Speaker 1: Welcome to the Solid Verbal.
Speaker 2: I'm that for me. I'm a man, I'm forty.
Speaker 1: I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
Speaker 1: be happy.
Speaker 2: You want to be happy for Dake Edith State is
Speaker 2: that whoo whoom? And Dan and.
Speaker 3: Tye welcome back to the Solid Verbal Boys and girls.
Speaker 3: My name is ty Hildebrand, joining me as always over
Speaker 3: there in New York City, My man, Dan Rubinstein, Sir.
Speaker 1: That was very FM radio voice of me.
Speaker 2: Come that Tie, Hilda Brown Allan.
Speaker 1: Dan Rubenstein, sir, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm good.
Speaker 4: I am excited for this show. I have made a
Speaker 4: big deal this offseason and when we preview the ACC
Speaker 4: fatlantic of saying the ACC is joke free. Yeah, so
Speaker 4: I have to back that up in talking about the
Speaker 4: ACC Coastal today. But I'm feeling good. I had a
Speaker 4: lot of energy for our big ten show. This one,
Speaker 4: I'm feeling more like standard Dan, which is either good
Speaker 4: or bad depending on everybody listening and how they shape
Speaker 4: their opinion of me.
Speaker 1: You're back to absolute Dan, is what I'm mean.
Speaker 2: I'm back baby, Absolute Dan. That's right. The pH balance is.
Speaker 1: On, so listen.
Speaker 3: Solid Verbal tickets dot com mm hmmm, you've got what
Speaker 3: six days now? We gotta see you six days until
Speaker 3: our big time live show in Chicago, going to be
Speaker 3: the biggest, going to be the best ever. We are
Speaker 3: drafting our twenty eighteen fantasy things. I am very excited.
Speaker 3: We've got all sorts of tricks up our sleeve. We're
Speaker 3: going out afterwards to what do you call it, standard bar?
Speaker 4: Standard bar? Yeashtag tenders with tie. We're going out afterwards.
Speaker 4: It's going to be a fun night out on the
Speaker 4: town with all of over ballers.
Speaker 3: We're very, very excited. There are a handful of tickets left.
Speaker 3: I know we've been saying that for a couple weeks now,
Speaker 3: but we really mean it. Solid verbal tickets dot com
Speaker 3: is where you can get in on the action. Don't
Speaker 3: just need to be a overballer or a college football fan.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you, Dan and I put as much energy
Speaker 3: as we can into this and we try to make
Speaker 3: it a show for everyone. We say it at the
Speaker 3: top of all of our live shows. If you're not
Speaker 3: a college football fan, even if you don't listen to
Speaker 3: the show, come on out anyway, come hang out. It'll
Speaker 3: be a fun night out in Chicago. Can I ask
Speaker 3: you a question about the show. Yes, please, I pitched
Speaker 3: you on something over so that the show here. Actually,
Speaker 3: that's true. Yeah, that's your only hint.
Speaker 4: I pitched you on something that will add an element
Speaker 4: to the show unlike any elements we've ever put on
Speaker 4: stage at any of our live shows.
Speaker 2: Can I do it?
Speaker 1: Can't do it? Sure?
Speaker 4: On an affirmation? Confirmation, Let's do it. Okay, we will
Speaker 4: be doing something visually. Yeah, this is starting to sound strange,
Speaker 4: but let's stay with me.
Speaker 1: I'll do it.
Speaker 2: So there is.
Speaker 4: Something happening visually this show that has never occurred any
Speaker 4: of our live shows.
Speaker 3: No, now, that's that's very fair.
Speaker 4: I assume we'll get out if somebody is at the
Speaker 4: show and takes a picture. But I would say it's
Speaker 4: going to be a special happening.
Speaker 1: Exclusive to this that's going to be special, all right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, just making sure now that that has me excited.
Speaker 1: Absolutely the solid verbal.
Speaker 3: By the way, we are supported by Adventure Stage Chicago,
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Speaker 3: stage dot org, so check them out. Friar Talk, Little John,
Speaker 3: Yeah buddy, Sure, yeah, buddy. So what are we doing
Speaker 3: today on the show? What's our what's our plan of attack?
Speaker 1: Here our poe.
Speaker 4: We're we're talking about the ACC Coastal and the AAC East,
Speaker 4: the American Athletic Conference Eastern Division, which has a number
Speaker 4: of teams that I think we could best define as
Speaker 4: sauce filled.
Speaker 1: Wait, what sauce filled.
Speaker 4: Sa u se like if you look at certain position groups,
Speaker 4: as if you look at certain momentum from last year
Speaker 4: to this year additions to the roster.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of these teams have some sauce.
Speaker 3: I'm looking at ECU, Cincinnati and Yukon at the bottom
Speaker 3: of our sheet.
Speaker 2: Oh, now you're cherry picking.
Speaker 3: And each one, I'm not kidding, each one in the
Speaker 3: notes field says me, okay, meh, meh accurate, and me
Speaker 3: ten wins combined among those three teams from a year ago.
Speaker 2: So that is true.
Speaker 1: That's fair.
Speaker 4: And I don't know if ECU, if Pirate or Bearcat
Speaker 4: or Husky fans would argue vehemently that.
Speaker 3: There's that much more to say, is the sexy Randy
Speaker 3: Etzel still at Yukon?
Speaker 2: Hell yeah he is.
Speaker 3: We got to play sexier than Etzel at some point,
Speaker 3: maybe later on in this show.
Speaker 2: We can do it with coaches in the AAC East.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's fair, Okay.
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 3: ACC Coastal is you know one of those sides of
Speaker 3: the ACC that you and I have had some fun with.
Speaker 3: I believe it was last year, maybe the year before,
Speaker 3: maybe three years running now, or we've played this little
Speaker 3: game of did these two ACC teams play?
Speaker 2: It was an impossible game.
Speaker 3: It really is an impossible game because there are a
Speaker 3: lot of similarities among these teams, and for better or worse, gosh,
Speaker 3: a lot of them feel the same.
Speaker 4: Well, you watch them the game. A lot of these
Speaker 4: games between the non heavyweights of the conference are that
Speaker 4: noon Eastern kick on you know whatever local channel the
Speaker 4: ACC network is in your local community where Wake Forest, NC,
Speaker 4: State Georgia Tech Syracuse And you're like, I.
Speaker 2: Think I flipped past that has right?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Okay? What is your general takeaway?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 3: Keep in mind the framework for all of our previews
Speaker 3: is why should people care? M Because we're all adults
Speaker 3: at this point. Most of us are and we've all
Speaker 3: got busy lives. Why should why should anyone give a
Speaker 3: damn about like pit football? Why tell me why? So
Speaker 3: we'll get to tell you right now, but we'll get
Speaker 3: to pit football. Don't spoil the surprise. Sorry, sorry, sorry,
Speaker 3: don't talk about Jester wea out of turn? Please, thank you?
Speaker 1: But why should people care in general about the ACC Coastal?
Speaker 2: Sure? Tell me, oh about in general? About the coastal
Speaker 2: in general?
Speaker 4: Yeah, there is something to every team that you can
Speaker 4: talk yourself, not just into Bowl eligibility, but if there's
Speaker 4: one element firing that I mean after the end of
Speaker 4: last year where we saw Miami lose to Pitt Canny
Speaker 4: Pickett and like his very first start, like go off
Speaker 4: against Miami. So there is something that is very democratic
Speaker 4: about the ACC Coastal and that everybody has a voice.
Speaker 4: I'm not going to say in any given week anybody
Speaker 4: can win, because I think Virginia has a ways to
Speaker 4: go on offense. But we saw Virginia beat Poise State.
Speaker 4: We saw Virginia put the fear of life into Miami
Speaker 4: with Kurt Banker last year two and a half, three
Speaker 4: quarters worth whatever, and every so often Georgia Tech comes
Speaker 4: back to the party and it's like, oh, yeah, we're
Speaker 4: gonna win ten games? Do we not mention that we're
Speaker 4: gonna win ten games? And there is something ultimately entertaining
Speaker 4: and very middle of the third quarter, change the channel,
Speaker 4: y about the ACC Coastal and there's like a random
Speaker 4: Duke Thursday night game at Virginia or Virginia text at
Speaker 4: Duke or something, And there is always that element of,
Speaker 4: you know what, I think I'm gonna hang out and
Speaker 4: stay on this channel because it's getting a little weird. Yeah,
Speaker 4: And whether it's Pit upsetting Clemson a couple of years
Speaker 4: ago with your guy Matt Canada, there's always that element
Speaker 4: of it's halfway through the third quarter, I'm going to
Speaker 4: ignore everything else because for whatever reason, Virginia is feeling
Speaker 4: spunky this week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that. I like that. An it's good TV.
Speaker 3: What kind of motto can we give the ACC Coastal
Speaker 3: to really jazz it up? You know, because there's a
Speaker 3: dog eat dog quality to it mm hmmm where every
Speaker 3: week you're just not sure what's gonna happen. Can you
Speaker 3: help me workshop this? Over the course of an episode,
Speaker 3: what happens along the coast what was.
Speaker 4: The show on HBO with Reese Wetherspoon. The uh, there's
Speaker 4: like a murder lies. Yeah, there's something very like. Everything's
Speaker 4: calm and nice on the coast.
Speaker 3: But because I mean we had ACC fat Atlantic, I
Speaker 3: feel like we need an equal counterpart in the coastal.
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, let's think this about it.
Speaker 1: Let's think this through. Okay, Okay, we're big on branding.
Speaker 3: Where should we start in the ACC DAN in the
Speaker 3: a SEC coastal Excuse.
Speaker 4: Me, Let's let's start with the most acc coastal team.
Speaker 2: That's Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1: Georgia Tech. All right, Georgia Tech.
Speaker 2: Every year.
Speaker 3: Interesting, they lose ted Roof, which I think is good
Speaker 3: for business. They're bringing in Nate Woodie, Yes, who I
Speaker 3: know is a guy from app State that you have
Speaker 3: sung the praises of for as long as.
Speaker 1: I can remember. Now, this is.
Speaker 3: Kind of a big deal because the thing with Georgia Tech,
Speaker 3: we know about the offense and Paul Johnson and the
Speaker 3: option and gosh, there are plenty of controversial opinions about that,
Speaker 3: but offensively speaking, that has not really been the wheelhouse
Speaker 3: for Paul Johnson since he took over.
Speaker 1: Really for as far back as I can remember.
Speaker 2: Instances here and there quarter wise.
Speaker 3: So what does Nate Woody bring over from app State
Speaker 3: that can aid Georgia Tech in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4: So coaching ability, organization, They shift to a new defensive
Speaker 4: scheme a lot more attacking three to four. I got
Speaker 4: attacking aggressive Mondel. No, the big thing is it's the
Speaker 4: refreshing things on defense. And he has consistently developed players
Speaker 4: and developed defenses that cause havoc, which if you are
Speaker 4: Georgia Tech, and if you're Georgia Tech, thanks for listening.
Speaker 4: But Georgia Tech, particularly with how they have the ability
Speaker 4: to control the ball on offense, if they are able
Speaker 4: to field a team that generates havoc a good amount
Speaker 4: of the time and gets opposing offense is off the
Speaker 4: field quickly consistently, even if it's just a top sixty
Speaker 4: five to seventy defense, if they can generate two or
Speaker 4: three defensive possessions where it's only five or six plays
Speaker 4: in a punt, that's almost assuredly a win. With what
Speaker 4: their ceiling looks like, it could be offensively this year.
Speaker 4: So whether or not Nate Woody is that, dude, I
Speaker 4: think there's still a couple of years away recruiting wise,
Speaker 4: even though they've been recruiting better of late. I don't
Speaker 4: think it matters how often Ted Roof, how often Nate
Speaker 4: Woody reaches back into his quiver.
Speaker 2: That's a Robin Hood reference.
Speaker 1: It's a Robin Hood reference. Y, Yeah.
Speaker 4: Just you know he The arrows aren't necessarily there. The
Speaker 4: talent is not necessarily in Atlanta yet to feel the
Speaker 4: kind of defense and to build the type of death depth,
Speaker 4: excuse me, that is needed with Georgia Tech. The good
Speaker 4: news is to Kwan Marshall has a pretty high ceiling
Speaker 4: as a runner. We'll see as a passer loses his
Speaker 4: best receiver in Ricky June Caravante Benson is suitably dangerous.
Speaker 4: There's a couple of pieces still on that defense. I
Speaker 4: think Victor Alexander has been all over the place. But
Speaker 4: Georgia Tech, to me, feels and it's a pretty balanced schedule.
Speaker 4: I think they play Miami before Miami goes to Virginia Tech.
Speaker 4: They go to USF in the non conference part of
Speaker 4: the schedule. There are a little bit of ways away,
Speaker 4: but I think there's something pretty dangerous about this Georgia
Speaker 4: Tech team. If the defense is even kind of below average.
Speaker 3: So we could probably blow like an entire show talking
Speaker 3: about whether or not Paul Johnson is the right.
Speaker 1: Move for Georgia Tech moving forward.
Speaker 3: I know we're both fans on some level of the option, sure,
Speaker 3: but what will very quickly, what will this year do
Speaker 3: for the Paul Johnson tenure, Paul Johnson era at Georgia Tech.
Speaker 2: What will it do the Nate Woody higher.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, just in general, what will this team's performance
Speaker 3: in twenty eighteen mean for Paul Johnson now moving forward?
Speaker 4: I mean it's hard to say they've recruited to this
Speaker 4: system for so long that it'd be hard to transition
Speaker 4: away from quickly if they hired somebody else, if they
Speaker 4: just said, you know, it was a good fun era.
Speaker 4: We want an Orange Bowl, but we're in Atlanta. I
Speaker 4: know there's academic issues getting people in, but there's so
Speaker 4: much talent in Georgia and surrounding areas kids that want
Speaker 4: to play in the ACC that we're going to go
Speaker 4: away from the option. If Georgia Tech goes nine to
Speaker 4: three this year, which I don't think is crazy, then
Speaker 4: I think it's cements him for a decent amount of time.
Speaker 4: Unless there are personal issues with people in the Georgia
Speaker 4: Tech administration.
Speaker 2: The news that is.
Speaker 4: Disappointing is they play Clemson this year, so that's not
Speaker 4: the greatest cross division. They go to Louisville and they
Speaker 4: finish with it's not great. They go to Virginia Tech, Miami,
Speaker 4: and Georgia in the final five games the year. So
Speaker 4: if Georgia Tech goes nine to three, that means a
Speaker 4: probable loss to Miami, Georgia, and Clemson, which isn't bad.
Speaker 4: They again beat Virginia Tech, they and basically everybody else
Speaker 4: on their schedule, which means a win at USF, which
Speaker 4: means beating Duke, which wins at North Carolina, wins at
Speaker 4: you know, Virginia. It's a really really good year. And
Speaker 4: if they have the capability of going nine and three,
Speaker 4: I think they jump up and beat one of those teams.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 3: Well, look, I don't have any deep, dark opinions about
Speaker 3: Georgia Tech. I'm just really excited to see this offense again.
Speaker 3: They bring most of their offense back, their quarterbacks back,
Speaker 3: and usually that's a pretty good recipe for an exciting
Speaker 3: option offense.
Speaker 4: That game at USF will be really fun. That's strength thought,
Speaker 4: that'll be fun. That'll be fun, and.
Speaker 2: The Bulls put out a really good defense, and.
Speaker 1: I care to see what the defense looks like underneath.
Speaker 2: Woody.
Speaker 3: So I think on some level we agree talking about
Speaker 3: org Tech, Let's talk about Virginia Tech.
Speaker 4: Dan, I think they go eight and four, oh, seven
Speaker 4: and five, seven and five.
Speaker 1: I'll go seven and five. That's what I'm thinking.
Speaker 3: Let's go to Virginia Tech. Okay, Virginia Tech is coached
Speaker 3: by a fine gentleman, a friend of a friend of
Speaker 3: a podcast justin Foo and Tay.
Speaker 2: Fo and Tay.
Speaker 1: So let's start with Josh Jackson. M hmm. Okay.
Speaker 3: Josh Jackson was what rumored to maybe be in some limbo.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 3: I don't know if it was because of academics or
Speaker 3: another reason, but for whatever case, Josh Jackson for a
Speaker 3: while seemed like maybe his eligibility would be in doubt.
Speaker 3: It does not seem like that will really play any
Speaker 3: kind of effect on the twenty eighteen version of Virginia Tech.
Speaker 3: And I think that's a really big deal. They need
Speaker 3: Josh Jackson back to have that offense firing on all cylinders.
Speaker 3: I think he has got a good line in front
Speaker 3: of him, I think he's got good receivers to throw
Speaker 3: to potentially. Yeah, the defense is usually pretty good for
Speaker 3: Virginia Tech, led by Bud Foster and that lunch pale
Speaker 3: defense dan blue collar.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does hurt that they lose.
Speaker 3: Tremay and Edmonds though at linebacker, Like, I don't really
Speaker 3: want to undersell what that means for them, and I
Speaker 3: guess we're gonna find out pretty much in Week one
Speaker 3: when they square off against Florida State. But beyond that,
Speaker 3: I look feel pretty good about the schedule. I'm being honest. Here,
Speaker 3: give me reasons why I shouldn't be bullish on Virginia Tech.
Speaker 4: The back half of their defense is real new, and
Speaker 4: one of the things that they've been able to count
Speaker 4: on is continuity and developing talent and not having to
Speaker 4: fill in too many places year over year just because
Speaker 4: a lot of players so they've gotten experience and have
Speaker 4: rotated in and there's a lot of green players both
Speaker 4: at linebacker and in the secondary. And I'm worried. I'm
Speaker 4: worried because what has allowed this defense to flourish is
Speaker 4: that familiarity and that experience within the defense, and there's
Speaker 4: just not a ton in that back half. So if
Speaker 4: Bud Foster fields a top twenty to twenty five defense, one,
Speaker 4: it'll be because of the line up front, Trevon Hill
Speaker 4: really really solid, but losing big Tim Settle, who is
Speaker 4: a huge presence inside, Losing not just Tremaine Edmunds, but
Speaker 4: Tarrell Edmonds, Trell Edmonds, whatever, it's it's a blow. I
Speaker 4: don't think there's any Fullers or Edmunds on this defense,
Speaker 4: which is new for Virginia Tech, and so it appears
Speaker 4: to be in long term. I mean, he's been there
Speaker 4: like twenty plus years. It could be more of a
Speaker 4: rebuilding than a reloading year for Virginia Tech defensive.
Speaker 3: But here here's the thing. Yeah, you're right, that can'll
Speaker 3: be true. But Virginia Tech could still go four and
Speaker 3: one through the first five weeks of the year because
Speaker 3: after that Florida State game, there's William and Mary Ecu
Speaker 3: who will talk about later it's unbelievable old dominion on
Speaker 3: the road and then at Duke those games are very
Speaker 3: winnable before they get to Notre Dame, before they get
Speaker 3: to a road spot against North Carolina, but even the
Speaker 3: rest of the way, like you could have a below
Speaker 3: average defense and still very easily find them at nine
Speaker 3: and three.
Speaker 4: Yeah, which is sort of I mean, not that they
Speaker 4: had a below average defense last year. Their defense last
Speaker 4: year was excellent.
Speaker 2: It was really really good.
Speaker 4: But they went nine and three, not because they perfectly
Speaker 4: embodied what we imagine to be a nine and three team.
Speaker 4: Josh Jackson sort of fell off the second half of
Speaker 4: the season, and offensively, I think they struggled to run
Speaker 4: the ball a good deal. Cam Phillips sort of covered
Speaker 4: for a lot of miscues and ugliness on that offense
Speaker 4: against better teams. We saw that the Clemson game. So
Speaker 4: the good news for them this year I think they
Speaker 4: have Notre Dame. They are in the body blow, the
Speaker 4: bodyboil stance of the year. They get Notre Dame a
Speaker 4: week after Stanford, that's right, right, They host Miami a
Speaker 4: week after Miami travels to Georgia Tech, which is its
Speaker 4: own body blow situation. And if you look at the
Speaker 4: schedule in a sort of holistic full way.
Speaker 2: It's awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's perfect.
Speaker 4: They could very well be a clear six and six,
Speaker 4: five and seventeen that goes eight and four, which is
Speaker 4: a good place to be.
Speaker 1: No, it's it's a fine place to be.
Speaker 4: And even if if Josh Jackson struggles without really that
Speaker 4: I mean, there's I think there's intriguing talent at receiver.
Speaker 4: But even if he struggles, if he looks like the
Speaker 4: Josh Jackson of the sort of back half of last year.
Speaker 2: They have recruited.
Speaker 4: I think they have two blue chip quarterbacks behind him,
Speaker 4: Quincy Patterson from this past class in Hendon Hooker the
Speaker 4: class before that, So they're not in the worst situation offensively,
Speaker 4: but they're seem to be more questions.
Speaker 2: Than usual with this Virginia Tech program.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing about Virginia Tech.
Speaker 3: Dan In the last I think two years under Justin Fuente,
Speaker 3: Virginia Tech is something like eleven and five in the ACC. Yeah,
Speaker 3: which isn't bad by any stretch. This team this year,
Speaker 3: even though they've got some losses on defense, some big losses,
Speaker 3: is probably every bit as talented as both of those teams.
Speaker 3: So I don't expect there to be any kind of
Speaker 3: significant drop off, especially with a schedule that, as you
Speaker 3: pointed out correctly, is very very favorable. So nine and
Speaker 3: three to me feels very attainable, even if to your point,
Speaker 3: we're only talking about a six and six caliber team.
Speaker 3: They might go to a bowl game and get drilled,
Speaker 3: But looking at this schedule, it is very favorable for
Speaker 3: the hookies.
Speaker 4: There are only three games where definitively they look like
Speaker 4: UNDERDF Florida State, Notre Dame, and Miami, and they have
Speaker 4: they have not name in Miami at home at a
Speaker 4: tough place to play. So I Virginia Tech has a
Speaker 4: high floor, is what I think we should make peace with.
Speaker 1: AM.
Speaker 2: I that's a good place to be. AM.
Speaker 1: I able to give away a little bit of the
Speaker 1: game here.
Speaker 2: Do do whatever you want. It's it's half your show.
Speaker 3: I mean, we'll just say that Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech
Speaker 3: is something you should pay attention to if you are.
Speaker 2: Interesting.
Speaker 1: Okay, forget it. I won't go there. I won't go there.
Speaker 2: Okay, I appreciate that. We'll let it go.
Speaker 1: We'll let it ride.
Speaker 2: Oh thank god, hard palpitations.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what we shouldn't let ride though. What
Speaker 3: we shouldn't let ride is this awesome for discount that
Speaker 3: our listeners can get right now by going to Theathletic
Speaker 3: dot com slash some of herbal Dan Yes, oh my goodness, yes,
Speaker 3: you know a subscription based publisher of smarter sports coverage
Speaker 3: for diehard fans. There's no ads, there's no pop ups,
Speaker 3: there's no auto play videos. It's so many of our
Speaker 3: friends who have been on the podcast week in week out,
Speaker 3: year in year out here talking about all things college football.
Speaker 3: We believe in what they're doing. They've got more than
Speaker 3: six hundred and fifty news stories published every week across
Speaker 3: all sports, local, national stuff.
Speaker 1: So many of the big names.
Speaker 3: While we're talking about Virginia Tech, I saw Andy Biter
Speaker 3: is going to be writing about all things Virginia Tech
Speaker 3: for the Athletic. This is really great quality content which
Speaker 3: you can get now as a verballer for two ninety
Speaker 3: nine a month, which is not bad at all.
Speaker 1: Dan, that is a bargain as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4: You think about what you pay for Spotify or if
Speaker 4: you are in like Kickstarters, whatever your net f for
Speaker 4: whatever your monthly digital payments are. The athletic is and
Speaker 4: I know a lot of people are curious. And I
Speaker 4: reached my tipping point. There was and it wasn't even
Speaker 4: college football, Like I was already sold on the college
Speaker 4: football element and I was going to sign up over
Speaker 4: the summer for all the preview stuff, and then I
Speaker 4: saw that they hired Ethan Sherwood's Ethan Sherwood Strauss, great
Speaker 4: NBA writer. This is you're not just paying two ninety
Speaker 4: nine for college football coverage. It's everything. It's local coverage
Speaker 4: of you know, whatever your favorite town is, if they're
Speaker 4: covered by the Athletic, whatever sport you're interested in, and
Speaker 4: it just happens that their college football lineup is a
Speaker 4: ridiculous murderer's row of talent. Bruce Feldman, stum Mendel, Nicole
Speaker 4: auerback your pal Pete Sampson, who covers Notre Dame as
Speaker 4: well as anybody in the world. Ye yeah, it's it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4: And Notre Dame as semi part of the acc should
Speaker 4: mention Pete Sampson who's covered Notre Dame forever. And you
Speaker 4: get the access, you get the inns that you won't
Speaker 4: get on every other site in one place.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so, I love it.
Speaker 4: I honestly I read it every day. Everything they do
Speaker 4: a terrific job. We believe in what they're doing. Dan
Speaker 4: and I both subscribe support the Athletic. Also help us
Speaker 4: out by going to Theathletic dot Com slash solid verbal.
Speaker 4: See what they have to offer. Dan and I have
Speaker 4: both been so just blown away by what they're putting together.
Speaker 1: We think you will be too.
Speaker 4: It's so clean too. It's just a clean experience. Solid
Speaker 4: verbal help help, even if you are only kind of interested,
Speaker 4: which is the baseline the Athletic dot com slash solid verbal.
Speaker 2: Give it a look. It helps us, it helps them,
Speaker 2: it helps you win, win win.
Speaker 1: Speaking of clean experiences, Dan.
Speaker 2: Ooh, that's why you're a pro.
Speaker 1: Let's go to duke football.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 4: I thought you're gonna say the turnover chain is nice
Speaker 4: and polish.
Speaker 1: I almost did, but I wanted to throw you a curve.
Speaker 2: Let's go to Okay, good, clean, fun duke football.
Speaker 1: So here's what they bring back.
Speaker 3: M M my boy, Daniel, Joe redemption year running back,
Speaker 3: Britton Brown, Yes, back.
Speaker 2: Up last year but promising for sure.
Speaker 3: Trey Hornbuckle defensive end has to be really good. Joe
Speaker 3: Giles Harris didn't he have like an old pop song
Speaker 3: written about him?
Speaker 1: That was the Jay Giles Band. Excuse me, yes, I look.
Speaker 2: Give me your deep dark duke thoughts.
Speaker 1: I'm always a little I'm always a little higher on
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones than I should be.
Speaker 2: That's okay.
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones was really good his first year. The last year,
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones is really good. Yeah, last year left a
Speaker 3: little bit to be desired. So I'm still kind of
Speaker 3: punch drunk on that Daniel Jones potential. I like the
Speaker 3: fact that they're going to blitz on defense.
Speaker 2: I hope.
Speaker 4: So I hope they keep it up that Jim Knowles
Speaker 4: defense as he goes to Oklahoma State.
Speaker 1: Yes, at least last year they like blitz it on defense. Yes,
Speaker 1: what else? The schedule is somewhat tricky.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's okay if you don't have a lot of
Speaker 4: strong duke thoughts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I don't really.
Speaker 3: They've got Clemson in the middle of like a tough
Speaker 3: stretch before South Carolina.
Speaker 1: So there's that, I guess.
Speaker 4: But their non conference schedule, when we've been looking at
Speaker 4: and preparing for these previews, I have in the back
Speaker 4: of my mind filed away that Duke is playing fourteen
Speaker 4: different teams in the non conference part. As I'm adding
Speaker 4: together wins, I'm saying, hey, they can be duke. About
Speaker 4: what felt like usc UNLV Michigan State.
Speaker 2: It turns out.
Speaker 4: They have Army Northwestern, Baylor, and North Carolina Central to
Speaker 4: start the season.
Speaker 1: So here's the thing.
Speaker 3: Okay, they bring back fifteen starters from a year ago.
Speaker 3: They won what six games in the regular season. They
Speaker 3: won their bowl game, right, they had Northern Illinois Quick Lane.
Speaker 1: Bowl something like that.
Speaker 3: Whatever, I think they are in actually a pretty good
Speaker 3: spot to improve upon. There are six wins from the
Speaker 3: year ago, being so, they are a more veteran team sure,
Speaker 3: and being so, I think the schedule is relatively workable here.
Speaker 3: So I'm a little higher on Duke than I expected
Speaker 3: to be.
Speaker 4: Okay, I think they are right in that bull threat
Speaker 4: reigned once again, which is still new and crazy to
Speaker 4: say about Duke given you the recent history of the program.
Speaker 4: At least, it's been a while since they've been flat
Speaker 4: out bad. They've been pretty decent recently. A little worried
Speaker 4: about their offensive line, but the defense looks solid all around,
Speaker 4: and again playing in the coastal middle of the third
Speaker 4: quarter like oh, Duke's up fourteen on Virginia Tech. Okay,
Speaker 4: I guess I'm watching this and Duke has one of
Speaker 4: the i don't know, all time underrated or modern underrated
Speaker 4: coaches and David Cutcliffe, who is if he is on
Speaker 4: one of those ESPN coaches.
Speaker 1: Chan during the playoffs, you watch, you watch to hear
Speaker 1: what he has to say.
Speaker 4: He like, he is one of probably my top five
Speaker 4: road trip coaches. We're just like, yep, we're driving from
Speaker 4: LA to New York. We're driving from Seattle to David Cutcliffe, Yes,
Speaker 4: in a road trip. Yes, I think he is. He's
Speaker 4: been around forever, He's coached a I mean, he's like
Speaker 4: the Mannings quarterback guru. If you want a road trip,
Speaker 4: and okay, maybe it's not cross country, maybe it's Austin
Speaker 4: to Minneapolis, but you just wanted, like you want to
Speaker 4: hear nerdy stories about college football. I think he is.
Speaker 4: He's a little Folksye. When he was at Tennessee, he
Speaker 4: was at Old Miss coach the Mannings. He's been at
Speaker 4: Duke forever. Now, okay, he is. He is a very
Speaker 4: early draft pick in my coach.
Speaker 1: Let's pump the brakes on this year.
Speaker 4: God, I can't believe you're disagreeing, David cut Cliff.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3: Do you think he has enough content to last from
Speaker 3: Austin to Minneapoli?
Speaker 4: I would, I would probably try to day drink. I
Speaker 4: don't know if he's a drinker. I definitely am not.
Speaker 4: I would try to get that honesty juice flowing because
Speaker 4: I want those manning stories.
Speaker 3: You're really mining there for manning stories. Now, that's all
Speaker 3: you're getting out of that from data.
Speaker 4: I think he or just like offensive explainers. I think
Speaker 4: he's got a lot. I think he's a smart dude.
Speaker 4: I'm sure I can't believe you're putting down cut I
Speaker 4: like David Cutcliffe. I just don't know if I'd want
Speaker 4: to spend that many hours. I don't know how many
Speaker 4: hours it is from Austin to Minneapolis, but it's across
Speaker 4: the country, just not across the wide part. Uh okay,
Speaker 4: with how receivers have developed there, with how quarterbacks have
Speaker 4: developed there. I think Duke and I have their schedule
Speaker 4: in front of me right now, even with that weird
Speaker 4: tricky They open with an option and then they go
Speaker 4: to Northwestern and go to Baylor, which should be improved. Wise,
Speaker 4: the back half is tough or the BA the back four,
Speaker 4: they have Miami and Clemson in a two week span.
Speaker 4: They finished with Wake, they go to Georgia Tech and
Speaker 4: they go to Pitt, Which listen, Pitt's got to be
Speaker 4: different at a certain point than what they've been recently.
Speaker 4: I think Duke can get Army, Northwestern, Baylor, Virginia Pitt,
Speaker 4: North Carolina that got them to six and even Wake
Speaker 4: that gots them to seven.
Speaker 1: Seven and five, eight and four for Duke.
Speaker 2: WHOA, Okay, I'm six and six, seven and five.
Speaker 3: By the way, how many times in ten years have
Speaker 3: we gotten that question about which coaches would you like
Speaker 3: to be on a road trip with which?
Speaker 2: Yeah, rank coaches by condiments? Yeah, they appear to be.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm telling you, David cut club is top five.
Speaker 3: All right, let's move on. Let's go to Miami. Let's
Speaker 3: go back to that. Let's do it for Jane. Miami
Speaker 3: went ten and two a year ago, an exciting year.
Speaker 3: Malik Rose Year is back, Travis Homer is back, i'mon
Speaker 3: Richards and Jeff Thomas are back. Joe Jackson shack quaterman,
Speaker 3: Michael Pinkney, Jakwan Johnson.
Speaker 2: They might have the best linebacking corn in the country.
Speaker 3: Sheldrick red Wine, great name all back for Miami this season.
Speaker 3: There are plenty of reasons to be very optimistic about
Speaker 3: where this team could go next. It's part of the
Speaker 3: reason why they brought Mark Richt over after he was
Speaker 3: let go from Georgia. This is the best team that
Speaker 3: Mark Richt has had now in his three years at Miami.
Speaker 4: Probably last year's defense was scary good. But yes, I
Speaker 4: can see potentially with the offensive experience being the most
Speaker 4: explosive offense that he's had.
Speaker 3: They're very fast, They're very talented on offense. I think
Speaker 3: that they've got enough AMMO on this schedule outside of
Speaker 3: the ACC with LSU in week one, mm hmm to
Speaker 3: really kind of Yeah, it's a tricky spot establish themselves
Speaker 3: outside of conference.
Speaker 1: Talk me off the ledge.
Speaker 3: Tell me why Miami isn't a dark horse national title contender?
Speaker 1: What tell me why? Dan? Tell me why?
Speaker 4: Because I think we all watched the back half of
Speaker 4: Malik Rogier's twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: But that was last year. Guys can improve.
Speaker 2: They can improve.
Speaker 4: He showed a lot, but if he has to win
Speaker 4: games with his arm more often than not. And their
Speaker 4: schedule is such that even just opening with LSU, Greedy
Speaker 4: Williams and that backfield.
Speaker 1: LSU stinks. They stink this year. I'm out. I'm out
Speaker 1: on LSU.
Speaker 4: So, okay, here's what Miamis schedule is. Here's here are
Speaker 4: games where you would worry if you're concerned about Miami.
Speaker 4: They host Florida State and as far as a SEC games,
Speaker 4: that's kind it. No Clemson during the regular season, No
Speaker 4: Louisville during the regular season, no team that you can
Speaker 4: talk yourself into being scary any given week like BC.
Speaker 4: Nobody like that they go to BC. Excuse me. So
Speaker 4: that was very very quick turnaround for that point. But
Speaker 4: really I like this Miami team a lot. I think
Speaker 4: offensively they're going to be pretty scary if Jeff Thomas
Speaker 4: continues to develop. I know Braxton Barrios is gone and
Speaker 4: Aman Richards has had injury issues, but if he's on
Speaker 4: the field, that right there is one of the best
Speaker 4: eight receiving course in the country. They've recruited very well. Defensively,
Speaker 4: they should be in a good place, even losing that
Speaker 4: defensive line, maybe even most importantly losing Craig Kulongowski, who
Speaker 4: is one of the best three defensive line coaches in
Speaker 4: the country, had a ton of success at Mazoo. Now
Speaker 4: goes to You're going to be shocked to hear it.
Speaker 4: The Alabama Crimson.
Speaker 1: Tie, Alabama Crimson Tide. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4: Miami is in a very good place. I don't know
Speaker 4: that Malik Rogier is going to have the latitude to
Speaker 4: make as many mistakes while a defense is performing admirably
Speaker 4: as he did last year. I would keep an eye
Speaker 4: on Nikosy Perry, who is young, yes, but has an
Speaker 4: arm and I think could develop. I think might have
Speaker 4: a higher ceiling. Now that we've seen Malik Rosier in
Speaker 4: a very like Brandon Wimbush way, he certainly gives you
Speaker 4: a lot.
Speaker 1: He is six four, He's got a very James Blackman
Speaker 1: build to him.
Speaker 4: You're talking about Nikcosy Perry or Malik Rosier Nikosy Perry.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, he's young, he'll he'll put on more weight.
Speaker 4: But yes, I could see this Miami team going ten
Speaker 4: and two and not putting, not having a lot of
Speaker 4: difficulty doing so.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel ten and two. I don't think national title.
Speaker 4: Okay, you asked about national title. I'm not quite there,
Speaker 4: but I don't think it's to beat Hey, it's a
Speaker 4: question we were asking last year, and you know what,
Speaker 4: it's a very good year to get Florida State at
Speaker 4: home with a little coach and a lot of quarterback
Speaker 4: questions throwing into what should be a really dangerous back
Speaker 4: half of that defense.
Speaker 1: All right, so we'll see.
Speaker 4: I like Miami a good deal, and I think they're
Speaker 4: going to rotate in a lot of youth. You're going
Speaker 4: to see a lot of different names, which is fun.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to watch Miami.
Speaker 2: This year, as you should be.
Speaker 4: They lose a lot upfront on defense, though I am
Speaker 4: concerned about that. Shall we go to Pitt now the
Speaker 4: natural dude.
Speaker 2: I'm so ready, I am so ready.
Speaker 1: Do you want to know the biggest addition for Pitt
Speaker 1: Football twenty eighteen?
Speaker 2: What is it?
Speaker 3: Pat Bostick is back in the radio announcer? Hell yeah,
Speaker 3: my man, Pat Bostick. So here's the deal. I've talked
Speaker 3: about this before. I listened to a lot of games
Speaker 3: on the radio.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: Not always in front of the TV. I've got a life,
Speaker 1: just like a lot of other people out there. I'm
Speaker 1: not always able to perch in front of a TV.
Speaker 1: I listened to a lot of games.
Speaker 3: On Serious XM Serial XM U, and one of the
Speaker 3: great joys is listening to some of the hometown announcers
Speaker 3: and one of the guys who I have genuinely enjoyed
Speaker 3: over the years. Pat Bostik, he hasn't called pit football
Speaker 3: in a couple of years, but just saw that he
Speaker 3: is going to be back in the booth.
Speaker 4: So it was something pretty incredible about associating a lone
Speaker 4: singular voice with a program's games.
Speaker 3: I love that he's great former quarterback at Pitt, He's
Speaker 3: a great commentator. So I'm excited just from a fans
Speaker 3: perspective to kind of get that insight listening to Pitt
Speaker 3: Football this season. Pit Football last year though, on the
Speaker 3: field went five and seven, And you know, we're kind
Speaker 3: of in this vein now where we're looking at Pat
Speaker 3: and Ardoozy and I guess we're wondering if, when will
Speaker 3: can he bring any of that magic over that we
Speaker 3: grew accustomed to seeing with him as defensive coordinator at
Speaker 3: Michigan State.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 4: I think it's a fair question to ask. It's part
Speaker 4: of the for this defense in these past few years.
Speaker 1: It's been a slug.
Speaker 3: Now this year for his defense, he does have nine
Speaker 3: guys back, and so that should bode well, I would
Speaker 3: think for that defense. My question though, is on offense.
Speaker 3: It really is an offense where there's only four guys back.
Speaker 3: You mentioned Kenny Pickett. I think a little earlier in
Speaker 3: this show, he gives Pitt fans, I think, a reason
Speaker 3: to be optimistic but scrappy, you know, across the board here, Dan,
Speaker 3: we're talking about mostly a new offensive line, kind of
Speaker 3: a rebuild ish situation on offense. So, like, I think
Speaker 3: that speaks to a potentially lopsided performance from the pit
Speaker 3: Panthers in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Is that fair?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that we're two years removed from Pitt having one
Speaker 4: of Like in the conversation, like, does Pitt have the
Speaker 4: best offensive line in the country? When they beat Clemson?
Speaker 4: Their offensive line was ridiculous and they in recent years,
Speaker 4: I've had three four receivers who were like, Wow, they
Speaker 4: did a fantastic job developing these guys, and now it's
Speaker 4: just receivers not great running back might be fine for them.
Speaker 4: I like Caadriallis and Darren Hall. I think came on
Speaker 4: pretty strong, and it's just they're in such a different
Speaker 4: place so quickly. And some of that to me is recruiting.
Speaker 4: Some of that to me is they've had a lot
Speaker 4: of transfers. You know, Ben Denucci came out last year
Speaker 4: as like a heralded true freshman, came in when Max
Speaker 4: Brown struggled. He struggled, transferred, gone, And so there's just
Speaker 4: like this crazy turnover happening with Pitt. That the emergence
Speaker 4: of Kenny Pickett, and he looks like he should start
Speaker 4: after how he finished last year. Ricky Town transfers in
Speaker 4: Ricky Town of commit Tobama commit and go to USC,
Speaker 4: transfer out of USC during fall camp, transfer to Arkansas,
Speaker 4: leave Arkansas for junior college, transfer to Pitt, so he
Speaker 4: might be then two quarterback. The guy behind Ricky Town
Speaker 4: is Nick Patty, who I was pretty sure finished up
Speaker 4: his eligibility in like twenty fifteen, and here we are.
Speaker 4: He goes Boise State UCF pit. At least seven schools
Speaker 4: between them.
Speaker 1: A lot of frequent flyer miles on that pit roster.
Speaker 4: A lot of just shirts to buy for your parents. Yeah,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of bookstar trips. Anyway, I am willing
Speaker 4: to believe in this pit team to like a certain
Speaker 4: to like a six and six extent, because there isn't
Speaker 4: enough on.
Speaker 2: Defense that intrigues me. I there just isn't.
Speaker 4: There's not there's a little bit of sauce, but it's
Speaker 4: like fast food size, not a full side dish at
Speaker 4: a restaurant of in terms of sauce quantity. And the
Speaker 4: schedule is it sets up in an interesting way as
Speaker 4: for being like the Indiana of which I don't know who.
Speaker 4: This is an insult to the Indiana of the acc
Speaker 4: coastal in the way that they are. They happen to
Speaker 4: be in a lot of trap and look ahead and
Speaker 4: let down spots. They get Virginia Tech a week before
Speaker 4: Virginia Tech Miami. They get Miami a week before Miami
Speaker 4: goes to Georgia Tech and to Virginia Tech. They get
Speaker 4: Notre Dame a week after the Virginia Tech and Stanford
Speaker 4: won two. So Pit's in a good place to be
Speaker 4: very pity this year, to be secretly decent in that
Speaker 4: they are in the right place at the right time.
Speaker 4: But there's just the problem, Tie, and I think you
Speaker 4: can appreciate this. My lasting memory of the twenty seventeen
Speaker 4: Pitt Panthers is Oklahoma State doing layup lines. Is watching
Speaker 4: that game, watching Oklahoma State drop like fifty on them
Speaker 4: in the first half and doing so like Pit showed
Speaker 4: up late to the stadium.
Speaker 2: Both of their.
Speaker 4: Safeties were wearing jeans, like there was something absolutely disorienting
Speaker 4: about how Pitt looked in that game that anything beyond
Speaker 4: six and six a year later feels like a stretch,
Speaker 4: because again, that is burned into my skull.
Speaker 1: I saw that day, the indelible images of.
Speaker 2: James Washington abusing Pit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, I'm going to say seven and five. Dan, Okay,
Speaker 3: anything can get the seven and five. But it's really
Speaker 3: a leap of faith here that they can get it
Speaker 3: together more on offense, because look, just not a lot
Speaker 3: back from a year ago.
Speaker 4: By the way, Pat, because you're bringing up Pat Bostek,
Speaker 4: good underrated quarterback name, yeah, very good. Patrick Mahomes, Yeah,
Speaker 4: Pat White, Pat Devlin obviously a crowd favorite. So there's
Speaker 4: a lot to it. All right, that's all I have.
Speaker 4: I was just thinking about, like famous Pats.
Speaker 3: Let's go to North Carolina. Okay, North Carolina three and
Speaker 3: nine from a year ago. Their coach Larry Fedora a
Speaker 3: bit skeptical about football's effects on the human head, thank god.
Speaker 4: And if North Carolina doesn't do well this year, that
Speaker 4: could be the end of the United States specifically tied
Speaker 4: to football and by extension North Carolina football.
Speaker 2: That might have been my favorite offseason story.
Speaker 4: And they're like, god, it was just the problem is
Speaker 4: I'm going to start my thoughts on this in like
Speaker 4: seventeen different cries. Oh God, imagine like imagine having imagine
Speaker 4: thinking about this topic in a nuanced way and trying
Speaker 4: to say things like football is safer than it's ever been,
Speaker 4: which is totally true.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 4: Yeah, sure, but you can't wrap that in garbage. You
Speaker 4: can't wrap that in not sense, and it takes away
Speaker 4: every so as background, Larry Fedora at ACC Media Days
Speaker 4: decided that was the time to say, you know, America's
Speaker 4: troops are the best because so many of them played football,
Speaker 4: and if football goes away as we know it, so
Speaker 4: will the United States of America, and decided to use
Speaker 4: that platform to say these things. And it makes you
Speaker 4: want to root against North Carolina.
Speaker 2: It just does well.
Speaker 3: It reminds me a lot of just having a lot
Speaker 3: of opinions on things, yes, mutually exclusive things that end
Speaker 3: up kind of running together because you feel strongly about
Speaker 3: all of them. Right, And so when I read about this,
Speaker 3: I was like, wow, look, okay, that's it. That's an
Speaker 3: eye opener.
Speaker 4: Of all the academic institutions and the academics relationship to
Speaker 4: football North Carolina Sterling no issues academic academic thought and
Speaker 4: football that I.
Speaker 3: Got I got rejected from UNC. Really Yeah, it's real nice.
Speaker 3: Chapel Hill, that area is great. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Should we talk about North Carolina? And they surely will
Speaker 4: be better this year.
Speaker 2: It will be better.
Speaker 3: They've got thirteen starters back as I see it, here
Speaker 3: a pretty favorable road schedule, dan.
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3: They do going to Miami, which will be difficult. But
Speaker 3: beyond that, like at Syracuse, at Virginia, at Douke, you
Speaker 3: can you can navigate that in the ACC. I think
Speaker 3: this is a team that is really right for a
Speaker 3: lot of improvement in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4: Okay, yes, the road schedule is very good. They go
Speaker 4: to cal And as we know, body clock tie, yep,
Speaker 4: body clock the.
Speaker 2: Bower hour Man.
Speaker 4: They go to East Carolina. That's fine. You c F
Speaker 4: will not be as good as the Knights were last.
Speaker 1: Year, No, not, I think so.
Speaker 4: If you're UCF and you get to throw into the
Speaker 4: North Carolina defense, pretty good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's perfectly fine.
Speaker 4: Mackenzie Milton should if you're into fantasy college football, and
Speaker 4: you are able to draft group of five players, that
Speaker 4: will be a good time to start Mackenzie Milton. Yes,
Speaker 4: they go to Miami and that's going to be difficult,
Speaker 4: but hosting Virginia tach, hosting Georgia Tech. They think get
Speaker 4: West Carolina. They finished the season the rivalry game against
Speaker 4: NC State, So in terms of the road schedule to
Speaker 4: bounce back, yes, this could be a bowl schedule for
Speaker 4: North Carolina. Quarterback is still to me an issue, but
Speaker 4: quarterbacks should be at least fine with where quarterbacks have
Speaker 4: been recently with North Carolina. Probably not the same since
Speaker 4: Seth Latrelle left, but they the possibility of a Chas
Speaker 4: to a dazz Oh Boy chess Rot to dazz Newsome.
Speaker 2: Is pretty tantalizing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, buddy, And just because we like putting these two
Speaker 4: teams in the context of could they find themselves right place,
Speaker 4: right time? They do get Miami a week before Miami's
Speaker 4: Florida State game. They miss Florida State and Clemson cross
Speaker 4: division wise, and Anthony Ratliffe Williams came on real nicely
Speaker 4: last year. Jordan Brown I think is intriguing. They could
Speaker 4: find themselves if either Chaz or Nathan Elliott ends up
Speaker 4: under center. They could win some games thirty five to thirty.
Speaker 4: They could, for sure.
Speaker 3: I think I'm with you. They can't be any worse
Speaker 3: than three and nine. They're not gonna be three and
Speaker 3: nine again. No, they'll be healthier, for sure, they're gonna
Speaker 3: be healthier. The schedule is quite favorable.
Speaker 2: Worried about the offensive line? I am that is worrisome.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as I look at the schedule, I'm gonna count ECU,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna count Pitt. I'm gonna count Virginia, Virginia now,
Speaker 3: Virginia Tech, Syracuse, West Carolina. And I'll throw another in there.
Speaker 3: I'll say six and six.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say five and seven. Okay, they make a
Speaker 4: bowl game four and eight, five and seven ish? Too
Speaker 4: many questions when you have the quarterback and offensive line
Speaker 4: question on.
Speaker 2: The same team. Ha, not my favorite.
Speaker 1: That's fair enough.
Speaker 4: Should we finish this out, Let's do it all right,
Speaker 4: prepare yourselves. We have what we've been recording for what
Speaker 4: looks to be about what forty eight minutes.
Speaker 2: Yes, so we've got about an hour to talk about Virginia.
Speaker 1: That's right. Kurt Bankert gone gone. He was pretty good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, moments that was he had some dips, some
Speaker 4: dipping sauces.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: They their offense is going to be They better hope
Speaker 4: Bryce Perkins, who is looks like he's going to be
Speaker 4: the starter, the transfer who I think played junior college
Speaker 4: in Arizona, dual threat guy.
Speaker 2: They have to hope he's super good.
Speaker 4: They've got a couple good receivers, one of whom might
Speaker 4: have my favorite name in the conference, if not beyond
Speaker 4: and he is my dude, tie Oulhamide Zikias.
Speaker 3: Wow, is super good. You did better with that than
Speaker 3: I could have.
Speaker 2: He is.
Speaker 4: He's He's very good and fast, and it's unfortunate that
Speaker 4: he has to play for that offense. They lose a
Speaker 4: good amount on defense. Quinn Blanding is like the hipster
Speaker 4: Derwin James of the ACC, the do all safety that
Speaker 4: was ridiculous for a long long time. Virginia is gonna
Speaker 4: have a pretty decent defense. I think they'll have a
Speaker 4: top forty five to fifty defense and that'll get him
Speaker 4: pretty far against some possibly suspect offenses. You know, Duke
Speaker 4: struggled at times on offense. North Carolina's struggled on offense.
Speaker 4: Pid struggle on offense. You know, Virginia Tech had some
Speaker 4: stretches where they weren't scoring points. So continuity even though
Speaker 4: they lose some key pieces up front of Virginia's defense,
Speaker 4: especially in the back half of that defense, has me
Speaker 4: feeling like, even with some much needed talent in Charlottesville,
Speaker 4: that they can go to a bowl game once again.
Speaker 4: They'll they'll be right on that quest that five and seven,
Speaker 4: six and six quest again? Drive for six? Yeah, I
Speaker 4: say six and six. I'm with you, okay, reasonable, I
Speaker 4: have it.
Speaker 1: By the way I came up with it. What ACC
Speaker 1: coastal is gonna get a little crazy? It always does, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: There's like a hardy middle class ACC postal.
Speaker 2: So unfair to the postal workers of this country. Tie
Speaker 2: day in and day out, rain or shine. ACC postals.
Speaker 1: Not bad ACC postal. Thank you the fatlantic in the postal.
Speaker 1: There you go, the.
Speaker 4: Fatlantic in the postal. You want to talk about the
Speaker 4: American East real quick?
Speaker 1: The ACT East?
Speaker 3: Yes, so we've got who you UCF who went eleven
Speaker 3: or zer last year regular season won the National Championship
Speaker 3: of course, Yes, USF Temple, ECU, Cincinnati and Yukon We've
Speaker 3: already tipped our hand a little bit in saying that
Speaker 3: the notes field of our shared document says meh for
Speaker 3: all three of them, but.
Speaker 2: Couldn't really find much to care about.
Speaker 3: So let's talk about UCF. Let's spend a little bit
Speaker 3: of time talking about UCF. Their coach is obviously gone,
Speaker 3: He's going home Dan to Lincoln, Nebraska. Scott Frost no
Speaker 3: longer the head football coach, to bring over Josh hoypol
Speaker 3: hype Boul from Missouri. He was formerly the offensive coordinator
Speaker 3: there last year led a really good Missouri offense. So
Speaker 3: with that coaching change, I think brings a little bit
Speaker 3: of uncertainty for UCF now as they prepared to try
Speaker 3: and defend that title in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Where do we stand with the Knights?
Speaker 4: So they're not going to try to do all that
Speaker 4: much different. I don't think on offense where they've been
Speaker 4: these past couple of years. Mackenzie Milton is back and
Speaker 4: is what top ten quarterback in the country at his best,
Speaker 4: chose to tre Kwon Smith, but Trederick Snelson is back
Speaker 4: and productive. I'm a little bit more concerned about what
Speaker 4: they lose on defense, namely a guy who is playing
Speaker 4: eleven positions at once and is just a stupid good
Speaker 4: player in Chaquem Griffin. Shaquem Griffin who moves on to
Speaker 4: the NFL and all American caliber linebackers.
Speaker 2: So that hurts.
Speaker 4: They lose a lot around him on defense as well,
Speaker 4: and it wasn't a fantastic defense, But losing a lot
Speaker 4: from a not like a slightly below average defense concerns
Speaker 4: me because I don't think the offensive fireworks will be
Speaker 4: there like they were last year. They do hire Randy Shannon,
Speaker 4: so he will be installing his defense, and I would
Speaker 4: imagine because of his connections, if Josh Hipel lasts at
Speaker 4: UCF where they Orlando, that the defense should be pretty
Speaker 4: good given Randy Shannon's history and ability to get talent.
Speaker 2: But yeah, they're not going undefeated.
Speaker 1: Okay, well that's fine.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So beyond UCF, then, who is clearly I think the
Speaker 3: top dog in the AAC East. We've got USF, a
Speaker 3: USF team that look. USF's been in the in the
Speaker 3: news recently. I think they're in decent shape.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially on offense. Charling Gilbert.
Speaker 3: Yeah, could be Blake Barnett playing quarterback this year. You
Speaker 3: remember Blake Barnett, speaking of frequent flyer Miles, I think
Speaker 3: they should be the pretty good team here.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they have the clear best defense, and we'll see
Speaker 4: what happens with Temple, but they have the clear best
Speaker 4: defense in the division, if not the conference as a whole.
Speaker 4: We'll see what Houston with at Oliver it looks like.
Speaker 4: But yeah, USF should probably win nine or ten games again,
Speaker 4: and season was cut short last year, but this is
Speaker 4: going to be a very good USF team. Quinn Flowers
Speaker 4: is like an all time special player. I mean, granted
Speaker 4: USF has existed for like fourteen years, but he has
Speaker 4: been ridiculous, so they're gonna miss him. But yeah, they're
Speaker 4: gonna be really good. They're really well coached. And that
Speaker 4: brings us to Temple.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's talk.
Speaker 1: About the real story of the AAC East if we could.
Speaker 2: Yes, I'm ready.
Speaker 3: Temple has a middle linebacker in Philly by the name
Speaker 3: of Sean Bradley.
Speaker 4: I am so happy.
Speaker 2: How does this happen? How did nobody tell us?
Speaker 3: Oh, God, owls, this is great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Jeff Collins, in what year one finishes the season
Speaker 4: strongly when four or five including their bowl game, could
Speaker 4: have been five of six, they lose an overtime to
Speaker 4: Army Raichweil. Armstead is still there and should have a
Speaker 4: nice year for Temple on the ground, and there's no
Speaker 4: reason to me that, and I can pull up Temple schedule.
Speaker 4: I won't make any grand proclamations, but I think in
Speaker 4: year two this Temple defense under Jeff Collins is going
Speaker 4: to become pretty scary. They've recruited well enough, let's see Villanova, Buffalo,
Speaker 4: possibly Buffalo. They go to Maryland, which tricky, but it's
Speaker 4: still Maryland and it's week three, so all of their
Speaker 4: quarterbacks might be hurt by then.
Speaker 2: To Navy too.
Speaker 4: It's a tough schedule. It's a tough schedule. I think
Speaker 4: Temple can win seven or eight games and improve.
Speaker 1: So do you think that Sean Bradley was recruited to Temple?
Speaker 4: Oh, poor guy, because he doesn't even know who the real,
Speaker 4: the real, the older Sean.
Speaker 1: Brady because his name was Sean Bradley.
Speaker 4: Do you think that's a reason to bring him to
Speaker 4: Philly because his name is Sean Bradley.
Speaker 1: I mean, Philly fans could be tricked, especially when drunk.
Speaker 2: Damn, that's unfortunate. And he's pretty good.
Speaker 1: He is pretty good. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2: That's all I have.
Speaker 4: So essentially, the American East has three teams that are
Speaker 4: decent at least, if not fun and pretty good. There's
Speaker 4: not much to expect from especially ECU. Yukon loses Rehet
Speaker 4: lashly to. I believe SMU. He's a new offensive coordinator
Speaker 4: there with what's his face from cal Dykes. So I'm
Speaker 4: hitting a wall tie as it comes to my enthusiasm
Speaker 4: for the AAC. But you have a division with UCF
Speaker 4: and USF.
Speaker 2: It's going to be fun.
Speaker 4: It's going to be good, a lot of fun cross
Speaker 4: divisional matchups in the American worth watching. As it was
Speaker 4: last year secretly one of the best TV shows in
Speaker 4: college football.
Speaker 2: You should do so once again.
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