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Season 1 Episode 8
77 Plays2 years ago
On this week's episode, the guys do a double feature with the Liberty and Western Kentucky games.
After a week off, Caleb and Jaylon touch on the final four games of the year, including today's game against Florida International.
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Transcript
Introduction and Return
00:00:01
Speaker
Alright, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the 700 Pelham Road Podcast.
00:00:07
Speaker
My name is Caleb Williams.
00:00:09
Speaker
I'm alongside Jalen Cooper for episode 8 after a two-week hiatus from recording.
00:00:15
Speaker
Jalen, how are you doing tonight?
00:00:17
Speaker
I'm doing good, doing good.
00:00:19
Speaker
It's been a pretty easy day today.
00:00:21
Speaker
Can't ever complain about having a pretty simple day.
00:00:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no
Weekend Recap: College Football Highlights
00:00:26
Speaker
kidding.
00:00:26
Speaker
Monday is with no work.
00:00:27
Speaker
That's a...
00:00:31
Speaker
It's a big day for us.
00:00:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:00:34
Speaker
You know it.
00:00:35
Speaker
Especially, you know, getting a nice chance to kick back after our loaded weekend of college football.
00:00:41
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:00:44
Speaker
Yeah, not a lot of great games this last weekend.
00:00:50
Speaker
Surprisingly, the game I thought was going to get ugly the most ended up being the best with Auburn Ole Miss.
00:00:57
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:00:57
Speaker
Honestly –
00:00:59
Speaker
Outside of a few questionable OC play calls, that was probably one of the better games this weekend.
00:01:10
Speaker
A few is rather kind.
00:01:12
Speaker
Yeah, they had that game.
00:01:18
Speaker
And then all of a sudden they just stopped doing what was working.
00:01:21
Speaker
And it was like, oh, okay.
00:01:22
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, it'd be like that, though.
00:01:27
Speaker
So two weeks off of recording, just because the weekday schedule has really messed us up.
00:01:37
Speaker
There's a lot to talk about for Jacksonville State, so I guess we might as well go ahead and start with the Liberty game.
00:01:42
Speaker
I don't know, Jalen, what do you have to say about that?
00:01:48
Speaker
I mean, honestly, if we look at performance top to bottom –
00:01:53
Speaker
You honestly couldn't have asked for much more.
00:01:57
Speaker
We were down 17-13 going into the fourth.
00:02:02
Speaker
And considering losing, I guess, QB 1A and QB 1B back-to-back and having to throw in a redshirt freshman who had never had any live game snaps against arguably the best team on our schedule,
00:02:22
Speaker
outside of possibly South Carolina, but I don't even think there was a best game in our schedule this year.
00:02:27
Speaker
But, yeah, throwing a redshirt freshman in to that, it's a tough task, especially because, you know, their defense is not one that you can just carve up and down the field easily.
00:02:45
Speaker
But, I mean, he did a good job for being thrown in there on, you know, such short notice.
00:02:50
Speaker
The next man up mentality.
00:02:52
Speaker
was surely in effect.
00:02:53
Speaker
And, you know, he did what he could do.
00:02:55
Speaker
But, like I said, being a redshirt freshman thrown into the middle of that game, not expecting at all to play, that's a hard situation.
00:03:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:07
Speaker
Shout out to Ashton because, you know, all preseason, really the first few weeks we heard, we heard that Tayshaun Smoot was going to be that number three guy.
00:03:16
Speaker
And so I was shocked to see Ashton come in.
00:03:19
Speaker
But, I mean, like you said, he handled it out as well as he could.
00:03:23
Speaker
for a guy who literally has never played a snap at the collegiate level.
00:03:29
Speaker
And to get thrown in against the best team in the conference and a potential, you know, New York six participant, depending on what happens at air force in Tulane.
00:03:42
Speaker
I mean, you couldn't have asked for much more than for him to, you know, just lay it out on the field.
00:03:47
Speaker
And he did.
00:03:48
Speaker
I mean, it just, right now to that point, it just came down to, you know, your number three guy, but,
00:03:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, credit to him because he really could have shrunk and he didn't.
00:03:58
Speaker
And so that gives us some thoughts for the next couple years as we see the roster turnover.
JSU vs. Liberty: The Struggle and Success
00:04:06
Speaker
I look forward to seeing how he plays.
00:04:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:11
Speaker
I guess the only other thing I really have to say about that game is, you know, going back and looking at some of the team's stats,
00:04:20
Speaker
I get we play a very up-tempo offense, but when time of possession is 40-20 to Liberty,
00:04:27
Speaker
you can't give that offense the ball for that long.
00:04:32
Speaker
Um, because they're just going to wear you down.
00:04:36
Speaker
And that's what happened.
00:04:38
Speaker
Our defense was good for the first three quarters of the game.
00:04:40
Speaker
And then, you know, only being able to sit on the sideline for two minutes max, it just, it wears on you.
00:04:48
Speaker
And eventually you're just going to break down, um,
00:04:52
Speaker
And, you know, that's what happened.
00:04:54
Speaker
Them having to be on the field 40 minutes of a 60-minute game just is never ideal.
00:05:01
Speaker
No, it's not.
00:05:02
Speaker
I mean, that game was just kind of the stereotypical game of this year is, you know, the offense –
00:05:08
Speaker
You know, it's no fault of the coaches, really, even the players.
00:05:12
Speaker
It's just adjusting to the new teams we're playing that offense didn't do much and the defense could only hold on for so long.
00:05:22
Speaker
And, you know, that works against an Eastern Michigan or a UTEP.
00:05:27
Speaker
It doesn't work very well against Liberty.
00:05:29
Speaker
No, not at all.
00:05:33
Speaker
And maybe a lot of it had to do with, you know,
00:05:37
Speaker
both of our QB ones going down.
00:05:41
Speaker
I don't know how much the game plan had to change because I don't know how much of the playbook, you know, Fry was comfortable with in game action.
00:05:51
Speaker
So, and especially, you know, with him playing, I think he played the entire second half with him having to play so much and, you know, not knowing what the playbook was for him.
00:06:04
Speaker
Maybe that had a lot to do with it, and we just had to arrive with what we got and had to see what happened.
00:06:09
Speaker
But, yeah, that disparity just isn't going to work for a team like Liberty.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:18
Speaker
Look, Liberty, they probably go undefeated this year.
00:06:22
Speaker
I think FPI gives them a 75-plus percent chance to win every game after this Western Kentucky game.
00:06:30
Speaker
And even then, I think they're in the 60s for this game.
00:06:32
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:06:35
Speaker
Odds are Liberty's sitting there 12-0, conference championship.
00:06:42
Speaker
Look, if our one conference loss this year ends up being to Liberty, I think we're in pretty good shape.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, like you said, if our one conference loss is Liberty, especially in year one in this conference when –
00:06:59
Speaker
I think the conference preseason, Paul had a seventh, only ahead of Sam Houston and I believe it was FIU.
00:07:12
Speaker
Then, yeah, I'll take it.
00:07:15
Speaker
If we get out of here with one conference loss, because Liberty is just one of those teams where, you know, if they beat you,
00:07:25
Speaker
It's almost like there's nothing you can really do as far as like, yeah, you can be upset that you lost because you always want to win, but it's not an embarrassing loss by any means.
00:07:37
Speaker
No, look, I mean, preseason, that was the one game I kind of looked, besides South Carolina, that was the one game I looked at and said, yeah, we'd probably lose that game.
00:07:45
Speaker
And it has nothing to do with us.
00:07:46
Speaker
It's everything to do with Liberty's good football team.
00:07:48
Speaker
So, you know, nothing to be ashamed about it at all because,
00:07:54
Speaker
I mean, look, the guys fought.
00:07:55
Speaker
It just came down to not having the legs at the moment.
00:07:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:59
Speaker
And I believe, you know, in any other year going forward, you know, we'd be in the driver's seat to have a rematch.
00:08:06
Speaker
And I think we could beat him in said rematch.
00:08:08
Speaker
But, you know, being in year two of the transition and not being eligible for the conference championship, we don't get.
00:08:17
Speaker
We don't get that pleasure of looking forward to a rematch, but I'm definitely looking forward to that game next year up in Virginia.
00:08:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's going to be a fun atmosphere.
00:08:32
Speaker
I'm definitely going to try and see if I can somehow, someway make it to that game.
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, depending on what our schedule is, that might have to be our road trip for the year.
00:08:42
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just hoping –
00:08:45
Speaker
That one lands on the weekend, although we don't have many weekend conference slots.
00:08:50
Speaker
I'm just hoping we get lucky and that one lands on the weekend.
00:08:54
Speaker
Yeah, it can be September or November.
00:08:56
Speaker
If it's October, we probably ain't making that trip.
00:08:59
Speaker
Nah.
00:09:01
Speaker
But, look, it is what it is.
00:09:03
Speaker
I mean, took an L, and, you know, I think you'd be jaded if you went in thinking that we were going to win that game by multiple scores anyways.
00:09:14
Speaker
But then, you know, like you said, lose Zion, lose Logan, and that's the ballgame.
00:09:20
Speaker
But it is what it is.
00:09:21
Speaker
Move on.
00:09:22
Speaker
And, of course, we had another game about a week later that ended up going a lot better.
00:09:26
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:09:27
Speaker
I will say one of the bright sides to the Liberty game is we finally, finally, finally got a whiteout.
00:09:35
Speaker
Fans have been begging for a whiteout or a blackout for the longest, and it seems like the athletic department rightfully so waited for the biggest game of the year to finally break out not only the white helmets, but bringing back the retro logo on the white helmets.
00:09:54
Speaker
Yeah, man, that
00:09:56
Speaker
I hate that we wore them and then got beat by two tutties, but at the same time, it's going to come back, and I bet you we win the next one.
00:10:07
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:10:08
Speaker
And honestly, even though we lost, I still love it because a lot of our –
00:10:16
Speaker
older JSU fans can remember the, the digit camo alternate unis.
00:10:21
Speaker
And, uh, those, those are, those are something else.
00:10:25
Speaker
So to go from that digital camo to this whiteout, especially with the retro logo, it was, it was so clean.
00:10:35
Speaker
And what a fever dream of a uniform that was.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, no kidding.
Fan Reactions and Merchandise Craze
00:10:41
Speaker
And I mean, honestly, this, this retro throwback logo is everybody's,
00:10:46
Speaker
not only loving it online, I mean, you know, both of us, we went to get personalized before the game, the shirts with the logo on it, the hats, the long sleeve shirts, the sweatshirts, they were all, you know, flying off the shelves before the game that day.
00:11:03
Speaker
And they had just gotten in, I think like six hours before kickoff.
00:11:08
Speaker
So, I mean, everybody's loving it.
00:11:12
Speaker
I know,
00:11:13
Speaker
The people of Very Get Personalized said all of that merch is here to stay.
00:11:18
Speaker
So if you didn't get a chance to grab it, it'll be here for a while.
00:11:23
Speaker
You definitely want to go grab it because it's nice.
00:11:29
Speaker
So I will say, you know, you're talking about get personalized and what they're putting out.
00:11:36
Speaker
We have seen rumors.
00:11:38
Speaker
They may be putting out some striped overalls.
00:11:43
Speaker
Oh, dude, if they if they go through and pull out the striped overalls, one, I hope somehow we get them in before November 4th.
00:11:52
Speaker
But two, I'm dropping the sixty five dollars to go grab a pair.
00:11:58
Speaker
I don't care.
00:12:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think I might be dropping that money too.
00:12:04
Speaker
It's turned down that opportunity.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just really hoping – I'm sure they won't, but I'm just really hoping they drop before November 4th because being able to be obnoxious in Williams-Brice Stadium and those overalls would be fun.
00:12:20
Speaker
At the very least, I hope they drop before alumni reunion on November 18th.
00:12:26
Speaker
Man, if we show up to a reunion dress like that, it's going to be another level.
00:12:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:12:34
Speaker
But, I mean, as always, if you ever need game day gear, get personalized.
00:12:39
Speaker
And they're not paying us to say this.
00:12:42
Speaker
Yeah, they aren't.
00:12:43
Speaker
No free shout-outs, but this is a free shout-out.
00:12:45
Speaker
They just have always taken great care of not only us, but all JSU fans, and especially the Southerners.
00:12:54
Speaker
We know every fall they get absolutely –
00:12:58
Speaker
bombarded with southerners jackets orders and arena jerseys and drum major jerseys and arena jackets so like yeah huge shout out to them they make sure everybody's well taken care of and they make sure to keep game cognition looking good on game days yeah so so stop by get personalized this is not an ad uh but stop by get personalized anyway
00:13:27
Speaker
So, all right.
00:13:29
Speaker
Well, I guess let's talk about this Western Kentucky game.
00:13:33
Speaker
So, first of all, Western Kentucky fans, we love you.
00:13:38
Speaker
Promise we do.
00:13:39
Speaker
But this is what y'all get for complaining about the conference and acting like y'all are going to be above everyone else.
00:13:43
Speaker
You lost a game to a first-year FBS team, so deal with it.
00:13:47
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:13:49
Speaker
Obviously, there were some Liberty fans that were like, I wish, you know, we had gotten an invite from Sunbelt.
00:13:54
Speaker
But I haven't seen –
00:13:57
Speaker
And I'm not saying all of them because, you know, we have some really chill Western Kentucky fans over on the Twitter page.
00:14:04
Speaker
But there were definitely some that don't necessarily interact with us that I saw that were just obnoxious about, you know, this conference is so beneath us.
00:14:14
Speaker
And, you know, this is such an easy conference and we're going to go undefeated and we're going to.
00:14:20
Speaker
you know, show the Sun Belt why they should be sorry they didn't invite us, this and that.
00:14:25
Speaker
And I didn't see that last week.
00:14:29
Speaker
No, I mean, that's the case of a team that – it's not on the team.
00:14:37
Speaker
I mean, you play the game they put in front of you.
JSU's Unexpected Conference Success
00:14:41
Speaker
But we all saw on Twitter fans, and it's not all Western Kentucky fans, but a large portion of the West Kentucky fan base talking about how they were above the conference, you would say, how they're a Sunbelt team or even potentially an American conference team.
00:15:03
Speaker
And as we've seen, look, Western Kentucky fans,
00:15:06
Speaker
is in third place in the conference right now.
00:15:10
Speaker
And in danger of slipping more.
00:15:12
Speaker
Yeah, they'll play Liberty this week.
00:15:15
Speaker
And if I'm correct, they could drop to as low as fourth, depending on how things go.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think they could drop to as low as fourth or fifth.
00:15:22
Speaker
But by the time the season is done and over with, I think they could finish as low as like fourth or fifth.
00:15:31
Speaker
Which –
00:15:33
Speaker
Look, I'll be honest.
00:15:34
Speaker
I thought Western Kentucky was either going to win this conference or finish second.
00:15:38
Speaker
And there's no guarantee that they even make the conference championship games.
00:15:45
Speaker
You know, credit to the conference as a whole being a lot more even than I thought it would.
00:15:53
Speaker
I really thought it was going to be a top-heavy conference.
00:15:56
Speaker
And, I mean, we're looking at JSU and year one of the FBS.
00:16:01
Speaker
You know, we're –
00:16:03
Speaker
we might run her up in year one.
00:16:06
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker
I mean, Liberty could possibly lose this week and then, you know, win out and in any other year, you're looking at a two-way tie, obviously, with them getting the tiebreaker.
00:16:22
Speaker
You're looking at a two-way tie atop Conference USA between a first-year team and
00:16:29
Speaker
Well, I guess Liberty is also first year in CUSA, but they've been around FBS a little bit longer.
00:16:34
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, the way the standings are shaking out, it's definitely a little bit surprising up to this point, especially considering how some of the CUSA teams started the season.
00:16:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:55
Speaker
I mean, I'll say this.
00:16:56
Speaker
There are a lot of teams in the conference that I actually thought were going to be better.
00:16:59
Speaker
I thought Eastern Michigan was going to be better.
00:17:02
Speaker
I thought San Houston would be better.
00:17:06
Speaker
I thought Western Kentucky, like I said, would be better.
00:17:08
Speaker
And I thought teams like Louisiana Tech and even FIU would be better.
00:17:12
Speaker
And as a whole, it just feels like the conference, I don't want to say has gone down, but it feels like,
00:17:18
Speaker
It just feels like as a whole, there's been a lot more parity.
00:17:22
Speaker
So you've just seen a lot more teams lose games that you wouldn't think they would.
00:17:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:28
Speaker
Sam Houston being winless so far this season is just – obviously from my perspective, I love that they didn't beat us, but it's just kind of – It's shocking.
00:17:40
Speaker
It's depressing if you're a Sam Houston fan because they've had several games now where they were in the driver's seat up
00:17:47
Speaker
through the, like up through the beginning of the fourth quarter.
00:17:52
Speaker
And then some way, somehow everything just breaks down and, you know, what can go wrong does go wrong for them.
00:18:01
Speaker
And either they lose in overtime or on a last second score from the opposing team, or, you know, right there with one or two minutes left, which really sucks, you know, going in your first year.
00:18:16
Speaker
having been a fairly dominant team in the FCS and coming into what is considered the weakest, uh, group of five conference, and then just not being able to come away with a win so far.
00:18:29
Speaker
Um, and where they're sitting at now, they don't even have a chance to be possibly considered for a bowl game.
00:18:37
Speaker
Cause they've already lost seven.
00:18:41
Speaker
not that it was automatic this year anyway, because they're in the same position we are, but to just already be looking at, you know, losing season, I know that that has to hurt.
00:18:54
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:18:58
Speaker
I'll tell you what though.
00:19:01
Speaker
You know, we, we did that podcast preseason.
00:19:05
Speaker
You know, I think we both, I don't know about you predict.
00:19:07
Speaker
I think I predicted what five and seven, you may be six and six.
00:19:11
Speaker
Yeah, somewhere around there.
00:19:12
Speaker
And, you know, I was doing the math.
00:19:14
Speaker
You know, we have a real chance, obviously, wanting to win nine games.
00:19:18
Speaker
You know, if we go into South Carolina, and I'm not saying we're going to beat South Carolina.
00:19:21
Speaker
I'm not saying that.
00:19:22
Speaker
But let's say we go beat South Carolina.
00:19:24
Speaker
We finish the season 5-0.
00:19:25
Speaker
We go 10-2.
00:19:29
Speaker
Which would be insane.
00:19:31
Speaker
And I don't care what anybody would say about us playing in CUSA and being in a weaker conference.
00:19:37
Speaker
The thing is, if we were to come in year one and go 10-2 over teams that have been FBS for a good little bit, no matter what, no matter if it's a weaker conference or not, 10-2 in year one against established FBS schools is insanely impressive.
00:19:57
Speaker
Yes, it's not the same as James Madison going 8-3 in the Sun Belt last year because the Sun Belt is its own different beast.
00:20:05
Speaker
But 10-2, first year FBS, like I said, against established schools, it would be insane and nobody could take anything away from that no matter how hard they tried.
00:20:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:23
Speaker
All right, well, I guess, you know, talking about the Western Kentucky game, I really only have one point to hit besides, obviously, it was a huge win for the program.
Zion Webb's Performance and Health Concerns
00:20:33
Speaker
Gets us to 5-2 on the year.
00:20:38
Speaker
No, 6-2.
00:20:40
Speaker
I did that math wrong.
00:20:43
Speaker
Gets us 6-2.
00:20:46
Speaker
We only have one loss in conference, and we're going to be favored in our last three conference games.
00:20:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:55
Speaker
My only real comment is, what is going on with Zion at quarterback?
00:21:02
Speaker
Dude, I don't know.
00:21:04
Speaker
Maybe it's like that syndrome or disease where, you know, if you experience trauma enough, you suddenly wake up and you're just the best person ever.
00:21:15
Speaker
Maybe the Liberty game, they hit him so hard that, you know, he woke up and he was like, nobody can stop me.
00:21:25
Speaker
Even if you slam my head into the turf, I don't feel anything.
00:21:29
Speaker
I'm going to just get back up and keep going.
00:21:32
Speaker
Because there were definitely some hits and some tackles in the Western Kentucky game where not only us, but I saw a couple of fans on Twitter just being like, that dude does not look like he should be taking any more hits to the head or slamming his head in the turf anymore.
00:21:49
Speaker
So maybe...
00:21:50
Speaker
whatever happened in that Liberty game just gave him super human strength.
00:21:54
Speaker
And, you know, he's just like, yeah, I don't feel anything.
00:21:57
Speaker
What was that?
00:21:59
Speaker
Yeah, I will say we had an unsubstantiated report that he may have thrown up at the game.
00:22:06
Speaker
That was my first – that was kind of the one that popped the red flag to me.
00:22:11
Speaker
I didn't think he'd play the entire second half after that, and yet he comes in and –
00:22:17
Speaker
Just, again, goes nuts.
00:22:18
Speaker
I mean, I was doing the math.
00:22:19
Speaker
He had 146 on the ground, I think, on his own.
00:22:23
Speaker
Another 220 through the air.
00:22:26
Speaker
And all that with probably eight kinds of concussions over the last two weeks.
00:22:31
Speaker
Hey, look, this is only mostly a joke, but if that's what it takes for him to play well, maybe we should hit him in the head with a hammer before he can.
00:22:44
Speaker
Doug, I don't know.
00:22:45
Speaker
I mean –
00:22:48
Speaker
For him, I hate that it's somewhat of a wasted season if we don't get a bowl game this year.
00:22:56
Speaker
But to be going out like this, you kind of can't be upset if you're him, especially with all the injuries and the stuff that he's had to deal with.
00:23:08
Speaker
And the last coaching staff, which while he was here, was not the best.
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:16
Speaker
to be able to go out there one more year after getting that waiver, you can tell he's not going to let anything stop him.
00:23:24
Speaker
He's going to play through whatever he's medically cleared to play through.
00:23:31
Speaker
But, I mean, yeah, he – I don't know what it was.
00:23:35
Speaker
Like I said, maybe he just got hit hard enough to where he just doesn't feel anything anymore because the average person with some of those hits he took in that game
00:23:46
Speaker
They would have threw in the towel after, you know, hit one or two and been done.
00:23:53
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
00:23:56
Speaker
And, man, even late in the game when they're just trying to run the clock down, he took a snap and they were just trying to center it.
00:24:04
Speaker
And he got slammed against the ground even then.
00:24:06
Speaker
I'm like, he cannot find a way to avoid hits.
00:24:08
Speaker
It's a lot like Jaden Daniels a few weeks ago when every week he was getting hit.
00:24:13
Speaker
he's getting hit, hit hard every week.
00:24:16
Speaker
Like it was Vontaze perfect coming after him.
00:24:19
Speaker
Um, but, um, man, I don't know.
00:24:24
Speaker
Obviously we'll see this week.
00:24:25
Speaker
My only question is whether or not he actually plays.
00:24:27
Speaker
Um, I'm sure the biggest concern is that we're facing a really good Western Kentucky team.
00:24:35
Speaker
I really am wondering, does he actually play this week?
00:24:37
Speaker
Do we see Logan or do we see, you know, Ashton Fry or Tayshaun or does Zion actually play?
00:24:45
Speaker
Honestly, who knows?
00:24:46
Speaker
The way this season has gone with the quarterback room, we could walk out.
00:24:51
Speaker
We could walk out on the field come Wednesday and there was a fifth guy that nobody even knew about.
00:24:57
Speaker
The rich Rod's like, yeah, this dude's ready.
00:25:00
Speaker
I like what I saw at practice this week.
00:25:02
Speaker
We're going to throw him in there.
00:25:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:05
Speaker
The man is crazy, but he knows what works.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah, the dude is an absolute psychopath of a coach, and I love it.
Coaching Impact: Rich Rodriguez and Zach Alley
00:25:14
Speaker
I mean, if it wasn't for him, I don't know if the cardiac cocks would exist this season.
00:25:21
Speaker
No, not at all.
00:25:23
Speaker
Because we have had some massive turnarounds, which, including this game, maybe not as massive of a turnaround, but the –
00:25:33
Speaker
the first half of the Western Kentucky game and the second half of the Western Kentucky game, two, yet again, two totally different teams showed up.
00:25:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:43
Speaker
I mean, if you know, you look at Liberty, they actually came out of the half playing pretty well, but two straight drives, we lost our best QVs.
00:25:53
Speaker
So you really can't even blame that on Rich Rod.
00:25:55
Speaker
It's just the matter.
00:25:56
Speaker
It's just how the circumstance goes.
00:25:57
Speaker
But yeah, it seems like every game, the second half adjustments have,
00:26:02
Speaker
have been better and better every week.
00:26:06
Speaker
Still got to give credit to Zach Alley.
00:26:08
Speaker
Man, what a defensive coordinator.
00:26:11
Speaker
Dude, our defense is absolutely insane.
00:26:18
Speaker
Just some of the plays they're able to make, that defensive line, just making the quarterback's life complete hell from –
00:26:32
Speaker
the first snap all the way until the clocks hit triple zero.
00:26:35
Speaker
I'm going to say it right now.
00:26:40
Speaker
I don't think Zach Alley stays past this year.
00:26:43
Speaker
Obviously, who knows?
00:26:45
Speaker
Maybe he's feeling Jacksonville.
00:26:47
Speaker
Maybe he's feeling Jacksonville State, and he rides it out a little bit longer.
00:26:51
Speaker
But I would not blame that man because I know there are some P5 schools that are going to come calling, and they're going to bring –
00:27:03
Speaker
every bit of money they can and just drop it on the table.
00:27:09
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:27:10
Speaker
I hope they do too because, look, I haven't seen a defense this good at JSU since 2015.
00:27:16
Speaker
I mean, really, I haven't.
00:27:22
Speaker
You know, even teams like 2019, 2020 with Nicario Harper, we weren't making this many plays.
00:27:28
Speaker
No.
00:27:30
Speaker
It seems like every week,
00:27:32
Speaker
whenever our offense is kind of stolen out, our defense is right there, you know, keeping us alive, keeping us going.
00:27:42
Speaker
And like I said, a lot of that is because of Zach Alley and, you know, the plays and the schemes that he's drawn up.
00:27:50
Speaker
But I can't complain if he leaves.
00:27:55
Speaker
I just can't.
00:27:56
Speaker
It would suck, but –
00:27:59
Speaker
the man has proven that, you know, he is legit.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah, no kidding.
00:28:07
Speaker
All right, well, I guess next up, I guess we got to talk about the Brett McMurphy soft bomb that we got this morning on bowl projections.
00:28:21
Speaker
Well, before that, obviously, you know, we got the win over Western Kentucky, but –
00:28:28
Speaker
The reason we did.
00:28:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:28:31
Speaker
Can't forget him.
00:28:32
Speaker
AK-47, Mr. Automatic.
00:28:33
Speaker
The man slipped.
00:28:35
Speaker
He lost his footing on his plant leg and still somehow made a 41-yarder.
00:28:43
Speaker
I don't think... I don't know if people understand just how hard it is to completely slip on your plant leg and still make a 41-yard field goal.
00:28:58
Speaker
When I used to kick in high school, the longest I ever hit was 46, and it took everything I had.
00:29:03
Speaker
So for him to have basically no kinetic energy in his body and still hit from 41, and it looked like it was good from five or six yards still.
00:29:13
Speaker
Yeah, he could have hit a 45-yarder on that.
00:29:17
Speaker
I mean, that's pretty impressive because, again, he had nothing –
00:29:20
Speaker
I mean, it's like when you let a spring loose and now there's nothing left in it.
00:29:24
Speaker
He lost all energy in his body and he still had enough to get it there.
00:29:29
Speaker
It's insane.
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:31
Speaker
I mean, as we saw, he would have had the chance to run it back because there was an off-sides penalty, which would have made it a 36 and would have made it even that much more automatic for him.
00:29:44
Speaker
But we didn't even need the flag.
00:29:47
Speaker
That man really just –
00:29:50
Speaker
Somehow, someway made the 41-yarder while slipping and just – that was a good one.
00:29:57
Speaker
I mean, pretty much every – pretty much everybody on Twitter was losing their minds.
00:30:03
Speaker
We got a minute-long shout-out from Pat McAfee because that man, I mean, he's a punter, but he knows the mechanics of kicking very well, and he was – he couldn't understand it either.
00:30:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:18
Speaker
Look, Pat McAfee, that's a rich rod man.
00:30:20
Speaker
You know he's going to keep riding for us.
00:30:23
Speaker
But a minute-long video on Twitter, five minutes after the game ends.
00:30:29
Speaker
I mean, you know, I think we were talking after the game.
00:30:32
Speaker
We were watching our program become a national brand almost overnight.
00:30:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:30:38
Speaker
And it's mostly because of Pat McAfee.
00:30:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's insane.
00:30:42
Speaker
It's a mix of –
00:30:44
Speaker
the, the, the football team being the cardiac Cox us having midweek football where nobody else is watching any other games.
00:30:53
Speaker
Um, and then the icing on the cake is Pat McAfee who has, you know, multinational reach constantly tweeting about us and giving us shout outs on college game day on the Pat McAfee show.
00:31:06
Speaker
Um, it makes people want to tune in.
00:31:11
Speaker
And as Rich Rod said after one of our comebacks, I can't remember which one, are you not entertained?
00:31:18
Speaker
Because pretty much every game you tune into for JSU, it's going to be a fun, exciting football game from start to finish.
00:31:30
Speaker
Yep.
00:31:30
Speaker
I mean –
00:31:32
Speaker
Now, more often than not, sometimes maybe you just want to turn it on around, you know, 9, 9 o'clock, let it get to the second half.
00:31:38
Speaker
But, man, second half Cox, that is a conference championship winning team.
00:31:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:46
Speaker
Now we just got to find some way somehow to get Pat McAfee down to Jacksonville.
00:31:51
Speaker
I know his show follows college game day.
00:31:53
Speaker
You know, they do the show, whatever city college game day is in.
00:31:57
Speaker
I just need him some way somehow to get to Jacksonville for a game or just show up to one of our games in general.
00:32:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:07
Speaker
I'd love to see Pat McAfee in a bowl game.
00:32:11
Speaker
If, if we do get one.
00:32:14
Speaker
I'd love it.
00:32:15
Speaker
Um, I don't know what it's going to take.
00:32:17
Speaker
It may take Rich Rod picking up the phone, but it's gotta happen.
00:32:22
Speaker
Uh, yeah.
Player Accolades and Predictions
00:32:23
Speaker
Um, but before we get to, you know, talking about said bowl game, uh, uh, Alan Karajic, AK 47 and Zion both got conference player of the week, special team and offensive player of the week.
00:32:36
Speaker
And, uh,
00:32:38
Speaker
Yet another kind of just punching them out to all the doubters and CUSA and in general.
00:32:43
Speaker
We just keep racking up these conference player of the week awards, you know, week in and week out.
00:32:51
Speaker
It just goes to show no matter if you're a year one team or a year 25 team in the FBS, what matters is can your players show up?
00:33:03
Speaker
And we've proven time and time again that our players are showing up.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah, and I think one of the things is it feels like
00:33:14
Speaker
You know, I don't know if it's not a talent thing.
00:33:16
Speaker
I'm not saying that Zion Webb is the most talented quarterback in the conference, but he's probably one of the grimiest players in the conference.
00:33:26
Speaker
I mean, as we saw this last game when he probably took four hits to the head that he really didn't need to and he still kept playing, he just doesn't give up.
00:33:36
Speaker
And that's kind of what you need when you've got a talent gap is you need guys who've got a lot more fight than the guys across the line.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yeah, and I think a lot of that also is fueled by coaching because not to throw names out there or anything, but our last coaching staff just – it seemed like when the guys wanted to give up, they just let them give up.
00:34:02
Speaker
And when it comes to this coaching staff, I don't even know if the guys have that give up mentality because, you know, from day one, Rich Rod walked in there.
00:34:10
Speaker
And he kind of, I mean, not kind of, you can see he scared some guys off because as I have seen in a lot of player interviews from day one, you know, he came in and raised the bar and, you know, reset the standards super high.
00:34:26
Speaker
So there was no even coming in with the semblance of having a give up mentality.
00:34:34
Speaker
So I think a lot of credit, you know, goes to him and his coaching staff just because, you know,
00:34:41
Speaker
Like I said, we've seen from prior coaches that it's not always a given whether you have the talent or not.
00:34:50
Speaker
Yeah, and I'll tell you what.
00:34:52
Speaker
That's kind of the one thing about a Rich Rod coach team is you're really not allowed to be on a team if you don't have that 60-minute mentality.
00:35:04
Speaker
I hate to quote a certain former Auburn football coach who shall not be named, but –
00:35:10
Speaker
It takes a fourth and one mentality.
00:35:12
Speaker
It takes being willing to line up and know that you're going to physically dominate the guy across from you, even if they're better than you.
00:35:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:24
Speaker
But, I mean, you know, I just love it.
00:35:28
Speaker
We, as a fan base, we just had to deal with a lot of bull crap, for lack of a better term, just knowing we had the talent to be better.
00:35:38
Speaker
we should have been, you know, making deep playoff runs and even getting, you know, to the national championship in the FCS, you know, more than we were more than the one season.
00:35:52
Speaker
And to now finally have a coach where, you know, you,
00:35:56
Speaker
we're going to be completely realistic and transparent.
00:35:58
Speaker
We're not shooting for national championship game, not in the conference we're in, not scheduling the, you know, the non-conference opponents that we are, but just coming in and, you know, pretty much just, we're going to play a bowl game.
00:36:17
Speaker
That seems like that's the mentality.
00:36:18
Speaker
You know, we're going to win the conference.
00:36:19
Speaker
We're going to play, play a bowl game.
00:36:23
Speaker
And it's nice to see that, that they're not taking, um,
00:36:26
Speaker
you know, they're not taking crap.
00:36:30
Speaker
No, not one bit.
00:36:35
Speaker
All right.
00:36:35
Speaker
Well, you know, speaking of bowl games, we had a little bit of a, of a news bomb this morning from, I believe it was Brett McMurphy, right?
00:36:43
Speaker
Yep.
00:36:44
Speaker
Brett McMurphy this morning and well, not this morning.
00:36:50
Speaker
We'll say earlier this afternoon.
00:36:52
Speaker
He basically predicted that he only sees right now 78 fully eligible college football teams being bowl eligible come season's end, which leaves four spots.
00:37:08
Speaker
And as of right now, there are two teams that are not automatically eligible, us and James Madison.
00:37:15
Speaker
that would fill in those first two spots.
00:37:18
Speaker
And he currently has us predicted to play against South Alabama.
00:37:23
Speaker
I can't remember the exact name of the bowl.
00:37:27
Speaker
Let me pull it up right here.
00:37:30
Speaker
I know it's in Mobile, but I don't remember the name.
00:37:34
Speaker
The 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile on December 23rd.
00:37:40
Speaker
So, yeah, I mean –
00:37:42
Speaker
Should that trend keep up?
00:37:44
Speaker
And I've even – I've seen some other predictions that have even less teams.
00:37:47
Speaker
I've seen some predictions that have said 72 to 74 teams making it.
00:37:54
Speaker
So, I mean, as of right now, it's looking real bright that us and James Madison will get our shot to play, you know, play past week 12.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah, man.
00:38:07
Speaker
And I'll tell you what.
00:38:09
Speaker
if we were to get put into a bowl game within that distance of Jacksonville, JSU fans will travel.
00:38:20
Speaker
They'll travel for that first bowl game.
00:38:21
Speaker
I know I'll be there.
00:38:24
Speaker
I don't really care what day it is.
00:38:26
Speaker
I'll take two days off and I'll go.
00:38:28
Speaker
We say driving distance, and I've seen some people that have softly predicted the Camellia Bowl.
00:38:38
Speaker
And as great of an accomplishment as making a bowl game is, I am praying to the football gods, I will sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice, that we do not end up back in Montgomery.
00:38:53
Speaker
Because JSU fans have had to sit in that stadium for way too many games in the FCS kickoff when it seemed like they loved to just plug us in there because we were right down the road.
00:39:06
Speaker
Obviously, our fans will still travel.
00:39:08
Speaker
And, you know, we'll still show up and show out.
00:39:11
Speaker
But I am hoping and praying.
00:39:13
Speaker
I would rather get the Birmingham Bowl and be in protective than have to drive to Montgomery again.
00:39:20
Speaker
And I'll tell you what, having gone to Auburn High School, I played two to three games a year in that stadium.
00:39:32
Speaker
So I've probably had close to 15 games in Crampton Bowl.
00:39:36
Speaker
And like you said, I think enough is enough.
Bowl Game Aspirations and NCAA Rules
00:39:40
Speaker
And it's rare I've been there where it's been a good experience in terms of how my team has played.
00:39:48
Speaker
So, yeah, I think I need a new – I would love to avoid Montgomery if at all possible.
00:39:54
Speaker
And I would especially love to avoid that stadium because –
00:39:58
Speaker
Even though we were the home team in every game there, they always put us on the away side, or we always elected to sit on the away side.
00:40:06
Speaker
And I know that if we were to get that bowl game, we would be the away team, and I doubt the other team would choose to sit on that side.
00:40:14
Speaker
So we'd be sitting right in the same seats we've been sitting in year in and year out.
00:40:20
Speaker
Yeah, that's going to be enough for me, Doug.
00:40:25
Speaker
But, I mean, I'll take a bowl game wherever we can get it.
00:40:29
Speaker
Like we both said, would definitely prefer for it to be driving distance, which luckily being in Alabama, there's a good bit of bowl games, you know, in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama itself, Louisiana, Florida.
00:40:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
A lot of states where driving the night before or a day or two before is 100% feasible, not having to worry about getting a flight.
00:41:05
Speaker
So yeah, we just kind of have to handle, I say handle business.
00:41:09
Speaker
We already have handled our business the most we can as far as the bowl game goes.
00:41:14
Speaker
Now it's just a matter of
00:41:16
Speaker
going ahead and playing out the season so that, you know, if a little bit of a higher bowl game comes available, you know, we can get that call.
00:41:25
Speaker
Obviously, we're not looking at anything super, super high.
00:41:27
Speaker
But, you know, anything to get just a little bit more national coverage.
00:41:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:36
Speaker
And, you know, I hate that we – I'm trying to remember which bowl game it was that they took away from us.
00:41:44
Speaker
Was it the Cincy Bowl?
00:41:46
Speaker
Yeah, the Cincinnati Bowl was proposed, and initially it was looking like it was going to be granted, but the NCAA, which according to the projections right now, the NCAA rightfully said we want to make sure bowl games are only six wins or more teams.
00:42:10
Speaker
So they decided to shelve it for now.
00:42:14
Speaker
It wasn't a complete and total no forever going forward, especially adding new teams coming up here soon.
00:42:23
Speaker
But it's not a new one this year.
00:42:26
Speaker
If it was, we would 100% be looking at a bowl game.
00:42:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah, no question, because I don't know that we have enough conference sites to fill them up.
00:42:35
Speaker
So, but, hey, it is, like you said, getting a bowl game in general will be huge.
00:42:41
Speaker
As long as it's not, you know, as long as it's not the Bahamas or anything like that.
00:42:45
Speaker
Well, it can be the Bahamas because it ain't even in the Bahamas this year.
00:42:50
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that's true.
00:42:53
Speaker
Which that game is going to, you know, a CUSA team.
00:42:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:00
Speaker
Initially, it was probably going to be Liberty, but the fact that it's not in the Bahamas this year, I doubt they'll pick the number one team.
00:43:07
Speaker
Liberty will probably be playing in New Orleans, depending on how Tulane and Air Force shake out.
00:43:16
Speaker
But, you know, we'll take the bowl game wherever.
00:43:21
Speaker
For us, it won't be nearly as depressing as it will for our friends over at James Madison because they're looking at a season where they would
00:43:31
Speaker
100% be fighting, you know, right there with air.
00:43:34
Speaker
I think they're only two or three spots back from air force in Tulane.
00:43:37
Speaker
They would be fighting for a spot on December 31st or January 1st.
00:43:47
Speaker
that New Orleans Bowl would be a good game to think, obviously, not being, you know, officially balled probably means we won't go there.
00:43:56
Speaker
But still, whoever gets there, we're going to have a grand old time.
00:44:02
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:44:03
Speaker
I'm looking forward to, you know, next year, hopefully having just as good of a season, you know, playing in the conference championship and looking at, you know, one of those bowls, looking at New Orleans or Bahamas,
00:44:19
Speaker
I would hope and pray that we get New Orleans just because that's much more feasible and a lot easier to do.
00:44:27
Speaker
But obviously getting to play in the Bahamas would be huge for the players.
00:44:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:34
Speaker
Like you said, I mean, it is what it is.
00:44:36
Speaker
You know, take what you get because beggars can't really be choosers.
00:44:40
Speaker
No, we –
00:44:42
Speaker
Unlike the state of Virginia legislature, we understand that we agreed to the rules and we're just going to take what we can get and slide on out of here.
00:44:54
Speaker
We're not trying to sue the NCAA for a contract that we signed.
00:45:00
Speaker
Don't you love the consequences of your own actions?
00:45:03
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, we despise the NCAA as a body as much as the next person, but...
00:45:12
Speaker
Like we said on Twitter and like we said in the group chat, we understand rules are rules.
00:45:18
Speaker
We actually, this is karma, as we have joked about, we benefited from the NCAA's stupid rules because Bellarmine beat us in the ASUN basketball tournament because they had just moved up two years ago.
00:45:35
Speaker
That was only their second year moved up in basketball, I think is a three-year waiting period.
00:45:40
Speaker
They weren't allowed to go to the dance.
00:45:43
Speaker
So us winning the regular season, we got thrown in there.
00:45:50
Speaker
And as much as we benefited, I said it was a stupid rule then.
00:45:56
Speaker
And here we are again, same situation.
00:45:58
Speaker
NCAA has a stupid rule.
00:46:00
Speaker
And I get the old-timey reasons, but we agreed to it.
00:46:06
Speaker
It's stupid.
00:46:07
Speaker
I hate the NCAA, but...
00:46:09
Speaker
but we got to ride with it.
00:46:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:14
Speaker
But you know, like you said, it's just karma for us taking Bellarmine spot away.
00:46:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:21
Speaker
We caught a lot of crap back then from ASUN fans and college basketball fans in general.
00:46:27
Speaker
Um, the funny thing is I think most people have forgotten about it by now, but we definitely have not.
00:46:34
Speaker
Cause I've seen a lot of JSU fans joke about, you know, this being karma.
00:46:39
Speaker
Um,
00:46:40
Speaker
But, hey, all that means is we've got to repeat it next year.
00:46:43
Speaker
We saw how, you know, James Madison, they went 8-3 last year when, you know, with them taking a different route.
00:46:51
Speaker
They played a full FBS slate.
00:46:53
Speaker
They went 8-3 last year, and right now they're on track to go undefeated.
00:46:56
Speaker
Hey, we can turn around next year.
00:46:59
Speaker
I don't know what our other conference slate is looking like, but we can turn around next year and go undefeated ourselves.
00:47:06
Speaker
Yeah, we could.
Upcoming FIU Game and Strategy
00:47:11
Speaker
But other than that, I think it's time to look forward to this week's game.
00:47:18
Speaker
Yep, we got – Traveling down to Miami.
00:47:22
Speaker
Yeah, a little trip a little down to South Beach for a team that we're actually pretty familiar with.
00:47:28
Speaker
We played them in 2020 and 2021.
00:47:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:30
Speaker
I believe, and won both times.
00:47:36
Speaker
Sure did.
00:47:37
Speaker
We were fully still FCS then and beat them back-to-back years.
00:47:48
Speaker
Now, albeit that was with – that was with Zarek Cooper at QB.
00:47:53
Speaker
I think both games actually.
00:47:56
Speaker
I can't remember for sure, but I think you're right.
00:47:57
Speaker
I know he was at least the QB1 both years.
00:48:01
Speaker
I know one of those seasons he had dealt with some injury problems, but I do believe he was the quarterback for both of those games.
00:48:08
Speaker
Yeah, I'm trying to remember which year he was hurt and Zion was the starter and if that was for that game or not.
00:48:16
Speaker
I feel like Zarek started for it.
00:48:18
Speaker
Probably.
00:48:19
Speaker
Either way, I mean –
00:48:22
Speaker
Zarek has seen, not this team specifically, because it's been some years, but he has seen that school twice now.
00:48:34
Speaker
And obviously we have a new coaching staff.
00:48:37
Speaker
I'm not sure if they have a new coaching staff, but...
00:48:41
Speaker
We know we have the capability of winning, you know, going down there and winning.
00:48:47
Speaker
And especially looking at how we've played so far this season, I have no doubt in my mind that we can go down there and hopefully put together, you know, a full 60 minutes and come out with a comfortable win, you know, from start to finish.
00:49:01
Speaker
It's about time for us to start and not take our foot off the pedal.
00:49:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:07
Speaker
I mean, I think the closest we've gotten to that was Eastern Michigan.
00:49:14
Speaker
I just want a conference game where we go in and, you know, start to finish, no doubt in our minds.
00:49:24
Speaker
We just take care of business and, you know, not have to worry and call ourselves a cardiac cocks for a week.
00:49:36
Speaker
Yeah, look, cardiac cocks are great for national TV, but they're not great for our heart health.
00:49:42
Speaker
Not at all.
00:49:43
Speaker
The cardiac cocks are going to cause cardiac arrest one of these days.
00:49:49
Speaker
I mean, looking at FIU, they're 4-4 on the season.
00:49:57
Speaker
Lost to Louisiana Tech to open the season.
00:50:00
Speaker
They beat Maine, beat North Texas, beat UConn.
00:50:03
Speaker
lost pretty bad to Liberty and then lost to New Mexico state and Utah.
00:50:10
Speaker
Um, and then turned around and came away with a double overtime thriller against, of course, Sam Houston.
00:50:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:20
Speaker
Um, I, look, I think this is the week I really do.
00:50:24
Speaker
I've said it over and over again.
00:50:25
Speaker
One of these times it's going to be right.
00:50:27
Speaker
Um,
00:50:29
Speaker
I think this is the week that we finally put together a full game.
00:50:31
Speaker
Now, it comes down to one thing.
00:50:33
Speaker
It comes down to our QBs deciding they're not going to look like some brain-dead, you know, Siamese cats in the first half.
00:50:42
Speaker
But if we can get through that first half with some offense, I think we're in good shape.
00:50:48
Speaker
I really need this to be the week because I want us to have some sort of momentum, something to build off of, because we're going to have a week and a half of downtime after, you know, having that short week between, you know, or no, not the short week.
00:51:06
Speaker
Cause I think we came off a bike before we started our midweek games.
00:51:09
Speaker
Oh no, we didn't.
00:51:10
Speaker
We had Saturday to Thursday.
00:51:11
Speaker
So after coming off, you know, the short week heading into the October games,
00:51:15
Speaker
Now we have a week and a half before South Carolina.
00:51:19
Speaker
That's a lot of downtime between two games when you don't have a bye week.
00:51:27
Speaker
So we really need to just build a lot of momentum, and I hope we can, like he said, finally come out in the first half firing and continue it.
00:51:35
Speaker
Because Liberty game, we came out firing in the first half, and they were hot, and they were rolling.
00:51:41
Speaker
but then the quarterback injuries happen.
00:51:43
Speaker
I just want us to come out hot in the first half and sustain it and just have something to build off of and a lot to look forward to going into Columbia.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:51:56
Speaker
And obviously, you know, I'm not going to go so far to say we beat South Carolina, but if we come out Wednesday night and we put together the game that we need,
00:52:09
Speaker
A lot of people are going to be asking the question, can we go into Columbia and do it?
00:52:13
Speaker
Which is, you know, honestly is a very valid question looking at how South Carolina has struggled this year and also looking at the history of, you know, Jack State, especially in the recent history of going into these SEC stadiums and either coming away with the win or, and not only SEC, but just, you know, power five stadiums in general.
Power 5 Performances and Expectations
00:52:35
Speaker
and either coming away with the upset win or, you know, putting up a fight right to the very end because we beat Ole Miss, should have beat Auburn.
00:52:44
Speaker
Um, that LSU game was pretty competitive for about two and a half, three quarters.
00:52:51
Speaker
Um, and then of course everybody remembers the Florida state game, um, which we played them twice.
00:52:57
Speaker
The first game we honestly should have won.
00:52:59
Speaker
And then the second game we went on the hail, the hail Mary, um,
00:53:06
Speaker
So, yeah, JSU has a very solid history of going into these Power 5 stadiums and not making it an easy, you know, cupcake win.
00:53:20
Speaker
Yep.
00:53:21
Speaker
But, you know, it's going to be what it's going to be.
00:53:25
Speaker
Just got to trust Rich Rod.
00:53:26
Speaker
At the end of the day,
00:53:28
Speaker
I mean, we've, what, played three conference road games, I think, no, two conference road games at this point, San Houston and Milton and C. Both games in the second half, we've come out on fire, and I'd argue that our worst football is behind us.
00:53:48
Speaker
I really hope our worst football is behind us.
00:53:52
Speaker
Obviously, you know, first year FBS is going to come with some growing pains and we have seen the highs and the lows of the first year, what some people would call beginner's luck.
00:54:03
Speaker
And then what some people would call your, you know, welcome to the FBS moments.
00:54:11
Speaker
Yeah, I, I would,
00:54:12
Speaker
Considering first half, second half, first half of the season compared to the second half of the season, I think we are going to be those cardiac cocks and just go away, go out firing and come away with hopefully four out of four wins, but at the very least three out of four.
00:54:38
Speaker
Yeah, they'll be three out of the four puts us at nine and three, which is around four games better than I think everyone predicted.
00:54:46
Speaker
And, look, I'm not saying – That's way worse than me.
00:54:49
Speaker
If you're going to hear the conference, that Sunbelt is.
00:54:54
Speaker
But last year, James Madison went eight and three.
00:55:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:05
Speaker
And I'm not saying, again, not saying that this conference is as good as the Sun Belt is.
00:55:09
Speaker
If we were to go 9-3, that puts us on the same kind of track that they are.
00:55:13
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:55:16
Speaker
Which goes back to what I was saying earlier.
00:55:18
Speaker
You know, first year in general against established teams, 9-3 is 9-3, no matter what you want to say.
00:55:27
Speaker
If it was so easy, then all the schools in the conference would be, you know –
00:55:32
Speaker
sitting looking at nine and three right now.
00:55:34
Speaker
Fact of the matter is they're not.
00:55:40
Speaker
I mean, we got UTEP MTSU FIU sitting at two and six, two and six.
00:55:46
Speaker
And then FIU is four and four.
00:55:48
Speaker
All are one in three in the conference.
00:55:52
Speaker
FIU is one in four in the conference.
00:55:54
Speaker
So like,
00:55:56
Speaker
no matter what people say, you know, CUSA is weak, this and that, yeah, y'all might be sitting right now at 6-2, but y'all play in CUSA.
00:56:07
Speaker
It's like, yeah, but you still have to go out there and win every single day no matter what.
00:56:13
Speaker
So, yeah, looking at the possibility of 9-3 is huge for us.
00:56:18
Speaker
And like I said earlier, I'm not letting anybody take away what a massive success this season has been up to this point.
00:56:27
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not either.
00:56:29
Speaker
I mean, we firmly deserve everything that we've earned, and I'm hoping, you know, we at least get a chance here in two weeks to really prove it to everyone.
00:56:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:56:41
Speaker
You know, if we come away – never want to look past an opponent, but if we come away with a win this week and then at the very least make it a tight game, you know, into the fourth quarter,
00:56:55
Speaker
In South Carolina, I think we will finally start to gain a little bit of respect.
00:56:59
Speaker
Of course, it sucks that they're having the season that they're having because people will be like, yeah, but that's not the usual South Carolina.
00:57:08
Speaker
We're going to hear that bull crap no matter how much we like it.
00:57:14
Speaker
But, you know, if we handle business this week and either come away with a win or make it a really close game, you know, in two weeks and then finish out the season with back-to-back wins –
00:57:24
Speaker
There's nothing you can do but, you know, show respect.
00:57:29
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:57:31
Speaker
And if you're a Gamecock fan, if that happens, especially if we finish 10-2, you brace for whoever on the coaching staff is leaving.
00:57:44
Speaker
Yeah, and, you know, we've talked about it in the chat.
00:57:47
Speaker
Zach Galley would not be surprised if he lands a Power 5 coaching gig as a defensive coordinator.
00:57:55
Speaker
And it's not just us saying that either.
00:57:57
Speaker
I've seen Power 5 fans that have said, you know, I would love to have him on our coaching staff.
00:58:05
Speaker
A lot of people think what he's doing would translate, you know, to Power 5 schools and that level of competition.
00:58:13
Speaker
Yeah, and then, you know, to go even further.
00:58:17
Speaker
Don't you dare.
00:58:23
Speaker
We've seen some West Virginia fans starting to turn around on Rich Rod.
00:58:29
Speaker
And I'll tell you what, it's a lot easier to say you like someone when they're winning games.
00:58:36
Speaker
We ain't forgot what y'all have said about them.
00:58:38
Speaker
We know that y'all don't like them.
00:58:39
Speaker
Stop acting like you actually like them.
00:58:41
Speaker
Yeah, seeing a couple of those guys, especially after the Western Kentucky win, looking in the comment section of –
00:58:52
Speaker
Pat McAfee's video.
00:58:54
Speaker
I just saw a bunch of West Virginia fans just, Pat, is there any way you can get him to come back to West Virginia?
00:59:02
Speaker
Or just, we need this guy back at West Virginia.
00:59:06
Speaker
He's legit and this and that.
00:59:09
Speaker
But I will never forget whenever we first announced him, just seeing all the comments under Jack State football post, Jacksonville State athletics post of, you know,
00:59:21
Speaker
Fans of the various schools he coached at just saying, y'all won't be so happy, you know, once y'all get to FBS because he's a fraud, this and that.
00:59:32
Speaker
And just to see that at least one of those fan bases is trying to walk it back and, you know, beg him to come back.
00:59:39
Speaker
It's funny.
00:59:42
Speaker
It truly is rich.
00:59:44
Speaker
And we're going to remind you about that, West Virginia fans.
00:59:47
Speaker
Just letting you know.
00:59:49
Speaker
We will remind you every game that we win and y'all say that you want them back.
00:59:54
Speaker
We've got the receipts of y'all saying that you hate them.
00:59:56
Speaker
Just remember that.
00:59:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah, 100%.
00:59:58
Speaker
But, I mean –
01:00:02
Speaker
I'm going to take Rich Rod at his word.
01:00:06
Speaker
I know both of us were at his introductory press conference.
01:00:09
Speaker
He said he's here for the long haul.
01:00:12
Speaker
He's not just here to make a statement during the transition in the first couple of years and leave.
01:00:18
Speaker
So, you know, I'm going to take him at his word.
01:00:23
Speaker
Obviously, coaches say things and then, you know, a little bit later they're gone.
01:00:29
Speaker
Looking at you, Nick Saban.
01:00:31
Speaker
Love you.
01:00:32
Speaker
But, you know, he said he's here for the long haul, and at the time he wasn't necessarily looking to go back power five.
01:00:43
Speaker
So if all of that is true, then, you know, we have a long period of success ahead of us, which hopefully means putting some more trophies and rings in the trophy case and taking a couple of postseason trips.
01:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, maybe these trophies will be real trophies.
01:01:04
Speaker
Hey, the last one was real too.
01:01:08
Speaker
It was.
01:01:09
Speaker
I don't care what the Atlantic Sun says.
01:01:12
Speaker
The last trophy was real.
01:01:14
Speaker
And it was bigger than theirs.
01:01:16
Speaker
And we had rings.
01:01:18
Speaker
So they can say what they want.
01:01:21
Speaker
But that last trophy was real.
01:01:24
Speaker
And no matter what happens this year, I know
01:01:29
Speaker
There will be no petty trophies made.
01:01:33
Speaker
If we get a bowl game, I know some teams do bowl rings.
01:01:36
Speaker
I'm not sure if Rich Rod would be one of those, but it'll be interesting to just see how the rest of the season shakes out.
College Football Weekend Review
01:01:48
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
01:01:55
Speaker
I mean, other than that,
01:01:58
Speaker
This past weekend in college football was pretty exciting.
01:02:03
Speaker
For those of you who don't know, outside of being a JSU fan first, I am roll tight all day.
01:02:12
Speaker
And talk about a second half and a team giving you a heart attack.
01:02:17
Speaker
Alabama in that first half just looked abysmal.
01:02:21
Speaker
Yeah, and it's...
01:02:25
Speaker
You give credit to Josh Heupel because he knows how to scheme up some points.
01:02:29
Speaker
But I'm sorry, Tennessee fans.
01:02:32
Speaker
Y'all said all preseason that Joe Milton was going to be a Heisman winner.
01:02:36
Speaker
This dude ain't it.
01:02:38
Speaker
Dog, I mean, so I think the main problem with the first half is Bama was playing a lot of three-down defensive linemen.
01:02:48
Speaker
And there was just no pressure at all on Milton.
01:02:51
Speaker
And when he has all day, yeah, he's going to carve you up and he's going to look like a Heisman winner.
01:02:59
Speaker
But then they finally switched to four down and threw some more blitzes in there and he just absolutely collapsed.
01:03:07
Speaker
Yeah, and, you know, it's not like Hindenhooker, who also runs in the four sixes and can make you pay when you send blitzes.
01:03:16
Speaker
Joe Benton's a decent athlete, but he's not Hindenhooker.
01:03:21
Speaker
And on top of that, they don't have Cedric Tillman.
01:03:23
Speaker
They don't have Jalen Hyatt.
01:03:27
Speaker
So, yeah, so Jalen Hyatt can't terrorize Alabama fans anymore.
01:03:31
Speaker
They do have Squirrel White, which, dang, I –
01:03:34
Speaker
I don't ever want to give Tennessee credit, but that touchdown catch.
01:03:38
Speaker
That's one of the best catches I've ever seen.
01:03:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah, 100%.
01:03:42
Speaker
But, I mean, I think that this is where I knew that Tennessee was going to lose, even when I lost Faith a little bit.
01:03:51
Speaker
The second that Milton brought out the crane kick, I said, yeah, no, that's it.
01:03:56
Speaker
That's game.
01:03:58
Speaker
That's done and over with.
01:03:59
Speaker
You don't do that one until you know the game is over with.
01:04:03
Speaker
Starting off the game with that, yeah, no.
01:04:05
Speaker
Oh, man.
01:04:09
Speaker
Let's see, what other games did we have?
01:04:15
Speaker
We had Washington barely hanging on by a thread with the help of the referees.
01:04:22
Speaker
God rest you, Arizona State.
01:04:23
Speaker
You gave it your best.
01:04:24
Speaker
Yes, it is.
01:04:26
Speaker
And honestly, they won.
01:04:28
Speaker
The refs had that bogus call right before the pick six.
01:04:39
Speaker
Washington, as much as the Pac-12 is on their farewell tour and tearing it up so far, I don't think Washington is going to be it for them.
01:04:54
Speaker
No.
01:04:54
Speaker
No.
01:04:55
Speaker
I still think Oregon's the best team in the conference.
01:04:59
Speaker
Maybe Utah.
01:05:04
Speaker
Definitely not USC.
01:05:06
Speaker
I think Oregon's the best team.
01:05:09
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
01:05:12
Speaker
20th year starter Bo Nix has found some life on that team.
01:05:19
Speaker
And Auburn fans are kicking the ground.
01:05:23
Speaker
you know, hoping and praying somehow they had been able to keep him because we knew this is what he was capable of from the start.
01:05:33
Speaker
But of course, when you have incompetent coaches and incompetent offensive coordinators, you're not going to get the best out of your players.
01:05:41
Speaker
But he has definitely had a resurgence and looks absolutely amazing in that offense.
01:05:46
Speaker
And the Ducks are not a team you can easily overlook right now.
01:05:51
Speaker
No, I mean, Wazoo came into Oregon yesterday.
01:05:54
Speaker
And honestly, I thought they were going to put up a fight, and Oregon played like the top team in the conference.
01:06:00
Speaker
They did what they were supposed to.
01:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's for sure.
01:06:05
Speaker
I'll tell you what, we had one of the ugliest games in college football history.
01:06:09
Speaker
We had Mississippi State and Arkansas.
01:06:12
Speaker
That wasn't nearly as ugly as the 6-0 game.
01:06:17
Speaker
It was at San Diego State, and I can't remember who else they were playing.
01:06:23
Speaker
Six to nothing.
01:06:25
Speaker
Yeah.
01:06:25
Speaker
This, this was a week for the sickos of college football.
01:06:30
Speaker
Yeah.
01:06:31
Speaker
Um, obviously everybody had been saying, uh, San Diego state lost to Nevada six to zero.
01:06:40
Speaker
Um,
01:06:41
Speaker
But obviously everybody in college football this season has been saying how USC is a bunch of frauds.
01:06:49
Speaker
And this past week definitely proved that at least their defense is Swiss cheese.
01:06:55
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
01:06:57
Speaker
Because, I mean, Caleb Williams did what he had to do.
01:07:04
Speaker
And he put up a touchdown.
01:07:07
Speaker
Let me see.
01:07:07
Speaker
I can't remember exactly how much time was left on the clock.
01:07:11
Speaker
Let's see.
01:07:13
Speaker
He put up a touchdown with a minute 46 left to go.
01:07:17
Speaker
They were up 32 to 31.
01:07:20
Speaker
If they had gotten the two-point conversion, it would have been 34-31, which would have been ideal for them.
01:07:25
Speaker
Minute 46, and then Bryson Barnes just came out there.
01:07:32
Speaker
Dude had that dog in him and just absolutely lit that defense up.
01:07:40
Speaker
At one point, there was like a third and 24, and he had a 21-yard run to put them closer to field goal range.
01:07:50
Speaker
And, I mean, there was just nothing the defense could do to stop them, and obviously they got the field goal to win it.
01:07:59
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:01
Speaker
And I'll tell you what.
01:08:03
Speaker
This is, oh, I don't know.
01:08:08
Speaker
eight straight years that Lincoln Riley's defenses have been the reason they haven't been able to go all the way.
01:08:16
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:17
Speaker
Something like that.
01:08:17
Speaker
Somewhere around there.
01:08:20
Speaker
It almost is beautiful to watch a coach have such an easy way to fix his team and just refuse to do it.
01:08:27
Speaker
And so he gets what he's got coming to him.
01:08:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
01:08:30
Speaker
And a lot of people will say Caleb Williams has what he got coming for him, too, because, you know, he jumped ship at Oklahoma to follow Lincoln Riley.
01:08:38
Speaker
And if he does what everybody predicts he'll do, he will finish his college career not winning a conference championship or making the playoffs, which is just insane for a Heisman winning quarterback and a quarterback of his ability.
01:09:00
Speaker
I just – I hate it for him because he's my namesake.
01:09:05
Speaker
But, man, I can't stand it.
01:09:10
Speaker
Yeah.
01:09:10
Speaker
I mean, if he had stayed at Oklahoma and played through the growing pains, he'd be sitting pretty right now.
01:09:18
Speaker
But sometimes –
01:09:21
Speaker
you think the grass is greener on the other side.
01:09:23
Speaker
And as we saw from his very pained expression after the end of that game, it's not looking too green in Southern California.
01:09:32
Speaker
No, it is not.
01:09:36
Speaker
But I mean, other than that, college football, it give, it giveth and it taketh.
01:09:42
Speaker
And this weekend was a very, a very good iteration of that.
01:09:49
Speaker
Um,
01:09:51
Speaker
Trying to think if there's anything else.
01:09:55
Speaker
I don't know that there is, to be honest.
01:09:57
Speaker
I don't think so either.
JSU Fan Engagement and Future Seasons
01:10:00
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, Jim Cox are going to be in Miami this week – or not this weekend.
01:10:05
Speaker
I'm still getting used to the midweek.
01:10:08
Speaker
Yeah.
01:10:09
Speaker
which surprisingly was pretty good as far as home attendance went.
01:10:12
Speaker
I know we had 21,000 for Liberty, 17,000 roughly for Western Kentucky.
01:10:19
Speaker
So big props to Gamecock fans.
01:10:21
Speaker
But we got one more midweek game.
01:10:23
Speaker
We're in Miami this week.
01:10:25
Speaker
And then a week and a half from now, the both of us as well as our squad, we're rolling 11 deep in the Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
01:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to be leading the charge when it comes to belligerency, so y'all better be ready.
01:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
01:10:43
Speaker
We did not get our tickets early enough to be in the JSU section, so we just get to annoy whoever is sitting around us, whether they be JSU fans who join in on it or pissing off South Carolina fans just for the heck of it.
01:11:02
Speaker
Look, I'm just trying to make sure that no one gets thrown out.
01:11:05
Speaker
That's all that matters.
01:11:07
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
01:11:08
Speaker
That's the biggest thing.
01:11:09
Speaker
Luckily, they only sell beer and wine, so there's only so much that we can do before the game.
01:11:18
Speaker
And then how we perform on the field will determine if it's happy drinking or sad drinking after the game.
01:11:27
Speaker
Man, look out.
01:11:28
Speaker
That's all I'm saying.
01:11:29
Speaker
Look out.
01:11:31
Speaker
Look out indeed.
01:11:34
Speaker
Because when Rich Rodden, the Gamecocks, roll in the town, it ain't guaranteed you're coming away with a dub.
01:11:41
Speaker
No, that's all bets off.
01:11:46
Speaker
That being said, in Gamecock Nation, I know the softball team has played a couple of exhibition games.
01:11:52
Speaker
We're getting closer to softball season.
01:11:54
Speaker
It's about that time to see legendary coach
01:12:02
Speaker
McGinnis take the field, which is newly named after her, take the field with those ladies and absolutely tear it up in this new conference.
01:12:13
Speaker
We're getting ever so closer to basketball season where we have two more legends on the hard court, Ray Harper and Coach Petrie.
01:12:25
Speaker
And baseball is also right around the corner.
01:12:28
Speaker
Can't remember the new coach's name, but ready to see what he can do.
01:12:34
Speaker
It's going to be a good year for Gamecock Sports, that's for sure.
01:12:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
01:12:38
Speaker
And CUSA is a pretty solid conference in all the sports, it seems.
01:12:43
Speaker
So we got our work cut out for us.
01:12:45
Speaker
But I'm excited to see what we can do, you know, walking up in there.
01:12:49
Speaker
I don't think we have any transition rules.
01:12:53
Speaker
I know we don't for baseball.
01:12:55
Speaker
I mean, for basketball.
01:12:57
Speaker
I don't think we do for baseball or softball.
01:13:00
Speaker
I think it's just football because we were already considered to be at the top level for every other sport except football.
01:13:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think football is the only one where you have subdivisions even amongst D1 schools.
01:13:13
Speaker
So we have, you know, no transition rules, nothing holding us back in all of our other sports.
01:13:20
Speaker
And as we have seen –
01:13:23
Speaker
We have the ability to walk into a new conference and turn everything upside down.
01:13:30
Speaker
And I think we can continue that in all of our other sports this year and just put CUSA on notice across the board.
01:13:39
Speaker
definitely looking forward, definitely going to try and show up to at least some basketball games.
01:13:44
Speaker
Maybe it'll work out, shake out to where, you know, there's a double header of basketball and baseball.
01:13:49
Speaker
I know we had a couple of those in years past, you know, can catch both.
01:13:56
Speaker
But yeah, definitely want to try and get out and support some of our other sports.
01:14:01
Speaker
I'm just excited in general.
01:14:03
Speaker
Yeah, man, it's going to be a great year.
01:14:06
Speaker
And I know you and I are going to hit up
01:14:08
Speaker
some basketball games and maybe even a couple of baseball games.
01:14:10
Speaker
So we're going to be around.
01:14:13
Speaker
Oh yeah.
01:14:14
Speaker
100%.
01:14:15
Speaker
Um, but other than that, I think we're done for the week.
01:14:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think so.
01:14:22
Speaker
Um, just y'all be ready to tune back in next week.
01:14:27
Speaker
Um, uh, we're hopefully we may potentially have a guest, um, on the podcast working on that right now.
01:14:36
Speaker
Um,
01:14:37
Speaker
But if not, we'll be here ready to go to – we'll be here and be ready to give you all the report for the game.
01:14:46
Speaker
Yep.
01:14:46
Speaker
And as always, like we said earlier, Gamecock fans, if you're going to South Carolina, you've got a week and a half, get on over to get personalized.
01:14:55
Speaker
Well, actually you've got closer to two weeks right now.
01:14:58
Speaker
Get on over to get personalized.
01:15:00
Speaker
Get some of that ass-kicking chicken merch.
01:15:05
Speaker
It looks really nice.
01:15:07
Speaker
And we've got to show up and show out.
01:15:08
Speaker
When we're in Columbia, we've all got to run deep together.
01:15:11
Speaker
So get over there, get some of your merch, and we'll repeat this in a minute again next week.
01:15:17
Speaker
But we'll see you there.
01:15:20
Speaker
Indeed, indeed.
01:15:22
Speaker
Well, from the 700 Pelham Road Podcast, it's Caleb and it's Jalen, and we are signing off.
01:15:27
Speaker
See you.