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South Florida vs Kent State Preview + Are Playoff Expectations Fair for a First-Year Coach? · 4th AND BULL

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to Fourth in a Bowl, presented by Blue Terra.
0:03
Speaker 1: My name is Nick Wise. We're going to talk all
0:05
Speaker 1: about the matchup on Saturday night. USF taking on Kent State.
0:09
Speaker 1: It is homecoming. The jerseys have been revealed. They're going
0:12
Speaker 1: with the gold helmets, and they look good if you
0:15
Speaker 1: haven't seen them. I do want to let you know,
0:17
Speaker 1: if you have not gone back and watched the Bryson
0:20
Speaker 1: Rogers interview, go back and watch that. He was the
0:22
Speaker 1: best one by far. He was just very conversational, very talkative.
0:28
Speaker 1: I'll be completely honest, I had to edit some things
0:30
Speaker 1: out of there just to protect Bryson. But he was
0:34
Speaker 1: a great kid, great interview, so go back and watch that.
0:36
Speaker 1: That came out on late Tuesday night. I'm definitely a
0:39
Speaker 1: fan of that kid and would love to have him
0:41
Speaker 1: on 4th & Bull more. He said a lot of
0:45
Speaker 1: things about the offense that I think you will be
0:47
Speaker 1: interested in, so go back and watch that episode. I
0:50
Speaker 1: do want to remind you that 4th & Bull is
0:52
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0:56
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1:30
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1:36
Speaker 1: today's guest, make sure you share this link with at
1:40
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1:44
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1:47
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1:49
Speaker 1: the video version of the show, You can subscribe on
1:51
Speaker 1: YouTube at 4thinBullPodcast. Joining me today on the call, ESPN Plus,
1:57
Speaker 1: TJ Reeves, this Saturday night.
2:00
Speaker 2: What's up, TJ? Good to have you back on 4thinBull.
2:02
Speaker 3: Hey, always good to be with you. I appreciate the
2:06
Speaker 3: red carpet, and let's see if we can get the
2:07
Speaker 3: Bulls back on track. I was with you last before
2:10
Speaker 3: they pounded Delaware State, so I was kind of good
2:12
Speaker 3: luck here on 4thinBull.
2:14
Speaker 2: I was going to bring that up.
2:16
Speaker 3: Off a couple of tough losses, let's get some mojo
2:18
Speaker 3: back for the green and gold. What do you say?
2:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, last time we had you on, they had their
2:22
Speaker 1: best offensive performance.
2:23
Speaker 3: I don't think it really had anything to do with me,
2:26
Speaker 3: but if you want to give me a smidge of credit,
2:28
Speaker 3: I will take it.
2:29
Speaker 2: I'm going to give you the credit.
2:31
Speaker 1: And because we have you on fourth and bowl today,
2:34
Speaker 1: the offense is going to do what many want it
2:36
Speaker 1: to do. Now, I do think the offense looked good.
2:39
Speaker 1: a little bit better against UTSA. What the hell happened
2:42
Speaker 1: to the defense? Why can't the offense and the defense
2:44
Speaker 1: both play good at the same time?
2:46
Speaker 3: That's a great question. And here we are now in October,
2:48
Speaker 3: and you've got to figure this out, especially for the
2:50
Speaker 3: stretch run where you put it together. Because I'm with you.
2:53
Speaker 3: I mean, we can't revise history. I know it was
2:55
Speaker 3: last Thursday, not last weekend. But they came right out,
2:59
Speaker 3: drove right down the field, scored a touchdown. You just
3:01
Speaker 3: mentioned Bryson Rodgers. They got a big play touchdown to
3:03
Speaker 3: Bryson Rodgers in the middle of the game. And with
3:06
Speaker 3: the game on the line, went down the field in
3:08
Speaker 3: the final three minutes and got in the end zone.
3:11
Speaker 3: You know, you could debate, did they not take enough
3:13
Speaker 3: time off the clock and leave UTSA a little too much?
3:17
Speaker 3: But from where I sit in analyzing what happened in
3:20
Speaker 3: the Alamo Dome, they did enough offensively to be able
3:23
Speaker 3: to win that game. And they should, should, Nick, have
3:27
Speaker 3: more success here against a lesser opponent in Kent State.
3:30
Speaker 3: But we'll see. It's why you line up and play
3:31
Speaker 3: the games. But I thought the offense, I'll kick it
3:34
Speaker 3: back over to you, I thought the offense did some
3:36
Speaker 3: good things in the game against UTSA.
3:39
Speaker 1: I thought they did do good things. I mean, they
3:41
Speaker 1: looked better. There was improvement there. I thought they also
3:44
Speaker 1: missed some opportunities as well. There was a play that
3:47
Speaker 1: I actually talked to Bryson Rogers about. If you go
3:50
Speaker 1: back and watch that interview, a couple people were commenting
3:53
Speaker 1: on it. You can tell he remembers that play, and
3:54
Speaker 1: you can tell he's mad about that play. That's when
3:57
Speaker 1: he saw zero coverage and they launched one down. I
4:01
Speaker 1: think the pass rush got to Michael Van Buren Jr.
4:04
Speaker 1: That made the throw off because they weren't on the
4:07
Speaker 1: same page. Unfortunately, they weren't able to connect on a
4:11
Speaker 1: big play. That might have changed everything completely. That's what
4:14
Speaker 1: I try to tell the fans that are not super
4:16
Speaker 1: happy with the offense. I try to remind them that
4:19
Speaker 1: there were some opportunities in that game. If they put
4:21
Speaker 1: up 30-plus points, I think you're looking at it completely
4:24
Speaker 1: differently than the way you are now. But The bottom
4:27
Speaker 1: line is they didn't connect on some of those plays,
4:30
Speaker 1: and now they are in the situation that they are in,
4:32
Speaker 1: and they've got some work to do.
4:34
Speaker 3: Two things that obviously stand out since last we talked.
4:37
Speaker 3: They are still an offensive line in flux, and that
4:40
Speaker 3: affects everything, including pass protection. Van Buren has repeatedly been
4:44
Speaker 3: under duress over and over again in these games. They've
4:47
Speaker 3: got to get that figured out starting with this weekend.
4:49
Speaker 3: And penalties. Stop self-inflicting with the holding calls, with the
4:53
Speaker 3: motion calls. the different things that have cropped up for
4:57
Speaker 3: Tim Beck's offense, got to clean it up. Because when
5:00
Speaker 3: you play the better competition coming down the stretch of
5:02
Speaker 3: the season, when UAB comes in here, when you play Memphis,
5:05
Speaker 3: when you go to East Carolina, go to Florida Atlantic
5:08
Speaker 3: and you play Tulane, that will kill you against the
5:11
Speaker 3: better competition than it did the other night.
5:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's something I've talked about on 4th and
5:17
Speaker 1: Bowl quite often. Because even when the team was 4-0,
5:21
Speaker 1: I kept saying, there's red flags with this team.
5:23
Speaker 2: A lot of red flags.
5:25
Speaker 1: Um, you know, there's a lot of things that I
5:26
Speaker 1: like about them defensively until last week, obviously on that
5:30
Speaker 1: Thursday night game. And I don't know if that was just,
5:34
Speaker 1: you know, the short rest and not fully being prepared
5:36
Speaker 1: for UTSA. I don't know where the breakdown was there. Uh,
5:40
Speaker 1: but defensively is, is where I was really disappointed in
5:43
Speaker 1: the most in that Thursday night matchup. The first touchdown
5:47
Speaker 1: run by UTSA, once he got through the line of scrimmage,
5:51
Speaker 1: there was, there was nobody else at the second level
5:53
Speaker 1: of the defense. Like How does that happen? Where is
5:56
Speaker 1: that breakdown? What's happening in these short weeks? And they're
5:59
Speaker 1: going to have a couple other short weeks on the
6:01
Speaker 1: season because I don't believe that's their final Thursday night game.
6:04
Speaker 2: I don't have the schedule in front.
6:05
Speaker 3: Of me, but I'm pretty sure. The Memphis game is
6:07
Speaker 3: a Thursday night game, correct?
6:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, so they're going to play the best competition. Now
6:11
Speaker 1: I'd have to go, is Memphis off of a bye?
6:14
Speaker 1: I don't have the schedule in front of me.
6:15
Speaker 3: I think they are on the weekend before. You're right.
6:19
Speaker 3: I don't know for sure, but we'd have to check.
6:20
Speaker 3: Memphis just came off of a bye. But yeah, they usually,
6:24
Speaker 3: they like to have, in the past, they like to
6:26
Speaker 3: have done that, where they give you the weekend off
6:28
Speaker 3: before the Thursday game, and then you get the 10
6:30
Speaker 3: days after the Thursday game. Typically, that's not necessarily what
6:34
Speaker 3: they're doing here. But I understand what you're saying. You
6:35
Speaker 3: got to be ready to go four days later. And
6:38
Speaker 3: on that particular run that you're talking about, you got
6:40
Speaker 3: one guy out of position, not in their gap. One
6:42
Speaker 3: guy that steps over two steps to where he's not
6:45
Speaker 3: supposed to be and gets tied up, and the running
6:47
Speaker 3: back is out the gate and there's no help behind you. So...
6:50
Speaker 3: Those are the kind of breakdowns you've got to clean
6:52
Speaker 3: that up starting right now. I know I keep saying that,
6:55
Speaker 3: before the stretch run, because you have teams that will
6:57
Speaker 3: make you pay, Nick, at the end of the year.
7:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just defensively a little worried about the
7:03
Speaker 1: preparation there. Was it the short week? Why weren't these
7:06
Speaker 1: guys ready to roll? And now it concerns me if
7:08
Speaker 1: they run into a short week again. I mean, that's
7:10
Speaker 1: really the first time I've really questioned the defense, I
7:13
Speaker 1: feel like, all year long. It was just, It was
7:15
Speaker 1: a really bad game by the defense, and they're going
7:18
Speaker 1: to have to play better. They did enough against Temple
7:22
Speaker 1: to pull out a win there, and unfortunately, I can't
7:24
Speaker 1: say they did enough against UTSA in the Temple game.
7:28
Speaker 2: It was the offense that didn't come through.
7:29
Speaker 1: Now, the Temple game, I should say, they did enough,
7:33
Speaker 1: but at the same time, they also gave up a
7:36
Speaker 1: lot of yards on the ground to a quarterback. And
7:39
Speaker 1: when I look at Kent State and what they've done
7:42
Speaker 1: this year, I think I kind of feel, and you
7:45
Speaker 1: can tell me you've done your preparations on this as well.
7:48
Speaker 1: Kind of feels like Kent state is similar to temple
7:51
Speaker 1: in a way where a record isn't great, but offense
7:55
Speaker 1: can provide some explosive plays. Quarterback can throw it downfield.
8:00
Speaker 1: Quarterback can also take off and run. And I still
8:03
Speaker 1: have nightmares from temple 32 yard touchdown run by the quarterback.
8:08
Speaker 1: They just were not able to contain him. And that's
8:10
Speaker 1: going to be a big thing for this defense this week. Now, Luckily,
8:13
Speaker 1: they've had extra time to prepare for these guys, so
8:16
Speaker 1: I expect Aldridge and company to be prepared, but it's
8:20
Speaker 1: going to be a tough task, I think, just like
8:22
Speaker 1: the Temple game when you've got a quarterback who is
8:24
Speaker 1: capable of explosive plays.
8:25
Speaker 2: In the air and on the ground.
8:26
Speaker 3: Sure, and I've had a chance to watch. the two
8:29
Speaker 3: complete games, and it was kind of painful from a
8:31
Speaker 3: Kent State perspective to watch their last two games. So
8:33
Speaker 3: most recently, last Saturday, Western Michigan torched them, especially in
8:39
Speaker 3: the second half. And so they didn't have a whole
8:41
Speaker 3: lot to offer in that game. They did have a
8:44
Speaker 3: receiver that caught for a bunch of yards in the game.
8:48
Speaker 3: That's Wayne Harris. He had a career-high 11 catches in
8:50
Speaker 3: the game. But I heard somebody with this analogy, and
8:53
Speaker 3: I'll probably bring it up on the game broadcasts, It
8:55
Speaker 3: was kind of empty calories, Nick. We're not big fans
8:58
Speaker 3: of empty calories. Just because you're eating something doesn't mean
9:00
Speaker 3: that it's worthwhile or healthy. It's great that you had
9:03
Speaker 3: an 11-catch game, but your team got beat 38-7, and
9:06
Speaker 3: your offense didn't really matter a whole lot. He does
9:08
Speaker 3: a good job underneath Harris. He's a smaller receiver. So
9:11
Speaker 3: the quarterback is an Ohio kid named Drew DeShields. DeShields
9:16
Speaker 3: has had a couple of injuries throughout his career. He's
9:18
Speaker 3: still there at Kent State. He is mobile. He's not
9:22
Speaker 3: lightning fast in watching him. He can go pick up five,
9:26
Speaker 3: seven yards and a first down being mobile, but I
9:28
Speaker 3: don't think you have to worry about him turning a
9:30
Speaker 3: play into 40, 50, 60 yards. Of course, I say
9:33
Speaker 3: that and watch that happen, but in watching the two
9:35
Speaker 3: full games with Western Michigan and the previous game with Ohio,
9:39
Speaker 3: and granted, these are MAAC teams that are more familiar
9:42
Speaker 3: with what Kent is going to do, with what Kent
9:44
Speaker 3: State's going to do, they could not do anything for
9:47
Speaker 3: a lot of the game offensively against Ohio in their
9:50
Speaker 3: home opener, in their conference home opener, and they ended
9:52
Speaker 3: up losing the game 13-10. They contained DeShields, they sacked him, Ohio,
9:58
Speaker 3: and Western Michigan just plowed. them last week. So you wonder,
10:02
Speaker 3: where is their psyche? You wonder, where is Kent State's
10:05
Speaker 3: psyche coming in for a homecoming game, a payday on
10:08
Speaker 3: the road? Can you demoralize them quickly if you're Brian
10:11
Speaker 3: Hartline's team? Because certainly they've not shown a whole lot
10:15
Speaker 3: of offense the last two games, as I just laid
10:17
Speaker 3: out for you.
10:18
Speaker 1: No, the offensive line seems to be a little bit
10:20
Speaker 1: of an issue for Kent State. This seems like it's
10:22
Speaker 1: one of those games that can give the defensive line
10:26
Speaker 1: some confidence.
10:27
Speaker 2: This is where you want to see C.J. Hicks.
10:30
Speaker 1: This is what you were brought here for, is to
10:32
Speaker 1: be a monster, make plays. This is a perfect opportunity
10:35
Speaker 1: to do so against this offensive line. Western Michigan, you know,
10:38
Speaker 1: you talked about that game. They got to the quarterback
10:40
Speaker 1: five times. And so I want to see USF match that. Now,
10:45
Speaker 1: when it comes to Kent State's offensive line, which has struggled,
10:48
Speaker 1: They've had a couple of good games, obviously, against Wofford
10:52
Speaker 1: and Ball State. Those were the two games where, much
10:55
Speaker 1: lesser opponent than what they're getting this weekend in USF,
10:57
Speaker 1: but those were the two games where they were able
11:00
Speaker 1: to get the rushing game going, and those are the
11:02
Speaker 1: two games that they won. They had 195 yards on
11:04
Speaker 1: the ground against Wofford, 165 yards on the ground against
11:08
Speaker 1: Ball State. When they were able to crack 100, they
11:11
Speaker 1: obviously play much better. They had 100 against South Carolina,
11:14
Speaker 1: just 71 against Ohio State. 49 yards was all they
11:17
Speaker 1: could get against Ohio State. and then 75 yards against
11:21
Speaker 1: Western Michigan. So if USF's defense, which has, for the
11:25
Speaker 1: most part, outside of the UTSA game, been really good
11:27
Speaker 1: against the run, if they play good against the run here,
11:30
Speaker 1: then USF should run away with this thing.
11:32
Speaker 3: You would think.
11:33
Speaker 2: And you should be talking about.
11:35
Speaker 1: You know, nonsense at halftime is what I'm hoping for
11:38
Speaker 1: during the broadcast.
11:39
Speaker 2: Try to keep people watching a blowout.
11:40
Speaker 3: Some would imply I talk about nonsense most of the time. Mrs.
11:43
Speaker 3: Reeves would agree with that statement. So this is why
11:45
Speaker 3: we're cutting edge on fourth and bull. Again, I did
11:48
Speaker 3: my homework here on this Western Michigan game, and this
11:50
Speaker 3: is not a secret if you've read any of the
11:51
Speaker 3: accounts coming out of it. They lost three offensive linemen
11:54
Speaker 3: during that game. The starting center went out in the
11:57
Speaker 3: first quarter, and they had to adjust. They lost a
11:59
Speaker 3: guard later in the game, and then it looks like
12:01
Speaker 3: we'll get a further update maybe The left tackle suffered
12:04
Speaker 3: what looked like a serious knee injury in the game.
12:07
Speaker 3: They were down three starting offensive linemen in the second
12:10
Speaker 3: half of that game. So that's another reason why they
12:11
Speaker 3: really struggled to do anything on offense. So if a
12:15
Speaker 3: couple of those components are not there at Raymond James
12:18
Speaker 3: Stadium on Saturday night, that is big trouble for Kent
12:20
Speaker 3: State being able to protect, being able to block. So
12:23
Speaker 3: there's a little insight into what their problems are. It's
12:26
Speaker 3: interesting that the coach, Mark Carney, he took over. He
12:29
Speaker 3: was the offensive coordinator. He took over as the interim coach.
12:32
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago in the season and kind
12:34
Speaker 3: of revitalized them. They had a five-win year last year, Nick,
12:38
Speaker 3: after having won only one game the previous two years. 2023-2024,
12:41
Speaker 3: Kent State won one football game. They won five last year.
12:46
Speaker 3: They had some optimism for this season. Again, they play
12:50
Speaker 3: South Carolina in the opening game that you referenced. They
12:53
Speaker 3: got destroyed. They got smacked in that one, yeah. They
12:55
Speaker 3: were a by-opponent for BUI, a by-opponent. for South Carolina,
13:00
Speaker 3: and they clobbered them. They played Ohio State again in
13:02
Speaker 3: a money game, a payday game, and Ohio State is
13:04
Speaker 3: Ohio State. I know you don't want to hear that,
13:06
Speaker 3: but they destroyed them as well. Okay, so you throw
13:10
Speaker 3: those two out. Now you get into MAAC play here,
13:13
Speaker 3: and the expectation is they would contend in the MAAC.
13:16
Speaker 3: And again, they lost the home opener. We'll get to
13:18
Speaker 3: the kicker in a moment. He missed a crucial kick
13:21
Speaker 3: in the final seconds that they set up for trying
13:23
Speaker 3: to go to overtime, and he missed more kicks last
13:25
Speaker 3: week against Western Michigan. So, Mark Carney right now is searching,
13:30
Speaker 3: how do I improve this team? And I don't know
13:32
Speaker 3: that he's going to find a lot of answers as
13:34
Speaker 3: they step up in level of play with a much
13:37
Speaker 3: better group of six program than what they're used to
13:39
Speaker 3: seeing in the MAAC. I don't know if they're going
13:42
Speaker 3: to be able to do that. But offensive line is
13:44
Speaker 3: an issue. But Carney can be a fiery coach at
13:48
Speaker 3: times over there on the sidelines to empower these guys.
13:51
Speaker 3: So let's see what they're going to bring coming up
13:54
Speaker 3: on Saturday night.
13:55
Speaker 1: You know who you haven't mentioned? Ken State has a
13:57
Speaker 1: wide receiver with maybe one of the coolest names out there.
14:00
Speaker 1: That's DeRealist Clark.
14:02
Speaker 3: I always thought you were DeRealist. You are my guy.
14:05
Speaker 3: You're DeRealist guy. They have a literal name, DeRealist. D-A
14:09
Speaker 3: apostrophe R-E-A-L-Y-S-T, right? And DeRealist is not somebody that you
14:15
Speaker 3: want to kick the ball to. Because if you kick
14:18
Speaker 3: the ball to DeRealist, he's got a chance to house it.
14:21
Speaker 3: He's got five of them. in his career on kickoffs
14:25
Speaker 3: and punts. So that is a big play guy, and
14:27
Speaker 3: I have to believe on special teams, South Florida's talking
14:30
Speaker 3: about do not kick it to that guy. What is he,
14:33
Speaker 3: number eight? Don't kick it to number eight, Darylis Clark.
14:36
Speaker 3: He is explosive, and we'd rather that you just put
14:40
Speaker 3: it out of the back of the end zone rather
14:41
Speaker 3: than kick it to him. Stay tuned for that, because
14:43
Speaker 3: how many times will the Bulls be kicking off? And
14:45
Speaker 3: he had a return in the Ohio home game where
14:50
Speaker 3: he was almost out the gate in that game, which
14:53
Speaker 3: would have been his sixth return for a touchdown. So
14:56
Speaker 3: that's an explosive player. As far as I'm concerned, though,
14:59
Speaker 3: you're DeRealist, even though this guy's named DeRealist. You're DeRealist.
15:02
Speaker 2: Great name.
15:03
Speaker 1: And yes, he can get you yards after catch. Going
15:05
Speaker 1: to have to make sure you complete your tackles. You know,
15:08
Speaker 1: I go back to like that play at Temple when they,
15:12
Speaker 1: there was a throw to the right side of the field.
15:13
Speaker 1: I think it was the the second touchdown they might've had.
15:16
Speaker 1: And it was just a poor tackle by the corner.
15:18
Speaker 1: And he walks right into the end zone. You do
15:20
Speaker 1: that against the realist Clark. He's going to be in
15:21
Speaker 1: the end zone. What do you think it was like
15:23
Speaker 1: in the delivery room that day? Like baby pops out
15:26
Speaker 1: and dad's like, ah, the realist.
15:27
Speaker 3: I mean, the realist, it's a great name.
15:30
Speaker 1: You know, I mean, it really is a great name,
15:33
Speaker 1: but how does, how does that even, uh, even happen?
15:36
Speaker 2: I like it.
15:36
Speaker 1: So, uh, you're going to get to talk to the
15:40
Speaker 1: coaches and get to learn more about these teams I'd
15:43
Speaker 1: imagine probably today or tomorrow.
15:46
Speaker 3: Yes absolutely we meet with the USF coaches traditionally on
15:49
Speaker 3: Friday we're going to get to talk to the Kent
15:50
Speaker 3: State coaches as well so we'll get a little bit
15:52
Speaker 3: more insight and I'm interested on Brian Hartline I was
15:55
Speaker 3: very impressed I mean you know he's got a demeanor
15:58
Speaker 3: but what you see is what you get even privately
16:01
Speaker 3: with us it was what you see is what you
16:02
Speaker 3: get no nonsense he's got a Yes, I saw a
16:07
Speaker 3: little humor.
16:08
Speaker 2: I haven't gotten the humor yet.
16:09
Speaker 3: I've been trying to pull the humor out of him.
16:11
Speaker 3: I won't reveal it, but he made fun of himself
16:14
Speaker 3: on something, and I love that, because I'm a king
16:16
Speaker 3: of self-deprecation. I will make fun of myself left and right.
16:19
Speaker 3: So I kind of like that, so we'll see. He
16:23
Speaker 3: obviously spouted about the crowd. You know what he was
16:28
Speaker 3: veiled talking about? You and I didn't talk last week.
16:29
Speaker 3: He was talking about the crowd noise being pumped in
16:32
Speaker 3: on the speakers. That's what he was meaning about the
16:34
Speaker 3: population thing and about The crowd and then about the noise.
16:37
Speaker 3: That's what he was talking about that started that whole
16:39
Speaker 3: hubbub about him knocking the crowd and the fans, and
16:43
Speaker 3: then they did the $ 9 ticket thing and the whole bit.
16:46
Speaker 1: Well, I thought it wasn't the right time to question,
16:50
Speaker 1: and it's funny that we're talking about attendance because that's
16:53
Speaker 1: a huge thing in baseball right now, the big national story.
16:56
Speaker 1: I was hoping we weren't going to go here on
16:58
Speaker 1: the podcast and have to talk about attendance, but here
16:59
Speaker 1: we are. I thought those comments from Harline, I don't
17:03
Speaker 1: mind those comments and him taking a jab at the
17:06
Speaker 1: opponent if they're 5-0 and he's coming off of a
17:08
Speaker 1: win in that situation and the offense is looking really good.
17:12
Speaker 1: But the bottom line is the offense wasn't looking good.
17:15
Speaker 1: They struggled against Temple. They're coming off of a loss.
17:18
Speaker 1: And then you're coming out on a Monday and you're
17:20
Speaker 1: throwing jabs about their crowd.
17:22
Speaker 2: I don't know. I thought you kind of toned deaf
17:25
Speaker 2: in that situation. Again, I like those.
17:27
Speaker 1: Comments if all is going well, but the fan base
17:31
Speaker 1: is burning everything to the ground in that moment. And
17:34
Speaker 1: you're talking about their population. He was looking for the
17:37
Speaker 1: word attendance, but he said population. And so I thought
17:41
Speaker 1: those comments were a little bit bizarre for that moment.
17:44
Speaker 1: And then you go to UTSA and you lose. I
17:48
Speaker 1: just felt like you motivated them that much more. Now,
17:51
Speaker 1: I also thought UTSA looked kind of silly because they
17:53
Speaker 1: threw those $ 9 tickets out there and nobody really showed up.
17:57
Speaker 1: But shame on college football for making a team in Texas,
18:01
Speaker 1: play a team from Tampa while the Bucks and the
18:03
Speaker 1: Cowboys were playing at the same time.
18:05
Speaker 2: It didn't make sense.
18:07
Speaker 3: So he had, I know this, and this is like,
18:09
Speaker 3: this has gone around the American for a couple of
18:11
Speaker 3: years since UTSA has come in. There are other programs
18:14
Speaker 3: have been talking about this, about them piping in crowd noise. And,
18:17
Speaker 3: and this was legendary at the old Metrodome for the
18:20
Speaker 3: Minnesota Vikings. This has also been The Atlanta Falcons got
18:23
Speaker 3: busted for this. I believe in the Georgia Dome or
18:26
Speaker 3: it may have been the first part of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
18:28
Speaker 3: You cannot pipe in crowd noise out of the speakers
18:32
Speaker 3: and blare crowd noise. So I think that's part of
18:36
Speaker 3: what he had been warned and had been told about that,
18:38
Speaker 3: that they do this, that Jeff Traylor's program does this.
18:42
Speaker 3: And it's up to the American Conference to go investigate
18:44
Speaker 3: and enforce whether that is, in fact, going on. Nonetheless,
18:47
Speaker 3: as you pointed out, you didn't win the game, so
18:49
Speaker 3: it made for a great story last week, and now
18:51
Speaker 3: you turn the page and get ready. It's kind of
18:54
Speaker 3: a get-right spot, I believe, Nick. It's an opportunity to
18:57
Speaker 3: do some things well against a homecoming opponent and get
19:00
Speaker 3: ready for the American Conference and to strap in to
19:02
Speaker 3: try to get back in the championship game hunt if
19:06
Speaker 3: you can, because everything is still pretty much in front
19:09
Speaker 3: of you right now for that opportunity, so Get some
19:12
Speaker 3: things right, get some things back rolling, and get some
19:16
Speaker 3: confidence coming up on Saturday night.
19:17
Speaker 1: You still think the American Conference Championship is in play
19:21
Speaker 1: for these guys?
19:22
Speaker 3: One thing that I have learned at this point, don't
19:24
Speaker 3: count anybody out in October that hasn't lost yet for
19:28
Speaker 3: the third time or the fourth time. So you've got
19:30
Speaker 3: two losses, but that doesn't mean that you're out of
19:33
Speaker 3: the championship game, especially when you've got some head-to-head opportunities
19:36
Speaker 3: coming up, especially with Memphis, Tulane, a couple of the contenders,
19:40
Speaker 3: and then you're going to have some attrition Up at
19:42
Speaker 3: the top, whether it's North Texas or UTSA or whomever,
19:45
Speaker 3: Round Rob Army having to round rob and play each other.
19:49
Speaker 3: Let's see if I will make this assertion right now,
19:55
Speaker 3: middle of October, there will still be multiple teams alive
19:58
Speaker 3: with only a couple of losses with two weeks to
20:01
Speaker 3: go in the season where somebody could still on a
20:03
Speaker 3: tiebreaker be in the title game. If you only have
20:06
Speaker 3: two losses, which the Bulls do right now, I believe
20:08
Speaker 3: with two weeks to go, you would still be alive
20:11
Speaker 3: to be in a tiebreaker somehow, some way. Because bear
20:14
Speaker 3: in mind, over the next five, six weeks, everybody's playing
20:18
Speaker 3: everybody and losses are going to happen. So just hang
20:21
Speaker 3: in there. Take them one at a time, but hang
20:23
Speaker 3: in there. Don't lose another conference game in the short term.
20:25
Speaker 3: And I think they will be relevant. I legitimately mean that.
20:28
Speaker 3: I don't just root for that because my twins are
20:30
Speaker 3: at USF and my wife graduated from USF. I think
20:33
Speaker 3: you will be around with two losses come mid-November for
20:36
Speaker 3: the stretch run.
20:37
Speaker 1: A little positivity from TJ Reeves today on 4th and
20:40
Speaker 1: Bull pumping some light back into the fan base because
20:43
Speaker 1: you open up that Twitter app and they don't believe
20:47
Speaker 1: those things are possible.
20:48
Speaker 3: Right. Kill everybody. The season's over with. That's not how
20:52
Speaker 3: it works, folks.
20:54
Speaker 1: I forgot what coach it was. He was like, I
20:55
Speaker 1: don't care about those fans. It wasn't related to USF,
20:58
Speaker 1: but there was a coach that might even have been
21:00
Speaker 1: the NFL that was like, I don't care about the
21:02
Speaker 1: fans on Twitter. Those aren't the real fans. The real
21:04
Speaker 1: fans are the ones that are, you know, Twitter is
21:07
Speaker 1: obviously a different world, and I try to tell myself
21:10
Speaker 1: that any time I open up the app and I
21:12
Speaker 1: see things.
21:13
Speaker 3: How's that going, telling yourself that, that it's not a
21:14
Speaker 3: real fan?
21:15
Speaker 1: You know, there's mean things written about you every day,
21:18
Speaker 1: and some of them you laugh, and some of them
21:20
Speaker 1: you go, God, you know.
21:21
Speaker 3: But you do realize.
21:23
Speaker 1: One guy goes, you bald idiot, and I go, I
21:28
Speaker 1: have like a big forehead, yes, but.
21:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you have more hair than I do. You
21:33
Speaker 3: have more follicles than I do.
21:35
Speaker 2: By the way, my bad, but what AI did to
21:37
Speaker 2: you last night.
21:38
Speaker 3: It's okay. What the best part is about social media
21:41
Speaker 3: and the anonymity of it and the clowns is they
21:44
Speaker 3: will put those things on a tweet, off their phone,
21:47
Speaker 3: off their computer, but they would be the same guy
21:49
Speaker 3: that would come up and want to meet you and
21:50
Speaker 3: take a picture with you. For sure. Welcome to the world.
21:53
Speaker 3: If it comes in person, that's how it goes. But
21:56
Speaker 3: any coach that's paying too much attention to social media,
21:59
Speaker 3: you've got problems there. And I understand the point. You
22:03
Speaker 3: want the fans that have come, that have bought tickets,
22:06
Speaker 3: that have invested physically in being there. That's the ones
22:10
Speaker 3: that you care about the most. Who's there Saturday night
22:13
Speaker 3: at Raymond James Stadium? And from what I understand, they
22:16
Speaker 3: have moved relative. They have moved some tickets and you're
22:18
Speaker 3: going to see a good crowd there on Saturday night,
22:21
Speaker 3: even off a couple of losses. You got the stretch
22:24
Speaker 3: run coming up. So Let's see. I get that from
22:27
Speaker 3: a coach that says we want all our fans, but
22:29
Speaker 3: we especially care the most about the ones that have
22:32
Speaker 3: literally invested in coming to the games to support us
22:35
Speaker 3: or literally invested with their donation dollars. And some of
22:39
Speaker 3: them significantly, obviously they get a priority if you're giving
22:43
Speaker 3: more to the program. So I understand how that part
22:47
Speaker 3: works and Let's see, I again bring this back to
22:50
Speaker 3: this is more about the green and gold and are
22:53
Speaker 3: they sharp and are they on point? Because this Kent
22:57
Speaker 3: State team is wounded. I don't know, are they going
23:01
Speaker 3: to try a distance field goal? You didn't ask me
23:03
Speaker 3: this yet. Are they going to try a distance field
23:05
Speaker 3: goal at all? Because the kicker is having real confidence problems.
23:09
Speaker 3: Sean Leonard is his name. They worked the clock down.
23:13
Speaker 3: against Ohio to the final seconds trying to go to overtime.
23:16
Speaker 3: They're right in the middle of the field. They got
23:17
Speaker 3: a 32-yard field goal, and Sean Leonard looked like me
23:20
Speaker 3: off the third tee at the golf course. It's going right,
23:23
Speaker 3: and it's going in the woods.
23:24
Speaker 2: I know how that goes.
23:25
Speaker 3: He missed, and so it cost them the game. They
23:28
Speaker 3: lose the home opener. They come in last week, and
23:32
Speaker 3: he misses a kick right away from point blank, like
23:34
Speaker 3: a 30-yard field goal. He misses that. And later on,
23:38
Speaker 3: Mark Carney stopped trying the medium-range field goal. If it
23:42
Speaker 3: was a 44, 50-yard field goal, I'm not trying it.
23:45
Speaker 3: He was going for it on fourth and long while
23:47
Speaker 3: they're still in the game. Rather than trying a 48
23:50
Speaker 3: or a 51-yard field goal, I think they've lost some
23:54
Speaker 3: real confidence in the kicker Hubbard. May they try the
23:57
Speaker 3: other kicker as well. So this is a Kent State
24:00
Speaker 3: team that is searching. They did not have any answers
24:03
Speaker 3: to stop Western Michigan. And they have a good running
24:07
Speaker 3: back at Western Michigan who ran all over them in
24:09
Speaker 3: the game. So let's see. Let's see what this looks like.
24:13
Speaker 3: How much fight do the Golden Flashes have on Saturday?
24:16
Speaker 3: Stay tuned.
24:17
Speaker 1: Now, if this is one of those games where, and
24:19
Speaker 1: USF has had a couple of those games before where
24:21
Speaker 1: teams have really had some yards and success between the 20s,
24:25
Speaker 1: the defense will button up there in the red zone
24:27
Speaker 1: and they can keep teams out of the end zone.
24:29
Speaker 1: You think Kent State, with the kicking issues that they've had,
24:33
Speaker 1: we're probably going to see them go for it a
24:35
Speaker 1: majority of the time on fourth down?
24:37
Speaker 3: Yes. I mean, and he did that last week against
24:39
Speaker 3: Western Michigan. Even while the game was up for grabs,
24:42
Speaker 3: I was watching at one point, I think it was
24:44
Speaker 3: like 21-7 in the third quarter. He's in field goal range.
24:48
Speaker 3: They've driven into the plus territory. They're inside the 40-yard line.
24:52
Speaker 3: The kicker, again, kicked a 53-yard field goal earlier in
24:54
Speaker 3: the season, and it's like fourth and nine, and the
24:57
Speaker 3: announcers are like, He obviously does not trust Hubbard at
25:00
Speaker 3: this point to even try the field goal after he's
25:03
Speaker 3: missed these last couple of huge ones. So I wonder, again,
25:07
Speaker 3: it's college kids. It's 19, 20, 21-year-olds in a lot
25:11
Speaker 3: of cases. So I wonder if he's now going to
25:14
Speaker 3: empower him once more. Let's try it again and get
25:17
Speaker 3: you an early kick, an early confidence builder here. But
25:20
Speaker 3: if that doesn't work and Hubbard misses again at Raymond
25:23
Speaker 3: James Stadium in the first half of the game, they
25:26
Speaker 3: may be just a– At this point, they're 2-4. You're
25:29
Speaker 3: going to take some gambles and some risks anyway, but
25:31
Speaker 3: they could become a four-down team by the second quarter
25:35
Speaker 3: of this game where we're just basically going to go
25:36
Speaker 3: for it rather than kicking field goals depending on the circumstance.
25:39
Speaker 3: So that's interesting. And again, the running back, I was
25:42
Speaker 3: looking for my name that had the big day from
25:47
Speaker 3: Western Michigan. It's Braylon Brooks and Jalen Buckley. Jalen Buckley
25:52
Speaker 3: is the running back. I know you're a Michigan guy.
25:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm familiar with him.
25:56
Speaker 3: Jalen Buckley ran all over this team. So DJ Crawther
26:03
Speaker 3: probably licking his chops for opportunities in the run game.
26:06
Speaker 3: This is the most recent game for Kent against Western Michigan.
26:09
Speaker 3: Last Saturday they lost 38-7. Buckley had 105 yards on
26:12
Speaker 3: 16 carries. How about that for an average? We'll take
26:15
Speaker 3: that for about an 8-yard per carry average, or 7.
26:18
Speaker 3: So let's see. Let's see how they do running the football,
26:22
Speaker 3: the Bulls, on Saturday.
26:24
Speaker 2: That was what I was going to ask you next.
26:26
Speaker 1: It feels like, and I know a lot of the
26:29
Speaker 1: fourth and bowl audience are probably tired of me saying this,
26:32
Speaker 1: but it feels like it's going to be a run
26:35
Speaker 1: first game plan, take advantage. It seems like Kent State,
26:39
Speaker 1: their weaknesses are offensive line, obviously due to the injuries,
26:41
Speaker 1: which you mentioned, and their defensive line as well. And
26:45
Speaker 1: this feels like one of those games where USF is
26:48
Speaker 1: going to, in every game, they're run first. But I
26:51
Speaker 1: think this is going to be one of those games
26:52
Speaker 1: where they go run first, run heavy, and if they
26:55
Speaker 1: can have success, I think you've got to set up
26:57
Speaker 1: the play action and take advantage of get a couple
27:00
Speaker 1: explosive plays on these guys. But it does feel like
27:03
Speaker 1: this will be a crowder game and not a we're
27:06
Speaker 1: going to spread things out and just get crazy with
27:08
Speaker 1: the football, which they haven't really done yet, despite that's
27:11
Speaker 1: what everybody wants to do. This feels like the game plan,
27:15
Speaker 1: in my opinion, is going to be a run heavy,
27:18
Speaker 1: heavy game. And, and, and DJ Crowder is going to
27:20
Speaker 1: be the guy that they're going to lean on for
27:21
Speaker 1: a victory over Kent's name.
27:23
Speaker 3: I would agree. And I'm looking back at Collins only
27:24
Speaker 3: got four carries in the game in the Alamo dome.
27:27
Speaker 2: He's explosive by the way.
27:29
Speaker 1: I like when he gets the ball in his hands,
27:31
Speaker 1: I'd love to see him get the ball in his hands.
27:33
Speaker 1: A little dump offs, little screenplay, some design screens for him.
27:36
Speaker 1: Cause when he touches the ball, he's got the speed
27:39
Speaker 1: and he's really good. I think they compliment each other
27:42
Speaker 1: Very well. I don't want this to be taken out
27:45
Speaker 1: of proportion, but what they kind of remind me like,
27:48
Speaker 1: this is a huge game. I'm not saying they're these guys,
27:50
Speaker 1: but it reminds me of when Gibbs and Montgomery were
27:53
Speaker 1: together where you had that power back and that speed back.
27:57
Speaker 1: They kind of complement each other nicely, and I'd love
27:59
Speaker 1: to see Collins get involved more in the offense.
28:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, he only got one catch in the game, so
28:04
Speaker 3: five total touches. Did they spread it around a little
28:06
Speaker 3: more to him? Crawler did average over four yards a carry, 4.3
28:08
Speaker 3: last week. Yeah, no, he's been great. So let's see
28:11
Speaker 3: if he has... a big early part of this game
28:13
Speaker 3: to set up what they want to do. And I
28:14
Speaker 3: like the tempo offense. Tim Beck went to the tempo offense,
28:17
Speaker 3: and I think you may see that on Saturday night
28:20
Speaker 3: as well. You think so? Well, get your lineup, get
28:24
Speaker 3: your 11 that you want on the field, and then go.
28:26
Speaker 3: Go for two, three, four straight plays and see if
28:29
Speaker 3: you can't make some things happen because we saw success
28:32
Speaker 3: with it the other night. Vary it up some. Not
28:34
Speaker 3: that you have to go warp speed the whole first half,
28:37
Speaker 3: but vary it up. Because they had success running the
28:40
Speaker 3: tempo offense on that one series against UTSA.
28:43
Speaker 2: They've had a lot of success doing it this year.
28:46
Speaker 2: They just haven't done it very much.
28:48
Speaker 3: They haven't done enough of it. I understand the criticism.
28:50
Speaker 3: And one of the keys with that, again, is not
28:53
Speaker 3: so much that you're just playing fast, but you're trying
28:56
Speaker 3: to keep the same personnel of the defense on the field.
28:59
Speaker 3: You're not allowing them to be able to substitute easily
29:02
Speaker 3: or quickly against and get to a third play or
29:05
Speaker 3: a fourth play against the same personnel. You have a
29:08
Speaker 3: package of plays you like with the group you like,
29:11
Speaker 3: and you are basically playing chess here that I'm going
29:13
Speaker 3: to get you on the third play or the fourth
29:15
Speaker 3: play or the fifth play here when you haven't been
29:17
Speaker 3: able to adjust defensive linemen, extra DB, whatever you might
29:20
Speaker 3: want to substitute if we let you. So let's see.
29:24
Speaker 3: Let's see if the Bulls do some of that in
29:25
Speaker 3: the first half. I don't have that on any authority.
29:27
Speaker 3: I didn't get a note passed by Tim Beck to
29:29
Speaker 3: me as of yet on what they might do. But
29:33
Speaker 3: we'll report back on Forth and Bull if I do.
29:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think everyone's dying to see that, TJ. We
29:40
Speaker 1: would love to see the offense kind of go up-tempo
29:42
Speaker 1: a little bit. I know everyone hates Alex Golish here,
29:45
Speaker 1: but I think they miss seeing that offense with Byron
29:47
Speaker 1: Brown go at a quick rate and score a lot
29:48
Speaker 1: of points.
29:50
Speaker 3: By the way, how is that fared? Bulls fans, how
29:53
Speaker 3: is that fared in the SEC when the personnel– the
29:56
Speaker 3: physical play, the speed of SEC defenses, you notice they're
30:00
Speaker 3: trying to do that warp thing and it's not having
30:02
Speaker 3: the same success at that level. So it just depends.
30:05
Speaker 3: It's part of coaching. It's punch, counterpunch, what works.
30:08
Speaker 1: Part of that is Auburn, too, because Tennessee's been doing
30:11
Speaker 1: it for years and they've found success. We talked about that, actually,
30:14
Speaker 1: with Bryson Rogers in the last episode. We talked about
30:17
Speaker 1: the offense and going, you know, he was talking about
30:20
Speaker 1: a pro-style offense. He's like, there's a lot more reads.
30:22
Speaker 1: It's a very complicated system for a quarterback. And think
30:26
Speaker 1: it was he goes if you can't make the reads
30:29
Speaker 1: he's like go play for Tennessee and I go you
30:30
Speaker 1: know I've always heard that about Tennessee's offense I said
30:34
Speaker 1: he said a lot of things dude it was he
30:35
Speaker 1: was so great and I did have to like I
30:37
Speaker 1: was like I should take this out of here.
30:39
Speaker 2: And protect him on a couple things right.
30:41
Speaker 1: But he was just he was comfortable he was awesome
30:43
Speaker 1: he's exactly what you want to the type of play
30:46
Speaker 1: because sometimes you'll interview someone and they they don't have
30:49
Speaker 1: a lot to say it's the first time they've ever
30:50
Speaker 1: done this and it's and it's hard you're you're trying
30:52
Speaker 1: to pull teeth out of these guys but he was
30:55
Speaker 1: He was great. And so he mentioned the Tennessee offense,
30:57
Speaker 1: and I just said, yeah, I've heard that's always kind
30:59
Speaker 1: of a one-read system. You throw it here, that's where
31:01
Speaker 1: it's designed to go, and quarterbacks have success. And he's like, exactly.
31:05
Speaker 1: He's like, our offense is not that. Now, he wasn't
31:08
Speaker 1: here last year, so I don't know if that was
31:09
Speaker 1: like a direct shot at goal-ish, but they do run
31:12
Speaker 1: a similar offense. That's where goal-ish came from before he.
31:14
Speaker 2: Was at USF.
31:15
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this about Coach Hartline. Is the
31:18
Speaker 1: criticism fair in year number one? The expectation was get
31:21
Speaker 1: to the college football playoff. That dream is over. win
31:24
Speaker 1: the American Conference. You say it's still alive. I love
31:27
Speaker 1: the positivity there. It's obviously a long shot at this
31:30
Speaker 1: point now with the two losses, and I think a
31:32
Speaker 1: lot of the fan base feels it's over.
31:33
Speaker 2: But you're right. Mathematically, they are still in it. But
31:35
Speaker 2: let's say that doesn't happen.
31:38
Speaker 1: Were those expectations fair for Brian Hartline in year number one?
31:41
Speaker 1: Because I feel in the college football world we live in,
31:45
Speaker 1: those expectations are more fair now than they used to
31:48
Speaker 1: be just because of all the turnover.
31:50
Speaker 2: You're able to bring so many players with you.
31:54
Speaker 1: And I feel like, you know, Brian Hartline even mentioned
31:57
Speaker 1: this week in the press conference about, you know, they're
31:59
Speaker 1: still trying to play together as a unit. It's a
32:01
Speaker 1: very new team and we just haven't gotten it going yet.
32:04
Speaker 1: But I feel like that's going to be something that
32:06
Speaker 1: Brian Hartline is going to deal with every single year
32:08
Speaker 1: at USF. You're going to have a lot of new
32:09
Speaker 1: transfers and you're going to have to click and get
32:12
Speaker 1: going fast. Now, maybe the turnover won't be as much
32:15
Speaker 1: as it was last year. And, you know, some people
32:16
Speaker 1: pointed out, you know, Cignetti is the reason for all
32:19
Speaker 1: of this. People saw how fast he turned Indiana around
32:22
Speaker 1: and now everybody wants that. Now he was able to
32:24
Speaker 1: bring basically an entire team over from JMU who had continuity.
32:29
Speaker 1: Heartline obviously couldn't bring everybody from Ohio State. He brought
32:32
Speaker 1: a couple, but not the same situation. But those are
32:35
Speaker 1: kind of the expectations of college football coaches.
32:38
Speaker 2: In year number one.
32:39
Speaker 1: And in this new world, do you think it's fair
32:42
Speaker 1: to have the expectations of a playoff? Because Harline took
32:45
Speaker 1: over a different program than, I would say, Alex Golish, right?
32:47
Speaker 1: I think USF is in a much better position.
32:49
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. Golish took over a disaster, obviously. I know
32:51
Speaker 3: what you're saying. So there's several things. The first thing is, yes,
32:54
Speaker 3: the expectation was warranted for several reasons. Number one, the
32:58
Speaker 3: schedule is soft. Schedule didn't have BYU and Alabama on
33:01
Speaker 3: it anymore. And so you had to scramble and replace
33:05
Speaker 3: that with out-of-conference opponents, which you've done. Okay, the next
33:08
Speaker 3: thing is you have as much, if not any, NIL money,
33:12
Speaker 3: as much or more than every other program in the American,
33:16
Speaker 3: save maybe for Memphis. These are the top two programs
33:18
Speaker 3: that spend. The next thing is his pedigree coming from
33:22
Speaker 3: a national championship program like Ohio State. That had everybody
33:25
Speaker 3: all hyped up. So you kind of put all of
33:27
Speaker 3: that together. But then you have to remind yourself, this
33:29
Speaker 3: is the first time he's been the guy, the head coach.
33:32
Speaker 3: And that's what I've.
33:33
Speaker 2: Always put out there.
33:33
Speaker 3: Yes.
33:34
Speaker 1: He's a big name, but there's a reason that a
33:37
Speaker 1: Penn State who is desperate for a coach is always
33:39
Speaker 1: the analogy I use. They didn't call him because he
33:41
Speaker 1: hadn't been a head coach yet. And so I do
33:43
Speaker 1: think it takes time for a first-year coach.
33:45
Speaker 2: But go ahead, continue. I didn't mean to cut you off.
33:46
Speaker 3: No, no, no. And that's a valid thing. And now
33:48
Speaker 3: you've coached six games, so how much more do we
33:50
Speaker 3: have to hear? You haven't done this. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
33:58
Speaker 2: Did we just lose TJ? Oh, hold on. We'll bring
34:01
Speaker 2: him back in. I lost you there. He froze for
34:04
Speaker 2: a second.
34:04
Speaker 3: Mid-thought. I was still going. I was still rocking and going.
34:07
Speaker 3: What I was saying was that you've coached.
34:10
Speaker 2: Oh, no!
34:11
Speaker 3: At this point, and... Am I still good? There we go.
34:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're back.
34:15
Speaker 3: Am I still good?
34:16
Speaker 2: What, do you want to dial up over there?
34:17
Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't know what we have going
34:18
Speaker 3: on with the Gremlin. I'm just trying to get the
34:20
Speaker 3: point out. He's coached six games at this point. That's
34:23
Speaker 3: different than the beginning of the season when you're hearing about, hey,
34:25
Speaker 3: he's never coached a game before. So... as a head coach.
34:29
Speaker 3: So it makes a big difference when you've got a
34:31
Speaker 3: few of them under your belt. And I don't know
34:33
Speaker 3: how much of the answer you heard, but the expectations
34:35
Speaker 3: were warranted because of the schedule, because of the NIL
34:38
Speaker 3: you have. So I get it. This is part of
34:40
Speaker 3: the territory. This is what you sign up for as
34:42
Speaker 3: a head coach. And I think he embraces that right
34:44
Speaker 3: now at this point.
34:45
Speaker 1: I think my biggest criticism really in his first year
34:48
Speaker 1: is just, I feel like we haven't seen the offense
34:51
Speaker 1: take that next stride. Now, maybe we did a little
34:54
Speaker 1: bit against UTSA. Can I see it again against Kent State?
34:57
Speaker 1: I think my biggest also critique of this team is
35:01
Speaker 1: why haven't I seen the offense be good for four
35:03
Speaker 1: solid quarters? They get off to slow starts. Now, last
35:06
Speaker 1: week they got off to a quick start, but then
35:08
Speaker 1: the second half they kind of came out flat, but
35:11
Speaker 1: it's been the opposite the rest of the year for
35:13
Speaker 1: the most part. They come out kind of flat and
35:15
Speaker 1: then things turn around in the third or fourth quarter.
35:18
Speaker 1: They get going and then they steal a victory all
35:19
Speaker 1: of a sudden and it kind of hides the red
35:23
Speaker 1: flags that I've talked about. But, you know, that's my
35:26
Speaker 1: biggest criticism is why haven't we gotten these guys to
35:28
Speaker 1: play four good quarters yet of consistently good football? And
35:34
Speaker 1: the offense, you know, you keep telling me practice has
35:36
Speaker 1: been good and then execution in the game isn't. Like,
35:40
Speaker 1: what do we got to change up to see a
35:42
Speaker 1: different offense and find more success? You know, that's my
35:45
Speaker 1: biggest critique here.
35:46
Speaker 2: In year one.
35:47
Speaker 3: And he'll learn from all of this.
35:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, he'll learn from all of this.
35:49
Speaker 3: This it's deserved and you can talk all you want
35:52
Speaker 3: about how you look in practice but that's going against
35:53
Speaker 3: yourself when the chips are down and I think they
36:00
Speaker 3: have learned some and I have optimism that you're going
36:03
Speaker 3: to see them be able to do some things on
36:04
Speaker 3: both sides of the ball Saturday with Kent State I
36:07
Speaker 3: will just say this Kent State's going to come in
36:09
Speaker 3: and play hard at the beginning of this game how
36:11
Speaker 3: hard they continue to play if they get demoralized that's
36:14
Speaker 3: a big if but If you are struggling with this team, again,
36:18
Speaker 3: not unlike when you go to Bowling Green and you
36:20
Speaker 3: don't have a point going into the fourth quarter, if
36:23
Speaker 3: you're having problems with Kent State at home in game
36:26
Speaker 3: number seven, that's more about the green and gold. Let's
36:29
Speaker 3: see them play sharp. Let's see them play clean, and
36:31
Speaker 3: they should be fine on Saturday.
36:33
Speaker 1: TJ Reeves, appreciate you doing fourth and bowl today. You'll
36:36
Speaker 1: be on the call ESPN Plus Saturday night. Who are
36:39
Speaker 1: you doing the game with?
36:39
Speaker 3: Patrick Murray and I will be on the call at
36:41
Speaker 3: 7 Eastern time. Patrick worked the FIU game at the
36:44
Speaker 3: beginning of the year. He's also worked a Kent State
36:46
Speaker 3: game earlier in the season, so I look forward to
36:48
Speaker 3: being with him. And we're anxious to see what happens
36:52
Speaker 3: with the Bulls here in this matchup. It's a privilege
36:54
Speaker 3: to be on the call here for the Green and Gold,
36:57
Speaker 3: and it's a privilege to be on fourth and bowl.
36:59
Speaker 3: I appreciate you having me. If you need me, you
37:00
Speaker 3: know where to find me.
37:02
Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming on. Just make sure he knows
37:03
Speaker 1: it's DJ Crowder. Cause if I got to hear another
37:05
Speaker 1: Crowther from the play by play team, I mean, it's
37:10
Speaker 1: funny as I was listening to the game Thursday and
37:12
Speaker 1: like they, they had it.
37:13
Speaker 2: One of the guys had it right. The other didn't.
37:15
Speaker 1: And then the guy that had it wrong, it's like
37:16
Speaker 1: he influenced the play by play.
37:19
Speaker 2: And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
37:21
Speaker 1: The play by play. I think it was Matthew Barry.
37:23
Speaker 1: I was like, you had it right. And I was
37:25
Speaker 1: laughing two weeks ago. They kept calling him Crowther. And
37:28
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh boy.
37:29
Speaker 3: We'll be straight. I'll be good with that on Saturday night,
37:33
Speaker 3: and it'll be a lot of fun. Hopefully we're talking crawther. Actually,
37:36
Speaker 3: in the notes, it's craw like crawfish, crawther. Let's hope
37:39
Speaker 3: we're talking crawther left and right.
37:42
Speaker 2: So I've heard all different things. I've heard crowder, which
37:44
Speaker 2: is what I've been saying.
37:45
Speaker 3: We should go find DJ. I've heard crawther. We should
37:48
Speaker 3: go to DJ and say, DJ, pronounce your last name. Dude,
37:50
Speaker 3: I've had him on the show.
37:52
Speaker 2: I've had him on the show and introduced him as crawder.
37:54
Speaker 3: He didn't correct you. It says craw like crawfish, crawther.
37:58
Speaker 3: On the notes. So maybe DJ disagrees with the notes.
38:01
Speaker 3: I don't know. But we'll just call him DJ. DJ,
38:04
Speaker 3: get in the end zone. DJ, D-E.
38:06
Speaker 2: I've heard Crowder, Crowther.
38:08
Speaker 3: It's definitely not Crowder.
38:09
Speaker 2: It's not Crowder.
38:10
Speaker 3: There's no D-E-R in the name.
38:12
Speaker 1: No, I've always heard Crowder, like with a T-E-R. But
38:16
Speaker 1: now I'm, great, I'm over here.
38:18
Speaker 3: Now you're in my head. Now you're in my head.
38:20
Speaker 1: I'm making fun of the play-by-play people, and here I am,
38:23
Speaker 1: the ones that's actually been wrong the entire time. All right, well,
38:27
Speaker 1: whatever it is, get it right, and then I'll start
38:29
Speaker 1: calling him whatever you call him on Saturday.
38:32
Speaker 3: Hey, and let's hope we're saying his name a bunch,
38:34
Speaker 3: and we're hoping that the Bulls get a big win
38:36
Speaker 3: and then get ready for the American stretch run. I
38:38
Speaker 3: look forward to being with you again if you'll have me.
38:41
Speaker 1: Absolutely, brother. You're welcome anytime. Thank you for coming on today,
38:43
Speaker 1: and we'll talk soon, all right?
38:44
Speaker 3: All right, my friend.
38:46
Speaker 2: Talk to you later.
38:47
Speaker 1: That is TJ Reeves. He'll be on the call ESPN
38:49
Speaker 1: Plus this Saturday night. Just a reminder, the fourth in bowl,
38:54
Speaker 1: it is presented by Blue Terra, a Florida-based, bull-run environmental
38:57
Speaker 1: restoration and resiliency company, winner of two USF Fast 56 awards.
39:02
Speaker 1: Blue Terra restores natural habitats and protects our communities against
39:05
Speaker 1: severe storms. Blue Terra flips water bodies from algae-dominated to
39:09
Speaker 1: crystal clear and can install patented wave attenuation devices along
39:12
Speaker 1: beaches and causeways to reserve erosion and protect infrastructure from
39:16
Speaker 1: storm surge.
39:17
Speaker 2: And flooding.
39:18
Speaker 1: For more information about Blue Terra, visit their website at bluetera.us.
39:23
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for watching today. Thank you,
39:26
Speaker 1: Blue Terra, for being the presenting sponsor of the show.
39:29
Speaker 1: Shout out to TheBullsPen.com, also being another sponsor of the show.
39:33
Speaker 1: They sponsor the mailbag, but we didn't get to the
39:35
Speaker 1: mailbag today with TJ joining us. So shout out to
39:39
Speaker 1: the guys over at TheBullsPen.com. Thank you guys for watching
39:44
Speaker 1: on YouTube at Fourth and Bold Podcast. And of course,
39:46
Speaker 1: you can always get the audio version, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and podcast.
39:50
Speaker 1: Hope you guys enjoyed the show today. Make sure you
39:52
Speaker 1: share it with as many people as possible. I said
39:55
Speaker 1: it before, we're kind of, I want to get over
39:57
Speaker 1: 800 subscribers. I've been stuck right in the upper 700s
40:01
Speaker 1: for the last couple of weeks. So make sure you
40:03
Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button on wherever it is on YouTube.
40:07
Speaker 1: And I appreciate you guys and your support as always.
40:10
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for watching. Enjoy the game Saturday night.
40:13
Speaker 1: And I will be back with you after the game.
40:15
Speaker 1: We will talk about everything that happened happens on a,
40:20
Speaker 1: on Saturday night. And hopefully we're talking about a bulls victory.
40:23
Speaker 1: I am going to say that USF does pull this
40:26
Speaker 1: one off. I hope it's a game though, where they
40:30
Speaker 1: win and we can talk about it in a positive light, right?
40:33
Speaker 1: Because we've had a few wins like that, but I,
40:36
Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of the wins, we're like, yeah, yeah,
40:39
Speaker 1: they won, but then, but, da-da-da-da-da. I want to, hey,
40:43
Speaker 1: they won, they look good, four quarters, like give me
40:45
Speaker 1: four solid quarters of good football. So we will talk
40:50
Speaker 1: after that game, and if you haven't gone to watch
40:53
Speaker 1: the Bryson Rogers interview yet, go watch that. He was fantastic,
40:57
Speaker 1: really great kid, and hopefully he can be really good
41:02
Speaker 1: on Saturday night, maybe get a couple explosive plays would
41:05
Speaker 1: be nice out of the offense to him like they
41:07
Speaker 1: had against UTSA. Again, hope you guys enjoyed the show. iHeartRadio, Spotify,
41:12
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, the audio version, YouTube, the video version, and
41:15
Speaker 1: go Bulls. Thank you so much for watching 4th & Bull.
41:18
Speaker 1: My name is Nick Wise. We'll talk again soon.