College Football Week 2: Virginia Tech vs. Marshall Preview

hokey hangover we are live Wednesday night 10 after 10 eastern time uh yeah time to talk about Marshall Ricky uh first of all how are you doing all right today was leg day so I'm walking around like a 72y old man but other than that pretty good day very nice um Andrew is not with us yet he's expected to join us he's running a company fantasy draft and he's the commissioner so he gave us a heads up ahead of time that he may need until 10 o'clock and then he sent us a text saying hey get rolling without me it's still going on so we're we're expecting him to join us uh so hopefully he's able to jump on board um we are live on youtube.com hokey hangover podcast uh all of our uh handles on X are at the top right hand corner of the screen as you can see uh we're on audio everywhere uh shout out to all our sponsors we are going to start tonight with a little bit of uh unfortunate news but uh I wanted to make sure that we that we covered this uh off the top so little non nonf football I I don't really know how to really address this Ricky this is kind of tough cuz um as a parent you never want to have to go through something like this right it's no surp it's no surprise to any of the listeners I am a dad um I have a two-year-old son of my own so when I see the news of a family going through something serious I want to make sure um I can help and support any way that that I can and I I put out a a tweet from my account because I came across a GoFundMe page earlier this week for Virginia Tech uh vice president of player Personnel Mike vagana his daughter Cameron she's six years old um Cameron's sick she has acute lymphoblastic leukemia uh very serious um six years old as a parent you never want to see a kid go through this I think whether you're a parent or not listening to this podcast I think you can you can empathize with what this family is going through um lot of lot of stuff going on on the field for Virginia Tech that that we talked about last weekend very frustrating loss but then you you hear about news like this and you want to do anything you can to help um this GoFundMe was starting was started by a friend of the family and um I tweeted it from our official podcast account I I retweeted um you know I retweeted the link I'll make sure to send it out again um and put the link in the show notes as well um if if you're able to financially help the villaganas you feel compelled to do so um go check out the GoFundMe link it it's basically going toward all the medical expenses of Cameron um if you're the praying type definitely say a prayer for the villag Grana family and for Cameron that she's able to get through this um if you're not the praying type just send you know good thought thoughts and and Vibes to the family obviously um I don't know what else to say Ricky but I I just felt like we needed to address this I wanted to get the message out I I you know if it was my kid going through this I would want all the help I could get even if it wasn't Financial just you know PE people supporting supporting me and as a parent you never want to see a kid go through this no no children should have to go through this no family should have to go through this um yeah I don't really know what else to say then uh we'll send out the gof FindMe link again and if you can support the villig granas uh definitely go ahead and do so absolutely um looking at the page now they've raised over $36,000 which is a tremendous amount and uh everyone who's already put forth you know I'm sure the family's very grateful I think all of us that are associated with Virginia Tech are very grateful as well um it's certainly a worthy cause and my prayers go out to the vaganas um this is a it's a hard story like you mentioned Mike and you know I'm not a father I hope to be one uh someday but that's a it's a really really hard thing to see and um just have to hope that the family can navigate this as best they can yep absolutely so um we'll send out the GoFundMe and um yeah if you can support it definitely do so and uh it's never easy to transition out of something like that so thank God Andrew came in uh and he's here now and I'm going to adjust the there we go adjust the layout here of the YouTube Andrew what's going on not much man uh I mean to all your guys point on the more serious note this is definitely a Cause worth supporting you know we talk a lot one way or the other about this program we praise we criticize but these are real people and you know it's something you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy so when it someone who's in your Camp I I see no better excuse I if you are financially able to throw a couple dollars out there and uh you know help this family through something that's going to be really really tough tough but we'll try the transition from there otherwise guys I'm doing good sorry I'm late the job of a work fantasy football commissioner when the company is based in San Diego California is a uh you know we work after hours big time but I hope you guys are doing well I can see how that would be tough I uh I did let everybody know where you were and that you would be joining us and you gave us a warning um about this well yesterday when we were trying to figure out when we were going to record you said might need till 10:00 and then we were texting back and forth to make sure we were tracking and you mentioned that it was still the draft was still happening still going on and I didn't realize the San Diego California part so that makes it difficult luckily when you have commissioner Powers you're Canon be like I am turning this clock down to 30 seconds there's nothing you can do about it so hurry up make your pck make your pick um okay it's Marshall week let's let's put Vanderbilt behind us right uh we'll use it to inform our understanding of what this team is going into Marshall right um but let's let's put the Marshall game behind us let's talk about the depth chart because Virginia Tech released an updated depth chart I have some thoughts I want to make are you sure that it wasn't me Mike are are you sure I I saw I saw Andrew your friend friend of the podcast Tomas um tried to grill Ricky in our Twitter mentions only to realize that I was the one who was going to have questions about the linebacking Corp so yeah beautiful beautifully to to our friend [Music] Don you gota you just got to read the entire sentence man we can't be assumptive like that though in many situations you would be right Don it is Mike who apparently has something to say so what you you can start it off say what you got to say okay well let me let me quick backdrop right quick backdrop so virgin Tech released a new depth chart and it had some updates to linebacker position so if you guys will remember the uh linebacking Corp at least the starters for the opener Sam Brumfield of course the transfer was at Mike because that's what literally we brought him in and paid him to do we paid him to come play Mike linebacker at Virginia Tech um we had Jaden Keller starting at will uh we had uh we had Keon Jenkins at star that was that was the layout right that was the layout you guys will remember Jaden Keller for a large part of last year was the Mike so we moved him to will in the off season and wanted to keep him on the field spectacular right uh it took legitimately one half a football to then throw Kelly Lawson back into the fold at will move him off of the number two line on the depth chart and move him into the starting lineup and now all of a sudden going into the Marshall game Kelly Lawson is now the starter at will fine Jaden Keller is back at at Mike linebacker as a backup to Sam Brumfield and we still have Keon Jenkins at Star guys I have a question does anybody does anybody on the Virginia Tech coaching staff have any idea what we're doing at linebacker outside of s Brumfield I I think the answer is probably no so that that's my that's my gripe okay that's my gripe we went into the season hoping they would have figured out linebacker we complained about it on the recap to Vanderbilt and I don't feel like we're any closer to the answer now going into the Marshall game and pry and his staff are talking about you know in the in the press conference this week how they feel good about some guys and they feel like the the film in the first game you know gave them some confidence to make some changes in linebacking corp I I just don't want to play musical chairs at linebacker again we did this last year and it was a dis it was an abject disaster I don't want to do that again well mik I'll tell you and as Virginia Tech fans we've probably been more used to the old more common saying if you have two quarterbacks you don't have a quarterback well nowadays it's like if you have eight out outside linebackers you don't have the two you need and I can see how as coaches it's probably tempting to want to put the guy who you feel maybe got narrowly beat out at Mike at will and feel like that's a good fit but ultimately I guess the proof isn't in the pudding it didn't take that much proof it it must have been a really close call at the time of the initial decision so so what does this solidify for us nothing and that's the problem right it's still a huge question mark a and that's where heading into week two uh as we all know at 0 and one against Marshall with two hopefully very Winn winnable games to figure this stuff out that's where we we have a big question mark and I'm sure we'll get to it there's another one behind that position as well this goes back to a broader issue with this program and it's been their inability to develop linebackers in general um this was a Fuente problem this has been a pry problem it's not it's not unique to this coaching staff but Virginia Tech hasn't had in my opinion a highly competent linebacker since rard Ashby in 2019 and he lasted for about one season before he really fell off um this has been a huge issue for this program for years and you know it's really really hard to play good defense when you don't have confidence in your linebackers especially the man in the middle and I'm not really sure how Tech's feeling about Sam brumfield's performance against Vanderbilt it certainly seems like they weren't pleased with the guy next to him which is why he's not playing anymore but they've got to figure this stuff out and Chris Marv Sean Quinn these are the guys right this is your group you've got two guys coaching three spots and we're not getting the development and the consistency out of any of those three positions that I think is is to be expected and it's really hurting the entire unit I um I'm just going to put this bluntly I think this is pretty damning against the defensive coordinator Chris Marv who happens to also coach linebackers yeah and I we're not a hot Take podcast I think it's probably a little too early to call for anybody's head um I I think we collectively you know coming out September last year we all had some questions about not only Chris Marv but also Tyler Bowen and you know the the coordinators right because pry hired two firsttime coordinators to his coaching staff I think it was natural to kind of point fingers and ask those questions I think both both guys got the most out of their units really for the rest of the season I thought Tech improved on both sides of the ball last year right and I don't want to overreact to the opener but the linebacker thing is like an ongoing problem and I think if the defense continues to struggle we could be in a position later in the year where we're asking questions about whether or not there's going to be a change defensive coordinator so that's not something that will happen in season it would have to be like legitimately catastrophic like Virginia Tech I feel like would have to start like one and five or one in six or something like that which I just flat out not going to happen that would be not going to happen if Alex Grinch can keep his job in the middle of the year for like three consecutive seasons for the kind of performances he put on as defensive coordinator right I think it's pretty fair to say that there is going to be no change in the middle of the year but you're right Mike there has to be some emphasis in the meeting room in the team meetings on and whenever the coaches are getting together on figuring this stuff out and we can assess the the the progress on this front you know towards the end of the year and I'm sure we'll probably talk about it throughout the season but when it comes to making a decision I I feel like we're going to have to really see some improved play out of all three of those guys uh for us to to have a a conversation at the end that is a productive one I don't mean to cut cut your heads off we'll have to adjust this but um this is uh not Andrew Alex but Andrew a commenter um and Marv is the linebacking coach heard rumors he wasn't a good linebacker recruiter or coach at Florida State starting to seem like that's true linebackers under pry were much better when he was Hands-On with the defense I think that it's possible and and Andrew I'll see the floor to you here in a second I I think it's certainly possible that you know the defense could improve if pry is more Hands-On but all that is really conjecture guys right but also do is that something you want from a head coach that has his own problems and his own faults that he needs to work on right and I I think Pride came out of year one saying that he wanted to be more hands off because he wasn't doing as well with the game management stuff when he was more Hands-On right he said that was an issue that he had his first year so I don't if pry has to be more Hands-On I think it's not a good thing on a number of levels for Virginia Tech you got to let your coordinators coordinate and if they're not the guys you got to figure something else out yeah Mike I mean like Pride being handson if we get to that point this season that spells catastrophe right that means things are going so horribly wrong that he needs to openly essentially take an indictment against himself as a program CEO a hiring manager what you're supposed to do when hiring these coordinators is hire someone that you trust to the point where that responsibility no longer lies on your shoulders right and to be fair I do think it's premature for us to be talking anything about jobs agree what I don't think is premature is the facing of reality and that reality is that since the departure of Bud Foster because let's be honest it was never a problem under him you see weak points in the defense problems that can't seem to be solved and of course we can't rule out the possibility that any of these guys rise to the occasion but we had 10 months of expecting them to rise at the occasion and in week one we're still throwing up our hands in the air and ask him what's happening and making changes and what have you so when like you guys pointed out and like Andrew our commenter pointed out you have a Litany of homegrown linebackers none of which who are like true freshman being forced into this thing and you come out of Camp so unsure that you make a change yeah that's a bit of an indictment I mean imagine if you did that and you're not going to do that at quarterback but imagine if you did that at quarterback right you made your decision and then one game was bad enough that you immediately had to flip it apparently one half yeah I mean that that seems like more an indictment on your judgment whether that's right or not we're talking about Optics so that's what I see again too early to be talking about people's jobs but you have to make the judgments that are in front of you right yeah and that's all I mean by it being indictment of Chris Marv right I I don't I'm not calling for to be clear I'm not calling for Chris Marv to be fired I just want to put that and and you clear initially yeah I I just right no no but people will take that sound bite and run with it I'm I'm not I could see the tweets now I am not I am not I am not I am not calling for anybody's head way too ear early Tech played too well in the second half on Saturday I Tech turned it around defensively short of two possessions in the second half I'm not calling for anybody's head with that said linebacker's been a problem it continues to be a problem Marv is the linebacker's coach and to back to the Hands-On point this goes for Chris Marv and Tyler Bowen were paying these guys way too much money to not coach like you're not going to pay them you're not going to pay them their salaries for then Brent pry to be more Hands-On and to wear multiple hats you only do that if it's a catastrophe I mean think about Clark Lee at Vanderbilt we just talked about this um on the recap it took him three full really bad Seasons to then be like you know what I'm calling the defense Pride does not want to do that pry wants to bring Marv along and he has brought Marv along right pry was the primary play caller defensively for much of the first year turned it over to Marv late in the season Marv was the primary play caller all of last year right and you know there were reports that that pry was more involved with the defense you know when the team was struggling in September last year but that doesn't mean that he was Hands-On the rest of the season because I don't think he was I think he got into that room I think he you know talked it talked about and implemented some things that and maybe it was just messaging right that wasn't coming through from Marv and then he stepped back into his head coaching position I don't think this was a situation where pry was like calling the defense last year for the second half of the year when Texas defense was playing better just I don't I don't think that's the case yeah there's there's nothing to indicate that there there was nothing out there to indicate that was the caseem obvious if that was the case able to tell right and outside of a few reports saying pry was taking more of an active role in the defense there wasn't anything to indicate the pry was calling the plays and it didn't look like he was doing that on the sideline he didn't say he was doing that so anyway back to the original point they got to figure out linebacker right and I think for Virginia Tech to both bounce back not only this week but moving forward throughout the rest of the schedule and be the team that we all thought it could be on paper I think the line backing core has to be a lot better than it was on Saturday and the first part of that is figuring out what the Personnel situation is so that's where we're at there um Jaylen strowman is going to be out I it brings me no pleasure surprise he he's going to be out yeah we we knew that this time would come unfortunately we mentioned it on the preseason pod right whether it was an injury or targeting or whatever you know we we knew stre strowman has a track record unfortunately of of missing time he's going to be out for at least a few games Brent price said a few weeks I think he said in the press conference so Jaylen Jones is going to step in and and start alongside MOS Phillips right and that was a combination we saw a lot last year we saw that combination a lot so they have played together in the back end of the secondary thought Jaylen Jones was okay when he was in and played on Saturday here we are I mean any thoughts on that not great uh especially since there's now questions about Monsur Delaine and whether or not he can hold down his part of the field um I'm not you know a lot of people are already asking you know why wouldn't you move Delan to safety and I guess my point to that would be you know you you've been recruiting and developing at the safety position for quite a while now and you've been talking about your confidence in Moe and now he's grown and the you know increased experience of Jaylen Jones at safety having switched from receiver a lot of praise for Quinton reddish uh in uh this summer so I I think you got to give those guys a chance and let monor figure his stuff out at corner before you start trying to move folks around so it's not great but Mike like you said this unit's got some legitimate playing experience from last year given jaylen's Jaylen strowman's pre previous issues with availability yeah I mean the best kind of ability is availability and uh unfortunately that's been an issue uh for the younger stman but it's not a movie we haven't seen before that's the good news right it's not something that comes out of left field Jaylen Jones played made comparatively speaking to last year one of the better games of his career against Vanderbilt and you hope that is a trend that he improved and strowman just still beat him out right you know as for the younger guys as to serus Quinton reddish time I am very high on Quinton reddish I hope it doesn't come to that extreme of a point now I'm kind of resting on the fact that that it might be something that we're going to have to experience this season it's tough to see one of the few positions we named heading into the season along with linebacker and the offensive line as a weak point and I think certainly among those three positions the one that you felt like there was the least depth go down that quickly but I mean that's football man that's why Clemson is not the team you want to play in November because they're deep they don't take transfers but they got a heck of a lot of recruits yeah a lot of good players people who were were seriously big time at one point but to play the hand that you're dealt and uh I think with a spread offense like we're going to see with Marshall uh will be a uh some good film to get on Jaylen Jones who again like you know former wide receiver I feel like I've always held him to a little bit of a lower standard because of that but now it's showtime right you know you're a couple years into it you're thrust into a starting role let's let's see what the kid can do and you know come at least post Ruckers ahead of cim Ward will be able to have a sober conversation about you know what the man in that position really means to our overall chances going into ACC play yeah I think that's fair I think Saturday will provide a an idea of what that's going to look like um we'll see how they play I mean I we knew this St might come uh Brent pry said that mon sord Delan would be practicing a little bit at safety I think that's kind of like an emergency valve right it's like you know sounds like if they have another another guy go down you're gonna have the lay playing safety so yeah that's a break glass in case of emergency situation I don't think they want to put the guy [Music] who regardless of how he played this past Saturday is like a projected Corner NFL draft pick at safety unless you absolutely have to right because in in this current day and age of college football where players are free agents at the end of every year and you have a guy with NFL draft stock allegedly and more than allegedly like you know there's people at Camp watching him he had a bad game we'll see how the rest of the season goes but to be switching guys around like that is probably bad news for your overall reputation surrounding these players so I don't think they'll do that unless it's a last case scenario agree uh yeah agree no Nick Gallow also I mean on the offensive side everything's pretty much status quo but um no Nick Gallow so he's gonna be out again that's okay Beni goell played really well on Saturday I don't think we probably talked about that much as we should have on the uh on the recap but the gnell brothers both of them were very good Benji goell in particular we were all really excited about him in the preseason and he showed out in the opener so a good sign there um we're Virginia Tech's playing Marshall on Saturday uh this is a game that obviously Virginia Tech needs to win Marshall is at least on paper entering the year one of the top contenders in the Sun Belt with that said they they are a team that Virginia Tech if they're playing at Peak efficiency should beat Virginia Tech is a three touchdown favorite on Saturday which I think tells you everything you need to know there um uh Marshall doesn't know who their starting quarterback is they they rotated three in the opener the two primary quarterbacks are brillan Braxton and stone Earl um two of them played pretty extensively also on the roster is Cole Pennington yes he is Chad Pennington's son yes that that Chad Pennington that played at Marshall and for the Jets yeah uh he's probably the one that's like least likely to win the starting quarterback job uh it's between braxon and early uh Mitch griffi who transferred from Wake Forest was injured in Camp so he he not playing not factoring into the quarterback situation so it's between Braxton and early um early had eight carries for 55 yards on Saturday against Stony Brook in their 45-3 win um so he I mean he's a guy who who's a little bit more mobile so keep an eye on that uh Marshall has two good running backs Jordan Houston AJ Turner uh AJ Turner had eight for 119 and a touchdown against Stony Brook so no uh we're not dealing with with rashen Ali this year again but uh Marshall's got a couple at least competent running backs um they they return a a bunch of production uh on the o line in regards to uh starter but there are a couple of of transfers in the mix there as well so this isn't a unit that has a lot of continuity I think there's like two or three returning starters from last year's team but then guys who have started other places defense only returning five starters didn't really get as great of a look as we wanted to obviously with the defense against Stony Brook uh but I figured I should give the lay of the land on Marshall because uh outside Diego Pavia we didn't really give Vanderbilt their Fair shake and that's something I regret on the preview wanted to make sure I gave Marshall their Fair Shake but this is a team that Virginia Tech should should should demolish on Saturday they should win this game by multiple scores that that they're Virginia Tech's much better in the trenches they're much better at the skill positions they're they're much better defensively on paper this is a game where Virginia Tech should roll it's why they're a three touchdown favorite but I wanted to make sure I gave Marshall their their Fair Shake Virginia Tech needs to take this game seriously because they were totally unserious in the Vanderbilt game for the first two and a half quarters just totally unserious they need to take this game seriously on Saturday at Lane Stadium yeah and I I think the part about this game that worries me is just that Marshall is such an unknown in a lot of ways we don't really know what to expect from them offensively given that their first game was against a team that like lost 10 games last year at the FCS level um you don't know who the quarterback is they've got a they had a rotation at running back going so you're not really sure what you're going to see there defensively lots of new faces not a lot of continuity from last year's defense um and you've got a coach in Charles Huff that is is facing some legitimate expectations this year and you know just based on the stuff that I've I've read and seen it looks like the fans are maybe not Restless maybe a bit of a stretch but I think that there's definitely some heighten pressure on Huff to get it done so you've got a a coach that's you know not necessarily back against the wall but you know maybe trending in that direction and you've got a bunch of unknowns on this team um but Mike you bring up a good point there's a reason why Vegas started this as a two touchdown game and it is quickly moved to to a three touchdown favorite for the hookies and that's just that Marshall's roster on paper doesn't look particularly good and I think a lot of folks are probably correctly thinking the hokes will Rebound in a big way after getting woken up by God F I just can't still can't believe that happened last week yeah um yeah so I I don't have a ton on Marshall I I try to look into these guys um the Stony Brook game as far as I'm concerned is a bit of a wash just because there's not going to be a yeah well and not just that they're an FCS school that from what I can tell they're one of the worst FCS programs in the country so you're not going to be able to get a lot out of that game not knowing who the starting quarterback is not knowing how to prepare that way not really having a great idea as to what you may or may not see from a schematic scam schem atic standpoint given all of the new guys on defense I I think there's a a possibility here that Virginia Tech starts off slow once again given that they've had that problem in the past now for well over a season and Virginia Tech I I I think there's going to be some questions that they have coming into this game that they can't answer based on the film that they've watched yeah so a couple things and I'll Echo a lot of what you said there Rick uh number one in terms of offense for Marshall they do have some talented receivers uh I think that's been a bit of a theme for them maybe over the course of the last few years new offensive coordinator and a new offensive scheme that comes with it they're running more of a spread uh Seth doy dogy I don't even know how to pronounce it you might remember his brother Garrett from a couple years ago starting quarterback of West Virginia this is a guy who played at Texas Tech under kingsbery uh you know spread offense guy good in theory when you don't know who qb1 is when it's not even really narrowed down to three by week one and when you're playing a Virginia Tech Team real weak one right Stony Brook went 0 and 10 last year in the FC yeah and they're flipping the program so it's week one it doesn't spell well for them against Dorian strong and monor Delane who I still believe should be very good maybe a good tuneup game for the safeties advantage in Virginia Tech's favor defensively like you said a lot of transfers if they were yeah like SEC power Five Guys you look at the names Kentucky Ohio State Colorado what have you they were that good they'd probably still be playing in the power five does that mean that Marshall is a team that we can look over no evidently we can't look over anyone these days right Virginia Tech just lost is a 14-point favorite to a team on a 10 game losing streak now we're getting clowned on the internet for it this podcast of all places for complaining juice yeah yeah this pod got Juiced baby but at the end of the day right you have to assume for your own mental health sake that we have a leg up in the receiver Corner matchup and vice versa that we have a leg up in the trenches God willing oh Jesus and that this is a game that be able to win on Talent alone factor in the chip on their shoulder that these guys should have and what should be an electric sold out home Lan Stadium crowd that I I will in fact despite my better Angels be a part of you know I don't know if it's a 21 point spread and we'll get to our predictions but you know Tech should still roll and if there's a marshall podcast out here waiting for this moment if you can use this God bless me Choice those numbers um that would be something anyway any I mean anything else I mean this is you got to start you got to start fast here I I think there's potential this game is much more about us than it is Marshall yeah I I I I I think Marshall in a lot of ways is still trying to figure out who they are and and even in terms of their ceiling I think we all can appreciate the fact that Virginia Tech when operating at the level that we think that they can are a top six team in the ACC which has got approximately 82 teams this year so this team certainly has a has potential and we saw what can look like in the third quarter when Virginia Tech started to turn it around and then took the fourth took the lead late in the fourth or early in the fourth and it's all about trying to piece that together so I think for me I'm looking at how Virginia Tech starts this game do they do they take the put the onus on Marshall defensively to try and stop them downfield we saw what Virginia Tech tried to do in the early going against Vanderbilt quick throws to the perimeter it did not really generate much movement at all defensively and Vander and Vanderbilt just kind of bottled it up um is Virginia Tech able to get the ball downfield are they able to establish a running game in the early going I think it's really important for Tech's first drive to at least get a few first downs even if you're not going to be able to score you've got to move the ball a little bit to give yourself some confidence moving into the rest of the game the last thing we need to see is another quarter where Marshall wins the time of possession like 10 to or something like that Virginia Tech runs 10 plays and never gets anything going offensively that's the last thing we need to see in this game when you have a team that's a three touchdown Underdog you cannot give them the belief that they can win the game that's exactly what happened last week Virginia Tech gave Vanderbilt quite the belief giving them a 14-point lead at halftime in this situation especially at home you've got to put your boot on their throat so it it's got to be a hot start yeah I agree uh I mean we'll see if Virginia Tech's able to do that I mean I think the the one thing that Brent pry noted is that he wanted the downfield passing game to be more present early on which I think is something the entire fan base was shouting for on social media which either means Brent pry is really online or everybody was just seeing the same thing right so yeah just something to note um also saw some comments out there both on social media and I got a few texts about this about Brent pry kind of giving it to Bowen in the media like indirectly it certainly seemed like he was very open about his thoughts on what was a lack ofical offense for at least the first half and in a lot of ways in the Midway late in the fourth quarter and I have some working theories about that I probably should have brought this up earlier when we were talking about the defensive play calling and pry having his hand in it and all that stuff uh I my working theory is that maybe pry himself obviously as a defensive guy has more of an awareness of the issues and the blind spots of the defense and maybe feels like he has to be a little bit more vocal about what needs to happen on offense but I came away with the same thought as everybody else I'm like you know what uh the offense scored enough to win the game on Saturday right even after that really slow start scored plenty of points so I think you got look in the mirror defensively I mean are we sure about that they scored 27 right yeah I would beg to differ the offense threw a I feel like in this day and age if you don't score 30 at least that's not enough against that Vanderbilt team 27 should have been enough against that Vanderbilt team should have been enough I mean yeah it was a very productive second half but well that's the case be giving it to Marvin the media right that's that's what I'm saying yeah that's what I'm saying the media doesn't even know who Mar the fans don't even know who Marv is a lot of them can't pick him out a l can't pick him out a line the not the people that are listening to this podcast because you guys I me you guys how come bu defense stunk last week sorry but no I mean Mike your one of your favorite terms is complimentary football the offense was not playing complimentary football in a way that would help the defense going three and out and giving Vanderbilt the ball not field no was was certainly was certain no was certainly not it was an all systems as I as I mentioned on the on the recap it was an all systems failure yeah on Saturday for sure um but anyway I I mean I look this is about I mean I think Ricky said best this is about tech on Saturday right even more so than the Vanderbilt game where I thought it was about tech too this is a way less way way way less talented team way less talented like way worse there's a difference between being a bottom feeder in the SEC and being like the second best team in the Sun Belt I I think that kind of goes without saying so there's a gap well based on the preseason prediction by the way the uh the fifth best team in their division in the sunb based on their preseason media poll the and and this kind of speaks to the this kind of speaks to the predictions being a bit all over the map because you have the media voting one way like the local media or the the G5 media voting one way and then you have the national media putting Marshall anywhere between like the second and like fourth best team in the Sun Belt so there we are who knows uh ACC picks byuu I I have no idea how he did last week by the way Scott get on SC I don't know is Frenchy guy yeah spreadsheet guy he's he's my other podcast producer not this one but it's his responsibility for the picks as we dawned on him in a tech didn't he volunteer for that he may have no I volunteered him he was volun he was volun told so I don't know I have no idea how he did Friday I I know we got the Virginia Tech game wrong Friday yes 7 PM yes we did es ESPN 2 one of two SEC SEC games one of two ACC games on Friday night BYU SMU I've always I've always referred to SMU as an ACC School SMU is an 11 and a half Point shout out Jimmy Cleveland SMU still not used to it 11 and a half Point favorite against BYU give me the BYU Cougars to cover here on the road give me give me BYU to cover uh I'm going to go with the ponies at home I it's a lot of points I'm I'm not going to lie I don't know a ton about BYU this year but I'll take SMU with those points that Nevada game still kind of Spooks me and you know blowing the brakes off Houston Christian doesn't get me there just yet so I I I'll give BYU 11 and a half points okay if not we'll have to go to the big 12 I that's it that's all it takes that's that's how we realign conferences uh two that's all it takes it's better than the better than the networks all it takes is covering the spread against BYU and a boatload of money that's Duke Northwestern I was on a Northwestern podcast this week uh to help preview the Duke side of the matchup tell me how you described this Duke offense uh I think my exact words were it's something is what I said it's something I one of the keys to the game I gave out was for Duke to find literally anybody outside of Jordan Moore to throw it to because one game of Eli panle having like 65 yards receiving after having like his career year be two years ago when he had like 375 yards receiving I we need to see more out of that for me to believe he's like a number two option for Duke in the receiving game but yeah they need somebody anyway uh that's enough talk about Duke Northwestern uh give me Northwestern at home yeah Duke's offense is uh let's just say differently abled we'll put it that way um I'll take Northwestern that's not that many points for them to cover so differently abled we don't want to get canceled Andrew you think man idez isn't going to take the opportunity on National Television 900 p.m. eastern time Fox Sports 1 send the nation a message that it wasn't just Mike gilo in Durham North Carolina that could make some magic give me the Devils s yeah National message winning a game at the High School stadium onto the lake they're making that everything over there kind of nice just saying they got a lot of money they're in the Big 10 it's a beautiful big 10 local on the lake that temporary Stadium ripe for the under 37 and a half playing in the High School stadium imagine playing in that place in the last week in November can't wait to watch that can't wait to watch that random Big 10 game Road Trip oh don't count us out for anything number 2 three Georgia Tech you heard that right they're ranked now uh they are traveling to Syracuse for a nuner uh they are a two and a half Point Road favorite guys look Syracuse could not stop Ohio from running the football down their throat so what makes me think that they'll have Georgia text number in the running game not much but but do it do it buddy Syracuse y home home dog home dog at the week sleepy noon start this is the type of game where we get Haynes King throwing like two or three really boneheaded interceptions uh I thought that might be last week against Georgia State so Georgia State could cover a three touchdown spread didn't quite happen that way the line is trying to tell us something this should be Georgia Tech by like four or five and the fact that it's not tells you everything you need to know about this game I got Syracuse out right here I think Syracuse wins not georia Tech back out of the top 25 yeah I think Georgia Tech's going to fall back down to earth a little bit I think we're also learning that that win over Florida state is meeting less and less every week so uh give me the orange no I thought I was really gonna be going against the grain here nope they put Kyle McCord in a dome they put Kyle McCord in a dome the national media underestimated that yep and laquint Allen native of milville New Jersey good player last year getting better now but because you guys pick Syracuse I'll pick Georgia Tech oh no jeez such a contrarian I need to get some points back I feel like I went got we don't even know week to you may not need to get any points back may God oh speaking of games pit is playing Cincinnati at noon on ESPN 2 uh Scott saterfield is really doing his best to get himself fired Pittsburgh looked pretty good I I will say I the the defense looked a little interesting for a couple quarters but the offense scoring like 50 points that doesn't happen often yes it was Kent State but I mean they wouldn't lay it on Kent State like that if they played him last year with that offense that they were rolling out on the field I think they did play Kent State last year so I got to look at at that past result but um anyway Pit's offense looks fun uh I'm actually going to take pit here on the road uh to get this done Cincinnati's one and a half Point favorite short favor at home I like pit to go out there and uh win this game outright I think they win I like pit my disdain for Pat and ardui forces me to pick Cincinnati here okay fair Andrew same okay Louisville Jacksonville State does Jacksonville State cover a 30-point spread no I don't think so either okay moving on Cal Auburn one of the more interesting ACC games of the weekend that's what I always say about the Cal Golden Bears 3:30 Eastern ESPN two Auburn is a 13-point favorite uh Auburn looked pretty good on Saturday of course of course I mean all of us look good if we were playing Alabama A&M except maybe Virginia Tech don't put it past them uh give me give me Cal here plus a 13 I think they go uh they go on the road and cover the spread think Auburn Wins tightish Game Cal's kind of looking improved so keep an eye on that Jaden not got hurt last week he's gonna play so is uh is Auburn in the Eastern Time Zone as somebody who uh traveled to the Florida Panhandle to go to the beach and is going to do so again in November uh I can tell you that Auburn is not in the Eastern Time Zone opala Alabama is barely in the central time zone so love an ACC game with two teams not in the Eastern Time Zone um Auburn at home with points yeah just Mike likes the snow white beaches of Destin Florida I too like picking the Auburn Tigers in this game with the points that's uh one of those sat analogies I still have failed to understand due Boston College 330 ACC extra ESPN you got a line on this yeah absolutely not I have to go searching but you can get into into the game for $5 if you want to so um whatever the whatever the spread is give me BC yeah I I I know that noted Thomas ciano's hater Mike McDaniel might disagree but um the Eagles Bill O'Brien don't don't sleep on them yeah we're like one or two podcasts away from should Tech have taken Bill O'Brien and who would you rather have Kos or drones so until that conversation comes up let's just move on maybe we should see if Bill O'Brien has any eligibility left so he can play right tackle God from the bellich tree man yeah would it be cheaper to pay Parker Clemens or Bill O'Brien to play right tackle Charlotte on the road to North Carolina 330 ACC network uh UNCC is a 22 and a half Point favorite guys I don't know if you caught in fact I I can probably guess you caught none of the James Madison and Charlotte game last weekend James Madison's rebuilding under Bob chzn and let me tell you I saw some of it let me tell you guys James Madison is supposed to be like maybe threatening to make a bowl game like relatively mid in comparison to last season guys Charlotte had some injuries in the preseason like four or five starters on the depth chart not playing last week they're hop to get a few back against North Carolina but buddy Charlotte is a mass Biff pogy uh needs to needs to figure that out uh well m i I don't know if you saw Biff pogy's press conference he was like I may have gotten these guys a little too excited about week one James Madison and they may have all injured each other so I'll wear that learning experience we move on and then after the game you know reporter was like how are you say saying that this is an improvement from last year and pogy was like if you don't think that that was an improvement over the team we had last year like you're kidding yourself you don't know football they lost 30 to seven yeah but eitherway I'll take Charlotte oh God got the homet that's a disgusting Pi that's sick yeah as as bad as Carolina may be this year they're going to have to much talent uh that's not enough points to give me pause on this one I'll take Carolina new quarterback ma Max Johnson's after the year right I know but Marton is going to run Ru Shad over this team we'll find out yeah he's the truth I I have Carolina too I don't know if I made that clear but Charlotte's Mass uh Florida A&M traveling to Miami good luck speaking of games that we don't have a line on give me the canes which I tell you what boys I may have to buy in wow I know I know that was quick I I'm not there yet but damn it they looked good unfortunately I have been there and for everyone's mental health don't turn on this scrimmage like yeah no need to watch this game speaking of scrimmages Cal paully is traveling to Stanford guys Stanford actually looked pretty match up that's what I that's what I always say um it's it's so ACC they're playing it at 7 pm eastern time for some reason this this game was made for 11: P.M to fire on when you've had a losing day of gambling this game was made for that like let me like show me the Stanford Cal Poly spread with Stanford like been like the first ACC after dark type game yeah absolutely yeah absolutely I mean Stanford roles here yeah regardless give me the Cardinal yeah they're gonna get on the board Here Andrew you have any thoughts there anything want say yeah they did yeah Andre I need a I need a dissertation on calply Tech what do you got uh the kids at calp would be the ones to give the dissertation not me good resp Cal ply it's basically just a Stanford feeder School UVA Wake Forest 700 p.m. ESPN 2 uh this is an interesting one uh both teams looked very good against overmatched opponents in the opener speaking of games I have no idea who to pick um I I I think I'm actually going with UVA here I like I like candria what he brings to the offense um Grayson comment from Grayson on the calply and Stanford thing he goes everyone everyone in California went there there being calply I would assume virgin I like I like Virginia here the game uh Anthony candria I think provides you a little bit more uh a little bit more pop in the passing game uh wake has been speaking of quarterback situations are kind of trying to figure out as well um between Hank bachmeier who's on like his seventh year of college football and Michael karna BM got more of the share in the opener expect him to start this game but um yeah give me give me UVA on the road uh if we had the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sound bite I would ask you to play it whenever you have a matchup like this where you're really kind of stuck pick the better Coach give me give me the Demon Deacons I like that reasoning Andrew yeah right I mean that's that's a good point making me question uh my own pick which will be UVA look at wake and it seems like a program that's almost been left in the dust in the new age of college football a sign coach and develop until you're a red chirt Junior kind of program yeah that it's fortunately not really how things work anymore especially if you don't have a a ton of money in your back pocket when you look at wake and maybe I'll be wrong but there rise to above mediocrity is pretty in sync with a five-year period of having four years of Sam Hartman with the year of Jamie Newman who played quite well uh sandwiched in between so I like candria as the better quarterback and for that reason I'll take UVA fair enough two votes for UVA one for the better coaching Dave Clawson and I cannot argue with the reasoning Ricky can't argue with it 7:30 ABC one of the games of the weekend in college football number 14 Tennessee uh squaring off against number 24 NC State in the Dukes Mayo classic in Charlotte neutral sight game Tennessee an eight-point favorite Lam one of my favorite bets of the entire weekend Lam with Tennessee Nico aama leeva I think I got his last name right he can freaking Sling It NC State was given up almost six and a half yards per rush in the opener against Western Carolina don't love that don't love that and Tennessee's got a confident running game as well uh I I get Tennessee play chat NOOA and there's only so much that uh that you can glean from that but uh Samson the Tennessee running back he had 12 carries for 124 and three touchdowns in the opener so if you're giving up six and a half yards per carry against Western Carolina good luck with that so yeah give me give me the vs here this is going to be the toughest offense NC Stacy's all year concepion is not enough for NC keep up here no um as much as I can't stand Tennessee um the BS are going to are going to be able to cover the spread I I think they have a chance to cover this spread by a lot this one may get out of hand yeah you know we talk about Virginia Tech and their strength being continuity I think that the hype surrounding NC State with Western Carolina game is an indicator might be that you can't just kind of slap together a bunch of random talent in this day and age whether it be like you know a high four star from Ohio State and you know a quarterback who's done it at the sun Bel level duk's running back and you know the number two guy at wake put him together for a few weeks in the spring in a few weeks in the fall and expect them to be a well Ed machine I think that's what we saw gas Wester in Carolina so give me Tennessee and I think NC State who remains ranked despite their week one woses will be an interesting team to watch because they do have the talent but it's like can you get there given the extremely thin margin for error that you're going to face if the goal is an ACC Championship that's what we bring you here for Andrew that's good analysis uh speaking of analysis this is how we pronounce Nico's name imala according to Andrew uh not Andrew Alex Andrew comment rare Andrew so thank you purposely pronounce that wrong his guess is as good as mine on the pronunciation so it's definitely better than whatever I said a couple minutes ago App State Clemson Clemson still ranked so God bless him uh 800m ACCC Network Clemson 16 and a half Point favorite guys I don't know man I I don't know I Clemson is going to uh Clemson's going to be a team to be reckoned with in the trenches here but 16 and a half seems like a lot of points when Kade kumnick is your starting quarterback man I don't know I don't know and app States offense Joey agular threw for 326 and two touchdowns in the opener um he's a pretty solid quarterback at the G5 level I just I think App State might have enough to keep this interesting I think they just might have enough and I just have not seen enough out of K kumnick to think they can cover anything like the two scores so uh give me give me Clemson but like by a touchdown yeah after they got big bro last week by Georgia I think this is a really important game for the Tigers when it comes to their locker room and keeping guys focused for the remainder of the year or whether or not they're just going to check out uh Clemson wins app State's going to keep it close enough to cover so give me app statee yeah I'll take Clemson again going against the grain here but it's a very watchable game the kind of game that gets thrown in that 8m slot on the ACC Network so we should all be lucky that the channel exists uh yeah yeah I mean that's what it's here for uh Virginia Tech Marshall For the Love of everything 4:30 eastern time on Saturday inside Lane Stadium on the we'll be broadcast on the CW and I I have a listener of my ACC podcast who uh and Joey calls them our favorite Japanese baseball team the CW underdogs because there is a stat uh and I don't know what the updated statistic is so I don't want to mention it on this podcast but as far as the spread goes uh the CW underdogs anytime there's an underdog that's playing on the CW against an ACC School let's just say they're profitable against the spread and I don't know what the updated number is but that's like a weird Trend that somebody on our ACC pod's been tracking so I don't know what the update is after last week but uh yeah something to consider if you're gambling on this game you need something obscure to point to just it's the game's on the CW and there's a three-core underdog that could cover I think for Virginia Tech gets it done I think Virginia Tech gets it done in like blowout fashion I think Virginia Tech covers I this is going to be a better performance I think they come out fast here uh I think the offense kind of goes for the jugular on the opening drive I think they're going to try to push the ball down the field here because I don't think Marshall can contend in their secondary defensively I think Virginia Tech will put up a better performance yeah I like the Hoke's big here give me something like 427 or something like that I think Tech wins here very comfortably I think I am in the you gotta prove it to me category after last week um Marshall's going to cover the spread I don't think they're going to win I don't think that they're going to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter but I do think 20 and a half is too many I sent a a formerly known as a tweet um when the initial came out on this game at 13 and a half and I thought that Tech would cover but not in a fashion that would make anybody happy and I'm I'm still kind of feeling in that way whereas if if the spread was still there Tech would cover that but not enough to the point where people are going to be pleased uh I don't think Tech covers in this one um I'm I guess it would be something like 3417 or something along those lines um where Tech will win win comfortably but uh will not be able to cover the spread yeah I'm with Ricky margin Remains the Same I would have been on it at 13 and a half or whatever but currently I got 38 to 21 you know Marshall hangs in there maybe scores a little bit late I think Tech if they get out to it early like they should especially given the lack of a sense of urgency that bit them in the ass last time around you know you'd hope they come out not trying to ease into the game this time around against lesser competition but you never know either way at home probably a bigger overall Talent Gap I like their chances just 21 points is a lot Fair bounce pack though it's all it matters bounce back bounce back they go out there win this game by more than three scores I think it's going to give people a lot less reason to be scared out of their minds going into next week it'll be a shot in the arm yeah which is kind of what this fan base needs right now and I'm not in the locker room but I don't think it could hurt the team to have a little bit of confidence after a big disappointment yeah I agree I agree uh just reading a comment that you sent me in the private chat Andrew uh we're gonna wrap here uh we all like Virginia techs we all like Virginia Tech big on Saturday uh bounce back get the win inside Lane Stadium uh we'll be back to recap it on Sunday night guys anything anything else if we're wrong again you're not gonna want to miss Sunday night oh God yeah um Andrew and I will both be in blackburg for this one uh I'll be in the Press Box Andrew will be in the stands uh Mike will be at home being a dad uh shout out to counts Family Pharmacy Vivid Seats in HomeField apparel for supporting the podcast for those who are watching on YouTube make sure you subscribe and as Andrew suggested last week hit the notification Bell so you don't miss an episode and if you're following on X you can put tweet notifications on there and that way when we go live you don't miss any episodes of The Hangover so appreciate everyone the video stuff's been going really well here early on in the year we're having a lot of fun with it and we'll see you guys on Sunday night go hookies