September 16, 2025 • 43 mins
On this episode, Sam and Zach discuss:
-3 Game Balls and a Flag from Week 3
-Montana beats UND in comeback fashion
-Tarleton State and SIU dominate on the road
-NDSU QB Cole Payton off to a hot start
-Rhody improves to 3-0
-UIW makes a QB switch
-Week 4 top games
-And more
The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports for FCS coverage and BetMGM for online betting odds.
-3 Game Balls and a Flag from Week 3
-Montana beats UND in comeback fashion
-Tarleton State and SIU dominate on the road
-NDSU QB Cole Payton off to a hot start
-Rhody improves to 3-0
-UIW makes a QB switch
-Week 4 top games
-And more
The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports for FCS coverage and BetMGM for online betting odds.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
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 with
Hero Sports, and I'm joined by my co host, Zach McKinnell,
who is with FCS Football Central and the blue Bloods.
Week three is in the books, and Zach, we're kind
(00:35):
of just talking off air here. That's pretty tame week three.
Some close upsets that would have kind of created some chaos,
but overall, no, really, you know, upsets on the books here,
no big you, no FCS over FBS wins or anything.
So I guess overall, before we dive into the three
game balls and a flag segment, what do you think
(00:57):
of Week three? Overall?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, I thought it still delivers them. I mean, we
knew we only had one ranked matchup of the weekend,
and I think that ranked matchup lived up to the
hype and probably more with how that game turned out.
But I thought there were a bunch of underrated games
and we kind of hit on that right last week,
that there were some games that fans should watch that
maybe they weren't going to, and I think those delivered
and we got a lot more data I think about
(01:20):
some of these top teams, even in potential blowout wins
and or games that they should have won that they did,
we still got to learn a bunch about some teams
that are I think for both of us, in the
top twenty five or even potential dark horse national title contenders.
I feel a lot more comfortable with my understanding of
a lot of these teams because after I think last week,
(01:41):
a lot of these teams SAM got out of FBS play,
got out of Division two play, and we really got
to learn a lot more about a lot of these teams.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, and no results, I really jumped off the page.
But still some entertaining games in Montana U and D
was a really fun one Northern Arizona Southern Utah. That
was a banger, I mean, just electric game. And we'll
touch on these in a little bit here, and I
can I can jump right into my first game ball
and I will give it to the Grizz of Montana.
They get a huge ranked win over over at U
(02:11):
n D winning twenty four twenty three. Just a big
time guts he comeback win there for for the Grizz.
And you know I've already said this on different spots
radio spots this week. But it's it's amazing what happens
when you kind of ride with a quarterback who is
a younger guy, inexperienced guy, but has shown flashes of
(02:33):
of of being good. And Kali kiyal e E. Ayacht
struggled for a lot of this game against und but
in years past, you know, last year, he probably would
have gotten yanked by the time, you know before yet
he had his chance to to really make a play,
and he came up big time in that fourth quarter
come back with with two throws, one to extend the chain,
(02:55):
the other one with a you know, twenty eight yard
touchdown passed the Brooks Davis to take the lead with
a little under two minutes to go, And those two
throws kind of made you forget about his misfire earlier
on in that drive when Montana was mounting that comeback,
and I believe it was third and long and Ayacht
had a receiver streaking along the sideline open and he
(03:17):
underthrew him which allowed the defender to catch up to
it and make a play on the ball. And I
was getting ready to tweet. If you're a yacht, you
gotta make that throw in this moment. And then the
very next playoff I believe it was, was on the
fourth down where he scrambled around a little bit and
delivered you know, that throat to move the chains and
then went on to to have that game winning touchdown
pass again to Brooks Davis, who just a retrofreshman, but
(03:40):
he's gonna be a star for the Griz. So this
was just a really fun game. You felt like you
and D was in control for most of it and
potentially could have had a dominating lead in this one
for you and D, but multiple trips into scoring position
resulted in three total points. You know, they went for
it on fourth and one when they probably should have
(04:00):
went for the field goal at the end of the
first half. There they probably could have gotten a spike
off to stop the clock and kick the field goal,
but it kind of seemed like Kaminski didn't think he
had enough time to to get the spike off in time,
so he decided to throw it into the end zone.
So a lot of missed opportunities for U and D
certainly will be kicking themselves when they watched the film
(04:21):
about for Montana, just a big time comeback win to
get a ranked win on the resume.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, I loved what I saw from Ayat in the
second half, Sam, And I think that's what the Grizz
staff and some of the fans that kind of defended
him through last year struggles was screaming about. Is that
that's his ceiling, right And if he plays like that, Sam,
the ceiling of this team this year goes way up.
Because for him to win this game when Eli Gilman,
(04:49):
I mean, Sam, how many how many teams in the
country are gonna be able to hold him to eighty
two yards rushing? Not many? Right, So the rushing attack
was probably a little bit less than what you expected.
For Ayat to find a way to win that game
was huge. But but on the flip side too, Sam,
you talked about Comiski. I think he missed and throws
in the second half, and I think you saw his
youth kind of come out as well as he's played
(05:09):
over the first three weeks of the season. His youth
did cost him in this one. And like you said,
you field goals in red zone opportunities kill you and
you have to find a way, especially on the road,
to turn those into touchdowns. Man, so a big missed
opportunity there. I'm with you, though Montana deserves this, I'm
gonna go with another team, Sam, I don't know. They
might have gotten a game ball every week we've done
(05:31):
this show just about and it's Charlton State. I think,
me and you, I know there was a lot of
other people in the country that looked at this as
maybe a trap game. You got to go on the
road for your conference opener to a Sneaky Goods Central
Arkansas team. Sam, this thing was never competitive fifty six
to ten, It was what forty two to seven at halftime?
They absolutely dominated it once again defensively, only allowed me
(05:54):
one drive to reach the red zone. Guy see her
homes with a big breakout performance. And again Sam and
I've talked to about this throughout the year. The depth
defensively for this team is unbelievable. Once again, Man, they
play thirty one players ten or more snaps this weekend.
You don't see that a lot outside of those top
schools like North Dakota State, Montana State. You saw the
(06:17):
depth for Montana State a lot last year in these blowouts.
We have not seen a team outside of the Valley
of Big Sky really show this depth where they don't
have a ton of drop off, and again the rushing
attack was amazing. Goabalas hasn't even had to get warmed
up this year, Sam, He's just out there kind of
playing as a game manager, which is so different than
what he's used to where he likes to air it
out in the system. Trey Page and kayleb Blewis once
(06:39):
again are great. I'm interested to see Sam, twelve and
zero is absolutely on the table this year and with
how good the UAC is this year, Because Sam, I
mean Austin P's rank, West Georgia Southern Utah pushed Innau
and was ranked at one point this year, you have
Abilene Christian. I would be very, very curious to see
if North Dakota State is sof Dakota State both slip
(07:01):
up somewhere and obviously one of those teams is going
to have a loss. What the conversation would be for
a twelve and oh Tarlton State team with an FBS
win against a one loss in DSU or STSU for
that number one overall seed.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, then I mean what if what if Montana State
runs the table or Montana runs runs the table where
do they fit into that mix as well. I think
I do think a potential twelve and zero, even the eleven
and one Tarlton State squad would get viewed a bit
differently and more positively from the playoff committee compared to
(07:36):
you know, some past South Wind teams or SoCon teams
who who had who had one loss. Because I do
think the UAC has certainly gained a lot of respect
in in the non conference. Uh they have two FBS wins,
they have a ranked win over Nickels, ranked win over
s f A. You know, even some of the losses
like Utah Tech has had now three decent the two
(08:01):
very competitive games and then one decently competitive game against
ranked Big Sky opponents. And Utah Tech is not expected
to be very good this year, and so that would
be interesting to see how that would how that would
play out. You still kind of feel like, I don't
know if NSCU went undefeated in South Kota States their
only loss was the NBSC when it was a close loss,
(08:22):
I still feel like South Kota State would I would
probably if I had to put money on it. I
think the playoff committee would side with South Kota State
as that number two seed over and undefeated Tarleton State,
because I do think that Montana State win is going
to carry a lot of water for South Kota State,
but certainly getting ahead of ourselves there. But I do
(08:42):
think it's going to be a conversation that we might
as well start now, because I feel like the conversation
is going to pick up in October and especially into
November if Tarlton State continues to deliver like this. And
we talked about it last year in the playoffs when
they went to South Dakota and some you don't know
what you don't know, and once you see it, then
(09:03):
you know how to build your your football team to
compete at the highest FCS level. And we saw Tarlton
give South Dakota a legit scare last year. But in
the fourth quarter, they just couldn't get off the field,
you know, right when it seemed like they were gonna,
you know, get the comeback, their defense just couldn't get
off the field, couldn't stop the run, and South Kota
was able to seal it. So what does Tarleton State
(09:24):
do now? They go, Okay, we gotta get deeper. You know,
we can't play fifteen guys throughout the throughout the season,
because these guys might be good now, but once December hits,
you know, they might be two three steps slower. So
we got to build that depth. Let me ask you
real quick about Tarleton State. Would you put them in
the conversation of being a national title contender or is
it still way too soon to h to say that
(09:47):
and maybe pause a little bit until we see more
of Tarlton' stare or have you already seen enough to
put them in that conversation.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
I think we can put them in the conversation, right,
that's not I think if we're only basing it on
the data we have right now, why would they not
be in the conversation? Right? Because the title picture changes
week to week. Let's just say something crazy happens, right
and North Dakota State loses like three four games, Nobody
would be like Sam and Zach don't know what they're
talking about? Right? Can you believe they had North Dakota
(10:15):
State in the national title contention or make that Montana
State or whoever. Just because Charlton might slip up somewhere
later in the season doesn't mean to this point in
the season, the data we have doesn't suggest that they'd
be a national title contender. I don't. I'm trying to think, man,
because I'm even thinking back to those Sam Houston teams
that were competing near the top of the FCS. I
don't remember those teams having this type of depth, and,
(10:38):
like you said too, a lot of competing in the FCS.
SAM is investing, right, and it's what you're doing behind
the scenes to build your program. They're in a talent
rich state. They've done a good job balancing not just
developing high school talent, but filling in the needs, particularly
in certain positions through the portal. Right, They're not going
to lean heavily on the portal, but they've done a
(10:59):
good job recruiting both ways. And on top of that too, Sam,
we haven't seen a team in the South have this
sort of fan support and financial backing in a while either, Right.
You talk a lot about some of these teams from
the south Land not having the top budgets and support
from the state or whatever it may be. That's not
the case for Tarlton. They want to compete, they expect
(11:20):
to compete for national titles. I think that goes a
long way, and I think our guy Jamie will I
believe it was Jamie or Brendan or one of the
guys from the FCS Fans Nation said maybe we just
have to come to the realization that they are the
next Sam Houston James Madison team from one of these
Southern conferences to always be in the conversation. Now it's
just a question of when do they break through like
(11:41):
it took a James Madison, Like it took a Sam
Houston a while to breakthrough despite them making multiple quarterfinal
semifinal runs.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, and hopefully they can break through before that Conference
USA invite comes, which who knows when that'll happen. It
could be, could be this fall, it could be in
summer of twenty twenty eight, who knows. But hopefully Tarleton
State can stick around for a little bit and kind
of break through. And yeah, they have the the resources,
the facilities, they have the funding. I imagine their ni
(12:11):
L has been pretty solid because they've retained most of
their good, if not all, their good players. I actually
can't really think of one Tarlton State standout who is
transferred to the FBS. I guess Josh Josh Griffiths did.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
A couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, and now he's back, and so yeah, they're doing
a lot of things right to uh to be on
this trajectory of competing at the top of the FCS,
which the subdivision needs someone from West Coast, East Coast,
South Southeast, you know, someone to to step up to
challenge the Midwest teams. Here, UH sticking with UH, We'll
stick it with the within the ua C. Here my
(12:48):
second game ball, I've given it to West Georgia, who
I think has been on this segment multiple times before
as well. But the Wolves are three and zero now,
this is just their second season in the FCS. I
know through program that I think has has massive potential.
You know, in a good region obviously in a good conference,
is being competitive in a good conference, and has you know,
(13:10):
is an athletic department that takes football seriously and wants
to be good in football. And you know, they had
an eye opening win over Stanford thirty four to three,
and then the next week they beat number twenty two
Nickels thirty four to ten, and then this last weekend
they beat Etsu thirty five thirty one. And Etsu was
certainly a rankable team and this was just a really
(13:32):
great win and come back fashion as well for West Georgia,
and their defense was playing so well the first a
couple of weeks, you know, led by David Hogue and
Jay Carter has had a standout season so far. ETSU
put up twenty one points in the first half, and
it was West Georgia was kind of hanging around there,
but you kind of felt like ETSC was just going
(13:54):
to pull away because their offense was was having such
a great game. But West Georgia was able to mount
that comeback. They score twice in the final seven minutes
to overcome a thirty one to twenty deficit in the
fourth quarter to win thirty five thirty one. La Treil
Murrell continues to have a fabulous season at running back.
In three games, he's already he's already over four hundred
(14:15):
rushing yards, four touchdowns, and then David Winner is playing
pretty well. He's he's kind of turnover plagued so far
this year, which is a little bit odd because last
year he took care of the ball decently well. But
he did throw four close to three hundred yards, three touchdowns,
three interceptions as well, So those are those turnovers. But
you know, for this team to be three and oh
(14:37):
and yeah, Samford is not very good this year, honestly,
but Nichols, we were both high on them, you know, Eatsu,
we both have them ranked I believe. So this is
a not just a kind of a casual three and
oh start, This is a really really good three and
O start.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, they have exceeded all expectations. I talked about them
and when we did our UAC preview about them being
a potential dark horse, but sam I didn't have them
this good. And I think it just speaks to that
staff and how well they've recruited, how well they, like
you said, retained talent, and and just they find a
way to win the game. And they had two big
blowouts to start the year, and we finally got to
see the other side of the coin. Can they win
(15:15):
a close game when they're down, when they need a
play made, and they showed that they were able to. Man,
I'm really really excited to see what kind of waves
they make in the UAC race. Man, It's a shame
they're not playoff eligible this year, but I'm extremely excited
to see what they what they accomplished this year. I'm
going to the big scot and I guess we can
keep the UAC thing going because they'll be in this
game as well. Northern Arizona a huge win over Southern
(15:39):
Utah on the road. It was a game of just
emotional swings. Sam I mean, twenty one on answer points
in the fourth quarter by Southern Utah, but Northern Arizona
answered back scores with twenty nine seconds remaining. Southern Utah
makes some really really key mistakes on that last kickoff,
the ball hits the returner, he doesn't know it. They
get pinned down to the three of the game on
(16:00):
a safety. But I was so impressed with Todd Pennington man.
This is the type of development I wanted to see
from him going into year two as a starter. Here
he made some outstanding plays outside the pocket, some outstanding throws.
I would like to see the offensive line get a
little bit better because he was sacked four times, But
I do think Southern Utah has a pretty good front.
(16:20):
You saw Lando Brown make a really big play. But
I was really really impressed with Northern Arizona their ability
to get this win on the road, and I'm just
very curious to see how they match up with some
of these top teams in the Big Sky you look
at they got Montana State and you see Davis on
the schedule. I think that if they can split those,
there in a really really good spot to make a
push for a top sixteen seed, especially if they get
(16:41):
a win at home this weekend. Over incardinate word, but
I had to give Northern Arizona that second game. Ball man.
It was a really really impressive road win at a
place in Southern Utah that can be tricky to win at.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah. I don't know what it is with home games
at Southern Utah at night, but it just always seems
like there was a wild finish going on there the
other weekend, and yeah, that's a big win for Northern Arizona.
You know, Ty Pennington has played out of his mind
at at quarterback, and I know coming into the season
he was preseason first team All Big Sky because he
(17:12):
was really the lone guy coming back with substantial experience,
and kind of the thought was, Okay, you give it
to Pennington, but he's probably not going to be the
best quarterback in the Big Sky by season's end. They
kind of just gave it to him by default. But
I don't know. So far, he's looking very very good
in Northern Arizona. That's a big win. Defensively, we'll see
(17:33):
about the Lumberjacks. Kind of a couple of games here
where you can question their their defense, but no doubt
a good start for Northern Arizona. My last game ball here,
I'm going to give it to an individual. That'll be
Cole Payton, Northcota State quarterback. He's really had a great
first three games here as a first year starter. And
granted the opponents the Citadel Tennessee State SEMO, the first
(17:58):
two are just not good football teams and Simo, I
don't know, maybe they'll be in the in the playoff
hunts out of the OBC Big South, but I think
Simo might be a little bit down this year, So
you can, you know, kind of I guess in a
sense points to the opponents that NSU has played. But
at the same time, I think with this being his
(18:19):
first three starts, Peyton has played really well and looks
the part. And you know it's not that he's you know,
making some some easy you know throws, easy out routes,
easy easy slants, play action, dump it off to the
tight end. Yeah, there's a little bit of that. But
NDS was also doing a good job of pushing the
ball down the field, and so far he's thirty nine
(18:40):
to fifty five, seven hundred and six yards, six touchdowns,
no interceptions. As we all know, Cole Peyton can run
the ball as well. He has one hundred and seventy
five yards on the ground in one touchdown. PFF really
likes what he's doing with their film grade in he
has the number one over overall grade and the number
one passing grade in all of FCS and FBS through
(19:01):
three games. And again, you know opponents are gonna get
much much tougher. We'll see what he does against South
Dakota State and on the road at U and D
and I think Southern Illinois on the schedule as well.
I think that might be a home game for for
the Bys, and so opponents are certainly going to pick
up as far as their strength. But so far, I
think NBCU has to feel really good with where Cole
(19:22):
Payton is at.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Sam I talked too, and just to drop the nugget
on the show here, I don't I don't think I've
said this on any of the other podcasts I'm on,
but I talked to a scout from the Shron Bowl
yesterday about Cole Payton, he told me because he's he's
kind of he focuses on the G five FCS for them.
He said, one, if Cole Payton continues to play like
he is, he's a lock to be a draft pick.
(19:46):
And two, if he continues to play at the level
he's playing, nobody in the FCS has a shot to
beat North Dakota State because if they had that type
of passing attack along with how their defense is played,
along with their rushing attack, heels like they're way too balanced.
But he said that Cole Peyton should if the way
he's playing now, he should have gotten the same type
of height, that hype that Chase Mason got in the
(20:07):
same benefit of the doubt in the in the preseason,
pre draft process mess. So that's a lot of praise
coming from a scout of one of the national games.
I'm very curious see if he can keep if he
continues to do that through Missouri Valley plays Sam, I'm
very curious to see how voters and this goes back.
I mean, you've been a voter for ever, man, you know,
you know the debate that's coming. Does Cole Peyton get
(20:28):
the Walter Payton over a guy like Derek Robertson that's
gonna throw for like six thousand guards this year. And
is it just gonna be a purely stats of war.
Are you gonna give it to the guy on the
best team. It's gonna be very curious. I'm interested see
how the voters look at that. But my last game
ball saund shifting here. It's a It's another team that
I was really high on in the preseason, a big
(20:50):
win this weekend. Southern Illinois had a big win over U. T.
Martin thirty seven to ten. I still expect U. T.
Martin to win the or at least compete for the
OVC Big South. I had Tennessee Tech picked there, but
I would imagine you T. Martin's probably second or third
place in that conference. They had a dominating I mean,
they average almost nine yards per play. DJ Williams has
looked spectacular. The defense has done a good job for
(21:13):
seing turnovers, making key stops. They stop UT Martin on
multiple fourth down attempts, and just all night found a
way to generate explosive plays. Thirty seven to ten. It's
a massive win, and I think the Sulukis are showing Sam.
If they didn't have all those injuries last year, they
would have been a much bigger factor. And I think
when you look across the valley, I think North Dakota's
in the conversation, but there's a strong case with how
(21:35):
bad South Dakota's looked, that Southern Illinois might be the
third best team in that valley race right now.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Yeah, I mean that was a really eye opening win
on the road, and really our first gage of SIU
as well, when you know they that was their first
FCS opponent that they've played of this season, and to
go on the road against a respectable program like UT
Martin and Twin that decisively was very for the Sulukis.
Now to the flag. I'm going to throw it on you, Albany.
(22:05):
The Great Danes are off to an oh and through
oh and three starts, and this last weekend they lose
twenty four to seventeen to New Haven, who is the
newest FCS member they've joined the NEC. And obviously credit
to new Haven here for this win. But if you're
a U, Albany, just just a really tough look for
this program that two seasons ago made the semi finals
(22:28):
and we were talking about you Albany as you know,
can they kind of carry on this momentum because we've
seen so many teams rise up and then fall back down,
and unfortunately that has happened with you Albany and they've
they've got hit hard by the transfer portal. And it's
interesting too because they the transfer portal helped that twenty
twenty three squad because a lot of their best players
(22:49):
came in via the transfer portal and it wasn't even
all FBS transfers. They've had some great success success finding
sub sub d one guys to come in and make
an impact. But as quickly as you can build a
team up like that, things can also fall apart pretty
quickly as well. And you all been going through a
coaching transition as well. But they've I mean that was
(23:09):
kind of a lightning in a bottle sort of season
and fell back last year. I mean now to start
this year, just a really really rough start for them.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
So I know, we don't you know, we we sometimes
mentioned HVC Football on him May, but I had to
go with Hampton here. I know this was probably a
game that there's probably a lot of national listeners, Sam,
that have no idea what I'm talking about. But it
doesn't get much worse than Hampton's loss this week in
the North Carolina A and T. It was a double
overtime loss thirty three to thirty and they had a
(23:42):
ten point lead and allowed ten points in the final
fifty seven seconds, allowed A and T to recover an
onside kick, eventually lost in overtime. Their head coach sent
the team to the locker room and refused to shake hands,
which drew a big reaction from Sean Gibbs, who called
him out at midfield. And not only they blow a
ten point lead to a team that's been win sixteen
(24:03):
to CIA games the past two seasons, it was A
and T's first Division one wins. That's twenty twenty three
and Sam, A and T was down to their seventh
string quarterback. I don't know why they signed seven quarterbacks now,
but they did. It was seven quarterbacks on the roster
and they were down to the last one due to injuries.
And now Hampton falls to zero and to two against the
FCS one and two overall, when they barely escaped the
(24:25):
D two upset, And now you got to look ahead
to the battle of the real HU with Howard next week,
who has looked solid. Right. They got a big win
over fail So things are not looking in the right
direction for Hampton. But I gotta throw the flag on
Hampton this weekend.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Yeah, A team that was dang near very close to
getting the flag thrown on them again was South Dakota.
The yo It's eked out a win over Northern Colorado,
winning twenty four seventeen in overtime, and Northern Colorado had
they were right on the goal line. I believe it
was first in goal and three straight plays on the
(25:00):
goal line got stuffed with the chance to win it
in the final seconds there had to settle for an
eighteen yard field goal, descending into overtime and then eventually
losing to the Yoats. But this would have been a
disastrous loss for South Dakota, who got dealt another blow
last week before this game with the news that Charles
Piartt Junior would miss the season with the knee injury.
(25:23):
I mean, he's just a fantastic running back. But you know,
the good news for USD is L J. Phillips Junior
steps up and he rushes for three hundred and one
yards in this game, including two touchdowns, and so he
literally came up clutched for South Dakota without that. Without him,
I mean, this would have been a just a brutal,
brutal loss for the Yoats. And you know, the offense,
(25:44):
especially the passing game just continues to be off. Whether
it's Aidenbauman misfiring or you know him other plays, him
not getting enough time, or sometimes there's just some some
miscommunication on where the on where Bauman expects the receiver
to be in the receiver you know, doesn't hit his
spots or sits in the zone, whatever the case may be.
So just really choppy offensively for South Dakota. And I
(26:08):
mean Northern Colorado will see what they do in the
big in Big Sky play. But they nearly knock off
South Dakota, you know, probably should have if if they
could have punched it in on the goal line. Nearly
knocked off FBS Colorado State last week and probably should
off and it probably should have if not for that
overturned with the game when he touchdown that ended up
being ruled incomplete. So I mean Northern Colorado will see
(26:30):
what they do. But uh, this is a second well
actually a third straight unimpressive performance by South Dakota, and
in hide sight, I actually going in my ballot. I
was kind of mentally preparing to drop South Dakota entirely
off of my ballot. They ended up staying in just
because some of the teams on the outside of my
ballot lost in games that I expected them to win,
(26:54):
and so the Yoats ended up staying on my ballot.
But then when I look back at it, I'm like, well,
I don't like, I don't really have a reason to
keep them on there, other than while some other teams
that I wasn't gonna rise up into my ballots I
ended up losing. So I don't know, they're they're in
a interesting spot and they host a Drake team that's
was a little bit feisty this last weekend when Drake
went to South Dakota State and competed decently well. So,
(27:16):
I don't know, where are you at with with the
Oats here.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yeah, they're out of my top twenty five completely. I
was one of the ones that did not frank them.
I saw a lot of people's ballots and like, I
was kind of with you, and I under like, if
you had them at like twenty five, twenty four, twenty third,
Like I get it to a point, right, But to me,
it was why should I like My reason is sent
(27:39):
was why should I judge them any differently than like
incardinate word or if this was a team out of
the SoCon or if this was a team out of
the CIA. If this was a CIA team, Sam, every
single Missouri Valley fan would be rioting right now if
they were in the top twenty five. If this was
Rhode Island, say, would any would Would there be a
single valley of big Sky fans screaming to keep them
(28:00):
in the top twenty five? I don't think so. And
I really think South Dakota has looked really bad. I
don't think there's been a lot of positives defensively, the
offensive line has really struggled, and I think Aden Bowman's
regression it has a little bit to do with the
lack of talent at wide receiver. I think obviously Charles
Pierre's injury hurts them. I don't think L. J. Phillips
(28:22):
is gonna be able to run for three hundred yards
a game to keep them alive in valley play. But
Bowman's regression, man, he was a potential NFL prospects him
and right now he's sitting at forty six percent completion percentage,
three hundred and thirty three yards, three touchdowns, and four picks.
I only average in one hundred and eleven yards per game.
(28:42):
And this should have been a game that this felt
like their get right game, and they weren't able to
do it, and they really probably should have lost it.
I don't love looking at it even pass Drake. Right,
do you open up conference play on the road at
North Dakota State, This thing could get really off the
rails after that game. You kind of look ahead to
the end of the schedule, Sam, if they don't get
(29:02):
right in that stretch from Murray, Indiana State to you
and I, they get Illinois State, North Dakota South Dakota State,
and then in the season at Southern Illinois. You're talking
about potentially a below five hundred team, and I think
right now, with how they're playing, they absolutely could be.
And I'd like to me and I'm not going to
chastise anyone for having them in the back end of
their top twenty five. Just to me, they have not
(29:25):
shown a single quality of being a top twenty five
team at this point, and I think if they weren't
number what were they five or four in the preseason poll,
I don't think there'd be many voters that would have
them in the top twenty five.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
You mentioned Rhode Island too, and I wanted to touch
on Rody who's off to a three and oh start
and after their win, you know, they beat holy Cross
nine to seven. They hit a game winning field goal
by Garth Whites with two twenty three to play to
take the lead, and I tweeted something about, you know,
the battle tested you know, Rody rams they're off to
(29:56):
a three and oh start. In FCS Nation Radio, I'm
guessing it was Kevin. Sometimes you can't tell if it's
Kevin or Stone tweeting, but sometimes you can't tell, you know,
based off of the emojis, if there's emojis in the
tweets or not. But I believe it was Kevin said
like battle tested equals like they stink, because yeah, they
(30:17):
did needed a comeback in the fourth quarter there to
beat holy Cross, who is now ohero and three. Granted
those are three one score losses for holy Cross, but
also like Campbell, they were down early against Campbell before
coming back and winning thirty one twenty. I believe they
were also down for a little bit against tony Brook
before coming back and beating stony Brook thirty one seventeen.
(30:39):
And stony Brook is not a ranked team, but you know,
probably decently close to being a rankable team. So I
think they've overall have looked good, you know, offensively, a
little bit up and down, but when they're rolling, they
can really roll, especially with Devin when when he can
start slinging it around. Holy Cross played really well defensively
(31:01):
this last weekend. But where are you at with Rody?
Because I feel like they're going to keep on stacking
wins and they're kind of in the top eight right now.
They have a pretty favorable schedule. They avoid Villanova in Momuth,
two ranked teams the CIA, who they don't have to play.
But then the only ranked opponent they have on their
schedule is New Hampshire and that's at home. I believe
(31:23):
that's in late October, and so maybe New Hampshire will
still be ranked, maybe they won't be. I think they're
right at twenty five right now. So we talked about
it last year. It's a blessing and a curse with
the unbalanced CAAA schedule. It's a blessing because you can
get to nine to ten wins in a hurry. It
can also be a curse because we saw Roady, who
I think was ten to two last year and they
(31:45):
didn't get a first round by they end up getting
I think it was the number nine seed. So where
are you at with Rody are? I mean, are you
a believer? You kind of just Yeah, they're a good team,
but not a great team. Where are you at with them?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I think they're a good team, but they're not a
true threat right now for like a semi final run.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, they're like kind of in that second tier, kind
of hanging around in the second tier there.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah, I think a quarterfinal team right now. Would it
surprise you if they made the quarterfinals? I don't think so.
And I think this is like they're the prototypical example
of why watching the game is important because I know
the what was it like nine to seven or nine
to six final score. It's a little bit misleading because
(32:29):
Rhode Island like really dominated offensively, so they averaged like
six and a half yards per play, had over four
hundred yards to total offense. The problem was every time they
got to the red zone, they just sputtered. I thought
they moved the ball really well, like I thought. I
thought their offense down to down was fine. It was
just we talked a little bit about North Dakota losing
(32:50):
the game because they didn't execute in the red zone.
Rhode Island's just lucky that that's not what it came to,
because they missed opportunities in the red zone consistently. And
I think their defenses actually looked pretty good. They had
to replace a ton at linebacker because I don't really
consider Aj a linebacker Sam. I know he drops back
sometimes he's more of an edge rusher. But Rohan, Davey
and Moses at their linebacker have been really, really good.
(33:13):
I think AJ has done this thing and they have
three wins over three FCS opponents. Man, and I don't
think I don't think Campbell's a very good team. I
agree with you. But Stony Brook's gonna be probably a
factor in the CAAA, right, so they're going to be
a solid team. I don't think there's I don't I
don't think anyone would be surprised if Holy Cross made
a push to win a share of the Patriot League. Again,
(33:34):
outside of Leha, it's kind of open, right and I
think holy Cross's defense has played really well. Then they're
zero to three, but they've lost those three games by
a total of seven points, including two two point losses,
and one of them was to an FPS school. But
the offense has to find a way to get going there.
So I don't think that holy Cross. I don't think
a close win over holy Cross on the road is
(33:55):
a bad thing. That's a It's a road matchup against
a really tough holy Cross team that is one what
is it a share? I think of like five or
six in a row in the Patriot League and has
been to the playoffs multiple years. So I do think
looking ahead at their schedule, New hampsh is a big one.
You get that one at home. The one I have
circled as a potential trap game is maybe that November
eighth game at Elon actually had Elon I think at
(34:18):
twenty five of my ballot. I've been extremely impressed with
Elon and that freshman quarterback they have is really really good,
and that they got an impressive win over Western Carolina
this past weekend, and I'm and if they knock off
Etsu on the road this weekend. Sam, I think they
could be a team that jumps on everybody's ballot because
you would have road wins over Western Carolina and Etsu.
(34:41):
You'd be sitting at three and one, and you look
at their CIA schedule. They get Rhode Island, but outside
of that and they get Villanova. Those are probably the
two biggest CAAA games you get. Elon could be a really,
really sneaky team in this race and that would be
another maybe signature win for Rhode Island to pick up
to earn that top eight seed if they can get
to eleven and one or ten to two.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, that was another fun game as well. Elon beating
Western Carolina was like thirty eight thirty one something like that. Western,
I mean, the Dickens is still out and Western off
to an zero to three starts. That's tough for them
after getting some some preseason, preseason hype for Western. But yeah,
Elon is just always in that mix whenever, even if
(35:25):
they're even if they enter a season not ranked, it
seems like they find their way into the rankings and
into the playoff discussion. One more team to touch on here,
that's UIW. They fall to a one and two record.
They lose at UTSA forty eight twenty that is an
FBS opponent. But this was a I guess I don't think.
I don't know how many people thought UIW was going
(35:47):
to win this game on Saturday, But going back to
the preseason, this was one of the more popular picks
as far as the potential FCS over FBS upset and
just not not a super competitive game for u And
they are going to make a starting quarterback switch, going
with E. J. Colson, who's a transfer from UCF. He
did come in on Saturday and provided a decent spark.
(36:10):
He went seventeen to twenty four for two hundred and
thirteen yards three touchdowns. So he's the guy now at UIW.
And this is a critical two game stretch for the Cardinals.
They have two ranked opponents, go to Northern Arizona this
weekend and then they host Aplene Christian. This is a
(36:31):
pivotal moment in time for UIW because they still are ranked.
But I know a lot of voters myself, I'm pretty
sure you as well don't have UIW ranked anymore. But
if they can, I mean, even if they get one
of these wins and then lose the other and they're
sitting at two and three, and they get a ranked
win like that, that's probably enough to push them back
(36:53):
into my ballots. You know, I would say so, UIW
do you think this is likely a good decision on
there to go with Colson to try to get get
a spark going for the rest of their season.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah. He looked so much better against Utsa than Torres.
I mean, Torres had like one hundred yards on twenty attempts.
How to pick Colson seventeen to twenty four, two thirteen
and three touchdowns, no turnovers. And on top of that too,
he fits more of the mold sound where this offense
is best when they have a quarterback that's a that
(37:24):
he doesn't have to be a scrambler, but he at
least has to be mobile enough to move in the
pocket and make some plays happen with his legs when
things break down. And I just think Torres was too
much of a pocket passer. I don't know if he
necessarily fit the scheme, but the end of the day, man,
this goes on the staff. You've got to pick the
correct quarterback early because you probably cost you some games.
And I don't think if I'm not mistaking, they put
(37:45):
Colson in. What was it like the second to last
drive against Nichols or the last drive against Nichols that
they had to make the move. And I don't know
if they just went with Torres because he was there,
and maybe Colson transferring in like put them behind in
terms of learning the system and things like that. But
this was a move that had to be made because
you talk about the next two games, about the next
three Steven F Austin abley Christian at Northern Arizona. I'm
(38:07):
gonna be honest him, it feels like they have to
win two out of those three to feel comfortable in
terms of making a run. At least it gives you
a cushion, right, because if you don't win the South End,
maybe you can sneak infer in a large bid. But
if they lose two out of those three, you either
have to win the Southland or you're probably out of
the postseason.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Yeah, you wonder too, what would have potentially happened if
Richie Munio stuck around UIW went back into the portal
and ended up at Tennessee Tech. But he didn't win
the starting job there. And you know, by the way,
Tennessee Tech has been just been lighting up and Kicko
Sparris has been lighting it up as well. But I
do think Colson has a chance to be pretty good
(38:51):
and we'll see what UIW can do with him leading
the charge. Now, looking at head out to some Week
four games, pretty good slate. Here we have three ranked
versus ranked matchups, which is the most so far this season.
Number eleven Villanova goes to number twenty one Momoth, Number nineteen,
UIW goes to number seventeen Northern Arizona. Number eighteen Austin
(39:11):
p goes to number fourteen Apple and Christian a really
good UAC matchup right there. And then there's a few
others as well that I'm keeping an eye on. Number
thirteen Southern Illinois I goes to Simo. That's a really
fun rivalry game. Chance for SIU to get to back
to back road games road wins. Central Arkansas I goes
(39:33):
to number twenty four Sacramento States. Very curious to see
how this one plays out. You know, Sack State was
kind of in a battle with Mercy Hurst for a
little bit. I ended up getting the win for the
first w of the season. But you know, we'll see
how how things go when Central Arkansas comes to town.
Southern Utah goes to number nine. Yeah, Southern Utah goes
(39:54):
to number nine. UC Davis. Southern Utahs is a really
tough team to get because they've had some good wins,
some bad losses, some good losses as well if you
want to talk about how competitive they were with Northern Arizona.
So this is a good test for UC Davis, who's
again just based off of how their schedule has looked
(40:14):
so far. The Eggs are a little tough to gauge
as well, so I'm looking forward to that one. Then
one FCS versus FBS game number eight, Idaho goes to
San Jose State. We'll see if they can get an
FBS win here. I definitely think it's a winnable one.
To me, it's just a matter of if the Vandals
can put a complete game together, because there have been
(40:35):
some some contests where the defense looks great and the
offense doesn't, and then the offense looks great and the
defense doesn't, and then this last week the defense looks
great and the offense looks okay. So if the battles
can put it all together. I think they could be
a very very good squad and maybe they could get
that marquee win for this season so far when they
go to San Jose State. So any of those stick
(40:58):
out above the others or any other ones you'd like
to add to that list?
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yeah, I mean I think I think obviously the Ivy
League starting this week, but they'll participating in the playoffs,
man like, holy Cross at Yale is a big one,
and then number twenty five New Hampshire at Dartmouth is
a big one as well. I think this is a
chance for the CAA to get a really really big
win there with that New Hampshire Dartmouth game. But also
for the IVY League. How big would it be to
(41:22):
open up the season with a ranked win for a
team that wasn't even projected to win the conference and
so that would be huge. And obviously holy Cross is
going to be very desperate to avoid going zero to four,
and you have a Yale team that's that's obviously expected
to compete for the title this year. I think looking
across the landscape, man like, you hit on a lot
of the ones. Obviously, elon Etsu is going to be
(41:44):
a massive game. I think that's probably gonna determine which
one of those teams sticks around in the top twenty
five conversation. One that's super underrated to me, Sam is
Youngstown State at Townsend. That game, to me has massive
posts and implications because it becomes a single that you're
out a conference win for either the Missouri Valley and
or the CIA of Towns. He can get that win,
(42:06):
they're in a really really good position to maybe snag
one of the large bids if they make it that far.
And Youngstown State has been playing really well. Bo Brungar
has been going insane. Sam, I think he leads to
country and rushing right now still despite him not playing
a lot of this past FBS game. So that's a
game that I have I have circled it as a
super super interesting game that that had that could have
(42:28):
massive implications.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Yeah, young Stone hung her own decently well with Michigan State,
who's now three and oh this last weekend, So that
was a that was a game I was I was
paying attention due to see if younkstownd State could maybe
pull off us Stunn or there. But they were Michigan State,
you know, put that game away, but I thought Youngstown
State hung in there pretty well. And yeah, that is
a big one playing twis in two teams that aren't
(42:52):
necessarily ranked, but I do think they have playoff expectations,
so this could be a good non conference result for
whoever comes out the winner. So we will be back
next week to recap Week four and also look ahead
to week five already, So until then, thank you Zach,
thank you everyone for listening, and we'll catch you guys
on the flippity flip
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 with
Hero Sports, and I'm joined by my co host, Zach McKinnell,
who is with FCS Football Central and the blue Bloods.
Week three is in the books, and Zach, we're kind
(00:35):
of just talking off air here. That's pretty tame week three.
Some close upsets that would have kind of created some chaos,
but overall, no, really, you know, upsets on the books here,
no big you, no FCS over FBS wins or anything.
So I guess overall, before we dive into the three
game balls and a flag segment, what do you think
(00:57):
of Week three? Overall?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, I thought it still delivers them. I mean, we
knew we only had one ranked matchup of the weekend,
and I think that ranked matchup lived up to the
hype and probably more with how that game turned out.
But I thought there were a bunch of underrated games
and we kind of hit on that right last week,
that there were some games that fans should watch that
maybe they weren't going to, and I think those delivered
and we got a lot more data I think about
(01:20):
some of these top teams, even in potential blowout wins
and or games that they should have won that they did,
we still got to learn a bunch about some teams
that are I think for both of us, in the
top twenty five or even potential dark horse national title contenders.
I feel a lot more comfortable with my understanding of
a lot of these teams because after I think last week,
(01:41):
a lot of these teams SAM got out of FBS play,
got out of Division two play, and we really got
to learn a lot more about a lot of these teams.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, and no results, I really jumped off the page.
But still some entertaining games in Montana U and D
was a really fun one Northern Arizona Southern Utah. That
was a banger, I mean, just electric game. And we'll
touch on these in a little bit here, and I
can I can jump right into my first game ball
and I will give it to the Grizz of Montana.
They get a huge ranked win over over at U
(02:11):
n D winning twenty four twenty three. Just a big
time guts he comeback win there for for the Grizz.
And you know I've already said this on different spots
radio spots this week. But it's it's amazing what happens
when you kind of ride with a quarterback who is
a younger guy, inexperienced guy, but has shown flashes of
(02:33):
of of being good. And Kali kiyal e E. Ayacht
struggled for a lot of this game against und but
in years past, you know, last year, he probably would
have gotten yanked by the time, you know before yet
he had his chance to to really make a play,
and he came up big time in that fourth quarter
come back with with two throws, one to extend the chain,
(02:55):
the other one with a you know, twenty eight yard
touchdown passed the Brooks Davis to take the lead with
a little under two minutes to go, And those two
throws kind of made you forget about his misfire earlier
on in that drive when Montana was mounting that comeback,
and I believe it was third and long and Ayacht
had a receiver streaking along the sideline open and he
(03:17):
underthrew him which allowed the defender to catch up to
it and make a play on the ball. And I
was getting ready to tweet. If you're a yacht, you
gotta make that throw in this moment. And then the
very next playoff I believe it was, was on the
fourth down where he scrambled around a little bit and
delivered you know, that throat to move the chains and
then went on to to have that game winning touchdown
pass again to Brooks Davis, who just a retrofreshman, but
(03:40):
he's gonna be a star for the Griz. So this
was just a really fun game. You felt like you
and D was in control for most of it and
potentially could have had a dominating lead in this one
for you and D, but multiple trips into scoring position
resulted in three total points. You know, they went for
it on fourth and one when they probably should have
(04:00):
went for the field goal at the end of the
first half. There they probably could have gotten a spike
off to stop the clock and kick the field goal,
but it kind of seemed like Kaminski didn't think he
had enough time to to get the spike off in time,
so he decided to throw it into the end zone.
So a lot of missed opportunities for U and D
certainly will be kicking themselves when they watched the film
(04:21):
about for Montana, just a big time comeback win to
get a ranked win on the resume.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, I loved what I saw from Ayat in the
second half, Sam, And I think that's what the Grizz
staff and some of the fans that kind of defended
him through last year struggles was screaming about. Is that
that's his ceiling, right And if he plays like that, Sam,
the ceiling of this team this year goes way up.
Because for him to win this game when Eli Gilman,
(04:49):
I mean, Sam, how many how many teams in the
country are gonna be able to hold him to eighty
two yards rushing? Not many? Right, So the rushing attack
was probably a little bit less than what you expected.
For Ayat to find a way to win that game
was huge. But but on the flip side too, Sam,
you talked about Comiski. I think he missed and throws
in the second half, and I think you saw his
youth kind of come out as well as he's played
(05:09):
over the first three weeks of the season. His youth
did cost him in this one. And like you said,
you field goals in red zone opportunities kill you and
you have to find a way, especially on the road,
to turn those into touchdowns. Man, so a big missed
opportunity there. I'm with you, though Montana deserves this, I'm
gonna go with another team, Sam, I don't know. They
might have gotten a game ball every week we've done
(05:31):
this show just about and it's Charlton State. I think,
me and you, I know there was a lot of
other people in the country that looked at this as
maybe a trap game. You got to go on the
road for your conference opener to a Sneaky Goods Central
Arkansas team. Sam, this thing was never competitive fifty six
to ten, It was what forty two to seven at halftime?
They absolutely dominated it once again defensively, only allowed me
(05:54):
one drive to reach the red zone. Guy see her
homes with a big breakout performance. And again Sam and
I've talked to about this throughout the year. The depth
defensively for this team is unbelievable. Once again, Man, they
play thirty one players ten or more snaps this weekend.
You don't see that a lot outside of those top
schools like North Dakota State, Montana State. You saw the
(06:17):
depth for Montana State a lot last year in these blowouts.
We have not seen a team outside of the Valley
of Big Sky really show this depth where they don't
have a ton of drop off, and again the rushing
attack was amazing. Goabalas hasn't even had to get warmed
up this year, Sam, He's just out there kind of
playing as a game manager, which is so different than
what he's used to where he likes to air it
out in the system. Trey Page and kayleb Blewis once
(06:39):
again are great. I'm interested to see Sam, twelve and
zero is absolutely on the table this year and with
how good the UAC is this year, Because Sam, I
mean Austin P's rank, West Georgia Southern Utah pushed Innau
and was ranked at one point this year, you have
Abilene Christian. I would be very, very curious to see
if North Dakota State is sof Dakota State both slip
(07:01):
up somewhere and obviously one of those teams is going
to have a loss. What the conversation would be for
a twelve and oh Tarlton State team with an FBS
win against a one loss in DSU or STSU for
that number one overall seed.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, then I mean what if what if Montana State
runs the table or Montana runs runs the table where
do they fit into that mix as well. I think
I do think a potential twelve and zero, even the eleven
and one Tarlton State squad would get viewed a bit
differently and more positively from the playoff committee compared to
(07:36):
you know, some past South Wind teams or SoCon teams
who who had who had one loss. Because I do
think the UAC has certainly gained a lot of respect
in in the non conference. Uh they have two FBS wins,
they have a ranked win over Nickels, ranked win over
s f A. You know, even some of the losses
like Utah Tech has had now three decent the two
(08:01):
very competitive games and then one decently competitive game against
ranked Big Sky opponents. And Utah Tech is not expected
to be very good this year, and so that would
be interesting to see how that would how that would
play out. You still kind of feel like, I don't
know if NSCU went undefeated in South Kota States their
only loss was the NBSC when it was a close loss,
(08:22):
I still feel like South Kota State would I would
probably if I had to put money on it. I
think the playoff committee would side with South Kota State
as that number two seed over and undefeated Tarleton State,
because I do think that Montana State win is going
to carry a lot of water for South Kota State,
but certainly getting ahead of ourselves there. But I do
(08:42):
think it's going to be a conversation that we might
as well start now, because I feel like the conversation
is going to pick up in October and especially into
November if Tarlton State continues to deliver like this. And
we talked about it last year in the playoffs when
they went to South Dakota and some you don't know
what you don't know, and once you see it, then
(09:03):
you know how to build your your football team to
compete at the highest FCS level. And we saw Tarlton
give South Dakota a legit scare last year. But in
the fourth quarter, they just couldn't get off the field,
you know, right when it seemed like they were gonna,
you know, get the comeback, their defense just couldn't get
off the field, couldn't stop the run, and South Kota
was able to seal it. So what does Tarleton State
(09:24):
do now? They go, Okay, we gotta get deeper. You know,
we can't play fifteen guys throughout the throughout the season,
because these guys might be good now, but once December hits,
you know, they might be two three steps slower. So
we got to build that depth. Let me ask you
real quick about Tarleton State. Would you put them in
the conversation of being a national title contender or is
it still way too soon to h to say that
(09:47):
and maybe pause a little bit until we see more
of Tarlton' stare or have you already seen enough to
put them in that conversation.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
I think we can put them in the conversation, right,
that's not I think if we're only basing it on
the data we have right now, why would they not
be in the conversation? Right? Because the title picture changes
week to week. Let's just say something crazy happens, right
and North Dakota State loses like three four games, Nobody
would be like Sam and Zach don't know what they're
talking about? Right? Can you believe they had North Dakota
(10:15):
State in the national title contention or make that Montana
State or whoever. Just because Charlton might slip up somewhere
later in the season doesn't mean to this point in
the season, the data we have doesn't suggest that they'd
be a national title contender. I don't. I'm trying to think, man,
because I'm even thinking back to those Sam Houston teams
that were competing near the top of the FCS. I
don't remember those teams having this type of depth, and,
(10:38):
like you said too, a lot of competing in the FCS.
SAM is investing, right, and it's what you're doing behind
the scenes to build your program. They're in a talent
rich state. They've done a good job balancing not just
developing high school talent, but filling in the needs, particularly
in certain positions through the portal. Right, They're not going
to lean heavily on the portal, but they've done a
(10:59):
good job recruiting both ways. And on top of that too, Sam,
we haven't seen a team in the South have this
sort of fan support and financial backing in a while either, Right.
You talk a lot about some of these teams from
the south Land not having the top budgets and support
from the state or whatever it may be. That's not
the case for Tarlton. They want to compete, they expect
(11:20):
to compete for national titles. I think that goes a
long way, and I think our guy Jamie will I
believe it was Jamie or Brendan or one of the
guys from the FCS Fans Nation said maybe we just
have to come to the realization that they are the
next Sam Houston James Madison team from one of these
Southern conferences to always be in the conversation. Now it's
just a question of when do they break through like
(11:41):
it took a James Madison, Like it took a Sam
Houston a while to breakthrough despite them making multiple quarterfinal
semifinal runs.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, and hopefully they can break through before that Conference
USA invite comes, which who knows when that'll happen. It
could be, could be this fall, it could be in
summer of twenty twenty eight, who knows. But hopefully Tarleton
State can stick around for a little bit and kind
of break through. And yeah, they have the the resources,
the facilities, they have the funding. I imagine their ni
(12:11):
L has been pretty solid because they've retained most of
their good, if not all, their good players. I actually
can't really think of one Tarlton State standout who is
transferred to the FBS. I guess Josh Josh Griffiths did.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
A couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, and now he's back, and so yeah, they're doing
a lot of things right to uh to be on
this trajectory of competing at the top of the FCS,
which the subdivision needs someone from West Coast, East Coast,
South Southeast, you know, someone to to step up to
challenge the Midwest teams. Here, UH sticking with UH, We'll
stick it with the within the ua C. Here my
(12:48):
second game ball, I've given it to West Georgia, who
I think has been on this segment multiple times before
as well. But the Wolves are three and zero now,
this is just their second season in the FCS. I
know through program that I think has has massive potential.
You know, in a good region obviously in a good conference,
is being competitive in a good conference, and has you know,
(13:10):
is an athletic department that takes football seriously and wants
to be good in football. And you know, they had
an eye opening win over Stanford thirty four to three,
and then the next week they beat number twenty two
Nickels thirty four to ten, and then this last weekend
they beat Etsu thirty five thirty one. And Etsu was
certainly a rankable team and this was just a really
(13:32):
great win and come back fashion as well for West Georgia,
and their defense was playing so well the first a
couple of weeks, you know, led by David Hogue and
Jay Carter has had a standout season so far. ETSU
put up twenty one points in the first half, and
it was West Georgia was kind of hanging around there,
but you kind of felt like ETSC was just going
(13:54):
to pull away because their offense was was having such
a great game. But West Georgia was able to mount
that comeback. They score twice in the final seven minutes
to overcome a thirty one to twenty deficit in the
fourth quarter to win thirty five thirty one. La Treil
Murrell continues to have a fabulous season at running back.
In three games, he's already he's already over four hundred
(14:15):
rushing yards, four touchdowns, and then David Winner is playing
pretty well. He's he's kind of turnover plagued so far
this year, which is a little bit odd because last
year he took care of the ball decently well. But
he did throw four close to three hundred yards, three touchdowns,
three interceptions as well, So those are those turnovers. But
you know, for this team to be three and oh
(14:37):
and yeah, Samford is not very good this year, honestly,
but Nichols, we were both high on them, you know, Eatsu,
we both have them ranked I believe. So this is
a not just a kind of a casual three and
oh start, This is a really really good three and
O start.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, they have exceeded all expectations. I talked about them
and when we did our UAC preview about them being
a potential dark horse, but sam I didn't have them
this good. And I think it just speaks to that
staff and how well they've recruited, how well they, like
you said, retained talent, and and just they find a
way to win the game. And they had two big
blowouts to start the year, and we finally got to
see the other side of the coin. Can they win
(15:15):
a close game when they're down, when they need a
play made, and they showed that they were able to. Man,
I'm really really excited to see what kind of waves
they make in the UAC race. Man, It's a shame
they're not playoff eligible this year, but I'm extremely excited
to see what they what they accomplished this year. I'm
going to the big scot and I guess we can
keep the UAC thing going because they'll be in this
game as well. Northern Arizona a huge win over Southern
(15:39):
Utah on the road. It was a game of just
emotional swings. Sam I mean, twenty one on answer points
in the fourth quarter by Southern Utah, but Northern Arizona
answered back scores with twenty nine seconds remaining. Southern Utah
makes some really really key mistakes on that last kickoff,
the ball hits the returner, he doesn't know it. They
get pinned down to the three of the game on
(16:00):
a safety. But I was so impressed with Todd Pennington man.
This is the type of development I wanted to see
from him going into year two as a starter. Here
he made some outstanding plays outside the pocket, some outstanding throws.
I would like to see the offensive line get a
little bit better because he was sacked four times, But
I do think Southern Utah has a pretty good front.
(16:20):
You saw Lando Brown make a really big play. But
I was really really impressed with Northern Arizona their ability
to get this win on the road, and I'm just
very curious to see how they match up with some
of these top teams in the Big Sky you look
at they got Montana State and you see Davis on
the schedule. I think that if they can split those,
there in a really really good spot to make a
push for a top sixteen seed, especially if they get
(16:41):
a win at home this weekend. Over incardinate word, but
I had to give Northern Arizona that second game. Ball man.
It was a really really impressive road win at a
place in Southern Utah that can be tricky to win at.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah. I don't know what it is with home games
at Southern Utah at night, but it just always seems
like there was a wild finish going on there the
other weekend, and yeah, that's a big win for Northern Arizona.
You know, Ty Pennington has played out of his mind
at at quarterback, and I know coming into the season
he was preseason first team All Big Sky because he
(17:12):
was really the lone guy coming back with substantial experience,
and kind of the thought was, Okay, you give it
to Pennington, but he's probably not going to be the
best quarterback in the Big Sky by season's end. They
kind of just gave it to him by default. But
I don't know. So far, he's looking very very good
in Northern Arizona. That's a big win. Defensively, we'll see
(17:33):
about the Lumberjacks. Kind of a couple of games here
where you can question their their defense, but no doubt
a good start for Northern Arizona. My last game ball here,
I'm going to give it to an individual. That'll be
Cole Payton, Northcota State quarterback. He's really had a great
first three games here as a first year starter. And
granted the opponents the Citadel Tennessee State SEMO, the first
(17:58):
two are just not good football teams and Simo, I
don't know, maybe they'll be in the in the playoff
hunts out of the OBC Big South, but I think
Simo might be a little bit down this year, So
you can, you know, kind of I guess in a
sense points to the opponents that NSU has played. But
at the same time, I think with this being his
(18:19):
first three starts, Peyton has played really well and looks
the part. And you know it's not that he's you know,
making some some easy you know throws, easy out routes,
easy easy slants, play action, dump it off to the
tight end. Yeah, there's a little bit of that. But
NDS was also doing a good job of pushing the
ball down the field, and so far he's thirty nine
(18:40):
to fifty five, seven hundred and six yards, six touchdowns,
no interceptions. As we all know, Cole Peyton can run
the ball as well. He has one hundred and seventy
five yards on the ground in one touchdown. PFF really
likes what he's doing with their film grade in he
has the number one over overall grade and the number
one passing grade in all of FCS and FBS through
(19:01):
three games. And again, you know opponents are gonna get
much much tougher. We'll see what he does against South
Dakota State and on the road at U and D
and I think Southern Illinois on the schedule as well.
I think that might be a home game for for
the Bys, and so opponents are certainly going to pick
up as far as their strength. But so far, I
think NBCU has to feel really good with where Cole
(19:22):
Payton is at.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Sam I talked too, and just to drop the nugget
on the show here, I don't I don't think I've
said this on any of the other podcasts I'm on,
but I talked to a scout from the Shron Bowl
yesterday about Cole Payton, he told me because he's he's
kind of he focuses on the G five FCS for them.
He said, one, if Cole Payton continues to play like
he is, he's a lock to be a draft pick.
(19:46):
And two, if he continues to play at the level
he's playing, nobody in the FCS has a shot to
beat North Dakota State because if they had that type
of passing attack along with how their defense is played,
along with their rushing attack, heels like they're way too balanced.
But he said that Cole Peyton should if the way
he's playing now, he should have gotten the same type
of height, that hype that Chase Mason got in the
(20:07):
same benefit of the doubt in the in the preseason,
pre draft process mess. So that's a lot of praise
coming from a scout of one of the national games.
I'm very curious see if he can keep if he
continues to do that through Missouri Valley plays Sam, I'm
very curious to see how voters and this goes back.
I mean, you've been a voter for ever, man, you know,
you know the debate that's coming. Does Cole Peyton get
(20:28):
the Walter Payton over a guy like Derek Robertson that's
gonna throw for like six thousand guards this year. And
is it just gonna be a purely stats of war.
Are you gonna give it to the guy on the
best team. It's gonna be very curious. I'm interested see
how the voters look at that. But my last game
ball saund shifting here. It's a It's another team that
I was really high on in the preseason, a big
(20:50):
win this weekend. Southern Illinois had a big win over U. T.
Martin thirty seven to ten. I still expect U. T.
Martin to win the or at least compete for the
OVC Big South. I had Tennessee Tech picked there, but
I would imagine you T. Martin's probably second or third
place in that conference. They had a dominating I mean,
they average almost nine yards per play. DJ Williams has
looked spectacular. The defense has done a good job for
(21:13):
seing turnovers, making key stops. They stop UT Martin on
multiple fourth down attempts, and just all night found a
way to generate explosive plays. Thirty seven to ten. It's
a massive win, and I think the Sulukis are showing Sam.
If they didn't have all those injuries last year, they
would have been a much bigger factor. And I think
when you look across the valley, I think North Dakota's
in the conversation, but there's a strong case with how
(21:35):
bad South Dakota's looked, that Southern Illinois might be the
third best team in that valley race right now.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Yeah, I mean that was a really eye opening win
on the road, and really our first gage of SIU
as well, when you know they that was their first
FCS opponent that they've played of this season, and to
go on the road against a respectable program like UT
Martin and Twin that decisively was very for the Sulukis.
Now to the flag. I'm going to throw it on you, Albany.
(22:05):
The Great Danes are off to an oh and through
oh and three starts, and this last weekend they lose
twenty four to seventeen to New Haven, who is the
newest FCS member they've joined the NEC. And obviously credit
to new Haven here for this win. But if you're
a U, Albany, just just a really tough look for
this program that two seasons ago made the semi finals
(22:28):
and we were talking about you Albany as you know,
can they kind of carry on this momentum because we've
seen so many teams rise up and then fall back down,
and unfortunately that has happened with you Albany and they've
they've got hit hard by the transfer portal. And it's
interesting too because they the transfer portal helped that twenty
twenty three squad because a lot of their best players
(22:49):
came in via the transfer portal and it wasn't even
all FBS transfers. They've had some great success success finding
sub sub d one guys to come in and make
an impact. But as quickly as you can build a
team up like that, things can also fall apart pretty
quickly as well. And you all been going through a
coaching transition as well. But they've I mean that was
(23:09):
kind of a lightning in a bottle sort of season
and fell back last year. I mean now to start
this year, just a really really rough start for them.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
So I know, we don't you know, we we sometimes
mentioned HVC Football on him May, but I had to
go with Hampton here. I know this was probably a
game that there's probably a lot of national listeners, Sam,
that have no idea what I'm talking about. But it
doesn't get much worse than Hampton's loss this week in
the North Carolina A and T. It was a double
overtime loss thirty three to thirty and they had a
(23:42):
ten point lead and allowed ten points in the final
fifty seven seconds, allowed A and T to recover an
onside kick, eventually lost in overtime. Their head coach sent
the team to the locker room and refused to shake hands,
which drew a big reaction from Sean Gibbs, who called
him out at midfield. And not only they blow a
ten point lead to a team that's been win sixteen
(24:03):
to CIA games the past two seasons, it was A
and T's first Division one wins. That's twenty twenty three
and Sam, A and T was down to their seventh
string quarterback. I don't know why they signed seven quarterbacks now,
but they did. It was seven quarterbacks on the roster
and they were down to the last one due to injuries.
And now Hampton falls to zero and to two against the
FCS one and two overall, when they barely escaped the
(24:25):
D two upset, And now you got to look ahead
to the battle of the real HU with Howard next week,
who has looked solid. Right. They got a big win
over fail So things are not looking in the right
direction for Hampton. But I gotta throw the flag on
Hampton this weekend.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Yeah, A team that was dang near very close to
getting the flag thrown on them again was South Dakota.
The yo It's eked out a win over Northern Colorado,
winning twenty four seventeen in overtime, and Northern Colorado had
they were right on the goal line. I believe it
was first in goal and three straight plays on the
(25:00):
goal line got stuffed with the chance to win it
in the final seconds there had to settle for an
eighteen yard field goal, descending into overtime and then eventually
losing to the Yoats. But this would have been a
disastrous loss for South Dakota, who got dealt another blow
last week before this game with the news that Charles
Piartt Junior would miss the season with the knee injury.
(25:23):
I mean, he's just a fantastic running back. But you know,
the good news for USD is L J. Phillips Junior
steps up and he rushes for three hundred and one
yards in this game, including two touchdowns, and so he
literally came up clutched for South Dakota without that. Without him,
I mean, this would have been a just a brutal,
brutal loss for the Yoats. And you know, the offense,
(25:44):
especially the passing game just continues to be off. Whether
it's Aidenbauman misfiring or you know him other plays, him
not getting enough time, or sometimes there's just some some
miscommunication on where the on where Bauman expects the receiver
to be in the receiver you know, doesn't hit his
spots or sits in the zone, whatever the case may be.
So just really choppy offensively for South Dakota. And I
(26:08):
mean Northern Colorado will see what they do in the
big in Big Sky play. But they nearly knock off
South Dakota, you know, probably should have if if they
could have punched it in on the goal line. Nearly
knocked off FBS Colorado State last week and probably should
off and it probably should have if not for that
overturned with the game when he touchdown that ended up
being ruled incomplete. So I mean Northern Colorado will see
(26:30):
what they do. But uh, this is a second well
actually a third straight unimpressive performance by South Dakota, and
in hide sight, I actually going in my ballot. I
was kind of mentally preparing to drop South Dakota entirely
off of my ballot. They ended up staying in just
because some of the teams on the outside of my
ballot lost in games that I expected them to win,
(26:54):
and so the Yoats ended up staying on my ballot.
But then when I look back at it, I'm like, well,
I don't like, I don't really have a reason to
keep them on there, other than while some other teams
that I wasn't gonna rise up into my ballots I
ended up losing. So I don't know, they're they're in
a interesting spot and they host a Drake team that's
was a little bit feisty this last weekend when Drake
went to South Dakota State and competed decently well. So,
(27:16):
I don't know, where are you at with with the
Oats here.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yeah, they're out of my top twenty five completely. I
was one of the ones that did not frank them.
I saw a lot of people's ballots and like, I
was kind of with you, and I under like, if
you had them at like twenty five, twenty four, twenty third,
Like I get it to a point, right, But to me,
it was why should I like My reason is sent
(27:39):
was why should I judge them any differently than like
incardinate word or if this was a team out of
the SoCon or if this was a team out of
the CIA. If this was a CIA team, Sam, every
single Missouri Valley fan would be rioting right now if
they were in the top twenty five. If this was
Rhode Island, say, would any would Would there be a
single valley of big Sky fans screaming to keep them
(28:00):
in the top twenty five? I don't think so. And
I really think South Dakota has looked really bad. I
don't think there's been a lot of positives defensively, the
offensive line has really struggled, and I think Aden Bowman's
regression it has a little bit to do with the
lack of talent at wide receiver. I think obviously Charles
Pierre's injury hurts them. I don't think L. J. Phillips
(28:22):
is gonna be able to run for three hundred yards
a game to keep them alive in valley play. But
Bowman's regression, man, he was a potential NFL prospects him
and right now he's sitting at forty six percent completion percentage,
three hundred and thirty three yards, three touchdowns, and four picks.
I only average in one hundred and eleven yards per game.
(28:42):
And this should have been a game that this felt
like their get right game, and they weren't able to
do it, and they really probably should have lost it.
I don't love looking at it even pass Drake. Right,
do you open up conference play on the road at
North Dakota State, This thing could get really off the
rails after that game. You kind of look ahead to
the end of the schedule, Sam, if they don't get
(29:02):
right in that stretch from Murray, Indiana State to you
and I, they get Illinois State, North Dakota South Dakota State,
and then in the season at Southern Illinois. You're talking
about potentially a below five hundred team, and I think
right now, with how they're playing, they absolutely could be.
And I'd like to me and I'm not going to
chastise anyone for having them in the back end of
their top twenty five. Just to me, they have not
(29:25):
shown a single quality of being a top twenty five
team at this point, and I think if they weren't
number what were they five or four in the preseason poll,
I don't think there'd be many voters that would have
them in the top twenty five.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
You mentioned Rhode Island too, and I wanted to touch
on Rody who's off to a three and oh start
and after their win, you know, they beat holy Cross
nine to seven. They hit a game winning field goal
by Garth Whites with two twenty three to play to
take the lead, and I tweeted something about, you know,
the battle tested you know, Rody rams they're off to
(29:56):
a three and oh start. In FCS Nation Radio, I'm
guessing it was Kevin. Sometimes you can't tell if it's
Kevin or Stone tweeting, but sometimes you can't tell, you know,
based off of the emojis, if there's emojis in the
tweets or not. But I believe it was Kevin said
like battle tested equals like they stink, because yeah, they
(30:17):
did needed a comeback in the fourth quarter there to
beat holy Cross, who is now ohero and three. Granted
those are three one score losses for holy Cross, but
also like Campbell, they were down early against Campbell before
coming back and winning thirty one twenty. I believe they
were also down for a little bit against tony Brook
before coming back and beating stony Brook thirty one seventeen.
(30:39):
And stony Brook is not a ranked team, but you know,
probably decently close to being a rankable team. So I
think they've overall have looked good, you know, offensively, a
little bit up and down, but when they're rolling, they
can really roll, especially with Devin when when he can
start slinging it around. Holy Cross played really well defensively
(31:01):
this last weekend. But where are you at with Rody?
Because I feel like they're going to keep on stacking
wins and they're kind of in the top eight right now.
They have a pretty favorable schedule. They avoid Villanova in Momuth,
two ranked teams the CIA, who they don't have to play.
But then the only ranked opponent they have on their
schedule is New Hampshire and that's at home. I believe
(31:23):
that's in late October, and so maybe New Hampshire will
still be ranked, maybe they won't be. I think they're
right at twenty five right now. So we talked about
it last year. It's a blessing and a curse with
the unbalanced CAAA schedule. It's a blessing because you can
get to nine to ten wins in a hurry. It
can also be a curse because we saw Roady, who
I think was ten to two last year and they
(31:45):
didn't get a first round by they end up getting
I think it was the number nine seed. So where
are you at with Rody are? I mean, are you
a believer? You kind of just Yeah, they're a good team,
but not a great team. Where are you at with them?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I think they're a good team, but they're not a
true threat right now for like a semi final run.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, they're like kind of in that second tier, kind
of hanging around in the second tier there.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah, I think a quarterfinal team right now. Would it
surprise you if they made the quarterfinals? I don't think so.
And I think this is like they're the prototypical example
of why watching the game is important because I know
the what was it like nine to seven or nine
to six final score. It's a little bit misleading because
(32:29):
Rhode Island like really dominated offensively, so they averaged like
six and a half yards per play, had over four
hundred yards to total offense. The problem was every time they
got to the red zone, they just sputtered. I thought
they moved the ball really well, like I thought. I
thought their offense down to down was fine. It was
just we talked a little bit about North Dakota losing
(32:50):
the game because they didn't execute in the red zone.
Rhode Island's just lucky that that's not what it came to,
because they missed opportunities in the red zone consistently. And
I think their defenses actually looked pretty good. They had
to replace a ton at linebacker because I don't really
consider Aj a linebacker Sam. I know he drops back
sometimes he's more of an edge rusher. But Rohan, Davey
and Moses at their linebacker have been really, really good.
(33:13):
I think AJ has done this thing and they have
three wins over three FCS opponents. Man, and I don't
think I don't think Campbell's a very good team. I
agree with you. But Stony Brook's gonna be probably a
factor in the CAAA, right, so they're going to be
a solid team. I don't think there's I don't I
don't think anyone would be surprised if Holy Cross made
a push to win a share of the Patriot League. Again,
(33:34):
outside of Leha, it's kind of open, right and I
think holy Cross's defense has played really well. Then they're
zero to three, but they've lost those three games by
a total of seven points, including two two point losses,
and one of them was to an FPS school. But
the offense has to find a way to get going there.
So I don't think that holy Cross. I don't think
a close win over holy Cross on the road is
(33:55):
a bad thing. That's a It's a road matchup against
a really tough holy Cross team that is one what
is it a share? I think of like five or
six in a row in the Patriot League and has
been to the playoffs multiple years. So I do think
looking ahead at their schedule, New hampsh is a big one.
You get that one at home. The one I have
circled as a potential trap game is maybe that November
eighth game at Elon actually had Elon I think at
(34:18):
twenty five of my ballot. I've been extremely impressed with
Elon and that freshman quarterback they have is really really good,
and that they got an impressive win over Western Carolina
this past weekend, and I'm and if they knock off
Etsu on the road this weekend. Sam, I think they
could be a team that jumps on everybody's ballot because
you would have road wins over Western Carolina and Etsu.
(34:41):
You'd be sitting at three and one, and you look
at their CIA schedule. They get Rhode Island, but outside
of that and they get Villanova. Those are probably the
two biggest CAAA games you get. Elon could be a really,
really sneaky team in this race and that would be
another maybe signature win for Rhode Island to pick up
to earn that top eight seed if they can get
to eleven and one or ten to two.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, that was another fun game as well. Elon beating
Western Carolina was like thirty eight thirty one something like that. Western,
I mean, the Dickens is still out and Western off
to an zero to three starts. That's tough for them
after getting some some preseason, preseason hype for Western. But yeah,
Elon is just always in that mix whenever, even if
(35:25):
they're even if they enter a season not ranked, it
seems like they find their way into the rankings and
into the playoff discussion. One more team to touch on here,
that's UIW. They fall to a one and two record.
They lose at UTSA forty eight twenty that is an
FBS opponent. But this was a I guess I don't think.
I don't know how many people thought UIW was going
(35:47):
to win this game on Saturday, But going back to
the preseason, this was one of the more popular picks
as far as the potential FCS over FBS upset and
just not not a super competitive game for u And
they are going to make a starting quarterback switch, going
with E. J. Colson, who's a transfer from UCF. He
did come in on Saturday and provided a decent spark.
(36:10):
He went seventeen to twenty four for two hundred and
thirteen yards three touchdowns. So he's the guy now at UIW.
And this is a critical two game stretch for the Cardinals.
They have two ranked opponents, go to Northern Arizona this
weekend and then they host Aplene Christian. This is a
(36:31):
pivotal moment in time for UIW because they still are ranked.
But I know a lot of voters myself, I'm pretty
sure you as well don't have UIW ranked anymore. But
if they can, I mean, even if they get one
of these wins and then lose the other and they're
sitting at two and three, and they get a ranked
win like that, that's probably enough to push them back
(36:53):
into my ballots. You know, I would say so, UIW
do you think this is likely a good decision on
there to go with Colson to try to get get
a spark going for the rest of their season.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah. He looked so much better against Utsa than Torres.
I mean, Torres had like one hundred yards on twenty attempts.
How to pick Colson seventeen to twenty four, two thirteen
and three touchdowns, no turnovers. And on top of that too,
he fits more of the mold sound where this offense
is best when they have a quarterback that's a that
(37:24):
he doesn't have to be a scrambler, but he at
least has to be mobile enough to move in the
pocket and make some plays happen with his legs when
things break down. And I just think Torres was too
much of a pocket passer. I don't know if he
necessarily fit the scheme, but the end of the day, man,
this goes on the staff. You've got to pick the
correct quarterback early because you probably cost you some games.
And I don't think if I'm not mistaking, they put
(37:45):
Colson in. What was it like the second to last
drive against Nichols or the last drive against Nichols that
they had to make the move. And I don't know
if they just went with Torres because he was there,
and maybe Colson transferring in like put them behind in
terms of learning the system and things like that. But
this was a move that had to be made because
you talk about the next two games, about the next
three Steven F Austin abley Christian at Northern Arizona. I'm
(38:07):
gonna be honest him, it feels like they have to
win two out of those three to feel comfortable in
terms of making a run. At least it gives you
a cushion, right, because if you don't win the South End,
maybe you can sneak infer in a large bid. But
if they lose two out of those three, you either
have to win the Southland or you're probably out of
the postseason.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Yeah, you wonder too, what would have potentially happened if
Richie Munio stuck around UIW went back into the portal
and ended up at Tennessee Tech. But he didn't win
the starting job there. And you know, by the way,
Tennessee Tech has been just been lighting up and Kicko
Sparris has been lighting it up as well. But I
do think Colson has a chance to be pretty good
(38:51):
and we'll see what UIW can do with him leading
the charge. Now, looking at head out to some Week
four games, pretty good slate. Here we have three ranked
versus ranked matchups, which is the most so far this season.
Number eleven Villanova goes to number twenty one Momoth, Number nineteen,
UIW goes to number seventeen Northern Arizona. Number eighteen Austin
(39:11):
p goes to number fourteen Apple and Christian a really
good UAC matchup right there. And then there's a few
others as well that I'm keeping an eye on. Number
thirteen Southern Illinois I goes to Simo. That's a really
fun rivalry game. Chance for SIU to get to back
to back road games road wins. Central Arkansas I goes
(39:33):
to number twenty four Sacramento States. Very curious to see
how this one plays out. You know, Sack State was
kind of in a battle with Mercy Hurst for a
little bit. I ended up getting the win for the
first w of the season. But you know, we'll see
how how things go when Central Arkansas comes to town.
Southern Utah goes to number nine. Yeah, Southern Utah goes
(39:54):
to number nine. UC Davis. Southern Utahs is a really
tough team to get because they've had some good wins,
some bad losses, some good losses as well if you
want to talk about how competitive they were with Northern Arizona.
So this is a good test for UC Davis, who's
again just based off of how their schedule has looked
(40:14):
so far. The Eggs are a little tough to gauge
as well, so I'm looking forward to that one. Then
one FCS versus FBS game number eight, Idaho goes to
San Jose State. We'll see if they can get an
FBS win here. I definitely think it's a winnable one.
To me, it's just a matter of if the Vandals
can put a complete game together, because there have been
(40:35):
some some contests where the defense looks great and the
offense doesn't, and then the offense looks great and the
defense doesn't, and then this last week the defense looks
great and the offense looks okay. So if the battles
can put it all together. I think they could be
a very very good squad and maybe they could get
that marquee win for this season so far when they
go to San Jose State. So any of those stick
(40:58):
out above the others or any other ones you'd like
to add to that list?
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yeah, I mean I think I think obviously the Ivy
League starting this week, but they'll participating in the playoffs,
man like, holy Cross at Yale is a big one,
and then number twenty five New Hampshire at Dartmouth is
a big one as well. I think this is a
chance for the CAA to get a really really big
win there with that New Hampshire Dartmouth game. But also
for the IVY League. How big would it be to
(41:22):
open up the season with a ranked win for a
team that wasn't even projected to win the conference and
so that would be huge. And obviously holy Cross is
going to be very desperate to avoid going zero to four,
and you have a Yale team that's that's obviously expected
to compete for the title this year. I think looking
across the landscape, man like, you hit on a lot
of the ones. Obviously, elon Etsu is going to be
(41:44):
a massive game. I think that's probably gonna determine which
one of those teams sticks around in the top twenty
five conversation. One that's super underrated to me, Sam is
Youngstown State at Townsend. That game, to me has massive
posts and implications because it becomes a single that you're
out a conference win for either the Missouri Valley and
or the CIA of Towns. He can get that win,
(42:06):
they're in a really really good position to maybe snag
one of the large bids if they make it that far.
And Youngstown State has been playing really well. Bo Brungar
has been going insane. Sam, I think he leads to
country and rushing right now still despite him not playing
a lot of this past FBS game. So that's a
game that I have I have circled it as a
super super interesting game that that had that could have
(42:28):
massive implications.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Yeah, young Stone hung her own decently well with Michigan State,
who's now three and oh this last weekend, So that
was a that was a game I was I was
paying attention due to see if younkstownd State could maybe
pull off us Stunn or there. But they were Michigan State,
you know, put that game away, but I thought Youngstown
State hung in there pretty well. And yeah, that is
a big one playing twis in two teams that aren't
(42:52):
necessarily ranked, but I do think they have playoff expectations,
so this could be a good non conference result for
whoever comes out the winner. So we will be back
next week to recap Week four and also look ahead
to week five already, So until then, thank you Zach,
thank you everyone for listening, and we'll catch you guys
on the flippity flip
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