1st Round Recap, 2nd Round Preview

On this episode, Sam and Zach discuss:
-3 Game Balls and a Flag from the 1st round
-Game-by-game previews for the 2nd round
The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports for FCS coverage and BetMGM for online betting odds.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
All right, Welcome in FCS tackle football fans to another
episode of the FCS Football Talk podcast, presented by hero
Sports and bet MGM. I'm your host, Sam Herder of
hero Sports, and I'm joined by my co host Zach
McKinnell of FCS Football Central and the blue Bloods. Round
one of the FCS Playoffs is in the books. We'll

(00:36):
do we'll bring back our three game balls in a
flag segment after a couple of weeks off from that. Well,
we'll do that segment to recap Round one. Then we'll
dive into Round two of the FCS playoff brackets. A
lot of really good matchups this weekend. It's it's definitely
going to make predicting these games later on this week
pretty difficult because I feel like there are some fifty

(00:58):
to fifty matchups coming up this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
But for Zach, how are you doing? How was your
a bit of a.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Thanksgiving break before, you know, trying to watch eight freaking
football games all at once in the first round.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Then it was good.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
It was good to get, you know, twenty four hour break,
But man, I'm ready to go.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Best time of the year.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
I'm with you, man, At least I mean, they still
kind of stacked the games on each other outside of
the UC Davis game. It would be nice to have
like a six o'clock game this weekend, or you know,
a four o'clock game, but hey, I mean, we'll get
the five different TVs out and then put the UC
Davis game late up at night on the big on
the big screen.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Mess. I'm ready to go.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, it was part of it was kind of nice
on Saturday as far as four o'clock hits and you know,
the nothing else to do. You know, all the games
are wrapped up. But at the same time, having all
of those games on at once was a bit of
a hassle. I think I heard that like travel time,
like getting each of the road teams back around the
same time as part of the reason why they did that.

(02:01):
But I still feel like they could have spread things out,
and like you said, this weekend, they're all pretty much
stacked on top of each other. We do have the
one late night game with Rody going to UC Davis,
but even like I think Ablin Christian SFA that was
originally set to play at noon and then they pushed
it to one Central time due to some some travel stuff.
But like just push it to three o'clock right, just

(02:23):
to spread it out a little bit more. But we'll
get into the second round games coming up here, but
we'll start with our three game balls in a flag
looking back at around one action. I'll hand it off
to U Zach to discuss your first game ball.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yeah, easy of first game ball for me of Villanova,
what a performance from them. I think this was a
popular I guess even though Harvard was the betting favorite,
I think this was the popular seeded upset pick. A
lot of people were going with Harvard to make a statement,
and I was just overall impressed with how Villanova played.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
You look at Bekwai super.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
Efficient one ninety three three touchdowns, didn't turn the football over,
They did not allow a sack against a pretty solid
Harvard defense or what has been a pretty good Harvard defense,
and they ran the football straight down Harvard's stroke. They
dominated both lines of scrimmage, and Isaiah Raglan Jabriel May
stepped up in a big way. Isaiah Ragland averaged nine

(03:23):
yards per carry. And this is all without David Abbott,
their projected starting running back coming into the year, who's
been out for the past few weeks with injury to
run for three to nineteen average almost seven yards per
carry as a team against a Harvard defense that up
until the past two weeks was pretty good against the run.
And then on the flip side, man, they took away
Harvard's rushing attack. Jaden Craig was under pressure all game long.

(03:46):
They forced a ton of mistakes by him. He was
super inefficient and I think overall, man, this was one
of the most impressive dominant performances of the weekend.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
And you got to give Villainova some credit.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
And they acted like they've been in this moment in
the postseason and they delivered an They have a massive
match up with leeh this upcoming weekend.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, I literally changed my prediction to Villanova at the
at the very last minute, I was ready to hit
publish predicting Harvard to win, and then I switched out
the last paragraph and went with Villanova.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
And it really my.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Analysis was, well, I think, like playoff football is a
bit different, and Villanova has been there before, and I think,
you know that's going to make the difference. You know,
in the fourth quarter when it comes to you know,
putting together a winning driver, a big stop or whatever,
but definitely was not seeing this result, this blowout. And
we'll come back to the Harvard side of things and

(04:38):
their ugly performance, but I'll start with giving the IVY
League some love with my first game ball. That'll go
to Yale. Just an incredible comeback. They trailed forty two
to fourteen at Youngstown State late in the third quarter.
The ESPN win probability thing that they do.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
I was looking back on it.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
I think the peak was Youngstown State had a ninety
nine point seven percent chance of winning that game. But
then Yale they score, so, you know, but still even
when they scored, you know, late in the third quarter,
were kind of thinking, Okay, you know, surprise, still not
going to happen. Then they force a fumble and they
score again to make it a two score game, and

(05:18):
then you can just feel the momentum all on Yale's side,
and they just kept chipping away. They made it a
one score game. I believe that was a fourth down
play where they where they made it to a one
score game, continue to get stops, and then Josh Pittsenberger,
who's just a fantastic running back for Yale, he goes
on a fifty six yard scamper with a little under
three minutes left to take a forty three forty two

(05:41):
lead to complete the comeback. Then the defense is able
to seal it. They get a huge fourth down stop.
Definitely some coaching decisions late in that game. Youngstown State
had still had the two minute time out to use
if they wanted to punt it away. I believe they
still had all three timeouts left, but they decided to
go for it. Yale gets that big stopped to seal
it and just a like I said.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
An incredible comeback.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
And for a while there where when Yale was trailing big,
Harvard was trailing big, the IVY League was getting dunked
do one, you know, saying you know, they're they're not
ready yet, this is their wake up call. And I
mean still, I guess fifty percent of that was still
true based off of Harvard and they're a blowout loss,
but Yale definitely made made up for that, and I

(06:24):
think for the IVY League's sake, more people are talking
about Yale's comeback win rather than they're at large bid Harvard.
They're they're kind of wilful performance and so just a
huge win for Yale, huge for the IVY League too
to And it's not like this was a you know,
a comeback win over you know, a you know, a
Tennessee Techer or something like that. This was against the
Youngstown State team that was that was on a heater,

(06:47):
you know, a Missouri Valley Football Conference at that So
just a massive moment there for Yale.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
Man Pittsenberger was amazing in this game, just to kind
of put upin like, I was so impressed with them.

Speaker 3 (07:00):
And it shows you, Sam, because you.

Speaker 4 (07:01):
Hear a lot of people say you can't get back
into the game by running the football. Yale proved that
that's not necessarily true. You can still run the football
and get back.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
Into these games.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
And their defense made some insane stops and shout out
to Tony Reno and that coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
I put out a tweet about this. I thought they.

Speaker 4 (07:17):
Completely out coached Youngstown in the second half, and I
think that was very, very evident. We'll talk a little
bit more about that later. But moving on to my
second game, ball, I gave it to Apple and Christian
really really impressed with them. They beat a pretty good
Lamar team at home thirty eight twenty and really and truly.
This game was over relatively early. It was twenty four

(07:39):
to nothing. Kind of took their foot off the gas
a little bit. I was fully impressed with stone Earl
delivered again every three hundred yards, passing three touchdowns, ran
the ball pretty well, Jordan vond led the led the
way there. I thought they did an excellent job up front.
They completely took away the run game of Lamar and
really put a ton of pressure on Ada McCowen to
beat them over the top, and they just couldn't do it.

(08:00):
And also to Javon Gibson outside of wide receiver nine
for one sixty four two touchdowns, made some insane catches,
and I do think this team has the potential to
be a sneaky dark horse. A ton of experience and
key spots. Stone Oll has been around college football. He's
not gonna the moment's not going to be too big

(08:20):
for them. And you look at this defense, Sam, their
linebacking corps is outstanding. Their front seven doesn't do a
great job of generating sacks, but their front seven is outstanding.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
Against the run.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
And I'm really really excited to see this team this
weekend in a really big rematch against Steven f Austin,
which was a really good game back in week two.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, it was a super impressive performance by Applin Christian
and we saw in the regular season when they turn
it on, they are a very very dangerous team. They
also can fall into some lulls, but you I mean,
they'll play really well against the ranked team and then
they suffered some losses to unranked teams and so now
with the playoffs hitting, you just feel like, you know,

(09:02):
Appling Christian is going to put together some really good
performances and that sets up a great second round matchup
against SFA this weekend. My second game ball, I'll give
it to Chase Mason, Southcota State quarterback. He returns from
injury and really was a shot in the arm for
Southcota States. They beat New Hampshire forty one to three.

(09:22):
Just an absolute dominating performance offensively and defensively for the
jack Rabbits. Mason looked really sharp, super comfortable, especially considering
it was in the snow, so not great weather conditions there.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
He had taken how many games did he miss?

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Five? Five or six games total, But he comes back
and he goes sixteen to twenty for two hundred and
thirty yards three touchdowns. He did have a bad interception
in there as well where he kind of just you know,
threw it up there fifty.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
To fifty ball that got picked off.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
But overall, just an incredibly sharp performance and it just
goes to show like how important quarterback play is one.
But also when you have a guy that is an upperclassman,
he knows the offense well, he has the ability to
go through his reads, just how much that opens things
up with play calling. And you know, the pass protection

(10:13):
was really good for Chase as well. In the ground
game for South Kota States has definitely been unleashed these
last couple of games. Julius Loffridge he went for one
hundred rushing yards on Saturday. So this is a you know,
kind of a type of performance that we've seen past
Southgoda State teams have where they.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Just overwhelmed overwhelmed, overwhelmed.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
Teams in their first playoff game. You know, I'm not
saying that, you know, Southcota State is is going to
go on or run to the National Championship Game or
anything like that, but they just look like such a
better operation now with Chase Mason coming back, and he
was really a shot in the arm for that football team.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
I don't notice them.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
I mean, if they win this weekend, I think the
conversation we can fiore the conversation up a little bit
about how far they can go. I'll be very interested,
especially if Chase Mason looks like he did this weekend.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
But we'll see. I think I also think.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
New Hampshire was such a good matchup for South Dakota State,
probably the best one in the field outside of maybe
like a Drake or a social Connecticut state like New
Hampshire was not built to give South Dakota State any problems.
I don't even think it mattered if Chase Mason played.
So we'll see. I think we're gonna find out a
lot about them this weekend, keeping it in the state
of South Dakota. Though South Dakota beats Drake. But my game,

(11:24):
Bolt's gonna go to the Lorenzo Finner at wide receiver.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Sam.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
I think he's one of my favorite breakout players that
I've watched this year. There was a lot of questions
coming in the year about South Dakota, especially at certain positions,
one of those being wide receiver, where they lost a
ton of talent, who was gonna step up, who is
gonna be the next star there? And I think you
what we've seen is Lorenzo Finner's role continue to increase,

(11:50):
continue to increase. He had one catch in three of
like the first five games. He was kind of just
used as like a deep threat, and we've seen him
kind of start to emerge as more of an all
the round wide receiver this weekend five for one, fifteen,
three touchdowns. This is back to back weeks now where
he's had one hundred and fifteen or more yards three

(12:12):
touchdowns in each of the last two games. And you
start kind of looking at him Sam thirty nine receptions,
eight hundred and eighty three yards, fourteen touchdowns. He's had
a touchdown in the past four games, five of the
last six. He's really coming on as someone that I'm
really really impressed with it only six foot Sam, it's
really impressive how he wins he's one on one matchups,

(12:34):
especially in the red zone. I love what I'm seeing
from Lorenzo Finner right now, and I think he's he's
played himself into possibly some All of American consideration, even
just as a redshirt sophomore and I'm really hoping the
Yoats can keep him because if he develops his intermedia
route running this, this guy is going to be one
of the best wilde receivers in the FCS next year.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
His emergence has just been huge for USD. And passing
attack was just so choppy early on in the season,
and you know, Bauman didn't look comfortable. There really wasn't
that receiving threat that really put a whole lot of
fear into defenses, and so his playmaking ability, certainly, it's
something that defenses have to account for. And you know,

(13:18):
you can't load up the box and you know, just
trust your dbi's to go one on one with him.
So he's really freed some things up for not only
the passing attack, but the ground game as well for
the Oats. My last game ball here, I'll give it
to you and D's defense.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
The Fighting Hawks.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
They go to Tennessee Attack and they win thirty one
to six. It was much more of a defensive battle
than maybe that final score shows. It was ten to
six entering the fourth quarter, but three fourth quarter touchdowns
in U and D for U and D resulted in
the Fighting Hawks pulling away there and I kind of
expected this to be a defensive battle, and I think

(13:56):
both defenses and both defensive lines flex their muscles for
most of the game. But for U and D just
really started to grind down on Tennessee Tech's defense. But
you look at U and D's defense, they pickoff Kicko
Vesparis twice, they forced him into four fumbles. I mean,
they just totally made him uncomfortable, overwhelmed that Tennessee Tech

(14:17):
offensive line, and then I mean they put Tennessee Tech
into passing situation after passing situation because the Russian attack
for Tennessee Tech twenty four yards on twenty four carries,
I mean just completely shut down by und and that
allowed them to pretty much tee off, you know, on Vesparis.
On that offensive line, Zach Lewis, Lance Rucker, Malachi McNeil,

(14:40):
they've been phenomenal all year long, and they went off
in this game as well. And then Johnny Witchhire, he
had himself a great game as well, interception in three
pass breakups. I mean, he stepped up super well in
this game. And that was really the number one question
mark was Okay, is U and D gonna be able
to establish the run against this Tennessee Tech defense, maybe not.

(15:01):
You know, how does their passing attack look, you know,
a little choppy at times with some turnovers. You know,
Tennessee Tech might not be able to get their run
game going either. But U and D is really thin
on and you know at the cornerback position. And so
if there's one team that can maybe hit on one
or two explosive plays, maybe you lean Tennessee Tech there.
And so that was kind of my thought process in

(15:21):
picking Tennessee Tech. But their offensive line did not hold
up as well against U and D's pass rush, and
Vesparis was just totally thrown off his game for most
of the most of this one.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
Rutger has been outstanding this year, right, I mean they
last year they were pretty good up front, but this year,
like they have an elite pass like even Viig on
the other side, right, and really good. I've been so
impressed with this defense. And we kind of talked miss
season Sam, like they statistically were on track to have
maybe the best defense in the country. I mean, at

(15:58):
one point they were they even ranked up of Indiashu
and Valley Play in terms of rushing defense. And I
mean that they were at the front seven has been outstanding.
And again I think you look at Visparis. I even
wrote even though I picked Tennessee Tech, Sam, I've wrote, like,
don one concern is like all year Visperis has turned
the football over not through the air, but fumbles, And

(16:21):
it was funny, like I look back now at this game,
I was like, well, I might might have talked that
one into existence, because every single time he got hit,
he fumbled. And I think you look at this like
there's an argument that both these defenses. I mean, you
probably watched two of the best defenses in the entire
bracket play this weekend between Tennessee Tech and North Dakota. Like,
is that Tennessee Tech defense played outstanding for three what

(16:44):
three and a half quarters until I mean they were
on the field all game long. And you mentioned the
Johnny Wiltshire really stepping up was big because of the injuries.
And I'll be curious to ask you maybe we can
slide this in right here. Are you a little bit
read for them projecting forward if Kominsky's not able to
go this weekend.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, it kind of sounds promising that he might be
able to play, But I mean, any time you're dealing
with a concussion, and I mean it looked like a
pretty bad one as well on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
I definitely think that is a concern.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
And I mean their backup Rolfo was the starter lash Yer,
so he does have that experience. But I mean I
also think Tarleton State is really good defensively as well,
especially against the run. I really like the defensive line
and linebackers for Tarlton State, and so if you have
a backup quarterback in you're obviously gonna want to lean
on the run, and I don't know how well that

(17:43):
would go. So I definitely think that would be a
concern for U and D if they are down to
their backup quarterback and Kominsky isn't isn't able to make
a go of it.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
Yeah, I'm just interested to see because I do think
the ceiling for the team, even though Ronfo has been
the start, I think the ceiling is.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
Much lower with him at quarterback.

Speaker 4 (18:02):
That's no disrespect, but Kaminsky has been excellent, but also too,
I do want to be fair like Kamitsky hasn't been
playing his best football recently, so maybe it is good
to potentially have a fresh start if he's not able
to go, so we'll see. I was just curious your
thoughts on that my flag here. We kind of already
talked about this in a little bit, but it's Youngstown State.
I don't think anyone's surprised they had to get a

(18:24):
flag for this weekend.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
I mean, Sam, it was.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
Thirty five seven and a half time forty two to
fourteen until less than three minutes left in the third quarter,
and they still found a way to lose, and really,
actually the flag could go to Doug Doug Phillips at
head coach. I don't I got to ask you, Sam,
because I don't even think this is hindsight biased, because
I do think there's some people that use hindsight when

(18:48):
talking about stuff. But do you still understand the fourth
and ten call there on your own twenty seven with
the two minute warning left, three timeouts and you're down one,
going for that in that moment puts them in field
goal range immediately. And so let's just say they don't
get the first down and run the clock out. If

(19:09):
they kick a field goal, now you got to go
the length of the field to score a touchdown to
win the game instead of just kicking a field goal.
Why would you not just punt it and trust your
defense with three timeouts in the two minute warning.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I didn't understand that, especially at fourth and ten
as well, and you're already pretty backed up if it's
if it's fourth and five, even even that is a
bit risky, but you at least have kind of the
run pass option element of it, but in an obvious
passing situation for an offense that really hadn't done much,
you know, down the stretch there. Yeah, I think you

(19:44):
punted away and maybe it was just like absolutely no
trust in your defense at all either, just because Yale
was kind of doing whatever it wanted to offensively. And
maybe I'm guessing you have the mindset of, let's just
keep it in the hands of our offense and not
give them the ball back because I'm not often that,
you know, we can get the ball back of ourselves
with our defense. I'm guessing that was the mindset there,

(20:06):
But you know, hindsight is what it is. But even
then at the time, you're kind of looking at it as, oh, okay,
they're going for this and it did not work out,
And definitely a heads up play by Yale there to
just kind of run things out. They probably could have
punched it in for it for another touchdown at the
end there, but they slid before the goal line to
be able to kneel the clock out.

Speaker 4 (20:26):
A very IVY League type play, if musall Joshua Fitzenberger.
But again, I thought I was just the play calling
in the second half, the defensive execution, and at the
end of the day, Sam, I don't really as much
credit goes to as much credit as I give to
Yale for the comeback.

Speaker 3 (20:47):
If you're Youngstown State.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
You cannot blow a thirty five to seven half time
lead in a forty two to fourteen lead in the
second half.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
It's just inexcusable. So I had it down. My flag here, Yeah,
my flag.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
I will throw it on Harvard.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
We kind of already touched on this, but you know,
getting a blowout loss at Villanova was definitely not expected.
Could not stop the run as either Villanova goes for
over three hundred rushing yards Jade and Craig, who I've
been pretty high on. He I mean, he wasn't helped
by some of his pass catchers with some drops that
kind of threw the rhythm off of things for Harvard.

(21:23):
But he still struggled mightily. I mean, going out into
twenty one, one hundred and seventy yards, one touchdown, two
interceptions was just a really rough day for Harvard and
Jade and Craig offensively.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
And I mean.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
It's yeah, like we're are to talk about Yale's comeback
when kind of I guess overshadowed this. But I think
at the same time, when the IVY League gets a
second team in as an at large bid, you know,
this could maybe come back to bite them next year
when maybe there is an eight win second place team
in the IVY League that has an argument to get in.

(21:56):
And you know, sometimes your past performances and playoffs will
impact how the new playoff committee will view you, and
this could potentially hurt the second place IVY League team
getting in next year.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Now.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
Like again, it's easy to go back and say, well,
this seeded team lost, they were seated too high, or
this bubble team lost so they shouldn't gotten in. At
the same time, though, like looking back on and a
week ago, at this time, like I don't think a
whole lot of people had a problem with Harvard, you know,
getting in, especially with you know, a nine and one

(22:28):
overall record, I don't think there was a whole lot
of complaints about Harvard getting in. It was probably more
so about like Mamoth, you know, not getting in, and
you know, maybe like New Hampshire you know, getting in
as well.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
So hindsight is what it is.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
But I didn't have a problem with Harvard getting in
at the time, but you know, with how they lost,
especially to a Villanova team who we all think is
pretty good, but like, I don't know, if it's fifty
two to seven in the first round type of good,
definitely doesn't reflect well on Harvard or the IVY League
with that result.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah, and me and you have our kind of already
expressed our thoughts on this conversation. My biggest pet peeve
is when people just continuously that they're like, oh, well,
this team didn't belong because they lost this game, And like,
I just I hate when people act like that and
say that because at the time, like you're using information

(23:24):
that we did not have at the time of the
decision to inform your decision now, And that's just to
me that and when I look at the first round, Sam, like,
I think there's a much stronger argument that New Hampshire
should have been the team that didn't make the field
than Harvard, and I do and I do think that
people just kind of have locked in on Harvard because

(23:45):
of this whole IVY League debate, And there were a
ton of teams. There were a few teams that got
blown out in the first round. But did all those
teams not belong And then what happens if, like, let's
just say, hypothetically, exam North Dakota gets blown out this
weekend against Charlton, does that mean they didn't below in
the playoffs either. I don't think anyone's gonna say that,
So I think it's very interesting when people pick and
choose their spots on when they're out raised over who

(24:07):
gets into the postseason.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yep, yep.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
Absolutely. A couple of other results here too. Rhode Island
they beat CCSU twenty seven to nineteen, and then Illinois
State they go to number sixteen Southeastern Louisiana get a
twenty one to three win. It was much closer than
that for Illinois State for versus Southeastern, but the Red
Birds were able to pull away and seal it in
the fourth quarter. You know, Roady kind of a don't

(24:33):
know That was an interesting game because if you were
score watching that one, you're kind of thinking, like CCSU,
like do they have potential to pull this off? But
you know, there are different times when Rody had a
multiple score lead, CCSU kind of like hung around, made
it within a one score game, and you kind of
felt like, Okay, Rody is eventually they're going to go
back up two scores, They're going to get a stop,

(24:54):
and they'll seal it and move on from there. But
CCSU did have a chance at the end there. I
think they had the ball near midfield and had a
hill Mary attempt near the near the end zone, so
they had a chance there. So maybe a bit of
an underwhelming game for Rhode Island, But at the same time,
I feel like they looked really good at the start
of that game and maybe took their foot off the

(25:15):
gas a little bit and let CCSU hang around. Any
thoughts on the Roady win or the Illinois State win
kind of just not the most exciting games really, kind
of just more of like a grinded out, get out
of here with a win sort of victory for it
for these two.

Speaker 4 (25:31):
Yeah, listen, I think the Roady game, they just they
really just kind of took their foot off the gas
that they got up early.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
And just kind of, I mean, just let it cruise.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
Now.

Speaker 4 (25:41):
My one concerned with the Roady game is that they
weren't able to run the football. If you're not able
to run the football in social Connecticut State, it is
going to be an issue when you go up against
the UC Davis or if you get past USA Davis
to imagine North Dakota State, you're going to have to
find a way to run the football. As for Illinois State, listen,
because everyone saw that score and said, oh, well, this

(26:01):
is why, this is why southeastn.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
Louisiana shouldn't have been seated.

Speaker 4 (26:04):
That was a really good Southeast and Louisiana defense. I
just I just think they that was a competitive game
for multiple quarters, for turnovers, and Southeast and Louisiana only
allowed twenty one points, and offensively, those turnovers really stopped
some drives where they were moving the football. And I

(26:25):
think when you look at the people who are saying, oh,
it was a blowout and it wasn't competitive even when
you could throw Tennessee Tech game in here, those are
just people that didn't watch the game. Because if you
watch the game. Those games were super competitive for like
three and a half quarters, and I think Illinois State
went on the road and beat a really good Southeast
and Louisiana team, So I wasn't expecting them to do

(26:45):
it flashy or looked dominant.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Man.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
I thought that was a really really good test for
Illinois State, and I thought they passed with flying colors,
and I was really impressed with them, even if the
final score was only twenty one to three. I think
that was a really really good win for the Red Birds.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, moving on to the second round here, I think
we're gonna get a lot more competitive games as well
like we had in the first round. And there's probably
I mean, of the eight games, maybe there are two
gimme results, Like I mean, NDSU is likely going to win,
Montana State is likely going to win. I mean, they

(27:24):
can't just roll their helmets out there and get a victory.
But those aren't really I don't know if we're going
to have a whole lot of drama in those games.
But the other six games I think are all very intriguing,
potentially even fifty to fifty matchups. And we'll start with
number twelve, Villanova going to number five Lehigh. You know,
really strength on strength here because Villanova, like we talked about,

(27:45):
is rolling the ball super well.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
They had over three hundred.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Rushing yards against Harvard, and like you mentioned at the top,
they're doing it without David Abbott, who is one of
the best running backs in the FCS. He hasn't played
for about a month now. But Ragland and May they've
stepped up at running back and they're doing it behind
a really veteran offensive line. I think when it comes
to just the amount of snaps returned from last year

(28:08):
of Villanova was up there as far as returning the
most snaps played on the offensive line. But they're going
up against a Lee High team who was number one
in FCS rushing defense. They're allowing just seventy three point
seven rushing yards per game, so many talented players I
add all three levels for Lee High. So really interested
in this one. You know, how Villanova handled Harvard, Like

(28:32):
maybe that makes you look at this game a little
bit closer, because I mean Lee High is maybe in
the same boat as Tennessee Tech as far as like
we don't really know how good Lee High is because
we don't necessarily have you know that that great of
a sample size for for Lee High where they played
multiple ranked opponents. So this one right here, eleven am

(28:53):
kickoff is very very intriguing to kickoff the second round, So.

Speaker 3 (28:58):
Slide pushback would to. I think the Yale win for
them was massive.

Speaker 4 (29:05):
I think that was kind of like and I would
say Yale is showed last weekend that they're right there.
So I think that was probably their biggest tests and
they passed that one with flying colors.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
Yeah, that was that was the one, you know, the
one kind of ranked win that they had that you
can kind of you can kind of point to, but
more of like a consistence multiple ranked opponents sort of thing.
But certainly that result has aged well for for Lehigh
when we're kind of looking at comparing different performances.

Speaker 4 (29:35):
Yeah, I think out of all the top eight seeded
teams like leeha is probably the one getting now I'm
not going to say disrespected, but probably overlook the most.
And I think it's because a lot of people that
watched their games, like what all their games, it was
weird saying like kicked off at like eleven am.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
It felt like this year the team.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
Yeah, and that was actually awesome, because like that's how
I would start my seratay, Like how I would you.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
Exactly.

Speaker 4 (29:56):
So I think a lot of people missed it. This
team is really good and don't sleep on the talent
of this team. And they went into Idaho last year
and played pretty competitively with a freshman quarterback Hayden Johnson
who's still there now. But Sam, if you like running backs,
this is the game for you to watch with Yoder
with Jaden Green. I know, I think Jaden Green got

(30:16):
banged up a little bit, but I think he should
be back. Mace Raglin, this is the game. I think
that it's gonna come down to who runs to football better.
And I think this is a huge test for Villanova's
offensive line because I do think le Haa's defensive line
is much better than Harvard's, especially in terms of pass
rush and Spatney and those guys up front can get

(30:37):
after the quarterback. And I'm very interested in this game,
and I think this is going to be a a
I would a predicted if you would ask for two
weeks ago, I would have said, Lee, hoiw winz this
one convincingly. I think Villanova is playing really good football
right now and I think this one might be a
little bit more competitive than you would imagine. But I
would just tell people I've seen a lot of people
say Lee has overrated and they don't deserve it. I

(30:58):
would just say, pump the brakes a little bit. Lee
has a really good team. They proved in the playoffs
last year.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
And you don't go twelve and zero if you're a
bad team.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, which quarterback do you trust? Here? A little bit more?

Speaker 1 (31:10):
I mean, I really like how Hayden Johnson has been
playing for Lehigh. You can definitely see the strides he
he's made last year, which was his freshman year, to
this year as a sophomore. I really like the weapons
he has on the outside. They have multiple guys that
can make.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Some contested catches.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
I've been pretty up and down on the other sideline
with Pat McQuaid Villanova. I think he's I would say
he's playing his best ball of his career. He was
a multi year starter at Nicols where he was kind
of up and down there. But I think he's he's
he's kind of found a good fit for Villanova this year.
I like you said, the running backs in this game
are phenomenal. Both both have you know on the opposite

(31:48):
side as well, like good defensive lines, really good linebacker
play as well. So it also could come down to,
like which quarterback you know can can put together a
scoring drive when the when the Russian attack has has
kind of been taken away for.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
A little bit.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
I kind of lean Hayne Johnson here as well, just
as far as you know which quarterback I would trust
to put the ball in his arms.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
But what do you think I am going to be
a take a little bit of a maybe unpopular side.
I actually lean Pat mcquad right now if it comes
down to which quarterback has to throw the football. I
think McQuaid is playing a little bit better than Hayden
Johnson right now.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
But this is gonna be.

Speaker 4 (32:27):
The caveat to that Sam pat mcquad faces the much
tougher matchup this weekend in terms of what he has
to go up against because the weakness of this Villanova
team has been the secondary all year. That's not been
the case for Leah right, and so I do think
that the reason you might lean Hayden Johnson is just
because he's not the one having to go up against

(32:48):
this legh defense, and you look at the secondary man
macaw Smith for interceptions. Aiden Singleton's played well. Nick at
safety has been hurt, but man that they've been bringing
in guys to like who have been playing outstanding football
to replace him. And I think you look at this
linebacking corps. Was it Tyler Ojowski and then Bryce and Williams,

(33:11):
Like these guys have been playing outstanding at linebacker. I
think Lee HAI's defense is much more athletic, has a
much higher ceiling. So McQuaid faces a tougher matchup, which
makes me Allian Johnson. But if you just asked me
in a vacuum, which quarterback is playing better right now?
Is Pat mcquad and I mean me and you have
watched this guy Nichols right now. I've seen him play

(33:32):
in person. I went down to Nichols and watched him
play Sack State his first year as a starter. I
didn't expect him to be this good. I mean, twenty
five hundred passing yards, twenty two touchdowns, only two picks.
That's impressive, Sam, I mean, especially in a tougher conference
as well. I've been really impressed with McQuay. But the
one thing I'm gonna throw back to you is Hayden
Johnson is a bit more mobile, and so Hayden's ability

(33:55):
to get out of the pocket could be a game
changer here. He's rushed for over four hundred yards and
four touchdowns year. That could change the dynamic of this
game of Villanova is not able to keep them in
the pocket.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Yeah, sticking here in the eleven o'clock hour kickoff number eleven,
South Dakota goes to Mercer. Another fantastic matchup here, and
I'm really interested to see this matchup. And like, South
Dakota is playing so well right now, and they've i mean,
they were pretty much in playoff mode ever since probably

(34:25):
late October. But you can also it's interesting, you can
play Devil's Advocate with South Dakota when it comes to
their wins, because you could say, okay, they beat they
have three ranked wins in a row.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
They beat you and D. You and D kind of
played awful in that game. They also edged out South
Dakota State.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
South Kota State was not a very good football team,
you know during that time period, and then they got
into a back and forth shootout with Southern Illinois was
it five six overtimes something like that. SIU was not
a playoff team and so three ranked wins in a row.
But if you want to play devil's advocate, like I said,
you can kind of push back and be like, well, how.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Good is South Dakota really?

Speaker 1 (35:05):
And you know, even this last weekend, they kind of
handled Drake kind of a sleepy start. I think it
was a one score game at halftime, and I mean
for the Yoats, I mean and the players like they're
probably wasn't you know, maybe there was a bit of
a sleepy moment because they had already defeated Drake pretty handedly,
so you can maybe excuse them for that. But they
go to a Mercer team who has just been been rolling,

(35:29):
you know, hadn't lost since that Presbyterian loss. As we've
talked about plenty of times. You can almost kind of
excuse that Presbyterian loss because right after that is when
they inserted bid Brandon Atkinson, true freshman quarterback who's been
not only the best freshman in the FCS in my opinion,
but you know, a top three to five quarterback in
all of the FCS. Close to thirty five hundred passing yards,

(35:52):
which is number two in the FCS for the regular season.
You know, to see how he stacks up against this
USC defense. Who is I think that the usd's defense
is good, but it's not like nothing really jumps off
the page as far as like being outstanding. They just
get like stops, you know, cause they get off the
field that third down on third downs, you know, in

(36:12):
the opportunity times, you know, maybe a little bit of
bend but don't break type of defense.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
So this is.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Another fantastic matchup here in the second rounds. And I
feel like for USD they might have to put this
on the left arm of aighten bowman because Mercer is
pretty good against the run. They're allowing under one hundred
rushing years per game. Andrew Zak is just a menace
there on the defensive line. So seeing how that Mercer
rushing defense stacks up against usd's rushing attack, I think

(36:39):
will be interesting. I will say that Mercer is pretty
gettable through the air this year, So this might be
a game where obviously USD they're gonna try to establish
the run with Phillips, but they might have to go
to the air a bit more than they maybe what
they're comfortable doing. But at the same time, I mean,
they show they can win those short those sort of
shootouts when they went to Southern Illinois a couple of

(37:01):
weekends ago.

Speaker 4 (37:03):
Yeah, I might go to this game. Only five hours
away and making Georgia. I think I might have to
make the trip out here for this one because I'm
really really excited here.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
Either that's the SWAT Championship. I haven't decided yet, but
I think this is.

Speaker 4 (37:15):
I look at all the second round mashups, this is
probably outside of the obvious Montana so to go see.
I think this has a chance to be maybe the
second best game. I'm really excited for this one, and
you mentioned all the reasons why. I do think South
Dakota's passing attack, if his styllut In, could give Mercer
some problems, especially a Bauman is not turning the football
over and it is playing like he's kind of started

(37:38):
to look like himself. Finally, and then I've talked to
some valley people, Man, I don't can anyone stop LJ.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
Phillips from getting to one hundred yards?

Speaker 4 (37:46):
Even when he's not super effective in terms of yards
per carry, still finds a way to get to one
hundred yards. This is a front seven of Mercer that's
really talented though against the run, So that's gonna be
the key, and this is this was a revamped offensive line.
We're gonna find out how good are because, like you mentioned,
Andrew Zoch can wreck a game plan with a quickness,
and this is I think his chance to really elevate

(38:07):
his draft stock, even as a true softmore and I'm
very interested to see that. But then the other key
on the other side, how do you stop this passing
attack of Burser And it's not even really like a
true air rate attack sale because they've run the football
a ton and it's more of kind of like they
got that power rushing attack that turns into kind of

(38:27):
like this spread passing attack, kind of like the old
Baylor offenses that you saw, like the Art Briles And
so I'm very interested to see how Mercer handles this.
I know a lot of people are gonna be looking
at the Soacon INVFC matchup, but there's so much talent
on the field for this one, and I think this
would be a statement win for Mercer and that they
get past South Dakota. I do think you look at

(38:47):
the two potential matchups coming out of that Montana South
Dakota State game, this Mercer offense could give both of
those defenses some problems. And I'm very, very excited to
see if Brandon Akinson is up for the challenge, because
these next two weeks are really really going to be
i would say, growing up moments for him.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, I mean, the Mercer offensive line has to hold
up here, give Atkinson some time, and then if you
give him time, I mean, he's gonna dice up any defense.
But yeah, the potential quarterfinal games coming out of this pod,
I mean, like you said, if Mercer wins, I mean,
whether they play South Gota State or Montana, both of
those defenses do give up a lot of explosive plays.

(39:29):
But we could also have I mean, South Kota State
could go to South Dakota, you know, potentially for a
quarterfinal rematch. So this little pod right here in the
brackets is really really entertaining. We'll get obviously to the
South Gota State Montana game in a little bit here.
Going to the twelve o'clock hour, we have Illinois State
going to number one NDSU and then un D goes
to number four Tarleton State. Real quick on the NDSU game,

(39:54):
what do you make of this one? I mean it
just seems so unlikely that NDSU, who is a minus
three hundred favorite to win it all, and then the
second best odds is Montana State at plus four hundred
or five hundred something like that. It just it seems
unlikely that NDAC was gonna bow out of the playoffs
right away. Here at the same time, I mean, they're
playing a valley foe who's familiar with NDSU. I mean

(40:16):
it was a one score game going into the fourth
quarter when the Bison went to Illinois State earlier this year,
Like this is this Should we get this game more attention,
should we dive more into it? Or is this something
where it's like, yeah, maybe Illinois State will hang around,
but there's just there's a ninety nine percent chance that
that NDSU wins this one. What are your thoughts on
how do you evaluate this one?

Speaker 4 (40:36):
I'd never want to sound disrespectful or if I'm overlooking,
because anything can happen on Saturday, right Yep. I don't
even have a good argument for you sound that I
could make sound believable for Illinois State in this one,
especially with how how much they struggled against the defense
of SLU last week. I just and I want to

(40:56):
give some context to that early season game. It was
one early in the season two. It was on the
road for in DSU, and then once INDISU figured out
defensively what Illinois State was doing, Illinois State could not
stop them. I think this, I think you're gonna you're
gonna see that play out on the field. I expect
NDSU to win this one comfortably. Maybe Illinois State, that

(41:17):
they play their best game of the season, can hang
in there for a few I just I just don't
see a good argument Sam for Illinois State to pull
off the upset here.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
I mean, the only way is because it's gonna be
maybe like sixty percent capacity crowd there in the firing alms.
So maybe it's a sleepy environment and that makes NDSU
play a little bit sleepy and it just turns into
an ugly slug fest. Like the twenty nineteen NDSU team,
which is one of the best of all time, they
beat Illinois State nine to three in the quarterfinals.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
So just kind of a clunky game. Maybe that's how.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Illinois State can can hang around, But I don't know.
I just feel like, especially under Tim Polis, like like
he'll he'll get NDSU fire it up and ready to
go for this one.

Speaker 4 (41:57):
He's been in and why more about this maybe later
in the playoff. I guess previews like close to the Simmis.
I have a hard time trying to explain this to people.
But I don't know if there's a better big game
coach in college football than Jim Paula, say, like, when.

Speaker 3 (42:15):
The game when it gets serious.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
Man, he has these dwoes a lot in and I
really do think he deserves more credit in terms of
how he gets his team locked in for but for
these big games.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yeah, and NUSO just has that ability to turn it
on when they really need to. I mean they they
didn't play super well in the first half last year
against Apline Christian didn't play super well in the first
half against Mercer, but then the second half, you know,
they kind of just just turn it on there. So
I would move on to U and D going to
Tarleton States, another fantastic match up here. Like we talked

(42:53):
about Jerry Kaminski, the U and D quarterback, He's I
would say questionable right now. He's in conus and protocol.
We'll see how he progresses going into that game. Going
into this game, just a really entertaining matchup on the
other side of the ball here, because U and D's
pass rush has just been phenomenal and they're going up
against a Tarleton State team that kind of runs that

(43:14):
slow rpo, the slow mesh, and if the offensive line
for Tarleton can't hold up, I mean, that just totally
disrupts what Tarleton State wants to do because they kind of,
like the offense kind of freezes the linebackers a little
bit and puts them, you know, in the conflict of
whether they're coming up to stop the run. But if
they do that, there's kind of the slant routes you

(43:35):
know underneath for Tarleton State. But if you can just
rush four and just collapse that pocket right away, that
really throws Tarleton State off. But at the same time,
like I don't know how many of these listeners have
watched Tarleton State, because I've seen a lot of opinions
at least on social media where I'm like, you obviously
have not watched Tarleton State play.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
But they are I think a good defense.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
Even though sometimes some of the numbers might not show
that in some of their games, but they have so
much talent at all. Three levels, but then offensively real quick.
Going back to the offense for the Texans, I mean
this isn't a like a a pass happy type of offense.
They can establish their run. They have Trey Page at
running back who's had a phenomenal freshman season, but he's

(44:19):
not even their number one guy right now because Tayland
Hines has come back from injury after suffering a week
zero injury Hawaii transfer. He was supposed to be their
number one. He's missed most of the season, but he's
come back recently and has looked phenomenal with some fresh legs.
So this is a really dangerous Tarlton State team. I
think they're a complete team. At the same time, this
is probably, I would say not even probably definitely their

(44:43):
toughest challenge for their offense going up against the un
D defense.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
I'll say this, we need to have a whole episode
just dedicated to like addressing the misconceptions of some of
these teams in the playoffs. Like that should be our
playoff preview next year. Sam is addressing the misconceptions about
every playoff team, because I've heard some insane stuff about
Charlton State, and I do want to say this They've
only had three games this year Sam where they've attempted

(45:11):
over like where Gabalis or Greek has attempted over thirty
pass a tempts. This isn't a team that is like
I kind of talked about with Mercer, that is just
this air raid attack where they're just going to throw
it around the field all day. This team wants to
run the football first. And you mentioned the X factor
here is tailand Hines and he's he was hurt, he

(45:31):
got hurt week zero against Portland State. He comes back,
goes twelve for eighty two touchdowns against North Alabama, and
then goes for two point fifteen in a game against
Austin p who has a really really good front seven.
I think the misconception about this defense, You're one hundred
percent right, is that the offensive time has been so
explosive that they they're on the field a ton in

(45:55):
terms of how many possessions per game they have to
play against. And so I do think that, like you said,
there's just a ton of misconceptions about this Charlton defense
and how good it is. I mean, it still ranks
as one of the better units in the playoff top
ten among all twenty four playoff teams, so it is
something to look for.

Speaker 3 (46:15):
I think the.

Speaker 4 (46:15):
Biggest thing with UND is going to be establishing in
the rushing attack. You have to find a way to
run the football on Charlton. You look at the only
game that they lost this year that they could not
stop the run. In that game, a Belie Christian dominated
the line of scrimmage. They ran the football and they
took the runaway from Charlton. That's going to be the

(46:36):
biggest thing. And also to whoever starts the quarterback, cannot
turn the football over. You have Charlton State ranks first
among playoff teams in turnover rate. You cannot turn the
football over because if you give this offense chances to score,
they're going to eventually be able to score. And I
mentioned they're one loss this year. Sam was the only
game they did not run for one hundred plus yards

(46:58):
in over one hundred and thirty in all the other
games they played that you got to stop the run
and you have to run the football to beat this
Charlton team.

Speaker 3 (47:05):
That's going to be the two keys for North Dakota YEP.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
And we'll see the type of strides that Tarleton State
has made on the offensive line and defensive line. Like
we talked about, they kind of learned, you know, what
it takes to the level you need to be at
in the trenches last year at USD. And we've already
talked about un d's defensive line, but their offensive line
is really strong as well, one of the better units
in the FCS. So a really good matchup there in

(47:30):
the trenches. Let's move on to number ten Abling Christian.
They're going to number seven SFA. This is a regular
season rematch where Appling Christian won against SFA. I think
it was twenty eight to twenty. This is you know,
some people might think this could turn into a shootout,
but it also could end up being a defensive battle
as well because SFA owns one of the best defenses

(47:53):
in the FCS, and they're number two when it comes
to FCS Russian yards allowed. That's seventy seven point five
Russian yards allow per game. Abline Christian, you know, they're
pretty they're pretty balanced offensively, but it seems they do
most of their damage through the air. Then stow an
earl quarterback, I mean, he can really do some damage
with his legs as well. It's not really a whole

(48:16):
lot of design quarterback rounds, but he can kind of
escape and make some magic happen with his legs. He's
got eleven rushing touchdowns. He's also thrown for three thousand
yards twenty to twenty two touchdowns, ten interceptions. I really
like how he's been playing. Then on the flip side,
I mean Sam Bidlack has really started to heat up.
I know he missed one or two games, I want

(48:36):
to say, due to injury, but he's back. He has
such a great connection with Kylon Harris. Who is I mean,
he might not have, you know, the numbers to show
that he's, you know, a top wide receiver in the FCS.
He's not over a thousand yards, yes yet, but Harris
I think is just talent wise and playmaking ability wise.
Definitely a top tier wide receiver in the FCS. So

(48:57):
a really good matchup here. What do you make of
this one?

Speaker 2 (49:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (49:01):
Interesting rematch, right, And I do think there was maybe
some mis We talked about misconceptions, some misconceptions about that
first matchup on exactly what happened, if you because it's
all the way back in week two.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
These teams have changed in and found new identities.

Speaker 4 (49:18):
But if you go back and watch the game, in
the first quarter, SFA was up fourteen to nothing and
then Abolene Christians scored twenty eight unanswered until like a
late I think they I think SFA had a punt
return at the end of the game to kind of
close the gap a little bit. This was a game
that I think was the first time we saw what
ACU could be in big games, where we saw that

(49:40):
they can play from behind, that we saw that they
could stop the run.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
Stone Eorl really had one of his better games of
the year.

Speaker 4 (49:47):
And I think when you look at this Ablene Christian defense,
this is gonna be a really really big test because
I think SFA has kind of found their offensive identity
more than what they were showing in this In this
first game, SFA was still trying to figure out the
run game and figure out what they really wanted to be.
I don't think that's the case anymore. I think they
know exactly what they want to do offensively. And I

(50:08):
also too think the defense has gotten much better. They
rank first and yards per play allowed among all playoff teams.
They've been really good against the run through the air.
They've been forcing a ton of turnovers, and the biggest
thing is they've been getting after the quarterback. And that's
going to be the biggest thing is can Apple and
Christian protect a quarterback in this one, because when stone
Earl's under pressure, he is definitely not as efficient as

(50:30):
he is when he's protected. And I think that's gonna
be the key to the game is if they can
keep stone Earl clean, which is something that they've been
able to do pretty well.

Speaker 3 (50:37):
Outside of the Southern Utah game and the Tulsa.

Speaker 4 (50:40):
Game, they've allowed they've really allowed one, maybe two sacks
per game, and that's gonna be that's gonna be a
really really big key for them. And then elimiting negative
plays because SFA's defense really likes to pin their ears
back when they get offenses in those second third and
long situations.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
Yeah, going to Yale at number two, Montana State is
this kind of along the same lines of Illinois State
going to number one NDSU. I mean, again, we don't
want to we don't want to gloss over it over
it too much, but I mean, I don't know if
there's a whole lot to break down here. Montana State's
really good against the run, and they'll have to be
good against the run as well when they go up

(51:17):
against Josh Pitzenberger over fourteen hundred rushing yards now eighteen touchdowns.
He's a phenomenal player for Yale. But it kind of
seems like Montana State will be up for that challenge.
And I mean just on paper, I mean Yale an
IVY League team going out to Montana. I mean even
a year ago or two years ago, we were saying

(51:38):
how cool it would it be to see the IVY
League champion go out to one of the Dakotas or
the Montana teams, And so in that essence, I definitely
think this is a cool matchup.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
But as far as drama.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
On the field, they kind of feel like Montana State
is going to win rather decisively in this one.

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Yeah, it feels like that team is kind of clicking
on all cylinders right now, and I think a lot
of it has to do with lamps and how good
he's been playing. And then the question kind of becomes
can Yale. I think Yale's gonna have to force some turnovers,
They're gonna have to find a way to run the football,
and I don't like their chances to do either with that,
and you got to take something away from Montana State,

(52:16):
and I just don't know if if Yale's been able
to do that. The one thing that's interesting though, is
Yale doesn't allow a ton of explosive plays where they
haven't throughout the year. If maybe they can shorten this
game up, Sam and make Montana State go the link
of the field here and really shorten the number of
possessions in this game, and if they are able to

(52:37):
capitalize on their limited amounts of possessions, maybe they can
keep this one close. But I agree, I just I
find it really really hard that Yale has the explosiveness
right now offensively and the depth defensively to hang in
this one for four quarters.

Speaker 1 (52:54):
Then definitely the matchup of the weekend that's number fourteen
South go to State going to number three Montana definitely
doesn't feel like a second round game, just with how
we Southcota State looked this last weekend. But I wanted
to ask you this, not I mean, I'm I don't
I don't fully buy this, but I do think it's
maybe fair to ask are we overreacting to South Gota

(53:15):
State's performance against New Hampshire. I mean, does that make
up for all of the other concerns we've had about
the jack Rabbits over the last four or so weeks
as far as their defense, you know, allowing too many
exposive plays and you know a bit of inconsistency on
on the offensive line. Are we are we maybe overreacting
to how a Southcota State looked with Chase Mason back.

(53:37):
And the reason I asked that because I, you know,
I don't know how good New Hampshire is, and like
you said that earlier, that was a favorable matchup for
South Gota State. So what's what's kind of your take
on South Gota State and kind of how they're looking
heading into this matchup?

Speaker 4 (53:51):
It was a much needed performance because if they looked
horrible against New Hampshire, they had no shot moving forward.
So I do think it offers maybe a little bit
of hope. It's good for the team's morale momentum. But
I'm with you, Sam, I don't necessarily put a ton
of stock into what they did last weekend.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
I think they I just don't.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
If they play one hundred times, I think they probably
beat New Hampshire ninety nine or one hundred.

Speaker 3 (54:20):
Out of those different games.

Speaker 4 (54:21):
So I just think New Hampshire was the perfect matchup
for them, and I don't know if Montana is the
perfect matchup for them. So I think we're gonna find
out a lot more about South Dakota State this week
than we did last week, because I last week, I'll
be honest with you, that was the most confident game,
even over South Dakota Drake. I really didn't think New
Hampshire had much of a shot whatsoever. I thought it

(54:43):
was a terrible matchup for them. So I'm with you,
I don't necessarily take a ton out of what they
did last weekend. I think it's going to be a
much different test when you look at the type of
offensive weapons that Montana brings to the table, with a
yacht playing well with Gilman, who might be the best
running back in the subdivision, with Wartham on the outside,

(55:05):
that can be used in a variety of different ways.
The question now becomes what Chase Mason do we get?
It was Chase Mason one hundred percent healthy last week
and he was just dowt in and that's what we're
gonna get from him, is that high level of play?
Or do we start seeing the rust kind of come
into play when you play a much better defense in
Montana than what you saw last week against New Hampshire.

(55:26):
I think those are the type of questions I'm looking
at right now.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Yeah, I'm really curious to see how South Gooda State's
offensive line look looks in this one. You know, they
kind of shuffle some things around, a lot of it
due to necessity. Sam Hagan, They're a really good right tackle,
potential NFL guy, he went out with an injury. Then
they slotted another guy to right tackle and he also
got hurt, and so they kind of shuffled things around.

(55:51):
They moved Nate Adams to center, then their their other
center to guard, and Nate Adams is like a mammotha
of a human being. Like he's a really big guy
for being a center. But that has really allowed a
better push for South Kota States in these last two games.
At the same time, one of the problems with South
Kota States run blocking was it just seemed like they

(56:13):
always had, you know, defensive players just knifing through the
offensive line and creating either negative plays or just really
disrupting some of the running lanes for South Goa State
running backs, and that is really what Montana wants to do.
They're they're stunting on the defensive line. They're sending blitz
blitz is from from from everywhere from the linebacker position.

(56:34):
So IM really curious to see how the South Goota
State offensive line looks. If I was the Jacks, like,
I wouldn't do a whole lot of kind of long,
developing outside zone plays. I would try to just go
downhill on Montana because I don't think Montana's rust defense
is all that strong, and we saw that against Montana
State where the Grits couldn't get off the field and

(56:55):
Montana State just kept on running the ball to to
seal that win. Then pass protection too, I mean, you're
you're dealing with the noise of Washington Grizzly Stadium. You
know how mobile is Chase Mason. He really had a
really clean pocket this last weekend. But he's gonna feel
a lot of pressure. How can he how well can
he escape that sort of pressure against Montana. Really cares

(57:17):
to see that sort of matchup in this one.

Speaker 4 (57:20):
I also wonder how much they're going to use him
on design runs because last week, obviously they didn't do
anything with him in terms of his legs. I wonder
if they open up the playbook at all this week
and and at the end of the day, like I
do think they're defense that also has some injuries that
they're battling through, are they ready for this offensive attack?

Speaker 3 (57:37):
Because the one thing Montana is going to do is
move the football.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
And I just I wonder if Montana starts putting up
some points, like can't it's South Dakota State ready to
go blow for blow or is that defense able to
keep this a more low scoring game? And then also
on the flip side of Montana, what iyat do we get?

Speaker 3 (57:55):
Because I think.

Speaker 4 (57:56):
He's played if you look at the season overall, he's
played really well, but then there's been some moments where
he's been a little bit shaky and turn the football
over and been missing all some throws. If we get
that eye yacht, how good of a chance to South
Dakota State have because I do think they're gonna be
able to capitalize on that because they still do have
a ton of talent defensively that if you put the

(58:18):
ball in harm's way, they're going to make you pay.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
And one thing too with this is keep an eye
on the weather and this one, we'll see what the
weather is like. Last I checked like a little bit
of rain, sleet and snow on Saturday. And if it's
that sort of game, I think that definitely leans toward
South Kota State because if you're a Montana like you,
I don't know how much success you're gonna find between

(58:42):
the tackles and this one, I really like the defensive
tackles for Southcota State. And call him McShane at a linebacker,
I think he'll be back. He's really good against the run.
If you're Montana and they and they like obviously know
this too, but you know, to get to the edge
with Gilman and you know, spread things out and really
press the edges. I mean you got worth them on
the outside. But Brooks Davis too has just had a

(59:04):
phenomenal freshman season. If it's a type of game where
you know it's harder to throw the ball and you
kind of got to get into a phone booth a
little bit more to win this one because of the weather,
I definitely think that favors South Gota State. So definitely
keeping an eye on the weather in this one. Any
final thoughts about this this awesome matchup before we move.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
On to the final one.

Speaker 3 (59:27):
Yeah, I'm just I'm just very curious too.

Speaker 4 (59:29):
If South Dakota stays able to run the football that
run games starting to look like it's coming together. Can
they keep that momentum going up? That could be a
huge determinity factor this weekend.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
Yeah, love Forridge is just running at a different level
late in the season. He looks a lot more like
he was like he was running earlier on in the year.
And you know, something just looked a little bit off
with that run game for South Gota State, and these
last couple of games definitely have found some It's kind
of a revamped Russian attack where they really are getting

(59:59):
a much better pushed on this stretcher.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
So that's another thing to keep an eye on.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
Last game here, This is actually an ESPN two matchup,
late night game, nine o'clock Central time, kickoff. Number nine
Rhode Island is going to number eight UC Davis. Potentially
a really fun quarterback match up here. You have Devin
Farrell three hundred and three four hundred passing yards, twenty
two touchdowns, eight interceptions. He's going up against a UC

(01:00:23):
Davis defense that does have a number of injuries on
the defensive side of the football. Then for UC Davis,
Kayden Pinnick is having a really really strong regid freshman
year twenty five hundred passing the yards, twenty four touchdowns,
eight interceptions.

Speaker 2 (01:00:35):
Potentially could see some explosiveness in this one.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
At the same time, I do think like maybe you
probably lean UC Davis a little bit in this one,
but I do feel like Rody's defense has maybe been
undervalued a bit this year. I do think they have
a pretty strong defense, especially with Ajpinya on the outside
there at defensive end. He can really get after the quarterback.

(01:00:59):
So what do you make of this match?

Speaker 4 (01:01:02):
Yeah, the biggest thing is going to be you see
Davis's front seven against the rushing attack of Rhode Island,
because I was a little like I said earlier, I
was a little bit concerned that they weren't able to
run the football against the team that they should have
overmatched in the trenches and CCSU. And the other thing
too is Caiden Pinnick. This is his first really really

(01:01:23):
big test in the playoffs. How does he come out
and play? And then in the secondary, I'm curious to
see how Rhode Island does against a very creative passing
attack of U See Davis. I mean, they rank third
in guards per attempt allowed in the secondary, and I
do wonder if they haven't really seen an offense like this,

(01:01:43):
if that's going to cause so many problems, like how
long does it take them to adjust? But you see,
Davis's second defense has been prone to giving up some
explosive plays. You have Devin Farrell, Marquis Buchanan, they have
a ton of weapons offensively. Could Rhode Island go for
blow for UC Davis. I think it's completely possible, And
I do think this game could be a little bit

(01:02:04):
more competitive than people are thinking, just because the injuries
have started to kind of pile up for UC Davis
and Rhode Island is playing pretty good football right now.
I do think we talked earlier last week's score maybe
a little bit misleading, but they had the offense to
be in this game.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
The question is going to become can this defense look,
you know.

Speaker 4 (01:02:24):
Deliver on the road late night kick off of this
ten o'clock local time for them, you gotta fly across
the country. We've seen that take make an impact on
teams throughout the history of the playoffs. I'll be curious
to see how Rhde Island delivers. But they have the
talent to win this game, and I do think it
could be more competitive than people are thinking.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
I think seeing that Roady offensive line, how they stack
up against a good pass rush for UC Davis. With
Jacob Psyke there as well for Davis, I think that
is a really good matchup within this game. Roady is another.
They're kind of similar to Villanova. I mean, they returned
a lot of guys on their offensive line this year,
so if they can hold up protect Devin and he's

(01:03:02):
got to take care of the football, which he has
for the most part this year, but they're having some
games where he's a bit more turnover prone. I think
he does have a chance to have a good game,
A big game in this one is just a matter
of can they slow down this UC Davis offense. You
give Tim Plow in that offensive staff a week to
game plan. It's such an entertaining offense to watch, with

(01:03:24):
how they scheme some things up, you know, some of
the screen schemes that they have and scheming things up
to get their offensive weapons in space. It can really
be fantastic and really entertaining offense to watch. So we
will wrap it up there after previewing all these games. Thankfully,
next week we only have four games to look at.

(01:03:46):
But final word, Zach, what do you make over all
of this second round slate? It seems like a much
juicier second round than maybe some past years where you went, so, okay,
there's probably six of these games are kind of gimme
games we kind of know how it's going to go,
and then two fifty fifty games. But this year it
kind of seems like it's flipped where like I said,
two of these games you can kind of maybe assume
who the winner is. But these other six games, like

(01:04:09):
I don't think you can make any assumptions either way
on who's gonna win this one. I think they're all
gonna be really competitive contests.

Speaker 4 (01:04:15):
Agreed, Like you can convince me outside of maybe like
you said, the Montana State INDIESU game, if if you
texted me and said, hey, uh, the any team of
the other you know, six matchups one I could be
convinced like it would have surprised me. No, And and
like I said, I do think we have some interesting
matchups ones that you know, we have the Illinois State

(01:04:36):
in DSU rematch and and that's fine, but man, we
got some SUP and they got the SFA Apple and
Christian rematch. But Montana State Yale, even though we're projecting
a blowout, that's an interesting matchup. People have been wanting
to see South Dakota has to come to Mercer, and
we've been We've heard a lot of people say, well,
you know, is it is it just a home field advantage?

(01:04:57):
Like what happens when one of these MVFC or big
Scout teams has to to come down South in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (01:05:01):
Well we get to see that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:02):
Finally we get to see a heavyweight matchup Montana South
Dakota State North Dakota has to come down to Tarlton.
And I'm just extremely excited for a bunch of these
matchups fan and stylistically, I think a bunch of these
could be really competitive games.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
Yeah, that's that's a great point because you know, I've asked,
you know, self laying people and Silicon people like, what's
what's it gonna like, what do you guys need to
do to you know, find some success against valley teams
in the playoffs? And they say, we need to schedule
tougher in the non conference and put ourselves in a
position to win a lot of games in the regular
season to then put ourselves in a position to host

(01:05:37):
these teams instead of, you know, having to go up north.
So that is a fantastic point of Mercer hosting South Dakota.
And you could maybe argue the Oats or the second
best team in the Valley right now, maybe that's South
Kota State.

Speaker 2 (01:05:49):
Now with what Chase Mason coming back, we'll have to see.

Speaker 1 (01:05:51):
But that's an excellent point of seeing a Silicon team
finally being able to host a Valley team in the playoffs.
So we'll wrap it up there, Thank you everyone for listening,
and we'll catch you guys on the Flippity Flip