56 Part Trois...Plus Trois (Memphis Recap)

Well the defense gave up 50 points again, but we still made it a game, woo... Tune in as the fine classy gentleman of carrying cord elegantly equivocate about USF Football. Cheers!

Transcript

Track 1: 0:00

hey man. Are we gonna talk about the title?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 0:03

you mean the, oh yeah. Look man, it was already written before the game and like, honestly, we can't control that. They scored 59 instead of 56. And I know I'm not witty enough to join the two, but man, you get the fucking message. it's still the same. Hey, welcome back. It's Karen Cord and we suck. We suck. We the royal we like the team sucks. Or the

Track 1: 0:40

sucks. The pod sucks. The team sucks, but we're getting better. And I don't know if that's we're getting better at sucking or we're just getting better, but

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 0:49

No one. Oh man. Are we getting better at sucking? I don't know. Red. You tell me.

Track 1: 0:55

I mean, we managed to give up three more points, so that's getting better at sucking, but we scored a lot more,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:00

Yeah. Well, it's clear that you didn't pick up on my sexual innuendo when I asked you if you were getting better at sucking, but that's cool.

Track 1: 1:09

I just have a, the innocent mind of a

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:12

A pure mind

Track 1: 1:13

over here.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:15

maybe that's

Track 1: 1:15

the touch of a woman or a man for that matter.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:18

okay. Well thanks for clarifying. Thanks for clarifying, bud. Speaking of getting better at sucking, yeah, I that's, there's not really much to talk about before we get into this. This, we didn't do a lot of what we said we needed to do.

Track 1: 1:33

We did not, first off, we did not ruin Memphis's Homecoming as was predicted by Advance Analytics.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:41

You, but you see, that's what kind of frustrates me is a lot of research goes into finding out that it's their homecoming. Right? Like I had to Google, which took a good 15 seconds. Why do I even do that shit when the team can't hold up their end of the bargain?

Track 1: 1:55

I mean, we went deep. Not only did you identify as homecoming, we also identified that it was homecoming for Yukon and for USF the previous two weeks. So that is just, that's deep dive and it doesn't fucking matter. I saw no extra passion out there on the field because it was, homecoming

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 2:10

Nothing. I saw nothing. Oh, I saw a lot of shit. I did see us. We did cover.

Track 1: 2:17

we're covered as a double digit dog. We talked about that with, best performances against kind of Alabama and Western Kentucky. And similar here. You know, we hung around. We made it a game. Didn't look like it was gonna be that way for a while, but,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 2:30

No, but maybe that's the thing. When folks are looking for improvement with this team, we are now consistently covering the spread. Hey, we're not winning, but I'll tell you what, you can go ahead and bet the cover

Track 1: 2:43

There you go. That's opposite of Kay's advice. So,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 2:46

well do do with that information what you will

Track 1: 2:50

but I mean, yeah. Look, we covered, honestly, all in all, going into the game, it's what we're expecting, right? I mean, we were not hopeful about winning this football game and.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 3:01

that's where I gotta disagree with you because Absolutely. Right. Like you're not, you know, it's not gonna happen. But there's still this inkling that like maybe, and then you go down two touchdowns and you're like, okay, this is exactly what happened. And then the team, magical happens, right? Like defense starts playing and we start getting some plays, and then the offense starts rolling and all of a sudden you're like, well, wait a second, I didn't expect this. It's like walking down the street and finding a rolled up a hundred dollars bill and you weren't expecting it, but you're like, oh shit. And you pick it up and you unfold it and it's actually fake and it says, come to our church type thing. Have you seen those fucking deals? That's what watching USF is like

Track 1: 3:45

Yeah. It, they definitely find a way. Even when I think I'm immune to any more pain from USF, they suck me right in and then punch me in the balls. Yep.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 3:55

Yeah. A lot of sucking today. Maybe that should be the title of the pod.

Track 1: 4:00

sucking partis.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 4:01

Lots of partis.

Track 1: 4:03

I guess it's sucking part, cinco at this point,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 4:05

well, yeah, we're a four and five team, but that's, I'm not mad about it. It's just, it's tough. And I think that's where people get frustrated watching USF because when you start to build that hope and you see those flashes of potential to be reminded of what USF is as a program, like this was the last ranked defense last year. Like expectation management says there was no chance of us winning this game. But then they almost do. We had the lead for a little bit. And if you knock out that early turnover that resulted in a touchdown, we're in it. Right. But we're not. And that's the thing. That's this team.

Track 1: 4:40

The thing that bothers me a lot is it's so different from week to week. Like you don't see I know what to expect out of this team, either offensively or defensively. Like last week we struggled probably our, one of our worst games offensively, or I guess two weeks ago before the buy, excuse me, against Yukon. And that was our first win holding a team under 30 points. Right? Like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 5:00

Yeah.

Track 1: 5:01

or our first win when we were under 30. You know what I fucking mean? But now all of a sudden it looks like we need our first win while giving up 50 points. Like, that's how it's gonna be for the rest of the

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 5:11

And it was Like, okay, great. It's gonna be a shootout. And we haven't won one of those games in seasons, and all of a sudden now we're like, Hey, we might actually get the offensive production to do this. I mean, that's the name of the game. We'll probably talk about it. But the defense did not hold Memphis to single digit points in any quarter, even when they were playing. Well, Memphis still got double digit points on this defense.

Track 1: 5:33

Yeah, I saw, I think someone on the Bulls pen talked about it. the fourth quarter was the lowest scoring point total of this game, and that one quarter led more points than the Northwestern Iowa game. So

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 5:45

Nice.

Track 1: 5:45

yeah,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 5:46

I don't, that doesn't make me feel good. I don't think that was meant to make me feel good, but that

Track 1: 5:52

we're gonna talk about that game a little bit more actually in a

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 5:54

oh, oh, a little bit. of work that we're branching out in the conferences. We won't look at other sports, even though basketball did just wallop, whoever the fuck in there, like Edward Norton High or something. It it was like 49. It

Track 1: 6:09

the good news is we walloped'em. In the past, I think we've struggled in the high school warmup game

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 6:14

Turning it around baby. You know, where we didn't struggle. Maybe we did hot or not uniforms.

Track 1: 6:23

I got nothing for hot or not this week. They were neither hot or not,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 6:26

I, I liked them white on

Track 1: 6:27

they were good. I'm just saying they weren't flaming hot. Maybe if we went, you know, go out and get the wind and then maybe they're hot a we'll, feeling a little better, but I was just neutral on them.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 6:36

Yeah, you know what? I'm not neutral about the, we talked about this in a previous episode, but the tight pants phenomenon, it's spreading. And one of the trainers who had an opportunity to come out on the field a lot, for better or for worse, mostly for worse was wearing tight pants to the point where I was like, how are you getting down to do your job? Like, how are you able to actually get down on one knee and check this dude that's cramping. Like, do you, can you breathe? Sir? Are you okay? Someone has gotta get into the football offices and start talking about the tight pants.'cause we've gone a little bit too far. It's cool with Coach Go, but I think it needs to stop there. that's my New York Fashion Week. Take on.

Track 1: 7:21

Fair enough. I always thought you were a tight pants proponent, so that's interesting.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 7:25

I mean, I, there's a time and a place, right? I.

Track 1: 7:30

they're not, practical for when you got work to do. I

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 7:32

That's what I'm saying. You don't, I mean, you don't have the construction foreman and wearing lingerie'cause you got a fucking job to do. Right. It's just not practical. There's a time and a place and everybody should know it. This ain't ibor homeboy, the dude's cramping. We don't got 30 seconds for you to loosen things up and get down on the ground, get you a fucking pair of JCOs and get to work. That's at least my take on it,

Track 1: 7:57

There you go. I your take's always right, so I appreciate it. Just like we were pretty much right with our takes of what was gonna happen in this game. I mean, you were spot on with giving up, 50 plus points again,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 8:09

Yep, yep.

Track 1: 8:10

I was spot on with the offense. Gonna keep it close enough, pull it within a score, but never really win the game close in the fourth quarter. Right.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 8:19

Yeah. That's tough though. it's tough to be right It's tough. But I mean, what's tough is we told them what we needed to see and they just didn't do it.

Track 1: 8:32

And we did, I mean, we talked, I mean, right off the bat we talked about don't go down 14 points, just, I don't know, I don't know what they can do to fix it. It's obvious that coaches acknowledge that's a problem. And I like what he said to, in something along the lines of, you know, it's not just a one, if it's a one-off, you know, whatever. A guy's had a bad week, he said, but it's become reoccurring and that tells him it's coaching.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 9:02

Ooh. Okay.

Track 1: 9:04

so, they're gonna change something up. you know, whether that's, I don't know, I suggested some Oklahoma drills or something like that. Pre-game. We gotta, I mean, maybe more seriously when you come out to practice instead of doing your normal individual drills, you know, usually do warmups, individual periods and then get into different periods. Maybe you go straight into. Seven on seven or team, like right after warmup, something like that where you're, you want guys getting used to going right out the gate?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 9:30

Yeah, I mean that, that's a great idea.'cause they had the ball first they score immediately. You're down seven offense comes out, turns the ball over. They score immediately. You're down 14. That is that, that they're not ready, that they're not in the right mindset. That that's a little bit more warmup that needs to happen. Who knows? I don't know. what you fix there. I really don't.

Track 1: 9:50

Yeah. I mean, their first couple drives looked like we weren't even awake for, they were just hitting us with play actions and we're 10 yards in the backfield thinking the running backs still got the ball

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 9:59

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 10:00

ends walking in the end zone. the fumble slash incomplete pass, whatever. I mean, there's not

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 10:07

Yeah.

Track 1: 10:08

to say. I mean, that, that's just a fluke play really. But is it because Byron Brown hasn't had his shot in the jaw yet from getting out there? You know, like, wake

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 10:17

He needs to get hit. Like, hey. But also maybe, I mean, maybe the coaches aren't prepared. Maybe they're not doing enough film preparation, maybe they're not seeing, and we're having to adjust pretty quickly on the fly because each week it doesn't matter. The team, they are surprising us with stuff if it seems like we're not prepared, and I'm just speculating, right. I don't think a team is actually not doing any film preparation or enough of it, but there's something there to where we're surprised each week.

Track 1: 10:43

I would say, I think you're onto something there, because I think, you know, the announcers mentioned too of when they get a chance to talk to the coaches, they said defensively our focus was coming out to stop the run. And I think Memphis knew that we were gonna come, be coming out to stop the run. I mean, the first four drives or something, they threw, they ran the ball like one time they were just like, we're gonna pass the ball. So, so we gotta, so I understand that, hey, we've seen on tape that we wanna come out and stop the run, and that's gonna be our plan, but we gotta be quicker to get out of that and adjust if that's not what they're doing. Right. Like.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 11:16

And that, that could also be like, you only have what you have and so you pick one, you either stop the run or you stop the pass and you're gonna get burned on one. I mean, this is what USF fans should be excited about, but as this team develops, you're going to be able to cover both. But right now, you pick one. I mean, if you abandon the run too early and start covering the pass and drop those guys into coverage, well then they're just gonna, they have a very capable running back. They're gonna run down your throat. you go for blocking the run. Memphis is a good team. They're gonna throw it over the top of you. Hennigan is not a bad fucking quarterback. You damn good. and so they were gonna burn you either way. And when you don't have the talent on the defense, that's what's gonna happen early on.

Track 1: 11:56

And I, you know, that is great evidence that, you know, we're just not a good enough team yet. whether that's talent or development of guys or getting guys comfortable in the system and knowing what they're doing, but we're fighting and we're playing like we are a good enough team. And I think that stretches us. And it breaks us in some instances, right? Like we're trying to do, we're playing to win the game, which is great,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 12:21

Yeah.

Track 1: 12:21

but that also leaves us vulnerable to some bad mistakes at times.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 12:25

Absolutely.

Track 1: 12:26

And the bottom line is, look, we had a chance to win this game. we can talk all about the start and defense giving up 59 or whatever and all of that shit. We still had a chance to go win this game.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 12:38

Oh, We

Track 1: 12:39

we had a lead late in the third quarter. had the ball to start the fourth quarter down by three. Like, that's, you're in it, that's, it was a full 60 minute. I mean, even though they had a 10 point lead late, we were still in it and trying

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 12:53

Yeah. That means something. That even means something to a team of like, we are never going to wave the white flag. we are playing this to the end.

Track 1: 13:01

And one other thing I wanted to highlight, just'cause it felt good to see it up on the screen and talked about, I know it in my head, like I know this is not a new fact to me. This doesn't surprise

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:09

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 13:10

but it was different just to see it graphically. We're four and five right now under Golish compared to four and 29

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:19

Yeah.

Track 1: 13:19

under Coach Jeff

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:20

That

Track 1: 13:21

coach Golich could lose the next 24 games in a row and we'd be in the same spot

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:27

Don't you fucking put that on us. We're going into temple Man. Stop.

Track 1: 13:32

but you get my point.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:33

Uhhuh

Track 1: 13:34

there is progress from where we were like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:37

Oh yeah.

Track 1: 13:38

this team is better than what they were and that's without having the chance to necessarily improve it drastically with new players. Yet that is perhaps losing talent compared to last year and still getting better on the field.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 13:52

We lost offensive production. We lost and had to bring new folks in. A completely new quarterback at Starter, who only started a couple games towards the end of the season. I mean, you lost guys at the transfer portal and tried to fill the gaps, but this is one off season worth of bringing people in. That's it. That's it.

Track 1: 14:11

I mean, you talk about bringing people in too. They also mentioned quite a few times, number one, G five recruiting class in the country right now for USF. So that's looking good for next year.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 14:23

Yeah, baby.

Track 1: 14:23

but let's focus about, let's talk about, we're in the recap here. We're not, we can't be looking towards next offense, in my opinion, look great. They were great, but not elite yet.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 14:35

I mean, what 50 Points is against like conference leader. Memphis is pretty elite brother.

Track 1: 14:42

Yeah. But they didn't score many of those points when it mattered in the fourth quarter there.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 14:49

okay.

Track 1: 14:50

I mean, the passing game still definitely has some issues. it was, hey, we threw a lot for a lot of yards. Saw, ran a lot of routes that we hadn't, seen before. I love those bi-week adjustments of uh, doing some different things, helping, you know, improving the design there. I. When a team just plays coverage and they know we're passing though, we still struggle mightily in those situations of we have to drop back and pass, protect and run real routes. we don't get separation. We don't get open. We don't convert often in that situation.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 15:23

No. I mean there was one where Byron threw it in a double coverage that was ill-advised and there was the other pick. There was one where he just barely missed, I think Chaffy Brown just Yeah. On the deep ball. But I mean, he hit Simmons right in the breadbasket, uh, another route. So, I mean, he has flashes there. with those routes, I mean, you say we have to see some new routes. We saw like two new routes,

Track 1: 15:45

That's like a 200%

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 15:47

Yeah. We saw like two. Wow.

Track 1: 15:51

but yeah, you talk about Byron Brown hitting those throws, the different couple that he missed, but I mean, he is, to me, he is that guy. He's answering all of those questions.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 16:01

Oh yeah. I was off the Byron Brown bus early

Track 1: 16:04

we know.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 16:05

I'm back on. Please, please. Can I come back on the bus?

Track 1: 16:10

You're welcome. We talked, we had a big lecture last week about we're not kicking everybody, anybody off the bus

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 16:16

Not even guys. Not even guys who, don't agree with the on-Campus Stadium,

Track 1: 16:20

Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 16:21

continue to give their money. They're allowed to be fans. Who, what kind of piece of shit would do that?

Track 1: 16:26

the other thing where the offense still wasn't great too, was third and fourth down. we were better on the early downs. A lot of the third downs were more manageable, except for key ones where we got penalties or, yardage type plays really put us behind the, you know, but we were better earlier, but then we still ended up only three of 12 on third downs and one of four on fourth downs.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 16:47

Gosh.

Track 1: 16:48

Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 16:49

Yeah, I just, there's nothing, and some of that's play calling. I mean, some of those were drop passes, poor execution. I mean, I'm pretty sure there was one fourth down where like he caught the ball a yard short of the sticks.

Track 1: 17:03

we had the two turnovers too. I'm not really worried about the two turnovers too much. I mean, Byron Brown's one, the fumble was pretty fluky. and then the interception, which is bullshit. So

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 17:13

Yeah. We'll save that one. So then, I mean, the count as turnovers and they ended up hurting us. Yeah. But they don't, I'm not really worried about those in terms of what we need to fix going into next week. Yeah. I mean the, something that's not fixable is probably the defense.

Track 1: 17:30

Yeah. 59 points. I think that pretty much sums it up.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 17:35

What more do you need to say? 59 points. I mean, they just, there was, I don't know if we were playing soft zone, trying to go with the man on the outside, just getting beat. I mean, there was that one late. Um,

Track 1: 17:46

The answer is yes to both of those

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 17:49

all of the above. Yes. I mean, there's, the one late touchdown that we're talking about that they're leading receiver that, I can't even think of his name right now. Yeah, Taylor just makes, I think Braxton Clark miss. Right? And then he's off to the end zone. There's no safety help. It's just, it's stuff like that I don't know that you can fix that.

Track 1: 18:08

Yeah, I mean, we talked in our preview. We thought turnover, getting turnovers was gonna be key for the defense. We'd seen where Memphis had lost, they'd turned over the ball multiple times. We got none.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 18:19

zero. We get Really? Did we get zero?

Track 1: 18:21

we got zero turnovers, man.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 18:24

Huh?

Track 1: 18:25

We dropped about four interceptions.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 18:27

Well, there. There you go. There it is. Yeah. Hit us in the hands and dude's like, oh, get them on the jugs.

Track 1: 18:35

we got limited pressure on Hennigan. He had a lot of time back there. got two sacks. we actually, we, you know, we ended up knocking Hennigan outta the game as well, you know, stuck him.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 18:45

We're not, we're not bragging about that. It just

Track 1: 18:48

I mean, it was kind of the game plan at one point, and then

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 18:52

just get him. But I mean, it really didn't matter.'cause their backup comes in and throws a fucking 80 yard touchdown on the first play. Fresh off the bench. So not like that plan worked.

Track 1: 19:03

Well we didn't exactly make him make a difficult throw there. That was a six yard hitch that he then took 80 yards. So, yeah. I don't know, man, defense, we just can't, we can't cover, that's the number one

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 19:17

Mm-Hmm. you got guys like Evans. You got guys like Stokes. ended up on these, like these coverages that they just can't keep up with. they're they're getting beat. and I don't know if that's because we're playing zone and then the handoff is not happening or the playing man, and they're just not as fast as, I'm not that advanced and defensive knowledge to know what's going wrong there. But

Track 1: 19:38

Here's what I'm gonna say about the defense, which is gonna be similar to my take. Unfortunately,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 19:43

yeah.

Track 1: 19:44

with as bad as they played, they still made enough stops at the end of the game to give us a chance to win

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 19:52

yeah. that's like the macaroni picture that your kid makes you, that you don't like, but you still put up on the fridge. It's like, great. They did something but it's no fucking Picasso Like, God. Yeah, they made a couple stops, but they didn't make the stops when it mattered.

Track 1: 20:07

They did make the stops when it mattered.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 20:09

Then how did we lose the game red? You don't have. Yeah, you don't have shit. I'm gonna edit out how long that pause was, but I want people at home to know. there was a long bit of silence because, no fucking idea. That's why we didn't win the game.'cause they couldn't make a stop. We did not hold them to single digit points at all. Everybody's having a career day,

Track 1: 20:30

Including the back of quarterback and the starting

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 20:32

Backup quarterback. Backup quarterback comes off the bench, has a career day and only plays like, I don't know, maybe two or three. Drives

Track 1: 20:41

Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 20:42

nuts.

Track 1: 20:44

penalties weren't a big part of this game. Certainly not, you know, there were a couple

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 20:47

I,

Track 1: 20:47

different, there were, it was more about missed penalties. Maybe we'll talk about that our favorite, rough segment a little bit. But nothing that was like, shit. That's the difference maker. Win or lose.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 20:58

Yeah. Hey, we fire coach Alex Goli yet?

Track 1: 21:03

I'm not even entertaining, entertaining this bullshit this week. I got no problems with Coach Golish.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 21:07

Yeah.

Track 1: 21:07

Love how he interacts with the team. you brought up a great thing going into the fourth quarter. You caught a little lip reading from Coach Golish.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 21:14

Oh yeah. he was hype on the sideline and he was either saying they don't want this or they don't want us and I mean, he was lit. that's what I'm talking about. Get out there coach. Show some emotion. I loved it.

Track 1: 21:27

did not result in a great fourth quarter after that, but that's okay. I love what he, how he interacts with the, you know, he is not afraid to get after the refs when he thinks our guys have been wronged,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 21:35

that tackle, that missed pass interference. That was pretty much a tackle. he threw that headset. I saw Lee's get scared when that headset went flying.'cause that's a lot of money.

Track 1: 21:46

gotta have the backup headset ready,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 21:48

at the back of headset, ready to go.

Track 1: 21:51

I love what he says in pressors. You know, he is not admit, afraid to admit when he's wrong. if he's got one problem right now, and this is a long-term concern, this is not a, we need to make a change immediately. It's perhaps choice of defense coordinator, right? it's been a trouble. And I only say that, look, it's first season. I'm not advocating firing anybody. I think you gotta give guys time to get their players

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 22:15

Yeah.

Track 1: 22:16

in and coached up and all that kind of stuff. But I'm just saying, but holding on to guys for too long and giving them too many chances, it's been a trouble spot for some of our, you know, it was a trouble spot for Willie Taggart when we had an amazing offense

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 22:29

Yep.

Track 1: 22:29

and he was loyal to, Woody, a defense coordinator and cost us probably some games there. And then one of our worst teams under Coach Jeff Scott, he could never find a defense coordinator all three years. So.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 22:42

nothing that lasted. I mean, I will, I'll worry about this more when we feel like we've filled out the defensive roster. When we have talent and we have depth and we're still struggling, let's revisit this conversation. But until then, for me, more concerning defense is special teams. Special teams was a painful experience yesterday. And if we're talking about cleaning up some of the small stuff, we know the defense is bad. Clean up some of the special teams performance, We haven't had any special teams production all season. If you're trying to win games, you gotta, there's three phases of a football game and we're completely missing one of them.

Track 1: 23:25

That's interesting to me because so many coaches talk about we're gonna make a difference on special teams. Special teams is gonna be the margins between us winning and losing.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 23:33

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 23:35

And I think I'm interested to see next year,'cause I think this year, coach Golich made a business decision and I think he essentially said there's too much other shit to fix that we don't have time to spend on special teams. Honestly, the way we fair catch every kickoff, I, I think he's just like, look, we only got so many practices and so much practice time in those practices. We're gonna, we're just gonna, we're just gonna eliminate that game as much as we can and focus on

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 24:00

Yeah.

Track 1: 24:01

the big stuff and don't sweat the small stuff essentially.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 24:04

Absolutely. I mean, there's just no consistency there. There's the one that's sticking out in my mind is Atkins lets that one punt roll down where we get down to the three, and then we got 97 yards to go when he'll catch just about anything else, right? There's no consistency there. There's no return. We have no field goal kicker beyond 45 yards, so you're not, which, I mean, it's still good, but he is not consistent. you're you're not getting any of those points there, which kind of limits you. So why are we one for four on fourth down? Well, because we have to go for it even deep in the red zone where maybe we just need some points. You get a couple field goals and that score looks different. You're getting some point production in an area where we're turning it over on downs deep in their territory.

Track 1: 24:48

Fair we alluded to a couple of different plays there, some of the different drives, how they ended. Let's just get into what's

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 24:53

Let's just do it. Let's just stop. Let's just stop beating around the bush, if you will.

Track 1: 24:58

Frankly, there's too much happening in these goddamn games. It felt like three different games. You've got the start of the game where we're getting crushed and we think it's, we have no shot. You got the middle, I don't know, we'll say 40 minutes where it seems like we're unstoppable and we're a juggernaut all of a sudden, and holy shit, we're gonna win a game. And then you got the final fourth quarter where it was like, oh fuck,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 25:20

Fourth quarter football. Man. I was amped. I'm walking around my living room with the fours up. I'm an idiot. I'm straight up. Idiot.

Track 1: 25:28

And so with that, I want a simpler football. I'm gonna bring you guys into the, the living room of an Iowa fan.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 25:37

nobody asked for this.

Track 1: 25:39

I didn't watch this game. I'm sure not many other people watch this game, but I just went and while I was doing some, looking up some stats for the USSF game, just pulled it up for Iowa, Northwestern 339 total yards of offense combined between two teams.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 25:53

Okay.

Track 1: 25:53

That's less than each of our teams in

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 25:55

Yeah.

Track 1: 25:56

by like 50%. They punted a combined 14 times and I one on a 52 yard vehicle.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 26:04

Wow.

Track 1: 26:05

It's just, it's amazing to me that's the same sport that we watched USF play. And it would just be so much sim. Do you know how much time I could save? If that was, if we were an Iowa podcast, recapping that game instead of this

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 26:16

Yeah. It would be like, well, so there was a whole bunch of punts.

Track 1: 26:19

Yeah. No, I'm gonna do it for you. It was zero zero at the end of the first half with people punting back and forth. Iowa blocked a punt to in the second half and only had to go 25 yards for a touchdown. then Northwestern got a nice punt return and only had to go 22 yards for their one touchdown. And so it was seven seven with two minutes left in the fourth quarter and Iowa hit 1 23 yard pass, which put them into field goal position. That was the longest play of the game for anybody at 23 Yard Pass. That did not even result in a score. and they kicked a field goal to win it.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 26:54

Wow,

Track 1: 26:54

Recap over

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 26:55

that would be amazing.

Track 1: 26:57

instead. I gotta go through fucking a hundred plays over here for one side of the ball.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 27:03

for one That's brutal. And you know, you talk about, you that block punt and everything. I talked about special teams just a second ago, we did have flashes, right? We had that block punt

Track 1: 27:13

I'm glad you remembered that. We blocked a punt. I was just gonna let you ran about special teams and didn't wanna make you

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 27:18

but why did we do, that's the first one we've had all season, right?

Track 1: 27:22

the first time we've made the other team punt. Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 27:24

That's the first opportunity we've had to even block one. That's the first block one I think we've had this season.

Track 1: 27:29

Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 27:30

and I mean, that's exciting. Why haven't we done that yet? It's not like we've played phenomenal teams.

Track 1: 27:37

I mean, I said it facetiously, but we haven't exactly made teams punt a lot.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 27:43

We have limited opportunities. Yeah. Well, whatever. back to our game and away from Iowa. I don't even fucking know how we end Like how you did that, but you did it. We're down 14. Oh,

Track 1: 27:55

surprise, surprise. Stop us if you've heard that one before, but look, like I said, it's three different games. We go down 14, nothing. All of a sudden we battle back to take a 42 to 38 lead.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 28:04

All in the first quarter.

Track 1: 28:06

No, that, that was in the third quarter. But yeah, like I said, too many damn plays to go over. We scored a lot of touchdowns. It was great. There was a block punt in there. we gave up a lot of points in there still too, but

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 28:17

Yeah.

Track 1: 28:17

to 38 we're feeling good.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 28:19

Yeah. Feeling great.

Track 1: 28:21

but that's when those little details started to snowball into

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 28:25

Mm-Hmm?

Track 1: 28:25

we couldn't recover from. So Memphis started at their own 40 because of Bad special teams like you talked about. And then it only takes four plays for them to go down and get the lead back. And it's 45, 42. I mean, we had, and this one we didn't, we weren't even horrible against the pass in this

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 28:44

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 28:44

We, there was one pass play where we almost had a sack. I think it's Jonathan Ross just quite can't bend enough,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 28:51

Yeah.

Track 1: 28:51

to get to Hennigan. And so he has enough time to just hit a deep crosser. Like I'm not complaining against about that too much of our guy, their wide receiver gets open in man coverage against a deep crosser. That's how that's meant to work.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 29:03

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 29:04

but then they hit us with the run game in, in this drive, which is surprising. The first one, we shut down for one yard, but then they hit us with the reverse on this drive where we just have no discipline. that's where the team really frustrates me is there's no discipline of backside contain anything like that.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 29:21

oh yeah, they're all over committed to the ball, which in some instances is great, and other instances really comes to bite in the ass.

Track 1: 29:29

And then Overcommitting is the theme on their touchdown run as well. They fake a little flat screen and all three of the dbs out there running. the guy isn't even faking it. He's literally walking out there and our guys are fighting through blocks as if he's about to put a spin move on him and go to the zone,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 29:47

Yeah.

Track 1: 29:48

and so those three guys are just completely out of the play. And then Horrible angle by Townsel coming up to fill the open gap and he just takes it to the house. So, so then now we're down 45, 42. That's okay. we're ready for this offense. Been rolling. Shootout, let's go.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 30:06

let's go. We got this. we're doing great,

Track 1: 30:08

We drive the ball. Things are going well. First and 10 at the 30. Then the bullshit happens. First of all. It was not a backwards pass. Byron Brown danced around the pocket for a little while, tries to check it down to the flat kind of awkwardly. He like does like a pitch instead

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 30:26

That's the one where Quan Wright runs out towards the sideline. Byron Brown's kind of staring him down with laser eyes and then does some weird kind of shuttle pass type deal.

Track 1: 30:35

yep. But I went and watched a replay. Byron Brown is clearly releasing it from the 43 and Quan Wright touched it on the 42. But because it's such a weird release angle type, the refs rule it as a backwards pass, we lose nine on that play. So that puts you in second and 19. Really wish we would've taken our time there, gotten the call, you know, made the refs review it. If we had to challenge it, whatever, get it right. Instead we, you know, do our usual. Hurry up. We run a great play on second down, we run the QB draw pick up. 11 puts us in the third eight. Then we get greedy. I don't know if we were, you know, it's in that zone where we're probably going for it anyways. So I think the mentality is they're gonna be guarding the sticks. Let's try to go over the top for the end zone on the third down, knowing we're gonna go for it on fourth down

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 31:22

Yeah. it's, I think every series for us is four down decisions.

Track 1: 31:27

But we try to go over the top. They have a free up, just one high safety who just runs over and intercepts it as our wide receiver just gets tackled out the side of the zone.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 31:39

Let's not talk about that yet.'cause I'm not ready for my blood pressure

Track 1: 31:41

Rick. We will be talking about it though. No, we will be talking about

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 31:44

Yeah.

Track 1: 31:45

So shit, we're down three. Just had a turnover. Damn. It's gonna be game over. No defense gets a stop.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 31:53

Which nobody saw coming, right? Nobody. The guy was like, fuck. they got The pick. That's it.

Track 1: 32:00

Yeah. But no, we get pressure, we get a sack, we read a screen and make a tackle on it. Like it was everything you wanna see out of a defense three and out, boom. Get the ball back still only down three. we're driving again. That ends the third quarter. We start the fourth quarter down three with the ball on the plus side of the 50. That means it's on Memphis side. For those who

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 32:22

For of us at home who are basketball fans,

Track 1: 32:25

and a hot offense, like everything is that laid out in front of you. I get why Coach Go was hyped. I get why we're, you know,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 32:32

This is a game where we could go win. This is a game that we could go win and then.

Track 1: 32:38

And then we drive again to the Memphis 31st down. This is a play I think you mentioned earlier. We Max protect, try to take a shot to the end zone. Coffee Brown's double covered, but I see why Byron Brown still throws it. One of'em, I think, is a linebacker, and he's got his back to him. So it's kind of one of those, Hey, this is a ball. I can let my wide receiver go, make a play on. Still.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 32:59

But he doesn't

Track 1: 33:00

He makes no kind of play. it's incomplete. Second and 10, we run the fucking option.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 33:07

And

Track 1: 33:07

speed option. The speed option might've been the worst play of this entire game. It was great against Yukon. It's a great little wrinkle, but it was fucking the bane of our existence in this

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 33:16

They were definitely ready for it. They, I mean, that linebacker, whoever they were pulling over there just had that dude the whole way, was never gonna let

Track 1: 33:25

Nope.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 33:26

them go.

Track 1: 33:27

So, and that's actually the one where we, they were so ready for it that we realized they were ready for it. And Byron Brown tried to do an amazing little spin move out of it. ended up losing five yards on it. But if he, if that. That's the difference between us and the Memphis defense, our defense. There's no way we have the backside contained on that. And when Byron Brown does that spin move, he's probably running for a

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 33:47

He's still going all the way, but Byron Brown turns around and there's three dudes standing there waiting for him. And it's like he, even then, and the announcers talked about this, even with him turning around like that, he should have got stuck right in the mouth and he managed to like, only take a mildly bad hit. Yeah. Go by him.

Track 1: 34:07

and then third down, you know, it's third and 15 at that point. And that's not what our offense is built for. we try to run just traditional, some sort of downfield passing concepts. We get the protection, but it's just coverage. And Byron Brown uh, scrambles a little bit, but then throws it away in the end.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 34:24

Yep.

Track 1: 34:24

and then this was an odd one. I get it. Especially since the defense just got a couple stops. We punt. It was fourth and 15. Okay.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 34:34

I wasn't mad about that because

Track 1: 34:36

wasn't mad about it either. what I was mad about, and we wanna talk about special teams again, is that they're fair catching out at the 12. That's where, again, the little details, it's not awful, it's not game ruining. But if we're all working in conjunction here, that ball's inside the 10 because you could see it for our offense later in the game, how much that changes how an offense feels out there. You're not feeling the pressure at the 12, like you can run your full offense. But inside the 10, especially as a backup quarterback comes in, your play calling's different. Just the way you're blocking, you're being a little more careful not to hold.'cause you don't wanna safety in the end zone,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 35:12

But that's the other thing. To that point, we had stopped the run all day long. Right. Like, they have one of the best running backs in the American, couldn't do anything. You pin them in the 10. and really the playbook kind of shrinks, and you're doing a lot of running.'cause you don't wanna risk a hold in the end zone. I mean, they're obviously gonna pass. Right. But really, like you're saying, it changes the whole playbook.

Track 1: 35:37

But yeah, so we punt. first down after the punt, we tackle hennigan on a little. He steps up in the pocket. It's not, it's essentially a sack, but it's not a sack.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 35:46

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 35:47

to fall forward for a couple yards, but he gets hurt in the process. In comes the backup quarterback,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 35:53

And we're thinking All right, because Henigan was coming back in after that. I think he was ready on the sideline. He's clapping his hands. Everything's good. He's coming back in. So maybe we're just thinking like, just get through this one play.

Track 1: 36:04

Yeah. But we couldn't get through that one play, could we?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 36:07

No, we couldn't get through that one. Play.

Track 1: 36:10

It wasn't even, and that's where people are blaming Orlando or anything like that. Like, I don't know what you want us to do on that play. We have, we're playing the run. have a backside. I think it's, I think it was Will Jones, might have been Matt Hill, like nickel playing qb, who's got the qb if it's a read option

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 36:29

Yep.

Track 1: 36:30

and then we've got, I think it's like a quarter's coverage deep, but so, but that essentially means man to man

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 36:36

Yeah.

Track 1: 36:36

with the route they ran. Braxton Clark gives way too much cushion, way too much respect for a backup quarterback. Guy pitches and catches a hitch and then runs up and gets stiff armed to the turf.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 36:48

Yeah.

Track 1: 36:49

I don't know what our safeties are doing on the play. I get there, they're not there to gonna stop the catch, but they gotta have better reaction to be

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 36:55

to stop the touchdown? Yeah.

Track 1: 36:57

stop the touchdown.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 36:58

But I mean, that dude was fast. As soon as he caught that he was gone. Like Clark falls down, he's on the turf after getting just absolutely manhandled. You see the dudes and they gave up. I mean, you see'em just like, stop running.'cause of course they weren't gonna, they weren't gonna catch him. But that's where, that's the backbreaker there. That's that That's the moment where it's like fucking USF man.

Track 1: 37:24

it wasn't the game because there's still plenty of time left, but it was the game,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 37:27

Yeah. Right there. Because you saw at any given moment, it was almost like they were just playing with you, right? Like

Track 1: 37:33

which is really annoying because you know, we talk about, again, the bad defense and all that shit, but essentially one bad defensive play in the entire fourth quarter costs you the game. That's all it takes because we've played so poorly early in the game that it leaves us no margin for error late in

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 37:49

Exactly. And this is a team. That's a great point because this is a team that's gonna make mistakes. Right. This is, we make'em early, we make'em late. This is a team that's gonna make mistakes. We're still learning. And I mean, you just don't have the currency that late in the game to pay for a mistake like that.

Track 1: 38:05

But yeah, so after that there's multiple turnovers on downs between both teams uh, and then a meaningless touchdown still for both teams as well in

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 38:15

Yeah.

Track 1: 38:15

quarter. But really the game was over after that one play, 85 yard touchdown, one missed tackle.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 38:21

Yeah. That was it. I mean, we were

Track 1: 38:23

we were excited going into that play. Like, like you're like, Hey, get a stop here.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 38:27

Yeah.

Track 1: 38:28

I mean, and even in the, when Hennigan did come back, he was not effective. he was affected by his shoulder even though it was his non throwing shoulder. I think it was just a pain thing of you go to step into it and you just feel the twinge and he was missing past his left and right after, like, if you can get that

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 38:43

mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 38:44

You feel good about our chances,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 38:46

I mean, wipe that fumble out early on, wipe some of those bad special teams, plays out and you'd get that touchdown back. And I mean this is like, of course you could do anything in the game and come away with a win, but you take those back, you win this game, you win this game, you win. You go into Memphis and you win this game. That is how close this team is. And that's maybe where it's frustrating'cause folks can see how close this team is and they want us to be there. For me, it's exciting because I see how close this team is and I think under Coach Go. We can get there.

Track 1: 39:18

right. And I think we've seen Under Coach Go that when we're close, there is hope of winning games. We've got four games of evidence of that.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 39:28

Ooh.

Track 1: 39:28

Whereas under Coach Chef Scott, we'd look for these silver linings and be like, oh, but maybe if this happens, if this bounce happens, yeah, we're close but close. Never got any closer than like there was never C any conversion of close into anything else. And so here we've at least seen evidence that yeah, maybe not every close game is gonna go your way, but we at least have a chance of close games going our way.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 39:56

We're a lot closer in the close games than we were in close games before when they were close games.

Track 1: 40:00

Exactly. Well, well summarized as a excellent closing

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 40:04

Thanks. So it was a loss. So we get the man, I almost don't feel right, calling it the Matt Hill Player of the Week Award. He had the block punt. That was him.

Track 1: 40:14

right? Well, but I need to remind you, he almost fumbled the opening kickoff or the second opening kickoff the first after they scored so quickly.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 40:22

Touche.

Track 1: 40:23

yeah. So, so immediately I was like, oh, Matt Hill almost got the Matt Hill Player of the Week award already.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 40:28

almost got it.

Track 1: 40:29

he totally redeemed himself with the Block Punt and almost got the Matt Hill Player of the Week

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 40:33

Yeah.

Track 1: 40:33

but no, it's not him, but it's I don't know. Daquan Evans is, I, I know he is banged up. I know he is playing tough. I know he is one of our leaders out there, but man, he's, he's living a lot off of that reputation from

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 40:48

early on. Yeah.

Track 1: 40:50

he's been needing to step up again in one of these weeks.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 40:54

I think, is that why you didn't put that in the outline?'cause you didn't wanna, you didn't want me to see that D Evans was gonna be your Oh, is he not Oh, okay. All

Track 1: 41:04

saying we, we named the good version of the ward

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 41:06

Yeah, because he had some great weeks, but

Track 1: 41:09

Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 41:10

maybe it's gonna be the Byron

Track 1: 41:11

my guy's another secondary member. It's just Braxton Clark. I can't get over

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 41:16

Why? What's wrong with him? He had some plays. he had that one pass interference that he got away with that I was like, oh my God,

Track 1: 41:23

he had one pass breakup. which was very nice.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 41:25

Yeah.

Track 1: 41:26

the one, yeah, pass interference he clearly got away with. And, just that one really bad miss tackle and just in general, just too softer coverage.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 41:34

Yeah. Softest baby shit.

Track 1: 41:37

There you go.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 41:39

My, Matt Hill player of the week that isn't actually a player of the week, but they should be as open to criticism as any of the players are. Is Joel Gordon. I mean, we talked about this in the group chat, but there have to be more than like three routes in the playbook. We, we were saying it's not really even a passing tree, it's like a passing bush, like a passing stick. Like what are we calling out there? They, we don't have that many routes, so of course we're gonna struggle passing because they know they have to prepare for one of three routes. Okay, great. Got it. Passing starts working, but then it's like second and 10 and third and 10 and you're calling speed option. Why? I mean, understandably, if you think like we're going forward on fourth down regardless, but we're not going forward on fourth down, you Then we're punting and special teams is shitting it down. Like, Joel, I need you to do a little bit better of a job in these situations. Right? You're coming with Coach Go, who assisted at Tennessee and made them one of the most prolific offenses in the nation. Granted, we scored 50 something points in this game. Great. We did something there. But that's a guy. I don't know if like Memphis' Defense just wasn't that great. We were targeting some pieces of their secondary. I think there was one guy like Rubis or something, Ruben, we kept going after and he wasn't doing that great and we had some opportunities for guys to make plays. The offensive play call has us scratching our heads. Has me scratching my head at least in some situations. What are we doing? I wish we could see behind the curtain. Joel Urin. Joel Gerin. This week it's you.

Track 1: 43:14

Okay. Interesting take going after the coordinator who put up 50 points versus the

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 43:19

give a shit.

Track 1: 43:19

up 50 points. But that's what I like. I like that we don't just go by the headline stats and numbers. We're looking behind the curtain. We're looking for more. We're looking to

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 43:27

Yeah,

Track 1: 43:28

perfect the process.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 43:29

that's what I'm saying. You can go off of the headlines, you can go off the flashy thing, but you judge a book by its cover and I mean, there's more to the story.

Track 1: 43:38

It's time for the macro, the holy shit. How do you do that play of the game?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 43:43

Woo.

Track 1: 43:44

I struggled with this week, to be honest.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 43:46

Yeah.

Track 1: 43:47

There's, it was, there weren't, things were a little more pitch and catch out there, which hasn't, there wasn't a lot of individual craziness. One thing I'll highlight right off the bat, it's pretty normal football play, but it seems new to us. tight ends scoring touchdowns,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 44:03

it was a career day for tight ends, on both sides of the field. Everybody, every tight end was catching a touchdown. Littlejohn caught a touchdown. their tight end caught that one touchdown where like our entire secondary came up in the flat and the tight end. Like kind of just went in. Yeah. Everyone caught.

Track 1: 44:23

there, Brian Brown had like a third down conversion run in there. he almost had another one on that, like fumbled snap. Luckily there was offside anyways, but he somehow found the ball and then still picked it up and was able, looked like he was gonna have the conversion, even if it wasn't offside. Or we're gonna be close at least. I talked earlier about Braxton Clark having a pass breakup.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 44:43

he did.

Track 1: 44:44

something new we haven't seen. That was a holy shit.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 44:46

had one.

Track 1: 44:47

Schuler made a diving pass breakup, which probably just should have been a diving interception, but,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 44:52

that's

Track 1: 44:53

played defense. but I think my winner is the holy shit. How do you do that? Because like you said, we haven't seen it all year long. The block punt.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:00

Yeah, he was, they were in there. We had like three dudes in there on that

Track 1: 45:04

and you know why, you know what really makes that a holy shit? How do you do that Play of the game? It's'cause even they didn't know what the fuck just happened. The whole team is fucking turned around. Like, did I

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:13

Yeah.

Track 1: 45:13

that ball? Where'd it go?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:14

ball is blocked and everybody stops and I think it's finally Matt Hill who's like, oh shit. And then the Benny Hill yucky sack starts like, and out of nowhere comes t Max Simpson. He gets it. I'm like, oh, this is stupid. Score territory.

Track 1: 45:28

He picked it up clean. I was proud of him for scooping it.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:31

And then

Track 1: 45:32

And then he is got a convoy of blockers to go down the sideline and he is like, no, that's too easy. I'm going back over this way.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:39

I gotta get us to the middle of the field for a field goal. trying. I'm trying to make it so we don't end up on the left. Hash red. Keep up.

Track 1: 45:46

God. I was so nervous. He was gonna get, he was gonna fumble as he got tackled in the middle of the field somewhere.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:51

What are you, why are you running back that way? Run down the sideline, man. Just run. What are you doing?

Track 1: 45:57

He had blockers too. it was there.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 45:59

and it's like, great, we can sit back here and Monday morning quarterback and be like, we're Sunday morning quarterback. And be like, well, you could've just run down the sideline. I mean, it's an exciting play and you scoop the ball and you're running. But even still stop, stop getting cute with it. Just run with the fucking ball, man.

Track 1: 46:16

I think a lot of it was, peripheral vision. You know, he's focused on looking down, picking up the ball, scooping it cleanly, and he just sees there's a massive of people kind of in front of him down the sideline. He doesn't realize it's five of his guys and one of the opposing team. Like

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 46:29

You know the jerseys are similarly colored, gray and white.

Track 1: 46:32

and the blue and the white. It all merges

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 46:34

Someone, someone could tmac Simpson to the ophthalmologist. He might need a, he might need some help. knows?

Track 1: 46:42

he wasn't nearly as bad with his eyesight as the fucking refs,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 46:45

Oh, John McDade, the refs fucked the game up. We used to have a name for this segment, the John McDade Bad Ref. Play of the game or something.

Track 1: 46:56

I just call it the John McDade, is a human piece of garbage segment, but,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 46:59

a garbage piece of human. There you go. And flipped that around. there were some really

Track 1: 47:05

Well, let's start with the ones that were just kind of bad.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 47:07

yeah,

Track 1: 47:08

The second out bounds hit on Byron Brown. Coach Go, came out, put it to rest for himself. He said, look, he wasn't out bounds. It's a fair play. I still think a lot of quarterbacks get that call if they're not, a runner. like if that's Tom Brady, he's getting that call. He's probably guys probably kicked outta the

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 47:24

yeah.

Track 1: 47:24

Like, but look, I'm fine with that

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 47:26

he was, his foot was on the line. I was upset at first too, and I saw he was technically still in. All right, I can account for that.

Track 1: 47:35

the whole fumble, incompletion to start the game. I get it. It wasn't a normal looking pass. I still think he had enough on it, throwing it forward to say that he had control of it still. But they called it a fumble on the field. They said it stands.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 47:51

Yeah.

Track 1: 47:51

You don't have enough to overturn it personally. I'm calling that an incomplete pass, but that's fine. another one on the other time that Byron Brown got hit out of bounds, Mike Loston comes over to defend his

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 48:03

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 48:04

doesn't even get in the guy's face, just like puts a hand on his shoulder and the dude flops to the ground and gets an offsetting 15 yard penalty. That was some fucking bullshit.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 48:13

That was some bullshit.

Track 1: 48:14

'cause the ref's standing right there too. He can see that. Like, oh, you didn't do anything like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 48:20

but as we said, their eyesight's jacked up'cause they, it, it is like they weren't even fucking looking. And that doesn't even count. Like this has been kind of a theme with the American refs. This season is like holds just going, like, they're just letting teams hold and then all of a sudden we'll call the whole shit ton of em all at once and then not call another hold. It's like I'm seeing some guys with like arms way up high on defenders, like just getting pulled down ripped and you just don't know. And that's the thing, you gotta pick one. If you're not gonna call it, don't call it, the team will adjust. If you're gonna call it, call all of them so the team can adjust. It's not fair for either team to not know what you're calling.

Track 1: 49:00

And then it's not the biggest one they missed. Obviously it was talked about in the press, the post-game presser called ridiculous. I mean, the dude just got tackled in the end zone, and I get that the ball was not close to being completed to him. I understand that, but you can't really tell where he would've been if he hadn't been tackled. And it's not our fault that they're dumbass. DB tackled our wide receiver when he probably didn't need to like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 49:25

Like when it was gonna be a pick. Either way, who knows? Maybe he can come back over and actually make that play. He's, he's maybe like four or five yards off the ball and they were in the sun. Right. Who what on. that's just a tough spot to

Track 1: 49:37

just seeing that guy running towards him makes the DB take his eye off the ball. Something, you know, you can't I can't argue the what ifs there. it's, it was catchable by someone. so I don't think you call, and I don't think they even called it uncatchable. There was no explanation of there was no flag and then they get together and say, no, actually that was uncatchable by the wide receiver, which is generally how that goes. If it is uncatchable like it was, that was just H horse shit. Just horrible.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:00

There's no way, and I mean of we held the offense on the ensuing drive to nothing, they ended up having to point. So great job by the defense, but I mean, that kills a scoring drive for us. A potential scoring drive. That was really, that was bad.

Track 1: 50:16

It was.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:17

was heated.

Track 1: 50:18

When you're heated, there's only one thing to do.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:21

Cream.

Track 1: 50:21

some cream on

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:22

Cream. You got creamed

Track 1: 50:25

You got cream.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:27

cream.

Track 1: 50:28

I got two.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:29

Okay.

Track 1: 50:31

One was, Jalen Schuler laying the initial wood on Hennigan that got that shoulder. All heated and irritated early

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:39

got work in Henigan. You got creeped

Track 1: 50:44

Again,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:45

creeped.

Track 1: 50:46

the other one don't see this very often.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:49

Nope.

Track 1: 50:50

Will Jones creamed that? I think it was a tight end on that seam route. Knocked the ball right out.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 50:56

That was, he knocked the shit outta that dude.

Track 1: 50:59

did.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:00

Yes.

Track 1: 51:01

You know what my favorite part about that Creaming was

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:03

What's that?

Track 1: 51:04

he didn't hurt himself doing it either.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:06

That's great. That's great. Right? You get so excited. You like end up, end

Track 1: 51:12

So many times those dbs separate the shoulder when they try to throw it in like that, and then they're trying to shake it off, shake the stinger out, no,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:19

No, he did it. He was, I mean, he knocked the shit outta that guy.

Track 1: 51:23

him. Creamed him. it was nice to see. well. The reasons for it, perhaps not so nice, but I thought Will Jones actually had himself a decent game out there?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:31

yeah.

Track 1: 51:32

it's a shame that we don't know who our two starting safeties are because we're just like, fuck, that guy gave up a touchdown. Oh, that guy gave up a touchdown. Let's go to the next two. Oh, they gave up touchdowns, let's go to the next two. Like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:42

go. I don't know. let's put Littlejohn back there. let's start getting some other dude. We gotta start thinking outside the box. Let's put Atkins in its safety.

Track 1: 51:50

there you go.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:51

We'll have ourselves a little Travis Hunter. Action.

Track 1: 51:54

Boom.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 51:55

I like it. Dad. Gamt.

Track 1: 51:58

dad, gammit. Where's Atkins? I need him to play

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 52:00

Damn. Where's Atkins? Atkins. Put the oxygen down and let's go. I need you

Track 1: 52:06

I don't know. Atkins may not be the best safety the way he, plays punts. So

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 52:10

He scares me, man. He absolutely scares

Track 1: 52:13

that was one of our dad gambit coaching mistakes, man. letting that ball bounce all the way down to the two.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 52:18

Yeah. You catch, you will catch anything else.

Track 1: 52:21

Yeah,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 52:22

I mean, just fall on that thing or something.

Track 1: 52:25

I think that's a lot of, you talk about things building over the season and usually that's like positive of like good habits and stuff. Sometimes you make a mistake, like he made it the Navy game and that shit just sits in the back of your head for all season long, right? Like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 52:37

Yeah.

Track 1: 52:37

he doesn't want, he doesn't wanna run up and have that go through his hand, especially, you know, you're getting the ball back anyways. And it's like, he played it safe,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 52:45

Yeah.

Track 1: 52:45

but man, dad, gammit. That's, that could have been the difference still. I mean, we never got off the two yard line after that. Like, that was, we went four out from there and then we got the ball back and went four out again from like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:00

and it was like, was deep in our territory. Yeah. was not great. Not great, Bob, but that wasn't even the worst. That

Track 1: 53:09

the worst one is easily the 85 yard touchdown. You're, you know,'cause the coaches are all going nuts seeing the backup quarterback come in. they're talking like they're, or they're trying to give you a quick scouting report of what he's got.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:21

Yep.

Track 1: 53:21

You know, this is how we're gonna do, you know, look for run or whatever, or, you know, and then

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:27

They're just salivating.

Track 1: 53:29

we don't even make him make it. It's one thing if the quarterback comes out there, breaks some tackles

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:35

Yeah. Makes a play.

Track 1: 53:37

arms you down and runs the end zone like shit, man, that guy, damn, why was that guy on the bench?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:42

Yeah. No,

Track 1: 53:44

dude

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:45

it was like,

Track 1: 53:45

one little three yard, it wasn't even a drop. He was in the fucking shotgun. Just turns, makes an easiest throw of his life pitch and catch. And the wide receiver does the rest, like dad gam it like.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 53:57

dang. He's like, it's not even a difficult route. It's not like, all right, I gotta pay attention. I gotta run through my like, he stared the dude down he like runs while like a 10 yard hitch or something, and that's it.

Track 1: 54:11

Yeah. it'd be one thing, Hey, that's AD gamut. Enough of letting the damn backup quarterback just complete that pass and convert

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 54:18

Yeah.

Track 1: 54:18

for a first down. But then he fucking missed the tackle. Dag ga, I mean dag gamut, maybe for 30, 40 yards. But it's another dag gamut'cause your safety isn't fast enough to get over there and

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 54:30

don't even know where our safety's at. It could be on the bench next to Atkins. Aren't you supposed to be out there? Was it? No. Fuck man. I don't know. like, where are you even at? We played that. We might as well play that down with 10 men on the field.

Track 1: 54:44

It is so funny you say that.'cause so many of these plays I'm watching of like trying to break down the defense and I'm like, okay, that guy's got that gap. That guy had that edge. Who the fuck's meant to have the guy with the ball. I'm like, do we only have 10 out there? I'm like, no. Oh no. There's a fucking safety off the screen to the other side just doing jack

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:02

knows where he is at. He is like, he's macking up the trainer in the tight pants. Like, get the fuck on the field. What are you doing? Like, Hey man, what's up? What are we? oh, they're snapping ball. Be right back. Come on

Track 1: 55:13

it's so often looks like we're playing with missing a guy on defense that I literally like on these big plays when I'm going back and watching them, I'm like counting'em up each time. Like pre-snap to make sure that's not the issue at first.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:24

You're like the kicker.

Track 1: 55:25

Yeah, no,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:26

like, all right, we got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. We got everybody. All right.

Track 1: 55:29

'cause that was a problem last year. We couldn't get 11 guys on the field this

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:33

yeah,

Track 1: 55:33

key moments last year. but so far so good. we've got 11 out there, they just don't all know what they're doing

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:38

they just don't play like it. That leads us into our key takeaways.

Track 1: 55:43

it does. We need more guys. And I don't need more guys physically on the field. We just need guys who can play like they're getting experienced, but too many guys are just so unconfident of what they're

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:58

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 55:58

Is that a word?

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 55:59

Nope. We're just rolling with it though. You said it with confidence, so

Track 1: 56:02

That's all you gotta do, that they're frozen in between decisions, or the opposite happens is they have one key and they're keyed on that guy and they're going after him and they have no game awareness of, oh, the quarterback already threw the ball to the other half of the field. Or, oh, I'm biting on this run, but the running bag's already emerged the other side of the line and is blocking, but I'm still playing it like he's got the ball and I'm not dropped into coverage

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 56:32

Yeah. I haven't transitioned

Track 1: 56:33

just so little awareness out there on the field.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 56:36

or, oh, I blocked the punt and the ball doesn't disappear when I do that. it's still around

Track 1: 56:43

Or, oh, that guy I thought was about to block me, did not try to block me, and is now standing behind me in the end zone.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 56:50

Hey, where'd you come from? Oh, damnit.

Track 1: 56:54

Yeah. So we need, we just need, and that's just playing time,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 56:58

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 56:59

guys who are just football players out there.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 57:02

Yeah.

Track 1: 57:03

but look, it's still better than last year still better than what my expectations were for this season. Coming in, we're playing competitive football in November. We're playing competitive football for all four quarters of this game. it's fun to watch.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 57:15

It is fun to watch.

Track 1: 57:16

Do I enjoy losing? No, I don't. It sucks. But that was a fucking football game.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 57:21

that was exciting. Right up till the end. Heartbreaking. When it shouldn't have been. That's how you know it's good because it's a heartbreaker when it fucking shouldn't have been.

Track 1: 57:30

Right. I. and all that. You know, we talked a lot of this already, so I won't belabor these points too much. Pass offense. We use the bi-week. I asked them to show me what this offense can do. We got 50 points. Is there still more improvement to come? Do we still need more development of both wide receivers in their ability and just using them in more creative ways? Yes. But we saw the middle screen a few times. We were able to hit that. We were able to do a little play action. Deep crossers. We hit that a couple times and that's the funny thing about the creativity is like we don't just add these plays in and they're one-offs. Like when we add these plays in, they're all of a sudden 50% of the

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:16

Yeah. They,

Track 1: 58:16

were we doing before we added these plays? like,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:19

like when you all of a sudden make a new recipe and then forget what you made. Like all of a sudden you're like, what? What have I been eating for 10 years? Because now all I meet, now all I make is like fucking quinoa tacos. Like, what is this?

Track 1: 58:31

I mean one of those touchdowns, Alexis, he ran like a little corner, faked the corner and then came back in for the post. That looked like real route running out there. That was

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:41

And then Doc Holiday calls it like

Track 1: 58:43

A dig. Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:44

like, come on man. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. But yeah. But the other thing is these are staples of good offenses.

Track 1: 58:52

Of any other offense. These

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:53

yeah.

Track 1: 58:54

Day one

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:55

And we're like, woo. Wow,

Track 1: 58:58

But it still

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 58:59

that's like a poor kid's Christmas, man.

Track 1: 59:01

Yeah. And we were better in the red zone. You know, we hit that play action to Little John. we were better in the red zone. We were not so good at like the 30 yard line was our kryptonite today, but, or coming out of our own shadow of our goalposts was not good either,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 59:17

we didn't do well there. And maybe we'd be more efficient in the red zone if we had some special teams, but that's a different story.

Track 1: 59:23

Yeah. Well, before we get to best teams, we gotta get through our rush offense wasn't great. It still continues to be too heavily, Byron Brown. Too much of the damn speed option.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 59:35

That's the thing. We got guys that can get the edge. So why start going downhill with like everybody?

Track 1: 59:42

and we, and our o line was as healthy as it's been. I don't know what the problem in the run game is, and it's not so dreadfully bad that you're like, man, we should never run the ball again.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 59:51

Yeah.

Track 1: 59:52

But it's bad enough that you're like, Hey, when the passing game was working, like it was, let's not waste downs in certain

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 59:58

With, with even the option. I mean, and we're not doing really any like jet sweeps. We're not getting other guys in motion to like do some stuff with the run game and maybe spread the defense out

Track 1: 1:00:08

We had one play in there with, uh, Izzy Carter as what lined up as a wide receiver where he did jet sweep. He picked up a decent amount of yardage. And

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:00:15

That's right. We

Track 1: 1:00:16

I was looking for it later in this game, but I think we'll definitely see it later in the season. There's gonna be some sort of, he throws the ball off of that since he's actually a backup

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:00:24

I wish, I wish we would've done it here because we could've used it.

Track 1: 1:00:28

I think we're, look, I think the problem is we just didn't see the right situation for it of whether so much goes into that of like, which hash you're on and all that kind of

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:00:37

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1: 1:00:39

I'm sure we were ready to use it. We just didn't quite see the right opportunity for it. And that's where you probably kick yourself too, of like, oh, I was running this play to set up that play and then that play didn't work, like

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:00:50

But now I've got this on film and they're gonna see that Izzy's out there. And so that does, it does suck a little bit. And the porridge was not the right temperature

Track 1: 1:01:00

at least we had porridge on offense, on defense Pass. Rush has gotta get there. We can't cover in man or zone. I mean, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what to say about the past defense

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:01:14

that we

Track 1: 1:01:14

run. Defense is fine for the most part. We still, like we've talked about, we overcommit in certain situations, especially on the reverses and stuff like that. And we still got no second level tackling if it's past the wider the D-line and the linebackers God help the

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:01:30

Yeah. I mean, and they're making more plays than they were last season.'cause those were guaranteed touchdowns and they're not necessarily a guaranteed touchdown. Now, I. I just, you know, yeah, I don't know what to say that we haven't already said.

Track 1: 1:01:44

Yeah. And then special teams mixed bag. You know, you get the block kick, but we're bad on returns. They miss a field goal, but we didn't really do anything to force that. the onsite kick looked nice, but we still didn't get it.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:01:55

That was probably the nicest onside kick in all of, I hope Connor Stallions got that on tape.'cause that was a really nice onside kick. Probably the one that anyone had a chance to get. It would've been that one.

Track 1: 1:02:09

well we didn't

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:02:11

No it didn't.

Track 1: 1:02:12

fashion,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:02:12

USF doing USF things, you know, who else is gonna do USF things? USF fans.

Track 1: 1:02:19

of course wouldn't have it any other way.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:02:21

It's time baby for the dumb tweet of the week.

Track 1: 1:02:24

keep'em coming. Keep being thumb. We need the segment. That's what keeps me going.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:02:29

were there some dumb ones out there?

Track 1: 1:02:31

Oh yeah, we got, uh, Joe Green, USF on Twitter and I actually saw this one'cause Matt Grothe got into a little Twitter fight with this guy. So I saw Matt Growth's reply and all that. But, take it away is for Puka as Joe Green, USF here.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:02:46

At Joe Green, USF

Track 1: 1:02:47

This one should be easy for you, by the way, because it's, you could've, this would've been, this was you a few weeks

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:02:52

it was. This is kind of like a tongue twister though. No one wants to jump off the Byron bandwagon. I get it. He made us all look silly. Second half rice, but second half rice hasn't happened since second half rice and second half rice is starting to look awfully fluky by Byron. Huh? What? What in the fucking Dr. Seuss shit is that How in the world, how many times

Track 1: 1:03:15

my favorite is, you can't even put it into the audio version, but half of the rices are capitalized and half

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:03:22

F Lauren. It's like all, he probably would just like copy and paste the first couple second half rice. He puts second half rice. So many times in that, I'm starting to think that maybe that's a recipe, right? Like what happens when you've been eating all day and you're hammered and then you like kinda roll into the kitchen? You're like, ah, what the fuck do I got? I got second half rice. I got it, man. Listen, as someone that was completely off the Byron bus and is now chasing it down the street trying to get back on it, he's the best chance we've got. He is a fucking damn good quarterback. He's smart, he's developing, he's listening to the coaches. You're coming out here saying we should ditch the guy, and we're what? Nine games into the season and now you wanna make a switch. Now is the time to make the switch a quarterback. Who else are you gonna put in there? Archie? No. Is he Carter? No. I don't even know if Gary's still around. He's on the sideline. I don't know what he's doing. Byron Brown's the guy and he is not a bad quarterback. So I don't know if you're talking about second half rice or first half ham, or whatever the fuck you're talking about that you think is gonna make this look better or worse. No one's getting off the Byron bandwagon. We don't need to do it. Of all the things that are wrong with this team, Joe Green, USF. It's not Byron Brown.

Track 1: 1:04:37

Like first kudos on the first half Ham.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:04:40

First. Second

Track 1: 1:04:41

my next football game. I'm having me some first half ham and some heck, second half rice. See how it goes. See if that makes the difference for Temple. But yeah, you gotta, here's the thing too. He's nine games into his red shirt freshman year,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:04:54

Yeah.

Track 1: 1:04:55

and he's leading the league in yards and touchdowns and just making plays out there.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:05:01

Yeah.

Track 1: 1:05:02

By God. I hope you're gonna see three more seasons of him and so you better get used to being on the Dan Byron Brown bandwagon like.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:05:09

what gets me is like, what did you see in that game that made you say like, oh, he's not it. Right? there were some misses. What quarterback? He had the same exact stats as hennigan throughout the entire game, and Memphis was winning. What did you see from Byron Brown that made you go, Ugh, God quarterback is really a weak position for us

Track 1: 1:05:29

He probably tweeted it out right after the first fumble thing.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:05:34

are gonna fumble, I mean, it's gonna happen. He's young, he's learning.

Track 1: 1:05:38

Yeah.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:05:39

That's the thing. We would like to think that because guys come in playing a high school ball and they get recruited and they have like natural talent that they just know these things. But it's completely different when you get out there and you actually get smacked in the mouth. You're like, oh my God, wait a second, let me not do that. It is completely different levels of speed coaching, the amount of money that's poured into college football and time and all this other shit. It is, it's new for these guys. It's the same sport but it's new. And so there's gonna be these moments where he makes mistakes where he needs to learn. The fact is Byron's learning and you're not at Joe Green USF. You're not. And I'm glad, I hope it was, I hope it was back and forth with him and Matt Grothy.'cause Matt Grothy was sticking up for him.

Track 1: 1:06:26

he was. Oh

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:06:26

Good. I mean as the probably the most make something outta nothing quarterback we've ever had. You see flashes of that environment.

Track 1: 1:06:35

Yeah. We named a whole segment after

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:06:37

Yeah, and I wonder if he listens. Matt, are you out there? Someone get Matt Gr who listen to this pod. I didn't even know what he thinks that we still talk about him. That I still dream about him while I'm having my second half rice

Track 1: 1:06:50

Oh, well, our second half tweet over here comes from Truth D antagonist. This is from the Bulls pen.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:06:56

Ooh.

Track 1: 1:06:57

Quite the username there.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:06:59

Yeah. Truth. DD d's nuts. D's nuts, antagonist.

Track 1: 1:07:07

Anyways. Truth says, is he the DC Goldish needs to make some upgrades to the defensive staff. Brown is a solid young quarterback and we're wasting his career with an inadequate defensive staff. Look, truth, I get it. Defense didn't play well. First off, you should probably know who the DC is. This is a thread about Todd Orlando and you don't even know if he's the guy responsible for the defense or not. So that's not a good

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:07:32

Who's the guy?

Track 1: 1:07:34

who's the guy I'm meant to be mad about? Oh, that guy. Okay.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:07:37

somebody?

Track 1: 1:07:38

Second of all, we're now nine games into the first year of this regime. of new players, new schemes, new coaches. This is not year four of the same defensive staff under Jeff Scott that got fired. Deservedly we're trying some shit and also. How the fuck are we wasting Byron Brown's career? He's a red shirt freshman. He's got a lot of careers still to go ahead of him. Like we're four and five in a year. That's a rebuilding year. Nothing's being wasted. We did not have aspirations this season of winning the conference except for like two weeks where we got a little crazy,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:08:20

We were excited for a minute there. We'll, we'll own it.

Track 1: 1:08:25

But yeah, there's, we're doing what we can with what we got. There's not, this is not fucking 85 bears and we're just telling guys to take a shit out there on the field like

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:08:37

But to that end, man, it is not like Cardinal's, NFL Scouts are like, well, I don't know. In his first year they had a four and five record halfway through the season, and I mean, he's still putting the stats on paper. He's still

Track 1: 1:08:48

If anything, we're helping Byron Brown's career,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:08:50

exactly. If anything, we're helping him get to league with how much he's having to produce. How are we wasting his career with inadequate defensive staff? It's two separate things. It's not what

Track 1: 1:09:01

I, he's saying we're, he's wasting it by not getting wins,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:09:04

The wins don't matter in terms of a young quarterback's career. They're still gonna look at it. Did Tom Brady come from a winning program when he went in the league? No, he came from some fucking Nona school. I.

Track 1: 1:09:18

You're gonna wanna edit that out.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:09:19

No, I'm not. No, I'm not.

Track 1: 1:09:22

Michigan Pro

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:09:23

I'm not gonna, Michigan is no name. Mark my words.'cause they're about to be They're about to be fucking He was the backup.

Track 1: 1:09:32

Facts. Facts.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:09:33

He did. You know, it's, I don't, it's a

Track 1: 1:09:37

I'm sure there was some message board guy saying that Tom Brady's career was being wasted

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:09:41

being wasted.

Track 1: 1:09:42

to sit behind Chad Henny, whoever the fuck it was.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:09:47

Chad Henny. What the fuck? who who thought NFL powerhouse Chad Henny. That's the thing. It's like, it's not even the DC right?'cause I feel like you're doing everything you can. But the really dumb part of that is that anything that's like saying like, the safeties coach is ruining Atkins career. It doesn't make any fucking sense. Maybe he knew it didn't take any, make any sense. And that's why his name is Truth Dick Antagonist.'cause he

Track 1: 1:10:17

D stands for Dick. Huh? Okay.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:10:18

oh, that's not what that says.

Track 1: 1:10:20

Just says D I think it's like, yeah, but it's fine. I mean, yeah, he's an antagonist. He's antagonizing us. It worked. All right.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:10:26

Yeah. You got us. You gotta rise out of us. He got me to say Tom Brady comes from no name school. Cool.

Track 1: 1:10:32

fucking truther.

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:10:33

Yeah. But I mean, who knows? It would've been nice to have this one in hand instead of snatching defeat from the asshole of victory. Yeah, it would've.

Track 1: 1:10:44

It would've but tune in. Later this week we'll talk about the biggest game on the schedule. The next one,

pookah_2_11-05-2023_113621: 1:10:48

yeah. Res Revenge tour. It begins, or is USF gonna break him two years in a row? This, I felt like this was gonna be, more solidly decided by now, but actually going into Temple at home, which happens to be Military Appreciation Week. Folks, for you folks that have served, I'm not gonna say thank you for your service, because we all know you're gonna be at Applebee's getting that discount. Anyway, I'll talk more about that next time. This is actually more up in the air than maybe we wanted it to be at this point in the season. Catch us on all the socials. Tell all your friends. We'll go over that game later this week. Until next time, folks, go Bulls.

Track 1: 1:11:27

Gobel.