September 23, 2024 • 30 mins
This week on Weekend Warriors, Anish Shroff and Tom Luginbill take a moment to appreciate all of the second acts at the QB position across the NFL, recap the Panthers huge win over the Raiders, highlight Shaq Thompson's journey from high school to now and so much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Busy weekend as we are in the midst of the
college football NFL campaign. I was at Syracuse on Friday,
watch Stanford beat Syracuse, flight delays, got to Vegas on Saturday,
watch the Panthers put it, put it to the Raiders. Yeah,
the autumn wind was a Panther on Sunday. That was fun.
(00:22):
I got everybody rejuvenated. Andy Dalton came in Bald and Luke's.
Saturday night, you had one of the games that's kind
of become one of the great new traditions in college football,
the red bandana game.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, man, I tell you it is it. Obviously, there's
a lot of emotion that always revolves around nine to eleven,
and this particular instance, in this particular individual Wells Crowther
and you know through your coverage of lacrosse, distinctly is
a unique story in and of itself because without the
(00:57):
actual red bandana even knows it occurred. And I think
that's what kind of gives it a mythical four folk
lore type of feel to it, because all of these
people that he had saved, all they could say was, well,
this guy with his red bandana was leading us down
a stairwell. This guy with the red bandana led us
(01:18):
to where the daylight was. That's the only way that
could describe him. And if he doesn't have it on,
nobody knows. And then it makes you realize how many
other fallen heroes were there that nobody knows about. Right,
And so it's great that football Boston College has found
a way to make this a national thing, to create
national exposure. It rained the entire night on Saturday night.
(01:40):
There was not an empty seat in the stadium. Everybody
from students to grandparents all dialed in on it. And
BDT has to come from behind wind In beats Michigan State.
So what just an unbelievable atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, tremendous atmosphere. You guys did a great job. I
watched a little bit of the game on the plane,
and you guys did a tremendous job covering not just
the game, but also telling the story of Wells Crowther.
We'll get into some college football stuff here in a moment,
but I thought I would start here after watching Andy
Dalton play on Sunday and Dalton's become now part of
(02:18):
a larger storyline in the NFL. And I'm gonna go
into your Wheelhouse. You're a big superhero guy, right, yeah?
All right, So when that whole Marvel Cinematic universe launched,
do you remember the first movie in that series?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I believe it was Folk or iron Man?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It was iron Man. I had to look it up. Okay,
do you remember where Robert Downey Junior's career was pre
Iron Man?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Oh? Do I It was in prison.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I was thinking of iron Man because I thought in Hollywood,
especially recently, I don't think anybody's had a better second
act than Robert Downey Jr.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
No doubt.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And it started with that role and people were going,
really him, You're you're casting him? And then you know
that blew up. The franchise blew up, and then he's
doing all these great movies and now he's as big
a movie star as anybody, and he was able to
resuscitate his career. Well, look around the NFL. Justin Fields
(03:22):
has Pittsburgh at three and oh Chicago dumped them. Sam
Darnold has the Vikings. This is going to sound wild,
looking like maybe a Super Bowl contender. We saw what
Geno Smith has done. Baker Mayfield right, Andy Dalton for
the Panthers on Sunday I'm wondering, is there a why
(03:44):
behind all this Throuke Willison there, young guy, but Tennessee
gave up on him and then looked like the real
deal against green Bay had some moments beat his old team.
Is there a why behind all these guys having their
Robert Downey junior moments so to speak.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I think there's probably quite a few. I think
in some instances it's being thrown to the wolves, forced
to play right away. You're a high draft choice, which
likely met you went to a roster that didn't have
a lot of the components around you that would help
to enable you to play your best early. I think
that's one. I think also number two, So many stars
(04:24):
have to align a niche like you need the right
component here, the right component there, the right staff, the
right scheme, the right approach, all of these different components
that really don't have anything to do with just you
as the individual quarterback. I think the younger the quarterback,
(04:46):
those components have to be right, or they've got to
be in place, or there's got to be some building
blocks for them to be in place, and then what happens.
It's kind of like the freshman in college that was
highly italented high school recruit, and he's expected to come
in and light the world on fire, and when in
reality that's that's not how it generally works. Those guys
(05:10):
are rarities, and so I always go back to and
I look to guys like, well, Aaron Rodgers is probably
the greatest example. And then now Jordan Love another great example.
Where you go to an organization as a late first
round draft choice, you're not forced to play right away.
You do have good players around you. You afforded the
ability to develop and grow and immature and learn and watch,
(05:36):
and then you get your moment and all of the
pieces of the puzzle are already in place and around you.
And so with guys like Justin Fields, and I think
he's a he's a great example. Sometimes a change of scenery,
sometimes having better players around you at some parts, the
(05:58):
organizational structure of long term success, which Pittsburgh has. All
of these different things. I think all of them are
common denominators. And just maybe landing in that right spot,
somebody believes in you, They're going to invest in you,
and they're going to spend some time to try and
put you in the best position as possible. I think
(06:19):
it's very, very real, and coming off of the comments
that Tom Brady make made what last week, I think
there's a lot of validity to that too.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You're going to see, I really do believe you're going
to see teams now change the way they approach that
quarterback position, even with first round draft picks, because as
tempting as it is to throw the guy in there
right away and say hey, while he's on his rookie
deal and not making a lot of money, this is
a window. If it's not for the long term benefit
(06:49):
of the quarterback, you may rethink it. Look at Detroit,
Jared Goff is a great example, right, and obviously Bryce
Young looms over all this because I know what the
narrative this week is going to be about Bryce Young.
Andy Dalton has the great game. People are gonna want
to bury Bryce Young. And listen, Bryce, obviously when he
gets that next chance, will have to play better. He's
(07:10):
gonna have to do his part. But you look at
Jared Goff, right, went to a Super Bowl with the
Rams and then you know, lost a few pieces and
the offensive line wasn't as good and things started going south.
They gave up bottom all let's go get the veteran
Matthew Stafford, he goes to Detroit. He's now the quarterback
for a Lions team that a lot of people think
(07:30):
can go win the NFC. The Geno Smith line, Hey,
we're being written off, but I didn't right back. I
think that holds true because, Yo, we cover college football,
we cover the NFL. You follow these guys at the
high school level when you're scouting and you're looking for
those raw elements and you're looking for those traits, and
you're saying, hey, if he maxes out, this is what
(07:53):
he can be. Sometimes you gotta go through your lumps
to get there. Sometimes it takes a little bit of
trial and error, trial by fire before you can reach
eighty ninety percent of your potential. For some guys, it
doesn't happen. That is a reality. Not trying to pretend
like this happens for everybody, But it just maybe makes
(08:15):
you rethink that, hmm, what we saw in him, Yeah,
it is still there, but sometimes it takes a little
longer to unlock it.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, And I think the ones that do end up
panning out after it's taken a little while, they all
have a few things in common. Number One, they are
tireless workers, they have intellect. Nothing in their life is
more important than football, so they're willing to commit to it.
So if a guy is having some struggles or things
(08:46):
aren't going his way, when you made the initial evaluation,
you went through the evaluation process, you really are focusing
on checking those boxes of mental toughness, competitive temperament, work
ethic because when things aren't going well, your athleticism and
physical attributes aren't going to be what saves you. It's
(09:06):
going to be those things. So for every JaMarcus Russell
who has all of those physical attributes but didn't know
how to be a pro, it was never gonna happen
for him because of those other intangible traits. And I think,
you know, I think Alex Smith Anisi is another great example,
although he didn't have to change teams to do it,
(09:28):
but the scenery change and the perspective change of Jim
Harbaugh coming into San Francisco turned him into a completely
different player. But it took three or four years and
people were ready to write him off. And then what
ends up happening is you play a guy in Colin Kaepernick,
and now you become a high profile trade free agent
and end up in a good situation in Kansas City.
(09:50):
But it didn't happen overnight. But the work ethic, competitive temperaments,
and mental toughness. If you don't have those three things
to weather the storm, then you're just not going to
pan out, Ladies and gentlemen. The weekend.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Close to the episode caught by Feeling touchdown Carolina Weekend Warriors.
It's another episode of Weekend Warriors, and we will get
into the weekend in college football, and I want to
do this differently. A lot of times we'll hit on
some games. But we're now four weeks into the season.
(10:28):
We're getting ready for the final weekend in September. We've
had some high profile matchups to look at. I'm starting
to look at teams that maybe we need to pay
more attention to. And the one that really caught my eye.
I get into Las Vegas late Saturday night and I
caught the second half of BYU Kansas State. I had
(10:50):
BYU a couple weeks ago. Sure they beat SMU, beat
them up physically, just ye beat them up physically. I
watched that defense. They have three really good linebackers. Tyler
Batty's a tremendous defensive end.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Offensively, it's kind of the BYU of old were that
offensive line which was ravaged and beaten up a year ago.
They've got a lot of pieces back, it's experienced, it
is deep. They might not have a level skill position players,
but they got a lot of B guys, B plus
guys and a quarterback who I think is starting to
(11:26):
figure it out. And what they did to k State,
who I thought was frankly the team to beat them
in Utah in the Big Twelve, I'm going, okay, people
got to start paying attention to provo Utah.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Well, you hit the nail on the head. Is the
physicality of it, because they did the Kansas State up front,
what they did to SMU, I mean, they mauled them.
And we're able to be able to keep Avery Johnson
in check, force Kansas State into a lot of turnovers
in Anas. You know as well as I do. We've
both done games there. That is a sneaky hard place
to play, very hard place to play very hard, and
(12:00):
the crowds rate on top of you that maybe a
top five student section in the country, and they never
shut up. So it is people who aren't familiar with
that environment. I think it shocks them a little bit,
you know. And it's funny because I have SMU coming
up this weekend against Florida State at home in Dallas,
and you referenced how BYU got after him, and that's
(12:23):
all Rett. Lastly, at SMU talked about in his postgame
press conference after putting sixty six on TCU, was how
embarrassed they were and how they had to come out
and be the more physical team because of what had
happened the week before.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, the other team that I think we might be
sleeping on, and it was more of we're going to
go back to what we talked about in the open
with the second acts. Clemson looks like it has its
mojo back. Maybe Georgia was just that good and they
were going to do that to anybody and everybody, although
they had that close call against Kentucky, but maybe it
(12:59):
Tookson a week Clemson. I get that NC State played
a freshman quarterback making his first start. Whatever. Okay, I
get all that. Clemson the last couple of weeks though,
and you had him against APP State. I think the
Tiger woke up.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
The Tiger woke up, and the Tiger's angry. Uh, they've
got an edge to him. They are ridiculously talented. On defense,
They've got They've got at least what I would say
are three first rounders in their defensive front, and they're
rotating like eight to ten guys. The freshman linebacker Sammy
Brown is going to be a star offensively. I think
(13:38):
what's interested interesting to me is how those two freshman
receivers making plays all of a sudden lit a fire
under all of the rest of the receivers in the room.
Because now Adam Randall, Droy Stilado, Cole Turner, these guys
that were mid margin performers and everybody was so frustrated
(14:02):
with him are playing lights out. Yeah, and then you've got,
you know, Tyler Brown and Antonio Williams. So that group
all of a sudden looks like a group of difference makers.
But at the end of the day, it comes down
to the fact that if kid Klubnick has truly turned
a corner, and I mean turned a corner, where the anticipation,
the decisiveness, the confidence.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
I think he has I think he has.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I do too, And I was That's what I wanted
to see on Saturday because I was Okay, we saw
it against that state, but we've never seen it previously,
and so I was like, Okay, was that a blip?
Was that a flash in the pan? Well, it clearly
was not. And they don't play Miami during the regular season,
and I don't see anybody playing to their level or
(14:46):
with their caliber players on that schedule going forward. I
just I don't. So I think, yeah, I think they're
a handful. I think they are a problem, and defensively,
they're as good as you're gonna see in college football.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I've got Miami on Friday at home against Virginia Tech.
Cam Ward, to me right now is on the very
very short list of what I like to call the
Geno Smith Award, which goes to the Heisman winner at
the end of September. He's right there. Remember when Gino
had it locked up? Oh yeah, and then things kind
of change. They forgot how to play defense, lost five
(15:21):
in a row. But I look at this Miami team
and cam Ward's gonna get all the love, and rightfully so.
He's had a monster start to a season. He's you know,
thrown for three hundred plus in his first four games
of the year. No Miami QB has ever done that.
They've got three receivers on the Balettnikoff watch list. They're
deep at running back. The old line is very good.
(15:43):
I don't think enough people are talking about what they
have on defense, with guys like Bain, who's supposed to
come back on Friday. Barn We saw Messidor when he
was at West Virginia.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
West Virginia.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
They got a middle linebacker who follows that lineage of
guys like Ray Lewis and Michael Barrow and Dan Morgan
and Jonathan Vilma. They got another one of those. They're
deep in the secondary. Again, the rank seventh. They don't
have a great schedule, which may push their you know,
their rankings maybe a little lower. I don't think they're
that far away from the tier that everybody thinks is
(16:19):
far and away above everybody else, which is Georgia, Ohio
State and Texas. I don't think Miami's that far away.
This is a really, really good team. And dare I
say championship good?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I would one agree with you. And here's why it's
not just cam Ward. It's because they have one time
played down to the level of their competition on a
schedule that hasn't been very good, not one time. And
they did that previously. Remember they lost to Middle Tennessee State.
They almost lost an app state that they've struggled with
teams you shouldn't struggle with. They have gone out and
(16:53):
put the pedal to the floor. And clearly cam Ord
is the missing piece. But if you looked at the
last two seas, what he stepped into is a completely
revamped offensive front and defensive front.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And you're referencing Mauigoa the linebacker at thirteen tackles last week.
Just I mean, a complete animal. They look the part.
There's something feels different.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
It does it does different. We've drank the kool aid
before with Miami. I mean, we've all gotten it wrong.
We've all said that you is back at some point
and it's ended up on freezing cold takes every single
one of us. You look at their ACC history, it's
now two decades in their first year two thousand and four,
(17:38):
zero ACC titles, one appearance in a conference championship game,
zero top ten finishes, head five head coaches or six
head coaches, whatever it is. You know, it's been coaching turnover,
it's been lack of stability. There were people jumping on
Mario Cristabaul a little bit, but it's funny. Watching the
South Florida game over the weekend, I thought, hey, this
(17:59):
is a grow moment for Miami because South Florida is
a pretty good group of five teams. They pushed Alabama
to the brink a few weeks ago. South Florida's got
a fifteen fourteen lead late second quarter, Miami goes down,
they score, they get the two point conversion, They take
a seven point lead in a halftime. Okay, second half,
twenty eight nothing Miami. You know the whole idea where
(18:21):
you say, hey, sometimes you know when teams play bleep
around and find out, and Miami's done that with lesser
teams in the past. Yeah, there was none of that.
It was, Okay, we have the momentum. Let's put them away.
They stomp on South Florida. They win fifty to fifteen.
They're winning games by forty plus a game right now.
So I got Miami on the list. And the last
(18:41):
one I'm gonna throw at you a team that has
now beaten two ranked teams, Illinois at four to oh.
They beat Kansas a few weeks ago. I know Kansas
is one and three. They're a better team than that.
They've got talent. Yeah, they beat Nebraska in overtime. They
get Penn State on the road this weekend. If they
somehow win that game, everyone's going to talk about Illinois.
(19:02):
But is Illinois for real?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I think Illinois vastly improved. So if for real applies
to them being better than they were a year ago
and being competitive and capable of beating people in the conference,
then yeah, absolutely. Let's not forget it wasn't that long
ago before their quarterback Luke Altmeyer was alternating reps with
Jackson Dark.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
It's right at old miss, right, and.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
So yeah, so that guy is a dude. He just
went on the road to Nebraska and pulled out a win.
So clearly they've got a nice formula there under Brett Beelm.
But but when you have a quarterback, you have a chance.
I'm gonna throw one back at you on the group
of five side of things, because everybody's starting to jump
on the UNLV bandwagon, and I can see why. I
(19:47):
see it. They're playing really good football. But have you
looked at James Madison's schedule?
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Well, I looked at what James Madison did to North
Carolina over the weekend. Ye, and you know, judging by
some erroneous reports, they almost made Mac Brown quick.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yes, erroneous reports. But where do erroneus reports usually come from?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Right, and so but they are because what's happening is
the Sun Belt looks down a little bit. App State
looks down right. That wasn't to be expected. This is
that that could be very interesting on the Group of
Five front. And I can't wait. I can't wait. Obviously
we've got Georgia and Alabama coming up this week. Should
(20:26):
be a fantastic matchup. Florida State finally got off of
the mat and won a game and actually on defense
looked really really good. Offensively, they still have terrible woes,
but yeah, watching this season on Unfolded. How about how
about this, here's one a last one for you. Okay,
USC goes on the road literally gets manhandled by a
(20:49):
team that cannot complete a fold.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
No, no, they didn't get manhandled. So this is funny because
I'm connecting through Detroit, so I had about a four
hour layover in Detroit. So every bar, every TV at
the air, Yeah, had USC, Michigan and then I get
on the plane and it was nice because the guy
sitting right next to me had USC Michigan on so
I can watch USC Michigan. I got another game on
my seat, so I'm watching that game, and I keep
(21:13):
laughing because you know what that was for USC. That
was welcome to the Big ten. They got big ten
by Michigan. They got I'm using it as a verb,
they got big ten by Michigan. I'm pulling up the
box score here, Lukes and watching the game. I go,
is Michigan gonna throw the ball? They threw it twelve
times for thirty two yards, completed seven passes. They ran
(21:33):
it forty six times for two hundred and ninety yards.
I mean, USC goes to the big house. Welcome to
Big ten football. I mean that's all it was. I mean,
I actually thought it was kind of nice, because you know,
we saw this with the Panthers a few years ago
when Steve Wolks was here where sure he figured out
there was one lane in the highway where this team
(21:53):
could win, and it was running the ball thirty five
forty times a game. And when they did that, nobody
could beat them, and they were winning games. And I
think Michigan's kind of figured it out. Yeah, we're not
a passing team, so yeah, again, they.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Know exactly what their deficiencies are and fortunately are so
good in the other areas you have to be good
in to compensate for those definiencies that it didn't matter
what sc did. And you're right, I mean, why do
you start getting into some of those matchups and it's
thirty degrees outside in your USC or you're UCLA Listen, I.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Don't think Michigan is good enough to win the Big Ten,
right that style. It may get you in trouble against
Ohio State, it probably will. It may get you in
trouble in another game or two, but against everybody else,
you might be able to backdoor your way into nine,
maybe even ten wins, because you know, you still have
a pretty good offensive line and you can run the football,
(22:47):
and you're going to run the football and you're gonna
break some people's wills. Oregon, you know, likes to play
a physical brand if a football, but it's gonna be
different when you play Big ten physical, Like Big ten
physical is different. Big ten physical in November is different. Right,
Oregon's the plain Michigan, I know it's uh, it's at
(23:08):
the Big House. But you know that game is in November.
Give me a little cooler. I know it gets cool
in Eugene, but not that cold, right, there's difference between
cool and cold. My wife and her family, they're from
the Pacific Northwest. We go there. You know, it's kind
of that icky cool. But it's it's it's rainy.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah, it's damp.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
It's damp, right, like you don't like it.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Outside, but not piercing.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
You're in ann arbor. It's piercing. Man, it's bone chilling.
It's it's it's it's cold with you know, four o's.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I remember doing a game at Minnesota versus Wisconsin outdoors
in November and it was minus fifteen degrees and I
was outside. I did not wish to do that again.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
How happy are you to be in the booth these days?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
It ran the entire game for the Red Bandanna game
this weekend, and poor Dana Boil is down there and
she is wrapped head to toe and everything, and I
was like, nope, you get no sympathy from me, young lady.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Yeah. And for the folks who don't know for years,
if Tom Lougan Bilt was on the sideline for your game.
It met you were inviting some version of a natural disaster,
hurricane rain, gale force wins, something weatherwise bad was bound
to happen if you were on the sideline for a game,
no doubt.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
And by the way, you say hurricane, a literal hurricane,
hurricane Matthew.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Before we wrap up, we've been doing this pretty much
every week, we'll do the Lukes look back, and this
week you picked Shack Thompson and looking back at his
journey to where he is now where he's one of
the all time leading tacklers for the Carolina Panthers. He's
right up there with Luke and TD and Mike minter
as amongst the very best tacklers and most prolific tacklers
(24:52):
in the history of the franchise. What jumps out to
you when you think of Shaq Thompson as a high schooler, the.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Evolution of his growth and maturity that ended up landing
him at the linebacker position. He was our third ranked
safety in the entire class, number sixteen overall in the
twenty twelve class. I can't believe he's been in the
league that long. Out of Sacramento, went to Washington. But
he was about six to two hundred pounds, and and
you looked at him and you're like, well, this guy's
(25:19):
gonna be a big high point safety and cause all
kinds of problems because he was a fierce hitter. He
was a solid tackler. And then I think at the
end of the day, he just eventually outgrew the position,
you know, and which means a lot of his development
did occur, you know, once he got, you know, a
couple of years into college and then beyond at the
National Football League level. And so to see that growth
in that maturity. Sometimes guys can handle moving down into
(25:44):
the inside and some guys just can't. It's just they're
not their makeup. It's clearly been his makeup.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yeah, And you think of how the modern game has
evolved where hybrid safety linebackers. Every team has a nickname
for him, Fox Star, right right. That's a position at
all levels where there is a ton of demand. If
you can be a linebacker in the NFL who can
cover a tight end, maybe even pick up a slot
receiver when you have to, there is significant value in that. So,
(26:11):
no doubt you would have to think him having had
that background being a safety reading the field from a
few yards behind where he now plays. That has to
be a benefit in terms of how you see the
field and how you develop your instincts well.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
That and I think also it lends to having a
lot of confidence as a coverage player, right because you've
had you've had you've had to cover down in a
man and man situation, cover down a in a zone situation,
and you feel confident if you had to match up
on somebody.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Where did you guys have him ranked coming out of
high school?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Do you remember sixteen oh sixteen overall number three at
his position at safety, number one in the state of
California that year.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
And then he goes to Washington and then makes the
move to linebacker.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yep. I think going into his senior year is when
they started kind of moving in over the week side.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, and again reminds you of a guy who played
for the Panthers and played for a long time and
was really good, Thomas Davis, who yep again, when they
drafted him. They drafted him for one reason. Atlanta had
Michael Vick and you needed somebody fast enough to stay
with Michael Vick.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
And by the way, just on another note, Thomas Davis's
son TJ is in the twenty twenty sixth class and
already on our ESPN three hundred.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
There you go. How high do you have TJ?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I would have to pull up, but I don't have
a rate in front of me. But he's a top
one hundred player over all in the country.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Does he end up at Georgia like dad?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I don't know. That's a really good question. His dad's
been really good about just kind of letting him navigate
his own space, you know, and get a feel for
what fits him. That wouldn't surprise me, I know, obviously
they've offered.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Him good stuff. All right, Luke's year off to SMU
this weekend. How many Florida State fans do you expect
making the trip?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Well, right now, they got a lot to be happy about,
just getting a win. Winning's hard, right, I think Florida State,
I think they'll turn out. I think guess some used
fan base will turn out big too, just because it's
the acc opener. They got that brand new facility in
the end zone portion it's north south end zone portion,
excuse me, other stadium, And so we'll see if this
is a turning point for SMU, or excuse me, for
(28:19):
Florida State, or if SMU can capitalize on what was
an impressive win over TCU.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
You'll feel it and you'll see it when you get
to Highland Park in Texas. When we were there a
few weeks ago. We were out at dinner with Thatteus Matula.
He produced that thirty for thirty, the excellent Pony Excess.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh sure, yeah, Tony Excess, And he.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Was telling us how all these old money, old school
oil tycoons, these boosters who for a generation pretty much
couldn't really be a part of the program because the
school was so scared to have any outside money coming.
Right now, you can do all that on the books.
Everything they got in trouble for back in the mid
(29:02):
eighties is now legal. You can pay players. They put
out a commercial. You gotta find this on YouTube or
social media. They put out a commercial. The school put
out a commercial with Eric Dickerson in a trans am,
the Gold trans Am. Think about this again. That was
at the root of this scandal, right, Eric Kickerson gets
(29:24):
a car and all that. Now they're leaning into it
and there's no shame, nor should there be, because it's
a different world of college athletics and all of a sudden,
they've got so much money, and they've got so many
boosters who've been looking to spend that money for so long.
I think they'll take their lumps in the ACC this year,
because again, you're making that move where your schedule just
(29:44):
hits you different and the wear and tear is different.
But in a couple of years, don't be surprised if
there are teams in the ACC going, uh oh oh,
we got to play SMU.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
They could be They could be Utah in the blink
of an eye.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
They really could. They really could because they had the money,
the infrastructure, and the want to.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
I jokingly call them the walk on because they're paying
their own way for the first seven years in the
in the ACC contract. But then in a one countary
year they raised one hundred and sixty million dollars.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
They raised one hundred million dollars within a week of
announcing their move to the ACC. No, it's it's Texas
tycoon billionaire well money. Not every school has that.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
No, very few schools have it, and particularly those that
are at the group of five level.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
All right, Luke's enjoy your trip to Texas. I'll be
in Miami. Panthers have the Bengals a little revenge Game
four Red Rifle on Sunday. We will speak again on Monday.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
All right, sounds good
Busy weekend as we are in the midst of the
college football NFL campaign. I was at Syracuse on Friday,
watch Stanford beat Syracuse, flight delays, got to Vegas on Saturday,
watch the Panthers put it, put it to the Raiders. Yeah,
the autumn wind was a Panther on Sunday. That was fun.
(00:22):
I got everybody rejuvenated. Andy Dalton came in Bald and Luke's.
Saturday night, you had one of the games that's kind
of become one of the great new traditions in college football,
the red bandana game.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, man, I tell you it is it. Obviously, there's
a lot of emotion that always revolves around nine to eleven,
and this particular instance, in this particular individual Wells Crowther
and you know through your coverage of lacrosse, distinctly is
a unique story in and of itself because without the
(00:57):
actual red bandana even knows it occurred. And I think
that's what kind of gives it a mythical four folk
lore type of feel to it, because all of these
people that he had saved, all they could say was, well,
this guy with his red bandana was leading us down
a stairwell. This guy with the red bandana led us
(01:18):
to where the daylight was. That's the only way that
could describe him. And if he doesn't have it on,
nobody knows. And then it makes you realize how many
other fallen heroes were there that nobody knows about. Right,
And so it's great that football Boston College has found
a way to make this a national thing, to create
national exposure. It rained the entire night on Saturday night.
(01:40):
There was not an empty seat in the stadium. Everybody
from students to grandparents all dialed in on it. And
BDT has to come from behind wind In beats Michigan State.
So what just an unbelievable atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, tremendous atmosphere. You guys did a great job. I
watched a little bit of the game on the plane,
and you guys did a tremendous job covering not just
the game, but also telling the story of Wells Crowther.
We'll get into some college football stuff here in a moment,
but I thought I would start here after watching Andy
Dalton play on Sunday and Dalton's become now part of
(02:18):
a larger storyline in the NFL. And I'm gonna go
into your Wheelhouse. You're a big superhero guy, right, yeah?
All right, So when that whole Marvel Cinematic universe launched,
do you remember the first movie in that series?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I believe it was Folk or iron Man?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It was iron Man. I had to look it up. Okay,
do you remember where Robert Downey Junior's career was pre
Iron Man?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Oh? Do I It was in prison.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I was thinking of iron Man because I thought in Hollywood,
especially recently, I don't think anybody's had a better second
act than Robert Downey Jr.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
No doubt.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And it started with that role and people were going,
really him, You're you're casting him? And then you know
that blew up. The franchise blew up, and then he's
doing all these great movies and now he's as big
a movie star as anybody, and he was able to
resuscitate his career. Well, look around the NFL. Justin Fields
(03:22):
has Pittsburgh at three and oh Chicago dumped them. Sam
Darnold has the Vikings. This is going to sound wild,
looking like maybe a Super Bowl contender. We saw what
Geno Smith has done. Baker Mayfield right, Andy Dalton for
the Panthers on Sunday I'm wondering, is there a why
(03:44):
behind all this Throuke Willison there, young guy, but Tennessee
gave up on him and then looked like the real
deal against green Bay had some moments beat his old team.
Is there a why behind all these guys having their
Robert Downey junior moments so to speak.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I think there's probably quite a few. I think
in some instances it's being thrown to the wolves, forced
to play right away. You're a high draft choice, which
likely met you went to a roster that didn't have
a lot of the components around you that would help
to enable you to play your best early. I think
that's one. I think also number two, So many stars
(04:24):
have to align a niche like you need the right
component here, the right component there, the right staff, the
right scheme, the right approach, all of these different components
that really don't have anything to do with just you
as the individual quarterback. I think the younger the quarterback,
(04:46):
those components have to be right, or they've got to
be in place, or there's got to be some building
blocks for them to be in place, and then what happens.
It's kind of like the freshman in college that was
highly italented high school recruit, and he's expected to come
in and light the world on fire, and when in
reality that's that's not how it generally works. Those guys
(05:10):
are rarities, and so I always go back to and
I look to guys like, well, Aaron Rodgers is probably
the greatest example. And then now Jordan Love another great example.
Where you go to an organization as a late first
round draft choice, you're not forced to play right away.
You do have good players around you. You afforded the
ability to develop and grow and immature and learn and watch,
(05:36):
and then you get your moment and all of the
pieces of the puzzle are already in place and around you.
And so with guys like Justin Fields, and I think
he's a he's a great example. Sometimes a change of scenery,
sometimes having better players around you at some parts, the
(05:58):
organizational structure of long term success, which Pittsburgh has. All
of these different things. I think all of them are
common denominators. And just maybe landing in that right spot,
somebody believes in you, They're going to invest in you,
and they're going to spend some time to try and
put you in the best position as possible. I think
(06:19):
it's very, very real, and coming off of the comments
that Tom Brady make made what last week, I think
there's a lot of validity to that too.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You're going to see, I really do believe you're going
to see teams now change the way they approach that
quarterback position, even with first round draft picks, because as
tempting as it is to throw the guy in there
right away and say hey, while he's on his rookie
deal and not making a lot of money, this is
a window. If it's not for the long term benefit
(06:49):
of the quarterback, you may rethink it. Look at Detroit,
Jared Goff is a great example, right, and obviously Bryce
Young looms over all this because I know what the
narrative this week is going to be about Bryce Young.
Andy Dalton has the great game. People are gonna want
to bury Bryce Young. And listen, Bryce, obviously when he
gets that next chance, will have to play better. He's
(07:10):
gonna have to do his part. But you look at
Jared Goff, right, went to a Super Bowl with the
Rams and then you know, lost a few pieces and
the offensive line wasn't as good and things started going south.
They gave up bottom all let's go get the veteran
Matthew Stafford, he goes to Detroit. He's now the quarterback
for a Lions team that a lot of people think
(07:30):
can go win the NFC. The Geno Smith line, Hey,
we're being written off, but I didn't right back. I
think that holds true because, Yo, we cover college football,
we cover the NFL. You follow these guys at the
high school level when you're scouting and you're looking for
those raw elements and you're looking for those traits, and
you're saying, hey, if he maxes out, this is what
(07:53):
he can be. Sometimes you gotta go through your lumps
to get there. Sometimes it takes a little bit of
trial and error, trial by fire before you can reach
eighty ninety percent of your potential. For some guys, it
doesn't happen. That is a reality. Not trying to pretend
like this happens for everybody, But it just maybe makes
(08:15):
you rethink that, hmm, what we saw in him, Yeah,
it is still there, but sometimes it takes a little
longer to unlock it.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, And I think the ones that do end up
panning out after it's taken a little while, they all
have a few things in common. Number One, they are
tireless workers, they have intellect. Nothing in their life is
more important than football, so they're willing to commit to it.
So if a guy is having some struggles or things
(08:46):
aren't going his way, when you made the initial evaluation,
you went through the evaluation process, you really are focusing
on checking those boxes of mental toughness, competitive temperament, work
ethic because when things aren't going well, your athleticism and
physical attributes aren't going to be what saves you. It's
(09:06):
going to be those things. So for every JaMarcus Russell
who has all of those physical attributes but didn't know
how to be a pro, it was never gonna happen
for him because of those other intangible traits. And I think,
you know, I think Alex Smith Anisi is another great example,
although he didn't have to change teams to do it,
(09:28):
but the scenery change and the perspective change of Jim
Harbaugh coming into San Francisco turned him into a completely
different player. But it took three or four years and
people were ready to write him off. And then what
ends up happening is you play a guy in Colin Kaepernick,
and now you become a high profile trade free agent
and end up in a good situation in Kansas City.
(09:50):
But it didn't happen overnight. But the work ethic, competitive temperaments,
and mental toughness. If you don't have those three things
to weather the storm, then you're just not going to
pan out, Ladies and gentlemen. The weekend.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Close to the episode caught by Feeling touchdown Carolina Weekend Warriors.
It's another episode of Weekend Warriors, and we will get
into the weekend in college football, and I want to
do this differently. A lot of times we'll hit on
some games. But we're now four weeks into the season.
(10:28):
We're getting ready for the final weekend in September. We've
had some high profile matchups to look at. I'm starting
to look at teams that maybe we need to pay
more attention to. And the one that really caught my eye.
I get into Las Vegas late Saturday night and I
caught the second half of BYU Kansas State. I had
(10:50):
BYU a couple weeks ago. Sure they beat SMU, beat
them up physically, just ye beat them up physically. I
watched that defense. They have three really good linebackers. Tyler
Batty's a tremendous defensive end.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Offensively, it's kind of the BYU of old were that
offensive line which was ravaged and beaten up a year ago.
They've got a lot of pieces back, it's experienced, it
is deep. They might not have a level skill position players,
but they got a lot of B guys, B plus
guys and a quarterback who I think is starting to
(11:26):
figure it out. And what they did to k State,
who I thought was frankly the team to beat them
in Utah in the Big Twelve, I'm going, okay, people
got to start paying attention to provo Utah.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Well, you hit the nail on the head. Is the
physicality of it, because they did the Kansas State up front,
what they did to SMU, I mean, they mauled them.
And we're able to be able to keep Avery Johnson
in check, force Kansas State into a lot of turnovers
in Anas. You know as well as I do. We've
both done games there. That is a sneaky hard place
to play, very hard place to play very hard, and
(12:00):
the crowds rate on top of you that maybe a
top five student section in the country, and they never
shut up. So it is people who aren't familiar with
that environment. I think it shocks them a little bit,
you know. And it's funny because I have SMU coming
up this weekend against Florida State at home in Dallas,
and you referenced how BYU got after him, and that's
(12:23):
all Rett. Lastly, at SMU talked about in his postgame
press conference after putting sixty six on TCU, was how
embarrassed they were and how they had to come out
and be the more physical team because of what had
happened the week before.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, the other team that I think we might be
sleeping on, and it was more of we're going to
go back to what we talked about in the open
with the second acts. Clemson looks like it has its
mojo back. Maybe Georgia was just that good and they
were going to do that to anybody and everybody, although
they had that close call against Kentucky, but maybe it
(12:59):
Tookson a week Clemson. I get that NC State played
a freshman quarterback making his first start. Whatever. Okay, I
get all that. Clemson the last couple of weeks though,
and you had him against APP State. I think the
Tiger woke up.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
The Tiger woke up, and the Tiger's angry. Uh, they've
got an edge to him. They are ridiculously talented. On defense,
They've got They've got at least what I would say
are three first rounders in their defensive front, and they're
rotating like eight to ten guys. The freshman linebacker Sammy
Brown is going to be a star offensively. I think
(13:38):
what's interested interesting to me is how those two freshman
receivers making plays all of a sudden lit a fire
under all of the rest of the receivers in the room.
Because now Adam Randall, Droy Stilado, Cole Turner, these guys
that were mid margin performers and everybody was so frustrated
(14:02):
with him are playing lights out. Yeah, and then you've got,
you know, Tyler Brown and Antonio Williams. So that group
all of a sudden looks like a group of difference makers.
But at the end of the day, it comes down
to the fact that if kid Klubnick has truly turned
a corner, and I mean turned a corner, where the anticipation,
the decisiveness, the confidence.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
I think he has I think he has.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I do too, And I was That's what I wanted
to see on Saturday because I was Okay, we saw
it against that state, but we've never seen it previously,
and so I was like, Okay, was that a blip?
Was that a flash in the pan? Well, it clearly
was not. And they don't play Miami during the regular season,
and I don't see anybody playing to their level or
(14:46):
with their caliber players on that schedule going forward. I
just I don't. So I think, yeah, I think they're
a handful. I think they are a problem, and defensively,
they're as good as you're gonna see in college football.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I've got Miami on Friday at home against Virginia Tech.
Cam Ward, to me right now is on the very
very short list of what I like to call the
Geno Smith Award, which goes to the Heisman winner at
the end of September. He's right there. Remember when Gino
had it locked up? Oh yeah, and then things kind
of change. They forgot how to play defense, lost five
(15:21):
in a row. But I look at this Miami team
and cam Ward's gonna get all the love, and rightfully so.
He's had a monster start to a season. He's you know,
thrown for three hundred plus in his first four games
of the year. No Miami QB has ever done that.
They've got three receivers on the Balettnikoff watch list. They're
deep at running back. The old line is very good.
(15:43):
I don't think enough people are talking about what they
have on defense, with guys like Bain, who's supposed to
come back on Friday. Barn We saw Messidor when he
was at West Virginia.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
West Virginia.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
They got a middle linebacker who follows that lineage of
guys like Ray Lewis and Michael Barrow and Dan Morgan
and Jonathan Vilma. They got another one of those. They're
deep in the secondary. Again, the rank seventh. They don't
have a great schedule, which may push their you know,
their rankings maybe a little lower. I don't think they're
that far away from the tier that everybody thinks is
(16:19):
far and away above everybody else, which is Georgia, Ohio
State and Texas. I don't think Miami's that far away.
This is a really, really good team. And dare I
say championship good?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I would one agree with you. And here's why it's
not just cam Ward. It's because they have one time
played down to the level of their competition on a
schedule that hasn't been very good, not one time. And
they did that previously. Remember they lost to Middle Tennessee State.
They almost lost an app state that they've struggled with
teams you shouldn't struggle with. They have gone out and
(16:53):
put the pedal to the floor. And clearly cam Ord
is the missing piece. But if you looked at the
last two seas, what he stepped into is a completely
revamped offensive front and defensive front.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And you're referencing Mauigoa the linebacker at thirteen tackles last week.
Just I mean, a complete animal. They look the part.
There's something feels different.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
It does it does different. We've drank the kool aid
before with Miami. I mean, we've all gotten it wrong.
We've all said that you is back at some point
and it's ended up on freezing cold takes every single
one of us. You look at their ACC history, it's
now two decades in their first year two thousand and four,
(17:38):
zero ACC titles, one appearance in a conference championship game,
zero top ten finishes, head five head coaches or six
head coaches, whatever it is. You know, it's been coaching turnover,
it's been lack of stability. There were people jumping on
Mario Cristabaul a little bit, but it's funny. Watching the
South Florida game over the weekend, I thought, hey, this
(17:59):
is a grow moment for Miami because South Florida is
a pretty good group of five teams. They pushed Alabama
to the brink a few weeks ago. South Florida's got
a fifteen fourteen lead late second quarter, Miami goes down,
they score, they get the two point conversion, They take
a seven point lead in a halftime. Okay, second half,
twenty eight nothing Miami. You know the whole idea where
(18:21):
you say, hey, sometimes you know when teams play bleep
around and find out, and Miami's done that with lesser
teams in the past. Yeah, there was none of that.
It was, Okay, we have the momentum. Let's put them away.
They stomp on South Florida. They win fifty to fifteen.
They're winning games by forty plus a game right now.
So I got Miami on the list. And the last
(18:41):
one I'm gonna throw at you a team that has
now beaten two ranked teams, Illinois at four to oh.
They beat Kansas a few weeks ago. I know Kansas
is one and three. They're a better team than that.
They've got talent. Yeah, they beat Nebraska in overtime. They
get Penn State on the road this weekend. If they
somehow win that game, everyone's going to talk about Illinois.
(19:02):
But is Illinois for real?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I think Illinois vastly improved. So if for real applies
to them being better than they were a year ago
and being competitive and capable of beating people in the conference,
then yeah, absolutely. Let's not forget it wasn't that long
ago before their quarterback Luke Altmeyer was alternating reps with
Jackson Dark.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
It's right at old miss, right, and.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
So yeah, so that guy is a dude. He just
went on the road to Nebraska and pulled out a win.
So clearly they've got a nice formula there under Brett Beelm.
But but when you have a quarterback, you have a chance.
I'm gonna throw one back at you on the group
of five side of things, because everybody's starting to jump
on the UNLV bandwagon, and I can see why. I
(19:47):
see it. They're playing really good football. But have you
looked at James Madison's schedule?
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Well, I looked at what James Madison did to North
Carolina over the weekend. Ye, and you know, judging by
some erroneous reports, they almost made Mac Brown quick.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yes, erroneous reports. But where do erroneus reports usually come from?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Right, and so but they are because what's happening is
the Sun Belt looks down a little bit. App State
looks down right. That wasn't to be expected. This is
that that could be very interesting on the Group of
Five front. And I can't wait. I can't wait. Obviously
we've got Georgia and Alabama coming up this week. Should
(20:26):
be a fantastic matchup. Florida State finally got off of
the mat and won a game and actually on defense
looked really really good. Offensively, they still have terrible woes,
but yeah, watching this season on Unfolded. How about how
about this, here's one a last one for you. Okay,
USC goes on the road literally gets manhandled by a
(20:49):
team that cannot complete a fold.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
No, no, they didn't get manhandled. So this is funny because
I'm connecting through Detroit, so I had about a four
hour layover in Detroit. So every bar, every TV at
the air, Yeah, had USC, Michigan and then I get
on the plane and it was nice because the guy
sitting right next to me had USC Michigan on so
I can watch USC Michigan. I got another game on
my seat, so I'm watching that game, and I keep
(21:13):
laughing because you know what that was for USC. That
was welcome to the Big ten. They got big ten
by Michigan. They got I'm using it as a verb,
they got big ten by Michigan. I'm pulling up the
box score here, Lukes and watching the game. I go,
is Michigan gonna throw the ball? They threw it twelve
times for thirty two yards, completed seven passes. They ran
(21:33):
it forty six times for two hundred and ninety yards.
I mean, USC goes to the big house. Welcome to
Big ten football. I mean that's all it was. I mean,
I actually thought it was kind of nice, because you know,
we saw this with the Panthers a few years ago
when Steve Wolks was here where sure he figured out
there was one lane in the highway where this team
(21:53):
could win, and it was running the ball thirty five
forty times a game. And when they did that, nobody
could beat them, and they were winning games. And I
think Michigan's kind of figured it out. Yeah, we're not
a passing team, so yeah, again, they.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Know exactly what their deficiencies are and fortunately are so
good in the other areas you have to be good
in to compensate for those definiencies that it didn't matter
what sc did. And you're right, I mean, why do
you start getting into some of those matchups and it's
thirty degrees outside in your USC or you're UCLA Listen, I.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Don't think Michigan is good enough to win the Big Ten,
right that style. It may get you in trouble against
Ohio State, it probably will. It may get you in
trouble in another game or two, but against everybody else,
you might be able to backdoor your way into nine,
maybe even ten wins, because you know, you still have
a pretty good offensive line and you can run the football,
(22:47):
and you're going to run the football and you're gonna
break some people's wills. Oregon, you know, likes to play
a physical brand if a football, but it's gonna be
different when you play Big ten physical, Like Big ten
physical is different. Big ten physical in November is different. Right,
Oregon's the plain Michigan, I know it's uh, it's at
(23:08):
the Big House. But you know that game is in November.
Give me a little cooler. I know it gets cool
in Eugene, but not that cold, right, there's difference between
cool and cold. My wife and her family, they're from
the Pacific Northwest. We go there. You know, it's kind
of that icky cool. But it's it's it's rainy.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah, it's damp.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
It's damp, right, like you don't like it.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Outside, but not piercing.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
You're in ann arbor. It's piercing. Man, it's bone chilling.
It's it's it's it's cold with you know, four o's.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I remember doing a game at Minnesota versus Wisconsin outdoors
in November and it was minus fifteen degrees and I
was outside. I did not wish to do that again.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
How happy are you to be in the booth these days?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
It ran the entire game for the Red Bandanna game
this weekend, and poor Dana Boil is down there and
she is wrapped head to toe and everything, and I
was like, nope, you get no sympathy from me, young lady.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Yeah. And for the folks who don't know for years,
if Tom Lougan Bilt was on the sideline for your game.
It met you were inviting some version of a natural disaster,
hurricane rain, gale force wins, something weatherwise bad was bound
to happen if you were on the sideline for a game,
no doubt.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
And by the way, you say hurricane, a literal hurricane,
hurricane Matthew.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Before we wrap up, we've been doing this pretty much
every week, we'll do the Lukes look back, and this
week you picked Shack Thompson and looking back at his
journey to where he is now where he's one of
the all time leading tacklers for the Carolina Panthers. He's
right up there with Luke and TD and Mike minter
as amongst the very best tacklers and most prolific tacklers
(24:52):
in the history of the franchise. What jumps out to
you when you think of Shaq Thompson as a high schooler, the.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Evolution of his growth and maturity that ended up landing
him at the linebacker position. He was our third ranked
safety in the entire class, number sixteen overall in the
twenty twelve class. I can't believe he's been in the
league that long. Out of Sacramento, went to Washington. But
he was about six to two hundred pounds, and and
you looked at him and you're like, well, this guy's
(25:19):
gonna be a big high point safety and cause all
kinds of problems because he was a fierce hitter. He
was a solid tackler. And then I think at the
end of the day, he just eventually outgrew the position,
you know, and which means a lot of his development
did occur, you know, once he got, you know, a
couple of years into college and then beyond at the
National Football League level. And so to see that growth
in that maturity. Sometimes guys can handle moving down into
(25:44):
the inside and some guys just can't. It's just they're
not their makeup. It's clearly been his makeup.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yeah, And you think of how the modern game has
evolved where hybrid safety linebackers. Every team has a nickname
for him, Fox Star, right right. That's a position at
all levels where there is a ton of demand. If
you can be a linebacker in the NFL who can
cover a tight end, maybe even pick up a slot
receiver when you have to, there is significant value in that. So,
(26:11):
no doubt you would have to think him having had
that background being a safety reading the field from a
few yards behind where he now plays. That has to
be a benefit in terms of how you see the
field and how you develop your instincts well.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
That and I think also it lends to having a
lot of confidence as a coverage player, right because you've
had you've had you've had to cover down in a
man and man situation, cover down a in a zone situation,
and you feel confident if you had to match up
on somebody.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Where did you guys have him ranked coming out of
high school?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Do you remember sixteen oh sixteen overall number three at
his position at safety, number one in the state of
California that year.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
And then he goes to Washington and then makes the
move to linebacker.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yep. I think going into his senior year is when
they started kind of moving in over the week side.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, and again reminds you of a guy who played
for the Panthers and played for a long time and
was really good, Thomas Davis, who yep again, when they
drafted him. They drafted him for one reason. Atlanta had
Michael Vick and you needed somebody fast enough to stay
with Michael Vick.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
And by the way, just on another note, Thomas Davis's
son TJ is in the twenty twenty sixth class and
already on our ESPN three hundred.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
There you go. How high do you have TJ?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I would have to pull up, but I don't have
a rate in front of me. But he's a top
one hundred player over all in the country.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Does he end up at Georgia like dad?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I don't know. That's a really good question. His dad's
been really good about just kind of letting him navigate
his own space, you know, and get a feel for
what fits him. That wouldn't surprise me, I know, obviously
they've offered.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Him good stuff. All right, Luke's year off to SMU
this weekend. How many Florida State fans do you expect
making the trip?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Well, right now, they got a lot to be happy about,
just getting a win. Winning's hard, right, I think Florida State,
I think they'll turn out. I think guess some used
fan base will turn out big too, just because it's
the acc opener. They got that brand new facility in
the end zone portion it's north south end zone portion,
excuse me, other stadium, And so we'll see if this
is a turning point for SMU, or excuse me, for
(28:19):
Florida State, or if SMU can capitalize on what was
an impressive win over TCU.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
You'll feel it and you'll see it when you get
to Highland Park in Texas. When we were there a
few weeks ago. We were out at dinner with Thatteus Matula.
He produced that thirty for thirty, the excellent Pony Excess.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh sure, yeah, Tony Excess, And he.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Was telling us how all these old money, old school
oil tycoons, these boosters who for a generation pretty much
couldn't really be a part of the program because the
school was so scared to have any outside money coming.
Right now, you can do all that on the books.
Everything they got in trouble for back in the mid
(29:02):
eighties is now legal. You can pay players. They put
out a commercial. You gotta find this on YouTube or
social media. They put out a commercial. The school put
out a commercial with Eric Dickerson in a trans am,
the Gold trans Am. Think about this again. That was
at the root of this scandal, right, Eric Kickerson gets
(29:24):
a car and all that. Now they're leaning into it
and there's no shame, nor should there be, because it's
a different world of college athletics and all of a sudden,
they've got so much money, and they've got so many
boosters who've been looking to spend that money for so long.
I think they'll take their lumps in the ACC this year,
because again, you're making that move where your schedule just
(29:44):
hits you different and the wear and tear is different.
But in a couple of years, don't be surprised if
there are teams in the ACC going, uh oh oh,
we got to play SMU.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
They could be They could be Utah in the blink
of an eye.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
They really could. They really could because they had the money,
the infrastructure, and the want to.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
I jokingly call them the walk on because they're paying
their own way for the first seven years in the
in the ACC contract. But then in a one countary
year they raised one hundred and sixty million dollars.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
They raised one hundred million dollars within a week of
announcing their move to the ACC. No, it's it's Texas
tycoon billionaire well money. Not every school has that.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
No, very few schools have it, and particularly those that
are at the group of five level.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
All right, Luke's enjoy your trip to Texas. I'll be
in Miami. Panthers have the Bengals a little revenge Game
four Red Rifle on Sunday. We will speak again on Monday.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
All right, sounds good
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