Panthers’ struggles continue, Duke hosts ‘College GameDay’

Welcome! welcome to another edition of WRAL triangle into I'm Mark Bergen he's Luis Fernandez recapping and absolutely loaded week of football Louis we're going to start right off the top Panthers losing Panthers lose to Seahawks to the Seattle Seahawks Andy Dalton really isn't even the biggest problem with the Panthers team currently Lewis I'm of the opinion though why is he throwing the ball nearly 60 times in a game not a recipe for Success want to get your thoughts from the Panthers lost to the Seahawks on Sunday yeah that's that's what stood out to me too um there was only there only one player has thrown the ball more in a single game for the Panthers than Andy Dalton did and that was uh Chris winky uh but he did it he did it twice I think it was like 63 and 61. I want to say back in like 2001 and 2006. um which is pretty wild uh like more than Cam Newton ever threw the ball in a single game more than uh I think the most recent iterations of this are like Kyle Allen um not Sam darnold um I think Taylor heinecke was up there at one time and the theme was in all these situations recently where it's been like you know a quarterback has thrown more the ball more than 50 times for the Panthers it's all been a loss every single one every single one was a bad performance so Andy Dawn probably had the best performance of the bunch um but I don't know it's just it was one of those games where the Panthers played well in some areas stopping the Seahawks in the red zone so often and forcing their first I think was 15 points to be just field goals um Jason Myers leg guys it up or something at this point um you know that's that is good from the defense especially when they were hurt so often um you saw a lot of players leaving the game CJ Henderson uh Frankie luvu on top of Shaq Thompson's injury um so that that was definitely a tough position for the Panthers to be in I'm just a little confused offensively with what's going on like you know I think part of the reason they're not running it all the time is because they don't really have the red blocking to do it right now um and you know it's in some of those ways you saw the passing game serve as an extension of the running game but it just it just feels to me like the Panthers are still searching for an identity uh and I just I don't know what they are at this point I don't think they know what they are uh this is the first 0-3 start even though the Panthers have been bad the past few years this is the first 0-3 start for them since 2010. so I don't know it's one of those games where you're like all right I don't know I don't know what really to expect at this point and I don't think the Panthers know either that's the thing identity is the word that I'm going to hone in on Lewis of everything that you just said and a lot of great information there too by the way too you bring in Miles Sanders to move the chains the Super Bowl experience being in the Super Bowl with the Eagles a year ago I understand if the running game's not there but you at least can shorten the game and not like time of possession is still a factor particularly when your offense isn't a high-flying high-powered high scoring offense that's going to light up a scoreboard so it's not flashy but when your team's not great you have to be able to at least run the ball to shorten the game to help out your defense like it's not flashy at all but when I see okay Andy Dalton I thought actually looked serviceable in this game uh it seemed they couldn't stop Kenneth Walker from getting into the end zone defensively and the question we're going to have to ask ourselves moving forward and looking at the Panthers schedule is like when's the first win coming with Frank Reich and Company and Frank Wright was supposed to be an offensive coach because Minnesota uh next weekend the pair of Owen three teams uh maybe you get it there but then a stout Lions team I don't even know how many points the Dolphins are going to score and then you got the Texans in and you look at the Texans too Lewis CJ Stroud's doing his thing Anthony Richardson was doing his thing before he got hurt but when do you think the first Victory comes I don't know like I mean I the playing the Vikings this upcoming League the Vikings play really weird games so hey there you go maybe that's part of it um I I do think Andy Dalton has was was like you said serviceable he was what you want a backup quarterback to be you know I'm an Andy Dalton truther uh but he he was like you know that's exactly what you want out of a backup quarterback someone who can come in and get put you in an opportunity to win a game that's that's what you want and that's what he did um I I do think the wide receivers are still a problem uh in terms of there's there were a lot more chunk plays in that game I think part of that was because a Andy had a little more time to throw the ball and DJ Chark had a much better game a lot of credit needs to be given a DJ shark um Adam thielen was able to get open off of secondary action meaning once Andy Dalton rolled out of the pocket or whatever it might be after the initial play started to fall apart um but the wide receivers were still having issue separating um I don't know it's It's Tricky it could be a bit and I I do think that part of this is about expectations right I I know I've said this a lot and we've talked about this a lot on this podcast that the expectations for the Panthers this season should be leaving the season knowing Bryce young is the god that should be the expectations because I know there was a lot of talk about whether the Panthers could make the playoffs and the NFC South is bad maybe there are opportunities it's not going to happen this year just get get that out of your head because part of it was you look at the second half of what the Panthers did last year right when they went on that that huge that nice little win streak um and showed some stuff they beat this Seattle team last year they weren't they were playing a low ceiling football where and what I mean by that is they were solid defense run the ball control the clock that's the kind of thing that will get you wins in the short term but does not result in success in the long term it puts a cap on what you're capable of doing and I think that's why things change a little bit with Bryce young because if I'm the Panthers with Bryce young I am not playing to try and win every single game just for the sake of getting wins I am playing for the hope of developing this team and making Bryce young better that's what you're doing this season so I mean you play to win the game of course and you know I I it's easy for me to say when my job wouldn't be on the line in that situation but like you're you're playing to develop this team you want to see Improvement um and so now they're just kind of in a tricky situation where you wait for Bryce young to get healthy where you can't really yeah all right I guess we're going to focus on just trying to win every single situation based on what we got going on I I don't know that that maybe that sounds a little silly to say but I just I I really think the wins and losses do not matter this year with the Panthers it's about figuring out if Bryce Young's the guy and then you can grow around him then you can go get you know those Top Flight receivers to help him out improve the offensive line you know all of that kind of stuff young out with an injury and I don't know if I should put that in air quotes or not but an ankle injury I know there's some conspiracy theories no you're laughing but he didn't play okay uh the crowd was a factor in Seattle 13 penalties 82 yards it's almost a full length of a football field nine of those penalties false starts are an illegal shift so a huge difference in that game playing in Seattle which is why some of the conspiracy theorists thought Dalton was starting instead of Bryce young I I I'm curious to use young back this week are they going to wait another week if you don't take care of business against the Vikings against the Lions are not going to be favored against the Dolphins you're not going to be favored at home against the Texans Halloween weekend Lewis is potentially the next time that the Panthers could win a game it's like so we're talking about a whole month if you don't take care of business this weekend against a fellow Owen 3 team I mean I'm I'm looking at the schedule now and I mean right now because the Texans look like you know decent they look they look solid I don't I don't want to hear the I don't want to hear the CJ surround Bryce young like come on we're three weeks into the seasons I I know I know Panthers fans don't want to hear this but the Texans have a better infrastructure around Bryce young right now offensively that's CJ sprouts yes so the Texans have a better have a better system set up around them um at the moment offensively so no but I mean I look at that schedule and like the only the only time I'm at that game in those games where I'm like oh yeah that's a win Bears November 9th it's September 25th when we're recording this that's not good oh and remember the Bears have the Panthers yeah well and here's the thing Mark we're only three weeks into the season so a lot of things change a lot of things grow a lot of things develop so you know there's frustration from Panthers Nation I'm sure but at this point you just got to take it week by week understand you're not playing for the playoffs you're you're playing get better this season that's because that's how I view it it's a process and I know after years of Matt rules process I'm sure it's quite frustrating but that's just that's just it is that's just what it is it's just the reality of the situation situation I'm sorry to tell you that that's just what's going on I have one final question for you Lewis did it feel good to dust off the Andy Dalton Jersey from the Wardrobe deep in the archives to be able to break that out this weekend so I had I actually had an Andy Dalton shirzy um to put that in perspective um the it was it's the kind of thing where it's like um the the like 14 the orange and white 14 is starting to like chip away and fade away I had I I invested in the beginning of that Bengal was 80 on AJ Green era I invested hard in AJ Green versus Andy Dalton okay first off the one of the greatest wide receivers that no one talks about um in my opinion at least that's fair Jay green but yeah that's the Andy Dalton Jersey is uh it's it's chilling somewhere I love it moving on college game base Duke football hosts "College GameDay" coming to Durham Duke hosting Notre Dame I really wish Notre Dame was also undefeated uh the Irish didn't hold up their end of the bargain nonetheless game day will be in Durham for the very first time in the history of the show for football Mike elko's building in Durham and he got a two-year contract extension on the eve of the season coming off a nine win season Riley Leonard's looking like a promising pick I hope we could get a sellout in Durham for this game the Irish fans travel well as we saw a few weeks ago against NC State so I hope I think that we will but it was like a few weeks back Dukes playing Northwestern the Stadium's half full or half empty whichever perspective you want to look at it but there's some excitement in the triangle and Riley Leonard like I wouldn't go as far to say Heisman campaign but they knocked off Clemson if they beat Notre Dame too you're not even going to entertain it no I so okay okay this is what I will say first off like so much credit has to be given to Mike Elko for what has happened truly like what Duke has been able to do is incredible um you know for them to have the kind of success that they have had to Garner the the national attention that they have garnered I mean they're what 17 in the country right now um and and some people would argue there are teams ahead of them that probably shouldn't be ahead of them like feels sacrilege to say but like you know Alabama or something like that like hey you know Duke's undefeated um you know so there's there's a lot of credit that needs to be given out I I don't think there's going to be an issue with them selling this out because it's just that Clemson crowd was just you know electric and I think that's going to be a pretty similar environment to what you're going to see I do you you hit the nail on the head there though Mark I was like man if I wish you already would have finished that not just because I picked them to win but like what are you doing um regardless uh no I it's very exciting um I don't know what I don't know how Duke is going to perform in this game I think the two teams are similar in a lot of ways right now just you know strong defense uh wants to run the ball um you know really I think it's just going to come down to can do get stops against Notre Dame and then Riley Leonard versus Sam Hartman that's that's gonna be fun Notre Dame deserved to lose Saturday night against Ohio State I'll walk you through why uh wasn't the last I'm serious I'm being dead serious right now not only on the touchdown that Notre Dame gives up late in that game 10 players on the field the play before you have 10 players on the field you have coaching staff that's massive you have guys up in the Box you have the players on the field like Louis you've played football if your teammate's not lined up next to you Hey where's the where's the edge rusher where's the defensive end and I didn't notice it at first I saw an overhead shot and it's like uh Jeff Schwartz who's a great football analyst is like I guarantee they're missing an end here because you had three down defensive linemen all to the right of the the center for Ohio State on back to back place that happens so that's one thing DJ Burns trying to make a play brakes on a ball goes through his hands excuse me at DJ Burns okay DJ Brown the defensive back for uh okay I was about to say I was like Notre Dame DJ Brown for Notre Dame you got to make a good team is going to take advantage of your mistakes that's what Ohio state did I don't think either yeah I've Notre Dame had won the game I don't think Ohio State's going to win the national title this year but you have to be accountable for your own actions having 10 players on the field for not one but two plays like for that final fourth down play I am sending a lineman sprinting on the field Louis sprinting not one two plays you lose the game well call the you know it's one of those it's kind of like a recognition type thing right like I I'm watching it live they line up getting ready to go and I go oh run to the left side because there was nobody there you had two linebackers standing up um and I think part of it too was uh like it's you got what two seconds left I think is what it was at that point um so I run kind of made sense to me in that situation because you're gonna get one play regardless um and like if you're a Notre Dame just jump off side in that situation they're gonna move the ball what a foot closer is that going to make the difference versus having 10 guys on the field I don't know it's easy to be it's easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback but something to think about I I just wish this game were undefeated going in credit Duke though so Duke enters is a five and a half Point Underdog we'll see what they need to do I'm nervous that Notre Dame's gonna come out for blood in this game and be mad that they lost the Ohio State game versus if they had beaten the Buckeyes and says oh we'll roll into Durham we took care of the big tens best little Duke and they were looking past Duke and it's just the mentality going into this game and yeah look I saw a Notre Dame play against NC State and Raleigh they have some big boys up front and if you're looking at two players to watch Joe alt at the left tackle position is a massive human he completes his assignment and moves bodies at the line of scrimmage and then Morrison the cornerback he'll be an NFL player coming off a freshman season where he had six picks he's in the right position right place it seems like on every single play in coverage those are the two players with Duke that you have to game plan for in advance of Saturday's matchup agreed and I listen two things if we want to look at the transitive property of football right Clemson almost beat you know top five Florida State this weekend I understand different times of the Season at Clemson all that stuff but you know there's something to keep in mind showing that Duke is not a fluke um but but also I think you you look at just what Duke is going to have to do to win this game and I think it is going to come down to that offense is going to have to score points and that's tough to do we we saw this weekend how good that Notre Dame defense is you know between that that defense slugfest that was Ohio State and Notre Dame but I think the offense is going to have to score points it's going to have to make chunk plays it's going to have to continue to execute in the Red Zone that's that is what that offense is going to have to do in order to have success I think it's going to come down to them um and I I think it's going to be a fun game I really do I think it's going to be a tight fun game um and I'm just I'm excited it's one of if not the biggest uh football games in modern Duke history yeah obviously the ACC Championship game against Texas A M A few years back and Johnny Manziel that's up there as well but it's definitely one of the biggest games uh Duke football has played in quite some time if Elko in the Blue Devils pull off the upset Duke then has to go back to Elko and say we need to figure out your contract I know they just gave him a two-year extension but Lewis you're you're I'm being completely serious about this program would poach him I agree yeah no people and things like that if Duke wins this game take care of Mike Elko because coming off a he wins nine games after Duke Kent won 13 consecutive ACC games and you've got game day and it's we'll see if this game can live up to the hype keeping it in the Triangle though Lewis NC State NC State escapes Virginia against Virginia escaping on Friday nights uh I understand the wolf pack have injuries at the safety position I understand Jordan Houston is no longer on the team the team's leading rusher going into this game you're playing in a nationally televised game on ESPN against a winless Virginia team take advantage of that opportunity like it's a recruiting opportunity where someone gets to see you in the National Limelight that otherwise wouldn't be exposed to NC State athletics and it's oh just be happy we won against a winless Virginia team if I were a wolf pack fan I would be very frustrated right now because you're expecting Brennan Armstrong to go up against his former team and to light it up on the scoreboard and that didn't happen on Friday night certainly you're happy your team won but it's just like what what are we trying to Aspire for here on a bigger picture if I was a wolf pack fan I would be upset I would be and I can't repeat what Dave Doran said because he curses so it's like I can't repeat Verbatim what he said after the game Lewis but it's like you have an opportunity on a national stage make the most of that make the best of that and NC State plays again on Friday night against Louisville here in Raleigh that's another opportunity where you're gonna have a nationally televised game everyone knows what ESPN is Lewis they might not know what the CBS Sports Network is which is what you played on during the opening week of the season it's a little bit harder to find making the most of the opportunity that you have in front of you instead of saying oh well we have players who have had injuries or we had a player who had a baby and all these other things you know Louis we have to do this podcast and people don't care what the final result is they want to see the end product and it's just like the reason why I get so passionate about this is Dave Dornan is one of the highest paid public employees in the state and he's got a great opportunity make the most of that and it's just like I'm not seeing that and you're 11 that's the frustration I'm speaking for the wolf pack fans in my impassioned plea here Lewis that's that's where this stems from this is where this comes from yeah I I understand like you know things happen and like you know there are reasons why certain games are harder than others I get that um but it's it's just you don't want to hear the excuses you don't want to hear those type of things um I don't know they're three in one and they're gonna be hosting 4-0 Louisville on Friday a Louisville team that you know has looked very impressive absolutely just crushed uh Boston College this weekend um so you want to talk about opportunities this is a prime opportunity for NC State um you know for everyone to say Hey you know your all the attentions on Duke football with college game day oh unc's 4-0 for the first time since 1997. hey don't forget about us you know it's it's a prime opportunity for NC State I I wish we knew more about the circumstances of Jordan Houston's transfer as well we can report the information that we're given Lewis is people who cover the team and write about it on wralsportsfan.com uh and look they do get the win but it's against a winless Virginia team you escape by a three-point game and it's like okay look at NC State's schedule the rest of the way and you got Louisville this weekend in your backyard an undefeated team Marshall potentially you go into that Duke game on October the 14th with two more wins on your resume you should if you take care of business back-to-back home games you should be playing Clemson on Halloween weekend where I'm looking at it and it's like Clemson may very well be down this year Lewis but like let's be honest here there's a reason why Dave Dorn's beating Clemson once during his tenure like let's be honest let's be real here let's be real here um we'll we'll wrap upbeat news unc's got to buy they go UNC moves to 4-0 with win over Pitt into the bye week uh Drake May throw in a left-handed touchdown uh going into the air the question was you know could Drake May adjust the adjustments and I think this is a special special player if he goes to the right fit and right franchise in the NFL I don't want to look past this to the season too soon because unc's rolling right now but this to me right now like this might be the most exciting time we've seen in Triangle football history since since when I mean it's been a long long time and UNC takes care of Pittsburgh this past weekend yeah I was going to say even even if you just want to talk about like I'd love to I need to honestly go back and see if I can find this info out but like I don't know the last time Duke and UNC would have started the season four no um you know in NC State there is I don't think there's as much excitement about NC State as the other two like we've talked about recently but you know they're still three in one for these three teams to be gosh 11 and 1 after four weeks that feels pretty historic in some ways um would love to find out more about that I mean yeah you would see like I think there are going to be people who kind of box score watch a little bit with this UNC game against Pitt and say oh wow you know look uh it jumped out to an early lead and look at X Y and Z and oh wow that fourth quarter was really weird and all this stuff that game was over after the first score in the third quarter and it was more about just like UNC got Uber conservative and just Man game managed the rest of the way um so I don't know I I think this UNC team is legit I think their defense is the best it's been under Matt Brown I think Dave McCollum uh JJ Jones homes he was someone who was really taking a next step in this game I had over 100 yards receiving uh they've shown that they can score in multiple ways with the Marion Hampton uh British Brooks and that run game in general my my one concern is continues to be pass blocking I think it's it's solid but can be exploited so that's something I'm watching for and some of that is a combination of Drake Maggie Street gets rid of the ball quickly um and you know not just on the offensive line tight ends running backs um so I think it's a bit of a Synergy type thing but they're in good position I mean they have this buy you go into a bye week undefeated that's always great and then you've got Syracuse who could very well be undefeated as well going into into Kenan next week uh it's it's really exciting it it's a I think you hit the nail on the head there when you said you know it's really exciting time in Triangle football when Mack Brown is comparing Nate McCollum to Josh Downs in the same sentence that tells me everything I need to know a guy who had the most targets by the way for the Colts and they're UPS against Baltimore I love that you know that just off the top of your head Lewis is a UNC guy through and through and so look like we'll see if the triangle teams can keep it rolling game day in Durham is going to be fantastic can't wait to see Lee Corso and the boys there uh Louis anything you need to plug here before we wrap up this has been another edition of triangle and two no just just stay tuned to wrl this week we're gonna have plenty of coverage on that uh college game day Duke versus Notre Dame uh situation we're gonna dive into the history a bit of it just in terms of big picture with Duke football um plenty of coverage uh for that NC State Louisville game on Friday so make sure you stay tuned for that um yep it's a good it's a good football season so far I'm excited I can't wait to see uh what comes next as we are almost halfway through the year for Luis Fernandez I'm Mark Bergen thanks for watching WRAL triangle in two we'll see you next week until then take care so long everybody