Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Season 1, Episode 4 of 700 Pelham Road Podcast.
Speaker: I am your co-host, Jalen Cooper, and opposite me is my buddy, Caleb Williams.
Speaker: How are you doing tonight?
Speaker: It's been a weekend, man.
Speaker: I'll tell you what.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: We have college football.
Speaker: We have professional football.
Speaker: For those of you out there, we have the U.S. Open in tennis.
Speaker: What a great storyline.
Speaker: I mean, sports all around this weekend.
Speaker: Yeah, Ryan Tannehill sucks.
Speaker: It's okay.
Speaker: My Steelers didn't do much better.
Speaker: We ain't going to talk about that, though.
Speaker: It's all good.
Speaker: It'd be like that sometimes.
Speaker: It really did be like that.
Speaker: It has not been a good weekend for me sports-wise, but we pick it up, we pack it up, and we keep it moving on.
Speaker: That's the name of the game.
Speaker: Every week is a new week.
Speaker: I'm hoping that our own Jack State Gamecock football team can live by that mantra because this past weekend is not necessarily something you want to hang your hat on.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: I mean, I'll put it short and sweet, and then we'll get into it.
Speaker: We got some stuff to figure out in this bye week, man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, we do.
Speaker: We got some stuff to figure out.
Speaker: Coastal kind of exposed us.
Speaker: Yeah, exposed us big time.
Speaker: They showed us that we –
Speaker: We got some stuff to fix before we hit the – I mean, we're about to hit the media schedule, but before we kind of get into that October schedule, we got to fix some stuff.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: But, you know, that's usually what comes – just the growing pains of moving up to the FBS.
Speaker: You know, some schools have more growing pains than others.
Speaker: You know, you look at James and Madison last year when they moved up.
Speaker: You know, they were able to transition fairly well, fairly easily.
Speaker: Um, but you know, not everybody happens like that.
Speaker: Some teams, you know, you gotta get punched in the mouth a couple of times.
Speaker: Um, and maybe that's our route.
Speaker: That's what the first couple of seasons are for anyway.
Speaker: Not like we can win the conference or go to a bowl game.
Speaker: Um, but you know, it's, it's a step up and that was definitely our wake up call.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, you know, the Coastal is a good team.
Speaker: But, I mean, we had chances.
Speaker: I think we were up, what, 10-9 at halftime?
Speaker: Down 10-9.
Speaker: We're down 10-9, yeah.
Speaker: Really should have been up, you know, a couple scores.
Speaker: But I'm going to sound like a broken record when I say this.
Speaker: QB play was just –
Speaker: was inconsistent.
Speaker: We couldn't push the ball down the field.
Speaker: And, you know, modern football, if you can't push the ball down the field, it tends to become, you know, a situation where you can't put the ball in the end zone.
Speaker: And I think that's one of the big issues with the team this year.
Speaker: And it was even a little bit of an issue last year is we get inside the 30 and we just don't feel comfortable throwing the ball in the end zone.
Speaker: And you could kind of tell Saturday night that was the problem.
Speaker: We just,
Speaker: Running game was a leap.
Speaker: I mean, we ran the ball up and down the field.
Speaker: We just could not throw the ball.
Speaker: It's just getting exhausting almost to say this, but I'm going to say it and then I'm going to get off of it because I was really frustrated watching the game.
Speaker: We've got to find a way to get Logan Smothers in the game at quarterback.
Speaker: There's just – there's no other way to say it.
Speaker: And I love Zion.
Speaker: I respect him for coming back for year seven.
Speaker: We've got to get Logan in the game.
Speaker: Yeah, it's one of those things where, especially with the tempo we're playing on offense, our defense already is not going to get much rest, at least not as much as your average team would because our offense is moving so fast.
Speaker: So if you're sitting there getting a three and out or even only one first down the drive,
Speaker: you're only talking about two minutes off of the clock.
Speaker: You know, the defense hasn't gotten to sit for that long.
Speaker: And if you put multiple three and outs back to back or, you know, multiple drives of only getting one first down, maybe two first downs,
Speaker: You know, eventually they're going to get gassed.
Speaker: We just don't have the depth that some of these other teams like a Coastal Carolina, you know, is going to be afforded because they've been at this top level and have been able to recruit, you know, these top level guys for so long.
Speaker: You know, we're still fresh.
Speaker: We're still scratching the surface.
Speaker: So we really, when it comes to games against teams like Coastal Carolina, we really have to be in our A game from the beginning.
Speaker: just so that we can get that buffer so that when the opposing team's depth starts to win out, we still have a little bit of a buffer there.
Speaker: We can somewhat protect ourselves, give ourselves some insurance early.
Speaker: Yeah, and I think we talked about it.
Speaker: in the group chat a lot during the game.
Speaker: You know, one of the issues with, you know, you mentioned, you know, tempo and how fast we're going, but, you know, another thing with tempo is that
Speaker: Not everyone thinks about it when they mention tempo, but if you're going fast, you have to pick up first downs.
Speaker: You can't go fast and get three and outs because your defense is off the field for a minute and then they're right back on it.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And at times we picked up first downs, but it was when we were running the football.
Speaker: We didn't have a lot of conversions through the year.
Speaker: Um, at least not until Logan came in the game.
Speaker: He threw the ball really well.
Speaker: They're the end.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: That's really been our issue this year is when we get going and we're picking up first downs, we're pretty hard to stop.
Speaker: And the defense is getting plenty of rest, but at the same time, the offense is scoring a lot of points.
Speaker: But against Coastal, we were not getting first downs.
Speaker: And so the defense was getting gassed.
Speaker: And we saw there in the second half, when we gave up, you know, what was it?
Speaker: I think we lost 30.
Speaker: We gave up 20 points in the second half after giving up just 10 first.
Speaker: That's all fatigue.
Speaker: That's all that is, is fatigue, playing too many snaps and not getting enough rest because the offense isn't playing well enough.
Speaker: So, you know, I would not be opposed to actually backing off of the tempo.
Speaker: A little bit.
Speaker: I'll be opposed to backing off tempo a little bit just until we get some rhythm in the passing game.
Speaker: I'd love to see us slow it down just a little bit and give the defense a little breather because, I mean –
Speaker: Coastal is not the last challenge we've gotten.
Speaker: We have Liberty and Western Kentucky coming up.
Speaker: I can tell you right now, if we have that kind of fatigue up defensively against Western Kentucky, they may put up 60.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I'm not looking forward to that.
Speaker: It's just one of those where, like, if you look at the box score, Zion wasn't horrible.
Speaker: He was 9 of 18 for 150.
Speaker: So that's an average of about eight yards of pass.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But I mean, it was just when you look at some of those drives in the first half that ended in field goals, it just seemed like some of the reads were off, some of the throws were off.
Speaker: And, you know, it was at points in the drive where we were moving it down the field.
Speaker: And that's just kind of what kills you is, you know, when you get that momentum going and then all of a sudden something happens and it's just like you think you're going for seven, then abrupt stop, you know, you only get three.
Speaker: And like you said, it's one of those where maybe it's just time to switch you to have a quarterback.
Speaker: because Logan came in, he didn't get to pass a lot.
Speaker: He only got 10 attempts.
Speaker: He completed seven for 57 yards.
Speaker: So, you know, pretty good results there.
Speaker: But it's just, it's one of those things where, um,
Speaker: The quarterback situation has to get figured out.
Speaker: We're getting to that point in the season where we're lucky to have a bye week.
Speaker: We played in week zero, so we get that early second bye week.
Speaker: We have to iron this out now.
Speaker: I don't want to go past this point playing the dual quarterback system.
Speaker: We've already talked about it.
Speaker: I know other fans have mentioned it.
Speaker: I don't want to go past this point balancing two quarterbacks.
Speaker: JSU has traded several times.
Speaker: It doesn't work.
Speaker: I hate it.
Speaker: The offense can never find a rhythm, especially because both quarterbacks play slightly differently.
Speaker: And even though it's slightly different, it still makes a world of difference on the field, especially when it comes to play calling in certain situations.
Speaker: So we just got to iron it out.
Speaker: You got to pick somebody and go with it.
Speaker: I don't get paid enough to make that decision.
Speaker: But I think at the end of the day, our fans want the coaches to just –
Speaker: say this is our quarterback we're sticking with him you know unless something drastic happens i i just i need to know who our quarterback is going you know week in week out and i think it would be a lot better for the offense to just to know like this is the game plan because this guy is you know under center for the whole game yeah um
Speaker: It would be different if Zion were bigger because then you could argue that, you know, you bring him in as kind of a short yardage, you know, passing wildcat quarterback, but he's like 6'1", 190.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I mean, he's just not a big guy.
Speaker: And so it's tough to justify when you've got Logan, who's like 6'3", almost 220, and still runs pretty well, as well as throws the ball.
Speaker: Like, no, he hasn't hit any big throws, but, I mean, he's completing like 76% of his passes right now.
Speaker: Like, he's very accurate.
Speaker: He keeps the chains moving.
Speaker: I mean...
Speaker: the way we're running the ball, we don't need a guy looking like Joe Burrow.
Speaker: We don't.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: We just need a guy who can make the easy throws and keep the chains moving.
Speaker: And right now, I mean, I mean, we were at the first game just about front row.
Speaker: There were several, whether it was wheel routes, little hitch routes, even, you know, maybe a little out route where Zion just airmailed receivers and running backs.
Speaker: Um, um,
Speaker: We've seen Logan, especially last week when he got the start in place of Zion when he was sick, a lot of those throws that were being missed by Zion were being made by Logan.
Speaker: And no, they're not hard throws, but they're throws that need to be completed if you're going to be a starter at the Division I level.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And look, I'm not QB's coach.
Speaker: I'm not going to pretend I am.
Speaker: And I'm not going to pretend I know everything that goes into playing the position in Rich Rod's offense.
Speaker: I mean, obviously, you've got to run zone read.
Speaker: You've got to run RPO.
Speaker: If you know that you're not hitting deep shots with either QB, you should be taking the guy who's at least making the easy throws.
Speaker: And that's not Zion right now.
Speaker: I respect Zion.
Speaker: He's far harder for multiple injuries.
Speaker: He stayed for seven years, you know, I think five of which are JSU.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think he transferred after year two in college.
Speaker: So, I mean, he's fought through a lot, but, you know, at some point a good story is just that.
Speaker: And good story and good football, there's got to be an in-between.
Speaker: Right now there's none of the good football on offense right now.
Speaker: Yeah, we're running the ball well, but it's 2023.
Speaker: We've got to be able to throw the ball.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, like you said, I'm not going to sit here and claim to, you know, be a quarterback coach or be a football coach in general.
Speaker: I'm not going to claim I know what goes on, you know, in the meetings and the film sessions at practice.
Speaker: Um, but I can tell you right now, just from assessing the fan base in general, a lot of them are calling for Logan Smothers.
Speaker: Um, and again, fans aren't coaches.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: fans don't see everything that goes on behind the scenes, you know, everything that goes into making that call of, you know, who gets the nod.
Speaker: But if you want that support, which is critical, you know, in this transition period, you want that support and you want people to show up, you know, no matter what, eventually you got to show them, you know, some sort of progress or some sort of like, um,
Speaker: you know, Hey, we're committed to doing this.
Speaker: And, you know, even though this guy has been with us for seven years, maybe he's not the guy for now.
Speaker: Um, it's just one of those where it, if it comes down to it and they decide Zion's not the guy, that's going to be a tough conversation.
Speaker: And, you know, you got to rip the bandaid off though.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And I get it.
Speaker: Maybe Smothers doesn't have the playbook a hundred percent down.
Speaker: If that's, if that's one of the factors, I think after a certain point, you would much rather him have those growing pains on the field than just kind of throwing the season away.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, I totally agree.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And benching a guy is never easy.
Speaker: You mentioned ripping off the bandaid.
Speaker: It's never easy to bench a guy who's started so many games for you.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: you know rich rod has always kind of banked his success on on his quarterbacks right he's always had good play at the quarterback position at arizona he had um kahlil tate i think you know led the country in qb rushing yards um and um he didn't really have much at michigan he had um
Speaker: Denard Robinson, but that was really about it.
Speaker: At Arizona, he had Pat White.
Speaker: At West Virginia, he had Pat White.
Speaker: Pat White just about won the Heisman.
Speaker: Yeah, dude went off.
Speaker: It's like he's always had – and even at Ole Miss, he had Matt Corral and John Wrights-Promley, one of whom is an NFL quarterback right now, another of whom could be an NFL quarterback after this season.
Speaker: He's always had good QBs.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's – I trust him.
Speaker: You know, it's just year two, right?
Speaker: And he was kind of handed – I don't – this is going to come off really mean.
Speaker: He was kind of handed a make-a-wish roster.
Speaker: Yeah, 100%.
Speaker: I mean, anytime you're a new coach –
Speaker: for a team that is either one jumping into the FBS level or is a new coach for a team that was just really, really bad, you're going to have – it takes three, four years to rebuild the roster to where you want it to be.
Speaker: Yeah, we're not all – we don't get the Colorado with Deion treatment.
Speaker: He didn't bring any Louis with him, except for Rick Trickett.
Speaker: You know, we got to let him.
Speaker: He brought Rick Trickett, and that's always a – that's a big benefit at the UFC position.
Speaker: But, you know, look, I trust Rich Rob.
Speaker: I mean, we've got nine games left.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: And the thing is, as much as we wanted the Cinderella story of coming up, going 12 and zero and being like, well, if it hadn't been for the stupid transition role, you know, at the end of the day, realistically wasn't going to happen.
Speaker: You know, we're going to we're going to have our what you call welcome to the FPS game.
Speaker: It happened in week three for us.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's just one of those where we have the bye week, time to sit back, reassess, reevaluate, you know, everything.
Speaker: Because the biggest thing is our defense, at least last week, you know, first half, holding Coastal to 10 points.
Speaker: And, you know, yeah, 10 points in the first half, holding Coastal to that is insane.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But it's one of those where if the offense comes out and they're not able to sustain a long drive and, you know, they're hitting three and outs or maybe only picking up one first down with the tempo we're playing, they're going to get tired and that started to show.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: Which we were running the ball well, but once a team figures out we can't pass it, they're going to start, you know,
Speaker: loading the box up with eight guys.
Speaker: And at that point, it gets hard to run the ball.
Speaker: And then if we can't pass it either, it's one of those things where we just kind of lose it.
Speaker: And that's the game.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And, you know, I'll touch on the running game, you know, just from a schematic standpoint.
Speaker: Because, you know, you mentioned running the ball well, you know, and, you know, really we're just hoping that teams don't kind of figure it out.
Speaker: This is – Rich Rod really uses –
Speaker: two blocking schemes.
Speaker: He uses inside zone read, um, out of 10 personnel, which is four wide and then 11 personnel, which is, you know, one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers.
Speaker: Um, and then he uses, um, us NCAA and Madden players know it as inverted veer.
Speaker: Um, also known as power read.
Speaker: Actually, just the only two players he uses is inside zone read and power read.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: you know, it's not like, you know, Gus Malzahn or he runs like nine different running plays out of a million formations.
Speaker: Um, it's, it's actually pretty easy to kind of figure out, um, what the blocking scheme is going to be, you know, if they're in a,
Speaker: If they're in a four-wide set, you're either going to get inside zone or power read.
Speaker: If they're in a slant set where the running back is on a different side of the tight end, it's going to be split zone, right?
Speaker: It's pretty easy to kind of figure it out.
Speaker: It works right now because the offensive line is playing so well, but...
Speaker: Like you mentioned, teams are going to start loading the box every snap.
Speaker: And you can only run zone read so many times before your QB gets hit.
Speaker: And, I mean, we've all seen it.
Speaker: We saw it.
Speaker: We're recording actually Monday night, so this is being recorded not long after the end of the Jets-Bills game.
Speaker: I mean, A-Rod tore his Achilles tonight.
Speaker: And really, I mean, we were one play away from the QB room looking really bad because we don't have a passing game to take the load off the QB.
Speaker: And they're having to run the ball so much.
Speaker: I just wanted to kind of digress into that for anyone who was wondering what Jalen might have said when it comes to defenses figuring it out.
Speaker: It's not that hard to figure out.
Speaker: It's just a matter of deciding do you want to –
Speaker: you know, put seven in the box and trust that Zion, if he continues to play, isn't going to make that one big throw that kind of blows the offense open.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Which, I mean, we've seen his arm.
Speaker: He can.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's just, it's not consistent.
Speaker: So, you know, a lot of teams will get to that point to where they'll take that risk.
Speaker: Um, because, you know, maybe seven times out of 10, they're going to come out on top, you know, um,
Speaker: you know, it is what it is.
Speaker: You got to kind of sit back and just trust that the guys who are getting paid to make these decisions, you know what they're doing.
Speaker: And I do.
Speaker: I don't know nearly as much as they do when it comes to the whole quarterback situation.
Speaker: Like I said, what goes on, you know, practice, the film sessions, the training room, there's a lot that goes into it more than just what we see on Saturdays.
Speaker: So maybe there's a lot that we're not seeing.
Speaker: that warrants this, but I just know when the fans see Logan Smothers, they want Logan Smothers because it just, from a fan perspective, when he steps out on the field, at least, you know, between the ETSU game and the snaps he had in this Coastal game, it seems like he has a much higher ability of moving the offense down the field more consistently in all aspects of the game.
Speaker: It seems like he's a better rusher and a better passer.
Speaker: And like I said, if he just doesn't have the playbook 100% under his fingers, let him have some growing pains if that's like the main thing stopping him.
Speaker: Let him have some growing pains on the field.
Speaker: It'll be what it'll be.
Speaker: this whole season in general is going to be about growing pains and trying to figure out what's the next step and how to recover.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I honestly think, you know, just we have seen Zion.
Speaker: We have seen what he can do, not even just this season.
Speaker: We've been blessed, like you said, to have him a couple of years.
Speaker: I want to see what some others can do because at this point he can't redshirt anymore.
Speaker: I don't want to waste this year for him.
Speaker: You don't want to waste that last year either, you know, with him getting the waiver.
Speaker: But I want to see what some others can do in this offense, you know, once and not just against a throwaway team.
Speaker: I want to see him in a game that matters from the beginning.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Because if we're honest, by the time he got in in the Coastal game, it was garbage time.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I don't think that's fair to him.
Speaker: No, it's not.
Speaker: I mean, if you – removing myself from being a JSU alumni, being a current JSU grad student, being a JSU fan –
Speaker: You know, I mentioned Rich Rod's QB history earlier.
Speaker: There's no way he can look at this and say, yeah, we've got our QB1 in Zion right now.
Speaker: I mean, he has to know this is an ongoing battle.
Speaker: I hate when QB battles go on this deep into the season.
Speaker: Usually when it does, it's because they just don't have anyone that really has the –
Speaker: I don't want to just speculate, but a lot of times when it goes on into week three, week four, even going into week five, when we play Eastern Michigan, it seems like a lot of times when the battle goes that deep, it's up here.
Speaker: And look, I'm not saying Zion doesn't have kind of that.
Speaker: Zion's probably got the most dog in him of anyone in that room.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: Dog only gets you so far.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: I mean, it really only gets you so far.
Speaker: So, I love... I don't know what it's going to take to see, you know, Logan get real, you know, big-time snaps.
Speaker: I would feel like, you know, the way he's played the last two games when he's been in, you know, obviously this last game wasn't much, but
Speaker: I mean, he's very accurate.
Speaker: He makes the good throws, makes easy throws.
Speaker: And right now, that's all they're asking him to do.
Speaker: He doesn't have to be Joe Burrow.
Speaker: He doesn't have to be, you know, Caleb Williams or Bonex, right?
Speaker: So, I, you know, if we get him some QB one reps against Eastern Michigan, I really, really think that he could take control of the QB battle.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm hoping...
Speaker: with this bye week, it'll giving them an extra week will, you know, let them shake all of this out.
Speaker: Cause like you said, the QB battle going on longer, you know, most people will sit here and say, y'all can't really do anything with this season anyway.
Speaker: So why does it matter?
Speaker: I just want some sort of consistency and some sort of momentum going into the off season, you know, going into recruiting season, um,
Speaker: going into spring ball, coming back next year.
Speaker: Because, look, here's the thing.
Speaker: Zion's not getting another waiver for next year, no matter what.
Speaker: This is it for him.
Speaker: So I just want some positive momentum, some positive energy going forward for the rest of the team and for the rest of the guys that will be here next year.
Speaker: And I just think after a certain point, like you said,
Speaker: You can't have to let Logan do what he's going to do.
Speaker: It's one of those where if our offense only stays on the field for a minute, minute and a half, two minutes at a time, we're going to get a lot of results like this.
Speaker: It's beating a dead horse, but for our level of football, we've got a gauntlet coming up, and I would much rather not embarrass ourselves and go 0-5.
Speaker: We have both seen how the Gamecock faithful will switch on you as a head coach, you know, in the blink of an eye.
Speaker: I came in in 2015, you know, we go to the national championship game and then you see the fall from glory and fans calling for Coach Gross's head, you know, starting around 2018, 20, yeah, 2018, really the end of 2017.
Speaker: And I don't want that for Rich Rod.
Speaker: He's a great coach.
Speaker: I think a lot of fans think highly of him, especially after his introductory press conference.
Speaker: And you just want to keep the fan support on your side.
Speaker: You want people to show up to games because we've also seen the extremes of that.
Speaker: I have seen JSU Stadium packed out to where a standing room only for a football game.
Speaker: And then I've also seen it where, you know, you have the Southerners, you have parents, and you have –
Speaker: you know, some of the faithful sprinkled around and you may be lucky to have 3000 people there.
Speaker: Um, and you definitely don't want, I don't want to go back to that era of JSU football.
Speaker: Um, especially now with this beautiful stadium remodel coming up to pack the fan.
Speaker: I want the fans to be able to pack the stands out, you know, and be proud of the product that is on the field weekend and week out.
Speaker: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Well, it's, we got a few, you know, I said earlier, we got nine games.
Speaker: The good is going to come.
Speaker: It's going to come.
Speaker: um, you know, you just touched on it, you know, new, you know, stadium renovation, the field house is going to look great.
Speaker: They're going to really kind of close in, you know, that, you know, the, uh, I don't even know which direction is that end zone.
Speaker: Um, they're going to close in, they're going to close in that end zone a lot more.
Speaker: So it'll look a little more, you know, at home versus just kind of an open hair, you know, open air stadium.
Speaker: It'll look a little more closed in, look a bit better.
Speaker: Um, they're going to go in and, you know, clean up and renovate the, uh,
Speaker: Rumor has set as anyway, it's not confirmed, but they'll go in and clean up the away stands after this season and kind of get it into a really, really good shape for being a, you know, a division one FPS stadium.
Speaker: I mean, the future of the program is bright.
Speaker: And, you know, I mean, you touched on, on JSU fans turning on coaches in a heartbeat.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think the good thing about Rich Rod is he's a name that you can kind of bank on and look back on his history and say, hey, this is a guy who's coached in two Power Five conferences as a head coach, another as an offensive coordinator.
Speaker: He's been within a game of the national championship.
Speaker: He's beaten Marcus Mariota at Oregon twice.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: and really gave Oregon fits in the Pac-12 championship game in 2014.
Speaker: Like, he's coached everywhere he's been there and done that.
Speaker: So it's not like it's, you know, John Gross, which is a JSU legend, and you're like, well,
Speaker: he doesn't have that much coaching experience to rely on.
Speaker: You know, Rich Rod, you can bank on and say, hey, you know, it doesn't look great now, but he's proven that he can win.
Speaker: So we just have to give him time.
Speaker: So, I mean, the good news is for Rich Rod, he's got time.
Speaker: I mean, he could be here for 15 years if he wants to because once he gets his rosters, he's going to start lighting up the scoreboard left and right.
Speaker: And we know that.
Speaker: We've seen it before.
Speaker: So, I mean, we saw it last year.
Speaker: I mean, it's not like this is just his first year.
Speaker: Like he, he proved to us last year that when he has equal talent, he typically wins a lot of games.
Speaker: So that's really, that's all, that's all it's holding us back now is we're just, our talent is a step below everyone else we're playing right now.
Speaker: And it's not anyone's fault.
Speaker: That's just as the nature of jumping from FCS to FBS, but yeah,
Speaker: I mean, we're in good shape.
Speaker: I look forward to, you know, getting this bye week over with and kind of getting some things figured out and then seeing how they pick it up against Eastern Michigan.
Speaker: But, you know, it's a long season and we've got a long way to go.
Speaker: So –
Speaker: Yeah, and I mean, for all intents and purposes, I don't like calling it a throwaway season because I think, you know, we can still do a lot of good.
Speaker: But, you know, as far as most people are concerned, it's a throwaway season.
Speaker: We can't win the conference.
Speaker: We can't go bowling.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, it is – Well, we can win the conference.
Speaker: We can make a trophy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay, yeah.
Speaker: We can conference, you know, make a trophy and buy rings even if, you know, if we finish in first and they don't recognize it.
Speaker: Been there, done that.
Speaker: Looking at you, A-Sun.
Speaker: I remember who did that.
Speaker: Looking at you, A-Sun.
Speaker: But, yeah, for all intents and purposes, this is a throwaway season.
Speaker: So, yeah, this is the year you want to experiment and figure out what does and doesn't work.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You just also don't want to lose the fan base.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You want to reiterate to them that, you know, you're not satisfied with where you are right now, which he's doing a good job.
Speaker: The other coaches are doing a good job of it.
Speaker: You just really hope that the fan base sticks right there with you, you know, through it all, which I think they will.
Speaker: I don't think it's – after last year being successful,
Speaker: I think it's been long enough of the downswing.
Speaker: We say downswing.
Speaker: It's been three games into this season.
Speaker: But even at the end of the season, if we only manage to rip off four or five wins, I don't think that'll be enough to turn fans away.
Speaker: And if they do, they're kind of dumb and they just don't understand football.
Speaker: But, you know, it is what it is.
Speaker: We have the bye week and then we get to come back home.
Speaker: um, that next weekend, the 23rd.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, we, we got some time to figure it out.
Speaker: I think we can figure it out.
Speaker: I think we can turn this season around.
Speaker: It's definitely not too far gone.
Speaker: I'm looking right now.
Speaker: It looks like as of right now, we're favored to be Eastern Michigan.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They haven't started the season that well, from my understanding.
Speaker: Yeah, we don't have a money line yet, but according to ESPN, they're giving us a 72% chance to win.
Speaker: We'll see.
Speaker: They're 1-1, but they – game one, they beat Howard 33-23, and then game two, they lost to Minnesota 25-6.
Speaker: I'm no mathematician, but if you're playing Howard in football and you're winning by 10.
Speaker: It's not a good sign.
Speaker: Not a good sign.
Speaker: And then on top of that, if you're losing Minnesota by 19, after what we just saw them doing against Nebraska two weeks ago, it's not very good.
Speaker: So, yeah, home game.
Speaker: Home game, you know, it's going to be packed out because I think it's fall preview day, maybe.
Speaker: That might be homecoming.
Speaker: Let me look at the schedule.
Speaker: It's one of the two.
Speaker: I think that's homecoming.
Speaker: It may also be fall preview day, but I think that's homecoming because we're not doing a homecoming in October.
Speaker: Let's see here.
Speaker: I know there is an event.
Speaker: I just have to figure out which one it is.
Speaker: Yeah, I know we're not doing homecoming in October courtesy of Conference USA playing midweek games in October.
Speaker: Yeah, thanks for the money, CBS.
Speaker: We'll really take it.
Speaker: Yeah, no, that's homecoming because the next week we're away at Sam Houston.
Speaker: It's both, yeah.
Speaker: So that's going to be a packed out game because you're going to have all of the visiting students as well as all the alumni.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, which we can get more into that on next week's episode.
Speaker: But, yeah, I mean, it's a good week to have a reset for sure.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Sit back and evaluate the good and the bad, which there's a lot of good.
Speaker: Our defense through the first three weeks, you know, facing all three levels of talent that we've had, you know,
Speaker: mid to bottom tier FBS or bottom tier FBS, mid tier FBS and coastal.
Speaker: And then, you know, mid to top tier SCS and ETSU.
Speaker: Our defense has been, has been pretty elite, at least when, you know, they're not gassed.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Completely tired.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Some of the bad is we just don't have that depth, but that comes with making such a huge jump.
Speaker: We're just not going to have it yet, not until Rich Rod and his coaches and his recruiters can get out and, you know, work some magic.
Speaker: Offense, you know, you look at the good.
Speaker: We've talked about it ad nauseum.
Speaker: The running backs are killing it.
Speaker: I mean –
Speaker: We don't have Anwar back yet, and we thought Ron Wiggins was going to be the guy, you know, the one guy.
Speaker: Seems like Malik Jackson has been a very nice surprise.
Speaker: He's a star.
Speaker: Seems like he came in and just wanted that position to be his.
Speaker: Don't get me wrong.
Speaker: I still love Ron Wiggins.
Speaker: I still think it's a 1A, 1B type thing.
Speaker: But Malik Jackson has very much surprised a lot of people.
Speaker: And, you know, hopefully we do get to see Anwar this year because that's a three-headed monster coming out of the backfield.
Speaker: And I just hope we can figure out the quarterback situation so that, you know,
Speaker: whoever it is can compliment those three guys and, you know, are pretty solid wide receivers.
Speaker: Because I definitely think it can be a situation where this offense, once they finally, you know, decide who it is, I think this offense can blow up and just go absolutely stupid.
Speaker: Because, I mean, we got some dudes with some hands out there.
Speaker: Harry Carter, Sterling Galvin, obviously.
Speaker: Sean Brown, C. We got him.
Speaker: JSU has a history of not using their, you know, amazing tight ends.
Speaker: We got to keep...
Speaker: people like Sean Brown involved.
Speaker: We've got to keep Sterling Gallman involved.
Speaker: Don't want those guys to feel like, you know, they're not truly part of the production of the team.
Speaker: And that just all comes back to finding out the quarterback, figuring out the quarterback situation.
Speaker: But, hey, that's what weeks like this week are for.
Speaker: And that's what those coaches get paid the big bucks for.
Speaker: Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker: You mentioned Sterling Galvan.
Speaker: He actually was recruited to Texas Tech by Cliff Kingsbury before Cliff went to the cards.
Speaker: So he –
Speaker: If he was a crew, I mean, Cliff, every guy knows how to throw the ball around.
Speaker: If he sees Sterling as a weapon, we need to see him, continue to see him as a weapon and get him the ball.
Speaker: You know, you mentioned Sean Brown.
Speaker: Outside of Trey Berry, we have not used our tight ends the way we need to.
Speaker: And Trey was a freaking cheat code.
Speaker: And we didn't even use Trey the way he should have been used that last season and a half we had him.
Speaker: But, you know, that's a totally different story.
Speaker: And I think once we figure out the quarterback situation,
Speaker: all of that will shake itself out because the middle of the field has been wide open.
Speaker: That's all I'm going to say.
Speaker: The field has been wide open and we have not utilized it enough.
Speaker: But overall, first three weeks of being at the FBS, I am very content.
Speaker: A lot of good to look forward to this season.
Speaker: definitely much better than what we could have been looking at.
Speaker: We roll with it.
Speaker: We get better.
Speaker: Next week is a new week.
Speaker: We don't have a game.
Speaker: But we still have a chance to get better.
Speaker: So next week is a new week for Gamecock football.
Speaker: And we keep it rolling.
Speaker: Other than that, in Gamecock sports, right now,
Speaker: As we're recording this, I got a Twitter notification earlier.
Speaker: The men's golf team is doing pretty well.
Speaker: The golf week fall challenge, I think, in South Carolina.
Speaker: One of the Carolinas.
Speaker: I know today they had all five guys shoot under par.
Speaker: And I think you said nine out of the total ten rounds that we've shot.
Speaker: have been under par.
Speaker: Yeah, nine of the ten rounds of the tournament between five guys were under par.
Speaker: And the only over par round was a one over 73.
Speaker: So they played well.
Speaker: They finished seventh out of 14th.
Speaker: So, I mean, it was a good week for them.
Speaker: I want to understand it was their first tournament of the fall.
Speaker: I hadn't really heard anything from them until this week.
Speaker: So,
Speaker: Yeah, that was their first.
Speaker: I know the women's golf team starts tomorrow, I believe, their second tournament.
Speaker: I think they're down in Mobile.
Speaker: Is it Mobile?
Speaker: Somewhere in South Alabama.
Speaker: I think so.
Speaker: But, yeah, golf is underway.
Speaker: And for those of you who don't know, JSU, we have a celebrity or two in the golf world that
Speaker: decided to hit off the T's here in Jacksonville.
Speaker: Yeah, we got a Masters winner.
Speaker: We got a green jacket.
Speaker: Not many schools can say that.
Speaker: No, not many schools at all.
Speaker: And people are like, well, he didn't go there for all four years.
Speaker: I don't care.
Speaker: He went there long enough for us to claim him.
Speaker: He was on our golf team.
Speaker: So we have a green jacket.
Speaker: Thanks.
Speaker: Thanks, Danny Willett.
Speaker: We appreciate it.
Speaker: Yeah, it was good knowing you.
Speaker: But, I mean, yeah, golf is off to a good start.
Speaker: They're always, you know, pretty solid.
Speaker: This is their first year in a little bit of a tougher conference.
Speaker: So, you know, curious to see how they'll fare out.
Speaker: I think that's the consensus across all of our sports is just kind of using this as a barometer to see where they shake out.
Speaker: Women's volleyball had a good –
Speaker: Had a good run.
Speaker: They swept Arkansas Pine Bluff.
Speaker: So congrats to the ladies.
Speaker: As always, the volleyball team is spectacular.
Speaker: They always have a great season.
Speaker: So if you ever get a chance, go to the Pete and check out a game.
Speaker: Women's volleyball team will not disappoint.
Speaker: Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker: I mean, outside of JSU sports, this weekend has been pretty good.
Speaker: I know we mentioned earlier in the podcast, Colorado, the Deion train.
Speaker: Coach Prime, that man is rolling.
Speaker: I mean.
Speaker: I did not see them starting 2-0.
Speaker: I saw them starting 1-1 because I didn't think Nebraska was going to be that good.
Speaker: I didn't think they'd go into Fort Worth and be TCU.
Speaker: But, hey, here we are.
Speaker: Obviously, they've got USC and Oregon coming up.
Speaker: But, hey.
Speaker: Oregon looked beatable this week against Texas Tech.
Speaker: I mean, USC is USC.
Speaker: They got the best player in college football.
Speaker: So, I mean, you can't really – that's a different challenge.
Speaker: But, you know, we'll get into that once that game gets here.
Speaker: But, I mean, they're – they've got one of the best players in college football, Chador Sanders, one of the other best players in Travis Hunter, who's a monster.
Speaker: He's a – he's a –
Speaker: If you did Road to Glory or career mode and your player played running back and then safety and had 300 yards and then four picks, that's Travis Hunter.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And if you're playing on rookie mode as well, by the way.
Speaker: Yeah, that man is crazy.
Speaker: I think so far through two weeks he has –
Speaker: like 250 snaps total or close to it.
Speaker: If he doesn't have that number, if he can keep that up, I, for one, I know he's going to break whatever record, if there is a record for the amount of snaps played in the season.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And if he can genuinely do it at a high level on both sides of the ball and stay healthy, I know, you know, NFL execs are foaming at the mouth.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No, no question.
Speaker: I don't, here's the thing.
Speaker: I don't know what position he would play because he's too electric of a receiver to keep out of the offense.
Speaker: He's too good of a corner to keep off the field on defense.
Speaker: And,
Speaker: but he's too valuable to put on special teams.
Speaker: Hey, I mean, the Falcons came up with a new position, the Joker, so maybe he'll be the second Joker.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe he's the next Cordero Papson.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker: Except he plays defense as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, hey, as Deion Sanders says, do you believe now?
Speaker: I think we believe.
Speaker: I think a lot of people are believing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I wish them the best of luck.
Speaker: I hope they keep rolling.
Speaker: Any other college football stories you want to hit on real quick?
Speaker: It's not necessarily a college football story, but it certainly affects being able to watch college football.
Speaker: Charter and Disney stopped hating each other, finally.
Speaker: I actually got an email in the middle of recording this saying that all Disney channels are back on Spectrum.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: So if you have Spectrum, you can watch ESPN now.
Speaker: I saw Spectrum because I actually have Spectrum Mobile.
Speaker: So I opened up my app the other day and it said they finally made a deal.
Speaker: So glad they were able to figure that out.
Speaker: I feel like Disney, ESPN, whoever, always has that problem with one of the major providers every now and then where
Speaker: All of a sudden it's like, oh, if you have DirecTV or if you have Dish or if you have, in this case, Spectrum, you won't have ESPN or any other Disney channel because we can't come to a deal.
Speaker: Contact XYZ.
Speaker: And it's like, wow, can y'all really just stop playing our ass people in there?
Speaker: It's one thing if you were to have this disagreement, say, in the summer, because there's not really many sports going on.
Speaker: You know, that's really the middle of baseball, so it's not super important.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You're doing this in the fall.
Speaker: Week one.
Speaker: Right at the beginning of college football and, you know, heading into week one of the NFL.
Speaker: People are mad.
Speaker: And for it to happen in, like, literally, like, a minute into Florida, Utah, the first, you know,
Speaker: The first game between two Power 5 teams all season on a Thursday night.
Speaker: It's either that or UCF, Kent State are the only games that people are watching.
Speaker: And that's when you decide to remove all your channels.
Speaker: It was just funny.
Speaker: Man, I'm glad they got it back because now I don't have to use my dad's dish just to watch Auburn every Saturday.
Speaker: I can actually put it on my TV now.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I know a lot of people were very much not happy.
Speaker: In cases like that, I do not promote using non-traditional methods of watching sports, but you got to do what you got to do.
Speaker: If it's out there, use it.
Speaker: You know, it's Saturdays and Sundays in the South.
Speaker: In the fall, you got to have your sports.
Speaker: There's a reason why I'm telling you not to have a wedding on the weekend in the fall in the South.
Speaker: I ain't going to name drop any of those websites that may or may not have streams, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do.
Speaker: I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not I used one of those to watch the Titans game this Sunday, but it is what it is.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It is what it is indeed.
Speaker: Um, Hey, if they're going to have it out there, you might as well.
Speaker: It's called using your resources that are available to you.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's just being resource.
Speaker: It's being innovative.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, I think that's it for me.
Speaker: It's a, it's quite a week for Gamecock nation.
Speaker: We got, I did not look up the schedule for, you know, volleyball and soccer heading into next week.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: That's really all we got.
Speaker: We got golf.
Speaker: Like I said, men's golf is wrapping up.
Speaker: Women's golf is about to start.
Speaker: No basketball yet.
Speaker: No baseball yet.
Speaker: No softball yet.
Speaker: Hey, we're so close to just having a jam-packed schedule.
Speaker: Yeah, we are not far.
Speaker: Once basketball – I think we mentioned it last week.
Speaker: Once basketball and baseball and softball are hitting, we're going to have like –
Speaker: six games a week to talk about.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Let me see, because obviously we already have the basketball schedule.
Speaker: Let me see when that first game is.
Speaker: So we have an exhibition against Talladega College in the Pete on November 1st.
Speaker: So it's looking like, what's that, a month and a half from now?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We got roughly six weeks, and then I think the first official game is on the seventh in Jacksonville versus Brescia.
Speaker: I don't know how to pronounce that.
Speaker: I've never known how to pronounce it.
Speaker: We got about a month and a half before we get college basketball back in the Pete.
Speaker: And after a couple of warm-up games, you know,
Speaker: We really get rolling.
Speaker: We got some good games in the P and on the road.
Speaker: Definitely going to have to make it to Jacksonville for a couple of those games because the P is electric.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: I'm browsing at the schedule.
Speaker: We have Liberty on a Saturday in January.
Speaker: On a Saturday, I will be there.
Speaker: Yeah, I think I'm going to be at that one.
Speaker: We got blessed to have Liberty on a Saturday.
Speaker: Yeah, I'll be there.
Speaker: I'll be encouraging everybody I know to be there because that's a big one.
Speaker: Yeah, you're going to see me and Jay in front row with a cock flock that game causing all kinds of problems with the Liberty bench.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: But, I mean, hey, we're close to basketball season, both men and women.
Speaker: And, like I said, baseball and softball will be right behind them, right around the corner.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: I'm ready.
Speaker: I'm so ready.
Speaker: Well, I think that's it for me.
Speaker: You got anything else you want to talk about?
Speaker: No, man.
Speaker: Just another week, another good episode.
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: Oh, well.
Speaker: Should we break the news on the future of the podcast?
Speaker: Hey, I mean, we can if that's what you want to do.
Speaker: I told you.
Speaker: I forgot about that.
Speaker: All right, yeah.
Speaker: So I think starting this next week, and I'm going to be working on it this whole week as we kind of get this episode, you know, get ready to go.
Speaker: I will be working with our boss at Sidelines and Totem Pole Nation to start to get the 700 Pelham Road podcast on the Totem Pole Nation podcast network.
Speaker: It's essentially going to be the sidelines podcast network, and it's going to go through totem pollination, which is a great account on Twitter.
Speaker: I'm going to go follow him at totem pollination.
Speaker: Really good football analyst.
Speaker: Just, you know, loves the game.
Speaker: And we are going to be getting, getting on that network and we're going to try to get a lot of other podcasts through sidelines on there.
Speaker: So it'll just be this one giant network.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Some other news with it, we also got approved for Zencaster Creator Plus.
Speaker: So we're now officially monetized.
Speaker: Hey, let's go.
Speaker: We are officially monetized and waiting sponsorship offers.
Speaker: Let's go.
Speaker: Let's go.
Speaker: And speaking of trying to bring other podcasts along with us, I know...
Speaker: you know, starting off has just been us too, but we do have plans going forward whenever we start playing CUSA teams to link up with some of the other podcasts, you know, trade episodes.
Speaker: So, you know, there will be episodes where there are guests, whether it be from opposing schools, you were going to, we're still going to try and, you know, bring some JSU guests on.
Speaker: We've had a couple of people actually, you know, talk to us about it.
Speaker: So,
Speaker: coming up coming coming here soon you know you will hear and see other faces and you know hear other voices so uh yeah we're heading into a great time for this podcast and i just hope it gets better as always if y'all can think of any you know feedback positive and negative i want to hear it all you know you can always um
Speaker: either leave a comment under, you know, whenever we say we posted the episode, you can DM us.
Speaker: We're both very active on X. I call it Twitter.
Speaker: We're both very active.
Speaker: Um, and we will, you know, get to your message.
Speaker: We will try our best to respond.
Speaker: You know, if you go a long time without us responding, leave a comment.
Speaker: We see those a lot better and a lot clearer than we see, um, direct messages sometimes.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: Don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Speaker: You know, we want to hear it all.
Speaker: We want to get better, just better for everyone.
Speaker: But that's all I got.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's everything I got.
Speaker: Well, you have a good night.
Speaker: Stay safe and see you next week.
Speaker: Yes, sir.
Speaker: 700 Pelham Road signing off.
