UAB Alcorn State Game Preview (8/27/24)

[Music] hey well welcome back to another episode of the Blazer Victory podcast John Duncan here and of course I'm joined as always with my co-hosts Jimmy Marian and Daren Smith and it is game week in fact game days actually two days from recording UAB will kick off the 2024 season against alorn State at protective stadium so we hope everybody can make it down to protective Stadium um but we'll get into that game preview a little later as always if you are not subscribed to our YouTube channel go ahead and click that link in the top right now at Blazer pod subscribe if you have not we're I believe we're up to 225 so we gained a couple off of the last week's episode so that is great which hand do we need to point with oh uh I don't know which side they're gonna put us but just do both both both to the sky hey yeah there you go so yeah we'll figure that out um but guys seriously if you have not subscribed to the YouTube channel do us a favor do us a solid go ahead and do that even if you're not going to watch us you know just in your audio description it's going to be a link in there to subscribe to the YouTube it just helps us out a lot growing this thing um speaking of growing the Blazer Victory podcast brand let me share my screen because we have two great announcements the first announcement guys give me a thumbs up if you can see okay thanks to the hard work of Mr Jimmy Maran we now have a store on our website where you can purchase Blazer Victory podcast merchandise so the website hasn't changed Blazer victory.com you're going to go there and there's going to be a shop icon you're going to click that and that will take you to our store so you can purchase Blazer Victory podcast gear especially for the little ones ain't that right Daren oh yeah I got a lot of those you know well I was I was gonna say man a lot of little ones we around that age bro you know and I know you guys want to support that's a way to support put the baby everybody loves baby you guys we love the kids here kids in the blaze of Victory ones in let's rock man come let's go hey y'all check out one of the one of the newest items that we got that John is promoting on today's episode check out that trucker cap that Mr John Duncan got on look how sweet that hat is John's repping it yeah that's that's looking good you're going to see you're going to see John Duncan at our events wearing that hat rocking it so it's going to be it's going to be real nice yes different colors you got the black the heather gray I think is on there as well uh you know very doable price if you ask myself so yeah everything you guys do uh listeners now you can not just listen and support us in that way but you can be rocking that bvp gear uh around town let's go thanks to Jimmy for working hard because I know this this was a lot to get get up and you know thank you to Jimmy for we finally got it up just in time for season for the season kickoff so Blazer Victory shout out to Natalie shout out to Natalie too Jimmy's wife yes shout out to Natalie um milons over there just there you go um so second announcement really big announcement patreon so of course we've always had you know since we've been doing this for what a year and a half or however long we've been doing the patreon um it's been a $5 uh tier bvp Patron tier today we introduced another tier a second tier bvp VIP tier for $10 a month so the reason why we did this really quickly we've had folks over the past few months especially say hey Darren hey John hey Jimmy I I want to give you guys more support I want to give you more than $ five dollar a month basically so this way we are everything stay still the same on the $5 tier you will continue to get everything that you've been getting continued uh exclusive content but on this $10 tier you're going to have access to our community chat which is really cool and I'm really excited uh to launch that now especially I think we already have five VIPs uh that switched over from the first tier to this VIP tier but VIPs will be able to chat with each other and us through a community chat it is important that you'll have to download the patreon app but you should already have that um but if you can go to the app store or Google Store um download that log in with your normal log in but this is going to be almost like a message board a forum space for us and for y'all to communicate with each other during games like I've already got a chat set up for alorn St game um and it's already popping off right now got a couple responses um but this is just so awesome you know for us to kind of continue to build this community uh of the Blazer Victory family you know it's not just us it's all of y'all and you know we want to stress we are not taking away anything from the $5 tier y'all if y'all just want to sit at the $ till tier and continue to support us that that means the world to us this is just for those that want to give more and also get that Community chat space um with us but Daren Jimmy did I miss anything um with that oh and also before I throw it to y'all you can uh switch in your patreon settings so if you want today to switch from the just the bvp patron $5 tier to the bvp VIP tier you can do that right within your um patreon app so it's really easy to switch if you want to and hey if it sucks in a few if you're like a few months from now you're like man I don't I ain't no VIP you know I want to I want to go back down to the you know the patreon or switch back over to the patreon just do $5 you can do you can do like one month $10 $11 you know you could switch up and uh between those two tiers if you want to but um I mean this means the world to us like we've already had five uh people switched VIP within within an hour I mean yes it's less than an hour yeah so um but did I miss anything guys that we want to say about the patreon uh no like you said this just a a way to support us it's supporting the show but it it really is supporting us individually because we we don't really have any as of right now there no big plans to do as transparency there's no big plans with the money that we do get from patreon I don't I don't think these guys mind us I'm mind me talking about it and I just want to be transparent with y'all there's no big plans with that money or whatever so it's really just supporting us right now individually until we do figure out something that we want to do I mean because we do put our time you know we we have shower thoughts we sit down and we we got to book these people and John is traveling and doing interviews and Jimmy is putting this store together we we we sit down we look at F we go over rosters we go over transcripts so we do do things to um try to earn the money that you guys are giving us and so a lot like like John said a lot of people was like man $5 is too cheap like y'all should have did this should have but we wanted to earn your money we're not I'm not I really don't want to be like hey we need to give more to nil we need to you know I know we see that a lot and I I see a lot of people like hey man I'm burnt out I don't have anything to give man like Jesus Christ like everything taxes is high food is high and if you don't have the money stop badgering people I did we didn't want to Badger you guys just say hey we're going to raise the prices because some people say we should and we appreciate that but we still wanted to have offer something to earn the money and then give you guys the option to say hey if you don't want that stay at the $5 if you if $5 a month is too much do the free show right so we just we really do this for for for the green and gold that's it so just to disclaim I just wanted to throw that out there yeah John and Darren hit on some really good points just to kind of wrap this part of it up quickly is that first and foremost we wanted to solve a problem people were saying Hey how do we continue to support we didn't want to just throw a link on to a vinmo cash app thing and say well here's how you can donate more money to us we could have done that we wanted to bring something of value Daran mentioned value and so we were able to introduce this as a new feature um and test it out some like we've already got a chat here I'm looking right now and I think this is great because during the week when we have an all corn State Community chat we've already had questions proposed where it's like hey what kind of questions do y'all want us youall want us to ask anything on the show or talk about anything like on particular like on the show you can see who else is also before you're just uh you know you're receiving the episodes you may not know who else is a p and supporter but now you're seeing people's names on here like oh who is this like Matt is asking this question he wants to talk about this and during the game you're looking just to connect with you know some other people so anyways we think it's going to add some value into John's point if it doesn't like let us know let us know what are the features that you want from us like that's so important to us is that you're getting the content that you want we can make all these assumptions all day long but you The Listener are the reasons why we're doing this and so we appreciate the feedback good bad or indiffer and so just communicate with us just let us know what you feel what you think and uh yeah we appreciate every ounce of support that you guys will give to us even if it's even if you don't support the patreon all that's fine we don't care like we appreciate you L listening right here and giving giving us at thumbs up or subscribing to the or to the YouTube or just interacting with us on Twitter or whatever like you don't have to give us money at all uh but for those of you that do have the resource and that wish to do so we just want to provide those options so anyways with all that being said we appreciate yall let's talk about some damn football make sure y'all turn those chat notifications and all turn those notifications on because it may be during the games H may be like hey check out check out number 97 he's coming up there he's been giving such such problems that something we're going to keep an eye on we're g to keep it interactive during the games so y'all can probably keep an eye on some of the things that we're going to keep an eye on you know as we watch I might throw a little something in there just hey just check this out a little bit if y'all like that we can kind of connect more on that level so just make sure you have the notifications on if you're GNA pay for it let's use it let's use it the right way ain't that the truth bro I appreciate you saying that and one last thing too on the patreon again patreon.com Blazer pod you can still save 10% annually on that plan too so if you want to you know go to the VIP plan for a full year hey make take advantage of that 10% off um you know that that helps you so much but what Jimmy said enough talk about the patreon let's talk some ball and before we get into previewing alorn State the two deep dep chart came out yesterday Monday y'all see that okay sweet so and also shout out this P this picture is from Lucas gr hey shout out Lucas hey the new UAB football beat riter for.com all I you know I saw he was at the presser shout out already doing good things posting this picture of the 2D but we're excited to see you know what Lucas does with a.com is the UAB football beat Rider so check him out and follow him on Twitter um if you have not already yeah he's he is I think he's a seni I believe he's still a he's a senior so he's about to graduate but already doing big things shoot hey congratulations to you Lucas we uh we support you here at bbp full heartly man we hope to get some good articles out do you yes and follow Lucas on X Lucas gbam B H M follow lucason uh X he's already posting some good stuff he's a UAB and what appears to be a Birmingham just in general sports fan so you know you're not going to get just the copy and paste content you're going to get you know that real emotion that real fan perspective which I'm very excited about 100% And I know that he listens to the Blazer Victory podcast you know we've had some discussions um in Fall Camp so really good guy solid recommend Lucas gray follow him right now and we might have to have him on the show um you know coming up so that would was released Daren what are just your initial observations looking at the 2D was there any like surprise or or concerns looking at the 2D well I think it is kind of like when you when you first look at it it is kind of like oh man you know because we we we recruited a lot of these uh transfer Porter guys and then if we looking at um say we looking at cornerback right there where Ricky Lee is starting you scroll down um then we have Kevin Hill and we talked a lot about Troy jackub bet it's not even a or right there it has him just third I'm just like oh man you know and I go back to the other side of quarterback the other guy we got from Minnesota Tariq Watson right there um you got Kobe Dempsey and then you have SIM McDaniel um who is a guy I saw in person who has grown um the coaches have mentioned him before he was a walkon I don't know if he's earned a scholarship as of now what not he's a a big good-looking guy I saw him in person I actually talked to him um nice kid um but he's ahead well it has or right there but they have him right there with uh Tyreek Watson and nir Basher which I talk to the serious people too um it is surprising because those guys are you know walkos but one thing that I went back and I looked at shout out to uh Steve Irvine I went to the to the ban went to this article he did that Q&A and I went back to that Q&A and and Trent did say that a lot of the threes and 2bs that they have have developed a lot rapidly a lot more rapidly than they thought it's been fast it's been a fast process and they he said they've really been pushing our ons in two a he said it's been a lot more competition so what this showing what this is showing me is what he was saying like Kelvin Hill I saw the I saw the clip on UAB football they posted on the in their story it's him and Xavier days in which Trent mentioned Xavier Daisy a receiver as well is a guy that could he felt like could um he's he's he is right here wide receiver you know 63 210 he's a big dude first of all I didn't know he was that big let's just start there but uh he mentioned him as somebody he can see that can contribute immediately that's they wasn't on the bvps radar wasn't on Daran jimmies and Johns and then I see that clip and I saw them two go at it I was like Dam those two look like they look like dudes you know so we're going to that's going to be the first question asked I mean not answer not asked how good were the the transfers and a lot of times the to deep take the to deep at face value I can't tell you how many times last year we put out a to deep I stop paying attention to the to deep because I was like man this not you know it's not even updated like I don't know what this is talking talking about it it didn't reflect what was put out on the field so take it that face value but I'm anxious to see like how many of these guys is Sim McDaniel really good how good is a Kevin Hill how good and we're gonna get to this part how good is a Brandon Franklin who had Brandon Franklin on their bingo card you know to be behind Michael Moore and middle linebacker good kid nice size 612 30 big big kid if you see him you I've seen him in some practice I didn't have that on my bingo card it was another guy that was a walk on Jason RS behind OC Brothers is a walk on mind you when you look at the defense you have one position that's going to be not on the field so either um probably the Mike linebacker would be off the field if the star If U if Adrien Maddox is on the field maybe maybe OC Brothers is off because you can't start two safeties a star in three linebackers just in four defensive lineman just for people to know you know so it's gonna be some kind of variance there um so what it's I hate when they do two deeps like this because it's kind of hard to reading it's kind of confusing but um yeah it is surprising seeing some of the wcom be direct be listed on the 2D so guys I guess that's the first question that's going to be answered for me cuz it can cause a little not just like anxiety like are we really as good as we said we were but at my at my daughter's volleyball game I talked to one of the team doctors that's always with the team he's like man the vibe is really good like they look good like and I've I've consist consistently gotten that same thing from everybody talked to whether it's a player whether it's a coach whether it's a team doctor whether it's somebody that just kind of frequent the the like they like oh man like it it feel good the vibe is good the talent is up like they look bigger they look everybody saying the same thing so I'm like he had no I'm I'm listen I'm in briwood watching my daughter play he his daughter played briwood he he he didn't have a reason to lie to me so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic but I really want to see that question I want to see that answered and it's not going to be answered all in all corn we're going to see a preview we're going to see a preview I'm not and later on because I need to pass because I'm rambling but I need to tell y'all what I'll be looking for for allor but we're not going to have that that question answered until maybe two three four games down the line about the depth the true depth of this team but maybe those walkon develop maybe we have a good developing staff here and um we saw what Jason RS did against North Texas when he got his opportunity to do as a tackling machine so that's I'm I'm I'm curious real quick Darren um just just to you talk about the Walk-Ons and young guys hopefully being dep pieces and improving I I I really really liked what Trent said at the presser for the alorn State game yesterday he said you know when you bring all these talented uh transfers like a jackub Beck you know everybody High Talent transfers in it just makes the guys that are already on the team the younger guys work harder and improve and I really loved he Chris bracie was a really good example what he mentioned at the on the presser you know um seeing him starting this strong safety um at Chris bracie but Jimmy what what are just your initial um when you first glance at this 2D uh kind of going defense and we can talk about offense is the safety position uh you know one could certainly argue is the most improved all around outside of maybe defensive line which I'll talk about and a second I really like uh what the UAB staff has done specifically at safety in comparison this past year and so the death chart looks really solid there uh darans are a touch base on jackc and S McDaniel as relates to cornerback that'll be interesting to watch in the emergence of a Kelvin Hill really excited to see what he's able to do linebacker that was a thought as well is just the death behind the starters I think we're super top hey topheavy at that linebacker position uh it'll be interesting to see the combination of a McNichols as a true freshman as well as uh the few Walk-Ons that are in the two deep how ready they are to contribute Rous being a Jimmy Maran favorite we'll see how he does uh interior defensive line one thing that stood out to me was how you have Merryweather and Smalls that are at call it you know third in the pecking order and these are guys that we are really relying on this past season that even got a start here and there Small's dealt with injuries or he may have played even more but these are guys that we are really having to rely on heavily and we're going to rely on them again this season two but just the depth that's been added with that you know guys from from P4 you know programs with a Shephard and with Demarcus Smith like there's a lot of improvement and a lot more pieces at the defensive line which going to be absolutely critical for this UAB defense that stood out on the offensive side um one thing I was pleased to see at the offensive line was the starters the projected starters going into fall Camp pretty much held onto their starting roles throughout fall Camp we've heard a lot of great things about the tackle positions in particular um a guy like badowski who was a starter last year before injury is now likely going to be you know your sixth guy or your seventh guy in the rotation uh so that speaks to the depth that the offensive line has a established a guy like Baron Franks who came in a little bit late um who has many starts under his belt at Northfolk State um is likely going to be call it your sixth or seventh guy as well so I was just really pleased to see that offensive line right now is healthy all things considered the starters that chemistry that you want they held on to those positions despite those battles all throughout fall Camp which I think is great so I feel a little bit better about that um position wide receiver I thought it was interesting how essentially if you are on the two deep at receiver you are a projected possible starter um so to me uh you know take that with a grain of salt you know you look at those top three like the the a receiver position with Thomas shanks looks you know you would think that there's probably like a clear line between that group and like a Roger so not quite sure where everything will shake out but um a guy like Thomas in particular I think it was last year dord was just praising how Thomas Amari Thomas can really play all three positions so that versatility is going to come into play it is definitely my hope that you're going to see an Amari Shanks or hooks two out of those three guys on the field uh a lot you know based on uh just their impact and what we know they're capable of um but yeah so those are some of my observations still despite even what we talked about at linebacker overall um this is definitely a much deeper team on paper a much more talented team on paper and if we can stay relatively healthy and if those um Walk-Ons and true freshman that linebacker position can come into the fold and play and contribute at a meaningful level like this is a much improved roster just quick note on special teams it looks like Jonah delange did hold on to that uh primary kicker role but our guy the 38 Special Noah Grant won that kickoff battle uh which going to help with that field position I know uh Trent coach Trent dord was talking about the field position battle on the coach show uh last night and how important that is and then from a return standpoint um Armani Goodwin potentially returning kicks uh his impact there on that special teams I think is going to be exciting uh just to get the ball in his hands uh in whatever way that you can um but yeah those are those are at least some of my thoughts as relates to the death chart hey I just realized as Jimmy was talking through it they didn't name any kind of starter at receiver there's no this is or r r all of it because they all can play you know like they are all like tal like wide receiver I'm I'm not worried at all um and even tied in too I'm I'm not I'm not worried like off now I was going to say that one something that we haven't mentioned that I saw I think it was on Twitter or X some UAV fans um questioning um they they seem surprised to see jayen kitner the two uh for quarterback I mean if you've been to practice like you you know it's it's j you calling that a long time ago John I remember early you were on that so yeah he's the clear number two as of right now um I still love Adrien posy shout out um I think you know he is you know um and then we got another kitten coming in hey UAB will be solid at quarterback position um what about the guy we're missing that receiver we we shouldn't glance over that I don't know if we know uh Yousef Terry like he's not in the to deep he's someone that came in late transferred from South Florida had the Jacob Zeno connection at Baylor um senior I think he's dealing with something minor we haven't heard anything major so maybe there's holding him out of a game like this John potentially you think yeah I mean you worry with you know like a l transfer I don't know what the deal is um but you maybe like nicked up and and trance mentioned that they've had a a few few guys kind of get U wear and tear nicked up a little bit so maybe that's a possibility to why we don't see use of Terry U maybe he's just maybe dealing with something um but but as far as you know Daren said it earlier we don't need to overreact uh to the too deep um it's just something to talk about um Bute the kick return John yeah kick return he he's trying to get the ball into one of the running backs and we have three of them you can tell he's like he's trying to manufacture way he's like hey just put is Isaiah Jacobs who would Isaiah Jacobs return guy but it's like he we got three of them we need to figure out something to put the ball in their hands Lee Lee BB you get back there you know so it's pretty funny to see that U we're trying to manufacture ways so the running backs can touch the ball 100% yeah and hey you know don't don't forget about Solomon BB too like you know we talk a lot about like four running backs I mean this it's five running back like that room is loaded like we I I think UAB has the most talented running back room in the G5 but if not the nation too like they they are so loaded at that position um you you know and don't forget about a Lee Witherspoon too I mean they they are so loaded and uh ready to uh prove themselves this year but guys that's enough of the two deep we need to move along in previewing this matchup with UAB and alorn state this Thursday 7 PM central time um at protector Stadium um we hope to see you all there but if you can't make it the game is going to be streamed on ESPN plus uh this is only the second time these two programs have met on the football field uh UAB won it some years ago um but alorn State man I mean you you guys heard it at the presser um you know BJ talked about alorn State um with us on the patreon again if you're not a patreon subscribe and here that almost 30 minute interview BJ is incredible and we will continue to have him on this the show uh but this team is picked to be in that swack championship at the end of the year representing their uh was it the West Division I believe um representing that side in the SWAT uh Championship we know there's a lot of turnover uh from this 2023 season to the 2024 uh season for aorn um they lose their stud runningback who I believe is playing for the Green Bay Packers right now um but also they lose their uh quarterback uh Allen um there is you know BJ told us that there are is some high expect ations for the run the quarterback who played a little bit uh last year let me get his name Tyler making yes and there are I I think even Trent and his presser kind of spoke highly about him um working with him at El leite 11 um so this is a talented roster um it's just kind of some new guys they've add a lot from Joo um and transfers um but really a good swag team you know good FCS team so I I do think that they are better than what UAB played I started the season last year with North Carolina &t um but Daren what what pops off to you when you kind of look at this um and again it's game one you know we we we don't have film to go over except for the some of those guys that are returning from last year's team um you got a new head coach you know Cedric Thomas um being elevated from I he was the defensive coordinator U being elevated to that uh head coaching position but Daren what what kind of Pops off to you like when you study our look at this uh 2024 alorn State team well this that's the thing it it's hard I was trying to like study and look at film but you don't with it being game one and with you know aorn being a a swag team it's hard to find like I was I wish I could find like a two deep for them that way I could study like who's returning I couldn't really find a two deep so I don't know who's going to be back especially with the attrition on the roster with with the you know a head coach coming in I didn't I'm trying to look at the meat bones and potatoes I try to get down to it and see like what offensive linemen are coming back what defensive linemen besides Malachi Bailey is coming back we know Bailey is coming back off the age and off the edge and you know he he put a pretty impressive stack uh stats his sack total was pretty nice I think it was over his career is like 19.5 or something like that almost 26 um he was first team all swag they also have a tight end was it tarius Griffin that was uh First Team all swag but then then you kind of look at the context of it it's like okay what are we comparing that to right because they've had DJ even talked about it so if you guys all the patreon M you know um you can pay $10 now for the VIP $5 for for the regular access with BJ did a great job of telling us about like hey but in the west they pick to finish first in the swag West but that comes with the asterick in the sense that a lot of teams are replacing head coaches in that same division like the majority of the teams are I believe like five out of the seven of the teams are and if you got five out of seven teams replacing head coaches which leads to a whole bunch of roster turnover you have to pick somebody right to win the swag so like tarus Griffin Griffin I really didn't find I couldn't see like a game or anything like that because I only like watch some of two games but I mean he had like 300 something yards 325 yards and like four touchdowns like that's not like Brock Boward you know like you know what I'm saying saying it's First Team all swag but you know what are we really looking at for what is worth I do believe Malachi Bailey is the real deal I really do coming off the edge um so and and I love that because we get to see with jend Darius Morgan we get to see DJ Jones both uh new tackles for us this year we get to see how legit they are because I feel like that's a player that could play that that's something that can translate right like to we can apply that for all the games now the rest of the players I don't know because I don't even know who's going to be on the field for them so this is what I'm looking at so what I'm going be looking for very simple strength speed and how sound all of it how how we are so it's not g to really have too much to do with all corn because I don't know about them I can only find out about them when the game start but if you watch that Georgia Tech versus Florida State game I started scratching my head a little bit and I started wondering because they Georgia Tech was kind of pushing Florida State around if you remember if you remember last year Florida State pushed everybody their defensive line Jerry bur and the other guy they had U I can't remember the defensive T they had so many guys that was just like powerful fast quick that defensive line was nothing to play with I was like GE Jesus Christ these dudes are monsters this year I was like he h it was kind of head scratching because they was trying to Hype him up they was trying to like oh they did a good job replacing no they didn't they didn't have the same dogs that they had and they Georgia Tech offensive line pushed them around they created running Lanes they couldn't get consistent pressure on the quarterback and Georgia Tech won the game versus the quote unquote top 10 better team Georgia Tech look like the better team better quarterback better offensive line better defensive line what I'm going to be looking at let's exclude the the skilled players where do you Jimmy said it Trent said it we said that we had more Improvement and depth in that defensive line last year if you go back to that game last year when we played against an that front seven we was kind of like our front seven we was looking it was like gu uh who was that kid uh it was App State transfer he was playing for North Carolina aent but he was kind of getting in that backfield early and we were like uh uh oh even think even think about um our defensive line we was like all right yeah we F to go out here we're gonna it was kind of like I mean it was kind of shaky it was like they were running the ball on us they were pushing us they move yeah if anything like we had guys make plays or we had we had scheme like scheme got us open and you know or we our skill players were good what I want to see forget all of that forget all of that is our defensive line gonna get back there and just be as Savage and get back to the quarterback are they gonna stop the r is it I want to see four defensive linemen and two linebackers stop the run y' because y'all just dogs that's what I want to see I want to see physical play I want to see it on the offensive line yeah last year we had scho and yeah they can just make plays and make something happen they can get out of tackle too and they can get off cool they did all of that yeah we got Jacob Zeno and we got all the motion offense and everybody can do all that hand the ball off zone go go 50 yards hand the ball off 10 yards seven yards seven yards 13 yards that's what I want to see and I want to see those yards I don't want to see the running back get touched until they five seven 10 yards down the field that that's dominance that that is a good floor if you want to know what your team is going to look like a floor for the team offensive defensive line that front seven in that offensive line that is GNA be the M that's the only thing I'm really looking at we know what Brandon bartter we give it to him we know what he can do we know what jacobino can do make plays and guess what sometimes they they have players on that team too sometimes those guys are gonna make plays like you can throw the ball up we play football maybe they catch a ball here you know what I'm saying that that stuff will happen but it don't I'm an offensive line it don't work like that on offensive line a guy's just not gonna make a play like oh it's this football no you gotta go push me down if not I'm gonna bully you the whole game and I'm gonna talk trash to you the whole game can we do that to them can we bully them we DJ Jones bully Malachi Bailey Willie that's gonna be that's tough to do but that's the only parameter we have so I'm going to be looking at that above anything else and then can guys make plays off off the back of how physical because we the three the one word I kept hearing we're aggressive this year we're so aggressive man we're aggressive well all right here we go if I see if we come down there we don't look aggressive I'm G look at John it looked like last year it looked like last year so we'll get to see early just look at the line play just look at the physicality play look at look at how we perform on Third and fours if we can just be physical if they got guys and sound hat on the hat if we can be physical and sound my optimism is really going to rise for the rest of the year yeah I think uh yeah that's some really good analysis I think it's going to come down to uh in this ball game we talked to BJ J J about it I mean offensively for all corn State they lost so much of their production they lost the quarterback they lost the running back that John had referenced earlier they lost their top receiver they just lose so many piece on the offensive side and they're elevating their defensive coordinator from this past year so uh one would think he's a defensive minded guy he we mentioned Malachi Bailey so he was able to return some guys on the defensive side and Trent dord gave um Cedric Thomas and the defense some credit schematically talking about the way they were able to get creative and that they will cause some problems and so but when you look at this uab's got a very good offense and um North Carolina A&T their strength on paper going to be their defense on the flip side UAB on paper and what we saw in year one had a struggling defense and then and then um you know alln state has got an offense that does not appear to be um good on paper right now we don't know it's game one so first thing I'll say is that if UAB defense gives up too many points to all corn State offense that's going to be that's going to be something right there man like UAB defensively I think needs to make a statement or has the opportunity let me phrase that to make a statement in game one they only allowed to think it was six points to ncent this past year I really want to see that UAB defense get after this inexperienced alln State offense in game one um and then on the offensive side of the ball if we do struggle a little bit I'm going to keep in mind that the strength of this all corn State team is that defensive side I still expect the UAB offense to cook you know in this ball game but those are things I'm looking at and I want to say this game one what's one thing I'm looking at is second half adjustments how does UAB perform in the second half in this ball game because last year second halfs were problematic if UAB comes out in the first half and you know is up 21 to3 but in the second half they give up 147 points all corn State that's going to make me think a little bit about this depth that we're talking about it's going to make me think about the second half adjustment so I want to see in the second half I want to see UAB lock in at halftime and I want to see them if they're successful in the first half then to continue to lock in until the last minute so those are things I'm looking at uh in this ball game um hopefully it's uh an opportun where uh it's not close uh we respect all corn State um we had one of the question asked BJ Jones was are John and Daren and I is there an opportunity where we are sweating in the fourth quarter you know we didn't necessarily sweat it against North Carolina & but is there an opportunity for us to sweat it out I sure hope not um but hopefully this is a game that UAB football uh can win comfortably yeah 100% well said both of y'all um I just wanted to reiterate Malachi Bailey 44 for aorn State I think he could play in this league like this that dude is good and in fact you know that there might have been a few a few G5 teams um maybe kind of fishing around and poking around and see if he would have any interest but the trade more of a swack is is that who he is I think so man like you go on YouTube just type in Malachi Bailey highlights and that dude that dude can play he he had a good game last year against Southern Miss I think it was um but yeah dudes a stud 44 that is one person to watch out for on this alorn State team one guy we didn't mention before we hop is Edwin summer uh I think it's summer Mau he's a 511 180 pound red shirt senior DB um in 2023 he had 63 tackles and two picks so again don't be surprised this alore State Defense has some dudes on defense they did lose a linebacker I think it was to Western Kentucky via the transfer portal but they were kudos to this all corn State staff for keeping Malachi Bailey at all corn state for keeping the guy that I just mentioned here um that's big time and so I expect them to potentially try to give us some trouble give us some looks and so keep that in mind but again the offensive side of the ball going to walk away pretty concerned if the UAB defense cannot keep all corn State at a low point total and then I want to just make it clear like I understand that the offense can take a little while get started because they do have dudes on defense but it's the way that that may happen if if if it's like scheme wise and then they're competing and stuff that's cool if they're kind of bullying us and we can't run the ball that's a whole different story and if if I see that I'm going to get worried the second quick nugget we have another team playing Thursday that's playing that's playing the swag team that's pretty comparable to aorn and that is ULM playing the same time they're playing Jackson State Jackson State and alorn are Rivals they go at it I think alorn beat Jackson State last year 2824 it was one of those tight games so if we want to talk it about and Jackson state is one of those teams that's always going to be at the top of the swag I'm gonna have my eyes on that game too so as we when we finish up and we we do everything here I'm gonna go back and watch that game and um that's that's G to be interesting I love the comp I don't know if it was schedules are set up that way on purpose so I don't know but that's going to be a that's that's a good barometer to see where we heading into assuming that we get the win I don't want to disrespect a look look over all corn because things happen this is football but as I look at this roster and I look at the film and everything I'm like dude we should win comfortably so um yeah I just want to throw in that ning about ULM and want people want our listeners to keep an eye out on that score Jimmy you had one last thought before we give predictions yeah I always like to look at the local flavor North Carolina ENT had uh a penson valley guy had running back last year all corn state does have a I think it's a true freshman receiver from Gardendale High School Birmingham Alabama guy um he's a 62190 wide receiver number 81 David quates III so um you know he's going to have some family and some friends there and speaking of that uh you know BJ had told us that allers got a a decent contingency in alumni base here in the Birmingham area uh it's not a super easy game to travel uh for their fan base it's on a Thursday so you know I'm sure they'd be rocking it even uh more on a Saturday but uh you know quick shout out to any alorn State uh football fans that choose to listen uh to this episode today we hope you have a great uh trip to Birmingham that you have a great time at protective Stadium enjoy yourself um but yeah I just wanted to say that there's at least one guy the AL corn State roster that's from Birmingham y my my baby was born in natas Mississippi nates is right up the street from all corn I've been to all corn plenty of times I'm from Mississippi right I've been to all corn many of times it is booming there I love it's so many people that are all corn fans my family was Jackson State I've been to all of the Jackson State all corn games you know what you know what alorn has that's like one of the best in college football and that is the band so all Corn's B would be there it will be rocking BJ I I I hate that I missed that he talked about the people at all corn of all corn how how they're the nicest people they're GNA talk a little trash but it's that Southern Mississippi fun trash right like y they gonna make they make sure you eat they gonna dance you gonna have a good time the band is gonna be rocking I love I love my all corn people it's one of the best fan bases you can find because like I said I went to all the Jackson State all corn games was so intense I loved it I have so much to say we need to go on H hop but all corn the all corn fan base they are wonderful you guys a little bit and real quick uh BJ after our interview that night uh he sent me some YouTube videos I'm super jealous of that game day atmosphere like all the tailgating like all the cars lined up miles down the interstate not even on campus to go to that game I think it it was against Jackson State but super jealous of The Vibes and game day atmosphere that they have all um at aorn State um now if you're an aorn State fan um listening you might want to dip right now because we are going to do game predictions and I will start it off guys this what what an opportunity for Trent dord and this team to make a statement and have a all the things that Daren mentioned showcased offensive ability um defensively dominate hopefully against a probably struggling offensive team from a State who took almost halfway three fours of the season last year to kind of get it together on offense so I will predict UAB makes that statement first game of the season UAB 45-10 over alorn State and that would be great like I I I hope it's like 38 nothing going into the fourth quarter and we will be relieved hell we might even start the game the the post game during the fourth quarter um depending on how it is hopefully it's not raining um but d what are your uh official game predictions for the aorn state UAB yeah I'm I'm on in that same same line of thinking because I'm thinking about our defensive line I'm thinking about our offensive line if our improvements I'm not really thinking about none no other position you guys those are and I'm looking at linebacker that's part of the front seven right for for defense and with with everything else we have surrounding that 41 10 especially if it if the rain really doesn't affect because you know sometimes it can get messy and real just like turnovers it's sloppy but with their inexperienced offense we should force at least two turnovers you know well that's what I'm not gonna say should because turnovers are one of those things but I mean that's kind of what I'm GNA be looking to like we should get an interception you know or something like that and get some good field position get an easy touchdown so um Noah Grant 38 special is not giving up any kind of field position baby you know so uh I go 4110 UAB um especially if it doesn't rain hey predictions the good Lord is going to keep the rain away no rain and UAB wins running away UAB 38 all corn State 10 we all said all corn State 10 so that's the magic number for you betters out there you sickos I love it love it hey well hopefully you know we'll be back back on the Blazer Victory podcast free feed uh post game I don't know if we're going to do it that night or maybe Friday morning but we'll um we'll we'll let you know on Twitter so follow us on Twitter at Blazer pod again patreon join the Blazer Victory podcast patreon patreon.com Blazer pod join that VIP tier don't forget to save 10% annually and also I I think I mentioned earlier but you also get a 10% off uh coupon code to use on the Blazer Victory store so again check out the store Blazer victory.com Jimmy worked hard and Jimmy go ahead and send us out until next time blazer fans it's football season let's get this dub go Blazers