Episode 97: Marshall Recap Arkansas State Preview

We are now 4 7 with this loss to Marshall, playing for nothing but pride and a, you know, season win total bet of over four and a half. So, we'll see. We still got one game left. We still got guys we want to see play and support them that way, but I think there's time to kick off the dust on the transfer portal and post season discussions here.

But, yeah, it was, um, definitely slow start for us, which I think, you know, we we had that issue at the beginning of the season. Uh, and then we started coming out quicker. Uh, again, whether that's scheme related, you know, everybody studies their film, you come out with your play sheet, right? This is, you know, our scripted plays to kick off whether first drive, second drive.

Um, you know, obviously we don't know all those things, but yeah, it was definitely not what we were hoping for in the first half.

And in the middle of the first half, I really felt optimistic about the game. I really did. I thought that, you know, we were going to come keep scoring. We were going to keep playing well on offense or keep getting better and better on offense, not keep playing well, because like we said, we started pretty slow. Uh, and then our defense has been good all year. We've been talking about that every time we've been on here.

And I felt really optimistic in the middle of the first quarter of that game.

I mean, for a while there, it looked like it could get a little bit hairy when we were down by 10, we were able to battle through some stuff and make some key stops that turned what could have been touchdown drives into field goals, uh, but really just the offense looked very similar to how it looked in the second half against Jamie. You just could not get any kind of rhythm or momentum. I thought we ran the ball pretty well, at least in the first half on early downs.

But anytime we were able to use that to get a first down, we would go to the passing game and it'd be a pretty quick, uh, three and out from that point. But. Auburn's definitely got it together and came out of the second half firing. But I think the injuries that we saw on the defensive side of the ball, like a Amorie Morrison was out, Jahron Manning is out.

Add that to the long list of guys who are already out and you had a pretty thin defense that was on the field a lot in the first part of that game.

Every team has injuries, but Our defensive coaches, I think, have done a really good job of trying to hold hold that unit together with what they've got. And those guys that are out there battling, um, you know, obviously you've got some of the same issues on the offensive side, but not nearly to to the degree. One guy I want to really shout out is Pat Conroy. I mean, he literally has been the only tight end that we have all season.

If you watch, if you watch the games closely, He basically never comes out of the game unless he comes out for a play because he has to because of getting nicked up and he's right back in. Um, the guys are pulling him off off of the ground routinely and he just keeps, you know, being a dude, but whatever factory that guy was manufactured in, I would love five more of him. Uh, hats off to that

See, that's not what we want, but, uh, you know, this team, we have a good football team, man, like our record sucks. We don't, we don't do the little things when we need to sometimes, sometimes we do, uh, but like we have a good football team. So heading into the half, you know, down 17, seven offenses, not quite clicking yet, like, yeah, we had, we scored obviously, but, uh, you know, as they headed into the locker room, I'm like, all right, like we've got a game on our hand boys, like.

We know this team's going to fight, uh, again, are we going to do the little things and when, or are we going to fight, have another one score game and lose? Uh, you know, we all know how that, that turned out, but yeah, I, you know, going into the second half, I was like, okay, like get your popcorn ready. Like we're going to have a ball game here. And certainly turned out that way. It didn't turn out the way we wanted it, but, uh, I I'd say, you know, outside of tech, right.

We're we're in the games every, every single week we're fighting, we're competing, like We're playing good football, entertaining football, you know, uh, as a fan or as, you know, former player, like you can appreciate that again, like I want to win, but like, again, same thing with Marshall. It's like, Hey, we're in this game. Like we're going to do something. We're going to make moves like we're going to push and fight. And they certainly did that.

But like I said, didn't get the result we wanted.

So, you know, if you're going to go back to one real positive thing is these guys didn't quit. I don't expect to see any quit out of them when they go to Arkansas state. But man, it's, uh, it's tough to get this close. Like, I, it brings up that old question. Like, would you rather just get blown out if you're going to lose seven games? So that way you can kind of make peace with it and move forward. Or do you want to be in all these one score games that go down to the wire each and every week?

It's which, which knife do you want?

So maybe i'm just used to paying, you know over not years but decades This weekend was no exception to the rule Talk about the you know You go from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs to the lowest of lows to the highest of highs to the lowest of lows And then you get stuck on the lowest of lows because you lose the game. Um, and that's kind of how this, I mean, that's kind of how this game was. You guys were saying, I mean, 17 to seven at the half.

Next thing you know, you're winning 21 20, you know, and that's kind of been the tail of the tape for this team all year. Like Gary, you're saying, man, they never quit. They just gotta don't go home, stick around. And it was that way, like all the way until what? About four minutes left in the game. It's 35, 35.

I mean, if there's anyone on the team I'd want back there catching that punt, it's Isaiah Paige. Like, and it's every day of the week.

So the pump was coming in more And I got the blurry screen on it was coming in more here than it was coming in here You Which a lot of times, if he's down here catching the ball like this, it drops right into the basket if he's catching it like this and it's coming at him a little bit more of an angle, it just caught him in the chest a little bit before he, before he was ready for it too. It's just a tiny little thing. It's so small and it just makes a huge difference in the game.

And like it happens. We all make mistakes. We all mess up, especially in this sport. The sport is, it's incredibly hard and it's just so unlucky that it has to be that situation, that times, the one time that that happens to him, the guy is so good, I would never take him out of that position. I think he's, he's probably one of the best, maybe the best we've ever had as a part returner anyways. So,

I asked if he was conflicted on whether to punt the ball or to go for it there. And he said it was a valid question. And then, you know, ultimately he, you know, made the choice with how many timeouts he had left and the opportunity to get the ball back where they were. We're kicking, you know, anyways, they probably would have got a quick field goal if we had held him.

So if you guys, uh, because it's This is our podcast and, uh, curious what your opinions are, even though it doesn't really matter what our opinions are, because none of us are coaches. Uh, what would you guys have done during that situation? And why start with Jarod? You would, because we'll give the puncher a moment to think about it. You're just,

So, so I'd go for it, but I do understand the hesitancy when we are as far back as we are, because he's right. It, we had what six yards ago or four yards ago, something like that. I can't remember exactly what it was. Uh, if we don't get that, they kick a field goal and the game's over, it's done. You know, there's no chance. So our defense being as good as it is beat up or not in a crucial last drive of the game. Do you want to go on one play or do you want to go on?

I know my defense can stop them. I know that they can, even though they haven't done it, it makes sense. And I think a lot of head coaches, college NFL, I would say the, the overwhelming majority of head coaches in the college and the NFL would have pumped the ball there. That was

But before I, before I talk too much about this, I don't want, uh, Jonathan's good ideas to escape that noggin. So

Uh, but as a punter, you never want to get in a fourth down situation, but as a punter, if you're in that fourth down situation, it's critical. Like you can really influence the game. You want to have an opportunity to help your team, right? So you go out there, okay, coach makes the call, which, you know, I'll, I'll talk about that, but like, do you want to go out there and you want to put your team in as good a position as you can, again, whether that's kicking away from returner.

pinning them deep, flipping the field like you want to go out there and compete, right? But I do agree with the call. Um, you know, there's the data, the analytics, right? I'm sure we could get, uh, ask chat GPT what the, uh, you know, data says on going forward on 4th and five with three minutes left. But, um, you know, you have time outs. Sure, the defense is gassed, they're hurt. Uh, but they're competitors and hey, do you want to put the game on one play as Jarod was talking about?

Or do you want to try to flip the field, stack the box, play man coverage, sell out, make them get a couple of first downs to beat you? Like again, like if he had gone for it, they were in field goal range. They could have just ran the ball a couple of times and definitely put the game out of reach. Whereas if you punt it away, try to flip the field, you have to make them beat you. And again, I mean, they were ahead, but like. They have to perform to seal the game.

Whereas if they have one play, they're going to seal the game, kick a field goal, and you know, that that's all she wrote. That's, uh, I definitely agree with the call again. You know, there's all the data and analytics and opinion and yeah, Bobby Wilder would have went for that, you know, 12 out of 10 times, but, uh, you know, with the coaching staff, you know, coach Rahne, just how he approaches the game, I do agree with the call.

Uh, you know, obviously it didn't work out the way we wanted it, but, uh, you know, I'm definitely in the same campus and

If you sit there at 16, you're almost guaranteed that you're, you're going to lose on that. So you're north of the, the two minute timeout. I think we're like, we punted it like 245. You've got all three timeouts plus the two minute. You're on your own 30. You all are right.

Okay. Or you want to put it all on getting more than five yards on one play after we Colton just got stuffed on a run on second down, we had a pass nearly get intercepted on third down, trying to throw a short route to get that first down. Like Marshall had been pretty good defending the middle of the field and we had been pretty bad about reading receivers in the field. So, I think you go back to what's my best unit, what's been my go to unit all year and how's my punter been today?

Well, Seamus had been great. He booms the ball down to the 11. In your head, you're thinking, all right, even if they get one first down, we can still make a stop, call the timeouts and get the ball back. And we ultimately did. They're just, they got one more first down than they needed.

So I, I would have punted away there too, because I'll take my chances punting the ball down the field, pinning them inside the 20 and letting my defense go eat, uh, then trying to have some sort of weird creative offensive play on my own 30 that will make it a two score game, even if they don't get a yard.

I mean, There's lots of coaches that would go for it or not go for it at that moment. It just happened to not work out for us. Unfortunately, um, the, the other one, go ahead, go ahead.

So now you've lost, like, one of your two true receiving weapons and they were put in a bracket on Conroy. So, you know, you start looking at what you have offensively, too, of like, what's your move, who are you going to, who's going to be your guy? And I think there are more options on defense than offense, even still at that point.

It was not, um, overall, at least when we needed it. But my question is more tailored to kickoffs. So we struggled when it came to kickoffs this past week, whether we were kind of doing a higher, shorter kickoff or we were doing a more traditional kickoff. It seemed like no matter what we did, things weren't going well for us in the kick. Kick off a part of the game. At what point do you realize that it's just not your game?

And we're not going to give these guys a chance to return the ball at all We're just going to kick it out of the back of the end zone or into the end zone Or if we kick in the end zone and they want to return it so forth But am I completely off base here? And if I am please tell me so as you guys are watching this game What are you thinking? I'll let you go first jerry.

So obviously Marshall had what, 118 return yards on kicks. Um, so obviously yeah, three, three kick returns that really hurt us. So obviously they saw something on film and they exploited it. Um, you know, again, why it happened, nobody knows. Uh, but that's kind of like Marshall saw something and they executed on it. And then to your point, changing it up again, whether it's kicking it out of the end zone, if we can, like, or sky kicks squibs, like, you know, one time.

Okay. That's just kind of a freak occurrence. Cause you have 11 guys, 10 guys running down the field, full speed, depending on if the play, you know, kicks placed in the right spot. Mike. There's so many different variables and it happens so quickly, like someone can just squirt out, uh, but for it to happen multiple times again, nobody knows the answer why. But to your point, Aaron, uh, how do we avoid that?

Whether it's just blasting and out of the back, you know, send a squibber down the middle of the field, you know, tuck them in the corner with the sky kick. Like again, it's, uh, I mean, football is a chess game, right? You have all offensive defense, same with special teams. You see something, they did something. Do you adjust in time or do they keep exploiting it?

You know, like I said, I'm not going to talk like I know what happened or whatnot, but, uh, you would hope that we would adjust to prevent that, but it just didn't happen again. That's not anything saying the coaches didn't adjust. Like Marshall made a play, uh, again, maybe someone ran down the wrong lane, but for it to happen three times, like. That really hurt us. That really changed the game.

Uh, you know, it was unfortunate to see, but, uh, yeah, it's, it was definitely a tough one, especially as a special teams guy.

Uh, it was a little shorter than I think the coaches probably wanted. I think that I have a reason why that's the case, but. That's, you know, that's not for me to say. Really. Um, I do feel like if they practice that a lot, then they may have just kept, they should have kept going with it. Uh, they didn't keep going with it. The next time they lined up that way. Uh, I think it was in the, in the fourth quarter, they lined up a little different.

They lined up to where their, their returner, where we had been kicking into on the right side was 20 yards up. He's standing on the 20 yard line because if we do the pop over, then they want to get him the ball and not call the fair catch. So then Ethan Chang kicked it over his head, put it right on like the two yard line. I think it bounced into the end zone and it worked. Um, I feel like Pusko said, we don't really know. What they said, we don't know what adjustments they made.

Uh, I guarantee you that that one popover was on purpose. We know for a fact that was on purpose. Right. Ricky Rahne said it right. He said in the, in the, your post comp or post game press conference that we tried some different kickoffs. Uh, so they did it, they made a change, and then the next time they kicked the ball to the guy, he just does the same thing. I, you know, I feel like I would've maybe just kept with a, with the pop over, but like I said, it wasn't executed perfectly.

I don't know how much they practice it. Maybe they felt, uh, you know what, we don't wanna do that again. Because what if they do line the guy up a little bit closer and he gets the ball and he gets the ball on the 30 yard line versus getting the ball all the way on the, on the five, uh, or whatever. So it's really tough because people in the stands are losing their minds.

And they're saying this and that, and the other thing about, you know, what they should be doing and what they don't really understand is let's go set it. Every team's making adjustments and they're going to make their adjustments and we have to counter with ours. And it's really tough on a kickoff. If you haven't. Practice a specific thing that you didn't know you needed to do because in the film study that we've done, this team doesn't really do this. Maybe they don't reverse the field a ton.

I don't know. I haven't watched their film, but maybe they don't reverse the field. So that's why we kicked it. I think this game, I noticed we were kicking from the right hash kicking to the right. I don't think we do that every time. I think a lot of times we're in the middle, we're on the left hash kicking to the left. I think it was on purpose, right? So we went from the right hash to the right side of the field, trying to pin them in the corner because maybe that's where they struggled.

And they realized, okay, well, they're probably going to do this and they cut it across the field, knowing that if our guys are going this way, then they can go across that and they can beat us. So, so many things go into it. Uh, and it's really tough to say, you know, what could have changed and when you should have changed it because we obviously saw them make a change. They did it and they tried to change the other things and it just didn't work out.

So, yeah, I was frustrated during the game, of course, because I always want the kickoffs to just like, it was my favorite thing in the world to just kick it in the back of the end zone, like, just kick it as hard as you can't put in the back of the end zone. And that's great. But there are certain situations where you need to do something different. And, uh, yeah, this one didn't work out for us very well. But, you know, I do understand the better.

The answer that that he gave in the post game press conference that we tried different things. They did a really good job. It didn't really work out for us. It's

You're, you're seeing new things in the last game or last home game of the season that you probably weren't expecting, but you were right about, uh, it, they must've been preparing to reverse fields because the first time they did it, the blocks were so well set up, like they were letting free rushers come down that right sideline and just letting them run past the ball. Cause they knew they were going to the other side, to the Marshall sideline and out. So,

How can we exploit that? So if all year we're running the same, you know, kicking it from the middle Middle of the field to the left. Okay. We switched to the right, but we know that again, maybe our guy hooks in at the 25 yard line. So he's susceptible. If you can get an outside leverage block, you can pop that corner. So it's like, again, it's the chess match of what are they doing? What do they consistently do? What can we expect? How do we exploit it? And again, Marshall exploited it.

We tried different things to counter that, but they just kept executing on, especially the kick return side of the thing of, of things. Uh, they just. kept hitting us, you know, three big returns that really hurt us in the game.

And it's really tough for that to happen as a fan that you're sitting in the stands watching, you're like, what the hell are our guys doing wrong? They're screwing up. They're doing this. They're doing that.

Um, I know we've, you have focused on a lot of the opportunities, um, that the team has, I could have, you know, things could have done better. Uh, one thing that I did see on social media, that some people that giving a hard time was talking about our offensive line play.

But I think those guys played pretty well in this game And one dude that we talked about like a lot last week in previewing marshall was mike green Gary, you talked a lot about that guy how dominant he's been all season what he had 15 sacks come into the game. I think

Yes, uh, he also had a pretty big tackle, uh, on Colton Joseph on that final drive where we punted. And that's the one we were talking about, held Colton to one yard with a hell of a tackle there too. So, um, yeah, it's,

The offensive line is blocking everyone they're supposed to be blocking and the plays are designed for Colton to have one guy to beat. You know, Aaron is getting outside and running somebody over, but he's running somebody over in the back, in the, in the linebackers or the defensive backs, he's not having to run over a defensive lineman because the offensive line is blocking the offensive line had a good game.

There's, I, I'm, I'm surprised to hear that actually, that people were, were really upset about them. I mean, it was, uh, we scored 35 points. It's not like they beat us 42 to seven. You know, I

The teams that you guys were on and the success that those teams had and it's difficult as, you know, a fan that you remember all that stuff and you want it. We want it now and we haven't had it in a while. So I think it's very easy for for people to talk emotionally about certain things and. Kind of make statements sometimes that aren't completely factually true because we've no different than being a commander's fans. Hey, guys, you know, uh, we, we want our team to win.

We just haven't seen it in quite some time.

Like we've got guys starting now that we're not starting at the beginning of the season and they have, I think, come together pretty well the last couple of weeks to, along with the scheming being right. But yeah, they're pretty low on my list of things to complain about for that game.

And at some point you're going to get beat, whether it's one play or whether it's the whole game, at some point the other guy's going to do his job. And they did their job sometimes and they got by us sometimes. But our offensive line had a good game. I, it's just, it's just, it's, it's hard. It's a hard game to play. I,

Uh, and it was really, yeah, I think the last, like we've had a lot of offense, like we've been scoring, we've been moving the ball again, there's a lot of things that go into that, but like it starts with the offensive line. And, you know, the consistency and the efforts there, they, they had a hell of a game. Sure. What was it? One sack? Like, one sack. That's

What did I miss on that play?

So at a minimum, it should be five yards if they make contact with you and you know, whether as you hit the ball or as you're getting the ball away, like But it's so there's so much variability. I mean, in all levels of football, it blows my mind again. It's a, it's an application. It's a, it's a, how does the ref see it? And then how does he apply it within the framework of the rules? Um, but based upon your reaction again, like I said, I didn't see the contact.

It should have at least been running into the kicker. Now, as a punter, as a kicker, you sell that. Right. Anybody touches you like down you go, that's what you do for the team. You know, you're not some big tough guy. Like if you're a protected individual and someone cracks you, you're going to fall over. Um, but like I said, it's, I've seen it applied and I've had it applied so much.

Like. Inconsistently, you know, whether it's, uh, CAA refs or Mountain West or all these, like, it's so wide in its application, it's frustrating. Like, I remember I got flipped on a punt that went 55 yards. Uh, and the ref said it was tipped and I got up and stared at them. Then I looked down the field and I was like, how was that ball tipped? It's 55 yards down the field. I didn't use that exact language. You know, I'm trying to keep it PG here.

Uh, but yeah, like it's, I don't know if they can do anything to make it more cut and dry, but again, based upon your reaction and how you interpreted that, it definitely should have been a penalty.

You could break something pretty easily, right? If they hit your non, your non kicking foot, your plant leg. So they didn't do that. They hit them. There was no doubt about it. There was no doubt in my mind. They hit them. They knocked him over. We were also, I think, 16 yards away from her first down. It would have just, it should have been running into the kicker. That, that call should have been running into the kicker because the pressure, he kind of hit a shitty punt. He didn't go very far.

I guarantee you we would have re kicked it, had a better punt, and been able to, to get down the field and cover it a little bit better, uh, but that should have been running into the kicker. There's, that's, there's no doubt about it. Like it's just ridiculous. That, like, like Coach said in the, in the post, uh, match press conference or post game, whatever you want to call it, uh, who the hell knows what that rule is then? Because that's craziness.

There's it doesn't matter to me if it wasn't roughing it was running into the kicker. You have to throw it should be Yeah, you can't you can't just sit there and let the guy get hit He is in the middle of punting a ball with his whole body unprotected in the air and you run into him It's a penalty. You can't do it. And I know that they would have called it on us And I don't know why the hell that is It makes no

Eventually somebody is going to fall weird and get injured because you hit him when he was up in the air, trying to kick the ball, trying to pump the bell.

Yeah. And a dude came along the side and hit him.

And I think we all saw why on Saturday, I mean, 13 for 24, 210 yards, three touchdowns, no picks. We're I had a long of 51 then on the ground. He had 18 carries for 148. Uh, he was an absolute stud in running that offense for Marshall. Uh, he looked really good in the pocket. He made smart throws, make good decisions to tuck and run through guys open. Uh, he's got one more year of eligibility, um, unfortunately, but he is definitely the answer for Marshall at quarterback.

Uh, they play good up and down. Their O line was great. Uh, held us, I think to just one sack and only two tackles for a loss. Uh, A. J. Turner was good. Don't get me wrong. I think he was a bit limited though with an injury, um, but he looked good when he was in there. But man, Braylon Braxton, what an absolute stud to have on that Marshall team. So kudos to Marshall, uh, interacted with a bunch of their fans. They have a really, really good fan base.

Uh, appreciate the beers from Russ and I think it's Thundercast podcast out there. Uh, coming by the tailgate and all of that. So kudos to Marshall. It was not all just us messing that game up, but yeah. All right. Now I'm done saying nice things about Marshall,

Uh, and the one thing I come back to, um, I feel like it's kind of been, The, the mantra, or my mantra, I guess, for the Ricky Rahne, um, career so far is scared money don't make money and I feel far too often, uh, the way we coach games is scared money, so. On a positive note, uh, we don't have to worry about, uh, blowing a 28 0 lead in a bowl game this year. So we don't have to go through that, uh, that dejection.

As always, go Monarchs and hopefully we can get a win next week against Arkansas State and on a high note. All right, fellows, any thoughts on justices call?

We played a damn good football team, and we played a damn good game, and we lost in the end, which, like I said, I can commiserate with the vibes, but Yeah, it's, uh, tough to watch, but also, we didn't get blown out, so, there's something to take away. Alright, any thoughts before we move to the next one?

Two passing touchdowns, one catching touchdown. That was probably a highlight of the day anyway. Um, and walking out to get the job done. Uh, that I should go down for the game. Uh, time was 4. 45 in the afternoon. Got in the car, drove down to Norfolk, walked into the stadium with 6. 47 left in the first quarter. Why did I do this? Uh, because I love this school. I love this program and these seniors have ga uh, given everything for this school and I felt like a hypocrite not being there.

Uh, I'm a massive Isaiah Page fan. As a preferred walk on myself, didn't fall through on it. Um, and, uh, Uh, I have a respect for the guys like that, and that guy's an absolute dog. Uh, given my dedication as an alumnus, as a donor and a fan, uh, my frustration and hurt is that a, an all time high for this program. Maybe if I didn't go and do a nine hour round trip from Nova, I'd feel different, but that shows just how much I care. And, uh, I'm one of thousands who do, uh, this isn't about me.

This is all about. All of us, uh, who have dealt with this for, for over five plus years, going back to Bobby's last years, just like that, just like what I said last, uh, last week in my call, if you want to play it, go ahead, uh, Ricky just hasn't been able to get this team to succeed in division or in state games, and he's now 6 12 against the East, um, flat out pissed, and our AD doesn't express the same emotions we have until, um, bigger donors start talking, nothing's going

to change, and I do want to quickly address what, uh, What Ricky mentioned is pressure about fans saying something. I was there, and nothing was said malicious to Ricky, and that wasn't until a coach, and just so happens this coach calls the run plays up the middle on first and second downs. That's all I'll say. Until he said, F you to a group, to that people, which set things off. As a person, Ricky's great.

He's great for the players, but at the end of the day, this is a performance based business. Yes, a business. And if we, if he was having yearly reviews like we do. Uh, he wouldn't have a job, and, uh, I think Ricky, Ricky and Wood would both be gone. Uh, I wish I could end this on a positive note. Uh, that was, that was my goal all season, say, say my concerns, points, uh, leave optimism, but, uh, but I'm all out of it. Gary took the words out of my mouth last week.

Uh, we're not gonna get up for a six and six bowl, and now that opportunity's even gone. The only optimism, uh, is hopefully there's gonna be change. Will it happen? Who knows? We've only been waiting for five plus years. area. I'm gonna let you take this one, man.

I haven't seen like video or anything like that, but Uh, Ricky kind of said his piece with it in Postgame Presser. Garrick got his side of it here. You all can make your decisions on what you want to do with that going forward. But we did not want to cut, uh, Garrick call just because it's kind of a sensitive topic. We wanted to let that be known. Um, and you all can go with it from there.

It's tough. Like we all want to win. We all want to have, uh, you know, you know, going for the college football playoff and all those aspirational things or Sunbelt. Like, uh, it's tough, man. Like week in, week out, especially if you're making the trek from Nova or all over the country, the world, right? Like it's tough to have the result, uh, that we did. Uh, but then I'll, I'll caveat everything. And at least we didn't get blown out.

Uh, I think that people remember, like you said earlier, Aaron, they remember our team and they remember how it went. And they can't, they can't get all, I don't want to say get over that, but get off of looking at that and seeing what we have now. And they go, Oh, we want all these games. We scored 77 points against some teams. We did this. We did that here and now we're here and it doesn't seem much better. But I think that the short memory of this last little bit here is we were here.

We're here right now. And maybe we can go like this, you know, like we were here and now we're here, but they forget that in the middle somewhere, my hand's not even on the freaking screen, right? Ricky Rahne has come in to a team who went one in 11, right? Right before he got here. Didn't we go one in 11,

That's really tough to bounce back and just go right into that. After, after a full, basically two years of not playing, right. Yeah. So then he takes the team and we don't do great his first season. Everybody loses their minds because they're just expecting us to just turn it around right away. And then the next year it gets a little better. Don't we make a bowl game right the next year? I think we made the bowl game the first year, right? Was the bowl game the first year, right?

Oh, we ended really well. We made the bowl game the first year. So he's, so he's done really great. But it doesn't mean that it's going to stay really great all the time. This is a process. This takes some time. And what I've seen from this team, and I think that Plisco would share this with me, share the, share the same mindset with me. And I hope you guys do too.

But what I've seen from this team is a team that went one in 11 and then for a few years, no, we had no idea who the quarterback was going to be. And we had all these guys that were already here that they really were trying to develop somebody and we couldn't. We couldn't get it to work really well and we didn't win enough games and we made two bowl games, but it wasn't great to a team right now who has significantly the hardest schedule in the Sunbelt.

And I know that you want to win every game. I want to win every game. I couldn't, I couldn't tell people how wrong they are when they say, I want to win this game more than anybody except the players, because I'm telling you right now, you don't want to win it more than I do, right? That's how I was the entire time I was there. There's a reason I was standing up on the bench, swinging my towels around, trying to get the crowd going crazy. I live and die by this team, right?

That's what, that's how I was. And that's how I still am. So I guarantee them, they don't want to win more than me. And they talk so much shit about how bad coach Rahne's been and how bad this team has been, and they're completely wrong. We had the hardest strength of schedule in the entire Sunbelt. We had a top, I feel like I read somewhere, it was like a top 20 strength of schedule for a little while, like at the start of the season.

For the teams that we had already played, we're playing really good teams. I mean, we, we have one game this year, one game against the team was a losing record one. That is a tough schedule and we are in a dog fight every single week. And I'm telling you, there's not somebody that's going to come in here and do a better job. Ricky Rahne is the guy for the job right now. Maybe in the future, he won't be, I don't know. I didn't play for the guy. I have no loyalty to him for that reason, right?

But my loyalty to him for what I'm saying right now. Is because of all the things I've seen that are so much better than they could be. There's so much better than they were five years ago when he got here. Yes. We're not winning all of our games right now. And it hurts. It really, really hurts. I

And then in like 2007, when they announced that football was coming out, we got on the season ticket waiting list and we've been seasoned ticket holders for football and basketball 20 plus years. There's a lot of people have been longer than that, but that's, that's my story. I think some of my, say, my fellow fans, um, discontentment is paired, what we were just talking about, that early sustained success, coupled with what we were accustomed to with it.

both the men's and women's basketball teams. So, um, you know, the women's team were perennial national contenders. And until not that long ago, um, C. A. Days hadn't lost a conference game in many years. And the women's game changed and things with our program changed. And obviously, with men's basketball a decade, a decade ago or so, some things changed. So there have been a lot, there have been some significant moments in, I'll just call it our big three.

So I think fans, it all kind of culminates and comes together and they're like, The football team is down and hasn't had a winning season X number of seasons. And then they jump on the basketball thing where we've got, you know, a new coach with 10 new players and trying to, to rebuild a program there.

So I don't even know if it's so much just football, but I think it's the culmination of really committed fans who feel almost beaten down over the The sports that they're most passionate about for quite some time. So it all is more raw and it just feels bigger than what it might actually be. Gary, what do you think about that, man?

I think so many people have forgotten about because they feel like it was 10 years ago, but it really wasn't. Like we move from Conference USA to the Sunbelt. The difference in talent between those programs in Conference USA and those programs in Sunbelt is massive. Go look at the average Sunbelt defensive lineman and then go look at the average Conference USA lineman.

Many times at a minimum, we were every single time we played, we knew it was going to be a dog fight. We never expected type of deal. And we played the first two games we played against JMU and football. We won. We, we weren't supposed to Jamie's like you guys, new football program, you know, blah, blah, blah. And you guys won the first two games and over the not so recent past, they've beaten us a lot more than we beat.

And so fans are going to say, well, JMU was FCS until a couple of years ago. Why are they doing it? What we should be there. Yeah, and

So it's like we. The margin for winning and losing in the Sunbelt is tiny. So those one or two mistakes you make, you will lose the games because of that. And conference USA, you could probably get away with throwing three interceptions and, you know, having a kickoff go out of bounds and you can still win by 1721 points, like we saw that unfold. So like the schedule is tough.

The non conference schedule was created when we thought we were going to be playing all these cupcakes so that we didn't end up like Liberty, right? We get Virginia Tech at South Carolina. We go to Indiana next year, which. We all probably thought that was a cupcake until Cignetti rolled up in there. Um, so it's tough, but I always go back to like, what gives us the best chance to win the most games the following season? So ask yourself that question.

Do you think if we clean house, we've got to go, we'll probably lose a lot of our talented players that we have now. They're not going to stay over for new coaching staff. Are we more likely to have like two or three wins next year? Or are we more likely to have seven, eight, nine wins next year? So that's kind of where you ask yourself. Like we have a lot of work to do in the portal and the offices, and we've got to replace a lot of talent.

We've got to build a lot of talent, but I don't think that that is made easier right now with the coaching change. Like it was easier. I think the previous one, because we loaded up so much with Juco in that last year, pushed all our chips to the table and it came up. Uh, I don't think we're in that particular situation, but it's showed show or go time. I think David put it in his recap pretty well. Like we expect to be winning the Sunbelt these next year.

You've got some guys on the line who are coming together. I mean, you've got a dude, Zach Barlove, who's come in and has just been a stud on the line. That dude can be back next year. You're linebackers. You can, I mean, there's so many bright spots. You just need, you know, you've got to add in some positions, just like every other team out there. But I think you've got the best chance.

What's our O line look like next year? What do we look like in the secondary? We have to replace the whole secondary again, minus Jahron. So we still have to be exceptionally aggressive because we need to get on the same talent level as our competition here at the Sunbelt because that's those one or two plays that win and lose you the game.

If we win one or two more of those plays every game, like we could be sitting here with the reverse schedule where seven and four and talk about, Hey, beat Arkansas state where we might host the Sunbelt championship game. But exactly.

And we all are very well aware, you know, Monarch nation, like. of the new NIL world, the transfer portal, like the challenges that bring and you look at Cignetti going from JMU to Indiana. I wonder how big that checkbook was from the Indiana donor base. They were tired of having a bad football team. They said, Hey, bring your guys in, go get some guys. And again, not to say they went and spent, you know, 60 million and now they have a great team like.

Obviously, Coach Cignetti does, he, he, he wins, Google him, right? Uh, but like, I

Like every team across college football is doing right. They have their donor base and they have their support that they can restack their team. And yeah, our record, you know, we're four and seven, we were stacking, we had a good football team. We were able to find the right people within the transfer portal, get them in. But if we want to guarantee success, look at that, you know, Aaron didn't put me up for this, but if we want to make an impact, how we do it, this is the new world, right?

Like, if we want better talent, if we want to secure our talent, this is how it's done. Unfortunately, right? There's no, Oh, the coach recruited me. I'm here. Not to say, you know, anything on the, the kids that are here now, but like, again, it is a business world. And how do you, you went in business, you invest in your business. And you hope it grows.

And, uh, yeah, just wanted to say that, you know, I just, I, I hear it a lot and it's frustrating to hear when, when you think about how this, the program was at the end of the last era, and then at the very beginning of this one,

Uh, the coaches that you do like, um, the coaches that have done really well in defensive side of the ball. Like we could lose them anyway to a better job right now. I would love to have them back here next year because I think they can build a really good defense with the pieces coming back in. Um, so it's just tough, but make no mistake, like next year the bar is the bar and if it's not met, there's been opportunity.

Uh, this team has had a complete turnaround. I mean, beginning of the season last year, Butch Jones looks like he was going to get thrown out. They were getting outscored something like 160 to 10 through the first three games. Uh, but they figured something out. They've turned it around and they do their job. They played a tough schedule this year. They lost, uh, 10 point game to Michigan. Uh, they lost at Iowa State.

Uh, they played some of the tougher teams in the Sunbelt with obviously everyone in the west. Uh, they got Georgia State and US out of the east. They've won two straight games, uh, to get bowl eligibility. And they beat ULM last week to get to seven. So they're definitely competing for. Uh, just just better bowl position. Jalen Rainer is still at quarterback for them.

Um, doesn't throw it a ton, but he's got 11 touchdowns, eight interceptions, but really they kill you on the ground with a rushing attack. They've got three guys over 500 yards a season, one of them being Jalen Rainer. They just tear you up inside. They block well, they don't make a ton of mistakes. It's a winnable game for us, but it's gonna be uphill for us in that ballgame because Arkansas State has, Everything going forward and want to finish that undefeated home schedule.

I do see that we are, uh, we're the favorite, which I love to see. We're not a lot of the time, the favorite, so I am going to stick with it. I'm going to go ODU. 31. Now I'm going to go Arkansas State 21. I'm going to go with that. I'm going to score a game. Yeah, I'm talking about going, uh, counterculture. Yeah, exactly. I think we're going to score some touchdowns.

I think the guys are going to be pissed about this, how these last two games have gone and we're going to continue the success of that, uh, of that second half and score some touchdowns. And I always like to give Ethan the field goal. Uh, you know, got to give him one. It's the kicker in me. Can't help it.

Uh, you know, I, I feel like our defense is going to be able to rein them in enough, uh, so it'll be a relatively low scoring affair, uh, but, you know, we, we, we've proven that we can score, um, you know, um, wasn't going to go with the higher, uh, spread there just based on, uh, you know, past history, past data points, but, uh, I do feel 1714 ODU out, you know, on top.

Like they're going to fight. It's gonna be a one score game. Uh, I think Arkansas State gets the win in the end 3128.

And he talked about, hey, when you were a kid and you were on a playground, and we were playing football on a playground or whatever it was, you didn't play hard or want to win because the people who weren't watching you at the playground, you did it because you wanted to win. And you loved winning. And you loved the game, and you loved that kind of thing. And judging from the way that these guys have fought all season, I think that's the way our team is wired.

So I think our folks go down to a state. I have no reason to think that it's not going to be a close game, a one score game, because until that trend really significantly goes, I got to go with that. And Ethan Sanchez picks a long ass field goal To win this game by three points Gary wins his bet we win and have some momentum going in the next season go monarchs, baby kill monarchs go monarchs

If you or your business are interested in getting involved, You can reach out to us directly or go over to the pride of ODU dot com. That is the pride of ODU dot com. Thank you for listening and go Mars.

We shouldn't have the strongest NIL collective in the Sunbelt, really in the G five. No, obviously we're never going to compete against P fours with regards to that kind of stuff, but that shouldn't be our goal either. We've got to beat our peers.

So, regardless of your personal feelings on NIL, if you want to compete and win these days, you've got to buy into it.

He started his own business along, uh, you know, probably 10 years ago at this point, uh, just making t shirts and he's built it up into something that's really cool, really helps out the community. If you guys don't know what it is, you should take a look at it. It's pretty awesome. So, That'd be my find it. Uh, well, he's got a store in the Patrick Henry mall in Newport News, uh, but he's also online and he's got some really cool products and then they obviously, uh, don't just do that.

They do a lot of like community engagement stuff, which is really awesome. He kind of crushes it there. So, um, but yeah, city on my chest. com is what I, is what I think the, uh, the website is. So,