Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven to nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: Just a few days away from another game day for
Speaker 2: the Louisville Cardinals, and we'll have you covered for game
Speaker 2: day coverage the Louisville Football Postgame Show I'm starting. I'll
Speaker 2: start at the beginning the Louisville Football Pregame Show Presentive
Speaker 2: up Hellow Windows and Doors of Central Kentucky and Jefferson
Speaker 2: Animal Hospital. We'll start at eleven AM and we'll go
Speaker 2: for an hour. At noon it's kickoff, and then as
Speaker 2: soon as the game ends, we'll start the Louisville Football
Speaker 2: Postgame Show presented by Alexar White, Lawyer's Suit Distracted Driver
Speaker 2: dot Com. So hopefully we will have as much interaction
Speaker 2: as we did last week, full phone lines throughout, and
Speaker 2: it was of course people you know, reacting, mostly expressing
Speaker 2: frustration and you know, just needing to vent and we're
Speaker 2: always here for that. But I hope we have the
Speaker 2: same type of reaction, meaning the same the same amount
Speaker 2: of people wanting to, you know, be a part of
Speaker 2: the show. But it's because you're feeling good, You're feeling
Speaker 2: as if this team, you know, took a step forward,
Speaker 2: and I, you know, I hope that, uh, I hope
Speaker 2: they will when it comes to like confidence level. Somebody
Speaker 2: asked me this last night, you know, I mean, how
Speaker 2: you're feeling about. I mean, I to me, it just
Speaker 2: comes down to are they going to be able to
Speaker 2: play a clean game? And when I say clean game,
Speaker 2: I just mean limit avoidable mistakes, right, Don't snap the
Speaker 2: ball over the punter's head, don't bowel an easy first
Speaker 2: down that ends up in a in an interception, hold
Speaker 2: on ball, toll, fumble it. And that's not just players,
Speaker 2: that's coaches. I mean just being you know, don't get
Speaker 2: a you know, don't get a silly penalty, don't be
Speaker 2: I mean, I the one thing I'm still kind of
Speaker 2: torn about is like I have no problem with Jeff
Speaker 2: bro I'm going forward and fourth down because that's just
Speaker 2: what he's gonna do. And honestly, I don't think I
Speaker 2: don't know this, to be honest with you, I don't
Speaker 2: know how big of an analytics guy that Jeff is,
Speaker 2: but analytics or not, I feel like when it's just
Speaker 2: a yard or two, you know it's a risk, but
Speaker 2: you have a better chance of getting it than not
Speaker 2: getting it. Now again, if you don't get it, you
Speaker 2: gotta you're gonna pay for it. We all know that.
Speaker 2: But you know, just just tighten it up, come out sharp.
Speaker 2: And I hope that they will, and I can tell
Speaker 2: you that I think that they will. But I'm just
Speaker 2: I'm just basing that off of of hope, you know,
Speaker 2: being a fan. On one side, it's it's not something
Speaker 2: that's gonna take a whole lot to fix. It's not
Speaker 2: like you got to go in the weight room or
Speaker 2: hit the practice field or go recruit. I mean, avoiding
Speaker 2: avoidable mistakes is just you know, it's an easy fix.
Speaker 2: But they've now done it in the two games they've
Speaker 2: played against real teams. And if you do it a
Speaker 2: third game doesn't mean you can't eventually tighten it up
Speaker 2: and get it fixed. But it also just becomes your identity.
Speaker 2: So I'm confident because I think this team has all
Speaker 2: the pieces to go out and win this game by
Speaker 2: a couple of touchdowns. But you know, will that happen,
Speaker 2: We will see, all right. It's Coffee and Company Field
Speaker 2: by Thorton's here on Sports Talk seven to ninety nit
Speaker 2: Coffee that's me the company man, mister John Alden alongside
Speaker 2: taking you up until six o'clock. Five oh two five
Speaker 2: seven one seventy nine hundred is the number. If you
Speaker 2: want to give us a call, text line five O
Speaker 2: two sixty five to three zero seven ninety before we
Speaker 2: get back into Louisville football, because there's a good text
Speaker 2: that comes in that I want to get to. But
Speaker 2: this stat is is crazy. I know we talked about
Speaker 2: it a couple of weeks ago, but it's only getting
Speaker 2: worse for the Carolina Panthers. You know, their quarterback that
Speaker 2: they drafted with the first overall pick just a season
Speaker 2: ago has already been benched. And Andy Dalton, I mean
Speaker 2: he's Andy Dalton, but like they did win one game,
Speaker 2: and he was electric in that game, three touchdowns over
Speaker 2: two hundred yards. I don't know what his stats were
Speaker 2: like for the I don't know what his stats look
Speaker 2: like in the Cincinnati game, but I watched that game
Speaker 2: a lot of it, and you know he was making
Speaker 2: some plays. He's clearly not your franchise, but like to
Speaker 2: know that you drafted a guy with the first overall pick, which,
Speaker 2: to be fair to the Panthers, most teams would have
Speaker 2: done that. Most teams who had the number one pick
Speaker 2: would have taken Bryce Young. But you're the team that
Speaker 2: did it, and right now it looks like a really
Speaker 2: bad investment. We'll see, though, because maybe he ends up
Speaker 2: landing elsewhere, or maybe he ends up getting another opportunity
Speaker 2: in a year or so and he really looks the
Speaker 2: part and starts to help you win. I mean, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't be confident in that if I was a Panthers fan,
Speaker 2: but like, it's early in his career. So what's wild
Speaker 2: here is that the two quarterbacks that lead the NFL
Speaker 2: in passing touchdowns were on the Panthers roster when they
Speaker 2: decided to go in a different direction and draft Bryce Young.
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield are number one and number
Speaker 2: two with nineteen combined touchdowns. And to you know, to
Speaker 2: think that they'd be having that same success in Carolina,
Speaker 2: no way, Carolina is a mess. I mean, Darnald, I
Speaker 2: don't really know what explains his success in Minnesota. I mean,
Speaker 2: he certainly got a really good weapon in Justin Jefferson,
Speaker 2: and they've got clearly a good young coach who looks
Speaker 2: like he's gonna have a really good future in the NFL. Baker,
Speaker 2: you know, Baker, I think has just found a good
Speaker 2: fit for him and he's really thriving. But like it's
Speaker 2: still knowing that, knowing if those were your quarterbacks right now,
Speaker 2: you probably still would be very good. But to see
Speaker 2: them succeeding elsewhere, it's got to eat at you if
Speaker 2: you're a Panthers fan. But maybe you can look at
Speaker 2: what they've done and realize, Okay, yeah, we benched our
Speaker 2: quarterback after two games and he'd only played what eighteen
Speaker 2: games in his career and we decided to bench him. Well,
Speaker 2: maybe he could be Baker or Darnold. But at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, like those guys had to move
Speaker 2: on to get a fresh start. It would be so
Speaker 2: demoralizing knowing that, hey, you're, you know, the quarterback, the
Speaker 2: player is not the problem. It's your franchise. Like it's
Speaker 2: just a mess. It would suck to be a Panthers fan,
Speaker 2: that's for sure, all right. So coming up here at
Speaker 2: four point thirty, we're going to talk a little SMU
Speaker 2: Louisville with someone who covers the SMU Mustangs, Billy and Body,
Speaker 2: who is a beat writer covering the Mustangs for on
Speaker 2: the Pony that's part of the SMU network or not
Speaker 2: the SU the on three network, it's the on three
Speaker 2: SMU SI. So he'll join us coming up here in
Speaker 2: about twenty minutes, and I'm eager to hear what he
Speaker 2: thinks about this matchup. I mean SMU had some momentum
Speaker 2: whenever they started the season. A lot of people looked
Speaker 2: at them as a team that would adjust well, and
Speaker 2: it didn't look like they were going to early on.
Speaker 2: But now here they are in a pretty good spot.
Speaker 2: But if you remember, you know, their quarterback, Preston Stone,
Speaker 2: I mean, he was a guy that was getting a
Speaker 2: lot of love coming off a really good season, but
Speaker 2: he was so bad in his first two starts. I
Speaker 2: think it was I don't know if he got two
Speaker 2: starts for three starts, but they benched him. I think
Speaker 2: it might have been just after two games and they
Speaker 2: went with their backup quarterback who's been there three years.
Speaker 2: I don't think they probably ever felt like he was
Speaker 2: going to be, you know, the guy for them, but
Speaker 2: sure enough, he's been a huge factor in them getting
Speaker 2: it turned around. And you heard Jeff Brom talk about
Speaker 2: him earlier this week in his press conference, and you know,
Speaker 2: I'm sure he's doing what a lot of coaches do,
Speaker 2: which is just respecting the opponent in realize saying, hey,
Speaker 2: we got to come ready to play. This guy can
Speaker 2: cause some problems for us. But Kevin Jennings, I mean,
Speaker 2: he's six foot tall, one hundred and eighty nine pounds,
Speaker 2: not a big guy, but he's they have become a
Speaker 2: much better team when he has been leading that offense.
Speaker 2: His numbers don't wow you, but certainly they're you know,
Speaker 2: they're impressive. But it's not as if this guy has
Speaker 2: single handedly, with his individual accomplishments, changed SMU. But it's
Speaker 2: working for him and they've got some momentum. So again
Speaker 2: we'll talk SMU coming up here at four point thirty.
Speaker 2: Let's go to text line BABO two six ' five
Speaker 2: three zero seven ninety Llen N Federal Credit Union text line.
Speaker 2: If you guys would like to to interact, questions, complaints, compliments, insults, whatever,
Speaker 2: you've got to shoot him. In this text says Nick,
Speaker 2: of all the critical mistakes that were made, which one
Speaker 2: is still haunting you five days later? I don't know
Speaker 2: which one. They're all terrible. I mean, there's not one,
Speaker 2: I mean, I think the worst of them all as
Speaker 2: far as like, geez, how did you let that happen?
Speaker 2: It's got to be the last one. You're down thirty
Speaker 2: one to twenty four midfield, just a minute to play.
Speaker 2: You've got a chance to convert a fourth and one
Speaker 2: to extend the drive and potentially get a score and
Speaker 2: tie it up. But I mean, to get the delay
Speaker 2: of game was just a mean unreal. So that one,
Speaker 2: that one's probably the most like you got to be
Speaker 2: kidding me, because then you had the fourth and six
Speaker 2: and Chuck tried to make a play, tried to connect
Speaker 2: with I think Colin Lacy falls in complete turned it
Speaker 2: over games over, But I think at that point, to
Speaker 2: be honest with you, I shouldn't say I wasn't like surprised,
Speaker 2: because that's really like any pro like take a Louisville
Speaker 2: out of it. Any team having that penalty in that
Speaker 2: situation is just inexcusable, And I don't think anybody on
Speaker 2: the Louisville side would disagree. But you'd had so many
Speaker 2: silly mistakes already that you know it kind of you know,
Speaker 2: didn't surprise me. I mean it did, but it didn't.
Speaker 2: I'll put it this way, there were so many mistakes
Speaker 2: that should have not happened, avoidable mistakes that I just assumed,
Speaker 2: like I never in the second half, I never really
Speaker 2: felt like they were gonna win it, because I'm just
Speaker 2: thinking to myself, the yeah, it's gonna be tough to
Speaker 2: overcome the hole that you've dug, and yeah, you're making
Speaker 2: some progress. You didn't let him score in the third quarter.
Speaker 2: You certainly can win the game. But it's just very
Speaker 2: improbable to have that many mistakes happen and still win.
Speaker 2: And sure enough, that's how it played out. So that
Speaker 2: one's probably the worst overall. But that's not the one
Speaker 2: that sticks out to me. The one that sticks out
Speaker 2: to me is actually something that you might be able
Speaker 2: to chalk up as a fluke. I mean, you need
Speaker 2: to catch the ball if you're Jacory Brooks, but we
Speaker 2: know he can catch the ball. But he had a
Speaker 2: rare bobbled ball that ended up as an interception which
Speaker 2: let them score. So that's the one that I again,
Speaker 2: of all of the mistakes that you just feel like
Speaker 2: you should have avoided, that to me is the least
Speaker 2: agree just because that stuff just happens. That's football and
Speaker 2: you can say any mistake they made is just you know,
Speaker 2: chalk it up. It happens, but to have that many
Speaker 2: is inexcusable. Snapping it over the punter's head. That comes
Speaker 2: back to mind shucks fumble. I mean again that you
Speaker 2: still got to protect the ball and know where you are.
Speaker 2: I mean just slot at that point, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: he would do that again if he got the opportunity.
Speaker 2: But those are plays that again you still have to
Speaker 2: take blame, but those are more often seen than snapping
Speaker 2: it over the punter's head or in that situation, getting
Speaker 2: a delay a game. But the one that, again I
Speaker 2: think because it felt like okay, yeah, that's it, there's
Speaker 2: no way you come back from this, was that that
Speaker 2: was the interception. I mean, that was one where that
Speaker 2: So to answer your question, that's probably the one that
Speaker 2: haunts me the most. But I want to move on
Speaker 2: or back to the text line. This text says Nick,
Speaker 2: is it fair to say that Tyler Schuck is Louisville's
Speaker 2: best quarterback since Lamar Jackson? He's only played four games,
Speaker 2: only two games against the legitimate teams, at least teams
Speaker 2: that you know, you've heard of or you're aware of
Speaker 2: that could potentially give you some trouble. So it's insanely
Speaker 2: premature to say that, but I'm gonna say it. I've
Speaker 2: been so impressed with him in both the games against
Speaker 2: Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. He's not perfect. We just
Speaker 2: referenced a big mistake that he made, but yeah, he's
Speaker 2: got a lot of confidence about himself. He's got a
Speaker 2: really good arm. I like that he's not afraid to
Speaker 2: take risks. I mean the touchdown pass that he had
Speaker 2: to Corey Brooks at the beginning of the game where
Speaker 2: he got rocked. I mean, to even make that, to
Speaker 2: even try to make that pass is crazy, and he
Speaker 2: did it and it was a dime. So you know,
Speaker 2: realistically speaking, we're gonna have to wait and see because
Speaker 2: it's still early and you've only played two games against
Speaker 2: legitimate competition. Not to say what he did against the
Speaker 2: Bums wasn't a good sign, but I feel like as
Speaker 2: far as a talent perspective, yeah, then, And look, I
Speaker 2: know that Malik cunning him had a great run here,
Speaker 2: and who knows what Louisville football would have been under
Speaker 2: Scott Sadderfield without him, But I don't know it's just
Speaker 2: it's probably unfair of me to say that, given that
Speaker 2: Malik played here for five years and was effective as
Speaker 2: far as a guy that can make some place for you.
Speaker 2: But with Malik two things that stand out that just
Speaker 2: kind of keep me from putting him in that bit.
Speaker 2: You know, that top tier, not the elite tier, but
Speaker 2: there's a top tier quarterbacks here, and who knows, maybe
Speaker 2: Shuck ends up snaking the rest of the season. I
Speaker 2: highly doubt that. But with Malik, he wasn't consistent, and
Speaker 2: that's a big big factor with quarterbacks. Dudes that are
Speaker 2: playing power five football at the quarterback position, you can
Speaker 2: make play with your armor, you wouldn't be there. What
Speaker 2: separates you is consistency and decision making, and he wasn't
Speaker 2: great at that, but he could make up to that
Speaker 2: at times by being able to take off and run.
Speaker 2: And we probably were not as impressed as we should
Speaker 2: have been, and certainly not as impressed as most other
Speaker 2: fan bases would have been with his ability to make
Speaker 2: plays with his legs because he followed up a guy
Speaker 2: named Lamar Jackson, who, in my opinion, is the best
Speaker 2: to ever do it when it comes to making a
Speaker 2: play at the quarterback position with your legs. But he
Speaker 2: wasn't consistent and this may not be his fault. This
Speaker 2: we could I mean, we'll never know. We can blame
Speaker 2: it on Saturfield if you want, But I kind of
Speaker 2: feel like with with set, with with with Malie, he
Speaker 2: never there was never a big moment like he played
Speaker 2: here a long time. I can't remember like the biggest
Speaker 2: game he played in where Louisville won. It would have
Speaker 2: to be a bowl game. I think when they played
Speaker 2: Mississippi State in SAT's first year. And in SAT's first year,
Speaker 2: he was very efficient, he really connected with two good
Speaker 2: big time play I mean that offense was talented man.
Speaker 2: Javian Hawkins was really good. I mean he's a very
Speaker 2: forgotten player, but Javian Hawkins was good. And then Marshawn
Speaker 2: Ford had a breakout year and then obviously to two atwell,
Speaker 2: who's still making plays in the NFL. So you know,
Speaker 2: that was a fun year because it was coming off
Speaker 2: a two win season year one for SAT. But at
Speaker 2: this point, I mean, you'd have to still put Malik
Speaker 2: ahead of Chuck just because Chuck's four games into his career.
Speaker 2: But I wouldn't be shocked at the end of this year,
Speaker 2: even if Louisville doesn't have a ten win season or
Speaker 2: something like that, I feel like we'll look back and say, yeah,
Speaker 2: that quarterback Jeff brought in here was pretty special. And
Speaker 2: I don't know if you guys picked up on this,
Speaker 2: and this is another one of the texts that came in.
Speaker 2: I think he might have come in on the post
Speaker 2: game show and I just forgot to highlight it and
Speaker 2: bring it up because it's a good question. But I
Speaker 2: did hear the broadcaster on the Peacock Network on the
Speaker 2: Cock Jason Garrett, and I don't even know who does
Speaker 2: play by play, but they were talking about what Brom
Speaker 2: had told them ahead of the game about Tyler Shuck.
Speaker 2: And you know, Brom, I don't know if he's ever
Speaker 2: said what they shared. It makes sense, but they they
Speaker 2: gave us some specifics as far as you know, not
Speaker 2: just that he did it because he needed to. He
Speaker 2: loves the idea of a veteran quarterback with one year
Speaker 2: to play. He told them that he said he loves
Speaker 2: a guy coming in with one year left that's hungry
Speaker 2: and has experience. You don't have to do a ton
Speaker 2: of development. It's really about polishing up some things. So
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be shocked if, like, for the foreseeable future,
Speaker 2: this is what brom does every year, and I have
Speaker 2: no problem with it. I don't. I know, people want
Speaker 2: to see Pierce Clarkson get a run, and I think
Speaker 2: that'd be great, I really do. But you know, if
Speaker 2: Jeff is evaluating the quarterback position and he decides to
Speaker 2: go out and get one of the big big names
Speaker 2: in the portal, that's a veteran instead of just you know,
Speaker 2: not recruiting a quarterback in the portal and handing the
Speaker 2: reins to Pierce Clarkson. I think that tells you that
Speaker 2: Jeff feels as if their best chance of having success
Speaker 2: is to go back to go back to the same route.
Speaker 2: And last year, I know it didn't. I mean again,
Speaker 2: to say it didn't work out with Plumber really is unfair.
Speaker 2: Louisville was a good team last year. They won ten games,
Speaker 2: finished in the top fifteen when it was all said
Speaker 2: and done, and he was the guy under center during
Speaker 2: that time. So like Jack deserves credit for being the
Speaker 2: quarterback for a team that did that, but at times
Speaker 2: we felt like he was the weakness. So to say
Speaker 2: that it didn't work out, would be unfair, but that's
Speaker 2: just the risky take, right. There'll be some guys. I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't have a list in front of me, but
Speaker 2: there are dudes who took advantage of their fourth year,
Speaker 2: maybe a fifth year, and they went elsewhere and they
Speaker 2: were worse at a new school, and it just it
Speaker 2: was a head scratcher. Who was the guy Phil Jerkovic
Speaker 2: who was pretty good at Boston College, a guy that
Speaker 2: looked like he might be an NFL draft pick. He
Speaker 2: goes to Pitt Stunk got benched. I mean that's just
Speaker 2: one example. But yeah, I wouldn't be shocked, if shocked
Speaker 2: if Jeff is every year looking at a guy like
Speaker 2: Shuck who's played a lot, has a good arm, has talent,
Speaker 2: but just because of circumstances, he's looking for a new opportunity.
Speaker 2: And I think most quarterbacks would want to finish their
Speaker 2: career with Jeff. Not to say he'll get anybody who wants,
Speaker 2: but I mean, if I was a quarterback, I think
Speaker 2: it'd be pretty fun to lead an offense with that guy.
Speaker 2: Call in the place, all right, quick break, We'll come
Speaker 2: back on the other side and bring him in from behind.
Speaker 2: Enemy lins. That's what Benetti used to say all the
Speaker 2: time when he hosted The Underdogs whenever they would talk
Speaker 2: about the you know, they would preview a matchup, but
Speaker 2: skill behind anemy lines. And I remember thinking like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's really clever, and then I realized, like everybody says
Speaker 2: that anyways, we're gonna do it going behind anemy lines.
Speaker 2: Here with Bill Embodie, who covers SMU. He'll join us
Speaker 2: next right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We're about
Speaker 2: halfway through a Wednesday edition of Coffee and Company. Appreciate
Speaker 2: you guys hanging out with us. I mean, you have
Speaker 2: other options, there's other things you could be doing, but
Speaker 2: you're here with us, and we greatly appreciate that. I
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Speaker 2: That's who you should keep in mind if in fact,
Speaker 2: there is an emergency that happens to your pets. I mean,
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Speaker 2: big event coming up a little later this month, just
Speaker 2: a little bit under three weeks away. But it's gonna
Speaker 2: be the uh, the Pet Blood Bank. It's promoting the
Speaker 2: Pet Blood Bank, that's what it is. But it's Pints
Speaker 2: for Paws and People where you can bring your pets,
Speaker 2: you can bring people, hence the name Pints for Paws
Speaker 2: and People, and you know they'll show you how they
Speaker 2: I mean, they'll give you demonstration about that shows you
Speaker 2: your dog or cat donating blood that can make I mean,
Speaker 2: first of all, a lot of people probably don't know
Speaker 2: that their their pets can can potentially donate donate blood
Speaker 2: like humans can, but they can. So if your dog
Speaker 2: is up to fifty pounds, your cat's up to ten pounds,
Speaker 2: they can donate. They may qualify to be a blood donor.
Speaker 2: And if so, any blood donation can help save up
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Speaker 2: It's October nineteenth from ten to two am to two pm,
Speaker 2: and you can get more information at pet bloodbank dot com.
Speaker 2: All right, let's bring them in to talk this Louisville
Speaker 2: SMU matchup. He is Bill Embody who covers SMU for
Speaker 2: on the Pony Express. Bill, how you doing this afternoon,
Speaker 2: and appreciate you taking time to join us.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I'm doing great.
Speaker 2: So I started the show kind of highlighting how this
Speaker 2: is a huge game for both of these teams when
Speaker 2: it comes to the ACC standings. Louis Will currently the
Speaker 2: only ranked opponent as we speak left on the schedule
Speaker 2: for SMU. You know, Louisville's got Louis's got to play
Speaker 2: both Miami and Clemson if they want to, you know,
Speaker 2: find their way and make They got to get past
Speaker 2: both those teams essentially to maybe get there to the
Speaker 2: ACC Championship. So I'm just curious what are the vibes
Speaker 2: like when it comes to the SMU side of things.
Speaker 2: Obviously a little bit of a of a of an
Speaker 2: unexpected start going one in one and the first win
Speaker 2: was a close win against Nevada, But obviously this team
Speaker 2: has turned things around. Do you do you get the
Speaker 2: sense that fans feel like this is a big time
Speaker 2: game for him coming up on Saturday.
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, this is a huge game for SMU. I mean,
Speaker 4: now that they've gotten past TCU, they've gotten past Florida
Speaker 4: State and kind of rebounded from what was a tough
Speaker 4: loss to BYU, which we've found out as a really
Speaker 4: good team. You're looking at a program that feels like
Speaker 4: it can be in contention for the a SEC Championship.
Speaker 4: You know, regardless of how down Florida State is or
Speaker 4: tc going on that two game skid from UCF to SMU,
Speaker 4: this is a team that has proven they don't need
Speaker 4: to be the biggest, strongest team like a Florida State is.
Speaker 4: They can play with technique they can play with fundamentals
Speaker 4: and they play really really hard football, and that is
Speaker 4: what has carried their run the last two weeks, along
Speaker 4: with a change of quarterback with Kevin Jennings being the
Speaker 4: starter now and playing really really well, you know, averaging
Speaker 4: around seventy one percent completion percentage is two starts, which
Speaker 4: is really strong. He's settled down, he's he's not turned
Speaker 4: the ball over like he has at times earlier in
Speaker 4: his career.
Speaker 3: This is a.
Speaker 4: Team that's improving each each and ever game. So they've
Speaker 4: got a tough test against Louisville. It could very well
Speaker 4: be the toughest game on their schedule. Then BYU is
Speaker 4: a tough one, but that's the way that Cardinals are
Speaker 4: playing right now, even despite losing that game to Notre Dame.
Speaker 4: This is one that most SME fans in the SESME teams.
Speaker 4: He has a huge matchup and a tough one.
Speaker 2: You mentioned Kevin Jennings taken over for Preston Stone. I mean,
Speaker 2: if I'd have told you before the season started that
Speaker 2: you'd be in this position, as with SMU having just
Speaker 2: one loss and that loss being to a BYU team
Speaker 2: that's actually looking really good at five and oh, I
Speaker 2: mean they're playing really good football. That's certainly not a
Speaker 2: bad loss at all. But if I told you you'd
Speaker 2: be here and Preston Stone wouldn't have been the quarterback,
Speaker 2: Am I wrong to think that would have been a
Speaker 2: huge shocker.
Speaker 4: You know, from the national side of things, and from
Speaker 4: maybe some casual sme fans, it might have been shocking.
Speaker 2: He had a lot of hype in the season.
Speaker 1: It seemed like.
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely had a lot of hype.
Speaker 4: He did a lot of really good things for SMEU.
Speaker 4: I mean, he really stepped up in conference play and
Speaker 4: set themselves up, you know, to be in that AAC
Speaker 4: championship and.
Speaker 3: Was playing his best football when he went down.
Speaker 4: But it is a big jump up, and he's a
Speaker 4: veteran quarterback who you know is kind of is who
Speaker 4: he is in a sense. And Kevin meanwhile, just kept working.
Speaker 4: He came in that AAC championship game, had some turnovers,
Speaker 4: but directed the offense to score enough against a tough
Speaker 4: two A team to win. That really boosted a lot
Speaker 4: of people's confidence in him. He played well in the
Speaker 4: bowl game despite the loss and torrential you know, downpour
Speaker 4: at times and adverse conditions and a team that you know,
Speaker 4: kind of wasn't focused on the ball game that a
Speaker 4: lot of the coaches were focused on recruiting the transfer
Speaker 4: portal for the ACC quite frankly, and they they just
Speaker 4: kind of let him compete and keep it getting better.
Speaker 4: And when I talked about it in fall camp on
Speaker 4: our message board, a lot of people were surprised as well,
Speaker 4: you know that it was a competition. They are competing,
Speaker 4: But that's the jump that Kevin has made over the
Speaker 4: last year, and you know change being on campus is
Speaker 4: he's just continued to get better and better, and he's
Speaker 4: very very calm back there. He doesn't necessarily let anything
Speaker 4: rattle him. And so when things weren't going well and
Speaker 4: you know, pressing for you know, many reasons it wasn't
Speaker 4: just on him wasn't getting it done, they went to
Speaker 4: Kevin and it was kind of clear throughout the year
Speaker 4: when he got his opportunities that it was time for
Speaker 4: him to take over. But he's kind of been working
Speaker 4: towards this for the better part of eight months now
Speaker 4: to be in this role. And it's not necessarily too
Speaker 4: surprising because it was a huge step up for SMU
Speaker 4: to get to these level of games and to be competitive,
Speaker 4: they ultimately needed to make a change.
Speaker 2: You know, making that step up to the ACC. SMU
Speaker 2: is one of three new members to the league. Let's
Speaker 2: go back in time a little bit. What was that
Speaker 2: process like to kind of see this thing? I mean,
Speaker 2: conference alignment's been a crazy circus for many, many years now.
Speaker 2: I mean two years ago. If you'd have told me
Speaker 2: that those three teams, cal Stanford and SMU would be
Speaker 2: in the ACC, I certainly would have believed you. But maybe,
Speaker 2: you know, I should have at that time known to
Speaker 2: just expect the unexpected from the SMU side. You know,
Speaker 2: this was a step up for them obviously the ACC
Speaker 2: doesn't you know. The future of the league has been
Speaker 2: talked about quite a bit with lawsuits that have been
Speaker 2: filed by Clemson in Florida State. But I get the
Speaker 2: sense that SMU feels feels good about where they are
Speaker 2: in their first year in the ACC, and then there
Speaker 2: was a really unusual scenario where they were okay with
Speaker 2: not necessarily getting a full share of revenue right away.
Speaker 2: I mean, am I wrong to say that SMU is
Speaker 2: a really rare program to where everybody's fighting for money
Speaker 2: and I feel like if they need money, they've got
Speaker 2: no problem getting it from outside sources.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: No, they are very much in good shape. You know,
Speaker 4: that's a credit to the donors and all of the
Speaker 4: support system that they have in place, to credit to
Speaker 4: their university for run it the right way in terms
Speaker 4: of you know, not having millions and millions and millions
Speaker 4: of dollars in debt or dead coaching salaries and things
Speaker 4: like that.
Speaker 3: They're in a position where they they are, you know, really.
Speaker 4: In a good spot to do this. So when the
Speaker 4: booster said, Okay, they're not going to get all of
Speaker 4: the media revenue from the ACC, that's the way they've
Speaker 4: got to do it to make it work. You know,
Speaker 4: the success initiatives from the ACC, those are paid for
Speaker 4: by SMU. Basically, you know, the the thirty plus million
Speaker 4: dollars that SMU is foregoing a year that's going to
Speaker 4: those success initiatives and then being sprinkled out, you know
Speaker 4: among the schools as they've been added to the TV contract.
Speaker 3: But where the boosters have stepped.
Speaker 4: In is they said, okay, we'll fill that void for SMU,
Speaker 4: so that SMU is getting you know, fifty fifty something
Speaker 4: million dollars in new revenue a year from those donations
Speaker 4: on top of what they were already doing for facilities
Speaker 4: and coaching salaries and even you know, building out the
Speaker 4: acc network control centers that need to be on campus.
Speaker 4: That was twenty two million dollars.
Speaker 3: That they got. They got that bill after the fact.
Speaker 4: So they they're in just such a really good position
Speaker 4: where yes, they need other people to obviously help and contribute,
Speaker 4: but they have that group of billionaires and in particular
Speaker 4: the First Week Society that raised one hundred million dollars
Speaker 4: in seven days to step up and put SMU in
Speaker 4: this position. And yeah, they don't care about the Clemson
Speaker 4: Florida State lawsuits. You know that they feel like this
Speaker 4: league is going to be stable and going to be
Speaker 4: in a position where even if one day they do
Speaker 4: leave or they do get out, it's it's a better
Speaker 4: situation than what SMU is in. There's no question about
Speaker 4: that in the American and they feel like this is
Speaker 4: an opportunity now where like they're being competitive, beating TCU,
Speaker 4: beating Florida State. If they can keep that up and
Speaker 4: show their worth, you know, they're a school that will
Speaker 4: be wanted by whoever, even something you know, catastrophic kind
Speaker 4: of happens to the ACC. One day they'll be they'll
Speaker 4: be in good shape to be on the right side
Speaker 4: of this you know haves and have not discussion that
Speaker 4: will obviously continue to go on for years and years.
Speaker 4: But that's the investment level that they're making, and they're
Speaker 4: they're committed to winning at a at as high of
Speaker 4: a level as they can get to, and I think
Speaker 4: they've got a pretty good ceiling now that they're you know,
Speaker 4: in a power conference.
Speaker 2: It's fascinating to me because you know, money's always mattered
Speaker 2: when it comes to college athletics. Resources have always mattered,
Speaker 2: But now you can use money to really take big,
Speaker 2: big steps forward. They've already done that with the jump
Speaker 2: to the ACC or it was a no brainer for
Speaker 2: the league to not take them in if they're willing
Speaker 2: to come in with that arrangement, And there really hasn't
Speaker 2: been that many schools that have made huge jumps, right
Speaker 2: like the rich kind of got richer in. Some programs
Speaker 2: are in a better spot. But as sim U's got resources,
Speaker 2: I feel like they could be one of them. They're
Speaker 2: sleeping giant. I feel like when it comes to the
Speaker 2: ability to utilize an il resources and just you know, money, Matt,
Speaker 2: It's always mattered, but now you can use it to
Speaker 2: go get some really good players and really climb the ladder.
Speaker 2: And again they've already done it with their their move
Speaker 2: of the acc and they're off to a good start
Speaker 2: here in their first year. When it comes to this
Speaker 2: matchup between these two teams, you know what about Louisville
Speaker 2: would would you look at as a concern for SMU.
Speaker 2: Obviously the Cards favored by a touchdown. They're coming off
Speaker 2: a tough loss to Notre Dame. But even though f
Speaker 2: Shu's down, still an impressive performance. Impressive performance from SMU
Speaker 2: the Mustangs. But what do you see about Louisville that
Speaker 2: you think could potentially cause some problems here for this team?
Speaker 4: You know, I think the decision making from Tyler Shugg
Speaker 4: has been you know what's really stood out to me.
Speaker 3: I mean, they they are rolling in.
Speaker 4: The passing game and they're not afraid to, you know,
Speaker 4: take take shots down the field, and that's something where
Speaker 4: SMU's secondary is still.
Speaker 3: Work in progress.
Speaker 4: You saw djuungal A have a little bit of success.
Speaker 4: He had his best passing day of the season. I
Speaker 4: believe against SMU and then eventually thats defensive line that
Speaker 4: has been so good the better part of the last
Speaker 4: year and a half step up and start to wear
Speaker 4: on them and you know, I ultimately knocked them out
Speaker 4: of the game and things like that. But you know,
Speaker 4: you you've got a passing game that is is really
Speaker 4: really impressive, and I think when when SME looks at
Speaker 4: that on film, they're they're going to be somewhat you know,
Speaker 4: unsure of how it's going to go because the secondary
Speaker 4: has been a little bit of a question this year.
Speaker 4: And then you know, the matchup of the trenches was
Speaker 4: a big thing going into the Florida State game for SMU,
Speaker 4: and they were able to you know, find their groove
Speaker 4: run into football with Brishard Smith, who's been excellent this year.
Speaker 4: Louisville's got a really good run defense, and that's a
Speaker 4: matchup where if SMU can't get the ball rolling on
Speaker 4: offense in the run.
Speaker 3: Game, it's going to be a long afternoon in all.
Speaker 4: Likelihood, because when SMU has been able to run the
Speaker 4: ball and do it consistently and carry, you know, dish
Speaker 4: out forty plus carries, they're a really hard team to
Speaker 4: beat on the rett.
Speaker 3: Lastly, those are kind of the matchups to watch and
Speaker 3: really how the game will be either one or lost.
Speaker 3: For rescume you.
Speaker 2: Bill and Body is our guest joining us here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety. He covers SMU for on Theponyexpress
Speaker 2: dot com. Obviously, SMU has got a pretty big fan base.
Speaker 2: Do you expect many fans to make the trip here
Speaker 2: to Louisville. I know they've probably got They probably got
Speaker 2: fans that don't just live near where SMU is located.
Speaker 2: They probably have fans that have, you know, moved away
Speaker 2: after college. But I since on social media that there's
Speaker 2: there could be a you know, not a crowd where
Speaker 2: you're looking at fifty to fifty or even you know,
Speaker 2: seventy thirty. But it sounds like SMU does travel pretty well,
Speaker 2: although it's not very close from SMU to Louisville.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's going to be a great crowd.
Speaker 4: I think people are excited. This is the type of
Speaker 4: destination that they they wanted when they when they went
Speaker 4: into this league, and you know, they've they've got the Bourbontations.
Speaker 3: A lot lined up and all of those things there
Speaker 3: we go.
Speaker 4: That they're excited about so, I think, I think there's
Speaker 4: gonna be pretty good crowd up there for that game,
Speaker 4: and and you know they're going to travel well. And
Speaker 4: I think on the flip side, whenever, you know, Louisville
Speaker 4: fans figure out Dallas like Florida State Florida State fans
Speaker 4: did last week, it'll be a pretty big destination for
Speaker 4: them as well.
Speaker 2: That had to be sweet for SMU fans, not only
Speaker 2: to to get a big time win, even though Florida
Speaker 2: State was was clearly already struggling at that point, but
Speaker 2: man to to take down a team in that fashion
Speaker 2: that didn't like the idea of SMU joining the league,
Speaker 2: suing the league clearly looking down at everybody else, and
Speaker 2: then to beat them down pretty bad. And then did
Speaker 2: I see that the band played like the sad like
Speaker 2: a sad slow version of the Florida State fight song?
Speaker 2: Did that happen? That's well done?
Speaker 4: If so, that you're exactly right. I think as much
Speaker 4: as SMU, the narrative, you know, wash they're giving up
Speaker 4: all this money and things like that, it's money that
Speaker 4: SMU didn't have. I mean that that that they're not
Speaker 4: even giving up, you know, they're they're coming out on
Speaker 4: the right side of this. You know, they go from
Speaker 4: making seven million dollars a year in the American to
Speaker 4: fifteen million or so with the whatever revenue they get
Speaker 4: from the ACC. And so there's been this narrative around
Speaker 4: SMU that's probably a little just different than what it
Speaker 4: truthfully is. And Florida State has pushed that, you know,
Speaker 4: with their lawsuit, you know, naming SMU as a school
Speaker 4: that's not committed and you know wasn't winning and you know,
Speaker 4: was passed over by the Big twelve for you know,
Speaker 4: reasons that are very clear now. You know, the Texas
Speaker 4: schools in that conference didn't want this program to be
Speaker 4: off the mat and be on a level ground when
Speaker 4: it comes to recruiting and resources and all of those things.
Speaker 3: So there was a lot of talk talked by Florida.
Speaker 4: State over the last year or so and for SMU
Speaker 4: to go out and beat them at home at night
Speaker 4: when ACC Network came to town. I've been covering the
Speaker 4: program for a for a decade now, and it was
Speaker 4: one of the sweeter wins for that entire fan base
Speaker 4: in front of a sold out crowd. It was really
Speaker 4: special for a lot of people just knowing the history
Speaker 4: of the Pony Express and the death penalty and all
Speaker 4: the things that Estimy has done in the past leading
Speaker 4: to this moment. A lot of people deserve a lot
Speaker 4: of credit for the program to get back to it,
Speaker 4: and you couldn't have scripted a better you know, start
Speaker 4: back to that power conference level that they're now truthfully
Speaker 4: rightfully at.
Speaker 2: Yeah, FSU, this is backfired and played out as poorly
Speaker 2: as it possibly could, I think, and there's no sympathy
Speaker 2: from anyone other than maybe you know themselves. It's it's
Speaker 2: really been I hate to say it, but it's really
Speaker 2: been aw It's been awesome to see because I mean,
Speaker 2: I cannot think of a scenario where this could have
Speaker 2: played out worse for them, since they filed a lawsuit
Speaker 2: and you know, became snobs and now now they're one
Speaker 2: of the worst teams in the ACC it seems. But yeah,
Speaker 2: they're not going to get much sympathy around here, that's
Speaker 2: for sure. But one more question for you, But when
Speaker 2: it comes to this SMU team, when it comes to personnel,
Speaker 2: we've talked about Kevin Jennings. You mentioned Smith at running back,
Speaker 2: who's got over five hundred yards on the ground. I
Speaker 2: know they utilized the tight end RJ Maryland quite a bit.
Speaker 2: What's another name that maybe Louisville fans should keep an
Speaker 2: eye on, maybe somebody that might have a big impact
Speaker 2: in this game that maybe, you know, the box score
Speaker 2: wouldn't indicate their value.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll give you two. And they're both on the
Speaker 3: defensive line. For Simu.
Speaker 4: One is Tank Booker, who is built like a tank
Speaker 4: about three hundred fifty pounds transfer from Markansaw by way
Speaker 4: of Maryland, and he's been terrific in the middle, just
Speaker 4: not showing up on the stat sheet, but impacting plays,
Speaker 4: disrupting them, doing all of those things. And that's allowed
Speaker 4: a guy like Elijah Roberts, who is a budding star
Speaker 4: in the ACC now, to be able to make those
Speaker 4: disruptive plays. I mean he hit dj Rie Ungole probably
Speaker 4: I think a half dozen times on Saturday against the Knowles.
Speaker 4: He's forced to fumble twice in the last two weeks.
Speaker 4: He's been able to just turn into this kind of
Speaker 4: monstar looking guy off the edge of where's the neck role.
Speaker 4: He's just a huge human being play yeah, yeah, he
Speaker 4: wears it well, trust me. He is not somebody to
Speaker 4: mess around with and and he's a really nice guy too.
Speaker 4: He's bounced back basically from Miami. You know he was
Speaker 4: he was an afterthought last year when SMU brought him
Speaker 4: in in January twenty twenty three, and he was brought
Speaker 4: in alongside a big nose tackling Jordan Miller, who was
Speaker 4: great for resum me last year, some receivers that were
Speaker 4: highly touted out of high school running back, and then
Speaker 4: they get Elijah Roberts who kind of had, you know,
Speaker 4: okay stats, nothing crazy, didn't really start that much, and
Speaker 4: he turned into an AAC Defensive Player of the Year
Speaker 4: type of player. And this year was all about him
Speaker 4: returning to the ACC. He came back to asking me
Speaker 4: for another year, and he's proving why I think he
Speaker 4: could creep up into the day two picks of the
Speaker 4: NFL Draft.
Speaker 3: He just looks the part.
Speaker 4: Great guy, great support system, and he's got an opportunity
Speaker 4: to once again make himself some money this weekend. And
Speaker 4: so far, so good this season at doing that.
Speaker 2: Bill, I really appreciate you making some time for us.
Speaker 2: Good insight there and we're looking forward to a good
Speaker 2: matchup on Saturday. Thanks again anytime.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me all right.
Speaker 2: That's Bill Embodie, who covers SMU for on the Ponyexpress
Speaker 2: dot com. Good stuff there, Let's get to a quick time.
Speaker 2: I will come back and wrap at the five o'clock
Speaker 2: hour right here on Sports Talk seven ninety very short
Speaker 2: segment here before we get to the top of the
Speaker 2: hour and finish strong with our third and final hour
Speaker 2: at five o'clock. Did we get dumped here in Louisville
Speaker 2: at the Yum Center. I mean, Louisville, the YOUM Center
Speaker 2: has hosted regional rounds multiple times and it's been a
Speaker 2: big hit, not only you know, for us here as
Speaker 2: basketball fans, but I know the NAA values Louisville as
Speaker 2: a basketball city to where when you host the regional rounds,
Speaker 2: the Sweet sixteen and the Elite eight, you usually get
Speaker 2: a great crowd, not only because fans will travel, but
Speaker 2: also people around here will go just because we love
Speaker 2: hoops more than most. But in twenty twenty seven and
Speaker 2: we will be hosting here at the Young Center the
Speaker 2: first and second round games. So I mean that's a demotion,
Speaker 2: to be honest with you. Maybe they're just splitting it
Speaker 2: up and sharing it, but that year, the regional rounds
Speaker 2: will be in Kansas City, New York, San Antonio, and
Speaker 2: Los Angeles. So I didn't realize that the Final four
Speaker 2: is going to be in Vegas in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2: So here are the next four years of the Final
Speaker 2: four coming up San Antonio and then next year twenty
Speaker 2: twenty six will be Indianapolis, and then Detroit's gonna get
Speaker 2: it in twenty twenty seven, So the year that Louisville
Speaker 2: will be hosting in the first round, you know, the
Speaker 2: final destination for people looking to win a championship will
Speaker 2: be in Detroit, followed by Vegas, then back to Indy.
Speaker 2: Indy always gets more than most because it's kind of
Speaker 2: you know, first of all, the NCAA is there, and Indy.
Speaker 2: I don't know many people like look at India as
Speaker 2: a is it cool city to go to and have
Speaker 2: a weekend. I love Indie. I mean, obviously my teams
Speaker 2: are in Indie, my Pacers, my colts, but like that
Speaker 2: is nothing to do with it. I just think Indianapolis
Speaker 2: is a like if I if I was going to
Speaker 2: live in a in a in a city that wasn't Louisville,
Speaker 2: it would be Indy and mostly because it's closer. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's not like I'm traveling, you know, eight hours away.
Speaker 2: But I like Indianapolis. But I feel like anytime somebody
Speaker 2: talks about it and and brags on it, it's it's
Speaker 2: mostly just because they're you know, talking about how it's
Speaker 2: great for those for those kind of events. But anyways,
Speaker 2: we got to run five o'clock hours next right here
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven ninety