Thursday: Matt Schwiard on Charlotte-UTSA

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Matt's Wired's the voice of the Charlotte forty nine ers. Matt,
thanks for being with us today. What's the mindset, attitude
thoughts of the team as they get ready to welcome
you TSA to town this weekend?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Oh Andy, it's going to be senior Day, so they're
going to, you know, rally around that and try to
get something. They're kind of going positive early. It's been
a really tough season, sitting at one and eight and
had so many, so many injuries, a laundry list. We
make a joke that it's been like one of those
CBS receipts of just injuries and guys not just out

(00:34):
for a game, out for the year, and so much
for coach Tim albin Evo have to overcome, I mean
new coach, new staff. You got the transfer portal, bunch
of guys leaving before he got here, and it brought
in fifty to fifty five new guys. So it's been
it's been a long year, and he'd admit that. So
we're kind of looking they kind of call it just
winning moments now, trying to find these winning moments throughout

(00:56):
these next three games they can, you know, close out
the year. With some some positive things happening, and then
take that into the offseason and hopefully build the future
when you're well.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
I've seen a lot of your scores, and it seems
like the offense scores sometimes in the twenties, even low thirties,
but then the defense can't keep the other team from scoring.
Has that kind of been the situation this year?

Speaker 2 (01:19):
It has been. And you take last week's game against
East Carolina. We're down twenty eight to nothing, very very quickly,
and then we kind of battle our way back and
at one point it was a sixteen point game, but
in the fourth quarter we get worn down so much.
The North Texas game, it's twenty seven to twenty going
to the fourth quarter, and at that point we're just

(01:43):
gassed defensively, and the last three touchdowns, honestly, I'm not
sure we laid up a hand on the running back
going thirty yards. So that's been the tough part. Our
depth is just exhausted with the injuries, and we're having
these games just get out of hand in the game.
But you know, at the start of the season before
we had these these things pop up, and Connor Harrell

(02:05):
was our quarterback back then we were kind of our
own worst enemy. In the opener against AB State, some
penalties early got behind the chains. And then the next
week against North Carolina, I think we're the better team
on the field. We had opportunities late in that game
either tied the game or potentially take the lead. It
didn't happen. But after the game against one, but we
had the injuries pop up against Rice and we have

(02:26):
not been able to get anything positive going ever since. Now,
when that happens this week against the road Runners, it's
just going to take a total team effort for sixty
minutes and they just cannot make the mistakes that are
getting them every week, and that's you know, penalties they're
trying to get off the field on third down. Last week,
I had two pass interference penalties early the game that

(02:48):
extended drives throughth Carolina and then because of those mistakes
they end up scoring. And they can't do that if
they want to have a chance to win On Saturday.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Do you have trailer? This week on the radio show,
talked about Java Nicholas, the wide receiver transfer from LSU
and E. J. Mason, two guys that he circled. Is
we got to keep an eye on those guys. How
good are they?

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, Javia Nicholas very good. He's been fantastic, had a
great game again last week. Mason has had his moments.
He's been hurt. Now since he's come back a couple
of weeks ago, he's not been targeted very much in
the passing game. I think a guy to really watch
on Saturday is a Sean Brown wide receiver. That's the
seventh year guy for us, and you know we watch

(03:31):
games on Sunday. Is always that guy that you throw
the ball to. He's not the most athletic, but he
just makes plays. In the NFL. Well, he's kind of
our version of that. He's a local kid and if
you throw it and he'd get a hand on it,
he's going to catch it. And then last week he
had over one hundred yards against He's Carolina, the first
time he's done that in his career. And he's going
to get a lot of ballst on his way over
the next three weeks, and I think Nicholas will as well.

(03:53):
Now if Mason does, they get all three go and
that'd be great. Our offensive line's got to protect. Our
running gain has been terrible. Our quarterbacks are run their
life all the time, whether it's you know, Wilkie or
Grayson Loftis, and I think it'll be Grayson's starting the
game against UTSA. But coach Alvin is not afraid to
make a chance if he has to. So our lives

(04:14):
at a block. We've got to run a little bit.
But if we can, if we can let our quarterback
have some time, they can take some shots downfield. And
those three are the ones to watch more.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
I've seen some things online on the Charlotte website and
news there that their stadium expansion in the works. I
know the basketball team has had success previously except for
the last year or so, but they're, you know, trying
to like everybody else, avoid people leaving the from the portal.
What's the idea there for coach Albn to get this

(04:43):
to this to be as competitive as possible and a
very competitive American conference.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's just it. You hit it right there. It's an
extremely competitive conference. That he came here from the MAC.
He had a lot of success, ten wins seasons last
three years in the back, won the MAC a year
ago Coach of the Year. He came here because well,
it's it's a better league. But we have not given
him the resources yet to go get those players. And
I think that's the next step. You know, we're heading

(05:10):
into another recruiting season. Can we get him enough resources
to go get the guys? You know, players come to Charlotte.
It's a great city. You're right, there's going to be
expansion with the stadium. There's still things in the works
to make that better. Think about it. You know, you
had a beginning not too long ago with your program,
a little bit longer than ours. But we're just in

(05:30):
year thirteen. And if you look at our facilities compared
to others in the American and what they're doing now
in South Florida. You know, the expansion in Memphis, we're behind.
So our expansion is going to be corporate Suite three,
four thousand more seats. Our crowds have been really good.
Now I'm not sure about this week. We are one
in eight, but the students are showing up. They've been

(05:53):
leaving more towards the middle of the third quarter because
we haven't been playing. But we can't complain about our
crowd support. But we've got to get the revenue going
to get the players to be competitive in the league.
And that's the biggest obstacle right now. Basketball has got
a little bit better with that in the last twelve
months or so, but basketball football are connected, so they've

(06:13):
got to get those guys that want to jump on
the football side too.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
All right, what is the what's the thought from the
coaching staff about UTSA? The road owners have a one
A conference road game in two years. We're really good
at home, but not as good on the road.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, no, we've heard that, but they know. The coach
I talked to him today. You know, he's really impressed
with your quarterback. He likes the things you're doing on offense.
He knows that you guys are very capable putting up
really big numbers just you know, multiple things you can
do on the offensive side. But he has mentioned that
you guys have struggled on the road. So maybe if

(06:49):
we get off to a quick start that would help us.
But impress what you guys are doing. You know, you
built the program the right way, and you got it,
you know year and a year out. Well you're right
there in the conference, in the race. And so he's
really excited about the matchup and he really is impressed
and a fan of your coach and the Road Earners program.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
I know your daughter's playing basketball and you get to
go to a basketball game that you don't have to call.
So I'll let you get back to that, and thanks
for joining us. I'll see you Saturday morning in Charlotte.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Sounds great. I got triplets, their freshmen in the high
school and they're playing right now. They're all three on
the Florida Yeah awesome, two points there.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
You go go watch them. I know that's important.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
All right.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
That's Matt Swired. He's the voice of the forty nine ers.
UTSA and Charlotte coming up this weekend and we'll be
on the air at nine on Saturday morning and the
kickoff just after eleven. I think in the American Conference
there's one school that's head and shoulders above everybody else,
and that's South Florida. What they are doing with their
scholarship giveaway, and basically the athletic department doesn't have to

(07:53):
pay for scholarships. The school is forgiving all that. I
don't think any other school in the country is doing it.
It may be a way that mid major schools are
going to have to go to be competitive in the future.
And I think everybody's chasing them. Memphis is close, and
too Lane is close. Everybody else is a few feet behind,
or a few yards behind, or maybe miles behind. I

(08:15):
think if you can build a great in North Texas
is probably in a similar situation that UTSA is. They
do have an indoor practice facility that UTSA doesn't have.
But I think this is going to come down to
community support and administration support. And I think UTSA, as
long as Jeff Trailer is the coach, is going to

(08:36):
win seven eight games every year. And I'll be surprised
if they don't beat Charlotte. I'll be surprised if they
don't win the two games against East Carolina and an Army.
The Army and whoever they get in the bowl game
that could be fifty to fifty. It depends on what
the portal looks like and well the port you can't
get in the portal yet, but who opts out of
games or who's injured. But bowl games I think are

(08:59):
always fitfty to fifty, and for the most part, they've
been relatively competitive no matter what game Utsa's played in,
win them or lose them. UTSA is on a two
game Bowl winning streak. But catching South Florida and catching
Tulane or Memphis right now, that's an uphill battle that
very few schools in the league are going to be
able to do. Rice can't do it, Florida Atlantic can't

(09:20):
do it, Charlotte can't do it. And it's a great
league to be in because you're in good cities. But
I don't think people realize there's mid major sports, and
I consider there's a buffer. There's the Power Four, there's
the Mid Major and American Conferences in the middle of that,
because I think Sun Belt and Conference USA and Mountain

(09:41):
West and Metro and MAC and all that stuff, they're
pretty much the same. But the American Conference is a
much bigger deal than any of those are, and not
too far off from where the Power four is.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, out of all the teams you listed, the one
that continues to baffle me to a certain level is
how the Rice Athletic Department hasn't been able to get
some heavier donations or heavier bank roll from some of
their more wealthy and well off alumni.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Well, I wouldn't. I don't know who their wealthy alumni is.
And if that wealthy alumni as at an age where
they don't care anymore. That would be one of my guesses.
But I do know that when you drive into that campus,
it's not too much unlike Highland Park in Dallas. It's
very similar. It's Highland Park's got more of it and bigger.

(10:35):
But there's a lot of those castle like homes around
the Rice campus and then the medical centers on the
next street over. So they and there is a project.
I saw an online rendering the other day where they're
going to redo the stadium and get it to like
thirty thousand or twenty seven thousand, something like that. To
think that that stadium fifty years ago hosted a Super

(10:57):
Bowl and we're basically playing in the same stadium that
they had fifty years ago at the super Bowl. Yeah,
they have they have changed anything.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
It's still the same press box. They've petitioned off a
few seats, but I think at capacity it might hold
forty five thousand. But yeah, that's if you uncover the
covers that are on the Inzowne seats and some of
the other areas of the stadium. But yeah, they holsto
a super Bowl in nineteen seventy four.

Speaker 3 (11:23):
Just that's just one of the most insane fun facts
to still throw out there.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
Well, that's one of the Super Bowl. Nobody even cared
about the Super Bowl. It was on at two o'clock
in the afternoon on a Sunday, and now it's the
biggest event in sports.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
All Right.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
I got an Atlanta Falcons thing to share with you,
and we'll get into some other NFL news and notes
at the top of the hour. And I can't figure
out why Sam likes the Emirates Cup, because I think
it's a waste of time. We'll talk about that next
four forty six on the ticket