Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
2025 Sun Belt Football: Week 3 Recap
79 Plays1 month ago
Brian and Zeke are back to discuss Southern Miss's domination of Appalachian State to open conference play, Old Dominion's brutal beating of Virginia Tech, and share some of their negatives for week 3 performances in the Sun Belt.
Email questions to the show at warmweatherfans@gmail.com!
Follow us on X:
Recommended
Transcript
Return from Break and Sunbelt Week 3 Overview
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome in everybody for a new edition of Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt Podcast. My name is b Brian Stone, your host today here joined by Zeke Palermo. Unfortunately, we had a bit of an unscheduled absence last week with our episodes, but we are back.
00:00:31
Speaker
ah We have taken in, ah digested week three in the Sunbelt, and now we're ready to, I guess, regurgitate our takes if I'm going to follow this line of ah a
Zeke's Recovery and Sunbelt Disappointments
00:00:43
Speaker
metaphor. But Zeke, how's it going with you, man?
00:00:46
Speaker
I'm good. I'm kicking strep. I started to feel real yuck around midday Monday and couldn't get on antibiotics till Wednesday. So it was just that battling through that. But I was right as rain for Saturday. Got to watch um a pretty disappointing slate, I'd say, overall from a Sunbelt perspective.
00:01:07
Speaker
um I thought... I think this is overall going to be a bad year for the whole conference.
Weak Sunbelt Outlook This Year
00:01:15
Speaker
There's just a lot of... There's a lot more bottom feeders than there are clear-cut conference-winning type teams. um Last year, you know, we had...
00:01:27
Speaker
At least one team that, you know, had a shout at a playoff run um if Boise State didn't exist, obviously. um This year, i think a Sunbelt team in the... ah Through three weeks, granted, but through three weeks, um a conference or a playoff appearance from a Sunbelt team would be an affront to the format.
00:01:52
Speaker
So... Unfortunately, we didn't we didn't have time to talk about it, but yeah I went to the JMU-Louisville game and like...
Quarterback Management Issues at JMU-Louisville
00:02:00
Speaker
I don't know whose decision this was between offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy ah or their head coach.
00:02:07
Speaker
Whoever is designing the ins and outs of who which quarterback comes in needs to like take their head out of their rear end. like they it was They single-handedly cost themselves.
00:02:19
Speaker
I don't know if it's Chesney. I don't know if it's Kennedy. They single-handedly cost themselves a win over a P5 in that game. And I don't really understand what they were thinking or why they were thinking it.
00:02:29
Speaker
um But I know what you said. I know what you mean. And I definitely agree. Like when it's bad in this conference, it's really bad. And we'll we'll get to some of those performances. But um we did have some really good performances overall as well. And we'll we'll definitely touch on those.
00:02:48
Speaker
Yeah. Speaking of, do you want to go ahead and do your first like, how about
South Alabama's Potential Despite Auburn Loss
00:02:55
Speaker
this? We'll do. So we each have two positive kind of takeaways.
00:02:59
Speaker
You do one. I'll do one. And then we'll you do one again. And then we'll we'll kind of snake draft style i'll do it. Yeah, um I think we we're going to bury the lead ah of the the conference slate, the only conference game. and I'm going to start with ah one of the positives, which was South Alabama.
00:03:18
Speaker
Despite a loss to Auburn, this was a... thirty one to fifteen loss to auburn ah this was a really good outing from a South Alabama team that had given us concern in previous weeks.
00:03:29
Speaker
Um, South Al goes one and two on the year. um Auburn goes three and O and I think they're ranked 34 now. Um, but this South Al team did not do what you wanted it to against Morgan state in the season opener, um, hung around with Tulane, but ultimately lost, um,
00:03:48
Speaker
That was actually an equally good loss, I would argue, to Tulane. South Alabama hung hung around in this game and performed pretty well against what is now ah a bottom of the rankings but ranked team.
00:04:01
Speaker
um I'm checking out my notes here. ah Bishop Davenport, that that's kind of the the storyline here. He went 18 for 26, which was pretty good.
00:04:12
Speaker
I mean, that is that that iss nothing to write home about. But against a team like Auburn, we've seen teams this year already play, you know, rank 15 to 25 teams and just get smattered, right? Their quarterback goes 10 for 32. Their running back room goes, you know,
00:04:32
Speaker
30 carries for 90 yards. um Bishop Davenport was a highlight here, 18 for 26 for 170, two touchdowns and a pick. um He also ran the ball seven times for 27 yards, and that's obviously deflated by any sack numbers. So I thought this was a ah really impressive loss from South Alabama um and And I typically try to avoid that type of rhetoric. I think that it is ah often harmful, especially at the top, top levels of the sport. As we look at 0-2 Notre Dame, right, which is ranked in the top 15 of the most recent poll. It's like, I think that's harmful.
00:05:13
Speaker
That's bad. Yeah. But we're in the early stages of the season. This is where we're at. We're saying, hey, South Al, 15-31 loss to Auburn. That's a good loss. Bishop Davenport played well. Cantrell Bullock ran okay. He didn't really break off anything. His longest rush was nine yards, but he was efficient with his 16 carries.
00:05:34
Speaker
um you know He's one breakaway away from going 16 yards for 90. Instead, he finishes 16 for 57. fifty seven So there's some good stuff there. Another storyline that I followed through this game and I'm going to keep following through the season is just where South Alabama's targets go.
00:05:50
Speaker
We've talked about for several years now that no matter who the head coach is, it seems like this team wants a high volume guy. um And at least early Anthony eager stepped out this week, eight receptions for 55 yards.
00:06:03
Speaker
That's by no means a ah really good split eight catches for 55. An average of seven per catch is not great. Um, But the the volume is there, um and i'm I'm curious to see if he takes that volume moving forward.
00:06:18
Speaker
Yeah, i don't I don't really have much to add to that. I didn't catch much of this game, um very, very little, just based on kind of how the timing worked out. But yeah, I was impressed that they kept it within a two-score game because it could have just as easily gotten really out of hand, especially when it was twenty eight to nine at halftime.
00:06:37
Speaker
ah was like I kind of took my I guess I shouldn't have but I kind of took my eye off this game and was like it's 28 to nine at halftime like Auburn will definitely keep kind of adding on to that lead and then they score three points the entire second half so ah yeah credit to South Alabama and their defense for being able to hold Alabama to three or a Auburn sorry ah mags to three ah to three second half points um All right, I'm done burying
Old Dominion's Victory and Coaching Changes
00:07:05
Speaker
the lead. I'm going to go ahead and give credit where credit's due.
00:07:09
Speaker
So Old Dominion accomplished a number of things on Saturday. ah Number one being, i mean, if you are if you're an Old Dominion fan, I'll get to that in one second.
00:07:20
Speaker
Number one being that they got Brent Prye at Virginia Tech fired. Now, I know that Brent Prye contributed to that. based on the previous two weeks.
00:07:33
Speaker
I had never been super high on Brent Pry as a head coach. I think he's a pretty good defensive coordinator, but it's kind of... the Peter principle of like you get promoted until you're like, you reach a point where you're like, I'm not qualified for this.
00:07:47
Speaker
That's what Brent Pry always gave me vibes wise. I don't know who's doing the hiring in Blacksburg. Stop. Let somebody else do it because everything since Frank Beamer retired has been a disaster. So I don't, don't really understand what they're, what they're thinking is methodology.
00:08:04
Speaker
It's not working. Like get rid of it. Justin Fuentes, Brent Prye, Throw it out. Start over. I don't know what you're thinking. Okay. And I will. I want want to go ahead and right now and give Old Dominion credit because we had been calling for a long time, even going back to last season.
00:08:21
Speaker
Yeah. Somebody on this offense beside not named Colton Joseph needs to step up. And everybody did. Everybody did. We were asking for this after week one against Indiana when Colton Joseph threw three inter her interceptions and their only scores were two long touchdowns by Joseph.
00:08:38
Speaker
They had. Ja'Cory Thomas, Naeem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, and TJ Johnson, all with receptions of 36 or more yards.
00:08:50
Speaker
Colton Joseph threw for 276 and two touchdowns, no picks, clean sheet, 16 of 22. Running game-wise, Joseph contributed on the ground, 63 yards in a score, but Traquan Jones stepped up, 13 carries, 101, and a touchdown.
00:09:06
Speaker
And Zeke, I know you love to play the take-his-longest-rush-away game. His longest rush was only 26 yards, and I understand that's almost like
Colton Joseph's Unique Quarterback Performance
00:09:13
Speaker
a quarter of his total, but, I mean, 12 carries for 75 is nothing to scoff at either. so And then, obviously, their defense showed up. I mean, they had they were up twenty eight to nothing at halftime.
00:09:24
Speaker
they straight up beat the living crap out of Virginia tech and Brit pry buddy. It'd be nice if you came to Statesboro and took over the defensive coordinator job after we inevitably fire Brandon Bailey.
00:09:39
Speaker
However, you're, you're not supposed to be an FBS head coach, especially not at the, the power five level. Like it's, it's, it's done for you, buddy. Yeah, ah something that I was looking at ah through pro football focus.
00:09:52
Speaker
There's only one quarterback in all of college football, ah minimum 30 dropbacks. ah So any any guy that's playing any semblance of time that is top 10 in passing rating, ah not passing rating, but passing grade and rushing grade among quarterbacks.
00:10:10
Speaker
And that's Colton Joseph. Only guy in the country. Top 10. And so the fact that guys are finally starting to step up for him is going to elevate Old Dominion's ceiling. um I am not ready...
00:10:24
Speaker
This sounds bad. I'm not ready to admit that I was wrong about them ah because I know ah all three of us were pretty hitting the hammer pretty hard on there just not being guys around him. and And I need to see this again from Old Dominion.
00:10:38
Speaker
ah They play Liberty in Coastal Carolina over the next two weeks. I need to see this repeated... and then some against Coastal at the very least, um before I'm willing to say that, hey, we were wrong and that this wasn't beating up on a already given up Virginia Tech team.
00:10:55
Speaker
um But credit where credit's due. I mean, Traequan Jones against NC Central ah last week ran 160 yards on only four carries. And they saw that, gave him the touches that he wanted.
00:11:06
Speaker
You talked about his numbers, and he only did that on 13 carries. So um I'm curious to see if they continue to feed him the rock. um He has one of the easiest jobs in football, ah having a Russian quarterback.
00:11:18
Speaker
I mean, it's like the Derrick Henry thing. It's like no matter how good you are, when you have Lamar Jackson standing right beside you, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how good you are because you're going to be even better. yeah um So i'm I'm curious to see you if they look to him moving forward.
00:11:33
Speaker
Can I add one more thing before you do your next positive?
Southern Miss Shocks App State
00:11:37
Speaker
I do think they're going to crush Liberty and Coastal because, frankly, I don't think Liberty's that good this year, and we'll get to Coastal.
00:11:44
Speaker
We'll get to Coastal. You know, Tim Beck, with all those head coaches that got fired today, you were lucky you weren't in the pack. I think if they had the money, brother, you would have been gone already.
00:11:57
Speaker
um The one thing I will say – my My knock on Old Dominion with the other players outside of Colton Joseph has always been ah consistency. like One of these guys can show up one week and look great, and then they'll go play... I don't know who's another good team. They'll play Southern Miss or whoever. I don't i don't know who's actually on their schedule. JMU. They'll they'll show up and play JMU, and his leading receiver will have 38 yards.
00:12:24
Speaker
And you're just like... What happened two weeks ago? You played Virginia tech and everything was gravy. And now you come out and it's Colton Joseph standing there in the pocket for eight seconds, waiting for somebody to get open. And it's just like, it's not happening.
00:12:38
Speaker
That's always been my knock on them is they don't have somebody that does it week after week after week, maybe in the running game, they found that in Trey Kwan Jones, like you said, played well last week against NC central, and then played really well against Virginia tech. Maybe they've uncovered someone who ah can also contribute.
00:12:56
Speaker
But they they don't have a high target earning receiver. They have a lot of like big play type guys that can like win down the field, but they don't have a guy that's going eight catches for 91 yards on a score like that, you know, you can go to.
00:13:11
Speaker
So my my whole thing has been like, yes, this is nice. I'd like to see it, like you said, like week after week after week and and not and beyond the the Liberty Coastal matchups, because frankly, I don't think those teams are very good.
00:13:25
Speaker
Sure. Something else before we move away from Old Dominion, something we didn't get a chance to talk to about ah about last week. I'm not exactly sure of the timing of it, but Jason Henderson, ah Old Dominion, All-American ah linebacker for two years, 22 and 23. He tore his ACL, MCL, MPFL, which I'm not certain I knew existed. That sounds like it it its own league.
00:13:52
Speaker
And his meniscus, uh, in a, you know, that's the men's professional frisbee league right there. Um, yeah. Um, and his meniscus in a game against Georgia state in 23 played a game last year, um, but only played one game and then red shirted. Um, he, he decided to, I guess, medically retire. He said he's stepping away.
00:14:15
Speaker
um but ah it sounds like he just was never able to get back to hundred percent. that's a real bummer. Cause this guy was electric, man. um You know my stance on tackles um as a counting stat, but I mean, this guy is just everywhere at all the time. It's like him and Carlton Marshall.
00:14:31
Speaker
We had two of not just the best linebackers in the conference, but in the country, in the conference at the same time. um And Henderson was kind of the holdover from that. And it's... ah I don't know. Happy trails, man. Best of luck. Cause ah that guy was a ball player and it's, it's a real bummer that ah for old Dominion, it's not a huge loss. He's not been playing for you for a year and a half. um But yeah, wish him the best. Cause that guy was just really fun to watch.
00:14:59
Speaker
and And they have a pretty deep linebacking core and they only play three of them as well. So they've got people who can slot in and and play in his spot. But yeah, it is. It is sad that when someone's who was like an ah on a trajectory of being like an all time, some belt player just has to hang it up early because physically they just can't do it anymore.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah. um We'll quit bearing the lead as well. ah the real The real game of the week um was App at Southern Miss. It's our first taste of conference play. And Southern Miss kind of tally Wax App State thirty eight to twenty two um It was not a particularly close game. um Southern Miss was up 17-7 at halftime
00:15:45
Speaker
never really ah gave up that lead. um App State went for too late to bring it within 16, but yeah you know way too far at that point. um Congratulations, Southern Miss.
00:15:57
Speaker
I was... I mean, you could have – people projected Southern Miss as the best team in the conference and the worst team in the conference this year and everywhere in between.
00:16:08
Speaker
And I was in very much of the lower half. They were in my, you know, probably fourth in the West type spot. um And this is an app team that we liked. App looked really good against Charlotte.
00:16:19
Speaker
They looked not great against Lindenwood. That was actually a really bad win for them. I think it was 10-7 final. um But this is an app team that we really liked. We liked what Dowell Loggins is doing there. um And so congratulations, Southern Miss. I mean, this is...
00:16:37
Speaker
possibly the end of a really, really bad, dark time for you. um And it I mean, this is huge, man. Braylon Braxton was great, um as he always is going to be.
00:16:52
Speaker
um you You get a lot of rushing from a bunch of different guys. No one really stands out, but like Jeffrey Pittman carries the ball six times, but then you've get like three guys who each had three carries. So ah you match mix and match there. Same thing in the receiving room. Tychon, Chapman with four for 112.
00:17:10
Speaker
um But then there's a bunch of guys with three, two, another guy with four catches, ah that being Pittman actually. So and they spread the ball really well. They played good defense against an App State team that um with A.J. Swan was looking really good early.
00:17:25
Speaker
Uh, they've got guys like Dalton Stroman, who's, uh, pretty good, but I mean, they shut him down. Swan put up a stinker to the point that he got pulled for a guy who I'd never even heard of Noah Gillen.
00:17:36
Speaker
And then we see who was worse than him because it was worse than him. Say, say what you want about Swan throwing those three interceptions. I was, so I was flipping when the Georgia Southern game went to halftime. I flipped over to this one.
00:17:50
Speaker
Gillen wasn't putting the ball near anybody. Right. yeah like It was just off period. Yeah. um Yeah, very poor. His QBR, 6.7.
00:18:02
Speaker
Which doesn't even make sense. 11 for 24 and 109 yards, no interceptions. I've seen worse stat lines get far higher QBRs. So maybe I just don't understand the formula. That's crazy.
00:18:15
Speaker
Gillen performs so badly. Who do we see come in Old friend Billy Wiles. Hello, goes five for five. Southern Miss alum, right? Southern Miss something. Not alum, I guess he's whatever, visitor. Well, I don't think anyone in that, in Hattiesburg or within 150 miles is going to want to acknowledge Billy Wiles as one as their own.
00:18:40
Speaker
ah Same thing with like, I don't know, who else? Ty Keyes, right? Any of those other guys that they trotted over that three, four year span um with... gosh I've already buried his name. Ethan Crawford.
00:18:54
Speaker
Oh my gosh. So, Hey man, Southern miss. Here we go. maybe Maybe this is the start of something. Um, again, this is an app team that looked bad against Lindenwood last week. So we got to see it.
00:19:05
Speaker
We got to see it shake out. Um, But App was kind of the best team through the first couple weeks. a who Who else is i I think we gave them a little bit too much credit for beating Charlotte.
00:19:20
Speaker
I guess we don't know how bad of a team Charlotte is. yeah But someone sent us. I guess this could be the title the episode if we really wanted to do this. But I guess someone someone sent us a tweet this morning when, you know, last night.
00:19:32
Speaker
or we're recording this on Sunday. On Saturday, I tweeted out the stat lines of it was Gillen and Swan because Wiles hadn't taken a snap yet.
App State's Quarterback Challenges
00:19:41
Speaker
And I said, it's a bad day to be an App State quarterback.
00:19:43
Speaker
And someone responded this morning with the headline, Swan Dive. And I was like, pretty good. Can't argue with that. Hey, shout out JLE1030994. Much appreciated, man. Yeah, I'm just kind like...
00:19:56
Speaker
much appreciated man um yeah i'm just i'm just kind of like You know, I think, Zeke, I think where your main concern could lie is Southern Miss' seeming inability to run the ball consistently.
00:20:13
Speaker
i think it could be a problem later. But, like... Okay, this was one of my favorite things. So after we did our week one recap, we posted it and we were kind of like, eh, the West maybe is not even as strong as we had already anticipated because of Louisiana.
00:20:30
Speaker
And one of my favorite things that comment people do is that they'll say something, but they won't offer like who it is that we were missing. So someone was like, oh, these guys think the West is bad just because Louisiana is bad. And I'm like,
00:20:44
Speaker
Well, who is who is this magic team that is being like hidden that we're we're not ah acknowledging maybe South Alabama? Who knows? But if it's Southern Miss, I agree. I just wanted to see Southern Miss play a conference game or like a team that was on their level talent wise and see what they looked like.
00:21:03
Speaker
No, I mean, i or it's still still early showings, and this team's only other win is Jackson State, which, sorry to that one guy, my our bad, um but um their only win right now is still only Jackson State, so I guess there's there's still time to see ah how this actually plays out, but it looks like I was really wrong, and Revel in this because later in the episode, I will not be as gracious ah because there are some things I'm just going to be right about.
Arkansas State Shows Promise Despite Loss
00:21:37
Speaker
um All right, so I'll get to my my last positive one. ah This is sort of on a sliding scale, but I'm going to say Arkansas State playing within a one-score game with the 14th-ranked team in the country.
00:21:51
Speaker
yeah Arkansas State fans, skip like five seconds ahead. I think Iowa State's fraudulent. But anyway, so, well, I mean, go back. I went back and when I was watching the game, I went back and looked at who their wins are.
00:22:06
Speaker
So they were they were they got the preseason bump of the ranking. You know, that's always got like an inherent bias that they keep with it. They win in ah Ireland against what we now know is a bad Kansas State team.
00:22:20
Speaker
And then their other wins are against like Iowa, who nobody is, nobody's saying Iowa is going to win anything of note. And then I can't even remember who the other team is. And now, now their fourth is against Arkansas state.
00:22:32
Speaker
I will say though, we had much maligned Arkansas state's defense and rightfully so. I mean, frankly, statistically, there's no way you can kind of excuse it and just be like, don't worry about it.
00:22:44
Speaker
ah However, again holding within eight points of a team that's ranked in the top 15 when you're a Sunbelt school yeah kudos to you guys like because as we'll see later there are teams that are playing unranked other teams and can't even accomplish that task so I'm gonna give them credit where credit's due uh you know I think Iowa State had ah had a good bit yardage-wise, but they couldn't get on the scoreboard against Arkansas State. and
00:23:16
Speaker
That might be more of a ah canary in the coal mine for Iowa State long-term than it is indicative of Arkansas State. as i state Yeah, ah Jalen Rayner, that guy, we knew this. um But, man, late in the game, they just shot themselves in the foot.
00:23:32
Speaker
ah This team, they they broke off, Arkansas State broke off a pretty long run, and then like two plays later ends up on the two, ah goes offensive pass interference into holding.
00:23:46
Speaker
ah to have to settle. Again, you were on the two. You have to settle for a 40-yard field goal. um So that's awesome. And then you have a chance late to, I think it was to tie. I don't remember what the exact margin was.
00:24:00
Speaker
But there's, you know, seven minutes left in the game or so. um And Jalen Rayner, who again, i can consensus, very good quarterback um from a Sunbelt perspective. First and 10, drops back, relatively clean pocket, launches it maybe 50, 60 yards.
00:24:18
Speaker
overshoots his receiver by 10 yards into the hands of the defensive back. It was one of the ugliest. Basically a punt a punt return. Yeah, on first and 10. And it was just, well, no, I mean, the defensive back had to kind of red basket it.
00:24:33
Speaker
It looked as if he was running the route himself. um Yeah. And it's not because he jumped the route. just because, don't know. Receiver gave up or running. Yeah, it was a fly and he just kept running until he got under it. Yeah. So so those late Arkansas State really shot themselves in the foot. And that fits my narrative about Butch Jones. But we'll give credit this week. You can you can hammer them later when they underachieve if if they do so in conference play.
00:25:02
Speaker
I suppose I will. You want do your first negative now. Yeah, first negative. um I'm going to say another team that shot them themselves in the foot but got away with a win.
00:25:14
Speaker
Georgia State. Hello. Georgia State in their 38, I'm sorry. 37-21 win over Murray State commits, by my count, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 penalties. those, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of them are 15-yard penalties.
00:25:28
Speaker
7 15-yard penalties. by my count two five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen penalties of those one two three four five six seven of them are fifteen yard penalties seven fifteen yard penalties You're also looking at two false starts, an illegal formation and an illegal s snap.
00:25:51
Speaker
I did not know that an illegal snap was even a penalty before yesterday. Yeah. yeah Additionally, you can't pick up the as the center. You can't pick up the ball and like twitch like it has to be all one motion. That's kind of what it is.
00:26:06
Speaker
Yeah, I that makes sense. But i'm come on, bro. You are. Yeah, you don't see it very often in like a center that is worth their salt. um Another thing that gave me real, real pause in this win over Memphis is the quarterback situation.
00:26:24
Speaker
Because Del McGee or Hugh Jackson or somebody's been chatting with the folks at JMU.
00:26:34
Speaker
Because TJ Finley... i I don't have the snap count the right order, so please excuse me. But T.J. Finley and Cameron Brown split the snaps at quarterback 33-31. I'm not sure which direction it went, but split the snaps
00:26:51
Speaker
We know that doesn't work. I've compared it to when it was Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow was the first time I ever saw this try to happen or try to make this work in New York. And shocker, both of those guys are bums.
00:27:03
Speaker
So I... um so I went back and I looked back at like those old Cleveland teams because that's where I know Hugh Jackson from. I know he has a ah very long tenured career, but that you know that's where I know him from.
00:27:17
Speaker
I look back at those times because he had a lot of bad quarterbacks. um I'm like, did did he try any of this? He's on the record of saying, i want a quarterback one. He's on the record of saying, i want a guy to have that job.
00:27:31
Speaker
And so now either he or McGee are trying this thing with TJ Finley. TJ Finley was not good. um Two interceptions, two bad picks. um Cameron Brown looks really interesting. And i as a fan, I want them to give him the full keys to this offense.
00:27:47
Speaker
He's homegrown. He's from, he's in state. um He's only a sophomore. So, I mean, you know, this is a guy that could be here for three more years. Give him the keys. I don't understand why we insist to let 38-year-old TJ Finley, who's on his seventh team in the seventh different conference, the opportunity to play. A guy who wasn't... I don't believe you...
00:28:11
Speaker
he transferred in, but was like not being allowed to play by the NCAA due to, you know, transfer rules. So I, I'm not certain that he was even allowed to be practicing with the team. He, he wasn't on the team roster until two weeks ago.
00:28:24
Speaker
Um, you know, the guy, the guy's just not sharp yet. So in this win, that's the bad Georgia state shooting their self in the foot. Ted Hurst though, 10 catches, one 72. Holy. Yeah.
00:28:37
Speaker
holy yeah ah That's my first bad. I remember from a fantasy perspective fantasy football perspective, I remember one major thing about Hugh Jackson's time in ah in Cleveland. Well, actually, I guess two.
00:28:54
Speaker
Number one was that they had a rookie Nick Chubb on the team. And he would not
Hugh Jackson's Talent Evaluation Critique
00:29:01
Speaker
take Carlos Hyde out of the game to put Nick Chubb in to the point where they played the Raiders one week and Nick Chubb had like three carries for like 100 yards and two touchdowns.
00:29:13
Speaker
And the GM had to take it upon himself to trade Carlos Hyde so that he was forced to put Nick Chubb on the field because he wouldn't do it. Like he was like, no, it's the the veterans going to win the job. Like, so blah, bla blah, blah.
00:29:27
Speaker
And then I think he did the same thing kind of with Baker and Tyrod Taylor early. Like they drafted Baker. Number one, I think Tyrod started the first four weeks and then got injured. And then Baker came in and he didn't really have a choice. But I've always sort of doubted um Hugh Jackson's ability to gauge talent based on the decisions that he makes.
00:29:49
Speaker
um All right.
Troy's Offensive Struggles
00:29:50
Speaker
So i'm going to get to my negative here. I'm sure you agree. I mean, you know, you you said it all. um My negative here is going to be easy. ah Troy, what what was that on Saturday?
00:30:02
Speaker
Like, I know Goose Crowder got hurt and Tucker Kilcrease had to come in. but it wasn't like they were setting the world on fire before that point. And kill crease goes 10 of 29 for 65 yards and an interception with Zeke. This tops your previous point about QBR with a QBR of 6.6. It's lower than, than even ah the guy for app state.
00:30:31
Speaker
Okay. They couldn't run the ball. They couldn't throw the ball. At one point, I tweeted out like the stats. They had 50 yards through three quarters.
00:30:43
Speaker
And someone, of course, tweets at us like, we don't have any idea like what's going on in the game. It's like, oh, is Goose Crowder hurt? Yeah, I know Goose Crowder's hurt. They were averaging at one point through three quarters three yards per minute of possession.
00:30:59
Speaker
So when they would get the ball, every minute they had, they'd get three yards, and that was it. And then it was a punt or a turnover. Their only score in this game was a strip sack to scoop and score of Brendan Lewis.
00:31:13
Speaker
um So the offense didn't even accomplish scoring a touchdown. I know they had a i know they had a long touchdown callback for like an illegal formation or whatever. I get it. But also...
00:31:26
Speaker
Tucker Kilcrease is like... I'm borderline... I've only done this with one other player in the Sun Belt that I can name, and it's because he played for my team. I'm very close to saying Tucker Kilcrease shouldn't be on a FBS roster.
00:31:38
Speaker
Like, I'm really close to just being like, this dude should not be playing college football. I don't know what... the ah the coach was thinking keeping him on the roster like Goose Crowder sure fine whatever didn't play that much last year got hurt you know whole deal Caldwell transfers to Texas to back up Arch Manning he might end up being the starter before it's all said and done um but the Tucker Kilcrest I saw nothing on Saturday that makes me think like hey this guy should be playing college football at the at the highest level
00:32:12
Speaker
I got another quarterback that's similar to actually we've got. I'm going to give you three quarterbacks before the end of the episode that should also be
Coastal Carolina's Offensive and Coaching Issues
00:32:21
Speaker
included in that. ah Tad Hudson, Coastal Carolina.
00:32:25
Speaker
Yeah. ah Who beat the job out, took that job from another guy who may not deserve to be on an FBS roster, MJ Morris. ah My second bad is Coastal Carolina ah in their 38 to nothing loss.
00:32:38
Speaker
to nothing lost to East Carolina. This team has no offense. They, they are in the quarterback hell that Southern miss was in, ah just last year as as recently as last year, where they've got like three guys that are not, you know, completely raw unplayed freshmen And all of them are bad.
00:33:03
Speaker
not Not a single one of them it is has shown to be a competent quarterback ah for this team. And I saw a funny tweet ah yesterday after this game. And it's like, everything about Coastal Carolina is awesome.
00:33:22
Speaker
Except for the football.
00:33:27
Speaker
field is cool. the The logo is beautiful. The colors work well. Well, the teal is a little dark. i'd like I'd like a little lighter in there. But, you know, the colors are are cool. The field is great. The uniforms are great.
00:33:40
Speaker
Your head coach is hanging out with the cheerleaders shirtless on the beach. um Apparently, the athletic director does like a really, really good job about getting the students involved. You know, apparently, from what they're saying, he does knockout job.
00:33:56
Speaker
but the football sucks. I'd like to see him do a really, really good job of hiring head coaches after Jamie Chadwell left. Yeah. ah Tim Beck, his buyout is... I'm reading different things. I'm reading 3 million. I'm reading 1.5 million. I'm reading 1.1 million. 1.1 million.
00:34:13
Speaker
um ah one in a million one million ah um but so ah i don't know I don't know if there's a number that's too high. Take the n NIL money that you're giving to Tad Hudson and MJ Morris ah and, I don't know, but Javin Simskins, and take that money and buy out Tim Beck because the sooner that guy is gone, the sooner Coastal Carolina can move on from this.
00:34:44
Speaker
And this is a problem that Apple... was kind of dealing – I don't think they had this problem with – Sean Clark? Sean Clark?
00:34:54
Speaker
No, its something this is this is way worse than that. well what a mike But like we're seeing it now with Louisville – or Louisville. Jesus, I'm sorry. I'm still very drugged up on the strep throat stuff. Sorry. um But we're seeing it at Louisiana now with Desermo. It's like these teams – that were the closest we had to national brands, Coastal Carolina and the surf turf and the really fun auction stuff that they were doing.
00:35:22
Speaker
Troy, I mean, these teams just fell off a cliff. As soon as the coach left, fell off a cliff. App is doing, we're liking what we're seeing out of Dowell Loggins. Um, Maybe, maybe.
00:35:33
Speaker
but yeah It's the best of the four. It's the best of the four. Oh, easily. But, I mean, Louisiana's in the hellhole. Troy's in the hellhole. Coastal's in the hellhole. And it's actually JMU is the only team that has gone through a coaching change, save for Southern Miss, but I feel comfortable calling Southern Miss the exception that proves the rule, considering they brought an in-conference coach that had just won Conference Coach of the Year.
00:36:00
Speaker
No one is making this transition well. And I, I don't know. i guess there's nothing you can really do about that, but I think that hurts the long-term integrity of the brand and hurts the long-term integrity of the like G5 football that as soon as everyone hears about you and your coach gets hired up by a P5 or goes, takes the coordinator job, or in the case of app, just like he was really good, but just couldn't get over the hump.
00:36:27
Speaker
Um, And as soon as people start to learn your name, they flip you on and they watch you lose 38 to nothing to East Carolina. I remember saying this when it it, it, I'm not even tooting my own horn, but I had this question when both Gerard Parker and ah Tim Beck got hired.
00:36:49
Speaker
What did you see offensively? And I'm asking, I guess, the 80s in theory. yeah What did you see offensively that you thought if they take that offense and bring it here with lesser talent, it's still going to be successful?
00:37:02
Speaker
And I guess that's a rhetorical question, and the answer was eventually like nada. Or I hope I trip and fall over a quarterback that's playable like Troy did last year with Caldwell at the end of the season.
00:37:15
Speaker
Coastal's not been close. The crazy thing for me with Tim Beck is I almost give him less leeway than I do some of these other new coaches because a lot of times but if you're Marshall's head coach, you're starting over with a brand new team.
00:37:28
Speaker
Yeah. If you're Louisiana when desert mode took over, it was starting over with a brand new team like Levi Lewis. All those guys were gone like they had won with Napier and they were out. Speaking of Napier might be available to come back to Louisiana if that move necessitates itself.
00:37:45
Speaker
My thing with Beck is he had a year of Grayson McCall to kind of buoy everything and kind of get his recruiting under control. He wasn't thrown into the deep end the way that a lot of these other teams with new head coaches are like Troy, where it's like, I've got a brand new team, like from scratch. We've got hardly anybody left over from this champ to championship years ah with some raw.
00:38:08
Speaker
Yeah. He had a year with a very, very good quarterback to like at least get some talent in recruiting-wise and be like, listen, year two might be a little rough, but I can insulate myself with time, the time that I have.
00:38:22
Speaker
He has done none of that. Apparently, he was playing shoots and ladders or whatever on his in his first year as coach because he was like – I can win somewhat with Vasco. I can win with Grayson McCall when he's not concussed ah immensely.
00:38:37
Speaker
And then now you're like, all right, well, we're in the Wizard of Oz and the sheet has fallen and and we can see the guy behind the curtain and it's it's not happening. so Yeah. I mean, in that first year with McCall, they went eight and five. And then last year,
00:38:51
Speaker
ah They finished the year six and seven, three and five with your conference wins over old dominion, who is maybe turning it around now, but last year certainly was not turning anything around know app state who, um, we now know was on in the, and this was in November. So we now know in the, the end of the Sean Clark and then Georgia state who last year in this year are kind of the, the, the pits of the conference. So, um, yeah, uh, clock's ticking and,
00:39:21
Speaker
I don't know. How much longer do you give the guy? How much longer do you give him back? Do you let him get to conference play? Do you see how that works out? I think you do, but i i mean if it keeps up like it did last year, like you said, i mean it's not going to be any better.
00:39:37
Speaker
so i mean i i think i think he and Gerard Parker are both on like very, very borrowed time. like The only reason, like you said, either one of those coaches is still around is probably because the buyout, not because...
00:39:51
Speaker
of hey we actually think this guy can turn it around like i think those ships have both sailed kind of at this point um i'm gonna get to my last negative we can knock it out because we got some other a couple other games to talk about my last negative this was i guess the ultimate result was expected so like you can kind of take this with a grain of salt it was more just how it happened so louisiana loses 52 to 10 to missouri so missouri again, ah ranked sec schools, nothing to kind of be like, no, you know, you've lost your quarterback for the season and Walker Howard, you're starting Daniel Beal and lunch Winfield and all these other guys who sound like goons in a Batman game.
Ahmaud Hardy's Dominant Performance
00:40:30
Speaker
Um, My thing was Ahmaud Hardy saw blood in the water and and like was like a shark. So he played at ULM last year, had 1,400 yards rushing, was the lifeblood of that offense.
00:40:43
Speaker
In this game, 22 carries, 250 three touchdowns, three touchdowns And basically buried his former rival team by himself single-handedly because Bo Pribula only threw for 174 yards, but you don't have to do much when your running back is averaging, you know, 10, almost 10 yards a carry.
00:41:04
Speaker
ah yeah places scar So Ahmaud Hardy, I pulled this up and you mentioned this earlier. I love the take away your longest rush yard ah rush game because one 70 yard rip, even a 40 yard rip can really artificially inflate your stats and not be representative of your whole body of work.
00:41:24
Speaker
If you take away all of Ahmaud's Hardy's carries of over 15 yards, you he finishes 18 carries, 115 yards. 6.4 per carry.
00:41:36
Speaker
6.4 per carry, and that is ignoring all of the carries of at least 15 yards. That's insane. That's nuts. Louisiana Ahmad Hardy is your daddy. Because what did what did he do last year against you? 28 carries for 172. And now with granted a better team, better offensive line, puts up a career game. This guy's going to be good. Better quarterback, 100%. Dude, Ahmaud Hardy is legit.
00:42:01
Speaker
Yeah. He is legit, legit. And we've seen of them. lucky they ever got him in Monroe to begin with. Yeah. it Did they stumble on him? I don't remember how it went down, but he he was a little bit of a late bloomer.
00:42:16
Speaker
No, he started game one. He was a fresht true freshman last year. And tore it up. And then immediately bounced, which i don't i don't have any you know I don't have any ill will for him doing that. That's you know betting on yourself.
00:42:29
Speaker
But yeah, he's probably the best offensive player for a ranked SEC school, and he was playing at ULM last year. Good for him, man. Crazy. Really good for him.
00:42:41
Speaker
All right. Do you want to run down what we have left? Let me ah pull it up. i lost lost my schedule page. I'm sorry. um Marshall beat Eastern Kentucky. They pick up their first win 38-7. It looks like for this one, Carlos Del Rio Wilson came in and played.
00:42:59
Speaker
ah you know He wasn't good early ah in the season when they played Georgia. ah I don't believe he took a snap in week two. I think it was totally Zion Turner's job, and he looked bad in week two when they lost to Missouri State, who was an FBS call-up in year one.
00:43:17
Speaker
ah and then you know they beat a FCS school with Carlos Del Rio Wilson. So maybe they finally settled on somebody, but I'm going be honest, man, we said this in the preseason, and I kind of feel this way. like I just don't feel like the the ceiling on this team could be super, super, super high. like I think we're looking at a four-win team a la Troy last year, probably.
00:43:39
Speaker
Yeah, they didn't ask a lot out of Del Rio Wilson. He ultimately only threw nine passes. um which I don't know, I guess if you're up early and you just want the game over, but yeah there's there's not a lot here.
00:43:53
Speaker
Yeah. um I've got my game here. Georgia Southern outlasts Jacksonville State forty one thirty four ah The stats won't really
Georgia Southern's Narrow Victory and Defensive Issues
00:44:04
Speaker
bear it out.
00:44:04
Speaker
I thought JC French played pretty well in this one. um I thought he looked decisive with his with his reads. I thought that he displayed kind of a level of ah athleticism that I don't usually see out of him. like He was pretty...
00:44:20
Speaker
you know They always teach quarterbacks, like, hit your back foot, one, two, three, boom, needs Baldies to come out. I saw a lot of that out of him, and then when it wasn't there, he was pretty eager to kind of take off and run.
00:44:31
Speaker
And like I don't usually see that out of him. like He doesn't have that skill set, really. So like I was kind of surprised to get that. The running backs kind of owned this game, and with OJ Arnold, 128 yards, two touchdowns, I thought Badinga, the other running back, looked good.
00:44:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Dale and Cobb returned a a kick for a touchdown, um and that their defense is just absolute garbage. like There's no way around it.
00:44:57
Speaker
I would be shocked if this season continues in conference play the way that I anticipate it to Brandon Bailey is going to be shown the door probably very quietly after the the ah last game of the season. Because when Clay dismisses somebody, he's like too nice about it and won't just straight up fire him. He like does this like soft push off where he's like, oh, you've got another job. Isn't that interesting? like Our ex-offensive coordinator, go coach tight ends at Alabama. No, you've got and you've got a better job for more money, definitely.
00:45:29
Speaker
So I anticipate Bailey hitting the bricks at the end of the season, but it was a fine win for them. I thought the offense looked good. Yeah. um then the Yeah. and yeah the The only other game is Texas State's loss to Arizona State and ah Texas State. This is the worry, right?
00:45:49
Speaker
That they are never going to stop points from being scored. And when you can't match it, they're It's just not going to be there. Brad Jackson, um after looking interesting in week two against UTSA, completed only 60% of his passes, ah but threw for 286 yards on an average depth of target of 10 yards, which is kind of... No, he threw for 184.
00:46:17
Speaker
No, I'm talking last week at UTSA. Oh, last week. I thought you were talking about this one. i was like, no, no, no did no. He had an interesting week last week against UTSA where he was ah ah ah relatively inefficient ah but had a bunch of yardage because they they were just throwing it deep.
00:46:32
Speaker
um But this week, complete 70% of his passes on 36 attempts but only 184 yards. um i'm Jury's still out, but it does not look great for him early.
00:46:44
Speaker
um He is a freshman, so you know give him time. but The jury's still out. um We've not seen a full body of work, and he only threw 15 times as a true freshman last year. um This is the problem with Texas State.
00:46:58
Speaker
um This is the problem that we saw. Actually, Arkansas State played a better defensive game this week, but this is the problem that we are going to continue to see with Arkansas State, where it's like, shoot, man.
00:47:09
Speaker
If you're going to allow 34 points, you better score 35 of your own. um And you again, with ah a young quarterback, not a ton of weapons, we'll see how it plays out.
00:47:22
Speaker
Was also sacked five times as well. um I want to see a cut up of that. I don't know how the hell I would do that, but I want to see it because, you know, five sacks, that is either entirely the offensive line or entirely the quarterback. When you get that volume, it's just like, which all right, which of you didn't do your job?
00:47:41
Speaker
um And I, you know, just need to see. I know people say, like, sacks are somewhat a quarterback stat, and i I agree to an extent, but I've seen some really, really awful offensive lines just totally sell their quarterback down the river.
00:47:59
Speaker
So i can't automatically put that on him, but five seems like, okay, you know, that's a little bit on your on on your plate. Like, it wasn't like...
00:48:11
Speaker
Arizona state had one pass rusher that couldn't be blocked. They had five different guys each with a sack. So it was kind of like a team effort. And it's like, what you said, and or I guess what we all said in the preseason is like, they're going to have to average 36 points a game again to win eight games.
00:48:31
Speaker
So it's the chicken or the egg. Are they going to score that? Or is their defense going to be better? How are they going to get eight wins? And it's like the win over UTSA was nice, but I think we still don't really know what to expect out of UTSA.
00:48:44
Speaker
So I think it's a little too early to be like, Hey, that win is is going to help them build towards something. Like it just kind of feels like, you know, whatever. yeah So, uh, both sparks, 10 catches, 70 yards. Shout out.
00:48:58
Speaker
Love high volume. Pear is getting some run finally in his, you talked about TJ Finley. We, you're seven in the sunbelt. Lincoln pair finally gets some burn actually gets to play. Um, yeah.
00:49:10
Speaker
Yeah. it's ah It was a rough week. I mean, there again, there there were some interesting performances. um The Southern Miss, obviously, we have, again, you know, as far as you'll allow it, quality losses against ranked teams.
00:49:28
Speaker
um But at the bottom, man, Troy, ah Georgia, maybe not even Georgia State, but coastal. coast um Louisiana right now, where you've got, as you said, i mean, Daniel Beal.
00:49:41
Speaker
There is a cut segment of our show where I am drilling Daniel Beal. And I asked Brian, I asked you after the ah after the episode, i was like, hey, man, I was just trying to give Matt some shit.
00:49:55
Speaker
and Let's reel it back. Maybe we need to edit that back into the episode. because i don't know how he would do that. I don't know how either, but this kid cannot play. No. um it We're in a tight spot, man, but conference play ah begins not in earnest, but opens up more next week. So, you know, here's hoping.
00:50:18
Speaker
Yeah. All right, Zeke, so that does it for week two in the Sun Belt. Tell folks where they can find you on socials, and then we'll get out of here. ah Yeah, you can find me ah on Twitter at Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O.
00:50:33
Speaker
You can also follow the pod. um Brian has subsidized our Pro Football Focus um subscription, and i we're... Doing some interesting things, just picking out notable things from each week.
00:50:47
Speaker
That's been a lot of fun, just kind of getting to see numbers and analysis that we wouldn't otherwise have. There's 14 teams in our conference, and when they're all play when they're each playing non-conference games, it's tough to keep track of. And so Pro Football Focus, um you know if you're ever looking to sponsor a 500 subscriber podcast, you know, there's, there's growth potential here.
00:51:10
Speaker
There's growth potential. And just think about the upside. We urge you to reach out to us. um Yeah, man. Good stuff. ah As always, you can email the show warmweatherfans at gmail.com.
00:51:22
Speaker
You can follow us on X at warmweatherfans. You can follow me, as you can see on the screen below my name here at WatchTheStone. We will be back later this week to talk over week three and all the big matchups in the Sun Belt for this upcoming Saturday.
00:51:35
Speaker
This has been Warm Weather Fans.