August 22, 2025 • 36 mins
CK talks with the voice of the Fresno State Bulldogs Paul Loeffler, former Fresno State player and NFL vet Kenny Wiggins, Derek Johnson from the Locked on Jayhawks podcast, and we hear from Bulldogs HC Matt Entz from the press conference. Getting you ready for Fresno State Football Week 0 #GoDogs
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fired up, excited, can't wait. Week zero is here, Fresno
State Football versus Kansas. The voice of the Fresno State
Bulldogs joining me right now, Paul Leffler.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah, man, and zero to lose, right, big opportunity game
on the road against a power opponent in a stadium
that just got fixed up with hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of improvements, and everybody's gearing up for the
Kansas coronation and it's a chance for the Dogs to
go crash. The party is what Preslo State does best.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Right, Definitely party crashers. We travel well, we have a
great time whenever we go on the road, and on
top of that, we've played spoiler numerous times, and it
would be nothing better than to go into Kansas, go
in a Jayhawk country and then get a win on
the road, especially with a new look Bulldogs. What have
(00:52):
you seen from spring to the fall camp and as
we get ready for a Week zero.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, I've seen a lot of progress, right, I've seen
bodies change. You look at the team from a physical perspective,
now you know the proverbial airport test. How do they
look walking when they're going to pick up the bags.
The team looks different, bodies are bigger, there's more muscle mass.
(01:18):
The physicality it's there. It's been emphasized. I think, you know,
Coach Enz talks about stacking days and that really that's
about momentum, which in my mind is always going to
be the most powerful force in sports within a game,
from game to game. And he preaches that, you know,
invest today, build on that investment tomorrow, keep building that stack,
(01:43):
and you know, when you finally do pause to look,
you're going to be pretty proud of what you've built.
He you know, he challenges this team daily a practice
to be the best prepared team in America and this
game Saturday afternoon is going to be our first indication
of you know, how close to that goal this team
can be.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
The big question is Fresno State running the ball, the
commitment to the run. I know that Coach Ince is
a very physical coach and what I mean by that
he likes to be in the trenches, big, physical offensive line,
likes to run the football. Your thoughts about this running
back crew and what you expect from them.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Man, I'm excited. It takes me back about fifteen years.
You know, there was a window there where Pat Hill
had a collection of running backs. It was just an
embarrassment of riches, right. I mean you think of that
Bryce and some Len Lanier, Miller, Anthony Hardy, Ryan Matthews
(02:42):
in the mix, and you know Clifton Smith was there
before that, and then Robbie Routs comes in and it
was like the overlap in some of those groups. You know,
you had just so many options. And I'm seeing a
taste of that combined with a philosophy. And part of
that is a new coaching staff coming in where they
don't have a ton of history with anybody on this team,
(03:05):
so they have fresh eyes, right and nothing. No job
has been handed to anyone, including Bryighton Donaldson, who I
think a lot of fans have, you know, anointed the
chosen one for good reason. The guy special. He led
the state and touchdowns as a senior at CVC, showed
his promise last year. I mean, just a breakout game
against Colorado State. He's physical, he's fast, good visions, but
(03:28):
he doesn't have to do it alone. Bulldogs fans are
gonna love speedy Loop. This guy is a home run threat.
Kame time he touches the ball, you get that guy's
ten touches a game, whether it's a handoff or a
pass or in the return game, he's going to do
something that lights the stadium on fire, and that's exciting.
Jonathan Arsenal might be one of the most improved players
(03:50):
on the team. Nique is there, his speed is there.
And you know, Elijah Gilliams played a lot of football
and he's still in them. And then another guy that
I hope people aren't sleeping on, a local product from
San Juaqui Memorial, Brandon Ramirez. You're gonna see this guy
on the field. He's not afraid to throw his body
(04:11):
on the line and be a blocker, but he's gonna
get football sometimes too, and he can run the Rocks.
I think they're gonna come at you with a lot
of different looks, a lot of different personnel, and I
think there's gonna be some real potency in that run game.
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
One thing that we all kept our eye on was
the quarterback. Who's gonna be the quarterback? We now know
that EJ. Warner is the guy. So we've been watching
all spring into fall camp trying to figure out who's
gonna be the quarterback. The one thing that we do
know is this, Josiah Freeman is a handful. How did
Josiah Freeman look during fall camp?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Unreal? Man? He looks so great. He's bigger, he's stronger,
He's healthy, which is the biggest thing, right, You got
to keep him healthy. He's gonna be a mismatch. He's
gonna draw a lot of attention, and you know, he's
going to make plays. But the attention defenses are going
to have to devote to him is going to open
things up for guys like Harold Duval. Yeah, he's a
(05:09):
true freshman. He's going to play and he's going to
make plays.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Okay, what he is?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You know, Jayon ferraar transfer from Ventura College. He's been
making plays throughout camp. Jordan Brown is the sixth year
senior who started out as a walk on, and you know,
people said he's too small, or he's not fast enough,
or he's this, he's that. What that young man is
is a leader and his desire and his investment brings
(05:35):
out the best in his teammates. And he may be
I think in a lot of ways he's kind of
the emotional, psychological, spiritual leader of the whole team, and
those guys look to him, so he sets the standard
in that receiving corps. He may not put up the
biggest numbers, but you might see kind of an Eric
Brooks type of role for this year. And there's some
(05:56):
other guys you know that have shown some promise. I
think another name some Valley fans already know from his
time if Buchanan in Fresno City, but he's going to
make a bigger name for himself this year. It's Josiah Aon. Yes, No,
he's got a feel for that position for clutch situations.
I think he's going to be a guy, you know,
when it's third down and five or more, the defense
(06:18):
better be ready for number eighty five because he's going
to be ready for a ball coming his way and
he's not going to let anybody wrestle that picks get
away from him. So I think Aon is going to
be a big addition to this team this year. And
that tight end position has some talent in depth to
so while they probably won't throw it as much as
what we've been used to in recent years, the idea
(06:39):
is that hopefully a veteran like EJ. Warner can make
those grows counts.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
You know what, you mentioned some names, some of the
buzz coming out of fall camp, some of the buzz
coming out of spring camp as well. You mentioned Arsenal,
you mentioned Duval, you threw in Dylan, you mentioned Freeman,
even Speedy Louke. Can't forget about Speedy Luke. You mentioned
that name as well. I want to go to the
other side of the ball. I want to talk about
(07:05):
the Harrises, Simeon and Keyentre. I want to talk about
Logan good Speed. These are all buzz names that I'm
hearing out of spring ball fall camp. But I know
that we have some captains. I know that we have
some returning players. What are you hearing about the other
side of the ball with this Fresno State football team?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Well, another name that you know this is pretty rare.
There's a captain on this team this year, is in
his first year in the program. And I can only
think of one other time that happened, when when Tyson
Maaeva transferred from Boise Stage. He won his teammates over
so quickly that they voted him a captain. But Jaden
Pearson ah captain on this team, and you know he
(07:45):
brings a real confidence and swagger to that linebacker position.
He's already obviously earned the trust of his teammates and
a guy who's really fun to talk to, really has
some perspective. He values this opportunity to represent the valley
and to be here. You've got a loaded secondary. I mean,
Alzillian Hamilton has proven he's one of the best DB's
(08:06):
in the league and he's got a professional future. Ye
cam brocka back from injury. His loss last year I
think was one of the more undernoiced factors the downturn
that that season took. He could have made a big
difference in some of those games that turned into Bulldog losses.
He's another guy whose leadership means even more than the
(08:27):
plays he makes. I think it's going to be a
physical defense that comes that in waves. One thing I
think on both sides of the ball that this coaching
staff really believes in his depth. And at this point,
you know, we'll see when the rubber hits the road Saturday,
but at this point it sounds like they're going to
give a lot of guys an opportunity to play, and
(08:49):
when that goes well, you have consistency and relentlessness you know,
one of the reasons some teams don't do it is
you have a drop off. So I think that'll be
something to watch Saturday. If they do go as deep
on the roster as they indicate that they're going to.
Is there a drop off or is there consistency? And
(09:11):
if you see that consistent effort and execution, look out.
I mean, that would be a real powerful sign for
the rest of the season.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
And again, going into Kansas, you know a lot of
people are sitting there saying the Dogs are underdogs, and
that's the situation we like to be in. When I
say valley grit, when I say chip on the shoulder,
when I say blue collar mentality, that's what the dogs
are all about. So when you say double digit underdog
to Kansas, that means nothing to us.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
We want to go in there.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
We want to shock the Jayhawks, we want to get
the first win of the season, and we want to
see what the matt Ence era is all about. I'm
very excited about kickoff on Saturday for so many reasons.
I mean, here we are week zero, we get bulldog football,
but you get to hang out with Matt nts prior
to that, talk about the Coaches Show.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, boy, I've been hanging out with that guy a
lot lately. We had that great kickoff dinner. You were
there pumping up the crowd, did big chance, the news conference,
you know, Monday morning, and right to downtown Rotary. Thanks
to all those rotarians supporting the program and asking some
good questions and sporting Bulldog football. But Thursday night, New Night,
(10:22):
new time, same location to Point Patio Barnbistro, northwest corner
of Willow and Knees. You can see if I can
get him to to throw a new menu. Seasonal menu
had them on something I stumbled across yesterday, but they
always have awesome food at the point five thirties. When
we're going to start the show Thursday nights, get off
of work, comes straight to the point five thirty to
(10:43):
six thirty. We'll have coach ants Bulldog players. We'll do
that Thursday evening of every game week except for a
couple of wrinkles. Right, we got a Friday game at
Colorado State, so we'll move the show that week, and
then there's a trip to Hawaii where the team's leaving early.
But every other week when there's a game at the
point Thursday from five to thirty to six thirty.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
The football kickoff dinner this year was unbelievable. And I've
experienced several football kickoff dinners with the Frisnoe State football team,
but this year there was something special. There was an energy,
there was an excitement you could feel, you could sense.
And I will give Matt Inse this. He was available,
(11:25):
he played into the crowd. Not only is he a
player's coach, but he also is a people's coach, a
Red Wave coach. I could see the players playing with
Matt Innse and his mentality and just using the energy
that I saw from that football kickoff dinner, this team
could be something really special. The Red Wave is gonna
(11:46):
be energized. But that place was electric and they raised
a ton of money.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Paul, and that's the idea, and that's what needs to
keep happening right And I think he hit the message, Garrett,
classy message. It's really it's about the Red Wave. It's
about our community. When we get everybody out the same page,
there's no stopping us. And that's probably what's most impressive
to me about what's happening with Bulldog football right now,
because you have a brand new coaching staff, right, only
a couple guys who were here on the previous staff remained.
(12:14):
So all these new faces, then you've got a roster
where almost half the team is new. But and usually
you would think about it in a situation like that,
you're not going to have real unity and solidarity. But
in this case, there really is. And you know, from
the top guy all the way down, you can see it,
you can feel it. I think you've felt it that
night at the convention Center, and now this week we
(12:37):
get to find out what kind of results that yields
on the field.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Excited Paul, thank you so much for your time. Can't
wait to hear you out of the coaches show. Go Dogs.
Here we are Week zero, Frisno State versus Kansas. Cannot
wait for kickoff?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
My friend me neither my friend and I hope you're
ready for some Bulldog Boulevard action a week from Saturday.
It was his first home game and even Big Kenny
Wiggins out there pumping things up on the iHeart Bulldogs
Tailgates show and every home game this year, I know
that's gonna be a blast. Who knows what we might
experience and what special gifts we might run into down there.
(13:14):
It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
On sports it is Fox Sports Radio, Big Kenny Wiggins
as we get ready for the Fresno State football season
of kickoff.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
How are you doing, my friend? You know what it is?
Football season? Yes, I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
See that's what I like to hear. I like that excitement.
I can tell when you're ready to go and you're
fired up. The good news is we're back together again
the iHeart Bulldogs pregame show. We're gonna be having a
good time. But there's a lot of question marks surrounding
this team. The one thing that I do know is this.
You and I were both at the kickoff dinner. Great crowd,
(13:49):
great energy, record breaking money was raised. There's something to
be said for the energy that Matt iNTS is bringing
around this program.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, definitely. And coming from like a place like usc
right where there isn't a there isn't really a problem
for money, right, There isn't really a Hey you can
go to a few donors and be like, hey I
need x, X and X and it happens, and he
I think he realizes that Fresno is going to be
a lot more work in that in that area and
(14:19):
he's really been diving into it, and he's really been
out in the community making relationships and even like I
had a nice conversation to him with him at a
nil dinner and it was a breath of fresh air
and and kind of like, all right, we got somebody
in the in the helm. That's that's good. And he's
he knows what it's like, he knows what it's gonna take.
(14:40):
He's not trying to sugarcoat everything. He's a realist and
he's he knows what it's going to take to make
this program good and he's on the right path.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
I will say this, I was questioning a lot about
matt As when he first was hired. How is this
gonna play out? I don't have those questions anymore after
being able to kind of witness a couple of practices,
spring game, you name it. I'm like, I see it.
I think I understand the identity of this football team.
(15:10):
I have an idea of how he wants to play
with this Fresno State team. I like everything that he's
bringing to the table, and I like his mentality for
the valley.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yeah, for sure, he's definitely a he fits the mold
of a value of a Valley coach for sure, and
that's what I like about him as well. Again, I
was on the fence with them in the beginning as well.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah, who knew.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Because I didn't know who he was, right, I knew Skipper,
I knew who he was.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Complete. Yeah, that's the one thing that you'll get from us.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Is no doubt, no doubt, but.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Our thoughts on our sleeves, if you will, exactly.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
And but he is. He has the job now and
I want nothing but to see him be successful because
I want the Dogs to be successful. Whether it was
matt ansmother was Tim Skipper, I want the Dogs to win.
And that's all bottom line.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Well, we have a lot of question marks and Saturday
questions will be answered.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I don't know how I feel about this game.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Normally the first game of the year, even when we
played against Purdue, er we go on the road, I'm like,
I feel good about what's gonna happen with the Dogs,
and I think that we're gonna pull out a victory
every time. I kind of feel that way. I just
want to see what we're going to look like this year,
maybe even get to know some of these new faces
on the team. Are my expectations a little too low?
Speaker 4 (16:24):
With the landscape of college football right now? This is
what it's gonna be like every year. Yeah, Okay, there's
gonna be a lot of transfers, a lot of there's
gonna be a lot of new faces on the team.
And that's what kind of present state is gonna have
to get used to. You're not gonna have the four
or five returning starters that you had that were the
stars of your team because a lot of these guys
(16:45):
are gonna transfer or graduate or whatever it is. And
each year it's gonna be a different team. Good point, like,
we have a new like we really only have two
or three returners on offense that are really like we're
like dudes in the last last season. Only a few
guys on defense as well. So it's now it's how
well can this new coaching staff develop these players to
(17:09):
be bulldog football players within that short period of time.
And that's what it's going to be, right. Who knows
what we're going to be put out in the field.
I don't know, Like people don't understand how hard it
is to develop these young kids fast, right, and that's
what needs to happen for us to be successful.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Well, the good news is, I think that's the same
situation with Kansas. I know that they lost well, their
entire back into their defense. I believe that they lost
their starting running back, their security blanket at wide receiver.
I think they lost a couple of receivers. So I
think that they have their sixty year quarterback coming back,
Jalen Daniels. But other than that, it's gonna be a
(17:46):
lot of questions for them as well. So maybe twelve
points maybe too much to be giving the Jayhawks. But
I will say this, I'm excited to see what EJ.
Warner is gonna look like.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Yeah, for sure. I mean I haven't seen him too much,
but what I've heard is when he's came in, he's
he's impressed. Right, he's done, He's done. Well, you obviously
earned the job. So what I'm excited for is to
see them if they run the ball.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Okay, now, that's that's something that is kind of your specialty,
your forte. You like to get in the trenches, you
like to get dirty. And the one thing that we
do know is coach Ince has a tradition of building
strong line play, running the football, controlling the game that
kind of is right up your alley.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Yeah, for sure. And that's that's kind of what when
he came in and said that, I'm like, all right, now,
we're kind of getting back to bulldog football, right, Because
when you have Derek Carr and Davante Adams and Isaiah
Burst and Josh Harper, it's easy to air that hang out, right.
But when you have a quarterback that's not Derek Carr,
I'm not saying EJ is going to be anything less
or whatever, but we'll see.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
We'll see. But when you can, we'll see. So we'll
see back grocery somewhere. Right.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So when you when you have that security blanket of
that run game to rely on and then also can
mix it up with the play action or drop back pass,
that is a when you have a whole entire team,
a whole entire continuity between the offense where you're not
just so pass heavy or not just so run heavy.
That's when you're a successful offense. When you can control
(19:20):
the game. You're not looking to score one hundred points
because that's what you have to do. If you can
move the ball down the field monotonously and control the
clock and everything like that that's when you become a
successful offense.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
See that's what you like right there, That's the type
of football you kind of get excited for. Do you
know anything about this offensive line? Have you talked to
the old line coach? What are you hearing about? How
we're gonna be in the trenches.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
So a lot of new faces, right, a lot of
moving parts. They moved Spohmer to the left tackle to center,
which I think is a good move. He was a
little undersized to play left tackle.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
He's he's a.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Smart guy, a tough guy, kind of like a little
grit dude, which I love bulldog footage exactly. The tackles
are starting a true freshman left tackle from Bullard. Okay, yeah,
so we'll see how that goes. So it's a little
bit of a little bit of uh, moving parts there.
(20:17):
But from one practice I saw in the spring, they
were running the ball, they were hitting, they were there
were there was a there was aggression, there was pads
were popping, which was a lot different than they have
been in the in the past. So I like that.
I'm excited. I'm excited for the running backs. The one
two punch of Donaldson and Gilliam like, let's go, Like.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
There's a couple of pieces coming back that I'm excited about.
Those two that you just named, Gilliam Donaldson and I
can't forget about Josiah Freeman. I mean, there's some players
coming back that I'm really excited about. I'm like, EJ,
you kind of have a couple of weapons now, a
couple of them.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Yeah, So if they can get the I think the
big thing would for them is to get the run
game established early, right, and then it gives EJ time
to sit back and throw and play action pass and
all that kind of stuff, because that's what it's easy
for a quarterback, right when you can hand the ball off,
get three four yards a pop, and then it's third
and two instead of third and ten, right, So, and
(21:15):
then you can either run the ball or pass the
ball or whatever it is, be able to control the
game on the ground and control the clock with the
ball in your hands.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
That is the game plan.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Table Mountain is where we're gonna be for the pregame show.
We definitely want to see you out there enjoy the
football game. But yes, we're gonna be at Table Mountain
starting at one point thirty. As we get ready to
count down the kickoff Fresno State football. Kenny Wiggins, I
can't wait, brother, this is gonna be a good year.
Let's go fired up, Go Dogs. We're talking with Derek
(21:44):
Johnson from the Locked On Jayhawks podcast. Make sure you
follow Derek Johnson on social media at d Johnson Radio
on x It's week zero for college football. There's like
four or five games Stanford, Hawaii, Idaho State, UNLV, Iowa State,
Kansas State.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
That's going to be a good one.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
But the game I'm talking about right now Fresno State
against Kansas. And this Kansas team was five and seven
last year, but in my opinion, they're better than a
five and sevent team.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
What happened, whether you want to chalk that up to
coaching decisions or you know, turnovers, quarterbacks, play, I mean,
it was just kind of a mix of everything in
different games, defenses collapsing late in the game. For KU,
they finished one in five in one score games last season,
so you know, you could easily switch that around if
you look at some of the other teams in the
(22:33):
Big Twelve, Iowa State BYU. Those teams went five and
one in Big Twelve play and they tied for the
lead in the conference, so it very easily can switch
everybody so close together in this league. But we saw
what this team could do over the back half.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Of the season.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Has won three Streight ranked games, and they beat three
of the four teams who tied for first in the
Big Twelve. The only team they lost to of the
four was Arizona State, who ended up going to the playoff,
and Kansas led that game with two minutes to go.
So I think, like you said, better team than than
what was shown. They just kind of had some rusted
to shake off new coordinator last year. They're back to
(23:09):
more familiarity this year. You know, some some turnovers early
in the season, defense giving up some late scores. So
the hope is that that stuff's going to bounce out
this year and have a much better season.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Got to talk about Jayalen Daniels. Jalen Daniels a dual
threat quarterback. He likes to gamble. Some people say, as
Jalen Daniels goes, the Jayhawks go. But he did lose
a security blanket. How is Jalen Daniels gonna fare without
Luke Grimm?
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Yeah, grim was his favorite target for a long period
of time and as we got a fire truck going
out behind me. I mean, that's that's what kau Vans
are hoping that the sirens are going on and then
the coming on with Emmanuel Henderson, because that dude is
a five alarm fire with his speed and his footwork.
I mean, this guy transferred over from Alabama. He's the
(23:54):
fastest player on the team. They have different mile prower
measurements and stuff that they track him in practice, and
he has broken like all the records that they previously
had with some of their other players. He's gonna be
a long ball threat. He's gonna be a guy who
gets ball in his hands and he makes guys miss.
The other guy, who might be more of that Looke
Grim type though, of that kind of slot receiver who's
(24:15):
gonna kind of grind his way up and down the field,
just cam pick it. He's a transfer from ball State,
had almost fifty catches a season ago. Those two guys
are the ones that I'm kind of watching. Outside of that,
it's a couple of the transfers coming in, a couple
other guys that have been kind of coming along in
their time at KU for a couple of years. But
there's definitely some questions about the lack of returning production
(24:36):
at the receiver room. But it's a room that I
actually think might be more talented overall. So it'll be
interesting to see how it meshes early in the year,
specifically in the first game against President State.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
And the question about Jalen Daniels is last year he
was healthy, you got to see him the full season.
The interesting part about Jaylen Daniels is he's not afraid
to go downfield. Fourteen touchdowns, but fourteen turnovers. How do
you solve that?
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Yeah, that was the big issue for Jalen last year,
especially first half of the season. So the first five
games of the year, he's got five passing touchdowns compared
to eight interceptions back half of the year. That starts
to tighten up a little bit more. The numbers looked
more like the guy who in the previous couple of
years didn't really have that turnover issue. I think some
of that was a bit of the play calling. They
(25:24):
brought in a new offensive coordinator last year who now
is at Wisconsin in Jeff Grimes, and the offense never
really vibed as much with what it was before. Grimes
Before him, it was Andy Kotliniki and it was a
lot of intermediate passing. His play action it was razzle
dazzle with the motions and formations. And with Grimes they
had some of the formation razzle dazzle, but it wasn't
(25:44):
as much. There wasn't as much throwing over the middle
of the field. It was much more based on throwing
to the outside, throwing deep balls, getting receivers one on
one opportunities, trying to take advantage. And you know, this
is Kansas. It's not like we're talking about how a
bunch of five star receivers on the outside where that's
gonna work consistently. And so when you look at what
(26:07):
Kansas is getting back to this year, it is more
of that cold nick type of offense with their new
offense coordinator who was the quarterbacks coach for all these years,
with Colon Nikki in Jim Zebrowski, and the idea is
they're going to throw over the middlefield more. The idea
they're gonna have better receivers for yard after catch, and
so I think the combination of those things, Jayalen's just
gonna feel more comfortable, Uh, shake that rust off in
(26:29):
the early part of the season last year in which
he was hurt for summer and spring ball. This year
he actually got to throw to his receivers in the
summer the receiver and has banged up in fall camp.
So I think the idea is the combination of those things.
It's gonna lead the less turnovers. And it's year six,
so you should be you know, even more experience and
better this year.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Big fan of Jalen Daniels. I think he has a
great upside. His ceiling is incredible. I just don't want
to see him do well against Presno State, but I
wish him to have a good season. Let's talk about
this offensive line. Bryce Foster is a stud. Not is
he a stead on the football field, but that guy's
amazing when it comes to the world of track and
field as well.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Oh yeah, I mean unbelievable athlete. To be able to,
you know, be a high performing football player that probably
could have gone to the NFL draft last year and
been a Day two or Date three pick and just
wanted to come back and you know, perform and shot
put and then come back for another year of football
is really cool to see. He had an awesome season
for kau He was an All Big twelve player at
(27:27):
the center position, and now he's back. They have a
little more uncertainty at the tackle positions this year on
the offensive line, but the interior I think they feel
pretty good about with him. Kobe Baines is back, who's
been essentially this will be his third year starting. They've
got a former four star Michigan transfer starting at left
guard coming into this game, most likely in a mere herring.
Who's gonna be kind of rotating round. So Foster kind
(27:48):
of leads that, and you know, nice to have that
communication back with your quarterback because those are the two
guys who are you know, kind of figuring out what's
going on on the defensive side of the ball. So
that's a good place to start for the offense.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Well, let's talk about that this insive side of the ball.
I mean, you lost some really good players, a couple
of defensive backs, talking about Kobe Bryant and Mellow Dotson.
I think you guys actually lost four on the back end,
a couple of safeties as well. How is that defense
gonna look, especially with your new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
Yeah, that's gonna be the big question. The new defensive
coordinator comes over. He has Iowa State background, he has
a defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles background, and
it's almost a little bit of Okay, can scheme overcomes
some of the talent lost a little bit because it
seemed like if you watched KU in previous seasons, the
scheme was corners are gonna play ten yards off the ball,
They're not gonna be as aggressive. And I don't know
(28:37):
that that matched as good of talent as k you
had in the back end, So can you get a
little bit better from that perspective, But beyond that, it's
it's definitely less experience overall. The talent though, if you
look at Kay's recruiting rankings, you know they're not bringing
in four and five stars all the time. But the
position that they've consistently brought in their higher end three stars,
they're players who are kind of burgeoning on being those
(28:58):
four star recruits. Over the last two three years. It
has been in the secondary, So I do think, and
they've got a couple of guys who started to get,
you know, real big playing time at the end of
last season as freshmen. I think they're gonna be talented there.
There's probably gonna be a little bit more coverage bus
this year than in previous seasons. But I think the
overall talent, I think the scheme, I think they can
actually put up similar kind of numbers because the end
(29:21):
of the day, is as talent as they were the
past couple of years. This is not a pass defense
that rated, you know, in the top half of college football.
If you look at numbers like quarterback rating against yards
per pass allowed. Those things are things that I think
are on the table just as much this year as
they were last year.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Derek, before we let you go, I have to ask
about the environment. What is David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium
gonna be like. I know it's not a new stadium,
it's an upgraded stadium, and I know people are excited
to get in that stadium see it for the very
first time. And this is a week zero game. We're excited.
There's only four games this week. Frisno State and Kansas
(29:58):
are one of them.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Oh yeah, I mean, yeah, you're right. It's not a
new stadium, but it certainly feels like one for people
lace because it is. It is night and day. I mean,
it's not even fully completed. They basically worked on one
side plus the end zones. They still have the other
side to do. It's still doing future off seasons, but
I'm sure the team is super excited to just, you know,
(30:19):
I don't know, kind of be at home and have
that home feeling as well. They didn't get to do
that last year playing at Arrowhead. I think that'll be
a boost. But the environment itself, I think it's gonna
be awesome. Last I heard they were trending toward it
being a sellout that it should be. You know, it
was kind of right there, so I'd imagine it will
be good. It'll probably be a hot day. It's gonna
be a night game though, that'll help it cool off
a little bit there. But I think it's gonna be awesome.
(30:40):
I mean, new duds, the facilities look incredible, the new
video board looks great. It's gonna be I think, a
really good environment. Students just getting back into town this
past weekend. I think they're gonna be rowdy, ready to go.
There's not really much else going on in week zero.
You don't probably have a lot of homework or midterms
you got to turn into I think it's gonna be
(31:01):
a good environment for sure, and I think people are
gonna show out. I think it also helps that it's
playing Fresno State. You know, they're playing Wagner and FCS
team next week. A little harder to get as excited
when it's an FDS opponent. When you're getting Fresno State,
you're getting the team who's had a lot of success.
Yeah at the one level, has played a lot of
these other power opponents, whether it's UCLA or whoever. Tough
(31:22):
to where I think the excitement level is pretty much
in an all time high right now for KU football.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Derek, We really do appreciate your time. Let them know
how they can follow you. If they are a Kansas
fan and you're listening right now, you're thinking to yourself,
I like Derek, I like the information, and you know
basketball season is coming up as well. Talk to them
about how they can follow you on social media and
listen to the Locked On Jayhawks podcast that's right at.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
T Johnson Radio on Twitter and yeah locked on Jayhawks
anywhere you get your podcast. You can watch it on
YouTube as well, and look forward to having a recap
up after the game of whatever happens between kau and
Fresno State.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
You do a great job. Love watching your videos, love
listening to you on the podcast. And yeah, let's catch
up after the football game, my friend.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Absolutely, thanks Kay, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Derek Johnson tell us a little bit about Kansas football again.
That's going to be a heck of a game on Saturday.
It's gonna be on Fox TV. And we're gonna wrap
up this podcast by going to the press conference with
head coach Matt In from your Fresne State Bulldogs. And
here's the voice of the Fresne State Bulldogs, Paul Leffler,
talking to Fresno State head coach Matt Ins right here.
Speaker 6 (32:26):
And I've heard you challenge the team consistently on a
couple fronts. One to be the best prepared team in
the country, and two to not lose that chip on
their shoulder.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Now that it's going to be real bullets Saturday, how
are they doing on those two fronts?
Speaker 7 (32:38):
Well, I think I think you know they're listening. Uh,
they're here. You know, from a preparation standpoint, a lot
of that falls onto the coaching staff, uh, but also
the focus uh practice situations. You know, what can we
do situationally in practice to emulate what it's going to
look like. Uh, challenge them this morning is we gotta
we gotta find ways to limit the noise and the
excitement because there's gonna be a ton of brand new
(33:00):
stadium or I shouldn't say new stadium, but redone stadium,
updated stadium, and there's gonna be a lot of excitement
in regards to that. But also game one always provides
a number of challenges.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
They have.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
A coach that had been on staff is now becoming
the defensive coordinator. Well, I'm sure he's doing some things
differently to put his mark on the defense. And so
what does that look like? Is there a new designer
pressure somewhere? Offensively, what are they going to do in
the opener's trade shift motion to try to get us
out of position? Because if they identify something, you're gonna
see it all day. And so trying to make sure
(33:35):
we live in the moment, we block out distractions and
we just focus on the football and getting our cleats
in the ground and getting ready to play football.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
So this is called Week zero, and like I said,
Fresno State, one of only four games being played on
Saturday are dogs. The Bulldogs are going to be on
national TV. They are underdogs. But you know what, that
doesn't scare me, That doesn't bother me one bit. But
there are a lot of question marks. There's a lot
of excitement around this team because well there's so many
unanswered questions. We don't know what's gonna happen with the
(34:05):
new starting quarterback. We don't know how some of the
defensive pieces are gonna come together. We do know the
four captains and who they are. And here's matt In's
talking about the captains and how that's coming together.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
Yeah. Good, those guys were, they were leaders to begin with.
But when I did announce, and one thing we will do,
and I'll make the announcement here too. We will probably
have a fifth captain every week, a floating captain, uh,
someone that's deserving because of production, because of what they've
done on the practice field, how they approached the game,
their impact to their teammates. But these four young these
(34:39):
four young men have done an outstanding job since since
I stepped foot on campus. They were four guys that
we're always in the front. We're always trying to, you know,
bring people along with them. And I think that's a
you know, a definite sign of a leader is it's
not a title, but how do you impact people around you?
And we have a team full of leaders. You know
sometimes they're not given that title or recognized like that.
(35:02):
But you know, Jordan Brown, for instance, would be a
young man that is a you know, he's a dominant leader,
but not necessarily a captain, but he makes people around
him better.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
And the four captains that he's speaking of, Jaden Pearson,
a Zillion Hamilton, Jacob Spoemer, Cameron Broca, Cam Broca and
for every single one of those guys, consistency, hard work, leadership.
It's all paid off. And I cannot wait to see
their leadership on the field this Saturday against Kansas. And
there was one question that I loved during this press conference.
(35:32):
Give us a word or a couple of words to
describe this Frisno State team. I wanted to hear this,
especially because we haven't seen them on the field just yet.
Speaker 7 (35:41):
I think gritty would be one of them. I think
we have a level of toughness and uh, I'll use
the chip on the shoulder. I think they want to
prove people wrong. They're excited to get out there and
put a good product on the field. And then the
other one I would use and I'm most excited about
is just the cohesiveness of this group. Uh, you know,
(36:01):
we have again the landscape of college football. We're not alone,
but there's probably forty new faces on this football team.
And if you walked in our locker room, you walk
out to there to walk through right now, you don't
know who's a fourth or fifth year player and who's
a first year player. And I think that that shows leadership,
(36:21):
you know, from the top to the bottom within our
locker room, and the willingness to if you're if we
have a genuine appreciation, if you give us great energy
and great effort every day, those are two things that
are necessary to be a Bulldog.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Can't wait. I'm excited, I'm fired up. It's Week zero.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
The Dogs are playing Fresno State Kansas this Saturday. Cannot
wait for kickoff at three point thirty
Fired up, excited, can't wait. Week zero is here, Fresno
State Football versus Kansas. The voice of the Fresno State
Bulldogs joining me right now, Paul Leffler.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah, man, and zero to lose, right, big opportunity game
on the road against a power opponent in a stadium
that just got fixed up with hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of improvements, and everybody's gearing up for the
Kansas coronation and it's a chance for the Dogs to
go crash. The party is what Preslo State does best.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Right, Definitely party crashers. We travel well, we have a
great time whenever we go on the road, and on
top of that, we've played spoiler numerous times, and it
would be nothing better than to go into Kansas, go
in a Jayhawk country and then get a win on
the road, especially with a new look Bulldogs. What have
(00:52):
you seen from spring to the fall camp and as
we get ready for a Week zero.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, I've seen a lot of progress, right, I've seen
bodies change. You look at the team from a physical perspective,
now you know the proverbial airport test. How do they
look walking when they're going to pick up the bags.
The team looks different, bodies are bigger, there's more muscle mass.
(01:18):
The physicality it's there. It's been emphasized. I think, you know,
Coach Enz talks about stacking days and that really that's
about momentum, which in my mind is always going to
be the most powerful force in sports within a game,
from game to game. And he preaches that, you know,
invest today, build on that investment tomorrow, keep building that stack,
(01:43):
and you know, when you finally do pause to look,
you're going to be pretty proud of what you've built.
He you know, he challenges this team daily a practice
to be the best prepared team in America and this
game Saturday afternoon is going to be our first indication
of you know, how close to that goal this team
can be.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
The big question is Fresno State running the ball, the
commitment to the run. I know that Coach Ince is
a very physical coach and what I mean by that
he likes to be in the trenches, big, physical offensive line,
likes to run the football. Your thoughts about this running
back crew and what you expect from them.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Man, I'm excited. It takes me back about fifteen years.
You know, there was a window there where Pat Hill
had a collection of running backs. It was just an
embarrassment of riches, right. I mean you think of that
Bryce and some Len Lanier, Miller, Anthony Hardy, Ryan Matthews
(02:42):
in the mix, and you know Clifton Smith was there
before that, and then Robbie Routs comes in and it
was like the overlap in some of those groups. You know,
you had just so many options. And I'm seeing a
taste of that combined with a philosophy. And part of
that is a new coaching staff coming in where they
don't have a ton of history with anybody on this team,
(03:05):
so they have fresh eyes, right and nothing. No job
has been handed to anyone, including Bryighton Donaldson, who I
think a lot of fans have, you know, anointed the
chosen one for good reason. The guy special. He led
the state and touchdowns as a senior at CVC, showed
his promise last year. I mean, just a breakout game
against Colorado State. He's physical, he's fast, good visions, but
(03:28):
he doesn't have to do it alone. Bulldogs fans are
gonna love speedy Loop. This guy is a home run threat.
Kame time he touches the ball, you get that guy's
ten touches a game, whether it's a handoff or a
pass or in the return game, he's going to do
something that lights the stadium on fire, and that's exciting.
Jonathan Arsenal might be one of the most improved players
(03:50):
on the team. Nique is there, his speed is there.
And you know, Elijah Gilliams played a lot of football
and he's still in them. And then another guy that
I hope people aren't sleeping on, a local product from
San Juaqui Memorial, Brandon Ramirez. You're gonna see this guy
on the field. He's not afraid to throw his body
(04:11):
on the line and be a blocker, but he's gonna
get football sometimes too, and he can run the Rocks.
I think they're gonna come at you with a lot
of different looks, a lot of different personnel, and I
think there's gonna be some real potency in that run game.
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
One thing that we all kept our eye on was
the quarterback. Who's gonna be the quarterback? We now know
that EJ. Warner is the guy. So we've been watching
all spring into fall camp trying to figure out who's
gonna be the quarterback. The one thing that we do
know is this, Josiah Freeman is a handful. How did
Josiah Freeman look during fall camp?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Unreal? Man? He looks so great. He's bigger, he's stronger,
He's healthy, which is the biggest thing, right, You got
to keep him healthy. He's gonna be a mismatch. He's
gonna draw a lot of attention, and you know, he's
going to make plays. But the attention defenses are going
to have to devote to him is going to open
things up for guys like Harold Duval. Yeah, he's a
(05:09):
true freshman. He's going to play and he's going to
make plays.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Okay, what he is?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You know, Jayon ferraar transfer from Ventura College. He's been
making plays throughout camp. Jordan Brown is the sixth year
senior who started out as a walk on, and you know,
people said he's too small, or he's not fast enough,
or he's this, he's that. What that young man is
is a leader and his desire and his investment brings
(05:35):
out the best in his teammates. And he may be
I think in a lot of ways he's kind of
the emotional, psychological, spiritual leader of the whole team, and
those guys look to him, so he sets the standard
in that receiving corps. He may not put up the
biggest numbers, but you might see kind of an Eric
Brooks type of role for this year. And there's some
(05:56):
other guys you know that have shown some promise. I
think another name some Valley fans already know from his
time if Buchanan in Fresno City, but he's going to
make a bigger name for himself this year. It's Josiah Aon. Yes, No,
he's got a feel for that position for clutch situations.
I think he's going to be a guy, you know,
when it's third down and five or more, the defense
(06:18):
better be ready for number eighty five because he's going
to be ready for a ball coming his way and
he's not going to let anybody wrestle that picks get
away from him. So I think Aon is going to
be a big addition to this team this year. And
that tight end position has some talent in depth to
so while they probably won't throw it as much as
what we've been used to in recent years, the idea
(06:39):
is that hopefully a veteran like EJ. Warner can make
those grows counts.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
You know what, you mentioned some names, some of the
buzz coming out of fall camp, some of the buzz
coming out of spring camp as well. You mentioned Arsenal,
you mentioned Duval, you threw in Dylan, you mentioned Freeman,
even Speedy Louke. Can't forget about Speedy Luke. You mentioned
that name as well. I want to go to the
other side of the ball. I want to talk about
(07:05):
the Harrises, Simeon and Keyentre. I want to talk about
Logan good Speed. These are all buzz names that I'm
hearing out of spring ball fall camp. But I know
that we have some captains. I know that we have
some returning players. What are you hearing about the other
side of the ball with this Fresno State football team?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Well, another name that you know this is pretty rare.
There's a captain on this team this year, is in
his first year in the program. And I can only
think of one other time that happened, when when Tyson
Maaeva transferred from Boise Stage. He won his teammates over
so quickly that they voted him a captain. But Jaden
Pearson ah captain on this team, and you know he
(07:45):
brings a real confidence and swagger to that linebacker position.
He's already obviously earned the trust of his teammates and
a guy who's really fun to talk to, really has
some perspective. He values this opportunity to represent the valley
and to be here. You've got a loaded secondary. I mean,
Alzillian Hamilton has proven he's one of the best DB's
(08:06):
in the league and he's got a professional future. Ye
cam brocka back from injury. His loss last year I
think was one of the more undernoiced factors the downturn
that that season took. He could have made a big
difference in some of those games that turned into Bulldog losses.
He's another guy whose leadership means even more than the
(08:27):
plays he makes. I think it's going to be a
physical defense that comes that in waves. One thing I
think on both sides of the ball that this coaching
staff really believes in his depth. And at this point,
you know, we'll see when the rubber hits the road Saturday,
but at this point it sounds like they're going to
give a lot of guys an opportunity to play, and
(08:49):
when that goes well, you have consistency and relentlessness you know,
one of the reasons some teams don't do it is
you have a drop off. So I think that'll be
something to watch Saturday. If they do go as deep
on the roster as they indicate that they're going to.
Is there a drop off or is there consistency? And
(09:11):
if you see that consistent effort and execution, look out.
I mean, that would be a real powerful sign for
the rest of the season.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
And again, going into Kansas, you know a lot of
people are sitting there saying the Dogs are underdogs, and
that's the situation we like to be in. When I
say valley grit, when I say chip on the shoulder,
when I say blue collar mentality, that's what the dogs
are all about. So when you say double digit underdog
to Kansas, that means nothing to us.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
We want to go in there.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
We want to shock the Jayhawks, we want to get
the first win of the season, and we want to
see what the matt Ence era is all about. I'm
very excited about kickoff on Saturday for so many reasons.
I mean, here we are week zero, we get bulldog football,
but you get to hang out with Matt nts prior
to that, talk about the Coaches Show.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, boy, I've been hanging out with that guy a
lot lately. We had that great kickoff dinner. You were
there pumping up the crowd, did big chance, the news conference,
you know, Monday morning, and right to downtown Rotary. Thanks
to all those rotarians supporting the program and asking some
good questions and sporting Bulldog football. But Thursday night, New Night,
(10:22):
new time, same location to Point Patio Barnbistro, northwest corner
of Willow and Knees. You can see if I can
get him to to throw a new menu. Seasonal menu
had them on something I stumbled across yesterday, but they
always have awesome food at the point five thirties. When
we're going to start the show Thursday nights, get off
of work, comes straight to the point five thirty to
(10:43):
six thirty. We'll have coach ants Bulldog players. We'll do
that Thursday evening of every game week except for a
couple of wrinkles. Right, we got a Friday game at
Colorado State, so we'll move the show that week, and
then there's a trip to Hawaii where the team's leaving early.
But every other week when there's a game at the
point Thursday from five to thirty to six thirty.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
The football kickoff dinner this year was unbelievable. And I've
experienced several football kickoff dinners with the Frisnoe State football team,
but this year there was something special. There was an energy,
there was an excitement you could feel, you could sense.
And I will give Matt Inse this. He was available,
(11:25):
he played into the crowd. Not only is he a
player's coach, but he also is a people's coach, a
Red Wave coach. I could see the players playing with
Matt Innse and his mentality and just using the energy
that I saw from that football kickoff dinner, this team
could be something really special. The Red Wave is gonna
(11:46):
be energized. But that place was electric and they raised
a ton of money.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Paul, and that's the idea, and that's what needs to
keep happening right And I think he hit the message, Garrett,
classy message. It's really it's about the Red Wave. It's
about our community. When we get everybody out the same page,
there's no stopping us. And that's probably what's most impressive
to me about what's happening with Bulldog football right now,
because you have a brand new coaching staff, right, only
a couple guys who were here on the previous staff remained.
(12:14):
So all these new faces, then you've got a roster
where almost half the team is new. But and usually
you would think about it in a situation like that,
you're not going to have real unity and solidarity. But
in this case, there really is. And you know, from
the top guy all the way down, you can see it,
you can feel it. I think you've felt it that
night at the convention Center, and now this week we
(12:37):
get to find out what kind of results that yields
on the field.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Excited Paul, thank you so much for your time. Can't
wait to hear you out of the coaches show. Go Dogs.
Here we are Week zero, Frisno State versus Kansas. Cannot
wait for kickoff?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
My friend me neither my friend and I hope you're
ready for some Bulldog Boulevard action a week from Saturday.
It was his first home game and even Big Kenny
Wiggins out there pumping things up on the iHeart Bulldogs
Tailgates show and every home game this year, I know
that's gonna be a blast. Who knows what we might
experience and what special gifts we might run into down there.
(13:14):
It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
On sports it is Fox Sports Radio, Big Kenny Wiggins
as we get ready for the Fresno State football season
of kickoff.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
How are you doing, my friend? You know what it is?
Football season? Yes, I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
See that's what I like to hear. I like that excitement.
I can tell when you're ready to go and you're
fired up. The good news is we're back together again
the iHeart Bulldogs pregame show. We're gonna be having a
good time. But there's a lot of question marks surrounding
this team. The one thing that I do know is this.
You and I were both at the kickoff dinner. Great crowd,
(13:49):
great energy, record breaking money was raised. There's something to
be said for the energy that Matt iNTS is bringing
around this program.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, definitely. And coming from like a place like usc
right where there isn't a there isn't really a problem
for money, right, There isn't really a Hey you can
go to a few donors and be like, hey I
need x, X and X and it happens, and he
I think he realizes that Fresno is going to be
a lot more work in that in that area and
(14:19):
he's really been diving into it, and he's really been
out in the community making relationships and even like I
had a nice conversation to him with him at a
nil dinner and it was a breath of fresh air
and and kind of like, all right, we got somebody
in the in the helm. That's that's good. And he's
he knows what it's like, he knows what it's gonna take.
(14:40):
He's not trying to sugarcoat everything. He's a realist and
he's he knows what it's going to take to make
this program good and he's on the right path.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
I will say this, I was questioning a lot about
matt As when he first was hired. How is this
gonna play out? I don't have those questions anymore after
being able to kind of witness a couple of practices,
spring game, you name it. I'm like, I see it.
I think I understand the identity of this football team.
(15:10):
I have an idea of how he wants to play
with this Fresno State team. I like everything that he's
bringing to the table, and I like his mentality for
the valley.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yeah, for sure, he's definitely a he fits the mold
of a value of a Valley coach for sure, and
that's what I like about him as well. Again, I
was on the fence with them in the beginning as well.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah, who knew.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Because I didn't know who he was, right, I knew Skipper,
I knew who he was.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Complete. Yeah, that's the one thing that you'll get from us.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Is no doubt, no doubt, but.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Our thoughts on our sleeves, if you will, exactly.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
And but he is. He has the job now and
I want nothing but to see him be successful because
I want the Dogs to be successful. Whether it was
matt ansmother was Tim Skipper, I want the Dogs to win.
And that's all bottom line.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Well, we have a lot of question marks and Saturday
questions will be answered.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I don't know how I feel about this game.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Normally the first game of the year, even when we
played against Purdue, er we go on the road, I'm like,
I feel good about what's gonna happen with the Dogs,
and I think that we're gonna pull out a victory
every time. I kind of feel that way. I just
want to see what we're going to look like this year,
maybe even get to know some of these new faces
on the team. Are my expectations a little too low?
Speaker 4 (16:24):
With the landscape of college football right now? This is
what it's gonna be like every year. Yeah, Okay, there's
gonna be a lot of transfers, a lot of there's
gonna be a lot of new faces on the team.
And that's what kind of present state is gonna have
to get used to. You're not gonna have the four
or five returning starters that you had that were the
stars of your team because a lot of these guys
(16:45):
are gonna transfer or graduate or whatever it is. And
each year it's gonna be a different team. Good point, like,
we have a new like we really only have two
or three returners on offense that are really like we're
like dudes in the last last season. Only a few
guys on defense as well. So it's now it's how
well can this new coaching staff develop these players to
(17:09):
be bulldog football players within that short period of time.
And that's what it's going to be, right. Who knows
what we're going to be put out in the field.
I don't know, Like people don't understand how hard it
is to develop these young kids fast, right, and that's
what needs to happen for us to be successful.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Well, the good news is, I think that's the same
situation with Kansas. I know that they lost well, their
entire back into their defense. I believe that they lost
their starting running back, their security blanket at wide receiver.
I think they lost a couple of receivers. So I
think that they have their sixty year quarterback coming back,
Jalen Daniels. But other than that, it's gonna be a
(17:46):
lot of questions for them as well. So maybe twelve
points maybe too much to be giving the Jayhawks. But
I will say this, I'm excited to see what EJ.
Warner is gonna look like.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Yeah, for sure. I mean I haven't seen him too much,
but what I've heard is when he's came in, he's
he's impressed. Right, he's done, He's done. Well, you obviously
earned the job. So what I'm excited for is to
see them if they run the ball.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Okay, now, that's that's something that is kind of your specialty,
your forte. You like to get in the trenches, you
like to get dirty. And the one thing that we
do know is coach Ince has a tradition of building
strong line play, running the football, controlling the game that
kind of is right up your alley.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Yeah, for sure. And that's that's kind of what when
he came in and said that, I'm like, all right, now,
we're kind of getting back to bulldog football, right, Because
when you have Derek Carr and Davante Adams and Isaiah
Burst and Josh Harper, it's easy to air that hang out, right.
But when you have a quarterback that's not Derek Carr,
I'm not saying EJ is going to be anything less
or whatever, but we'll see.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
We'll see. But when you can, we'll see. So we'll
see back grocery somewhere. Right.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So when you when you have that security blanket of
that run game to rely on and then also can
mix it up with the play action or drop back pass,
that is a when you have a whole entire team,
a whole entire continuity between the offense where you're not
just so pass heavy or not just so run heavy.
That's when you're a successful offense. When you can control
(19:20):
the game. You're not looking to score one hundred points
because that's what you have to do. If you can
move the ball down the field monotonously and control the
clock and everything like that that's when you become a
successful offense.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
See that's what you like right there, That's the type
of football you kind of get excited for. Do you
know anything about this offensive line? Have you talked to
the old line coach? What are you hearing about? How
we're gonna be in the trenches.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
So a lot of new faces, right, a lot of
moving parts. They moved Spohmer to the left tackle to center,
which I think is a good move. He was a
little undersized to play left tackle.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
He's he's a.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Smart guy, a tough guy, kind of like a little
grit dude, which I love bulldog footage exactly. The tackles
are starting a true freshman left tackle from Bullard. Okay, yeah,
so we'll see how that goes. So it's a little
bit of a little bit of uh, moving parts there.
(20:17):
But from one practice I saw in the spring, they
were running the ball, they were hitting, they were there
were there was a there was aggression, there was pads
were popping, which was a lot different than they have
been in the in the past. So I like that.
I'm excited. I'm excited for the running backs. The one
two punch of Donaldson and Gilliam like, let's go, Like.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
There's a couple of pieces coming back that I'm excited about.
Those two that you just named, Gilliam Donaldson and I
can't forget about Josiah Freeman. I mean, there's some players
coming back that I'm really excited about. I'm like, EJ,
you kind of have a couple of weapons now, a
couple of them.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Yeah, So if they can get the I think the
big thing would for them is to get the run
game established early, right, and then it gives EJ time
to sit back and throw and play action pass and
all that kind of stuff, because that's what it's easy
for a quarterback, right when you can hand the ball off,
get three four yards a pop, and then it's third
and two instead of third and ten, right, So, and
(21:15):
then you can either run the ball or pass the
ball or whatever it is, be able to control the
game on the ground and control the clock with the
ball in your hands.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
That is the game plan.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Table Mountain is where we're gonna be for the pregame show.
We definitely want to see you out there enjoy the
football game. But yes, we're gonna be at Table Mountain
starting at one point thirty. As we get ready to
count down the kickoff Fresno State football. Kenny Wiggins, I
can't wait, brother, this is gonna be a good year.
Let's go fired up, Go Dogs. We're talking with Derek
(21:44):
Johnson from the Locked On Jayhawks podcast. Make sure you
follow Derek Johnson on social media at d Johnson Radio
on x It's week zero for college football. There's like
four or five games Stanford, Hawaii, Idaho State, UNLV, Iowa State,
Kansas State.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
That's going to be a good one.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
But the game I'm talking about right now Fresno State
against Kansas. And this Kansas team was five and seven
last year, but in my opinion, they're better than a
five and sevent team.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
What happened, whether you want to chalk that up to
coaching decisions or you know, turnovers, quarterbacks, play, I mean,
it was just kind of a mix of everything in
different games, defenses collapsing late in the game. For KU,
they finished one in five in one score games last season,
so you know, you could easily switch that around if
you look at some of the other teams in the
(22:33):
Big Twelve, Iowa State BYU. Those teams went five and
one in Big Twelve play and they tied for the
lead in the conference, so it very easily can switch
everybody so close together in this league. But we saw
what this team could do over the back half.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Of the season.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Has won three Streight ranked games, and they beat three
of the four teams who tied for first in the
Big Twelve. The only team they lost to of the
four was Arizona State, who ended up going to the playoff,
and Kansas led that game with two minutes to go.
So I think, like you said, better team than than
what was shown. They just kind of had some rusted
to shake off new coordinator last year. They're back to
(23:09):
more familiarity this year. You know, some some turnovers early
in the season, defense giving up some late scores. So
the hope is that that stuff's going to bounce out
this year and have a much better season.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Got to talk about Jayalen Daniels. Jalen Daniels a dual
threat quarterback. He likes to gamble. Some people say, as
Jalen Daniels goes, the Jayhawks go. But he did lose
a security blanket. How is Jalen Daniels gonna fare without
Luke Grimm?
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Yeah, grim was his favorite target for a long period
of time and as we got a fire truck going
out behind me. I mean, that's that's what kau Vans
are hoping that the sirens are going on and then
the coming on with Emmanuel Henderson, because that dude is
a five alarm fire with his speed and his footwork.
I mean, this guy transferred over from Alabama. He's the
(23:54):
fastest player on the team. They have different mile prower
measurements and stuff that they track him in practice, and
he has broken like all the records that they previously
had with some of their other players. He's gonna be
a long ball threat. He's gonna be a guy who
gets ball in his hands and he makes guys miss.
The other guy, who might be more of that Looke
Grim type though, of that kind of slot receiver who's
(24:15):
gonna kind of grind his way up and down the field,
just cam pick it. He's a transfer from ball State,
had almost fifty catches a season ago. Those two guys
are the ones that I'm kind of watching. Outside of that,
it's a couple of the transfers coming in, a couple
other guys that have been kind of coming along in
their time at KU for a couple of years. But
there's definitely some questions about the lack of returning production
(24:36):
at the receiver room. But it's a room that I
actually think might be more talented overall. So it'll be
interesting to see how it meshes early in the year,
specifically in the first game against President State.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
And the question about Jalen Daniels is last year he
was healthy, you got to see him the full season.
The interesting part about Jaylen Daniels is he's not afraid
to go downfield. Fourteen touchdowns, but fourteen turnovers. How do
you solve that?
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Yeah, that was the big issue for Jalen last year,
especially first half of the season. So the first five
games of the year, he's got five passing touchdowns compared
to eight interceptions back half of the year. That starts
to tighten up a little bit more. The numbers looked
more like the guy who in the previous couple of
years didn't really have that turnover issue. I think some
of that was a bit of the play calling. They
(25:24):
brought in a new offensive coordinator last year who now
is at Wisconsin in Jeff Grimes, and the offense never
really vibed as much with what it was before. Grimes
Before him, it was Andy Kotliniki and it was a
lot of intermediate passing. His play action it was razzle
dazzle with the motions and formations. And with Grimes they
had some of the formation razzle dazzle, but it wasn't
(25:44):
as much. There wasn't as much throwing over the middle
of the field. It was much more based on throwing
to the outside, throwing deep balls, getting receivers one on
one opportunities, trying to take advantage. And you know, this
is Kansas. It's not like we're talking about how a
bunch of five star receivers on the outside where that's
gonna work consistently. And so when you look at what
(26:07):
Kansas is getting back to this year, it is more
of that cold nick type of offense with their new
offense coordinator who was the quarterbacks coach for all these years,
with Colon Nikki in Jim Zebrowski, and the idea is
they're going to throw over the middlefield more. The idea
they're gonna have better receivers for yard after catch, and
so I think the combination of those things, Jayalen's just
gonna feel more comfortable, Uh, shake that rust off in
(26:29):
the early part of the season last year in which
he was hurt for summer and spring ball. This year
he actually got to throw to his receivers in the
summer the receiver and has banged up in fall camp.
So I think the idea is the combination of those things.
It's gonna lead the less turnovers. And it's year six,
so you should be you know, even more experience and
better this year.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Big fan of Jalen Daniels. I think he has a
great upside. His ceiling is incredible. I just don't want
to see him do well against Presno State, but I
wish him to have a good season. Let's talk about
this offensive line. Bryce Foster is a stud. Not is
he a stead on the football field, but that guy's
amazing when it comes to the world of track and
field as well.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Oh yeah, I mean unbelievable athlete. To be able to,
you know, be a high performing football player that probably
could have gone to the NFL draft last year and
been a Day two or Date three pick and just
wanted to come back and you know, perform and shot
put and then come back for another year of football
is really cool to see. He had an awesome season
for kau He was an All Big twelve player at
(27:27):
the center position, and now he's back. They have a
little more uncertainty at the tackle positions this year on
the offensive line, but the interior I think they feel
pretty good about with him. Kobe Baines is back, who's
been essentially this will be his third year starting. They've
got a former four star Michigan transfer starting at left
guard coming into this game, most likely in a mere herring.
Who's gonna be kind of rotating round. So Foster kind
(27:48):
of leads that, and you know, nice to have that
communication back with your quarterback because those are the two
guys who are you know, kind of figuring out what's
going on on the defensive side of the ball. So
that's a good place to start for the offense.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Well, let's talk about that this insive side of the ball.
I mean, you lost some really good players, a couple
of defensive backs, talking about Kobe Bryant and Mellow Dotson.
I think you guys actually lost four on the back end,
a couple of safeties as well. How is that defense
gonna look, especially with your new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
Yeah, that's gonna be the big question. The new defensive
coordinator comes over. He has Iowa State background, he has
a defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles background, and
it's almost a little bit of Okay, can scheme overcomes
some of the talent lost a little bit because it
seemed like if you watched KU in previous seasons, the
scheme was corners are gonna play ten yards off the ball,
They're not gonna be as aggressive. And I don't know
(28:37):
that that matched as good of talent as k you
had in the back end, So can you get a
little bit better from that perspective, But beyond that, it's
it's definitely less experience overall. The talent though, if you
look at Kay's recruiting rankings, you know they're not bringing
in four and five stars all the time. But the
position that they've consistently brought in their higher end three stars,
they're players who are kind of burgeoning on being those
(28:58):
four star recruits. Over the last two three years. It
has been in the secondary, So I do think, and
they've got a couple of guys who started to get,
you know, real big playing time at the end of
last season as freshmen. I think they're gonna be talented there.
There's probably gonna be a little bit more coverage bus
this year than in previous seasons. But I think the
overall talent, I think the scheme, I think they can
actually put up similar kind of numbers because the end
(29:21):
of the day, is as talent as they were the
past couple of years. This is not a pass defense
that rated, you know, in the top half of college football.
If you look at numbers like quarterback rating against yards
per pass allowed. Those things are things that I think
are on the table just as much this year as
they were last year.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Derek, before we let you go, I have to ask
about the environment. What is David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium
gonna be like. I know it's not a new stadium,
it's an upgraded stadium, and I know people are excited
to get in that stadium see it for the very
first time. And this is a week zero game. We're excited.
There's only four games this week. Frisno State and Kansas
(29:58):
are one of them.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Oh yeah, I mean, yeah, you're right. It's not a
new stadium, but it certainly feels like one for people
lace because it is. It is night and day. I mean,
it's not even fully completed. They basically worked on one
side plus the end zones. They still have the other
side to do. It's still doing future off seasons, but
I'm sure the team is super excited to just, you know,
(30:19):
I don't know, kind of be at home and have
that home feeling as well. They didn't get to do
that last year playing at Arrowhead. I think that'll be
a boost. But the environment itself, I think it's gonna
be awesome. Last I heard they were trending toward it
being a sellout that it should be. You know, it
was kind of right there, so I'd imagine it will
be good. It'll probably be a hot day. It's gonna
be a night game though, that'll help it cool off
a little bit there. But I think it's gonna be awesome.
(30:40):
I mean, new duds, the facilities look incredible, the new
video board looks great. It's gonna be I think, a
really good environment. Students just getting back into town this
past weekend. I think they're gonna be rowdy, ready to go.
There's not really much else going on in week zero.
You don't probably have a lot of homework or midterms
you got to turn into I think it's gonna be
(31:01):
a good environment for sure, and I think people are
gonna show out. I think it also helps that it's
playing Fresno State. You know, they're playing Wagner and FCS
team next week. A little harder to get as excited
when it's an FDS opponent. When you're getting Fresno State,
you're getting the team who's had a lot of success.
Yeah at the one level, has played a lot of
these other power opponents, whether it's UCLA or whoever. Tough
(31:22):
to where I think the excitement level is pretty much
in an all time high right now for KU football.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Derek, We really do appreciate your time. Let them know
how they can follow you. If they are a Kansas
fan and you're listening right now, you're thinking to yourself,
I like Derek, I like the information, and you know
basketball season is coming up as well. Talk to them
about how they can follow you on social media and
listen to the Locked On Jayhawks podcast that's right at.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
T Johnson Radio on Twitter and yeah locked on Jayhawks
anywhere you get your podcast. You can watch it on
YouTube as well, and look forward to having a recap
up after the game of whatever happens between kau and
Fresno State.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
You do a great job. Love watching your videos, love
listening to you on the podcast. And yeah, let's catch
up after the football game, my friend.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Absolutely, thanks Kay, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Derek Johnson tell us a little bit about Kansas football again.
That's going to be a heck of a game on Saturday.
It's gonna be on Fox TV. And we're gonna wrap
up this podcast by going to the press conference with
head coach Matt In from your Fresne State Bulldogs. And
here's the voice of the Fresne State Bulldogs, Paul Leffler,
talking to Fresno State head coach Matt Ins right here.
Speaker 6 (32:26):
And I've heard you challenge the team consistently on a
couple fronts. One to be the best prepared team in
the country, and two to not lose that chip on
their shoulder.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Now that it's going to be real bullets Saturday, how
are they doing on those two fronts?
Speaker 7 (32:38):
Well, I think I think you know they're listening. Uh,
they're here. You know, from a preparation standpoint, a lot
of that falls onto the coaching staff, uh, but also
the focus uh practice situations. You know, what can we
do situationally in practice to emulate what it's going to
look like. Uh, challenge them this morning is we gotta
we gotta find ways to limit the noise and the
excitement because there's gonna be a ton of brand new
(33:00):
stadium or I shouldn't say new stadium, but redone stadium,
updated stadium, and there's gonna be a lot of excitement
in regards to that. But also game one always provides
a number of challenges.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
They have.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
A coach that had been on staff is now becoming
the defensive coordinator. Well, I'm sure he's doing some things
differently to put his mark on the defense. And so
what does that look like? Is there a new designer
pressure somewhere? Offensively, what are they going to do in
the opener's trade shift motion to try to get us
out of position? Because if they identify something, you're gonna
see it all day. And so trying to make sure
(33:35):
we live in the moment, we block out distractions and
we just focus on the football and getting our cleats
in the ground and getting ready to play football.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
So this is called Week zero, and like I said,
Fresno State, one of only four games being played on
Saturday are dogs. The Bulldogs are going to be on
national TV. They are underdogs. But you know what, that
doesn't scare me, That doesn't bother me one bit. But
there are a lot of question marks. There's a lot
of excitement around this team because well there's so many
unanswered questions. We don't know what's gonna happen with the
(34:05):
new starting quarterback. We don't know how some of the
defensive pieces are gonna come together. We do know the
four captains and who they are. And here's matt In's
talking about the captains and how that's coming together.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
Yeah. Good, those guys were, they were leaders to begin with.
But when I did announce, and one thing we will do,
and I'll make the announcement here too. We will probably
have a fifth captain every week, a floating captain, uh,
someone that's deserving because of production, because of what they've
done on the practice field, how they approached the game,
their impact to their teammates. But these four young these
(34:39):
four young men have done an outstanding job since since
I stepped foot on campus. They were four guys that
we're always in the front. We're always trying to, you know,
bring people along with them. And I think that's a
you know, a definite sign of a leader is it's
not a title, but how do you impact people around you?
And we have a team full of leaders. You know
sometimes they're not given that title or recognized like that.
(35:02):
But you know, Jordan Brown, for instance, would be a
young man that is a you know, he's a dominant leader,
but not necessarily a captain, but he makes people around
him better.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
And the four captains that he's speaking of, Jaden Pearson,
a Zillion Hamilton, Jacob Spoemer, Cameron Broca, Cam Broca and
for every single one of those guys, consistency, hard work, leadership.
It's all paid off. And I cannot wait to see
their leadership on the field this Saturday against Kansas. And
there was one question that I loved during this press conference.
(35:32):
Give us a word or a couple of words to
describe this Frisno State team. I wanted to hear this,
especially because we haven't seen them on the field just yet.
Speaker 7 (35:41):
I think gritty would be one of them. I think
we have a level of toughness and uh, I'll use
the chip on the shoulder. I think they want to
prove people wrong. They're excited to get out there and
put a good product on the field. And then the
other one I would use and I'm most excited about
is just the cohesiveness of this group. Uh, you know,
(36:01):
we have again the landscape of college football. We're not alone,
but there's probably forty new faces on this football team.
And if you walked in our locker room, you walk
out to there to walk through right now, you don't
know who's a fourth or fifth year player and who's
a first year player. And I think that that shows leadership,
(36:21):
you know, from the top to the bottom within our
locker room, and the willingness to if you're if we
have a genuine appreciation, if you give us great energy
and great effort every day, those are two things that
are necessary to be a Bulldog.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Can't wait. I'm excited, I'm fired up. It's Week zero.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
The Dogs are playing Fresno State Kansas this Saturday. Cannot
wait for kickoff at three point thirty
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