UFL Week 6 Preview & Picks, Transactions and more | UFL Podcast #103

We're past the midway point of the UFL season, time for another episode of The UFL Podcast!

Join The REF and Zach as they look at all the action coming up in week 6, along with picks... Plus, they're discussing the latest transactions and Samson Nacua's one-game suspension

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got transactions Week six picks and previews up next
on episode one oh three.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Of the UFL Podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
One killed three.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
Welcome back, everybody to another amazing edition of the UFL Podcast.
I'm the representing Pro Football newsroom, the leaders in spring

(00:51):
football news, and boy oh boy, oh boy, oh boy,
oh boy, oh.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Boy, do we got a big week for you.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
But before we get started, I'm joined as always by
my man, Zach Kylevin.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
How you doing today, my friend, I'm feeling a little
rush the year. The year's moving by so quickly. We're
the mid season mark already.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
It's like just yesterday that we were talking about Week
one and watching Birmingham lose to DC and kind of
questioning what the season's gonna be. Like, It's funny, we're
still kind of still kind of feels like we're at
that point, very lost in the weeds as to how
this whole thing is gonna end.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
But boy, I'll tell you it's been fun.

Speaker 5 (01:37):
I think he lives up to like what we've talked
about so far, the most competitive season of spring football
yet has been feeling very very much that billing oh
one hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I mean, if you asked anybody if Stallion's fans are
starting to feel the heat out there. We talked about
it a little bit on Monday with Chase, but he's
the first one to say, like, this is probably the
most competitive we've seen spring football since we've seen kind
of the resurgence of spring football back with the AEF
and then the XFL twenty twenty and the Spring League

(02:08):
and the USFL and the XFL again. Like now with
all of those things merged, you really have kind of
the best of the best, and even some of the
best of the best is still trying to get into
the league or get back into the league in some instances, right,
And so we're seeing.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
It on paper.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
The guys that are usually out there winning every game,
they're having a little bit tougher time this time around.
But hey, this is where things get interesting because now
it's the final push to the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
You say final push, we're at the halfway point.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Well, Zach, usually, I mean you look at last year,
the years before, some of these things already felt locked
in where Memphis and Houston, believe it or not, still
have a shot in this and this weekend as we
get into the picks, there's a lot on the line
as we get into it, but before we get into
all that stuff, a couple of things first. Like the video,

(03:02):
it's free, it costs nothing. It feels so good. What
are you waiting for? Do it?

Speaker 2 (03:07):
You want to do it? Subscribe, click the bell. It
builds morale.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
It also lets you know when we go live, just
like every Monday with Around the UFL. It also lets
you know when we drop new videos, just like this
one with the UFL podcast. And you know what, it's
also gonna let you know when Summerstock The Road to
the UFL Championship goes live. Like I said, we don't
have a specific time because because because it's our greatest

(03:33):
challenge and our greatest journey. Zachy Boy and I were
hitting the road. We're heading out from newsroom h Q.
We're driving all the way to Saint Louis to the
UFL Championship, and we have a lot of stops planned
along the way. Zach, we're hitting up Route sixty six.
I know we're gonna be seeing some soda reviews, We're

(03:54):
gonna be trying out some brisket and Bucky. I'm not
gonna ruin all of the stops, but we have a
whole lot of things planned along the way, And like
I said, guys, this is the craziest part. We're leaving
on Thursday the twelfth. We're wrapping up recording on Friday,
or yeah, Friday the thirteenth, which maybe it's.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
A good omen, maybe it's a bad one. I thought
about this. I noticed this after we came up with
these plans.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
But anyway, the video, we're planning on dropping it that
Friday the thirteenth.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
At the latest midnight going into the fourteenth.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
So you have a whole day to watch Summerstock the
Road to the UFL Championship before you watch the UFL
Championship itself. But even if you watch it after the game,
we're gonna have so many things in there that even
if we're talking about the game, we're gonna have so
many other things that you're you're really not gonna want
to miss in there. But that's why you should click

(04:46):
the bell, long way of saying, click the belt. It
builds morel but it'll also let you know when that
goes live. Uh, Zach, I mean, we've been planning this.
We're getting things in order. We've talked about all of
our redundancy plans. We've talked about my microphones and cameras
and drones and roots. We've looked at multiple roots and
different locations. I don't know. We don't have to say

(05:10):
which one, But do you have is there a spot
on this list that you're looking forward to like the most?

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Because I have.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
I think I was telling you beforehand, there's two that
stick out to me other than the obvious, which is
White Castle. I'll tell you that one even well, I
won't get into my trepidations about the White Castle, but
I am very much excited to eat the White Castle.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, I will in trepidations aside.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
I mean I always, I always enjoy heading to the
White Castle. And you know, I'll admit I have. There's
two of them out here in Arizona. They hit different
in the Midwest. It's a Midwestern establishment, so you know
in East coast, but it hits different when you go
out to the Midwest. I'll be honest with you, it's
kind of like back home a little bit.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
For me.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
I'm actually having on my map, I'm looking for Pop
sixty six. Actually, that's that's the one that I am
full set to investigate and enjoy, you know, we've we've
already had plenty of talk about what we're gonna do
there with like you know, not only visiting for lunch,
but I mean, as you guys know, I'm a soda
junkie and I enjoy you know, talking about and uh,

(06:18):
you know, reviewing some unique stuff. And I can already
tell from the just the Google Maps images alone they're
going to have some stuff I have not seen before.
So I am thrilled to go and grab something there.
Route sixty six is just it's Americana. So either one
of the museums were already looking at, uh and the
one that you found that I didn't realize about. So

(06:38):
because you have the four corners out here this way
which I still have to yet to visit Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,
and Utah, you know, with that spot out this way
in the west, but out in Middle America there is
the tri state corner which you found, and I have
to give you props for fighting at that's going to
be Kansas, Missouri, and uh, Oklahoma. So we're gonna be

(07:00):
able to stop at that marker on the way and
kind of take a snap.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
And hopefully see some buffalo apparently where the buffalo roam,
you know they say they say.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
It in the song, and now we might see it
in reality, at least according to Google Maps.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
We might get there and it's just gonna be an
empty pen. I don't know.

Speaker 5 (07:16):
I mean, I'm crossing my fingers. Those images aren't messing
with me. And I'm gonna double check because buffalo are
pretty damn cool. They're like battle battle cows, so.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Worst case AI is so easy to use. Now we'll
put some buffalo in.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
There, somehow, stamp them rated. Just Zack and I riding
on some buffalo drinking some pop.

Speaker 5 (07:37):
Told the cows here, yeah, sorry, buffalo here.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah. Man. But the road trip is gonna be amazing.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
And you know, the one thing we haven't talked about,
but I'll just bring it up on the show, like
the road trip back. Like we're taking the long way there,
so in theory, the road trip back is going to
be completely different. And so I almost need to start
looking at like what are some things we can do
even if we don't record it, but like.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
What can we see on the way back?

Speaker 5 (08:04):
You know, out of curiosity, I am going to look
this up while we're talking, because if I'm right, and
I think we are right. We might traverse uh, you know,
especially with the three corners.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Keep that in mind.

Speaker 5 (08:19):
It'll be five states, hopefully, because I guarantee you that
the trip back is going to make us go through Arkansas.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
Oh well, so yeah, we might.

Speaker 5 (08:27):
We might have five states marked off our map, off
of our little map by the end of this trip.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, and we might as well just go over the
bridge and go over to ill We could. We could
kind of, we could check off Illinois.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
But I mean, look, if you're trepidacious about white Castle, do.

Speaker 5 (08:44):
You really want to go to East Saint Louis. I
bring this name up because it does. It does bring
out jitters to those that are in the area.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
This is a name need a few minutes in the
state of Illinois, the soil that the Chicago Bears play on.
It doesn't need to be Chicago. It just needs to
be within the state boundaries. I only need purely a
few minutes. If you want to knock off another state
on that list. Zach boy surprises I have nothing up
my sleeve, and I have too.

Speaker 5 (09:12):
Well, now, there is a casino across the river, and
he called the casino Queen. I don't know how good
it is and honestly leaving the comments and you want
to let us know how it is because we're we're
still planning stuff because we're gonna get in early, like
the championship game. This is what's different about years past.
So it's in primetime on Saturday. It's an eight o'clock
start Eastern time, seven o'clock Central, So we have all

(09:34):
day plus we'll hit the tailgates eventually, but like we're
gonna get in Friday, you know, and probably have a
little time we can do this zoo.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Maybe we have summer Summer stock.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Day two at the zoo. You know, if it rhymes Zach,
it is meant to be. I'm all about the alliteration.
But I found out the zoo is free, and you
also know, if it's free, it's me and so all
of the So anyway, you're right, though, Zach, we do
have a whole day ahead, like because we could hit
up the table even if we went to the tailgates

(10:07):
at two, that's still a whole chunk of a day
that we can float around and do some stuff.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
I didn't think about that. Well, yeah, at least another
stop at the White Castle, I know, that.

Speaker 5 (10:20):
I have one request for that day. Yeah, because it
is a staple that my dad and I went to,
and we went in twenty twenty. It was the last
thing we did before we left Saint Louis. Ted Drew's
Frozen Custard in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
I was gonna say that it is a wonderful Yes,
I O came in custard, Chuck.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
It is so good. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
I did it when we were out there last time
with my dad as well, so I was, yes, book it.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
We're there.

Speaker 5 (10:47):
Yeah, it's a little, like I said, it's a tad
outside the city, but it is worth the trip. And
we have plenty of time on Saturday before the game
to go out and get a get a.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Scoop or two.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Hell yeah, so might as well add that to the map,
to the map notes and we can talk about that
as we do with our itinerary.

Speaker 5 (11:03):
But hell yeah, yeah, shout out to those guys. That
is an incredible place. And if you live out there
and you haven't been there, I'm sorry, what do you
What are you doing? I've been there once in my
life in the last five years, and I still talk
about this spot.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
So you heard it here, folks, Day two at the
zoo is sorry. Day day two of summerstock is visiting
the zoo, getting having an ice.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Cream social, and then tailgate.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
This sounds great in whichever order you want, I guess,
except for the tailgate is last.

Speaker 5 (11:30):
And this sounds like sounds a good time. We'll keep
We'll keep divulging plans as we do episodes.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
It's uh be a fun month ahead. Yes, good.

Speaker 5 (11:40):
And I did confirm the travel back does indeed and
I do quote does indeed take you through Arkansas.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
However I do have I do. This would be up
to you when we should debate an off show, you
know what would be Clinton Library? Yeah we should stop
what library? Excuse me, Bill Clinton Library? Is that we're
gonna up?

Speaker 5 (12:00):
Okay, I mean we we definitely need Yeah, we now
need to do itinerary back, I take that back.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
Okay, we're gonna I thought that's where you were going
with this.

Speaker 5 (12:08):
Here, here's here's what. Here's my pitch. We can make
the six states. Okay, all right, tell me more. I
look at this trip and I say, you know, what's
not too far off and we have enough time to
do Memphis, Tennessee.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
You can go to Graceland. Oh man, let me look
at the map. I would love to do Grace. Let's talk.
I would love to do Grace.

Speaker 5 (12:31):
Yeah, if it's possible. Well this this is the return trip,
of course.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
And but let's let's look. I'll look at that.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Let's look at the back, because, honestly, Zach, I'll be
it could be one hundred miles apart, it could.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Be one thousand miles apart.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
If you're asking me to know where Memphis, Tennessee is
on a map in comparison to Saint Louis and Texas,
you got the wrong guy.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
It's okay, it's okay. So look at you have.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
I'm so tempted, that's all I'm telling you. I'm actually
looking at it right now.

Speaker 5 (13:03):
But you got I mean, oh my god, this is
very possible, okay, because I would love to do great.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
I just did the map.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Taking off Montgomery, Texas and putting in Memphis saved us
an hour and a half.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
I'm not even getting Okay, all right, we might be
able to do this. All right, all right, Well let's
let's take a look. Then we'll take a look at that. Uh,
let's get into the show. I just realized we got
the whole show here.

Speaker 5 (13:31):
It's football time. You've heard our plans. Let's talk football.
It's it's a good time.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
So we're going to talk about it because if we don't,
we're going to hear it in the comments. Although we
did talk about it on Monday, but there has been
a little bit of news since then. So Samson Nikua,
we all know. We all know the situation. There was
an altercation in the stands after the game between the
Panthers and the battle Hawks in the Dome. There were
some rowdy BattleHawks fans.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
It showed. The video cuts in and it shows.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Them bantering back and forth and it ends with Nikoua
slapping the fan, which I think we all agree. Whether
it's the NFL, the NHL, the UFL, MLS, you really
shouldn't have players interacting with.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
The fans in that type of manner, right, we get it.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
At the same time, I have seen rumors I'll call
him at a rumor because I don't know if this
is true, but I have seen rumors online from I
think Nikoua's family say or possible it will.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Have to double check this. Yeah, it was one of
the player's family members. That's sitting by it. It wasn't
but yeah, thank you.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
But yet but according to them, the fan had spit
on Samson Nikua, which still, even if the fan did that,
I don't think he should have responded by slapping him,
but it does give a little bit of context of
the situation. Actually, So here's the news that's come out,

(15:03):
and I don't think there's any well, I have actually
seen some people disagree with it. Maybe we talk about
that a little bit. But the news is he's been
suspended for one game without pay, which I mean that
is actually a tough break for a ten week season
is a tough break, right. He's also agreed to do
community service, which is going to be set up by
the league at a future time, which I think that's

(15:25):
kind of neat. I think maybe that should have replaced
the note pay. But you know what, he seems to
be taking it graciously. I've seen fans online, I guess
in both directions, but I've seen a few more fans
online say no, he should have a longer suspension. I
suspect those fans are only saying that for the to

(15:47):
benefit their team, because they're probably going to play the
Panthers later this season and want, you know, them to
be down a player.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
But I think, honestly, at the end of the day,
I think one game is fair.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
We can mightbe debate on the pay, but I think
any more than one game is maybe overkilled, especially if
the fans spit on him. But I do think the
league by responding at all, is good. It shows that
they are a professional league. They do take these things seriously.
They're not just gonna let players run rampant. They're not
gonna let What I would like to know is if

(16:22):
there is repercussions for the fan, if or an investigation
in the fan, because I do think if the fans.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Spit on him.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
There should be some repercussions for that too, right right,
Call me crazy, No, I think in a perfect world, yeah,
you would hear that, you know, we would.

Speaker 5 (16:39):
We would hearing about at least a fan having some
sort of maybe you know, in other sports lifeban would
be kind of the term I'd be throwing around in
terms of like if he was any way involved or
certain fans were anyone involved with provocation or whatever of
this incident. This is tough though, because you know the league,
the league, and any professon athletes you are expected to

(17:01):
be held to a high standard.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
You know.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
Yes, fans do go over the top, and I do
think there are fans that do go way too far
with some of their rhetoric, whether it is in our
own football scene, you know, NBA, you know, has a
ton of talk about that because it's a lot more
close and intimate to the action too. It's tough, you know,
and I do it is also you're adding the fact
that you know, in game, you know, you're having emotions

(17:25):
run high. This is a game where it got you know,
when later stages in second half. From what I understand,
this is when this happened, where it's getting kind of
down to the wire, teams catching up, you know, and
it's a big close matchup. Yeah, motions kind of run, run, tense,
and uh it sucks. But I think that if you
are the league and you did obviously, if you do nothing,

(17:46):
it's not gonna look great. And I do think Samson
knows right away that you know that being caught on
video was probably something that he was going to have
to answer for and there was going to be talk
about it. And in any case, in a situation like that, yes,
you might have fans that you can point to, but
you also have to be you know, it's one of
those things you are asked to do and be disciplined,

(18:08):
and it's a shame so proper response. I think anything
more extreme would have been worse, given that we've heard
a ton about that whole situation and what was going
on there. But yeah, if the league did nothing, I mean,
I think you'd have even louder questions from those that
enjoy kind of poking at the certain events like this,
you know, the the pffs of.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
The world or whatever that enjoy kind of.

Speaker 5 (18:30):
At least I feel enjoy waiting for stuff like this
to happen and only talking about stuff like this happening. So,
you know, it sucks, It really does, because it is
midpoint of the season. We had a great week of
football and as unfortunately he has been normal the case,
any bigger media outlet type of page has to point at, Well,
you have a player slaps a fan.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
That's the only thing that came out of this weekend.

Speaker 5 (18:53):
It's like, ah, really, dam yeah, Actually that's that's par
for the course, of course, which is.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Unfortunate because this will is probably the best week of
football we've had this season.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Right, Like, I don't know about you.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
I really enjoyed all four of those games this week,
even if your team lost.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Now, granted I really liked it because the rough great time.
Ref's Law.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
Zach, You're really gonna have to get back on this
Ref's law thing, because love it or love it or not,
it's there whether we want it to or like.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
I'm telling you it said episode one hundred.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Here you go, fellas, you'll both get a win this weekend,
and then you know what happened since then Ref's Law.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
I hate it?

Speaker 2 (19:39):
Why do I even say things?

Speaker 1 (19:41):
This is why I shouldn't even talk Ref's law. Free
cyber trucks. Let's see if that works.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Maybe, no, no, wrong, it's okay. You can't wait to
talk about let's jump back on that trade. I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
But we got some transactions off about the slav everybody's
heard enough about the slat. But if we didn't talk
about it, people say, oh, took about slap heard around
the world. Yes, so we got some transactions here. I mean,
let's just start with the big one first. I think,
and this is nothing against anybody else, but I mean

(20:18):
west Hill's going to Memphis.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Not great timing for me.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
I'll start with that uh free agent signing, coming back
into the league, coming to a team who you know,
got their first win last week with Dresser win.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Funny enough, I made the joke last week.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
I knew I should have changed my pick once I realized, wait,
Dresser win.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
He's not called Dresser lose.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
That should have been the moment I realized, crap, Yeah,
the name, the name says it all.

Speaker 5 (20:44):
He's he's gearing. There's never you never see a loss
with Dresser win. Well, at least with the first one.
I give him the first one. It's the I'm weird
with my football stuff.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
But anyway, I should have known it there. But now
they got wes Hills, They're adding to their running game.
Honestly the worst time of the season for me. I
wish they would have done this a week later, because
you know the Roughnecks are gonna play against him.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
But I don't know thoughts from you, Zach.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
I don't know what are your thoughts on seeing seeing
West Hills join join the gang over there? You think
it's gonna bolster them, help him out because again they
still are a playoff hunt ready team and maybe turning
things on at the right time of the season.

Speaker 5 (21:25):
I mean, yeah, I think it's uh for for Matt
for purposes of you know, seeing kind of the iron
and striking while it's hot. You know, it's definitely something
that a person you're adding that I think is more
really at this point depth because you already see they
put them on the an active roster and credit something
that could be just later in the week. You know,
sometimes you want to get a guy fresh with a

(21:46):
set of set of practices and going. But I mean
Memphis hasn't been I would say too bad in the
run game honestly this year. They do have some guys,
especially generic Prince Prince he's been pretty solid in the
backfield year. I like his game honestly, and quite frankly,
I think that they have their main guy, you know,

(22:07):
Jalen Jackson has been too shabby. But I think they
want someone that you know, is another proven talent you
can add a little bit of depth on there and maybe,
like I said, I think this is also just gearing
up for a run right now, so you know, again
while the iron's hot, you know, now they have their
apparent guy at quarterback that they feel most confident with.
That Noel MAZONI I think feels most confident with after

(22:28):
seeing the several weeks at prior with E. J.

Speaker 2 (22:31):
Perry and Troy Troy Williams.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
They got great backup talents behind the young kid if
they want to help coach him up. And you know,
I think it's not bad to have a veteran running
back like west Hill's there as well to kind of
bolster that up too, So you know, I think good
move for the moment. I can't complain again, it sucks
we don't have him back, but I mean, you look
at what Michigan's doing over there with themselves, and I
mean they've they've got a deep set of running backs

(22:54):
as well. That I understand why west didn't return. I'm
glad to see a face like that back in the
league because thought he had a little bit more the
tank and it sucked that his season last year and
did with injury. So possible chance he does hit the
field again. It's just I'm not sure he's.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
The number one guy.

Speaker 5 (23:08):
I think it were back to last year at the
end of the season, where you know, it was kind
of like turning the corner.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Matt Cobraan was taking that spot.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
I kind of feel like Prince has kind of solidified
himself as like that that number one, but who knows,
they could always be looking for a bit more because
I mean, hey, veteran back.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
I'm just saying it's proven back too.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
So you know who else is out there? Just and
I gotta get your thoughts on this. C J.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
Johnson doing what he does best.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Oh yeah, making mows doing it, getting it done. I mean,
he got that second win under his belt, and now
he's in Bolton.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
He's ready, he goes, he's ready to win. He's hunting.

Speaker 5 (23:47):
He's here to prove all of us wrong. For slander,
is going to prove all you wrong.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
And I you know what, me and.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
Him at the end of this, I'm gonna invite him
to Ted what is Ted Drewy's what is it called
the Pleasures Custer. Yeah, we're gonna go there because you
know who's gonna be out in Saint Louis, C J. Johnson,
because he's gonna be out there for the championship game,
and him and I we're gonna have a good luck
ice cream social.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
We might split a banana split. It's not called the
split for no reason.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Baby, and somehow we're gonna lady in the trumpet. We
are gonna not with the banana. Don't stop everybody I.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Was thinking of, I don't know what I was thinking of.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Anyway, Here he is out here showing the world again,
master mind coach. Even Isaiah Henny game miss props last
week or earlier this week on around the UFL.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
So everybody gives my man CJ a hard time. He
don't need a hard time, you know what, he needs
a win and another win, and.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
He's gonna get those wins. What do you think of
these picks up here? Because he's just you know what
he said, he saw DC, he saw Memphis and say, oh,
you're gonna cut those guys their mine?

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Now what are your thoughts?

Speaker 5 (24:58):
Yeah, well, look I look at the moves like for example,
Davin Bellmy he's not as much needed in DC at
this moment, and his production hasn't been This has been
I would say high, highly elevated and a few in
since like twenty three. You know, he had a bit
of a down year last year. And you know, you
look at who's dominating right now in with the defenders
and he's kind of just like uh more been put

(25:21):
into rotational status at best. So you know, Houston could
use the pass rush a ton. They only have seven
seven sacks on the year. I just checked. So I
mean any sort of veteran pass rusher is going to
be a bait, is going to be a boon to
them right now, especially someone if they need to rotate.
And then you look at Jawan Shepherd. Not much I

(25:41):
have to add add on. But what they're doing is
is they're bolstering pieces of their defense that could use
some sort couldn't use elevation, you know, I think is
the thing. And I mean, I'll be honest with you, Yeah,
last few weeks it's been a lot better, I'll admit,
you know. I think Houston in particular defensively, that's been
kind of their bread and butter, you know, other it
has been been CJ. Johnson or not in previous years.

(26:05):
And that's just me being honest with you. I'm talking
in of course, the USFL tendency. You know, obviously Wade
Phillips in twenty three kind of says itself, so I understand.
But you know, with the with the roughnecks, you know,
I think what is a big strength to them right
now is First off, they found the guy that should
have been quarterback to me or I think has been

(26:26):
not getting the spotlight as he should have been all along,
which is Jalen McLendon. I still hold steady that I
love Jalen McClendon and what he did with the Vipers,
and I'm shocked it took him this long to get
to another starting gig somewhere in the league, and it's
paying off. They have their their number one guy, a decisive,
very good, more middle to deep range passer that does

(26:47):
operate the offense well for what CJ.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
Johnson wants. So there's that.

Speaker 5 (26:51):
Also, Tom Cable, veteran offensive line coach, the fact that
he is in there and he is coaching those guys up.
You know that all lines a lot better this year too.
I got to give them credit, you know, especially it's
been looking better the last few weeks. They're starting to
find the rhythm there as well. So you have those
pieces together. I know that right now they're trying to
get Marcus Sims more antiquated ever since the trade, but

(27:14):
they're finding a stride and I think they're finding a
rhythm and I think an identity. I'll give you That's
what I think is the thing. You know, I still
have my doubts on CJ. I still have worries about CJ,
but I think everything around them, whether it's the roster construction,
you know, switching you know to different GM this year,
and also you know, getting the right people in the building,

(27:35):
I think there is something that's working there. And honestly,
they might be smelling blood in the water because as
we've talked, you know, and you can touch on this
very much, so after I finished this point this conference
midway through the year, there really is kind of some
blood in the water right now to say, hey, we
have a legitimate shot to like make some noise. I mean,

(27:56):
Birmingham's not looking the way it is. Yes, we did
lose close to them, you know, in our previst matchup,
but like we've been getting better, you know, we we
found our rhythm now. Michigan, Yes, they did lock down
Bryce Perkins today, which that's another news piece. We can
throw it that we have a definitive number one QB
there again, but again there's opportunities. So you know, when

(28:17):
you're one game back, anything's possible. Memphis is only two.
You know, that conference got a lot crazier. But Houston
I think is smelling blood in the water, and they're
just making these moves because times now mid season and
you're one game back, don't wait around, start making your
roster moves and get going well.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
I mean, it's crazy to think that they don't even
have just a shot at getting the number two seed.
They actually have a legitimate shot shot at getting the
number one seed.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
They do as.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Early as like this week, that Michigan and Birmingham both lose,
Houston gets the win. We got three way tie for
number one in the USFEL Division.

Speaker 5 (28:53):
We'll talk, I mean, we'll talk about but yeah, we'll
talk to the matchups later. But you know, the Roughnecks
have had the show but number last time, I think
they look better than the previous time that they played them.
And then you know, you're looking at you know, Birmingham
and you're looking at Michigan minimum there is a very
good chance that you can see the Roughnecks at that
number two spot in the conference by day, by weekends end.

(29:15):
I'm not kidding. That is a real possibility, barring results.
On barring results, of course, on that Sunday night of
Sunday afternoon, so not kidding, which is great.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
I mean, you get all you really need in the
UFL is that number two seed. And like it's not
like they could change that rule in the middle of
the season or anything. So I mean, unless they want
to make me angry, just keep the rules exactly as
they are because I don't anticipate anything coming up on
that front.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
But I want to see the roughnecks there me and CJ.
Ice Cream.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Social needs to happen and you cannot rob anybody of that.
Are you ready for the roughnecks? Are you ready for
a road trip about the roughnecks? Because that's what Summerstock's
gonna turn into. Baby, It's gonna be.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
Ruthless, it's gonna be relentless. We're gonna I'm gonna use
AI to have some book read in CJ.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Johnson's voice so we can read the listen to the
audio book in what book do you want to listen to, Zach,
Because I'm gonna have CJ read it to us in
a soft, calm, gentle voice unless when he needs to
be stern and firm, then he'll let us know hmmm uh,
just because it will make him sound like a like

(30:34):
a bit more onto me catcher in the rye.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
There we go. I'm gonna make it happen, and we're.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
Gonna go to an ice cream social.

Speaker 5 (30:44):
For the record, this is more because of if we
get if we have to do a Houston thing, not
because of CJ.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
I'm sorry, CJ. You get a lot of flak for
your call.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
CJ.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Like, dude, I don't want to go ice cream.

Speaker 5 (30:55):
Social conversation stems from like us talking about the man.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
It's more talking about the coach.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
I want to make that very clear to people, like
I'm just talking about the man though CJ is a
great man, the best man, and honestly, people talk about
like CJ needs to get fired. They're crazy. Does anybody
not remember Kevin Someone? Let me just start there. Does
anybody not remember Kevin Someone coaching the gamblers?

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Because I do. I remember. I take CJ. Johnson over
that any day, any day, and c J.

Speaker 5 (31:28):
Johnson, if you're a man of the people, if we
are being fair, CJ's first year after taking over for
Kevin was better, you know what, by by a little bit,
so you know, can't forget that.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
It's all I got. And this year he's gonna have
a championship run under his belt. Sign them up.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
Anyway, we got a whole trade to talk about before
we talk about this weekend, So the Texas trade. Arlington
and San Antonio said screw it, We're gonna swap some
guys around. So we have story Jackson going from our
to San Antonio and Zach.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
Do you know this name?

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Or am I gonna just do a really bad job
saying it because if you don't, I'll try.

Speaker 5 (32:09):
I'm gonna yeah, it can in a chick A chick
wou is what I got?

Speaker 2 (32:15):
Sorry? Yes, so there we got a trade. What are
your thoughts on this trade? Texas trade?

Speaker 1 (32:20):
I always think that's interesting, especial you know, you're in
the XFL division together, you're potentially gonna have to fight each.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Other for that playoff spot.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
It's similar like I don't know, like a head coach
getting poached in your division rival in the NFL, Like
that's what you shouldn't do that. It should be against
the rules, against the law, like what happened with the
Lions and the Bears. By the way, Anyway, this always
seems strange to see an inner inner division trade. I
don't know, what are your thoughts on this overall overall

(32:52):
move here.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Overall, I feel like this more is leaning on what
San Antonio needs and brutalized in the first two levels
of d of the defensive front all season. So I'm
not surprised by this move. By this move, I think
they needed to bolster something up and credit this is there.
You know, they're kind of looking at their ross right now.

(33:14):
And they're also in a very awkward spot because it
felt like they had a momentum going into last week
and you know, a winnable game against Houston they could
have pulled off, did not go all in their favorite
in front of a home crowd at all. So you know,
I think for the fact that you know Jackson comes in,
you can kind of you fill some depth for finding

(33:36):
someone to kind of take a chance and kind of
put in that place. You know, they need to do
something in that in that first two levels, and they've
been banged up badly in the run game there again,
we saw last week the Roughnecks front five bullied that
front seven all over the field. So you know, I
think honestly that's a position that the that the Renegades

(33:57):
are little stockpiled on, and so it's not too bad
to kind of see that shuffled off in the meantime Arlington,
you know, great pass rush of course, and I think
they've been pretty solid in that position. Just you know,
I think Bob stu'ce being defensive mind doesn't hurt to
get more of a rotational guy and maybe someone else
that isn't Chris Odum that's doing damage too.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
So that's how I view.

Speaker 5 (34:18):
I think, really this is more of San Antonio trade,
to be honest with you, because I think Jackson definitely
could make an impact and it's kind of buried in
that in that whole setup, so good. I think good
move for them. Just anything that they can do to
kind of slow down what has been a very porous
front seven compared to previous years is very necessary right
now with kind of a due or die mentality going

(34:39):
into I feel as like this week because yeah, they're
not playing an XFL conference matchup as we're talking, like
against the Stallions here coming up, but any further losses
you're looking at near elimination here very soon in the
second half of the season.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
Well, especially in Yeah, the XFL division is not is
not friendly right now. One glad I'm not in the
XFL division this year, I'll tell you that much. But
I mean, speaking of I guess it is a good
time to move into Week six. We're finally moving past
the halfway point of the season. Week six, let's talk
about the games. First game up, Friday Night Special, Friday

(35:17):
Night Lights. I'm really every week, I know I say
this act, I'm really liking the Friday night games. I'm
really liking the Friday night vibes. We got overtime last week,
Zaggie boy, like, finally, we finally we got some UFL overtime.
And you know what, it happened on a Friday night,
because why wouldn't it happen on UFLF one.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
It doesn't matter what league it is.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
It doesn't matter if it's the UFL, the USFL, xvel
AF one. As we've seen, if it's a late game,
there's some shenanigans, there's something interesting, or it's gonna be
a crazy game. So and this one, honestly, even on paper,
whether it was a Friday night game or any game
of the week, this one is an important game.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
Especially we had past the halfway point.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
We have the Renegades and the battle Hawks taking place,
and again these are in the top contenders for the
XFL Division, right below the defenders, so you know they're
gonna want everybody's fighting for that number one spot to
get that home field advantage in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Eight pm Eastern, Man.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
I waffled so much on this pick, Zac, And I'll
be honest, I'm actually not even definitive on who I
submitted for my picks.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure I know who it was.
I think I'll start here.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
I think the Renegades are gonna have a little bit
of fire under.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
Their ass this week.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
I think after not just losing last week, but giving
up the biggest like what was it, It was the
biggest comeback in UFL history. Yes, nobody likes to be
on the nobody likes that record when you're on the
other side of it, right, And I'll be honest, Zach,
I've waffled on the Renegades.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Are they the real deal? Aren't they the real deal?

Speaker 1 (37:14):
And even as I was watching that game last week,
I so, wow, this team, you know what, I think
they actually are the real deal.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
And of course maybe I am bad luck, Zach.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
It was maybe at that moment that the comeback began
for the defenders, I don't know, but I'm gonna give
them a second chance.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
One.

Speaker 1 (37:33):
I think the Battlehawk's got lucky for a couple of reasons. One,
Mike Nolan, you're right, You're right to rank the Panthers
where they're ranked, even when they were winning, because Mike Nolan,
be damned, he's putting an Ettling in that game. And
he put Ettling in that game, and that might I

(37:53):
won't say that's the reason they lost, but the tide change,
the momentum change, and I think that's the biggest call out.
We're not saying that Ettling's necessarily a bad quarterback, but
when you have a two quarterback system, it really hurts
one guy from gaining momentum into a game.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
When Rice playing a great game, you take him out.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
Now he has to fight back after an interception some
extra points. And so I think the battle Hawks got
lucky a little bit. And I think the Renegades are
here to play. We'll see though maybe I'm bad luck.
Maybe I said, you know what, the Renegades are the
real deal, and that's all that they needed to hear
to not.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
Be the real deal. I don't know. We we'll see.
Are you gonna go back on it. Are they not
the real deal?

Speaker 3 (38:42):
Zach No.

Speaker 5 (38:43):
I think they are. But I'm also going to be
a little annoyed and penalized on this week. I'm taking
Saint Louis, and you know what, the other part of
this and more of a football terms, I actually impressed
what Saint Louis did last week. You know, yes, you
can talk about Anthony back now pointed as like, oh,
we're so glad they took Price off the field and

(39:04):
you know, kind of messed up the flow and whatnot.
What I am hanging my hat on is I asked myself,
could they execute this offense in a way that they
were doing with Manny Wilkins, you know, and maybe make
it more efficient and operated that way yesterday to get
gained by the Panthers on this one by a sizeable margin.
But what they did well is Max Dugan proved to

(39:24):
me that he can run this rpo scheme and he
can keep defenses on his toes while he's getting used
to his passing responsibilities a bit more.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
You know.

Speaker 5 (39:33):
Again, I pointed out again during Atu you know, he
ran ten times alone and only threw twelve passes against
the Panthers. So you know, that's a Manny Wilkins game
plan right there. So I think that's possible. My curiosity is,
you know, and I'm gonna pick Saint Louis knowing that, yes,
the Renegades did win last contest against the battle Hawks.

(39:55):
Did they learn they learned for his mistakes? And can
he open up in the passing game a bit more
because arling and we'll be ready for that RPO concept
in scheming. That being said, is Arlington going to be
ready for Dugan to run this because last time they
threw Dugan in, they stuck with a passing only or
near passingly concept and that's kind of him getting thrown
in the middle of the game. He looked a bit lost,

(40:15):
and I feel like with a little more time, maybe
he's a little more confident. And I think that they
can execute properly to where they can keep up. Not
to mention, you know, SAMs a pick six, they were
on the goal line to possibly tie this one and
go to overtime last time. I think there's a chance
that they can take advantage and beat the Renegades this time.
And you know, looking back at Bob Stoops and company,

(40:37):
you know, hell a good team that hey, you got
to finish, and I feel like this is a prime
time for Saint Louis to capitalize on a roster that,
to me is really good and I think has shown
that it can be the best team in the league.
I was really annoyed at how they finished last week
against DC, and mainly it's because of just certain play

(40:58):
calls and certain schemings that led to their downfall. So
I'm putting Saint Louis on the map. I think that
they can get up and they can get themselves back
in the playoff race with this win. And I think
Max Dugan keeps on showing that he just needs a
little more time cooking with practices and getting reps. So yeah,
give me the BattleHawks at home on a Friday night

(41:18):
affair and it'll be close, though, but I think they'll
pull it out.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
So the next game up, man man, oh man, oh man,
oh man. Am I excited for this one because I'm
telling you, this could potentially put the Roughnecks in a
spot where I go from just saying it to believing it. Yeah,
And that's all great world to live in, Zach. I'll
tell you this, I love spring football. I watch every

(41:47):
spring football game generally, though, my favorite games aren't the
Roughnecks games. When I watch them after they're done and
I watch all of the games of the weekend, I'm like, well,
that wasn't the best game of the weekend. At the
end of the game, not only did we win, but
we won definitively.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yeah, and did that feel good?

Speaker 1 (42:10):
I forgot how good it feels not just to win,
but to win convincingly. Now, you could argue that the
Bramas hadn't had a great season prior to that, but
I would argue that the week prior they played.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
An amazing game.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yeah right, And so maybe maybe we'll see this upcoming week.
Are the Bramas really did they just have fluke luck?
Was the changing coaching just the little momentum they needed
for that week and then they faltered out?

Speaker 2 (42:44):
I don't know, but I'm gonna take it as no.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
We beat a team that beat a really good team
the week prior, and you know what, I think the
Roughnecks are going to do it again because also, you know,
it's tough because the show Boats also had the game
of their season last week. Right, they beat maybe not
as convincingly, but they did beat well, the back to

(43:09):
back to back champions.

Speaker 5 (43:11):
Well, I think yeah, keep in mind too, they also
beat a team that you know has done these come
from behind, you know, thread the needle type of wins,
and they held out, they won an overtime, and they
they did fair and scr Yes, they it was front loaded,
and you know, they didn't have much going on in
the second half, something that I think is going to
be brought up in this one if we're gonna do picks.

(43:32):
But I mean, they definitely held their own. Jaren Horton's
defense held when it needed to hold, and you know,
they did a lot of stuff to rattle what was
a first start for case cookus in sometime in the
first half, especially to make this game where they could
have pulled they could sneak away a win here. So
definitely a good effort.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (43:51):
My question though, and I'll throw it to you with this,
is can Memphis put a complete game together because I'll
beat Frank, you know, if we're putting these two and
matching up up again looking at you know, only.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
A few weeks apart.

Speaker 5 (44:03):
You know, Yes, I did think Dresser Win did play
an admirable contest. I think in a very in a
very I think contained contest where he's not creating mistakes
like his other patriots on the quarterback room. For Memphis, however,
this is a to me, a much more formidable Roughnecks
squad than even the last one that they lost to

(44:25):
this time, now that they have a legitimate pocket passer
in Jalen McClendon that can dissect defenses or make big
plays without having to scramble or kind of wait or
have to wait and build a pocket or wait and
make a pocket for himself, he can you know, pick
and throw as needed. So big different type of challenge
for Jaren Orton's led crew. Still possibly the task, but

(44:50):
it's definitely different. And again you're asking for I think
a full game and a complete game for that for
Dresser win this time, you know, second start, so less
of those jitters hopefully well.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
And here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
I don't think people have really caught on yet with
the Roughnecks, but the believe it or not, the Roughnecks
have the second best defense in the league right now.

Speaker 2 (45:10):
Right they have the second least amount of points put.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Up against them out of any of the games this season,
at all of the games collectively, and so I think
really this game is going to come down to whoever
has the best defense. If Houston can capitalize on dresser Win.
You know, let's say Dresser Win makes some of the
mistakes he was making last week that he got away
with he was getting, he got away with a good

(45:33):
amount of broken up passes that I don't know if
that Houston defense is going to let him get away with, right,
And so Houston could capitalize on that. On the flip side, though,
I'm never going to go into a game against it
Jaron Horton led defense and.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
Say this is going to be a cakewalk, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
And so I know that Jaren and company is looking
at all the film and although there might not be
a lot from this with McClendon, I wouldn't even be
too shocked if they're looking back at those Vipers films
and things like that, even looking even beyond that to
see what types of plays CJ was running, Because if
there's a guy that's going to be able to dissect

(46:13):
what you're doing offensively, it's gonna be Jaron Horton.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Yeah, And you know.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
What this might come down to really a battle of
the coaching, right, It might be less about the players
on the field and okay, are offensively can they come
up with enough diversity in their plays to throw Jaron
off the defensive game similar on the Memphis side, right,

(46:40):
and so can the Memphis offense clean up just a
little bit, just enough to not have mistakes that they
may have gotten away with last week that they might
not get away with this week against Houston.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
Quite frankly, it might not be a very high scoring game.
But if you're a fan of.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
Defense like i am, this this is gonna be a
fun game to watch.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
But needless to say, roughnecks all day, because.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
We need to get into the playoffs, baby, And this
is I'm telling you right here.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Well, that would put us at what three and three
five hundred on the.

Speaker 5 (47:14):
Seaton, you'd be five hundred, which it's been a hot
mint since the Houston USFL era. You know, again, this
is the USFL coaching staff you know has been at
five hundred.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
So well and remind me so.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
If Michigan loses or Birmingham loses, they would also be
three and three, right.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
They also would be yes if they were too. Again,
the opponent is San Antonio, so we'll talk on if
that's even a possibility momentarily. But you know, the Michigan
I think is the one that you know, I think
a lot of people's looking as a very tough contest,
you know, how good is this Panthers team and all that,
and that there'll be the next one on the docket.
But like you know, if I'm looking like I said,

(47:54):
I'm looking at your opportunities here, if you're Memphis, you're like, hey,
you know, we still have are in this, but we
got to get through and get some revenge here on
a team that you know, we thought and as you know,
Isaiah and Dee brought up on all around the UFL,
they thought they had a legitimate shot and they've been
in games too.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
You know, it's a thing.

Speaker 5 (48:11):
Memphis has been close in a lot of these contests
this year, you know, missed opportunities against d C, missed
opportunities against their first rough next matchup, missed opportunities against
Week one against Michigan, as they brought up too. So
you know, have they put the pieces together? That's what
we're gonna find out. But yeah, I think I think
you're absolute right. I think it's defensive battle through and
through my honest opinion, though, is I think that Houston

(48:35):
gets back to five hundred. I I've got them locked in.
It's gonna be It is gonna be a slugfest. This
will not be a high scoring game, in my opinion.
Points will be at a premium. But I've got Houston
getting the sweep. I think that having McLennon as that passer,
more decisive passer that's really good at processing the routes,

(48:58):
that's the guy they've been need. I think that he
does really well. I think they found a legitimate identity
in the run game so far, and they're bolstering their defense.
The defense has started to kind of find its rhythm
a little bit. You know, third best scoring defense in
in the UF in the UFL. Total defense for both
these teams are not great, but Houston's been.

Speaker 2 (49:18):
On the up and up. I'm gonna go with them.

Speaker 5 (49:20):
I have a few more questions on Dresser win. We'll
see if he lives up to the task and plays
a more full game, because he's gonna need to do
that with this Houston squad.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
I just as I was telling you before the show,
I just hope I don't get sick before this game.
My wife is sick. I can feel myself getting sick.
I know what's gonna happen. My work week's gonna get done,
and Friday is gonna get here, and I'm gonna be sick.
I need to get to this scam game because I
can't miss it.

Speaker 5 (49:51):
I can't miss it. Stay strong, take your vitamin C.

Speaker 1 (49:55):
Yes, I well that I need to go to the
store and get some emergency and get all that stuff.
But that leads us to Star Wars Day, which I
think they're doing Star Wars Day at the game up
in Michigan, up at Ford Field for the Defenders heading
again to Ford Field to take on the Panthers.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
I'm gonna let you kick this one off. I'm sure
you have thoughts. I mean, I'll well, you start and
I'll say my piece.

Speaker 5 (50:19):
You know I do, and I think that for this one,
I think this is the game of the week personally
for a few reasons. You got you know, right now
on the stat sheet, you have the two top I mean, yes,
Michigan doesn't hold the tiebreaker in Saint Louis but or Birmingham,
but you have the two top top of the Conference
teams taking on each other. You know, on one side,

(50:42):
you got one that's coming off a loss that I
think a lot of people felt was a very winnable game,
with a bit more of in the news flusterings in
Michigan with the Sampson and Coua news, you know. But
I think that that's fine by itself. The the the
part that I think a lot of people are talking
about though that's great, is I don't know why this
long again. I did my my crazy rant last week

(51:03):
on this show, and I'm gonna be I'm okay with
it now, because praise be the Lord above. They did
pick the two time Player of the Week quarterback who
is in MVP Runnings right now, in Bryce Perkins, to
finally start an entire game where Daniyetling is not injured.
And again no words towards Danny Ettling the person. Danny

(51:24):
Eetling the player though has not deserved the reps since
he has come back, and I think it should have
been Bryce Perkins's ball the entire time against Saint Louis.
It's not the main reason they lost, but if you
look at that first half, you know Bryce isn't in
Danny throws a pick, they get a late touchdown to
go up to go up seventeen six at halftime, and

(51:45):
it makes you wonder what could have been. So you know,
I will point out to that as that is unfortunately
a roster decision that was made.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
But clean the slate. Bryce is your guy.

Speaker 5 (51:56):
So now you have the de facto top top quarre
to me, top quarterback in the conference right now, one
of the tops in the league right now too. And honestly,
you have a top quarterback matchup with this one too.
As much as I will complain about Jordan tom who
being the most erratic passer in this league, he is
also one of the most exciting because when he misses,

(52:17):
he misses, but when he hits big, he hits really
fricking big. And last week he did come up, and
in the second half he especially came up and played
his ass off and helped lead in a fantastic fifteen
point comeback against the Arlington Renegades in a game where
I thought they were dead in the water and it
was gonna be the final. You know, me going, aha,
we've got a DC, but no, they've They've shown up

(52:40):
their clutch. As Nick Thorn would point to me immediately,
and I gotta give him props because he would totally
say that if he was on the show last week.
My deal is, is this the Michigan team with no
quarterback agenda, no whatsoever, that can get the deal done?
Because this is this is your biggest matchup since the

(53:00):
Birmingham matchup earlier in the year when you were at home.
So you got to keep that in mind. You get
another home contest, you're bringing DC from out of town.
You know, can you get this done? And if you're
look at the other side, you're going look, DC's played
some close games this year. They've been really good in
the clutch. Can we deliver and can we smack them
in the mouth and can we keep our foot on

(53:21):
the gas. As so, it was hinted wink wink by
by some folks that we've talked to from other players
in the league that felt like they could have gotten
stuff done against DC. We're about to find out because
that secondary for Michigan is gonna get tested. Yes again,
Jordan Tom who's a erratic, but boy, they throw a
lot and they are going to find ways to get

(53:42):
guys open once in a while, and you're gonna have
to tackle them down or you're gonna have to be
ready to play one on one really good in coverage
which we saw last week. OPI or not a keen
Butler burned this secondary really bad. That's what I'm gonna say.
It's gonna be on film. It's gonna be a big
focus this week coming in. And I had a tough
time picking, and.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
It almost hurts me to say this.

Speaker 5 (54:05):
I gotta go with the defenders, and I want to
not do this, but you know, Mike Nolan burned me
last week. Mike Nolan put finally put me on the
other side of this conversation where I'm in the Jake
ball bin now, or I'm saying, Mike, I trusted you,
and you made my final straw thrown and cast aside

(54:26):
for certain coaching choices that I think were detrimental to
what is the mission of a football game, which is
you play to win the game. So I'm going with
DC because they seem like they have their heads in
the right direction as we're playing to win. Maybe I'm wrong,
Maybe Mike realized that finally when they made that starting
QB choice. But I gotta go with the defenders. They

(54:47):
seem like they have right now the best I think,
total combined effort towards wanting and knowing what their vision
is for the season. So give me DC fun game though,
That's what I'll put. Oh, it's gonna be a real
good game. But I'll just say this two words.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
Refs. Yeah, yeah, look at us, both, look at us,
both falling in line.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
You say, I don't believe in reslaw, but look at you.
Then you pick against the Panthers with the defender feels
like reslaw to me, baby, because you're on track and
you're right too, because I get it now. It's hard
to say, but I'll say this the defenders. I've been
waffling a little bit back and forth, but I've felt okay,

(55:32):
this team does feel like a real deal team. Last
week they kind of proved that biggest comeback in league history.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
You're coming against the Panthers.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
Who, yes, they might solidify on one quarterback this week,
but can they stop just whatever it is that DC
has in there because they go out to win.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Like you said, Zach, they are out there to win
that game.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
Shannon Harris isn't on the sidelines for a good time.
He's not out there to be the interim head coach,
even he's out there to be the head coach and
win a damn game. And so I think every move
that he makes during that gave, every coaching decision that
comes through his mind is gonna be for one purpose
and one purpose alone, and that's to win, especially on

(56:23):
the road, especially in a tight XFL division. Panthers be damned.
And again the Panthers are down one guy with Nikua,
They're gonna stick with one quarterback.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
Maybe I don't even believe it, Zach, now see. I mean,
I'm gonna be timid about it.

Speaker 5 (56:40):
When you have the social media admins also cheering that
they finally picked a damn quarterback, I think that that's
a good sign that they might actually stick with it
this time.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
So I'm gonna lead with that. You know.

Speaker 5 (56:53):
It's been kind of fascinating to see that even even online,
the accounts are even like, yeah, Mike, maybe you should
have stuck with one, you know, who knows?

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Who knows?

Speaker 5 (57:02):
It's five weeks in, decision has been made, But now
I'm gonna go with d C. I'll tell you the
other thing, you know, and maybe this is just the
universe speaking to me. You know, every year we watched
we watched the league, there's one team or so that
I think the universe just is in their corner. And
this is where I am with d C. This is
why I get very hesitant with DC in episodes. It's

(57:24):
because stuff seems to fall in certain ways. But that
but good teams get wins too, they get stuff done.
But san Antonio had the similar stuff to happened to
it last year. This is why I get very I
get very hesitant. I still I still think they are
a good team. They're gonna get a win here. But
there is great parody this year and I still am

(57:46):
not fully sold, which is a good thing if you're
if you're.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
A fan of league parody and all that, that's good.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
But it definitely makes me me look like a haha,
funny guy.

Speaker 5 (57:55):
I'm just I'm just a hater. No, no, no, no, no,
I see the flaws. Arlington was close. Probably with Arlington,
they got soft at the wrong time. They let that
win definitely slip away. Just gonna be honest with people,
So that's all I got with that. I mean, we
got one say we got one more game of the Doctor.
We've already hinted that, which is San Antonio. Funny enough,

(58:16):
I mentioned them, but this is a different beast this
year against Birmingham, which I mean, first off, I think
we're kind of waiting to see like, uh, you know,
I imagine Case gets another nod to kind of unless uh,
for example, Kraal's healthy. But I think the other thing
is is that you know, hey, I mean, you're three
and two. You know, took kind of a rough loss

(58:38):
against Memphis last week. You know, I think this is
a get right game as much as you need it bad. Obviously,
the Brahmas are going to be I think in that
territory where it's we're we got nothing to lose. We
are one and four, We're we're seeing our opportunities slip
away right now in the XFL side of things when
you have the insane parody that is the XFL conference

(59:00):
at this time, so they got nothing to lose. But Birmingham,
I mean, you're looking at that, You're looking at this
right now, three and two. You know, to me, this
kind of reminds me of the twenty twenty three Birmingham
stallions where I felt like.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
The sky was falling.

Speaker 5 (59:13):
A lot of people were like This is definitely the
end of the of the saga. We're seeing a new champion.
It feels like two years ago right now, like is
this this is a make or break point? Are you
going to hit the hit your right gears right now?
Or is there.

Speaker 2 (59:28):
Nothing in the tank?

Speaker 5 (59:29):
And this is just a really good set of teams
in this year's league. That's why I think people are
waiting to see. You know, it doesn't feel like a
normal Birmingham season at this time.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
No, no, but I think I think you kind of
pointed out. I think this is their get right game.
I think this is the I mean, it either is
or it is or it isn't. If it isn't, then yeah,
maybe you do start worrying a little bit.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
Uh maybe not. I don't know the Stallions. I still
think they find a way this game included. I think the.

Speaker 1 (59:59):
Stallions this this is a good opportunity for them to reset,
get some points on the board.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
And I want to see the names that we're used to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
I want to see Jase and you know, maybe I'm
saying it because we do a show with him every Monday,
but I want to see Jase getting that ball. I
want to see everybody else like all the regular players
out there making it happen.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
I do expect Case to be out there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
I think I heard and don't hold me to this,
but I think Corral's out for at least another week
or a couple more weeks, So I do expect that
we'll get Case behind the rock. And quite frankly, I
think Case last week was just not their week right,
and you could see it. There was frustrations on the
coaching and actually, you know what, I'm going to take

(01:00:36):
a moment to say this because I think the Stallions
got robbed a little bit on their Super Challenge and
you could say, yes, Skip had the wrong number, but
Anthony Beck had the wrong number.

Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
Of the week prior and they gave it to him.

Speaker 5 (01:00:49):
Well, I mean, be fair, like they review all the
supposed to review aspects. But I don't know if that
was Things have been talked about after a week, you know,
on the side where they'll make a quick rule chane.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
I don't know if that actually did happen or not,
but who knows. But yeah, I just I found that interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
I'm like, well, hold on, because Beck said eighty five
instead of eighty six or something like that, and they said, well,
it's not that, it's this number, and they gave it
to them. When Skip said the wrong number, they said, no, no,
there's no hold on that guy.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
Come on, man hold it. You know what. But you
know what's messed up is because.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
Dean did see the play that Skip was talking about
and it would have been a penalty.

Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
But he didn't give it to him.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
Yeah, whereas I think even the Challenge in the NFL
would have gave it to him right in the point
of the Super Challenge to almost make it a little
bit easier, not more difficult than the NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
Well, I mean it's supposed to.

Speaker 5 (01:01:42):
It's interesting, you know, a whole we can have a
conversation we should at some point about the Super Challenges,
because the use of him this year has been a
lot more abundant, but also, I mean, part of it's
because they get an extra one now, but it's also
a lot more pointed, you know, and get I get
that that's the usage, but I do find it fast
because it slows gameplay. But also some of it it

(01:02:04):
feels like we're getting like really really technical on having
to look at film and have to eyeball and make
a call, you know, and that then leads to what
we've discussed in the past, where it feels like Dean
and Mike both call the game very differently based on
the rules, which I'm gonna say that for another combo
we should have definitely later in this season if it keeps,
because it's gonna come up again. But keep watching if

(01:02:26):
you haven't been noticing, because I mean Mike and Dean,
we've not. We started noticing in our discord link in
the description. They definitely call the game by the rules
a little different. It's almost like a judge in like
the Supreme Court on interpretation.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
It's fascinating. I blame the skittles that Dean Blandino has. Yes,
the candy's got a miper.

Speaker 1 (01:02:44):
He's all hopped up, he's all jolted, you can't focus.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Who cares anyway, Promise that Stallions.

Speaker 1 (01:02:55):
I think the Stallions are gonna come up. I think
they're gonna come up big. I actually think they're gonna
come out with with this win.

Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
I think the.

Speaker 1 (01:03:01):
Brahmas are gonna have to hit the drawing board just
a little bit longer, or maybe maybe they just did
have a fluke game earlier this year.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
Although I'm not so sure.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
I still think the Roughnecks defense is just that good,
and so they just shut them down last week. Yeah,
and so the Stallions they're not necessarily gonna have an
easy win, but I think they're gonna have a win here.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
What do you what say you? Oh, I'm I'm going Birmingham.

Speaker 5 (01:03:25):
Personally, I think another week under under Case his belt
who that's who we're projecting, it seems, will start. I
think he'll be a little less erratic. That was the
thing that killed me was he looked very rusty first half.
Finally hit his stride. I mean that was the thing.
Is like that we saw old Case Cooks, especially in
the second half, you know, running around slinging it and
hitting deep throws, accurately finding guys. So that guy does exist,

(01:03:49):
but you know it, don't. It felt like he definitely
has not been playing for a minute.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
You know.

Speaker 5 (01:03:53):
Keep in mind his season kind of got injury riddled
last year of Memphis to where he got knocked out
essentially for a good chunk of the end of the year.
So you know, and the fact that we were sure
if he was going to play again, we thought he
was into the coaching sphere over at northern Arizona. So
I mean, you know, good that he's back, and I
think that you'll see him this week. I think he'll
get a little more tuned because I think I still

(01:04:15):
believe this is the best line he's played under now.
Credit he got sacked three times last week still and
was still rushed in several instances. You can chalk that
up to Jared Horton's defense. You can chalk that up
to him getting back under his feet. That's where I
want to watch, you know, because this this Brahma's defense
has not been really star studded at all this year,

(01:04:36):
so you should have a bit easier time getting more
reps back under your feet. And I think that's what
I'm looking to see, is do we see more of
the old second half case cookas of this past week
kind of step out. And I think that'll bring a
lot of Brahmas or a lot of Stallions fans some confidence.
You know, it'll ask more questions about the quarterback situations the.

Speaker 2 (01:04:57):
Year goes on.

Speaker 5 (01:04:58):
But you know, if the old case Cookies shows up,
I think a lot of people will be thrilled to
see that case, especially with Alex McGoo out on IR
and Matt Crow's you know, dealing week to week at
this point, so good game to get that. San Antonio
is not gonna slouch. This is again do or die,
but this is Birmingham's game to lose. Honestly, it's at

(01:05:18):
home as well. Yeah, this is theirs to lose. This
is a game that they should knock down and hopefully
they're hoping get back into the driver's seat at four
and two with a lost DC way to Michigan. So
that's what we're getting.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
Ready for their battle against the Roughnecks in the playoff.
Yeah sure, I mean they just might as well start
right now because.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
That's gonna be a tough one. We get to beat them,
I mean, facing one more time this season. I mean
we didn't beat him the last time, but.

Speaker 5 (01:05:43):
When it was a tight contest, different quarterback, but still
like Houston played up to the task and just couldn't
get the job done. And that was in relief effort
with Jalen. So you know, in theory is you should
have more reps, you should get more comfortable, maybe things
could change.

Speaker 1 (01:05:58):
We'll find out, well I'm looking forward to and we'll
find out soon. And actually isn't next week refslaw the
game is that?

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
Or is that week eight? Well, the end of the
season is next week. Next week is Houston Birmingham? That's right,
So that's when So revenge game week eight and week
ten refs law the game. I can't wait.

Speaker 5 (01:06:20):
I'm gonna I was gonna say, end of the year,
we will talk. But my thing is already. I can't
even argue against the law because it's forcing it in
my hands. They don't want it either, too. Well, the
wording alone is it's impossible. I can't dodge it, and

(01:06:41):
you can't tie in the UFL. So I mean you're
kind of stuck, like there's no dodging the law here.
Two of the three last weeks in the season, I'm
gonna be like, yeah, yeah, ref's laws.

Speaker 1 (01:06:53):
It's a thing they handed me on the silver at
least last week of the year.

Speaker 2 (01:06:59):
We're giving you a free ref's law.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
They're giving me two refs laws the last three weeks.
Sign me up to two refs laws. It's like the
free spot on Bingo Ref's law week eight and week ten.

Speaker 5 (01:07:12):
Yeah, and you know, I can't wait to see what
the record for refs law will be at the end
of the year.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
I know we have one, one good old double win
the first time since twenty twenty two is usually double loss,
so it's kind of surprising. Actually, well, that's dark Ref's law.
I've figured out. And luckily my lights have been on.
So hopefully CJ doesn't make my life.

Speaker 5 (01:07:32):
I don't think you show it up again, You're it's
there's too much optimism right now for the dark reft
to show up.

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
I hope. So I hope.

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
Well, you know what I mean, got a big week.
I'm looking forward to the big week. And then soon,
like I said, we're going to be driving across the country.
You'll get to see we always do kind of behind
the curtains anyway, but I think you'll see it to
another level with Zaki Boy and I drive in across
the country about a thousand miles, definitely over a thousand
miles once you add in the time that you're traveling

(01:08:01):
from Arizona to Texas, because we.

Speaker 2 (01:08:03):
Haven't really talked about that, you still got to get here. Yeah,
so there's definitely over a thousand miles that we're collectively traveling.
And that's just there.

Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
So on the way back, it's about two thousand miles
that we're doing here, And like I.

Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
Said, the way back, I thought about it the other day.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
I haven't even looked, but you know, there's gotta be
things on the way back that we could hit up.
We don't need to make a whole project out of
it like this, but between you and I, I want
to stop at weird side road attractions, like if there's
the biggest ball of yarn and it's on the way
sweet and Yeah, once we're done recording, we're looking at
this Graceland thing because if we can fit that in,

(01:08:39):
then I'm totally down with that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:42):
But I think that's it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:43):
Any other final words before we head off into the
week six.

Speaker 2 (01:08:47):
Of the season, Ah, not really.

Speaker 5 (01:08:51):
I mean I could sing some bon Jovi. We're living
on a prayer. All of our teams are right now.
We are halfway there too, yep, mind you, So everyone's.

Speaker 2 (01:09:02):
Living on a prayer. It's the final chances for some teams.

Speaker 5 (01:09:05):
It's it's a new time to reinvigorate your fan base
for a few more five games left. Who will be
the strongest to survive heading the playoff push, it's getting
kind of dice, it's getting kind of fun for the conferences.

Speaker 2 (01:09:19):
This year, it's getting real fun.

Speaker 1 (01:09:21):
Yeah no, no blowout blowouts right to the to being
like in the playoffs this year, which I think we
all appreciate a little bit. But here's what you can
do for us, guys. Subscribe click the bell. It build morale.
It let you know when we go live, just like
Monday Nights with Around the UFL. It'll let you know
when we drop new videos, just like this one, the
UFL podcast, just like Summer Stock the Road to.

Speaker 2 (01:09:45):
The UFL Championship.

Speaker 1 (01:09:47):
You don't want to miss that one, so make sure
you do those things like the video as well. It's free,
it costs nothing. It makes you feel good. Maybe it
doesn't give you a morale, but it makes you feel good.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
You need a little bit of luck.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
You need to get your team into the playoffs. Do
the thing I just mentioned. That'll bring you the good.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
Karma, that'll bring you the good aura that'll get you
signed up.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
But I think that's about it, So until next time, guys,
sign you up.