It's time for coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now, here's Nick Coffee.
That's right, Coffee and Company rolling along here on a Wednesday afternoon, fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven night. You make sure you sign up to become a member of the Refreshing Rewards Program if you haven't already. You'll save money at the pump and your life will be better. I can't prove that, I can't guarantee it, but trust me, you can trust me. Been a member a long time and life's better. So again, we are fueled by Thornton's
all right, let's bring him in. He is mister Alex Cupper, former Louisville Cardinal, joining us to talk some football as we're getting set with the season opener. Cup. Are you feeling Can you feel the vibes? I mean, I think right now this is we're getting closer and closer and this best time of the year, is it not?
No, it definitely is, And I can feel something because it's hotter than it definitely feels like you know, if if I was out on that practice field. Those are some tough days. These guys are having to grind through, but I know they can't wait till Saturday you and get this thing going.
Is there a specific practice that comes to mind for you during your career where you just felt like, Okay, it is quite literally hotter than hell outside. I'm sure you had many of them. You played football your whole life in August and in July even it's it's hot as hell in this this whole Ohio valley that we live in. But like, there's got to be like a maybe a season where you just felt like it was worse than usual and you could you couldn't you just hated it.
Yeah, I mean if you look back or think back, and it was really every this the previous week, so not this week, because this.
Is yeah, like mid August, right the.
Prior week when you go back into school. School kicks off and you're still in this like in between training camp in the regular season because it's so hot and you work. You're still needing to put in a lot of work. So the coach, you know, the staff is still pushing you to to get better and get get dialed in on your on your craft and everything. So
those those days in general. Twenty twelve Uh. I don't know if this is a record deal, but I remember seeing something that that was one of the hottest August. Is this this town's ever seen or whatever? And I can prove it because it was there was some absolutely felt like I had was being suffocated. It was so human.
Oh man, I can imagine. I can imagine. All right, So when you get done with camp and you start preparing for your first opponent, I know when you played there were opponents that were similar to the opener here against Austin p FCS or maybe just a lower level G five. And I know every coach is different, but how much do you think this week in practice has been about Austin.
P Probably not a ton. I'm sure it's They can use it as more of just carry over from camp and keeping that competitive spirit alive. Introduce, you know, being able to introduce the the game routine because you do have so much turnover on the roster and you want to make sure everybody's familiarized with what you're what you're gonna do on game day and how you know everything from what time you go out to stretch to what time you need to be ready to go suit it
up and ready to roll. So those are those are some kind of knickknack things that that turnover no matter who you play and whether you're opening up with a big you know, a group of five opponents or an FCS. So no, I mean it's it's different to the fact that you you do have game prep to do. You have to understand what what the what looks you're going to see, but the competitive spirit and really, you know, the energy needs to be up like it's still training camp.
Former louis of Cardinal Alex Cuppers are guests joining us here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Cup was a part of that great Charlie Strong era, my favorite era of Louisville football at least as of right now. And Charlie, you know, he had a lot of success here and I feel like one of the things people always mentioned about him as a coach was that he had the ability to always get you guys motivated to where you know, you weren't getting the respect that you deserved and they're
they're doubting you. And sometimes he didn't have to work that hard. You know, the Florida Game and that Sugar Bowl, the ESPN folks did enough to where he didn't really have to do a lot himself. But when you would play opponents that you knew you could play probably a B plus kind of game and probably still win. I mean, how creative did he have to get back in those times?
Because again, you know, if you guys were playing sisters of the poor coach Strong, I feel like would find a way to tell you that they're better than you and you got to go prove it.
Yeah, I mean he would. He It was more you know, competition within yourself, and you know it would it would turn it turn it on yourself and and not not create doubt, but create a sense of hey, if you if you slip, you know, not tomorrow's not guaranteed kind of thing. You know, it's you got to you gotta work like you're you're ready to compete against you know, the number one team in the country every day, and
and that that number one opponents yourself typically. So yeah, that he would, he would, you know, he had creative ways of getting guys, you know, even across from you know, a defensive guy fired up to you know, go up against that offensive lineman or whatever what have you, and vice versa, just to spur it up a little bit just to create some juice and energy.
And sometimes you got to manufacturer, right.
Yeah, well earlier in the season like this, it's good to get this game out of the way when you have it buried, you know, deep into November and and even sometimes you know fourth or or third or fourth week where you finally got in the groove and you're starting to see you know, you know, good quality competition. It's harder to get up for a game like good Point. It's the first one you should be locked in and rate a role. Yeah.
I hadn't thought about that, but yeah, when when the SEC teams play in week eleven, the you know FCS opponent like Bam playing the Citadel or something, I just feel like, what are we doing as a waste of time? You're right, getting these out of the way early is the right way to go about it, I would say. But for Louisville it's actually been this is rare. I mean it's been a long time. Were you on the team when you guys open up against Indiana State? Was that one of your first years there?
No, that was that was a Bobby here. I was actually calling calling games.
In the booth of Paul Still Okay, so that was really well no, no, no, I'm talking no, I'm talking crack for it.
You're right, you're right, Yeah, that was a crack. Yes, I was. I was on that was Do.
You know that's the last time. That's the last time Louisville opened up their season on a Saturday against an FCS opponent. And most schools do that, right like it's it's it's a very common thing in college football, but for some reason we've been I say, as from a fans perspective, I like having a game where I feel like I'm going to learn something right out of the gate. And we had a good run there where there were some legitimate opponents to get the season started. And now
you know, uh, we don't have that. But as you said, it's good to get out of the way.
Now.
Yeah, it's crazy how fast time goes. All right, So AMRII Huggins Bruce a name we've talked about quite a bit here on this show in the last couple of weeks. Just given the circumstances he left South Carolina, he's back at Louisville and he's on the roster, he's practicing. Given the fact that he was just here and he's somebody
that does have experience like the acclamation. I mean, I'm sure there's some new wrinkles within the offense like there is every season, But you know, from a former player who's been in camp and you've you've been around Jeff Brohm as a player yourself, I mean, how realistic is it that this guy could kind of just get caught up to speed and be one of the many receivers available like asap.
I mean, it is a unique situation where not they're very limited scenarios where a receiver can just leave a program and pop right in and even think about playing in a football game, you know, seven days later. So yeah, no, I think I think it's realistic that he can get some run when it comes to Yeah, every coaching staff always creates. You know, they have their core principles and
what they want to teach. So with in that wide receiver room within the offense, there is the core discipline of hey, we run this route this way and this is why. Now over time, you know, coaches pick up on learnings and they share information. When you know, when there's new coaches that come in and you got to got of techniques and all kinds of different things that you try and add that you think you can improve
your room with. So those those are things that should be easy to pick up on, I would think, but they are something to learn. Really. The biggest thing that you would question would be the timing aspect. So in any big time timing route that would that would take, you know, repetition with with the quarterbacks, you probably don't want to toss me in on that because if there is a little delay in how he needs to break or or when he needs to release across the field.
I mean, there's those things matter, and you know, how the quarterback sees it is most important obviously because they're delivering the ball. So yeah, I would expect it, but you I mean, I'm not. I'm not in anticipating a ton of I mean, if he goes for one hundred yards, but if he goes in and subs some guys out, that's probably more of the expectation.
Yeah, I think there's no harm here. If they can get him cleared somehow and he's able to go, it just gives you another option at receiver, especially knowing that he is a guy who can play in the slot and Colin Lacey was obviously expected to be on the field a lot this year went healthy, but we all
know that that's not the case right now. But is Huggins Bruce being here and just the circumstances of how it's played out in the last couple of weeks, is this not one of the best examples cup as far as the n S doua A like, are there rules anymore? Like you could kind of do? I mean again, I'm not anti Amuriy Huggins Bruce. If they can make it work, it's great. But I just to me, this has played out to where I'm thinking, yeah, I'm not sure anybody
knows what rules are. They're just gonna do whatever and see what they can get away with.
And yeah, I gotta be honest. I mean, it's kind of crazy to think at least we know his name, I guess because there's about, you know, thirty guys on that rosters. First time when I looked at the depth chart first time, I'm seeing them and it's like, okay, let's see, you know, looks looks good on paper. Well, hopefully they can perform and and and build and and build that camaraderie team element that you need to win to win type all games.
Alex Copper's our guests joining us here on Sports Talk seven ninety getting set for the Louisville Cardinal opener. The Cards taken on Austin p H. When it comes to this team, you mentioned looking at the depth chart, is there a position group that you feel maybe not not that you're lacking confidence in them, but you kind of, you know, you put a question mark there saying maybe
you like what you've seen on paper. You know what these guys bring to the table from their previous school, but you kind of, you know, you maybe not worried, but just wanting to see what they can do before you feel like you know you're in a good place at that position.
Yeah, I mean when you look at running back and just what's what And that's more so the production that you lose with Jordan and Grindo being gone. I know, Murray's Turner's back, but it's I mean, that's there's a that's a bit boy, that's a and that's a big
part Jefs offense. You know, Yeah, we want to we want to rip and roar and move the ball down the field, but you got you got to start somewhere and and that's somewhere in any offense, you want to have at least a compatible running game, so that you know that's the that's the question mark, I would say. I mean that coupled with the offensive line, because you
lose you lose so much experience up front. I know you got Ronaldo and Gonzales back, which is good, but you replace them with three transfers, which I mean, those were three names that I had to learn, and it's they Again, it looks like we have really great size. Hopefully that those five can really mold together and be a really tight group similar to the one with the
ones we've had in the past, especially last year. So I think that together has a question mark, but hopefully we can answer it pretty early on and have confidence moving forward into the season.
Let's flip it the other way. Is there an again? I think there's probably a few options here, But which group do you feel the best about to work? You're not really worried at all about what they can do. It's more about, hey, let's just make sure they stay healthy.
H I think that yeah, this group, hopefully mate is making that uh that last part possible with the defensive line and and just the experience that we have, and you add a guy like Griffith and and you have Jilotti coming back per year and Desmond. I mean, those are those are guys that have We've I've seen on the depth charts several years, and you've seen them.
Make plays against too.
Against good opponents. So production wise, I mean, I don't want to put numbers on them, but I would expect that we're gonna we should be able, uh to control the line of scrimmage in most scenarios when you're when you're talking about the depth, experience and and just the size and and and really quality of football that we know we have and that that too deep on the defensive line should should give us some confidence that we can at least control the line of scrimmage.
All right, Cup, I got a few rapid fire questions for you before we let you go. I'll start with tailgating. You don't you're not a player anymore. You're getting old like me, So I'm sure you know you experienced the game much different. Now you go your tailgate, you take it in.
Uh.
If I wanted to throw an invite to a non existent tailgate setup that I might have and I wanted to make sure we had accommodations for Cup, make sure we we treat him with hospital. What's the word hospital, hospital, hospitable, something like that. Yeah, yeah, it's something like that. I was in this. I was in the right arena when
it comes to that word. But what would we need to provide three things that like Cup would want to make sure is going to be there if he's deciding which tailgate he's gonna hang.
Out at, well, if it's on a day like today, Well, but you know, some pops would be good.
Okay, it's a.
Good start, you know when it comes to like a dip summertime and all that, like anything taco flavored or like a like a corn dip.
Oh, my wife's got a great fiesta dip.
Cup. Oh hell yeah, yes, that's what I'm talking about with some fridos. That's that. You got me right there, dude, I'll be I'll be around for a while.
Fiesta DIP's good stuff. What about what about like, you know, I will admit I enjoy going to a tailgate, but I'm not one that would ever be tasked to put one together. But like, what do you think of people like bring pizza, like I've been to tailgates where people kind of just bring food and it's not like they've got the grill. It's probably frowned upon by those old school, diehard tailgaters, but like, I think that's okay.
Oh, it's totally fine, especially if you got kids that are picky eaters and they don't you.
Know, aren't old kids picky eaters.
This is coffee, Yeah, fiesta dip. They want to just cheese pizza, you know, yes, all kids, my kids are, and I know a lot of them are. But yeah, pizza's fine. But I mean that, you know, if you're trying to uh, trying to really embrace it, you got to get the smell. There's not a whole lot of smell that a pizza can put off. So you need to get some charcoal going there somewhere.
Yeah, because that's that. Yeah, the vibe is really dependent upon atmosphere smell and and yeah, that can go a long way. All right, last question for you. I'm not I don't mean to pile on you about your age.
Cup.
Cup is younger than me, but it has been a long time since you played. And one of the things that really reminded me of that was a picture that I saw a few weeks ago, and if it made me feel old, it probably made you feel old too. You're one of your both your former quarterbacks, two of your former quarterbacks, I should say, we're in a picture together.
Teddy Bridgewater was it Miami Northwestern High School whre he's now the head coach, and will Stein lil Of a native, your your teammate at Trinity High School, and of course at Uel as well, he's the OC at Oregon's. He's a star in college football right now when it comes to assistant coaches and offensive coordinators, and he's there recruiting, and those two got a picture together. I'm sure you've seen it. I mean, did that take you back?
Yeah? No, that's that is something special obviously for all the reasons that you mentioned, and just a connection that they had playing together and really you know, providing some really great moments for the program. For myself, yeah, those are those are two really high quality individuals first and foremost, and then you know their play on the field wasn't so bad either. So I'm super excited for Teddy obviously Will and and his his future and the profession is
super bright. And for Teddy getting recognized this year is going to be a big moment for that just generation that we always call back on with Coach Strong and a lot of the success that we had.
Cup, you are the man. Appreciate you's always making time for us and we will talk soon. My friend.
All right, good man, take care.
That is Alex Cupp, former little of Cardinal. Always appreciate him making time for us. A little nostalgia there, Maybe that was the first sign that will Stein I didn't mean it around there that he really was meant to be a coach, because here he is. He's the guy. You know, he's he's the quarterback that Charlie Strong inherited. And he wasn't a highly recruited guy by any means,
but hey, you know he was around. He helped them win some games during the Crackthorpe era, not a lot of them because we didn't have a lot of wins during that time. However, you know, he knew Teddy Bridgewater was the guy that was supposed to come in here and get this thing turned around, the prize recruit for Charlie Strong, and you know, will Stein was fine with taking the back seat once it was handed over to Teddy and really provided coaching and I'm sure guidance and
just you know, being a mentor. And now both both have gone on to have great success just a little bit differently. Teddy had a ten year career in the NFL. Nice coach in high school, and of course will Stein he'll be a head coach at a Power five school before too long. I believe that, all right, stick around. I think you should do that. I believe you should stick with us for the next hour and twenty seven
minutes or thirty seven minutes. I should say, I can't count, I can't talk, I can't count, I can't read, but I can yap. That's what I can do. Stick with us right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. I mean it when I say it. I really love this rivalry, the pettiness of it.
It's great.
And I think I know this came up briefly yesterday on the show, but it continues to be all over Twitter and there's people still texting in about it on the text line with pictures and really just a screenshot of Tyler Griever of WHS Select. Actually I'm sorry, sorry, Tyler. He's now with WDRB, but he posted a picture of of Louisville football tickets for sale at Costco. You can get two tickets in the two hundred level end zone
for seventy bucks. And you know it's just sitting on the rack at Costco and UK fans of course running with that as if you know, poverty program.
These bums gotta hustle tickets at Costco, which again I get it, like it' that's you know, any any little even if it's minor, and it's not even really like there are things that we'll get petty about and make a big deal out of it, sometimes not even true, just because you know you got a rival.
It's part of it. But this is not, I mean, this is not one of them, like F one racing, NASCAR, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Giants, Florida Football, like there are countless franchises in sports and college programs that do the same thing. And what it is is it's a Costco buy. Costco buys these tickets and sells them. And if you are somebody that you know works for the ticket office, works for the university, it works for your franchise.
And I mean that's the goals to get people buy tickets, so I'm sure Costco buys them in bulk and probably at a you know, cheaper rate, and then they resell them and they make money. They wouldn't do that to lose money, So I get it. It's a weird look and it might make it seem like a desperate kind of thing for tickets, and maybe you choose to view it that way, and that's your opinion, but it's it's a very common thing, So just wanted to share that.
All right, It's Coffee and Company we are feel about Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. I got a little extra pepp in my step today, not only because we're getting closer and closer to Louisville football actually being here on Saturday, but because I had a breakfast sandwich at Thornton's, the legendary sausage, egg and cheese croissant.
No better way to start your day. Thornton's is great for a lot of things, but I'm telling you, if you haven't given their food a shot, you should, because it'll be one of those things where and when you think about lunch, you're not thinking about waiting to drive through McDonald or Taco Bell you're gonna go to Thornton's. You're gonna walk in there, grab one of the fresh
delicious food items they have. Maybe it's one of their their Pretzel Bites packs that they have now, maybe it's the many tacos, or maybe it is a I mean, if they ever bring it back, the pizza wedge. So I think they are a big factor in the way people viewing gas station convenience stores being so different now compared to what it was years ago. So again, shout out to our friends over there at Thornton's. Can we talk to Midian? Who's your football? Really quickly?
Here?
John, I want to are you sigged up?
I'm very sigged up.
That's what that walk was about, wasn't it when you were walking in today and the garage just looking like you were about to I mean, again, I talked about it earlier in the show for those who mentioned it
or who missed it. I was in my car waiting to walk get and get out, and John's walking up the garage looking like a guy that you know was about to be the star for an NBA team, looking like one of you know when you see those videos they show pregame on ESPN for an NBA game, the star is walking in the bowels of the arena wearing
usually something ridiculous. John's not wearing anying ridiculous. She just says an Indian who's shirt it's us fair enough, fair enough, But I only want to bring this up just because of the the scenario where this plays out would be insane. So Indiana beat writer who works for let me pull it up here? Make sure the indie star, Yeah, the indie star. Who is it that wrote it?
I believe it was Zach Osterman.
Yeah, that's our man Osterman. So Zach Ostraman put together his game by game picks for year one of Kurt Signetti, and he's got the Hoosiers winning nine. Hard to imagine you'll find somebody more high on the Hoosiers than him, right, I mean that's a lot an eight and four season with a ninth win coming in a bowl game. So he has all the wins against teams you would expect.
And by the way, UCLA is a game that, like, I don't know if you should expect to win it, but like that's a game given where UCLA is, and given that UCLA's head coach kind of showed us a little bit about his preparation when he walked up to the podium at the Big Ten Media Day and couldn't I mean just I mean that was I'm getting uncomfortable
thinking about how embarrassing that was. But he's got the Hoosiers beaten Maryland, he does, have him losing to Northwestern, has him beaten Nebraska, which that's a stretch, hasn't beaten Washington, has them losing to Michigan State, has them losing to Michigan, losing to Ohio State, beating Purdue, so that would put them in BOL that mean clearly bail eligibility, that would be eight and four. Well, he has their Music City Bowl opponent being the Kentucky Wildcats, and he has Indiana
knocking off the Cats twenty eight to twenty. So what I want to talk about really quickly here not just the hypothetical of like them being that good, but a scenario where Indiana played Kentucky in a bowl game and Kentucky lost to the Hoosiers. I'm not sure there could be a more humbling situation with the Kentucky football fan base than that.
No, oh, absolutely, I mean it almost happened back in I think it was twenty nineteen. The Gator Bowl was initially supposed to be Indiana and Kentucky, but because Tennessee was whining so much they wanted to play in a better bowl game, they put the volunteers in the Gator Bowl instead of Kentucky and sent them to I think it might have been the Belk Bowl or.
Something like that.
But it would be a very humbling experience when you've had this stretch for so long of kind of being this football program that has risen from the seller of the sec you haven't really gone further than the middle of the Yeah, but you're no longer in the seller. Well put losing to a team who has been in the Big ten seller for most of forever.
I mean really ninety nine percent of its existence, right.
Yes, other than a few outliers here and there. Losing to a team like that obviously would be great for Indiana, but it would be terrible for Mark Stoops in Kentucky.
So, Kentucky football they have clearly been put in a different planet with Mark Stoops because they're solid, and they recruit well, and there's no way to ever and I've tried many times, I can't figure out how to say this without it sounding like a backhanded compliment. And I don't intend it to be that way, but it is what it is. Mark Stoops is viewed as a good coach. In fact, in the eyes of some a really good coach. Some people think he's one of the top twenty coaches
in the country. I don't believe that, but some people do. But it's not about anything he's done. It's not about a big monumental victory, it's not about a big run, and it's about winning at Kentucky. That doesn't mean he's a bad coach. But the reason he is viewed the way he is is because Kentucky doesn't suck anymore now. They have had a couple of years where they were pretty damn good.
Now.
I think some of that was situational, but either way, I mean, he's he's crushing it at Kentucky. He's not crushing it when it you know, his results wouldn't be crushing it in the in a lot of places, but at Kentucky he's a rock star. Like I get it. So because they just don't stink anymore, but yet they don't really have anything to hold their hat on as far as a big accomplishment, no SEC championship game appearance, no real big win. I mean they've never played in
a BCS or a New Year six Bowl game. I mean they that's you know, that's just the reality of it. So because they don't really have that, they just and and by the way, you should feel good about where you are, given where you were, but you can't really pump your chest out.
We used to suck.
Now we don't eat it, Like what kind of you know, what is that?
Like?
They didn't do anything. That's I mean, who.
Would do that.
So they just throw in the face of Louisville that they beat Louisville a lot, which they do, and Louisville fans got to eat it. I gotta eat it. They've dominated the rivalry in the last I don't know, seven years or so, and that sucks. So that's why, you know, when they want to like really find something to pull out of the bag to really highlight this come up that they've been on, they bring up Louisville. And that's why they do. L's down at every moment. And if
Louisville fans want that to stop, Louisll's got to beat them. Now, the fans can't do it. Players in the team have to do it. But like there's not really any huge monumental achievement that stands out, but they feel like they can be little Louisville, which they can. I mean, they haven't accomplished what Louisville has as a football program. But either way, when these two teams meet on the field
every year since twenty seventeen, they've handled Louisville. And that it sucks, but it's just, you know, it's it is what it is. I can't really dispute that. If I was them, I would do the same thing. So Indiana is clearly beneath Louisville and football historically and just recently, and just you know, it's it is what it is. John knows that I'm not picking on Indiana. It's just
the truth it is. So if they if they lost to Louisville this year and then lost to Indiana in a bowl game, I think they might once Stoop's gone, That'd be ridiculous. It would never happen. But like, what would they What could they say? Because right now I can easily debunk anything about them claiming they're good by acknowledging that they don't beat anybody good in their league, and despite no longer sucking, they still do not matter in any way in their league and will matter even
less now with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. But they can say scoreboard cardboy, eat that ls down loser like that, and you know that's again that's what they do. That's what they're gonna do. That's how this works. But if they were to lose to Louisville and now, you know, be one and one against Jeff Brahm, and they now would realize, ce, it's long gone, the days of that, that's gone. And then my man sig he takes down Stoops, offers them a postgame cigarette after the game for his troubles,
for that spank, and he gave him. Kentucky fans would melt. They would lose their mind. I mean they would. They would want Stoops gone, not all of them, And again that would never happen, And maybe they would wake up the next day and realize they overreacted, but like they would be the that would be embarrassing for them in a way they haven't felt. Because there's the thing, they're
not embarrassing anymore. They were embarrassing forever. So now the fact that they're not embarrassing, they feel, they feel great about themselves. And again I think that's normal. That's not a criticism.
I get that.
But when you say, like, yeah, you still don't really matter, You're just you don't suck anymore, Well, Eil's down, we own you. So like if they didn't have that anymore and then Indiana beat him in a Bowl game, like, well, they would want they would want stoops gone. I mean they would probably think to themselves, well, well you know who else were gonna get it? Sucks? Will be better next year. Like maybe they would have some cooler heads
a few days later. But like I just I'm just envisioning Matt's postgame show.
If that happened, the amount of Indiana people who would likely call into that postgame show would do and I don't know if any of them would get through, but you'd probably have a few guys, cause there's the set the Indiana.
Fan based up.
How many fans exist, how many what Indiana and football like, there's a lot of them.
Like around here because I've never heard anybody question because you, I mean, before we work together, I knew that you weren't just a basketball guy. You you supported and what you you know, you care about Indian football in.
A major way.
I just assumed that a lot of Indiana basketball fans are also closet Indiana football fans, and I feel like that's the case, but most of them just won't say anything unless they're good.
Which isn't very awful.
It looked to be fair. Indiana football as a product in a program has not given them really anything to be raw raw about, and the university has not really invested in the program a whole lot to where now really yeah, exactly. I mean their first big investment that they cared was what they paid Tom her or not Tom Harmon, but Tom alt Mallen and honestly paying to get rid of him was another sign that they do care.
They yeah, and they understand that because I think, if anything, the success that that Tom Allen had, even though it wasn't like you know, major to where they were, you know, winning national championships, but it was like Kentucky they were. They went from being you know, consistently really bad to where they were solid to then they were winning. You know, they won eight games, I think one year, and.
Then after that was the six and ten twenty twenty.
So you know that that showed their fans, meaning Indiana, the administration was able to see, Okay, we could maybe be decent in football and it would go a long way because we have a huge fan base and because of where we've been the benefit of being terrible for so long. If there is one, it would be the fact that when you do you you rise from the cellar and your average that's a lot better than where
you were to where there's gonna be excitement there. Now that'll get stale, which I think has happened at Kentucky a little bit, like they don't want to be three and five in the SEC four and four every year, but you know it's going to be tough. So I don't like Indiana fans were Indiana basketball jerseys to the louisvill game last year. That said a lot to me.
And that's I mean, but that's just the culture of Indiana fans is that football has just never really been a consistent thing, right Like, And I if I was, if I was an Indiana fan and I was in your situation, I mean, I'm sure I would be like John and not like the fact that, you know, Indiana fans just look at their football program, or at least they did look at their football program as lifeless. But I kind of get it, you know what I mean, Like I understand it.
Yeah, it is kind of tough to see.
But I think I like what you said a couple of weeks ago about how you need the casuals to buy in. Yeah, Indiana has a lot more casual football fans that will come to games at least sporadically if their success, and I think that's hopefully the direction they're headed in this year.
We're we're so tied up in our programs and the tradition and we care, we support. We're die hard. Not that you know, not that Louisville, Kentucky or Indiana fans are claiming that we are as a fan base in football like Alabama or Ohio State, But you know what I mean, it just comes with being a diehard college sports fan. However, there's this hesitancy to acknowledge something that is rather obvious. And that's what I talked about a couple weeks ago. If you have a full stadium sold out,
a huge chunk of those people are casuals. They'll say they're a Kentucky or a Louisville or an Indiana fan if they're asked, but they it's just a small segment of the little I mean, they may not even know five guys on the team, and that's okay because not everybody's die hard like you need. And again, when Louisville football has a sellout, you just have to understand that there's a huge chunk. And it doesn't matter. I'm not
saying these people are beneath. In fact, they may have more of they may have more lives than us, right like, they may have more of a social life, more where they can't listen to a sports talk show for very long, and they don't get on the message boards, they're not active on Twitter, but you know what, they know that that's their team and if hey, hey, I'm more inclined to want to get a ticket and be there when the team's better because it's something cool to be a
part of. So anyways, I again, I have no clue that what's going to play out because Indiana went in eight games and getting a nice one ball, but like, let's be real, there's bowl tie ins between the SEC and the Big Ten, and if Indiana gets to a bowl game in Kentucky gets to a bowl game in Kentucky seven and five and Indiana six and six, like that could happen, and I would love it. I'd go. It'd be so I would go, and I would wear candy stripe tops a bottom.
You should wear basketball jersey.
Probably fit in with everybody else there, right, you would? All right, real quick, let's go to the phone lines before we get to our last break here in the four o'clock hour, five two, five, seven, one seventy nine hundred is the number if you want to give us a call. Let's go to Danny. Danny, you're on Sports Talk seven ninety.
What's up, hey, Nick?
Admittedly UK fan here and just kind of playing devil's advocate. We we went every year, or you know, the past two years we've won.
Oh yeah, But I.
Feel like when you ask Louisville fans about what's changed their only players Jeff Brown. We got Jeff brom now. But and I'm being sincere. I'm not I'm not trying to be a jerk, but it's like he was thirty six and thirty four per any the big games, you know, every year he loses the big game, lost mediocre.
Danny, Danny, Danny, Danny. Jeff doesn't lose the big game, he loses the small game. Jeff Brom beat red, Jeff Brown beat three top three teams at Purdue. Jeff Brom went thirty six, thirty four adeo. Yeah, and let me tell you listen, listen, let's send Danny. Before before Jeff Brown was at Purdue, the previous coaches were thirteen and nineteen in four seasons and three and twenty four in four seasons. Him winning at Purdue and making them even relevant for an hour was good work on his part.
So look, Jeff wins big games. He you know, he didn't beat Kentucky last year and that that sucked. But his issue is actually he'll win a big game then lose to Pittsburgh like he did last year. So you know, like and and I think you're being sincere, but Jeff Brom has more coaching ability in one of his testicles than Sky Sadderfield has, if he has any. They're therefore like that, like if if you're if you take issue with Louisville fans claiming that you know it, what do
you mean it's different. It's clearly different, Jeff Browm. Look, Louisville gets respected by everybody more because Sadderfield's not here and bram Is doesn't mean Jeff's gonna beat you this year. I have no clue what's gonna happen. But Louisville football is clearly in a much different world now than they were. And that's not to say the elite, but with Sadderfield, they they capped out like they they never won a games with him.
Yeah, yeah, I agree, I just like I said, I think the argument is just UK's improved, they got new transfers players, louis was improved. But it's like it's unfathomable but that that Jeff Brohm could could lose again, or that he's already won or somehow.
Last year in that game, last game last year, when that game was played beforehand, did did you did you think Kentucky was gonna win? Because I didn't hear a single call.
And I'm gonna tell you what. I wasn't convinced say we're gonna lose, and I got a draft Kings received I'll send you because the big uglies are the SEC. We could literally be the twelfth or thirteenth ranked team in the country this year. If everything played out on paper and we'd be seven and five, and so when we go into a game six and six or seven and five, it does matter. It's like saying, well, throw
out the schedules. Well, yeah, if we played in the American League, yeah we'd have or whatever conference Louisle's been in.
I think thank you for the called in. I me, if you don't even mean you were way off with a lot of things. You just started yapping about and I had to correct you, and then you don't even know what Lee I mean, I mean the American Yeah, I mean, And I don't even think that was like a jab. I think he just didn't know, because he clearly didn't. I mean, Jeff Browm has a bad thing that stands out on his resume. He loses games he shouldn't lose following big wins. And again his static Purdue
is insane. I mean again, he went three and oh versus top three teams when he was unranked at Purdue and against Louisville. They played one top ten team last year and they beat him all right quick break. Once again, I found myself in a situation where I have very little time in our last segment, but we still got another hour to go in a lot to get to Brian Edwards Vegas Insider dot com is going to join us at five point thirty. So with a little time,
let's go back to the phone lines and welcome in Allison. Allison, how are you doing this afternoon?
I'm good, Nick, how are you doing well? I think the most interesting thing about the last caller is I'm not sure what Mark Stoop's record is, but I'm pretty sure it's a losing record, even considering they lost half of their wins because it was vacated. But produes are really hard school.
To recruit to which people don't understand that either.
But just get just kind of getting your thoughts, Nick on some possible football players for U of L. Do you think you're going to be standout that not a lot of people are talking about. Mine would probably be store And I'll hang up and listen.
Thanks Nick, Thanks Allison. Yeah, Thor Griffin, I mean he's one of those guys that man very intriguing just giving a story comes from the Ivy League. Did make Bruce Feldman's annual Freaks List, which you know in a way, being on a freak list would not be a good thing. But it's a compliment when you make the freaklist of college football because you're an athletic specimen and he's got impressive stats highlights at Harvard. It's just a question of
can can he perform at this level? And by all accounts,
they think he can and the NFL. I mean, I remember shortly after he decided to he decided to transfer to Louisville, one of the guys on staff told me that, you know, his NFL connections have told him that they were really happy to see that he decided to move on to where they could get a look at him in you know, a higher level of football because they love what I mean, he might have been drafted this year just given the fact that he you know, IVY
League or not, like he just has some measurables and some ability that even if he was raw completely as a player, there's a lot to like there. So that's a good one for me. I'm gonna go there's there's a there's a couple, but I feel really really good about the tight end position being one that will really really thrive this year and it'll be there'll be more than just one. But for me, the guy that I think really stands to in a major way kind of
make an impact. And I shouldn't say it's out of nowhere, it's not. But Jamari Johnson. I mean that's a guy who was a red shirt freshman true freshman last year, was a big time recruit, one of the California kids that came with Pierce Clarkson. I mean we're talking six five, two sixty five, great athlete. I think he'll be somebody that really stands out this year within this offense. But he's not the only Titan. There'll be some others I think that also have good years. But thank you for
the call, Allison, appreciate it. We got another hour to go, so stick with us. I apologize for the bad clock management. I'll try to do better.