ANF+ SPORTS TONIGHT: Kennesaw State preps for first FBS home game

that's about what I'm doing just 15 before open now from Atlanta news first plus this is sports tonight [Music] welcome into your Friday edition I'm Bailey burmaster joined alongside Ellie Parker Friday edition got a good lineup for you we're going to talk about Falcon Steelers as we get into Sunday week one football is finally back after that great game between ravens and Chiefs last night came down to the wire um KSU preps for their first FBS home game um fared pretty well in their first game ever against UTSA which is not a bad football program um so eager to see how that one pans out on Saturday um we have to talk about the dream because not only are they trying to make a playoff push but we got more injury news which is a great then we have the little fun thing we've been adding uh my question for Ellie for the week so we can get her all riled up uh to comment on things oh God no this week actually isn't one of them so don't worry this week's a good one um but Ella let's start with Falcon Steelers um seems that Russell Wilson is questionable for Sunday I will ask your opinion do you think we see Russell Wilson I think we see him a little bit I don't think we see him the entire game okay I'm feeling maybe one or two drives just to feel him out I know he they're saying he's questionable I think they're going to just throw him out there anyway just to again get him some RS just see how he's feel and then they'll fall back on Justin fields for uh most of the game this is my theory I think if Russell Wilson does not play and Justin Fields pops off you will never see Russell Wilson again that's interesting unless Justin Fields gets hurt now okay as a Bears fan I have seen Justin Fields over the last several years mhm I think I can count the number of times he's popped off on one hand okay and in the equal note you can probably not count any games Russell Wilson has popped off in the last year and a half true so that's where I'm at it's a lesser of two evils I think fresh Beginnings do a lot better for players like Justin Fields over Russell Wilson um I don't want to say wased I think that's a really negative quotation but I'm I'm going to say it Wilson is washed Russ is not who he used to be it's getting time to hang it up um so I could see it where Justin Fields ends up taking over at some point this season um but yeah we'll see how it all fares uh Kyle pittz Good To Go full participant again today at practice um so injury report for the Falcons is fairly good but let's tune into what the players had to say as we gear up for week one for the Falcons at the Benz against the Steelers just play it by year yeah um I I trust the staff and um and the team and um you know what they have for us and so um yeah you know I'm going with what they're saying and um I feel great and I'm ready to go my number is called and and ready to execute at a high level how much of the communication that goes on between safeties is universal so that it travels with you to any team and how much of it is specific to you and Jesse and Richie and Etc have to learn each other yeah um yeah there's a there's a big learning component um you know and anytime you're in a you're in a defensive uh you know set formation there's there's a lot of communication that go goes on right and it's not just what's being taught but it's how we all see it um how we see it is going to be different than how it's taught on paper right and so um there's a lot of those uh communication points that um obviously I have to catch up on um not being here in OTAs and training camp and things like that but um you know secondary has been absolutely amazing um there's a lot of things that transfer over from defenses I played in Prior um Jesse's been awesome Rich um you know D all the guys AJ Mike so um it's been a seamless transition and uh looking forward to that showing on Sunday in your experience is there a timetable for how this goes like by week four we'll be clicking everything will be rolling as it should or by week two or do you expect that Sunday when you roll out there no I expect that Sunday when I'm out there yeah I uh now I know how important each game is right and um you know this is our first game at home there's a lot of excitement right now and um you know a bunch of guys have said in interviews prior that you know we have to we have to earn the privilege of having people be excited about um you know the Falcons playing really good football and so um that's going to start not in week four but week one right the preparation's already been laid the foundation's been laid and um you know it's my job as as a as a veteran coming in late to catch up to what's been established here and I'm going to get that done did your carryover with Russ give either one of you any sort of Advantage this week um I I don't think so I think there's uh I mean I'm sure you know people might run with that but um I said uh I think it was yesterday or the day before you know Russ is a is a heck of a competitor um you know a proven success story in this league um and you know in my opinion a Hall of Fame quarterback and so he uh you know he's going to have he's going to have his things out there and he's going to make his plays and we're going to make our plays and um obviously it helps you know being in the in the Inner Circle with them with you know the last two years in Denver but um it's going to be completely different you know him and him and Pittsburgh so um looking forward to getting their best and they're going to get our best are you excited to go up against him not in a practice setting actually in a game in a different uniform yeah for sure I haven't uh I think you know the only other time I played against him would have been my second year in the league um than other than that yeah just been teammates in practice and it was fun learning from them right um like I said all the accolades I gave them earlier but uh yeah I'm looking forward to competing against him again in like a you know real- time setting where wins and losses count it has been a quick transition for you what have you noticed just about the hunger and the desire for this team to win yeah that's uh you know I mentioned it and it was you know one of the main reasons if not the biggest reason and wanting to be here um you know want to be a part of a organization like this and one that's yearning to go in and win at the highest level right and I think you can see with all the moves that have been made in the offseason um the extensions the people that were already here and have kind of established himself as younger players I think this all around from top to bottom this is uh top class and um you know it's my job to make that right right I'm being brought in here um solely to just come in and win football games and so um you I'm hoping that um that will come to fruition and like I said not in week four not in week five but starting on Sunday I know that you had a relationship with Jesse prior to coming here you guys had talked just a little bit but how much has he helped you just in these few short weeks to get you ready to go yeah yeah Jesse's been awesome um yeah he's helped me a lot and really smart and so you know there's things that are new here for me that you know he can easily correlate to defenses I played in in the past and um not just Jess but the whole secondary right like my communication with AJ with Mike with Rich uh that has to be solid all across the board with d and so um they all been great and I'm I'm really thankful for them man we put in extra hours of film um you know extra time after walkthroughs before after and uh like I said you know that's got to correlate on Sunday for it to mean something how has Jesse handled helping you get adjusted like did he come to you be like I'm here for you or did you have to go to him yeah no no he he came to me he's a he's a man he's a great dude and um you know I think just obviously with everything you know call- Wise defensively a lot of things like in the in the building but things outside too right like neighborhoods um places to live you know all those things right Jess has been awesome and there's a bunch of people here that have been awesome you know not just Jessie so I'm thankful like I said top to bottom top class and uh super thankful for the guys here here and and everyone involved obviously he's a he's a tremendous play caller and a great coach um yeah so we've been kind of trying to watch watch all sorts of stuff you know he's uh present some challenges and it'll be it'll be fun to see him again yeah as you kind of study his best you can his offense do you find yourself seeing like old Falcons tape on there that's the most recent example yeah I mean you you kind of assume that he's going to run some sort of that um probably some new wrinkles new stuff for us um yes we've been watching some some Falcons tape I guess apparently Mike Tom was on a podcast he said hey Raheem JY we're gonna run Justin Fields out there have a package for them I mean how do you look at that that quarterback situation that they have over there yeah I mean they have they have two extremely talented guys obviously Fields present some challenges in the Run game um just being Dynamic and a good runner as he is and then I mean Russ is mobile as well so we have to be have to be ready for for both of them to to use their feet on us week one is always going to be a ton of UNS scouted looks I know that's part of it every week you guys but how do you go into a game as new quarterback new offensive coordinator new everything how does that affect you guys yeah I think it honestly it kind of simplifies it cuz we just play by our rules you know it's a we're calling it a rules ball game um you know whatever they they present we're just going to you know play by the rules that we've you know come to know throughout camp and through the offseason um and and you know whatever happens happens but hopefully good things as long as we you know play sound defense there were a couple new quarterbacks here as well so how much does that help you going into new quarterbacks here in practice and then new quarterback on yeah I mean uh playing playing against Mike and Kirk every single day pressure is right there I know they're uh they're doing a good job of preparing us especially Mike with his his feet for the you know the fields and and rust look um yeah they've been they've been awesome to play against and have definitely challenged our defense and made us a lot better as somebody who's you know been been working towards this moment getting back on the field for a long time is there one moment whether it's the running out of the smoke or the anthem or your first big hit whatever is there one moment that you kind of had like circled for a long time yeah I'd say probably the first hit first tackle um kind of make it make it real again uh so definitely looking forward to that is that nerves or excitement I think it's a little bit of both and I think that that's kind of how you want it if you're not nervous means you maybe don't care enough and but you're definitely excited for that how are you feeling after an entire training camp and now going back into full swing yeah feel great feel great ready to go um you know body feels good healthy uh mentally ready and uh yeah looking forward to this weekend it's been a while since you felt a game week where you knew you were playing on Sunday does it feel good just to get back into that rhythm of things yeah for sure trying to find that find that routine again um get into the getting to the Moda you know watching film and mentally preparing to go go play on Sunday um yeah it definitely feels good to to be back in that mode what's it been like having Matthew Jude on around oh awesome he's a he's a great guy funny personality um but then a tremendous player tremendous competitor uh lucky he's on our side now and it's been it's been fun to have him out of practice what was it like seeing JD's grow just in training camp alone yeah JD's JD's been fun to get to know as well he's extremely smart extremely talented uh works hard so it's been it's been a lot of fun playing against him oh you're good impressive to see him run with you during the scrimmage specifically I know and Nate weren't yeah yeah I mean we've we've kind of all been rotating JD's JD's awesome to play with obviously smart player like I said um you know you don't have to don't have to tell him what to do he he knows what he's doing which is which is a good thing and he's yeah talented player make it look like we've been together for three or four years how far along is that process I think we put in some good time in camping before Camp to you know get the Reps in so that you know our relationship grows as offense is it reasonable to expect it to look smooth right out of the gate or do you expect that there are going to be some growing pains and some bumps in the road I mean obviously I we strive for to look as good as we can and just take it play by play playing Arthur Sunday does that matter I mean is that a factor at all arur is on offense so not for me no you no how confident are you guys in in Kirk as far as you know going into these big games early in the season very confident he's confident and if he's confident we're just playing out for his energy and just trying to like I said put you know put these Drives together and play together dreams experience with both offense and defense kind of helped you guys have have you seen that play out at all through the train Camp yeah just seeing uh him bounce back and forth between offense and defense uh he has his you know different says and different tools he can help you win and just listening to him he you know he's seen a lot of ball how much do you feel like you've learned from kurk cousins and just how much does he want to help you guys in terms of the offense as a whole I I learned a lot from him um Miss continue uh he's like a another coach i' say and just hearing him out there you know trying to help you play faster and be more knowledgeable at the game is it's it's pretty good when did you realize that he genuinely wants to help you guys get better when he first got here uh just you know hearing how he likes his you know the offense to be ran and you know what he expects and and how everybody can just play off of him I know you have high expectations for yourself heading into this year so how much does that excite you that you have a quarterback that just wants to get better pretty good uh it just kind of makes me you know more more inclined to just you know be in the right spot the right time and just knowing that you know everything will be dispersed correct what's the feeling like just suround the L Lo room now the countdown's on you guys looking ahead to Sunday it's different in pre-practice uh open locker room that's the first thing that's true but uh but um I would just say it's pretty cool everybody's it's it's a great camaraderie and you know we're just all you know pretty cool and just you know excited for game one would you like to share any thoughts on the Ravens Chiefs game before we move on to some college football oo that that's that's a live wire that's a live wire I'll give give you a minute he was in bounds I'm sorry no he wasn't you're wild for that I'm sorry on a Friday you don't believe that do you he was in bounce I'm sorry no he wasn't are you trying to get me worked up today I think you are I no way sorry Brett did you think he was in bounds no no way sorry I don't a toe a toe was not in Bound that's that's that's what we're that's the I'm going with Patrick Mahomes you better wear white cleats next time better wear white cleats um let's talk about KSU Kennesaw State uh first season in the FBS they lost on the road to UTSA um but they have their first home FBS game against Louisiana who's a team that's a very solid team yeah um it's not going to be easy bohannan even talked about the fact that this team brings back a lot of veterans a lot of camaraderie something they're still trying to find but he really liked the grit from his team Let's uh let's look and from ban on just what to expect from this weekend first three drives didn't exactly go in your favor when UTSA had the ball but from that point on you guys pretty much stuffed them um coach Harris making uh adjustments players getting into their right spots combination of the two what was the defensive turnaround that really turned the game back into a close one well I think the big thing early on is we were just turning some people loose you know what I mean we just I think uh for whatever reason um we needed to settle down and just everybody go do their job um you know we there's several plays there John we just we turn people loose you know whether we're supposed to peel on the back or we're supposed to take the wheel in our thirds whatever it might be and a lot of it is stuff you know we had practiced it just you know again I guess uh you know you're on the road and you're in a different environment that's you know but uh once we settled down um we played much better defense right and and basically it was just doing our job and I think coach Harris did a great job of getting them settled down I went in a halftime I'm like guys listen we've done enough harm to last the whole season in the first half if we'll just go play and do our job we'll be all right and honestly we did there's just times where sometimes for us and this is where we got to get better and this is All Phases like things will Domino on us we might have a bad place and where we got to stop and we got to go the next play and move on and this something we've been we've been harping on a lot with our guys um but I think you know to your point once we settled down a little bit I mean um they couldn't run the ball you know what I mean and and we put oursel in a position where we could we could play a little faster and do the things that I think as the season goes on we're going to be good at which is you know we're going to have to move around and play fast that's just who we are um but really it was just settling down and doing your job it um we just got out of whack a little bit early on but you can't go spot nobody 21 points man especially when you're playing a a team that's what picked top two in their conference and talking about the college football playoff all that stuff you can't spot can't spot anybody much less them you know one of the players who had a what seemed to be a great performance was uh linebacker Hobson what what was uh uh what was his grade and uh uh you know how does he go about building on that because linebacker play is going to be key as going forward I don't know but when you turn the tape on that sucker was playing fast I don't know what his grade was but I know he was around the freaking ball all day like that's the first thing I noticed when I I was on the plane and I'm watching the game I turned around and guy's holy cow 44 is playing his tail off and and uh he got banged up a little bit in the game hopefully he'll be all right um but but I don't know what his gray was but I'm tell you what he's playing fast and he was on a mission it's like when he wanted to hit somebody he wanted to let him know he was there right I think we had a little that mentality Saturday which was really good to see you know it's important for us to that's who we are right John you've been here since day one right that's who we are and it was good to to have that feeling in that game of of getting back to some of those things and but he's playing fast he was man I'm telling it's one of the first things that you're like oh man there's 44 you know so uh but uh and we had a lot of guys playing fast but he stood out coach in the past special teams has sometimes been an issue what do you think of the kicking performances this week I don't know if I want to talk about it um the uh you know what what Jacob did in the punk game uh when you flip the field like that what it what it Game Changer that is uh making all our field goals having confidence to go do that um is huge right those two things alone there's other things we got to get cleaned up but I think those two things alone were were big for us we got to continue that all three phases got to be on point this year you know what I mean like we we all got to be in this sucker together and we all got to be on point but I think Saturday that was very encouraging um you know to have that um you know the flip the field was was big you know you're you're backed up and then you pin them inside the 10 I mean that's a that's a huge Advantage right and uh we were able to get some some field goals made I think that's really big and we got to find a way um we got to find a way to punch the ball in the end zone something too we're not going to we got to keep making them but we're not going to win with just field goals we got to keep making them but we're not going to win with just field goals we're going to we're going to have to score points and um we're going to have to continue build on but but it was I think Saturday was uh very encouraging um you were very kind in your question uh by the way yes it's uh yeah coach so Louisiana averaged almost 400 yards of offense last year per game and then had almost 500 this week how does your defense limit them and stop them from having a big game on that end yeah I mean they're good and you watched the first game and they really did a good job of spreading the ball around to their skill players um again a veteran offensive line I I may be wrong but I know four or five have started I think all of them have played a lot of snaps of football um you obviously a new quarterback they had a quarterback battle um but but he looked sharp in the first game and like I said they've they find ways to spread the ball around um to get the ball to their guys so I think at the end of the day we got to go do our job we got to make sure to make people earn what they get and not give it to them and then we got to go play hard and we got to be tough and we got to find ways to create some turnovers that's something we weren't able to do a bunch of Saturday um we got to find a way when you know if we got them hung up we got to find a way to get the ball out find a way to create some momentum changes but big thing is let's go do our job um you know and and play hard be tough um I think I told the guys too you know like game one to game two man there should be a drastic improvement you got out there for the first time you've been playing against yourself for you know forever and now you got all this on tape they got the tape too though you know what I mean they got the tape too so like all these things we got to go improve upon you know is they're going to see it as well and uh and just be more consistent in our execution um and then continue to play hard and be tough and do the things that I call Ina State football for those you ain't been around that's when I'm talking about that I'm talking about effort attitude and toughness and but but we got to live on it right now and then we got to help our we got to be better in execution in terms of running game Q led the way with about 10 rushes and Michael Beni had about three in the running game is there going to be like a committee approach or is it going to be Whoever has W in the hot momentums we feel like we got three backs that can go play right now we went to the game with that um obviously running the ball was uh was challenging I think our guys up front I mean you go watch it we're coming off the ball like we're it's not like we went out I mean we they went at it um they're pretty good up front and uh so but but we felt like going into the game we got three running backs that could go play in the game and we probably got more but but we talked about three with with Quay and Benny and and Al Alexander Diggs another um so we feel like those guys as the season goes they're all going to be a part of what we're doing um you know and so we'll see how each game goes but they'll all be a part of that we got to find a way to get a little more Run game established um you know it was tough sledding at times um but we got to find you know a way to get that so we will see how they Fair against Louisiana Switching gears to the WNBA about seven games left for the dream they're back in action against the wings tonight um you had an inkling this was coming you were kind of hoping it wasn't the case but after further evaluation Cheyenne Parker tus is shutting it down for the remainder of the season it's pretty big loss L yikes yeah it's not great you don't want to see her go down um but they're still in the playoff hunt just barely barely but it's still feasible and you hate to lose her especially for these next seven games let's run them down yep play the wings tonight play Dallas at home then they go to Indianapolis to play the fever on the 8th they come back home to face Minnesota on the 10th they face Washington on the 13th they go to Washington on the 15th they come back home to end the season at Chicago and then they then they finish the season in New York on the 19th currently the dream are 11 and 22 tied with Chicago for that final spot Washington is a half game by behind them at 11 and 23 so those three games back to back to back against Washington at Washington against Chicago you hate to lose Cheyenne Parker tus for that stretch of games yeah and not to mention you just came back from a West Coast trip that didn't Fair did not go well um so you're hoping to get some momentum with this home game but then you have to face the fever who have given you trouble all season um so it's not looking the greatest but we'll see how it fair you can get those highlights tonight on Atlanta news first at 11: a question of the week it's not spicy all right I'm just going to give you a moment to give someone their flowers because we're both soccer girls Alex Morgan has announced her retirement how do we feel about that I okay cards on the table okay oh no maybe this is a Hot Topic and I didn't even know it no no Ellie is my middle name okay my first name is Alexandra and before I landed on Ellie as my middle name it was originally going to be Morgan because of Alex Morgan I did not know that so um definitely a you know woman who has had a sort of indirect influence on my life and you know it's hard it's you know not necessarily hard but you know a little bit bettersweet to see her uh retire Al though she is pregnant which congratulations you know so um yeah she really was happy trails and congratulations to Alex Morgan she really was like that bridge between Mia ham in women's soccer to the Next Generation Um which I think is really cool I mean I grew up on m ham but I believe I was in college when Alex Morgan was kind of coming up and making it known her name known with the US Women's National Team um and so she's had such a big influence on the game and impact on young girls um it's crazy to see it end but her last game it's going to be everywhere they're streaming it on CBS Sports Network ESPN plus you name it um which is like the first to ever do so so I think that's really cool um for what's on our mind I'm going to go first because I kind of have another segue into this um I believe we talked about the Michigan documentary about Connor stallions and um those documentaries are called Untold there's another one that's called Untold that is about Hope Solo I have seen that have you watched it yes I really really really enjoyed it it's it's a fun one it's a fun one I'll put it that way okay I don't know how much time I have okay so what I want to get into about like goalkeepers in general especially in soccer and I've always said this and it made me laugh that they said it in the documentary to play goalkeeper in soccer you have to be a little bit crazy yes Hope Solo was always a little bit crazy and everyone kind of knew it but she really did become this massive villain um and it's really interesting to hear her side of the story um I do believe there's two sides to everything and the real truth is probably somewhere in the middle but to hear her detail things I think she was very genuine and authentic um I thought it was really interesting a lot of people wouldn't speak on the documentary but then the people who knew her closest did um including one of the former US Women's National Team coaches it was just a really interesting story um and I don't think a lot of people realize everything that happened with um her getting benched and Scurry coming in and them getting absolutely dominated by Brazil and then kind of having that story book come back to go back to the Olympics and do that um while also her dad died like just a yeah the story of it was is a wild story if you have not looked into it so um definitely worth something worth watching Ellie yeah what's on my mind US Open men's semi-finals today yanx sinner beat Jack Draper in three sets to advance to the final and then basically right now we're gonna have Taylor Fritz and Francis hefo the All-American semifinal to determine that other spot in Sunday's final so I'm excited about for that I'm a tennis nerd yeah yeah so we'll see how all of that pans out but that will do it for this edition of sports tonight make sure to join us next week we'll recap what happens with Georgia in their home opener against Tennessee Tech uh Georgia Tech taking on Syracuse how Canen of Saw state fairs and of course the Falcons hosting the Steelers we are going to have it all next week because we are fully into football season but for Ellie Parker I'm Bailey burmaster you all have a great night