Latest / Troy Boyz / This is a Hamburg Iron Swans Podcast

Transcript

This is a Hamburg Iron Swans Podcast · Troy Boyz

• THE Recording Studio: This is Gunner Watson, two-time Sunbelt Champion, and you're now listening to the Troy Boys Podcast. ⁓ Alright, everybody, welcome back to the Troy Boys Podcast. I'm excited to welcome you in. I'm Trojan Joe. We're here to break down the Sam Houston State game that started the season and get ready for the Alabama State Hornets as they're gonna roll in for week two. I'm not here to do it alone. Unfortunately, the bass cannot be with us. ⁓ there's some red tide jubilee type issues keeping the bass at bay. ⁓ but I am gonna welcome in the only Trojan who. Not in Leonard Skinnard that people do call the Breeze, and that is Birdman. Welcome in, Birdman. What's going on, Joe? Thanks for having me. I'm glad to be here as always. If you had a choice for me to be here or not. ⁓ I'm just like the new Breeze the new Breeze airline coming out of Birmingham, Alabama. If you can get a nonstop flight to Atlanta. I don't know where you would stop in between that, but hey, we Just like how close this game was, things don't make sense sometimes. Yeah. Hey, I don't know if you've ever been to Douglasville. ⁓ it's a beautiful, beautiful city. ⁓ and I'm sure they've got an airport somewhere right next to the Buffalo Wild Wings. So maybe you could stop there, have a little layover, and then make it to ATL. So I d I don't know, but ⁓ big shout out to Breeze Airlines ⁓ and tacos locos at the Birmingham Airport. ⁓ not a supporter of Troy Boys podcast, but one that The all the Troy Boys do sincerely enjoy. ⁓ so let's break down this opening game. Finally, we've played some football. Sam Houston State, the Beercats, came into the vet. ⁓ the Trojans win a little too close for comfort, 24 to 21. ⁓ you know, I was in the vet, ⁓ Bird. It was an exciting time. There were ⁓ a pretty good crowd. I saw a lot of people complaining about the crowd. People were in these concourses, the going to the concession stands, all that sort of thing. It was just extremely hot. It was Troy, Alabama, early September, but really a good showing. ⁓ Sam Houston brought a ton of fans. I was completely shocked by that. Texas State was in our conference for thirteen seasons, and I guarantee you they never brought as many fans as Sam Houston did. So ⁓ big ups to the Bearcats for coming out and showing out. But it it was a it was a very cool atmosphere. ⁓ I'm sure that you caught this game on television. ⁓ I mean I can't imagine ESPN plus was anything but fantastic. ⁓ but how was the coverage? What did you see of the game? ⁓ I got to see a little bit of it. I mean, and as you, you know, have kind of alluded to, it's it's not great coverage and you know, the guys that are doing the commentating, they're definitely interns at the local, you know, community college. They're not really sure what they're looking at, but they know it's a football. ⁓ so we're kind of just we just kind of give ⁓ a pass on it. ⁓ but I mean, I could definitely see where some of the game, like, you know, it like, ⁓ like what's the attendance looking like? You know, like why does it look not look like a game that, you know, first home game of the season. Again, you know, early September, it's hot, it's 95 degrees. The I mean, you're basically swimming every time you go up to get a beer. ⁓ you know, and and so it's it's it's it's gonna be hard. But I do think from what I saw, we definitely had a good good showing and good support. And I think there was some o ⁓ like some obvious ⁓ impact on that, especially towards the later half of the game once the boys started getting into rhythm. So ⁓ they broadcast again, not so great, but hey, you know, what We we'll take what we can get when we're on ⁓ live television. So Absolutely. Yeah. I mean the the fact that, you know, when I started rooting for Troy, it was not a guarantee. There were a lot of games you were listening to on the radio. So the fact that now we can see ⁓ all. ⁓ you know, I mean, we're hey, we're not Florida State fans, all right? That's a poverty program. ⁓ they ba they can't even pay their electric bill. Okay. So I mean, we're lucky down there in Pike County and we're gonna be thankful for our blessings. ⁓ let's break it down a little bit. I'm gonna take Bass's job here and talk about the defense. I am not going to get all the stats ⁓ correct as he would, but I'm gonna do my very best. ⁓ the defense really did enough to win, but it was a mixed performance, ⁓ particularly against the pass. ⁓ the biggest positive was the run defense. Troy held the Bearcats to just 38 rushing yards on 24 carries. That's 1.6 yards per carry. That's one of the Best defensive performances by Troy against the run since a young man named Carlton Marshall was running around out there hitting people because he was in a bad mood. ⁓ the pass defense was much more vulnerable. ⁓ Landon Locke, Sam Houston's quarterback, we talked about him a lot in the preview podcast. He threw for 335 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 30 of 46 passes. ⁓ Troy did intercept one of those, however, TJ Thompson is. Intercepted one coming off the first play of the second half, which was a huge play. ⁓ the pass rush was productive. We had four sacks for a loss of 32 yards, including sacks by Ty Clemens, Jordan Perry, and Mama. Here comes that man again. Donnie Smith. ⁓ Smith also recorded three quarterback hurries. ⁓ Keno Jones, very active all night. Seven tackles, three tackles for loss, and a quarterback hurry. ⁓ he also was who had the big ⁓ fourth down stop ⁓ that kind of was a huge momentum swing, particularly in the stadium. ⁓ people were very excited. ⁓ the defense kind of came up with the plays when it mattered most. ⁓ you know, we went up 24 to 14. Sam Houston comes back and cuts it to 24-21. ⁓ you know, and then we recover the onside kick. So ⁓ obviously the defense kind of bit a lot, but didn't break. ⁓ I'd give the defense a B minus. ⁓ the run defense was excellent. ⁓ the front generated four sacks, and the defense created the pivotal turnover right after halftime. ⁓ we've got to worry about these passing yards, Bird. 335 passing yards and three touchdowns, not great. 22 first downs, not great. ⁓ 373 total yards, not great. So you know, we are in a league where A lot of teams are gonna throw it a lot against us. So ⁓ you know, maybe Sam Houston was a great opponent for us to start with because if we can't kind of match up to that, ⁓ and look, we've got another great quarterback coming in Saturday. Andrew Boddy is ⁓ a ⁓ very athletic quarterback. ⁓ you know, don't let the fact that he's playing in the swack ⁓ fool you. ⁓ he is just as athletic, if not more, of a quarterback than Landon Locke. ⁓ I would say that it is encouraging the way we stopped the run, generated pressure, especially on those late plays. ⁓ if the secondary can tighten up, I think we can have what Troy's used to, which is a really, really good defense. ⁓ I don't think we're that far off. I think you expect kind of some ⁓ you know, being a little bit rusty when it's that first game, ⁓ especially in the secondary. ⁓ so I'm I'm not that worried about it. The fact that when they tried to kind of run it down our throats, they couldn't do that. That I find really encouraging. ⁓ Birdman, go ahead if you would, tell us a little bit ⁓ about the offense. Yeah, absolutely. I I think this is the first game that we have seen out of the Detroit Trojans in a couple of years where I felt like we were pretty fifty fifty on offense and defense. ⁓ like I mean, like Both sides of the ball were doing really well, but also they had some not so great moments too. But there was no one side that was outperforming the other, which is kind of a good and a bad thing. ⁓ but you know, to kind of talk about the offense a little bit, you know, people are probably gonna be up in arms about this when I say it, but we weren't super efficient. It was definitely more of a do it what you do what you have to. Like let's just Get the ball down the field anyway we can. Finish with 342 total yards. That was the equivalent of how many passing yards Sam Houston had against us, which is bonkers to think about. But 177 rushing, 165 passing, we averaged 5.2 yards per K ⁓ per play and scored 24 points. ⁓ Goose Crowder, he did go 12 for 24 on ⁓ passes, so 50% completion rate, 165 yards and three TDs with no interceptions, no interceptions, no turnovers on his side. Really good to see all the TD passes. They went to three different guys. You had Fabian Ragost for 19 yards, TK Key, yeah, and TK Keys for 28, and then TJ Lott for 18. So they weren't, it wasn't no quick dump passes either. You know, it was pretty significant yard gainage on both sides, ⁓ you know, on every TD. So I was pretty impressed with that. We were able to, you know, you know, in the red zone, we were really doing some work. ⁓ you know, our running game was. Positive too, which is I mean, when was the last time we said that, Joe? I mean, our running game was ⁓ one of the biggest positives that we had. We ran the ball 42 times for 177 yards. ⁓ we do have some concerns though, even though we we did go 12 for 24 and had no interceptions, it's still kind of a concern because we only converted 18 first downs. ⁓ and you know, we 50% is not terrible, but you know, also Goose Crowder. You know, even though he didn't play a full season last year, he should still be a more experienced quarterback. And, you know, this could be something on the wide receiver side too. Like we just need to figure out how we can get that 50 to more of like a 65, 75 area. ⁓ you know, just on like a mediocre day. Also, we got to take care of some ball control. We don't want to be fumbling and, you know, although we did recover that one fumble we had, ⁓ we just we just we gotta do better with that. We don't want to do because that this could have easily been a 24 21 game on the other side. ⁓ for little mistakes like that. And also we were penalized six times for 55 yards. Now I've seen a lot more yarders come out of six penalties before, but that is gonna be a game killer for us too. And that is probably a big contributor to why we didn't score as much more as we could have. So overall, I'd give the offense a B for this. I mean, even like a B plus for the opener. You know, they they they didn't put up huge offensive numbers. ⁓ but The run game was good. Crowder didn't throw a bunch of yards, but I mean three yeah, I don't know. Three touchdown passes and zero interceptions is a pretty good way to start the season. Like I was pretty impressed with that. And our receiving core is elite right now. Like I was happy to see that we had multiple targets that could score touchdowns and find their way into the end zone. So Yeah. And you know, ⁓ just to give a little bit on special teams, obviously when you win a game by three points, you often look at special teams. I think it was the strongest part. of the kind of the three three legged stool of Troy football on Saturday. ⁓ Evan Crenshaw, this is boring at this point. He did what he does. You know, he I think he averaged forty seven yards on eight punts. He had a long of fifty five. ⁓ five of his eight landed inside the twenty yard line. Four were over fifty yards. I mean the guy's just he's automatic. Okay. Like he's gonna go out there. He's gonna flip the field on you. He's an absolute weapon. ⁓ Evan Crenshaw is the real deal. ⁓ field goal kicking was perfect. Ethan Head connected on his only attempt. 32-yard field goal in the third quarter. ⁓ which, hey, that's three points. That's what won it for us. ⁓ he was also three for three on extra points. ⁓ Head also handled kickoffs. He had five kickoffs for a 63.4 yard average with three touchbacks. ⁓ so that, you know, really limited Sam Houston's return yardage. ⁓ kickoff coverage was solid. ⁓ Sam Houston only had two kickoff returns for fifteen yards. ⁓ punk coverage was essentially perfect. ⁓ Sam Houston returned two punts for eleven total yards. ⁓ so you know, I mean obviously when when Ethan when ⁓ Evans back there kind of doing what he does, ⁓ it makes it real easy ⁓ to cover things, but you do have to go down there and put in the effort. ⁓ overall, I'd say an A minus for special teams. ⁓ you know, it the really consistently, yeah, consistently helped Troy kind of win the field position battle. ⁓ Crenshaw is amazing, head is looking really promising. ⁓ you know, our return game wasn't great. We had 44 kickoff return yards, no pump return yards. ⁓ but really that's not something ⁓ to be honest with you, as a fan. When I'm watching returns when we're when we're returning, my biggest thing is like take care of the ball. You know, if we end up with the ball at the twenty five, then good job, young man. You've done what we asked you to do. ⁓ don't try to go crazy out there. You're not Leotus McKelvin, okay? Like just let you know Thanks for doing your job. Exactly. Do as as Bill Belichick would say, do your job. So ⁓ you know, I was I am not gonna complain about that. ⁓ we went out there and did just that. ⁓ all right, for another in-depth look at this, I'm very excited. I'm I'm I almost can't do this intro because I'm so excited about this segment. ⁓ but it is time to turn it over to the bird man who's gonna scratch around in the pine straw and the twigs that make up his nest and tell us who really shone this week in this week's edition of Best in the Nest. Absolutely. Somebody turn on the bagpipes. Let's do s let's let's have some music play in. ⁓ let's let's let's let's just get excited 'cause best in the nest this week is super, super special. 'Cause we've been talking about this guy forever. I mean, come on, Joe's been talking about him what, for three seasons now? Is I mean, has he even been around this much? Like It's been a long time. He's basically the adopted son of the Troy Boys podcast. And I I mean I'm pretty sure he listens and he's been waiting for this moment already this year. ⁓ one of the first players we discussed in depth when he started years ago, former Hamburg Iron Swan, the pride of Germany, Fabian Ragos is this week's best in the nest. ⁓ And why is he the best in the nest? He went from walk on defensive end to a Big target at tight end catches and three passes for 37 yards, a touchdown this week. I mean, come on, guys. Like, what better story can you have from walk-on defensive end to a tight end? Like that, that's insane. He's been putting in the work, and it's really cool to see some of these players we're following, ⁓ you know, have such a big impact. I mean, and when you look at our overall assessments, throwing A minuses and B pluses out there on the team, You know, it takes a team and Fabian is a part of that team and he is essential to the team. So I hope we keep seeing him more. I hope we keep calling his name out some more this year. Yeah. Congratulations ⁓ to Fabian. So happy. I do have to say we've got to get him on the podcast, Bird. At this point, yeah. You know, we've been we've been talking, we've been dreaming. At one point we were like, we're gonna get him to say I'm Fabian Ragosh, and you're listening to the Troy Boys podcast in German. Yeah. And then and then I listened to the press conference where he was interviewed, and the guy sounds like he was born and raised in Dothan. Like he's got like a he's got a southern accent you wouldn't believe. I like I don't I wanna I gotta figure out what's happening. Living in the wiregrass. You what I mean? When you live in the wiregrass and you think it it it just attached that quickly. I mean, yeah, the bull weevil's an hour drive. Like, I mean, what are like what are we doing here? ⁓ goodness. Well, congratulations to Fabo. Absolutely a great score. And ⁓ he was all alone. I mean, all the guy had to do was walk into the end zone. Let's hope we get a lot more like that. ⁓ for one last look before we turn the page on last week, ⁓ let's check in with that weird lady standing alone on a stage in the Sunbelt Conference commercial. And see if the Sunbelt Conference has indeed continued rising in this week's edition of The Rising Report. All right, Birdman. So we have a week one. Obviously, a weird slate. Some people are playing Charles Henderson High School. Some people are playing ⁓ you know University of Alabama. So it just ⁓ it it really depends. ⁓ Georgia State beat North Carolina AT 59 to 10. West Virginia beat Coastal but only 31 to 24. James Madison beat Liberty 20-14. Penn State beat Marshall 45 to 0. App State beat Maine like they stole something 55-3. Southern Mist beat Alcorn State 49-3. Old Dominion beat Norfolk State 31 to 10. Memphis beat Arkansas State 42-24. Georgia Southern beat Charleston Southern 31-0. ⁓ the guys in Mobile beat southeastern Louisiana 39 to 14. ⁓ Mississippi State beat the Warhawks 62-13. La Tech beat Northwestern State 80 to 6. Okay. Hammer, don't hurt ⁓ Let them get up. You know what I mean? ⁓ and finally Lala beat Lamar 38 to 7. so obviously a lot of kind of lopsided results out there. Bird, ⁓ which of these Sunbelt games surprised you the most? Gosh, I didn't don't we have mercy rules in this conference? I don't know. That was wild. ⁓ not at eighty. Yeah, not at eighty. Yeah. They do hey, Bird, a they do not like being called LA Tech. Okay. They get it makes them real mad. So ⁓ yeah, that's what I heard. I mean, ⁓ they're they're putting on a show right now. They want their own name. yeah, I I mean, there there was a lot of surprising, you know, I some surprising nots, some not so surprising, some close ones that I wouldn't have called. But I think the one I want to pick this week is the JMU and Liberty game. It stands out because JMU entered 2026 with some pretty high expectations, you know, especially after the college football playoff. Like I mean, like w you you you think these would be the guys. And then, you know, they lost a significant portion of, you know, their team and coaching staff and roster and just and also including head coach Bob Chesney. And new coach Billy Napier was making his JM debut. So it's like, you what are we? How are we coming in here to spice things up? They did win the game, ⁓ but Liberty wasn't an easy opponent for them. I don't know. I I felt like this one was pr ⁓ pretty shocking, you know, because it was both two good teams, but I kind of expected James Madison to also maybe do a little bit more. ⁓ they did a lot on the front end ⁓ offensively. And I feel like last year we saw a lot of offensive production from them. And this year ⁓ starting out, it's like They just came in, got some points on the board and then just let the defense handle the rest. And I'm like, well, pretty good strategy. ⁓ but the defense is gonna get tired too. So I don't know. It it w it was interesting to s it was interesting to see a you know, somebody who thought the college football playoff committee who thought they were good enough to be in the playoffs, you know, come in and, you know, they they weren't the ones scoring eighty points, you know, on the the on the team. So I I don't know. It was surprising just because of who it was If it had been anybody else playing Liberty, I might not have even thought anything else about it. But this is that that stuck out to me because this is something that we need to keep our eye on as far as, you know, what's gonna happen with JMU out in the ⁓ in the East. Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ as far as for me, the most surprising one, you know, first of all, I wanna I do want to give a shout out to the Sunbelt Syndicate ⁓ for forgetting that La Tech is in our baseball conference in their score roundup graphic. ⁓ I you know, they said it was just cut off at the bottom, but Bulldog fans be sure to send hate mail directly to bo to Boone, ⁓ and a GOAT will deliver it to Dom, I'm sure. ⁓ their game was just a bit of a shocker to me. When we broke them down, ⁓ they didn't sound like a team that was gonna put eighty points up against tackling dummies. Now, obviously Northwestern State it must be very bad, okay? But scoring eighty is worrisome. I mean, even you know. Just against ⁓ against air, that's a problem. ⁓ so I mean definitely they've got something clicking down there in Rustin. ⁓ and so the Belt and and certainly the Trojans need to be careful. ⁓ we've got a live wire down there in Louisiana, ⁓ which thanks to ULM we have not been used to for a little while. ⁓ now it is time to get ready for our next game. Up next. ⁓ we are back in the vet to take on the Alabama State University Hornets ⁓ from just up the road in Montgomery. ⁓ 3 p.m. kickoff. So hydrate Trojans. Make sure you're drinking lots of water, not just boat sodas, okay? Because it is gonna be hot at 3 p.m. on Saturday. ⁓ Alabama State is 2-0 on the young season with wins over Lane College and Southern. ⁓ here are just some brief thoughts on the Vance Law Firm Hornets coming into the vet. ⁓ they have gotten off to a very strong two-no start. ⁓ they're particularly impressive on defense. ⁓ they opened up with a 30 to 17 victory over Southern, then they shut out Lane College 34 to zero. ⁓ defense has been the biggest story. ⁓ they have allowed just 17 points in those two games. ⁓ they held the Lane College Dragons to 182 total yards and forced two turnovers. ⁓ the rushing attack has been solid against Lane. They ran for 150 yards on 36 attempts. That's a 4.2 yards per carry average. ⁓ and they scored three rushing touchdowns. Andrew Body, who I believe is the best quarterback in the SWAC. ⁓ he has looked pretty good. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown against Lane and also ran for 28 yards. So he's a dual threat. The kicking game has been dependable. ⁓ Andrew Abu Akel made both field goal attempts, including a 43-yarder and was four for four on point afters against Lane. ⁓ you know, Alabama State hasn't been overwhelmingly productive offensively. ⁓ against Lane, the Hornets had two hundred and seventy-eight yards, but they also turned the ball over once and converted only five of eleven third downs. ⁓ overall, I'd say Alabama State at this point has had kind of an A-minus season, which is pretty good. ⁓ you know, the most encouraging thing for them is consistency. ⁓ they've controlled both games defensively. They're playing complimentary football. ⁓ you know, it's a very interesting matchup for us. ⁓ you know, this is ⁓ an FCS opponent, but they're gonna bring a lot of fans, they're gonna bring their band. ⁓ it's gonna be quite an atmosphere in Troy, Alabama. So if Troy shows up and thinks they're just gonna kind of mail this one in, ⁓ I'm gonna, you know, quote the old coach Lee Corso and say, Not so fast, my friend. ⁓ these guys definitely are gonna be out to see a big win. ⁓ any thoughts on the Hornets from you, Bird? No, I I mean I feel like, you know, anytime we play one of our, you know, you know, in state, you know, out of conference foes, you know, I I I feel like it's always ⁓ it's a it's a it's a dice roll. ⁓ we never we never really know where we're going. ⁓ you know, you know, it shows a lot about, you know, where we are and how prepared we are, especially before we're about to, you know, go out onto ⁓ to a ⁓ a road stand ⁓ you know, against bigger opponents. And I I don't know. I I I I think they're gonna be a tough you know, challenge I think I don't I they're not gonna come in and let us dog walk ⁓ for sure. ⁓ and I think we need I think we need to be prepared for that. I think this young team needs to be aware. ⁓ you know, this is a two and ⁓ team right now and they got a lot of confidence. And ⁓ if I've learned anything in my life, confidence, even when you don't know what you're doing, can take you a long way. So boys need to be ready for ⁓ they need to be ready for a lot of speed and a lot of trick plays and a lot of just they're just gonna put the ball down our throats if we let ⁓ Absolutely. They have nothing to lose. Which is usually where Troy is. Troy is usually the why not Troy team. ⁓ you know, this Saturday, the question's gonna be why not Alabama State? Why can't Alabama State have a big win over an FPS opponent? And we are responsible for saying, well, the reason that you can is that Donnie Smith is gonna sack your quarterback 17 times. but that's up to us. We've got to do that. ⁓ to get a really in-depth look. ⁓ we are gonna welcome in a host of Sports Talkin' with JB, ⁓ an Alabama State fan who covers the Hornets ⁓ on his podcast ⁓ for this week's edition of Know Your Foe. All right, everybody, for this week's Know Your Foe segment, we are so excited to welcome in our new friend JB, the host of Sports Talkin' with JB, ⁓ to represent the Alabama State University Hornets. JB, welcome to the Troy Boys, my friend. Man, thank you for having me, man. It's a pleasure. ⁓ well well, talk talk to me a little bit. How what's your connection to Alabama State? ⁓ tell people about your podcast, where can they listen to you? All that good stuff. All right, man. I actually went to Alabama State about 20 years ago. ⁓ believe it or not, back then I really wasn't into like football and things like that. But now I I love football. I love talking about it. And I felt like Alabama State needed their own podcast. ⁓ being in the SWAG conference, HBCU, ⁓ it's a lot of other podcasts out there, but Obama State didn't have their own. So I felt like Why not give it to him? I was already doing podcasting. That's where sports talking with JB came from. But you can actually find me on all social media platforms at Sports Talk JB. My Wednesday night show is called the Black and Gold Show. It's a ⁓ hour-long show talking about Alabama State football. Sunday nights, 6:30 p.m. is the Obama State Recap show. It's what we ⁓ Recap the game that happened on Saturday. So I have two four links programs talking about Alabama State football. Well, that's awesome, my friend. And and hey, you've had a ⁓ a great start to the season. I'm sure your shows have been overwhelmingly positive. ⁓ you're at two and ⁓ before Labor Day. A lot of schools would love to have that. ⁓ so talk to me about how you think this Hornet squad is doing so far. I think we're doing okay. I I I feel like it's still a lot left to be desired. I we on the right track. I mean, we just had a shutout ⁓ yesterday against ⁓ Lane College. You know, you can never complain about a shutout. Offensively, I feel like the team's still opening up. We still go we still have a lot left out there. I feel like they still have room it's room for improvement because this team, believe it or not, we went ten and two last season and Feel like it's a big target on our back trying to get to the SWAG championship. And we averaged 42 points a game last year. So right now we're averaging 32. You know, I still like feel like we still have a little bit more we can do. Well, and and I don't want to, you know, I'm I'm so glad ⁓ that we found you to be on this kind of a funny story. ⁓ I used the same Facebook group, I think it's called Swag Central, that I used to find an Alabama AM fan who was a great guest. ⁓ his name was Wayne. ⁓ and and you as you can imagine, ⁓ he worked in some jabs about Alabama State. I know the two schools aren't fond of each other. ⁓ but I think even Wayne, if he was being honest, if I put him on truth serum, I think he would admit Andrew Body has gotta be, if not the top quarterback in the SWAC, in the top three regardless. Well, what are your thoughts about him so far in this young season? Absolutely, man. Andrew Body is the top. quarterback in the swag. I I think so too. Absolutely. The top quarterback in the HBCU. I mean, he he is the reigning ⁓ HBCU player of the year, reigning swag offensive player of the year. So ⁓ I feel like like I mentioned it's still we still gonna open up the the team right now, I mean we we we scored 30 points ⁓ against Southern. That was the first game of the season. Thirty-four points. ⁓ Andrew Body is gonna come out and have those big gains. Right now, I feel like okay, he hadn't had the big game yet, but it's coming. I could just feel it. But he's a great player, great individual. I have nothing but positive things to say about Andrew Body. Yeah. ⁓ he's he's been fantastic. ⁓ and it I I think really Alabama State is ⁓ is making a wise decision to kind of Let the let him put the team on his back and carry them because I know he can carry them very far. He's a great athlete and he's got some great pieces around him as well. ⁓ so the big question for Troy people, obviously ⁓ Troy and Alabama State, you know, I I grew up south of Birmingham. So when I was driving to college, you know, I would drive past Alabama State to get to Troy. So not far, maybe 35, 40 minutes, something like that. ⁓ so I I think we're all predicting a great game day atmosphere. ⁓ looking forward to our band and y'all's band both being there and and all that sort of thing. ⁓ but the question Troy fans have on their mind is ⁓ JB, what are your thoughts? You think the Hornets are gonna come in and and surprise the Trojans? I think so, man. I mean, I've done a little research on Troy's game today. And I mean, I saw you guys win a tough one with Sam Houston 24-21. You you beeped it out. I mean, I feel like to me. My honest opinion, it's gonna be a close game. It's gonna be a defensive battle, I feel like. ⁓ I don't think it's gonna be a super high scoring game. And ⁓ I mean, you got Goo Goose Crowder, good quarterback over there, man, ⁓ experienced quarterback. ⁓ I watched Troy last year actually cover one of Troy again of Troy's games ⁓ when they played Jacksonville State and here in Montgomery. So I'm familiar a little bit with Troy. ⁓ I'm gonna actually go back and watch that Sam Houston game and just kind of, you know, watch the highlights and kind of, you know, do my research for it. But I feel like our defense, Alabama State's defense, is gonna come to play. They have been put last season, it wasn't the best version of our defense. This season, I feel like, is much improved. So I feel like they're gonna make it tough for Goose Crowder and they're gonna make make it tough for you guys on offense. I feel like our offense just has to step it up and play. Up to our capability. And if they do, I feel like we can pour the upset. If they don't, then either way is gonna be a close game. That's what I'm that's why I'm at with it right now. Yeah. I you know, I ⁓ although I think a lot of Troy people sometimes ⁓ could look past an FCS squad coming in, I think to do that against Alabama State would be a very dumb decision. And we've said that from the beginning. ⁓ Alabama State fans travel very well to Troy, it's always a great atmosphere. ⁓ and so they're gonna have ⁓ you know, that cheering section behind them, that spirit with them. And ⁓ you know, certainly I think both defenses are the strengths of their team. ⁓ and so it's gonna be about who wants it more and who can put that offense together. So I'm really excited for it. ⁓ it is a three PM kick, so it's gonna be about two hundred and seventeen degrees in Troy, Alabama. ⁓ but that'll be all right. They they sell plenty of cold beverages ⁓ to help get us through the game. ⁓ all right, JB, one final question. This is the toughest one. ⁓ you know, obviously we are both rooting for Alabama schools here. ⁓ I don't know that there's anything in Alabama more important than college football, but if there is, it is food, right? ⁓ and so talk to the Troy people. ⁓ we ask everybody this. For you, this is really good because a lot of Troy people live in Montgomery. So ⁓ this is probably gonna be a place we're familiar with. ⁓ but when you're in Montgomery for games, when you're on campus, what's a place nearby that you just love to go to? ⁓ and what do you order there? What's the best thing to get? Man, it's tough, right? It's a lot of good places. I I love barbecue. Okay. ⁓ so I'm gonna say Chandler's Barbecue. Chandler's Barbecue is really good. ⁓ they also have some good fish, some good fried fish over there, man. ⁓ Chandler's barbecue is a good Bren's wings. They're great too. And they actually have a food truck that comes to Alabama State's ⁓ Hornet Stadium. They have a food truck that comes there and their food is great too. So I mean, Brent, between Brennan's wings and Chandler's barbecue, those are two places I'm gonna get some food from. I love it, my friend. I love it. Yeah, that's that's great stuff. There's a lot of good places. Montgomery's kind of ⁓ full of a lot of hidden gems as far as places to eat. So ⁓ JB, thank you once again ⁓ for joining us. We're really looking forward to this game ⁓ and we appreciate you helping us break down the Hornets as they prepare to come play Troy. Hey man, no problem. We will be there in full force, man. We're wearing all black. It's a blackout game, so I don't know what you guys are wearing, but we told our fans to wear all black. So we're coming in full force. We're wearing all black. It's gonna be 396 degrees, but we're still wearing all black. I would expect nothing less, my friend. We are looking forward to welcoming y'all ⁓ to Troy, Alabama, the prettiest little city in Pike County. So ⁓ thank you so much again for coming on. ⁓ and I look forward to speaking with you on Wednesday on your show. Absolutely, man. No problem. Thank you so much for having me. All right. Big thanks for JB. Please go check out Sports Talking with JB over there on YouTube. ⁓ we ⁓ the Troy Boys are gonna be appearing there. ⁓ this week ⁓ talking about Troy so very excited. ⁓ JB, heck of a ⁓ young fan covering his ⁓ almater and doing so in a great way. So really happy ⁓ to have had him on. Thank you, JB, again. ⁓ all right, Birdman. ⁓ you know, we might be interested in doing a little wagering on this game. ⁓ but The the while while the ⁓ while the campaign is going, while Doug Jones is all over my ads on Facebook, ⁓ Neemaw is still ⁓ in charge of the state. And she still says, No way, Jose, ⁓ not in Alabama. And so we did send bass down the Alabama River ⁓ to figure out what's going on out there in the desert ⁓ by going to that gas station in Pascagoula and giving us the information for this week's What's the word from Pascagoula? All right, Birdman, so Troy is twenty one and a half point favorites. ⁓ so a little over three scores. ⁓ what are your thoughts? You you cleaning out the ⁓ the IRA, put it on the ⁓ put it on the Trojans? What do you think? Yeah, I wouldn't say I'm cleaning out the IRA for this one. I might throw s I I might throw some cash in there, but I think based on the performance this past week, I mean, I don't think this is a terrible spread, ⁓ especially in favor of Troy if you know if If the overunder is, you know, fifty-two, fifty-three points, I mean I I I I think we're gonna be seeing a close game, but I'm hoping that, you know, we put maybe one or two more touchdowns on these boys and make it a little bit more comfortable. ⁓ but I mean ⁓ if you're if you're a betting man, a hundred bucks, you know, you just don't eat out for a couple of weeks. You'll be fine. ⁓ and just say go ahead and go go ahead and bet it all on the Trojans. Yeah. I mean Tortuga's pizza is is closed for lunch now. So I mean you you've already basically saved the money already. You know what I mean? ⁓ absolutely. But no, I I think ⁓ I think what you've got to do is watch the line on this one, see how it changes. ⁓ because it's I mean, we're at the beginning of the season, so weird stuff is happening. Like, ⁓ do people look at Troy's game against Sam Houston State and go, Troy's not that good? ⁓ and that might be the case. Or it could be that if we went into the future, Sam Houston State has won nine games. And if that's the case, then everybody's gonna go, wow, Troy was really good. ⁓ we just didn't know that Sam Houston State wasn't terrible. So it'll be interesting to see these guys are are guys who are making money betting college football. ⁓ so very, very interested to see how that line ⁓ continues to move because this is the kind of line where you could see some action. ⁓ from professional betters who don't really care about the names. What they care about is finding kind of an advantage and some value. ⁓ all right, bird, last bit of work from you. Obviously, this is usually Bass's segment, ⁓ but instead, we're gonna have the bird ⁓ light atop the water of the pond. ⁓ and as he floats by, Trojan Nation is gonna come up and put some bread on their hooks ⁓ and try to see if they can catch a bird. In this week's very strange edition of the Tackle Box. Alright, so first of all, don't catch birds. Don't do that. That's weird. ⁓ but but if you did, this might be a way to do it, bird. Here's a great one. ⁓ in the stadium, I I remember when this happened, so I'm so glad this was submitted by a Facebook ⁓ friend. In the stadium, the fans had a huge, almost oversized reaction to an early hard-nosed run by Goose that gave us a first down and extended the drive. And that's absolutely true. ⁓ it was early. ⁓ he hit he he kind of took contact, looked for contact, ⁓ and just made a big play, but the crowd reacted as if he had just, you know, won us the Sunbelt title. It was huge. ⁓ so my question for you is, ⁓ did Goose change how you think of him as a player with his performance against Sam Houston? ⁓ did you turn the game off feeling more hopeful, less hopeful, or the same when it comes to Goose? ⁓ Bass, why did why'd you have to get sick, man? Exactly. ⁓ this is what you're Suds, man. The suds will get you. The suds. so ⁓ i i if if you've guys ever seen the meme or the video of, you know, ⁓ when Auburn wins a coin toss and they lose their mind, that's kinda how I felt here ⁓ in in this situation and like, ⁓ we're losing our mind because we won coin toss. I I I think I think it was good that the crowd got hype for that. You know, like a quarter like, you know, when was the last time, you know, we felt this good about our or like we were cheering our quarterback on for such, you know, a very routine play or like, you know, again, like doing your job. I don't want to d I don't want to, you know, negate the importance of that first down ⁓ and the extended drive. I think that's huge. I think I love it when the crowd gets involved in that way and pumps it up. ⁓ however, I I definitely had some reservations and thoughts because I I think in the preseason ⁓ or the preview episode that we did a couple of weeks ago or maybe a month ago or more, I I felt like we had this game as one that should have been a blowout for the Trojans. you know, no disrespect to Sam Houston, but I d I just felt like there was more that we were kind of looking for, especially with, you know, an experienced QB in the backfield, you know, year ⁓ you know, another year under Jared Parker's belt. ⁓ I I I I'm not gonna say I felt more hopeful, but I definitely didn't feel less hopeful turning off the TV, turning off the game. ⁓ I I think we've got a good squad and I think Goose has a lot ⁓ you know, moving forward that like I want to see more out of before I say that I'm more hopeful. ⁓ and again, like you said, it's early in the season. You know, like w we don't we don't know what we're looking at. In six games, we're gonna have a much clearer picture of where this team is versus where they were. so I I I think Goose has a lot to prove, not just to the fans, but to himself. I think there's some confidence there. So I will say being able to extend a play like that and have the confidence to do it and you didn't see hesitation or any kind of like you know, like he he wasn't trying to run from the other team. He was trying to get vertical and down, you know, down the field. So I I I think I think we saw some good things here, but I don't think we're at a point now where we can be like, Okay, I'm really I'm feeling really, really good about this team, if that makes sense. No, I think I think it was I think a lot of it is that Goose's challenges have been injury related. And so to see him to see him go through a play and look for contact and take contact and then get up and rush to the line, I think that was more of it than anything. you know, that Troy people were like, okay, he's fine. He's not scared of contact. ⁓ he's ready to go. And so I th I think that was important. Do I think we, you know, just buy goose calls for everyone and and get excited? I don't know quite about that. I already own ⁓ I already own a few goose calls, but ⁓ you know, I I think I think it was a good play. And obviously, ⁓ you know, the fans are ⁓ the fans are always right. So when they're excited about something ⁓ you just gotta you gotta ride that energy. For the last segment of the week, ⁓ it is time for me to, although it is very hot still ⁓ in the river region of Alabama, ⁓ it is time for me to go somewhere even hotter. ⁓ and that is a corner of the internet called Troyfans.com. ⁓ and that is where I'm gonna bring all of Trojan Nation. ⁓ a very special piece of internet culture from this week in Troy Athletics. And that is this week's TroyFans dot com hot take of the week. Yes we need to It's just Sam Houston. We're just getting started. Started. Started. Yeah, you gotta get the get that suds vaccine, my friend. ⁓ no, it's ⁓ so so this week we are we're starting off big. Okay, Bird, I'm gonna be honest with you. I did not expect ⁓ I did not expect this level of heat. ⁓ there were some things that I would have expected, but ⁓ but here we go. Okay, ⁓ this week's winner is ⁓ the following quote, ⁓ Poor ethics equals coaching. Which just a quick note, I don't know what that means. So like if you have poor ethics, that's what coaching is. Or anyway, ⁓ back to it. The guy wearing gray trash bags tonight is to blame. I am glad it looks like we will walk away with a struggle win, but still not impressed. Jared, spelled wrong, needs to back off the Sunday Sisters buffet. Bro has packed on some pounds. ⁓ my gosh, man. Why why do we do this? Why is our critique of every coach we don't like that they're fat? I mean, because I don't want to I don't wanna I don't wanna besmirch the legend, Larry the legend, but I mean that guy he had some You know, he had a little winter fluff on him. You know? I mean, so why are we why are we concerned if Jared is, you know, is taking a skipping leg day and and eating some cornbread? That doesn't bother me. I mean, you know, that's it's none of my business. But that's what we do. Every time we don't like a coach, we accuse them of being fat. People did it to Summerall, and that guy like eats protein powder and nothing else. So I don't know what all of this is about. Whoever posted that ⁓ congratulations. You are this week's TroyFams.com. Hot take of the week. ⁓ boy howdy. Well, wit hey Birdman, we have ⁓ we have walked Trojan Nation through the Sam Houston game. We've gotten them ready for Alabama State. ⁓ now it is time for a couple of closing remarks. ⁓ Birdman, go ahead and give us some closing remarks. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what an eventful first week. You know, it's been lots of Lots of things going on, not just with the Trojans, but with the Troy boys, you know, Avian Adventures, the Suds, and and you know, ⁓ just ⁓ Joe Joe's Trojan Joe's over here dog sitting the beer cats for you know for a little while. They haven't been able to lick their wounds. There's just a lot going on. But we're here and it's football season and we're excited. ⁓ if you ⁓ listen to this podcast, share it with a friend, ⁓ let people know who we are, make sure you like, rate, subscribe, review. ⁓ Apple Podcasts, Spotify, you know, we ⁓ Facebook, Instagram, whichever way you do it, ⁓ we love to hear from you guys and we love to get the word out that we're talking about the Troy Trojans. And ⁓ thank y'all for listening and we pre we appreciate y'all dealing with the semantics that we have. Bass, your presence was definitely missed. ⁓ Joe and I are just awkwardly twiddling our thumbs right now. So hurry hurry back with you Finns so you can help kind of bridge the the hot takes for us. ⁓ but yeah thanks for listening and make sure, as Bass would say, ⁓ if you haven't gotten your tickets, go to Troy Trojans dot com s ⁓ slash tickets and get your tickets signed. I'm pretty sure that the the ticket office will hook you up. Yep, absolutely. ⁓ thanks to everybody that stopped by section one sixteen. We had several Troy Boys fans stop by and talk to me. ⁓ please come see us. Come by section one sixteen. It's gonna be hot ⁓ at Alabama State, so maybe bring a ⁓ maybe bring a cold boat boat soda with you. I you know, I'd appreciate that. ⁓ but if you don't, we can ⁓ certainly make that happen. ⁓ Birdman, I want to thank you so much ⁓ for being here. We do miss the bass. ⁓ and most of all, thank you, Trojan Nation, for joining us once again. ⁓ look forward to seeing you in the vet. And as always, go Trojans, and God bless you, Blaze Brown.