Carrying Cord: A USF Football Pod
Carrying Cord: A USF Football Pod
Mora Victory (UConn Recap)
Guess who's back? Motherfuckers.
Track 1:It is your unanimous undisputed as voted on by the Bulls pen and Twitter polling U s F fan of the.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Woo. It's good to be back. Hey, it's carrying cord and we suck less than we did before. Uh, red. I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't paying attention. You didn't do anything without me last week. Right.
Track 1:No, of course not.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Okay. Yeah.'cause that would totally be weird if I couldn't come back on my own podcast for like superstitious reasons or,
Track 1:Yeah, I mean, we did get the win without you last week, and for sure. I mean, and you're definitely not Not here. Like you aren't an AI voice compiled by software or anything puka. So yeah, let's, let's do this podcast with you totally here and recording right in front of me,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I totally here, right in front of you recording. Great joke, red. Fantastic work. I actually heard the podcast. You did, you did a fantastic job. I especially liked where you talked about me having a large apparatus.
Track 1:That is critical to any impersonation I do of you. so
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:how much I don't talk about my penis
Track 1:I mean, not to make our podcast seem overly homoerotic, but your penis besides my own is probably the penis I've seen most of my life.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:That is true. That is true. I'm, I haven't been shy about it because we should be body positive. You know what else is positive? We won this game.
Track 1:We did baby nine, ga nine wins in a row over Yukon is not nine wins in a row for us. let me
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:No,
Track 1:on that statement. Maybe one day you'll be able to say that on this podcast, but no, it's just nine wins over Yukon in a row.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Which is not, that doesn't make me feel as good as maybe you would think. It would've made me feel really bad if it was like eight win streak broken this year, which we were, we almost had.
Track 1:right. Yeah, it was rough. I mean, but how bad did they have to be of, there's been some bad years in that eight win streak previously, so, How bad do they fucking have to be to lose us nine times in a row?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:it's been some tough times in East Hartford.
Track 1:And I mentioned it in my preview without you, but like you never felt that way about, UConn to me was a house of horrors where we had trouble winning and all of a sudden we're dominating'em. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I, it was actually a surprising stat for me that we had won eight in a row like you said, Yukon scares me. I don't know what it is. It just always feels and maybe f a U is the new Yukon, but it just feels like, oh my God,
Track 1:Yeah, they always felt like a shitty team who could upset you at any time though, with just like defense and a grind out game that you just take away everything you want to do type of thing, but,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:It was like Syracuse. I. Syracuse for a long time was like, oh, we can't just, we're just gonna kick the shed of him. And then they just started beating the life out of us, and it's whoa. What in the world? Your mascot is an orange What the hell?
Track 1:It wasn't Orange Man at the time, and then they just went to the overall orange. I
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:they just went
Track 1:the man from it, but
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:because we're becoming more
Track 1:I mean, I know why they dropped it. I just didn't know when the exact timeframe of it was.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:let me take you through sports becoming a little bit more progressive here. Red. I'll tell you why we
Track 1:there've been no other team. Team name changes, right? Like the Washington team is still there. They're still the Redskins and the Indians are still the Indians and you know,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:guardians.
Track 1:the guardians and the commanders.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Isn't that cool? That sounds cool. It sounds like a Marvel movie, it's not. I'm sure there's some people like
Track 1:else sounded cool?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:what?
Track 1:actually find the real stat, but they said at some point during the broadcast on Saturday, it was our first win in holding a team under 30 points in like 30 games or something ridiculous
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:it was nuts. I did see that stat and it was towards the end of the game and we hadn't beat a team that we held under 30 points in like ever.
Track 1:yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:It was a long, long time. Since we've done that,
Track 1:Which is crazy because we were, I mean, again, I guess it goes back to just, there's been a lot of years since we were around the football team, but I always think of U S F as a defensive football team first.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah.
Track 1:I know during Taggart that definitely wasn't the case and we got an identity as an offensive team for a while there. But Levitt, Charlie Strong, even Holtz, I'd say we were a defense. We had, you know, we had the bull shark defense there for a while. So, yeah, to me it's always a defensive identity. So to hear that we haven't been able to win, not scoring more than 30 points is a crazy stat.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:it's, I mean, when I think of U S F. I think of West Virginia at Raymond James, Ben Moffitt catching that interception, running that in right for a touchdown. In that whole, like it is a defensive team. I think of guys like Richard Cleaver on Defensive Line who just used to
Track 1:Oh yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:people pay. I think at George Selvy and Jason Pier, Paul, these guys who were just like defensive powerhouses. Mike Jenkins, Trey Williams, Nate Allen,
Track 1:In all of the
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Ver Pale
Track 1:Danny Rip Pale. Good. Good call out. In all of those images of all those iconic players you just mentioned, there's one thing that sticks, sticks out to me, and that's green on green uniforms with the gold helmet.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:so good baby. Why would we ever hot or not? Why would we ever get away from such a uniform combination? God, it looks so clean. hot, baby.
Track 1:And we don't usually get to wear'em on the road either, so that was a nice little surprise.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:What was going on there?
Track 1:I think it was part of, so Yukon could wear their cancer. Stuff.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Oh, cancer uniforms.
Track 1:Yes.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Okay. Whew. All right. We We gotta clarify. That's what the pink was
Track 1:Yeah, there were different color Cs for all the different cancers, apparently. It wasn't just pink.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Different cancers have different colors.
Track 1:I guess, yeah. I don't think it's like actually colored that way in your body. I'm not a doctor.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I mean, good on them for making a switch up to the green on greens.'cause we won. I think it looked good. I love the, I
Track 1:And now we have to continue to wear them until we lose in them.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I mean, we're playing
Track 1:Memphis, I assume, will require us to wear some sort of regular road uniform, but for the two home games, I would hope we wear green on green, but probably not.'cause Lee's has probably got some special military uniform or something for the temple game and maybe a breast cancer one where we wear like the pink highlights. We usually have one of those games in there somewhere too.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah,
Track 1:you can wear green on green and then just accessorize with the pink wristbands and gloves, so,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:If there's one thing I know you know about, it's accessorizing.
Track 1:Oh, I do, man. I used to stand by that fucking trunk in the locker room and hey wood, can I get some fucking wristbands? Lemme get some of those armbands, lemme
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yo red,
Track 1:elbow sleeves. Eye black. yeah. I was the guy and Lee's would get mad at me. He'd be like, you are only allowed to give one of each of those to each player. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:And, but not realizing or maybe realizing and not caring that it's you versus the entire team.
Track 1:Right,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:like it's little old red versus a hundred of these dudes, guys that aren't even playing, guys that aren't even dressing like, yo, let me get, lemme
Track 1:Oh, the guys who weren't playing were the worst. They're the ones who were wearing, we've talked about, we called someone out for this last year. I don't remember who it was, but the guys who have six arm bands on one arm over there. They're the guys who aren't even out there. Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:They're not even dressing. They're like actually wearing the jersey, but no pads or anything. They're wearing shorts and they're out on the sideline. It's dude, it's, come on, you're getting my ass in trouble. Will you please stop
Track 1:And that's after we've already put a fresh pair of gloves. And like a lot of players, we already know what they like to wear as far as armbands and all that kinda stuff. So if we know anything, you're, it's already in your locker waiting for you.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah.
Track 1:so, and then you're still coming to ask for shit after that?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:and they're still coming afterwards Hey man, I need to get, I need to get some more, I need to get a visor put on back when we used to be able to do visors and
Track 1:Pfizers, oh God.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I need to get advisor
Track 1:And then there'd be like a sprinkle of rain and they're begging you to take it off mid-game over there like
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I can't see shit. Coach
Track 1:who told you to put the visor on? Asshole
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:get the visor off equipment. Get the visor off. I was like, God, I told this motherfucker not to put this on there.
Track 1:Speaking of equipment, did you notice? You may have skipped over. This is early in the game. Their quarterback had like, I think it was just turf stuck in his helmet or something. It was not a serious issue, but they like called time out'cause he couldn't get ready for the next play. And like Maura was out there himself, he got like a sharpie out of his pocket and was like digging out the face mask of the turf. And I was like, where the fuck's the equipment manager
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:seriously, the equipment manager's I'm not dealing with that bullshit. I'm not going out there. Y'all ram me ragged with the multi-color cancer shit. I'm not going out there for this. So Maura becomes a paleontologist. Like he's digging dirt
Track 1:Equipment managers over there, making sure everyone's got the right C on their helmet over there. And
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I'm supposed to be pancreatic cancer today. Oh, damnit. Whatever. But the, I mean, we look good.
Track 1:Yeah, we can laugh about all that because we won. that's what makes it entertaining. If it wasn't, I'm fucking pissed. I'm livid the fucking See the fucking, yeah. Green dude beat the shit out of us. Pink dude topped it off with a touchdown. Like
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Brutal. You know what? But though, You haven't had faith in us all along and that continued this week?
Track 1:I am a denier of the ability of this team.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:the, I mean, I think we squeaked one out. I don't know that this was, I don't know if this was ability, but I'm still doing pretty good. I'm what, like seven and one now on my predictions,
Track 1:we'll recap that during, we'll do a full assessment during the bye week of all predictions and maybe make some new ones too for the final four games.'cause I've lost track of it a little bit.'cause we've made, we made preseason predictions and we made updated predictions for each game. So we'll do a full analysis breakdown.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:maybe one of our bulls pen folks can help us out. Gator Bowl with the spreadsheets.
Track 1:You just wanna make someone have to go re-listen to all the episodes for the season, for the extra view in the rankings. I know what you're
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:People aren't actually re-listening to it. I mean, people don't go back and listen to this more than once. I barely listen to this more than once. I'm mad that I have to edit it. It's like brutal. You said there was a couple things in that podcast that you didn't do that I wasn't there for that. There was some stuff you wanted to see.
Track 1:Correct, correct. I'll be honest, I don't think we did most of the things I said I wanted us to do. The one thing I said I wanted us to do was win and we did that. It was a fucking ugly ass game, but it was a. Big old nut sack game for goldish and a couple of the other players. He was just dragging that shit around. Dragged us to a win. Byron Brown, Quan Wright, some defense at the end fucking gutted it out for a win Somehow there wasn't a whole lot, There wasn't anything pretty, like when I go down through the stats and all that kinda stuff, I'm not grading as well. There was, it was ugly, but you pull it out, I mean, but you pull it out in the fourth quarter. I gotta give you credit for that. And that's not something we would've done last year. Like even if we were the better team, we found ways to lose games.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:That is true. That is, and that's one of the things that in the fourth quarter, as we're coming up to that last drive,'cause it really was coming down to like last drives here and. were parts of me that were like, this is over, right? this team doesn't come back. This team doesn't win these games, but this team does, and that's promising.
Track 1:And that excites me more. Not just for this season. yeah, it's great to get a couple wins this season. In the big scheme of things, you know, we wanna get to six wins for a bowl game and all that kind of stuff where you get extra practices. It's a nice reward for players, build some confidence. But in the grand scheme of, you know, coach Goldish talks about building a program, whether we get to six wins or not this season, it's probably not. The end all be all right. But it excites me for next season that, oh, we actually know how to win some games when maybe we weren't meant to win this one. You know, like we didn't play that well. We probably didn't deserve to win it, perhaps for three quarters of it at least. so when you get more talent, you get guys who understand the scheme better, your developed players in their techniques that you want'em to do and all that kinda stuff, then the winning will become a lot easier on top of that. So if you can win games when you don't have all that done, All more power to you. Right?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I am. I'm all about it,
Track 1:That's what gets me excited,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Let's, it excites me too because there's areas where you can show through recruiting, and I'm sure we'll have episodes to talk about this later on, but through recruiting and through transfers where you can see quick gains, right? Offensive line, the secondary like areas where you can go out, take some wins and say, I need you now. We are right there, right? you will start right now.
Track 1:You're committing us to a lot there. You just promised people a recruiting episode at some point. I don't know if we're ready for all that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Do not tweet at recruits baby.
Track 1:That'll be me and pka reading off 2 4 7 sports or something. Just a list
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Number
Track 1:that's all I can pretty much tell you about recruits. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:re recruits. I don't follow it too much either, but what we're gonna, we're going to'cause the people want it. I think
Track 1:yeah. You know what else people want? They want to hear me rip this team apart for. The play for most of that game,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:let's do it.
Track 1:so the passing game, or I guess just offense in general was just not there for most of this game. we'll start with the passing game. Some glaring issues both in talent and play design. I know our buddy Equipment manager wants to come on and just rip the play calling on offense for just especially the passing scheme. That's what he worked on. You know, he was gonna be a coach at one point in his life and
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah,
Track 1:took a
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:he knows
Track 1:he knows his shit and he is not happy with what we're doing out there. I'll just say it's a very simple scheme. we run about four routes in a go, a hitch. A slant or a wide receiver screen. And I feel like the hitch was new this week and that was working
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:that the hitch was
Track 1:the only thing that was working
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Because the screen we were like, all right, maybe we move this 10 yards up. The field will
Track 1:So they don't have to run afterwards, so they just run before and then catch the ball. It saves them the effort afterwards. Yeah, that's, but yeah, they gave us a lot of issues in the way they were playing. They played like a lot of heavy, deep two man. Over the top coverage, so we couldn't hit the deep shots. So we did make some adjustments. I love that we made adjustments, but it took us a lot to get there. and we pretty much just went to one thing and kept going to it while it was working. And that's all you need to do in college football. If they're not gonna stop it, just keep fucking doing it.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah. and we kept doing it. That hitch was there over and to a point where I was like, this dude's gonna read this play
Track 1:Yeah. you're waiting for one to get housed. Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:it's this is going to the house. Yeah. Luckily it was Yukon. So you can do that against the team like Yukon.
Track 1:the other thing we looked for on offense was like the early down success. we, I had a big segment on first downs and three and outs. I dunno if you heard that, but we were a little better there. I missed the whole first drive. So I didn't see how we were able to run the ball successfully on that drive, but not so much in other drives. but we were improved and that led to an improved third down. We were nine of 19 overall on third down. So that's better. That's almost 50%. That's what you want.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:but kind of to your point, and I did listen to this episode that you didn't do. That never happened without me. I. Where you talked about the third downs, but a lot of the stuff that was happening is we're behind the sticks or it's third and long and this team is not a third long team. Right? We weren't having running success or we have drop passes or we have an overthrow or bad ball by Byron, and then you're there on third down, stuck with pass, right? you, we don't have the run game to be able to get that chunky yardage like that. We know we're deep in our own territory, so it's not four downs, and so you have to throw the ball and we're just not, what you were just saying, our passing game and the routes that we have, and more than off, more often than not, we're going three and out there.
Track 1:Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:And you saw that here a little bit.
Track 1:you did. There was definitely some quick three and outs still. there's one where we had third and long I'm gonna highlight later where I was very impressed that we converted. I'm gonna give you credit. I think it was thanks to another one of your inspirational, call outs of a certain player. So we'll get to that. But it's really, credit goes to Puka, so
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:All credit to pka. W W P D. would pka do? So that's the offense. And I'm going into defense here. I'm getting defensive'cause man, Man.
Track 1:We found a way to not give up 56. That's that was your prediction is we wouldn't give up 56 and we didn't
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, I don't,
Track 1:only 21. That's a win.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:that is a win. It doesn't feel like a win, but that is
Track 1:Yeah. it still felt pretty, I think the problem is they got a lot of yardage, right? They drove the ball, but we got four turnovers and so that was key in reducing the number of points they scored. It was really three turnovers. If you don't count the last fumble, fumble, ruki, whatever it is,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:whatever
Track 1:and ladder. Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:'cause that was like a really bad hooking ladder and I don't know if that's what they were trying to do, but.
Track 1:Yeah. but I mean, besides, even though it didn't feel great, I could still see guys run into the football. we had some big hits, guys got stuck out there. you know, and we didn't get beat over the top for just the simple touchdowns that had plagued us the last two weeks. Right. we, you know, even if we gave up a catch, maybe it was for a first down, it was for a big gain, something like that. Or we let off a big chunk run, but it wasn't just for, oh, that's an a d R touchdown. So I. And then third down defense. Because of that, because you're not, you're making'em play another set of downs, you're making'em drive the ball. Third down, defense let us get off the field pretty good at a five for 13 conversion rate is what we help them to. So that's worse than R nine for 19. So you're winning the third down battle.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:that's great.
Track 1:Not much to say about penalties. They were not a huge part of this game. There were some bad ones in there, but we, there were a couple. We were over, over. We over overcome some like a hold, which usually just kills our offense. Defense had a few face masks in there, which extended drives to them. There's that one shit ass roughing. The passer on the guy. The double pass.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yes.
Track 1:Fuck that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Where, yeah. Where then he's like kind of getting pushed down or he is falling forward. He ends up tackling him like, he
Track 1:that was the first one I've seen. You know, I'm not there, so I was trying to read lips and stuff, but I'm not sure. It's the first time I've questioned whether Goli knew the rules in that situation, which honestly I didn't really know either. Basically he was saying like, does that guy get roughing? The passer protection if he's not the quarterback? I think
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:the announcers were all about, it doesn't matter if it's a tight end is he's the passer. You can rough him. It's like, all right, fuck ever. We kinda got one though, when
Track 1:but for that to be true, sorry, this is gonna be red being a nerd for a second'cause I agree with you, but I like to think out these rule situations, but that for the, for that passer to have protection, that means technically the quarterback wasn't a passer because he threw the ball backwards for that guy to be able to do the double pass. So that means you should be able to hit the shit outta the quarterback if he throws a backwards pass like,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:you should be able to,
Track 1:So remember that defense coordinators across the country, if it's a backwards pass, if I can stick the quarterback
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I'm talking Hit him, make him pay, make him think twice. I mean, we benefited from one where there was a rough in the passer that I thought was really ticky tack, where like he smacked across.
Track 1:he slapped him across the head? Yeah,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:and I was like, and it wasn't really a slap across the head, it was like hand glanced a face mask. And I was like, In those moments, you're like, all right, I'll take it. But it feels icky. It, yeah,
Track 1:Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:whatever. But hey, does all this mean that we should fire coach Alex goldish yet? is he even a football coach?
Track 1:Oh, thank God. We're just back to this being a joke segment. look, we got four wins.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:yes.
Track 1:400% more wins than red thought we were gonna have. I know it's right in line with your predictions, but I will say the one area I'm still a little critical of, coach Alex Golich, where he is gotta make sure he doesn't get fired, is maybe he needs to be fired as the offensive play caller, even though that's like what we brought him in here to do. So I think that if you're gonna fire him for that, he should fire him for everything, but he needs to improve there. That's all I'm saying.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:we brought him in to be a head coach,
Track 1:Oh, okay.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:do all the other stuff. We brought him in to bring the offensive mind to do it now like I gotta think That the design and the scheme is just because we don't have the talent there. It's just because this is really all we can get. We can't run complex routes'cause we don't even have people that can catch the ball like so
Track 1:I have one other problem with Coach Golich
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Ooh,
Track 1:because of his fashion forward With the cool kids attitude. We now got all other types of people on the sideline wearing pants that are just way too tight. There was a trainer wearing fashionable pants. I'm pretty sure Lee's is probably wearing something and
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Lee's tried and true. he sticks with the gear.
Track 1:but the trainer's pants were so tight that I felt like he wasn't even be able to squat down to help the player who's lying on the field. he's oh, I gotta adjust some shit here to be able to get down. Gimme a minute. I'm gonna need a minute.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I'm cramping like, hold on man. I'm wearing tight pants.
Track 1:yeah. These things are gonna bust when I squat down to fucking spray some water in your face.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:the coach go grape grabbers and everybody's handing out in the locker room.
Track 1:He's all about the, n I l deals and the different come to the bay brands and different hats and all that kind of stuff. he needs to definitely have some sort of Lulu pants, sponsorship over there.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I would wear the shit out of that. I really would.
Track 1:I know Vineyard loves the Lulu pants too. He talks about'em all the time.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, I would a hundred percent do it. Really, I would do it.
Track 1:they can give us a cut when they hear about this great idea from the pod. Just like they give us the credit when they win football games because we've done all the coaching for them and broken down everything.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:we're telling'em what they need to do. I mean, if I were wearing pants right now, they would be tight pants.
Track 1:that's, yeah, that's the problem is we just don't wear pants most of the time.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:just not wearing pants. There's really no reason to wear pants.
Track 1:But yeah, when U S F starts selling records amount of leggings and pants, it's'cause of us.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:It's right here. It's happening here. You know what's not'cause of us. That horrible first three quarters. I mean, do we even need to highlight?
Track 1:No. So we're just gonna go straight to the end. so some shit happened. there was a lot of incompletions, some missed field goals.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Ooh. Oh yeah.
Track 1:Yeah. some stuff happened in there. but we set the scene 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. U s F finds itself down 21 to 10. Our heroes have just been dealt what looks like the fatal below as Yukon player makes the most unbelievable catch of his life in the back of the end zone. A play that could only be made against U S F because that guy's never gonna have a game like that again in his entire life.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Never gonna have that catch.
Track 1:will it be the end for U S F? No.'cause our hero, Byron Brown, leads us on two fourth quarter touchdown drives. We get a defensive stop in there, seal the game with a fumble, and we win 24 to 21.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:nuts how that even happened.'cause like you said, this is not a team that comes back with that. This is not a team that drives,'cause I mean, we even started to have some of these drives, I think it was against u a b where we ended up throwing an interception that just killed the game for us. I mean, we nut up under pressure
Track 1:Yeah. I think one was a 75 yard drive, the other was a 90 yard drive,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:sustained drives for an offense that goes this fast. And you could say, UConns gas and that's the point, Right, that's what you want this offense to do. Just have a defense so tired. It is not over until
Track 1:Yep. And that's where you started seeing them start having some substitution issues, all that kind of stuff, which helps you there. Helped the drive as well. we had a big run by Quan Wright in there. Byron Brown had the one rushing touchdown. Cole Skinner 56,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:go ahead. Go off
Track 1:just whiffed on some blocks. First off, he's a freshman. I don't know what he is doing out there. There were some injuries or something. Thank God the man was there to step in.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:N
Track 1:He is playing like
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:True freshman.
Track 1:freshman, which is really rare for offensive lineman.'cause usually those guys need weight room conditioning, all that kind of stuff.'cause usually coming outta high school, they're just mounds of fat. but oh God.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He had a couple penalties too, didn't he
Track 1:was taking penalties. there was an entire drive that was just ruined by him. Missing blocks. The interception was on him'cause he missed the defensive tackle. Who tipped to the ball? He's having a shitty ass game. Fourth quarter. He had a key block on Byron Brown's touchdown run. He had a key block on Aquan Wright's touchdown run doing his shit. That's the definition of nut up. You know, you can be down on yourself and fucking, oh, I'm just a true freshman. How can they expect me to do this shit? Nah, he fucking came in there and did his job.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah.
Track 1:Potentially won us the game,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Get punched in the mouth and you keep coming back for more. You keep saying, you know what I, no, I wanna start for this team. If you're gonna put me back in there, I'm gonna play. There you go, kid.
Track 1:I mean, to be honest, it's not like they were doing a hell of a job in front of him, so maybe he earned himself a starting role at the end of the game. He certainly didn't earn it at half. He certainly hadn't at halftime. And the other thing is, As a true freshman. There may be red shirt considerations and all that kinda stuff. So maybe we never see him again for the rest of the year. I don't know. Maybe he's our starting right guard here on out. Probably also depends on how injured the guy was in front of him. I, you know,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I hope he's not our starting right guard, but I mean, to.
Track 1:hope he is. I hope he is. He's definitely one of those, what I would so lovingly and daringly refer to. Hog Mollies, that's for sure. That's big old. He reminded me a lot of, one Ryan Schmidt out there. So
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Throwback baby. Hog Molly. Yeah, he was. So, it sounds like you're starting to get a little bit into the Dayday Evans Player of the Week Award.
Track 1:yeah, I'm not gonna give it to Cole Skinner just'cause of the issues early. I could give it to Jalen Schuler. He was sticking some guys, Jalen Stokes had some interceptions, even one that in fumble recoveries, he was making some plays. I'm gonna stick with the tried and true simple, obvious one, not Byron Brown going Quan. Right?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Woo. He was like a a c honor roll or something
Track 1:did get the honor roll this week. Yep.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:he had a career day, which if you want to get completely hammered during a football game, a U S F football game, if you want to get just schnockered, take a shot every time. The announcers have to say that any player is having a career day. Any one of'em, every time they say the word career day, you have to take a shot. You will be every U s F game. You will be a degenerate, you'll be completely shit housed. Quan Wright had a career day, he had career highs in, I think in rushing, yards. I'm not sure
Track 1:Carrie's, I think too. Yeah, those attempts too, I think. Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Wow.
Track 1:So who was your if you're gonna go Quan right, too? No. You got someone else in mind?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I got someone else in mind.'cause here's the thing, when I call you out and then you show up, you deserve accolades. And today for me it's wolf. I mean, he had that huge catch that extended, that drive, that third and long. But also he had some blocks too. And I, that was something I specifically called him out for. If you're gonna get out there with bitch hands, right, and not block you. why are you even out there? But he said, no, not today. He got out there, made a critical catch and some great blocks for me. This week, you get the most improved player. Best player of the week award. Weston Wolf.
Track 1:Well done. and It's really all'cause of you again, for calling him out. I'm not gonna lie, I saw that ball going to him on the third and 10. We needed that drive. I was like, oh, this game's fucking, there's no way this guy makes us catch. And he held onto it. got, he had the fresh stickum on his gloves. Boom. Big catch.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Got it.
Track 1:That was perhaps also, I mean, maybe our Matt Growthy. Holy shit. How'd he do that play of the game as well with making that catch?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yes.
Track 1:we don't make a lot of catches when there's five yards of separation. Nevermind when a guy's draped all over you. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:That was nuts too. Like how he threaded that in there, how that pass.'cause that was an amazing pass. I don't know how he caught that ball.
Track 1:Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Great. Go for it.
Track 1:And you say that because he is a U S F player. I mean, there's people who make that catch quite often, but
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah. yeah. I'm not an Alabama fan, I'm a U S F fan. I don't know how he made that catch.
Track 1:That's similar to my other nominee here for the Matt growth, the holy shit. How do you do that Play of the game? I'm giving it, here to Jalen Stokes with his interception right before, I think it was the half. Because I thought that dude was wide ass open and that was gonna be a walk-in touchdown for Yukon. my butthole was puckered. I'm like, oh fuck, here we go. And then here comes making a routine play for safety, just playing center field and running over and snagging it out of the air. But, at the time I was like, holy shit. We're allowed to do that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:we could get that. and then I'm like, oh my God, he's gonna return it. Like he was actually getting some distance on it
Track 1:Yeah, he was, and then I thought he'd blown out his knee when he got tackled on there. He did like a fucking somersault over the top. But then he just rolled that and got up and kept running. And I was like, all right, he's all right. He's good.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He's good. He's good. Shake it off. Walk it off, buddy. The highs and lows of being a U Ss F fan.
Track 1:the other one we talked about, but we're not allowed to give it to this guy'cause we don't give it to the other fucking team. But they're running back, making that tiptoe Tipped ball to himself in the back of the end zone. Touchdown catch. I was like, fucking a, I mean, how does he do that? A guy wasn't even meant to be playing. He's their backup running back and he is all of a sudden Tyreek Hill out here.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Scoring a million points of fantasy. Go get the fuck outta here. You're the second string guy.
Track 1:Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Whatever. we already talked a little bit about the refs and the roughing. The passer, I mean, that was tough. That extended a drive for them.
Track 1:It wasn't the end of the world. nothing to get all fucking up John McDade for or anything. Nothing on those levels. what? Oh, you know what else? Fuck the ref's for reviewing your boy Sean Atkins. Catch where he is. Fucking five yards in bounds on the sideline
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:gotta make sure he didn't step outta bounds. The side judge didn't throw his hat. There was nothing like we just automatic. Maybe he missed it. I
Track 1:he was on the side of the field that has a sideline. He might have gone out
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He might have gone outbounds for that. Like you might as well just review the ones over the middle of the field too. Shit.
Track 1:Yeah. That's just a fucking panic button snap. I feel like that's just the review guy being like, oh, review.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:oh. Quick. Don't let him, don't let him. They're fast team. Don't let him
Track 1:yeah, I have not seen any replay of this, but, just gonna smash the button.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Smash it. Smash the button.
Track 1:break in case of emergency
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:They're driving. Oh my gosh. You know what else got smashed?
Track 1:your mom,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:You got what? What you bastard? You got creamed
Track 1:You got creamed.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:cream.
Track 1:Schuler had a big couple big hits. The one that stands out to me is the opening fumble you guys hat on the helmet there, I think no hat on the ball, helmet on, not a hat on the helmet. That'd be illegal.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:That's
Track 1:the, Mac Harris was flying around out there and I'm gonna go with that one where the key force fumbled to end the game where Ross and Harris, smushed Roberson got creamed and lost the football.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:was that the, was Are you talking the fumble on the last play? Are you talking the fumble where he's running and the ball's like
Track 1:Yeah. Running. Yeah. Where he is fucking carrying it out there like Mike Vick and, yeah. But he still took a big hit on it, but
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:got smacked and Yeah, I would've dropped that ball too.
Track 1:But you would have better ball security than that. You would've been high and tight.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I would've been, I would've, as soon as I, start running, bring that bad boy in. You guys making contact, wrap it up.
Track 1:And that's all coaching.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:That's all.
Track 1:all
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Coaching. that's a
Track 1:You know, you know their coach over there was going dang gammit when that happened.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Dad, gammit, what was he? he was livid about something. I don't remember what it was.
Track 1:Oh, he wanted to pass interference
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Y was
Track 1:the guy. It was Braxton Clark shoved that wide receiver out of bounds and he was like demonstrating to the ref. yes.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yes. Yes. That, that, that is what that was.
Track 1:I'll be honest, it probably was passing interference, but there was one earlier where they didn't call it on us either going the other way, and so I was like, just let'em play ball out there.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, that was, he definitely shoved him out and I was like, whoa. We'll take that.
Track 1:Yeah, and he was, the problem is that you have the. I don't know all my reffing terms correctly. I think it's the line. Judge is the one who like stands right next to the coach most of the time, and he's the one who has to be like the liaison to the coach. But basically all you can be like is not my call. Sorry, I don't know. Let me go talk to that dude all the way over there. Like I didn't throw the flag. Or not throw the flag. Like I'll talk to him during the break and maybe call him over and he can explain to you what happened. But, sorry, I don't know.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Jim Mora was pissed.
Track 1:Yeah, he was real pissed about that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He was
Track 1:He looked like he was still pissed after the game about I thought he was gonna say something to like Coach Golich during the handshake. that was fucking pass interference. And you know it we won that game.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:go back and chase some shit, because that would've changed some shit. That would've changed some stuff.
Track 1:Yeah. Jim Moore was definitely screaming some dad gambit about that. What other situation? Oh, my favorite. My favorite. We talked about the hurry up offense actually working. The dude tried to fucking run out the back of the end zone
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:you were just going for it. I didn't know you couldn't do that.
Track 1:Yeah. You can't fucking do that
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Why can't you do that?
Track 1:because you gotta go off to the side of the field where your teammate's coming on.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He was just, he was gassed. He was like, I gotta get the fuck outta here. As soon as he did it, the back judge was like, Nope.
Track 1:Yeah.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He is under the, he's under the goalpost. and I'm not gonna let you do that one. It was F like came out. As soon as he crossed over the back, he was probably like, is this fucking dude really running towards me?
Track 1:He was probably really confused, is this fucking det tackle about the lineup? Fucking
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:what's he
Track 1:safety right now? Oh no. He's just going all the way through the end zone. Okay.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:here's a flag. You get that, have
Track 1:It's to prevent all those type, you know, like a player, like hiding behind the goalpost and then jumping out during the play and picking you off. Some people try some crazy shit, bro. Okay.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:kinda earnest goes to camp? Shit? Are you talking about what the fuck?
Track 1:W people will do anything to get an advantage on the football field. All right? If they can fucking hide like they used to have the problems with, the player would pretend he's substituting off the field and then not come back to the hat. that's why they had to have the rules about how far you have to come onto the field if you're substituting and all that kind of stuff. So you don't hide next to your sideline and pretend you're subbing off. Then you're really the 11th, all that kind of shit, man. They try to do everything out there.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:you hoo. I'm a player
Track 1:Yeah. You thought I was off the field, but now
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:is
Track 1:a.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Where like the whole offensive line doesn't move and.
Track 1:Or they have, they got guys laying down in the end zone on kickoffs, so you don't see that guy blending into the colored turf. You've seen that play before? I guess that one's actually legal though. But
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I've never seen
Track 1:you've never seen that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:What's the advantage to laying down in the end
Track 1:because then the, so the guy catches it on the other side of the field, then throws it back across on the, so it's like a trick play on the kickoff return.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Doesn't make any sense to me.
Track 1:I know a lot of you have to see football to understand, so they kick off the ball. You lay a player down in the end zone so the other team doesn't see him'cause he blends it. It was like a purple end zone or something. It may have been Boise with the blue. I don't know. Something like that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah.
Track 1:think it was T C U with purple. That's what's sticking out in my mind.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Okay.
Track 1:The returner starts running the ball to the other side of the field. Away from that dude. All the tacklers try to chase him. He then stops and throws it back across the whole football field to the guy who's now stood up outta the end zone then runs down the other sideline. This is a real play that was attempted and I think it might've even worked.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:that's ridiculous. I would be pissed. Where the fuck did that guy come
Track 1:Exactly. Exactly.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:This fucking dude came outta nowhere,
Track 1:Now I want you to picture that fucking D lineman hiding behind the goalpost. Byron Brown goes to throw a fucking post route to Sean Atkins, and that guy just jumps out and fucking picks it off. Yep.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:that's awesome. Speaking of goalposts, what
Track 1:couldn't get the ball between them.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:never, let's never do that again. Let's never kick a field goal again.
Track 1:Yeah, I mean, and that's may have been why we didn't go for two at the end there either. We were just like we, we know we're not gonna kick a field goal to try and tie this shit up, so we're just going for touchdowns only. No point. Trying to make it a three point game.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:This is like for everyone that's man, why are we going for it on fourth down all the time? We talked about this last time, but there's your answer.
Track 1:we have settled that debate.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, that one. We don't need to discuss that ever again.
Track 1:What other key takeaways do we have? We just need more guys out there. We obviously need a kicker with a longer leg. But we need to get those guys more. And you see that you got a true freshman right guard. He's getting experience out there. You got Byron Brown's a fucking red shirt freshman. You just got guys who are learning. You need to get some more. There's some positions where we just need more bodies. DB certainly, o line we talked about tight end. I would say we need some
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah,
Track 1:wide receiver,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Everywhere, every position, man. Just every position. We need help. We need help. But
Track 1:But look, even with that, we're gonna be playing fucking 500 record competitive football into November.'cause now we got the bi week. You get to celebrate the bi week for two weeks. So that takes us even out of October. We're in fucking November playing real football all of a sudden.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:when's the last time that happened?
Track 1:It would've been Charlie Strong's six and oh season or whatever. But even then, I mean, we knew the collapse was happening, so I would say I wouldn't even count that season.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah.
Track 1:So you're probably looking at the season before that where we were lost in epic fashion to U C F in the last game of the year.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:So it would be 2017, would that be it? Yeah,
Track 1:2017 where we lost to fucking Houston a game we shouldn't have lost. And we all remember that Black Friday game, so
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:But we won the Birmingham Bowl. Sounds good.
Track 1:won the Birmingham Bowl.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, life was good. I mean, so we're, I mean, we've got a legitimate shot at going bowling. A legitimate shot at going bowling. No one had that prediction for this season. Six and six is a reality.
Track 1:We'll see, last time we started saying that we've lost two games by giving up 56 points a game. So, but we can't lose this week, so I guess we can't jinx
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, exactly. We're Good.
Track 1:we can just dream this week and then we'll get back to reality during our preview for Memphis where we're gonna get smoked.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Crash back down
Track 1:Spoiler maybe we won't, if we catch the ball, if we learn some new routes during the bi-week, in the running game, if we can maybe like consistently get Four, five yards to carry instead of 0, 0, 50, 0, 0 50
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:it gives you a career day when you're running like that. I really wish we could figure that out and figure out what, what gaps we're trying to create and figure out how to consistently do that.
Track 1:Hopefully. I mean, that's what the bye week's for. You can do a lot of self scouting. see how teams have been adjusting and playing us. Just gives you more time to just analyze all that instead of being like, Hey, we gotta install this right now. Don't have time to go do all that. I mean, I know Coach Olish says they're outworking everyone, but they're still human. They're still only 24 hours in the day. They can only do so much.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:For sure. Yeah,
Track 1:and you're, even if the coaches are doing that, you still are restricted how many hours you can have of instruction with players during the week and all that kind of stuff. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I bet. I bet folks didn't know that there's, this ain't namm, there's rules. Big leki you.
Track 1:is great
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, thanks. I mean, there's a lot of questions around our run defense. I mean, we talk about the rush offense, but the run defense, whether they're regressing, whether we're tired, whether there's people hurt.
Track 1:I don't know. Yeah. I. No matter what the reason is the bi week's gonna help. I'm hoping it's just fatigue and injury and we're getting a little, you know, we've lost a couple guys, so it means other guys gotta play more. Or maybe some guys who are less experienced are getting in there. But it's definitely not been good the last three weeks where that was probably the best strength of our team for the first four weeks or so, is that we weren't letting people run on us. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:we could, before we could seal the edge. And I, just feel like we've lost that ability somehow. I don't know what teams are scheming up.
Track 1:also haven't been getting to the quarterback on the passing downs either. That's been a problem. You know, we had that record, five or six sacks against Alabama, whatever it was. Blitzes were getting home all over the place and we haven't seen that since then. So that's a little scary. So we got a lot of work to do on the D line. Apparently kps gotta get'em right. Both playing the run and the pass. One thing I did notice this week a little different, I called for, it was a little more man coverage. we, you know, you still get beat on those occasionally, but it was just, I was refreshing to see, I'd rather see a guy line up against a guy and just, you know, puts a move on you, you lose, you make the tackle afterwards the first down versus we try to play the zone and three guys are covering one guy and there's another guy who's wide open.'cause we don't know who's got who. All that kind of shit. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Which was incredibly frustrating. And I mean, I don't know if you folks at home felt the same way we felt, but I was frustrated every time a guy's standing there wide open in the middle of the field, just like that soft zone right in the middle, and three defenders are just like, huh, I guess they're, they are gonna catch the ball if we give'em the opportunity to do it. So yeah, that was refreshing to see.
Track 1:Special teams, we talked, you know, Stokes doing fine. we don't really have much in the return game we've talked about before, and we know we're just, we're good on the field goal kicking decisions. Now we know we're all on board.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Never kicking a field goal win. You know, I'm hesitant to say it because I don't wanna jinx it, but Atkins has played a lot smarter. With the return game, right. Early on in the season, he was not fair catching those balls. And he would try to return those and I'm like, that is a recipe for disaster. He started to play a little bit smarter with it and I like that.'cause I need him. He's everywhere. he's, I'm surprised we're not having Atkins kick the ball. I've, and I'm half choking I'm surprised he is not our field
Track 1:he can be our 50 50 and plus specialty kicker. Yeah, I'm sure he is. Got a leg, he's got an arm, he's got
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He can do it all.
Track 1:got hands.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:He can do it all.
Track 1:I mean, I know he does have physically have a leg. I see him running with it out there, but I don't know how he does with kicking. he'll be remembered forever for his greatness if he just goes and wins U Ss F National championship. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:all. Yeah, that's happening. We gotta
Track 1:I'll build the man a fucking statue in my, not even at the state new stadium. I'll just build it to him in my fucking backyard.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:you don't already have one of those?'cause
Track 1:I know you ordered your Sean Atkin statue at the beginning of the season,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:I've got it. It is there. I mean, I told you his talent was there from the beginning. No one listened to me. And now you have to listen to me constantly talk about it.
Track 1:It's true.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:You know, who we don't have to listen to, at least not this week, the dumb tweets of the week.
Track 1:Yeah, I mean, apparently winning. I thought winning cures everything. We started to get a smarter fan base and then everyone came outta the woodwork and there's all kinds of drama and don't know, man,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:say,
Track 1:do we really want to talk about it?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:you know what? No, I think what we're gonna do, save it. Because we're gonna deep dive on this in the bi week. We're gonna do a little bit longer of an episode for the Memphis preview, and we're gonna dig into some of this kind of fan volatility. There's something about football that it's not just football, and I think we need to talk about it. I
Track 1:That's a, that's the best idea you've ever had. Pka.'cause actually, I wanna talk about something like that. During the episode that didn't happen, that you weren't on, that I did by myself. but I was like, you know what? Because we, we caught some drama with our episode before that as well. There was, we called out some fans and that started a whole nother debate about fandom and all that kinda stuff. So next week there's gonna be a new segment called What Does Red's Ideal Fan look like? And,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Ooh,
Track 1:we'll, and we'll cover all the dumb tweet of the week during that and all that kind of stuff as well. So,
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:that's kind of scary. What does Red's ideal
Track 1:And I am not talking about five nine blonde double D or anything like that.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:name is Russell
Track 1:what? Why would her name be Russell?
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:because it's not a her. There we go. There we, now we get to Rest up. Episode's over lick our wounds, prepare for what hopefully won't be a monstrous ass whooping at the hands of Memphis. But Yukon felt, way too close for comfort, and I don't feel like that bodes well for our chances.
Track 1:Me either pka, but really I just haven't had faith all along, so don't listen to me.
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:Yeah, I mean, we're gonna keep you guessing about when the next pod's gonna drop, because frankly, I think we're still kind of guessing We're not really sure when it's gonna be or what it's gonna be.
Track 1:Yeah, we got this one this week. Next pod, we'll be next week sometime. We haven't picked a day. catch us on all the socials. Tell all your friends, everyone has two weeks now to listen to this pod. Or you can listen to it twice in the same week. If you want to keep the rhythm up for yourself, you know, you don't wanna get outta the schedule, just listen to this one as if it's the preview. Episode two and then, You'll feel good. Don't want you to feel left out during the bye. Week
pookah_2_10-23-2023_190113:It's the rhythm of the night. Oh yeah. Damn right. They do have two weeks to listen to it. Until next time folks go. Bulls,
Track 1:Go bulls,