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Undefeated, But Reasons To Be Worried About The 2026 USF Bulls · 4th AND BULL

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to fourth and bowl. My name is Nick wise.
0:02
Speaker 1: Good to have you along. Do you want to real
0:05
Speaker 1: quick before we start the show, make sure you're subscribed
0:07
Speaker 1: on YouTube. If you haven't already, that way, you know,
0:09
Speaker 1: when I release a new episode, we're aiming for, for Mondays,
0:13
Speaker 1: also aiming Wednesdays with player interviews. I'll record those on
0:17
Speaker 1: Tuesdays with the players. We'll get them out on Wednesday.
0:20
Speaker 1: And then I'd like to get another one out either
0:23
Speaker 1: Thursday or Friday to preview week number two. So I'm
0:27
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how that's going to work, but expect,
0:30
Speaker 1: Three podcasts a week. One talking about the game that
0:32
Speaker 1: just happened. One to preview the game coming up. And,
0:34
Speaker 1: of course, a player interview. And I believe Thomas Schrader,
0:38
Speaker 1: the offensive lineman, will join us on Wednesday, which will
0:42
Speaker 1: be great because maybe we can get some answers from him.
0:43
Speaker 1: What went wrong with the offensive line, which we will
0:46
Speaker 1: talk about today on the show. I also will answer
0:50
Speaker 1: your questions with the mailbag. If you're following me on
0:52
Speaker 1: social media, I am Nick Wise. I am Nick W-I-Z-E.
0:56
Speaker 1: You can see it right there on the corner of
0:57
Speaker 1: your screen. That is where you can follow me, and
1:00
Speaker 1: I ask before every show, send me your mailbag questions
1:03
Speaker 1: so we can answer them on the podcast. We got
1:05
Speaker 1: a lot of questions to get to, so we'll do
1:07
Speaker 1: that at the end of the show for sure. I
1:10
Speaker 1: want to really– I've got my own questions that I
1:15
Speaker 1: want to talk about as well, not just yours, but
1:17
Speaker 1: my own with this football team. They get a victory
1:20
Speaker 1: 19-9 over FIU, and look, I told you on the
1:26
Speaker 1: first episode when we previewed this game– I didn't think
1:29
Speaker 1: this was going to be a game that the Bulls
1:30
Speaker 1: just ran away with. I thought it was going to
1:32
Speaker 1: be a closely contested game, and for the most part,
1:36
Speaker 1: it was. Now, there were some things I was right about,
1:39
Speaker 1: and there were some things I was bullshitting you on.
1:42
Speaker 1: Maybe that's how we start this segment, where I was
1:45
Speaker 1: right and where I was bullshitting. Now, I don't like
1:47
Speaker 1: to swear on the podcast, but I think the name
1:49
Speaker 1: is kind of fitting, right? Where I was right. I
1:51
Speaker 1: said they were going to win by 10 and not
1:53
Speaker 1: cover when we previewed this game. There were things I
1:57
Speaker 1: liked about One being the quarterback, and he showed us
2:01
Speaker 1: he could play. I mean, the offense for FIU was
2:03
Speaker 1: good from 20 to 20. It was inside the red zone.
2:06
Speaker 1: The USF defense obviously won the battle and kept them
2:09
Speaker 1: out of the end zone, prevented field goals and forced turnovers.
2:12
Speaker 1: So really good job from the USF defense there. I
2:15
Speaker 1: said FIU is going to try to win with the
2:17
Speaker 1: passing game. That's exactly what they tried to do. They
2:19
Speaker 1: struggled to run the ball against this USF defense. The
2:23
Speaker 1: run defense, something we can be happy about and celebrate.
2:26
Speaker 1: After week number one, FIU threw the ball 50 times
2:30
Speaker 1: through the air. And I said, Heartline wanted to win
2:33
Speaker 1: with the run game. And that's exactly how this game started.
2:35
Speaker 1: I think so often in the off season, so many
2:39
Speaker 1: people think Brian Heartline think wide receivers, all the wide
2:42
Speaker 1: receivers he recruited to Ohio state. Some of the ones
2:44
Speaker 1: he brought with them. I, we just thought it was
2:46
Speaker 1: going to be an airing out passing game. And Brian Heartline,
2:50
Speaker 1: even though as a wide receiver comes from big 10 country,
2:53
Speaker 1: those teams up North love to be able to establish
2:55
Speaker 1: the run and, And Hartline was, it was no secret
2:58
Speaker 1: that was his game plan, especially early in this football game.
3:01
Speaker 1: And really throughout, despite it never developing, he never got
3:05
Speaker 1: away from the run game. So those were the things
3:07
Speaker 1: that I was right about. The things I was bullshitting on. Again,
3:11
Speaker 1: I think the name is just fitting. I said the
3:13
Speaker 1: offense was going to put up 31 points, and they
3:16
Speaker 1: only put up one touchdown. And that's not going to
3:19
Speaker 1: get it done against better teams. They've got to be
3:21
Speaker 1: better at finishing drives. And really, all of the field
3:25
Speaker 1: goals they got, were because the defense put them in
3:28
Speaker 1: a really good position. This offense overall didn't really sustain
3:32
Speaker 1: many long drives. The defense put them in good positions
3:36
Speaker 1: to put up points. They settled for field goals on
3:39
Speaker 1: a majority of those turnovers, and again, against a good opponent,
3:44
Speaker 1: that's going to come back and get you, but you
3:46
Speaker 1: get by in week number one with the 19-9 victory.
3:49
Speaker 1: I said the offensive line would be a strength of
3:51
Speaker 1: this football team. It was not a strength of this
3:55
Speaker 1: football team, and Thomas Schrader will be someone that we
3:58
Speaker 1: are looking at from what I've talked to, my conversations
4:02
Speaker 1: with the university. I think will be our guest on
4:05
Speaker 1: the podcast on Wednesday. So maybe we'll get some answers
4:09
Speaker 1: to some of our questions about the offensive line when
4:11
Speaker 1: Thomas Schrader joins the show. Again, that's on Wednesday's show.
4:15
Speaker 1: So make sure you are subscribed to the podcast on YouTube.
4:18
Speaker 1: Also streaming audio only on iHeartRadio. And of course, Apple
4:23
Speaker 1: Podcasts as well. If you prefer the audio, you don't
4:25
Speaker 1: want to look at my face, I totally, totally understand.
4:28
Speaker 1: So you are more than welcome to stream just the
4:31
Speaker 1: audio version. Make sure you subscribe on those channels as well. Like, comment, share.
4:36
Speaker 1: Give it five stars. The more stars you can give it,
4:39
Speaker 1: the more people will be introduced to this podcast. And
4:42
Speaker 1: we've got to grow this thing together. It's not just
4:43
Speaker 1: on me. You guys are going to have to help me, right?
4:45
Speaker 1: If you continue to share this and show me the support,
4:48
Speaker 1: which you have, I'll continue to to use my resources
4:51
Speaker 1: that I have with USF to bring you the best
4:54
Speaker 1: possible USF Bulls football content. But it's not going to
4:57
Speaker 1: grow just on me. It's got to be a team
4:59
Speaker 1: effort from both of us. And so far, I like
5:02
Speaker 1: the effort I'm getting out of you guys, and hopefully
5:04
Speaker 1: you appreciate the effort from me. Another spot I was
5:09
Speaker 1: wrong about, I said CJ Hicks would record a sack. That, unfortunately,
5:13
Speaker 1: did not happen. Overall, he was really good, especially on
5:15
Speaker 1: the pass rush. Run defense, he could be a little
5:18
Speaker 1: bit better, but pass rush, He was really good, and
5:20
Speaker 1: that's really why he's on this team. It's to rush
5:23
Speaker 1: the passer, so that's his job, and he did it okay.
5:27
Speaker 1: I have so many questions today, and again, we're going
5:29
Speaker 1: to answer your questions in the mailbag at the end
5:31
Speaker 1: of the show, but I've got some questions myself. A win,
5:35
Speaker 1: but was it a good win? USF there, 1-0, that's
5:38
Speaker 1: what matters most, right? But the Bulls were out gained 381-208,
5:41
Speaker 1: and they averaged just 3.7 yards per play. are we
5:48
Speaker 1: being too negative about a 10 point win or are
5:50
Speaker 1: there legitimate reasons to be concerned? And I think there
5:52
Speaker 1: are legitimate reasons to be concerned. The defense for one.
5:58
Speaker 1: So defense overall, not, not bad, but they weren't great either.
6:03
Speaker 1: And we're, we're giving the defense, I would say a
6:06
Speaker 1: lot of praise. And obviously I think a lot of
6:08
Speaker 1: people are down on the offense right now. And I
6:10
Speaker 1: think that's fair. I think the defense has some issues themselves.
6:14
Speaker 1: Luckily though, they were a, Bend but don't break defense
6:18
Speaker 1: Saturday night. But how long can you get by with
6:20
Speaker 1: the bend, don't break? Because they definitely bent. They just
6:24
Speaker 1: happened to not break. And they were able to force
6:27
Speaker 1: turnovers on those drives where FIU was making things happen.
6:31
Speaker 1: I mean, FIU really had no issues moving it up
6:34
Speaker 1: and down the field between the 20s. Once they got
6:36
Speaker 1: into the red zone, this USF defense kind of turned
6:40
Speaker 1: it up another notch and was able to get FIU
6:43
Speaker 1: into some turnovers. And on the other side of things
6:46
Speaker 1: for USF, their offense, despite it not being great, they
6:49
Speaker 1: didn't turn the ball over. And that's something Brian Hartline
6:52
Speaker 1: was really proud about. And he talked about that in
6:55
Speaker 1: his press conference at the end of the game. And
6:57
Speaker 1: I'm sure he did enjoy that because I think at
6:59
Speaker 1: the end of the day, when it comes down to
7:02
Speaker 1: turnovers and penalties, which they didn't commit a lot, that
7:06
Speaker 1: makes the head football coach look great. So despite not
7:09
Speaker 1: being a great outcome, He comes out of this game
7:12
Speaker 1: looking kind of good because his team was disciplined and
7:15
Speaker 1: his team forced turnovers and didn't turn the ball over,
7:20
Speaker 1: and that's always going to be a recipe for success. Now,
7:24
Speaker 1: the defense definitely saved the day against FIU. Is this
7:28
Speaker 1: defense really good, or did FIU simply fail to capitalize
7:31
Speaker 1: in their moments? And I think it's a little bit
7:34
Speaker 1: of both. Again, it was a bend, don't break defense, which...
7:38
Speaker 1: Can be good, but when you're going up against a
7:40
Speaker 1: superior opponent, which you're going to have better competition than
7:43
Speaker 1: FIU as the season prolongs, I don't think this defense
7:47
Speaker 1: can play exactly the way they did on Saturday and
7:52
Speaker 1: still hope for this team to be super successful in
7:56
Speaker 1: terms of winning the American Conference and also going to
7:59
Speaker 1: the college football playoff. I think the defense was good.
8:02
Speaker 1: I don't think they were great. I liked the effort
8:06
Speaker 1: that you saw from the defense. I mean, they were
8:07
Speaker 1: flying around everywhere. Defensive line looked pretty solid. Secondary, again,
8:13
Speaker 1: they came up with big plays when they needed them
8:16
Speaker 1: the most, and that is important. When you're playing against
8:21
Speaker 1: better competition, I don't want to see the better teams
8:24
Speaker 1: be able to do whatever they can between the 20s
8:27
Speaker 1: because I think against better teams, that's going to lead
8:30
Speaker 1: to more field goals, going to lead to more touchdowns,
8:33
Speaker 1: and you're going to put the offense in a little
8:35
Speaker 1: bit of a hole. And right now, if this offense
8:37
Speaker 1: were to get into a little bit of a hole,
8:40
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily trust them to get out of it.
8:44
Speaker 1: Because where were the explosive plays on Saturday night? Their
8:48
Speaker 1: longest completion was only 14 yards. And when we come
8:51
Speaker 1: into this year thinking this offense is going to just
8:55
Speaker 1: be able to do whatever they want with the talent
8:57
Speaker 1: they have, with the experienced offensive line and a plethora
9:02
Speaker 1: of wide receivers, We absolutely expect more than the biggest
9:05
Speaker 1: play to be just 14 yards. An explosive play is
9:09
Speaker 1: considered 20 yards. They didn't have a single explosive play
9:12
Speaker 1: on Saturday night against FIU. The Bulls just consistently could
9:17
Speaker 1: not generate chunk plays through the air or on the ground.
9:21
Speaker 1: In the run game, there needs to be a lot
9:24
Speaker 1: of answers for the run game. 38 carries, 108 yards,
9:28
Speaker 1: just 2.8 yards per carry. That's not what you expect.
9:31
Speaker 1: from a team that wants to control games from the ground.
9:36
Speaker 1: Jason Collins had 59 yards. DJ Crowder had 42 and
9:40
Speaker 1: the touchdown. But again, my biggest thing going into this
9:44
Speaker 1: game was letting Bulls fans know how Brian Hartline wants
9:47
Speaker 1: to operate. Because I still think, again, when you think Hartline,
9:50
Speaker 1: you think wide receivers and passing game. But he's a
9:53
Speaker 1: Big Ten guy. Those Big Ten teams love to run it.
9:56
Speaker 1: And I got to be honest, he stuck with the
9:57
Speaker 1: run even more than I thought he would. Because it really...
10:00
Speaker 1: wasn't working. And the offensive line, it felt like so
10:04
Speaker 1: often the running backs were getting hit behind the line
10:06
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. And there was just nothing they could do.
10:08
Speaker 1: The plays would break down so fast. And, you know,
10:12
Speaker 1: the offensive line really, really struggled, I think, in this
10:16
Speaker 1: football game in the pass protection and the run protection.
10:19
Speaker 1: And the offensive line was a little bit of a
10:22
Speaker 1: mystery for us on how they were going to be
10:24
Speaker 1: able to work together. We know they've played a lot
10:27
Speaker 1: of football. We know they're an experienced group of kids.
10:31
Speaker 1: We know they're talented, but they've never played together. The
10:35
Speaker 1: last time I talked to Coach Hartline, I did ask him,
10:38
Speaker 1: how many games is it going to take for these
10:40
Speaker 1: guys to kind of gel as a unit and help
10:46
Speaker 1: this team be successful with what he wants to do?
10:49
Speaker 1: He made it sound like they were ready and good
10:51
Speaker 1: to go, and this was now three weeks ago. And
10:56
Speaker 1: he was pretty confident in this offensive line. In fact,
10:58
Speaker 1: he was very confident in this offensive line all spring.
11:02
Speaker 1: But again, very talented, very experienced, but they're not very
11:06
Speaker 1: experienced together. And we saw that on Saturday night. Especially
11:10
Speaker 1: in that first half, I just felt like the offensive
11:12
Speaker 1: line wasn't in sync with each other at all. And
11:15
Speaker 1: this offense just never could sustain any forward momentum the
11:18
Speaker 1: amount of times the ball carrier was hit instantly as
11:22
Speaker 1: soon as they got the ball just happened way too
11:24
Speaker 1: often for a team that wants to run the football.
11:27
Speaker 1: You know, is it a problem with the offensive line
11:31
Speaker 1: or is it a scheme thing? Is it a Tim
11:33
Speaker 1: Beck thing? Everyone's kind of blaming Tim Beck for all
11:36
Speaker 1: of this and maybe down the road we can blame
11:39
Speaker 1: Tim Beck for all of this, but it is just
11:41
Speaker 1: week one. So I want to be careful from, overreacting
11:45
Speaker 1: and giving you a hot take and putting someone's job
11:47
Speaker 1: on the line. I understand if you weren't happy with
11:50
Speaker 1: that hire overall, and after week one, you're probably not
11:53
Speaker 1: really happy with that hire, but I would say, give
11:55
Speaker 1: it a little bit more time. I don't think it
11:57
Speaker 1: was necessarily a scheme issue on Saturday night. I think,
12:01
Speaker 1: I think really the offensive line, just they, they weren't
12:03
Speaker 1: very good and they weren't in sync with each other.
12:05
Speaker 1: And that has to improve because again, Hartline wants to
12:09
Speaker 1: run the ball. And even when he couldn't, he was
12:12
Speaker 1: still running the ball in 38 carries for 108 yards.
12:15
Speaker 1: It just not going to get the job done, especially
12:18
Speaker 1: when the, the offense has really the passing game still
12:22
Speaker 1: kind of finding its way. Right. And so if you
12:25
Speaker 1: can't hit any explosive plays and you couldn't connect on
12:28
Speaker 1: a pass longer than 14 yards, that's going to allow
12:31
Speaker 1: the defenders to creep up in the box a little
12:33
Speaker 1: bit more. And it's going to make it even harder
12:35
Speaker 1: for Brian Hartline to do what he wants to do,
12:37
Speaker 1: which again, is run the football. But again, everyone calling
12:41
Speaker 1: for Tim Beck's job. Let's relax. It's week number one.
12:44
Speaker 1: I totally understand your frustrations, right? The game seemed like
12:49
Speaker 1: it was almost kind of simplified, and that was a
12:52
Speaker 1: common question in the mailbag, too, which we're going to
12:54
Speaker 1: get to at the end of the show, was were
12:56
Speaker 1: they just not trying to show anything for Army? And
12:59
Speaker 1: was it a very simplistic offense? And were they just
13:02
Speaker 1: trying to be conservative? I think that they knew what
13:06
Speaker 1: they were getting into, going into this game against FIU.
13:09
Speaker 1: This wasn't a slouch opponent. This is a team in
13:12
Speaker 1: Conference USA that will compete in that conference with a
13:17
Speaker 1: really good quarterback who played at the Power 4 level
13:21
Speaker 1: once he left Iowa State, had offers from teams like
13:24
Speaker 1: Michigan and Auburn and some other big ones as well.
13:27
Speaker 1: So they had some talent. We knew their wide receivers
13:30
Speaker 1: were talented, and I told you I was very high
13:32
Speaker 1: on their secondary. And their secondary, as you saw Saturday night,
13:36
Speaker 1: not so bad as they kind of shut down really
13:39
Speaker 1: the wide receivers, which we thought was going to be
13:41
Speaker 1: a strong point for USF. They, for the most part,
13:43
Speaker 1: held them in check. And again, the longest play, only
13:45
Speaker 1: 14 yards. I think this was a humbling experience for
13:48
Speaker 1: Brian Harline. It's been all praise until now. And he
13:52
Speaker 1: doesn't have the talent gap that he's used to having
13:55
Speaker 1: at Ohio State. And he's really going to have to
13:57
Speaker 1: coach his way out of some games. Now, that's not
14:00
Speaker 1: an insult at these players on USF. They have a
14:02
Speaker 1: really talented bunch. We went over the athletic article last
14:05
Speaker 1: week on the show. The Athletic believes they're the most
14:08
Speaker 1: talented group of six team there is when you just
14:13
Speaker 1: look at the roster on paper. But the talent gap
14:16
Speaker 1: from what Brian Hartline is used to at Ohio State
14:18
Speaker 1: and their opponent compared to USF and their opponent, the
14:22
Speaker 1: gap between the two is much tighter at USF. And
14:27
Speaker 1: you really have to be a good coach to get
14:29
Speaker 1: your team out of those because it is going to
14:33
Speaker 1: be much closer competition. You don't have players that are
14:37
Speaker 1: just far more superior in the game like you are
14:41
Speaker 1: used to at Ohio State. So I thought it was
14:43
Speaker 1: a humbling experience for Brian Hartline. He's never really been
14:46
Speaker 1: in that position before. And you could tell at the
14:49
Speaker 1: end of the game when he was at the press
14:52
Speaker 1: conference at the podium, he hasn't been through many situations
14:56
Speaker 1: like that or a game that ugly, right? And you
14:59
Speaker 1: could tell he almost... I think when he sat down
15:03
Speaker 1: that day and probably thought how the day was going
15:05
Speaker 1: to go, I don't think he was prepared for the
15:08
Speaker 1: press conference to be what it was because I think
15:13
Speaker 1: he was expecting a lot more from his team. And
15:15
Speaker 1: I thought he was thinking, you know, the press conference
15:17
Speaker 1: probably wasn't going to be what it was. But, you know, again,
15:21
Speaker 1: I think it was a humbling experience for Hartline. And
15:23
Speaker 1: I think this is something he's got to grow as well.
15:26
Speaker 1: These players are going to continue to grow as a unit. And,
15:29
Speaker 1: you know, one of the things that Brian Hartline did
15:31
Speaker 1: say in his press conference, I've got the note here.
15:34
Speaker 1: He said, usually your biggest growth is from week one
15:38
Speaker 1: to week number two. And as a Bulls fan, that's
15:41
Speaker 1: all you can hope for. You better hope this team
15:44
Speaker 1: grows from week one to week two because Army is
15:46
Speaker 1: a much better opponent than FIU. And the one thing
15:51
Speaker 1: I will say that, you know, you should be a
15:53
Speaker 1: little excited about when it comes to this game is
15:56
Speaker 1: Army's offense is pretty one-dimensional. And You know that whenever
15:59
Speaker 1: you're going to face an Army team. But the run
16:02
Speaker 1: defense for USF, I thought, was the biggest strength of
16:06
Speaker 1: this team on Saturday night. So I think matchup-wise, they
16:09
Speaker 1: match up well against Army. So I'm not too concerned
16:13
Speaker 1: or worried about that game being a loss. As of
16:15
Speaker 1: right now, I'm still kind of leaning USF. But we'll
16:18
Speaker 1: preview more of Army on either Thursday or Friday here
16:21
Speaker 1: on the show. I don't really want to deep dive
16:24
Speaker 1: into that game too much. I will say this. I
16:26
Speaker 1: know that. Again, I don't think they were conservative in
16:30
Speaker 1: this game because they didn't want to show Army a lot.
16:32
Speaker 1: But I do know that they have been practicing and
16:35
Speaker 1: preparing for the defensive Army in week two. And so
16:40
Speaker 1: that could have played a factor in this football game
16:43
Speaker 1: of why in between the 20, so many yards were
16:46
Speaker 1: given up. But at the end of the day, the
16:47
Speaker 1: defense got the job done and caused a lot of
16:50
Speaker 1: turnovers and overall were really good. My stars of the game.
16:55
Speaker 1: You got to start with Nico Gramatica. It came through
16:57
Speaker 1: 37 yarder. 53-yarder, a 30-yarder, and also a 29-yard field goal.
17:03
Speaker 1: And a shout-out to the defense. They get the assist
17:06
Speaker 1: on a lot of those field goals. Their turnovers put
17:08
Speaker 1: the offense in a good spot, and they were able
17:12
Speaker 1: to come away with a couple points. Again, the offense, though,
17:15
Speaker 1: going forward, is going to have to sustain some longer
17:18
Speaker 1: drives for this team to have some success. And I'm
17:22
Speaker 1: a little worried about next week in that aspect, is
17:26
Speaker 1: the offense isn't going to have a lot of possessions
17:29
Speaker 1: because Army is going to try to run the ball
17:32
Speaker 1: at you. USF appears to want to try to run
17:35
Speaker 1: the ball back, and it's a much slower tempo offense
17:38
Speaker 1: from what we were used to under Alex Golish. I
17:41
Speaker 1: just don't think there's going to be a lot of
17:42
Speaker 1: possessions in that game. But again, we'll get into that
17:45
Speaker 1: more on the next show. Michael Williams, one of my
17:49
Speaker 1: stars of the game. Three tackles, had a sack, one
17:51
Speaker 1: missed tackle, but overall Michael Williams really good on Saturday night.
17:55
Speaker 1: Interior defensive line, Ryan Jenkins had three tackles, very strong
18:00
Speaker 1: against the run. And again, the run defense, I can't
18:03
Speaker 1: praise it enough on this show. That was really a
18:05
Speaker 1: strength of the team. Trying to find a star of
18:08
Speaker 1: the game from the offense, a little bit tougher. I
18:09
Speaker 1: did write down Armand Branch had five catches for 47 yards.
18:14
Speaker 1: And then I wrote down the players who I want
18:17
Speaker 1: to see more from in week number two and the
18:23
Speaker 1: entire offensive line. I, you know, I, Michael Wooten, especially
18:27
Speaker 1: I think can be better. Didn't have a great game
18:30
Speaker 1: against FIU Thomas Schrader. Look, he's got potential to be
18:34
Speaker 1: an NFL draft pick. He's got to be better, better too.
18:37
Speaker 1: And I think he would tell you that. And again,
18:39
Speaker 1: if you missed, if you weren't, if you're kind of
18:41
Speaker 1: scrolling through the show and, and you missed me talk
18:43
Speaker 1: about it earlier, as of now, um, Thomas Schrader is
18:47
Speaker 1: expected to be the guest, uh, on Wednesday here in
18:50
Speaker 1: fourth and bowl. And when they sent me the email
18:52
Speaker 1: today that they were thinking about Michael, uh, Thomas Schrader,
18:56
Speaker 1: I thought to myself, perfect guest. If I could talk
19:00
Speaker 1: to somebody from the Bulls this week, it is somebody
19:03
Speaker 1: who's on the offensive line because that's supposed to be
19:06
Speaker 1: the number one strength of this team. And I think
19:09
Speaker 1: the offensive line held this team back from doing a
19:12
Speaker 1: lot of things that they wanted to do. And that's
19:15
Speaker 1: a trend that has to change very quickly. And if
19:19
Speaker 1: I could talk to Brian Hartline, I would like to know,
19:21
Speaker 1: after he's watched the tape of this game, because it's
19:24
Speaker 1: not something he could answer in his post-game press conference,
19:26
Speaker 1: I'd like to know if he watched this tape and
19:29
Speaker 1: thought these were easy things to fix or if this
19:32
Speaker 1: is going to be something that's going to take time.
19:34
Speaker 1: Because sometimes you can go home and watch the tape
19:37
Speaker 1: as a coach and come away going, okay, not the
19:39
Speaker 1: outcome I loved, but these are all really easy-to-fix mistakes
19:45
Speaker 1: that we can work with here. So I I'd like
19:47
Speaker 1: to know after him watching that tape, what his observations were.
19:53
Speaker 1: Let's see. Who else did I have as a star
19:56
Speaker 1: or I'm sorry, who did I else did I want
19:58
Speaker 1: to see more from? I hit the, the offensive line. Yeah. Yeah. Really?
20:02
Speaker 1: That's that. That's it. It's it's the offensive line and
20:07
Speaker 1: Michael Van Buren too. I'd like to see more from
20:10
Speaker 1: Michael Van Buren, and I guess that kind of falls
20:13
Speaker 1: on Tim Beck. I thought when we were doing the
20:18
Speaker 1: segment it was just going to be players, but I
20:20
Speaker 1: think it's fair to add, Coach. I'd like to see
20:21
Speaker 1: more from Tim Beck. I'd like to get a little
20:24
Speaker 1: bit more aggressive on offense. I thought there were a
20:27
Speaker 1: couple opportunities even early in that game where Brian Hartline
20:31
Speaker 1: was conservative himself. That first possession, you got into FIU territory.
20:38
Speaker 1: Kind of wanted him to go for it. Then they
20:39
Speaker 1: punted it, pinned him into the one-yard line. That's why
20:42
Speaker 1: I'm sitting on the couch. But I believe it was
20:45
Speaker 1: the very next possession, they got to a fourth and short.
20:49
Speaker 1: It was either the second or third possession. I don't
20:51
Speaker 1: have the drive chart in front of me. But I
20:55
Speaker 1: thought on that fourth down, they should have gone for it.
20:59
Speaker 1: They did not. So Brian Hartline doesn't seem like a
21:02
Speaker 1: super aggressive coach on offense that Um, and I'm not,
21:09
Speaker 1: I thought he would be a little bit more aggressive,
21:10
Speaker 1: but they, they weren't aggressive at all on Saturday night
21:13
Speaker 1: in their decision-making or also their play calling. And so I,
21:17
Speaker 1: I do need to see more shots down the field, uh,
21:20
Speaker 1: against army. I do need to see, I'd like to
21:23
Speaker 1: see a little bit more of this often. I know
21:25
Speaker 1: they're trying to, uh, to play more of a, the
21:27
Speaker 1: pro style offense. I I'd like to see this team.
21:29
Speaker 1: Cause I, I believe they've got a lot of speed,
21:31
Speaker 1: especially on the outside. I'd, I'd like to see what
21:33
Speaker 1: they can do with the, with that speed, maybe in
21:35
Speaker 1: a but again, I don't think they were holding anything
21:42
Speaker 1: back for Army. I think what you saw Saturday night
21:45
Speaker 1: is kind of a replica of what they want to do,
21:48
Speaker 1: run with big offensive line sets and give the running
21:51
Speaker 1: backs a chance to do something, and unfortunately, none of
21:54
Speaker 1: that developed on Saturday night. Hartline in the postgame also
21:58
Speaker 1: said he was happy with the low penalties and no turnovers.
22:01
Speaker 1: He also praised his quarterback, Michael Van Buren, and was
22:03
Speaker 1: happy with what he what he saw from him. So
22:06
Speaker 1: some of the things that I think USF has to
22:09
Speaker 1: fix before next week is more explosive passing plays. That's
22:16
Speaker 1: a given, right? We've been talking all offseason how much
22:20
Speaker 1: talent this team has in the wide receiver room. And
22:24
Speaker 1: when we talk to Grayson Pop Howard, if you haven't
22:27
Speaker 1: listened to that interview yet, it is on the YouTube channel.
22:32
Speaker 1: That was the most common question I got in the
22:34
Speaker 1: mailbag for him was, what is the wide receiver room?
22:37
Speaker 1: And he praised that room up and down. And I
22:39
Speaker 1: get it. Those are his teammates. Of course he is.
22:41
Speaker 1: But you could tell he meant it. He wasn't just
22:43
Speaker 1: saying that. He named about, I felt like he named
22:46
Speaker 1: about 25 players. I know he didn't, but it felt
22:49
Speaker 1: like he named so many players from the wide receiver
22:52
Speaker 1: room that could be contributors for this offense. And we
22:56
Speaker 1: didn't see it develop in week number one. Better rushing efficiency.
23:01
Speaker 1: is something that is going to have to happen, especially
23:05
Speaker 1: in week two against Army. Because if you're going to
23:08
Speaker 1: try to beat them at their own game by pounding
23:11
Speaker 1: the rock, you're not going to get a lot of
23:13
Speaker 1: possessions in this football game, which I alluded to a
23:15
Speaker 1: couple minutes ago. And therefore, every possession is going to
23:19
Speaker 1: be very, very important in that football game because you
23:23
Speaker 1: just don't know how many opportunities you're going to get.
23:27
Speaker 1: More production from Van Buren. And again... I don't know
23:31
Speaker 1: how much of it I can put on Van Buren.
23:32
Speaker 1: I don't know how comfortable he was. He's another player
23:35
Speaker 1: I'd like to talk to. How comfortable are you in
23:37
Speaker 1: the pocket right now? Do you trust your offensive line?
23:40
Speaker 1: And I probably wouldn't get a real answer out of it.
23:43
Speaker 1: Of course, he's going to tell me the offensive line
23:45
Speaker 1: is fine. They word things to make everything seem good.
23:48
Speaker 1: No one wants to throw a teammate under the bus.
23:51
Speaker 1: But I don't know how comfortable he was back there.
23:53
Speaker 1: The offensive line and the pass blocking and run blocking,
23:57
Speaker 1: It wasn't great. It was a little better in the
23:58
Speaker 1: pass blocking than it was in the run blocking, but
24:01
Speaker 1: not by much. I did write down better offensive line push.
24:05
Speaker 1: They've got to win the battle the second the ball
24:09
Speaker 1: is snapped, and unfortunately the FIU front did not allow
24:13
Speaker 1: them to win that battle very often. And, of course,
24:16
Speaker 1: those field goal possessions need to be touchdowns. That has
24:20
Speaker 1: to happen. Again, very important in Week 2 because I
24:24
Speaker 1: don't know how many possessions you're going to have. It
24:26
Speaker 1: seems like this is going to be a very slow-paced
24:28
Speaker 1: game if this is the tempo that Coach Hartline and
24:31
Speaker 1: company are going to use this season. And again, Army
24:35
Speaker 1: on the other side, they're going to run, run, run.
24:37
Speaker 1: That clock is just going to be moving, moving, moving
24:39
Speaker 1: really quick throughout the ballgame. All right, the mailbag. I
24:44
Speaker 1: ask you guys for your questions before every single show
24:47
Speaker 1: on my Twitter page. The handle right there in the
24:50
Speaker 1: bottom of your screen. Make sure you're following on Twitter
24:53
Speaker 1: so you can get your mailbag questions in. David White says,
24:57
Speaker 1: do we not have the talent in the secondary to
24:59
Speaker 1: press receivers? 10 to 15 yard cushions is a recipe
25:03
Speaker 1: for disaster. Curious if this is schematic or a lack
25:06
Speaker 1: of talent. We have far too many wide open guys
25:09
Speaker 1: on FIU all night long. David, I think they were
25:12
Speaker 1: given a lot of cushion because I think they knew
25:14
Speaker 1: going into the game that FIU was going to try
25:18
Speaker 1: to beat them in the past game. And one of
25:20
Speaker 1: the things that I said in week number one's episode
25:23
Speaker 1: was that Don't be surprised when FIU does have a
25:26
Speaker 1: couple chunk plays because they're going to be aggressive with
25:29
Speaker 1: the play calling. I think USF knew that. Maybe as
25:33
Speaker 1: much cushion as you're alluding to here might be a
25:35
Speaker 1: little bit too much, but I think they were playing
25:37
Speaker 1: off a little bit because they were trying to keep
25:39
Speaker 1: everything in front of them because they knew FIU had
25:42
Speaker 1: the ability to be very aggressive and connect down those
25:46
Speaker 1: plays because they knew how talented they were at the
25:49
Speaker 1: quarterback position and also the wide receiver, so I felt
25:51
Speaker 1: like they wanted to keep the game in front of them.
25:54
Speaker 1: And that's not something I don't, you're not going to
25:56
Speaker 1: see that this weekend against Army, obviously. So I think
25:59
Speaker 1: you'll see a completely different, you know, when the ball
26:03
Speaker 1: is snapped, when they are on defense, I think you're
26:05
Speaker 1: going to see a much different look than you saw
26:07
Speaker 1: week number one. Let's see. Joe Valencia, does a slow-paced
26:12
Speaker 1: pro-style offense even work in the American Conference? I feel
26:15
Speaker 1: the other teams in our conference who are good play
26:17
Speaker 1: a fast-paced style. You know what, Joe? That's just kind
26:21
Speaker 1: of a common thing. in college football these days. Most
26:24
Speaker 1: of these teams play at a very high speed. You know,
26:27
Speaker 1: colleges really started that and adopted that, and now the
26:30
Speaker 1: NFL's kind of moving that way as well because the
26:32
Speaker 1: NFL is changing their way to kind of fit the
26:36
Speaker 1: players that keep coming out of the college level. So
26:39
Speaker 1: will it work in the American? It will if you
26:42
Speaker 1: have a really good offensive line. If you have a
26:46
Speaker 1: really good offensive line, This will work. But right now,
26:50
Speaker 1: we don't know if we have a really good offensive line.
26:53
Speaker 1: I still think it's going to take a couple weeks
26:55
Speaker 1: for them to gel together. You guys have heard me
26:57
Speaker 1: say it so many times. Not today, but every time
27:00
Speaker 1: I've talked about USF. The offensive line is supposed to
27:03
Speaker 1: be a strength. We thought it was a strength, and
27:04
Speaker 1: it wasn't Saturday night. A lot of experience. They have
27:07
Speaker 1: eight transfers in that room, but they don't have a
27:10
Speaker 1: lot of experience together. And again, they weren't in sync
27:14
Speaker 1: with each other Saturday night. Nothing could develop. And so
27:20
Speaker 1: the pro-style offense is only going to work if your
27:22
Speaker 1: offensive line can run block. And so far, they've shown
27:27
Speaker 1: us that they can't. But I think that's something they're
27:29
Speaker 1: going to work on improving this week at practice. And
27:32
Speaker 1: if they can improve there, then yes, I think the
27:34
Speaker 1: pro-style can work. But it is definitely not something that
27:38
Speaker 1: is being run as often at the college level. Everybody
27:41
Speaker 1: nowadays is up-tempo, spread offense, USF doing things a little
27:46
Speaker 1: bit differently. Colby asked, what is more likely, a regression
27:51
Speaker 1: from USF's defense or progression from USF's offense as the
27:56
Speaker 1: season progresses? Very interesting question, and that's hard for me
28:00
Speaker 1: to kind of answer. A regression from USF's defense or
28:05
Speaker 1: progression from the offense. I would say that progression from
28:10
Speaker 1: the USF offense is more, I mean, they have to
28:14
Speaker 1: progress more. If that offense doesn't progress, it's going to
28:17
Speaker 1: be a long year. And everybody was high on this team,
28:20
Speaker 1: including myself. I see them winning 9 to 10 games.
28:24
Speaker 1: I don't feel as confident as I once did, but
28:26
Speaker 1: I also am trying not to overreact to week number one.
28:29
Speaker 1: But the offense has to progress because if it doesn't, again,
28:34
Speaker 1: this team is going to really struggle. And I think
28:36
Speaker 1: if the offense continues to struggle at this level, I
28:41
Speaker 1: don't think the defense is going to be able to
28:43
Speaker 1: force a turnover in every single situation like they did
28:46
Speaker 1: Saturday night. Eventually, a team is going to have success,
28:51
Speaker 1: not just between the 20s, but from end zone to
28:53
Speaker 1: end zone on this team if the offense can't sustain
28:56
Speaker 1: longer drives and give this defense something to work with.
29:00
Speaker 1: Most valuable bowl. Is pass protection a big concern? 100%
29:06
Speaker 1: pass protection is a big concern. I'm concerned with the
29:10
Speaker 1: run blocking. I'm concerned with I'm concerned with the pass protection. Again,
29:15
Speaker 1: I'm concerned with the offensive line all around. I didn't
29:18
Speaker 1: think they did a good job Saturday night. If PFF
29:21
Speaker 1: is your thing, not a lot of high marks from
29:23
Speaker 1: the offensive line in terms of grades there. Let's see.
29:28
Speaker 1: USF Bowl 69 was yesterday our full playbook at the
29:32
Speaker 1: offensive playbook. Are we going to air the ball out
29:35
Speaker 1: more in the future? I hope so. Again, I still
29:40
Speaker 1: think Brian Hartline's it almost he almost feels like he's
29:47
Speaker 1: kind of coaching this and trying to win games like
29:51
Speaker 1: what every Big Ten team likes to do except Ohio State, right?
29:54
Speaker 1: Ohio State is built a little bit more SEC-like when
29:58
Speaker 1: it comes to speed and the wide receivers and the
30:01
Speaker 1: spread offense. Now, Big Ten teams run spread offenses, don't
30:04
Speaker 1: get me wrong, but Ohio State, I think their offense
30:07
Speaker 1: is a little bit different than most of the Big
30:09
Speaker 1: Ten teams, and it kind of seems like Brian Hartline's
30:11
Speaker 1: running more like a normal Big Ten team and not
30:15
Speaker 1: Ohio State. I like to think they're going to open
30:17
Speaker 1: it up, but if you're suggesting that you feel they
30:19
Speaker 1: didn't open up the playbook on Saturday because they're saving
30:23
Speaker 1: it for maybe Army this weekend or other conference games,
30:26
Speaker 1: I don't think that was the case. I think Tim
30:29
Speaker 1: Beck and Brian Hartline felt with the way the offensive
30:32
Speaker 1: line was playing, I think they felt there wasn't much
30:35
Speaker 1: they could do. It's hard to take a deep shot
30:38
Speaker 1: downfield if the offensive line isn't holding up. I mean,
30:43
Speaker 1: that's something I think I need more time to answer.
30:47
Speaker 1: But I think a lot of it has to do
30:49
Speaker 1: with the offensive line more than them holding back. Uh,
30:54
Speaker 1: let's see. So flow is the offensive line more of
30:57
Speaker 1: a problem than we originally thought. Uh, yep. I feel
31:00
Speaker 1: like I've hammered that enough. Uh, Michael Ferguson is 10
31:04
Speaker 1: back holding back. MVB also should heartline start calling plays.
31:09
Speaker 1: I'm not there yet. I think it's, uh, I don't
31:13
Speaker 1: want an offensive coach or I'm sorry. I don't want
31:15
Speaker 1: your head coach having to call plays. He's trying to
31:17
Speaker 1: oversee so many things in this game. He's got to
31:20
Speaker 1: have somebody he trusts calling plays. If he takes over
31:23
Speaker 1: play calling, uh, then it's going to be one and
31:24
Speaker 1: done for Tim Beck, but I'm not there yet. I'm
31:27
Speaker 1: not going to overreact. I don't think he's holding MVB back,
31:30
Speaker 1: but the offense has to do something, whether it's schematically
31:34
Speaker 1: or just get better up front for MVB to have
31:40
Speaker 1: more success. Let's see. Kurt Olson. Should we be panicked
31:45
Speaker 1: at this point? Maybe a lost season, which we can't
31:49
Speaker 1: afford in the GASP realignment. We've seen what one terrible
31:54
Speaker 1: coordinator does to a team, and coaches rarely admit their
31:56
Speaker 1: mistakes and change. I'm not going to be panicked yet.
32:01
Speaker 1: Look at some of the outcomes in week number one.
32:04
Speaker 1: Michigan nearly lost to Western Michigan. Boise State gave Oregon
32:08
Speaker 1: all they could handle. UMass a 30-point underdog beat Rutgers.
32:13
Speaker 1: There were teams that played a lot worse than USF
32:19
Speaker 1: compared to their expectations. expectations were high for Oregon, high
32:24
Speaker 1: for Michigan, and they did not play up to those
32:28
Speaker 1: high expectations. USF high expectations didn't necessarily play up to
32:34
Speaker 1: those expectations. I think we all came away from that
32:36
Speaker 1: game disappointed. And if you are feeling disappointed with that win,
32:40
Speaker 1: it's understandable. I think you're justified to feel the way
32:43
Speaker 1: you do, but I don't think it's a lost season yet. It's,
32:46
Speaker 1: it's one week. So I think that's a, That's a
32:49
Speaker 1: major overreaction, and I don't think they are in any
32:53
Speaker 1: discussions right now with talking about coaching changes. Again, it's
32:59
Speaker 1: one week, guys. We got to be just a little
33:02
Speaker 1: careful with letting our emotions get the best of us.
33:07
Speaker 1: Let's see, a couple more questions here from you guys
33:12
Speaker 1: here in the mailbag. Is it me or is this
33:15
Speaker 1: USF team just overhyped and really not that good? I'll
33:19
Speaker 1: gladly take the answer just being me. I don't know
33:23
Speaker 1: if they're necessarily overhyped. I think USF has a lot
33:26
Speaker 1: of forward momentum right now. So that expectation is, I
33:29
Speaker 1: think the expectation has changed over the years of what
33:31
Speaker 1: this team is supposed to be, which is a good thing. Again,
33:35
Speaker 1: it was one week. I think we're all overreacting a
33:38
Speaker 1: little bit much. I think this team on paper still
33:41
Speaker 1: has a lot of talent. Now, I didn't have them
33:45
Speaker 1: going into the college football playoff. And I didn't necessarily
33:49
Speaker 1: have them winning the American. I have them as a
33:51
Speaker 1: contender in the American, and I have them as a
33:54
Speaker 1: team that can compete for a college football playoff spot. But,
33:57
Speaker 1: you know, if you sat here and told me, are
34:00
Speaker 1: they going to win the American? You have to bet
34:02
Speaker 1: on it. You know, one way or another, I'd probably
34:04
Speaker 1: take the field. And if you told me you have
34:07
Speaker 1: to bet whether they're going to go to the CFP
34:09
Speaker 1: or not go to the CFP, and this is before
34:10
Speaker 1: Saturday night, I'd say I'm going to bet that they're not.
34:13
Speaker 1: I think a lot of the experts had them in that.
34:16
Speaker 1: three to five range of where they would finish in
34:18
Speaker 1: the American conference. So yeah, I think the expectations here
34:22
Speaker 1: in Tampa and the Tampa Bay area are higher maybe
34:25
Speaker 1: than they are nationally. When you look across the American conference.
34:30
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of that comes from, remember
34:33
Speaker 1: when we talked about this, Brian Hartline's a big name.
34:35
Speaker 1: And what did I say to you guys? Just because
34:37
Speaker 1: you bring in a big name doesn't mean it's automatic success.
34:41
Speaker 1: Brian Hartline still has to go out there each week
34:43
Speaker 1: and show us he can be a really good head coach.
34:46
Speaker 1: And I don't think he really showed us anything on
34:48
Speaker 1: Saturday night one way or the other. I think that's
34:51
Speaker 1: something that's going to take time as the season progresses.
34:54
Speaker 1: But I think he learned a lot on Saturday night.
34:56
Speaker 1: And like I said earlier on the show, I think
34:58
Speaker 1: it was a very humbling experience for him because I
35:00
Speaker 1: don't think that's how he envisioned when he went to
35:03
Speaker 1: bed Friday night, how that game would play out at all.
35:06
Speaker 1: And coaches do that all the time. Well, good coaches do.
35:09
Speaker 1: They play out every scenario in their head. And I
35:12
Speaker 1: have a feeling that if that scenario did play out
35:15
Speaker 1: in Brian Hartline's head, it probably didn't play out very often.
35:17
Speaker 1: Cause I think he thought that game was going to go, uh,
35:20
Speaker 1: much more differently, uh, than it did. Uh, Jim bowl. Jinji.
35:26
Speaker 1: Is it too early to cry? Yes. It's too early
35:28
Speaker 1: to cry. Relax. We're not there yet. Uh, Mongo, uh,
35:33
Speaker 1: by the way, shout out to Mongo. He won the, uh,
35:36
Speaker 1: USF tickets that I was given away and we'll have
35:38
Speaker 1: more giveaways, uh, So make sure you're following. We'll also
35:41
Speaker 1: do more giveaways on my radio show, too. For those
35:44
Speaker 1: of you that don't know, you just know me from
35:45
Speaker 1: the USF stuff. I do have a radio show here
35:48
Speaker 1: in the Tampa Bay area, 95.7 WDA and AM 620
35:51
Speaker 1: on noon to 2. It's called the Nick Wise Show.
35:55
Speaker 1: But Mongo, who we sent to the game, hit me up,
35:57
Speaker 1: said he had a great time. I think looking at
35:59
Speaker 1: the ticket, 200 seconds, I think they're pretty good seats.
36:02
Speaker 1: At least I hope they were good seats. But, hey, free, right?
36:04
Speaker 1: I always say if it's free, it's for me. Was
36:06
Speaker 1: the passing game simplified after they ran out of scripted plays,
36:09
Speaker 1: or will this be a long-term issue? I don't think
36:13
Speaker 1: it was simplified. I think they believe in Michael Van Buren,
36:16
Speaker 1: and I know they believe in their wide receivers. Again,
36:19
Speaker 1: does Michael Van Buren have time to process everything he
36:22
Speaker 1: needs to process as he's trying to find the open man?
36:25
Speaker 1: I just don't think anyone got settled in or comfortable
36:28
Speaker 1: on offense, and if you're losing that battle up front
36:32
Speaker 1: and everything's kind of falling apart really quickly on you,
36:36
Speaker 1: you're going to end up with a simplified passing game.
36:38
Speaker 1: And yeah, I guess that's what happened, but I don't
36:40
Speaker 1: think it was a simplified passing game by choice. I
36:44
Speaker 1: think they were kind of forced into it by the
36:47
Speaker 1: pressure FIU was getting on USF. SoFlo, Bulls Nation CFB,
36:53
Speaker 1: the Twitter handle, is the offensive line a problem we're
36:57
Speaker 1: going to have? They didn't really stop FIU, and we're
36:59
Speaker 1: going to see much better D-lines this season. I don't
37:02
Speaker 1: think it's going to be a problem all year long.
37:04
Speaker 1: There's just... Too much experience up front. They're big. They're quick.
37:10
Speaker 1: I mean, you're talking 18. Out of the 18 offensive linemen,
37:14
Speaker 1: 15 of them are on this roster listed at over
37:16
Speaker 1: 300 pounds. So I think they just need to learn
37:20
Speaker 1: to play together, and sometimes those take time. And let's
37:24
Speaker 1: hope that they learn how to play together this week
37:27
Speaker 1: at practice because they're going to have to be better
37:30
Speaker 1: against Army. What adjustments does Coach Brian Hartline need to
37:33
Speaker 1: make this week in order for South Florida to beat Army.
37:38
Speaker 1: It's fixed the passing game. Get the offensive line comfortable
37:41
Speaker 1: and get the passing game going. Again, limited possessions, I think,
37:45
Speaker 1: is what you're going to be dealing with Saturday night.
37:47
Speaker 1: You've got to take advantage of every single one of
37:49
Speaker 1: those possessions that you get because you're not going to
37:52
Speaker 1: get many against Army because they're trying to run the ball,
37:55
Speaker 1: you're trying to run the ball. This offense runs at
37:57
Speaker 1: a very slow pace, so I think the biggest adjustment
38:00
Speaker 1: is going to be the pass game needs to be
38:02
Speaker 1: more explosive. got to connect on some of those bigger plays,
38:06
Speaker 1: and you got to turn those field goals into touchdowns.
38:09
Speaker 1: I expect to see a low-scoring game against Army because
38:12
Speaker 1: I just think it's going to be a slower-paced game.
38:16
Speaker 1: Let's see. What do we got? We got a couple more.
38:20
Speaker 1: I might have answered pretty much most of the questions there.
38:28
Speaker 1: What's it say about the defense to have two interceptions,
38:30
Speaker 1: three total takeaways, the very first game under Coach Aldridge?
38:34
Speaker 1: We'd love to know what the returning players think after
38:36
Speaker 1: game one this year under Coach Hartline versus how they
38:39
Speaker 1: felt after game one last year. Well, I don't know.
38:41
Speaker 1: Maybe when we talk to the players, we can ask
38:42
Speaker 1: that question. But as far as the defense goes, I
38:45
Speaker 1: think they're very happy with their performance. Overall, they were
38:48
Speaker 1: really good. They gave up a lot of yards, but
38:50
Speaker 1: that's also going to happen when a team throws it
38:52
Speaker 1: 50 times on you trying to get back into this game.
38:55
Speaker 1: I thought they did a good job keeping everything in
38:57
Speaker 1: front of them I think they're going to have to
39:00
Speaker 1: get better in between the 20s because FIU was able
39:03
Speaker 1: to move the– if you look at the drive chart,
39:06
Speaker 1: FIU's drives, they sustained a lot more. Again, when you
39:09
Speaker 1: look at the total yards, FIU offense had so many
39:11
Speaker 1: more yards than the USF offense. The defense for USF
39:16
Speaker 1: was a bend. They bent, but they never broke. Can
39:19
Speaker 1: they do that all year long? That's a risky way
39:21
Speaker 1: to live. I don't want them to live like that.
39:24
Speaker 1: I'd like to see them be better even between the twenties.
39:26
Speaker 1: So it doesn't have to come down to a turnover
39:28
Speaker 1: every time. Cause those aren't easy to do when you
39:30
Speaker 1: get them. It's awesome. And this defense performed really well.
39:35
Speaker 1: I would say if I had to give them a
39:37
Speaker 1: letter grade, if that's kind of what you're looking for,
39:39
Speaker 1: I would say the defense was, I'm at a B
39:43
Speaker 1: and I'm a tough grader. You could say they're an
39:46
Speaker 1: A because what they did, I mean, their turnovers are
39:48
Speaker 1: what led to points. So without that defense, they're not
39:51
Speaker 1: winning this game. So maybe I'm being a little bit
39:53
Speaker 1: hard on them. I just thought they gave up a
39:54
Speaker 1: lot of yards, and I'd like to see that change
39:57
Speaker 1: as they get into American Conference play, where I think
40:00
Speaker 1: they're going to see even better offenses than they did
40:03
Speaker 1: against FIU. Another one here, last question from South Florida
40:08
Speaker 1: Water Tower. How much are you buying the narrative, kept
40:11
Speaker 1: it vanilla on purpose, hiding the playbook until conference play?
40:15
Speaker 1: What DEFCON level are we in? I'm not buying into
40:18
Speaker 1: that narrative at all. I know that Hartline knew what
40:23
Speaker 1: he was getting out of FIU. FIU is a program
40:26
Speaker 1: similar to USF, maybe not with as much momentum, but
40:29
Speaker 1: they're a little bit on the rise. They've been getting better.
40:32
Speaker 1: They're really well coached. When you have great coaching, you
40:35
Speaker 1: have a really good quarterback, and we knew the secondary
40:39
Speaker 1: was good. When I first started the scouting report for
40:42
Speaker 1: this game to talk to you guys about it, I
40:45
Speaker 1: learned a lot about FIU, and that's immediately why I
40:49
Speaker 1: came out and I said, I don't think USF's going
40:51
Speaker 1: to cover this. I think it's going to be a
40:52
Speaker 1: closer game than most people think. And if me, someone
40:56
Speaker 1: who's doing a podcast, can gather that information by watching
41:02
Speaker 1: video on the team and reading every single piece of
41:05
Speaker 1: information I can on the team, if I can pick
41:08
Speaker 1: those things up in the little bit of time that
41:10
Speaker 1: I did, I think Coach Hartline and company knew this
41:14
Speaker 1: was going to be a tough-fought battle going into it again.
41:18
Speaker 1: I think heartline probably thought they could cover that number.
41:20
Speaker 1: I think he really believes in this team, but I,
41:23
Speaker 1: he also in the back of his mind knew what
41:25
Speaker 1: he was going up against. And now I don't think
41:28
Speaker 1: they went out there with the mindset of, Hey, we
41:29
Speaker 1: gotta not, we gotta not show anything. Right. I, you know,
41:34
Speaker 1: it same goes for some other teams that, you know,
41:36
Speaker 1: might not be happy with her performances. I mentioned Oregon
41:39
Speaker 1: and Michigan earlier. I don't think Michigan held anything back.
41:42
Speaker 1: They just couldn't stay in. sustain anything with the offensive line.
41:45
Speaker 1: You thought your offensive line was bad. Theirs was awful.
41:48
Speaker 1: And then with Oregon, I just don't think Oregon was
41:52
Speaker 1: in sync with each other, especially in that first half. Uh,
41:54
Speaker 1: but they kind of got rolling as the game went on,
41:57
Speaker 1: but overall they weren't happy with their play and they
42:00
Speaker 1: didn't keep it vanilla saving it for big 10 opponents.
42:03
Speaker 1: So I don't necessarily believe in those things because I
42:07
Speaker 1: think when you try to save things for the next opponent,
42:10
Speaker 1: that's how you end up losing a football game. And
42:12
Speaker 1: I don't think that's the way Brian Hartline would go
42:15
Speaker 1: into this game, being the very first game of his career.
42:17
Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to go into it holding
42:19
Speaker 1: anything back. In fact, I think he's going to go
42:22
Speaker 1: into it wanting to show, hey, I'm this big-name coach
42:25
Speaker 1: that came here. Here's why. I think he would have
42:27
Speaker 1: preferred to go out there and put on a statement win,
42:31
Speaker 1: and he didn't necessarily do that. But no, I don't
42:33
Speaker 1: think the offensive line was holding anything back. I just
42:35
Speaker 1: think they're very handicapped and limited on what they can
42:39
Speaker 1: do until this offense can kind of really just get
42:43
Speaker 1: rolling up front. I don't want to put it all
42:45
Speaker 1: on the offensive line because it's not just their fault,
42:47
Speaker 1: but I do think fixing what's going on up front
42:52
Speaker 1: will help correct all of the other issues that we saw.
42:55
Speaker 1: And if you can fix the run blocking and give
42:58
Speaker 1: the running backs a little bit more time to hit
43:01
Speaker 1: that gap, that's going to open up the passing game.
43:04
Speaker 1: And until you can get the running game going, I
43:06
Speaker 1: think the pass game is going to suffer because of it. So,
43:09
Speaker 1: Those are kind of my observations there. I appreciate your guys's, uh,
43:13
Speaker 1: comments on Twitter for the mailbag. Good stuff. Uh, continue to, uh,
43:18
Speaker 1: to follow me on social media and send me your
43:20
Speaker 1: mailbag questions each week. If I didn't get your question,
43:23
Speaker 1: I do apologize. I took screenshots of, of the Twitter
43:27
Speaker 1: conversation there and got as many as I could. And
43:29
Speaker 1: I know more of them are probably still coming in
43:32
Speaker 1: as I'm doing the podcast, but, uh, that's where I'm
43:36
Speaker 1: at after week number one, I think, uh, You're happy
43:39
Speaker 1: it's a win, but your standards are higher than they
43:42
Speaker 1: used to be, so you're not fully happy. That's how
43:44
Speaker 1: you're kind of feeling. I think that's a normal feeling,
43:46
Speaker 1: and I think you're okay feeling that way. I don't
43:48
Speaker 1: think anyone needs to be fired yet. I don't think
43:50
Speaker 1: anyone should be panicking yet. I think we... Let's see
43:54
Speaker 1: what happens on Saturday afternoon against Army. Let's hope this
43:58
Speaker 1: team can be ready to go, be prepared, and play
44:01
Speaker 1: much better complementary football than they did against FIU. And again...
44:07
Speaker 1: They didn't play their best game, but they still came
44:09
Speaker 1: out on top in 119-9 and honestly should have been 19-3,
44:14
Speaker 1: but a garbage touchdown there at the end. But if
44:18
Speaker 1: you're satisfied with the defense, which I think you are,
44:20
Speaker 1: there's a number of positive things we've seen. The offense,
44:23
Speaker 1: if you're not satisfied, I think those feelings are all justified.
44:27
Speaker 1: All right, that is going to do it for this episode.
44:29
Speaker 1: Appreciate you guys watching. As of right now, Thomas Schrader
44:34
Speaker 1: is locked in. That is who we will talk to.
44:36
Speaker 1: the offensive guard coming up on Wednesday's show. And then
44:41
Speaker 1: after that, we will preview week number two as USF
44:45
Speaker 1: will take on Army. And that game is going to
44:47
Speaker 1: be at West Point the day after 9-11. A lot
44:49
Speaker 1: of emotion is going to be there. And we've talked
44:51
Speaker 1: to Brian Hartline about that matchup. And just from what
44:55
Speaker 1: I've gathered, they've been preparing for this Army offense a
44:59
Speaker 1: lot this offseason. I expect the defense to be really
45:02
Speaker 1: good Saturday night. But again, we'll talk more about that
45:04
Speaker 1: game on the next show. Make sure you are subscribed
45:07
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcast. Make sure you are subscribed on iHeartRadio.
45:11
Speaker 1: Those are the audio version only of the podcast. And,
45:14
Speaker 1: of course, make sure you subscribe on YouTube as well.
45:18
Speaker 1: And I just want to thank you guys for listening.
45:20
Speaker 1: I want to thank you guys for watching and being
45:22
Speaker 1: part of 4th & Bull. Couldn't make it happen without you,
45:25
Speaker 1: so thank you so much for checking out the show. And, again, reminder, Wednesday,
45:29
Speaker 1: Thomas Schrader will join us here on 4th & Bull
45:32
Speaker 1: as of now. Maybe the player will change, but as
45:34
Speaker 1: of right now, It is Thomas Schrader. And also don't
45:38
Speaker 1: forget to check out my weekly radio show, or I
45:40
Speaker 1: should say daily radio show, Monday through Friday at 95.7
45:43
Speaker 1: WDAE and AM 620. I know a lot of you
45:46
Speaker 1: wanted more Bulls coverage there. We are giving you more
45:50
Speaker 1: Bulls coverage there. Brian Hartline was on the airwaves with
45:53
Speaker 1: us last Thursday. Grayson Pop Howard was on with us
45:56
Speaker 1: as well. So make sure you're part of the radio
45:59
Speaker 1: station for more Bulls content. And, of course, it's nothing
46:02
Speaker 1: but the Bulls here. On 4th and Bulls. So my
46:05
Speaker 1: name is Nick Wise. Thank you guys so much for watching.
46:06
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. Like. Share. Subscribe. And
46:10
Speaker 1: I will talk to you soon. About USF football. Go Bulls.