Latest / Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott / It's Game Week! FSU Football Talk With Ira Schoffel

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It's Game Week! FSU Football Talk With Ira Schoffel · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Well, here we go. It's the third hour the radio
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: program this morning, Jerry running the show in Studio one A.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I'm here in Studio one B at his show fifty
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: six sixty three, the Morning Show with Preston Scott, and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: it is game week. That's right, Florida State Football back
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: at it and joining me is the managing editor of
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: war chant dot com for another season. He joins us Irischaffelle,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: how are you, sir?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: I'm good, Preston, how are you doing well?
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I feel like asking you how am I doing? Ira?
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: If I'm an f if I'm an FSU football fan.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: And we're going into the new week. First of all,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: it's felt like forever. And maybe that's what a bad
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: season does as a fan base. It just seems like
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: forever since we last had a football game. But what
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: should the expectations be for a Florida State football fan?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it does feel like forever because I think it's
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: you know, it was midway through last season when we realized, okay,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: that season's of a disasters, so some people start checking out,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: and then you then you have the long off season
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: because you didn't even have a bowl game again, So
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: it really does extend it. But you know, I think
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: you know for me. You know again, I'm going into
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the season. When it comes to expectations, I think they're
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: a pretty good football team. I think they should be
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: a team that can win eight games or so. But
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: at the same time, I thought that last year and
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: it was proven to be wrong. So you know, I
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: think you know that. I think the materials are there.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I think they have the roster that can win eight games.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: The key is going to be, you know, seeing what
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: this team does when they lose a game. To me,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: this season will start the week after they lose their
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: first game. Do they spiral again the way they did
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: last year, the way they did the year before, or
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: do they find a way to keep playing it maybe
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: even get better as the season goes on, And that's
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: something they just haven't been able to do the last
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: couple of years.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Airah, are your expectations of yourself in judging this foot team?
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: How much have they been shaped by last year?
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Though?
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: And I mean you said it is almost a throwaway line,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: but I was wrong last year. But that goes into factoring.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I'm guessing how you're looking at this season.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Two. It definitely does and I think it makes everybody
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: very gun shy about, you know, even saying anything positive
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: because we've seen what's happened in the last couple of years.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: You know, Listen, going back to February of this year,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: you know, when you started talking to people around the team,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: they would tell you that they liked this team a
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: lot more than they did the last couple of years.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: And in terms of, you know, in terms of just
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the way the guys approach what they want to be
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: at the practice facility. They want to be watching film,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: they want to be on the jugs machine, they want
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: to be putting in the extra time. And that's something
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: that was better last year than the year before, but
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: still not where it needed to be. So but even
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: people inside the program, when you talk to them, and
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: they'll tell you, we like this team. We like the
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: way these guys work, We liked the the attitude they have.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: We don't think they're gonna quit at the first sign
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: of trouble. So but even people inside the program will say, well, now,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: I just hope they're good enough to win these games.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: We just hope they're So it's I think people inside
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: the program, including the coaching staff, have to wonder you know,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: what will these guys do when when things get tough?
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Ira Schapel with us. He is the managing editor at
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: war chant dot com. I am lugged into my subscription
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: and yes I pay. I'm a paid subscriber to war
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: chant dot com because I love the work that Ira
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: and the team at war Chant do to bring its
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: knowledge on FSU sports, not just football. Ira, the quarterback
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: position is sort of like the point guard position in
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: men's college basketball. If you do not have a serviceable quarterback,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: you're just not going to be successful. Do they have
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: that quarterback?
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Uh? You know, I think they have a solid quarterback.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: You know, we've done a lot of breakdowns of Ashton
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Daniels and what he's done. You know, he started for
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: two years at Stanford. They lost a lot of football games,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: but it was just a bad program. So I wouldn't
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: put that all on him. He deserves some of the responsibility,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: but not all of it. And then last year you know,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: kind of has some FSU people excited people inside the program.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Is when he got opportunities late last season for Auburn,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the last three or four games, he actually played pretty well.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: He made a lot of plays, not just with his legs.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: He made some nice throws. He seemed like he was
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: in control of the offense, didn't turn the ball over
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: a lot. If he could play to that level here
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: at Florida State, they'll be in decent shape. But I
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: think the other part of it is, it's kind of
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: a subplot to it, is they have a couple of
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: other options. You know, if things aren't going great with
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Ashton Daniels, they actually have options. Malachi Marshall, who transferred
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: in from junior college where he won the national championship
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: in junior college, was the national player of the year.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: He's he and Kevin Sperry are the backup quarterbacks. I
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: think either one of them is an option at quarterback.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: When you look back at these last two years, they
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: really didn't have that last year. Kevin's was a true freshman.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: The year before that you had brock Lyn and Luke
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Crumbenhawk who weren't ready. So I think they've got a
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: couple guys who played college football give you other options.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: So you know, even if Ashton Daniels doesn't work out,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: I don't think the season's necessarily over all.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Right, Let's get to the most important question about the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: quarterback position in fifteen seconds, is our starting quarterback, regardless
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: of whether it's Ashton Daniels through the season or anybody
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: else taller than five foot three.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: They are You're gonna be happy the fact that he
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: can see over the line of scrimmage.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Talking FSU football, they host New Mexico State and in
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: a piece of ironic scheduling, fam You hosts Albany State.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Quinn Gray back at the FAMU program where he was
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a very successful quarterback in college and even had a
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: nice run in the pros. He's the head coach now
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: with the fam You rattlers, Ira, as we consider the
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: log jam traffic wise on Saturday night and set that
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: to the side and expect win. Does it matter how
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: they win on Saturday Night to the fan base? You think.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: I don't know that it's gonna matter a whole lot
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: to the fan base other than you know, I mean,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: everybody's happy when you win big, and obviously if they
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: look ugly, that's going to cause a lot of consternation
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: going into that SMU game in the second game of
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: the season. But I think it where it matters is
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: I really think this team needs confidence. You know, you know,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: you go back to last season, I really think where
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: things fell apart was they got over confident after the
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Alabama win and then those two creampuffs that they beat
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: by one hundred points. I think they went into Virginia
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: that fourth game over confident, and then when they lost,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: I felt like they kind of were shook by that
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: and that affected them the next week against Miami, and
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: then it kind of they spiraled out of control. I
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: really think this team, especially because you have so many
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: new players and they don't really know how good they are.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: They're confident, they're excited, they've worked hard, but they won't
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: know how good they are until they play. I think
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: this team and this coaching staff needs to see them
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: come up and look sharp, look like they know what
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: they're doing, look efficient, and just kind of give them
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: confidence going into those SMU and Alabama games.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: What is the bigger test for them on the road
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: in the first half of the season at Tuscaloosa taking
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: on Alabama, who they kind of embarrassed last year, or
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: at Louisville, where we tend to be snake bit.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: I think the Louisville game is way more important. You know,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: you know, you don't want to get embarrassed at Alabama
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: for sure, and I don't think they will. I don't
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: get the sense this is an unbelievable Alabama team and
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: they'll have a new quarterback as well. But you know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: I think the Louisville game is huge because those are
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: the teams you got to beat again. You know, it
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: can't be you know, florest State is going to be
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: a team that can win eight or nine games just
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: the bare minimum of what FSU fans expect is. You know,
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: you have to beat those types of teams. And it's
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: gonna be a tough game at Louisville game. You know,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: it's a tough place to play, and they're a good team,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: they're good program with they're good coach, and I think
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Florestate will have a short week that week, so it's
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: gonna be a challenge. But you know, the Alabama game,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: you could survive a loss in that game as long
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: as you don't get embarrassed. But you need to start
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: winning these games against the Louisville's, the NC States, the Pits,
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: the Wake Forest, you know, the teams in the kind
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: of in the in the middle of the ACC your.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Colleague Corey Clark wrote about how important this season is
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: to Mike Norvel. And I think it's pretty clear that
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: it is. He's taken back control of the offense. It's
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: going to be his now, not anybody else. He does
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: have an offensive coordinator, but we know Norvell's calling the plays.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: What do you think the number is that Mike Norvel
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: has to reach in order to take a little heat
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: off of his his seat.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: You know, I think anything less than seven wins, I
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: just cannot imagine you're you're you're moving forward with this.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, this recruiting is going to be difficult as
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: it is. You can't not have momentum. So to me,
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: eight wins gives him a shot to be successful here
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: long term. Anything above that would be incredible. But you know,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: seven or less, I just don't think you get any momentum.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: It's going to keep affecting recruiting, and you know, I
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: just feel like you're just extending thing another year. So
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: to me, eight wins gives you a chance to kind
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: of have a somewhat of a fresh start going into
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: next year.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Twenty one past the Hour with Irishafel from warchan dot Com.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: He'll join us throughout much of the season with the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: exception of a Labor Day Monday where we're playing that night,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: we're going to take that day off. But Ira, we're
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: talking FSU football, and I want to go to the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball for a few minutes. I
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: personally have always been impressed by Tony White as a coach,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: whether it was his time at Nebraska. I like his concept,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: I like what he has to say, I feel like
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I like the way he coaches. But what are your
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: thoughts on what the season is going to look like
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: for the defensive side of the ball.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: I definitely like some of the new pieces they brought in,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: you know, linebacker. They brought in, you know, two transfers
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: who have played a lot of college football. One of them, Jones,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: had one hundred and thirty four tackles last year at
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: Southern Mists. It's a step up in competition, but he's,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: you know, very productive linebacker. They brought another guy, Makai Bayer,
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: who played in North Carolina and Nebraska and actually played
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: under Tony White. And then you've got some guys returning
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: that they're excited about at linebacker as well, and as
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: well as a freshman Isaiah Williams, who was at one
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: point the number one linebacker in the country. And then
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: the secondary. You brought back Jabroll Rawls and Ashlan Barker
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: is kind of the leaders of that secondary in kJ Kirkland.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: But they brought in several transfers who played a ton
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: of college football as well in the secondary. So I
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: like the back six, back seven a lot. The question
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: is gonna be about the defensive line. Mandrel this year
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: had a really good freshman year, Darryl this year pretty good,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Daniel Lyons, Deontay McCrae, Deamonte Diggs. They've got a lot
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: of guys on the defensive line, Kevin Wynn coming back
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: for a second year, but not many of them have
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: ever been like the guy like last year. Mandrel this
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: year was kind of the robin to Darryl Jackson's batman,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: so can he be that guy? So there's some questions
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: about the defensive line, but I like the linebackers in
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: the secondary.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: If you go to special teams, it seems as though
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: fs Hu's kind of quietly become kicker. You are in
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: terms of guys that have proven to be pretty decent
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: kickers in the pros. Who do we have kicking now?
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's completely new special teams. They as you said,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: you know, you've got a new kicker and a new punter.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: The punters Daniel Hughes. Who if people, if you're listening
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: to this, if you if you're on social media at all,
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: you've probably seen Daniel Hughes. He's got a big Instagram following,
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: does a lot of videos as kind of an influencer.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: He transferred in from New Mexico, not New Mexico Stage
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: who they're playing this week, but New Mexico the Lobos,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: where he started last year and had a really good season.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: He was a semi finalist for the Ray Guy Award
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: last year. He's an Australian punter in the line of
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: you know Alex Mastromono, who's here for those four years before,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: and you know he's been a you know, a solid punter.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: He was a solid punter last year in New Mexico.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Average over you about forty four yards of punt forty
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: five yards of punt, So I think they feel pretty
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: good about him. And then the place kicker is a
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: guy named Gabe Panakowski who it sounds like Janikowski, who
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: he actually met this preseason. But he's a guy that
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: transferred in from Oklahoma State. He had a really good
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: year two years ago at a smaller school, Idaho State.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: He was fifteen out of fifteen and he was the
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: STS kicker of the year. So and he's a guy
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: that can kick it from fifty five plus. So they
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: feel pretty good about these kickers. But neither one of
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: them has ever kicked at Joe Campbell Stadium, So we'll
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: know a lot more on Saturday against New Mexico State.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: What about returning the ball on both kick team and punt.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, kickoff returns. They've got, you know, two speed
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: guys as you'd imagine Sam Singleton who's ran a kickback
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: for a touchdown a couple of years ago. He's one
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: of those guys. And then they also, you know, we'll
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: have McKay danzy back there, the track guy, who is
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: one of the fastest players in college football. So they've
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: got some explosive guys and kick returns, and then if
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: pump returns, it's probably going to be I think it's
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: going to be a true freshman. Jason Lopez, wide receiver
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: out of South Florida, who's had a great spring and
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: great camp, is really a natural as a pump returner,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: and you know, that's one area the last couple of
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: years Florida State has really struggled with pump returns, not
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: only not breaking off a good pump return, but just
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: catching the ball, just keeping the ball and not giving
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: up all those extra yards on bounces. And Jason Lopez,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: from everything we are hearing, kind of has a knack
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: for that. He's fearless as a pump returner, and so
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: I think he's going to be the guy back on punts.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: I always look forward to your weekly column with George
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Henshaw during the season, IRA, And for those that don't know,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: George had two decades in the NFL and seven seasons
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: with coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State, and I think
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: he offers a lot of really cool insight. Other than
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: his commentary the importance of quarterback, which is pretty well
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: known at this point in the world of football, what
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: stood out to you about his chat of the upcoming
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: season and what is most important?
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: You know, I think one of the notes teams he
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: touched on in this most recent article was how important
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: this New Mexico State game is and also the Central
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Arkansas game that they're going to have a few weeks
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: later in terms of building depth for later in the year,
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: and just you know now that you don't have red
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: shirts anymore college football players, and one of the latest
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: changes is they get five years to play five years,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: so you don't have to worry about getting guys or
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: keeping guys off the field, so they can red shirt.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Everybody can play. And so the idea is you've got
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: to play well in these games that you're going to
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: win that everybody expects you to win, so you can
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: get those backups in and they can get experience because
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: you're gonna need them later in the year and you
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: don't know what positions you're going to need them. But
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: his point is, you know, when you play NC State
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: and Florida late in the year, two huge home games
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: late in the year, they really could determine your season,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: whether you go to a decent bowl game, whether you
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: end the season strong. You're gonna need some of these guys,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: these younger players to be depth pieces in those games.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: And the only way they're gonna be ready is if
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: they play in these games. So that was one of
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: the things I thought was interesting, is just the importance
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: of taking care of business not just beating New Mexico State,
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: but being dominant early in that game so you can
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: get those younger guys some experience.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Ira. I love it. It's it's time and I know
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: you're anxious to actually start covering a football game that matters,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and I appreciate you making some for us this morning.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Thanks a lot, Preston.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Take care all right, Iras Chafell from war chant dot
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: com And again, you can subscribe and get all the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: content you could ever want at war chant dot com
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: and I will join us most Mondays here on the
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Morning Show with Preston Scott for a look back at
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: the game before and the one that's coming up ahead.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: We'll be back with the big stories in the press
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Box next