September 2, 2025 • 43 mins
On this episode, Sam and Zach discuss:
-3 Game Balls and a Flag from Week 1
-Tarleton State and Austin Peay earn FBS wins
-SDSU and Lehigh grab ranked victories
-Two ranked SoCon teams get upset
-Multiple FCS teams nearly beat FBS opponents
-NDSU, Montana State, SDSU debut new QBs
-Week 2 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 1
-Tarleton State and Austin Peay earn FBS wins
-SDSU and Lehigh grab ranked victories
-Two ranked SoCon teams get upset
-Multiple FCS teams nearly beat FBS opponents
-NDSU, Montana State, SDSU debut new QBs
-Week 2 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 of
hero Sports, and I'm joined by my co host Zach
McKinnell of FCS Football Central and the blue Bloods. A
lot to dive into on this episode. We have a
lot of games to talk about, a lot of results
(00:38):
to talk about it, and then at the end we'll
also discuss some of the upcoming Week two games that
we have circle. But first off, Zach, how are you doing.
How was your kind of three day feast of FCS football.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And I loved it. It was great to finally get
a full schedule, and you know, we kind of joked
about how Week zero is so easy for us as
national covers, as we get to watch every game. It
felt so good to get like the five six different
screens out and then try to pay attention to as
many games as possible. And we had some big FBS upsets,
we had some shocking FCS versus FCS upsets, and so
(01:11):
we have a lot to break down. Man, I'm ready
to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, as we always do it, We'll kick off with
three game balls in the flag segment here recapping Week one,
and then any teams or notable results that we miss
we'll touch on after this segment, but I'll kick out.
I will kick off here with my first game ball.
I'll give it to Tarleton State. Big FBS win. I
actually had to remind myself that this is the second
(01:37):
FBS win for Tarleton State. There first came in late
February of twenty twenty one. They beat New Mexico State.
I believe that was actually the first Division one game
for Tarleton as well, and then just you know, just
a goofy spring season. And it's just wild to think
back that their first FBS win was in February of
(01:57):
twenty twenty one. But they do get their second one here.
They beat Army thirty to twenty seven in double overtime.
Brad Larsen gets the game winning field goal there in
the second overtime and a huge win. We'll obviously it's
week one, so we'll see how well this win ages,
how well Army does. They were a nine to two
football team Lasher, but they did lose quite a bit.
(02:19):
But anytime you can get an FBS win, especially one
that was viewed nationally by a decent amount of people.
Huge for Tarleton State. And you know they were down
fourteen points at one point in the third chord before
climbing back and getting the win there. And I thought
Tarlton's front seven hung very well for the most part
against an Army team that of course wants to run
(02:40):
the ball very well. And then Tarlton's offense, I mean
Trey Page, he continues to shine, but also Caleb Lewis,
I mean he emerges and he goes for over one
hundred yards rushing on the ground. So a huge win
for Tarleton State and certainly boosts them up in the rankings.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, I've been super impressed with their offensive line too, Sam,
I mean, they have been dominant for two weeks and
they did it against an Army team that guess they
have a lot of new pizza, Sam, but this is
a program that knows they can't use a transfer portal,
that consistently develops talent year in a year out, and
historically has done well against that FCS teams and historically
has good offensive and defensive lines, and man, Tarleton dominated
(03:17):
on both front and like you said, Trey Page is
making an early case to be in that Jerry Rice
Award conversation as a freshman, and he's done an outstanding job.
And to kind of build off this, my first game
ball goes to Austin p who was our other FBS
upset of week one where they knock off Middle Tennessee
State and they snap a twelve game losing straight to them,
(03:38):
and they were dominant in this game. Sam one hundred
and fifty three total yards, allowed only two point six
yards per play. They held Middle Tennessee State without a
third down conversion oh for twelve and they had eight
tackles for lost five sacks. Chris Parson hit two big
touchdowns in the first half. They built a twenty one
(03:58):
to nothing lead, and they ended up winning this game
about twenty points. I was super impressed to Austin p
and it was a really really good weekend for the
UAC with two big FBS upsets.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, big time for that conference. My second game ball
I am going to give to Northwestern States. They beat
Alcorn State twenty to ten. That snaps a twenty game
losing streak for a Northwestern State, which was the longest
in in the FCS, and they entered this game as
about a ten and a half point under dog, and
so a huge win for Northwestern States. You know, you
(04:32):
saw the postgame scene there where they stormed the field.
I think a good amount of students storm the field
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And I mean good for his second year head coach.
Blame McCorkle. I mean, he took over.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
A program that was in a tough spot, you know,
on the field and then off the field, you know
as well, with the season a couple of years ago
getting canceled due to the tragic shooting. So he really
took over, you know, a program in a tough spot,
and then for them to get a win. It wasn't like,
you know, they beat a D two team or something
(05:03):
like that where you knew they were going to win.
I think, all I know I did. I believe I
predicted Alcorn, you know, to win this game, and so
not only snapping the win streak, but doing so in
upset fashion I think was a you know, a feel
good sort of story in the FCS.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, I definitely picked all Corn for obviously if anyone
watches by showing YouTube. So but again, man, regardless of
all that, what a win. And I think you saw
the excitement in the fan base, Sam, we don't get
a lot of field stormings in FCS, and that that
fan base, those players, Man, just the emotion that you
saw on the sideline to finally get that win was amazing,
(05:41):
and I think I would we need more of that
type of energy in FCS football. My next game ball
goes obviously to South Dakota State and really specifically their defense, Sam,
I thought their defense played outstanding this weekend in a
big win over sacrament of State and that go go
offense with Brendan Mary, and they dominated the time of
possession over forty one minutes of game time. They held
(06:02):
that go go offense to what one hundred and thirty
one yards two point six yards per play. They were
only able to rush for twenty four yards. Jayden Rashada
really really struggled in this game, and I think a
lot of it had to do with South Dakota State.
And then on top of that too offensively, Man, how
about Julius low Ridge. I don't think either one of
us is surprised about his performance, but he really put
(06:25):
on a show. And I thought Chase Mason looked really
really sharp and efficient and out of all these new
quarterbacks near the top of the FCS for all these
top five teams, I think he probably looked the most
impressive of all the newcomers. And so a huge win
for Dan Jackson in South Dakota State before they go
on the road to Montana State this weekend.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, my third game ball, I'll give it to UTRGV.
I mean, they did what they were probably supposed to do.
They beat Solaros State sixty six to nothing. That's a
nine Division one opponent. But this is the football debut
for utr GV and close to thirteen thousand fans in attendance,
(07:05):
you know, look like a great tailgating scene. We've talked
about this program before as far as their potential with
where they're located, in their facilities and community support. So
that was just kind of exciting to see them, you know,
really dominate a game. I think you expected them to
dominate like they did. At the same time, you just
never know how a brand new football team is going
(07:26):
to look. And they go to Prairie Review A and
M this week for their first ever game against the
division on opponent, and so we'll see what happens there.
But I mean quarterback Eddie Lee Marberger. He's a transfer
from UTSA, one of many FBS transfers on this team.
He goes eighteen of nineteen, three hundred and sixty five
yards and five touchdowns. Obviously an overmatched opponent, but still,
(07:48):
you know, great numbers there are a great win there,
and just an overall a really cool scene there for
that for that football program.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
That's still pretty impressive. I don't know, I don't really
care who they play, but I mean, eighteen of nineteen
with five touchdowns pretty good. I have to say, very
curious to see how they look about against PV this weekend,
and I can't wait for that game. But my last
game ball obviously goes to Lehigh, the other top twenty
five matchup of the weekend. They get it done against
number twenty five Richmond and it gives them a really
(08:17):
good lead in the Patriot League, a key tiebreaker and shockingly,
this was their first season opening wins. That's twenty eighteen again,
another dominant defensive performance, less than two hundred yards of
total offense allowed three and a half yards per play.
And I've really thought Jaden Green was the superstar offensively
for Lehigh. Eighty eight rushing yards two total touchdowns. He
ended up having the game when he touched down the
(08:38):
fourth quarter that put him up for good. And I'm
really really impressed with Leehi. We talked in the I
guess in our preview episode. I think we both went
Lee High here, but they had so much returning talent
sim and it was really good. After some I would
say they had some growing pains early in the game. Offensively,
it just all kind of clicked together and outside of
(08:59):
that kickoff return and they only allow seven points defensively,
I was really really impressive LEEH. And they look legit
and look like a team that's ready to make another
run to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, big rank ranked win there for Lehigh, and that
was a Patriot League matchup as well, with Richmond making
its conference debut. Going to the flag now I will
throw it on Western Carolina. A tough, tough loss there
for Western Carolina, who was ranked number eighteen. They lost
fifty two to forty five at home to Gardner Webb.
(09:29):
The Catamounts were without Tron Dickens, stand out young quarterback
for Western Carolina who sounds like he's ineligible. I don't
know specifics there. I'm not sure either when he will
be back, but Bennett Judy did come in and he
was playing well. Western Carolina led this game thirty five
to seven, and you go, okay, you know this plug
(09:49):
and play a quarterback. You know in this offense they're
going to roll. But then Gardner Webb just surges and
makes a huge comeback and ends up winning fifty two
to forty five. And the quarterback on the other side
of the ball for Gardner Webb Nate Hampton. He's a
transfer from Liberty. He throws for two hundred and sixty
plus yards two touchdowns, and then he rushes for more
than one hundred and thirty yards and four touchdowns. So
(10:12):
he really played well obviously, and that's a huge win
for Gardner Webb. But as we've said before, sometimes when
a ranked team loses to an unranked team, I usually
you know, the national focus is on that ranked team losing.
So obviously, big kudos to Gardner web here. But for
Western Carolina that came in with big expectations to lose
(10:34):
for the second year in a row to an unranked
team last year was Campbell. I definitely could sense the
frustration from Catamoult fans after this one.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
If we just want to keep piling onto the SoCon,
I guess we can go to my flag. How about
Mercer losing to Presbyterian fifteen to ten. This was a
team that they beat sixty three to seven in Week
one last year's Salem, and they just the offense was
a knemick. They scored early or I believe it was
in the first quarter. They scored their only touchdown of
(11:06):
the game and then got outscored fifteen to three the
rest of the way. The offense had no answer against
Presbyterian and they got out gained four sixteen to two
forty one. The only averaged four yards per play. DJ
Smith was not great. The rushing attack couldn't get nothing going.
(11:26):
They ran for less than ninety yards and they allowed
over three hundred and three passing yards from Colin Hurst
from Presbyterian. On one hand, give a shout out to
Presbyteria and they've made a remarkable step forward as a
program after some really really tough years. But man, this
was a massive loss from Mercer. It just kind of
caps a bad weekend for the SoCon where you could
even throw in Sanford's loss to West Georgia on Thursday
(11:49):
night where they got blown out. Sam. I don't know
about you, because we already talked last week about how
the no contest potentially could impact Mercer's playoff chances. This
might eliminate them unless they go and win the SOFON.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Now, Yeah, it's it's a super red flag here, And
I mean it was I was watching the game and
tracking it too, and it was I mean, Mercer was
winning ten to six for a while and then it
was ten to nine for a while.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
And I was kind of I was like, I should,
I should.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Tweet about this score because it's super interesting, but I
was just waiting for Mercer to make it a two
score game and then a three score game, and then
eventually Presbyterian wins it there late in that game.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
And it's just a brutal, brutal.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Loss, not only to a Pioneer Football League team, but
a bad one at that as well.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So a tough one for for.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Mercer there, and yeah, not a good weekend for for
the SoCon. Like you said, Sanford lost it's as well,
pretty handedlyman. You know, Furman got a nice win over
William and Mary Etsu kind of handled Murray State pulled
away there.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
So that's a.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I mean, it's a win over a valley team, but
Murray State I certainly struggled. So, you know, opportunities maybe
for the SoCon to get back on track at Chattanooga
goes to Tennessee Tech this weekend. That's a big opportunity there,
but a really tough weekend, opening weekend.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
For the SoCon.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
You know, I want to go back to the South
Gota State game with its win over Sacramento State. Touch
on that one a little bit more because it was
the highlight game of the last weekend. Did did Southcota
State look better than what you expected in this one?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Or was it?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, that's kind of the jack Rabbit squad that that
I was expecting to see. It's definitely a tough an
interesting game to analyze because the final score twenty to three.
You win by three scores, but then you look statistically
and whether it's yards rushing, yards, time of possession, and
then just watching it with some of the miscue South
(13:51):
got to State had, you know, a couple of trips
to the red zone that didn't produce six, You felt
like it could have been thirty five to three through
the eight to three and even more of like a
like kind of a statement performance. I still think a
twenty to three win was a statement performance, but it
could have been an even bigger statement. But overall, I
was very impressed with South Kota State at the same time,
(14:14):
you know, you feel like maybe they could have put
the hammer down even more, and there's certainly a lot
of things that they can clean up, whether it be
red zone efficiency, whether it be I thought the offensive
line looked good, but certainly when sax State sent pressure
that kind of frazzled Southcota States. And I thought sax
State played pretty well defensively actually in the second half.
But just our overall thoughts on how you know South
(14:36):
Kota State looked in this one.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, so it was the same kind of recipe that
I thought they were going to utilize to win games,
which is dominate tom possession and run the football and
not trying to make Chase Mason do too much to
the air, even though he looked pretty efficient when they
did give him a chance to throw down field. Like
you said, I thought sax State makes a really good
adjustments defensively. You know, it's interesting looking at the advanced analytics,
(14:58):
I believe that the offensive line was only responsible for
three of the seven sacks, which means I think Chase
Mason does need to get the ball out a little
bit quicker, definitely, and especially when you bring when defense
is bringing a ton of pressure, you've got to know
where you're drop down or your checkdowns are. And I
think that's gonna be a big thing for him, as
not hold the balls along and try to make a play.
(15:20):
But more than one thing could be true. I want
Sam is I think I was most impressed with the
defense of South Dakota State. They geled way quicker than
I thought they were. But at the same time, I
just think Sacramento State was a way bigger disappointment than
I thought, especially offensively. Jaye Vershata just looked lost out
(15:41):
there and said there were some wide open receivers that
he just missed, And I just I don't necessarily know
what the path forward is for this offense. But if
Shada doesn't improve, you have to think there's a quarterback
in the room that can give you more than he
did on Saturday night. And I thought their offensive line
just got beat at the point of attack. And correct
(16:03):
me if I'm wrong, Sam. This has been the recipe
for South Dakota State for years now. They're not going
to have a guy that's going to have twenty tackles
for loss. Right, it's just going to be fundamental football
and they're just going to beat you up front, and
no one's really going to be the superstar on the
defensive line outside of maybe what was it like three
or four years ago where they had those two d tackles?
Was it Sanders and I'm blanket on the otherman? I think, yeah, well, Wiklman,
(16:27):
those two guys were superstars, but outside of that, they
really haven't had any superstars on the D line. They're
just bigger and more physical than you. But I will
say this man, Chase fan Toll looks like he could
potentially be special. Yeah, if he keeps developing. The kid
is just a freak athlete, man, And I think he's
going to have a really, really good year. And I
think South Dakota State showed me a little bit of
(16:47):
something simm If they can get this type of defensive
play all season, they're going to be I think, a
bigger factor in the championship race. And maybe I was
giving them credit for.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yeah, absolutely, and ban Tol did get that targeting call,
so he'll have to sit out the first half of
this weekend, I believe at Montana State. So so that's
a big one right there. But yeah, it was I
know you and I were kind of on the same
page with South Gota State's linebackers that we didn't feel
like they were going to take much of a step back,
if any of a step back compared to the elite
(17:19):
linebackers they've had in the past, and they they certainly
showed that. But yeah, I mean sax State offense was
still disappointing. We'll see what they'll do this weekend when
they go to Nevada. I mean, if sax State goes
out there and scores thirty one points, then you know
we go back and look, okay, South go to State's
defense is even better then maybe we expected. But if
(17:40):
this is going to be a theme for the Hornets
of just not generating much of a push in the
in the running game and then Rushata just you know,
not making the throws. You know, he needs to make
that interception, which I mean, you could argue that probably
should probably should have been knocked down for field position purposes,
but I mean, if you're throwing a go route and
(18:00):
you're throwing it on the inside of the receiver, like
that's just not where you want to place that ball
because that is certainly going to be going to be
picked off. So really impressive for South Gota State, but equally,
I think disappointing for Sack State just because they were
kind of they were propped up so much by the
school presidents and it kind of puts them in a
(18:22):
bad spot if they can't, you know, live up to
that hype in those expectations. A couple of other things
I want to touch on here. Southern Utah I think
had it wasn't a ranked win, but it was one
of the more impressive FCS over FCS wins being in
Idaho State forty six twenty four. This was a week
after Idaho States nearly beat UNLV and there was a
(18:44):
thought that maybe standout quarterback Jordan Cook wasn't going to
play this week due to an injury, but he did
play for for Idaho States and so, you know, a
full strength for the most part for for Idaho State.
This is just a really impressive win for Southern Utah.
Browns and Barron looks He's had some success in the
past at the FCS level at Weber Stay if he
(19:04):
throws for nearly two hundred and fifty yards and three
touchdowns and then Joshua Die runs for nearly two hundred
yards and a couple of scores as well. Southern Utah
was right on the cusp of being ranked. For me,
they were really close as far as preseason wise, I
should say, but after this win definitely moved into my
top twenty five.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah, they're in my top twenty for me. That I
was with you, they were like one of my honorable
mentions in the preseason, and I just wanted to see
what it looked like both. I was on both sides
of the wall because they did lose some key talent
in certain spots that I was, like you said, I
was so impressed with Baron and and also to their
defense played pretty well against an Idaho State team that
(19:47):
has shown over the first two weeks that they could
make some some things happen on the outside and on
the ground, and so Southern Utah checked a lot of boxes.
And if you remember Sam, this was a big game
for them because this was probably the game that kept
them out of the playoffs last year as they got
upset by Idaho State early in the season. This was
a key out of conference win. And they have two more.
You have Northern Arizona and they have UC Davis. If
(20:08):
they can at least split those, I think Southern Utah
could be in a really really good position come late
in the season to make a push into the playoffs,
where they've been right on the cusp of breaking through
under under Fitzgerald.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, some close games as far as FCS versus FBS,
there's been five one score FCS versus FBS losses. Last
year there was around a dozen, but we had a
number of close calls this last weekend and Week zero
was Idaho State. They lost to UNLV thirty eight thirty one.
(20:42):
But this last week and Merrimack almost beats Kent States.
They lose twenty one to seventeen. Holy Cross was right
there with Northern Illinois that was nineteen seventeen. UND they
nearly beat number seventeen Kansas State before losing thirty eight
thirty five late in the fourth quarter. I thought that
was a very impressive performance by UND and then Idaho
nearly goes to Washington State ends up losing thirteen to ten,
(21:06):
but a very near win. Thereby the Vandals in that
kind of close proximity rivalry game there and then another
one too. I do want to mention this wasn't a
one score loss, but Alabama State really had a golden
opportunity to get an FBS win over UAB. They led
by double digits, then they trailed by double digits, and
(21:27):
then they clad back within three points that before UAB.
They scored a touchdown pretty late in the game, if
I remember correctly, to win fifty two forty two. But
still a very close game for Alabama State. And I
know you you highlighted this or both of us did
as well. About Andrew Body in the game game he
played eighteen to twenty four, three hundred and twelve yards,
(21:50):
four touchdowns, no interceptions, rushes for close to one hundred
and twenty yards in another score, he was terrific.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
So what do you make of some.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Of these close FCS versus FBS results? Do you take
away much of it or how do you kind of
gauge these ones?
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Okay, so I don't take everything from it, because Samon,
we've seen some teams that beat FBS teams that just
don't age well throughout the season. I'll say this, I
really value North Dakota's close battle with Kansas State. The
way they were competitive in that game is what gives
me hope, because they established a run, they did some
(22:28):
really really good things across the line of scrimmage, especially
defensively where that was that was a point that was,
I guess, a point of emphasis that I wanted to
see them improve on because last year they weren't great
against the run and also too and this is no
offense to Romp Fox or anything like that, but I
think they upgraded a quarterback. I'm a big fan of
Jerry Kaminski and what I saw him do this weekend
(22:50):
well twenty three of thirty eight, two thirty one and
his legs bringing just another level of this offense that
you're gonna have another wrinkle to the you're gonna have
to defend with two rushing touchdowns as well. Sawyer Sidell
had an amazing game. And I really do think they
even maybe even have some answers at receiver. I want
to see them against some FCS talent with Caden Dennis
(23:12):
and BJ fleminga some of those guys. But super impressed
with North Dakota. I know you also jumped them way
up in your ballot. I did as well, and I
think they showed that they can really hang in there.
I was also impressed with Idaho. There was a lot
of turnover on that defense man, and they played outstanding
this weekend against Washington State, and that defense I believe
had what was it like ten nine ten new starters
(23:33):
on it potentially, and so I was really impressed with
Idaho's defense. And then, like you said, Alabama statement, Andrew
Body had an outstanding performance. And if in that defense,
sam I found out after the game was playing without
four to five starters, imagine if they were full strength,
because there was a handful of the key defensive plays
that there were two draft interceptions, there was some key
(23:54):
pass interference call late. Maybe if those starters were in there,
they could have pulled it off. But I think Andrew
Body inserted him to the Walter Payton conversation because if
he can keep that that statistical performance going through slack
play and Bama State make a run to potentially the
Swap Championship, the Swap Championship or Celebration Bowl, is going
to be real hard to not believe that he's going
to have the stats to be in that Walter Payton conversation.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah, Idaho allowed three net rushing yards on twenty two attempts.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
It is crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Second secondary. I mean, they a little bit of holes
there in Idaho's secondary, but still that rushing defense and
to hold Washington State to thirteen points very impressive for Idaho.
And then yeah, the U and D one as well.
I mean they so close to getting a first FCS
over ranked FBS win since twenty twenty one. That was
when Washington or Montana beat Washington. No doubt, U and
(24:45):
D felt like, you know, they could have won that
game some dropped interceptions that those are the type of
small plays you need to make, and even in some
of the like two of these games, I believe one
was Mayor Matt Kent State. I think that the second
one was maybe Holy Cross in Northern Illinois, where the
FCS team went ahead and then allowed a kicker turn
(25:06):
touchdown to the FBS opponent and then the FBS team
win up. You know right away, it's just those small,
small but big things that really are the difference makers
in these sort of games. Kind Of on the opposite
side here we saw some some more ugly results FCS
versus FBS. For some top ranked FCS teams, you had
FBS number twenty two Iowa State. They beat number four
(25:29):
South Dakota fifty five to seven, and then number seven
Oregon they beat number two FCS Montana State fifty nine
to thirteen, and then FBS number eighteen Oklahoma they beat
number six Illinois State thirty five to three. That one
actually wasn't too bad, especially considering Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse.
He left the game with a right arm injury. Sounds
(25:51):
like he'll be fine, just some soreness there that I guess.
I wasn't super ugly, but still kind of a decisive win.
The Oregon Montana State one kind of went how I
expected it to. Maybe didn't expect the bobcast to give
up nearly sixty points, But it wasn't long ago that
Montana State allowed I think like sixty eight points to
(26:13):
Oregon States a few years ago and still made the
semi finals. And so that's it's a tough balance, especially
with a team like Iowa State versus South Dakota, where
you felt maybe the Yoats could have kept it a
little bit more competitive. How much you want to penalize
these teams is kind of tough, especially when there are
a lot of past examples of highly ranked FCS teams
(26:34):
really getting embarrassed by their FBS opponents and then going
on and making the quarterfinals or semifinals and you know
everything is fine from there. So how do you how
do you balance these type of blowout losses when you're
also factoring in you know, some FCS over FBS wins
or some you know FCS highly ranked teams beating a
non Division one win. Like there's so many varying results
(26:57):
in Week one, Like how do you try to balance
all of that?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I tried not to make any like gross over likely.
I really don't. I will say this to the one
thing that did concern me, and I moved Charlton State
over this team because of this. I was a little
bit concerned with South Dakota just because I know I
would State just beat Kansas State. But we saw Always
(27:22):
State Kansas State play pretty competitively, and we just saw
North Dakota have a chance to beat them and it
was fifty five to seven. And the big thing that
concerned me with that game, Sam was Aiden Bowman is
supposed to be an NFL prospect. He didn't play well.
And you tell me that you allow Alwa State to
go twenty three of twenty five for three to ZH
(27:44):
six and three touchdowns. That's just it just was a
really really bad defensive performance and the secondary was kind
of the spot. I had question marks for South Dakota
and I don't think they played well. And they also
were not able to establish the run at all. Now
this is South Dakota could come back in and make
a big run, but I thought they were going to
be a little bit more competitive than that. And for
(28:06):
Illinois State, I like you said, they losing your starting quarterback.
I thought they did some good things at times, but
once time you rent in House left the game, it
was it was over. And they still ran for over
one hundred yards in this game. Weakers right and had
a pretty good game seven carries for fifty yards. But overall,
I don't really dock any of these teams for what happened.
(28:26):
I mean, listen, Oregan's a top ten team for a reason.
Man Like Montana State might be really really good, and
we saw Idaho give Organs some problems, but there's no
reason the Ducks are are where they are and Dan
Lanning's one heck of a coach. And so it makes
it hard for me, right because me and you were
both so impressed with South Dakota State. What do you
do previewing this game this weekend? Right, because we don't.
(28:47):
I don't think we learned anything about Montana State last weekend.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, and that leads me into my next talking point here,
where we did see the quarterbacking debuts for three of
the top teams in the fcsnd to South Kota State
and Montana State. NDSU's cold Peyton. I thought he looked
really good. After a shaky first quarter, he goes ten
to sixteen, one hundred and ninety two yards, one touchdown,
one hundred and one rushing yards on eleven attempts. We
(29:15):
already knew that Cole Payton was a heck of a
runner he showed that game. But I thought he showed
a good arm as well. He might, I mean, you're
comparing him to some past NFL quarterbacks from NDSU. He
might not have you know, the grippet and rip it,
you know, zip on some of his throws, but I
also thought he showed some really nice touch on some
of his longer throws, and so I thought that was
(29:35):
a good debut.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
For Cold Peyton.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
For Chase Mason, we've already kind of touched about a
touched on this game quite a bit, but he goes
seventeen of twenty three for one hundred and ninety yards
in a touchdown. Rushing yards he finished with thirty, but
he did have seventy rushing yards before taking some pretty
big sacks, and so he showed his rushing ability as well.
I know we were talking about how Chase was getting
(30:00):
some NFL attention before even starting a game, and I
think he kind of showed why. You know, some of
the throws he made and just kind of the it's
not the most orthodox throwing motion. You can tell he
has a baseball background, but some of the throws were
just you know, flick the wrist and quick release. You
can certainly see why NFL scouts or bowl game representatives
(30:21):
either saw practice film or were at practices and saw
enough from his arm that said, Okay, we project this
guy to potentially be an NFL caliber player. He does
have two years of eligibility, and it sounds like he's
going to use those two years of eligibility. But I
thought for the most part, a good debut for Chase Mason.
Certainly some some inexperience there with some of the sacks
(30:41):
you know he took. Then, lastly, Justin Lampson from Montana State,
I thought pretty good, you know, considering he was going
up against Oregon. I can't remember if we talked about
this on last week's episode, but it does seem like
Montana State's offense is going to be a little bit
different in that they are still going to rely on
the power run game, but with the new offensive coordinator,
(31:01):
I think they're gonna spread the ball out a little
bit more in the pass game with some some quick hitters,
high efficiency throws. A Lampson went twenty three to thirty
one for nearly two hundred yards passing. There A lot
of that damage went to Taco Dawler, who had a
phenomenal game. But I'm interested to see Montana State versus
FCS opponents when you have that combination of a power
(31:22):
run game and then also you know, throwing the ball
around a little bit more, and I thought Lampson looked
like a more comfortable passer than a lot. Probably can
make some better throws than a lot, you know, he's
not going to be as explosive or as big of
a playmaker asm a lot. But overall, considering the opponents,
I took away from the Montana State game going, okay,
(31:42):
I think I think they're gonna be pretty good at
the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Spot from what I saw.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Is it okay? So I agree? I want I'm going
to hold out all my thoughts on Lamps so until
we see them this weekend. I just I know what
we saw at Oregon. It wasn't terrible, but like you said,
he had zero help on then they had what they average,
what one point seven yards per carry? This weekend, their
leading rusher has sixteen yards. I want to see. I
(32:07):
will say this, Taco dell aar amazing on the outside,
what a performance by him. But for I think out
of all the quarterbacks you mentioned, the most impressive to
me was Chase Mason. And you mentioned all the reasons
why and this is why he's on the Shrine Bowl
watch list and all this, but I'm still I came
into the season thinking Nathan Hayes was the better passer,
(32:29):
and even after this weekend, I still think that.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I mean, it was garbage time, but he looked pretty
good as well.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
He looks so good. And I understand because I do
want to say this for the Bison fan because I know,
I know they're passion I know they have their thoughts.
I understand why you have to start cold painting because
of what he brings with his legs. Man, he had
what one hundred and one rushing yards on nine point
two yards per carry. Unbelievable, Right, He's so athletic and
he's so dynamic that it's hard to keep him off
(32:57):
the field. But I think Nathan than Hayes brings a
higher ceiling as a passer in an overall quarterback. And
I know it was junk Tom, but at the end
of the day, he was kind of going up against
the same defense that Cole Peyton was like, I don't
think you can look at what Cole Payton did and said,
oh he was going against the ones or whatever. But
(33:18):
five for five seventy one yards in a touchdown. I
mean he had a perfect drive when he did come
into the game. I do kind of want to see
what Nathan Hayes can do it with more snaps. And
maybe that's just me selfishly being a little bit higher
on him, but when he gets a start, Man, I
really think this kid can be special, and I'll be
very curious to see because with Cole Payton running so much,
(33:39):
there's always the risk of injury, and he's coming off
the season where he did get hurt. I'll be very
curious to see how much Hayes can be featured in
this offense because I obviously know that Peyton's to God
at the end of the day. But if he struggles,
how quickly does North Dakota State look behind him? Because
it's very rare sound for you to have as talented
of a backup as Nathan Hayes.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Yeah, I was on Saturday morning. I was on Bizon
sixteen sixty and unfortunately my phone cut out and couldn't
be able to reconnect with Brad Jones. But one question
he was going to answer or was going to ask me,
and he ended up just texted me and asking me anyways,
and it was pretty much like who, like, Who's going
to be better, Cole Payton or Chase Mason, And I
kind of I gave a wishy washy answer a little
(34:23):
bit and this was all you know via text. So
I'll just I'll just I'll just make a public now,
I pretty much said that if I had to build
a team right now, just for this season and take
a quarterback between Chase or Coal, I would probably go
a Chase just because I feel like his his ceiling
is higher, you know, just as big, probably just as fast,
probably you know, from what we've seen so far, a
(34:45):
more talented arm. But I feel like if you were
just gonna ask me who's going to have a better
season as far as better production or better postseason accolades,
I would probably lean Payton because of the system and
because he did look good, you know, in week one,
better receivers to work with as well. And then also
the reason I'm saying this is to your point, I
(35:05):
feel like Peyton might be unleashed a little bit more
because NDSU feels comfortable if he does get dinged up
putting Hazen. Meanwhile, I feel like Chase might have a
little bit more rains put on them because I don't
know how good Southcota State feels about their backup quarterback.
Maybe they feel good.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Honestly, I don't even know who their backup quarterback is.
Compared to NBC, where it's like, well they got this
Hayes kid, he's gonna be pretty good. So I do
feel like Peyton could be set for a really big
year throwing the ball, rushing the ball, because they do
have the luxury of if he does get nicked up,
you know, like you said, it seems like NBCU does
have a very capable backup.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah, they definitely have the better backup. I think if
I was I agree with you one hundred percent. If
I was taking a quarterback for my team this year, Sam,
like me and you were the coaches and we got
to pick a quarterback to lead us, and our only
options are called Peyton or or Chase Mason. I'm gonna
to go Chase Mason for right now, and that could change,
but I do think Chase Mason brings a higher upside
(36:05):
and he looked much more efficient as a passer this weekend.
And like you said, that could change because Chase Mason
could go to Bozman this weekend and not have a
good game, while Cole Peyton continues and he's probably going
to go dominate Tennessee State. So it's a week by
week thing. But I agree coming into the season, I'll
lean Chase Mason, and I think it was only confirmed
after this weekend's performance.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny too.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
I mean that for years it was Easton Stick versus
tarn Christian who's better? And then it was, you know,
Gronowski versus cam Miller, and now it's week one and
it's already Peyton versus Mason.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Who are we taking?
Speaker 1 (36:38):
So it always makes for a kind of a fun discussion.
A couple more games I want to touch on here,
just just kind of quick thoughts. We had three, yeah,
three ranked teams that needed comeback wins over unranked teams.
So you had number nine Rhode Island. They beat Campbell
thirty one to twenty after trailing by three at halftime.
Number twenty two, momth I mean they were trailing or
(37:02):
thirty one to seven actually to Colgate. They end up
winning and beating Colgate forty two to thirty nine. Derek
roberts Derek Robertson he throws for nearly five hundred yards,
so he had a great game. Some interceptions in there
as well. I did want to shout out Colgate wide
receiver Treyvon Sunders coming into this game some high preseason accolades.
But he goes for thirteen catches two hundred and twenty
(37:22):
three yards two touchdowns for Colgate, so did want to
shout him out in that loss. And then number eight
UC Davis they were down twenty four to seven to
Utah Tech and then they roar back in and get
a thirty four or thirty one twenty four win. Excuse me,
so three comeback wins there, what do your We don't
have to break we're kind of short on time. We
(37:43):
don't have to break each one of these games down.
But just your overall thoughts with some of these comeback wins.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
That we saw one we got it and I tweeted
this out when you tweeted about the Mammouth game. We
got to put some respect on kurfitz Patrick.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Man.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
The dude is a winner and he is immediately made
Colgate look a whole lot better. And if there's starting
quarterback doesn't go down mid games, sound they probably win
that game against Momouth. But also at the same time,
probably shouldn't throw four interceptions in the first half of
your Derek Robertson, so you kind of saw how good
he can be when he doesn't turn the football over.
I was a little bit concerned about UC Davis, and
(38:17):
it kind of looked there Sam, especially with Mercer's lost
to Presbyteria, that there was a big hangover from that
that no contest and we've won for something that didn't happen, right,
And I thought they did a really good job in
the second half. Man Cayden Pinnate looked like a different player.
Jordan Fisher played really well. I'll see this. I dropped both,
especially those two teams. I dropped both of them in
(38:38):
the pole just because I think they were the better teams.
But they did not play like it this past weekend.
And that's something that I do think needs to be
addressed moving forward if either of these teams are going
to live up to the preseason hype that we saw.
And I also think with like Rhode Island and that
(38:59):
was kind of one of their recipe for success last year. Man,
how many close games did Rhode Island win last year?
It was, I mean, they had a double overtime against Hampton,
a few other one score wins. That just seems to
kind of be their recipe for success. I dropped them
a little bit as well, but I thought Devin Farrell
played a much better second half and they finally got
the run game going with Littleton there through the end
of the game.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Yeah, real quick here, we'll touch on some Week two games.
I mean, there's so much storycap from Week one that's
I'll just name name some of the games I have
an eye on it. Then we can kind of give
a macro view of these games. And I know you
and Timothy will will dive into these later on in
your Guys' podcast, So definitely be sure our listeners to
check that out for more in depth preview about these games.
(39:42):
But some of the ones I have circled FCS versus
FCS wise, of course, we have number two South Gota
State going to number three Montana States. Another ranked matchup,
Number twenty five SFA goes to number sixteen Applene Christian
Number nine Rhode Island goes to Stonybrook. I think that's
another good CAAA test for Chattanooga goes to number seventeen
Tennessee Tech. I did mention earlier on in the podcast this,
(40:06):
I mean the SOKIN needs some type of momentum back
on its side, so potentially a good opportunity here for
Chattanooga and then FCS versus FBS. Three games I have circled.
Number eighteen Sacramento State gost to Nevada, Number fifteen Jackson
State goes to Southern miss and then number fourteen Southern
Illinois goes to Purdue. Any I guess any other games
you want to mention or anything that sticks out those
(40:28):
list of seven.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Games, No, man, I think I think you hit most
of them. And I'm so obviously been. I gave him
Bozeman loom so large, and I still like, like I
said earlier, we didn't really learn a ton about Montana
State last week, and I think if if South Dakota State,
Fontalay will win that one, pretty convincedly, man, we're going
to have a huge We're just gonna have to have
(40:50):
a very interesting conversation about their true ceiling this year,
and I'm very very curious to see what they look
like just just outside of that too. I mean, you know,
we kind of mentioned earlier just some like under the
radar games U TRGV and PV both getting big wins
last week, and that one's going to be a very
very interesting game in my opinion. And then also and
(41:12):
then also too, I don't remember if you mentioned this,
but that Stephen F. Austin, Apple and Christian game is
massive for both of those programs, and I'm very very
excited to see because there are two programs that applein
Christian had some question marks coming into the year, while
I was very very high on Stephen F. Austen, And
we're going to learn a lot about those programs after
both of them played FBS schools last week, so we
(41:32):
really didn't get to learn a ton And that holy
Cross New Hampshire game and how big could that be?
A holy Cross is such a dark horse and the
Patriot when Richmond and Lehigh kind of got a lot
of the attention. And New Hampster is coming off a
really really big win over North Carolina Central last week,
So very very curious to see how they look.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
Man.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
So that those are my thoughts for this weekend.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yeah, very Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
That second one I mentioned with the other ranked matchup
with SFA and applein Christian a big one for Ablen
because I you know, I know he's in the FBS
now is he probably doesn't care what we're saying anymore.
A frout him or maybe you did get a message
from Trey Lamb, but I was almost kind of expecting
to hear something from from coach being like, you really
thought we were gonna lose to Abelien Christian. Hear something
(42:15):
from so I know, I know he saw somewhere out
there that you know, maybe some people thought that Ablin
was gonna get the upset window over Tulsa and that
was not close to happening.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
It was funny because me and you both have told
the tray when he was at the FCS level, very
very confident. I actually got invited to do a Tulsa
podcast before that game, and he told me that people
kept asking Trey about that Ablene Christian game, and he
just paused the press conference and said, we're not losing
the Abline Christian. You guys can stop asking now, next question.
(42:45):
And I was like, that's the most Trey Lamb thing
I've ever heard of my life, because that is exactly
the type of confidence he carries himself with.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
All right, Well we'll wrap it up there.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
I will be in Bozeman this weekend for number two
Healthcota State at number three Montana State. Really looking forward
to experiencing the gold Rush game. I have been there
a couple of times for the Brawl of the Wild,
but I hear Gold Russia is pretty phenomenal as well,
so looking forward to being out in Montana for that one,
and of course we'll be back next week to break
(43:17):
down all of the results and 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 of
hero Sports, and I'm joined by my co host Zach
McKinnell of FCS Football Central and the blue Bloods. A
lot to dive into on this episode. We have a
lot of games to talk about, a lot of results
(00:38):
to talk about it, and then at the end we'll
also discuss some of the upcoming Week two games that
we have circle. But first off, Zach, how are you doing.
How was your kind of three day feast of FCS football.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And I loved it. It was great to finally get
a full schedule, and you know, we kind of joked
about how Week zero is so easy for us as
national covers, as we get to watch every game. It
felt so good to get like the five six different
screens out and then try to pay attention to as
many games as possible. And we had some big FBS upsets,
we had some shocking FCS versus FCS upsets, and so
(01:11):
we have a lot to break down. Man, I'm ready
to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, as we always do it, We'll kick off with
three game balls in the flag segment here recapping Week one,
and then any teams or notable results that we miss
we'll touch on after this segment, but I'll kick out.
I will kick off here with my first game ball.
I'll give it to Tarleton State. Big FBS win. I
actually had to remind myself that this is the second
(01:37):
FBS win for Tarleton State. There first came in late
February of twenty twenty one. They beat New Mexico State.
I believe that was actually the first Division one game
for Tarleton as well, and then just you know, just
a goofy spring season. And it's just wild to think
back that their first FBS win was in February of
(01:57):
twenty twenty one. But they do get their second one here.
They beat Army thirty to twenty seven in double overtime.
Brad Larsen gets the game winning field goal there in
the second overtime and a huge win. We'll obviously it's
week one, so we'll see how well this win ages,
how well Army does. They were a nine to two
football team Lasher, but they did lose quite a bit.
(02:19):
But anytime you can get an FBS win, especially one
that was viewed nationally by a decent amount of people.
Huge for Tarleton State. And you know they were down
fourteen points at one point in the third chord before
climbing back and getting the win there. And I thought
Tarlton's front seven hung very well for the most part
against an Army team that of course wants to run
(02:40):
the ball very well. And then Tarlton's offense, I mean
Trey Page, he continues to shine, but also Caleb Lewis,
I mean he emerges and he goes for over one
hundred yards rushing on the ground. So a huge win
for Tarleton State and certainly boosts them up in the rankings.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, I've been super impressed with their offensive line too, Sam,
I mean, they have been dominant for two weeks and
they did it against an Army team that guess they
have a lot of new pizza, Sam, but this is
a program that knows they can't use a transfer portal,
that consistently develops talent year in a year out, and
historically has done well against that FCS teams and historically
has good offensive and defensive lines, and man, Tarleton dominated
(03:17):
on both front and like you said, Trey Page is
making an early case to be in that Jerry Rice
Award conversation as a freshman, and he's done an outstanding job.
And to kind of build off this, my first game
ball goes to Austin p who was our other FBS
upset of week one where they knock off Middle Tennessee
State and they snap a twelve game losing straight to them,
(03:38):
and they were dominant in this game. Sam one hundred
and fifty three total yards, allowed only two point six
yards per play. They held Middle Tennessee State without a
third down conversion oh for twelve and they had eight
tackles for lost five sacks. Chris Parson hit two big
touchdowns in the first half. They built a twenty one
(03:58):
to nothing lead, and they ended up winning this game
about twenty points. I was super impressed to Austin p
and it was a really really good weekend for the
UAC with two big FBS upsets.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, big time for that conference. My second game ball
I am going to give to Northwestern States. They beat
Alcorn State twenty to ten. That snaps a twenty game
losing streak for a Northwestern State, which was the longest
in in the FCS, and they entered this game as
about a ten and a half point under dog, and
so a huge win for Northwestern States. You know, you
(04:32):
saw the postgame scene there where they stormed the field.
I think a good amount of students storm the field
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And I mean good for his second year head coach.
Blame McCorkle. I mean, he took over.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
A program that was in a tough spot, you know,
on the field and then off the field, you know
as well, with the season a couple of years ago
getting canceled due to the tragic shooting. So he really
took over, you know, a program in a tough spot,
and then for them to get a win. It wasn't like,
you know, they beat a D two team or something
(05:03):
like that where you knew they were going to win.
I think, all I know I did. I believe I
predicted Alcorn, you know, to win this game, and so
not only snapping the win streak, but doing so in
upset fashion I think was a you know, a feel
good sort of story in the FCS.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, I definitely picked all Corn for obviously if anyone
watches by showing YouTube. So but again, man, regardless of
all that, what a win. And I think you saw
the excitement in the fan base, Sam, we don't get
a lot of field stormings in FCS, and that that
fan base, those players, Man, just the emotion that you
saw on the sideline to finally get that win was amazing,
(05:41):
and I think I would we need more of that
type of energy in FCS football. My next game ball
goes obviously to South Dakota State and really specifically their defense, Sam,
I thought their defense played outstanding this weekend in a
big win over sacrament of State and that go go
offense with Brendan Mary, and they dominated the time of
possession over forty one minutes of game time. They held
(06:02):
that go go offense to what one hundred and thirty
one yards two point six yards per play. They were
only able to rush for twenty four yards. Jayden Rashada
really really struggled in this game, and I think a
lot of it had to do with South Dakota State.
And then on top of that too offensively, Man, how
about Julius low Ridge. I don't think either one of
us is surprised about his performance, but he really put
(06:25):
on a show. And I thought Chase Mason looked really
really sharp and efficient and out of all these new
quarterbacks near the top of the FCS for all these
top five teams, I think he probably looked the most
impressive of all the newcomers. And so a huge win
for Dan Jackson in South Dakota State before they go
on the road to Montana State this weekend.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, my third game ball, I'll give it to UTRGV.
I mean, they did what they were probably supposed to do.
They beat Solaros State sixty six to nothing. That's a
nine Division one opponent. But this is the football debut
for utr GV and close to thirteen thousand fans in attendance,
(07:05):
you know, look like a great tailgating scene. We've talked
about this program before as far as their potential with
where they're located, in their facilities and community support. So
that was just kind of exciting to see them, you know,
really dominate a game. I think you expected them to
dominate like they did. At the same time, you just
never know how a brand new football team is going
(07:26):
to look. And they go to Prairie Review A and
M this week for their first ever game against the
division on opponent, and so we'll see what happens there.
But I mean quarterback Eddie Lee Marberger. He's a transfer
from UTSA, one of many FBS transfers on this team.
He goes eighteen of nineteen, three hundred and sixty five
yards and five touchdowns. Obviously an overmatched opponent, but still,
(07:48):
you know, great numbers there are a great win there,
and just an overall a really cool scene there for
that for that football program.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
That's still pretty impressive. I don't know, I don't really
care who they play, but I mean, eighteen of nineteen
with five touchdowns pretty good. I have to say, very
curious to see how they look about against PV this weekend,
and I can't wait for that game. But my last
game ball obviously goes to Lehigh, the other top twenty
five matchup of the weekend. They get it done against
number twenty five Richmond and it gives them a really
(08:17):
good lead in the Patriot League, a key tiebreaker and shockingly,
this was their first season opening wins. That's twenty eighteen again,
another dominant defensive performance, less than two hundred yards of
total offense allowed three and a half yards per play.
And I've really thought Jaden Green was the superstar offensively
for Lehigh. Eighty eight rushing yards two total touchdowns. He
ended up having the game when he touched down the
(08:38):
fourth quarter that put him up for good. And I'm
really really impressed with Leehi. We talked in the I
guess in our preview episode. I think we both went
Lee High here, but they had so much returning talent
sim and it was really good. After some I would
say they had some growing pains early in the game. Offensively,
it just all kind of clicked together and outside of
(08:59):
that kickoff return and they only allow seven points defensively,
I was really really impressive LEEH. And they look legit
and look like a team that's ready to make another
run to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, big rank ranked win there for Lehigh, and that
was a Patriot League matchup as well, with Richmond making
its conference debut. Going to the flag now I will
throw it on Western Carolina. A tough, tough loss there
for Western Carolina, who was ranked number eighteen. They lost
fifty two to forty five at home to Gardner Webb.
(09:29):
The Catamounts were without Tron Dickens, stand out young quarterback
for Western Carolina who sounds like he's ineligible. I don't
know specifics there. I'm not sure either when he will
be back, but Bennett Judy did come in and he
was playing well. Western Carolina led this game thirty five
to seven, and you go, okay, you know this plug
(09:49):
and play a quarterback. You know in this offense they're
going to roll. But then Gardner Webb just surges and
makes a huge comeback and ends up winning fifty two
to forty five. And the quarterback on the other side
of the ball for Gardner Webb Nate Hampton. He's a
transfer from Liberty. He throws for two hundred and sixty
plus yards two touchdowns, and then he rushes for more
than one hundred and thirty yards and four touchdowns. So
(10:12):
he really played well obviously, and that's a huge win
for Gardner Webb. But as we've said before, sometimes when
a ranked team loses to an unranked team, I usually
you know, the national focus is on that ranked team losing.
So obviously, big kudos to Gardner web here. But for
Western Carolina that came in with big expectations to lose
(10:34):
for the second year in a row to an unranked
team last year was Campbell. I definitely could sense the
frustration from Catamoult fans after this one.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
If we just want to keep piling onto the SoCon,
I guess we can go to my flag. How about
Mercer losing to Presbyterian fifteen to ten. This was a
team that they beat sixty three to seven in Week
one last year's Salem, and they just the offense was
a knemick. They scored early or I believe it was
in the first quarter. They scored their only touchdown of
(11:06):
the game and then got outscored fifteen to three the
rest of the way. The offense had no answer against
Presbyterian and they got out gained four sixteen to two
forty one. The only averaged four yards per play. DJ
Smith was not great. The rushing attack couldn't get nothing going.
(11:26):
They ran for less than ninety yards and they allowed
over three hundred and three passing yards from Colin Hurst
from Presbyterian. On one hand, give a shout out to
Presbyteria and they've made a remarkable step forward as a
program after some really really tough years. But man, this
was a massive loss from Mercer. It just kind of
caps a bad weekend for the SoCon where you could
even throw in Sanford's loss to West Georgia on Thursday
(11:49):
night where they got blown out. Sam. I don't know
about you, because we already talked last week about how
the no contest potentially could impact Mercer's playoff chances. This
might eliminate them unless they go and win the SOFON.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Now, Yeah, it's it's a super red flag here, And
I mean it was I was watching the game and
tracking it too, and it was I mean, Mercer was
winning ten to six for a while and then it
was ten to nine for a while.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
And I was kind of I was like, I should,
I should.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Tweet about this score because it's super interesting, but I
was just waiting for Mercer to make it a two
score game and then a three score game, and then
eventually Presbyterian wins it there late in that game.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
And it's just a brutal, brutal.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Loss, not only to a Pioneer Football League team, but
a bad one at that as well.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So a tough one for for.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Mercer there, and yeah, not a good weekend for for
the SoCon. Like you said, Sanford lost it's as well,
pretty handedlyman. You know, Furman got a nice win over
William and Mary Etsu kind of handled Murray State pulled
away there.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
So that's a.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I mean, it's a win over a valley team, but
Murray State I certainly struggled. So, you know, opportunities maybe
for the SoCon to get back on track at Chattanooga
goes to Tennessee Tech this weekend. That's a big opportunity there,
but a really tough weekend, opening weekend.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
For the SoCon.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
You know, I want to go back to the South
Gota State game with its win over Sacramento State. Touch
on that one a little bit more because it was
the highlight game of the last weekend. Did did Southcota
State look better than what you expected in this one?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Or was it?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, that's kind of the jack Rabbit squad that that
I was expecting to see. It's definitely a tough an
interesting game to analyze because the final score twenty to three.
You win by three scores, but then you look statistically
and whether it's yards rushing, yards, time of possession, and
then just watching it with some of the miscue South
(13:51):
got to State had, you know, a couple of trips
to the red zone that didn't produce six, You felt
like it could have been thirty five to three through
the eight to three and even more of like a
like kind of a statement performance. I still think a
twenty to three win was a statement performance, but it
could have been an even bigger statement. But overall, I
was very impressed with South Kota State at the same time,
(14:14):
you know, you feel like maybe they could have put
the hammer down even more, and there's certainly a lot
of things that they can clean up, whether it be
red zone efficiency, whether it be I thought the offensive
line looked good, but certainly when sax State sent pressure
that kind of frazzled Southcota States. And I thought sax
State played pretty well defensively actually in the second half.
But just our overall thoughts on how you know South
(14:36):
Kota State looked in this one.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, so it was the same kind of recipe that
I thought they were going to utilize to win games,
which is dominate tom possession and run the football and
not trying to make Chase Mason do too much to
the air, even though he looked pretty efficient when they
did give him a chance to throw down field. Like
you said, I thought sax State makes a really good
adjustments defensively. You know, it's interesting looking at the advanced analytics,
(14:58):
I believe that the offensive line was only responsible for
three of the seven sacks, which means I think Chase
Mason does need to get the ball out a little
bit quicker, definitely, and especially when you bring when defense
is bringing a ton of pressure, you've got to know
where you're drop down or your checkdowns are. And I
think that's gonna be a big thing for him, as
not hold the balls along and try to make a play.
(15:20):
But more than one thing could be true. I want
Sam is I think I was most impressed with the
defense of South Dakota State. They geled way quicker than
I thought they were. But at the same time, I
just think Sacramento State was a way bigger disappointment than
I thought, especially offensively. Jaye Vershata just looked lost out
(15:41):
there and said there were some wide open receivers that
he just missed, And I just I don't necessarily know
what the path forward is for this offense. But if
Shada doesn't improve, you have to think there's a quarterback
in the room that can give you more than he
did on Saturday night. And I thought their offensive line
just got beat at the point of attack. And correct
(16:03):
me if I'm wrong, Sam. This has been the recipe
for South Dakota State for years now. They're not going
to have a guy that's going to have twenty tackles
for loss. Right, it's just going to be fundamental football
and they're just going to beat you up front, and
no one's really going to be the superstar on the
defensive line outside of maybe what was it like three
or four years ago where they had those two d tackles?
Was it Sanders and I'm blanket on the otherman? I think, yeah, well, Wiklman,
(16:27):
those two guys were superstars, but outside of that, they
really haven't had any superstars on the D line. They're
just bigger and more physical than you. But I will
say this man, Chase fan Toll looks like he could
potentially be special. Yeah, if he keeps developing. The kid
is just a freak athlete, man, And I think he's
going to have a really, really good year. And I
think South Dakota State showed me a little bit of
(16:47):
something simm If they can get this type of defensive
play all season, they're going to be I think, a
bigger factor in the championship race. And maybe I was
giving them credit for.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yeah, absolutely, and ban Tol did get that targeting call,
so he'll have to sit out the first half of
this weekend, I believe at Montana State. So so that's
a big one right there. But yeah, it was I
know you and I were kind of on the same
page with South Gota State's linebackers that we didn't feel
like they were going to take much of a step back,
if any of a step back compared to the elite
(17:19):
linebackers they've had in the past, and they they certainly
showed that. But yeah, I mean sax State offense was
still disappointing. We'll see what they'll do this weekend when
they go to Nevada. I mean, if sax State goes
out there and scores thirty one points, then you know
we go back and look, okay, South go to State's
defense is even better then maybe we expected. But if
(17:40):
this is going to be a theme for the Hornets
of just not generating much of a push in the
in the running game and then Rushata just you know,
not making the throws. You know, he needs to make
that interception, which I mean, you could argue that probably
should probably should have been knocked down for field position purposes,
but I mean, if you're throwing a go route and
(18:00):
you're throwing it on the inside of the receiver, like
that's just not where you want to place that ball
because that is certainly going to be going to be
picked off. So really impressive for South Gota State, but equally,
I think disappointing for Sack State just because they were
kind of they were propped up so much by the
school presidents and it kind of puts them in a
(18:22):
bad spot if they can't, you know, live up to
that hype in those expectations. A couple of other things
I want to touch on here. Southern Utah I think
had it wasn't a ranked win, but it was one
of the more impressive FCS over FCS wins being in
Idaho State forty six twenty four. This was a week
after Idaho States nearly beat UNLV and there was a
(18:44):
thought that maybe standout quarterback Jordan Cook wasn't going to
play this week due to an injury, but he did
play for for Idaho States and so, you know, a
full strength for the most part for for Idaho State.
This is just a really impressive win for Southern Utah.
Browns and Barron looks He's had some success in the
past at the FCS level at Weber Stay if he
(19:04):
throws for nearly two hundred and fifty yards and three
touchdowns and then Joshua Die runs for nearly two hundred
yards and a couple of scores as well. Southern Utah
was right on the cusp of being ranked. For me,
they were really close as far as preseason wise, I
should say, but after this win definitely moved into my
top twenty five.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah, they're in my top twenty for me. That I
was with you, they were like one of my honorable
mentions in the preseason, and I just wanted to see
what it looked like both. I was on both sides
of the wall because they did lose some key talent
in certain spots that I was, like you said, I
was so impressed with Baron and and also to their
defense played pretty well against an Idaho State team that
(19:47):
has shown over the first two weeks that they could
make some some things happen on the outside and on
the ground, and so Southern Utah checked a lot of boxes.
And if you remember Sam, this was a big game
for them because this was probably the game that kept
them out of the playoffs last year as they got
upset by Idaho State early in the season. This was
a key out of conference win. And they have two more.
You have Northern Arizona and they have UC Davis. If
(20:08):
they can at least split those, I think Southern Utah
could be in a really really good position come late
in the season to make a push into the playoffs,
where they've been right on the cusp of breaking through
under under Fitzgerald.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, some close games as far as FCS versus FBS,
there's been five one score FCS versus FBS losses. Last
year there was around a dozen, but we had a
number of close calls this last weekend and Week zero
was Idaho State. They lost to UNLV thirty eight thirty one.
(20:42):
But this last week and Merrimack almost beats Kent States.
They lose twenty one to seventeen. Holy Cross was right
there with Northern Illinois that was nineteen seventeen. UND they
nearly beat number seventeen Kansas State before losing thirty eight
thirty five late in the fourth quarter. I thought that
was a very impressive performance by UND and then Idaho
nearly goes to Washington State ends up losing thirteen to ten,
(21:06):
but a very near win. Thereby the Vandals in that
kind of close proximity rivalry game there and then another
one too. I do want to mention this wasn't a
one score loss, but Alabama State really had a golden
opportunity to get an FBS win over UAB. They led
by double digits, then they trailed by double digits, and
(21:27):
then they clad back within three points that before UAB.
They scored a touchdown pretty late in the game, if
I remember correctly, to win fifty two forty two. But
still a very close game for Alabama State. And I
know you you highlighted this or both of us did
as well. About Andrew Body in the game game he
played eighteen to twenty four, three hundred and twelve yards,
(21:50):
four touchdowns, no interceptions, rushes for close to one hundred
and twenty yards in another score, he was terrific.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
So what do you make of some.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Of these close FCS versus FBS results? Do you take
away much of it or how do you kind of
gauge these ones?
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Okay, so I don't take everything from it, because Samon,
we've seen some teams that beat FBS teams that just
don't age well throughout the season. I'll say this, I
really value North Dakota's close battle with Kansas State. The
way they were competitive in that game is what gives
me hope, because they established a run, they did some
(22:28):
really really good things across the line of scrimmage, especially
defensively where that was that was a point that was,
I guess, a point of emphasis that I wanted to
see them improve on because last year they weren't great
against the run and also too and this is no
offense to Romp Fox or anything like that, but I
think they upgraded a quarterback. I'm a big fan of
Jerry Kaminski and what I saw him do this weekend
(22:50):
well twenty three of thirty eight, two thirty one and
his legs bringing just another level of this offense that
you're gonna have another wrinkle to the you're gonna have
to defend with two rushing touchdowns as well. Sawyer Sidell
had an amazing game. And I really do think they
even maybe even have some answers at receiver. I want
to see them against some FCS talent with Caden Dennis
(23:12):
and BJ fleminga some of those guys. But super impressed
with North Dakota. I know you also jumped them way
up in your ballot. I did as well, and I
think they showed that they can really hang in there.
I was also impressed with Idaho. There was a lot
of turnover on that defense man, and they played outstanding
this weekend against Washington State, and that defense I believe
had what was it like ten nine ten new starters
(23:33):
on it potentially, and so I was really impressed with
Idaho's defense. And then, like you said, Alabama statement, Andrew
Body had an outstanding performance. And if in that defense,
sam I found out after the game was playing without
four to five starters, imagine if they were full strength,
because there was a handful of the key defensive plays
that there were two draft interceptions, there was some key
(23:54):
pass interference call late. Maybe if those starters were in there,
they could have pulled it off. But I think Andrew
Body inserted him to the Walter Payton conversation because if
he can keep that that statistical performance going through slack
play and Bama State make a run to potentially the
Swap Championship, the Swap Championship or Celebration Bowl, is going
to be real hard to not believe that he's going
to have the stats to be in that Walter Payton conversation.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah, Idaho allowed three net rushing yards on twenty two attempts.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
It is crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Second secondary. I mean, they a little bit of holes
there in Idaho's secondary, but still that rushing defense and
to hold Washington State to thirteen points very impressive for Idaho.
And then yeah, the U and D one as well.
I mean they so close to getting a first FCS
over ranked FBS win since twenty twenty one. That was
when Washington or Montana beat Washington. No doubt, U and
(24:45):
D felt like, you know, they could have won that
game some dropped interceptions that those are the type of
small plays you need to make, and even in some
of the like two of these games, I believe one
was Mayor Matt Kent State. I think that the second
one was maybe Holy Cross in Northern Illinois, where the
FCS team went ahead and then allowed a kicker turn
(25:06):
touchdown to the FBS opponent and then the FBS team
win up. You know right away, it's just those small,
small but big things that really are the difference makers
in these sort of games. Kind Of on the opposite
side here we saw some some more ugly results FCS
versus FBS. For some top ranked FCS teams, you had
FBS number twenty two Iowa State. They beat number four
(25:29):
South Dakota fifty five to seven, and then number seven
Oregon they beat number two FCS Montana State fifty nine
to thirteen, and then FBS number eighteen Oklahoma they beat
number six Illinois State thirty five to three. That one
actually wasn't too bad, especially considering Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse.
He left the game with a right arm injury. Sounds
(25:51):
like he'll be fine, just some soreness there that I guess.
I wasn't super ugly, but still kind of a decisive win.
The Oregon Montana State one kind of went how I
expected it to. Maybe didn't expect the bobcast to give
up nearly sixty points, But it wasn't long ago that
Montana State allowed I think like sixty eight points to
(26:13):
Oregon States a few years ago and still made the
semi finals. And so that's it's a tough balance, especially
with a team like Iowa State versus South Dakota, where
you felt maybe the Yoats could have kept it a
little bit more competitive. How much you want to penalize
these teams is kind of tough, especially when there are
a lot of past examples of highly ranked FCS teams
(26:34):
really getting embarrassed by their FBS opponents and then going
on and making the quarterfinals or semifinals and you know
everything is fine from there. So how do you how
do you balance these type of blowout losses when you're
also factoring in you know, some FCS over FBS wins
or some you know FCS highly ranked teams beating a
non Division one win. Like there's so many varying results
(26:57):
in Week one, Like how do you try to balance
all of that?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I tried not to make any like gross over likely.
I really don't. I will say this to the one
thing that did concern me, and I moved Charlton State
over this team because of this. I was a little
bit concerned with South Dakota just because I know I
would State just beat Kansas State. But we saw Always
(27:22):
State Kansas State play pretty competitively, and we just saw
North Dakota have a chance to beat them and it
was fifty five to seven. And the big thing that
concerned me with that game, Sam was Aiden Bowman is
supposed to be an NFL prospect. He didn't play well.
And you tell me that you allow Alwa State to
go twenty three of twenty five for three to ZH
(27:44):
six and three touchdowns. That's just it just was a
really really bad defensive performance and the secondary was kind
of the spot. I had question marks for South Dakota
and I don't think they played well. And they also
were not able to establish the run at all. Now
this is South Dakota could come back in and make
a big run, but I thought they were going to
be a little bit more competitive than that. And for
(28:06):
Illinois State, I like you said, they losing your starting quarterback.
I thought they did some good things at times, but
once time you rent in House left the game, it
was it was over. And they still ran for over
one hundred yards in this game. Weakers right and had
a pretty good game seven carries for fifty yards. But overall,
I don't really dock any of these teams for what happened.
(28:26):
I mean, listen, Oregan's a top ten team for a reason.
Man Like Montana State might be really really good, and
we saw Idaho give Organs some problems, but there's no
reason the Ducks are are where they are and Dan
Lanning's one heck of a coach. And so it makes
it hard for me, right because me and you were
both so impressed with South Dakota State. What do you
do previewing this game this weekend? Right, because we don't.
(28:47):
I don't think we learned anything about Montana State last weekend.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, and that leads me into my next talking point here,
where we did see the quarterbacking debuts for three of
the top teams in the fcsnd to South Kota State
and Montana State. NDSU's cold Peyton. I thought he looked
really good. After a shaky first quarter, he goes ten
to sixteen, one hundred and ninety two yards, one touchdown,
one hundred and one rushing yards on eleven attempts. We
(29:15):
already knew that Cole Payton was a heck of a
runner he showed that game. But I thought he showed
a good arm as well. He might, I mean, you're
comparing him to some past NFL quarterbacks from NDSU. He
might not have you know, the grippet and rip it,
you know, zip on some of his throws, but I
also thought he showed some really nice touch on some
of his longer throws, and so I thought that was
(29:35):
a good debut.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
For Cold Peyton.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
For Chase Mason, we've already kind of touched about a
touched on this game quite a bit, but he goes
seventeen of twenty three for one hundred and ninety yards
in a touchdown. Rushing yards he finished with thirty, but
he did have seventy rushing yards before taking some pretty
big sacks, and so he showed his rushing ability as well.
I know we were talking about how Chase was getting
(30:00):
some NFL attention before even starting a game, and I
think he kind of showed why. You know, some of
the throws he made and just kind of the it's
not the most orthodox throwing motion. You can tell he
has a baseball background, but some of the throws were
just you know, flick the wrist and quick release. You
can certainly see why NFL scouts or bowl game representatives
(30:21):
either saw practice film or were at practices and saw
enough from his arm that said, Okay, we project this
guy to potentially be an NFL caliber player. He does
have two years of eligibility, and it sounds like he's
going to use those two years of eligibility. But I
thought for the most part, a good debut for Chase Mason.
Certainly some some inexperience there with some of the sacks
(30:41):
you know he took. Then, lastly, Justin Lampson from Montana State,
I thought pretty good, you know, considering he was going
up against Oregon. I can't remember if we talked about
this on last week's episode, but it does seem like
Montana State's offense is going to be a little bit
different in that they are still going to rely on
the power run game, but with the new offensive coordinator,
(31:01):
I think they're gonna spread the ball out a little
bit more in the pass game with some some quick hitters,
high efficiency throws. A Lampson went twenty three to thirty
one for nearly two hundred yards passing. There A lot
of that damage went to Taco Dawler, who had a
phenomenal game. But I'm interested to see Montana State versus
FCS opponents when you have that combination of a power
(31:22):
run game and then also you know, throwing the ball
around a little bit more, and I thought Lampson looked
like a more comfortable passer than a lot. Probably can
make some better throws than a lot, you know, he's
not going to be as explosive or as big of
a playmaker asm a lot. But overall, considering the opponents,
I took away from the Montana State game going, okay,
(31:42):
I think I think they're gonna be pretty good at
the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Spot from what I saw.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Is it okay? So I agree? I want I'm going
to hold out all my thoughts on Lamps so until
we see them this weekend. I just I know what
we saw at Oregon. It wasn't terrible, but like you said,
he had zero help on then they had what they average,
what one point seven yards per carry? This weekend, their
leading rusher has sixteen yards. I want to see. I
(32:07):
will say this, Taco dell aar amazing on the outside,
what a performance by him. But for I think out
of all the quarterbacks you mentioned, the most impressive to
me was Chase Mason. And you mentioned all the reasons
why and this is why he's on the Shrine Bowl
watch list and all this, but I'm still I came
into the season thinking Nathan Hayes was the better passer,
(32:29):
and even after this weekend, I still think that.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I mean, it was garbage time, but he looked pretty
good as well.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
He looks so good. And I understand because I do
want to say this for the Bison fan because I know,
I know they're passion I know they have their thoughts.
I understand why you have to start cold painting because
of what he brings with his legs. Man, he had
what one hundred and one rushing yards on nine point
two yards per carry. Unbelievable, Right, He's so athletic and
he's so dynamic that it's hard to keep him off
(32:57):
the field. But I think Nathan than Hayes brings a
higher ceiling as a passer in an overall quarterback. And
I know it was junk Tom, but at the end
of the day, he was kind of going up against
the same defense that Cole Peyton was like, I don't
think you can look at what Cole Payton did and said,
oh he was going against the ones or whatever. But
(33:18):
five for five seventy one yards in a touchdown. I
mean he had a perfect drive when he did come
into the game. I do kind of want to see
what Nathan Hayes can do it with more snaps. And
maybe that's just me selfishly being a little bit higher
on him, but when he gets a start, Man, I
really think this kid can be special, and I'll be
very curious to see because with Cole Payton running so much,
(33:39):
there's always the risk of injury, and he's coming off
the season where he did get hurt. I'll be very
curious to see how much Hayes can be featured in
this offense because I obviously know that Peyton's to God
at the end of the day. But if he struggles,
how quickly does North Dakota State look behind him? Because
it's very rare sound for you to have as talented
of a backup as Nathan Hayes.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Yeah, I was on Saturday morning. I was on Bizon
sixteen sixty and unfortunately my phone cut out and couldn't
be able to reconnect with Brad Jones. But one question
he was going to answer or was going to ask me,
and he ended up just texted me and asking me anyways,
and it was pretty much like who, like, Who's going
to be better, Cole Payton or Chase Mason, And I
kind of I gave a wishy washy answer a little
(34:23):
bit and this was all you know via text. So
I'll just I'll just I'll just make a public now,
I pretty much said that if I had to build
a team right now, just for this season and take
a quarterback between Chase or Coal, I would probably go
a Chase just because I feel like his his ceiling
is higher, you know, just as big, probably just as fast,
probably you know, from what we've seen so far, a
(34:45):
more talented arm. But I feel like if you were
just gonna ask me who's going to have a better
season as far as better production or better postseason accolades,
I would probably lean Payton because of the system and
because he did look good, you know, in week one,
better receivers to work with as well. And then also
the reason I'm saying this is to your point, I
(35:05):
feel like Peyton might be unleashed a little bit more
because NDSU feels comfortable if he does get dinged up
putting Hazen. Meanwhile, I feel like Chase might have a
little bit more rains put on them because I don't
know how good Southcota State feels about their backup quarterback.
Maybe they feel good.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Honestly, I don't even know who their backup quarterback is.
Compared to NBC, where it's like, well they got this
Hayes kid, he's gonna be pretty good. So I do
feel like Peyton could be set for a really big
year throwing the ball, rushing the ball, because they do
have the luxury of if he does get nicked up,
you know, like you said, it seems like NBCU does
have a very capable backup.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah, they definitely have the better backup. I think if
I was I agree with you one hundred percent. If
I was taking a quarterback for my team this year, Sam,
like me and you were the coaches and we got
to pick a quarterback to lead us, and our only
options are called Peyton or or Chase Mason. I'm gonna
to go Chase Mason for right now, and that could change,
but I do think Chase Mason brings a higher upside
(36:05):
and he looked much more efficient as a passer this weekend.
And like you said, that could change because Chase Mason
could go to Bozman this weekend and not have a
good game, while Cole Peyton continues and he's probably going
to go dominate Tennessee State. So it's a week by
week thing. But I agree coming into the season, I'll
lean Chase Mason, and I think it was only confirmed
after this weekend's performance.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny too.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
I mean that for years it was Easton Stick versus
tarn Christian who's better? And then it was, you know,
Gronowski versus cam Miller, and now it's week one and
it's already Peyton versus Mason.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Who are we taking?
Speaker 1 (36:38):
So it always makes for a kind of a fun discussion.
A couple more games I want to touch on here,
just just kind of quick thoughts. We had three, yeah,
three ranked teams that needed comeback wins over unranked teams.
So you had number nine Rhode Island. They beat Campbell
thirty one to twenty after trailing by three at halftime.
Number twenty two, momth I mean they were trailing or
(37:02):
thirty one to seven actually to Colgate. They end up
winning and beating Colgate forty two to thirty nine. Derek
roberts Derek Robertson he throws for nearly five hundred yards,
so he had a great game. Some interceptions in there
as well. I did want to shout out Colgate wide
receiver Treyvon Sunders coming into this game some high preseason accolades.
But he goes for thirteen catches two hundred and twenty
(37:22):
three yards two touchdowns for Colgate, so did want to
shout him out in that loss. And then number eight
UC Davis they were down twenty four to seven to
Utah Tech and then they roar back in and get
a thirty four or thirty one twenty four win. Excuse me,
so three comeback wins there, what do your We don't
have to break we're kind of short on time. We
(37:43):
don't have to break each one of these games down.
But just your overall thoughts with some of these comeback wins.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
That we saw one we got it and I tweeted
this out when you tweeted about the Mammouth game. We
got to put some respect on kurfitz Patrick.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Man.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
The dude is a winner and he is immediately made
Colgate look a whole lot better. And if there's starting
quarterback doesn't go down mid games, sound they probably win
that game against Momouth. But also at the same time,
probably shouldn't throw four interceptions in the first half of
your Derek Robertson, so you kind of saw how good
he can be when he doesn't turn the football over.
I was a little bit concerned about UC Davis, and
(38:17):
it kind of looked there Sam, especially with Mercer's lost
to Presbyteria, that there was a big hangover from that
that no contest and we've won for something that didn't happen, right,
And I thought they did a really good job in
the second half. Man Cayden Pinnate looked like a different player.
Jordan Fisher played really well. I'll see this. I dropped both,
especially those two teams. I dropped both of them in
(38:38):
the pole just because I think they were the better teams.
But they did not play like it this past weekend.
And that's something that I do think needs to be
addressed moving forward if either of these teams are going
to live up to the preseason hype that we saw.
And I also think with like Rhode Island and that
(38:59):
was kind of one of their recipe for success last year. Man,
how many close games did Rhode Island win last year?
It was, I mean, they had a double overtime against Hampton,
a few other one score wins. That just seems to
kind of be their recipe for success. I dropped them
a little bit as well, but I thought Devin Farrell
played a much better second half and they finally got
the run game going with Littleton there through the end
of the game.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Yeah, real quick here, we'll touch on some Week two games.
I mean, there's so much storycap from Week one that's
I'll just name name some of the games I have
an eye on it. Then we can kind of give
a macro view of these games. And I know you
and Timothy will will dive into these later on in
your Guys' podcast, So definitely be sure our listeners to
check that out for more in depth preview about these games.
(39:42):
But some of the ones I have circled FCS versus
FCS wise, of course, we have number two South Gota
State going to number three Montana States. Another ranked matchup,
Number twenty five SFA goes to number sixteen Applene Christian
Number nine Rhode Island goes to Stonybrook. I think that's
another good CAAA test for Chattanooga goes to number seventeen
Tennessee Tech. I did mention earlier on in the podcast this,
(40:06):
I mean the SOKIN needs some type of momentum back
on its side, so potentially a good opportunity here for
Chattanooga and then FCS versus FBS. Three games I have circled.
Number eighteen Sacramento State gost to Nevada, Number fifteen Jackson
State goes to Southern miss and then number fourteen Southern
Illinois goes to Purdue. Any I guess any other games
you want to mention or anything that sticks out those
(40:28):
list of seven.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Games, No, man, I think I think you hit most
of them. And I'm so obviously been. I gave him
Bozeman loom so large, and I still like, like I
said earlier, we didn't really learn a ton about Montana
State last week, and I think if if South Dakota State,
Fontalay will win that one, pretty convincedly, man, we're going
to have a huge We're just gonna have to have
(40:50):
a very interesting conversation about their true ceiling this year,
and I'm very very curious to see what they look
like just just outside of that too. I mean, you know,
we kind of mentioned earlier just some like under the
radar games U TRGV and PV both getting big wins
last week, and that one's going to be a very
very interesting game in my opinion. And then also and
(41:12):
then also too, I don't remember if you mentioned this,
but that Stephen F. Austin, Apple and Christian game is
massive for both of those programs, and I'm very very
excited to see because there are two programs that applein
Christian had some question marks coming into the year, while
I was very very high on Stephen F. Austen, And
we're going to learn a lot about those programs after
both of them played FBS schools last week, so we
(41:32):
really didn't get to learn a ton And that holy
Cross New Hampshire game and how big could that be?
A holy Cross is such a dark horse and the
Patriot when Richmond and Lehigh kind of got a lot
of the attention. And New Hampster is coming off a
really really big win over North Carolina Central last week,
So very very curious to see how they look.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
Man.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
So that those are my thoughts for this weekend.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yeah, very Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
That second one I mentioned with the other ranked matchup
with SFA and applein Christian a big one for Ablen
because I you know, I know he's in the FBS
now is he probably doesn't care what we're saying anymore.
A frout him or maybe you did get a message
from Trey Lamb, but I was almost kind of expecting
to hear something from from coach being like, you really
thought we were gonna lose to Abelien Christian. Hear something
(42:15):
from so I know, I know he saw somewhere out
there that you know, maybe some people thought that Ablin
was gonna get the upset window over Tulsa and that
was not close to happening.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
It was funny because me and you both have told
the tray when he was at the FCS level, very
very confident. I actually got invited to do a Tulsa
podcast before that game, and he told me that people
kept asking Trey about that Ablene Christian game, and he
just paused the press conference and said, we're not losing
the Abline Christian. You guys can stop asking now, next question.
(42:45):
And I was like, that's the most Trey Lamb thing
I've ever heard of my life, because that is exactly
the type of confidence he carries himself with.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
All right, Well we'll wrap it up there.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
I will be in Bozeman this weekend for number two
Healthcota State at number three Montana State. Really looking forward
to experiencing the gold Rush game. I have been there
a couple of times for the Brawl of the Wild,
but I hear Gold Russia is pretty phenomenal as well,
so looking forward to being out in Montana for that one,
and of course we'll be back next week to break
(43:17):
down all of the results and 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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