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USF vs ECU Story Lines + Bulls Bowl Projections · 4th AND BULL

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to fourth and bowl presented by blue Tara. My
0:03
Speaker 1: name is Nick wise. And on today's show, we will
0:05
Speaker 1: break down Tuesday's election results between Democrats and Republican. I'm kidding.
0:10
Speaker 1: We're not going to break down politics. We're here to
0:12
Speaker 1: talk football. I'm exhausted of all the politics stuff. This
0:15
Speaker 1: is a football show. We will talk about USF ECU.
0:19
Speaker 1: There is a game tonight with some importance, I guess,
0:21
Speaker 1: kind of maybe UTSA FAU. So if you're listening to
0:24
Speaker 1: this on a Friday, the game has already happened, but
0:27
Speaker 1: I'm recording this on a Monday before the game has
0:31
Speaker 1: taken place. You know, we're going to root for FAU.
0:34
Speaker 1: Probably doesn't matter very much. UTSA, because they beat us,
0:39
Speaker 1: we're probably not going to catch them. North Texas is
0:42
Speaker 1: the team that we are going to try to pass,
0:45
Speaker 1: so we have an opportunity to play UTSA. I want
0:47
Speaker 1: that rematch badly, because I do believe UTSA. You know,
0:51
Speaker 1: the defense just wasn't their self in that game. If
0:53
Speaker 1: the defense is just themselves... They beat UTSA, so I
0:57
Speaker 1: want that rematch. The rooting guide, what we're rooting for,
1:00
Speaker 1: I got that for you. Bowl projections are out. We'll
1:03
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the bowl projections, maybe some
1:05
Speaker 1: of the storylines from the game or for the game
1:08
Speaker 1: tomorrow night. And we already knew this defense was good,
1:12
Speaker 1: but saw some stuff in the game notes that when
1:16
Speaker 1: you see them in writing, it makes you realize how
1:19
Speaker 1: special this defense really is. Before we get into the show,
1:24
Speaker 1: I also... Kendall Puryear, am I saying her name right?
1:28
Speaker 1: From the women's basketball team. They did win 80-54, but
1:30
Speaker 1: that's not why they went viral. That free throw shot
1:32
Speaker 1: was wild. I don't know if you guys, I'm sure
1:35
Speaker 1: most of you have seen it. If you're following USF sports,
1:38
Speaker 1: she almost shoots it like a shot put. Like the
1:40
Speaker 1: ball was like here, and then she'd kind of throw.
1:43
Speaker 1: It was wild. Like if she would have been up
1:45
Speaker 1: there doing the granny shot, I would have been less
1:47
Speaker 1: shocked by what I saw. But hey, whatever works for her.
1:51
Speaker 1: The Bulls went on to win that game, so it
1:53
Speaker 1: clearly worked. I've never seen anyone shoot a free throw
1:56
Speaker 1: like that. I'm sure there's plenty of things I do
1:58
Speaker 1: in my life that are not normal that people look
2:00
Speaker 1: at me doing them and they're like. The way I
2:03
Speaker 1: watched that video and saw her do that free throw
2:08
Speaker 1: shot is probably what somebody like the reaction I had
2:11
Speaker 1: is probably somebody's reaction when they see me in yoga class.
2:16
Speaker 1: I know. You're looking at me right now. You're like,
2:18
Speaker 1: there's no way he does yoga. I do yoga. I
2:20
Speaker 1: will get up here and touch my toes right now. Uh,
2:24
Speaker 1: I'm pretty flexible for a big guy, but I do,
2:26
Speaker 1: I do five 45 yoga. I know you wouldn't tell
2:29
Speaker 1: by like, I'm the last guy you would expect to
2:31
Speaker 1: do yoga in the morning, but I do chair pose,
2:35
Speaker 1: pigeon pose. I know them all. All right. Um, I
2:40
Speaker 1: do want to let you know, this podcast is presented
2:42
Speaker 1: by blue Tara, Florida baseball run, environmental restoration. and resiliency company,
2:47
Speaker 1: winner of two USF Fast 56 awards. Blue Terra restores
2:51
Speaker 1: natural habitats and protects our communities against severe storms. Blue
2:54
Speaker 1: Terra flips water bodies from algae-dominated to crystal clear and
2:58
Speaker 1: can install patented wave attenuation devices along beaches and cause
3:02
Speaker 1: waste to reverse erosion and protect infrastructure from storm surge
3:06
Speaker 1: and flooding. For more information about Blue Terra, visit their
3:09
Speaker 1: website at bluetera.com. dot us also shout out to the
3:14
Speaker 1: bulls pen.com. Uh, they usually sponsor the mailbag, but I
3:17
Speaker 1: haven't done the mailbag in a minute. And the reason
3:19
Speaker 1: why is because I always, I always forget. And then
3:24
Speaker 1: it's like, it's time to do the pot. And I'm like,
3:25
Speaker 1: Oh no, I didn't solicit. Um, and it really works
3:28
Speaker 1: good when I put it in the bulls pen.com for
3:31
Speaker 1: the mailbag. That's when I get the best results because
3:33
Speaker 1: there's so many, uh, bulls fans there, but, uh, the
3:36
Speaker 1: bulls pen.com. Join them today. Support the USF Bulls with TheBullsPen.com.
3:43
Speaker 1: I've been hanging out in there a little bit. I
3:44
Speaker 1: try to hang out in there too much because people
3:47
Speaker 1: have opinions on the show. Mostly good, but you never know.
3:51
Speaker 1: Some are bad. I got Twitter for that. But for
3:54
Speaker 1: USF stuff, it is fantastic. TheBullsPen.com. So shout out to
4:00
Speaker 1: those guys over there. They do a wonderful job. And
4:02
Speaker 1: there really is just the chatter on the site. You
4:04
Speaker 1: can tell there's just so much passion. for USF there.
4:07
Speaker 1: So if you're a USF fan, that is the place
4:10
Speaker 1: for you to be. Again, TheBullsPen.com. All right, so I
4:14
Speaker 1: guess where do we want to start? We're looking at
4:17
Speaker 1: the ECU Pirates. They are 4-4, 2-2 in the American.
4:20
Speaker 1: They're 3-1 at home. They're 1-3 on the road. We
4:24
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about that because this game is
4:26
Speaker 1: going to be in Greenville, North Carolina. Dowdy Ficklin Stadium
4:31
Speaker 1: holds 51,000 people. Will we see 51,000? Probably not. But
4:36
Speaker 1: I was looking at the attendance this year for USF games.
4:40
Speaker 1: Not terrible. UTSA, it's kind of funny. UTSA did not
4:45
Speaker 1: show up, which is funny because Brian Hartline, that was
4:48
Speaker 1: the lowest attendance game of the year. They played in 17,632,
4:52
Speaker 1: which oddly enough was when Brian Hartline made those comments
4:55
Speaker 1: about how they pump in crowd noise. And he's like,
4:58
Speaker 1: I can't figure out why it's loud there. Nobody shows up.
5:01
Speaker 1: And then they go on to do this whole promotion, which...
5:04
Speaker 1: I thought was, I thought it was good marketing, but
5:09
Speaker 1: also bad marketing. Like I thought it was creative from
5:11
Speaker 1: the marketing team to come up with the idea, but
5:15
Speaker 1: I also thought it was a bad look to sell
5:17
Speaker 1: $ 9 tickets. And then when you see the final attendance
5:20
Speaker 1: of 17,000, it really was a bad look for, you know,
5:27
Speaker 1: what they did. What's the Alamo dome hold? I mean,
5:32
Speaker 1: I mean, Let me see what their capacity is. 64,000. Yeah.
5:37
Speaker 1: I mean, it looked, it looked like it was dead
5:39
Speaker 1: on TV in that game. And, and also the Cowboys
5:43
Speaker 1: were playing that night. Oddly enough, they were playing the Buccaneers.
5:45
Speaker 1: I I'm still not, I still don't love the fact
5:47
Speaker 1: that they did that to, uh, to both of these
5:50
Speaker 1: teams that game deserved to be, uh, highlighted as a
5:53
Speaker 1: true standalone game, whoever the schedule makers are in college football,
5:57
Speaker 1: shame on you for that one. But, uh, Looking at
6:00
Speaker 1: their attendance, 41,000 for the opener. That was impressive. We've
6:03
Speaker 1: got to get back to that. I'm hoping with Memphis
6:06
Speaker 1: coming up next week, 8 o'clock on ESPN, it's a
6:09
Speaker 1: Thursday night game standalone. Let's be ready for that one.
6:14
Speaker 1: We need to get everybody out there at Raymond James
6:17
Speaker 1: Stadium for that game, second to last at Raymond James Stadium.
6:21
Speaker 1: It is unbelievable that we are already here this point
6:28
Speaker 1: into the season. And now, actually, that I look at
6:33
Speaker 1: the season, are they playing... This says they're going to
6:36
Speaker 1: play Tulane on a Saturday. Why did I think the
6:38
Speaker 1: final game of the year for USF was on Black Friday? Oh,
6:46
Speaker 1: it is on November 28th. Man, I've been putting out
6:49
Speaker 1: stupid information on my show. I said that USF won't
6:54
Speaker 1: have any more Saturday games before Buccaneer games. Well, the Bucs...
6:58
Speaker 1: Let's see, the Bucs... Wait, look at the Buccaneers schedule.
7:01
Speaker 1: So they do have one Saturday game left at Raymond
7:04
Speaker 1: James Stadium on the 28th. Let's see, do the Bucs play?
7:10
Speaker 1: They play on the 30th. It's a Monday night game.
7:14
Speaker 1: So actually, that's fine. So the Bucs don't have to
7:16
Speaker 1: complain anymore about USF. Even with that game on that Saturday,
7:21
Speaker 1: they'll have two days to get the field right. But
7:24
Speaker 1: I know that's been an issue with Buccaneer fans. Todd
7:27
Speaker 1: Bowles mentioned USF. He was asked a question about the
7:30
Speaker 1: field conditions. And he said, you know, it's kind of normal.
7:33
Speaker 1: He did mention USF there. Remember Aaron Rogers mentioned a
7:36
Speaker 1: UCF when he was complaining about Raymond James stadium. So
7:39
Speaker 1: there is one more Saturday game. I, for some reason
7:41
Speaker 1: I was thinking that game was on black Friday. I
7:45
Speaker 1: thought they were playing that game at noon on black Friday.
7:47
Speaker 1: And then, and then Florida, Florida state were afterwards, but
7:51
Speaker 1: I guess I've been wrong this entire time. All right, cool.
7:56
Speaker 1: It doesn't really change anything other than the fact that
7:58
Speaker 1: I've sounded like a moron when I brought that up
8:00
Speaker 1: on the radio. But I'm sure people have already forgotten
8:03
Speaker 1: about it until I just brought it up. But yeah,
8:06
Speaker 1: that'll be against Tulane. But looking at the attendances, 41K.
8:11
Speaker 1: There's 23K at Army. The Delaware State game is pretty impressive, 32,000
8:17
Speaker 1: for that game. So shout out to you guys for
8:19
Speaker 1: making that one happen. 22K at Bowling Green. The Temple game, 36,000.
8:24
Speaker 1: Hell of a crowd. And then, like I said, the
8:27
Speaker 1: UTSA let down. And then Kent State, 31,000, not bad. UAB,
8:32
Speaker 1: that one was a little bit disappointing, 22,000. I think
8:36
Speaker 1: a couple factors played into that. Weather wasn't phenomenal. Also,
8:41
Speaker 1: it was a day game. And it wasn't, for October 31st,
8:46
Speaker 1: it was still kind of warm. Like, you were okay
8:49
Speaker 1: if you were in the shade, but if you were
8:50
Speaker 1: in the sun, it wasn't that enjoyable, which is why
8:52
Speaker 1: I'm still confused. They wore black jerseys that day, but
8:55
Speaker 1: they did. So attendance, not bad. But that Memphis game, guys,
9:00
Speaker 1: you got to pack that place out because that is
9:03
Speaker 1: a massive game. I mean, that essentially is an elimination game.
9:06
Speaker 1: The loser of that game will be out of the
9:08
Speaker 1: running for the American Conference. And there still is a path.
9:11
Speaker 1: And I'm going to go over the rooting guide in
9:13
Speaker 1: a minute. But a couple more things on ECU, ESPN, FPI.
9:18
Speaker 1: They are 84th and USF is 75. So these teams
9:24
Speaker 1: are very close. in terms of where they stand on
9:29
Speaker 1: the season. Obviously, USF, much better record at 6-2, and
9:32
Speaker 1: they're 4-4, but they still have hopes and dreams for
9:36
Speaker 1: the American Conference Championship Game 2. I don't quite know
9:39
Speaker 1: their path because I didn't really look into it. I
9:42
Speaker 1: just kind of looked at ours, but they're still alive,
9:45
Speaker 1: so there is something to play for in this game.
9:47
Speaker 1: USF leads the series overall 9-4, and ECU, though, has
9:52
Speaker 1: won the last three dating back to 2020, but In Greenville,
9:58
Speaker 1: the Bulls are 5-1. ECU won 48-28 in Boca Raton, though.
10:02
Speaker 1: That was the last time they played due to a hurricane.
10:05
Speaker 1: Did I say that right? Boca Raton, Boca Raton. I
10:07
Speaker 1: can never say that city name right. But, yeah, they
10:11
Speaker 1: lost to that one, and that was due to a
10:13
Speaker 1: hurricane the last time they met. But, yeah, 5-1 in Greenville.
10:16
Speaker 1: So we hope to make it 6-1. going into this game.
10:19
Speaker 1: Some of the storylines that they're highlighting for this, the
10:22
Speaker 1: Bulls defense has allowed 116 points, which is the fewest
10:25
Speaker 1: thus far in program history, which is pretty impressive. Through
10:29
Speaker 1: eight games allowed, 10 or less in four games, which
10:34
Speaker 1: is tied for third in FBS. I mean, when you
10:36
Speaker 1: really break down these numbers, that is so impressive that
10:40
Speaker 1: they have allowed 10 points or less in four of
10:44
Speaker 1: their eight games this year. What's even crazier is to
10:47
Speaker 1: think that that doesn't lead the nation. You would think
10:50
Speaker 1: that would be first, but that is third in FBS.
10:55
Speaker 1: The Bulls do lead the American Conference, ranking number 10
10:59
Speaker 1: nationally in scoring defense, 14.5 points per game. They're number
11:04
Speaker 1: 11 in tackles for loss, and they're number 24 in
11:06
Speaker 1: total defense, giving up 306.6 yards per game. Shout out
11:11
Speaker 1: CJ Hicks. We kind of highlighted him on the last podcast.
11:14
Speaker 1: Although the last time we did it, I don't believe
11:16
Speaker 1: this was out yet, but he was the American defensive
11:19
Speaker 1: player of the week having that four sack game. And
11:23
Speaker 1: he is now ranked 18th nationally with 0.83 sacks per game.
11:28
Speaker 1: So congratulations to CJ Hicks. He has just been everything
11:32
Speaker 1: we thought he would be. We thought we were going
11:34
Speaker 1: to see that really from day one. I remember going
11:37
Speaker 1: back to the first week of this podcast and I
11:42
Speaker 1: said in the first game I predicted we'd get a
11:44
Speaker 1: sack out of CJ. It took some time before we
11:46
Speaker 1: got it, but now he got that first one off
11:49
Speaker 1: of his back, and he's been unstoppable since. Let's see,
11:53
Speaker 1: a couple other storylines they're highlighting here. The Bulls defense
11:56
Speaker 1: has four second-half shutouts this season, which is the most
12:00
Speaker 1: in the FBS, and that ties the most for USF
12:03
Speaker 1: in a season that ties the 1997 defense. So one more.
12:08
Speaker 1: They got to get one more. When you look at
12:10
Speaker 1: the schedule, Memphis, FAU, Tulane still to go. Can they
12:16
Speaker 1: do it? Plus, obviously, ECU, which we're talking about. So
12:19
Speaker 1: four more games. Any of those games, can they post
12:22
Speaker 1: a shutout in the second half? It'll be interesting. I
12:26
Speaker 1: think Memphis will be tough. Tulane might be tough to
12:28
Speaker 1: do it as well. But this Tulane team is definitely
12:32
Speaker 1: not the Tulane team that we remember from a year ago.
12:37
Speaker 1: Let's see, a couple other storylines going into the game.
12:39
Speaker 1: The Bulls are bowl eligible for the fourth straight year.
12:41
Speaker 1: We're going to go over some bowl projections here in
12:43
Speaker 1: a minute. Got those. The Bulls, two American losses have
12:47
Speaker 1: come by a total of 11 points. The Temple loss
12:51
Speaker 1: was obviously disappointing, and I didn't feel like they deserved
12:55
Speaker 1: to win that game with the way that they played.
12:58
Speaker 1: What was it, third and 32? No, no, no, I'm sorry.
13:02
Speaker 1: Was it a third or fourth down play where the quarterback,
13:04
Speaker 1: I think he ran for 32 yards, the backup quarterback,
13:06
Speaker 1: two of Temple. That play still stuck in my mind.
13:11
Speaker 1: That was obviously the dagger for them. That game is frustrating,
13:16
Speaker 1: but I didn't feel like they deserved to win it.
13:18
Speaker 1: The following week against UTSA, that one bothers me because
13:21
Speaker 1: I did feel like they deserved to win it, and
13:23
Speaker 1: I'm really, really praying that USF can get to the
13:26
Speaker 1: rematch because I believe they can beat UTSA in a
13:30
Speaker 1: conference championship game. USF has held a fourth quarter lead
13:33
Speaker 1: in all eight games in 2026. That is the largest
13:37
Speaker 1: run to begin a campaign since 2017, where they had
13:41
Speaker 1: a fourth quarter lead in every single one of their games.
13:44
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean, it's just, when you look at
13:47
Speaker 1: the defense, man, it's just, it's so impressive when you
13:50
Speaker 1: see this stuff in writing. The 116 points, the lowest
13:54
Speaker 1: through eight games in program history. The program season records
13:57
Speaker 1: are 178 points allowed, which is a 16.2 point average
14:02
Speaker 1: in 11 games. That was the 1998 season. So right
14:05
Speaker 1: now they're trending below that. They're at 14 and a half.
14:08
Speaker 1: That team back in 1998 was 16.2, was what they
14:12
Speaker 1: were giving up on the year. Some other stats on
14:17
Speaker 1: the notes on the defense that I had highlighted. was
14:22
Speaker 1: in so i i just mentioned how they they rank
14:25
Speaker 1: uh uh 10th nationally in scoring defense uh 24 in
14:31
Speaker 1: total defense and their number 11 in tackles for loss
14:34
Speaker 1: uh in comparison in 2025 usf ranked number 53 in
14:38
Speaker 1: scorning 83 in total defense uh so that is just
14:42
Speaker 1: fantastic you just I hate to bring it up, but
14:46
Speaker 1: you think about what the offense last year with this defense. Oh,
14:50
Speaker 1: my goodness. Now, something to recognize the offense about that.
14:55
Speaker 1: I guess I didn't realize we knew they put up
14:58
Speaker 1: the points and we just we discount it because it's
15:00
Speaker 1: Delaware State. And I get that. It's crazy to think, though,
15:04
Speaker 1: this offense, though, with all the struggles they've had, put
15:07
Speaker 1: up the number 11th most. yards in program history in
15:12
Speaker 1: a single game. When you think of offenses at USF,
15:16
Speaker 1: this is not one that, at least to this point,
15:18
Speaker 1: that you're going to look back and go, oh, that
15:20
Speaker 1: was one of the best offenses ever, but they did
15:22
Speaker 1: have one of the best individual games when they put
15:24
Speaker 1: up 611 yards against Delaware State. Of course, that's the
15:31
Speaker 1: most they put up since 715 yards against Tulsa back
15:33
Speaker 1: in 2024. So I thought that was kind of interesting.
15:39
Speaker 1: You know, something I do want to give the offense
15:41
Speaker 1: credit for, though. I know the passing game hasn't been great,
15:46
Speaker 1: but I do have to acknowledge that Michael Van Buren Jr.
15:50
Speaker 1: has 181 pass attempts without an interception. And that is
15:54
Speaker 1: a record start to start a season at USF. His
15:59
Speaker 1: streak in total is up to 230 going back to
16:02
Speaker 1: last season at LSU. That is the most passing attempts
16:05
Speaker 1: without throwing a interception by any FBS player in 2026. So,
16:12
Speaker 1: you know, got to show him some love for that.
16:15
Speaker 1: He has done a good job. You know, I think
16:20
Speaker 1: overall he's been fine. And when we talked to Matt Groth,
16:23
Speaker 1: he was a fan of Michael Van Buren Jr. He
16:26
Speaker 1: had no complaints there. His biggest complaint was basically limit
16:32
Speaker 1: the playbook and figure out what your players do best
16:35
Speaker 1: and just do that more often. And I agree with
16:38
Speaker 1: him on that. You know, it's kind of like, you know,
16:40
Speaker 1: I like to use radio analogies a lot, you know,
16:43
Speaker 1: for my days at the music stations, you know, we,
16:46
Speaker 1: we play the same songs over and over. It's called
16:48
Speaker 1: play the hits. That's what USF on offense needs to do.
16:51
Speaker 1: Play the hits. If you missed the conversation with Matt Grothy,
16:54
Speaker 1: go back and watch it. It's good. And it's not outdated. Really.
16:58
Speaker 1: We kind of more have talked about the season in
17:00
Speaker 1: a whole more so previewing the UAB game. That was
17:03
Speaker 1: when I talked to him before that game, but it
17:05
Speaker 1: was a good conversation. If you're also scrolling back through
17:07
Speaker 1: the YouTube channel at fourth and bull podcast, Caleb cook
17:12
Speaker 1: was on last. And that was a fun, fun interview.
17:15
Speaker 1: I'm really starting to have fun with those. I'm so
17:19
Speaker 1: at first I was doing the, I was recording the
17:22
Speaker 1: interviews and doing them on the podcast. And then I
17:24
Speaker 1: was replaying them on the radio. The problem is podcast
17:28
Speaker 1: interviews and radio interviews are so different. And I thought
17:32
Speaker 1: I want to, get to know these players on a
17:35
Speaker 1: different level, not just talk X's and O's, which we do.
17:38
Speaker 1: We talk the X's and O's, but I want to,
17:40
Speaker 1: I want to do more of, you know, give you
17:43
Speaker 1: more of an inside look at these players and have
17:45
Speaker 1: them kind of sit down rather than just drilling them
17:47
Speaker 1: with questions, really more of just having a conversation, which
17:50
Speaker 1: is different than radio. And that's why I love the
17:52
Speaker 1: podcast thing. So what I did is I, I stopped
17:55
Speaker 1: putting them on the radio. Sometimes I still put them
17:59
Speaker 1: on the radio, but I just got to finagle the
18:00
Speaker 1: editing a little bit, but yeah, The interviews I think
18:04
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks have been a lot of fun.
18:06
Speaker 1: So it's worth going to check out the Caleb Cook one.
18:11
Speaker 1: He was interesting. He was great. He was a great
18:13
Speaker 1: personality and had a lot to say. And, you know,
18:17
Speaker 1: he shared his thoughts on the offense and the offensive line,
18:19
Speaker 1: which so many people have had questions about the O-line.
18:23
Speaker 1: It was an interesting listen. So I highly recommend going
18:26
Speaker 1: back and checking out that interview. By the way, if
18:29
Speaker 1: you're watching on YouTube, thank you so much. Remember, iHeartRadio, Spotify,
18:33
Speaker 1: and Apple Podcasts is where you can get the audio
18:35
Speaker 1: version of the show. If you're listening on iHeartRadio, Spotify,
18:39
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, thank you. Remember, subscribe on YouTube at Forth
18:42
Speaker 1: and Bull Podcast. Subscribe wherever you get the podcast. I
18:46
Speaker 1: really do appreciate that. The tale of the tape. Who's
18:51
Speaker 1: got the advantage? Points per game. Advantage goes to USF.
18:55
Speaker 1: They're 75th in the country. ECU, 94. So you think
18:59
Speaker 1: our offense is not very good. Uh, theirs is, is worse.
19:02
Speaker 1: They're putting up, uh, it's, it's not that much worse.
19:05
Speaker 1: They're putting up 24 points a game compared to our 27. Uh,
19:08
Speaker 1: you know, we put up 27 points a game. Unfortunately,
19:11
Speaker 1: it's 24 of them seem to always come in the
19:13
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. Uh, we would like to get maybe some
19:16
Speaker 1: of those, uh, in the first quarter. It's, I said
19:19
Speaker 1: it on the last podcast. The one thing about USF football, it's,
19:22
Speaker 1: it's like the first two quarters, you're kind of you're
19:27
Speaker 1: stressing you're like oh my god we're really gonna lose
19:29
Speaker 1: this game because the offense and then they come out
19:33
Speaker 1: and they dominate in the second half and it's not
19:36
Speaker 1: always pretty sometimes it's it's ugly but they always end
19:39
Speaker 1: up covering and you're like how do they cover and
19:43
Speaker 1: why am i why am i pissed you know but
19:47
Speaker 1: you're not happy with the way that they win Total offense,
19:51
Speaker 1: they are slightly ahead. They put up 351 yards per game.
19:54
Speaker 1: They're ranked 102nd. The Bulls are ranked 129th. Points allowed
19:58
Speaker 1: per game. ECU ranks 64th. The Bulls are 10th. So
20:04
Speaker 1: advantage on the defensive side. USF, total defense, the Bulls
20:08
Speaker 1: are 24th. And ECU is 48th in the country. So
20:12
Speaker 1: they're pretty good. I mean, it's not a huge gap.
20:15
Speaker 1: Their defense isn't bad. They give up 336 yards a
20:18
Speaker 1: game compared to the 306 that USF has given up.
20:22
Speaker 1: But really, the difference is in the points allowed per game.
20:25
Speaker 1: They're giving up about 10 more points per game than USF.
20:29
Speaker 1: But yardage wise, the gap's not that much. You're talking
20:33
Speaker 1: about 20, really 20 yard difference. But they seem to
20:37
Speaker 1: give up a lot more points, and that's not surprising. USF,
20:41
Speaker 1: we've seen a couple games this year where the defense
20:43
Speaker 1: has given up a ton of yards in between the 20s,
20:45
Speaker 1: and then when they tell their teams to get into
20:46
Speaker 1: the red zone, they're able to shut them down, minus
20:49
Speaker 1: just a couple of opponents like UTSA, and a lot
20:52
Speaker 1: of those were just really big explosive plays. I'm still replaying,
20:57
Speaker 1: I think it was the first touchdown of that game,
20:59
Speaker 1: the run to the right. Nobody, it was, I didn't
21:03
Speaker 1: want to talk about it. You guys know which one
21:05
Speaker 1: I'm talking about, right? the UTSA rushing touchdown where they
21:08
Speaker 1: got through the hole and nobody touched them. Rushing yards
21:13
Speaker 1: advantage actually, believe it or not, goes to ECU. They're
21:16
Speaker 1: 60th in the country. We are 80th. Passing yards, shocker.
21:21
Speaker 1: They have the advantage, but not by much. They're ranked
21:23
Speaker 1: 114th in the country. We're 128. They throw for 186.
21:26
Speaker 1: We throw for 166. So it kind of seems like
21:30
Speaker 1: this is probably going to be a running game for
21:33
Speaker 1: both teams Friday night. Turnovers lost. They turn the ball
21:38
Speaker 1: over a lot. They're 124th in the country with 14
21:41
Speaker 1: turnovers this year. So they're averaging almost two turnovers per game.
21:46
Speaker 1: Where USF, they've got four turnovers lost all year. That's
21:51
Speaker 1: fifth in the country. Pretty good. Turnovers gained. They're 35th.
21:55
Speaker 1: We are 81st. Sacks per game. They are 30th. We
21:59
Speaker 1: are 37th. So slightly more for ECU. Tackles for loss.
22:04
Speaker 1: They're fourth in the country. We are 11th. Penalties per game,
22:08
Speaker 1: they're 46th. We're 18th. Third down conversion percentage, they're 130th.
22:12
Speaker 1: We are 67th. So third down conversions, they are not
22:18
Speaker 1: great on offense. You get them to third down, especially
22:21
Speaker 1: if you get them to third down and long, I mean,
22:22
Speaker 1: that's going to be a key thing in this football game.
22:25
Speaker 1: Advantage obviously goes to USF there. I always like to
22:28
Speaker 1: look at third down conversion percentage because that's going to
22:30
Speaker 1: tell you, I'm talking about after a game, because that's
22:32
Speaker 1: always going to tell you the difference in the game, right?
22:36
Speaker 1: If a team can execute on third down, usually they're
22:39
Speaker 1: going to win. Third down conversions allowed, they are 25th.
22:43
Speaker 1: We're 42nd, so surprisingly advantage to them. So out of
22:47
Speaker 1: all categories I went through, there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
22:49
Speaker 1: ECU has the advantage in 4, 5, 6, 7 of them.
22:50
Speaker 1: So a very close game. USF has the advantage in
23:03
Speaker 1: six of those categories. And those categories were points per game,
23:06
Speaker 1: points allowed per game, total defense, turnovers lost, penalties per game,
23:11
Speaker 1: third down conversion percentage, and third down conversions allowed. So actually, no,
23:17
Speaker 1: third down conversions allowed. That actually goes to them. So
23:20
Speaker 1: not bad. This is a pretty even game. You know
23:24
Speaker 1: what I didn't look at is How is the ESPN FPI?
23:29
Speaker 1: Not that it really means anything, but I'm curious to
23:31
Speaker 1: see how they match this game up. Let me look
23:36
Speaker 1: at it here real quick and pull it up. The ESPN. Wow. Okay.
23:41
Speaker 1: According to the ESPN analytics, a 52.6% ECU has in
23:48
Speaker 1: this football game. And it looks like ECU is about
23:52
Speaker 1: a two and a half point favorite, depending on where
23:54
Speaker 1: you get the lines. It opened at one and a half.
23:57
Speaker 1: So now it's down to, actually it opened up at
23:59
Speaker 1: USF minus one and a half. So some money came
24:03
Speaker 1: in on, what would that mean? Money came in on, yeah, ECU.
24:08
Speaker 1: So now ECU is minus two and a half for
24:12
Speaker 1: the game tomorrow night. Yeah, interesting. So 47.3% chance for
24:19
Speaker 1: USF to win. That's definitely this is one of those games,
24:27
Speaker 1: you know, don't let them get you. It's a little
24:30
Speaker 1: bit of a short week. We saw what happened now.
24:32
Speaker 1: It's not as short of a week as playing on Thursday,
24:34
Speaker 1: but it is one day shorter. And I was, you know,
24:37
Speaker 1: disappointed the most in the defense last time they didn't
24:40
Speaker 1: have a full week. So the defense is absolutely going
24:43
Speaker 1: to have to play much better than they did last
24:45
Speaker 1: time they were on a short week against UTSA. The
24:49
Speaker 1: rooting guide this weekend. Look, they're not going to catch UTSA.
24:54
Speaker 1: Let's just be real. You're really kind of rooting for
24:58
Speaker 1: North Texas to lose. But look, if you want to
25:01
Speaker 1: root for against UTSA, I get it. It's just very
25:06
Speaker 1: unlikely they're going to lose three games because that's what
25:10
Speaker 1: they're going to have to do. They have the tiebreaker.
25:12
Speaker 1: You're going to have to win out, and they're going
25:17
Speaker 1: to have to lose three. Let me pull up their schedule.
25:20
Speaker 1: I can't imagine. They've got FAU. FAU. which is tonight.
25:26
Speaker 1: By the time you're listening to this podcast, that game's
25:28
Speaker 1: probably already in the books. Then North Texas, and then
25:31
Speaker 1: they're going to play UAB. They've got an 81.3% chance
25:36
Speaker 1: to beat UAB. And then they play Tulsa at the
25:39
Speaker 1: end of the year. And look, Tulsa can surprise you.
25:41
Speaker 1: They did have that win against Oklahoma State, but they
25:43
Speaker 1: got a 70% chance to win that. So I don't
25:45
Speaker 1: expect us to catch UAB. I don't think USF will
25:50
Speaker 1: catch them again. They'd have to lose three out of
25:51
Speaker 1: their next four I just don't think it's going to happen.
25:55
Speaker 1: Their only loss right now is to Texas. FAU, North Texas, UAB, Tulsa,
26:00
Speaker 1: are they going to lose three of the next four?
26:02
Speaker 1: I just don't see that happening. So I'm going to
26:08
Speaker 1: propose that you just pay attention to North Texas. I
26:10
Speaker 1: wouldn't even worry about UTSA. Let UTSA win out. And
26:15
Speaker 1: why is UTSA winning out good? Because they play North Texas.
26:19
Speaker 1: So we need UTSA to go ahead and just win out.
26:22
Speaker 1: And I want the rematch against UTSA because I think
26:24
Speaker 1: USF can beat them. So the rooting guide is really
26:28
Speaker 1: you're rooting against North Texas. They got Rice. You're going
26:31
Speaker 1: to root for North Texas. You're going to root for
26:34
Speaker 1: UTSA over North Texas. You are going to root for
26:37
Speaker 1: Tulane over North Texas. And you are going to root
26:41
Speaker 1: for UAB over North Texas. You want them to lose. Look,
26:46
Speaker 1: I don't want to go through all the tie-breaking scenarios.
26:49
Speaker 1: To make it easy, let's hope they lose three of
26:51
Speaker 1: those games. Highly unlikely. You'd have to go through the
26:54
Speaker 1: tie-breaking scenarios. And they're all so weird. You know what?
26:59
Speaker 1: I should have been more prepared for this. Let me
27:02
Speaker 1: see if I can just find it real quick. See
27:05
Speaker 1: if I can get the answer. And look, you guys
27:08
Speaker 1: watching probably already know all of the tie-breaking scenarios. And
27:11
Speaker 1: you're like, this dummy is hosting this show. Dude, the
27:15
Speaker 1: tie-breaking scenarios... whether it's college football, NFL, baseball, I can
27:22
Speaker 1: never remember any of them. It is the one thing,
27:24
Speaker 1: for some reason, it's the one thing in sports I
27:25
Speaker 1: can never remember. I know ranking matters, but neither of
27:29
Speaker 1: them are going to be ranked. I believe that might
27:31
Speaker 1: even be the first tiebreakers head-to-head, but they don't play.
27:34
Speaker 1: And I think the second one is whoever's ranked higher,
27:38
Speaker 1: but neither of them are going to be ranked. So
27:42
Speaker 1: I need to see what the... Hold on. I didn't
27:46
Speaker 1: give it the right prompt here. Tiebreaker. Let me see.
27:49
Speaker 1: Let's see. This is going to give me a quick
27:54
Speaker 1: answer here. Let's see. Let's see. All right. USF, North Texas.
28:08
Speaker 1: They don't play in 26. Therefore, the head-to-head result to
28:12
Speaker 1: decide is a tie. The American 2024 Six tie breaking procedure.
28:16
Speaker 1: Use the highest ranked team in the CFP rankings. Uh,
28:19
Speaker 1: if neither of them are there, if that doesn't resolve
28:21
Speaker 1: at the conference used to composite and computer rankings, SP
28:25
Speaker 1: plus sports source. Yeah. It comes down to a bunch
28:27
Speaker 1: of numbers. I don't really want to play that game. Um,
28:31
Speaker 1: let's see. All right. So a bunch of computers are
28:37
Speaker 1: going to decide it. Uh, USF two games behind North
28:41
Speaker 1: Texas in the last column. Um, Yeah, they're not eliminated,
28:44
Speaker 1: but it is going to make it kind of challenging.
28:48
Speaker 1: So really the rooting guide is just root against North
28:52
Speaker 1: Texas every single game. Now, if you're interested in the
28:55
Speaker 1: percentages in any of those games, I did look those up.
28:58
Speaker 1: Look at me being a little bit prepared. I don't
29:00
Speaker 1: have to dig live here on the show. They've got
29:04
Speaker 1: a 90% chance to beat Rice, a 48.1% chance against UTSA.
29:06
Speaker 1: That game is on the road. They've got a 64.8%
29:13
Speaker 1: chance to beat Tulane. That is on the road and
29:15
Speaker 1: a 91% chance to lose, or I'm sorry, to beat UAB.
29:19
Speaker 1: That game's at home. So they got a couple of tough,
29:22
Speaker 1: difficult matches. Did I just say a tough, difficult matches?
29:26
Speaker 1: They got a couple of difficult matches there that maybe
29:30
Speaker 1: it happens and maybe they do end up with two losses.
29:34
Speaker 1: And then it goes to that tiebreaker, that rule that
29:37
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily understand is their tiebreaking procedure, here it
29:42
Speaker 1: is according to their website. Now this is 2025, which
29:45
Speaker 1: I would imagine it is the same. Head-to-head results used
29:50
Speaker 1: when available. If no tie is broken, the highest ranked
29:52
Speaker 1: team in the November CFP rankings wins week 14 game.
29:57
Speaker 1: They advance to the American Conference Championship game. If ranked
30:00
Speaker 1: team or team lose composite average of selected computer metrics,
30:05
Speaker 1: the Connelly SP Plus Sports Source TR116SOR, ESPNSOR, KPI will
30:13
Speaker 1: identify top ranked teams. Yes, it just gets messy. I
30:17
Speaker 1: don't like that at all. I'm trying to see. So
30:20
Speaker 1: let me see if USF and North Texas have same record.
30:30
Speaker 1: Who would play in the American? Let's see if stupid
30:35
Speaker 1: AI can help us out. Or at least give us
30:39
Speaker 1: an idea. You know, can pull data from all the websites. Yeah, okay, so... Yeah,
30:52
Speaker 1: I can't know unless it knows the rankings. Let's say...
30:56
Speaker 1: What if neither are ranked? Let me see if this
31:02
Speaker 1: pops up. Trying to get this live on the show,
31:04
Speaker 1: just to help you guys out. If you already know,
31:06
Speaker 1: then my bad. Yeah, it's... If USF North Texas are
31:13
Speaker 1: ranked in the 25, then it goes to the composite.
31:17
Speaker 1: Winning percentage against common conference opponents. Overall winning percentage against conference...
31:22
Speaker 1: All right, I'm not going to do all of that
31:23
Speaker 1: on the show. If the Bulls in North Texas finish
31:25
Speaker 1: with identical conference records... Neither is in the CFP ranked,
31:29
Speaker 1: and they haven't played each other. The four computer metrics
31:31
Speaker 1: decide the championship games. That means USF strength of schedule
31:35
Speaker 1: performance metrics could be extremely important. But look, let's just
31:40
Speaker 1: keep it simple. North Texas needs to lose every game.
31:43
Speaker 1: Let's not bring it down to the computers. Bowl projections
31:48
Speaker 1: are out. The bowl projections, some of these I'm okay with.
31:55
Speaker 1: One of them I love. CBS Sports has Duke and
32:00
Speaker 1: USF playing in the Gasparilla Bowl. I don't see them
32:04
Speaker 1: in the Gasparilla Bowl. I know they played there. What
32:08
Speaker 1: was it, 2018, 2017? It's rare they have a team
32:12
Speaker 1: play in the bowl game they host. I had talked
32:18
Speaker 1: to the Gasparilla Bowl commissioner last year on my college
32:22
Speaker 1: football podcast I was doing. That was when I was
32:25
Speaker 1: talking about college football in general, and I figured there's
32:29
Speaker 1: a million of those. Why don't I just focus on
32:31
Speaker 1: a team right here in our backyard? Best decision I
32:33
Speaker 1: ever made because I've gotten really great support from you guys,
32:37
Speaker 1: so thank you. But I talked to him, and I've
32:43
Speaker 1: got really good connections over at the Relia Quest Bowl
32:45
Speaker 1: as well, and they try not to pick the host team.
32:49
Speaker 1: So I don't see them in the Gasparilla Bowl. They
32:52
Speaker 1: could end up. In the Gasparilla Bowl, I think they would,
32:57
Speaker 1: they like to give, you know, these teams a road
33:00
Speaker 1: trip for their bowl games. They like to let them
33:03
Speaker 1: go on a trip. And I think that's important for
33:05
Speaker 1: bowl experience. I think it's good for the team to
33:08
Speaker 1: be able to have that experience together, go on the road,
33:11
Speaker 1: experience the bowl, like a traditional bowl game. Teams travel.
33:15
Speaker 1: They play at a neutral site. But there are a
33:17
Speaker 1: couple Gasparilla Bowl predictions here. CBS has them playing Duke.
33:21
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind it. Um, I know Manny Diaz, his
33:24
Speaker 1: name has come up a bunch for Florida state, so
33:26
Speaker 1: they might not even have a coach. Um, also who
33:28
Speaker 1: knows who would play for Duke, but Duke's having a
33:30
Speaker 1: good year. Uh, it'd be a good measuring stick. Uh,
33:33
Speaker 1: and look, if you're trying to go to the ACC,
33:34
Speaker 1: why not try to beat up on an ACC team,
33:36
Speaker 1: whether they have people playing or not. Uh, Athlon also
33:39
Speaker 1: has them playing Duke, but in the military bowl. Uh,
33:43
Speaker 1: let's see. Roto wire has them playing in the armed
33:45
Speaker 1: forces bowl against West Virginia. I'd be cool going up
33:48
Speaker 1: against rich rod, uh, a little big East, uh, you know,
33:52
Speaker 1: days there. Bring us back to the Big East times. ESPN,
33:58
Speaker 1: somebody has them from ESPN playing NC State in the
34:00
Speaker 1: Fenway Bowl, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Not interested in that.
34:04
Speaker 1: It'll be freezing cold. I don't want USF to go
34:08
Speaker 1: play in a, because that game's at Fenway Park, I think.
34:13
Speaker 1: I don't want that. My favorite one, I believe it
34:15
Speaker 1: was Mark Schlereth, his prediction is that this one would
34:21
Speaker 1: be a home run. Now, this one I would root for.
34:24
Speaker 1: And obviously, it kind of cancels out what I just said.
34:27
Speaker 1: I think teams should go on the road and get
34:29
Speaker 1: the whole experience. But if they played Auburn in the
34:32
Speaker 1: Gasparilla Bowl, that would be electric. That would be... That might...
34:41
Speaker 1: That would sell out. That would sell out Raymond James.
34:44
Speaker 1: I think that is one of the few games that
34:46
Speaker 1: could sell out the Gasparilla Bowl. You know, I think
34:50
Speaker 1: the Gasparilla Bowl... It does best when it does have
34:54
Speaker 1: a Florida team in it. I remember Florida and Tulane
34:56
Speaker 1: played each other a couple years ago. That crowd was
34:59
Speaker 1: pretty good. Obviously, a lot of Gator fans were there.
35:02
Speaker 1: You know, I'd love to see. That's how it came
35:04
Speaker 1: up last year is USF had Florida State had just lost.
35:10
Speaker 1: And I'd asked the commissioner, you know, if Florida State
35:13
Speaker 1: wouldn't have lost whatever game it was. I can't recall.
35:17
Speaker 1: I think they lost a game. Actually, I think it
35:19
Speaker 1: was to NC State, if I remember correctly. Didn't Florida
35:22
Speaker 1: State lose a game last year at the end, which
35:24
Speaker 1: made them not bowl eligible? Let me... FSU schedule 2025.
35:30
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure they lost a game. Yeah, they lost
35:33
Speaker 1: to NC State November 21st. Yeah, and then they ended
35:35
Speaker 1: up becoming... I don't know how I remember stupid things.
35:37
Speaker 1: I can't even remember where I placed my car keys
35:40
Speaker 1: half the time. But yeah, they lost that game, and
35:42
Speaker 1: they ended up not being bowl eligible. And that's when
35:45
Speaker 1: I had asked the commissioner of the Gasparilla Bowl, you know, how...
35:50
Speaker 1: like how, how big of a difference is it not
35:52
Speaker 1: being like, you would have had Florida state. You could
35:54
Speaker 1: have taken USF. Um, and, and I think that's, that's
35:58
Speaker 1: where he said, like, we, we try not to take
35:59
Speaker 1: the host team. So now Auburn and Gasparilla or Auburn and, uh,
36:05
Speaker 1: USF and the Gasparilla bowl, that'd be, that'd be hard
36:07
Speaker 1: to turn down. I mean, if you're, if you're the
36:09
Speaker 1: Gasparilla bowl, you're, you're licking your lips for that, right?
36:13
Speaker 1: You're just, you're, You're drooling. Like, yeah, give me that.
36:16
Speaker 1: I mean, that's one of the few games that I
36:18
Speaker 1: think could sell out Raymond James Stadium in that bowl game.
36:21
Speaker 1: And that'd be the dream matchup to go against Byron
36:24
Speaker 1: Brown if he were to play. And I think he
36:26
Speaker 1: would because, you know, his draft stock's not super high.
36:29
Speaker 1: I think he would play in that bowl game. Alex Golish,
36:32
Speaker 1: we know, would be coaching in that game. That would be, man,
36:35
Speaker 1: that would be, oh, that'd be so good. That would
36:39
Speaker 1: be so good. Let's hope that happens. I love that
36:44
Speaker 1: bull projection. I don't see it happening, but let's hope
36:48
Speaker 1: it happens. Back to this game, ECU. I think it'll
36:58
Speaker 1: be a low-scoring game. I think both teams are going
37:00
Speaker 1: to try to run. Both teams have really good running backs.
37:03
Speaker 1: This is going to be a three-point game, one way
37:06
Speaker 1: or the other. I want it to be a breakout
37:10
Speaker 1: game for the offense, but I'm not going to get
37:12
Speaker 1: my hopes up. I really trying to figure out what's
37:16
Speaker 1: wrong with this offense. I go back and listen to
37:19
Speaker 1: the last episode. I kind of give my take on
37:21
Speaker 1: it there and what needs to happen. Changes obviously need
37:24
Speaker 1: to be made, but I, I'd love for them to just,
37:28
Speaker 1: I just want, we all want the same thing. We
37:30
Speaker 1: want to leave a game going, man, I feel really
37:34
Speaker 1: good about these guys going forward. Because I think what,
37:37
Speaker 1: what really is the most stressful thing about USF is
37:40
Speaker 1: the You have this incredible defense, and it kind of
37:43
Speaker 1: makes you feel like with the defense you have and
37:46
Speaker 1: the schedule that you've got this year, it feels like
37:50
Speaker 1: an incredible opportunity was, I don't want to say thrown away,
37:54
Speaker 1: but they didn't capitalize on an incredible opportunity. Because if
37:59
Speaker 1: you run the table, even though you didn't play any
38:02
Speaker 1: powerful opponents, I think you're ranked right now. I mean...
38:07
Speaker 1: Was it New Mexico or New Mexico? Is New Mexico
38:09
Speaker 1: Jason Eck? They're ranked and they got a loss to Oklahoma.
38:12
Speaker 1: Oklahoma stinks. They lost to a power 14 by seven points.
38:17
Speaker 1: They're unbeaten in the rest of their games and they're ranked.
38:21
Speaker 1: And so I think that's the most frustrating thing for
38:24
Speaker 1: USF fans. And I totally get it. I know that feeling.
38:27
Speaker 1: You know, you guys know that I grew up. I'm
38:30
Speaker 1: a transplant. I grew up in Michigan. So I follow
38:32
Speaker 1: the Wolverines. It's the same story there. They've got a
38:34
Speaker 1: championship level defense and they can't throw a forward pass.
38:37
Speaker 1: You guys think your forward pass is bad. Watch a
38:40
Speaker 1: Michigan game. They make you feel good about the USF
38:43
Speaker 1: offense for real. It's a tough watch. But, you know,
38:46
Speaker 1: from Michigan to USF to the Buccaneers, they're not a
38:50
Speaker 1: lot of offense in my life. I'm deprived of offense
38:55
Speaker 1: in 2026. But I think this will be a lower
38:57
Speaker 1: scoring game. Now I say that and then they'll end
38:59
Speaker 1: up surprising me. Both of these teams will end up
39:01
Speaker 1: airing it out all over the place. What I expect
39:04
Speaker 1: is heavy run from both sides. I expect lower scoring.
39:08
Speaker 1: And I'm thinking like a 2017 type of game. And
39:12
Speaker 1: I expect USF to win this one on the road.
39:14
Speaker 1: Like we said earlier, they're 5-1 in Greenville. So I'm
39:18
Speaker 1: going to take USF on the road to win this.
39:20
Speaker 1: They're going to be 7-2 going into a big Memphis game. Now,
39:23
Speaker 1: that is one thing that USF also needs to be
39:25
Speaker 1: careful of. This is an easy place to look ahead
39:29
Speaker 1: and understand. your opponent. They cannot underestimate the opponent looking
39:33
Speaker 1: ahead to Memphis because, yes, there's a lot on the
39:35
Speaker 1: line for Memphis. The Memphis game is essentially, that's the
39:40
Speaker 1: game that can end your season. Now, the chances of
39:42
Speaker 1: them getting to the American Conference Championship are already kind
39:45
Speaker 1: of slim. I don't want to get your hopes up,
39:47
Speaker 1: but they are possible. But with Memphis, they die. And
39:51
Speaker 1: that's going to be, I think it's going to be
39:53
Speaker 1: a great environment on a Thursday night. It's going to
39:54
Speaker 1: be a big game. It's up to Hartline and company
39:57
Speaker 1: to make sure the team is focused on this game.
40:00
Speaker 1: Don't look ahead. I don't think this by any means
40:02
Speaker 1: is a trap game. I don't think you can call
40:04
Speaker 1: something a trap game when, hell, you're not even favored
40:07
Speaker 1: at this point. But It's a game that you can
40:12
Speaker 1: easily overlook with Memphis right around the corner. The one
40:16
Speaker 1: thing I don't like is Memphis is off this week.
40:19
Speaker 1: So they're going to be coming off of the bye,
40:23
Speaker 1: and USF is essentially going to be coming off of
40:26
Speaker 1: a short week with the game on a Friday. It's
40:29
Speaker 1: six days off, but they're going to have, what, 13?
40:32
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to make excuses. I always hate that.
40:36
Speaker 1: I wish... they're going to play under the same circumstances
40:39
Speaker 1: because they're going to be at home watching USF on
40:41
Speaker 1: Friday night. But yeah, I see this as a lower
40:44
Speaker 1: scoring game. I'm going to say 2017. And the defense
40:50
Speaker 1: is going to, I think, put the offense in a
40:53
Speaker 1: good spot. I guess if I really want to deep
40:56
Speaker 1: down into this game, I think what happens is the
40:59
Speaker 1: defense creates, it's going to be, I'm going to go,
41:02
Speaker 1: it's going to be 17-17. I'm calling my shot here.
41:05
Speaker 1: Let's see if I can nail this. Crystal ball, giving
41:08
Speaker 1: me the powers that be to not only predict it
41:11
Speaker 1: but manifest it so it actually happens. I'm going to go,
41:15
Speaker 1: it's going to be 17-17. ECU is going to have
41:18
Speaker 1: the ball with a chance to win, and the defense
41:22
Speaker 1: creates a turnover. I would like to say C.J. Hicks'
41:26
Speaker 1: sack fumbled. It's happened so many times that could it
41:29
Speaker 1: really happen again? I'd be surprised. But I think the
41:32
Speaker 1: defense forces a turnover. And the offense is able to
41:36
Speaker 1: get Nico onto the field for a field goal attempt with,
41:40
Speaker 1: I'm going to say, a minute and a half to go.
41:43
Speaker 1: And then the defense gets another stop to stop ECU
41:47
Speaker 1: and their offense. And USF escapes, 2017. So enjoy the
41:52
Speaker 1: game on Friday night or tonight, tomorrow night, whenever you're
41:56
Speaker 1: listening to this podcast. Again, thank you guys so much
41:59
Speaker 1: for listening and watching 4th & Bull on YouTube at
42:02
Speaker 1: 4th & Bull Podcast. And, of course, you can hear
42:03
Speaker 1: it on iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. And fourth and bolt,
42:08
Speaker 1: it is presented by Blue Terra, a Florida-based bull-run environmental
42:10
Speaker 1: restoration and resiliency company, winner of two USFS 56 awards.
42:15
Speaker 1: Blue Terra restores natural habitats and protects our communities against
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Speaker 1: severe storms. Blue Terra flips water bodies from algae-dominated to
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Speaker 1: crystal clear and can install patented wave attenuation devices along
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Speaker 1: beaches and causeways to reverse erosion and protect infrastructure from
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Speaker 1: storm surge and flooding. For more information about Blue Terra,
42:32
Speaker 1: Visit their website at BlueTerra.us. Also, a big thank you
42:37
Speaker 1: to TheBowlsPen.com being a sponsor of the show as well.
42:41
Speaker 1: Enjoy the games this weekend. Hopefully USF can start our
42:46
Speaker 1: weekend on a high note. One of the things that
42:47
Speaker 1: I told Caleb Cook when he was on with me
42:51
Speaker 1: on Tuesday's show, go back and listen if you haven't
42:53
Speaker 1: checked it out. I said, you know, this is going
42:55
Speaker 1: to be a really good weekend. I'm living another bachelor weekend.
43:00
Speaker 1: The wife is going to see her family in Arkansas.
43:03
Speaker 1: And so Friday night, solo, it starts with you guys.
43:09
Speaker 1: I said, you are going to dictate my weekend early.
43:13
Speaker 1: He said he's got me, and they're going to get
43:16
Speaker 1: it done. So he's giving me the confidence. Maybe I'm
43:18
Speaker 1: drinking the Kool-Aid a little bit. You can do that
43:21
Speaker 1: when you talk to these guys because you hear their confidence,
43:24
Speaker 1: and then it translates into my confidence. And, again, I
43:27
Speaker 1: think they'll get it done, and then hopefully we can
43:29
Speaker 1: sit back and enjoy– An amazing slate of games Saturday.
43:33
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if you guys have taken
43:35
Speaker 1: a look at the slate. It is foot. This might
43:39
Speaker 1: be the best weekend in college football. I know we
43:43
Speaker 1: had a good week a couple weeks ago where there
43:45
Speaker 1: was like five or six ranked first ranked matchups. But
43:48
Speaker 1: this week is phenomenal. And it all starts at noon.
43:50
Speaker 1: You have BYU and Utah. Possibly a playoff game there.
43:54
Speaker 1: Kind of weird. It's going to start at 10 a.m.
43:56
Speaker 1: local time. Texas and Missouri both ranked. Uh, let's see
44:01
Speaker 1: other ranked on rank matchups, uh, Alabama and LSU. I'd
44:05
Speaker 1: like to say that's a playoff game, but somehow Alabama's
44:08
Speaker 1: ranked fifth, even with two losses, uh, Oregon and Ohio state.
44:12
Speaker 1: I'll be watching that one. I'm interested in open. Oregon
44:15
Speaker 1: can knock off the buck guys. It's, you know, I
44:18
Speaker 1: always like to see Ohio state go down. Sorry, coach Harlan. Uh,
44:22
Speaker 1: what else we had Kentucky and Tennessee. Kentucky has been
44:24
Speaker 1: really impressive. Georgia and Ole Miss, Miami and Notre Dame also.
44:30
Speaker 1: The cheapest ticket into Miami and Notre Dame is, I
44:33
Speaker 1: do this on my radio show. I play a game
44:36
Speaker 1: called Ticket Price is Right, where my producer and another producer,
44:41
Speaker 1: I give them the matchup and they try to guess
44:44
Speaker 1: what the cheapest ticket into the game is. The cheapest
44:49
Speaker 1: ticket into Notre Dame and Miami is $ 732. $ 732. Malachi
44:55
Speaker 1: Toney not going to be playing in that game. If
44:58
Speaker 1: you notice something with the injuries, by the way, lately,
45:01
Speaker 1: Malachi Toney, high ankle sprain. They're basically saying he's going
45:05
Speaker 1: to have surgery and could be back for the playoff.
45:07
Speaker 1: Ohio State, Julian Sayan, their quarterback is hurt. And Ryan
45:12
Speaker 1: Day has had like a statement today saying he's going
45:15
Speaker 1: to be out for the next couple of weeks and months,
45:19
Speaker 1: but it doesn't mean He's not going to play at all.
45:23
Speaker 1: And I feel like maybe these teams are not being
45:27
Speaker 1: truthful because they're afraid that if their star player is out,
45:31
Speaker 1: they might get the treatment Florida State got in 2023.
45:35
Speaker 1: I have a feeling Julian Sane is done for the
45:37
Speaker 1: season for Ohio State. I kind of feel like Malachi
45:39
Speaker 1: Toney is done as well for Miami. But I guess
45:45
Speaker 1: we'll see. I think they're both done, but we'll see.
45:48
Speaker 1: I think Julian Sane is definitely done. Maybe Malachi Toney...
45:51
Speaker 1: It surprises me. But, yeah, just a great slate of games.
45:53
Speaker 1: So enjoy the games, guys. Enjoy the game Friday night.
45:56
Speaker 1: Hopefully USF can get our weekend started with a dub.
45:59
Speaker 1: And go Bulls. We'll talk again. Hey, you know what?
46:01
Speaker 1: With the wife out of town and the game being
46:03
Speaker 1: on a Friday night, the goal, which you guys know
46:06
Speaker 1: I always fail on the goal, but I think I'm
46:08
Speaker 1: going to be able to live up to this one.
46:10
Speaker 1: I think I'm going to knock it out. Actually, in fact,
46:12
Speaker 1: I will because being a short week and the next
46:16
Speaker 1: game being on a Thursday, we'll need to cram things in.
46:19
Speaker 1: You'll have a show from me Saturday. And then obviously,
46:22
Speaker 1: you know, it'll be relevant throughout the week. So you
46:24
Speaker 1: can watch it or listen to it whenever. But I
46:27
Speaker 1: will get a show out Saturday morning. I'm really putting
46:30
Speaker 1: the pressure on myself. I'll get a show out Saturday
46:33
Speaker 1: morning for you guys, hopefully. Or maybe late Friday night
46:36
Speaker 1: after the game, depending on how I'm feeling. But you
46:39
Speaker 1: will have one before the weekend ends. You'll get it
46:41
Speaker 1: a little bit early with the short week and the
46:43
Speaker 1: game being on a Friday. And as always, guys, make
46:46
Speaker 1: sure you subscribe. Send this to as many Bulls fans
46:48
Speaker 1: as possible. I appreciate your support as always. And I
46:52
Speaker 1: will talk to you guys again soon. And make sure
46:54
Speaker 1: you follow me, by the way, on social media. I
46:56
Speaker 1: am Nick Wise, W-I-Z-E. That's how you can find me
46:59
Speaker 1: on pretty much every platform. So, all right, go Bulls.