 Sun Belt Football: Week 13 Recap
66 Plays20 days ago
We are back to discuss week 13 in the Sun Belt, as Brian and Zeke talk about a Thursday night barnburner between Louisiana and Arkansas State, which came down to the final play.
The pair discusses the Saturday slate, including another Two-Face performance from Alonza Barnett III, App State's shocking win over Marshall, and Southern Miss crashing to Earth ahead of a big West showdown with Troy next week.
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Transcript
Introduction and Season Wrap-Up
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome everybody back to Warm Weather Fans. It is Brian and Zeke and we are here to run down all of the week 13 action as the Sunbelt regular season wraps up and we get ready for conference championship time, ah bowl season, and maybe even some playoff action. We'll see how the college football playoff rankings shake out on Tuesday. We're recording this on Sunday night, the
Zeke's Frustration with Fans
00:00:42
Speaker
23rd. Zeke, how's going? Over there with you, man.
00:00:45
Speaker
ah Uh, I'm worked up, man. I'm jumping the gun. I'm worked up about this old Dominion thing again, man. what What do you mean worked up?
00:00:56
Speaker
Uh, the, the old dominion faithful came back out and retweeted our, ah our clips from the, uh, from the preseason show about us saying they don't have, uh, much offensively, uh, retweeted the image of me. AI'd as a clown, which I'll just put the hat on for you. You don't have to burn down a, you know, a Jamaican city to do that. You could just ask, I'll put the wig on.
00:01:21
Speaker
just a I'll tell you, man, you asked how I'm doing. That really got me. It really got me. i I truly, like... i'm ah My team is so bad and like beyond saving that I'm like i'm totally numb. like I do not care.
00:01:36
Speaker
There's off-the-field stuff, too, that i I'll talk about when we get to that game, but i i'm I'm beyond like giving a shit at this point. I'm just like, sure, man, whatever. You want to, like...
00:01:48
Speaker
You want to say we don't know anything about football? Fine. Whatever. Like, I don't care. um All right. So let's start.
Louisiana vs. Arkansas State Analysis
00:01:55
Speaker
Let's start off with the Thursday night game. So Louisiana defeats Arkansas State in Jonesboro, 34-30.
00:02:05
Speaker
um Lunch Winfield had a good game on the ground. 20 carries, 89 yards, and two touchdowns. um Yeah, it felt like Arkansas State was just...
00:02:20
Speaker
disjointed offensively like they had trouble like sustaining drives obviously this game comes down to the last play where they they so Louisiana stuffs Jalen Rainer at the goal line on ah on an attempted carry um and they they steal one and then you've got the immortal video of Butch Jones now coming off the field yelling GD it a bunch and i I don't know. it's ah it's To me, it's like you have been on the anti-Butch Jones train. I've been a little bit more ambivalent this season compared to last one.
00:02:58
Speaker
And this goes for this can go for like Southern. Any of those teams that overachieved that everybody pointed in the preseason and a went, that team overachieved, it's not going to happen again. ULM, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State.
00:03:11
Speaker
it's like water always finds its level almost where it's like, we knew who this team was all along and they have played almost directly to expectations.
00:03:22
Speaker
Sure. Two points on this, uh, really from the Arkansas state side that I want to bring up. First of all, um, butch, I, This was a coaching failure from Butch Jones. ah You get a pass from Rainer to Devin Spencer ah that moves Arkansas State to about the 13-yard line. ah they Obviously, it was 34-30 at this point with 18 seconds left. Butch Jones elects not to use the timeout there. Later defends it saying, we wanted to keep them on their heels. We we liked our our play call.
00:03:54
Speaker
Um, ultimately you don't go, but nine seconds between your next snap. So half of the remaining time, uh, is wasted as you wait for Jalen Rayner to then throw it in completion.
00:04:06
Speaker
um you're then bailed out by a defensive pass interference at the two yard line, uh, another incompletion. And then you run what was like a speed option type thing where Rayner was just kind of gobbled up, uh, at the line of scrimmage.
00:04:19
Speaker
you have at least, especially when we look at the fact that you go incomplete defensive pass interference, incomplete speed option, you ran four plays in nine seconds. Those are four additional plays you could have had if you had just called the darn timeout. Yeah. and this this is Butch Jones' inefficacy that I'm sure Tennessee fans have just been waiting for. It's like here, this is the moment where when Butch Jones...
00:04:45
Speaker
Should he get his papers in the offseason? This is finally the moment where we can say, okay, this was the one. There were a lot of small blunders. There were a lot of issues roster construction-wise. He stumbled into Jalen Rayner, and that prolonged his career at Arkansas State and possibly as a head coach.
00:05:01
Speaker
um But this was the mistake that at the end of the year we're going to look back on.
Arkansas State and Louisiana's Performances
00:05:06
Speaker
um However, i want to give a hat tip to Arkansas State because after they made nine sacks against Troy, ah we called that effort very much um a fugazi. we We called that fake, right? And we said...
00:05:22
Speaker
In retrospect, when we look at the the defense numbers next offseason and we see Arkansas State flirting with the top of the order, um we're going to forget that they had nine sacks against a very poor Troy offense in that game, a poor Troy offensive line, and look over it.
00:05:39
Speaker
That might not be true because over the last four games, Arkansas State with 21 sacks, which would rank 10th best in the conference on its own. um Granted, those are against some of the worst offensive lines from a sacks perspective. You're looking at Georgia Southern, Troy, Southern Miss, and Louisiana.
00:05:58
Speaker
Um, that's three of the bottom six, two of the bottom three by sacks allowed in the conference. Uh, but these guys, e Ethan Hassler and Demarcus Hendricks are the guys that have just like two edge rushers. Hassler more of like a standup three, four type of edge rusher. Demarcus Hendricks, I think plays in more of a traditional, uh, four down lineman edge role. Um,
00:06:19
Speaker
They've just been blowing it up for them this year. And obviously too little too late at this point. the season you know They're well out of the conference race. um And again, they're they're way too late to save Butch Jones' job. But um that that's been a real surprise over the last ah couple weeks that I think has gone really, really quiet. And from a national perspective, I think it needs some attention because those those guys have been blowing it up.
00:06:45
Speaker
i I think I don't mean to diminish like what they have been doing as far as rushing the passer, but it I think it is a little different when it's like a lunch Winfield, Samari Collier type where it's like he scrambles so much that it's like the line between what is a scramble and what is an like an actual pass attempt.
00:07:06
Speaker
kind of gets blurred a little bit i feel like in in translation and so it's like so it's like the numbers look good on the surface but you know sometimes you get a little but it gets a little finicky as as to how they like score those things you know what i mean so it's like yeah what would be if you had a more traditional stand-up passer like a jj cole or or some ah you know aiden or mentor or something like that A sack on them is truly a sack because they're not really rushing all that much. But when you've got Winfield taking 20 carries, I'm a little bit less in ah enthused by the by the sack totals because I'm like, okay, so...
00:07:50
Speaker
I think sack yardage might be a better way to to quantify like the impact of that because it's like if you get a bunch of like one and two yard and three yard sacks, like it doesn't really set the offense back that much.
00:08:02
Speaker
So I'm kind of just like, how how different is that from ah a loss of one with a run by a running back at that point? sure Like it's, you know that's legitimate it's like, it's a stat, but in reality, like, did you set the offense back that much? Like, no, not really. So I, I, again, I don't, I don't want to diminish what they've accomplished because they've, you know,
00:08:26
Speaker
The rest of the defense is bad, and there's not really any ah any other way to say it. They found some edge rush help, and that has assisted them. not i mean I mean, they're below 500, so it hasn't assisted them that much, but it has been nice to see some signs of life, like a pulse from the defense.
Louisiana's Bowl Prospects
00:08:43
Speaker
And to me, I'm just like...
00:08:46
Speaker
if you If you can't stop a Louisiana team with a bad offensive line, bad receivers, running backs that can't find lanes because of said bad offensive line, and you're allowing 34 points in a Thursday night like island game, I don't really care what the sack numbers look like because at at that point, it's like, how much of an impact did you really make when the other team still scored almost 35 points?
00:09:11
Speaker
That's just kind of, I'm like, after the, after the fifth touchdown, I'm kind of like, it doesn't really matter to me all that much. Like, you know, so, um, yeah, I, I mean, Corey Rucker stepped up in this one, eight catches, one 20, um, Rainer, Rainer threw for two, what was it? Two 56.
00:09:33
Speaker
fun with um with PFF grades. Lunch Winfield finished with the stone worst a passing grade in the in the Sunbelt this week, but the ah fourth highest rushing grade.
00:09:47
Speaker
So I thought that was like an interesting dynamic of like not great. 18 26, 147. His average depth of target was like yards. His, yards per tent was like So it wasn't great,
00:10:03
Speaker
but you know that i'm not I'm not disappointed by that kind of performance. To give that the worst grade, I mean, i i know the PFF grades are a little finicky with how the they grade them. I thought he was pretty good. that If you get that kind of game out of lunch, Winfield, most weeks, 18 25 147s on the lower side, but let's say 150, and then he goes 20 carries for ninety You can't be, i you just got that. That's a great performance. I would say especially for where Louisiana is at from an offensive perspective. um
00:10:37
Speaker
But that yeah that's more of an indictment, I guess, of just the PFF grades than anything. Yeah, I know how controversial PFF grades can be. you know We don't need to get into all that. But you know it it's just one of those things. It's like, yes, i think it I think it more accurately represents it when it's like, okay, as far as offensive just grade goes, factoring and rushing, passing and everything, he was closer to like the middle of the conference. But you know when you when you isolate them like that, it's like... sure Yeah, he's not going to be as good as Goose Crowder through for 350 and four touchdowns. He's not going to be as good as Braylon Braxton through for 400 yards and three touchdowns. It's like, yeah, a guy that, you know, 5.7 yards per attempt is not going to impress anybody at PFF. Like I know and they love people that push the ball down the field and are like looking to make some of those deep throws. So I'm not I'm not shocked. But yeah, again, this is a ah Butch Jones like water finds its level type deal where it's like.
00:11:39
Speaker
he was always going to kind of go back to being a 500 sub 500 coach. And, you know, they get app state to finish the season out.
00:11:49
Speaker
And it's like, are they going to win that game? Maybe not. So I, I don't know. Like they could finish in miss a bowl game at this rate.
00:12:01
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I mean, we've got a handful of teams that are sitting in that five and six range that really need to win, uh, this last, um, obviously to get the bowl eligibility. And I don't know, for some of these teams, it looks really grim for some of them. It looks really, really grim. Um, you know, missing a bowl game by one game isn't the death penalty by any means. You're not Georgia Southern, Georgia state ULM, but i don't know for Louisiana team that was in the conference championship last year, it's like,
00:12:31
Speaker
What are we doing? I mean, we've we've talked about their quarterback situation. It's just tough, like, every all the way around. i mean, technically, lunch is their third stringer.
00:12:42
Speaker
You know, they... Now, that that doesn't excuse the offensive line. The offensive line's been really bad. They haven't been able to run the football because of that. Their receivers are nothing to really write home about. So...
00:12:53
Speaker
i I think if they found a way to make it to the bowl game, I mean, they're going to beat ULM on Saturday. So it's like they're going to finish six and six. They're going make a bowl game. It's not ideal considering that's every everybody had you penciled in is like right there with I think it was Texas State was the team that everybody was like, yeah, it's going to be Louisiana and Texas State in the West. And I was kind of like,
00:13:17
Speaker
I don't see the case for Texas state, but if you said Louisiana was going to be right up there, I, yeah, that sounds right. yeah And, and this, this thing has gone off a cliff since like the rice game to like open the season. So, you know, yeah this is an attempt to kind of salvage that.
00:13:34
Speaker
So it's just like, yeah, whatever.
James Madison's Win Recap
00:13:36
Speaker
yeah, but yeah okay so let's get to the saturday slate i'm just going to run down these games in the order that they're uh presented on espn uh james madison stays alive in the college football playoff hunt with a a win over washington state 24 to 20 this really came down to that wayne knight run that iced it at the end i think it was like 58 59 yards or something like that um Yeah, Alonzo Barnett went back to his Georgia State mode, ah which is, you know, I know Jack Fitzpatrick came on with us from JMU Sports News and was like, it's really about getting him into a rhythm. He was not in a rhythm.
00:14:18
Speaker
ah The first half, I think he threw for 29 yards and had like a 30% completion percentage in the first half. It was bad. it i mean, it was looking dire.
00:14:29
Speaker
you know It's only 1710. And I'm like, you know JMU's defense is going to keep them in this one. But is running the ball going to be enough when your quarterback is as bad as as Barnett was in the first half? And it ended up working itself out. But I was just like, man, you cannot spend the last couple weeks of your season doing this. like i i don't understand what's going I don't understand what goes on with him ah It's weird because he ah ah we keep coming back to that Georgia State game, which was very, very poor from him. And again, had they been playing any of the 300 or other teams the fbs would have probably been a loss
00:15:11
Speaker
um But every week, it's like we get these we get ah good performances out of Barnett. And I'm like, are we being too hard on him or being too hard on him? But then right as I'm ready to forgive him and say, yeah, we've been a little too harsh on him for one game, this is what we get in return.
00:15:27
Speaker
um He – we're looking at – even before the the Wayne Knight run, which again was was a ah real – I don't know if James Madison wins this game without that 58-yard touchdown from Wayne Knight.
00:15:42
Speaker
Certainly not. In the lead-up to that, ah Barnett makes like a big-time play to Braden Wisloski, a kid who, mind you, with one catch for 78 yards, that is his second-highest touchdown single-game yardage ah number through three years. So, you know, we're not throwing to Randy Moss here. Under through him, i I thought initially that it was just going to hit the dirt, um that that long pass that gives them, ah again, keeps them kind of in the game with ah Wazoo.
00:16:13
Speaker
i I feel confident enough, having seen the track record of Barnett, that these come so infrequently that it's almost like you get this out of the system now.
00:16:26
Speaker
However, however, performances like this late in the season, like this, if James Madison puts their neck or foot on the neck of Washington state, James Madison is probably definitively the, the G five G six representative.
00:16:42
Speaker
It's still in the air. Again, you'll hear this, what, Tuesday? So um you may already know whether where the committee sits on James Madison by the time you hear this. We don't know yet.
00:16:54
Speaker
this this is a This is a poor performance from James Madison. um And so on the one hand, I think... Offensively. Offensively, yes. This is all to say offensively. The defense, incredible as all always. Washington State, when you go back and look at it, has a weird ability to just score 20 points. It doesn't matter if they're playing Idaho or Ole Miss.
00:17:13
Speaker
um They're going to get their 20, 21 points in. um But yeah, it starts and ends with Alonzo Barnett with ah like a lot of the teams in this conference.
00:17:25
Speaker
Yeah, my fear and i I don't want to say obviously that James Madison deserves the G5
G5 Playoff Chances Discussion
00:17:34
Speaker
slot. Like, I don't know if this means anything, but the AP poll that just got released today has James Madison ahead of Tulane.
00:17:42
Speaker
in it um two lane is like 24 and james madison's like 19 or 20 so i don't know if that affects the way that the college football playoff committee thinks about it but it's at least a piece of material that's out there that's like they're ahead of two lane so you know what do what do we do with this information my fear is that they make it just And they play a ah really good power five school in the first round, power four, whatever.
00:18:13
Speaker
And he turns in one of these performances and they get beat like 31 to three in the first round. And there's a stigma around good Sunbelt teams moving forward because he might, turn there's a chance he turns in one of these performances. That's a fear of mine because I thought that up until this game that we had put the Georgia State week behind us, and I was like, he gets one of these every season, but you know they they know what they have to play for. They're going keep rolling, all this stuff.
00:18:45
Speaker
And then he just comes out and kind of lays an egg for most of the game. And now I'm like, yes, they will beat... Who did they play in the finale? Who they play in the last the season?
00:18:57
Speaker
James Madison? Yeah. Oh, they have... I'm sorry, I had it pulled up a second ago. No, no, it's fine. I just don't... I don't remember. They'll beat whoever they play in in the last week of the season. ah Coastal. They've got Coastal. yeah they'll beat They'll beat Tad Hudson's brains in in the in the last game the season. My fear...
00:19:16
Speaker
is not even with the Sunbelt title game. It's again, they they get in over a two lane or something like that, and then they go and lose to Texas A&M 31-3, and everybody's sitting around once again. They're already doing it. They're like seeding the groundwork of like, we don't need a G5 rep in the playoff, and I'm kind of like...
00:19:38
Speaker
But everybody loves that Boise State, Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl so much, but you want to make sure that we keep those from happening again? question mark like is right You can't have it both ways. You can't say, we love an underdog story and then be like, but what you really want to do is kick an underdog in the face the second they have a chance to kind of climb the ladder. And it's like,
00:19:58
Speaker
Well, then which one is it? Do you like an underdog story or do you not want an underdog anywhere near the playoff and you just want to see like an SEC Big Ten tournament, which is fine. Yeah, because that's a lot of that's what a lot of people in the meat in the big major media outlets have basically been saying.
00:20:14
Speaker
I that that's a bigger problem than I think we have time that I think even I see eye to eye on. It's it's frankly ridiculous and it's ridiculous that we're letting him get away with that. Yeah.
00:20:28
Speaker
it's just It's going to be who James Madison draws. If they make the playoffs, whoever makes the playoffs is indubitably going to be the ah the number 12 seed. um Right now, that would be Texas Tech. um A Texas Tech team that has been bashing in the brains of...
00:20:45
Speaker
ah UCF last week, BYU a couple weeks ago. BYU win is good, but um I've watched them play, and it's like their competition's not great.
00:20:56
Speaker
I mean, other than BYU, really. ah There's not a lot of Big 12 schools that really like wow me this year. other I mean, Texas Tech is good, but it's like Arizona State's down. Their their quarterback has already announced basically he's out of there at the end of the season. um you know, and they were the, the, the, uh, represent representative out of the big 12. It's like,
00:21:19
Speaker
who else is even still around? Like, I don't, do I care about Cincinnati? No. Like, I, I, I'm just like, who am I supposed to care about other than Texas tech? So it's like, yeah, you beat BYU and that was a good win. And I actually watched a lot of that game when it happened, but I'm like, what does BYU look like against a power five school? Why are we just kind of giving them the benefit of the doubt and being like, no, they're, they're right there with the Alabamas or whoever else, the Texas A&Ms, the PNC,
00:21:48
Speaker
I don't know, Ohio states of the world. I'm like, are they? or are we just saying that like they James Madison is closer to BYU than BYU is to, I don't know, Indiana, Georgia.
00:21:59
Speaker
Those. Yeah, it's almost like the Brian. I'm going move off of this, but it's almost like the Brian Scalabrini quote when he's playing the guy on one on one. And he's like, I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me. And so it's like, that's that's kind of where Texas Tech and BYU and all those are. It's like, you're closer James Madison than you are to like Oregon and like Ohio State and Indiana and all these other schools. All right, Georgia. um All right, next game here.
00:22:25
Speaker
ah This one can be quick. i I have a little bit to say about it just because there's off the field stuff that's going on now that I i find very more interesting than on the on-the field product at
Georgia Southern's Program Issues
00:22:36
Speaker
this point. um So Old Dominion, which for the record, any Old Dominion fans listening this, we all, Zeke and I, picked Old Dominion to win big over Georgia Southern. So don't don't go get it twisted and and edit this and be like, no, they definitely picked Georgia Southern to win and they they're fools. It's like, no.
00:22:55
Speaker
Once we saw the lay of the land, we gave Old Dominion their just due. And even you capitulated on an episode when we they were in the running for the playoff, and then they lost two straight conference games, and now they're on the outside looking in. So, again, yeah they don't understand, like,
00:23:15
Speaker
the middle ground. It seems like there is middle ground for it to be like, we aren't as good as we thought we were, but we're better than these guys thought. And it's like, that's where you guys sit right now. um So old dominion wins 45 to 10. Again, this game was never close.
00:23:31
Speaker
JC French threw a pick on the second play from scrimmage. And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game. Old dominion went down off of that and scored. ah Georgia Southern went and I think punted the next possession.
00:23:45
Speaker
Old Dominion went down and scored again. Colton Joseph didn't have to throw the ball that much. He he actually took 20 carries for 189 and a touchdown in this one. um We said leading up to this game, if anybody wants proof, go listen back to it.
00:24:00
Speaker
Georgia Southern can't defend... scrambling quarterbacks and i still this game cemented for me that they would have lost the coastal game had samari collier not gotten hurt uh because tad hudson totally changed the outlook of that game the interesting part to me that came off the field and zeke i'll let you i'll let you go right after this is apparently a fan who who is on twitter that i follow for georgia southern is connected in the like inner circle of the athletic department he heard from someone who is also connected that our AD went to this fan in the stands and told him, we can't even afford to fire a coordinator at the end of this season.
00:24:42
Speaker
And this, this person, um this guy, Jason Castles, ca cassells I don't know how his name is pronounced exactly. He's, he's a pretty prominent Georgia Southern, like fan booster and like keeps pretty good stats. He has tracked our,
00:24:59
Speaker
like athletic department budget. um and Basically, the AD is full of crap because we can afford the buyout of Hilton, honestly. like If it's spread the way that it says in his contract, we're basically paying him like three quarters of a million dollars for the next like five years or something. and The AD is saying we can't even fire the defensive coordinator, which again, the guy the guy on Twitter is like, this is total BS. So As an entire program, it's really bad right now.
00:25:32
Speaker
I tweeted out the other day, I was like, if this is true and we don't even make a coordinator change at the end of the season, like I'm all the way out. like i can't I will not spend the next four years plus sitting and and waiting for Clay Helton to put it together because I know at this point he's just not going to do it. And this game, again, helped submit that to me. Yeah.
00:25:54
Speaker
But his father, who is an exceptional man, on par with how holy Clay himself is, was on the sideline coaching guys up. That doesn't move the needle for you.
00:26:06
Speaker
Not. Oh, I got another one. that No, it doesn't move the needle because this is another indictment of Clay Hilton's ah ability to judge and manage talent.
00:26:17
Speaker
So late in the game, he pulls J.C. French because it's a blowout. Again, why would you pull him? Because the game's over, the season's over. You're probably not making a bowl game at this point. Instead of putting Weston Brian in, the the freshman who has been running Wildcat sets all season, he puts his son in the game.
00:26:34
Speaker
yeah who would not have been playing college football if he didn't transfer from the school that his uncle coached at Western Kentucky. And he washed out of Western Kentucky and ended up at Southern.
00:26:47
Speaker
And he's been the backup and played very, very sparingly, mostly in blowout-type losses because we haven't won many games that have been blowouts. ah But again, this is this is a total... like People love to talk about Nepo babies. This is a Nepo program. It's Helton from from Helton senior, the grandfather on down to Helton, the third, the the quarterback.
00:27:14
Speaker
They all have injected their fangs into this program. And they've almost sucked the life out of it completely because people were even complaining that there were no fans in the stands on Saturday. And you can blame like fall break and Thanksgiving coming up and all that.
00:27:29
Speaker
You can't tell me it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that like this team's probably not making a bowl game at the end of the season. So, I don't know. Yeah. too ye No, a point to your about the money. um There's a a guy i follow on Twitter, and um'm I read his newsletter from time to time.
00:27:47
Speaker
I need to subscribe. I need to pay for it. I really should. His name is Matt Brown. He runs Extra Points, and it's about a like college funds. And his thing in that he leads off with you know every couple months, he'll say, it's time to get in the FOIA mobile.
00:28:01
Speaker
Um, and I mean, that's, that's the state we're at with Georgia Southern. It's, it's time time to start looking at those numbers and really figuring out like, is, it are you in the situation where, because now we have two conflicting, right? We have the AD saying you can't afford it.
00:28:19
Speaker
Numbers may say otherwise, um, is, was the, the thing from Davis that wasn't like a public statement. That was like a one-on-one conversation deal. Um,
00:28:32
Speaker
So it is a it is a thing, a talk that he had with a booster who, as far as I understand it, this is this has been like piecemeal information that I've gotten. Like I'm basically getting drip fed information on this.
00:28:46
Speaker
What it seemed like was a booster walk up to him and said, are we looking at making a ah staff change at the end of the season, meaning Helton? And Davis went to him and said, we can't even afford to fire a coordinator.
00:29:00
Speaker
And um again, our fans have FOIA'd the school because they won't release any of this information. Um, I think our coordinators make around like $200,000 ish a year. So saying you can't and and Bailey, I think is on a two year deal. So saying you can't fire a guy who is making $200,000 is total bullcrap because if that's the case, you shouldn't be a D1 program.
00:29:30
Speaker
You should be at that. Not even FCS level. You should be at the D2 level. If you're like $200,000 and you're like turning your pockets out and they're empty like that, that is not going to fly.
00:29:41
Speaker
um But we're going to keep tolerating this because everybody from the president to the AD to the head coach are all clowns. They've been clowns. I've called them clowns on previous episodes. They won two games and I guess they thought their crap didn't stink because they beat app and a hurt, a coastal Carolina team.
00:30:01
Speaker
And now we're it's like back to reality bozos. Like, I mean, I don't know what, what you guys expected to happen. Um, but, But anyway, all right. ah On the other side of things, ah Old Dominion played extremely well. I've already said that. Traquan Jones, 14 carries, 73 yards. He was efficient.
00:30:23
Speaker
um Like you said, Hargrove ran for three touchdowns on 10 carries. Colton Joseph ah had those, you know, 20 carries 189 and a score they basically you know what what I said that them and Marshall next week are going to look at the stats and go why would we ever throw the ball and Georgia Southern's offense is so mercurial that it's kind of like yeah why would you because there's a 50 50 chance they're not going to score 20 points so why even put the ball in the air why even take the chance when you could just run it for seven yards a carry whatever they're allowing
00:31:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's bad. i ah My program's in an equal state of disarray from record and just kind of state of the program, but at the very least, I know we can fire a coach. At least I know there's willingness to fire a coach. um and Your AD is not in love, like maybe romantically, ah with Del McGee.
00:31:24
Speaker
they don't They're not secretly giving him extensions at the end of every season regardless of his record. It's like... i I really don't envy the situation. I would rather be Georgia State right now with this situation because at least you know we fire McGee.
00:31:40
Speaker
It's a clean break. We can go hire whoever's within our budget, but we're not hamstrung and tied to this guy. Whereas... Apparently, the other thing that AD for Southern has said is is not donating makes the problem worse. And I'm like, brother, if that's the answer, we need to start looking at who signed the guy to the those extensions.
00:32:05
Speaker
Because your name's on the on the most recent extension from the end of last year. So don't turn around and play victim and be like, we got to have the money and the fans got to show. No.
00:32:16
Speaker
You screwed up. This is the last time you're probably ever going to be an AD at any school ever. So enjoy it while it lasts because either you are going to empty that stadium out and there's no and no one going to be there by the end of your tenure or the the professor grows a pair of testicles and fires you finally.
00:32:34
Speaker
Or the president, not the professor. The president's going to find and finally grow a pair of testicles and and can you as he he should have never hired you in the first place. But that's kind
Georgia Southern's Leadership Critique
00:32:45
Speaker
of where we're at. And it's like, what's more dangerous at this point?
00:32:49
Speaker
Is fan revolt more dangerous than apathy? Because I truly want to know. Because you're getting apathy. I think people have moved past the anger stage and are kind of at the acceptance stage of like the five stages of greece grief. They're just like, okay, I'll vote with my wallet. I'll go watch other stuff on Saturday. And then the the team's like, no, no, no, don't do that. And it's like, we'll put a winning product on the field And they're like, we're not to do that.
00:33:12
Speaker
So, I mean, I'm like, i know what are you supposed to do? Yeah, it's ah it's a predicament that I do not envy. um I hate, I hate that, well, you just need to donate to make our team better. um That's come from so many different people. College basketball's got a real bad case of that.
00:33:30
Speaker
um the This idea that more donation and again not donation from top level level donors but donation from you and i the the comm school graduates are is you really yeah is really gonna um turn those programs around i just hate that really ticks me off when i hear the thing that ticks me off is i don't even care about the asking for the donations if we were If we were ULM and we were hamstrung money-wise and they were coming out being like, we'd love to put a winning quarterback out there, but we can' simply can't afford it. I would be like, I understand because I think we have an okay head coach and I understand the budgetary limitations. What I have a problem with is when you as the AD sign a giant extension to a guy
00:34:24
Speaker
who's not a good coach, but you were fooled, I guess, by how good of friends you were with the guy. And now you're playing poor. That's what I have a problem with is being like, yeah, I screwed up, but I'm not going to take responsibility. I'm going to put it back on the fans.
00:34:39
Speaker
That's what I have a problem with. And so that, that is why I'm like, I might just be done because i might be done until like 2030 or whenever Helton's contract is up, because apparently we can't figure fire him even though we fired Lunsford and paid him roughly the same amounts so like I I don't I don't know but this was a good win for Old Dominion again everybody we saw this coming we picked Old Dominion plus the points like I don't know how much clearer we can make this yes the the preseason over under was off you guys still are not anywhere near going to the Sunbelt title game or the college football playoffs so just
00:35:17
Speaker
Again, when you get up on your high horse, let that sink in that you will be sitting watching the playoff on New Year's Eve or whatever. The same as the rest of us other than maybe JMU fans.
00:35:29
Speaker
So like. Pipe it down a little bit. Pipe down. um All right.
App State vs. Marshall Analysis
00:35:36
Speaker
Next game here. This one was shocking. App State beats Marshall.
00:35:41
Speaker
ah Marshall, another fan base, really beaten their chest preseason. A lot of people were saying Marshall fans were like, we're not going to miss a beat from where we were last year. And I was kind of like,
00:35:54
Speaker
What? like does the i I think there is there there is certainly a little bit of a coaching downgrade um from Huff to Gibson. There is a massive quarterback downgrade from Braylon Braxton to Carlos Del Rio Wilson. And I know Southern Miss lost, um and we'll get to that.
00:36:18
Speaker
But the again, the Marshall fans who who wanted to like drag us over the coals in the preseason by us saying four five wins, you're going to win six. I do not want to hear a victory lap being like, you guys were off by one whole game. It's like, yeah brother, you you showed me.
00:36:36
Speaker
So um yeah, Carlos Del Rio Wilson threw for 146 in a pick. And a loss to a team that just lost to 58-10 last week.
00:36:47
Speaker
yeah
00:36:50
Speaker
Left some points on the board from Marshall. um Obviously they're hurt late in the game. Del Rio Wilson goes down with, I believe an ankle injury. So they have to turn to Zion Turner, ah who's actually really good eight for nine for 54, three rushes for 16. So they didn't lose a huge, you know, it wasn't a major backstep, um but you can't help, but wonder how that could have played out differently. ah Play call wise, um,
00:37:18
Speaker
Zion Turner ended up fumbling on like Marshall's second to last drive of the game. Um, a drive that they were moving the ball pretty well. Um, they were still well in their own territory, but had the chance to, uh, at that point it was a 24, 23 game in Marshall's favor. Uh, they were trying to, to, to, kind of run it out and you know maybe get into field goal range, but they fumble the ball over. App gets the ball, um doesn't have to go too far, puts their own field goal up on the board, and then ah Marshall runs it out and then fumbles it again. It wasn't ah Turner, but um ends up fumbling again. So i i want to be hesitant. i
00:37:58
Speaker
To your point about Marshall, again, There, there's the step back at quarterback. There, there's a step back at coaching. Um, they're feeling, we, yes, there's no defense. Obviously no Mike green is going to do a lot for a defense. Um, your, your running backs aren't as good as AJ Turner was.
00:38:17
Speaker
Right. Um, you know, I think there was a little bit of a step back from what you have now to, to Christian Fitzpatrick from last year. Um, So it's like, yeah, this is essentially what we anticipated. Like, again, if you're going to hammer us and be like, you guys thought we would win five and we won six, I'm going to be like.
00:38:36
Speaker
Well, here's something I want to pose to you. There are six teams in the conference right now that are five and six um that are, you know, either going to make or miss a bowl game.
00:38:49
Speaker
That is Georgia Southern, Marshall, App, ah Texas State, Louisiana, Arkansas State. Of that bunch of six, in the long term, maybe not long term, but in the next two to three years, I think I like Marshall out of those six above the rest.
00:39:12
Speaker
um ah We've talked about the... so i um So to to your point, obviously this is a ah Marshall team that's really hamstrung and then loses this game to App.
00:39:23
Speaker
i I think Marshall's been really, really moving in the right direction, especially from ah where they could have been comparing them to what Troy could have been um or what Troy was last year post-Summerall or two years ago. However, was it last year? Yeah, that was year one for Jared Parker.
00:39:42
Speaker
So <unk> I've been very impressed from a high level view of Marshall this season. They've been, they, ah as a team this season, they've been a lot more competent than I originally had thought because the part that gave me pause, and I know it's Georgia, it was week one, but they couldn't seem to settle on who they wanted to play. Like, it was like,
00:40:06
Speaker
Carlos Del Rio Wilson played for a little bit and then someone else played who I don't remember. And then it was like Zion Turner played at the end of the game, probably against Georgia's fourth string defense at that point. And it was like, he played pretty well. And so early I was kind of like, i i want to see more of a Zion Turner than I do Carlos Del Rio Wilson.
00:40:25
Speaker
And now it's like, it's literally done like a full 360. Like we were at a one 80 and me being like, okay, Carlos Del Rio Wilson was, you know, ah good for a lot of this season. And then he has a game like this against app. And it's like, he didn't play well against JMU really either.
00:40:44
Speaker
So it's kind of like, There are some big games he's just kind of come up missing. And the the thing that I had a problem with was not necessarily like the forward trajectory moving past 2025.
00:40:56
Speaker
twenty twenty five It was them. so It was the the fans basically saying like, we're going to be in the conference title race like this year. And I'm like, no. No, you're not.
00:41:08
Speaker
and they And they haven't been. I mean, they've they've won three Sunbelt games. They're three and four in the conference. Like, they're four games out of the East race. And they, let me you know... Yeah. No, I hear you. Let me find ah Del Rio Wilson's, or maybe you have it pulled up, his ADOT on this one.
00:41:26
Speaker
um Because that was, especially in the early part of the year, why both of us had some pause. Even and even as Marshall was winning games against like MTSU, um even against Old Dominion, there was still some worries. ah Because he was...
00:41:42
Speaker
It was screen pass, screen pass, screen pass, um you know, not pushing it further than like five yards down the field. What was his ADOT in this one? 6.9. six point nine
00:41:54
Speaker
that's That's a little short, right? It's like on the low end of average. That's on the low. And so, I don't Like seven to eight is like the average because it's not even, it's not counting the completions. It's literally like the guy you threw it to, how far were they down the field like on average? And like you said, he's had some games where he was hovering around like four, five, you know, something like that. He had some really low stuff. Oh my gosh. think I didn't have a ton of eyes on this game until late because um there were ah just other games going on. So I didn't have my eyes here until late, until really Zion Turner took over.
00:42:35
Speaker
um so I'm curious, and this is a failure on my part to do the research, like was that – Does Zion Turner have a check down or not Zion Turner? I'm sorry. Carlos Del Rio Wilson, CDRW. That doesn't really roll.
00:42:50
Speaker
CD Doug, something like that. um Does he have a check down problem or is this a play calling inefficiency? Yeah. And I guess, you know, it's too late in the season to find out now. But in retrospect, as we reflect on the season and look at, you know, presumably Del Rio Wilson being the quarterback next year, I think he's only what he's a true freshman, maybe redshirt freshman, very young. um So he's presumably the starter next year.
00:43:15
Speaker
ah That's my biggest question for him moving forward. Yeah, um you know, ah Colton colton fars Ferris ah recovered a fumble with 55 seconds to go to win it for App, basically. That sealed that.
00:43:31
Speaker
ah Joe Sean Barbie played well. 10 carries, 102 yards, and a score for ah Marshall. Jakari Lewis, somebody we've been calling for. it was ah It's almost like...
00:43:42
Speaker
it's almost like dowell logins listens to the podcast because he was like get jj i don't know we get jj cole in this one jacari lewis took over the the reins from uh an inefficient rashad de binion lewis ran three 33 carries for 175 yards and two
00:44:04
Speaker
Um, ah we had kind of pointed out in weeks past, like he'd been way more efficient with his touches than Binion. And I was kind of like, why are you sidelining this guy, especially against JMU last week? I don't know if he was like hurt or banged up or whatever, but,
00:44:22
Speaker
JMU, they were like begging for offense in that game, and they were still like, nobody else gets a carry besides DeBinion. And I'm like, what are we doing? Because there was one running back that was good against Georgia Southern two weeks prior, and it was Lewis. It wasn't DeBinion.
00:44:38
Speaker
So, i I don't know. It's almost like he did the um the Charles Huff thing from last year, where he like settled on a quarterback, kind of realized what the running game was, but he...
00:44:50
Speaker
Loggins waited to game 11 to decide, like, I need to make the right decision. And it's like, i don't I don't know, man. A lot of App State fans were done with you at the end of the JMU game with the the sideline crap, putting AJ Swan in and just benching JJ Cole.
00:45:07
Speaker
um Like I said, you know, Aikman Chambers texted me the the App State fan. He was like, he's pretty level headed. He was like close to like literally crashing out, like based on what he was watching. I mean, he was he was like, I can't stand this like the putting the wrong quarterback in not giving carries to the running back that's more efficient than the other one. Like all of that stuff. He was like, my blood is like boiling, like watching this. And so I'm like, yeah, I don't blame you. Like that. That was why I came on the last episode. and was like, I get it because I was like, they they had a chance to do the right thing.
00:45:41
Speaker
And they just, they didn't like, so they waited till game 11 to kind of pick the quarterback running back combo that they probably should have had three, four games ago. Um, yeah.
00:45:52
Speaker
Well, Dowell just, look, you found you found the recipe. Obviously, you lucked out there a little with the two late fumbles, um but Ja'Kari Lewis is your guy. He's a freshman. Don't let him transfer, buddy.
00:46:03
Speaker
It's in your best interest. Yeah. i I think with the lack of probably overall tape, I would say if theyre if they were playing the like long game and were like, we don't want him to get stolen by another school, A+.
00:46:18
Speaker
Because he's probably not going to get scooped up based on these like two performances that he's had. ah The thing that really surprised me about this one, I mean, Marshall obviously turned the ball over three times. And and you mentioned the two fumbles. like that Those were killer.
00:46:34
Speaker
Uh, App State won this game with 276 yards of offense. Um, and Marshall had 438 yards of offense. So the key was just like app was a little bit better on third down.
00:46:51
Speaker
They didn't hurt themselves with the three turnovers. They didn't turn the ball over at all. They were very, very conservative. You know, they only let, uh, Cole throw the ball 27 times in a game that was like a two point final margin. So,
00:47:05
Speaker
Maybe that's the the recipe, but it's taken Loggins way too long to get to this point, I feel like. So. Yeah. All right, next game
Troy's Season and Playoff Prospects
00:47:17
Speaker
here. this was This one was yours. So Troy beats Georgia State 31-19. I made a joke at the last episode. was like, there's no way Troy wins this game by 12 points. They won this game by 12 points. ah Like I said, mentioned at the top, Goose Crowder threw for 361 and four touchdowns.
00:47:35
Speaker
You guys in Texas State are just, if Troy played like 12 of y'all, they would have like Tom Brady 2007-19. passing stats. It's crazy.
00:47:46
Speaker
Um, so Cameron Brown leaves the game. think before halftime, he doesn't come out of halftime. Is this the second week in a row that that's happened?
00:48:00
Speaker
um i'm I have to look back at his numbers because I don't want to be wrong, but i he didn't play against Marshall. um Yeah, he didn't play against Marshall, but got hurt against Coastal is how I remember it going down.
00:48:13
Speaker
um But by God, if we didn't put Christian Valer in yeah in relief, I know I've been very critical of TJ Finley, um and I would argue rightfully so.
00:48:31
Speaker
Perhaps I was too harsh on the guy because we had to see Christian Valera. He goes 19 for 38, 303, which is crazy, crazy, crazy. 20 passes for 19 completions for 303. But you're not letting me look past that 50% completion percentage, one touchdown to an interception.
00:48:53
Speaker
um i thought this guy was done i thought he he's a canadian guy he's from montreal i thought his next stop was going to be as like an assistant in the cfl maybe a ball boy or something uh maybe play i he i like i said i think he's from montreal maybe he could be a translator for the alouettes or something um yeah but i guess he's still here so that's awesome uh i'll tell you i'll tell you this uh I would not have said I like Georgia state plus 11 and a half. If I knew that Christian Valera would even take one rep.
00:49:26
Speaker
If you told me going into that game, you said Christian Valera is going to play. I would be like, go ahead and give me a Troy. Mm-hmm. i mentioned I mentioned at the top um when we were kind of talking about Old Dominion and how congratulations you beat up on the third worst defense in the country. ah Troy, Goose Crowder, ah welcome back, finally. Again, you do it against the second worst defense in the country. The only team below those two is ah Charlotte by total yardage.
00:49:57
Speaker
I'm pretty sure that those numbers may have changed since like late last night. But ah Troy, just –
00:50:06
Speaker
I'm just – I'm like you. I'm just so done with this Georgia State team. I'm done with us rolling out uncompetitive quarterbacks. Again, I know Cameron Brown is hurt. um He wasn't cleared. Del McGee just was very blunt, just was not cleared when asked about why he didn't come back out.
00:50:22
Speaker
Ted Hurst ended up being a game-time decision here, does not play. um No receptions here. um Jordan Simmons, it's like, where did this guy come from? Where has he been all year?
00:50:34
Speaker
um And it's great that he's a senior, so that's really cool. Don't get to see any more of him. ah i don't know. it's just like It's like you. I'm just kind of checked out because i it's pretty obvious that outside of Cameron Brown,
00:50:47
Speaker
Like all of the defensive playmakers, Funches Lewis, um like there there are guys there, but certainly not sticking around. Cameron Brown, if not for these injuries, probably isn't sticking around.
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah. So it's just really tough. And so big ups really to Troy though, um because with the Southern miss result, which we'll talk about, um this puts them in the hunt still. they They get to play for the, I guess the conference semifinal. um And that's big for Troy because we saw James Madison fall into, i guess, I guess it was a trap game for JMU or something was going on. So um Troy could have, you know, much worse team than James Madison could have easily fallen for the same thing. And, and they didn't. So.
00:51:33
Speaker
Hats off. What about Javon Robinson here taking over for Hurst as like the number one receiver for State? What did you see? um he he's been He's been good all year. It's not like he i mean he's been a catch-a-game guy. He's had a couple. um I think this was his first 100-yard game of the year. i don't think he'd ah eclipse that mark. and um he He's been a part of the offense. ah He's not like the long-term solution. He...
00:52:02
Speaker
I don't think he takes over for Ted Hearst next year. Again, ah um ah anticipating if' still there yeah again ah anticipating that Ted Hearst even plays for Georgia State next year. so um Robinson, this wasn't like a, oh my gosh, where's this guy been? Because he's been a part of the offense and has just been sporadically he'll go 5 for 60 and sporadically he'll go 4 for 18. Yeah.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah. A couple of Troy receivers I want to shout out right here. DJ Epps had eight catches, 103 and two scores. ah You had Ethan Connor here catch two touchdowns as well.
00:52:43
Speaker
So, ah a very kind of simplified, you know, passing attack. They had some other guys like Trey Taylor get in the mix. ah You had a Peyton Higgins get in the mix, but really just kind of a concentrated passing attack. And, you know, that's good enough to beat a Georgia state defense. This is bad as,
00:53:04
Speaker
uh as anybody in the country is you know uh let's see here goose crowder had 21 yards rushing uh tay meadows only had 35 yards was that more of a factor of them just opting to throw the ball or was it like they literally couldn't get the running game going they They couldn't get it moving. I mean, that's a bad sign. Against Georgia State, that is a really bad sign, especially because Tame Meadows has been good this year.
00:53:34
Speaker
um That was a really shocking... I would say that Georgia State's Best talent, not their best defensive ability, but their best defensive talent probably lies in the ah in the front seven um with some of those guys. Funches Lewis I talked about. um Deuce Walker kind of comes down. Sometimes he's more of like a box safety player. So I would argue that their best talent exists in the run stopping game, as opposed to the pass. ah Obviously, again, Georgia State, one of the worst defenses off on both sides of the ball. um
00:54:10
Speaker
That gives me worry for Troy long term, especially as we look at, I mean, what's going to be the the semifinal game against Southern Miss, the inability to run the ball because we just saw Southern Miss play.
00:54:22
Speaker
you're going to need to control the clock. We we saw Braylon Braxton is back. Uh, and he, he went insane. Um, but not until late though, really. Not until late.
00:54:34
Speaker
Yeah. Well, do you want to just roll into that game then? Yeah, absolutely. Um, all right. So yeah, like you said, uh, South Alabama jumps on Southern miss, uh, at halftime by halftime, it's 21 to seven.
Southern Miss vs. South Alabama Recap
00:54:46
Speaker
Um,
00:54:47
Speaker
um You know, this was unlike a lot of South Alabama performances we've seen this year. You know, Davenport was very, very efficient.
00:54:59
Speaker
I actually to go back. I just wanted to throw a stat at you real quick. um I can't remember whose it was. Give me one second here. Oh, that's that's the next game. Sorry. OK, so.
00:55:14
Speaker
Again, Davenport is efficient, but not really pushing the ball down the field. I don't know if this is an error or whatnot. His ADOT, according to PFF, was 2.8 yards.
00:55:27
Speaker
Um, his, his, uh, yards per tent was 6.6 in this. So basically they were just kind of like content to, you know, run the football. Kentrell Bullock went crazy in this one. 187, three touchdowns.
00:55:43
Speaker
Uh, we've been waiting on that for a long time. Well, it I think the problem has been their defense is is typically not good enough to allow them to get a lead and to run the ball and really kind of salt the clock. They're usually playing from behind, which is not a strength of Davenport's, we've as we've seen. like Even in this one,
00:56:04
Speaker
you know they won huge or they They were up huge and eventually won by you know seven points or whatever, but they scored 42, which we haven't seen. i don't think we've seen them hit that number all year. Even against Georgia State, it was like thirty eight um it was like 38.
00:56:21
Speaker
They ran the ball with Keenan Phillips and Kentrell Bullock. who had Those two guys had four touchdowns between them. They it it was it They probably executed Major Applewhite's game plan from what he would ideally want to a tee. And then, like you said, Braxton went insane trying to bring them back at the end. But ah ultimately, it was just kind of too little too late.
00:56:44
Speaker
ah they scored twenty so Southern Miss scores 21 in the fourth quarter, but it's it's not enough. you know They were down by way too much to make that happen. So... ah Something that you and I neglected in our preview of this game, and I think it does hold some weight, not a ton, but does hold some weight. some weight South Alabama has never lost to Southern Miss, 6-0 all time. um Granted, that's ah that's a relatively small sample size, ah but you're going back and we're also looking at some really bad Southern Miss teams historically. um
00:57:19
Speaker
And, you know, not great South Alabama teams, but you have, uh, Carter Bradley, uh, a handful of receivers that have done things in the NFL, Jalen Tolbert being one of them. So, um, you know, a bit of a discrepancy there, but six and O all time. And, uh, Southern Miss just wasn't up to the pressure.
00:57:38
Speaker
I think this, this is a major, major letdown and, um, really, really,
00:57:47
Speaker
after this performance, right? We, we know they're going to get their socks blown off against James Madison. That's, that's pretty evident. priest Whoever, whoever, whoever Troy are going to get, even if, even if Alonzo Barnett has a bad performance, those two, we already know it's a, it's a really bad style matchup because Southern miss and Troy cannot run the football, even against bad defenses. Um,
00:58:13
Speaker
So you've basically already taken half of the offense off the field before the ah the first snap is taken. Tay Meadows is has been good, but he's inefficient. with i ah he's He's kind of a volume guy more than efficiency. yeah And then on the, you know, we've talked about south alaate or ah Southern Miss, rather, their inability to find a running back in this kind of potpourri of Matt Jones and Pittman and all these other guys. It's like,
00:58:42
Speaker
None of these guys make a difference really. So whoever goes between Troy and South Southern Miss is going to be putting all of the pressure, all the chips in the middle on their quarterback and being like, we're going to live and die with goose Crowder or Braylon Braxton. And if we, if we get our socks blown off, like you and I anticipate they will, then so be it.
00:59:05
Speaker
I don't even know that it really matters. Like, I don't think, The way that I've seen these two defenses play recently, Troy and Southern Miss, I think that they, I think JMU can just run the ball with Wayne Knight and be fine.
00:59:20
Speaker
Like i mind I don't think like the old Dominion Troy game gave me a lot of pause about what Troy actually is. And I know that was a really bad game for them, but that was ugly.
00:59:31
Speaker
And Southern missed the last two weeks with this Texas state loss and allowing 42 to South Alabama is a real like, Holy crap. Makeup call for them. Yeah, and that Texas State loss, obviously a a better Texas State offense, but scored 41 against the Golden Eagles in that one as well. um Some glaring issues. This is a really bad loss, and I think it really going sour.
00:59:54
Speaker
um What I've seen is that this has really soured a lot of Southern Miss fans on Charles Huff on what has been otherwise a really, really good offense. first season and, you know, granted he's got the best quarterback in the conference in Braylon Braxton, but, um, I, I think this result really, um, this is the type of result that exposes,
01:00:18
Speaker
coaches for what they are, coach player you know teams for what they're lacking, much like the Arkansas State that we talked about at the top. like That loss is going to be the loss of ah Butch Jones' tenure if he gets fired in the offseason, which without real reason feels more likely than not.
01:00:35
Speaker
um Southern Miss... was no new inefficiencies were discovered here because we knew already that they lacked a real superstar in the run game. Like Jeffrey Pittman's been good, but not great.
01:00:49
Speaker
Um, you've got some receivers like Carl Chester, Elijah Metcalf, but like, uh, they're not demanding so much attention. They're not creating the inverse effect of old dominion where Colton Joseph is demanding so much attention from all 11 guys on the defense that it frees up your other offensive weapons. Um,
01:01:08
Speaker
you're not getting that effect out of um a really good role of like Chester Metcalf. Kyron Heath is in there. There's a handful of really good guys. um And then i found Southern Miss just kind of unable to get after the quarterback against, a again, ah a poor quarterback, a relatively poor um offense in general in Southern or South Alabama. And it's like that that's going to bite.
01:01:33
Speaker
Not that it matters. That's going to bite you against James Madison. Yeah. Yeah, i think I think both of these teams, Troy and Southern Miss, i I don't mean to keep beating a dead horse. Whoever goes is basically going to be the sacrificial lamb out of the West. like It's going to be but um
01:01:54
Speaker
I hope that both of those quarterbacks, Braxton and i Crowder, both enjoyed like their passing performances. They're not going to touch that. Or if they do against JMU, it's going to be in total garbage time.
01:02:06
Speaker
um Yeah, i I hate to say this because we're like a Sunbelt podcast. I truly don't care who wins that game next Saturday. like yeah i don't I don't think it really moves the needle other than...
01:02:19
Speaker
Other than just bragging rights, like if Southern Miss comes in, I know like like what you said, they've they've this is soured the last two weeks have soured them on Huff a little bit. I think those people need to take a step back and look at where they started and where they are now.
01:02:34
Speaker
Because this is year one. And if he's, you know, Braxton's not going to be there forever. I understand that. But if you're eight and four or or whatever in year one, that's something to build off of.
01:02:51
Speaker
Whereas, would you rather go back to Will Hall? i mean I mean, seriously, I'm like, think i'm like take an honest stock. Yes, this Saturday you you can play for the West Division. When's last time you could say that?
01:03:08
Speaker
You have one of the two best quarterbacks in the conference, along with Colton Joseph.
01:03:15
Speaker
if you, if you had went to jumped in a time machine to the beginning of the 2024 season and told a Southern Miss fan after they were getting ready to go into that season with Will Hall, once again, as like a dead man walking, if you told them, Hey, at the end of 2025, you're going to have one of the two best quarterbacks on your team in the conference. And you guys going to be playing for a Sunbelt title game birth by the last week of the season. I think they would take that all day. So I think it's,
01:03:41
Speaker
it's a little bit like take a step back and look at the bigger picture here about where you started where you are now. Like you can be disappointed with these two performances for sure. Don't let it spoil the entire season for you by being like, ah, we should have won those two games. Ultimately,
01:03:57
Speaker
If you beat Troy this weekend, those two games don't matter, and you probably weren't going to beat James Madison anyway. So you probably started and ended from three weeks ago at the same end destination you were going to end up at, regardless of how Texas State and South Alabama played out.
01:04:14
Speaker
So just think about it before like you you get like super emotional and be and are like, this is ah this is unacceptable, blah, blah, blah. No, it it's fine.
01:04:25
Speaker
you were You were always going to be 8-4, 7-5 starting you know a couple weeks back, and you were always going to lose to JMU, as was anybody else in the West. So just...
01:04:37
Speaker
take stock of of what you have. It's a wonderful life. It be like, we could have went a very different direction and, and now we're here. So, and if you're Troy, it's like, there's a huge step up from last year when you won four games and Crowder didn't look playable in the games that he played early. And then he gets hurt.
01:04:57
Speaker
Kill crease was terrible last year. You've at least seen games this year where he's been playable. Um, So there is a little bit of it's looking up. However, I'm a little more skeptical on Troy moving forward than I am what Huff is doing in Hattiesburg. I think he keeps pitching guys on like, I've had the best quarterback. We won the Sunbelt title under me last year. Like you can build off that Parker. This is still like, to me, these wins that they've had are a lot of smoke and mirrors.
01:05:30
Speaker
I think. like yeah we We ran down all the teams they beat, and it's not great. It's tough, because I agree. if this like if they I think for Gerard Parker's long-term job, security or job trajectory, it's important that he wins this ah to get that conference title game...
01:05:52
Speaker
delayed even if they get their socks blown off. I think it's really important um because we've talked all year about how some wins are a little fraudulent this year.
01:06:03
Speaker
um But also, i i don't know if that's necessarily a knock because on a team-by-team level, on a conference level, it's a really down year this is the worst year of the Sun Belt since I've been around the conference and this is year four or five for me this is like from a ah broad perspective the the most down I've ever seen this collection of 14 teams um so like is it fraudulent if that's because it's not like they're
01:06:37
Speaker
I don't know. ah It's tough for me to call them fraudulent when it's not like Troy has been picking on the worst teams of the conference. They're just picking on yeah the teams in the conference.
01:06:50
Speaker
No, no, they've been picking on some of the worst teams in the conference. we We talked about it on a previous episode. It's like they dodged a lot of the good teams, decent teams in the East with yeah who they played.
01:07:02
Speaker
um Okay, let hold on. Let me let me pull this yeah up. So let me read this off. These are the teams they played in the East this year. you ready? Old Dominion, who they lost to by 33 points, 33-0. Georgia State.
01:07:14
Speaker
georgia state That's your East schedule. So you got one legit contender and the worst team in the conference. Your West wins are over South Alabama, Texas State, UL Monroe, Louisiana, and again, Georgia State is your last conference win to date.
01:07:39
Speaker
i think I think what's going to happen is this. i may be I may have a totally different take by next summer when we're doing the previews. I think this is the team we're going to look at that we did the Arkansas State thing for this past season where we went unsustainable.
01:07:57
Speaker
You can't sustain this. like This is a a Georgia Southern from last year. This is an Arkansas State from last year where it's like that team won eight games. Were they really that good?
01:08:09
Speaker
No. And all it took was a little bit of a harder like reshuffle of the schedule. Maybe a couple guys leave that you weren't anticipating. Maybe you have an injury or two.
01:08:19
Speaker
And then it's like, boom. you're you know I'm not saying this is going to happen because there's a lot that needs to happen between now and next season. But that's the kind of things it takes for you to be five and six midway at the end of hoping that you win your twelfth game to go to a bowl.
01:08:38
Speaker
yeah that's That's where I'm at with that. i I think you're right. I'm being wishy-washy on it, but i I think you're ultimately right. I like the comparison to the Arkansas State and Georgia Southern of last year where um yeah just unsustainable is the best way to describe it. Yeah. like i I truly, and this is like not a knock on Troy because you you play the schedule that's in front of you.
01:09:00
Speaker
However, it's like You didn't play JMU. You didn't play Marshall, who's been frisky against some other teams. You know, it's like you play Southern Miss this Saturday. We don't know what that looks like yet, but that's going to be what the second hardest team that you play this season.
01:09:18
Speaker
i mean I mean, not including like, I guess, Clemson. I don't i don't know how we feel about Clemson, but they're they've not had a banner season. ah So it's like, okay, great. like You guys had an easy schedule. like a lot of A lot of teams can take advantage of that. and Again, when you reshuffle the deck next year, it's like, okay, but then what happens if there's a team in the West? What happens if Louisiana builds back up and they're like a legit contender? Or I don't know. I mean, it's just like they don't really have to worry about the East because, again, they can just play two East games and be done with that yeah that side of the bracket. um All right.
01:09:55
Speaker
So next game here, we can breeze through this one because South Carolina absolutely rolled Coastal 51-7.
Coastal Carolina's Struggles
01:10:02
Speaker
They made Lenora Sellers look like Lamar Jackson in his prime at Louisville. ah Sellers had 274 and two touchdowns and ran for 82 yards and two scores. This is this is the stat I was going to read to you when I said never mind.
01:10:18
Speaker
Tad Hudson. His... I want to make sure I get this right. Yards per tent was 4.8. His average depth of target was 3 yards.
01:10:33
Speaker
I don't think I've ever seen a number around 3. That's tight, man. Um... Best part about this game, I think there were a lot of quarterbacks with fun names. Lenore Sellers, Cutter Woods, and Aaron Noland. um That was cool.
01:10:50
Speaker
We were robbed of a fun matchup between Sellers and Samari Collier. Collier out with injury. ah They say maybe he'll be back for the bowl game. I wouldn't push it because he's the closest you have in that building right now to a real quarterback that might be able to play next year.
01:11:05
Speaker
I don't know what eligibility looks like. I read that I don't think he has another year. I think this is it. This is it. I mean, and i from what I heard, it's like if he doesn't push for a, and I don't know how he would get this with like three games left in the season. They were like, basically if he doesn't get an injury waiver, like his career is over.
01:11:27
Speaker
That sucks because it was fun while it lasted. That'll be a guy in four years. Hey, remember Samari Collier? Remember the four games we got out Samari Collier? Those were kind of electric. Yeah.
01:11:39
Speaker
Not electric, but kind of electric. like a Like a bottle rocket that was set off on the 4th of July. It went up, you were like, ooh, and then it popped, and you were just like, all right, back to Ted Hudson, I guess.
01:11:52
Speaker
Oh, goodness. um Yeah, I mean, there's that for Coastal, there's not a lot to take away from this game that would be positive. ah Their two running backs, Javon Simpkins and Javon Edwards, combined for 33 rushing yards in this game.
01:12:09
Speaker
ah It was 37-0 at half. um You mentioned Aaron Noland. That's a guy I'm surprised. you He's at South Carolina now?
01:12:23
Speaker
That's shocking. Yes. He is a red shirt freshman. he was at Ohio state last year. Wasn't he? Oh, he was a big time recruit, which is why I'm shocked. that Yeah. and Yeah. He was, um, I remember, so I guess it would have been two years ago. He was at Hughes length. They call it Hughes now, but Langston Hughes, um, in like South Atlanta.
01:12:46
Speaker
Uh, yeah, that kid was crazy. yeah, I don't know. ah He's a redshirt freshman. Maybe he'll end up somewhere next year. I hope so. eat could that That kid could play.
01:12:58
Speaker
i mean I'm just shocked that they got like a five-star to come over from Ohio State. and i know I know he probably looked at the Julian Sayon situation and was like, oh, I'm never going to play here because he's the same age as I am.
01:13:12
Speaker
But... That, listen, that's kind of what happened to Joe Burrow. I'm not saying he's going to be Joe Burrow, obviously, but that's exactly what happened, which was like, they were like, ah, well, let's opt for this other guy. And then Joe Burrow transfers. And, you know, you saw what became of that. I don't, I don't think Aaron Nolan's going to be that, but I'm just shocked. It's like Justin Fields at Georgia or whatever. um Just getting a big time recruit and then being like, all right, you can go or you can stay and and hold a clipboard for four years. It's up to you. um All right.
Texas State's Victory Discussion
01:13:43
Speaker
Last game of the night, Texas State beats Ewell Monroe. This one was predictable, although it was weird. ah The final score is 31-14. Texas State scores three first-half points. It's 3-0 going into the break, and I was like...
01:13:58
Speaker
I don't really have any fear that you will Monroe is going to win this game, even though it's a three zero and Brad Jackson accounts for four second half touchdowns. He threw for two Oh one and through two scores and then ran for 88 yards and two scores.
01:14:15
Speaker
Um, you all Monroe did their thing. They, they cap out at 14 points as they do every week. And, uh, mercifully next week, your season's over and you don't have to watch Darmenta for another 12 months. So presumably, presumably, um,
01:14:32
Speaker
Yeah, ah this exacerbates the idea that no matter how small a lead, um it is safe against ULM. Talk about an electric first quarter. I hope you didn't sit down to watch this one. You get six punts to start the game and then a field goal to really round it all out ah going in into the second. So that was, um it got exciting in the second half. We've put up points finally. You get the two ULM touchdowns.
01:14:59
Speaker
um As you said, Brad Jackson starts to have a game. um Texas State, hope you win next week. You don't want your last year in the Sun Belt to be a non-bowl season. um And they finally got another conference win. We need another. that This was big for them. Who they get in the finale?
01:15:18
Speaker
Do you know? They get South Alabama. Hey, you can end the year with three conference wins in a row. Guys, congratulations.
01:15:30
Speaker
And sneak into the Ventures Bowl. See you later. Goodbye. um Yeah, Aiden Armenta did his... I mean, he was efficient, but again, it's like...
01:15:44
Speaker
ah threw for 172 scoreless yards. ah Average depth of target was 5.6. So he's not even not even throwing the ball down the field. um I don't know. It's like Braylon McReynolds was... This is shocking to me. So Braylon McReynolds, I have it sorted on PFF by...
01:16:08
Speaker
um running backs that had more than I think five carries was the threshold Braylon McReynolds had according to them 11 attempts for 18 yards and he was the 12th highest graded running back that had at least five carries on Saturday and he had 18 yards laughing
01:16:26
Speaker
this is This is why people are like, I don't know about PFF grades, man. I guess if he did his job on those 11 carries, that's what they count. um who How many folks are behind him and who's behind him?
01:16:39
Speaker
Is there a list or is it just a one or two guys? Both the lafay both the ah Louisiana running backs were behind him. ah Wayne Knight was behind him, which shocks me because I thought Wayne Knight was like way better, you know especially especially with the game-winning touchdown. um I'm trying to see. Zach Palmer-Smith was behind Braylon McReynolds, even though Zach Palmer-Smith had 15 carries for 80 yards and a score at UL Monroe.
01:17:11
Speaker
um Brad Jackson was behind him. Like guys that I would be like, no, this is way better than an 18-yard performance. I'm sorry. That's bizarre. Okay. one One of those oddities, I guess.
01:17:25
Speaker
it's It's something. um But yeah, I mean, everything you said, you know, ULM mercifully, like their season's going to over ah when loss or draw next Saturday.
Sunbelt Games Preview
01:17:37
Speaker
ah Texas State is now going to play a South Alabama school who like showed some signs of life on Saturday, last Saturday. I don't know if they can carry that over because they've just been...
01:17:51
Speaker
peaks and valleys ah against, you know, some of the worst defenses in the conference. um And then they show up against a pretty good one in Southern Miss and scored 42. So I maybe just take the over just to be safe. Like, I don't, I don't know what that game is going to hold because frankly, I don't think it really matters, but you know, whatever. ah Yeah. Good win for Texas state. You know, euel Monroe has got, has, has gotten drubbed by everybody this year. So, you know, whatever.
01:18:21
Speaker
Yeah, this sets up a a relatively unimpactful final weekend, save for one game. We got a lot of bowl eligibility on the line for a lot of those middle-of-the-road, worse than 500, like on-field worse than 500 teams.
01:18:38
Speaker
um But it's all eyes on a Troy at Southern Miss, 330 ESPN+. three thirty espn plus See, we've got JMU Coastal on ESPNU. Can we, like, switch the teams for that or something? Do we really – I've got to watch Coastal on national television to close this out.
Endnotes and Contact Information
01:18:56
Speaker
Sorry to everybody on that watches – that cuts on ESPNU on accident on Saturday and is like, I'm watching Tad Hudson's reps. Yikes.
01:19:10
Speaker
Oh, goodness. But yeah, so that'll do it for the show. You know, email us warm other fans at gmail.com. You can catch us on X or Tik TOK or wherever else at warm weather fans. You can find me on Twitter at watch the stone Zeke, where they can find you on socials at Zeke Palermo. Z E K E P A L E R M O. All right. And we will be back on Thursday to talk over the last week of the Sunbelt regular season. This has been warm weather fans.