Season 2, Episode 3 feat. Shayne Pickering, Manon Lebargy, and Michael Katz

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[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome back to the Blue Raider Podcast.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm your host, Jake Bolden, and we have a great episode for you today.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to give you a little bit of a rundown reaction from our first opening

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_02]: weekend game for the Blue Raiders against Tennessee Tech as well as in the middle

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_02]: stick around for an interview with the all-CUSA preseason selection midfielder

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Manon Lebargy as she talks about the Lady Raider soccer program and her quick start to

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_02]: goal scoring this season and then stick around to the very end where I will have a behind

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_02]: the enemy lines segment with Ole Miss beat writer Michael Katz to preview the upcoming

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_02]: football matchup with the Ole Miss Rebels.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_02]: But first, before we get into our episode, a word from our sponsor, the Kinsiko Group

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[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_02]: to the Kinsiko Group for sponsoring the Blue Raider podcast. Now, let's get into our episode.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_02]: We have a lot to react to but I am bringing on today an analyst along with me from

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_02]: gomiddle.com. He was there all fall camp all day long in the heat and then we had

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_02]: to sit through quite the match up on Saturday. Shane, how's it going?

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Going good. You know, win is a win. I wasn't pretty but they left week one, one and zero.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Yep, that's exactly how I look at it. It was a win's a win and Mason says it and we'll listen

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_02]: to his opening statements from his post-game press conference on Saturday here in just a minute

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_02]: but the way that he put it I thought was eloquent. It wasn't the win that we wanted

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_02]: but it was the win that we needed and without further ado I will go ahead

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_02]: and we will listen to his post-game presser. Tonight was an interesting night

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: to really say the least, right? And I want to say hats off to Tennessee Tech because

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Wilder and that crew they came in here and they played one heck of a ball game.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You know first games are what first games are, right? You know you look early and you

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: think that you're going to have an opportunity to go boat race somebody a little bit and

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: just keep going and then all of a sudden you sputter out and momentum. Football's a game of

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: momentum and I thought, you know, we had it early Tennessee Tech, you know, March back,

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: they took it and that was okay. I don't think this group panicked. We wanted to play better

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and what you saw from this team was growth, right? A lot of new faces, some adversity

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and you have to learn how to win in a lot of different ways in college football. You got to

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: learn sometimes how to play from ahead, you got to learn how to play from behind

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and I think we got it all in one. You know, rain delay, playing from ahead, coming from behind.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Look, I didn't want to draw it up that way but what I felt was this football team learned a lot

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: about itself, his character, you know and winning does take what winning takes, right? It takes

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: commitment for four-quarter, 60 minutes every play and we needed every bit of four-quarter,

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: 60 minutes and to get the victory. So, you know, there's a lot to learn be learned from game one

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: to game two. At the end of the year, nobody's going to look back and remember what the score was,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: what people are going to remember that it was a victory and so I'm going to celebrate it that way,

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: right? I got a lot of confidence in this team. I think we can get better. We had some,

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: a couple of losses injury-wise in this ball game so I hope we can get some of these guys back

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: as we get ready to turn the corner and to play Ole Miss but hats off again to Tennessee Tech.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_02]: All right, well that was Coach Mason there technically a Sunday morning after that game on

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Saturday. Shane, you know what did you gather from what Coach Mason had to say there?

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_04]: I think the same thing. You wanted to get out with the win

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_04]: and talking about boat racing, Tennessee Tech. It definitely was trending that way after the

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_04]: first three possessions where they went up 21-0 but kind of thought out after that

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_04]: and with the weather delay, falling behind lay having a two-minute drill, really a one-minute

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_04]: drill to win the game. They really did experience everything that you could ask for in a game

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_04]: and might not be the opponent that you wanted to experience all that against.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_04]: It definitely gave some good experience for later in the year with more big games like

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Washington, Kentucky, Liberty and FIU and Duke coming up.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I agree. I think that there's again there's so much that I think what I love to hear from them

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_02]: though is there wasn't many excuses being made. I think one thing is he understands

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_02]: what took place on Saturday wasn't what he expected or what anyone expected or what

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_02]: anyone wanted but it's what happened and I think that one thing we're going to grow

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_02]: from this. There's a lot of things that I mean boat racing is definitely the outcome that

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_02]: we all wanted to see. You get out to that early 21-0 lead and you think that's it.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Like this game is over, you're able to pack up while we survive the two and a half hour rain delay

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_02]: and everything's going to be fine and dandy and then you see you get a special teams play by

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_02]: tech they down on the one, get a safety then you have to free kick it to them. They work

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_02]: it down for a field goal it's 21-5 at the half and the offense just as he says goes

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_02]: stagnant it just sputters and that's kind of my biggest concern over anything but I want to

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_02]: caution anyone that may have that same thought process that I have that things are bad or the

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_02]: offense is bad. I think for the most part they just kept it close to the chest and maybe you

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_02]: would agree with me Shane that I think that they withheld a lot of the passing game there.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_02]: They didn't necessarily, we didn't see it to that one minute drill at the end of the game.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_02]: They didn't get the ball to Amar or Kelly. They were targeting Miles Butler who was great

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_02]: don't get me wrong but I don't think that's your number one target and should have been

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_02]: your number one target all game. Holden Willis was practically non-existent the only time he

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_02]: ever got the ball was during a scramble drill so I think that the emphasis going into that game

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_02]: was they want to run the ball, they want to work in the rotation of the offensive line see the

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_02]: different formations that they can come that they can go up against with that offensive

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_02]: line pairings and you know we'll worry about passing the ball against Ole Miss that's kind

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_02]: of at least that was what I took away from the Saturday matchup. Oh yeah after the Miles

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Butler touchdown I think that was the one that put them up 21-0. That was one of offensive coordinator

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Bodey Reader's best plays of the night in my opinion and then after that it definitely felt

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_04]: very reserved until the end where they drew up some plays for Amar and Kelly. They had the

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_04]: run play for Frank Pesant to get down and obviously score and then with the offensive

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_04]: line the whole second quarter was just straight up the second unit so it was a full blown

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_04]: rotation when there was a tryout or what remains to be seen especially center Jolie's Pierce probably

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_04]: the leader of the unit going down but it definitely felt reserved I don't know if they

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_04]: were saving for Ole Miss. One would hope that's not what the offense looks like for the remainder

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_04]: of the season and more so what it looks like on the first three drives and I think it will

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_04]: personally be what it looks like on the first three drives but you definitely got to figure out

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_04]: what you're doing at the offensive line up front before you can do anything else with the rest of

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_02]: the offense. Yeah I agree I think with the with the offensive line scenario now that

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Julius Pierce is out I know that Mason in his press conference on Monday didn't necessarily

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_02]: say anything in regards to what to expect about a return for him didn't give any sort of timeline

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_02]: or anything like that so that leaves a lot of question marks already with a line that was already

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_02]: questionable but we I know in our little notes that I'd written together for us I thought the

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_02]: run game was improved and I know you kind of had some some comments on that in regards to being

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_02]: improved I think one thing though is I think you would agree that we have a stable of backs now

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_02]: that are all good we got four different guys at all got a few carries Terry Wilkins getting

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_02]: the least there for but you got your Frank P's flip cradle getting 10 carries apiece to kill

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Middlebrooks looked excellent for a young guy I think one thing that is promising is that if we

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_02]: were able to create holes of some sort that we have a good group of running backs that could

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_04]: do some damage in conference USA. Absolutely and they were they were effective on the outside

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_04]: I think you saw Tennessee Tech was selling out to stop the run especially between the tackles

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Frank P's and obviously had that one between the tackles at the end but that was more in prevent

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_04]: defense for Tech you saw Cretal on that one drive that he ended up scoring a touchdown on was able

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_04]: to kick it outside a couple times and then the extension of the run game with screens and

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_04]: slipping running backs out that was very effective and they mentioned that in the press conference

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_04]: that they probably should have ran a couple more screens just because they were picking up 10

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_04]: yards of play with that and then Jekyll Middlebrook he was a guy off camp that there was a lot of buzz

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_04]: that was no accident when he was interviewed after the final scrimmage of the off season

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_04]: and so they feel really good about that room and I think that's I think if you can establish

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_04]: a run game that Boatty Readers offense opens up a lot more and I think they feel really good

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_02]: about the running back room overall and I'll continue to harp on this I just felt like the

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_02]: passing game was just so reserved it was so boring and when we look at the final attempts you get 35

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_02]: attempts on 68 plays that I understand that's over half of them but I know going into the fourth

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_02]: quarter the number was even lower because we were forced to have to throw the ball there late

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_02]: in the game just to get us back into position to win the game so prior to that fourth quarter

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_02]: drive that it was a necessity to make that drive we we were we refused to pass and I'm like I said

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_02]: part of me is worried about it but a part of me thinks that it's just they're trying they were

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_02]: trying their best to do what could be difficult for them which is to run the ball which is to try

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_02]: those different rotations on the offensive line so I felt like when it was all said and done it

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_02]: felt like almost like a tryout as you said like I don't I don't love the look at that I don't

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_02]: love the fact that you're playing an opponent who their only objective is to come in and get

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_02]: a win over you this is after all a rivalry game with a lot of deep history so I don't want to

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_02]: harp too much more on that but I want to go back to you know some of the positives with this game

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I thought the defense relative for the game did a pretty good job I thought the secondary had

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_02]: their troubles but I think a lot of that had to do with Jordan Pots at quarterback protect

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_02]: he broke contain a lot which is going to be a problem if we can't contain

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_02]: shifty quarterbacks mobile quarterbacks it's going to be a problem this upcoming Saturday

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_02]: of course with Jackson dark coming but it's going to be a problem for the conference in

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_02]: general you got guys like Hayden Salter at Liberty TJ Finley at WKU you got Keon Jenkins at FIU and

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_02]: then a guy that I really liked this last weekend from San Houston State was Hunter Watson

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_02]: that guy who is just an out starter had a great game against rice a 10-point underdog they go

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_02]: in there and they absolutely way lay the owls but I digress you've got to be able to control

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_02]: and contain those mobile quarterbacks and and for what it's worth we struggled pretty

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_02]: tremendously getting any sort of pressure on an fcs line in an fcs quarterback but Jordan Pots is

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_02]: good I'll give him credit but I think I have concerns about the past rush as well as being able to

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_02]: defend that long if we're not going to be able to rush a quarterback yeah the three-man front

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_04]: definitely was generating pressure I feel like all night but Pots being able to create and

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_04]: improvise and get outside of the pocket really opened up a lot for their offense and gave MTSU

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_04]: troubles which that will be interesting to see it'll be interesting to see if that continues with

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Parker Hughes and Drew Francis back at linebacker whenever they come back at some point in the

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_04]: season two so now they're definitely going to have to fix that with TJ Finley and Keon Jenkins

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_04]: and uh Caden Salter and the kid at Sam Houston that was conference just a player of the week

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_04]: and even with do's you have Malik Murphy the transfer from Texas so it doesn't get any easier

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_04]: if anything he gets harder in terms of better mobile quarterbacks and playing the length of

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_04]: the game so they're going to have to maintain that edge moving forward and that is something

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_04]: to definitely watch this week I don't know how much they'll run Jackson Dart I have fear that he

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_04]: didn't run any last week and week one so I don't know if they'll try if they'll

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_04]: try to run him in a game they should win but uh yeah that's going to be something to watch

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_02]: all season if they cannot get that fixed and is back to the the health questions

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_02]: both of our starting cornerbacks go down you got Deare McDonald who went down very early

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_02]: in the game it appeared to be a soft tissue injury I hate to speculate but we'll find out a

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_02]: little bit more about where his status is for the Ole Miss game um and then Tyrell Rabie the other

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_02]: starting cornerback goes down there in the second quarter so you're having to try out again

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_02]: your cornerback situation Abdul Mohammed got most of it we saw Trayvon Farrell there at the

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_02]: nickel back position get a few snaps uh Trayvon had a tough game I thought James Mond and the

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_02]: few snaps that he saw actually performed really well he did a great job there late in the

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_02]: game at the nickel back position so that's another area of question and and whether it's a good thing

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_02]: or a bad thing those guys are going to get tried out they're going to face one of the best receiving

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_02]: cores in the country this weekend in Oxford so we're going to test them a lot and again maybe

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_02]: that's good maybe that's bad but it's it's a weird it's a weird situation to be in when you

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_02]: have Tennessee Tech you didn't perform great you're going against Ole Miss who's one of

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_02]: the best in the country and and all of this is in preparation for a WQ WKU game in week three

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_02]: so I don't know what what I what I saw wasn't too impressed with the with the backup cornerbacks

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_02]: an area that I thought we'd have a little bit more depth at but I'm interested to hear

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Shane what what you think in regards to those guys that had to fill in spots for those injuries

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm not sure if McDonald came back in but Tyrell Rabie was able to come back in later in the game

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_04]: so he looked all right coming back I definitely thought James Mond like you said would be

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_04]: more of a factor in the slot the transfer from Indiana to Trvon Farrell didn't have the best game

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_04]: exactly and so I thought moms would work his way in with more of an athletic slot guy that Tech had

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_04]: and but that didn't happen so that was interesting to me but the cornerbacks

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_04]: it wasn't even as much giving up big receptions as much as not being able to tackle in space

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_04]: once McDonald and Rabie you know came out of the game so that's going to be something they

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_04]: absolutely have to clean up with Ole Miss with Trey Hares and Juice Wells and all the

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_04]: receivers they have because if they cannot tackle those guys in space it's going to be a

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_04]: long long game for in middle Tennessee yeah let's keep building off of that some of the

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_02]: takeaways from this Saturday moving into this next Saturday with Ole Miss I think you hit the

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_02]: nail on the head there with tackling in the space was the biggest issue with the secondary I

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_02]: thought Vernon Harris was excellent I really I didn't think the front seven was bad they just

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_02]: allowed the quarterback to break contain offensively I'd love to see us pass the ball more I just

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_02]: thought they were so conservative but those are kind of my few takeaways what are your

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_04]: takeaways from this Saturday going into next uh with the reserve passing attack I'd say

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_04]: I'd like to see them push the ball down the field a lot more I think that was part of the problem

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_04]: with you weren't making Tennessee Tech pay for creeping up in the box they had no reason

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_04]: to give you running lanes because they weren't afraid of Omari Kelly pushing or getting the

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_04]: ball down the field or uh G Carter the transfer from Vanderbilt getting the ball down the

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_04]: field I remember one play um they had Carter and Kelly Stewart and it was I think it was a

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_04]: third down they tried to push it down the field and I think body Otto slightly over through

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Kelly Stewart uh and I remember I remember that play because it was like the only one

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_04]: that they did kind of push it down the field and I think that's going to be something

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_04]: they have to incorporate at some point into offense and it's something they talked about

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_04]: all offseason was trying to incorporate was the downfield passing attack and that will create

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_04]: more running lanes and better averages naturally with that and then the second thing that I took

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_04]: away was in the middle of the game after body Otto through that first interception he kind of

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_04]: fell into a slump he threw his second interception I would say one or two drives later

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_04]: that was returned for a pick six uh MTSU got bailed out by a targeting call and but

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_04]: that event called in happened it could have kept playing it's filing so body Otto's gotta stay level

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_04]: headed and they got they have to establish a downfield passing. Absolutely I agree well

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_02]: but before we we hang up our call here same we got Ole Miss this Saturday kickoff set 315 on the

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_02]: SEC network um opening lines at 42 points where do you where do you see things falling this

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Saturday? Probably around that line let me be honest I think I think MTSU could be able to do some

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_04]: things uh Ole Miss and transfers this offseason to take advantage of a very good team that they had

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_04]: so as they are still maybe building some chemistry under defense coordinator C Goulding

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I think you could see the offense maybe sneak a touchdown in there but it's probably gonna

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_04]: like a 45-13 or 48-13 type game in my opinion. Yeah I agree I think the real line on this

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_02]: this Saturday to watch is going to be the over under I think I saw it 62 and a half which if

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_02]: all things perfect and it's a 42 point game that would that would mean that Raiders would

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_02]: somehow manage to get two or three touchdowns on the board and and to the credit maybe you

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_02]: know in garbage time but they pull out dart like they did on Saturday the Raiders find a way

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_02]: to get maybe two or three touchdowns in there who knows I always think that's a an interesting

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_02]: line to watch there but excited for this Saturday hopefully we see some improvement with the

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_02]: offensive game like we both mentioned there but Shane you're heading up a lot of the recruiting

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_02]: still that's going on things have really heated up more so than we've saw in the previous

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_02]: administration before again before we hang up you know there was a lot of recruits here on

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Saturday and unfortunately got rained out they probably didn't stick around to see

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_02]: the ending of that game but tell us a little bit about the recruiting scene for the

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_04]: 101 scheduled visitors now not all made it but they were most of them did I think so you still

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_04]: looking at like 80 to 90 visitors uh I mean yeah a lot of a lot of guys went home after the

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_04]: delay especially the local guys but they still had a lot of guys from like Alabama and Mississippi

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_04]: and Georgia they came up to visit and they they stuck it out and um yeah there was a lot of

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_04]: excitement uh seeing with the 16,000 fans was what athletics said and they was it was getting

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_04]: filled up the stadium was the facilities are coming along so there's a lot to see there's

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_04]: party in the grove now and I think uh the visits went really well we'll have some stuff

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_04]: out during the week on from visitors just reactions and interviews on that stuff but

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_04]: yeah no I think they had really good visits they had some big targets uh

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_04]: and they had some commits in town like Bo Brian that you would know if you were in the lightning

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_04]: lounge a little shameless plug there and but yeah I think they had a overall good weekend and

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_04]: I think the western Kentucky game coming up is going to be kind of what we thought this

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_04]: weekend was with recruiting it's going to be another loaded loaded uh visit weekend

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_02]: absolutely another reason to uh get out there fill up the stands it obviously is going to

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_02]: help with recruiting if if recruits show up and they see you know a over half capacity stadium

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_02]: much like they reported for this Saturday I would like to think we could get over that 16,000 mark

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_02]: and get a little over half capacity which I guess that's not necessarily entirely true now that

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_02]: the stadium is being renovated I'm sure our numbers are down a little bit so 16,000 would be well

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_02]: over half but nonetheless get out there two weeks western Kentucky big rivalry should be there

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_02]: regardless but definitely from the perspective if you want this program to continue to excel

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_02]: you need to be there and be loud be proud be blue as they say but Shane Pickering as he just

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_02]: plugged there over at go middle we've got the premium subscription of course we have our ad

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_02]: that's thrown in here go over there subscribe if you want to get all the the scoop on

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_02]: recruiting information as well as all things blue raiders myself Shane we contribute quite a bit

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_02]: over there onto the forums so make sure you're checking all that out but Shane I appreciate

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_02]: you coming on and talking ball with us today the BRP is proudly partnered with rivals network

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_02]: affiliate go middle dot com subscribe for premium content for all the inside scoop on mtsu athletics

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_02]: recruiting or join our free forums to discuss today's episode in all things blue raiders

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[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_02]: up on all college football content with daily articles and episodes provided by the largest

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_02]: college podcast community on the internet we take a break from our football conversation to

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_02]: introduce our next guest she is a junior midfielder that led the lady raiders in goals

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_02]: scored in points in 2023 and earning a second team all cusa honor last year she was picked to the 2024

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_02]: all conference cusa preseason team i'm happy now to be joined by manon labarji labarji how's it going

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_02]: hi how are you doing i'm great and we were before we came on as i was trying to get my

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_02]: pronunciation key right i think you gave me a little interesting story a little bit about

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_02]: your name and why americans you always encourage them to call you labarji as opposed to manon

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_03]: yeah so because my name is manon but americans pronounce it manon but in soccer when we say

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_03]: manon that means someone is in your back and you're supposed to play the ball back to your defenders

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_03]: or another player so now every time the coach says manon i'm like okay is he talking to me

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_03]: or he's talking about me having someone in my back so i should play back so now people

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_03]: call me labarji because it's easier absolutely yeah not not nearly as confusing and personally

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_02]: as an american labarji is a lot easier to pronounce so i thought that was a really interesting story

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_02]: about that but i want to get to know a little bit about you like i said at the top of the episode

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_02]: as i'm introducing you you earned all cusa preseason honors as a midfielder as a junior

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_02]: you led the team in goals last year tell me a little bit i mean did that recognition

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_02]: kind of surprise you i mean where were you when that was announced um so when it was announced

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_03]: we were in preseason and i was at the job so during preseason we eat at the job for breakfast

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_03]: lunch and dinner and i was there and i wasn't on my phone because preseason is crazy the schedule

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_03]: is crazy so you don't really have time then people are people were hugging me saying hey

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_03]: congratulations i was like uh for what i mean oh you just got nominated for preseason um all

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_03]: conference i'm like oh okay great thank you for letting me know but i am i'm really happy about

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_03]: that nomination but i think it's a work a work team because i can't do that without my teammates

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_03]: but yeah really really happy but now you have to show it on the field and score more and show

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_02]: more on the field absolutely you were kind of a fixture last year on the offense side even though

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_02]: you're a midfielder you had a lot of goals typically that comes from a forward position

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_02]: but i want to know from you have you the first couple weeks have been a little rough for your team

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_02]: you did get your first goal last weekend tell me do you feel like there's a little bit

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_03]: more pressure on you this year to score i think there's always more pressure when you get nominated

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_03]: but i think it's good pressure yeah every game you stress you're like oh i need to score but most

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_03]: the most important thing is to win as a team yeah if i don't provide a goal or an assist

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_03]: i'll be here on the field and give 100 for everything absolutely and tell me a little

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_02]: bit i know we're interviewing on friday this will come out on tuesday but the viewers

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_02]: you lost last night against north alabama in a really tough second half battle there your last

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_02]: couple games have kind of just been that way you're knotted up it's a really close match-up against

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_02]: tennessee tech you pulled it out but not against last night you kind of dropped it tell me a little

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_02]: bit what you think from your perspective what needs to change you know to kind of get back

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_03]: into your winning groove i think as we get closer we scored the first goal but then we have to

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_03]: finish our opportunities we have to score just second the third yeah yesterday we scored the first

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_03]: and then we scored second and third but the ref unfortunately called it off but it wasn't an off

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_03]: side but it's okay we we have to deal with also the outside problems but i think we have to finish

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_03]: our opportunities be brave in defense and keep our game plan i mean we have a game plan at the

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_03]: beginning of the game we have to stick with it and listen to the coaches at halftime i think

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_03]: i think yesterday's loss was really unfortunate referees didn't help us and we we got we got scored

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_03]: on on two set pieces so lack of focus in those two two um opportunities from them i see so when

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_02]: you're moving into conference play one thing that i know you're a junior this year last year

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_02]: we saw an improvement especially on the conference side of things as you get closer and closer

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_02]: to conference play what are things that you that you know there are an emphasis for you guys things

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_02]: that you've got to be better at when you get ready for conference play coming up what we need

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_03]: to be better at i think um a bit more aggressive i know conference uh usa games or it's either

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_03]: it's like a knockout game you play one game you're like okay it's a win or a loss but you

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_03]: have to win the next game if you lose you're like eh you gotta get after it because conference there

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_03]: you have you have to get um to the six right so so every game is uh it's death like it's

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_03]: death you have to put your body on the line you you have to give everything conference usa games

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_03]: are a great for that because yes there's lots of pressure to be honest but um i think it's good

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_03]: pressure because you play for something right now we're in like season we don't really play for

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_03]: like anything really except like building up and be ready for conference games but when

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_03]: conference comes you you have to give everything yeah you touched on it there a little bit at

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_02]: the end about how you um you're having to build relationships or build with your new teammates

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_02]: and and this team in particular lost a lot of talent last year and you bring in a lot of new

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_02]: talent this season how are you as a midfielder you kind of intertwine with both perspectives of

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_02]: of the game right with the defense and the offensive side how are you meshing with some

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_03]: of these new faces i think we got lots of new internationals and new transfer for example

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Emma Brown she's an english player so we kind of have the same um soccer IQ so i think it's really

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_03]: easy with the defensive lines Sasha and Emma to play to play with them and also Rizwi and Ari

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_03]: in the midfielder bring a lot of techniques we i love playing with them because they they're

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_03]: such a good IQ and um and they can like see the game like other midfielders can really see

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_03]: i think everyone brings something different it's a lot of new energy and i i just love having

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_03]: new people yeah we lost a lot of new talents but i think we need to build a new chemistry

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_03]: coming in conference USA games yeah do you think you are doing a good job as far as building um

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_02]: that relationship or that or that chemistry that you're talking about because you're kind of again

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_02]: one of the older faces now on this team how are you able to build that chemistry with those new

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_03]: girls tubin as i love joking with them i love being funny so every time i practice i show up

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_03]: i score a goal and i'm going crazy and i'm celebrating and i think that's like how

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_03]: you build relationship with people you you get funny you get to know them you you go out for example

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_03]: we we won last sunday and we just went out for ice cream because we celebrated the first win

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_03]: and we just get closer like doing things outside of the soccer aspect absolutely yeah that's a

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_02]: that's a pretty cool cool thing everyone goes out for ice cream after a win absolutely well

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_02]: i want to know from you um back to a little bit about about labarges game in regards to

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_02]: what you prefer now i know you score a lot of goals for a midfielder and what about your game

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_02]: in particular are there things that you've kind of worked on this offseason moving on to this

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_02]: upcoming year that you have worked on and want to get better at mm-hmm yeah um for my offseason

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_03]: i really worked on my uh physical aspect so i wanted to come here really fit unfortunately i

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_03]: got injured this summer for like a month and half but i i got back i got back really like hard i tried

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_03]: to to be as fit as i could um i think one thing i could improve is my defensive game i i know i need

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_03]: to work harder in defense because i have that gap between yeah i love having the ball turning

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_03]: like play but once i don't have the ball i need to get back you need to help my teammates

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_03]: because they need me um one thing i need to keep going it's going forward go get in the box

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_03]: yeah i'm in midfielder i i'm attacking midfielder i need to get in the box to help my striker

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_03]: and i think i did a great job just passed three four games um turning and get the ball behind

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_03]: the the defensive line and i think i need to keep doing that because it it helped a lot um with

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_03]: eating and everyone on the wing i i played the ball a lot to eat and because she makes

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_03]: such good runs and then once she plays across like am i easier like yesterday we scored two goals

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_03]: like that unfortunately they were called offside but it's yeah well you you mentioned her she's

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_02]: got quite the game as well one of the few players that you have a lot of experience playing

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_02]: with um i want to know from you know the relationship you have with her someone like faith

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_02]: adji um emma pettersen who's had a great start to her season as well you know as far as those

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_02]: girls what kind of relationship do you have with them oh i have great relationship for example this

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_03]: summer we went to nowhere together like that that was great we we spent a week together we had

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_03]: national day with them they were wearing their like uh uniforms that they were on the 17th of

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_03]: may and if we were in Oslo celebrating that that was great so i think having great relationship with

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_03]: those players helped having great relationship on the field you know if you don't really get along

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_03]: with someone it's hard to like connect with each other in the field and i think it helps a lot

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_03]: and of the field they are great girls i i love all of my teammates and especially they're from

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Norway so we have that european lives together like we play the same soccer and we i think we understand

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_03]: each other better compared to americans or do we really have the same experience we had previously

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_02]: and talk about the freshman lexie dindis she got her first goal last night um and she's she

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_02]: really worked for it she had quite a few shot on goals last night she was she was not going to be

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_03]: denied last night i know i know no it's that girl lexie big up to you but she's doing a great job as a

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_03]: freshman coming in and be a be a starter and then score your first goal for your third fourth game

[00:34:19] [SPEAKER_03]: it's it's insane she even had the for first game her assist her first assist now she's great

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_03]: she's bringing so much energy she's she's super fast she needs to keep um letting everything um

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_03]: letting down the pressure because i think obviously she has pressure and when um conference

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_03]: usa games are gonna come the pressure might go up a little bit but i i try to help her as much as

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_03]: i can trying to say in game okay calm down because she's doing 100 all the time but now

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_03]: she can't run all the time she needs to to calm down i remember the the first game she we had a nasty

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_03]: she had an assist and in 10 minutes of the game and she was like i say it's your first game calm

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_03]: down i know i know you want to give everything but we have 18 minutes more in that game so chill

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_02]: chill absolutely well i want to switch back to get to know you a little bit more i know before

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_02]: you came here to american you played soccer to mts u in france you were kind of a trick uh or we could

[00:35:29] [SPEAKER_02]: say the jack of all trades you played a lot of sports outside of just soccer i want to know how

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_02]: you landed on soccer i mean i'll list him handball badminton volleyball ping pong you did all that

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_02]: in in school prior to here tell me how you landed on soccer so i started playing soccer when i was

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_03]: five years old and my family is such a golf uh golf family so i i used to play both both sports

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_03]: and when i came and i was at 13 i had to choose between golf and soccer because uh that was way

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_03]: too much and i was playing at high level for both of them and i got recruited to lil so it's a

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_03]: professional club in uh france so my my hope were higher playing soccer than golf so i choose um

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_03]: i choose soccer and then um as the seasons start i i played for the national under 19 and i got um

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER_03]: selected my last year before coming uh in the u.s to play for the professional team in uh in lost

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_03]: so i played couple games they're great experience but i wanted a new experience so i i choose to come

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_03]: here at mts u and in high school i was in a boarding school and in boarding school it's um

[00:36:56] [SPEAKER_03]: a sports uh high school so i was playing yeah i was playing so soccer obviously but i was

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_03]: also playing handball i used to play handball for for the high school team uh i used to play uh volleyball

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_03]: by minton as part of the p education as well but yeah i i just love sports too much that i wanted

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_02]: to do my whole life absolutely well i noticed your your minor is also in sports management

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_02]: do you want is there a career that you kind of what are you looking to do when when you're out of

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_03]: college out of college rina uh my dream has always been to be a professional soccer player

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_03]: so rina i'm focusing on that i i don't i don't have any idea what i want to do but i really want

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_03]: to work in sports anything related to sports um sports management um probably mean soccer because

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_03]: i i'm they have a big passion for soccer so i don't really know but right now i'm a focused

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_03]: professional and then try to to just go back maybe in france or europe and try to find a

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_02]: sports related job absolutely well that's that's very good stuff well lavarje i appreciate you

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_02]: taking some time i know you're you're a student as well as an athlete and you took

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER_02]: some time to squeeze us in this week to get this interview um but i appreciate you coming

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_02]: on and from the blue writer podcast and all the fans we wish you the best of luck the rest of the

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_01]: season go blue raiders did you know the blue writer podcast has an online store you can now

[00:38:32] [SPEAKER_01]: support your favorite podcast by checking out our selection at our website blue writer podcast.com

[00:38:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and stay tuned for new merchandise releases as we collaborate with athletes and nil partnerships

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER_02]: our final guests joining the b r p is we're going to go behind enemy lines and learn a little

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_02]: bit about our upcoming football opponent we face the old miss rebels and joining us today

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_02]: going into his fourth season as a reporter for the old miss athletics at with the northeast

[00:38:56] [SPEAKER_02]: mississippi daily journal it is michael katz michael how's it going pretty good how about yourself

[00:39:02] [SPEAKER_02]: i can't complain we we came out with a win much like the rebels did this last week um

[00:39:08] [SPEAKER_02]: we're going over our initial reaction earlier in the episode but i want to hear from you

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_02]: i think there there's uh no complaints coming from oxford after week one

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_05]: yeah i mean listen when when you're playing against teams that you are supposed to be

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_05]: pretty favorably you want to come out with no major injuries and you want to take care of

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_05]: business and not really leave any sort of doubt about anything and uh i mean from start to finish

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_05]: i mean this was just a complete let's be honest they could have probably hung 100

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_05]: had they wanted to there were a couple moments where i thought leon kiffin did want to

[00:39:37] [SPEAKER_05]: but uh he kind of took his foot off the gas a little bit in second half

[00:39:40] [SPEAKER_05]: but you know you saw jackson dart was was immaculate the defense was you know

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_05]: there's been all this talk about this great defensive line it looked amazing

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_05]: you know again when you hold someone to seven when you when you have 772 yards and you only

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_05]: give up 172 i think you feel pretty good about everything and in today's game i know that

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_02]: the playoff expands to 12 this year and kiffin definitely wants to be a part of that

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_02]: and he's in a very tough sec conference as it is it's vital that he blows teams out like that

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_05]: because he has to have those necessary wins yeah i think too um you know when you start getting into

[00:40:20] [SPEAKER_05]: um you know later games in the schedule and maybe things aren't as smooth sailing

[00:40:27] [SPEAKER_05]: you're not going to have the opportunity to test all these different plays and maybe

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_05]: expand the playbook and do the sorts of things experiment with what he was able to do i mean

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_05]: listen not only were they able to blow them out but they were able to blow them out

[00:40:41] [SPEAKER_05]: by putting in a ton of backups too and getting those guys work i mean austin simmons his first

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_05]: college pass attempt was a 35-yard touchdown pass um and he's a guy that we've never really seen

[00:40:52] [SPEAKER_05]: you know outside of practice um so i think it's again it's your style matters again you

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_05]: know look look at you know obviously different situation but you know organ and i'd owe this weekend

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_05]: that was a really kind of i know the numbers didn't necessarily fully tell the whole story

[00:41:10] [SPEAKER_05]: that game but that was a 10-point game um you know is that going to matter in the long run i don't

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_05]: think so i think organ's still really really good but uh when you look at say hey look what we

[00:41:21] [SPEAKER_05]: did against inferior competition i think it's always good to say we did what we had to do

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_02]: and we did it without question well i'm afraid that mtsu is is headed for the same um destination

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_02]: that firman was and again firman is no slouch when they're a top 10 coaches pole fcs team you know that

[00:41:39] [SPEAKER_02]: they have a lot themselves to prove that they earned that ranking as well old miss kind of kind

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_02]: of ran a boat race him it's kind of the term that's been going around here um but i want to

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_02]: break down a little bit about old miss this season in general as you you already touched on the

[00:41:51] [SPEAKER_02]: defensive line was an area that they thought they needed to improve on they certainly did

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_02]: they picked up all sec talent there tell me about that front seven that is going to be so tough not

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_05]: only against for mtsu but for all of sec yeah i think it lane kiffin has said it a couple times

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_05]: this this fall that this is the first time in his college coaching career even going to go

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_05]: dany back to sc or tenancy um his time's a head coach at least um that he can look out there and

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_05]: see just elite athletic defensive line talent um you know this was a really good team last year

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_05]: they won 11 games they went you know they won the peach pole they did a lot of really good things but

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_05]: in that game against georgia there was a clear deficit especially up front you know skill positions

[00:42:40] [SPEAKER_05]: almost as always going to be pretty good they usually figure that out but it's always

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_05]: the question is you know can you match up up front and it lost to the 217 it was pretty clear

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_05]: that they couldn't and after that game lane said they needed to get better in places like that and

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_05]: that's been the whole off season is what do you do to get your program to the next level

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_05]: it's not receivers and quarterbacks and stuff yeah that stuff's great but you already have that

[00:43:06] [SPEAKER_05]: it's it's it's you have to get better more athletic and deeper up front so that when you're

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_05]: in these games against georgia against alabama against lsu whoever it may be and you need to run

[00:43:17] [SPEAKER_05]: the clock out you have to be able to do it um and so uh this is this is that that you know offensive

[00:43:24] [SPEAKER_05]: line defensive line all of that um and so um you know we've talked a lot about the defensive line

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_05]: that's obviously sort of in the point of emphasis when you bring in princely manuelan and

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_05]: malton olin and guys like that but they did the same thing on the offensive line too uh they're

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_05]: they're not they're they're trying to you know have it be positions where you're not going to get

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_05]: run over at the end of games uh and you're going to do the running over at the end of games so

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_05]: i think that's it's it's really interesting to look at you know lane has said it uh you know

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_05]: this team looks really good doesn't mean they're going to be very good but they look the part

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER_05]: and that's the first time even since he's been here too that he he really feels at least he says

[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_05]: he feels that way and they've had some good squads here so i think that um there really has been an

[00:44:14] [SPEAKER_05]: investment on on the trenches because that's really that's the only thing that's really been holding

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_02]: him back well that's a good transition point to the offensive side there the offensive line

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_02]: going into the season had a few question marks because you're returning guys but starting

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_02]: experience isn't necessarily there you got a transfer there on the interior line tell me about

[00:44:33] [SPEAKER_02]: the offensive line i know they didn't look too shaky in that week one matchup but again kind of

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_02]: going against an inferior opponent but tell me a little bit about that offensive line and how

[00:44:40] [SPEAKER_05]: things stacked up in week one the end they got some injuries they're now right now to and and

[00:44:46] [SPEAKER_05]: almost always plays that stuff pretty close to the best in terms of what they're gonna let out

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_05]: and i know that has to change starting sec play i'm very curious to see how that's gonna go

[00:44:58] [SPEAKER_05]: but uh you know they bring back a lot of starters and they were they were good starters but

[00:45:05] [SPEAKER_05]: i don't think that you know lane is okay with just good anymore i think they need to be better

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_05]: they need to be bullies they need to be athletes and so um they brought in a lot of guys with

[00:45:16] [SPEAKER_05]: a ton of talent um that haven't started here uh but you know they brought in two guys who

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_05]: started at washington last year you know that was the best offensive line in the country um

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_05]: you bring in guys like that you bring in the guy who started left tackle at north carolina

[00:45:30] [SPEAKER_05]: in diego pounds you bring in all these guys and so it's the thing i've been so curious about

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_05]: is like how do you mix and match all these pieces at least early on because you've got guys who

[00:45:39] [SPEAKER_05]: played and you've got guys who um you know again the guy who started left tackle this past

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_05]: weekend he started every game in 2022 but he only started two games last year so it's like

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_05]: he didn't he wasn't a starter last year but he started before so it's like you've got this sort

[00:45:55] [SPEAKER_05]: of balance of guys who played a ton of football uh either here or it'll uh here or or elsewhere

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER_05]: they haven't all played together at least recently so um i think it's and again i don't think you

[00:46:08] [SPEAKER_05]: learned a ton against a team like firmin i actually thought they were probably gonna

[00:46:13] [SPEAKER_05]: run the ball a little bit more um in that game at least early i know the the rushing

[00:46:18] [SPEAKER_05]: stacks ended up looking pretty pretty you know gaudy towards the end but um i thought they were

[00:46:25] [SPEAKER_05]: gonna kind of impose their a little bit more early but it was it was it was clearly jackson darts night

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_05]: in terms of how they wanted to handle that but um you know his pockets look good for the most

[00:46:37] [SPEAKER_05]: part he had time um again i i don't i think you saw what you need to see in the game like that

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_02]: well the biggest concern for an mtsu fan going into this saturday's matchup is going to

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_02]: be how many yards can jackson dart put up we we saw this last weekend against tennessee tech a

[00:46:53] [SPEAKER_02]: backup jordan potts put it put up over 200 yards in a backup roll and then you see a guy like jackson

[00:47:00] [SPEAKER_02]: jackson dart who's going to be a heisman hopeful in just two quarters of play almost 500 yards

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_02]: six what is it six touchdowns i mean the guy i think heisman hopeful is a little not really

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_02]: wishful thinking for the guy i think he's got to be top tier already and given these first

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_02]: two games for him he's got to be up there on the list so tell me about jackson darts game what makes

[00:47:18] [SPEAKER_02]: him um such the special talent he is and of course to build off of that too is wide receiver like the

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER_02]: receiving core has got to be one of the best in the country this year yeah i want to start the

[00:47:28] [SPEAKER_05]: receiving core is just elite i mean tre harris is uh i think one of the top two or three

[00:47:34] [SPEAKER_05]: receivers in the sec um i mean with with luther burden um i think he is exceptional um

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_05]: he is big strong fast he looks like an sec receiver it's crazy because he was playing at

[00:47:46] [SPEAKER_05]: louisianna tech a couple years ago again one of the diamond and the rough guys that they found so well

[00:47:52] [SPEAKER_05]: in the portal um but then you add in juice wells who's the first team well sec guy jordan walkins

[00:47:58] [SPEAKER_05]: didn't play this past weekend through an injury but he's a guy who had 700 something yards last

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_05]: year and you've got maybe the best tight end um in the sec and kaden pre-score um so i mean

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_05]: you you've got just an unbelievable um a surplus of talent for jackson to get the ball to you but

[00:48:15] [SPEAKER_05]: i think the thing with jackson is you know he this is his 30 year now and jackson wasn't always

[00:48:23] [SPEAKER_05]: like comfortable with with everything that was happening here offensively uh you know he was

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER_05]: he was from usc they've had that air raid it was it was a different offense that he came into

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_05]: then charlie west juniors and it took a little bit of time to sort of you know learn the rpo stuff

[00:48:40] [SPEAKER_05]: because he hadn't done that uh at usc under clay helton and uh in grand herald um it was very very

[00:48:47] [SPEAKER_05]: different and so uh i think it took a little bit of time and the turnovers were a big problem

[00:48:51] [SPEAKER_05]: that first year he threw 11 picks so they bring in spencer sanders from oklahoma state

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_05]: last year and it's okay win the job again and all he does is win the job again he cuts his

[00:49:03] [SPEAKER_05]: turnovers in half and becomes one of the most efficient players in the country well now there's

[00:49:07] [SPEAKER_05]: there's no competition this is this is jackson darts team this is jackson darts locker room

[00:49:13] [SPEAKER_05]: um i think with him he is just so comfortable with with everything they want to do offensively

[00:49:19] [SPEAKER_05]: with the cast of characters with the personnel with wank hyffin with charlie west jr he's just in

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_05]: total control of of everything and then you know you add in the headset piece um which

[00:49:33] [SPEAKER_05]: is just you know if you were thinking about teams that that is going to be advantageous to

[00:49:36] [SPEAKER_05]: a lane kiffin team already goes fast and now you're going to give them the advantage of not even

[00:49:41] [SPEAKER_05]: having to look at the sideline for signs um and a guy who knows this playbook inside and out um i

[00:49:49] [SPEAKER_05]: mean they're going to go warp speed now and so um i think that he is just in such control of

[00:49:55] [SPEAKER_05]: everything they do um yeah he's a dynamic athlete he's he's a great runner he's got a big arm

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_05]: he's a really good deep ball throw or he's accurate all those things he's tough as nails

[00:50:06] [SPEAKER_05]: i think they probably like him to slide a little bit more um but i don't think you're ever going

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_05]: to take that out in jackson completely um but um he's just he's just so comfortable and everything

[00:50:17] [SPEAKER_05]: they want to do i i don't think you're gonna fool him at this point in his career and and

[00:50:22] [SPEAKER_05]: again when you start getting the sec schedule uh you need a guy who's seen everything

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_02]: you've talked about the good and i know this is going to be a tough question for you've been

[00:50:33] [SPEAKER_02]: there almost the entirety of kiffin's career there in oxford tell me what what are some of the

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER_02]: vulnerabilities that you see with this program um that you maybe haven't seen in years past where

[00:50:44] [SPEAKER_02]: are there areas that maybe mts you could penetrate find some level of success saturday

[00:50:49] [SPEAKER_05]: i think my only like real question with this team is like and i think it goes back to the

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_05]: offensive line because we we know that they're hypothetically better than they were we've been

[00:51:03] [SPEAKER_05]: told they're better but like when you bring in guys like princely manuel and walton oland defensive

[00:51:09] [SPEAKER_05]: line like you are you know you're better because two four seven sports tells you you got better

[00:51:14] [SPEAKER_05]: right because of these five star guys you bring in but the offensive line they didn't get guys

[00:51:19] [SPEAKER_05]: who were maybe quite as you know highly touted as that and i know that's not everything

[00:51:24] [SPEAKER_05]: but i think my question is um you know i i think that defensive line is going to give everybody

[00:51:30] [SPEAKER_05]: problems that's going to give georgia problems that's going to give you know the big boys in

[00:51:35] [SPEAKER_05]: the sec problems that is a legitimate front i think my question is is the offensive line

[00:51:42] [SPEAKER_05]: maybe it may or maybe it's not as formidable as your defensive line but can it hold up

[00:51:46] [SPEAKER_05]: against elite fronts and you know again i don't know if middle tennessee is going to be able

[00:51:50] [SPEAKER_05]: test that but i think my question is like what happens when you start altering the pocket on

[00:51:56] [SPEAKER_05]: jackson dark what happens when you start moving him off his spots what happens when you have to

[00:52:01] [SPEAKER_05]: when he has when he gets off his first couple reads um because again if we say we see a guy who

[00:52:06] [SPEAKER_05]: is so comfortable when everything is happening and i'm not saying he's going to get rattled if

[00:52:11] [SPEAKER_05]: if things break down but i think a defense's best chance is is to get in his face and

[00:52:16] [SPEAKER_05]: end to rattle that pocket and uh you know firmin wasn't able to do that i don't think a lot of

[00:52:22] [SPEAKER_05]: teams are going to be able to do that but i think the teams that are able to give oneness a problem

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_05]: are the ones that are going to be able to manufacture pressure and and and get to that

[00:52:31] [SPEAKER_05]: offensive line and i think when that happens i'm going to be really curious to see how they

[00:52:35] [SPEAKER_02]: respond i think from an mt is super effective being able to control some tempo as well because

[00:52:41] [SPEAKER_02]: as you already mentioned how fast lang kiffin plays his dial he's able to put up 73 points in

[00:52:46] [SPEAKER_02]: three quarters if mts is able to manufacture some time of possession get a couple of first downs i

[00:52:52] [SPEAKER_02]: don't you know i don't think i don't think if they walk out of there was zero it's necessarily a

[00:52:55] [SPEAKER_02]: disappointment um but it would be a level of respect if you can keep it under 70 points i

[00:53:00] [SPEAKER_02]: think it's really the goal and ultimately to come out healthy and i and i say that last part there

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_02]: to put that over on you jordan uh watkins was the one that came up injured or at least he

[00:53:09] [SPEAKER_02]: was kind of a surprise to not be listed in week one you might have already alluded to a few

[00:53:12] [SPEAKER_02]: offensive lineman got and banged up in week one where are the rebels in regards to health

[00:53:18] [SPEAKER_05]: that's a good question uh we actually our availability got moved back a little bit today

[00:53:22] [SPEAKER_05]: was supposed to be in about an hour but i got moved back to uh 115 i think it is uh and yeah

[00:53:29] [SPEAKER_05]: there's always a little bit of gamesmanship there uh with all this in terms of what they want to

[00:53:33] [SPEAKER_05]: let us know i don't think it's anything super serious with those guys um i i i think that

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_05]: if it's you know if you're if you're questionable about it this probably you know in a perfect world

[00:53:44] [SPEAKER_05]: isn't a game where you need to have those guys necessarily um save them for you know wake forest

[00:53:50] [SPEAKER_05]: or you know the kentucky game or you know whenever it is you feel like you really need them and again

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_05]: that's not to overlook anybody but um you know maybe this is a game they feel like they can get

[00:53:59] [SPEAKER_05]: away with it again um again it's almost as pretty uh they hand out a lot of black jerseys

[00:54:04] [SPEAKER_05]: which are the non-contact jerseys um and it's always sort of hard to tell like what it

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_05]: really means um so i was i was actually pretty surprised that walkins wasn't even suited up

[00:54:16] [SPEAKER_05]: the other day that was that was a little bit surprising but um again i don't think it's

[00:54:21] [SPEAKER_05]: anything serious with those guys i think it's just kind of playing it playing it smart at least

[00:54:26] [SPEAKER_02]: early in the season all right well we'll leave you with this final question here the line opens

[00:54:31] [SPEAKER_02]: up at 42 uh six touchdown deficit already from vegas there what are what are your thoughts on how

[00:54:38] [SPEAKER_05]: things will go this saturday i don't know if they're gonna cover that uh of course i didn't think

[00:54:43] [SPEAKER_05]: they were going to cover whatever line was this past week at 45 or whatever it was um i i think

[00:54:50] [SPEAKER_05]: they're gonna beat them you know pretty handily um i just think this is an Ole Miss team that um

[00:54:57] [SPEAKER_05]: they're really good at eliminating distractions and not letting things get ahead of of where

[00:55:04] [SPEAKER_05]: they currently are like they don't overlook teams um now i think was really important to see against

[00:55:09] [SPEAKER_05]: firman like how are you gonna handle a team that you should absolutely smoke well they smoke them

[00:55:14] [SPEAKER_05]: and so i think that this is a team that isn't gonna they're not gonna overlook anybody i think they

[00:55:20] [SPEAKER_05]: they enjoy um dominating people i think they're excited to show people what they can do i mean

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_05]: this is the most anticipated Ole Miss season in you know 50 60 years i mean this is this is

[00:55:31] [SPEAKER_05]: what everybody's been waiting for here so i think that um i i don't think they're overlooking anybody

[00:55:37] [SPEAKER_05]: i think they want to go out and dominate people um i i think this is probably uh 45 to seven ish

[00:55:45] [SPEAKER_05]: kind of game i think they'll tend to see you'll probably score something in there

[00:55:49] [SPEAKER_05]: because i think Ole Miss will take its feet off foot off the gas but uh i wouldn't be surprised

[00:55:54] [SPEAKER_05]: to post in the you know a 28 nothing or something shut out ish at half and it feels

[00:56:00] [SPEAKER_05]: pretty insurmountable and then Ole Miss kind of takes foot off the gas i think this is a team that

[00:56:05] [SPEAKER_02]: is really really focused right now absolutely and that is michael katz again he is the beat

[00:56:11] [SPEAKER_02]: rider for Ole Miss athletics at the northeast mississippi daily journal michael i appreciate

[00:56:14] [SPEAKER_02]: you coming on and of course best of luck to the rebels this saturday thank you so much appreciate

[00:56:18] [SPEAKER_02]: you and finally it's time for the greater wrap up portion of the episode where we go over

[00:56:26] [SPEAKER_02]: the previous week in blue raider athletics as well as look ahead to next week and we will

[00:56:31] [SPEAKER_02]: kick things off as we've talked about for the majority of the episode talking about football

[00:56:34] [SPEAKER_02]: the blue raiders were able to come from behind while also being ahead early in the matchup

[00:56:39] [SPEAKER_02]: it come from behind 32 25 against tennessee tech our player of the week i think would go

[00:56:44] [SPEAKER_02]: to no one else but frank pizant um given his 30-yard touchdown run at the end of the game

[00:56:49] [SPEAKER_02]: secure the win over the golden eagles for the day tally 10 carries for 49 yards including

[00:56:54] [SPEAKER_02]: two touchdowns especially the big one there at the end and as i just got done talking

[00:56:59] [SPEAKER_02]: with michael katz this upcoming saturday we match up with the old miss rebels that game

[00:57:04] [SPEAKER_02]: will kick off at 3 15 p.m then we'll move on over to soccer soccer goes one and one on the week

[00:57:12] [SPEAKER_02]: they get a win over bellarmine on sunday afternoon by a score of six two amidst all the rain

[00:57:19] [SPEAKER_02]: our interviewee today lebargi gets two goals including four points against the bellarmine

[00:57:24] [SPEAKER_02]: nights and then this upcoming week on thursday all the way down in huntsville they will face alabama

[00:57:29] [SPEAKER_02]: a and m at 3 p.m and then on sunday they will be in nashville facing the vanderbilt lady comidores

[00:57:36] [SPEAKER_02]: and that game their match i should say is scheduled to kick at 6 p.m volleyball started

[00:57:42] [SPEAKER_02]: their season this last weekend traveling all the way to montana where they faced

[00:57:46] [SPEAKER_02]: the washington huskies losing the first match zero to three and then they lost

[00:57:50] [SPEAKER_02]: to the host school montana state by a score of one two three our player of the week will go to kiera

[00:57:56] [SPEAKER_02]: booth who gets 21 kills in four blocks in the two games this past weekend the villanova transfers

[00:58:01] [SPEAKER_02]: off to a good start for the lady raiders hopefully they can turn things around this upcoming weekend

[00:58:06] [SPEAKER_02]: as they return home against the lehigh against lehigh and the blue raider bash here at the

[00:58:13] [SPEAKER_02]: alumni center so keep up with all the volleyball taking place here in mersbrough after the lehigh

[00:58:18] [SPEAKER_02]: match on friday they will face southeast missouri um the red hawks that afternoon on friday at 7 p.m

[00:58:24] [SPEAKER_02]: they have the solo matchup on saturday against austin p at 6 p.m and then they will wrap up

[00:58:29] [SPEAKER_02]: the blue raider bash on sunday against old sundbelt conference foe arkansas state

[00:58:33] [SPEAKER_02]: and that match starts at 2 p.m cross country got their season started this last weekend also

[00:58:40] [SPEAKER_02]: on saturday at the memphis twilight classic the men ran the four mile and the team finished

[00:58:44] [SPEAKER_02]: third out of 13 um brian kip two got first overall right behind him was alan kip legata who also got

[00:58:50] [SPEAKER_02]: second place so we've got a one two finish there in the men's which is always good to see but finishing

[00:58:55] [SPEAKER_02]: up the the top five for the raiders was sammy sang carmelo canizaro and won lucas all finishing

[00:59:00] [SPEAKER_02]: within the top 55 and then the ladies who ran the 5k um had finished fourth out of 14 and

[00:59:07] [SPEAKER_02]: saundra and nancy mayow both went fourth and eighth respectively as the top finishers for the

[00:59:12] [SPEAKER_02]: lady raiders elinor tall haley gormon and lauren cole all finished within the top 50 as well and they

[00:59:20] [SPEAKER_02]: will have a brief break until their next actual competition which will be the 13th of friday

[00:59:25] [SPEAKER_02]: where they will go down to jackson bill state as a part of the southern showcase

[00:59:32] [SPEAKER_02]: also kicking off their season this upcoming weekend is going to be men's golf

[00:59:35] [SPEAKER_02]: louisiana tech is where the men will be traveling to that's the host institution for the argent

[00:59:41] [SPEAKER_02]: financial classic that does not tee off until sunday the eighth so we will have partial update for you

[00:59:47] [SPEAKER_02]: on our next wrap up on next week's episode because they will be finishing up the tuesday that it releases

[00:59:52] [SPEAKER_02]: as well as women's golf they are also starting on the weekend on a sunday to tuesday tournament

[00:59:57] [SPEAKER_02]: i've been lexington kentucky at the betty lou evans invitational again we will have you a

[01:00:02] [SPEAKER_02]: partial update for that on our next episode on tuesday and then this upcoming weekend

[01:00:07] [SPEAKER_02]: to wrap things up here is going to be the men's and women's tennis they got the

[01:00:11] [SPEAKER_02]: walley tiddwell pro am that's hosted at here at mtsu that's going to be friday to saturday

[01:00:18] [SPEAKER_02]: i'm not entirely certain if that's going to be at the outdoor facility or the atc but i would

[01:00:23] [SPEAKER_02]: stay tuned to social media accounts for that announcement but the men's and women's tennis

[01:00:27] [SPEAKER_02]: kicking off the pro am this upcoming weekend that is again friday and saturday here in

[01:00:33] [SPEAKER_02]: murphy's borough and that will do it for our wrap up of the episode if i appreciate everyone

[01:00:39] [SPEAKER_02]: tuning in this week um i look forward to our next episode where we're going to be doing our

[01:00:44] [SPEAKER_02]: reaction from the old miss episode as well as speaking to one of our volleyball players

[01:00:49] [SPEAKER_02]: so stay tuned for who that volleyball player is going to be and then we will go behind

[01:00:53] [SPEAKER_02]: enemy lines as we look forward to the west ricketyucky matchup and we will have joining

[01:00:57] [SPEAKER_02]: us one of our fellow collaborators on the college huddle and as well as our cusa podcasting

[01:01:03] [SPEAKER_02]: roundtable is uh steven moffitt from topper talk always good talking with him so i look forward

[01:01:08] [SPEAKER_02]: to that and i i appreciate again everyone tuning in this week and until next time go blue