SEC Football Week 1: Updates on Florida, Arkansas & More

see this mug right here Sports Talk Sports Talk 900 that's where it all started I was 21 years old Sports Talk Radio wmop am900 wgg in Gainesville buddy he's got the coffee mug up there Sports Talk 990 we're on the air sir we're on the air sir Rob how are you I doing great welcome to the show it is Wednesday morning uh September 4th 2024 Rob Brown Brendan Martin man the SEC footprint uh Alive and Kicking uh we got a lot to talk about today Jason cwell AUB and under cover uh bat and in the lead off spot followed by Jake wly the afternoon Drive in Jackson Mississippi uh always lots of great information and data from JW uh followed after that Dudley Dawson hogville.net Hogs got him a quarterback see what he can do they got to go to Still Water big one Saturday that is a uh midday game out there against Mike Gundy and the cowboys that will be awesome and Vince Ferrara checks in from up on the hill in Knoxville folks uh check them out I tell you what huitt and Dunn I was out there at one of our sponsors yesterday good grief they have got so much awesome stuff they got a 50% rack out there Barber vest 50% off uh Outback Barn coats duck heads great looking clothes men's and women's boots work boots uh jeans they got the duckhead pants sale it's incredible all different colors and sizes uh check them out they're open every day Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. hey get pen and paper handy smash that subscribe button because here we come lot of note taken today lot to talk about on sidelines [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] Sidelines with Rob Brown talk sporty to [Music] me all right Rob Brown here with you uh Brendan Martin love those Tunes man sounds like a little heavy metal there in the background um I tell you what watch buddy Martin Show uh last couple of nights which I do just about every night uh a lot to talk about right now listen it's only been one game and I understand fans get frustrated but it's the beginning of year three uh if you hire somebody in your company to do work for you let's say you hire a contractor to do some Home Improvements and the first uh month that he's there uh and and he's you know Jason said send the link please uh I know he sent it to him but um if you hire a contractor and that first month they're they don't get anything done and then the next month uh they do less and the third month they're hitting you up for a raise they need more money to finish the job uh you get rid of them that's what's making people so frustrated um it's not that Billy Napier is a bad guy it's that he's got all the resources Florida gave him all the money that he needed to hire the best staff and and all these analysts and everything like that uh there's no excuse I there's nothing that you can say uh for the job it it's like Brendan said what you saw Saturday against Miami At Home in the swamp was worse than what you saw on the road uh at Utah last year when it was the Keystone Cops couldn't count the number of players on the field there's no excuse for that it all starts with the head coach and go hire somebody to call the plays and I thought Ron Roberts was a good defensive coordinator I believe he is but him and uh Steve Austin Austin Armstrong I mean are they on the same page that you just got to wonder Brendan you've got such Insight you and your dad Lauren David Whitley France the whole crew down there Ben uh it yeah it's going to make fans anxious even after one game yeah I agree and and um Rob why don't you text him the link because I don't know if he's getting it on this email if you have it and uh but I I on Jason um I look you know it I've been fairy quietly this week we've been been on a lot of shows and you know I the last thing I want to do is be one of I've see a lot of crap out there where Billy's fighting with the water bottle and all this stuff like I don't get into all that stuff I talk X's and O's and all everything else it just you know Gator fan it's disappointment I think overall it's just disappointment the only bright spot has ever been the recruiting and what he seems to be bringing in talent-wise but you know it always seems to like you know you're waiting for the other shoe to drop so uh you know it's we've seen it for a decade here in Florida I think we've talked about the demise of big programs uh what's uh concerning is the timing on this with all the nil and transfer portal and how things are changing in college football because you know we had conversation last night if you get rid of say Billy right now now where are you you're three you're three years behind uh you know you got to you know start over you rebuild again are you know is really that where we're going to be because no matter who comes in you're going to have to have a year at least of of this you know new regime so so it's hard because you want to stick with your coach Florida's been replacing and replacing and replacing you know is that the right answer right now uh you know uh you know you know winning like buddy always says winning solves a lot of problems you know going out going out and having a big win against Sanford on Saturday uh makes a huge difference and then you know you can you can go run you know run a little a little mini run and win three or four games in a row which what's going to solve a lot of problems um you know if you're G to lose lose early right all these things make sense in the you know in our conversations over the years of being a fan of anything or anybody and I think that's you know I think that's a part of it and I think right now it's just there's a lot of frustration in Gainesville understandably so um but you you know this is where we are so I'm more of a let's not worry about yesterday as much like how do how do you go forward how do you win um and how do you win with DJ lagway well you surround him with experienced players and Playmakers because you're putting a true freshman out there the game's going to be a lot faster than it was in high school that's that's a given and it's it's not easy but you got to put him in a position to win what you don't want to do is take a freshman quarterback out there put him in a position where where he's going to fail and then he loses his confidence and you spend the whole season uh in group therapy group hug mode it doesn't work at a place like Florida you've got a standard um Jason cwell is in with us now and you got to live up to it but uh yeah Jason cwell Auburn undercover man know we we experienced this down at Auburn a couple years ago with the Brian harson a lot of talk down at Florida about Billy Napier alurn got a big win Saturday what was your takeaway from all that happened cuz was fast-paced went to two 10-minute quarters in the second half and now you got Cal a team that Auburn had to play a definitely a full 60 and go to the mat out in uh California last year in Berkeley uh I think it's going to be a tough match yeah we'll see um they struggled some with UC Davis week one um this is a much different Auburn team than the one that went to Cal last year yeah um they were able to just to play Man defense outside and D Auburn throw the football um teams may still try to do that this year um but this team has a lot more weapons to be able to compete and do those things now um you know we'll see um what Saturday looks like um I think Auburn wins this game comfortably Maybe I'm Wrong um but I think this is a much different Auburn team than the one that went out there last year and and um you know Cal's a team that obviously it's still a is a is a power opponent um I think they'll probably middle of the pack um in their new league um which means you'll have to go out and play well um but um I think this team has a lot more weapons now than it did a year ago Jason nobody's more uh brutally honest than you are when it comes you and Mark Murphy you always have been Philip Marshall Nathan King y'all's crew at Auburn undercover uh for you to say that that carries a lot of weight uh I've so many people texting me and the number one question was were you in shock when you saw the right side of the offensive line Connor Lou and Jeremiah right knocking people back I mean it's been a while yeah no you know I talked about this offensive line you did it's a it's a it's a group that has a lot more options than any Auburn team we've seen in a long time and we saw Jeremiah W kind of settling in um I talked to to Jake thoron this week Auburn's offensive line coach and and he backed up what H fre said he said Wade was was fantastic um they kind of been waiting on him in practice to kind of step into that role as a guard and kind of take it over and then when they got in the game situation it happened um yeah and then even left tackle um they'd been kind of waiting for persy Lewis and he didn't play a ton of snaps yeah they said he played really well and Tyler Johnson's gonna be really good it was just a matter of he's just got to go out and learn and had a few mistakes in terms of um you know some checks and some calls things like at but physically he he's talented so I mean look this is an offensive line group that has a chance to be really good um as they continue to grow and and kind of you know develop in this you this new offensive scheme once again Jason when you looked at those receivers uh the one that all summer long I kept talking about because I love track and field so much is Malcolm Simmons but again you see all these guys play very few people go to as many games as you do uh were you surprised at at at Malcolm's abilities and anybody else really most of them it's he was like okay I expect that man high jump Champion long jump awesome yeah no not really surprised that in Malcolm I've seen that out of him before and and had watched him develop over the years um you know Perry's a big long body um that's really athletic Cam's we saw you saw a little taste of it but his route running and under understanding of the game along with his physical skills are what separates him and we saw a little bit of that with his double move on Saturday I mean it was just like you know he's out there by himself in in one of ones and so um not a surprise um the guy that I really it's you know we haven't seen a lot of Keandre Lambert Smith he wasn't here in the spring yeah um you know our early our early look at the team when we had a full scrimmage that he was out because that had rolled his an a little bit earlier in the week so it's the first time really seeing him but behind the scenes people are telling me they thought he was an NFL wide receiver and then you look at him Saturday and and he has the look of an NFL wide receiver um smooth you know veteran guy you know Robert Lewis we didn't really get to see much of we saw Sam Jackson's athleticism on on the go route um you know so that that's the thing you look at and going look there's a lot more opportunities outside for this team um a lot more playmaking ability um for this team and so those are things that that give you as an offensive coordinator and a play caller um I thought that was probably the thing that stood out to me the most yeah was that there was a plan on offense it wasn't just let's throw a play up against the wall and see if this one works it was okay if we see this we're doing this and we're not backing off of that and they did it throughout the game Hank Brown in no matter the score they said look if they put eight guys in a box we're not just going to run it up the middle we're going to RPO and we're going to throw the football and yeah I loved seeing a plan and sticking two-way plan on offense um that to me showed the ability to grow for some younger guys and let them actually work in a system yeah Jason year one to year two is always where you want to see discernable progress you damn sure don't want to be going backwards in year two certainly not year three uh pton Thorne is he the happiest guy on the Auburn football team yeah I told I ran into him this Summer and I was ask him how different it was he just started smiling and so you know right away that when you have guys to throw the ball to and I go back to last week and and practice one day I asked you know one of the one of the the staffer guys and he was he walked by and said look we didn't win a 50-50 ball last year and now all of a sudden you think that's the basis of this offense wow the basis of this offense is if you get a one-on-one situation that's where the ball's going but you also have to hope that that guy's going to make a play every once in a while because you're not gonna be wide open all the time you're GNA have to go up and and make a contested catch can you do those things and now you got guys that can do that and You're Not Gon to do it all the time and you're not going to win 100% of them but you got to win your fair share of those because that's how RPO systems work that's how you win in today's game is by throwing the back shoulder in one-on-one situ situation those are things that you have to be able to do and they've got a they've got a ability to win some of those now yeah flipping over to the defense uh anybody really jump out at you uh some new guys are in there but uh depth is what you got to have on that front seven yeah that's that's probably I don't know individually against Alabama A&M even though I thought their offensive line was probably going to be pretty good and they were pretty solid but I thought you know Malik blockton up front you know Young guy made some plays was um was pretty good and so I thought that was good yeah it's probably just the fact that they didn't do a ton of stuff there's a whole lot more on this defense that we'll see probably beginning this week in terms of pressures some of the things they're going to do um they were pretty basic last week and they were still able to to create some negative plays do some of those things I think we'll see them turn a whole lot more loose um beginning this Saturday against Cal Ron Roberts was there last year just just one year uh I thought he's did a good job he needed help on offense but uh what's what's the real difference in DJ Durk and we've seen him around the SEC Old Miss Texas A&M uh he's got a pretty good resume I think yeah I think it's Just Energy uh excitement level excuse me I think you see that from the players when they're talking about going and playing for a guy that is out there in energetic Ron Roberts is a good defensive coach but it's a different mentality for these guys it is aggressive go get the football go attack and that's why Saturday really wasn't a whole lot of what I expect from them yeah Saturday showcased the depth the ability to rotate guys and play a bunch of different players I think we'll see more aggressiveness as we move on from this group and you know didn't see Isaiah Rees um who yeah probably is the best guy in the middle for this team team right now we didn't see him that held him out because of a little minor injury he'll play this week and be ready to go but um yeah I think it's more about the energy level probably and and just that excitement attacking type of Defense okay Jason sorry we ran behind and we'll get this straightened out uh get you back on next week again uh you're brutally honest when it comes to Auburn you don't you don't ever say something you don't mean and that's why we love having you on here what is it that Auburn fans don't know about this team that you can tell them uh as they get into this season because uh the crowds like what you saw Saturday in Auburn just tell me that uh just we can't mess this thing up uh now you got players on the field it's even more fun yeah I think it's still that there's there's still going to be a learning process yeah the talent is there and you're a much more talented roster but there's still going to be some bumps in the road I I think I mean you can see that when you look at you know those things don't they're not glared and not magnified against albm but you know there are a couple of routes that were on um you know a couple of couple of offensive line calls that gotten done wrong and obviously defense there were a couple of a couple of alignment issues things like that those are going to be mistakes that are made when you when you have so many new players and a lot of freshman playing um that's how you grow as a program we've seen it from Florida State if you don't if you're just replacing guys with other transfers sooner or later you're going to miss every once in a while because you don't know what you have yep you got continue to develop plug a transfer in here there and I I still think that's the way things have to be built and that's what they're trying to do but to do that you may not you may not be ready to to be a 12 win team right now but I think you're you're building a program instead of building a team and I still think that's the way to go absolutely agree yeah Jason I just wanted to ask you real quick we were discussing last night Hugh freeze uh with a bunch of Gators and you know this air rate offense you know you know this been around a long time we have a guy named Lauren Meadows a former coach we were discussing it last night how do you think that plays out without going into you know I know it's a general question but how do you think that plays out in the SEC for Hugh freeze uh and that offense there's a lot of there's a lot of you know people say that's not an SEC sort of offense yeah I think the the key to this offense is it's not going to be just throwing the football ball the key to the offense is going to be taking what the defense gives you or rather taking advantage of what the defense gives you if they're able to throw the football and continue to throw it and all of a sudden you have to put two high safeties on the field and you're backing people off the line of scrimmage they'll run the football they averag almost 10 yards a carry Saturday but Alabama A&M was like look we're not going to let you just run it all day so they said okay well we'll throw it and I that's the key I think is being able to do either thing depending on how the the defense and the game dictates it so I think that's the ultimate goal I don't think the ultimate goal is and like I said I never I don't think that pyton Thorne's gonna be a guy that averages 300 yards passing a game by the time this year's over with because I think teams are going to go look we've got to play them more straight up and the more teams play you straight up the more you're able to run a football and so I think that'll be a part of it but I think Saturday it was dictated by okay Alabama A&M we don't have the horses to play straight up up front so we have to try to take away something and Auburn was able to just take advantage of it yeah Jason cwell Auburn undercover what your uh ex handle and whatever else ways people can follow you because you put out a lot of content every day and it's really really valuable yeah you can check check me out on on Twitter and Instagram both at itat Json um so that's the easiest way but follow us on YouTube um obviously our have YouTube channel um Auburn undercover and um find us there undercover.com part of the 247 Network Jason thank you so much for joining us man we'll do it again next week thanks Jason thanks guys appreciate it always love it man he is all right we've got loaded up uh green and well I call I call orange and blue room we got two more before before we go right up over there gotta say happy birthday to my boy Terry Bradshaw had a birthday yesterday he listen sometimes he watches on Facebook he was watching last night just want to say Happy Birthday to happy birthday my my my my my godfather Terry Bradshaw that's some funny stories of that let's bring in Jake and Dudley welcome guys to the broadcast how are you today hey Jake Wimberly Jackson Mississippi ESPN 105.9 the afternoon Drive Dudley Dawson hogville.net Jake you know Dudley lives in Reynolds Razorback Stadium he lives on the uh 70th floor in the upper dech this time of year whatever but uh man let me get started with Jake I here's a question from uh and and I'm curious we all watch this but thoughts on Oklahoma uh defense looked great offense is there just needs to get comfortable together as a unit hey that first game against Temple all I know is that that new tradition at the end of the third quarter uh you know they played the Toby Keith song he is a sooner uh he's a great American one of my favorite country music singers of all time a wildcat just a just an alpha male badass uh I just I think Oklahoma uh they're like everybody else in the SEC who should play the first weekend but they got talent and uh get in line it's going to be a awesome year but Jake first your thoughts on anything going on with Mississippi State uh that what I said about Oklahoma agree or disagree and we'll get Dudley involved here and get this band playing yeah I mean Oklahoma's going to be fine I mean like a lot of these teams you play an FCS opponent or a lesser opponent week two it turns up a little bit on the heat some it turns up a lot uh you know some turn the heat up in week one so I think Oklahoma's going to be a team I had them at nine wins uh before the season starts I still still think they're going to be a seven to nine win team they'll be very competitive in the league as far as Mississippi State we'll find out a lot more about this team Saturday night um you got to kind of pace yourself they've got the late kick out in in you know Arizona got still so they'll kick at 9:30 um Blake shapen looks the part of a nice quarterback um you know a guy that can can make things happen for Mississippi State defensively again I think they're going to be tested this week they're an underdog in Vegas I think it'll be a four quarter ball game and it should should be really really fun for Old Miss you know it's going to be a couple weeks until we know anything about this team um they'll play Middle Tennessee they'll get another big win this week I think for Lane kin and Old Miss is just at this point continue to evolve and stay healthy I look I I watched uh Jeff lebby man that crowd in Starkville was going crazy I also watched Arkansas Dudley Thursday night and I'm trying to contain myself but Jim Cherry Robert Hill Michael sag I got a lot of Tommy chrisenberry Scott Paul I got a lot of Arkansas friends lot it was you know it was a it was a happy openers for 14th 15th and 16th teams in the SEC yeah you know I don't know how how long that's going to last for all of them but 14 15 and 16 felt really good uh after this week and one of them was Arkansas and of course they've got big challenge this week of going to State that's G to set the narrative right away well Dudley what I like about you just like Jason cwell and Jake y'all are brutally honest sometimes you might hurt people's feelings but I'll get the truth I will say just when I met ton green at media days I asked him about Bobby patrino and and that's the thing he's like it's like you know you better be paying attention when that man's in the room he just elevates everybody's game and I don't care who you're playing when you execute like they did against uapb there's something you can take away positive from that I think a lot yeah let's just be honest last year's Arkansas offense could not have had anybody on the field on the defense and still would not have scored 10 times not even scored three times uh it is a you know much more efficient looking offense you know certainly uapb who is a great coach and a great dude in in thei O Hampton was very overmatched uh you know these teams go in with 63 scholarship players and some of them are hurt and It's just tough for them but they get to take home the big check but you know it certainly the offense certainly looked more cohesive and I would say that because you know last year as we've talked about many times the Dan Enos experience went truly bad uh something like that fry Festival they had you know uh you know decade ago or so whatever but you know that first game with Bobby Beto the things that you could notice the most where that people were running the routes they were supposed to there were plenty of them in the uh in in the pattern and also that you know taen really didn't have that much pressure the whole night one time he did he went you know like 36 yards but it was 80 yards you know across the field exactly it was fun to watch We're GNA learn a lot more this week yeah Jake I know you just got a few minutes and uh I want to get it out of you and then and about Mississippi State je leby uh talent-wise I don't know you know last year when Zack onnette took over off a nine- win team they they went backwards Jeff Levy is again one of these people that makes everybody believe doesn't he no he does at least for now he does um you know he said he said everything right won the press conference uh you know for Mississippi State standers he's winning recruiting um people have bought in to what he's doing um now we'll see how this team handles adversity because that's going to strike at some point pretty quickly I would think so but yeah I mean up to this point I mean everybody everybody is buying into what he's selling all when you look at the SEC right now 16 teams uh your Matrix and your graphs that you put out I think you had five teams log jammed up at the top at 10 and two let's go over that right now after week one how you feel about it yeah let's let me go back over here I know you guys can't see this I'm gonna pull this real real quickly in the SEC prior to the season what I had is um let's see I had uh Georgia as 11- win team I have Texas as 11- win team Old Miss as an 11- win team and then I had Tennessee as a 10- win team then I had LSU Oklahoma Auburn uh in Texas A&M with eight to nine wins you know after week one um kind of chalking through and of course it's a small sample size um I think I sent you my playoff poll I have Georgia at number one as far as SEC teams Alabama at number three uh Texas at number six Miss at number eight I have Missouri at number 12 Tennessee at at number 13 um and again it's a very very small sample size so we'll see you know as as Alabama goes for instance to Wisconsin next week what does that look like um as you know Georgia continues to play all these other teams um but but that's kind of where I've got those teams right now and again um you know Georgia still I think you know heads and tails better than than the rest of the uh the field at least today uh beating a quality opponent in Clemson um you look at at Notre Dame I think they they beat a quality opponent in Texas A&M and then Miami so I mean you know you've only got a few teams that have have done that so far in one weekend and again this whole thing's just got to shake out as we go Jake when you looked at Florida against Miami and and I was wrong uh I again I don't have a paper bag to wear because I feel like an idiot I put a lot of I thought Florida's talent and Desperation in the swamp would lead to a win and and it was the opposite you were really high on Miami I pointed out they hadn't had a double digit win season Dudley and guys in like one in the last 20 years well that didn't matter Saturday uh is Miami that good Florida that bad a little bit of both or you have a different opinion somewhere in the middle probably somewhere in the middle right um I mean look Miami should be good I mean they have recruited extremely well John Ruiz and a lot of the boosters down there pumped a ton of money into that program they went out and got cam Ward who looked like you know kind of a poor man's a Walmart version of Patrick Mahomes on Saturday you know his little sidearm passes and things of that nature so I mean they should be good and you look at their schedule I mean it sets up if if they will not you know screw this up um if Mario crystal ball doesn't crystal ball this thing himself then then they should have a really really big year um you know as far as Florida's concerned I mean it'll be interested interesting to see I know you guys are all over especially with Buddy Martin and Bren and and those guys where this program goes already on my show yesterday Mississippi State fans were all overall Miss fans saying yep kin's gone ke's gone I'm like guys we are one are we really gonna do this for 13 more weeks 13 weeks yeah I I mean that's what I'm saying please not and I think Lane kein loves it in Oxford and and I don't know what people think Old Miss doesn't have money they're out of their mind that tobacco settl money they have in the billions between Dicky Scruggs and those other 14 attorneys um and they will spend they've gotten a taste of that 11 and win season last year and Jake I know you just got a few more minutes but uh Dudley I want to throw this at you and and and back to Jake when you look at money you know and and you think about and we're going to talk about the Razer backs more in just a couple of minutes but the big picture who's going to outbid who in today's World anybody I mean in the SEC they've all got money they do some of them use more wisely than others uh you know I think it's it's much like an NFL uh you know cap where you've got to make sure you're giving the right people the right amount of money uh sometimes you getback too much offensive not enough not that I'm saying that about Arkansas or anything last year you know that was Ted out there but the you know I think it's it's it's got to be managed but you're right everybody uh for the most part has the the amount of money to get the players they need now it's about your coach it's about truly it's about your fans and how much they support it I mean I I I give Oklahoma State Credit last week they tried to put the the thing on their helmet to be able to get people to donate right away with a QR code and stuff and uh you know in talk in listening to Gandy this week he's he's still going to try that and I don't blame him in in today's market do whatever you can you know yeah I I agree Jake uh close I know I know you have to go but what already on day one that's the talk you know kein is going but what is the feeling among Old Miss fans after a 76 to nothing win I mean they're going to be out there for the next few weeks they've got to go to wake Forest are they concerned about that what do you think about that matchup what what's the first sign uh first game you think Old Miss will be challenged I I think you I don't think all Miss fans are worried I I think that if you talk to most of them they're they're gonna eye those SEC ball games the South Carolina uh trip coming up here in about a month the Kentucky game coming in Kentucky coming to Vault Heming way Stadium here you know in a little less than a month so that's when we're really going to know you know what this Old Miss team is um you know how dialed in are they will they possibly go get dinged on the road at South Carolina could Kentucky come in and make it a game and um so I think that's the two games that they're eyeing I think for the next three weeks it's cruise control and it's it's all about uh you know hey celebrations playoff rankings and and everything for Miss fans at least for the next three weeks yeah and I mean you've got four straight non-conference games then after that it's going to be crazy uh last thing what are you talking about right now with Mississippi state that makes you think they can can get to be Bowl eligible I mean because in in the first year coach coming in uh I don't know what the expectations are nationally but you know that program better than the national guys I think you got to go get a win this weekend uh it's imperative you've got to beat Arizona State on the road uh there there's only so many wins on this schedule um you'll have another non-conference game late in the season that you can go get uh but you've got to get this one U and then of course one coming up next week um and then of course I think that Florida game is extremely pivotal for Mississippi State if you can get to three and0 that Florida game is really really pivotal now it's it's pivotal for both teams and both programs but on different ends of the spectrum and then you know if if for some reason Mississippi state was to grab three or four right out the gate then you got to look down the road and say okay where can we go grab another ball game or two um and that'll be the that'll be the goal and objective take Texas off take Georgia off take om Miss off take those games off it's just where can we go grab a game or two to maybe get to five and or six wins and but but it starts this weekend with Arizona State they have to get that one Jake part of the SEC Sidelines Sports Network how do people follow you keep up with all your great work and look forward to having you back on again next week no absolutely I appreciate it U always glad to be here just on XJ whim shows 3 to6 we'll be on today you can stream it if you're outside the state of Mississippi just go to the Zone 1059c we'll do man have a great one down in the Magnolia state appreciate it love it you bet uh Dudley man again you've got the greatest of view you wake up in that state I do love that background um you knowy you know he he was talking about Mississippi State but he might as well been talking about Arkansas that's the same scenario here you gotta go in at Oklahoma State this weekend yeah got UAB the following weekend after that then Auburn and in Texas A&M you gotta give yourself a shot get get to three and0 and go from there uh but you know I was sitting here he might as well just you know as asked the question to me I'd give him the same answer well and that's both of y'all is so good and I know you've been on his show and and I love being on Jake's show uh it's because y'all just look at it you know you you cut through the BS this matchup in Still Water that's a tough place to play I mean those those people out there damn Oklahoma State reminds me a lot of Mississippi State and Auburn and A&M their fan base is rabid you're coming in from the SEC I imagine a lot of hog fans are gonna make that trip to still water I mean you know they don't all live in fville the guys on TV always will say you know that's a long trip from fville uh you know Arkansas's got a lot of fans at Little Rock and I just checked they've got more fans probably alumni in Dallas Fort Worth than anywhere so talk about what in this matchup Saturday uh makes you think Arkansas has a really compelling chance to win and what keeps you up at night pulling your hair out if you're an offensive or defensive coordinator uh in fville like Bobby Patrina or Travis say nothing keeps me up at night and there's no hair left to pull out but uh the you know what's the interesting thing is this is the shortest road unless you can't Little Rock is the road trip this is the shortest road trip for Arkansas your three hours over to okom site they'll have they'll have as many uh they will have sold as many tickets as as they will allow them to get uh you know and I think that's you know 8,000 you talk about Oklahoma State 50,000 rabid fan they believe in in their football team they believe in their coach they believe in their running back and they believe in their seventh year quarterback Alan Bowman 24 yeah uh you know I understand one of his kids is gonna be at the game but uh probably not surprised in this world but the you know I think the interesting thing with Arkansas is is we they have 38 new players here uh the vast majority of the portal guys that they hit on all played really good last year and have given you know the the fans and the coaches opportunity to think they're going to be better uh again you know Oklahoma State coach Mike gandhy came out he said this week he said Arkansas has as much talent as any team will play all year now I don't know if I'm ready to go there but that was quite a coach speak statement uh and you know allowed me to get the lead for my My article you know that next day uh we are going to find that out though in in I hate to keep harping on it and I've been harping on it I think since you know pretty much about the end of last season that yeah this is just a huge game for them as far as things that uh you know lead me to believe they might have a chance over there uh the running game you know I think they couldn't get three yards uh you know last year if they needed to whether it was on first down or third down uh I'm confident in what Bobby patrino brings to the table in terms of his mind his place uh you know you got to go over and execute ton green you know that athleticism he he didn't have the greatest game throwing the ball obviously and you know if he gets that down then he's going to be electric to watch and you know and then the defense I guess bit this do a lot a lot spot it looks a lot different than it last year with the you know the same guys coordinated they just have better players over there yeah well depthwise how big of an upgrade are you on the two two and three deep depth chart on your on your front seven on defense you know I like they're better uh but I think there are a few guys that uh you know are going to have to come along and Coach Pitman and and and defense coaches have talked about this that uh you they believe they've got the guys but until they get out there and prove it against a quality opponent again not trying to denigrate uapb in any way but it is what it is mean not very many teams to give up 10 touchdowns in 10 possessions and they were overmatched and but I do think that uh you know there are reasons for optimism but I you know I on our pick for for hogville I picked Oklahoma State 20 28 to 17 and you know I that's just how I feel honest about the situation until Arkansas goes over there and shows me they win what you think about go ahead oh I just gonna say what you think about your running back transfer from Utah they're leading rusher uh and and ton green is going to need that you know safety net uh to hand off a few times I mean he he showed a lot of man not potential he showed a lot of talent not just as a passer but as a runner and that for a first game again that's that's got to keep coaches on the other side worried yeah J quindon Jackson is a dude I mean that's that's just clear Rodney Hill from Florida state has a chip on his shoulder uh you know we can go over later with the fact that his agent SL Uncle slash whatever we go there was trying to sell him to the highest bidder and wasn't really communicating uh with the you know Florida State and everybody uh too well there but the guy that the guy that didn't you know rest rash Rashad deignan is a guy who had some great games last year who had some great segments you know he didn't even get much run uh and I'm anxious to see him get out there and then you've got the 253 pound freshman uh raayan Russell who is from Benton and and you know showed his they're they're okay in the Run game and uh there's there's some dudes back there and that's interesting because some dudes transferred out including one rocket Sanders who I saw had 88 yards for South Carol on yeah it's funny to listen to South Carolina people they they weren't real excited about his numbers 16 carries 88 yards in his first game but offensive line does Sam Pitman it looks to me what do you think he's real comfortable having Bobby patrino running the offense in fact you don't see many head coaches that happy after a win regardless of opponent yeah you know one of the things that that I try to pick up on are things you know that come outside of what's going on on the playing field yeah you hear coach Pitman and I always say coach because that's just you know I want to be respectful over their position uh but you hear Bobby and Sam and they talk they they use that name those names to address each other instead of coaching this coaching that you know all you can tell they're very comfortable with each other you can tell that coach f is very aware that the success of Bobby petrino's offense this year is going to be uh have a lot to do with the success of him coaching next year or whatever uh you know the it's it appears to be a nice mesh yeah and uh you know I just think that helps and we've we've gone over before that that everybody hated each other around here last year uh you know the dropping of D and I still I still think Danos is a good coach good guy but just did work last year yeah you think it you think maybe and bring in Vince Ferrara when we can he's going to join us but it it almost makes me think that uh KJ last year I'm not sure how much he wanted to be there and when rocket goes to Dallas to do his rehab there went your locker room all right Vince Ferrara Sports Animal 99.1 in Knoxville Tennessee put the app on your cellular phone like I do I was gonna by the way say something the turtle box behind me Audrey took it away uh up to school to work to play with let the kids listen to music I was on the Spring River a couple of weeks ago the thing fell in the water we were having some hams beers on that River I'll admit it fell in the water three times in a Spring River went under doesn't even phase it was still cranking out all the great music uh get you a turtle box they've got them in huet and done they're on their sixth order of those things they got them in bright arm orange I think they got him red black tan green the turtle box at Hitt and done.com Vince watching Nico IAM malava and by the way most of these National guys that get these big paychecks they cannot pronounce his name shame on him man Nico IAM alava he Dudley just my he's kind of scary and so is I said this about ton green these big tall guys that whip that ball around like a baseball Vince uh kind of remind Ed me of Brendan Martin when he was on the field well now now Rob You're just showing off I don't throw the ball I was I was a tight end thank you it was a tight end but yeah you got that pronunciation down it is unfortunate people better practice around the country because these analysts are gonna find themselves talking about him a lot more I think so it's it's incredible what he's done you know he we had a quote yesterday um in wide receiver coach Kelsey Pope he's a former High School quarterback and played wide receiver so he knows about that relationship between the two and he had I thought one of the more meaningful and impactful compliments towards a guy not at his position than I can recall at Tennessee and he said that there's a handful of guys where receivers love playing for their quarterback and want want to catch balls from him and Nico is that already and he's only played two games but those guys have caught tons of passes from him in practice since he's been here last year but he said they absolutely love playing for him he puts the ball on the money he is uh he he is unselfish he works with those guys and communicating with them I mentioned to you guys weeks ago and when Camp first started that practices were different this year with Nico because he is about business yes he's a five star with the nil and all this stuff he could very well be a me me guy he is not uh when guys come into the program he immediately goes to him say let let me know what I can do for you let's work let's throw all those kind of things he's he's made a great impression and they even call him eightball apparently since uh since he wears the number eight and he can ball there's no doubt awesome we had Heath Schuler on the show Monday our Monday Morning Quarterback uh obviously great career at Tennessee Matt Sims who's an analyst for ESPN radio and SiriusXM channel 88 and both of those guys this week just raving about Nico not just you know his his numbers because those are one thing the accuracy the Poise and then getting to his fourth progressions this guy has a total package right now it it college football better be aware of niiko yam malava because because it it when you get into bigger games people are will notice him even more big tests to come but man this guy's got it all as a kid these days as kids say these days he's 10 toes in and all about business yeah go or or as my kid say he's OTC off the chain that's another one they like to say that's true but one for sure uh is you got a Chancellor Dudley this dondy Plowman you know Audrey's cousin Markham I call him Rocky Top Tennessee tailgate report uh he's on a committee now with with dondi Plowman they meet every month at Tennessee to chart the course for the future y'all got a baller as a Chancellor this woman loves football I mean she she loves it she's not some pin head sitting up there in the office that doesn't know what's going on I it's but we know there're gonna be challenges this year Dudley we talked about that I mean Saturday for T and green and uh before you know it you're going to you got that you got games that are going to be challenges uh Dudley when you look at the challenges that Arkansas faced they went to the portal brought in 38 new guys what kind of grade based on the first body of evidence game one do you give them on what they did just with the portal hey and I mean I you know and clearly you know I talked about how overmatched uapb was and and but again they guys in here last year and staff and in situations that they couldn't execute against air and they were able to execute Saturday you know against there there were 11 people over there on the field they made I've been five stars four stars whatever but they executed a lot better much better communication uh there were people smiling it wasn't much of that last year uh you know before the game after the game during the game uh you know there were some things that I would say that that that they really hit on most of the portal guys there were some things that that you know I I'll be looking at uh for the second game oi Gordon is a is a BigTime challenge for these linebackers you know they had five linebackers go out five linebackers come in and all of those Larry worth Steven dicks schwitzer all played uh you know really well against the opponent that they played against same way with the defensive line I mean it was a it was a shut out of you know Paul schem type uh you know pitching there and and I'm actually just to see against a better opponent you know way back in the day I would say hey this team is really good they're gonna have a great season I'm 61 now and and I'll you know I'll I'll wait just a second yeah well it it is uh fortuitous uh when you can go 10 for 10 it's a good sign and and again I'll just say this Bobby patrino just look everywhere he's been uh at the trail of success all right Vince uh I'm not sure if I40 is wide enough for the Avalanche of orange and white clad volunteer supporters who will be pushing through the great the Great Smoky Mountains I I drove from Knoxville to Charlotte back in February by the way picked up another bickes the one in severville I know Vince will stop there maybe to get a souvenir maybe a snack uh wow I was in downtown Charlotte Dudley right by the ACC headquarters and there's Bank America Stadium that city is awesome it's so clean my son Wilson lives there uh ten Tennessee and NC State don't be fooled by Dave Doran and the Wolf Pack struggling I'm not against Western Carolina any of y'all can any of y'all name the nickname the mascot of Western Carolina cam out I knew it I should I shouldn't have that's not fair that's it's like asking Michelangelo to paint something for you all right Vince let's let's talk about that matchup because I love what Dudley just said uh because Dudley doesn't freely give out compliments just to make people feel good your thoughts on this matchup with NC State because it's a big big game not just for Tennessee but for NC State but I think the crowd probably be about 5050 yeah I might give Tennessee a little bit of an edge on that I know you know is is closer but man Tennessee fans I think are going to be there and jumping on those insane yeah yeah uh you can you can put a Tennessee game anywhere they're they're gonna find their way there it's the Dukes Mayo classic so unfortunately because will Lev's mayonnaise uh cologne deals with helmond not GNA be able to pass that out afterwards to the to the winner there's a conflict to sponsor who's got the deal with Helman will Levis Titans quarter quarterback yeah he did a commercial where the scent of mayonnaise is a is the cologne and they sold out of it so they're not making anymore but anyway that's so rough D that would only work here at my house with patri if it was Chick-fil-A manise yeah there you go maybe Miracle Whip I don't know I mean mayonnaise BR Dukes just a pile of dukes it was intentional to get a lot of attention and raise money for charity so that was the whole go viral so yeah but in terms of this matchup uh there was a lot of people and some in this media that were trying to convince Tennessee fans you better take NC State seriously they're not going to be a walkover assumed win and then NC State did that against Western Carolina where they needed a couple of fourth quarter touchdowns to separate and Tennessee by 20 and 30 you know so yeah good good luck you trying to to talk people into NC State being a threat but I do agree with you they have one of the better wide receivers in the country in Casey concepion and he is second on since the start of last year in touchdown receptions with 13 uh I mean 800 receiving yards last year over 300 yards rushing uh that's only been done by four power five uh receivers to do both and he also had a touch down pass uh kind of like he's like a Randall Cobb type that's how they use him there they move him all over the place so Tennesse has been working on their communication on the back end with a lot of new pieces they were not threatened At All by Chattanooga there'll be a a a different story against NC State with a veteran quarterback with Grayson McCall transfer from Coastal Carolina so Tennessee's got to be on point with their communication with the way they move concepion around uh they have uh some some good running backs they also very much took advantage of the the transfer portal running back from duke a tied end from Yukon and Jolie who's played at nean stadium before last year so they had a they had a veteran offensive line the eighth most experienced offensive line in terms of starts Tennessee is his third so you know they have a a good defense uh one that leads in the last three seasons they have the most interceptions in the country of 51 it's a big number that's TI with Iowa so they get their hands on passes they're going to turn you over so they they're uh but on the flip side of that they haven't seen anyone with Tennessee's Tempo there's not anyone in the ACC that can match up to Tennessee's Tempo and certainly not execution so SMU maybe but they haven't played them they just joined the league so it it will be it will be new for Tennessee and stepping up a competition but NC State and what they're doing in terms of style of play uh so good matchups there they they're NC state has experienced are good team solid team so if the vs are off or if the venue somehow throws them off NC State can be a threat but I still think Tennessee is the the uh the better team yeah uh Dudley Vince Bren anybody can anybody name this player whose nickname is former Tennessee quarterback the Silva streak h no not that one Jimmy streer 1979 okay all right and uh he's from Silva North Carolina uh Bryson City South North Carolina is where Heath Schuler's from and uh they've had some some great ones from that state D J green Jay green uh Jay Jay he was from Canapolis North Carolina yeah so Dudley that being said you know you talk about these quarterbacks and Simmon Dr Arnold where does Tennessee get all these good quarterbacks uh well they come for uh a lot of reasons but now I think Nico's got a hell of an nil deal Dudley you talk about this 38 new guys in the portal and you always Vince what Dudley loves to do and I and I love it he goes one through 44 Arkansas's pretty good it's 45 to 66 and 67 to 85 I'm gonna ask both of y'all this I'll start first with Dudley feel I feel like I'm a judge in the courtroom uh the defense please your case let's talk about 45 to 66 for Arkansas and that includes those guys in the portal so it must be better yeah in the but in the in the words of Perry Mason or or really Hamilton Burger I'm Hamilton I'm going to reserve my opening until after this game in terms of that 1 to 44 44 to to 85 and all that I mean I just I would love to say yes but that's not an informed opinion you know we'll see now uh I did want to th throw a couple things in there as we go about this answer I love blind love the name blind squirrel Sports by the way uh yes brillan russley is a 253 pound running back uh he's a load but yeah yeah that was one of the questions and he asked if Nico a top five quarterback in the SEC it's early yeah it is early he certainly has the potential I totally believe that by the middle of the Season we'll be saying that definitely but again uh you know it's it's a little LLY yeah because I haven't seen all of them in action in a in a studying session I can watch them on TV but there's a difference yeah there is Vince that's a good question blind squirrel Sports and and I I gotta tell you I love these viewers because they've got a lot hey load us up questions and comments Vince uh respond do you see him in the top five yeah it um I think yes if you're projecting ahead to the end of the year I I said it before the year I thought he would be a top four or five quarterback that's saying a lot because you have some really good returning QBs uh and and then that there's the Heisman talk which I I think might have been a touch early but who knows um you know if he if he performs on big stages he's already in some people's top 10 so if he if he wins at Oklahoma and has a great game he's shooting up that that list regardless of what his classification is so uh think the potential absolutely he will be a top five quarterback at the end of the year uh just the there aren't flaws with him um and in terms of the depth question that that you asked Rob Tennessee played 94 Reserve players that's not count counting the starters against chatt Chattanooga 94 backups played in that game not that the Guinness people just texted me the Guinness people Dudley look at Dudley up there the wise Sage that he is in Brendan's over there like wait 94 backups yeah yeah on top of the 22 that started that's according to the game book that I'm looking at right now is just 116 balls hit the field that's got to be a first first of all first of all that's a tremendous stat I I'll throw out that I was I was going to throw out that Arkansas took 92 and played 83 thought that was something but 94 reserves wow a bunch of Walk-Ons played and and look one of them might be in their three running back rotation and Deshawn Bishop he was a record setting uh led the nation in in rushing from down the road at K's High School uh was committed to Coastal Carolina and then came to Tennessee as a preferred walk- on banged up last year with the injuries a running back he really got a lot of first reps in the spring and and did really well and then he got a touchdown in his debut in the Tennessee uniform I think he's got a great chance to be in a thre man back rotation as a as a walk-on and that's not because they don't have any any good players that's just because here's a guy that that is capable and had FBS offers uh and decided to walk on to Tennessee so that that's where they've improved their depth to kind of get back to your original question Rob this is the most depth and hypo has said it a lot of the coaches have said it this is the most depth they've had on this team they had 35 ores on the depth chart and hypo this week was like some of y'all gave me grief for having all those ores on the depth chart well we knew who the starters were but what he was trying to do was say we got a lot of players that are really close that can do the job as well and they they played a lot of players and they played them early that hasn't happened under hypo before so that is also a sign that they know they have some good players and they don't have to get those extra snaps on the starters James Pierce Jr played 10 plays in the game didn't show up on the stat sheet and people are like what happened to dreames Pierce Jr it's Chattanooga why are you putting extra snaps on him now again you had no defensive lineman other than a Leo who played Edge rusher who played 20 snaps that's the most any defensive lineman played that's smart and it also shows you you got more depth than you have in a long time I love the walk love the walkon stories the uh Arkansas's offensive line did not start a walkon for like the first time in guy a guy that came in was a walkon for the first time in like 12 years wow you know and that that kind of tells you where the situation that that there were some Walk-Ons that were you know uh not recruited and came in and developed and all that and others is you know you should be having Five Guys on scholarship that start you know on offensive line so that that was an interesting stat the other the other walk- on story I led this weekend was Colorado's walk-on punter a couple years ago is now they starting tailback huh wow wow I mean what's your safe word Dudley I mean give me aome Mexico I'm gonna throw one at you along the line of what Vince just alluded to Jordan Travis really why was he playing as much as he played Florida State University of North Alabama last year how cost was his injury well let's start with in the eyes of the cfp committee uh they made Florida State a different team and they got nixed from the playoffs which led to 31 players quitting and them going out and just being clubbed to death by Georgia 63-3 I think Georgia just scored again yeah they did um they quit on him that toxicity that cancer has just been in the locker room then we don't need to be in the ACC let's sue the playoff committee let's get out of the conference they go to Georgia Tech they get beat by they lose to Georgia Tech in Dublin and then uh the game against Boston College Monday night I took BC straight up uh I was like you know what I'm gonna be crazy but I think Bill O'Brien is one of the best coaches I don't I know people say what he did at Alabama look he saved pennstate football just like Terry Bowen saved Auburn football from going into the abyss of hell irrelevance in 9394 when Auburn was on probation those two years they went 21 and one that's Bill O'Brien he could be your next coach at Florida who knows but I I'm with y'all man I say play get your starters out there but man play empty the bench it's good for morale guys isn't it yeah and and think about it if you're if you're practicing and working just as hard as all the starters now you get a reward and then think about how in you will will be moving forward if you're a backup whether you're scholarship or walk-on or whatever how invested you will be now that you know there's the possibility of playing time and how good you feel about getting out on the field now you're you're practicing better that makes other guys around you practice better everyone's connected and motivated uh that that just fuels the the team continuing to improve all the way around and and and helping the culture too yeah hey I think I think Mike Norville is a really good coach I meaness with all that but they Florida State concentrated on every since the end of the regular season last year they've concentrated on everything except the actual football game all the wrong stuff that goes from the top on down and that's why they're in the situation because there is no way whatsoever they should be owed to in there yeah yeah you you got to I mean Gus malan did it after Auburn lost to Florida State got to get 13 seconds not better but butter b u t t e r and and that carried into the season you got to put it behind you it's like I grew up playing tennis man you get aced move to the next court if you're not if you're still feeling sorry for yourself you're going to get aced again it's one thing to get beat it's another thing to stay beat if I heard that once I've heard it a million times from every coach that I've ever respected and that's because they they care uh Dudley and and and Vince we got a few minutes left I want to ask first Vince anything jump out at you with those helmet Communications to the players on the field not that it was a tight game or anything like that but I didn't see as many penalties in the first few games that's all I'm noticing yeah and Tennessee was was pretty clean just one turnover and six uh penalties in the game and Josh hyle teams have been pretty highly uh penalized have been on the the upper end in the league and penalty so it was clean and Tennessee's Tempo was fantastic people were wondering all right is that going to slow them down call the play the quarterback the quarterback has to relay it uhuh all the players on offense were looking to the sideline for a quick call they were still signaling in with their three guys and the the covered background stuff the the only thing they're using that helmet communication for is not for the plays it's for reminders and that's the case on defense as well that that's it's it's was designed to speed up the game um and to clean up the the stealing of signs but Tennessee is not worried about that and I think other teams are taking that approach too where why not why slow the game down call it from the sideline and then tell remind your quarterback about Tempo where we're going to the football where what what uh uh defenses you're seeing you know make sure we're taking we get three here we don't lose the opportunity for a field those little things it's that's where it's how it's being used for not to call in plays and then add that extra step yeah dley I would say I would say at Arkansas at Little Rock that they use the technology really well on the sidelines this weekend I and I I'm not getting on world Memorial Stadium it's it's just how it is I wish they could be like it but the iPads worked the helmet communication worked the bathrooms did not the water did not food did not ticket takers did not but other than that scoreboard you know how did you you know for that you like the you know I mean I knew you'd say that yeah yeah well it didn't did that didn't work in Alabama we talked about Rodney or yesterday and the the helmet cams went out or the helmet mics went out really and you know what you think about re Alabama football in 2019 Dylan Moses their middle linebacker from Baton Rouge Laboratory High School got injured he was the guy who did all the checks at that middle linebacker position in 2019 the reason I bring this up is Alabama lost two games they gave up 46 at Bryant Denny to LSU and 48 on the road to a freshman quarterback Bo Nicks at Auburn it matters uh who you got out there on that field I mean it absolutely does hey great conversation man uh I I'm just going to say this right now I've got nothing personal against Billy Napier but I do love the SEC and and I and I love Florida because that's always been a rival game for Auburn and Tennessee you know that Arkansas went down there beat him last year if they make a change I think Lane kein gonna stay at all Miss I'd go after Bill O'Brien he's a fixer and the son of a gun knows what he's doing and I'd bring in someone like Bill bich son as my defensive coordinator uh he's out there uh he's he's out there I'm telling you he's like his dad he's a he's a genius but uh Hey the updates on that is uh you know I'm seeing all sorts of you know everyone's po posting is Billy gone is it gone is St fired you know he didn't show up for a podcast or flights in the air like I mean I already he that yeah yeah I got checking the plane checking the airport look I know all about that game yeah but uh yeah so we there's nothing to report if everyone's wondering all those people that think they know good for you but we'll see I don't think anyone knows so I don't and all I'm saying is that if they if they were to make a change mid-season late season I I just think Bill O'Brien have I just watched what he did at Penn State watched what he did at other places and now he has Boston College gets a win but one thing for sure is you know if you keep looking out of the rearview mayor Dudley's that's the quote of the night is uh they're thinking about all the things but the right things and that's your next game guys uh awesome Vince Ferrara deadly Dawson hfield Donnet Vince on the Sports Animal for Brendan Martin our executive producer and everybody and all of our sponsors God Bless America we live in the greatest country in the history of the world watch the Buddy Martin show tonight you will not want to miss it great stuff as always see you tomorrow [Music] now more than ever it is so important to shop local and Dubai American for 60 years huet and dun Boot and clothing company has been on the historic cville square and we strive to sell made in the USA products when available with over 7,000 pairs of western boots and work boots in stock for men and women come and see our huge selection of clothing jeans and accessories from top brands made in the USA please support local business and come shop with us at Hitt D Boot and clothing company God Bless the [Music] USA in a perfect world you'd set a health goal and results would happen overnight in this world the 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