Transcript
Speaker: Welcome everybody into another edition of Warm Weather Fans The Sunfelt Podcast. I am your host Brian Stone joined once again this week by Zeke Palermo and Matt Miguez. We were we are actually going to be talking about you guys as teams. ah today in the Louisiana Raging Cajuns and the Georgia State Panthers. ah We kind of talked about it before we started recording. I'm going to kind of let you guys drive the discussion about those two teams because obviously you'll you'll know a lot more about them and have a lot more insight as to kind of what to talk about than I would or you know one of the other hosts ah depending on what team we're talking about.
Speaker: ah Zeke, I'm going to throw it to you first. How's it going? And we can throw it to Matt. And then I have a bone to pick with NCAA, the football game, the video game that that came out. I've only been playing it for a couple of days because I got back from the beach late last week, ah but I already have a major bone to pick an issue that could have been avoided. But Zeke, how are you doing? ah I'm doing pretty well. um As I posted on Twitter, we talked about last week ah I'm ah a new ah you know dip in my toe in a competitive Pokemon for the first time, as we joked about last week. And guys, I came second in ah in a pretty pretty big deal tournament the other week. So ah big ups for me. Time's sinking a lot about and nca into the NCAA game, ah which we'll talk about in a little bit, as you just said, Brian. But you know all well's on my front.
Speaker: So just to let everybody know, I think we're going to start with a little bit of talk about the video game just because it's the biggest release of probably the past decade as far as sports games go. ah So I will, when I am editing this, I will write down a time code and include it in the description. If somebody wants to skip the NCAA football video game discussion, Totally up to you. You know, we're we're here to talk about Sunbelt, but I will include that. You know, if you want to skip directly to us talking about the teams, I'll include that as well. Matt, how's it going? I'm doing absolutely fantastic. I'll actually kickstart the conversation about the video game because Zeke was talking about time. um So there's 168 hours in a week, right? Average American spends 40 to 45 of those hours working.
Speaker: probably a solid 50 of them sleeping. So that leaves you about 70 hours left, right? Okay. In the last week, gentlemen, ah because I paid for the deluxe edition, so I got the early release, I got it last Monday, in the last week, I have played 35 hours of EA Sports College Football 25. It's gotten so bad that my wife looked at me on Sunday and said, When are you going to get tired of this game? Because I'm tired of watching you play it. Sometime around October. ah for react I don't even know. and else i love It know and might not be till February, boys, when they start talking about the next one.
Speaker: Yeah. Uh, when are you going to slow this down? Uh, I'm thinking like early 25 maybe. Like that's, a that's when I'm going to, I'm going to start pressing the brakes when we get to like NBA prime NBA basketball season, the college football season's all wrapped up in the books. ahfl Yeah. The NFL is only late playoffs. Okay. So I just want to start off. I teased this um My Big Beef, something they did with this game that I can't stand, and there's literally no reason why they did it, is flipping the read option controls. I cannot stand that they did yes it. Yes, it makes sense. it makes It should be this way. You should have to press the button to pull it down. But it's not been that way since the read entered the game like 15 years ago. It wasn't that way in Madden 24 that came out
Speaker: less than a year ago. Like that that's what drives me crazy is like, if you are someone that wants to kind of vacillate between playing the two games and say Zeke, you know, your favorite team's the Bills, say you want to play with Josh Allen, and then you go to NCAA and you're like, hey, my quarterback's got a little bit of mobility. I'm going to run some read option. You have to do the exact opposite. depending on the game. And like, that is the part where I'm like, you have muscle memory trained us to do one thing, and just flipping it for the sake of flipping it, like there's really no reason behind it, is like, so i'm not why are we doing this? I'm not an idiot, because i've i've for the last week I have questioned that. They did change it.
Speaker: the thick Something else is they they don't tell you until you open up Ultimate Team. And if you waited 15 years or 10 years, however, for a College Ultimate Team, what are you doing with your life? The only way to like play a tutorial of the game is in Ultimate Team. There's there's no like trainer, you have mini games, but there's no like walkthrough of all the new changes. So there was no way of knowing. So for some reason, and they actually did answer a question that I had, which is, is this going to be the first NCAA game to do roster like stat stat updates on like ratings? They said that they were doing that. So that's a positive, because in 14, it was just like, whatever you got is the base game. was you know I remember the year that Cam Newton came in and played at Auburn. In the base game, he was like an 83.
Speaker: and it never updated the the roster. So you never got to play with like Heisman level, undefeated quarterback, won every quarterback award Cam Newton. You were playing with a guy that was Tim Tebow's backup three years prior. Like that was the version and that has always been my beef. It's it's good that they're updating it. I do appreciate that because that actually shows like a level of care ah for the game. I will say Dexter Williams for Georgia Southern is the highest rated quarterback on the team ahead of JC French So I was like cool. My quarterbacks got a little bit mobility the first time I tried to run a read option I did not know they inverted the controls I got crushed for like a loss of nine because I held the button down and all of a sudden my guys just standing there with the ball watching rushers come directly at him and And I was like, I didn't, I thought I was going to the left. I didn't know I was going to have to take it around the right end. So ah that has taken a lot of like retraining, like muscle memory. yeah And even that the blocking on some of the read option plays is not good. Like they will just let guys run free through the line and be like via Condios, like in the background to the quarterback, which is crazy to me. Yeah. Um.
Speaker: I can remember, I don't remember who I was playing as, but man, I can remember a safety going on a DB blitz and literally nobody picks him up. and It was a, it was a play action play. And by the time I faked the handoff, the safety was in my face. I was like, man, what, I can't even do anything at that point. Like, what am I even supposed to do? um Also talking about players that are really good on the game shout out to former Sunbelt quarterback who we thought pissed heel Grayson McCall um He's actually really good on this video game if you haven't played with NC State yet, it's pretty impressive how good he is
Speaker: I haven't. um i I've mostly just been playing with Southern. like i i don't have I mean, full disclosure, I have a child. I don't have the same level of free time as you guys do, but mostly with my time I've been playing. uh dynasty and then last night the servers were down so i created my road to glory character which nice that that game mode is just 95 shuffling through menus which is whatever but it's like press this button to increase your gpa it's like okay like as long as i'm not suspended i don't i don't really care but i did find that i made
Speaker: like a ah Tim Tebow like quarterback like I was like I kind of want my guy to have some power be able to scramble stuff like that and that was sort of something else that was missing from previous games which is if you created a scrambling quarterback in the old games it was just like oh so you want to be really fast like Lamar Jackson and you're like No, there are different types of scramblers. People do different things, you know, camera, stuff like that. So I did see that you can upgrade like trucking and things like that to like make your guy stronger so that you could actually run over like DBs and maybe even linebackers.
Speaker: um I like the game a lot overall. I mean, there's a couple of things. Zeke, I know we we were kind of texting about it when it first dropped. There are a couple of EA sports -centric things that kind of pissed me off. ah Number one is if you don't adjust the sliders, your receivers will run routes behind defenders. and then be like, I'm open, and then it's like, well, there's a defender right in front of you, dude. like You could have couldve cut this route off like a half a yard faster, and like I could have actually gotten a completion. So there's there's like a level of like EA Sports chicanery that like I don't love that kind of embeds itself in every EA Sports game, but by and large, I'm glad we're in the game, because again, i've we weren't in 2014.
Speaker: i've I've been really impressed with it um thus far. And yeah, like you mentioned, how cool does that that gets to be? You know, you've played in Xenoblade your whole life and never got to play as your team. Always had to create them. And, you know, finally you get a legitimate Georgia Southern or a legitimate App State. and And that's that's really cool ah for those fan bases. And even for you, Zeke, I mean, Georgia State was in the older games. They sucked. like Really we talked about last week. I've never played it. But yeah that that game came out in Georgia State's Second years of FPS team. So play the Georgia Dome and oh Yeah, when you guys like and I'm not saying this to like it's not a shot But like you guys were like hovering around 0 and 12 1 and 11 every season so I'm pretty sure
Speaker: like you guys in Hawaii are like the lowest rated teams in that game because it's just like Hawaii was out of the air raid you know having fun era and then you guys were just newly called up so like you know and and again with the lack of roster updates in old games if Georgia Southern if they had made it one year longer and Georgia Southern had been called up we would have been the worst team in the game along with that because they would have been like there was no way to know that they were gonna call up a team that was gonna win the Sun Belt in their first year like they were like this is an FCS school that went I think we were like seven and five or something the year before, so it was like no one was going to give us the benefit of the doubt. um But yeah, like the game a lot overall, looking forward to sinking some more time into it.
Speaker: um Do we have anything else or should we go ahead and just get to the ah the teams? All right. So as I said, I'm going to let Zeke drive kind of the first part of this discussion. I've made notes. I have I have like questions for Zeke, just sort of his like outlook on things, specific areas of the team. But I'm going to kind of let you start off and then Matt and I can kind of jump in as needed. Yeah. Uh, so last year, uh, Georgia state seven and six won a bowl game. Uh, and we talked about on this podcast, just kind of the uneasiness of Sean Elliott's job. Uh, he was a guy that players liked. He was a guy that fans liked. Um, public perception on him was relatively high because the only thing you knew about him was that he was going to run his head through a wall before his players with the helmet did.
Speaker: um He left for I think it was the tight ends job at South Carolina ah After the spring game, which was weird timing and also felt like a weird move to go from G5 head coach to then p5 position coach like if it was a coordinator thing you kind of understand that a little bit more and Although again, South Carolina was not like a shocking move. Uh, I never confirmed this, but there was word that the guy never moved his family to Atlanta, uh, that they still lived in South Carolina. Um, so Sean Elliott out, uh, incomes del McGee from Georgia, uh, has one prior head coaching gig and that was coaching a bowl game for Southern in 15. Um, and out goes.
Speaker: the entire roster. ah Today was Sunbelt Media Day, or at least the first half of it. I believe i believe the first half. And Dell McGee said that Georgia State brought in 48 new players through Transfer Portal and walk -ons. Because as they they were halfway out the door before he left, but after Sean Elliott left. The whole team, it was an exodus. Part of that was graduation, some of their best players, especially offensively. Travis Glover, an offensive tackle, he's been an anchor on that line. And he did end up getting drafted, I believe. He'll he'll have success in the NFL. Darren Granger, the the the school's second leading passer all time. And then Tucker Greg, who just kind of came out of nowhere as an extremely strong power back. um
Speaker: They all graduated. Guys, Antavius Lane ah was really a stud defensively, but he transferred out. um So this is a team in kind of disrepair. They have pieces from last season that are strong. Josias Creedle and Talik Williams were both strong wide receivers for Georgia State last last season. I think the best two players overall are gonna be Kevin Swint and Justin Abraham. Kevin Swint is an Ed Drusher. He's kind of he's like a linebacker type, but He's really an ed rusher and then Justin Abraham is more of your ah traditional inside linebacker. Gavin Pringle is another guy corner who I believe is a senior this year. He is just a ball hawk. The guy picks balls off ah like nobody's business. ah But other than that, like there's there's a lot of disarray. They don't have a quarterback yet. Del McGee said that they've got four guys that all have equal chance. um Based on how I've played with them in NCAA, I have my pick.
Speaker: but you know we really won't know until we get some more practice in. ah from those guys running back situation is kind of up in the air Freddie Brock was a guy that I was very harsh on going into the this ah This year's bowl game because he had like maybe 20 career carries, but then in the bowl game ran for 200 some odd I think approaching 300 if not eclipsing 300 yards So there's guys on this team that do good things ah But Georgia State is in a rebuild I would say maybe a
Speaker: a larger like by terms of volume a larger rebuild than any other team the conference this year and That's that's kind of the low down on him. Oh I'm I'd like to ask the the first question um I'm curious behind Sean Elliott's move because You know, it came after the spring game, which you mentioned is incredibly odd timing. um has Has there been rumblings like within the fan base within the university? Was there a real reason as to why or was it just the opportunity to go back to South Carolina? ah It was a.
Speaker: You know, just an opportunity to move back. Uh, the guy just, I mean, he, he had previously coached at South Carolina. He, uh, it wasn't the guy before Beamer. I think the interim before Beamer, uh, it was Sean Elliott. He coached, uh, or before the guy that came before Beamer rather. ah Sean Elliott, you know, coached a couple games at South Carolina. Go ahead, Brian. Yes, Steve. Steve Spurrier. Yes. Like just just retired like mid season that year or something. And yes, he had to coach like the last I grew up with South Carolina fans, so I was keeping up with them when this was happening. um He retired or just left the team or whatever mid season to go golf, I guess, because that's what he's been doing since. But
Speaker: yeah Yeah, I mean, it was it was ugly overall. I think they lost to the Citadel or something that year ah when when um he he had one. He had did one win coming in before Georgia State. He had one win across like six or seven games. ah So I ultimately from what he said in his pressers and from what I understand, it was really just he was done with Atlanta, um which. Again, this is like kind of a ah bummer because everything I've heard about the guy, everyone really liked him. The only, the one stick was, well, he never really moved his family here, but I don't know. Atlanta, put i'm I'm from, you know, North Metro, like Atlanta public schools, ain't the best. I might not put my kids there kind of deal. So you could see it, but it just a, just an opportunity for him to go back home and, you know, coach for the team that is his team.
Speaker: So I have my first question for you and this is broad and we're going to get into kind of the nuts and bolts of everything as we go through it. But Zeke, what do you think like? realistic expectations for this year's Team R. Because you talked about the amount of roster turnover, you've got a brand new coaching staff. You know, a lot of Southern fans have a soft spot for Del McGee because he came in and won that Go Daddy Bowl in 2015 when Willie Fritz left for Tulane.
Speaker: But he doesn't have really head coaching experience. So he's learning kind of on the job. You know, I haven't looked too deep into Kevin Schur, the defensive coordinator, but like Jim Cheney, I went back and looked doesn't really have the strongest track record for being an OC. Like you look at some of the some of the teams he's coached under. They've been fine, but they've had way, way, way superior talent to what he's dealing with now. And I mean, I was going through and looking at the roster. Other than Abraham, the Creedles, the only guy that kind of stuck out to me as being like, Oh, I recognize that name. Like that's how much roster turnover there is. So what do you think like realistic expectations for this year's team would be?
Speaker: I think it they're very low. um We'll we'll talk go through the schedule in a minute. um But I like they're they're promising things. But as you just said, like Del McGee doesn't have a breadth of coaching or head coaching experience. ah Something that does give me, you know, feels optimistic is that ah he he came over from being Georgia's run game coordinator. Uh, in Georgia is just a, you know, historically strong running team, Georgia state, not to the caliber, but has the infrastructure to be a very strong running team. That's kind of in the backbone, uh, of that program for the past several years. Um, so like, I think this could be a team that runs the ball really well. Uh, I mean, you bring in 48 transfers. I, Del McGee's heralded more so than as a coach, but rather as a recruiter. So I trust that they brought in strong players. Um,
Speaker: But, like, this stinks because they they kind of, they drew a very ah softball, schedule, Vanderbilt, UConn, Chattanooga. Those are three out of conference games that, frankly, should win. i You know, Vandy, you can kind of, we could pick hairs here or there, but like, those are three winnable out of conference games, and now you'd expect they beat Chattanooga. I don't know if you beat Vandy. I don't know if you beat a, you know, still improving UConn. um yeah All spitball like say four wins feels like if Del McGee gets under four um You got to start thinking oh shoot this program really really needs to refresh But you know you hit four wins II I would be pleased with that pleased den enough
Speaker: ah do I do remember all of the ah the forum discussions for Georgia Southern like back when Fritz left and they were kind of mulling what to do at the head coaching spot. And I do remember it was like big pro, Del McGee's this like dynamite recruiter, he you know he's he's done all this stuff. And then it was like, con. never been an off you know never been a full -time offensive coordinator like we don't know what his philosophy for a team would be like all of those sorts of things so I mean now in hindsight
Speaker: hiring over Tyson Summers looks like it couldn't have been a worse move like it it couldn't have gotten much worse, but um Yeah, I mean I just wanted to throw that in just because I I had sat there and heard all of the arguments for and against him So I think it's a great I've said this ah for several years I think ever since since I started like on the Georgia State beat and became a fan is that Georgia State And now with Kennesaw in FBS, yeah this argument weakens, there is no reason for Georgia State not to be the clear cut number three, just because of the talent pool in and around Atlanta. You're not good enough for Georgia and you you know, you just missed the cut at Georgia Tech. Come play, you know, two miles down the road for Georgia State. ah You know, transfer into Tech later if you want, but you get to stay at home. There is no reason, given the wealth of football talent in like Metro Atlanta,
Speaker: that ah that Georgia State shouldn't be perennially among the top Sunbelt recruiting classes. ah So I hope that Del McGee and you know 247 is shoddy at best with its ah recruiting for G5 but it it has ah Georgia State's recruiting classes shooting up the ranks by the day just because this guy is Harold is such a great recruiter. Yeah, I can't stand 24 seven because if you don't have a designated person running your official team site, they won't rank your recruits, which is a really fun thing. We're like, I know for us, we used to have a guy who ran it and then he just kind of got tired of it and gave it up and nobody's taken it over. So we go like entire recruiting cycles where no one's evaluating tape on any of the guys. we're recruiting
Speaker: That makes it really fun to look at Matt. Do you have any do you have anything? Offensively for Zeke like specifically that we should I think about You know you brought up the running game and you talked about Freddy Brock um Another name that kind of jumps out at me at this at looking at this depth chart of CJ Beasley. Yes coastal transfer from coastal I had a thousand yards in four years, which means I you you You say that and you're like, Oh man, you know, that's not really a lot. That's like two 50, 300 a year. But also think about the running backs that he's been competing with and a running quarterback like Grayson McCall. Um, I like the tape on the kid. He's really talented, really shifty average 4 .7 yards of carry. Uh, which, I mean, I don't know how many football coaches you talked to, but if you're running back, to getting almost five yards of carry, you're going to take that every day of the week. yeah Um,
Speaker: So I'm interested to see, you know, how much playing time he gets five, 10 to 15 as two years of eligibility. I think that could be a good, um, ah a good cornerstone, uh, for Del McGee offensively. there's There's a wealth of opportunity in that backfield. ah Because you've got Freddie Brock, who, like I said, just absolutely had a historic game in the famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Utah State in January. ah You mentioned CJ Beasley. ah Then you also get Sivion Wilkerson, who comes over from Colorado, was one of Dion's Jackson State guys ah that he then brought to Colorado and is now at Georgia State. ah So they've got three backs that
Speaker: You know, it it could shake out either way ah like it's been, ah you know, with with Tucker Greg, he was getting 20 plus carries a game and, you know, whoever was behind him at the time would get the rest. One of these guys could bust out on the scene and be the the bell cow. But this could also be a situation where they run the ball 30 times a game and each guy gets 10 carries. ah yeah it's It's just, it's again, just going to be one of those things that we find out week one, week two. um But i of all the position groups on this team, offensively running back is the one I'm least worried about.
Speaker: So how, how big of, you know, you talked about McGee came out and said, basically we've got, I think you said like three or four quarterbacks in the mix. How big of a concern is it that we are in late July and this could all be coach speak. They could have their number one clear cut in camp and they're like. We don't want to give any teams ammo on scouting, but is it a little concerning to say like, we're in late July and we don't have any, like we haven't really nailed it down at least publicly? I mean, yeah, you never want to hear a coach say, we don't know who our quarterback is. Um, but they're in a situation where, uh, you've got two guys that were on the roster before the spring game or for the spring game that was then like rescheduled all that mess. Zach Gibson, who transfers in from Georgia tech.
Speaker: And then Braylon Ragland, who I but almost certain spent last year with Georgia State. He's a registered freshman. ah Then after McGee, after the portal comes through, you get Christian Villeau, who I'm pretty sure is Canadian. He transfers in from Pitt. And then you also get Kyle Lau. ah So they have tape on guys. ah Gibson, I think, would have been the starter had they not transferred in Villeau. um but it's my understanding that they that those are probably the top two. um i Yeah, you you want a quarterback this late in the summer, but I don't think it's necessary necessarily a situation where they don't have a quarterback, they just don't know which one is gonna give them the best shot.
Speaker: So offensive line wise, what are we what are we looking at? Because we assume, you know, um McGee comes in having been the run game coordinator at Georgia. They had this trio of running backs that we think are going to handle, you know, a large workload and and you have this uncertain on on paper, at least quarterback situation. ah Offensive line wise, what do you think we're kind of looking at? Do you think this is going to be a ah net positive for them? You think they're going to be able to run the ball effectively, kind of take some pressure off? Uh,
Speaker: I don't know, like I said, they they lost a lot of that offensive line. I think Travis Glover was the biggest name. Bryson Broadway was a guy we talked about previously, who's now at Southern, right? ah Who was like kind of opposite. ah Glover was playing on the life left, Broadway would play on the right. It was kind of my assumption that he would then flip over when Glover graduated. So like, None of the guys, there's one returning starter on the offensive line, Trevor Timmons. And again, like any anyone from last year's offensive line I'm happy with. um The rest of the guys, there's not tape on. There are guys that didn't play last season, ah whether it be at state or you know wherever they were previously.
Speaker: ah It's tough. You just have to trust that they're gonna pick the right five guys from the get -go and That it's gonna work out it It sucks. It's not what you want. But like You just got to hope I I do believe though. I Georgia State has set a precedent over the past Several years that it is a team that wants to run the ball very effectively and very often um So, so I would, I i would have to hope that the infrastructure is still there. There's guys that are still there that can, you know, we're good enough for the last team. So they're good enough here. So it, I mean, 40, 48 new transfers. brian ah it's It's tough to evaluate that.
Speaker: And you know, you brought up the offensive line. You mentioned only one returning starter. That's Trevor Timmons. Like you said, uh, I'm looking here at Phil Steel's magazine. Joshua black at right tackle played 11 games last season for Louisville. Um, so there's some experience there. And then also in Chuck Uma at left tackle, uh, apparently he had two starts last season for the Panthers. Um, so not a full starter, but. I mean some some experience. Yeah, ah there's there's guys. I don't want to say that there's not guys. And I think i think that's kind of the the outlook on this whole team. we' We'll talk about the defense, I'm sure. But that's the outlook is we're not going to say that there's not guys. We just don't know. Right. There's a big question mark. It's just one of those like not not even, we don't even have a guess. Right.
Speaker: so defensively you know we we can go ahead and move on to this you mentioned it um you know kind of to start phil steel you know he talks about his projections a lot and and one of the projections he had was that uh this defense was kind of up and down all last year um but with the number of new starters coming in new players in general new defensive coordinator uh he has anticipated that they're going to take a little bit even more of a step back than they did last year and they really struggled i mean against the pass last year the average gave up 280 yards per game through the air uh quarterbacks were completing around 65 of their passes against georgia state so
Speaker: You know, defensively, I know we talked about Justin Abraham, but I guess let's start because the the team struggled defensively kind of in the secondary last year. where Where do you kind of see the secondary sitting right now? Do you think this is going to be another yet another kind of aspect that needs to kind of be rebuilt by McGee down the line? Or do you think this is something that you think that there's like kind of a solid foundation there that you could build on? I think if we're starting from the back, the secondary is not of great concern to me. um Obviously the numbers were not great and, you know, I'm not gonna just gloss over that but the Some of the best players from last year's defense as porous as it was are back Especially in that secondary. I mentioned Gavin Pringle Isaiah guy is another player who again I just I i really like ah the safeties. I'm not super high on Jeremiah Johnson was a starter last season I'm not particularly high on him and And then Isaiah Holland is going to be the other safety we believe but played only one game last year. or So it's the of the defense. I do feel good about the secondary um just from that perspective. Kevin Sharer is a coordinator that I trust um based off of resume alone. I'm not going to say I have personal experience with him coaching my teams or that I've personally, you know, sat down and
Speaker: went back and watch all all the tape but i mean he's coming from georgia tech uh... who had a solid defense last year uh... back in twenty thirteen ah he kevin share with the defense coordinator at south alabama uh... and and only left that position to join mark rick did georgia uh... so you know he wasn't booted out uh... again i i'm not gonna pretend i knew this off the top of my head but that your south alabama team had a very strong defense second best in the sun belt so i i i I feel good about like where the defense is headed. um Probably feel better about where it's headed than the offense. um But again, it's tough to evaluate.
Speaker: So I guess where is your largest area of concern on the defensive side of the ball then? Probably um the defensive line. There's just no one there that I feel super great about. um No one that's played the nose guard, Pontius Lewis, ah the nose tackle is a returning starter. um He played, I think he played every game last year. um So, but they play a three, four is at least how they've played in the past and what I understand how sharer plays as well.
Speaker: ah And you know you you need three strong guys up front And I'm just not certain they have that none of their ah This is based off of Phil Steel's projected a starting lineup none of the 3d linemen On the roster or that he projects to start clock above 300 300 to me is a honestly 305 is a magic number for me when we talk about ah three four defensive linemen So I I think my biggest issue is gonna be can they pressure quarterbacks? um I think between Justin Abraham and Kevin Swint they're gonna be all right against the run ah Those guys play linebacker on the second level ah But my concern is I don't know if this team is gonna generate any pressure on any quarterback ah with you know, no, help no, no, no matter how weak their their offensive line is and
Speaker: I think at least from what Phil Steele is projecting, I mean from what I'm looking at here, it looks like you guys might move to more of a three three five type defense because you have you know the nose guard defensive and defensive tackle up front you have what they call the jack linebacker which is swin you assume he's going to primarily rush the passer but when you get down to it there's not a fourth linebacker there instead i think there is
Speaker: It's labeled as star, but I think it's what you would consider kind of a Nickelback ah in Giron Gilmore. And he's a 161 pounds. So I assume he's not putting his hand in the dirt and rushing the passer. It's possible I because as I said, I think the two best players on this defense are Kevin Swint and Justin Abraham. um Again, I I've said this it I've already already said it gonna say it again Justin Abraham is your like prototype stand -up Mike linebacker Kevin Swint while a linebacker. He is a hand in your dirt guy He is a pass rusher ah and spent the past several years at Clemson
Speaker: um Before coming to Georgia State so I I don't know if like if you know One of your strengths of that roster is having a strong pass rusher who's on the leaner side He clocks in six three two forty. I don't know if you want to run three down linemen like that ah You know it or you don't want him to be one of the down linemen You know, I I'm not gonna I don't. I don't. Yeah, go ahead. basic Basically, the way that I'm I'm seeing this is you have three down linemen and then Swint kind of plays the Michael Parsons role where it could be like a four to look.
Speaker: He stands there as the edge, it looks like a 4 -2, but he's really a third linebacker um that that that just rushes the passer 90 % of the time. um And then you've got five guys in the secondary, like you mentioned with Jiren Gilmore being kind of the star rover nickel corner guy. um plays a little bit of slot corner, plays a little bit of safety, just kind of all over the place. oh A lot like um CJ Gardner Johnson used to do for the Saints and for the Eagles and you know everybody else. um So yeah, kind of kind of getting a 4 -2 vibe here. um We'll find out. We'll find out week one. I'm not particularly pressed about the the front they line up in. um It's just going to be
Speaker: Whatever front it is, it's gonna need to generate pressure because outside of Swint, I don't know who's going to do that. And also, you can't give up 30 points a game again. Well, that feels like a given. I mean, especially, I mean, especially with the the state of this offense, like you you talked about how much of a rebuilding project this offense is going to be. I mean, unless you feel really good, if you're Del McGee and or Chaney and you feel really good about one of these quarterbacks, maybe you let him sling in a little bit with Creedle ah as your as your kind of one.
Speaker: But I think generally you're going to want to try to take time off the clock, run the ball with these stable of running backs that you have, and try to help out. You know, ah one of the things too is like, volu I think I pronounced that right is the most experienced QB on the roster. And I mean, he was he completed 51 percent of his passes at Pitt. So he wasn't exactly like crushing it from a volume perspective. Now, I kind of want to transition off of the defense. Let's talk about the schedule a little bit. You guys maybe have the weirdest schedule I will see in the Sunbelt this year, because you talked about it. You play those three games. Tech Chattanooga Vanderbilt.
Speaker: Then you take a week off, then you play Southern. Then you take another week off after that. And then you bang out like eight in a row. No, I don't like it. it's So from, so from September 14th to October 12th, the four week span, you're going to not counting the games on the 14th and the 12th. You're going to play one game. It's going to be very boring for me. That's brutal. And all the home games are super top -loaded. Of their last seven, five of them are away. yeah not yeah How about Vandy coming to to Center Park? That's a big one. That's a big get. But again, like last year, that was winnable. This year, I don't know, we never know what you're going to get with Vandy. So, you know, however, they beat Vanderbilt, they'll beat both Tennessee SEC teams, which is not for nothing.
Speaker: their quarterback in college football 25 is halfway decent. So I mean, we'll see. They were a little they were a little frisky at times last year. I mean, for Vanderbilt, you know, it's a low bar, but like they weren't the historically bad like, oh, my God, get these guys off of the field team like they had they had some juice. I mean, you know, but. Yeah, I mean, just this stretch at the end of the season starting October, from October 12th to November 30th, I mean, eight straight weeks of football. Old Dominion, at Marshall, at app at Connecticut, Yukon was
Speaker: better last year than the up years past. Yeah, for sure. ah At James Madison. So four straight away games in this stretch over the course of, you know, a month. Arkansas, Arkansas stayed at home on November 16th at Texas State, November 23rd, and then you finished at home against Coastal. What am I like twice in that stretch of those eight games to end the season twice? You're playing on short rest because you play at Marshall on Thursday and then at Yukon ah On Friday, so you're playing in those os eight games two games on short rest. I Think if we were to to derive any positive from as you said a very bizarre ah Schedule construction just in terms of where the buys are if this team is
Speaker: floating around two wins, bowl game ain't gonna happen. Well, we get to November, you can put in whoever you want and get as much film as you want on these guys. That is three road games in 15 days. yeah ah That is brutal.
Speaker: Three road games in 15 days! Do you even bother coming back to Atlanta? Because you're in West Virginia for Marshall, then you go to App, and then you just go up to - Yukon, do you just call someone up? Hey, can we borrow your facility for a couple days? Do you bother coming back to Atlanta? I think you - I think you bother coming back between Marshall and App because that's nine days in between. Sure. But, I mean, if you wanted to stay somewhere between App and Yukon, that may not be the worst idea. I was about to say, generally, like, ah the distance between Atlanta and Boone isn't insane. So like, I think you could come home for that. Yeah.
Speaker: But I think you do come home again after app though because it's like You're gonna need to catch a flight either way like there's not a lot I can't imagine there's gonna be a ton of places for you to work out in Connecticut For a week or whatever leading up to that game. So
Speaker: I don't know. This is one of the most bizarre schedules I've ever seen. That's wild, man. A schedule where you get six weeks, six actual like calendar weeks into the season and you have four games is nuts to me. Now contrast this to the most beautiful schedule that we looked at in one of our previous episodes where they went four by four by and then finished out with the final four. It was Southern Miss, right? Was it? I think it was. I think so. Yeah, I think Southern Miss had the ideal schedule for four games off four games off four games off. Sweet. Our end of the season. So see Texas and obviously we'll get the Texas state in a couple of weeks, but theirs isn't bad either. It's three by four by final five. That's perfect. That's that's not bad at all. that That's not bad either. You guys, there's three to four wins on this schedule.
Speaker: You guys playing the way that this is, is like being an NFL team and your vibe becoming in week four. is oh You know what I mean? And then you're like, you're like, we've only played three weeks of football and now we have a week off and now we have to just bang out, you know, 12 more, 13 more after this. Great. Zeke, I'm gonna give you all five. List them to me. I'm gonna give you all five. I think you beat Georgia Tech. no At Tech? No. They're really bad. No. Georgia Tech's on the up. They're not they're not as bad as Georgia State is right now. Brent Key is legit. but No. Brent Key's legit. Okay, so then... Well, now we're down to four. Yeah. ah chair Chattanooga and Vandy. I'll give you both of those. Okay. I don't know that they beat Vanderbilt. Honestly. and There's no way to tell until we see Vanderbilt. Yeah. Old Dominion. You should win. Yeah.
Speaker: I think so. You can't. Yeah, yeah like again, you've you've got to. I think they're in the Vanderbilt boat where i this I think I think you can. I think you can pick up a win over Arkansas State at home. There's your fight. We'll see. I guess they don't. Do they have a quarterback? Yeah, they have. j rain Yeah, they had ready to transfer out of the year. Oh, no, you're thinking of you're thinking of Matt Skye. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Who's now at Houston. Yeah. Right. you I mean, you got to think you'll go ahead. Yeah. Can I ask a question? ah Sorry. the I didn't mean to cut you off. This has nothing. Are we sure about Coastal Carolina? Like we're we're penciling them in for a win and it's like, OK, but like.
Speaker: i but You gotta draw the line somewhere. You gotta draw the line. think That's the thing that's going to be so intriguing about this Sunbelt Conference. I mean, look look look at Georgia State's schedule alone. You've got... um James Madison's got a new head coach. And they lost a lot. There's tons of questions there. Coastal Carolina. You know, obviously they Tim Beck's not a new coach, but they weren't. They weren't lighting the world on fire last year. Now you don't have Grayson McCall as a leader in that locker room. They have a lot of questions. Arkansas State was last year a fluke or, you know, could could they actually be something in the Sunbelt West? Like there's so many storylines to watch in the Sunbelt this year. It's going to be so incredibly intriguing to see. But you know, they're all just going to end like seven and six.
Speaker: There's five new coaches. Five. That's why that's why ah Phil, ah you know, kind of split the difference and was like, you know what, five teams second place in the East. just ah Literally. And they're all going to have like six or seven wins. yeah This is my way of saying I don't know. Right. This is like the, the you know, NFL divisions in years past where it was like a seven and nine team made the playoffs because they had to. Right. Right. Um, eight and eight. Right. Uh, so if we're good on that, we can turn the page and talk about Matt's Louisiana raging Cajuns. Um, Matt, I do want to ask.
Speaker: As, and I, I'm really not meaning to kind of like stick a knife between your ribs here, but I do want to ask as someone who was on the leader of the Z on Chris fan club last year, how much did it hurt to have to, no offense to them have to turn the page back to the Chandler fields, Ben Woldridge nonsense, and not have a guy that you're like, that's, that's the dude right there. It hurts real bad. um yeah i'm gonna I'm just gonna be perfectly honest with you. It hurts really bad. Because Zionkris, it's a bag to go to Houston and he is riding the pine. He's not even gonna see the field because they have a guy by the name, you might have heard of him, Donovan Smith. Pretty good quarterback. um So yeah, that that kind of sucks. But um look,
Speaker: ah As the season draws closer, if you'd asked me this question a month ago, I would have had no faith. I would have said that Michael Desermo was preparing to coach his last season, like, you know, super down on this team. But the more that I've kind of talked with people and really started diving in to, oh, That guy's back? Oh, that guy didn't transfer? Oh, this freshman has pretty good highlights. I'm kind of starting to get a sense of maybe the Cajuns might actually be pretty decent this year. um and And I think the biggest thing when when you look at this and you brought up Z on Chris and and the quarterback situation. You have a
Speaker: Good problem again if you're Michael Desermo. You've got two quarterbacks that are incredibly experienced in your system. You've got two quarterbacks that have played in big time situations throughout their career with you. And you have two quarterbacks that when push comes to shove, are they the most athletic guys on the field? No. But are they going to win you games? Yeah. Both guys know how to win games. And that's what coaches are looking for. um so So the biggest question is, who's it going to be? In the spring, chandler Ben Woldridge wasn't 100 % healthy. So Chandler Fields took a lot of the snaps. you know Right now, I'd probably have to say it's going to be Chandler. But if Ben ends up being healthy, I think the coaching staff trusts Ben more.
Speaker: I could see it being a situation where Ben ends up being the starter. I really like this offensive line. I really like this skill group. The defense returns eight starters, which is absolutely insane. And I think that the schedule is in incredibly favorable for the Cajuns. Phil Steele has it at 114 in the country. ah So the 20th easiest as my dog pops in here. um And he also labeled the Cajuns as the third most improved team in all of college football. That's his prediction. We're gonna be the third most improved team in the in the country. ah So, you know, um I'm really looking forward ah to this football season and it is almost here. Who's playing tight end for you? Because didn't y 'all like your second and fifth leading receiver, were they not both tight ends? LeBlanc and Johnson?
Speaker: So LeBlanc was not a tight end, but Neil Johnson was. Okay. Um, so your tight end is going to be Terrence Carter, uh, who played sparingly last year, caught 28 passes, 255 yards, had three touchdowns. Uh, he is, he is likely going to be, uh, your featured tight end. But you know, the, the, the thing that's interesting with this offense is, and and there was the same way under Billy Napier. You didn't throw to the tight end a whole lot. And you still don't. um they're They're glorified blockers, which is unfortunate because the Cajuns have some really talented tight ends and some guys that I think could really help open the passing game. The the playbook just i mean it just doesn't doesn't go to them, right?
Speaker: um But yeah, you you've got tons of talent um and in that skill group. Jacob Bernard, obviously a very experienced ah senior coming in this year. ah Robert Williams is a guy that had 400 yards a year ago. Harvey Broussard stepped up as a true freshman with 300 yards receiving. And so that receiving core is really impressive. But no, to answer your your question about the tight end, it is ah more than likely going to be Terrence Carter as the starting tight end, who wears zero, by the way.
Speaker: So I'm going to say this. I think of the teams that we've covered up to this point, Louisiana has the most stable quarterback situation. Like this. Think about it. Like, think about the teams we've talked about. You've got a bunch of unknowns for a lot of these teams. Georgia Southern comes to mind. ah You know, we we kind of got a taste of what Cole Pennington is for Marshall, but their quarterback situation was thrown in into disarray when, you know, the the presumed starter walked away from football. Southern Miss, we don't know what that FSU transfer is going to end up looking like playing the full season of ball. georgia Georgia State, we just talked about it. So I mean, of the teams that we've covered thus far,
Speaker: you guys legit have two players that could start and like a lot of teams don't don't even know who their starters gonna be at this stage so i mean like that that's that's definitely a positive and also i have a take i don't know if this is hot I think it's you guys in Texas State in the West, and that's it. like I think there's like a hard line drawn after those two teams. like It's going to be a two -horse race because of the reshuffling that South Alabama and Troy have to do. Arkansas State, you never know. Are they going to field an FBS quality defense, or are they still going to be you know junior high level playing defense? because
Speaker: Frankly, some days it just looks like it's ugly. So yeah, I think I think you guys, you know, I think your your entire season for all intents and purposes comes down to October 29th when you guys. Yeah. texas You know it's funny you say that because I spent 25 minutes talking to Phil Steele this morning um and he said the same thing. ah that you know that That game against Texas State on Tuesday night is probably going to decide the Sunbelt West. um And then earlier today or or yesterday I should say it was revealed that the Cajuns were picked to finish third in the West behind Texas State and Troy.
Speaker: So, you know, maybe they're people are still high on Troy because they're the two time defending conference camp. Um, but I agree with you. I think there's going to be a lot of reshuffling there. I think South Alabama is going to take a big step back. Um, and yeah, I think, I think I agree with you that it is a two man race between Texas state. and the Cajuns. I give an edge to Texas State at this time. G .J. Kinney, what an impressive first year he had. And when everything with Jaden Delora and all that, you know, happened, you're like, oh, man, who's going to play quarterback for Texas State? And G .J. goes, hold my beer. I'm going to go get Jordan McLeod. Like, OK, sure. I'm going to go to the conference. The conference player of the year. Yeah. OK, sure.
Speaker: so so i can i there're just throw my edge there from the mobca Can I just throw out I think what my biggest concern for you guys is on the offensive side of the ball and I think we talked about this last year and You may have felt like this has changed over the course of a year, but I still feel like on paper It's the biggest question is I think you guys need to someone to step up and be a true number one at the receiver position I think ah the i Think the cheaper by the dozen method of running receiver like is all good and well on paper But when it comes down to like we're we're playing Texas State, we're down six. It's third and ten We need somebody to make a play You can't really be like well, I don't know we've got 12 guys and they're all about the same skill level So like who's gonna get the ball, you know? I think after a certain point someone has to carve out and be like I'm the guy and whether that means they come with the Diva mindset of
Speaker: You know, every great receiver, you you got to kind of do deal with that. But like the way that it worked last year, it just didn't seem like it was something that was going to contribute to the winning formula overall. And I think at one point you were slowly grooming Iron Lacey to be that guy. Um, he had two seasons where, you know, he didn't like the world on fire with his numbers, four or 500 yards, five, six touchdowns, you know, solid numbers. Uh, but just never quite took that jump to be the guy. Uh, and then after his sophomore year, LSU offered him a bag and you know, the, the era of NIL got the best of the Cajuns and he's now suiting up as the number one receiver in Baton Rouge.
Speaker: Meanwhile, um Jacob Bernard is a guy that has really been impressive. um Grew up on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 45 minutes outside of New Orleans. um Just really... Mr. Reliable, right? He's always gonna play hard physical football. He's gonna catch the ball when it's thrown to him He's and he's gonna make plays. He's the part returner. ah he He gets shifty. He's got breakaway speed um but no if I had to make a prediction on who I think will be the guy that steps up and
Speaker: Look out for Robert Williams, man. A 6 '2, 180 -pound junior. Started six games last season. Had 385 yards and a couple of touchdowns. um Averaged 13 yards of catch last season for the Cajuns. He's a really strong -bodied, freaky, athletic kind of receiver. um One of those guys that, if the quarterback makes a bad throw and kind of throws it a little ah little high, Robert Williams can go up and get it. um And I think that that's a huge trait to have it in today's college football ah So I really like him to step up and another guy that they're high on is Raji Dennis ah He's a true freshman, so I don't know how much he's gonna play ah But you could see him in like jet sweeps Kid is literally the fastest football player in the state of Louisiana ah one One state in the hundred meter dash
Speaker: um held the record from almost every class. ah So he he literally is the fastest kid in the state. And so their coaching staff really high on him, had a good spring. ah So we'll we'll see if he can ah make a way for himself it as a true freshman. What's the plan? Cause we talked about quarterbacks. What's the plan to replace Z on Chris's rushing ability? Because you also lose Jacob Kabote who ran for what? Just shy of 760. Um, like he got Draylen Washington, who was exceptional last season, but between Kabote and Chris, that's, you know, 1200 yards you're lacking. So what was your plan there?
Speaker: um So Dre the Washington obviously like like you said It was great when he was able to play dealt with some injuries last year um But he is fully healthy now and ready to roll. So I think he's gonna be your primary guy But look you've got two really good guys behind him in silent Perry ah who is the first team all Sunbelt return specialist ah in the preseason. He does kickoff returns for the Cajuns had 870 kickoff return yards Last year, ah which led all of college football, by the way. um So he's going to be looking to to have a key role in the rushing game, had 250 last year. And then Elijah Davis was a true freshman a year ago. 36 carries, 195 yards, had three touchdowns. um he He's another guy that this coaching staff is really high on, had a really strong spring. So I could see the Cajuns getting back to having a really solid
Speaker: three -headed rushing attack ah from the backfield, because you're not going to get it from your quarterbacks. I mean, Ben Woldridge, he possesses the the capability to run. we We've seen it before. um he can He can rip one off if he has to, but his first choice is going to be standing in the pocket and slinging the ball around the yard.
Speaker: so i'm assuming ah offensive line wise you feel good about the unit you get four starters ah back. um Although. Um, George Jackson didn't, oh, he played, he played bright tackle last year. So he's, he's flipping over to the left side, but I assume you feel pretty good about the unit as a whole though, just with the, yeah, as a, as a whole, as a whole, no doubt, uh, Landon Burton, Jax Harrington, uh, obviously AJ Gilly pre -season first team all Sunbelt, uh, really, really excited about that group. Um,
Speaker: The only question mark I really have is right tackle. And it's not that so much that I'm concerned. It's just you have two or three guys that could play. So who is it going to be? You know, is it going to be Bryant Williams or you know, is it going to be Quentin Williams or could it be a redshirt freshman in Zay Alexander? um ah Who again, all three, the coaching staff, has had lots of good things to say, had strong springs, you know, has looked good in in workouts and whatnot. um So, you know, when fall camp reps up here in about a week, it's just going to be a determination of, you know, who impresses the most right here before the season starts. And who knows that it might be, you know, the first couple of weeks where you play Grambling State and Kennesaw State, two very winnable games. um Maybe a situation where all three guys get some reps and you you see which one works the best.
Speaker: um But no, you're you're exactly right for starters returning on the offensive line, including a first team preseason awesome belt. I'm really high on this group and I think that they're going to be much improved from a year ago.
Speaker: So we we kind of flip ah flipping over to the defensive side of the ball. um you know, the defense kind of took a step back ah from 2022 to 2023, gave up 28 .6 points per game last year, um was was, you know, fairly even in in giving up the run versus the pass. So it's not like there was a a weakness like on paper, but would you say, what was more of an issue for you guys last year? Was it the uncertainty at the quarterback position or was it the defense taking a little bit of a step back from 22?
Speaker: I think it was the uncertainty at the quarterback position. I mean, you had you had three different starting quarterbacks last year. Like that is a huge red flag um in today's college football. And look, I mean, you look at a lot of the the scores from last year. yeah I don't think you gave up absurd numbers. um you know You give up 38 to Old Dominion, you give up 38 to Buffalo, 35 to Minnesota. you know You had that stretch there, middle of the season, Buffalo, Minnesota, Texas State, where you gave up 30 or more in each of those three games.
Speaker: um I think that obviously helps you know skew the numbers a little bit. You give up 37 to Arkansas State, you give up 34 to Southern Miss, you give up 31 to Troy. So you had six games there where you gave up 30 plus. um Look, you know I think this defense is another much improved unit. Eight starters returned from a year ago, including a ton in the secondary, which I'm really excited about. um and And again, talking to Phil Steele earlier today, he predicts that the Cajuns are going to actually that touchdown that they gained from 22 to 23. He actually predicts that the Cajuns defense will go back towards, you know, that 22, 23 points a game mark. um You've got a really strong defense. I'm excited about every single level.
Speaker: um In my opinion, there's a key returner at each level of this defense. Um, so if y 'all've got questions and and want to know about certain guys and whatnot, I mean, fire away. Yeah. What's the deal with Terrence Williams? Who at linebacker had 445 rushing yards over the past couple of seasons. Like I know he moved like, what's the outlook? How do you, how do you feel about that? So Terrence Williams actually played both sides of the ball in high school.
Speaker: And he was originally recruited by Billy Napier as a linebacker. And in camp that year, it was like, coach, you know, I'd really like to. Try running back at the college level. You think that's something that we could do? And at the time, you had a lot of depth at linebacker. And so Billy was like, sure, you know, but let's do it. And, you know, Terrence Williams played well, but you were buried behind Elijah Mitchell and Trey Ragus and Raymond Calle. And, you know, those three guys all went to the NFL at some point. Um.
Speaker: And so Terrence Williams really just kind of struggled to to carve out a full role for himself. um like Like you mentioned, 445 in the last two seasons. So this year, he had a conversation with Michael Desermo and the coaching staff, and they decided to move him back to the linebacker. um which from what I've heard has been a really good move for him. He's been super impressive at that spot. I mean, 6 '1", 223, he's a little undersized. um I mean, 223 is not not bad. I would like my linebacker to be more 6 '2", 6 '3".
Speaker: um But ah yeah, I mean, this could be a really good ah move for him and getting to learn from a guy as talented as Casey Osai, leading tackle or last season with 95 total tackles. um and that That could be big for him.
Speaker: So, you know we we kind of project the defense to take a step forward as does Phil Steele.
Speaker: I don't want to just kind of shower with praise, but like there's a lot of returning production, there's a lot of guys that are experienced. is there Is there any area that gives you a little bit of pause for concern, or is it just like it's all gravy from here on out, like we're just we're taking it to the top? I don't know man, i'm really I'm really excited about this defense. I mean, Mason Narcisse is a guy that had 41 tackles last year on the edge. The the one question I guess would be, Tyron Mims?
Speaker: <unk> because I haven't seen him play. um He spent the last two seasons at Ball State. um the The coaching staff has a lot of good things to say about him. um Jordan Lawson, seven sacks last season at the other edge spot. Antoine Bayless is a guy that can play either end or on the inside. um And then linebacker, I mean, Cam what and cam Whitfield had a huge season last year with eight sacks. ah He had three of them in one game against South Alabama.
Speaker: um I brought up Casey OSI a really strong player preseason second team all Sunbelt and then this secondary I mean Courtland Flowers Caleb Anderson Keon Martin is a really talented player Tyrone Lewis jute senior ah Tyree skipper the sophomore Really high on him as well Jaylen Clark had to pick sixes in the New Orleans Bowl Or I'm sorry a pick six and a scoop and score two defensive touchdowns my apologies Redefensive touchdowns, and you still lost that game still great for me, but anyways moving on um Really excited about this defense. I mean it's hard to not be eye on a defense that returns eight starters from a year ago but um look I I know that
Speaker: when you look at the last two years from michael detromo it's six and seven six and seven ah with with back-to-back bowl losses but with what you have returning and ah schedule that you have i'm going to be honest my outlook has changed over the last month like i said off the top i could really see this cajun's team winning eight games Well, that that was something that I actually had circled like a question that I wrote down.
Speaker: Do you feel like this is a barometer for Desermo as a coach now? Like, if it doesn't happen this year, for whatever reason, like, is it gonna be like, hey man, maybe we look elsewhere because the pieces are all there. The the the the teams that were kind of monsters of the West are rebuilding, you know, with new head coaches and all new situations there. You guys have oh yeah two quarterbacks that could start probably for the majority of the teams that we've talked about thus far.
Speaker: So do you feel like this is sort of like a make or break after being six and seven, six and seven in the last couple of years? Yeah, it's now. um I mean, again, like you mentioned, you return seven on offense, you return eight on defense. um And then you look at both of those six and seven seasons and there's games you can point to where you're like, man, we you you were a play away, right? um Troy goes on to win the Sunbelt in 2023. If you don't give up a touchdown in the final minute to Troy, That game goes to overtime and who knows what happens. South Alabama, the same thing. If you don't let them march down the field and kick a walk off field goal, you're you're winning that game. um And then, you know, last year, Georgia State, the interception in the end zone with two seconds to go.
Speaker: that If you don't throw that pick, you win that football game. Minnesota's a game you could have had back. Old Dominion's a game, like there's plenty of games on the schedule last year that you look at and go, man, one or two plays, you're looking at an 8 -win football team. um And so that's got to give you confidence. um you know i had some doubts about michael desermo early on uh... and into last year and and i still have some of those doubts but a lot of them have been east uh... and you you know i really like the veteran
Speaker: leadership that's back on this team. I think that's going to help a ton. And then again, we talk about the schedule and we can dive into it deeper. But I really think that the schedule is just so fortunate ah for for the Cajuns. it It just shapes up really well for them um to to have a good season. How many wins do you need out of Desermo this year? Like what's what's your floor for him? I think you have to have an improvement. so So I mean, if you yeah, I think there just has to be you you as a as a university and as an athletic department at the end of December when everybody goes home for Christmas, Brian Maggard needs to look at the schedule and the body of work from 2024 and go, hey, we're building something. Because if you as an athletic director are going to sit there and go, man, we're sputtering. Probably time to find a new coach.
Speaker: Like that that's just the business that we're in, right? ah But you know, if you look at it and go six and seven, six and seven, and then say you go eight and five with a bowl win, you're looking at that as, okay, we're trending in the right direction. We're building something here. You know, let's but's see if we can get a good recruiting class in and take it even a step further in 25. So as, as cliche as it might sound, any form of improvement. So let's let's talk about the schedule specifically because we we talked about it a little bit just talking about bye weeks, but you get Grambling State and Kennesaw State, both of those should be wins. I mean, Kennesaw is still adjusting to the move up to FBS. We know that that typically takes years for teams to kind of get their feet underneath them.
Speaker: And Grambling State, I mean, no offense to them. They're an HBCU. That's kind of like a their version of a money game. So those should be two wins there. You get a week off, then you get to face a very familiar face. John Summerall now at Tulane. I don't really know or know what to expect with what kind of team he's fielding there. I don't keep an eye on Tulane all that closely. um ah in dev theyre theying
Speaker: They're interesting. The starting quarterback is more than likely going to be Ty Thompson, ah who transferred from Oregon. Really talented ah quarterback, little dual threat guy. um He's brought in some really good receivers as well. and You know, I don't know if he's going to be able to keep the success of, you know, what Willie Fritz was doing at Tulane rolling in year one right away. Uh, but he's going to build something really special at Tulane. They're picked third in the American. Um, I think that that's pretty fair.
Speaker: And, you know, I think the one benefit that the Cajuns will have is that it is in the friendly confines of Cajun Field. However, that looks this season um because the construction on the new stadium is currently a nightmare. It's going well, ah but I mean, the home side is just pretty much a ah dirt mound right now. um And so that game is kind of going to be for me, at least the early OK, where are we? Like, is this a team? Are we going to say going into Wake Forest? ah We're contending or are we going to be sitting there after the two lane going, holy crap, we got to figure some things out. um So yeah, that one's definitely circled early on.
Speaker: yeah i think it has to be and you you talked about ah just ah we'll get off of Tulane here right in one second but Summerall did take Troy kind of walk through the door and all of a sudden they were rolling i mean it took no time at all so if if he has pieces to work with i mean they could be very competitive as a team in year one there doesn't necessarily have to be that adjustment period between Fritz and and Summerall
Speaker: um After that, you play at Wake Forest on September 28th. I think that's a very winnable game. um Despite what Zeke says, Wake Forest is no ah quarterback factory. um So I think that's that's a you've got a fair chance of winning that game, um even though it is a, quote unquote, power five. It's a pretty low tier power five school. I mean, they're they're on the tier with like Vanderbilt, Austin College, stuff like that. um Then you play at Southern Miss on October 5th. That's a very winnable game. We've categorized their struggles just kind of as a team. And Will Hall might be looking for a new home after this season. Now, October 12th, this is where the the schedule, at least in conference wise, really kicks into gear because you get apt stayed at home on October 12th. A week after you play at Coastal,
Speaker: I said I'm not sure about coastal I haven't really dove into them yet, but things were very up and down, like inconsistent within last year like we talked about it it was like, they played terrible when grace McCall was healthy and then he went out and they played better without him and I i didn't really understand how how that how that works. ah You get a week off at Texas State, we talked about it. That's that's probably the game of y 'all season. like we're We're putting that as the most important game as we sit today because that's going to dictate whether you control your own destiny or whether you need Texas State to to lose again. Arkansas State, November 9th, very winnable. South Alabama, November 16th, we've talked about what we we kind of project them to take a real step back with who who was it? Major Applewhite was the new head coach.
Speaker: um Yeah, i i don't I don't think they're going to keep rolling the same way they were with Kane Womack two years ago. They took a real step back last year, even with him. So who knows? ah South Alabama, we just talked about. Troy is starting over. We don't know what the. to really project them at at this stage. And then you close with ULM, which is a rivalry game, so things can get weird, but you should totally overwhelm them talent wise. And I mean, it's a way, but like, you know, whatever, like no, if they're not. um They're not a rival rivalries have to be competitive. They're not a rival. I mean, it's a rivalry along on paper on paper. Sure.
Speaker: Well, OK, so I actually forgot to do this, so I'm going to do it for Louisiana and we can talk about it for Georgia State before we close out. I forgot to write down win totals for betting lines. ah Louisiana is yeah set at over under seven and a half wins. I think I might put real money on the over like I like real, real money, like not like, oh, I think I might I would do this. No, I think I might. like legit bet on the over uh i like the schedule i like the team you guys return if if fields or woldridge was gone and everything was kind of hinged on one of those guys i'd feel a little more intimidated by it but the fact that you have both of them and whichever one doesn't start can be there in relief duty if the other one gets hurt i like that um so yeah
Speaker: I think eight wins is, is, is incredibly doable. Um, cause you know, when you, when you look at the schedule, the, the three games that concern me right off the bat, or um I'm actually going to say four, uh, two lane. in -state foe, really good coach. He's brought in talent from all over. I was just looking at their roster. He has Dante Fleming, who was a former receiver here at UL. He has Shaz Preston, who was a receiver at Alabama. Mario Williams, who was a receiver at USC. Got a receiver from LSU. He brought in he brought multiple people with him from Troy. And then he has Aiden Huntington, who was at ULM a year ago, who had
Speaker: Some ridiculous like nine sacks for ULM last year. He's now at Tulane. So there's tons of talent there. ah So that game concerns me. Wake Forest concerns me. um Just because ACC, I've heard it's a rough environment in Winston -Salem. I've heard they got a pretty ah pretty good crowd. um So that could be a pretty hostile environment. Appstate I think they're the overall favorite in the Sunbelt conference and I think that there's good reason to believe that um I Mean we saw it last year and we talked about it multiple times Joey Aguilar is good. Yeah, it's good. Um Caden Caden Robinson is good like they they have pieces um And then of course, Texas State
Speaker: Um, that game's gonna decide your season. It's in San Marcos. It's on a Tuesday night. We're both coming off a bye. So there's no advantage there. Um, I honestly, if, yeah, if I had to tell you right now, I think you lose that game to Texas state. Um, so eight and four, nine and three, if you could get there, I mean, that that's a hell of a season. Um, even if you don't make the conference championship game. if you If you go eight and four and say you you only lose Texas State by a touchdown, you can sit there and go eight and four and we competed with both teams that are in the championship game. I'll take that. I'll take that all day long. I like nine wins for this team. I think like I it's it's the same same teams you're scared of Tulane Wake app and Texas State between those four. One of those, I think, has got to turn into a win. Nine feels just like the most likely outcome for this team.
Speaker: Louisiana, unlike any team that we've talked about up to this point, and unlike, you know, there's only two maybe teams in the conference that where you could say this about, are in a very good position to take advantage of the instability across the conference. They are very unique. yeah I think Texas State might not even be in that situation. um honestly is the only team right now that off the cuff I feel comfortable saying like is also in a good position to take advantage of instability elsewhere ah so I it just sucks that we're the only conference left with divisions because this could be a Texas State Louisiana conference title otherwise Zeke Zeke I'll make you I'll make you a friendly wager because I think I think nine is just a little a little too far
Speaker: Mm hmm. I know I said eight and four, nine and three, but I think nine and three is just a little unobtainable. I'll make you I'll make you a friendly wager as a U .L. grad. Cajuns go nine and three in twenty twenty four. I will get the fleur de lis tattooed on my shoulder. What do you need out of it? I need nine wins. Well, what am I putting up? Well, what am I putting up here?
Speaker: You also get the floor to leave. I also get the floor to leave. We get the tattoo together. I'll come to Atlanta and we'll get the tattoo together. And Brian can meet us there and videotape the whole thing. I'll just videotape it, yeah. If you can choose something that's solid enough, I think I'll hear you out. i'm a I don't know. if Yeah, I got it. I got it. You're not high on Georgia State. So here we go. It went six games. You get the panther tattooed on you. Oh, dude. Here's the real conundrum. Unlike you guys, I'm not an alum of my my Sunbelt school. I have no ties. Other yeah I cover them for a hobby. um But here's I'm equally as on high on Georgia, just simply not a huge Georgia fan.
Speaker: um
Speaker: Let me chew on this. We'll come back next week. We'll certainly figure it out. No, I think you've got to take him up on this because the chance, I mean, no offense, the chances of Georgia State winning six are low. Please, please. No, and that actually hold hold on. so So I wrote down the over under for Georgia State. Zeke, do you want to know what the over under is according to Vegas for Georgia State? I would say probably like four and a half is probably over. It's very it's four and a half. And I would take the under on that, honestly. I just think there's too much that's like up in the air. Del McGee didn't even get a full recruiting cycle in. I know you said he hit the portal hard, but that doesn't always... you know We saw with Texas State a couple of years ago, Spavadol, that doesn't always work. like i I think six wins...
Speaker: like You might want to give Dale McGee Sunbelt coach of the year, if he wins six games with that roster, like, and I, because it's just so, I mean, him and the Brian Vincent, I think are doing the two biggest rebuilding jobs from like absolute like ground zero starting this year. So yeah, if they win six, dude, you should get like a small panther tattooed on yours. i'll get that Let's come back next week. Yeah. let Let's chew on this, we'll iron it out. We're running long right now. Dell McGee's initials tatted on your wrist like ah like a woman.
Speaker: the
Speaker: you Hey ladies, DM me. It goes down in the DMs, just like written written. oh that yes also So like Zeke said, ah let's ah let's go ahead and wrap up here. ah Matt, let everybody know where they can find you on socials and anything you want to plug and then throw it over to Zeke and we'll get out of here. As always, you can find me on Twitter at Migas Matt. If you want to check out my content with my radio station, ESPN Southwest Louisiana, you can find that on YouTube at ESPN Southwest Louisiana. And also I cover the New Orleans Saints ah for Canal Street Chronicles, which is an SB Nation blog. Training camp opens tomorrow for the black and gold. So if there's any Saints fans listening, you can find that at CanalStreetChronicles .com.
Speaker: I'm also on Twitter at Zeke Palermo. I simply don't have any products of my own to plug so I'll just pass it over to Brian. um as always you can find the show and yeah That was like five minutes late. Do you remember last year when he tried to do the sound effects and it was just dead silence? and And I went back to edit it and I was like, do I need to do the sound effects with my mouth? Because otherwise he's going to seem like he was just like, hang on. Because the like episode he kept going, hang on a minute, hang on a minute. And then it was just.
Speaker: and then I'm sitting there going what the heck is that uh it still worked um as always you can find the show on twitter at warm weather fans send us emails warmweatherfans at gmail .com you can send us questions comments we we'd love to interact with uh the people that listen to our show um you can find me personally on twitter at watch the stone um Two quick announcements. Number one, I tweeted this the other day, we are working on getting a very big guest. Can we go ahead and say like who we're working on? Because Matt, you made it sound like we're closing the deal here.
Speaker: I don't see why not. OK, we are working on getting the feel still on this podcast to talk to him. Matt has just talked to him. Would you say today ah for the radio? We're looking to get him on here to ask him very specific Sunbelt questions. um So we'll be on the lookout for that. We're we're trying aiming for the end of this month or maybe even early August, depending on who's who's available. ah let us Let us know what you want to ask him. ah it's Right. let Let us know. This is a right great opportunity for all of us. Right. We'd we'd love to have crowdsourced questions. um You know, anything that you want asked about your specific Sunbelt team of choice, we could definitely throw those questions at them, provided they aren't like, who has the sickest uniforms or whatever. Like, if you want real like football insight, like we we do has the hottest cheerleaders.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, we're not we're not asked. We're not wasting his time with that. But yes, we are working on getting feel steel for the end of this month. ah So again, you have any questions, you can either tweet them at us or send them to the email address warm weather fans at gmail dot .com. ah We will be back next week. We are talking Arkansas State and Old Dominion.
Speaker: Frankly, I haven't, I don't dive into these teams until we're about to do an episode. I really don't know what to expect out of either of those teams going into this season. So it'll be interesting to see, you know, kind of where we come out next week. um But thank you everybody for joining us. Rate, subscribe, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. This has been another episode of Warm Weather Fans, The Sunbelt Podcast.
