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2025 Sun Belt Football: Portal movement, Coastal & Southern Miss choke, Texas State rides off
83 Plays2 months ago
Brian and Zeke put a bow on the 2025 Sun Belt Football season, first, by breaking down the portal movement and landing spots for Colton Joseph, Jaylen Raynor and Alonza Barnett III.
To wrap the season up, the pair break down Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss blowing leads in bowl losses, Georgia Southern outclassing App State, and Texas State leaving the Fun Belt with a bowl win.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome everybody in to Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt Podcast. My name is Brian Stone, joined once again this week by Zeke Palermo. Zeke, we are are doing our final episode, ah basically talking about the remaining bowl games from the 2025 football season. This will be our last episode that we do for a while. But we've got some portal news.
Personal Updates and Season Recap
00:00:40
Speaker
We've got some ah bowl games that were, frankly, choked away.
00:00:45
Speaker
ah by a pair of Sunbelt teams that we can get into. But I know we haven't been talked since before Christmas, man. How was how was your winter break, so to speak, with Christmas and New Year's and all?
00:00:57
Speaker
No, it was good, man. Got to spend some good time with family, ah with friends. My girlfriend, it was it was a great time. um I quit my job, which is crazy. um And so just ah just getting... i don't know this... I start as we record this tomorrow, actually.
00:01:15
Speaker
um So it's going to... We'll see how it goes. No, but i'm I'm excited to be back.
Sunbelt Teams and Transfer News
00:01:22
Speaker
We had some interesting games. As you said, two that were really choked away um that should have been Sunbelt wins. ah We've got two games.
00:01:31
Speaker
ah One that was obviously going to be won by a Sunbelt team because it was Sunbelt on Sunbelt action. And then... you also get at um really Texas State's final salvo ah as a member of the conference, just kind of running over in their game. So ah it was an interesting spread of games. And then, as you said, I think really more importantly than the bowl game performances is the transfer news, um which I think is going to really, i mean, it tips the, changes the landscape of the teams at the top very, very severely if you just kind of want to get into those.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, i mean I mean, we can go ahead and jump in. um I hadn't asked you about this. I hadn't been keeping up super closely with some of the other landing spots that some of the big Sunbelt quarterbacks and and big like impact players have went, but...
00:02:26
Speaker
Two days after we recorded our last episode, Jalen Rayner went into the portal from Arkansas State. He recently just landed at Iowa State. um So I think that's an upgrade for him from both kind of a infrastructure perspective. you know Maybe he'll get on a team that actually plays a lick of defense so he won't have to score 44 points every week in order to to win games. um Colton Joseph recently landed at Wisconsin. I... e ah I don't know that I would want to have gone to Wisconsin. ah They seem kind of just like a general, like a mess in general. And that's less of, that's less of a commentary on, on Colton Joseph and more just on what the heck has been going ah on at Wisconsin um since Luke fickle got hired. It's not been great.
00:03:16
Speaker
I haven't seen anything on Alonza Barnett ah after the, the Georgia Southern App State bowl game. a lot of the players at Southern went into the portal.
00:03:27
Speaker
JC French, notably um three. I think it was like three offensive linemen. ah Robert Wright, I think, um,
00:03:40
Speaker
I can't remember all of them, but, you know, it it was it was basically the the the really good guys who were borderline like either all conference or borderline all conference left and went into the portal. And I've been seeing where some of them are taking visits. But I don't know, man, like what have you seen anything on Alonzo Barnett? Like, is he have like a short list or and or did he land somewhere?
00:04:03
Speaker
Actually, he did. So let's get your live reaction. Alonzo Barnett is transferring to UCF.
00:04:12
Speaker
who Who is even the coach at UCF right now? um still I think it's still Scott Frost. i ah that's another one where I'm like, yeah you might have been just better off sticking around at JMU. I mean, unless Billy Napier explicitly told you to hit the bricks, which I doubt he would have.
00:04:32
Speaker
i I think JMU is a better program right now than UCF is. I mean, one was just in the college football playoff and one is still talking about the playoff from 2016 that they almost made or whatever. the The national championship they should have been in, that's been their hallmark that they've really hung on to.
00:04:51
Speaker
um I don't know, man. like i Good for these guys for getting in the bag, obviously, like cashing in. And I'm sure they secured like better n NIL funds than they would have at their original stops.
00:05:04
Speaker
To me, I feel like the only one that was a clear, clear, clear upgrade is Jalen Rayner going from Arkansas State to Iowa State because we we had talked for weeks and maybe even years going back years about how they were they were not supporting
Wisconsin and UCF Transfers
00:05:21
Speaker
him. you know This year they played. I understand Jaquette's cross got hurt, but...
00:05:26
Speaker
they basically didn't have a running game all season and you've got to have at least one more running back on your roster that can muster, you know, four yards of carry and Kenyon Clay and Devin Spencer were not doing that this year.
00:05:41
Speaker
And their defense outside of the pass rush was kind of non-existent. So, And then, you know, you you had brought this up ah in the last episode, like Corey Rucker was just in and out all season. And it was like some games he'd show up and he'd give you eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. And then the next game, it would be four catches for 30 yards. And you're just like, where did he go for 60 minutes? Like, i I don't know. Sure. Yeah.
00:06:07
Speaker
I think for Rainer, um yeah, it's it's just it pretty much a straight upgrade. This is obviously um with Matt Campbell ah going over taking the Penn State job. This is ah a team that's in a little bit of flux.
00:06:22
Speaker
um So there's going to be some uncertainty. But Rainer with, I think, two years of eligibility left – He has some time to settle in, see how that program kind of shakes out before they actually you know get things moving. um For Colton Joseph, again, I feel a little underwhelmed by the move from his perspective. um For Wisconsin, think I don't know if this is what was their big problem, but at a quarterback from a quarterback perspective, um they really struggled to keep and guys healthy this year, and that that held them back a lot. um And from what we've seen from Colton Joseph, even when he takes a beating, that i mean, that guy just...
00:07:04
Speaker
Hits there, he runs the ball 15 times a game, sits back in the pocket, you know, drops back 25 times a game, ah and has been pretty injury-free from over the past two years, two, three years.
00:07:15
Speaker
um So it's good for Wisconsin from that perspective. But yeah, I i guess from Joseph's persec perspective, um Again, i would imagine have imagined that there would have been a little more of a sexy suitor for him.
00:07:30
Speaker
Same thing with Alonzo Barnett at UCF. There's an angle to like, you know, Wisconsin's not a quarterback factory by any means. It's like Russell Wilson, and that's kind of it.
00:07:41
Speaker
I don't know if I can name it. yeah Yeah, that's kind of it. But they've got some NFL pedigree at like other positions. The Watt brothers, obviously. A couple offensive linemen in the league. did Running backs. Yeah, Jonathan Taylor was there.
00:07:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah. so So there's a little bit of a um NFL pedigree that I think is an important angle for Colton Joseph, a guy who I think at Old Dominion, because he was used in a gimmicky way, this is not to say that he's a gimmicky quarterback, but was used in a gimmicky way um to some degree. i You know, this just boosts his profile nationally from a draft perspective.
00:08:18
Speaker
um Yeah, Barnett. we We talked about this ah right before we recorded. This was a very rich, very rich transfer portal class for quarterbacks.
00:08:30
Speaker
um And there's still a lot of talent left. Sorsby, Mateer are kind of the two headliners right now, but it's just like, there's still good teams looking for quarterbacks that I i would have anticipated.
00:08:46
Speaker
you know, yes, sir. May I have another for Colton Joseph? Seriously. So I don't know. I guess we'll see how it plays out.
Coaching Influence and Team Dynamics
00:08:55
Speaker
I'm excited for all these guys or I don't know if UCF is necessarily more high profile than JMU is, but for a Rainer and for Joseph getting to transfer to some larger profile programs, that's a great opportunity for them. Really excited.
00:09:09
Speaker
I think my only thing with um Joseph is just hitching your wagon to a coach that's probably closer to getting fired than he is like winning the Big Ten.
00:09:20
Speaker
I think is my would would be my one like bone to pick with him. I get that maybe you weren't like top of the list of you know quarterbacks that were available this year, but some of the landing spots, man, I'm like,
00:09:37
Speaker
wiscon Again, Wisconsin is probably closer. They were already having discussions about like, should we fire Luke fickle like after this year? And it's like the transition that he's had from Cincinnati has really not worked by and large. Um,
00:09:52
Speaker
I don't know what happened to him. i know... i can't remember if Marcus Freeman was his DC. I think he was. And I think that was kind of the thing when they made the playoff with Desmond Ritter. I think Marcus Freeman from Notre Dame now was the defensive coordinator at at Cincinnati that year.
00:10:11
Speaker
I think we're what we're learning is he just had some really good coordinators. And when you're a head coach that you're like... My whole thing is I hire coordinators and I'm a CEO type of head coach and I kind of oversee.
00:10:25
Speaker
That's all well and good, but eventually your luck hiring up and coming coordinators will peter out and then it kind of exposes like what you are as a coach. So I don't want to, I don't want to like wish any ill on him. I just think there's a chance that he's, he has what two years of eligibility remaining. I think Joseph, I believe so.
00:10:45
Speaker
Okay, I think there's a ah greater than
Southern Miss Season Analysis
00:10:50
Speaker
40% chance that he's in the portal again next year because Fickle got fired after yeah the 2026 season.
00:10:56
Speaker
Yeah, ah Luke Fickle at Cincinnati, 13-13 overall, 8-10 in conference, 1-1 in the postseason. um I agree with you. i I wouldn't be shocked if we see Joseph make another move.
00:11:09
Speaker
um A note to the Jalen Rayner move that makes helps contextualize it a little bit. um Arkansas State's offensive coordinator was hired as their quarterback's coach, a guy that really oversaw Rayner proliferate, just really out of nowhere, kind of kind of came out of the woodwork unexpectedly.
00:11:29
Speaker
um And so that gives some good context to that move. um But there that's another move where it's like, you know there's There's a World Rainers back in the portal as well under a first-year program if it just doesn't work out at Iowa State with their new head coach and and as they try to replace Matt Campbell. so I think both of those guys could could be back in pretty soon.
00:11:56
Speaker
Yeah, I would have to say, ah i don't know if we mentioned it on the recording. We talked about it beforehand. JC French was went into the portal. He's still ah deciding on a team.
00:12:10
Speaker
Good luck to him wherever he lands. um I don't know. i i've I've made kind of my feelings about him known like over the season. I just don't think that he's ultimately that high of a ceiling prospect like player. I mean, he was fine this year, but keep in mind that his receiver, his first number one receiver was a guy that led college football in passing touchdowns.
00:12:38
Speaker
And or are receiving touchdowns rather from French. And they were ah a team that limped to get to six and six. And yes, the defense was very bad, but he also played.
00:12:51
Speaker
He someone someone said said something about French the other day and I went back and look who the game logs from this year. He he played exactly the way that you would think against different levels of competition. So when they played a coastal or a main or, you know, one of these teams that you can just totally beat up on both, you know, the first app game comes to mind as well.
00:13:15
Speaker
He just beat up on him because, you know, they were not good teams. But when he went to play a JMU and Old Dominion, ah Southern Miss, he almost got benched because he threw three picks. Arkansas State, that team just went brain dead in the second half and lost that game.
00:13:32
Speaker
i mean, if you want a guy that's going to play better against bad competition and worse against good competition, he's your guy. but There's no ceiling there. Like, he's very high floor, but you need a team that is almost built like the John Summerall-Troy teams where they can insulate him and he's only kind of required to make a couple big-time throws per game ah to win games.
00:13:56
Speaker
And I just don't know, what what do you gain from bringing a guy like that in, really, other than just a level of competency? Yeah, of the four... There are other quarterbacks from the conference in the portal, but of the four, like, you know, big name starting quarterbacks out of, out of the portal that you would anticipate are now going to compete for jobs elsewhere, or at least try to French is obviously the least attractive.
00:14:20
Speaker
Um, uh, Again, this kind of goes to the idea of the wealth of talent in the portal right now. It's like if I'm a team that needs a starting quarterback or or needs a guy to compete for that job and I'm anything other than a 7-win, 8-win team, it's like I'm going to feel disappointed if I come out, ah if I come into spring ball and it's like, JC French is my presumed starter.
00:14:48
Speaker
um That's not to say that he can't do, again, he can win ball games. He's proved that. like like that He can win games, um but he can also only win like seven to eight a year.
00:15:00
Speaker
Yeah, he he just like I said, this year, it's weird because it's like last year he played better with fewer kind of receiving weapons around him against better levels of competition. Like they beat JMU last year at home. They they gate they put 45 on the Ashton Janty Boise State team.
00:15:22
Speaker
This year, he had the guy that, again, led college football in touchdown receptions, and they were just getting their doors blown off like by JMU, Old Dominion. like Again, you can just run down all these losses. Fresno, don't hold USC against him, but Fresno week one of the season, that team totally looked incompetent, and I'm like,
00:15:44
Speaker
ah Again, i don't I don't know what your ceiling would be with a guy like that. like But, you know, good luck to him. Let's go ahead and break into these bowl games. So starting, you know, back on December 23rd, we had the New Orleans Bowl. ah Western Kentucky ah comes from behind, beats Southern Miss. This is a terrible end to Southern Miss' season. Like, i again...
00:16:09
Speaker
I was of the opinion, no matter how it ended, it was a step in the right direction for Southern Miss. This has been a bad look, though. What did they end their season with three or four straight losses to end the year?
00:16:22
Speaker
ah They lost to South Alabama, Texas State, Troy, and now this game, Western Kentucky. You blow a what was it thirteen to it, 13 to 16, 13 lead, and you let a backup quarterback lead Western Kentucky to two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter,
00:16:44
Speaker
And I don't know. do I don't know what has happened to this team like over the the final like month of games. Yeah. For the season. But I think Blake Anderson between this, the way that the team is kind of just thrown the towel in like after the the initial Braylon Braxton injury defensively, they fell apart. They look terrible. I don't know what I don't. I truly don't know what happened to them.
00:17:10
Speaker
And they and I'm like, now you have to find a quarterback to replace Braylon Braxton. You met you might think Landry Liddy's that guy. If you do, you know, more power to you. But I'm just like, i I don't know. This is this is went from like a real like building block. Like we can we can build off of this type season to being like, what do you take from a ah season where you basically collapsed for the second half?
00:17:35
Speaker
You know, i for Braxton Anderson, it can only go—or I'm sorry, Blake Anderson, it can only go up from here, right? That's that's the only good angle for him. um i i think you're obviously hurt by the external factors of Huff having already left by this point.
00:17:54
Speaker
Anderson's in. this is I mean, by the time this game was played, he had had the job for like maybe 13 days. um yeah You get a ah wealth of movement in the portal already, but ah up 13-6 at half, end up losing 27-16. Really inexcusable, and its it just got sloppy. I mean, we saw Southern Miss kind of fall really into a like a ULM game script where...
00:18:22
Speaker
it's like as soon as they started to struggle, they they had nothing. They couldn't really run the ball, and they tried to force it. Braylon Braxton goes 24 for 47 in this one. It's like...
00:18:34
Speaker
I need a lot better performance. And then he only carries the ball eight times. So as as soon as they started to struggle, um and this is not just against Western Kentucky, but against, as you mentioned, against Texas State and against Troy, against South Al in those games that ultimately cost them the right to even play for a conference title, um the game script just went out of the window. As soon as stuff stuff started to hit the wall,
00:18:58
Speaker
um it's become the Braylon Braxton show. And he he's an excellent, excellent quarterback, ah but teams are starting to figure him out. And they're figuring out that when your best running back is Jeffrey Pittman, who's like good, not great,
00:19:12
Speaker
the i i don't I don't really have to i don't have to stack the box with 12 guys. it's pretty easy to stop Braylon Braxton. We're finding out if you just drop eight ah and keep him and in, in, you know, contained, he's, he's excellent with his legs. I, I just, I hope, I hope there's good news for Southern miss out of spring camp because right now it looks, it looks sluggish. It looks bad. i think,
00:19:42
Speaker
Blake Anderson was unable to get this team up for a bowl game. um And again, for ah that's already seen the the portal exodus, but it's like, that's your chance, right? That's your chance to put a stamp on, all right, this is our era now. This is our team.
00:19:56
Speaker
ah The guys that stay, the this is our squad. This is who we go into spring ball with. um I'm not terribly optimistic, but I'm willing to give them a lot more time before we really pass judgment.
00:20:10
Speaker
And then um this is according to PFF, but out of all the quarterbacks that took snaps, all of them, because I didn't bother sorting them by like number of dropbacks because we just had so few bowl games.
00:20:23
Speaker
Of the quarterbacks that took any dropbacks. He had the second longest time to throw, ah just behind, who was it? Kill crease for Troy, according to PFF. So, uh, he had 3.1 seconds after the drop back to, to get the ball out. So I think the problem was this. Number one, you you had no running backs on this on this team that made a difference. And we we harped on that throughout the season because it was a real problem for them. You could tell in the games they lost even early, like Louisiana Tech. It was just like it's a it's a one man show.
00:21:02
Speaker
And I think the other thing, too, is. it You can't have not have a running game and then also be receiver by committee. Like those are two. That's an ask.
00:21:13
Speaker
That's too much for probably 90% of the quarterbacks that play. And we all know Braylon Braxton's good player. Like he won. What was it? Sunbelt player or offensive player of the year in the Sunbelt last year behind Mike Green, who was the the Sunbelt player the year.
00:21:29
Speaker
We all know he's a good player, but when you don't have any help, what can you be expected to do? It's like they can block for him, but nobody's getting open. They can't run the ball efficiently at all. Like everything, everything seems like such a grind when they run the ball. It's like three yards, three yards, three yards. And like, that's it Um,
00:21:52
Speaker
Yeah, Blake Anderson's going to need to really kind of get in his bag as far as like recruiting transfer portal stuff. You've got to find a running back that can play at the Sunbelt level. like The fact that The fact that they brought in a Jeffrey Pittman and who was it? Briggs. And what was the other guy? Matt something like none of those guys move the needle at all in a run in a running game sense. So you have to find complimentary pieces, especially if Braxton's done with his eligibility and you're moving to a new quarterback.
00:22:23
Speaker
You have to be able to surround that person with like weapons because if you're throwing a Landry Liddy or whoever is going to start for them next year at quarterback out there and you're like hey bud you're going to have to do the Braylon Braxton impression but we're not going to give you a running back or any receivers that's going to be a really tough time back you know they're back to square one basically in Hattiesburg at that point it doesn't look great yeah and the defense fell apart like I mean I know we mentioned that but it's like
00:22:57
Speaker
i don't really but I don't necessarily blame them for this game, I would say, because the offense was just on life support basically the the entire game. I mean, they scored 16 points. It wasn't exactly like it was humming.
00:23:09
Speaker
But the defense has had multiple games this season, like especially during this backslide late in the season where they just were getting... giving up points in bunches. And it's like, you can't, you can't win like that no matter who you are. so you just got to, I don't know, Blake Anderson, this might be more of a rebuild than we initially anticipated ah just because of how this season started.
00:23:30
Speaker
But now it's like looking like, Hey, if you guys go six and six next year, like nobody's going to really like say that that was a failure of a season, given how this ended.
Georgia Southern vs. App State Analysis
00:23:42
Speaker
yeah, it's It also sucks that they did this against a backup for Western Kentucky because it's not like Western Kentucky's starter was was setting the world on fire, but the backup comes out and immediately you know is like running all over the place. He runs for a touchdown.
00:23:59
Speaker
He leads them to two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, and it's just like... That's so demoralizing to be like our starter is the off offensive reigning offensive player of the year from last year. And he is on an Island with no help, but the backup for Western Kentucky can figure it out.
00:24:16
Speaker
That's just, that that feels like so demoralizing. Yeah. A team that didn't struggle against backups here is your game, Georgia Southern. ah Yeah. Beats App State in the JLab Birmingham Bowl, 29-10. Going into this game, we kind of knew that App was going to be devoid of their...
00:24:34
Speaker
ah Quarterback talent, ah J.J. Cole, A.J. Swan, um will miles was hurt but even Billy Wiles was not in this one. So you get Matthew Wilson, who was playing defensive back for them this year. Am I correct?
00:24:51
Speaker
and I think they said he was a scout team quarterback.
00:24:58
Speaker
that's what I mean, I think that's what they said on the podcast. A guy that was possibly a defensive back, played some scout team for you guys. I know when he he first came onto the field and they give you his graphic, it was his high school numbers, and that's always a great indicator that you your your quarterback has had some college success is when we're seeing his, ah you know, when we're seeing these...
00:25:19
Speaker
zero stars high school recruiting info. um So App trots out Matthew Wilson and Noah Gillen. Gillen, a guy we had seen some of this year. ah They combined to go 16 for 29, 192 yards, four interceptions.
00:25:36
Speaker
um Wilson was really good on the ground, ran the ball 12 times for 110 yards. um but in a kind of cruel reversal of what Georgia Southern had done all year with a very poor defense that ultimately saw their defensive coordinator get fired, um finally get some stops against a, you know, admittedly by talent, by experience, probably FCS level offense in App State.
00:26:05
Speaker
um what What did you like from Southern here? I like that they were, you know, they sent OJ Arnold off on a high note. He was really good ripping off chunk gains. I think he finished with like 125 yards ah rushing in this one.
00:26:21
Speaker
Didn't score a touchdown, but, you know, the defense was the thing that killed me about at when I was watching this game was I kept going. I mean, obviously I'm a Southern fan, but I kept going, if App just keeps running the ball, like they're going to score.
00:26:36
Speaker
But the second they would stop, they would be like, all right, we've run the ball three times in a row. We've gotten three to seven yards each time. Let's go ahead and drop back with either our third or fourth string quarterback in Gillen or a practice squad scout team guy in Wilson.
00:26:55
Speaker
the the one that The one that really felt like a gut punch was they were driving down the field. I think this was early. And Wilson, at that point, had only really taken, like, Wildcat-style snaps. And it felt like one of the first pass attempts he put up was an interception in the red zone.
00:27:13
Speaker
And it's just like... again, it's so demoralizing to to just be like, we got all the way down here. We're grinding for literally every yard because we do we have basically like one receiver that can catch in like Stroman. You've got like one running back in ah Jakari Lewis who can play. You've got no quarterbacks that make a difference, really, other than you know Wilson with his scrambling. Gillen was bad, but one of his picks, I don't feel like, was really his fault. Like,
00:27:43
Speaker
They even said it on the broadcast. Like one of his receivers was supposed to run like a slant and he just stopped. And the, and the Georgia Southern defender is just standing there waiting on the ball. um Yeah.
00:27:55
Speaker
Passing the ball net negative for them. Don't do it. ah I mean, I, I sent it out the day after it's like, yeah, they're They're going to have to figure out they they have to find a quarterback for next year. They cannot go into next year with this AJ Swan level player or whoever that is just a turnover machine that is like inefficient with throwing the ball. Like you got to find someone who can get the ball from point A to point B. And I know that JJ Cole has been better than Swan, but he still kind of had some of those similar issues this year. I i don't know. it It was weird because it's like, it felt like every time app started to get on a roll to find something that worked, they would immediately stop doing it.
00:28:42
Speaker
And I think that's just generally the sign of a guy that's not a great coach is like, if you find something that's working and instead of exploiting it and going back to it over and over and over again, you just say, we're gonna stop doing that right now to throw the ball with ah a third and fourth and fifth string quarterback. Like that seems to be a real problem to me.
00:29:02
Speaker
Um, I don't know. This was a weird game because it was just like George Southern just smothered app because app couldn't move the ball. Like JC French wasn't like overly impressive the way he was the first time they played app. It was really just kind of running the ball and intercepting passes and like app couldn't get out of their own way. Basically.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yeah, it was 13-7 at half. ah ah Actually kind of tight, but then you get a quick score. Weston Bryant ah opens the third quarter with a rushing touchdown. It's kind of ballgame from there.
00:29:38
Speaker
ah We finally get a Bigfoot sighting. Terrence Gibbs, career-high 32 yards. How about that? i was When he scored that touchdown, I was like... What year is it?
00:29:50
Speaker
where Where am I? that i so Do I smell burnt toast? am I having a stroke? What's happening? um um and then I don't know, because because this is the weird thing with him. is like ah he He hasn't had this many yards, obviously, before, which is like not a huge deal, 32 yards. But it almost is like, okay, so is he going to come in next year and like actually play? Or we putting the genie back in the bottle and being like, nope, we've got...
00:30:18
Speaker
you know, Tao Todd or whoever, Bryce, Bryce Brown, like those guys are going to start over you. Gibbs, you're back. You're back to being in kick return and like fourth string. Like, I don't, I don't know.
00:30:29
Speaker
And then, um as we now know, J.C. French in the portal likely not coming back. How about some quarterbackt continued quarterback malpractice from Clay Helton?
00:30:41
Speaker
um You get Weston Bryan, who now seems to be the incumbent, I suppose, or or the presumed starter going into 26th. and he throws as many passes as your wide receiver, Daylon Cobb.
00:30:54
Speaker
Both go 0-for-1. ah they They use Brian in these, you know, Chase him Hill-type packages where he's running out of the gun or, God forbid, lining up as a tight end or whatever because he's a huge guy. but Right.
00:31:09
Speaker
We said this, I don't know if we said, again, i don'm I'm not certain if we said this on air or if we said it before the show, but it's like, JC French was going to be the starter in 26. Almost, at the very least, we're going have a chance to compete.
00:31:22
Speaker
So you would imagine entering the portal indicates Helton told him, it's probably not your job, or we're going to let Brian compete pretty seriously for this gig.
00:31:35
Speaker
If that's the case, did you only make that decision after the bowl game? At which are are you flying? No, I certainly't i don't think so.
00:31:45
Speaker
So it's like, think keep here's the thing that's so super weird. And I, I understand how Clay Helton operates. So yes, I do agree with you that if, if he's in the portal, it probably means that Helton went to him and was like, Hey man, you're, you're not going start here next year. Like you should probably, he's done this with like the first defensive coordinator they had ah was Will Harris.
00:32:07
Speaker
who came over from, he was a secondary coach or something at, at Washington the year before when they made, uh, the year before they made the playoff. Um, he did this with him. Like he went and got like the DB coach job with like Brandon Staley and the chargers. Like he didn't fire him, but he was like, Hey man, you should probably go find work elsewhere. um,
00:32:29
Speaker
The weird thing with me is like his Helton's whole M.O. the last three years for better or worse, like Kyle Vantrese was good. So none of us had a problem with him sticking with him as the starting quarterback. He was not the issue with that team.
00:32:45
Speaker
Davis Brin was one of the worst quarterbacks I've ever seen in my entire life that started all 12 games and literally would not come out until fans were like literally threatening to put for sale signs in Hilton's yard. And then he was like, all right, I'll play French a little bit.
00:33:02
Speaker
It's weird to me that now he decides like, hey, I don't think this guy's got quite the ceiling that we're looking for. And I'm like, what in the last two years showed you that? Like, why did it take two years to determine that is is my question. Like, so, I mean, I don't know. Here's the here's the thing, Zeke. I don't think you know this.
00:33:24
Speaker
Do you know who's still going to be on the roster as a quarterback next year?
00:33:32
Speaker
who's still on the Georgia Southern roster and was here this year. Do you want to know who was on the roster? Oh, is it, is it Turner Helton? Yep. yeah There's a chance that we go into next year and Turner Helton just gets handed the job on a silver platter and Weston Bryan's still running like Taysom Hill packages. there's a real That's a real outcome. If that happens and he's bad, if that happens and he's bad, the fans might literally tear the stadium down with their bare hands. like That will be unforgivable.
00:34:02
Speaker
This was... you know With how this has run its course, his tenure, this may have been the career ender for Elton either way, but that's like a never get another job again type move.
00:34:18
Speaker
just Maybe he's not worried about it. Burn the ships. I guess. Yeah. Maybe he's like, that I get my son some playing time and then we, and then they have to pay me and I go away forever and I never coach again.
00:34:31
Speaker
Like maybe this is the end of this is the way he wanted to end his career. I'm not saying that this is going to happen, but it's right. It's definitely still in the cards. There are people on the, the Georgia Southern forum that are very much like, I want everybody to prepare their, their bodies for this to be a possibility. Yeah.
00:34:47
Speaker
that we're that we're next year screaming at the TV because Turner Helton's thrown his fourth pick against, you know, Marshall or whoever, and we're just like ready to tear our hair out. Um...
00:35:01
Speaker
I don't know. he I told you this when when French went in the portal. You and I were texting each other. ah They had been bringing in three-star recruits for years at the quarterback position. None of them ever, besides Weston Bryant, took a snap.
00:35:14
Speaker
ah They had a guy on the roster whose name was Tyler Budge ah that came in. ah want to say it was the Davis-Bryn season. he He was on the team behind French, but he was a redshirt, so it wasn't like that huge of a deal.
00:35:30
Speaker
And then even 2024, he's behind Dexter Williams, so he's not even the QB2, he's the QB3. I'm not surprised. He transferred out as well. um He's in the portal. they've had They had a three-star last year who I don't recall his name, but then they have a three-star this year named Charlie Johnston coming in.
00:35:50
Speaker
I think what Helton could do... that would buy him the most time and goodwill is start one of the young guys, whether it be Brian or Johnston or the third guy who whose name doesn't immediately pop into my head because the guy didn't take a single snap this year.
00:36:05
Speaker
ah Start one of those guys and make Turner, if you want to want make if you want Turner Helton to feel good about himself, just make him the backup yep Make him the backup and let him play like if someone gets hurt.
00:36:17
Speaker
But he he absolutely cannot come in and be the be the incumbent starter next year. like it ah If that happens, if that happens...
00:36:28
Speaker
everybody go ahead and just bet the under on the wind total. Like just go ahead. Cause saw flashes of him play this year. He was not good and there's really no way to salvage it. So if we're just turning this into daddy gets a little Johnny, some playing time, then you can go ahead and pack it in for 2026 and probably Clay Hilton's tenure by large.
00:36:50
Speaker
Um, um, All right, let's move on from from this game. there There really wasn't that much to say. It was just like... No. App was just didn't have FBS-level talent at like multiple spots. So it was it was just kind of tough. Yeah.
Coastal vs. Louisiana Tech Performance
00:37:07
Speaker
Coastal, ah the Tad Hudson legacy half. ah The first half, he was absolutely on fire. I'm going to pull up the tweet that I sent out because I had it written out.
00:37:21
Speaker
And i since that time, my brain has been has been wiped ah many times over. Okay, the the first three quarters of this game...
00:37:32
Speaker
They were up seven or they were up fourteen to six after the third quarter over ah Louisiana Tech. Tad Hudson in the first three quarters, 21 of 33, 276 yards, touchdowns. the fourth quarter alone, four of 17, 35 yards, two picks.
00:37:45
Speaker
I mean... in the fourth quarter alone four of seventeen thirty five yards two picks he i mean sorry to his uncle but this is what we've been talking about all year long like he's simply not he cannot play a complete full game he is like I don't know if if his house growing up was on an Indian burial ground or something but he he literally has only won one game this season that he started and I'm pretty sure it was against an FCS team Samari Collier won the other five five games for for Coastal uh
00:38:24
Speaker
He was part of the reason that the the coach got fired because he was so bad. He and MJ Morris were so bad that yeah they just they tanked the beginning of this this team season.
00:38:34
Speaker
And the crazy thing was that Louisiana Tech's quarterback didn't look stellar either. I mean, he was more of like a runner than he was a thrower. Like it it was just.
00:38:46
Speaker
I don't know, man. Like, the good luck to the new Coastal coach. He's got his work cut out for him because he's got to find someone at the quarterback spot. Maybe he does maybe he brings somebody over from Missouri State, ah Ryan Beard does, but, man, it it has been just an absolute catastrophe at the quarterback spot since Grayson McCall moved on.
00:39:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they're in the same spot that App is where it's like, if you do not find a solution a startable quarterback, which is what right now the roster lacks.
00:39:20
Speaker
um You're staring down the barrel at a four win season tops. You really are. um This was a real collapse. i I want to give the defense a little bit of credit because I don't think louisi all of 17 of Louisiana Tech's fourth quarter points are, you can really pin on them, especially when you've got um hudson throwing two picks although one of those came at the end of the game uh it didn't really lead to points but you get a field goal after a turnover or on downs uh louisiana tech had to move three yards and then kick a field goal uh after the interception let up a huge pass from as you uh the quarterback train kukuk
00:40:04
Speaker
I guess. i don't I don't know if he's got Hawaiian or something. Kukuk. um But yeah, one one play. I mean, it was like the end of that Ole Miss Georgia game where it's just like, oh, we're not going to play defense now. And you get 52 yard passing touchdown. And then you get another one after a um really short punt. And so give Coastal's credit, some defense. They,
00:40:29
Speaker
for lack of, you know, I would say did their job in this one. And it really came down to the offense's inability to really do anything in that ah fourth quarter. This comes back to a really poor running game. um you know I'm willing to take out the Tad Hudson numbers because those are mostly sacks. His two carries for minus 23.
00:40:48
Speaker
um But you're still looking at 23 carries for 68 yards in this one. ah Really, really nothing, which is weird because I thought Coastal's run game had shown some nice flashes in the later couple weeks.
00:41:04
Speaker
ah Right. When when they're not when they're not sitting back and daring Tad Hudson to beat other teams are sitting back waiting on Tad Hudson to beat them. They'll stop the run game all day and be like, yeah, let's let Tad Hudson throw the football with Collier.
00:41:17
Speaker
it was much more varied. You didn't know they would run read option stuff. You didn't know who was getting the ball. A lot of times, you know, we talked about it with like the Marshall when Collier was like banging in between the he was he was going up the a gap with it. So it was, it was a lot more varied in what they're able to do.
00:41:34
Speaker
Everybody knows that when Hudson goes out there, it's just like the game plan is just to load the box and then hope, you know, just sit there and go, okay, we'll now throw over our head and he can't do it.
00:41:46
Speaker
So yeah this was just an ugly game in general, seven turnovers between the two teams, 25 combined penalties. It was just, it was not a banner day for either team.
00:41:58
Speaker
Um, good for good for Louisiana Tech rallying late, but also this is probably not a great sign that Louisiana Tech had to rally against this coastal team that has just been dead in the water.
00:42:11
Speaker
Yeah, it certainly doesn't get me necessarily fired up that we're going to watch more Louisiana Tech football next year as they join the conference. But I don't know. that That's a team Louisiana Tech, eight wins despite really running through like three different quarterbacks this year. i don't really know what the situation was, whether it was injury or if they just if they played the inverse of Clay Helton where it's, hey, who wants to take snaps today? yeah You?
00:42:38
Speaker
a back row, you know, geometry two. Do you want a chance? um and I don't know what's going on, but certainly didn't get me fired up about them joining the conference.
00:42:51
Speaker
I mean, they were they were impressive early in the season when they absolutely smoked Southern Miss, but really it just felt like they kind of took advantage of what Southern Miss's deficiencies were, and we we talked about those in their bowl game loss, but...
00:43:05
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they won eight games, like you said, rolling through three different guys. That's probably a good sign because they're going to be a West team. the You know, the West this year was kind of just sitting there waiting for somebody to go win it, and ultimately Troy did.
Western Division Future Prospects
00:43:21
Speaker
I mean, if Louisiana Tech keeps pulling off this type of you know season, I mean, they're going to be second or first in the West next year. like that they The one thing they are not or they don't seem is totally incompetent, and there are a lot of incompetent teams in the West. like right I don't think Southern Miss is incompetent, but they've got a ah hill to climb to get back to...
00:43:46
Speaker
to being like relevant like they were this year. You got ULM, you've got, you know, whatever happens with Louisiana, you got South Alabama trying to pull themselves up from like a four win season. There's a lot of just really bad incompetent teams in the West. And if they're just like seven, eight wins every year, like you saw it this year was good enough to win the West. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, on paper, just kind of as we sit right now before spring ball, it's like of the teams in the West that were above, let's say, 500, who improves next year other than like maybe Troy? If Troy can figure out quarterback play,
00:44:25
Speaker
Well, i I was going to say, this is actually something I was going to mention at the end of the show. Lunch Winfield announced he was coming back to Louisiana next year. So, I think the key with that... if If they can up their offensive line play, that that will do him a world of favor, but...
00:44:44
Speaker
I don't know. Generally, the supporting cast has to get better. Their receivers, too, were some of the worst. PFF, as a receiving group, had them 14th out of the 14 Sunbelt teams. They were easily last. So...
00:45:00
Speaker
so i don' I don't know. I pin a lot of their failure offensively, um which is kind of where I think they were most efficient on that offensive line because they had rushing talent, and they really handcuffed Zylan Perry and Bill Davis with that offensive line that was just kind of putrid all year. um Yeah.
00:45:19
Speaker
But the greater point here being, i think Louisiana is a good shout as well, but like Louisiana and then if Troy can bring in or improve and and a quarterback, develop a quarterback,
00:45:32
Speaker
Arkansas State's going to take a step back. God knows what South Alabama does. They're going to take a huge step back. ULM not doing crap. like What are we... know i think I think what you've been waiting for with the Butch Jones thing, I think this is...
00:45:48
Speaker
Jalen Rainer leaving is like someone taking the middle, like the bottom Jenga block out and just being like, all right, well, hope it stays up. It's like we saw what I know I said this in the last episode when we talked about Arkansas State's game, but we saw before Jalen Rainer got there what the quarterback situation was like, and it was ugly. he i mean, he's as good as finding one as like Ricky Ronnie was pre Colton Joseph. It was just like churning through names and guys that had played elsewhere. Like I said, it was like James Blackman who like transferred from Florida to state played there for a season. and He was bad.
00:46:26
Speaker
You know, they, they had a, just a lot of, a lot of guys that were just didn't really move the needle. I think this is going to be the thing that sinks Arkansas
NBA Trade Speculations
00:46:34
Speaker
state. Ultimately is Jalen Rayner moving on this year. It's going to kind of start the downfall for that team. Cause you saw what it is defensively too. Well, that that would be big for me. this this Actually, this year, 2026. That would be big win for me. That would be a big win for me. 2026 has actually already started really big for me ah because word is the Hawks are finally looking at Atlanta Hawks, shift sport, finally youre looking to trade Trey Young. I've been saying for years, and I've got the receipts, Trey Young is Baker Mayfield.
00:47:05
Speaker
He's going to go have a really nice career somewhere else, but it was always the coach in Cleveland with the Browns. It was always the coach until we finally realized it wasn't the coach, and it was Baker.
00:47:19
Speaker
And actually, we also realized it's just a dysfunctional franchise. um Hawks took him over Luka. it Well, they took Luka and traded him. that Yeah, that's what I mean. i mean you are it was it was It was awful. yeah I bring this all up to say I've been on this Hawks need to move on from Trey Young. It ain't going to work. for I've got the receipts at least four years.
00:47:41
Speaker
It's a big year for me. yeah This is for me. This is important to me. So Butch Jones, best of luck. I hope the best for you and your family.
Texas State's Dominant Performance
00:47:53
Speaker
Don't find anyone, please.
00:47:56
Speaker
um And then the last one here, you had the armed forces bowl, ah which was on the second, you know, rice just got flat outclassed. Like there's no real way around it. I mean, they were five and seven. They're also like at one of these teams that shouldn't have been in a bowl game to begin with, but due to opt outs, like got shoved in there.
00:48:17
Speaker
I mean, Lincoln Pair ran for 100 yards and a score on 11 carries. ah you Average 10 yards a carry, basically. Brad Jackson threw three touchdowns and only had 17 completions the entire game. It was just...
00:48:33
Speaker
They were efficient because Rice kept turning the ball over and Texas State was like, oh, our defense finally stopped somebody. And then it was just like blood. It was like someone chummed the water and like jaws showed up. They were like, OK, now that we're getting some stops, like it's time to put you know the hammer down. And then they did.
00:48:53
Speaker
it's ah It's a nice send-off for Texas State, especially after, you know, I kind of felt throughout the year, it was like, is this really how you want to go out? You want to big league the conference? Make this huge stink about, well, we're joining the Pac-12, a very hamstrung Pac-12, mind you. This is like...
00:49:12
Speaker
I struggle to come up with an example, but it's like, you know, the second version of it, it, it's like the Godfather too, right? This is, this is not the Godfather of pack 12s. Um, so you want a big league, this team and you come out and like, you put up a pretty you and an ugly loss to Louisiana. You start low and five, and five and conference play. to start This is not a great year. So I, you know, good great good for them to kind of go out on top, but you'd be right.
00:49:41
Speaker
You want to pat on the back? Yeah. I mean, I guess they did what Louisiana couldn't. But other than that, there's really nothing to kind of take away from this ah other than, you know, Brad Jackson's a good quarterback.
00:49:54
Speaker
ah I'm sure they're glad that G.J. Kinney did not get a job anywhere. Well, here's the thing. It's sort of ah a push and pull with that where it's like, yeah, Yes, he didn't get a job anywhere else, and that benefits us. However, what had to happen was he had to start conference play 0-5 in order to kind of squash that that interest elsewhere.
00:50:15
Speaker
But you know presumably, they'll have Brad Jackson heading into 2026 at Texas State. That'd be a good like sort of starting point for the offense with them.
00:50:26
Speaker
I saw today Lincoln Pair was like... I think he's out of eligibility. He's been in college forever. um He was like, I'm going into the draft. I mean, probably won't get drafted realistically, but you know that's one less ah weapon. you know Hopefully they can find a running back replacement for him. And hopefully you guys, out when you go out West, find a receiver taller than 5'7 that can catch the ball because God knows you guys need some size if you're going to playing Boise and Washington State and like all these other schools.
00:50:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, bo but that's not to diminish Bo Sparks, who is absolutely electric. I think like the second or third hot leading receiver in the conference this year, but you're right. That that offense that, again, very reliant on the offense this team has been over the past several years is G.J. Kinney kind of refuses to field a better-than-league-average defense.
00:51:17
Speaker
um theyve They've been missing that guy that you can just kind of lob it up to and say, hey, go get the ball. Bo Sparks is electric. I... again, even as they leave the conference, i'm going to keep an eye on Brad Jackson and Bo Sparks because those guys are going to be really, really good next year. um Sparks just are a really quick, really great route runner, but it's like,
00:51:38
Speaker
Without Lincoln Pair, again, that run game looks ever deficient. And um we've seen, we saw this year, maybe more than ever, how dependent or how important it is to have a run game. You can't just dismiss it and say, oh, we'll bring in a Missouri reject and a guy who was initially recruited by Ohio State, but then played it like...
00:52:02
Speaker
Syracuse and is now here. And also we're going to bring up like the 30th best division two running back. Like that doesn't work. You you need a guy. You need that Ismael Mahdi. You need that Ahmad Hardy um to to win games as an offense. And so without Lincoln Pair who had the best year of his pretty solid, he was never like elite elite, but ah the best year of a pretty good career.
00:52:27
Speaker
don I don't know who picks that in the maps. He never really had the opportunity to to start like a full complement of games. I felt like even when he played, where did he come from? Arkansas State before he went to Texas State? Yeah, he did two years at Arkansas State before spending his last three ah in San Marcos.
00:52:45
Speaker
Even there, that was when they felt their most air-raidy, where they like straight up weren't weren't running the ball at all. And so he had very little kind of opportunity to do anything. um Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if after next season, if Brad Jackson keeps this level of play up, he could be one of those guys like all of a sudden you're on the looking at the bottom line of ESPN. It's like Brad Jackson commits to play at Michigan State or something like that. And you're like, good for him like that. yeah You know, he's he's a good I think he's a good quarterback for sure. But like he's kind of in the Jalen Rayner boat now where it's like.
00:53:22
Speaker
Does he have the support around him to do anything once they get out
Arkansas State's Quarterback History
00:53:25
Speaker
West? Probably not for a while. So that's going to be, they're going to have to rebuild quick, like that defense and stuff. If they, and the running game, if they're going to do anything, because you see what Arkansas state has accomplished in Jalen Rayner's time, which is what a bowl win, like one bowl win, I think in three years,
00:53:46
Speaker
Well, I think what you and I are always going to – I would argue you and I have not discussed it. The official stance of the pod, the the highlight of the Butch Jones era will just always being able to sit next to Master Chief.
00:54:01
Speaker
I don't know if – and that that's kind of their ceiling is receiving that trophy. So, again, cool points he doesn't deserve. um But that's what they've done with a guy that's been, i would say if you look at the last the sum of the last three years, has been the best quarterback in the conference, partially because he's the only one that's played in the conference for each of the last three years.
00:54:24
Speaker
um But from some of work, has that title. Yeah.
Future Plans for the Podcast
00:54:30
Speaker
Well, that is it, Zeke. We went over our final bowl game of the 2025 season.
00:54:38
Speaker
We are obviously going to take quite a break until we get to um our season previews for 2026, which start usually at the end of May, i would say, ah is when we usually put those out. um we are going to i i'm going to try to push to get guests on yeah the episodes um to varying degrees i'm sure of success between like scheduling people's time and things like that but you know the the troy radio announcer said once we get off the the the phone with him um you know for the the sunbelt title game preview that he'd be willing to come on barry mcknight um
00:55:18
Speaker
You know, we'll see if if Matt can make time in his busy schedule to come on, maybe to talk about the Cajuns at some point, ah come back. ah And then we've got Aikman with App State. So yeah we're slowly kind of building out people that can talk about these various different teams. And, you know, Zeke and i already have State and Southern covered, respectively. So we'll we'll see. i'd like I'd love to get somebody on every single episode and just sort of bounce questions off of them because everybody...
00:55:47
Speaker
Everybody always complains about the previews because they're like, you forgot x Y, and Z. But like Phil Steele talks to these coaches. like if they were If they were seriously relevant, the coaches would mention them. They wouldn't just be like, oh, I forgot who are our number one pass rusher. Shoot, I forgot to tell Phil Steele that he exists. like No, they would not. so i'm I'm sure there's someone else, but the only name that I think that we probably really, really missed in our previews across the conference ah that made like a major difference, again, it's Collier.
00:56:20
Speaker
Yeah. But again, he was the third string quarterback. Like we get made know yeah like we didn't we didn't even know like what we were going to get out of him. Like everybody else we pretty much mentioned, but we didn't even know he was going to start a single game this year. um Zeke, man, as we wrap up for the final time before we take our our long winter's nap, ah tell folks where they can find you on socials.
00:56:44
Speaker
Yeah, man. At Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O. I'm doing my Trey Young victory lap, and I hope to do some more in the near future. Butch Jones, I'm looking at you, buddy.
00:56:56
Speaker
As always, you can find the show on X at Warm Weather Fans. You can find us on TikTok at Warm Weather Fans. ah Like I said, we will probably go dark for a while unless something funny happens in the Sunbelt world.
00:57:08
Speaker
ah You can find me on X at WatchTheStone. We will be back presumably in May unless we have some NFL draft stuff. we might it It depends on how guys get graded and sorted and all that sort of stuff. But if like Camden Brown like pushes to be like a fourth, fifth round pick, and then we have a couple other guys that are sprinkled in. Maybe maybe we come back and talk about them. But otherwise, like if there's two guys to talk about, it's not even worth doing a pod on. But ah yeah, we will be back during the summer. We will start with our 2026 season previews. Thank you everybody who so much who listened, who watched our stuff this year, whether you liked it or hated it.
00:57:49
Speaker
Thank you for taking the time to kind of spend with us and and listen to us talk for hours and hours on end. This has been Warm Weather Fans.