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Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: Joining us now to talk about the matchup the game
Speaker 2: Cox and the Cardinals is Thomas Ashworth, who works for
Speaker 2: al dot com.
Speaker 4: How are we doing, Thomas? Appreciate you making time for us.
Speaker 3: My man, hey man doing good?
Speaker 2: How are you doing, I'm doing okay, I'm excited. You know,
Speaker 2: college football seasons here, I get impatient as we slowly
Speaker 2: and you know, impatiently count down the days. But we're here,
Speaker 2: and now we've got a Week two opponent here in
Speaker 2: Louisville and it is Jacksonville State. How how is fans
Speaker 2: on that end looking at this matchup? Obviously a lot
Speaker 2: of folks in college football look at this as a
Speaker 2: by game. Louisville big favorites here for touchdowns plus what
Speaker 2: And I know you did some coverage earlier this week
Speaker 2: of coach Rodriguez and his comments about by games in
Speaker 2: Alabama and all the money they pay. So just from
Speaker 2: a and I know you can check the pulse of
Speaker 2: the Jacksonville State fan base probably better than anybody. How
Speaker 2: would you say they're looking at this matchup? Obviously big opportunity,
Speaker 2: but a big challenge as well.
Speaker 3: I mean, especially after last week. It's no secret that
Speaker 3: last week was just embarrassing for Jacksonville State. Just a
Speaker 3: winnable game, kind of a game that was really back
Speaker 3: and forth that they should have won last year and
Speaker 3: just absolutely destroyed, you know, thirty one to three. You know,
Speaker 3: and for Coastal Carolina and then it ended a fifty
Speaker 3: five to twenty seven just a tough loss. But I
Speaker 3: mean as far as just how our fans feeling, I mean,
Speaker 3: this is one that this is a team that's always
Speaker 3: kind of been known to be giant killers. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you look at last season, you know, they really
Speaker 3: took South Carolina to the brink and then even in
Speaker 3: their FCS days, they beat Florida State in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 3: in twenty fifteen, took a number five ranked Auburn team
Speaker 3: to overtime, twenty ten, Beatle Miss on the road. I mean,
Speaker 3: this is kind of a team that has that pedigree
Speaker 3: of it's kind of that team that's like, well, there's
Speaker 3: no real benefiting scheduling them as far as they might
Speaker 3: beat you. But I mean this is a team that's
Speaker 3: still you know, it's Rich Rodriguez is just a completely
Speaker 3: different team than it ever has been in Jacksonville. Fans
Speaker 3: are just you know, it's kind of at an all
Speaker 3: time high right now, especially with not only FBS transition
Speaker 3: but nine and four year last year, first team ever
Speaker 3: in history to win a bowl game in their first
Speaker 3: year of FBS competition. But as far as this matchup,
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's obviously tainted with a really tough
Speaker 3: loss last week to Coastal Carolina, but still, I mean
Speaker 3: it's it's one that people are excited about, and especially
Speaker 3: the players, they're excited to get, you know, one of
Speaker 3: these quote unquote big games.
Speaker 2: So I'd say casual college football fans, if they just
Speaker 2: see a score Jacksonville State Coastal Carolina, they wouldn't probably
Speaker 2: bat an eye with whatever the result is, because those
Speaker 2: aren't programs that the casual fans really keep up with
Speaker 2: a whole lot. But that score, that result that was,
Speaker 2: that was a big surprise. I feel like to those
Speaker 2: that could that are familiar with with with with both programs,
Speaker 2: to be honest with you, what what do you think
Speaker 2: ended up leading to that being such a such a
Speaker 2: disappointing loss? Tea get the season started when, as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: there's clearly a lot of momentum for this program.
Speaker 3: I mean, especially last season. I was at that Coastal
Speaker 3: Carolina game and it was the end score was thirty
Speaker 3: to sixteen, but it was really back and forth. I
Speaker 3: mean Jacksonville State led going into halftime and then just
Speaker 3: kind of couldn't find the momentum in the second half.
Speaker 3: It was really one of those games where rich Rod
Speaker 3: was just more mad because he should have won that
Speaker 3: game than because he lost it. But I mean, especially
Speaker 3: in the last game, it was just turnovers were just
Speaker 3: absolutely killing drives. I mean, quarterbacksers couldn't find their stride.
Speaker 3: Defenders just we're kind of it was really just what
Speaker 3: rich Rod told us is that it was more of
Speaker 3: instead of the whole team not really giving an effort,
Speaker 3: the whole team kind of not really understanding. It was
Speaker 3: just one thing happening and on one play and then
Speaker 3: one other thing happening on the other play. So that point,
Speaker 3: it's kind of hard to pinpoint, Okay, we need to
Speaker 3: do this, we need to do this. So that's kind
Speaker 3: of what piled up. But I mean they're still getting
Speaker 3: used to this two quarterback system. I mean, Logan Smothers
Speaker 3: was there last season, but Tyler Heuff coming in from Furman.
Speaker 3: He's obviously had one of the best seasons in FCS
Speaker 3: last year, but still coming in against de FBS competition
Speaker 3: is no jug from the FCS level. But I mean
Speaker 3: still it was just kind of couldn't find their stride,
Speaker 3: and especially in a team that was quote unquote the
Speaker 3: fastest team in all of college football last year. I
Speaker 3: think averaged twenty seconds of play last season. It's it's
Speaker 3: just whenever you know, it's a three and out in
Speaker 3: like a minute. It's just so hard for people, for
Speaker 3: any player to really find any kind of rhythm whenever
Speaker 3: you're not, you know, going and being able to find something.
Speaker 2: One of the most talked about things in college sports overall,
Speaker 2: specifically college football, is the transfer portal. How has that
Speaker 2: impacted Jacksonville State during Rich Rodriguez's time there. He's coming
Speaker 2: off of two non win seasons to get things started there,
Speaker 2: and I just would assume that guys who have a
Speaker 2: lot of success are clearly going to realize they could
Speaker 2: jump up a level. But also maybe there's some guys
Speaker 2: that realized maybe they're going to be buried on the
Speaker 2: depth chart with a Power five, Power four programs, so
Speaker 2: therefore they're going to look to go to a Conference.
Speaker 4: USA type school.
Speaker 2: I feel like Rich Rodriguez, given his resume, given where
Speaker 2: he's been as a coach, to the success that he's had,
Speaker 2: that could probably be used as a benefit for you guys.
Speaker 2: Right Comparatively speaking, other Conference USA schools may not have
Speaker 2: a coach with the resume that Rich rod has to
Speaker 2: really lure guys to kind of to kind of go
Speaker 2: down a notch when it comes to transferring.
Speaker 3: So, I mean you mentioned that as far as you know,
Speaker 3: in talking to the players, it's just there were some players.
Speaker 3: One of the two of the receivers that you'll probably see,
Speaker 3: Michael Petway and PJ. Wells, they were there during Jacksonville
Speaker 3: States Ohio Valley Conference days. They're they're old, but they've
Speaker 3: been around and they've been there for the SCS days.
Speaker 3: But they said, you know, just kind of in this transition.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just so different. I mean, playing for
Speaker 3: Rich Rodriguez, someone who's been around for so long is
Speaker 3: just so it's I don't know if the words are
Speaker 3: freshing or what the word is, but it's just so different,
Speaker 3: just such a different vibe.
Speaker 4: Ye, he's got energy about if you go.
Speaker 3: To a Rich Rodriguez practice, it's just like it's it
Speaker 3: doesn't stop if you. I think he says if if
Speaker 3: you loaf, then you're an enemy or something like that.
Speaker 3: But like he hates people walking. And there were some
Speaker 3: guys who came from Ulm when he was offensive coordinator
Speaker 3: at ULM, they transferred with him to Jacksonville State and
Speaker 3: I asked them, like, what was he like, and is like,
Speaker 3: he was pretty much the head coach over there. He
Speaker 3: wasn't an offensive coordinator quote unquote. He just kind of
Speaker 3: takes over his personality, his presence just takes over and
Speaker 3: that's just kind of who he is and that's just
Speaker 3: how he's been. But as far as the transfer portal,
Speaker 3: I mean, just thinking about some of the guys off
Speaker 3: the top of my head, I mean, there's one of
Speaker 3: the biggest guys that they lost, Chris Hardy, huge defensive lineman.
Speaker 3: He had a monster tackle for loss at his new program,
Speaker 3: All Miss last week. Another guy, Larry Worth, linebacker, he
Speaker 3: was I think he had he set some kind of
Speaker 3: record in the New Orleans Bowl for most unassisted tackles
Speaker 3: or something like that. But he's gone. He went to Arkansas,
Speaker 3: and then the Jacksonville State's leading interceptions leader as well,
Speaker 3: went to West Virginia. So they've really got kind of,
Speaker 3: you know, they got kind of plucks in the transfer portal.
Speaker 3: There were some other guys that went, but those are
Speaker 3: kind of the three guys that come to mind. Something
Speaker 3: that rich aut All to point it out is he said,
Speaker 3: this kind of with me being here in the kind
Speaker 3: of program that Jacksonville State is, one of the pitches
Speaker 3: for these guys is if they're coming from a power
Speaker 3: five to a group of five, or if they're in
Speaker 3: high school, the pitch can be kind of where you know,
Speaker 3: you're not gonna stay here forever. You're not going to
Speaker 3: stay at Jacksonville State if you're good but are elite,
Speaker 3: but we're going to train you up to get to
Speaker 3: that point where you'll be way better than anyone coming
Speaker 3: out of high school that wants to go to Georgia
Speaker 3: or Alabama or somewhere like that. So that's kind of
Speaker 3: one of the pitches with these groups of five schools.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that makes total sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it may not be your destination, but we can
Speaker 3: get you to where you want to go, and we'll
Speaker 3: enjoy you for the one or two seasons that you're here.
Speaker 2: You You You pretty much just answered the next question
Speaker 2: I had, which is like that sucks right to lose
Speaker 2: guys who were super productive and part of a successful
Speaker 2: campaign to lose them to Arkansas, to West Virginia to
Speaker 2: Ole Miss like that that sucks for fans, it sucks
Speaker 2: for the coaching staff that brought those guys and help
Speaker 2: develop them. But that's just life. Like you it's it's inevitable.
Speaker 2: I think you all know, like that's how it's going
Speaker 2: to be. If you have a guys that are elite there,
Speaker 2: they're gonna get the opportunity to jump up a notch,
Speaker 2: so you might as well pursue the lower level recruits
Speaker 2: and kind of pitch. I think that, you know, this
Speaker 2: is the first time I've really chatted with somebody that
Speaker 2: is looking at the portal from a little bit of
Speaker 2: a different perspective than a lot of the power programs
Speaker 2: out there. Not that Louisville is an elite program, but certainly,
Speaker 2: you know, they can benefit from taking players of Conference
Speaker 2: USA level or the Sunbelt or something like that, because
Speaker 2: that is a higher level than the ACC. But I'd
Speaker 2: say that's the perfect way to go about it, and
Speaker 2: I think that's a good move on Rich Rod's part.
Speaker 2: And I know you're a lot younger than I am,
Speaker 2: but it's wild to see nineteen years ago Rich Rodriguez
Speaker 2: brought West Virginia into Louisville, which I believe it was
Speaker 2: the best most electric atmosphere I've ever seen for a
Speaker 2: Louisville football game. It was a top five match up
Speaker 2: number five verse number three. I believe it was a
Speaker 2: big win for Louisville. But Rich rod from there ended
Speaker 2: up coaching at West Virginia a couple more years, ended
Speaker 2: up at Michigan, had a successful stint at Arizona until
Speaker 2: that thing fell apart. And then you mentioned his time
Speaker 2: at uelman Roe was the OC and the associate head coach.
Speaker 2: And now he's a jack like the guy wins. He's
Speaker 2: a big time winner. So you may notice this Louisville fans,
Speaker 2: it's been a while since we've gone up against him,
Speaker 2: but Lowell fan's very familiar with Rich Rodriguez.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: When he was rolling at West Virginia in the Big
Speaker 2: East days, he was tough. He was a tough His
Speaker 2: teams were tough to beat.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, it's funny you mentioned that the
Speaker 3: whole Alabama thing. It's so funny seeing on social media
Speaker 3: people are like that Rich Rodriguez, like you know.
Speaker 4: They forgot about the days.
Speaker 3: Yeah, especially that was West Virginia teams just with you know,
Speaker 3: with Pat White and those kind of guys. Rich Rod
Speaker 3: still talks about those guys, and it's funny. He still
Speaker 3: loves Pat Maxby. He was gonna be on Pat Maxbi's show,
Speaker 3: but he but he said, I'm Pat knew that I
Speaker 3: was gonna be pissed off after that loss to Coastal Carolina.
Speaker 3: So he just he was like, you want you don't
Speaker 3: want to talk anymore?
Speaker 1: Do you?
Speaker 3: And he's like, no, I really don't.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 3: I get it though, but but it's still that same
Speaker 3: rich Rod. Honestly, it's still the same guy.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The athletic director here at the time, back when he
Speaker 2: was at West Virginia was Tom you had a great
Speaker 2: run here at U of L and really is instrumental
Speaker 2: in the athletics program here being successful and even being
Speaker 2: able to be a member of the ACC. But he
Speaker 2: was he was a big fan of rich Rod off
Speaker 2: the field, just because those two guys they had I
Speaker 2: think they had some similar personalities. But it is just
Speaker 2: wild thinking about rich Rod coming back in not at
Speaker 2: the type of program that I would have expected if
Speaker 2: you'd asked me nineteen years ago, but hey, he's coming
Speaker 2: off of as we've talked about, a couple of really
Speaker 2: successful seasons to get things started down there at Jacksonville State.
Speaker 2: But joining us is Thomas Ashworth. He covers Jacksonville State
Speaker 2: for al dot Com. Let's just say that if this
Speaker 2: game late in the second quarter, Thomas is closer than
Speaker 2: a lot of people expected, and maybe Louisville's only up
Speaker 2: a field goal as they are about to get ready
Speaker 2: for halftime. What do you think would have led to
Speaker 2: us being there? What scenario could have played out to
Speaker 2: where this Jacksonville State team was able to really come
Speaker 2: out and compete early on Well.
Speaker 3: One thing that I mentioned a little bit earlier is
Speaker 3: just this team moves so fast and they still have
Speaker 3: the personnel to do that. You think about moving fast,
Speaker 3: But the same thing for me that I think about
Speaker 3: is the offensive line and how fast they have to move.
Speaker 3: But they were returning three of their five starting offensive linemen,
Speaker 3: and one of those guys that's Knew quote unquote, he
Speaker 3: was there last year kind of the sixth or seventh
Speaker 3: option and offensive line and stepping into that new role,
Speaker 3: so they they can move really fast. I think it
Speaker 3: was like twenty point three seconds to play was the
Speaker 3: average for jack State, top of the nation. And then
Speaker 3: on the road they were like nineteen point seven seconds
Speaker 3: to play, so it's really just line up run, line up, run,
Speaker 3: line up, pass, lineup run is so fast and it's
Speaker 3: just I watched, I think the week after because jack
Speaker 3: State has mid weeks and because of the Conference USA
Speaker 3: weird group of five deal, but I watched I think
Speaker 3: it was like one of the Georgia games that was
Speaker 3: on on Saturday, and it was like seeing, you know,
Speaker 3: how slow this field because I'm used to watching rich
Speaker 3: Rods kind of offenses, but really that team just thrives
Speaker 3: in using that speed to but only kind of thrives
Speaker 3: off of this, yeah, the tempo, and they really thrive
Speaker 3: off of mistakes. They really, especially in the New Orleans Bowl,
Speaker 3: they were really skilled and being able to kind of
Speaker 3: use that speed to create mismatches and maybe something that
Speaker 3: if they had five more seconds, the defense could switch
Speaker 3: guys in and out. And at one point rich Rod
Speaker 3: got into the ref's face because the ref stopped the
Speaker 3: time for a little bit to get the defense ready.
Speaker 3: So that's just not you know, that's not typical, and
Speaker 3: that's really not what other offenses or defenses are used to.
Speaker 3: Is just these teams moving so fast, so really rich
Speaker 3: Rod is kind of in his prime whenever he's down.
Speaker 3: You know, these two minute drills, they just practiced them
Speaker 3: so much. They waste no time at all in practice.
Speaker 3: And that's one thing that really I think as a group,
Speaker 3: kind of big picture speaking, I think that's really where
Speaker 3: they shine.
Speaker 2: How About on the defensive side of the ball, What
Speaker 2: do you what should we expect to see from from
Speaker 2: this defense as far as schematically and you know, I
Speaker 2: would assume in a game like this they can take
Speaker 2: some risks defensively just because you know, they really have
Speaker 2: nothing to lose here. Just curious what defensively we should
Speaker 2: expect we could expect to see here.
Speaker 3: I really think that this secondary got revamped pretty well.
Speaker 3: There's a few guys. Obviously last week's score was kind
Speaker 3: of bad for the secondary, but they got a few
Speaker 3: guys in the portal. Patrick Taylor is a guy from Georgia.
Speaker 3: He played. He was kind of one of those reserved
Speaker 3: guys who would never see time at Georgia but came
Speaker 3: to Jacksonville State. Antonio Carter is a graduate student. He
Speaker 3: was a Notre Dame and he started a safety last
Speaker 3: year or this year in this game, and then they
Speaker 3: have a few other guys who were returning, Jabari Max
Speaker 3: fresh off of an injury last year the ind of
Speaker 3: the season, and then there's a few other guys at cornerback.
Speaker 3: I really think this secondary is a really solid unit.
Speaker 3: And I mean even a linebacker lalay Tae, hail Kywon, McCrae,
Speaker 3: Curly Young. Those are all guys who are returning. They
Speaker 3: have a good handful of defensive stars. And I think
Speaker 3: Lalata is the guy that would probably lead in tackles
Speaker 3: and seven of Jacksonville State's games this year, just a
Speaker 3: tackling machine can really rack up you know, tackles, still
Speaker 3: lost things like that, but still losing guys. You know,
Speaker 3: those three guys that I mentioned, Larry Worth to Arkansas,
Speaker 3: Chris Hardy to Ole Miss and Cacurt Taranu to West Virginia,
Speaker 3: those guys are just were just kind of we have
Speaker 3: these guys and they're gonna be good, so we're gonna
Speaker 3: I think they were kind of planning for them to
Speaker 3: be there next year. I mean, even in Chris Hardy's case,
Speaker 3: who was definitely Jacksonville State's defensive best defensive player last
Speaker 3: year and probably will get drafted on Day two or three.
Speaker 3: Of the draft if things well, Ole miss for him.
Speaker 3: I mean, he was a really strong player, but I
Speaker 3: mean he was there for the spring game, and after
Speaker 3: the spring game just said that he was gonna hit
Speaker 3: the portal and that happened with a couple of guys.
Speaker 3: So at this point, it's really it was really just
Speaker 3: tough to prepare and kind of fill in for that,
Speaker 3: especially when you have to like kind of scrap a
Speaker 3: roster together within the last few months of the season
Speaker 3: of the offseason. But there's still a few guys that
Speaker 3: are left, and I think the defense should, you know
Speaker 3: should if nothing else, they have a lot of experience,
Speaker 3: especially in Jacksonville State's role, you know, as Richrud's been there.
Speaker 2: One more for you, Thomas obviously. I know in the
Speaker 2: state of Alabama it's the Crimson Todd and the Auburn
Speaker 2: Tigers that moved the needle more than anybody when it
Speaker 2: comes to football. But I know football is a big
Speaker 2: passion for a lot of folks in Alabama, and for
Speaker 2: Jacksonville State to make this jump from FCS to FBS
Speaker 2: now and of course they're now in Conference USA, that
Speaker 2: speaks to a good support system. What kind of a
Speaker 2: fan base do you guys have And I don't mean
Speaker 2: like from a numbers perspective, but I mean should we
Speaker 2: will we see any Jacksonville State fans here in Louisville
Speaker 2: this weekend. I mean not to say that we have
Speaker 2: the best atmosphere you're going to come across, but it is.
Speaker 2: It is a road opportunity against a power for team
Speaker 2: and a ranked team in.
Speaker 3: That So one thing I can say is that the
Speaker 3: marching band will be there for Jacksonville State, which has
Speaker 3: over five hundred members. Wow, in this marching band taking
Speaker 3: I think twelve buses it took to get the band there,
Speaker 3: but they're on. That'll fill up one big section of
Speaker 3: the stadium.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. I'm sure I've heard a lot of people
Speaker 2: talking about that band. They're very, very popular.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, they're They're the real deal. You'll be able
Speaker 3: to hear them from the press box. But I mean,
Speaker 3: as far as numbers, I mean, you mentioned nothing about numbers,
Speaker 3: but like one hundred and fifty percent of the town
Speaker 3: of Jacksonville came to come to Jacksonville State football games.
Speaker 3: I mean, they let in conference in a town that
Speaker 3: has like I think the population is fifteen thousand people.
Speaker 3: That's not big at all, but just the sheer numbers
Speaker 3: of people who they come back and they just stay
Speaker 3: supportive and uprooted in this program. I mean, they traveled
Speaker 3: pretty well. I think that. Honestly, in the New Orleans Bowl,
Speaker 3: there were I don't want to say more, but it
Speaker 3: was like sixty forty between Louisiana fans and Jacksonville State fans.
Speaker 3: These fans really travel well. And whether it's the football
Speaker 3: team they're there for, the marching Southerners, which they're there for.
Speaker 3: It's I think that this team, you know, has just
Speaker 3: some people who they they'll take time off of work,
Speaker 3: they'll go to every single game that they can, just
Speaker 3: because the Jacksonville State if they're zher to ten or.
Speaker 4: Twelve and oh you know, yeah, they're lifers.
Speaker 3: They love Jacksonville State exactly.
Speaker 2: That's four lifers and that's and that's awesome because again,
Speaker 2: you don't make these kind of jumps like Jacksonville State
Speaker 2: has as a as an athletics program unless you have
Speaker 2: that kind of infrastructure that support. So it really isn't
Speaker 2: that surprising. And uh, looking forward to to you know,
Speaker 2: to a matchup, I'm obviously hopeful that Louisville is able
Speaker 2: to prevail and get a big victory. But I know
Speaker 2: with rich Rod, you can never be surprised the guy
Speaker 2: can coach in football. So we will see what happens
Speaker 2: when these two teams, when these two teams.
Speaker 4: Get it going.
Speaker 2: But I appreciate you making time for us, Thomas. Really
Speaker 2: good conversation. Again, appreciate that, and who knows, maybe we'll
Speaker 2: catch up down the line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Sari, y'all have a good one. Appreciate you having
Speaker 3: me on.
Speaker 4: Take care again. That's Thomas.
Speaker 2: Ashworth does a good job covering Jacksonville State football for
Speaker 2: the finfolks at AL dot com. Good stuff there from
Speaker 2: our man, Thomas. Don't go anywhere. We've got about an
Speaker 2: hour and a half left here. We're gonna finish strong
Speaker 2: to get you out of here for the weekend. We
Speaker 2: got football tonight, NFL College, a loaded slate of College
Speaker 2: Football Act tomorrow, and then our first NFL Sunday. Cannot
Speaker 2: weigh good stuff. Keep it locked right here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 4: As.
Speaker 2: I'm looking here at some action to get in on tonight. Obviously,
Speaker 2: we've got the Packers and the Eagles in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Not a whole lot of college football games to get
Speaker 2: in on. One of those games happens to be John's
Speaker 2: Indiana Hoosiers taking on the Western Illinois Leathernecks, which, man,
Speaker 2: I've never heard of a real team, sound like a
Speaker 2: made up team from a movie in the Western play
Speaker 2: double a baseball the Western Illinois Leathernecks. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: it's actually a perfect name, if I'm being honestly, is yeah. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not asking this question to troll. I'm
Speaker 2: asking sincerely, has Indiana ever been favored by this much
Speaker 2: in football?
Speaker 5: That's a good question, because I know last year there's.
Speaker 4: A lot of points. They're favored by forty five points.
Speaker 6: They beat down Indiana State pretty bad last year. I
Speaker 6: don't remember the exact score of that game. I feel
Speaker 6: like it was around forty two to three or seven.
Speaker 5: Is something along those lines.
Speaker 6: So, I mean, Western Illinois is also one of the
Speaker 6: worst n FCS football. They went oher and eleven last year.
Speaker 6: They got their butt spanked by Northern Illinois in Week
Speaker 6: one this year, so you shouldn't expect anything less than another.
Speaker 5: Beat down from the Hoosiers.
Speaker 4: Tin I wouldn't think, Yeah, I mean, how could you bet.
Speaker 2: I mean, if you're betting on a team to cover
Speaker 2: his favorites forty four and a half, I mean, it's
Speaker 2: just a coin flip because it just it comes down
Speaker 2: to like how much are they get. And even if
Speaker 2: you have the mindset to go in there and cover,
Speaker 2: if it you know, took a little longer for you
Speaker 2: to get up four touchdowns at that point, you know,
Speaker 2: you'd really probably have to be trying to show up
Speaker 2: your opponent if you go in there and cover. But
Speaker 2: then again, Signetti may know what the business is. He
Speaker 2: may say, look, you guys, we know why you're here
Speaker 2: in Bloomington on a Friday night. It's to ben that
Speaker 2: ass over and get a spank in and take a
Speaker 2: check on your way out. I would love Signetti to
Speaker 2: win one hundred and nothing tonight.
Speaker 6: I'll tell you what I saw the last time I
Speaker 6: make a statement. The last time I saw Indiana put
Speaker 6: up a big number of points. It was back when
Speaker 6: Kevin Wilson was their head coach, and they put up
Speaker 6: seventy on again, another Indiana State team. This is obviously
Speaker 6: not Indiana State, but you know, same level, same conference,
Speaker 6: I believe, So if they're gonna do it, it might as
Speaker 6: well be tonight.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I'm not touching it, but me neither. There
Speaker 2: are some people though that if they are gonna bet this,
Speaker 2: they just, oh, I'm taking forty four and a half plus,
Speaker 2: meaning even if Western Carolina sucks, it's just you know,
Speaker 2: these things rarely play out where somebody's that big of
Speaker 2: a favorite they end up winning. But also again, I
Speaker 2: think if you're signetty like.
Speaker 5: He wants to put the throat, yeah exactly.
Speaker 4: And kind of got me interested.
Speaker 2: The board's small, but I'm gonna I am gonna get
Speaker 2: it on Duke in Northwestern because I think Northwestern minus
Speaker 2: two is about as good of a lock as you'll find.
Speaker 2: I mean, they're at home. They've got a weird, awesome
Speaker 2: home field advantage playing in that tiny stadium, but fans,
Speaker 2: you know, it could take a tiny percent of their
Speaker 2: fan base to fill that place because it's small and
Speaker 2: it's beautiful, and if you're packed in there with you know,
Speaker 2: no room because the fans are I mean, what's the capacity.
Speaker 2: I'm going to look this up because what I'm getting
Speaker 2: at is, even though it's small, like this is going
Speaker 2: to be a rowdy ass environment for Duke football because
Speaker 2: Northwestern's coming off of I mean last year, because they're Northwestern.
Speaker 2: It did get talked about, but not to the level
Speaker 2: that it would have if it was another school. But
Speaker 2: they went through a really odd situation where their coach,
Speaker 2: who was beloved, their former I mean, I forget Fitzgerald, right, yes,
Speaker 2: I mean he was fired because apparently, you know, mistreating
Speaker 2: players and all that kind of stuff, hazing some allegations
Speaker 2: and by the way, he's still suing Northwestern for wrongful termination.
Speaker 4: But they didn't do it.
Speaker 2: They couldn't do any kind of search given the timing
Speaker 2: of it. This guy left because he was fired in July.
Speaker 2: So David Brawn, he was named their their head coach
Speaker 2: as the interim because you know, they just promoted him
Speaker 2: from within in Northwestern last year, I mean, this guy
Speaker 2: in his first season, he won eight games, you know,
Speaker 2: went five and four in the Big Ten, finished second
Speaker 2: in the West in the last year divisions within the
Speaker 2: Big Ten. So you know, this year they're off to
Speaker 2: a one and oh start. I don't think they played
Speaker 2: anybody last week, did they?
Speaker 5: They barely beat Miami of Ohio?
Speaker 4: Okay, were they down in that game?
Speaker 6: I don't know if they were down, but the final
Speaker 6: score thing was like thirteen to six or something weird
Speaker 6: like that.
Speaker 2: So look, I mean, I think many Dias is a
Speaker 2: decent coach, but like Duke, I just I think this
Speaker 2: will be this will be a seven point victory for
Speaker 2: Northwestern tonight.
Speaker 6: So you were talking about their stadium capacity, how much
Speaker 6: you think it is? A guy right in front of.
Speaker 2: Me, fifty five hundred just a guess, twelve twenty three okay,
Speaker 2: so a little bigger than what I was in. So
Speaker 2: when people claim it's like a high school stadium, they're exaggerating.
Speaker 5: It's more like a Texas high school stadium.
Speaker 4: But apparently the views because it's right there.
Speaker 5: On Lake Michigan, right on the water.
Speaker 2: And if you remember, we were talking about the most
Speaker 2: expensive tickets you'd find in college football this year, and
Speaker 2: Northwestern had like four games that popped up there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's because there's not a huge supply tickets because
Speaker 2: they're playing in a very small stadium considering what they
Speaker 2: usually play in and what you typically see from a
Speaker 2: Big ten program. But it's a nice stadium. The tailgating
Speaker 2: set up apparently is beautiful right there on Lake Michigan,
Speaker 2: like it's a tickets are in high demand. And if
Speaker 2: you know, if you are somebody that has tickets, like
Speaker 2: I don't know how they did ticketing, Like if you're
Speaker 2: a season ticket holder, I guess there's priority points and whatnot.
Speaker 2: You probably get first DIBs and maybe you're going to
Speaker 2: go because you love your Northwestern Wildcats, but you could
Speaker 2: probably sell those two. Like if if an opposing fan
Speaker 2: base wanted to come in and you know, do a
Speaker 2: road trip, they could go to Chicago, which, by the way,
Speaker 2: is a phenomenal city, and I mean that it's an
Speaker 2: all I mean again, I feel like if you're a
Speaker 2: Big ten team, let's say you are, I mean Washington,
Speaker 2: they don't play them that so Indiana plays there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and on October fifth, Indiana, And there's already a ton
Speaker 2: of IU alum that lives in Chicago. Like I'd be
Speaker 2: willing to bet if if if Signette's got them roll
Speaker 2: in after the first month, IU fans will be there
Speaker 2: paying premium price those tickets because they're in a cool
Speaker 2: ass stadium. You know, they're not far from Bloomington, to
Speaker 2: be honest with you. And also you know, the views,
Speaker 2: like the views of this place and yes, I know
Speaker 2: the renderings that are out there about Northwestern Stadium that
Speaker 2: they're working on. Still like I know that that I'm
Speaker 2: not getting them confused. People on the tech line think
Speaker 2: that I'm no. Go look at where they're playing now,
Speaker 2: and it's also really.
Speaker 6: Just the and they're gonna be playing in this stadium
Speaker 6: for another season after this too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that makes sense considering what the rendering show
Speaker 2: as far as what Northwestern's campus and their athletic facilities
Speaker 2: are going to look like when it's all said and done,
Speaker 2: it looks amazing. Therefore, it's not a surprise that they're
Speaker 2: gonna have to you know, it's gonna take some time
Speaker 2: to get that thing done.
Speaker 4: But anyways, SMU, I.
Speaker 2: Kind of you know, the the smart, responsible conservative sports
Speaker 2: better on my left shoulder is telling me stay away.
Speaker 2: You want to fade SMU because they should have lost
Speaker 2: in Nevada. But a lot of people overreact to one
Speaker 2: game in week zero. Don't do it. Just stay away.
Speaker 2: That's what the smart conservative, weak scared guys doing. But
Speaker 2: the guy on the right shoulder, John, He's he's he's
Speaker 2: parlay poppy, he's ready to do Yeah, I mean because
Speaker 2: BYU that's a respectable program now and they're plus twelve
Speaker 2: at SMU. I mean, I talked about it after SMU
Speaker 2: nearly lost to Nevada, and everybody kept claiming that, oh,
Speaker 2: they're gonna be pretty competitive, they will be pretty competitive
Speaker 2: in the in the.
Speaker 4: In the ACC.
Speaker 2: It was just another sign of people disrespecting the ACC.
Speaker 2: SMU didn't bring anything with them from the American that
Speaker 2: should make you think they're gonna be like a top
Speaker 2: tier team in the in the ACC, which a lot
Speaker 2: of people were expecting. They were right outside of the top
Speaker 2: twenty five, and like all the evidence was right there
Speaker 2: in front of you. They won last year in the
Speaker 2: American Conference because all the teams that used to dominate
Speaker 2: that league and win it left, Cincinnati gone, Houston gone,
Speaker 2: Central Florida gone. So that that's when SMU emerged and
Speaker 2: they won that league. They played three Power five opponents
Speaker 2: and lost to all of them in embarrassing fashion. TCU
Speaker 2: beat them by seventeen, Oklahoma beat them by seventeen, Boston
Speaker 2: College beat them by ten. Like there's nothing on SMU's
Speaker 2: resume from last year, and they did bring a lot back,
Speaker 2: which again that's encouraging if you have a nine win
Speaker 2: season and you end up you end up bringing a
Speaker 2: lot of that back. You should be excited. But like
Speaker 2: BYU is a Big twelve program that again I can't
Speaker 2: act like they're great, but I think they can keep
Speaker 2: it within ten. I mean, I don't think that's I
Speaker 2: don't think that's a crazy thing to to to expect.
Speaker 2: And BYU, you know, they're they're coming off of a
Speaker 2: forty one thirteen beat down in Southern Illinois and they're
Speaker 2: not you know, they're not expecting. That's the thing they're
Speaker 2: not expecting. Anytime I start talking about a pick, I
Speaker 2: kind of feel like I find myself like dressing a
Speaker 2: team up as if they're really special and really good.
Speaker 4: All I'm at.
Speaker 2: All I'm saying is they could probably keep it within
Speaker 2: ten of SMU. Like that's not like I'm saying BYU's great,
Speaker 2: because they're not expected to be that good in the
Speaker 2: in the Big twelve this year. All right, So that's
Speaker 2: it for the college football action tonight. You've got those
Speaker 2: two games by USMU, Duke Northwestern, and then of course
Speaker 2: the NFL matchup. We'll get to that a little bit
Speaker 2: later on, but really quickly here. I love looking at
Speaker 2: these numbers from sports Line right now, in this BYU
Speaker 2: SMU game, eighty one or eighty percent of the money
Speaker 2: that has been wagered on this game, as far as
Speaker 2: spread has taken BYU to cover as dogs. And it
Speaker 2: actually opened up at minus thirteen, it's now it's now twelve.
Speaker 2: So as far as the over under, if you're interested
Speaker 2: in that kind of thing, eighty percent of the money
Speaker 2: is on this over of fifty five and a half.
Speaker 2: And if you're interested in the action on the Duke
Speaker 2: Northwestern game, pretty pretty close or closer I should say,
Speaker 2: the public meaning not money, but just the amount of
Speaker 2: people picking, Like they could bet one dollar, they could
Speaker 2: bet a million dollars. Sixty two percent have Duke covering
Speaker 2: here at plus one and a half. Again, it's now,
Speaker 2: it's now Actually I'm sorry, it opened up at minus
Speaker 2: two at wow, it opened up at Duke minus two
Speaker 2: and a half. Now it is Duke plus one and
Speaker 2: a half plus two in the book I'm looking at,
Speaker 2: which is which is FanDuel. So the public they're in
Speaker 2: on the Duchies, and I'm here to tell you you're going
Speaker 2: to be wrong, because it's all about the Northwestern Wildcats. Tonight, John,
Speaker 2: you hear me, son I, it's right, it's all about
Speaker 2: It's all about them. And because this matchup with like
Speaker 2: they don't have anything on the board, Like they're not
Speaker 2: showing me anything about the Indiana game. I guess maybe
Speaker 2: because of the caliber opponent.
Speaker 4: Yes it's an.
Speaker 5: SCS thing, don't show the FCT.
Speaker 2: You can still bet on him, but like not every
Speaker 2: book will offer it. So it's you know, it's tough
Speaker 2: to get that number. But right now for Louisville and
Speaker 2: Jacksonville State, the game Cocks currently, by the way, that
Speaker 2: opened up at plus twenty and a half for Jacksonville State,
Speaker 2: it's now at plus twenty eight and a half, and
Speaker 2: ninety five percent of the money is Louisville to cover that,
Speaker 2: So seventy seven percent of the bets themselves, the public
Speaker 2: is on Louisville to cover. So not a lot of
Speaker 2: love here when it comes to wagering for the Jacksonville
Speaker 2: State game Cocks. For the Kentucky South Carolina matchup, I
Speaker 2: haven't looked at this. Shed I'm looking at this in
Speaker 2: real time because this is a big game for both
Speaker 2: We've talked about it throughout the week. I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: give you fake takes and break down the personnel of
Speaker 2: South Carolina. I know they got a true freshman quarterback,
Speaker 2: and I know they should have lost last week to
Speaker 2: Old Dominion, but Kentucky's better.
Speaker 4: They should win this game.
Speaker 2: But you gotta wonder a little bit about pressure, because
Speaker 2: I think they come out and they steamroll them early,
Speaker 2: or they come out kind of knowing, meaning Kentucky, that
Speaker 2: this is a game they are expected to win. And
Speaker 2: this team has not been as good as them in
Speaker 2: the last two years, but yet still had their number
Speaker 2: and beat them. South Carolina sucked last year and beat
Speaker 2: the breaks off them down there in Columbia, and the
Speaker 2: year before that, Kentucky lost to him, and that was
Speaker 2: a little bit different circumstance. Will Levis was heart did
Speaker 2: not play, and that was they had that Sharon kid
Speaker 2: in there who was about as effective with his arm
Speaker 2: as I am, which is not much. You guys saw
Speaker 2: my first pitch. I know it's a different sport, but
Speaker 2: like you know what I mean. So right now it
Speaker 2: is South Carolina plus eight and a half. It opened
Speaker 2: at South Carolina plus six. Any guess, John, As far
Speaker 2: as the spread, as far as the percentage, of the
Speaker 2: money that's come in on this as a spread, what
Speaker 2: do you think it is?
Speaker 5: Any guests, I'm gonna say Kentucky.
Speaker 2: You're correct, there's way more money coming in on Kentucky
Speaker 2: to cover than Carolina. But it's seventy to thirty. So again,
Speaker 2: like there's a lot more people confident that Kentucky covers.
Speaker 2: And I'm not touching this game as far as betting,
Speaker 2: but I do I do think that Kentucky would be
Speaker 2: the safe bet here. It looks like one of the
Speaker 2: picks Tom Bernelli, who I trust his picks. He's a
Speaker 2: really college football guy when it comes to not just
Speaker 2: analysis but sports betting. Two for CBS, he says, the
Speaker 2: play here is under forty two and a half. That's
Speaker 2: under forty two and a half just doesn't sound fun.
Speaker 2: But then again, South Carolina cannot They couldn't move the
Speaker 2: ball very effectively last week, and now they're going up
Speaker 2: against a much better defense here with what Kentucky's gonna bring.
Speaker 2: So there's nothing in this game that interests me when
Speaker 2: it comes to betting, and it really doesn't have anything
Speaker 2: to do with the rivalry factor, Like I won't bet
Speaker 2: on Kentucky just because I don't. I mean, occasionally I'll
Speaker 2: bet on them and if it's right, I can say, yeah,
Speaker 2: they won and I made money from it. So that's
Speaker 2: the you know, that's the that's the benefit I get
Speaker 2: from it. But then there's times where I'll also fade
Speaker 2: them and bet against them, and you know, if they
Speaker 2: lose and I win money, that's great. But yeah, this
Speaker 2: one's a stay away from me, just because it's still
Speaker 2: really really early, and again it's a big game for
Speaker 2: both teams. Like if you're Kentucky and you lose this one,
Speaker 2: I feel like you're gonna probably have to steal one
Speaker 2: that you're not supposed to steal if you want to
Speaker 2: get to seven wins, right, because after this, you've got Georgia, Like,
Speaker 2: Georgia is a game you're you're not winning Ole Miss
Speaker 2: and Oxford's a game like it's a You've got a
Speaker 2: better chance of winning that one than beating Georgia, but
Speaker 2: you're not going to be expected to win.
Speaker 4: Florida.
Speaker 2: You know, we'll see I mean it's in Gainesville, but
Speaker 2: you know, maybe Florida ends up. I mean that's I
Speaker 2: don't know that I'd have to see Florida a couple
Speaker 2: more times before I can get a feel for that one.
Speaker 2: Auburn probably a game it's a coin flip. Tennessee is
Speaker 2: a game you're not expected to win, but maybe you
Speaker 2: pull off an upset. But Tennessee should be better, they'll
Speaker 2: be expected to win. Same thing can be said for
Speaker 2: Texas Louisville. I'm not even going there now. It's September
Speaker 2: the sixth. We got a lot of football in front
Speaker 2: of us before we get to that game. But like this,
Speaker 2: to me, if you lose this game to South Carolina,
Speaker 2: it makes it to where you probably are going to
Speaker 2: have to beat both Florida and Auburn to probably get
Speaker 2: to seven wins. And I know they want to get
Speaker 2: more than seven. Obviously, every team wants to win every game,
Speaker 2: but I feel like with their schedule, seven and five
Speaker 2: is the kind of season that like they won't celebrate
Speaker 2: it like it's great, although some might, but I think
Speaker 2: if you're seven and five in your losses, your five
Speaker 2: losses came against Georgia, Ole, Miss, Tennessee, Texas, and you know,
Speaker 2: let's say, let's say Auburn, like you can probably live
Speaker 2: with it because those are all losses to teams that
Speaker 2: are probably pretty good, but if you lose to South Carolina,
Speaker 2: it changes things. All right, quick break, we'll come back
Speaker 2: on the other side. Keep this thing rolling along on
Speaker 2: a Friday afternoon, getting you set for the weekend. Connor
Speaker 2: Stallions has found himself back in the headlines. We can
Speaker 2: certainly get to that, and this could actually be the
Speaker 2: name of the show. But I got another thing to
Speaker 2: throw out there that will really, I guess, you know,
Speaker 2: make me look like a true dumbass. And it's something
Speaker 2: that Billy Napier said after his game against Miami that
Speaker 2: you know he got made fun of for. But I
Speaker 2: didn't know that you don't have basements in Florida, had
Speaker 2: no clue. All right, quick break, it's Coffee and Company
Speaker 2: feel about Thorntons right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 2: We were wrapping up the four o'clock hour here on
Speaker 2: a beautiful Friday afternoon, a little warm, but that won't
Speaker 2: that won't last long because tomorrow we've got perfect weather
Speaker 2: for early September. The high is seventy three degrees tomorrow.
Speaker 2: As I look here on the good old fashioned weather
Speaker 2: app we've got nothing but sunshine showing up. So I'm
Speaker 2: not sure it gets much better than that low seventies.
Speaker 2: Afraid to say that, I mean, don't be afraid to
Speaker 2: ever say it. I mean maybe maybe pick your spots,
Speaker 2: you know, but you know, if.
Speaker 4: You're bricked up, you're horned up.
Speaker 2: Don't be afraid not to be afraid of It's natural
Speaker 2: brick It's exactly exactly as I say that. It does
Speaker 2: show right now that within the next hour, I guess
Speaker 2: there's some chance of there's a chance of storm.
Speaker 5: That front's got to come through. Though. Yeah, is Mark
Speaker 5: what the sea saying that?
Speaker 4: I'm just looking at the app here.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I don't want to get into it.
Speaker 5: I mean, more man be funk.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I was a little surprised at how
Speaker 2: many people. So we're just reacting, we're defending what I
Speaker 2: mean again, I don't know if anybody, and I can't
Speaker 2: speak for anybody about myself, but I don't if anybody
Speaker 2: blamed the lack of attendance on Mark Weinberg.
Speaker 4: I mean I didn't hear anybody do. That doesn't mean
Speaker 4: they didn't.
Speaker 2: But those acting as if like he's not an alarmist
Speaker 2: are lunatics themselves. I mean, like let's be ho. Let's
Speaker 2: call a spade a spade here. He's clearly great at
Speaker 2: his job, or he wouldn't have the you know, the
Speaker 2: the awards that he shoves in our face all the time.
Speaker 2: Like he's clearly good at what he does. I wouldn't
Speaker 2: be the one that could judge that, but those who
Speaker 2: do clearly claim, you know, he's good, but he also
Speaker 2: is an alarmist. Like both things can be true. But anyways,
Speaker 2: tomorrow should be a beauty, beautiful, beautiful day here in Louisville, Kentucky.
Speaker 2: All right, let me tell you guys about my friends
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Speaker 2: pet bloodbank dot com. All right, again, we got an
Speaker 2: hour left. We don't have to go to break like
Speaker 2: right now. But yeah, well you can play so that
Speaker 2: it's fine. I didn't realize what time it was, and
Speaker 2: it's best for us to stay on track here because
Speaker 2: we want to finish strong on the five o'clock hour,
Speaker 2: and there's a lot to get to before we have
Speaker 2: to say goodbye.
Speaker 4: For the weekend, including.
Speaker 5: The picks.
Speaker 2: If you want to fade me, have at it. But
Speaker 2: I will say I didn't mention a whole lot of
Speaker 2: games I was confident in last week. But I did
Speaker 2: have success, and I chose to be the more responsible wager.
Speaker 2: That's a thing better and it worked out for me. Now,
Speaker 2: will I be able to resist temptation from betting on
Speaker 2: every game and creating eight nine leg parlays? I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't really do that, but you know I have before,
Speaker 2: just because when there's so many things to bet on,
Speaker 2: you just start. Let's throw that in there. Let's throw
Speaker 2: that in there, and that's you know, and if it hits,
Speaker 2: it's great, but the likelihood of that is not great.
Speaker 2: So anyways, we'll finish strong here in the five o'clock hour,
Speaker 2: get you set for a loaded weekend, including football this evening.
Speaker 2: That's right, a rare NFL Friday night game. Hell yeah,
Speaker 2: sign me up. All right, it's coffee and Company five
Speaker 2: o'clock hour on the way right here on Sports Talk
Speaker 2: seven ninety