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Enjoy the podcast look at college football news, analysis and insight from around the
Sunshine States. This is Florida Football Insiders, a part of the College Gridiron
Coast to Coast podcast ever and here's your host, Jason Tylers. All Right,
welcome in Florida Football Insiders podcast host Jason down in Tampa. We are
here for week number six of the college football season. Hard to believe we
are almost at the halfway point of the regular season. Got a lot of
big doings here in the state of Florida. Got several State of Florida teams
doing very well. Couple on the rise Miami, Florida State have opportunities if
they keep progressing to potentially be in a national college football playoff chatter here as
we get through the midpoint month of the month of October. We've got USF
that's doing some good things. UCF with a rough rough loss, FIU and
FAU getting their feet wet here in their season as well. So lots of
stuff going on here in the state of Florida, and we are gonna talk
recap it all for you here this week, and we're gonna have two good
guests. We're gonna talk to Joey Johnston, sideline reporter for the USF Bulls
Radio Network, talking about the very surprising rise of the Bulls in year wonder
under Alex Golis, got their first road win since two thousand and nineteen at
Navy at three and two on the year and got real opportunity to get Bowl
eligible here in the month of October. We're also going to talk to Matt
Murchell from The Orlando Sentinel. We're going to talk about the devastating loss UCF
suffered over the weekend, h squandering a thirty five to seven lead against Baylor
and their home opener of the big of their Big twelve endeavor. So we're
gonna talk to Matt about the turning points of that game, what the quarterback
situation looked like, and what the future of the season looks like for UCF.
So two good guests for you. Before we get to Joe and Matt,
just to a quick recap of last week, several teams were all Florida
State had a bye week. Fau was off last week, Miami was off
as well. You had the kind of the game, the high profile game
involving the state of Florida was the Gators went up to Lexington and got thoroughly
beat by Ray Davis and the Cats. Ray Davis, the running back for
Kentucky, ran for like about two hundred and eighty yards, just totally gashed
the Florida defense. The Florida offense, it's a really struggle to get going
with Graham Mertz again, full credit to Mark Stoops and that Kentucky defense.
Always a tough place to play up in Lexington. The Gators go down,
I believe it was thirty three sixteen. Was the final? Thirty three fourteen,
I believe it was the final. But again, Ray Davis, the
transfer running back, was the star for the Kentucky Wildcats, just again gashing
runs. Again. It ran for two hundred and eighty yards, had one
hundred and ninety yards like two minutes into the second quarter. The Gator defense
just did not perform well against the run. Devin Larry, the quarterback for
Kentucky, who we thought was going to be potentially a difference maker in this
game, did not really have much of a game, didn't need to,
and he didn't really play very well. But Ray Davis was the story here
as the Gators now followed three and two. They will host Vanderbilt on Saturday
in the Swamp try to get to four and two, and again, I
just think it's going to be one of those it's just gonna be a year
where if you can get to seven wins if you're the Gators, I think
it'd be a good year. Uh, still not quite there from a talent
perspective, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They just they just,
you know, other than you know, spurts against Tennessee, they've just
really labored to score with any kind of consistency. So Billy Napier drops to
three and two and the Gators dropped to three and two with Vanderbilt coming to
town. FIU the Panthers they play on Wednesday night this week at New at
New Mexico State. That'll be a TV game, So they kind of had
a mini by this last week, and then they'll have another mini buy if
going into next a week from Saturday. So again, head out to Las
Crucis. Mike McIntyre three and two so we'll see if if if the Panthers
can keep it going out at in Mexico State, that should be a decent
matchup. As as far as the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes will host Georgia Tech
on Saturday night on the a SEC Network. This is a big, big
month for the Hurricanes after this Georgia Tech game, which they should win the
game. Remember, Georgia Tech lost to Bowling Green over the weekend at home,
so this is a game Miami will be heavily favored in and should win
comfortably. But following Georgia Tech, they go to North Carolina and they go
to Clemson. We will know a lot more about the Hurricanes after in the
next three weeks, and if the Hurricanes can split one of those split those
two games, at worst win one of those two, they will be in
a great position to go to Tallahassee in early November for a showdown with the
Seminoles again Christa Ball, Tyler Van Dyke, who has been playing very well.
The defense is playing better, So we will know much more about the
Hurricanes and we will get you some Hurricane chatter in the next either next week
or the week after on this podcast leading into the Carolina and Clemson games.
So but again a huge next three weeks for the Hurricanes that could set up
up potentially a monster game in early November with the Seminoles up in Tallahassee.
So at North Carolina, at Clemson after here, after this Saturday night at
home against Georgia Tech. So lots of excitement and lots of hope for the
future here for Miami the next three weeks, So USF with a nice win.
Again, We're gonna talk to Joey Johnson about the win at Navy.
They go to UAB on Saturday. That will be on ESPN two, so
good, good opportunity to get some more more national TV exposure for them as
well. UCF. We're gonna talk to Mike, to Matt Michelle. They
go to Kansas and again we're gonna detail what happened over the weekend in Orlando
with UCF blowing the huge lead against Baylor as well and then Florida State.
They run into a little bit of a softer part of their schedule. Got
three straight home games, beginning with Virginia Tech on Saturday. Then they will
see Syracuse and then Duke and Duke. We don't know the status at the
quarter back at Duke after he injured his ankle severely against Notre Dame. So
it could be an opportunity for the Seminoles to kind of get primed for a
November run here in the month of October. A bunch of home games in
October in Dope Campbell. So we will see if the Seminoles can keep it
roll in which they are top you know, and most everybody's pulled their top
three in the country and have a great opportunity to get to November in that
Miami game undefeated and top two or three in the country. So there's your
there's your recap for the week again. You we'll have it. We'll talk
h We're talking USF football. Joey Johnson, the great turnaround Alex goals she's
got going on. He gives you some great stories about his trip to Annapolis,
Maryland and are the can the book? Could the Bulls be Bowl eligible
by the end of October a real possibility when you look at their schedule.
And then Matt Mischelle or Orlando Sentinel about the first ever Big twelve home game
the Baylor UCF wild finished the best finish the weekend as far as game goes,
and then the prospects of what the quarterback situation looks like with John Rys
Plumbley and Timmy McClain. So enjoy the podcast. Remember at JPO Sports on
X. Video interviews can be seen on my YouTube channel at jay on the
Jason Powers Sports channel on YouTube. And again, if you haven't already done
so, hit subscribe at rate and review. Remember the Florida Football Insiders podcast
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We've got an acc podcast. So check out the array of podcasts as
part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast Feed. So appreciate you fining
us again. Joey Johnston, Matt Murschell coming up here in just a minute,
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needs this fall. All right, welcome back. Florida Football Insiders podcast hopefully
enjoyed the recap of the week's State of Florida teams. Several teams are on
bye week, and then obviously we talked about a couple of games that were
of a note in the state. Now we're gonna talk all things us F
Bulls. The Bulls have shown some very very good improvement since the beginning of
the year under year one under Alex Golish, and we're gonna chat with Joey
Johnston, who's the sideline reporter. It's part of the Bulls, the radio
network and a longtime media member in the state of Florida here in the Tampa
Areas. We welcome back mister Joey. Thank you. Jason. Great to
be here. It's nice you got a good team to cover. It looks
like this year I got some bast improvement. Yeah, we're gonna talk about
the year up to date. The Bulls coming coming to UH this week at
three and two. A nice road win, the first road win they've had
in conference, the first road winning period since twenty nineteen at East Carolina.
They had lost nineteen straight road games, thirteen in the conference. And nice
place to break a losing stream up in Annapolis, Maryland. Yeah. Absolutely,
And you know I travel with the team, so I come back with
him on the charter. And you know, you talk to anybody in sports,
they say one of the greatest, most fun things in sports is when
you win on the road and travel home. I haven't had this in a
long time. Jason has spent four years since we've had a fight like this
home. So it was great to see for the coaches and the kids to
have that kind of enjoyment. It had been so so long, right,
far too long, but it certainly looks like with the way they're playing,
this will not be the last time they went on the road. They're gonna
do it regularly. Talk about Yeah, I saw the pictures on social media,
talk about the joy for some of these kids that have been here for
in five years that it maybe had never won a game on the road.
I saw one of the linemen was basically almost crying in the locker room.
That have joy, you know. To talk about the feeling of this program
and these kids who've been here for multiple years, especially how they see the
uptick, they see something better. That's that they see the results or their
hard work and all the perseverance a lot of these kids have had to go
through here usf Yeah. I think most of all, it's it's a reminder
of just how how much they've gone through and how much they've suffered for four
years to not have this This isn't. This isn't isn't normal to go this
long. So the pro to say the program has been down as a massive
understatement, and certainly they're not all the way back yet, but but they
are having great success. And not only that, they're fun to watch on
offense and defense. That's the that's the really cool thing is they're they're an
easy team to watch, a easy team to root for, and it certainly
looks like they're going to be able to contend in most of their games the
rest of the way, which would put them in a Bowl game, which
to me would be a massive, massive win for Alex scoliss first year.
Oh no doubt. I think if you ask most pundits around the country going
into the year, coming off of a one and eleven year new coach,
there probably weren't many many people that probably thought four wins at most at the
best, and if we'll get and we'll get to the schedule here in a
little bit. But they've got a very good opportunity here in the next three
weeks to get Bowl eligible here in the next three to get it out of
the way. But I mean, they got an opportunity here. Let's start
back at the let's start back in week one at Western Kentucky. Most people
that you know, they're heavy underdogs. They played really well, turned the
ball over a little bit too much Byron Brown, didn't play great, but
they were in the game middle of the fourth quarter, ended up losing by
ten eleven points or whatever it ended up being. But they were in the
game, and a game most people thought they would get beat pretty soundly,
come back beat Florida and m and then to me the big moment, and
you know big moments, they play Alabama really well. They didn't get manhandled
physically. To me that I was at the game, they didn't get man
handled physically, which most people thought they would. They were very competitive with
Alabama. Obviously Alabama's quarterback situation, you can bait that all you want,
But physically I thought us very much played Alabama pretty even. Yeah, very
representative effort, could have easily won the game. I had some issues on
offense, obviously moving the ball, but the defense I thought played probably really
really well and held Alabama down. Alabama did get a nice drive at the
end of the game to put it away. It would have been nice if
the defense could have gotten off the field there, maybe given the offense a
shot to tie it. But you know, the defense played as well as
it has in many many years. The offense just couldn't get anything going.
Got a field goal on the board as a result of a turnover, but
really wasn't It wasn't much a factor. And the one time they moved it
late in the second half Byron Brown through an end zone interception. So they're
just wouldn't allow to hang your hat on. They need more than three points
to win that game and they just couldn't find a way to get it.
Talk about the defense, Todd Orlando doing a great job of that defense.
I think all saw sad. They've got more sacks through five games than they
had all last year. What is he doing? Is he doing anything schematically
or is it just coaching up the guys better or got better player? What
are you seeing on defense that's making such a difference. Yeah, I think
it's all of that. First of all, I think they've they've really done
a good job going to the transfer portal to kind of solidify some of their
positions and beef up physically across the front line. First of all, their
secondary has really played great most of the year. Daikwan Evans is a first
team All a Conference player, maybe even mentioned for an All American if he
continues to have the season he's having. The schemes certainly are a factor.
Alex Goulish said the reason he hired Todd Orlando was they went up against each
other so many times in the Big Twelve, and he said that was the
one game he hated preparing for it because he knew Todd Orlando was such a
chore to prepare for by the way he changed things up. And certainly he's
doing that. I mean, we heard Nick Saban say he thought USF had
some of the most exotic blitzes that he'll see all season that Alabama will see
from an opponent. He's putting the right guys in the right places. Certainly,
they're they're shuttling in and out, They're getting fresh bodies in there,
and they are finding a way to get to the quarterback. Part of that
is the players, but part of that is certainly Toad Orlando X and knowing
his way to getting the guys in the right position to make plays. And
one of the impressive things but following the Alabama game, forget that they lost,
I mean the media to be able to recover physically the next week and
come back and beat Rice in your conference opener, and you always hear that
the theory of the Alabama effect after you play Alabama, the beat you know,
just being beat up in all that the following weekend for them to come
back at home to beat Rice, down to Rice in the third quarter,
come back and win a game again, a home conference opener, home opener
following the emotional Alabama loss. Talk about the just the and that's where the
offense started to really get back into the flow of things. Talk about what
you're seeing on offense. Yeah, that that Rice USF game was was incredibly
exciting of ends with JT. Daniels the quarterback for Rice, and Byron Brown,
both of them were slinging it all over the yard. H JT.
Daniels actually got hurt late in the third quarter and that turned out to be
a big thing for USF. And I have to deal with him because he
had four and three two yards passing in the third quarter and had he stayed
in the game, who knows what would have happened. But Byron Brown just
was sensational with the deep ball in this game. And Naim Simmons, the
wide receiver they have the transfer from an FCS school, end up setting it
not only a USF record, but a state of Florida record. And for
those of us who have been around the state of Florida, we know there
have been been some decent receivers in the state historically, so for him to
set a record like that is pretty incredible. So was the yard What was
the yardage? Joey two seventy two. I didn't even know that. I
did not know that eight catches, eight targets, two hundred and seventy two
yards. As Joel Ward in the offensive coordinator said, you know, honestly,
he said, I don't see how you could play a better game than
he played. Every time we threw to him, he caught it, and
he said, a state record. So that was pretty darned good. So,
you know, the the final score was great, forty two to twenty
nine. But really, to me, the most impressive part of the game
was USF was in a position in the third quarter to go up by two
touchdowns and Nickquon right from the two went lunging to the end zone, lost
the ball, Rice recovered it for a touchback. That's bad enough. On
the next play, Rice hit and adr touchdown passed to their running back or
an assignment was missed, so now Rice is up in the game. That
is a huge swing and really the kind of swing that USF would never recover
from in previous seasons. But they went right back at it and they took
command of the game. And that's probably the the most notable thing I've seen
from this team is their ability to overcome adversity and their ability to play the
next play. Has Alex golisch al He says, next play, next play,
next play. He is a next play guy. And I'll tell you
this, he is not a big picture guy. Do not ask him big
picture questions to get going on to day. What about what's the meaning of
breaking this nineteen game? Losing Street could speak to, you know, not
going to do it. It's a game and then we're getting ready for the
next game. He is not going to get out of that situation. And
really, with the way they're playing, you kind of like that attitude because
he is as focused as you will see. He is all about preparing for
the next game, and so far from what we've seen in the last few
weeks, can't argue with the method. It seems to be working. Sounds
like a guy up in New England on to Cincinnati kind of kind not quite
that dry, but the same. All right. So Byron Brown has another
big game twenty six to thirty four, three thirty eight, three touchdowns against
Navy again, another impressive job on the road down fourteen to nothing early.
You were there, first of all, before you talk about the Navy game
a little bit, talking about the atmosphere of just watching a game at the
at the Service Academy up in Annapolis. You've never been there. I've never
been there. You have the audience a little sense of just the pageantry of
a game at one of the Service academies. Yeah, well it's you know,
first of all, you walk into the stadium and you know, we've
all been to stadiums around the country, including Raymond James, where you have
the Ring of Honor with the names of the players and the coaches and Raymond
James, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Ronde Barber, Derek Brooks, etcetera,
etcetera. You know, a pretty cool thing. At Navy, they
have a Ring of Honor. Two. But it says you Wojima, Guadalcanal,
the Aleutian Islands. That's pretty that's pretty awesome. All the great battles
at the United States has been in over the years. That will get your
attention. And then when when all the midshipmen march in information uh and then
take their place on the field, and then up in the stands with the
just the sea of white uh, just the spirit that they have. And
then the way they closed the game, and it was really touching to see
the Navy players and the USF players together as the album mater was sung,
and of course it ends with beat Army and it's it's it's really it's really
a throwback to kind of just the pure spirit and competition and and the meaning
of much more than a game. So it's a it's a pretty special place
to be. Yeah, and again USF comes back from fourteen down wins,
the game goes to two and Ozero in the conference. Let's look at the
schedule a little bit move forward. Then we'll talk about a couple of big
picture things. I don't mind. I don't mind talking big picture after I'm
good with it. But I just can't get Alex Golis to do it.
That's right, that's right. So the next three are all games. If
you look at the schedu very winnable. At UAB. We get to see
our old buddy Trent Dilfer, who had who's made a lot of news in
the last few days with his meltdown on the on his own coaching staff at
Julane FAU at home, which would be a good in state rivalry game,
uh, which FA used down lit bit, but they got a new coach,
Tom Herman, we know about. And then they go to Yukon,
who's struggling. Great opportunity here, you could buy by the middle of October,
late octobers, third week in October, you could be Bowl eligible in
six and two. You could. But again and the and Alex Scholis will
caution you that you can't. You can't look that far ahead. That it's
all about uh, you know, winning on the road at UAB again.
USF just won on the road for the first time in nineteen games. So
you can't assume anything. UAB is one and four, but they appear to
better than that. This matters. Their record indicates it's gonna be a really
cool kind of game for me because I grew up in Tampa on USF and
the Sun Belt Conference. When you he was a big rivalry in men's basketball
and was in football for a short time before USF moved on to the Big
East. So USF has not played UAB since two thousand and four in football,
but USFUAB a lot of commonality to major Southern cities, two peer sort
of institutions. I think it's a it's a great conference rival for USF,
and I'm really excited to hopefully get a chance to see Trent Dilfer. I
really enjoy being around him with the Bucks, and we'll always remember being at
that super Bowl when he won with the Ravens in Tampa, which was just
one of the more incredible stories I've ever been around. He's, you know,
obviously, and nothing he ever does is boring. He's whether he's been
the broadcaster or the player, he always as a flair for the dramatic.
And it's interesting too that here's a guy that was, you know, primarily
a broadcaster than a high school coach and now he's a Division one college coach.
Uh So, trying to make the best of that opportunity, and you
know, so I'm looking forward to it, and it's a it's a great
opportunity for USP, but also a great one for UAB. So the one
good thing about it. I think in town a lot of people have noticed
this and they're curious. And I think USF is gonna start to get a
lot more viewers and fans in the stadium, and they would have had their
people are starting to jump on the train a little bit. And yeah,
you may be close to my heart where I went to school, my Alma
Monter. I played there, so I've got some ties there too. And
good to see the program. You know, obviously the Cloak program got shut
down a few years ago and reborn, and I think Trent's gonna do a
good job. He may not, you know, record wise this year,
but he's a good coach and he'll get some players there and all that stuff,
so you'll enjoy. I know you probably haven't been to Birmingham in a
while, but they've done a lot of stuff down town. In Birmingham.
They've got a beautiful new stadium a couple of years old, so you'll look
that and it'll be a good trip up there for for the weekend. So
all right, let's talk about a couple of position group. Give me a
position group or two that you really have seen gotten better since week one at
Western Kentucky or maybe a group that's maybe surprised you about. Well, I
didn't really think this group maybe would be as productive as they've been through five
games. Yeah, I am surprised by the secondary how well it's played with
Daquan Evans and Jalen Stokes and uh, several guys in that secondary that that
that is really the maybe the strongest unit on the team that I have seen.
Uh, they continue to produce and not only defending the pass, but
they have guys that are getting in the backfield and tackling running backs for losses.
Very aggressive. Really really pleased with with the physical play from that unit.
One of the units that's that's come on from week one to now to
me is the wide receivers. And I thought there was talent there, but
it was it was not showing up immediately, but now it seems to be.
And Navy we really got a lot of diversity. It's it's uh,
you know, four or five guys touching the ball and looking like, uh,
you know they can they can make some plays with it. They've got
a really really some depth there and that helps to explain Byron Brown's numbers.
He's got a lot of great targets to go to, and we started to
see that at Navy. There's they can shuttle it guys in and out and
create some problems for the opponent. A couple of stats that I think of
an interesting ill looking to the stat before we started talking, they've made all
their field goals five or five kicking the ball, which is important as we
move through the season. You're gonna need to make those kicks. Time of
possession twenty nine minutes. Most times you think of the Ax at Tennessee kind
of offense, you think not as much time of possession. They're basically dead
even in time of possession through five games, which is a good sign.
You're keeping that defense off the field a little bit. The drives are a
little bit longer. Those kind of things are important as you when death might
be an issuees you move later in the year, those kind of things staying
off the field as on defense are critical items. YEA, here's here's something
that just came on my mind and it it maybe it's a little bit off
topic, but it struck me as as interesting. In the Navy game,
USFUH goes up by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter with the ball what does
that tell you? Take the air out of the ball, run some clock
right ice the game away. USF did the opposite. They went full ultra
fast UH seven play drive and just under three minutes to score a touchdown.
The Navy defense had to be saying, what and the world is this?
I mean, they were gassed and then they had to deal with that.
So to me, that that shows how dangerous the Goalish offense can be because
that was not something Navy was expecting and they just they just got run out
of their own stadium. And that was the ball game. And I was
gonna lead to my next question about to coach. About coach Golish, you
know, you would look back at the Alabama game. There were a couple
decisions on fourth down that could have been questioned, do you punt? Do
you go for it? Based on the style of the game, and he
came out of it, you could have questioned, uh, there was a
Sean Atkins fumbled the punt after the defense has stopped Navy on the first possession.
He lost to fumble. Navy picked it up and then scored on a
drive, a short drive. So USF gets the ball on offense for the
first time they have a fourth and one at their own thirty and they go
for it and they don't get it, okay, and then Navy scores to
go up fourteen. Nothing. You certainly can question that. But the one
thing that is clear to me, Alex Golish is not questioning himself on these
He goes for them with no hesitation. He wants the upside. He's prepared
to take the consequences. Fortunately it didn't hurt the Bulls this time, but
there were a lot of people questioning that call. But this guy is unafraid.
Agressive, Aggressive is a fearless play caller, and he knows what he
wants and he goes and gets it, and if he doesn't get it,
he'll take the blame. Then that's what you want to That's that's the respect
you try to earn with your guys. At least the guys in that locker
room know that they're gonna they got a guy that's that's that's behind him.
Talk about how you think Alex is growing into the job of being the head
coach. Obviously things are going, they're going better than most people thought they
would be after five games. But like you mentioned, he's a one game
at a time. Guy, what have you seen out of him? Talking
to him behind the scenes, and just like you talking about end game,
do you think the endgame stuff will get a better, he'll get more.
You think this is gonna be the way it's gonna be from now until he's
done, or do you think he's gonna I think he's good end game.
I do. I you know, the only thing that people might raise an
eyebrow is the fourth down calls and and going for it. But you know,
and most people's heart of hearts. You like a coach that's a little
fearless. Yeah, I think he's a very good head coach for a first
time head coach. He's he's been far better than I would have imagined.
Uh, there's no question he's ready for this, and there's no question that
USF may not be his last stop. I mean, I know us hands
want to hold him forever. But yeah, it's it's clear to me that
this guy was gonna be on somebody's radar. If it wasn't USF, he
was going to land somewhere because he does have the right stuff. He knows
how to get the locker room behind him and make the players play for him.
He has surrounded himself with some really good coaches, and he is marching
to a great beat right now. He really is, and he's got this
program on the move. And I think, actually too, he's one of
the best interviews that I've been around. He is great on the podium,
He's great answering questions and explaining things. He has a really dry sense of
humor. Sometimes it goes over the heads of people like myself. Gott gotta
pay attention so you get the jokes. But I like the personality. I
like the approach and the the you know. Of course I had questions,
like anyone would do. Is first time head coach, Okay, what's this
gonna be? But so far, so good. I think I think he's
done a great job. I do last question, I'll get you out to
talk about the USF community, the fan base. You know, there were
some you know, obviously they didn't sell out the Alabama game, which to
me was a little disappointing. I figured, if you're gonna ever sell out
a game, that's the one, and you got Bama coming to town.
Talk about what is the excitement level on campus, in the in the in
Tampa Rising obviously, especially now we're getting some results and winning results. Yeah,
I could definitely see it. There was a nice, nice crowd on
the road at Navy one hundred or some of them were Byron Brown family and
friends. We're in the number seventeen Jersey. But it was, it was
it was a pretty nice representation on the road. Uh. You know,
I think I think some people will make the track to UAB and the week
after that's home coming with Florida Atlantic. I would be shocked if it wasn't
a great crowd for that game. You can again, it's you have your
diehards and then you have your casual fans. The casual fans are noticing what's
going on and they're you know, some of them are saying, you know,
maybe I should go to that game. I'd like to watch this team,
and I will promise you this. Uh, it's a fun team to
watch. I would you know. I've seen a lot of football, as
have you, and I know what I like and I have enjoyed watching this
team a lot, and I could not say that the last few years so
much. But it's very entertaining, even when when loser draw, it has
been an entertaining brand of football in the last two weeks have been tremendous,
not only entertaining, but great wins in the conference. So I think,
uh, you know, Tampa is sort of a bandwagon city, even with
its professional teams. We've seen the Bucks be down and then when they come
back, people rise up. I think the same thing is going to happen
with USF. And I will say this and again, I've seen it happen
with the Bucks, the raising, the lightning. When you have that that
year where it starts to turn where everything's roses, where it's like beautiful.
Uh, that's the great year, you know, where there's no expectations.
You know, if USF goes out and win, wins a bunch of games
and gets into a bowl game next year, they've got the expectation thing.
It's it still could be good, but it's not gonna be the same as
this kind of honeymoon season where everything is just turning around and everybody's just jubilant
with what they're seeing. Now. In the same thing with the Buccaneers.
You and I are following the Buccaneers. Nobody thought the Bucks would be three
and one after four games. And remember you remember, yeah, this year
for sure. But I remember talking about Trent Dilfer in the nineteen ninety seven
season, after fourteenth straight losing seasons, that thing was just magic all year
and they got in the playoffs. But that after that it was still good,
but it was always the massive expectation of Super Bowl or bust. And
you know, certainly the Bulls could have the same kind of thing. And
I, you know, could we be looking at a conference championship this year
for Alex Golisch? Is that possible? I think it is possible. It's
likely, but it's possible, and I certainly would thinking it was possible.
For the season. You got Memphis in early November at Memphis, that could
be the big kind of the big one. They'd be the one, right
there, could be the one. And then and then the UTSA Texas San
Antonio on the road on a Friday night late in the season again could be.
Those are the two games I have on my schedule that that really could
could be the biggest challenges. Two things more that you gonna just came to
mind. Have you ever been at a game like at UCF up twenty eight
to seven or thirty five seven with four mints left in the third quarter and
the team come all the way back and beat them. Have you ever been
in attendance in a game like that to come back us. I'll have a
story on this. Two thousand and three, the Bucks and the Colts on
Monday night from coached by Tony Dungee. It was his birthday. I was
writing for the Tampa Tribune, and uh, it was a night game,
the dead Nay Monday nighter. It was so you you know, you don't
have a lot of time to write. So I was writing. My assignment
was right about the Colts, and so of course with the Bucks up thirty
five fourteen with four minutes to go, I'm thinking that's pretty safe, right.
So I have written my column on the disappointing night for the Colts.
Tony DUNGEI didn't have a happy birthday. I sent it in and I went
to the field to watch the rest of the game, and I saw the
comeback from field level went right through the overtime. I went to the Colts
locker room, where one hour after the game, Peyton Manning was still in
full uniform with his shoulder pads. He was talking to anybody who would talk
to him. He was so excited. It was the most amazing thing I've
seen. So I then went back up to the press box and wrote an
an online column. The next day, I realized that, you know,
that first column I sent in got into the first edition because people called me
and said, did you watch the game? And I go, yeah,
I was at the game. Why did you think the Colts last? Oh
my gosh, my column that said the Colts loss actually got into the newspaper.
So I've never seen anything quite like that, but it so, yes,
I've seen I've seen similar. I was at Navy. I did not
watch the UCF game. All I heard was UCF was up big, and
the next thing I heard was UCF lost. So I can only imagine what
a catastrophic feeling that must be for USF and and it spans, and that's
that's a tough thing to come back from. That's the kind of thing you've
got to really be tough minded, or else that the season could get away.
So it's it's gonna be a big challenge for UCF to come back and
get it going in the right way. And we're gonna talk to Matt Michelle
from The Orlando Sentinel here right in a couple of minutes about that game and
the meltdown and all that he was at the game, so we will get
his perspective on that last thing. On the state of Florida, Florida State
Miami seemed to be the obviously the two best teams. Obviously, give me
a thought on both teams through five weeks. I think they're both going in
a great direction. Miami I still need to see a little bit more before
I'm convinced they're, you know, legitimate big time championship contender. Florida State
I think is I think Florida State could very well be a playoff team this
year. Obviously some tough tests down the road, one of which will be
against Miami. I I you know, you play these games before the season
with people, and you go through a schedule. I looked at Florida State
schedule. I thought there was a chance they could run it out if they
beat LSU, and so I'm thinking they can run it out. Miami still
maybe another year away before they're, you know, legitimately all the way back,
But it looks like Marie crystal Ball is going to continue to stack this
team in the right direction. And uh and get back to where they once
were. Miami has Clemson North Carolina in the month of October. If they
can get through that those two with one loss, that sets up a showdown
in Tallahassee and early November. And you've been I'm sure you've covered many of
them, but how cool would that be for that game? We best have
a bunch of meeting early November. Yeah, I love I have loved covering
the Floor's State Miami game when it's a big game, just like the Florida
State Florida game when it's a big game there. There are a few things
finer than those those matchups when when they matter, and a Florida's State Miami
matters. We really haven't seen it matter matter in a long time. I
like it used to. It used to matter every single year. So if
it matters this year, sign me up. I hope I can get in
front of a television to watch it because I will enjoy that kind of watching
that. Well. Joey, great commentary on the Bulls. Keep up the
great work as part of the Bulls Radio Network. Tell the audience where they
can find the game you're locally or if they're or if they're not in the
Tampa Barry where they can find the game. Games moving forward, well,
we do our games on one H two point five The Bone FM, and
also all the games are streamed on Bulls Unlimited. You can get it anywhere
in the world and it will be as clear as the game was happening right
outside your doorstep. So Bulls Unlimited or one h two point five FM The
Bone, and you will get some great nuggets from Joey on the sidelines throughout
the game. I'm sure pre game and post game he's involved as well.
So good luck, keep it up. Let's get your bowl eligible by the
next time we talk. Get you cool, Enjoy, Enjoy Birmingham. Maybe
get some some ribs or something, some barbecue up in Birmingham. There's there's
kind of a Dreamland knockoff, I think in downtown Birmingham. And I just
you gotta show where is the Jason Power statue? Do you ever seen?
It? Doesn't exist? Somewhere right down the UB campus right by the right.
I will take a selfie and send it to that great But enjoy your
trip, Joey, have a great week, and let's go Bulls. Let's
get to four and two. Thanks Jason and now a word from Titan Home
Lending. Are you in the market to purchase your first time home, relocate
to the state of Florida, or just purchase that second home or investment property.
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So reach out to Titan Home Lending anywhere in the state of Florida for
your next home purchase. Two zero five seven nine zero one four zero four.
Now a word from our partners at Print and Marketing Solutions as well as
Star Alvarado, our realtor here on the podcast. If you have any buying
and selling needs anywhere in the Bay area, reach out to Star Alvarado eight
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All right, Welcome back Florida Football Insiders podcast. Hopefully enjoyed our chat
with Joey Johnston talking a little USF and their resurgence, and now we have
to unfortunately go to the other side of the ledger in one of the most
dramatic games that we've seen in a very long time in college football, and
obviously at Central Florida, probably the maybe the toughest loss in their program history.
We're gonna bring in Matt Michelle, the beat writer for The Orlando Sentinel
covers all Things You seef as well as all things Orlando Sports. Welcome back,
Matt. How are you doing this morning? I'm well, I'm well.
You were. You were in the building saturday well as the devastating comeback
win for the Baylor Bears unfolded there in the fourth quarter. If fans,
if you didn't weren't paying attention a whole lot middle of late third quarter,
about four minutes to go on the third quarter, UCF is up thirty five
to seven on Baylor, who's had a little bit of a down year so
far this year, and low and behold, as I'm watching I'm watching the
updates throughout the fourth quarter, I just see it getting a little close,
and all of a sudden, I look up and I see the Baylor kicker
coming out late in the fourth quarter and I'm thinking to myself, they're not
kicking a field goal here unless it's to win the game. Where to tie
the game? What has happened here? You were in the building, give
us a little sense of obviously at thirty five to seven the night you're playing
great, Timmy McLean is doing his thing. Talk to me about the momentum
of that building. About what point you started to think, oh, we
could have something going on here. Well, you know what's interesting about that
game is, you know, UCF came out really kind of on fired.
You know, they scored twenty one points in the first eight minutes, including
like Johnny Richardson's seventy r yard touchdown run with twelve took about twelve seconds to
get on you know, the touchdown that was their first touchdown and their big
twelve home opener. You know, everything looked to be going well. They
jumped out to a thirty five seven lead, offense was doing well, defense
was containing Baylor. You know, about middle of the third quarter, all
of a sudden, things just kind of stalled. Offense couldn't find a way
to get itself moving. Baylor started to get some some plays here or there,
and they started to chip away at it and you just kept you got
this feeling all of a sudden that this game momentum was shifting. And I
think it was probably about the fourth quarter when you know, R J.
Harvey, Uff running back fumbled a snap and a wildcat formation and Baylor's defensive
quarterback picks it up and runs it back seventy two yards for a touchdown,
and all of a sudden, the wind just went out of the sales for
UCF. And that was kind of the moment that Gus Mason told us that
he felt like it was really the backbreaker. You know, they really felt
like they could still find a way to win this game. They were driving
deep in Baylor territory. They felt like they could kick a field goal at
the least or maybe get a touchdown and I would put the game away.
But instead Baylor takes advance. UCF never was able over to cover, and
Baylor comes down and scores the kicks the field goal to go up thirty six
thirty five. UCF has one final chance and Colton Bloomer missus a think fifty
nine yard field goal which really never had a chance, uh, you know,
and and UCF suffers it's largest comeback loss, you know, and they
just they couldn't find a way to finish this game. And that's been kind
of the story for this program this year, is they haven't been able to
finish some of these games. They couldn't finish against Kansas State. They were
in it in the late in the third quarter in that game as well,
couldn't find a way to win it as well. So now they're going they
gotta move forward. They gotta go on the road again this week to play
Kansas So there's a lot of I think post game Saturday and on Monday,
there was a lot of just kind of bewilderment and how this kind of got
away from him so quickly. And give David Randa credit. At thirty five
to seven, he actually kicked a field goal in the third quarter where most
teams coaches would have probably gone for it try to get the seven points.
Give him credit. He kicked a field goal to make it thirty five to
ten, and then you and then Baylor goes on a twenty six zero run
in the fourth quarter from a scoring perspective, to obviously they win the game
twenty thirty six. But give a Rando credit not of coaches wouldn't kick that
field goal in the third quarter, even though when you're down by four touchdowns,
knowing you still have to score four more touchdowns to win the game.
So give a Randa some credit for Baylor. You see, I gives up
one hundred and ninety two yards of offense in the fourth quarter, which is
I mean, it's just hard to believe. Obviously they get out scored twenty
six. Nothing you mentioned kind of the offense got stagnant. What did gust
Malson at some point in the fourth quarter take a time out to try to
calm everybody down or to just let the game keep keep flowing like it was
and just hope to God you can hang on. Well, you know,
he kind of let the game flows as it was. I mean, he
took time outs later in the fourth, but you know, I mean,
it just it was kind of the same some of the same storylines they've experienced,
especially in the Kansas State laws. You know, Timmy mcclan is doing
well and then he gets to a point where he's got a he's scrambling around
and he throws an interception where he had a guy Randy Pitt in the tight
end was wide open, he underthrows the ball and Baylor gets to pick.
This is another example of where UCF was in the was it basically you know,
inside their opponents forty and had an opportunity to work. They just kind
of kepta care of the football. They could score there maybe you know,
I mean, and that would have kind of salved maybe could have put the
end of this game as well. But you know, that's been kind of
the m O for their quarterbacks is a lot of their turnovers have occurred inside
their opponents, you know, inside the quarts forty and you know, when
you turn the ball over like that, uh, and you don't and you
limit yourself through ability to maybe the score that kind of heard other well,
and then you got, like I said, then you got the fumble that
happened with R. J. Harvey, where was a bad snap. He
was in a wildcat and he fumbled the ball and Baylor takes advantage of it.
I mean, again, those are some of the mistakes that UCF has
had over the last couple of weeks. They've been trying to find a way
to fix this. They they've got to limit these turnovers. They've got to
find a way to you know, defensively stop some teams. I mean,
I mean teams have owned them in the fourth quarter, especially for the last
three, last two or three games, I think they've been outscored like thirty
seven to seven in the fourth quarter. What's even better, even worse stat
is that the teams are converting third downs in the fourth quarters seventy percent rate,
where meanwhile UCUP is only converting two of ten over the last two fourth
quarters. So they're struggling in some ways to try to finish these games,
as I mentioned, and if they can do that, you know, they
feel like they're right there. And if you look at some of the things,
they are right in those games. But what happens is teams just wanting
to take advantage of the fourth quarter and they weren't him down. Some of
that could be symptomatic of you're playing in a league it's the Big twelve.
Now you've got bigger, better, stronger players. Coaches don't want to admit
that. Players don't want to admit that, but you guys wanted. That's
partly what some of what's going on in the last two weeks tall out the
quarterback situation. Obviously, Timmy McClain has played the last couple of weeks.
They've scored a bunch of points, he's had some turnovers. Is what is
the John Rice plumb Lee situation as far as moving forward? And is Timmy
McClain aren't played enough, played well enough to still get some opportunities to play
even if plumb Lee is healthy. Yeah, John Race Plumber was cleared on
Friday. Was gust balls On told us he did suit up for the Baylor
game but did not. I wasn't going to play, but Gus said that
he was the emergency quarterback. You know, he hadn't had a chance to
practice all week. They didn't want to throw him out there and have something
bad happen. They said going into this week that Plumbley was going to practice
along with Timmy and they would make a decision probably on Wednesday or how they
were going to move forward with this. I asked Gus specifically, could you
see a situation where he could go a two quarterback system for a while,
just to let maybe get John Rice a little bit And he said, I'm
not really to talk about that yet or decide that yet. We're gonna wait
till Wednesday and see how things go. I'm not sure. You know,
Timmy has played well, relatively well. I mean he talked about it.
There are times he does some things that the coach is kind of cringe.
Yet he's a little freestyle, which they'd like him to kind of stay in
the system. But they understand that John Rice Plumber is the guy, and
they really they'd like to get him back. They would love to not have
to use him this week, believe me, because they get a bye week
next week and then they go into Oklahoma. So and in mind, my
guess is they would love to have him rest another week and then get the
bye week and then have him come back for the Oklahom him the game,
But that situation kind of went to out the window with the Bailo loss.
Now all of a sudden, you got to figure out what's going on.
I'm not they haven't leaned either way. It wouldn't shock me if Timmy starts
the game and they see how things go offensively and he struggles a little bit,
or the offense falls behind a little maybe they bring in John Rice plumbly.
I mean, again, this is a knee is supposed to a knee
injury. You know that he suffered in the Boise State game. I'm sure
they'd love to let him get a little more opportunities to heal that and be
one hundred percent. But we'll see what happens. I mean, I think
this is a point where Gus realizes, if John Rice is healthy, they're
gonna probably put him out there. Gets Kansas and Timmy McClain, if those
in the here listening in the state of Florida, the former USF quarterback,
it was a big good recruit. He's I think he's from the Orlando area.
I believe he's from kind of in that in the Orlando area. Transferred
after you know, he lost a job to the former Baylor quarterback Gary Bohannan
who went to USF. Timmy McClain left USF went to UCF is getting some
oppors and he saw if you, if you were on social media, saw
the highlight play he made on fourth down on the last drive where he ran
about a one hundred and fifty yards in the backfield and completed a pass.
And you know, he's an electric athlete. But the consistency of Willie stay
in the offense, and like you mentioned, we don't want so much free
flow out of him at a little too much of that is cannot can be
detrimental sometimes, but we know he's an athlete, he's a you know,
he kind of reminds me of Michael Vick kind of guy. Could run around
and left handed guy, got a big arm. And uh, you mentioned
going to Kansas this week, an interesting interstring matchup there, UCFO and two.
Kansas coming off losing to Texas. You know, Jaylen Daniels didn't play
last week at Texas with some back issues. You would think he would be
back to play this week, but a tricky spot going to Lawrence. Yeah,
very much so. And I know that Lance Lampold, the chanceas coach
shut on Monday that Jaylen Daniels didn't practice on Monday. They're still dealing with
what those issues are with his back. There's a possibility he may not play
either. So there's a little bit of a coach sportsmanship going on here where
some speak where you know, I think Gus doesn't want to let him know
what they're going to throw out there, and I think Kansas doesn't want to
let me know who's gonna be out there as well. So it's it's gonna
be interesting. It's and you're right about Timmy. Timmy went to Seminle High
here locally, guy who's got a lot of ability to kind of move around
the pocket. I think he started a little bit at times in the mid
range throws, you know, I mean he could, but he also adds
an extra dimension of when things break down, he could take off running,
much like John Rice can do as well. But the thing that coaches kind
of stressed to us is that they'd like him to stay within the system,
not freestop so much because I think that's where he gets into trouble. And
John Rice just has more experience, you know, it's been in this offense
and understands exactly what they're trying to do. And you know, so we'll
we'll see how that goes going to Kansas. I mean they've struggled on the
road. Even the boys he State win, which was on the road,
they had to remember they had to come back to win that game. They
did play very well, they needed a last minute field goal to win that
game. So they've got to find a way to get on the road.
This is a banged up team, Gus said this today. I mean they've
they've had eight different offensive linemen who had had to step in and start a
game this year. You know that Lyric, Ricky Barb and the top one
of their top defensive guy line guys has been out in and out of the
lineup for the last couple of weeks. You know, the center spot's been
been banged up. They've had to They've lost Walter Yates, their linebacker went
out in the game against Baylor. So Gus is saying, listen, we're
trying to get as healthy as we can. They love to get that bye
week. They want to try to get everyone back before they go take on
Oklahoma, and so it's it's it's going to be a challenge that way.
They've got to understand. But but the Gusts isn't making any excuses. The
understands that they're gonna have. That was their the role they were kind of
handed to in the car they were handed So they're gonna have to find a
way to win somebody's games. What's the what's the one position group that really
needs to step up there? Step up a little bit. It sounds like
defensively they've struggled in the second half of games. What's the one Is it
a defensive line is it secondary or just maybe the inability of the offense to
maintain what they've been doing. What's the one group that Gus or you have
noticed that the heat they think really needs to play a little bit better here
the second half of the year. I think two groups in my mind.
One of them is the defensive line. And I mean, again I mentioned
Ricky Barber being banged up, and that's hasn't helped them. But you know,
they came out and they had four sacks against Baylor, but all that
damage it was done early on in the game. You know, once they
got in that fourth, like I said, the late third quarter, fourth
quarter, they didn't really get much of a push. And I think that's
something that they're gonna have to do. They're gonna have to be the rotated,
more guys or whatever it takes to get better pressure. Because when they
get pressure on the quarterback, they're you know, they're able to kind of
create some turnovers and things like that. They haven't been able to do that
latent game, So they've got to find a way step up and do that
late in the game. And I think running, I think the running game,
you know, I mean, listen, you know a lot the first
three weeks, they led the country and rushing, and you know, they've
got kind of away from it a little bit. Some of that's because their
offensive line has been banged up, but some of it also is the fact
that you know, they're just once they get behind in some of these games,
they have to find a way to kind of they get away from it
a little bit. So they need R. J. Harvey to who's been
kind of their workhorse. He needs to have a big game. Johnny Richardson,
who had explosive runs the last two weeks but doesn't get utilized as much
later in the games. I think they need to continue to get him out
there as well. And then I think the quarterback too. You know,
they're so trying to protect the quarterback position that I think they've gotten away at
times for where they could use the running game to maybe kind of open some
things up as well. So I think if they run the football like they've
done in the first two or three weeks, I think they'll they'll be fine.
But you know, we'll see what happens in the game against Kansas,
And that's the core of what Gus Gus really wants to do. If I
thinks Gus is wide open, but he's really not. He's a running he
likes to run the ball with a running quarterback, with plumlee, and back
to his Auburn days, that's when he's had his most success with his with
a running quarterback and that kind of thing as far as in the running game.
So well, Matt Michelle, you're a great follow up Twitter. I
know you've showed you You've posted some great stuff on your different road trips restaurants
and such, and you you've been in Boys and you've been in Manhattan,
Kansas. Now you go to Lawrence, Kansas. I've actually played in Lawrence,
Kansas that way back in the day when I've played at UAB, so
I've I've actually played in that stadium. And uh, Lawrence is your typical
college town obviously with the Jayhawks and and fall Gallen Field House and all that
stuff. So I don't know if you've ever been before, but you'll probably
enjoy that, and uh, that'll be a fun little trip for you,
and that we look forward to all your great little your Twitter Twitter pictures and
of the dining experiences and such. And I know you're you know you enjoy
you can find Matt at the online at on x at os Matt murshell and
tell all the great fans where they can find out your great work with Orlando
Sentinel. Yeah, they can go to Orlando Sentinel dot com to catch up
everything's going on, or as you said, following me on x that's where
I usually post everything. And I'm looking forward to it. This has been
a fun being in the Big twelve for the first time and checking out some
of these college towns for the first and it's been and fans have really embraced
it as well. They're they're they're coming out and traveling and so it's gonna
be interesting and they're gonna need that kind of support over the next couple of
weeks. Now it's Oklahoma coming to it coming to Orlando is at a home
Goo. No, it's Norman and Norman, So it's gonna be a challenge
for them and they and they've got to obviously No Almost playing really well so
and Dylan Gabriel, obviously former US A quarterbacks is having a big year.
So it's gonna be kind of extra incentive when they go to Oklahoma about a
couple of weeks. We'll keep up the great work, Matt, and we'll
definitely check in as we get towards the end of the year. Here.
All right, sounds good, Thanks a lot. All right, Thanks for
listening to the Florida Football Insiders Podcast as part of the College Gridiron Coast to
Coast podcast network. Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review if you've
not already done so, and you can reach out to me on Twitter at
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YouTube channel, Jason Powers Sports Channel, and we'll see it next week on
The Florida Football Insiders Podcast.